Yep, surely if you aren't winning the footy yourself there should be some tackles happening, at least that would prove you are chasing someone who might drop it!
This is why I like Owies over some of our other small forwards, he actually tries to force turnovers or defend a bit. He might not be as effective at tackling as players like SoJ or Cottrell but he does at least make an effort. Some of the others just seem to be fully disinterested in working hard when we aren't in possession, you can even catch them turning their back on play to jog back towards F50, that leaves the turnovers up to somebody else.
When you watch the Nthmond small forwards, first they help force the error then they instantly switch to becoming a link or a target, they just do not sit back waiting for somebody else to win the footy when it's not in Nthmond's possession.
The Cats play a bit of a different style of game and it's interesting to hear Scott's complaints about the surface, because I had to wonder if our own game was low quality on skills due to a shifting or uneven MCG surface. The Cats rely less on run and gun type linking and more heavily on forcing the turnover followed by precise feet, once they get the footy they complete F50 entries with high reliability. Surface quality can have a big impact on that if players are unstable when disposing.
We are relatively average by foot, add a bit of instability and we become pretty ordinary by comparison to other teams.
This is why I like Owies over some of our other small forwards, he actually tries to force turnovers or defend a bit. He might not be as effective at tackling as players like SoJ or Cottrell but he does at least make an effort. Some of the others just seem to be fully disinterested in working hard when we aren't in possession, you can even catch them turning their back on play to jog back towards F50, that leaves the turnovers up to somebody else.
When you watch the Nthmond small forwards, first they help force the error then they instantly switch to becoming a link or a target, they just do not sit back waiting for somebody else to win the footy when it's not in Nthmond's possession.
The Cats play a bit of a different style of game and it's interesting to hear Scott's complaints about the surface, because I had to wonder if our own game was low quality on skills due to a shifting or uneven MCG surface. The Cats rely less on run and gun type linking and more heavily on forcing the turnover followed by precise feet, once they get the footy they complete F50 entries with high reliability. Surface quality can have a big impact on that if players are unstable when disposing.
We are relatively average by foot, add a bit of instability and we become pretty ordinary by comparison to other teams.
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"