02-04-2017, 06:28 AM
[4] The Skills and fitness levels of the Players:
Brettie noted the skills of the players being less than optimal. That was a true statement, but there are reasons:
(a) The girls are NOT fully professional and are coming out of competitions that are essentially amateur. As such they not train 6 days a week, nor do they have the specialist coaching to ‘fix’ things like their kicking (remember that nobody can get that 100%: look at Casboult).
As such the girls’ skills were not far off what the VFL had in the 1970’s. They will improve, especially as the game gets more professional.
(b) The intensity was certainly there. The attack on the ball by both teams was excellent. Nobody shirked an issue all night and every player was willing to put her body in. The collisions were excellent. The only reason why there were not a large number of contact injuries is the relative lack of power inherent in female physiology at this point (hence the lesser speed) and the fact that none of the players was 120 kg of muscle. The momentum was a LOT less.
That was not a bad thing either. It meant that the players did not feel like each contest was going to be their last.
© There was very little ‘backwards’ play. That may sound like an old time football purist getting on his hobby horse, but it is not. There were good reasons why there was so little backwards play and none of them had to do with the girls playing ‘old time football’.
Firstly, and most importantly, none of the girls out on the ground kicked directly across the ground because they did not want to turn the ball over and give away a goal.
Scratch your head, do you? Well you shouldn’t. The girls made good decisions in this regard.
In modern AFL the football one of the main attacking weapons is to change the side of the ground to attack through, using the strategic planning of the coach and the athleticism and tactics of the players to move the ball to where the number of opponents was minimal. This has been going on for some time and requires defenders to have excellent kicking skills (to move the ball fast and low over 50 – 60 m).
The girls knew they could not do this. Very few defenders could kick it far enough or quickly enough to find open players. So the forwards had extra time to move and intercept the ball, leaving much of the opposition forward line open and a beaten opponent lying sprawling on the ground.
Poor tactics and poor strategy.
So the girls didn’t do it. They did not have the raw pace, the height, the marking power or the pace of the ball to make this a viable option.
(d) The standard late was not the highest, but this was because the players tired and because the intensity of the play did NOT WAVER. The girls were as hard at the ball in the last few minutes as they were in the 1st quarter, That inevitably makes tired players make mistakes.
Overall, I was happy with the skills. I didn’t expect different to what I saw; a highly charged physical game in which neither side gave nor asked for quarter. Only when the pressure is off, or when a team gets on a role, does the skill level look extreme.
[5] The Players:
With lighting conditions poor, it was difficult after half time to identify players very easily. That will change over time. I will get used to the numbers of the players and recognize who is who like I do with seniors. But it will take a while.
Brettie noted the skills of the players being less than optimal. That was a true statement, but there are reasons:
(a) The girls are NOT fully professional and are coming out of competitions that are essentially amateur. As such they not train 6 days a week, nor do they have the specialist coaching to ‘fix’ things like their kicking (remember that nobody can get that 100%: look at Casboult).
As such the girls’ skills were not far off what the VFL had in the 1970’s. They will improve, especially as the game gets more professional.
(b) The intensity was certainly there. The attack on the ball by both teams was excellent. Nobody shirked an issue all night and every player was willing to put her body in. The collisions were excellent. The only reason why there were not a large number of contact injuries is the relative lack of power inherent in female physiology at this point (hence the lesser speed) and the fact that none of the players was 120 kg of muscle. The momentum was a LOT less.
That was not a bad thing either. It meant that the players did not feel like each contest was going to be their last.
© There was very little ‘backwards’ play. That may sound like an old time football purist getting on his hobby horse, but it is not. There were good reasons why there was so little backwards play and none of them had to do with the girls playing ‘old time football’.
Firstly, and most importantly, none of the girls out on the ground kicked directly across the ground because they did not want to turn the ball over and give away a goal.
Scratch your head, do you? Well you shouldn’t. The girls made good decisions in this regard.
In modern AFL the football one of the main attacking weapons is to change the side of the ground to attack through, using the strategic planning of the coach and the athleticism and tactics of the players to move the ball to where the number of opponents was minimal. This has been going on for some time and requires defenders to have excellent kicking skills (to move the ball fast and low over 50 – 60 m).
The girls knew they could not do this. Very few defenders could kick it far enough or quickly enough to find open players. So the forwards had extra time to move and intercept the ball, leaving much of the opposition forward line open and a beaten opponent lying sprawling on the ground.
Poor tactics and poor strategy.
So the girls didn’t do it. They did not have the raw pace, the height, the marking power or the pace of the ball to make this a viable option.
(d) The standard late was not the highest, but this was because the players tired and because the intensity of the play did NOT WAVER. The girls were as hard at the ball in the last few minutes as they were in the 1st quarter, That inevitably makes tired players make mistakes.
Overall, I was happy with the skills. I didn’t expect different to what I saw; a highly charged physical game in which neither side gave nor asked for quarter. Only when the pressure is off, or when a team gets on a role, does the skill level look extreme.
[5] The Players:
With lighting conditions poor, it was difficult after half time to identify players very easily. That will change over time. I will get used to the numbers of the players and recognize who is who like I do with seniors. But it will take a while.
Live Long and Prosper!