AFL Practice Match 2021 Carlton vs the Drug Cheats

[JonDorotich]

Agree with most of what has been written before, however I do worry about the impact, aggressiveness, intensity and/or ground speed of all of Plowman, Curnow, Setterfield, SPS & from time to time Murphy. It's probably unfair to focus on this subset of players, but we do need to increase our intensity, ball  velocity & probably foot speed to trouble the better clubs.

Josh Honey stood out as a player with the tools to add another weapon to the Blues arsenal, however I haven't heard much about him this pre-season. Any update on how he is developing?

[kruddler]

Agree with most of what has been written before, however I do worry about the impact, aggressiveness, intensity and/or ground speed of all of Plowman, Curnow, Setterfield, SPS & from time to time Murphy. It's probably unfair to focus on this subset of players, but we do need to increase our intensity, ball  velocity & probably foot speed to trouble the better clubs.

Josh Honey stood out as a player with the tools to add another weapon to the Blues arsenal, however I haven't heard much about him this pre-season. Any update on how he is developing?

Out and out speed only works if you can use the ball too.....or offer something else.

All of those mentioned offer something else. Sure it would be good for each of them to have speed too, but thats like saying it'd be good to have 22 Patrick Cripps on your team. Ideal, but not possible.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Agree with most of what has been written before, however I do worry about the impact, aggressiveness, intensity and/or ground speed of all of Plowman, Curnow, Setterfield, SPS & from time to time Murphy. It's probably unfair to focus on this subset of players, but we do need to increase our intensity, ball  velocity & probably foot speed to trouble the better clubs.

Josh Honey stood out as a player with the tools to add another weapon to the Blues arsenal, however I haven't heard much about him this pre-season. Any update on how he is developing?

Agree on those thoughts, Tigers will be a good test, they are looking like they will be a bit under manned so I reckon this is about our best chance in years to nail them. They are are a quick rebounding team with foot speed, muscle and will be a test for all those players you mentioned. We should be quicker than last season, intensity and vigor will need to improve though as we often lose games in a quarter where we get blown off the park and its usually because we dont bring enough aggression at the contest and cant change the momentum back. Its fine having pace and skill but you have to be able to get the ball when its hot and do the game changing stuff that turns the game, not sure if we have enough of those types....

[kruddler]

Its worth pointing out that we shouldn't try and play like the tigers. The tigers play that way because they have the players to play that way.
We need to play a way that suits our players....and allows us the best chance of winning most weeks, especially in finals.

[LP]

Its worth pointing out that we shouldn't try and play like the tigers. The tigers play that way because they have the players to play that way.
We need to play a way that suits our players....and allows us the best chance of winning most weeks, especially in finals.

Q: What is the biggest tell a coach is a dud?

A: Copying the ladder leader's tactics!

[kruddler]

Q: What is the biggest tell a coach is a dud?

A: Copying the ladder leader's tactics!

Or copying what worked at a previous club who had different cattle at their disposal!

[townsendcalling]

Or copying what worked at a previous club who had different cattle at their disposal!

Cheerio to Denis Pagan

[kruddler]

Cheerio to Denis Pagan

Exactly who i had in mind when i wrote that.   

[Gointocarlton]

Its worth pointing out that we shouldn't try and play like the tigers. The tigers play that way because they have the players to play that way.
We need to play a way that suits our players....and allows us the best chance of winning most weeks, especially in finals.

I don't fully agree with you that the Tigers play the way they play because of the players they have. They have a system,  which Hardwick developed, and everyone to a man adheres to it religiously. New players come in and they are taught quickly to play to their system. Harwick has said as much in interviews. The system is:
- Force a turnover by manic pressure
- helter skelter move it fwd at all all costs.
- Gain meters, get it to fwds who finish the job.
- Players flood back to defence when needed (which we did on Thurs vs the cheats).
The thing with them that's critical is that they finish their work more often than not.
I do agree though that we need to come up with our formula or system which is successful.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Its worth pointing out that we shouldn't try and play like the tigers. The tigers play that way because they have the players to play that way.
We need to play a way that suits our players....and allows us the best chance of winning most weeks, especially in finals.

Winning the contested ball consistently for 4 quarters is is a non negotiable.
That's what gives you the ball to apply what ever style/method you use to score.
Richmond have very few if any players who don't contest well or try and cheat on their teammates by being weak at the contest.
You only need 10-15 minutes of insipid/lazy contesting vs the good teams and they will pile on 5 goals and its game over.
eg GWS have had all the talent in the world, their own style but every other team knows they don't contest well when challenged and its their key players who let them down.
Contested ball in the big moments and efficiency under pressure is where I see us needing to improve.