Pre-Match: Pies v. Hawks - All comments please

[Adam Treloar 3 Votes]

We will (should) win this comfortably provided:
- Mayne needs to come back in to provide another goal kicking option and provide greater defensive pressure in our f50. It's pretty hard for oppo to score if the ball is trapped in our f50;
- we play our best running side to get up and pressure them when they have the ball and then play on and run through them when we have it. We have the template to beat them. Play without fear, play on whenever possible, back yourself and your teammates, run and carry, link up with handballs, always look to go corridor as first option, lower the eyes into f50, kick straight for goal, run, run, run

[bally12]

IN:
Kirby, Cox, Scharenberg, Smith, Ramsay
OUT:
Brown, Reid, Langdon, Crocker, Aish

Ramsay, Dunn, Howe
Maynard, Goldy, Smith
WHE, Treloar, Scharenberg
DeGoey, Moore, Faz
Kirby, Cox, Sidey
Grundy, Adams, Pendles
I/C: Crisp, Greenwood, Broomy, Phillips

================
Gameplan notes
================
When attacking:
Cox, Kirby to play very deep forward.
No stop/start play unless we need a rest. When we go we go, create overlap run, no backwards movement, take first option to a moving player, take risks, open forward line.

When defending:
Not interested in forward pressure. Forwards/mids to fold back and apply pressure between the arcs instead, in order to get a turnover. The benefit of this is that we never get done out the back, and we can have the mids support the backs. 2-way running is impossible using the whole ground, however more manageable between the arcs. This way we also don't give time and space to dangerous opposition forwards like Robbie Gray.

Summary:
This game-plan is midfielder-centric. The forwards and backs are the supporting act, as the game is a battle of the midfield. It needs a 12-man midfield rotation. The expectation is that we have a lot of goals come from our midfielders.
We are not a big-bodied team, so we need to run and support in numbers. When attacking, We must not fall into the trap like we did last week of giving time to the opposition to set up behind the ball.
We create chaos and unpredictability going forward but don't overcommit and get exposed when we make mistakes.

It's the anti-Buckley game-plan. When you think about it, Bucks' game-plan is conflicted because he wants to play a territory game-plan by locking the ball in our forward 50 as well as moving the ball quickly. The 2 don't go together. Most of the team gets tired trying to apply frenzied tackling pressure to create low % opportunities in a crowded forward line. Also our last line of defence isn't fast enough to counter being sling-shotted.

Why this game-plan? Because it aligns with our team's strength (midfield), gives our dominant forwards 1-on-1 opportunities in an open forward line, and allows creativity going forward. If we don't know what we're going to do next, how the hell is the opposition going to know? Our players become instinctive, and empowered. and footy is more fun again. Keep things simple, it's the best way.

[inxs88]

TRY AND CREATE SOME X FACTOR MOVES TO WIN THE GAME NOT SAVE THE GAME NATHAN! HOW?

B: Scharenberg Dunn Ramsay
HB: DeGoey Reid Langdon
C: Maynard Treloar Crisp
HF: Sidebottom Moore Kirby
F: Fasolo Howe Hoskin Elliott
F: Grundy Pendlebury Adams
ICH: Goldsack, Broomhead, Mayne, Greenwood

IN:

Kirby: deserves it
Ramsay: pace from defence which Smith shall never have
Scharenberg: back him in
Mayne: reward good form

OUT:

Crocker: limited ability hence limited impact
Aish: too much standard deviation between good and bad
Brown: 1 kick (from a dubious free kick) simply not enough
Phillips: awful skills, may have endurance but it's a myth that he has speed

Positional moves:

* Maynard: on the wing to give us some inside 50 penetration
* WHE: GWS played him out of the square a lot. We HAVE to in Elliott's absence
* DeGoey: off half back would give him space and width to do some damage, use his space and skills and provide some much needed flair
* Howe: at full forward would give every defender a coronary and clear the space like Port did with Robbie Gray last week

Nathan aim to instigate, create, show trust, build initiative and free up the players whom display flair and X factor. Stop stifling them!!

[E]

dont you think that taking a guy who was a middling forward (given away by his club for basically NOTHING) and making him an All Australian caliber backman is being creative, innovative and bringing out the x-factor in players.

I think he has also allowed Maynard to shine in circumstances where most people (including me) initially saw a turnover dud.

You can only do so much with the cattle at your disposal. It also takes time for a group of players to Believe. Until then, teams often lose a lot of close ones.

this list is improving every week.

Trust the Process!!!!!!

[inxs88]

[E]

[BHPIE]

It wouldn't matter WHO was in our fwdline, the way we move the ball is pathetic, backwards or sideways , ring a ring a rosy overuse of handballs, the first this our players do is look BACK or sideways, if they spend that effort just going fwd ,long and quickly, this team would be in the 8, but they dont , the players are just following instructions, because lm sure if the coaches said ,continually keep goin backwards you're playing in the VFL, it would stop , obviously there ARE times its needed, but not the ridiculous amount of times we do we do allowing defenders n mids to flood our fwdline

[Damien]

This is the first game for the year that I'm not feeling like we'll win.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

We can definitely win this game. I don't think Clarkson is that serious about wanting to win the game. He knows Hawthorn can't win this year's premiership. We're desperate to win this game and have more at stake, so my take is, we will win this game.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

[ROB]

[Magpietothemax]

Cox has just kicked 6 goals in the Reserves. We simply must find out if he can play AFL football. It's a risk, but anything else is as well. The small forward line is clearly not the final answer. Mayne in for Crocker also seems a self-evident move. I would love to see Kirby debut (to replace Callum Brown), but again I trust our fitness specialists to make the right call on his readiness. Clearly, if Varcoe is right he must come in as well. These are the four key changes that I see must happen...If all these moves are possible, then Brown makes way for Varcoe, Brown for Kirby, and for Cox...not exactly sure.
( It's pretty much clear that Jamie won't be available).

[RudeBoy]

Aish, Crocker, Scharenberg, Smith and (atm) Brown, for differing reasons, are simply not good enough to play senior footy.

Instead, we must look to Wills, Cox (his last chance), Mayne, Ramsay and Kirby.

[mooretreloar]

Excellent post E, 10 or so up.

With respect to the comment that the forward line that was listed can't be expected to kick more than 10 goals, the same forward line kicked 100 points 2 games ago against Melbourne, who are 5th on the ladder. People are underestimating how well Port played last Saturday, and if they play like that for the rest of the year they are going to beat better sides than us in 2017.

However, given we have now had a loss where we weren't ever really in the game, changes should be made to reward players that have played well in the 2's. The players that should be rewarded are forwards, thus let's have a look at a taller forward line.

[Adam Treloar 3 Votes]

^ Inxs

Isn't it amazing that you always seem to post your "blind Freddy could have seen" items after the event? It's easy to be clever in hindsight.

Suggest you give your next "blind Freddy" predictions before it has actually happened to add some credibility to your claims.