Will it stand up?

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Will it stand up?

April 21, 2014, 09:56:36 am

Our style of play I mean

The way we played yesterday seems to suit our playing group...and they seem to enjoy the "freedom of expression"....but there was also an intensity and pressure there as well.

Brendan McCartney wasn't impressed......

Quote

"The game was way too open, it was circle work, it was up and back, and that's not what we're about.

"I don't think any team wants to play like that, and we're no different.

"It was a tricky one today. A lot of our boys, we felt, just got caught between, 'Do I attack or do I defend?’ Once you second-guess yourself and hesitate, it's gone.

"There was about a 30-minute patch in the game where we got caught in that nasty zone."

The questions are ....
Mick said he didn't change much yesterday.....What was different?
Did we catch them unexpectedly...there was talk all week we'd play a more free flowing brand of football?
How will it go against the stronger sides of the comp..... Hawthorns and Geelongs?

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #1 – April 21, 2014, 10:01:54 am

I didn't notice much difference in the style of play, we still went the boundary the vast majority of the time.

Difference yesterday was our intensity, work rate, we hit targets and converted in front of goal.

Warnock not leaving us a man short after the bounce was also a huge bonus.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #2 – April 21, 2014, 10:02:48 am

Mick talks with fork tongue. I haven't watched all the game as yet but from what little I saw, we seemed to be running through the middle and moving the ball much quicker. Maybe less pressure, weaker defense, we had three forwards for them to contend with who knows.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #3 – April 21, 2014, 10:04:48 am

Quote from: Goat on April 21, 2014, 10:02:48 am

I haven't watched all the game as yet but from what little I saw

Pretty hard to judge our game style from watching the highlights package.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #4 – April 21, 2014, 10:12:42 am

Quote from: madbluboy on April 21, 2014, 10:04:48 am

Quote from: Goat on April 21, 2014, 10:02:48 am
I haven't watched all the game as yet but from what little I saw

Pretty hard to judge our game style from watching the highlights package.

You're right I shouldn't have commented with a disclaimer, or not back it up with credible facts. I'm sure someone here could also learn from that

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #5 – April 21, 2014, 10:14:00 am

Quote from: madbluboy on April 21, 2014, 10:04:48 am

Quote from: Goat on April 21, 2014, 10:02:48 am
I haven't watched all the game as yet but from what little I saw

Pretty hard to judge our game style from watching the highlights package.

Sheesh.

Somebody spit in your coffee today MBB.

We won remember!

As for the game style, I don't remember too many time recently where our guys looked INBOARD FIRST. Still plenty of boundary stuff but not to the exclusion of better options.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #6 – April 21, 2014, 10:30:16 am

I thought we turned into the corridor a bit more but we still went forward plenty of times along the boundary. The fact that we did not turn the ball over anywhere near as much would have made a big difference IMO.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #7 – April 21, 2014, 10:34:19 am

Quote from: cookie2 on April 21, 2014, 10:30:16 am

I thought we turned into the corridor a bit more but we still went forward plenty of times along the boundary. The fact that we did not turn the ball over anywhere near as much would have made a big difference IMO.

Didn't turn the ball over because we were not wedded to the boundary.

All of a sudden the opposition can't just flood to the side and pick off your work. Also means the players aren't working in a phone booth for the whole game.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #8 – April 21, 2014, 10:54:16 am

We clearly moved it through the middle from the start, always looked to play on, ALWAYS looked inboard first. Blokes like Gibbs were getting the ball forward of centre but in or around the corridor and we looked way more dangerous.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #9 – April 21, 2014, 10:54:54 am

And in answer to your question lods regardless of the outcome it surely beats the alternative.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #10 – April 21, 2014, 10:57:00 am

Let's remember that we were only playing the Dogs. In time, they could be a good side. ATM, they're not, especially without Morris & Roughead who are their key defenders. Minson's AA form has deserted him and he was an easy kill for Bones.

Every AFL Club has talent, but relentless pressure from the best teams can make good players look like chumps. Under pressure, 20m short passes go straight to opponents.

The win was great, but I'm not sure much can be taken from it. Maybe we went through the corridor for the same reason a dog licks its balls.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #11 – April 21, 2014, 11:03:18 am

Did we move through the middle more because we looked to go through the middle more?

OR

Did we move through the middle more because the dogs allowed us to go through the middle more? Perhaps they were so focussed on stopping us going down the line, that they forgot to plug up the middle of the ground?

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #12 – April 21, 2014, 11:19:52 am

Quote from: PassIt2Carrots on April 21, 2014, 10:54:16 am

We clearly moved it through the middle from the start, always looked to play on, ALWAYS looked inboard first. Blokes like Gibbs were getting the ball forward of centre but in or around the corridor and we looked way more dangerous.

Gibbs was running around by himself for much of the first half.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #13 – April 21, 2014, 11:23:02 am

This is now simply about Mick's ego going forward. It was plain for all to see that the game plan against the Bulldogs is better suited to us, Gibbs was on fire for petes sake. Whether or not Mick can pull his head in and get it through his iron skull is the question.

Mick most probably likes to think of himself as the Fergie of AFL or some sh1t so I''l cite Bill Bellichek the head coach of the New England Patriots as an example. Bellichek has arguably the greatest quarterback ever on his offense but completely changed the teams play into a running offense last year to suit the players he had and got them to one win from a superbowl.

Mick needs to swallow his pride and do what's best for the team and not his ego. Whether or not it stands up is what he is payed to do in my opinion, so he needs to make us a better team playing this way.

Re: Will it stand up?

Reply #14 – April 21, 2014, 11:33:12 am

Well we'll see how it goes in the next few games I guess - I'd like to think we have more than one avenue into the F50. Last night we used the corridor more than usual, but not exclusively - may have to play it a bit differently in other games depending on the opponent. Don't want to see us stuck with any one hidebound, dogmatic approach whichever way it is.