My in to frequent post about certain points in the game which cause me frustration is back.
This first post in this series is Andrew Walker. Now he has played forward with some success and OK down back, but to often his kicks out of defence put us in more trouble than good.
We are crying our for tall running Midfielders, why have we not tried that again?
Anyway one perfect example of this is in the Third Quarter. (AFL Match Replay, Harry Cunningham Behind if you want to see the footage.)
(http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii609/shadesy8/Walker%201%20copy.jpg) (http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/shadesy8/media/Walker%201%20copy.jpg.html)
Here we have a Kick out and set up pretty well - we have left plenty of space on the wing, with two waves of players making there way to that side. Sydney have defended OK, but we have Andrew Walker in close as the get out option.
(http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii609/shadesy8/Walker%202.jpg) (http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/shadesy8/media/Walker%202.jpg.html)
Walker gets the kick, Yarran and Thomas move towards the line to provide an option, and create space behind them, with the next wave ready to fill that space and provide an option or create a contest (they are trailing there men, which is a sign of workrate). Guess where Walker Kicks it?? He runs onto his non preferred side and kicks it smack bang into the middle of the Swans players (the Target).
(http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii609/shadesy8/Walker%203.jpg) (http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/shadesy8/media/Walker%203.jpg.html)
I have seperated where the corridor probably starts. I don't mind kicks comiung back through there, but the have to be short, sharp and hit targets. Walker kicks a wobbler on his non preferred, with players having to now change directions.
(http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii609/shadesy8/Walker%204.jpg) (http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/shadesy8/media/Walker%204.jpg.html)
Result: Easy pickings for the Swans and a simple mark to Buddy. he moves it on into the space for Cunningham who luckily misses from in front. notice we have half the side (9 players) in one area, so we worked to that side all to be undone by a very poor decision and even poorer kick.
Walker tends to not kick into the corridor or the boundary, hedges his bets and kicks indiscriminately to a very dangerous area. He does this time and time again. Time to play him as a midfielder or back as a high half forward when he regains full fitness.
Kicking is not 1AWs strong suit, I have no idea why we keep playing him back!
Over the years lots of supporters have bagged the blokes we tried to turn into KPFs, but the reality is with the delivery they get from our team(Our team the worst kicking team in the AFL by some comfortable margin) they had virtually no hope of developing as forwards!
Kicking is not 1AWs strong suit, I have no idea why we keep playing him back!
Over the years lots of supporters have bagged the blokes we tried to turn into KPFs, but the reality is with the delivery they get from our team(Our team the worst kicking team in the AFL by some comfortable margin) they had virtually no hope of developing as forwards!
When played forward LP, 1AW used to be a reliable kick for goal. That's where we should play him IMO.
Can only play forward IMO and I'm a bit over him to be honest, reckon he has lost interest...
When played forward LP, 1AW used to be a reliable kick for goal. That's where we should play him IMO.
When you are kicking for goal half the process is already decided for you, that is where to kick! ;)
If you want to watch 1AW stream out of the back line and kick to blokes who are out numbered three to one just watch most games! Kicking isn't just about he kick itself, it's about the choices that you make, the time it takes to make those choices and then and only then the execution!
It was just a poor choice. I dont see any reason he would kick it back to the corridor when all our players have commited to one side. Basically kicked it over there heads.
Basically kicked it over there heads.
He's been doing it to the forwards for his entire career!
When you are kicking for goal half the process is already decided for you, that is where to kick! ;)
If you want to watch 1AW stream out of the back line and kick to blokes who are out numbered three to one just watch most games! Kicking isn't just about he kick itself, it's about the choices that you make, the time it takes to make those choices and then and only then the execution!
Sure, that's why he should play forward where he would not have to think so much or make so many critical and potentially dangerous choices.
Maybe it was an inability to hit a target by foot that was the bigger issue??
If he aimed for a spot and missed by a 5-10 metres, this would be your result.
Nah, Malthouse is gone, our issues should be fixed because we'll use the corridoor rather than the boundary at least that seems to be the attitude anyway.
Andrew Walker!
Number 2 Draft pick behind a guy who ended up winning a Brownlow.
A talented schoolboy runner with excellent speed endurance.
One of the best ever debuts for the club.... 26 touches and 3 goals...and a glimpse of the ability to fly for the high marks.
Another triumph for the Carlton Football club development program. ::)
With the time he has left send him forward.
The only advantage of mid-field will be his turnovers will be a bit further from the opposition goals.
Maybe it was an inability to hit a target by foot that was the bigger issue??
If he aimed for a spot and missed by a 5-10 metres, this would be your result.
Nah, Malthouse is gone, our issues should be fixed because we'll use the corridoor rather than the boundary at least that seems to be the attitude anyway.
I suggest you watch the footage Thry, see him turn his body towards the corridor. it was a poor kick, but he was aiming in that general area.
I will ignore the other comment, as that is not the time, nor place to move it into the corridor.
I suggest you watch the footage Thry, see him turn his body towards the corridor. it was a poor kick, but he was aiming in that general area.
I will ignore the other comment, as that is not the time, nor place to move it into the corridor.
So he kicked it exactly as he wanted it to the wrong target because he was aiming in that general area....
Who was he trying to pass the ball to?
I don't buy that he kicked it into space on purpose and if that's what your selling, then snake oil salesman isnt your go. This observation of yours is fine and has merit but it needs to be analysed accordingly.
It tells us that Walker executed his kick poorly.
He has chosen his target poorly which has led to him missing his target by foot. be it a kick he had no chance of hitting (over ambitious with his target) or a kick that he didnt execute well and missed his target, the moral of the story is that he missed his target. You can make up with poor kick selection by having excellent ability to hit targets, but that just kicks the error to the next point of failure if the bloke is under pressure and sets him up for a spilled mark, or posession under pressure with no target to hit up next.
I suppose the question I will ask is, aside from moving him down field, how does this help Walker kick the ball to a target better next time? Simply moving him into a different area of the field relocates the issue rather than fixes the poor kick doesnt it?
Excellent summary Shadesy, looking forward to some more.
Kicking is not 1AWs strong suit, I have no idea why we keep playing him back!
Andrew has probably played his most disciplined and consistent football in defence, which does say something. Probably his best year was in attack. But that year his kicking for goal was statistically the best in the competition. He took the most marks of his career, including his highlight mark against Essendon. Our mids had a lot of confidence in him and picked him out by choice, and, with Betts and Garlett picking up the tag, he managed to get a few crumbs as well.
Since then his forward play has been poor to non existent. When played there recently he simply hasn't worked hard enough and had a minimal number of possessions. His kicking for goal has been unbelievably bad and his team mates haven't had any confidence in him at all. He hasn't got any crumbs because he hasn't been close to the contest and he hasn't had any marks at all.
I am not sure that it is just a confidence thing either. I am sure that our forward structures and general forward movement would make things difficult for God if he were in our forward line.
As a result he has been played where he concentrates best: defence. Alas, he hasn't shown any run and he has been completely reactive. But that is where Andrew is at the moment. He is so far from his best form that it is hard recognizing him as the same player who destroyed Milne a couple of years back, or who kick about 50 goals in a season.
Over the years lots of supporters have bagged the blokes we tried to turn into KPFs, but the reality is with the delivery they get from our team(Our team the worst kicking team in the AFL by some comfortable margin) they had virtually no hope of developing as forwards!
Our delivery has been pretty ordinary this century. We were complaining (and rightly) when Fev lead out and the ball went just about anywhere except to his advantage. We have a handful of truly skilled players and even they are butchering the ball at the moment. About the last one who could reliably hit targets was Houlihan!
I am sure our delivery will get better when we are not under so much perceived pressure. I am sure much of our game plan will look better when we get the ball out of the middle with ease instead of under the pump (the norm at this time). I am sure it will get better when we have more talent in our lineup and I am absolutely certain our delivery will be better when we have the forward structures and game plan to maximize what we have instead of minimizing it (the bomb and hope plan we presently 'enjoy').
I think he's finished and we should delist him.
I think he's finished and we should delist him.
Has a contract and we have enough ordinary players that he'll get another gig helping with the rebuild IMO.
Another triumph for the Carlton Football club development program. ::)
You mean our development coaches screwed up a perfectly good player, wasn't 1AW the next Kouta? ::)
My finest memory in the last 5 years is 1AW standing on Jake Carlisle's head, that event proved a few things for me;
- 1AW was a far better forward than defender.
- Carlisle is over-rated.
- Carlton will never be fairly judged while Ch.7 and certain broadcast personalities remain so heavily influential in AFL.
- Luke Darcy is an imbecile.
- Carlton doesn't complain strongly enough when it's disrespected.
- Our supporters in the media are a bunch of turtles!
@ Thry
I'm not sure what your argument is.
He made a poor decision and a poor kick? What's not to get?
He kicks to this area very often coming out of the backline.
@ Thry
I'm not sure what your argument is.
He made a poor decision and a poor kick? What's not to get?
He kicks to this area very often coming out of the backline.
I'll get to it. Bear with me. Sometimes, I need people to get to a certain spot, so that I can present an argument without it being dismissed as BS or some misguided belief in Malthouse.
The part in bold is the key to fixing our woes.
Get people making better decisions, and executing better under pressure. Walker is a soft target. Has probably had the worst last 2 years out of everyone on our list, bar Kreuzer and Giles.
Aside from that, this part in bold applies to almost every player on our list in varying capacities. The modern game relies on the ability to maintain posession and moving the ball quickly. If we are a team of poor kicks and decision making why are we wondering why we are sitting bottom of the ladder and unable to compete?
The answer to that question was apparently to do with Malthouse and his coaching, but last I checked a new coach and game plan wont rectify an inability to hit targets and improve the ability to make good decisions on the field.
We can take the degree of difficulty out of the equation by changing the game plan, or we can even make it easier by changing the position (which seems to be what you are advocating here and that will possibly work) but it will not take us to where we need to go. I cannot think of a premiership team that made poor decisions and butchered the ball by foot and accomodated players in areas to lessen that impact. Something we have done for too long.
I think you've over analysed the whole thing personally.
Personally i think Tuohy made the mistake by kicking it to Walker in the first place.
(http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii609/shadesy8/Walker%201%20copy.jpg) (http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/shadesy8/media/Walker%201%20copy.jpg.html)
Looking at the above picture, Tuohy should've kicked it out to the flank. Can't quite pick out all the players there, but we have outnumbered them on that side...and even if we lose the ball, Walker can cover the only 'free' Sydney player.
Yarran gets front and square to get the crumbs, or a quick handball, and he's off to the races down the wing.
I understand why Tuohy went where he did, to create the overlap, but it is the safe option, and with the score the way it was, no point playing safe....especially when it doesn't work. Tuohy is one of the best kicks in the game, he should trust his judgement more often.
Krud's I analysed the play that was in front of me.
I agree, Touhy does kick safe and I won't mention why he "chose" the safe option. Once that was set in motion, bringing it back into the corridor Was a very poor decisions, regardless of Tuohys original decision and in a team lacking leader's better decisions need to be made. Two wrongs do not make a right.
I'm not a Zach Tuohy fan either and maybe have found my next subject!
Krud's I analysed the play that was in front of me.
I agree, Touhy does kick safe and I won't mention why he "chose" the safe option. Once that was set in motion, bringing it back into the corridor Was a very poor decisions, regardless of Tuohys original decision and in a team lacking leader's better decisions need to be made. Two wrongs do not make a right.
I'm not a Zach Tuohy fan either and maybe have found my next subject!
Personally i don't mind Tuohy. Everyone makes mistakes though.
What we are seeing from our team IMO is evident from the 'rebuild' comments that became public in R2.
Players are looking after themselves and not doing what's best for the team. Playing safe, rather than playing with dash and dare.
(http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii609/shadesy8/Walker%201%20copy.jpg) (http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/shadesy8/media/Walker%201%20copy.jpg.html)
Is that Simpson 40m out standing on his own? Why not kick it to him? maybe put it out in front of him a bit to keep it away from the Sydney guy guarding him and Walker. A 30m kick, down the middle (or pretty close), would open up a whole heap of space for the next kick.
Good call Amers
I think once Walker went to the pocket, most teams hedge there bets and happy to give up that kick to the pocket.
You can see the Sydney player head back towards Simpson and let walker have the kick.
Smart play, would you rather Walker have the ball or Simpson?
Personally i don't mind Tuohy. Everyone makes mistakes though.
What we are seeing from our team IMO is evident from the 'rebuild' comments that became public in R2.
Players are looking after themselves and not doing what's best for the team. Playing safe, rather than playing with dash and dare.
They've been doing that for the last 2.5 years. At least they played for each other last week. That's a start.
They've been doing that for the last 2.5 years. At least they played for each other last week. That's a start.
Mate, they didn't play for eachother last week. They just weren't as bad as they have been of late.
That kind of effort was similar to what we put in against the Lions. Hardly, get excited type of stuff.
Says a lot about how bad we've been if we are happy with a 10 goal thumping.
Good call Amers
I think once Walker went to the pocket, most teams hedge there bets and happy to give up that kick to the pocket.
You can see the Sydney player head back towards Simpson and let walker have the kick.
Smart play, would you rather Walker have the ball or Simpson?
I agree with both of you and Walker should have run past straight away get some run and carry happen. Swans couldn't guard all the space around Simpson. Walker running past could have dragged a swan, and left Simpson free to run and draw another swan.
Krud's I analysed the play that was in front of me.
I agree, Touhy does kick safe and I won't mention why he "chose" the safe option. Once that was set in motion, bringing it back into the corridor Was a very poor decisions, regardless of Tuohys original decision and in a team lacking leader's better decisions need to be made. Two wrongs do not make a right.
I'm not a Zach Tuohy fan either and maybe have found my next subject!
Touhy is another turn over merchant and one of the most careless defenders I have seen...
Tuohy is an awesome shot at goal outside of 50m on the run. Yet he gets too clever and falls in a trap of being stupid in our D50m. Its happening way too often this season. If it continues, he could become the victim of a trade. If he has value the way he is going about his footy. Don't get me wrong, I actually like him and see heaps of talent. Just needs to be footy smart.
Tuohy is an awesome shot at goal outside of 50m on the run. Yet he gets too clever and falls in a trap of being stupid in our D50m. Its happening way too often this season. If it continues, he could become the victim of a trade. If he has value the way he is going about his footy. Don't get me wrong, I actually like him and see heaps of talent. Just needs to be footy smart.
Tuohy is often made to look bad because he has very little, if nothing, to kick too. Nobody runs into space for him. Same could be said for most players in our backline, and even our midfielders.
We have become a very self centered, lazy football team. If that is not apparent from the scoreboard, perhaps it will be clearer from the ground.
True in every way about us being lazy and not offering a lead to free space. Sometimes Tuohy looks like he is about to kick it one way playing on from the square and then doubles back to have his kick smothered. He is 30m from our goal and all of a sudden, the smothered ball rolls right next to the point post. Or he looks for a long kick along the boundary to a 2 on 2 contest, and looks towards the corridor to kick it to a 1 on 3 or 4 contest where we turn the ball over and 2 players run free from our one player to head towards our goal. Sometimes its better to kick to an even contest, than to one where our player is out numbered. Some of his kicks to a target go way over the players head.
It could be a confidence thing. Sometimes it appears to be a lack of footy smarts on TV. It may be a different story watching at the ground. There is a bigger picture there we don't all see. The lack of running to free up space is borderline pathetic with most of our players. Tutt is about the only guy that does it regularly and gets ignored most of the time. This is all part of a game plan that needs to be developed and understood by the playing group IMO. Not just playing kick to kick where there are regular turn overs. Especially kicking to Thomas when he is in a contest with the ruck? Seriously he is 6 foot 8. I guess the pressure of the moment can make players panic. That might be a lack of belief and confidence in each other.
Good call Amers
Smart play, would you rather Walker have the ball or Simpson?
Cheers.
Simpson, but only if he can get onto his left! ;)