Re: R4 - Carlton vs Saints @ NZ - (Post match party)
Reply #86 –
I disagree. There was a dramatic change in the way we used the football. Against Richmond we had 196 kicks and 129 handpasses, against West Coast it was 192 kicks and 128 handpasses, 200 kicks and 136 handpasses against Essendon and today it was 193 kicks and 182 handpasses. You can't tell me that the players all decided to handpass more today.
Clearly, Malthouse has realised that the kick at all costs approach results in too many turnovers and he has instructed the players to handpass more. I haven't seen the game yet but the radio commentary gave me the impression that our ball movement was better and was set up by creative handpassing.
Another marked difference from our previous three games is the fact that almost all of our goals were scored from directly in front and there were relatively few shots from the pockets.
The players may have controlled their arousal levels a little better but Malthouse definitely changed the way we played and he deserves credit for that.