Backing off the mark... the worst tactic ever employed by a Bulldogs coach?

[footscray1973]

This is raised in every match day and every autopsy thread, and many other threads as well.

May have been worth trying initially, or tried in specific circumstances or areas of the field.

Instead we do it in pretty much every single scenario.

Has the coach lost the plot?
Where is the evidence that it EVER provides a successful outcome, or even prevents the opposition ball movement or delays it?

Beveridge has persisted now for the whole season with a completely useless tactic. Whether through desperation, arrogance, or because he's bereft of any other ideas.

It's not the only reason we're having an average season, but it's making a fair contribution.

And it can only be sheeted home to one person.

 

[ossie_21]

Probably not the worst single tactic on its own, but the worst by being so incredibly stubborn and persistent with it all season. Absolutely awful that we keep doing it this late in the season when it’s shown to not work.

 

[Ash1337]

Standing the mark just makes the player a statue. I understand why dogs do it. Allows them to move and react to a short kick or handball.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

Peter Rhode tactics exists.

 

[footscray1973]

Standing the mark just makes the player a statue. I understand why dogs do it. Allows them to move and react to a short kick or handball.

Yes, I understand the idea behind it. But when do we ever manage to react to prevent or intercept those disposals? And oppo players have more space to get momentum as they kick, which gains the kick extra distance. We are giving the opposition an advantage.

 

[footscray1973]

Peter Rhode tactics exists.

True. Beveridge is a better coach- which makes the tactic contextually an even poorer choice to persist with.

 

[Dogsman16]

The worst thing about this atrocious tactic is that it basically takes a pre-season to reverse. How the **** is this not recognisable to the coaching staff that this is a huge problem.

AFL media bang on about how we have no interceptors. Maybe the pressure up the ground is abysmal so we can't just pick off opposition kicks. Basically our team is caught in no mans land and opposition can just waltz through the zone.

You have an off night in the middle and you get crushed. Tonight is exhibit A.

 

[WAbulldog]

Might as well give them the whole ground with a crap tactic they have done this whole season.

 

[adogsfan5]

It’s aim is to obviously try and cut off that 45 kick.. and yet we still can’t defend it.

 

[Dogs Rule]

I would say worse tactic ever employed by any coach. It's brainless and whoever devised it should be sacked immediately.

 

[Dogs Rule]

Standing the mark just makes the player a statue. I understand why dogs do it. Allows them to move and react to a short kick or handball.

Yeah, but you need a half competent defence. We don't have one.

 

[Martyn_30_]

Standing the mark just makes the player a statue. I understand why dogs do it. Allows them to move and react to a short kick or handball.

When you stand on the mark you force the player to run back then kick, which generally takes about 5 seconds as opposed to being able to move it on instantly. You hand the opposition an extra 5 metres and it also clearly hasn't stopped the opposition from moving the ball effortlessly down the ground by foot because you're only guarding 5 metres of pretty useless behind the man on the mark.

 

[LondonBulldog]

70 metres from goal let’s back off Papely so he can run 10 and spear a pass to a leading forward! It’s so stupid to do in the oppositions forward half.


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[Norm De Guerre]

Standing the mark just makes the player a statue. I understand why dogs do it. Allows them to move and react to a short kick or handball.

All it seems to do is allow their opponent to have more options. As stupid as standing the mark like an inanimate object is, it usually forces the guy with the ball to stop back up and kick over the ****ing mark. Not get an immediate run-up or around our player and do as they please.

It was dumb when we first rolled it out, but worth trying out if it gave us an edge. However, it stretches all logic that we are still persisting with it.

Its been an absolute disaster that has had the knock on effect of having our players second guess themselves when they approach an opponent to tackle. There was an instance in the first qtr that I suspect wasn't a 1 off where one of our players chose to peel off and look to the next contest instead of laying a tackle.

 

[The Inbetweener]

70 metres from goal let’s back off Papely so he can run 10 and spear a pass to a leading forward! It’s so stupid to do in the oppositions forward half.


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This. I can see the merit in it in certain areas of the ground, but not 70 metres out allowing them an easy ball inside 50

 

[Generation West]

Yeah let’s back off the mark and allow the opposition to slice through the corridor with a series of 20 metre passes before launching into their F50 against an inept defence. Visionary stuff.

When we do win the ball in defence, the opposition immediately drop off Gardiner, inviting us to kick the ball to him, generally hemmed in to the back pocket. Whenever Gardiner attempts something risky, he butchers it, so he generally just dump kicks it down the line - exactly what the opposition want us to do.

We generate heaps of inside 50s, but there is no structure and the ball comes out too easily. Rarely do we hit up a leading forward inside 50, unless we win centre clearance after an opposition goal.

I love what Bevo has done for our club and he will forever be a bulldog immortal, but his belligerent attitude is wearing thin and I am sick of the bullshit defence of the team and his tactics.

This list is too talented to be missing finals in 2022.

I think the club needs to seriously consider Bevos position at the end of the season. He is contracted so the club will not move on him, but the footy dept needs an overhaul.

 

[Dogs Rule]

Yeah let’s back off the mark and allow the opposition to slice through the corridor with a series of 20 metre passes before launching into their F50 against an inept defence. Visionary stuff.

When we do win the ball in defence, the opposition immediately drop off Gardiner, inviting us to kick the ball to him, generally hemmed in to the back pocket. Whenever Gardiner attempts something risky, he butchers it, so he generally just dump kicks it down the line - exactly what the opposition want us to do.

We generate heaps of inside 50s, but there is no structure and the ball comes out too easily. Rarely do we hit up a leading forward inside 50, unless we win centre clearance after an opposition goal.

I love what Bevo has done for our club and he will forever be a bulldog immortal, but his belligerent attitude is wearing thin and I am sick of the bullshit defence of the team and his tactics.

This list is too talented to be missing finals in 2022.

I think the club needs to seriously consider Bevos position at the end of the season. He is contracted so the club will not move on him, but the footy dept needs an overhaul.

Here's the thing. Strong, powerful clubs wouldn't put up with a coach with the likes of Naughton, Bontempelli, Smith, Macrae, Libba, Treloar, English, Dunkley, Weightman at his disposal missing finals, but here we are.

Strong clubs would tell a coach who seems to play favourites with selection, fails to recognise the ruck at all and implements a stupid gameplan such as the backing off the mark to f*** off.

Strong clubs would act and give the coach his marching orders and if our gutless admin had any balls it would, but they won't.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Manning the mark is worth it purely because it forces your opponent to go back before going forward.

I mentioned in the game day thread that the team policy to play on from EVERY free kick is a completely foolish one…but I understand we do it to keep the game flowing quickly in our direction.

How can you value that and then hand the opposition a much better version of that opportunity after every mark / free kick?

Add to that the 50m penalties it’s cost us and times players have ‘accidentally’ retreated around our defensive 50 allowing a shot at goal. It’s certainly the worst tactic I’ve seen employed and persisted with.

 

[BrisDog]

Next year Bevo is going to make it so easy for the opposition to kick goals that the opposition will eventually get sick of kicking goals, that is when we start kicking goals.

 

[doggies ftw]

Was watching with a mate last night who doesn’t usually watch us too much - he said “it looks like your players are more focused on doing everything but focusing on the player with the ball”

It is genuinely crazy, we just stream past the player with the ball to guard useless space in front of them, we’re so used to doing that we can’t even lay a tackle anymore in open play.

It’s actually flipping hilarious at this stage to watch as the opposition takes the mark and as they know what we do they don’t even bother running back they just instantly start jogging towards goal at a light pace and weigh up their 5 options which are all easy lead up kicks because our players don’t have time to set up the next part of the zone.

This is genuinely hilarious and possibly the single worst tactic I’ve seen at this level - I actually really think this has had more catastrophic effects on this season than we realise.

 

[Dogsman16]

There was a contest that Riley Garcia completely pulled out of in the first qtr. And it wasn't through a lack of courage or anything like that. We have all seen him attack the ball and the man as much as anyone in his short career.

To me its this retreat and get numbers behind the ball thats impacting our players. Just like it did Garcia. Garcia's first though was to make sure he was shuffling back to protect space. Meanwhile theres no attack on the man and no pressure to allow intercepts behind the ball. Basically we have one on ones which we lose or we have about 5 blokes flying for the same contest who still get outmarked or don't intercept themselves and theres a bunch of opposition players on the ground.

 

[doggies ftw]

There was a contest that Riley Garcia completely pulled out of in the first qtr. And it wasn't through a lack of courage or anything like that. We have all seen him attack the ball and the man as much as anyone in his short career.

To me its this retreat and get numbers behind the ball thats impacting our players. Just like it did Garcia. Garcia's first though was to make sure he was shuffling back to protect space. Meanwhile theres no attack on the man and no pressure to allow intercepts behind the ball. Basically we have one on ones which we lose or we have about 5 blokes flying for the same contest who still get outmarked or don't intercept themselves and theres a bunch of opposition players on the ground.

100% it’s a full ground direction to retreat and corrall and cover space - it just doesn’t work against good teams, you give them an inch and they carve you up.

It’s worked against the shit sides because they don’t have the capability to do that and it just makes us look like we’re all over them across the ground shutting down their options. Again give a decent player an extra few seconds they don’t shit the bed they just find a target = and ast night is the result you get

 

[Boyd oh Boyd]

I was pretty neutral on it earlier in the year but it's clear to me it's a terrible tactic. I don't see us changing it if we haven't so far, and I'd wager we'll continue to do it right into next season as well.

 

[ScragCity]

I can't imagine a world in which Bevo will change tactics and go back to the more conventional method. That would be implicitly admitting that he was wrong. I can't ever remember Bevo admitting that he is fallible or second-guessing himself. That's part of the reason that he was a great coach, but it will also be his demise. We are stuck with this new strategy until Bevo is gone. It's the hill that he will die in. Maybe in six years when his autobiography is written he will say, "maybe I got that one wrong."

 

[doggies ftw]

I can't imagine a world in which Bevo will change tactics and go back to the more conventional method. That would be implicitly admitting that he was wrong. I can't ever remember Bevo admitting that he is fallible or second-guessing himself. That's part of the reason that he was a great coach, but it will also be his demise. We are stuck with this new strategy until Bevo is gone. It's the hill that he will die in. Maybe in six years when his autobiography is written he will say, "maybe I got that one wrong."

I understand that I’m sure they’ve got other metrics we don’t see that they’re basing its effectiveness on as there must be something they’re seeing to continue with it but **** I’d love to know what they are and how they can sit around in a room together, watch the tapes and justify nothing changing.

There has to be a reason right? I really can’t believe it’s as simple as dictator Bev saying nup this works - I mean he’s been quick to reverse positional changes that have been obvious failures - ie Wood to FF for a whole preseason and then all of 100 minutes in game