Congestion happens because of poor footy. Poor skills not poor game plans. Good teams still open the game up and play a terrific brand of footy.
Richmond are the best team - but are the worst to watch because they clog the game up at every possible opportunity. That's their game plan. They swarm the player with the ball, and sit loose defenders back just waiting for the pressure kick.
Sydney did this when they were the best team in the comp - and St Kilda did it for about 5 years under Lyon and nearly won two flags.
The only reason "Good teams still open the game up and play a terrific brand of footy" is because the opposition's defence has broken down. And this is why coaches spend all their time teaching defence, and why 'good teams' still can't kick over 80 points each week.
The issue is that good defence beats good offence. A team like Richmond win because of their defence, as did the other two mentioned above. The balance of power in AFL footy, lies with the defence. It never used to.
Defence has always been important, but the way the game was played meant the balance of power was with the offence.
The fact that Hardwick stated that he values tackling and pressure when recruiting over skill says it all. There's never been a time in AFL footy where that would apply.
So basically, I disagree with you. Apparent poor skills are caused by high pressure defence, and high level team defence further up the ground.
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