Strategy What is going wrong? A discussion of tactics, strategy and execution issues and how to fix them

[LMGjr]

My general preference would be to play only two of O'meara, Mitchell and worpel together. We moved all three through the forward line this week and have done similar against Carlton. Less so last week for whatever reason. We really need a big bodied mid to control space and knock over opposition players.

Yesterday was the most physical Worpel has been all year. Was knocking guys over and attempting to break tackles and burst clear. Was also much better at keeping his feet. Where has that been all year??? The difference it makes is that Mitchell and he are particularly prone to going to ground so it leaves us one short on our feet a lot. So possibly something clicked for Worpel yesterday and this is the start of better performances.

Agree. Mitchel's style of getting the ball means he'll be on the ground more often then not, which was working to his advantage in his Brownlow year, in that he'd be ready to be in the chain again, by himself, once the ball cleared his area and he went to space. It's a "different" way to kind of cheat possessions since he most often started by getting the ball in the first place.

Be interesting to see who Clarko now makes partners with the 3, since he's had a good look now.

 

[Briar Gold]

It's not the losing part that's hard but rather the slow painful death by long bombs into the forward 50

 

[Ram-Man]

What's going right? We have a 100% record at the MCG this year.

 

[Mercy Seat]

I think this is primarily a function of our slow ball movement. Mids aren’t able to break forward into space. We also don’t hit up short targets just inside fifty. For some reason we have gone away from centering the ball when outside fifty to just bombing it to a predictable spot. Big problem is our players don’t seem to get in a position to retain the ball from those kicks and the opposition clears it regularly. Also, we are using our mids almost exclusively in the middle so they aren’t spending much time forward.

Slow ball movement is our biggest problem. The whole “bombing it into 50” is a a result of this as oppo defenders have time to rezone by the time we get the ball into our forward 50. It leaves our mids etc no choice but to kick it to a 50/50 which we are also not great at taking advantage of.

 

[Brishawk]

Slow ball movement is our biggest problem. The whole “bombing it into 50” is a a result of this as oppo defenders have time to rezone by the time we get the ball into our forward 50. It leaves our mids etc no choice but to kick it to a 50/50 which we are also not great at taking advantage of.

In terms of bombing it into fifty, I was more talking about a static play where we have a mark outside city. In past years we would have looked to move the ball around the arc and try enter the fifty short to a player or to the open side and catch out the defence as it shifts across. I appreciate teams may defend that better but we don't even look for it as far as I can tell.

 

[Billyc]

In my view the main problems this year are:

1. lack of elite talent
2. lack of onfield leadership

This year more than any other is being determined by these. Coaching and tactical advantages have been lost as groups cannot even train together. Execution of game plan depends more than ever on the maturity / leadership within the playing group. It’s why Richmond / Geelong are best placed for the flag this year (Richmond also have the elite talent). Unless one of Eagles or Lions can ride a home ground advantage, one of Cats or Tigers will win it.

In recent seasons Clarko has been able to wallpaper over obvious cracks with system, especially late in seasons when he finds a new trick and we get a few late wins. This year his ability to bring about any system change is marginalised.

Our onfield leadership is among the worst in the competition. We all lament Stratton as captain but there is not an obvious successor. O’Meara probably the best in terms of work ethic and maturity but he struggles to impact games.

The other problem is a complete lack of elite talent. We haven’t had access to the elite end of the draft and the guys we traded away for who should be in their prime - O Meara, Wingard and Mitchell - are not performing at the elite level required. Mitchell was prior to his injury but this year he’s been a shadow of that player. Wingard has been a huge disappointment save for a small sample of games and his effort in recent weeks has been worrying. O’Meara is an honest trier whose professionalism cannot be questioned but he is not elite or damaging.

Sicily is our only elite performer in 2020 and now he’s gone. We wouldn’t have another player even close to the competition’s top 50 players this year. You’re not winning much without that talent.

 

[Brishawk]

In my view the main problems this year are:

1. lack of elite talent
2. lack of onfield leadership

This year more than any other is being determined by these. Coaching and tactical advantages have been lost as groups cannot even train together. Execution of game plan depends more than ever on the maturity / leadership within the playing group. It’s why Richmond / Geelong are best placed for the flag this year (Richmond also have the elite talent). Unless one of Eagles or Lions can ride a home ground advantage, one of Cats or Tigers will win it.

In recent seasons Clarko has been able to wallpaper over obvious cracks with system, especially late in seasons when he finds a new trick and we get a few late wins. This year his ability to bring about any system change is marginalised.

Our onfield leadership is among the worst in the competition. We all lament Stratton as captain but there is not an obvious successor. O’Meara probably the best in terms of work ethic and maturity but he struggles to impact games.

The other problem is a complete lack of elite talent. We haven’t had access to the elite end of the draft and the guys we traded away for who should be in their prime - O Meara, Wingard and Mitchell - are not performing at the elite level required. Mitchell was prior to his injury but this year he’s been a shadow of that player. Wingard has been a huge disappointment save for a small sample of games and his effort in recent weeks has been worrying. O’Meara is an honest trier whose professionalism cannot be questioned but he is not elite or damaging.

Sicily is our only elite performer in 2020 and now he’s gone. We wouldn’t have another player even close to the competition’s top 50 players this year. You’re not winning much without that talent.

As much as personal might be a problem, you don't get walloped 20-6 out of the centre due to personal when your ruckman is winning 3/5 taps. That is part strategy and part effort. Centre clearances should go roughly fifty-fifty. We were just letting them walk out of there, particularly in the second half.

 

[Falco131415]

I feel a shake up of the asst coaches could be done at years end.
Last night looked like Clarko wasn't happy with Burns the midfield coach & can you blame him we were pathetic.
Also think we miss Jack Russell too don't look match fit. Essendon came back from a 5 day break & Darwin humidity & they ran all over us.
Bolton doesn't look like the right fit for Clarkos' RH man either.
Doesn't seem the same since his return from Carlton - don't blame him for that probably scarred for life!

 

[Toasted]

I feel a shake up of the asst coaches could be done at years end.
Last night looked like Clarko wasn't happy with Burns the midfield coach & can you blame him we were pathetic.
Also think we miss Jack Russell too don't look match fit. Essendon came back from a 5 day break & Darwin humidity & they ran all over us.
Bolton doesn't look like the right fit for Clarkos' RH man either.
Doesn't seem the same since his return from Carlton - don't blame him for that probably scarred for life!

Russel and Fagen were huge losses. Russel on the fitness and conditioning and Fagen was the only man alive who I would have as Clarkos RH man. Not scared to challenge him in any way

 

[TylerDurden]

As much as personal might be a problem, you don't get walloped 20-6 out of the centre due to personal when your ruckman is winning 3/5 taps. That is part strategy and part effort. Centre clearances should go roughly fifty-fifty. We were just letting them walk out of there, particularly in the second half.

Was alarming.

 

[Davo-27]

I'm not interested in tactics, strategy or execution issues as I think we're playing a similar brand of footy we have been playing since 2011 with talent on field that is struggling to meet expectations for various reasons.

What I AM interested in is what is going wrong?

*I think losing one of the best fitness trainers in the AFL is hurting the club, no disrespect to whoever took over, but when you replace a 10 with someone not a 10, there tends to be a drop in performance, usually theres lag in performance once you make a change, be it a coach or head trainer, it takes 6 months to a year for systems to change and affects be felt and this year many people have pointed out that we seem unfit, maybe more qualification training or more help is needed? Hopefully the club can figure out a way to ensure we are fit enough to win finals

*Clarko has given off mixed messages, one week saying, let's play the kids if we play poorly, then changing his mind, then randomly playing some youngsters or less experienced players in their late 20s or 30s.

The players with less than 20 games before this season, that have played this season... Brooksby 30, Minchington 26, Nash 22, Cousins 22, Glass 23, Lewis 21, Scrimshaw 22, Jones 21, Hanrahan 22, Jiath 21, Day 19, Morris 18, now out of these players Day has been a shining light, Scrimshaw has a good future as well and a few others look ok, some are obviously not going to make it long term, but they always get given the chance ahead of some, i think maybe its favouritism or something because it can be puzzling why some decisions are made to play certain individuals ahead of others when it seems to not make sense.

Players who i would like to see debut, just so we can see if they can help improve our team and our performances this year are Finn Maginness inside/outside mid or medium forw, Mat Walker contested marking med forw who can also play time in midfield, Damon Greaves competitive running half back, Jacob Koschitzke tall KPD good in the air and connecting with his runners out of defence or maybe Jackson Ross a clever slippery forward who has a good goal kicking record? I would like to see our better youngsters get some game time to improve our clubs performances going forward.

You have to identify the problem before you can fix it, here is what i think is wrong and some solutions going forward.

 

[Brishawk]

I'm not interested in tactics, strategy or execution issues as I think we're playing a similar brand of footy we have been playing since 2011 with talent on field that is struggling to meet expectations for various reasons.

What I AM interested in is what is going wrong?

*I think losing one of the best fitness trainers in the AFL is hurting the club, no disrespect to whoever took over, but when you replace a 10 with someone not a 10, there tends to be a drop in performance, usually theres lag in performance once you make a change, be it a coach or head trainer, it takes 6 months to a year for systems to change and affects be felt and this year many people have pointed out that we seem unfit, maybe more qualification training or more help is needed? Hopefully the club can figure out a way to ensure we are fit enough to win finals

*Clarko has given off mixed messages, one week saying, let's play the kids if we play poorly, then changing his mind, then randomly playing some youngsters or less experienced players in their late 20s or 30s.

The players with less than 20 games before this season, that have played this season... Brooksby 30, Minchington 26, Nash 22, Cousins 22, Glass 23, Lewis 21, Scrimshaw 22, Jones 21, Hanrahan 22, Jiath 21, Day 19, Morris 18, now out of these players Day has been a shining light, Scrimshaw has a good future as well and a few others look ok, some are obviously not going to make it long term, but they always get given the chance ahead of some, i think maybe its favouritism or something because it can be puzzling why some decisions are made to play certain individuals ahead of others when it seems to not make sense.

Players who i would like to see debut, just so we can see if they can help improve our team and our performances this year are Finn Maginness inside/outside mid or medium forw, Mat Walker contested marking med forw who can also play time in midfield, Damon Greaves competitive running half back, Jacob Koschitzke tall KPD good in the air and connecting with his runners out of defence or maybe Jackson Ross a clever slippery forward who has a good goal kicking record? I would like to see our better youngsters get some game time to improve our clubs performances going forward.

You have to identify the problem before you can fix it, here is what i think is wrong and some solutions going forward.

Probably the wrong thread. All good points of course.

 

[TP86]

How many wins has Brendon Bolton been in the box for in his last 4 years of footy? Clarkson has gone from the coach-maker to charity.

 

[Hodginator]

The biggest thing that gets me every week (and maybe because we’re stuck watching on TV and can only see so much of the ground at once), is that it always seems we’re playing with 3 or 4 less on the field. So often the opposition have loose blokes everywhere when they go forward. And even when we end up with the ball and attack, we have no one to go to.

Where is everyone?

 

[tommyk72]

The biggest thing that gets me every week (and maybe because we’re stuck watching on TV and can only see so much of the ground at once), is that it always seems we’re playing with 3 or 4 less on the field. So often the opposition have loose blokes everywhere when they go forward. And even when we end up with the ball and attack, we have no one to go to.

Where is everyone?

There's a bunch of blokes who seem like they're already relaxing into retirement in our back half.

 

[savagelunchbox]

The biggest thing that gets me every week (and maybe because we’re stuck watching on TV and can only see so much of the ground at once), is that it always seems we’re playing with 3 or 4 less on the field. So often the opposition have loose blokes everywhere when they go forward. And even when we end up with the ball and attack, we have no one to go to.

Where is everyone?

Guarding space.

Piece of piss to beat if you have quick runners and/or quick ball movement. Our players don't adjust their position to pickup a nearby opponent once in position. This is, if they get a stoppage to setup up. If they don't, our forwards are slow and incapable of chasing their opponents so the midfield's defensive zone means they have to cover the forwards' players running it out, which leaves their direct opponents free.

 

[Millsie69]

The biggest thing that gets me every week (and maybe because we’re stuck watching on TV and can only see so much of the ground at once), is that it always seems we’re playing with 3 or 4 less on the field. So often the opposition have loose blokes everywhere when they go forward. And even when we end up with the ball and attack, we have no one to go to.

Where is everyone?

This.

I’ve now attended our last 3 games and noticed this all the time. Just seems like there’s an extra opposition player at every pack and at the fall of every marking contest.

Is it a lack of fitness? Or simply a lack of effort?

And the whole ‘our players are struggling in the hub’ is a F’ing cop out.

Every other club has been going through the same thing!

Just want to see them at least look like they’re trying.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

This.

I’ve now attended our last 3 games and noticed this all the time. Just seems like there’s an extra opposition player at every pack and at the fall of every marking contest.

Is it a lack of fitness? Or simply a lack of effort?

And the whole ‘our players are struggling in the hub’ is a F’ing cop out.

Every other club has been going through the same thing!

Just want to see them at least look like they’re trying.

Guarding space/our set-up. Which is a tactical issue. It's been said ad nauseam all season (and last season), but our game plan is clearly out of date, boring and essentially terrible. It needs to be changed.

 

[Gralin]

This.

I’ve now attended our last 3 games and noticed this all the time. Just seems like there’s an extra opposition player at every pack and at the fall of every marking contest.

Is it a lack of fitness? Or simply a lack of effort?

And the whole ‘our players are struggling in the hub’ is a F’ing cop out.

Every other club has been going through the same thing!

Just want to see them at least look like they’re trying.

If they aren't dealing with it it isn't a cop out, it's a reason.

Not every club is dealing with this season, it's not an excuse but it is a reality.

We've got a lot of older bloke's with kids, a few that moved to Melbourne to be closer to family after they lost a parent or relative.

Not everyone deals with being away from home for extended periods the same. Add to that we've not looked like challenging for the flag for most of the year and is it any wonder we are playing like that?

At the end of the day they are all people and people don't all cope with stress the same

 

[Millsie69]

If they aren't dealing with it it isn't a cop out, it's a reason.

Not every club is dealing with this season, it's not an excuse but it is a reality.

We've got a lot of older bloke's with kids, a few that moved to Melbourne to be closer to family after they lost a parent or relative.

Not everyone deals with being away from home for extended periods the same. Add to that we've not looked like challenging for the flag for most of the year and is it any wonder we are playing like that?

At the end of the day they are all people and people don't all cope with stress the same

Respectfully disagree.

If players didn't want to join the hub for personal reasons, they didn't have to. See Houli, Edwards, Ablett.

No one has performed as poorly as us, since joining 'the hub.'

And to say that we haven't looked like challenging, we were 3-1 before leaving Melbourne and have won just the single, solitary game since then.

 

[savagelunchbox]

Respectfully disagree.

If players didn't want to join the hub for personal reasons, they didn't have to. See Houli, Edwards, Ablett.

No one has performed as poorly as us, since joining 'the hub.'

And to say that we haven't looked like challenging, we were 3-1 before leaving Melbourne and have won just the single, solitary game since then.

Gralin hasn't watched or attended a game in almost 18 months. Your arguing with a troll trying to use their position to set the narrative that there's nothing wrong.

How do you know what's going on when you haven't seen anything for 18 months?

 

[Gralin]

Respectfully disagree.

If players didn't want to join the hub for personal reasons, they didn't have to. See Houli, Edwards, Ablett.

No one has performed as poorly as us, since joining 'the hub.'

And to say that we haven't looked like challenging, we were 3-1 before leaving Melbourne and have won just the single, solitary game since then.

I'm saying don't dismiss the hubs or the general shit show that is 2020, not saying blame it or use it as an excuse, just don't dismiss it.

Gralin hasn't watched or attended a game in almost 18 months. Your arguing with a troll trying to use their position to set the narrative that there's nothing wrong.

I'm a troll now am I?

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

i dont really understand how saying our club hasn't coped with the lockdown while plenty of other vic teams have is a cop-out

is it not a pretty serious indictment on our list, leaders and staff?

 

[burner1]

Even if you want to attribute the hub as a partial excuse would we be a top 4 side or genuine contender (noting other sides would be better as well)? Highly doubt it. We would still likely to considering futures of silk, Stratton, Frawley etc

If anything it’s done us a favour as stopped a mid table finish that Clarko could use as a reason for more short term trades (although he still may) and put pressure on doing a much needed list prune.

 

[Gralin]

i dont really understand how saying our club hasn't coped with the lockdown while plenty of other vic teams have is a cop-out

is it not a pretty serious indictment on our list, leaders and staff?

Speaks to where we are at mentally I think.

How many guys on our list want to win, like really want to win.

It took losing a Grand Final to really steel the last group, we look mentally fragile like that group did in 2009-2013, we didn't really shake that until we got Past Geelong in the Prelim

GWS show its about more than just talent, so do the Tigers, just in opposite ways really, Tigers got a lot of guys that wouldn't be as good in other teams because they play with the belief that they will win and they wouldn't have that elsewhere

GWS play more like the 2011-2012 Hawks, super talented but mentally fragile

We look like a mentally weak team with middling talent, put that together and you end up down the bottom because you perform below the level you are capable of.

How much the nature of this season is responsible for the mental funk we will likely never know, may have just exposed that underbelly well and truly