Areas for improvement in 2007?

[Dry Rot]

I can think of tackling generally, centre clearances and making a contest/crumbing up forward.

All these would make a material difference to our chances in 2007 IMO.

Any others?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

You have basically covered the areas there DR. From my understanding, we have attended to the tackling issue over the Summer. Hopefully we see an improvement there.

I'm not sure what we've done to rectify the centre clearances problem though. Is Campbell the one looking after that? In any event, with more experience, perhaps Griffen/Higgins playing in there, Hahn coming back & of course Akermanis we SHOULD improve on last year. We need to if we're going to beat sides like West Coast, Sydney and Adelaide in Finals.

Darcy is a huge "pick-up" - even if he doesn't dominate quite like he used to. His presence alone is going to better the team by a mile. He's a very intelligent, strong player and he'll create all sorts of problems for sides even if he's just working within a 30m radius in the forward line. Some Full Back's are going to struggle to contain him, as he IS/was a Ruckmen. Not only does he provide a quality long target, but he's not going to be beaten too many times in the air. 9/10 times he'll bring the ball to the ground which is going to create an opportunity for players like Akermanis & Higgins, who I think are good crumbers. Obviously we don't have a "Milne" type crumber in our side. Perhaps Faulkner could fill the void, or even Lynch - but either way I think the players will be able to feed off the spillages well.

To add something, I think the Ruck Work needs improvement. For example; Street appears to get his hands to the ball often, yet we don't seem to ever dominate the clearances or take full advantage of this. Rarely we see our players break away from Street's tapwork, and for the amount of times Streety actually does get the tap down, it really needs to be looked at. Minson still needs some work too. I just don't think we have a good strategy ATM. There doesn't seem to be an understanding out there - it's more or less "try" and get the ball first, rather than putting a plan into place to try and work something out. The good sides seem to have this, and I think it's something we should work hard on.

[Mofra]

Definately Clearances & Stoppages, a few times last year we were really exposed, esp. the final against West Coast & the seocnd game against the Saints.

[dog town]

I think we need to get smarter with the way we play the game in general. When opposition sides get a run on we cant always rely on just putting Chris Grant behind the ball. I suspect Eade will perhaps give our game plan a little more detail as we become a more mature team.

DR our tackling could get better but it has come a long way. Our defensive pressure is now a strength of ours when we are on song and hopefully we can get more consistent with that and even lift a level. We still miss tackles and our defensive pressure can go missing for 2 or 3 weeks at a time.

Higgins is a bit of a wild card in regards to the clearances. He is a natural ball winner and players like him dont neccesarily take a long time to have an impact. He is a different type of player but he could have a Brock Mclean type influence for us in patches.

[metal]

Agree with the excellent posts above.

I know that we are praised for our precision kicking and run, but I thought last year that we still made too many unforced errors for the game we play. It seems to me that we just can't afford to make the mistakes we do given the game we play. If we minimize these or make a huge improvemnt in them, then we could be almost unstoppable. It isn't easy to pinpoint passes under pressure or on windy days (final against WC) but I really think we have to go with players who can execute precisely.

I also thought we got knocked off the ball too easily in the final. Hopefully that is addressed now with the strength program over the summer, but I see Collingwood and other teams are doing just the same or even more.

Decision making under pressure was sometimes lacking in the final, because we couldn't find space or slip tags. I would hope that we continue to learn how to counter defensive and crowding tactics.

[firstdogonthemoon]

I think the amount and quality of noise our supporters could improve - we need more leadership from the senior dogs supporter groups.

[GVGjr]

I also thought we got knocked off the ball too easily in the final. Hopefully that is addressed now with the strength program over the summer, but I see Collingwood and other teams are doing just the same or even more.

Decision making under pressure was sometimes lacking in the final, because we couldn't find space or slip tags. I would hope that we continue to learn how to counter defensive and crowding tactics.

These are the two points that I think we can and will improve on. The focus over the summer months on adding a bit of size to our midfielders will pay big dividends for us. There is a noticeable physical improvement in a number of the guys

The decision making and skills errors is not a quick fix and a lot will depend on guys like Ray and McMahon who despite their combined brilliance at times do hurt us occasionally with turnovers or poor decisions. From what I have seen a number of players have improved their skill levels on previous seasons and it will be interesting to see if this can be maintained in the pressure cooker of tight games.

[Griffen#16]

Our clearances this year should improve I think. We have a few more explosive guys to chuck in there, with Griffen, Higgins, and Akermanis. Hopefully Cooney can get his body right too - and suddenly we have some strong, explosive types to mix with the West, Cross and Boyd types.

Our tackling generally did improve last year - I remember some sensational individual efforts by Boyd against the Crows for example - where our tackling and pressure looked top notch. We just need to be able to keep that pressure on for longer periods and with greater consistency. The fact they have spent time over summer working on it is promising, and hopefully the bigger bodies will help too.

As far as a crumbing forward, I'd be happy to see Akermanis, Cooney, Higgins and Faulkner challenge for that role - and potentially one of the young Aboriginal lads as the season goes on. Brad Johnson is also not bad at crumbing a goal, but I think that he'll most likely again play a leading and marking role, rather than just crumb goals.

[bornadog]

The area we need to further improve is stopping goals being kicked. Last two years we were in the top three for the number of goals for, but also against. We need to improve our defensive side without effecting our attacking style. Adelaide proved last year that it can be done. We need to mold the defense into a tight unit, that is tough and uncomprimising. Its going to be hard and a few guys need to take the next step, such as Cam Wight, Hargarve, Griffen and Harris.

[Dry Rot]

The area we need to further improve is stopping goals being kicked. Last two years we were in the top three for the number of goals for, but also against. We need to improve our defensive side without effecting our attacking style. Adelaide proved last year that it can be done. We need to mold the defense into a tight unit, that is tough and uncomprimising. Its going to be hard and a few guys need to take the next step, such as Cam Wight, Hargarve, Griffen and Harris.

What about the theory that our defensive problems are further up the field?