This week: Essendon are the 5%

[mjp]

I pretty much ALWAYS like to look at the oppo when I'm looking at a game. What do they do well, how can 'we' beat them.

This week? I reckon that needs to be 5% (or less) of the equation.

This week? Basics - and play the way WE want to play. Yep, acknowledge them. Respect them. But essentially we just need to get 'US' right. Because the best version of US wins.

Thoughts? Should the coaches dissect this one and really target the bombers or just take the "Let's play OUR footy" approach.

[Mantis]

Does it really matter what we think we should do? I guess it gives us something to talk about, but in reality Bevo will probably do the opposite of what we would like.

Last week it was pretty clear that the danger player during the game was Gulden and we did nothing about him at all, Daniel was occasionally near him when he was in the midfield, but there was no close checking at post clearance and he sliced us up.

So sure, play our way, and when it doesn't work suffer the consequences.

[Rocco Jones]

Does it really matter what we think we should do? I guess it gives us something to talk about, but in reality Bevo will probably do the opposite of what we would like.

Last week it was pretty clear that the danger player during the game was Gulden and we did nothing about him at all, Daniel was occasionally near him when he was in the midfield, but there was no close checking at post clearance and he sliced us up.

So sure, play our way, and when it doesn't work suffer the consequences.

Yep. Good or bad, we play our way and ignore whatever the opposition do more than anyone.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

So since the 2021 grand final we have given up the 4th most 5 or more consecutive goal spurts in the comp. The only teams worse than us are the Eagles, North and Hawks.

So yeah, all teams do it, but we do it far too often.

Until we are able to control games, we're not going to challenge. I think essendon are a team who will kick in bursts against us. It'll come down to how well we can minimise the damage and make the most of the chances we get. And who the hell knows how well we will do that.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Another interesting piece of vision from Thursday night's game was Sydney's very deliberate strategy to force the ball forward by any means necessary. They were tapping it, kicking it along the ground, toe poking it. Whatever it took to get it forward. The rationale being to expose our poor defence and high press. It was deliberate and effective (they weren't doing it much in the 1st quarter). We are too predictable.

[1eyedog]

Does it really matter what we think we should do? I guess it gives us something to talk about, but in reality Bevo will probably do the opposite of what we would like.

Last week it was pretty clear that the danger player during the game was Gulden and we did nothing about him at all, Daniel was occasionally near him when he was in the midfield, but there was no close checking at post clearance and he sliced us up.

So sure, play our way, and when it doesn't work suffer the consequences.

Yep 100%. Bevo has said many times over we solely focus on the things we can control and are non-reactive to the opposition. We don't tag and we very rarely make in-game adjustments / positional changes.

There is a 100% belief that our system works. Executing it though, not so good.

[mjp]

Does it really matter what we think we should do? I guess it gives us something to talk about, but in reality Bevo will probably do the opposite of what we would like.

LOL. That's the whole point of the forum mate...And Bevo is gonna Bevo - that's all good though isn't it??

So sure, play our way, and when it doesn't work suffer the consequences.

I understand how you can see it this way but when the pressure is 'REALLY' on - and I think it is - you really have to lean into 1 of 2 things:

1/. The details - really focus on the nuances of the plan, the minutiae and let the players have something to focus on.
2/. The basics - let them relax, play with their 1-woods and 'free them up'.

Right now, I vote option 2. I just think we need to try and play with a little more freedom right now and getting caught up in trying to solve the problem of Essendon (in the way that I thought post half time last week we seemed set on solving the problem of Sydney) we are simply gonna get done.

[hujsh]

Another interesting piece of vision from Thursday night's game was Sydney's very deliberate strategy to force the ball forward by any means necessary. They were tapping it, kicking it along the ground, toe poking it. Whatever it took to get it forward. The rationale being to expose our poor defence and high press. It was deliberate and effective (they weren't doing it much in the 1st quarter). We are too predictable.

It was like watching wet weather footy but it worked

[Mofra]

Another interesting piece of vision from Thursday night's game was Sydney's very deliberate strategy to force the ball forward by any means necessary. They were tapping it, kicking it along the ground, toe poking it. Whatever it took to get it forward. The rationale being to expose our poor defence and high press. It was deliberate and effective (they weren't doing it much in the 1st quarter). We are too predictable.

It was also wet, and their season turnaround coincided with them becoming a 'handball forward' team rather than a look for a clear kicker - which is ironic as they may just have two of the best kicks in the AFL playing for them (Gulden and the Lizard).

We're a 'handball to kick' team which I think can mean our adjustment to greasy-ball or wet weather football is more pronounced than other sides. I felt it really hurt us in Darwin after quarter time, with GCS adapting much better tot he conditions.
Weirdly, I think Rhylee West is incredibly effective as a 'handball forward' type player and far less so when finesse is the team style.

I get what mjp is saying in the OP though. The marines 'take the initiative' rather than just react to the enemy, and our style compared to theirs tends to make for a close encounter anyway.

[Mantis]

LOL. That's the whole point of the forum mate...And Bevo is gonna Bevo - that's all good though isn't it??

It is all good... I guess it's frustrating when there seems to be a lack of logic (from where we all sit) to both in game tactics and certain selections.

I understand how you can see it this way but when the pressure is 'REALLY' on - and I think it is - you really have to lean into 1 of 2 things:

1/. The details - really focus on the nuances of the plan, the minutiae and let the players have something to focus on.
2/. The basics - let them relax, play with their 1-woods and 'free them up'.

Right now, I vote option 2. I just think we need to try and play with a little more freedom right now and getting caught up in trying to solve the problem of Essendon (in the way that I thought post half time last week we seemed set on solving the problem of Sydney) we are simply gonna get done.

As evidenced by Bont's reaction on the siren last Thursday we would be pretty frustrated by the fact our season is on a knife's edge when the expectations in the pre-season, and when we were 8-4 (even after a horror opening 2 weeks) were much higher than scrapping into the 8.

I'm all for trying whatever works this week... but it has to work.

[EasternWest]

Does it really matter what we think we should do? I guess it gives us something to talk about, but in reality Bevo will probably do the opposite of what we would like.

Last week it was pretty clear that the danger player during the game was Gulden and we did nothing about him at all, Daniel was occasionally near him when he was in the midfield, but there was no close checking at post clearance and he sliced us up.

So sure, play our way, and when it doesn't work suffer the consequences.

Mantis to ruck.

[bornadog]

Some analysis of the game by Richard Little:

[bornadog]

[bornadog]

[bornadog]