Longing for the days of Handball Club

[westdog54]

The 2016 premiership was built on a number of pillars.

One of the most discussed and most intriguing was the so called "Handball Club".

Our clearance work was underpinned by rapid ball movement by hand in close until a player was put into space. Players were getting their hands up prior to being tackled in prefer to keep the ball moving.

Fast forward 8 years, and I'm struggling to remember a Bulldogs team this sloppy with ball in hand. Missing targets by hand in close in the modern game is a recipe for disaster and it's one of the main ways we leak goals.

It's so frustrating to see how badly we've fallen away in one of the game's fundamental skills.

[azabob]

I remember one of the first things Beveridge said when he arrived at the club was that everyone needs to be able to kick on their opposite foot. We made that a focus and we worked on it. We worked bloody hard at it.

It is almost like that the "fundamentals and non-negotiables" that were there in 2015 and 2016 are no longer non-negotiable.

I guess that is why we let our goal kicking slip so bad over the past few seasons.

As a club we are failing the most basic fundamentals - this is highlighted by our lack of care with the ball in the back half.

[bornadog]

As a club we are failing the most basic fundamentals - this is highlighted by our lack of care with the ball in the back half.

Is it the pressure we are failing under ?

Is it the players actually aren't good enough?

Has the new assistant changed things and they are not working?

[GVGjr]

I remember one of the first things Beveridge said when he arrived at the club was that everyone needs to be able to kick on their opposite foot. We made that a focus and we worked on it. We worked bloody hard at it.

It is almost like that the "fundamentals and non-negotiables" that were there in 2015 and 2016 are no longer non-negotiable.

I guess that is why we let our goal kicking slip so bad over the past few seasons.

As a club we are failing the most basic fundamentals - this is highlighted by our lack of care with the ball in the back half.

Hawks were really impressive with the way many of their players used the footy. We stuttered a bit at critical times.

They train a lot with the footy but come game time the skills can let his down

[westdog54]

I remember one of the first things Beveridge said when he arrived at the club was that everyone needs to be able to kick on their opposite foot. We made that a focus and we worked on it. We worked bloody hard at it.

It is almost like that the "fundamentals and non-negotiables" that were there in 2015 and 2016 are no longer non-negotiable.

I guess that is why we let our goal kicking slip so bad over the past few seasons.

As a club we are failing the most basic fundamentals - this is highlighted by our lack of care with the ball in the back half.

Treloar, for all his positive attributes, is a horrendous offender with this. His inability to use his left leads him to take ridiculous check side options through the middle that rarely come off. It's so damn frustrating.

I know The Bont is an unfair comparison since, well, he's The Bont, but you don't even need to be at his standard when it comes to using both feet. It just needs to be a viable plan B/get out option. And when you're a professional footballer, this shouldn't be an onerous requirement. As a midfielder, it ought to be considered essential.

[bornadog]

Treloar, for all his positive attributes, is a horrendous offender with this. His inability to use his left leads him to take ridiculous check side options through the middle that rarely come off. It's so damn frustrating.

I know The Bont is an unfair comparison since, well, he's The Bont, but you don't even need to be at his standard when it comes to using both feet. It just needs to be a viable plan B/get out option. And when you're a professional footballer, this shouldn't be an onerous requirement. As a midfielder, it ought to be considered essential.

Treloar's handballing was so frustrating - never hits a target, and the way he just slams the ball on his foot - no wonder he had 10 turnovers

[angelopetraglia]

Treloar's handballing was so frustrating - never hits a target, and the way he just slams the ball on his foot - no wonder he had 10 turnovers

He had plenty of friends yesterday.

Treloar had 10 turnovers from 33 touches. 30%.

Dale had 7 turnovers from 29 touches. 24%.

JJ had 5 turnovers from 19 touches. 26%.

Liam Jones had 4 turnovers from 16 touches. 25%.

Clarke had 4 turnovers from 6 touches. 66%

Marra had 3 turnovers from 4 touches. 75%.

JOD had 3 turnovers from 6 touches. 50%.

Baker had 3 turnovers from 8 touches. 38%.