Lack of skill in defence a problem?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Poor defence & a lack of skill is costing us at the moment. We almost lost to Essendon and were probably lucky they received a few injuries, and we managed to somehow escape what seemed to be an inevitable loss at the 20 minute mark of the last quarter today. Still - two points is not good enough, we really should've beaten Richmond by 4+ goals because we are a better football side. I thought I'd start up a new thread and concentrate on what I believe are two of our main problems.

Firstly;

Defence:
Alright - everybody knows that we are lacking in defence. Lake is a great defender but cannot be expected to perform at a game saving pace every single week. Morris is handy and a good player although I feel he's getting beaten a little too regularly for my liking lately. Either way, he's obviously a valuable player. Gilbee provides fantastic drive off half back and is the best kick in the competition. After this though - the problems begin. Wight, Hargrave & Callan really seem to struggle. Wight is OK in patches but he leaks too many goals to be considered a solid back. Hargrave is way too hot & cold - at his best he's got a good leap & spoil with great attacking instincts. However, today & quite often, he plays consistently from behind, gives away free kicks and turns the ball over. He's got height, he can run & kick & is capable of a good mark but he's not a defender and must be pushed further up the ground because he conceeds too many goals. Callan is tough and manages to find a bit of the ball, but his decision making & disposal are very poor. Seriously question whether or not he does more good for the team than harm. Often finds himself out of position and can sometimes give away silly free kicks.

To break it down;

Harris = Our best defender. Capable of playing on all sorts & shutting them down. Not the worst kick in the side but needs to improve his short passes.

Morris = Our best medium defender. Capable of playing the lockdown role, and is generally good in the air and on the ground. Average disposal.

Gilbee = Our best attacking defender. Capable of defending well too, but it's his precision and creativity that makes him such a valued player. Best HB in the league, IMO.

Wight = Average inconsistent player. Often gives away front position and can be out-muscled or beaten on the lead. At times has a decent reach & spoil, and he has aggression. Fumbles too much but can be creative going forward. Reality says he's OK in patches but still gives away too much and wouldn't be in our best 22. Average disposal.

Hargrave = Arguably the most frustrating player because he has some impressive qualities. He's got a good leap & he's a nice height, he can be handy in the air & good on ground level. Capable of taking them on and providing plenty of drive off half back. He's able to kick the ball 50m+ but on the flip side often gives away free kicks, gives away too many goals & makes poor decisions and thus makes skill errors. Needs to be pushed up the field. Inconsistent disposal.

Callan = Hard at it defender, but can we afford to have only that? Seems to find the ball a bit and relishes throwing his body into a contest, but his decision making is certainly questionable and his disposal is poor.

Overall 4/6 of those players are not the best at disposing of the ball. Hargrave is inconsistent, I didn't include him, but he does make too many mistakes. This has to be a real cause for concern. We're giving up FAR too many goals AND we haven't got enough skill to deliver the footy off half back. Ultimately this means that we're giving up goals frequently from our players getting beaten in general play, or if they do escape with the footy, they turn it over & create another chance for the opposition.

Is this a problem, and if it is, how can it be rectified? Options are moving up Hargrave up the field, perhaps encouraging Hudson to ruck & push back, whilst getting Williams & Everitt will hopefully improve the strength & disposal.

What are your thoughts/solutions?

[LostDoggy]

I've said it before.

Hargrave needs to play up the ground.
He's out of his depth in defence and has always suffered from poor footy judgement (including his kick across goal today to a contest resulting in a Tigers goal).

He'd be a handy wingman and can kick a goal.
Will also cause some matchup issues for the opposition.

[Dry Rot]

If we had a half forward line, Murphy could spend some useful time back.

Williams and Everritt change the equation somewhat, but are they certainties to come straight back? Everritt looked out of sorts before his injury.

[LostDoggy]

I think part of the problem mjp spoke about it last week. Disposal. Some of the options and skills displayed coming out of the D50 were worse that last week.
Today our spare man/men in defence had no effect. I don't know why we didn't go man on man earlier.
What really pissed me off was the number of easy goal and marks/free within 30m dead in front.

[G-Mo77]

What really pissed me off was the number of easy goal and marks/free within 30m dead in front.

Richmond seemed to do it with ease for most of the day. At times it wasn't as if it was brought in quickly and easily and there was nothing the defender could do, a lot of them came from chipping it around and then finding a target inside slowly. As a backman myself there is no real excuse for that, just poor checking!

[Topdog]

Everitt is a fantastic user of the ball too and Williams is no slouch. Them 2 will do a lot to improve the skill level of our backline.

I'd like our players to realise their limitations a bit more too. Handball it off to a better disposer if necessary.

[wimberga]

noticed that not just in defence but around the ground, the ball was not really in the hands of the players that can use it well for the majority of the game. Minsons shot at goal when he had a vacant Aker 2m in front of him is an obvious one, Callan delivering into our forward 50, as with wight, who had Josh Hill alone in a paddock in the forward pocket but didnt get it.

[FrediKanoute]

Wight = Average inconsistent player. Often gives away front position and can be out-muscled or beaten on the lead. At times has a decent reach & spoil, and he has aggression. Fumbles too much but can be creative going forward. Reality says he's OK in patches but still gives away too much and wouldn't be in our best 22. Average disposal.

I though he was pretty good yesterday, though his vision and awareness going foward are a little suspect. Definitely not the worst out there yesterday and his disposal generally is ok.

Callan = Hard at it defender, but can we afford to have only that? Seems to find the ball a bit and relishes throwing his body into a contest, but his decision making is certainly questionable and his disposal is poor.

Had a poor game yesterday. Gave the ball away too often and gave away silly free kicks. Agree he's strong at the ball etc, but he makes me nervous when he gets the footy.

[Go_Dogs]

I though he was pretty good yesterday, though his vision and awareness going foward are a little suspect. Definitely not the worst out there yesterday and his disposal generally is ok.

I tend to agree that Wight is worth persisting with. He's reasonable at spoiling, attacks the ball hard both in flight and at ground level, has great endurance and is slowly getting better at his disposal and decision making skills. He'll continue to improve his core strength too. So basically I think he's shown enough that we persist with him.


I do agree with the general consensus of this thread that we need more quality off the back line. IMO Ray should be trialled as a half back for patches at Williamstown before he comes back and hopefully he can fill a role there. Besides him, Everitt will hopefully be able to add some more composure, run and skill too. Not much else left on the shelf imo, as we can't really afford to move Griff/Murph/Aker etc to the backline at this stage.

[LostDoggy]

Wight worth presisting basically cos we have no one else at CHB. Personally I'd even try Skipper there.