2011 - What we need to win a Premiership

[becmatty]

We will also need to CAREFULLY select a captain...

[LostDoggy]

Can we draft his wife?

This comes up on WOOF everytime Brad's name comes up. All in fun, I'm sure, but Pia is a good old personal family friend, and I'm finding the refrain getting maybe a wee old...

Having said that, she gets paid to be professionally good-looking, so I guess innocent comments about her looks are entirely appropriate. Carry on.

[Mofra]

Having said that, she gets paid to be professionally good-looking

And here I am doing it for free!

[comrade]

This comes up on WOOF everytime Brad's name comes up. All in fun, I'm sure, but Pia is a good old personal family friend, and I'm finding the refrain getting maybe a wee old...

Having said that, she gets paid to be professionally good-looking, so I guess innocent comments about her looks are entirely appropriate. Carry on.

Exactly.

She's stunning and seems like a genuinely nice person, too from the media work she does.

Well done, Brad (but you're not welcome at the Bulldogs ).

[1eyedog]

This comes up on WOOF everytime Brad's name comes up. All in fun, I'm sure, but Pia is a good old personal family friend, and I'm finding the refrain getting maybe a wee old...

Having said that, she gets paid to be professionally good-looking, so I guess innocent comments about her looks are entirely appropriate. Carry on.

She gets paid to market a product, being good looking is the prerequisite to her marketing position.

Being a family friend of yours will not (and should not) censor other peoples opinion on her looks.

Just don't take any notice.

[LostDoggy]

i don't think we have a playing list problem. I think our list has a good balance of youth and experience. BUT compared to Collingwood, St kilda and Geelong, we play a very hapharzard style.

Isn't this supposed to be intentional? I seem to remember references to 'play on at all costs', 'diagonal ball movement' etc., and a Bob Murphy piece sometime back about how our gamestyle is supposed to be organised chaos, and how we have patterns that are supposed to be confusing to our opposition but makes sense to us.

Well, a few years of video analysis later it would seem that the better clubs have worked out our movement patterns. Besides, the big tactical move in the last three years has been a zonal press, which we haven't quite seem to have cottoned on to.. we're the only serious contending team with a forwardline that believes tackling is a secondary task. Other teams have forwards who can barely kick but have as their primary purpose an intimidating forward 50 tackling presence. Addison seemed to play this role in the finals, but it's still seems a bit of a tactical afterthought with our MC rather than a serious focus.

[Mantis]

Isn't this supposed to be intentional? I seem to remember references to 'play on at all costs', 'diagonal ball movement' etc., and a Bob Murphy piece sometime back about how our gamestyle is supposed to be organised chaos, and how we have patterns that are supposed to be confusing to our opposition but makes sense to us.

Well, a few years of video analysis later it would seem that the better clubs have worked out our movement patterns. Besides, the big tactical move in the last three years has been a zonal press, which we haven't quite seem to have cottoned on to.. we're the only serious contending team with a forwardline that believes tackling is a secondary task. Other teams have forwards who can barely kick but have as their primary purpose an intimidating forward 50 tackling presence. Addison seemed to play this role in the finals, but it's still seems a bit of a tactical afterthought with our MC rather than a serious focus.

It is a real area of weakness of our team and something that needs to improve.

When Paul Williams came to the club I can remember being reported that he would like to add a real defensive aspect to our forwardline. So far this hasn't happened and it needs too.. In fairness to Paul I'm not sure if he has had the cattle to carry out this game plan, but we have all seen thus far that a forwarline that doesn't create turnovers isn't going to be able to beat the best teams.

[Stefcep]

Isn't this supposed to be intentional? I seem to remember references to 'play on at all costs', 'diagonal ball movement' etc., and a Bob Murphy piece sometime back about how our gamestyle is supposed to be organised chaos, and how we have patterns that are supposed to be confusing to our opposition but makes sense to us.

Don't remember that one. Well they did a good job of making me believe we had no system, when all along that was the plan!

Well, a few years of video analysis later it would seem that the better clubs have worked out our movement patterns. Besides, the big tactical move in the last three years has been a zonal press, which we haven't quite seem to have cottoned on to.. we're the only serious contending team with a forwardline that believes tackling is a secondary task. Other teams have forwards who can barely kick but have as their primary purpose an intimidating forward 50 tackling presence. Addison seemed to play this role in the finals, but it's still seems a bit of a tactical afterthought with our MC rather than a serious focus.

years ago someone said :defense begins when you don't have the ball."

[Mofra]

When Paul Williams came to the club I can remember being reported that he would like to add a real defensive aspect to our forwardline. So far this hasn't happened and it needs too.. In fairness to Paul I'm not sure if he has had the cattle to carry out this game plan, but we have all seen thus far that a forwarline that doesn't create turnovers isn't going to be able to beat the best teams.

Part of the reason for that is a lack of pace in the F50 IMO.
The emergence of Grant, Jones & Hooper will hopefully go some way to restoring the emphasis.

[bornadog]

Part of the reason for that is a lack of pace in the F50 IMO.
The emergence of Grant, Jones & Hooper will hopefully go some way to restoring the emphasis.

Correct, guys like Gia, Johnno, Hahn = no pace

[LostDoggy]

Part of the reason for that is a lack of pace in the F50 IMO.
The emergence of Grant, Jones & Hooper will hopefully go some way to restoring the emphasis.

Would have liked to see this kid get a finals game this year.

[LostDoggy]

Correct, guys like Gia, Johnno, Hahn = no pace

And yet we persisted with playing them, seemingly with the idea that defense in the forward 50 was optional, and as long as these guys were scoring goals they didn't have to be marked harshly the other way.

None of them would be played in a Saints or Collingwood forwardline if they didn't back up their offensive work with a defensive mindset. Even Milne had to change his focus to get a game with St.Kilda. That's why Medhurst and Anthony can't get a game with Collingwood.

I think the way football tactics have moved, it isn't optional. The fact that the guys mentioned kept getting picked means that the MC don't see defensive effectiveness in the forward 50 as a non-negotiable.

[LostDoggy]

To be fair to Rocket, Collingwood struggled before this season to implement forwardline pressure effectively as well .. insiders (I'm talking Pies and Saints matchday staff) have mentioned in private conversations I've had with them (one as recently as the Pies-Cats prelim) that they think Luke Ball going to the Pies has been a massive factor in Collingwood's improved gameplan, as he is a very smart bloke, and Malthouse picking his brain has had a lot to do with transplanting key elements of the Saints frontal press to the Pies. It would be ironic if Lyon getting rid of Ball has helped Collingwood beat St.Kilda at its own game.

What's Farren's memory like? We might want to think about getting him back *grin*.