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Re: Blame me for horror week, says Western Bulldogs coach
Would help to have to targets that can actually mark the ball in contested situations. Especially when you don't want to move the ball quickly, you need to be able to take a contested grab.
I think Jeanette has nailed it re the handball. We are far too quick to handball off to someone else as soon as we get it or handball sideways and then backward due to perceived pressure or lack of ownership to take the game on.
Perhaps we practice the hot potato drills far too often in training that it becomes instinct?
It's a big confidence draining moment to get caught with the ball, and I think worry is a heavy weight on the players when confidence is low. This only encourages the over handballing.
Griffen is a great example, yes he's struggling with injury most likely but he had a lot more handballs to kick ratio.
Ryan's game is to run and carry the ball, take on players and get past them. I don't see that from him or many others this year, only Murphy and Wood to a lesser extent.
Mitch Wallis's game is a good example of how a player has suffered as a result of this over handballing regime we have.
Prior to drafting Mitch averaged 28 disposals and had a 47 touch game in the TAC cup GF. His first year with the dogs his confidence took a dent because he got caught with the ball too often. He tried to change his game and then handball harry was born. The fastest hands in the west, Mitch now flicks the ball out in his trademark pickup and dive handball move, which usually is backward or sideways or straight to someone else with 2 players baring down on them. Other than tagging, what value does he add to the side playing this way? how can such a prodigious talent now be such a compacted and negative footballer.
So we have two major problems as I see it:
1) We lack tall contesting marking players to kick long to when playing the slow conservative way
2) We lack running players with pace and skill to break lines when trying to take the game on.
Too many of the same sort of players in the middle and up forward.
We may not have the required players but we also are not picking our best players in those areas.
Would help to have to targets that can actually mark the ball in contested situations. Especially when you don't want to move the ball quickly, you need to be able to take a contested grab.
I think Jeanette has nailed it re the handball. We are far too quick to handball off to someone else as soon as we get it or handball sideways and then backward due to perceived pressure or lack of ownership to take the game on.
Perhaps we practice the hot potato drills far too often in training that it becomes instinct?
It's a big confidence draining moment to get caught with the ball, and I think worry is a heavy weight on the players when confidence is low. This only encourages the over handballing.
Griffen is a great example, yes he's struggling with injury most likely but he had a lot more handballs to kick ratio.
Ryan's game is to run and carry the ball, take on players and get past them. I don't see that from him or many others this year, only Murphy and Wood to a lesser extent.
Mitch Wallis's game is a good example of how a player has suffered as a result of this over handballing regime we have.
Prior to drafting Mitch averaged 28 disposals and had a 47 touch game in the TAC cup GF. His first year with the dogs his confidence took a dent because he got caught with the ball too often. He tried to change his game and then handball harry was born. The fastest hands in the west, Mitch now flicks the ball out in his trademark pickup and dive handball move, which usually is backward or sideways or straight to someone else with 2 players baring down on them. Other than tagging, what value does he add to the side playing this way? how can such a prodigious talent now be such a compacted and negative footballer.
So we have two major problems as I see it:
1) We lack tall contesting marking players to kick long to when playing the slow conservative way
2) We lack running players with pace and skill to break lines when trying to take the game on.
Too many of the same sort of players in the middle and up forward.
We may not have the required players but we also are not picking our best players in those areas.
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