You're talking game plans but you need to talk about forward structure.

The game plan has changed, much closer to 2005 version than 2006 version. All those guys we thought had break through years in 2006 because their stats went haywire will need to be reassessed.

Coming out of defence we are actually pretty good to my eye. Strong runners are coming through the midfield. but we are getting it and it looks better than anything we saw last year.

but we keep on having all points leading, add 2 more defenders and its a quagmire. Hows Eddie supposed to find space at their feet when you have 3 big guys running towards the same spot plus extra defenders.

In 2006 you could see Wiggins was playing a lot further up the ground and he made a name for himself there for a short period of time. But in 2007 Kennedy seems to be leading 40 to 80m out from goal and theres too much overlap with Fev.

For all of our stat shortfalls our Inside 50's arent that far off at all. We've gotta get a stay at home forward set up, or 30 metre gaps between leads, or something, because we are just self-flooding.

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

Pagan wants to play simple football...

The problem is oppostion coaches know that we play predictable football, so they know how to out play us by out coaching us.... simply

We have not Plan B

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"Dont count the games, make the games count"

the game plan is the responsibility of the coaches and the players

1. if the players do not play to the set game plan then it looks like there is no gameplan or the wrong gameplan has been implemented

2. if the coach opts to go with a gameplan and does not have the right players to carry it out, then the players look silly and out of their depth.

on friday night our players were instructed to play man on man. this is a pretty simple instruction.
BUT how many times did we see st kilda players running away on their own, out in space calling for the ball with no carlton player close enough to apply any pressure.

for the amount of time people say pagan has no gameplan or no idea of a gampeplan, i can come up with just as many ocassion where our players have failed to carry out the basics of football or not follewd the gameplan.

football is a team game and you need to have the 22 selected players and the coaching staff on the same page

if you have 1 or 2 players who do not follow instruction or deviate from the gameplan, this has an effect on the whole team.

the same thing if you have an assistant coach providing different information to players than what is been provided by the other coaches. )im not saying this is happening)

a few things have already been touched on
-our inside 50's are good but our conversion is poor, very poor
-players are influenced by thier team mates, playing local footy i have been taught that if you keep presenting and demand the ball, more often than not you will get the ball, well fev presents and demands the ball.
- we turnover the ball too much
-we have players who continually bomb away, this is not an instruction, but an exammple of players not doing what they have been practicing.

the other things that kill us are
-players ball watching after their kick/handball, rather than getting to the next contest or applying a shepherd
-basic skill errors and turnovers, dropped marks, kicking straight to opponent, handball going to the player on the bounce.

Not too sure about that...................

I remember back in 2005 when Denis was quized at training about flooding in football and denis said there was no problem.

Get it inside 50 as quick as possible to the top of the goal square and there is no problem.

Ever since he said that, that is EXACTLY what we've been doing.

I have a feeling the players are doing what they're told. BUT..........if this is not part of the game plan and Denis DOESN'T want us to do this then why the hell are we still doing it? Why hasn't it been addressed?

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

All I know is that every time I looked up last week, there was about 20 players in our forward 50, and about 8 in St Kildas. Surely common sense says that if they want to flood, if we dont push into our forward 50, they get a turnover, look up and all they see is Blue!!! Has to slow down the speed in which the ball comes out, gives us time to get back, then all of a sudden they have the same issues that we do.

Play Whitnall deep, Fev about 30 metres out. Fisher and Betts beside Whitnall. If Coll play true to form, they will still double and triple team Fev, but that structure should create space behind for Red and Co to work in. Fev playing out of the square isnt working, he will still get his goals if he plays up the ground a bit, but that would also open up opportunities elsewhere.

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Blue blood is running through these veins!!! Go Blueys!!!

So when the Saints roll back and sit 10 players in our forward line, you want our players to man the up do you?
Have 20 players in our front half causing congestion whilst they have 3 of their forwards one out?
Was that Denis' instruction?



So what have they been practicing then?
What drill have you watched that simulates spotting up players in a crowded forward line?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Heres a nice bit of contemporary tactical foresight from the AFL "evolution of Football" series in August 06.


http://www.afl.com.au/Season2007/News/N ... wsId=31220

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

so about 5 years from now (and about 5 more top 3 picks) we'll have a team ready to play Denis's style. Can't wait.....

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!