What is it? I'd really like to know because I have no idea.

Kick it to Fev if that fails we are Flowered

There is none. Denis said it's a simple game, why over complicate things?

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

1."Bomb" it long & hope for the best.

2.Move Lance from CHF to CHB & then sit him on the pine for a while & then move him from CHB to CHF

3. Give the kids as little game time as possible.

4. Watch my Superanuation grow.

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

what excuses that remain are fast slipping away.

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My Blue Heaven

Honestly as much as i dislike Pagan, i do agree with what he says. Play simple footy, at the end of the day if you get enough quality footy into your forward line you will win. Having said that its up to the players with the footy to have a look before just bombing to Fev with 7 blokes on him. Obviously people are free if half the backline is on Fev.

Must play Lappin, Whitnall and Fisher forward.

Not sure about Kennedy, doesnt do enough

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Matty Kruzer you star!

Is Nick Stevens still a shite footballer???

The question in the opening post isn't serious, of course. You all know what the game-plan is - some of you just don't like it.

Some like the idea of following the leader. Sydney is a top side, so this means that "tempo footy" is cutting edge, and must be followed. But the problem is that only time will tell if this represents an evolutionary change or merely a gameplan that can work for the right side.

If you want a nice chipping gamestyle, bully for you. But direct footy to key-position players isn't outmoded IMO. It takes advantage of rule/interpretation changes regarding marking and tackling, and threatens to undo the efforts of sides that press back.

Having endured the "transitional flood" of Brittain, and seen the lack of success that the Kangaroos had with a defensive possession game last year, I'm happy to see direct footy. Seems to be working for the Kangaroos and if it hadn't been for Stevo's injury we'd be seeing a lot more success as well.

But we have seen that we can create surges even when we are losing generally. Kicking 5 goals in the 3rd quarter in 10 minutes against a disciplined side with a number of talented players which had held the momentum is evidence of that. And Carlton's effort against Brisbane can't be dismissed lightly given their performances this year.

Game Plan ?................close your eyes and kick the shit out of it.

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All my dangerous friends

i reckon there's a huge difference between disciplined, well drilled direct footy that puts the ball to the advantage of the forward, and the "responsibility transferral" bomb it long to fev garbage that we serve up.

also, our "surges" tend to happen when the pace / hardness of the game drops somewhat. we've been smashed in the opening quarter of EVERY game when the game is at its hotest.

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... an eagle flew out of the night. he was something to observe, came in close i heard a voice, bending stretching every nerve, had to listen had no choice ...

I agree there's a difference, but I don't agree with the suggestion that there is a requirement to bomb it long without attempting to weigh up options. The emphasis is on quickly assessing options and executing rather than waiting for a perfect option.

The fact that some players bomb it aimlessly doesn't mean that's how they're instructed to play. Any more than players who are in possession-oriented teams are instructed to overlook the 60/40 contest ahead of them in preference to the safe but pointless sideways 20 metre chip.

Sadly for us, Stevo was our best at picking out targets quickly. And Murphy is now too much under the pump to fill the breach.

The other thing that creates problems for us is the inability of the secondary forwards to mark and kick goals inside 50. Against the Saints, Cloke received a perfect pass from the boundary line dead in front of goal and shanked it. JK is not much better than Deluca, although there's still hope that his hands will become more secure. Fish will be a vital inclusion when he's available.

I think the game plan is to try and avoid the long bomb into the forward line unless we can spread the defenders and if we can't then to try and spot up players. We drop players back to help out when the opposition has the ball try and come out of defence with carry and then deliver to a leading player if we can't get the overlap.

We saw Cloke get dragged on the weekend when he simply bombed it long and the Saints swept it out of defence and down the field for a goal. In a couple of games it has looked like some players have simply panicked and kicked it long rather than look for the options.

Training reports indicate that we are practising honouring the lead and blocking the defender and kicking to space. Our wins have come when we have played that style however we need to win the ball in the centre and spread it out wide and then deliver to truly capitalise. In the last match we did it for one quarter but then in the last quarter we didn't get the ball out of the centre.

Now whether that's because we have a lot of kids without the miles in the legs , ability, or because some of them just don't have the skills demanded is another debate.

Move Stephen Silvagni from Full Back to Full Forward at 1/2 time.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

and bring in Ted Perkins for the third (premiership) quarter

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[Sam Jacobs] looks like a 7' Lance Whitnall, and [Mitch Robinson] looks like a 4' Lance Whitnall
(The SEN team during the Carlton v Cats 2009 pre-season match)

Ted Perkins?

Do you mean Tex Perkins or Ted Hopkins?

No its serious. Sometimes i think its based on quick movement to the forward line but they only seem to want to kick it to Fevola. Why do they persist when his is double and tripled teamed. In Last weeks games blind freddy could have seen that Fevola was going to be boxed in so why didnt they use him as a decoy and kick it to someone else.

We still turnover the ball far too much. Its not the youngsters either. Scotland, Houlihan, Thornton, Simpson, Walker turn it over far too much. Our kicking and disposal skills are suspect against the better sides. I gave us a huge chance to beat St.Kilda but except for a 10 minute burst we didnt look like winning at any stage. Acland and Cloke are not ruckman you can base a game plan in the modern game.. This is Aclands 3rd club for goodness sake. Frankly if he was any good Pt. wouldnt have cut him.

Im sorry but the simple game plan works when you have a number of gut busting, athletic, well built runners who have clean ball skills like a certain team in the West or a Carey like key forward which we aint got.

Pagan is the last of the old style coaches and its time for him to move on.

Unlike in NFL Footy, coaches don't have radio communication with the players. If they did, then you could assume that the coaches direct players to bomb it into Fev.

But in AFL footy, players are influenced just as much by other teammates as the coaches. Two important influences are the demands of dominant players like Fev, and the informal rating of teammates' value as a target.

Fev would no doubt be enormously popular with most players as he's a bit of a character. I'd imagine he casts a bit of a spell over the younger players as he's really a big kid. And he backs that up by his outbursts if he's ignored.

I doubt that many of the midfielders would rate JK or Cloke as forward options. JK drops too many. He's got a touch of the Delucas about him. If he was taking marks with clean hands and kicking a couple of goals a week, he'd be drawing the ball much more than he is at the moment. I don't mean to suggest that he's been a failure - he's still young and he'll improve. And when he does, he'll start drawing the ball.

Cloke can take marks, but wastes opportunities by missing easy shots for goal. You can just imagine the players' feelings when he sprays one, and the ball then sweeps back over their heads to D50.

Remember last year when Setanta would present as an option to a teammate under pressure? He was hardly ever used, even when he was the best placed option. I doubt the coaches instructed that he'd be a simple decoy - you could tell that from the intensity of his demands for the ball. But players didn't trust him. This year they do and will use him if he's the best option.

Even when Fev played up the ground against the Saints, that still didn't break the spell he casts over the midfielders.

Fish is a viable target, and the importance of his return can't be overestimated.

You can say that again...

wish we played a few "decoy" instructions like we did two years ago a couple of times.

Fev led out and they went straight to the middle where someone was running to on their own (usually Fish) worjked well for about a qaurter tthen it was stopped (just as the other team worked it out)

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

Ive always been a supporter of Neck Stevens Rhys26... he is a quality user of the footy and tries his guts out.

What i want is all the Whitnall bashers to put their hands up now.... my man Slim Shady is standing up in a big way!

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Matty Kruzer you star!