run, carry, link up through the corridor and attack at all costs. we seem to only be doing this when we have no other option and we use this tactic as a bit of a hail mary and i believe we've played our best when we've gone with this style. atm it seems we are instructed to mark, then only kick to someone who will mark, hold it up, repeat. and this forces you wide and it allows the opposition to set up. i realise we haven't got the skills to be able to pull of the plan i mentioned perfectly but Essendon* didn't either when knights first came on board. now, after a bit of pain they are achieveing way more than what a playing list with their capabilites should be.

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Last edited by true_blue3 on Mon Sep 26, 1981 5:07 pm; edited 92 times in total

I think our coach has confused them enough, well from what i hear.............

Just play like we did against the Lions and Dogs

Quite simple really

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I see you watching me watching you.

Early this year I went to a businessman's lunch where an Asst Coach from each GF side spoke.

They both agreed that the modern game was very simple as long as you stuck to your game plan and structure.

Both sides said that the modern game was about attack and run from defence and getting the ball through the corridor and into the forward line as quick as possible was essential.

Having players who could run and kick accurately under pressure was essential.

Watch sides like Geelong, Hawthorn, St Kilda and even Essendon* & The Bulldogs live and it is easy to see and in full flight looks good.

Watch us live and we are so far away it isn't funny.

Of those 5 sides we've played 3 . We lost to Essendon* with our FF kicking 4.7 in a 4 point loss. Said FF could of got us over the line against the hawks in a 4 point loss and we smashed the bulldogs. Doesn't seem that far away to me.

Mediocrity again. We got touched up by Adelaide and Sydney and we got beaten by Hawthorn, Fremantle & Essendon*.

We have beaten Richmond, Brisbane (in Melbourne), Western Bulldogs and haven't played Geelong or St Kilda yet.

The next three weeks will tell us a lot!

When all player are available

Matt K and Fev not to play outside the forward fifty with the plan to create enough space for them to be our main targets then have Betts and Yarren as crumbing forwards with Walker and Houlahan taking the other two forwsrd positions

Midfield

Base it all around Judd, for god sake start protecting him !!!!!!! if Ratten does not know how to protect the great one then get a video of Geelong's game plan watch how they protect Ablett.

Bryce Gibbs to never leave the midfield unless he goes to the bench to rest, it is guys like him and Stevens that we need delivering the ball into the forward 50.

Judd, Murphy , Gibbs, Stevens, Simpson and Warnock / Hampson are the key 7 in the midfield when they need resting Armfield, Hadley and Carrazzo can assist them

Backline to consist of Waite, Irish, Bower, jamo Thronton Scotland , Irish and Jamo take the gorillias , Thornton the third tall Bower Scotland and Waite to take the game on from the back half and run through the corridor to deliver it to the midfield if one drop out of form Grigg

Guys like Robbo and Okeefe will have to prove themselves before selection and guys like Wiggins Russell Cloke Bannister will not play firsts again

Also we play through the corridor and only go to the wings when we really need to ,an we develop a strategy for kicking out from the posts as its obvious we do not have one

By all means disagree as I am certainly no expert....................

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A macfart a day helps you work rest and play

now cj was St Kilda streaming out of defence and into their forward line as quick as possible last year? Or the year before? Were they breathtaking in his first 2 years as coach?

Remember Clarkson's first 2 years when they did everything BUT down the corridor!

Can we stop comparing sides that are close (or there) to us - compare where they were in the coach's first 2 years of tenure. I mean my son plays the piano far better than my daughter (but then he is 4 years old and been doing it for 4 years more.


Melvey I checked my sources and they say they are very happy with Ratts and piss themselves how they can spin any yarn and some people believe it hook line and sinker.

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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!

yeah right!

yeah yeah right right

or maybe
yeah right

or

mine's bigger than yours

etc.

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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!

*edit*

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Im no gameplan expert but here are a few things which frustrate me:

1. Zoning off when the opposition has the footy. It seems to happen time and time again. Why do they do it? It seems to me that if you actually apply pressure against the ball carrier you might actually cause a turnover and an opportunity for you to attack is created. I suppose there are teams when you need to sone off and carall (spelling), but I think in general Carlton zones of far too often. It gives the opposition more time to identify the best option up the field.

2. Kick out strategy - mentioned by others, but why is it that we have no system with kick outs? Im not sure whether the players up the ground are being consistently lazy and not providing an option, so we kick to the back pocket 15 meters sideways, then no other options present so they go down the line and usually turn the ball over. Then when the opposition has a kickout we simply zone off and they seem to have a stroll through their defensive zone then through the corridor which ineveitably leads to a scoring opportunity.

3. Owning the corridor - The boys showed when we own the corridor we can smash teams. We did it against Richmond and the bulldogs and we smashed them. Isn't there are saying along the lines if it ain't broke don't fix it! Why did this form of gameplan stop????

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Cripps is the man

I am no expert but it seems that many clubs have copied Hawthorns style of play, the truth is that they were not the best team last year, Geelong was.
Our strength is our midfield and our full forward. Wouldnt it make sense to play a game plan that plays to your strengths.? Fev has to stay near the goals, I know they are trying to get other avenues to goal but its not working. Fev has always 2-3 defenders hanging off him so there should always be a crumber in front of him, eg. Eddie. We should have a loose man somewhere in the forward line because Fev takes an extra defender.
Our kicking out is terrible and we often dont take the obvious option, someone close.
Go back to how we were playing early in the season and just kick straight.

i have no issues with the zone defence however even as Ratten admits we are too defensive against the crows. i must admit i am curious that Ratten could not adjust quickly with a 'Fev don't leave the 50 m arc' instruction

i have been saying for so long that too may players are static when we try and move the ball out of the backline. movement is the key and too many players just dont move

kicks to handballs - in the crows game we tried to run and carry with handballs and we made lots of mistakes. again Ratts commented on this too.

in patches/certain games we do play down the corridor but for some reason - and i can only assume it is because of pressure from opposition teams / lack of confidence we digress from this plan and start playing wide. this might be because we change the plan too much.

i suggest we stick to the game style we want to play, keep the back 6 settled in particular and then get the players back themselves. if someone is not working out by all means swap but try and stick to the plan - we are way to reactive

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

Neither is anyone else on this forum. Thats why it is so ridiculous that any of them are criticising Ratten for his "gameplan". My guess is that noone really has any clue about what is involved in a "gameplan".

Ridiculous thread, unless someone is actually involved with the MC! I reckon most on here would have as much idea about Ratts gameplan, as Ratts does about my job!

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

Yeah but we dont have access to the players
We dont train them and alot of us have jobs.

Whats salient here is what are those that are employed to do the job doing to find a gameplan.
Its abit of everything right now... but nothing obvious.. and its ineffective.
So lets hope that they do get a proper gameplan eh???

2 out of the last 7 ...............................................................................................

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Ratten even admitted that he's trying to develop the kids to play different game styles. I agree that there isn't a particular game style we have mastered in the last 7 weeks, but I did like the game style in the past 2 preseasons...run and break lines collectively.

This is not a stupid thread.

We don't have to be privy to what's going on in the inner sanctum to discuss or have an opinion to what we are witnessing.

In fact, I would suggest some of us are on the money in this thread given Ratts has agreed on many of the points raised in this thread ...and mind you, he's made those points public in the last 24 hours and prior AFTER the posts in this thread were made .

Got to give some of the contributors in this thread some credit.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

As I see it the object of a game plan is to give your team a chance to score from a set shot from 30 meters out, as clost to directly in front as possible. Given that we have (or had, depending on how you view Fev's form at the moment) one of the best kicks in the league then one would assume that we would be looking to Fev on most occasions in this position.

If Fev is leading to 30 meters out, it gives our small forwards a chance to crumb at the back and still steady before they kick, if the ball makes it past the contest. Betts has done this often this year. If the ball is knocked forward it gives our half forward flankers a chance to crumb the spoil from the front.

I have noticed that in general play the defensive zone starts around the 40 meter mark on the turn over, as the attacking half back flankers from the opposition can only get back so far after a turnover. I would position our center half forward approximately 70-80 meters from goal and try to get them not to stray too far from the middle.

I would direct our defence to play out wide when coming out of defence, switching from flank to flank until the ground opens up to go back down the center. We should always, where possible look to center the ball in the forward line.

One of the things that busts a zone open is a quick running player with a booming kick. I think we have a couple of these type of players (like Stevens and to a lesser extent Scotland). We also have some quick players like Armfield and to a lesser extent Simpson that are prepared to run the ball out of defence. I would look to use these players to get the ball to our designated long kickers.

The midfield is like the center of the board in a chess game. Control the center and you win the game. That means that we have to set up our midfield to get first use of the ball and try to effect a spoil or at least defensive pressure if we do not get first use of the ball.

It was amazing how many times against the crows that we had four players around the contest and one single crow player could get past these players and feed it to team mates that hung off the contest. If four of your players can not beat a single opposition player you are never going to win. You are never going to be able to apply defensive pressure and you will always look second rate.

As far as I can see we are still not competitive enough in the ruck contests (a problem from last year that has not been fixed enough this year), so we are always playing catch up. When we get first use of the ball everything falls into place.

I know that this is a mega simple plan, but really, it is football not rocket science.

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"our guest is dressed by hand-me-downs, hair designed by pillow"

more chicken wing tackles, knees, jumper punches, hitting the packs, bumps

that would be a start