I've read a few posters say this gamestyle is not sustainable and wont get you anywhere.
Exactly what part of it is the problem?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

what i saw was our players providing multiple options for the player with the ball. in previous games, our players have been static, therefore the safe option (down the line) was the only one. maybe our players finally have followed the coaches instructions?

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i don't wanna spend my life explaining myself. Either you get it, or you don't- Frank Zappa

OMG, BV, at least give us some notice when you come out with admissions like this.
I wasn't even sitting down..

Teams that are well structured and disciplined will cut that style to pieces. Any turnover or mistake will be magnified. They will also just slow the game down and frustrate us.

A good side that sits on our players and doesn't allow us to run will thrash us. Good to watch but not sustainable. Under Ratten we played some great looking football but still never got close to the top 4 sides.

IMO a side like Geelong under Thompson had the best balance of attack and defence. Hawthorn are very good. Freo great defensively but are now trying to add some offence to their style.

I like the "Ballistic" style but we need to find a happy medium and our current list simply don't work hard enough both ways. Been an issue with us for a decade.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

I dont like Mick but I've worked with people I dont like before.
I've said it plenty of times, if he does things right, I'll be the first to offer praise. Unlike some others, I'd like to think I give reasons and stats/data to back up my reasoning. Its not just a blatant anti Mick thing.
If he does something I disagree with (and he's done plenty) , I'll give him a whack but he's not on his own there. If he does something well, I'd like to think I'll be fair about that as well.

Thats for others to judge I suppose.

My main criticism has been his approach to our game style and the people he's bought in to work with him. If you go back over my posts, all I've asked for is more run and carry, putting the ball into the hands of quality users and to use the width of the ground instead of playing the boundary all the time. Its harder to defend and gives our forwards more space to work with.
I'd suggest we did all of those things yeterday and the players responded. Credit to the football department for adapting. Whether it continues or not, who knows.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

The part after the coach says to his players, "now listen to this".

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

Winston Churchill

I thought we dominated general play for most of the match, yet the game was still in the balance with 10 minutes to go.

Basketball footy is great to watch but it's a proven failure against the best teams.

A blend of Ratts & Mick is what this club needs so we can enter September with some confidence.

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

Whats ballistic about it?
We ran and carried the ball from defence. Geelong are far more "ballistic" with their transition from defence than we were and it won them 3 flags.

Our workrate is not a problem when we play a gamestyle that rewards the running. Our 1%ers are up, our contested footy is fine and our forward line functions far better when we dont allow the opposition time to roll back. The game has evolved significantly since Collingwood had success with the boundary gamestyle. It was fine when they were playing the press and no one else was but now everyone presses up and zones the centre line. Hawthorn and Geelong are successful by penetrating that zone, not trying to blsast through it as we are.
In fact, the 17 other clubs are trying to possess their way through now. We tried to do that yesterday and it worked.
Until the match committee can come up with something better, its our best option. It also allows our quality users to deliver inside 50.
Thats part of the reason we took so many marks inside 50. The ball being delivered by players with time and space to kick with composure.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

WTF does any of that mean?
"Basketball footy"...."Proven failure against the best teams"
I'm sorry but thats all bullshit terminology that sounds good to you but has no basis whatsoever.

Surely you can come up with some data or anything that shows that possession footy is less valuable than kicking to contests to validate your statement?
I look forward to reading it.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

If you have a problem with the terminology... see Wayne Brittain

Data... please list our wins against top 4 opposition playing downhill skiing football

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

Definitely a change in game plan.
We carried and ran through the middle more. We switched more.
We played shorter and also had more KP forwards at home.
We did less bombing to the spot forward, instead looked for a leading target.
It helped that our midfielders ran to assist and our ruckman was tapping to advantage though.
I just hope we build on this and not try to go back to stop / start defensive footy.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/carlton-defeats-western-bulldogs-by-28-points-to-notch-first-win-of-2014-hamstring-injury-to-chris-judd-sours-result/story-fni5ezdm-1226890427894



very amusing article by jon ralph.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Good game to watch but we wont be beating any contenders playing that style....

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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.

Oh and we will lose to quite a few middle of the road teams too...

but im glad we won....nothing gives players confidence more than a win.. and nothing is more demoralising than losses

Lets back it up against another middle of the road team

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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.

spot on. I don't know why people think it doesn't stand up against othersides etc.. not a top 4 game style ... rubbish ... its kicking to advantage, running hard, retaining possession with effective disposal and not allowing sides to get back in numbers to clog our forward line. that's what the hawks/geelongs of the world do!!

when we allow sides to flood back and clog us up is when we struggle and struggle bad, so why not play in a manner that is played on our terms and not the "subscribed structure" that is talked about in the media as what is effective and what isn't ... hell you need to look no further than Port to see the benefits of it.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

problem is our players cant adapt...
weve played the free wheeling games...
they work sometimes .. under pressure it wont work.
why? because the good teams wont give u that much time and space
so thats why we have looked like down hill skiers

what we need to do is learn to play more than one style.. so we can incorporate more feathers to our hat
our players hate the disciplined structured games.

Geelong might play more free wheeling but they have pretty good cattle

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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.

I think every team in the comp now realises you have to take whatever avenue to goal will work. Quick hands, guy's constantly moving, get in front, give an option, hit a target.

I can't tell for sure but the system we used yesterday also means we are taking mark somewhere near the front of the goals, instead of snapping and shooting from the boundary. That's got to be good for improving shots on goal yes?

There's no doubt that its a style that can be tested under pressure, but that's footy.

There's one other scenario here as well. Yesterday we went bull at a gate, played on the whole game but as the group gains confidence they can be less helter skelter and more controlled in their attacking style.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

i actually hate when we compare anything of ourselves to Geelong.
Its just so misleading.
If our players do not learn to play a more disciplined gamestyle we will continue to kid ourselves.
Yes there was some discipline to what we did yesterday.....

but just look at the scores of both teams.
it started as a high scoring affair and closed down as the game went on.
usually its the other way around....
teams choking the opposition and then looking for a time in the game to kick on like road cycling or long distance running....

im not convinced
the biggest things that came out of that game to me was robbie warnock and the enthusiasm that was injected into the team...

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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.

Last night more than anything, we just worked harder and didn't quit. We ran and spread into space, it just happened that the space was central as the dogs packed the lines, expecting us to come to them.

Regardless of gameplan, this team's footprint needs to be 85+ tackles per game. We were tackling, shepherding and even more joyously we were talking to each other.

That's the blueprint we need to work off each week. Our gameplan & strategies should be changing up regularly for each opponent we face ... whether it's old school MM boundary hugging, stop/ start and defence, or the run and gun of last night or a morph of the two (which imo, is where this list will excel) we need the effort and the spirit of last night to continue.

Make that our footprint and let other teams try and deal with our relentless pursuit of the ball.

Im far from convinced, but I do think we have a tendancy to over complicate what is a very simple game. you kick to advantage, you retain possession, you work hard and limit the amount of turn overs you are going a long way to winning a game.

a side can close you down because they are doing the right things, they are running hard, they are applying tackles, they are putting you under pressure forcing the mistakes.

its applied both ways. run had, retain possession, conversely when you don't have possession you run hard and regain possession. that's what teams like Hawthorn do well. Its not as complicated as we tend to make it out. Of course doing it, and maintaining that level intensity is why we are 1-4 and Hawthorn are 4-0, and that is the difference in my opinion.

now do we have the players to maintain that game style is another discussion entirely but for words sums up hawthorns game plan

run hard, retain possession
run hard, regain possession

we did that yesterday for patches of the game. not all of it. for us to be a top 4 side, we need to do week in week out, for 4 quarters.

simple game football.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod