The Eagles won the flag last year with the highest average possessions per game for the year.
The runners up (The Swans!) had the lowest average possession tally per game for the year.
The 2 best side were diametrically opposed in style!
Your analogies and comments on this subject are simplistic nonsense.

As for the possession game, I'm not talking about teams having higher possessions than their opponents. I was talking about the increase per year of possessions per game indicating teams are controlling the ball and not stupidly kicking to contests.
Stick to fiction, it suits your style.

As for this thread going quiet, me...I've been enjoying a great win!


As for 6 on 7 "drills" Indie.
If you were watching our backline behind the play during the 3rd quarter yesterday, you'd see why these drills are employed.
Richmond played a loose man in the backline and Carlton did the same.
It happens often in a game of footy and the team who adapts best benefits. Jarrad Waite was the loose man at one stage and had no idea where to go or what to do.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Synbad why don't you go and get a Bex and have a good lie down.

Pagan is doing what he did at North Melb all those years ago. He is building a bunch of kids (previously U19's) into a premiership dynasty. Have a look at yesterday's match where you had kids like Walker, Kennedy, Russell, Bentick, Murphy, o'Halpin, Cloke, Simpson, Betts, etc, etc busting their guts for the win. They would not lie down and were prepared to put their bodies on the line for the ball.

Also look at Stevens, Fev, Thornton and Scotland, these were also busting their guts and, as a result, we were running on whist Richmond were looking for somewhere to lie down.

These players all playing for Pagan and, the way they came out after the obvious bake they got at 1/2 time and won the game says to me that Pagan's message is getting through and the players are responding to him. He is building a list and is moulding it in to a real flag chance in the next couple of years. Just get on board for the ride.

Both the Swans and West Coast concentrate on maintaining possession of the ball, they just do so in different mindsets. One team is highly attacking, one team is terribly defensive. But when the heat is on, both teams will slow it right down until the options present themselves, the only difference being West Coast show more of a willingness to run and carry.

I'm keeping it simplistic so we don't turn this into 2000 word essays in reply to one another. Your choice instead is usually to laugh and write "I've said this before, don't rubbish me with your trolling." Not your exact words but you know what I mean.

I see possession football as about focusing on keeping a high time in possession compared to the opposition. How you do this can result in a low possession format ala the Swans, or a high possession format ala the West Coast.

One is built off discipline and work rate, the other is built off talent and work rate.

And I agree, teams are looking to control the ball more and more. It's definitely a component of footy, but not the core of it.

EDIT: I now see what you're talking about... that should be "generally defensive" in terms of possession football. Not all teams have West Coasts midfield.

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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.

But Effes' suggestion of a 6 on 7 drill was to improve our movement into attack, not to improve our defensive strategies.

It would be a good thing to have drills to improve the abilities of our likely loose men or sweepers. Scotland and Lappin are not likely to need much advice in this regard. But it would be good to give the newbies like Santy, Waite, and Russell and the somewhat more experienced Walker some work in that area. But you don't have to have a full dress-rehearsal involving 6 pairs of forwards and defenders to do that. You can have simulations with the midfield contingent. So it's something that Crosisca would have to work out with Libba and perhaps a couple of pairs of defenders and forwards.

But I'd imagine that Waitey has a few things on his plate at the moment. Hopefully, he'll be doing some work on punching rather than attempting to mark when he's behind in a marking contest in the hot spot. And he'll also be working on getting in front of his opponent when a forward is taking a set shot from 50. Why on earth he didn't do that I can't understand. He needs to work on the basics more than the finer points of positional play at the moment.

dont think I have ever seen a coach talk himself up as much as this bloke is doing at the moment. They win a pratice game comp and a win against an undermanned Richmond and all of a sudden he is super coach again .

Give it rest Pagan we have seen what you are capable of over the last 4 years you might convince the odd supporter but the majority have seen enough .

You will not get a contract extension - forget it your gone

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

He's doing what any coach would do when the media are focusing on him. Talking up the footy club.

What are you on about? Maybe he has an ego, but that's not making the journos rush at him. The results are.

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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.

Just as important if not more so.
Too often in the past we have controlled the ball forward of centre and wasted it into an outnumbered forward structure.
Our players need to choose the right option when approaching a flooded forwardline.

Drills are the best practice.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Sydney Blue wrote:

dont think I have ever seen a coach talk himself up as much as this bloke is doing at the moment. They win a pratice game comp and a win against an undermanned Richmond and all of a sudden he is super coach again .

Give it rest Pagan we have seen what you are capable of over the last 4 years you might convince the odd supporter but the majority have seen enough .

You will not get a contract extension - forget it your gone

Time will tell pal, but unless you have been living on Mars for the last 5 years you will realise that all publicity re our club has been bad to say the least...I say lets enjoy reading some positive stuff about our club while we can. And by the way mate, maybe 4 of them have been pre-season but we have won 5 games in a row...if we keep winning, he wont get the arse pal, and if you are any sort of supporter, that would suit you just fine!!! Cos from memory, winning is what it is all about!!!

Go Blues!!!

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

The presence of an extra defender or two doesn't create much additional complexity by way of drills. It certainly creates additional difficulties for the forwards who are outnumbered at the drop of the ball, but that is a question of that forward's ability to battle numbers. The physicality required in a match can't be simulated safely in a training drill.

What you and Effes probably believe is that the midfielders should avoid kicking to a contest in which we are outnumbered. So when you say that the midfielders need to practice choosing the right option, you probably mean avoiding the long kick to that contest. Better on that view to take the short leading option against the boundary line than to kick to the hotspot when the numbers aren't in your favour. I'm not trying to put words in your mouth - if I have it wrong you'll tell me no doubt.

I don't agree. There will be some players who have proved themselves capable of selecting good options, and they will always have complete discretion in our game-plan. I'd guess that Stevens and Murphy, for instance, can do whatever they like because they will take a long and direct option in the corridor if it is a good one in preference to indirect options. But they have good judgement and skills and if they take other options they won't be dragged.

On the other hand, young or less able players would be required to kick long and direct if there aren't any free players or good leads on offer and the forwards aren't ridiculously outnumbered. They would face being dragged if they resort to nothing sideways chips. That's what I want to see. The fact is that if you give all the players the discretion to choose what they consider to be the best option, then the risk is that pressure will lead them into becoming too risk averse and they will take shorter and more indirect options as the pressure on them increases.

That's the problem that befell the Hawks, Tigers, Pies and Roos this week. Clarkson and Wallace lamented that the refusal of their players to take the responsibility of kicking to longer options and creating forward pressure was not part of their game-plan. Even though the players were told at quarter breaks not to do it, their perception of the best option changed with the pressure of the game.

On the other hand, our boys will make errors the other way. They might lob a ball to a forward surrounded by 3 or 4 opponents on occasion. They would not be expected to do that - they should be looking elsewhere. But that's an error that won't be punished because it means we won't become unduly tentative like young teams who are trying to execute a possession gameplan.

I have no problem with the big kick to the top of the goalsquare. Fev, JK and Fish have the ability in the air to beat the odds. And Betts is extremely disciplined - he makes sure he is front and square in those contests. All you need is an average of 4 goals a quarter to win the game. One every 7 minutes. If we have an inside 50 every couple of minutes, that should happen. It isn't a very complicated game in that regard.

That's not to say that we shouldn't practice leading and kicking to leads. Clearly we should and we do. A 6 on 6 drill is perfect for that from the point of view of both the leading forwards and the midfielders.

I would like to see some crumbing drills, but I can't see the sense in a 6 on 7 drill.

Thanks Denis.

We had games last year where we couldnt score a goal in 70 minutes let alone 7!
As for inside 50s, they dont just happen by way of fairy sprinkles either.

For much of Sundays game we played with a spare man in our backline and Richmond had a spare man in theirs. As happened for many of our games last year.
Its pointless training for one on one duels in the forwardline when you rarely enjoy it in a match!

Drills are as much about promoting decision making as they skill training. It trains the players to make decisions about where to stand, how to react and how to use the ball when situations are different.
It allows the forwards to manufacture space when they are outnumbered. It teaches the backmen to block space and work together to cut off leads.
And most importantly in my eyes, it teaches the midfielders to choose the right option under pressure.
If Fev leads to the pocket into space with 2 defenders chasing him, is it better to kick to him or to Josh Kennedy in the square with 2 opponents?
Is it better to go to Eddie Betts who may be on the boundary?

The days of 6 on 6 are rare.
You should train for how you play. And most importantly, accept that decision making is every bit as important as all other skills and should be practiced.

Anything else is living in the past.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Classic BV post ending.

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Still managed a pretty good conversion of inside 50's- scoring shots..

You've used one of my classics already today. Dont be greedy!

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Thanks for that...... im glad we have you to tell us whats going on... keep up the good work...

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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.

After that first qtr you'd think they would need to practice 6 on 8 drills

The players still went to Fevola even though he had 3 on him and the rebound from defence is cutting us up - especially Milburn and Wojcinski

Pagan must think Carey is still there - have you ever seen a team bomb it so much to an outnumbered forward line?