I'm starting this thread hoping to generate some actual footy discussion, instead of the "I hope we lose this week so Ratten gets sacked!" and "All our players sleep with the light on!" rubbish that's dominated TC lately...

I've been thinking about the way we play. A lot has been posted about our kick-ins, our tackling, our disposal and our forward structure. All valid issues for discussion - but I want to talk transitions....

What do I mean by transition?

Well, an old coach used to say that there is 3 stages in a game of footy - (1) when we have it; (2) when they have it; and (3) when it's in dispute.

I think a weakness of ours is that we don't make the transition between those stages effectively enough. These days, all players have to be able to contribute at each of these game stages. Gone are the days when a player could be all one way. And with the speed of the modern game, players need to switch from one to the other more quickly than ever...

From my (very) humble observations, we seem to be slower than the better teams at making position in a transition switch. When a turnover occurs, we often seem to be flat footed - in terms of making position to create an option when a teammate gets it AND in picking up an opponent (or getting into a defensive zone position) when the opposition gains possession AND in going in and getting it when it spills into dispute.

Possible reasons for this are:

a) mental lapses - maybe a bi-product of a young(ish) team, but we seem concerningly prone to dramatic dips in concentration levels;
b) laziness - 'nuff said;
c) lack of confidence in teammates - players could be reluctant to run hard away from their opponent to create an option if they don't have faith in their teammate to choose the right option and hit the target, or confidence that their teammates will help provide defensive cover if a turnover occurs;
d) selfishness - a self preservation instinct kicks in when things aren't going well (and when players are at the start of their careers), eg. "unrewarded running....what's in it for me?"..."I'm not really going to put my body on the line in this contest, but I'll make it look like I am"...."I don't want my man to get a kick, so I'll just stick close to him - doesn't matter what's happening in the game"...."I'll let my opponent run up the ground so that I'll be on my own if we get it back"...."My teammate has the ball, so it's his problem what he does with it"..."That's not my man, so I'm not going to pick him up" etc;
e) struggling with fitness and/or the pace of the game - again, a possible a bi-product of a developing side; and
f) poor coaching - as outsiders, I think it's very difficult for us to assess how much of our recent problems are the result of the coaching. I think good coaching can limit the problems of a)-e) above, but I'm also a believer in the players taking the ultimate responsibility. Having said that, it's important that players understand and embrace a coach's gameplan.

I made the comment in the pre-game thread this week that one or two personnel changes won't make a difference. Our list has plenty of talent. The Carlton team that played on Saturday had plenty of talent. Sure, we could do with another quality key forward, another inside midfielder, another running HB with elite kicking skills....but what club ever has a perfect list? Premiership teams are the ones that combine talent with discipline, concentration, game awareness, durability, unselfishness and intensity. It takes YEARS for an AFL club to become as well-drilled as Geelong.

We have a long way to go, but I'm looking for subtle signs now that our players are learning to make quick transitions between the 3 game stages. That they are learning that they need to be INVOLVED at all times. That would be, for me, an indication that our players understand the game and what's happening out there. I'm sick of seeing Carlton players "game watching" while the opposition gets pro-active after a transition.

Has anyone else noticed this?

And do YOU have a pet hate or a specific area of our play that you're looking for us to improve in over the next 4 weeks?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

I'm a bit hazy on your definition of transition ABNS as you seem to present two different ones, but I am in agreement that our ability to spread and drop back effectively is woeful.

We need to be directed into something of a 1-on-1 system for our blokes to recognise their responsibilities in play. In reality, that's all a zone is in AFL football, you stand in space a bit more instead of being on their shoulder, but you're still each responsible for tracking a player (and occasionally an area) and adjust your positioning on the field accordingly.

I sit back and watch from the stands/TV-land, and I wonder sometimes if our players are able to visualise the field as they roam around and attempt to defend. By that I mean when you're not in the current phase of play, you need to be looking around to see how you can contribute; where you need to stand, where your team mates should be, any players who need to be marked closer, whether you need to move in and close down the ball carrier or his next option, whether you need to push up from behind the play to contribute.

A lot of players don't seem to have much clue with this, and in my book it's probably the core of football at present. Sure there's body positioning in a contest/stoppage, lead patterns and weighting/execution of your disposal, but if you don't know where you need to be going and where your mates are going, the rest is a bit useless and exhausting.

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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.

Very astute post ABNS. The phases you talk about are so important and are part of the most basic teaching of our great game. I know when I coached they were the critical phases that needed to be taught and what must be done in each situation. I think you have really hit on something. Will be interesting to watch the remaining games from that perspective.

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

I am finding what we do when we don't have the ball our greatest flaw. More so than what we do when we do have the ball (and we are rotten users of the ball).

Why ... I don't know ... are we lazy ? dumb ?

handballing to blokes under pressure which is of course a by product of everything you just mentioned really

Good post ABNS.

On the transitions, one of our weaknesses (one of many) is that we are not playing on at every opportunity to pressure the opp when we have the ball. Sure we'll see some play on across the backline - the lateral movement - but that's not always done to switch play to the open side. It's being used by the ball holder to rid himself of the pill.

When our confidence is up and we are running we need to play on at every opp. That means midfielders and backs need to be running forward (and not all into the same space) to offer options.

Second thing is that when we are trying to move the ball fast with run and carry we are looking at the short handball that's still inside the (fuc$#%#) bubble - watch Geelong and or Goodes from Sydney and after a few quick h/balls to free a player they will handball it wide and clear of the pack/play and completely open the ground. Collingwood use it effectively as well.

More often than not we are all runnnig within a few metres of each other, passing and getting caught in traffic.
Spread is needed in positive transition. Harder running and deeper running needed in defensive transitions.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

We wound up playing on about 49% of the time last week. What they need to do is take the mark, quickly turn around and get a sense, then play on if possible.

At the moment they sluggishly trot back, or blindly play on, or in the case of Carrazzo, not even turn around to look up field, just pass it to a loose option in defence. When we're playing good footy, they do this quicker, and pressure better up the field (which has been steadily improving the last few weeks), which results in a little more space and thus time to execute. A bunch of dumb footballers out there at present, and a few behaving dumber still.

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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.

yep, that's pretty much what i said Jim.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

Absolutely agree with both these points WBY. The second one in particular frustrates me no end. I wonder if there's a stat for how many short handpass we've given this year? (we also would score very high in a "most handpasses to a teammate under pressure" stat...). What could be the reason we run so close to each other? I've noticed that we seem to bump into each other sometimes when we spread. Is it a lack of game awareness or lack of understanding of each other? Or is it that our players aren't prepared enough to run hard into space? Or perhaps it's an instruction from the coach (ie. am I missing something and there is a reason we do it on purpose?)?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Absolutely.

How often do we handpass to a teammate who is standing still and/or has his back to our goal?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Here's another one (although I actually think we have improved on this, but we could still get better)....

opposition player handpasses over a Carlton player's head and the Carlton player just lets the opposition player run forward to recieve the next handpass or link up with the next play.

We MUST block the opposition player's run in that situation.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Well said jimmae.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

We do attempt some misdirection handballs to open up a run, but the effect downfield is limited if you don't move the ball on by foot quickly enough.

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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.

what I dont understand is - quite often I find that when we are defending we have everyone up the ground and no one beyond the wing. Therefore when the blues get the ball they are forced to run and carry because there is no-one forward of the play.

Then I hear Ratts mention that we handball too much and are not kicking enough ... wouldn't having players forward of the play encourage us to kick the ball more and handball less?

Perhaps my observation is too simple but we create a rod for our own back and over handball because we have no-one to kick it to.

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

I don't think he wants our players rolling back in such numbers to begin with.

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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.

Then why do they roll back excessively??!!

I realise that is a simplistic question but it shouldn't be that hard to be aware of your field position...

I think they get too mindful of their opponents. In actual fact, it's their mates further down the ground who aren't doing the work (i.e. midfield) and leave the avenues open for the opposition to make runs, switches, etc.

The midfield trots down, leaves the middle of the ground exposed and tries to shut down the 50. It's stupid.

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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.

Not sure who said it but I think it was Ron Barassi, that even the best players and most prolific ball getters handle the ball for no more than 5% in any given game so what becomes important is what a player does with the remainding 95% of game time.