jim wrote:
We just need to stop those run-ons. Cost us most of our losses. If we can actually stop those we won't lose many games for the rest of the year, like we wouldn't have lost many up to now. Not easy as training sessions are few with so many games happening. Can put an extra behind the ball, a forward into the midfield and try to slow the game down but you really need the training sessions to structure that up and practice properly.
In the early 80s we used to have those runs-ons on a near weekly basis during the premiership 3rd qtr, no-one could stop it, now it happens to us on a near weekly basis at any random point of the game.
Agree with you Jim. I think there’s a few tweaks we could try to mitigate against the run ons (such as playing a few minutes of slow keepings off footy or putting an extra behind the ball). However, my worry is a lot of the problem may be personnel based which can’t be changed immediately. I’m referring mainly to the midfield group.
Firstly, I think games are now largely won and lost in the middle and our current midfield group just isn’t good enough yet. We’re generally playing Cripps, Ed, Setters and Kennedy through the middle with Murph, Walsh and Newnes rotating through the wings. Cripps is the only A grader in that group and he’s desperately out of form. Walsh, Setters and Kennedy are coming along well but they’re not A grade at the moment. Murph and Ed are the wrong side of 30. Newnes is an honest battler and role player. When we’ve lost this year, I feel like we’ve been smacked around the ball (early against Richmond, early against Melbourne, early against St Kilda, after quarter time vs. Hawthorn and second half vs Eagles). This is largely due to these other teams having much stronger midfields (West Coast on the weekend had probably 4/5 genuine A graders in there - Kelly, Yeo, Gaff and Shuey plus Sheed was probably best on). Our guys in the middle are doing admirably to break even for long stretches but often there’s a point in the game where they just can’t hold the opposition midfield and it leads to an avalanche of quick scores.
Secondly, our midfield is also very average defensively. Cripps, Setters and Kennedy are too slow defensively - they can’t stop the spread if they let the ball out of the initial congestion. Murph can no longer consistently stick tackles and doesn’t run hard defensively. Newnes a relative non factor here too. The only two that run well defensively are Walsh and Ed, and Ed isn’t quick so he’s limited in this area. I see this as a big reason why, once a team gets on top around the ball, they convert it into an avalanche of goals because the ball carriers aren’t being pressured enough, so the ball is moving quickly and our defence is caught out of position.
Fortunately, I think we can ultimately address this issue by developing the young mids already on our list and recruiting midfielders in the off season (so we have more A graders through the midfield). Specifically, we need to introduce more speed into the midfield group so we can stop the opposition’s midfield better.
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