At Rd 1 of the NAB cup I could care less about the rest.

Perhaps this thread should be in Talking AFL if we can only mention the other clubs and can't make reference to Carlton in the Talking Carlton forum!

Funnily, you wait until now to limit discussion in this thread (see Cazzesman's very good posts etc).

As for the Roos even though I'm no expert, I'll provide a more in depth analysis when I see them live (usually easier to get a feel for a team's structure); however from the couch they appeared to play on at all costs, attempted to use the corridor wherever possible, kick to advantage and avoid kicking to contests! They also seemed to usually have options further afield and up forward usually negating the need to go backwards therefore allowing the Cats less time to set up their defensive structure.

Great thread and excellent summation from BV on the Swans, expect a few journos to steal that

Actually BV just cut and pasted that from DownUnderChick's post. Not sure what he was doing but I suspect he was paying homage to her post. If he was I agree - Du's post was very good.

Just on the Swans, it's wrong to see them just as a team that keeps possession - they can switch to fast, high-risk attacking football from the backline through the corridor. They haven't been overly good at this since Kenneally's injuries and absence but with him and Malceski back plus Mattner and Shaw and even Craig Bolton, I suspect we'll see a resurgence of that aspect of their game this year. Barring injuries, I'd say they will be one of our main competitors for a place in the eight.

but yeah, BV's a flower.

I think you'll find BV's post was stickied by DUC (as she says she will)


but yeah, BV's a flower.

I'll have a go, starting with yesterdays opponent.

Sydney.
The Swans play the most disciplined, accountable football in the AFL IMO. Their strength is forcing their opponent to play the game on Sydneys terms eg. stop, start, confined football with maximum stoppages. They put their experienced, strong bodied players around the ball and back those players in to win the ball in contested situations. They quite often release to the back of the stoppage and move the ball forward where they're happy to create a stop play again. They re-set, get their strong bodies around the ball and start again. They wont play offensive midfielders and it's no problem for them to run 3 stoppers in the middle. They'll happily close down the opposition and just hack the ball forward.

Their defence is one of the best at getting numbers to the contest. Very rarely will you see a Sydney player one out with his opponent. Their talls (Robert-Thomson and Ted Richards) are mobile but lack strength in the contest. Bolton is strong but very undersized. Put them together however and they operate very effectively. Their experience allows them to zone off at the right time and they will quite often have 3 players flying to spoil. They always use a wing/sweeper and the overwhelming majority of their offensive forays are a result of defensive rebounds.

Overall, their stats will make you assume they're efficient with their ball use but they aren't. It's the fact that there are so many scrimmages that ensures possession tallies are low.
They often have less disposals than anyone in the AFL but they usually ensure their opponents have less.

Like Collingwood, they often play wide and rarely will go to a contest unless it's inside 30. They avoid CHF (mainly due to it's redundancy at the SCG) and play through leading flankers into the forward line. Once inside 60, they're content to go long and central and back their talls in to take a contested grab.


Teams that do well against them are the ones that get on top of their ruckmen. Their big men are rarely beaten and at worse they negate the opposition. If you can win the ball, get it out to your runners and break up the play, you can have them on toast.
St Kilda play a contested, high pressure game but that actually suits the Swans however teams like Essendon*, Carlton, Freo at Subi and the Bulldogs can cause them problems if they can get the ball out to their front runners. Leg speed is their achilles heel around the ball but the recruitment of players like Jetta, Rhys Shaw and Rohan indicates a willingness to get more pace within their squad.
Essendon* / Sydney games show football as diametrically opposed as it can be.
Knights instructs his players to avoid shepherding/blocking for team mates and to run forward to create options. sydney are drilled to hold up the ball, sacrifice for the team and dont release the ball until the calvary arrives.

I'm not interested in hearing that Club X has a good game plan - tell me what that game plan is.

Get a few cheapies, go long, then release.

This thread isn't about Carlton - please only post about other team's game plans and structures.

I'm not interested in hearing that Club X has a good game plan - tell me what that game plan is.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/90654/default.aspx

We are going to play Tempo footy. Here we go

Sounds like we are going into damage control before the season has started.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/90654/default.aspx

We are going to play Tempo footy. Here we go

That balancing act is very hard because you can get an over-correction and you can play slow for too long or quick for too long. We tried to monitor our speed last year and we seemed to play a lot quicker for the majority of the time, which sometimes works really well but can open you up on the other side of the equation.

Our start and a couple of undisciplined acts allowed Adelaide to really get into the game and then you're playing catch up which is not what you'd like for your last hitout.

We had more shots, we had more inside 50s and we won more numbers around the stoppages. Maybe our effectiveness wasn't as good going forward, and they're a very well-structured side. I think they had, pretty much, their starting back line in place. They had some quality back there so it wasn't like they were undermanned down there.

I thought we moved the ball a little bit wide and didn't take our opportunities. We'll try and correct that over the next nine days.

That article barely quotes an extensive Q&A listed on the CFC site.

Ratten Q&A

The rest of the quote you refer to is as follows:


On last week:


Also suggested White was fronting the race for the second nominated rookie slot; when is the cut-off date?