Maybe someone should pass this thread on to the CFC coaching staff. They either are not teaching the skills of the game or some players are just incompetent.

Maybe we need to get a new skills coach. Remember what Dick Pratt said when he head hunted Swann. Don't go out and get the best available, because if he is available he isn't the best.

So who is the best skills coach around and let's poach him.

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"Get ready, Teddy - you're on": Ron Barassi half time 1970 Grand Final

Classic Kouta

I suppose they could do worse. It's funny, young kids actually would probably be better off doing what Daicos did as a kid to learn technique, rather than use a heavy full sized ball. Less likely to cause physical problems later on. Parents trying to do the right thing also inadvertently can cause problems by buying footballs that are too big for the kiddies which can hamper proper technique development IMO (the two handed smash onto the boot for example). Did those goal masters come in different sizes Kouta, for the life of me I can't remember?

Fair crack of the whip Teddy our youth development set up has only been in place for just over a year Trying to reteach kids to do something they have been doing all of their career isn't as easy as simply flipping a switch. A lot of the time it gets worse before it gets better. To be honest you can probably only tweak a few things once they get to AFL level rather than come up with a major overhaul IMO The damage has already been done.

Apply unrelenting tackling and defensive pressure and our skills wont look as bad as they do now, our forward line will look a lot better and out ball movement will be beautiful to watch.

Once the intensity lifts it will be whole different game.

Technique is only a part of it.

Having the ability to be able to judge distance, weighting the kicks and having the vision to kick to advantage/space of team mates is crucial at AFL level.
Jim Hird was a master at kicking to advantage. His kicks would sometimes wobble and not spin properly but he had the talent and ability to kick to advantage.

Currently we don't have enough players who can kick (or hanball) to advantage.

Here is a list of all the players in our side who are below par in disposal.

Walker - Will never become a star, due to the inconsistency in his kicking.
Russell - Nice kick but not a very good decision maker.
McLean - Lacks penetration in his kicking. Always tries to kick low and hard with no effect.
Hadley - A lot of up and unders.
Fisher - Struggles with distance due to knee ops.
Browne - See Hadley
Grigg - Bad ball drop. Too many floaters. Also very one sided which causes him to look for his left all the time and does not buy him enough time, therefore kicks under pressure often.
O Hailpin - Will never become a good kick. That's what happens when you recruit an athelete and not a natural footballer.
Hampson - Athlete only.
Anderson - Poor decision maker. Heart in the mouth stuff when Joey gets the ball.
Armfield - probably the worst disposer by foot. Late late year chose to handball a lot more. Probably an instruction by the MC.
Wiggins - The chief might get it right when he is 55.
Gartlett - Too skinny lacks penetration.
Carrazzo - Improved his kicking, but still is the weakness in his game.

A large element to being succesful side is devising coaching strategies to overcome particular strengths & flaws in particular players.

Teams like St kilda, Swans, Geelong & Hawthorn dont necessarily have players that have better disposal skills but in fact have players that are coached, instructed & used to better effect.

People should stop looking at the recruiting team and place a greater emphasis on analysing the coaching & player development depts.

I hope Ratten & the rest of the coaching dept prove me wrong but based on what I have seen in the last 2 1/2 years I have my doubts.

if we have no-one we can trust with the ball, maybe we should put our brains into an american football type play where we work on getting a player free over the back who can run it 40-50 metres...

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R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

That goes without saying Rexy, they are all intertwined, but technique is one of the building blocks. A player with poor spatial awareness will struggle and a great deal of that development is early, some for various reasons will always struggle. Temperament is another one that is part of it. The kickout from fullback has become as tough as goalkicking in terms of pressure and if you are the nervous type who can't relax you will be in strife. That is the coaches job to workout which of the various factors is the problem/s and try to rectify them if they can. Sometimes that isn't easy.

What concerns me is setting aside the argument that in most cases it is too late to address technical flaws in kicking actions, why cant some of our players effectively handpass to a team mate. In the two games I have watched this year, I have seen a lot of handballs that placed the intended recipient under the pump, having to bend down low and lose momentum or pick up a half volley only to be tackled and stall their run. Surely handball deficiencies can be overcome at AFL level given the money invested in the football department?


If we are going to run and carry the ball out of defence a lot more, execution of the handball will be critical, especially if we want to break the lines.

Conundrum

Some fair points and although I think your premise is arguable and examples questionable it does highlight the fact that all clubs have players coming into the system who need more work than you would expect. Which I guess is what the discussion has developed into

It depends on the kicking flaw Conundrum. It's not impossible just very very difficult with the major ones and the reps needed can have consequences. Murph has improved his technique, but does his groin soreness have any relation to the extra work he put in? Who knows it is all a balancing act.

You would think that handballing would be easier as a skill, but they practice those dinky little handoffs that are more like rugby passes and are so instinctive in close that technique gets sloppy. So many handballs these days barely touch the fist. For all sides not just us. Many handballs these days would be called throws in other eras

Unfortunately I wasn't referring to the slick handball when we have contested play.

I am critical of those handballs in general play where the player has all the time to execute the handball by way of fist but lacks penetration falling short or misses the moving target or sets up the stationary teammate for a heavy tackle. I have seen too many from Carlton that suggest it being a major issue. The game against the Lions wasn't a particular tough contested type of game but the handball errors were plentiful along with the intra club game I saw a few weeks back.

Fair enough Belisarious, it all takes time but it would be nice to see some improvement when there has been none.

club29 has a good thought. You don't need skill to become a great pressure side. Why not put more emphasis on the tackiling and close quarters aspects of the game while waiting for the skills to hopefully improve.

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"Get ready, Teddy - you're on": Ron Barassi half time 1970 Grand Final

No-one has improved?

Pre-season perhaps. I'm sure Geelong missed a few handballs when the Tigers touched them up

Yep i reckon if we turn on the pressure the rest will come together. Look at our poor skills in the pre season last year and then fantastic skills in round 1 against the tigers when we didnt give them an inch. Look at the magpies first half of last year where they couldnt hit a side of a barn but then tweaked their game and become more defensive minded and all of a sudden the skills were equal of a top four side. Even that praccy game against the bears a few weeks back. We were rubbish in the first half but then lifted the tackling and intensity and the goals flowed, the forward line looked good, players found themselved in space because of forced turn overs so the passer didnt have to be so pin point because the receiver had room to move and read the pass.

We need to improve dont get me wrong. But when we come out to play things look a lot better than they do now.

Good points Not sure about the Collingwood example though. Do you really think that that is what happened with them or did they get key players back?

It depends on the kicking flaw Conundrum. It's not impossible just very very difficult with the major ones and the reps needed can have consequences. Murph has improved his technique, but does his groin soreness have any relation to the extra work he put in? Who knows it is all a balancing act.

You would think that handballing would be easier as a skill, but they practice those dinky little handoffs that are more like rugby passes and are so instinctive in close that technique gets sloppy. So many handballs these days barely touch the fist. For all sides not just us. Many handballs these days would be called throws in other eras [/quote]


Unfortunately I wasn't referring to the slick handball when we have contested play.

I am critical of those handballs in general play where the player has all the time to execute the handball by way of fist but lacks penetration falling short or misses the moving target or sets up the stationary teammate for a heavy tackle. I have seen too many from Carlton that suggest it being a major issue. The game against the Lions wasn't a particular tough contested type of game but the handball errors were plentiful along with the intra club game I saw a few weeks back.[/quote]

Pre-season perhaps. I'm sure Geelong missed a few handballs when the Tigers touched them up [/quote]


Fair point, however my viewpoint is based on the games I saw us play last year.
I think we turn over the ball to much by hand and foot when under no pressure. A lazy kick or handpass which results in a 50/50 contest where maintaining possession is critical is a pet hate of mine.

looking at the you tube clips from yesterdays game, i wouldn't necessarily put it down to poor skills (or disposal).

we appeared to be making poor decisions ie passing to someone under pressure who would fumble and be under pressure passing off......all a bit like hot potato.