In our new facility there is a lecture room and theatre. Ratts should replay all of last night's game as an example of a balanced gameplan which the Doggies play beautifully.

Offence: they are perpetual motion. Do not stop, prop, look up, wonder what to do, wait for the opposing zone, flood etc. We can and have done that on occassion. If zoning or flooding does happen, they actually have the skill to hold on to the ball. We don't have that but why can't we teach our crumbers to get to the fall of the ball more often? I know it can be instinctive but it can also be taught.

Defence: It was a delight to see the Doggies strangle the Saints, something the Saints so often do to other sides. It seems they went man on man and attacked the body. No great skill there, only concentration and discipline. The Saints are so well drilled that when their gameplan was not working their game just started to fall apart.

Sure Big Bad Barry is firing at the moment. But will the Doggies become too reliant on him a la Fev and Riewoldt? That is the major question for them.

Anyway, I digress. Rocket is a great coach and nothing wrong in pinching a few ideas off him to make players or even coaches a little better. It may hide a few flaws.

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

Ratts should replay all of yesterday's Bullants' fourth quarter as an example of a balanced gameplan which the Ants played beautifully.

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Bawditawaba

Interesting - sad I missed it.

The skill level 10 or so years ago was far superior.

Dean Rice would have been touted as a man with great foot skills in todays game.

I wonder if the U19 [zoning] and Reserve competitions will assist with this clear deficiency in the game.

I don't mind a clanger here and there; no one is perfect but consistent simple fundamental errors from the same players earning $300k playing week in week out is inexcusable.

Geelong, Bulldogs, Saints, Crows are teams that can consistently hit targets many of them are pretty slow.

Maybe, Rodney could get some tips of Ratts given we do alright against the doggies. Maybe barter a few match day strategies perhaps?

Ten years ago the draft selection criteria was 1. footballer 2. athlete. Now its usually reversed.

Dean Rice was not quick but had guts, was a beautiful kick and had footy smarts. Ah, the good old days. Wonder what he is doing now?

The great Hawthorn coach Allan Jeans who coached the champion Hawks sides of the '70s and '80s said of his simple gameplan. We have the ball, they have the ball, the ball is in dispute. This was in reference to critiscism that his teams were too old and too slow. If the opposition didn't have the ball they couldn't exploit the Hawks lack of leg speed. It all to do with turning the ball over. Same with us. Don't turn the ball over and we don't get burnt.

Easier said than done though.

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

I cant agree with that.
The game requires much more precision now with zones etc. 10 years ago some players could get away with being long kicks because a contested style of game was far more accepted by the coaches. Now it's all about retaining possession with far less margin for error.
Plenty of players getting a game 10 years ago wouldn't even get drafted now.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

That's because they're all over 30...

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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.

You want Harbrow and Cross -inside mid- kicking the ball to one of our forwards?

After taking them on and not slowing to take his kick, Harbrow burned the ball with a turnover that would have had everyone screaming for Grigg or Walker to be dropped. I'd rather see Gibbs, Murphy, Yarran, Simpson, Judd and Scotland hitting up a player ahead of those two.

I'd still have him at Carlton in a flash. Ward too.

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STURDYISM!!

Harbrow is a far superior kick to Walker or Grigg. He's better than Scotland, Simpson and Murphy as well. Everyone makes an error with the ball occasionally.
Rodney Eade uses him to bring the ball out of defence for a reason.
Because he achieves a good outcome more times than not.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

After watching a few of our pre-season games, then comparing us to the night GF, we seem to be a long way off in our skills. Mind you, if we honoured a few leads from Santy & Warnock, we might have looked better on the scoreboard.