Collins.
Collins.
Judd.
Yarran.

That's just four "easy" shots on goal I can think of in a few seconds that were taken well in from the boundary line.

They all missed.

Then there's Garlett's miss on the run from close range...

...I think you get the point. Our goal kicking was shit.

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Kruezer missed from dead in front. Walker should have kicked that on from 10m out on the run.

Then there were the times we did enter the 50 closer to the corridor that amounted to nothing due to some of the leagues best defenders gathering there to make sure nothing came of it.

Shit play by the players. Bad Kicking. No more excuses and blaming other people for bad converting.

I have posted bout this many times over the last couple of years. Posters above have pointed out quite rightly that Hudson and Lloyd had set routines. Well, Jezza was another who went back and steadied even when in close range. Walker does it and is a good kick from set shots. Kreuzer was known as 'the man who never misses' for a while before he was injured in his first season. He has or had a set routine where he lined up the footy with the line he was going to kick on. He is guilty of missing an easy one the other night as well. Setanta was a good set shot because he had to learn from scratch. Hampson is a good kick from set shots. He also comes from a non-footy backgorund. Co-incidence?

Garlett has a shocking set shot 'routine' in that he doesn't have one at all. He just trots in and throws the foot at the ball.
He is never going to get a high percentage with that approach. Far too lackadaisical.
Simmo has a 50% set shot percentage. He runs way out to the left and hooks it back. Not a good technique, like Buddy, who is also a shit set shot.
Gibbs settles down and is smooth at it. It is just a reflection of his overall skill levels and his rigid approach to everything.
Ellard has a reasonable ratio so I'll leave him out of it.
Murphy runs to the right and hooks it. His two misses from 15 and 30 out last year in the semi I still maintain cost us the momentum and the game.

I know there are many here who have played footy at various levels. It doesn't matter if one has played for Carlton or Upper Congupna West. Kicking goals is just as important at all levels. Let's just say I played for Upper Congupna West. After my rucking days were over, I played full forward. Unfortunately I couldn't kick very far but I was a bit of a deadeye dick, even if I do say so myself from 40 metres or less. I used the method I call, 'kick it to me', which involves kicking it to someone in the crowd about ten rows back. It is the same method I used at VFL park when we played Richmond and Jon Dorotich was kicking for goal to win the match or put us in front late in the last. I ran around in the crowd behind the goals and shouted, 'kick it to me!' but he kicked it to someone behind the points instead, I missed an easy possession and we lost the game.
The point I am trying to make is this. Goal kicking doesn't have to be hard if you have a system. The 'kick it to me' works for some. Others try and use their natural draw, the breeze, the 'so many feet left or right of the goalposts' and so on but the system itself is irrelevant. Having a system is important and the Garletts of the world who just jog in and kick it without settling and going through a routine will never be great set shots for goal. Why this aspect of the game has never improved is a mystery to many. The older posters here will remember the day we kicked about 1-11 and got beaten by Collingwood at VP in the late sixties or early seventies. Big Nick was still playing so I can't narrow it down to more than that, even though I was there with my old dad.
IIR, we won the '68 GF because Essendon* kicked badly and they lost again last night because of it.
Whilst the use of handball, zone, press an so on have all come and gone, kicking for goal, an individual skill so important to the game has never really been addressed by coaches.

On the tactics side of it, I read here that Ratts is telling players to lead to the pockets in case we turn it over and he would prefer it turned over near the boundary than in the corridor. I would put this question.

Is it better to turn the footy over in the pocket or kick a point from a difficult shot from the pocket and GIVE the footy to the opposition so they have time to set up a set play that results in a coast to coast goal?

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

You miss goals sometimes, every team does. How the team deals with it is the question.

We conceded 4 scoring shots for 3.1 from kick outs after our first 4 behinds in the last quarter. Coast to coast, didn't get our hands on the ball. Game over there and then. That fact has been glossed over on this site.

This team has no structural resistance.

If collingwood kicked 2.9 they would have kept the ball in their half the whole quarter and won.

But I forgot - we were playing with 'gay abandon' - no more structures hey rats???

No resilience.....yeah I know we were inaccurate.....but that will happen from time to time. The problem is our inability to deal with it.

This group goes to water when things don't go perfectly to plan....look at the big picture!!

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They will know that they've been playing against the famous old dark blues

Ratts didnt throw structures out the window. That is just words you have put in his mouth. He did ask them to be more bold and that achieved what he wanted and we now have a bit of belief coming back into the group.

You initially argued we missed so many because we go to the pockets and its a crap tactic. We proved that we had and missed plenty of shots from well inside the boundary and you are now onto something else. No more excuses for the players efforts or poor converting.

I agree the group is flaky and goes to water easily. I think we can all name the players that are going to go missing in big games. Ratts
biggest fault is he hasnt weeded them out or people the club employed to mend their minds didnt achieve much. He has put his faith in players with unreliable bodies and minds.

11 games left to turn it around. I am looking forward to see what we can achieve.

That's fair enough, I guess.

But you'd think it would also make a compelling reason for the all players on the list to have dedicated and tailored goal kicking practice/routines.

The fact training staff seem to dictate that this is not possible due to fatigue is perhaps the biggest case of tail wagging the dog the game has ever seen.

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Eddie Betts has become a really good set shot for goal over the last 2 years.

Walker was also really good last year. Hard to tell if he still is, because now he's playing midfield and spraying the ball out of bounds after long runs.

They should watch Saad.

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THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

Not from my angle. Took particular interest in Walker & Hampson and they were struggling.

Did WOW Jones miss a shot from the square directly in front?

I remember Percy Jones missing the ball and kicking the goal post.

Arriba Sombrero,

1. Gibbs goal on Friday was his first set-shot goal after 3 previous misses. Whilst I agree he looks confident, I have previously posted my (unpopular) opinion that his goalkicking is generally way over-rated.

2. That game at Vic Park was Round 19 1970 and we kicked 2-12. I wrote reviews of most games of 1970 (and some other seasons) for Blueseum and I'm quite proud of that one. See if interested .......

http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... 19%2C+1970


3. Carlton won the 1968 GF despite bad kicking 7-14 to 8-5 (IIRC), the first and (I think) still only GF win for a team kickling less goals than the opposition.

Regards,
kkk

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"You can't polish a James Hird"

Thanks for the update.
My memory ain't what it used to be.

Before I read your review of said game, I want to add that the Collingwood supporters were locked out of the ground because it was full. They tore down the gates and it was like watching the game from inside a sardine can. It was the last time I went to VP until about 1980 when we got beaten there again but the crowd was under control. I have only ever been to the ground on those two occasions.

Just read it, thanks and I see the crowd was listed as 39k+. There was no way they could count the people that day and I suspect that there were more like 50K packed in. Maybe even 100K

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

Not surprised. Our forwards' positioning and leading is abysmal.

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NOW YOU'RE JUST SOME CLUB THAT I USED TO KNOW.

Betts is our most reliable kick now.

Walker has been average this season from both set shots and on the run.

Bett's is our most reliable everything at the moment.

I've always been an Eddie fan but these days I don't reckon we'd even get close without him.

Is there any risk of Bwuce and any of the other media "experts" giving him the credit he deserves?

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I hope Essendon* folds.

+1

My Dawks mate also said he was hopeless, but typical modern era CFC snapped him up He's a joke and a massive liability.

Walker said in a pre-season article that he had strengthened through the hips and changed his kicking action, as he was kicking too much with his quads which caused injuries. The alarm bells rang for me then, and sadly his kicking (goal and field) is now shite. A big minus for the team.

No i was correct. Vividly remember this game as a youngster:

Round 7, 1980

Carlton 1.5 11 5.10 40 13.13 91 14.27 111
Hawthorn 5.5 35 11.10 76 13.15 93 16.17 113

It's in that fantastic website Blueseum!