If You Were the Coach, What Would Your Gameplan Be?

[Windy_Hill]

Everyone is talking about Gameplans. Once upon a time there was no such thing as a Gameplan (other than Barassi's "long bombs to Snake" in the 1977 Grand Final).

Given our squad and its relative talent levels/experience, what Gameplan would you go with if you were coaching?

Can I suggest a simple 4 Bullet Points to best describe your plan



[*] Lloyd and Neagle playing in the 50 metre arc - Negale on the Lead, Lloyd in the Goal Square. Quick Kicks out of the centre, Jetta, Davey and Monfries at the fall of the ball running in with the long kick (Hybrid Pagans Paddock)

[*]Hille, Watson, Stanton and McVeigh in the centre square set up - quick hand balls out of the packs to wings and half backs running through the centre square - long kicks into F50.

[*]Running Game off Half Back with Long Bombs into F50 - Dempsey, Winderlich, Houli to be used as spring board rebounders.

[*]In short, exploit tall forward line strnegth and pace. Long kicks into F50 targetting Lloyd and Neagle. Pace off Half Back to run the lines - no handballing!!!! Kick Long to space - use the pace/youth that we have. Defensive pressure/stack back half with ball runners

[Rossoneri]

Problem with that is if you dont win the center clearance, then the opposition will eventually get numbers behind the ball and Lloyd and Neagle will be 5 on 2.

In essence, you are right though, if you move the ball quick enough, you wont have this problem.
Our problem isn't speed of movement of the ball, it's the end result. Too often delivery into the forward line is at their feet or above their head. Our skills are woeful and not getting better anytime soon.

My game plan would be (providing our skills improve as well as our decision making):
1) McPhee to play HFF, no where else.
2) NLM to play HFF/FP. At least when he f**** up, its 150m away from where it will hurt us
3) If you are going to try dinky little kicks, dont!!!!!!!
4) When Watson has the ball (and he often does), then have a person running either side of him and "ON THEIR PREFERRED SIDE"
5) Jetta, front and center of every contest. Even if Lloyd is 2 on 1, dont go up, stay at the fall of the ball. Lloyd will bring the ball to ground.
6) Lucas to play up the ground freeing up more space for Lloyd and Neagle.
7) Nash and Houli to come off half-back and kick the ball, not handpass.

[BenDoolan]

I agree with your points Windy. The less you handle it, the less chance you have of F****** it up. Kick it long and don't piss fart around with the ball. North Melbourne do this well. That is why they have been "up there" when no one expects them to be. Hardly anyone floods North because they don't allow the opposition time to do it.

One other aspect that is required IMO, is studying the opposition and preparing tactics to negate their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. I have it on very good authority, and from a rock solid source, that at no stage at all last season did any team meeting discuss the opposition's strengths and weaknesses. It was all about "our game style". Hopefully this year, it will be about a combination of both factors.

[Crazyman]

My game plan is very simple...

WIN

[billyduckworth]

3) If you are going to try dinky little kicks, dont!!!!!!!
4) When Watson has the ball (and he often does), then have a person running either side of him and "ON THEIR PREFERRED SIDE"
5) Jetta, front and center of every contest. Even if Lloyd is 2 on 1, dont go up, stay at the fall of the ball. Lloyd will bring the ball to ground.

Definitely agree with these three points. Long kicks to break the zoning thing and try to exploit our tall forward line, combined with crummers to mop up if they can't mark it.

The point about countering the opposition's strengths and weaknesses is a good one, too. Sheedy used to spend a lot of time on this, though not sure if he did in his last 2-3 years.

[bomberflyer]

Run hard into space; create space for more one-one contests where in large we can use our key advantage - speed.

Our key advantage is not Lloyd and Lucas anymore because opposition defences flood back in numbers - and they are not the players they once were (ie. not many can be like James Hird for his entire career).

A strategy like they play in Rugby League when kicking on the fifth tackle. Kick to space and have wingers running on. I think when we pinpoint handballs and kicks through the middle corridor we look good on the 2 in 5 occasions it works, but on the 3 in 5 it doesn't work it results in opposition goals - giving our defenders no chance.

The one thing that concerns me is the "so-called" long term development of game-style that Knights talks about. I think we need to be able to develop single parts of the game and then bring them together over time - so we don't look stupid and the kids are exposed to some early success.

Also, ideally we would like to play like Geelong, but we don't have the ability to win contested football like they do. Ablett, Bartel and Selwood are gun ballwinners at stoppages. We need to exploit teams on the outside because we have very few playes who can dominate on the inside (and certainly not to the quality of teams like Geelong). This is a attitude Geelong adopted when the players above were lightly framed and they set themselves over a period of years to be hard-bodied players like Brisbane.

So, we can't aim to play like Geelong now because our players are not physically ready to play that style. So, we have to do two things concurrently: utilise a game plan that can work for us now, whilst developing our players like Geelong did.

The thing that makes me sick is the thought, "What have we been doing since the 2001 GF?" Certainly, not a lot of development under Sheedy, and not a lot of great recuits from Dodoro. An amazing strategy was dreamt-up 7-8 years ago.

[Rossoneri]

One other aspect that is required IMO, is studying the opposition and preparing tactics to negate their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. I have it on very good authority, and from a rock solid source, that at no stage at all last season did any team meeting discuss the opposition's strengths and weaknesses. It was all about "our game style". Hopefully this year, it will be about a combination of both factors.

I think we need to understand our game plan first. Knights istrying to find out which players will fit into his game plan. Our players have enough trouble picking up men and kicking the ball 30m to a target without having to work on counter act the oppositions game plan.

Has anybody worked out what we do at the center bounces? I can not remember the last time we were able to win the hit out and hit a forward 3 seconds later.

[BenDoolan]

One other aspect that is required IMO, is studying the opposition and preparing tactics to negate their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. I have it on very good authority, and from a rock solid source, that at no stage at all last season did any team meeting discuss the opposition's strengths and weaknesses. It was all about "our game style". Hopefully this year, it will be about a combination of both factors.

I think we need to understand our game plan first. Knights istrying to find out which players will fit into his game plan. Our players have enough trouble picking up men and kicking the ball 30m to a target without having to work on counter act the oppositions game plan.

Has anybody worked out what we do at the center bounces? I can not remember the last time we were able to win the hit out and hit a forward 3 seconds later.

It happened in the NAB Cup a few times. Hille to Watson to Lovett and bang! Neagle was on the end of a couple and Gumbleton fumbletoned a couple of others.

Plus this "game plan" concept is given far too much complicated theorising. It's pretty F****** simple IMO. They are told to "take the game on"; "use your pace"; "run and create"; "back yourselves". There is no science involved in this. What do the players have to "understand"? To have a fast and energetic game style, you need to have the precision skills to back it up or else you will be punished by the turnovers (as we found out several times last year). Then Mr O'Donnell has to work overtime on our "defensive actions" to couteract our sloppiness. Again, it aint rocket science. But you also need to study the opposition in order to understand them. That's not up to the players, that's up to the coaching staff to implement tactics to counteract their strengths and expose their weaknesses. I would have thought this was part and parcel of any sport.

[rockhole]

The current strategy out of the backline appears to be handball, handball, handball until someone is finally clear. Two issues with this. One is that by the time we have dicked around getting someone clear, the forwards are covered. Secondly, we still break one of the rules that was drummed into us at school, and that is not to handball to someone in a worse position than you are. Apert from crap passing, this caused the majority of turnovers in the lead up matches.

Time and time again, we see a player who is apparently clear of the opposition, running forward at full tilt and in an ideal world, looking to spot up one or two leading forward options. What we tend to do is look for the next handball thus eventually putting a player under so much pressure that the ultimate disposal is crap. The forwards are wrong footed, the momentum to carry the ball leaves the backs exposed, and the end result, turn over, goal.

On rare occasions, we saw guys like Houli resisting the last handball and actually putting a long kick into the forward line. This presented marking opportunities as well as the chance for guys like Lloyd and Lucas to bring the ball to ground or at least hold it in the forward line. Once on the ground, we have several options in Lovett, Davey, Gus etc to finish off.

A key advantage we have is pace so it must be exploited. Another is long kicking forwards so we have the luxury of passing to them when they are outside 50m. When we sort out the most efficient way of getting it to them, we will have some sort of game plan. It will not materialise with a chain of 6 - 8 handballs out of the back line. By all means, run it out of the backline and if we can finally get it to Andy, all the better. But surely, if a player is clear and has time to look up the ground, he should be able to kick it to our advantage rather than look for another meaningless handball.

[Lenni]

Ok, I am most definitely not professing myself to be any sort of 'football minded genius', I'm just a wife who took up reading this website because her hubby LOVES Essendon and wanted to learn a bit more about a game I never prevously had an interest in (might add that I do kind of enjoy it now though ) Anyway, my simpleton view on it is this:

firstly; if what sir BD says is true, then we need to ask samsung to donate a dvd recorder to the club , we saw at the end of the first quarter of last years Grand final that the Hawthorn coaching team were showing the players video feedback via a laptop in the middle of the ground. The best way to build a game plan is to study your opponent. We, Essendon are living proof of this! Flooding was created to beat us, in 2000 I would say that most teams that came up against us would have watched more footage of our boys playing than they had of their own.

secondly; Knights needs two flexible game plans at present, one that works to our strengths, and there are many, but our biggest is our players who carry speed and the in and under skills. We almost need to build a game plan around the 'one percenters'. The other game plan is one we must build and practice at training, it's the one that has our guys being able to hit a target everytime (obviously no one is 100% but for aguments sake we'll ignore this fact) and once the guys can hit chests at training at all times they shall back eachother on the field everytime. We play almost with a lack of team confidence at present and that is frustrating, many times last year we relied upon handballing and this has lead to a lack of shepherding as our players are running alongside eachother and almost expecting the hand ball so they don't try to cover the opposition. Once the ball skills are more natural then we can introduce this "Geelong" style of play to game day, but with out the consistenty of more refined skills the turn overs that this style of play would create would just knock the young players' confidence more.

We do have a good team, and I am not disheartened at all, but we need to keep in mind that we are so very lacking in mid age group players who are giving their all in consistency every week, the young guys need to see this and take courage from the players that have come before them and finally realise that in today's game, you don't have 3 years to settle in, so buck up lads and stand on your own two feet. The club was here before you arrived and will remain long after you're gone, but if you want to be remembered, than make every damn game memorable! We can build their skills, but consistency and courage, that is self taught.

Oh and lastly, when you get on the ground, check the number on the back of your opponent, and then don't let that bugger outta your reach for the rest of the bloody quarter, unless you've broken away to actually get the ball.

(Now please be kind when you rip my post apart and tell me to go back to housework please )

[Windy_Hill]

Ok, I am most definitely not professing myself to be any sort of 'football minded genius', I'm just a wife who took up reading this website because her hubby LOVES Essendon and wanted to learn a bit more about a game I never prevously had an interest in (might add that I do kind of enjoy it now though ) Anyway, my simpleton view on it is this:

firstly; if what sir BD says is true, then we need to ask samsung to donate a dvd recorder to the club , we saw at the end of the first quarter of last years Grand final that the Hawthorn coaching team were showing the players video feedback via a laptop in the middle of the ground. The best way to build a game plan is to study your opponent. We, Essendon are living proof of this! Flooding was created to beat us, in 2000 I would say that most teams that came up against us would have watched more footage of our boys playing than they had of their own.

secondly; Knights needs two flexible game plans at present, one that works to our strengths, and there are many, but our biggest is our players who carry speed and the in and under skills. We almost need to build a game plan around the 'one percenters'. The other game plan is one we must build and practice at training, it's the one that has our guys being able to hit a target everytime (obviously no one is 100% but for aguments sake we'll ignore this fact) and once the guys can hit chests at training at all times they shall back eachother on the field everytime. We play almost with a lack of team confidence at present and that is frustrating, many times last year we relied upon handballing and this has lead to a lack of shepherding as our players are running alongside eachother and almost expecting the hand ball so they don't try to cover the opposition. Once the ball skills are more natural then we can introduce this "Geelong" style of play to game day, but with out the consistenty of more refined skills the turn overs that this style of play would create would just knock the young players' confidence more.

We do have a good team, and I am not disheartened at all, but we need to keep in mind that we are so very lacking in mid age group players who are giving their all in consistency every week, the young guys need to see this and take courage from the players that have come before them and finally realise that in today's game, you don't have 3 years to settle in, so buck up lads and stand on your own two feet. The club was here before you arrived and will remain long after you're gone, but if you want to be remembered, than make every damn game memorable! We can build their skills, but consistency and courage, that is self taught.

Oh and lastly, when you get on the ground, check the number on the back of your opponent, and then don't let that bugger outta your reach for the rest of the bloody quarter, unless you've broken away to actually get the ball.

(Now please be kind when you rip my post apart and tell me to go back to housework please )

Maybe Knighta needs to be the one getting back to the housework - some pretty decent observations there