A centre set up?

[NMWBloods]

Once Goodes is back the way I wonder if a set-up something like this in the centre would work.

Ball/Doyle in the ruck, looking to punch the ball forward.

Mathews on the goal side of the ball, ready to gather the ball if the ruckman successfully punches the ball forward.

Kirk to the 'strong' side of the opposing ruckman (ie: if the opposing ruckman is right handed then to his left hand side), ready to shark the opponent's taps or an indecisive ruck duel. If the ball goes forward, then he runs past Mathews.

Goodes immediately behind the ruckman, ready to intercept the opposition tap if it goes forward, otherwise runs to either side of the ruck contest if the ball goes there, or runs forward past Kirk or Mathews to get the handball if they have gathered the ball.

J Bolton to begin in the goal side of the square, at around CHF, and charge in to go for the ball on our tap forward.

Two of Williams/Fosdike/Schneider/etc to begin on the wing and run in from there, running past whomever gathers the ball.

I'm not suggesting that this is a great or fullproof method, but I just think that it might perhaps work, taking advantage of Mathews' and Kirk's abilities to get the ball from a pack, Goodes' mobility, and Bolton running off the line.

[monopoly19]

Sounds good to me But what does Maxfield do, and can we slip Buchanan in there somehow? He's looking a likely type to me.

(Keep in mind that the technical side of footy is not my forte, having never played the game myself except during the wonderful time that is kick-to-kick).

May I add that I was disappointed with the lack of back-up stats used in your post...

[Old Royboy]

The set-up looks great, but what worries me is what do we do when the opposition reacts. It burns me when a ruckman continues to punch the ball forward when the oppostion have woken up and stationed an army defensive side - and it happens so often.

Let Doyle develop, let him forge an understanding with who-ever will be his main rover. (my moneys on Amon or Schneiderman) The others support/defend as appropriate. It wont happen overnight, they may even not have the ability but a ruck and rover working in sync have a better chance of winning the clearances.

[dimelb]

Re: A centre set up?

Originally posted by NMWBloods


Two of Williams/Fosdike/Schneider/etc to begin on the wing and run in from there, running past whomever gathers the ball.

I had to stop and work this out, but it sounds OK to me as a basis. Perhaps Kennelly, Bevan and Saddo could be included in the etc

[NMWBloods]

Asbsolutely include Kennelly and the like. It really depends on who is playing on the wing.

It was just one idea, but I think it is important to have other options.

I recall the last proper football game I played was an intra-work one (about 15 years ago) and I was thrown into the ruck against a very solid A-grade amateur player. I beat him in most rucks because I could simply jump over the top of him (basketball helped here) and I was able to palm it straight to the rover and we were into attack. However, after a while they were wise to it and we had to switch around, which we were able to after a few goes.

The simple point of this is that a basic structure like the one above could serve the team in most ruck contests. However there should be a signal from a designated player that they are going to switch to a different tactic.

This is something along the lines of set plays in basketball.

Just to keep M19 happy we were beaten in centre ruck duels 14-18 on the weekend, but we won centre clearances 18-14, so we can do it!!

[monopoly19]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Just to keep M19 happy we were beaten in centre ruck duels 14-18 on the weekend, but we won centre clearances 18-14, so we can do it!!

I'm that much more convinced now that you're theory is a good one...

[Nico]

Re: A centre set up?

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Once Goodes is back the way I wonder if a set-up something like this in the centre would work.

Ball/Doyle in the ruck, looking to punch the ball forward.

Mathews on the goal side of the ball, ready to gather the ball if the ruckman successfully punches the ball forward.

Kirk to the 'strong' side of the opposing ruckman (ie: if the opposing ruckman is right handed then to his left hand side), ready to shark the opponent's taps or an indecisive ruck duel. If the ball goes forward, then he runs past Mathews.

Goodes immediately behind the ruckman, ready to intercept the opposition tap if it goes forward, otherwise runs to either side of the ruck contest if the ball goes there, or runs forward past Kirk or Mathews to get the handball if they have gathered the ball.

J Bolton to begin in the goal side of the square, at around CHF, and charge in to go for the ball on our tap forward.

Two of Williams/Fosdike/Schneider/etc to begin on the wing and run in from there, running past whomever gathers the ball.

I'm not suggesting that this is a great or fullproof method, but I just think that it might perhaps work, taking advantage of Mathews' and Kirk's abilities to get the ball from a pack, Goodes' mobility, and Bolton running off the line.

Usually agree with you NMW, but on Mathews I just think that he does not go willingly to a hard contest. Also think that part our problem is that Bolton and Fosdike have very slow reaction times, and are pushed off the footy too easily.

Try this for lateral thinking. Put O'Loughlin in the centre bounces with Goodes. Both have a quick eye which may give us first use of the ball. I recall when Micky was played on the ball with great affect and indeed coming off half back. I know he is a valuable forward but we need to mix things up a bit as we seem very one dimensional all over the ground.

Right now Kirk and Williams are the only ones who look like getting their hands on it at centre bounces. They are the only ones who have a bit of grunt.

Another thought may be O'Keefe who was recruited as a midfielder. He is strong and tough and is not as slow as a lot of people thought. If he gets a clear run out of centre you can be sure of deep and accurate delivery.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Re: Re: A centre set up?

Originally posted by Nico
Try this for lateral thinking. Put O'Loughlin in the centre bounces with Goodes. Both have a quick eye which may give us first use of the ball. I recall when Micky was played on the ball with great affect and indeed coming off half back. I know he is a valuable forward but we need to mix things up a bit as we seem very one dimensional all over the ground.

I don't think O'Loughlin's body could stand up to being in the centre.Though I do agree with you in that he would be great there.

[Nico]

Early in his career Micky was looking like a top onballer and I must say it seemed like one of Eade's better ideas, until he was created as a specialist forward. In 1996 he played a heap of footy around the ground.

We just need a spark in the midfield which a fit O'Loughlin could provide. I don't know that this bloke has been match fit for years and maybe that's why he keeps breaking down.

[Newbie]

Dont like that setup NMWBloods.

Tackling is not one of Goodes strong game. If their ruckman wins 50/50 of the duals, we should expect Goodes to do a fair bit of tackling against their charged-up on-ballers. That would hurt his advantages, I am afraid.

We need a gun player with deft handball to make the best use of tap-up wins. Unfortunately, we have none at the moment. If we have a player of this attribute, he should always play as the attacking on-baller (on the goal side) and if our ruckman wins the ball clearly, he would be the man in the best position to get the ball. A deft touch with a clean hand, phew, it will be a clean break out of the centre. And with some guys with great delivery skills (e.g Kennelly/McVeigh/Schneider) to receive the ball and deliver it long to the forward line, we should often than not have some easy and quick goals. Dont tell me to stop dreaming .

[Nico]

Originally posted by Newbie
Dont like that setup NMWBloods.

Tackling is not one of Goodes strong game. If their ruckman wins 50/50 of the duals, we should expect Goodes to do a fair bit of tackling against their charged-up on-ballers. That would hurt his advantages, I am afraid.

We need a gun player with deft handball to make the best use of tap-up wins. Unfortunately, we have none at the moment. If we have a player of this attribute, he should always play as the attacking on-baller (on the goal side) and if our ruckman wins the ball clearly, he would be the man in the best position to get the ball. A deft touch with a clean hand, phew, it will be a clean break out of the centre. And with some guys with great delivery skills (e.g Kennelly/McVeigh/Schneider) to receive the ball and deliver it long to the forward line, we should often than not have some easy and quick goals. Dont tell me to stop dreaming .

The % of taps has nothing to do with who gets to the footy first. There are only a few rucks around who can hit their targets let alone shonky bounces.

The player who reads the ball and has the quickest reflexes gets the pill. eg. James Hird.

[NMWBloods]

Re: Re: A centre set up?

Originally posted by Nico
Usually agree with you NMW, but on Mathews I just think that he does not go willingly to a hard contest. Also think that part our problem is that Bolton and Fosdike have very slow reaction times, and are pushed off the footy too easily.

I agree on Bolton and Fosdike, but I still think Mathews has the ability to get the ball out. Whether he can do it on a regular basis and when we rely on it, I'm not sure.

Try this for lateral thinking. Put O'Loughlin in the centre bounces with Goodes. Both have a quick eye which may give us first use of the ball. I recall when Micky was played on the ball with great affect and indeed coming off half back. I know he is a valuable forward but we need to mix things up a bit as we seem very one dimensional all over the ground.

I don't O'Loughlin has the stamina these days as a midfielder, but perhaps he would be an interesting option as a pinch-hitter for centre square ball ups.

Another thought may be O'Keefe who was recruited as a midfielder. He is strong and tough and is not as slow as a lot of people thought. If he gets a clear run out of centre you can be sure of deep and accurate delivery.

He'd be an interesting one to try - not sure how good he would be at getting the ball out, but worth trying.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Newbie
Dont like that setup NMWBloods.

Tackling is not one of Goodes strong game. If their ruckman wins 50/50 of the duals, we should expect Goodes to do a fair bit of tackling against their charged-up on-ballers. That would hurt his advantages, I am afraid.

At best only 1 in 3 taps go to advantage so, as Nico says, it's about anticipating where the ball will go and getting there first.

I think Goodes would be fine at that and he would have space to operate in from the back.

Also a lot of teams try to get the ball out the back in a centre bounce, so it would be Kirk and Mathews possibly doing more tackling.