What's wrong with our clearance work?

[Lucky Knickers]

A couple of RWOers have commented that our clearance work needs improving. I'm very interested to understand what people's view is on the deficiencies and how we could improve.
Is it drafting a player? Who are our clearance specialists?

I've been doing some research on the definition of a clearance and it would appear that there is no clear one and that even stats providers don't agree. So for the purposes of this debate what does RWO consider "good" clearance work?

Is it the player that clears the pack like Judd or the player that gets first hands on the ball like Sammy Mitchell?

Who are our players that can most contribute to improvements in seniors and ressies?

My sense this year was that this was an area we had vastly improved on since last season but this was more an observation of how we got first use and got the ball out and away from the pack. I noted that pro-stats had us ranked 3rd but they don't provide a definition of how they calculate the state (first effective possession or taking it away). So this has lead me to the conclusion that it is all about the definition and I'd like to hear the views of RWO.

[supersall]

I would think the Swannies most consistant mechanism of 'clearances' would be worth defining. We generally don't clear the packs a la Judd, but have great in an under players who muscle the ball out from under the pack, and our sometimes maligned seagull midfielders do the rest.
Think the work KJack and JPK did over the last handful of games in this area, and the relationship to us winning games, says a lot. You would have to say Jude and Kirk were frontrunners, but very exciting to see the other 2 stand up (or lay down as the case may be). Our baby speedsters are still learning where to hover, but they'll get there.

[Hartijon]

Our match success coincides with Jack and Kennedy, our clearance specialists, hitting top form. Jude and Kirky were better 5 years ago. Clearance Aces are Judd and Ablett. The game plan seems to be get the ball to a pair of Swans hands any way possible by baulking,diving in ,pushing spilling the ball..whatever it takes. That waiting pair of hands instantly handballs backwards to a player who does the same until a breaking player coming through is found.It could easily be a half bacl like Kennelly. The ball is then officially cleared! With Ablett and Judd,they can clear by themselves by hitting top speed in one stride and using their immensely strong bodies to break tackles.Thats why they are Champions! Kieren Jack is in that mould and has improved immensely.Often stoppages are also used to deny the opposition the ball and it is impossible to make a genuine attempt to clear it.

[Go Swannies]

Now that Kieren is becoming so effective, maybe we will do what the Cats and Blues do and practice routines to give him space to get clear a la Judd and Ablett. Apparently, that takes everyone in the midfield playing their part to keep opposition taggers away. Kennedy has proven to be such a good body in there that the Swans may decide to continue to scrap it out - as they have for the whole Roos period, except when Goodes is in top form and can burst clear himself.

[707]

Two types of clearance for mine.

The most devastating is the ability to burst forwards and clear of the stoppage thereby catching the opposition off guard. Witness Judd in the first final against us and although I haven't yet watched the replay I reckon Griffen had a few in the second final.

The other clearance is the series of handpasses that eventually find a runner free outside but frequently it moves the ball back of the stoppage which does allow time for the opposition to take up defensive positions.

The players who can do the first are game breakers and to do it you need strength, pace and be slippery in tackles. Ablett and Judd are this type of player, our own Kieran J is developing nicely along those lines but players like this don't grow on trees!

The more burst clearance players in your rotations, the more attacking you will be.

[ScottH]

Watch the 2nd half of Sat nites game against the dogs, and the 3rd term against the Blues.
We got smashed in this dept.

[Ratna]

Like 707 said players who have the speed, strength and evasiveness to burst forward from a clearance don't grow on trees and also they are not traded either willingly or cheaply. So there is a need for strategic recruiting and gameplan changes to move this direction/. K. Jack has been mentioned a lot in this thread and I like probably all on here have marvelled at his development this year. In addition to this we have some players coming through who have general pace who will be able to rotate through the midfield. I think this will help us clear the contest with more forward momentum rather than having to go backwards.
The gameplan in recent years has been based partly on tight clearance contest and patience in moving the ball into the forward line when needed with most fast ball movement coming from the backline on counter attack, there was some movement away from this strategy this year. With more pace coming through and potential KPP like Johnston, Reid and White plus clever forwards like TDL it would be great to see our game plan move further in the direction of fast ball movement from all situations. So I think that while games are often decided at stoppages the way that the midfield plays obviously depends on a wider game plan. The game plan that we have had has suited the players we have had, but the group developing and those recruited have different attributes. This change of personnel and general game plan will change how we look at the centre clearance.
Sorry for the essay of my disjointed thoughts. What I'm trying to say is that from my humble opinion recruiting has been excellent and strategically targeted to a change of game plan to keep up with and lead the way AFL is evolving. I think/hope a change in the way we approach centre clearances is an integral part of this.

[dread and might]

I have a feeling that Kennedy is going to be the key to this area in the future. Jack has improved out of sight, but I don't know if he will ever attain the Judd/ Ablett standard..... Happy to be proven wrong on that of course.

But if Kennedy can get it to Jack, Hanners, Jetpack etc.....

[liz]

I think we have a group of players who generate clearances in very different ways - they all have their trademark way of going about things.

Goodsey (when he plays there - hopefully more often next year) and Macca tend to be effective when they are on the move before the ruckmen have tapped the ball. It is a bit of a dice throw because it depends on the ruckman getting a clear tap to advantege, and if they don't, or it is directed elsewhere, either of these two is then out of the next contest because they've already moved forward of the ball. But if they can pluck it off the ruckman's hands, their clearances are the most effective we have. When Goodes does it best, he uses his power and speed to break into space, slightly wide of the pack. He's probably the most Judd-like of our mids in the way he can do this but tends to run wider than Judd does - probably because he needs a couple more steps to get his pace up. Macca tends to weave his way a bit more, and either set up a runner with a handball or short kick it forward. I know many think of McVeigh as primarily an "outside" player but when he's onsong (not often enough this year) he's actually one of most creative clearance players at centre bounces. He just doesn't much like to get down and dirty and scrap for the ball on the ground.

Jude tends to be a bit more stationary but frequently pounces if the ball comes out of the back of the pack. His trademark is then to run sideways and slightly backwards and he usually just hoists it forward off his boot with more hope than design but that quick kick forward can be effective.

Jack's most effective trick is to swoop on a ball that's hit the deck, and what he started doing this year was picking it up cleanly, using his pace and the element of surprise to run forward (almost never sideways or backwards) before kicking it long or short, and this year, increasingly to the advantage of a forward.

Kennedy tends to stay vertical and relatively stationary until he has the ball, then when in possession uses his strength to bust through tacklers. In that situation he normally looks to handball off to someone in a little more space.

It is early days with Hanners yet, but this year his most effective play at centre bounces was not as the first player gathering possession off the ground, but the second in the chain. He often anticipated a team mate dishing out a short handball so that he was on the move when he received it and could send another out slighly wider. Alternatively, he showed great hands accepting the ball knowing he was going to get tackled straight away and was often able to handball out (usually backwards) as he fell to the ground. In 'around the ground' contested ball situations he also became adept at shooting out slightly longer handballs, again almost always backwards, as he was being tackled - at times it looked very much like a rubgy style feed.

It will be interesting next year to see if Smith gets put into centre-bounces at times, taking over from Kirk as a defensive mid who can also generate his own clearances. Kirk spent far less time this year at centre bounces than in previous years and they didn't feel the need to inject Smith in there, so maybe it won't happen. But he is a very smart player who can assess an option in a fraction of a second and frequently get an effective kick away under pressure.

Finally, of course, there is the Mummy factor. I suspect a large part of the reason why we started getting smashed in the clearances in the 3rd quarter against the Dogs was because Mummy could hardly move by that point. He was also clearly hampered against the Blues, and Jacobs took real advantage in that third term, getting some clear taps to his mids, aided by some very effecitve blocking by the Carlton mids on Jack. And of course, before he got injured, Mummy was a more than handy midfielder at centre bounces when the ball hit the deck. He rarely spectated but got stuck in and used his aggression and bulk at ground level to try and force the ball out.

I think the injections of Mumford, Kennedy and Hanners, plus the development of Jack give Longmire some real variety in his centre bounce options. Add Bird and Smith potentially to the mix, use Goodes wisely, and reinvigorate McVeigh to his 2008 level, and I'm pretty excited about the clearance possibilities over the next few years.

[giant]

...and don't forget O'Keefe, our 2009 F&B midfield winner who had little midfield impact in 2010.

[chalbilto]

I know he gets bagged a lot by various posters, but I would like to see Jarred Moore spend time in the midfield in 2010. He is criticized for his lack of pace, but Jude Bolton and Craig Bird aren't express and they play in the centre.

[dimelb]

I know he gets bagged a lot by various posters, but I would like to see Jarred Moore spend time in the midfield in 2010. He is criticized for his lack of pace, but Jude Bolton and Craig Bird aren't express and they play in the centre.

And his distribution can be marvellous. Not every time, but whose is? Ablett, for example, got BOG in the PF from some judges based, I assume, on his 40 possessions, most of which were rubbish and/or went straight to Collingwood.

[goswannie14]

And his distribution can be marvellous. Not every time, but whose is? Ablett, for example, got BOG in the PF from some judges based, I assume, on his 40 possessions, most of which were rubbish and/or went straight to Collingwood.

Sounds like a game I saw in September 2005.

[hammo]

Two types of clearance for mine.

The most devastating is the ability to burst forwards and clear of the stoppage thereby catching the opposition off guard. Witness Judd in the first final against us and although I haven't yet watched the replay I reckon Griffen had a few in the second final.

The other clearance is the series of handpasses that eventually find a runner free outside but frequently it moves the ball back of the stoppage which does allow time for the opposition to take up defensive positions.

The players who can do the first are game breakers and to do it you need strength, pace and be slippery in tackles. Ablett and Judd are this type of player, our own Kieran J is developing nicely along those lines but players like this don't grow on trees!

The more burst clearance players in your rotations, the more attacking you will be.

This is true. There has to be movement by all these players as well. The Swans struggle when we become stationary at the stoppages and worry more about stopping their opponent than getting ball.

[Bloody Hell]

I know he gets bagged a lot by various posters, but I would like to see Jarred Moore spend time in the midfield in 2010. He is criticized for his lack of pace, but Jude Bolton and Craig Bird aren't express and they play in the centre.

There's a reason he plays in the forward line. No speed, no tank. Nice bloke though.