What to do in games when the chips are down - Discussion

[Eastdog]

When things are going our way as they have been in recent weeks then no issues but when things are not going our way we seem to drop our heads too easily as shown in the final quarter of the match last night after being quite close at 3 qtr time only 18 points behind with still a chance to win.

How do we solve this issue in a match for when we are not on top and trying to get back into games. Is our best and worst poles apart?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

[GVGjr]

While we were playing catch-up football throughout the game I thought we could have taken our chances in the last quarter
Hard to say why we capitulated in the manner we did but if Bevo can't find the answers we will continue to ride the roller coaster of performances

[Mofra]

One of the obvious solutions is to put your best players in the area where the problem is occurring. Our forwardline just wasn't working last night, Bont went there to try and help but it didn't stem the bleeding.

[Danjul]

One of the obvious solutions is to put your best players in the area where the problem is occurring. Our forwardline just wasn't working last night, Bont went there to try and help but it didn't stem the bleeding.
A good start would be to have a Plan B, such as:

1. handball less - it pulls our players away from opponents so any turnovers give them an open run.
2. Kick lower - most entries into the forward area were easily negated by backmen.
3. Stop defending grass and stay close to opponents - Carlton had numerous passages of play where no Bulldog was on the screen. Are they told to be 30 m from opponents?
4. Have a genuine second ruck option when it is going badly.
5. Stop using short players to cover tall forwards who are being fed easy marks.
6. Tell small forwards to get out of the way when talls are leading or battling with 2 backmen. Didn’t see them try to open up the forward area.
7. Tell McRae to get some penetration into his kicking. Thought Hunter was better than usual in this regard.

Our only solution so far has been putting the Bont under the pack, doesn’t usually help, give him space to work his magic.

we have been in identical situations many times during the last few years and I haven’t seen any tactical response. If we win, Ok. If we lose, that’s OK too.

[CarnTheScray]

A good start would be to have a Plan B, such as:

1. handball less - it pulls our players away from opponents so any turnovers give them an open run.
2. Kick lower - most entries into the forward area were easily negated by backmen.
3. Stop defending grass and stay close to opponents - Carlton had numerous passages of play where no Bulldog was on the screen. Are they told to be 30 m from opponents?
4. Have a genuine second ruck option when it is going badly.
5. Stop using short players to cover tall forwards who are being fed easy marks.
6. Tell small forwards to get out of the way when talls are leading or battling with 2 backmen. Didn’t see them try to open up the forward area.
7. Tell McRae to get some penetration into his kicking. Thought Hunter was better than usual in this regard.

Our only solution so far has been putting the Bont under the pack, doesn’t usually help, give him space to work his magic.

we have been in identical situations many times during the last few years and I haven’t seen any tactical response. If we win, Ok. If we lose, that’s OK too.
That should just be our Plan A really.

[Eastdog]

One of the obvious solutions is to put your best players in the area where the problem is occurring. Our forwardline just wasn't working last night, Bont went there to try and help but it didn't stem the bleeding.

Yeah we needed much more from Bruce and Schache. They weren’t helped by the delivery in there. Bont clearly is best suited in the middle although he did get a mark inside 50 and kicked a good goal.

[Eastdog]

A good start would be to have a Plan B, such as:

1. handball less - it pulls our players away from opponents so any turnovers give them an open run.
2. Kick lower - most entries into the forward area were easily negated by backmen.
3. Stop defending grass and stay close to opponents - Carlton had numerous passages of play where no Bulldog was on the screen. Are they told to be 30 m from opponents?
4. Have a genuine second ruck option when it is going badly.
5. Stop using short players to cover tall forwards who are being fed easy marks.
6. Tell small forwards to get out of the way when talls are leading or battling with 2 backmen. Didn’t see them try to open up the forward area.
7. Tell McRae to get some penetration into his kicking. Thought Hunter was better than usual in this regard.

Our only solution so far has been putting the Bont under the pack, doesn’t usually help, give him space to work his magic.

we have been in identical situations many times during the last few years and I haven’t seen any tactical response. If we win, Ok. If we lose, that’s OK too.

Nice plan to pass onto Bevo :)

[1eyedog]

Get Bevo a senior assistant he really respects rather than a panel of yes men.

[Grantysghost]

What happened to tempo footy. Understanding the game situation and controlling the play for a while. I think it's OK to go slow at times, and it's an easy play to call. Put a snail on a card I don't care ! The Swans used to be masters of it, kicking down the line to a succession of leading targets. It can really halt the opposition momentum, and get the game back on your terms.

Maybe I'm living in 2006 !

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Get Bevo a senior assistant he really respects rather than a panel of yes men.

Can't see that happening anytime soon.

Has there ever been a side in recent history to keep the exact same coaching group for 5+ years?

[Mofra]

What happened to tempo footy. Understanding the game situation and controlling the play for a while. I think it's OK to go slow at times, and it's an easy play to call. Put a snail on a card I don't care ! The Swans used to be masters of it, kicking down the line to a succession of leading targets. It can really halt the opposition momentum, and get the game back on your terms.

Maybe I'm living in 2006 !
A very accomplished basketball coach I know when talking about what to do when things aren't going your way says there are only two things you really do - speed the game up, or slow the game down.

Our plan A is a fast game, so plan B surely has to be a slower game which in the AFL world means possession football.

[bornadog]

Can't see that happening anytime soon.

Has there ever been a side in recent history to keep the exact same coaching group for 5+ years?

Not Exactly, some changes have been made

2016:



Luke Beveridge (senior coach)
Joel Corey (stoppages coach)
Stewart Edge (development coach)
Daniel Giansiracusa (forwards coach)
Ashley Hansen (VFL coach)
Steven King (midfield coach)
Brett Montgomery (senior assistant)
Rohan Smith (defence coach)
Chris Maple (head of development)


2020



Luke Beveridge. Senior Coach.
Steven King. Senior Assistant Coach.
Rohan Smith. Assistant Coach.
Jordan Russell. Assistant Coach.
Joel Corey. Assistant Coach.
Ash Hansen. Assistant Coach.
Daniel Giansiracusa. VFL Head Coach.
Jamie Maddocks. Development Manager.

[GVGjr]

So it's just 2 changes since 2016?

Sure there has been some shuffling of the chairs but everyone at the club in 2020 was there in some capacity in 2016

[The Bulldogs Bite]

So it's just 2 changes since 2016?

Sure there has been some shuffling of the chairs but everyone at the club in 2020 was there in some capacity in 2016

Yep and the changes were development guys on the fringe - not the senior core.

[GVGjr]

Yep and the changes were development guys on the fringe - not the senior core.

If we were a bit more successful it's actually a wonderful blueprint of promoting and developing from within but as many of have highlighted you have to wonder if bringing in some people from other clubs might help

[1eyedog]

Can't see that happening anytime soon.

Has there ever been a side in recent history to keep the exact same coaching group for 5+ years?

I know it seems petty that we lose one and the heat is immediately turned up in the coaches box and I'm not here to pot the coach but the way we lose rolling out that high press methodology makes us look like a basket case and makes other teams look like movie stars. It is unsustainable and was worked out by other teams two years ago. I said in the three things I've learned thread that the high press doesn't work if you don't have two key ingredients. 1. A completely defensive mindset and 2. Maniacal attack on the ball forward of centre. I understand that we needed to change things up due to the weather and there was a high chance of turning the ball over in the conditions playing our high possession game plan but reverting to that high press was, well it was a 10 goal loss.

Bevo seems very loyal but I feel compelled to start questioning the benefit of musical chairs in the coaches box opposed to the influx of new ideas. There's a saying in evolutionary biology that isolation breeds mental strangulation and I worry sometimes that the lack of in-game flexibility, the rigidity of player selections and the reversion to our 2016 handball club game plan (which can and does overwhelm middle of the road clubs in perfect conditions), shows an inability to progress with a new idea (be it positional in-game changes), or find broader answers or solutions or adaptations to game plans (i.e. the high press methodology) to the point it becomes a case of the more things change the more they stay the same for us.

[Scorlibo]

I said in the three things I've learned thread that the high press doesn't work if you don't have two key ingredients. 1. A completely defensive mindset and 2. Maniacal attack on the ball forward of centre.

Agree with everything you've said 1eye - but I'd add a third ingredient: goals! When the forwards don't convert from the first entry, every successive entry becomes more difficult to score from. We won the inside 50s but most of them were trashcan entries to a sea of 30 players because the forwards couldn't score from the first entry.

[Eastdog]

This thread has become relevant once again.

[SonofScray]

Here's what I'd be considering:

1. Add some length to our game, a bit more territory and focus on taking ground.
2. Manufacture intensity and emotion in the game. Two goals, fight. Repeat.
3. Go with a harder tag, earlier on. Put players in the gun like the Plough era dogs.