Season 2021 - new faces, so new style and tactics for us?

[Dry Rot]

Just back from a nice break down the south coast of NSW with little internet and no Mac.

Thanks to everybody for the updates I followed on my iPhone with the Dunkley then Treloar sagas.

Good to see BT back on here. Now down to business...

To my untrained eye, we played in season 2020 pretty much like we did in 2019.

Sure, we got Keith down back (went OK) and Bruce up forward (not so good so far), but it was pretty much more of the same, bombing it into the forward line, English being killed in the ruck and our mids trying read the other guys taps etc. etc. Feel free to correct me if all that is wrong.

So moving forward into season 2021, we finally have a seasoned ruckman in Martin (if he is fit), a real medium forward in Hannan, an explosive A grade mid in Treloar and some draftee tall forward I have heard that we'll get in Ugle-Hagen.

Will these new players, especially Treloar and Martin, enable us to change our style and tactics? If so what, what changes should we make?

What do we need to do to be successful in finals, not just being knocked out in week one?

Thoughts?

[boydogs]

Martin will be worth 4 goals a game to us

[MrMahatma]

We need to get Lewis Young up and about as a KPD. That’s still a huge gap.

Overall the squad will be more balanced but that means good players will miss out on game time. Is what it is but hopefully we select for best players who can do the right role, and not just play all the mids all the time.

[bornadog]

I don't think game plan will change much, but we will be in a better position to actually execute what Bevo wants us to do, one of which is move the ball quickly.

[Mofra]

I think moving the ball quickly will be mantra as we have a plethora of marking options forward of the ball - Bruce and Naughton, Wallis is capable one on one, Hannan, and either a resting tall mid (Bont, Dunkley) or English.
I suspect VDM/Richards will be the 'speed' player roaming the HF line - I don't think we have a place for Lloyd given our stacked midfield and playing two rucks some games.

That speed should help our defence too as we should be looking to exploit our intercept marking power down there - Keath, Crozier and Wood are excellent at it and if Lewis Young becomes that second KPD he can do that as well.

I think our midfield group will set up more aggressively too. Between Smith and Treloar we will have burst speed at every contest and when Martin rucks the focus will be on winning the ball rather than just sharking the opposition taps.

The AFL world is waiting for the next tactical evolution to break the ultra-defensive set up with an aggressive, high-scoring style of play and we might be able to do it. We could jump the competition as we did in 2016 with handball-club.

[mjp]

Martin will be worth 4 goals a game to us

Is there an eye roll emoji that you meant to add to this but forgot???

[boydogs]

Is there an eye roll emoji that you meant to add to this but forgot???

I was serious, Bevo was on to something with the extra mid or around the ground ruckman in 2016 before 3rd man up was canned but he hasn't made the adjustment since, which has cost us in clearances

[Mofra]

I was serious, Bevo was on to something with the extra mid or around the ground ruckman in 2016 before 3rd man up was canned but he hasn't made the adjustment since, which has cost us in clearances
We were mid-table for centre clearances.

Boundary throw ins were where we struggled and I think an extra gun mid (Treloar) makes more of a difference there.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Where does Richards sit for the balance of 2021?

He's not a forward. I hope we don't persist with that.

Can he play wing? He looks in good shape, he's had a few pre-seasons under his belt, he does have a natural want to run and carry the ball and has pace. I actually like him in 1-v-1s as he's surprisingly quite strong. Ultimately he needs to actually find the ball to have an impact on the wing. Having Richards/Treloar/Smith suddenly makes our midfield look very quick.

Half back is his natural position but I don't see who he replaces.

Massive year for him at our club.

[hujsh]

Where does Richards sit for the balance of 2021?

He's not a forward. I hope we don't persist with that.

Can he play wing? He looks in good shape, he's had a few pre-seasons under his belt, he does have a natural want to run and carry the ball and has pace. I actually like him in 1-v-1s as he's surprisingly quite strong. Ultimately he needs to actually find the ball to have an impact on the wing. Having Richards/Treloar/Smith suddenly makes our midfield look very quick.

Half back is his natural position but I don't see who he replaces.

Massive year for him at our club.

Well Doc makes us look better when he plays partly because he can defend the smalls. Does Richards have the capacity to be a genuine defender first and foremost with the ability to provide run and carry as a secondary priority? I think given the injury history of Duryea that could basically be considered an open spot for the taking.

[Rocket Science]

Where does Richards sit for the balance of 2021?

He's not a forward. I hope we don't persist with that.

Can he play wing? He looks in good shape, he's had a few pre-seasons under his belt, he does have a natural want to run and carry the ball and has pace. I actually like him in 1-v-1s as he's surprisingly quite strong. Ultimately he needs to actually find the ball to have an impact on the wing. Having Richards/Treloar/Smith suddenly makes our midfield look very quick.

Half back is his natural position but I don't see who he replaces.

Massive year for him at our club.

If he's squeezed out of a gig somewhere forward of centre do we alter his role and groom him as heir apparent of sorts to Duryea?

It's not like we're flush for competent small defenders which is precisely why Doc's still on the list.

[jeemak]

Well Doc makes us look better when he plays partly because he can defend the smalls. Does Richards have the capacity to be a genuine defender first and foremost with the ability to provide run and carry as a secondary priority? I think given the injury history of Duryea that could basically be considered an open spot for the taking.


If he's squeezed out of a gig somewhere forward of centre do we alter his role and groom him as heir apparent of sorts to Duryea?

It's not like we're flush for competent small defenders which is precisely why Doc's still on the list.

We have Daniel at 24. Crozier at 27, Williams at 23, Wood at 31, JJ at 28 and Doc at 30 entering this season. What's the actual likelihood of Doc and Wood being fit for the whole time over the next one to two years, and are we really going to play Daniel as a defender at all times given how effective he can be for us forward of centre?

If the answers to those questions are unlikely, and likely respectively, then Richards has to find another spot. If they're unlikely and unlikely respectively then he may get a chance in his best position.

MJP has raised this point a number of times, players just need to be the best they can be in the positions they're played in. Richards fits this mould. There's better/ more accomplished players for varying reasons playing his preferred position, if he wants to be an AFL player with us then he has to be the best he can be in whatever position we put him in. If that means he's disgruntled and wants to move somewhere where he can play his preferred role then so be it, for now he does what he can to stay in the team.

I don't mind him forward of centre, he just needs to get his head into the game a bit more and make sure he doesn't fluff his lines when he gets a chance to sing them out. He wouldn't get a game if he wasn't showing intent at the contest or to fit into the coaches plans, so he just needs to tidy up what he does when he does it. If he gets it right his 15-18 touches a game with run and carry could be so valuable for us.