So how do we beat the rolling zone?

[Go_Dogs]

So for all of us wanna-be football experts, how do we, the Bulldogs, beat the rolling zones this season?

What do we need to change about our game plan? Personnel?

Does our fast moving, small target based forward line now become more valuable?

How many Gilbee's do you think we would need to guarantee ourselves a place in the GF?

[lemmon]

Geelong have probably got the best cattle to handle it, rapid handball and runners from behind to go through the zone and elite footskills to pick your targets. Jeez i hope its only of these nab cup things but it makes footy pretty crap to watch.

[Mantis]

The NAB Cup/ Challenge rules don't help team's break down the zone.

The 20m minimum kick ( judged by ump's as 25m on occassions) doesn't help and neither does the no kick backwards in the defensive half.

From what I have seen the best way to play against the zone is to simply hit target's. You just cannot afford not to. We had something like 31 clanger kicks on Friday which is just incredible and the main reason why we looked so bad.

[LostDoggy]

Everything mentioned in this post is crucial. I would like to add a couple of suggestions if I may --

Intelligent movement off the ball.
A rolling zone moves not relative to the movement of players but to the movement of the ball ie. it 'rolls' across as the ball is moved from player to player. There is thus the need for offensive players to improve their positioning WITHOUT the ball when their team is in possession. This takes two general forms:

1. Runs into space that cross from zone to zone. In soccer this is best illustrated by the 'diagonal run' that forwards sometimes make that cross them from the zone of one central defender to the other. The player in possession then plays the ball behind the defence by sliding the ball into the zone that the player is entering. This is difficult to defend as zones are 'activated' and 'deactivated' at pace. A player such a Nick Riewoldt who is able to set up play and then race forward to overload a defence and take a mark running forward is the perfect player for something like this. This is also predicated on playmakers with fantastic vision and footskills being able to pick out the run -- hello Aker and Gilbee.

2. Sliding positioning and interchanging of positions. Offensive players' starting positions are near or on the shoulder of their nearest defenders, but they are constantly moving to end up in 'between the lines' so to speak. In the middle of the park players don't change zones but hold their position and constantly move between the lines -- this helps maintain the shape of the team (in case of a turnover) and ensures a conduit from defence to attack based around short passes instead of pinpoint delivery (so you don't always need a Gilbee to move the ball out of defence). Bullet handballs are the best form of delivery as kicks generally stay too long in the air.

With the interchanging of positions, players are constantly on the move when they don't have the ball. The movement is a combination of some players moving forward of the ball carrier and others moving back towards the ball carrier, coordinated as a practiced team movement (this is key as only coordinated offensive team movement has the potential to counter a coordinated defensive team movement such as a rolling zone -- the most common team movement in field sports is one side of the midfield moving up as the other is moving down, in a 'see-saw' like motion). Ball transfer is fast and always to the free player (created by movement up and back).

Finally, in a rolling zone, some players will always be isolated by the zone system -- not all players are created equal in a defensive sense. A coach has to identify the weaker/weakest links in the opponent's zone and create plays that target those weaker players regularly. If other parts of the zone have to move to compensate the zone starts to break down very quickly.

[bornadog]

The NAB Cup/ Challenge rules don't help team's break down the zone.

The 20m minimum kick ( judged by ump's as 25m on occassions) doesn't help and neither does the no kick backwards in the defensive half.

From what I have seen the best way to play against the zone is to simply hit target's. You just cannot afford not to. We had something like 31 clanger kicks on Friday which is just incredible and the main reason why we looked so bad.

Where are the d*heads calling for backward kicks to be called play on. Another case of change the rules which then effects something else in our beloved game.

I agree, you need to be precise with kicking, hitting targets as well as long and accurate passing, ie kicking from the back line, clear over the 50 metre square to a target, not easy.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Get about 8 players to bunch up in one spot deep within the zone and kick to into the group. Hope the weight of numbers wins out and the next kick clears the zone to the unmarked forwards beyond it.

[Before I Die]

only coordinated offensive team movement has the potential to counter a coordinated defensive team movement such as a rolling zone

Very informative and insightful post Lantern. I think the line above that I have quoted may explain why we are seeing so much zoning during the pre-season. Teams need to plan and practice how to counter it and how to implement it if necessary. And having a plan, even a good one without practised proficiency in it is of no use. So when is the optimum time to experiment and do this practise? Clearly it is during pre-season practice matches. I don't think we will see wholesale zones in the season proper because I don't think enough teams will be proficient enough yet. However, if Hawthorn wins another one, heaven help the state of football in 2010.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

I would think that we could kick a high lob over the top of our oppositions best player. Then have big Will drop the knee into the back of that guy while he waits.

After 3 to 4 of these that should fix it!

[The Coon Dog]

I would think that we could kick a high lob over the top of our oppositions best player. Then have big Will drop the knee into the back of that guy while he waits.

After 3 to 4 of these that should fix it!

Sounds like a plan!

[GVGjr]

I heard someone on one of the sports shows on the weekend talk about good kicking, fast running and the lateral switch as the main ingredients for beating it. I'm not sure if we have the right players to execute this but he seemed to have researched it well enough and thought it could be broken.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I heard someone on one of the sports shows on the weekend talk about good kicking, fast running and the lateral switch as the main ingredients for beating it. I'm not sure if we have the right players to execute this but he seemed to have researched it well enough and thought it could be broken.

I think our game against the Hawks in Tassie last year followed this approach, and highlights that we can do it effectively. Then again our game against the Hawks in the finals showed that perhaps we can't do it consistently?

[LostDoggy]

I heard someone on one of the sports shows on the weekend talk about good kicking, fast running and the lateral switch as the main ingredients for beating it. I'm not sure if we have the right players to execute this but he seemed to have researched it well enough and thought it could be broken.

GVG do you think that this may open the door for a player like Okeefe who gets alot of the ball despite not being overly quick but is a very good kick & more importantly a good
decision maker who thinks quickly.He had great poise for a youngster in his 1st senior year at willy last year.

[GVGjr]

GVG do you think that this may open the door for a player like Okeefe who gets alot of the ball despite not being overly quick but is a very good kick & more importantly a good
decision maker who thinks quickly.He had great poise for a youngster in his 1st senior year at willy last year.

Certainly you always want to add classy skilled players to the back line where possible and O'Keefe could play that type of rebounding role. Until his recent injury worries, his pace had stepped up a notch or two so I'd like to see where he is at now.

A while back at a training session I attended I was informed that he could play in the back half much like what Nathan Brown was able to do for us so I'd like to see him given a run there. He is a good reader of the play and typically uses the ball so well so it could be worth a try.

Gilbee and Hargrave use the ball very well and have more depth with their kicking than most of the other player so it would be nice to find some other options as well.

[LostDoggy]

Certainly you always want to add classy skilled players to the back line where possible and O'Keefe could play that type of rebounding role. Until his recent injury worries, his pace had stepped up a notch or two so I'd like to see where he is at now.

A while back at a training session I attended I was informed that he could play in the back half much like what Nathan Brown was able to do for us so I'd like to see him given a run there. He is a good reader of the play and typically uses the ball so well so it could be worth a try.

Gilbee and Hargrave use the ball very well and have more depth with their kicking than most of the other player so it would be nice to find some other options as well.

Cheers GVG, interesting that Leon Cameron echoed your thoughts on radio today
about Okeefe & how valuable his class & kicking ability may be in today's football.
He mentioned it would be good to have another classy left footer in the team.
He said that okeefe had been set back 6 weeks with a knee injury.lets hope he can get
to full fitness soon.

[LostDoggy]

I think we beat it down in Tassie earlier in the season, weren't the Hawks playing the zone then?

Our foot & hand skills were superb, and we cut them up.

[Rocco Jones]

3 areas I think are vital in beating/countering the rolling zone are:
- Hard running
- Handball game to creat space/move ball
- I have heard many say accurate kicking will be huge but I think smart kicking will be the key. A bad kick to the right area is better than a good kick to the wrong area and that will ring even truer in the bastarised 2009 version of our game.

[hujsh]

I think our game against the Hawks in Tassie last year followed this approach, and highlights that we can do it effectively. Then again our game against the Hawks in the finals showed that perhaps we can't do it consistently?

Perhaps it was the ball that they got with Cross pushing back to counter Franklin that contributed to that

[LostDoggy]

I haven’t seen a lot of the footy to date this year, but I think it was hit on the head before, play man on man and expose the weakest link in each part of the zone.

[Jasper]

Just a thought, I think we need to take on some responsibility for the rolling zone, not because we created it but because of our attacking game plan that rocket introduced back in 06. We lead the competition for goals scored from kick ins even back then. I remember playing North at the MCG that year, we lost that game and it was largely because of what my brother and I called at the time the midfield flood. Laidley basically Zone off between the forward and defensive 50's when we had the ball in defense, giving our running defenders no space to run into. This was the first time I remember zone defense creeping into our game(well before "clarko cluster") and north have used it to great affect (I don't think we have beaten them for 3 years) over the last 3 seasons. The crows have also picked up on it and used it just not as effectively. Thoughts?

[LostDoggy]

The reasons why Hawks won the flag are-
1) 2 very good key forwards plus a good mixture of other smaller players. (Rioli, Williams, Brown,Dew)
2) Hard,tough,skillfull midfield. Best kicking team in the comp
3)Took their chances and Geelong didnt.
4) Honest backline


Rolling zone is a beat up.

[LostDoggy]

The reasons why Hawks won the flag are-
1) 2 very good key forwards plus a good mixture of other smaller players. (Rioli, Williams, Brown,Dew)
2) Hard,tough,skillfull midfield. Best kicking team in the comp
3)Took their chances and Geelong didnt.
4) Honest backline


Rolling zone is a beat up.


Tend to agree with you on this, Jerry.

Zones of one sort or another have been around forever. Still need to have the personnel to score points etc., and their key players contributed more than any zone did.

I would also say they are the best handball team in the comp after Geelong. Very impressive getting the ball out from under packs directly to a teammate.

[Swoop]

The reasons why Hawks won the flag are-
1) 2 very good key forwards plus a good mixture of other smaller players. (Rioli, Williams, Brown,Dew)
2) Hard,tough,skillfull midfield. Best kicking team in the comp
3)Took their chances and Geelong didnt.
4) Honest backline


Rolling zone is a beat up.
I'm not 100% sure about Hawthorns 'honest' backline. Hodge, Guerra, Birchall as well as Ladson & Young at different different times all zone off their players and guard space not neccessarily their specific players. For example in the GF they were perfectly happy for Steve Johnson to push up the ground and collect posessions at will while his man (Guerra) guarded space within the defensive 50.

Geelong have a similar strategy of keeping their back six tight and instructing their half backs to hold their position and not push too far up the ground.

[craigsahibee]

Looking forward to Brisbane beating Hawthorn this year by ripping holes through their game plan.

You can see the headline now.

"A Rolling Zone gathers no Voss" ;)

[LostDoggy]

The main reason why Hawthorn won the premeirship is because Geelong lost it.

[LostDoggy]

The main reason why Hawthorn won the premeirship is because Geelong lost it.

Point 3 Ernie?