Rodney Eade raises the real prospect of a surprise move on Collingwood

[Hotdog60]

THE Western Bulldogs held a secret training session away from Whitten Oval this week at a destination.
The destination was not disclosed even to the players until several hours before it started.

Heightening the suspicion that the Dogs, in their depleted state, are going to turn to something unexpected or unusual to unnerve Collingwood in tonight's qualifying final, they also fed out incorrect training times and staged a phantom training session designed to keep the Magpies' intelligence on them to a minimum.

Clubs often have private sessions at their home grounds, with security guards on patrol to keep the public, the media and the opposition's analysts from observing patterns of play and strategies being rehearsed or gathering information on injured players.

The exposed position of Whitten Oval, however, makes this almost impossible to achieve and so the club decided on a secret session held off-site several hours before an advertised session was conducted on Tuesday afternoon.

MORE (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/rodney-eade-raises-the-real-prospect-of-a-surprise-move-on-collingwood/story-e6frg7mf-1225914005041)

[AndrewP6]

Heard Coons talking on Triple M today, they mentioned this...

[bornadog]

Will they implement MJP's game plan:p

f they want to go big up forward in a final I say we let them. Without the run of Cooney through the middle we need to generate things from further back - need to take a couple of chances in selection and get some real run into the side.

Backs: Eagleton - Lake - Wood - Harbrow

- Lake designated loose man. Collingwood are a bit predictable going forward and if they push an extra tall deep forward to match up on us that suits. Stick Eagleton on someone with instructions to break to the opposite side of the ground even in 50-50 situations. Collingwood are defensively oriented - I BET they start locking him down if he gets some early possession.

Half-Backs: Wood - Williams - Murphy - Gilbee

- Murphy designated loose. Collingwood will HAVE to match him up...either Gilbee or Murphy will end up without an opponent or Collingwood end up with an 8 man forward line. Good. Crowd the hell out of it.

Wings: Cross - Ward

- Contested ball winners. Defensive release point must be wide on the MCG. Rotate Moles through these spots.

Ruck: Hudson - Roughead.

- Hudson takes Jolley at ALL times.

Mids: Boyd - Griffen - Picken

- Picken takes Pendlebury. Boyd takes Swan. Key match-ups of the game.

Forwards: Higgins - Hall - Grant - Jones

- Hall plays on Maxwell. Presti will try and take him - awesome - he beats Hall every time anyway so let's use this to our advantage and shut Maxwell down.
- Higgins plays on O'Brien - we kick it to him EVERY time.
- Grant plays on Shaw.
- Jones stays deep and does NOT MOVE.

I am not interested in allowing Collingwood to dictate terms in any way. We have a double chance - if ever there was a chance to try some things out and mix it up, it is right now. I want them to react, I want their coaches making moves that they haven't had to make all year, I want their players out of position and wondering what happens next...break their habits up and roll the dice.

[MrMahatma]

Heard that Wood is out for Callan. Griff is playing, as is Johno.

[comrade]

Heard that Wood is out for Callan. Griff is playing, as is Johno.

No issue with Griff playing - at least he'll take someone's attention. Johnno will just get worked over all night.

[MrMahatma]

No issue with Griff playing - at least he'll take someone's attention. Johnno will just get worked over all night.
Totally agree. And that's the best case scenario with him actually lasting the whole game...

[Flamethrower]

Was Tim Callan in the major surprise, because nothing much else changed compared to last time they whooped us.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. :mad:

[mighty_west]

Was Tim Callan in the major surprise, because nothing much else changed compared to last time they whooped us.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. :mad:

Whilst he wasn't the worst on ground, that selection was staggering.

[anfo27]

Great surprise Rocket, lets give the best running defence going around an extra man to run it out.

How could he be so stupid? How could the assistant coaches not talk him out of that stupid plan?

Even i didn't see that coming. GET RID OF HIM.

[MrMahatma]

Callan was pretty good all things being equal. Davis hardly had a sniff and he's cut Harbrow up big time the last few times we've played the Pies. Thought he was good.

Pitty about the 16 or 17 passengers we had on the night.

[LostDoggy]

Great surprise Rocket, lets give the best running defence going around an extra man to run it out.

How could he be so stupid? How could the assistant coaches not talk him out of that stupid plan?

Even i didn't see that coming. GET RID OF HIM.

You might be a little angry at the result but I don't think Maxwell being the extra man was the difference in the end. They were better all over the ground. But yes, I agree I don't think we should have allowed the extra man.

[Mantis]

Great surprise Rocket, lets give the best running defence going around an extra man to run it out.

How could he be so stupid? How could the assistant coaches not talk him out of that stupid plan?

Even i didn't see that coming. GET RID OF HIM.

They were the probably the ones who devised the tactic.

[LostDoggy]

Suprise! We got flogged

[anfo27]

You might be a little angry at the result but I don't think Maxwell being the extra man was the difference in the end. They were better all over the ground. But yes, I agree I don't think we should have allowed the extra man.

We dominated large parts of that first quarter only to kick into a forward line where we were out numbered. By the time that changed we were 20 points down. It didn't lose us the game but certainly prevented us from scoring in that first quarter.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

They were the probably the ones who devised the tactic.

He obviously didn't know any better if he thought the tactic was good enough to employ.

We talk about the players not learning lessons, but the coaching staff are worse.

[mjp]

We dominated large parts of that first quarter only to kick into a forward line where we were out numbered. By the time that changed we were 20 points down. It didn't lose us the game but certainly prevented us from scoring in that first quarter.

No.

No.

No.

If you are outnumbered in the forward line, don't kick the thing in there. Our insistence on kicking the ball to 1-on-1 contests 45-70m from goal is simply staggering. Maxwell then becomes the 'help' defender, which is a role he plays well.

Being on short up forward? That is not the problem. Collingwood were one down up forward as well given they had a spare man back (Maxwell) - but it didn't make the slightest difference to there scoring power.

[LostDoggy]

The surprise was Johnson getting a game. You can imagine how happy Collingwood were when he actually ran out.

[DOG GOD]

The surprise was Johnson getting a game. You can imagine how happy Collingwood were when he actually ran out.

Roos will have the same smile on his face.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

The surprise for me was getting smashed by 10 Goals, just as well they kicked poorly.

[LostDoggy]

Does anyone know what Eade was talking about when he was asked if he knew why we were playing our worst football for the season right now in his press conference. He took a while to answer and said yes but would not reveal why publicly. I found it quite interesting.

[azabob]

Does anyone know what Eade was talking about when he was asked if he knew why we were playing our worst football for the season right now in his press conference. He took a while to answer and said yes but would not reveal why publicly. I found it quite interesting.

Just watched it then.

It was very interesting, you could almost see his brain ticking over. Wonder if he does know or not?

[bornadog]

Just watched it then.

It was very interesting, you could almost see his brain ticking over. Wonder if he does know or not?

He knows but he doesn't want to make it public at this stage.

[azabob]

He knows but he doesn't want to make it public at this stage.

Wonder if it will be made public? Wonder if the whole Akermanis saga is still ongoing?!

[LostDoggy]

He knows but he doesn't want to make it public at this stage.

Do you know something that we don't? I hope there isn't more leaking of inside info! :mad:

[Topdog]

He knows but he doesn't want to make it public at this stage.

Knowing isn't important, being able to fix it is.

[DOG GOD]

Knowing isn't important, being able to fix it is.

Agree.

I dont want excuses.

I want results.

Starting this Saturday.

[mighty_west]

He knows but he doesn't want to make it public at this stage.

Sorry, but that sounds like a cop out [not at you bornadog], but us die hard members deserve alot better than that, they constantly ask for us to give our hard earned into the club [which we do year in year out].....

[LostDoggy]

I said to my mate last night, that the team looked divided.

It could be just me seeing this, but maybe this press conference reveals a hint of truth.

[AndrewP6]

I said to my mate last night, that the team looked divided.

It could be just me seeing this, but maybe this press conference reveals a hint of truth.

Which, if true, flies in the face of the post Akergate public stance.

[jazzadogs]

Which, if true, flies in the face of the post Akergate public stance.
I'm sick of people making comments about how Aker coming back would change things, 'gee you guys are missing Aker' etc. (not that that is what you were doing AndrewP6, it's just bugging me).

And I don't think the Aker thing has divided us. The two games post-Aker were two of our best games for the year, followed by the first of the 'flu' games vs Adelaide. Another of our best games. If it turns out that Akergate has been the thing which has derailed our system, I'll be so disappointed in the club as a whole.

[anfo27]

No.

No.

No.

If you are outnumbered in the forward line, don't kick the thing in there. Our insistence on kicking the ball to 1-on-1 contests 45-70m from goal is simply staggering. Maxwell then becomes the 'help' defender, which is a role he plays well.

Being on short up forward? That is not the problem. Collingwood were one down up forward as well given they had a spare man back (Maxwell) - but it didn't make the slightest difference to there scoring power.

We used our extra man at the stoppages so we wouldn't get smashed in there, not in defence.

[Mofra]

We used our extra man at the stoppages so we wouldn't get smashed in there, not in defence.
It didn't work - we managed to get our hands on the ball, but our disposal was woeful due to guys with questionable footskills kicking the ball under pressure. Boyd & Cross were allowed to kick the ball, knowing that an average kick trying to pinpoint a forward when we are outnumbered would allow them to cut us up on the rebound.

We started by tryign to play a low-scoring, grinding affair which was our only hope, and Collingwood very quickly stopped us dictating the tempo of the play.

[Mantis]

It didn't work - we managed to get our hands on the ball, but our disposal was woeful due to guys with questionable footskills kicking the ball under pressure. Boyd & Cross were allowed to kick the ball, knowing that an average kick trying to pinpoint a forward when we are outnumbered would allow them to cut us up on the rebound.



There were a number of times throughout the game when we simply ignored a free player some 20 or 30m ahead of the ball carrier and kicked long over his head to an out-numbered team-mate. These 2 in particular did it on countless occassions, but they weren't alone.

We have some of the dumbest players going around.

[Mofra]

There were a number of times throughout the game when we simply ignored a free player some 20 or 30m ahead of the ball carrier and kicked long over his head to an out-numbered team-mate. These 2 in particular did it on countless occassions, but they weren't alone.

We have some of the dumbest players going around.
It begs the question of whether they were under instruction or not; and I suppose whether they followed instruction or not. Given how well Collingwood run the ball, I would rather we keep possession.

[Mantis]

It begs the question of whether they were under instruction or not; and I suppose whether they followed instruction or not. Given how well Collingwood run the ball, I would rather we keep possession.

If our instructions weren't to use our free-man in this situation why would you play with this tactic?

[The Pie Man]

There were a number of times throughout the game when we simply ignored a free player some 20 or 30m ahead of the ball carrier and kicked long over his head to an out-numbered team-mate. These 2 in particular did it on countless occassions, but they weren't alone.

We have some of the dumbest players going around.

One bit of play on the OS flank with Boyd illustrated this to a tea - team-mate leading towards the boundary, Boyd pulls the kick inside (which anecdotally I believe he does heaps and must be a technical issue with his ball drop) and turns it over - ball came back over his head and marked easily inside Collingwood's forward fifty by Dawes, as opponent caught off guard by the turn over on the wing.

[Mofra]

If our instructions weren't to use our free-man in this situation why would you play with this tactic?
We played dumb football all over the ground at times, so logic goes out the window. Were they under instruction to bomb it long and move the ball quickly? I don't know. I have stated what I would have prefered, but obviously Eade & Co have plans I'm not privvy to.

[LostDoggy]

We played dumb football all over the ground at times, so logic goes out the window. Were they under instruction to bomb it long and move the ball quickly? I don't know. I have stated what I would have prefered, but obviously Eade & Co have plans I'm not privvy to.

It's irrelevant anyway what 'instructions' players get, once they are in a live-ball situation -- your footy nous (part of which has to be drilled into you through repetition in order to be instinctive) has to override whatever generic instruction you may get, and if the coaches or players don't understand the difference between a general situational instruction and the no-time-to-think reality of an ever changing palatte of choice and movement in a dynamic and fluid environment, then...

It's not PS2 with the coaches controlling every nuance from the coaching box. It's just not -- and coaches who truly understand that will end up with the most flexible team, with players who think for themselves and solve problems on the run (ie. Leaders).

[AndrewP6]

I'm sick of people making comments about how Aker coming back would change things, 'gee you guys are missing Aker' etc. (not that that is what you were doing AndrewP6, it's just bugging me).

No probs...FWIW, I don't believe Aker being there would've addressed our 'issues'...


If it turns out that Akergate has been the thing which has derailed our system, I'll be so disappointed in the club as a whole.

Me too...

[Jasper]

We played dumb football all over the ground at times, so logic goes out the window. Were they under instruction to bomb it long and move the ball quickly? I don't know. I have stated what I would have prefered, but obviously Eade & Co have plans I'm not privvy to.

Rocket was interviewed pre game on MMM, he indicated that the team was instructed to get the ball out of the Pies forward line quick as possible, aim for the boundary line go long if need be, just get it out to avoid the Pies fwd pressure. Aim for a stoppage where our superior/break even clearance work could take effect. The tactics sounded good to pre game....while it was raining... pre game.

We didn't adjust very well to the tactic and then to the weather not meeting our tactical expectations.

Also I think many of our naturally attacking players didn't respond well to the negative almost conceding the upper hand to the Pies. Does anyone remember Pim Verbeek and Australia V Germany in the World Cup

[The Adelaide Connection]

There were a number of times throughout the game when we simply ignored a free player some 20 or 30m ahead of the ball carrier and kicked long over his head to an out-numbered team-mate. These 2 in particular did it on countless occassions, but they weren't alone.

We have some of the dumbest players going around.

I found this one of the most frustrating aspects of the game and especially from kick-ins. I am not sure why, but all of a sudden we seem to be completely clueless and out of ideas. Almost every kick in they went long to the right hand side to stationary players and Collingwood were very, very aware. It wasn't working and yet they still persisted with it.

What made matters worse was the relative ease Collingwood were able to hit an uncontested target with their kick in. Often this would actually be a target on the wing 40-50m away. How we let that happen is beyond me but I am guessing a very slow forward line has something to do with it.

[Mantis]

What made matters worse was the relative ease Collingwood were able to hit an uncontested target with their kick in. Often this would actually be a target on the wing 40-50m away. How we let that happen is beyond me but I am guessing a very slow forward line has something to do with it.

They were able to free up one side of the ground and then pushed hard into this space with their superior leg speed.