Game Plan

[Jelly Bean]

Let me start by absolutely agreeing that winning is the most important thing...

But I've been noticing the distinct change in our game plan since mid last year, and it was well elucidated on last night's Fox Footy coverage. It was once our superpower to go straight through the corridor with quick, direct footy, using hands and running in waves. We were tough to beat, and brilliant to watch - with even non-Collingwood supporters loving our game style. The 'run and gun' seemed to suit us well, and we picked up a flag.

But since mid last year (possibly even earlier) we changed to an 'around the boundary' style, where we'd move it slow, kick long down the line over the mark, and pray for a contested mark or being able to win the ground ball. It is slower, and a little bit more 'hit and hope'. It didn't serve us well at all last year as our contested marking players forward of ball spent a lot of time out of action, but even so, I wonder whether it really is the best game style for us in this modern day when so many teams are still trying to replicate what we did in 2023.

Thoughts?

 

[manicpie]

Most sides worked out our plan of going through the middle, so we had to change it. It also looks like most sides are going around the boundary line this year. Football has become so meticulous today that you need to keep trying to find ways. 4 on the trot tells me it's not an issue

 

[gouki88]

The way we move the ball this season is completely different to last season. Our kick:handball ratio is roughly 2.07:1.58 where it was 2.03:1.39, which is significant.

We also have better users in the back half these days with Houston & J Daicos compared to the Noble & Markov types.

I think the more significant change is our cohesiveness in team defending. We seem much more connected, and our midfield is doing a better job of not letting our backs get quickly hit on turnover.

 

[Vankri]

Good little tidbits on this in Fly’s presser yesterday. I think offensively we did try to change it up last year when the corridor game was failing but it wasn’t as rehearsed and purposeful as yesterday. Short kicks on the boundary are our main avenue this year and it was obvious even from our practice games we were going to go down that path. We prefer taking the corridor from an inboard kick rather than handball chain.

Now the most interesting part is his comment on the defensive plays we tweaked. He didn’t give out much obviously but I think it has to do with defending territory and where we position our players from the forward line til the defensive line. Helps that our defenders are starting the year well.

 

[sr36]

Let me start by absolutely agreeing that winning is the most important thing...

But I've been noticing the distinct change in our game plan since mid last year, and it was well elucidated on last night's Fox Footy coverage. It was once our superpower to go straight through the corridor with quick, direct footy, using hands and running in waves. We were tough to beat, and brilliant to watch - with even non-Collingwood supporters loving our game style. The 'run and gun' seemed to suit us well, and we picked up a flag.

But since mid last year (possibly even earlier) we changed to an 'around the boundary' style, where we'd move it slow, kick long down the line over the mark, and pray for a contested mark or being able to win the ground ball. It is slower, and a little bit more 'hit and hope'. It didn't serve us well at all last year as our contested marking players forward of ball spent a lot of time out of action, but even so, I wonder whether it really is the best game style for us in this modern day when so many teams are still trying to replicate what we did in 2023.

Thoughts?

We only started doing it at the end of last year and it worked really well with a strong finish.

It enables us to protect the transition that was killing us last year and stops our mids getting getting cut up through a lack of pace.

Most weeks we do still look for handball chains through the middle. But Sydney were loading up the corridor to protect against it.

We're a really mature team that is experienced enough to adapt to the opposition.

 

[Gaspard]

Adaptation to circumstances is the key. Pendlebury is the man holding it. (In my view). He is able to switch the team from one mode to another as circumstances demand. We'll see against Brisbane how well this works under extreme pressure. Watching how they throttled a Footscray team that was tearing them apart was scary. The upcoming game will be a true measure of where we sit. We will need a full game of complete awareness of what the opposition are up to, and total concentration to get home in this one.

 

[Kes1984]

Nothing to worry about. We play good to watch footy. We move the ball with plenty of run and carry still.

Agree with others who have pointed out we started this late last year. We were finding form but just missed finals. This year we’ve got it more refined and rehearsed.

 

[Brad Goodman]

Let me start by absolutely agreeing that winning is the most important thing...

Thoughts?

Yep, hard agree.