Game plan butcher

[yandb]

Which one of our coaches tried to reinvent our game plan?

For three seasons we have dominated the AFL with the game plan Blake brought with him when we appointed as an assistant coach.

Blake left to go to Essendon but why did we need to change the game plan just because he left.

Is it because some of our senior players weren't fit so we compromised the game plan to cater for some players lack of hunger.

Bulldogs became a cautionary tale of players loosing the hunger and wanting to enjoy the trappings of success.

Our season is not over so lets get back to our two time premiership winning game plan and play the players who have the appetite to play the game plan.

 

[year of the tiger]

Have we changed our game plan - I can’t tell - I know we haven’t got our game going yet apart from the first half in Rd 1

 

[lamb22]

I don't think it's deliberate YandB, I think its about implementation and to be fair the restrictions don't help.

BTW Hardwick's win record with Blake 75.67%, without 46.87%.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

Something was different last night. For a middle-of-the-road team to put almost 100 points past us, straight kicking or not, was just not us. The backline suddenly looks shaky, even when they get out of trouble.

 

[jb03]

Blake's influence is massively over rated IMO. Hardwick is the head coach.

 

[fastin bulbous]

I think others are copying our game plan better than us

 

[yandb]

Blake's influence is massively over rated IMO. Hardwick is the head coach.

Just because he is a great head coach doesn't make him a great tactician.

I believe that is why Neil Balme recruited Blake at the end of 2016 because Hardwicks best game plan was on display in 2016.

Our players are Looking lost and confused out there just like in 2016.

 

[frickenel]

Poor disposal will render any game plan useless.

How often did you see us miss targets by foot, or even more frustrating, hand ball to a team mate's feet. You can'ty surge forward and be that sloppy, or you DO get 100 points kicked against you because of the very nature of your style - everyone surging forward and uh-oh, ball is suddenly going the other way in the hands of the guys that should have been chasing your bums.

Our skills are currently deplorable, possibly mixed with some poor decision making which can make bad skills look worse.

The last few years when we surged, the opposition couldn't catch us, because we surged without breaking stride. This year, players are reaching well over their heads or at their boot laces for errant handballs, which loses time and distance on the pursuing pack.

It seems to me players are double guessing what they are doing, and then half doing! I think Hardwick just needs to tell them first instinct and execute, don't over think until kicking into our forward line where we need to AT LEAST kick it to our forwards advantage.

 

[leon]

Deleted

 

[DavidSSS]

Poor disposal will render any game plan useless.

This.

DS

 

[fastin bulbous]

Sounds like a quote from a sacred Buddhist scroll

 

[craig]

Our players are underdone, off the pace not running have no repeat efforts nor any desire to make them, they are not mentally switched on.

Without the intent and desire there is no performance.

I think our players dropped off over the break and being late starters and already 4-5 weeks behind the rest we had less condition to fall back on compared to the likes of StKilda and North and the Goldies and Hawthorn and Port etc etc.

It shows. We are not running and not pressuring that is the essence of the game plan.

Its either physically we are not up to it as fit as others (which I feel is a part of it), or mentally not dialled in via hangover or lack interest from the covid break (which I also feel has a part to play).

Without the mental aptitude to push and push and push ones self through the physical limits the players aren't doing it. That's human nature.

The fitness will come eventually but the season could well be gone by then especially if we drop another 2 odd games in the next 3.

 

[Jonesracing82]

Something was different last night. For a middle-of-the-road team to put almost 100 points past us, straight kicking or not, was just not us. The backline suddenly looks shaky, even when they get out of trouble.

whats changed is we are letting oppo run the ball to the f50 far too easily & our back 50, as good as they are can't keep defending the dam wall when it's at bursting point the whole game.

 

[tigerdell]

Nor can they defend the dam wall during the first quarter.
Its not as if we eventually succumb to the pressure and the wall cracks.
Nope in the opening term we let them outrun us and goals flow in torrents. This is repeated each term.

 

[yandb]

Our players are underdone, off the pace not running have no repeat efforts nor any desire to make them, they are not mentally switched on.

Without the intent and desire there is no performance.

I think our players dropped off over the break and being late starters and already 4-5 weeks behind the rest we had less condition to fall back on compared to the likes of StKilda and North and the Goldies and Hawthorn and Port etc etc.

It shows. We are not running and not pressuring that is the essence of the game plan.

Its either physically we are not up to it as fit as others (which I feel is a part of it), or mentally not dialled in via hangover or lack interest from the covid break (which I also feel has a part to play).

Without the mental aptitude to push and push and push ones self through the physical limits the players aren't doing it. That's human nature.

The fitness will come eventually but the season could well be gone by then especially if we drop another 2 odd games in the next 3.

The premise that we are 4-5 weeks behind the other teams doesn't make sense, we kept training for 4 more weeks than they did (and played 3 more games than they did) so our break was of the same length.

We had a two month Covid layoff so even if we were slightly behind there was plenty of time to bridge any slight gap.

We have young players who have the mental aptitude and are jumping out of their skin to play a senior game so if a senior player has lost the edge then drop him until he regains his appetite.

The game plan is another problem, can anyone sagest why we wouldn't return to the game plan of the last three years?

 

[123cups]

Our pressure gameplan might be less effective in shorter games where players are less prone to lapses in concentration or fatigue?

In the most one-sided Grand Final in history, we didn’t kick a goal for nearly 30 minutes. Harder to force errors when fresh.

Our concentration advantage due to mindfulness is also less of an advantage in shorter games.

Another factor could be the psychology of being the undisputed best.

Speaking for myself, I still have a kind of satisfaction lingering from the 2019 win. But with universal respect comes a certain pressure of expectation that feels different.

Usually, the team deals with performance anxiety through mindfulness and connection. That’s been harder to do.

I don’t really notice any clear strategic issues. Are we pressuring less because of opposition tactics?

 

[yandb]

Dion let slip in the post match interview that the tactics had been changed from the Collingwood on and it hadn't worked.

Most fans could have told them after the Hawthorn match the changes weren't working but we still persisted.

I am glad we have gone back to what has made us successful over the last few years.