RFC presents Happy Handball Hour

[Tigerhart04]

Just had the opportunity to sit and watch the replay of yesterday's game and yes we tried bloody hard, but that's because we had to cover our Happy Handball time. I know the Dawks place incredible pressure on the opposition coming out of defence, but man, our guys looked like they were doing training drills I swear. "Round and round where will it stop nobody knows"

For those at the game did it look that bad or was it just that the TV can concentrate on one area and made it look so Gasparesque?

 

[tigersforever06]

We lack targets at half forward

When we cna run it through the middle we look good. When we are chocked we are forced to retreat so we dont give the ball up, but eventually we do through opposition pressure

We really need a CHF who can present up the ground. Cleve Hughes anyone?? or is he not the answer for that particular postition

How good would Travis Cloke have been in a Richmond jumper

 

[Tigerhart04]

That's what has disappointed me with Polak this year. He's normally an exceptional mark and at least would be the target you talk of, but he's just not doing the hard stuff at the moment. Wonder if he's not happy about something?

 

[clown]

That's what has disappointed me with Polak this year. He's normally an exceptional mark and at least would be the target you talk of, but he's just not doing the hard stuff at the moment. Wonder if he's not happy about something?

What ther to not be happy about, he just needs to pull his finger (or probably his whole arm upto the shoulder) out.

 

[premiers2011]

Just had the opportunity to sit and watch the replay of yesterday's game and yes we tried bloody hard, but that's because we had to cover our Happy Handball time. I know the Dawks place incredible pressure on the opposition coming out of defence, but man, our guys looked like they were doing training drills I swear. "Round and round where will it stop nobody knows"

For those at the game did it look that bad or was it just that the TV can concentrate on one area and made it look so Gasparesque?

yeah Tigger at times at the game it looked a bit much and a few bronx cheers went up when we finally kicked it. But your right,they put unbelievable pressure on the ball carrier so it was like a hot potato

 

[mb64]

Good thread,we overdid the handball & went too wide.Sometimes that 1 handball too many in a passage of play can prove costly.

 

[WesternTiger]

Good thread,we overdid the handball & went too wide.Sometimes that 1 handball too many in a passage of play can prove costly.

Went wide and stayed wide which was exactly what Clarko wanted us to do and drilled his players accordingly.

 

[MalenyTiger]

Why did we persist with that game plan then? Surely you would move your marking forwards up to the centre of the ground to provide an option rather than doing circle work at half back! Or did our marking forwards just not want to run to create the space? If only the other guys could take a leaf out of Richo's book and run like he does...

 

[Tigerhart04]

I suppose being armchair critics is easy, but you would expect the coaching staff to get the defenders to attempt to kick over the heads of the 10 hawks who prowled the center line and instruct the forwards to present just behind that center line.

I just got giddy watching the ball going round and round by hand.

 

[rickyvaughn99]

you almost have to move the ball by hand and run through the lines with the 15 man zone that Hawthorn had set up, otherwise you bomb it away to a line of waiting hawks, our skills are not yet up to pin pointing short passes like geelong can. It will come, look at it this way....our game style is 100 times better than last year

 

[waiting]

Great thread.

This is really a wallace trait. But to be a good side our ratio should be more kicks to handball ration, not the other way around. Not only that it is by huge margins.

We were flattered by the result. The dawks could have destroyed us.

We need to introduce Hughes and stick with him. Polak has been a huge dissapointment this year for mine. Dosent present , cant kick, doesnt chase.

At least with Hughes he can offer this and straighten us.

We have to find out whether Hughes is good enough and give him plenty of time in the seniors. The games i saw him last year where i think he kicked 3 lots of 3 goals then got dropped week later. Memeory not the best but really. Polak needs to go to coburg to learn what is required. He is the victim of Wallace's plan when he arrived to play him as a loose man and he is now suffering because of this. Yes he is a fine mark , but thats when he can be bothered.

Thoughts

 

[Lonthalion]

whats the alternative to handballing to try find an open player to run and deliver the ball? Thats right its a Shane Tuck -esque bomb that brings rain but no success

 

[Punxsutawney Phil]

I agree...the other thing is we get caught in the handball merry go round typically in the defensive part of the ground. I would think that much more than half of our possessions on Sunday were in the back half of the ground. It means that the inevitable turnover will often lead to a scoring opportunity for the opposition. I think the Hawks forced us into playing this way with their numbers at the ball and their clogging up of the space across our half forward line. It is something that we will need to learn to counter.

When we finally did get moving we were quite efficient in terms of goals per forward 50 entry, but didn't get it in there often enough.

The way I saw the game, the Hawks looked much more likely to score than we did throughout the night, mainly because they were able to get the ball to scoring positions more often than we did. Whilst I was pleased that we stuck with them, I too feel that the scoreline flattered us.

 

[TygerTyger]

I spent much of the game screaming 'kick the bloody ball'... but the thing was that the Dawks clogged up the middle forcing the hand passing tigers wide, and no one was leading up from CHF to make a target - or when a target did come, he was outnumbered and the Tiger ball carrier would be crucified for passing into the center corridor to a 3 on 1 contest.

I reckon Polak, Patto and Edwards had poor games -- the first two should have been working much harder, and providing longer options for the defense bringing the ball out. Edwards didn't seem to know whether to go wide and provide a target, or to chase crumbs (and ended up being nowhere) I really want to see Hughes get a decent go at making CHF his. He's a good long kick and could provide the target we needs

 

[Tigerhart04]

Spot on Tyger, we needed Polak or someone to demand the pill over the top of nest of Dawks. Sure our skills aren't sound yet to hit a target every time, but it's like mud, throw enough of it around and some will stick. So the more options our defence and midfield had to get it over the top the more likely we were to score.

Mind you at some stages I thought the Dawks had about 5 extra players on the field, there was almost always 1 on 3 contests throughout the game.

 

[Wildride]

On the Couch last night provided visual evidence of the zone the Hawks set up - trying to pinpoint a player in the nest of Hawks was very hard - I think running it out is the way to go, but we do need a target at CHF for it to work.

 

[johnson2richo2003]

Yes went handball happy.But at least we tried to break the lines.Unlike in other years we would have done the zig zag back to zig and back zag again.

 

[lamb22]

On the Couch last night provided visual evidence of the zone the Hawks set up - trying to pinpoint a player in the nest of Hawks was very hard - I think running it out is the way to go, but we do need a target at CHF for it to work.

If you clear the zone then in theory you should have loose men at half forward and elsewhere. In the new game you have a mobile target who can find space and finish up forward.

The quality CHF is still important when you have trouble clearing the zone and you are forced to kick to a space or contest. That's when a ball winning KPP is important.

 

[cam]

whats the alternative to handballing to try find an open player to run and deliver the ball? Thats right its a Shane Tuck -esque bomb that brings rain but no success

There were numerous occasions where I could see the ball carrier had options up the ground or at worse a one-on-one but he opted for the easy option - which is a hand pass or 15m kick.

Need to improve our decision making.