I don't watch many games without Richmond playing.
It was an interesting game, but certainly something lacking.
Clearly Melbourne were a couple of rungs above Footscray.
It was a strangely open game, very little pressure I could see, maybe the lack of a crowd clouds your judgement but lots of players from both sides peeling off for the receive. That's fine, it is how they play and always gives them an outlet.
It was noticeable in the stats that Footscray had more possessions, trouble is a hell of a lot of them were players handballing out of trouble. They also had more inside 50s but Melbourne's defence is a completely different prospect to 2018, they are now actually good, very good. Their defenders are waiting for the intercept mark and are anticipating the ball coming in, add to this upfield pressure and it is hard to get a clean entry inside 50.
Melbourne did a very good job of positioning and constantly harassing Footscray players who could not get any chains of possession. You always know that one team is playing much better when they always look like they have more players on the ground. Melbourne seriously outworked Footscray. Whenever Footscray tried to switch to the other side they were outworked and had nowhere to go. If you switch against a hard working team they will be able to cover it as switching takes time.
Melbourne look very good. It is a question as to whether they can sustain that style under intense pressure, but they are playing in such a way as to avoid pressure. The outnumbering and outside runners ready to receive means they can try and avoid pressure. I'm sure every other team is looking for ways to counter this but it is not a bad strategy.
We'll see, Melbourne did well in 2018 but their defence was too leaky and there were some other issues. It might have taken a couple of years but they have addressed deficiencies and, if they have looked back at 2018 and treated it as a stepping stone, they are a real chance.
DS
It was an interesting game, but certainly something lacking.
Clearly Melbourne were a couple of rungs above Footscray.
It was a strangely open game, very little pressure I could see, maybe the lack of a crowd clouds your judgement but lots of players from both sides peeling off for the receive. That's fine, it is how they play and always gives them an outlet.
It was noticeable in the stats that Footscray had more possessions, trouble is a hell of a lot of them were players handballing out of trouble. They also had more inside 50s but Melbourne's defence is a completely different prospect to 2018, they are now actually good, very good. Their defenders are waiting for the intercept mark and are anticipating the ball coming in, add to this upfield pressure and it is hard to get a clean entry inside 50.
Melbourne did a very good job of positioning and constantly harassing Footscray players who could not get any chains of possession. You always know that one team is playing much better when they always look like they have more players on the ground. Melbourne seriously outworked Footscray. Whenever Footscray tried to switch to the other side they were outworked and had nowhere to go. If you switch against a hard working team they will be able to cover it as switching takes time.
Melbourne look very good. It is a question as to whether they can sustain that style under intense pressure, but they are playing in such a way as to avoid pressure. The outnumbering and outside runners ready to receive means they can try and avoid pressure. I'm sure every other team is looking for ways to counter this but it is not a bad strategy.
We'll see, Melbourne did well in 2018 but their defence was too leaky and there were some other issues. It might have taken a couple of years but they have addressed deficiencies and, if they have looked back at 2018 and treated it as a stepping stone, they are a real chance.
DS
