One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: TigerLand on June 07, 2015, 11:46:34 AM
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Happy to eat humble words, said on numerous occasions Hardwick doesn't and will never change his style or look for a Plan B. Hat's off to him for the past month and a new style that is working well.
I've really enjoyed what we've seen the last month, a change in game plan which took a while to get going. We were smashed on rebound last year by Port with the switching of play and run and dash through the middle in numbers. Clogging the corridor and forcing teams to play down the wings and having a defensive set up on flanks a kick a head of the ball is working amazingly well. It's an evolution of the full oval cluster which Clarkson mastered.
Hat's off to our coaching team, it's innovations like this that wins premiership. Teams will work out how to beat this eventually, we need to be ready for this with our next evolution. Always being 1 step ahead is how teams sustain success.
Well done and well played Hardwick and well done to the players for executing it well. A joy to watch on Friday night (seen replay 3 times now).
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I actually think that for the first time in a long time, the players actually are starting to believe in the coach and his game plan. They can see the results their effort is getting them. This is huge and immediately makes Hardwick look like a better coach.
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Interested in people's thoughts on "tempo footy". When we were 2 and 4 it was the dreaded principle that was had us entrenched in mediocrity. Many here wanted us to deploy a run and gun type game plan more similar to Port's last year.
We seem to have done the opposite and gone back to focusing on controlling possession and limiting mistakes in critical areas. It can be unpleasant viewing at times but it appears with the list we have success is more sustainable playing in this fashion.
What do people think is responsible for the turnaround in the last month of footy? 3 things stand out to me:
1. Tackling pressure- Our tackling has improved immensely. 3 of the last 4 week we have won the tackle count with 60+ tackles. Would be interested to see some numbers that reflect the effectiveness of our tackling because it seems much better and this results in inferred pressure and mistakes from the opposition.
2. Stars playing like stars- Of our big 5 (Rance, Lids, Cotch, Dusty and Jack) only Rance was having a better than average season at the end of round 6 (in Lids' case injury being the issue). I think they have all been fantastic in the last month. Being our better players others take lead when they perform in this fashion and it results in the whole playing group lifting.
3. Taking our chances- In our 3 match losing streak prior to the last month we kicked 27.39 combined. The last 4 matches we have kicked 50.38. the last 4 matches we have also gone in with 3 talls up front as well. This structure straightens us up as a team and means we're not constantly kicking for goal from the pockets.
Some of this is personnel, some of it coaching, and some the result of a little luck and confidence. We're not a top 4 side but at least we're playing with some heart and we've played some kids who could potentially take us forward.
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We are tackling now in stead of coralling.
We are kicking the ball forward in stead of backwards and sideways, even if they are only short kicks.
We are kicking it into a dangerous position in our forwardline instead of to the boundary.
3 simple things that allow us to be competitive.
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What do people think is responsible for the turnaround in the last month of footy? 3 things stand out to me:
In two words? Work rate.
Players are working harder and smarter in defense which then makes it easier to transition to attack. Players seem to be working hard both ways and providing those short leads freeing up space to allow the tempo footy to be played
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I actually think that for the first time in a long time, the players actually are starting to believe in the coach and his game plan. They can see the results their effort is getting them. This is huge and immediately makes Hardwick look like a better coach.
I think last year the players believed when we went on a huge run. But the biggest issue is that when the opposition get on top we struggle. Think over the past 4 weeks in each game the opposition have got their tails up and we have been able to stem the flow of goals and not allow them to pile 5-6 goals in a row. Essendon were the better team in the 3rd qtr yet we still won the qtr on the scoreboard. Freo came hard (so it seemed thanks to commentators) and we were able to weather their storm.
We've always been able to ski down hill very well but to take a few hits in the corner and come out unscathed is a very new and refreshing change.
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Something that drives me nuts is the no sheperding policy and instead we run to create the spare man leave the ball carrier under pressure.
This has improved quite a bit, instead of doing 1 - 2's, we have passed the ball and protected him and backed him to use the ball well going forward with less pressure. We still sometimes try for the 1-2 instead of sheperding but i've liked the improvement
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Yep I reckon you've all nailed it ^
you cant carry Newman, Petterd, Gordon and Lloyd all in the same side.
The youthful exuberance that Menadue, Ellis, McBean and McIntosh have brought to the side has caught on to the rest of the group imo. Improvement from the likes of Grigg, Ellis, Houli, Grimes, Vickery and Griffiths has taken pressure off our top 6.
Improved our fwd entry, mentioned in another thread I think we're picking the right moments to go to the boundary now as opposed to before where it seemed we always went there.
and finally, our defensive structure is 10x better than it was, I am very impressed with how well we are closing down space, how hard we are tackling and competing and opposition sides ability to hit us on the slingshot has decreased dramatically.
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The last month we are playing much more like top 4 sides do, red zone defensive pressure. On Friday night it looked,like we have a couple of gears as we also opened it up some. Good coaching , let's get it right for when the whips are crackin :clapping
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i worry its not plan b, its plan a
the mick malthose style
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since 1/4 time against colonwoood we have greatly reduced the amount of times we hanball forward to a player under pressure, although it started to creep back in against the dockers when they increased their pressure, but not to the levels in the first 1/2 dozen rounds.
I dont agree that we have stopped corralling, there was plenty on Friday night, even from morris who normally goes like a bull at a gate and over commits, which allows the opponent an easy out. There was plenty of examples from our forwards on how corralling can create pressure and indecisiveness for their backmen. The second part to this puzzle is having the players further down field blocking the exits. What we did have was increased tackling pressure in contested situations, often with multiple tacklers
It seems they have learned when to play tempo footy and when to pull the trigger. The first 1/4 in particular they nailed this. Hitting your targets is an important key to getting tempo footy right, which again they nailed in that first 1/4
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Just love the confidence in our defensive stuff atm and now the goals are starting to come as well... They spread beautifully, we look fit and don't seem to have players shirking the running which is awesome. Ellis running himself to exhaustion in the bummers game and then going on for the rest of the game is just stuffing brilliant, then backing it up against Freo after a short turn around... good stuff.
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Just love the confidence in our defensive stuff atm and now the goals are starting to come as well... They spread beautifully, we look fit and don't seem to have players shirking the running which is awesome. Ellis running himself to exhaustion in the bummers game and then going on for the rest of the game is just stuffing brilliant, then backing it up against Freo after a short turn around... good stuff.
You speak with great wisdom, oh wise one! :clapping
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thank you sir
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We got back to Hardwick's original mantra when he first took the job, which was - 'Do the simple things at a high level & you become unstoppable'. Those 30mtr passes that keep hitting targets are a perfect example of doing something that is really quite simple, but so hard to stop when it is done well. Its those precise 30mtr kicks that have turned us around. Its simple but so effective, even the undefeated top side with the best defensive coach going around couldn't stop us from doing it! Is that enough proof that Hardwick's original mantra was right all along? Now its simply a string of 30mtr passes through the corridor (which we are also able to defend if we do miss a pass) until we get it over the centre, THEN we hit the pedal & send longer passes to leading forwards! Slicing through the corridor by foot has made it much easier for our forwards read the play & lead into space. We've been keeping it simple, doing it at a high level of efficiency & look what its done for us! Suddenly we look capable, sustainable & very organized!
Its not plan B at all, its just the same old original Plan A, but done properly now!
An injection of youth who buy into the plan has certainly helped too ... :thumbsup
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Yeah our 30m kicks have improved. We are still brittle though as the shockers put us under pressure in the 3rd we started kicking long and missing targets. Its personnel though, we basically have our A team on the park. Arguably Newmann or Pettard would make the 22 (not imho just arguably) but otherwise we are fully fit. Any game plan with your best 22 is going to look good.
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How a change in Richmond’s tactics by Damien Hardwick is helping to change the Tigers’ fortunes
Riley Beveridge
Foxsports
June 9, 2015 5:12pm
BARELY a month ago, Damien Hardwick’s head was on the chopping block.
Richmond was languishing in 13th on the ladder with only two wins from six matches and demoralising losses to the Bulldogs and Melbourne had represented wasted chances.
It had followed a year in which the Tigers had barely snuck into the eight following a 3-10 start to the season in 2014, with many questioning whether Hardwick was the right man to take the club forward.
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale was forced to publicly back the Tigers coach, with criticism reaching a premium in the wake of a disappointing 35-point loss to North Melbourne.
But that’s when things changed. The following week, a composed and calculated Richmond moved the ball with purpose. The result was a narrow win over Collingwood.
From there, the Tigers have kept improving on a game style which clearly suits their players, winning four straight matches including Friday night’s victory away to the previously unbeaten Fremantle.
So, how has Hardwick masterminded such an improvement?
Rather than moving the ball quicker and electing to take the game on at every opportunity, Richmond has instead opted to slow the game down and attempt to dictate matches on their terms over the last four weeks.
This has resulted in a significant increase in kicks, marks and kick-to-handball ratios for the Tigers, with the club now ranking inside the top eight in each of the aforementioned statistical areas.
Subsequently, the amount of times Richmond has played on directly from taking a mark has decreased dramatically over the last month.
In fact, the Tigers now play-on the least of any side in the competition, doing so only 17 per cent of times straight from marking.
The result has seen a more methodical approach in entering the team’s forward 50 from midfield.
Although the ball is moving slower and less often to the likes of Jack Riewoldt, Ben Griffiths and Ty Vickery, it’s moving inside with more purpose, making scoring opportunities easier to come by.
Inside 50 differentials have decreased from +8.2 in the first six rounds to -5.8 over the last month, but they’re no longer entering 50 as sporadically as they once were.
Richmond players celebrate their victory over the previously unbeaten Fremantle on Friday night.
As well as benefiting the forwards, this tactic is also lending a hand to Richmond’s defenders. There’s been less turnovers as a result of retaining the footy, the Tigers are now ranking second in the competition for least points from turnovers and the total amount of points conceded has been minimised significantly.
The culmination of this change in tactics has impressed three-time premiership player Jonathan Brown, who now believes Richmond can compete for a top-four position on the ladder.
“They’re coming inside 50 in a more controller manner,” Brown told Fox Footy’s On The Couch on Monday night. “It’s not frantic and it’s allowing them to build up the wall from behind and build their defence.
“So, when they do go inside 50, it’s hard to come out against.”
Four-time premiership player Jason Dunstall agreed with his On The Couch co-host.
“They’re having a lot less inside 50s, but they’re being scored against a lot less,” he said. “When they were playing this hectic style of footy, when they turned it over they were getting cut wide open going the other way.
“Now they’ve got defensive structures behind the football. They’re still going to make mistakes, but they’re prepared to cop it when they turn it over.
“They’re set beautifully to have another crack at attacking because they’re in position to create their own turnovers.”
The team’s new style was best reflected against Port Adelaide a fortnight ago. Despite not scoring for the entirety of the third quarter, the Tigers restricted the Power to only five goals for the match.
Against Fremantle, the new plan of attack again worked to perfection, as Richmond strangled a powerful Dockers unit and did what no other side has been able to this season.
THE TIGER STRANGLE (Rounds 1-6 compared with Rounds 7-10)
Kicks: +15 (11th to 3rd in the AFL)
Kicks-to-handball ratio: +33 (16th to 1st in the AFL)
Marks: +11 (11th to 8th in the AFL)
Marks and play-on percentage: -23% (3rd to 18th in the AFL)
Throw-ins/Ball-ups: +13 (14th to 8th)
THE RESULT (Rounds 1-6 compared with Rounds 7-10)
Inside 50 differentials: -14 (6th to 14th in the AFL)
Turnovers: -5 (9th to 4th in the AFL)
Percentage of turnovers punished: -6% (16th to 6th in the AFL)
Points against from turnovers: -23 (16th to 2nd in the AFL)
Points against: -15 (7th to 4th in the AFL)
(Stats compiled by Champion Data)
http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/how-a-change-in-richmonds-tactics-by-damien-hardwick-is-helping-to-change-the-tigers-fortunes/story-fnp04gxa-1227390106408
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The deliberate approach behind Richmond's revival
Jake Niall
The Age
June 10, 2015
In a season when slow movement of the ball is viewed as both fatal and a crime against football, Richmond has transformed its fortunes by eschewing what commentators say is essential and fans scream that they want.
Over the past month, as the Tigers have revived, they have played more slowly. They've also reduced their handball and replaced hand use with short, deliberate kicks. They have undergone a significant shift in how they play, which the club calls a change of "execution" rather than plan. It is a trend that has intrigued rival teams.
In rounds one to six, when Damien Hardwick was under more external pressure than any coach besides Mick Malthouse, the Tigers' play-on percentage – the basic measure of whether a team is "taking the game on" – was 33.8 per cent, the fourth most in the competition.
Over the past four games, in which Richmond have beaten Fremantle and Port on the road, along with Collingwood and Essendon, the Tigers have slashed their play-on share to 14.6 per cent. In the past four matches, no team has been as reluctant to play on (ranking 18th).
They've been more careful with the ball, more judicious in choosing their next option. As a consequence, they're kicking far more than the "Tigers of Old" (rounds one to six), who played faster and looser. From those first half-dozen games, the handball-happy Tigers used only 1.18 kicks for each handball, which placed them 16th on the "kick the bloody thing"' ladder (kick-to-handball ratio). Starting with the Collingwood game, the kick-to-handball ratio has become 1.51 – first overall.
Another article of football faith is that you can't score if you don't move the ball quickly. Well, the Richmond experience suggests otherwise. Since round seven, when Tyrone Vickery returned from exile and Brett Deledio regained fitness and productivity, the Tigers have scored from 52 per cent of their entries – also first in the AFL – and registered a goal from 30.1 per cent of those forward thrusts (third).
The dismal defeat by North of round six was the club's nadir in terms of poor decision-making – when the ball was turned over in dangerous places. Richmond football operations chief Dan Richardson said the change was more about execution than plan, since players had been training to use less handball and to be composed with the ball before the North game.
Nonetheless, there is a significant shift in outcomes. The Tigers had been over-using handball, playing on in trouble and causing turnovers.
Richardson said there were occasions when the players needed to play fast but also when "we need to play in a more composed fashion". The change, he said, "is about playing the moment in front of you and training the players to play the moment. Credit to the players and coaching staff for making the adjustment, with the result we're being scored against less heavily."
Vickery isn't necessarily the source of the Richmond Renaissance, or its Da Vinci, since he did not play against Essendon, though he has been productive. Brandon Ellis and Dustin Martin have probably been standouts, along with Deledio, over those four matches. By controlling the ball, the Tigers have been harder to score against.
One important factor to note about Richmond's more deliberate ball use and increased use of short, staccato kicking in preference to relying on handball is that they aren't kicking backwards or sideways. The Tigers are moving the ball forward. Further, if the Tiger with the ball is pausing and not automatically playing on, his teammate still has to run and create a moving target ahead of him. It's hardly a stagnant strategy. Moving forwards, not looking backwards, and taking greater care in decision-making might be a fitting metaphor for the 2015 Richmond, at all levels.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/the-deliberate-approach-behind-richmonds-revival-20150609-ghk80p.html
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Opposition Analyst: Fast or slow, which way to go?
The Opposition Analyst
The Age
June 11
No longer do AFL teams have just one game style in terms of ball movement. Complex game plans are designed to allow teams to succeed while all manner of variables are thrown at them relating to opposition, ground and weather. The speed of their ball movement is one element that can be adjusted accordingly - no longer do the best teams just play at their one preferred speed, whatever that "stock" speed may be.
Sometimes coaches make adjustments mid-season, or even on a week-to-week basis to allow their team to move the ball forward at varying speeds. Thus they can play a different style of game from one week to the next.
Most teams have their stock or default game-style relating to ball movement, which includes such variables as kick-to-handball ratio, long versus short kicking, boundary versus corridor, and preferred inside 50 method - ie, go long to tall marking targets (think Travis Cloke or Tom Hawkins) versus hit-up leads to fast-moving smaller targets (think Lindsay Thomas or Chad Wingard).
In conjunction with these is speed of ball movement - think how fast or slow a team moves the ball from defence to attack. This speed can be best measured by looking at a team's "play-on from mark percentage" in the stats column.
Last weekend I saw three Victorian teams playing with different speeds than their usual method, all with varying degrees of success.
RICHMOND
Change was not just evident against Fremantle, but in the Tigers' previous two wins over Essendon and Port Adelaide. Damien Hardwick has overhauled his game plan mid-season to allow his players to play "slow" coming out of defence.
Instead of the helter-skelter, high play-on and high handball we had previously seen from the Tigers, now they are more measured (and composed) with their ball movement when exiting back half.
We're seeing more short kicks as they "march the ball" up the ground, slowly taking territory, until they get to a position where they think they can attack their forward 50. Then they hit they after-burners and go for the quick and deep entry.
This also has another benefit for Hardwick and his players. By moving slower up the ground in a more controlled mode, they can then get set up defensively behind the ball, which allows them to protect any turnovers, forced or unforced. The Tigers' play-on from mark percentage and their inside 50s have both dropped in the past four weeks, but more importantly, goals against from turnovers has also dropped and they've won those four games.
A more controlled, shorter-kicking game worked brilliantly against the Dockers, who rely on creating a defensive outnumber combined with pressure on the kicker to kick it to that extra man to win possession. Richmond were exceptional in denying the Dockers this part of the game.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/opposition-analyst-fast-or-slow-which-way-to-go-20150610-ghkm00.html
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no plan b vs. north 18 man defensive and then run forward
no plan b against excellent WCE defensive system
dimma is no Marcelo Bielsa
kicking the ball slowly up the wing is no rocket science