Have we finally got a Plan B?

[tdy]

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.

[one-eyed]

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

[one-eyed]

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

[one-eyed]

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

[Zlatan]

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