Article further down talks about Lids, Newy, Rance and Dusty as far as rebounding from defensive 50 ...
Exit strategyBrett Anderson
Inside Football
Wednesday, March 21 2012The 'exit' kick from defence has taken on great importance over the past five years, writes BRETT ANDERSON.THE dashing defender takes a bounce, looks up and sees a wall of opposition jumpers. What does he do next?
That first kick from defence has become one of the most crucial in football, as zones and presses have only elevated the importance of teams retaining possession when coming out of defence.
Dual Geelong premiership defender Josh Hunt says the demands on the man with ball in hand have become huge.
“In the last three or four years, it’s become a lot harder,” he told AFL.com.au last season.
During a game, everything needs to happen in an instant, so the ability to make quick decisions and then execute well is vital.
“You need something that is going to catch your eye and, if there is someone free, you need to back your first option because, if you think, ‘no, yes, no, yes’, the opportunity is gone,” Hunt said.
And Hunt would know: he is statistically one of the best in the business.
In 2011, Hunt recorded 52 rebound 50s in his 19 matches at just under three per game, compared to the likes of Bulldog Robert Murphy, Brisbane’s Pearce Hanley, Gold Coast’s Nathan Bock and Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher who all average over five per game.
Three per week is not a lot, but it’s what Hunt does with them that really counts.
His retention rate of 67 per cent puts him inside the top 10 players in the competition in this regard, while he also ranks among the top 10 in the percentage of rebound 50s resulting in inside 50s for his team (37 per cent).
But there is one remarkable stat where Hunt trumps all others.
Of his 52 rebound 50s, not a single one ended up going back over his head for an opposition score.
Somewhat surprisingly, Collingwood’s Harry O’Brien (68 rebound 50s) and Carlton’s Nick Duigan (46) – two players not overly noted for precision kicking – both conceded only a single behind from their rebound 50s last year.
Like Hunt at Geelong, every club has a player into whose hands they love to guide the ball – a “designated kicker” entrusted with retaining possession and orchestrating the play.
These players are valuable as never has the need to clear the defensive arc cleanly been so important, or difficult.
With most teams pushing all 18 players inside their own attacking half when the ball is deep inside 50, a bad decision or skill error from the defending team when trying to exit the 50 often results in an opposition score.
“Most teams have nearly got all 18 blokes down there in your defensive 50, so it is quite tough,” Richmond star Brett Deledio said.
“Most teams opt to just get it long and try and get it outside 50 and then start again from there, and if you don’t, it’s nearly a score the other way.”
Deledio’s skipper, Chris Newman, is his club’s chief rebounder and the man that the Tigers mostly put their faith in to clear the ball from the back half.
“He’s not only one of the best kicks in the competition but he makes the right decision 99 times out of 100,” former Richmond coach Danny Frawley noted last year.
“Kicking effectiveness is probably the No.1 criteria in football at the moment.
“You know when you’ve got the ball in the hands of No.17 for the Tigers that it’s going to end up somewhere down the field with a Richmond player.”
The Tigers have been notorious over the past 10 years for lacking AFL-standard foot skills, but in the past 24 months have sort to rectify that with the additions of Bachar Houli, Shaun Grigg, Reece Conca, Jake Batchelor and of course Dustin Martin.
Last year Martin (pictured left) had 56 rebound 50s, and amazingly, 25 per cent of those ended up in Tiger scores (seven goals, seven behinds).
While Martin’s ability to start a scoring chain from deep in defence is valuable, his style is a double-edged sword.
Martin is what clubs would consider a “boom or bust” rebounder in that he generates plenty of scores at the attacking end, but the ball also goes back the other way for opposing scores.
He conceded nine opposition scores from his 56 rebounds (16 per cent), which was ranked in the bottom 10, suggesting a tendency to take risky options.
Also figuring high in the stats for the Tigers is Alex Rance, who had 78 rebound 50s, 25 of which resulted in an inside 50 and 12 finishing with a Tigers score (nine goals, three behinds).
Collingwood’s Dale Thomas is another midfielder who likes to push back into defence and give his teammates a hand.
But his ability to successfully make a decision and execute it rebounding from defensive 50 needs work.
Thomas had 40 rebounds in 2011 at a retention rate of just on 55 per cent but he conceded an opposition goal 10 per cent of the time and a score 15 per cent.
For an elite player like Thomas, this figure is ghastly and must improve if he is to take a further step in 2012.
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