Leading AFL coaches focus on attacking style after lowest scoring season in about 50 years Jon Ralph
Herald Sun
February 15, 2015 7:00PMATTACK is back, according to the AFL’s leading coaches after the lowest scoring season in nearly half a century.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has forecast an increased focus on attacking tactics this year after years of defensive, low-scoring football.
Clarkson has been at the centre of zone defence like “Clarko’s cluster” but track watchers say clubs have focused all summer on attacking mechanisms.
Only Hawthorn and Port Adelaide averaged above 100 points in last year’s scoring drought, which saw the lowest average scores since 1969.
“I think the competition went to an enormous bent towards defence over the last six or seven years and in the last 12 months clubs have started to work on more offensive strategies, how to break down defensive zones and mechanisms and I still feel like that is the area of our game clubs can improve at. We are hoping to be one of the clubs that can do that,’’ Clarkson said.
His thoughts are echoed by Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, who hopes to lift his side’s scoring after amassing just 85.3 points (ranked 11th) per game.
“I think most sides from what we have seen and what we have heard are practising a lot more offence and speed of offence,’’ Hardwick said.
“The AFL and people want to see more goals and we as a coaching fraternity are the same.
“It is one thing we didn’t do enough of last year, kick big scores. So we have worked on that over the course of the summer and it is something we have identified we have to improve.”
After Sydney and West Coast fought out a pair of gripping but low-scoring finals, Ross Lyon’s press, Mick Malthouse’s swarming “box” and increased fitness of players all led to better defence.
This summer as well as honing defensive strategies, clubs have pushed quick ball movement, long and precise kicking to attacking targets and running with numbers through defensive zones.
They reason if they cannot move the ball quickly from defence they will get trapped, and if they do not practice that movement all summer it falls apart in the season proper.
Hawthorn’s ball movement in the Grand Final was close to perfection, totally neutralising Sydney’s in-and-under warriors who had cut them down in the 2012 Grand Final.
Clarkson says long kicking alone will not lead to high scores, which is why clubs have spent so much time on attacking strategies.
“I think the decision is the key and speed of ball, you want to get it in there quickly but because some teams put numbers back behind the ball, you want to get it in there quick but there is no point going quick if they have overload numbers (back) because it is going to come back with mayonnaise on it,’’ he said.
Champion Data stats show games have lost four goals a per match from their tally since 2008 alone, a sobering figure for a formerly high-scoring game.
Of the last 15 premiers only Sydney in 2005 did not average 100 points, yet St Kilda (67.3 points) and Melbourne (60.7 points) were among ten sides to average less than 90 points last year.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/leading-afl-coaches-focus-on-attacking-style-after-lowest-scoring-season-in-about-50-years/story-e6frf3e3-1227220491518
