One-way running a dead endBen Cousins | August 22, 2009
I PLAYED high half-forward at West Coast and having now played 13 games with the Tigers, I'm getting back to a similar role.
The position was less common when I played there in 2005-06.
I would start at half-forward, come in for the odd bounce, which still remains a buzz, and I would play as another midfielder.
By playing that role, I limited the time I got caught deep in defence, which, as an out-and-out midfielder, you have to be wary of. Too often, you can get dragged deep and your effectiveness can be diminished.
The most important ball in footy is forward of centre, and it is increasingly more important because of today's defensive strategies.
High half-forwards are in vogue - Alan Didak, Leon Davis and Tarkyn Lockyer all play that role at Collingwood - and it's because coaches want more players around the footy.
In every game, at stages, there are 36 players in one half of the ground. Incredible.
The role at West Coast came about because of the strength of the Eagles' midfield, rather than the game plan. With the emergence of Chris Judd, on top of Daniel Kerr, Tyson Stenglein, Dean Cox and Co, my role stretched the opposition.
They either had to send a Brett Kirk or a Cameron Ling to half-back - which was a win for us, because they were out of the centre square - or assign a regular half-back, who often wouldn't have the running capabilities of a midfielder.
If I got really lucky, they would let me go to keep their structure at the back. Overall, my role hasn't changed.
THE ROLLING ZONE IN A nutshell, it requires players to push up to the ball and protect space. Remember those words: protect space.
Before my hiatus, West Coast enjoyed epic encounters with Sydney, which were largely played as one-on-one footy.
Then the Cats and Hawks put in zones, the most famous being 'Clarko's Cluster', which ultimately won the Hawks the flag.
Not so much on the day, when the Cats had 62 entries in their forward 50, but it was the cluster plus Buddy Franklin and a few others that got them into the Grand Final.
The rolling zone has created an enormous change to the game. I first saw it before I played in it.
It creates great pressure on the ball-carrier, who has to make right decisions because if you turn it over, it kills you. We see it every week in teams who crumble under the pressure to execute.
I don't like the zone because it has robbed the game of brilliant run-and-bounce players. I can't remember Juddy this year having two bounces, seeing him slice through a team.
Essendon, of course, is the exception. The Bombers are manic with the ball.
DEFENCE THE biggest difference from then to now.
Players today do not survive if they run one way. There's nowhere to hide from the cameras, or from your coaches and teammates.
Team defence is paramount. At a stoppage players should have an understanding of their positioning, which side of the corridor to sit, where to protect and cover space.
Tackling is out of this world. I wonder if the fierce tackling in those Sydney-West Coast games kick-started the importance of tackling in the recent evolution of the game.
Those games were enormously physical, but football today is even tougher. In the 2005 GF, the tackle count was 62-59 Sydney's way and in 2006 it was 69-53 to Sydney.
In Round 18 this year, St Kilda nailed Hawthorn with 115 tackles. Amazing. The Hawks had 68. You have to tackle. Simple as that.
MEETINGS AND PREPARATION THESE haven't diminished: rehab the morning after games, review meetings, midfield meetings, opposition meetings, physio, massage.
You name it, we have a meeting about it.
What has increased is injury prevention, which covers yoga, stretching, pilates and weights exercises, which are not necessarily about building mass or strength, but increasing flexibility.
They are core-stability exercises. In hindsight, I probably wasn't doing enough core work in the lead-up to the first game this year and my hammy went pow.
After that, they became a central part of my weekly program and the advantages are staggering.
Massages are interesting because I used to hate them.
I refused to have massages over summer because: (a) I didn't need them; and, (b) I'm not great at sitting still.
But once the season started, I'd probably have three a week. Now, it might be up to four a week, because I need them. The game is too demanding.
INTENSITY THERE is significant increase in intensity, just going for the ball.
Joel Selwood, Luke Hodge, Max Rooke, Brett Kirk, Jonathan Brown, Jobe Watson, Nick Riewoldt, Chris Newman - they don't think, they just do.
Same with the second, third and fourth players in.
They throw themselves at the ball with reckless abandon. It means the time you have to get the footy and dispose of it, and dispose of it quickly in confined spaces.
It's about numbers at the contest. It's about the increased rotations and decreasing game time.
At the same time, a player's contribution and impact is not reduced. I used to play 88-90 per cent of game time at West Coast, now I'm playing about 78 per cent. I don't think it decreases my contribution, but it certainly increases my intensity.
At West Coast I'd come off once a quarter. My running was ballistic, I'd go for 13 minutes and in that time you could blow up your opposition with power running.
I'd rest for four minutes and go again. Now, I probably rest twice a quarter, but as the season has unfolded my length of time on the ground has expanded.
POSSESSION COUNT NEVER have possession numbers been a less of an indication about how well you played.
Look at Andrew McLeod last Friday night. In the second quarter against Hawthorn he changed the game in the middle. He didn't rack up 12, 13 or 14 touches. He had eight and changed the game.
It disappoints me to see the high number of possessions in some games.
When St Kilda and Geelong launch their blitzkrieg, it is effective and exciting, but for sides who get possessions and don't execute or penetrate, it can be somewhat boring.
We have games in which 12 players might have 30-plus. Gazza has had, what, seven 40-plus games this season? It's remarkable.
Three years ago, it wasn't done. It was impossible. Today, if you know how to play the game, know where it's going and you are not tagged, it is easy to rack up big numbers.
Still, it's not the be all and end all. Take Leon Davis. He could have it 13 times and be best on ground.
Someone could have it 30 times (no names) and have no effect on the game. I know who I'd like to play with.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25962974-19742,00.html
