Forward set-up a leading question MICHAEL GLEESON
June 8, 2010ON FRIDAY night when the St Kilda versus Richmond game was at its most intense the protagonists ostensibly did the same thing.
The hottest player on the ground at the time, Jack Riewoldt, was basically left alone in the forward line save for a rotation of opponents. First it was Jason Blake, then, when the Tiger forward saw him off, it was Sam Fisher.
Few other Richmond forwards ventured near, save for Troy Simmonds who was there to ensure St Kilda could not just double-team his teammate. But even he tried to go the other way when the ball came Riewoldt's way.
At the other end St Kilda was using Stephen Milne in a similar but different way. He, too, was isolated and made the go-to guy after the tall forwards Justin Koschitzke and Rhys Stanley had had limited impact.
Milne and Riewoldt both played the same role with different methods. The modern press requires sections of the ground to be emptied.
Riewoldt stayed behind the line of the press and backed himself body-on-body against his opponent to either win the contested mark or run back onto the ball and conjure a goal.
In contrast, Milne, an underrated lead and mark - especially for his size - was in constant motion. He ran back on to loose balls and ran forward on the lead.
They kicked 11 goals between them, which begged the question of whether the modern press was militating against the hard-leading, lead-up forward and swinging back in favour of the contested, stay-at-home mark.
It has also undoubtedly led to more goals being scored ''out the back'' - when a ball flies the zone into space for forwards to run onto. That is, a form of the tactic formerly known as ''Pagan's Paddock''.
''Lead-up forwards, apart from at Subi and maybe at Geelong, those bigger grounds, are finding that they just run into traffic,'' said one club official. ''It's brought the advantage of the player who can take a contested mark back to football.''
Richmond used Troy Simmonds alongside Riewoldt for periods, in part to keep St Kilda honest and make sure it could not just pull a player out of the press and double-team Riewoldt.
Another assistant coach observed that the difficulty of the press was the greater pressure players were under coming out of defence.
''It's a hard kick to hit-up a leading forward when you are coming out of the back line with players on your tail and you have to thread the ball over a line of defenders and hit up a forward coming at you with a defender on his back. If you have the choice of kicking over the line to a bloke running back into space, or to a man-on-man contest instead of the player coming at you, you would rather go to one of those [options],'' one assistant said.
''The change in defensive pressure across the ground over the last few years in particular has had an enormous impact on all aspects of play and in particular the way the ball is moved and the decision making.''
The isolate Riewoldt strategy was effective against St Kilda but would be unlikely to be the first choice tactic against smarter bigger-bodied defenders such as Brian Lake or Darren Glass.
Riewoldt is still a clever player able to play high up the field and run to double back towards goal.
Melbourne with a small forward line tends to play a high forward line and run with pace towards goal, running onto the ball.
Another assistant coach said forward structures and approaches were more based on where and how the ball was won.
''I reckon a lot emanates from your defensive strategies, St Kilda has a no-loitering policy that you press up and don't hang around when you lose possession,'' he said.
''No doubt there are more goals being kicked out the back by sides. But Geelong still plays a forward leading at the ball and a player leading back. But they are such a class above they can sort of do what they want.
''In the Freo-Collingwood match it was like they were trying to out-defend each other and pressed up that high which was why there were so many goals kicked out the back.
''The game is still there for the leading forwards but leading forwards are getting hurt by slow ball movement. All teams are trying to go as fast as they can forward, and that is what the leading forwards want, but you can't always get it going fast.
''I don't think the press discriminates against leading forwards. There is still a place to work into if you know how to lead. Look at [Matthew] Pavlich, he gets his ball on the lead. Buddy [Franklin] has been doing more body on body but he is a player who works well in space. Jonathan Brown took 10 marks on the weekend and seven would have been on the lead coming up at the footy and the other three were bodying up.
''I am convinced that the smart leaders still get rewarded. Smart blokes even if they are forced up the ground by the press still know where to run and when to get the ball.
''There just isn't a one-size-fits-all with forwards, you have to be able to adapt.''
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