Talkin’ Tactics 2022

[Carter]

Watching the game last night confirmed a number of things.

First, Geelong are the antithesis of Richmond. Game plan based on hard-bodied clearance ball and then control in possession.

It’s not a bad one-wood. It protects ageing players from running half marathons every week and generates easy kills in the home and away season. Particularly at their home ground. But as pressure teams have demonstrated time and again, the well-oiled machine falls apart in finals.

Richmond, on the other hand, prefer the ballistic, chaotic turnover style now perfected by Melbourne and Port (more on that in a minute). This style has revolutionised the game and will deliver yet another flag this year in the form of Melbourne. But it isn’t easy to maintain over a full year. You need to time the run and maximise stars in their prime. Before they run out of gas. We saw this year what happens when a team can’t bring the extra 5% required. Richmond just never got running.

Which brings me to Melbourne. Footy never stands still. The Dees have taken our style and improved on it. They looked so good against the cats. So good. Young, quick, disciplined and deadly. This, with a forward line not worth a tinker’s cuss.

Richmond will have its well-earned break and draft bonanza this off-season. Maybe even a boom FA recruit. But we will also need to imprint a game style that sees Melbourne, raises Melbourne, calls Melbourne.

Where will the tactical edge come from? A re-modelled back line? A three-pronged forward line?

Or will it be a seriously turbo-boosted midfield fed by two elite rucks in Soldo and Nankervis?

I suspect all three elements will play a part, but it is the midfield where major gains must be made. First use. Easy goals. Scoring was too hard this season, a trend Dimma mentioned more than once.

We need three quick, hard-bodied mids in the draft and at least a solid free agent.

More than that, we need Adam Kingsley to take the reins in midfield or else grab an attacking senior assistant like David Teague.

Clearance ball. Watch how Geelong do it. Not everything they do is bad. Learn from the best centre clearance teams. Get the game on our terms.

So much to watch over the summer and I can’t wait.

 

[Ridley]

Yes there is no doubt clearance and ball winning mids with good foot skills is an area we really need to upgrade. Right now we have some substantial ground to make up on Melbourne.

This year we couldn’t win the footy and on the odd occasion we did we butchered it.

 

[TigerForce]

Watching the game last night confirmed a number of things.

Which brings me to Melbourne. Footy never stands still. The Dees have taken our style and improved on it. They looked so good against the cats. So good. Young, quick, disciplined and deadly. This, with a forward line not worth a tinker’s cuss.

Richmond will have its well-earned break and draft bonanza this off-season. Maybe even a boom FA recruit. But we will also need to imprint a game style that sees Melbourne, raises Melbourne, calls Melbourne.

Yep.

Yes there is no doubt clearance and ball winning mids with good foot skills is an area we really need to upgrade. Right now we have some substantial ground to make up on Melbourne.

This year we couldn’t win the footy and on the odd occasion we did we butchered it.

and Yep.

Fumbling doesn't help.

 

[spook]

With Gawn, Oliver and Petracca, it's tough to beat Melbourne at centre clearance. But as Jack has said, who is their third-best mid?

His initials are D. Light.

An injury to any one of their big 3, or to a lesser extent May or Lever, makes it tough for Melbourne. Plus, if they win it this year they'll get so much free coke and get so far up themselves backing up will be tough. Probably the best result for our 2022 prospects is for them to win it this year.

 

[eZyT]

With Gawn, Oliver and Petracca, it's tough to beat Melbourne at centre clearance. But as Jack has said, who is their third-best mid?

Viney was last night. built for finals.

the reassuring thing last night was, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Dees have replicated our 2017, with the perfect storm of ;

* draft jackpots in Kosi, Jackson, Rivers (who was shaky last night, but will bounce back) and Bowey
* patiently accumulating A graders through the draft in Trac, Oliver and Salem
* buying in real talent in Langgton, lever and May
* the bottom 6 playing out of their skin - blokes like Spargo, brown, McDonald, petty, Neal-Bullen,
* someone coming from the clouds and going AA, in Fritch
* a load of self belief
* and perhaps most importantly, the unstoppable freak superstar in peak form, fitness and confidence Max Gawn

Its so reassuring.

cause it means 3 things;

1. Hocking is a failure as well as a *smile*
2. Footy fundamentals are unchangeable; the fittest side with the most good players in form, playing with ferocity ........ will win
3. Richmonds fundamentals are all still there. Add some precocious new young talent, and our window is open for another 3-4 years. we dont have to change much at all. speed, toughs and tanks is timeless.

 

[spook]

Viney. You're right.

 

[Smoking Aces]

Watching the game last night confirmed a number of things.

First, Geelong are the antithesis of Richmond. Game plan based on hard-bodied clearance ball and then control in possession.

It’s not a bad one-wood. It protects ageing players from running half marathons every week and generates easy kills in the home and away season. Particularly at their home ground. But as pressure teams have demonstrated time and again, the well-oiled machine falls apart in finals.

Richmond, on the other hand, prefer the ballistic, chaotic turnover style now perfected by Melbourne and Port (more on that in a minute). This style has revolutionised the game and will deliver yet another flag this year in the form of Melbourne. But it isn’t easy to maintain over a full year. You need to time the run and maximise stars in their prime. Before they run out of gas. We saw this year what happens when a team can’t bring the extra 5% required. Richmond just never got running.

Which brings me to Melbourne. Footy never stands still. The Dees have taken our style and improved on it. They looked so good against the cats. So good. Young, quick, disciplined and deadly. This, with a forward line not worth a tinker’s cuss.

Richmond will have its well-earned break and draft bonanza this off-season. Maybe even a boom FA recruit. But we will also need to imprint a game style that sees Melbourne, raises Melbourne, calls Melbourne.

Where will the tactical edge come from? A re-modelled back line? A three-pronged forward line?

Or will it be a seriously turbo-boosted midfield fed by two elite rucks in Soldo and Nankervis?

I suspect all three elements will play a part, but it is the midfield where major gains must be made. First use. Easy goals. Scoring was too hard this season, a trend Dimma mentioned more than once.

We need three quick, hard-bodied mids in the draft and at least a solid free agent.

More than that, we need Adam Kingsley to take the reins in midfield or else grab an attacking senior assistant like David Teague.

Clearance ball. Watch how Geelong do it. Not everything they do is bad. Learn from the best centre clearance teams. Get the game on our terms.

So much to watch over the summer and I can’t wait.

Great post Carter. Couldn’t agree more. Our stoppage work this year was EFL like. Not good enough. It needs addressing. I was very much against someone like Dunstan. Because he can’t kick. He is worse than Castsgna. Much worse. But he instantly improves us in an area where are shithouse in. And he is free.
Then we look at the draft. First pick is a must on a pure mid. Preferably one who plays early in 2022.
Midfield depth now looks decent.

Add Soldo and Nankervis to that mix and we are back to 2019 type team.

I still have concerns about our defence. It’s paper thin in terms of depth. Grimes, Balta the only real key defenders. So grabbing Talia is a must. I would even entertain Tarrant for a year or two as we groom Van Rooyen.

B: Grimes Talia Vlastuin
HB: Broad Balta Rioli
C: Macintosh Martin Baker
HF: Edwards Lynch Lambert
F: Stack Riewoldt Bolton
Foll: Soldo Cotchin Prestia
Int: Short Dunstan Graham Nankervis

 

[ToraToraTora]

Oliver and Petracca, I hate to say it, are a delight to watch. Hard, fast, skilled, smart, big. Formidable duo. Dusty is never gonna reach those clearance heights again. Must nail this draft.

 

[Jonesracing82]

Watching the game last night confirmed a number of things.

First, Geelong are the antithesis of Richmond. Game plan based on hard-bodied clearance ball and then control in possession.

It’s not a bad one-wood. It protects ageing players from running half marathons every week and generates easy kills in the home and away season. Particularly at their home ground. But as pressure teams have demonstrated time and again, the well-oiled machine falls apart in finals.

Richmond, on the other hand, prefer the ballistic, chaotic turnover style now perfected by Melbourne and Port (more on that in a minute). This style has revolutionised the game and will deliver yet another flag this year in the form of Melbourne. But it isn’t easy to maintain over a full year. You need to time the run and maximise stars in their prime. Before they run out of gas. We saw this year what happens when a team can’t bring the extra 5% required. Richmond just never got running.

Which brings me to Melbourne. Footy never stands still. The Dees have taken our style and improved on it. They looked so good against the cats. So good. Young, quick, disciplined and deadly. This, with a forward line not worth a tinker’s cuss.

Richmond will have its well-earned break and draft bonanza this off-season. Maybe even a boom FA recruit. But we will also need to imprint a game style that sees Melbourne, raises Melbourne, calls Melbourne.

Where will the tactical edge come from? A re-modelled back line? A three-pronged forward line?

Or will it be a seriously turbo-boosted midfield fed by two elite rucks in Soldo and Nankervis?

I suspect all three elements will play a part, but it is the midfield where major gains must be made. First use. Easy goals. Scoring was too hard this season, a trend Dimma mentioned more than once.

We need three quick, hard-bodied mids in the draft and at least a solid free agent.

More than that, we need Adam Kingsley to take the reins in midfield or else grab an attacking senior assistant like David Teague.

Clearance ball. Watch how Geelong do it. Not everything they do is bad. Learn from the best centre clearance teams. Get the game on our terms.

So much to watch over the summer and I can’t wait.

Fox showed some stats of both sides last night, Dees stats read like a Richmond game & they are #1 for just about any key stat you wish to look at. It's a good time for us to be regenerating with some youth coming through, gives us some options on what to do re: game style & draft accordingly.

 

[MB78]

We must sort out our attacking wing as well. Kamdyn on one wing as the defensive option works well. Need pace and class on the other wing. Pickett, Caddy aren’t the answers. Melbourne, Port, Brisbane, Bulldogs all have us covered here.

 

[DavidSSS]

That comment about scoring being too difficult for us this year is spot on, we have to do a lot of work in that area.

DS

 

[wigglyworm]

Watching the game last night confirmed a number of things.

First, Geelong are the antithesis of Richmond. Game plan based on hard-bodied clearance ball and then control in possession.

It’s not a bad one-wood. It protects ageing players from running half marathons every week and generates easy kills in the home and away season. Particularly at their home ground. But as pressure teams have demonstrated time and again, the well-oiled machine falls apart in finals.

Richmond, on the other hand, prefer the ballistic, chaotic turnover style now perfected by Melbourne and Port (more on that in a minute). This style has revolutionised the game and will deliver yet another flag this year in the form of Melbourne. But it isn’t easy to maintain over a full year. You need to time the run and maximise stars in their prime. Before they run out of gas. We saw this year what happens when a team can’t bring the extra 5% required. Richmond just never got running.

Which brings me to Melbourne. Footy never stands still. The Dees have taken our style and improved on it. They looked so good against the cats. So good. Young, quick, disciplined and deadly. This, with a forward line not worth a tinker’s cuss.

Richmond will have its well-earned break and draft bonanza this off-season. Maybe even a boom FA recruit. But we will also need to imprint a game style that sees Melbourne, raises Melbourne, calls Melbourne.

Where will the tactical edge come from? A re-modelled back line? A three-pronged forward line?

Or will it be a seriously turbo-boosted midfield fed by two elite rucks in Soldo and Nankervis?

I suspect all three elements will play a part, but it is the midfield where major gains must be made. First use. Easy goals. Scoring was too hard this season, a trend Dimma mentioned more than once.

We need three quick, hard-bodied mids in the draft and at least a solid free agent.

More than that, we need Adam Kingsley to take the reins in midfield or else grab an attacking senior assistant like David Teague.

Clearance ball. Watch how Geelong do it. Not everything they do is bad. Learn from the best centre clearance teams. Get the game on our terms.

So much to watch over the summer and I can’t wait.

Elite rucks Nank and Soldo ? Seriously

 

[Carter]

Elite rucks Nank and Soldo ? Seriously

In tandem, yes. Exhibit A , 2019

 

[Smoking Aces]

In tandem, yes. Exhibit A , 2019

First use Carts. That’s why they are elite. We never had that all year.

 

[Carter]

First use Carts. That’s why they are elite. We never had that all year.

Absolutely Aces. If we are to expect Nank / Soldo to play in tandem in 2022, that's precisely where CCJ might feel he isn't part of the seniors mix.

This is why a trade with GC might just be something that makes good list management sense.

In fact, with Soldo returning, I'm coming around to the idea of trading CCJ.

 

[mrposhman]

I tend to agree that we need to focus more on clearances and agree that Kingsley needs to get back into the midfield coaching.

The major difference between what Melbourne are this year and what we were 3-4 years ago, is due to the rule changes.

Where 3-4 years ago, we could really push our forward half turnover game, but the changes over the last couple of years, firstly 666 and then the changes around the stand rule and more importantly the rule which seems to let the kick in kick from the 50, means that forward half turnovers are much harder to achieve. We are then having to turnover the ball much closer to our own D50, which has 2 impacts. Once we turnover the ball, trying to move the ball quickly forward through the corridor, if we make a skill error it exposes our defence far more than if we'd turned the ball over closer to goal, but it also means it takes us longer to get the ball inside our F50 and enables defences to cover much easier.

We therefore need to control territory much better which is what Melbourne do, they are better at clearances than we are, and probably more than stats show and Friday was a perfect example. They lost the clearances, but scored over 100 points from clearance. Their ball use from both the clearance win and the 2nd possession has been outstanding and we are a long way from that at this stage. That enables them to keep the ball in their forward half in a similar way to what we have done in the past.

 

[wigglyworm]

In tandem, yes. Exhibit A , 2019

Love both of them but neither can be classed as Elite. Not even together. I would class Nank as a good ruckman and Soldo serviceable. Together they are a good combo.

The word Elite gets bandied around to easily these days.

I reckon Elite you really need to be in top 3-4 in your position. Nank would probably be top 10 in the league in his position.

 

[tigerhalsey]

Love both of them but neither can be classed as Elite. Not even together. I would class Nank as a good ruckman and Soldo serviceable. Together they are a good combo.

The word Elite gets bandied around to easily these days.

I reckon Elite you really need to be in top 3-4 in your position. Nank would probably be top 10 in the league in his position.

What are other ruckman get more contested possessions then him?

 

[wigglyworm]

What are other ruckman get more contested possessions then him?

Not really sure but he is still not an elite ruck

Actually checked the stats

CP (Average)

Natanui 12.4
Darcy 11
Grundy 10.9
Gawn 10.6
Nank 10.3
Marshall 10.2
Hickey 10.2
McAnerney 10.2
Obrien9.6
Ceglar 9.3


Shows Nank in a lot of categories around the top 10 mark but he is not elite. Would reserve that for the top 3-4

Fantasy Points he sits at 10th
Ratings points 14th

AFL Stats

 

[year of the tiger]

Our problems are simply

- we lack pace around the centre clearance - our goto clearance players of Prestia, Cotch, Edwards and Lambert have passed that peak level they had over the 2017 - 2020. Melb have gone way past us n this area and they have an elite ruck as well - we have Bolton coming through, others?

- our defence has also lost its shape - how do Grimes / Vlas now compare with other defences - we have Balta coming through but as others mentioned, we have lost our strength of defending higher up the ground - this is structural.

- it’s hard to comment without seeing games live, but our team couldn’t generate numbers from contest to contest which was a strength during our dynasty period. Is that fitness, age, desire, injuries (lack of game continuity) I don’t know but I can’t see the gut running players of Lambert, Aarts, Edwards doing it now. Questions now whether George and Pickett can keep doing it and whether Dan Rioli can go back to that role also.

We will never get our connection right across the ground and with our forwards if these three things are not working. We have a bit of work to do over summer and with our recruiting.