COACHING MODERN FOOTBALL CHAPTER 5 EXPLOITING THE STAND RULE - SNEAK PEAK

 

The "stand" rule has been in for a few years now and it has made a huge difference to how teams can transition from end to end which I believe has been a huge positive for the game.

Some teams use it more than others in the AFL but that's probably because of their specific game style of keeping the ball in motion v stop-start build ups and then deliberately trying to exploit it at all times.

If you have the stand rule in your league, then you should definitely be doing just that and if you have in under 18's then you should be preparing your players for senior footy next year by exploiting it as well.

In the video below I give you the 3 most important tips to exploiting the stand rule to give you its full advantage...

From here I give the main rules to follow to carry this out optimally + videos to show playing on past the man on the mark and handballing forward of the man on the mark.

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RICHMOND v COLLINGWOOD GAME ANALYSIS

In today's game analysis we look at some structure/formation vision.

Teams of lesser talent need to put more importance on organisation as at least your players can be in better positions and better decisions are made from better positions.

It also keeps the ball where you have players positioned so you can always at least be contesting the ball in a 50/50 situation.

During their youth movement, the Tigers have been using simple but effective team formations to keep the ball in their "bubble" and it's a reason why they've been very surprising this season.

Today we look at a defensive 50 throw in and a couple of kick ins. 

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GWS v SYDNEY GAME ANALYSIS

A tale of 2 halves this bad boy with the result taking my Swans from a mathematical chance to a "mathematical chance" now.

With a pressure rating of over 200 in the first half and then to finish at 175 for the entire game means we must have went at 150 tops for the 2nd half which isn't winning anything.

It's been that kind of year for Sydney unfortunately but now let's see some younger talent (Dattoli, Snell, Cleary, Bowman, Hanily) and ready ourselves for 2026 after an active drafting/trading period + academy selections in the draft.

From this game we look at:

• Getting the ball in the right players hands in the right parts of the ground
• GWS Forward 50 Ball Up 
• The Anatomy of the Orange (or in this case - charcoal) Tsunami

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COACHING MODERN FOOTBALL CHAPTER 4 - 666 CONNECTION SNEAK PEAK

                                                     

In my opinion, the biggest thing missing from local/amateur football is what I call 666 Connection which refers to all players and all lines staying connected, without any major gaps of space between them.

Defensively, these gaps in connection simply provide more leading space options for forwards and thus more area to cover when you’re out of possession.

Any defender will tell you that the more degrees of space a forward can work with, the harder is to really do anything about it if delivery is adequate.

Offensively, we're constantly focusing on winning 1v1's and trying to find teammates out in space but with the huge disparity of physical and tactical prowess of players even within a single team, simply having good numbers around the ball as much as possible is a way to keep all players involved and share the load over a full game, and season.

Most teams use something along these in the AFL but Sydney has been doing it for 4 or 5 years and it's now a staple in their game.

I’d suggest that this is something very new to most of you I'd so I've compiled a bunch of examples so you can see what it looks like in all different facets of the game.

• OFF OF A CENTER BOUNCE FREE KICK
• HALF FORWARDS COMING UP STRAIGHT AWAY
• OFF OF A DEFENSIVE 50 REBOUND
• OFF A DEFENSIVE HALF FREE KICK
• OFF OF A DEFENSIVE HALF MARK #2
• OFF OF A MID 50 MARK
• ALL FORWARDS GET IN FRONT OF THE BALL
• FULL TEAM/GROUND FORMATION DEFENSIVE 50 THROW IN
• POTENTIAL END RESULT

I also add some animated videos from different game moments to show this a bit more clearly:

• GAME START CLEARANCE LOSS
• GAME START CLEARANCE WIN
• INTERCEPT MARK/FREE KICK DEFENSIVE PART 1
• INTERCEPT MARK/FREE KICK DEFENSIVE 50 PART 2

And finish off with videos to teach it:

• TEACHING 666 CONNECTION

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TEAM-BASED FRAMEWORK

TBF's greatly assist in all players being able to carry out in-game tasks in a highly cohesive manner.

In local/community footy the continuum from your best to worst player in any given round is vast regardless of the 23 named for that day.

Some players have high game intelligence but lesser action capabilities, some are the complete opposite but most are somewhere in between, again on avast continuum.

When we play a team and we call them "well-drilled" then this is a perfect example of a successful TBF.

At local level the disparity from the richest to the poorest club in even a single league/division also has a huge gap which means talent will never be evenly spread throughout the competition.

So what do you do without the amount of high level talent as those upper teams?

Develop a solid Team-Based Framework.

What I'll present below is an extremely basic version of a TBF that looks at both in and out of possession game moments.

To put this on steroids, check out the Develop Game Model option from the register page.

Let's start with our team in possession...

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COLLINGWOOD v FREMANTLE GAME ANALYSIS

Freo may have finally moved into some sort of contention after their win against the Pies at the G on the weekend, although it'll be a near impossible task to win from outside the top 4 this year as home advantage is probably going to reign supreme come finals time.  

That being said they are is as good-a form as anyone and with the right teams dropping games they shouldn't, they could make top 4 and have a chance, especially with that midfield and Hayden Young joining that that for the run home.

No alarm bells for the Pies yet, we've seen the dominant team at this stage of the year have a down patch the last 2 season's (Collingwood and Sydney) but it's weird that when Collingwood lose they still win in the eyes of the media (coming from behind and not making it v Suns + the tackle and release tactic from this weekend).

From this game we look at:

• Perfect Tackling Technique
• Collingwood High Press x 2
• Forward Press Defense
• Holding Width
• Fremantle Spread

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SYDNEY v NORTH MELBOURNE GAME ANALYSIS

This game didn't hit any great heights except for the Rolls Royce performance of Isaac Heeney.

Compiling 34 possessions with 16 contested, 13 clearances, 8 marks, 5 tackles and kicking 5 goals on top of that is surely performance of the year material and will take some game to top it.

Hence this game analysis is Heeney-strong where we look at:

• North not being able to fully take advantage of their outnumber advantage
• Heeney transition run
• Heeney stoppage goal...again

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COACHING MODERN FOOTBALL CHAPTER 3 - MIDFIELDER RUNNING PATTERNS SNEAK PEAK

                                                     

We all know that the quickest way to goal is through the corridor so it stands to reason that Your ball movement and/or player positioning, needs to be developed in accordance to that, and Collingwood do it better than anyone.

They are willing, and literally coached, to go corridor from anywhere on the ground at pretty much any stage of the game and if you watch them closely enough (or through my analysis videos), they care not what opposition, but what teammates, they have there.

If it looks like a 50/50 split from both teams then that's good enough for them and if it's an outnumber advantage, then they'll actually get chewed out by their coaches for not taking it!

It's literally refreshing and has taken me to the point where I only watch games with teams that will attempt corridor at some point, otherwise it's just the same football played by different teams.

The angled in and out running pattern is a tactic that Collingwood use on slow play and from almost anywhere on the ground.

It's pretty much a set play where the ball carrier holds the ball for the maximum amount of time which ensures time for everyone to get to where they need to be.

That means 1 - 2 tall targets to actually kick to, with those targets creating a drop zone corridor side of them that the ball gets kicked to.

What this means is that any spoil or dropped mark will also go into the corridor, and often they'll not go the mark, and instead tap it down in that area (Mason Cox a main player here), but it also means you just need a decent contested player in the air for this to work for you.

On a kick out especially, the midfielders will run in towards the contest on the same angle from the middle of the goals to;

1 - Protect from the opposition coming right back out the front of the contest and into goals if they regain possession,

and;

2 - If they win possession, or the aerial contest player knocks the ball down where they want it, they stream off corridor while forming running lanes and that's the running handball chain off half back that the Pies are so well-known for.

There are 2 main ways this plays out in a game that we look at video:

• OFF A KICK OUT
• OFF A M50 CLOSED KICK

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ST KILDA v SYDNEY GAME ANALYSIS

The Saints are pretty close at the moment and the Swans tiny chance of still making finals still stands although teams who we needed to lose won on the weekend so it actually closed more then it opened!

I Tweeted during the week that Brodie Grundy now has to be a serious consideration to over throw Max Gawn as the leading All-Australian ruckman and he pushed his case again on the weekend, with another best or ground performance. 

The difference is between the 2 s their game styles where Gawn leads marks 91-51 (8-38 contested!) but Grundy dominates tackles 75-40 (196-127 pressure acts) with just 1 clearance separating the 2 (95-96 Gawn).

Gawn is + 36 in contested possessions but then -30 in ground ball gets as well with Grundy also having a +19 lead in hit outs to advantage.

My thoughts are that if Xerri was the leading contender here as a pressure-based ruck then Grundy has overtaken him in those metrics, and thus would then be the leading contender but I can't see selectors making a change just "because".

Anyway from this game we look at;

• St Kilda Forward Half Defense
• Heads Up Play from Sheldrick
• Marshall at Center Bounce Clearance
• Campbell Nailing the Outnumber Advantage
• Gulden Stoppage Goal

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GOLD COAST v COLLINGWOOD GAME ANALYSIS

This was a banger of a contest where we saw the best of both sides with Gold Coast's first half dominance then the to-be-expected comeback from the Pies in the second half of the game.

What we probably didn't expect, and hadn't seen yet, was the Suns' ability to go again very late in the game, against top opposition, and win the game for a 2nd time which was the most impressive part for me - that's how you'll have to win finals so is great evidence for them to go back to when needed.

From this game we look at:

• Gold Coast Continually Going Long Then Changing Up for Immediate Success 
• Gold Coast Keeping Width to Draw Defenders Up and Out of Forward 50
• Collingwood Numbers
• Rioli Goal
• Collingwood Corridor on Defense and Offense
• Pies Transition Defense
• Collingwood Line Running
• Collingwood Lane Running
• J Daicos Goal

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COACHING MODERN FOOTBALL CHAPTER 2 - LANE RUNNING SNEAK PEAK

                                                   

I first noticed full-team lane running by the Sydney Swans back in 2021 when our offense first starting exploding but there's still only them and Collingwood who use it regularly and it is a staple of launching from half back for both teams.

In the women's game, Melbourne and North Melbourne have jumped on board as of last season, but Melbourne more regularly.

What lane running is in a nutshell is a sort of hashtag # formation that is similar to a zone defense when out of possession, and remains the same once you regain possession except you compress it on defense, and expand it on offense.

To get more specific you, roll your half forwards up nice and high to give you the first line of the hashtag or the first player in each lane going horizontally across the ground, however-many that is which changes depending on the game situation.

Then the midfielders and half backs fall in behind those leading players as you move the ball up the ground.

I must add that this works best during a medium to fast play moment as gaps open up while defense scatters to cover all the free players that we developed, and when played with high game intelligence, there will be multiple options for outnumber advantage situations as well.

It really means that you can go fast as you've got support players in front, with and behind you, so it doesn't need to be pretty and clean ball movement, it just needs to be forward ball movement for the most part.

From here we detail lane running during various game moments:

• Off Offensive Transition
• Off Defensive Transition
• Off a Kick Out
• Off a defensive 5o intercept mark
• Off a defensive ball up
• Off a mid 50 ball up

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL TRAINING ACTIVITIES PART 7

                                                   

As promised, here's the rest of the training activities I've used with my senior women's football team so far this year and to back up on previous posts, you want just enough variety to still provide enough repetition at the activities that best replicate what you want to see in games which builds adaptability.

If it looks clean and there are no mistakes then there is zero learning, and thus adapting, occurring and you need to change it up somehow.

STOPPAGE 4v4 + 1 GP/TEAM...

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SYDNEY v FREMANTLE GAME ANALYSIS

Are the Swans back or are the Dockers disappointing once again? At the moment it's a bit of both yet but Sydney need to win every game form now on + have other teams lose to the right teams to make the 8 and Freo don't need to look any further then this weekends game v Hawthorn which if they lose, really opens the door up for the Swans.

I wasn't allowed to post this video in 1 so I've had to split it but we look at:

• Sydney Using Deception on Their Kick Out
• James Jordan With an Individual Role Yet Also Carrying Out Collective Duties
• Sydney Support Defense
• James Jordan Again
• Sydney Forward 50 Ball Up Connection
• Sydney Kick Possession
• Sydney Isolating Heeney on Kick Out
• Papley Connecting Midfield to Forward

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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CARLTON AND COLLINGWOOD

If you gave yesterday's Carlton/Collingwood's game analysis a watch then you'll be all over this as I explained a lot of this during that video but I feel this could help all coaches so I thought I'd isolate these 2 clips specifically to help as many of you as I can.

Simply going on the eye test we can clearly see there is a stark difference to what Carlton and Collingwood are doing but to really know what's going on you've got to get to the detail and that's what we'll do right now.

What we have are 2 near identical plays from Friday night just 2mins apart.

Here's the one for Carlton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8mhuupXQOM&feature=youtu.be

And here's the one for Collingwood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPC_vU4NyEE

Both intercepts are in their own defensive 50 in a closed play situation with similar tactics to exit yet delivering 2 very different outcomes.

#1 - REACTION TIME

Granted the Blues weren't a million % sure what the call was immediately after it was made but even once it was determined, then they were still too slow to react and reposition with 5 players still facing the ball and another standing on the spot giving the ball back. Compare this to the Collingwood players already turning to reposition while Q is getting up from taking the mark with that top right hand corner player being involved in the next phase of play.

#2 - DEFENDERS TURNING INTO OFFENSIVE OPTIONS

TDK has the ball directly behind the goal post and Carlton have 3 players who all started in front of him but have  repositioned themselves behind where he'll take his kick! Weitering also starting there in the last frame so they're now playing 4 down in front of the ball against the best defensive team in the league - a very defeatist attitude to ball movement if there ever was one.

Collingwood on the other hand have already moved in front of the ball except for 1 player who is lateral to Q and about to get kicked to, so they are still playing even numbers from the ball carrier and out.

#3 - WIDTH

Off the back of reaction time but also system and the nailing of individual roles, you can clearly see the Pies have broken hard to get as much width as possible in the shortest time possible but there's also 2 Collingwood players breaking out for width v 1 for Carlton, so the Pies have options to continue to move the ball if they can work the numbers game to their advantage, which they normally do.

#4 - HARD SPREAD

Off the back of poor reaction time and width, the Blues haven't been able to create a gap between the widest line and the next line of players pushing across the ground which doesn't enable them to keep the ball even somewhat central. They also don't have anyone spreading hard across the ground to provide that central option either, forcing them lateral again, but with nothing to go to down the line and Haynes choosing to handball instead of kicking, thus keeping the play live, it has taken away any delay time for the lumbering Blues midfield to make their way from 1 side of the ground to the other

The Pies break hard wide, much wider then the Blues, and they also have a player leading the charge from the next line of players, getting himself in front of 3 Carlton players, and into the crucial pocket of space opened up by the wide running Collingwood players. Houston can easily pop that kick in for an uncontested mark, the Pies maintain possession and field position - pretty much everything the Blues couldn't do.

#5 - OUTCOME

After detailing the process behind each team's rebounding efforts, let's look at the outcome.

After the Blues failed to react fast enough, couldn't spread wide and hard enough to create receiving players in dangerous spots, they then couldn't even manage to reach the half way point of the ground and literally just gave the ball up under, at-best, moderate pressure.

The Pies reacted much faster, spread much wider and harder, and were able to free up an option in a dangerous part of the ground to then move the ball from deep in their defensive 50 to an out of bounds spot about 40m out from their goal without the Blues even touching the ball.

Now when you keep hearing out of Collingwood that "we're a system-based team" and "everyone has great clarity on their role in the team", this is what it looks like - quick transitions, optimal player positioning = faster decision making time from a shared mental model of how the game is to be played.

CARLTON v COLLINGWOOD GAME ANALYSIS

As is becoming customary at this point, there was zero physical (46 v 60 tackles) or tactical (8 goals from 49 entries v 17 from 60) response from the Blues in this game and not that I see sacking Voss will do anything at this point, but it's a long tail to the season if this continues.

From what I saw, the Pies barely got out of 2nd gear for this one but I got some clips from it regardless such as:

• Collingwood Center Bounce
• Collingwood Defending Kick Out
• Collingwood Defensive Corridor Numbers
• Colingwood Playing Corridor
• The Stark Contrast in Rebound 50 Plays
• Collingwood High Defensive Press

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COACHING MODERN FOOTBALL CHAPTER 1 - FORWARD PRESS DEFENSE SNEAK PEAK

The forward press defense was popularised by Richmond during their premiership years where Sydney started using it very soon after and now a bunch of clubs use it regularly.

This needs to be a full team mentality as every player needs to be all-in on this for it to work, otherwise huge holes will be visible in your team defense, and is why it might scare off more teams from using it more often.

That being said I think the advantages that it can provide your team are too good ignore so I'd definitely want it to be in my team's defensive toolbox.

Pressure from behind is possibly the "least" pressure you can apply to the ball carrier as they still have eyes on what's unfolding in front of them, space to play through and are relatively well-balanced to execute a kick or handball.

Applying pressure from in front of them disrupts them completely, taking away all their time and space to do any of this, forcing them to re-route their decision making while under in-coming physical pressure with the play in front of them blocked.

If they are able to dispose of the ball then the handball will be high and loopy, in order to get over the player applying frontal pressure, which then gives time for the next layer of forward press defense to get there and so on until they turn the ball over.

A kick disposal would also be rushed, kicked high and loopy and easily defended as well.

Above I mentioned pressure from behind and you still need it because if everyone from the defensive side of the ball simply charges forward then you're vulnerable if they make it through so the chaser's from behind still need to perform that action, but the hope is that the frontal pressure delays the opposition ball movement and they can "catch up" and apply actual physical pressure, saving defensive players from leaving their post if they possible.

Lastly, you need to determine specific triggers for when pressing forward is to happen so that there is a shared mental model of this among all teammates.

Specific language that greatly assists in teaching this includes "press forward" or simply "press", "boundary close-in" and "all-in" or "trading up".

In the 5 videos below, you'll see exactly what this can look like at different times of the game as well as the triggers for when to "go".

From here we look at video examples during different stages of play:

• Center Bounce
• Slow Closed Play
• Short Transition Moment
• Long Transition Moment

Then I provide some training activities to train it.

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL TRAINING ACTIVITIES PART 6

Haven't posted one of these for a while so I have a back log of training activities to post so I'll do a 13 (13! 13!!!) today and another 15 or whatever's left next week to catch all the way up on these.

You'll notice that a lot of them are similar in how they are set up but modified in how they are carried out which is important in regards to how we learn - totally new information, or training activities, every single time doesn't give the repetition for the content to move from short term memory to long term memory + the variety is too great, or too little depending how you look at it, to scaffold on top of previous learning.  

4v1 IN THE MIDDLE...

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