LAYERING YOUR TRAINING ACTIVITIES

You've come up with a great game model but then the questions announce themselves?

How will you teach it?

How will the players learn it?

How will the players retain the concept?

What about the mixed ability of the playing group?

How can we build it robust enough to stand up in the chaos of an actual game?

I'm certain most coaches don't go through a process anything like this.

We had 2 new girls come and train with us Wednesday from a powerhouse division 1 women's team and the feedback from both was that training was "different to what I've done before (50 games)" and "it was different but good (97 games)", shoeing that even the biggest/best clubs still have a huge way to go to nailing their training practices (imagine their results if they do!).

So time and care need to be taken into your selection of training activities, when you introduce them, how you introduce them, and how you build on them.

It's also crucial to take into account how people learn and retain information.

For this example, it's basic transition offense where we want to maintain possession and progress towards our goals.

LAYER #1...

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20 NEW STREAMLINE TRAINING ACTIVITIES

                                    

A new edition of this covering training activities #192 - #2?? and as usual there's only a quick explanation, no diagrams or images.

#192 - OUTNUMBER ADVANTAGE TO OUTNUMBER DISADVANTAGE 

#193 - TACKLING SEQUENCE

#194 - PROTECT THE BALL SEQUENCE

#195 - WALL RONDO PASS

#196 - FINISHING WAVE

#197 - TEAMS IN TEAMS SEQUENCE

#198 - PRESSING VICTIM

#199 - 5v5+4 POSSESSION

#200 - 6v6+2

#201 - TIEBREAK

#202 - TEAM TIMER

#203 - DEFENSIVE SHAPE/POSITION

#204 - ROLE PLAYERS

#205 - HOLDING HANDS RONDO

#206 - TAKING ADVANTAGE

#207 - 3v3 SEQUENCE

#208 - 2x4v3+2 RONDO

#209 - TRI COLOR GAME SEQUENCE

#210 - 6v4 BUILD UP

#211 - CONTINUOUS OVERLOAD SEQUENCE

For full access to these training activities register for a level 3 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.

COACHING MODERN FOOTBALL CHAPTER 18 - CENTER BOUNCE CLEARANCE VOLUME 2

                                                       

I have just completed a 2nd volume for Center Bounce Clearance and an 18th chapter in the Coaching Modern Football series that is now available from the register page. 

We start out looking at organising your set up by taking into account things like:

• How To Set Up
• What Are We Trying to Achieve?
• In the Contest
• Tap Zone
• Contingencies

Then in the 38 center bounce clearance examples I have we look at the different tactics used such as:

• Push In
• Reverse Sweeper
• Explosion
• Deception
• All In
• Block
• Roles
• Hold Out
• Big Punch

SPATIAL STRUCTURES OF COMPETEING SOCCER TEAMS STUDY

I haven't posted a study for a while but I'm still reading them all the time and this one looks at how soccer teams use the ground space at various times of the game and how it then contributes their success.

• Studies usually analyse teams’ convex hull which gives the measure for the overall spread of the team in space but which ignores the contributions of the players that are within it

• In this latest study they computed the convex hull of those internal players and then calculated the ratio of the area of the inner convex hull over the area of the outer convex hull which provides a single number that encapsulates the geometry of a team for a given point in time
• The ratio of the areas of these 2 convex layers almost always dies out at .5 meaning there are almost no cases where the area of the inner layer exceeds 50% of the area of the outer layer in both attacking and defensive phases of play
• You can determine how many opposition players a pass out-plays based on longitude coordinates
• AFL uses talent tracker (?) at junior level to reveal spatial patterns in player development
• Reduced player dispersion = shorter passing strategies
• Greater player dispersion = longer passing strategies
• On defense, teams devise formations to limit the oppositions space while maintaining cohesion
• If a player goes outside of this then a teammate can be exposed to high demands to compensate for it
• The convex hull is the area where all players fit into but the probability is that not all players in the hull are contributing to it so here they used an inner player convex hull and then looked at the ratio of the areas encapsulating (mostly) all spatial structure of a team to 1 interpretable number
• This is to be used along with the external convex hull, not replace it, as they provide different data
• Convex hull is great for overall team dispersion but doesn’t give you a lot on the intricate contributions of internal players to the team’s spatial structure where they’re pivotal in maintaining cohesion, controlling transition and sustaining tactical balance
• Data consists of positional data including player and ball coordinates
• Categories for collection x possession (deliberate control of ball for 3+secs), out of possession (opposition has deliberate control of the ball x 3+secs), undefined state (ball in play but lacking clear control), set pieces (10secs before/after a player returns the ball to play by taking a set piece such as a throw in, in/direct free kick, penalties and corners), dead ball (ball typically out of play)
• Attacking success x play ball into forward 3^rd + defensive success x ball stopped prior to the opposition forward 3^rd
• Divide the inner area by the outer area and results would range from 0 (if there were 0 – 1 player's contributing to the inner layer) to 1 (if the inner layer would fit perfectly into the outer layer which is practically impossible)
• The convex hull is all players + the goal-keeper then the inner layer so a small area surrounded by big area
• If the inner area is 10% of the outer layer then that’s a score of 0.1
• Beyond splitting the data up according to different modes of play, they also wanted to separate it according to a ball-progressing measure such as when a team has possession, are they successfully progressing forward towards their goal and/or is the defensive team successful at preventing them from doing so
• This is done via splitting the pitch into 3rds x defense, middle and forward 3^rds
• A successful ball-progression occurs when the ball is played from 1 area to another in a single possession
• On defense, teams can invite them deep to counter with more space but it still stands for the most part
• The study was able to compute the convex hull for both inner and outer layers and technically there could even be 3 layers but it won't be the case for the relatively small amount of players on 2 soccer teams but for AFL it definitely could be
• A universal patter emerged that was regardless of whether you were in attack or defense, that both result in drastically different spatial structures – spread/compact - or even whether they were successful ball progression attempts or not, the ratios peak at .18 (inner is 18% of outer) and these distributions always die out at .5
• There were barely any cases where the ratio was .5 or more
• The typical number of players that created the inner layer was 3 - 5 players (4 mostly) and 5 – 7 for the outer layer (6 mostly)
• Goal keepers are now often involved in transition offense but once they gain control in their forward half then they frequently remain near the opposition goal so that can skew things a touch but the ratio of where things die out is similar anyway
• In the search for a possible 3rd layer, they typically found 0 – 2 players within the inner layer (core players)
• The higher the layer ratio, the closer the players in the inner layer are to the outer layer
• The area of the inner layer (convex hull of the central players) is always up to 50% of the outer layer
• Layer ratio always dies out at .5 regardless of the phase of play, whether ball progression was successful or not or whether goal-keepers were taken into account or not
• A previous study showed that the average distance between defensive and midfield lines was 7 - 13m v midfield/attacking lines 9 - 17m but can vary depending on team strategy as a high pressing approach reduces inter-line distances while deep defending can also compress those spaces
• This study facilitates a rapid assessment of whether teams are occupying significant portions of the peripheral zone, thereby creating a narrow corridor between inner and outer layers
• If this is the case then it may indicate a vulnerability in the team’s defensive positioning and potentially exposing them to exploitation by the opposition but if this is always true then could teams adapt to new forms of collecting defending and are such gaps necessarily an issue for attacking?
• Further questions to address include how does 1 team's instantaneous layer ratio depend on the oppositions? Where on the pitch and in what situations do we typically see smaller layer ratios depending on opposition? How does the location of the inner convex hull relative to the outer convex hull affect team performance?

AFLW GRAND FINAL GAME ANALYSIS - NORTH MELBOURNE v BRISBANE PART 2

                             

There's not too much left to say really but I did attend 5 or 6 North Melbourne AFLW training sessions so I do have a small database of the training activities they use so I might package it all up at some point but I have been using their warm up with my senior women's team and it works really well in focusing and training with intensity from the very 1st second of training.

There are 3 clips left from the Grand Final with each being posted individually below.

- Brisbane Transition Offense

- Brisbane Defenders

- Numbers

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AFLW GRAND FINAL - NORTH MELBOURNE v BRISBANE PART 1/2

Season 10 is done and dusted and it was a whitewash really with the dominance of North Melbourne.

The Roos went 12-0 with a % of 321.5 in the regular season and then backed that up in the finals going 3-0 with a % of 262.

Dare we add that they were missing 2 of their starting 18 in Mia King and Nicole Bresnehan not being available through injury.

It's hard to see them not winning 3 on the trot or more at this point as they'll just keep adding top free agents where needed until the AFLW payment structure is changed.

The Lions were the 2nd best team in it this year but it just shows the chasm between North and the 2nd best - in their 2 games this year it was cumulative score of 121 - 48.

North Melbourne's depth is immense and it was THE difference in this game as I alluded to in this tweet:

 https://x.com/AFLTraining/status/1994919992870264849?s=20

All that being said it's not like Brisbane were never in it - they were +5 for inside 50's even though they were -13 for clearance so they were able to move the ball through the North defense but watching the game you could clearly see that major issues with their method of going inside forward 50.

Today we look at:

• Brisbane Forward Press Defense
• North Melbourne Forward Press Defense
• North Melbourne Going Inside Forward 50
• North Melbourne Creating/Utilising the Outnumber Advantage
• Brisbane Going Back to the Numbers in Defensive Half
• Brisbane Forward Half Intercept

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PLAYING STYLES OF AFL TEAMS IN 2025 PART 3

                                         

After the shit show that was AFL-media in 2025 and the just-passed trade period, if it's real game analysis you're after then you should be following these guys:

Ricky Mangidis, James Ives, Cody Atkinson, Emlyn Breese and One Percenters

There's a few others that popped up through the course of the year but for the sake of this post, I'll keep at this lot as this information mostly comes from them with some other bits from other sources like Fox Footy etc.

What you'll see is little tid-bits I've chosen from most AFL teams that describes how they play, why they play like that and the results they get from doing so posted prior and during the 2025 AFL season.

For community coaches, you might recognise a team's traits in your own team's and then gather some ideas on how to make it more effective for your own team.

NORTH MELBOURNE

• In 1 game they started defending directly in front the ball but very also skinny so the opposition were easily able to get to the outside of them and go around them. The change was to defend with the same set up but in a far wider formation which forced the opposition to kick to the crowd straight in front of them or to extra wide that is more easily covered and defended.
• Again on defense, when the ball is on 1 side then cut off the corridor and force the opposition to chip-kick along the boundary line until you can recover and then spoil one out of bounds for a reset

PORT ADELIADE

• Fast transition offense means you're also susceptible to rapid counter-attack on turnover
• The big 3 in the middle (Butters, Rozee, JHF) all work best forward of center which leaves too much defensive work to Drew unless they start using defensive wingers

RICHMOND

• Went long down the line but couldn’t do anything at contest and resulted in a high turnover rate

ST KILDA

• They choke the corridor to force a slowdown in how the opposition can use the ball where they conceded the 2^nd most marks by choice
• They often had a +1 on the defensive side at stoppage
• They used superior numbers/structure to force turnovers in their defensive half
• Marshall loves to grab and kick out of the ruck (their best clearance player) but that was more a hinderance with the Saints being 17^th for scores from stoppage
• They win on control/marks, not chaos/groundballs
• They play a safety-first approach where they control the ball for so long it allows them to dictate tempo which also gives the opposition far less possession time which is an excellent theory if you are outmatched on talent but still wanting to win - the negative is that it leads to a low-event game and then you’re more susceptible to variance deciding the result

SYDNEY

• Combine control with chaos by gaining territory with short kicks/uncontested marks from the defensive half before looking for inboard kicks to beat the 1st layer of opposition defense and/or open space in/near the corridor
• Happy to take time to find the right option = 2^nd slowest ball movement team and 5^th most possessions per possession chain
• Once through the defense then it's off to the races
• 2^nd for bounces that creates player overloads
• Liked to station a midfielder (Parker, JJ, Adams, Chad) at half forward to negate opposition rebounders and force front half turnovers
• Brisbane changed lanes 56 times in the 2023 Grand Final v Syd 29 and almost all of the Swans' losses came from teams being able to change lanes laterally with high numbers of uncontested marks (Brisbane GF 150, Saints 123, Port 122, Bris 115, Freo 100, Rich 108, Dogs 98)
• Defend high so can easily cut off chaos balls out of forward 50 but could be too across the ground (3 talls+ruck) to cover the ground laterally when the opposition control their ball movement

WEST COAST

• Under McQualter, they want to become a territory team, apply high pressure to force turnovers with the end result being forward half footy
• The higher the groundball gets number, the higher the chaos style

WESTERN BULLDOGS

• Everything is still built on clearance strength and moving the ball outside by hand

AFLW FINALS GAME ANALYSIS - NORTH MELBOURNE/MELBOURNE + BRISBANE/CARLTON

The 2 best teams have made the AFLW Grand Final and the 3rd meeting of these 3 in the GF in a row!

Melbourne gave North plenty to think about in their game, with the fast start actually producing some slight kinks in the Roos armour - most notably being a bit shaky when faced with 1v1's in the defensive 50.

The Hore knock was a huge blow for the Dees who Ilve said were 1 midfielder short all season with Purcell out with injury and ot showed as Hore had to play the majority of the game forward and even though Pearce dominated the taps (23-12 win), they didn't convert that into clearance (14 - 21 loss).

And as elite teams do, they just overwhelm you over the course of the entire game and a 2.4 to 0.0 last quarter was a testament to that. 

The Blues were well in their game until the 3rd quarter where the Lions piled on 6.1 to 1.0 behind 6-2 center clearances and 13v4 inside forward 50's.

The Blues averaged 49 marks per game but were held to 38 in this one with potentially half of those in the last quarter when the game was done for.

Brisbane's speed of player and ball movement unsettled the Blues backline who prefer slower entries so they can intercept and go back the other way immediately but the Lions cut off all the exits when the Blues could actually intercept, forcing them to the boundary with dinky 20m lateral kicks.

Both losing teams can take a lot of this season as far as confidence and what they can achieve but also need to learn the lessons from these losses as well - which I'm sure they will with 2 very good coaches at the helm.

In the GF I'm tipping the Roos by 17pts.

Today we look at:

• Melbourne Going Inside Forward 50
• Melbourne Using Numbers Around the Ball
• North Melbourne Stoppage Goal
• Brisbane Not Using the Open Handball Option
• Brisbane at Center Bounce Clearance

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PLAYING STYLES OF AFL TEAMS IN 2025 PART 2

                                          

Before the commencement of the 2025 AFL season, a bunch of Twitter football stats accounts posted reviews of each team based-on the season previous which I did link to in this particular post back in February.

After the shit show that was AFL-media in 2025 and the just-passed trade period, if it's real game analysis you're after then you should be following these guys:

Ricky Mangidis, James Ives, Cody Atkinson, Emlyn Breese and One Percenters

There's a few others that popped up through the course of the year but for the sake of this post, I'll keep at this lot as this information mostly comes from them with some other bits from other sources like Fox Footy etc.

What you'll see is little tid-bits I've chosen from most AFL teams that describes how they play, why they play like that and the results they get from doing so posted prior and during the 2025 AFL season.

For community coaches, you might recognise a team's traits in your own team's and then gather some idea's on how to make it more effective for your own team.

FREMANTLE

• Defend with the ball
• No team needed more possessions to go from defensive 50 to forward 50 and by the time they made it there the opposition had all their defenders in there

GEELONG

• More ruck contests than any other side – very stoppage heavy and now rely on the post-clearance game v actual clearances by taking a player out of stoppage and dropping them a kick behind play, using stoppages to establish structure around the ground
• Dempsey starts on the wing but then at a mid 50 stoppage a half forward (Mannagh/Miers) comes up to take his man. Even if Geelong lose the clearance they are covered with their spare defender + the half forward covering the opposition wing. If Geelong can win the ball back quickly then Dempsey leaks out towards goal on his own

GOLD COAST

• In 2024 their poor mid-forward connection comes from not having a true link at half forward
• Were 16th for kick:handball ratio in 2024
• Had the highest % of long kicks in 20241
• Were 8^th for forward 50 retention in 2024
• Rowell averaged 3.1m from pre-clearance possession to disposal in 2024 (41^st) v 5.7m 9 (4^th) in 2025 which collapses the opposition into the contest leading to cleaner exits + number advantages on the outside. This also resulted in higher quality inside 50’s in 2025 where they were 18^th for retention in 2024 v 1st in 2025 + 2^nd for kick length going inside forward 50 in 2024 v 18th in 2025

GWS

• At stoppage their fast high half forwards sit just outside the contest available for handball receives or to disrupt the opposition doing the same
• Finn Callaghan v Colingwood had 11 carries over 5m from handball receives or groundball - 4 more than any other Collingwood player and almost all in the corridor - for 186m gained alone

HAWTHORN

• Flooded corridor to deny opposition space in the central zone with half forwards pushing up high but also wide, preventing the opposition from handball receives on the boundary side of the mark and limiting overlap opportunities. This forced the opposition to funnel the ball into contested areas in the corridor where they created kill zones via numbers/superiorities at ground level to force turnover’s and spread rapidly. With turnovers occurring closer to the middle of the ground than the wing they were much harder to stop
• Forcing wide is great defensively but it makes equally as hard for you offensively v forcing them corridor to your numbers is great for you offensively
• High half forward’s stay wide allowing the Hawks to circumvent opposition corridor defensive schemes
• All their defenders are 3^rd tall types who can compete in the air and at ground level, that can intercept and get involved in transition offense
• Love feeding back out of contest with tacklers overloading the opposition ball carrier
• On kick out they position 14 players on 1 side of the ground and if the defense fails to react then they have great numbers there but if the defense does react/shift to counter it then they'd have 1 - 2 of their quickest players sprinting into space on the weak side that just opened up from the defense shifting 

AFLW FINALS GAME ANALYSIS - HAWTHORN v CARLTON

                            

As I start off in the video, I tipped the Blues to win but not quite like that but the Hawks almost seemed like a bottom 8 team just waiting for the season to end except they won 12 games and were in a preliminary final.

The Blues on the other hand are manufacturing momentum with their play and are a genuine 50-50 up in Brisbane this week.

Unfortunately I think the Lions will bring the heat and experience and the bubble might burst for the Blues but they've shown their game is sustainable and their age demo is excellent to go again for another 2 - 3 years barring injury etc.

Going up against West Coast and Hawthorn,the Blues have encountered 2 finals opponents who have been very poor in converting inside 50's to scores - especially against other top 8 teams.

The Hawks finished 6th for total inside 50's at 449 and West Coast 9th with 414 but total goals for Hawks were 11th with 63 and the Eagles also 9th with 68.

The Lions totaled 528 inside 50's and accumulated 98 goals so as good as Carlton's defense has been it's about to get twice as tougher I reckon and the Lions WILL have a plan for Cordner so they won't be able to transition from defensive to forward 50 like that have in the last month.

Today we look at:

• Carlton Not Biting Off Corridor
• Baba Poise
• Carlton Biting Off Corridor
• Hawthorn Forwards Tagging Cordner
• Carlton Stoppage Goal

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AFLW FINALS GAME ANALYSIS - MELBOURNE v ADELAIDE

This was probably a top 5 all-time game in AFLW history.

The Adelaide 2nd quarter was immense and was only topped by the leader of forward craft in AFLW - Kate Hore.

I have to mention Tahlia Gillard who has been a mainstay top defender in the last few years but this year has gone into the elite category for mine. She used to lead the league in spoils but s now marking in defensive 50 and initiating transition offense for the Dees.

The Crows were able to generate a pretty high number of inside 50's (46) but were held to 7 goals of which 5 came in the aforementioned 2nd quarter.

The Crows just never seemed to be in the top 4 teams this year on form or ladder position and this is probably where they are at the moment.

With a new coach on the horizon, they might need to take a step back, trade some players with currency, get some high end draft picks and work towards their next premiership-contending team although I do like the looks of Prowse (22), Goodwin (21) and Rasheed (18) so aye it's a slight juggling of players shifting positions to allow them to really flourish.

The Dees have the enviable task of North Melbourne this week who they haven't played since round 3 last year in a 50pt loss and it might be the same again.

They're going to need 3+ goals from Hore to be in the hunt which then means they can't have her around the ball and they're a midfielder short in there anyway let alone against the Roos. 

The Roos pose soooo many problems - Do you tag Garner and/or Riddell in the midfield? Do you tag O'Shea and/or Kearney off half back? Do you have 3 talls to handle Shierlaw, Randall and King defensively? Can you make Birch/Ferguson accountable for a player in your own forward half?

I'd love to be a fly on the wall on the coaches meeting of North opposition at this time of the year and it's a case of what are you willing to give up, to get, and does that allow you to play a game that can win?

Absolute nightmare!

Today we look at:

• Melbourne Not Going Off the Line
• Gould Double Lead
• Melbourne Going into Forward 50 on Fast Play

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AFLW FINALS GAME ANALYSIS - MELBOURNE/BRISBANE + ADELAIDE/ST KILDA

                               

Again no major upsets here with the Lions and Crows both getting up to advance.

Brisbane's back line stood up keeping the trio of Hore, Harris and Zanker to just 2 goals although the loss of Zanker really let them get the ascendancy there.

The Dees have always been a midfielder short after Purcell went down, then having to use Hore in the middle which takes away her league-leading forward craft - robbing Peter to pay Paul.

With Zanker unavailable this week then it will again leave either Allen or Biddell free to intercept and that's why I'll be tipping the Crows.

Speaking of the Crows this went the way we thought it probably would with the Saints giving up 67 and 72 points in the last 2 games of the regular season and then 60 in this one - it's hard to think they beat Carlton just 4 weeks ago while keeping them to 36 points.

Today we look at:

• Brisbane at Center Bounce Clearance
• Conway Wing Run
• Melbourne Fat Side Line
• Conway Losing Goal Side
• Brisbane Transition Defense
• Adelaide Off-Ball Defense into Offense

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AFLW FINALS GAME ANALYSIS - NORTH MELBOURNE/HAWTHORN + CARLTON/WEST COAST

It's fair to say there wasn't any real surprises at the results from the weekend except for maybe how teams won.

North weren't at their best but the Hawks were playing VERY defensive and thus scored a measly 3 behinds and will take a huge turnaround for them to not go out in straight sets next week, as I alluded to last week.

I'm not on the we-need-more-scoring bandwagon, I know the reasons why it's difficult, but just 3 behinds from 28 inside 50's in a final is definitely alarming.

The Blues had 1 of the quarters of the year with 6 goals in the wet to game to bed v the Eagles  with only 6 other teams achieving a 6-goal quarter for the entire season - Sydney and Adelaide both in round 2 (Crows managed 7!) , North Melbourne twice in the same game in round 3, Melbourne and St Kilda in round 7 and Port Adelaide in round 12 - but none of those were in the wet in a final!

The Eagles are a season and half off really competing with the top tier teams but it's evident they have the cattle so we'll just time do its thing here.

Today we look at:

• Hawthorn Defensive Mistake
• North in Slow Play
• Another Hawthorn Defensive Mistake
• Roberts Pushing Forward
• Eagles Handballing Instead of Kicking
• Eagles Receiving Handball on Their Wrong Side
• Guerin Blitz x 3
• West Coast at Center Bounce Clearance

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THE COACHES BLUEPRINT FOR 2026 - SAMPLE SESSION

Last week I challenged all coaches to sit down and find ways to turn their training drills (boring/zero learning) into training activities (high player engagement and involvement/high learning) in this post.

STEP #1 - SESSION THEME

Without a theme you're not really going to nail any real sustainable outcomes that carry into game day so you really need to start with this. The theme for this specific session is offense.

STEP #2 - THEME INTENTIONS

To break that down even further we also want to introduce some intentions around our them that will be the backbone of the entire session. For this session let's focus on communication, moving the ball into and through space and maintaining possession and control of play when in possession.

Players need to be made aware of these prior to the session via the group chat or at least in the coaches address at the start of the session but the earlier the better so players can clarify anything they need to before training.

STEP #3 - TRAINING ACTIVITY SELECTION

As you have themed the session then you've got to stick with it and avoid dual-themeing as much as you can, especially in this pre-xmas phase which also means keep your themes/intentions pretty simple for now.

STEP #4 - FEEDBACK

Contraints are used in training activities to shape the actions you wan to see but feedback is also a constraint because the players will play to what the coaches instruct them to/direct them towards. When you have a theme with clear intentions then that gives the players specific information to act on and the coaches specific information to coach towards. This means that during an offense-themed session, keep your feedback to the offense side of things, don't go ranting off about defensive principles and stoppage tactics.

After your movement warm up then try this:

TRAINING ACTIVITY #1...

For full access to these training activities, register for a level 3 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.

PLAYING STYLES OF AFL TEAMS IN 2025

                                               

Before the commencement of the 2o25 AFL season, a bunch of Twitter football stats accounts posted reviews of each team based-on the season previous which I did link to in this particular post back in February.

After the shit show that was AFL-media in 2025 and the just-passed trade period, if it's real game analysis you're after then you should be following these guys:

Ricky Mangidis, James Ives, Cody Atkinson, Emlyn Breese and One Percenters

There's a few others that popped up through the course of the year but for the sake of this post, I'll keep at this lot as this information mostly comes from them with some other bits from other sources like Fox Footy etc.

What you'll see is little tid-bits I've chosen from most AFL teams that describes how they play, why they play like that and the results they get from doing so posted prior and during the 2025 AFL season.

For community coaches, you might recognise a team's traits in your own team's and then gather some idea's on how to make it more effective for your won team.

ADELAIDE

• Were 14th for clearances in 2024 (5th in 2025) so were having to defend and initiate their offense from deep in defense so then used a sling-shot style in an attempt to get the opposition on the move and to lose them in transition.
• They were/are very compact on defense but very expansive on offense. 

BRISBANE

• The stat to show the amount of control or chaos a team likes to use is the average marks per game divided by the average  groundball hard ball gets where the league average was 3.1(more groundballs than marks). Brisbane average 20 marks more than groundballs yet are still 2nd in groundball gets differential.
• 1st for kicks.
• Their medium forwards come up closer to the cntest then spread rapidly when the Lions win possession pulling the defense out of shape and allows for more handball out of congestion
• They use quick release kicks (released in 3secs or less) to find uncontested marks

CARLTON

• In 2024 they sacrificed a number at stoppage for an extra defender to generate more scores from turnover
• They were 3rd last for inside 50's from defensive 50
• Had the lowest score generated from defensive 50 so in their 2025 practice game they brought everyone up to run and carry through the mid 50 while disconnecting 1 of their tall forwards to maintain a longer/deeper target over the back
• Often just needed 1 more handball through the mid 50 in 2025
• In 2025 they moved the ball the fastest from an uncontested mark but then were 5th slowest from a contested mark. The first stats throws the game into chaos yet they don't maintain possession through play switches or 45 degree kicks as they had the 5th least uncontested marks per game
• They take the 3rd most contested marks and win the aerial 50-50's better than most but then concede any advantage they gain by going so slow off the back of it.
• They play transition footy the wrong way around where they kick to long and shallow inside 50's off of uncontested marks then go painfully slow after opening the ground up with contested marks

COLLINGWOOD 

• They create pressure around the opposition ball carrier to force poor quality disposals and thus create interceptions then attack from those intercepts very quickly
• Offensively they like slow play kicking to/along the boundary
• On kick outs the skinny wing or high half forward stays boundary side and then is the first Pies player to rip through directly to goal
• Skinny wing/midfielders may also be at the front of the contest doing their angled run in and make up the 2^nd wave of runners when the ball is won
• On Collingwood in close games, football is a game of skill and while there is variance game-to-game in how well skills are executed, you can control enough to tip the scales in your favor. Fly identified and drilled into them the effects of chaos/control in close game scenarios and how much variance to let into the game. When chasing a late lead they play as open/expansive as possible and as time is the enemy, congestion/stoppages are avoided at all costs, even if it means letting the ball spill out from them or the opposition as they're more likely to win a loose ball back then a contested ball. When defending a lead they reduce variance by restricting the amount of football that can actually happen so now with time again being the enemy but of a different kind, they search for congestion, stoppages and the boundary, often giving up 1^st possession to pounce on the opposition that does get it and continue to slow the game down via stoppages or free kicks for holding the ball on the opposition
• Love to use speed and numbers - speed to get past a defender before they’re set then numbers to be predictable to each other. What looks like reckless/aggressive corridor play is actually controlled chaos as they have speed and numbers through there when they do
• On offense they prefer slow and wide so they can reorganise their defense behind the ball and play a forward half game and/or free up Moore as the spare interceptor. They are the best at holding shape around the ball and refuse to compromise even if they concede contested possession inside so they can apply frantic pressure when they do lose the contest and counter punch on turnovers and then once they win territory they don’t give it back. They kick down the line more than anyone but they also score next after a kick down the line more than anyone.

AFLW ROUND 12 GAME ANALYSIS

                               

North are North and the Hawks are in very weird position having played them last week (for a loss), this week in a 1st final and then even potentially in the Grand Final.

I'll start with the answer in that you can only beat North Melbourne once so then the question is do the Hawks want to beat them before the Granny, if they get that far?

They'll be planning and playing to win every game as normal but this must be the first time ever that 2 teams play each other 3 times in 5 weeks, if it works out so.

That being said, injuries are going to kill the Hawks chances with Bates 2 - 4 weeks away and Wales TBC which would be a miracle if that resulted in a return for this week or next week - I'm predicting  a straight set exits for the Hawks unfortunately if things go the way I think they will.

This puts the Demons on the path to a Granny with home ground advantage through the finals, yet I'll tip the Lions this week as they showed a level the Dees didn't have last weekend.

I'll also tip the Blues at home and Adelaide against another injury depleted team in the Saints.

Today we look at:

• North Melbourne at Center Bounce
• North Melbourne Forward of the Stand Player Handball
• Rare North Melbourne Defensive Mistake
• Poor Melbourne Team Defense
• Collingwood Transition Offense
• Brisbane Forward Press Defense
• Bulldogs Outnumber Advantage Fail
• Kenny Leading Patterns

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WEST COAST v CARLTON AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

We've got some finals silliness going on where 2 games from round 12 will be ran back in week 1 of the finals - of which West Coast and Carlton is one (North/Hawks the other).

West Coast are young as a whole but also have adequate experience in the form of Swanston 76 games, Smith 74, Gibson 71, Hooker 66 and even relatively younger players in Lewis 62 and Thomas 53 but also have a forward line of Riggs, Dalgleish and Painter on 10 games each.

They're probably a year or 2 away from truly contending but to go from 6 wins for season 2020/21/22/23 and then 4 and 6 wins respectively in 2024/25 shows the Daisy effect has been huge.

The Blues have also been a big improver this year increasing their scoring from 266 in 2024 to 554 in 2025, their scores against from 532 to 474 and their % of 50 to 116.9.

They totaled 83 scoring shots last year and surpassed that round 5 this year on their way to 164,shoeing the remarkable offensive improvement from the Blues this year.

Via the eye test they have also expanded their use of the ground from the skinny side only to the entire ground which every team should be trying to do (but a few refuse too!)

I had the Blues by 4 goals on the weekend and they did just that and I'll roll with that again in next weekend's game.

Today we look at:

• West Coast Needing 1 More Handball
• Carlton Width
• Lewis Running the Wrong Way Actually Helping the Eagles
• West Coast Team Defensive Breakdowns
• Fitzpatrick Run

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THE COACHES BLUEPRINT FOR 2026

                                           

It's almost 2026 but a lot of coaches still use drills (I'll get to that term later), from 1986 but it's clearly time to reinvent your coaching practices and look at what elite team sport coaches are doing right now.

WHAT WE CURRENTLY SEE

Kicking from this cone to that cone to this cone to that cone is the definition of a drill - a predetermined sequence of actions that cannot be deviated from.

They possess zero context to what occurs in games as there is no opposition, no consequence and no decision making taking place - all that a game has in abundance.

A training activity is something that is full of information that is representative of the a game consisting of interactions between teammates and opposition.

Decision's now need to be made constantly in regards to navigating the constraints of space and time on top of everything else.

Above all, skill is the ability to adapt to ever-changing conditions and all cone-to-cone kicking does is rehearse an already adequate foundational technique.

TRAINING AT THE MOMENT

Players get there, have a very casual kick with a teammate or 2, run a lap and then go into handball to kicking lanes or off the fence stuff with a player/coach out the front delivering the ball to them in a variety of ways.

Sure it's just the warm up portion of the session but it's still not representative of the game so as we only have 2 - 3hrs per week to train, why not make it as jam-packed with game information as we can.

This WILL require you as coach to shift from your current coaching habits and your players as well but change needs to come from the top and that's you.

At this point of the session you don't need ramp decision-making and complexity to its maximum but you at least want to start with it included in your "warm up" training activities (remember no drills!)

WHEN/HOW TO START?

When? My suggestion is your very 1st session of pre-season in the that's coming up in the next few weeks.

How? Try and gamify your current crop of drills to make them training activities.

Add decision-making into the activity via the use of opposition which doesn't mean 18v18 but having some opposition apply some pressure to what you're doing is what you're after.

This might be as simple as someone coming to stand the mark after each mark or running 4 players off 1 end and handballing through to the other end with opposition forcing them to make decisions, not necessarily lay them out with bone-crunching tackles.

PROGRESSION

As the session continues then ramp up complexity which means add more moving parts which now be adding more defenders to stand all marks, or as many as possible which forces the offensive team to search for more solutions as there will be less "obvious" options to take up.

You might alter the space that if opened up will provide more space and time for the ball carrier, or you might close it down to take both of those things away.

You might call play on after 8secs or after 5secs, depending on what you want to see happen.

There's so many ways to constrain the 1 training activity but the holy grail lies in the coach knowing what to manipulate and when, to keep challenging players if/as they solve the previous constraint consistently which may occur in the very first session or in take multiple sessions.

ACTION PLAN

1 - Challenge yourself to design your entire 1st pre-season training session around training activities, not drills.

2 - Get to work on altering your training drills into activities

3 - If you need any assistance doing this or would like me to look over what you've come up with then feel free to contact me through Facebook PM or Twitter PM.

AFLW ROUND 11 GAME ANALYSIS: BRIS/MELB + CAR/GWS + GC/COLL

There's 1 round to go until finals with 4 games this weekend with immediate implications for the final top 8.

Essentially it comes down to Carlton v West Coast where the Eagles need to win to stay in, otherwise they drop to 9th (potentially 10th), and the Swans will take 8th (potentially 7th).

My predictions for the final top 8 is North Melbourne, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Brisbane, Carlton, St Kilda, Adelaide and Sydney with the final 2 spots to be made official s on %.

Another interesting side piece is the North/Hawks game as they'll face each other again in week 1 of finals so do the Hawks "lose" this game in the hope of upsetting them in finals because it;s hard to see someone beating them at all, let alone 2 games in a row.

Do they try some things in the hope that they see enough in to really focus on for finals? It'll be an interesting watch from that point of view.

Today we look at:

• Campbell Overlap
• GWS Outnumber Advantage Fail
• Carlton Forward Leading Patterns
• 1 Link Breaking Collingwood's Team Defense

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ST KILDA v NORTH MELBOURNE AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

Today we look at:

• North at Field Stoppage
• Saints Shark North at Center Bounce
• North's Layered Run from Behind
• Saints Going Inside Forward 50
• North at Center Bounce
• Saints Not using the +1
• Bogue Gets Out the Back...Again

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AFLW ROUND 11 GAME ANALYSIS: SYD/WC + FRE/RICH

Footy's funny.

Sydney finished 15th last season with a 3-8 record after an injury riddled season - West Coast finished 13th with a 4 - 7 record after Daisy's first year at the helm.

Before this round the win-loss records were both 6-5 but the Eagles were favorites to win this one to make finals, even though it was in Sydney and until the worse thing happened...an Ella Roberts a late out.

The Swans had control of this one from early on and even after being kept to a 1pt final quarter, still won by a comfortable margin.

West Coast will, and should be, dissapointed with the early loss to Essendon but the umpires did them no favors in that game either.

Sydney, now bound for finals, are now without Chloe Molloy which was covered last week by Privitelli who I was surprised was brought in earlier to assist Molloy as her hot streak started to fade, but whether we can now do any real damage in finals remains to be seen - Hurley back in a huge though as 4 of our losses have come when she hasn't played.

Fre are going to fall short and it should be a lesson to them to expand their offense a bit more as a % of 82.2 isn't another game, possibly 2, behind the other 6 win teams with Sydney on 108.4% being the 2nd lowest of those 4 teams.

Richmond have just now announced an investigation into season 2025 - a bit dramatic in my opinion as they lost Sheerin and had no one of that quality coming through somewhat die to their lack of VFLW team + they extended their coach who was win-less at the time so they shouldn't have to look to far.

Today we look at:

• Sydney Kick Out Scouted
• Sydney at Center Bounce
• Zippy Fish Over-Committing and Allowing the Eagles Goal Side
• Bacon Overlap
• Fre at Center Bounce
• The Problem with Linear Leads for Short Passes in AFLW
• Poor Richmond Team Defense

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ESSENDON v HAWTHORN AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

Last week I pleaded for Essendon to free whatever offense they had them, for Wales to totally dominate the ruck and give their mids first use and to not stack the back line - so how'd they go?

They weren't too bad over the course of the game while watching the game but I think in the end it was down to the Hawks being down so many key players then anything the Bombers did as they had their average total disposals of around 260-odd but only 21 inside 50's v Hawks 238 and 42.

They didn't move the ball with anywhere near enough conviction to stretch the Hawks anywhere near like Port Adelaide last week that showed some deficiencies defending against fast and direct ball movement - not an Essendon staple.

Hales had on OK game from a stats point of view (15 possessions, 7 tackles and 28 hit outs) yet the Bombers were beaten in clearances 21- 24.

I just think at this point the Bombers should be playing to what they want to be with everyone playing rather to who they currently have on the park now.

Today we look at:

• Essendon Numbers (Again, Again)
• Essendon Wing Pushing Forward
• Essendon Fat Side Line
• Essendon's Team Defense Breaking Down
• Essendon Not Organised at Center Bounce
• Hawks Inside to Outside v Essendon Outside to Inside
• Hawks Not Using Their Winger Inside Forward 50

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ESSENDON v BRISBANE AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

                                 

If you want the season from hell than Essendon is your team where they have managed to slide down the ladder after every round.

Round 1 - 2nd, 293% / Round 2 - 4th, 210% / Round 3 - 4th, 191% / Round 4 - 7th, 131% / Round 5 - 8th, 96% / Round 6 - 11th, 78% / Round 7 - 11th, 74% / Round 8 - 12th, 72% / Round 9 - 14th, 63% / Round 10 - 14th, 60% 

It's no question injuries ruined they're season with the 2nd highest number of players missing at the moment (8), 1 behind St Kilda (9) but a league high 7 missing for the rest of the season, and had been the case for a month now.  

The Bombers have an injury depeeted Hawks up this week at Windy Hill and then Sydney in Coffs Harbour so I would love to see them go all-out in the Hawks game, who were exposed last week v Port who took it to them at clearance without a 1st sting ruck which then put their defense under a huge amount of pressure to the tune of 94pts allowed (48pts the season high points allowed for the season before this game) and a history high for their AFLW team.

The Bombers will have a huge ruck advantage in Hales, they should have the midfield advantage with Prespakis, Nanscawen and Cain so hopefully they don't stack the back line with extra's like they have been and free the offense.

Brisbane's best might be the 2nd best in the league but have still a looked off a touch from Melbourne and the Hawks until now, but availability might be their best ability going into finals with a sliding Hawks and a still somewhat untested Melbourne.

Today we look at:

• The Essendon Numbers Game (Again)
• A Wing-Off
• Essendon  Going Inside Forward 50
• Essendon Too Slow to Release
• Essendon Forward Press Defense

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AFLW ROUND 10 GAME ANALYSIS PART 3/4

In what we hoped might be a contest, really wasn't as North Melbourne put the sword to the Crows with the Roos having the first 13 scoring shots of the game and 16 of the first 18 into the 3rd quarter.

The Saints are on a run at the moment (6 in a row) where they'd beaten 5 teams below them until they beat the Blues who were even with them on wins before this game. They have uncanny ability to score goals out of nowhere after the opposition have control for minutes at a time with repeat inside 50's, but are able to defend and then transition very efficiently.

The Blues just aren't quite there but it's clear the improvements in their game this season.

Richmond continued their late season form where they got 6.4 out of Greiser, Brennan and McKenzie 2 weeks ago in their win over the Crows, then 6.3 out of them this week in another win over the Pies so it's a pretty quick scouting report for their opposition over the next 2 games of the season.

 Pies are still a work in progress but again have shown clear improvements in 2025.

In round 6 the Dogs were on 1 win on 1 win and a % of 61.7 and 4 games later they're on 3 wins at a % of 121.2 which is a ridiculous turnaround from the team that managed just 10pts v Hawthorn in round 3 so what can they do better opposition in Geelong and the Saints to follow?

Today we look at:

- Adelaide Loose Defender

- Carlton Going Inside Forward 50

- Saints Going Inside Forward 50

- Collingwood Defensive 50 Rebound

- Hartwig Forward 50 Leading Patterns

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AFLW ROUND 10 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/4

 

West Coast put an end to the Cats finals hopes in a rather lopsided win in the end. If the Eagles manage to make finals,they'll have earned it more than anyone after facing Geelong, Sydney and Carlton in the final 3 rounds  - all teams vying for finals themselves. Daisy has as much buy-in as any coach in the league and they have young talent to burn all over the ground.

I'm not sure where the Cats go from here as they seem to have talent all over the ground as well but just haven't put it together this year and after drawing with North Melbourne just last season, have gone for just 8 wins and 11 losses since.

The Dees cemented themselves as the 2nd best side in it right now and the Swans now have a rather large battle on their hands to make finals after being an almost shoe-in a month ago and are fading fast so hopefully the inclusion of Molloy and Hurley can be the catalyst for a return to consistent form.

GWS's forward 50 connection woe's were again an issue, losing by just 7 points after being -18 in inside 50's and -14 for clearances, yet +2% in time in possession. If they can add that final piece of forward half connection they could make a jump next season but at the moment, but the loss of Parker has hurt them in 2 ways.

1 - Goldsworthy is not playing forward as much as they would have planned

and;

2 - Getting killed at clearance means they have to generate their offense from their defensive 50 and that's not sustainable for 99% of teams in AFLW (i.e. not North Melbourne)

They are a mirror image of their men's team.

Today we look at:

• Poor Geelong Defense
• Center Bounce Clearance x 2
• Sargent-Wilson Run
• Poor GWS Defense
• GWS Kick Out

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AFLW ROUND 10 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/4

Port pulled off a sorta upset by defeating the Hawks who were without a 1st string ruck after Wales pulled out pre-game and killing my Supercoach team at the same time.

Also being a tier-1 mid in Bates, the Hawks just didn't have the depth and although they were -21 in hot outs, they were still able maintain clearance at -4.

Port managed to do what they haven't really been able to do this season and that's maintain a lead against quality opposition with losses to Freo, West Coast and the Saints after leading at 3/4 time.

If they can keep scoring they're OK but still need find a slower tempo-possession game when they're not ad defend with the ball in hand. 

The Hawks have been on thin ice all for what seems all season with form but will finish top 4 anyway and I wonder what they do against North Melbourne in the final round, predicting they'll meet them again a couple of weeks later.

Today we look at:

• Port at Center Bounce
• Port at Forward 50 Boundary Throw In x 2
• Brooksby Run
• Being Able to Kick on Your Opposite Side
• West Coast Center Bounce

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MOTOR LEARNING > SKILL DEVELOPMENT PART 2

 

A couple of weeks ago I posted part 1 of this series that looked at different motor learning concepts/terms and how they pertain to footy, specifically scheduling (block v random), explicit v implicit learning, focus of attention, challenge point framework and feedback.

Today we look a bunch more as we go off the mantra, you can't teach or learn what you can't label.

Skill Acquisition - player development attained via motor learning principles that are highly context dependent and guided by the practice environment such as players practicing the same kicks in games at training for maximum transfer, unpressured kicks to unpressured targets

Ecological Approach x skill aries from interactions between the individual and their environment v isolated skill which is actually skill rehearsal which are not the same

Motor Learning x skill development via goal-oriented problems to expand your bag of solutions

Dynamical Systems Theory x how complex systems (the body) change in a non-linear manner relying on self organisation to adapt to variable environments meaning players will find successful solutions at different times depending on session design quality

Constraints x used to shape movement through the individual (kicking, handballing, marking, intention) - task  (rules, scoring system, consequence) - environment (indoor, outdoor, wet, dry) relationship

Individual Constraint x any athlete specific characteristic such as height, reach, speed, endurance etc

Task Constraints x the specific task of completing the exact task you’re training for

Variation – the fluctuations of individual - task - environment constraints (differential learning)

Constraints Led-Approach x the altering of the 3 constraints to force athletes to find different solutions where you consistently alter 1 of them to maintain a high level of game representative design

Perception-Action Coupling x the connection between what you see and how you act where what you see decides how you move and how you move dictates what you see

Affordance x the bag of solutions an athlete is afforded to choose from given the exact environment they are currently in meaning the specific things that players see that allows them to problem solve which also takes into account their own action capabilities. As the biggest midfielder of all-time, Patrick Cripps doesn't have break away speed out of stoppage so he wont be as adapt at finding affordances to do exactly that but his size and strength does afford him the ability to take opposition tackles and feed out to outside options.

Attunement x with many choices to make its the athletes sensitivity to execute a skill within specific environments and then selecting the best solution to do so. Lachy Neale is a great example of attunement at stoppage knowing exactly where the exits are coupled with elite clean hand action capabilities

Representative Learning Design x replicating the game environment in practice via constraints and problem solving in a games-based approach that contains the same information as games do

Problem Solving x challenges the athlete to discover better/new/more solutions in practice

Degrees of Freedom x the quantity of available movement options an athlete has in a given situation referring to solving the same problem many different ways and/or being able to solve many problems in the same way 

Attractor States x repeating stable movement solutions despite micro-variance such as kicking stationary to kicking on the run to kicking being chased to kicking being tackled

Invariant x elements of a given movement essential to completing the task where all players must have a great ball drop and a strong penultimate lunge-step when kicking

Variant x style related elements of a movement individualised to each athlete and their movement solutions such as left footers having a hook foot

Contextual Interference x combining different skills in the same session to increase the retention of both so focusing on 2 concepts per training session but alternating blocks of time dedicated to both such as center bounce clearance x 10mins, defensive 50 rebound x 10mins, center bounce clearance x 10mins, defensive 50 rebound x 10mins, center bounce clearance x 10mins, defensive 50 rebound x 10mins

Flow State x being fully immersed in an activity to find the perfect balance to generate an outcome and during this time you'll be doing everything unconsciously and on instinct to a high level (in the zone)

AFLW ROUND 9 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

North are, and will continue to be, North Melbourne - they're more of a chance to go undefeated and win the premiership than not which s quite ridiculous.

With Essendon and Port, Richmond have not been anywhere close to repeating their finals positioning from a season ago and even with encouraging performances in the last 3 weeks, they still have the 1 win to show for it v 6 from last year.

They did lose Sheerin (North Melbourne incidentally but didn't play) and have had some notable injuries (Egan early, Seymour late) but no one saw this drop off.

This games'performance was a pass but with the likes of Conti, Egan, Mackenzie, Brennan and Greiser, you'd be hoping for a better return on the season.

Today we look at:

• Gold Coast Defending Deep
• 1 Link in the Chain Breaks Richmond's Team Defense
• Tigers Over Commit
• Tigers Let Bogue Goal Side
• Tiger Mids Caught Boundary Side
• Tigers Ignore Corridor for a 1v3
• Sydney Repeat Kick Out Set Play

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AFLW ROUND 9 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

After yesterday's center bounce clearance special game analysis post, we dove deeper into round 9 in our next 2 posts.

The Dogs have now scored 60pts in 2 out of their last 3 games after being one of the lowest scoring teams in the AFLW so far this season - albeit against Collingwood and Essendon - but it shows the capacity to score consistently if they play in a manner that allows them to, which they usually don't against the better teams.

The Bombers have been ravaged by injury but have also had enough time to work forward from that as they mostly happened very early in the season with scores of 8, 22 and 10 in 3 of their last 4 games they clearly haven't, and playing with 1 or 2 extra defenders all game doesn't help either.

Adelaide did what they had to do against the Eagles who are your classic mid-tier team with a record of 5-4 with a % of 117 - on an upward trajectory but just behind the top-tier of the middle but better than the bottom tier but tracking nicely overall on the whole.

We'll find out more about Adelaide v North Melbourne this weekend,not that they'll win but in how close they can keep the margin.

Geelong will probably fall just short of finals this year and but there's a slate of middle team games so but should be the bounce team next year with a middle 6 draw at best and some players back who haven't/won't feature this year.

GWS and Gold Coast each need a pre-season exclusively focused on going inside forward 50 and then converting!

Today we look at:

• Bombers Not Numbering Off Once the Ball is Cleared
• Bombers Poor Spread and It's Domino Effect
• Adelaide Not Cutting Off Stoppage Exits
• Geelong Inside Forward Kick
• GWS Going Corridor
• Gold Coast Not Identifying/Utilising the Outnumber Advantage
• Gold Coast Poor Use of Space

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AFLW ROUND 9 GAME ANALYSIS - CENTER BOUNCE CLEARANCE SPECIAL

In past years there has only been a smattering of center bounce clearance set plays and most of them have been from North Melbourne who had the most dominant tap ruck in Emma King to go along with their star-studded midfield.

Most teams now have established rucks rather then converted basketball, netball and volleyball players who have ruck craft from their 10 years in the AFL pathway.

In this current season I have see far more teams be more assertive at center bounce clearance as it's the only chance you'll have a 4v4 so a dominant ruck needs to be be taken advantage of.

Some points that I bring up in these 7 clips of the Bulldogs, Geelong and Richmond this past weekend include:

• Owning Space
• Holding Opposition Out
• Stay With Your Go-To Player
• What's Your Domino Effect if You Win or Lose?

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10 NEW STREAMLINE TRAINING ACTIVITIES WHITEBOARD EDITION

After posting 171 streamline activities with just a brief written description, I've now probably got more diagram activities in my files that I haven't posted, then written one's.

Today is the 2nd whiteboard edition which are still streamlined but require a visual to get started, with activities #182 - #191 consisting a simple image with a diagram and a quick explanation.

#182 - PRESSURE DIAMOND

#183 - ESCAPE 

#184 - 4 CORNER PRESSURE

#185 -SUPPORT OR FILL

#186 - MULTI DIRECTIONAL 3v2 

#187 - HANDBALL + SPRINT

#188 - 4v4 (+2) MIDFIELD PENETRATION

#189 - 4 TEAMS OF 3

#190 - 6v5 WINGS

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AFLW ROUND 8 GAME ANALYSIS - RICH/ADE + GEE/CAR

The Tigers still seem to have adequate talent on most, if not all lines, but have just looked so disconnected on the field that player quality didn't really matter.

Enter last week against Brisbane and they were actually in front at half time while being able to get the ball in their front half and trap it in for minutes at a time, albeit the Lions did what they thought they would do in the end.

This week the Tigers were behind for the entire 1st half but having the same amount of scoring shots indicated they were well in the game and by the end of it, ran over their much more fancied opponent.

It also helps when McKenzie and Conti have career games and Brennan and Greiser can have great impact up forward.

The Crows have been the mirror-image of Brisbane this year - past perennial Grand Finalists but some of the shine is coming off in 2026.

They have beaten 1 team in the 8 (Hawthorn) with other wins against Geelong, GWS, Gold Coast and Sydney so not a terrible form line by any means but we'll get the ultimate look at them v North Melbourne in round 10.

The Geelong/Carlton match up was an 8-point game - with a Blues loss they fall back to the multitude of teams on 5 wins and a Geelong win puts 1 game of that same pack.

Geelong just haven't been bale to get it going this year and is probably a wasted year in the end.

The Blues have been the surprise packet of the year going from unwatchable to 1 of the most watchable teams in the league in the space of 1 season - Bucky's done a huge amount work on their offense and it's very clear to see.

This time last season they had scored 266 total points v 358 this year but their defense has also gone through the roof, conceding 532 points this time last year v 292 this year - a remarkable turnaround - and they might be the 2nd best team in it come finals time.

Today we look at:

• Richmond Going Inside Forward 50
• Richmond Showing the AFLW Cheat Code for Going Inside Forward 50
• Geelong at Center Bounce Clearance
• Geelong Forward Press Defense
• McDonald Run
• Poor Carlton Defense
• Geelong Manufacturing a Free Player

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AFLW ROUND 8 GAME ANALYSIS - GWS/STK + GC/BRIS

                             

GWS are a frustrating watch for me. 

The positive is that their brand is clear with a high use of handball (3rd) and uncontested possession (3rd) while also being 4th for disposal efficiency and 2nd for bounces - all on the surface looking like a fast ball movement, high scoring outfit.

The negatives are that they are 16th for clearances (last for center clearances), 4th for clangers and 11th in inside 50's and now it becomes a bit more clearer.

Losing clearance means you're generating most of your offense from your defensive half which requires a lot of possessions to get the ball back to your own forward 50, and with that coming from a lot of handball an clangers, they rarely make it inside forward 50 and when they do it's usually to an outnumber or a vacant forward line resulting in equal 3rd last for scoring shots (with Richmond) but they're not the only one's with this problem (Essendon 2nd last and Gold Coast/Collingwood last).

The Saints were Jekyll again this week losing pretty much every stat except the most important one to now actually be in the 8 as we speak.

Gold Coast are just plain struggling but with a young team and 1st year head coach, that's to be expected but when can we expect something from them? Maybe there is a Daisy Pearce-like bump year next season as there is enough talent there already, and with the boom that is Queensland junior pathway coming through year-after-year, for that to be a possibility.

Brisbane are the interesting one's right now. The perennial powerhouse have 5 wins right now against Freo, Adelaide, Bulldogs, Richmond and Gold Coast with losses to Hawthorn, Carlton and North Melbourne so are they now just flat-track bullies? 

For mine they've been the same for too long but they can easily tinker and bounce back as a force again next season.

Today we look at:

• GWS Not Using Their Numbers
• GWS Defender's Not Being Offensive Options
• GWS Play On Handball Fail
• North Melbourne Kick Out Zone Defense (image below video)
• GC Going Inside Forward 50
• GC Going Too Fast to an Outnumber Disadvantage

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