GEELONG v PORT ADELIADE AFLW AT CENTER BOUNCE CLEARANCE

Taking a different angle for this post where I'll focus exclusively on center bounce clearance tactics used by Geelong in their game v Hawthorn and then look at Port Adeliade v Western Bulldogs.

Looking at Geelong first they have Georgie Prespakis who is currently the best player in the competition who is their go-to hit target but aren't using McDonald, Morrison and Bowan with their ruck Dunlop also solid at following up after ruck contests for the odd clearance.

What we'll also see is that they have a full menu of tap zones and combinations and rarely go to the same tap zone and player twice in a row which keeps the opposition mids on edge for the entire game, unsure of what to give and what to take away at any given time.   

Of the 8 clips I have here, we see Prespakis back wrap, Prespakis defensive side, McDonald back wrap, Prespakis Defensive Side Forward Run, McDonalds Back Wrap all in the first qt so you can clearly see the mix up of running routes and go-to players right there.

The other clips from later in the game show McDonald Back Wrap/Prespakis Defensive Side Forward Run, Prespakis Back Wrap and McDonald Back Wrap.

The back wrap is an interesting one as Dunlop is a great running single leg jumper but doesn't dominate the taps but the Cats uses the defensive side to their advantage and teams should definitely go to work on that.

Moving to Port Adeliade who have one of the top 3 tallest rucks (190cms) who also happens to be the most athletic one of the lot by a long stretch in Scholz going up against the Bulldogs without their first-string ruck Edmonds (189cms) and rolling with tall forwards as rucks in McKee (180cms) and Hardingham (179cms).

As predicted Scholt dominated taps (40 on her own v 11 in total for the Dogs) and with a 30cm+ reach as you'll see from the clips, a subsequent center bounce dominance but they severely lack the system and menu at center bounce that the Cats do, as you'll see.

Every tap goes to Dowrick and they only use 2 different tap zones that are easily scouted by the Dogs in the end but the lack of imagination from the Power was just a big a factor here in having 2 cleanish clearances from center bounce for the entire game and a convincing loss that already has them 2 games and a lot of % of out finals.

VIDEO 1 x GEELONG

VIDEO 2 x PORT ADELIADE

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FREMANTLE v BRISBANE GRAND FINAL GAME ANALYSIS

Wow.

Look I picked by the Lions by 1opts and always thought they could go to a level the Dockers couldn't but at the 4:18min mark of the last quarter, a 17 point lead out of nowhere the Lions completely turned the tide.

'Oh wait, Wharfie Time happened - an event used for when they were behind and needed a charge of energy from the crowd for one last hurrah to come back and win.

Except they were already in front and hadn't thought that the Lions could then use it against them.

Well, the Lions and Will Ashcroft.

Freo should not have lost this game.

+14 Inside 50's

+1 Tackles

+9 Contested Possessions

+10 Contested Marks

+14 Clearances including +8 Center Clearances

+3 Scoring Shots

+11.3 Expected Score

+4% Time in Possession

+50:56mins Time in Front

All that mattered very little from 4:18 onwards and we have another Lions 3-Peat.

Today we look at:

• Brisbane Creating Length from Defensive 50
• Rayner Strength
• Neale Handball
• Cameron Goal
• Freo Going Defensive at Center Bounce
• Brisbane Rebound 50
• Freo on the Attack at Center Bounce
• Ashcroft Movement at Stoppage

AFLW ROUND 6 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

I ended up with a monstrous 50mins of clips from this round and we have the 2nd half of it today but first a check up on the remaining teams:

Dockers - wind-affected games don't lend themselves to the lowest scoring teams as they really only have 2 quarters to score and if they don't then they're in a lot of trouble and that's what happened here with Freo only managing 15 in Q1 with the wind but then allowing the Dogs 26, leaving too much work to be done in Q3 where they only managed another 15 while not scoring against the wind at all.

Dogs - scored in just 3 quarters, which was helped with the Dockers scoring in just 2, to get a solid away win 

Giants - got way behind at half time but decided to kick a bit more and put up a league top 5 scoring quarter for the season in the 3rd but just fell short

Tigers - definitely had control of this one (48 to 36% time in possession) but just did enough early to creep over the line but the Giants got over the back of their defense time and time again in that 3rd quarter

Dons - managed 1 goal for an entire game 3 times last year and hit their 1st game for that same stat this year with North and Hawthorn to come

Suns - are quietly sitting in 5th right now and I have them finishing 7th on my predictor which is a great platform to springboard for the next 3 - 5 years.

Saints - somehow the Saints have scored 50 pts less than the Bombers and given up 37 more points in a simply disastrous season and will there be a mid-season coaching change - a rarity in AFLW?

Eagles - aren't what they were last year but an away win is always a good win but are playing too skinny for mine which they did move away from in year 1 of Daisy

Lions - they couldn't have been this low on the ladder ever before at this time of the season (12th on 2 wins) and with Syd (4th), GC (5th), Hawks (7th) and Carlton (6th) to come, they'll miss the finals without a dramatic turnaround in their offense which I allude to in the videos

Crows - some close losses (Syd 8pts, Gee 9pts) and great away wins over the Hawks and Lions but still have the Suns, Roos and Demons to come...ouch

Today we look at:

• If you're a coach then you HAVE to know the ins and out of affordances
• GWS on Kick Out
• Essendon Outnumber Advantage Fail
• Essendon Rebounding from D50
• GC Handball Chain
• St Kilda Handover Fail
• Saints Not Using Their Numbers
• Double-Effort Dalgleish!
• Saints Going Too Defensive
• St Kilda Outnumber Advantage Fail
• Brisbane Forwards Not Reading M50 Triggers
• Brisbane Creating/Utilising M50 Space x 3

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AFLW ROUND 6 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

Another round of upsets with the biggest we'll see for the year in the Hawks beating the Roos they somehow manage to not win the Premiership.

Hawks - just kept showing up in the 2nd half, taking time and space away from North to exit contest forcing them into a less then 1:1 kick:mark ratio for the 1st time this season...and maybe forever

North - now can focus back on proves rather than outcome to keep the winning streak alive and we'll see a rejuvenated North now 

Pies - missed their season high game points total by 1 point in the first half in this one before falling away for an 8 goal to 1 2nd half

Cats - scoring at will but apart from holding St Kilda to 15 points who do it to themselves more than anything else, they've allowed 100pts to North, 57 to the Suns, 51 to Essendon, 46 to the Crows and 49 to the Pies in this one

Dees - now the number ranked team for 2027 with a HUUUGGGEEE game Friday night (but I'm going to the bloody movies!!)

Blues - in a bit of a spot at the moment with only 6 goals in the past 2 weeks where even the Saints have 9

Power - apart from Dowrick, no one else is taking a consistent stand for them with the Tahau injury really hurting them

Swans - still winning despite the injuries and need to do the job v the Lions this week before facing North, Carlton 

Over 27mins and 8 videos, today we look at:

• Bogue getting out the back again...and again
• Pies Too Schleicher-Focused
• Geelong at Center Bounce x 3
• Bonnici Midfield Run
• Cats at Stoppage
• Melbourne at Center Bounce
• Sydney/Port Adeliade Numbers
• Sydney at Center Bounce
• Dockers Ruck Loose in Defense
• Bulldogs Wing Run

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HAWTHORN v BRISBANE PRELIM FINAL GAME ANALYSIS

What. A. Game.

Probably the best in my lifetime from a spectacle point of view.

The Hawks were 99% of the way there...until they weren't (all correct decisions for mine by the way).

The most ridiculous aspect of this game was the momentum swings with both teams both having healthy chunks of the game purely under their control but as transition games tend to go, that can change on a dime.

The multi-goal runs for each team looked like this:

Hawks 2 in a row x 2, 3 in arow x 1, 5 in a row x 1

Lions 2 in a row x 2, 3 in a row x 1, 7 in a row x 1

There were 16 goal kickers for the game across both teams, with 8 of them going for 2 or more and after seeing the Swans forwards go for 6, 5 and 5 2 weeks ago v the Lions, the Hawks big 3 of Watson, Gunston and Lewis went for 6, 5, and 4 on them. 

Just mad game all-round and one you could easily watch over and over as a neutral supporter.

Today we look at:

• Brisbane Rebounding from D50 x 2
• Rayner v Watson at Center Bounce
• Hawks Struggling to Go Inside 50
• Hawks on Kick Out
• Lions on Kick Out
• Hawks at Center Bounce

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10 NEW STREAMLINE TRAINING ACTIVITIES WHITEBOARD EDITION

Here's another whiteboard edition which are still streamlined but require a visual to get started, with activities #241 - #250 consisting of a simple image with a diagram and a quick explanation.

#241 - PLAY FORWARD

#242 - BREAKOUT POSSESSION

#243 - 4v4v4 CONTINUOUS WAVES

#244 - 3 TEAM RONDO

#245 - PROGRESSIVE SMALL SIDED GAME

#246 - RECOVER BELOW THE BALL

#247 - 360 DEGREE SMALL SIDED GAME

#248 - 3 +4v3

#249 - 2 SQUARES IN A ROW

#250 - PLAY FORWARD

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

AFLW ROUND 5 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

Picking up where we left off yesterday:

Dees - form is indeed solid but have played teams currently placed 8th, 15th, 11th, 14th and 13th v North 5th, 11th, 9th, 18th and 3rd so a touch of difference there and they're still 68% behind the Roos 

Power - finals still in their grasp and totally in their own hands but 54% disposal efficiency and 2 goals from 30 inside 50's won't cut it

Tigers - the subtraction of Conti could be an addition as they unearth depth through their midfield forced to carry the load

Saints - from 13:20mins to 21:10mins in the 2nd quarter they allowed Richmond to score 3.2 straight and that was the game - improved performance though off the back of young talent 

Swans - Sitting 4th but lost another soldier for the year with Bris, North, Carlton to come sandwiched between Port and Collingwood - can they hold on toa finals spot?

Giants - missed a huge opportunity against a depleted Swans but were too fumbly early and the Swans dominated off their turnovers

Kangaroos - every week they get the very best of the opposition so any win is a good win, and this was more convincing the score suggested

Blues - didn't look over-awed which will benefit them later on but were still a level behind during this one but -18 inside 50's showed where this game was mostly played 

Dockers - 68% kick possession share for only 2 more inside 50's but also won clearances without Strom 

Bombers - would have liked to see Steph Wales take this one by neck v a 3rd gamer and just don't get enough from the established players

Today we look at:

•  Geelong at Center Bounce
• Crows Ball Watching
• West Coast at Center Bounce and F50 Crumbing 
• Eagles Again at Center Bounce
• North Melbourne Forward Hald Defense
• Roos Play the Pattern to Get Corridor
• GWS Turnover
• Molloy Forward Craft x 2
• Sydney Forward Press Defense
• GWS Lose Their Outnumber Advantage
• Essendon Defender Losing Player

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