AFL CRAFT TIPS

 

I post a couple of these a year that compile whole watching and reading AFL content on TV/socials which have been referenced and the others are mostly me jotting stuff down in my phone.

Hopefully you can use at least 1 of these 13 AFL craft tips this coming weekend. 

TALL FORWARDS - JOHN LONGMIRE

• Competing/getting the ball to ground is most important thing...it’s not about how many contested marks you take but how many times the opposition take them on you where you don’t even get the opportunity to get inside and score from an inside forward 50 entry

STOPPAGE - PATRICK CRIPPS

• Create space between you and the drop zone...hold the opposition out, allow the tap to happen and then push off late towards the ball...you can also hold/wait for the ball to bounce/push and then go to the ball

SWITCH PLAY - FIRST CRACK

• Try to catch a lazy midfielder not pushing across hard enough then go in board to the space/player they haven’t filled

GEELONG WING - FIRST CRACK

• Ollie Dempsey starts on the wing but then at a mid 50 stoppage a half forward comes up (Shaun Mannagh) to take his man...even if Geelong lose the clearance they are covered with their defensive spare + the half forward covering the opposition wing...if Geelong can win the ball back quickly then Dempsey leaks out towards goal on his own

SPARE DEFENDER - FIRST CRACK

• Having one means someone from the stoppage can leak out goal side even if the opposition win the clearance as there’s still defensive cover

CYCLE DEFENSE - ADAM SIMPSON

• Skinny side defenders press up to the ball instead of hanging back on defense...fat side defenders then slide in behind from the fat side to cover in behind/goals side

COLINGWOOD - FIRST CRACK

• Opt for slow/wide on offense so they can organise defensively behind the ball and play a forward half game and/or free up Darcy Moore as the spare...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 live turnover’s 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 the line more than anyone

DEFENSE

• Defend with a corridor-bias with only anchors moving out to contest so the opposition have to go around you and then when you regain possession you can go directly through corridor as your floaters are already/always there

TEAM DEFENSE 

• With not many left footers in our competition, can we set up defensively to force them left by not overcommitting and letting them slip back inside by coraling them to the boundary so they can only kick straight down the boundary at best on their opposite foot/banana kick and we can set up defensively in front of them and intercept  

OPPOSITION DOMINANT MIDFIEDER

• At stoppage set up 2 of our mids in a row but they are still playing 1v1 with their direct opponent...the player sequence will be us, oppo dominant mid/us to create a potential 2v1 advantage where the ball is going to go and force another of their mids to beat us

LAST TOUCHED/OUT ON THE FULL 

• you need someone on the 45 and then a half back/mid coming through as a lateral kick but on the move so we can go immediately inboard...we can kick to the 45 and then get a handball off to the lateral option, or just go directly to the lateral option to run and carry but that 45 option can trail back to goals as well and be used as a forward handball option 

CORRIDOR 

• When we go corridor aggressively to a wing/half forward then have the half backs come up to surround the contest of it hits the deck 

BREAKING TACKLES

• If you gather and someone is trying to tackle you face on then tuck ball into your armpit, turn and push off with 1 arm and they’ll have nothing left to grab

BUILDING TRAINING ACTIVITIES BY ADDING LAYERS

I'm coaching the senior women again this year so I'm going to way back to November last year to day 1 of building out a training activity that we have gradually built and layered as the season has gone on.

STEP 1 - INTENTION

The intention is the end point so picture what that is and then work backwards from there.

In this case I wanted my players to look off-the-line as often as they can when they have the ball in hand.

To encourage this search behaviour, I needed to design a task that requires that very same thing in training.

I can't just go into a game and expect them to do it just like you don't go straight to a full car license when you're 16 and have never driven before.

I need to work as far as needed to make off-the-line options as obvious as possible and this in itself starts the learning process, with the gradual progression and frequent exposures hopefully adding more learning points and the shift to long term memory (real footy IQ).

STEP 2 - MAKE IT OBVIOUS

You're looking for low complexity here which means as little moving parts as possible BUT you still need to retain SOME (doesn't have to be all) game information for transfer purposes.

In the case of day 1 here it's a 2v1 with kicker having 2 options to choose from initially but that decreases to 1 as the defender deliberately choses to go with 1 of them leaving the obvious option to go to.

I always have a player on the mark too which is vastly underrated game information missed a lot of local training activities but not noted in the image.

I start this by kicking the ball the designated kicker to a) Get some extra marking practice and 2) The 2 offensive players then have to time their leads appropriately.

Also, as coach-umpire, I'm pretty hard on players going off the mark, getting called to play-on and taking away the control that the mark gives us, so I umpire accordingly all throughout this training activity (and in general!).

STEP 2 - INCREASE COMPLEXITY SLOWLY

STEP 3 - LAYER

5v2

5v3

6v3

5v4

6v4

8v4 End to End 

So there's a great way to build out your training activities because if you've started and ended on the same activity from season start to season's end then you haven't provided an environment where your players can learn, grow and improve.

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PERCEPTION v SCANNING

 

Continuing on the theme of perception I've been running with intermittently, here's more about it and what the differences are between the 2 which should really help you in being able to nail down raining each specifically.

• There is a difference between looking and seeing
• Gaze direction/fixations (looking) show where the eyes are directed but not whether the player is picking up action-relevant information (seeing)
• Peripheral visual, sound, haptics and context can be crucial for perception
• What the player perceives as relevant depends on the relationship between knowledge in the game and affordances like a running opportunity is perceived differently depending on who has the ball and what they can do
• Design training activities where players have to search, discover and use relevant information to succeed
• When an Errol Gulden has the ball then players can lead into tighter spaces and expect the ball from far more different angles then other players and thus they provide an option for him at the same time which is rooted in the relationship between the players, specifically Gulden’s passing ability
• Because Gulden’s such a great kick, player s can expect their runs/leads to be acted upon so they continue to perform them with each leading affordance shaped by Gulden’s action capabilities
• If a different player has the ball then those same players can be less likely to provide the same option and the affordance no longer exists in the same way
• What a player sees is limited by what the player themselves and others can do so every player calibrates their behaviour accordingly
• These options are also shaped by broader socio-cultural contexts where norms/values/perceptions influence how players/coaches perceive/act/interpret the game and often without being noticed because it’s perceived as the way things are
• Learning is inseparable from doing and doing is inseparable from place
• Scanning is not a passive observation but an active search that specifies the player’s options for action guided by the requirements of the task/individual competencies and culturally shaped expectations of what information is important
• Instead of saying to scan more, create environments where players have to search for information in order to succeed
• Design puzzles where relevant information is not always directly available where players are encouraged to explore
• Scanning should not be isolated but in performed in environments where players absorb information effectively
• The aim is to improve the quality of the link between perception/action
• Start with 8v8 x 15mins to develop an understanding of the environment then use this information to evolve what could be amplified/dampened (co-design)
• How do they defend/attack and is there enough variance in each?
• Knowledge about the game promoted in the training culture dictates player behaviour and limits how players develop knowledge in the game, specifically restricting players’ ability to scan the environment and perceive opportunities they could exploit
• Help players break these patterns via task design aimed at shaping players’ intentions – individually/collectively – and help them attend to information in the game
• Balance the intentions of playing through/around/over the pressing/defending team
• Instruct the defensive team to form in a specific way and see if the offense catches on
• Players rarely go short/slow as it carries negative connotations and they’ve been told all their life to go fast and long
• To give value to going slow, time how long the offense can maintain possession for
• To give value to going short, can they use 1 pass through each of the 3 zones
• Teams can discuss how to achieve their specific aims
• Some adapt quickly and some slowly – relying on familiar patterns – but by prioritising observation, manipulating constraints and guiding attention, the coach can foster an environment where perception/action are continuously entwined

ROUND 14 GAME ANALYIS - ESSENDON CENTER BOUNCE + KOZZIE GOALS

Essendon haven't had much going for them in recent times but what they do have is a go-to center bounce play that they use in close games that has garnered excellent success as far as center bounces is concerned.

To start with we look at a center bounce from 2024 and the last one from the Carlton game Saturday night.

Going into MND clash (it has to be renamed surely!) I was sure Kozzie was going to have a big one as I just don't see anyone that has the run that he has in the Collingwood team.

I was thinking more goals but the goals he did kick were probably the 3 most crucial goals of the game and below I take a look at the 1st and last goals of the game by the man himself.

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SYDNEY v ST KILDA GAME ANALYSIS

The Saints seemed to have this one in the bag and then the last quarter happened.

The scoreboard had already suggested the Swans had got themselves back in the game but the 4th quarter stats really emphasised that it's not how you start, it's how you finished.

Apart from center clearance (+10 for Saints) and their corresponding scores (+21-3 from center bounce Saints), the Swans ended up winning pretty much every stat there is.

Individual player dominance for the 4th quarter played a huge part where the Swans had 10 players with a Wheelo rating of 4.0 or more v Saints just 5.

Full game ratings were also in the Swans favor 75.8 - 53.7, and that's with 2 Swans out of the game injured early in the game.

The Saints have a stretch coming up of GWS, Bulldogs and thew bye before Essendon and Port so a win over a flag fancy away from home would have been a great springboard into those first 2 games but now they've again got to pull a win out of nowhere.   

Today we look at:

• Sydney at Center Bounce
• Sydney Wing Width
• Rosas Patience
• Sydney Kick Out
• Swans Forward 50 Stoppage Goals x 2

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GOLD COAST v BRISBANE GAME ANALYSIS

It was looking like the Lions' run was finally coming to the end over the last month or so but the Suns have also been just going.

The Blues kicked 11 goals to 6 against the Lions where they still managed to win and then had the Cats beat them easily by 41pts, THAT GWS game the week after and then again being easy to play against v the Dockers for 3 losses in a row by average of 48pts. 

They were being kicked through by the opposition and were very stagnant on offense as well so it was clear what they needed to do and they got to work on both of those against the Suns, who seemed to have the Lions right where they wanted/needed them prior to the 1st bounce/throw up, especially with McCluggage being another injury in 2026.

After a fast start and clearance dominance, the Lions were never really threatened in the end and all the attention they had in the last fortnight now shifts to the Suns who travel down to Geelong for the Cats Friday night and can drop to 10th with a loss and other teams winning by the end of round 14.

Today we look at:

• Brisbane Rebound 50
• Brisbane Inner/Outer Layers
• Lions Forwards Recycling
• Lions Kick Out x 2
• Brisbane Forward Press Defense

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SYDNEY v RICHMOND VFL GAME ANALYSIS

I've analysed a couple of Sydney VFL games already and here's another one.

When I watch these games I'm really only looking to see the similarities and/or differences between the senior and reserve team which is pretty easy for the Swans as they are using near-identical game styles which helps when reserve players are called up to the seniors as they simply have replace the player performing the role, not the actual player, which limits drop off from losing a top 5 player to bringing in player 24 - 29.

Today I have 2 videos of Sydney creating corridor space and then another 2 of them not following the season long cue of giving the forward handball.