AFLW INSIGHTS 2021- ROUND 9 PART 3

COLLINGWOOD FORWARD RUN

MY TAKE

I can't remember a time when Newman ran up the ball, gathered it, turned and then kicked a goal as she gets all her goals running up and then back onto the ball which I wouldn't have thought was a huge secret but in this instance the Crows player loses contact with her very early and is drawn to the ball, losing sight of Newman completely.

Allen is a quality defender too so I'm very confident leaving her 1on1 anyway and witha chaos ball like that, I'd be staying goal side of my opponent, especially Newman, at all times and force her to create goals in different ways then she's used to.

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 9 PART 2

This post will look at center square clearances for North Melbourne in quarters 3 and 4 after looking at quarters 1 and 2 yesterday.

I make a point to watch what the Roos do at center ball ups because they're always up to something!

They're not as active at around the ground stoppage ball ups but there's far more room to work with for center square ball ups so you can have nmore of an affect on what happens there.

Finally Emma King is the premier tap ruck in AFLW and it's not even remotely close, with the ability to tap to any position on the clock against any other ruck in the competition and with 2 players on the move at all times and the other holding their own and their opponents space, allows relatively large pockets of space to be utilised in these situations.

QUARTER 3: SCORE 14/13...

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 9

2 FULL POSTS OF NORTH MELBOURNE CENTER CLEARANCES

North Melbourne have a banger of a midfield group consisting of elite ball winners and probably the most experience by far in regards to games played and coupled with their unselfishness and cohesion, are near impossible to defend against at center ball up plays.

I've used a few of these already in past insight articles but here's a focus on last weekend's game against the Dockers where they used a different strategy for each 12 center clearance opportunities winning all but 1 of them.

Quarters 1 and 2 today and Quarters 3 and 4 tomorrow.

QUARTER 1: SCORE 0-0...

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SYDNEY SWANS - 23 INSIDE 50 MARKS

I'm a big Swans man from the Capper days and what I saw on Saturday night v the Lions was nothing short of ridiculous.

I knew we'd be a lot better this year after blooding everyone last year but wasn't banking a win against the Lions up there without Buddy but I never tip against them anyway.

We couldn't have managed double figues in marks inside 50 at all last year but to get 23 in this game was astounding so for my own amusement I wanted to see how we managed it.

I've used a very basic grading system of sorts being short/med/long leads and kicks to get an insight of how it went into the forward 50.

1st QUARTER - 4 INSIDE 50 MARKS

#1 - Isaac Heeney x medium lead, medium kick, contested mark for a goal

#2 - Sam Reid x long bomb kick, contested mark for a behind

#3 - Josh Kennedy x free man, short kick for a behind

#4 - Logan McDonald x long kick to advantage, contested mark for a behind.

*** ---- represents running movement pattern and ____ represents ball movement pattern ***

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AFLW ROUND 8 - KICK OF THE WEEK

Let me know who and why.

AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 8 PART 4

BRISBANE LIONS OPPOSITE FOOT KICK

MY TAKE

No super-sonic tactic used here and something I've covered in these insights before - having the opposite foot kick in your kicking tool kit.

As you can see here the ball drop isn't pretty and the kick isn't pretty but it does the give the receiver who is also under immediate pressure, a good chance to play the ball to their advantage. 

The most overlooked part of this I beleive, is not being able to perform the action of kicking on your opposite foot but for it to be an automatic in your brain so that you don't prescious time thinking I've got to get this ball to there and trying to do it on your preferred foot then relaising you can't actually do it on your preferred foot and then having to switch your stance, ball grip and ball drop to your opposite foot - in which time you'll be under too much physical pressure to get the kick away.

I suggest coaches stronly encourage oppsosite foot kicks in game simulated play when they are really needed, because that's when you'll use them in games.

I'd orgainise whatever scoring system I'm using to include opposite foot kicks when under pressure if that player is the best option at that time.

And lastly, at times "do not use the ball hits the ground turnover" rule to allow for grubby opposite foot kicks that are used to simply get the ball from point A to somewhere close to point B.

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AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 8 PART 3

MORE SOLUTIONS + AFFORDANCES = BETTER DECISION MAKING

MY TAKE

Davidson is a monster kick and her teammates know it.

Along with being able to gain territory through shear distance, having this ability also opens up far more solutions for her as well.

Most AFLW players can only kick maybe 2/3rds of the distance Davidson does her which severly cuts down the amount of solutions and affordances they have to keeping possession of the footy, as they would have to kick into this:

Having the ability to kick over that group of players means your ground scanning and vision range is greater than the average AFLW player right now, who doesn't see this solution because they don't look for it because they can't use it.

By building great variability in the basic skills of football (kicking, handballing, marking, ground balls), you'll also dramatically increase the maount of solutions you have in any given situation and more you'll have more affordances available to you which will also improve ability to process more information which gives you more details to work with to make your decision. 

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AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 8 PART 2

UNCHARACTERISTIC NORTH MELBOURNE

MY TAKE

There's a bunch of excellent teams in the AFLW but none maybe more talented across the board than North Melbourne and maybe no player more talented than Jassie Garner, who can do it all.

I've loved the Lions since AFLW 1 and their consistency has been a staple since their inception.

The Roos haven't been under a lot of pressure since they've been in AFLW but this week they were under some "real" pressure in regards to this specific game and also looking at the season in general and securing the best finals spot as possible.

Here Garner recieves an in-board kick and handballs off to a running Kearney who draws the Lions player from Garner and handballs back to Garner.

She receives the ball back but in front of the initial play and on the run, with 20 - 25m of space directly in front of her.

Garner has tore through the center square countless times in her career under perfect control resulting in direct kicks into the forward 50, which the Roos rely on for the most part without a major marking target down there except for when King is resting down there.

In this play perceived pressure gets the better of Garner who takes 1 step and tries launching into a torpedo that is nothing short of a wobbler.

Pressure doesn't care who you are!

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AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 8 PART 1

UNECESSARY GOLD COAST HANDBALL

MY TAKE

You're on the burst...you get a clean take off the deck in congestion...you have great momentum directly towards your goal...you actually have an opening on your direct trajectory to run through directly out of the congested area...you have huge potential to kick deep into your forward line...take it - in a game of territory avoid handballing to a player running in the opposite direction if the opposition do not force you to.

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AFLW ROUND 7 - KICK OF THE WEEK

Who and Why?

Let me know your choice.

AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 7 PART 4

ST KILDA INSIDE 50 REVISIT

MY TAKE

As we've noted over the weeks for a lot of St Kilda's inside 50's:

1 - They want to create a circle with space in the middle

2 - They want Grieser to be at the back/center of that circle

3 - They will kick 100% of the time to Grieser in this situation regardless of anything else that's happening.

I'm assuming I'm not the only one to have noticed this but in this specific play, McCarthy almost literally forecasts what's going to happen through her body language suggesting she turns around and leads again, while saying it as well, while looking directly at her and no one else, and then tries to hit her up in a 2v2 situation.

The ball spills and GWS run it out unoppossed.

Here's what I propose as a potential fix, at least in the short term...

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AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 7 PART 3 SELLING CANDY

In last week's insights I posted this attempted dummy, candy selling handball from the Brisbane Lions and then explained a little about how it should have been done:

Firstly you've got to have a fair idea of what you're going to do, and in both of these cases I'm positive both players knew what they wantred to do going into the move.

This past weekend I saw perfect examples of this being used...

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AFLW INSIGHTS - ROUND 7 PART 2

GOLD COAST QUARTERBACK POSITIONING

MY TAKE

One of the major teething points of AFLW since it's inception is congestion around the ball which is improving better and better every year.

Players will be attracted to the footy via their opponent or flow of play but it's what you do, and moreso your decision making around how you do it, the matters most.

Here you can see the a Richmond player enter the congestion closely folowed by her opposotion Suns player but while the Richmond player follows the ball and essentially getting stuck on the defensive side, the Gold Copast players keeps some width then adjusts laterally ever so slightly putting her in a perfect quarterback type position and now she has time and space to execute a better kick then one under huge pressure.

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AFLW INSIGHTS ROUND 7 - GOLD COAST BACKLINE v RICHMOND FORWARD LINE

We're going to look at 3 pieces of vision from Friday nights game all focusing on the Gold Coast backs the Richmond forwards.

It all starts with this piece of vision from the 1st quarter:

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AFLW ROUND 6 - KICK OF THE WEEK

Who and Why?  Let me know!

AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 6 PART 6

GEELONG INSIDE 20 KICK

MY TAKE

When the ball is coming into the forward line, your job as a forward is to create space and an option for the ball carrier to kick to which to your advantage and hopefully a good shot on goal.

As the ball carrier your job is to scan the forward line for best option available and deliver the ball to a position of advantage for the forward in question.

In this case the tall Geelong forward holds her defender off to 1 side and points to the other side which is about 45 degrees back behind her right shoulder which is the perfect spot as the Carlton defender has takes front position and is backtracking, temporarily losing sight of her opponent.

The kicker than sits back on the kick instead of driving through it, it pops up 3 - 5m short of where it should have gone and also to the disadvantage of the Geelong forward and lost chance at a great shot on goal.

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 6 PART 5

ST KILDA v MELBOURNE INSIDE 50's

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 6 PART 4

ADELAIDE OPPOSITE FOOT KICK

MY TAKE

When most people think of being able to kick on the opposite fgoot for some reason they seem to think it needs to look and have the exact same result as your dominant foot but you just need to be fluent enough that you can automatically get foot toball in congestion, because that is really only when you'll use - when time is limited and you can't get to your good foot.

In the image below, the Crows ball receiver has already seen her next option before she even gets the ball and has positioned herself accordingly to, squaring her hips and shoulders towards where she wants to go.

If she is to get onto her dominant right foot you can also clearly see that the Gold Coast player will smother the kick so only thinkg she could do was a left foot.

The kick doesn't need to spin correctly or even get there on the full, it simply needs to give your intended target a chance to be able to get it, which this kick does and you're out of the congestion.

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 6 PART 3

POOR BRISBANE DECEPTION/HANDBALL

MY TAKE

Decepetion is a specific skill that again is trainable but in this case the Brisbane player can be seen coming around the back and straight away you can tell that the ball carrier wants to give it to her.

First she looks breifly to her left, then she looks straight ahead but she is moving slightly to the side of the would-be receiver allowing Staughton to slide to that side but still being able to defend both players.

The Brisbane player needed to:

1. Run straight or slightly to the opposite side of the receiver to create more space between them making Staughton have to decide who to defend
2. Run faster AT Staughton to again make her decide to defend the ball carrier or receiver
3. Handball it on her right hand so she didnlt have to turn her body toweards the receiver which again gave away her hand.

Coaches can easily create this scenario at training to expose players to it.

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 6 PART 2

RICHMOND POOR HANDBALL TECHNIQUE

MY TAKE

Last week I posted a Chloe Molloy play and how she used footwork to get the ideal posotioning to change hands on the handball in a split second which enables her to get the ball to the only place it could go so her teammate could run onto it.

The Richmond player tries the handball on the inside hand but from the wrong side, from a very difficult anglke to make that handball from and also trying to do so from the outside of the fist.

Molloy was originally set up to try this handball too before she changed her positioning which helped her change her technique and thus, the effectiveness of the handball.

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 6

Facebook/Messenger have taken the download button away making this way harder then it needs to be but we'll battle on as always, albeit in a slightly different format which might actually work out better in the end.

NORTH MELBOURNE INSIDE 50

MY TAKE

Last week I posted some vision of Adelaide kicking to a pack of close to 12 players in the goal square, giving their forwards essentially zero chance of taking a mark or getting an even half decent shot on goal without shear luck.

This is a great in-game example of what I suggested as a better option from Jassie Garner.

Even though the Roos had a major marking option down there in Emma King, Garner still had the game intelligence to kick the ball slightly lateral of the pack of players and also to King's advantage.

Like I've said earlier, inside 50 kicks are important but in AFLW inside 25 kicks are the holy grail.

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CHLOE MOLLOY PLAY BREAKDOWN

This will be my 80th piece of vision from AFLW 2021 so far and if you've watched most, or all, of them, you should start seeing some patterns which can be used in your won coaching as far as how you set up scenario's fopr your own players as well as developing your game model and tactics to use on gameday.

Today I just take a close look a 9sec play from Chloe Molloy from last weekend and all the tiny micro-moments that went into it which gives you a great example of what a game intelligence, and eveything it entails, can actually look like in real time.

AFLW KICK OF THE WEEK ROUND 5

Who Do You Choose and Why?

Let me know on the socials.

AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 5 PART 4

MELBOURNE FIELD SCANNING

MY TAKE

Scanning is a very trainable but underrated part of the game - you can't react or play to what you don't see - and it's the ability scan, take in and process lots of relevant information quickly that seperates the elites from the regulars.

In this case theMelbourne player gets the ball and scans down field immediately.

With plenty of game intelligence garnered from experience and being exposed to an infinte amount of scenarios, of which most AFLW are still on their way to attaining, this player should have known where the ball just came from downfield, and thus must also know that she probably needs to scan off the line and change the angle of the next kick if she wants to find an open player.

Before she can even decide on this option though she must look, or scan, that area of the field to see if there is indeed an open player and then her decision making process starts in regards to does she think she can get the ball to them and if so, then how is the best way to do that.

By looking downfield first she uses up whatever time she had to look in the more dangerous parts of the ground (45 degrees/lateral) and only after not finding anything downfield she tries a very low % kick across the face of the goal to a 2v1 disadvantage that might have been there 3secs ago, but certaintly not now.

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AFLW INSIGHTS 2021 - ROUND 5 PART 3

NORTH MELBOURNE MISSED IN-BOARD KICK OPPORTUNITY

MY TAKE

This was more of a suprise more than anything else as NorthMelbourne are usually pretty bold with their ball movement and love an in-board kick from out wide.

As the camera shot panned back to the wide veiw I was instantly drawn to the middle of the ground thinking that's where the ball would go anyway being North Melbourne.

As it were they were 2 options available too that they would normally pick off, with 1 player getting to each side of the AFLW logo on the ground.

Alas, the ball carrier wasn't happy with those options for whatever reason/s and decided to go down the line to a 2v1 disadvantage and eventual out mark.

Very un-North Melbourne like.

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