2 weekends ago after Melbourne easily dispatched of the Western Bulldogs, Christian Petraka was very honest in what they wanted to do in a post game interview with Channel 7:
The biggest points I noted were:
1 - "...we wanted to trust the tackler in 1v2's" meaning let's not have other players rush in to assist in tight, trusting the single Melbourne player there to get the ball, make the tackle or put huge pressure on whatever the disposal the opposition gets out of there.
2 - "...we wanted to cover the outlets..." meaning they will allow a pressured disposal coming out of that 1v2 because in the time the single Melbourne player has provided by applying huge pressure, they have been able to set up in front of the ball, limiting damaging post clearance possessions for the Bulldogs, who have made a mockery of teams via this so far in 2021. It's very hard to cut off the ball on the inside and the outside at the same time, and it's very demanding and not sustainable for an entire game so you gotta give up something and for the Dees, it's that initial possession if need be, and they're sitting pretty on top of the ladder because of it.
3 - "...hold corridor..." of which Fox Footy have highlighted a bunch of times so far this year and I saw it first hand against my Swannies when I went and watched the game live 4 - 5 weeks ago. We push as much as possible to go through the corridor but for 2 quarters we either didn't want to try or we literally couldn't, although we were able to break free a bit more in the final quarter but it was to late. By setting up in the corridor and only giving wide options to the opposition, the Dees don't work as hard defensively and conserve energy for later in the game (best 2nd half of the year so far as well I believe), there's nothing ultra attacking coming at them from the opposition so they are controlling everything that is happening even when they don't have the ball and like Richmond, they tease you to take easy options in the hope that they can then box you in a corner where you have to go down the line to not just to their outnumbered situation, but there 2 big intercept backline marking players in Lever and May.
4 - "...if we force them skinny then that's ok..." so if the opposition still manage to possess the ball while chipping into the Melbourne defensive press they were still happy as they still have the outlets covered, the opposition is working into little, if any, space for continuous possession football and at some point they will still probably have to kick long down the line to Lever and May.
5 - "...don't let then roll in..." meaning if they managed to possess the football then keep defensive numbers in the corridor so they can't roll in-board and open up the fat side of the ground.
It's important to remember that everything happening is not relying on any special individual talent, except maybe the intercept marking players which really works because of the outnumber they have when the ball is being kicked to them.
It's a system where everybody holds responsiblilty for keeping that system in check by applying pressure when they don't have the ball and holding defensive shape during opposition slow play, which occurs when great pressure is applied in the first place.
Simply cue changes from "make the tackle or else" to "hold the ball up for as long as possible" may be all it takes to be able to do this at any level of football because the player that goes for the hero tackle at 100 miles an hour but misses and then gets side stepped, breaks the defense down straight away but if he performs a mix of corraling and forward pressure at the same time, it might just enough give your team an extra 2- 3 seconds which is more than enough time for almost anyone to cover 20 - 25m.
Here's a video on what that might look like:
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