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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AFLW ROUND 5 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

An upset with the Eagles beating the Lions, a great come from behind win by the Hawks and 5 games within 15pts for another solid round of women's footy.

Hawks - 89 marks and a 5 goals to 1 2nd half indicated far better ball movement then previous weeks 

Dogs - +15 for clearances on the season for a whole, +27 in their 3 wins, but -7 in this one and it resulted in -12 inside 50's as well

Suns - a slow start but showed some early-maturity by not letting this be a "down" game and still managed 9.7 after 1/4 time

Pies - destroyed in clearance (-19) and their ball movements struggles once again yet managed 12 scoring shots so that's progress  

Crows - will need to win 4/5 against team around them before finishing off with Melbourne and North, and even that might not be enough

Cats - covering injuries very well and are scoring for fun but are very leaky defensively

Eagles - got the win they wanted and now could go on a winning spree if they can maintain that same output

Lions - got beaten up by the young Eagles (- 6 clearances, -13 contested possession + -12 tackles) and seem to have to gone to the contest/surge well for too long 

Today we look at:

• Hawthorn at Center Bounce x 4
• Hawks Slow Play Offense x 2
• Bulldogs Maintaining Their Outnumber Advantage from D50 to F50
• Gold Coast Forwards 
• 1 Poor Kick

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TRAINING ACTIVITY DESIGN SEQUENCE

                                    

Training activity design still has major room for improvement at local level as there's still a lot of cone-to-cone kicking going on with zero opposition or time constraints. 

Game-based activities are making their way in but without constraints then you'll just see the behaviour you see on game day that you're actually trying to get away from and change and thus the same mistakes pop up in games week after week. 

Have no doubt, this is a coaching problem so here's a training activity design sequence to improve that side of your delivery during training.

Firstly, you must have an intention before anything else and let's say in this instance it to work on offensive ball movement with a specific focus on improving time in possession.

Your first thought is to use a possession game so go into that and see what presents itself, observing closely to the limiting factors affecting your intention (offensive ball mments - time in possession).

When looking for any performance limiters, you need to look at both ball carrier and the off the ball players which may take 2 coaches to do so.

For the ball carrier you're looking at things like where/how long they search the environment for open players, how much patience they have with the ball in hand and their technique of the specific kick they need to use to solve the problem.

For the off the ball players you're looking at things like how do they manipulate space to become open options that the ball carrier can find, the timing of creating and filling space to again become a viable passing option and how teammates do this in accordance with other teammates (team coordination) + the opposition (creating outnumber advantages).   

Once you determine the main cause/s of ball movement disruption then you need to scale back and design a small slice of the game and recreate a similar situation with far less complexity.

A lot of teams till go with even team numbers using as many players as they have available so everyone is involved but this won't simplify the scenario enough and the same errors will occur as a result.

You might have to scale back to something as small as a 3v1 or 2 initially to initiate the correct behaviours you're after and then build on that - don't be so impatient as a coach that you have to keep scaling back from starting too far in front.

Building up quickly is better than progressing backwards slowly.

To improving searching of the environment, use a +2 on offense so that there will always be free players to use but you still need to search for them, progressing to a +1. Constraining the defense (number of them, where they start/how they can move) can also be used here.

For impatience with the ball, allow the ball carrier to take as long as they want to once they've taken a mark, and then start putting time constraints on that (8secs, 7secs, 6secs etc).

Technical deficiencies like kick type/trajectory, footwork or ball drop issues go into the craft basket but even then you still need to use constraints to maintain game representation so it can transfer back to training possession games and weekend games more importantly.   

For space manipulation you need to play with the area you are training in and the number of players you have in that area starting with small and big areas and low numbers so that there is lots of space to manipulate to small and big areas with more players so that there is less space to manipulate.

If success rate isn't at 75 - 80% then the space is too small and/or there are too many players 9in whatever space you are using.

For team coordination this is where you might need to take the alternate route of a theory session or 3 as it will cover all 3 lines of your team (backs, mids, forwards) that shows players how they all should move together (666-Connection, Inner-Outer Layer etc) and also cover any specific positional roles (extra at the contest, specific hit up lead options etc). Once players have some knowledge on this then you can add whatever is relevant from your theory into the possession game.

Timing is probably the last part that comes and is essentially the coordination component put into practice so if we use that hit up lead player for example, they now know their specific role, and go to work on best displaying it in the relevant training activities and coaches can observe their space manipulation/timing (forward craft/leading patterns) and the cycle starts again.

This just 1 example simplified which is already pretty detailed which shows you need complete clarity on what you need/want to improve on and then go to work on nailing that 1000% rather than simply touching on 25 things and improving on none of them.

Any questions/discussion on this, I'm happy to discuss.

AFLW ROUND 4 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

Picking up where left off from in part 1...

Tigers - might have unearthed some new midfield options without Conti but still struggled without her

Dockers - your typical mid-table team with important games v Dogs, Crows, Syd to really show what they're made of

Hawks - 29 goals with 14 from McDonagh and Dupay on the season but midfield is underperforming for them against better teams

Cats - 3rd best offense in the league even including that 27 in round 1

Essendon - better again this week breaking the 50pt barrier for the 1st time this season

Blues - 2 spurts of scoring won this game and that's all it needed

Pies - 2nd worst offense only to the 18th placed Saints (113 v 77) but surprisingly a better defense than 4th placed Cats

Eagles - definite 2nd year blues here and just seem 5% all over the ground

Demons - clear number 2 and rand Final eve can't come quick enough

Today we look at:

• Hawks Transition Defense
• Essendon Going Inside Forward 50
• Essendon Forward Press Defense
• Essendon Outnumber Advantage
• Collingwood Missed Handball
• Pies Ball Watching v Player Marking
• No Pies Help Defense
• Collingwood at Contest
• Eagles Ignoring Corridor

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AFLW ROUND 4 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

Some "half" upsets and also some improved performances over the weekend.

Dogs - absolute clearance dominance in this one (33 - 18) and +19% for time in possession

Swans - some individual Molloy efforts kept this from being a complete debacle

Saints - since round 1 they've scored 15, 15 and 7 points for a total of 4 goals which is 1st year expansion area's

Roos - literally going through the motions but their 1st real test against the Blues on Sunday

Power - this could be the loss that has them miss finals

Suns - this could be the win that gets them in finals

Lions - responded like proud teams do but with the same style that doesn't stack up against North and probably not Melbourne either

Giants - if they're top 10 can put it together against a top 8 team 1 day, they're a good chance to win but it's always left to a different 5 every week except for Parker

Today we look at:

• Sydney at Center Bounce
• Saints Ignoring Corridor
• North at Center Bounce
• Saints Going Inside 50
• Slow Down Sholtz!
• Port Forward Lengthening
• O'Dwyer Wing Play
• Conway Quick Transition

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AFLW TOP 5 GAME ANALYSIS CLIPS PRODUCT

As ridiculous we are already 25% of the way through the AFLW home and away season so I thought I'd drop a top 5 clips from my game analysis for local/community coaches to learn from.

Transitioning from 1 end to other and being able to put together possession chains is what I think is the number 1 performance gap in local footy so that's where my focus lies in a lot of my videos, including these ones.

You'll notice some unfamiliar terms in some of the titles that are my names for concepts but once you watch the clip it should be pretty clear what they mean.

I also decided to add in a video on how to tra9in each scenario specifically, as well as how you can layer the activity to increase game-like complexity and representation.

This is a stand-alone product that I will email out in a PDF for just $20.

Let the learning for 2027 begin now!   

#1 - St Kilda Losing Their Outnumber Advantage

#2 - North Melbourne Creating, Maintaining and Utilising Their Outnumber Advantage

#3 - Melbourne Fat Side Line Formation

#4 - Melbourne Displaying 666-Connection

#5 - Richmond Creating But Not Maintaining and Utilising Their Outnumber Advantage

Go to https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/, scroll to the bottom option GAME ANALYSIS TOP5 VOL 1, and click SELECT.

Once purchased, if you any further questions then just let me know.

AFLW ROUND 3 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

To other teams not covered earlier this week:

Suns - can see a theme of highly encouraging performances that just fall short of wins but they seemed stacked with young talent

Cats - a great away win with a few troops down and still and a nice draw in front of them in the short term 

Pies - dominated inside 50's 42 - 25 and evened out in the other stats but conversion in the forward half a deep worry 

Hawks - were able to score 14 times from 25 inside 50's and that efficiency probably saved them in the end

Dockers - not as dour as past years but a high kick-mark style with a lot of short and sideways kicks doesn't really suit their list for mine but did enable them to hang around in this game so if they can find more damage from their possession then they'll be on to something

Blues - 12 to 18mths ahead in the kick-mark possession game style and it showed in the result

Bombers - another team trying to maintain possession more for minimal damage but probably should have won this one

Richmond - again in the 'where do they sit" area but managed to steal this one and any win in a12 week season is one you'll take

Today we look at:

• Gold Coast Not Using the Outnumber Advantage
• Schleicher Lead
• Freo Length
• Smith Work Rate
• Richmond in Possession

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AFLW ROUND 3 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

No surprise results this week but 4 games decided by 4, 7, 6 and 5 points is a solid round of football.

Roos - score was close early but off the back off the Dogs playing very defensive footy and once it opened up then it was all over  

Dogs - might be the best mid-table team but just don't have the firepower to worry the top end

Crows - a good showing but scored 6 goals in 1qt and 3 for the rest so if they don't get great momentum can they score consistently enough?

Eagles - better this week but 2nd year blues under Daisy and can't finals from here 

Swans - low on woman-power but just did enough

Saints - 8 behinds before scoring their only goal and only 23 inside 50's shows their offensive issues

Giants - in good form and have a real opportunity against a potentially depleted Brisbane this week at home

Power - still up and down with the new game style but should keep improving week by week with it

Dees - have jumped Carlton as the clear number 2 after this demolition job on Brisbane

Lions - may have gone to the contested/surge well 1 too many seasons and with Stac probably gone at season's end I'd like to see what the next plan is as they can't maintain possession being equal last for that stat alongside Collingwood at just 37% time in possession (North #1 at 46% and Essendon 8th at 42% for reference)

Today we look at:

• Bogue Out the Back...Again!
• Port Forward Press Defense
• Mowbray Loose
• Melbourne 666 Connection
• Suns Outnumber Advantage

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AFLW ROUND 2 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

Part 2 of round 2 today and we cover of the teams involved:

Dees - look to be the number 2 contender so book in round 7 men's Grand Final eve at Ikon Park

GWS - a big let-down after a solid start with a winnable home game this week to stay in touch

Blues - could also be a number 2 contender with a North Melbourne face-off in round 5

Crows - might have the toughest draw of the season where they play all of the current top 12 except the Bulldogs and 1 game against the current bottom 6 - sheesh

Power - dominated the 1st half v Hawks but out pressured in the 2nd half

Hawks - out pressured by Port in the 1st but dominated the 2nd half

Today we look at:

• Melbourne Fat Side Line
• Dees Numbers
• Jones Leaves Player
• Hawks Repeat Inside 50
• No Port Ruck
• Sholtz Ball Watching
• Port Numbers
• Power Fat Side Line
• No Port Contest

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AFLW ROUND 2 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

Round 2 of AFLW is done and there's already a 3 -pronged ladder with those on 2 wins, 1 win and 0 wins.

I think the top 8 teams are probably set apart from Geelong for Gold Coast or Bulldogs as of the completion of round 2.

At a quick glance there's probably only 15 or so games with genuine top 8 implications for the rest of the season with most of those revolving around the likes of the Bulldogs, Suns, Power and Geelong who are still unknowns at this point.

Teams covered in this post:

Dogs - I think they'll beat who they should beat but can they beat all or split the teams around them and pinch an extra one?

Tigers - Looked great against poor Collingwood defense last week but dropped right back against a solid unit in the Bulldogs this week (43v32 i50's, 70v43 marks)

Eagles - A concern at the moment and far too skinny on offense and getting beaten on the outside (-8 contested possession but -40 uncontested possession_

Suns - Showed what might be very soon but can replicate something similar in a tough test against the Cats this week?

Cats - I suspected they weren't as bad as round 1 suggested but a 158pt turnaround shows the gap between their best and their worst which is a definite watch

Saints = worst offense and worst defense so where do you start?

Lions - scoreboard looked close but it really wasn't (-94 possessions, -9 inside 50's, -9 at clearance, -62 uncontested possession, -10 marks + goaless 1st half)

Roos - ditto but reverse stats!

Swans - have upped the tackling pressure dramatically rating 1st at 75.5/game v a league average of 60.5

Bombers - have a crack but when Prespakis has to kick out (6 or 7) and get your inside 50's (4) then it's going to be a long year

Pies - had a defensive identity last year which seems to have dropped off which only exposes their lack of offense even more

Dockers - trying to possess a lot more but a major work in progress and will get a better indication of where they're at after this weekend

Today we look at:

• Richmond Defensive Formation
• Dogs Forward 50 Stoppage Goal
• Gold Coast Forwards Cohesion
• Saints No Length
• Geelong at Center Bounce
• Brisbane Unorganised Defense
• Perfect High Half Forward Run
• Freo Cramping Useable Space
• Collingwood Missed Kick Implications
• Collingwood Forward Press Defense

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COLLINGWOOD/BRISBANE + MELBOURNE/WESTERN BULLDOGS GAME ANALYSIS

Thanks to the most of the wild card positions being all sewn up prior, it left us with a very uninspiring round 24 with results pretty much going the way of who most people would have thought would win.

With the Sydney disaster I'm going with this from here on out:

WC - WB/Coll x Coll + Melb/Car x Carl

FW1 - Fre/Haw x Freo + Gee/Car x Gee + Syd/Bris x Bris + Ade/Coll x Ade

FW2 - Haw/Gee x Gee + Syd/Ade x Syd

FW3 - Fre/Syd x Fre + Bris/Gee x Bris

FW4 - Fre/Bris x Bris

Lock that in!

Today we look at:

• Nick Diacos the Final Link in the Chain
• Berry Kick
• Brisbane Transition Offense
• Brisbane at Center Bounce x 2
• Melbourne at Center Bounce x 3

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ROUND 1 AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

AFLW round 1 for season 11 is in the books and here's what we found out about each team.

Saints - still middle of the pack and tried to be more dynamic offensively but a major work in progress

Blues - I've got them as 3rd at the moment because they play very similar to North Melbourne, but still not as good as them 

Melbourne - still probably the 2nd best team in it as they throw something different at the Roos

Hawks - backline will be an issue all year losing 3 our of their 5 starters from there from last season

North - are they even better?

Geelong - talent just doesn't match up with results but have a little bit of time with a new coach at the helm

Richmond - far more dynamic on offense than last year and a few positional changes worked very well

Pies - don't have the doeth to cover for injuries they already have - offense still a major issue

Suns - so young all over the ground but 9 shots to 10 in a 26pt loss

Bulldogs - could be anywhere finish anywhere this season - consistency will be what decides their season

Bombers - could score when they went forward but getting it there is a major issue

Lions - hunted the ball and player at an elite level but can I let you know after this week?

Adeliade - lost experience and replaced with youth but you can't have too many 2nd half fade outs in a 12 game season

Sydney - their best away win since their AFLW inception their time and showed real grit with 74 tackles and a 5.3 to 1.4 2nd half

Freo - need find a way to penetrate when in possession and to give themselves a chance to score

Port - an altered game style that still needs work but has top talent in all areas of the ground but possibly not the depth 

GWS - not sure they've ever had game where the goaled in every quarter? OK i just checked, it isn't but they have only managed it in 12 out of their 89 games and only 1/season the last 2 season's so it's been a battle

WC - possibly 2nd-year-blues on the horizon but again they're all so young but you don't waste a year either

Today we look at:

• Gold Coast Kick Out Defense
• Sydney at Center Bounce x 2
• Port Adeliade Outnumber Fail x 2
• West Coast Forward 50 Stoppage Goal

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BRISBANE v GOLD COAST GAME ANALYSIS

Brisbane took care of business against an again disappointing Gold Coast and barely looked to have got out of 3rd gear to do so.

With Swans completely losing the plot there's a more-open lane for the Lions for 3 on the trot, even if they do have to face Freo in Perth in the 1st week of the finals.

The Suns have clearly had a disastrous year but I expect them to bounce next season as the talent is just too deep up there, they've cut their age demo by a fair margin from last year, they'll get a bottom 6 draw and players who thought they were going well have had a much-needed kick in the backside but Dimma also needs to adjust his tactics to what they have, not what he wants them to be.

Today we look at:

• Lions Creating Corridor
• Brisbane Creating Space with Length
• Gold Coast Defense Fail
• Brisbane on Kick Out x 3

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NORTH MELBOURNE v GEELONG AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

As good as Melbourne were Thursday night for 2 quarters of footy, North Melbourne pretty much doubled that for a 73pt win and notching up 100pts in game 1 of the season (only 4 league-wide last season - Syd/Bris in round 2, Port/Nth round 3).

It might happen but I'm not really seeing anyone beating them again this year unless there is some dramatic injury bug goes through the entire joint - coaches included! 

Across all teams in round 1 they were equal 1st for total disposals (310), equal 3rd for inside 50's (46), equal 1st for disposal efficiency (70%), 1st for goal efficiency (34%), 2nd for uncontested possessions (176), equal 2nd for marks (68) and equal 5th for tackles (61).

All this against a Geelong team who already have an above average list and just brought in premiership coach Mick Stinear from the Dees.

If you're into coaching of any age and gender, then North Melbourne AFLW games are a must-watch as it's footy at it's absolute finest.

In 2 parts today we look at:

• North Melbourne Center Bounce Clearance
• Geelong Forward Handball
• North Creating and Maintaining the Outnumber Advantage
• Geelong at Contest
• Clean v Messy Ball Handling + Geelong Ball Watching
• Roos Creating Space by Lengthening
• North Forward 50 Stoppage Formation 
• Roos Wing Running Pattern
• Geelong at Center Bounce Clearance
• North Melbourne Kick Out Defense Formation
• Roos Trade Up Defending

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HAWTHORN v MELBOURNE GAME ANALYSIS

Last night saw a very high-quality game between the Hawks and Dees.

The Dees got away to a flyer that was ultimately the margin by the end of the game but the Hawks showed some great chops to get back into thew game and have it on a knife's edge at 3/4 time.

Personally, I thought the Hawks defense would struggle with missing key defenders in Everist and Eardley but with the Melbourne ruck going down and forcing Gillard from defense and then Harris from attack into 1st ruck duties, the temporary instability for the Dees allowed the Hawks to dominate inside forward 50 through Dupuy/McDonagh (4 goals 2 and 11 marks between them) and then Richardson intercepting at will (11).

In the end the Dees were the better team and deserved the win and look like they might be able to push North Melbourne to the end as per the Prelim last season.

Today we look at:

• Hawks Going Too Slow Inside Forward 50 x 2
• Hawks Messing Up the Number Advantage x 2
• Dees Mised Handball
• Poor Hawks Crumbing Formation
• Hore Leaks Out
• McNamara Nails Space Creation

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BRIS/HAW + SYD/PA + WC/COLL GAME ANALYSIS

The Lions are at it again with the bad loss 1 week turning into a ridiculous win the next week with a mauling of the Hawks who still seem midfielders or 2 short of the upper-tier teams but have a better defense and forward line then most at the same time so are a tricky proposition.

The Swans poured on 10 goals in the final quarter against the Power without their starting midfield so take out of that what you will.

The Eagles again ran close but couldn't close against the Pies who were well down on manpower so did very well to win this one (I picked the Eagles!!)

Today we look at:

• Brisbane on Kick Out
• Lloyd Wing Run
• Transition Offense v Transition Defense
• Serong Wing Run
• Sydney Compact to Expansion
• Carlton Looking Like Collingwood
• Collingwood at Center Bounce 

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ST KILDA v CARLTON AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

AFLW is back and first up we had the Saints and Blues.

The Blues have recruited well on top of an already very good list and have continued with their North Melbourne-inspired and clean handballing and marking game and seem the biggest threat to the Roos with other usually contending teams losing vital players over the off-season. 

The Saints seem once again stuck in the middle of the pack and were already stuck in the middle of which mode they wanted to play with throughout this game but had more success with quicker style in the 2nd half which I think they should stick with if it continues to work for them.

Today we look at:

• My Yearly "We Need 18/Team" Rant
• The Blues Mess Up a 2v1 Advantage
• St Kilda in Possession
• Saints Going Too Slow
• Saints Mess Up Their Outnumber Advantage
• St Kilda at Center Bounce x 2
• Saints Ball Stopping

 

AUSTRALIA v IRELAND WOMEN'S GAME ANALYSIS

It's always good to see the AFLW on its way back and this International Game seemed like a great idea on paper at least.

The game was solid but we definitely saw the specific strengths of each team and in Ireland's case, it's weakness, that being the ruck situation.

Playing on aground a measly 130m long means 1 tap and a 40m kick puts you just 25m out from goal which does lend itself to potentially high scoring but in the end, it makes it a clearance game and with the ruck taps 53 - 14 and thus clearances 35 - 21, both in Australia's favor, the Irish were always up against it.

With their strengths bei9ng speed and endurance, I'd like to see next year's game on a traditionally sized ground to allow them to play to their strengths and see what happens scoreboard-wise.

In this quick video we look at 2 center bounce clearances + a forward 50 entry from Australia showing elite leading patterns from numerous forwards.

FREO/WB + STK/SYD + CAR/BRI GAME ANALYSIS

A mixed bag today from 3 different games where the Dogs defended but in the end were overwhelmed by Freo, the Saints again played 3 great quarters of footy before losing to the Swans and the Blues unexpectedly took the Lions to the cleaners.

Today we look at:

• Bulldogs Us Their Numbers
• Dogs Missed Handball
• Sydney Run from Defensive 50
• Brisbane Kick Out
• Brisbane Creating Space

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COLLINGWOOD v GEELONG GAME ANALYSIS

Unfortunately for the Pies, injuries to key players just keeps adding up with Perryman, Lipinski and Howe being added to the likes of Moore, Maynard, Elliott and Steene and the closest returnee from that list is stated as 2 - 3 weeks away and you can make a case that West Coast beat them this week although my ladder predictor would still have them finish 10th.

The Cats will be an enigma come finals time as they haven't been convincing but have the easiest run home v Ess, NM and Richmond but is beating those teams going to run into premiership-winning form?

Today we look at:

• Collingwood Going Corridor
• Collingwood Transition Offense
• Collingwood at Center Bounce
• Geelong Creating/Utilising the Outnumber Advantage

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GWS v SYDNEY + BRISBANE v PORT ADELAIDE GAME ANALYIS

After some patchy Sydney form and the inconsistencies of GWS, I thought we'd win this one but still needed some convincing and that came from the Giants playing non-contact for the first quarter and a half which looks good for the Swans, but with a soft underbelly to our game and even softer draw remaining, these types of games are not what we need to get ready for finals.

Port still seem to be the greatest 15th team of allllllllll-tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime by leading both Freo and Brisbane for most of the 1st half being run over on their way to the 1st or 2nd best player in the draft next year with the probable loss of Butters - there's enough there and the coaching is excellent to suggest it won't take long for them to bounce with a few shrewd list moves.  

Today we look at:

• GWS Kick Out
• Sydney Forward 50 Stoppage Goal
• The Rowbottomiser
• Brisbane Patience to Get Corridor

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MELBOURNE v GEELONG GAME ANALYSIS

Not 2 teams I usually get around to do many clips on but with 3rds finished for the year I have Friday nights back to watch that game properly so I did.

I actually picked the Dees and thought their chaos game could throw the minorly-injured Cats off just enough to win and they very well could have if their handball game wasn't so poor but we can also put that down to the Cats pressure defense.

The Demons won the total handballs 159 - 148 yet badly lost the meters gained by handball stat 382m - 662m which upset the forward surge style of the Dees and allowed the Cats defense to set before they could enter.

Oh and Geelong getting 101 of their 117pts from turnover didn't really help either!

Today we have 6 clips which consists of 5 center bounce clearance clips and then 1 looking at the wing match up between Dempsey and Langford who both love getting forward and being a marking option. 

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ADELAIDE v COLLINGWOOD GAME ANALYSIS

The Crows' up and down season continues as the does the Pies rise up the ladder.

The Pies record at Adeliade Oval is really exceptional considering how good Adeliade and Port have both been in recent seasons and they did it again Thursday night, albeit with a very different team than most of those past wins in regards to quality and experience. 

When the Crows get the game right on their terms they're hard to beat but without a run and gun game they're simply to 1-dimensional and it will be very interesting times if they fail to win a final again this year.

Today we look at:

• Adelaide Forward Press Defense
• McCreery Wing Run
• Adelaide Mark and Play On
• Howe Forward 50 Mark
• Crisp Run
• Membrey Forward 50 Mark

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WEST COAST v BRISBANE GAME ANALYSIS

In the Brisbane Game Style package I made up based on Brisbane's play from the 2025 season, 1 of the games I took a deep dive in was against the Eagles back in round 3 where the at the Gabba, the Eagles got off to a flyer with a 5.2 to 1.1 scoreline at quarter time before the Lions were able to reel them in to finish up winners by 19pts.

This game was eerily similar with the Eagles getting out to a 5.2 to 2.5 lead at quarter time to again be ran over by the Lions on the way to a 24pt loss.

The Lions don't really get up much for these lower games but the Eagles pressure is definitely something to be aware of and once those young bodies get stronger and those tackles don't get broken, it'll be very hard to play against them.

Today we look at the Lions getting length in 3 separate clips, something they do better than anyone else in the league + a West Coast forward 50 entry.

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COLLINGWOOD v CARLTON GAME ANALYSIS

I went along to this one live Saturday night and the natives for both teams were certainly out and about.

The Pies have been playing a game much closer to their 2022-24 style after I assume deliberately playing a very much slower, boundary-biased version early in the season with an ageing list. 

The Blues have come back to the pack after that ridiculous run post-Fraser appointment and now are probably placed where they should be at 12th placed.

In a quick video today we look at:

• Collingwood Offense Slow Play
• Pies Handball Receive from a Mark
• Carlton Handball Transition

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SYDNEY v ADELIADE GAME ANALYSIS

The Swans are in a downturn at the moment and are in an iffy spot really.

We have very winnable games on the way home so "shouldn't" lose another game which means we finish 2nd and have 2 home finals where we just lost our 1st home game this season.

The other side of that is that we don't have great competition to really turn our season around against so even if we it looks like we might have improved, the competition we do it against might be the reason why rather than us literally improving.

Stats wise I'll be looking at our chains over at Wheelo's to see if that pushes back up as well our score sources.

The Crows seem back to their 2025 form but play a totally different gamer then everyone else which poses the question of can they continue to zig while everyone else zags?

They weren't able to last year when it really mattered so the jury is still out on them, like the Swans, until the real business end of the season.

Today we look at:

• Sydney Creating Corridor Space
• Swans Forward Press Defense
• Sydney Forward 50 Stoppage Goal
• Curnow Too Skinny

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NORTH MELBOURNE v COLLINGWOOD GAME ANALYSIS

I didn't find time to get this one up last week but it's just a quick look at North Melbourne falling for the same kick out strategy 10mins apart in the very same quarter, but one we've seen in these game analysis posts at least a dozen times!

I'll catch on this week's games by tonight/tomorrow and be back on schedule before we know it.

FREMANTLE v SYDNEY GAME ANAYLSIS PART 2/2

Youtube is being difficult, so all videos are individual in this post.

Today we look at:

- Gulden Kick

- Freo Breaking Tackles

- Warner Splits

- Slow Sydney Defenders

- Treacy Leading Patterns

- Freo Forwards

- Frederick Goal

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FREMANTLE v SYDNEY GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

As a Sydney supporter, I've never a doubt that we can win every game we play but didn't really see us in the form to beat Freo at home last Thursday night.

Watching the 1st my lack of confidence in our team defense of late was put to ease as we simply smothered them in the 1st quarter with some scoreboard return for the Swans.

That defense continued into the 2nd but with little scoreboard reward for both teams.

With 11 straight misses for Freo in the 1st half I just knew that crowd would erupt once they did goal, which happened 30secs into the 3rd term and even though they were scoring heavily, we also managed to score in the 3rd (6 goals to 3 Freo's way) to go into 3/4 time 2 points ahead.

Even with 1omins remaining we were still only a goal down but in 14mins of football they piled on 7.3 to 0 and it was out to bed.

Stas-wiser there was nothing obvious that set the Dockers apart except for out lack of ability to start chains and then do anything with them, the same problem we had with Brisbane 2 games back.

It doesn't get any easier with the Crow's defense either going into this Friday night so we better extract the digit quickly.

In part 1 we look at:

- Sydney Overlap Run

- Lizard Run

- Sydney Defense

- Cox Ruck Run

- Hambling Issue

- Freo Outnumber

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SYDNEY v WESTERN BULDOGS GAME ANALYSIS

The Swans got back on the winning side of the ledger over a dwindling Western Bulldogs.

The Dogs continues with their rolling back team defense which turned us into a kick-mark team and we only managed 366 meters gained by handball, our lowest for the year and which was actually bested by the Dogs at 413m.

The Swans were able to break even at worse in the contested metrics which is all you really need to against the Bulldogs as they don't really get you anywhere else. 

Just 3 clips today where we look at Sydney at center bounce clearance x 2 and also Sydney performing some forward press defense.

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COLLINGWOOD v RICHMOND + GOLD COAST GAME ANALYSIS

I actually didn't get around to watching Coll/Rich from 10 days ago until this weekend so I've lumped it with the Coll/GC game from this past weekend.

The Pies have the best team-system in the AFL to be in every game they play but not enough talent to win enough of them.

Nick Daicos is the constant, and De Goey is having one of his "up" years but then it's a raffle as to who will support those 2 any given week.

Ive got them making the 10 where they could win a game or 2 but that's about it I reckon for the Pies in 2026.

The Suns have been THE biggest disappointment in 2026 and that's including a competition that has Essendon in it!

$3.5 million invested at center bounce is a huge price to pay for a poultry 15th placed ranking in clearances so they really need to change up the mix in there, but they are playing half the team they did last year with most of the incoming players being young but they still wouldn't have thought this is where they'd be right now.

Today we look at:

• Collingwood at Kick Out x 3
• Richmond Somehow Lose Sight of Nick Daicos
• Collingwood at Center Bounce Clearance
• Pies Team Defense x 2

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GEELONG v BRISBANE GAME ANALYSIS

The Lions are back in a big way and unfortunately for everyone else they still have Coleman, Zorko, Allen and McCluggage to come back into their probable best 18, let alone best 23.

The Cats are sliding a touch at the moment having lost 3 of their past 4 with a bye in there as well and have just seemed a touch off the pace all season long with Cameron struggling bigtime with that arm issue.

Today we look at:

• Brisbane on Kick Out
• Brisbane at Forward 50 Stoppage
• Geelong Defenders
• Brisbane Forwards v Stewart
• Geelong Creating Corridor Space
• Brisbane Creating Forward 50 Space

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BRISBANE v SYDNEY GAME ANALYSIS PART 2

I had some left-over clips that focus on coaching concepts Like I usually do so here they are:

• Brisbane Kick Out
• Lions Corridor Space
• Brisbane Outnumber Advantage
• Lions Forwards Holding Deep
• Sydney Defending Brisbane Kick Out
• Sydney Forward 50 Stoppage Goal

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BRISBANE v SYDNEY GAME ANALYSIS

A bit of a different tact with the game analysis this week with a huge focus on the game itself then isolated coaching concepts like I normally do.

Going into the game Brisbane had regained some form beating Gold Coast and Richmond by really doubling down on their stoppage/clearance game as well as transition defense.

In those 2 games they were +29 in first possession, +22 in clearance, +6 in center clearance, + 43 in scores from stoppage and + 24 in scores from turnover.

On transition defense they won 90% of the stats for chain to score %, d50 to f50 %, d50 to score %, defensive half to f50 % and defensive half to score % but more importantly kept both teams to well below league average in those metrics.

Moving to the Sydney game, those metrics remained a huge focus on stopping the Swans' handball chain game and although the Swans still managed 705m gained from handball, the eye test proved it just wasn't the same as we've seen with a little glimpse in the last quarter when the game was done and dusted.

SYDNEY PLAN

In the last 2 previous games, the Swans had been spanked at stoppage (-20 in clearance against St Kilda and Port Adelaide) and would have been spooked by the Lions last games as mentioned above.

Sydney opted to start with an extra around the ball which didn't help things (-13 in this game) but then also leaves Harris Andrews twiddling his thumbs in anticipation for intercept after intercept.

BRISBANE PLAN

With offensive advantage at stoppage they simply had to focus on denying Sydney corridor space to run handball chains through.

SYDNEY HANDBALL CHAINS

Sydney lead the league in handball meters gained by a fair margin to the 2nd best team in that area (696 to 565 Collingwood) and this is it looked like once they were able to get it going in this game, albeit in the last quarter when the pressure from Brisbane was way down and fait enough.

BRISBANE DEFENDING HANDBALL CHAINS

The Lions' mids were rinsed good and proper a month ago for a lack of 2-way running on defense but were possibly just trying to get through the middle part of the season unscathed and fill up for the run home, which they definitely seem to be doing no going by the defensive run to shut off corridor on Sydney handball chains early in the game.

With Brisbane taking away corridor as shown earlier, you can turn them into a wide kick-mark team and then you simply have to crowd the space just in front of the kicker (but out of the protected space of course), to limit and runners from behind to receive handballs and the ensuring overlap.

Brisbane were diligent here but I also suspect Sydney were a bit hesitant to be so attacking once the goals started to flow for the Lions.   

As good as Brisbane's preparation was for this game, Sydney left a lot of potential scoring opportunities on the table as players didn't give handballs when they normally would have so far in 2026 which I'm sure will be on the review tape this week.

With Brisbane's defense and our poor transition game the stats were startling:

• Chain to Score - 23.8% season average to 18.7% in this game
• D50 to F50 - 27.7 % to 13.7% (only went 2 for 29 in the first half!)
• D50 to Score - 11.91% to 2.0%
• Defensive Half to F50 - 35.5% to 22.7%
• Defensive Half to Score - 15% to 6.7%

Other parts of the game that didn't help and was totally out of character was clangers (41-25 at half time) with many of the coming out of defensive 50 resulting 41pts from turnover for the Lions (again by half time) v 44pts average off turnover per (full) game so far in 2026. 

Personally, I saw signs that we/Sydney were at least half to blame for this result so we can turn this around pretty quick, especially getting some troops back that are very important to what we do in McInerney and Papley + more games into Gulden who was well off the pace.

Much like the opposition 4 weeks ago, hopefully this is the kick in the backside we need to really kickstart a finals tilt.

10 TRAINING ACTIVITIES USED WITH MY SENIOR WOMEN'S TEAM

80% of our training is live which means there's problem solving, game representation and every player involved in some shape or form all the time.

There are minimal lines, standing around and cone to cone drills because there is very limited learning taken from that type of training and without learning you can't improve.

We're currently sitting 4th on the ladder and eyeing a finals birth which is a top 5 format.

We had just 3 players carry over from last season so we were always going to be better in the 2nd half of the season then the first half but have had some heartbreaking losses that we need to get on top of going forward all against other top 5 teams (1pt, 4pts and 4pts with an after siren missed goal!).

1 thing I've found with live training activities is that once you start using them as much as I do, then cone to cone drills just doesn't do it for the players and they simply go through the motions when you do them which is great because then it's pushing you as a coach to design and deliver them on a consistent basis.

#1 - 5v2 or 6v3 Pivot/Width Handball End to End 

#2 - Handball Overlap Forward Handball

#3 - Protect the Ball

#4 - 4 Cones, 3 Defenders, 1 Attacker

#5 - Away Groundball 4v2

#6 - Kick to 3v2 in Box

#7 - 4v2 Handball to Goal Player

#8 - Team Ground Ball

#9 - Diamond Rondo

#10 - Ground Ball Escape

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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