TOPIC:

I was reading the Swans thread a short time ago and was interested in some comments on Pickering's defensive game plan which produces a brand of footy which isn't particularly attractive. It got me thinking because it's something that has crept into our game over several years whereby defence is the most important aspect of a game of footy. I remember reading somewhere a coach saying that defenders win premierships whereas forwards bring memberships. I also recall Schofield telling the players at a 3/4 time huddle that if you get defence sorted, offence will take care of itself. Claremont played a very attacking brand of footy yesterday and whilst I'm disappointed wth the result, it was a good game to watch. Is it time for the regulators to bring in rules that promote scoring to make the game more attractive? Things like bonus premiership points if you get above 100 points for example or limiting rotations to 10 per quarter to ease congestion or even reducing playing numbers to 15 on the ground at any one time? Who knows?...but these defence based game plans might win coaches games but imho are killing the spectacle of what I think is the greatest game on earth and at the end of the day, it's the fans that keep the comp alive.

And funny BC that after Longmire defended his sides tactics the previous week against Richmond this week against Gold Coast they played an attacking exciting brand of football, using the corridor at every opportunity and commentators were saying its one of the best games of the season. They lost the game but probably one over more fans.

BC I was the one who proposed the idea of bonus points for any team kicking 100 points (16.4, 15.10, 14.16, 13.22 etc) in a game a month or so back, I would even have an extra bonus point for kicking 20 goals a game so for example if you kicked 21.10 and won the game you would pick up 6 Premiership points from the game, or alternatively if you kicked 22.11 but still lost you could still pick up 2 bonus Premiership points from a match.
I thought it might actually get these coaches looking to be more attacking and score oriented but alas 1 round in this season it would seem they are still as defensive minded as ever well certainly at SD anyway.
Having watched SD the last few years there have been many times I have walked around the oval during the game as bored as batshit and yesterday was no example.
The many SD supporters I chat too all feel the same way as I do we would rather go down kicking 100+ points a game than watching a miserable 1.2 in 3 qtrs of football on a Saturday afternoon!

Don’t like your idea BH. Sides like Subiaco would be even more dominant and it would make a mockery of an already uneven comp. I’d rather see kicks in your back 50 kicked backwards called play on or kicked back into your back 50. There is nothing worse than seeing your players kick the ball backwards sometimes as far as 40 metres backwards.

As JT said in his article this week, the WAFC have missed a golden opportunity to differentiate itself from the AFL this year with none of their players in the competition. Even something like mandating that there will be at least 4 players in a teams forward half at all times and 2 in the 50 metre circle would do a lot to decongest the game.

mikeh wrote: As JT said in his article this week, the WAFC have missed a golden opportunity to differentiate itself from the AFL this year with none of their players in the competition. Even something like mandating that there will be at least 4 players in a teams forward half at all times and 2 in the 50 metre circle would do a lot to decongest the game.

We have to do something otherwise we will continue to see those low scoring borefests like yesterday.
It is unfathomable to think you could have a forward line that contains strong marking players the calibre of Notte, Noble, Kohlmann, Gault and the promising Farrant and the players up the ground want to fiddle and fart around with pissy backwards handballs, sideways kicks etc before inevitably turning it over back there and gift the opposition a goal instead of kicking long and direct to these targets and backing them in a one on one contest!
Maybe it is only a SD issue?...but looking at the scores only SF & to a lesser extent CL & SU hit the scoreboard to a respectable level!

This shit started when Malthouse was here - the defensive side completely took over any form of attacking entertaining football
then we got Neesham and waterpoloball kick to kick draw
it morphed way further when coaqches went overseas & studied other sports particularly in the USA
Now football is a frankenstein sport

These coaches (I am looking at you SD) totally forget it should be about entertaining your spectators as well as winning Southy.
We pay our hard earned at the gate, in memberships, in merchandise etc and then yesterday have to sit through 3 qtrs of football with a sum total kicked of 1.2 in near perfect conditions....totally unacceptable and boring to watch as well as losing the game, the paying public deserve a heluva lot better they have kept these clubs and comp alive now after that many wont be back as they were not even entertained with goals being kicked and most grew up in the 70s-90s era where you just went out to kick as many goals as possible and the W would take care of itself and are not falling for this modern shit.

Some interesting comments and I like DD's idea of kicking backwards in your defensive 50 should be called play on. The switching tactic is not effective anymore as coaches have worked it out but we still see short 15 meter kicks to keep possession...so maybe the rule should be changed to make it 20 meters or even 25 for a mark. That would keep the game moving rather than the stop start defensive crap we're seeing at the moment.

I would do all of the above to fix it. Everybody on here knows that mid fields and forward lines win games, even if Schofield does not. I bet you he liked having boland in his side?

As i said on the SD thread, it does not work. When was the last time the bottom side beat the top side? It used to happen from time to time because both sides attacked. We kicked 17 goals to beat cl in 1979. The same year, we beat the premiers, ep, by kicking 8.8 in a quarter, catching them a bit off guard.

In short, you cannot use defensive tactics to alter the ballance of talent on a football field.