Rd 9 Vs Hawthorn - Smurf Review
Wow.
That Wharfie time goal was genuinely one of the most electric moments I've ever seen while watching footy.
I am infinitely jealous of all of you that got to see it live.
I know you've probably all seen it again by now, but fuck it, here you go again.
https://reddit.com/link/1t8v2qr/video/o23fr16qs70h1/player
First off, can we talk about Luke Jackson's game just a little bit?
Tackles:
| Jackson | 10 |
|---|---|
| Butler | 6 |
| Moore | 5 |
| Young | 5 |
| Serong | 5 |
| Switkowski | 5 |
Contested Possessions:
| Jackson | 18 |
|---|---|
| Nash | 15 |
| Newcombe | 14 |
| Serong | 11 |
Clearances:
| Serong | 8 |
|---|---|
| Newcombe | 8 |
| Jackson | 7 |
Add to the above, 22 touches, and an equal game high 22 hitouts.
Not to mention the big smother late in the 4th that led to a goal.
This man is willing himself when we need him to will himself. Its usually later in a game as well, he just works his way over the top of his opponent on repeat.
Between he and Bolton this year, I don't think anyone can possibly complain about any of the contracts they are on, or the capital we invested to get them across.
Now I suppose I should get into some analysis of the game.
The big thing i want to touch on with this game is our defence. I was a defender myself so i'm obviously bias towards it (hence my defensive moments highlights i do every week) but there is a reason we are rated number 1 in the comp for defence this year.
First quarter it might have seemed like we weren't at all though, and I get it. Thing is, Gunston kicks as many goals as he does, and Hawthorn look a lot better with him playing, for good reason.
- He plays deep. This means he has plenty of leading space in front of him. It also means that he is usually the only one in their Fwd 50. If we play the man in front, and he's on his own, usually once he's led up a little he then leads back to the space he has created over the back.
- He is always moving. He moves and half leads before a Hawks man even has a clear disposal for him to lead to. This means he's always ahead of his man.
Why don't more forwards do this? Sounds easy! Knowing where and when to lead is a lot harder than it seems. The best players in the comp make difficult stuff seem simple, especially when you're one of the current most experienced in a specific area.
https://reddit.com/link/1t8v2qr/video/w9paxac2480h1/player
This is a defenders nightmare, especially when the ball is coming clean at pace. Wtf can you even do to defend that?
- You get pressure up the field. You stop ball watching and ensure they don't have any easy outs. Pressuring the kick into the Fwd 50 to a leading Gunston means its not going to come in as clean...usually.
- You have players filter back into the leading lanes quicker. Blocking up the leads means the defender isn't required to play in front of Gunston, and stops the chance of the kick over the head.
Which is exactly what we do, Good example is Clarky here, he filters back, looks to where Gunston is, off his man, but within reach still and just doesn't allow the kick to get to Gunston.
https://reddit.com/link/1t8v2qr/video/5i81z8pn080h1/player
We end up doing this on repeat. But what really halted any real Gunston impact in the second half, was the intent on holding up play before it can even get to the point of Gunston being able to lead in an open 50.
There's a reason there fans are saying stuff like this after the game:
We genuinely stifled any instant run they had going forward, which meant they either had to kick super wide, try and switch, or kick it long.
The best part was, our defence was so intent on stopping anything that even when they tried a switch, we covered it before the switch could even complete:
https://reddit.com/link/1t8v2qr/video/sgqtgw6m480h1/player
This graph portrays the game so well, first half they looked on. They were free a lot, hitting targets inside 50 because we were allowing them to be so open.
Then we tighten it up, inside 50's aren't hitting leads because there was none, so although they had a lot still, they were not efficient at all.
And then the 4th is where we just ran right over the top of them
We have also started to employ some very very smart little things to hold up play a bit. Wags knows Amon wants to go here, he knows that he wants to go left.
So he holds him up a little bit, so that he can't just burst and go:
https://reddit.com/link/1t8v2qr/video/nr8mv2mu480h1/player
Stopping transition its legitmately our bread and butter, and its the key focal point of our defensive setups and structure.
Compare that to say their recent game to Collingwood, who also have a pretty similar-ish defensive setup to us.
We stifled the hawks so much more.
This is all shows us some really good signs overall.
- We can absolutely make changes on the fly, and adjust when required (i don't want to ever see again that JL has no plan B)
- We are growing in maturity. In the past we would have maybe lied down and died once hawks have the period of somewhat dominance in the 3rd, and between that and Gunston doing what he was doing, the bounceback is such a good sign of mental fortitude and maturity.
- Defence wins matches, you can argue it all you want, but its straight up the truth. Look at the bulldogs the last couple years, all firepower, no stopping power.
- Role players are stepping up way more than they have in the past. We keep having our big stars shine, but its the role players doing little things that are really whats enabling these wins for us. A good example of this is D'Ambrosio, He is such an important link up player for the hawks, between wags, Johnno and Erasmus, they kept him to 11 effective disposals. The only other game he was so poor was against GWS in hawks season opener.
As the boys keep saying, take it one game at a time. Onto the next.
