gringo wrote:Hate to tell you but since the hawks took out Geelong with the rolling zone switches, chipped around kicks handballs etc. will be around all year.
The good news is when Riewoldt gets back to some quick leads and safe hands, it places us better than teams with slow moving targets.
Shane Crawford pointed out that teams trying to get the rolling zone happening in one season are going to lose as many as they win. We have done our extra defensive apprenticeship and already have a good structure ready to go.
A swans fan mate once told me defensive tactics like flooding are only boring when your on the loosing end. By the end of round one I agree.
We could do with a fast moving small forward like Ross Tungatalum out there to mop up some spills and defend the ball going out.
Personally, I find defensive footy is only boring if played by bad teams. The same kind of teams who manage to make attacking football look clumsy.
I can see why those who don't go as often get frustrated - defensive football ends up affecting the skills of both teams, creates slow buildups, and
really doesn't work on TV.
However, it's not the Hawks who have created the handball fest we see these days. The West Coast Eagles were setting records for possessions per game handballing through the Sydney on ball flood in '05 and '06. The Cats are much more handball happy than the Hawks - and those are 2 "attacking" teams, whose skills got/get raved about... and even prior to that, while the Lions didn't run in the kind of numbers of those two teams, they did like to put together run using the handball - it made the game about the midfield, and that was a game that the Brisbane Lions used to win more often than lose.
The handball fest is actually offensive strategy to take on the zone. As the switch is the kicking tactic to reduce the number of defenders your players are facing and open space, the group run is to try and generate a numbers advantage with possession - much as the zone is to generate a numbers advantage at the contest.
The zones will be around all year, but don't expect a revolution in '09 (in spite of what we saw in the NAB cup)... what really sets the Hawks gameplan apart is the degree to which all it's parts are integrated. An offensive rush leads to a defensive setup leads to a rebound. Rinse. Repeat. Refine.
The fundamental rebound has been around for a while now. Teams trying to implement an entirely new gameplan are going to find their drilling at least as suspect as any plan itself. Mid ladder teams are going to stop fiddling mid year at the latest and prioritise having everyone marching to the same tune in an effective plan rather than the best possible plan with the team's unity questionable - a zone is only as strong as it's weakest links.
The evolution will only come through as the Melbourne's, West Coast's and Essendon's improve, bringing their own styles up the ladder. Those at the top now will simply continue to tweak. A full change will result in a season like teh Saints 2007 campaign.
That won't stop people booing it though, there will always be those who will insist that the football of the 70s was fundamentally better than that of today.
