Clearances a worry.

[Gershwin]

Yes I know it was a big win and I enjoyed nearly every moment of it, but through the trusty binoculars from tier 4 of the Olympic Stand I could see that we were being beaten in the centre square clearances.
Stats show:

Centre clearances:
Hawthorn: 17
St Kilda: 13

Stoppage clearances:
Hawthorn: 17
St Kilda: 17

Against a better team that will hurt us.

We won the hit outs 33 to 25.

So either the hit outs were poorly directed or their on ballers were more effective at reading the play.
Our onballers were Steele, Crouch, Gresham, Ross and Windhager.
I think there is a fair bit of improvement that needs to happen there.
Getting Jones back will help immensely.
Maybe Paddy was a bit rusty with his direction.

Certainly an area for improvement.

[B.M]

Hit outs are very overrated

It’s what happens after the hit out that counts

[axcellence]

Absolutely. Saints won 105 points from turnover.

It’s been like this for years. Bad at stoppages, terrific at turnover points. Hawthorn has been Saints bunny for a few years. Remember the game in Tassie where Saints had 175 against them? Once Mitchell went to WCE, it’s been much easier against the Hawks.

It doesn’t work with highly skilled sides, eg Geelong.

I hope when Clarke and Billings return, they can release Gresham to do magic in the midfield or forward line.

[Gershwin]

Hit outs are very overrated

It’s what happens after the hit out that counts

Do you feel like spending more than 2.5 seconds composing a reply to think about this issue?
What do you think is happening after the hit out?

[B.M]

Not really, but ok then

Pretty obvious, clearances are won by midfielders

Taps are a factor, if they are to advantage

Stats say that around 20-25% of total hit outs go to advantage

Let’s say there are 50 total hit outs - we win the majority, let’s say 32

That mean 7 or 8 stoppage hit outs go to advantage out of 50 ball ups

How the mids set up at stoppage is a lot more important. Let’s look at the first 2 centre clearances. Allowing opponents goal side and walking out of the front of the stoppage = poor set up. We were too aggressive with positioning.
There needs to be a balance. 1 target, 1 defensive and one sweeper

[spert]

Our stoppage and clearance work last season was poor, and it's only just better this season- we can't rely on opposition mistakes to get our advantage in a game, as a good teams wont be making those mistakes. I think there is a problem still with setups which the coaches need to do more work on.

[Gershwin]

Not really, but ok then

Pretty obvious, clearances are won by midfielders

Taps are a factor, if they are to advantage

Stats say that around 20-25% of total hit outs go to advantage

Let’s say there are 50 total hit outs - we win the majority, let’s say 32

That mean 7 or 8 stoppage hit outs go to advantage out of 50 ball ups

How the mids set up at stoppage is a lot more important. Let’s look at the first 2 centre clearances. Allowing opponents goal side and walking out of the front of the stoppage = poor set up. We were too aggressive with positioning.
There needs to be a balance. 1 target, 1 defensive and one sweeper

I appreciate your comments.
It would be interesting to have a further breakdown between Ryder and Marshall.

I think Bytel is good ‘in traffic’ and should play.

Windhager was a liability at clearances and will improve. Crouch is just average - we need better.

Marshall is not a good tap ruckman.

Would like to see what Campbell can do.