Have we been 'worked out'?

[Sainternist]

I found this to be an odd sort of thread started by OP. I don't think even Richo has fully figured out a game plan for the team to stick to himself, let alone other teams cottoning on. This year has been all about tweaking and testing the waters in terms of what game plan suits the team best. Looks as though Richo may have found some very effective strategies for his young chargers for the season beyond.

[skeptic]

I don't really understand this concept of being figured out so to speak.

More often than not, the team that wins matches does so because they win the contested ball, use it better and they usually have the majority of the better players on the ground.
Obviously there are exceptions and variations to this but generally speaking, the premise is that the team that plays better wins.

With that in mind, in my opinion the majority of coaching is about what happens during the week... The preparation, fitness, the working on skills, developing mental toughness, researching your opponents, building morale, injury management etc.

On the field, when a team is getting beaten it's the players that have to turn it around either by stepping up the effort, moving up/down the ground etc or in the case of the great Rob Harvey... It was psychology and indicators but that is another story.

Personally, beyond changing a few match ups and moving some players around I reckon the coaches ability to change/influence the outcome of a game is vastly overrated and a bit of a myth. On game day, the players win and lose matches more so than the coach

[Clayton Davis]

No play-yan beeee??? Sheeeiiittt, we got play-yans ay, bee, ceee, dee an' effff! An dats juz fo da first quarta'!

Dez slow, fas-ta, fas-ta still, an' manic - juz lyke dem' corna' boyz wen day all's heya......"Omar comin' ".

An den der'd beeee da best play-an o all, Clayz favoright, an da play-an dat Clay recomens' fo youall too. Our Baltimore condominimum play-an. Heh heh heh.

No play-an beee???? Sheeeiiittt!!!!!

[Bluthy]

Tactics are a chess game/arms race. You put something in place - our switching of the ball, its effective for a bit, teams study it, put their reaction in place (pushing a player wider to cut it off), then you react again (more room to go through the middle if you dare and have the good kickers - we don't at the moment). It also gives you tools up your sleeve that can you can use later - its like a stew where different tactics can combine with each other and come back into being effective. If we are doing well running it from the back then teams may clog up the middle so we can use our switching again to try and draw them out and open up the middle a bit more.

There is also a yin-yang effect with what road you go down. Our pressure/tackling game has been very effective but its also draining and I think partially responsible for our bad kicking. Will it be sustainable or is too draining like Lyon's congested footy requirements?

The genius of Clarko is that he keeps evolving his team and tactics to a point where other teams just can't completely unpack it and are constantly chasing it.