by sydney-dog » Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:24 pm
lengthy but i thought an outstanding article by gary lyon
Crows go by the book
07 June 2006 Herald Sun
Garry Lyon
AMERICAN football is famous for its play books. Thick volumes containing hundreds upon hundreds of set plays the coach may use during a game.
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Every player in the team is expected to study that play book as if their lives depended on it.
They are expected to understand every aspect of every play. Who is going to receive the ball; who is blocking for who; who is running as a decoy to create space for the intended receiver; where the gap is going to open up for the running back to burst through the defensive line.
The level of understanding allows a quarterback to throw the ball to a designated place while the receiver is running away from him. The receiver stops, turns around and the ball arrives in his hands.
The best completed plays are a glorious lesson in teamwork, understanding, timing, role playing and selflessness. And preparation.
AFL clubs have only relatively recently had access to the kind of resources that will allow them to approach the sophisticated planning and preparation that goes into American football.
Given its stop-start nature, the American game lends itself much more to set plays, but there is mounting evidence that suggests we are catching on.
Adelaide, on the evidence I have seen this year, is the best drilled and prepared team in the competition.
The Crows seem to know what is expected of each other, at any given stage of a game, better than any side I have seen. The exception was the Richmond game where their failure to man up cost them the game.
Like all good teams, they learn from that and make the necessary adjustment. On Friday night, with two minutes to go and leading Essendon by more than 20 goals, they were as relentlessly man on man as they had been at the start of the game.
Watching them play, it is clear the Crows are all singing from the same hymn book. Not only that, they are in tune and harmonising beautifully.
With the ball in their back pocket, they automatically push to the middle of the ground, leaving the wings open and unattended. At the right time one player will lead into the vacant space, receive the ball, play on and deliver it inside 50. It is not ground-breaking stuff but they do it automatically, with precision and effect. It could be Play 26 in the Crows' play book.
An assistant coach who had just spent a week travelling the country to observe the 15 opposition sides in pre-season training said the Crows were far and away the most impressive and professional group.
He likened their training to a military operation. No down time between drills, it operated on the blowing of a whistle, and every minute was planned to perfection.
Players, coaching staff, doctors and physios moved seamlessly from one drill to another. Even the "ball boys" knew exactly what was expected, where the footballs needed to be and how many.
They play like that.
Mark Ricciuto controlled the forward line against the Bombers. As soon as the ball left their area, all the forwards would push up outside their forward 50. It allows the midfielders to push into defence, crowding Essendon's forwards. It also took Dustin Fletcher away from the comfort of the goalsquare.
As soon as the Crows won the ball back, they would hold their position, and then lead back towards goal, into space.
Ricciuto, Ken McGregor, Brett Burton and Trent Hentschel all kicked goals as a result of defender having to turn their back on the ball and chase them.
It puts defenders in an invidious position. If they take their eyes off their opponent to look at the ball, they run the risk of losing contact altogether.
With four forwards who attract the ball, it is testament to their understanding that they rarely contest the same ball. They will lead away from the ball to open up space for the next player.
Watching them celebrate each other's goals was to understand that individual tallies were irrelevant. McGregor seemed more excited with Hentschel's eight than with any of his four.
The defenders are also a part of this precision. With Andrew McLeod and Graham Johncock two of the best attacking backmen in the league, they will work to cover one another at all costs, allowing them the freedom to run and attack with confidence. They will leave their direct opponent to cover the most dangerous opposition.
With coaching staffs numbering 5-10, and access to the players six days a week, the best teams will continue to develop game plans and styles that are precise and specific to any given moment.
Players, through repetition of training drills supported by lecture-style presentations, will react automatically and uniformly.
Improvisation and instinct will remain some of footballer's strongest weapons, but it will help if the whole team improvises the same way. The Crows certainly seem to.