Much of this review is looking inside, to work out what has worked, what has not and where to go from here. So also is looking at the opposition and what is working for them.
Follow the leader is a game played very well by AFL clubs and the premier team is always closely analysed.
Geelong has shown nothing new this year as a game plan to follow. Their dominance over the last three seasons has already been heavily dissected and imitated.
The Cats play great footy and as fans we should hope that every club attempts to emulate their free flowing, attacking attractive style. However I think the lessons from the Geelong model have been tried and mostly failed.
Any team embarking on their high possession, two hundred plus handballs per game needs to have the same immense player talent as the Cats to have any chance to getting similar results.
High possession footy with poor skill and poor decision making is a sure way to end up as an also ran.
They might not have emerged with the premiership cup but St Kilda is more likely to be the trend setter heading into 2010.
The Saints defensive grunt is easier to coach than Geelong's attacking flair. However I am not so sure their example will be great for the spectacle of the game. Like the Swans when they were grand finalists a few years back, the Saints shut down game style does not lead to high scoring games.
St Kilda’s point of difference this year was taking defensive and tackling pressure to an unprecedented level. Scoring double figure goals against the Saints was a rare event.
It has long been my strong belief that in any game of footy between teams of similar standard, the team that tackles the best wins the game.
This season St Kilda have proved this point yet again and if they haven’t already every other club will be heavily prioritising the need to increase their tackling and defensive effort.
The ability to apply this massive defensive pressure comes from having the will, the technique and the energy.
Raw tackling stats only give half the picture. Only effective tackles are recorded. These numbers have doubled over the last few years but what is not recorded is the enormous increase in pressure on the ball carrier, mostly forcing him to release a quick handball. Often it will take five or six rushed handballs before a teammate in the clear receives possession with the time and space to kick.
In the ongoing evolution of the game the contest between the player with the ball and the opposition tackler has recently swung in favour of the latter.
Much of the reason stems from interchange rotations going from an average of 36 in 2005 to 91 in 2009. As interchange rotations have increased so have the numbers of players around the footy, the number of handballs and the tackle totals.
With players having a rest at least once a quarter they are able to produce higher energy levels in their time on the field.
Fatigue makes cowards of us all and while players will chase the footy when tired, it is defensive pressure that drops off first when the legs are heavy and the lungs are heaving.
Add the advent of specialist tackling coaches to hone a better technique and the result is that the pressure on the player with the footy has increased markedly in the last couple of years.
While the damp conditions were a major contributing factor what we witnessed in the grand final was a level of tackling effort which just might be a sign of things to come.
This will be the St Kilda legacy to the next phase of the game – that with training, technique and effort, opponents can be beaten by intense defensive pressure. The tactical herd will inevitably follow.
If so, then maybe the player with the footy needs a bit more help.
There are no rule changes required but I believe that the player who forces himself to the football first, needs to receive a greater leniency and greater protection to swing the odds back towards assisting the guy in possession.
I would like to see a stricter enforcement of in the back and high contact frees and only pay the very obvious run down holding the balls. What was once reasonable prior opportunity has become a split second to react before the tackling hoard descends at enormous speed.
We do not want pack after pack, stoppage after stoppage but increasing the protection to the player who goes in and gets the footy is a better way to keep the game flowing than pinging him for holding the ball.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
