Read this exclusive review by the MELBOURNEfc Coaching Panel of the teams Round 4 loss to North Melbourne.
North Melbourne v MELBOURNEfc
Saturday 12 April - MCG
Pre Match
- Coming off a much improved effort against Geelong, we knew we needed to harness the positive energy, and continue to build on that against a very well drilled team in North Melbourne.
- We had a six day turnaround and the week started off well for us when the goal posts at Junction Oval were finally installed. It has been really frustrating for our playing group and coaches not to have a permanent ground to train on, but now that we do, it’s a massive bonus for us. There was a real noticeable step up on the training track for us this week.
- Because of the heavy rotations we’ve been making throughout the first three games, there was a focus during the week to make sure that our players were up to speed on that aspect of the game. We needed to make sure that the players understood their rotational role and understood who their likely opponents would be on match day. This will no doubt be an ongoing challenge for us, but it is something that we are improving on each week.
- It was unfortunate to lose ruckman Paul Johnson during the week with a broken hand, which he sustained during the first half against Geelong. Johnson has been a real stand out for us in 2008, with his much improved ruck work and disposal by hand and foot around the ground. We brought in Mark Jamar to fill Johnson’s spot, and challenged Jamar to compete hard for us. The other change we made was bringing in Matthew Whelan at the expense of Colin Garland, who was omitted. Whelan has endured a really frustrating twelve months with an ankle injury, and it was good to have his aggressive and fearless style of play back in our team.
- Even though North Melbourne was 1 – 2 going into the match, we didn’t really think that their win-loss ration was a good reflection on their form line. They had been in very winnable positions at quarter time in each of their first three games, outscoring their opponents 85 to 30. Their second halves hadn’t been as good as their first halves, and we knew that if we were with them at the main break, we would be a big chance of finishing with a stronger second half.
- The key to victory over North Melbourne was to match them at the stoppages. North is a very organized and disciplined team in this area. We will need to be at our best in contested ball gets to give ourselves a opportunity for a good result. Making a good start is imperative.
During the match
- We started poorly out of the blocks, which was disappointing considering how much emphasis we had placed on the start of the match. Our skills weren’t up to the standard required, with too many turnovers which resulted in inside 50s and in turn scores on the board for North. We were winning the stoppages around the ground but having difficulty in the centre square. Kick-ins were causing a problem, especially because we couldn’t get the ball into our forward 50m arc. We were playing the game in North Melbourne’s half of the ground, and we needed to improve our skills and decisions. We were not out of it, and were lucky that North Melbourne was inaccurate in front of goal.
- During the second quarter, we began to improve our decisions and not coughing the ball up as much. Centre bounces were still causing some problems, so we decided to change some personnel to see if we could get some better results. North Melbourne’s pressure was at a premium, and a couple of mistakes were – again - very costly for us.
- After the main break, free kicks in our back 50m were very costly (10 for the game, which resulted in six goals). Delivery to our forwards was not to the standard required to give them a good opportunity to score. In order for us to improve, we need to give our big blokes up forward a better chance to have an influence. Training during the week will be concentrating on centre bounce work, general ball use and Inside 50 entries.
- Some positives were still taken out of the game. We lost the stoppages out of the centre 9 – 19 (worst result for the year), but won around the ground stoppages 24 – 17. There was also continued good form by Brock McLean (under duress, being tagged by one of the games best stoppers in Brady Rawlings) and Jeff White, Aaron Davey and Austin Wonaeamirri worked extremely hard up forward, chasing, tackling and kicking goals. Mark Jamar’s effort in the last quarter when he went back with the flight, knowing he would most likely get hurt, was pleasing. Efforts like that will help us get back to playing good consistent footy.
Post Match
- It was really disappointing that we took a step backwards from the previous week. We spoke about how important the start of the match was, but they had the first 12 scoring shots before we had our first shot on goal, and we were unable to get back in the game from that point onwards.
- Our disposals by both hand and foot were not up to an acceptable standard for AFL football. Our decision making was also not up to scratch, and too many times we put our teammates under pressure because of those poor decisions. We will continue to work on this, and will put our players under the most simulated pressure possible at training so they are better prepared not to make these mistakes on match day.
- It was disappointing that we gave away 10 free kicks inside their forward 50. (At one stage during the game the free kick tally inside 50 was 10 to zero, it finished at 10 -2). We can’t afford to give away free kicks in front of goal, and we were lucky in a sense that North Melbourne was inaccurate, as the game would have been over earlier.
- On a positive note, we were pleased that players did not throw in the towel when the match appeared to be over. We continued to run and work hard and we were able to almost double our score in the last quarter (6.3 – 39 for the fourth quarter compared to a combined 5.10 – 40 for the first three quarters). Hopefully we can take some of that momentum into next week’s game.
- To better prepare ourselves for next week’s game, we as a coaching group along with the playing group headed back to the MCG to watch our next opponents, Carlton, win a very high intensity game to end their own losing streak. It was good for our players to watch Carlton in the flesh, and we will use that experience to sharpen the players’ knowledge for the match. We know that Carlton will have their tails up, and will be looking to string successive wins together against us. This match will provide our players with a big mental challenge, but we are looking forward to it and can’t wait for our opportunity to bounce back.
North Melbourne v MELBOURNEfc
Saturday 12 April - MCG
Pre Match
- Coming off a much improved effort against Geelong, we knew we needed to harness the positive energy, and continue to build on that against a very well drilled team in North Melbourne.
- We had a six day turnaround and the week started off well for us when the goal posts at Junction Oval were finally installed. It has been really frustrating for our playing group and coaches not to have a permanent ground to train on, but now that we do, it’s a massive bonus for us. There was a real noticeable step up on the training track for us this week.
- Because of the heavy rotations we’ve been making throughout the first three games, there was a focus during the week to make sure that our players were up to speed on that aspect of the game. We needed to make sure that the players understood their rotational role and understood who their likely opponents would be on match day. This will no doubt be an ongoing challenge for us, but it is something that we are improving on each week.
- It was unfortunate to lose ruckman Paul Johnson during the week with a broken hand, which he sustained during the first half against Geelong. Johnson has been a real stand out for us in 2008, with his much improved ruck work and disposal by hand and foot around the ground. We brought in Mark Jamar to fill Johnson’s spot, and challenged Jamar to compete hard for us. The other change we made was bringing in Matthew Whelan at the expense of Colin Garland, who was omitted. Whelan has endured a really frustrating twelve months with an ankle injury, and it was good to have his aggressive and fearless style of play back in our team.
- Even though North Melbourne was 1 – 2 going into the match, we didn’t really think that their win-loss ration was a good reflection on their form line. They had been in very winnable positions at quarter time in each of their first three games, outscoring their opponents 85 to 30. Their second halves hadn’t been as good as their first halves, and we knew that if we were with them at the main break, we would be a big chance of finishing with a stronger second half.
- The key to victory over North Melbourne was to match them at the stoppages. North is a very organized and disciplined team in this area. We will need to be at our best in contested ball gets to give ourselves a opportunity for a good result. Making a good start is imperative.
During the match
- We started poorly out of the blocks, which was disappointing considering how much emphasis we had placed on the start of the match. Our skills weren’t up to the standard required, with too many turnovers which resulted in inside 50s and in turn scores on the board for North. We were winning the stoppages around the ground but having difficulty in the centre square. Kick-ins were causing a problem, especially because we couldn’t get the ball into our forward 50m arc. We were playing the game in North Melbourne’s half of the ground, and we needed to improve our skills and decisions. We were not out of it, and were lucky that North Melbourne was inaccurate in front of goal.
- During the second quarter, we began to improve our decisions and not coughing the ball up as much. Centre bounces were still causing some problems, so we decided to change some personnel to see if we could get some better results. North Melbourne’s pressure was at a premium, and a couple of mistakes were – again - very costly for us.
- After the main break, free kicks in our back 50m were very costly (10 for the game, which resulted in six goals). Delivery to our forwards was not to the standard required to give them a good opportunity to score. In order for us to improve, we need to give our big blokes up forward a better chance to have an influence. Training during the week will be concentrating on centre bounce work, general ball use and Inside 50 entries.
- Some positives were still taken out of the game. We lost the stoppages out of the centre 9 – 19 (worst result for the year), but won around the ground stoppages 24 – 17. There was also continued good form by Brock McLean (under duress, being tagged by one of the games best stoppers in Brady Rawlings) and Jeff White, Aaron Davey and Austin Wonaeamirri worked extremely hard up forward, chasing, tackling and kicking goals. Mark Jamar’s effort in the last quarter when he went back with the flight, knowing he would most likely get hurt, was pleasing. Efforts like that will help us get back to playing good consistent footy.
Post Match
- It was really disappointing that we took a step backwards from the previous week. We spoke about how important the start of the match was, but they had the first 12 scoring shots before we had our first shot on goal, and we were unable to get back in the game from that point onwards.
- Our disposals by both hand and foot were not up to an acceptable standard for AFL football. Our decision making was also not up to scratch, and too many times we put our teammates under pressure because of those poor decisions. We will continue to work on this, and will put our players under the most simulated pressure possible at training so they are better prepared not to make these mistakes on match day.
- It was disappointing that we gave away 10 free kicks inside their forward 50. (At one stage during the game the free kick tally inside 50 was 10 to zero, it finished at 10 -2). We can’t afford to give away free kicks in front of goal, and we were lucky in a sense that North Melbourne was inaccurate, as the game would have been over earlier.
- On a positive note, we were pleased that players did not throw in the towel when the match appeared to be over. We continued to run and work hard and we were able to almost double our score in the last quarter (6.3 – 39 for the fourth quarter compared to a combined 5.10 – 40 for the first three quarters). Hopefully we can take some of that momentum into next week’s game.
- To better prepare ourselves for next week’s game, we as a coaching group along with the playing group headed back to the MCG to watch our next opponents, Carlton, win a very high intensity game to end their own losing streak. It was good for our players to watch Carlton in the flesh, and we will use that experience to sharpen the players’ knowledge for the match. We know that Carlton will have their tails up, and will be looking to string successive wins together against us. This match will provide our players with a big mental challenge, but we are looking forward to it and can’t wait for our opportunity to bounce back.
