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Game Plans

1

Shared Understanding Framework

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I believe that ball movement is often taught backwards.

A game plan is recognising patterns and recalling trained solutions.

Many coaches focus on outcomes such as “use the corridor”, “switch the ball”, or “move the ball quickly”. While these outcomes may be desirable, they do not explain how players should recognise opportunities and create the conditions required to achieve them.

Players make decisions based on the information available around them. They interpret cues from teammates, opponents, space, pressure, field position, and the movement of the ball. When players recognise patterns they have seen before, they can draw upon previous experiences and recall trained solutions that help them make quicker, more effective decisions.

The decision-making cue triggers the strategy.

In a strategic situation involving multiple players, decision-making is the ability to recognise a familiar pattern and recall a solution from previous experience.

This is why coaches must teach players to analyse the game in a similar way. When players recognise the same patterns and interpret the same cues, they are more likely to select aligned strategies and act together before their opponents can respond. This is where an advantage is created.

Teams that analyse the game similarly connect faster, move earlier, and make more coordinated decisions. While individual players may adapt their technique or choose slightly different solutions based on their strengths, capabilities, and the pressure of the situation, the team must remain aligned in its understanding of the game.

Players do not need to execute identical actions. They need to recognise the same picture, understand the same problem, and work towards the same solution. The more aligned a team’s pattern recognition and decision-making processes become, the faster and more connected the team will perform.

THE PURPOSE OF A GAME PLAN

Therefore, the purpose of a game plan is not to provide players with a rigid script. Instead, it is to provide a shared framework that helps players see the game similarly and make aligned decisions in chaotic environments.

In this article, I will share a framework that coaches can use to help players identify game patterns and create solutions based on the problems presented by the game.

The purpose of a framework is not simply to collect information. It is to organise information so that it can be understood, taught, recalled, and applied when required.

ORGANISING FOOTBALL KNOWLEDGE

As coaches, we are constantly exposed to new ideas, observations, statistics, concepts, and skill development principles. The challenge is not a lack of information. The challenge is understanding where that information belongs and how it connects to everything else.

A useful question for coaches to ask is:

Where does this piece of football knowledge belong?

When knowledge is organised effectively, it becomes easier to teach, easier for players to remember, and easier to apply under pressure.

The challenge is not how many strategies, principles, concepts, or scenarios a team can create. The challenge is determining what players can remember and how simply those ideas can be taught.

THE ROLE OF THE COACH

I believe the players sit the test every weekend and learn from it. The coach’s job is to have already studied as many chapters as possible, so when a problem appears, they have a solution available to teach.

No coach will ever know everything. Football continues to evolve, and new problems emerge every season. However, the role of the coach is to stay ahead of the learning curve, continually building their understanding of the game so they can provide players with the knowledge, solutions, and guidance they need.

While players learn through experience, coaches must learn through both experience and study. The more situations a coach understands, the more effectively they can help players recognise patterns, solve problems, and accelerate their development.

The players do not need the whole textbook, but the coach probably does.

The framework outlined below provides a structure for organising football knowledge and connecting it to performance. It helps coaches move beyond simply teaching outcomes and instead teaches players how to recognise patterns, understand situations, and apply appropriate solutions.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a shared understanding of the game, allowing players to make faster, more connected, and more aligned decisions under pressure.

The framework below organises ball movement from the broadest level to the most specific.

AFHP Ball Movement Hierarchy

Phase → Scenario → Strategy → Concept → Craft → Outcome

This hierarchy helps organise football knowledge from the broadest level to the most specific. It provides a framework for understanding where ideas belong and how they contribute to performance.

PHASES

Phases describe the major parts of the game.

Examples:

  • Attack
  • Defence
  • Contest (Post Clearance)
  • Stoppage (When teams have time to organise)

WHY I DEFINE THE GAME USING FOUR PHASES

Some coaches may challenge the idea of four phases, instead preferring to describe the game as Attack, Defence, and Contest. While I understand that perspective, I believe Stoppage deserves to be recognised as a separate phase.

At a stoppage, both teams have time to organise structurally. Players can establish roles, position themselves strategically, and prepare for the next contest. The game temporarily becomes more predictable because players have information about where teammates, opponents, and the ball are likely to be.

More importantly, I do not define phases purely by who has possession of the ball.

A traditional interpretation might be:

  • We have the ball = Attack
  • They have the ball = Defence

My definition is different.

I believe phases are primarily determined by the certainty of possession and the information available to players, with possession itself being a secondary consideration.

For me:

  • Stoppage = Teams have time to organise.
  • Contest = Possession is uncertain, disputed, or unstable.
  • Attack = Possession is stable enough that players can intentionally move the ball.
  • Defence = The opposition has stable enough possession that players can intentionally move the ball.

Once the ball is cleared from a stoppage, the game enters a different phase.

Although the ball has moved into open play, it is often unclear which team will ultimately win possession. Unless a player has marked the ball cleanly or is clearly isolated from opposition pressure, the ball remains in dispute.

This creates a Contest phase.

A team may win possession in a contest, but that does not automatically mean they have entered Attack. If the ball carrier is under immediate pressure and possession remains unstable, the game is still effectively in Contest.

This distinction is important because not every player on the field has access to the same information.

The players closest to the ball often have the best information. They can read body position, momentum, numbers, pressure, and likely possession outcomes. However, players further away frequently do not have access to the same information or cues.

As a result, players cannot immediately assume their team has won possession and start attacking aggressively. Equally, they cannot assume they have lost possession and become overly defensive.

Doing either too early creates risk.

If players attack too early, they may expose the team defensively if possession is lost.

If players defend too early, they may miss an opportunity to support a teammate and create an advantage.

Therefore, the Contest phase requires balance.

Players must remain connected to the contest, continue gathering information, and respond to the cues that emerge.

Once possession becomes clearer and the ball carrier has sufficient time and space to intentionally move the ball, the team has entered Attack.

Likewise, once the opposition has sufficient time and space to intentionally move the ball, teams enter Defence.

A phrase I often return to is:

Just because your team has the ball does not mean the game has entered an attacking phase or that you have earned the right to attack yet. Possession alone does not create attack; time, space, stability, and information determine whether a team can intentionally move the ball.

This distinction helps players understand that possession alone does not determine the phase. The level of certainty around possession and the information available to players are equally important considerations.

I also believe this distinction is particularly important in Australian Rules Football.

Australian Football is played on the largest invasion game field in the world and involves more players on the field than most invasion sports. As a result, there is often greater congestion, density, and uncertainty around the ball.

Players positioned further away from the contest do not always have clear access to the same information as the players closest to it.

This differs from sports such as soccer, where the field is smaller, there are fewer players, and possession can often be identified more clearly across the entire team structure.

Because of the size of the field and the number of players involved, Australian Football often requires players to make decisions with incomplete information. This is one of the reasons I believe Contest deserves to be recognised as its own phase rather than being grouped into either Attack or Defence.

In simple terms:

  • Stoppage = Organised uncertainty.
  • Contest = Disputed or unstable possession.
  • Attack = Stable possession with the ability to intentionally move the ball.
  • Defence = Opposition possession that is stable enough for them to intentionally move the ball.

This distinction helps players understand that not every phase of the game provides the same level of information, and therefore not every phase should be approached with the same decisions or behaviours.

SCENARIOS

Scenarios are the situations that occur within a phase.

For example, within Attack:

  • Live Ball Movement
  • Controlled Ball Movement

Live Ball Movement occurs when the ball carrier can be tackled and decisions must be made under pressure.

Controlled Ball Movement occurs when the team has secured possession through a mark or free kick and can dictate tempo before play recommences.

Scenarios form part of the pattern recognition process. They help players identify what type of game situation they are currently operating within.

PHASE ROLES

Phase roles describe a player’s responsibility based on their proximity and relationship to the ball rather than their listed position.

These phase roles help players understand how they contribute within a particular scenario.

TEAM RULES

Team Rules are non-negotiable behaviours that create alignment across the team.

These rules provide clarity on what players should consistently do in specific situations, some examples are listed below.

  • Avoid kicking to short 50/50s
  • Punch From Behind In (LDL)

PRINCIPLES

Principles are broad guidelines that help players make effective decisions across many situations.

Unlike strategies, principles are always active.

Example:

“Use your outnumber rather than bypassing it.”

This principle can apply regardless of the phase, scenario, or strategy being used.

STRATEGIES

Strategies are plans designed for specific situations.

They provide a coordinated team response to a particular problem or opportunity.

Strategies explain what the team is attempting to achieve.

Strategies are triggered by cues that players recognise within a scenario.

Examples:

  • Intercept mark at half back – Switch to open side
  • Live ball win in D50, chaos to calm

CONCEPTS

Concepts are the actionable behaviours players use to execute a strategy.

Concepts are the tools available to players.

Unlike principles, concepts are not always active. They are selected when the situation requires them.

Unlike strategies, concepts do not describe the objective. They describe the actions that help achieve the objective.

Examples:

  • Pocket Play
  • Overlap
  • Bait & Bite
  • Deception Leads

Multiple concepts may be used within a single strategy.

CRAFT

Craft is the individual player’s technical ability to perform the concepts effectively.

Craft includes the skills, techniques, and movement solutions required to execute actions under pressure.

Examples:

  • Scanning
  • Flat kicking
  • Shovel handball
  • Sidestepping
  • Body positioning
  • Receiving technique

Craft enables concepts.

Concepts enable strategies.

Strategies solve scenarios.

Scenarios exist within phases.

ANALYTICS AND PHILOSOPHY

Every game model should be supported by analytics, observation, and coaching experience.

Data helps identify what is effective, experience helps determine what is practical.

Together they shape a coach’s philosophy and influence the principles, strategies, and concepts that are taught.

When you learn something, try to understand where it belongs and how it should be organised.

A useful question to ask yourself is: “Where does this piece of football knowledge belong?”

The purpose of a framework is not just simply to collect information. It is to organise information so that it can be understood, taught, recalled, and applied when required.

THE GOAL

The goal is not to make players robotic, the goal is to create a shared understanding of the game.

By teaching players to recognise patterns, understand scenarios, and apply the appropriate tools, teams become more connected and adaptable.

Football is too chaotic to be scripted.

However, football contains common patterns, and those patterns often have solutions that can be trained.

The more patterns players experience, remember, and train solutions for, the larger their library of responses becomes.

Players should develop large solution libraries. Along the way, they begin to understand what works best for them and what does not.

Some solutions will suit different lists, while others will suit specific players depending on their capabilities, strengths, and limitations.

The objective is not for every player to execute the same solution. The objective is for players to recognise the same patterns and understand the most appropriate solutions available to them within the team’s framework.

This helps clarify the decision-making process while still allowing individual expression and adaptability.

The best teams are not necessarily those that possess the most information. They are the teams whose players see the same pictures, recognise the same cues, recall similar solutions, and consistently arrive at aligned decisions.

Football is too complex to script every moment. However, players can be taught to recognise common patterns and recall trained solutions.

When players share an understanding of the game, recognise similar cues, and have access to a large library of solutions, decision-making becomes faster, clearer, and more aligned.

Remember that the cue triggers the strategy.

The best teams are not defined by how much information they possess, but by how effectively they can organise, recall, and apply that information under pressure. Their players recognise the right patterns, recall the right solutions, and consistently arrive at aligned decisions because they analyse the game the same way.

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Space is more than size

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“The environments we create determine the behaviours we see.”

“The ground dimensions influence behaviour before the game even starts.”

These two philosophies previously taught me that I was not designing practice with enough detail.

If space influences behaviour in training, why would we expect competition to be any different?

Australian Football provides a unique example because every venue has different dimensions. During previous AFL and VFL ground analysis projects, I compared venues against the MCG and quickly realised just how different the environments were. Frankston’s Kinetic Stadium measured approximately 185m x 110m, making it one of the longest and narrowest grounds in Victorian football. In comparison, Box Hill City Oval measured approximately 169m x 151m, creating a vastly different playing environment despite both venues hosting the same sport.

Before the opening bounce has even occurred, both venues present players and coaches with different opportunities and different problems.

A long, narrow ground may encourage teams to lengthen the game, move the ball quickly down the line and focus on territory. It can create more opportunities for forward handball chains while making it more difficult to switch the ball because the width simply is not available. Defences can squeeze the corridor and force teams into predictable ball movement patterns.

A wider ground creates entirely different opportunities. Teams have more room to switch play, spread defensive strategies, kick to advantage and generate overlap through uncontested possession. The additional width creates more opportunities to expose defensive systems and utilise the open side of the ground.

The important lesson is simple:

The ground dimensions themselves influence behaviour before the game even starts.

Teams regularly adjust their strategy based on the dimensions of the venue they are playing on. Training design works exactly the same way. When coaches manipulate the dimensions of an activity, they are changing the opportunities and problems that players encounter. The behaviour changes because the environment changes.

If AFL and VFL clubs adjust their strategy based on the dimensions of the ground, why wouldn’t coaches adjust their activities based on the dimensions of the learning environment?

Space Is More Than Size

Many coaches think about space only in terms of making an activity bigger or smaller. However, space is much more than size. Coaches can manipulate learning through the size of the area, the shape of the area, the density of players, player numbers, markings and zones.

Importantly, these are all separate variables. A coach can keep the playing area exactly the same while changing player numbers. They can keep the numbers the same while altering the shape. They can keep both unchanged and simply introduce zones, scoring areas or restricted spaces. Each change influences behaviour in a different way.

Most coaches think they are changing an activity. What they are actually changing is the problem players must solve. When a coach reduces the space, they are not just making the activity smaller. They are increasing pressure, reducing options and changing the decisions players need to make. When a coach increases the space, they are not just making the activity bigger. They are creating more time, more movement options and different tactical possibilities.

This is why activity design matters. The environment shapes the problem, and the problem shapes the behaviour.

The question is not:

“How big should the activity be?”

The better question is:

“What behaviours am I trying to create?”

How Different Spaces Create Different Behaviours

There are five key ways coaches can manipulate an activity without necessarily changing the activity itself.

The first is size. Smaller spaces generally increase pressure, contested possessions, physical contact, transition moments and decision-making speed. Larger spaces generally increase time, running, kicking, overlap opportunities, uncontested possession and ball movement.

The second is shape. A square often encourages ball retention, support play and shorter passing options. A rectangle tends to promote direct ball movement, territory gain, surge football and end-to-end transition. An oval creates greater switching opportunities, wider ball movement, more realistic football positioning and shots from a variety of angles.

The third is density. Density refers to the amount of space available per player. Two activities may use exactly the same dimensions and yet produce completely different behaviours because the number of players changes the environment. Higher-density activities generally create more pressure, more contests, faster decisions and less available space. Lower-density activities generally create more time, more running opportunities, more kicking opportunities and greater freedom of movement.

The fourth is numbers. By simply adding or removing players, coaches can change the opportunities, decisions and pressures within an activity. Even-numbered activities often create balanced challenges where players must work to create advantages through movement and decision-making. Overloaded activities can help players experience success, identify solutions and explore tactical concepts with more time and support. Underloaded activities challenge players to defend space, compete under pressure and solve more difficult football problems.

The fifth is markings and zones. Coaches can change the learning environment by adding corridors, wide channels, scoring zones, protected areas, launch zones or restricted spaces. These markings influence where players move, where they look, what they value and what decisions they make. Often the environment can teach the behaviour before the coach says a word.

Coaches Need To Know Who The Activity Is Favouring

Coaches need to understand who the activity is favouring.

A smaller space will often favour the defence because there is less room for the attacking team to exploit, fewer passing lanes to access and less time to make decisions. With less space available, defenders can more easily take away time and space from the offence. Passing lanes become smaller, options become limited and pressure arrives faster.

As a result, smaller spaces often create more contested possessions, more tackles, more pressure acts and more transition opportunities. This makes smaller spaces particularly useful for developing contest craft, defensive pressure, tackling, evasion, overlap support, handover behaviours and fast ball movement under pressure.

For attacking players, success in smaller spaces often comes through the ability to break tackles, evade pressure, draw defenders and create overlap opportunities.

A larger space will often favour the attack because there is more room to pass to advantage, spread the defence, create overlap and use running power. Additional space provides more opportunities to switch play, run with the ball and generate uncontested possession. With greater time and space available, attacking teams are often able to manipulate defenders more effectively and expose weaknesses in defensive structures.

This does not mean one space is better than another. It simply means coaches need to understand what the environment is rewarding and whether that aligns with the behaviour they are trying to develop.

Overloads need to created, not just a given

It is easy to give the offence an outnumber in training. This can be useful, particularly when players are learning a new concept or need more time and support to experience success. However, game day does not always provide obvious numerical advantages.

Players must also learn how to create, earn and manufacture overloads through movement, work rate, positioning and decision-making. The best attacking teams do not simply wait for outnumbers to appear. They recognise where the advantage can be created and then work together to exploit it.

One useful coaching principle is that if the game is played with even numbers, teams should be looking to create overloads somewhere else on the ground. This may occur through hard running, splitting defenders, kicking to advantage, owning the outside or recognising patterns before the opposition does.

Creating and exploiting these advantages is one of the most important attacking principles in football.

Density, Numbers And Progressions

One of the most overlooked coaching tools is density. Density refers to the amount of space available per player. Two activities may use exactly the same dimensions and yet produce completely different behaviours because the number of players changes the environment.

Higher-density activities generally create more pressure, more contests, faster decisions and less available space. Lower-density activities generally create more time, more running opportunities, more kicking opportunities and greater freedom of movement. This means coaches can significantly alter the learning environment without moving a single cone.

The same principle applies to player numbers. By simply adding or removing players, coaches can change the opportunities, decisions and pressures within an activity. Even-numbered activities often create balanced challenges where players must work to create advantages through movement and decision-making. Overloaded activities can help players experience success, identify solutions and explore tactical concepts with more time and support. Underloaded activities challenge players to defend space, compete under pressure and solve more difficult football problems.

This becomes particularly useful when progressing or regressing activities. With younger or developing groups, it is often useful to begin with larger spaces, additional time and numerical advantages. This allows players to experience success while understanding the objectives of the activity. As learning develops, coaches can progressively manipulate constraints by reducing space, removing outnumbers, increasing pressure, altering density, changing starting positions or introducing zones.

These adjustments allow coaches to continually challenge players without completely changing the activity.

Space is also an important session management tool. Coaches often spend significant amounts of time moving cones, reorganising groups and resetting activities. Sometimes the most effective solution is not creating an entirely new activity. It may simply be adjusting player numbers, modifying rules or making small changes to the existing space.

Maintaining a similar setup across multiple progressions can improve session flow, maximise active learning time and reduce unnecessary interruptions. Manipulating density and numbers is one of the easiest ways to progress or regress an activity while maintaining session flow.

Using Space As A Coaching Tool

One of the most practical uses of space is as a progression or regression tool.

With younger or developing groups, it is often useful to begin with larger spaces, additional time and numerical advantages. This allows players to experience success while understanding the objectives of the activity. As learning develops, coaches can progressively manipulate constraints by reducing space, removing outnumbers, increasing pressure, altering density, changing starting positions or introducing zones.

These adjustments allow coaches to continually challenge players without completely changing the activity.

Space is also an important session management tool. Coaches often spend significant amounts of time moving cones, reorganising groups and resetting activities. Sometimes the most effective solution is not creating an entirely new activity. It may simply be adjusting player numbers, modifying rules or making small changes to the existing space. Maintaining a similar setup across multiple progressions can improve session flow, maximise active learning time and reduce unnecessary interruptions.

Every Change Creates A Consequence

If you change something somewhere, it will always affect something somewhere else.

This is one of the most important principles of activity design. Every constraint interacts with other constraints, which means there is no isolated adjustment. Changing the space, numbers, rules, scoring system, starting positions or zones will always shift the problems players are solving.

Sometimes that change will progress the activity. Sometimes it will regress it. Sometimes it will create an unintended behaviour the coach did not plan for.

Every modification influences the decisions, behaviours and outcomes that emerge. As coaches, our role is not simply to change constraints. Our role is to understand the consequences of those changes and ensure they align with the learning outcomes we are trying to achieve.

Space is not just a way of organising players. It is one of the most powerful tools we have for shaping behaviour, because the environments we create ultimately determine the behaviours we see.

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2022 GRAND FINAL ANALYSIS

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With the AFL Grand Final being played this Saturday to conclude the 2022 season, we have written our annual analysis to breakdown how each side could look to strategically play. This will help you formulate your Grand Final prediction by using some of the information these AFL teams would be using. We will identify trends and then discuss how each side can nullify their opponents strengths and then exploit their vulnerabilities to understand who is most likely to win the game. 

Turnover

The most critical phase of the game in football is forcing the opposition to lose possession and then how you turn that into a score for you. It’s called scoring from turnover, the modern name for scoring from counter attack in the AFL. History says that 60 per cent of scores come from turnover, making it the highest scoring source in the AFL. Luckily for passionate football followers both Sydney and Geelong are ranked #1 and #2 for score from turnover this season, which means we could all be in for a high scoring spectacle between the two sides. 

Strike rate is a stat we use for per every 100 times something happens what do you get in return for it, per 100 turnovers the AFL average return score is 70 points. But Geelong and Sydney are so good at defending turnover, they have forced teams to only score 45 (Cats) and 49 (Swans) when you win the back the ball since round 18.

According to each grand finalist since 2014 the points against the premiership side have been within 311 points but the points for have been within 666 points.  The difference between the premiership sides from 2017-2019 has been 27 points against overall for the season, but the points for have varied from 120 points overall.  As defence has evolved every season since 2017, the competition is becoming more even, but the differences between the best sides isn’t who has the best defence, it’s the sides that can force turnover and exploit the best defences.

For context, if you have a top six ranking it is a premiership profile, but since these two teams are top six in most aspects of the game, top two is then critical to seperate their differences.

Sydney’s Strengths & Vulnerabilities

From the coaches box, this is what each team could be considering. At the start of this season, Sydney were ranked top two for defending opposition ball movement and attacking ball movement, to round 18 they were ranked top four again this season which has been very impressive. But if you’re basing your information from then it could be misleading. Since round 17 Sydney have dropped from 4th to 10th in the competition for attacking ball movement, which is because they are taking the second fewest intercept marks in D50 – so they aren’t getting the control ball movement they want to rebound the ball, which is why their ball movement has suffered off the back of less interceptions. But they have tightened up in the contest and stoppages since this has happened as a plus. It’s not that they aren’t capable of producing this again, but they are now facing the #1 ranked team at defending opposition score upon turnover and #1 at defending opposition ball movement in Geelong, and if your not in form in all areas come finals, often your vulnerabilities find you. 

Sydney are the ranked the best post-clearance contested possession team in the competition. Often you lose these contests because the defence has extra numbers in the back half so it’s harder to win the ball yet the Swans average a +29 winning margin. Only four teams have an average of winning contest in this half of the field and it’s Sydneys edge. Geelong have always struggled in the past at winning ground ball in D50 and the personnel changes to the back line has been to support this. They have filled voids in the past by playing the likes of Atkins down back to support this but Geelong are more covered to counter this now, but are they capable of it if the Swans shut down Stewart with Reid going to him and making the forward entries more chaotic?

Geelong’s Strengths & Vulnerabilities

Geelong has had the best turnover season the competition has seen since 2015 with a differential of +24.1 from turnover per game, they always out score the opposition on turnover. The last team that had this record was Hawthorn who won the grand final by 10 goals in 2015. Geelong is the best at forcing a turnover into a score and #1 at restricting their own turnovers and denying opposition scores. Geelong are are ranked first for denying the opposition from rebounding the ball from D50 into inside 50 since round 18. Sydney will need to find other ways than turnover to score to beat Geelong and nullify their strengths. Centre bounce and stoppages will be crucial. But if Sydney wins the centre bounce battle with 6 vs 6 ahead of the ball, there are no guarantees for the Swans. In they’re last 73 one vs one contests the Cats have only been out marked three times – De Kooning 19 times hasn’t been out marked once, the Swans must bring the ball to ground.

Pressure is where the ball is living and Geelong are ranked 14th since round 18, in the preliminary final last year Geelong’s midfield struggled with the Demons fast transition out of the contest and if the pressure isn’t high could the Swans do the same to them in this final? Since Geelong has added more speed to the the flanks and wings but not so much to the midfield this season Sydney’s pressure will be an indication to look for. Sydney’s pressure is averaging 196 per game over their last nine games, the AFL average is 180, it’s rare to see that over a nine game period. But does Sydney have been dealt with a one day less break and travel, so does this contribute to fatigue and soreness to apply this amount of pressure? When Geelong have received a pressure rating above 180 there record is 5-4 but when they face pressure under 180 Geelong are 15-0.

Key Match Up’s

Tom McCartin’s record on Tom Hawkins in the last three occasions is very impressive, McCartin has only conceded 1, 1 and 2 goals in their last three encounters. With Dane Rampe also having an edge over Jeremy Cameron, his record on Cameron in their last five encounters is 0, 1, 3, 1 and 0. 

We are likely to see Reid to go to Tom Stewart to deny him from intercepting the ball, Stewart has generated 135 points off the back of his interceptions this year making him the #1 interception to score involvement player in the AFL and he missed five games. Swans need to tag him. Ryan Clarke will likely tag one of either Duncan, Isaac Smith or Max Holmes since they are the first players to help outnumber Geelong in defence. It is important they are followed so the numbers always stay equalised, then Geelong can never generate a spare in defence, or rebound through a spare. Very similar to teams tagging Ed Langdon. 

Trends Are Your Friends

In football stats are used to most often to reinforce what we see, we use them to identify trends. Since trends are your friends then Geelong should be leading at quarter time because they have been the highest scoring first quarter team this season along with winning the most first terms this year also, history says if you win the first quarter you will go on to win 70 per cent of games. But expect a tight tussle finish, Sydney and Geelong have won the most quarters this season to, both sides will continually take risks to score. 

The last three premiers have been the ranked #1 team at winning contested possession in their front half, but yet 14 of the last 15 premiers have been the highest scoring team from turnover that season including finals, so in this game since both teams share the number one rank in different premiership indicators who is your friend? 

Picking The Pattern

If you can pick the pattern, it often gives you a better chance at predicting the outcome. 

If Sydney are applying manic pressure; that is troubling Geelong to take marks or rebound the ball quickly they are in control of the game, it is likely we will see a blend of slick corridor bias ball movement. But their focus will be to win stoppages and the next contest post winning clearances by outnumbering further down the ground closer to their goal to equalise the Geelong spares in defence. If we see chaotic forward entries that deny Geelong’s chances of taking intercept marks and a significant loss in contest in their back half or at clearance then Geelong are losing control of the game.

Geelong will rely on their wingers to come back and support their defence quickly to ensure Stewart can get free from an opponent to intercept the ball, which is why it is important for Holmes to be healthy. If Stewart or Duncan are intercepting and rebounding the ball Geelong are in control of the game, Geelong are the better ball movement team and they can defend it to, if Geelong can breakeven around clearance and stay within 15 contested possessions of Sydney through out the game, Geelong will be likely to consider themselves in control of the game. 

Now you decide. 

1

Tactics should solve problems, not create confusion

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With a range of top 8 AFL Sides playing against each other coming into Round 14 of the 2022 season, we thought it was a great opportunity to discuss making tactical adjustments to solve different problems and help create or maintain an advantage within a game. But before making any changes its important to understand what tactics really are, what their purpose is and then having a philosophy aligned to the changes you want to create.

What Are Tactics & Their Purpose?

A tactic is a plan within a game or sport to gain an advantage. It is something you don’t use every game, but you may need to Implement tactics against specific types of opponents to exploit or nullify the oppositions strengths or weaknesses.

e.g. “Normally our team does not play a tagger, but in this game we will do so because there is a player for the opposition that is really important for them, if we can nullify their influence then it increases our chances to win the game.” Different types of games within sports have different tactics, they can be used for an individual or team, we can transfer the tactics from one sport into another.

In the early 2000’s David Wheadon brought the tactic of “Killing the clock”,to the AFL, where teams maintain control of the ball and take low risk passes to use up time in order to assure a win. In 2012 Alistar Clarkson travelled to the US to learn from the San Antonio Spurs to study this further and how to win close games, as they were an Achilles heel for the Hawks in 2011 and 2012 with a 5-7 record in games decided by two goals or less. After a successful study tour, The following season Hawthorn went 4-2 from close games thanks to practicing these scenario sessions at Waverley. Clarkson would set a timer and give the playing group a limited time to either win the game or save the game. He taught and implemented tactical guidelines for the players to use within these situations to assist his players with their decision making. These situations are an example of where tactics were required, these scenarios weren’t happening every game, but we’re required at different times throughout the season.

Philosophy Of Tactics

Tactics can change regularly depending on the situation of the game. You won’t constantly beat good opposition with tactics but you will with strategy. Strategies are reliable, you will use strategies every quarter, tactics you may not use every match.

“If you are losing, inject speed into the game” Craig Jennings

I believe that tactics need to somewhat resemble the way you play naturally but with slight modification or at slightly higher risk. When a tactic is implemented, try to avoid making the players do something they are completely unfamiliar doing, instead making the players do something that is in relation to what they are already doing with minor differences, this keeps predictability amongst one another and avoids drastic changes.

Types Of Tactics

There are many types of different tactics that you can use as alternatives to gain different outcomes depending on what you have at your disposal and the situation you are in. Here are some to list a few.

  • Tagging
  • Physicality & Targeting
  • Rotations
  • Weather Conditional Tactics
  • Miss Leading Information
  • Save & Win The Game Tactical Scenarios.
  • Attacking & Defensive Tactics.
  • Stoppage & Set Plays.
  • Outnumber Tactics.

Examples Of Tactics

In recent seasons I have admired how the best sides have been able to make adjustments within games to change the way the game is being played, through a range of different modifications that have all been effective for different teams at different stages.

Rotational Tactics

Richmond often make player positional changes in various games throughout the past two seasons, the tigers have swapped experienced players into their front half to lift the pressure and create more forward half turnovers. Another example we have seen recently is swapping Noah Balta or Josh Gibcus forward at different stages of the game.

Outnumber Tactics

Outnumber tactics are used to create an outnumber in a specific area of the ground, common outnumber tactical adjustments include a spare behind the ball in defence or a spare at the stoppage. But these tactics dont guarantee an advantage, because if you outnumber somewhere, then you are outnumbered somewhere else.

Tagging & Cooling

A common tagging tactic that teams use in the modern game is also known as a “Cooler”. This is where you send a player to nullify an opposition player in a specific situation, such as paying close attention to them at the stoppage and then releasing them post stoppage.

Physicality & Targeting

But some teams prefer to physically target opposition players without tagging them, previously Hawthorn used bumping, pushing and shoving specific opposition players around the ground to take their mind off the game. They would keep records on how many times the player was targeted physically within the rules throughout the match. They would set goals on going into the game about how many times they wanted to target them in order to disrupt the performance of the oppositions most important player.

Stoppage Tactics

Other stoppage tactics can include how the midfielders position on their direct opponents. Essendon in 2019 had injuries and smaller sized midfielders to some of the other AFL sides, so they asked their players to own the outside of their opponents. This meaning if the opposition won the ball in close they would be tackled with little room to move and evade, but if the ball spilt out, Essendon would be first to the ball since they were closer to it.

Windy Condition Tactics

Windy Weather conditional tactics can include changing where your forward structure positions down the ground. If the breeze is blowing heavily across one side of the ground and the ball is to be kicked long down the line, it could easily blow over the boundary line to being out of bounds on the full. But if the forward structure is set closer to the corridor instead of being wide, then when the kick comes long and blows across, it can stay in play with space for the forwards to lead into.

Adjusting Forward Structure to the wind

Miss Leading information

Providing miss leading information going into a game can be very powerful, telling the media you are planning to attack a specific way this week and then you don’t, you may make the opposition prepare for something that won’t happen, allowing you to surprise them come game day. Naming players that aren’t going to play and extended interchanges can also cause opposition head aches.

Some Questions To Ask Yourself

Have I prepared my playing group for save & win the game scenarios? If so what have we asked them to do?

Do we have tactical adjustments for rainy or windy conditions?

How can we nullify an opposition player through tagging or cooling?

What is my philosophy of how we want the game to be played? What are my tactics that align to that?

Which of our players are most versatile that we can rely on to make impact in a different position?

Lastly a philosophy of mine to take away momentum from the opposition is do the following.

  • Congest Stoppage 
  • Play A Spare Behind The Ball Or Equalise 
  • Tag or Cool
  • Slower Ball Movement 
  • Move The Ball In A Different Direction. 
  • Score From Centre Bounce 
  • Come Forward To Defend

Champion Data will tell you most games are won or lost by four goals, so a couple of good tactics are crucial, if you stop them scoring a couple of times and you score a couple of extra times, then you go from a loss to a win pretty quickly.

If anyone would like to learn further about tactics, strategies and game plans please get in contact with us, or book a coaching education session today (Link below). We also provide courses on creating and coaching AFL game plans partnering AFL SportsReady & The AFL Coaches Association.

https://afhpcoaching.com.au/product/virtual-coaching-education-sessions

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Game plans help solve problems

In every sport there is competition and opposition, it Influences the process and the outcome of the event, yet sport isn’t the only industry that has these factors that can dictate the terms. The business industry is the same and so is the military, but what they all have in common is essentially opposition analysis, training and a game plan. 

Depending on what type of business you are in, you have a service or a product, you will analyse the competition and see what the market is and compare brands to see how you can create an advantage over them, then you would train your staff to thrive in an environment you create and provide a great service which you intend to bring successful outcomes.

In the military for soldiers, especially the men and women that fight in CQB (Close quarter battles) Have a similar process, there are many other underlying factors but essentially, if they have access to the environment they will be going into, they analyse it and then create it to simulate their training inside a structure, then they go out and execute. Working together, they use different strategies to help with their decision making to solve the problem and accomplish the mission. 

Both industries analyse their opposition and competition to find and create an advantage, with their skillsets they then train to prepare to face their opposition, sometimes they train by simulating the situations they will face, then they go and execute their plan to achieve their desired outcome, its very similar but yet so different to sport. 

Because of this, there are so many transferable method’s, skills and action plans you can take away and implement into sport. In regard to game plans, one of the best learnings I have transferred from business is stick to a plan, execute it, then always review what you are trying to implement. From some studies I’ve conducted about military training have concluded that they train different situations and simulate the performing environment. 

These different learnings have assisted in shaping my philosophy. 

A game plan is a set of strategies and tactics with actionable steps to help teams solve a specific problem based on the context and consequences of the problem, it comprises the solutions in what outcomes it achieves and how it achieves them. It has methods, instructions & guidelines for players to follow to enhance their decision making in different situations, this allows for players to become predictable to one another because they understand what they need to do in specific situations that they are familiar to, Its a plan for solving problems, creating advantages and achieving success. 

To be a talented tactician, I believe you need to not only have great tactical knowledge and understand how to plan, but also understand how to provide the best learning environment for players to be able to simulate solving different problems that they would face during a game. 

The all new AFL Sports ready and AFLCA (Coaches association) advanced certificate in creating and implementing AFL game plans course will dramatically improve your knowledge in coaching game plans, it provides many different game plans that have been conducted with in AFL teams. 

You will not only learn about AFL game plans currently, but also how to improve your tactical knowledge by analysing different games where the methods can transfer between different sports. 

The course content covers a range of different information about the following areas

  • Developing a coaches tactical knowledge
  • Developing a players tactical knowledge
  • How to create a game plan
  • Planning and implementing
  • Creating drills for your game plans
  • How to teach the game plan
  • Different game plans for AFL, AFLW, Juniors & Seniors
  • Opposition analysis
  • People management

It also includes vision with examples for you to analyse about different strategies and tactics for you to implement in your side. The last day to enrol is Monday the 12th of October, book your place today.  

Enrol today, by clicking on the link below. 

https://aflsportsready.com.au/our-courses/advanced-certificate-in-creating-and-coaching-afl-game-plans