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AFL Community Club: Latest News http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/ Latest news from Coaching en AFL Community Club: Latest News http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/typo3conf/ext/tt_news/ext_icon.gif http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/ 18 16 Latest news from Coaching TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 20 Jun 2013 15:55:00 +1000 Building a Game Plan http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=49&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2535&cHash=8cb841aee41a3d6bfd81cf63d27a619f Peter Schwab considers the building blocks for developing a game plan As a coach you will often be asked, “What is your Game Plan?”

Fundamentally a game plan is the systematic and consistent manner in which you coach your team to play. It incorporates your strategies, tactics and team rules or playing principles. For me there is a difference between strategy and tactics, but I consider playing principles a better term to use than team rules.

The word strategy derives from the Greek word 'strategos' and translates to the art of the general. This is appropriate for sport, because you can substitute general for coach. In simple terms I define strategy as: “A basic system of playing which is consistent and is seen as a plan to achieve your coaching objectives.”

Tactic also comes from the Greek 'taktike' and translates as organising the army. This is also appropriate as it means what are the actions I need to take to organise my team.

Under these two comes playing principles which refer to basic requirements of all players to play the game. A playing principle may be as simple as achieving peak fitness or where to kick the ball from defence under pressure. In football strategy always comes before tactics, because you need to establish what your objective is before you can take action. Think of strategy as the long term goal and the tactics as the actions you take along the way to get to your goal.

First question I think you need to ask yourself as a coach is; “What is the basic objective of your game plan?” It may be as simple as to win games of football. Only you can answer if how you win is important. In war the aim was to win battles, did it matter how they won? For you as coach it might matter how you win. You may want to win by kicking big scores and playing an offensive style or you don’t care if you win as long as you win. In any sport, and particularly at junior level, we don’t want teams to play and win without sportsmanship and fair play. This doesn’t mean you can’t play physically but you play within the rules and spirit of the contest.

So what is your strategy for Building a Game Plan? Building a game plan is a complex, multi-layered plan with a reliance on people and resources. It is not just about what happens on match day. That is the final outcome of a lot of planning.

To build a great game plan you need to be very good at strategic leadership. This means you have the ability to motivate people to take the initiative to improve their input into the organisation. And strategic leaders are always analysing the present in terms of preparing for the future. The building blocks and initial considerations for your Game Plan need to consider and answer the following:

Recruitment

The types of player you recruit – considering depth in positions, size and shape, skill level, competitive will, experience and youth are some factors you need to be sure about if you want to implement your game plan.
If you are not recruiting directly then those who recruit for you need to understand exactly the types of player you want. The recruiters, more than anyone, need to understand your game plan the best if you hope to get players who can implement the game plan successfully

List Management

What players do you need to keep?
What players do you need to add?
What players can you afford to let go?
Long term versus short term decisions

Coaching

What is your coaching structure for maximum effect? Do you have a variety of coaches to suit the variety which exists in your playing group? Can they teach and educate what you need them to?
The learning environment you create must ensure everyone understands what’s required. You need to take into consideration different personalities and learning styles within the group. You need to present material in a variety of ways
Player education and development is linked to above. How do you maximise their football understanding and development, as well as their personal development?
Meetings – how do you conduct meetings? What is the purpose of every meeting and is it fulfilling your objectives?
What information technology and teaching aids do you use to again suit all players?
How good is your support staff? Can they provide the maximum outcomes in their area of expertise to prepare the players to play your game plan?

Training

Training is probably the most crucial element in implementing a game plan. You have time to educate and can use a multitude of methods to get your message across
When training consider the environment, intensity, technical, tactical aspects, working in groups, individually, lines or whole team
Work out the exact time and outcomes you want from training
Work out the focus; is it defence, offence or set plays?

Evaluation

How do you know if your game plan works? The only way is to measure it and it must be measurable.
How do you measure individual and team performance? If you use statistical data, what do you use and does it measure a game plan?
How do you plan against an opponent?

Terminology

What terminology do you use? It needs to be understand by everyone - coaches and players in particular
It needs to be understood at training, meetings and especially on match day.

Building a Game Plan – Practical Considerations

A game plan is tested every time you perform. It is there to be seen and examined. Therefore there are practical aspects of the game plan that must be assessed, measured and refined if necessary.

Players

What players do you need on a given week?
Do you select tactically to suit your game plan?
Do you select tactically to suit your opposition?
Or is it a combination of both?
Consider this. If you won well the week before, does it mean you will win well this week? Are there certain players who will not be suited against the opponent you play this week?
You need a team that can play the way you believe you need to play to win. That is your strategy to win each game. Selection must be part of the tactics to achieve the strategy of winning.

Ball Movement

What is your objective in general terms to move the ball in possession?
Will this alter in any given week? If so, in what way?
How will you train in any given week to move the ball the way you need to, if you want to win?
How will you move the ball from the following situations: general play, stoppages, kick ins, contested situations, uncontested situations, marks or free kicks?
How will you the move the ball from: Defensive 50 metres, Mid 50 metres, Forward 50 metres? Are there any other areas you define?
Do you play corridor or wider?
What tempo do you play at? When to play with speed or when to play more patiently?
When to kick long? When to kick short?
When do you run and carry?

Opposition Possession

What is your objective when the opposition has possession?
How do you achieve your objective?
How do you train the objective?

Playing Principles

What are your major playing principles?
How do they shape your game plan?
How do you train your playing principles?

Match Day Coaching

How important is match day coaching to implementing your game plan?
What are coaches’ roles on match day?
What are support staff roles on match days?
How do coaches watch the game – areas, general, offensive and defensive and neutral?
How do they teach on match days?
How influential are they implementing the game plan on match day?

Current Trends of Game

How important are current trends to you implementing your game plan?
How do they impact on your game plan?
Will you need to change your game plan as a result?

]]> Coaching Peter Schwab Latest News Thu, 20 Jun 2013 15:34:00 +1000 Injury Management http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=49&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2532&cHash=75b27c9d9dddfb743745553df16e458e Richmond Coach Damien Hardwick discusses injury management processes within an AFL club Each week, a senior coach will write an exclusive column for AFL.com.au in partnership with the AFL Players Association. This week, Richmond's Damien Hardwick discusses how coaches deal with injuries and injured players.

If you were to ask me the one difference between the medical treatments of footballers when I played compared to now, it would be the amount of information the clubs have about their players.

From a coaching and management perspective, the most pleasing thing these days is that we now have a deep injury history for all players, and we know how they will respond to certain injuries and their recovery times.

One thing we do a hell of a lot better than when I played is the pre-emptive stuff. We monitor the players' wellbeing, we know how they're feeling and we take their blood samples to see how their muscles are feeling. Back in my playing days we were a lot more reactionary.

Injury management is a big part of the week for an AFL coach. At Richmond, we have two meetings a week that go for 45 minutes each.

On a Monday we run through the entire list and see what their status is and then we repeat that process on Thursday ahead of match committee to determine who is available to play.

I'm not sure whether this wealth of information has made us more conservative when it comes to injury management, but the amount of information we receive and the large number of medical and fitness staff we have means that we can thoroughly analyse every player and make informed decisions about them.

When it comes to making the call about a player's availability, our philosophy here is that we would rather lose a bloke for one week than for four, so in that respect we tend to take the safe approach and not push the envelope.

One thing about this job is that you tend to become something of an amateur sports physician. All the meetings and all the staff mean I better understand the lexicon and the terminology as well as the complexities of the human body. I now understand the ramifications if you push the body too far.

Club doctors are a critical part of the football operation at our club, although on match days we rarely speak. He makes the call on an injured player during a game and that information is relayed back to me in the box via the board man or someone else.

What tends to happen when a player gets hurt is that we ask for an estimation of how long it might be once we can expect some sort of diagnosis. Usually within five to six minutes we like the doctor to make a call so that we can start thinking about whether to activate the substitute or make major positional adjustments.

There might be an opportunity for a brief chat with the doctor between quarters if something needs explaining, but with so much else going on, it is usually an indirect communication.

One example of the process playing itself out was last year's against Gold Coast when Chris Newman suffered a head knock. We were 'umming' and 'aahing' about what to do because the game was in the balance, but then the doctor made the call that he was no good.

It was a critical game for us and I was trying to win, but at no stage did I consider putting the player in harm's way. I believe it is safe to say that no coach would want to look a player, or his parents, in the eye and admit to putting the player in an uncomfortable position.

Coaches can be in a pretty delicate situation in terms of patient-doctor confidentiality. Obviously there are some situations with injuries where things have to be out in the open. Other times, particularly with regard to mental and behavioural matters, there are things that remain in-house.

Its very important we maintain the confidentiality with our players otherwise the trust factor goes out the window. We trust the doctors to give us the required information but to keep other matters at the required arm's length.

Players understand their bodies better than before, but what remains hard is managing younger players who are on the fringe of selection. They're the ones most likely to pull the wool over your eyes with respects to how they're feeling, perhaps taking some liberties with their wellness charts to make out that they're feeling better than they really are.

Sometimes it is obvious that a player isn't right. They're tight at certain stages and that's when we make the call to get them off the track. It's tough because players are competitive beasts and they love to play. Telling young players that they might need to sit out an extended period is a particularly difficult job for a coach because it can leave them feeling crestfallen.

But we have to manage them to get through an entire season and we do that to the best of our ability.

I watch with interest as the Australian cricketers grapple with their new rotation policy. Football has been heading down that path for some time and we now have a structured approach with our players where they might play three out of every four weeks.

Geelong won the 2011 premiership, in part, because the Cats got off to that 13-0 start and as the wins mounted and their top four hopes became more apparent, they were able to selectively rest players through the later stages of the season to leave them in peak condition for the finals.

Now, it's not so easy to achieve that with a young list because your better players are your younger players and you want to fast track their development by playing them every week.

This year has seen the introduction of a 'rested' category in the weekly AFL injury list. It is something we haven't done well as an industry in the past certainly compared to the NFL, where every team lists every player in the squad and their status every week.

We try to be up front about it at this club. If a player isn't playing, he isn't playing.

]]> Coaching Latest News Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:17:00 +1000 Talent Transfer http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=49&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2524&cHash=b7331a9129373f42a9e28274fc3a4170 The AFL is looking beyond it's traditional recruitment window's to find the next AFL star By Peter Schwab
AFL Director of Coaching

The AFL’s held its second USA International Combine in Los Angeles in April this year with 18 targeted athletes from the US College system identified and tested for their athletic skills and to see how they adapted to football skills. It is a clear indication that the AFL is looking beyond its traditional markets to see if it can find talented athletes who can transfer their elite skills and athleticism in one sport to another. In the USA experiment the AFL has specifically targeted taller athletes.

But talent transfer is not a new concept. In simple terms, talent transfer occurs when an athlete ceases or reduces the significant time, hard work and resources in one sport and makes a switch to another sport. Often the switch is to a sport where the athlete can focus on previously learned skills and movement patterns. This is the big challenge for USA athletes. AFL football is a difficult game to master from a zero or low base and all these athletes have zero experience in the movement patterns of AFL.

Gaelic footballers seem to have been the best transfer athletes to AFL and have been able to adapt to the oval ball and learned to kick it well. They have had the advantage of playing a game where movement patterns and reading the play have been similar.

However the physical advantage the USA athletes will have playing our game will be significant. Those who have trialled are big, powerful athletes with great natural movement and vertical jumping ability. With mostly basketball backgrounds they should have good hand eye coordination and therefore have good clean hands when it comes to handling the ball, even if the AFL ball is oval.

There is not enough mature in body young ruckman in the talent pathway. Whilst there are young AFL players with some ruck potential they are still years away from developing the necessary size and strength to compete in that role at AFL level. Therefore it is that position where a US athlete could play at AFL level.

Mike Pike, a Canadian Rugby Union representative, before transferring has shown bigger athletes can do it. He is now a premiership ruckman player with Sydney and continues to improve with every game, particularly in his overhead marking ability.

Talent transfer will not suit every athlete. The following will assist talent transfer if the athlete:

Is training and competiting at elite level
Is highly motivated and goal orientated
Is accomplished in current sport
Has great self-management skills
Has a great work ethic
Is a proven performer in competitive environments
Has no bad technical habits

It is also critical the athlete who transfers is provided with the best possible coaching and support systems.

The key will be how long it takes to develop the transferring athlete’s skills in the new sport. The aim is for every skill of the game to become automatic. By this I mean the skill is done with little or no conscious thought or attention to performing the skill. This is a difficult stage to get to and likely some will not be able to reach this stage or reach it quickly.

This is also true of their ability to understand and grasp the tactical aspects of their new sport. Again the athlete will struggle until these also reach an autonomous stage.

Despite the hurdles that do exist athletes have been able to transfer to other sports and make the elite level. It may take a lot of time and a lot of athletes before you hit the jackpot, but once you do it will encourage other similar type athletes with similar backgrounds to follow.

The one thing AFL has always provided is opportunity for all shapes and sizes and ethnicities to play our game. A tall, possibly black athlete from the USA may be the next person to embrace our game at the elite level.

]]> Coaching Play AFL Latest News Peter Schwab Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:44:00 +1000 Spreading the Load http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=49&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2523&cHash=61c3c7d695295f1c07ad3874353911a2 Geelong Coach Chris Scott discusses the dynamics in the coaches box Each week, a senior coach will write an exclusive column for AFL.com.au, in partnership with the AFL Coaches Association. This week, Geelong's Chris Scott looks at where the buck stops on match days. When does he take charge and when does he delegate? There are a number of people who sit in our coach's box on match days. We've got performance analysts in there, we have a sports science representative, we have our footy managers, Neil Balme and Steve Hocking, who overlook the dynamics of the box.

To be honest, 'Balmey' and 'Hock' don't tend to say a lot. I use them as sounding boards, but they are really there to bring some quality control to the dynamics in the box as much as anything. They calm people down if they're getting a little bit excited, which doesn't happen too often, and not for any great length of time, anyway. Any reaction from the people within our box might last for a few seconds, and then we move on pretty quickly.

But once we've established the roles and responsibilities of the coaches, then it's up to them to drive their particular areas. Probably similar to our footy managers, my role with those coaches is to keep them on task and to question them at the appropriate time. Once I'm happy with their direction, it's my job to give them the responsibility for the implementation of those actions.

The amount that senior coaches delegate to their assistants in the box on match days probably has changed a lot in the past decade or so, although I didn't sit in the coach's box too often when I playing for the Brisbane Lions, so it's hard for me to draw too many comparisons.

I think the information available to coaches during the week is a lot greater now. My assumption is that these days, coaches go in more prepared for what's going to happen, rather than just adjusting and adapting on the day.

Certainly, I think the assistant coaches were a little more wary of speaking up in the past. Nowadays, their role is not so much to ask questions of the senior coach - at least in our box it tends to work the other way. The coaches have a responsibility to look after their areas, and I see it as my responsibility to question them on it and make sure that they're delivering what we planned during the week.

Of course, no matter how good your planning is, things always go wrong on match days, whether it involves an injury or a match-up not working out.

My personal philosophy – and I understand that some coaches might approach situations differently – is that there is always time. To rush to a decision in 20 seconds, when it might not have made any difference if you had spent three minutes coming up with a really considered decision, is not logical.

It is easy to get sucked into reacting quickly. Something happens and you think you have to make a call straight away. But things take time. The runner might busy attending another issue, a player might be on the other side of the ground and take a while to come off.

Generally, we are really clear in our box on who should be commenting in pressure situations and who shouldn't, although our approach is collaborative. I always want to take some extra time to first hear properly from the person whose area the issue relates to. If it is a tactical issue, that will be an assistant coach. If it is an injury or a question about whether a player should be subbed off, often the medical person will be the first to comment. Often a person will make a suggestion and from there it will be as simple as me giving the green light to that.

Very occasionally, I'll decide on a different course of action. But then there will always be discussion after that. It's not a matter of me making the call and not asking the others for their input.

Since I started coaching, the lesson that time-pressure is not as acute as I first thought is one of the biggest things I have learned. The other thing my experience has shown me is that our coaches are good operators. It would be blind faith to completely trust people before they've earned it. However, my couple of years at Geelong have taught me that we do have great people who are capable of making very strong decisions.

While it is important to delegate, you can't delegate without accountability. So whenever mistakes are made in our planning or on game-day, it is important that we review those. And I think we do that better now than we did two and a half years ago when I started out as a senior coach.

]]> Coaching Latest News Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:31:00 +1000 Sheedy - Delivering Messages http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=1782 Kevin Sheedy discusses giving messages to young players Coaching Latest News Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:04:00 +1000 My Coaching Pathway - A Learning Journey http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=49&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2498&cHash=91db717a006a449a81190db0cb0dbd22 Paul Satterley (Development Coach at Melbourne FC) reflects on his 12 year coaching journey By Paul Satterley
Development Coach (Forwards) at Melbourne FC

My journey as a coach has included stints at all levels including local football, TAC Cup, VFL and now as Development Coach with Melbourne FC.

Beginning as a player/assistant coach at Hoppers Crossing, this particular role kick-started my passion for coaching, even though in my mind I initially felt it was a token (albeit much appreciated) gesture from the local club to entice me to play for them at the end of my playing days at VFL level.

Given this, it took me by surprise how much I enjoyed the additional responsibility and leadership required to drive training standards and actually start tapping into what knowledge I had, although I also didn't realise how much of an influence my previous coaches had been on me until I was thrust into serious coaching.

It was early in my coaching when I learnt how important preparation was to maximizing your time at a club. I struggled with any ad hoc training whereby I was expected to run a drill or an entire session with minimal or no notice. I now understand the importance of time and utilizing every session in ensuring you have clear objectives of what you want to get out of your training. The time you spend planning and reviewing training is extremely important, regardless of what level you coach.

After an enjoyable five years coaching local football (three as a senior coach), I was eager to learn from other coaches and felt this would be best achieved by becoming an assistant in the TAC Cup (Western Jets), in the same year I also took on a part time role with VFL side Williamstown.

It was in this year where I gained a better understanding of talent identification, as well as focussing solely on your division (particularly on match day), in my case it was the midfield. I initially found this quite challenging, however both coaches I was supporting (Mark Neeld & Brad Gotch) were very strong in making sure I was across my area.

It was within this season that I was also exposed to a genuine game plan. The key to implementing the game plan was to practice it and refine it with each training session. Players were acutely aware of their roles within the team and if they stepped out of the team rules, they would have to deal with the consequences.

At the completion of this season, I took on the coaching position at Northern Knights, a team littered with talent, and where the external expectations were high. Internally, the focus was very clear, continuous development.

The learnings from my previous year were vital, it wasn't about the scoreboard from week to week, it was to give players the best chance of taking their football to the next level. I also gained a greater appreciation of a players 'character' and 'competitiveness' and how this would inevitably separate the 'good' from the 'very good'. These two traits were integral to players we listed as well as driving standards amongst our group throughout the year.

Overall, I spent three enjoyable years in the TAC Cup system before moving to the VFL as a Development Coach at Werribee, running an Academy for the 1st and 2nd year players.

My role was to educate and coach the players on a whole host of topics that would support them as they entered senior football. We focussed on various topics such as time management, dietary education, goal setting, developing a personal trademark amongst various other components.

I was also in a position to support many of the players who were either on the fringe of senior football or on spending time going back to their local club as they had missed selection. The key to this was communication, being open and honest with each player as to why they were not selected and setting out a plan to enable them to potentially gain selection.

After three years running the Academy, an opportunity presented itself to apply for the senior coaching position at Werribee. I was fortunate to appointed to this role and all that it offered. Aside from the core business of coaching the team, I was required to build strong relationships with key stake holders including our Board and Major sponsors. In particular, the Board was appreciative of regular updates and insight as to how the team was performing, projections of our position and clear objectives as to how we would improve as a club.

The position at Werribee provided me with an insight into AFL coaching due to our alignment with the Kangaroos. I utilized this time as effectively as I could to gain access to their coaching methods, philosophies and processes. They were very supportive of me spending time within their club. I learnt a lot in regard to pre-game meetings, post-match reviews as well as the attention to detail required to improve your playing list.

Some of the key learnings were to limit the amount of information you provide pre-game as 98% of your work and preparation is done throughout the week, cover off the key points you want to focus on (may only be 3-4 points). Post-match reviews are the time to teach and educate your players, as the time you spend on the training track during the in-season is extremely limited. Cater for the different learning styles and know your players, they certainly did this really well.

Relationship building in all coaching levels is extremely important, whether it be with your players, your staff, the Board or your Major sponsors. Now that I am involved with an AFL club, my passion for my job is the same as when I first started.

Many aspects of what I do are no different from when I was coaching local football;

Planning and Preparation is vital
Effective usage of your time
Ensure you have clear knowledge of your role and club/coach expectations
Practice what you want to achieve match day
Character & competitiveness are important traits across all levels
Communication is integral to building relationships within your club
Cater for different learning styles

In summary, my journey to the AFL has taken a long period of time (12 years) and my pathway has incorporated all levels of football. However I have always been very clear in my own mind of my plan to step up to the next level. I have also made sure that with every opportunity a club has provided me that I have totally committed myself, you never know where that approach may land you (in my case I was fortunate to have spent time with Mark Neeld and subsequently offered a role with him four years later). I encourage you to set out a plan of what you want to achieve in your own coaching aspirations and speak with the relevant Leagues and AFL Victoria as to how you may improve yourself within the system or the level you are coaching.

Paul Satterley is the Development Coach – Forwards at Melbourne Football Club. This article was written as part of the requirement for AFL High Performance Coach Accreditation

]]> Coaching Latest News Fri, 31 May 2013 14:50:00 +1000 You Burn and Learn http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=141 John Worsfold says that making mistakes is the best way to become a better coach Coaching Latest News Thu, 23 May 2013 15:13:00 +1000 Evolution of the Tagger http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=1778 Fremantle's Ross Lyon looks at the role of taggers and run-with players in modern footy Coaching Play AFL Latest News Thu, 23 May 2013 11:01:00 +1000 Halting Momentum http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=1775 Sydney Swans coach John Longmire outlines his tactics to halt momentum swings Coaching Latest News Play AFL Thu, 16 May 2013 12:46:00 +1000 Seven Minutes and Counting http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=49&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2445&cHash=dcdc97d836260740f27b97c31415ffc6 North Melbourne's Brad Scott explains what happens between quarters Each week an AFL coach will write an exclusive column in partnership with the AFL Coaches Association for afl.com.au. This week, North Melbourne's Brad Scott explains what happens during the flurry of activity between quarters. Quarter-time and three-quarter time breaks might only last seven minutes, but they are critical times in a game. Australian football is one of the few sports in the world where you can't call a timeout during play to immediately address any concerns you have as a coach. A runner can deliver instructions to individual players, but you can't get a message to your entire team until the next break. In some games, you wish you could bring quarter-time or three-quarter time forward so you could get out there and talk to your players. Once the siren goes, coaches have got to make every second count. In such a limited time, you can't overload players with too much specific information because there's only so much they can take in before you just end up confusing them. It's basically about breaking down what's going to give us the best chance of winning. But before I address the team, we get the players to walk around for a little bit, just to try and flush some of the lactic acid from their legs. After the siren, most of their heart rates will be at 85-90 per cent of their maximum level. You've got to be conscious that they are extremely fatigued and fatigue has a huge effect on concentration. So we use the first two minutes of the break just to get the players physiologically calmed down. I really like to get the players' feedback in that time, so our line coaches walk with their respective groups and ask them what they think has been going on out on the ground. As coaches, we can get a pretty good sense of the way the game is unfolding from up in the coach's box, but it's very difficult to get a feel for the pressure the players are under. So we like to get their feedback first up. Our line coaches will then briefly spell out to their players the most pertinent points to have come out of the game from the coaches' perspective, while I might also speak one-on-one with an individual player if I think it's necessary. But, generally, I try to use this time to calm myself down, because when I address the players I want to make sure I'm giving them a really clear and succinct message. You don't want to let emotion get in the way of that. So I spend a fair bit of time looking at our match-ups on the whiteboard, determining the way we want to go at the start of the next quarter. By the time we've done that, I'll often only have 90 seconds to address the team before they go out again. When I get the group around me, I try not to get too much into specifics. There are a huge number of factors that influence the result of a game, but you've got to try and break it down to the one or two that you think are most important. Most of the time I'll talk about what we need to improve and reinforce the things we're doing well. But coming from the coach's box, we've been able to get an overall perspective on the game that players can't get out on the ground. So I think the role of the coach here is to inform the players: 'Hey, guys, this is what's happening'. Especially when things aren't going well, you need to give your players a way forward: 'Right, this is what's happening, this is how we fix it'. I'm normally fairly measured with the tone of my message, but sometimes a calculated spray makes sense. You've got to pick your time and recognise that it becomes a blunt instrument if you use it too regularly. It also comes back to understanding your players, both as a group and individuals. When I was a very young player I never quite understood how abusing a player would make him play any better. And, as a coach, your job is to make your players and your team play better – it's as simple as that. If you know that a player won't respond well to a spray then why would you do that? You're only letting your emotions get the better of you. But there are times when you can elicit a response from the group and from individual players with a bit of fire and brimstone. When I'm addressing the players, I try to gauge whether they're switched on and my message is getting through. There are days when I think I've really got the players' attention and they understand everything perfectly and I'm convinced they're going to go out and execute really well, but they don't. Other days I'm a bit concerned and they do. It's always very difficult to judge, but I think you're always better to err on the side of simplicity with your message because the biggest mistake you can make is being too complex and confusing your players. At three-quarter time of our NAB Cup game against Gold Coast this year, we shifted a lot of players into different positions and went with a lot of different set-ups, which resulted in mass confusion. That was a great example for me of not being too complex with your message. But it can work the other way. Take our round 17 game against Richmond last year, for example. We went into three-quarter time that day seven points down. We had been pretty good for most of the game, but Richmond had been very good as well and had some terrific plans in place to make it difficult for Drew Petrie on our forward line. At that break, we were able to make some structural changes that made a significant difference to the way we were moving the ball and helped Drew out a bit more. I'm not saying for a second that the work our coaches did at that break won us that the game. Drew was the one who went forward, marked the ball and kicked five goals in that last quarter. But with a relatively simple message and a few small changes, we were able to at least give him a better opportunity to do that. As a coach, you only wish your message worked that effectively at every quarter-time and three-quarter time break.]]> Coaching Latest News Wed, 08 May 2013 15:33:00 +1000