Essendon v Geelong AFL match today

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jethro's picture

I am currently watching the Geelong v Essendon AFL match on TV. IT is being played at a frenetic pace. The comment keeps being made, "How do you shut that down?" I'm not sure what the answer is. The play on statistic is being displayed but it must be high. For those who dont follow what that means is that when a mark is made, instead of going back and kicking over the mark, the player taking the mark is either handballing immediately to another player running past him, or turning and running on himself, sometimes not even giving any respect to the player marking him. The speed with which this is being done is certainly making this a good option.
One idea I have been toying with, and it would probably take a team like Sydney Swans to pull it off is a very physical game, and possibly try and put one of these teams mentally off the idea of running on for fear of getting smashed.
In the meantime, it is very interesting to watch and compare with the way us old blokes play. We don't have the speed and agility of these young athletes so our game cannot be played this way, but instead have to play a more traditional style. Talking of which, our first game is this Saturday night under lights. I am hoping my quad / thigh / hamstring strain will be OK. At the moment I can jog comfortably, but sprinting is out of the question. I will have to stretch very well before the game and then make sure that I dont get sucked into trying to sprint. I will have to make space for myself by strong body contact and moving in the other direction or get into space by being sneaky. I may well end up playing a more defensive role and just looking to punch balls out of the half back line.
Can't wait!