The arguments that AFL is turning into a different sport are hardly new. There has been the debate that AFL is turning into rugby, and before that it was supposed to be basketball.
It’s obvious that as footy has become more professional, coaches are turning to other sports to find an edge.
However, I think footy today is most influenced not by rugby, nor basketball, nor gridiron, but by that most irresistible of sources – football.
And not just any form of football, but the football played by Barcelona, which in turn was born from the ‘Total Football’ approach of the 1970s Dutch sides.
It is hard to disagree that today’s footy has evolved.
Defence begins from the front. If you can stop the team from clearing their backline, scoring becomes much easier as you win the ball back in advanced positions.
The last decade has seen variations on this theme of team-wide commitment to defensive pressure and winning the ball back as far up the field as possible. The teams of Ross Lyon have perfected this forward pressure.
As can be seen in this video – pressure starts from the forward line.
Barcelona evolved Total Football into ‘tiki-taka’ – the ball is moved quickly in constantly shifting triangular motions, and possession is king.
This has been adapted two ways. Firstly, football has become a lot more handball happy.
The use of the handball in close has become footy’s tiki-taka – a rapid fire movement to escape the press of total football. When it works, it cut teams to ribbons, just like Barca’s death by passing.
Secondly, possession has taken pre-eminence over territory – handballs and short passes are heading backwards and sideways to keep the ball.
Obviously, lifting a strategy completely from one sport to another is impossible – for one thing, teams are unable to control possession in the manner that Barca and recently Bayern Munich have.
In a game that allows tackling, it’s not really feasible to have 70 per cent of possession. And it’s not enough to just have the ball – Essendon is learning that the ball has to be moved quickly to give the forwards a chance.
It is also becoming increasingly apparent that the full forward of times past is gone. The few that remain kick fewer goals than ever and diversification is king – indeed, teams that don’t have 10 different goalkickers a game are seen to be struggling.
Goals come from the midfield and the smalls. Full forwards are progressively being replaced by the ‘false nines’ – guys who lead the forward line but are just as happy on a flank, the wing or the midfield.
They rotate in and out of their positions in the manner of total football – everyone is always in the game and goals are increasingly kicked by the people who run hardest up the ground, rather than defined forwards.
It’s this sort of environment where Luke Breust, a Thomas Mueller-style player, can nearly lead the Coleman Medal count. Jarryd Roughead wins the Coleman while also pinch-hitting as a ruckman and getting nearly 20 possessions a game.
Chris Mayne is not a big man, and can tackle like a demon. Nick Riewoldt and Buddy Franklin run all over the ground. The Western Bulldogs of a few years ago were an early archetype – lots of runners, lots of smalls, lots of goalkickers.
The big man will always be handy – look at Tom Hawkins on the weekend – but increasingly they are being replaced.
Of course, these observations are not uniform. Some teams have variations on this theme, some only follow select parts and some do not follow it at all. Nor is it necessarily the perfect blueprint – teams have shown through counter-attacking and kicking over the press that it can be beaten.
However, I do believe that, for better or for worse, the AFL coaches were as enthralled by the Barcelona style as the rest of us and have incorporated it into their tactics.
TheBlackCat1859
Guest
It's not hard to change at all. Just because someone says something doesn't make it correct. Most people I know spell 'definitely' as 'definately' - doesn't make it right.
IanW
Guest
Joe B, Rugby football is called rugger. Association football was therefore called asoccer, and then soccer. But yeah. You'll see echoes of Ross Lyon and Paul Roos in how Athletico Madrid play against the Barca style. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2014/01/10/atletico-madrid-proving-tackling-can-be-a-quality/
Dalgety Carrington
Guest
I reckon the obsessive collecting of big forwards is just a smart/sponsored insurance policy. Collect five top pick big forwards and surely at least two of them will be more than handy. If all five turnout to be top flight then they've got some awesome trade bait. Two top shelf big forwards will take you a long way towards a premiership, three big fellas with a potential 180 goals per annum...it's only a matter of time.
joe b
Guest
Good point...hard to change what you know a sport as. I have always known english football as soccer, it is not a derogatory term by any stretch of the imagination, but the amount of people who get upset about it is astounding.
Shouts Chen
Guest
You think about comparing AFL to Basketball. However, you didn't compare to soccer. Football is distinguished into three sports - AFL, Rugby, Soccer.
Colly
Roar Pro
Indeed it doesn't - in fairness to myself I do state that not all teams are moving towards a tiki-taka game plan, indeed some are already acting against it. GWS's tall timber and how they evolve are a very interesting case in point.
onside
Guest
Parents and their kids on the Sunshine Coast talk about playing,League,Rugby, Soccer and AFL. The local ground where Aussie Rules is played, is referred to as the AFL ground.Hard to change.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Gridiron = end zone Netball = can't move with the disc, non contact There endeth any similarities in terms of how a game is played. Players have free reign and only clean possessions are allowed. The discussion is about tactics, and in that respect it shares a lot more with rules football.
me, I like football
Guest
The skills involved with Australian Football make the game very exciting
me, I like football
Guest
I've played it and my best description would be a cross between gridiron and netball but with a frisbee
Titus
Guest
Stop copying it then.
Axle an the guru
Guest
Its funny that Clarkson said that Ryan. I said on roar the other day that i would leave the likes of Judd and Brown in the forward line one on one. I got told by some roares how it would never, could never and never will work. I beleive it would work as i think Brown and Judd would win most one on ones. I think you could get 4 to 8 goals a game out of it. One big argument i got against it was that the backman would run of them, but i dont think any coach would leave them on there own in forward fifty as it only takes one turnover and bang, goal. Turnovers are pretty common in todays game. Hardwick done it agaist Carlton, and Martin kicked the winning goal.
Brendon the 1st
Guest
Pity soccer Sucks though.
Evan
Roar Rookie
Great article, I agree with the comparisons to "tiki-taka", my first recollection of full-ground presses was from the Swans in the mid-90s under Rodney Eade. Paul Roos then took it to another level and won a flag with it and his former assistant Ross Lyon has taken it on at both St Kilda and Fremantle, with good success, without a premiership though. The point about big forwards being replaced I don’t agree with at all, I would go as far as saying that they are more important than ever. They are the get-out clause in football when the heat is on. If the attacking team can’t beat the press with handball, particularly off their half-back line, the key-forward or ruckman is positioned so that the long kick can be put in, usually resulting in a ball-up or a throw in which eases the congestion. Geelong and Hawthorn have played this successfully since 2007 and 2008.
Evan
Roar Rookie
Yes, thank you - I hate it when people call Australian Rules Football, AFL
Stavros
Guest
Just like in AFL, possession soccer can be exciting as long as the ball is moving forward. AFL blokes don’t throw the ball, they kick or handball it.
josh
Roar Rookie
This is triggered my thoughts (the back to the future tatics); as the AFL website had an article about the torpedo. Gold Coast suns use this fast break/ kicking over the back strategy a bit with Trent McKenzie, just need a forward. But with current footy tactics, the stay at home forward can get a bit lonely. You see it with Jonathan Brown, essentially plays as a stay inside the forward 50 forward now. But even he wants to press forward to get the ball, to pass to no one. I do wonder if coaches are swayed by either the statsmen and the media in terms of disposals (being the measure of the worthiness of a player) or if that's more an effect of the possession heavy game plan.
vocans
Guest
Back to Peter Hudson then. It is already happening a bit. If a big forward can win 50-70+% of inside 50s and convert 70% you're looking at a great score. Buddy would be back in the square but no longer in the guernsey Hudson wore. Stream fast smalls into the forward 50 to follow the ball and they can pick up some of the residue.
Titus
Guest
The difference is possession games in football are still very exciting given the skills involved and the smaller pitch. Wouldn't blokes just throwing the ball to each other on a massive oval get a bit boring?
Ryan Buckland
Expert
The Alistair Clarkson segment on AFL360 last night was very interesting in this regard. He basically said that the congestion issue is part of the natural evolution of the game, with teams responding to the press and handball happy ball movement by blocking up space around the ball and not allowing such easy transition by hand. Clarkson then went on to say what he sees as the next evolution is that smart teams will leave big forwards "at home" in isolated situations against one defender, and look for fast break options (seeing as we're mixing sporting metaphors...). I tend to agree with that assessment - and you've already seen it happen more this year (in terms of isolated contested situations in the forward 50), and even last year to some extent (with a lot more "kicking over the back" and fast breaks). Puts the Giants' forward line mix into perspective a bit, if that's the way they're heading. The other thing I would guess GWS are doing in terms of key forwards is hoping that all three develop into at least A graders, and they can then trade one for an established mid in a year or two when they're contending.