by Ethan Phoenix

Created on: May 03, 2009

On Sunday I sat and watched the Crows beat the Demons. I have never been so depressed by a game in all my life. The Crows won comfortably but for the first time in 18 years, I nearly turned the TV off before the end of the game. It was the battle of the zones and Neil Craig won. All the supporters lost because they had to sit through two hours of slow ball movement, skill errors and low scoring footy. I congratulate the Channel 7 commentary team for not once complaining about the endless zoning and flooding that was going on. They got a bit excited when the Demons kicked some goals and so did I. I almost wanted the Demons to win to prove that flooding doesn't work. There is no point winning the ball in the midfield if none of your forwards are in the forward line. To quickly explain flooding it involves your entire team gathering on the defensive side of centre square and standing in certain spots or gaps on the ground to block space for your opposition. Zoning only involves midfielders and defenders blocking space and your forwards still remain in the forward line.

All Crows supporters were blaming the players for the poor spectacle. Don't blame the players, blame the coaches. The Crows have been taught to constantly zone back, chase and tackle. If you go into a game with that mindset then you are not going to kick more than 10 goals. All flooding does is minimise your opponent scoring. It doesn't maximise your scoring opportunities. Neil Craig prefers to use the term 'rectangular zone', which he has copied from Hawthorn or hockey I believe. I hate to state the bleeding obvious but this is footy not hockey. Hawthorn were successful last year using this strategy and won a premiership. They only used this tactic sparingly and their main focus was on winning contested footy at clearances. If you excel in clearances and contested footy then you don't need any zoning at all. Zoning is only relevant when your opposition wins the footy. The Hawks were a more aggressive and physically stronger side than the Crows last year. It makes me wonder how much the Crows practice clearances from ruck taps at training. We really struggle in this area. We struggle with body strength as well and there may be too much emphasis on aerobic fitness over lifting weights at training.

Anyone who saw the Crows vs Demons game is thinking the Demons did the same thing by flooding back. This is true but what they should have done is went man-on-man. Our defenders were racking up possessions

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