Heading into season 2007, Coach Denis Pagan commented that his young team would not learn anything by continuing to play the defensive game plan of the competition (and indeed by the Blues in 2006).
"I ask my players to play inside, efficient, collision football. The issues that continually rear their heads are contested ball wins, defence, limiting your opposition in uncontested ball, effective kicking, and efficiency of possessions per goal. There are subtleties – ie. you might play a loose man in defence; have a seven-man forward line or a four-man forward line with everyone else up in the midfield; make one wingman attacking and the other defensive – but the most important principle in football is to win the ball; everything else will stem from that. It works so much better when you've got a good marking forward to kick long and direct to. I was always a Tom Hafey fan with the way he had his Richmond sides playing. I thought his game plan made a lot of sense: you'd rather have your 50-50 contests in front of goal than out on the wing."
Denis Pagan, Carlton Coach - 2003 to 2007, August 2006, Link attached
As a result, the Blues began 2007 with a different game plan and with faster, more direct football, including the effective removal of spare men in defence and flooding tactics (to some extent). As a result, the average possessions of the team declined marginally from 333 per game to 310 until Round 16, Pagan's last game. Some of this football was indeed very exciting, with high-scoring matches throughout the year. In fact, Round 1 was the only match of the year in which Carlton did not give up 100 points.
Thereafter, stand-in then permanent new Coach Brett Ratten clearly sought to maximise possession and differentiate the team from the performances of earlier in the year. Average possessions for the Blues moved from 310 for the first 16 rounds to 379 for the last 6 Round under Ratten's tutelage, an increase of 22%. This level of possession was also higher than Pagan's 2006, by approximately 13%.
"I ask my players to play inside, efficient, collision football. The issues that continually rear their heads are contested ball wins, defence, limiting your opposition in uncontested ball, effective kicking, and efficiency of possessions per goal. There are subtleties – ie. you might play a loose man in defence; have a seven-man forward line or a four-man forward line with everyone else up in the midfield; make one wingman attacking and the other defensive – but the most important principle in football is to win the ball; everything else will stem from that. It works so much better when you've got a good marking forward to kick long and direct to. I was always a Tom Hafey fan with the way he had his Richmond sides playing. I thought his game plan made a lot of sense: you'd rather have your 50-50 contests in front of goal than out on the wing."
Denis Pagan, Carlton Coach - 2003 to 2007, August 2006, Link attached
As a result, the Blues began 2007 with a different game plan and with faster, more direct football, including the effective removal of spare men in defence and flooding tactics (to some extent). As a result, the average possessions of the team declined marginally from 333 per game to 310 until Round 16, Pagan's last game. Some of this football was indeed very exciting, with high-scoring matches throughout the year. In fact, Round 1 was the only match of the year in which Carlton did not give up 100 points.
Thereafter, stand-in then permanent new Coach Brett Ratten clearly sought to maximise possession and differentiate the team from the performances of earlier in the year. Average possessions for the Blues moved from 310 for the first 16 rounds to 379 for the last 6 Round under Ratten's tutelage, an increase of 22%. This level of possession was also higher than Pagan's 2006, by approximately 13%.