A Richmond supporter has suggested to me after talking to some of their players after Fridays game that a reason for the terrible disposal is that the balls aren't getting 'played in'.

To translate what they are saying is that due to the fact that the balls are getting rotated with the new kick in rule they are not wearing in and the points of them are staying hard causing them to be harder to kick through? He said that the tigers are using new balls for their goal kicking practice.

Could this be a reason for a terrible disposal? I doubt it but it is a thought, apparantly a ball takes about 50 kicks to wear in.

Do you see the doggies, crows and eagles having problems hitting targets? well theres your answer

good point, although every opponent that Carlton has played against hasn't exactly displayed superb ball skills by foot. (I still don't agree with what Richmond are suggesting though)

A ball that isn't worn in can be a bit hard on the foot when you kick compared to maybe 10 minutes into the game.

This would certainly provide a reasonable explanation when along with these stats:

Handballs % Disp
1 Adelaide 155 43%
2 Hawthorn 151 41%
3 West Coast 150 41%
4 Fremantle 138 39%
5 Essendon* 135 39%
6 Western Bulldogs 134 40%
7 Collingwood 132 36%
8 Richmond 131 40%
9 Port Adelaide 129 39%
10 Kangaroos 125 38%
11 Geelong 118 36%
12 Brisbane 116 37%
13 Melbourne 115 36%
14 Sydney 115 37%
15 Carlton 110 34%
16 St Kilda 107 34%
League Average 129

I'm pumping out the stats today (sorry Jarusa) but this demonstrates that the teams playing successful footy at the moment are handballing a lot and are handballing a lot more often than we are, relevant to possession of the ball.

The only standouts here would be Essendon* and Collingwood, one because of Jobe Watson, the other because of a severe lack of handle errors and presumably midfield pressure. Just to put it in perspective the league average for % of disposals handballing is 38.3%, compared to our 33.7%.

So when we compare it with this table...

Kicks % Short
1 Collingwood 230 65%
2 Hawthorn 220 63%
3 Carlton 217 63%
4 Fremantle 216 64%
5 West Coast 213 62%
6 Geelong 213 61%
7 Essendon* 212 62%
8 Adelaide 209 64%
9 Port Adelaide 204 65%
10 St Kilda 203 62%
11 Western Bulldogs 202 66%
12 Kangaroos 201 62%
13 Melbourne 201 64%
14 Brisbane 198 65%
15 Sydney 196 65%
16 Richmond 194 64%
Average 208

You start to see that we certainly get enough of the ball but we dispose of it more by foot than any other team who is at our level of possession or higher. There's also very little discrepancy between long and short kicking across the league at the moment.

Perhaps our players can use a strategy of softening the ball whenever possible? Personally I wish they worked on their handballing skills, it's again becoming an under-utilised part of our football.

Whatever happened to the famous "Pagan's Paddock"?

Why has the game plan changed soooo much?

Carlton are creating stoppages and trying too hard too be smart with the ball.

I would suspect had Denis had the cattle to work with we would have been playing closer to this brand of footy all along.

brand new out-of-the-box sherrins are perfect to kick, faulkners are a bit of a different story. Poor skills was due to the pace of the game

It was a weird night....really mild and still...and no surprise at about 10 minute mark if the 4th quarter it started to drizzle, although you could sit in the rain no prob as it wasn't cold.

My2 cents would be that there was a bit of moisture in the air, enough to form a surface on the ball etc but not enough to be slipperry under foot...
Result...shiny surfaces like the footy were slippery causing dropped marks, slipping off hand to foot or handpass, slipping between surface of boots and ball but no one slipping over and a fast paced game....

I kept thinking of this when I was watching the errors....just a theory anyway

_________________
“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

Our disposal was poor last year too. I think your Richmond friend has a wild imagination.

I just bought one the other day, no they're not, they're very hard around the stitching and today's boots are more flexible. Resultantly, they're a lot thinner and softer.

It would take about 10 minutes of competitive footy to soften down the sherrins, so this is a very plausible reason as to why our skills are bad. I'm not saying it stands alone as a reason, but it could certainly be a contributing factor given how much we prefer to kick.

I mean look at West Coast and the Western Bulldogs, and even Hawthorn. They're all fantastic by foot and yet they handball quite a bit. Why? Is it purely tactical, situational or is it an adjustment?

my Richmond friend was telling me what some of the players told him, I am sure a ball that is new would 'play' differently to one that has been used for 20 minutes straight. Would certainly feel harder and pumped up more. Still no excuse, he also mentioned that the grass was quite lush and a little longer then usual

I couldn't give a flying f@#k how old the ball is. These guys are professionals.
The tool of their trade is the ball. Use it properly and it works fine.
Cut the crap excuses.
It comes down to the skill, confidence, timing and in some cases protection of the team mate.
I hope I never hear a Carlton player sooking about the ball being too hard.
Regards Pedro.

Blaming your shoes for the fault of your feet.

That's what my Mum called it.

T.W.Sherrins do not make mistakes (new or worn), it is always the user........

_________________
Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you.

Yes but something that can apply a negative impact can be counteracted. There is a strong possibility this could be having an effect, and the more successful teams seem to be the ones who use it a bit more by hand.

It's hardly a place to lay blame but we should consider making small adjustments in terms of how we dispose to bring that into consideration.