By Connor Schmidtke
As teams prepare to return to action this weekend following the Easter break, Division Two is serving up an exciting Friday night clash between Heathmont and Ringwood.
Ringwood has enjoyed two close wins to open their campaign and will look to keep pace with the division’s top teams, whilst Heathmont is also coming off a round two victory, defeating The Basin by 15 points despite some inaccurate kicking.
This match-up promises to be electric, with both teams showing highly aggressive offensive set-ups early in the 2022 season.
The Key Takeaways
Heathmont
One major statistical factor that has been a real positive for Heathmont early in the season, is their high number of scoring shots and inside-50 opportunities.
Across their first two games, the Jets have recorded 36 scoring shots which is amongst the best in the division to start the season.
So how have they done it?
Firstly, Heathmont tend to set up very aggressively defensively when the ball is inside their attacking 50.
What this means, particularly in round two, was that their first line of defenders would set up just outside their forward arc. On multiple occasions they would build a wall of players just in front of the centre square, allowing their midfielders to push forward to compete at stoppages.
What this meant in round two was when the Jets opposition (The Basin) hacked a clearing kick out of their backline, Heathmont were well positioned and set-up to not allow them an easy outlet kick. This lead to a large number of intercept marks for the Jets, setting them up in damaging positions just outside their forward 50.
What it enabled them to do firstly was to get quick repeat entries inside 50 to overwhelm their opponent. But secondly, it also allowed them to flood more numbers to certain contests heading into their attacking half.
As seen in this image from their game, the Jets swarmed forward and end up here with a 7v4 contest inside their own forward line. This style means they can work the ball by hand to find more damaging positions, all rolling from their aggressive defensive structure.
When the Jets win the footy are excellent at spreading into the middle of the ground and utilising the space through the corridor. As discussed in previous match analysis, owning the corridor goes a long way to winning matches. This leads to more efficient entries inside 50 and is a huge reason why they have racked up such a high number of scoring shots the opening two weeks.
Ringwood
The Redbacks have started their year the best way possible, winning two tight encounters against The Basin and Mulgrave.
Despite claiming the four points in both games, Ringwood have only managed a total of 107 points from their eight quarters of footy so far.
But their low scoring is not a true representation of their style.
The main takeaway from their clash with Mulgrave, is how good the Redbacks midfield and forwards are at hitting the front of the contest for front-and-centre opportunities.
As seen in this screenshot from their round two clash, the ball hits a one-on-one contest near the forward 50 arc for Ringwood.
The key thing that the Redbacks do well, is the numbers swarming to the front of the pack and helping to win this key contest in an attacking position. The swarm of numbers means that when Ringwood win the footy (like Heathmont), they can link up through hands and continue to move the footy closer to goal.
Where the game will be won
In plenty of cases, a team’s biggest strength can also be their greatest weakness.
In Ringwood’s case, they are susceptible to exposure from their main strength.
When they swarm numbers forward of the football to win key contests, occasionally they won’t win the footy at the coalface. What this then means, is that the Redbacks can be exposed out the back of the contest, leaving a large outnumber for their opposition heading in the other direction.
Heathmont are a tough side who apply plenty of tackle pressure in the middle of the ground. If they can win enough of these contests around the ground, they will have the chance to catch Ringwood out on the counter-attack.
For Ringwood, they too can flip the script on one of Heathmont’s great strengths.
As mentioned, their aggressive defensive structure across the ground allows them the opportunity intercept and pressure the opposition in dangerous areas.
But what this means when they press up, is that there is plenty of space over the back of their zone to move the football into attacking positions for the opposition.
This screenshot shows how The Basin exposed this flaw and got out the back of the Heathmont defence. Note how much space there is when the ball-carrier turns back inside, allowing their forwards to lead into dangerous spots to increase the likelihood of a high percentage shot on goal.
If Ringwood want to win this game, they need to figure out a way to pick apart the defensive structure and move the footy forward quickly.
Prediction: Heathmont by 6 points
