Hurling - Blanket Defense

T0001

Not sure if any other clubs are doing this. We have been working on it since being knocked out of our county championship. We tried for the first time in a challenge match v the team that knocked us out last night and it worked a treat. It ended up 1-11 to 0-07 win for us opposed to a 1-22 to 1-14 loss two months ago or so. Obviously they had no stake in the game just played to keep the lads in form but still was high tempo’d at times. It involves;
1. withdrawing our two corner forwards btween FB and HB lines acting as sweepers
2. withdrawing our LHF between MF and HB line to act as a ball turover..er!
3. operating a fly goalie system, allowing the goalie to play as an end-line sweeper around the 13 or 21, often times playing infront of the FB/FF
4. breaking forward at pace from defence using short passing and shooting from 50-60m out or long-ball in where applicable.

In terms of not conceding a goal, I have to say I’m not a bad goalie, made one save in the challenge game , still a bit short on puck-outs but I’m only back playing since after the LC.

Just wondering what everyone else thinks of this system. Personally I don’t like it, it takes away from the game overall and playing goalie out on the 21 leaves the goals too vunerable for my liking. I couldn't see it working at inter-county level as it would destroy the game imo. But if my want a starting spot I’ll have to put up with it!

Clareman

Thing about the "blanket" defence is that it's only good if the opposition don't react to it and can't score from distance. By bringing 3 of your forwards back into defence you are pretty much playing a games of back v forwards hoping to get a few scores on the break, judging by the fact there was only 3 points of a difference between the 2 games I'd assume you don't have the strongest forwards anyway.

nice_guy80

Kilkenny employ a covering defence

each line tracks back to cover the next line.
It stops opposition creating space for their forwards and cuts down on goal chances. It also suits the slower full back line that Kilkenny usually have, who are much better under a dropping ball.
Seamus Callinan won't be catching too many clean balls on Sunday

galwaylad14

If ye already have 3 forwards pulled back into ye're defence then why in the name of God do ye need to have ye're goalkeeper playing out on the 21? That's crazy stuff to be doing especially when you consider a ball could drop into the net from 100 yards out.

I really dont see that system working to be honest, I imagine it would be effective enough in terms of not conceding goals (provided ye put the goalkeeper back in the actual goals!) but a decent team could easily pick off points from out the field to counteract the 9 defenders, especially if they know in advance of this system then they can work out a plan to play their best ball strikers out around the middle to pick off those long scores.

I also think ye'll struggle to score much with that system, it takes serious skill in hurling to work the ball up the pitch with a short passing style and the long ball really isn't an option if ye only have 2 or 3 forwards up there.

To be honest I think in hurling the system Clare employed last year and Galway employed the year before is probably about as defensive as you can realistically play the game. Effectively both teams allowed their centre back sit very deep and protect the full back line and mop up loose ball, then have one of the midfielders sit deep,bascially as a centre back and then bring a corner forward out around the middle of the field. Generally the half forward line may also come deep at times to help out too. Clare didn't actually play this system in the All Ireland Final but they played it against us and Limerick. I thought it worked well for us in 2012 and I was disappointed we seem to have sort of abandoned it since. Admittedly it can occasionaly leave the 2 inside forwards a bit short of support but it definitley worked well in terms of keeping down the concession of goals.

T0001

Clareman wrote: »

Thing about the "blanket" defence is that it's only good if the opposition don't react to it and can't score from distance. By bringing 3 of your forwards back into defence you are pretty much playing a games of back v forwards hoping to get a few scores on the break, judging by the fact there was only 3 points of a difference between the 2 games I'd assume you don't have the strongest forwards anyway.

Definately not, which is why i think this system has been introduced. THe forwards are practicing long range shots but their accuracy lets them down. I think we scored 1-06 from play v. 0-06 for them this time cant give accurate figures for the last day but the goal was a penalty and a point was a deflected 21 so i think we scored 0-9/0-10 from play. It was a very scrappy game this time around and while I often enjoy games even on the field this was just awful. I think the element of suprise played a part in our win as they have good forwards who can gain a yard or two but obviously with a packed defense theres no room.

Boom__Boom

Interesting post but trying to play a hurling blanket strikes me as very difficult if not close to impossible. In hurling I could see club teams/sides who havent came up against it being caught out initially but I really cant see it being a successful long-term strategy. I'm not saying hurling teams cant play defensive but I think trying to go with a blanket defense with some hurling tweaks strikes me as very difficult to implement.

What happens when your team comes up a team who always keep a minimum of 5/6 players in their own half to defend, concentrate on setting up shooting from distance and play 1 player in the forwards for dropping balls around the square?

Two key issues for me are how much easier it is to score from distance in hurling and how fast a ball can move the length of the pitch in hurling as opposed to in football.

Also the football blanket is all about stopping goals so I'm not sure about the idea of a fly-keeper in a hurling blanket defence? What are it's advantages? In some versions of the football blanket teams look they are not far off playing with almost a 2nd permanent keeper. -this role often looks to be rotated but it definitely looks as if some teams station a player to play 10-15 metres in front of the actual keeper to protect the goals more.

* My knowledge of hurling tactics is very limited and I never played hurling at any level

Edit - started this post with the bit about "element of surprise before OP replied ; didnt get around to actually posting cause was on the dog-and-bone.

Fireball07

While it is possible to play defensive tactics, as teams in the very recent past have done, it will always be harder to employ down to the fact that you can score from further out than in football. Obviously, it is easy enough to put someone off striking by crowding them out, harrying them, etc, but you have to do it even further out. Tbh, I think most teams would be happy to let the opposition take potshots from half-way and beyond... you'll score some for sure, but you're unlikely to score them all.

Clare did play fairly defensively at times last year, and the likes of Galway and Limerick have done so too... Clare's one was based on huge mobility from certain players though, they were able to get forward when needed.


The downfall of these tactics is nearly always in that it's a lot harder to play a possession game in hurling than football. If you pull huge numbers back, you leave your forwards very isolated..... unless they are in good form and you play a very accurate passing game to them, they will be cleaned out. And while your defence may cope with most attacks... if the ball is constantly raining down on top of you, and nothing sticks up front, you will concede scores.

keeponhurling

In football it's much harder to score from 50+ meters,
Protect the 'D' and you won't concede much.

In hurling many half backs can just wander forward and take a point, or even from their own half