“Stay on your wing” truly is a non-educated supporter’s take on edge defence and unfortunately so many footy fans go straight to that when they’re frustrated. Believe me. I know
If there are even just one pair of hips turning in opposed to staying square (facing opposition tryline), even if those turn hips are 4 or 5 defenders inside of the winger, very quickly the rest of the line has to compensate/adjust, leaving the winger in a 2 on 1 situation or sometimes worse.
The reason a winger then chooses to “go in” is often because if he “stayed on his wing” then the attacking ballplayer simply hits his centre who is also unmarked.
If a winger comes in it’s also often because it’s more of a challenge for the ballplayer to pass long rather than short, so wingers often come in and hope that their inside defenders peel around the back of them and cover the long pass. Obviously it depends on where you are on the field at the time.
Either way, if you really love footy and you’re someone who has to say something to or criticise a player after their game, just make
sure you never say “Stay on you wing” in front of too many people because without realising it, that player and those standing nearby who do know a bit more about the technical side of it all will immediately chuck you in the “punish” (dumb & loud) category and nothing you ever say about footy from that point onwards will ever hold any weight.
If it was as simple as “staying on your wing”, wingers would always stay on their wing.
Not to say wingers don’t ever get it wrong
, just saying they often get the blame and often wrongly for the tiny mistakes (like in-turned hips) made by inside defenders.
Another thing. Sitting in the crowd or at home watching the tv and looking down upon the field gives a supporter a birds-eye view. Completely different to being on the field at eye level. Our video sessions were only the birds-eye camera angle so we could see it like a game of chess and not at eye level where there’s little time to think/react.
When watching from birds-eye view, it’s easy to see what a team should be doing 2-3 plays in advance because you can see the entire field from where you watch and you can see shapes, numbers and momentum from an easier perspective. When on the field at eye level, things are so fast and split-second decisions are made on a whim and a prayer.
Basically I never made a mistake… it was everyone else’s fault
Nah but seriously… “Stay on your wing” as a criticism loses all respect, certainly from players and staff, but also from the smarter supporters.