New Northern Knights coach Denis Pagan is against zoning in junior football.
Pagan said he supported AFL Victoria's mandate to ban defensive tactics such as tagging, flooding and zoning.
"They (AFL Victoria) prefer you not to do it (zoning) and I agree with it," Pagan told 3AW last night.
"You want to teach your players how to be good defenders first, beat your opponent first and take it from there. You can have one player back, two players back, they just don't want a full three quarter defensive zone, which makes it hard toget the ball inside fifty.
"At that level the skill level is not quite as good as AFL and it wouldn't do the players any good either."
AFL Victoria Operations Manager recently told the Sunday Herald Sun that overt defensive tactics were against the "philosophy" of the TAC Cup.
"The TAC Cup is about the development of our players and showcasing the best young talent," he said.
Meanwhile, Pagan is bullish about his young charges at NAB Oval and has enjoyed his first TAC Cup pre-season.
"We have got some good ones out here," Pagan said.
"You just want to try and get better at what you do and it is exciting to be involved with a new group of players. I have got a terrific bunch out there at the Northern Knights and I couldn't be more pleased.
"You have really got a captive audience with young men and I think the hardest thing you can try and do when you're coaching is to try and change men, change habits of those guys who are 28, 29, 30 years of age who have been doing the same thing all along.
"They're idolised by the staff and the people within the club and it's a tough gig."
Asked whether winning was important, Pagan said the results would take care of themselves if the right "processes" were in place.
"If you have the best develoment processes in place, you don't have to worry about the result. The result will take care of itself," Pagan explained.
"I think winning is a part of development, you're not going to develop yourself if you lose every week.
"But my focus isn't onwnning, it;s about teaching the game, teaching the fundamentals, hope the young players enjoy what they're about and I won't have to worry about the results."
Last Modified on 24/03/2009 18:31
