All Whites prepare for big game with Mac program

Gamebreaker software in use on a US basketball game. Image / supplied.

I looked at this Gamebreaker sports software several years ago, and even then it had extraordinary promise.

As reported by this very newspaper last week, Australian coaching and analytical software is poised to play a key role in helping the All Whites join go to the Football World Cup in South Africa. (And football is soccer, by the way, not that other game in which big men run around carrying a big plastic lozenge and in which feet hardly ever contact the lozenge - not to mention an actual ball.)

And Gamebreaker is Mac software - there's no PC version.

All Whites' coach Ricki Herbert has been using the Australian-developed package. It was introduced to New Zealand Football by the national women's coach (of three years ago) John Herdman. He's an interesting bloke - I went to a talk by him in which he advocated having five backs! Yikes. As if we don't have striking problems already.

Anyway, the package has been further developed by the Football Ferns' assistant coach Tony Readings. The Herald story said the programme has become the tool of choice for New Zealand's top coaches - so that means they're all on Macs, too, just like the professionals in oh-so-many other fields.

Simon Eaddy, goalkeeping coach with New Zealand women's teams (which have been really impressive over the last few years), likes Gamebreaker because you can create any situation you want. You just need any digital video footage to run.

You can, for example, look at all the kick-offs, or free kicks, or goal defences or throw-ins. You can analyse just those plays without the need to scroll through the whole game.

You can also tag players and analyse distances, angles of the ball in flight, speed of the ball and all sorts of other stats.

Gamebreaker was taken to Dubai by All Whites' assistant coach Brian Turner last week. Herbert, Turner and technical assistant Raul Blanco have been busy analysing what Eaddy and Readings produced with it.

At around $4000, the programme is not cheap, but if it helped New Zealand get into the World Cup for only the second time in history, well, that's awesome. (Current All Whites' coach Ricki Herbert was a player in that NZ world cup team, the first time time round.)

Since the All Whites drew 0-0 with Bahrain, they're still in the running. I have to wonder if Gamebreaker helped in not losing. The Middle Eastern teams have many players active in the European leagues and they have a lot of experience.

I hope Gamebreaker leads to changes with the way NZers play soccer. In my opinion, Kiwis play soccer defensively and stolidly, and since most of our experience is against the Australians, we try and put up with their style of play, using like against like. In other words, aggressively and physically. This is not exactly what the Beautiful Game calls for.

My real gripe is that with rugby, New Zealanders analysed the game and developed a distinctive style of play at the turn of the last century. This stood them in extremely good stead against foreign teams and led to what we know as the All Black legend. But with NZ soccer, this has never been done. To my knowledge. At least, not effectively.

Soccer suits national styles of play: the flamboyant dance-like moves of the South Americans, the headstrong rushes of the volatile Italians, the devastating thrusts of the French, the Scottish passing game (which the Scots invented, BTW), the analytical Germans ... I could go on. (Ad nauseum, actually.)

It's possible the Australians say we already do have a national style of play - boring and colourless. (Don't get upset, I'm just guessing what Australians might think of our soccer playing. I have no idea.)

But NZ soccer has made huge advances in the last few years led, interestingly, by some fantastic NZ women players and their mentors. In fact, the second best football game I ever saw in my life was a NZ National Women's final a few years ago.

And the best ever was the final between the USA and North Korea in the under 17 Women's World Cup at North Harbour Stadium last year. It was awesome from start to finish - fast, stylish, gutsy, skilled, athletic - and these were 15 and 16-year olds!

Of course, Gamebreaker can be used with any sport. It's not code-specific, sports-wise, only platform wise. Perhaps Gamebreaker could be used to help with the line-out problems of the All Blacks? Maybe it's already deployed there.

Gamebreaker  requires an Apple Macintosh with a 1.83GHz+ Intel Core Duo, 1GB RAM, 80GB Serial ATA/100 5400rpm+ hard drive, 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) ethernet, built-in 54-Mbps Airport Extreme, built-in Firewire 400 or 800, Mac OS X 10.5+ and QuickTime 7+.

Oh, did I say I love soccer?

(Hey, if you're an iPhone or iPod touch-using soccer coach or player, check out the free Nike Football+ app  for drills, expert tips and more.)

- Mark Webster mac.nz

Pictured above: Sportscode Gamebreaker screenshot in use during a US basketball game.