The Practices - Part 1. The Practices - Part 2. The Practices - Part 3. Until then it was easy. No doubt about it.
Opponents have a nasty habit of upsetting the game plan.
Shadow Play is 11 vs 1. The absence of opposition allows the practice to flow and the patterns of play to become understood and established. Great care must be taken to avoid unrealistic plays which would break down in an opponent's presence. Bad habits established in practice will be punished later in 11 vs 11 play. The players, and in particular the coach, must use their imaginations to appreciate what will work in a true game circumstance, and what will not.