Thanks for the help all!
The end result of the session was 'the team' choosing to focus on the side goals, rather than the main one. Everybody felt that it would be too easy to defend the main one, and too hard to reliably score on it. And somehow, they managed to analyze it such that they could score 18 points in each side goal for every six in the top. Beats me.
Don't worry, I set them straight
We watched a video of Einstein that year, and it really does go to show that you have
absolutely no idea how the game will end up being played until competition. It was a great lesson for new members; something you can't communicate just by saying 'it doesn't work out the way you think it does sometimes'
Again, thanks.