Have we changed his running loads this year? Without stats he seems to be running for longer yet decreased the number of full speed run downs. Not sure if tackles and frees are down but I don’t see him chasing down as often to create that perceived pressure. It could just possibly be the niggling injuries and constant injuries to other small forwards and speed players around him.
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I think when he started he was just a HB flanker with a very limited role. Obviously he had to defend but once he got the ball he’d break a line and then hit a target 30m upfield. Often it looked like he could of run further but I guess he was a defender and didn’t want to get caught out.
These days we see him start as a forward or at centre bounces or back in defense, plus he’s a lot more creative with the ball.
I definitely think he’s covering more ground, but I think a lot of blokes are rushing their disposal if he’s around, a heap of kicks have been sprayed because he’s chasing and they have to kick at top speed or on non preferred foot etc. I imagine being brought to ground at top speed is pretty jarring too, must be pretty intimidating knowing he’s coming.
Logged a top-10 speed record on-ground last game.
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Top 10 for whom? AFL, Essendon or himself?
What distance? How is it measured?
Genuinely interested!
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Wpuld be for the game
Edit: no
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League-wide, top speed.
Measured by gps data.
37.1 kph - that’s equal 2nd since this data was made public.
‘Fast’ sprints are usually around 32-34kph.
Current fastest sprint on-field this year is…Hogan, interestingly enough, at 37.5kph
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Smack’s instinct is good to great - thinking about the grab-ball-in-pack-snap-goal plays. It is when he tries to think about his options he gets into trouble.
Regarding Walla, I reckon his best play for us was that sensational goal he kicked against FCFC last year, chasing the ball down from HFF, kicking it between the legs of opponents, ending up with the goal.
It should have been awarded as Goal of the year.
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That’s amazing, considering he’d have to take about 7 steps to every one of someone like Hogan’s.
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“Look at those little legs pumping!”
“BAAALLLLLLL!!!”
It depends on the distance.
Shorter legs = greater torque = quicker take-off/short sprint
Longer legs = slower ramp-up but faster top speed other things being equal.
100m sprinters are usually muscular with explosive energy and tall, but not too tall to sacrifice burst speed.
Hogan’s build to me looks like a 200m sprinter.
Walla looks like a 50m.
Gleeson (Isaac Smith) a 400m
Majak Daw a very tall 100m
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Yep, although I wonder how much U Bolt has changed the types of athletes they’ll be recruiting for 100m sprints. He’s often a backmarker through the first 50m, but his top-end speed is outrageous.
Hogan’s more like that, Tippa more like a “traditional” 100m sprinter, short little ball of muscle.
And to be honest acceleration over the first 10-20m and agility are far more useful in most positions and situations in footy.
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Do we really trust little cheap GPS units to be that accurate.
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Agree in part.
A tall marking forward needs to be able to run patterns and lose a defender - more a target than an opportunist. So they need that longer build-up. Smaller crumbers do not typically go for long leads - they shoot in and out of groups in very short bursts.
Walla would never make it as a top-end 100m runner (despite he being put up in the GF sprint) - because he is simply too small over that distance, against similarly powerful yet bigger opponents - like Dangerfield - or Majak - but he will probably have greater acceleration. 100m sprinters are usually ‘mid-height’ 6’ or so. If they are taller, than they need a lot more muscle to move the frame - and that adds weight, so it’s an ‘arm’s race’ excuse the pun. Walla’s stride would be far shorter than say, Issac Smiths - and I highly doubt he would match him at 100m.
It’s an interesting topic, really. Fast/slow twitch, upper-body momentum, running uphill vs downhill, and so on. I don’t think there is a black&white opinion on this, since it’s one of those things where everyone is slightly different.
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What are you doing posting about the Essendon FC and not ■■■■ posting 
Good post by the way
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I forget my role, sometimes
So long as you just don’t forget your position.
Yeah, most GPS units can be up to +/-3 metres out. Also add in rounding.
So if the GPS is 3m out from the start point and then 3m out from the end point then a 20 m run can be measured as a 14m run (26m run).
Which mean measuring speed of a player based on his change in distance over time for a 20-50-100 metre run is not ideal.
But that’s the same for everyone, so we’re back where we started
No, because it is ‘random’