So kind of match conditions then. How novel
Anything on Farrow mate ?
Draper in his prime, will be enormous for them, massive loss for us and far bigger snake vibe for mine than Merrett after the years we put into him - as opposed to the years Merrett put into us. Fark it.
Kept an eye out for him. Looks composed and skilful, but I think heâll be one to watch when proper matches start.
Wasnât on my side of the ground much, either.
You are mistaken.
Draper attended more than 60% of CBAs in a game:
- just 5 times in 2024 (four of those games Goldy missed)
- just twice in 2025 (the two games after Bryan got injured). When Bryan played he attended around 1 in 3 CBAs
We tried to turn him into a ruck forward for some bizarre reason
It was to accomodate Bradâs boner for a 2 ruck solution.
He was the better forward than Goldy/Bryan so, despite being clearly our best ruck, played mostly forward,
Another Brad Scott man management masterclass.
It is possible that Essendon wanted Bryan and Visintini as the rucks and wanted Draper in the shop window so trained him to be a ruck forward and play them both at once
The best combination was clearly a Draper/Wright combo.
Yet as far as I can tell, there was only two games in the last 3 years that weâve used that combo (round 20 against the Saints in 2024 and round 6 against Eagles in 2025). Though for the latter game, Reid actually played more ruck minutes than Wright
Are the 2 mutually exclusive?
With the exception of the first handful of games this year, Draper was never fit enough nor healthy enough to play full games in the ruck. He was also a handy forward and straightened us up at times. I get Fagan is a premiership coach but that type of question could have been addressed by using his eyeballs at any stage over the last 9 years.
Competition for spots just means we have a number of players at a similar level.
When that level, is a fairly low level, then competition for spots is not necessarily a good thing.
Considering Wed is a slow management session. We will see now if Friday 16th Jan they start full ground match practice. This is by far the latest I have seen them not do match practice with umps and Qtrs etc. We play Richmond in a practice game in 5 weeks. We might be a touch rusty lol
Match sim did start today I believe.
First time at training
Players do look very fit/ fitter than last year. Very athletic looking group.
Very few recovery periods during the session; players were always on the move/running.
My observations are as follows
Still many repeating problems/errors from the usual suspects and; 2MP not out marking smaller opposition and dropping 2 bite attempts; McGrath scrubbing kicks across his body; Caddy missing marks by leading too far under the ball; players leading into pockets rather than down the ground in front of the goals; many players playing on from marks immediately bounce the ball after 2/3 steps. I think this is a bad habit and helps lose ball possession. Some poor handballs and loose kicks under no pressure. Protecting ball possession was not a manic focus.
My real issue is that none of the 7/8/9 coaches picked up or reprimanded the errors. I donât expect that a lifetime of habits can be cured but highlighting them in preseason surely might start addressing them? The drills were right in front of where I was so I could clearly hear no reaction from coaches.
The players did a lot right and were pretty vocal but being a professional football club this is expected.
Donât want to be a negative noddy but I left thinking âmmmm, we have a ways to goâ.
Fair enough Scooter and this is good to know.
Trouble is, recently I saw a video of him where he and Durham competed for the same ball. Durham won it, released it and sprinted ahead. Tsatas wouldnât/couldnât keep pace with him. Sure enough, Durham got on the end of it and goaled. Was pretty disheartening to see.
Would you say that this flies in the face of what youâve seen in the preseason so far? Hope so! TIA
On the rock Edwardâs Patreon site he mentioned match sim did start
Might just be the making of him!?
Oh, ok and stand corrected if true. Back Rick in. Friend Bruce called me and said there was match sim but still sections of the ground onlyâŚwhy i posted.
Which players are at a low level?