Training Monday 14/1/19

[Kj_11]

JGLNSBB
AJCCASPB
MSNSBB
JZTEBKGBH
MMPMSVA

I win!

[Jake_Brady_10]

Best thing is if smack drops the mark, he is already roving himself to dish it out

[longstory1]

Actually height is not the factor but positioning… smack is well protected from the side but if the other moves and provides pressure to the front smack will need to respond by once moving his point of balance. Used to coach this stuff to rugby players 20 odd years ago. It is about changing your balance point to counter the attack… constantly

[Shelton10]

Being realistic, he’s been around for a long time and played some great games, but for one reason or another he’s never put a lot of good games together in a row.

I really like him because he always puts in 100%. I would hope that we could get a season where he plays several outstanding games, a lot of good games where he beats his opponents and only a couple of shockers, and misses only a couple through injury.

[andrewb]

Several players need to make some changes to lift their game in this area. It will be a real plus if Rutten can teach Hartley how to scrap with power forwards without giving away frees, maybe teach Ambrose when to switch from 100% total negative man on man to going for the ball when the opportunity presents itself.

The big thing here is how low smack’s centre of gravity is. Harley will never over power him from that position and would actually be better served backing off and trying to attack the highest point.

I’m very encouraged to hear how much work Rutten is putting into this sort of stuff. It came very naturally to hurls but he really went away from it in recent years. hopefully we really see him back to his one on one best.

If memory serves Rutten was not the tallest KP out there but his body work and positioning was supreme

The bigger thing here is both grabbing each other’s guernsay - you can get away with a lot in afl footy except a handful of cotton

Train that out of them quick smart

[Maxx]

Reckless country boys, Parish and Stringer.

[miss_ellie]

Thank you @nackers. Great report.

[dingus]

Myers was only trying to protect the kids. Jake didn’t like it.

Tomorrow’s Age headline:

DISGRACED DON HATES CHILDREN

[Walterwhite]

Can anyone shed light on the concerns over McKenna and Laverde?

[nackers]

@nackers don’t suppose you recollect who the 4 groups of 4 midfielders were.

I’d be curious who was grouped with who, and whether there is any consistency across the preseason.

That was slightly wrong, it was groups of 3 with a ruckman either Bellchambers, Draper or Zlarke joining the group. The groups were:
Zerrett, Langford and Dlarke were in blue
Parish, McGrath and Mutch in red
Myers, Heppel and Mynott in yellow
Stringer, Shiel and Zakka in orange.
Smith also rotated between the groups

I don’t think there was anything in particular to take from the groupings, just trying to keep them to a similar standard which was pretty much how it turned out.

[nackers]

Can anyone shed light on the concerns over McKenna and Laverde?

No one I’ve spoken to knows about McKenna, but he was stepping up his training today.

I don’t know about Laverde either but I think this is about the first session he has missed. He could have been doing work inside the hanger but they normally come out and make at least a fleeting appearance if they’re in the building.

[nackers]

How good do you think Smack can be if he stays injury free Nackers?
I reckon he could become a brute & one of the very good forwards.

If he can stay injury free & form a powerful combo with Daniher we will do ok this year.

I think he could end up being an extremely important part of the side. He is capable of playing a number of different roles, a marking forward, a chop out in the ruck, a marking target down the line both on the lead and in packs and often like an extra midfielder when the ball hits the ground in clearances and the forward line. I think there are very few players in the league of his size and skill set.

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned on blitz before or not but I was told today that towards the end of last year he was called into the office thinking he may be delisted but was instead told he was being given one more year.

He then went to Bali in the off season on his honeymoon and while there hired a personal trainer - on his honeymoon!

As most will remember he hit the start of the season in great form being one of our best in both the JLT games and AFLX but wasn’t initially selected. I wonder in hindsight what sort of a difference he could have made to our poor start.

But I think the biggest difference in him was embracing a more team orientated game and not trying to do the spectacular all the time which was evidenced by a big reduction in silly free kicks when caught out of position.

I think he has taken great confidence from his end of year form and now even on the track he seems to be a more confident player.

It’s not at all unusual for big men to mature very late, particularly someone like himself that had never really nailed down any role in the team.

It’s worth remembering that at the same age James Podsiadly hadn’t even debuted for Geelong and he went on to have 5 very solid years including being the leading goalkicker in a premiership year.

[Shelton10]

@nackers don’t suppose you recollect who the 4 groups of 4 midfielders were.

I’d be curious who was grouped with who, and whether there is any consistency across the preseason.

That was slightly wrong, it was groups of 3 with a ruckman either Bellchambers, Draper or Zlarke joining the group. The groups were:
Zerrett, Langford and Dlarke were in blue
Parish, McGrath and Mutch in red
Myers, Heppel and Mynott in yellow
Stringer, Shiel and Zakka in orange.
Smith also rotated between the groups

I don’t think there was anything in particular to take from the groupings, just trying to keep them to a similar standard which was pretty much how it turned out.

Anyone who thinks we don’t have much midfield depth could just look at those names. There are a lot of pretty good players in there and a real mixture of sizes and styles.

[Killer_Mike]

Other than Myers and Zakka that is a very young midfield brigade.

We are going to be spending quite a few years at the pointy end of the ladder.

[choppsuey]

Never mind depth, first time in a long time I reckon we’ve got 4 genuine A Grade mids.
Heppell, Merrett, Sheil, Smith.

[samwoods]

That was slightly wrong, it was groups of 3 with a ruckman either Bellchambers, Draper or Zlarke joining the group. The groups were:
Zerrett, Langford and Dlarke were in blue
Parish, McGrath and Mutch in red
Myers, Heppel and Mynott in yellow
Stringer, Shiel and Zakka in orange.
Smith also rotated between the groups

I don’t think there was anything in particular to take from the groupings, just trying to keep them to a similar standard which was pretty much how it turned out.

Thanks Nackers. Very much appreciated.

It is very exciting to think that those first two groups looked evenly matched with the last two groups. Good times ahead. I would’ve thought the rankings would go.

Blue - 3rd
Red - 4th
Yellow - 2nd
Orange - 1st

[MadBomberSean]

Thanks Nackers I agree with everything you have said here.

[dontildeath]

McKernan’s hamstring injury late in the season cost us a place in the eight imo. He was playing so well and his absence left a huge hole that couldn’t be filled.

[frosty]

There’s a coded message in this. Bonus points to the first person to work it out.

So many options for what you could be thinking, none of them any good!

I was thinking Joe was taking it at the highest point, so is clearly on the way back. (And Mossie is clearly at his feet…perfect…) But now I’ve seen the KGB I’m very worried that there’s black ops at play…

[WindsockBoy]

There’s a coded message in this. Bonus points to the first person to work it out.

D,F,Q,R,X and Z have all missed a training session?
Y?