Good point. Gav had more tricks than Andy but it’s also a different game today and he’s built for it.
Yep, They’re definitely right up there.
If he is learning to use his agility to break away from packs with ball in hand, then it will be a pretty good trick.
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Anyone see Fletcher and Hird at training today? Did they train with the main group?
For a second I thought i’d fallen back into the 90’s. Geez it felt good!
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Who got to Stand by Hird?
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wrong
Smith is Elite
daylight
then
Zerrett, Heppell, Stringer, Hooker
Hurls was avgsauce for much of last year.
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If you’re only considering last years form for Hurley, why have you got Stringer in there?
Merrett, Heppell, Hooker, Hurley not to mention Daniher, Fantasia and Shiel all have years of proven form. Smith at this point has had a bunch of good years and one great year, that still probably doesn’t eclipse the best form of anyone above.
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Yep
Hawks only had one A grade full time mid.
Doesn’t matter too much when you can, and do, swing in Hodge and Burgoyne from half back in a pinch.
We all want to hear about how Hird and Fletcher went and WE WILL LIKE IT!
Rob appears in that latest set of photos getting involved in the drills. I’ve seen him at training once and he’s quite vocal and very encouraging. In the space of a couple of hours he’s shown more than Neil Craig did, ever.
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@nackers or anyone else know how Ridley is tracking? Is he exclusively training with the backs?
6th/7th defensive spot is there if he wants it.
All 4 of them have bulked up in the pre season, McGrath considerably so.
I echo the sentiments of others in this thread that McGrath will be a star of the competition, possibly as early as this year.
The others are all in a very different category to McGrath though having only played about 3 games between them.
Clarke has been very impressive in a lot of ways. Great endurance, very strong for his size, extremely competitive and has put on a nice amount of bulk on so he now has an AFL ready body. The question mark will always be on his disposal though. He has definitely improved from when he was first drafted but I think he’s still a fair way off the mark. His hands just seem a bit slow in both handballs and getting boot to ball, and his kicking technique still needs improvement. I think he will star in the VFL but the extra pace of the AFL will find him out at this stage. He seems very determined though so may be able to make the necessary improvements, who knows.
Mutch and Mynott and both quite similar. They are both making gradual incremental improvements to their games without screaming ‘pick me’. Mynott is probably better and tougher in the contest and Mutch is better overhead. I don’t think there is that much to pick between them at this stage but if I had to choose I would probably go with Mynott depending on the role required.
Realistically though of the 13 players in the midfield drills they would be ranked 11-13, and that’s not taking into account that Begley and Laverde would also be in front of them for some midfield minutes. So it’s going to be very difficult for them to get many opportunities unless we have a horrid injury run to midfielders or they show exceptional form in the VFL
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Yes Ridley has been going along nicely, just a very solid player. He doesn’t do too many spectacular things but very rarely fumbles or makes mistakes, and is quick by hand and great by foot.
I think he could work on being a better mark for his size but otherwise he hasn’t done much wrong.
I’m a big fan of his and would love to see him get a number of games to develop, and will no doubt get opportunities with injuries to other players.
And yes from what I have seen when there has been a clear delineation between forwards, backs and mids he has been exclusively with the backs
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Smack is giving away a free kick in pretty much every photo of him where’s there’s body contact. I suppose they say you train the way you play.
I think that’s a bit harsh on Smack. There’s one photo where they both have a bit a jumper and Smack is holding for much less time than Hartley and is also more likely to be in the umpires blind spot.
Before Christmas they had a couple of AFL umpires at training who officiated on these exact drills which were just as physical for maybe 30 minutes and from memory Smack was giving away less free kicks than others.
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Players are allowed to wrestle in a marking contest, right? That’s supposed to mean “protecting the drop zone” the “weaker” opponent usually gets pushed away too easily and his defence is to grab jumper, and that usually results in being pinged. Where its evenly matched both end up grabbing jumper, and the one that lets go last gets pinged . SMack is good at protecting the drop zone, especially in a mismatch and then he just pushes his opponent out of the way. Hartley does not have the same core strength and often gets pinged for grabbing jumper in these situations against the power forwards.
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That’s not true Windy
Both Smack and Hartley are serial jumper grabbers. There’s nothing wrong with wrestling and protecting the drop zone. In those contests pictured between those two, the umpire would have to raffle who to pay a free pick. They both have a handful of each other’s jumper.
If you watch every kpp they pretty much try to grab the jumper at the top of chest but not on neckline as it doesn’t pull away/harder for umps to see it
They all fkn do it
Problem for Harts is he so often is caught out of position. Opposition has read ball drop better and he’s scrambling to get back into contest IMO
Smack has done him over in those pics
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