There is a VFL thread
There is a VFL threadDamn, why didn't someone tell me? B)
Hams skipper today
Seriously? If so, that’s sensational.
Training at Tullamarine in cool, overcast conditions.The highlight of the session was Kommer having his haircut which on the surface appears amusing but it hid a rather lacklustre session where the players performed their drills with fair competence but without any sense of urgency or build up to the West Coast game. You can argue that this is reasonable at this stage of the year but I would have thought that after what they dished up in the first half at Shepparton there would be some pride involved and an eagerness to make ammends.
In particular I was looking to see some attention paid to the forward set up at Shepparton where long bombs were kicked into a single tall forward, usually out numbered, with few if any smaller players gut running back into the forward line to crumb, help out and provide alternatives or to apply forward pressure on defenders running the ball with ease out of the backline. So much work is needed in this area.
Crowley, Wallis, Parish and Polkinghorne didn’t join the main group so I doubt they will be selected this week.
However I don’t want to sound too negative, it wasn’t bad today just uninspiring. I have great confidence in our calm and measured coach that he has the situation in hand and I think the West Coast game will give a clearer indication of where we stand.
Really?I think about 8 games into the actual season will give us a clearer indication of where we are.
Really, I reckon hinsdight gives the best indications.
With our line up this year, more than ever, even if we win 3 out of the first 8 it doesnt mean anything about how we will go the rest of the season.
Not trying to have a go, but nothing wrong with people trying to gague our progress on early indictaions, no more than round 8 anyway in my book.
Not trying to have a go, but nothing wrong with people trying to gague our progress on early indictaions, no more than round 8 anyway in my book.
But with our line up this year, more than ever, using early indications to try and gauge our progress means nothing about how we will go the rest of the season.
Why wait until the end of the season just to be sure?
The West Coast game will give us a better indication of where we stand for the round 1 Gold Coast game, compared to the Geelong game and that is about it.
This year will be an amalgam of 22 new players finding their place in a squad where there are 20 players left who have played a senior game for the EFC, and only 10 left who have done so regularly for Essendon.
So given we have a nucleus of 10 players who know how to play with each other, and even then a number of them will be learning new positions, the first part of the season will be about developing cohesion in the group, which means we should be expecting to improve.
The top up players and our new recruits are still developing match fitness, so again there should be room for improvement, but this must be managed against monitoring the physical load they can cope with, and therein is potential for drop off with injury and inability to cope physically with a full season.
Hopefully this can be managed to the point where players can continuously improve without overly taxing any young or old or unfit bodies. If this can be done evenly across the group then there should be the ability to improve over the whole season and develop an unusual amount of depth.
If this translates into a side who can share the physical load and win games while rotating players remains to be seen, but that is the fantasy I’m harbouring. We have some older stars who might appreciate having their loads managed and some young talent who would benefit from a staged approach to what is expected of them physically (think Francis in particular) and maybe, just maybe, we can be a side that is finishing 2016 with a full head of steam, and if that is anywhere near the final 8 …
The West Coast game will give us a better indication of where we stand for the round 1 Gold Coast game, compared to the Geelong game and that is about it.This year will be an amalgam of 22 new players finding their place in a squad where there are 20 players left who have played a senior game for the EFC, and only 10 left who have done so regularly for Essendon.
So given we have a nucleus of 10 players who know how to play with each other, and even then a number of them will be learning new positions, the first part of the season will be about developing cohesion in the group, which means we should be expecting to improve.
The top up players and our new recruits are still developing match fitness, so again there should be room for improvement, but this must be managed against monitoring the physical load they can cope with, and therein is potential for drop off with injury and inability to cope physically with a full season.
Hopefully this can be managed to the point where players can continuously improve without overly taxing any young or old or unfit bodies. If this can be done evenly across the group then there should be the ability to improve over the whole season and develop an unusual amount of depth.
If this translates into a side who can share the physical load and win games while rotating players remains to be seen, but that is the fantasy I’m harbouring. We have some older stars who might appreciate having their loads managed and some young talent who would benefit from a staged approach to what is expected of them physically (think Francis in particular) and maybe, just maybe, we can be a side that is finishing 2016 with a full head of steam, and if that is anywhere near the final 8 …
Nice post though the first paragraph is a little difficult to understand.
I rate it a solid 8.5/10
The West Coast game will give us a better indication of where we stand for the round 1 Gold Coast game, compared to the Geelong game and that is about it.This year will be an amalgam of 22 new players finding their place in a squad where there are 20 players left who have played a senior game for the EFC, and only 10 left who have done so regularly for Essendon.
So given we have a nucleus of 10 players who know how to play with each other, and even then a number of them will be learning new positions, the first part of the season will be about developing cohesion in the group, which means we should be expecting to improve.
The top up players and our new recruits are still developing match fitness, so again there should be room for improvement, but this must be managed against monitoring the physical load they can cope with, and therein is potential for drop off with injury and inability to cope physically with a full season.
Hopefully this can be managed to the point where players can continuously improve without overly taxing any young or old or unfit bodies. If this can be done evenly across the group then there should be the ability to improve over the whole season and develop an unusual amount of depth.
If this translates into a side who can share the physical load and win games while rotating players remains to be seen, but that is the fantasy I’m harbouring. We have some older stars who might appreciate having their loads managed and some young talent who would benefit from a staged approach to what is expected of them physically (think Francis in particular) and maybe, just maybe, we can be a side that is finishing 2016 with a full head of steam, and if that is anywhere near the final 8 …
Nice post though the first paragraph is a little difficult to understand.
I rate it a solid 8.5/10
Its encouraging to see post ratings system being introduced to Blitz.
We do need a social media eugenics system whereby those not capable of high quality posts are gradually eliminated from the forum.
In particular we need the MODS to eliminate inferior posts and ban posters who consistently fail to reach the required quality standards and intellectual rigour based on a set of KPIs for posts. In this way the quality of discourse on Blitz can be lifted dramatically .
Did I hear a John McEnroe like shrill voice in the background screaming " you must be joking…" Yep. Chillax.
The West Coast game will give us a better indication of where we stand for the round 1 Gold Coast game, compared to the Geelong game and that is about it.This year will be an amalgam of 22 new players finding their place in a squad where there are 20 players left who have played a senior game for the EFC, and only 10 left who have done so regularly for Essendon.
So given we have a nucleus of 10 players who know how to play with each other, and even then a number of them will be learning new positions, the first part of the season will be about developing cohesion in the group, which means we should be expecting to improve.
The top up players and our new recruits are still developing match fitness, so again there should be room for improvement, but this must be managed against monitoring the physical load they can cope with, and therein is potential for drop off with injury and inability to cope physically with a full season.
Hopefully this can be managed to the point where players can continuously improve without overly taxing any young or old or unfit bodies. If this can be done evenly across the group then there should be the ability to improve over the whole season and develop an unusual amount of depth.
If this translates into a side who can share the physical load and win games while rotating players remains to be seen, but that is the fantasy I’m harbouring. We have some older stars who might appreciate having their loads managed and some young talent who would benefit from a staged approach to what is expected of them physically (think Francis in particular) and maybe, just maybe, we can be a side that is finishing 2016 with a full head of steam, and if that is anywhere near the final 8 …
Nice post though the first paragraph is a little difficult to understand.
I rate it a solid 8.5/10
Its encouraging to see post ratings system being introduced to Blitz.
We do need a social media eugenics system whereby those not capable of high quality posts are gradually eliminated from the forum.
In particular we need the MODS to eliminate inferior posts and ban posters who consistently fail to reach the required quality standards and intellectual rigour based on a set of KPIs for posts. In this way the quality of discourse on Blitz can be lifted dramatically .Did I hear a John McEnroe like shrill voice in the background screaming " you must be joking…" Yep. Chillax.
Post used the word ‘chillax’.
Downvote.
Did I hear a John McEnroe like shrill voice in the background screaming " you must be joking…" Yep. Chillax.1/10 for getting the quote wrong: