Training Thursday 21st Feb - Match Sim

Is this some sort of pork products and potatoes joke?

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An Aussie, a Muslim and an Irishman walk into a bar…

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Wonder who the designated driver was.

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and all three of them were bombers…

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^ i tried to post a gif of Homer disappearing into a bush but it didn’t work.

(Bear in mind Ham played 16 games and Walsh played 12)

He certainly looked good in the highlights though.

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There’s 38 junior clubs in the tac/sanfl/wafl. Therefore there’s 76 kids every year who finished top 2 in a club BNF. It’s a good achievement for sure, but it’s not a rare thing or a bargain.

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Hmmmm.

download

… … and then what happened, …?

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Stringer is so FIGJAM and I love it

He literally kicked the ball up to himself then finished it off with a goal

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A few of my thoughts from the practice today.

Firstly there was a lot of top up players playing. With various players in the modified group not taking part, the AFLX players not training and players like Joe, Merrett and Heppell only playing part of the game it diluted the quality particularly as regards to pressure in the contest, not withstanding that some of the top up players actually did quite well.

The teams were also a bit lopsided with most of the nominal best 22 playing with the whites, so that lead to less pressure from the reds as well.

That said Stringer was absolutely outstanding, exactly the sort of performance we all have been hoping to see. He played a mixture of midfield and forward line and got the ball nearly everytime he went for it. I don’t know how many goals he kicked but it must have been 7 or 8 and I missed most of the first quarter (so much for a 10am start!)

He was matched up mostly on Francis when he went forward and I didn’t think he actually did too badly, it was just that everytime Stringer got it he seemed to kicked a goal. I don’t want to hype it up too much but it reminded me of the way GA snr played with his speed and strength on the ground, although without the same high marking.

Belly was very good, particularly in the first half and looks fully fit now. Zlarke also got a few hitouts and is a very athletic mover around the ground.

It occurred to me today when Smack grabbed the ball from the throw ins a couple of times and got good clearing kicks away that he will benefit hugely from the removal of prior opportunity at ball ups and through ins. He’s always been prone to use his body very well at stoppages but couldn’t take it directly before for fear of being penalised. I expect him to do that a lot this year and kick several goals as a result.

Overall Smack kicked a couple and didn’t have his best game but I thought Zerk also did a very good job on him.

It wouldn’t be a practice match without Smith ruffling a few feathers again. He was very hard and tough as normal laid a few very strong tackles and and had a long scuffle with Merrett after throwing him to the ground in a tackle.

Langford also did well and kicked a great goal in the last quarter after taking the ball from the centre and running to about 55 taking advantage of the extra space with 6 6 6.

Daniher looked very solid and seems to be progressing very well. I still expect him to be ready for round 1 at this stage. Ambrose made him earn every possesion but also struggled a bit with Daniher’s size (who won’t?)

I also again liked the look of Jok. From what I saw he was generally quite clean and often made better positioning than in the past although he still was a bit in between on occasions neither impacting the contest or in a position to affect the next possession. I didn’t see any problems with his disposal as someone else mentioned, maybe it happened before I got there.

Overall it’s always good to see some match play rather than training drills but it was a bit difficult to make too many conclusions due to the number of players missing and the imbalance between the teams (apart from Stringer looking awesome)

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That Ham sidestep :smiley:

Wow the Stringer toe poke to himself and goal, go watch the video if you haven’t

freakshow.

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Didn’t realise it was that close!

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Well, that hype escalated quickly.

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I really liked the look of Hams on the match sim highlights for Thursday
Looks quick and skillful

He’s already better than Petracca and his best is better than anything De Goey has done to date. This was an AA as a 21y/o.

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There is a reason Stringer is nicknamed the package and freakshow, he is a very unique footballer. I remember as a 21 year old he just was unstoppable at times, and he showed glimpses of that last year too.

I don’t think it reflects poorly on Francis if he got his colours lowered, rather just how when Stringer is on there is very little anyone can do.

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I remember the highlights package during the trade period we got him. I didn’t appreciate just how freakish he could be. I thought, yep he can play and you can see the hype around us wanting to get him, even if only only played somewhat close to that level for us.

Sounds like his pre-season has been steady without WOW, and he is pacing to peak when it’s needed.

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People forgot how good he was after a couple of ordinary years at that cancer of a club the Bulldogs. Re-motivated and fit he’s going to tear it up. He was our most influential centre clearance player last year, starting more scoring chains from centre clearances than anyone else at the club and ranked top 5-10 in the comp in this area.

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