Training Wednesday 8/1/14

Gregory. Watching him.

Thanks very much for the update Jackie - as an interstater, I really value these sorts of reports.

cheers jackie.

Love your work Jackie.
Can you give any comment of Kommer, I have been watching all our wins from last year (somehow the losses, do not interest me) and Kommer gets involved more than I thought. Perhaps with another pre-season and a higher level of fitness he will bloom a bit; what do you think?

I saw him train today with the larger group on the MCG oval while Jackie was on the smaller one.  He is well and truly up and about.  Having a laugh with some of the younger fellas, I saw him in a marking contest against fletch and then in a pack with the likes of Hams, Zakka, Jobe ect.  Had a few shots on goal, I'd say about 75% were a goal.  Very fit, very up and about and involved.

 

Love your work Jackie.
Can you give any comment of Kommer, I have been watching all our wins from last year (somehow the losses, do not interest me) and Kommer gets involved more than I thought. Perhaps with another pre-season and a higher level of fitness he will bloom a bit; what do you think?

I saw him train today with the larger group on the MCG oval while Jackie was on the smaller one.  He is well and truly up and about.  Having a laugh with some of the younger fellas, I saw him in a marking contest against fletch and then in a pack with the likes of Hams, Zakka, Jobe ect.  Had a few shots on goal, I'd say about 75% were a goal.  Very fit, very up and about and involved.

 

Yep I reckon there will be a lot of upside with this boy, with a new forward line without the Doggie guy and Froggy. 

thanks JM. fk im itching for the footy to start

Once again, thanks JM.

 

And thanks Dave for the wonderful photo's. Hams looks slightly bigger which is a promising sign. 

Thanks JM!

 

Sorry to bombard you with another question but how does Hurley look early on?

 

I know it is hard to gauge right now just how well a player is tracking but in his 6th year I think a lot of people are going to have big expectations on him to be a real weapon at whatever end of the ground he is put.

 

Personally love him and think he has almost the most potential out of any other player on the list in terms of what he can do on a football field, just needs confidence and consistency.

 

Thankyou in advanced!

Great to hear Edwards seems to be settling in well, great kid who deserves to have footy go right for him

 

Enjoyed chatting to you today David - great photos!

 

As much as I'd like to claim this comment, I don't think it was me you had a chat with sorry.

There were a few others taking photo's - I'm guessing it was one of the others.

I'll work on my conversation skills for next time though!

 

Pleasure taking photos today however - such a nice morning for it.

 

Dave.

 

 

Enjoyed chatting to you today David - great photos!

 

As much as I'd like to claim this comment, I don't think it was me you had a chat with sorry.

There were a few others taking photo's - I'm guessing it was one of the others.

I'll work on my conversation skills for next time though!

 

Pleasure taking photos today however - such a nice morning for it.

 

Dave.

 

I think you'll find it was me Jackie.

 

Enjoyed your photos too Dave! (PS! I'm David)

Thanks JM!

 

Sorry to bombard you with another question but how does Hurley look early on?

 

I know it is hard to gauge right now just how well a player is tracking but in his 6th year I think a lot of people are going to have big expectations on him to be a real weapon at whatever end of the ground he is put.

 

Personally love him and think he has almost the most potential out of any other player on the list in terms of what he can do on a football field, just needs confidence and consistency.

 

Thankyou in advanced!

I don't mind you asking questions.

 

I haven't really watched Hurley very closely so I can't say a lot.

 

He looks to be in splendid physical shape - I thought there was great definition in his upper body shape today.

 

His wrists are still taped and I think that despite a number of operations I suspect he will always have a problem marking overhead or out in front.  I sat next to his dad at the Crichton Medal two years ago and he seemed to feel this would be the case but maybe its different since his last operation.

 

Hurley is possibly the most overrated player at the club.  This is not his fault in any way but partly stems from the club seeing him as a potential marquee player and a match a couple of years ago when he kicked two brilliant goals with alternate feet from fifty metres out - I think it was against St.Kilda.

 

At the moment I get the impression that he is concentrating very hard on learning to fit in with the defensive structure and that he is basically destined to replace Carlisle who will move forward.

 

In terms of his potential I know what you mean you get the feeling he is big and strong and he could be anything.  If you look at the evidence of the past the picture is less rosy:

 

- constantly injured affecting his ability to play a lot of games in a row and his overhead marking.

 

- generally starts quietly when returning from injury then improves as he strings a few games together.

 

- average forward based on the number of goals kicked and a tendency to lead into the pocket.  (I think Bomber is working on this with all the forwards and trying to get them leading to a better position than the boundary line.)

 

- there is an assumption that he has played some limited footy on the backline and went all right so he is a natural backman and will be good.

This is Bomber's opinion as far as I can tell and I believe that he and Hird disagreed strongly over Hurley back or forward.

 

- I don't think there is enough evidence either way to say how he will perform on the backline but it is probably reasonable to surmise that he wiil find it easier.

 

- bear in mind that he will be coached in the backline by Egan not Wellman and that Egan did little to develop his game when he was forward coach.  There is an assumption that because Egan was a very good backman he will therefore be a good backline coach but there is no evidence either way for this at present.

 

 

Enjoyed chatting to you today David - great photos!

 

As much as I'd like to claim this comment, I don't think it was me you had a chat with sorry.

There were a few others taking photo's - I'm guessing it was one of the others.

I'll work on my conversation skills for next time though!

 

Pleasure taking photos today however - such a nice morning for it.

 

Dave.

 

Sorry Dave - had a long chat to David taking photos and I assumed it was you. 

 

I don't think I can overstate this.

 

Chappy.

 

CHAPPY!

 

Absolutely.

Chapman!


Thanks JM!
Sorry to bombard you with another question but how does Hurley look early on?
I know it is hard to gauge right now just how well a player is tracking but in his 6th year I think a lot of people are going to have big expectations on him to be a real weapon at whatever end of the ground he is put.
Personally love him and think he has almost the most potential out of any other player on the list in terms of what he can do on a football field, just needs confidence and consistency.
Thankyou in advanced!

I don't mind you asking questions.
I haven't really watched Hurley very closely so I can't say a lot.
He looks to be in splendid physical shape - I thought there was great definition in his upper body shape today.
His wrists are still taped and I think that despite a number of operations I suspect he will always have a problem marking overhead or out in front. I sat next to his dad at the Crichton Medal two years ago and he seemed to feel this would be the case but maybe its different since his last operation.
Hurley is possibly the most overrated player at the club. This is not his fault in any way but partly stems from the club seeing him as a potential marquee player and a match a couple of years ago when he kicked two brilliant goals with alternate feet from fifty metres out - I think it was against St.Kilda.
At the moment I get the impression that he is concentrating very hard on learning to fit in with the defensive structure and that he is basically destined to replace Carlisle who will move forward.
In terms of his potential I know what you mean you get the feeling he is big and strong and he could be anything. If you look at the evidence of the past the picture is less rosy:
- constantly injured affecting his ability to play a lot of games in a row and his overhead marking.
- generally starts quietly when returning from injury then improves as he strings a few games together.
- average forward based on the number of goals kicked and a tendency to lead into the pocket. (I think Bomber is working on this with all the forwards and trying to get them leading to a better position than the boundary line.)
- there is an assumption that he has played some limited footy on the backline and went all right so he is a natural backman and will be good.
This is Bomber's opinion as far as I can tell and I believe that he and Hird disagreed strongly over Hurley back or forward.
- I don't think there is enough evidence either way to say how he will perform on the backline but it is probably reasonable to surmise that he wiil find it easier.
- bear in mind that he will be coached in the backline by Egan not Wellman and that Egan did little to develop his game when he was forward coach. There is an assumption that because Egan was a very good backman he will therefore be a good backline coach but there is no evidence either way for this at present.

Thanks JM,
I know what you mean about being 'overrated' but I see him as an equivalent to Shane Watson in the Australian Cricket Team where people say he 'looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane.'
Both are excellent when in form and have great technique in the majority of the skills in their respective sports, however they are both perennially injured and don't before consistently.
I think given continuity and persistence up forward he will produce what is expected of him. Key word being continuity.
Don't see the point in switching his position again but I trust Bomber.

geez - Winderlich and Chapman streaming out of the same forward 50. How ■■■■■■ exciting.

Get excited BB!

thanks JM

Great to see Bomber focussing on higher level skills like smarter running and using it to open up space for team mates. Of course with limited access to training in previous years who knows how much emphasis Hird was putting into it. Going on how badly our forward line worked, it seemed very little.

Another side benefit of the smarter running is players wont waste as much energy and hopefully as a consequence their fitness will last longer through the season.

Some other observations to add to JMs detailed report.

Goddard is a coach in waiting. He constantly barked instructions and questioned players as to their thinking when a drill broke down. At the end of the session he summoned Paddy, Dempsey and Carlisle into the hanger from 30 metres away and they duly left the field before the other players. " Hey you 2, Jake! Inside!

Ambrose is a big solid unit and seemed to have a confindence some of the other newbies don’t.

Bomber yelled at Edwards to get on his bike at one stage as the transition out of the back line left him behind. “Shauny get moving the plays gone!” He was pulled aside later by bomber and I’m sure the same point was reinforced.

Gleeson seemed to get a heap of the ball when I was watching the drill on the MCG oval and was one of the 6 or so asked to practice goal kicking at the finish (the others being Z Merret Kommer JD Orazio Ambrose and Steinberg). Fantasia effortlessly gets distance with his kicks and rarely missed and Steinberg has a very comfortable and accurate style. JD looked awkward and seemed to lack fluency but only missed a couple.

Hocking was a beast in the close quarters handball drill at the finish and shutdown the first 3 opposition attempts to move the ball before leaving for the shed. In the same drill Pears was regularly the break down point holding onto the ball just the split second too long and getting caught.

As has been mentioned the mood of the group was very upbeat and they really seemed to enjoy being out there. Eight to a dozen came out for autographs at the end and I got some good picks of my son with a few of them. Chappy was the prize photo and he and the others were very polite Winders the standout in this regard.

All in all a very pleasant morning especially for the guys who enjoyed a Corona outside the cafe whilst taking in the action!