No 1 Draft Pick
24 Dec 2004, 10:59
Read Neil Craig's responses to your questions 24/12/04.
4:04:18 PM Tue 21 December, 2004
afc.com.au
ASK A COACH - NEIL CRAIG
With the arrival of two young ruckmen in Meesen and Maric, will the club appoint a part time ruck coach to help with their development? Mick
Mick the Club has already appointed Michael Redden as the ruck coach for next year. He will start in the second week of January and work closely with our young ruckmen. Michael had a great career with North Adelaide and we believe his involvement will be very beneficial for the players involved.
I am just wondering, that with the new young players just drafted, and the continuing improvement of Rutten, McGregor, Perrie, Watts and Hentschel in the key positions. Where are we going to fit in Mark Stevens, even if he does start to get that knee right? Adam
Mark’s selection, like all players will be based on performance Adam. If his performance warrants it, we will certainly find a place for him. We will probably play Mark up forward because his experience will compliment our younger players. Mark may not play a key position, but we believe his presence will assist the inexperienced players.
It must be a concern when making selections at the draft with the current trend of interstate players eventually wanting to return home. Is this now an issue that coaching staff need to consider prior to making a selection? Dale
It is something that we look at Dale, however we will always pick the best possible player. We need to make sure that the infrastructure of the Club is good enough to entice interstate players to stay at the Club long term. If there were minimal differences between an interstate player and a local lad, we would pick the South Australian player. If there was a significant difference then we would take the best player, irrespective of where they were from.
Neil, with all the talk centering around our recruitment of the likes of Meesen, Maric and Gibson I was wondering how Rowan Andrews is going. Obviously he is another rookie ruckman on our list and I was wondering how his progression was going and is he far away from playing AFL football? Heath
Rowan Andrews is progressing steadily and he has really improved since last year. He was selected on the Rookie List again this year because we believe if he continues to improve, then he will be good enough to fill a spot on the main list.
I hate to be picky but I have noticed Rowan Andrews has an unusual kicking style. He kicks the ball with a bent knee and doesn’t kick through the ball. Who is the skills coach and have you addressed this problem? Mark.
It is being addressed Mark and we certainly recognize that Rowan has a bit of a problem with his kicking action. We don’t have a specific skills coach however all of the coaches will be trying to assist Rowan in correcting his action.
Neil, are we going to see less chipping the ball around coming out of defence and a more longer and direct game? Huw
Our style of game will be based around fast, aggressive and assertive football Huw. If that incorporates long kicking then we will expect that to happen. However at times in a game there will be situations where we need to use short kicks coming out of the backline.
Traditionally the early pre season seems to be 90% about getting km into players legs. Have you had to compromise this area to work on player’s skills, or is training additional hours covering fitness or have the players taken this area on to achieve certain standards for themselves? Trevor
The players did most of their fitness work during their 10-week off-season break Trevor, so we were able to go straight into football training because of their good levels of fitness. During the last six weeks we have only had one session per week of running, but we have incorporated fitness conditioning into their football training.
With some players being on a playing list for 8 years or so, how does the coaching staff deal with the issue of keeping things fresh and new? In particular the maintenance and attainment of the necessary levels of fitness? Roley Stuart
This has never been an issue for our players Roley. Players like Ricciuto, Edwards, McLeod and Goodwin, who have all been at the club for over eight years are probably in the best physical condition of their careers. Each year our senior players present themselves in excellent condition for training and it is a credit to themselves that they do this.
Neil, obviously not all the new players will be ready for action come March, but who is looking the goods at the moment? Wes Moyle
Of the senior players Wes, Ricciuto, McLeod, Edwards and Goodwin are all training fully and looking impressive. Kris Massie is looking very fit; Perrie, Begley and McGregor are starting to train well. Then you look at some of the younger players and Reilly, Hentschel and Rutten are looking exceptional on the track.
I am interested in which position Luke Jericho prefers to play his footy and also where you see him settling into the team in two or so years. Darren
I think Luke has a preference to play up forward and we are happy to play him there. He looks comfortable and can use his pace to advantage. Once he settles into a forward role we will look to develop some flexibility into his game by playing him down back or in the middle.
To all our members and supporters I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a safe New Year. See you all at the footy in 2005.
4:04:18 PM Tue 21 December, 2004
afc.com.au
ASK A COACH - NEIL CRAIG
With the arrival of two young ruckmen in Meesen and Maric, will the club appoint a part time ruck coach to help with their development? Mick
Mick the Club has already appointed Michael Redden as the ruck coach for next year. He will start in the second week of January and work closely with our young ruckmen. Michael had a great career with North Adelaide and we believe his involvement will be very beneficial for the players involved.
I am just wondering, that with the new young players just drafted, and the continuing improvement of Rutten, McGregor, Perrie, Watts and Hentschel in the key positions. Where are we going to fit in Mark Stevens, even if he does start to get that knee right? Adam
Mark’s selection, like all players will be based on performance Adam. If his performance warrants it, we will certainly find a place for him. We will probably play Mark up forward because his experience will compliment our younger players. Mark may not play a key position, but we believe his presence will assist the inexperienced players.
It must be a concern when making selections at the draft with the current trend of interstate players eventually wanting to return home. Is this now an issue that coaching staff need to consider prior to making a selection? Dale
It is something that we look at Dale, however we will always pick the best possible player. We need to make sure that the infrastructure of the Club is good enough to entice interstate players to stay at the Club long term. If there were minimal differences between an interstate player and a local lad, we would pick the South Australian player. If there was a significant difference then we would take the best player, irrespective of where they were from.
Neil, with all the talk centering around our recruitment of the likes of Meesen, Maric and Gibson I was wondering how Rowan Andrews is going. Obviously he is another rookie ruckman on our list and I was wondering how his progression was going and is he far away from playing AFL football? Heath
Rowan Andrews is progressing steadily and he has really improved since last year. He was selected on the Rookie List again this year because we believe if he continues to improve, then he will be good enough to fill a spot on the main list.
I hate to be picky but I have noticed Rowan Andrews has an unusual kicking style. He kicks the ball with a bent knee and doesn’t kick through the ball. Who is the skills coach and have you addressed this problem? Mark.
It is being addressed Mark and we certainly recognize that Rowan has a bit of a problem with his kicking action. We don’t have a specific skills coach however all of the coaches will be trying to assist Rowan in correcting his action.
Neil, are we going to see less chipping the ball around coming out of defence and a more longer and direct game? Huw
Our style of game will be based around fast, aggressive and assertive football Huw. If that incorporates long kicking then we will expect that to happen. However at times in a game there will be situations where we need to use short kicks coming out of the backline.
Traditionally the early pre season seems to be 90% about getting km into players legs. Have you had to compromise this area to work on player’s skills, or is training additional hours covering fitness or have the players taken this area on to achieve certain standards for themselves? Trevor
The players did most of their fitness work during their 10-week off-season break Trevor, so we were able to go straight into football training because of their good levels of fitness. During the last six weeks we have only had one session per week of running, but we have incorporated fitness conditioning into their football training.
With some players being on a playing list for 8 years or so, how does the coaching staff deal with the issue of keeping things fresh and new? In particular the maintenance and attainment of the necessary levels of fitness? Roley Stuart
This has never been an issue for our players Roley. Players like Ricciuto, Edwards, McLeod and Goodwin, who have all been at the club for over eight years are probably in the best physical condition of their careers. Each year our senior players present themselves in excellent condition for training and it is a credit to themselves that they do this.
Neil, obviously not all the new players will be ready for action come March, but who is looking the goods at the moment? Wes Moyle
Of the senior players Wes, Ricciuto, McLeod, Edwards and Goodwin are all training fully and looking impressive. Kris Massie is looking very fit; Perrie, Begley and McGregor are starting to train well. Then you look at some of the younger players and Reilly, Hentschel and Rutten are looking exceptional on the track.
I am interested in which position Luke Jericho prefers to play his footy and also where you see him settling into the team in two or so years. Darren
I think Luke has a preference to play up forward and we are happy to play him there. He looks comfortable and can use his pace to advantage. Once he settles into a forward role we will look to develop some flexibility into his game by playing him down back or in the middle.
To all our members and supporters I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a safe New Year. See you all at the footy in 2005.