The Noe Schitt-Scherlock thread

[*PAF]

Bout bloody time clubs started thinking what fans have been saying for years now.
If you are lucky you will recruit someone that can do both, but on an individual basis, forget the unique blend of speed and endurance, bring back the footballers.


From here (http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17600323%255E12428,00.html).

"If you have 18 athletes on the field and they can't kick or find the footy, they won't get the ball.

"You can train a footballer to be fit – not necessarily an athlete – but it's harder to train an athlete into a footballer. It takes a lot longer.

"I think there will always be room for the footballer as opposed to the athlete, players like Roger James and Greg Williams, and that's great for football."

[Powerstufff]

.....From here (http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17600323%255E12428,00.html)....[/I]That was good, thanks.

[dreamkillers]

Great article and agree completely..............Burgess has been a very good pick up by the club and we should see some of the benefits this season.

Here's the full article........

Burgess test on the mark (http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17600323%255E12428,00.html)
Sunday Mail 18 December 2005

PORT Adelaide fitness coach Darren Burgess has revealed the Power is applying a unique set of criteria in selecting talent after years of intensive research.

The Power, often silent about their cutting-edge approach, have down-played the value of the AFL's draft camp figures after extensive work from Burgess.

From his extensive scientific approach – he is completing a PhD in performance studying Australian rules football and soccer – Burgess has devised his system based on a different set of observations.

Naturally, the club doesn't want to disclose the exact methods, but part of his AFL-funded draft has resulted in a re-think and re-evaluation of the official testing figures.

Burgess has spent the past two years tracking under-18 players in an ongoing project, which considers – amid other factors – how far they run during games, what distances they sprint and effective kicks.

The Power, like Sydney, when Burgess worked there, have found the system to be more accurate than the testing that happens before the national drafts. "The traditional tests don't allow you to predict how well they're going to play in the AFL," Burgess said.

"People might test quick but they don't play quick and they might test slow but play quick.

"We came up with this index and we thought it might be a better way to go.

"The subsequent number of years we found our index had become a better way of predicting their success rate, in terms of the numbers of games they played.

"Just because you record a phenomenal beep test doesn't mean A, you're going to be picked high and B, you're going to play a lot of games"

Burgess said more clubs were waking up to the pitfalls of paying too much attention to raw tests, with more clubs focussing on the footballer rather than the athlete.

"What we found was that our index was able to predict success better," Burgess said. "It surprised me how weak the relationship was between draft camp tests and performance."

"There was a good relationship between beep test results at the camp and the ability to cover a lot of distance in games, but there wasn't a good relationship between the beep test and initial success in the AFL.

"I tracked Tom (Logan) and then we invited him here for draft camp because they asked me if I had him on the file. I did and he fitted the bill on our index.

"If you have 18 athletes on the field and they can't kick or find the footy, they won't get the ball.

"You can train a footballer to be fit – not necessarily an athlete – but it's harder to train an athlete into a footballer. It takes a lot longer.

"I think there will always be room for the footballer as opposed to the athlete, players like Roger James and Greg Williams, and that's great for football."

In other findings from his research, Burgess studied how much of a workload that could be expected from young draftees.

In essence, the figures taught him patience – that very few of them can be expected to complete the full schedule of the senior players to become ready-made players.

[portentous]

I assume that attitude and G&D is included in his "index".

[Toots Hibbert]

Don't rule out biffo
By RICHARD EARLE
15dec05

PORT Adelaide coach Mark Williams believes the AFL's contentious rule changes are fair but doesn't want the code's gladatorial nature compromised.

Significant rule changes to be introduced this season - aimed at stopping AFL descending to a rugby style, moving mess - have attracted criticism.
Sydney coach Paul Roos suspects the game will become the homogenous domain of athletes. "No longer will you have a specialist forward or a specialist ruckman sitting on the bench," Roos said.

"You are really going to need guys that can run 18 kilometres a game and that are elite aerobic runners.

"So certainly, if we keep going in this direction, it's going to have an effect on recruiting."

Williams won't be registering any complaints just yet. "I have found in the journey I have been in the AFL there's no point complaining about them (rules)," said philosophical Williams. "They make the rules and we have to try and make tactics and work out how to get around them to best suit our side." The new rules will target negative tactics and attempt to create a free flowing game through quick kick-ins, less time for set shots and faster boundary throw-ins.

But Williams warned against tampering with Australian football's unique physical spectacle. Die-hard fans won't part with cash to watch a glorified basketball contest.

"I always like to think the competitive side of football is always there and remains paramount to the game," said the 2004 premiership coach. "That's why the fans come. It is a collision sport, a physical sport and there's not many things you can watch that are like that, certainly basketball is not.

"We would like to think we stay true to the game that people have grown up and loved. All the stakeholders . . . being the people that come and watch."

Williams seems at peace with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou and football operations manager Adrian Anderson entering season 2006 but would like to have been consulted before revised rules were released.

"We would think we would like to know about that prior to the fact that it came out. That's how it is," Williams said.

"We are very keen to be cutting edge. We have got a few things up our sleeve that we are looking forward to implement into what we do, both on and off the field," he said.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/footy/story_page/0,8747,17571537%255E25397,00.html