Preview Preseason 2015 (expectations, stepping up, etc)

[sd26]

Pre-season focus should be on goal-kicking.

We should introduce goal kicking review system like Hawthorn.They've increased their set shot accuracy 6% and overall accuracy 4% in the last year,

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...re-into-goalkicking-gold-20140912-10fy3t.html

Adem Yze, a former Demon with a crisp left foot and a canny eye for the goals, stepped up to a full-time position predominantly charged with goalkicking. His one-on-one work with a number of Hawks – not only practice but watching vision, working on technique, etc – has matched the Spurs' investment ethos.

A leaf was also taken from the St Mary's playbook, with any training drill that involves goalkicking now recorded, displayed and measured for improvement. Put simply, the Hawks put a price on goalkicking that wasn't there before, backing the belief that what gets measured gets done properly.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...re-into-goalkicking-gold-20140912-10fy3t.html

 

[Bring_Back_Brad]

We should introduce goal kicking review system like Hawthorn.They've increased their set shot accuracy 6% and overall accuracy 4% in the last year,

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...re-into-goalkicking-gold-20140912-10fy3t.html

Adem Yze, a former Demon with a crisp left foot and a canny eye for the goals, stepped up to a full-time position predominantly charged with goalkicking. His one-on-one work with a number of Hawks – not only practice but watching vision, working on technique, etc – has matched the Spurs' investment ethos.

A leaf was also taken from the St Mary's playbook, with any training drill that involves goalkicking now recorded, displayed and measured for improvement. Put simply, the Hawks put a price on goalkicking that wasn't there before, backing the belief that what gets measured gets done properly.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...re-into-goalkicking-gold-20140912-10fy3t.html

I really hope we do something like this.
We are so far off.
I also recall hearing how hawthorn had installed a big timer, and they regularly practised what to do in the dying minutes of a game, how to wind down the clock defending a small lead, and how to attack if behind. So when it happens they are well drilled on what to do.
I'd really like to see a great deal of preseason spent on gameplan, structures and match Simulation
We should go in to round one having played a minimum of 10 full match simulations so the players are sharp and know their structures and plays, patterns and are familiar with all their teammates. Fitness is one thing but its football, not a marathon and football players will defeat athletes any day of the week.
We were so rusty in the preseason and round 1 last year, that has to be rectified.

 

[Seedsfan]

Would be good if Gault could put on some size and fight it out for the second ruck/forward role, apart from that just a few of the young blokes PK, Broomy, Adams, Thomas, Freeman, Seedy, Marley and Langdon. Would be good if we could get Crisp's foot skills up to AFL average by the start of the NAB cup because if he could kick we have have a decent player there

 

[soreplums]

Need our mids to really engage into preseason. JT, seedsman, marley, Fas, karnezis, Adams, Kennedy, Broomy, freeman, elliott, Langdon all have the ability to run through there to join Pendle, swan, Sidey, greeny, Varcoe.
Improvements in their fitness and footy smarts, coupled with better luck with injuries will help us to perform in 2015.

Injury free cloke, swan, Reid, brown already improves us.

 

[mike123]

Need our mids to really engage into preseason. JT, seedsman, marley, Fas, karnezis, Adams, Kennedy, Broomy, freeman, elliott, Langdon all have the ability to run through there to join Pendle, swan, Sidey, greeny, Varcoe.
Improvements in their fitness and footy smarts, coupled with better luck with injuries will help us to perform in 2015.

Injury free cloke, swan, Reid, brown already improves us.

I think these 2 should stick to their natural position.

 

[Scottabe_pendles]

Door is open for Steele to have an increased roll and make that final step to elite.

Would be really disappointed if some young player like Adams jumps him over the next year to be our 2nd best mid. Would say alot about Steele's (and Adam's) character.

It might not be a character flaw though just that steele could have already reached his peak which is a good gut running outside mid...
Not everyone will become elite - if he improves the 'seen' leadership qualities I'd be happy with that. I dont know if his onfield numbers will ever change a great deal however ... Steele (and pendles) are the least of the pies worries for 2015 - although id love to see him get back to kicking a few more goals like in earlier years

 

[Scottabe_pendles]

Adams has said to be already training the house down

That old chestnut. ...

Can anyone remember who was training the house down last season?

Good to see he has the right attitude to training however

 

[cleomenes]

Those expecting a lot of Gault need to look closely at the evidence. He took a couple of good marks, kicked a good goal and a lucky one while he was panicking against Hawthorn. This is not a lot to hang your hat on. He showed little sign that he has much when the ball hits the ground. He is one to be left in the VFL until he shows a fair bit there. He may become a player, but he certainly isn't one yet.
Otherwise, the preseason is as most here have said. A time when we fear another injury epidemic, but hope players with deficiencies manage to remedy them. Kennedy's kicking and Grundy's endurance are obvious ones. What I most want to see is the rekindling of trust among the players that they can kick accurately to one another. Pressure practice in the later part of the preseason seems to be the go here. The goalkicking could do with attention too.

 

[Vicky Park]

I'd really like to see a great deal of preseason spent on gameplan, structures and match Simulation. We should go in to round one having played a minimum of 10 full match simulations so the players are sharp and know their structures and plays, patterns and are familiar with all their teammates. Fitness is one thing but its football, not a marathon and football players will defeat athletes any day of the week. We were so rusty in the preseason and round 1 last year, that has to be rectified.

Interesting point, but how could that be? Coming away from that first round hiding we received at the hands of Freo in 2014 (ouch), I thought we looked really underdone. I put it down to playing the reigning GF losers, and the fact that we played round 1 about 2 weeks earlier than we are used to (i.e. we played in mid-March this year).

 

[mike123]

Those expecting a lot of Gault need to look closely at the evidence. He took a couple of good marks, kicked a good goal and a lucky one while he was panicking against Hawthorn. This is not a lot to hang your hat on. He showed little sign that he has much when the ball hits the ground. He is one to be left in the VFL until he shows a fair bit there. He may become a player, but he certainly isn't one yet.
Otherwise, the preseason is as most here have said. A time when we fear another injury epidemic, but hope players with deficiencies manage to remedy them. Kennedy's kicking and Grundy's endurance are obvious ones. What I most want to see is the rekindling of trust among the players that they can kick accurately to one another. Pressure practice in the later part of the preseason seems to be the go here. The goalkicking could do with attention too.

He has showed as much as Luke Lowden.

 

[soreplums]

I think these 2 should stick to their natural position.

I agree, but you can never have too many options pushing through if necessary

 

[soreplums]

I agree, but you can never have too many options pushing through if necessary. Out of all our players, I see Elliott as one who most closely resembles Beams on our list. Strong in the air, natural goal kicker. Would like to see him be given a chance running through the midfield in some capacity.

 

[rose jam]

Adams has said to be already training the house down

Pretty good considering pre-season has started yet

I think Seeds needs to get a tank this pre-season, so many games he looks sloppy without the ball or even chasing it like he has one effort and then he's tanked.
Grundy I hope can get his tank firing next year. But I'm willing to think he needs 4-5 pre-seasons before he'll be able to play a major ruck. Though his issue is going to be Witts who looks ready.

 

[rose jam]

The only issue I have with this is burn out.
We were told this time last year that Brodie Grundy was already back on the training track and he looked flat maybe even slightly over it.

In my mind getting away from all of the s**t football brings would be more beneficial to both the body and mind.

I think the best rest period is late January. The break should be split into 2 sections. Sept/Oct for 4 weeks, then around 2 full weeks late January.

 

[Seedsfan]

Those expecting a lot of Gault need to look closely at the evidence. He took a couple of good marks, kicked a good goal and a lucky one while he was panicking against Hawthorn. This is not a lot to hang your hat on. He showed little sign that he has much when the ball hits the ground. He is one to be left in the VFL until he shows a fair bit there. He may become a player, but he certainly isn't one yet.
Otherwise, the preseason is as most here have said. A time when we fear another injury epidemic, but hope players with deficiencies manage to remedy them. Kennedy's kicking and Grundy's endurance are obvious ones. What I most want to see is the rekindling of trust among the players that they can kick accurately to one another. Pressure practice in the later part of the preseason seems to be the go here. The goalkicking could do with attention too.

Gault played up the ground in the second halve after Grundy was subbed out injured. He played well enough to suggest he could have a good season in the AFL next year. To think round one next year he should have Reid and Cloke up forward giving him a chop out

 

[Robroy22]

Those expecting a lot of Gault need to look closely at the evidence. He took a couple of good marks, kicked a good goal and a lucky one while he was panicking against Hawthorn. This is not a lot to hang your hat on. He showed little sign that he has much when the ball hits the ground. He is one to be left in the VFL until he shows a fair bit there. He may become a player, but he certainly isn't one yet.
Otherwise, the preseason is as most here have said. A time when we fear another injury epidemic, but hope players with deficiencies manage to remedy them. Kennedy's kicking and Grundy's endurance are obvious ones. What I most want to see is the rekindling of trust among the players that they can kick accurately to one another. Pressure practice in the later part of the preseason seems to be the go here. The goalkicking could do with attention too.

I think what you've said makes a bit of sense but I also saw a bit more in the kid that day. Yeah his numbers weren't huge BUT he allowed White (would have been Cloke if he'd been available) to play further up the ground and gave us a target on the lead. He missed one chance when he overran a ground ball on his left side but kicked well after a lead up mark. His second goal was flukey but he also got his hands to a couple of pack mark situations but just couldn't hold on. In 2015 I reckon Gault will be 3-5kgs heavier and his hands will be a lot stronger on those pack grabs. True KP forwards don't need many chances to be very dangerous. The fact that we've watched Clokey and his scattergun goal kicking for years (though Buddy, Hawkins and others all do it) means that if Gault could pinch us 2-3 goals a week (maybe he only needs 5-6 shots to do that) then how much value is there in playing a young colt up front. To me he showed more as a marking forward in that one game than Jesse White had all year. I think JW should play as a flanker or a winger.
The good sides have blokes chipping in with a couple of goals a week and sometimes more, to me Gault has that capacity.

 

[VantagePoint]

I do wonder what colour the pre-season training jumpers will be this summer.

Violet?

Orange?

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

It might not be a character flaw though just that steele could have already reached his peak which is a good gut running outside mid...
Not everyone will become elite - if he improves the 'seen' leadership qualities I'd be happy with that. I dont know if his onfield numbers will ever change a great deal however ... Steele (and pendles) are the least of the pies worries for 2015 - although id love to see him get back to kicking a few more goals like in earlier years

I think that's fair enough. Just seems like a great opportunity for a young talented guy to get an increased role. I think Steele has shown he has the skills I just question his drive at times

 

[PTpie]

I think that's fair enough. Just seems like a great opportunity for a young talented guy to get an increased role. I think Steele has shown he has the skills I just question his drive at times

Really? He seems to me to be extremely driven. A bloke that runs as hard as he does and celebrates every goal they way he does comes across as a guy that plays to win. He is laconic in manner, never really seems to get ruffled and always has a smile or grin on his face. That shows how much he loves the game to me, not that he isn't driven.

I'd class him as similar to Nick Dal Santo attitude-wise. He never really seems to be putting in or become upset and rarely seems focused like Buckley was or as intense as Maxwell on game day. However I'd still love to have either in my team as their numbers over their careers to date show they are among the top echelon of players in the AFL.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

Really? He seems to me to be extremely driven. A bloke that runs as hard as he does and celebrates every goal they way he does comes across as a guy that pays to win. He is laconic in manner, never really seems to get ruffled and always has a smile or grin on his face. That shows how much he loves the game to me, not that he isn't driven.

I'd class him as similar to Nick Dal Santo attitude-wise. He never really seems to be putting in or become upset and rarely seems focused like Buckley was or as intense as Maxwell on game day. However I'd still love to have either in my team as their numbers over their careers to date show they are among the top echelon of players in the AFL.

It's questionable when a player hasn't particularly improved since 2010. Has got more ball but hasn't really improved his game

 

[Robroy22]

It's questionable when a player hasn't particularly improved since 2010. Has got more ball but hasn't really improved his game

Sounds a bit like Buddy, Gazza, Hodgy, Pendles, et al.....just because Sidey does things without the flamboyance doesn't make him ineffective. He's a country boy, so he smiles a lot and he is laconic....he also runs as hard as anyone at the club and has stayed loyal when others around him have been willing to take the $$$ on offer. Give the kid a break.

 

[PTpie]

I do wonder what colour the pre-season training jumpers will be this summer.

Violet?

Orange?

Orange is the new Black?

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

Sounds a bit like Buddy, Gazza, Hodgy, Pendles, et al.....just because Sidey does things without the flamboyance doesn't make him ineffective. He's a country boy, so he smiles a lot and he is laconic....he also runs as hard as anyone at the club and has stayed loyal when others around him have been willing to take the $$$ on offer. Give the kid a break.

He is as talented as anyone else, however he hasn't added anything really to his game for the past 5 years. He has benefited from being the 4th best midfielder the majority of that time, he isn't in that position anymore.
In 2010 he was much better than Beams and looked set as a midfield gun. steele stood still and allowed beams to completely leap from him. I question his "running hard as anyone", and difference between those blokes mentioned is they are the pinnacle of the game. Is a well below average tackler, never a reliable set shot on goal, gets very little contested ball and hasn't really improved his disposal. He needs to add something.

 

[Hagla]

He is as talented as anyone else, however he hasn't added anything really to his game for the past 5 years. He has benefited from being the 4th best midfielder the majority of that time, he isn't in that position anymore.
In 2010 he was much better than Beams and looked set as a midfield gun. steele stood still and allowed beams to completely leap from him. I question his "running hard as anyone", and difference between those blokes mentioned is they are the pinnacle of the game. Is a well below average tackler, never a reliable set shot on goal, gets very little contested ball and hasn't really improved his disposal. He needs to add something.

Don't agree with this at all, Beams was always better however, Beams got to his level faster. Sidey has been improving each year and could still get to a higher standard than Beams. I don't think Sidey has plateaued at all, every time I think he might have he lifts again. Whether or not you think he has peaked, you should be able to see that he's at a higher level than he was in 2010.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

Don't agree with this at all, Beams was always better however, Beams got to his level faster. Sidey has been improving each year and could still get to a higher standard than Beams. I don't think Sidey has plateaued at all, every time I think he might have he lifts again. Whether or not you think he has peaked, you should be able to see that he's at a higher level than he was in 2010.

Beams was on the fringe in 2010, was probably just in our best 22, whereas steele was solidly in our starting lineup.
He just hasn't added anything to his game. He has gotten better simply through maturing and learning the game better, but I haven't really see him take his game to the next level by added something like a consistent set shot, a contested game, a high disposal efficiency, a marking game, a strong tackling game. His game now is pretty much the same as in 2010 and we can't afford that anymore