Training Preseason 2024

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Not sure Ras has the headbutt game to replace Subes.
omg, I still remember that moment, makes me laugh to this day. I remember taking a video recording of it, I'll have to remember where I put it and repost it.

It was more like, Nick using his head to slowly bulldoze the other players head away. Geelong wasn't it? hmm..
 
omg, I still remember that moment, makes me laugh to this day. I remember taking a video recording of it, I'll have to remember where I put it and repost it.

It was more like, Nick using his head to slowly bulldoze the other players head away. Geelong wasn't it? hmm..
I have it bookmarked.

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Schultz was never the mercurial small forward type. So I’d like for Erasmus to be the one who steps up into that now vacant position. Works hard, tackling machine, always puts in 100%.
Emmett is that type and plays forward, why try to force Erasmus into that role?
 
Emmett is that type and plays forward, why try to force Erasmus into that role?
Erasmus gaining a spot in the forward line as he finds his feet in the AFL makes perfect sense. He pretty much cut his teeth as a forward-mid in his pre draft years.

I agree on Emmett getting as much exposure as possible though. There should be enough room for both, depending on personnel availability.
 
Erasmus gaining a spot in the forward line as he finds his feet in the AFL makes perfect sense. He pretty much cut his teeth as a forward-mid in his pre draft years.

I agree on Emmett getting as much exposure as possible though. There should be enough room for both, depending on personnel availability.
That’s the problem though, there isn’t enough room for either if we force JOM into that role as he’s out of the middle. JOM, Switta and Jackson rotated through Fwd and Mid/Ruck is already one too many and means we can only play 5 dedicated forwards; Amiss, Treacy, Walters, Frederick and Sturt.
 
Emmett is that type and plays forward, why try to force Erasmus into that role?
Doesn't need to be one or the other. My line of thinking was that Emmett was already in the side with Schultz there. With Schultz gone there's now room for another I50 tackling machine.
 
I must say there is something incredibly exciting about watching someone like Young who based on our drafting history should have turned out a mediocre HBF in there ripping balls away from clearance in concert with Fyfe, Serong etc.

About watching Amiss who might have turned out to be Schache looking more like Jeremy Cameron with better ground skills.

And especially seeing Luke Jackson who could have been any number of our failed trades looking like . . .
well looking like no one at all because he's utterly unique and could be the best player in the game.

Cautiously add in a Fyfe who, while not what he once was, is merely an A grade, big bodied contest mid and an elite endurance running wing like Sharp who hopefully brings a bit of Langdon, Hill and Acres back to the table, Johnson who looks a bit like Mundy on angry pills and Simpson who (dare I say but I know I'm not the first) has a hint of the Judd - hit the contest at full pace and run away with it straight at the goals - vibe.

I so hope JL has the nads to play Simpson and back him from game 1. If you've got it you've got it.

Interesting year.

Stop it, excitement levels like this are too hard to handle.
 
Erasmus as a medium forward using that running power to be the extra at the contest could be very handy. He's a big fella who can win a hard ball and if that's forward we can feel more confident playing a style to win for forward fifty stoppages - which I don't think we have enough of.
 

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That’s the problem though, there isn’t enough room for either if we force JOM into that role as he’s out of the middle. JOM, Switta and Jackson rotated through Fwd and Mid/Ruck is already one too many and means we can only play 5 dedicated forwards; Amiss, Treacy, Walters, Frederick and Sturt.
Every game of every week... probably not. Across a season there'll be room, and even need, to mix'n'match.

Form, availability, they can be fickle. Any which way, given his history, Erasmus' best way in is via a forward role.
 
I feel like Erasmus can go two ways, stay on the fringe as a mid like Paddy Dow, or be a great forward stoppage player like SPP
 
Erasmus as a medium forward using that running power to be the extra at the contest could be very handy. He's a big fella who can win a hard ball and if that's forward we can feel more confident playing a style to win for forward fifty stoppages - which I don't think we have enough of.

he can’t kick which is a problem…

I really don’t get the enthusiasm on Erasmus…
 
Raz has too many better players ahead of him. Could he be our Toby Greene?
 
Raz needs to gain 5kg and be that inside bull. This may not be his breakout year in the AFL, but I am optimistic that he will start delivering 35-touch games consistently in the WAFL and contribute regularly on the scoreboard. I envision him resembling a player like Sloane, and he'll likely get his chance this season, and hopefully, he takes it. I do agree that we do run a little too deep with our blue-collar mids, that said, if he's good enough, he should soon go past Fyfe (😭) and Brodie.

I really dislike the idea of playing Raz in other positions. We suffer from a huge deficiency in both skill and speed across all positions, and the notion of relegating (current) mediocre midfielders to the flanks is quite disconcerting. I prefer the idea of deploying Simpson and Delean as small forwards over Raz and Omeara. While they may lack experience, their vigor, pace, agility, enthusiasm, and chaos could invigorate our forward line and team in general.

While I'm here. Could Serong stop doing that cross-the-body one-step chip kick that never hits a target. It's such a low-percentage kick and if he kicks the ball normally I'm sure his DP will go up 20% and he'll be talked about with the Bonts of the game.
 
I don't want to be neggy. But what do we know about Ras? He is big for his age. He has good stamina. He likes a contest at ground level.

I haven't seen him take a good contested mark at AFL football level. I haven't seen him hit targets by hand or foot regularly at AFL level. In. fact he is the only AFL player I saw last year miss an uncontested 2 metre handball to a teammate at AFL level and then have the time to pick it up and try again.

I haven't seen him apply scoreboard pressure at AFl level.

I have seen him tackle, but at this stage against men, he seems to get shrugged off pretty easily.

He is slow. I also think he seems a pretty average decision maker. It's not like his mind/reading of the play is compensating for his skillset.

I've heard a lot about his play at private school level, but he was a big unit and a contested beast against smaller boys, and he could run well, as he is a hard worker.

At this stage Im seeing a centre bounce fyfe-light/brodie type, perhaps a tagger even as he earns his stripes. If you squint a little, sometimes you can even see a little bit of Clinton Jones.

Johnson is streets ahead, and Im not really seeing a super high ceiling for Erasmus. I'd love to be wrong. But guys who arent very damaging by hand or foot, aren't that quick, aren't that great a mark, and aren't advanced football minds/lack composure have a pretty small tarmac for the plane to land on to be great.
 
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