Opinion Commentary & Media III

[longyroos]

Pretty sure I heard on SEN that Joel Selwood said that of the 20 minute half time period it takes them 6 minutes to walk to and from the rooms so he wants it to be 10 minutes so they can just stay on the ground.

THE PLAYERS HAVE TOO MUCH SAY IN THE GAME GIL YOU MUPPET.

If that is a serious consideration then the priorities of the AFL is not in line with my views and this is another factor in why I no longer give a toss about the game. The players are in this game for a split second but supporters will always be there, the players views should not take precedence over the good of the game. Keep it 20 minutes, no reason to change. Selwood can f*** off.

 

[Firestarter]

Pretty sure I heard on SEN that Joel Selwood said that of the 20 minute half time period it takes them 6 minutes to walk to and from the rooms so he wants it to be 10 minutes so they can just stay on the ground.

THE PLAYERS HAVE TOO MUCH SAY IN THE GAME GIL YOU MUPPET.

If that is a serious consideration then the priorities of the AFL is not in line with my views and this is another factor in why I no longer give a toss about the game. The players are in this game for a split second but supporters will always be there, the players views should not take precedence over the good of the game. Keep it 20 minutes, no reason to change. Selwood can f*** off.

And with his butt buddy as the President of the AFLPA I bet they have a lot of influence.

 

[Twinkletoes]

Boomer Harvey's on SEN right now

 

[Kimbo]

Actually, to say that is an insult to plants.
At least some plants are useful.

In fact, all plants are useful.

Good point. I apologise to the entire plant kingdom.

As you should. I mean, you even like weeds.

 

[SonofSamsquanch]

In fact, all plants are useful

I know. I just didn't want to make a sweeping statement.

 

[Kimbo]

I know. I just didn't want to make a sweeping statement.

Fair enough. We wouldn't want to offend anyone.

 

[boncer34]

Whatever happened to Mitch Hibberd? I quite liked him

I am Adrian Dodoro

 

[ferball]

I am Adrian Dodoro

Thats not something I'd be broadcasting bonce.

 

[FlyHigh18]

Highly doubt reducing half time by 10mins has anything to do with kids or creating a better spectacle. Especially when the AFL knows how much $ ppl spend at venues plus commercial break ad money. A little bit of thought shows it simply doesn’t add up.

My guess is this is being pushed by the clubs and players in an attempt reduce injuries. Better the AFL take the heat for this ‘feeler‘ piece of news rather than the clubs and players.

Note Zurhaar and other players also said they would be prefer a shorter break bc they get sore during half time.

The attempt at shorter quarter times however I believe in full. Both the AFL and clubs have been known to support this. (Has the average quarter length gradually increased over time?)

They’re looking at shorter quarters, higher scoring, closer games all in an attempt to try and appeal to the next wave of supporters (recommend reading up on NBA and the latest boom in support).

I don’t like it, our game is more traditional and local. It’s already very profitable and doesn’t need this americanised corporate crap.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I am Adrian Dodoro

Hi Adrian, big fan from a lols standpoint, quick question or two. Why do you keep picking up small forwards and outside players year after year?

Second question, why hasn't your* s**t club* won a final for 15+ years, is it that your crap list or a lack of backbone or both?

Last question, why hasn't boncer buggered off from the North board yet?

 

[boncer34]

Hi Adrian, big fan from a lols standpoint, quick question or two. Why do you keep picking up small forwards and outside players year after year?

Second question, why hasn't your* s**t club* won a final for 15+ years, is it that your crap list or a lack of backbone or both?

Last question, why hasn't boncer buggered off from the North board yet?

Hi Kangaroos4eva

Thanks for the questions, always happy to hear from a fan.

First answer, just because the AFL is currently played with contested beasts and players who were mids as youth appear to make the transition into the midfield at AFL level easier, doesn't mean it will always be that way. I strongly believe the wheel will turn and eventually it will become an outside man's game and junior HBF will move into the midfield with ease.

Second answer, probably because for the large part of 15 years we've been s**t. I think that's fairly self explanatory.

Final answer, because he clearly holds a special place in the North posters hearts and he'd hate to deny them of his presence.

Love,

Adrian

 

[gokangas]

No Cookies | Herald Sun

No Cookies

www.heraldsun.com.au

Looks like someone's son is in trouble. Terrible story. Hope the young girl is ok.

 

[Firestarter]

No Cookies | Herald Sun

No Cookies

www.heraldsun.com.au

Looks like someone's son is in trouble. Terrible story. Hope the young girl is ok.

Of course they don't name him.

Smart person: He's underage, of course they don't name him.

Me: So why all the erroneous info about being the son of an AFL legend?

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Of course they don't name him.

Smart person: He's underage, of course they don't name him.

Me: So why all the erroneous info about being the son of an AFL legend?

And the photo of the football with a Port Adelaide logo on it in the article I read.

 

[gokangas]

And the photo of the football with a Port Adelaide logo on it in the article I read.

The problem here is that there are plenty of rumours around as to who it is. Most point to one legend but given the accused are all under age it will never be publicly announced (nor should it be). I suppose it is a news story but they have to be so careful how they report. The PA logo is irrelevant if the rumours are true. If the teenager is charged then thats about all that will be revealed in the media.

 

[Devington]

The problem here is that there are plenty of rumours around as to who it is. Most point to one legend but given the accused are all under age it will never be publicly announced (nor should it be). I suppose it is a news story but they have to be so careful how they report. The PA logo is irrelevant if the rumours are true. If the teenager is charged then thats about all that will be revealed in the media.

It could be hird's kid, boomer's kid, anyone's kid. The article is such an irresponsible mess that just baits people into both harmful speculation AND genuine attempts to identify, name, and shame. And if you succeed in the latter then you're just going to end up identifying the girl as well and re traumatising her (and making it a hell of a lot harder for the multiple perpetrators to transition to adulthood and put an incredibly unsavoury incident firmly in their past so that they can hopefully develop into better people).

 

[gokangas]

It could be hird's kid, boomer's kid, anyone's kid. The article is such an irresponsible mess that just baits people into both harmful speculation AND genuine attempts to identify, name, and shame. And if you succeed in the latter then you're just going to end up identifying the girl as well and re traumatising her (and making it a hell of a lot harder for the multiple perpetrators to transition to adulthood and put an incredibly unsavoury incident firmly in their past so that they can hopefully develop into better people).

No winners in a story like this. As I said I hope the girl is getting all the help she needs.

No Cookies | Herald Sun

No Cookies

www.heraldsun.com.au

 

[GoNorth]

H-S article

 

[giantroo]

EVERY SECOND COUNTS

UNDER THE METICULOUS RHYCE SHAW, NORTH IS TRAINED TO THE MINUTE

THE countdown clock on the giant scoreboard at North Melbourne’s Arden St training oval is ticking down to zero.

It is seconds before 9am on Monday, November 25, and under Rhyce Shaw every second matters.

Dozens of players are scurrying across the oval, aware that the new coach’s rules are unconditional.

If you are not in place by the affixed time and ready for a two-hour session jam-packed with football education and fitness, you don’t train at all.

“We are trying to make this place our classroom,” Shaw tells the Sunday Herald Sun. We are spending a day inside North Melbourne’s football department.

Shaw says the perception of him as a young man in a hurry is accurate.

He is determined not to waste a minute — not at training, not in fasttracking a list with half of its players under 23, not in pointless meetings in which players quickly switch off.

The 38-year-old’s stunning ascent to AFL senior coaching ranks last year came with a 7-4 win-loss record and a brand of footy that rocked the competition.

Brutal attack on the man, organised behind the ball, and flair in ball movement combined in such a way there was no other contender as Brad Scott’s replacement.

Shaw has aspirations for this football team — and the entire club

— and says it starts with attention to detail.

“Everyone knows I am pretty basic, but I love making people better,” Shaw says.

“I have come from a place (in Sydney) where the standards are so high and everyone understands what is expected and knows their role and then you just go out and play it.

“So I am not ashamed to say it’s similar to what I want to achieve here. I have seen it work.

“The countdown clock is just a symbol of respect for the people who have set up the training session, and it’s respect for each other.

“There are guys ready half an hour before training and guys ready five minutes before, but if we are all out on time and all connect first with no dribs and drabs and late warm-ups , we are all in it together and that’s important.”

ASK Cam Zurhaar how Rhyce Shaw has set the tone for a summer of toil and he guffaws.

What Shaw hasn’t mentioned in an extended sit-down about the club’s levels of discipline is what happens when those minor details aren’t adhered to.

“He has definitely set the tone,” says young bull Zurhaar.

“We had a few mishaps in the first week, a few early-morning sessions, but the little things matter a lot and it’s how we are going to continue through the season.

“We had a few beach sessions and an early-morning run. It was 5.30am and it was an hour away. The boys did the Thousand Steps run (in the Dandenongs) so the boys were up at 4.30am. Some boys forgot to put wellness (ratings) in and missed massages, but it was in week one and it’s now week four and we haven’t done an extra session since.

“Little things matter and we hit it on the head.” Under Monday’s session, arranged by head of performance Jason Lappin, the drills tick over with military precision. In the new era of data, no more circle-work and 100 by 100m sprints. Each drill has a purpose that links to the game plan as Shaw adds layers to the strategies that impressed last year. And Big Brother is most definitely watching. The club’s drone, deployed by its operator Aiden Amenta, hovers 20m above the surface to collect footage. Three other fixed-camera angles add to the levels of accountability. Every coach is specifically stationed to assess each drill.

At one stage there are 24 coaches, medicos and high-performance staff on the oval, all dressed in light blue, attending to a session of fewer than 40 players.

In a 10-versus-10 drill, every action is assessed.

NEW senior assistant coach Jade Rawlings sits in an Arden St box high above the wing. He picks out positives and flaws as a computer tech sits beside him with a laptop. Does Jared Polec put enough pressure on his opponent to disrupt the play? Is Tarryn Thomas vocal enough in a defence drill?

Between drills — again timed to the second on the scoreboard — players are shown passages of play from their 2019 season to reinforce what they are trying to replicate or extract from a certain exercise.

Shaw knows a scout or two might wander down over summer, but he doesn’t care.

He wants everyone to know what North Melbourne’s game plan will look like in 2020. “I am really keen for our fans, our members, for the AFL to understand when North Melbourne take the field they will play a really hard and physical game,” Shaw says. “Really organised and solid in defence and attack with the flair they have been given by God. That is in summary how I want it to be.” He believes a club that often had rivals taking a backward step in those 11 games can sustain that rage, aware it is the only way to win finals footy. “I went to every Greater Western Sydney game in the finals series so I was pretty lucky. I got some cracking games.

“The way they go about it, Richmond, Brisbane this year, they played finals footy and I want to play finals footy as soon as I can.”

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

“Oh, that was an unbelievable experience. I was sitting with my dad and two boys (Freddie and Louis) and it was just the way they attacked. It was relentless,” Shaw says. “That’s the type of footy we want to play and it’s sustainable if you want to do it. Sometimes it’s about going out and bashing the opposition, but we do have plans in place to make sure it’s sustainable.”

SHAW has spent his football life in powerhouse AFL clubs Collingwood and Sydney.

He says the size of a club is irrelevant. The ethos is more important than anything.

If there is one message he wants to send to his players it is that North Melbourne can be a powerhouse. Maybe not in literal footprint or membership or revenue, but in its consistent excellence.

“I want us to think big. I want to give the players, the administration, the coaching staff the ability and confidence to believe in themselves and believe anything can happen and we can do this,” he says.

“I have seen big jumps before. I have seen teams go from zero to high up the ladder and sustain it for 10-12 years.

“We are in it to win games of footy and ultimately premierships. I don’t shy away from that. I am not here to win coach of the year. I am here to win a premiership and I am here to win multiple premierships, as every coach is.

“I know we have got a long way to go and I am not getting ahead of myself. If I fail in two, three years, I know I will have tried to do it the right way. That’s all I can do.”

It is the kind of bold statement that some might think too optimistic, but it is clear from Shaw’s time at Sydney that he comes from a club that sets big goals then ruthlessly pursues them.

He will mix that culture with North Melbourne’s DNA, confident this team can carve out a sustained period of success.

“Reading about the history of this club, they have always fought for everything. Even the inception of the club into the VFL, it took them God knows how long to even get into the competition,” Shaw says. “Through the Barassi era they starred and got some guns in and won two flags — one against my old man (Ray) in 1977

— and through the Pago (Denis Pagan) era it was simple footy but brutal.

“Brutal footy and successful footy.

“I just think we have got to be able to believe we can be a team and club that can compete with the best.”

THE players are halfway through another drill and Rawlings is spitting chips. Luke Davies-Uniacke is baulked on the mark and as a result the attacking side runs the ball effortlessly down the field.

Then in a full-ground drill a series of passes from the club’s best field kicks hit the deck.

Rawlings has just finished remarking upon Shaw’s amazing gut feel — when to be a mate, when to interject — when the senior coach calls the group in.

After weeks of sparkling training the players are a few per cent off. Shaw gesticulates, urging them to lift.

Immediately the players respond.

“Now we look like an AFL team,” Rawlings quips.

Rawlings and another assistant communicate via walkie-talkie and decide how to review these breakdowns.

Only an hour after the session the players break into three groups and Rawlings brings up a list of edits inside the club’s theatrette.


This is his message: “No game style will ever succeed if we can’t be consistent in our behaviour.”

As he says, there are acceptable behaviours and “behaviours that make you a bad teammate” .

Rawlings doesn’t eviscerate players for a missed handball or a failure to close on a player receiving the ball.

Instead he highlights what that failure means for the team as he breaks the players into groups of four to ask how they could have defended better. He uses footage and shows them with a laser pointer on a projector screen how one mistake flows on down the field and costs a goal.


Then a Jed Anderson tackle that shuts down an attacking movement gets a tick, as does a Polec three-tackle effort in a congested handball drill.

Rawlings is authoritative but encouraging, and the players respond.

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues, says shutting down that metre of space makes all the difference.

“If I am a step off, that’s another 12 touches for my opponent (in a game),” he says.

If three guys are a step off, it’s six goals.” And then the meeting is done in all of 15 minutes and the boys progress to weights.

As veteran Shaun Higgins walks off the track he talks of Shaw’s relentless ambition and how it dovetails into his own premiership hopes. “That is pleasing when you are an older guy,” Higgins says.

“We feel like we have got a list that is more than capable of being competitive week in and week out.

The dynamic and profile of the group suggests we should have those goals Rhyce is expecting of us.

“I am always optimistic of what we can do and nothing has changed.

If anything it’s grown more and more.”

jon.ralph@news.com.au

 

[Gasometer]

EVERY SECOND COUNTS

UNDER THE METICULOUS RHYCE SHAW, NORTH IS TRAINED TO THE MINUTE

THE countdown clock on the giant scoreboard at North Melbourne’s Arden St training oval is ticking down to zero.

It is seconds before 9am on Monday, November 25, and under Rhyce Shaw every second matters.

Dozens of players are scurrying across the oval, aware that the new coach’s rules are unconditional.

If you are not in place by the affixed time and ready for a two-hour session jam-packed with football education and fitness, you don’t train at all.

“We are trying to make this place our classroom,” Shaw tells the Sunday Herald Sun. We are spending a day inside North Melbourne’s football department.

Shaw says the perception of him as a young man in a hurry is accurate.

He is determined not to waste a minute — not at training, not in fasttracking a list with half of its players under 23, not in pointless meetings in which players quickly switch off.

The 38-year-old’s stunning ascent to AFL senior coaching ranks last year came with a 7-4 win-loss record and a brand of footy that rocked the competition.

Brutal attack on the man, organised behind the ball, and flair in ball movement combined in such a way there was no other contender as Brad Scott’s replacement.

Shaw has aspirations for this football team — and the entire club

— and says it starts with attention to detail.

“Everyone knows I am pretty basic, but I love making people better,” Shaw says.

“I have come from a place (in Sydney) where the standards are so high and everyone understands what is expected and knows their role and then you just go out and play it.

“So I am not ashamed to say it’s similar to what I want to achieve here. I have seen it work.

“The countdown clock is just a symbol of respect for the people who have set up the training session, and it’s respect for each other.

“There are guys ready half an hour before training and guys ready five minutes before, but if we are all out on time and all connect first with no dribs and drabs and late warm-ups , we are all in it together and that’s important.”

ASK Cam Zurhaar how Rhyce Shaw has set the tone for a summer of toil and he guffaws.

What Shaw hasn’t mentioned in an extended sit-down about the club’s levels of discipline is what happens when those minor details aren’t adhered to.

“He has definitely set the tone,” says young bull Zurhaar.

“We had a few mishaps in the first week, a few early-morning sessions, but the little things matter a lot and it’s how we are going to continue through the season.

“We had a few beach sessions and an early-morning run. It was 5.30am and it was an hour away. The boys did the Thousand Steps run (in the Dandenongs) so the boys were up at 4.30am. Some boys forgot to put wellness (ratings) in and missed massages, but it was in week one and it’s now week four and we haven’t done an extra session since.

“Little things matter and we hit it on the head.” Under Monday’s session, arranged by head of performance Jason Lappin, the drills tick over with military precision. In the new era of data, no more circle-work and 100 by 100m sprints. Each drill has a purpose that links to the game plan as Shaw adds layers to the strategies that impressed last year. And Big Brother is most definitely watching. The club’s drone, deployed by its operator Aiden Amenta, hovers 20m above the surface to collect footage. Three other fixed-camera angles add to the levels of accountability. Every coach is specifically stationed to assess each drill.

At one stage there are 24 coaches, medicos and high-performance staff on the oval, all dressed in light blue, attending to a session of fewer than 40 players.

In a 10-versus-10 drill, every action is assessed.

NEW senior assistant coach Jade Rawlings sits in an Arden St box high above the wing. He picks out positives and flaws as a computer tech sits beside him with a laptop. Does Jared Polec put enough pressure on his opponent to disrupt the play? Is Tarryn Thomas vocal enough in a defence drill?

Between drills — again timed to the second on the scoreboard — players are shown passages of play from their 2019 season to reinforce what they are trying to replicate or extract from a certain exercise.

Shaw knows a scout or two might wander down over summer, but he doesn’t care.

He wants everyone to know what North Melbourne’s game plan will look like in 2020. “I am really keen for our fans, our members, for the AFL to understand when North Melbourne take the field they will play a really hard and physical game,” Shaw says. “Really organised and solid in defence and attack with the flair they have been given by God. That is in summary how I want it to be.” He believes a club that often had rivals taking a backward step in those 11 games can sustain that rage, aware it is the only way to win finals footy. “I went to every Greater Western Sydney game in the finals series so I was pretty lucky. I got some cracking games.

“The way they go about it, Richmond, Brisbane this year, they played finals footy and I want to play finals footy as soon as I can.”

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

“Oh, that was an unbelievable experience. I was sitting with my dad and two boys (Freddie and Louis) and it was just the way they attacked. It was relentless,” Shaw says. “That’s the type of footy we want to play and it’s sustainable if you want to do it. Sometimes it’s about going out and bashing the opposition, but we do have plans in place to make sure it’s sustainable.”

SHAW has spent his football life in powerhouse AFL clubs Collingwood and Sydney.

He says the size of a club is irrelevant. The ethos is more important than anything.

If there is one message he wants to send to his players it is that North Melbourne can be a powerhouse. Maybe not in literal footprint or membership or revenue, but in its consistent excellence.

“I want us to think big. I want to give the players, the administration, the coaching staff the ability and confidence to believe in themselves and believe anything can happen and we can do this,” he says.

“I have seen big jumps before. I have seen teams go from zero to high up the ladder and sustain it for 10-12 years.

“We are in it to win games of footy and ultimately premierships. I don’t shy away from that. I am not here to win coach of the year. I am here to win a premiership and I am here to win multiple premierships, as every coach is.

“I know we have got a long way to go and I am not getting ahead of myself. If I fail in two, three years, I know I will have tried to do it the right way. That’s all I can do.”

It is the kind of bold statement that some might think too optimistic, but it is clear from Shaw’s time at Sydney that he comes from a club that sets big goals then ruthlessly pursues them.

He will mix that culture with North Melbourne’s DNA, confident this team can carve out a sustained period of success.

“Reading about the history of this club, they have always fought for everything. Even the inception of the club into the VFL, it took them God knows how long to even get into the competition,” Shaw says. “Through the Barassi era they starred and got some guns in and won two flags — one against my old man (Ray) in 1977

— and through the Pago (Denis Pagan) era it was simple footy but brutal.

“Brutal footy and successful footy.

“I just think we have got to be able to believe we can be a team and club that can compete with the best.”

THE players are halfway through another drill and Rawlings is spitting chips. Luke Davies-Uniacke is baulked on the mark and as a result the attacking side runs the ball effortlessly down the field.

Then in a full-ground drill a series of passes from the club’s best field kicks hit the deck.

Rawlings has just finished remarking upon Shaw’s amazing gut feel — when to be a mate, when to interject — when the senior coach calls the group in.

After weeks of sparkling training the players are a few per cent off. Shaw gesticulates, urging them to lift.

Immediately the players respond.

“Now we look like an AFL team,” Rawlings quips.

Rawlings and another assistant communicate via walkie-talkie and decide how to review these breakdowns.

Only an hour after the session the players break into three groups and Rawlings brings up a list of edits inside the club’s theatrette.


This is his message: “No game style will ever succeed if we can’t be consistent in our behaviour.”

As he says, there are acceptable behaviours and “behaviours that make you a bad teammate” .

Rawlings doesn’t eviscerate players for a missed handball or a failure to close on a player receiving the ball.

Instead he highlights what that failure means for the team as he breaks the players into groups of four to ask how they could have defended better. He uses footage and shows them with a laser pointer on a projector screen how one mistake flows on down the field and costs a goal.


Then a Jed Anderson tackle that shuts down an attacking movement gets a tick, as does a Polec three-tackle effort in a congested handball drill.

Rawlings is authoritative but encouraging, and the players respond.

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues, says shutting down that metre of space makes all the difference.

“If I am a step off, that’s another 12 touches for my opponent (in a game),” he says.

If three guys are a step off, it’s six goals.” And then the meeting is done in all of 15 minutes and the boys progress to weights.

As veteran Shaun Higgins walks off the track he talks of Shaw’s relentless ambition and how it dovetails into his own premiership hopes. “That is pleasing when you are an older guy,” Higgins says.

“We feel like we have got a list that is more than capable of being competitive week in and week out.

The dynamic and profile of the group suggests we should have those goals Rhyce is expecting of us.

“I am always optimistic of what we can do and nothing has changed.

If anything it’s grown more and more.”

jon.ralph@news.com.au

Just read this in the HUN...common expectations on behaviours not existing prior to this pre season is pathetic...like didn’t the last guy have all this O/s Sports Qualifications but it reads we have a culture where players couldn’t be expected to be at Spot X at 9am?

 

[GoNorth]

Just read this in the HUN...common expectations on behaviours not existing prior to this pre season is pathetic...like didn’t the last guy have all this O/s Sports Qualifications but it reads we have a culture where players couldn’t be expected to be at Spot X at 9am?

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

 

[GoNorth]

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues.

 

[gokangas]

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues.

Thought it wasn' concussion. Didn't they say it was some unusual sinusitis type of thingy? Whatever, it is just sad that Ben can't get back on the field.

 

[Gasometer]

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

...that’s the price you pay when you don’t bother to read the weekly Autopsy Thread on Big Footy...all the answers in there LMac

 

[see see]

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

Already stoking the Good Friday rivalry and signalling an intent to play nasty. Nice one