Training 2026 Training Reports

[footyfnatiC]

Whitlock and Trembath in.

Need to get games into them.

Whitlock was our best forward in the intra, Trembath was combative.

Out Pink, Logue or Darling.

Dont really care which one goes out. All suck.

 

[footyfnatiC]

Sheezel to HB. Much better there and gun user.

Curtis, Whitlock, Trembath in.

Wardlaw (fingers crossed) when ready replaces Sheezel.

Kerch give a go in mids (not wing), if not suitable back to HB.

Who am i missing?

 

[winalotroos]

We can talk about what players we have or don’t have in different positions on the ground, in my view it’s the game plan that’s the problem when the ball comes into our backline there appears to be plenty of space for their forwards to work with, when the ball comes into our forwards line it is always congested with no space for our forwards to work with, this means we move the ball to slow going forward or our mids are too lazy or too dumb to work as a team.
This to me is all on the coaching staff starting with Clarkson, we have been building for more than 5 years and we have some great players, they are not working for each other under this system.

 

[Passmore]

What happens if we have a spike during the Port game and/or the Pies game?

Do most of you lurch from doom and gloom to mild optimism, or do you commit to the bit? Because, as shit as we are, I'm gonna stick my neck out and say we're not THAT shit as for an 86-point loss to that mob to be standard fare even for our on-the-floor expectations.

HOWEVER, we are shit enough that we're not getting off the ground ie. putting in respectable performances, for more than six consecutive weeks this year.

I've just counted our fixtures and I have us at 5-18, including losing the final 10 (meaning we'll have to be 5-8 at some point). But I'm morbidly keen to see the reactions on this board if we do uplift slightly in the next month. An uplift won't convince me unless/until our players are finally doing all the things that have been gone over ad nauseam, but I think it'll temper rants on here. And I don't know if it should; our talent very occasionally wins out but the institutional shitness is still, and has still been, very much there.

Fascinating stuff; to me at least

Enjoy the moments for what they are. But be realistic enough to acknowledge that it needs to be done a dozen + times before you bank on anything being sustainable.

 

[Themanbun]

This is a genuinely sad watch. Not one player identifies the main bloody distributor clearly running with intent and looks to block his run or even go with him.

Sheezel and Powell were both really poor at defensive running last year and were both culprits again here.

Be better boys.

**** me I re watched this because I can't get over how shit Friday was.

Larkey.
Curtis.
Sheezel.
FOS.
Parker?
Powell.

That's a captain. A vice captain. A senior leader. A sixth year midfielder.

Curtis and FOS get a pass due to lung pus and age.

The only one who presses up on him to cut it off is someone I don't recognize. I think one of the train ons.

 

[amaz199]

I feel like what everyone has been saying in terms of issues has been around since we had Brad Scott at the helm.

It's just that we've replaced hard workers in the middle with Rolls Royces that won't do the dirty work when required. Funnily enough, with the hard workers we had we could do a number on the Freos, Hawthorns, Geelongs and Sydneys of that time.

It speaks volumes. You cannot put all your chips into one part of the ground then expect things to flourish.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I'm not gonna lose my shit over a low tackle number in a game we were reportedly throwing players around to see how they went, after a pre-season marred by injury every second day. I can see the logic in not going hard.

But if in Round 1 there is similar effort shown, it will be extremely concerning.
I can't see ditching Clarkson mid season as a useful approach. How many coaches are we going to try before admitting there's something else thats a problem?

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

I'm not gonna lose my shit over a low tackle number in a game we were reportedly throwing players around to see how they went, after a season marred by injury every second day. I can see the logic in not going hard.

But if in Round 1 there is similar effort shown, it will be extremely concerning.
I can't see ditching Clarkson mid season as a useful approach. How many coaches are we going to try before admitting there's something else thats a problem?

Well, this is the first ‘proper’ coach we’ve had since Scott got the arse. Shaw was a short term high and Noble was an administrator who got to sit in the coaches box for a bit.

And it’s been 3, going on 4 years for Clarko.

Time to move on.

 

[Passmore]

**** me I re watched this because I can't get over how shit Friday was.

Larkey.
Curtis.
Sheezel.
FOS.
Parker?
Powell.

That's a captain. A vice captain. A senior leader. A sixth year midfielder.

Curtis and FOS get a pass due to lung pus and age.

The only one who presses up on him to cut it off is someone I don't recognize. I think one of the train ons.

I've tried to blank it out and you've gone and watched it again you sicko...

 

[winalotroos]

Well, this is the first ‘proper’ coach we’ve had since Scott got the arse. Shaw was a short term high and Noble was an administrator who got to sit in the coaches box for a bit.

And it’s been 3, going on 4 years for Clarko.

Time to move on.

Based on what we saw on Friday practice match or not, Clarko will need to be a magician to turn this around, and don’t get me wrong I have been a Clarko supporter, but I expected a lot more on Friday than the S**t that was dished up

 

[zoomba23]

None of us should still be here. We're all lunatics. Lock us away in an asylum and be done with it

 

[amaz199]

None of us should still be here. We're all lunatics. Lock us away in an asylum and be done with it

It's only a matter of time until the rusted ons start to go 'nah man, this is too much'.

The thing is, the club is playing a dangerous game by continually taking advantage of the loyalty supporters have shown despite the absolute shitness across a semi-decade long stretch. It's only a matter of time that the swept under the rug recession going on in this country and people being mentally cooked finally take over then we truly see the damage being done. No one wants to be grinding away during the work week then go and watch North get pumped on repeat. Also, before anyone says 'what are you doing here, then?' or 'just quit and don't watch them anymore', supporters deserve some form of reward for sticking around when the club reached the lowest of lows and is still pissing on the dumpster fire that continues to go on.

Supporters deserve every bit of success because if it weren't for the supporters, there would be no 'North Melbourne Football Club'.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

None of us should still be here. We're all lunatics. Lock us away in an asylum and be done with it

I’m just here for the free buffet.

 

[amaz199]

The crazy thing is, other than being on here, I can't get excited for our prospects.

I mean, sure, if things do actually change, I will gladly change my tune. But that's the thing, why should the supporter group continually do what is required when the players don't?

 

[Chip Scab1]

I’m just here for the free buffet.

I'm here for young birds I meet in the Premiership Club... Doreen, Doris and Mable are a bit of alright, I tell you.

 

[zoomba23]

It's only a matter of time until the rusted ons start to go 'nah man, this is too much'.

The thing is, the club is playing a dangerous game by continually taking advantage of the loyalty supporters have shown despite the absolute shitness across a semi-decade long stretch. It's only a matter of time that the swept under the rug recession going on in this country and people being mentally cooked finally take over then we truly see the damage being done. No one wants to be grinding away during the work week then go and watch North get pumped on repeat. Also, before anyone says 'what are you doing here, then?' or 'just quit and don't watch them anymore', supporters deserve some form of reward for sticking around when the club reached the lowest of lows and is still pissing on the dumpster fire that continues to go on.

Supporters deserve every bit of success because if it weren't for the supporters, there would be no 'North Melbourne Football Club'.

My energy has dwindled as much as it ever will. I left the Essendon game last year. Not because we were getting thrashed, but simply because I saw Comben and Powell doing Benny Hill impressions on the half back flank while down three-four goals and just suddenly felt totally exhausted. Enough, I thought.

I don't know it for certain but I suspect some others are in the same boat. Meaning, with nine Marvel home games, the crowd numbers will appear extremely grim at the end of the game if we don't pick it up

 

[amaz199]

My energy has dwindled as much as it ever will. I left the Essendon game last year. Not because we were getting thrashed, but simply because I saw Comben and Powell doing Benny Hill on the half back flank while down three-four goals and just suddenly felt totally exhausted. Enough, I thought.

I don't know it for certain but I suspect some others are in the same boat. Meaning, with nine Marvel games, the crowd numbers will appear extremely grim at the end of the game if we don't pick it up

That *Essendon game was actually the dumbest we've played by a long stretch. They were cooked beyond cooked, and we couldn't get in front to win. Boggles the mind.

I will say I don't feel as hopeless as I did in 2022. I was utterly depressed that year and still have the scars from it. I don't think we have been as bad as that stretch was since then. But that's not something to be satisfied with, although the coaches being forced to deal with such an impossible job of repairing the damage caused by shoddy list management and inept leadership across the board has somewhat deterred me from going after them.

I will see what happens in Round 1. Maybe they've got something cooking in the background, and we're in for a surprise. One thing I know for sure, this club can pump out surprises, good or bad.

 

[muttley45]

I reckon it was only about 2 weeks ago, that someone from the club, can't remember who, was talking about fast ball movement, i remember because i posted the Q. was it Northball 2.0, blind Freddy can see most clubs are playing that style atm, wtf are we doing ?

 

[Clarke is King]

It's only a matter of time until the rusted ons start to go 'nah man, this is too much'.

The thing is, the club is playing a dangerous game by continually taking advantage of the loyalty supporters have shown despite the absolute shitness across a semi-decade long stretch. It's only a matter of time that the swept under the rug recession going on in this country and people being mentally cooked finally take over then we truly see the damage being done. No one wants to be grinding away during the work week then go and watch North get pumped on repeat. Also, before anyone says 'what are you doing here, then?' or 'just quit and don't watch them anymore', supporters deserve some form of reward for sticking around when the club reached the lowest of lows and is still pissing on the dumpster fire that continues to go on.

Supporters deserve every bit of success because if it weren't for the supporters, there would be no 'North Melbourne Football Club'.

Well said. If you told me 5 years ago that I would spend most of a season not watching our games I wouldn't have believed you but last year genuinely broke me.

I was once again sucked in by the preseason hype but Friday was a classic NMFC bringing back down to earth.

 

[winalotroos]

I reckon it was only about 2 weeks ago, that someone from the club, can't remember who, was talking about fast ball movement, i remember because i posted the Q. was it Northball 2.0, blind Freddy can see most clubs are playing that style atm, wtf are we doing ?

I am one of those rusted on supporters been following the Club since 1975 ( it was a good year ) and I have seen very good times and crap times, but never as prolonged as this, it’s F**ken painful and I love this Club because we are a small club with passionate supporters, but WHF !

 

[koshari]

Mods can you please rename this the 'Doom and Gloom' thread? That'd be more appropriate.

Have we forgotten last year? Preseason at Arden st, Melbourne thumps us by 8 goals. Real season starts: competitive loss in round 1 and a 10 goal thumping over the same team that 'smashed us' in the pre-season.

Yes I expected more but it may still be too early to make any harsh calls.

Dunno why you would compare to last year as it was some shining light, we were garbage then as well.

 

[Masked Avenger]

I reckon it was only about 2 weeks ago, that someone from the club, can't remember who, was talking about fast ball movement, i remember because i posted the Q. was it Northball 2.0, blind Freddy can see most clubs are playing that style atm, wtf are we doing ?

I think we need fast legs movement as much as anything else.

We are so slow and unathletic.

Pickett looked like he was running past statutes for most of the game Friday

Becker and Blamires looked like they had jet engines up their backsides compared to more than half their teammates.

It's not the only issue - but it's a major one.

 

[koshari]

What happens if we have a spike during the Port game and/or the Pies game?

Do most of you lurch from doom and gloom to mild optimism, or do you commit to the bit? Because, as shit as we are, I'm gonna stick my neck out and say we're not THAT shit as for an 86-point loss to that mob to be standard fare even for our on-the-floor expectations.

HOWEVER, we are shit enough that we're not getting off the ground ie. putting in respectable performances, for more than six consecutive weeks this year.

I've just counted our fixtures and I have us at 5-18, including losing the final 10 (meaning we'll have to be 5-8 at some point). But I'm morbidly keen to see the reactions on this board if we do uplift slightly in the next month. An uplift won't convince me unless/until our players are finally doing all the things that have been gone over ad nauseam, but I think it'll temper rants on here. And I don't know if it should; our talent very occasionally wins out but the institutional shitness is still, and has still been, very much there.

Fascinating stuff; to me at least

Could win 6 and fall into 14th.

 

[rickety]

That *Essendon game was actually the dumbest we've played by a long stretch. They were cooked beyond cooked, and we couldn't get in front to win. Boggles the mind.

I will say I don't feel as hopeless as I did in 2022. I was utterly depressed that year and still have the scars from it. I don't think we have been as bad as that stretch was since then. But that's not something to be satisfied with, although the coaches being forced to deal with such an impossible job of repairing the damage caused by shoddy list management and inept leadership across the board has somewhat deterred me from going after them.

I will see what happens in Round 1. Maybe they've got something cooking in the background, and we're in for a surprise. One thing I know for sure, this club can pump out surprises, good or bad.

I just wondered, with the deliberates of fixturing, tribunal outcomes and tonnes of other wtaf moments, if, lol, the whole kit and caboodle is rigged/staged/managed ... and someone is slowly leaking out that it'll be our turn to get the rub of the green? Being that footy is entertainment and all.

 

[year of the roo]

I just wondered, with the deliberates of fixturing, tribunal outcomes and tonnes of other wtaf moments, if, lol, the whole kit and caboodle is rigged/staged/managed ... and someone is slowly leaking out that it'll be our turn to get the rub of the green? Being that footy is entertainment and all.

I sometimes think this might be the case but I can't explain the lack of success of GWS, Gold Coast, even Freo. No reason for them to keep going back to the Geelong and Hawthorn well, either.

So yeah it's rigged, but not totally rigged.