Training 2019 Preseason Discussion

[TheMase]

Looking for competitiveness is always a key for younger players, I find. It's not a perfect indicator, but for me it is normally a solid indicator of how far they might go as a professional. If they're prepared to work really hard and go in for multiple efforts (running or tackling or contesting aerial contests or ground balls or whatever) often as an 18 year old, it's a good sign that they are motivated to work really hard and won't run out of drive easily.

McCartin was like that last year (until he fell away later in the year, likely due to his age), Ronke was too, Hannebery in 2009 showed it, and Papley in 2016.

It’s a pretty good indicator. It’s just about a requirement of AFL footy.

If a kid is showing careless regard for himself as a skinny kid, you know they’ll almost certainly do that throughout their career.

You can overcome a lack of talent with serious competitiveness but less likely with a lot of talent but less competitiveness (especially in the modern game).

Buddy is a superstar because he has elite talent AND elite competitiveness.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Buddy is a superstar because he has elite talent AND elite competitiveness.

Of course we (and most other footy fans) just laugh when Buddy expresses that elite talent and does something no other player can contemplate. Then again I have often found myself chortling at how outraged Buddy becomes when he loses a contest or stuffs up.

At games end he is a model good sport ... delighting in a win with his mates but offering consolation to the Oppo especially whoever played on him ... and when we lose he is the among the first to congratulate the Oppo.

Ten and twenty years from now I expect there will be a heap of ex players making cash at Sporty functions who tell stories of playing with and against Buddy.

 

[RUNVS]

It’s a pretty good indicator. It’s just about a requirement of AFL footy.

If a kid is showing careless regard for himself as a skinny kid, you know they’ll almost certainly do that throughout their career.

You can overcome a lack of talent with serious competitiveness but less likely with a lot of talent but less competitiveness (especially in the modern game).

Buddy is a superstar because he has elite talent AND elite competitiveness.

Ed Barlow had a huge amount of talent, but was not particularly competitive.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Ed Barlow had a huge amount of talent, but was not particularly competitive.

Sage! But with Ed it was not a matter of not being determined. To be competitive you need to be determined, brave and have a footy IQ.

Rohan is another example. No doubt he tried hard, but he was incapable of trying smart.

Ed and Gazza may be the two lowest footy IQ players to have played for us in recent decades.

 

[Nool Carpenna]

A few comments about the game.

Mcinerney isn’t ready just yet, but I like what I see. Aside from his blistering pace, confidence and neat kicking skills, I was really impressed with his competitiveness. There was a play where he made 2nd, 3rd and 4th efforts and from memory then won the ball for us. Looked to have smarts about him.

Stoddart is a similar player from the run perspective but I feel he lacks a bit of competitiveness to really get in and have a dig. He is still very young but I am not convinced at all that he is going to make it.

Rowbottom is another that showed a lot of competitiveness and wasn’t afraid to have a dip. He isn’t quite there yet either but the signs are positive.

I thought even Reynolds had a couple of nice moments and he seems to have some real competitiveness about him too, albeit he is raw.

I feel like Papleys game has been underrated / not spoken about much. He is shaping up really nicely for 2019.

Maibaum looked quicker than I recall. He looked really solid and I think is ready for senior footy should an opportunity come along.

COR was solid but let down by his kicking a little.

Florent played a very good inside outside game. He has put on some nice size now and should be a strong contributor this year.

Hewett is another that has gone under the radar a bit. I thought his inside contribution was excellent, he is ready to take the next step.

Mills looks a born inside midfielder, his quick hands were a delight and I think he will spend the whole year through the mids.

Blakey looks ready for AFL footy despite his frame, going to be difficult to leave out and given injuries to Menzal, Buddy and now McCartin, he is an almost certain Round One starter.

Lloyd hasn’t been mentioned much (and some won’t like this), but I felt he absolutely butchered the ball by foot. I reckon a good majority of his kicks missed their target.

Hayward looks to have put in significant size, thought I’d still like to see more involvement across the game from him.

Pink is tenacious, I can see why the club have persisted with him. Competitive has a dip.

Cameron I thought was really disappointing. Has an opportunity to put his name forward for Rd1 but not on that performance.

Dawson was solid, had some really good moments. I’d still like to see him hit the contest a little harder.

Rampe looks in great touch.
Melican has some good moments too and I am looking forward to his return to the 22.

Fox was solid.

Agree re Lloyd. Couple of absolute stinkers... and with plenty of time to execute.
Papley was very good. Solid contribution between the arcs. Always looks sore to me.
Watching live really let’s you see how much ground Stoddart covers. Fear he is the Jordan Foote of the flanks, in that he does all the hard yards but doesn’t have the skills/composure to capitalise.
With you on Dawson... think a few here forget that when our neafl side is kicking 25-30 goals he will get plenty of touches... around the forward fifty arc... where he does his best work.
Has COR reached his ceiling? Gets to good places, tackles strongly but his ball use isn’t consistent enough.
Fox has always had the ability to make some great plays and yesterday was no different. Seems quite popular and respected around the dugout. I suspect his greatest contribution to our great game may happen off the playing field.
Yeah... Cameron got smashed. Couldn’t keep his feet on a very hard cricket field (plenty of bloodied elbows and knees) especially under the weight of Simpson... he is a big big boy. Funny, Giant fan next to me applauded his grab in the goal square... I turned and said “He’s no chance to kick it”... sure enough!
He left the very soon after ht with a knee, which worryingly suggests Sinclair is the entire ruck dept for the foreseeable future.

 

[Punts]

COR isn’t much imo , won’t make the 22 unless injuries

 

[TheMase]

He left the very soon after ht with a knee, which worryingly suggests Sinclair is the entire ruck dept for the foreseeable future.

Ah not again!!

Hopefully Naismith can make a seamless recovery. We have not had much luck with talls over the last couple of years.

 

[Number37]

Ah not again!!

Hopefully Naismith can make a seamless recovery. We have not had much luck with talls over the last couple of years.

We might see Reid back in the ruck?

 

[Nool Carpenna]

Ah not again!!

Hopefully Naismith can make a seamless recovery. We have not had much luck with talls over the last couple of years.

Cox could be putting in some long hours with the likes of Pink and Amartey lol

 

[TheMase]

We might see Reid back in the ruck?

Depending on how we set up our forward 50, we might have to.

Without Naismith being available, and from what I saw of Cameron, I don’t see a lot of point in carrying two rucks with one, at least at this stage, not looking competent enough to be a general ruckman as yet.

And even when Naismith comes back, if he were to get selected for seniors, would we have all of Buddy, Reid, Sinclair, Menzel and even Blakey (and McCartin would have been included) forward? I doubt it.

The ruck rules this year seem to indicate to me that we won’t be able to play a grossly undersized player in there unlike the last couple of years. Reid however is tall and athletic enough to make a contest without the risk of exposing the news rules and thus if the club is confident in his body, I can see him giving Sinclair a chop out in the ruck.

 

[TheMase]

Cox could be putting in some long hours with the likes of Pink and Amartey lol

Haha. Well I for one hope to never see Pink rucking at senior AFL level. To say Cox will have his work cut out for him is perhaps an understatement!

I assume Amartey is still recovering from off season operations. Looking to see him continue to develop. Looks more a KPP type to me rather than a ruckman at this stage, but Cox would want to get stuck in once fit as we may need him later in the year lol

 

[caesar88]

Another thing that was pleasing was that our draftees had more of an impact than GWS’. Obviously their team was down and lacking any leadership/star power, but the highly rated Caldwell and Hately weren’t anywhere near as involved as Blakey, Rowbo or McInerney. Not knocking the Giants youngsters. I think it says less about them and more about how we have this uncanny ability to instill our youngsters with this confidence that they can do anything regardless of age or size. The fact those three treated it not just as a scratch match to prove themselves but seemed to genuinely want to win and beat their opponents was super pleasing to see. Blakey especially has a bit of mongrel in him. Seems like such a quiet fella in interviews but I’ve noticed he absolutely loves letting his opponent have it after a contest!

 

[RUNVS]

Another thing that was pleasing was that our draftees had more of an impact than GWS’. Obviously their team was down and lacking any leadership/star power, but the highly rated Caldwell and Hately weren’t anywhere near as involved as Blakey, Rowbo or McInerney. Not knocking the Giants youngsters. I think it says less about them and more about how we have this uncanny ability to instill our youngsters with this confidence that they can do anything regardless of age or size. The fact those three treated it not just as a scratch match to prove themselves but seemed to genuinely want to win and beat their opponents was super pleasing to see. Blakey especially has a bit of mongrel in him. Seems like such a quiet fella in interviews but I’ve noticed he absolutely loves letting his opponent have it after a contest!

Just need to confirm, are we really going with the name Rowbo?

 

[caesar88]

Just need to confirm, are we really going with the name Rowbo?

I like Robo as in Robocop, but it also looks too similar to the fat slob on Fox Footy. So, it’s a tough one.

 

[6yearsold]

thurlow offered absolutely nothing despite being pumped up by menzel in the commentary box. has his work cut out for him to make the rd 1 team imo. as does clarke who has brought his scrappy disposal with him from north though he makes himself available well with his running ability. COR seems to have plateaued. i though maybe cor or thurlow could take mills spot in defence before watching this match. right now i would rather robbie fox back there.

 

[WillHayward]

Big thumbs up to the young guy commentating the praccie match.
Not sure what his name is, but very accomplished.

(No i am not his mum)

 

[Superstar swan]

I have been skeptical of balkeys chances of being a decent player straight off the bat given he weighs 23kgs but he looks to have a fair bit of forward nouse and good set shot.. he will only need a couple of opportunities a game and he will capitalise if yesterdays game was anything to go by

 

[Superstar swan]

thurlow offered absolutely nothing despite being pumped up by menzel in the commentary box. has his work cut out for him to make the rd 1 team imo. as does clarke who has brought his scrappy disposal with him from north though he makes himself available well with his running ability. COR seems to have plateaued. i though maybe cor or thurlow could take mills spot in defence before watching this match. right now i would rather robbie fox back there.

I see them both as big bodied depth at this point

 

[6yearsold]

Big thumbs up to the young guy commentating the praccie match.
Not sure what his name is, but very accomplished.

(No i am not his mum)

the one thing he had going for him is he actually knew most of the younger players names. Otherwise, he spent a lot of time interviewing the guests who themselves (apart from tom harley) offered zero insight into the match, eg, "he's had a good preseason". The rest of the time was spent plugging his radio show or dylan buckley's podcast. I would rather have someone spend the time commentating on the match.

But good on the swans for actually making this available and giving us a glimpse of some of the younger players.

 

[WillHayward]

the one thing he had going for him is he actually knew most of the younger players names. Otherwise, he spent a lot of time interviewing the guests who themselves (apart from tom harley) offered zero insight into the match, eg, "he's had a good preseason". The rest of the time was spent plugging his radio show or dylan buckley's podcast. I would rather have someone spend the time commentating on the match.

But good on the swans for actually making this available and giving us a glimpse of some of the younger players.

Fair enough. I just thought he did an ok job by knowing the players' names (including some pretty obscure and/or young players ive never heard of) and trying to keep it light hearted with the guests while keeping an eye on the action. Not an easy balance.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

I like Robo as in Robocop, but it also looks too similar to the fat slob on Fox Footy. So, it’s a tough one.

Hahahaha. Royaboat is a bit long.

 

[Big Blood]

I didn't mind the commentary. There wasn't much of a contest to talk about so I thought it was a good format bringing in the guests.

Agree that Blakely was as good as advertised. Just a matter of how fast he gets transitioned to A-grade.

Seems OFlo has bulked out and gone up a level. He could be a real weapon this year. Mills got plenty of the ball, Papley and Hayward were really lively. Didn't realise this was Papley's first full preseason so he really ought be on fire this year. Cunningham was really dominant.

Of the backs, Melican's a lock. Mauibaum not far behind. Didn't see enough of Thurlow. COR may be get a run given our injuries.

I think Mumford's hand was open when he hit Hewett, who wasn't hurt. Mumford's hit on Reg looked a bit more painful.

Loved McInerney's aggression and breaking the lines, but it is a trial game, so hard to gauge how far away he is. Rowbo looks the goods though didn't do a lot.

Dawson got a lot of the ball early. Hoping he can step up this year - it would be great to have his big leg within 60m of the goals. Maybe he'll play mostly forward and be chopout for Sinclair.

A bit disappointed in Cameron, and would have liked to see Clarke get a bit more of the ball.

We do have a bit of an injury list. Smith, Naismith, Jack, Menzel, Jones are unlikely for R1. Buddy also pretty iffy. Plus the McCartin situation. So lots of spots up for grabs.

 

[Punts]

Hopefully Clarke gets more ball in the JLT otherwise he isn’t a lock imo.

The ruck situation will be interesting as Cameron imo will struggle to transition to senior level

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Yep. Looks like our depth will get an early test.

I am really disappointed Buddy's groin op happened quite late in the off season. With McCartin and Menzell down I trust the brains trust will not bring him back for R1 unless he is totally right.

If Cameron copped an injury yesterday, it looks like Sinkers will be rucking alone. Does not matter that much against the Bullies, unless English has had a big leap ahead on last year.

If he is not right the forward line for Round 1 may look like:

Papley Reid Haybarn
Blakey Dawson Ronke

 

[6yearsold]

the problem with our list is we only have one genuine ruck.

sinclair and cameron are both second rucks who rest forward.