Training 2020 Training - pics, reports etc

[Aphrodite]

Cunners!

 

[thylacine60]

Fantastic info Windows. Makes it so much more real for those of us OS.

living overseas an excuse for not getting to training now? fmd........

 

[HARKER]

Good little outing today and in particular the full-ground match sim.

Started off well enough with plenty one-on-one action. The goal-square drill was back in action as was the more interesting one-on-one attacks on the ground ball. Cripps monstered Newnes and Fisher looked fantastic. Really want this guy playing midfield minutes as he's super dangerous anywhere near the ball. He's clean one-handed pick-ups and dash are eye-catching.
Setterfield performed very well in this drill also, but it did show up Walsh as still not being as strong as you'd want with head over the ball. That's to be expected given his age, but what he lacks in strength he makes up in smarts...by plenty.

Anyway...the real stuff.
No Macreadie, Marchbank, Kennedy, CCurnow, JSilvagni, SPS, Kemp nor McKay.
That did take some of the edge from the match as stand-ins had to be employed to make up the numbers. I have no idea who they were though.

Setterfield was terrific here also. Moved across the ground well and is clearly much stronger and more agile already, than he was this time last year.
Definite starter for mine whether playing in the centre or around the ground....he's dangerous.

Walsh was....well, he was Walsh. Did get caught by a gang tackle at one stage but some of the stuff he does elsewhere, is what we were hoping of Gibbs when he was 27. The awareness is off the scale and he performed some 'Pendelbury' moments through the course of the match sim.

Cuningham & Dow - Just what I wanted to see. Speed, speed, dash, daring and then more speed.
Hope a few of the goals show up in the highlights. They were worthy.

Betts still has tricks. Uses his body well against opponents, is lightning quick with ball in hand and fights for it as much as anyone. Liked what I saw.

Casboult was the stand out forward which isn't surprising, but he gave is all and capitalised against mostly Jones.
Given the outs and maybe even without the outs, he's a definite starter come round 1...and a worthy one on what I've seen to date.

Martin took a good pack mark, but I'm still somewhat underwhelmed just as this stage. Maybe he's just a match-day sort of guy.
Newnes did some good things, but worried about the time it takes him to move the ball on. Just a little slow for mine.

TDK again leaping like a praying mantis and even though he didn't win most of the ruck battles, he just keeps following the ball.
This is a great trait to have and he's never far away from the action.

Honey, Ramsay and Phillips all had their moments

Back in Docherty, Plowman, Newman and Williamson all did what one may have expected them to do.

Highlights for me were Setterfield, Cuningham, Dow (second half of match sim) and Fisher and mostly because of the speed of some of these guys.
It's such a welcome sight to see the dash and dare at training.

 

[La Dispute]

Great report Windows!

Going to temper expectations until pre-season but good to see progress is being made with so many players.

As an aside, which coach works directly with the players to improve their kicking?

 

[Boy with chook]

Introductory Comments:

• This is the most Thylacine list I’ve ever seen. DEPTH. It’s amazing. Just bow at the alter of SOS and pray.
• The amount of ‘gee that was good’ moments I had today was simply off the charts.
• The overall fitness of this group is just superb. An amazing improvement in 12 months. Fair play to Soapy- he called it a year ago.
• The number of disappointments were, well it was probably only one and I don’t want to hammer him so I won’t feature it too much.
• The balance is so good. Mature. Middle age. Developing youth. The brand new kids can just take their time.
• They just really like each other this group. They have fun.

Let’s clear off the protocols. Injuries etc.

• rehab group was SPS (who did no running at all), Kennedy (who did slow running and had a knee strap), Kemp, then 3 who did a fair bit. MCG, Jack and McKay. McKay is flying. And huge. Did more running today than last time. And kicking which is great to see for someone coming back from groin problems.
• Jack is in great shape. He kept giving MCG a 10m head start in 150m runs and ran him down. Not that MCG looked bad either.
• Macreadie and Marchy still in rehab. I timed Marchy at a 20 sec 150 which is the fastest I’ve clocked anyone this summer. In superb shape running wise. Must be close to rejoining. Macreadie also fit.
• Ed C seemed to be there at the start of training then left and I don’t know at what stage (but def early) or why
• Kreuzer, Murphy, Newman, Gibbo: all players with question marks from previous sessions all participated fully the whole day. No issues. Great to see. Kreuzer looking super lean and fit.

———
The main group had a number of players I don’t know attend. Johnson from the Northern Blues was def one so I gather the others are also from there. Maybe 5? Making up numbers for the game simulation.

—-
They started drills in three groups. Agility drills.

One on one marking drills. Tackling and evasion drills. Not much to report here. Quite liked the first drill: lead and mark, then leading player push back and defend on a lead back to goal square. Newman way too good for Honey was about all that stood out.

—-

Then the real excitement began. 3 x 15 mins of match play. I’d say they went at 90 percent. No bone jarring hits etc but pretty full on.

It was simply outstanding play. Keep in mind no McKay, CC or MCG. Yet some of the play was breathtaking. Elite.

The first quarter was largely Possibles Vs Probables. Dow and LOB were in the Possibles which was interesting. And for my only real negative of the day: LOB showed why. He was fumbly, his body was a bit weak in the tackle, and his kicking was average. I’m going to pass it off as rust, but it was a shame as he’s had such a good preseason. The other two quarters the teams were thrown around.

Positionally the players were as expected: Weiters, Newman, Jones, Plow, Simmo and Doc the backline. Crippa only played mid. Ed started mid then I lost him. Eddie and Martin forward with Levi. Murph a bit forward and mid. Dow the same. Cunners Mid in the ‘Probables’ and that will never happen again....more on him later. Setters and Lob on a wing. Walsh played mid, wing and forward. Newnes wing and half back. Kreuzer Pittonet and TDk all shares the ruck. Casboult no ruck time.

Just a quick notes dump for you...

1st quarter quick thoughts:
Backline looked immense. Walsh and Cripps amazing. Hard to see how they can keep Cunners out of the side. A long way in front of Dow this quarter.
——-
Q2: Walsh to a wing. Super Impressive Fisher, Murphy, Cripps, Casboult chain.

Play of the day Cunners break tackle and 50m goal. He’s on FIRE. Fisher terrific. Hands. Standing up in tackles. Skills. Pressure

Newnes solid. Martin solid. Cunners. Amazing. Honey showed up well! Walsh strength in a tackle terrific. Overall just amazing.

Like this is the single best session I’ve ever seen. SO much to like. Especially Harry McKay running so powerfully.

Kennedy sore knee not at full pace. Macreadie who must be 37 years old now.

LOB disappointing so far.
——

Third quarter

Willo on wing now. Cunners showing same again. Dow a nice burst. LOB fumbled. Honey lots of power.

Stocker looks fit. Really nice centre clearance by stocker. Walsh looks super. Stronger. TDK actually looking good in ruck. Winning Hitouts. Lang moving the best he has at he club.

Philp showing nice signs. Nice size. Good pace. Stocker showing great signs.Weitering too good for Levi.

Dow showing good signs. Kicking is fine. Maybe needs more of it. Stocker good hands in close. Martin nice mark.

Newman continually running off half back. Fantastic Paddy Wow moment. Crumbed. Burst from a pack. Snap goal.

Dow burst. Gosh Finbar hasn’t been.....too bad???

In case you’re wondering...Eddie is stilll afreak. He kicked 3?

Setters just consistently good. Keeps getting the ball. Using it well.

——

After the game play finished they did more work.

5 min 3/4 field work x 3 I think? Transition practice. Some random guy showed a bit. Number 7. NFI who he is.

Cripps fitness is sensational. What stood out for me in the game and in general was that his running to contest has gone up a level. He’s SO fit now.

Philp really showed somehting then stuffed his kicks. Weitering looks sensational. Everything about Dow kicking is better. Refusing to be rushed. No more exaggerated ball drop. Neat low and punch.
——
Then they finished off with running of course. The painful 2 min, 90 sec, 30 sec and repeat drill they do.

Order:
Walsh and Cottrell killed it.
Doc
Newnes
Simmo
Goddard
Setters
Ramsay
Murph
Fish
Martin
Dow
Lang
Polson

——
That’s a notes dump. Now a collection of my general thoughts. I may do a Player By Player Year on Year review later.

Generally we are SO impressive now. Here’s why:

• Fisher, Walsh and Cunners can all stand up in tackles now. Especially the second two.
• The balance of the midfield group is outstanding. Want a bit of grunt? No problem. Cripps and Ed can get in there and get it. Stocker a watch here too! A few times in the midfield today he showed clean hands, a strong body and an ability to make sharp decisions.
• Want inside / outside? No drama. Cunners (I’m coming to him), Walsh, Setters can all do it.
• I love our link up play. It started to show up last year and I really see it being a strength this year. These guys are all great in a chain: Martin, Gibbo, Simmo, Doc, Walsh, Fish, Cunners, Setters, Crippa. Just super decision makers in close. Great users. They will string the ball together brilliantly as a group this year.
• Weitering and Jones in tandem is a sight to behold. Casboult destroyed Goddard in Q1 of the match play. But in Q3 they put Weiters on him and he was simply too good. I feel so safe with him on anyone now. Fantastic.
• We feel so much stronger all over the ground. Add the big three into the forward line and I feel we have no material weaknesses.

Some player thoughts. In order of ‘blew me away’.....Ok fine, it’s not a Sam Walsh moment....but Jesus H Christ Cunners is impressive. It’s not just his burst. Please I beg you to watch the hands. It happens WAY too often. He has the best hands at the club. Single best. No doubt. His reflexes are freakish. His hands at his feet are sublime. Then after the gather he can side step a small cargo ship. Then straight speed forward. He’s unstoppable. Then what? Lace put delivery that’s what. He’s strong in a tackle. Let’s stop kicking around here. fu** the forward pocket s**t. Screw the high half forward rubbish. Put the kid in the guts and get the fu** out of his way. This is breakout city here. Like there is too much data on his positive attributes now. He has one residual weakness: he gets lost. Stanton called out at one point “what are you thinking Cunners?” A telltale sign of what they discuss and what he is still working on. He was just ‘watching’ the game at the time. Doesn’t worry me at all. I’ve said it before: Kouta had the same problem and it’s overcome by taking thinking out of it.

Go get it son!!!!!! Off my head excited at what he showed me today. And has all summer. Massive fan. Massive fan.

Crippa. He’s number two on the Windows Hall of Holy s**t. He’s......better. Yep. He’s better. His running and agility are 10 percent up. He’s overlap running- never seen that before. Numbers to the contest stuff. Getting on the outside. Pushing back hard to defence. He’s not Walsh like but shittttt.

Jacob Weitering is the AA CHB Locked in. Just forget it. He’s bigger. He’s stronger. He doesn’t look slow. His kicking, marking, general footy play is all off the leash. I can’t think of a defender I’d prefer. If the ball comes slow into our backline this year just forget it. He will halve it or win it back. He was too strong for LEVI today. Read that again. He was too strong for LEVI.

Sam Walsh comes in at number 4 on Windows’ Why We Can Make the Top 4 List. He’s got the body strength of a 25 year old now. You can’t bring him to ground. I thought his running had dropped off a tad. Nope. He pushed Cottrell ALL the way in the runs today. His kicking is better. His contested ball is better. This off his outstanding year last year. I wouldn’t swap him for any player under 25 in the game. Please don’t think of him as a ‘good young player’. He’s just a fu**en gun NOW. He’s elite NOW. He just makes me smile repeatedly. He does everything so so well. Clean hands. Smart decisions. Of course my fave is the slalom runs. At one point today he literally ran around in a circle inside 4 opponents and then mysteriously popped out on his own. Calm in the moment.

Think about this centre square setup and tell me you’re not excited: Kreuzer, Crippa, Walsh and Cunners. I’d back that group against ANY four in the Comp.

Like Zaccy Fisher is standing up in tackles. He’s getting to the outside. He is hitting up targets. And I’m not sure how to fit him in! Murph is Murph. Simmo is Simmo. Kreuzer is Kreuzer. Jones is (the new) Jones.

Newman just dispelled any rubbish thoughts I had about him not being best 22 today. Forget that s**t. Laser left leg. Good one on one. Ran hard and created. Forget it. He’s a lock. Willo was good but has a bit to go. Btw willo murdered Kreuzer in their 150s.

I will do a player by player later but I’ve never been happier with our list. Sorry I just have too much to say. I have a lot on today so it’s hard to make this concise and I’ll add more later.

Great write up! Thank you.

 

[TerryWallet]

Great stuff windows and Harks. Well observed. Well explained. Well written.

 

[Macca43]

In your eyes possibly, but we don't all see it the same

Yes, it is an opinion website, I offered my opinion, if you disagree answer the question? Who do you have him ahead of?

My starting 7 mids (excluding the ruck) Cripps, Murphy, E Curnow, Walsh, Setterfield, Fisher & Dow.
My Starting 7 Forwards C Curnow, McKay, McGovern, Betts, Martin, Cuningham & Silvagni

As my back 7 consists of Plowman, SPS, Docherty, Jones, Weitering, Newman & Simpson - that pushes the likes of Williamson & Newnes into a battle for a wing spot with O'brien.

Gibbons, Kennedy, Lang, Stocker, Honey & Philp are all battling to get a look in, IMO.

 

[HARKER]

Interested to know what other track watchers think of TDK, he had a real presence today and crashed a lot of packs as well as jumping over Kruz and Pitt.
Its only one training session albeit against ourselves but I saw enough today to think he could be a smokey for Round 1 as a second key tall and back up ruck.

I doubt he'll be a round one starter, unless Mckay doesn't come up.....and even then....
Casboult will start and be the back-up to Kreuzer, but as we know, anything can yet happen, although we don't want to think about that.

 

[Macca43]

Introductory Comments:

• This is the most Thylacine list I’ve ever seen. DEPTH. It’s amazing. Just bow at the alter of SOS and pray.
• The amount of ‘gee that was good’ moments I had today was simply off the charts.
• The overall fitness of this group is just superb. An amazing improvement in 12 months. Fair play to Soapy- he called it a year ago.
• The number of disappointments were, well it was probably only one and I don’t want to hammer him so I won’t feature it too much.
• The balance is so good. Mature. Middle age. Developing youth. The brand new kids can just take their time.
• They just really like each other this group. They have fun.

Let’s clear off the protocols. Injuries etc.

• rehab group was SPS (who did no running at all), Kennedy (who did slow running and had a knee strap), Kemp, then 3 who did a fair bit. MCG, Jack and McKay. McKay is flying. And huge. Did more running today than last time. And kicking which is great to see for someone coming back from groin problems.
• Jack is in great shape. He kept giving MCG a 10m head start in 150m runs and ran him down. Not that MCG looked bad either.
• Macreadie and Marchy still in rehab. I timed Marchy at a 20 sec 150 which is the fastest I’ve clocked anyone this summer. In superb shape running wise. Must be close to rejoining. Macreadie also fit.
• Ed C seemed to be there at the start of training then left and I don’t know at what stage (but def early) or why
• Kreuzer, Murphy, Newman, Gibbo: all players with question marks from previous sessions all participated fully the whole day. No issues. Great to see. Kreuzer looking super lean and fit.

———
The main group had a number of players I don’t know attend. Johnson from the Northern Blues was def one so I gather the others are also from there. Maybe 5? Making up numbers for the game simulation.

—-
They started drills in three groups. Agility drills.

One on one marking drills. Tackling and evasion drills. Not much to report here. Quite liked the first drill: lead and mark, then leading player push back and defend on a lead back to goal square. Newman way too good for Honey was about all that stood out.

—-

Then the real excitement began. 3 x 15 mins of match play. I’d say they went at 90 percent. No bone jarring hits etc but pretty full on.

It was simply outstanding play. Keep in mind no McKay, CC or MCG. Yet some of the play was breathtaking. Elite.

The first quarter was largely Possibles Vs Probables. Dow and LOB were in the Possibles which was interesting. And for my only real negative of the day: LOB showed why. He was fumbly, his body was a bit weak in the tackle, and his kicking was average. I’m going to pass it off as rust, but it was a shame as he’s had such a good preseason. The other two quarters the teams were thrown around.

Positionally the players were as expected: Weiters, Newman, Jones, Plow, Simmo and Doc the backline. Crippa only played mid. Ed started mid then I lost him. Eddie and Martin forward with Levi. Murph a bit forward and mid. Dow the same. Cunners Mid in the ‘Probables’ and that will never happen again....more on him later. Setters and Lob on a wing. Walsh played mid, wing and forward. Newnes wing and half back. Kreuzer Pittonet and TDk all shares the ruck. Casboult no ruck time.

Just a quick notes dump for you...

1st quarter quick thoughts:
Backline looked immense. Walsh and Cripps amazing. Hard to see how they can keep Cunners out of the side. A long way in front of Dow this quarter.
——-
Q2: Walsh to a wing. Super Impressive Fisher, Murphy, Cripps, Casboult chain.

Play of the day Cunners break tackle and 50m goal. He’s on FIRE. Fisher terrific. Hands. Standing up in tackles. Skills. Pressure

Newnes solid. Martin solid. Cunners. Amazing. Honey showed up well! Walsh strength in a tackle terrific. Overall just amazing.

Like this is the single best session I’ve ever seen. SO much to like. Especially Harry McKay running so powerfully.

Kennedy sore knee not at full pace. Macreadie who must be 37 years old now.

LOB disappointing so far.
——

Third quarter

Willo on wing now. Cunners showing same again. Dow a nice burst. LOB fumbled. Honey lots of power.

Stocker looks fit. Really nice centre clearance by stocker. Walsh looks super. Stronger. TDK actually looking good in ruck. Winning Hitouts. Lang moving the best he has at he club.

Philp showing nice signs. Nice size. Good pace. Stocker showing great signs.Weitering too good for Levi.

Dow showing good signs. Kicking is fine. Maybe needs more of it. Stocker good hands in close. Martin nice mark.

Newman continually running off half back. Fantastic Paddy Wow moment. Crumbed. Burst from a pack. Snap goal.

Dow burst. Gosh Finbar hasn’t been.....too bad???

In case you’re wondering...Eddie is stilll afreak. He kicked 3?

Setters just consistently good. Keeps getting the ball. Using it well.

——

After the game play finished they did more work.

5 min 3/4 field work x 3 I think? Transition practice. Some random guy showed a bit. Number 7. NFI who he is.

Cripps fitness is sensational. What stood out for me in the game and in general was that his running to contest has gone up a level. He’s SO fit now.

Philp really showed somehting then stuffed his kicks. Weitering looks sensational. Everything about Dow kicking is better. Refusing to be rushed. No more exaggerated ball drop. Neat low and punch.
——
Then they finished off with running of course. The painful 2 min, 90 sec, 30 sec and repeat drill they do.

Order:
Walsh and Cottrell killed it.
Doc
Newnes
Simmo
Goddard
Setters
Ramsay
Murph
Fish
Martin
Dow
Lang
Polson

——
That’s a notes dump. Now a collection of my general thoughts. I may do a Player By Player Year on Year review later.

Generally we are SO impressive now. Here’s why:

• Fisher, Walsh and Cunners can all stand up in tackles now. Especially the second two.
• The balance of the midfield group is outstanding. Want a bit of grunt? No problem. Cripps and Ed can get in there and get it. Stocker a watch here too! A few times in the midfield today he showed clean hands, a strong body and an ability to make sharp decisions.
• Want inside / outside? No drama. Cunners (I’m coming to him), Walsh, Setters can all do it.
• I love our link up play. It started to show up last year and I really see it being a strength this year. These guys are all great in a chain: Martin, Gibbo, Simmo, Doc, Walsh, Fish, Cunners, Setters, Crippa. Just super decision makers in close. Great users. They will string the ball together brilliantly as a group this year.
• Weitering and Jones in tandem is a sight to behold. Casboult destroyed Goddard in Q1 of the match play. But in Q3 they put Weiters on him and he was simply too good. I feel so safe with him on anyone now. Fantastic.
• We feel so much stronger all over the ground. Add the big three into the forward line and I feel we have no material weaknesses.

Some player thoughts. In order of ‘blew me away’.....Ok fine, it’s not a Sam Walsh moment....but Jesus H Christ Cunners is impressive. It’s not just his burst. Please I beg you to watch the hands. It happens WAY too often. He has the best hands at the club. Single best. No doubt. His reflexes are freakish. His hands at his feet are sublime. Then after the gather he can side step a small cargo ship. Then straight speed forward. He’s unstoppable. Then what? Lace put delivery that’s what. He’s strong in a tackle. Let’s stop kicking around here. fu** the forward pocket s**t. Screw the high half forward rubbish. Put the kid in the guts and get the fu** out of his way. This is breakout city here. Like there is too much data on his positive attributes now. He has one residual weakness: he gets lost. Stanton called out at one point “what are you thinking Cunners?” A telltale sign of what they discuss and what he is still working on. He was just ‘watching’ the game at the time. Doesn’t worry me at all. I’ve said it before: Kouta had the same problem and it’s overcome by taking thinking out of it.

Go get it son!!!!!! Off my head excited at what he showed me today. And has all summer. Massive fan. Massive fan.

Crippa. He’s number two on the Windows Hall of Holy s**t. He’s......better. Yep. He’s better. His running and agility are 10 percent up. He’s overlap running- never seen that before. Numbers to the contest stuff. Getting on the outside. Pushing back hard to defence. He’s not Walsh like but shittttt.

Jacob Weitering is the AA CHB Locked in. Just forget it. He’s bigger. He’s stronger. He doesn’t look slow. His kicking, marking, general footy play is all off the leash. I can’t think of a defender I’d prefer. If the ball comes slow into our backline this year just forget it. He will halve it or win it back. He was too strong for LEVI today. Read that again. He was too strong for LEVI.

Sam Walsh comes in at number 4 on Windows’ Why We Can Make the Top 4 List. He’s got the body strength of a 25 year old now. You can’t bring him to ground. I thought his running had dropped off a tad. Nope. He pushed Cottrell ALL the way in the runs today. His kicking is better. His contested ball is better. This off his outstanding year last year. I wouldn’t swap him for any player under 25 in the game. Please don’t think of him as a ‘good young player’. He’s just a fu**en gun NOW. He’s elite NOW. He just makes me smile repeatedly. He does everything so so well. Clean hands. Smart decisions. Of course my fave is the slalom runs. At one point today he literally ran around in a circle inside 4 opponents and then mysteriously popped out on his own. Calm in the moment.

Think about this centre square setup and tell me you’re not excited: Kreuzer, Crippa, Walsh and Cunners. I’d back that group against ANY four in the Comp.

Like Zaccy Fisher is standing up in tackles. He’s getting to the outside. He is hitting up targets. And I’m not sure how to fit him in! Murph is Murph. Simmo is Simmo. Kreuzer is Kreuzer. Jones is (the new) Jones.

Newman just dispelled any rubbish thoughts I had about him not being best 22 today. Forget that s**t. Laser left leg. Good one on one. Ran hard and created. Forget it. He’s a lock. Willo was good but has a bit to go. Btw willo murdered Kreuzer in their 150s.

I will do a player by player later but I’ve never been happier with our list. Sorry I just have too much to say. I have a lot on today so it’s hard to make this concise and I’ll add more later.

Fantastic, bring on round 1.

 

[windows1]

Great report Windows!

Going to temper expectations until pre-season but good to see progress is being made with so many players.

As an aside, which coach works directly with the players to improve their kicking?

Isn’t clear to me. I suspect they do that away from ‘group’ training.

 

[ETET]

Introductory Comments:

• This is the most Thylacine list I’ve ever seen. DEPTH. It’s amazing. Just bow at the alter of SOS and pray.
• The amount of ‘gee that was good’ moments I had today was simply off the charts.
• The overall fitness of this group is just superb. An amazing improvement in 12 months. Fair play to Soapy- he called it a year ago.
• The number of disappointments were, well it was probably only one and I don’t want to hammer him so I won’t feature it too much.
• The balance is so good. Mature. Middle age. Developing youth. The brand new kids can just take their time.
• They just really like each other this group. They have fun.

Let’s clear off the protocols. Injuries etc.

• rehab group was SPS (who did no running at all), Kennedy (who did slow running and had a knee strap), Kemp, then 3 who did a fair bit. MCG, Jack and McKay. McKay is flying. And huge. Did more running today than last time. And kicking which is great to see for someone coming back from groin problems.
• Jack is in great shape. He kept giving MCG a 10m head start in 150m runs and ran him down. Not that MCG looked bad either.
• Macreadie and Marchy still in rehab. I timed Marchy at a 20 sec 150 which is the fastest I’ve clocked anyone this summer. In superb shape running wise. Must be close to rejoining. Macreadie also fit.
• Ed C seemed to be there at the start of training then left and I don’t know at what stage (but def early) or why
• Kreuzer, Murphy, Newman, Gibbo: all players with question marks from previous sessions all participated fully the whole day. No issues. Great to see. Kreuzer looking super lean and fit.

———
The main group had a number of players I don’t know attend. Johnson from the Northern Blues was def one so I gather the others are also from there. Maybe 5? Making up numbers for the game simulation.

—-
They started drills in three groups. Agility drills.

One on one marking drills. Tackling and evasion drills. Not much to report here. Quite liked the first drill: lead and mark, then leading player push back and defend on a lead back to goal square. Newman way too good for Honey was about all that stood out.

—-

Then the real excitement began. 3 x 15 mins of match play. I’d say they went at 90 percent. No bone jarring hits etc but pretty full on.

It was simply outstanding play. Keep in mind no McKay, CC or MCG. Yet some of the play was breathtaking. Elite.

The first quarter was largely Possibles Vs Probables. Dow and LOB were in the Possibles which was interesting. And for my only real negative of the day: LOB showed why. He was fumbly, his body was a bit weak in the tackle, and his kicking was average. I’m going to pass it off as rust, but it was a shame as he’s had such a good preseason. The other two quarters the teams were thrown around.

Positionally the players were as expected: Weiters, Newman, Jones, Plow, Simmo and Doc the backline. Crippa only played mid. Ed started mid then I lost him. Eddie and Martin forward with Levi. Murph a bit forward and mid. Dow the same. Cunners Mid in the ‘Probables’ and that will never happen again....more on him later. Setters and Lob on a wing. Walsh played mid, wing and forward. Newnes wing and half back. Kreuzer Pittonet and TDk all shares the ruck. Casboult no ruck time.

Just a quick notes dump for you...

1st quarter quick thoughts:
Backline looked immense. Walsh and Cripps amazing. Hard to see how they can keep Cunners out of the side. A long way in front of Dow this quarter.
——-
Q2: Walsh to a wing. Super Impressive Fisher, Murphy, Cripps, Casboult chain.

Play of the day Cunners break tackle and 50m goal. He’s on FIRE. Fisher terrific. Hands. Standing up in tackles. Skills. Pressure

Newnes solid. Martin solid. Cunners. Amazing. Honey showed up well! Walsh strength in a tackle terrific. Overall just amazing.

Like this is the single best session I’ve ever seen. SO much to like. Especially Harry McKay running so powerfully.

Kennedy sore knee not at full pace. Macreadie who must be 37 years old now.

LOB disappointing so far.
——

Third quarter

Willo on wing now. Cunners showing same again. Dow a nice burst. LOB fumbled. Honey lots of power.

Stocker looks fit. Really nice centre clearance by stocker. Walsh looks super. Stronger. TDK actually looking good in ruck. Winning Hitouts. Lang moving the best he has at he club.

Philp showing nice signs. Nice size. Good pace. Stocker showing great signs.Weitering too good for Levi.

Dow showing good signs. Kicking is fine. Maybe needs more of it. Stocker good hands in close. Martin nice mark.

Newman continually running off half back. Fantastic Paddy Wow moment. Crumbed. Burst from a pack. Snap goal.

Dow burst. Gosh Finbar hasn’t been.....too bad???

In case you’re wondering...Eddie is stilll afreak. He kicked 3?

Setters just consistently good. Keeps getting the ball. Using it well.

——

After the game play finished they did more work.

5 min 3/4 field work x 3 I think? Transition practice. Some random guy showed a bit. Number 7. NFI who he is.

Cripps fitness is sensational. What stood out for me in the game and in general was that his running to contest has gone up a level. He’s SO fit now.

Philp really showed somehting then stuffed his kicks. Weitering looks sensational. Everything about Dow kicking is better. Refusing to be rushed. No more exaggerated ball drop. Neat low and punch.
——
Then they finished off with running of course. The painful 2 min, 90 sec, 30 sec and repeat drill they do.

Order:
Walsh and Cottrell killed it.
Doc
Newnes
Simmo
Goddard
Setters
Ramsay
Murph
Fish
Martin
Dow
Lang
Polson

——
That’s a notes dump. Now a collection of my general thoughts. I may do a Player By Player Year on Year review later.

Generally we are SO impressive now. Here’s why:

• Fisher, Walsh and Cunners can all stand up in tackles now. Especially the second two.
• The balance of the midfield group is outstanding. Want a bit of grunt? No problem. Cripps and Ed can get in there and get it. Stocker a watch here too! A few times in the midfield today he showed clean hands, a strong body and an ability to make sharp decisions.
• Want inside / outside? No drama. Cunners (I’m coming to him), Walsh, Setters can all do it.
• I love our link up play. It started to show up last year and I really see it being a strength this year. These guys are all great in a chain: Martin, Gibbo, Simmo, Doc, Walsh, Fish, Cunners, Setters, Crippa. Just super decision makers in close. Great users. They will string the ball together brilliantly as a group this year.
• Weitering and Jones in tandem is a sight to behold. Casboult destroyed Goddard in Q1 of the match play. But in Q3 they put Weiters on him and he was simply too good. I feel so safe with him on anyone now. Fantastic.
• We feel so much stronger all over the ground. Add the big three into the forward line and I feel we have no material weaknesses.

Some player thoughts. In order of ‘blew me away’.....Ok fine, it’s not a Sam Walsh moment....but Jesus H Christ Cunners is impressive. It’s not just his burst. Please I beg you to watch the hands. It happens WAY too often. He has the best hands at the club. Single best. No doubt. His reflexes are freakish. His hands at his feet are sublime. Then after the gather he can side step a small cargo ship. Then straight speed forward. He’s unstoppable. Then what? Lace put delivery that’s what. He’s strong in a tackle. Let’s stop kicking around here. fu** the forward pocket s**t. Screw the high half forward rubbish. Put the kid in the guts and get the fu** out of his way. This is breakout city here. Like there is too much data on his positive attributes now. He has one residual weakness: he gets lost. Stanton called out at one point “what are you thinking Cunners?” A telltale sign of what they discuss and what he is still working on. He was just ‘watching’ the game at the time. Doesn’t worry me at all. I’ve said it before: Kouta had the same problem and it’s overcome by taking thinking out of it.

Go get it son!!!!!! Off my head excited at what he showed me today. And has all summer. Massive fan. Massive fan.

Crippa. He’s number two on the Windows Hall of Holy s**t. He’s......better. Yep. He’s better. His running and agility are 10 percent up. He’s overlap running- never seen that before. Numbers to the contest stuff. Getting on the outside. Pushing back hard to defence. He’s not Walsh like but shittttt.

Jacob Weitering is the AA CHB Locked in. Just forget it. He’s bigger. He’s stronger. He doesn’t look slow. His kicking, marking, general footy play is all off the leash. I can’t think of a defender I’d prefer. If the ball comes slow into our backline this year just forget it. He will halve it or win it back. He was too strong for LEVI today. Read that again. He was too strong for LEVI.

Sam Walsh comes in at number 4 on Windows’ Why We Can Make the Top 4 List. He’s got the body strength of a 25 year old now. You can’t bring him to ground. I thought his running had dropped off a tad. Nope. He pushed Cottrell ALL the way in the runs today. His kicking is better. His contested ball is better. This off his outstanding year last year. I wouldn’t swap him for any player under 25 in the game. Please don’t think of him as a ‘good young player’. He’s just a fu**en gun NOW. He’s elite NOW. He just makes me smile repeatedly. He does everything so so well. Clean hands. Smart decisions. Of course my fave is the slalom runs. At one point today he literally ran around in a circle inside 4 opponents and then mysteriously popped out on his own. Calm in the moment.

Think about this centre square setup and tell me you’re not excited: Kreuzer, Crippa, Walsh and Cunners. I’d back that group against ANY four in the Comp.

Like Zaccy Fisher is standing up in tackles. He’s getting to the outside. He is hitting up targets. And I’m not sure how to fit him in! Murph is Murph. Simmo is Simmo. Kreuzer is Kreuzer. Jones is (the new) Jones.

Newman just dispelled any rubbish thoughts I had about him not being best 22 today. Forget that s**t. Laser left leg. Good one on one. Ran hard and created. Forget it. He’s a lock. Willo was good but has a bit to go. Btw willo murdered Kreuzer in their 150s.

I will do a player by player later but I’ve never been happier with our list. Sorry I just have too much to say. I have a lot on today so it’s hard to make this concise and I’ll add more later.

Gold mate.... thanks very very much from your interstate fans.

 

[FRUMPY]

I doubt he'll be a round one starter, unless Mckay doesn't come up.....and even then....
Casboult will start and be the back-up to Kreuzer, but as we know, anything can yet happen, although we don't want to think about that.

As much as i love Casboult and his 2019 season, wouldnt mind seeing a transition to TDK by the end of the year (if he is playing good enough)

 

[Arr0w]

Introductory Comments:

• This is the most Thylacine list I’ve ever seen. DEPTH. It’s amazing. Just bow at the alter of SOS and pray.
• The amount of ‘gee that was good’ moments I had today was simply off the charts.
• The overall fitness of this group is just superb. An amazing improvement in 12 months. Fair play to Soapy- he called it a year ago.
• The number of disappointments were, well it was probably only one and I don’t want to hammer him so I won’t feature it too much.
• The balance is so good. Mature. Middle age. Developing youth. The brand new kids can just take their time.
• They just really like each other this group. They have fun.

Let’s clear off the protocols. Injuries etc.

• rehab group was SPS (who did no running at all), Kennedy (who did slow running and had a knee strap), Kemp, then 3 who did a fair bit. MCG, Jack and McKay. McKay is flying. And huge. Did more running today than last time. And kicking which is great to see for someone coming back from groin problems.
• Jack is in great shape. He kept giving MCG a 10m head start in 150m runs and ran him down. Not that MCG looked bad either.
• Macreadie and Marchy still in rehab. I timed Marchy at a 20 sec 150 which is the fastest I’ve clocked anyone this summer. In superb shape running wise. Must be close to rejoining. Macreadie also fit.
• Ed C seemed to be there at the start of training then left and I don’t know at what stage (but def early) or why
• Kreuzer, Murphy, Newman, Gibbo: all players with question marks from previous sessions all participated fully the whole day. No issues. Great to see. Kreuzer looking super lean and fit.

———
The main group had a number of players I don’t know attend. Johnson from the Northern Blues was def one so I gather the others are also from there. Maybe 5? Making up numbers for the game simulation.

—-
They started drills in three groups. Agility drills.

One on one marking drills. Tackling and evasion drills. Not much to report here. Quite liked the first drill: lead and mark, then leading player push back and defend on a lead back to goal square. Newman way too good for Honey was about all that stood out.

—-

Then the real excitement began. 3 x 15 mins of match play. I’d say they went at 90 percent. No bone jarring hits etc but pretty full on.

It was simply outstanding play. Keep in mind no McKay, CC or MCG. Yet some of the play was breathtaking. Elite.

The first quarter was largely Possibles Vs Probables. Dow and LOB were in the Possibles which was interesting. And for my only real negative of the day: LOB showed why. He was fumbly, his body was a bit weak in the tackle, and his kicking was average. I’m going to pass it off as rust, but it was a shame as he’s had such a good preseason. The other two quarters the teams were thrown around.

Positionally the players were as expected: Weiters, Newman, Jones, Plow, Simmo and Doc the backline. Crippa only played mid. Ed started mid then I lost him. Eddie and Martin forward with Levi. Murph a bit forward and mid. Dow the same. Cunners Mid in the ‘Probables’ and that will never happen again....more on him later. Setters and Lob on a wing. Walsh played mid, wing and forward. Newnes wing and half back. Kreuzer Pittonet and TDk all shares the ruck. Casboult no ruck time.

Just a quick notes dump for you...

1st quarter quick thoughts:
Backline looked immense. Walsh and Cripps amazing. Hard to see how they can keep Cunners out of the side. A long way in front of Dow this quarter.
——-
Q2: Walsh to a wing. Super Impressive Fisher, Murphy, Cripps, Casboult chain.

Play of the day Cunners break tackle and 50m goal. He’s on FIRE. Fisher terrific. Hands. Standing up in tackles. Skills. Pressure

Newnes solid. Martin solid. Cunners. Amazing. Honey showed up well! Walsh strength in a tackle terrific. Overall just amazing.

Like this is the single best session I’ve ever seen. SO much to like. Especially Harry McKay running so powerfully.

Kennedy sore knee not at full pace. Macreadie who must be 37 years old now.

LOB disappointing so far.
——

Third quarter

Willo on wing now. Cunners showing same again. Dow a nice burst. LOB fumbled. Honey lots of power.

Stocker looks fit. Really nice centre clearance by stocker. Walsh looks super. Stronger. TDK actually looking good in ruck. Winning Hitouts. Lang moving the best he has at he club.

Philp showing nice signs. Nice size. Good pace. Stocker showing great signs.Weitering too good for Levi.

Dow showing good signs. Kicking is fine. Maybe needs more of it. Stocker good hands in close. Martin nice mark.

Newman continually running off half back. Fantastic Paddy Wow moment. Crumbed. Burst from a pack. Snap goal.

Dow burst. Gosh Finbar hasn’t been.....too bad???

In case you’re wondering...Eddie is stilll afreak. He kicked 3?

Setters just consistently good. Keeps getting the ball. Using it well.

——

After the game play finished they did more work.

5 min 3/4 field work x 3 I think? Transition practice. Some random guy showed a bit. Number 7. NFI who he is.

Cripps fitness is sensational. What stood out for me in the game and in general was that his running to contest has gone up a level. He’s SO fit now.

Philp really showed somehting then stuffed his kicks. Weitering looks sensational. Everything about Dow kicking is better. Refusing to be rushed. No more exaggerated ball drop. Neat low and punch.
——
Then they finished off with running of course. The painful 2 min, 90 sec, 30 sec and repeat drill they do.

Order:
Walsh and Cottrell killed it.
Doc
Newnes
Simmo
Goddard
Setters
Ramsay
Murph
Fish
Martin
Dow
Lang
Polson

——
That’s a notes dump. Now a collection of my general thoughts. I may do a Player By Player Year on Year review later.

Generally we are SO impressive now. Here’s why:

• Fisher, Walsh and Cunners can all stand up in tackles now. Especially the second two.
• The balance of the midfield group is outstanding. Want a bit of grunt? No problem. Cripps and Ed can get in there and get it. Stocker a watch here too! A few times in the midfield today he showed clean hands, a strong body and an ability to make sharp decisions.
• Want inside / outside? No drama. Cunners (I’m coming to him), Walsh, Setters can all do it.
• I love our link up play. It started to show up last year and I really see it being a strength this year. These guys are all great in a chain: Martin, Gibbo, Simmo, Doc, Walsh, Fish, Cunners, Setters, Crippa. Just super decision makers in close. Great users. They will string the ball together brilliantly as a group this year.
• Weitering and Jones in tandem is a sight to behold. Casboult destroyed Goddard in Q1 of the match play. But in Q3 they put Weiters on him and he was simply too good. I feel so safe with him on anyone now. Fantastic.
• We feel so much stronger all over the ground. Add the big three into the forward line and I feel we have no material weaknesses.

Some player thoughts. In order of ‘blew me away’.....Ok fine, it’s not a Sam Walsh moment....but Jesus H Christ Cunners is impressive. It’s not just his burst. Please I beg you to watch the hands. It happens WAY too often. He has the best hands at the club. Single best. No doubt. His reflexes are freakish. His hands at his feet are sublime. Then after the gather he can side step a small cargo ship. Then straight speed forward. He’s unstoppable. Then what? Lace put delivery that’s what. He’s strong in a tackle. Let’s stop kicking around here. fu** the forward pocket s**t. Screw the high half forward rubbish. Put the kid in the guts and get the fu** out of his way. This is breakout city here. Like there is too much data on his positive attributes now. He has one residual weakness: he gets lost. Stanton called out at one point “what are you thinking Cunners?” A telltale sign of what they discuss and what he is still working on. He was just ‘watching’ the game at the time. Doesn’t worry me at all. I’ve said it before: Kouta had the same problem and it’s overcome by taking thinking out of it.

Go get it son!!!!!! Off my head excited at what he showed me today. And has all summer. Massive fan. Massive fan.

Crippa. He’s number two on the Windows Hall of Holy s**t. He’s......better. Yep. He’s better. His running and agility are 10 percent up. He’s overlap running- never seen that before. Numbers to the contest stuff. Getting on the outside. Pushing back hard to defence. He’s not Walsh like but shittttt.

Jacob Weitering is the AA CHB Locked in. Just forget it. He’s bigger. He’s stronger. He doesn’t look slow. His kicking, marking, general footy play is all off the leash. I can’t think of a defender I’d prefer. If the ball comes slow into our backline this year just forget it. He will halve it or win it back. He was too strong for LEVI today. Read that again. He was too strong for LEVI.

Sam Walsh comes in at number 4 on Windows’ Why We Can Make the Top 4 List. He’s got the body strength of a 25 year old now. You can’t bring him to ground. I thought his running had dropped off a tad. Nope. He pushed Cottrell ALL the way in the runs today. His kicking is better. His contested ball is better. This off his outstanding year last year. I wouldn’t swap him for any player under 25 in the game. Please don’t think of him as a ‘good young player’. He’s just a fu**en gun NOW. He’s elite NOW. He just makes me smile repeatedly. He does everything so so well. Clean hands. Smart decisions. Of course my fave is the slalom runs. At one point today he literally ran around in a circle inside 4 opponents and then mysteriously popped out on his own. Calm in the moment.

Think about this centre square setup and tell me you’re not excited: Kreuzer, Crippa, Walsh and Cunners. I’d back that group against ANY four in the Comp.

Like Zaccy Fisher is standing up in tackles. He’s getting to the outside. He is hitting up targets. And I’m not sure how to fit him in! Murph is Murph. Simmo is Simmo. Kreuzer is Kreuzer. Jones is (the new) Jones.

Newman just dispelled any rubbish thoughts I had about him not being best 22 today. Forget that s**t. Laser left leg. Good one on one. Ran hard and created. Forget it. He’s a lock. Willo was good but has a bit to go. Btw willo murdered Kreuzer in their 150s.

I will do a player by player later but I’ve never been happier with our list. Sorry I just have too much to say. I have a lot on today so it’s hard to make this concise and I’ll add more later.

Great report Windows, even if it was summary length post

 

[thylacine60]

Introductory Comments:

• This is the most Thylacine list I’ve ever seen. DEPTH. It’s amazing. Just bow at the alter of SOS and pray.
• The amount of ‘gee that was good’ moments I had today was simply off the charts.
• The overall fitness of this group is just superb. An amazing improvement in 12 months. Fair play to Soapy- he called it a year ago.
• The number of disappointments were, well it was probably only one and I don’t want to hammer him so I won’t feature it too much.
• The balance is so good. Mature. Middle age. Developing youth. The brand new kids can just take their time.
• They just really like each other this group. They have fun.

Let’s clear off the protocols. Injuries etc.

• rehab group was SPS (who did no running at all), Kennedy (who did slow running and had a knee strap), Kemp, then 3 who did a fair bit. MCG, Jack and McKay. McKay is flying. And huge. Did more running today than last time. And kicking which is great to see for someone coming back from groin problems.
• Jack is in great shape. He kept giving MCG a 10m head start in 150m runs and ran him down. Not that MCG looked bad either.
• Macreadie and Marchy still in rehab. I timed Marchy at a 20 sec 150 which is the fastest I’ve clocked anyone this summer. In superb shape running wise. Must be close to rejoining. Macreadie also fit.
• Ed C seemed to be there at the start of training then left and I don’t know at what stage (but def early) or why
• Kreuzer, Murphy, Newman, Gibbo: all players with question marks from previous sessions all participated fully the whole day. No issues. Great to see. Kreuzer looking super lean and fit.

———
The main group had a number of players I don’t know attend. Johnson from the Northern Blues was def one so I gather the others are also from there. Maybe 5? Making up numbers for the game simulation.

—-
They started drills in three groups. Agility drills.

One on one marking drills. Tackling and evasion drills. Not much to report here. Quite liked the first drill: lead and mark, then leading player push back and defend on a lead back to goal square. Newman way too good for Honey was about all that stood out.

—-

Then the real excitement began. 3 x 15 mins of match play. I’d say they went at 90 percent. No bone jarring hits etc but pretty full on.

It was simply outstanding play. Keep in mind no McKay, CC or MCG. Yet some of the play was breathtaking. Elite.

The first quarter was largely Possibles Vs Probables. Dow and LOB were in the Possibles which was interesting. And for my only real negative of the day: LOB showed why. He was fumbly, his body was a bit weak in the tackle, and his kicking was average. I’m going to pass it off as rust, but it was a shame as he’s had such a good preseason. The other two quarters the teams were thrown around.

Positionally the players were as expected: Weiters, Newman, Jones, Plow, Simmo and Doc the backline. Crippa only played mid. Ed started mid then I lost him. Eddie and Martin forward with Levi. Murph a bit forward and mid. Dow the same. Cunners Mid in the ‘Probables’ and that will never happen again....more on him later. Setters and Lob on a wing. Walsh played mid, wing and forward. Newnes wing and half back. Kreuzer Pittonet and TDk all shares the ruck. Casboult no ruck time.

Just a quick notes dump for you...

1st quarter quick thoughts:
Backline looked immense. Walsh and Cripps amazing. Hard to see how they can keep Cunners out of the side. A long way in front of Dow this quarter.
——-
Q2: Walsh to a wing. Super Impressive Fisher, Murphy, Cripps, Casboult chain.

Play of the day Cunners break tackle and 50m goal. He’s on FIRE. Fisher terrific. Hands. Standing up in tackles. Skills. Pressure

Newnes solid. Martin solid. Cunners. Amazing. Honey showed up well! Walsh strength in a tackle terrific. Overall just amazing.

Like this is the single best session I’ve ever seen. SO much to like. Especially Harry McKay running so powerfully.

Kennedy sore knee not at full pace. Macreadie who must be 37 years old now.

LOB disappointing so far.
——

Third quarter

Willo on wing now. Cunners showing same again. Dow a nice burst. LOB fumbled. Honey lots of power.

Stocker looks fit. Really nice centre clearance by stocker. Walsh looks super. Stronger. TDK actually looking good in ruck. Winning Hitouts. Lang moving the best he has at he club.

Philp showing nice signs. Nice size. Good pace. Stocker showing great signs.Weitering too good for Levi.

Dow showing good signs. Kicking is fine. Maybe needs more of it. Stocker good hands in close. Martin nice mark.

Newman continually running off half back. Fantastic Paddy Wow moment. Crumbed. Burst from a pack. Snap goal.

Dow burst. Gosh Finbar hasn’t been.....too bad???

In case you’re wondering...Eddie is stilll afreak. He kicked 3?

Setters just consistently good. Keeps getting the ball. Using it well.

——

After the game play finished they did more work.

5 min 3/4 field work x 3 I think? Transition practice. Some random guy showed a bit. Number 7. NFI who he is.

Cripps fitness is sensational. What stood out for me in the game and in general was that his running to contest has gone up a level. He’s SO fit now.

Philp really showed somehting then stuffed his kicks. Weitering looks sensational. Everything about Dow kicking is better. Refusing to be rushed. No more exaggerated ball drop. Neat low and punch.
——
Then they finished off with running of course. The painful 2 min, 90 sec, 30 sec and repeat drill they do.

Order:
Walsh and Cottrell killed it.
Doc
Newnes
Simmo
Goddard
Setters
Ramsay
Murph
Fish
Martin
Dow
Lang
Polson

——
That’s a notes dump. Now a collection of my general thoughts. I may do a Player By Player Year on Year review later.

Generally we are SO impressive now. Here’s why:

• Fisher, Walsh and Cunners can all stand up in tackles now. Especially the second two.
• The balance of the midfield group is outstanding. Want a bit of grunt? No problem. Cripps and Ed can get in there and get it. Stocker a watch here too! A few times in the midfield today he showed clean hands, a strong body and an ability to make sharp decisions.
• Want inside / outside? No drama. Cunners (I’m coming to him), Walsh, Setters can all do it.
• I love our link up play. It started to show up last year and I really see it being a strength this year. These guys are all great in a chain: Martin, Gibbo, Simmo, Doc, Walsh, Fish, Cunners, Setters, Crippa. Just super decision makers in close. Great users. They will string the ball together brilliantly as a group this year.
• Weitering and Jones in tandem is a sight to behold. Casboult destroyed Goddard in Q1 of the match play. But in Q3 they put Weiters on him and he was simply too good. I feel so safe with him on anyone now. Fantastic.
• We feel so much stronger all over the ground. Add the big three into the forward line and I feel we have no material weaknesses.

Some player thoughts. In order of ‘blew me away’.....Ok fine, it’s not a Sam Walsh moment....but Jesus H Christ Cunners is impressive. It’s not just his burst. Please I beg you to watch the hands. It happens WAY too often. He has the best hands at the club. Single best. No doubt. His reflexes are freakish. His hands at his feet are sublime. Then after the gather he can side step a small cargo ship. Then straight speed forward. He’s unstoppable. Then what? Lace put delivery that’s what. He’s strong in a tackle. Let’s stop kicking around here. fu** the forward pocket s**t. Screw the high half forward rubbish. Put the kid in the guts and get the fu** out of his way. This is breakout city here. Like there is too much data on his positive attributes now. He has one residual weakness: he gets lost. Stanton called out at one point “what are you thinking Cunners?” A telltale sign of what they discuss and what he is still working on. He was just ‘watching’ the game at the time. Doesn’t worry me at all. I’ve said it before: Kouta had the same problem and it’s overcome by taking thinking out of it.

Go get it son!!!!!! Off my head excited at what he showed me today. And has all summer. Massive fan. Massive fan.

Crippa. He’s number two on the Windows Hall of Holy s**t. He’s......better. Yep. He’s better. His running and agility are 10 percent up. He’s overlap running- never seen that before. Numbers to the contest stuff. Getting on the outside. Pushing back hard to defence. He’s not Walsh like but shittttt.

Jacob Weitering is the AA CHB Locked in. Just forget it. He’s bigger. He’s stronger. He doesn’t look slow. His kicking, marking, general footy play is all off the leash. I can’t think of a defender I’d prefer. If the ball comes slow into our backline this year just forget it. He will halve it or win it back. He was too strong for LEVI today. Read that again. He was too strong for LEVI.

Sam Walsh comes in at number 4 on Windows’ Why We Can Make the Top 4 List. He’s got the body strength of a 25 year old now. You can’t bring him to ground. I thought his running had dropped off a tad. Nope. He pushed Cottrell ALL the way in the runs today. His kicking is better. His contested ball is better. This off his outstanding year last year. I wouldn’t swap him for any player under 25 in the game. Please don’t think of him as a ‘good young player’. He’s just a fu**en gun NOW. He’s elite NOW. He just makes me smile repeatedly. He does everything so so well. Clean hands. Smart decisions. Of course my fave is the slalom runs. At one point today he literally ran around in a circle inside 4 opponents and then mysteriously popped out on his own. Calm in the moment.

Think about this centre square setup and tell me you’re not excited: Kreuzer, Crippa, Walsh and Cunners. I’d back that group against ANY four in the Comp.

Like Zaccy Fisher is standing up in tackles. He’s getting to the outside. He is hitting up targets. And I’m not sure how to fit him in! Murph is Murph. Simmo is Simmo. Kreuzer is Kreuzer. Jones is (the new) Jones.

Newman just dispelled any rubbish thoughts I had about him not being best 22 today. Forget that s**t. Laser left leg. Good one on one. Ran hard and created. Forget it. He’s a lock. Willo was good but has a bit to go. Btw willo murdered Kreuzer in their 150s.

I will do a player by player later but I’ve never been happier with our list. Sorry I just have too much to say. I have a lot on today so it’s hard to make this concise and I’ll add more later.

brilliant, again - I have no ******* idea how you observe at the same time you are noting, audio or text - a little disappointed it took a full 7 words before I got a mention but this may be the year the old depth thread gets a nice old working over - never under-estimate how appreciated by all, this s**t is, glassy

 

[Macca43]

Put your best 22 up and i can almost guarantee that 22 wont play during the season - injuries and form

He may not be 'best 22' but if he is given a chance and performs, he doesnt lose his spot, like last year. Ill say he plays round 1

Hence the statement "we have had a terrible run with injuries". To me if we named a 22 plus 3 emergencies Gibbons wouldn't be in that 25. That isn't putting Gibbons down simply raising the quality of the 22 up from last year.

If you think about it Martin & Betts have come into the club and gone ahead of Gibbons in the role he played last year, Cuningham played just 9 games last year and will be ahead of him for that spot - before you get to anything else that is 2 1/2 players that have jumped ahead of him.

 

[Robertio]

Where does he fit?

Cripps, Walsh, Setterfield, Fisher, Murphy, E Curnow, Dow, O'Brien, Newnes & Williamson all in front of him as a midfielder, & Betts, Martin, Cuningham & Silvagni (plus the overflow from the midfielders) are all ahead of him as a forward. He , Kennedy & Stocker will be fighting from a long way back for a spot in the 22.

Lets hope everyone is healthy and we have to worry about how we're going to fit them all in. But no way those three players are coming from a long way back.

 

[Blue__Balls]

Cunners!

Got excited.

Then realised it was only Polson he stepped.

Ahh * it. Still excited.

 

[BlueAbroad]

Stay tuned for the full highlights at 6:00 pm tonight

 

[Arr0w]

Yes, it is an opinion website, I offered my opinion, if you disagree answer the question? Who do you have him ahead of?

My starting 7 mids (excluding the ruck) Cripps, Murphy, E Curnow, Walsh, Setterfield, Fisher & Dow.
My Starting 7 Forwards C Curnow, McKay, McGovern, Betts, Martin, Cuningham & Silvagni

As my back 7 consists of Plowman, SPS, Docherty, Jones, Weitering, Newman & Simpson - that pushes the likes of Williamson & Newnes into a battle for a wing spot with O'brien.

Gibbons, Kennedy, Lang, Stocker, Honey & Philp are all battling to get a look in, IMO.

Think you answered your own question, at this stage he sits comfortably in that group of Newnes, Willo, LOB, Jack. So that indicates we dont have to have a "terrible" run of injuries for Gibbo to be considered best 26, let alone best 22, IMHO

 

[Arr0w]

Stay tuned for the full highlights at 6:00 pm tonight

6PM? To coincide with National News Tez?

 

[Macca43]

Lets hope everyone is healthy and we have to worry about how we're going to fit them all in. But no way those three players are coming from a long way back.

COmes down to your definition of "a long way back" - but I would have they in the 25-35 range

 

[FRUMPY]

Stay tuned for the full highlights at 6:00 pm tonight

Nice video. From the vision - pretty scrappy - no clean ball to the fwds, in fact all turnovers - shocker by martin. Cobwebs id presume

Edit: #33 in blue - who was that - nice side step

 

[BlueAbroad]

6PM? To coincide with National News Tez?

The only news you need to know

 

[Macca43]

Think you answered your own question, at this stage he sits comfortably in that group of Newnes, Willo, LOB, Jack. So that indicates we dont have to have a "terrible" run of injuries for Gibbo to be considered best 26, let alone best 22, IMHO

" to be considered best 26, let alone best 22" SO we need less injuires for him to be best 22 than we do 26?

I have Gibbons in a group with Lang, Kennedy & Stocker (plus possibly some of the 1st year players) behind the likes of Marchbank, Willo, Newnes, LOB - so IMO we would need injuries just to get him in the best 26 and a "terrible" run with injuries to get him into the 22, unless you think losing 4 or 5 of your best 22 mids not to be "terrible".

 

[Blue__Balls]

Nice video. From the vision - pretty scrappy - no clean ball to the fwds, in fact all turnovers - shocker by martin. Cobwebs id presume

Edit: #33 in blue - who was that - nice side step

33 would be Ramsay, I'm assuming he's grown his hair out a bit though. Otherwise it's one of the ring-ins.