Past #15: Paul Ahern - delisted after 24 NM games/6 NM goals - thanks Pauly

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Rockstar6 said:
Give him one more game this week. If he has another week like the last 2 and we lose, then wrap him in cotton wool. Look to 2019 with Paul after a good pre season
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I'd be happier to do it this week - a proper rest, not a VFL one - and then if it's still theoretically possible to make finals after that he can come in, play one and then have a second week off.

If they're 100% giving up for the year now may as well just rest him full stop. He's not going to get any more out of these games now. Has the abillity, needs pre seasons. If we've put the cue in the rack just give him an extended break and back into pre season early and give 1-2 guys a taste or a final chance to retain a spot.
 
Billy Not Really said:
Running him into the ground, he's spent. Needs a week off at most. He can't run fast when it demands it, and thats not his fault he just needs a proper preseason and he's right up there. He's been playing within his fitness limits and his talent shines through.

But we've spent the bloke dry on fitness and its killed his game.
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Yep he's spent.

What this bloke has done this year has exceeded our expectations by the length of the Flemington straight and has the whole AFL talking.

Put him in cotton wool and ready for Utah.
 

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Will be needed this week v Sloane, Crouch and co at stoppages, i am keeping the faith.
 
Logical move is to rest him this week as we have a like4like in career best form (LDU) who can slot into his exact role. Will be a jet but the lack of a preseason in 3 years is obviously catching up with him. Give him a spell and bring him back to tear up the Saints at Etihad
 
remfan101 said:
Logical move is to rest him this week as we have a like4like in career best form (LDU) who can slot into his exact role. Will be a jet but the lack of a preseason in 3 years is obviously catching up with him. Give him a spell and bring him back to tear up the Saints at Etihad
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On the face of it, Ahern seems to have shot his bolt this season. On the other hand, if he’s selected this week, it may be that he’s just struggling now that he’s getting more attention from the opposition. He’d have to work his way through that.


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He's not quick, and all the preseasons in the world will not make him quick.

He'll be a 3 times more productive player with some outside speed around him.
 
Snake_Baker said:
He's not quick, and all the preseasons in the world will not make him quick.

He'll be a 3 times more productive player with some outside speed around him.
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He actually tested very well for speed as a junior, and listed it as one of his greatest assets in interviews. Showed in some of his early highlights as well. I reckon his complete lack of fitness means he's conserving his energy/ already buggered and only using his pace when he really has to- its all he can do to get from stoppage to stoppage at this point. Still, have you seen him caught HTB at any point? Wouldn't be surprised if he recaptures a bit of breakaway speed after a few preseasons.
 
Snake_Baker said:
He's not quick, and all the preseasons in the world will not make him quick.

He'll be a 3 times more productive player with some outside speed around him.
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Preseasons help with pace to the extent that greater endurance allows for higher intensity repeat sprints particularly later in the game. If he's not as gassed in the 4th quarter, he's probably able to run quicker than if he's totally out of legs.
 
AGC said:
Preseasons help with pace to the extent that greater endurance allows for higher intensity repeat sprints particularly later in the game. If he's not as gassed in the 4th quarter, he's probably able to run quicker than if he's totally out of legs.
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He is carrying a s**t load of puppy fat as well imo. Turning half of that into muscle will help enormously.

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Imo, Paul looks like a primary posession winner/distributor, and appears to me to finish games with the same pace he starts 'em, of course more games and pre seasons will help him get better, but just get the line breakers/speedsters on the outside for him to feed the pill to, and help him out defensively when required.
 
Snake_Baker said:
He's not quick, and all the preseasons in the world will not make him quick.

He'll be a 3 times more productive player with some outside speed around him.
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In his draft year he was actually quite an outside player, a few of my mates who played with him at Calder recall him being really explosive.

That being said two knee recos don’t really help lower body conditioning so he was always gonna slow down but give him a pre-season or two and he might be able to recapture some of that speed.
 

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AGC said:
Preseasons help with pace to the extent that greater endurance allows for higher intensity repeat sprints particularly later in the game. If he's not as gassed in the 4th quarter, he's probably able to run quicker than if he's totally out of legs.
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Clarence2norton said:
In his draft year he was actually quite an outside player, a few of my mates who played with him at Calder recall him being really explosive.

That being said two knee recos don’t really help lower body conditioning so he was always gonna slow down but give him a pre-season or two and he might be able to recapture some of that speed.
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Let me clarify further. Sam Mitchell wasn't quick either, but he was devastatingly effective when he was surrounded with players that were.
 
Was always Gona have up and down games, all players new to AFL do.

I think play him in the last 2 games.
 
He's was just a bit flat, it happens when returning from a long lay off. He might be up this week.

I say this because I took 2 years off footy between 17 and 19 years of age due to niggling injuries and a general break and when I came back it was a struggle. Some weeks you just had no energy and you just can't do much about it. That first year back I would enter game feeling good but 5 minutes in I was spent. Not so much panting for breath just the energy felt like it drained out of my body so while no where near AFL level it may be the reason he is struggling some weeks. He may come out this week and get 30 plus followed by 10 possessions against the Saints.

Not concerned about his form consistency this year as he clearly has a high ceiling so more consistency next year and then the year after that, BANG
 
Pre-draft - he was a good runner. Very balanced - a ball carrier. He was not really foot race quick but made up for it with great movement (cutting angles). I am not sure he was ever well known for a contested game. I think he is carrying extra weight and consequently it is assisting him hold his ground. Then again, his legs are a enormous - maybe he has always had this strength but never had to use it.

Future looks very bright for this kid.
 
Snake_Baker said:
Let me clarify further. Sam Mitchell wasn't quick either, but he was devastatingly effective when he was surrounded with players that were.
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There's an interview with Mitchell where he talks about his lack of pace. He specifically mentions that he knew he was never gonna get any faster in a straight line so he spent lots of time developing the speed of his lateral movement which he could work on and no one else was working on at the time.

Pauly seems to have the ability to move in traffic in a similar way. Makes time and room for himself.
 
Bigeasy said:
He's was just a bit flat, it happens when returning from a long lay off. He might be up this week.

I say this because I took 2 years off footy between 17 and 19 years of age due to niggling injuries and a general break and when I came back it was a struggle. Some weeks you just had no energy and you just can't do much about it. That first year back I would enter game feeling good but 5 minutes in I was spent. Not so much panting for breath just the energy felt like it drained out of my body so while no where near AFL level it may be the reason he is struggling some weeks. He may come out this week and get 30 plus followed by 10 possessions against the Saints.

Not concerned about his form consistency this year as he clearly has a high ceiling so more consistency next year and then the year after that, BANG
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I had something similar after over a decade not playing. (Started playing again in my early 30s in a very average bush league - for Nimbin - just for fun.) It took about a year of running at top speed to get back up to speed and to get the same levels of endurance back. Well to be honest I don't know if I ever got near my original speed and fitness but it was definitely well into my second season before I could run a game out at an intensity I was happy with and be able to outrun most of the people playing.

It wasn't like I was unfit. I used to plant trees for a living, as well as fencing and other work in the bush that generally keeps you in pretty good physical shape. But it takes a while to retrain your body to sprint at that level of intensity if you haven't done it for a while.
 
ferball said:
Started playing again in my early 30s in a very average bush league - for Nimbin....

.....I used to plant trees for a living.....
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By speed are we talking about the ability to break away from a contest, or to run distances at speed (ie - Hartung)?

Pre-achilles Swallow was never going to beat anyone over 100 metres, but he would have beaten most guys over the first 5-10 metres from a contest. Cripps is fairly similar.
 
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