Training 2021 Preseason Training

BrunoV

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May 5, 2009
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I think people assume because it's less creative, that it's easy. They're a different kind of mental requirement, being able to stay focused on a man for 2 - 3 hours is hard work.


Playing in a zone, knowing when to mind your man and knowing when to help out a team mate.
 
Dec 14, 2008
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I think the trouble with being a pure lockdown is that you are dictated to by your man, when's leading?, where's he going?

The best defenders are super readers of the play, they can nearly play the ball as much as the man
 

BrunoV

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Everyone plays in the zone these days moreorless. Winning your own ball is a lot harder than following around a man.


Whether it is or it isn't it's very hard to see Laverde in defence.

He doesn't play well off the ball. He's just a different type of player.

We'll see how it goes.
 

fairbump_playon

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Jun 27, 2014
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Wouldn’t they need 4 touches to kick 4 goals?


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Ach. I meant small forwards only need 2 or 3 touches a quarter to kick 4 goals in a game.

As in a stats line that says 6 kicks, 3 handballs, 2 marks, 4 goals.

As a defender you could think “he hardly touched it”. But you’ve been towelled up.
 

BrunoV

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yeh i know what you mean, there is no nuance to his game, he's like a bull in a china shop - doesn't often translate well do being a defender


It could help his game to learn how to work in the zone at the other end. Some of it has to be translatable because the sides are essentially all doing the same thing. It must help to know how a defender thinks and to then also get the opportunity to see a gun forward up close.
 

BrunoV

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Sucks re Stringer.

He was a very durable player, at least in terms of game missed, until he suffered what was essentially a contact injury last year (his legs got caught fairly violently underneath his body in a tackle if memory serves me correctly).
 
Cal has been hanging around outside the fence with the blitz track watchers. :cool:
There have been reports of a few players in the "modified group" but I can tell you that most of those in that group have been doing plenty of work in other areas like the pool and bike sessions simply to manage work loads. Stringer was one they considered had done enough work pre Christmas to not have to be doing a lot of work on the track and there have been a few sessions that have been hidden away from the public eye so to speak.
 
Apr 1, 2008
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Sucks re Stringer.

He was a very durable player, at least in terms of game missed, until he suffered what was essentially a contact injury last year (his legs got caught fairly violently underneath his body in a tackle if memory serves me correctly).
The big one came from landing awkwardly in a marking contest at the end of the Collingwood game.
 
Jul 19, 2010
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Forgotten Essendon veteran David Zaharakis is building up his running in rehab a month out from the Bombers pre-season practice match against Geelong, as he recovers from off-season posterior cruciate ligament surgery.

It remains unclear when the 30-year-old will be back on the track for the Bombers, having recovered from the quad injury that finished his season in August. However, a club source confirmed he was making solid progress.

The Bombers will not rush Zaharakis back as he looks to find a role to extend his career beyond the end of this season.

Meanwhile, key position player Michael Hurley is on the mend from an infected leg that saw him visit hospital during the week. Yet the Bombers are uncertain when he will return as he looks to adapt to a forward role this season.

Hurley and Zaharakis were among several key Bombers who did not train with the club on Saturday, with Jake Stringer absent after having scans on Thursday to assess a troublesome Achilles that forced him from the track midweek.

Stringer had only just returned to training with the main group before the issue flared again.
Ruckman Sam Draper - who trained on Thursday - and defenders Patrick Ambrose and Aaron Francis were also noticeable absentees from the light session.
On a positive note, skipper Dyson Heppell is training well following an ankle injury that ruined 2020 while Jordan Ridley has overcome a minor calf strain and is back in full training.

Veteran swingman Cale Hooker has also lost six kilograms in an injury free pre-season with the 32-year-old preparing to play in defence during 2021, supporting a young backline that includes reigning best and fairest winner Ridley.
 

Falcon27

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Sep 8, 2015
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That injury update put up on the website is pathetic. All that was said was monitor their progress and ramp up their training over the next few weeks.
That Ambrose prognosis doesn't look good, used the dreaded "hasn't progressed as quickly as the club would have liked". Ominous for Ambrose.
 
Apr 23, 2016
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That injury update put up on the website is pathetic. All that was said was monitor their progress and ramp up their training over the next few weeks.
That Ambrose prognosis doesn't look good, used the dreaded "hasn't progressed as quickly as the club would have liked". Ominous for Ambrose.

What more do you want though? Copies of medical reports and scans?
 
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