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Training 2022 Training Reports

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Yep, very exciting if he can stay sound and continue to develop as he has been! Add Sturt as another important missing cog in our forward line and we'll look completely different in that area of the ground. I'm hoping Erasmus gets opportunities to be added in the mix with those two also. Very exciting.
Agreed. I think all three can provide something different across half forward and all be very damaging players in their own right. I can’t even remember the last time we’ve had competition for half forward spots between players that could all stake a claim to actually be B22 players on merit in those positions. Our mid-forward connection issues have been present for years now so I’m really pumped about our emerging depth in this part of the ground.
 
Wilson has to be starting the season well behind the eight ball. The abject crap he dished up towards the end of the year (v Richmond and Brisbane) has him almost on my 'never again' list.
 
So where are you lot seeing Frederick, Sturt and Erasmus lining up at the bounce?

My take assuming 3 tall forwards;

Walters Taberner Schultz/Switkowski
Treacy Lobb Erasmus/Sturt

Means Frederick on the wing or bench, but I already have Switkowski and Sturt rotating off the bench.

I see Frederick as having the lesser forward capacity but the greater wing ability.
 
So where are you lot seeing Frederick, Sturt and Erasmus lining up at the bounce?

My take assuming 3 tall forwards;

Walters Taberner Schultz/Switkowski
Treacy Lobb Erasmus/Sturt

Means Frederick on the wing or bench, but I already have Switkowski and Sturt rotating off the bench.

I see Frederick as having the lesser forward capacity but the greater wing ability.
I see Frederick and Sturt given first crack at half forward with Erasmus either interchange or just kept out initially.
 

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So where are you lot seeing Frederick, Sturt and Erasmus lining up at the bounce?

My take assuming 3 tall forwards;

Walters Taberner Schultz/Switkowski
Treacy Lobb Erasmus/Sturt

Means Frederick on the wing or bench, but I already have Switkowski and Sturt rotating off the bench.

I see Frederick as having the lesser forward capacity but the greater wing ability.
I'd play Freddy on the wing at WAFL level to build his endurance and fitness. Also to test his success at that position. Sturt will similarly compared to last year also need to start in the twos and work his way into the forwardline. Erasmus will probably get the opportunity to debut early as a half forward.
 
And going in with just the 1 or 2 small forwards?

Be really interesting to see if Erasmus gets early games.
I think with Sonny playing forward we will go in with two smalls. I’d say something like Taberner and Lobb as the talls, Sonny and Schultz/Switta as the smalls, Sturt and Frederick half forward flanks. Treacy interchange. Plenty of flexibility with Sturt and Treacy and even Walters able to play high half forward or out of the goal square, Freddy can push to the wing, Darcy and Fyfe resting forward at times.
A bit of depth now too with Amiss, Erasmus, Switta or Schultz (whoever misses out), Benning to consider as well.
 
I'd play Freddy on the wing at WAFL level to build his endurance and fitness. Also to test his success at that position. Sturt will similarly compared to last year also need to start in the twos and work his way into the forwardline. Erasmus will probably get the opportunity to debut early as a half forward.
Erasmus has been BUTT by all accounts but he’d be doing pretty well to have gone past Sturt already. Or are you saying Sturt won’t have the fitness base right away? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard players jestingly claim he is JL’s pet so if fit I reckon he gets dibs over pretty much everyone for half forward spot.
 
If all fit for round 1, I see Lobb and Tabs being automatically selected as the two talls, then Treacy, Amiss and Sturt would fight it out for the third tall spot. Walters will automatically get a spot for pure forward class alone (which we're lacking) then Schultz, Switta, Henry, Fredrick, Erasmus, Colyer etc fight it out for the last 2 spots.

Unlikely we have all of them available but if we did it'd be tough for the selectors. Anyone under 194cm would have to perform to a high level to keep their spot, which is a great position to be in and one we've rarely had over the last 10 years. We just need to build some pressure and competition for the tall forwards now.
 
Have you even read any of my posts on this? I'm not arguing whether he is or isn't creative. I am simply pointing out that it's far too soon to tell either way so it's completely pointless to try to argue it now.
I think you're right. Too early to tell considering the team is young, not even close to performing at peak levels until they mature. How creative can you get with a club that's unable to yet hit top speed? How successful are those moves going to be?
Judging by some of the rhetoric, AP going forward showed a lack of creativity. Maybe making that move with a more mature team, with players that can hit top speed and beat their matchup, AP bangs on 4.
Footy is a fluid game folks. It's laughable to try and assess now and pigeonhole the dude with the current team make-up.
 
Erasmus has been BUTT by all accounts but he’d be doing pretty well to have gone past Sturt already. Or are you saying Sturt won’t have the fitness base right away? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard players jestingly claim he is JL’s pet so if fit I reckon he gets dibs over pretty much everyone for half forward spot.
Mainly because Sturt is injury prone so I would play him in the WAFL to prove he is worthy of the 22. He has lost a lot of development time.
 

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It makes for interesting reading, but I wonder what Covid, Hubs, lack of a pre-season, etc, has on the figures?
The Top teams in Lions, Dees, Port, Cats, had the least injury.
Bulldogs with some luck, better structure should have a decent
window. Lions, Port thinking what if?
Cats look like they are hanging by a thread.

Without bothering to do the stats for previous years, it’s similar every year. I did it last year for 2019 when we were discussing list sizes in 2020 and a lot of teams were coming up with numbers between 35 and 40.

It’s my opinion that a top 30 being capable of winning a flag these days is an outdated concept. I’d say it’s closer to 35 these days. If you have a solid 30 in the first place and a good bunch of youngsters pushing up from underneath that’s very doable. I reckon we’re close to being there but nothing will change if we continue to get injuries to our better and more structurally important players.
 
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I almost want Erasmus to be exclusively forward next year. Thinking Stephenson's debut season with Collingwood. He should aim for that.
 
I'll be pretty ******* excited if Erasmus plays round 1 next year, even Serong didnt get that honour under JL...
wasn’t he coming off some injuries though? that said they didn’t debut Chappy in round 1 this year either
 
wasn’t he coming off some injuries though? that said they didn’t debut Chappy in round 1 this year either
I think it was a delayed start to the pre-season but nothing major, probably did make a diff though, fair point. I'd love to go back for round 1 debuts and see the strike rate across the comp
 
wasn’t he coming off some injuries though? that said they didn’t debut Chappy in round 1 this year either

He missed the draft combine but did do a time trial after he recovered and apparently set the best time for the state?
I'll be pretty ******* excited if Erasmus plays round 1 next year, even Serong didnt get that honour under JL...
Feeling the same! He seems more ready to go than some of the past first round picks.
Was more of a MJ fan going into the draft but have been fully converted now
 

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He missed the draft combine but did do a time trial after he recovered and apparently set the best time for the state?

Feeling the same! He seems more ready to go than some of the past first round picks.
Was more of a MJ fan going into the draft but have been fully converted now
I am team Erasmus, but MJ will work out just fine....can't wait to see them combine over the next decade or more!
 
He missed the draft combine but did do a time trial after he recovered and apparently set the best time for the state?

Feeling the same! He seems more ready to go than some of the past first round picks.
Was more of a MJ fan going into the draft but have been fully converted now
Wait til MJ develops as an AFL player. I’m sure there will be enough room in your heart for both of them! One is a bona fide bull and the other is pure silk, it’s not inconceivable they will be our long term Fyfe and Mundy replacements.
 
I think you're right. Too early to tell considering the team is young, not even close to performing at peak levels until they mature. How creative can you get with a club that's unable to yet hit top speed? How successful are those moves going to be?
Judging by some of the rhetoric, AP going forward showed a lack of creativity. Maybe making that move with a more mature team, with players that can hit top speed and beat their matchup, AP bangs on 4.
Footy is a fluid game folks. It's laughable to try and assess now and pigeonhole the dude with the current team make-up.
Most coaches put in place their game ethos from the start from what I have seen. Things evolve with the team, but not major changes.

Both being rookie coaches with inexperienced team lists Neesham and Harvey are our closest comparisons to Longmuir.

Neesham, who had the least established team we have had and almost no AFL experience immediately introduced an innovative game.

I don't have the comparable age/experience stats for our list under Harvey but he had a young side in the throws of a rebuild. His coaching may have settled down a bit as the list matured, but his style was full of creativity and risk taking. Noteworthy that he was replaced by a coach with a much more rigid game plan/coaching style.

Pearce going forward is not being highlighted as showing a lack of creativity. I am simply not accepting it as significant evidence of creativity. It is a reasonable, conservative move designed to minimise changes to our structure, and implemented due to very few alternatives.

A creative response to missing your tall forwards would involve things like playing chaos ball in the forward line to advantage your smalls, or running the ball into the forward line from defence/midfield. Instead we retained our structure. I also have not criticised that, I just don't agree with using Pearce given he was returning from injury and would have preferred Cox.
 
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Most coaches put in place their game ethos from the start from what I have seen. Things evolve with the team, but not major changes.

Both being rookie coaches with inexperienced team lists Neesham and Harvey are our closest comparisons to Longmuir.

Neesham, who had the least established team we have had and almost no AFL experience immediately introduced an innovative game.

I don't have the comparable age/experience stats for our list under Harvey but he had a young side in the throws of a rebuild. His coaching may have settled down a bit as the list matured, but his style was full of creativity and risk taking. Noteworthy that he was replaced by a coach with a much more rigid game plan/coaching style.

Pearce going forward is not being highlighted as showing a lack of creativity. I am simply not accepting it as significant evidence of creativity. It is a reasonable, conservative move designed to minimise changes to our structure, and implemented due to very few alternatives.

A creative response to missing your tall forwards would involve things like playing chaos ball in the forward line to advantage your smalls, or running the ball into the forward line from defence/midfield. Instead we retained our structure. I also have not criticised that, I just don't agree with using Pearce given he was returning from injury and would have preferred Cox.
I think you're kinda echoing Ppljss but from a different angle but I think Ppljss is more on the money in that I don't think JL was even trying to be creative, where as you're saying JL CHOSE not to be creative, correct me if I'm wrong. In the end, you're likely right that JL wanted to maintain structure more than anything, and that just fine for a young team. My angle is just suggesting that moving AP could have been perceived as a good move, if he was able to perform. I think the overall quality of the team on the day, didn't help him play well. Whether it was Cox or Pearce, well, that's always debatable.
 
Is that Karl Worner behind Joel Hamling

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