Freeman

[rand corp]

The funeral was last Tuesday, Bux put a nice obit in the paper and Ed sent flowers. Damn that hamstring virus, takes too many too young.

 

[Jelly Bean]

Hope he has a full pre season with no hiccups.

Hiccups would be fine, it is hammies we need to worry about...

Although I can see the injury list next year:
Freeman - hiccups, 4 weeks...

 

[Copeland]

So of the first 29 selections of last years draft, only Freeman and Scharenberg haven't debuted. What's the odds?

 

[mattys123]

So of the first 29 selections of last years draft, only Freeman and Scharenberg haven't debuted. What's the odds?

14.5 - 1?

Actually might be 58-1 seeing as they are the only two in the first 29 not to play a game yet.

 

[Gone Critical]

I look forward to Freeman being fit for a full pre season and coming through that without any injuries. If he is fit to go at the start of 2015 it would still be wise to moderate our view on what he may achieve. He has missed a yer of footy and a year of development at a crucial stage. Even senior players who miss a season with injury are usually given some leeway to regain their previous level. Freemans previous level was high performance at TAC level. He will have probably fallen away a little from that level initially. Early 2014 I wasn't expecting him to play seniors in the early rounds.

2015 I would expect he will start at playing part of games to ease back in and maybe get a run in a senior preseason game or 2. Come the start of the season hopefully he is ready to do full VFL games and gets a run of those to build some form. Look forward to him getting a taste at least of AFL footy through the season. If he can manage anything say between 3-10 AFL game I would be very happy with his progress. Any more than that is gravy.

 

[76woodenspooners]

While we would all love to see a fit and firing Freeman I'm not holding my breath. Remember the old 3-4 weeks away for a full 16 rounds? Then MR fitness comes out and says it was the worst tendon injury HE HAD EVER SEEN? So why the lies? Why wasn't it listed as indefinite? CAn't trust much of anything coming out of the Westpac centre... Lots of incompetence at every level.

Last Monday night the club opened themselves up to the members.

The club gave presentations on what they assessed was wrong with 2013 and hence what they worked on in 2014. They gave assessments on how they went with all that. They gave presentations on gameplans. They spoke a bit about their future plans (in as much as they could given the review was still in progress)

They gave presentations on injury status. They gave presentations on causal effects of hamstrings. They described training loads and where we were relative to the rest of the competition. They talked about recruiting strategies.

And then they opened the floor to questions. Every question got answered. The night started at 7:30pm and it didn't get wrapped up until after 10pm.

Not every member would have come away with rainbows and lollipops.

But the members who did go along were given a lot of information to make an informed opinion about where the club is at.

Appreciate that not all fans could make it. Not all fans can afford membership. Not all fans live in the proximity of the MCG dining room. Not all fans can make the necessary arrangements to turn up to something like that with only 3 days notice.

But for fans who could've made it and didn't - especially those with strong opinions about where to club is at - it's such a shame they didn't take up that opportunity.

Not suggesting their concerns would have been allayed - they may very well have been confirmed. They might have even found it a complete waste of time ...

... but how would they know that if they weren't there?

 

[Anzacday]

I went and to be honest after hear Bucks speak I turned to my mate and said well if that's all I hear tonight, I'm happy.
I don't consider myself to be blinkered however, as I have posted previously; they clearly know there's an issue and that we are unhappy, (hence the forum).
They are now doing something about it, e.g, moved on our forward line coach that everybody reckons was a dud, (I personally don't know) and maybe more to come.

 

[Piestration]

Actually no, it's only since I've begun to witness this great club tear apart at the seams. Believe it or not but Buckley was my childhood hero. I had his number stitched to my back a few years after he arrived from Brisbane... Loved him and admired him as a player and was excited when the Malthouse/Buckley deal was announced. Since then I have lost all faith in the board, coach and CEO. Unfortunately it's hard to accept for most people on these forums but history tells us favourite sons don't make great coaches. More recently their has been lots of support for Voss at Brisbane, Hird at Essendon, Ratten at Carlton and now Buckley at Collingwood. There is nothing I would enjoy more than seeing Buckley raise that cup, not for the club or myself but for his guts and determination in leading our team throughout the late 90's early 2000's without tasting the ultimate success. It's make or break next year for Buckley but he has to start being transparent with supporters. It's his decision to keep Daroven but i would hate to see Buckley fall on his own sword because he did not make the correct call on this guy. Let's see. I am still confident Daroven will get the sack over the off-season for his glaring incompetences that so many supporters are trying to ignore.

Unfortunately you need to fail in order to learn and grow stronger. Footy is a very reactive game that doesn't have the patience or time for failure so I hope Bucks can start to turn things soon so he can show us the way. Alleluuuuuia.
If we don't give him reasonable time then I agree with other posters in that we will just become like the Dees, Scum, Tigers, Saints & Bullies.

Although not a favourite son of the Pies or Brisbane. Lethal was an outstanding player that made the transition from being a great player to eventually became one of the great coaches. It took Lethal a while at both clubs to establish the personnel required to win. By the time he went to Brisbane his wealth of knowledge made them one of the greatest teams of all time. Now I'm not saying Buck's will emulate Lethal's coaching records but IMO Bucks looks to have the same desire, smarts and ability to eventually succeed. With all these traits he still requires the most illusive and that's total player respect/commitment. He is still young in coaching years so slowly making the team his will still take a couple of years.
Once he has this and the correct cattle. Look out.

 

[Maggie5]

Unfortunately you need to fail in order to learn and grow stronger. Footy is a very reactive game that doesn't have the patience or time for failure so I hope Bucks can start to turn things soon so he can show us the way. Alleluuuuuia.
If we don't give him reasonable time then I agree with other posters in that we will just become like the Dees, Scum, Tigers, Saints & Bullies.

Although not a favourite son of the Pies or Brisbane. Lethal was an outstanding player that made the transition from being a great player to eventually became one of the great coaches. It took Lethal a while at both clubs to establish the personnel required to win. By the time he went to Brisbane his wealth of knowledge made them one of the greatest teams of all time. Now I'm not saying Buck's will emulate Lethal's coaching records but IMO Bucks looks to have the same desire, smarts and ability to eventually succeed. With all these traits he still requires the most illusive and that's total player respect/commitment. He is still young in coaching years so slowly making the team his will still take a couple of years.
Once he has this and the correct cattle. Look out.

Would he have been given the time if he had coached Hawthorn first or would the faithful turned on him, like some here have turned on Bucks?

 

[Copeland]

Ca

Last Monday night the club opened themselves up to the members.

The club gave presentations on what they assessed was wrong with 2013 and hence what they worked on in 2014. They gave assessments on how they went with all that. They gave presentations on gameplans. They spoke a bit about their future plans (in as much as they could given the review was still in progress)

They gave presentations on injury status. They gave presentations on causal effects of hamstrings. They described training loads and where we were relative to the rest of the competition. They talked about recruiting strategies.

And then they opened the floor to questions. Every question got answered. The night started at 7:30pm and it didn't get wrapped up until after 10pm.

Not every member would have come away with rainbows and lollipops.

But the members who did go along who given a lot of information to make an informed opinion about where the club is at.

Appreciate that not all fans could make it. Not all fans can afford membership. Not all fans live in the proximity of the MCG dining room. Not all fans can make the necessary arrangements to turn up to something like that with only 3 days notice.

But for fans who could've made it and didn't - especially those with strong opinions about where to club is at - it's such a shame they didn't take up that opportunity.

Not suggesting their concerns would have been allayed - they may very well have been confirmed. They might have even found it a complete waste of time ...

... but how would they know that if they weren't there?

Can it be seen anywhere?

 

[Copeland]

Ca

Last Monday night the club opened themselves up to the members.

The club gave presentations on what they assessed was wrong with 2013 and hence what they worked on in 2014. They gave assessments on how they went with all that. They gave presentations on gameplans. They spoke a bit about their future plans (in as much as they could given the review was still in progress)

They gave presentations on injury status. They gave presentations on causal effects of hamstrings. They described training loads and where we were relative to the rest of the competition. They talked about recruiting strategies.

And then they opened the floor to questions. Every question got answered. The night started at 7:30pm and it didn't get wrapped up until after 10pm.

Not every member would have come away with rainbows and lollipops.

But the members who did go along who given a lot of information to make an informed opinion about where the club is at.

Appreciate that not all fans could make it. Not all fans can afford membership. Not all fans live in the proximity of the MCG dining room. Not all fans can make the necessary arrangements to turn up to something like that with only 3 days notice.

But for fans who could've made it and didn't - especially those with strong opinions about where to club is at - it's such a shame they didn't take up that opportunity.

Not suggesting their concerns would have been allayed - they may very well have been confirmed. They might have even found it a complete waste of time ...

... but how would they know that if they weren't there?

Can it be seen anywhere?

 

[Markfs]

Will he be ready to do a full pre season or will there still be issues with he's hamstring.

I know the sister of a bloke who walks around the MCG for his daily exercise and she says that Freeman will miss 6 matches on hamstring related issues next year and 8 matches the following year...

 

[Markfs]

Unfortunately it's hard to accept for most people on these forums but history tells us favourite sons don't make great coaches.

It's make or break next year for Buckley but he has to start being transparent with supporters.

Totally agree with this. Buckley has refused to explain what is happening within the club. I think he won't like it but he needs to be more like Mick and be far more transparent.

As for favourite sons being bad coaches, there's no doubt this is the situation with Buckley. He's probably the 2nd or 3rd highest profile Collingwood person behind McHale and Bobby Rose and neither of those two knew much about the caper.

 

[jjsmitty8]

What hav u heard?

Haven't you heard? It was my understanding that everyone had heard.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Ca
Can it be seen anywhere?

The club put a clip up on their website - I've checked and it's still there.

Sadly, it's only 6 minutes of the 150 minutes total length that the meeting went for ... But it's still worth a look.

 

[SuperSub17]

So of the first 29 selections of last years draft, only Freeman and Scharenberg haven't debuted. What's the odds?

Assuming it is known that exactly 2 of 29 didn't debut, 0.2% (or 1 in 406).

Yup, that's how bad it is.

 

[PTpie]

I think Freeman will play pre-season games and if his form warrants start in round 1. He has all the attributes we are missing and could be exactly what we need. I don't want to hype the kid up to much but I've gone back through the draft files and Sandringham reports and by all accounts he was deservedly top 10 in the draft and quite well developed physically so I don't see any issue other than fitness holding him back. Its not as if there are many players forcing him back to the VFL with standout performances in the seniors is there?

 

[Copeland]

I think Freeman will play pre-season games and if his form warrants start in round 1. He has all the attributes we are missing and could be exactly what we need. I don't want to hype the kid up to much but I've gone back through the draft files and Sandringham reports and by all accounts he was deservedly top 10 in the draft and quite well developed physically so I don't see any issue other than fitness holding him back. Its not as if there are many players forcing him back to the VFL with standout performances in the seniors is there?

Without being a smartarse that would be the case with all our players. We just dont need him to get injured.

 

[HFF]

I just hope he is training all summer on his kicking.

It's the one area I'm not quite sold on yet.

 

[PTpie]

Without being a smartarse that would be the case with all our players. We just dont need him to get injured.

Not really. There a few blokes that will only ever be VFL. Guys like Young, Karnezis, Martin, Seedsman, and one of Keefe, Frost, Brown and Toovey, perhaps even Kennedy (hope not) will be fighting for a spot in the seniors.

I think Freeman, while not a walk up start, is in a different category. His development has been hindered some what, but what he showed at TAC level and given his physically mature body he would be ready made for seniors.

On the other hand Broomhead and Thomas have I think cemented their spots in the seniors and will be in the best 22.

There is so much negativity on this board but really we are pretty blessed with talent across the board. We just can't seem to get it all on the park at the same time.

 

[Markfs]

Assuming it is known that exactly 2 of 29 didn't debut, 0.2% (or 1 in 406).

Yup, that's how bad it is.

This is extraordinary stuff. I had to remember my secondary school maths on probability. Beautiful use of applied maths.

 

[Markfs]

Hiccups would be fine, it is hammies we need to worry about...

Although I can see the injury list next year:
Freeman - hiccups, 4 weeks...

Interesting concept. Maybe Freeman could become elite in hiccups. There is a school of thought that says that hiccups should be considered a sport.
http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-hiccups-a-sport

 

[Big Stiff]

He is going to be a beast

 

[loki04]

I just hope he is training all summer on his kicking.

It's the one area I'm not quite sold on yet.

It's never been an issue and don't know why anyone has an issue with it.

He has shown he can kick them with low penetration or chip them to spot a better option if need be.

He isn't Buckley in his kicking but he is better then most the 22 who played this year from what I have seen.

 

[HFF]

It's never been an issue and don't know why anyone has an issue with it.

He has shown he can kick them with low penetration or chip them to a better option if need be.

He isn't Buckley in his kicking but he is better then most the 22 who played this year from what I have seen.

This, I hope reflects on exposure and output to senior footy.

We can ill afford to have any more poor ball users.