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Game Day Practice Match up in QLD v the reigning premier

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Doesn't explain Dowling or Schoey...
Dowling I understand if Cumming Sholl Jones ( and Curtin / Dawson at times ) are all above him in the battle for the wing spot

He’s not playing forward or inside mid and there’s no point playing 4 wings + Curtin/ Dawson as part timers
 

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Also, I assume it’d be completely up to Tex himself, which I don’t have a problem with

I have more trust in Tex than most of our seniors in the past re: when they know they need to rest
Last year proved this statement wrong

He continued to put his hand up even when severely resricted
 
Tex used the term 'quality over quantity' for last year and yet we saw him play nearly every game in a dead season despite obviously being impacted by injury. He'll be putting up his hand to play every game, nothing will change that.
Yep agree .. that’s what competitors do

I reckon a combo of being rested by club in away hauls + injuries will see him play 12-14 games max

Great we’ve got Curtin looking good playing forward
 
Going to be super interesting how we cope with humidity and slippery ball , it’s like a different sport to our summer

Might bring back a few nightmares re round 1 last year

hopeful we play pretty well for at least 45 mins then get through without injury

Mostly hoping Nank plays well and we might be looking at our best case scenario re round 1 side
 
Dowling I can understand although it disappoints me. I thought he looked as good as anyone from either team on the wing last week. He is currently down the pecking order although it wouldn’t surprise me if he is firmly in our best 22 by the end of the season.

My greatest disappointment is Taylor. He has been training as a small forward all season and I thought he looked good against the Pear Twos. Do we want to ensure that he gets a full match this week (our final hit out before Round 1? I think I might be clutching at straws.

Will we be taking up four emergencies to boost their frequent flyer points and they will all play in the SANFL trial tomorrow?
 
I thought I read somewhere he had a foot injury. I may well have got him mixed up with someone else.
It wasn’t necessarily the travel concern
They said "heel soreness" but he was moving just fine.
 
Dowling I can understand although it disappoints me. I thought he looked as good as anyone from either team on the wing last week. He is currently down the pecking order although it wouldn’t surprise me if he is firmly in our best 22 by the end of the season.

My greatest disappointment is Taylor. He has been training as a small forward all season and I thought he looked good against the Pear Twos. Do we want to ensure that he gets a full match this week (our final hit out before Round 1? I think I might be clutching at straws.

Will we be taking up four emergencies to boost their frequent flyer points and they will all play in the SANFL trial tomorrow?
Taylor for Murphy and it’s the right squad

You just hope it’s because they want Taylor to play long minutes but maybe it’s just wishful thinking

Overall it’s a good squad
 
Going to be super interesting how we cope with humidity and slippery ball , it’s like a different sport to our summer

Might bring back a few nightmares re round 1 last year

hopeful we play pretty well for at least 45 mins then get through without injury

Mostly hoping Nank plays well and we might be looking at our best case scenario re round 1 side
The last two nights have been awful.. 75%+ humidity. Like I said, the deck will be slick.
 
Doesn't look like many strange selections to me. It looks like our best 22 with positional cover

We've got Bond as the Michalanney replacement. Murphy/Pedlar as Rachele replacement (Murphy potentially best 22). Nankervis next up for Milera.

Then on the emergencies we've got mid cover (Berry), outside cover (Dowling), key position cover (Borlase) and defensive cover (Ryan) - all who are probably next man up in those roles

To fill out the 26 named to play we've also thrown in our next up forward (Toby Murray) and coverage for Sholl/Cumming if we want to rest them (Jones)
Next man up in those roles are all in the 26, Berry, Dowling and Ryan would all be 2nd or even 3rd up.
 

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I think Murphy will play an important role as a player/coach in the SANFL side.

He will be a coach of some sort when he retires.

His Footy IQ got him into the AFL, he knows the game. Just lacks physical ability for the highest level.
Even though he has been playing HFF, he will command a position in the midfield and rob value development from the young midfielders we actually have in the squad under the guise of leadership
 
Well this is Davies first litmus test to see whether behind the scenes he accepts Nicks penchant for rewarding mediocrity. If Murphy comes out and plays 3 quarters for half a dozen mediocre possessions which even on a good day is what we can expect from him, will Davies accept him near the best 23 over and above better form players. Imagine if Dowling comes out in the Sanfl like he did last year and demolishes every side week after week while Murphy is sitting there getting his 8 possessions in the AFL. How can that be justified.
The big question IS, would Murphy have had time to wash Davis AND Nicks' cars this week??
(short week with travel & thursday game)
 

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Very basic warm up session today. In fact they said to the boys it’s a dress rehearsal for our warm up tomorrow night. They had a bit of stationary kick to kick for 5 minutes then were asked to move for the next 5. Probably to blow the cobwebs out after the flight. Then “running” drills starting behind the goal line running into the middle. Not much effort expended to start with. Followed by repeat drills changing the action on each leg. Lunges on one version. Hip flex on another. Jump up and pretend to mark a ball on another. High knees. Scoop low. And final go was a sprint with a turn mid stride. Those that had footies in their hands would kick or hand pass to trainers as they got close to the middle.

These were the exercises that had Crouch go to Burgo for some treatment (about 10-15 minutes on the ground in the middle of the ground). Looked like he was working on his hip, lower back area. Thilthorpe was also struggling with this drill(s) and took his time to stretch out throughout the drill. He was last to finish every leg. Everyone else seemed to cope well. This was followed by more stretches.

Breaking into smaller groups they carried out a number of routines kick, hand pass, run rinse and repeat. Crouch rejoined them at this stage.

They then gathered around in circle while Nicks, Dawson (and Tex) talked about strategy to the group for tomorrow night. Hard to pick it up. They then broke into their groups. Defenders, mids and forwards.

Crouch and Soligo working on scooping up low rolling ground balls with a trainer for five minutes. Crouch looked to be moving ok at this point. Obvious groupings were then Pedlar, Laird, Rankine, Soligo, Dawson, Keays, Murphy, Peatling, Hinge. Backs were Keane, Nankervis, Bond, Murray, Worrell. Tex Fog TMurray Thilthorpe. On looking though photos Jones and Dowling were there but didn’t seem to be in any specific group. Murphy spent some time in deep discussion with one of the trainers while stuff was going on around him.

After about 50 minutes the lads left the field, said g’day to fans (Dawson impressive and time for everyone) Tex and filthy at the end just gorgeous with a young lady with special needs.

The lads grabbed their kits, snacks and drinks and hopped on the bus to head to their hotel.

Unfortunately nothing really to tell. Took video but they are too big to upload. Here’s a few snaps taken on the phone.


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Murphy in long conversation with trainer.
View attachment 2235956
Crouch in the hands of physio
thanks Jen
 
Yep. Nick's picks his AFL squad in preseason. That's it.
Only pretty much injuries get those players he deems non-AFL/SANFL a chance.
He has not deviated from this. Idiot
This also speaks to his lack of tactical nous / ability to change things on game day when teams get momentum. Stuck in a singular way of thinking.

Leopards don't change their spots - it will (eventually) prove his ultimate downfall.
 

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Game Day Practice Match up in QLD v the reigning premier

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