Opinion Round 17 Changes vs. GWS

[strobe00]

Kram81 Slavic fella with the big snoz is a better shot for mine.

 

[stormee]

So I'm back in perth for the weekend from Canberra and a mate has organised tickets for the game with pre match drinks and function and everything. Looking forward to seeing the boys play for probably the only time this year.

 

[Gekko71]

Get him to soften his hands by making him do slips catching , throwing cricket balls at him and getting him to catch them .
If he goes at a cricket ball with his hard hands like he does with a football he will won't catch them and will end up with very sore hands .
He liked the idea as the Club have been working on the problem for some time . He is so eager to fix the problem and this was something that may help .
I suggested he Taberner wear a helmet so when he grabs at to he doesn't get seriously hurt .
That bought a smile to his face .

Great tip Couda - another drill that might work is the old throwing eggs game my high school sports coach had us do, where players face each other and toss raw eggs back and forth, then you start moving the players further apart. I've seen people safely catch an egg from well over 40 meters away with a bit of practice.

While this is a cricket drill and the catching action you use for the egg is no good for footy, it's still a really useful all-round drill for judging the speed and path of a ball in flight - to do it successfully you need to focus more on getting your body positioned right and less on reaching to intercept the egg in flight. I reckon it might be a great drill for trying to mark while running with the flight of the ball too (there is no way to accurately throw an egg over long distances - trust me I've tried ) and it really makes you aware of the need to have your elbows slightly bent when reaching for the ball. A couple of times at WAFL games I've seen Tabs reach for a mark on the lead with very straight arms. He's doesn't lock his elbows, but a couple of times he seemed to come close to it. If his arms are too stiff or straight when reaching for the ball, it may be adding to the problem. He usually seems to get good separation from his defender on a lead, and his hands look to be a good size, so he might have some scope to soften his elbows a bit and let the ball come to him a little more - which is the other thing this drill is designed to teach you.

The really great thing about this exercise is it's great for a laugh during training, which gets people to relax and kills off any performance anxiety. If RTB starts having Tabs catch a raw egg or two on a short lead at training, it should make him more aware of just how hard his hands are hitting the ball (...maybe not while running towards the thrower though, otherwise he'll be picking eggshell out of his eyebrows for days).

 

[leeloo]

Sunday is so far away.

 

[Kram]

We would only play on Saturdays if I had my way!

 

[pavsbootlace]

We would only play on Saturdays if I had my way!

Friday nights for mine.

 

[Freoforever86]

All 3 emergencies are playing WAFL but no Gumby..

 

[kingswood71]

Friday nights for mine.

yep agreed...And all in Perth...so the games starts when the kid is already asleep !!!

 

[couldhavebeen]

Great tip Couda - another drill that might work is the old throwing eggs game my high school sports coach had us do, where players face each other and toss raw eggs back and forth, then you start moving the players further apart. I've seen people safely catch an egg from well over 40 meters away with a bit of practice.

While this is a cricket drill and the catching action you use for the egg is no good for footy, it's still a really useful all-round drill for judging the speed and path of a ball in flight - to do it successfully you need to focus more on getting your body positioned right and less on reaching to intercept the egg in flight. I reckon it might be a great drill for trying to mark while running with the flight of the ball too (there is no way to accurately throw an egg over long distances - trust me I've tried ) and it really makes you aware of the need to have your elbows slightly bent when reaching for the ball. A couple of times at WAFL games I've seen Tabs reach for a mark on the lead with very straight arms. He's doesn't lock his elbows, but a couple of times he seemed to come close to it. If his arms are too stiff or straight when reaching for the ball, it may be adding to the problem. He usually seems to get good separation from his defender on a lead, and his hands look to be a good size, so he might have some scope to soften his elbows a bit and let the ball come to him a little more - which is the other thing this drill is designed to teach you.

The really great thing about this exercise is it's great for a laugh during training, which gets people to relax and kills off any performance anxiety. If RTB starts having Tabs catch a raw egg or two on a short lead at training, it should make him more aware of just how hard his hands are hitting the ball (...maybe not while running towards the thrower though, otherwise he'll be picking eggshell out of his eyebrows for days).

As a young man I entered a competition with my dad and we won with him throwing and me catching we got to about 30 yards befor he broke the egg going for a fun day record
One of the guys with a great throwing arm from playing base ball threw the next couple of eggs 40 yards and we broke 3 before I could catch it without breaking .
It was a very happy memory since my dad passed away about 10 years ago ,thanks for that and yes bend the elbows and let it come into the hands or you get splattered with yokes and egg shells .

 

[kp junior]

In my wildest dreams I see this amazing GF match up between us and Sydney.

The lethal Sydney forward line with Franklin, Tippett and Co Vs. the amazing McPharlin, Johnson and Dawson. An incredibly even match-up that only our Defensive structures could blunt.

Then the midfield: Jack, Hannebury, Kennedy, Parker, McVeigh and Goodes vs. Fyfe, Barlow, Mundy, Hill, Neale, and (an in-form) Morabito. What an even-handed midfield battle this would be; although our mob at our best would cut them down the way we did before the Grand Final.

Our forward line vs their solid defence. Pav would be incredibly brave and kick 4 goals with three defenders pinning him down, Ballantyne would redeem himself from last years GF with a monstrous effort and Son-Son would be his spectacular best.

But we'd be missing that one, final piece to the puzzle - the elusive, solid second tall. Clarke and Mayne would try hard and might even kick a goal or two between them but it wouldn't be enough.

I know it's still a pipe-dream but we need to pick that guy right now, persevere and lock him in.

Our midfield shits all over theirs

 

[freo84]

Our midfield shits all over theirs

It's a bit more even than that. They have high quality, tough, goal kicking mids just as we do. Bias aside, Sydney has a very good team and their midfield unit would be a tough challenge for ours especially given their talent level.

 

[Simmofreo]

It's a bit more even than that. They have high quality, tough, goal kicking mids just as we do. Bias aside, Sydney has a very good team and their midfield unit would be a tough challenge for ours especially given their talent level.

Oh the first person that seems to be able to see this. Sydney also have a lot of talent on the sidelines. Hannebry and Tippet are scary enough

 

[freo84]

I really rate Sydney this season and I still think the Hawks are a massive threat.

We caught Sydney in the prelim last season very tired, (like we were against the crows in 2012) with injured stars and a little bit out of form. To suggest that the same will happen purely because it did last season seems a bit naive. They are strong in every department. I'm not saying they are invincible by any means and I think that we can beat them but I don't think it will be easily done.

 

[Allikat]

Back in the netball days we got past the stiff arms thing by doing throwing drills with medicine balls. If you don't catch those softly, you're going to be in for a bad time.

 

[StingBitten]

I really rate Sydney this season and I still think the Hawks are a massive threat.

We caught Sydney in the prelim last season very tired, (like we were against the crows in 2012) with injured stars and a little bit out of form. To suggest that the same will happen purely because it did last season seems a bit naive. They are strong in every department. I'm not saying they are invincible by any means and I think that we can beat them but I don't think it will be easily done.

It doesn't matter what form Hawks are in - if we made it to the GF again and we were playing them we'd get cut down again - we are what Geelong is to them (and us).

Sydney and Freo's gameplan matches up a lot more even at MCG, even if they may benefit from a bit of extra space. We'd match them in all departments except might fall a goal or two short in the forward line.

I'm so happy for Morabito's return; but I'll have my eye firmly fixed on Apeness today and even Sylvia - he's showing a bit but as a power forward recruit he needs to start making an impact on the scoreboard.

 

[freo84]

It doesn't matter what form Hawks are in - if we made it to the GF again and we were playing them we'd get cut down again - we are what Geelong is to them (and us).

Sydney and Freo's gameplan matches up a lot more even at MCG, even if they may benefit from a bit of extra space. We'd match them in all departments except might fall a goal or two short in the forward line.

I'm so happy for Morabito's return; but I'll have my eye firmly fixed on Apeness today and even Sylvia - he's showing a bit but as a power forward recruit he needs to start making an impact on the scoreboard.

I don't know if we'd get cut down again, I would hope that our players wouldn't choke in front of the goals and actually kick them. It would definitely be a tough challenge but I don't particularly think any team is better than us on our day and vise-versa.