The 29 Jan Training Thread

[NikkiNoo]

It really is six spots that will be interesting, the four flanks and two wings. These six spots add to the three on baller (plus ruck) meaning you have up to 10 midfielders on the ground at any one time.

I wonder if more rotations means the HFFs will spend more time at home.

Also with the midfielders having to rotate on the ground for a 'rest' period, you don't want them into a team structure position where they still have to run almost as hard as they did in the midfield. To my mind this will be interesting to see if teams will create positions for the smaller/mid size players who will be more 'stay at home'. This then will have an effect on the opposition coach/player. Will that player have the endurance to push and 'hurt' their opponent? Will coaches look to exploit this in some way?

 

[VSTone]

Also with the midfielders having to rotate on the ground for a 'rest' period, you don't want them into a team structure position where they still have to run almost as hard as they did in the midfield. To my mind this will be interesting to see if teams will create positions for the smaller/mid size players who will be more 'stay at home'. This then will have an effect on the opposition coach/player. Will that player have the endurance to push and 'hurt' their opponent? Will coaches look to exploit this in some way?

i reckon teams will pace themselves a touch choosing when to hit the redline... some will keep it in the bag for the second half, some will try and burst out of the blocks... some will recognise they have their opponents dusted and work them over... some will be used as outlets to work over resting mids...
a big game of chess... having stamina for repeat effort will be paramount... as will be "owning the pill" at stoppage.

 

[Footypie32]

Also with the midfielders having to rotate on the ground for a 'rest' period, you don't want them into a team structure position where they still have to run almost as hard as they did in the midfield. To my mind this will be interesting to see if teams will create positions for the smaller/mid size players who will be more 'stay at home'. This then will have an effect on the opposition coach/player. Will that player have the endurance to push and 'hurt' their opponent? Will coaches look to exploit this in some way?

I think this is what the AFL is hoping for to open up the ground. However, I think it may take a couple of seasons before coaches come around. They will resist initially.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

i reckon teams will pace themselves a touch choosing when to hit the redline... some will keep it in the bag for the second half, some will try and burst out of the blocks... some will recognise they have their opponents dusted and work them over... some will be used as outlets to work over resting mids...
a big game of chess... having stamina for repeat effort will be paramount... as will be "owning the pill" at stoppage.

Totally agree.

Tactically it is going to be very interesting.

Who will save interchange caps for the last quarter to help run over teams?

Expect more periods where teams look to keep possession & slow down play to save rotations.

 

[BRL121]

He's a very big boy now CEY

WW: I forgot to ask you whether you thought Brad Crouch was fat, as implied by one of his photos.

 

[GrommoT]

WW: I forgot to ask you whether you thought Brad Crouch was fat, as implied by one of his photos.

Wasn't that photo from like last November when our new draftees flew in? Two months' of pre-season work ought to have burnt up any fat. Certainly doesn't look fat in the recent photos.

 

[Squiba]

I don't like the interchange cap. What kind of organisation changes the rules to slow down and stagnate the game? I want to see players playing at the highest level possible for aslong as possible, not exhausted plodders chipping it around for the last 20 minutes.

 

[Apsaalooke]

i reckon teams will pace themselves a touch choosing when to hit the redline... some will keep it in the bag for the second half, some will try and burst out of the blocks... some will recognise they have their opponents dusted and work them over... some will be used as outlets to work over resting mids...
a big game of chess... having stamina for repeat effort will be paramount... as will be "owning the pill" at stoppage.

There may also be resting of players against bottom 4 sides to get certain players through the season. Could lead to some upsets if that happens.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

i reckon teams will pace themselves a touch choosing when to hit the redline... some will keep it in the bag for the second half, some will try and burst out of the blocks... some will recognise they have their opponents dusted and work them over... some will be used as outlets to work over resting mids...
a big game of chess... having stamina for repeat effort will be paramount... as will be "owning the pill" at stoppage.

There will be a return to 'tempo' football , no doubt

 

[Jeffcrowe]

That's fair enough and I agree that Menzels best value to our side will be deep in our forward zone. But I also think there needs to be caveat regrading his fitness. It needs to at least be at a level where he can get up and down the ground and play team defence.

The days of playing forward pocket and standing by the point post (like I used to do) are well and truly gone.

He needs to be able to apply pressure or else the team defence method falls apart

If he can't provide implied pressure and nail 3 tackles a game then it's not worth it as we will kick enough goals without him

We need to be better at restricting opposition scoring and it starts in our F50

 

[Jeffcrowe]

See this is the problem I am having with most people's predictions for our future team, there are reduced rotations. Even without the reduced rotations most players last season were playing more than one position during a game. Now with the reduced rotations we shouldn't be looking at players in the one spot, they have to be able to cover in multiple areas, so Charlie up forward, and on the wing. Same with Knight. Smith, Hampton and Seedsman all have the ability to play through the middle and back. Hampton has the ability to also play forward we know. Laird can play through the middle. Douglas is handy up forward and down back. This is why I think it is almost impossible to try and pick a 'best' team. Until we start seeing games with the reduction in rotation, we won't really be able to judge correctly what is going to happen and who then has the versatility to play.

Agree with all except for Douglas down back ... He will be mid/ forward

Definitely a long way from finding out our best side

 

[NikkiNoo]

Agree with all except for Douglas down back ... He will be mid/ forward

Definitely a long way from finding out our best side

He has played off the half back line previously as well. He wasn't too bad either.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

WW: I forgot to ask you whether you thought Brad Crouch was fat, as implied by one of his photos.

Definitely not ......he's in the best shape i've seen of him

 

[SydCrow]

He needs to be able to apply pressure or else the team defence method falls apart

If he can't provide implied pressure and nail 3 tackles a game then it's not worth it as we will kick enough goals without him

We need to be better at restricting opposition scoring and it starts in our F50

He needs to be able to apply pressure or else the team defence method falls apart

If he can't provide implied pressure and nail 3 tackles a game then it's not worth it as we will kick enough goals without him

We need to be better at restricting opposition scoring and it starts in our F50

This will be an issue for the resting mid also, eg Thommo.

 

[Donkey Magoo]

Hmmm...... so if our club/boys didn't train as hard as they do, we'd be a few notches back towards the crap end of the table?

If we weren't as good as we are we'd be worse?

 

[Wouldbetackler]

WW: I forgot to ask you whether you thought Brad Crouch was fat, as implied by one of his photos.

He looks pretty lean in the pics from yesterday

 

[GrommoT]

If we weren't as good as we are we'd be worse?

Har Har... my head hurts. What I'm getting at is we've been achieving more than we ought to due to a fitness edge.

 

[Wouldbetackler]

Totally agree.

Tactically it is going to be very interesting.

Who will save interchange caps for the last quarter to help run over teams?

Expect more periods where teams look to keep possession & slow down play to save rotations.

It equates to roughly 4 interchanges per player to the 5.5 per player last year so 1.5 interchange less per player. So in the second half we might just see a bit more kick to kick again to give everyone a few mins to recouparate. Qtr times and especially half time breaks now will become more important to recover

 

[Wouldbetackler]

It equates to roughly 4 interchanges per player to the 5.5 per player last year so 1.5 interchange less per player. So in the second half we might just see a bit more kick to kick again to give everyone a few mins to recouparate. Qtr times and especially half time breaks now will become more important to recover

Slowing it down once every quarter for some slow tempo footy will go along way to making up for it

 

[Huntercrow]

Not a fan of the slow tempo footy. 15 possessions going backwards and across goals just needs one turnover and then everyone has to run like rabbits to cover their opponents. Seems counter productive.

 

[Huntercrow]

With the 90 rotation cap this year. If a player goes down injured the cap may be irrelevant. With only 3 rotations it may not be possible to reach the cap. Certainly would be the case with more injuries during the course of the game. With that in mind should the desire to hold back rotations until the last qtr be too much of a gamble?

 

[Wouldbetackler]

Not a fan of the slow tempo footy. 15 possessions going backwards and across goals just needs one turnover and then everyone has to run like rabbits to cover their opponents. Seems counter productive.

Me neither but that is what the AFL will create again

 

[Rory Walkerfield]

Me neither but that is what the AFL will create again

I think the AFL is trying to lessen congestion by tiring players out and therefore making it hard for them to get to the next contest.

You can see just by our recruiting that we are going to try and take advantage of this. A guy like Seedsman with a booming kick becomes extra valuable.

There are two ways this will go, either we'll see a lot of kick to kick and/or we'll see some games open up massively particularly late in quarters and end of matches.

I hope our fitness gives us an advantage to this end.

 

[baldandbroke]

If you are a team that doesn't need to slow it down - that can rotate enough players through the midfield to keep the intensity up ... I reckon that type of team will blow away the opposition late in quarters / games.

Works the other way too - expect a lot of come from behind teams running over the top of opposition that have spent all their tickets too early.

Injuries in a game are going to be a massive issue. There will have to be a lot of training around playing a low impact style if the numbers start to go against you.

Should suit us I reckon. We now have plenty of multi-position players in the mix. If you can't rotate through multiple positions including the midfield expect to be marked down at the selection table.

 

[lunacy]

He needs to be able to apply pressure or else the team defence method falls apart

If he can't provide implied pressure and nail 3 tackles a game then it's not worth it as we will kick enough goals without him

We need to be better at restricting opposition scoring and it starts in our F50

Menzel's defensive pressure is very good. But perhaps his ability late in games to maintain that could suffer. So yes, I agree he definitely needs to get to an acceptable level.

Having said that, if this is the most preseason he's ever done, he should be on track for a personal best year.

Whilst he's unfit for AFC standards, he has probably never been fitter.