Training Training Reports - Current report, Monday 13th February, Post #1427

[Davo23]

How dare you let the truth get in the way of my good story.

Particularly when Royale went to so much trouble to post that the Bulldogs only lost games last year due to injuries.

They would have gone undefeated otherwise.

 

[Davo23]

I was, and I was acting proxy for Davo, so it does count.

I've got an aunt who was born in 1925 who should testify to that, but she doesn't follow footy.

She's got no idea she was born in such a great year.

 

[Dipper]

How dare you let the truth get in the way of my good story.

It's hard to fathom but there are still some people who are so stuck in the past that they refuse to join the rest of us in this beautiful post truth world.

 

[Gralin]

It's hard to fathom but there are still some people who are so stuck in the past that they refuse to join the rest of us in this beautiful post truth world.

sounds like an alternative fact to me

 

[tige19]

It may have been mentioned but what is the issue with Tom? Is it just workload? There's no injury as such?

 

[play2win]

It may have been mentioned but what is the issue with Tom? Is it just workload? There's no injury as such?

precautionary - head knock i think

 

[D33licious]

I hope you guys dont mind me intruding. Im actully in a legacy draft supercoach league and was looking up players for my draft team. But I do enjoy the strategy dialogue.

I dont think we snuck under the radar. Bevo had us playing the same style of gameplan since he came to us before the start of the 2015 season. That year after losing Higgins, Cooney, Griffen and then out reigning best and fairest Libba due to an ACL in preseason we were widely tipped to be bottom 4 possibly spoon contenders.

With an arguably less talented list than 2014 that finished 14th in 2015 we made finals and missed out on an elimination final by a kick to Adelaide.

Now to our 7th placed finish in 2016. I think its more a product of our injuries rather than a true representation of our list.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...g/news-story/52cdac4a138c47bff1638ed75343c0c8

Now Bevo has a preferred style of play. A preferred team list profile that can carry out the style of play he wants that will win us games. To see what that is you only need to look at our team list Round 1 2016 against Fremantle. To save you guys time ill list the number of key position players we had. Marcus Adams, Dale Morris, both undersized key defenders. In the forward line we had a sole Key forward in Tom Boyd who also shared rucking duties with Jordan Roughead. We absolutely destroyed teams like Freo and Saints who played an abundance of key position players with little to no contribution. Its how Sydney destroyed Geelong and Adelaide in the finals also. Its also how we beat most teams. West Coast and Adelaide boast lethal forward lines. But you negate them if you keep the ball out of their forward line. We do this by harassment running at the ball carrier, marking their easy handball options and clogging up space forward of the ball by hard running.

Its the only way to protect an undersized no name defence.

To give you an example of this style of play you only need look at Geelong vs Sydney in the elimination final. Geelong almost doubled Sydneys amount of inside 50s but Sydney destroyed them on the score board. This is also after Aliir Aliir, one of their key defenders went down during the game. But if you watch the game you'll see that most of those inside 50s were dirty chaos entries from a midfield under constant pressure. Of those roughly 50 inside 50s Sydneys smaller and hard running half back line were able to waltz it back out about 40 times. Geelong played an absolute excess of one dimensional static key position players. If they werent clunking the ball with a contested mark then they got done on the rebound.

Fast forward 1 week to the grand final and Sydney faced a team that played even less key position sized players than they do. And weight of numbers through pressure simply brought them undone.

Now this style of play can be beat. Obviously. When a team like Hawks has that purity of disposal that can pierce through the pressure to hit targets going forward. Or if a team like Geelong (with a player like Dsnger) that can beat you at the contest as to nullify your midfield and get it going their way. Then yeah, we can be beat.

But we lost some games during the year because we lost players due to injury and we had to try to slow down the game or play a more traditional style of play (two key forwards, three key backs for example) because our depth was being stretched and we didnt have the right personnel to carry out our "A" gameplan.

We were able to get back to that start of the finals and the rest is history.

I do agree, GWS are quite rightly the #1 contenders this year. They usually play a traditional number of key position sized players but their midfield runs that deep and uses the ball that cleanly that their disposal by foot is almost as good as yours and their forward line is absolutely lethal with Cameron, Patton, Greene, Stevie J and the resting Lobb.

But we still beat them. They did clunk some marks and we were exposed. But they got very few goals from general play. They had to mark it.

What im saying is I think 7th isnt a true representation of our team and that at the most opportune time we got the right players back into the team to carry out Bevos favoured game style. With the re-inclusions of Murphy, Crameri, Adams and our #1 clearance player in Mitch Wallis we should be back in it up to our eye balls.

Massive congrats mate, in my eyes you are clearly the second best team in the comp going into the new season (possible premiership hangover aside) and you could quite possibly be the cryptonite to the GWS game plan. The Semi was a more accurate display of the top two than the GF or regular season. Having said that if Big Rough was out there we might have really challenged you in the GF.

Our club is aware of the pace you guys are setting, hence the urgency to get quality young players in trying to avoid the extra few years it has taken you and stkilda to come back up since your last premiership tilts.

Anyways my partner is a bulldogs memeber, and i've been following you passionately for the last 15 years. I've even come to saying i've won 4 in a row because i'm 51% Hawthorn 49% Bulldogs. Was at the GF and i enjoyed it more than our last 3, but not as much as 08 hopefully we can meet you in the big dance this year!

 

[Mr Lizard]

...even come to saying i've won 4 in a row because i'm 51% Hawthorn 49% Bulldogs. Was at the GF and i enjoyed it more than our last 3...

 

[VandoHawk]

Anyways my partner is a bulldogs memeber, and i've been following you passionately for the last 15 years. I've even come to saying i've won 4 in a row because i'm 51% Hawthorn 49% Bulldogs. Was at the GF and i enjoyed it more than our last 3 !

Any grand final where the Hawks don't win is not one I can enjoy, let alone more than the ones we win

 

[Steven Tyler]

I've even come to saying i've won 4 in a row because i'm 51% Hawthorn 49% Bulldogs. Was at the GF and i enjoyed it more than our last 3

 

[Gunstall555]

Massive congrats mate, in my eyes you are clearly the second best team in the comp going into the new season (possible premiership hangover aside) and you could quite possibly be the cryptonite to the GWS game plan. The Semi was a more accurate display of the top two than the GF or regular season. Having said that if Big Rough was out there we might have really challenged you in the GF.

Our club is aware of the pace you guys are setting, hence the urgency to get quality young players in trying to avoid the extra few years it has taken you and stkilda to come back up since your last premiership tilts.

Anyways my partner is a bulldogs memeber, and i've been following you passionately for the last 15 years. I've even come to saying i've won 4 in a row because i'm 51% Hawthorn 49% Bulldogs. Was at the GF and i enjoyed it more than our last 3, but not as much as 08 hopefully we can meet you in the big dance this year!

I can relate, my allegiances are also have a % split. I'm 108% Hawthorn and -8% any other club.

 

[D33licious]

this is too funny

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I think if my wife followed another club that wasn't *, Carltank, $ydney then I would have at least a sympathetic interest in seeing them do well so long as it wasn't at the expense of us. Thankfully my wife is a begrudging* Hawks fan by association.

*She says begrudging, but usually gets into the game just as much as me when she comes along.

 

[The BIG X]

I can relate, my allegiances are also have a % split. I'm 108% Hawthorn and -8% any other club.

Love it

 

[threesixpio]

I think if my wife followed another club that wasn't *, Carltank, $ydney then I would have at least a sympathetic interest in seeing them do well so long as it wasn't at the expense of us. Thankfully my wife is a begrudging* Hawks fan by association.

*She says begrudging, but usually gets into the game just as much as me when she comes along.

No comment

(Married to * supporter)

 

[Crankyhawk]

I think if my wife followed another club that wasn't *, Carltank, $ydney then I would have at least a sympathetic interest in seeing them do well so long as it wasn't at the expense of us. Thankfully my wife is a begrudging* Hawks fan by association.

*She says begrudging, but usually gets into the game just as much as me when she comes along.

Married to a Carltank supporter - for now I follow their women's team; its a bit easier with Bolton being the men's coach as well.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Who was the poster that said Siss will never play backline....

???

 

[Mr Lizard]

Who was the poster that said Siss will never play backline....

???

Doesn't count til the season proper

(it wasn't me who said it, but still...)

 

[PhatHQ]

I'll put my hand up... to say he is a bad defender & has a long way to go.
I don't think I have said "never" from what I can remember.

I do think he is a good replacement for Litherland to this point with more scope for improvement with such a classy kick...
If it turns out he can defend I will gladly raise a glass while I eat my hat.

...I have said somewhere else that I expect a steep learning curve this year with a genuine gun in the making if this works (backline). Until then I will persist with a few swipes & doubts for banter sake

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Doesn't count til the season proper

(it wasn't me who said it, but still...)

I'd very much doubt they would leave him there for a whole match if they weren't serious about utilising him there when the real stuff starts.

Time will tell...

 

[Mrzohs]

Who was the poster that said Siss will never play backline....

???

i put my hand up.. and going off that performance the other day i dont see anything changing that. may play a cameo role down back but thats it. i see what there trying to to do with his run and cover. but i think its more about developing his game at this stage.
he a natural gun fwd he almost shoenmaker like in defence.

 

[Mrzohs]

You could be right but who really knows.. clarko loves moving ppl around..
i did notice burton played mainly up fwd and no one picked that going off his form in the last final..

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Sicily's biggest challenge is to learn how to stick a tackle. Gets brushed aside far too often.

Has everything else he needs to be a total gun for us.

 

[PhatHQ]

Sicily's biggest challenge is to learn how to stick a tackle. Gets brushed aside far too often.

Has everything else he needs to be a total gun for us.

What if Langford could kick LP?

Does Sicily get the same treatment if he fails in defence & is kept out of the forward line because he can't tackle but Burton & others can with little loss in a skill position that Sicily excels at?

 

[Fetnarr]

What if Langford could kick LP?

Does Sicily get the same treatment if he fails in defence & is kept out of the forward line because he can't tackle but Burton & others can with little loss in a skill position that Sicily excels at?

Don't think so mate, purely because he has some attributes that are hard to come by, his contested marking, accurate set shot and the self confidence to impact a game. I love Langers endeavor but it's a lot easier to replace midfielders than forwards who can take a strong contested grab.
Personally I think Burto will spend more time back and Sicily more forward but it will be great to have the flexibility to switch them around if things aren't working.