Toast Welcome to Carlton Andrew Russell

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passmark

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Big tick for this guy thus far no? Not going to lie was worried we'd gone for a Buttifant trap when all these injuries came into play however:

  • McGovern moved well the other night and looks like he will genuinely be okay for round 1. He will never look fit with his rig though.
  • Cripps slimmed down
  • Setterfield on the park and was one of our best which is huge. Was under the impression we'd be lucky to see him play at all for the first 12 months at the club
  • The young guys including Walsh have already bulked up considerably during November without any body fat increase
  • Weitering is looking huge
  • Many other good things!
Overall he seems incredibly engaged and almost like a Senior Assistant to Bolts.
Truth be told I dont believe Bolts had enough A grade coaching talent around him.
 

HARKER

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Big tick for this guy thus far no? Not going to lie was worried we'd gone for a Buttifant trap when all these injuries came into play however:

Overall he seems incredibly engaged and almost like a Senior Assistant to Bolts.
Assistant Coach? You'd think he was the coach as some of the training sessions, to date.

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Look at where he's already been positioned on the hierarchy chart. Above all the other coaches, other than Bolton.
Keep the guys on the park this year and one could be tempted to push him ahead of Bolton. :)
 

Blue and Blue

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Assistant Coach? You'd think he was the coach as some of the training sessions, to date.

View attachment 627838

Look at where he's already been positioned on the hierarchy chart. Above all the other coaches, other than Bolton.
Keep the guys on the park this year and one could be tempted to push him ahead of Bolton. :)
I like to see it more as designated roles of expertise rather than old fashioned hierarchy in this day and age. Each role is fundamental and coexistent.
 

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According to Richmond and Adelaide posters on the main board Russell is nothing special. Run of the mill high performance manager. Every clubs got one..

Classic BF.
Talking with my Collingwood recruiting team mate, AR is a gun. Acknowledged in the industry as the best in the business.
 

bmaurizio

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Quality assistant coaches are vital
Spot on, Hawks have an amazingly adept coaching unit always tuned into and able to evolve harmiously with Clarkson.
They continue to seamlessly be innovative in technique & skills development and produce a tactically soild game plan. Most seasons, irrespective of how many quality assistance the may lose to other teams nor the experience level of personal on the field.
 

dlb99

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It is an amazing feeling to know that Carlton will finally have a AFL-level fit team (win, lose or draw tonight).

For the past decade it has been blinding obvious that we were by-far the LEAST fit team in the league.

How many games have we lost because we could not finish? Heaps. We looked weak and we ran weak.

I am not stating we will now be the best, that can't be done in one off-season, but we will at least be within the ball-park as compared to previously being in the parking lot.

I like what I saw in the JLT with respect to run, good job Andrew Russell.
 

teagueyubeauty

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Fair point. But we did look like we got outran again. Maybe that was more sheer pace than workrate. Turnovers don't help either.
Winning uncontested possession comfortably is a fair indication of work rate, much better than the previous 4-5 years.

Granted it can be a fair indication of mucking around with it too much also but I didn’t get that feeling a lot last night.

It’s incredibly important for youngsters to be rewarded for hard work and get an easy touch or two, builds confidence and rewards hard work.

I think they are significantly fitter than last year and will be again next year and beyond.
 

Juddernaut08

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I want to preface this by saying I believe it takes at least 12 months for any fitness/medical staff changes to have a real effect, so the following observations are likely just coincidences.

However, as of today, the current injury list is as follows:

Carlton
Sam Docherty (Indefinite)
Jarrod Pickett (Indefinite)
Kym Lebois (2-3 weeks)
Tom De Koning (4-6 weeks)
Test (2): David Cuningham, Charlie Curnow

We have 4 players injured (2 with long term, 2 coming back soon). We have 2 more labelled as "test".

Docherty is a horrible story, however overall I can't remember when our list has been healthier during a season? Great stuff.
 
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I know we're not about Messiahs these days but I'm all-in on this guy.

There's just something about him, he's got almost a calming presence, and you get the sense that the players could not respect him any more highly. He's achieved so much in the game already and he has both their and the club's best interests at heart - it would be hard not to respect him.

I think his influence will really start to kick-in in 2020 (when I expect the group's fitness levels to really go up a level or two after a second Russell-led pre-season), but the signs are already incredible. This guy is managing player minutes to not only best look after the player's bodies, but also to give our team the best possible chance to strongly run out - and win - games.

Sure, we're still going to get injuries, but I have faith that the rehab and management processes could not be better.
 
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