Pre season training - Darwin?

[beelzebub 23,390]

Geelong don't go anywhere

why go anywhere when you are already there !!

[Young Dee 1,303]

why go anywhere when you are already there !!

Because you won't stay there if you don't go anywhere

[McQueen 17,867]

And my point was that a week long trip interstate wouldn't interfere with that in the slightest. I thought that would be obvious to most.

I'm not sold on that Chook but point taken.

[felixdacat 459]

I honestly could not argue for or against a Darwin trip as I am unsure of the sports science around benefits and cost of it.

As long as Danks not involved I am of the opinion you should trust your people who know this stuff to advise what is best.

One thing I would say is that if hour fitness reaches the level of the saints in their Finals push days with Lyons and Misson I would be very happy.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

I reckon in years to come people will look back with humour at the "fads" of heading O/S for altitude training, off to darwin, AOD7604 etc etc.

[PaulRB 6,435]

The Darwin training has its roots in military philosophy. You take the group to an extreme environment, take them to the edge of physical, social, mental and emotional exhaustion and test the calibre of their decision making, mental toughness, team work etc...

Darwin is the perfect place for this and I hope they do it again. I don't reckon Roos will do it unless the sponsorship deal is a lock-in.

I don't think Apollo Bay and Sandringham are "extreme". Unless, in the case of Sandringham, you are talking an extreme amount of Beamers, Mercs and Audis, and an extreme amount of 30+ blonded mums driving black Volvo xc90's, having massages and drinking lattes. I should know I work in the area.

But the boys never recovered ...

[rhaz 342]

Maybe we'll win free flights from that Virgin competition and do altitude training in the US.

[CBDees 3,167]

Judging from following the posts and the Club's daily reports and videos, the players seemed to embrace Darwin and [even inf nobody else] they were convinced that they got something of benefit out of the program they undertook. There is no question that it was a good bonding exercise and possibly more fruitful than an end-of-season trip to Bali. The sponsorship is also good PR particularly when we play two matches up there and are developing a supporter base.

[DeeSpencer 26,408]

Judging from following the posts and the Club's daily reports and videos, the players seemed to embrace Darwin and [even inf nobody else] they were convinced that they got something of benefit out of the program they undertook. There is no question that it was a good bonding exercise and possibly more fruitful than an end-of-season trip to Bali. The sponsorship is also good PR particularly when we play two matches up there and are developing a supporter base.

The players will say whatever we tell them to. Take them on a training camp to Afghanistan and they'd talk about the hard session and bonding.

And sure the training camp ties in well with the sponsorship and games but if you think the games are a bad idea (as I do) then the training doesn't make sense either.

[DemonWA 3,940]

Personally I have no problem with us playing or training in Darwin.

If we were a good team on field it would be a non issue IMO

[Coup Cooper 610]

Because the trip to Darwin did wonders for us this year...

[Chook 15,023]

Personally I have no problem with us playing or training in Darwin.

If we were a good team on field it would be a non issue IMO

More than that, if we were a good team everyone would be going to Darwin. When you're shite, everything you do is pointless. When you're going gangbusters, everything you do is the pinnacle of good management.

In the immortal words of Luke Darcy: "Things are never as good as they seem, and things are never as bad as they seem."

[Freddy Fuschia 767]

Misson said as much. Reckons there's science to prove it but I reckon he's half full of sht and it was more about Sponsorship and player bonding.

Scrap it IMO. I want the players smashing weights in the gym and putting on 5 to 8 kilos of muscle over pre season, not losing the same amountof weight over 10 days in Darwin FCS.

I tend to agree. I don't recall anyone saying when we first embarked on the Darwin trip that the results wouldn't be felt until it had been done twice or three times. The fact is that there has been no evidence to my mind of any improvement in fitness levels since the bloke arrived. They should simply announce that the whole thing is a PR jaunt for a sponsor and get on with traditional pre season strength and conditioning work. Personally, I would follow what Lyons is doing at Freo.

[deanox 10,046]

I tend to agree. I don't recall anyone saying when we first embarked on the Darwin trip that the results wouldn't be felt until it had been done twice or three times. The fact is that there has been no evidence to my mind of any improvement in fitness levels since the bloke arrived. They should simply announce that the whole thing is a PR jaunt for a sponsor and get on with traditional pre season strength and conditioning work. Personally, I would follow what Lyons is doing at Freo.

Freddy you are right. The fact is over the past 7 years there has been no evidence in my mind that any of the players have improved fitness or skills through their training regimes. Year to year pre season does not seem to make any difference. They should announce that preseason training is the a big PR exercise for them to tell us how they are training the house down and keep in the media during cricket season and scrap the preseason entirely.

The other fact in my mind is that last year we often would lose a game and then lose again the next week (Sometimes we'd be worse!) Which shows that our usual training isn't working, so I think we should scrap all of our current training sessions and just let the boys play on the weekend after having the week off.

[Whispering_Jack 31,221]

Freddy you are right. The fact is over the past 7 years there has been no evidence in my mind that any of the players have improved fitness or skills through their training regimes. Year to year pre season does not seem to make any difference. They should announce that preseason training is the a big PR exercise for them to tell us how they are training the house down and keep in the media during cricket season and scrap the preseason entirely.

The other fact in my mind is that last year we often would lose a game and then lose again the next week (Sometimes we'd be worse!) Which shows that our usual training isn't working, so I think we should scrap all of our current training sessions and just let the boys play on the weekend after having the week off.

Not only that but I remember the days when Crackers Keenan would butt out his cigarette as he was running down the race at the start of a game.

They should bring that back too!

[deanox 10,046]

Not only that but I remember the days when Crackers Keenan would butt out his cigarette as he was running down the race at the start of a game.

They should bring that back too!

Clearly WJ the only thing we can rely on is what worked for us last time around. I implore the club to uncover the secret training methods used in 1964 and reimplement them in our quest for glory!

[hardtack 10,900]

as I said before why not APOLLO BAY

There is merit in that idea... when I was my schools production of "Tom Sawyer" the musical, we had our final rehearsals at Somers Camp on Western Port and I can tell you, we absolutely ripped it up from the moment we stepped onto that stage! Must be something in the air at those Victorian coastal towns.

[DemonFrog 1,359]

the pub's better !!

Now that a training camp I could do!

[jazza 1,323]

There is merit in that idea... when I was my schools production of "Tom Sawyer" the musical, we had our final rehearsals at Somers Camp on Western Port and I can tell you, we absolutely ripped it up from the moment we stepped onto that stage! Must be something in the air at those Victorian coastal towns.

Collingwood trained here in the 90s and said it was their cheapest and best preseason ever

besides that the pub hasn't had an all in brawl for 3 years, so desperately need that for locals

also 2litre spirit bottles not selling at soupy,so the nuff nuff players could change that

and how important would it be for a local town ,to have some sort of controversy to hang its hat on

this would do wonders for advertising and selling of 2 litre bottles of spirits in the future

on a lighter note ,how did the play finish up?

[junk 342]

Who cares where they train.The fact is that some of the MFC players were unable to chase their opponents is an indication that they are unfit.If the lack of "chase" was due to don't care then the players should have been fined and/or dropped,the so called leadership group

should take action. Last year it was reported on the Melbourne website how much the players had trained so hard before Xmas not much was done thereafter,how to maintain all that fitness with three months to go for the real footy season....

REMEMBER a long time ago I said the Dees problem was outside influences and coaching staff also WATTS should play RUCK ROVER also the team should play like the SWANS. I was told by some I was being silly.Suggesting Fitzy play on the wing,one person suggested he was glad I don't select the team.WE only lost to the KANGAS by 20 goals.........I am still laughing.

Senior Assistant Coach tip LING or VOSS. Kent and Evans to be the next big thing at the Dees in 2014.

EVERYBODY out there GO THE DEES for 2014.

[monoccular 17,678]

The Arizona, or any other "altitude training" is said to have a fairly short lived effect in terms of oxygen carrying capacity. I would think that Collingwood do it because they can and they see it as a 'glamorous' point of difference.

The hot climate training as done by MFC last summer may acclimatise the players to get the best out of them especially in the hotter days early in the season.

It remains to be proven whether either, both, or neither have any long term physical or physiological benefit.

Any time spent away from home as a group, especially in adverse conditions - Arizona, Kakadu, Kokoda, probably serves in the main to bond a team.

[monoccular 17,678]

Because the trip to Darwin did wonders for us this year...

Are you suggesting that had we trained in the Rocky Mountains we would have been better, or that nothing would have made us perform any better last season?? (Or neither)

[Sir Why You Little 37,325]

The Arizona, or any other "altitude training" is said to have a fairly short lived effect in terms of oxygen carrying capacity. I would think that Collingwood do it because they can and they see it as a 'glamorous' point of difference.

The hot climate training as done by MFC last summer may acclimatise the players to get the best out of them especially in the hotter days early in the season.

It remains to be proven whether either, both, or neither have any long term physical or physiological benefit.

Any time spent away from home as a group, especially in adverse conditions - Arizona, Kakadu, Kokoda, probably serves in the main to bond a team.

The high Altitude training is a PR excercise.

Sure they train hard. Pre Season is hard anywhere, as it should be. Yes the club bonding is good.

But the main reason The Filth went to Arizona was because Emarites Airlines flies them all there and back and gets massive advertising coverage for it.

The other clubs just followed.

[deanox 10,046]

The effects of the high altitude training are only felt for a weeks weeks or months which is why the training isn't done on the eve of the season. It is done in the preseason where it gives the players a temporary boost in performance and recovery for the next part of preseason training. As a result they cab train harder and recover faster thus train more in the preseason, setting themselves up as fitter for the main season.

The benfits of high altitude Training isn't what they are age, it is what they can do with those benefits.

At least that is the theory.

[Machsy 2,858]

I think the effects are purely mental, but if it gives you the mental edge, it is probably worth it.

It's definitely an area where MFC has fallen down in the recent past, and longer.

Even if its a placebo, the confidence of training in a noticeably more difficult atmosphere would have an effect.

Players wouldn't buy it without the noticeably difficulty in breathing the air, even if it doesn't last.

It's a tool to draw on later for confidence.

There's the team bonding, which is important.

And there's the simple act of changing the environment for the players, to break up the hard slog of preseason training and give them a mental refresher, so they can maintain a high level of training intensity, relieving the monotony.

Psychologically, it's easy to see where the benefits are.

Physically maybe not, but you have to weigh up if the mental benefit is worth the outlay, even if the physical side might not work.

I think it probably is.