Training - Monday 6th January, 2014

[Disco Demons 92]

Wouldn't mind Tom MacDonald having run through the midfield. Has elite running. We are desperate for players who can spread. However his place is at centre halfback. Just a thought.

[What 18,810]

Wouldn't mind Tom MacDonald having run through the midfield. Has elite running. We are desperate for players who can spread. However his place is at centre halfback. Just a thought.

We could use his elite kicking delivering the ball forward

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

We could use his elite kicking delivering the ball forward

I laughed.

[Dees2014 2,377]

I know it was likely prebooked and so on but I'm not overly happy about this. We are paying the man close to 50% more than anyone has ever been paid before to coach AFL and he's taking an extra holiday?

The definition of a well run and sustainable Organisation is that the Leader can leave and it will still run like clockwork. Personally, I think it is a good thing PR is on occasions not there. Not doubt he and PJ will have people closely watching behaviors both of the coaches and players when he is not there. There were a couple of times he was not there before Xmas at training and when I was there at those sessions I thought there were some who did not go quite as hard. This I have not doubt will be noticed and noted, and fed back to those involved.

The MFC has to get itself up to the elite level of performance where it is sustainable at all levels. This is just another test it will have to put itself through. If we were TOTALLY dependent on the leader then we would be nowhere near this level of performance. This is not to say PR is not critical to our success, because he is, but we need to build a team around him who can sustain the culture in his absence.

[jumbo returns 6,741]

We could use his elite kicking delivering the ball forward

Not..sure..if..serious.

[Thehardtackler 785]

A few observations from training: Trengove definitely looks fit again and was moving well, Mitch Clark still has problems with his left leg and is not putting weight on it when walking, Dawes was in a foul mood for some reason and refused to acknowledge the supporters, Jay Kennedy Harris is electric and classy, Viv Michie is fit and ready to go and appears to relish a bit of competition, Bernie Vince was keeping Watts honest in the running, Sam Blease is a marvellous bloke and will prove his doubters wrong (he actually remembered every detail of the conversation we had with him before Christmas and came over to shake our hands and thank us for turning up to training), Roos definitely wasn't at training, Aidan Riley will be a good addition for us when fully fit, Christian Salem is extremely enthusiastic and will be great when he gets a game.

I think that Jimmy Toumpas looks ready to blossom and appears to have settled in well to training this year, Garland and McDonald look very fit, Watts is starting to show some leadership at training actually talking through part of a drill to the whole squad, James Harmes looks sharp and is my tip for an upgrade to the main list in 2015.

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

Wouldn't mind Tom MacDonald having run through the midfield. Has elite running. We are desperate for players who can spread. However his place is at centre halfback. Just a thought.

And while we're at it we should also draft Craig Motram. He'd be a great addition to the midfield because of his running ability.

[Matt Demon 1,482]

I saw Clark talking to the trainers & motioned to his hammy a couple of times then he walked off the track with a slight limp.

[CBDees 3,167]

A few observations from training: Trengove definitely looks fit again and was moving well, Mitch Clark still has problems with his left leg and is not putting weight on it when walking, Dawes was in a foul mood for some reason and refused to acknowledge the supporters, Jay Kennedy Harris is electric and classy, Viv Michie is fit and ready to go and appears to relish a bit of competition, Bernie Vince was keeping Watts honest in the running, Sam Blease is a marvellous bloke and will prove his doubters wrong (he actually remembered every detail of the conversation we had with him before Christmas and came over to shake our hands and thank us for turning up to training), Roos definitely wasn't at training, Aidan Riley will be a good addition for us when fully fit, Christian Salem is extremely enthusiastic and will be great when he gets a game.

I think that Jimmy Toumpas looks ready to blossom and appears to have settled in well to training this year, Garland and McDonald look very fit, Watts is starting to show some leadership at training actually talking through part of a drill to the whole squad, James Harmes looks sharp and is my tip for an upgrade to the main list in 2015.

LIKE

[Hellish Inferno 992]

A few observations from training: Trengove definitely looks fit again and was moving well, Mitch Clark still has problems with his left leg and is not putting weight on it when walking, Dawes was in a foul mood for some reason and refused to acknowledge the supporters, Jay Kennedy Harris is electric and classy, Viv Michie is fit and ready to go and appears to relish a bit of competition, Bernie Vince was keeping Watts honest in the running, Sam Blease is a marvellous bloke and will prove his doubters wrong (he actually remembered every detail of the conversation we had with him before Christmas and came over to shake our hands and thank us for turning up to training), Roos definitely wasn't at training, Aidan Riley will be a good addition for us when fully fit, Christian Salem is extremely enthusiastic and will be great when he gets a game.

I think that Jimmy Toumpas looks ready to blossom and appears to have settled in well to training this year, Garland and McDonald look very fit, Watts is starting to show some leadership at training actually talking through part of a drill to the whole squad, James Harmes looks sharp and is my tip for an upgrade to the main list in 2015.

I did notice that about Blease. He seemed to be a great bloke and came over to chat to the supporters. Watts as well came over to a few people and is very interactive, saying hello and having fun with one of their dogs.

I think my only concern with Blease was that he really seemed to coast in those 300's which was strange. But he may have had an instruction to take it easy and I found it a bit strange that no one was telling him to lift his game or giving encouragement. That might suggest it was expected that he was not going to push as hard as the others.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

And once again Tasmanlvr has come through with the goods from Bigfooty:

Training Update:

...Jack Viney wearing boots CLEARLY inspired by Victoria Azarenka's wheels at Brisbane. COME ONNNNNNNNN JACK. SRSLY.

Did he grunt every time he kicked the ball?

[On the off chance that someone from Channel 7 is reading this, I won't be watching any tennis while grunting continues to be allowed. Take it up with those in power and fix the game as a spectacle].

[Slartibartfast 17,625]

So I don't care how well Blease (or any player) sprints 300m as long as they're great at 100m, 50m, 20m multiple repeat sprints containing dodging, weaving, bending over, jumping up, kicking, in fact going through all the motions you would during games ... and if Blease can repeat it far more often than in past years, I hope he'd have a chance:- )

WJ raises a very good point regarding the relevance of 300m repeat running to football and thanks for an excellent reply Rob.

I found the quoted part of your post very interesting. Why is it that footy clubs seem to place so much emphasis on 300m sprints and 3k time trials and not more on the shorter distances? How do our training regimes compare to soccer or basketball? Are those sports fitness regimes relevant to AFL?

It was an excellent observation that while Blease was poor at the 300m stuff he then excelled at the shorter distance stuff which seems more akin to AFL footy.

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

WJ raises a very good point regarding the relevance of 300m repeat running to football and thanks for an excellent reply Rob. I found the quoted part of your post very interesting. Why is it that footy clubs seem to place so much emphasis on 300m sprints and 3k time trials and not more on the shorter distances? How do our training regimes compare to soccer or basketball? Are those sports fitness regimes relevant to AFL? It was an excellent observation that while Blease was poor at the 300m stuff he then excelled at the shorter distance stuff which seems more akin to AFL footy.

Footy is a game of repeat efforts. 'Gut running' is the name that is talked about so often with players. An ability to produce high intensity efforts many times over during the course of a game.

No amount of sprints or 3km time trials can emulate the fitness required to play the game because you are doing so many other things as a player and using many other components of fitness. Which is clearly why we are seeing a lot of the running done in game simulation drills. Because it's football specific running. Directional running. And running whilst performing many other movements like kicking, marking, blocking, tackling, bending etc.

300 m repeat sprints are the most relevant isolated running still as well as the 3 km time trial. During games these two are interchangeable. The ability of a player to have the engine to run at a solid pace all day and the ability to produce high intensity repeat efforts are what today's midfielders need.

Blease is quick over short distances but it's his endurance and repeat efforts that need work. Blease would have dominated his junior years because of his pace and the fact that he would have had more time to recover during efforts on smaller grounds and because it's not AFL.

For him it's about getting his body right and developing an appetite to work a lot harder as it is for many of our players.

Hard two way running all day is the running required to play the game.

[Chook 15,022]

Did he grunt every time he kicked the ball?

[On the off chance that someone from Channel 7 is reading this, I won't be watching any tennis while grunting continues to be allowed. Take it up with those in power and fix the game as a spectacle].

I've come to accept it as just one of the noises of the game, along with the sound of the ball hitting the players' racquets and the screeching of shoe-on-court.

[Hannibal 5,814]

Footy is a game of repeat efforts. 'Gut running' is the name that is talked about so often with players. An ability to produce high intensity efforts many times over during the course of a game.

I was about to post the exact same thing. Running quickly a few times over 60 metres and then blowing up half-way through a quarter means you're a liability.

[Robbie57 2,022]

I've come to accept it as just one of the noises of the game, along with the sound of the ball hitting the players' racquets and the screeching of shoe-on-court.

way off topic but I hate the grunters as well.

[DeeSpencer 26,081]

WJ raises a very good point regarding the relevance of 300m repeat running to football and thanks for an excellent reply Rob.

I found the quoted part of your post very interesting. Why is it that footy clubs seem to place so much emphasis on 300m sprints and 3k time trials and not more on the shorter distances? How do our training regimes compare to soccer or basketball? Are those sports fitness regimes relevant to AFL?

It was an excellent observation that while Blease was poor at the 300m stuff he then excelled at the shorter distance stuff which seems more akin to AFL footy.

No idea about soccer and basketball except to say Basketball quarters go what 12 minutes? With stops for rest in between for free throws and subs no doubt basketball players are fit but not near AFL fit.

Same with soccer. The season is much longer so the fitness base is often developed and kept through the year in skill drills and games. The other thing to consider is the average soccer player is likely 10kg or more lighter than an AFL player of the same height.

Either way sprinters don't just run 100m. Marathon runners do less than the 42km obviously but do 100+ km per week. Same with 5 or 10km runners.

And remember AFL players do run 100M + from one end to the other at steady speeds as midfielders before burst efforts around the ball.

Our 300m sprint is designed to increase that high motoring ability followed by some sprints to replicate efforts around the ball. It makes sense to me

[Moonshadow 17,677]

If the guitarist lays bricks or spends hours daily deeply massaging his girlfriend for weeks, his fingers become stronger for slow movements, but guitar speed is greatly reduced. I've tested this.

More detail please, especially the massage bit

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

way off topic but I hate the grunters as well.

remember Monica Seles used to cop it, it was basically 'her thing' now every single one of them does it

[Hellish Inferno 992]

I did notice that a first year player (think it was Hunt) was really quick in the 300m sprints and overlook a few ahead on the 3rd or 4th run through. So he seems to have a combination of speed and endurace

[DemonOX 8,800]

way off topic but I hate the grunters as well.

It really depends on where they are grunting Robbie!!!

[bing181 9,328]

Why is it that footy clubs seem to place so much emphasis on 300m sprints and 3k time trials and not more on the shorter distances?

Any experts here could no doubt cover this in more depth, but basically, there are two systems aerobic and anaerobic. As you need 8-10 minutes for your body to settle into aerobic work, 3km+ is a good length/test.

Anaerobic workouts are shorter, but they can't be too short because your heart rate and metabolic system takes time to react. At the other end, this needs to be balanced with the buildup of lactic acid, which is minimised if you stay around/under 30 seconds. Taking all that into account, repeated 300m runs give the best bang for the buck as anaerobic workouts - but perhaps someone could clarify all this with Dave Misson one day at training?

Also worth noting is that none of these systems are totally independent. 300m intervals will also improve longer term stamina and endurance, longer intervals have other benefits such as increased capillarisation.

Speed off the mark is neuromuscular as much as anything, so it's something that can be worked on in the gym.

[Undeeterred 3,124]

No idea about soccer and basketball except to say Basketball quarters go what 12 minutes? With stops for rest in between for free throws and subs no doubt basketball players are fit but not near AFL fit.

Same with soccer. The season is much longer so the fitness base is often developed and kept through the year in skill drills and games. The other thing to consider is the average soccer player is likely 10kg or more lighter than an AFL player of the same height.

Either way sprinters don't just run 100m. Marathon runners do less than the 42km obviously but do 100+ km per week. Same with 5 or 10km runners.

And remember AFL players do run 100M + from one end to the other at steady speeds as midfielders before burst efforts around the ball.

Our 300m sprint is designed to increase that high motoring ability followed by some sprints to replicate efforts around the ball. It makes sense to me

Basketballers also, in the best league in the world at least, play upwards of 100 games in a six month season. They're perfectly fit enough.

Edited for clarity

Edited January 7, 2014 by Undeeterred

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I did notice that a first year player (think it was Hunt) was really quick in the 300m sprints and overlook a few ahead on the 3rd or 4th run through. So he seems to have a combination of speed and endurace

I'd love to know why the club didn't seek to pick up Hunt in the rookie draft.

On the basis of the reports I've read, it seems to me that he's unlikely to get a game in the seniors this year (ie, he's in a development phase), and it seems unlikely that any other club would've picked him in the national draft. In short, Hunt seems like an obvious rookie selection.

I would've thought it would've made more sense to pick Harmes in the national draft and Hunt with the pick we used on Harmes in the rookie draft.

Anyone able to shed any light on this?

[Biffen 12,947]

remember Monica Seles used to cop it, it was basically 'her thing' now every single one of them does it

Until they get shivved in the back they will keep on grunting.

Leave it in the bedroom ladies.