Training - Wednesday 8th January, 2014

[Goodvibes 3,596]

Has anyone noticed if Hogan (and the footy staff) have attempted to alter his slightly awkward approach to set shot kicking? Thanks in advance.

[Demon_Tingles 211]

Has anyone noticed if Hogan (and the footy staff) have attempted to alter his slightly awkward approach to set shot kicking? Thanks in advance.

I don't necessarily think that they need to. He was very effective with set shots and if he is comfortable in using that technique let him use it. If a time comes where he starts spraying them then look at it but he kicks the ball nicely and it travels a fair distance.

Kicked 39.21 last season and with another pre season under his belt will probably be a better kick if you believe in the Richo theory that forwards miss a few shots from tiredness. Kid has had another AFL pre season so should be fitter than last season

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,369]

Has anyone noticed if Hogan (and the footy staff) have attempted to alter his slightly awkward approach to set shot kicking? Thanks in advance.

No alteration from last year that I could see.

[Goodvibes 3,596]

Thanks for that!

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,504]

Will be very interesting to see whether Roosy has evolved his game plan compared to the relentless defensive, holding the footy of the Swans. Got to say the Swans are a lot more appealing to watch since Longmire took over. Roosy will always have the defensive mindset first and foremost. But it will be interesting to see if he evolves it into a more attacking system. It sounds from your post that he is doing that which would be a great relief. Swans used to play possession tempo footy under him which meant holding onto the footy a lot and slowing the tempo down. So if you are seeing play on at all costs it indicates a promising change. I have read elsewhere that he has said modern football is relentless running up and down the field. Hopefully after 3 years of observing all teams while commentating he has a better feel for the evolution of the game by all teams than if he had just been coaching one team for that period.

We have the forwards that will want the ball moved quickly. Look what Horse has done, there is still a defensive side to their game but they attack a lot more.

Thanks for the reports.

[Moonshadow 17,678]

This subject keeps getting raised here, but from my recollection, in the last couple of seasons under Roos, the Swans were playing some very exciting football that combined tight defensive structures with fast attacking footy.

Agreed Hardtack. I thought Roosy's last couple of years at Syd were fast and attacking style footy. Enjoyable to watch.

[Cards13 9,117]

Young kids grow beards at the moment get over it

My beard disagrees.

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

man these training reports give me a hard on.
keep em' coming.
It's all i've got...

[beelzebub 23,392]

Agreed Hardtack. I thought Roosy's last couple of years at Syd were fast and attacking style footy. Enjoyable to watch.

especially the bit where he holds up a premiership Cup.... ...thats a good style

[dee-luded 2,959]

BRFE

no questions but rapt for the report, as i am a country person who would never get there

on your 2 comments heard today i would like to say

we are all positive from here on in,roos loves to get the footy keep it,never give it back unless its aboundry throw in or a ball up

the extra memberships sold this year will be testament to whats happening at training and within the club

lets hope jamar plays a part

Roos bringing back contested footy & bruises, will be a Big plus towards membership IMO.

and maybe we'll even see the boys show their MOJO & fly the flag once or twice, to excite the place up a bit... Clark, Viney & Hogan could help in this, & even mr Spencer might like some argy bargy.

can't see it from jamar, dunn, grimes, howe. nice boys these.

[Dees2014 2,377]

Has anyone noticed if Hogan (and the footy staff) have attempted to alter his slightly awkward approach to set shot kicking? Thanks in advance.

Yes i did see him being coached in his kicking style, but it did not cause any perceived change in his action. Bit WCE Kennedy style - it must be in the WA water!

In any case, they might have the attitude don't mess with what works. Based on todays results he is at about 70% from both sides of his body, with most weakness being trying to kick left footed goals from the boundary line. The rest is fine. What we didn't see was a banana kick on his left side a la fitzy. What i did hear were the trainers being almost in awe of his skills, which was fair enough -they are pretty remarkable

[dee-luded 2,959]

Its hard not to see parallels with the Australian Cricket side (ie the fun being back) in terms of the difference in styles between Arthur and Lehman

very much binman.... the key to the door of desire

but also trust & honesty with one another, & the underlying craving to Win.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,289]

man these training reports give me a hard on.

keep em' coming.

It's all i've got...

Throw the filth guy that you live with out and move a woman in.

[jazza 1,323]

Throw the filth guy that you live with out and move a woman in.

school teachers have rights you know

[Yokozuna 1,004]

I also went along to training and I was happy most happy with the number of players training fully.

Some of my positives were:

* quite a large amount of fans watching the session

* the melbourne Victory were training at the same time, so was happy to see their skills/ drills when ours were boring or the players were resting, and before any soccer bashing comments, it is a higly skilled sport and the AFL has used soccer tactics in the past and I saw some drills that can easily be translated over to AFL (and as a footy coahc, i know this will be useful).

* in regards to the drills, there was nothing new or ground breaking, but everything involved sharing the ball, running to the next contest and kicking/ running to space. A simple philosophy, but one that all teams should strive for.

* Tyson had very little tape on his knee, must be getting more confidence in it. And again, his kicking skills were great.

* One of the players who impressed me most was Tapscott. We all know he has a great long kick, but his field kicking and kick to the leads were fantastic today and he was running really well. Hopefully a full pre season will give him his best chance to show his ability. From what I can see, they have him training with the FWDs, which is fine, but I do know that the HFF is a tough position to rack up stats, so it may be tough to shine through unless he gets MID time, which will require some more stamina from him. Personally I have high hopes for him, so hope he shows it.

* Cross is so, so, so clean with his hands, will be a very good player for the team and a better example/ on field coach.

* Vince will be a pleasure to have kicking to our plethora of forwards (if they get on the ground)

* Dawes is a man mountain and is bloody ripped at the moment. An impressive physique and was running quickly and effortlessly, hopefully he gets on the field consistently.

* JKH is a jet, I am very impressed with him and cant wait to see his output on the field. He attacks the ball so hard, and he has a really good leap.

* Not sure about Hogan having a "mare" as someone stated. I was happy to see his on the lead marking and leap, will be a tough match up if the delivery is good enough.

* other than that, nothing too new for specific players but overall it looks like the players are enjoying themselves and are working hard to improve.

I heard they are doing some time trials on Friday at 9:00 or so at Princess Park followed by training later at Gosch's Paddock for people interested .

Happy to answer any questions.

*

[Machsy 2,858]

Will be very interesting to see whether Roosy has evolved his game plan compared to the relentless defensive, holding the footy of the Swans. Got to say the Swans are a lot more appealing to watch since Longmire took over. Roosy will always have the defensive mindset first and foremost. But it will be interesting to see if he evolves it into a more attacking system. It sounds from your post that he is doing that which would be a great relief. Swans used to play possession tempo footy under him which meant holding onto the footy a lot and slowing the tempo down. So if you are seeing play on at all costs it indicates a promising change. I have read elsewhere that he has said modern football is relentless running up and down the field. Hopefully after 3 years of observing all teams while commentating he has a better feel for the evolution of the game by all teams than if he had just been coaching one team for that period.

This comes across to me like you didn't watch Sydney much while Roos was there, and took your opinion of them straight from the pages of the Herald Sun.

[Hannibal 5,814]

* Not sure about Hogan having a "mare" as someone stated. I was happy to see his on the lead marking and leap, will be a tough match up if the delivery is good enough.

It's hard to watch all of the players all of the time. Being the unashamed Hogan lover I am, as others are, I concentrate on this future superstar more than most. His field kicking is usually excellent, today there were plenty that missed their leading target.

No biggie. Just an observation.

All other aspects of his play were at their usual high standard.

[Machsy 2,858]

Yes i did see him being coached in his kicking style, but it did not cause any perceived change in his action. Bit WCE Kennedy style - it must be in the WA water!

In any case, they might have the attitude don't mess with what works. Based on todays results he is at about 70% from both sides of his body, with most weakness being trying to kick left footed goals from the boundary line. The rest is fine. What we didn't see was a banana kick on his left side a la fitzy. What i did hear were the trainers being almost in awe of his skills, which was fair enough -they are pretty remarkable

Sewing machine or not, as long as Hogan guides the ball down onto his foot instead of throwing it up in the air like Fitzpatrick, I'll be happy.

At one stage Hogan had a run up where he'd start off doing a little bit of reverse sewing machine, angling his body the opposite way, straighten up, then go into the sewing machine proper. I've not seen that for a while now, thank god.

Even still, the accuracy was there.

[Scoop Junior 3,580]

" it's not about territory any more boys it's about getting and keeping the footy" .

Love this comment.

I know it's only training but at least it shows where the focus is.

No co-incidence that our possession differentials were absolutely abysmal under Neeld's territory-based game plan.

[Machsy 2,858]

It amazes me that this was obviously the mindset.

Guarding territory when the opposition have the footy, and trying to influence where they move the footy is one thing.

To have it as the overriding strategy where in the minds of the players it is critically important enough to rival simply winning the footy and maintaining possession, is just madness.

What was he thinking?!??

[beelzebub 23,392]

playing to guard territory is akin to an existentialist directive.

A lot of effort for absolutely nothing !!

[McQueen 17,867]

Was Tom Mc doing full contact today?

[Moonshadow 17,678]

Sewing machine or not, as long as Hogan guides the ball down onto his foot instead of throwing it up in the air like Fitzpatrick, I'll be happy.

I thought Fitzy was a good kick last year, both field kicking and set shots. Not the prettiest, but pretty effective.

[Scoop Junior 3,580]

It amazes me that this was obviously the mindset.

Guarding territory when the opposition have the footy, and trying to influence where they move the footy is one thing.

To have it as the overriding strategy where in the minds of the players it is critically important enough to rival simply winning the footy and maintaining possession, is just madness.

What was he thinking?!??

I'm not sure it rivalled winning the footy. As for maintaining possession though, it did appear as if the players were instructed to, when in doubt, take the low risk option of going down the line to gain territory and force a stoppage. It was as if they were too scared to make a possession error by taking the high risk option. I understand there are times that require the low risk option but the balance was completely out of whack.

* One of the players who impressed me most was Tapscott. We all know he has a great long kick, but his field kicking and kick to the leads were fantastic today and he was running really well. Hopefully a full pre season will give him his best chance to show his ability. From what I can see, they have him training with the FWDs, which is fine, but I do know that the HFF is a tough position to rack up stats, so it may be tough to shine through unless he gets MID time, which will require some more stamina from him. Personally I have high hopes for him, so hope he shows it.

Thanks for the report Yokozuna. Unfortunately for me Tapscott is the type of player who will always look great at training - big and strong and a lovely long kick of the ball. The question is can he find the ball regularly enough in games and can he beat AFL level defenders who will be taller and quicker than him and just as strong.

I don't think we will find out anything we don't know about him until competitive matches begin.

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

Let's just hope that the new game plan, switches on the lights upstairs.

I love the basic football get possession, keep possession, dispose of ball to team mate correctly, kick Goooaaaallll.