Time Trials - Friday 10th January, 2014

[jayceebee31 761]

Please note times were not given....refer MFC website later.

Blease ran near last but ahead of Kingy....both put in....Blease vomiting after finish....at least he is putting in..doing his best.and he can kick...

[Dinosaur Rover 197]

3 km Time Trial results

1st Daniel Nicholson

2nd Tom McDonald

3rd Rohan Bail

4th Daniel Cross

Bloody good from the old timer

[Robot Devil 1,895]

It is frustrating that the top three runners are probably the worst three kicks.

But there is hope for Tom McDonald yet.

He's only young.

Not sure about the other two.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

I'm getting a bit sick of the constant criticism of Nicholson and Bail's kicking. Firstly, while neither are great kicks, I don't think either are as bad as they are sometimes stated to be and secondly, by keeping themselves super-fit the coaching staff can spend more time working with them on their kicking and less getting them to the fitness level required.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

I'm getting a bit sick of the constant criticism of Nicholson and Bail's kicking. Firstly, while neither are great kicks, I don't think either are as bad as they are sometimes stated to be and secondly, by keeping themselves super-fit the coaching staff can spend more time working with them on their kicking and less getting them to the fitness level required.

Until they completely change their actions their kicking will be flawed. Yes, they will do some nice kicks but odds are a lot more will be poor.

[alias275 259]

Crossy you gun

[DeeSpencer 26,080]

I'm getting a bit sick of the constant criticism of Nicholson and Bail's kicking. Firstly, while neither are great kicks, I don't think either are as bad as they are sometimes stated to be and secondly, by keeping themselves super-fit the coaching staff can spend more time working with them on their kicking and less getting them to the fitness level required.

pfft. They are rubbish kicks. Plus Nicholson can't defend and is soft and Bail can't find the footy consistently as a forward or mid and has concussion issues.

I once had hope for both of them but right now they head the list of last season candidates

[All the Jacks 99]

Will they give any time's out or eg announce that the first 5 have recorded the fastest times ?

[djr 1,597]

Would be interesting to see where Daniel Cross was placed in the Bulldogs' time trials in previous years. If he was middle of the road then it might say a bit about our core level of fitness. I suspect he has always been up there among the leaders.

[Demon_Tingles 211]

I am loving having Crossy on board... however it does speak volumes about the groups fitness that a 30 year old (no matter how good he is) finished 4th in the time trial.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

Until they completely change their actions their kicking will be flawed. Yes, they will do some nice kicks but odds are a lot more will be poor.

Agreed. But by starting off fit, they have the opportunity to spend more time working on their kicking actions.

[deeko 952]

I am loving having Crossy on board... however it does speak volumes about the groups fitness that a 30 year old (no matter how good he is) finished 4th in the time trial.

I think you are a little harsh on 30 year olds D_T

[Slartibartfast 17,622]

Bail can't find the footy consistently as a forward or mid and has concussion issues.

Until last year Bail found the footy quite regularly. He is an elite runner and is hard at the ball. I agree he doesn't use it which is a major issue.

Last year he played as a defensive forward where the ball came down about 30 times a game. Hard to get kicks in that position.

I agree he's certainly on his last chance but I reckon it's dangerous to judge any player on their form in the last year or two.

[Demon_Tingles 211]

I think you are a little harsh on 30 year olds D_T

I wasn't intentionally being harsh ,, my point was with all the kids that we have and the 22-26 age group surely at least one of them is pushing up there. The players were apparently flogged in fitness last pre season and yet we are still seeing the same results in the time trials and daniel cross beats home about 40 other players when we recruited heavily for midfielders.

It's not like 3km is a marathon, so I would hope at some point that they younger players we have would be able to run 3km quicker than crossy.

[drdrake 3,187]

Would be interesting to see where Daniel Cross was placed in the Bulldogs' time trials in previous years. If he was middle of the road then it might say a bit about our core level of fitness. I suspect he has always been up there among the leaders.

Found footage from Nov 2012 Bulldogs time trial Princess Park Cross won easily with Boyd second then Gia.

[drdrake 3,187]

I wasn't intentionally being harsh ,, my point was with all the kids that we have and the 22-26 age group surely at least one of them is pushing up there. The players were apparently flogged in fitness last pre season and yet we are still seeing the same results in the time trials and daniel cross beats home about 40 other players when we recruited heavily for midfielders.

It's not like 3km is a marathon, so I would hope at some point that they younger players we have would be able to run 3km quicker than crossy.

How far where players behind Cross?

Did the players in the age bracket run personal bests?

Being 30yo you don't lose endurance, you start to lose a little speed but over 3KM that wouldn't effect your result.

[alias275 259]

Tried doing a little googling about Crossy to see if he was a front runner at the dogs as well. Found this Big Footy thread with a comment made from a Dogs supporter in 2005. To me it sounds like he is usually a front runner

From 2005:

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/whose-winning-3km-time-trials.210144/

"I'm guessing Daniel Cross will win the time trial for the Bulldogs."

[Demon_Tingles 211]

No you probably wouldn't lose speed. Just suggests to me that the players who complained about being whipped last pre season on fitness haven't really developed a heap more fitness wise. Granted Cross is a very good runner but I would be hoping that at least one player outside the same top 3 would have been up there in the top 4

Edited January 9, 2014 by Demon_Tingles

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,408]

But there is hope for Tom McDonald yet.

He's only young.

Not sure about the other two.

I think McDonald will be a key player for us over the next few years. Edited January 9, 2014 by Al's Demons

[drdrake 3,187]

No you probably wouldn't lose speed. Just suggests to me that the players who complained about being whipped last pre season on fitness haven't really developed a heap more fitness wise. Granted Cross is a very good runner but I would be hoping that at least one player outside the same top 3 would have been up there in the top 4

You are basing this on an assumption that they haven't improved. For all we know every player ran PB's. You only can assess improvement against each players personal times, not where they finish. Someone mentioned Blease finished near last, not good for a bloke that wants to be in the midfield but if he is improving his own times the club would be happy.

[Hannibal 5,814]

Until last year Bail found the footy quite regularly. He is an elite runner and is hard at the ball. I agree he doesn't use it which is a major issue.

Last year he played as a defensive forward where the ball came down about 30 times a game. Hard to get kicks in that position.

I agree he's certainly on his last chance but I reckon it's dangerous to judge any player on their form in the last year or two.

You and others spend much of your lives defending ordinary footballers.

Edited January 10, 2014 by The Myth

[Deestroy All 14,266]

Bail is one of the worst kicks we've ever had and Nicho can't even hit targets at training. I don't know why anyone would argue that they're not that bad.

Anyone know where Trengove finished? He's usually right up there, I hope his endurance hasn't gone backwards as well.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,233]

Top 4 pretty much as expected which is the disappointment. I was hoping for a couple of others to have stepped up into that top group. The most important thing however is to see how many have improved their times and placings.

[Satyriconhome 10,879]

You and others spend much of your lives defending ordinary footballers.

We also put up with you posting on here as well, so in comparison it's not too bad

Bail is one of the worst kicks we've ever had and Nicho can't even hit targets at training. I don't know why anyone would argue that they're not that bad.

Anyone know where Trengove finished? He's usually right up there, I hope his endurance hasn't gone backwards as well.

Roh Bail's efficiency is over 60%, so I would say not the worst we have ever had what's yours? 3km is not an endurance run, Trengove was probably in the top 10 alongside Watts, Howe

[djr 1,597]

Tried doing a little googling about Crossy to see if he was a front runner at the dogs as well. Found this Big Footy thread with a comment made from a Dogs supporter in 2005. To me it sounds like he is usually a front runner

From 2005:

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/whose-winning-3km-time-trials.210144/

"I'm guessing Daniel Cross will win the time trial for the Bulldogs."

Thanks 275 for checking this out. Its obvious that Daniel Cross is an elite endurance athlete. Whether he's 25 or 30 doesn't really matter for the enduro runners. There is a lot of evidence around that tells us that these types of athletes don't peak until they are in their late 20's to mid 30's. For him to "only" come 4th says a lot about the other 3. Its rare for clubs to have a large number of players on their list that fall in this category. The only real measurement of whether our list has improved their overall fitness is the number of PB's recorded.

Edited January 10, 2014 by djr