Hi folks,

Is Ben Kennedy the guy who always has his tongue sticking out?

Dangerous practice: I remember Doggy Brown almost biting his tongue off when violently bumped by Nathan Buckley during a match.

Otherwise, to those able to attend practice and file reports, a very big thank you.

 

I thought I read on here maybe, that due to the big load he had last year they were easing him into this year...

 

i thought i read that... Maybe I made it up... Then convinced myself that I read it on here... I'm confused now...

Im sure i read somewhere Brayshaw had a quad niggle.

I overheard last week by one of the physios that Brayshaw had a hip niggle.

13 hours ago, Dee Dee said:

Hi folks,

Is Ben Kennedy the guy who always has his tongue sticking out?

Dangerous practice: I remember Doggy Brown almost biting his tongue off when violently bumped by Nathan Buckley during a match.

Otherwise, to those able to attend practice and file reports, a very big thank you.

 

There are a few of them who do it - but the main culprit is Alex Neal Bullen, I think. Might need to go back and look at his highlights from this season but I seem to recall always seeing him with his tongue out and fearing for the worst (you'd hope someone at the club would pass that on to him / them ?)

A small morsel ...

It's second hand from my brother, who was also at training (doesn't post here although he's been reading for nearly a decade).

He said that in one section of the ground for those not joining in "full training", such as newbies and others on a modified program, a coach would throw the ball in the air, or on the ground and two players competed in a 1 v 1 contest to win the ball.  For example, Oliver was pitted against ANB, and Jones and Petracca went head to head.  Petracca and Jones pretty much squared the ledger.  Oliver beat ANB at least 9 times out of 10.  He was adamant it was that lopsided, such was Oliver's effectiveness.

Thank you all for the reports, most appreciated.

9 hours ago, ProDee said:

A small morsel ...

It's second hand from my brother, who was also at training (doesn't post here although he's been reading for nearly a decade).

He said that in one section of the ground for those not joining in "full training", such as newbies and others on a modified program, a coach would throw the ball in the air, or on the ground and two players competed in a 1 v 1 contest to win the ball.  For example, Oliver was pitted against ANB, and Jones and Petracca went head to head.  Petracca and Jones pretty much squared the ledger.  Oliver beat ANB at least 9 times out of 10.  He was adamant it was that lopsided, such was Oliver's effectiveness.

ANB is no slouch when it comes down to the hard stuff in the clinches - he was regarded as a real "extractor" of the footy in his Under 18 year which makes Oliver's effort very impressive.

31 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

ANB is no slouch when it comes down to the hard stuff in the clinches - he was regarded as a real "extractor" of the footy in his Under 18 year which makes Oliver's effort very impressive.

He was definitely a key driver of SA's success in his final year of juniors. 

3 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

ANB is no slouch when it comes down to the hard stuff in the clinches - he was regarded as a real "extractor" of the footy in his Under 18 year which makes Oliver's effort very impressive.

Yes, it's a good sign.  The comment was "it didn't matter what Neal-Bullen did he was no match for Oliver".

12 hours ago, Deestroy All said:

Thank you all for the reports, most appreciated.

 

Your account been hacked?

 

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

Yes, it's a good sign.  The comment was "it didn't matter what Neal-Bullen did he was no match for Oliver".

So it is very, very early days but if Oliver is doing a job, during his first few training sessions, on ANB who has got a year of AFL footy up his sleeve then this does bode well for the future. 

Also bonus points for those who were unsure about how wise it was to sell our first round pick from next year. 

Could he be our "Ollie" - the one that didnt get away

2 hours ago, longsuffering said:

Could he be our "Ollie" - the one that didnt get away

We can only hope.

17 hours ago, ProDee said:

A small morsel ...

It's second hand from my brother, who was also at training (doesn't post here although he's been reading for nearly a decade).

He said that in one section of the ground for those not joining in "full training", such as newbies and others on a modified program, a coach would throw the ball in the air, or on the ground and two players competed in a 1 v 1 contest to win the ball.  For example, Oliver was pitted against ANB, and Jones and Petracca went head to head.  Petracca and Jones pretty much squared the ledger.  Oliver beat ANB at least 9 times out of 10.  He was adamant it was that lopsided, such was Oliver's effectiveness.

An AFL recruiter said that he thought ANB could be a real steal for us and that he thought he could be a top footballer. Only on what I have seen so far, I far prefer Stretch of the two and haven't yet seen what the recruiter saw in ANB. He is not big and not overly fast. However, he has time on his side to show us what he has got. I hope the recruiter was right.

Oliver to me just seems a see it, get it footballer. As someone said, hopefully he becomes our Ollie. 

5 minutes ago, Redleg said:

An AFL recruiter said that he thought ANB could be a real steal for us and that he thought he could be a top footballer. Only on what I have seen so far, I far prefer Stretch of the two and haven't yet seen what the recruiter saw in ANB. He is not big and not overly fast. However, he has time on his side to show us what he has got. I hope the recruiter was right.

Oliver to me just seems a see it, get it footballer. As someone said, hopefully he becomes our Ollie. 

I think ANB is a player that will benefit from the removal of the sub rule and reduced interchange cap. 

Also keep in mind that he had surgery on his kneecap which greatly restricted his preseason last year.

I like what I've seen so far. I don't think he'll be a star, but I think that he'll be a good, solid player for us.

32 minutes ago, Redleg said:

We can only hope.

Or, to misquote Oliver Harvey, 'another fine mess we didn't get ourselves into'.

Oliver Who?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Hardy

42 minutes ago, Redleg said:

An AFL recruiter said that he thought ANB could be a real steal for us and that he thought he could be a top footballer. Only on what I have seen so far, I far prefer Stretch of the two and haven't yet seen what the recruiter saw in ANB. He is not big and not overly fast. However, he has time on his side to show us what he has got. I hope the recruiter was right.

Oliver to me just seems a see it, get it footballer. As someone said, hopefully he becomes our Ollie. 

With ANB it's not what he has in terms of stand out traits but that he shouldn't have too many weaknesses and will be a really nice bottom 6 player. He's fit, finds the footy, uses it pretty well and whilst not big or fast he's not small or slow either. He'll also be a good culture guy. Stretch has a bit more x factor being a really good natural outside running type.

6 minutes ago, Georgiou R.R. Martin said:

With ANB it's not what he has in terms of stand out traits but that he shouldn't have too many weaknesses and will be a really nice bottom 6 player. He's fit, finds the footy, uses it pretty well and whilst not big or fast he's not small or slow either. He'll also be a good culture guy. Stretch has a bit more x factor being a really good natural outside running type.

ANB has an inbuilt instict for where the goals are. We've been crying out for years for mids with this ability. 

If he can make a full time transition to the midfield, he will be very useful when resting forward. For too long our resting mids offered nothing when in the forward half.

50 minutes ago, Good Times Grimes said:

I think ANB is a player that will benefit from the removal of the sub rule and reduced interchange cap. 

Also keep in mind that he had surgery on his kneecap which greatly restricted his preseason last year.

I like what I've seen so far. I don't think he'll be a star, but I think that he'll be a good, solid player for us.

That goal against Geelong when he ran from the wing and was involved in a chain of possessions and finished off with a goal was particularly encouraging. I saw a guy with a real sense of where to run and who knew what to do when he got it. 

What I like is that we're putting together a really balanced multifaceted midfield. They're not all extractors, or receivers, or bulls, or gut-runners. It's the midfield as a unit, not any single midfielder that's the key. 

Having said that, the one thing it probably does lack is speed, but it's possible to make up for that with quick ball movement. Which would also be a welcome change.

I remember when I first saw Paul Poupolo and thinking he was a bit of a scrubber.  While lacking the class of some of his teammates he's become a handy contributor, who has a knack of doing something important just when it was needed.  

While different sorts of players, I have the same feeling about Neal-Bullen.  I reckon when the team needs it he'll kick that goal or lay that tackle.  I think he'll will himself to be a regular part of the 22 and get the most out of his God given talents. 

Just a hunch.

23 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

That goal against Geelong when he ran from the wing and was involved in a chain of possessions and finished off with a goal was particularly encouraging. I saw a guy with a real sense of where to run and who knew what to do when he got it. 

Not even just a sense of where to run but to gut run and keep running until the 'play' is finished. Someone said that run was from wing, thought it started deeper in defence and he keep on pushing through each line as he saw space open up in front in him and he didn't leave it to 'someone else' to finish it off. 

Great to watch.

Yeh bullen will be good