Just now, Demon77 said:

Tell me about it, we seriously need the first bounce asap. The off season so far has been stinky.

True d77. 

Im sittin out the front of my place admiring my Christmas lights  drinking rum and eating corn chips and twisties as I’m typing this. 

My lights look really good even if I say so myself!!

i also follow ball and cricket so I really don’t have an off season but the crap that gets reported in the off season drives me nuts. 

Send them into a Myer or David Jones Boxing Day sale... that’ll sort them out!

 

1 hour ago, rjay said:

Would never question Bellamy on what it takes to prepare an NRL player for competition.

...but I would question his experience in preparing an AFL player.

2 different sports and no other AFL club is doing this type of training. Maybe they're all wrong as well...

Kokoda is a whole different thing for those about to jump in with the Hawthorn example.

Have often wondered what Bellamy would be like coaching AFL. 

Personally i think he would pick it up quickly. He is just a winner. I don’t think a Commando Camp deciphers between codes, it just pushes people to almost beyond their limits and goes outside the comfort zones of what we all know. 

 The year the Storm were stripped of points, they still made the finals with games won. 

That is all about strong minds...regardless of body shape

big deal

The AFL.com view on the matter. It is relatively balanced. 

Commando Hawks show up the Demons

With every iteration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the players have gained more rights and more power. And given they're the ones putting on the show, that's fair enough.

It is in the pre-season where the players' new collective muscle is most on display. They have won major concessions in recent years when it comes to summer training, in terms of when it starts and hours per week at their clubs. The coaches have learned to live with, if not entirely love it.

But has the balance shifted too far in favour of the players? It is a reasonable suggestion in the wake of the 14 Melbourne players who, with the assistance of the AFL Players Association, got the Demons to cancel their pre-Christmas training camp.

It was at this camp 12 months ago that incoming coach Simon Goodwin made good on his promise to instill a harder edge at the Demons. The camp included all sorts of gruelling activities that left Christian Salem with concussion courtesy of an errant brick and Dom Tyson with a knee injury.

Now, perhaps because this is the quietest time of the football year, this story created a few headlines, with SEN broadcasters Danny Frawley and Cam Mooney both chiming in with criticisms of the players. Frawley called the Demons "a bit of a laughing stock" and while his view is shared by many, what complicates matters is that he is on the coaching staff at St Kilda as a defensive assistant coach.

Is he calling out Melbourne as a) fill-in breakfast host, b) Saints assistant, or c) former boss of the AFL Coaches Association? There are waters and right now, they are muddied.

Whether or not the Demons come back a bit battered and bruised from a December training camp probably won't matter all that much when it comes to how they perform next season. They're a team on the rise, stacked with emerging talent and they should be playing with an edge in any event given their soft finish to 2017. They're due.

But let's compare them with Hawthorn. The Hawks have worked their players over on the Sunshine Coast this time every year for the last few years and the camp has always been anything but idyllic, but lest the players start to feel too comfortable in the Queensland heat, earlier this month the club decamped instead to Lord of the Rings country in southern New Zealand.

 

 

13 minutes ago, fndee said:

But let's compare them with Hawthorn. The Hawks have worked their players over on the Sunshine Coast this time every year for the last few years and the camp has always been anything but idyllic, but lest the players start to feel too comfortable in the Queensland heat, earlier this month the club decamped instead to Lord of the Rings country in southern New Zealand.

 

...and we head off on our Sunshine Coast camp in January, the same type of training camp the Hawks are doing.

So what is the point of this comment?

How are the Commando Hawks showing us up? They're not doing a "Commando Camp".

Rather than balanced I would say it's an irrelevant article

18 minutes ago, fndee said:

Now, perhaps because this is the quietest time of the football year, this story created a few headlines

The above is probably the most honest quote in the article...well almost, there is a twist.

Call other football people out on it but then to hell with it and do it yourself, one of the oldest tricks in the book. Makes the writer out as being the superior journalist.

On 18 December 2017 at 12:48 PM, ProDee said:

I've been apathetic about this, but on deeper reflection there are concerns.

Anyone with a bit of knowledge about the club knows the players love and respect Goody, however, there are a group of players that have either knowingly, or unwittingly, undermined the club, the coach and his preparations for the 2018 season.  It's poor.  Although, I doubt it will have any affect on game outcomes next year.

We don't know the players concerned, but I hope Tyson isn't involved considering his disappointment at getting injured at last year's camp.  I doubt Goodwin would need much of an excuse to hand his position to Corey Maynard.

All supposition, but I see this as a cumulative miscalculation or error of judgement on behalf of both parties.

If AFLPA involvement was "seriously considered" after the resulting effects of the previous bootcamp, were the coaching dept made aware? Can't imagine anyone casually letting their superiors know that they considered taking formal action in regards to an incident, but then erred on the side of caution. It's an invitation to be shown the exit. However, Goodwin & co did not seem acutely aware of the general sentiment within the playing group towards the camp, and further consultation may have been sought if they had known. Or even more notice given, and greater depth of detail provided regarding the contents & intended benefits of the camp. I expect fewer "nasty surprises" for the playing group going forward.

I also think the AFLPA propaganda will have played a part here, not that they're necessarily to blame. I'm certain the AFLPA line they feed to all players in the league is that if you find yourself in a situation like this, bring it to us & we will make sure you are protected and can maintain some anonymity (albeit thinly veiled). And it has some merit, when coming from a player's perspective. You don't want to be branded a trouble maker, but what do you do when you truly believe you're being put in a dangerous situation & don't feel like your concerns will be seriously considered, and could even place your position on the list in jeopardy? The AFLPA will be doing what they can to protect players, but also to be involved where not necessary, to increase their prevalence and influence. Maybe the AFLPA could have been excluded from the equation & this would have been sorted out more privately. But what this actually may also be indicative of, is a failure by the leadership group to properly represent, communicate or understand the feelings of the lower profiles within the playing group. 

Ultimately, I can understand the feeling of players who have prepared their bodies in mint condition for a successful season, not wanting to recklessly expose themselves to risks beyond their control. Yes, there are inherent risks on the training track, but a bootcamp (especially a poorly run or resourced one) that has previously resulted in avoidable serious injuries, is different.

Momentum is everything, and I can sympathise with not wanting to ruin months of hard work building it, through a poorly considered camp that appears to contribute very little to overall performance.