4 minutes ago, pineapple dee said:

I think we've come to the conclusion that Frost is not the option forward. Now why did we think that before and if we are wrong, what has changed to suggest it now ???

I don't know if he can play as a forward, but in answer to your question, he would be playing with two in form, strong-running, strong-marking key forwards where as previously there was really only one. Could this be enough to mane a difference? I don't know. 

12 hours ago, willmoy said:

Nobody should mention our training at trying to block, to give our mids more space, because if we do we will get an extra 15 to 20 free kicks paid against us on match night this Friday........

I think the blocking rule is only in the marking contest because the ball is further than 5 meters away. At the stoppages the rucks can't be blocked, but anyone within 5 meters of the ball is fair game. They practice in order to reduce frees against. Often at the training umpiring decision are made by the coaches. It is a physical game with many one on one's competing for advantageous positions. The rules are often tested with how far the play can be pushed before a free given.

12 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Bull trained strongly and wasn’t hindered at all mono. Weid was talking to a couple of staff members on the ground after most had made their way back to AAMI. Couldn’t tell if they were coaches or trainers. Hopefully it was some advice rather than talk of a niggle. I didn’t see him compete in any ruck work today. Maybe @kevin martin noticed him in ruck drills.

Sam Wiedeman did some training work with the talls, Max Gawn, Lachlan Filopovic and Cam Pederson. 

4 minutes ago, kevin martin said:

I think the blocking rule is only in the marking contest because the ball is further than 5 meters away. At the stoppages the rucks can't be blocked, but anyone within 5 meters of the ball is fair game. They practice in order to reduce frees against. Often at the training umpiring decision are made by the coaches. It is a physical game with many one on one's competing for advantageous positions. The rules are often tested with how far the play can be pushed before a free given.

Whatever the rule and its interpretation, it has become one of the ugliest features of the game.and diminishes the game as a spectacle.  

It predominates every stoppage, with umpires by and large ignoring it. 

It is also annoying to watch other sides employing the tactic more effectively than us !

44 minutes ago, kevin martin said:

I think the blocking rule is only in the marking contest because the ball is further than 5 meters away. At the stoppages the rucks can't be blocked, but anyone within 5 meters of the ball is fair game. They practice in order to reduce frees against. Often at the training umpiring decision are made by the coaches. It is a physical game with many one on one's competing for advantageous positions. The rules are often tested with how far the play can be pushed before a free given.

Yep, bloody ball players, they can be a real impediment to fair dinkum footy, can't they?  Ergo....Collingwood, Richmond,Port and TWSNBN in the previous century.

On 6/19/2018 at 10:30 PM, monoccular said:

willmoy - it is at Adelaide Oval so there will be a massive discrepancy by default.

Yep, by default ... has a common ring to it, doesn't it, when playing in Sth Australia? Place some bets on this Adelaide Oval free kick scenario for either Port or the Crows. Usually these frees are awarded within goal-kicking range for absolutely no legitimate reason. However, we cannot forget the clearance and midfield frees to 'get a Sth Australian team up and running and if there is an opposition challenge elsewhere on the ground, then that will be scotched by a series of 'equalisers' against the visiting opponents. Another recent innovation by the umpires representing the AFL is to delay 'play on' decisions or to hasten these for the benefit of the home side. Umpires will also delay a contested decision to 'ball-up' if the Port/Crows teams are not manned-up for the taps - or their downfield positioning is not quite set. Up to five or six minutes of any game can be lost to these delays, when really prevalent.