Fritta is our wing/floating back intercept marker/distributor until Lever comes back into the team. He should then be our wing/floating forward.

*waiting for the "why cant we have both" GIF.

13 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

Update on Billy Stretch would be appreciated.

Stretch didn't train with the main group and did a number of drills by himself.

First he moved the guys' backpacks into a big pile. Strength training, probably.

Then he unwound extension cables for the boom box and laptops. Then plugged them together to make one really long cable. Great agility.

Then he tightened the guy ropes on the tent. Then watched the other guys training for a while. I think it was a recovery period mandated by the physios.

Most of the rest of the time he was running slow laps, between Gosch's and AAMI getting cold water bottles for the guys. Didn't slow down at all, even in the heat.

Each time the coaches gathered the players in a group for instructions, he ran out and held up some whiteboards with magnets on them. I couldn't see what was on them.

At one stage I saw Goodwin approach him and ask for a loan of 50 bucks. Stretch got out his wallet but his reaction time was a bit slow and Goody really gave it to him. High standards even at this time of year. You play like you train!

While the main group was doing match simulations, Stretch cut up a whole bag of oranges with his non-preferred hand.

Towards the end of the session, he picked up a big sack and collected the stray footies in it. One was right on the boundary line, he tried a freak goal with it and it missed and the ball went out on to Punt Road. Macca paid out on him and said he's supposed to be collecting the footies, not playing with them. Part of his rehab I suppose.

A really strong session and if he keeps it up, there's every chance we'll see him collecting footies on the G in September.

I'm a little surprised that with all the forward talk there is never a mention of Spargo ?

He pretty much cemented a spot last year as our small crumber in the forward 50 and from what I saw did a pretty good job

Seems like everyone thinks there are others ahead of him now - I feel the coaches like him because he seems to play very much to his instructions / team focus

I would expect he will still be very much in the mix this year unless he has gone backwards

2 hours ago, DV8 said:

 

They said the same thing about Robbie Flower, when 'Barass' put him to halfback... to teach him the defensive side... and to plug holes, as Barass ripped the side apart, in rebuilding the club.

Then down the track, Flower went to Half Forward and R/R.   Flower was at his most damaging on ball, covering the whole field.

 

Fritta is just starting to learn the caper.

Yep, remember that with Flower ... who was mighty adaptable ... do you reckon Fritta is as adaptable or skilled?

1 hour ago, Mazer Rackham said:

A really strong session and if he keeps it up, there's every chance we'll see him collecting footies on the G in September.

Just loved this report from MR...clever and very funny.

H&A season starts in 2 months!

Woohoo!!!

9 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Yep, remember that with Flower ... who was mighty adaptable ... do you reckon Fritta is as adaptable or skilled?

IMO, it's as if he's Flowers son.   Remember last season was his first AFL season.

He's not as good as Robbie was, but he is just starting...   he has the right ethic.s

1 hour ago, Mazer Rackham said:

Stretch didn't train with the main group and did a number of drills by himself.

First he moved the guys' backpacks into a big pile. Strength training, probably.

Then he unwound extension cables for the boom box and laptops. Then plugged them together to make one really long cable. Great agility.

Then he tightened the guy ropes on the tent. Then watched the other guys training for a while. I think it was a recovery period mandated by the physios.

Most of the rest of the time he was running slow laps, between Gosch's and AAMI getting cold water bottles for the guys. Didn't slow down at all, even in the heat.

Each time the coaches gathered the players in a group for instructions, he ran out and held up some whiteboards with magnets on them. I couldn't see what was on them.

At one stage I saw Goodwin approach him and ask for a loan of 50 bucks. Stretch got out his wallet but his reaction time was a bit slow and Goody really gave it to him. High standards even at this time of year. You play like you train!

While the main group was doing match simulations, Stretch cut up a whole bag of oranges with his non-preferred hand.

Towards the end of the session, he picked up a big sack and collected the stray footies in it. One was right on the boundary line, he tried a freak goal with it and it missed and the ball went out on to Punt Road. Macca paid out on him and said he's supposed to be collecting the footies, not playing with them. Part of his rehab I suppose.

A really strong session and if he keeps it up, there's every chance we'll see him collecting footies on the G in September.

You're making me cry.

Weid had a problem of positioning himself or making his leads so that he found himself under the ball too often.  Towards the end of the season he was coming in from the side and took some great marks.  Has anyone at training seen that he is building on that.

 

2 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

Stretch didn't train with the main group and did a number of drills by himself.

First he moved the guys' backpacks into a big pile. Strength training, probably.

Then he unwound extension cables for the boom box and laptops. Then plugged them together to make one really long cable. Great agility.

Then he tightened the guy ropes on the tent. Then watched the other guys training for a while. I think it was a recovery period mandated by the physios.

Most of the rest of the time he was running slow laps, between Gosch's and AAMI getting cold water bottles for the guys. Didn't slow down at all, even in the heat.

Each time the coaches gathered the players in a group for instructions, he ran out and held up some whiteboards with magnets on them. I couldn't see what was on them.

At one stage I saw Goodwin approach him and ask for a loan of 50 bucks. Stretch got out his wallet but his reaction time was a bit slow and Goody really gave it to him. High standards even at this time of year. You play like you train!

While the main group was doing match simulations, Stretch cut up a whole bag of oranges with his non-preferred hand.

Towards the end of the session, he picked up a big sack and collected the stray footies in it. One was right on the boundary line, he tried a freak goal with it and it missed and the ball went out on to Punt Road. Macca paid out on him and said he's supposed to be collecting the footies, not playing with them. Part of his rehab I suppose.

A really strong session and if he keeps it up, there's every chance we'll see him collecting footies on the G in September.

Watching training today MR I would broadly agree with your summary, in principle at least. The only differences I had from your observations and they are just minor issues - he did train with the main group for the whole session and early on did routines in a small group of mids that included Harmes, Fritsch, Gus, AVB, Kolodjashni, and Sparrow. This group seemed to be the outside  mid group of receivers who will receive from the insiders. And the insiders were mostly in the rehab group, Clarrie, Jones, Viney. Make of that what you will but he is definitely still in the running for a position on the outside wing but competition is stiff. And he did well in the game simulations in between managing the magnet board and organising the oranges. 

 

 

 

 

34 minutes ago, stinga said:

Weid had a problem of positioning himself or making his leads so that he found himself under the ball too often.  Towards the end of the season he was coming in from the side and took some great marks.  Has anyone at training seen that he is building on that.

 

... lack of confidence, I reckon.  He had to learn, he 'belonged'.

 as he grew, imo, the confidence did as well.

And then voila.  his breakout game against the Cats.

Billy Stretch adjusting the ropes

 

 

Billy Stretch tidying up

 

Anyone see what happened to KK?

The Trac article also reported KK finished up a little early with adductor tightness and might need to be slightly managed.

11 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Anyone see what happened to KK?

The Trac article also reported KK finished up a little early with adductor tightness and might need to be slightly managed.

He went and saw medicos near end of session, had a discussion and like Trac sent in, they have to report the slightest niggle

5 hours ago, tiers said:

I see things differently. Modern footy is a real team based game where teams select a squad so as to be able to mix and match and use players in their best positions to suit the game being played - not somebody's idea of how a player should be played. Whether Fritter will play back, centre or forward will depend on the team structure for the particular situation.

The teams that will prosper will be those that have a range of abilities and capabilities in each part of the ground. For any combination of our back six we will have a stopper in Nev, running defenders and play makers in Hibbs, Salem and Fritter, cunning on field captains in Lewis, gorilla busters in May, interceptors in Lever and talls in OMac and Frost - a total of nine to select from to suit the weekly game plan.

Similarly for our mid six we will have rucks in Gawn and Preuss, inside grunt in Jones, Viney and Oliver, outside runners in ANB, AVB, Stretch and Hunt, occasional fillers in Tracca and Spargs - a total of 11 to select from. 

In our forward six we have Weids, TMac, Jeffy, Melks, Smith and Smith and any of the above who rotate through the forward line - a grand total of 28 at least. In my opinion, we will lose very little in any combination of 22 from the above lists (we even have Weids and TMac to ruck if necessary). Not many teams can match this evenness and versatility and it should give us a dominant edge.

So long as we pick our 22 for each game based on our game plan, not as a response to their game plan as used to happen in the past, we should have great prospects.

2020

Go dees.

Gee you're fickle, no love for Gus or Nut?

14 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The club might not have major issues but I think we should nevertheless be concerned.

This follows a report from a Demonlander that he was complaining about knee soreness at a training session last week.

I've heard the "no worries" story enough times to be a trifle sceptical.

There have been reports all preseason from Demonlanders hearing Trac complain to physios about knee soreness particularly after he stops running. I went to training in early December and he looked to be in some discomfort sitting on the boundary line. Prior to that he was showing no discomfort whilst running laps. It's concerning that the same reports are being made more than a month down the track. My MFCSS senses are tingling.

32 minutes ago, Demonland said:

There have been reports all preseason from Demonlanders hearing Trac complain to physios about knee soreness particularly after he stops running ... My MFCSS senses are tingling.

It's pretty simple. He is carrying a niggle and is likely to for the whole season.

Do not expect the long awaited unleashing of the Tracc Beast in 2019.

21 hours ago, tiers said:

Just noticed. Fritter, Salem and KK are being mentioned as half back sweepers with real potential. Their value might also be that they are all left footers.

Left footers, as a minority group, have a natural, but marginal, advantage because they turn clock wise to get onto their kicking foot. Right footers naturally turn anti clockwise and, when chasing, can lose a bit of contact with left footers. The dorks exploited this with Lewis, Gibson, Rioli, Franklin and others.

Add Viney, Lewis, May and we have a core group of lefties that could deliver an advantage.

Molly-Dookers rule! Bring back the drop kick and stab pass, I say. 

To dworship

Thanks for the reminder. No disrespect intended but given the numbers this year, I am finding it harder and harder to remember all the names while writing on the run. Apologies to Gus, Harmes and also to Hannan.

Adding these three brings the running total to 31 who have all shown that they can make solid contributions. As I have said in another post,  the hardest task for the coaching staff will be to find the best combination.

2020

Go dees.

8 minutes ago, tiers said:

To dworship

Thanks for the reminder. No disrespect intended but given the numbers this year, I am finding it harder and harder to remember all the names while writing on the run. Apologies to Gus, Harmes and also to Hannan.

Adding these three brings the running total to 31 who have all shown that they can make solid contributions. As I have said in another post,  the hardest task for the coaching staff will be to find the best combination.

2020

Go dees.

Probably add KK to that list as well. However I think selection will be made easier by the injury/ niggle list. Wouldn't be surprised if all of Jones, Melk, Trac, KK and Lever didn't suit up for round one. I know it is still 2 months away but it's now only 37 days to the first JLT and as you have said, we now have a list that is versatile and able to cope really well with some of the players needing extra time to get "Cherry Ripe"

16 hours ago, DV8 said:

cheers for the reports IT.

I hope your family member is OK.

 

Thanks DV8. I’m at that age where the generation ahead of us are hitting their late 80’s early 90’s. No one tells you what life’s going to be like when you get there. It’s not pretty. 

I had to shoot down to be with one in hospital and look after their partner out of hospital. In the meantime another relative of similar age got rushed to the same hospital very ill. So then I had 2. The next day his wife got rushed to Emergency so I had 3 in the one hospital. The nurses were asking me how my rounds were going Dr. 

I had to come home to take my son into hospital for day surgery yesterday. 

Bizarre week. 

12 minutes ago, It's Time said:

Thanks DV8. I’m at that age where the generation ahead of us are hitting their late 80’s early 90’s. No one tells you what life’s going to be like when you get there. It’s not pretty. 

I had to shoot down to be with one in hospital and look after their partner out of hospital. In the meantime another relative of similar age got rushed to the same hospital very ill. So then I had 2. The next day his wife got rushed to Emergency so I had 3 in the one hospital. The nurses were asking me how my rounds were going Dr. 

I had to come home to take my son into hospital for day surgery yesterday. 

Bizarre week. 

Good luck with all that; it's a massive challenge. My wife is going through similar issues with her parents.