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2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Viney and harmes get through ok??

Harmes wearing a glove and Viney has his left knee strapped but you wouldn't really know based on how they're training.

Both will be fine for Round 1.

 

Harmes had a red hat on for the match sim. Viney had a lovely orange hat on. 

They still took Jack out of  several drills so I'm not 100% that he'll play. Or 100% that he should play.

Oscar, Frost, Hibberd, Hore, Lewis, Jetta, Salem, Petty, JWagner, Jordon with the defenders so take your pick of 7 there. 

Lockhart with the forwards which I don't really like. I know he's undersized but not every defender has to be 6 foot+. Liked what I saw with some of his kicking though. I guess the thinking is get the competition for spots in the pressure forwards right because if they play well my concerns about lack of pace from the backline/midfield isn't such a worry.

They had CWagner, ANB, Lockhart and Hunt all on the probables team for match simulation so no real guide for which way they are going. 

Steve May doing a lot of interval running and not looking overly pleased to be doing so. Wish he was playing but maybe the week off will do him good. Focus the mind and make sure his body has a bit more preparation for the season.

 

Looks like some players are calling it a day and with that, so will I. 

Thanks for reading!

Edited by Demon Jack

 
23 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

i think we can take it that Joel Smith isn't playing. Some arses need to be kicked IMO.

Joel Smith had to stay out on the field because they didnt want to overload Tmac which i have no issue with.

Edited by david_neitz_is_my_dad

12 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Harmes had a red hat on for the match sim. Viney had a lovely orange hat on. 

They still took Jack out of  several drills so I'm not 100% that he'll play. Or 100% that he should play.

Were the drills heavy contact drills? Apparently Viney received a knock on the head at training last week and may be unavailable this week. Source not 100%.


12 minutes ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Joel Smith had to stay out on the field because they didnt want to overload Tmac which i have no issue with.

Clearly they overloaded Vanders though!

3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Confirmed: Joel Smith sidelined for 6 weeks with a groin injury.

 

That's gob-smackingly inept from the club to have left him out to play injured in a [censored] practice match. 

 
2 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Confirmed: Joel Smith sidelined for 6 weeks with a groin injury.

 

I sincerely hope the injury didn't become 6 weeks as a result of hobbling on one leg for 2 and a half quarters in a meaningless practice match.

What a disastrous day that was - JLT 2.

3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Confirmed: Joel Smith sidelined for 6 weeks with a groin injury.

 

Poor effort by the medical/coaching team to leave him on the ground in a practice match, we could have played one short for part of a practice match now we don't have him available for 6 weeks!


1 hour ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Joel Smith had to stay out on the field because they didnt want to overload Tmac which i have no issue with.

Take them both off!  Only half jesting.

Didn't GWS play with 15 player after injuries vs Carlton as JTL games are meaningless.  (Carlton still lost ? )

Also, I recall Hardwick benching his top 4 players in the last quarter of a preseason game and went thru the motions till the siren.

Should have done the same with AVB.

JLT games just don't matter.

Edited by Lucifer's Hero

The Joel Smith injury isn't a good look, is it?  We couldn't plan for the JKH and Harmes injuries, but hindsight suggests we should have been better prepared for all eventualities.   Let's hope they learn from it.

Outside of that, I still think we're taking in a strong side, although we will be missing a few potential players from our forward half.  It might mean that someone like Petracca spends a bit more time forward to provide a target, or someone like Corey Wagner or Jay Lockhart get a late call up to the side.

22 minutes ago, ManDee said:

Poor effort by the medical/coaching team to leave him on the ground in a practice match, we could have played one short for part of a practice match now we don't have him available for 6 weeks!

6 weeks normally means 12. Really poor decision to keep him on when injured for a JLT. Breathtakingly stupid.


Seriously stupid by the club. This is why I hate pre-season. You end up weaker in round 1. I'd rather bubble wrap the players. We have 18 players on the bloody injury list for christ sake. 

Was it poor to leave Smith on when he'd clearly injured his groin ?  Sure.  

Would he have most likely have missed games even if he didn't come back on ?  By the way he was hobbling I suspect it wouldn't have mattered much.

Not a good look. I imagine he would have been out anyway but an injury like this can be aggravated. Not happy about it but it's done now.

Before we all completely lose our minds, does anyone know what the injury actually is? If it’s a strain then I agree, it was silly. If it’s something else (ie load issue) then having him out there wouldn’t have made much of a difference to the underlying injury. 

1 hour ago, ManDee said:

Poor effort by the medical/coaching team to leave him on the ground in a practice match, we could have played one short for part of a practice match now we don't have him available for 6 weeks!

I agree with the sentiment that it seems poor management to have kept him on the field, but would most people have him in their Round 1 side if fit? I'm not sure if he gets in ahead of T Mac, Weideman, Melksham, Petracca, Spargo, ANB and Hunt. And I can't see us playing an eighth forward. The last three I've listed would be playing a different role, so the real question is whether he'd be playing instead of one of the first four named (I would have thought not) or whether one of those four plays elsewhere (possible, if Petracca plays more of a mid-field role). In short, I'm not convinced he would have been picked this week anyway. 

And I forgot about Fritsch. If he's playing forward, there's even less room for Smith (and probably Hunt)

Edited by La Dee-vina Comedia


4 hours ago, Demon Jack said:

Keilty and Hunt training with the forwards with the latter just nailing a flat drop punt at goal from 50m. Sounded good off the boot!

That's where (50m arc) Hunt can do damage as a forward, leading from the pocket, early, tearing up the turf in front of his direct opponent and sheltered with changing screens by his teammates along the journey to provide 2-3 prongs of possible marking receives.

2 hours ago, chook fowler said:

i think we can take it that Joel Smith isn't playing. Some arses need to be kicked IMO.

Why is that.   Do you actually think him playing made it worse?  I assume they decided he couldn’t get any worse and therefore used him out of the square.  

11 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

Why is that.   Do you actually think him playing made it worse?  I assume they decided he couldn’t get any worse and therefore used him out of the square.  

I think it is self evident that soft tissue inflammation and/or tearing would be exacerbated by applying further load. It clearly looked worse the longer he was on the ground- he could hardly walk by the end of the game. 

 
27 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

Why is that.   Do you actually think him playing made it worse?  I assume they decided he couldn’t get any worse and therefore used him out of the square.  

That's a bit like saying that Misson said "oh what the hell, it's gonna be a 6 week injury, we may as well leave him out there". 

:wacko:

Went down to training and very pleased to report no new injuries!

Preuss was doing a lot of work with the mids and I would suggest he is in strong consideration for Saturdays game. Didn't look hindered and trained the whole session.

Players "next in line"

KK. He was in the midfield group and another who trained the whole session and looked good. They trialled him on the wing in their midfield "plays". Really think he can add something when he is right to go.

Baker. Another who they trialled on the wing in the midfield plays. Looking forward to a good year from him, he is another who has a lot of upside and is close to selection

Sparrow. Last time I went along to training I wondered what all the fuss was about with him but after a taste in the pre-season you can see he has come along very nicely in the last few weeks. They have him in the middle mixing with Oliver, Gus, Viney and the likes and he looks like he will be equally as good in a year or two. He finished off slamming goals from outside 50. Massive boot, he looks the goods.

Watched Gus for a while and if he was a racehorse you would say he is a lazy track-worker, he rarely stands out and as some of the young guns want to show off and impress and have a laugh Gus was just doing what he had to to get through. I think he might have his sights firmly set on Saturday.

Melksham looked tired. Really wanted to see him as he is so important to us but he didn't overly involve himself. Don't know why and I'm sure it was nothing but I hope he fires up on Saturday.


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