Darren Burgess officially our new fitness coach.

[Demonland 73,992]

[Jaded No More 68,976]

His resume is impressive and honestly after the run of injury and fitness issues we’ve had, we need someone at the top of their game. He sure has his work cut out for him, as I estimate about 80% of our list is currently injured or unfit. 

[Wiseblood 24,637]

25 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Skills coach next.

Simon Godfrey?

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

5 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Simon Godfrey?

His right foot was deadly.

 

[Wiseblood 24,637]

5 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

His right foot was deadly.

 

I love that goal.  What a win that was as well.  I was there and I gave it to every Pie fan within earshot.

[DeeSpencer 26,567]

There's some pretty interesting videos from his time at Port.

 

I'm hoping to see some of the stuff he's done with soccer players working on speed and agility worked in to our players. 

The Hawks at their best and a team like the Tigers now move like a soccer team, keeping in position with strong endurance running then quickly in to explosive actions to tackle or break a line.

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,786]

Anyone who has worked with Steven Gerrard and the Liverpool Football Club, is worth his weight in Gold.

Welcome to the Dees Darren Burgess.

Bout [censored] time!

Edited July 25, 2019 by Win4theAges

[Youngwilliam 381]

Not sure if anyone esle read an article on the Arsenal site. 2017 they paid Port Adelaide 7 figures to get Burgess. Gunners had 3 fitness guru's and 2 got cut to make room financially. Dare say Burgess was not cheap, I wouldn't argue that we don't need him either.

[Red and Blue realist 2,063]

23 minutes ago, Jaded said:

His resume is impressive and honestly after the run of injury and fitness issues we’ve had, we need someone at the top of their game. He sure has his work cut out for him, as I estimate about 80% of our list is currently injured or unfit. 

I know this will be howled down by many on here, but the reason for a lot of the injury/fitness issues were because we got so far last year with a relatively young and inexperienced team. After Hawthorn won in 2008 they dropped to 9th (but well out of finals contention) in a similar manner. Then when the matured they became perennial finalists, alongside the Swans, Geelong etc. They all have age and experience in common. The older the list means more pre-seasons so the shorter turn around between seasons don't have as big an impact, as they say the miles are already in the legs. 

I actually think Mission has done a reasonable job up until the end of last year, but going forward someone like Burgess should transform the list into something that can continually challenge. 

[DeeZee 7,463]

Let’s hope he gives the edge we are so desperate for.

[In Harmes Way 7,856]

If he’s as expensive as some think, can we get him to kick 45 goals a year on the weekend as part of his role?

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,786]

2 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Awesome. Can you start today?

Is he starting as of now? to measure the players current fitness levels etc?

[sue 9,259]

 

3 minutes ago, Win4theAges said:

Is he starting as of now? to measure the players current fitness levels etc?

November was stated.  I trust he (or Mission} will give each player a regime to work on between R22 and his taking over in Nov.

Edited July 25, 2019 by sue

[Moonshadow 17,678]

Well done Pert, Mahoney and crew.

Looking forward to seeing him in action at preseason training.

Has someone given him the heads up about Saty?

[binman 44,744]

23 minutes ago, Red and Blue realist said:

I know this will be howled down by many on here, but the reason for a lot of the injury/fitness issues were because we got so far last year with a relatively young and inexperienced team. After Hawthorn won in 2008 they dropped to 9th (but well out of finals contention) in a similar manner. Then when the matured they became perennial finalists, alongside the Swans, Geelong etc. They all have age and experience in common. The older the list means more pre-seasons so the shorter turn around between seasons don't have as big an impact, as they say the miles are already in the legs. 

I actually think Mission has done a reasonable job up until the end of last year, but going forward someone like Burgess should transform the list into something that can continually challenge. 

An excellent point. Aligns with the two ladders someone (apologies for not recalling who), one with experience and the other age which both closely reflected the current AFL ladder.

I reckon you could add the doggies to the hawks as an example and GWS have struggled with their young list to get up each year.

[binman 44,744]

Just now, Moonshadow said:

Well done Pert, Mahoney and crew.

Looking forward to seeing him in action at preseason training.

Has someone given him the heads up about Saty?

i wonder if Burgess shares Saty's ambivalence about the impact of interrupted preseasons? 

[Demon Dynasty 17,135]

A great pick up but personally i'm shattered that PF didn't get the gig.  Must have been in the final round surely!!

[Little Goffy 14,830]

45 minutes ago, Jaded said:

His resume is impressive and honestly after the run of injury and fitness issues we’ve had, we need someone at the top of their game. He sure has his work cut out for him, as I estimate about 80% of our list is currently injured or unfit. 

I despise managementese but hopefully he's looking at 'work cut out for him' and thinking 'opportunity laid out in front of him'.

Assembling an agenda of actually achieveable goals based on Demonland gripes for the last six months, his checklist would read something like:

Item 1: Reform our mdifield capability by adding the proverbial yard of acceleration and a bit of agility to our young beast group such as Petracca, Brayshaw and Oliver.

Item 2: Maximise the advantages of the group of relatively light, not-quite-tall mobile players like Hannan, Fritsch, Hunt, Kolodjashnij, Smith and Hore.

Item 3: Help a few older players stay refreshed and nimble, particularly with helping Jones in the necessary reshape to play on usefully in 2020, and also Hibberd and Jetta as particular examples.

Item 4: Ensure our key position players have the 'right kind' of confidence-building weight and muscle, whether adding or subtracting from the gross amount, and get Tom McDonald back to the front of the running trials.

Item 5: Above all else, bring in a risk-controlling program to develop the 'protective' strength and flexibility of our host of players going through recovery or with patterns of injury.

There we go, easy.

And now I have a baseline on which to judge the poor guy. Does he know what he is in for, if we do anything but triumph continuously for the next five years?

[Fork 'em 7,052]

Well the proof will be in the pudding.
I remember we were all excited when Misson came over after a couple of injury free years with the Swans and Aints.
Declared our players fitness levels were no-where near AFL level and told us he would need to work them over a several years block to get the fitness base required.
8yrs later ..........

[DeeSpencer 26,567]

31 minutes ago, Red and Blue realist said:

I know this will be howled down by many on here, but the reason for a lot of the injury/fitness issues were because we got so far last year with a relatively young and inexperienced team. After Hawthorn won in 2008 they dropped to 9th (but well out of finals contention) in a similar manner. Then when the matured they became perennial finalists, alongside the Swans, Geelong etc. They all have age and experience in common. The older the list means more pre-seasons so the shorter turn around between seasons don't have as big an impact, as they say the miles are already in the legs. 

I actually think Mission has done a reasonable job up until the end of last year, but going forward someone like Burgess should transform the list into something that can continually challenge. 

I think Misson did a pretty good job at the things he was meant to be good at - getting players fit and preventing avoidable injuries (especially soft tissues).

Even right now Weideman has a sore calf and Joel Smith has his groin, they are the only soft tissue injuries on the list.

But Misson was also the head of the whole performance program and the management of long term injuries has been awful. My biggest concern is we had the reigns to Burgess who is another sports science guy and as far as I can tell isn't a physiotherapist and clearly isn't a medical doctor. Will he sort through the injury management issues and maybe even change the culture of the coaches and players in how to far smarter with injury prevention and management?

We need to get back to a healthy list to start the year, that much is obvious, but when round 1 comes along next year I hope we have selection, game plan etc all on the right page and there's no more panicked selections of underdone players and hopefully we even play smarter, safer and more controlled footy.

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,786]

12 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Well the proof will be in the pudding.
I remember we were all excited when Misson came over after a couple of injury free years with the Swans and Aints.
Declared our players fitness levels were no-where near AFL level and told us he would need to work them over a several years block to get the fitness base required.
8yrs later ..........

Still waiting...... 

[Demon Dynasty 17,135]

55 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Well done Pert, Mahoney and crew.

Looking forward to seeing him in action at preseason training.

Has someone given him the heads up about Saty?

No need....he was on the panel

[Ted Lasso 19,580]

He's the Clarko of the high performance industry. this is an incredible get for the club. i'm really excited to see the sort of condition guys like Steven May and Christian Petracca get to under his guidance. 

Now lets get the coaching staff right 

[Caligula's cohort 1,014]

Thrilled we landed Burgess! this guy is the best in the business. Melbourne will be one of the fittest clubs going around next year (maybe 2). Which means, we will start getting back 4 quarter performances again, which has drastically dropped this year as we concede the most points of any club after 3/4 time. 

[Deestar9 1,851]

What it says to me is that our club is an attractive proposition to someone who

could basically go anywhere. Please don’t say he’s coming because of $... you have to have passion & belief in the club you are coming to. He would have been made aware of what happened pre-season & must obviously see & understand what has actually happened with our playing list . Whether we like it or not ...we will never be privy to all that has gone on & I am fine with that but appointments like this tell me that the club is working very hard to give us credibility & stability for the future.