TRAINING: Friday 17th March 2023

[Demonland 65,649]

1 minute ago, jez.w said:

 

We need to get to the bottom of this.

 

[Mickey 4,176]

1 minute ago, jez.w said:

 

Further down in that article they also say calf. Not great but probably what we can expect from afl.com

[McQueen 17,864]

1 minute ago, jez.w said:

 

That’s it. 
 

And this in the next paragraph it states his calf. 🧐

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,465]

2 minutes ago, jez.w said:

 

We're used to clubs consistently being, ahem, economical with the truth about player injuries. Now it looks like the AFL has taken over this responsibility.

[Demonland 65,649]

1 minute ago, McQueen said:

I can’t recall exactly. 
 

Thanks for clarifying. 

Not that this means anything but you put Steven May Calf into a search on Twitter and results from the past few days from all the reports about the injury come up.

You put Steven May Hamstring into the search and all the results are about his heroics in the 2021 Granny.

[DubDee 20,840]

Milkshake is the perfect sub. mid sized, can hit the scoreboard can mark, can play midfield if needed. and usually only plays one good quarter per game!

[DubDee 20,840]

The hamstrings connected to the

Calf muscle

the calf muscle connected to the

ankle bit

 

Any questions, call Dr. Dub

[Left Foot Snap 1,956]

2 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Milkshake is the perfect sub. mid sized, can hit the scoreboard can mark, can play midfield if needed. and usually only plays one good quarter per game!

Always thought sub suited older mature players like Melksham. Won't have as big an impact on his fitness not playing a whole game for a few weeks unlike a younger developing player. Should also be able to slot into the system easier due to his experience. 

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 3,913]

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

The medical diagnoses from afar, presumably with no medical training are hilarious. Keep them up.

If you're including me in this, Mr Leg, I was just reflecting on my own unpleasant experience of calves combined with ageing! To the extent my post seemed to be a diagnosis, its underlying purpose was just to say,  'take your time, Stephen.'

Nonetheless, I'll decline your generous invitation and put away the stethoscope.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Timothy Reddan-A'Blew
Punc,tu?ation;

[pineapple dee 2,892]

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

The medical diagnoses from afar, presumably with no medical training are hilarious. Keep them up.

Calf awareness compounded but a dull ache in the lower left hand side of his right patella ( or should I say paella )

ps I am not a doctor, ( but I have been  a patient )

[Demonstone 19,320]

39 minutes ago, Demonland said:

We need to get to the bottom of this.

You're suggesting it might be a gluteus maximus injury?  

[Caligula's cohort 1,014]

36 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Milkshake is the perfect sub. mid sized, can hit the scoreboard can mark, can play midfield if needed. and usually only plays one good quarter per game!

I thought we might of gone tall for a sub but really happy if Melky is the sub. He's definitely and impact player that can score quickly and bring others into the game as he was one of the best forward 50 entry kicks not so long ago and while still building to his full fitness from his calf injury he will be really handy for a quarter or a half. 

[titan_uranus 22,504]

55 minutes ago, kev martin said:

Tomlinson is looking fast and tall.

BBB turning well when switching within the triangles.

Thanks for the report kev. Cherry picked these two because IMO they're critically important. Tomlinson's pace is the major reason he's got so many detractors on here. If he can bring any sort of speed tomorrow night, we'll be in a much better position. And if Brown's turning circle is somewhere near reasonable, then I'm hopeful of a return to Round 1 2022, where he probably played his season's best game, dominated Keath and should have kicked 5 goals.

[titan_uranus 22,504]

3 minutes ago, Caligula's cohort said:

I thought we might of gone tall for a sub but really happy if Melky is the sub. He's definitely and impact player that can score quickly and bring others into the game as he was one of the best forward 50 entry kicks not so long ago and while still building to his full fitness from his calf injury he will be really handy for a quarter or a half. 

Something I took out of Goodwin's interview on the MFC website was that he said we'd look at the sub not just as a "tactical sub" but as a "load management sub".

Barring in-game injuries, I suspect we intend to use our sub to manage the minutes in the legs of kids and veterans.

[poita 3,637]

Thanks for the training reports. Just so I'm clear, we've named a side with 5 specialist small forwards under 183cm tall, and our sub is another specialist forward at 186cm tall. That seems less than optimum.

[fr_ap 2,148]

May's clearly injured his calfstring guys don't ask too many questions 

[binman 38,574]

37 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Milkshake is the perfect sub. mid sized, can hit the scoreboard can mark, can play midfield if needed. and usually only plays one good quarter per game!

Good points.

I'd add that he has sublime kicking skills, so makes the most of any possession he gets.

Given we are going to take the corridor on more often, it's important that the sub has excellent kicking skills in case they have to replace a player with the coach's approval to take that kick when it is high risk

(Note: i'm guessing all/most players have a license to take the kick on when it is low risk - eg a dees player is completely free in the corridor - but only a handful of players such as Hunter, Mcvee, Salem, Bowey and Kozzie have the license to take on high risk kicks.

By the by there was an example very late in last night's game of just such a kick - Nankervis elected to take on a super high-risk kick to the corridor in the blues half of the ground and flubbed it. The blues then proceeded to flub the turnover opportunity and the tigers were exceedingly lucky to win the ball and go forward. If turned over it would likely have cost the tigers the game).

The other thing about the sub this year is that you'd think it's very unlikely we won't use it - even if there is no injury forcing its use. That means the sub is really part of the starting 23. which i think is positive for a senior player like Melk. It also means the sub can be used tactically (eg we need defensive forward because an interceptor or distributor from defence has got off the chain) and melk is a good option because he has the skills and experience to make it work. 

[old55 21,372]

19 minutes ago, poita said:

Thanks for the training reports. Just so I'm clear, we've named a side with 5 specialist small forwards under 183cm tall, and our sub is another specialist forward at 186cm tall. That seems less than optimum.

I guess you're referring to Pickett, ANB, Spargo, Chandler and Laurie.  In the pre-season we rotated Pickett and ANB through the midfield to lessen the load on last year's core. 

Opponent: Richmond
CBAs: 31 - James Harmes 20, Clayton Oliver 20, Max Gawn 16, Christian Petracca 15, Brodie Grundy 15, Kysaiah Pickett 13, Tom Sparrow 12, Alex Neal-Bullen 7, Angus Brayshaw 4, Taj Woewodin 1, Trent Rivers 1

So that means 3 specialist small forwards under 183cm.  We could play an extra tall, say Schache or JVR, in place of one of them but that would be in addition to Brown, TMac and Gawn/Grundy in the forward line.  I'm pretty confident you'd be complaining that is too top-heavy.

FWIW, I think it will be a very good win if we can beat the Dogs (who are really only missing Gardiner and Weightman) without May, Fritsch, Viney and Salem.

[binman 38,574]

Another reason why melk makes sense as a sub is if Tmac needs to go back, Melk can play forward.

Not exactly like for like, but with Grawny  and BB we have enough talls down forward even without Tmac. And Melk is pretty good one on one so plays bit taller than most his size.   

Just listened to this MFC interview with Goody. Right at the end he is asked about how we will use the sub.

Interesting answer from Goody - short version: depends on circumstances, but sometimes it will be tactical and other times it will load management

"you'll see a whole range of players used as the sub, whether they're experienced players or younger players"

I suspect they will use the sub in part to make sure they are giving the players on the periphery of selection AFL game time, something that was an issue last year.  

Edited March 17, 2023 by binman

[biggestred 4,328]

Have torn my calf many times.

Takes ages to get over, but i could definitely kick a ball while it was hurt. Just couldn't run. And its so easy to retear. I retore mine 10 days after it walking (WALKING) up the hill to the G from richmond station. 

 

So yeah, long kicks, no issues. Anymore than a jog? No chance. 

 

Hopefully they take a very cautious approach with him. 

[bluey 891]

This May be a ruse, and not a calf.

[Willmoy1947 3,793]

I'm thinking Melksham should be fitter this season. Both he and Chandler could be the difference in this game.

And both have points to prove. I will be watching and hoping.

[Gawndy the Great 7,527]

15 minutes ago, biggestred said:

Have torn my calf many times.

Takes ages to get over, but i could definitely kick a ball while it was hurt. Just couldn't run. And its so easy to retear. I retore mine 10 days after it walking (WALKING) up the hill to the G from richmond station. 

 

So yeah, long kicks, no issues. Anymore than a jog? No chance. 

 

Hopefully they take a very cautious approach with him. 

interested to why the calf strain is associated with the elder statesman of the game. Anyone have a clue?

Edited March 17, 2023 by Gawndy the Great

[Witches Hat 228]

2 hours ago, McQueen said:

I thought it was a hammy with May?

Hamstring or calf?

Leg.

[dazzledavey36 48,906]

One thing to take into account with Melksham being a sub is that he only needs 6 more games until his boys qualify for father son. 

Think you'll find that there will be games where we purely carry Melksham as a sub just to make sure he gets to 100 games.