PRESEASON TRAINING: Friday 14th February 2025

[Ghostwriter 5,459]

On 16/02/2025 at 10:33, Ollie fan said:

We see this sort of comment quite often on DLand. 
 

Some players are very well paid - although out of the starting figure comes managers' and agents' fees etc..   The majority are not so well paid. in return, they take a life which has a very limited span - generally a maximum of 10-12 years; for players below the top echelon, less than that. Every aspect of their day Is focused around diet, exercise, and proper preparation. They live in an intrusive media spotlight and get harassed by members of the public, either well-meaning or not, on a regular basis. They generally don't have the time to get qualifications like a degree or an apprenticeship so at the end of their careers they have to start from scratch. When working, they face physical challenges that almost anyone would avoid, but the slightest flinch is scrutinised and criticised. [I for one would be terrified on an AFL footy field!] At any time they might get serious injury - eg poor McAdam - which often can persist for life (e.g. post-concussion issues, or lifelong arthritic knees, etc).  In return, they provide all of us with something to fill our daily lives.

 

I don't begrudge them their pay or conditions one bit.

I’ll go one step further, OF. The club owns the players’ souls. The things Mrs Fritta has told me would shock many people. These are things that only the players and their families (and the Club) know about. The players don’t get to clock off at the end of the working day. Their contracts include minimum numbers of obligations/hours outside of training and playing. They are monitored in every facet 24/7 during the season, and while not to the same stringent degree, during the off-season. That’s just two examples to illustrate the control they’re under. Waaaay too much to list here. They earn every dollar they’re paid and if folks think it’s a cushy way to make big $ they’re so wrong.  

[old dee 24,083]

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Sprsgo did have surgery on his Achilles. 

From memory dd the surgery only happened after the round 1 breakdown. I am not sure why all the conversation is about the Spargo injury affecting our 2024 season. IMO he is an average player. I doubt his absence affected the result of one game last year.

[dazzledavey36 56,334]

1 hour ago, binman said:

One mistake a year - assuming you count the examples given as 'mistakes'.

But as you suggest, the implication was the examples given were indisputably mistakes, which is just complete nonsense. 

It never ceases to amaze me how people make definitive statements about medical stuff when, one they are almost nver have any relevant qualifications and two, don't have access to the players medical history, rehabilitation plans or any of the relevant data.   

I mean, it's not unreasonable to have as starting point that highly paid professional medical and high-performance teams with access to all the relevant info and data are likely to be making informed decisions about the management of players with injuries. 

Take Spargo - it seems to be accepted as fact that playing him in round one did more damage and was a factor in him being out for the season. Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't. The point is we are only making guesses either way. Correlation doesn’t imply causation and all that. 

What we can say with certainty is medical and high-performance teams made, based on the information and data they had access to at the time (and we did not) made what they thought was the right decision for Spargs at the time. 

An interesting parallel to the decision to play Spargs was the almost identical decision to play Tmac in round one just two weeks after ankle surgery. Played, and i don't think missed a game for the whole season?    

Can someone actually confirm this actually happened? I can not find this information anywhere and the fact that someone with previous debilitating ankle issues can play two weeks after ankle surgery is bizarre in itself.

The standard recovery process for a simple ankle cleanout is around 4-6 weeks and for some reason i just can't recall this actually happening?

Edited February 17 by dazzledavey36

[layzie 34,528]

I wouldn't have traded pick 28 for him, but no-one could have seen this injury coming. 

[Roost it far 10,136]

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Sprsgo did have surgery on his Achilles. 

Spargo didn’t want the surgery he was recommended before last season. Playing around 0 made no difference to his injury. He still waited months before going under the knife in the hope his Achilles would improve. It was largely his decision to try and avoid surgery. He’s now had it and the recovery is slow. 

[dazzledavey36 56,334]

8 minutes ago, old dee said:

From memory dd the surgery only happened after the round 1 breakdown. I am not sure why all the conversation is about the Spargo injury affecting our 2024 season. IMO he is an average player. I doubt his absence affected the result of one game last year.

People forget how average he was in 2023 when he was dropped throughout the season.

I like Spargo but he's not in my best 22 at all even with our small being injury affected.

[layzie 34,528]

9 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Ferocious is the word. We were so hard to play against. God I loved watching us play

People get hung up about the game style and not wanting to turn up if it isn't attractive footy. 

I believe we need to evolve our style but I loved every moment of the way we played footy that year. 

[dazzledavey36 56,334]

4 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Spargo didn’t want the surgery he was recommended before last season. Playing around 0 made no difference to his injury. He still waited months before going under the knife in the hope his Achilles would improve. It was largely his decision to try and avoid surgery. He’s now had it and the recovery is slow. 

Mate this is factually incorrect and I can confirm that having spoken to his old man Paul about this last year he confirmed that after the round 0 game against Sydneu he pulled up incredibly sore on the Friday morning after the match.

By that afternoon he couldn't barely put any weight on it and was fairly bruised up as well. Club put him on a off legs program for a few weeks to try and relieve the tension but everytime he'd try and push through it aggravate further.

Leading up to round 0 the club and charlie were managing it well but after the Sydney game, it had a significant impact on his Achilles and from that he simply couldn't recover which resulted in surgery. 

There is no tip toeing around it, playing against Sydney had a significant impact on his achillies injury.

[Roost it far 10,136]

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Mate this is factually incorrect and I can confirm that having spoken to his old man Paul about this last year he confirmed that after the round 0 game against Sydneu he pulled up incredibly sore on the Friday morning after the match.

By that afternoon he couldn't barely put any weight on it and was fairly bruised up as well. Club put him on a off legs program for a few weeks to try and relieve the tension but everytime he'd try and push through it aggravate further.

Leading up to round 0 the club and charlie were managing it well but after the Sydney game, it had a significant impact on his Achilles and from that he simply couldn't recover which resulted in surgery. 

There is no tip toeing around it, playing against Sydney had a significant impact on his achillies injury.

Thats plain wrong I’m afraid. 

Edited February 17 by Roost it far

[demon3165 2,865]

One hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:  Yes, it is basically entertainment. But for the club, it is a multi-million dollar business.  Managing the number one asset would be a tough job, as every player has a different background.  Of course, it's a business for them, but the fact is, if the club folded tomorrow, it would not impact the day-to-day supporters of the club probably emotionally for some, but not financially. And yes, I agree, looking after players' different personalities, as shown last year, would be a headache.

[DeeZone 10,590]

40 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Sprsgo did have surgery on his Achilles. 

True Dazzle but as a last resort, Spargs refused surgery early days but the Achilles failed to heal through non surgical means.

[Roost it far 10,136]

I don’t think anyone can suggest the players aren’t on a great wicket. Play the game you love, get payed very well to do it. On the downside don’t get fat,  Injure yourself in the off season or do drugs in public. Anyone having sympathy for these guys because the club “owns them” needs to take a look around at how most people earn a living. Sheesh!

[Lucifers Hero 40,716]

The chat about pick 28 for McAdam is but a small part of the picture.

Big picture:

• We had him free of charge for 2024 as we traded a F2 which turned out to be #28.
• If we made 2024 finals as expected F2 would have been #34 or higher.
• We got #28 back for ANB then traded it to Ess as part of the #9 trade.  Because of all the comp/FS/Academy picks it became #37 for Ess.  Sad, not sad!
• So it would be true to say the F2 we traded for McAdam was in fact 37.
• #28 was an important part of the Ess #9 trade, without it we would not have #9 and not have XL. 

 

It is really unfortunate what has happened to McAdam but he doesn't have any say in the trade currency so maybe we just let it go.  We got the pick back and JT was never going to take a late 2nd round pick to the draft. 

[DeeZone 10,590]

15 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

One hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:  Yes, it is basically entertainment. But for the club, it is a multi-million dollar business.  Managing the number one asset would be a tough job, as every player has a different background.  Of course, it's a business for them, but the fact is, if the club folded tomorrow, it would not impact the day-to-day supporters of the club probably emotionally for some, but not financially. And yes, I agree, looking after players' different personalities, as shown last year, would be a headache.

Demon3165 do you realise what you just posted, if the club folded tomorrow, it would not impact the day-to-day supporters of the club, probably emotionally for some…….!!!!!!!! Probably, that is the biggest understatement that I have read for a very very long time. 👍😁

[jnrmac 20,375]

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Sprsgo did have surgery on his Achilles. 

eventually. For a long time they thought they could rehab it. He underwent surgery in July 2024

[DiscoStu17 871]

Is it still Friday?

what are people up to this weekend?

[sue 9,277]

22 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Top 3 for goals in a pi$$ poor team isn't much to hang your hat on.

Even then he couldn't get through a full season without getting injured.

A very poor return for what we gave the Crows.

Or you could argue getting a reasonable number of goals in a pi$$ poor team is pretty good going.   Presumably in a poor team the ball was up the other end most of the time and delivery forward was poor.  

[Roost it far 10,136]

2 minutes ago, sue said:

Or you could argue getting a reasonable number of goals in a pi$$ poor team is pretty good going.   Presumably in a poor team the ball was up the other end most of the time and delivery forward was poor.  

Cranky doesn’t like common sense, it hinders his overt negativity

[WERRIDEE 5,638]

3 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

You have one job, Werridee. 

Yeah I've shamed myself

[Ollie fan 3,671]

10 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Cranky doesn’t like common sense, it hinders his overt negativity

CF is a spent force. He was absolutely skewered by bing181 (see a couple of pages back on this thread) and I doubt if he'll have the front to post again for quite a while. He certainly shouldn't.

[Cranky Franky 2,270]

2 hours ago, Ollie fan said:

CF is a spent force. He was absolutely skewered by bing181 (see a couple of pages back on this thread) and I doubt if he'll have the front to post again for quite a while. He certainly shouldn't.

Actually bing181 is a dill. All he did was point out that several of us had said that he was talented at the time of the trade.

We were always apprehensive of what we paid for him and after seeing how he turned up for pre season last year & watching his schoolboy antics at Casey we figured it was a bust.

 

[KozzyCan 972]

6 hours ago, 58er said:

Fritsch’s game before the final was a hit bout after weeks on the side. It wasn’t meaningless it secured a double chance for us. 

I agree with most of the others and thank you for your efforts.

Goody has been responsible I reckon on at least a couple of occasions. 

I don't think that first bit is correct. By the time we played Sydney on the Sunday afternoon our ladder position couldn't change. I think Fritsch would have been better served playing a VFL game where his load could be more closely managed. It felt like we were trying to do a bit of a dress rehersal and play ourselves into finals form which didn't end up working out unfortunately.

Edited February 17 by KozzyCan

[Ollie fan 3,671]

9 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Actually bing181 is a dill. All he did was point out that several of us had said that he was talented at the time of the trade.

We were always apprehensive of what we paid for him and after seeing how he turned up for pre season last year & watching his schoolboy antics at Casey we figured it was a bust.

 

CF, you can't retrieve your position. Don't try. He got you fair and square with your own words.

[rpfc 29,027]

I can’t wait for @Cranky Franky’s write up of the second round of the draft in November, he is so attached to the talent that is available at our pick…

[Cranky Franky 2,270]

41 minutes ago, rpfc said:

I can’t wait for @Cranky Franky’s write up of the second round of the draft in November, he is so attached to the talent that is available at our pick…

I can't wait for rpfc or Ollie fan to make a useful contribution to this forum.