Leaderboard

Footy is such a drug that demands my attention even when I resolve to be a little more balanced. I think that I’ve attended every MCG game in the past 3 years bar 2 (both of them were wins as well), and I’ve read, aborbed and enjoyed all of the training reports on Demonland and ‘Ology, despite them seeming to be pretty consistent. Last Monday, I took advantage of the 8am start to training at the Gosch to watch my first training session since the boys trained in the twilight at Junction Oval in 1992 (I was working in the “cheese grater” next door back in 92). Watching training on Monday morning met many of my expectations based on the fabulous training reports, but there were some quirks that took me a little by surprise. I’ve really enjoyed the training reports, but I thought that I’d share some of my observations that I did not see in others’ reports. My first observation was how smooth and gradual the warm-up was. From memory, it consisted of the following: Players arriving at the oval took a gentle walk in groups of 2 to 5 for one lap around the boundary. The coach who led the warm-up said a few words that I could not hear, then I heard him call out “do a single”, which obviously translated to jog a single lap. There was an array of stretching exercises for the legs and groin. As an ex-amateur player (from the mid-80s to the early 90s), their stretches looked really well thought out. There were a series of kicking exercises where players would start in two rows, 15 metres apart at first moving out to 30 metres, kicking one-on-one to each other. By the time I thought to look, they were tending to kick with their non-preferred foot. I remember Robbie Flower’s dead-eye aim in the 70’s World of Sport handball competition, and these guys looked more like amateurs than Robbie Flower. (Readers, please don’t get worried by this – I saw this as merely a part of the warm-up routine.) The players then did some good-old circle work, though with stations positioned on each of the flanks and in the goal squares. I moved into the boundary to watch closely how well each of the players were handling and disposing of the ball. By this time, the players were pretty much moving at full pace. I also realised after 5 or so minutes of this that I was so absorbed that I had almost forgotten to breathe – I love footy so much. Flowing footy is like poetry in motion for me and completely absorbs me. As far as skills were concerned, I’d say that about half of the disposal / accuracy / receiving was clean enough to withstand a defender one metre behind and hot on the tail of the target. At the end of the circle work, the players did something that I’ve never seen in Aussie Rules but it is a feature of sports like Rugby Union and hockey. The players formed two rows facing each other like a sausage and rotated around the group and “congratulated” each of their team mates with a hand-shake, should pat sort of thing. As a Dees fan, it looked good. A trainer then brought out a bag of GPS harnesses and the players stripped off their red shirts to put the harness on and to don one of the white or royal blue jumpers that others have described in their reports. There was a few minutes break while a steady stream of players almost sprinted to the heritage green public lavatory on the corner of the park next to the entrance to AAMI Park. Seeing the players resort to using the public toilet struck me as a bit odd; a bit inconsistent with being elite sportsmen and trainers. I won’t say who was first to do a whiz, but that was only 20 minutes after they started. I’m sure that they drink buckets of water but I’d be surprised if someone attending a training session at my work excused themselves 20 minutes after the training started. At first, I thought that this was an aberration until there were about another 5 players who did the same thing in the next 5 minutes. After the short break, the players moved into the match simulation with directions from Choco in the middle. Boy it felt weird watching a match simulation on the boundary line rather than up in the stands as I found it really hard to process any of what was happening. Most of the players were hard to distinguish and, frankly, it looked pretty scrappy. It did not help that most of the action was taking place on the opposite wing. One thing that interested me was that they operated an interchange bench, with Tappy and Willow interchanging and even with an official with a whiteboard. I could almost imagine one of those umpires with the tight trackies making sure that the Post-it notes were in order. At the end of about 10 minutes of match-simulation, they called a break. By this time, it was 9:15 or so and I had to head off to work. Some other observations. Neeldy and most of the other senior coaches spent quite a bit of time standing around chewing the fat with their arms crossed, hands in their pockets or pulling up their shorts. (Those shorts aren’t the sort of clothes you’d see the Fonz wear on Happy Days, if you know what I mean.) It struck me how different their work environment was to my work environment, where appearing as though you are loafing is seriously frowned upon. These guys get paid mega-bucks and obviously know when to sit on the perimeter and observe, and when to step in, absorb the pressure and make some big calls. I sensed that Neeldy was very comfortable with empowering his assistants. Immensely talented players who can do freakish things in a game blended in at this training session (at least for the 45 minutes of training that I watched). Guys like Killer, Greeny, Rush, Chipper didn’t stand out like what I’ve come to expect. I’ll finish up by stating that I think that they guys will be really competitive this season. I went to AGM (and even asked a question), and I had the distinct impression that the top-brass are conspiring to keep a lid on expectations, a la the “under-promise and over-deliver” mantra. The vibe at training was quiet but positive, along the lines of follow the process and the outcomes will look after themselves. The match simulation may have been scrappy but I got a real sense of steely determination. I’m not supposed to go to so many games this year as I’m starting a part-time Masters degree, but I sense that I’ll be down at the G more time than I plan for. Go Dees!

Talk like that will get you crucified on this site !

If you take the view that every club is vulnerable to losing one of their better players, I'm relieved that ours has been Scully - and that we got 2 compo picks (and, in a round about way, Mitch Clark) for him. We also now command the moral high ground on this issue, something that wasn't totally with us immediately following season 2009.

Thanks again, Jack.

Breakfast.

Who stole my ads?

Love your work Dee-luded ! Too much detachment =no point following the War/game . My emenies' enemy is my friend . I hate them ,hate them ,hate them .Filth , Hawks and Bombers must die. Would not mind if their plane went down . GWS will be fun to slaughter.

All the above were talk and action people (of which they did/do very well). We are action (which we aren't doing very well), Neeld is action (time will tell). The ones that supporters get pi$$ed off with are the talk and no action ones.

Or Rohan & Martin !!! Might 'ave been Fun!

I think performances on the field now would be a good selling point. Neeld seems to me to be a man of letting actions do the talking; instead of just talking. Here's a little exercise, who are the "faces" or free main marketing tools of these clubs: - Adelaide - Brisbane - Carlton - Collingwood - Essendon - Fremantle - Geelong - Gold Coast - GWS - Hawthorn - Melbourne - North Melbourne - Port Adelaide - Richmond - St Kilda - Sydney - Western Bulldogs - West Coast -

Thanks WJ Its interesting ( for mine ) how the whole Craig thing really came about and what is shows in terms of how this club thinks it needs to grow and what its doing to accomplish this. Im sure there will be many who will not quite see how much this holistic change of direction will benefit the club mainly as its not an overnight thing. So much oif footy is really between the ears. The club needs to foster a whole culture of the 'right' thinking right across the ranks etc. Im glad and impressed Brads taken it on the chin. I actually think he might secretly be relieved. Craig really strikes me as a real high calibre thinker. A great addition to the club. back to you WJ

I thought the bittersweet mention of "obviously a leader" after the line "good 2011 against poor teams" would be consistent with my view. The guy is a leader. But his glaring inconsistency tarnishes that leadership. You can't implore others to do or follow when you can't get there yourself.

David King is putting a broad brush on this and I don't think he brings anything of worth to the table here. As many have posted on the training reports a lot of our guys have put on size and some, one in particular, Moloney has dropped a bit. As Neeld says they are on individual programs, I can't see them wanting to trim down Lucas Cook or Jack Watts for that matter.

your wish is my command.....

It is not Hindsight...i am getting very sick of that word...The March 5 Press Conference says it all, and we now know Phill signed 5 months earlier. At the time i wanted to believe he would stay, but i was never confident....Range Rover was on the $$$ all the way.... I really do not care what other posters think of what i write on this topic...My opinions will not change, they in fact get stronger with every piece of press i read. Over the last 4-5 years i have put a lot of money into this club, and will continue to do so...But Tom $cully was one mistake in many positives...But it certainly does sour the "Tanking" arguement....not sure if it was worth the pain....still deciding.