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I attended yesterday's craft session, as they call it. The music was blaring in what was perfect conditions. Some things that stood out to me: -Dom Tyson looks fit and was second to ANB in the interval running at the end of the session -Bernie looks 10 years younger and is covering the ground as well as he ever has -Salem was getting his hands on the footy a lot at the stoppage drills. He, Dom and Clarry were the standouts here -The coaches support Trac verbally during the running drill at the end. Twig Rawlings really revved CP5 up to give it everything -Charlie Spargo has clean hands, moves very well and looks a good user. Harry Petty has an unusual gait and looks ungainly. Oskar moves well and is a penetrating kick, but obviously his conditioning is a fair way off the others at the moment -Pedo looks lean and is covering the ground well -Wags and Hunty got to do a fun drill. The had to sit under high balls inside our defensive 50 and take a ride on Jade Rawlings' back and take the grab. Poor old Jade played the step ladder here -Gawny is very verbal and gave a lot of instruction to the on-ballers. Benny Matthews really drives Nut Harmes a lot of instruction at these drills -I enjoyed watching Max Rooke working with the small forwards v the small defenders. There was great intent here, and Dean Kent looked to be relishing being back with the main group. -Post session, I watched Billy, Salem and Clarry stay out and do some touch work, Corey Maynard do some stuff with the specialist coaches and Charlie Spargo do some grappling with a phys eder.

T Mac out marking Lever in the one on ones. Pedo gave T Mac more of a run for his money. Petracca right up with the leaders in the runs and pushing hard right up until the end where he dropped off a bit. Looks to have improved his fitness. ANB very clean hands in the drills. Does a lot right. Petracca not so sharp by hand. Spargo never misses a target and is fast. Maynard going about it nicely.

Outrageous after R23. They should toughen up like at a boot camp. (Is there an emoji for being ironic?)

Reckon if it gets super hot they will cut session short, they can make it up Working tomorrow in air conditioning thankfully so no pics or 'gossip' On Spargo Kennedy was a very good VFL player who couldn't quite bridge the gap on a consistent basis, like Mitch White and many others Spargo comes into our system at a completely different time and there is no rush to blood him, he may make you eat your words @old dee, yesterday Bernie Vince gave him a torrid time, deliberately I think, handled it all with aplomb, looks a step up in speed and skill from Kennedy, but time will tell

Love the twisted logic on here. the year after we did the camp and then didn’t make finals. Some are now claiming that if we again miss finals that our now not doing the camp will be to blame... ???

Sounds like he had nothing at the bottom of his leg until his last year at school.

If Kennedy was a foot taller he still wouldn't have made it.

that's fine, but i wouldn't be calling jack viney a midget if i was you...and he gives up 13cm to oliver, and about 20cm to patrick cripps for instance... his ability and desire is what allows him to (more than) compete with much, much bigger midfielders similarly, nev jetta is not exactly a giant but his ability and desire allow him to compete - in the air, no less - with players significantly bigger than he is

There are two Statts I believe in from 2017. Richmond were the best team and Brisbane were the worst. The rest is just Champion data trying to justify their existence.

I just use an old cheap camera more for the shot than the clarity meant as a bit of entertainment rather than a lesson in sports photography @old dee I know you weren't digging at Spargo, I always support the 'little' guy, being 5ft 4in in the old money myself and surviving till the age of 50 in amateur footy, mainly because I was Liverpudlian and a nasty little [censored]. I know the little guys have to have something special to survive at the top level

Agree Wise. Caleb Daniel 168cm and Lewis Taylor 175cm & Rising Star Winner say hello. So does Viney 178cm. You can rest assured the FD know that someone of Spargo's height 173cm wouldn't get selected without firstly speed, secondly high level of skill, thirdly great game sense, fourthly or firstly "the most competitive player in this draft" as he was described by the commentators at the draft when he was selected. So far he is displaying all of the above. As someone else mentioned, you never know at his bottom end age, he might still have some growth left. Macrae at the Bulldogs was drafted at 181cm and a year later had had a growth spurt and is now 191cm. Not saying that will happen to Spargo but a bit of it might. Hunt grew 30cm in his last years at school.

Tackles, tackle percentage, 1 percenters like smothers and spoils, contested ball and now the all important pressure acts that attempts to grade how much pressure a player applies to an opponent. Combine that with GPS numbers and I think it probably does spit out a decent evaluation of which players are doing what in the old days would be called 'running hard and having a crack'. If there's a glaring weakness in using stats to evaluate footy games it's that they can't say which players are running to and disposing to the right spots according to a coaches game plan. In fact I doubt think Champion Data have even worked out what they would rank as the best game plan. They should focus their stats on the ones that matter and on which players matter. They might well do that and keep it in house for the clubs because the stuff they release to the media is just a statistical version of fan forum rankings.

Saty I have not canned him. All I am saying is when you are short you have to be very good to make it. Kennedy was not very good and he did not make it. Simple I thought but people seem to have the idea that I think he is not good enough I have no idea who good he is as I said. I have every hope he is terrific.

Just FYI for the track watchers, in a bid to try and beat the heat tomorrow, all training has been pushed forward an hour. So the main training session should start at 8:30 instead of 9:30.

While I don't think he'll get much opportunity this year due to our improved depth, I feel as though Spargo is going to be a very shrewd selection by our recruiting team. What he lacks in height he makes up for in skills and intent and that can take him a long way.

These lists from Champion are inherently biased towards older lists. They base their rankings on the team's performance over the past three seasons. Many of our first side don't even have data from three seasons to put up, and certainly not impressive numbers in the firsts. This doesn't mean that they aren't a better group than sides like Collingwood. It's just that those sides are packed full of veterans with big numbers in the past to increase their ranking.

Are you sure, we could have a longer thread than the No B$ thread with his ridiculous illinformed claims and clear lack of understanding footy clubs

It's not might, he has to turn it around Showed a lot of intent today when out of rehab group

Agree with @Wrecker45 on Spargo, we have gone bush again and may have unearthed another one Asked him how he was travelling at the end of the session, getting used to the training loads etc, said it was all good One drill had a tall fwd Tommy Mc/Pedo knocking the ball down for small fwds to crumb, some of it got a bit willing, Bernie Vince flattened Spargo at one point but a couple of kicks later Spargo with Bernie all over him crumbed beautifully and goaled, have a pic later Trac was one the standouts for me today as well Think Tommy Mc worked over Lever on instruction, Lever is a great reader and intercept mark but has to be able to one on one as well

Notes from Wednesday Excellent session to a high standard (not my words, a coach), although I agree, as Monday was, some real intent in the tackling Rehab Jones Fritsch Balic Weed Kent with main group A drill involving the defenders launching torps from just outside the goalsquare was interesting to watch again, Hunt landed one on far side of centre square, impressive, Vince the other getting some distance Will put some pics on Instagram and here later

Got down to Gosch's today for about 80 minutes... observations other than those already mentioned, Bernie's predicted demise was premature! His ball handling and kicking to position in the conditions was of the highest quality and he was up to speed in the sprints Ditto Lewis Impressed by Filipovic's increased bulk, athletic running and sure hands Jetta terrific in man on man defensive rebound activity Oscar McD consistently effective at spoiling in the arial contests Tom McD had the safest hands in the marking exercises I watched Petracca bustles like a bull and gets what he wants Bugg is looking like best 22 again Lewis an unlikely dead-eyed-dick on the day Oh yes, a bloke called Clayton continues to make the difficult look easy

I did in the after season.

Why is no one talking about my man Oska Baker ? The kid looked very at home in the midfield group on wednesday squeeze in front of Petracca more than once and dished it out with speed and class, and please a request no more with the Ginger Ninger cringe worthy at best we can, will and must do better.

I went to an ice hockey game. Fair dinkum, the yanks would watch tiddlywinks if it was in a huge stadium with flashing lights, ear splitting music, popcorn, kiss cam, remote control blimps, G-rated strippers cheerleaders, and various other mind numbing distractions for tiny minds. I'm surprised they were able to concentrate for 11 entire minutes. No wonder they hate cricket.

More action fighting for a spot at the urinal. NFL is bog ordinary. Would not cross the road to watch it. Staggering egos and pay-cheques, and full of politics.

so far it's hard to tell if these sackings are all part of a master plan or just dear leader going through a stalinist purge of everyone he doesn't like it could be that he has pretensions to up market acceptability (in the sports arena????), and any presenter with a whiff of bogan, meathead or numbskull about them, or someone who might not pass muster in camberwell village, is being shown the door. why then would hillier go? why would maher stay? why would those two knuckleheads in the morning stay? they're sacrificing a lot of SPORTS knowledge for .... what exactly? the mellifluous tones of mr "i have unshakeable principles unless slobbo is around to shout me down" whately? ultimately it's all about ratings and ad revenue, so time will tell. but so far this brave new SEN seems to be all over the shop.

So now Rodney Hogg is gone.... The last one out with any personality please turn off the lights.

There's plenty of examples of some of the best players to play the game who went late in the draft or weren't picked at all for a few years. Greg Williams had this problem. Had to ask to train with the Cats for free over the pre season and then at the end Haffey gave him a go but had to go to Bendigo for a few years before he got that chance. Sam Mitchell and Dane Swan were quite late picks. Nat Fyfe and Rory Sloane were regarded as too skinny and were both reasonably late picks. Both Caleb Daniels and Taylor Lewis were very highly regarded talents as juniors who didn't get drafted till later picks.

I wonder if that's because players of his height are discouraged at an early age from continuing to chase the dream of playing AFL football, how many are told by their coaches that they are simply too small and it is a waste of their time. Only the strong survive and any player who is vertically challenged has to have a big heart to disregard the naysayers and push on, I think this kid might be one of them.

Please excuse my scepticism CB but that was mentioned here pages ago. They probably got it from Demonland.

I agree but I also think the game is changing and moving away from stoppages and tempo and back to fast paced and open footy. The Tigers were tall and strong in the air down back - Rance, Astbury, Grimes, Vlaustin, Broad all 187cm+ and capable in the air - but very quick and exceptional with the ball on the ground from the midfield to the forward line. They shared the ball by hand and kicked in to space, with long kicks only coming when Riewoldt or the ruckman was in position. Kennedy didn't have the foot skills or endurance for AFL midfield/high half forward. I would've played him more as a forward but others were preferred. Jay Kennedy-Harris actually has the endurance and kicking to make it, but lacks the physicality, the pressure of AFL footy gets to him, he just isn't quick enough to get out of trouble or to be a defensive presence. Anyway, I agree Spargo will have to be better than a guy who's 185cm to make it but the game plan will play a role as well. Keep the ball moving quickly and skillfully and set ups correct and you won't be having a small involved in contested marking contests.

2 greatest to legends ever to pull on a boot, Barassi & Whitten were persistent umpire whingers... I'm happy for him to have this weakness if it's his only flaw. ...but yeah, he could do with buttoning it up and concentrating on more important things. The game moves a bit too fast these days.

completely agree. I was having a go at the AFL not the sydney clubs. The AFL should 100% run and pay for these academies it's an unfair advantage imo. Heeney and Mills are both worthy picks 1s and should have gone to struggling teams

Clarry is pretty big for a midfielder? 187cm and built.

Stating that your opinion is an obvious one is not saying you can't have it.

Spargo was picked primarily (imo) due to his aggro. He loves the contest. You cant teach that. Look at clarry, he isnt the biggest guy out there but bats well above due to his appetite.

that might have been true about 50 years ago, andrew short players have very restricted opportunities and need a-grade skills to get a game these days

The number of posts has nothing to do with it - seems you’re getting a little defensive there. I’m saying the fact that you make a general, sweeping statement that you know for a fact that the coach is far from happy, holds little water... so maybe if you could provide a little more, that would at least give it some credence. I think I’d put Gawn’s word ahead of anyone posting here, and having attended three training sessions while in Melbourne earlier this month, I saw (nor sensed) nothing to indicate that anything was awry. Spirits were high and they were, as they say, training the house down.

That does not mean they are better then us, gee the eagles beat the crows in round 23, so that must mean they are better then them, in a season of 22 games we missed the finals by the smallest margin in history, and were in the 8 for most of the year they never got close to it, your response is what a four 4 year old would say.

You don't get sacked for going to the Union, and if they do as long you have been there for more then 6 months, thats unfair dismissal, sometimes you have to go to the Union before the boss, who can represent you better than you can, if we make finals it will be nothing to do with a boot camp. Let's end this stupidity. Wait and see if we don't do well, than the told you so's will beat their chest and be happy in the their misery.

watch out for those venison steaks.... I am sure that sacrificing Bambi on the barbie cannot be good for us .. Then again I do like a good piece of 'Roo meat.

I consider meself to be a long term sponsor!

The mirror with the smoke was a reflection on our perception here from what was coming out of the club at the time. The story was that we needed a 3 year program (this is what 'Willmoy' was referring to) to build the team to AFL standard fitness levels and whilst I don't doubt that was correct, it was never going to happen and it was never going to be the great hope we held out for. The list wasn't anywhere near good enough and neither was the coach or FD and the turnover meant there could be no consistency in getting the training loads right across the board. With some stability, Misson has been able to do his job. Bringing in some quality players at different stages in the development cycle who have been in good systems also helps. It spreads the load.

I thought the season was too full to run any sort of state of origin match, yet somehow we can sneak this in? Smells like Dill ignoring the results of his own surveys to me.

They've adjusted their metrics and parameters since then. They'll have a new erroneous and eyebrow-lifting list this year. (Inject "wtf?" emoji here.)

Every time I read this thread title my skin crawls. Can we change the "listen of" to listen to?

That's the AFL's fault. Out of the $1bill plus tv rights they've had over the past 10 years they won't allocate money to identify and develop young talent in the non AFL States. They leave it entirely to the teams there even though with the expansion there is more need to find more players. The Swans have spent over $1mill per year on their Academy for about 8-10 years now. They seek out every junior athlete initially in the whole of NSW and since GWS in their allocated areas. They have around 500-600 players a year going through it, that's thousands and thousands of players over the period. Out of that massive investment, so far they have Heeney and Mills. That's it. Brandon Jack was the only other player to make it to the list and he didn't make it. Heeney was a rugby league player in Newcastle who would never have been discovered without the Swans Academy work in finding him. I was involved in Junior AFL in Sydney for over ten years and know how incredibly hard the landscape is up here for AFL. The Swans Academy is a big deal to all the kids up here who aspire to getting picked in it. I've watched its impact on Junior Clubs like ours since it started and its significant. The only way to solve this is for the AFL to set up AFL Academies not Club Academies.

Unless you are going to provide more substance than that, you are just another of many on this site who have “the good mail”, but an empty letter box.

Dunno if im allowed a shameless plug on here (so mods delete if you must) but if you like history podcasts my mate and I make one telling different stories of rebellion and resistance. Also SEN sucks with or without Schwarta