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I’ve been told he’ll play round 1 unless there’s a slight breeze.

Thirteen , Thirteen its Max! where are you Agent 13 Hi Max... someplace called Casey Fields out the Middle of Nowhere, I'm hiding in a tree! Max In a tree?? Why are you there Agent 13 Control wants to check out the Dees Training to revolutionize our Fitness Training for our Junior Control Agents July intake Max Fascinating What kind of tree are you? Agent 13 Oh you know just the Garden variety nothing special but I want to Branch out a bit! Max What have you seen? Agent 13 Oh u know a few Garden Gnomes and some old Bough wearing a Collingwood Jumper jogging past, a few Dogs have been walking past looking disconsolate! Max Well dont let me interrupt you 13 I know you will look out for any shady characters and keep your feet well and firmly planted on the ground Agent 13 So Long Max, Hey Max, one other thing there is a big guy out there training who is also called Max! Max Two Max's whats the other one like? Agent 13 Absolute superstar, He is really tall Timber and plays like a Flower, shifting gently in the Breeze, and in FULL BLOOM, he's that Good! Max. Hnmm I might have to get over and take a look, but because this will be classified I better bring the portable Cone of Silence Mini Report from agent 13 as overheard on cone of silence by Picket Fence Modified Duties (Mainly running) Majak, Melky, Deakyn Smith, Luke Dunstan, Harrison Petty no show Skills , Drills and Manouvers DRILL 1 Warm ups Consist of small group work, ball movement, handball dish ofs and decision making in tight congestions DRILL 2 This was a very interesting one, players gathered the ball, and holding it in one hand generally weaved through javelin like poles set up then delivered to running teammate DRILL 3 Sort of like a simulated close decision making handball run kick l with players gaining the ball then delivering in tight space to next option DRILL 4 3/4 Ground with tight wings taking ball from one end of the ground to the other Red vs Blues, no goal scoring and coaches would randomly start play from anywhere on ground so as to encourage two way running to create an option and then defending the Melbourne way via zones. This drill was fantastic as it simulated turning defense into attack and encouraging a relentless play on style with precision decision making and crisp concise delivery by hand and foot. Players were rotated on and of and at any time 15 or so were "On the Bench" THIS IS ALL I WITNESSED AS HAD TO LEAVE BY 10.15 PLAYER WATCH JAYDEN HUNT Gee he was impressive today had some Blistering Run and Carry and also delivered pretty well to set targets TOM MCDONALD Showed no lingering symptoms of his recent leg/ ankle injury and roamed as high Forward clunking some good marks and creating an excellent target CHARLIE SPARGO Was Busy, creative and impossed himself with some "Nous Footy" and neat positioning. JAKE BOWEY Just hardly makes a mistake, attack on the ball is phenomenal and he just has the happy knack of being in the right place at the right time, he is an excellent spoiler for his size KADE CHANDLER Is an intersting player for mine, he has some "Flashy moves" and creates something from very little and could play quite a bit this year JUDD MCVEE Was creative and involved from what I saw, he used the footy well and has a nice turn of pace TAJ WOEWODIN Similarly is finding his feet and looks like he is starting to believe in his abilities and certainly knows where to go to get a Kick JOEL SMITH Impressed me with his spoiling , attack on the footy and some telling clearances down back ANDY MONIZ-WAKEFIELD AND JACOB VAN ROOYEN both have some X Factor but at this stage Jacob VR is really impressing me as a lead up forward who can take a contested grab and who could kick a few goals with limited opportunities. FINAL THOUGHTS What really struck me today was how the heck the Selectors are going to find places for a possible 10 players who are training really well in the final back 6. May, Lever, Salem are givens, Bowey as well, but then you have Hibbo, Hunt, Smith, Tomlinson, and maybe even Daniel Turner all vying for a spot. Great position to be in but a non to envious one as some hard calls will need to be made and some players will be extremely stiff to miss. Also as you know the usual cast Max , Clarry, J.V, Gus etc etc etc were all their "Excellent selves" Plenty of excellent players driving up standards of Football, Character, Fame and PREMIERSHIPS! P.F

Robbie. Would love to see him hold up the cup.

When there are many players around the footy it is really difficult to score, especially if both teams are committed to defending. In the GF, this was the case for 3 quarters of football. We didn't start scoring in the third quarter because we started playing attacking football, we ground 3 tough goals that quarter (the Harmes pass to Fritsch from a wing stoppage, the Brayshaw mark after we turned over the Daniel kick, and the Petracca boundary goal). These weren't kamikaze attacking plays but rather just good tough goals from contests or turnovers. The reason we scored so heavily that quarter was because we kicked 4 more goals directly from centre bounces, which is the only time where there is space all over the field to attack. Then, in the last quarter, only one team was committed to defending (us) whilst the other was chasing some quick goals from behind .... that's why it became a bloodbath. Our style smothered teams and this allowed our best players to win us games. I'd say that any attempt to be more attacking this year will be more focused on making our forward line function better than it will be on sacrificing our ability to defend.

I think the coaches believe it is optimal and i very much doubt we will change the tactic much. As flash notes above kicking to the pockets as opposed to more centrally supports our model of trapping the ball and the opposition in particular areas, in this instance tour forward line, and making it super hard for them to transition. As Flash also notes, it is a trade off - sure it is harder to be accurate but that is offset by the fact that teams simply do not hurt us on transition (I'm pretty sure we conceded the least number of points from our back half). This really hurts teams, like the dogs, that rely on scoring on transition. So many of our strategies are underpinned by a philosophy of playing the risk/reward percentages. For example playing along the boundary, kicking long to Gawn after a point, getting territory and our (much anaylsed) clearance system are all examples of playing the percentages ie approaches that statistically over the journey will concede less goals and create more for us. Kicking to the pockets is in the same boat. The other element, one that i hadn't thought of last year, relates to my comment on the previous page in this thread about how we use the clock as a weapon. That's to say we suck time out of the clock and in doing so give the opposition less time to score and less opportunity to seize and/or take advantage of any momentum. I'm guessing at least half the time the ball is kicked to the pocket we get a stoppage of some sort. And then we crowd our inside 50 zone and often there is a secondary stoppage. If the opposition win and dump kick it out it often comes straight back in. All of this sucks heaps of time from the clock. And no doubt is super frustrating for the opposition, again particularly at team like the dogs, who are used to winning the ground ball in their back half and sweeping it up the other end of the ground. And if a point is kicked, we allow the short kick to the pocket but then make it super hard to clear the zone, usually forcing frustrated opposition players to kick long down the line to one of our talls. How many times last year did we see frustrated defenders holding onto the ball for ages looking for options. Again all this sucks valuable time from the clock and doesn't allow the opposition to get into any rhythm or to play fast. There was a fantastic example of our approach in one of the late season games i watched recently (i can't recall exactly which one, but i think it was the hawks game). One of our players had the ball at center half forward (Fritter?) and there was no one in our 50 metre arc expect Kozzie who was running toward goals, with a defender on his hammer. The ball could of easily have been kicked out in front of Kozzie in the corridor and there was every chance he would have run on to it and scored an easy goal. Instead it was kicked towards the boundary, had too much on it and went over for a throw in. BT was flummoxed. But going to the boundary was the percentage play because whilst Kozzie might have been a 70-30 chance of scoring if the ball had been kicked into the corridor, if his opponent won the ball it would have been easily rebounded as it would haver been in the corridor, and all our forwards had pressed up to help our defence so there was no help. Instead, whilst we had lower chance of an easy goal, there was still a good probability of doing so (maybe 50-50?) and when we didn't, we got a stoppage, reset, gave our forwards and mids time to crowd the forward line and gave our defenders time to press up and create the wall to stop transition. Goody's comments are interesting about looking create more scoreboard pressure, and perhaps being more offensive. My feeling is that rather than than that being an indication we will use the corridor as the go to spot, it will mean we look to surge and go all out attack more often, and in doing so turn the risk/reward dial to risk for longer. Which will mean more kicks to the corridor, but also perhaps more rebounds and scores on transition from the opposition.

“He’s got every attribute that you need to be a star at AFL level,” Cooney said of Andrew. Yeah right! He's got every attribute except about 20 kg of muscle!

Doubt whether this is the Suns’ expectation. It’s just one pundit giving an opinion based on nothing other than that he was selected at 5 in the national draft. Like many others, it’s doubtful whether he’s ever seen him play.

Allen Jakovich or Sir Robert Flower (cannot decide!!)

The Wiz.

There'd be 'better' players, but geez, imagine a forward line mix featuring Brown, TMac, Kozzy, Fritsch and Jurrah.. Ooft.

Nearly 3 months into the new year? On 17 February? You don't ghost write Mick Warner's articles by any chance? 🙂

To me it was like a warm fireside chat, albeit seated at tables. Are dee fans so satisfied that no 'curly' questions were raised? Disappointed there was no update on training facilities. It was good hearing Selwyn Grffith chat about his plan for fitness and it sounded like he would continue the Burgess philosophy of building 'physical resilience' in players to not always rest them from training and playing when they have an injury. It was a key strategy in our successful 2021 season and flag.

If Binman’s analysis is correct then we are happy to trade off a certain reduction in scoring efficiency in order to control the play more effectively. Lower score for us but even lower score for our opponents as we spend more time defending in our forward half. I tend to think he may be onto something here. So much of our game relies on closing down the size of the field and establishing an impenetrable zone. This forces the long kick to a pack or a risky switch, which we are very comfortable shifting our zone rapidly to block. As he mentioned, going to the pocket closes down the amount of space we need to guard on turnover. Obviously, it also means a lower percentage shot in goal if we mark or gain possession. We do still have our second quarter yips. Where we have opportunities to close out the game entirely but we kick a string of points rather than goals and leave the door open. I’m hoping that as our self belief and confidence grows, this will happen less and less.

Despite him already taking out Ben King in a training "accident", nobody seems to suspect that he is subtly working undercover for his beloved Demons, to whom he shall surely return in a couple of years and become a star for us.

Liam Jurrah. Some of the most fun I've ever had watching football.

Well well, here's a first!! I'm actually going to agree with Nev. To see the wasted talent of Jurrah in our current team would fill the "G!

Can't have won a premiership? Well bugger. Guess I can't choose Chris Dawes.

I recently spotted Mac Andrew at a Gold Coast eatery and failed to notice any change in his build. However, despite the fact that we were led to believe he might be two to three years away, Adam Cooney is now tipping him “to make an instant impact in his debut season.” “He’s got every attribute that you need to be a star at AFL level,” Cooney said of Andrew. If Cooney’s right, this would be a remarkable rise to stardom for the young man. Why Suns young gun must “explode” and the top draftee tipped to break out

Gee Sparrow has put on muscle. A really big unit.

Yes there is. It's called "games won", possibly a measurement Champion Data is unfamiliar with.

That was a good question, giving the limitations placed on candidates have been questioned elsewhere on this forum. I had a sense a lot of 'curly' questions never saw the light of day. Not a curly question but I would like to have known what Nathan Jones is up to career wise. I'm sure he is busy with his family but his adoring dee fans would like to know a bit more now that it s nearly 5 months since he retired. It saddens me that you are losing respect for the Board. I'm not at that point yet but am having doubts about their methods and direction. If they stay unified it may not affect the players or the football department. That may be a big 'if' given the leaking that is going on.

Absolutely not and not sure how you inferred that I thought there should be comments on the HS articles. Last year's success does not remove our need and interest for progress updates. Yes, we are told the state government will make the announcements. Even then it wouldn't hurt the club to get some sort of overview/ big picture commentary from the state government. It wouldn't hurt to be given some info as to what stage they are at. eg What are the stages/project plan, in general terms. Has the 'scoping' stage finished. A loose 'time line'. None of that is difficult and it would all be well known internally by now.

…. another four flags? ❤️💙❤️💙

I Ike it here ! and I could give training reports. And we have snakes.

I just realised that only 4 weeks until Round 1. My family unfortunately contracted COVID last week whilst on holiday in NSW and I’m the last one in isolation finishing today. Wasn’t pleasant for us but wasn’t too bad either. The bummer was that our holiday was completely ruined and the weeks we spent being careful and doing the right things were undone in probably a brief moment of letting down our guard. The silver lining for us is that the next 4-6 weeks at least will give us immunity to the Omicron strain and hence peace of mind for a few weeks at the footy for my son and I.

If Champion Data scored the merits of an apple tree, they'd measure the trunk, branches, leaves and the height, and ignore the quantity and volume of the fruit.

Smokin!! Nah......... in all honesty is showing some favourable signs in respect of his confidence!

I went on Monday with another supporter and saw pretty much the same things. But hard to do any full report as we both thought it was all designed to be a bit scrappy. Most time the ball was just hit out in someone's direction and as soon as a kick or handball it was stopped. Deakin Smith and Turner were the pick of the defenders. Van Rooyen looks the goods. Where Jackson would go up and try and reach over to get the ball because of his leap, Van Rooyen hits the pack. At one stage he hit a pack of four and side turned his body so his hip hit and knocked them all out of it. It meant he had to go one handed and didn't get it but noone else did. Another different drill we saw was 12 small defenders and and forwards having the ball thrown to 2 on 2 (3 groups one after the other). The idea was to hit or handball to the other forward who snapped at goal The only other thing was a coach was timing Dunstan doing continuous runs along the boundary to the goals of about 120M - 150M The coach would call out the start and as he approach the end would call out the countdown 16,17,18,19 so he knew what he had to do to get there in time.

Spies from 17 other clubs seen around the Casey oval waving crooked sticks and shouting out "Corkus Bloodufferus!" and "Plantar Fasciitis!" and "Anterior Cruciate Bustus!!"

I'd love to be a fly on the wall and hear what aspects of the game the coach's decide to improve on over the summer. I put together the table below of the % goal kicking accuracy and also goals per i50. I've only calculated the % of goals i50 not also points. The AFL i50 efficiency stat is based on goals and points. I don't see the point of that. I've only done them as %'s not totals because of the different number of games played by different teams. In summary we were 13th for goal kicking accuracy. That puts us at the bottom of last year's final 8. We were 7th for goals scored from i50's. Only Port and Cats in last year's 8 were worse than us which I find interesting because they both had key power forwards and much more settled forward lines during the season than us. Stat's are only as useful as the quality of analysis applied to them so my analysis is probably pretty low standard. Nevertheless I think these two are pretty straight forward but the causes and cures for them are not. My first comment is that if you were to take these stat's from round 17 when BBB came back in and stayed in the forward line I'm sure they would be considerably improved. But the rd 20 98 pt blow out v Suns would skewer this stat. In the Grand Final our goal kicking accuracy was 60% and i50's per goal was down to 3.05. That puts us comfortably ahead of any other team's season averages. I'm not sure how representative these stats are in the bigger picture as the game was such a blow out. For our 3 game finals series goal kicking accuracy was 57.11% and goals per i50 were 3.53. They are both comfortably ahead of the rest of the competition's averages. But again there were 2 blow outs and a comfortable win in those 3 games. So also probably not representative other than to say wow what a sensational finals series against the 3 other best teams. Looking ahead to this season interesting that Swans were ranked 1 for accuracy and 2 for goals per i50. Lions ranked 2 for accuracy and 1 for goals per i50. Dogs 10 for accuracy 4 for goals per i50.

Played very well though. Smith got a bath from Charlie Cameron

I think that there might be a trend off the back of Jackson but I reckon that they are probably still going to be missing a trick with it. At that's because he isn't a hybrid, which is a combination of some elements of a ruck and midfielder, but rather he's two different players ... a fully functional AFL ruckman during the ruck contest and a fully functional AFL midfielder after the ruck contest. There's no sacrifice being made in fitting between the roles. There are two parts to Jackson's game in the ruck, and I think there's a danger in looking at one of them in isolation. Jackson has genuine midfielder athleticism and movement, rather than just being 'really good for a ruckman' (like Cox, Grundy, Fraser, Kreuzer etc). This is the bit that everyone sees because it is special and we haven't really seen this except for Goodes when he rucked. Teams have tried this before and it hasn't really worked out well for them (especially since the third man up rule). Players like Tim English have had good games but get destroyed against strong, decent opposition because of their lack of competitiveness in the ruck contest, which brings major issues. The lesson to learn is that it's OK to lose the ruck, but you can't get smashed. Teams default back to strong, competitive (and cheap) battering rams rather than pseudo midfielders because of it. Jackson is still a genuine ruckman but he plays the ruck taps very differently, which is difficult to emulate. He takes away the natural advantage of his opponent (ie, his physical size and strength) by dodging and weaving, but being big enough still to tap the ball once he dances his way to good position. He jumps quickly, not requiring a run up or balance step, letting him get position on his opponent and disrupting him. The end result is that his style is so awkward and disruptive that, even for a big strong opponent, he's nearly impossible to dominate in ruck contests. I think there will be a trend towards trying to find a Jackson type ruck, and those efforts will likely see people select tall midfielders to play ruck or athletic rucks to play around the ground. But they will all be making sacrifices in one of their roles, either they will be passable midfielders that are big enough to play some ruck time (eg. taller versions of Grigg) or slightly underwhelming rucks that are athletic enough to win more ball around the ground (eg, English). It's a wild goose chase because Jackson is special and different .... it's like everybody trying to pick up the 'next Buddy' or 'next Judd'. You can't because they're unique players. People weren't leaving Chris Judd undrafted in the past because they didn't like his style combining line breaking speed and contested possession, it's just that there generally aren't any Chris Judd's around to draft! We're just lucky that, when we had pick 3, there was a Luke Jackson around for us to draft.

If they don't go with Tomlinson with Petty injured then I don't know what his role in the team is moving forward. Smith is depth at best.

Why are you saying that Tomlinson isn’t ready? By all accounts he is in full training and has played in the club hit outs. If our new club doc, and his orthopedic specialist and our fitness guru say “go”, then I would certainly have him ahead of the unlucky but less than consistent Smith.

Hey it's a great opportunity to spread the economic benefits to regional areas. It results in improved facilities to develop the next Trac, Oliver etc. Not opposed to Tassie for same reasons but regional Vic has been smashed with fires, floods, pandemic and these events support tourism . This activity still funnels through and highlights Melbourne while stimulating interest in the regional delights. Just make sure all regions are recognised and no colour coded rooting. Wait. Perhaps we can use all the upgraded gun clubs etc Go for it Dan

Whole heartedly agree, most interesting discussion, going over it all makes me think I understand football. Never did when I played, Thanks to all of the posts, and great name Its Time for Back to Back !