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It’s a beautiful morning at Gosch’s Paddock. REHAB: Jake Melksham (?), Taj Woewodin (?), Luke Dunstan (Hamstring), Fritsch(hip/back??), Salem (Thyroid), Brown (managed) Everyone is in Blue Guernseys so I doubt there will be match SIMs. Probably just regular training considering preseason is officially over. Joel Smith looks like he is back training with the main group. Fritsch and Salem are not training at all. Salem for obvious reasons. Not sure about Fritsch. Split into 3 groups for wam ups. Mids, Backs and Forwards. No surprises except Kozzy & Smith with Forwards. Gus with defence. Mids Trac, Max, Langdon, Clarry, Verral, Grundy, Viney, Sparrow, Farris-White, Howes, Harmes, Jordon, Hunter Forwards TMac, Jefferson, Schache, Van Rooyen, Nibbler, Chandler, Spargo, Laurie, Joel Smith, Kozzy, Sestan, Brown Defenders May, Lever, Brayshaw, Hibberd, Bowey, Tomlinson, Rivers, Adams, Deakyn Smith, Petty, McVee, Daniel Turner, Kye Turner, Moniz-Wakefield Fritsch now walking knee raisers with arms raised in the air with the medicos. Now doing walking lunges whilst twisting side to side when lunging. Dunstan slow/medium jogging along the boundary. Melksham doing the same at a slightly quicker pace. Split into two groups. Mix of forwards, Mids and Defenders in each group. Ben Brown not training just having shots for goal from different angles and distances. Salem now jogging laps. Trac noticed and clapped saying “Go Salo”. Fritsch walking doing leg raisers whilst the trainer is pulling a theraband which is around his waist. He looks to be in mild discomfort. One of the groups is not doing a half ground match SIM sans contact. Players have reversible training jumpers and that are blue on one side and white on the other for easy changing. Fritsch doing side crab walks while the trainer pulls on the Theraband around his waist. The field has been divided length ways down the middle and there are two separate match SIMs ( for want of a better description) without contact with 2 players in yellow vests playing for both teams. Goal is keepings off down the length of the field to kick a goal. I will note that disposal has been very sharp. Trac’s long kicking is like a laser guided missile. In my non-medical opinion Fritsch may have a hip (flexor) issue. Any physios can you confirm that the exercises I poorly described could confirm this? Kye Turner is wearing number 33. New number perhaps? I’ll echo what other have said about Chandler over the preseason he is certainly putting his hand up for a call up. Trainer is throwing the footy at Fritsch to catch it in one hand whilst he is standing/balancing on one leg (the right one). Brown and Taj playing kick to kick on the boundary. Dunstan jogging between a set of cones set up in a zig zag pattern. Full length ground drill starts with a kick to a one on one contest. If the ball spills a player swoops in and 4 players run down the field almost in a line and kick to a contest at the other end and the drill begins again the other direction. Next drill also starts with a kick to a one on one contest deep in the forward line. When the ball spills 4 players run in from different directions (2 in white and 2 in blue). Whoever won the spill would have a quick snap for goal. Brown and Dunstan have hit the gym as has Taj. Boundary throw in simulation drill with small forwards like Spargo, Nibbler and Chandler also involved with the Mids and wingers. Verral getting a lesson in ruck craft from the Master Max. When the ball spills the ball is swooped on and kicked into a contest (forward on forward) in the forward line. Defenders doing a separate drill. Rivers is in the defenders group as is Brayshaw. Salem jogging laps with Reece Conca. Forwards/Mids/Wingers doing a drill with either the wingers kicking from half forward flank or a Mid kicking from CHF into the forward line to a lead again focusing on if the ball isn’t marked then it is swooped on and snapped for goal or a better option is kicked/handballed to. There is a lot of congestion and chaos built into the drill. Often the wingers will look for a better option at CHF first before kicking into the forward line. @george_on_the_outer noted that if a lead wasn't found we would be kicking higher and longer/deeper to a contest deep in the forward line than we normally do. He may be able to explain that better. Grundy is training with the forwards on that drill whilst Max, KFW & Verral have joined the defenders drill which appear to be a drill simulating taking the ball out of defence ending with a long kick into the forward line to a contest between Kyah Farris-White and Verral (who are just being used as a tall target to kick to). Max floating around as a tall marking option as the ball comes out of defence. Joel Smith & Jed Adams have joined the rehabbers probably as planned as there might be a contact drill coming up for the first time this session. Match SIM has begun with minimal contact though. Lot of loose players. Not really man on man. More of end to end circle work than a Match SIM. Only seen a few tackles. Todays session is more skill and tactical based without the emphasis on defence or pressure. I would assume that they need to learn some of the game plan without the pressure and then in other sessions bring in the pressure/tackling/defence so that they can practice what they've learned under intense conditions. That's my uneducated guess anyway. In case I’ve never mentioned this before Kozzy is just a magician. He scooped the ball up in a one on one ground contest, broke out of a tackle with a nice don’t argue, kicked beautifully into Chandler on a lead who was spoiled in a marking contest but got the spill and handballed to Kozzy who had continued to gut run down the field and had every right to have a shot for goal on a tight angle but he kicked it in board to a free Trac who snapped truly. I know that Ben Brown and TMac have been in great form and are almost undoubtedly around 1 starters but I can’t see how Van Rooyen doesn’t get a call up either. He is a natural forward with great hands and a superb ground ball game. Can we possibly trial 3 talls again? It didn’t work with Weid in the Mix but Van Rooyen is a different beast. Great conundrum to have. Howes is a very smart clean footballer. Was in trouble on the wing and thought his way out of the situation. Granted there is not really tackling but there was pressure in this drill and he had a player in front of him and to the side with another also coming at him from another direction and no options forward and managed to spot a player backwards and found the option. Got kudos from players and coaches around him. Some of the things that Clarry does just cannot be accurately described. Players now doing run throughs to cool down. They’ve been instructed to go slow and not reach their destination before 17 seconds. The way Schache has been training at every session I have been to and from anecdotal evidence from other trackwatchers and from talking to some players at the player sponsor event it is hard to see him not pushing for selection. Granted he will probably have to prove himself at Casey but I think we will definitely see him at some point in the season. He was targeted when Weid left as like for like but I like what I see from the Schack more than from what I saw from Weid and I had high hopes that Weid would eventually make it. I'm more confident with Schache. Just noticed that TMac has his left elbow strapped. Hasn’t appeared to hampered him. I have mentioned this before in my training observations but I really feel for Tomlinson. He trains his guts out and is always encouraging to the younger blokes and is very vocal on the track. Our defence is a hard one to crack into with the big 3 in May, Petty & Lever and I feel that both the Turners might be ahead of Thommo. I haven't seen enough of the new recruit Adams who has just started to join in to most drills but like Jefferson up forward he will do his apprenticeship this year at Casey. In any event our back stocks run deep. That’s a wrap from me. Oh and did I mention that we trained some very sturdy dwellings all the way down.

Gorgeous morning for a run. They have started in a very boisterous, happy mood. In the forward area there is a marked boxed area about 20 meters by 12 meters large, it is directly out, and about 10 metres from the square. The three big forwards compete against the backs. They pick, switch opponents, roll, and lead out. They are encouraged to stay in that area and jostle. (looks like a plan to reduce hard leads that end in the deep pocket). Magician, is the name they have given to Jefferson. The sims are now 7 minutes long ×3. White started with 40 points, momentum changes happened. First session about equal. The second, blue hit hard and caught up. The third, white took it easily. Those swings in the 2nd and 3rd sessions worry me. Neither team could arrest the run on till the restart. The drills were about kicking to marking contest, bringing it to ground with players front and centres, then creating snaps on goal. Even May got a few snaps in. Spargo played midfield/wing in the sims, and played beautifully. Max back, Brodie forward. Hibbo reading the play well. JVR, Verral, a bit lost out there. JJ, with composure, finding space and making good decisions. Rivers, running hard and fast. Really nice timing and sturdiness when marking. Moniz-wakefield bringing lots of forward pressure. Schache leading well when up at the 50 arc area. May and Lever are ready. Tmac has his mind on the job. Chandler at the botom of many packs. Viney back into his number 7. K.Turner knows his role. Howes playing on the wing, needs more involvement. The same for D.Turner playing down back. Petty getting more involved and punching everything in the marking competition. Some of our ball movement was quick, usually when one of our top players gets it going. There were a few turnovers because of poor execution and decisions (usually by the second or third rung players). Melksham is not far off.

In case I’ve never mentioned this before Kozzy is just a magician. He scooped the ball up in a one on one ground contest, broke out of a tackle with a nice don’t argue, kicked beautifully into Chandler ona lead who was spoiled in a marking contest but got the spill and handballed to Kozzy who had continued to gut run down the field and had every right to have a shot for goal on a tight angle but he kicked it in board to a free Trac who snapped truly.

He'll be catching flies with chopsticks next

That’s a wrap from me. I’ll compile all my posts later on and add a few other observations too.

Can you both try meet somewhere in the middle?

Like two very well oiled machines. One shiny and brand new and raring to go the other slightly used but lovingly restored and in excellent condition. Has passed the road worthy and is ready to be tested on the open roads. BBB is most definitely being managed. Seems to be light on training during the week and then kicking bags of goals in full match SIMs so I have no concerns there and trust that they are managing him to get through a long season.

Fritsch ruled out of the St Kilda practice match with foot soreness as a result of a teammate trampling on it. Club hopes he’ll play some minutes next week Vs Richmond.

The way Schache has been training at every session I have been to and from anecdotal evidence from other trackwatchers and from talking to some players at the player sponsor it is hard to see him not pushing for selection. Granted he will probably have to prove himself at Casey but I think we will definitely see him at some point in the season.

I know that Ben Brown and TMac have been in great form and are almost undoubtedly around 1 starters but I can’t see how Van Rooyen doesn’t get a call up either. He is a natural forward with great hands and a superb ground ball game. Can we possibly trial 3 talls again? It didn’t work with Weid in the Mix but Van Rooyen is a different beast. Great conundrum to have.

Oh and did I mention that we trained some very sturdy dwellings all the way down.

Some of the things that Clarry does just cannot be accurately described.

I will note that disposal has been very sharp. Trac’s long kicking is like a laser guided missile.

Howes is a very smart clean footballer. Was in trouble in the wing and thought his way out of the situation. Granted there is not really tackling in this drill but he had a player in front and no options forward and managed to spot a player backwards and found the option. Got kudos from players and coaches around him.

It’s not a teaching drill. The ball is being throw in from the boundary and Max is just too big and strong. He’s getting his hands on it and tapping it down to the crumbers first. Not a knock on the young kid. I would not have expected anything else at this stage.

Boundary throw in simulation drill with small forwards like Spargo, Nibbler and Chandler also involved with the Mids and wingers. Verral getting a lesson in ruck craft from the Master Max.

I’ll echo what other have said about Chandler over the preseason he is certainly putting his hand up for a call up.

Salem now jogging laps. Trac noticed and clapped saying “Go Salo”.

Really hoping the medicos can sort Salem's issues out. It's easy to forgot just how good he was in the 2021 finals series.

Joel Smith looks like he is back training with the main group.

All excellent points Brownie. At the risk of being captain obvious, I'd add that in addition to negatively impacting on match day performance, carrying injury would also have an impact on a players' capacity to build and/or maintain fitness levels (even if they continued to participate in full training ie not rehabbing). Logic suggests there is a correlation between the length of time a player has carried something (and the specific injury) and the impact on fitness levels. As an example, let's take Maxy and Lever. Both appeared to be 'not quite right' from at least mid-season (probably all season for Lever). Their performance was clearly impacted, but it is very likely so was their fitness. No surprise then that they both looked totally gassed late in games at the back end of the season. Thats two of our best 22 not at optimal performance or fitness levels for nigh on half a season. I think it is reasonable to assume there were quite a few more in a similar boat (eg Salo, BB). And even more players again who picked up an injury that impacted fitness levels as the season progressed. As you say, the suggestion is we 10 or 11 such players come final time. So almost half the team. No wonder we struggled. Bottom line, as you say, they struggled to run out games in the last fifth of the season. That was clear as day. And if someone didn't believe their eyes, the scoreboard told the tale. In our last five games, not once did we out score the opposition in the second half. Working back from the semi, the margin at HT and full time in our last five games were: Lions game: up by 22 points at HT, lost by 13 - a six goal swing Swans game: down by six points at HT, lost by 22 - - a three goal swing Lions game: up by 66 at HT, won by 58 - one goal swing Blues game: up by 8 points at HT, won by 5 points - 0.5 goal swing Pies game: up by 17 points at HT, lost by 7 points - 4 goal swing To be crystal clear I'm not saying fitness and injury were the only factors at play. But in my opinion, fitness and injury were, by some margin, the biggest factors in our poor performance.

I might be going easy on him too because I'm trying to wear rose coloured glasses to filter out my usual pessimism.

No we are not.

Full length ground drill starts with a kick to a one on one contest. If the ball spills a player swoops in and 4 players run down the field almost in a line and kick to a contest at the other end and the drill begins again the other direction.

He is basically our best forward, so if he has anything serious going on we are stuffed. Fingers crossed just precaution.

Doing some hand balls with Salem. No visible strapping on legs. Doesn’t look like he is limping.

You could probably do East Bentleigh to Epping in 4 .5 hours in a horse and cart, when did you say you worked there?

Bedford was offered a 3 year contract

Fritsch rehab sounds concerning. He’s previously had lower back issues, so hopefully they know how to manage it if it’s that. He’s easily our biggest goal scorer (2nd in the entire league behind Hawkins across the last two seasons), to not have him out there would be a huge blow. Our forward line is our weakness as is, let alone miss him and Kozzy further up the ground. Hoping Fritta is ok!

TMac and JVR are not 200cm KPF players. They're not much taller than Fritsch. They are the size of Cripps and a few other on ballers. They are very mobile and can attack the ball on the ground. Can't see why they can't all play.

I love this. I prefer Gawn floating back than in the forward line, unless he can start kicking straighter. Just please try handball off to a Brayshaw or Bowey once it's been marked Max.

In my non-medical opinion Fritsch may have a hip (flexor) issue. Any physios can you confirm that the exercises I poorly described could confirm this?

Dunstan slow/medium jogging along the boundary. Melksham doing the same at a slightly quicker pace.

I had heard we’ll be rotating a lot of players through the game.

Just noticed that TMac has his left elbow strapped. Hasn’t hampered him.

Players now doing run throughs to cool down. They’ve been instructed to go slow and not reach their destination before 17 seconds.

Lot of loose players. Not really man on man. More of end to end circle work than a Match SIM.

Match SIM has begun with minimal contact though.

Joel Smith & Jed Adams have joined the rehabbers probably as planned as there might be a contact drill coming up for the first time this session.

I recently had been trying to upgrade my membership and get some undercover reserved seat memberships, as my folks are getting older and we decided we’d like to have guaranteed seats, GF guarantee etc. I’ve been on wait lists for months about it. Last week I got a text message saying a player might be calling me as part of a membership drive. I didn’t think much of it. Later on I was taking my dad to a medical appointment and my mum and dad were in the car. I got a call from the club but the guy on the phone didn’t seem to know what I was asking about and couldn’t help with my seat request. So, a little bit annoyed, I said to get someone to call back who knew what I was looking for. Only after I hung up, frustrated that the club had called me again without an answer, did my mum point out that I was talking to Jake Bowey. Sorry Bowser. Got my reserved seats sorted this week. Mum says hi. 😬

Forwards/Mids/Wingers doing a drill with either the wingers kicking from half forward flank or a Mid kicking from CHF into the forward line to a lead again focusing on if the ball isn’t marked then it is swooped on and snapped for goal or a better option is kicked/handballed to. There is a lot of congestion and chaos built into the drill. Often the wingers will look for a better option at CHF first before kicking into the forward line.

Next drill also starts with a kick to a one on one contest deep in the forward line. When the ball spills 4 players run in from different directions (2 in white and 2 in blue). Whoever won the spill would have a quick snap for goal.

Trainer is throwing the foot at Fritsch to catch it in one hand whilst he is standing/balancing on one leg (the right one).

Fritsch walking doing leg raisers whilst the trainer is pulling a theraband which is around his waist. He looks to be in mild discomfort.

Split into two groups. Mix of forwards, Mids and Defenders in each group. Ben Brown not training just having shots for goal from different angles and distances.

Fritsch now walking knee raisers with arms raised in the air with the medicos. Now doing walking lunges whilst twisting side to side when lunging.

Yes warming up with the defenders.

Well written KITP and Dr Gonzo. I have for the last 3/4 years posted this reason as outlined by Gary Pert for no decisions yet on our base for facilities. But the level of impatient posting on D/L completely disregarding these factors is completely over the top and ignoring the real reasons. I hope now the rebel rousers put their posts on the back burner and take notice. Simply their enthusiasm whole meaning well is completely misguided and time is needed to choose the right location . We will only get ONE chance to succeed and the scatterbrain comments on this topic are mostly waste of time and any breath. Contrary to all opinion both Kate and Perty have delivered on 8/9 out of 10 ticks on our strategy Plan and I believe they will deliver in their own time a far better result than the restless and cynical left field dreamers who have no idea of how delicate a decision this base is for the future of our Club.

I'm going against the grain here, I think it might be a year or two too early for Port return to the eight. but here we go: The draw: - of all the teams the Power have the most interesting draw because you have to ask yourself if lightning will strike twice? They play the Pies, Cats, Tigers, Bulldogs and Dons twice with the obligatory two showdowns scheduled in. Of course having the ‘gather round’ in Adelaide gives them an extra home game. Last year thanks to the absence of Charlie Dixon they started the season 0-5 before rebounding strongly against the Eagles in Rd 6 and having the ledger square at 8-8 before dropping four games in a row to contenders: Us, the Cats, Tigers and Pies. This year they start the season against their bogey team the Lions who they haven’t beaten since 2018 when Brisbane won only 5 games for the year – since then it’s been all Lions, they then travel to the MCG to play the Pies before a Rd 3 showdown the same match they lost last year, then it’s the Swans at the SCG and Dogs at home in the gather round before a rd 6 match at home against none other than the Eagles. The fascinating watch though is their tough run home – similar to last year. In the last six rounds they play five likely contenders in Carlton(H), Collingwood(H), Geelong (GMHBA), Freo (A) and Richmond (H). You have the feeling that if they haven’t at least got 10 wins on the board by then it’ll be curtains for Kenny even if they scrape into the eight. 1. Will lightning strike twice then? Well I don’t think the Power will start the season 0-5 and while initially I was trying to mount an argument that could conceivably see them get back to their 2021 form and play off in a Prelim, I’ve come to the conclusion that the back end of the draw might be a bridge too far for Kenny to get an extension. On paper they just aren’t as good as they were in 2021. They’ve lost key planks to their first choice side: Robbie Gray (irreplacable) Amon (haven’t recruited a like for like to run that wing) and Motlop (I’ll happily concede that Rioli probably has this one covered). The other issue is Finlayson who was a revelation last year in the ruck has a syndesmosis injury to start the season and has more pressing personal matters to attend to anyway putting a question mark on his availability. That's offset by Lycett returning, but with five on the bench you get the feeling Jeremy was in the 23 so when you look at their best side there are still question marks. 2. So the first question mark is Duursma, does he get back to his 2019/2021 form or do we see the 2020/2022 version? It’s an odd year so he should be alright… but if he isn’t then the midfield depth and particularly the coverage on the wing becomes an issue. Secondly the next question mark is on whether any of the plethora of HBF they have can step up to fill the void on the other wing. Trent Dumont who is still on the Rookie list might be given a shot first, but he finished out last season in the SANFL so they might opt for one of Burton, Jones DBJ or Bonnor– probably not Farrell or Houston who will stay back. The next question mark is if Finlayson isn’t available they only have Hayes with 7 games with any senior rucking experience, it also makes them a little top heavy for big men when they'd prefer a more mobile option - trouble is they really haven't got any of those that aren't already in the side. Do they play both he and Lycett together or throw Dixon into the ruck… hmmm something the 33 y.o. probably wouldn’t relish. 3. Defensively the Power weren’t in the top three sides, but they were in the next tier. They have very capable talls in AA, Jonas & Cleury and capable coverage from McKenzie and Houston. As already stated they have no shortage of running HBFs to chose from including Josh Sinn champing at the bit to get his opportunity. They only conceded 100 points three times last year with strangely their worst loss of the year being in Rd 2 when they were jumped by the Hawks at home. No the issue for Port isn’t their defence it’s their scoring options. Nine times last year the Power failed to score more than 10 goals in a game. Clearly Dixon injured hampered that, but it was the lack of contribution from any small forwards that hurt – no pressure Willie! 4. Games are won and lost in the midfield and I really like the plan they’ve got in place at Port for their midfield. They’ll be hoping Butters is over his ankle and knee issues, Rozee is all class and they have Wines, JHF and Drew as the big bodies to do the bullocking work. It’s hard to know where to place SPP who resurrected himself last year pushing forward into what looked like a high HFF role, but he’s in the mix along with the promising Mead and Burgoyne who Port supporters think will play the majority of the 23 H&A games. After writing all that though I’m still left questioning if overall they just aren’t a bit too inexperienced to be a top contender this season. Only Boak, Wines Lycett and SPP have played more than 100 games*. By contrast nearly all Melbourne’s mids – Gawn, Grundy, Viney, Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes, Hunter and Langdon have played over 100 games. Even Dunstan as the depth inside mid has. The only exceptions are Sparrow and JJ. The player they can least afford to lose – you’d think given they were winless without Charlie until rd 6 that it would be him – except they did win 5 of their next 6 without him as well (admittedly against pretty poor teams) his final W/L for the year was 6-6. No - the man they can least afford to lose is none other than the 34 (turning 35) Travis Boak – the guy that came 2nd in their B&F last year, was 2nd in disposals, CP, UP, and Tackles, was 1st in clearances, score assists, score involvements, and I50s. He’s their Mr Everywhere and while Ollie has a Brownlow and Connor the 2022 B&F if Travis doesn’t play the chances of Power winning (particularly when they can’t hear the strains of INXS reverberating through the empty cranial cavities in the AO) are markedly decreased. Overall I think at their best the Power can make the eight, but a lot would have to have a lot go right for them and at least another 3 contenders have every thing go wrong even to sneak into the four. I think it’s more likely they continue to slide and finish around where they did last year. I *other than maybe Duursma it’s hard to factor in their wings until we see how they line up in rd 1.

So she is doing Thursdays? Makes sense, C7 don’t listen to any fans - good, bad, indifferent. The hate for her is grounded in misogyny (some literally say that women shouldn’t be in the box, or that they hate her ‘voice’) and I know that possibly makes me a ‘woke feminist’ but it’s a fact - just own it. I will.