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Beautiful morning for training. The dew has dried, out from AAMI, quiet chatting. Maysie does his heart symbol. 7 in rehab, Turner, Hore, Sestan, BBB, Petty, Spargo and Schache. All in runners. Melky weighted and change of angles work. Salem has his individual program. White cap (no contact), Howes, Woewodin and, Sparrow. Some players did laps, Gawn, Fullarton, McAdam, (a couple of others) as a competitive short pass at the mannequin ran. Low-key, running the cobwebs out. I didn't stay long, also I am off overseas for a few months. New trackers needed.

We could bring Woey in for a full game and make Windsor the sub, to give him a smaller game load ahead of KB.

AMW has been in sizzling VFL form. 33 disposals against the Zebras, 28 the Lions the weeks before, 19 against the Blues and 30 the week earlier. A few more of these and he will be seriously knocking on the door for a go at AFL level - if not already. Although I think the coaches will want to see an extended block of sizzling VFL form. Have to give AMZ a pat on the back for his application to the task. Keep it up.

Of course. In fact I’d rather play a stronger Pies to get a real sense of where we’re at (and in the event of a win, not have to tolerate their supporters’ excuses). I don’t believe there’s such a thing as an easy win in the current competition. Nor do I relish or celebrate injuries. Not even in the case of Mason Cox*. *I had to sum up a lot of adult-strength to type that sentence.

Allow me to momentarily jump ahead one round of the pre-game thread. According to “Footy Feeds” on the AFL site, Pies will not have Cox, Mihocek, De Goey or Richard’s for King’s Birthday. Add these names to their already extensive list Ok, back to matters at hand…

That's a fair question. I think it's because sport is more visceral. We want to see our tribe slay the other tribe. We want victory. I'd much rather a "boring" win than an "entertaining" loss. Winning is everything.

"No! I want instant gratification and I want it NOW!!"

A lot of talk about the pies game. Don’t we have the small matter of freo in Alice to deal with first.

Thanks for the training report, Kev! Have a wonderful time overseas! Hope you're back in time to watch our next premiership 😁

If he can get up to speed at this level he'll be difficult to counter. Plays alot taller than he looks and very mobile. Might need another full pre season before we see the best of him but in the mean time a bit of patience needed until he familiarises himself with his fellow players and how the system is supposed to be working. If things aren't working at all after another two to three weeks then review & go from there. Melksham likely to be pushing by then also.

Oh and where are all the ‘Salem isnt best 22’ and ‘Hunter doesn’t deserve a game’ crowd? maybe the club knows what they are doing?

How do you square 'not impactful enough' with not questioning his trajectory? If you think is trajectory is OK, then by definition isn't he sufficiently impactful for his age and stage of development? And isn't there a contradiction in saying his trajectory as a key forward is fine but his hands aren’t elite for a key forward nor his body on body work? I'd agree he could improve his marking, but completely disagree about his one on one ability. For a 21 year old playing in the ruck and as a key forward, almost always on bigger and older opponents, he is elite one on one. In fact I'd say that's his greatest strength - it's the thing that immediately stood out the first time I saw him play live at Casey. Agree your key metrics for key forwards - number of targets inside 50, contests won/lost & score involvements/assists - are good indicators for key forwards. The only key forward player in the AFL 21 or under who is anywhere near as good as JVR is Amiss. Amiss has JVR covered for average assists per game this season (0.60 to 0.40 - by way of contrast Hawkins and Dixon average 0.44 and the Coleman medallist, Curnow 0.55). JVR has Amiss covered for score involvements this season (4.30 to 4.20 - both impressive actually - by way of contrast Larkey averages 4.55 score involvements). JVR has Amiss well and truly covered for average contested marks this season (0.6 to 0.5). Ranked equal 50th with Jeremy cameron, JVR is ahead of Daniher and Larkey for average contested marks per game this season. Impressive given how taxing the donkey work as a back up ruck is, particularly for a kid. (Note: the data above is for forwards who have played a minimum 5 games this season). And JVR is number one in the AFL for marking the ball when targeted. That is a hugely impressive stat for a key forward who only turned 21 last month. On top of all that he is miles ahead of most key forwards, young and old, for accuracy, kicking efficiency, tackles and one percenters. None of that adds up to 'not impactful enough'. It adds up to a kid who at 21 is incredibly impactful for his age (comparable to some of the greats), the best young forward in the AFL and a future rolled gold, AA star. It is crazy how underrated he is, even by some dees fans.

SUBIACO RUCK/FORWARD #29 Luker Kentfield Height: 194cm Weight: 93kg D.O.B: 10-09-2005 STRENGTHS: + Aerial ability + Contested marking + Conversion + Strength IMPROVEMENTS: - Production - Speed A hulking key forward with notable senior experience, Luker Kentfield is a prospect who has flown under the radar. Along with potential first-rounder Koltyn Tholstrup, he turned out in Subiaco's League side this year for 10 games and earned a call-up to the state Under 18 side for three appearances. At 194cm, he rotated between the ruck and forward line and was able to be a mainstay against mature bodies due to his readymade frame. While doing so at AFL level will be tougher against taller and more athletic opponents, the 18-year-old held his own in the WAFL's top flight. Kentfield is a strong marker and pure striker of the ball, albeit if opportunities are far from frequent. He averaged just six disposals, three marks and less than a goal per game this year, with his standout senior effort yielding four of his overall eight goals for the season from eight touches and four marks.

Wow. Josh has actually noticed an MFC Positive This is a revelation….😮

Melksham 3-4 weeks is exciting.

Turner gone from 2-3 to Test; that's a nice change. Spargo gone from 2-3 to TBC: that's possibly a sad change.

Our MFC listed youngsters at Casey are “fillers” In my view in the midfield. Sestan will not be a midfielder. He is a smart goalkicking player. That’s his future role. Laurie is a small forward like Spargo. They are not AFL potential mids. Given the loss of our depth, Harmes, Jordon, Dunstan, Munro and Gus as a first rate mid, we need to restock. We have young talls and mid sized flankers both front and back. We need more ball winners and midfield runners. We are lucky our midfield depth hasn’t been tested and we’re healthy right now. I’d get a young midfielder in as our mid year draft pick.

I think it's going to take some time for him to adjust to a totally different system than what he had at Adelaide which was a lot more aggressive all over the ground, he's showing some okay signs early but i'd say he needs another 2-3 weeks to really start to hit form. He was absolutely flying at times during the pre-season

Thailand

We really don't. We are defensively sound and short on forward half and midfield talent but we are taking the game on far more than the last 2 years and there's times that it's working very well. This is the modern AFL, no team is letting the other side score 15 goals out of goodwill. I don't care about the advertisers. Geelong parked their backline and freed up Tom Stewart as they always do. We were exceptionally drilled to stop their counter ball movement. Sure it was a chore for neutrals but with every Geelong supporter groaning in the crowd about how poor they were playing my enjoyment multiplied. They haven't won a game since. Essendon are 2nd on the ladder after not winning a final in yonks. Of course they'll get a heap of prime time games. No one has had more prime time games since 2021 than us. We've played in just about every third Thursday game! I'm pretty sure we've been the most watched TV side in that period of time. And I couldn't care less about that or Essendon. Expanding the club comes primarily from winning. Our list isn't as good as 2021 and we lack dynamic mids and key forwards. The backline this year has adjusted. You can say it took too long to adjust but no one was hoping for more than some tweaks in 2022 and I was right at the front of asking for adjustments last year but they weren't going to change too much when they were positioned to finish top 4 and a genuine chance to knock off Collingwood. Goodwin's in the coaching business. There's plenty of people in the AFL, MFC and tv networks to dress it up as entertainment. At no stage in his coaching career has Goody prioritised slow ball movement. Every training session I've ever seen he's pushing move the ball. Forward and fast. The team fell in to some bad habits going boundary too often but the plan was never to chip it around not score. Embarrassing the club last week? They lost to a pretty good home Eagles team that were right at the top of their game and set themselves for a win. It was a disappointing performance but one of the main issues was playing too risky with the ball and some of the new players bought in for their supposed attacking prowess (Billings, Howes) failed. We need to continue to evolve the playing list and game plan with a focus on more dynamic attacking footy to get back to 2021, but the last thing we should do is put spectacle before team performance. Many of the Daniher years were fun and we had some success but we almost never were a match for the proper big boy teams of various years because so often we weren't a serious defensive and contest based team. I'd like to see us break teams open in the first half and score 100 consistently but I'd be just as happy to win games with a more defensive brand if we bring back some physical aggression and add a more menacing side to our game than we have had the last year or so.

Yes but that’s pure hyperbole, there are some rumblings here with regards to talent development needing an overhaul which it does desperately and there are some powerful footy people who want to end the job for the boys which has been occurring in the WAFC. It will happen Marc Webbs appointment as full time u/18s coach is just the start. Bo Allan will definitely get picked up first two rounds and Urquart is that big bodied mid who a club will take a punt on. Kicking is poor but at that size and his impact around the stoppages he will be taken. I rated Malakai Champion very highly as a14/15 year old and he was one of the best I’ve seen at that age. Still a good player but at that size I haven’t seen a development in explosive speed which he needs. There are good players in the squad and some late development players who have stepped up like Davis, Angove and Becker. Van Der Struyf has pace and elite foot skills. Blake Kelly is a gun and Cody Curtin (brother of Dan) and Charlie Banfield developing very quickly but they are 2025 draft. Just IMO not enough depth to beat the other 4 sides

Goodwin is in the business of winning football matches and, ultimately, premierships. Afterthought: If sport is entertainment, why do we have a facility called the Sports AND Entertainment Centre?

Clarry to HFF playing under the tree?

Fly my pretties. People complain that the game is now boring and congested, then complain when players go for spectacular grabs - the same ones I show Aussie Rules newbies to catch their interest. People tend to complain, I suppose. Kozzie will take the greatest mark in the history of football at some stage, but probably when he is a bit older and slower. Like those Tiktok kids throwing ping-pong balls in cups, will it be diminished knowing he has made a thousand unrealistic attempts before? I doubt it. If Liam Ryan pulled in that one-hander last week, the footage would have gone around the world and been replayed a million times for generations to come. Kids would be screaming 'Ryan' in the schoolyard for the next 30 years anytime they got off the ground. The speccy will probably be banned at some stage, before footy then ends up being played on AI simulators. Enjoy the high-flying humans while you can. It's one of the unique elements which make our beloved game so special.

We can't afford to have the mindset heading into that game like we did with West Coast thinking it will be an easy win. Yes... the Pies have many injuries, but they'll still be thinking they are a good chance of beating us if they pressure us all day. Our win/loss record to the Pies is an embarrassment!

Im a Salem potter and for now still think he leaves a lot to be desired. I loved he had a great game. He has those now and then. It’ll take more than beating up on a uncompetitive side to change my mind - but it’s just my opinion. Let’s see how he goes in the next 2.

Tomlinson's best game since the Pies game last year! Even got coaches votes. IN: Adams OUT: Tomlinson

Just popping in to express my extreme hatred for ticketek

So many people who post on here, do not listen to Goodwin’s Press Conference’s mid week and after the game. there are certain things that are not going to happen Petty to Play in Defence TMac to play forward McAdam will be persevered with for the near future. He needs Game time.

Had 2 mates trying to get reserved seats in the MCC for the 3 of us, took them a combined effort of 6 hours to finally be successful . Anyway will be there to boo boo that thug. And cheer the boys on to victory.

Salem didn't appear hurt.

I love it when the commentators use that word and no one ever seems to correct them.

The ball barely got near Leb. The bulk of the game was played on Hunter's wing. It was interesting to see how disciplined he was keeping his shape on his wing

McAdam is going to have a breakout soon. Kossie loves having him in the side and hopefully the coaches will develop that in a positive manner. At the moment our forwards need some choreography, we looked better in the game where Petty was higher up the field. I suspect Fritta is getting a bit cramped.

I think it's fair to say that our high performance strategy does not utilise: resting/managing players utilising the VFL as a means for players to find form, whether returning from injury or just not playing well Re: Hunter, I thought he was very good. Found himself in good places, defenisvely often, offensively some and had some deft touches, slight handballs and knock ons that opened up play. He's a smart player and probably didn't (and didn't need to) extend himself too much in the VFL).

I agree we're missing Dunstan and Moose there but I don't think we want to burn list spaces on that. We need Casey to list them.

Agree with all of this. But if he kicks 5 in a granny: Kick_it_To_McAdam will have to be your new username!

Should've watched the third quarter, that wasn't too boring

Aint that a fact. My beef is that we play dour, unattractive football every week. A few weeks ago we played the Cats in primetime and neither team kicked a goal in the second qtr. An advertisers nightmare. Meanwhile Essendon gets gifted multiple primetime games over the rest of the season. Coincidence ..... I think not. Anyway, we've got the best list of my time (tho' Danihers list was pretty good) and we're wasting the opportunity to expand the club by playing boring, unattractive, scrappy football. Goodwin needs to remember he's in the entertainment business. For the club to not just wither away we need to entertain "the mob". Get bums on seats, eyes on TVs, sponsors at the door and keep the Premiership generation kids attention. And ya don't do that by playing boring footy in primetime games, chocking in finals or embarrassing the club like they did last week.

You're kidding right. That's what you take from that data - JVR is not impactful enough? Kids has just turned 21 and in my opinion is the best forward 21 and under in the game. And in the next 3-4 years will develop into the best key forward full stop. People rightly rate Ugle Hagan highly. So do i. This is how their season's compare thus far. JUH shades JVR in most stats, most notably contested marks, but not all. JVR has JUH well and truly covered for disposal efficiency and has half the number of clangers. And unlike JUH, JVR does not have the luxury of swanning around the forward line the whole game, having to take 20 odd ruck contests game as our second ruck. No mean feat for a 21 year old. Probably explains why he is worth more for super coach. And of course a key point is JUH is a year older than JVR and has another year of AFL level development. Player Statistics Comparison Jacob Van Rooyen Name Jamarra Ugle-Hagan Melbourne Demons Team Western Bulldogs Forward Position Forward 30 Career Games 54 Claremont Origin Oakleigh Chargers April 16, 2003 Date of Birth April 4, 2002 21yr 1mth Age 22yr 1mth 193cm Height 197cm 96kg Weight 91kg 2021 National Draft Last Drafted In 2020 National Draft Round 1, Pick #19 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #1 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Western Bulldogs 2024 Stats for Season 2024 10 Games 9 5.2 Kicks 8.6 4.2 Handballs 2.4 9.4 Disposals 11.0 3.1 Marks 5.1 1.3 Goals 1.8 0.6 Behinds 1.7 1.7 Tackles 1.3 3.5 Hitouts 0 1.5 Inside 50s 1.9 0.4 Goal Assists 0.2 1.2 Frees For 0.9 0.9 Frees Against 1.1 4.3 Contested Possessions 5.9 5.1 Uncontested Possessions 5.3 7.3 Effective Disposals 5.7 77.7% Disposal Efficiency % 51.8% 1.8 Clangers 3.6 0.6 Contested Marks 2.2 1.3 Marks Inside 50 3.1 0.8 Clearances 0.6 0 Rebound 50s 0 1.5 One Percenters 0.8 0.1 Bounces 0 75.0 Time On Ground % 84.4 0.3 Centre Clearances 0 0.5 Stoppage Clearances 0.6 4.3 Score Involvements 5.3 135.7 Metres Gained 230.1 1.9 Turnovers 3.1 0.5 Intercepts 0.4 0.6 Tackles Inside 50 0.6 $426,000 AFL Fantasy Price $502,000 50.5 AFL Fantasy Score 61.1 $283,900 Supercoach Price $281,000 54.8 Supercoach Score 58.1

I thought he kept trying even though he was gassed and looked like he was running through quicksand. Especially in the last quarter. I also suspect injuries had him debut a week or two before the FD would have preferred. It'll be interesting to see how he goes post bye.

We spoke to him before he's last contract extension. He was unhappy at the time as he was playing all over the place - forward, back, wing. Presumably he found a set position in 2022 when he signed on. Richo likes him

Can someone ask the Saints to trial him at CHF for the rest of the season please?

i know he didn't get a lot of it, but petty was outmarked once yesterday i think? at the worst he tends to bring the ball to ground tomlinson was outmarked 1:1 on several occasions

Hunter - 20 possies at 70% accuracy far from poor Chandler - 18 possies, a goal and 6 score involvements that's exactly the type of game you want from these guys!!

Does anyone think that perhaps, just perhaps, it is a coaching instruction/ game plan, that Kozzie and now McAdam launch at the ball in the air? Particularly given it is repeat behaviour that the coaches obviously aren't correcting. Rather than saying "they need to stay down and crumb" perhaps the direction is "launch and compete in the air to prevent intercept marking, and create a contested ground ball in our forward 50"? Sure, we need crumbers too. But the crumbers are useless if the ball is marked by the opposition.

Harsh on Chandler. Thought he had some really good pressure acts on the wing. Needs to kick more goals but I thought he was good yesterday.