Scoop Junior

I think there is a fair amount of overreacting here. This was only the second serious game the sides have played in 9 months. That's like one and a half full pre-seasons and without the usual build up that teams get with a number of pre-season practice matches. Little wonder the skills and ball handling were down and that players were probably quite fatigued in the second half. Both sides set up extremely well behind the ball and made scoring difficult and it looked like the teams didn't have their usual skill level and energy to break those defensive structures down. Quite understandable given the above. There were some really good performances in Round 1 - Tigers' first half against the Blues, Pies against the Dogs, Giants against the Cats, etc. - that suggest that there is still going to be plenty of quality football. Just because one game is a defensive slog doesn't mean the whole season is going to be the same. It was scappy but I enjoyed the contest and intensity, the closeness of the game and the brilliant defending. I've seen better games and I've seen worse games. Part of the beauty of sport is that games are going to look different. The last thing we want to see is 9 homogeneous games per week.

I'm not sure that's correct. It's just that those clubs have more fans so the crowd figures still look good even with the drop off. As a %, which is the key stat, I reckon it's about the same if not worse for those clubs. For instance, our 20,000 vs an interstate team when we are struggling might look poor as an absolute number, but it would be similar to the % decrease in a Carlton-Collingwood crowd when they are struggling. It's just that they'd still get 45,000 which appears better (however they would've normally got 80,000).

The two most disappointing aspects for me were: 1) The "sameness" of the loss - has been well covered in this thread. Winning contested ball and inside 50s but poor inside 50 efficiency and kicking for goal has been a regular occurrence in our losses for a number of years. 2) Playing on the Eagles' terms - we know the Eagles win when they take 100+ uncontested marks. Their tall backs chop off opposition entries and then they use the ball by foot to progress up the ground with uncontested marks. The way to beat them is to make it more of a street fight with lots of pressure and accountability and to make it a ground ball game. Yet at no stage did the game look anything like what we needed it to look like. They took 120 marks in a shortened game. We kept kicking sky balls to Barrass, McGovern and Hurn inside 50. We gave them exactly what they wanted. It was a strange old game given the circumstances and maybe that explains a bit. There were some positives (Viney's attack on the footy, Pickett just looks a class footballer, OMac and May kept Darling and JK quiet, Trac was fairly solid) but it was a pretty poor display overall. Once again the effort was decent for most of the game but the execution was sadly lacking.

He might have something separate with his knee but it was definitely an ankle/foot issue on Wednesday. That is, unless T Mac's knee ends at his heel.

He has gone back out on to the ground but just standing in the middle with Hannan who isn’t training. ? GEORGE'S TRAINING REPORT ⚕️ SATYRICONHOME'S INJURY UPDATE ? BAGHDAD BOB'S TRAINING REPORT

TMac now standing on the side of the boundary. Boots still on so maybe will head back out. SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Further Update) | ? GEORGE'S TRAINING REPORT ⚕️ SATYRICONHOME'S INJURY UPDATE ? BAGHDAD BOB'S TRAINING REPORT

TMac just led out to mark. Only a little jump at the ball but on landing put his hand straight up and limped off. Looked more foot or ankle than higher up. Getting assessed now. SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Update) | SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Further Update) | ? GEORGE'S TRAINING REPORT ⚕️ SATYRICONHOME'S INJURY UPDATE ? BAGHDAD BOB'S TRAINING REPORT

Haven’t seen AVB or Petty but I’m on the other side of the ground to the rehab group. Melksham also with the main group. ? SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMax injury concern) | SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Update) | SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Further Update) | ? GEORGE'S TRAINING REPORT ⚕️ SATYRICONHOME'S INJURY UPDATE ? BAGHDAD BOB'S TRAINING REPORT

Hibberd and Spargo are with the main group doing forward entry and defensive exit drills at the moment. ? SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (Vanders, Petty, Melksham) | SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMax injury concern) | SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Update) | SCOOP JUNIOR TRAINING REPORT (TMac Further Update) | ? GEORGE'S TRAINING REPORT ⚕️ SATYRICONHOME'S INJURY UPDATE ? BAGHDAD BOB'S TRAINING REPORT

Those who I didn't see train with the main group: May, Jones, Spargo, KK, Hannan, Tomlinson, Nietschke, Baker, Smith, Bennell Noticed Spargo, Jones, Hannan and Tomlinson on far side with rehab group. May have been a few others but couldn't see from the other side of the ground. Started with a few kicking drills. First drill was just step to the side around the man on the mark and hit a pass about 20m away. The second had a player kicking to a leading target with three guys around the kicker (one on each side and one behind). One of the three players would then apply pressure. I thought this was quite clever because training often has fake pressure (as in you know where the pressure is coming from) whereas in this one, while you knew there would be pressure, it appeared as if the player didn't know if it was coming from the side or behind. The next kicking drill was in a small group in a confined area with a few defenders/pressure players. It was basically get it and kick straight away, requiring a quick decision where to go and the need to balance and execute quickly off just a few steps. They then did some match sim but not with the full group and only in half a ground. There was a bit of pressure but it wasn't a full-on match sim which I saw a few times prior to the Christmas break. Again there was a lot more kicking than handballing. Conditions were fairly difficult with the heat and a strong wind. Just before I left they continued with the half-ground quasi match sim, but this time it started with a stoppage on the wing. Here there were a lot of groundball gathers and quick handballs, and then finally they would be told to release where a handball would set up a free player who would then clear the stoppage with a kick towards half forward. For these guys to run a 3km time trial in that heat and then train for a few hours after that - AFL footballers really are exceptional athletes. Not many individual observations different to what has been reported pre-Christmas, but one I did see was Luke Jackson take a set shot on goal during match sim. He has a nice set-shot kicking action, relaxed and pretty uncomplicated. It was close to goal but the action seemed fairly sound. People have queried whether as a basketballer he would need to learn to kick but to me (and yes it's only training) I wouldn't have even noticed he was new to footy based on his set-shot action.

I went down today as well and don't need to contribute much due to BB's fantastic report. I agree on Fritsch - he was the clear standout to me in the match sim. His hands on the lead were so clean it was like he had superglue on them. Just one-grabbing everything no matter the speed of the incoming kick nor the pressure being applied behind him. Just some additional observations: May - there was one moment where he went to spoil the ball near the boundary where I was standing. The intensity with which he attacked it combined with his size and speed was genuinely frightening - I would be a worried opposition forward with him lurking around in defence behind me. Pickett - showed really nice touch and technique with his kicking (right and left foot) in the non-contact kicking drill. Looks a real natural kick of the ball. He got in some nice positions on the lead during match sim but didn't appear to demand the ball, which isn't an uncommon trait for a new player finding his way into a new group of players. Jackson - I didn't see the groundball BB referred to, but you can just see an athletic specimen here. He's all arms and legs and will obviously need to put on upper body size to compete in the marking contests (he dropped a few marks he could've taken), but I don't think I've seen an 18-year-old ruckman move around and look as clean at ground level as him. Appears to be a really unique sort of player and an exciting talent. Melksham - was also excellent in match sim with his ability to find space to work into, demand the footy and then use it well. Him and Fritsch could be a pretty dangerous mid-sized forward duo. Weid and Petty - both appear to be bigger/stronger than last season, which gives them some more presence out on the field. Sparrow - just a body shape comment like Weid and Petty, but he has that big upper body / chest like Vanders (and they say the same ferocious attack on the ball). The question is obviously whether he is good enough - if so, him and Vanders could cause some serious chaos around the footy.

Clarry and Preuss with the red hats on in full ground drill. Not sure what it means but someone said earlier in the thread it means non contact.

Vanders was running laps with Petty and Bradtke. He is in pretty imposing shape, hopefully can get his body right. Smith was just on the sidelines - not sure if running or walking laps bit didn’t participate in the main drills.

I don’t think it was during a contact drill. He was wearing a red hat.

It may have absolutely nothing to do with a head knock at all. I didn’t see it. All I saw was him pointing to his right arm when it happened. But he didn’t seem to be favouring it when he walked back so hopefully that’s a good sign. I only mentioned it as when you hear KK and clash, you hope it’s not head related.

KK seems ok, doesn’t seem to be favouring his arm, but he’s now walking back to AAMI. I missed the incident - hopefully wasn’t any head knock involved.

Heard a big clash of bodies - looked across and saw Hore and KK both on the deck. Both down for a bit, KK walked off with a medico. Seemed to be pointing to his right arm.

Oliver and May both training and both appear to be fine. Oliver has his left shoulder strapped.

Obviously it depends on the talent in the draft pool, but generally speaking I would expect a superior footballer than Papley at pick 3. He's a good player, no doubt, but he's no star. He wouldn't even be classified as a great player IMO. Early picks give you the chance to grab a star or at least a player you hope will be in your top 6-8 players. Of course drafting is a risk, but if you don't take risks and you trade away pick 3 for good solid citizens like Papley you rob yourself of a prime opportunity to add elite talent to your list. The general consensus on the Langdon trade is an early second round pick and I'd take Langdon over Papley.

And that was the key factor in our early losses that had us 1-4 and backs against the wall. Unclear whether work rate and structural issues contributed, but there was no doubt we were run off our feet and struggled to cope physically with the load in those losses to Port, Geelong, Essendon and St Kilda. We actually did improve a fair bit after that point and lost two games (WCE and Crows) that we should have easily won. I've got no doubt those two losses, in particular the Crows one (which was perhaps the most I've seen a team dominate a game without winning), just shattered our belief and confidence and we never recovered. Had we won those two games it would've been 4 wins from the past 5 and, while we were not at the level of 2018, we may have gone on to win 2-3 more games and finish with 10 or so wins.

You've taken that way out of context. Firstly, the quote about being unprepared was in reference to the pre-season. Anyone who watched our first five rounds of the H&A season could see a team that was not fit enough and found it difficult to spread away from the contest. I would've thought it was as clear as day that we came into the season underdone given the number of absentees during the majority of our pre-season. Secondly, this was not the only reason he gave for the poor season. This was just what started it off. He also acknowledged during the interview: 1) That the pressure of expectation (being a success-starved club coming off a preliminary final) affected everyone, players and coaches included. 2) He needs to get better at detaching himself from his football life to his private life and not let the stress/pressures of footy affect his private life. 3) He noted we need to develop a game style that can be more identifiable so that supporters know what they are going to get. That's three points alone where he has acknowledged improvement required in coaching. So yeah, your assertion that he is blaming everyone else but himself is way off the mark.

I am not swayed by the club narrative - I'm swayed by what I see when I watch us every weekend. I have seen a team that was quite possibly the worst Melbourne team in my time supporting them with possibly the worst list (2013) improve each year to the point where we finished 5th H&A and won 2 finals. I'm not just going by wins I'm going by how we performed in games across the season. So surely something is going right when you continually improve one of the worst sides of all time year on year and get them to the top 4. I don't disagree with you about this year - it has been a shocker and changes need to be (and will be made). But that does not in my opinion mean the people who were there over this list/team build have failed and that plans made in 2013/2014 didn't work. When 5 of 6 seasons have seen the team improve I completely disagree with the sweeping statement that "it didn't work".

Are you aware Macca spent more than 2019 at the MFC? Or do you just usually assess performance based on one-fifth of the data?

Why did the Macca situation "fail to work" when he and Goodwin have been part of a build that has resulted in increased wins every year and then a PF, albeit one very poor year at the end? And how does bringing in Richo correlate to the club "basically telling Goodwin he is not up to it"? Why can't it mean we are trying to bring in someone with extensive experience to add to our coaching setup? Or are you also of the view that when Richmond brought in Justin Leppitsch as an assistant it was the RFC basically telling Hardwick he was not up to it?

Yep agree with this. It has appeared that quite regularly this year we do get first hands on the ball at the stoppage but get tackled which either results in another stoppage, a rushed disposal that is turned over or a hot-potato handball to another player under pressure. In contrast, the opposition appear to get more unpressured clean clearances. I'm not sure whether this may be due to our CP and clearance dominance last year. With Gawn in the ruck and a strong inside midfield group, teams may be using a more defensive mindset at stoppages to sweat on our first possession and try turn it over. On the other hand, perhaps we have a more attacking mindset at the stoppages given is one of our strengths, such that when we don't win it first or alternatively turn it over, we are not in as good a position to defend the opposition's exit. Or is it just a work rate thing? Hard to know the exact cause, but clearly it is an area of strength which we can hopefully exploit better next year.