Scoop Junior

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.

At what point does continually saying "no one is talking about Melbourne because they are irrelevant" lose all of its meaning by the very act of continuing to say "no one is talking about Melbourne because they are irrelevant"? The paradox is obviously lost on the media.

He made some mistakes but I thought Frost was good last night. Played mostly on Membrey, who kicked three but two of which were cheapies in the goal square. For the majority of the game he completely nullified Membrey (who regularly destroys us) despite facing a barrage of inside 50 entries.

In 7 of our last 10 games we have either been ahead or within one kick at 3/4 time. 8 games if you include Brisbane where we were level very late in the 3rd quarter. Our record is 2 wins 6 losses in those 8 games. Of the 2 wins, one was against Freo with 2 players down, the other against Carlton where we still got overrun in the last quarter (although being 3 down was a significant factor). In the others, we've been regularly overrun in final quarters. What is the cause? Are we not fit enough? Do we freeze up when the game is up for grabs? We were very poor tonight for the majority of the game. But even still, we were within a kick at 3/4 time and got completely overrun yet again. Hopefully we've added final quarter fadeouts right near the top of the ever-growing end-of-season to do list.

Since you love your averages, how about this: 2016 - 10 wins 2017 - 12 wins 2018 - 14 wins (plus two finals) So we average 12 H&A wins over a 3-year period, which is then followed up by a record of 5-12 after 17 rounds in 2019. 2018 is far closer to the average than 2019 so far. Further, if we include this year, our record under Goodwin (2017 onwards) is 33 wins from 64 games (51.6%). 2018 win-loss record was 16 from 25 (64%) and 2019 is 5 from 17 (29.4%). 2018 is therefore much closer to the mean than 2019. This is only including wins, not those should-have-won games like Geelong (twice) last year, Port last year, Eagles (twice) this year and Crows this year. At this point in time there is no reasonable basis to say 2018 was an aberration.

I thought that game was a real microcosm of our season since the first five rounds. All of the following which were on display against the Eagles have been regular occurrences this year: 1) Generally the better side for the majority of the day 2) Missed some absolute sitters right in front of goal 3) Opposition barely missed a shot 4) Key in-game injury 5) Last quarter fadeout The goal kicking is just critical. In such an even competition it makes a huge difference to momentum, belief and confidence. The first five rounds were really poor but we looked completely underdone and nowhere near the required fitness levels. Since then we have made some structural changes and, other than the GWS game, we've been in every game and have played some reasonable footy. As disappointing as this year has been, with only slightly better goal kicking we would easily be 7-4 from Round 6 onwards and still a finals chance even despite our early round struggles. Even in the Lions game we were 9 points up away from home in time-on of the third against a red-hot team and playing well below our best. We're not getting the results at the moment but there is enough to show we really aren't that far away.

I didn't think so. We beat them 2 months earlier. Also we scored 11 goals to their 8 after quarter time, so it couldn't have been game plan domination. The damage was done in the first quarter when we came out nervous and then got spooked when they starting banging on the goals.

We choked that one. There is no doubt we wanted to win that one but we couldn't handle the pressure / expectation of our first finals appearance in 9 years being one win away. It wasn't a case of not trying - it was a case of the fear of failure taking charge.