dazzledavey36

The slow and boring game style of 2024 was a #myth.. I've seen it all now.. lol

Unbelievable get for the footy club. Had the privilege of attending a leadership forum up in Brisbane last year where he was a guest speaker and conducted some workshops. He spoke about all things mindfulness, leadership and perspective. Personally I came away from his session really rejuvenated and gained a whole new perspective from a leadership and life perspective. He's worked with some absolute superstars in the sporting industry. He was prominent with Richmond throughout their dynasty years, Ash Barty, Mick Fanning, Dylan Alcott, Louis Dobbelaar and many more. If you get a chance follow him on Insta and LinkedIn. Has some really good content. Darren Shand and Ben Crowe.. what a combo. No excuses now.

From Saturdays session

It's currently 43 degree up here in Albury Wodonga and we're still permitted to footy train tonight at 6pm. Love it.

Very interesting.. Thoughts?

Brisbane didn't have much luck with injury as you say they did. By round 5 the lions had four ACL injuries to their senior established players in Kiddy Coleman (runner up norm smith 2023), Linc McCarthy, Darcy Gardiner and Tom Dodee. All 4 players would be premiership players had they'd been fit and ready to go. They lost Brendan Starcevich for 5 weeks with a calf injury, Levi Ashcroft only started playing mid year recovering from an ACL and then their 2nd best tall defender in Jack Payne also missed 6 weeks with a knee injury. On top of that went they went into grand final without their number one ruckman in Oscar McInerney who's a genuine top 5 ruckman in the competition. Whilst I agree to win premierships you need an element of luck on the injury front, Brisbane on the other hand had their fair share of adversity when it came to injuries. What it did for them was unearth talent like Kai Lohmann for instance when McCarthy went down and had to shift Zorko down back to cover Coleman which proved a masterstroke. The way they were able to plug holes with solid role players is why I admire their grand final more then any other opposition team in the last decade. I am also a massive Chris Fagan fan from a distance. People have knocked his age, but if anything it just shows that experience and being a wise head of the game still has a place in the AFL coaching caper.

For a small forward he simply doesn't score enough for me. His best tally for a year is 18 which is poor for a small forward that's been in the system for 7 years. I know goals aren't exactly everything but this is my point about sharing the load in terms of scoring avenues. That's why I listed the smalls for Brisbane and their ability to impact the scoreboard and spread the load.

Each to their own. Before his injury he was dropped to the VFL a few times during the 2023 season, so he wasn't really in good form anyhow prior to his injury. I'd like to see him play some solid VFL form before he's considered at AFL level.

Spargo has never kicked over 20 goals in his career. Can't see him doing it after having a year off. In fact I don't see him currently in our best 22 as we stand to be honest. Kolt on the other hand I could absolutely see doing.

Your stakes and expectations are way too high. It's physically impossible to back this up week in week out and I would be blatantly surprised if a club has ever done this in the last decade by kicking 15 goals per match, every week. Our forward line stocks is still young and developing. With Pickett playing more midfield next year, we still lack a genuine small with x factor and ability to be a match winner. Looking at Brisbane's smalls for instances, Lohmann (36 goals), Ah Chee (27 goals), Cameron (44 goals) Rayner (31 goals) Bailey (22 goals) Amazing spread of goalkickers just from their small alone and not counting their talls. Can't rely on the same usual suspects such as Pickett and Fritsch to kick all our goals week in, week out. Unfortunately the trade and draft period didn't really give us any real good options to chase another genuine classy small forward so we're going to have to pull a few surprises this year.

Riley Bonner confirmed.

Don't rate him, never have, and was even more perplexed we went after him especially when we already had another non competitive forward in Josh Schache. Fullarton actually plays more like a tall forward flanker then a key forward/ruckman. Watched him against Footscray earlier on the year and he got completely smashed in the ruck by an 18 years Lachie Smith who had just been drafted a few months prior. Seeing that absolutely resonated with my opinion that this was simply a poor recruiting choice from the very start. But, he deserves a clean slate going into the new year and if we do get decimated with injuries down back then why not throw him down and see if there is something worth persevering? I simply can't see how he squeezes into our forward line next year. Sometimes you just don't know unless you try something different. He's got the height and athletic ability to play on the modern talls and could be a handy 3rd tall if need.

I think the way we use Windsor off half back will be pretty similar to how the Giants use Lachie Whitfield.

Thanks to everyone for the in depth and thorough reports. @buck_nekkid I'm intrigued on what impressed you the most about Kentfield today? Times I saw him at Casey I wasn't overly impressed but when you've been shipped over to the other side of the country and expect to influence straight away in a completely different environment then I think it's okay for a bit of leniency in the kid. I'm keen to see how he goes after a full pre season at AFL level.

Yeah fair point.

Oh dear.

Interesting no mention of Roy George as a signing.

Bugger.. thats good get for the pies.

I must admit I'm very excited about not only hearing how impressive Brown has been at training but also his potential going into next year. He's clearly made a statement with the condition he's come back in but also coming 2nd in the 2km time trial which is an impressive feat for a second year player. His form at Casey was underrated this year and I wouldn't be surprised if he's in our best 23 come the end of next year as a half forward midfielder. He is my pick to replace ANB. Tough and quick left footer that reminds me a lot of Kieren Jack who was also a tough and honest midfielder for Sydney.

To Hell and Back Season 2. Now on Netflix.

Definitely looks like Mitch Hardie. Racked up some massive numbers at VFL for the cats and was pretty stiff not to get a game at AFL level. If he's signed at Casey then that's a great get for our VFL team.

So does having an experienced ex forward automatically means success as a forwards coach does it?