BW511

I watched yesterday's game with two mates who support other teams. Fair to say they didn't respect him much The Spargo one was more of a non-decision, than a strong decision. He went halfway between having a shot and passing.

Its a very defensive strategy

May still doesn't appear to be moving all that well in my opinion. Looks very conscious of his body/hammy when he kicks. I understand why the strategy is the way it is but it's a risky move to sit the ball on Max's head all day, every week. He's copped a lot of knocks to this point in 2022

Jason Taylor would be spewing, Holmes is a player

Very sharp work for the Trac goal, then polar opposite for Bowza

The weather should really even the contest up. Hope Viney plays like last week and Clarry gets 45 & 2 around the carnage

If it was anybody else playing this way, we would be begging to get him. His football is very good, everything else leaves a bit to be desired - although I think he would be a long way from the only one acting in the way he is, just unfortunately all happened very publicly for him (Lever, indigenous boys etc)

I think if he 'fills out' any more his mobility will suffer. He is noticeably bigger this year and he appears to have lost a bit of his spring around the ground

Just trying to keep it relatively easy to digest, could get far more complicated but racing days are racing days. Even if you are not trying to win, you still have objectives for the team. Only a very small handful get a free ride and that’s only in specific races ie Grand Tours

Certainly a nice feeling when it all comes together, even at the amateur level.

Jacko for Andy B, straight swap. Peter Bell might not physically survive

Veering off topic for a moment, If I ever turn on the TV and catch some form of motor racing (F1 or V8's) I am always impressed with the information they provide viewers. If the general population of the world can understand what is happening in these events with strategy, tyres and car performance, then the AFL can be a little more analytical with their presentation and actually teach people about the game. That would be refreshing

Cycling is where my (limited) knowledge comes from. To put it in context for the football followers, those athletes race their bikes all year, although for most of them they target only a couple of specific races each year (Peaking). They compete in many races during loading phases and are often doing extra riding after races whether to or from venues/finishes. It is widely accepted that you can only peak twice in a given year and that is a much more difficult thing to manage for the second time.

I see this kind of sentiment a lot in this thread and am not singling you out. Surely Jacko's worth to teams from the west (or us) was decided in last years GF and on future potential. The monetary figures would be sewn up. If I was his manager, I would be nervous that this period could jeopardize that

I should add, the 4 week block is the general training principle but it is not necessarily exactly what they follow at AFL level. The loading phase would certainly be at least 2 blocks though. It takes 6 weeks for any adaptation to happen

It could be done in a way that the 4 week period had a greater amount of training stress overall, just not in a linear way, although large jumps in load between weeks would greatly increase the risk of injury/illness. It's a very delicate balance. With Covid and the Flu running rampant in society, I would not want to be sitting in Selwyn's seat!

You can certainly tweak it from week to week but you have to be applying more load as a general trend, so a 4 game period of heavy load one week, light the next and then repeated would offer little benefit. This image is describes it in it's most simple form, although it would be more complicated and specific to peaking in then holding that through September

With the way a training cycle or loading phase works, the on/off method suggested above would likely not be the answer. Generally it is a 4 week block and then recover for a week. I would anticipate the current bye break being used as a recovery period and then another loading phase through rounds of 15, 16, 17, 18 (around 4 weeks) then pull it back and come out breathing fire for Bulldogs in Round 19.

I’ve tried looking at this from differing perspectives. 1. If the numbers or term are close to true, Jacko would be absolutely insane to turn that down. The average AFL career would only be 3-4 years, making it through another 7 years would be no guarantee. (See how Collingwood feel about their 7 year contract with Grundy right now?) 2. If the numbers or term are even close to true and he takes it, our return on investment would be big. There’s some serious capital coming our way in the form of players and picks to get that deal done. He was a high draft pick, he’s been a part of a flag, his potential is endless however he may not become any more than he currently is - a handy backup ruck. 3. If Peter Bell was such a [censored] and or so astute with the Hogan deal, I find it hard to believe he’s recklessly overseeing a 7 year contract Interesting times for sure. I said earlier that I am unsure whether Jacko ever becomes a permanent ruck or a permanent forward. If he was to leave, you could hardly blame him with that sort of deal in front of him. I also don’t think it’s a bad result for MFC. We’ve broken a very long premiership drought and even if we are ‘in the window’ for a few years to come, i don’t think Jacko staying or going will define our chance at more flags.

I may be alone in thinking this but I feel like Jacko might be a bit of an inbetween guy for his whole career. Not tall enough to be a permanent No.1 ruck and not damaging enough to be a permanent key forward. He had a decent game on the weekend but has been down on late 2021 form so far in 2022 If it netted us a King brother, McStay etc, I'd be wishing him well in pursuing a move back West.

I would look at specialist coaches. Fitness is definitely important but I feel like the skill level of AFL players is often below what you would expect of fulltime, professional athletes - this is a generalisation and not specifically based on us. There’s still plenty of players across the competition that are sub-par kicks, plenty of players that can’t mark above their head, a fair amount of players that can’t handball to save themselves and set shot goal kicking is still a raffle. if Jacko is hanging around, a specialist ruck coach would be very useful - I’d offer a gig to Goldstein if he retires.

This would be utterly terrifying

So if we were a little sluggish due to training loads, that would effect our ability to apply the 100% committed pressure we built our premiership on?

It looks like he did a boat load of work putting on size over the last 12 months. I think he might lean out a little over the coming years and start to become a pinch-hit mid/hff

He was very good. Lot of link up play very deep in the backline at times too.