rpfc

Belief is a better word to describe it. We have spent nearly a decade getting smashed early in years, games, quarters, contests - that isn't fitness. Not staying with PA last year a few times - that's fitness. The nonsense served up in the years previous to that was because blokes ran on the field convinced they shouldn't, and their teammates couldn't. It's looks anemic but it's just a lack of belief. I applaud the fitness gains but I will be excited when I see a string of 'unconscious' touches in a forward direction in Rd 1 as they 'know' exactly what their teammates want, believe they can get it to them, and believe they can actually do something with it when they get it.

It's not laziness but a lack of confidence in themselves and their teammates. 'I won't be able to win the ball if I try that' 'He wouldn't be able to hit me so I won't even bother' It's been just amazing to watch incredibly self-confident men turn to water once they walk over the white line these past few years.

Well, that was an enthusing read. So the mids to start the season will be? Jones, Cross, Viney, Vince (?), Tyson, and 5 of M.Jones, Newton, McKenzie, Michie, Bail, Salem, Toumpas, Kent, or one of Petracca, Stretch, Vandenberg, Brayshaw, Harmes, Hunt. I hope for Newton, Michie, Kent, and Toumpas to improve for the team to do the same.

Utterly ridiculous idea. Who do you think will benefit if all clubs can have their own 'academy'? A ruinous idea. Incongruous to the era of the draft - something that has worked well, if you pick well.

You make a good point but the fact is that the competition wasn't allowed to act on his estimated draft position. And even this means that they would have paid more for the son of the best player I have ever seen then they did, but nothing that would be too much for the player he has become. Business model? I am talking about the model for recruitment and drafting in a draft regulated league. I am sure they were romantic reasons behind those that wanted to keep the old zones that delivered player to teams back in the day. We scrapped those as a progressive move toward a more equitable system (if you don't like the word 'model'). I love the F/S system we have, and the Academies are important for clubs to find and nourish players (and get a ROI) in non-AFL areas of the country. But just because something is convoluted and complicated we push it away and call it a farce. I admire the attempt to quantify the price of ND picks by the AFL. You can't keep a game equal (and get it to be equal...) by ignoring the roots of inequality that are hard to get to, and difficult to deal with - they will continue to cause issues. The clubs that were to get a fantastic deal will now only get a adequate deal - they will still recruit the player, should they want him, for his market worth. If not, then the kid can go to the club that does.

Not taking it away, just making people pay. Gary Ablett Jnr for a Third Round Pick? How is that a good model?

Happy to play a intra club televised on Foxsports. McCartney can coach the blues, and Goodwin the reds, Roos can do special comments, at half time 100 lucky members of the crowd will ritualistically [censored] Dwayne Russell with wooden paddles. No Essendon required for some wholesome entertainment.

We have approx. 5 midfielders right now. His 'point of difference' would be his existence.

And that would be inherently negative.

In defence of Demonland - we have won 37 out of 176 games these past 8 years... When there isn't positivity, what will fill the space? And the reason why the club doesn't advise them to come on here is that they don't need to engage with randoms 'concerned' with their form, social life, contract status, etc. The rise of Twitter is showing what a nuisance, distraction, or possibly, danger that can be. Demonland is a beacon compared to 'social media.' As for saty/TDI and those on here worried about his topics of conversation - what do you think the players and coaches get at fan events when those attending are 4 beers deep? Oddly enough, questions not unlike TDIs and negativity not unlike that on here. Cut from the same cloth.

Thank heavens for Free Agency, amirite?

Had a chance to chat to him when I was down in Melbourne last weekend - his former Ainslie NEAFL mates smuggled him into the Sat Night of the Coaching Conference at Etihad to watch the last 60 mins of the Asian Cup (he didn't watch much of it though). He was strictly on the waters too - he is very keen to do the right thing (TGR - if you were anywhere near the bar on the far end of the room - that's where he was). He is a very confident boy but said he has got nothing on these AFL boys. Hopefully they can take that confidence into games... I won't repeat everything he said but one piece of relevant information was that the 1st year players have not been given a position of the ground that they will play or a specific role - they have just been told to concentrate on a basic mindset of good behaviours; all the ones you can think of that a player needs - from training habits, to recovery, to in game behaviours like sheparding, attack on the footy and the how they want to play as a team. I would say it is like a little boot camp to get the new recruits up to speed - tinker with the plan for those with experience with it, and let the recruits learn in their first year. He is confident they will give him a couple years to get going but he looks solid, he looks stronger than he was a few months ago, and he is just keen to get down to Casey and play some good footy in 2015 and earn that second year.

Nathan Bassett "Ball movement coach" This one was titled "Coaching attack" but his title at Essendon is Ball Movement Coach and I believe he is also the Forward coach but he said he was the Ball Movement Coach... I won't be too hard on him, as it makes sense to have a coach dedicated to how you are moving the football. I just think it is a small step to Offensive and Defensive Co-ordinators and I know many are not a fan of the US invasion of AFL... Anyway, he was talking to us about why the Bombers struggled last year, apparently they wanted to bring it through the middle but there was an over correction from the players to the point where they would only look in the middle - teams clog it up and turn it over. Now they are looking to 'make the field big' by having players (wings, mids, high fwds) run to the fat side wing (and near side wing) to open up the whole ground. Oddly enough, he then showed a pointless practical session on one of those football field 'tarps' that was mainly about going down the middle. But I got the idea... A number of the concepts are similar to the ones with Crocker but the mantra about constantly reassessing how you can help your team popped up again. Whether to support, isolate, provide a lead for, get behind the footy, etc. The bombers won't be frightened to kick short to a player in a better position and, if nothing on with run or long into space, they will look short on the angle of 45, then 90, then backwards. Something I hope Melbourne look to this year (I heard that Gilbee took a kicking class and said that we and Hawthorn are both in the top 4 for Kicking Efficiency but we are last for metres gained - again, stats will lie to you if you give them the chance). He also spoke about leading patterns with some useless video of Bombers training where he was guessing who was in it I swear... Ambrose is learning how to lead properly after clocking up 9kms for 4 touches in one half last year. For the efficiency mad Bassett he was disappointed that Ambrose did so much pointless running. The kid was subbed he was so gassed (or useless)... The other stuff was fairly basic use of space and protection of space - I am a CHF so this wasn't new to me, if anyone wants any points to take on that let me know I have my notes right here. And that is that for the bulk of it - excellent opportunity to get some info about how things are done at the highest level, won't go every year but will certainly make the most of it when my club wants to pay for me to go again...

Right you are - I will also add that Crocker did touch on a bit of transition from the initial kick out of a stoppage - he showed 3 Roos 'ball watchers' wondering forward and playing 'hope footy' as Ziebell and Wells realised they couldn't affect the footy and pushed defensively. I will certainly look out for that at stoppages with my boys now. The EI stuff is fascinating to me now that I am coaching more - I think when I downplayed its importance around the Neeld hiring I was ignorant to the dramatic downside of hiring someone with terrible grasp of the interaction between club and coach, coach and player, and club and player. EI in an 18 year old would be an unfinished product but would be valuable to help players with any deficiencies as they integrate into the club.

Clarkson says they get them playing head tennis with a soccer ball over a volleyball net... So, who am I to tell him there is nothing there...

Darren Crocker (NM Midfield Coach) "Stoppages and Bodywork" That's my own title, the official one was 'Stoppages and Transition' but I got more transition chat from Bassett (I will get to in another post). They want to be the iniators and agressors at stoppages and while that is all well and good for any team to say, what they mean by that is that they won't wait for contact - they will give it first, they will try to work you under the ball, push you off to give themselves room, and shepard and push you to keep you from going to where you want to go. He illustrated that they train the players how to do these things using a very simple drill with the small trampoline net that every sunday cricket team seems to have these days. Just throw the ball to a pair and get one to aggressively get in front and cut off a player at the last minute (called wedging), work a player under the ball and take the ball over the top (this was illustrated with a ruckmans tap and is the player is called the 'piggy in the middle' - they try to avoid getting to close to the contest), and push an opponent off balance and receive the ball and hand it off. All of these require timing. He noted Ziebell is effortlessly well timed with all his aggressive movements (they love this bloke, seriously love him). Stoppage Principles: Balance attack and defence, Roles, Urgency and Workrate, be predictable with the taps and create space, 3rd man up an option (and not just to punch it a distance, also as a close tap), Inside contest (get into position late, drift there, create seperation), outside contest (wings, mid fwd roles defined and very disciplined), and use the first option when you get the pill. Point of Interest - he showed the Hawks manipulating both the Power and the Swans at stoppages in the forward half and on centre wing. With the Power, the forwards came up in a wall to the goal side of the stoppage to stop the power from going 'out the back' and through the middle. Against the Swans the made the Swans forwards push up into nothing positions following a deliberately misplaced wing that gave them one less forward, the other wing does the same and suddenly the Swans have 4 forwards (as a CHF, when this happens often, it is curtains - you can't score much when it is 4 against 6. This is using a team rule of the Swans against them. Crocker illustrated it beautifully. And lastly, he went through a few centre clearances of the Roos including a couple against Nathan Jones. And I mean, Nathan Jones. He is our target for most of our taps and due to Jamar being a left hander and the fact that Jones gets 40% of our clearances - teams know exactly where we are going. It is testament to Jones that he continues to be so effective. I have missed a couple of things (TGR?), but if anything peaks interest let me know and I can expand.

Nah.

Obviously, I agree. And it says a lot about the bloke and the multitude of various people at the club that stuck by his talent which was obvious and is now married with some maturity.

He has changed. His on field behaviour has become better and it has coincided with his impressive form over the last two years. The correlation is up to the individual to decide but he is more worried about 'beating' his opponent by getting the footy and he is the better player for it.

Agree with all that - Frawley sounds as if he will have to lift a cog or be asked to play a 'Taylor role' - and by that we mean one where he is not allowed to kick and only handball or be dropped... Crawford is a funny bloke and someone that funny isn't as stupid as he lets himself be portrayed on The Footy Show (not that I have watched it for a decade). It was bloody awful to hear that she had a PA coach tell her (Russell) that they were going to the Hawks because she was a bad mother... Another coach that I chatted to went to Maxwell's and said it was very good. Nick spoke about Mick and the fact that he went to 1 AFL training session in his first two years at the Pies, he said the Mick saw him as a Captain before he did himself, and baked him once in front of the group to see his reaction and started the process to get him the captaincy after that. The Pies will manage their leaders by prodding Sidebottom et al to speak about things but with advanced warning of a couple of minutes so that they can think of something smart to say and the group will see them as their leaders (not so certain that is the best way to mould your group just quietly...). He is working with the Storm and one little thing he is teaching them is to go hard for 15 metres and then reassess whether to continue or what to do; if you assess before you 'go' you have hesitated and you will be too late - said he did that with the spoil in the latter stages of the game against the Saints in the 2010 GF. Had a chance to speak one-on-one to Parko and it is amazing how much energy he has and passion for the game - told him about the struggle up in Canberra about recruiting people to AFL and keeping the kids engaged, seemed to be interested but he would be one of the few... I will have a look at my notes and give some depth on the Bassett and Crocker 'seminars' - there is some actionable points for coaches and players in there. Alves was good but was simply talking about how to reach blokes at training - I got a bit out of it for obvious reasons but there wasn't a lot there. Schwab was far too theoretical about game plans and club structure and it didn't really hit any relevant points for us (he is a List Manager for the Lions based in Melbourne) - but I won't criticise him too much; Terry Wallace was telling me that the AFL just gives people the topics and they work out what to say. Clarkson threw his out the window and told us that straight away but Wallace was stuck with List Management which would be relevant to about .1% of the attendees. Certainly agree about the steak, it would classify as sashimi it was so rare and an off cut it was so tough...

I guess it comes down to when a reason is an excuse or just a reason and whether one has common sense and can apply it.

Looks a good group of solid leaders, without 'leaders-to-be' or 'leaders in training' which is not what your LG should be. The LG is more important than the C and VC situation or who are in those roles but they have got those roles right too; Jones is a no-brainer and Dunn has turned himself into a solid and competitive player who also happens to be playing elite level HBF/FB play. Hopefully the false bravado and jumper punching are consigned to history...

Was lucky enough to go to the AFL National Coaching Conference on the weekend and thought I would share where AFL people think coaching is at and where it is going. Keynote Speakers: Alistair Clarkson, Brendan Bolton, Leigh Russell (http://www.leighrussell.com.au/), Shane Pill (West Adelaide) and Matt Jones (Dandenong Stingrays) There were a couple more that I didn't attend for the sake of relevance and time management but the clift notes to what they said: Clarkson - 'Fun and Games' Apparently, the higher you go in the elite pyramid of footy, the less enjoyment the players seem to have playing the game. At the Hawks, they have a focus on playing games at training that look at game sense and spatial awareness and less on the usual drills that we have all grown up with in our footy lives. The games would include anything from a handball game to some soccer to some head tennis with the soccer ball to anything they can think of. He cited James Frawley as one player that was surprised to see how many 'games' they were playing at training... Bolton - 'Creating a Learning Environment' 'Challenge the comfortable, and comfort the challenged' was the message from Bolton about how he works with the players at the Hawks. In relation to the games they play at training - he reiterated that that is how one learns quicker - not by being told what to know, but to work it out themselves. The players would then take those basic lessons into games of where to run, when to block, when to help, when to corral and not tackle etc. He noted that both Clarkson and himself have a background in teaching and it shows through in how they approach teaching the players as a participant in the knowledge gathering rather than a recipient. Russell - 'Emotional Intelligence' This is something that we will know a great deal about and something that I have seen the importance of since Roos has taken over. We have all seen the failure of coaches that do not have a balanced approach to those under their charge with their emotions and empathy. She said that EI stems out of self-awareness and that those that can control their emotions and display a level of empathy and build relationships can then begin to coach - before that happens, you have nothing. Pill and Jones - 'Practical Coaching of Game Sense drills' We were treated to a training session from the Dandenong Stingrays on Etihad on Saturday (some big boys, I think TGR was there as he mentioned he saw Jake Lovett, I saw some very solid units...). The kids did their warm up and got their skills sorted and then we saw Jones take them through a handball game that is fairly simple, then incorporated some kicking and then moved into a 'zone ball' game that looked a little like an NFL-AFL-Free Jazz hybrid. Now I have done these games before with my boys, but the difference here was that these 'drills' were the focus of the sessions that they do. There is no 'coned' drill where blokes trudge from cone to cone and stand behind a line - its all free style games with a few well define rules. Another thing is that some of these games can be AFL styled but with 12v12, or 6v6, or 3v5. etc. Another thing to note was the way the coach talked to the players - never told them what he thought they were doing wrong - he asked them what they were doing right and what they could do better and he asked specific individuals rather than the same bloke every time. I also had a chance to hear Nathan Basset (Ball movement and transition), Darren Crocker (Stoppage work), Stan Alves (effective training sessions), and Peter Schwab (building a game plan). I will add a bit more on these later but I can expand on anything that anyone has particular interest in.

That won't happen. The F/S-Academy pick is done by going through each eligible player starting with the club with Pick 1. As soon as the a club says "I would forfeit this pick for this player" the club that has a 'right' to that player can either let him go to that team or 'pay' the requisite amount of draft pick(s). It is just looking to make the steals into slight bargains. Viney for 26 was a steal, because he was bid on at ND9 - if we got him for 26, 45, and 50 (in the next draft) that would still be good value; remembering that those picks will effectively be pushed back to the end of the draft. ND9 for 26, 45, and 50 looks a solid bit of business to me...

This won't stop those teams from getting those players though - it just means that when they get a great gift - they have to pay appropriately for it. Handing over another second round and third pick for a top 2 talent is not much of a bad deal anyway... If we wouldn't entertain trading ND2 for ND8 and ND9 in 2009 then getting ND2 (Heeney) for ND18, ND36, and ND37 is a pretty good deal for the Swans...