RalphiusMaximus

It's kind of funny. These days Collingwood is looking like one of the worst clubs in the league for player development. Almost every quality player in their side was poached from another team.

Jones has backed Salem to break out this year. It's an early call from the Captain, but I think we'd all love to see it.

Is it wrong that I'm hoping to see them take the flag next year? Assuming that we don't of course.

Good players play between their ears. Great ones play between their opponents' ears.

Again, not a single tackle in the entire reel. I'd love to hear from someone who's seen him play whether he puts in defensively.

Given the state of our list that's a pretty big red flag.

Part of the problem is that they are ALL huge when you look at them individually. It's only when compared to some of his teammates that Billy looks skinny. I'm always shocked during the pre-season when I run into players in the crowd and have to process again just how BIG these guys are.

When we asked a few years ago why we don't get Friday Home games, the AFL told us we had to bring in crowds and win games. We're now doing both of those things and we still don't get a single Friday Home Game. And how do they justify Carlton's dream draw? Well, they have a lot of talent, and they might click and produce some really good football...

I totally agree. Robbo was seriously underrated because of a lack of defensive effort, but he carried the forward line for years.

<Troll> I don't like the look of Clarry dropping off the back of the pack like that. Looks to me like he's been slacking off over the break again. </Troll> But in reality, there's some good feels in those photos and the video. Weed looks like he's packing a bit more bulk which is nice. Maynard is gigantic and as has been said, ANB seems to have set himself up for a big pre-season.

This is a great reward for both players, but I really hope they don't get hurt.

He's exciting, but I didn't see any tackling on that clip.

It's really good training. Builds fast twitch muscle, whole body workout, surprisingly good for aerobic endurance. Plus getting hit a lot in a controlled way is a good way to toughen yourself up for a sport that involves getting hit a lot.

It's great to see our players doing a little extra before the official start to pre-season. Listening to the speeches at the B&F it sounded like this is the standard they are hoping to set with our squad. Don't just do the official training sessions, go out and work on your own as well. Of course, if they want the players to do more than the official work-outs and training sessions, they could just add more to the official workload rather than hinting that they want more but not outright saying so. Maybe they have limits imposed by the AFL on how much they can require of the players?

Rubbish. It's a myth of the coaching industry that you can't correct a bad action. It takes work, yes, but it is by no means impossible. Richmond did it a few years ago. They noted that the best teams tended to kick the ball on a lower trajectory resulting in less flight time, so they embarked on a club-wide mission to change the way their players kicked and get them kicking lower and harder. Given the abysmal nature of our team's disposal I think it would be well worth the money to get a specialist in to do what they can.

We're in need of a forward line coach as first priority. A kicking coach would be welcome as well (field kicking that is).

The permission to train list is an insurance thing. If a club wants a look at someone, they can't just bring them in and work them. If the recruit gets injured the club faces liability issues. Having them on the PTT list means they are covered by the AFL.

He's got to be one of the better DFAs out there. I wouldn't say no.

Looking at the available crop, surely we make a play for Hartung?

He was boxing with Lever a couple of weeks ago. Maybe Jake hit him too hard?

It's generally accepted that you need to pay more to poach a player than to keep one. I think the players would understand this as well as anyone. Lewis will be pushing the mantra that it's worth taking a little less to have a successful team that stays together for multiple premierships. That should help. With luck we'll see some of our senior players set the example as well.

My Bulldogs supporting mate tells me that he's quick, has pretty good disposal and can kick goals. I believe the issue is his contested work and defensive pressure. While we lack the attacking qualities he brings, I don't know if our coaching group would want him.

That chip at a flat-out sprint was sweet, but his general field kicking under little to no pressure looks very suspect to me. A lot of short passes that made the target stretch to pull them in. One was way over the guy's head. Over those distances he should be hitting them square in the chest. Not the sort of thing you should see in a highlight reel.

Aggressive, attacks the contest, very dodgy kicking. Sounds like a perfect fit for our side.

Oskar Baker sounds like a good prospect as an attacking outside player. Bearing in mind that the only one I know anything about is Dom Barry, who I would quite like to have back on our list.