DeeSpencer

You get the ball in the second half. It’s often hard to score on the first drive of the game, better to have the ball to start after half time when you can make adjustments. Plus the team that defers often ends up with the ball to close the first half as well so you get 2 goes in a row either side of half time

1. Hired a phenomenal coach in Kyle Shanahan who had done a long and varied apprenticeship in many spots but hadn't got the credit he deserved due to concerns about nepotism, youth and failure to see how well he did in bad circumstances. 2. Paired him up with a former player and TV broadcaster as GM in John Lynch who was Shanahan's preferred hire. Together they've made plenty of mistakes but they've also stuck fat to a proven philosophy - invest in the big bodies who move the trenches and in good culture guys. They've gone after the guys who fit the coaches system and vision. 3. Got lucky in a few ways. a) didn't rush in for a QB and instead traded for Jimmy G at quarterback when he became available and got him cheaply because the Pats wanted him to go to a good home b) had Jimmy G miss most of last year and so without a starting QB they were very competitive but not winning, thus got the number 2 draft pick and took Nick Bosa who has made immediate impact. c) picked up a gun ageing player in Richard Sherman when he was keen to be in the Bay Area The lessons for an AFL side I think are: 1. Find a coach with a proven record and a vision 2. Stick to that vision - use it as a recruiting advantage and invest in the culture 3. Make your own luck! The Chiefs are actually somewhat more like Richmond because they live and die based on speed and are taking the speed and spread to a new level. The 49ers are a power based team. Everything they do is based on dropping bodies, but not in a dumb run straight in to a wall way, but in using angles, motion, predictability etc to get guys out of position then sitting them on their backsides.

If we have that debate on here another 500 times this year I think we’ll really start to get to the bottom of it

7 weeks from the start of the season isn't the worst time for a 6 week injury. Get well soon big man. Also note it's a sprain not a strain if I'm allowed to be pedantic.

And Steveaux going with the same

Hoping it’s only minor and injuries are bound to happen but I have been saying for months they’ve been going very hard. Gawn’s the type of player who shouldn’t need much more than fitness and skill work. Anyway, just hope the big fella is ok.

De Goey is one of the games most dangerous forwards, he has height, pace and dual sided skills around goal that make him incredibly hard to stop. The goal kicking record is there to see. Petracca battled really well in an awful forward line, often playing closer to goal than ideal and getting awful delivery. As a forward he’s at his best higher up the ground where he can turn a 50/50 contest in to a clear scoring chance. He’s not nearly as dangerous one on one. So don’t knock him for last year but don’t compare him with JDG either. Both are wrong. The way the game is played half forward is a bit of a devalued position, it’s a lot of unrewarded running. Tracc can be a B+ or A- forward, but to be a true A grader he needs to bring his ball winning, tackle breaking and spearing kicks to the midfield.

I wonder if the club got caught up in the facebook pivot to video lie. For those not familiar the numbers on facebook videos were inflated, causing many media organisations to focus on video coverage instead of text only to later find out the numbers were rubbish. I'd rather watch an interview than read the quotes, and the video footage is better than any description of training but I do miss the job the diary did of providing some behind the scenes stories about the players and coaches. Hopefully we get some of that in the documentary.

Announced today he's joining a Wednesday night footy classified with Eddie.

Roos offered so little OTC he made Brown and Lyon sound interesting. Sadly nothing could save Healy. At some stage to get paid to talk about football you should probably offer more than defend, defend harder and have good culture.

There hasn't been enough full match sim to make any declarative statements and even then it's impossible to tell until the real stuff starts. That said, last year was a write off in terms of working out where the strengths and weaknesses lie, but if we go back to 2018 the biggest problem with our defending was midfield transition. Our forward pressure was ok and lifted in the run in to finals. Our backline had plenty of good moments, but it seemed they had to be super aggressive and go for the intercepts up the ground because if they sat back teams would coast through our mids. Tomlinson and Langdon are big inclusions to make sure the wings have proper two way run. Harmes to a half back flank I'd imagine is to get a player who can cut off a lot of transition attempts. Those 3 should be tasked with getting in the right positions to cut off the easy targets, which in turn hopefully forces long kicks to Lever patrolling half back or May at full back. The inside mids - as with all our players - are doing a heap of work on transition drills. Viney is clearly having a better preseason and can be really important in that part of the game. Oliver is fitter again and whilst he'll never be an endurance machine he has the burst and instincts to pressure. Brayshaw can't be as bad as last year. Petracca is the wildcard, in theory his aerial ability, reading of the play and burst should be as useful defending as attacking but he has to have the motor. Defensive personnel is a bit of a concern (2nd key defender, mid sized depth) as is finding the right mix between pressure and attacking players up forward, but the team is absolutely drilling two way work rate.

A basic google search to make sure someone doesn't have completely wild political views and isn't immensely disliked by a large section of society is all I'm asking. It might be 2 years old but it's also the last and only other time Sandgren was in the news. He's a journeyman who's had a couple of decent AO runs and will likely remain most known for his stupid tweets. So, the bad PR outweighs the positives of a couple of shots on TV and in the paper of a Melbourne jumper. I think I've already posted here or elsewhere that Tom McDonald going to listen to a nutter for self help advice was concerning - I care for all of our players and don't want their mind filled with junk, although that's a personal choice. Most likely a completely non factor, if not, hardly a surprise it didn't work for him. Hopefully he pats a few more cats this year and gets back in form.

Only the MFC Media department could attach their brand to a guy as troubled as Tennys the day before he invariably loses to Federer (in an MFC style fashion). Such a fail. Alt right Pizza-gate truther. Just not who we should be associated with. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-24/tennys-sandgren-purges-his-twitter-account/9355836

Nah. It’s worth asking if Dan Butler, Sam Gray or some other stop gap should’ve been added but Jeff was done. Either way, I firmly believe once he gets over his untimely broken wrist Chandler will be ready to play. And a poor tank alone isn’t a huge reason to doubt Kossie

Remedial kick time. Defenders kick to kick around the arc. Small forward snaps. Forwsrd entries for plenty. petty, Brown, Preuss, Tomlinson, Viney doing 2 v 1 make a decision and kick short or medium Langdon, Sparrow, Vanders picking up in the middle, giving a fend and trying to hit a lead up forward coming at them. Nice to see drills tailored for individual players Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

Viney on the right hits up Petty, handball over to J Wags who places it perfectly for Fritsch to take a nice mark holding the space under pressure from J Smith. In half game stoppage to forward entry simulations Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

Trying to watch Langdon v Tomlinson in the wing, as well as Preuss v Jacko DeeSpencer Training Report 03 (Stoppage to Forward Entry SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 04 (Tailored Positional Drills) | Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

Match sim under way. Viney’s work rate and T Sparrow finding space to take a couple of nice marks the highlights so far DeeSpencer Training Report 02 (Langdon vs Tomlinson) | DeeSpencer Training Report 03 (Stoppage to Forward Entry SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 04 (Tailored Positional Drills) | Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

Jeepers a training report thread turning in to a defence of Jeff Garlett's hardness. What's next? - 21 reasons why Simon Godfrey was actually a good kick - Brock McLean wasn't slow, just poorly used. - Mark Neeld - underrated. - 7 reasons why you should try the Bat soup in Wuhan

Mids will rotate through the forward line and ideally we’d have more players with versatility but forward pressure, up and back work rate, forward craft and cohesion is too important not to have 7 forwards in the side and to have at least 1 tasked with and suited to crumbing, pressure and some goal kicking ability. Jones should be in contention for a high half forward spot, and we could have a couple of players in that role, but whether it’s a specialist small like Pickett or Bedford or someone more versatile like Hunt or Hannan there has to be some speed and tackle pressure inside 50. A 32 year old who doesn’t have the agility in the legs and back he once had isn’t going to be laying tackles, darting through gaps and sprinting out the back.

No point giving up until the list lodgement date. Maybe the surgery wasn't the panacea but his calves could still be adapting to the recovery from surgery and different dynamics without the plantaris. Personally still sticking with my uneducated belief that his running action and posture aren't ideal.

He’s close to a zero defensively and he’s very soft at the contest, particularly in the air. He could be useful in April running to space but he’s not the kind of player you need in September. Essendon probably delisted him because they are sick of playing back half counter attacking footy and want to get serious about playing like a finals team.

Backline: Hore, Oscar, Smith, Lockhart are our 7-10th best defenders and all around the mark, they’ll all have to play during the year but unsure if any completely lock up a spot. A bit early to tell for Rivers. Mids: The 2nd year trio of Dunkley, Sparrow and Jordon should push for games. Sparrow probably has the most ready made upside due to athleticism. Baker is still the hope for the second half of the year. Forwards: The most open group. Any of Mitch Brown, Petty, Weid or Jackson could grab hold of a tall spot. Plenty of small options. But my overall tip is that Kade Chandler is best 22. Unfortunately now his broken wrist might see him in VFL and needing to prove himself to start the season.

Every time I’ve seen Stafford doing ruck specific training Jackson has been with the rucks. But otherwise I’ve seen him with the forward group and with the mids (including rucks) about 50/50. And I’ve only seen him do match sim a couple of times, both times with the forwards. Gawn has gone head to head with Preuss as the rucks. If he gets a game early in the year I expect he’ll be the back up ruck for the 5 minutes a quarter that Gawn rests, and then will play forward for the rest of his allocated game time. If he’s good enough and physically up to playing then won’t he be our best relief ruckman option?

There’s a number of free or limited photo sharing platforms that could work for you. Unsure on the quality of storage, privacy or if they alter the image but could do the job well enough. https://www.techradar.com/au/best/best-image-hosting-websites