DeeSpencer

Not sure if they've been discussed but Goodwin opened up a bit on his footy philosophy in this article. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-02-18/goodwin-has-high-hopes-for-new-recruit-salem Outside pace could be a query, but Goodwin was comfortable with the midfield balance on his list. "I see the game differently. I'm not a big believer of inside or outside players," he said. "I believe in players who can operate around their decision-making in the game … but if you asked me, 'have we got some speed?' We have. "Jayden Hunt, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Dean Kent, Josh Wagner, James Harmes … we've got a lot of guys who have actually got speed, but it's not something I focus on." He also talks up JKH. Hunt and Kennedy-Harris were two players Goodwin nominated as potential big-improvers in 2017. Hunt's potential is well known after being named the Demons' best young player in 2016, but Kennedy-Harris is coming off a year ruined by three hamstring injuries. "We built him up slowly through the summer and he got his body into peak shape heading into Christmas," Goodwin said of Kennedy-Harris. "His last seven or eight weeks have been outstanding and he'll get his opportunity through the JLT Series. "He could easily be in our best team. He's got some attributes that he brings to our forward half that can potentially be really dangerous." And comment's about Salem's midfield move "He's a quality ball user … but there's also things in his game that he brings around the contest that really help us. The inside/outside stuff is interesting. I think you need versatility these days but also pure outside run is super valuable. The hawks were ahead of the curve on both. Salem might be playing more inside to get a sweeper around the contest instead of having 3 guys who dive straight in for the ball. Lewis might play outside and not be as fast as most wingmen but he can sit off the pack and use his skills. The balance will be interesting.

In the intraclub he just looked a fraction behind the pace of play in terms of leading out to the flanks when required. Otherwise didn't really notice him good or bad. He seemed to be playing a CHF type role for the lesser of the teams that day so it might not have been an easy spot. He hasn't looked out of place at training. At this stage I'd say he's a wait and see. If we persist with Weideman, Spencer and Vanders in the side and leave Watts, Hulett and Pedersen out of the team there's a lot of competition for spots.

Last year was a nice bonus to see the Weed play a few games at AFL level and just as importantly have some really good stretches in the VFL. So I hope we don't go overboard with expectations this year but the good news is he's stronger and was running really well when he came back from the break. He has to hold more marks and work on his defensive pressure but the way he attacks the ball and his class stands out. The 2 goals he got against the Dogs on the weekend were gifts but it shows he can read the play and run hard in to space to get on the end of it. He took a really nice mark as well and missed the shot that he'd usually kick based on his VFL form.

Mark Neeld had no relationship with most of the players. A completely dysfunctional game plan and constantly shuffled Jack around whilst also not dropping him and letting him build his game at a lower level. Jack's 25 now and isn't a young player who has to be managed. He's an experienced senior AFL player who can live by the same rules as his team mates. His team mates have supported him in the media. Josh Mahoney has supported him. It's unfair on the other 44 players if Watts get picked and 'supported' when they would've been left out. Who knows what Goodwin is doing privately? I'm sure he's been supportive and not abusing him.

Mahoney confirmed that key forward would not play again this week and explained why. “We think there has been some predictable, but unfair media speculation about Jack Watts’ non-selection. To clarify, the team is being selected on some key criteria, during the pre-season,” he said. “Jack knows exactly what needs to be worked on and his past two or three weeks, he’s been working hard on what he needs to improve on in certain areas. “He still remains a key player for us this season.”

Mitch King, White and Frost doing boxing in rehab. Garlett doing boxing. No sign of Wagner nor Ben Kennedy. Lots of small group craft based drills and then even a period at the end that looked a bit free choice in terms of players pairing up and just working on specific things. Tyson practising his kicking to a lead with Weeds. Garland and Tom Mc working on left hand spoiling. Hogan and Tim Smith doing one on one body work in the goal square. There was a short period of the 3 team full ground match play. No real standouts. Watts trained fully, nothing really to note. If anything I'd say he looks a little thin and underdeveloped, certainly not carrying condition.

Out: Wagner, Garlett In: Hibberd, Johnstone, Garland, Trengove Hibberd in for Wagner. Will be interesting to see if they go with the same emergencies this week or if they give someone else a run. I'd certainly like to see Trenners and DJ get a run, maybe for Harmes and ANB. Edit: DJ will play as per MFC website.

Yep it was pretty bad at times but then they also corrected when they had to. I think one of the main reasons Lewis will play on a wing is because he'll be used to the Hawthorn system that maintains space around the ball. Oh and it is brain science! The dogs haven't just trained it they've used computers to study it. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/personal-technology/western-bulldogs-gain-from-artificial-intelligence/news-story/dcfdf70ec2d4acdccc6776348412b47e

Those two weren't preferred to Watts because they are better but because they've put in the work. Vanders has questions over his skill level but I don't doubt his work rate and physicality, especially with tackling. Can you imagine how good Watts would be if he attacked the ball and then chased and tackled like Vanders does? Because to me that's what an AA level player would be.

That's important, he has the base fitness under him to do whatever the coaches are asking. But if he's been coasting he'll need to step it up in the next month before round 1. Particularly if the coaches are demanding a big lift in defensive work rate.

Yep we really need a base, but at the same time we need to make Casey work whilst we've got it. I think PJ explored moving away from Casey and the numbers didn't add up without a base. Soldier on with what we have for now and constantly be on the lookout for something like Elsternwick. I still think a public-private partnership with a council and a private school might be the best bet, particularly around women's football. If you look at the Melbourne private schools that are located in our heartland area the boys schools all have footy ovals either on campus or located at a sports precinct. The girls schools - St Caths, Lauriston, MLC, MGGS etc are lucky to have more than just a grass space. They have the ability to raise money, they have political influence and if women's football takes off they are going to need facilities and well maintained ovals.

Max played a straight bat but it's pretty clear to me Goodwin is lighting a fire under Watts for a pedestrian preseason given the talent and strides he made last year. Watts had a great year, but he's still an unusual player because he's 196cm tall but doesn't use that height all that often as a tall structural player and his defensive pressure is really poor for a guy of his mobility. At his best he's great, when he's off he doesn't add much to the team. Our rebuild is a bit like Richmond's who got a bunch of stars but they failed to build the depth and versatility in how they played and were found out in finals. Watts reminds me of someone like Shane Edwards who was very good for a few years but never fired in a final and fell away this year. We need to make sure Watts isn't the same kind of player (even if he's 6 inches taller). The challenge to Watts: - If you want Spencer's 2nd ruck spot - make sure you are super fit and can run around the ground when in the ruck because we can't give you 3rd up help. - If you want Weid's 2nd key forward spot - make sure you are strong in the air and forcing contests - If you want Vanders' mid sized spot - then run super hard to present an option and most importantly chase and tackle with intent.

I think I said this in another thread but anyway. I went to quite a few trainings pre xmas. Not may after. He's looked the good skill wise and they haven't done much pure fitness work so it's hard to tell where he's at that way. He was quite in the intraclub but not the only one and it was a short hit out. Physically he looks pretty much the same. He's certainly not the strongest built nor the leanest. I had my own suspicions on the hair dye job at the time but it's really not useful to add more speculation to a thread full of it.

That would be one heck of an ambush marketing campaign. But I don't think it's worth selling our dignity. I've got faith in PJ that he's out there working on a deal but it's a tough environment and the new Netball league and AFLW hasn't helped. At least he can be positive (for now anyway) that the team has something worth investing in.

I think Goffy summed it up pretty well. Viney had a hip problem and slowed down. Hogan was carrying a sore knee. Stretch, Oliver, Oscar, Petracca, Hunt, Harmes all played a lot of footy. I would've liked to have seen more resilience but the Hawthorn win was the grand final for the players last year and then they had to go again against Port, Carlton and Geel. They did the job against Port but then were found out for mental toughness against Carl. There's a week and a half between the 2nd and 3rd Preseason games and another 2 weeks until the real stuff starts. There's no excuse in being tired for early season rounds. Then hopefully we can manage players through the season.

Pre christmas I remember his class standing out a bit. I didn't go much after christmas. He was pretty quiet in the intraclub but did the full training session as far as I could recall. I wouldn't actually be disappointed if Goodwin was cracking the whip. Quite the opposite.

PRIMARY LIST: Sam Frost - ? available Colin Garland (emerg) - available Mitch Hannan - rehab group Michael Hibberd - rehab group Liam Hulett - available Neville Jetta - rehab group Dion Johnstone (emerg) - available Ben Kennedy - rehab group Dean Kent - rehab group Mitch King - rehab/doesn't need to play Pat McKenna - available Cameron Pedersen - available Jack Trengove (emerg) - available Dom Tyson - just back to full training Jack Watts - unknown Judging from the preseason training the rest of the rookies aren't immediately pressing the best 22 right now so probably no urgent need to play them unless we have injuries and let's just forget about Lumumba. Not sure about Frost and Watts, I guess that will be clarified soon. I'd like to see Trengove, Johnstone, Garland, Hulett, McKenna and Pedersen all play in the 2nd game. Goodwin seems to favour playing the best team but I would've thought Gawn, Hogan, Jones, Viney, Lewis could be rested and a couple of others swapped out. Plus Tyson, Hibberd and Jetta if they are fully right to go.

24 players got significant game time after Wagner's injury. Watts comes in for one of Weed or Spencer. Then a couple of running players have to come out and the question will be who else from outside yesterday comes back in. Viney, Jones, Oliver took up the starting inside mids yesterday. Salem played a lot of midfield, although I'd imagine come the real stuff he'd float a bit more especially if Tyson comes back in. Brayshaw mid forward. Lewis wing/half back/midfield. Bugg and Stretch ran the wings. Melksham and Vince played half back. I can't really see Trengove overtaking any of those guys although one of that group might miss out. Vanders, ANB, Harmes and JKH played half forward flank with some midfield time amongst that group, with Harmes going down back a bit as well. That's probably the group Trenners has to get ahead of to get in to the team and then shuffle players around to find the right team balance. Vanders was messy with the ball but tackled strongly. ANB actually played very well, used the ball cleanly most of the time. JKH found some space and linked up, he was running hard both ways. Harmes struggled to get in to the game up forward and went down back. I hope Trenners gets a run next week. I'd be very surprised if he does well enough to get in to the round 1 side especially if Tyson gets back by then but he'll get his chance during the year I'm sure.

He's not Jack Viney but I wouldn't call him soft. The one thing Salem does is try to win possession with an eye on what he's doing next, so he's protecting himself from contact. Guys like Viney and Oliver don't worry about that because they have the strength, agility and grunt to just deal with what comes. I actually think Jordan Lewis is more like Salem than a big body bull.

The disposal I can probably live with for a preseason game. I'm more worried about other parts of his game: 1. Why does he get led to the ball by someone as cumbersome as Cloke? 2. How often does a forward gather the ball in front of him and he meekly reaches for their waist and doesn't lay a big tackle 3. He still gets caught between marking and spoiling a lot of the time. Fly for the mark or lay a clear fist on it. 4. He drops his head and spits chips after every goal conceded by him or the team. Poor leadership.

Oscar a shocking turnover kick on the run early, then steadied. He's a better kick from a standing start than on the run. He seemingly can't run, look up and kick at the same time. He reads the play well then attacks the contest with no force or conviction. A lot of the time when the ball gets over the back of a contest it's because he and/or Tom couldn't lay a decent fist in to it despite making good position. I really hope Tom was rusty. If he doesn't get more aggression as well he'll be a pretty ordinary player soon.

I'm not an expert but I think if the scan shows it's all back and place and no damage then it will just be the usual, rest, immobilisation, ice, gradual build up of exercise until he's back. Wagner battled through a knee last year so even if unrelated they might take a bit of time to maybe strengthen him up but that's just a guess.

I'll defend Hunt and Brayshaw's games today. Both were messy with the ball but fantastic without. Hunt's defending was good and he ran all day until he was stuffed. His ball use will always be his flaw but today didn't bother me. The difference with Hunt and Melksham was Hunt was taking the game on and then stuffing up. Melksham was making really unusual decisions in the 2nd half. Kicking, hand-balling or paddling the ball with no rhyme or reason. Brayshaw kept bobbing up in good spots, had uncustomary fumbles I'm sure he'll get rid of and his tackling is a cut above the rest of the team. I think he'll come good quickly.

Our better players seemed to play for longer and we wanted it more. Dogs had the skills (except for infront of goal). We had the endeavour. Negative first: We are still the same team with similar issues - backline ball use, the McDonald's were pretty ordinary (what's new) and Melksham started well then went to water, hopefully just fatigue. Lewis helped. Vince was good then went crazy Bernie - inconsistent forward pressure. A lot of the forwards don't do enough and some just make bad choices all going to the same target - overall kicking just misses too many simple targets which means forwards fly for the same ball - handballs stay in close far too much - Defenders make some pretty silly choices to rush out of the zone when a team mate has the player under pressure Positives: Salem. In the midfield or wherever I don't mind! Joel Smith - does a lot of good football things not just athletic ability Spencer - becomes an option for the team but just as importantly he's actually up to depth standard if this is any guide Midfield is up and running and versatile Aerial contests at both ends - forwards and rucks jumping in to each other. Multiple defenders (Multiple McDonald's) going up and not getting a comprehensive spoil. From a game plan point of view I thought we need to be careful not spreading to both sides of the ground too much. If there's a contest on a wing after we've spread from the backline we then have guys way out of position. The zone worked pretty well. The forward pressure was better even if not perfect.

Proximal tib - fib dislocation. Feel the bone on the side of your knee just below the joint. That's the head of your fibula. It joins the tibia there. Depends on how it settles but might only be off legs for a few days or a week and can start rehab. Hopefully under a month.