bing181

“Speaking after the Cats’ three goal win over West Coast, coach Chris Scott revealed the club had strategically upped the player’s training loads in between the Bulldogs and Eagles fixtures. A heavy training block over the break is standard at GMHBA Stadium …” https://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/1153459/intense-training-block-to-prime-cats-for-september

Yes, but the Suns are obviously loading.

Mountain of evidence! Jesus. All we have is a few off-hand remarks here and there that could be interpreted in any number of ways - except on Demonland where, heh, it's all loading, nudge nudge wink wink. And a current/retired footballer HAS been specific about what goes on in-season, and that was Buckley. He talks about a week or two of extra running sessions. There was some BS on the Is Goodwin The Right Man thread, but this takes it to another level. Not only is there a conspiracy theory about loading, now there's even a layer of conspiracy theories as to why no-one's talking about it. This is how people like Trump get elected.

FWIW, one of the very (very) few discussions of this in the media was between Lyon and Buckley (on SEN?) where Buckley (who would know a thing or two) elaborated on doing extra running/training load in the lead up to the bye, as it's almost the only time in the year when it's possible. Chris Scott (AFL 360?) clarified that what Geelong were doing was for a 14 day period. Neither of which are loading or have long-term adaptive benefits, but may be useful as maintenance without too much cost.

Not to mention Cats and Pies, 4 wins in a row. Or come to it, Dogs, Suns and Richmond, won 4 of last 5.

Also less reliance on tall KPF's and bombing it in. Maybe Tom Mac out is a blessing in disguise. For the rest, spot on. As Petracca said, "After the break we're a lot more energised ..."

It's not even what he said. (I know you're only quoting EO). Agree that that reference could be about anything from skills to game plan to who know what. But heh ... yadda yadda loading.

Someone from the club confirmed we were "loading"? Must have missed it. We may have used the time around the bye to put in a couple of weeks of extra running or weights sessions - but that isn't loading, at best it's maintenance.

Might as well get it right: "We've worked incredibly hard the last 3-4 weeks on the training track". Which could mean anything. Forward craft? Stoppage setups? Taking every off-hand comment as evidence that we're supposedly loading is just confirmation bias.

Missing a few easy ones there.

Still a half to go. Lions are a very good team, not going to roll over. But at least we've had a glimpse.

Make Viney captain every other week. Tearing it apart.

I like Jordan, but needs to get better at hitting targets, both by hand and foot. Turning it over too much at the moment.

Lever looks so much better with May back in the team.

Langdon and Salem both not the same after their injuries.

I'm guessing your pronouns are he/him.

If we lose, it'll be confirmation of just how hard it is to win back to back flags. Also, how much luck you need to do so - especially with injuries.

I don't think anyone's excusing him, nor is he excusing himself. He cuffed up and he admits he cuffed up. As for your first point, getting a diagnosis like that as an adult can be hard enough to work through on a personal level, yet alone doing so publicly.

No, but it wouldn't help. One of the main characteristics of ADHD is impulsiveness, and it can lead to poor decision-making, which I believe is the point he's making in his statement. "Late last year, I was diagnosed with ADHD and I am trying to become more aware of why I make mistakes that I do ..."

Worth a listen as Lyon (who seems not to know about any of this, which says something), asks Buckley to clarify what he's talking about. But this isn't the long-term loading over months that some are referring to here, it's extra sessions over a week or two (on one of the shows, Chris Scott referred to a 14 day period). Buckley is also specifically referring to bye weeks, which is about the only time in season when you get a chance to recover from any extra (hard) training. Interesting that Buckley mirrors Burgess's take on in-season training, that it's basically all about recovery. But I feel that Buckley has misinterpreted Selwood. "Big month coming up" surely refers to Geelong's upcoming matches against teams in/around the top 4. "We did a couple of hard weeks to prepare us for a big month of matches" makes sense. "We did a couple of hard weeks to prepare us for a hard month of training" ... not so much.

Maybe think about why that could be and why there has been so little commentary (outside of this thread ...).

Yes. But we can probably use the word 'compete' fairly liberally. Sure, they're working/trying, but the objective is to reach specific load targets, winning is secondary. Equally though, from what I've seen of pro cyclists, a lot of the loading phase happens out of combination: training camps, altitude camps etc. etc., I'd also question your "many races". Tim Kerrison changed all that when he came across to Sky from elite swimming. But agree with what you've said, though note once again, this is an individual sport where you're not competing (= trying to win) week in week out. Data supporting these kinds of approaches in team sports (and not talking AFL) is minimal.

Well, mea culpa, I was wrong, at least one team is going for it. Will be interesting to see what this throws up in terms of what other teams might acknowledge. Amongst all this, I've wondered whether or not teams were reluctant to even discuss it given the dim view the AFL takes of anything that could compromise results, whether it's from over/under training, team selection etc. The T word rears its head (see above). Equally, would be really intrigued to see just what data/studies there are to support a "heavy mid-season training block" in June leading to a peak in September.

Surely they're trying to send Weideman a message? Last chance saloon and all that.

Some damming footage in those videos. Sure, forward line not functioning all that well ... but not being helped by what's going on up the field or by the entries. Goodwin (and others) often talk about connection, and there it is - or rather, the lack of it. As for the footage re Max and his defensive efforts across half-back. Going to be a huge loss, he was the key to our impenetrable wall. Tough times ahead.