binman

Playing the long game

But that isn't considered tapering? I assume then tapering has a very narrow, specific meaning in sport. That said the Adelaide example noted above (with Craig as the fitness advisor) was widely reported as tapering.

An enjoyable thread. Differences of opinions without a single rude word or dismissive post. Long may it reign.

Agree 100%. Lack of leg speed is a huge issue for us.

Fair point, particularly on Tyson. He does look proppy doesn't he. Perhaps training is flattening him and playing doesn't cause too much extra drama and they hope he'll come good through a freshen up, which if my (uneducated) theory is correct has commenced and will continue for a few weeks (taking in the bye). Not having a shot at track watchers like Saty (honestly) but i thought it interesting that a commentator (not sure which one, or even radio or TV) raised in their call the 14km run. It is likely they got mail from an opposition track watcher (all clubs training is monitored to some extent by opposition clubs). It was this comment that Roos was asked about in his post game presser. Roos was evasive on the 14km run (mentioned maybe it was 7) but acknowledged it had been a big week(s?) on the track and said they were learning and perhaps had gone too hard. He also said they would have a light week this week, which is apparently what has happened. Now as posters have noted training is calibrated to the nth degree, a clear plan would be followed and little would be left to chance in terms of loads, intensity etc. Given that, it is very unlikely that they had accidentally trained them too hard or that they would suddenly change plans mid stream and have a light week. No it is much more likely the hard training followed by a freshen up was part of a clear plan to i suspect maximise the chance of winning the next 3 games. Perhaps they did something similar at the beginning of the year, which if so was successful with the team looking fitter and faster (injuries notwithstanding) and snagging a couple of crucial wins (we could easily be win less now). They would be be aware of the importance of wins and also of how badly they tired in the second half of last year. I'm assuming this all goes into their planning for training loads.

Yep, pretty much. I mean with our injuries we weren't a realistic chance anyway. I reckon they looked at and figured they'd make the best of it. To me the logical game to peak for is the Queens birthday game. Eddy's annoying but he's right about it being our grand final

I posted early in the week that I thought it possible we are training super hard now (during a run of games against the top 3 teams in the league) and will taper to best prepare for a run of more winnable games. No coincedence they had a very light week. I suspect in footy they have two taper periods if finals ate realistic. Port are an interesting case study. They are now running out of gas in last quarters where last year that was their strength

So sendoff2014 lets ignore the fact that joining a fan forum and immediately posting something contentious is classic troll behavior (and extremely lazy troll behavior i might add - i mean please if i was going to troll a football fan site i'd go deep undercover hard core Donnie Brascoe style - 2-3 years obsessive posting about all things , lets say Hawks, revel in the minutiae, before dropping my 'bombshell' - but hey that's me, the younger generation just want immediate gratification. And. Just. Can't . Wait). And Lets ignore the reality DL has had its fair share of such dimwitted trolls Instead lets take you on face value that you are a genuine demon fan and what you say about the reasons Watts being dropped and him not playing for the dees again are true (or to be kind you believe them to be true because someone has given you the good oil and you couldn't wait to join DL to share the news). Why do you think Roos would say he asked to be dropped as opposed to just saying he was dropped because he was in wretched form? If indeed his plan was to never pick him again what do you think his motivation was to say Watts asked to be dropped? I mean it doesn't make any sense. You'd just drop him and never pick him again. And if you had read DL for any length of time a big chunk of dees fans would say good riddance and see as it further proof of Roosy's genius. But if you did want to trade him you probably would't want him running around in the VFL. Hard to impress potential suitors running around out the back of Cranbourne i would have thought, but there you go. Oh and by the by out of curiosity who is your favorite MFC half back flanker from the 80's or 90's?

Spot on boss dog. I suspect rumours of hard training sessions (which by the by curiously haven't been mentioned on DL) suggest they are going gsrd now before tapering to be in the best shape when we hit a block of winnable games (using the bye as an opportunity to refresh). Resting jamar and hogan fit with this

More bollocks Bb. Hair testing is about illicit drugs not PEDs. The players should flat out refuse hair testing and should refuse to be part of any testing regime outside of their wada obligations

BB does you post count refer to the number of posts you've made in this thread?

That's bollocks BB. WADA's decision to appeal does not negate the accuracy of reds comments about the standing of the tribunal members and the fact that is offensive to suggest they were somehow complicit in a corrupt, rigged outcome I think you're getting ahead of yourself

Great clip LDC. Neil at his peak, though i have to say he's maintained his brilliance for an amazingly long time - in fact has anyone ever been so good for so long? Perhaps Bob Dylan but he had a big period where he released nothing or rubbish until Modern Times. Robert Plants stuff in the last decade has been as good as anything he did with zep (Raising Sand with Alison Krauss is a stone cold classic) but there as along hiatus. But Neil keeps knocking them out of the park

As I have said before on DL. Neil young is the perfect person to be involved. He's seen the needle and the damage done

That's a really good point. In fact so is the other point (they didn't do whatever they were doing well). The funny thing about records is the focus has been on the fact that they may have played a role in a guilty finding. But if they did indeed show the players were injected with legal drugs the EFC would probably have never been charged (unless they were clearly bogus).

Des2014 and BB, in all sincerity well done. You held the line and didn't waver. You were right. My doubts of a toothless big bad wada wolf were proven completely foundless, wrong even. Kudos also for ressiting the urge to say i told you so. I'm not sure i would have been big enough to do so in you place. Insert gif of a b grade celeb eating humble pie. Insert gif of chickens coming home to roost. Normal transmission can now resume with my area of interst continuing to be the media response.

Terrific stuff rusty, thanks. Some interesting numbers. Surprised jetta not ranked higher. Not surprised watts ranked so high though I imagine others might be (or if not surprised perhaps might not rate the ranking)

Comedy gold

Good call Ash. One assumes they will make a statement either way (hopefully a presser) but they are under no obligation to make any comment in the event they decide not to appeal. But you hope they would and yes i would be very interested in their rationale.

Fair call. So lets hope for 11 am presser in Montreal tomorrow, which means 1am our time. It would be a nice touch if the presser was in French. James would get some value then from his paid vacation.

I am in strong agreement with the bolded bit. As to the other part i'd ask you to consider, if ASDAs case was indeed a strong one, why would WADA not proceed with an appeal?

That makes no sense. A conspiracy? ASADA thought they had sufficient evidence to get a guilty finding. It would appear they didn't. But of course some believe the fact they didn't win was evidence of an AFL conspiracy or at the very least evidence of a contrived result (eg by stacking the tribunal with compliant lackeys). I thought BBs and Dees2104 whole point was that WADA werre immune to such influence and the mighty CAS, which can hear the whole case again, is an incorruptible paragon of independence. Surely if ASADA did indeed have sufficient evidence (as they believed they did) the CAS would find in their favor.

So it would seem the big bad WADA wolf are not going to appeal after all. Or perhaps they enjoy the theatre and are going for suspense and will announce it at the death knell. Lets hope so. If they don't i'll be fascinated to see how BB and in particular Dees2014 spin the decision in fact to be an element of a grand Machiavellian plan that will culminate in the EFC players being found guilty and the club humiliated. But on a serious note if WADA choose not to appeal surely this would be a sign that ASADA simply did not have sufficiently compelling evidence to get a guilty finding, which calls into question their decision to run the case at all. And no i'm not an EFC/Hird apologist.

The opposition, who played in last years GF and were coming off 2 stinging losses, were far too good for a team that last year finished near the bootm of the ladder. The opposition were too fierce, too strong and too fast. We had our lowest half time score against the Swans since 1914 but on a positive note kept fighting in the second half and prevented a massive loss, which as a rather positive Roos said in his presser was a real positive (he noted that in the past such a scenario would have resulted in a 100 point belting).

Nothing fro wada yet. Dramatic effect? When does window shut?