Earl Hood

I read where the Tigers have emphasised the importance of using mindfulness techniques to reduce anxiety, improve focus on the present etc. They also promoted the importance of enjoying the experience with their light hearted joking in the pre-start huddles when opposition teams are doing the opposite, revving themselves up as if they are going into battle. Whatever the Tigers are doing psychologically, it is working a treat.

I can see your point but watching him this year I started to change my former opinion of Charlie as an undersized forward option with poor tackle pressure, no explosive pace and not many other tricks. He does have a good footy brain, he knows where to position himself for the fall of the ball, he can kick a goal and I think he will develop the ability to stick tackles. He also seems to have a good attitude. I am a convert that the Spargo experiment could work.

Mitch arrived at MFC first so he should be B1 and Ben B2! That would be less confusing.

Looks like the dorks got Phillips for next to nothing and I suspect the Pies are picking part of his pay as the Hawks originally baulked at the $600k per year but late phone calls with the Pies got the deal done. Thought we should have been into Phillips knowing the pies were desperate.

Still out of contract?

Not sure letting Cross and Plapp go is a positive. Who are the replacements, if there are any?

Still a interesting choice by Smith to me. He had the choice of running the deep wings at the G for a majority of games or running in traffic at Cardinia Park that has no wings. As Hawks supporters tell me he Doesn’t tackle and likes to have space to receive, and run. It will be interesting to see how he plays at Geelong next year.

You are probably right and he does have a lot of mates but not solely because of technique. I just don’t think the team game plan puts a premium on accurate kicking, it demands contested footy, get ball and bang it forward at all costs. Skill levels are secondary to brute, contested ability. If you get it right it overwhelms bottom 6 sides, is competitive with middling 7 to 12 sides but struggles with top 4 sides big time. In short the coach and game plan worry me.

Anyone know why he fell out of favour? He made mistakes early on then settled down Into the back pocket quite well I thought but was dropped and that was it. He showed some great qualities, burst speed, evasiveness, zero fear and willingness to take the game on. Might need some managing but plenty to work with, so was disappointed he didn’t get a late run.

Was Martin squeezed out? I thought at the time he took off of his own volition after experiencing the first year of Neeld. He is a highly intelligent individual and the Schwab/Neeld circus of stupidity was too much for him.

Grain of salt, surely? We supposedly had so many other players on our radar. Rory Sloane is often mentioned. Would he or Neale have been lost to the game early if we got them under the Bailey/Neeld/Schwab era?

Great career, all the best post footy mate. Never understood why we let him go at the time.

Gee interesting where AFL is at the moment. I am now watching the Rabbitohs v EELS which is closely fought final. AFL contests So often one sided.

And that pay scale [censored] is basic draft tampering but the AFL just sits there and watches it happen year in year out. It started with Luke Ball who walked from the Saints and refused to talk to suiters other than the Pies, we had first dibs. He had medical issues he would not devolve to anyone but his preferred destination club. Now we just get guys demanding front end payments that other clubs can’t meet, all to get to their preferred club.

Thought it would have been a 50m at least, happened after the whistle for the first infringement.

The holding the ball, incorrect disposal rule has reappeared! Been missing for 6 to 10 rounds but now back. Amazing.

The wife who is a Hawks tragic is telling me we have offered Isaac Smith a 2 year deal with the option of a third, not sure on what coin. She thinks the Hawks have offered one year plus a second depending on performance. Interesting! She reckons he will stay.

Interesting watching the replay it looks like a guy instinctively turning sideways for the impact as most people would to an oncoming player. You are expected not to bump but tackle but in that situation you can open yourself up for a shirtfront. We are talking about nanosecond decisions as to how you will take the collision. Perhaps I need to review the incident again from various angles but I think the decision is harsh. It reminds me a bit of the Viney Lynch collision a few years ago. In the end Viney got off because all he did was brace for the inevitable collision.

I wonder if J Smith has ever played on the wing. As you say quick, agile, can take a mark and apparently has elite endurance. He is an athlete first perhaps he could maximise his strengths running up and down a wing and spend the preseason learning from Langdon.

So who gets the FB nomination then? Andrews, Weitering, Jonas?

Strewth who got the small forward possie? I remember a commentator, can’t remember who, saying a small forward kicking 76 was the equivalent of a 100 goal year for a key forward. And Robbo did the equivalent a few years later, did he get AA?

And a lot of that gets back to coaching and developing strategies and techniques to maximise our strengths. I go to training frequently pre Covid and the rucks and mids are always practicing set plays at ball ups, throw ins etc. It often looked more complex and nuanced than what you see game day. In general at training the game simulations don’t often resemble what we do game day. I really think we have issues with how we coach.

Agree May delivers much more but his primary role is to stop big forwards scoring and he has done that all season and his AA squad membership should be judged on the primary role of the full back position in my opinion. How often have we seen KPB getting all the plaudits but their role is not to take on the big gorilla but to spoil, intercept, rebound. It looks great but often some other poor bastard has done the hard man on man work.

Someone posted this on Facebook. Can’t do much more playing as a legit fullback than stop the big power forwards, the position is not about rebounding, s intercept marking or come across the pack and punch the ball away stuff.

I am watching the game on CH7, can anyone tell me how many goals De Goey has kicked in his last 2 matches?