Earl Hood

9 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Umps killed us. When is it holding the ball???? When is it dropping the ball? When is a flick pass legal????

When is holding your ground, blocking? Poor Nev has been done twice in two weeks for blocking, ending in goals and all he did was have front position in a contest and hold his position with a ball coming in. This forced his opponent to try to jump over him to touch the ball. Pinged for blocking!!! Don’t get it. 

2 hours ago, John Demonic said:

Sunday Footy Show had a great segment with about 6 or 7 instances where our players either burnt each other or didn't even look for the handball or switch kick to a teammate with space to run into the 50 and just bombed it long. Followed with a segment on Petracca looking unfit and needing to lose a few kilo's. We all know it, just good to see a public blowtorch on our poor entries and some of the efforts. Hopefully will wake some of the players up.

Highlighting to me that we are not playing like we train. All preseason I have watched our game simulation drills where we are free flowing, hand balling to running players and always looking to switch the play to kick to a loose player on the other side of the ground. It all looks good but come game day it doesn’t happen. They all look too frightened to take a risk, so it’s pick it up and kick blindly forward. 

Had a shocker that is for sure. I think he is the type who can excel if we have control of the pill. If we don’t he struggles. Not sure what his problem is, he has all the tools. 

Why did we always seem to be receiving the ball facing in the wrong direction, so having to turn and get tackled or just hack it forward to the opposition. Plenty of grit but no system. Too many players down on confidence Jones, Fritsch, OMac, Hibberd. Max going OK but not linking up well with Oliver who put in a blinder and Viney, so to no effect. 

We are not dominating hit outs and centre clearances and from there contested possessions so we are struggling. Familiar story. 

1 minute ago, dl4e said:

Keilty in for weideman and stretch in for jones. We are absolute rubbish. We controlled that quarter and even lost it by a point.

  Not sure they are the real problem, it’s bigger than that. 

We look like a scratch team of guys who can play a bit but never have with each other. Just win the contested ball and hack it forward and hope. Unrecognisable from last year. 

I noticed 2 frees paid in tonight’s game for holding the ball where a smaller player has not taken possession just bunted the ball forward with their open hand, then got grabbed and slung to the ground and been pinged for incorrect disposal. Gee wasn’t that always the smaller, mobile man’s advantage to just keep the ball in their control but never actually take possession? Seems that has disappeared at least tonight. 

2 hours ago, Gawn's Beard said:

So...

Did we work out how training went?

I wrote something factual about it about 4 pages back, not much detail but since then it’s been 4 pages of bashing Jones or Saty, Strange! 

Lockhart! Is it panic stations? 

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

Who is Melchum and Louis?

Who do you think they are? 

45 minutes ago, Cards13 said:

Did Viney carry his limp with him into the main group or leave it in rehab?

He wasn’t limping that I noticed. I watched him running with the rehab group and doing some sprints, he doesn’t look quick but I don’t think he was quick over a longish distance, more your explosive type over 5 to 10m. I am hoping he hasn’t lost that explosiveness with all these foot injuries. 

Max had plenty of bandages on his leg but looked in good form. Plenty of one on one aerial drills. T Smith and Baker back in full training. Hore joined the main group after 30 odd minutes in rehab. So it was Lever, Louis, Petty and Jeff fulltime rehab.

Melchum looked fit and was impressive in the one on one drills. Two Poms stood near me when the game simulation was on and they were talking amongst themselves trying to work out what game it was, how the off side rule was working, it’s like rugby but different and that the blues were trouncing the whites. When one said he was going to go to google to find out what sport it is I thought I better intervene; there is no off side, 360 degrees, you can go anywhere, the aim is to kick the ball through those tall posts over there and yes it is a full contact sport. Not sure what they made of it all. Then it was time to leave. Any questions I will try to answer. 

Got there early to see the rehab group come out first, Lever, Louis, Petty, Jeffy, Hore, Viney and to my dismay May! No AVB, JKH or J Smith.

the main group then appeared and thankfully May joined them immediately. Viney joined the main group after about 30 minutes running and exercising with the rehab group. He looks to be moving freely and was OK in the ball drills but who knows. Saw JSmith walking around not in running gear, not limping but not doing any rehab. 

4 minutes ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

A few rounds into last season and I couldn’t see him going around again (2019) but here we are. He is going to raise a lot of money for the AFL this season.

9 hours ago, Demonland said:

The official website hasn't updated from last week's listed session. 

It’s on the website now, tomorrow 10.00 am @ Gosch’s

Looking at Seven news last night it looked they had a run on Monday morning so I am guessing they might be training tomorrow morning. 

Hospitalised for something that sounds like a skin rash. Really? I don’t think so. 

Sitting behind the goals yesterday and seeing how the ball was coming into our backline with stuff all pressure up field I am glad I wasn’t playing down back for us. Funny how your backman look like [censored] in modern footy when the team is being well and truly outplayed.  OMac is no superstar but he is serviceable and needed assistance yesterday. We do need May in for Frost at this stage. 

Outside run, can’t we work something out with what we have this year? Get everyone fit and we potentially have the following who could play spreading, wide receiving roles: AVB, Hunt, KK, Stretch, Fritsch, Joel Smith, Harmes, Baker, Melchum. But our game plan doesn’t put a lot on the emphasis on running wide receivers, but more on contested ball winners which is great as long as you win and control the ball consistently. 

Bad day at the Office that is for sure. After watching multiple training sessions since January it was problematic to see our training ball movement go missing after the first quarter. I don’t remember one ball switch after the first quarter to the other side, to set up a play. Port did it relentlessly and caught us out every time. 

The point kick outs were so predictable and defensive, no new strategy at all. Kick deep to the flank where Max is lurking, don’t remember Max taking a mark off the kick ins. 

Our game plan last year depended primarily on winning the centre clearances and contested possessions around the ground. If we get done in possessions and contested ball it falls apart. Gawn, Clarrie, Viney, Jones all down on the day means we are going to get smashed. 

32 minutes ago, Buzzy said:

Our effort all over the ground was laughable today.  When you're seeing free Port players all over the ground, it just shows a complete lack of respect and intensity from a big chunk of players.

One piece of play summed it up for me:

- Gray was waiting to deliver it just outside his 50.  Salem loose, looked around and saw Westhoff ambing out of the goals square on his own and thought 'too big for me, I'm not taking him'.   

- Oscar then came over to take him, but that left Ryder on his own. 

- Gray kicks to Ryder, overcooks it, but Oscar decides he's going to have to take him now, Ryder just lets it go over his head but Oscar runs and jumps under the ball, completely missing it for his second embarrassing high ball misjudgement of the day.  

- Ball falls straight into unmarked Westhoff's hands, simple goal.

As good as Salem was today, that was a p*ssweak moment from him...  And Oscar... well if you're slow and non competitive when the ball hits the ground, you'd better be a bloody good spoiler and body on body player, but he's neither of those either.

This is the kind of rubbish effort that will get brought up on 'On The Couch' by Garry Lyon - and so it should.

Selfish and clumsy football, crap start to the year.  This better not be repeated or you'll see a lot of people drop off this bandwagon.

 

 

I was there and saw that play too. I think you read far too much into that play. Oscar was committed to Ryder, not sure on Salem’s instructions, but it may include not manning up on 6’7” ruckman. Haven’t dissected it on replay but where was Frost? He should have been manning Westhoff. 

2 hours ago, dieter said:

As Maxwell Smart would have said about not playing Preuss ( in light of Lycett's form against Gawn, plus Ryder) : Very interesting, but STUPID.

I don’t remember Max ever saying that Dieter. Didn’t the German soldier guy say that on Laugh In? But you maybe right although with Pruess in we would have been even slower. 

6 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I agree with the sentiment that it seems poor management to have kept him on the field, but would most people have him in their Round 1 side if fit? I'm not sure if he gets in ahead of T Mac, Weideman, Melksham, Petracca, Spargo, ANB and Hunt. And I can't see us playing an eighth forward. The last three I've listed would be playing a different role, so the real question is whether he'd be playing instead of one of the first four named (I would have thought not) or whether one of those four plays elsewhere (possible, if Petracca plays more of a mid-field role). In short, I'm not convinced he would have been picked this week anyway. 

And I forgot about Fritsch. If he's playing forward, there's even less room for Smith (and probably Hunt)

In answer to your first question - yes! The kid has talent, he has all the required tools but just can’t get an extended crack at it. Leaving him out there might not have changed the injury outcome but it is odd given that players are instructed to report the slightest niggle at training and they are usually off immediately to the rehab room but not in a JLT?? 

Fremantle can’t take a trick! 

9 hours ago, Vagg said:

So, where are all of our devoted spies?  (Or, have they all had their devices confiscated...??)

Yes I am missing my visits to preseason training, and yes my reports were sporadic at best I know. Currently living down on the Surf Coast while my Fitzroy place is being renovated. I was hoping to get up to training this week but now I am grounded, the Corvette has a radiator leak!