Earl Hood

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!

It’s a win just! No thanks to the umpire who pulled that rediculous in the back free to the Dogs at the end, could have changed the result. 

Interesting game to watch but the skill level is horrendous! 

6 minutes ago, JV7 said:

I'm checking out for 10 days... The overreacting on here is embarrassing. 

JLT means nothing, I have no less confidence in us then I did 2 weeks ago.

We'll romp Port in 14 days time

I hope the coaches are thinking differently. There are issues that need addressing after 2 JLT hitouts. We thought 666 would favour our clearance dominance but we have been towelled up in the centre in both games. If we don’t win the clearances we usually don’t win the game. 

The foreword setup is struggling but that has much to do with delivery which has been horrendous. No forward 50 pressure, no forward crummers and a backline that has leaked 100 points plus twice but understandable given the 60 plus entries in each game.

Yes no need to panic but there is a lot of work to be done. 

Positives - J Smith who managed 4 largely on one leg and according to some with no football IQ!  Add Nev, Max. Thought May had some very clean possessions down back. Clarrie and Gus were good. 

I watched the first three quarters on my phone. The first quarter was very impressive, we looked great and moved the ball how we train. The next two quarters, well we were totally outplayed and our play did not resemble how we train in any way.  Very static ball movement, no system, reluctance to take chances. The delivery forward was deplorable and so it is not fair to critique TMac, JSmith or Weids to harshly. The setup did not provide much forward pressure either. 

I thought Preuss struggled in the centre bounces. Does not seem to know how to use his height and weight to his advantage at all. 

The tigers looked very slick in comparison. Once Dusty moved into the middle in the second quarter the game changed. He is a hard man to stop and in a JLT you are not going to tag him of course. 

In summary, no need to panic but plenty of potential weaknesses that need addressing. And we have 10 or so in the injury group that could help. 

2 minutes ago, defuture15 said:

Richmond winning in the air and on the ground. Who is 38 for them? Killing us in the air.

Is number 34 for us Hore?

He has done ok INHO.

Poor disposal from gus, nibbler, JKH and stretch hurt us.

RIchmond spread brilliantly and opened us up. 

I have not seen Dusty up close before. I now see why he is so hard to stop!

They moved dusty onto the ball that quarter and the whole game changed immediately. 

We haven’t come up with anything smart for the new kickin rule, I note. 

1 hour ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

In 100 year from now when the majority of games are played in 38 degree temperature, they'll look back at this thread and laugh their heads off. 

But they will be playing JLT’s on Heard Island in summer by then. 

6 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

There is no way Trac was that slim at the start of preseason when I was at training.

It’s the haircut, makes him look slimmer?!

Well training at Casey is about as closed door as you can get! I mean does anyone actually live out there? 

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Agree 100%. It’s been a poor pre season (judging by DL training and media reports)  whichever way you cut it.

Extremely late start to the season by our standards (how will we adapt?)

AFLPA imposed breaks every other week effecting continuity, especially since we started back late.

Gawn being the only player of our acclaimed midfield to have a full pre season to date.

Tons of rehabbers in any session.

While we could have as little as Jake Lever unavailable for round 1, will the gun players who have had interrupted pre seasons survive the year without injury?

Hopefully I’m jumping at shadows and we’ll be just fine.

I have been to 4 or 5 sessions this year I think and noted the high numbers in rehab but the rehab work has been pretty solid for the most part. Plenty of running of course and heaps of drills with the balls. The only players that have been limited in their preparation to the point it will impact on round 1 availability are Jones (laps, boxing only for many sessions) and Lever, laps and more laps and perhaps Baker (laps, more laps). As I mentioned in yesterday’s training thread, I spoke to Justin Plapp who was really unbeat about the rehab group and that players were now coming back to full training regimes from a solid base of work that they have all been doing. 

5 hours ago, Baghdad Bob said:

First time at training this year for me. 

There appeared to be two levels of rehab,  the more serious one contained KK, May, Jones and Walker.  They did heaps of running starting with straight line three quarter pace 100m and 200m runs and at the end they were doing lots of laps.  None looked very inconvenienced.  Hannan was just walking laps, tried to find out what the issue was but got nothing.

The second rehab group was quite big but my guess is that they were just on light duties after Saturday.  I'm not sure I'll get all of them but Maynard, Petracca, Viney, Lever, Hibberd, Stretch, Melksham, JKH, AVB, Baker and Nev Jetta.  They did lots of handball drills but no running that I saw.

The rest of the group did very light duties.  Gentle run throughs, a little bit of kicking to leading players and some goal kicking and crumbing snaps.  Today was clearly just a gentle "get the legs moving" session after Saturday.

Spoke to some of my contacts down there who reiterated what Saty has been saying about rehab but recognized we'd been a bit unfortunate not to have the number of players in full training mainly because it makes doing the drills a bit more problematic. 

Another positive was that this year all our recruits bar Hore have done the major part of the preseason which will stand them in good stead for the season and is unusual as usually the young guys struggle with the loads and carry injuries from the TAC season.

 

 

Yes it was a very light session. I spoke briefly to Justin Plapp who said a number of players pulled up sore after Saturday’s training, guessed they were not used to wet weather footy. He was upbeat about the squad and how they are training, that the rehab group is getting smaller by the week and that Clarrie is back to full training. As KK ran past he commented that he is going to be very good for us this season. 

3 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

chinese brand car manufacturer?

They are probably made in China these days!

Could be a car, a nicE type of car too! 

3 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Am off to NZ this week to look at their banana crops. Will report back soon. Hope they are not all black.

Not Panama disease there as well? 

No recent banana stories from the usual suspects?  Just to keep this thread from attrifying! If that is an actual word?