Play Nice 2020 Pre-Season Training

[Belnakor]

Conundrum
Athlete can run jump evade but doubtful kick.
Footy player who can kick ,handball but is slow as a snail, wouldn't run out of sight in a week and can't jump over a jam tin.
Surely if you're not athletic all the skills in the world won't make you a footy player.
Imo all who play at the highest level are high grade athletes

while there is a general kind of "you need to be at least this tall and this athletic" thats different than looking for the classic athlete playing football type (ie: Jack Watts who dominated the combine but never learnt to put his head over the ball)

Most clubs are pretty confident they can train your tank, they can train your explosiveness but training football sense is alot harder.

Its why someone like NikNat who had probably the greatest ceiling athletically but never got over about 15 touches a game.

 

[Taylor]

I'd hope if we have the choice of players taken in the 50s and later that we lean more towards Walters and less towards Langdon, but there are only so many high skilled players in the draft each year.

 

[arsesmart]

I'm thrilled Langdon has gone. With respect, he looked like a great guy and gave a lot of effort, and did a lot of good things running wise. His disposal however was horrendous. No position hurts a team worse for turnovers than on the wing. So often he caught our whole team offside, after he'd win the ball, run it forward, then give it straight back to the opposition allowing an easy turnover that we couldn't defend.

Our team will improve a great deal with Langdon not there to turn the ball over.

Skills beat speed anyday

Yeah Aish was a real bonus out of a trade period where we lost Hill and Langdon. Along with Acres, getting that experience in helps offset the experience out to a degree. Not only that but if we quietly overlook the loss of Hill and view the Aish and Langdon comings and goings in isolation, there is every chance Aish could be a nett positive gain.

I think that last sentence "Skills beat speed anyday" overlooks the role of decision making though, which absolutely can't be left out of the equation and changes it all significantly. I'd go with:
Speed + Decision Making > Skills
Speed < Skills + Decision Making
(even going so far if decision making is really elite...although it would be so rare at AFL level for it to almost never be a factor):
Speed + Skills < Decision Making

 

[Sweetback]

Or here’s a thought, maybe we could try drafting footy players instead of athletes

He was a footy player.

 

[Sweetback]

Or I should say he is one.

 

[Sully90]

Acres and Aish out there today along with Taberner. According to Clint Thomas

 

[mr.11]

Acres and Aish out there today along with Taberner. According to Clint Thomas

Wow thats huge!!!

Glad the 2 new recruits are out amongst it already

 

[GingerDocker]

Acres and Aish out there today along with Taberner. According to Clint Thomas

He also alludes to another addition to his staff...presume that's Le Cras he's referring to?

 

[mr.11]

Acres and Aish out there today along with Taberner. According to Clint Thomas

His Twitter also states :

"Recruits Blake Acres and James Aish have joined Dockers training earlier than required. Matt Taberner in as well today. Few keen to impress new coach Justin Longmuir. Could be another addition to his staff as well."

Whos the new Assistant?

 

[salim malik]

I think you’re being a little facetious. People need to be athletic at the highest level but my point is stop drafting blokes who are athletes first ie can run and jump amazingly but can’t execute the basic skills. The old key forwards for example who surprise surprise could actually execute a drop punt with a set routine. Or the likes of Simon black, Sam Mitchell etc. guys who were footy players first. Langdon was our classic example of a guy who could run amazingly but what’s the point if he can’t consistently execute the most fundamental and basic skill in our game? A drop punt!

I dream of the time AFL players can use their opposite foot!

maybe you’re in the Ross Lyon mould that effort is the most important. I’m opposite, if you can move the ball through efficient skill you won’t need so much effort.

I guess you also dream of the full forward who couldn't raise a gallop to get out of the goal square.
I,m in the mould of getting the athlete that has footy skills .

 

[Sully90]

His Twitter also states :

"Recruits Blake Acres and James Aish have joined Dockers training earlier than required. Matt Taberner in as well today. Few keen to impress new coach Justin Longmuir. Could be another addition to his staff as well."

Whos the new Assistant?

Alistair Clarkson, he views it as his next big challenge.

No one tell Hawthorn.

 

[GoFreo4eva]

while there is a general kind of "you need to be at least this tall and this athletic" thats different than looking for the classic athlete playing football type (ie: Jack Watts who dominated the combine but never learnt to put his head over the ball)

Most clubs are pretty confident they can train your tank, they can train your explosiveness but training football sense is alot harder.

Its why someone like NikNat who had probably the greatest ceiling athletically but never got over about 15 touches a game.

Surely professional athletes should also be self-responsible. It's not like they don't have spare time to work on their skills themselves without a coach having to be there telling them they need to work on something. I recall back in the 80's the NBA great Larry Bird talking about a season where his left-hand hook shot was a deficiency. He went back to good old French Lick Indiana in the offseason and spent hours working to improve that. Not everything is a coach's responsibility to fix. By all means, the coach can help but the players have to be self responsible too. Take a look at Fyfey. He goes almost nowhere without a footy in hand. No surprise he has some of the cleanest hands in the game...

 

[Bring back Drum]

His Twitter also states :

"Recruits Blake Acres and James Aish have joined Dockers training earlier than required. Matt Taberner in as well today. Few keen to impress new coach Justin Longmuir. Could be another addition to his staff as well."

Whos the new Assistant?

Thats extra impressive for Aish considering his season went 4 weeks longer than anyone else including Acres in the Freo squad.
Collingwood probably aren’t due back for another 3-4 weeks.

 

[wayToGo_]

Good session today. I didn't see all of it but it did look a bit different to last year's sessions. It's day 2 of pre-season training so wasn't expecting anything amazing yet. One of the drills involved several kicks on the move, ending with someone taking a mark, a guy standing the mark, and then two guys at each 45 with another coach choosing to run at one or the other. It was all about quick decision making and choosing the easier kick and executing it all quickly. I'm expecting we'll start to see a lot more drills like that as pre-season progresses.

As others have said Acres and Aish were there. I didn't see much of either but they didn't look out of place. Tabs was just doing (rehab) run throughs from what I saw and looks beastly as per usual. Walters was in amongst it - always stands out with his class. Hamling was also running laps. I was pretty sure I saw Lobb as well but he wasn't involved in main group whilst I was watching.

I saw a fair bit of Cox who was working by himself and he looks great. Trim and muscular and just looked to move a lot more freely. Pencilling him in to be a big improver - because it looks like he has improved his fitness a fair bit. Valente also looked good working with Giro a fair bit in their little rehab pairing. Credit to all three as they seem to have stuck to their diet/program over the off season.

Tucker, Crowden and Bewley all look great. Definitely done some work getting their body shapes primed. Banfield was training a lot with the half backs which was interesting?!? Not going to read too much into it this early though.

I was on limited time so didn't see as much as I wanted. Maybe more next time I get there. Barich was there amongst a few media peeps. I try not to judge but that guy just oozes 'tosser' the way he prances around. Seemed to do a lot more talking than watching. No doubt he'll deliver great insight as per usual

edit - btw I wasn't sure it was Aish I saw. Just assuming it was as others reported it. Acres I recognised straight away - he's a big lad.

 

[Van_Dyke]

 

[showemhowtorock]

I'm thrilled Langdon has gone. With respect, he looked like a great guy and gave a lot of effort, and did a lot of good things running wise. His disposal however was horrendous. No position hurts a team worse for turnovers than on the wing. So often he caught our whole team offside, after he'd win the ball, run it forward, then give it straight back to the opposition allowing an easy turnover that we couldn't defend.

Our team will improve a great deal with Langdon not there to turn the ball over.

Skills beat speed anyday

Remember the time that Langdon kicked a point for the Hawks, I loved the dude but I’ll never forget the second hand embarrassment I got from that moment

 

[FreoRicci]

Acres and Aish out there today along with Taberner. According to Clint Thomas

Bloody hell. Hope Tabs trains in supportive footwear like ASICS Kayano.
He always hit the track early, too hard too soon.

 

[FreoRicci]

Gee he looks primed for inside mid.

 

[Freeeoo]

Acres, Tabs, Walters, Aish, Hammer, Lobb and Hill all there today.

There were a series of timed run throughs in between breaking up into groups to train various skills, presumably to practice skills under a degree of fatigue.
Skills training included ball handling, evasion, mark get back and quick kick to a moving target, ruck skills, goal kicking and tackling.
There was a lot of instruction and teaching technique during drills as well especially by Rock and Carr.

It is certainly a fair bit different to last year and the players seemed to enjoy it and it was good to see quite a few senior players there early.
Walters sets such a good example to the younger guys.

Edit: Not 100% sure Aish was there, someone pointed him out on the other side of the oval but I couldn't/didn't confirm with my own eyes.

 

[mr.11]

Acres, Tabs, Walters, Aish, Hammer, Lobb and Hill all there today.

There were a series of timed run throughs in between breaking up into groups to train various skills, presumably to practice skills under a degree of fatigue.
Skills training included ball handling, evasion, mark get back and quick kick to a moving target, ruck skills, goal kicking and tackling.
There was a lot of instruction and teaching technique during drills as well especially by Rock and Carr.

It is certainly a fair bit different to last year and the players seemed to enjoy it and it was good to see quite a few senior players there early.
Walters sets such a good example to the younger guys.

Bloody hell i wish i lived in WA

 

[FreoRicci]

I'm thrilled Langdon has gone. With respect, he looked like a great guy and gave a lot of effort, and did a lot of good things running wise. His disposal however was horrendous. No position hurts a team worse for turnovers than on the wing. So often he caught our whole team offside, after he'd win the ball, run it forward, then give it straight back to the opposition allowing an easy turnover that we couldn't defend.

Our team will improve a great deal with Langdon not there to turn the ball over.

Skills beat speed anyday

JLo worked with a team that had Gaff, Sheed as their wingers. Not quick, but kicking efficiency their main goal. Requires team ball movement ahead of pace, ball carrying.
Gaff would rake up 30 possessions kicking on the lead, short. Langdon gets in the mindset of outrunning and kicking it long. Not that efficient in the end.
Highly agree, skills beat speed if done effectively. I’m sure JLo knows this. Aish will be interesting, so will Wilson. Perhaps will force these two up the ground as a result of Hughes, Hamling playing defensive roles.

 

[wayToGo_]

Not sure this was the best choice of activity to highlight today but go Freo media team.

 

[Purple_Turtle]

JLo worked with a team that had Gaff, Sheed as their wingers. Not quick, but kicking efficiency their main goal. Requires team ball movement ahead of pace, ball carrying.
Gaff would rake up 30 possessions kicking on the lead, short. Langdon gets in the mindset of outrunning and kicking it long. Not that efficient in the end.
Highly agree, skills beat speed if done effectively. I’m sure JLo knows this. Aish will be interesting, so will Wilson. Perhaps will force these two up the ground as a result of Hughes, Hamling playing defensive roles.

Not Wilson. He was one of the main contributors this year in defense for rebound 50s along with Ryan. I'd rather not rob Peter to pay Paul when we have other viable options for wing.

 

[Channels]

Any S Hill sightings? Or not back yet?

 

[nurries]

Any S Hill sightings? Or not back yet?

Acres, Tabs, Walters, Aish, Hammer, Lobb and Hill all there today.

There were a series of timed run throughs in between breaking up into groups to train various skills, presumably to practice skills under a degree of fatigue.
Skills training included ball handling, evasion, mark get back and quick kick to a moving target, ruck skills, goal kicking and tackling.
There was a lot of instruction and teaching technique during drills as well especially by Rock and Carr.

It is certainly a fair bit different to last year and the players seemed to enjoy it and it was good to see quite a few senior players there early.
Walters sets such a good example to the younger guys.

That looks like a yes