Training 2021 Training - pics, reports etc

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Where does he even fit in? Cripps, Williams, Ed, King/Levi/Pitt, Walsh, Setterfield,

Then you have Dow, Kemp, Stocker, OBrien, Salvagni, etc all waiting in the wings, Dow And OBrien especially.

Occasionally Martin too, can't really see a spot for Cunningham.

Think he'll be stuck forever in half-forward with Kennedy.
That should be 37games, you have Kemp Stocker Silvagni and O’Brien(winger) they ain’t getting games ahead of Walsh Williams Cunners Martin Fisher, they can and all should be rotating through the midfield imo... Kemp your coming from the clouds let the kid get through a preseason first, if he goes well then he might be a chance but highly unlikely yet... Stocker the same huge upside as well but preseason will dictate what happens same with O’Brien his a winger and another that will need to smash the preseason for a wing position Kennedy imo is not best 22 atm his down the pecking order needs to work on some deficiencies. Silvagni will be more on our team balance depending on our tall position stocks...
 
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I dont like this gifted games way of talking.
It's as if we didnt have the full rebuild. Is it forgotten so quickly? Surely through all of that, many many players got games because there was nobody else in the interim. Half of those are not on the list any longer some still are. I dont think its Mitches fault that Charlie and JSOS missed a year and he had to play on one leg. Yes I understand that he hasnt performed to the level we hoped yet. But what was the alternative? And this tiddlywinks season just gone is not something to judge anything by anyway. Not club or players.
I’m a fan of McGovern his talents are obvious, injuries no doubt provided him with more game last year than he deserved, imo that was not the way the match committee should have gone...
 

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At training, remember hearing one of the coaches yelling out to Cuners

"Cuners, what are you thinking of right now"

Needs to stay in the game mentally

Personally, I would give him a run with role against an accumulator
I know you have mentioned this a few times Arrow on giving him a run with role, it may end up being something that helps him, particularly if what you say on what the coaches have expressed to him..
I’ve mentioned before that he plays more on instinct, but recently in discussion with Metal that from my opinion that he lets the game flow around him without stamping himself on contests he tends to sit back and wait on things to happen,,,
He’s got to get into a better mindset of impacting himself into the contests instead of holding out and letting others do the work...
 
At training, remember hearing one of the coaches yelling out to Cuners

"Cuners, what are you thinking of right now"

Needs to stay in the game mentally

Personally, I would give him a run with role against an accumulator

Possibly, anything would help at this stage because the kid has talent.
 
Teague has publicly stated that Cuningham will be rotating more through midfield nin '21 - Russell has also stated that Cuningham is our best speed AND endurance runner, judging by his extended contract, the Club rates him very highly - and I suspect that adding leg speed in Saad and Williams along with Martin - will only help Cuningham ( and Murphy)....for starters..also Cuningham does a LOT of team stuff in forward line - often putting in beautiful and subtle blocks to help Harry take a pack mark - Cuningham does more 'team' stuff than Fisher does as a forward as does Martin - Fisher isn't a 'lock' as a starting 18 player - highlight reels dont tell the team story - I reckon Williamson (back rotation) and Cuningham (forward rotation) will be first two considered for a rotating wing spot - if they can get ahead of Newnes and LoB.

Carlton/Teague can actually put together a very fast midfield if inclined to do so :

Whilst Cripps and Setterfield are relative plodders and Ed/Walsh are more endurance runners : Williams|Murphy|Williamson|Martin|Cuningham are all pretty quick - as is Gibbons as is Dow as are Kemp | Stocker and Philp - and Honey. The thing that is also interesting is that Williams/Murphy/Williamson/Martin/Cuningham are all very good field kicks - Cuningham being also a very good set shot kick.

I see better spread and faster rebound end to end in '21 - or there is something seriously wrong with game plan /coaching. Saw enough in games against Geelong/Melbourne/Doggies/SUns - to say that the side already has some capacity to play and score fast - Saad /Williams give it a huge boost added to Martin and a fit McGovern - players like Walsh/Cuningham/Murphy are going to be much bigger weapons on the outside - if they find space the other blokes will get the ball to them no worries.
 
Dividing the housework has led to some interesting observations....

Kennedy is quite good at cleaning inside, but is useless cleaning up outside the house. In his favour, he is amazingly clean when the floors are wet.

Dow is good at bursting out of the laundry and has a habit of spraying cleaning products everywhere.

Walsh does the bulk of the housework, both inside and outside the house. The other boys say he seems to anticipate where the next mess might come from and is already in position before the mess is even made...

cunners is the real estate agent- just pops in every now and then
 
Hasn’t helped a heck of a lot of our players BT, in this era of shitness in the past 20years from the very best players and to the rest of our entire list our club organization and shithouse undated development setups has seriously stagnated and killed many players careers...
It took us a f’kn miracle to finally sort out a fowards goal kicking coach in Sav... until recently we were so far behind the rest we were still learning how too lite the flame 🔥
For sure. I’m certainly hoping the the ‘era of shitness’ is now finally over, and we have learned to ensure our off field processes continue to stay relevant also.
 
Teague has publicly stated that Cuningham will be rotating more through midfield nin '21 - Russell has also stated that Cuningham is our best speed AND endurance runner, judging by his extended contract, the Club rates him very highly - and I suspect that adding leg speed in Saad and Williams along with Martin - will only help Cuningham ( and Murphy)....for starters..also Cuningham does a LOT of team stuff in forward line - often putting in beautiful and subtle blocks to help Harry take a pack mark - Cuningham does more 'team' stuff than Fisher does as a forward as does Martin - Fisher isn't a 'lock' as a starting 18 player - highlight reels dont tell the team story - I reckon Williamson (back rotation) and Cuningham (forward rotation) will be first two considered for a rotating wing spot - if they can get ahead of Newnes and LoB.

Carlton/Teague can actually put together a very fast midfield if inclined to do so :

Whilst Cripps and Setterfield are relative plodders and Ed/Walsh are more endurance runners : Williams|Murphy|Williamson|Martin|Cuningham are all pretty quick - as is Gibbons as is Dow as are Kemp | Stocker and Philp - and Honey. The thing that is also interesting is that Williams/Murphy/Williamson/Martin/Cuningham are all very good field kicks - Cuningham being also a very good set shot kick.

I see better spread and faster rebound end to end in '21 - or there is something seriously wrong with game plan /coaching. Saw enough in games against Geelong/Melbourne/Doggies/SUns - to say that the side already has some capacity to play and score fast - Saad /Williams give it a huge boost added to Martin and a fit McGovern - players like Walsh/Cuningham/Murphy are going to be much bigger weapons on the outside - if they find space the other blokes will get the ball to them no worries.
Like your post but totally disagree on Fisher though...
 
Teague has publicly stated that Cuningham will be rotating more through midfield nin '21 - Russell has also stated that Cuningham is our best speed AND endurance runner, judging by his extended contract, the Club rates him very highly - and I suspect that adding leg speed in Saad and Williams along with Martin - will only help Cuningham ( and Murphy)....for starters..also Cuningham does a LOT of team stuff in forward line - often putting in beautiful and subtle blocks to help Harry take a pack mark - Cuningham does more 'team' stuff than Fisher does as a forward as does Martin - Fisher isn't a 'lock' as a starting 18 player - highlight reels dont tell the team story - I reckon Williamson (back rotation) and Cuningham (forward rotation) will be first two considered for a rotating wing spot - if they can get ahead of Newnes and LoB.

Carlton/Teague can actually put together a very fast midfield if inclined to do so :

Whilst Cripps and Setterfield are relative plodders and Ed/Walsh are more endurance runners : Williams|Murphy|Williamson|Martin|Cuningham are all pretty quick - as is Gibbons as is Dow as are Kemp | Stocker and Philp - and Honey. The thing that is also interesting is that Williams/Murphy/Williamson/Martin/Cuningham are all very good field kicks - Cuningham being also a very good set shot kick.

I see better spread and faster rebound end to end in '21 - or there is something seriously wrong with game plan /coaching. Saw enough in games against Geelong/Melbourne/Doggies/SUns - to say that the side already has some capacity to play and score fast - Saad /Williams give it a huge boost added to Martin and a fit McGovern - players like Walsh/Cuningham/Murphy are going to be much bigger weapons on the outside - if they find space the other blokes will get the ball to them no worries.
I may be wrong about this but Cuninghams best game was when injuries forced him to play almost exclusively as a midfielder against the bombers but he never got to reprise that role again this year. It will be interesting to see if in 2021 his is finally unleashed in he midfield with Fogarty, Fisher and perhaps Durdin filling the small forward role he has been forced to play.
 

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I think most likely the reality is this. If Cuners was doing better around the ball in training than others he would be getting more midfield time.
Injuries havent helped though.
Possibly, or possibly he offers more Up forward than his midfield rivals do and so he has been sacrificed for the greater good.
 
Like your post but totally disagree on Fisher though...

Fisher is adapting to his forward role and getting over some serious injury in '20. He may get better as he learns we will see - but he has serious competition coming through
I may be wrong about this but Cuninghams best game was when injuries forced him to play almost exclusively as a midfielder against the bombers but he never got to reprise that role again this year. It will be interesting to see if in 2021 his is finally unleashed in he midfield with Fogarty, Fisher and perhaps Durdin filling the small forward role he has been forced to play.

yes I have the same recollection - the Essendon game was a beauty from Cuningham - and many have remarked on Teague not playing him more through the midfield - maybe it was a reflection on how 'thin' our dangerous forward stocks have been - maybe like some have suggested Cuningham is an introvert - not the type who will demand the ball -we have a few that demand the ball too often when they shouldn't be....maybe all Teague needs to do is tell his distributors to get the ball to Cuningham and Martin and stop muckin around..my theory is that Cuningham doesn't see himself as an established AFL player - doesn't really know how good he is ....so plays 'quietly'....

Teague mentioned Cuningham in context of wing positions and midfield rotations - specifically Williamson on the wing and Cuningham doing more midfield time...in the same interview he pretty much pigeon holed SPS into a defensive role - because he said the side needs SPS's kicking ability from HBF - ( I thought that was a stretch sicne SPS hasn't kicked a 40 meter bullet in years) so maybe we cant take what coaches say off the cuff too seriously

nevertheless if Teague plays a slow midfield - it is on him - he has players with speed and skill to bring in and rotate through..
 
I know you have mentioned this a few times Arrow on giving him a run with role, it may end up being something that helps him, particularly if what you say on what the coaches have expressed to him..
I’ve mentioned before that he plays more on instinct, but recently in discussion with Metal that from my opinion that he lets the game flow around him without stamping himself on contests he tends to sit back and wait on things to happen,,,
He’s got to get into a better mindset of impacting himself into the contests instead of holding out and letting others do the work...

Was going to post something similar a couple of days ago and got distracted.

I think some players thrive on being given a niche role. You see it at Richmond and Hawthorn especially, those guys who have a very specific job to do which is designed to supplement the more creative types. They're usually less talented, but are hard-working and hard-nosed.

Cunners is a weird one in that he's incredibly talented, but quite unassuming about it. If you ask him to be peripheral then he's waaaay peripheral. But if you can break through to him and get him in a role where he's the man, then there's potential for him to win games off his own boot.

Mulled it over the last few days and I think the role I'd create for him would be as a forward 50 stoppage specialist. Centre bounces, on the wing, down back - that's where your Cripps/Setters/Walsh/Curnow/Dow(?) combinations do their work. Once the ball is inside 50, I'd have Cunners as the key player to be at the fall of the ball. No lurking round the outside waiting to see what happens - stoppage inside 50, get in there Cunners and work your magic. He's got the skillset, but he doesn't need to be "on" mentally for the same percentage of a game that the premium mids do. And it means when we're creating forward 50 stoppages, guys like Cripps and Setters and Walsh can have a brief spell on the outside or loitering closer to the 50m arc to help defend.

While that's happening, Cunners is developing confidence, consistency and stoppage craft. And maybe after a few years he could transition to more midfield time if suitable.
 
I'm high on him but I feel when he goes missing he's doing the graveyard shift at HFF. He's not really a lead up player but given that extensive run in that midfield role he excelled. He's so clean picking the ball up and his lateral movement/ burst is borderline first class. Just give him a 3 game stretch in the guts at some stage and work off that even if it's pre-season. If not, I really feel a side like Sydney will end up trading for him and turn him into what he was meant to be.
Edit: just to clarify our game plan doesn't seem to really focus on hitting our smaller guys as lead up options in attack so it's hard for cuningham to get easy touches forward of centre. He's more a midfielder for mine but hasn't been given the green flag outside of the Ess game.
 
Had also noticed that Stocker seemed to be featuring in a few little club media pieces. Just the nonsense preseason stuff for a bit of fun fan engagement, but it made me think that perhaps the club is making a concerted effort to get him involved.

Hopefully whatever pulled him home this year is in the rear view mirror and we'll see some serious improvement from him in 2021.

I think Stocker, more than any other young fringe/developing mid on our list, is the one who could elevate our midfield considerably if he comes on. He's got a scintillating combination of ability, physicality and competitive attitude.
 

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