Training 2023 Preseason + training discussion

[Purple Jesus]

You’re joking right, Mundy was nearly unmoveable. The guy had superhuman strength.

Nope, not kidding. Just because he is retired now doesn't mean he was a magical beast when he played. I'm not knocking Mundy, JOM is just a freak in that department. Fyfe-like.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I don't see an easy line up of 3 tall forward for us for a variety of reasons.

Taberner injury prone
Amiss not physically quite ready
Jackson not a real/full-time forward
Corbett and Sturt not KPF size
Fyfe injured and unconvincing

Treacy looks solid against that backdrop. Almost a cornerstone.

I'd lock in Treacy and Jackson, and hope for Taberner. If Amiss is ready I'd give him every possible game, perhaps using Jackson in a different role. I don't realistically expect availability from all.

We have a fascinating couple of years ahead.

The way I see it is we're almost fully dependent on a fit Tabs to anchor that forward line, otherwise it's very inexperienced and lacking contested marking ability.
If Tabs goes down then Treacy is almost essential, he's the only more 'physical' forward I can think of, although he still isn't a real contested mark target.

If you step back it's hard for me to pick the best mix.
I'd have a stab and say Tabs/Jackson/Amiss plus either of Corbett/Sturt + 3 of Schultz/Frederick/Switta/Walters.
If Corbett/Sturt aren't in then Treacy although that could leave us too tall, potentially Frederick may be closer to a medium forward.

Looking forward to pre-season to see how they're all tracking.

 

[arsesmart]

Nope, not kidding. Just because he is retired now doesn't mean he was a magical beast when he played. I'm not knocking Mundy, JOM is just a freak in that department. Fyfe-like.

Here are their clearance and contested possession averages since 2018 for comparison. Not much between them in either department. Jaeger just shades Barra in most, but could easily be down to a slight difference in roles within their respective teams.

	Mundy Clear.​	OMeara Clear.​	Mundy Cont Poss​	OMeara Cont Poss​
2018​	4.05​	4.9​	10.45​	9.76​
2019​	5.45​	6.19​	11.77​	11.38​
2020​	4.5​	4.67​	8.81​	9​
2021​	5.32​	6.17​	11.09​	11.89​
2022​	4.77​	5.1​	9.05​	10.81​

 

[Dale147]

The life of Fyfe

 

[Wobbly Punt]

I don't see an easy line up of 3 tall forward for us for a variety of reasons.

Taberner injury prone
Amiss not physically quite ready
Jackson not a real/full-time forward
Corbett and Sturt not KPF size
Fyfe injured and unconvincing

Treacy looks solid against that backdrop. Almost a cornerstone.

I'd lock in Treacy and Jackson, and hope for Taberner. If Amiss is ready I'd give him every possible game, perhaps using Jackson in a different role. I don't realistically expect availability from all.

We have a fascinating couple of years ahead.

I agree with you there. The 3 forwards mix I was hoping to see and JL said he wanted to play was over the previous couple of seasons and had 2 experienced heads in Tabs & Lobb plus Treacy. I think he played it once. Injuries to Tabs and then Treacy made opportunities to employ it somewhat limited but they were there and he didn't do it when he could have. Opportunity missed in my view but it's not tragic in terms of impact.

3 forwards this year is doable but Tabs fitness and form is key to that at the moment. If he's flakey Tabs though there's no point in continuing to pick him and we should be developing Treacy. They're the same size and Treacy can handle the load but not give us that AA Tabs output. If he's AA Squad Tabs and stays fit then we're good and can rotate the younger guys through based on fitness and form.

I actually think Treacy helps Tabs by his physical presence which neither Tabs nor Amiss have but outside that physical presence Amiss has shown a lot so picking him won't be a bad move by any stretch. I'm hoping Amiss plays around 12-15 games next year tops as he builds himself physically. At the same time I hope we see Treacy a minimum of 10 games and hopefully his form means that grows to 15-18 or more.

The way I see it is we're almost fully dependent on a fit Tabs to anchor that forward line, otherwise it's very inexperienced and lacking contested marking ability.
If Tabs goes down then Treacy is almost essential, he's the only more 'physical' forward I can think of, although he still isn't a real contested mark target.

If you step back it's hard for me to pick the best mix.
I'd have a stab and say Tabs/Jackson/Amiss plus either of Corbett/Sturt + 3 of Schultz/Frederick/Switta/Walters.
If Corbett/Sturt aren't in then Treacy although that could leave us too tall, potentially Frederick may be closer to a medium forward.

Looking forward to pre-season to see how they're all tracking.

Yep. The mix is the hard and interesting element. I can actually see all 4 of Tabs, Jackson, Treacy and Amiss in the same team, especially if they utilise the unicorn element with Jackson. I doubt we'd see all 4 in the forwardline at the same time but for short stints it wouldn't suck either. You'd just need Switta and Schultz in there as well for pressure. Its not a sustainable mix but it'd be one to stretch an oppo team for a period.

Pre-season will be fascinating. My concern is around team selection. I think this has been a flaw in the JL era and I'm hoping it improves. There's certainly no lack of options now. How well they go will be so interesting and important.

 

[DeanS]

Nope, not kidding. Just because he is retired now doesn't mean he was a magical beast when he played. I'm not knocking Mundy, JOM is just a freak in that department. Fyfe-like.

I hope you're right. But I don't think you are.

 

[ignoramus]

The life of Fyfe

Dale, love what you do for the forums by never failing to upload any stories from the West about Freo. But is there any chance you could please start posting some trigger warnings if those stories happen to contain content likely to enrage any Freo supporter with half a brain cell (which is at least half a brain cell more than Sumich has)?

 

[theGav56]

You’re joking right, Mundy was nearly unmoveable. The guy had superhuman strength.

Yeah Mundy was both a beast and a nice guy.

 

[theGav56]

The way I see it is we're almost fully dependent on a fit Tabs to anchor that forward line, otherwise it's very inexperienced and lacking contested marking ability.
If Tabs goes down then Treacy is almost essential, he's the only more 'physical' forward I can think of, although he still isn't a real contested mark target.

If you step back it's hard for me to pick the best mix.
I'd have a stab and say Tabs/Jackson/Amiss plus either of Corbett/Sturt + 3 of Schultz/Frederick/Switta/Walters.
If Corbett/Sturt aren't in then Treacy although that could leave us too tall, potentially Frederick may be closer to a medium forward.

Looking forward to pre-season to see how they're all tracking.

The bit that is worrying is the bit that reads; almost fully dependant on a fit Tabs. Hooley Dooley.

If that's the case I think we should follow Geelong and how they manage players. Preserve Taberner whenever possible with the aim to have him in finals.

Play Treacy as his logical replacement early pumping games and experience into him.

Depending on Taberner being fit is one of our biggest weaknesses and something we need to mitigate against.

 

[theGav56]

Dale, love what you do for the forums by never failing to upload any stories from the West about Freo. But is there any chance you could please start posting some trigger warnings if those stories happen to contain content likely to enrage any Freo supporter with half a brain cell (which is at least half a brain cell more than Sumich has)?

Barlow gets the tone right. Sumich is all about Sumich. Agenda driven comments.

 

[sherrif]

Had to look this guy up - I don't think he's in the same footballing neighbourhood as JOM (he had a good couple of seasons in a champion side). Anyways, he's a cousin of Wil Anderson who I can't stand.

The Anderson trade for Winston Abraham was one of the many terrible ones we made in our early years in the competition. Stuart Anderson in terms of standard of player (not type of player) was more like Chris Groom than JOM. He was a borderline selection when he played at North from memory who averaged just ten possessions the year before he was traded and he played as a utility. He also quit the club after he wasn't being selected at the start of the second year of a two year contract.

Meanwhile I've been working with a passionate Hawthorn supporter in recent times and it's getting harder and harder to not get super excited about what O'Meara will bring. It's simply a Hawthorn supporters opinion for what that's worth but he thinks O'Meara will be a brilliant recruit. According to him Jaeger is slowly getting that elite speed back every year since the horrific injury 4 seasons ago. He said last year Jaeger spent the majority of his time at half forward in part due to having a very interrupted preseason with injury and that's why his stats went down but the last time he had an extended run onball in 2021 he was playing at near All Australian level in the first 15 games or so.In 2022 he was onball for the majority of the game on only a few occasions for games. One of those was against us at home.

Have a look at what he did against us last season in Round 13. You have to scroll down to see the highlights. His defensive pressure around the contest is elite too which is a massive advantage for us compared to Mundy.

From the article. 'He started to really get going in the second half of the season, hurting teams with run and spread' I'm deadset excited at what a fully fit O'Meara brings in terms of skillset.
If he can get back to his 2021 form with a full preseason I think he'll be one of the best recruits in our history.

'22 in Review: Jaeger O'Meara

The official AFL website of the Hawthorn Football Club

www.hawthornfc.com.au

 

[theGav56]

The Anderson trade for Winston Abraham was one the many terrible ones we made in our early years in the competition. Stuart Anderson in terms of standard of player (not type of player) was more like Chris Groom than JOM. He was a borderline selection when he played at North from memory who averaged just ten possessions the year before he was traded and he played as a utility. He also quit the club after he wasn't being selected at the start of the second year of a two year contract.

Meanwhile I've been working with a passionate Hawthorn supporter in recent times and it's getting harder and harder to not get super excited about what O'Meara will bring. It's simply a Hawthorn supporters opinion for what that's worth but he thinks O'Meara will be a brilliant recruit. According to him Jaeger is slowly getting that elite speed back every year since the horrific injury 4 seasons ago. He said last year Jaeger spent the majority of his time at half forward in part due to having a very interrupted preseason with injury and that's why his stats went down but the last time he had an extended run onball in 2021 he was playing at near All Australian level in the first 15 games or so and in 2022 he was onball for the majority of the game on only a few occasions for games. One of those was against us at home. If he can get back to his 2021 form with a full preseason I think he'll be one of the best recruits in our history.

Have a look at what he did against us last season in Round 13. You have to scroll down to see the highlights. His defensive pressure around the contest is elite too which is a massive advantage for us compared to Mundy.

'22 in Review: Jaeger O'Meara

The official AFL website of the Hawthorn Football Club

www.hawthornfc.com.au

I don't know his game that well but a little surprised to read that he ever had elite speed. A big positive if your mate is on the money.

 

[Taylor]

His defensive pressure around the contest is elite too which is a massive advantage for us compared to Mundy.

This cannot be overstated. The advantage Fremantle get from a repeat stoppage in the middle over an opposition clearance will change the entire season. It sounds so simple to say it, so obvious, but we don't need to be winning all the clearances as long as we defend theirs better. Our defense will look better and we will get another chance at winning our own again with a very capable stoppage team.

Weight of percentages wins. Football is a game of numbers. Looks like a game of heart. Is a game of numbers.

 

[sherrif]

I don't know his game that well but a little surprised to read that he ever had elite speed. A big positive if your mate is on the money.

He was being compared to Judd and Ablett for pace (he ran one of the quickest 20 metre sprints ever when tested at 2.8 seconds) before getting drafted and showed that pace at AFL level before sustaining a terrible knee injury where an opponent fell on his leg in 2015 with the impact dislocating his knee cap and rupturing his patella tendon. I

In 2019 (so after the injury) he was third at Hawthorn for average distance covered in each match behind elite distance runners in Scully and Isaac Smith so that's after the injury. He actually averaged slightly more than Ed Langdon did for us that year with an average of 14.53km's covered per game. Looking into distance covered results in the last two seasons where he played predominately midfield there is even more to like. In 2020 he was top 5 for Hawthorn in the distance covered data. While in 2021 his average of distance covered per game was more than Blake Acres and would have led Fremantle.

Shock Tracker results: Your speed machines, endurance beasts

Marathon men: Telstra Tracker reveals your club's running machines

Who's racking up the most miles for your team? We delve into the Telstra Tracker data to find out

www.afl.com.au

Here's Knightmares write up of O'Meara if you scroll down.

Draft Watcher - Knightmare's 2012 Mock Draft

Power rankings: ------------------Potential A-Graders-------------------- 1. Jake Stringer 2. Lachlan Whitfield 3. Jaeger O’Meara (GC – 17 Y/O) 4. Jack Viney (Melb – F/S) 5. Nick Vlastuin 6. Brad Crouch (Adel – 17 Y/O) 7. Brodie Grundy 8. Joe Daniher (Ess – F/S) 9. Jimmy Toumpas 10. Mason...

www.bigfooty.com

By the way if you check the Gold Coast results a pleasant surprise is that Josh Corbett led the Gold Coast for average distance covered in the afl matches he played. In a result that gives me some genuine optimism he will be a great recruit he was ahead of Langdon, Brad Hill and O'Meara that year for the average distance covered per game, while covering an average of 14.83 km's. That's around 300 metres per game more than Ed Langdon who led Fremantle. Josh probably spent more time on the ground per game too playing as a forward but that's a pretty impressive result compared to elite running forwards who weren't small forwards. Only Ben Brown covered more ground per game that year in terms forwards who play as talls.

 

[Taylor]

Josh Corbett led the Gold Coast

Their time trial runs in preseason too.

I expect to see Corbett playing as a forward who doesn't spend a huge amount of time inside fifty and gets most of his touches on long leads up the wing.

 

[sherrif]

This cannot be overstated. The advantage Fremantle get from a repeat stoppage in the middle over an opposition clearance will change the entire season. It sounds so simple to say it, so obvious, but we don't need to be winning all the clearances as long as we defend theirs better. Our defense will look better and we will get another chance at winning our own again with a very capable stoppage team.

Weight of percentages wins. Football is a game of numbers. Looks like a game of heart. Is a game of numbers.

I think he'll play a similar role that Logue played as a forward but he's obviously a more natural forward who can kick more goals and apply pressure without being as good at splitting packs as Logue was. We need someone to keep the gun intercept talls accountable so that the likes of Tom Stewart and Sam Taylor can't simply sit back and intercept. If Corbett can get his running capacity back after a hip injury hindered him in 2022 I think he could turn out to be a great value recruit.

 

[Arcassius]

The life of Fyfe

Does a scandinavian baby count as a father-son or category B rookie?

 

[DocT]

The Anderson trade for Winston Abraham was one of the many terrible ones we made in our early years in the competition. Stuart Anderson in terms of standard of player (not type of player) was more like Chris Groom than JOM. He was a borderline selection when he played at North from memory who averaged just ten possessions the year before he was traded and he played as a utility. He also quit the club after he wasn't being selected at the start of the second year of a two year contract.

Meanwhile I've been working with a passionate Hawthorn supporter in recent times and it's getting harder and harder to not get super excited about what O'Meara will bring. It's simply a Hawthorn supporters opinion for what that's worth but he thinks O'Meara will be a brilliant recruit. According to him Jaeger is slowly getting that elite speed back every year since the horrific injury 4 seasons ago. He said last year Jaeger spent the majority of his time at half forward in part due to having a very interrupted preseason with injury and that's why his stats went down but the last time he had an extended run onball in 2021 he was playing at near All Australian level in the first 15 games or so.In 2022 he was onball for the majority of the game on only a few occasions for games. One of those was against us at home.

Have a look at what he did against us last season in Round 13. You have to scroll down to see the highlights. His defensive pressure around the contest is elite too which is a massive advantage for us compared to Mundy.

From the article. 'He started to really get going in the second half of the season, hurting teams with run and spread' I'm deadset excited at what a fully fit O'Meara brings in terms of skillset.
If he can get back to his 2021 form with a full preseason I think he'll be one of the best recruits in our history.

'22 in Review: Jaeger O'Meara

The official AFL website of the Hawthorn Football Club

www.hawthornfc.com.au

Thanks for that highlight reel. Wow! He's quick, super talented, clean and has a footy brain - he seems to know what all the other players are doing as if he's looking at a chess board. If he brings that to the Purple and Luke Jackson delivers I think we will have a better team in 2023 than 2022. Doesn't mean I'm not heart broken losing Mundy, I've just got to toughen up.

 

[Dockeroo]

Does a scandinavian baby count as a father-son or category B rookie?

Haha I did have a chuckle at that. “Reminds me of a Scandinavian girl I met”

What a legend

 

[Superkoops]

Dale, love what you do for the forums by never failing to upload any stories from the West about Freo. But is there any chance you could please start posting some trigger warnings if those stories happen to contain content likely to enrage any Freo supporter with half a brain cell (which is at least half a brain cell more than Sumich has)?

Sumich says Fyfe could play for several more season.

Right …wasn’t Sumich the one that said the club came up with a elaborate ruse by publicly stating that Fyfe had a made up back injury and that in reality his shoulder was so stuffed that he would never play again.

‘Done and dusted’: Fyfe’s career in jeopardy, says Sumich

Peter Sumich has real concerns for Nat Fyfe’s playing future, claiming the Fremantle captain is still battling a shoulder injury - despite the Dockers giving a different reason for his absence.

thewest.com.au

Peter Sumich has real concerns for Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe’s playing future, claiming the dual Brownlow medallist is still nursing a troublesome shoulder injury - despite the Dockers giving a different reason for his absence.

Fremantle on Friday revealed Fyfe would miss at least a month of football after undergoing a “small” procedure on his back.

But West Coast great and former Dockers assistant coach Sumich claims the midfielder is still battling the shoulder concerns that forced him to undergo surgery in the back-half of the 2021 season.

“I’m hearing it’s his shoulder still,” Sumich said on SportFM. “We’ll wait and see but I’m hearing he’s still got concerns with his shoulder.”

 

[Outshined]

At some point Suma needs to be told the voices he hears are internal, not external.

 

[King Huskii]

At some point Suma needs to be told the voices he hears are internal, not external.

He's a prawn

 

[theGav56]

At some point Suma needs to be told the voices he hears are internal, not external.

He's just doing exactly what those media outlets he services want him to do. If it wasn't him, they'd get someone else.

 

[Hazelsnuts]

Does a scandinavian baby count as a father-son or category B rookie?

Tjugotrettiosex katergori ‘B’ nybörjare - Mattis Alexansersson-Fyfe.
Född i Luleå, far är Nathan Fyfe från Lake Grace, Väst Australien

 

[Tonga Bob]

Article of that Body Majic bloke. Liked the bit about the Swaggy/Dogga bonding

Seeing stars: The 'Majic' trainer helping players reach new heights

Personal trainer Gerard Majda has been helping a bevy of AFL stars put in the hard yards in the off-season

www.afl.com.au