Training 2023 Preseason + training discussion

[stax on the mull]

I thought they were just gradually building up the game time. I think Longmuir said after Monday that they took match sim up to 80 minutes (which he said was the highest so far).

I was actually thinking they were doing a fair bit of extra running up at Kings Park - especially seeing the photos of the one last Saturday after Friday's match sim training, but when I looked for other times that they'd been doing the running in Kings Park sessions I discovered that its been happening for the past 3 pre-seasons.

 

[Scham]

I wonder if they're going too hard this preseason and we see a drop off late in the season? No way to know until it happens. Fingers crossed JL and the S&C team know what they're doing.

That was my initial worry too but since Webber left I've got total faith in our S & C team to manage the loads throughout the season.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

I actually thought the risk was not going hard enough because to me, intra club match sims aren’t as intensive, but that might me projecting when I would find a way to do as little as possible while impacting just enough. A physio at Freo said Merriman really likes building fitness through match sims, presumably for the whole train how you play and muscle memory and such

 

[Joao]

After the big discussion re booking flights etc, I thought I'd have a quick look at how far off our scoring was in 2022.

Gold standard (Cats, Tigers and Lions)
~3 goals

Similar defense but better attack (Dees)
~ 1.5 goals

Everybodies favourite teams (Blues & Pies)
~ < 1 goal

I think its fair to say that unless Fyfe actually is a gun forward (that kicks straight) and Amiss bangs in 50, we're not making up 3 goals. Can we find 9 points a game though? That takes us to firmly top 4 if our defense stays the same (doesn't even have to improve as we were equal 1st).

We need to find Rory's 36 + 33 others. ~70 goals Sounds like a lot but Tabs could kick +30 himself if he played 22 games fit.

Maybe I should be more optimistic.

p.s. LOL @ the blues kicking less than a goal more than us (the laughing stock of the competition re forwardline) with two coleman medalists. The rest of their forwards must be utter ****. Especially considering Cripps kicked around 20.

 

[freo84]

After the big discussion re booking flights etc, I thought I'd have a quick look at how far off our scoring was in 2022.

Gold standard (Cats, Tigers and Lions)
~3 goals

Similar defense but better attack (Dees)
~ 1.5 goals

Everybodies favourite teams (Blues & Pies)
~ < 1 goal

I think its fair to say that unless Fyfe actually is a gun forward (that kicks straight) and Amiss bangs in 50, we're not making up 3 goals. Can we find 9 points a game though? That takes us to firmly top 4 if our defense stays the same (doesn't even have to improve as we were equal 1st).

We need to find Rory's 36 + 33 others. ~70 goals Sounds like a lot but Tabs could kick +30 himself if he played 22 games fit.

Maybe I should be more optimistic.

p.s. LOL @ the blues kicking less than a goal more than us (the laughing stock of the competition re forwardline) with two coleman medalists. The rest of their forwards must be utter ****. Especially considering Cripps kicked around 20.

We were also not accurate last season.

We can find an extra 2 goals a game, just by being more efficient with our scoring.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

We were also not accurate last season.

We can find an extra 2 goals a game, just by being more efficient with our scoring.

Pretty sure we were pretty accurate last year for the first time in forever. To kick more goals we’ll need to be more midfield dominant (highly likely IMO), more aggressive (highly likely), have Fyfe kick 40+ goals (decent chance) and keep Tabs on the park (not likely on evidence) or Amiss kick 30+ (half a chance).

I think the first three are the most important IMO and also the most likely. Might come at a cost of a slight hit to defense though

 

[freo84]

Pretty sure we were pretty accurate last year for the first time in forever. To kick more goals we’ll need to be more midfield dominant (highly likely IMO), more aggressive (highly likely), have Fyfe kick 40+ goals (decent chance) and keep Tabs on the park (not likely on evidence) or Amiss kick 30+ (half a chance).

I think the first three are the most important IMO and also the most likely. Might come at a cost of a slight hit to defense though

We kicked 271 goals and 245 behinds. I thought we were worse than that.

 

[Quazar]

I really hope Tabs can stay on the park. It always feels highly unlikely, but it would help enormously. I think he needs to get around 35-40 goals if possible, that will certainly be a good contributing factor to making up the numbers...Freddy jumped up to nearly 30 goals last season and if continues on that trajectory could be like a Fritsch type goalscorer incoming....that wouldn't hurt!

 

[DragoDelph]

Fyfe for Coleman + Brownlow.

 

[mightymouse75]

Tabs is beyond cooked.
Sad but true.
It's going be up to amiss, Jackson and tray.
It's more than possible though an enigmatic small forward is missing.

 

[eastfreo75]

Tabs is beyond cooked.
Sad but true.
It's going be up to amiss, Jackson and tray.
It's more than possible though an enigmatic small forward is missing.

I agree.

The issue for us is that Amiss, Tray and Jackson are only second to fourth year players.



Love to get Pickett but we don't the assets to get him.

 

[Midnite65]

Just a question for those lucky enough to attend training sessions/match sims. Is there any sign that we are working on a different strategy from kick ins than just Ryan kicking it 50 metres to a pack like he did most of last year?

 

[FreoRicci]

Just a question for those lucky enough to attend training sessions/match sims. Is there any sign that we are working on a different strategy from kick ins than just Ryan kicking it 50 metres to a pack like he did most of last year?

Fair question. Annoying how much Ryan does this. Would rather Young taking the short option and get a handball receive to launch further up field

 

[FreoRicci]

I agree.

The issue for us is that Amiss, Tray and Jackson are only second to fourth year players.



Love to get Pickett but we don't the assets to get him.

Don’t even know what Jackson can do up forward yet as well.
Need more goals from Switkowski. He’s fantastic at pressure but just doesn’t do enough damage on the scoreboard.
It’ll take a balanced forward line rather then a Tabs to win games.

 

[Scham]

I actually thought the risk was not going hard enough because to me, intra club match sims aren’t as intensive, but that might me projecting when I would find a way to do as little as possible while impacting just enough. A physio at Freo said Merriman really likes building fitness through match sims, presumably for the whole train how you play and muscle memory and such

There's no substitute for match fitness.

 

[Scham]

We kicked 271 goals and 245 behinds. I thought we were worse than that.

Stat doesn't include out on the full, out of bounds, or no score (not making the distance).

 

[theGav56]

Thanks for the Chappy update. I really think he's got a great skill set for our backline. I think Clark and Young will be solid, but I'm hoping Chaps can be the formidable third HB to set the wall and break lines this year. He's allowed a bad year after his incredible production from his meager 15 games. But, I hope he can take a step forward or at least maintain things for this year. I haven't heard much from the reports, so thanks for the insight!

Allowed a bad year? I think not.

If he has a bad year we need to work a different defender into the side or we are wasting depth.

Wilson, Hamling, Hughes, Wagner.

Chapman the best of them, but we can't afford to have players having bad years playing in the best 22. We have a premiership to win.

 

[freo84]

Stat doesn't include out on the full, out of bounds, or no score (not making the distance).

I never considered those, so the hits and misses are probably a bit closer than those numbers show.

What we need are cleaner entries, and we need to get our scoring efficiency up. Our conversion rate from inside 50 to kicking a goal could definitely improve.

Fyfe replacing Logue is massive, in my opinion, and I really hope Fyfe proves all the doubters wrong.

Whether Jackson, Amiss, Treacy, and Tabs can provide decent targets and convert will be interesting.

 

[sherrif]

Tabs is beyond cooked.
Sad but true.
It's going be up to amiss, Jackson and tray.
It's more than possible though an enigmatic small forward is missing.

I think Fyfe is capable of bouncing back this year. According to our brilliant training watchers he seems to be moving well and many said he's been performing at a high level in match sims. I wouldn't right him off just yet. Tabs too is apparently looking like he's close to full fitness again and playing the role he plays best which is a roaming role where he leads up to the wings regularly. Both Tabs and Fyfe getting a decent block of training in leading into the season could shape our whole season potentially. Plus Freddy could be the enigmatic but sometimes brilliant small forward you mention. He kicked 28 goals last season despite some low possession games. If he kicks 38 goals+ this year he's suddenly getting close to an elite small forward considering the pressure he applies without the ball.

 

[theGav56]

Clubs often have players they manage and get them primed for finals. We need to find a balance between developing young forwards and having Taberner available.

 

[Taylor]

I actually thought the risk was not going hard enough because to me, intra club match sims aren’t as intensive, but that might me projecting when I would find a way to do as little as possible while impacting just enough. A physio at Freo said Merriman really likes building fitness through match sims, presumably for the whole train how you play and muscle memory and such

I haven't met an athlete yet who wouldn't prefer to do their fitness work in the act of their sport. Those Saturday hill runs being the trade off...

 

[nurries]

I actually thought the risk was not going hard enough because to me, intra club match sims aren’t as intensive, but that might me projecting when I would find a way to do as little as possible while impacting just enough. A physio at Freo said Merriman really likes building fitness through match sims, presumably for the whole train how you play and muscle memory and such

JL also mentioned that Merriman likes putting the players through training runs after match sims when they are sore to build resilience. Apparently, Melbourne were doing that for the last few years

 

[Daddoo]

Allowed a bad year? I think not.

If he has a bad year we need to work a different defender into the side or we are wasting depth.

Wilson, Hamling, Hughes, Wagner.

Chapman the best of them, but we can't afford to have players having bad years playing in the best 22. We have a premiership to win.

Your point is taken but growth is rarely linear. I didn’t really mean a “bad” year. I meant a year in which he didn’t take a big step up. It happens. Sophomore slump. An off year. Whatever. Dude just turned 21 on Jan 31st and has got 15 games under his belt. He’ll be a great player for us but it ain’t the end of the world if he has a down year.

 

[Daddoo]

JL also mentioned that Merriman likes putting the players through training runs after match sims when they are sore to build resilience. Apparently, Melbourne were doing that for the last few years

I can attest that this strategy works. After every pour of whiskey, I take one more to build resiliency. Let me tell you, I have killer match fitness and resiliency when it counts. Can drink my mates under the table. Keep the good work Merriman.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

I can attest that this strategy works. After every pour of whiskey, I take one more to build resiliency. Let me tell you, I have killer match fitness and resiliency when it counts. Can drink my mates under the table. Keep the good work Merriman.

Daddoo, we need to get you into cricket next. The national short cricket form competition just had an incredible final that would be perfect first watch IMO to wet ya toe