Training 2024 Preseason reports and discussion

[maverick001]

Hawks fans, are you expecting Reeves to be solo ruck for most of the year?
With Chol arriving to support Lewis, it would seem you have an able second ruckman now, and playing Meek also would be top-heavy???

 

[houdinihuddo]

Love to say I told you so, but Curtin not even selected for the praccy game. Clearly a failed experiment and Watson now vindicated

WOW, talk about waiting to pounce and going early. Were you aware Curtin had a knee injury and didn’t resume training until 5 February. He then had an ingrown toe nail which further interrupted his preparation. I understand the excitement and hype over a 170cm player who is very talented however I don’t understand the need to knock another very talented player. I don’t know how much underage football you watch but I do know Roddy watches a lot and respect his assessment of players. FWIW, probably little, I rated Curtain, O’Sullivan, Sanders and Windsor more highly than Watson who has the highest X factor but struggles with one on one contests due to his height. I suggest you wait until the end of the 2025 season before you pot me. Naturally I’ll be very happy to be proven wrong.

 

[cryptor]

WOW, talk about waiting to pounce and going early. Were you aware Curtin had a knee injury and didn’t resume training until 5 February. He then had an ingrown toe nail which further interrupted his preparation. I understand the excitement and hype over a 170cm player who is very talented however I don’t understand the need to knock another very talented player. I don’t know how much underage football you watch but I do know Roddy watches a lot and respect his assessment of players. FWIW, probably little, I rated Curtain, O’Sullivan, Sanders and Windsor more highly than Watson who has the highest X factor but struggles with one on one contests due to his height. I suggest you wait until the end of the 2025 season before you pot me. Naturally I’ll be very happy to be proven wrong.

I don't think there's anything to be gained by people going tit for tat all year based on the fluctuating performances of 18 year olds trying to navigate their way through their first AFL season.

 

[excitingnews]

WOW, talk about waiting to pounce and going early. Were you aware Curtin had a knee injury and didn’t resume training until 5 February. He then had an ingrown toe nail which further interrupted his preparation. I understand the excitement and hype over a 170cm player who is very talented however I don’t understand the need to knock another very talented player. I don’t know how much underage football you watch but I do know Roddy watches a lot and respect his assessment of players. FWIW, probably little, I rated Curtain, O’Sullivan, Sanders and Windsor more highly than Watson who has the highest X factor but struggles with one on one contests due to his height. I suggest you wait until the end of the 2025 season before you pot me. Naturally I’ll be very happy to be proven wrong

Cleary just a joke poking fun at a bloke making a call way too early

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Hawks fans, are you expecting Reeves to be solo ruck for most of the year?
With Chol arriving to support Lewis, it would seem you have an able second ruckman now, and playing Meek also would be top-heavy???

Correct. Chol will back up, possibly Ramsden gets a look too.

 

[TylerDurden]

Correct. Chol will back up, possibly Ramsden gets a look too.

If Gunner doesn't get up I'd imagine Ramma plays.

 

[I got the outside word]

WOW, talk about waiting to pounce and going early. Were you aware Curtin had a knee injury and didn’t resume training until 5 February. He then had an ingrown toe nail which further interrupted his preparation. I understand the excitement and hype over a 170cm player who is very talented however I don’t understand the need to knock another very talented player. I don’t know how much underage football you watch but I do know Roddy watches a lot and respect his assessment of players. FWIW, probably little, I rated Curtain, O’Sullivan, Sanders and Windsor more highly than Watson who has the highest X factor but struggles with one on one contests due to his height. I suggest you wait until the end of the 2025 season before you pot me. Naturally I’ll be very happy to be proven wrong.

I think the pot shot was at the poster and their attitude rather than the player friend.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

WOW, talk about waiting to pounce and going early. Were you aware Curtin had a knee injury and didn’t resume training until 5 February. He then had an ingrown toe nail which further interrupted his preparation. I understand the excitement and hype over a 170cm player who is very talented however I don’t understand the need to knock another very talented player. I don’t know how much underage football you watch but I do know Roddy watches a lot and respect his assessment of players. FWIW, probably little, I rated Curtain, O’Sullivan, Sanders and Windsor more highly than Watson who has the highest X factor but struggles with one on one contests due to his height. I suggest you wait until the end of the 2025 season before you pot me. Naturally I’ll be very happy to be proven wrong.

Wrong Roddy.

 

[JoeHawk]

It really wasn't Kosi's injuries that let him down.

Unfortunately, he just didn't have any football awareness.
He always struggled to get into the right position.
And, in going for marks, he almost marked the ball on a hundred occasions.

Richmond witnessed the same problems last week.

Unfortunately I don’t see Chol doing much better. Had one very good pass to a loose forward against Bulldogs but looked lost and almost disinterested other times. There were also numerous opportunities where he could have challenged a pack or put some body pressure on an opponent instead of allowing an easy mark only a few metres away. Not much to like so far. Hope he improves and fast.

 

[Tony3163]

Unfortunately I don’t see Chol doing much better. Had one very good pass to a loose forward against Bulldogs but looked lost and almost disinterested other times. There were also numerous opportunities where he could have challenged a pack or put some body pressure on an opponent instead of allowing an easy mark only a few metres away. Not much to like so far. Hope he improves and fast.

All that for one practice match where the opposition had twice as many forward entries.

 

[JoeHawk]

All that for one practice match where the opposition had twice as many forward entries.

Well he didn’t exactly set the world on fire at GCS either. I know he’s trying to adapt to a new forward structure and that could take some time. But he’s not a young kid either.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Well he didn’t exactly set the world on fire at GCS either. I know he’s trying to adapt to a new forward structure and that could take some time. But he’s not a young kid either.

He sorta did set the world on fire in 2022 though.

 

[I got the outside word]

Unfortunately I don’t see Chol doing much better. Had one very good pass to a loose forward against Bulldogs but looked lost and almost disinterested other times. There were also numerous opportunities where he could have challenged a pack or put some body pressure on an opponent instead of allowing an easy mark only a few metres away. Not much to like so far. Hope he improves and fast.

There were also some moments where he did hit packs, put pressure on and done some generally good things.

I think it’s human nature to focus on the negative and miss the positive, I’m guilty of it, my wife more so.

 

[Howe Amazing]

If Gunner doesn't get up I'd imagine Ramma plays.

Would this be with idea Reeves gets subbed off and Ramma rucks last quarter. Not saying Ramma is sub but he could play forward before that. I still wouldn’t mind seeing if he could play KD but you would have to explore at Box Hill first

 

[Newmo89]

Correct. Chol will back up, possibly Ramsden gets a look too.

Hale post intra club at the press conference said that for the club to play two rucks, they have to have some forward craft, which means Rama would be the one we opt too. Also why Rama was part of the team for the practice match over Meek.

 

[Mississippi]

Unfortunately I don’t see Chol doing much better. Had one very good pass to a loose forward against Bulldogs but looked lost and almost disinterested other times. There were also numerous opportunities where he could have challenged a pack or put some body pressure on an opponent instead of allowing an easy mark only a few metres away. Not much to like so far. Hope he improves and fast.

Ultimately, with one diversion, it’s basically Richmond and Hawthorn swapping Chol for Kosi. IMO Chol will be playing senior footy for us this year and Kosi will be in the ressies. Chol will be an important strategic player for us.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Crazy how quick people are to nail Chol in his second real hitout against another side, playing in a side that only had 34 inside 50’s(the lowest of any side that played over the weekend).

It’s not going to just click with our forward half in an instant. Give it at least 3-4 rounds before sharpening the knives.

 

[theiaofseed]

Crazy how quick people are to nail Chol in his second real hitout against another side, playing in a side that only had 34 inside 50’s(the lowest of any side that played over the weekend).

It’s not going to just click with our forward half in an instant. Give it at least 3-4 rounds before sharpening the knives.

You mean changing more than half the player in our forward 50 will take time before it gels? Convenient story.

 

[Strebi3]

We went at 55% in our forward line yesterday and took 10 marks I50 from only 34 entries. Lots of over reactions in here. If our mids put in 100% in round 1 and carry last years form in, I think we will be okay. Just really need to work on transition and full ground defence.

 

[Fleabane]

We went at 55% in our forward line yesterday and took 10 marks I50 from only 34 entries. Lots of over reactions in here. If our mids put in 100% in round 1 and carry last years form in, I think we will be okay. Just really need to work on transition and full ground defence.

I agree with this although I'm a little worried about our mids without Day - he pretty much played every game last year. Obviously we shouldn't be relying so heavily on one player but I am concerned that he might have been integral to our good form.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Crazy how quick people are to nail Chol in his second real hitout against another side, playing in a side that only had 34 inside 50’s(the lowest of any side that played over the weekend).

It’s not going to just click with our forward half in an instant. Give it at least 3-4 rounds before sharpening the knives.

Interesting how 5 teams still kicked less points than us despite our low inside 50 count.

That suggests to me that in games where our midfield actually gets on top that we now have the potential scoring power we may have been lacking in previous seasons.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Interesting how 5 teams still kicked less points than us despite our low inside 50 count.

That suggests to me that in games where our midfield actually gets on top that we now have the potential scoring power we may have been lacking in previous seasons.

The wheelo rating site is interesting for how you can isolate the last 5 games of 2023.

We were above the league average for scores from inside 50 in that period(Lewis didn’t play 3 of them), and we’ve improved that area of the ground since.

 

[HedgeFund]

The wheelo rating site is interesting for how you can isolate the last 5 games of 2023.

We were above the league average for scores from inside 50 in that period(Lewis didn’t play 3 of them), and we’ve improved that area of the ground since.

Honestly, the last 5 games of 2023 are…… a light year away from now - aren’t they?

Off season, we decided to completely revamp our forward line. To say we have made “improvements” is based on pure optimism, not actual results.

Now our midfield will be without the reigning PCM medallist for at least a month and our backline lacks any additions with demonstrated AFL level class.

So we await the first month with bated breath - hoping we could make some gains.

However, we are not in the most secure position, and a repeat of 2023 is entirely possible.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Off season, we decided to completely revamp our forward line. To say we have made “improvements” is based on pure optimism, not actual results.

So you think adding Watson, Ginnivan, Chol and Gunston is not “improving that area of the ground”?

You’ve got a problem with that statement, really?

 

[tommyk72]

So you think adding Watson, Ginnivan, Chol and Gunston is not “improving that area of the ground”?

You’ve got a problem with that statement, really?

I hope that we have, and expect to see evidence of it over the next half of a season. But we've no concrete evidence so far in a setting that actually means something. I get where he's coming from.