Training 2024 Preseason reports and discussion

[mknaven]

Probably it's just the club is putting hours into Hardwick training as a frwd just in case we get injuries to Bruest or Ginnivan and Watson is a slow burn for a season so, if needed dimma could be swung frwd even mid game in some instances. He doesn't really need to train and show himself as a Backman at this stage of his career . Just filling out the trick bag. Maybe.

I agree. I'm sure he's trained fwd before and spent the entire season in defence.
The acid should be on our existing small fwds who are playing seniors to put on the required defensive pressure.


As an aside, I can't get to the games so I'm unable to see how the players line-up but when KAmon says he's playing back, I interpret that as he's primarily playing defensive wing with rotations back rather than permanently stationed hbf.

 

[I got the outside word]

Hardwick could be our Elliot.

 

[Bee Dee 63]

Hardwick could be our Elliot.

Elliot could be a poor man's Hardwick.

 

[Samwell]

I've said it before but Frost reminds me of a super duper Gaming Computer with the latest Graphics Card, 16GB RAM, 3TB hard drive, SSD, etc but it's all being run by an old 486 CPU!

He's got all the physical attributes and bravery but his ability to process data in real time on the field is lacking. I wonder if his brain ever flashes system error codes at him mid game

In fact he is almost the complete opposite to his coach who was short, slow and couldn't jump but his footy brain was an effing supercomputer that could process data quicker than anyone (and of course he was also hard as a cats head and had unbelievable balance).

But I'd still say on balance Frosty will get a game most weeks next year, especially if he can limit the amount of "Oh Frosty" moments to say one or two a game.

If frost plays he must be under handball only policy.

 

[Bugs1977]

i mean he "only" averages ~2 turnovers a game. his kicking efficiency was a pretty solid 70% last season too. when he makes mistakes they are bad mistakes and very visible and often result in goals. but he has improved in both metrics pretty significantly over his career and i think that confirmation bias plays a little bit into his current perception.

we 100% need to move on from him sooner rather than later but if we are picking a side based on merit he is definitely going to be in the mix come round 1. i would personally leave him out but has Sam ever not picked him when he's been fit?

Love Frosty and he seems a genuinely good guy on / off the field however you are not a top 8 finals team if he's in your backline. I feel once we upgrade and move on from him it will mean that we're on our way to a winning record again.

 

[Alite]

With the recruitment of some seriously fast players into our backline, and our wingers training as backmen, could this be the model for Sam’s future game-plan?



The backs stream up the middle (south to north) as a group while our wingmen roll back to cover the opposition fwds in case of a turnover. Our fwds spread providing a plethora of 1 on 1 marking options (hense Hardwick training as a fwd) and rendering the oppositions loose (3rd) man up useless.

 

[Mercy Seat]

i mean he "only" averages ~2 turnovers a game. his kicking efficiency was a pretty solid 70% last season too. when he makes mistakes they are bad mistakes and very visible and often result in goals. but he has improved in both metrics pretty significantly over his career and i think that confirmation bias plays a little bit into his current perception.

we 100% need to move on from him sooner rather than later but if we are picking a side based on merit he is definitely going to be in the mix come round 1. i would personally leave him out but has Sam ever not picked him when he's been fit?

Pretty sure he’s yet to play a game at Box Hill (despite being picked there every week on this board).

He’s in the leadership group as well, I reckon he’ll be given every chance.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

It’s only natural that you should feel the same way too

Sounds circumstantial to me.

 

[HomerJayS]

Watson is better than Ginnivan, if you've seen him play

Stats don’t lie. (Ginni Below average last season). Watson can make an immediate impact like Cyril did.

 

[HomerJayS]

I’m predicting Watson can emulate these stats, with more goals:

 

[Judd2Sewell]

I’m predicting Watson can emulate these stats, with more goals:

View attachment 1874953

I'd be amazed if Watson got close to those tackle, mark and possession numbers in his first year. I'm hopeful he kicks 25 goals though.

 

[matey]

Good if both Dimma and Newk spend some time forward to provide some backup/protection for the Wiz in his early days ……. he will be intimately tested!

 

[Alite]

Stats don’t lie. (Ginni Below average last season). Watson can make an immediate impact like Cyril did.

View attachment 1874949

These stats DEFINITELY lie given that they are based on averages and that Ginni was the starting sub in 5 of his 14 games.

 

[cryptor]

Good if both Dimma and Newk spend some time forward to provide some backup/protection for the Wiz in his early days ……. he will be intimately tested!

This is actually the best theory I've read about Dimma playing forward minutes next season. And I'll add for Ginnivan's sake also.

While I'm certain every teammate would help, sometimes you need a couple mad dogs.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Had a chat to Dimma who said he was enjoying training forward but he said he has done the same before and come round 1 lines up in the back pocket so who knows.

Gunners said first sesh after chrissy he would be in full training with the squad and could not wait.

Also had a brief chat to Mabior who said “I am loving it here and cant wait to take part in full match sim after chrissy break”

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Had a chat to Dimma who said he was enjoying training forward but he said he has done the same before and come round 1 lines up in the back pocket so who knows.

Gunners said first sesh after chrissy he would be in full training with the squad and could not wait.

Also had a brief chat to Mabior who said “I am loving it here and cant wait to take part in full match sim after chrissy break”

Did you tell Dimma to sign his contract extension pronto! Don’t want him testing free agency.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

i mean he "only" averages ~2 turnovers a game. his kicking efficiency was a pretty solid 70% last season too. when he makes mistakes they are bad mistakes and very visible and often result in goals. but he has improved in both metrics pretty significantly over his career and i think that confirmation bias plays a little bit into his current perception.

we 100% need to move on from him sooner rather than later but if we are picking a side based on merit he is definitely going to be in the mix come round 1. i would personally leave him out but has Sam ever not picked him when he's been fit?

Yes it's a fair point you make. As you say when Frosty makes a mistake, he really does go all in on the mistake.

I remember one game this year where in the space of five minutes Frosty took two massive defensive marks deep in our defensive fifty but then straight away after both marks he has handballed to a player next to him flat footed and they got nailed in a tackle both times.

Once you could understand but to do it twice was classic Frost Ball!

 

[RoughysMullet]

Hardwick going forward is the new Roughy to CHB by the looks of things

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

Love Frosty and he seems a genuinely good guy on / off the field however you are not a top 8 finals team if he's in your backline. I feel once we upgrade and move on from him it will mean that we're on our way to a winning record again.

to be fair, he played in the 2018 Melbourne side that made the prelim (at least the finals series). we are thin for KPDs and he's obviously not a great player but you can have role players like him in a winning side and build around his weaknesses. worse players than Frost have played in and won grand finals before. picking up McCabe and DGB pushing his way into the side will go a long way to naturally solving this problem. my point was more he's always been a first-picked player under Sam and it will be interesting to see if that continues to be the case

 

[peetoo]

to be fair, he played in the 2018 Melbourne side that made the prelim (at least the finals series). we are thin for KPDs and he's obviously not a great player but you can have role players like him in a winning side and build around his weaknesses. worse players than Frost have played in and won grand finals before. picking up McCabe and DGB pushing his way into the side will go a long way to naturally solving this problem. my point was more he's always been a first-picked player under Sam and it will be interesting to see if that continues to be the case

Trent croad was a loved premiership player but he was well known for ‘frostball’ he did tidy it up quite a bit though

 

[unitedhawk]

Competition for places will be fierce in 2024.

As the players disband for the Chrissy break, I thought I'd consider one player in each area of the ground whose potential progression towards a regular starting 23 spot would complement the team's overall progress:

D50: Jai Serong. Has shown promising signs in defence. If he can help cover CHB, our defence will look a whole lot better.
Mid: Henry Hustwaite. I've said this before but he could really add a different dimension to our midfield mix. Has elite hands in traffic and looks as close to a Pendles clone as there is in the AFL.
F50: Sam Butler. If he can provide serious competition for Wiz and Ginni, driving them all to strive to keep improving, we'll be well-stocked in the small forward department for the next decade.

Which players would you be looking at?

 

[Big Hotdog]

Competition for places will be fierce in 2024.

As the players disband for the Chrissy break, I thought I'd consider one player in each area of the ground whose potential progression towards a regular starting 23 spot would complement the team's overall progress:

D50: Jai Serong. Has shown promising signs in defence. If he can help cover CHB, our defence will look a whole lot better.
Mid: Henry Hustwaite. I've said this before but he could really add a different dimension to our midfield mix. Has elite hands in traffic and looks as close to a Pendles clone as there is in the AFL.
F50: Sam Butler. If he can provide serious competition for Wiz and Ginni, driving them all to strive to keep improving, we'll be well-stocked in the small forward department for the next decade.

Which players would you be looking at?

F50: DGB Has the tools and if he can give Gunston a run for the third tall forward spot then we have some serious building blocks being stacked for our future run into the finals.

 

[HedgeFund]

I want them both in btw.

Watson is better against 17/18 year old kids than Ginnavin is against open age elite footballers. I will give you that.

However, Watson hasn’t played a single game of AFL and Ginnavin is a premiership player who kicked 40 goals in 2022.

Until Watson plies his trade at the highest level I don’t see how you can realistically conclude he is already better.

He’s only ever played footy against kids his own age - hasn’t he?

 

[Mississippi]

Watson is better against 17/18 year old kids than Ginnavin is against open age elite footballers. I will give you that.

However, Watson hasn’t played a single game of AFL and Ginnavin is a premiership player who kicked 40 goals in 2022.

Until Watson plies his trade at the highest level I don’t see how you can realistically conclude he is already better.

He’s only ever played footy against kids his own age - hasn’t he?

Yes but Watson, despite not having played a senior game, looks like the closest thing we have to another Cyril Rioli.
In fact, so close I doubt their mothers could tell them apart.

 

[TFFM]

Watson is better against 17/18 year old kids than Ginnavin is against open age elite footballers. I will give you that.

However, Watson hasn’t played a single game of AFL and Ginnavin is a premiership player who kicked 40 goals in 2022.

Until Watson plies his trade at the highest level I don’t see how you can realistically conclude he is already better.

He’s only ever played footy against kids his own age - hasn’t he?

Just watching him training I think he has more to his game. He's quick on the lead, takes the ball at full pace, one-grabs marks, and good at stoppages. Yes he needs to prove himself at the highest level, but he's got the tools.