Cunners came into the side and we started and kept winning (GWS doesn't count as it was a dead rubber). Dropped him for 1 game and we lost. Was a mistake to leave him out on the small Gabba where pace is for more important than endurance.
Training 2024 Training - reports, pics etc
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He was dropped for poor form, not because of the size of the Gabba
Our cup runneth over!
Midfield options abound, as do options in virtually every position. What remains to be seen is an established balance. Who gets a game and where.
Cripps is the clearance constant. We actually need to develop a workable structure that can thrive without the skipper as a staple. The last thing we should foster is an ongoing reliance on the Cripps “one wood” in the middle.
Walsh projects as a rising superstar. Just stay fit Sam and the AFL is yours to dominate. Already an established star, he has just touched the surface of his potential output. Everything crossed for a full season.
Cerra remains under rated by many. The embodiment of a complete midfielder possessing well above average disposal efficiency, on both sides of his body. A conservative type, not seduced in to attempting the dazzle dazzle others sometimes indulge themselves with. Love this bloke as our long term anchor. Well able to spend time half back, half forward or wing should the unlikely need arise to change up our midfield mix.
Hewett enjoys the love and respect of both the playing and supporter group. Plays within his limitations and is happy to do the selfless acts to complement his team mates for the greater good. Smart, unobtrusive player who has established himself in our best 22. (Subject to change should his chronic back decide to negatively impact his game time, or as our youngsters develop and we add layers during an inevitable midfield “squeeze”)
Kennedy, (see Hewett). Clearance beast, well capable of winning his own ball, but smart and willing to structure up and block for his mates. Along with Crippa, provides a strong marking presence around the ground which adds significantly to our weapons around the ground. Our brains trust has chosen to disregard his undoubted forward craft and ability to “play tall” in the front half. This year’s additions would appear to have closed the door on his time in the front half. Will be fascinating to see if he can co-exist with our other front line mids now that we have other genuine options developing in front of our eyes.
Docherty, heart and soul who is now more midfielder than defender. His tenure will be fascinating. Has the determination and dedication to play well in to his thirties. Conversely his body has provided challenge after challenge, which he has overcome in a spectacular manner. How long this continues before the dedicated family man focuses on life after footy, only he knows. Ultimate professional, becoming somewhat of a Mr. Fixit who is in some danger of running out of roles to fill as other players develop. Mid, back, wing, even forward is now likely to appear on his CV. Where does he fit in our next flag team?
Elijah Hollands is the hybrid we have craved. A damaging forward in his own right, but projects as midfielder first. May be in for a couple of developmental years as a hybrid switching between roles. Not express, but adds a touch of dash around the ball, and seemingly and importantly shows an inclination to work as hard defensively as in attack. Should prove to be a massive part of our future. How quickly he attains regular midfield time at the top level will be fascinating.
Ollie Hollands is already projecting as an elite winger for the next decade or more. He is however much more. When afforded the opportunity he is a quality inside accumulator and distributor. The club is happy to school him as an inside mid, and he sees himself as one ultimately. Remains to be seen how his career progresses, long term elite winger capable of winning his own ball,, or front line balanced midfielder with both endurance and a bit of dash. Will retire a Carlton “great”.
Cuningham hasn’t had a great run at things, with his body enduring a myriad of issues. He has been forward first for most of his time in the top team, but his skill set is probably midfielder first. A rounded skill set with good evasion combined with sufficient aggression to mix it in the engine room. His skills are of a very high standard. Needs to lift his output consistency to new levels to demand a spot in the side. The footy world is yet to see the best of Cuners, hopefully he can get a good run at things in 2024 to stake a claim. With the list squeeze, another “down” year would make it hard to continue his career at our club.
Fogarty is a dominant VFL midfielder who is undersized at the next level. Lacking elite pace or kicking, Fog makes up in smarts and determination. Adopting the high half forward position to stake a claim at the next level, Fog is a heart and soul tackling machine and quality link player. Falls down with lack of kicking penetration, particularly concerning for goal conversion, which really limits his credentials in that high half forward role as a long term option with other candidates emerging in a likely logjam for the role. Loved his attribute pre his draft to Geelong, but a combination of niggling injury and some limitations will also put him in the crosshairs at season’s end. We can be certain that he will give 100% every time he steps out in the Navy Blue.
Wilson, Billy is a breath of fresh air, and will push for game time relatively early. Much like Binns last season, he will have a log jam in front of him, making that opportunity unlikely in 2024. Has dash, determination and a bit of mongrel to add to some quality skills which will make him a key player as generation next develops behind our current top side. Screamed midfielder to me playing in the rep carnival off half back, and he got his chance late in the season and did not disappoint. Recruited as a midfielder off the back of that and having the luxury of a secondary position giving him an avenue to integrate in to the top team when the time comes.
Binns, Jaxon excelled in his debut season in the VFL. Team if the Year and a well deserved B&F at the lower level says he will grab his chances when opportunity knocks. Some posters identified some improvement opportunity at recent training sessions, and he will have the chance to work through them. Not to be glossed over is his running power, it is no mean feat to compete on level footing with the ultimate running machine Matt Cottrell who himself recently deposed our Ed as the clubs running machine. Surprisingly, ability to maintain repeat efforts during a game has been flagged as an area to work on internally, and will no doubt improve accordingly. There is a distinction between maintaining speed in a competitive race over the capacity for multiple repeat efforts at high intensity in a game situation. Knocks up getting possessions with his gut running already and his disposal seems to be developing greater consistency. His willingness to attempt low percentage passes with mixed success is both a strength and a flaw. There is little doubt Binnsy will graduate to the top level at some stage, although Blacres ansd Dutchy, backed up by Doc and Cotts are going to be hard to get past.
Jack Carroll is somewhat the forgotten midfielder of our group. Showed great glimpses when given a run in the top team a couple of years ago and has had some dominant games in the twos. Another with Jekyll and Hyde disposal with his left leg an inconsistent “weapon”. Has had a series of mid length injuries and some nagging niggles preventing him getting a solid block of games. Shapes like a pivotal season in his career as he enters a contract season. Needs to get on the park consistently to advance his claims for game time at the top level. Needs to smash the door down. Reports to date have him returning in spectacular Knick after the break. Had some articles/media grabs last off season of a boot camp in his native WA and likely more of the same this off season. Turns 21 tomorrow, so still very young and has time to elevate his career. Fingers crossed for a spectacular year at either level, a quality year either sees him get game time in the ones, or become a valuable trade option for the Eagles and Dockers.
Acres deserves a mention here, and is capable of playing an inside role. Hard to see him moving in to the engine room when his greatest asset is his ability to present up and down the ground, creating attacking options and defensive coverage at elite levels. Wing staple for the foreseeable future unless redeployed to allow others to develop.
Williams was recruited as a POD to add zip in the middle, but is an elite half back rebounding distributor, an important role in the modern game. His injuries have all but dictated he plays out his career behind the ball. His presence in the back line takes priority, but we may see the odd cameo in the middle as he reintegrates with the team.
Cottrell is shaping to consolidate the high half forward position as his own. Certainly will have stints on a wing and could present through the middle on occasions, but that extra running power coming out of the forward line to provide an out number will be a staple. He is somewhat under rated as an avenue to goal, having the happy knack of finding space when he drifts forward.
Silvagni is often under rated for his midfield impact. Playing as that second, chop out ruck allows him to play as an extra mid which offers a different dynamic. We should also cast our minds back a couple of years to a certain game where he went head to head with Nat Fyfe at the peak of his powers to great effect. There is no place for JSOS in our slowish front line midfield, but really adds to the set up while offering a contest in the ruck.
C.Durdin, Motlop and particularly Jack Martin all have midfield capability and may have cameos inside despite their greater value forward. Cowan and Kemp both have skill sets which could transmit to midfield appearances over their respective journeys. Moo joked that Greg Williams gave his blessing to transfer to number #2 providing he played midfield. The Kemp debate has been done to death and he looks like settling back, but has excellent spatial awareness and quick hands in close that provide a pre requisite for midfield time should he be required in that part of the ground.
A couple of Camporeale boys next year and Cody Walker in the 2026 draft will keep building options for the foreseeable future. The future is bright.
My gut was telling me he was probably getting tired after playing no senior footy for so long. His productivity seemed to be dropping away across the last few games he played.
Going to be interesting to see if he starts the season in the ones.
He was, but I can't help but wonder whether he does a really good job defensively and that is why he goes quiet. Owies missed that game as well. I can't help but wonder whether the match committee did not value the job those two do defensively. In this era good half backs can take a game away from you. Their half backs destroyed us this game.
Can't help but wonder how much an inexperienced Docherty playing forward and Motlop who isn't the best defensively over these two may have burnt us in this area.
Biggest highlight of watching the extended video is still how far off Akuei is still off from even being considered to ever have a game in the 1's.
Great to see the team looking trim, enthusiastic and serious this time of year too.
Cuners has always struggled to read the unfolding play, hence why he has extended periods where he goes missing, but with ball in hand, he is as dangerous as anyone on our list
Owies and Cuners were dropped for McKay and Martin
BennyGFunk
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List clogger? He's taking a spot that could be someone else more deserving?
Or is he a good long term prospect??
BennyGFunk
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It makes me wonder would Cunners almost be better off as a half back option? He uses the ball well and has good pace so could be a line breaker there.. The problem is we have too many decent backs and Boyd I'd have before him
he's a cat B rookie, so kind of outside the list anyway. He'll want to have a big year to avoid being cut at the end of 2024 though.
I would use him as a run with role through the middle on an opposition accumulator that can take him to the ball when rotating through the middle
I don't think he makes it
Whilst I get the argument that giving him the extra year is a free hit due to his cat B status, I don't like what is he does to our VFL side. We are forced to play him because he's on our list, often in key structural roles due to his size but more often than not he is a liability. Would have been happy to let him go given how low the odds are of him making it. I think he would struggle to make a VFL list on merit.
Nothing against him personally obviously. Seems like a great kid.
Before we consider releasing him, I'd like to see him getting an extended run forward
jezzatigerbrent
Team Captain
Matt Duffy at 194 cm may be the bigger loss unfortunately.... If you go back and look at his highlights he really was the prototype midfielder and at the optimum height together with the Elite athleticism... Every play in the highlights shows his marking prowess , particularly getting to optimum height and extension over the surrounding players and then quickly accelerate a/f Landing with enough balance to move and transition clear onto the next contest... To have this amount of athleticism and balance at a real key position height would have been extremely enticing to our recruiters with the view to the Future development
I wonder who was on McKenna and Coleman. I remember them being fairly busy when the tide was turning for them. Lions finished full of run that night though.
Cuningham doesn't have great footy IQ but it's not terrible, it's more just average. I wonder how much is fitness. Some weeks he may hunt the ball a bit more and other weeks he may find himself lining up against a defender who they have spoken about shutting down in the lead up and he focuses more on that.
Looking at our team, you want your attacking defenders to go to the unfittest forwards. Cuningham coming in after a good few years of no footy you would think gets targeted by the offensive defenders in the side.
Round 24 v Giants he has 24 disposals, next week V suns it's 12. I wonder if it's general inconsistency or it's a changing of role? Is he not fit enough to run both ways (defend a star back and get it himself)?
thylacine60
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He's not dead. Bank these LTIs like future bluechip stock. Williams, Doc, Charlie......they are fresh new players coming onto the list next season.
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JJBagger
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Had Rob Monahan and Lewis Young run past me in our local area today. Monahan is a beast physically. Extremely well built, good height, and looks like he could have an AFL ready body already. If he has the level of skill and endeavour he’s rumoured to have, he could be a real surprise packet for us in the future
Concur, almost seems inevitable he'll be off the list by end of the season bar some huge lightbulb moments. He just does not seem to be able to read the play or ball at ground level well enough, particularly for a defender.
With list spots so tight at the moment, it's hard to see big Dom getting a senior spot unless he starts smashing them out of the park next season.
I wouldn't mind offering him an extra year in the VFL - similar to what we did with Parksy. Another year of development in the system without the pressure of having to play him each week if he's not required.
You would think Tyson Gresham will take Akuei's spot end of next year
I think Gresham is the end of 2025.
You'd imagine that we have Duffy earmarked for the Cat B spot the end of 2024.
If he is worth taking, is unlikely to last through the National draft to be auto listed as a Cat B.
Think it's 2024, but might be wrong
Rules will change by then, will come into line with academy and F/S
but pretty sure I heard son of Curly singing, "pore duf is daid, pore duf fy is daid ... he had a heart of gold and he wasn't very old, oh why did such a feller have to die."
