2025 Pre-Season chat

[Pure_Ownage]

Not particularly but I was very focussed on lots of players. I noticed Ted more but I tend to with him anyway! He switched to blue team in second period and did some nice things.

Clark seemed mostly of half back of the orange team but also jumped in the middle from time to time. Noticed a couple of things at the end

Nothing bad from either of them but didn’t stand out relative to atkins smith Holmes and knevitte and bruhn.

Clark off half back is interesting. Was he taking any kick ins or was it mainly half back distribution work?

Sounds like knevitt was the standout of the younger guys but Clark and ted were still good.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

So first match sim done. 30 minutes. Will do my best but found it hard as so much to watch!

Firstly about 8 players not running around. Mannagh (foot) Toby, Martin (hammy) Reece (shoulder) new Irish boy, Jack Henry, Kolo and Tyson (away). So a few vfl top ups.

it wasn’t strictly a vs b team so actually much more interesting. At one end had afl first team forwards vs afl first team back.

At the other mostly b team with notably MOC Guthrie and Duncan at that end.

Middle was interesting. Blue team ruck was Edwards (more on him later). Pike and SDK sharing duties for Orange (SDK has yellow hat on meaning not full contact).

Knevitte smith and atkins did most of starting for blue team with dempsey and max on wing. But max and smith rotated a lot (which was exciting!). Danger played forward the whole qtr.

Bruhn and Clark in orange team with Bowes and chloshey in middle.

Blue team dominated the middle as you would expect. Edwards seriously is exciting. No doubt Blitz replacement over time. The way he moves.

Smith exciting. Tackles and moves. And with him swapping with Max you didn’t miss a beat. I can see that happening all year.

Mitch Knevitte good out of the middle. He brings something different. Couple of good grabs and hard at it. I can see him breaking out.

AFL backline was on top. Danger did very little and Jeremy a cameo. Scratcher unsighted. Ollie Henry made an impact. But best forward was the wingman! Dempsey was very clever and would have had 5-6 score involvements including 3 himself.

Will do more later as second session just started (with a Jezza poster and then a dempsey steal to other Ollie for a goal)

Bowes playing mid. First for Orange and now blue. Most mids are then rotating either to wing or off for a break (getting warm now)

Henry playing deep. Danger just in front of him. Jezza half forward (but scratcher is on bench and I think he was deep when on).

Haven’t seen much of Clark but it is hard to watch everything. Tanner going ok. In fact Tanner and knevitte have dominated this period for the Orange.

Clark playing off half back and then half forward in Orange.

Guthrie done some nice things but still work to get back to best I reckon

By the way osh coming out of backline with huge run to miers to Henry in goal square. Nice

Hopefully the mannagh issue is minor because it's a big year for him. A few questions/comments from me.

I know you cant read much into A vs B matchups as they were mixing up guys to fill teams (given 8 outs) but it's interesting that you say MOC Guthrie and Duncan played in the B team. Maybe we will see a changing of the guard with guys like Knevitt in the A team.

Speaking of knevitt did he play mainly inside mid (as it sounds like holmes and dempsey were the wingers) or was he on a flank again? I'd like to see him settled in a role I think because hes versatile he's thrown around too much.

Danger fwd was probably load management but again we might see this more this year. Do you think Neale was quiet because the delivery was poor or was he ordinary? We need a lot from him this year otherwise we will be looking to our 4 small forwards for score a lot.Were they playing ollie (henry) at FF or on a flank? (that might be a clue for the year)

When you say out of backline was mullin taking the kick ins or was guthrie doing it and mullin and clark were just the back flankers?
Also would you say Pike kept up with Edwards running wise or did he blow up (for tank)

Also completely unrelated to best 22 (because he wont play afl this year) but did you notice Ivisic and any feedback?

 

[catswhiskers]

Quick question. Was/is training inside the stadium or at Deakin?

And thanks for the report.

Cheers

 

[CHAWKTS]

Hopefully the mannagh issue is minor because it's a big year for him. A few questions/comments from me.

I know you cant read much into A vs B matchups as they were mixing up guys to fill teams (given 8 outs) but it's interesting that you say MOC Guthrie and Duncan played in the B team. Maybe we will see a changing of the guard with guys like Knevitt in the A team.

Speaking of knevitt did he play mainly inside mid (as it sounds like holmes and dempsey were the wingers) or was he on a flank again? I'd like to see him settled in a role I think because hes versatile he's thrown around too much.

Danger fwd was probably load management but again we might see this more this year. Do you think Neale was quiet because the delivery was poor or was he ordinary? We need a lot from him this year otherwise we will be looking to our 4 small forwards for score a lot.Were they playing ollie (henry) at FF or on a flank? (that might be a clue for the year)

When you say out of backline was mullin taking the kick ins or was guthrie doing it and mullin and clark were just the back flankers?
Also would you say Pike kept up with Edwards running wise or did he blow up (for tank)

Also completely unrelated to best 22 (because he wont play afl this year) but did you notice Ivisic and any feedback?

Will try and answer best I remember…

Sometimes they play on the “B team” when they are coming back from a lay off - seems to be the way so that might explain MOC and Guthrie. But I do think all three of those might end up being depth players (assume Duncan will get to 300 and they will give the other two a chance to impress at some stage). Guth was mostly off half back. With 1 or 2 CB. He actually looked ok so could easily build over next few weeks. MOC played off half back and wing. Duncan looked off the pace but it is harder in the orange team

On Mitch I have to watch my updates as I am biased…I just think he offers something different with his size. But he was good today. He switched to the orange team for second period and along with Tanner (coming back from rehab) they actually had a period of domination…. He was pure inside mid today rotating off bench (remember Danger played forward the whole time so there was an extra MF spot as it were - and of course two teams)

Danger is interesting…I think they want to play him forward as one on one he is great and as you say helps manage the load. But he does not do the forward structure well at all. That more than anything I think put Shannon off. I think Shannon will have ups and downs this year but trend line is good. Henry will go to another level. He played deep a lot today although I must admit I didn’t focus much on where he started. But he took some very nice grabs.

Didn’t notice the kick ins sorry…Mullin was driving off half back and also a little bit off the wing. His pace catches the eye as does his (and Smith) tackling.

I like Pike..he shared first session with SDK in orange team and second session with Edwards. Both Mitch and SDK wore yellow hats (ie. don’t go too hard) so the hard to read much into ruck contests. Pike certainly kept up in the contests. But Mitch was great in first session and SDK in the second - around the ground. I think Edwards will end up a utility like Blitz - he is very exciting.

I didnt really focus too much on the first years. 2, 20 and 23 caught my eye in first session (remember that session they were playing against “non first team defence) - all athletic and strong.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Clark off half back is interesting. Was he taking any kick ins or was it mainly half back distribution work?

Sounds like knevitt was the standout of the younger guys but Clark and ted were still good.

Can’t remember about kick ins…but he is just a tough nut in the backline which was good to see.

Your last sentence is good summary

 

[CHAWKTS]

Quick question. Was/is training inside the stadium or at Deakin?

And thanks for the report.

Cheers

GMHBA

 

[cats_09]

Since his name has been mentioned in here a few times

 

[iameviljez]

Have to admit, with Cam Guthrie now unlikely to play Round 1, with ten games in the last two years, turning 33 this year... I fear that it's now a genuine chance that he has played his last game of AFL footy.

 

[Cataholic]

Have to admit, with Cam Guthrie now unlikely to play Round 1, with ten games in the last two years, turning 33 this year... I fear that it's now a genuine chance that he has played his last game of AFL footy.

Its been my belief that anything we get from him this year will be a bonus, but I have no expectations.

 

[ShadowCat]

Have to admit, with Cam Guthrie now unlikely to play Round 1, with ten games in the last two years, turning 33 this year... I fear that it's now a genuine chance that he has played his last game of AFL footy.

Where has it been said he's unlikely to play Round 1?

 

[iameviljez]

Where has it been said he's unlikely to play Round 1?

The Age carried it today.

 

[ShadowCat]

The Age carried it today.

Really? I've searched and can't find a thing. You got the article?

Nevermind, found it buried in the injury update for all clubs.

Doesn't sound definitive, IMO. I'm still hopefully he'll be play a pre-season game - at least for some minutes. Could take a few round before we're comfortable with him playing full game though.

There's definitely been no setbacks or other injuries though. Just slow rehab, easing him in.

 

[iameviljez]

Doesn't sound definitive, IMO. I'm still hopefully he'll be play a pre-season game - at least for some minutes. Could take a few round before we're comfortable with him playing full game though

Given how long it has dragged on for the last two years, I'd take "not definitive" as "definitively not", to be honest.

 

[#6 Thorp #7 Selwood LOL]

Martin (hammy)

Appreciate the match sim reports CHAWKTS, doing the lords work as usual.

Re: Martin Hammy - new injury or management of existing?

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Since his name has been mentioned in here a few times

Femur! That's nasty

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Have to admit, with Cam Guthrie now unlikely to play Round 1, with ten games in the last two years, turning 33 this year... I fear that it's now a genuine chance that he has played his last game of AFL footy.

I expect he'll play a couple of games but he'll be rusty and won't be able to string enough games together to hit form good enough to hold his spot.

 

[ShadowCat]

Given how long it has dragged on for the last two years, I'd take "not definitive" as "definitively not", to be honest.

Mmmm, we're conservative to the point of annoyance, so to be honest, if I don't hear about any setbacks/any new injuries - that's good enough for me.

He'll be nice to have, but he's not the core piece of our midfield anymore - so it'll just be more of a bonus than anything.

 

[dangerwood]

Since his name has been mentioned in here a few times

Always knew we shouldn't of drafted him.

 

[cats_09]

Femur! That's nasty

7AFL reporting likely to be 3+ months on the sidelines

 

[Stokey]

For me I post about it because I don't want to be someone who says it after the event. At the time I said we should take Phillipou and lots of people got annoyed for stating it. If you question Clark, people get annoyed as well. They are both still young and at this stage it isn't proven that Phillipou will be better but it's my prediction.

I don't want to be the type of poster that if Clark doesn't make it and Phillipou does, that then says "I always questioned that decision" for the first time. I'm saying it now before it occurs.

If Phillipou does make it and Clark doesn't, I won't post about it or gloat, I'll stay quiet. On the flip side if I'm wrong, I'll own it and say I got it wrong and make my way to the "I got it wrong thread".

We are hear to share opinions and I'm sharing mine and try to do it in a fair way. What you don't see often though is the people that defend players ie all those saying Clark will make it, making their way to the I was wrong thread if he doesn't. Lots argued with me about Cooper Stephens, and I've never seen anyone admit they got that wrong.

I'm in no way writing off Clark but it's the first time I think external noise pushed us to a pick. 'The Next Selwood', 'A Falcon'.

But then you look at Phillpou and probably Ginbey. Poo came offas having an bit of a FIGJAM attitude and Ginbey has been arrested for urinating in the street. Maybe character played a bigger.

After the discussin of the last few would you pick Philipou if he was the better plaher but not a good team fit?.

 

[My Tilly]

I'm in no way writing off Clark but it's the first time I think external noise pushed us to a pick. 'The Next Selwood', 'A Falcon'.

But then you look at Phillpou and probably Ginbey. Poo came offas having an bit of a FIGJAM attitude and Ginbey has been arrested for urinating in the street. Maybe character played a bigger.

After the discussin of the last few would you pick Philipou if he was the better plaher but not a good team fit?.

Far too soon to be calling it though.
Clark will have another two years to make his way. If he hasn't cemented a spot by then, probably fair to say he's a bust.

Phillipou looks a beauty on limited exposed form.
I see he's just busted his shoulder and will miss the next 3-4 months so if ever there was a time for Clark to catch up and bridge the gap, it's right now.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Appreciate the match sim reports CHAWKTS, doing the lords work as usual.

Re: Martin Hammy - new injury or management of existing?

I am guessing a bit but I think it is just genuine caution. “Awareness”.

There is a great excitement in the club about what he can add so they are working hard to make sure he gets his body right.

 

[MacStradbroke]

Far too soon to be calling it though.
Clark will have another two years to make his way. If he hasn't cemented a spot by then, probably fair to say he's a bust.

Phillipou looks a beauty on limited exposed form.
I see he's just busted his shoulder and will miss the next 3-4 months so if ever there was a time for Clark to catch up and bridge the gap, it's right now.

Stress fracture in femur (thigh), almost hard to believe one could do that. Never heard of it before.

 

[cats_09]

Stress fracture in femur (thigh), almost hard to believe one could do that. Never heard of it before.

I think I can recall once hearing of someone who broke their femur - it just seems unheard of and can imagine it'll be a cautious return

 

[MacStradbroke]

I think I can recall once hearing of someone who broke their femur - it just seems unheard of and can imagine it'll be a cautious return

Can’t be good