News Andrew Russell to step away at season’s end

[Aphrodite]

Russell to step away at season’s end

Andrew Russell will step away from football at the conclusion of the 2024 AFL season.

www.carltonfc.com.au

THE Carlton Football Club can confirm that after 26 years within the AFL industry, Director of High Performance Andrew Russell will step away from football at the conclusion of the 2024 AFL season.

Following six seasons at the Blues, in which time he led high performance, Russell will conclude his time at the Club, with his current contract set to expire at season’s end.

 

[Bearded Carpenter]

I enjoy the lighter side of life when posting, rarely do I engage in actual meaningful analysis or footy dissection.

This post is my 1 and only time that I will be serious. Perhaps.

Some on this board blame Russell for blokes who’s body’s unfortunately let them down consistently.

I am of the belief he is doing the best he can, do not believe at all that he is incompetent in any way.

Our team looks hot, fresh and bloody strong. We are actually on fire.

Some posters over the last day or so have embraced Russell, I would love to see more of this.

We have recruited blokes cheap who have injury concerns before they joined us, Russell is not part of those decisions.

I trust, believe and support Russell in doing what’s best by the players and the club in assisting us in an achieving the ultimate goal of winning flags.

That being said, I did a little helicopter after we smashed geelong.

 

[TimeFor17]

How do you think he has gone managing Cerra, who has played 6 quarters since the Fremantle game?

I don’t know anyone who has 100% success rate in their profession.

 

[Beyond Blue]

I don’t know anyone who has 100% success rate in their profession.

Of course nobody is perfect but judging by our injury list over his tenure he is struggling to deliver good results despite being one of the best paid in his caper.

The club has even acknowledged that saying the area under his control is being reviewed so clearly it’s an area Sayers and Cook think we are not performing well in.

 

[TimeFor17]

Of course nobody is perfect but judging by our injury list over his tenure he is struggling to deliver good results despite being one of the best paid in his caper.

The club has even acknowledged that saying the area under his control is being reviewed so clearly it’s an area Sayers and Cook think we are not performing well in.

Yeah maybe.
What if we judge him at end of the year..
Maybe he is pushing players to the limits and some have soft tissues along the way. But by finals, they are all at full conditioning and injuries are minimal?

Do we still question him then? If I recall correctly, we went into finals last year getting close to full strength after early injury list that was very high also.

 

[BigFrizz36]

Of course nobody is perfect but judging by our injury list over his tenure he is struggling to deliver good results despite being one of the best paid in his caper.

The club has even acknowledged that saying the area under his control is being reviewed so clearly it’s an area Sayers and Cook think we are not performing well in.

His role is about much more than just who is injured week in week out. One of his main objectives is to ensure that our team has a strong fitness base and can run out games better than our opposition.

Anyone who has watched us hit the switch towards in the last month in last quarters must surely understand that we are primed and ready to go. Same thing happened towards the end of last year.

To me that's far, far more important than worrying about the odd player that we lose along the way to injury.

 

[teddy-hopkins]

There's no point going on about this any more as the club has openly acknowledged the problem. That closes the conversation for me. I'd imagine Russell will be gone at the end of the year win lose or draw but we'll see.

They were never going to sack him mid season but we can't afford another preseason disaster like the last 3 in particular.

 

[CarmenSandiego]

Yeah maybe.
What if we judge him at end of the year..
Maybe he is pushing players to the limits and some have soft tissues along the way. But by finals, they are all at full conditioning and injuries are minimal?

Do we still question him then? If I recall correctly, we went into finals last year getting close to full strength after early injury list that was very high also.

This is my uneducated and just-for-fun guesswork theory. The players were pushed right from the pre-season, basically up until round 0, then tapered off, then ramped it back up again with the plan was to continue right through to early July. By this time the players would be fit, injury free & peaking for late-July-August storming into the finals.

However, injuries got too much & the risk of missing top 4 was no way worth it and they had to pull back early.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/a...ws-story/33d000a1143d21dd36b86b9435cfcbe0?amp

So now, are we peaking too early?

 

[slashin_velvet]

His role is about much more than just who is injured week in week out. One of his main objectives is to ensure that our team has a strong fitness base and can run out games better than our opposition.

Anyone who has watched us hit the switch towards in the last month in last quarters must surely understand that we are primed and ready to go. Same thing happened towards the end of last year.

To me that's far, far more important than worrying about the odd player that we lose along the way to injury.

I agree with this, but only to a point. The strategy backfires if you cant have your best players on the park through injury.

Its certainly an interesting one, where initially the club came out in defence of Russell and said "bad luck" was a culprit. So that would suggest that any swing back the other way must be "good luck".

Alternatively, the more recent reporting was that the HP team was under-resourced, and we added resource to fill what appeared to be a gap - since doing so, we have had improvement.

So either:

• Russell is average, and all the rest is luck
• Russell is decent, but was under-resourced and not a loud enough voice to rectify that
• Russell is no good, and not willing to admit he needed extra support

 

[BlueJet]

Despite the best efforts to do so, there are too many variables in this space to shoehorn it to fit a narrative (either for or against). If we pick up another couple of injuries, his work doesn't instantly become crap, any more than a clean bill of health sees him as the golden boy.
Setting the parameters to suit your perspective only highlights the inherent bias, nothing else, especially in the absence of any meaningful data.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

The bleating is endless when we pick up a few injuries/lose some games, yet there's silence when we have some better luck/form etc.
Obviously we all want the same thing but it's a tough & almost thankless job.

I'd take 500k to 1mn per year for a thankless job. Seems a fine trade off to me

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

Of course nobody is perfect but judging by our injury list over his tenure he is struggling to deliver good results despite being one of the best paid in his caper.

The club has even acknowledged that saying the area under his control is being reviewed so clearly it’s an area Sayers and Cook think we are not performing well in.

That's not true. Results aren't only measured in injury list length. It's recovery times, it's nutrition land mental well-being of players, it's rest and recovery, it's all of the high performance umbrella. Not just injury mitigation.

They admitted they got some workloads wrong this year.

 

[BringFevBack2021]

Despite the best efforts to do so, there are too many variables in this space to shoehorn it to fit a narrative (either for or against). If we pick up another couple of injuries, his work doesn't instantly become crap, any more than a clean bill of health sees him as the golden boy.
Setting the parameters to suit your perspective only highlights the inherent bias, nothing else, especially in the absence of any meaningful data.

You could say this about any job if you’re ignorant enough

I’m just basing my opinion on the opinion of my friend who works in the AFL system in a similar role to AR and he and his colleagues rate him as the best in the business by a long way

 

[BlueJet]

You could say this about any job if you’re ignorant enough

I’m just basing my opinion on the opinion of my friend who works in the AFL system in a similar role to AR and he and his colleagues rate him as the best in the business by a long way

A deliberately all encompassing comment that you've almost aggressively misinterpreted..
Kudos.

Edit: my comment had precisely zero to do with anything you'd stated.

 

[BringFevBack2021]

A deliberately all encompassing comment that you've almost aggressively misinterpreted..
Kudos.

Edit: my comment had precisely zero to do with anything you'd stated.

Pseudo intellectual drivel, I have no further desire to engage with you

 

[BlueJet]

Pseudo intellectual drivel, I have no further desire to engage with you

You replied to me, essentially labelling me ignorant whilst misunderstanding what I'd actually said..
Don't worry, we're good.

 

[Blue1980]

This is a watch this space, but if I criticize Russell when we look stodgy and can’t run out games and getting in game injuries like v Melbourne, I should praise him now.

We have been running out games really well, and the injury list has subsided for the time being.

I do think even earlier in the season when we went the one ruck we were running games out better too (those first 4 games which we won but weren’t playing at our best).

 

[swuzzlebubble]

initially the club came out in defence of Russell and said "bad luck" was a culprit. So that would suggest that any swing back the other way must be "good luck".

Disagree. The people involved are always trying to manage and improve the situation. Sometimes bad luck etc will hinder progress whilst other times their work will come to fruition with minimal setback. They're not just throwing darts at the board and hoping for the best. Of course the absence of bad luck can be considered "good luck" so technically what you say is a factor by definition.

 

[CCurnow3votes]

We should hold any judgement until the end of the season.

HP teams can’t control the tendencies of human bodies, let alone the ramifications of players hurling their body around in our highly combative game.

Other clubs have endured similar spates of injuries - showing it’s not isolated. We’ve been able to bring injured players back this season - mostly with success - Weitering/Walsh, some without Cerra, Marchbank, Cunners, Martin.
Is there a causal link between those players continuously injured - most likely their own physiology.

It looks from the outside we’ve learned to tailor the recovery of players, now evident in the slow & controlled roll-back of players from the injury list.

I hope when back, Cerra & Martin stay back and add their value to our amazing team.

The fact our team is running so well through games is testament to their fitness training & prep - coming off the first season we’ve had to recover from a finals campaign, so a later pre-season start.

I look at Captain Crunch as a beacon for the HP Team’s work - playing game after game & never looking so free.

(Touch wood x 1000)

Our ability to perform through our injuries, gave games to players who have since
Blossomed.

Would Cinc have been given his opportunity if Cerra was fit?

Would Williams have been pushed forward if Martin was fit?

Would Kemp have developed as well with Marchbank fit.

So now we have amazing depth, we are 10/4 with a great chance to finish 2nd & have a big bloody crack at #17.

We should hold any judgement until the end of the season!

 

[Stamos]

Carlton fitness boss reveals training change that helped Patrick Cripps

9

Patrick Cripps

Age

29

Ht

195cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.9

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

16.1

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

5.8

5star

CL

7.4

5star

D

21.0

5star

K

10.1

4star

HB

10.9

5star

M

2.5

3star

T

3.8

4star

CL

6.3

5star

D

12.6

4star

K

4.8

2star

HB

7.8

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.2

5star

CL

1.4

4star

hit new levels of speed and power​

Hun

https://archive.md/QlsWf

 

[Arr0w]

Carlton fitness boss reveals training change that helped Patrick Cripps hit new levels of speed and power​

Hun

https://archive.md/QlsWf

Some very interesting points in that article, especially the quoted Russell comments

 

[Sector 7G]

Carlton fitness boss reveals training change that helped Patrick Cripps hit new levels of speed and power​

Hun

https://archive.md/QlsWf

Would like to see more of the squad working on sprint work in the offseason. Worked a treat for Crippa and H. Lots could benefit from an extra yard or 2 of pace. Generally a list of good endurance runners who could sacrifice a bit in that area for a better top end speed.

 

[Coops93]

Carlton fitness boss reveals training change that helped Patrick Cripps hit new levels of speed and power​

Hun

https://archive.md/QlsWf

There's reading it, then there's seeing it. I don't think we've ever seen Cripps run towards 50 and kick a goal on the run from 51 before. That's Dustin Martin stuff, and as good as he's been in other areas, he's never done that. Adding that to your game at 29 is rare stuff.

 

[slashin_velvet]

Would like to see more of the squad working on sprint work in the offseason. Worked a treat for Crippa and H. Lots could benefit from an extra yard or 2 of pace. Generally a list of good endurance runners who could sacrifice a bit in that area for a better top end speed.

Perhaps - the counter point is the running out a game in the 3rd and 4th quarters has been a hallmark of our success in the recent run of games, so it's about finding the right balance.

 

[YamandU]

Bump

 

[BlueJet]

Bump

Why?