Bigman’s Training Reports

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I guess my question to bigman is whether he thinks Milera/Laird’s form has been good enough to push Cumming up the ground

I doubt very much that training form is going to have much of a say in it. Larid is an absolute lock and I expect that if Milera is fit and has completed all the sessions required of him, that he'll be in the 22 as well.
 
Against suitable oppo, do you thinks it's feasible to only have one KPD and use Worrell as the second?

Absolutely, but at the AFC we need to take into account intangibles like continuity, selection integrity and experience. What if the 2 KPDs both thrive on continuity and huge workload, we're stuck.
 
I doubt very much that training form is going to have much of a say in it. Larid is an absolute lock and I expect that if Milera is fit and has completed all the sessions required of him, that he'll be in the 22 as well.
Dont think Cumming misses either, they haven't brought him in to play 2s
 

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And Bigman - your thoughts on Smith this preseason?

He looked completely devoid of confidence last year and it appeared Father Time finished him.

I'm not answering in terms of this preseason, but pretty sure he was carrying a back injury last season. If that was the case and he's over it, I wouldn't think there's any reason that he couldn't return to something resembling decent form. I don't want to cast aspersions on the bloke, but if it was me and I needed a few games to reach a trigger, I'd probably be putting my hand up saying 'it's a bit sore, but I'm ok' and forcing them to drop me. But I'm a selfish turd, so maybe there's absolutely no chance that Smith would think similarly.
 
I'm not answering in terms of this preseason, but pretty sure he was carrying a back injury last season. If that was the case and he's over it, I wouldn't think there's any reason that he couldn't return to something resembling decent form. I don't want to cast aspersions on the bloke, but if it was me and I needed a few games to reach a trigger, I'd probably be putting my hand up saying 'it's a bit sore, but I'm ok' and forcing them to drop me. But I'm a selfish turd, so maybe there's absolutely no chance that Smith would think similarly.

Yeah - its tough when they are 33+. Was it an injury, was it Father Time catching up.

And I wouldn't blame him for putting his hand up.

The one positive of 2025 is that if he is cooked its not like he is a key part of our team. If he can magically rediscover even 85% of his prime best football - he becomes a nice little bonus to our best 22.
 
Jones was sub in the last round

May have been, but I reckon without Cumming, he's back in the 22. Even though he wasn't going all that well, they played him until injury intervened and then got him back in and then he missed due to personal reasons before returning as sub for final game. Assuming no injuries, I don't think there'd be much disagreement in the below. There's really only a couple of selection arguments;

Sub - Berry, Taylor, Dowling, Murphy, Jones, Nankervis
Keane v Butts
Milera ahead of Nank or Bond

As unlucky as Bond, Taylor & Dowling are, it's really hard to mount an argument that they play ahead of any of the other 22 early in the season. Laird not yet in a contract year, so he might swan around looking for cheap ball and watching opponents run past him. Crouch might get pushed out of the midfield if he misses and it improves in his absence. But other than those 2 and Tex having a rest, there's really isn't anyone in our best 22 that looks like they'll be in any danger this season.

From the below;

Out - Bond, Taylor, Murphy, Berry, Nankervis & Dowling, Borlase
In - Cumming, Peatling, ANB, Milera, Rankine & Rachele, Keane/Butts




1738209724832.png
 
Yeah - its tough when they are 33+. Was it an injury, was it Father Time catching up.

And I wouldn't blame him for putting his hand up.

The one positive of 2025 is that if he is cooked its not like he is a key part of our team. If he can magically rediscover even 85% of his prime best football - he becomes a nice little bonus to our best 22.

It's a little bit funny. If you looked at his stats, notwithstanding his quarter from sub, for a half back/wing type player, ala DMAC, you'd think he'd had a pretty good year for a 32 year old. Just shows how misleading raw stats can be.

1738211080664.png
 
May have been, but I reckon without Cumming, he's back in the 22. Even though he wasn't going all that well, they played him until injury intervened and then got him back in and then he missed due to personal reasons before returning as sub for final game. Assuming no injuries, I don't think there'd be much disagreement in the below. There's really only a couple of selection arguments;

Sub - Berry, Taylor, Dowling, Murphy, Jones, Nankervis
Keane v Butts
Milera ahead of Nank or Bond

As unlucky as Bond, Taylor & Dowling are, it's really hard to mount an argument that they play ahead of any of the other 22 early in the season. Laird not yet in a contract year, so he might swan around looking for cheap ball and watching opponents run past him. Crouch might get pushed out of the midfield if he misses and it improves in his absence. But other than those 2 and Tex having a rest, there's really isn't anyone in our best 22 that looks like they'll be in any danger this season.

From the below;

Out - Bond, Taylor, Murphy, Berry, Nankervis & Dowling, Borlase
In - Cumming, Peatling, ANB, Milera, Rankine & Rachele, Keane/Butts




View attachment 2214686
I dont see Milera playing R1, but he could. The coaches love Nank as much as they do anyone.
 
It's a little bit funny. If you looked at his stats, notwithstanding his quarter from sub, for a half back/wing type player, ala DMAC, you'd think he'd had a pretty good year for a 32 year old. Just shows how misleading raw stats can be.

View attachment 2214698

Yes and No.

His disposal count was the lowest since 2012 (excluding the reduced gametime season of 2020). His Metres gained was the lowest of his career and his DE was the lowest in 4 years. If he look into it the stats show how poorly he was traveling in 2024.

To be honest though - I wasn't as down on him in 2023 as many on here and thought he played some really good footy. Think he would be best 22 again for us if he can reach those 22/23 levels.
 

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Yes and No.

His disposal count was the lowest since 2012 (excluding the reduced gametime season of 2020). His Metres gained was the lowest of his career and his DE was the lowest in 4 years. If he look into it the stats show how poorly he was traveling in 2024.

To be honest though - I wasn't as down on him in 2023 as many on here and thought he played some really good footy. Think he would be best 22 again for us if he can reach those 22/23 levels.

Poor for him, but not for historic acceptable performance from a wing/half back outside player.
 
Really depends how Draper comes along this year. Sounds like R1, the mix will be Dawson/Rankine/Crouch/Soligo/Peatling

I can’t see anyone else jumping him at this stage
He deserves first crack but Taylor, Dowling, Pedlar, Curtin and Draper are waiting. Some of them will place immense pressure for midfield selection throughout the year. Even Bond is possible if we need a "run with" tagger type.
 
Round 1 - I would love to see Soligo, Peatling, Rankine at the first bounce. Dawson starts on the wing and goes straight into the centre once the ball is bounced. Rankine pushes forward.

I absolutely love the idea of either Rankine / Rachele at every single Centre bounce. Get creative with whether they push forward or stay in the middle for a stint. Would give the opposition coaches another thing to worry about.

I can’t see Rachele as a centre man, he has no awareness,yes he may need more time but atm he just takes one to many steps. Even in big man’s latest report he talks about it.


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I doubt very much that training form is going to have much of a say in it. Larid is an absolute lock and I expect that if Milera is fit and has completed all the sessions required of him, that he'll be in the 22 as well.
I think he's missed too much time to go straight into the 23.
Let him force his way in after enough exposed SANFL proof.
 
He deserves first crack but Taylor, Dowling, Pedlar, Curtin and Draper are waiting. Some of them will place immense pressure for midfield selection throughout the year. Even Bond is possible if we need a "run with" tagger type.
Curtin will already be in the team this year probably playing fwd, with stints in the middle

Agree the pressure will be there, I think Draper will be the one on the heels of a Crouch type the most though, as he’s the most natural clearance winner of the depth you mention (not nearly as developed yet but also with more dynamic athletic traits)
 
I can’t see Rachele as a centre man, he has no awareness,yes he may need more time but atm he just takes one to many steps. Even in big man’s latest report he talks about it.


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Disagree.

Thought he looked pretty good when Nicks played him in the guts against the Power, Hawks and Carlton in 2023. Think a Nicks vendetta has stunted him. Replace Nicks and watch Rachele flourish.
 
2 keys, Worrell, Laird, Hinge and Max are locked in. To get Milera in, there's no room for Cumming.
I think we are more short of quality wingers than hbf. Cumming plays wing IMO delivering the ball with speed and accuracy to our dangerous fwd line

Wing - Cumming, ideally Jones, Sholl
HBF - Hinge, Milera, Laird, Nank and youngsters like Ryan/Edwards
 
Vendetta ?? Yeah dont think so, thats amongst the strangest things I've heard here for a while.

I know you aren't the most intelligent poster on here - but I didnt realize you weren't around for 2024?

Nothing to see here:


Then:


The most important part of this article is that Rachele went onto instagram and publicly liked a post suggesting Nicks "hung him out dry".

Nicks trained him as a midfielder all offseason. Told the media team and Rachele his midfield time would increase. Then gave him minimal time in the midfield first 4 rounds. When Rachele complained he gave him zero. Then he dropped him for RD 24 for not upholding team values and being team first. Then 10 weeks later Nicks and his coaching staff come out and say 10 weeks later come finished so high in our B&F because he was such a selfless club man playing the ANB role all year.

Now maybe vendetta was the wrong word. Maybe Nicks is was just gaslighting poor Rachele all year?
 
I know you aren't the most intelligent poster on here - but I didnt realize you weren't around for 2024?

Nothing to see here:


Then:


The most important part of this article is that Rachele went onto instagram and publicly liked a post suggesting Nicks "hung him out dry".

Nicks trained him as a midfielder all offseason. Told the media team and Rachele his midfield time would increase. Then gave him minimal time in the midfield first 4 rounds. When Rachele complained he gave him zero. Then he dropped him for RD 24 for not upholding team values and being team first. Then 10 weeks later Nicks and his coaching staff come out and say 10 weeks later come finished so high in our B&F because he was such a selfless club man playing the ANB role all year.

Now maybe vendetta was the wrong word. Maybe Nicks is was just gaslighting poor Rachele all year?
Nicks has a massive ego and wouldn’t like a younger player expressing that he wasn’t happy
 

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