TeeKray
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- #201
At his presser Hinkley was asked about our low skill levels. He smiled and said there is no fairy dust that we can sprinkle and fix it. He also admitted that the Coaching staff know there is a skills problem and they practice consistently. He also tried to diffuse the criticism by saying that all clubs have the skills problem.
The fact that the Coach was trying to make light of our now widely recognised low skill levels is pretty poor because it is a serious problem and no laughing matter. The fact that the Coach admits that there is a problem and that the players work on it at every practice session, while commendable, indicates that what they are doing is not working.
The fact that members of the media focused on two areas, our low skills and our lack of ruck support for Paddy Ryder, indicates that it is not just a few of us on this site having a grizzle. These are now widely identified issues and they have to be addressed with more than a smirk and a reference to 'fairy dust'. Ken Hinkley gets paid several Ks per year to improve our performance and from where I sit he is not doing it.
Personally I think our problems are pretty unique and relate to us alone but if several other clubs have skill related issues maybe Ken needs to look at what they are doing to overcome their problems and copy it ?
Unfortunately AFL clubs are not good at developing kicking skills. The players spend too long doing things other than training skills - team meetings, strength and conditioning, days off, etc. And if they spend too long on the track kicking footballs, the sports science gurus will end up in a frenzy worrying about overuse injuries and the like.
The upshot of all of this is that unless you come into the system as a naturally gifted kick of the football, you're unlikely to ever master the skill.