Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spot..

[3066]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

Please guys. Have you just realised that he was not going to make it as a midfielder..

I agree with this and everyone else that makes the same point. We got him because he was part of the Tarrant trade, has good hands over his head, knows how to kick a goal and at the very least to provide support in the forward line by blocking, misdirection or holding his ground for a handball while being tackled.

Medders in a midfield will never happen and doesn't need to either.

With regards to the time trial though, I also thought like some others he was carrying a niggle of somesort when he came over. (a thigh problem?)

 

[Jabso]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

Setting him the goal of becoming a midfielder can only help Medhurst. We don't know the situation of that trial run why do we have to over analyse and second guess everythin?

 

[MarkT]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca

Then why do it.

I’m not. I am talking about a principle. If it is true then I most certainly want to can him but as I said I don’t know if it is true so I don’t want to can him. Can you separate the principle from the example?

The point I want to make in my last post is that people flock to make excuses for Collingwood players. Frankly there are no acceptable excuses short of the club making a stupid decision to force a time trial on an injured player which I hope they wouldn’t do and doubt they would.

I actually said before Medhurst was even mentioned in the trade deal that I would trade for him – which I think we both agreed on at the time. I don’t have the slightest issue with taking this particular player. In his circumstances thought, if he has run a time trial that badly it is great cause for concern and requires immediate and definitive action. IF IT IS TRUE!

 

[MarkT]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

Setting him the goal of becoming a midfielder can only help Medhurst. We don't know the situation of that trial run why do we have to over analyse and second guess everythin?

OK, on the assumption it is true that he ran second last to Rocca:

If he was injured, bit not to injured to run, then he still ran poorly but if he was not injured it indicates that he does not take footy and training seriously enough. This is a guy that was dumped from his team during the year and jettisoned from the club at the end of it. If that doesn’t make you bust your gut then you are not an AFL footballer.

No ifs, buts or maybes – we do not need lazy half arsed show ponies. Get fit right now and bust your gut or F.off. Either we are fair dinkum or we aren’t. If we are then we have to prove it. Remember we are coming from a base of accepting Tarrant attitude for a long time. There is no point making a stand there and folding immediately after.

Again, just for the record, this is hypothetical because I don’t know how accurate the initial post is.

 

[Ramere]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

OK, on the assumption it is true that he ran second last to Rocca:

If he was injured, bit not to injured to run, then he still ran poorly but if he was not injured it indicates that he does not take footy and training seriously enough. This is a guy that was dumped from his team during the year and jettisoned from the club at the end of it. If that doesn’t make you bust your gut then you are not an AFL footballer.

No ifs, buts or maybes – we do not need lazy half arsed show ponies. Get fit right now and bust your gut or F.off. Either we are fair dinkum or we aren’t. If we are then we have to prove it. Remember we are coming from a base of accepting Tarrant attitude for a long time. There is no point making a stand there and folding immediately after.

Again, just for the record, this is hypothetical because I don’t know how accurate the initial post is.

Gold.... gotta love a hypothetical whinge - love ya work Mr T.

 

[MarkT]

Nothing hypothetical about 7th, 1 flag since 1958 or excusing, much less accepting, failure. The results are there for all the world to see - as Collingwood supporters know all too well. You have faith that magic and wishing will turn it all around though by all means.

 

[Mooney_d'King]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...

Doesn't bode well for his midfield prospects.

I was sceptical when we nabbed him in the Tarrant deal, and still am to some extent. He is a forward, first and foremost, but with Davis, Egan and Didak (when fit) and perhaps even Bucks all vying for selection in attack, it's a hard slog ahead.

Doesn't sound great, does it? Given time, he might turn out alright, but he wasn't trade-bait for nothing - it's always a gamble. As a mid-fielder, I'd say forget about it next season, but given that you lost a key-forward, maybe he'll be best there, which is a decent compromise.

 

[amby_6]

shocked

thats really bad if its true.
i really hope paul does well at collingwood.
youd think he would be putting in 110%...but this is a bad sign.

 

[Jabso]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

Whatever MarkT.

It is just one run. Players have bad days off the field and on it. I'm sure you have bad days at work.

 

[Magik]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

Waaaaayyyy too much time being spent talking about how fast Medhurst ran in a time trial.......

Doesn't make a diff either way. His first football match is 4 months away.

 

[Deledio2Conca]

Re: Medhurst finished second l to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spot

It could be just a Freo thing, as Polak finished last or near last in Richmond's run. He also has been quoted as saying Freo never did a lot of distance running.

 

[daics cousin]

Re: Medhurst if he wants a midfield spot..

Hey,let's give the guy a go.He may only play well in the forward line,but looking at him when he was at freo,he can be a real live wire around the packs,so let's not discount medders,i'm sure he will want to prove himself,and the guy loves the big games.If he can convert and kick goals,who cares how fast he runs.

 

[the hyphen]

Medhurst used to be a good midfielder in his pre-AFL when playing for Claremont. Then the tigers struck a bit of trouble with injury to their full forwards and needed somone to fill in ... Medhurst started kicking about 4 goals a game and the rest was history.

The problem has been that Freo saw him as a forward pocket player and put him on a big weights program. He lost some of his agility and then the confidence plummeted.

Give him time to lose some of his muscle bulk and might well be alright as a midfielder.

More important to his development as a player than his pace is his complete inability to kick off his left foot - have a look closely next year. He would have to be the most one-sided player in the AFL today, I've watched every dockers game he's played in ... and only seen him kick the ball off his left boot twice - always wheels around onto the right.

 

[rgauci]

Re: Medhurst

All this talk about Freo not having a good running program is bollocks. We've go some of the hardest running players in the game.

Bell, Black, Peake, M.Carr, J.Carr, Crowley, Dodd, Johnson, Pavlich, Headland, Schammer. The list goes on.

Anyway Medhurst was never good at the long distance stuff. But he excels in the beep test. He has amazing pace off the mark and is best when doing lead, after lead, after lead. Ie a forward. Any attempt to turn him into a midfielder won't work.

He may be able to pinch hit in the midfield. But they'll have to manage his time spent in there. Because he puts in 110% effort when the ball is in close, he has a habit of not breathing properly. Hence he looks like he's unfit once the ball moves away.

Have no doubt that by round 1 he'll be in your best 22. The guy usually works his ass off during preseason.

 

[Jabso]

Re: Medhurst

I think if Polak and Medhurst both had poor trial results it only really shows that Freo don't do much long distance stuff this early in the season and they were'nt ready for it.

 

[doppleganger]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

why would we want medders in the midfield anyway??

The bloke has kicked 50 goals in a season playing up forward, so stick him in a forward pocket and see if he can recapture that form where he can kick 40+ goals for the year.

If medders can hold down a forward pocket, it means we can give more midfield time to blokes like D.Thomas, Ego, Didak, L.Davis..........the first three especially i would like to see step up as gun midfielders for us

 

[Rohan25]

Ok he came second last...so what? We could assemble the 40 greatest athletes in the world and someone would still have to come second last in a time trial. Not all of them can come in first.

Besides, Andrew Williams always did really well in the pre-season time trials.

 

[MarkT]

Re: Medhurst

I think if Polak and Medhurst both had poor trial results it only really shows that Freo don't do much long distance stuff this early in the season and they were'nt ready for it.

Or it might show why Freo traded them both out. Given rumours about strikes on one front it wouldn’t be a stretch to conclude at least one of them wasn’t at the top end of the training regime.

Ok he came second last...so what? We could assemble the 40 greatest athletes in the world and someone would still have to come second last in a time trial. Not all of them can come in first.

Besides, Andrew Williams always did really well in the pre-season time trials.

True – and the blokes that came last and second last wouldn’t get a gig in any race that mattered. They would, however, continue to perform reasonable well at second rate meets. Therein lies my concern.

As for Williams, he just wasn’t good enough. If you want to use him as comfort then I’ll raise you a Buckley. They are both irrelevant though. Medhurst isn’t either of them.


As far as I know this is all speculations but IF it is true then I damn well hope Medhurst has been read the riot act. I can’t understand what anyone would have any issue with that. Sure as hell the softly softly approach with the likes of Tarrant didn’t work.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca

I'll admit in season 2006 they looked extremely fit, but in previous seasons they have been notorious for getting run down late in the game due to lack of fitness.

Anyway, it was just a theory based on Polak's comments.

We used to get run down late in games because we had the mental strength of private school nancy boys. Whether it was Mark Harvey, Robert Shaw, or the players growing up and getting the message, that's changed.

Over his career, Medhurst is at least as consistent as Tarrant, and about as consistent as most forwards. Especially when you consider the difference between the two midfields. Ours used to have a lot of problems winning the pill. And I think our coach killed off Medhurst. He kept trying to play him as small forward and up the ground. He's not -- he's a tall in a small mans body. He used to take the most phenomenal pack marks in his first two years. Nada in the last two.

If you have the likes of Buckley spotting up Medhurst with lace out delivery, he'll average 2 or 3 a week for you no problems.

 

[prO]

Re: Medhurst finished second last to Rocca in the time trials...good luck if he wants a midfield spo

If the results are accurate and Medhurst in fact did finish second last... Then you would hope and wish as a Magpie Supporter watching from the sidelines......... that Medhurst is getting his arse into gear over the Summer, rectifying his ordinary fitness.