I went down to Gosch's Paddock this morning to watch the boys train. I was impressed with Scott Pendlebury and Brad Di*ck in particular - Pendlebury for how much ground he covered and Di*ck for his foot skills. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me, I will try to answer everyone's questions one by one.
Training today
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Pendlebury with a big engine sounds great. I'd love to see him become one of our main onballers this season.
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Iles runs all day and is built for endurance. I didn't notice him a heck of a lot today, because a few of the boys were numberless and had different numbers on their backs, but he picked up a few kicks and with freedom looked good.
Cook is an opportunist, finds space and moves well. He can also push up the ground and be apart of a midfield rotation.
Stanley is struggling to adapt to the circumstances of which are thrown at him, he doesn't resemble an AFL footballer, nor does he look the part. I think he's making up the numbers at the present time.
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Comrade, I think the workers wanted to know how the guys they mentioned went at training today, not what you think of certain player.
You did go to the training didn't you?
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Swan keeps picking up possessions at ease, which suggests last season wasn't a fluke (by any means), and definitely made the most impact in the scrap match. He's going to be a very important player for Collingwood though the midfield this season.
Rusling lead from the goalsquare for the majority of the scrap match and looked sharp and quick as per usual. No doubt that's the intention Collingwood have planned for Rusling as he progresses further.
Medhurst wasn't in attendance and hasn't been for a while now. I don't have a clue what could be wrong with him.
. Was thinking Medhurst could flourish in a new environment, hope nothing too serious is wrong with him.
well yeahnah, I was the devastatingly-handsome dissshevelled hungover dude next to JA's dad. That was the first training session I've ever seen... my overall impession was that Ego rules the roost.. You though tyou were great?? well just run past and take a freakin handball from EGO!!! (it's not a dirty word,,,,)
Swanny was the other guy who got license as a finisher...the guy you wanna get it to.
And Cooky was the understudy to all this.... 5 minutes worth told completely he was a less skilled version of Didak Actually he ain't fit to clean Dids' shoes right now, but this was roughly the impression he gave. He's a professional 2nd rate hff'er.. but he could kick 6 on a good day. And could turn into a compulsory player.
Certainly a very impressive back-up guy. I thought the same of Tarks seeing him there in front of me. If he's our spare-parts man, then we're doin ok.
Swanny was the other guy who got license as a finisher...the guy you wanna get it to.
And Cooky was the understudy to all this.... 5 minutes worth told completely he was a less skilled version of Didak Actually he ain't fit to clean Dids' shoes right now, but this was roughly the impression he gave. He's a professional 2nd rate hff'er.. but he could kick 6 on a good day. And could turn into a compulsory player.
Certainly a very impressive back-up guy. I thought the same of Tarks seeing him there in front of me. If he's our spare-parts man, then we're doin ok.
I am now devestatingly hungover. In fact, I have lost the will to live. And I have lost all mental capabilities.
By Ego are you torkin bout Egan?
That's exactly the way I described him the other day. His lack of Didakian footskills means that we can't wait as long for him to hit a vein of quality like Daks' last season.
I went down to training on Friday as well for a look and left pretty impressed at the extra bulk Egan has put on and with his overall effort and finishing skills he def looks like he is ready to take the next step but only time will tell, but for me who has been harsh on him at times i was feeling as though i may be eating some humble pie later this year.
Was also pretty impressed after a first look at Nathan Brown, for a guy only drafted a couple of months ago this kid allready has the body of an AFL footballer and looks like he could be anything, i was alos impressed with the development of Marty Clarke i had only seen photos on the net and read reports on here but from what i saw on friday a lot of the Irish wonderboy hype seems warranted, he can sure kick the ball a mile in fact the only thing he seemed to lack was his perception during simulated match practice of exactly where to stand and run to but i am sure that will come.
The Ruz looks good although he was beaten a number of times when he had to contest the ball in the air above his shoulders, looked at times to be pushed of the ball a little to easy but when on a lead was almost unbeatable.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
Was also pretty impressed after a first look at Nathan Brown, for a guy only drafted a couple of months ago this kid allready has the body of an AFL footballer and looks like he could be anything, i was alos impressed with the development of Marty Clarke i had only seen photos on the net and read reports on here but from what i saw on friday a lot of the Irish wonderboy hype seems warranted, he can sure kick the ball a mile in fact the only thing he seemed to lack was his perception during simulated match practice of exactly where to stand and run to but i am sure that will come.
The Ruz looks good although he was beaten a number of times when he had to contest the ball in the air above his shoulders, looked at times to be pushed of the ball a little to easy but when on a lead was almost unbeatable.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
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Mark Williams, and to a lesser extent Matthew Lloyd are good examples of how effective you can be even if your only trick is pretty much leading and marking.
Sure, it would be nice for him to add many more strings to his bow, but as long as he manages to remain both effective and unstoppable on the lead, he can be a good FF for us.
Of course, his ultimate effectiveness will be if he is just the icing for a strong, creative, mobile CHF like Travis Cloke or possibly Ben Reid, and the receiving end of Didak's magical ability. If we need him to carry the forward line like Brendan Fevola does Carlton's, then we're going to be disappointed.
My first impressions of D1ck on friday were pretty good, he definately knows how to find the ball and repeatedly found himself in the rights spot, looks to have exceptional skills and is a very good finisher the only thing he really seems to lack is weight but that will come in time.
Look dont get me wrong i will be more than happy if he can get 90% of his marks on the lead, I just hope we dont resort to playing him to deep out of the square i would prefer to see him leading up from the forward 50 to the wing, playing the role that Tarrant should have been playing especially as he is so mobile and a decent field kick.
On Friday they looked to be moving the ball as quickly as possible into Ruz who would then intern almost imediately try and get the ball to Rocca one out inside 50, which seemed to work well most of the time.
I wouldn't be too worried, i think rusling will mimick the h.f.f. role tarrant played a fair bit.
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I honestly don't think that there is anything remotely similar at all between Rusling and Tarrant.
The long leading game that Tarrant played is NOTHING like Rusling's game - As I said, his game is much more like Mark Williams of Hawthorn. He leads fast, smart and often, which will result in him getting a lot of marks 35-50m from goal, and he is a long straight kick for goal, which will mean a good conversion rate.
He is quick, and he is athletic, but I don't think he is particular agile, which means that the further he is up the ground, the more likely he is to be out of his element. He has a nice solid frame as well, and I could see him packing on another 5-6 kilos to put himself in the 95kg+ range.
We haven't had a full forward that we could reasonably expect to kick 60+ goals since Sav Rocca had his last good season for us - I don't see why we wouldn't try to create one.
And besides, that leading, marking, creative HFF role has already been largely taken over by Alan Didak, who's better at it than Tarrant was. We also have guys like Chris Egan, Travis Cloke, Ben Reid, Ryan Cook, Shannon Cox, Paul Medhurst and even the old hand Nathan Buckley who can potentially play a marking, creative role up around half forward.
On the other hand, we don't really have many who loom as genuine full forward options on the list. I mean, talls like Cloke, Reid or Dawes could potentially be tried there, but they shape up as more likely half forward players.
The long leading game that Tarrant played is NOTHING like Rusling's game - As I said, his game is much more like Mark Williams of Hawthorn. He leads fast, smart and often, which will result in him getting a lot of marks 35-50m from goal, and he is a long straight kick for goal, which will mean a good conversion rate.
He is quick, and he is athletic, but I don't think he is particular agile, which means that the further he is up the ground, the more likely he is to be out of his element. He has a nice solid frame as well, and I could see him packing on another 5-6 kilos to put himself in the 95kg+ range.
We haven't had a full forward that we could reasonably expect to kick 60+ goals since Sav Rocca had his last good season for us - I don't see why we wouldn't try to create one.
And besides, that leading, marking, creative HFF role has already been largely taken over by Alan Didak, who's better at it than Tarrant was. We also have guys like Chris Egan, Travis Cloke, Ben Reid, Ryan Cook, Shannon Cox, Paul Medhurst and even the old hand Nathan Buckley who can potentially play a marking, creative role up around half forward.
On the other hand, we don't really have many who loom as genuine full forward options on the list. I mean, talls like Cloke, Reid or Dawes could potentially be tried there, but they shape up as more likely half forward players.
I think I agree with you - not sure if Rusling does!! He's got Tarrant's role earmarked for himself.
