Great day. The Tiger faithful turned up in large numbers as usual and I noticed a lot of locals wandering through and enjoying the atmosphere. I noticed that some of them went and bought merchandise and seemed excited about partaking
I went with my old man, brother and little fellow and was able to secure the autographs from many of the 'peripheral players' very easily without having to join the massive lines that we would have to gain the autographs from Lids, Cuz and co. Roberts was wandering around so we grabbed his signature immediately. He doesn't look overweight any longer and is as dark as the ace of spades from living in the sun drenched Alice. Seemed a really nice bloke.
Browne, Gourdis, Hislop and Connors were sitting at another table looking a bit lonely so we ran over there early on in the piece. Connors always strikes a tad arrogant and gives the impression that he finds the whole 'giving up my time for the masses' a noticeable chore. The other three were happy to chat to the kids and talk. I wonder if this is really Connors problem - bad attitude which makes him hard to coach. ???
The Craigeburn facility looks like it will be terrific. The main oval was beautiful and the stands will be a great place to sit and watch.
Where the Family Day was situated was a little exposed but there was plenty of room to roam and mingle. The presentation was fairly tame with March letting us know that wins were certainly high on the agenda regardless of the fact we are developing. I read that as - 'be prepared for a year of pain where we will strive to win but in reality will struggle'. Could be just me though
Hardwick is not an inspiring speaker and sold the same 'blueprint'/ 'foundation'/ 'no-short cuts' speech. It is obvious that all admin and coaching staff are unified with their message and approach which is pleasing to see.
Of the players Cuz, Jack, Lids and Martin received huge cheers while Polak played up to the crowd and eclipsed them all. We have some real height in the team now and a hell of a lot of youth. Looking at the squad we are a group of skinny kids! The group are baby faced and the amount of 'P Plates' in the car park is amazing. I think our future will be bright but we just will not be able to compete with most other teams in terms of size and experience - that was very clear.
Once the jumper presentations were over some of the players hanged around to sign autographs including Vickery, Tambling, Roberts, Griffith, Astbury, Nason and so more of the young brigade. I was really impressed by the way Bling hung back long after the other big named players left. He looks to have added size to his frame and looks mature compared to most of the team.
All in all and good day and I was pleased to at least get to see what everyone was talking about regarding the new training facility.
Stripes
