Hardwick on 3aw @ 6.40pm tonight

[one-eyed]

Snip! This "who quoted who" slanging match is riveting stuff  but just for everyone else's benefit this is what the topic is actually meant to be about:

Summary of Dimma's interview the other night....

* Gerard Healy started by commenting about how quiet we've been as a club over the past month. Dimma agreed saying it probably reflects that we've got a lot more hard work ahead of us to get ourselves up the ladder. It's heads down and backsides up at this stage.

* Great thing about players these days unlike in his and Healy's day is the players come back cherry ripe apart from the odd exception here and there. Our boys came back in good shape and it's just more about just topping them up in certain areas. This allows us to get the balls out sooner and being able to include more running in our drills.

* Boys raised $5000 for charity by singing the national anthem at the Races.

* Dimma believes he is a lot better coach after (another) 12 months. His preparation has improved. All of this preseason was planned and the programs mapped out before they went on their offseason break. One thing he has learnt is you can never be too well prepared.

* Players are so professional now they take reasonable care of themselves. Dimma made the point to players to invest in themselves. On your break go away and find the best people to help you improve say your speed, agility, strength, etc... Use the camp facility in Arizona which we'll be using going forward to your advantage.

* Preseason gets harder for the older players. Newy's program is tapered for instance as the longer we have Newy around playing the better our team will be. We have the 2nd youngest list so it's not a major issue for us at this stage but Geelong for instance managed their list by rotating their players and no doubt other clubs will in time follow a similar policy.

* Not too sure or concerned when his contract renewal will be done. He mainly wants to see us trending upwards first. Still along way from those top 4 sides. We got within 20 points against Carlton in the first game but then lost by 100 in the other. Need to find that consistency and fortitude to be able to challenge those top 4-5 sides. It's something we want to work on and to rectify in 2012.

[WA Tiger]

" Gerard Healy started by commenting about how quiet we've been as a club over the past month. Dimma agreed saying it probably reflects that we've got a lot more hard work ahead of us to get ourselves up the ladder. It's heads down and backsides up at this stage"

Now does this actually mean that he wants to move up the ladder into the 8 or just develop?????

I would think he is aiming for the 8 as well!!!!!!!!! "More hard work" "heads down and backsides up"..........No excuses, good on you Hardwick.

[Coach]

 

[Danog]

Could you at least wait until the next time he stuffs up?

Edwards is excused. He is rightly a Dimma favourite.

Whats wrong with him MM, leave him alone, he is one of the best we have, he will develop and improve soon and get some game time into him, this bloke is part of our future. He is the next club champion.

Didn't last long.

[mightytiges]

* Preseason gets harder for the older players. Newy's program is tapered for instance as the longer we have Newy around playing the better our team will be. We have the 2nd youngest list so it's not a major issue for us at this stage but Geelong for instance managed their list by rotating their players and no doubt other clubs will in time follow a similar policy.

With the draw going back to just one bye midseason all clubs will need to rotate players through their list so they don't get overloaded and breakdown irrespecitve of age. I could see mid-ladder sides resting their stars against a top side (say Geelong in Geelong) to keep them fresh for the more winnable games. 

* Not too sure or concerned when his contract renewal will be done. He mainly wants to see us trending upwards first. Still along way from those top 4 sides. We got within 20 points against Carlton in the first game but then lost by 100 in the other. Need to find that consistency and fortitude to be able to challenge those top 4-5 sides. It's something we want to work on and to rectify in 2012.

I'm pleased Dimma has made this a focus. The name of the game is winning premierships and everything we do should be about building towards one. Making finals is irrelevant if you end up just making up the numbers year after year like the Doggies for instance b/w 2006-10.

[Mr Magic]

Nope.  Had major shoulder surgery at the end of 2010 and spent almost all of the pre-season in a red vest for no contact.  Had minimal running as well apparently as he wasn't to do any pounding work.

But hey don't let facts get in the way of a vendetta.

Excellent post.
The club is well aware of where Edwards was at in his preparation for 2011 and it's no coincidence he improved as the year went on.