So tell me.
How much better is the tactical side and overall quality of training under George Hamilton as opposed to Dummy Frawley?
Everyone knows it starts at training,which is why we did nothing,actually deteriorated inder spuds guidance.
The training ive seen under George seems to be of the professional level one would expect from an afl side.
Not sure if I can be of any help here fOx. I’ll leave the tactical side to someone else, but as far as quality of training goes, the difference seems light years apart.
The energy amongst the players and enjoyment shown by them is completely different and so much better. You almost get the feeling the players are totally confident in the coaches around them and respectful of them.
Obviously I can only comment on what I have seen and one training session I remember, under DF, was in early 2001. At the time, I thought it was one of the best training sessions (or part of) that I’d seen. The ball movement by nearly all players was the best I could remember and the energy of that session was pretty high. This will sound weird, but it was the only time I ever felt like barracking at training.
Despite all that, I left the session feeling a bit flat and with this nagging feeling. It was nothing to do with training itself, but what had been said afterwards when the players were called into the middle of the ground. Not sure how to explain what took place after that session, but all of a sudden the body language and manner of players changed from one of confidence to what seemed like bravado.
I don’t know what was said, or who said it, but the difference directly after the players were called in was like someone flicked the switch off. Part of the speech may have had to do with Krak’s first game, but as for the rest, who knows.
I remember that moment like it was yesterday and it nagged me going into our next game, which happened to be, Round 7 against Essendon.
I remember Joel Bowden, prior to that game, coming out onto the MCG, as he usually did before matches. Maybe it was just me, but as he went out onto the ground and then headed back into the change rooms, I thought there was no way he could play a competitive game of footy with that sort of body language and I just hoped one of the coaching staff would notice and snap him back into reality.
Anyway, for anyone who needs reminding, we got smashed, with the game effectively over after the first 15 minutes. It was just luck, or whatever you want to call it, that we weren’t even further behind at quarter time.
After that game, I don’t think I ever had the same confidence in the coaching staff, even though we made the finals that year.
In the latter stages of DF’s tenure, training was often flat and uninspiring. Of the sessions I saw, some of the drills were often over before they even started and there seemed to be a lack of variety, energy and imagination in the form of training, particularly in the last couple of years.
I sometimes wondered why the players worked and trained as hard as they did yet there was so little reward, in terms of wins. It wasn’t as if most of them weren’t putting in and not trying, they just couldn’t get the results, despite their efforts. And you just wished someone would give them some real direction and guidance.
One of the things I noticed with DF was that his level of intensity depended on whether we won or lost. You could tell in his manner and mood in the press/media during the week that when we won he was more relaxed and didn’t seem as focused. However, when we lost, he lifted the intensity and seemed to regain his focus. There must have been some flow on effect to the players, which you could sometimes detect in the way we started some games.
Back to now. There seems a real difference and a sense of purpose in what the players are doing and a reason for each drill and each session. Things seem consistent and there don’t appear to be signs of slackening off at any stage, win or lose.
Who knows how things will turn out from here, but at least you can have a lot more confidence to think that things are a million miles from how they used to be. Under DF, you were always waiting and hoping to see signs of improvement in the coaching staff, so that you could then see some signs of improvement in the players, which never really happened.
Another good sign now is that, in the past you felt there were various divisions or cliques within the playing group, which is an area that now seems to be gradually improving and that in itself is a big step in the right direction and shows we have some people who know and understand how to create a united environment and what it takes to build a winning team.
Most areas of concern, from past years, seem to have been addressed. Things like overall skill level will need more time to improve, but are being addressed. Another area that will take time is the confidence levels and self-belief of players.
