Tiger Training

[WA Tiger]

Yeah how did Rance go please MT, why has no one selected him to play in the NAB Cup??

[mightytiges]

How did Post match up as a forward playing against McGuane?

Points even although some of the balls coming in were hail marys which resulted in packs and defensive spoils by the 3rd man in. Postie still looks like a boy especially in the face so he may initially find his feet more as a tall rebounding backman while he bulks up.

What about Patto? Was he quick enough on the lead to trouble McGuane? Could he be remoulded as a forward?

Patto was playing high around 50m arc so he was pushing up and out to the wing to take a mark. His footpassing is still up and down.

I heard Laidley(sp?) on SEN this morning discussing kick-ins and how Hawthorn was very successful moving the ball out of defense using a different type of setup. He went onto state that North had studied the setup and was exploring its use as part of their game plan. I wonder if what you observed today was the Tigers attempt to emulate the Hawks kick in strategy...
 

We obviously see kick-ins as important too to spend a specific amount of time at training practising it but to me today it looked more like methods we used against Hawthorn's zone which we effectively dismantled in round 20 to win that game. I guess also it allows those acting as the defensive team to practice setting up and maintaining such a cluster. Wallace has publicly said late last year that we will be working on improving the defensive aspects of the team.

Newman is a beautiful kick who can pinpoint players at close range or load up and kick it long past a zone.

Some here who aren't Newy's greatest fan may disagree though

Interesting what you said about kicking to the pockets MT. We seemed woeful at clearing the oppositions defensive 50 at the start of the year but improved near the end. I hope we have learnt and refined our ball movement out of defense because with the new 'rushed behind' rule the pressure will continue to mount on our defenders which may result in more turn-overs in our defensive 50 and we all know what they turn into.

We still went to the pockets today when going deep into the forward line. It's not as though the marking forward ends up on the behind post having to kick bananas but it is getting out to beyond the centre "vee" corridor. We also would bring the ball down one wing and then the final pass inside 50 would go across to the opposite pocket where a forward was calling for it having lead from the goalsquare. If the ball movement was quick enough then this final pass would clear the backmen for a straightforward mark to the forward.

Cotch continues to worry me. Just can't see him returning anytime soon considering the amount of preseason training he has now missed. Round 1 just seems unrealistic to me.

The word today is a round 4 return.

How did Rance look? I'm hoping he gets a chance in the first early in the season. I would love to see him and Post find a spot in the team this year.

Solid again. I noticed today he was instructing the defenders when setting up so maybe another sign he is gaining more confidence. Probably why no one has him in their NAB Cup team because with Kel, Thursty and Lukey there aren't the backline spots open compared to other spots in the side. Maybe with Post training as a forward this week and 8 on the bench a spot may open up for Rance.

Speaking of confidence it was quite noticeable again today that the group as a whole is very vocal now when you think back to only a couple of years back when the criticism was we had an introverted group. A lot of credit goes to Jack. You can't shut him up. Everytime Newy had a kick-in you would hear "Chrisssssss Newmannnnnnn" lol.

[one-eyed]

Pics of yesterday's (Wed) training  .

Thumbnails: - Click to enlarge


Trent Cotchin


A bit of a blurry pic but it's the forwards matching up with the backmen (#37 is Post) // Forward group doing some goalkicking

[one-eyed]

Thumbnails: - Click to enlarge


Hislop, Joel, Newy, Jack and Thursty // Organised chaos during the goalkicking on the run drill


Richo, Lids, Simmo, Moore, Gourdis and JON // More organised chaos (#23 is Cuz)


Defending gold singlet team (backmen and midfield minders) and Attacking whites team (forwards, rucks and ballwinning mids) huddle.

[Stripes]

Thanks for the reply MT and the photos OE.

Wonder what will eventuate if Hughes doesn't step up in the first part of the season regarding our FF position - do you think (judging from what you have seen) they would risk trying a Post, Putt ot Vickery in the position or just resort to Schulz?

Stripes

[Beren]

Yeah how did Rance go please MT, why has no one selected him to play in the NAB Cup??

Terry, Jade and Wyane all said (at Club 80) that he would get his chance in subsequent NAB  games, be they regional or the Cup itself if we win.

[Mr Magic]

Thanks as always for the pics and reports.

Where is Dan Connors at MT? Unfortunate that he's missing the trip to perth.

[mightytiges]

Where is Dan Connors at MT? Unfortunate that he's missing the trip to perth.

I know Connors re-injured his ankle at training a week or so ago but trained the following session two days later. He looked alright in the intraclub. Perhaps precautionary that he's not playing. That's the only thing I can think of  .

[Mr Magic]

Perhaps precautionary that he's not playing.

Probably right. Hopefully he gets another couple of games before the start of the season.

[mightytiges]

Wonder what will eventuate if Hughes doesn't step up in the first part of the season regarding our FF position - do you think (judging from what you have seen) they would risk trying a Post, Putt ot Vickery in the position or just resort to Schulz?

I don't think Sarge would be used as a full-time forward. He hasn't delivered consistently previously as a forward so he's probably not seen as a permanent solution otherwise he would be playing forward to begin with now. Polly would've been next in line but that's obviously not an option now. Patto is being used more as a forward at training but he doesn't have that acceleration on the lead needed to play FF. Someone out of the blue could be Bowden at FF (he's 188cm tall) as a temporary measure trying to buy time while Post, Vickery and Putt develop. It's a big ask to expect 18/19 year olds to carry a lot of the goalkicking on their shoulders.

[Chuck17]

Someone out of the blue could be Bowden at FF (he's 188cm tall) as a temporary measure trying to buy time while Post, Vickery and Putt develop.

This wouldn't be a bad option, you would think Bowden would get the respect of having one of the best defenders on him which would take some heat off our other forwards.  Plus Bowden has the footy smarts to be able to snag a couple of goals every game you would think.

[torch]

brilliant report MT ...

now some of my questions ...  

1) why didn't Ben Cousins train?

my biggest concern is our forward line. i believe that you need a powerful forward line to be a threat in the AFL.

i know that we haven't got a "powerful" forward (reason why Hughes has pressure on him).

though, teams like Adelaide, Sydney (only Barry Hall), North Melbourne, Collingwood and to some degree Western have not got a "powerful forward".

though, they still manage to kick goals and play finals.

i truly believe Richmond's problem is our entry into the forward line.

we seem to not have a structure at all.

those five teams have a structure and any player can kick goals if the team follows the forward line plan.

i really really really believe that Richmond have better players that can kick more goals then any of those teams, but our problem is the entry into the forward line.

if we get that right, you will see players like ...

Nathan Brown kicking 40 + goals

Mitch Morton kicking 40 + goals

Jack Riewoldt playing as a tall foward kicking 40 + goals

Cleve Hughes playing at full foward kicking 40 + goals

and finally, Matthew Richardson kicking 40 + goals when rested on the forward line.

then you can have 20 + goals kicked by players like, Deledio, Tambling, Cousins, Cotchin, etc ...

we really do not need a 80 + goal kicker.

we have the talent to share it and work out plans for ever forward line player kicking 2-3 goals a match with someone kicking the odd 4-5-6 goals.

if you do the math on those totals, Richmond would be one of the most attacking team in the AFL.

and teams have to not only stop one player ... but three or four.

what frastrates me the most, is that our forward line has no room to move.

we are slow kicking it down there.

we are a lot more dangerous having Hughes, Riewoldt, Brown and Morton in the fifty one-on-one then just bombing it down and hoping Cleve or Jack can take a screamer 15 times a match!

the teams that play finals have space in their forward line.

obviously teams "get back", which i know.  

so my question to you MT is ...

2) have you seen any forward entry so fair that you have noticed. who kicked it? and who marked it?

3) when do we find out the "26" players off to Fremantle?

Pre-Season is now over. (i believe)

we are now playing matches even if they are not "the real deal"

MT ...

4) who are your Top 5 '08 - '09 Pre-Season performers? for what reason?

[Chuck17]

what frastrates me the most, is that our forward line has no room to move.

we are slow kicking it down there.

we are a lot more dangerous having Hughes, Riewoldt, Brown and Morton in the fifty one-on-one then just bombing it down and hoping Cleve or Jack can take a screamer 15 times a match!

the teams that play finals have space in their forward line.

But Torch surely you have seen some improvement in that area with the transition from the Bowden "run" out of defence to the more direct fast run of Jordan McMahon.  He was put there to deliver the ball out of defence in an attacking way and that is what he has been doing, of course he is under the gun for being unaccountable and a turnover merchant but to a certain extent that is caused by the attacking defensive role he is given.

[Mr Magic]

I don't think Sarge would be used as a full-time forward. He hasn't delivered consistently previously as a forward so he's probably not seen as a permanent solution otherwise he would be playing forward to begin with

I don't see Jay as a permanent FF either but I do see him switching between HB & HF when matchups require during the game.
Schulz is much fitter than he was 2/3 years ago and he's one of the more physical types we have.
I think he provides much more of a contest on many levels than Hughes.

When not utilised in a defensive role, IMO Sarge still offers us something up front as a marking tall.
He should be used out at CHF in tandem with Riewoldt with Richo drifting forward from a wing.

He is a beautiful kick of the footy and carries the ball as well as anyone in the side on the run, if Jay's progression keeps up, over time he may even fill Richo's current link role on the wing.

[WA Tiger]

Yeah how did Rance go please MT, why has no one selected him to play in the NAB Cup??

Terry, Jade and Wyane all said (at Club 80) that he would get his chance in subsequent NAB  games, be they regional or the Cup itself if we win.

Cheers Beren, geezus torch they are massive questions man, poor MT...