Big Bad Barry gets an Extreme Makeover
I have to chuckle when I read this. Who would have thought that Big Bad Barry Hall would be a candidate for an extreme makeover. He is not going to be revealed to his teammates as a newer sexier, better looking Bazza, but apparently he will be quicker, more mobile, and fitter. That is according to the Swan Medico’s. First of all he had his eyes fixed (depth Judgment), maybe he can mark the ball this year rather than have it hit him in the face. He had nose surgery to clear his sinuses which will improve his aerobic capacity, and of course his groins got a touch up as well.
Hall did struggle last year and it seems that he had everything wrong with him, couldn’t breath, couldn’t see and couldn’t change direction. What the hell was he doing playing? I thought he had more trouble coping with the Hands in the Back Rule. Despite having his makeover Hall needs to change the way he plays I reckon, he was found out on numerous occasions last year with the new rule. It will be hard to do, he has played that way for so many years where he works his man under the ball and then holds his ground with his big body and then with a subtle touch with his hands takes the mark. Last year, he played 20 of 23 matches, kicked 44 goals and had 238 disposals and 133 marks.
Seriously though not many people would have realised the issues Hall had last year and were very quick to jump on his back. Let’s hope he can have a good year. He is a great player to watch when playing good footy.
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The Bombers Intra Club Clash
Well I ventured out to Casey Fields in Melbourne’s South East on Saturday eventing to have a look at the Bombers intra club game. I think the idea was to test the younger players against the more experienced because the teams were that lop sided it wasn’t funny. At quarter time the black side was up by 10 goals. There were surprisingly quite a few people at the game. There is not a lot of AFL action down that way so I guess it is a good opportunity to get a close look.
Bomber fans would have been impressed with the performance of Ricky Dyson. He is a player that needs to step up for the Bombers in 2008 and it
looks as if he has had a great pre season and looks in great shape. He has put on a few kilos and his fitness was outstanding. He had leather poisoning by the end of the game. Brett Stanton in his first outing in the Number 5 gurnsey also looked like he had bulked up quite a bit and was rotated through the midfield and looked ultra fit. The standout for me was the performance of young Courtenay Dempsey, he played mainly in defense and the rebound he gave from the back half has great. He has blistering speed for a tall and once his lanky body develops he will be certainly a player of the future. Watch out for him this year, he reminds me a bit of Patrick Ryder but with a bit more flair.
The two speedsters, Alwyn Davey and Leroy Jetta showed glimpses of their dashing speed and evasive skills with a few tricks and they will certainly be in or big years and will be very dangerous in front of goal. Adam McPhee spent a lot of time up forward and looks as if me may spend a bit more time there (he looks in great shape). Courtney Johns also looks fit and raring to go and lead strongly and took a few good grabs up forward.
All in all it seemed to be a good hot out although I don’t think the coaching staff would not have been that happy with the skill level of the game with numerous skill errors and missed shots at goal. It was their first hit out though. There is a lot to look forward to for Bomber fans and don’t be surprised if they get on top of a few sides this year.
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Enough About the Interchange Rule Mick
As much as I disagree with what the AFL have done with their decision about the interchange rule for this years NAB Cup, Mick Malthouse just needs to let it go now! He has had added his 2 bobs worth in and mentioned just once or twice what he thinks but enough is enough.
In his latest outburst against the rule he mentioned AGAIN that he couldn’t play players who he would have liked because he couldn’t control their game time forcing him to play players he would other wise had not and also that the fact that if a player goes off with the blood rule that is counted in the total for that quarter.
“I’m waiting for the day that the two sides in the grand final are dead-set locked together and someone goes off with the blood rule at the 23-minute mark of the last quarter and someone has a shot from the goalsquare and wins $350,000 and the other side gets $160,000.
“We’ll see what sort of squawk there’s going to be then.”
I think we all know your stance on the issue Mick lets just get on with playing some football.
On the playing side of things the Magpies got a right old belting on Saturday Night in Dubai by a ready to play Adelaide Crows outfit. The Crows just seemed a bit more advanced in their pre season preparations than the Pies something that I am sure the Crows fans will be happy about it. I really don’t think it is something that the Magpies will be too concerned about given that they were at the end of a 3 week stint of altitude training and are more focused on Round 1.
The Crows looked impressive though and coach Neil Craig looks as though he has changed his game plan into a more free flowing attacking style of play, which was very good to watch. The area that everyone, including myself thought they would struggle in was the Ruck but the 2 youngsters in Kurt Tippet and Ivan Maric were quite impressive. And it looks like they have unearthed a quality forward in James Sellar who led and moved ery well down forward. Skipper Simon Goodwin also looked at home in the forward 50 as well. It will be interesting to see if the Crows youngsters can sustain that standard for 22 rounds of the AFL Season. The signs are good though.
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Here you are Dave here is one blogger in the blogosphere that is talking about Aussie Rules Footy.
Improve Your Football Performance With These Simple Tips - Part 1
As AFL clubs ramp up training for the coming season, local clubs are now well an truly underway with their pre-season programs too.
For many players that will involve simply running a couple of times a week, which experts say puts them in danger of serious injury. That being said I have teamed up with Mark Simpson from Pace Health Management to give all the Australian Rules Footballers out there an insight into what you can do to improve your footballing performance and get the most out of the Pre Season.
The first part of the series will concentrate on Nutrition For Peak Performance and what you should be eating and drinking during
the week while undertaking your gruelling pre season programs. When it comes to most local football teams, nutrition is probably the last thing that enters the minds of the players and coaching staff.
Let me tell you if you take this information on board you will go along way to improving your own performance and in turn the performance of the team.
Your performance can be enhanced considerably if you follow a few SIMPLE guidelines. Read more
Would You Pay $395 for These?
Not being a huge personalized number plate fan I just can not fatham forking out $395 for a set of number plates! Being a Bombers supporter not even “Hirdy 5″ would lure me into spending that amount of money on a set of number plates. But that is what the parents of a passionate Carlton supporter have done, they have paid $395 for the number plates that read “Juddy 5″. And I guess they will be the envy of all the passionate Carlton Fans out there.
She is certainly a dedicated Blues fan I will give her that, having not missed a game in Melbourne since she was a 5 years old, given that she is now 25, I reckon they are the best gift she has ever had.
Speaking of Chris Judd he must have the most talked about groins in AFL / VFL History, there is not a press conference at Carlton that goes by without there being a question about Chris Judd’s groins. How are they going? When will they be ready?. There have been quite a few rumours floating around that he is still 6-8 weeks off but the Blues are adamant that he will be right come Round 1 against Richmond. As Blues coach Brett Ratten says “He’s in a program that’s trying to get him to round one right on time and he is right on track for us so there are no hiccups.”
Let’s hope that “Program” gets him up for Round 1……
Spirited Intra Club Game at Whitten Oval
Just a quick one to keep you all updated on some intra club games that have been played over the last couple of days. The Hawks headed down to Aurora Stadium in Launceston. There were certainly a couple of interesting match ups during the game with tagger Brad Sewell giving new skipper Sam Mitchell hell and also Grant Birchill lining up on veteran Shane Crawford. But the biggest task of the day was given to Hugh Sandilands who was given the imposing task of nullifying gun forward Lance Franklin. Now from all reports he did OK keeping Franklin quiet early before he broke loose late to finish with three goals. But the standout was Tim Boyle, he kicked 5 goals all in the first half. Maybe the Hawks have been reading how their forward line is the least effective in the AFL. The boys over at DT Talk were at the game and have a great review of the game.
Western Bulldogs
Over at the Whitten Oval the Bulldogs were put through their paces in the pouring rain. Now intra club matches tend to be a glorified training session but there was a bit of intensity from a few of the Doggies with Brad Johnson and Nathan Eagleton involved in a wrestling match behind the play at one stage. New recruit Ben Hudson played the first half in the ruck and starred, while Ryan Griffen and Daniel Cross look set for big years as they return from injury.
The standout and clearly best on ground was Jason Akermanis, he played both up forward and in the middle of the ground. Other notable mentions went to Guy O’Keefe who impressed with his ability to win the ball, Jarrad Grant and Andrejs Everitt had an entertaining battle, with Grant narrowly taking the points for his intensity and presence around the contests.
As I mentioned in a previous post I am going to head out and have a look at the Bombers intra club game on the weekend and will report back with all the news.
Start the Season Pleaaaaase !!!
It just seems to never end. The Pre Season this year seems to be dragging on and on and the comments from the clubs and players keep coming. Everyone is potentially going to make the 8, all the players are completing their best pre seasons ever, the first year draftees are settling in well and have overcome the intimidation factor of training with their childhood hero’s. I guess they have to get on the front foot to please their members and try and gain new ones but does anyone actually take what they say as gospel?
I mean I was reading the other day that one of my Most Irratating Players Warren Treadrea has been “Reborn”.
“I’ve been able to do the majority of the fitness base and I think I’ve missed one skills session. It’s just been a positive to be out there.”
Good on ya Treaders.
It all gets a bit much after a while they all seem to say the same sort of thing. New Melbourne Coach Dean Bailey is the latest coach to come out with some hard lined notions for the season ahead. “This year the real line in the sand is that we are going to play blokes who are really fit. It doesn’t matter what their names are, they have got to be really fit.”.
Coaches say this all the time and it never seems to eventuate. It will be interesting to see when the Demons are 0-4 after playing the Hawks, Western Bulldogs, Geelong and North in the opening 4 rounds and Neitz is carrying an injury or Robertson has got some niggles as to whether this line in the sand is still there? The Demons open their NAB Cup Campaign against last years Premiers Geelong who themselves will be missing a few key players so we will soon see how they are traveling.
At least Richmond Star Nathan Brown has hit the nail on the head when he said in an interview the other day “We felt that we’d spoken a fair bit over the last few years and failed to deliver and you just end up looking like idiots with egg on your face,” Bingo. Enough said. The Tigers have learnt their lesson after the expectation they put on themselves last year only to fall in a big heap.
If you are keen to see some footy action check out these highlight packages:
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Ominous Signs for AFL Defenders
Well the Big Fella Jonathan Brown is in great shape and ready to tear up the opposition backmen. Brown is generally behind eveyone else by this time during pre season but this year is much different. He has come off a full year in 2007 and has had an uninterupted pre season to date. Brown is one of my favourite players to watch, there is nothing better than seeing this guy run flat out into packs take the mark and get up looking like it was nothing out of the ordinary which is something to behold (there is a short video highlight at the end of this post).
Brown was all set to play in the Lions intra club game th other night but the game had to be called off due to a waterlogged ground at Coorparoo. Brown declared himself raring to go saying“I am physically feeling really good, no hiccups. I will go into 2008 in better shape than I have in years,” which all AFL defenders will be cringing at. Read more
Cox Gets an Extension
Sorry I couldn’t help but give this post that title, I am sure there are lots more out there as well. But seriously great news for the West Coast Eagles with superstar Ruckman and member of the new look Eagles leadership group Dean Cox signing a new contract with the West Coast Eagles until 2011. Considering the big fella is 26 you would think that he will now be an Eagles for life. He is the best ruckman in the business and the Eagles have made it quite clear that he is by the length of the contract. You don’t see many long contracts these days and it shows how much the Eagles rate him as a player and as a person.
Cox played 21 games in 2007 averaging 23 hit outs a game clearly in front of the next best for the Eagles (Mark Seaby - 12.75). not only that he was second only to the man mountain Aaron Sandilands who averaged a whopping 26.9. But it is not just in the hitouts that makes Cox a valuable big man it is his ability to run and get a lot of the ball around the ground that sets him apart. He averages just under 19 posessions a game compared to a Sandilands who averages around 12.6. And when you consider he had an outstanding 27 disposals (17 kicks and 10 handballs), 9 marks, 29 hitouts and a goal in West Coasts loss to Collingwood in the Second Semi last year. It proves he can perform when it counts.
Quality player and a great deal for the Eagles. Mind you Cox would be more than happy with a lazy $700,000 per year also.
Be in the Running for the $100 SportsAcumen Betting Card
During the month of February I am giving away a $100 SportsAcumen Betting Card. Here is what you have to do be be in the running:
Simply Subscribe the AFL Football Blog’s Weekly AFL Newsletter “Inner Sanctum”. By subscribing to our Newsletter you will also receive FREE our full Club by Club AFL Previews for Season 2008 that has just been released.
That’s all there is to it! And that picture is where you could end up…..
At the end of February, I will draw a random subscriber out of a hat (Literally) and they will be the WINNER. All existing subscribers are automatically placed in the draw. The winner will be notified by email (the one that you subscribed with)
So if you haven’t already Subscribed then do it now so you are in the running. $100 could turn into THOUSANDS.
Thanks to SportsAcumen for providing the prize. If you are the betting type then head over to the SportsAcumen Website and check the range of sports they have available for you to have a punt on.
