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.
The first ACL Injury for the Year and Collingwood’s Captaincy Debate
It has been the hardest period in the clubs history and now young Kangaroo Draftee, 22 year old Nathan Grima has become the first victim of the dreaded ACL injury for Season 2008. Grima who played in the Central Districts Premiership Team last year had big wraps on him and was expected to play senior footy this year according to coach Dean Laidley. Now he will have to sit it out on the sidelines for the rest of the year. Nathan Thompson will no doubt be giving some much needed advice and support.
In other Pre Season News, the debate still goes on regarding who will succeed ex Magpie skipper Nathan Buckley, already you can see that there will be comparisons made between who ever takes over and Buckley which will be extremely unfair and difficult to the new skipper. Malthouse has said that there will definetely be one Captain “Collingwood will not have two captains or three captains or four captains — Collingwood will have one captain,” It is probably the biggest job in terms of Captaincy you could have and is something the Pies are not taking lightley. The person doesn’t need to be the best player in my opinion but they certainly have to be able to lead by example on the field which a Nick Maxwell does extremely well, but also they will need to represent the club and be the “FACE” of the Collingwood Football Club for years to come. Which Buckley was fantastic at.
I just don’t think they will go for a Rocca, Burns type as they are in the latter part of their career, i think they need to go for a Nick Maxwell or a Tarkyn Lockyer.
Anyway time will tell and they are said to be making an announcement during the latter part of the NAB Cup.
VOTE 1 for Lockyer.
The Secret of Altitude Training and the AFL Footballer
It seems to be the buzz training technique employed by some AFL Football Clubs over the past few years, so much so that Collingwood Football Club have got an altitude training room at their training base at the Lexus Centre. So I thought I would do a bit of research into why clubs think it is so helpful to their players’ fitness levels and performance.
Well here is what it is all about:
Athletes that train at higher altitudes can theoretically improve the capacity at which they are able to exercise. Because there is lower level of oxygen the body acclimatizes to that level, this is where the real benefit is, as a result of the body acclimatising the body improves its ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles, the more oxygen the body can deliver the better the performance. The training of an AFL Footballer means that their bodies must use oxygen to generate energy (because training lasts longer than a few minutes). Without the supply of oxygen the muscles may seize up and become damaged. Altitude training can produce more red blood cells; these cells are the ones that carry the oxygen around the body.
There are other benefits aside from this and they include: An increase in the number of small blood vessels, an increase in buffering capacity (ability to manage the build up of waste acid) and changes in the microscopic structure and function of the muscles themselves. And scientific studies have shown that altitude training can produce increases in speed, strength, endurance, and recovery. Read more
AFL Legend Kevin Sheedy still making headlines
Even though the great Kevin Sheedy is out of the AFL coaching spotlight, he is still a sought after person for media outlets to get a well informed opinion from. I love reading articles either written by him or articles that he has been quoted in. Take the latest off field drama involving Collingwood rookie Sharrod Wellingham which has cost the Collingwood Football Club a $500,000 a year TAC sponsorship deal. Sheedy commented on this in the Herald Sun yesterday “I’m not quite sure whether sponsorships like TAC are valuable for football and young people,” the former Essendon coach said. This comment / opinion is so true, for starters this kid has not even played a senior game for the club yet but from now on he will always be known for costing the Collingwood Football Club that sponsorship deal. He would want to be able to paly because it will take a lot of work from him to come out from behind the cloud on this one. Can you just image what would have been going through his head the next time he set foot into the club. I mean if he is not already overwhelmed by the people around him there, to be put under the spotlight like this would be no doubt quite embarrassing for the kid.
And although this is not on the subject of AFL Football, readers here will be able to relate to it. In his column in the Herald Sun, he talks about the racism issue in cricket at the moment and the heat that Ricky Ponting is under. He loves the old fashion contest does Sheedy “It’s competitive, but you very rarely see an athlete hit another. There are a lot of hungry cricketers and I don’t think they’re that bad. It is just competitiveness.” This was his response to the comments made by a couple of the Hall of Famers that were having a go at the Australian Cricket Team and their behaviour in the last Test match.
Let’s just hope there is none of this sort of stuff consuming the AFL this year and we can have a year that is focusing fully on the fantastic game we have.
Sheedy continues to be the master.
Cats and Tigers unbackable !
Can anyone challenge the Geelong Football Club and the Richmond Football Club for the honours of Premiership and Wooden Spoon respectively? Don’t you just love this time of year in the AFL world, I mean really how can we give an accurate answer to who will win the flag in 2008. At best we give our opinions and read into them what you will. There is not much to talk about other than that at this time of year. If you go on what you read in the main stream media during the pre seasons every team is going to finish in the eight and if you follow one of the AFL Football Forums, every team is going to win the flag.
My 2 bobs worth
I may as well join into the debate because it is always a good discussion topic and raises a lot of passionate talk. Well the Cats are odds on at the moment paying $3.20 for the flag with Collingwood, Fremantle, Port Adelaide and Hawthorn the next in line. I have already expressed by opinion
about who I think is most likely to challenge the Cats in 2008 and I think the Pies will give Geelong a run for their money. I can’t really believe that Fremantle are so heavily backed I just can’t see them being anywhere near the top five or six in the comp. They alway promise a lot Fremantle but don’t deliver much, if you are in a footy tipping competition they are the most frustrating team to try and tip! I personally think that they will struggle to make the eight let alone win the flag.
Are Magpie Fans loosing patience with Pebbles?
Anthony Rocca is a player that opposition teams love to hate and it appears some factions of the Magpie army may be loosing patience with his on field performances. Coach Mick Malthouse was forced to defend the big fella after he was asked by a member why he was still being selected despite his inconsistent performances.
Malthouse correctly pointed out that “It’s not just a matter of possesions”. This is something that the general football public don’t seem to understand because it is something they do not see. Rocca may not get a lot of the footy but it is his efforts in other areas that make him a very important part of that Collingwood forward line. When you look at his 2007 stats he was still the leading goal kicker with 54 goal, 15 goals clear of Travis Cloke. Malthouse also quoted another important fact that would probably go unnoticed by supporters “He had the most effective tackles inside 50 by a big man.” And from memory he was pretty high up on the contested marking stats for 2007 as well. The tackling stat is an interesting one and indicates maybe the small orwards need to lift that area of their game.
Although I don’t think Rocca will be the main focal point for the pies going forward, which you would think would be Cloke, he still provides some much needed team based 1% er type acts that the players are well aware of even if the people watching the games are not. I reckon the Magpies will get great value from Rocca if he is playing more of a decoy role and creating some space for the other forwards like Cloke to lead into. He is also very good in a contested marking situation, even if he doesn’t take the grab he must still be able to bring the ball to ground and provide some crumbs for the small forwards like Didak and Davis. These small forwards rely heavily on this sort of contest from the big guys.
Post you thoughts below on whether you think Rocca has still got something to offer the Pies.
The Gold Coast Magpies ?
Settle down magpie fans I don’t think there is any possibility in the entire world that the Collingwood Football Club would even entertain the idea of moving to the Gold Coast, although Brodie Holland maybe praying they do, so he cantan his muscular body. But your president is a pretty smart business man and he can see the $$$$ signs rolling past his eyes when talking about the Pies playing games on the Gold Coast. He is not bad at promoting the Collingwood brand either, the confidence he has and some of the comments he makes maybe the reason so many people from rival clubs can’t stand him. Take this comment:
“We pull great crowds wherever we play and we would be obviously a big hit.”
If that doesn’t ooze arrogance then I don’t know what does ! But if the AFL want to enter the Gold Coast with a bang then Collingwood may just be their golden ticket.
