Training 2024 Preseason reports and discussion

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Because he hasn't reached or maintained fitness.

Go back to the few weeks before he did his Achilles - who is keeping 'that Chad' out of this Team?
I just had a look and Chad is actually younger than I thought, so maybe he does get back in. His body has consistently let him down though and I don’t think that can be ignored and likely only going to get worse as he gets older. I reckon id be playing Ginnivan Watson McDonald Moore Breust Gunston. I know not all like for like but hard to name names without naming the whole team. Spots are at a premium and I don’t see who misses, even for that Wingard.
 
I just had a look and Chad is actually younger than I thought, so maybe he does get back in. His body has consistently let him down though and I don’t think that can be ignored and likely only going to get worse as he gets older. I reckon id be playing Ginnivan Watson McDonald Moore Breust Gunston. I know not all like for like but hard to name names without naming the whole team. Spots are at a premium and I don’t see who misses, even for that Wingard.
Well, that's his challenge and he's experienced enough to know that.

It's easy to punch down on an internet forum, but I know that he sees the challenge ahead and he wants to be part of the team. He knows the players that he's up against and he knows how good he has to be to get into the best 22.
 

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Well, that's his challenge and he's experienced enough to know that.

It's easy to punch down on an internet forum, but I know that he sees the challenge ahead and he wants to be part of the team. He knows the players that he's up against and he knows how good he has to be to get into the best 22.
Haha I’m not punching down. Just think he’s up against it to be in the 22 and personally see others ahead of him.
 
I just had a look and Chad is actually younger than I thought, so maybe he does get back in. His body has consistently let him down though and I don’t think that can be ignored and likely only going to get worse as he gets older. I reckon id be playing Ginnivan Watson McDonald Moore Breust Gunston. I know not all like for like but hard to name names without naming the whole team. Spots are at a premium and I don’t see who misses, even for that Wingard.
Good Wingard is approx. 300x better than Ginnivan.


*not that I wished it upon him, but I reckon a full re-set (like 6-12 months of rest, rehab, flexibility & strength) is the only thing possible to get 2019-2023 Chad back to the old Chad. I doubt we caused the issues, but we clearly hadn't fixed it/them.

I'm hoping we've identified & worked on the cause(s) of his lower-leg issues & that he comes back free of these issues, be they hip/back/core/ankle/feet etc. or a combination of these.
 
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Haha I’m not punching down. Just think he’s up against it to be in the 22 and personally see others ahead of him.
And that's fine. That's what an internet forum does.

But there are people out there, who have connections to players and have maybe just a little inkling into how they are progressing and how they are ensuring that they aren't left behind with this new influx of players.
 
We have a pool of Watson, Ginnivan, Bruest, Moore, CMac, and Hardwick.
Butler, who has had an incredibly strong preseason, likely doesn't start.
If Chad is fully fit and firing he will be best 22 but I don't think it's a guarantee he comes straight into the side, especially if the others are performing.
 
If Chad is fully fit and firing he will be best 22 but I don't think it's a guarantee he comes straight into the side, especially if the others are performing.
Believe it. Chad knows it too. That's why he wants to be at his absolute best. Don't doubt a competitive beast.
 
We have a pool of Watson, Ginnivan, Bruest, Moore, CMac, and Hardwick.
Butler, who has had an incredibly strong preseason, likely doesn't start.
If Chad is fully fit and firing he will be best 22 but I don't think it's a guarantee he comes straight into the side, especially if the others are performing.
Best thing we did with Chad was play him 2 x VFL games with a week off in between - so he was able to get 2 lower intensity hit outs (split by another week training block) in before returning.

He started to play good footy again before the rupture. Lesson here is he probably does need a good base of VFL games to test his legs and give everyone confidence he can play regularly again.

May also be worth rolling him up to a wing where he might be able to control any burst running a bit better. Still use the ball going inside 50, but maybe work in more space with time to wind up, rather than darting around and putting strain on the Achilles.
 
We just need to treat Wingard as a bonus if he gets his body right and comes back and plays some good footy. Great guy to have on the list and was impressed when he knocked back overtures from Collingwood. Shows he believes he has unfinished business at the Hawks.
Wingard is as loyal as they come. Hawthorn stuck by their initial agreement to give him a contract and he is determined to honour it. He looks happy and driven on the track. This after doing an achilles. For me i say lookout because a fit and motivated wingard is an awesome sight
 
So, a fit frwd line of :
Lewis
Chol
Moore
Breust
Ginnivan
Watson
Gunston
Butler
İs papering over cracks??? Not only is Watson a high rated youngster , Butler was also pretty much a end of first round pick for his position! Add Wingard and all i see is a quite a dangerous frwd half of players with different set of skills to one and other. Bring the ball in quick and neat, and we'll see this bunch go to town on a lot of defences . İt's been an awesome off season right under everyone's nose and time will tell all .
 
We have a pool of Watson, Ginnivan, Bruest, Moore, CMac, and Hardwick.
Butler, who has had an incredibly strong preseason, likely doesn't start.
If Chad is fully fit and firing he will be best 22 but I don't think it's a guarantee he comes straight into the side, especially if the others are performing.

I like the list alot now we have some dedicated forward line specialist's!
i think...
-CMac will play alot on the Wing. Rotate HF maybe on the ball.
- CJ on the other wing.
-Moore will definitely feature in CBA.
-Butler strong off season, might see him pushing for a wing / HF role, if there is any injury's.
 

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the article just says that most fwds who switch clubs take two seasons before they kick a respectable number of goals. it basically doesn't comment on anything else at all lol

The article is very short term focussed. It assumes the change in recruiting strategy is based on an intention of winning a flag this year which is not right.

Fortunately we are young enough to have the luxury of allowing Chol, Ginnivan and Wiz a season to get their eye in.
 

Watson and Lewis may well be 2 if the best forwards in the game in the coming years. The rest of the comp would kill for them. Chol and Ginny were both cheap gets who are all upside. If they don’t work out, we’re not losing anything. I reckon we’ll still be sniffing around a Ben King type in the next couple of years. And that’s if Rama doesn’t come on who could be anything. Gunners is basically a player coach at this point.
 
Isaac Heeney kicked 30 goals last season.

He was 42nd on the list of goal kickers for the year.

20th on the list was Jamie Elliott with 39.

I don’t think kicking 30 goals as a permanent forward is that big of a deal TBH.
It’s not.
 
The article is very short term focussed. It assumes the change in recruiting strategy is based on an intention of winning a flag this year which is not right.

Fortunately we are young enough to have the luxury of allowing Chol, Ginnivan and Wiz a season to get their eye in.
its an article making a short term claim about our forward line(i have not read it, but that seems to be the way people are talking about it), the reality is

1. we brought back a favoured son in Jack Gunston knowing he is not the be-all end-all, but he is a welcome bonus for a season or 2, however long he plays for

2. we brought in a quality Key Forward who has had a couple issues with training in the past Chol, if he wants to commit to playing good footy he has star potential as a forward/ruck

3. we recruited a quality small forward in Watson, which imo was a good recruit for our list strategy

4. we also recruited a well performed young forward who has had a few too many controversies, but his record holds up with some of the great small forwards in recent times in Ginnivan.

where did we paper over the cracks? i could understand if we recruited a couple of high 20's or 30 year olds and putting all of our faith in them, but we're not, we're building quality with mostly youth or players in their prime with the odd veteran to guide them.

P.S. we also turned a bottom 4 midfield into close to a top 4 midfield in the space of 6-9 months, which is a feat that should be at least mentioned as to our progress, so if we can do something similar with our forward line this year it would be a great step in the right direction with only our defense as an area to improve.
 
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Training 2024 Preseason reports and discussion

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