News Andrew Russell steps away at season’s end

[Aphrodite]

Russell to step away at season’s end

Andrew Russell will step away from football at the conclusion of the 2024 AFL season.

www.carltonfc.com.au

THE Carlton Football Club can confirm that after 26 years within the AFL industry, Director of High Performance Andrew Russell will step away from football at the conclusion of the 2024 AFL season.

Following six seasons at the Blues, in which time he led high performance, Russell will conclude his time at the Club, with his current contract set to expire at season’s end.

 

[DangerousD]

No doubt Burgess is highly credentialed and would be an awesome get.

However, wouldn't it be the exact same approach we took with Russell?

It would be nice to see our club take a more forward thinking approach and uncover the next Burgess/Russell, rather than always chasing the competition's tail by appointing the current established messiah.

Labelling someone a messiah is a bit silly, if someone is the best candidate and the most credentialed, why is hiring them a bad thing?

Hiring someone highly regarded and expecting them to paper over the cracks of a crap football department would be like looking for a saviour, but just hiring the best person for the job isn’t chasing. Messiah.

Im hoping the approach we took with Russell was, lets get the best person for the job, it didn’t work out, it shouldn’t mean we look for someone less good, as to not be perceived as looking for a messiah.

Burgess has a great CV across multiple sports, including ones with budgets 10x that of the AFL, if he is looking to move back to VIC then he should be at the top of the list, that doesnt mean we have to hire him though.

 

[DangerousD]

I have said before on here but I'm not sure Russell is entirely to blame and getting Geelong's fitness guy (for example) will fix it.

I think part of our issues is we lack some speed and genuine class and kicking skills so we have to compensate by playing a very brutal contested type of game which we eventually can't sustain (within a game or across the season).

When Russell was at Hawthorn they had elite ball users across each line and cut through defenses easily and so wasn't as taxing on their players - because they basically had the ball in their possession more often.


We have seen how when we struggle we have to grind our way down the line and win from stoppages etc.

I personally don't think Russell going is the panacea for all our problems - it's personnel and game style just as much as fitness.

Hawthorn also had a game plan that wasn’t stoppage based and possibly not as physically taxing.

 

[AndyLucimitis]

Hawthorn also had a game plan that wasn’t stoppage based and possibly not as physically taxing.

Exactly - that was my point. Easier to keep players on the park whereas I reckon it an be pushing you what up hill trying to bring our guys up week after week.

 

[swuzzlebubble]

hiring the best person for the job isn’t chasing. Messiah.

But they have no "upside"

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

So only soft tissue injuries are of concern?

Does that mean we keep Cuningham? What about Marchbank?

People here seem to forget you can also mitigate contact injuries through fatigue management, strength and body control/technique. Immensely.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Labelling someone a messiah is a bit silly, if someone is the best candidate and the most credentialed, why is hiring them a bad thing?

Hiring someone highly regarded and expecting them to paper over the cracks of a crap football department would be like looking for a saviour, but just hiring the best person for the job isn’t chasing. Messiah.

Im hoping the approach we took with Russell was, lets get the best person for the job, it didn’t work out, it shouldn’t mean we look for someone less good, as to not be perceived as looking for a messiah.

Burgess has a great CV across multiple sports, including ones with budgets 10x that of the AFL, if he is looking to move back to VIC then he should be at the top of the list, that doesnt mean we have to hire him though.

I have a different strategy. I want someone with a good name for the position. Max Power, or Ion Man.

I want someone who can replicate Caleb Marchbank using only paddle pop sticks.

I want someone who can flex on camera and have a neat catchphrase. Injury is a state of mind, push through the pain.

It was all Russell's fault, not recruiting and that's the bottom line because Stone Cold Mark Austin said so.

Get creative with this folks.

 

[DangerousD]

I have a different strategy. I want someone with a good name for the position. Max Power, or Ion Man.

I want someone who can replicate Caleb Marchbank using only paddle pop sticks.

I want someone who can flex on camera and have a neat catchphrase. Injury is a state of mind, push through the pain.

It was all Russell's fault, not recruiting and that's the bottom line because Stone Cold Mark Austin said so.

Get creative with this folks.

Found him

Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson​

Apparently very focused on the running aspect of fitness.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

Or maybe S&C recommended that they should be moved on

Then, as s&c has clearly been reviewed, youd have seen a list manager tapped on the shoulder, not Russell.

 

[Arr0w]

Then, as s&c has clearly been reviewed, youd have seen a list manager tapped on the shoulder, not Russell.

Or perhaps the strategy was tailored with other aspects in mind

 

[Wickzki]

Unless we start to off load injury prone players, I fear for our next appointment

If it is Burgess, he is similar to Russell, he will also push players to the edge of their limits

So much this. Got to really take a whole of club approach with the high performance. Not doing so will just push each subsequent hire under the bus and we'll be nothing more than a dog chasing it's tail.

I'm not sure on Burgess. The Crows injuries have mostly been collision injuries this year and they've avoided the mass soft tissue injuries that we've had throughout the season. How much of that comes down to good high performance, luck, the biomechanics and health of the players involved, etc.is open to debate.

The reason why I'm not wholly sold is because I don't believe we have the type of list that can tolerate being trained into the ground Andy Russell style (even after subtracting the perpetually injured). Therefore I'm very much of the more modern "train smarter not harder" think.

Ultimately, I have faith in the club making the right choice. With Cook and co our non-nepo/boys club hires have been very good and now we're in a position to make more of them.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

I have a different strategy. I want someone with a good name for the position. Max Power, or Ion Man.

I want someone who can replicate Caleb Marchbank using only paddle pop sticks.

I want someone who can flex on camera and have a neat catchphrase. Injury is a state of mind, push through the pain.

It was all Russell's fault, not recruiting and that's the bottom line because Stone Cold Mark Austin said so.

Get creative with this folks.

That is the best Midnight Pseudo Numbers post I’ve seen in a very long time.

Hare Krishna.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

That is the best Midnight Pseudo Numbers post I’ve seen in a very long time.

Hare Krishna.

Thank you Sensei

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Found him

Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson​

Apparently very focused on the running aspect of fitness.

Ooh Runar Squared.

What does the name Runar mean?


Runar (and its Icelandic version Rúnar) is a masculine given name and a surname which is used in Nordic countries. It became one of the popular names in Norway from the 1950s. Its meaning in Old Icelandic is wisdom and magical characters or signs.

 

[Beyond Blue]

Hawthorn also had a game plan that wasn’t stoppage based and possibly not as physically taxing.

Burgess worked at Melbourne when they won the flag in 2021. They played a heavy contested style like us. Maybe that makes him a good fit for us?

 

[teagueyubeauty]

How much of our injury issues has been brought on by rushing guys back into senior team. We certainly seem to be hindered by guys being a bit off the pace when returning. Are they more prone to reinjure themselves?

This, one million percent…


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Bamboo Harvester]

I have a different strategy. I want someone with a good name for the position. Max Power, or Ion Man.

I want someone who can replicate Caleb Marchbank using only paddle pop sticks.

I want someone who can flex on camera and have a neat catchphrase. Injury is a state of mind, push through the pain.

It was all Russell's fault, not recruiting and that's the bottom line because Stone Cold Mark Austin said so.

Get creative with this folks.

Wyoming Bill Kelso

 

[Bundy Bear Bogan]

Sakced? Plenty seem happy with it. Apparently you came to work each day to sabotage our players and hold back our list management.

Is his name Mick Malthouse.

It would be funny if it wasn't true

 

[Beyond Blue]

How much of our injury issues has been brought on by rushing guys back into senior team. We certainly seem to be hindered by guys being a bit off the pace when returning. Are they more prone to reinjure themselves?

IMO I think it was a big problem under Teague so much so that it’s quite possible a lot of potentially irreversible damage was done in particular to Martin and McGovern because of it.

I thought under Voss it has been a lot better, especially last year when they made blokes play a lot of 2s football and play well before picking them, but this year has been a step back towards the Teague era.

Cerra, Martin, Cunners and Marchy all came back too soon at subsequently broke down. IMO they all should have come back via a block of games in the games in the 2s.

Also, although it didn’t result in recurrence of an injury, rushing Cottrell back after 2 months off was the most baffling of all. He was awful upon his return and could’ve done with at least one run in the 2s.

 

[windows1]

This is a not very well thought out take.

Thanks genius.

 

[Jimmae]

I'm not sure on Burgess. The Crows injuries have mostly been collision injuries this year and they've avoided the mass soft tissue injuries that we've had throughout the season. How much of that comes down to good high performance, luck, the biomechanics and health of the players involved, etc.is open to debate.

The reason why I'm not wholly sold is because I don't believe we have the type of list that can tolerate being trained into the ground Andy Russell style (even after subtracting the perpetually injured). Therefore I'm very much of the more modern "train smarter not harder" think.

Ultimately, I have faith in the club making the right choice. With Cook and co our non-nepo/boys club hires have been very good and now we're in a position to make more of them.

I'm with you in terms of minutes total at given intensities, but Burgess is on record as saying he effectively adheres to training as you play, and to acknowledge as players push towards their historical maximal output.

I don't want them being absolutely slogged on the training track, I want them appropriately preparing their bodies for match day intensity and requirements, then getting adequate recovery and physical conditioning to support any issues with that.

In the case of Arsenal in the article that was linked earlier, it was 10-15 minutes work in some training sessions in response to live tracking data during the sessions. I think a further 7 years on and with coaching buy-in, you'd see the training session numbers go down, not up.

Just need to see skill execution be a feature of any peak/near-peak intensity training.

 

[The Bighouse]

I'm with you in terms of minutes total at given intensities, but Burgess is on record as saying he effectively adheres to training as you play, and to acknowledge as players push towards their historical maximal output.

I don't want them being absolutely slogged on the training track, I want them appropriately preparing their bodies for match day intensity and requirements, then getting adequate recovery and physical conditioning to support any issues with that.

In the case of Arsenal in the article that was linked earlier, it was 10-15 minutes work in some training sessions in response to live tracking data during the sessions. I think a further 7 years on and with coaching buy-in, you'd see the training session numbers go down, not up.

Just need to see skill execution be a feature of any peak/near-peak intensity training.

Burgess got MFC fitness up to run through games, and injury levels down too IIRC (to be verified).

He was very good on The Recruit too…

 

[jpfalvo]

Burgess is a No for me.
Another highly paid messiah.

Sent from my SM-N981B using Tapatalk

 

[teddy-hopkins]

Did you miss 2023? We were ****ED with injuries lol

Did you miss your premiership the year before with zero injuries in a team full of 30+???

Jeez - one bad year in the last 20 and that's what you focus on? Cats supporters need a full on bottom out just to give them some context.

 

[BigBreakfast]

Thanks for your service Andrew Russell

Best wishes to the next candidate, whomever that may be

 

[Blue1980]

I was thinking the same.

I don't think it's necessarily the right move, but I wouldn't be surprised now if some of these injury-prone players are thrown a one-year lifeline to see how they fare under someone else.

I doubt it. I think both Russell and the perma injured guys like Marchy, Cuningham and Martin will be gone. At most maybe Martin survives, but no more than 1.