Freeman

[yipper]

Word from the club is Freezer has his explosive pace back. But after his hip surgery - still has not full power in his kicking yet. Lacks penetration in his kicks. Once this is back ... look out. Another 25 touches today and in the best.
Saints doing a terrific job with him. Senior footy no longer if .. but when.

[Sainternist]

Great news. Thanks Yipper!

[Mr Magic]

Word from the club is Freezer has his explosive pace back. But after his hip surgery - still has not full power in his kicking yet. Lacks penetration in his kicks. Once this is back ... look out. Another 25 touches today and in the best.
Saints doing a terrific job with him. Senior footy no longer if .. but when.

You really should post more often Yipper!

[carn_sainter]

Freeman was very good today. Not clearly above vfl quality but he found the pill a lot. I also noticed that he pops his kicks up a bit, as if he doesn't point his toe. He is very good at lowering his eyes and spotting up with R Harvey-like 20m passes. Developing nicely and could have a very good 2018 if he has no setbacks between now and then.

[yipper]

Freeman was very good today. Not clearly above vfl quality but he found the pill a lot. I also noticed that he pops his kicks up a bit, as if he doesn't point his toe. He is very good at lowering his eyes and spotting up with R Harvey-like 20m passes. Developing nicely and could have a very good 2018 if he has no setbacks between now and then.

Kicking them like he is hitting a seven iron off a par 4. Instead of a driver.
Power will return soon enough. Saints have re- built him. Changed his running style. Put the time into him that perhaps the pies didn't??

[Proph3t of egan]

Freeman was very good today. Not clearly above vfl quality but he found the pill a lot. I also noticed that he pops his kicks up a bit, as if he doesn't point his toe. He is very good at lowering his eyes and spotting up with R Harvey-like 20m passes. Developing nicely and could have a very good 2018 if he has no setbacks between now and then.

Kicking them like he is hitting a seven iron off a par 4. Instead of a driver.
Power will return soon enough. Saints have re- built him. Changed his running style. Put the time into him that perhaps the pies didn't??

Pies have a history of poor injury management don't they? Not just freeman, but also Scharenberg from that same draft. Also know of a former player who when he was young got an injury while playing for them, and they managed it very poorly and kept playing him until it finally forced him into early retirement.

[Freebird]

Freeman was very good today. Not clearly above vfl quality but he found the pill a lot. I also noticed that he pops his kicks up a bit, as if he doesn't point his toe. He is very good at lowering his eyes and spotting up with R Harvey-like 20m passes. Developing nicely and could have a very good 2018 if he has no setbacks between now and then.

CS can you elaborate on the pointing the toe

To get distance are you meant to point the toe on impact like using your wrist in racket sports etc??

I've never come across coach kicking lessons where distance is concerned holding the ball on the drop yes but not for distance

[Bluthy]

Need to see that pace regularly to believe it. But great he's clocking up strong amount of touches. If he could get a couple of AFL games this year that would be a great result and set him up for a genuine crack next year - his last contracted year I believe.

[carn_sainter]

Freeman was very good today. Not clearly above vfl quality but he found the pill a lot. I also noticed that he pops his kicks up a bit, as if he doesn't point his toe. He is very good at lowering his eyes and spotting up with R Harvey-like 20m passes. Developing nicely and could have a very good 2018 if he has no setbacks between now and then.

CS can you elaborate on the pointing the toe

To get distance are you meant to point the toe on impact like using your wrist in racket sports etc??

I've never come across coach kicking lessons where distance is concerned holding the ball on the drop yes but not for distance

I'm by no means a biomechanics expert or kicking coach, what I meant was that when he kicks the ball it's like his foot, as yipper said, is in the shape of a pitching wedge, so the ball pops up quite high. His kicks at the moment are not penetrating, flat or low, as you get from having a pointed toe. It's not a terminal thing, probably just an issue of power and stability in the hip and hammies of the left leg. The stronger that is while you're kicking with you're right, the more torque you can generate with your right leg about the hip and drill the ball.

I have no doubt yipper is right and it's coming.

[saintbrat]

Word from the club is Freezer has his explosive pace back. But after his hip surgery - still has not full power in his kicking yet. Lacks penetration in his kicks. Once this is back ... look out. Another 25 touches today and in the best.
Saints doing a terrific job with him. Senior footy no longer if .. but when.

You really should post more often Yipper!

so should you

[White Winmar]

I'm no expert in this either, but I do recall an old kicking coach telling me that pointing the toe, helps straighten the leg, tense the muscles and therefore generates greater leg speed and power through the kicking action. A bit like stiff shafted golf club the pros use.

[Sainternist]

Word from the club is Freezer has his explosive pace back. But after his hip surgery - still has not full power in his kicking yet. Lacks penetration in his kicks. Once this is back ... look out. Another 25 touches today and in the best.
Saints doing a terrific job with him. Senior footy no longer if .. but when.

You really should post more often Yipper!

so should you

Would also be great if Yipper's son made a comeback on here. Hope Dash has been well. Haven't heard him on SEN for a while. Does anyone know if he's still doing radio?

[saintbrat]

Word from the club is Freezer has his explosive pace back. But after his hip surgery - still has not full power in his kicking yet. Lacks penetration in his kicks. Once this is back ... look out. Another 25 touches today and in the best.
Saints doing a terrific job with him. Senior footy no longer if .. but when.

You really should post more often Yipper!

so should you

Would also be great if Yipper's son made a comeback on here. Hope Dash has been well. Haven't heard him on SEN for a while. Does anyone know if he's still doing radio?

was on this morning doing the co-ordination before 9 am
and does the AFL nation Football coverage

[Sainternist]

Word from the club is Freezer has his explosive pace back. But after his hip surgery - still has not full power in his kicking yet. Lacks penetration in his kicks. Once this is back ... look out. Another 25 touches today and in the best.
Saints doing a terrific job with him. Senior footy no longer if .. but when.

You really should post more often Yipper!

so should you

Would also be great if Yipper's son made a comeback on here. Hope Dash has been well. Haven't heard him on SEN for a while. Does anyone know if he's still doing radio?

was on this morning doing the co-ordination before 9 am
and does the AFL nation Football coverage

That's good to know. Thanks for the update, Bratty!

[saintbrat]

PS is also occasionally heard on the overnight as a replacement

[older saint]

hopefully continue to be patient with him and continue to build the base that he forces the selection decision with multiple good games

[footynut]

hopefully continue to be patient with him and continue to build the base that he forces the selection decision with multiple good games

I think patients is the right card to play, however if we continue to play poorly, I'd consider playing him off the backflank, before he moves into the midfield in 2018

[To the top]

What should not be overlooked with this kid, and he is just a kid, is the commitment and effort he has contributed including making a decision to change Clubs

So he will have expectations of self and that will continue to be the driver

We wish him all the very best - including because we need him for St Kilda to take the next step!

[saintbrat]

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-06- ... fl-round-7

his highlights from Sunday

[MC Gusto]

Very nice highlights!

[loris]

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-06- ... fl-round-7

his highlights from Sunday

Good to see he's fined down & lost a lot of that upper body bulked up muscle. Gosh when he came to us his upper body looked like a working draft horse...... no wonder his thoroughbred racing legs broke down with hammy injuries.

IMO Freezer was case of a young kid doing too much in the weights room before his young body had been allowed to develop normally. Poorly advised in his junior days I would imagine.

I hope he can continue his steady progress to eventually fulfill his dream of playing senior AFL. Meanwhile, slowly, slowly don't put too much pressure on the lad, just be happy with the incremental steps he is making.

[saintsRrising]

From his draft year..
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-11-13/e ... an-freeman

STRENGTHS
Freeman's a dasher: he's fast, and he knows it. He loves to get the ball and then run off, and he has the speed to get away. At the NAB AFL Draft Combine he ran 2.82 seconds over the 20-metre sprint, second this year and in the top-10 for testing history. He then won the repeat sprints (24.62 seconds) and backed it up with his endurance, coming 10th in the beep test (level 14.10). Having the electric burst and combining it with that aerobic capacity – something he had worked hard at developing – is a major strength. He can win his own touches, and for the Dragons averaged 10 contested disposals a game. He is also a smart clearance player, positioning his mature body in the right spots. Added to that, Freeman is an outgoing, lively and personable character who fits into any environment.



WEAKNESSES
He can lack a tiny bit of composure sometimes with his kicking, mostly because he is running so quickly. His kicking efficiency for the Dragons was 60.2 per cent, with most of the other top midfielders a touch higher. He still is a little inconsistent, and his good games for the Dragons were often followed with quieter ones, but that gap is closing.





Which is pretty much exactly the type of player we need in the seniors at present.

[shrodes]

I think we'll have to accept that if (when?) he hits the senior team, he's not going to have that pace touted in his draft year. It's very hard to do a hammy and feel like you can do burst actions without popping something again. I'll be happy with good ball user and medium pace if he can get a game.

[yipper]

I think we'll have to accept that if (when?) he hits the senior team, he's not going to have that pace touted in his draft year. It's very hard to do a hammy and feel like you can do burst actions without popping something again. I'll be happy with good ball user and medium pace if he can get a game.

?? read my starting post - pace is back, hasn't lost any of it. Just now working on his hip strength so that he can get full power in his kicking - if you watch those video highlights - he is moving very quickly across the ground and finding a lot of footy. Gets to the right spots - he can play footy this fella.

[White Winmar]

I agree, Yipper. Watching the highlights, he moved well, found plenty of the footy and generally used it to advantage, even if most of the kicks were short. I know it was a highlights reel and not a blooper tape, but if an unknown kid played that way, we'd be getting a tad excited. A long way to go, but the signs are so much better than the end of last year.