Training

[WellardSaint]

and who's an expert

just someone who's a great kick... as some would lead you to believe

there is little expertise in this area... and imo a lot of it is mental

I think (imho) the players get panicked and lose focus far too easily under duress.
The hostile crowds at Redneck Central (Adelaide) and Inbred Stadium (Subiaco) are horrible to play in front of, especially compared to all the love they get at Etihad, the excitement and screaming of the crowd.
I've seen all the Saints games at Subi since I moved here, and the crowd is feral and childish.
Can't blame the guys for being off their game. And missing goals at Jihad when most of the crowd of 44k seems to be behind the enemy.
Even Mr Spock would miss easy shots for goal, under that sort of pressure
Yes, I know they're professionals, but they're also human.
Being human means being affected by emotion, and being fired up and aggressive; the other side of that coin is obvious and I don't have to spell it out.

[BigMart]

Basketballers dont miss free throws if they are pros

great golfers sink puts

Johnny Wilkinson never missed

being able to 'park' the occasion and perform the skill is necessary... yes it takes mental stregth. but they are paid 500k to be mentally strong and able to perform basic skills

[bigcarl]

there is little expertise in this area... and imo a lot of it is mental

The best you can do is have a technique that stands up to pressure. It's far from a perfect science, of course. Even the best kick for goal that I've seen - Plugger - was going at only 7-7.5 out of 10.

When he kicked for goal it was as though the only part of him that was moving was his boot. Head perfectly still. Straight back and straight through and the ball was going straight over the goal umpire's head ... More often than not.

Maybe Stewie Loewe can give them some pointers because if there ever was an advertisement for the value of working on technique, he is it.

[tony74]

Reluctant to comment !
All I'll say was mouth guards were required.

[Goose is king]

Unfortunately we were due for a flat week last week as we were up for dogs and Melbourne. We aren't there yet. I love that training has been positive because you should train how you want to play. Tony I will be at training with my daughter on Saturday filming the scene we need for her Marrowthon project. Feel free to say hi

[Bluthy]

Reluctant to comment !
All I'll say was mouth guards were required.

So the players were obviously tired from two huge tackling/pressure games and instead of refreshing the squad they made one change. And now Richo smashes the players at training. Yeah that's a great approach to a young team tired by a long season doing Richo's high tackling game plan. Let me guess - it will just be Fish in, Wright out when we our squad is in desperate need of rejuvenation.

[jonesy]

Or maybe they are treating this match like a final also. Now we are out, what better way to practise for the real thing than playing a rare game at the G, after our biggest game for a few years, against a side this week who's appetite for the contest has been constant

[felix]

Reluctant to comment !
All I'll say was mouth guards were required.

So the players were obviously tired from two huge tackling/pressure games and instead of refreshing the squad they made one change. And now Richo smashes the players at training. Yeah that's a great approach to a young team tired by a long season doing Richo's high tackling game plan. Let me guess - it will just be Fish in, Wright out when we our squad is in desperate need of rejuvenation.

Now is the time to push hard , if we are to play finals for the next few years we need a hardened group not some team that takes the easy way out , that will not win us a flag.

[magnifisaint]

Basketballers dont miss free throws if they are pros

great golfers sink puts

Johnny Wilkinson never missed

being able to 'park' the occasion and perform the skill is necessary... yes it takes mental stregth. but they are paid 500k to be mentally strong and able to perform basic skills

Such a generalization. Ever heard of Greg Norman. I bet you Michael Jordan wasn't 100% from the free throw line

[CQ SAINT]

Don't stop the reports please tony.

20 minutes set shot practice sounds very very little. A lot of old former players have been saying they used to kick 100s and thats the only way to get good at it.

The Chief Jason Dunstall used to practice for ages after training.
Nowadays, fitness staff discourage long kicking because they think it damages (by causing scar tissue) the quadriceps muscle. The big muscle at the front of the thigh.

Of course!!!! Much better to get 50 entries and score 8.22 or something like that.

[Playon]

there is little expertise in this area... and imo a lot of it is mental

The best you can do is have a technique that stands up to pressure. It's far from a perfect science, of course. Even the best kick for goal that I've seen - Plugger - was going at only 7-7.5 out of 10.

When he kicked for goal it was as though the only part of him that was moving was his boot. Head perfectly still. Straight back and straight through and the ball was going straight over the goal umpire's head ... More often than not.

Maybe Stewie Loewe can give them some pointers because if there ever was an advertisement for the value of working on technique, he is it.

Hudson helped him sort it out

[bigcarl]

there is little expertise in this area... and imo a lot of it is mental

The best you can do is have a technique that stands up to pressure. It's far from a perfect science, of course. Even the best kick for goal that I've seen - Plugger - was going at only 7-7.5 out of 10.

When he kicked for goal it was as though the only part of him that was moving was his boot. Head perfectly still. Straight back and straight through and the ball was going straight over the goal umpire's head ... More often than not.

Maybe Stewie Loewe can give them some pointers because if there ever was an advertisement for the value of working on technique, he is it.

Hudson helped him sort it out

I know. Hudson was an unbelievably accurate kick and I believe he gave Loewe a simple pre-kick routine to follow as well as some technical pointers. Whatever he told him, it worked, turning a notoriously unreliable set shot into a bloke who nearly kicked 100 in a season.

[Bluthy]

Reluctant to comment !
All I'll say was mouth guards were required.

So the players were obviously tired from two huge tackling/pressure games and instead of refreshing the squad they made one change. And now Richo smashes the players at training. Yeah that's a great approach to a young team tired by a long season doing Richo's high tackling game plan. Let me guess - it will just be Fish in, Wright out when we our squad is in desperate need of rejuvenation.

Now is the time to push hard , if we are to play finals for the next few years we need a hardened group not some team that takes the easy way out , that will not win us a flag.

Oh yeah - get em HARD baby. Just like Lonie. You remember Lonie don't you - used to be a great little creative player for us who set up others with his precise passing. But Richo played him to death cos he wanted to make him HARD and STRONG and made him tackle trucks until he was as flat as a tack. Just like Gresham - you remember Gresham came in being able to pass the ball brilliantly from his junior footy. But Richo wants to make him HARD and STRONG - makes hiM tackle trucks too anD run run run little fella with forward pressure (HARD) until your legs drops off - who cares you are a first year small player get HARD. Low and behold Gresh can't pass the ball well. What a surprise. And Dunny - Richo has a first year player with a half decent physique - brilliant I can make him SUPER HARD - play him every single game in the bone crunching viciousness of the inside contested ball against beasts like Danger and Kennedy and Mitchell and huge bodied mids been in the caper for years who love to smash up first year players. Get Dunny HARD Richo and destroy his outside game that looked great when he first started.

Richo loves HARD. Richo loves players being STRONG for...yeah, yeah...he was STRONG for us last week...nah we weren't STRONG last night. You know what is STRONG from a coach RICHO? One who pursues his own vision and says to the players "Come with me, we may not get a lot of wins, our ladder position may not be great but we are learnign something here that will hold us in good stead. We are going where the others can't."

It may even nearly cost them their job like Clarkson and Thompson - that is STRONG and BRAVE. Finishing in no mans land 9th so everyone pats you on the back and tells you how consistently you are improving - a steady upward climb - and you know you job is safe - is that BRAVE? Is that STRONG. Just ask Richmond the 9th specialists - neither fish nor fowl - neither good draft picks or valuable finals experience - who are now looking at 10 more years in the wildness. Yeah ignore roating the squad and trying to find the gold in the trash.

Take the safe route. Just play your favs and run them down doing the stifling pressure and tackling that you know will give you some improvement and make your job safe. But also screws up our chance at getting more genuine class draft picks that screws up our future. Why risk any radical tactics or trying to develop clever zones that take time to get right and make you look like an ordinary coach early until the players really lock it in an gives you a competitive advantage later down the track. Its all about the now.

Lets trade out our top pick for a guys who will get us into the finals so I can get all the appludits of being a FINALS COACH. Oh man that sounds so good want to say it again - a FINALS COACH. Who cares that we won't be able to win the flag because I took short cuts. Short term thinking is so BRAVE. We need more of that.

But yeah. Lets get them HARD this week. It matters so much they beat a bottom team in a HARD way with STRONG football. Its not like Clarksons success is underpinned by some clever system or anything. All he had to do was say to his players - be HARD be STRONG and voila - 4 flags. Easy No need to do it the HARD way

[Animal Enclosure]

What a seriously sad and delusional post.

Seriously mate, take your pills. I'm not sure how you've survived being a Saints supporter for so long if you attitude is as negative and aggressive towards our coach (who has overseen a very promising rebuild in quick time).

[satchmo]

there is little expertise in this area... and imo a lot of it is mental

The best you can do is have a technique that stands up to pressure. It's far from a perfect science, of course. Even the best kick for goal that I've seen - Plugger - was going at only 7-7.5 out of 10.

When he kicked for goal it was as though the only part of him that was moving was his boot. Head perfectly still. Straight back and straight through and the ball was going straight over the goal umpire's head ... More often than not.

Maybe Stewie Loewe can give them some pointers because if there ever was an advertisement for the value of working on technique, he is it.

Hudson helped him sort it out

I know. Hudson was an unbelievably accurate kick and I believe he gave Loewe a simple pre-kick routine to follow as well as some technical pointers. Whatever he told him, it worked, turning a notoriously unreliable set shot into a bloke who nearly kicked 100 in a season.

Loewe still managed to look awkward, but it was a definite improvement.

[Bluthy]

What a seriously sad and delusional post.

Seriously mate, take your pills. I'm not sure how you've survived being a Saints supporter for so long if you attitude is as negative and aggressive towards our coach (who has overseen a very promising rebuild in quick time).

I want a flag. Do you have any idea how hard that is for us poorly resourced pay-to-play club? We have to do every thing 10% better than other clubs just to be in the running. Jesus look at our last list - Roo, Ball, Lenny, Kosi, Goddard, Dal, Joey, Fish,...it goes on and on, a great coach who knew the importance of defence winning flags...and we still couldn't win the f&*ker.

I will continue to rip apart peoples self-satisfied surface level analysis in pursuit of a brilliant, flag winning team and strategy and for that I make no apologies. I give no quarter, and I ask for none. I will kill your darling in pursuit of the Goddess Victory. I will sacrifice the safe decisions, the steady climb, the well trodden path for the wilds where the unique fascinating beast named Triumph lives untamed but oh so beautiful and capable of tearing out the throats of the weak hearted.

This is my pledge, my quest, my dream.

Email me if you would like to subscribe to my newlsetter and/or death cult. Good day sir.

[BigMart]

Greg Norman?.... No never heard of him??

Hang on, we he that 'shark' guy who was a two time major winner who was number 1 in the world for 5 years???
Hmmm ... I though he went ok??

Jordan
Would you bank on him to sink two frees or Nick Riewoldt to kick a goal from 40

[The_Merchant]

Greg Norman?.... No never heard of him??

Hang on, we he that 'shark' guy who was a two time major winner who was number 1 in the world for 5 years???
Hmmm ... I though he went ok??

Jordan
Would you bank on him to sink two frees or Nick Riewoldt to kick a goal from 40

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
- Michael Jordan

[BigMart]

I'm guessing he scored a few buckets occasionally too???

[felix]

Reluctant to comment !
All I'll say was mouth guards were required.

So the players were obviously tired from two huge tackling/pressure games and instead of refreshing the squad they made one change. And now Richo smashes the players at training. Yeah that's a great approach to a young team tired by a long season doing Richo's high tackling game plan. Let me guess - it will just be Fish in, Wright out when we our squad is in desperate need of rejuvenation.

Now is the time to push hard , if we are to play finals for the next few years we need a hardened group not some team that takes the easy way out , that will not win us a flag.

Oh yeah - get em HARD baby. Just like Lonie. You remember Lonie don't you - used to be a great little creative player for us who set up others with his precise passing. But Richo played him to death cos he wanted to make him HARD and STRONG and made him tackle trucks until he was as flat as a tack. Just like Gresham - you remember Gresham came in being able to pass the ball brilliantly from his junior footy. But Richo wants to make him HARD and STRONG - makes hiM tackle trucks too anD run run run little fella with forward pressure (HARD) until your legs drops off - who cares you are a first year small player get HARD. Low and behold Gresh can't pass the ball well. What a surprise. And Dunny - Richo has a first year player with a half decent physique - brilliant I can make him SUPER HARD - play him every single game in the bone crunching viciousness of the inside contested ball against beasts like Danger and Kennedy and Mitchell and huge bodied mids been in the caper for years who love to smash up first year players. Get Dunny HARD Richo and destroy his outside game that looked great when he first started.

Richo loves HARD. Richo loves players being STRONG for...yeah, yeah...he was STRONG for us last week...nah we weren't STRONG last night. You know what is STRONG from a coach RICHO? One who pursues his own vision and says to the players "Come with me, we may not get a lot of wins, our ladder position may not be great but we are learnign something here that will hold us in good stead. We are going where the others can't."

It may even nearly cost them their job like Clarkson and Thompson - that is STRONG and BRAVE. Finishing in no mans land 9th so everyone pats you on the back and tells you how consistently you are improving - a steady upward climb - and you know you job is safe - is that BRAVE? Is that STRONG. Just ask Richmond the 9th specialists - neither fish nor fowl - neither good draft picks or valuable finals experience - who are now looking at 10 more years in the wildness. Yeah ignore roating the squad and trying to find the gold in the trash.

Take the safe route. Just play your favs and run them down doing the stifling pressure and tackling that you know will give you some improvement and make your job safe. But also screws up our chance at getting more genuine class draft picks that screws up our future. Why risk any radical tactics or trying to develop clever zones that take time to get right and make you look like an ordinary coach early until the players really lock it in an gives you a competitive advantage later down the track. Its all about the now.

Lets trade out our top pick for a guys who will get us into the finals so I can get all the appludits of being a FINALS COACH. Oh man that sounds so good want to say it again - a FINALS COACH. Who cares that we won't be able to win the flag because I took short cuts. Short term thinking is so BRAVE. We need more of that.

But yeah. Lets get them HARD this week. It matters so much they beat a bottom team in a HARD way with STRONG football. Its not like Clarksons success is underpinned by some clever system or anything. All he had to do was say to his players - be HARD be STRONG and voila - 4 flags. Easy No need to do it the HARD way

I got hard just reading that.! I think Gresham is loving his footy getting better with exposure , I'm not sure Lonie will make it , he is resting in the seconds yes ..

[Wrote for Luck]

Greg Norman?.... No never heard of him??

Hang on, we he that 'shark' guy who was a two time major winner who was number 1 in the world for 5 years???
Hmmm ... I though he went ok??

Jordan
Would you bank on him to sink two frees or Nick Riewoldt to kick a goal from 40

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
- Michael Jordan

Jordan was and always will be The Man.

[Trev from the Bush]

Bluthy, you probably need to follow the Hawks if you need a flag.


And take a Viagra. Won't make you tough but might make you hard!

[saynta]

What a seriously sad and delusional post.

Seriously mate, take your pills. I'm not sure how you've survived being a Saints supporter for so long if you attitude is as negative and aggressive towards our coach (who has overseen a very promising rebuild in quick time).

I stopped reading his posts. Too much aggravation. Causing me ulcer like feelings in the gut.

[The_President]

It's got nothing to do with hiring an "expert" and bringing him in to teach them how to kick.
Changing their routines/run up's/style will only cause problems.

These guys are elite. They're playing AFL because they are the BEST of the best.
They would make those shots time and time again if they were just mucking around with their mates at the local oval.

It's all mindset, take the pressure off them. Get them to relax, support them if they miss. Don't let it build up.

It's sounds like a very soft approach, but that's honestly the best results. They all know how to kick goal, you just have to get them to forget about the pressure.

Tweaking the technique time & time again will end up giving us a bunch of Trav Clokes

[dragit]

Email me if you would like to subscribe to my newlsetter and/or death cult. Good day sir.

I want in.