Round 16: Blues v Swans @ Metricon

[Industrial Fan]

No it's not. You need strength and conditioning at a high standard if you want to have any hope at a decent AFL career. Blakey and McInerney will become physical liabilities when they reach a point where they can't back up one performance with another, and another. I've seen it with lads I've coached going back to the 80s. It doesn't matter about size but strength matters. The ones who don't have that core strength struggle to get any consistency in their game. They have a stand out performance and you won't see it again for 4-6 weeks. They end up playing with injuries, get battered easy which hinders their performance when they are playing out matches winded. This is not a knock on their talent but rather their capacity to display that talent. Very rarely does a player overcome their lack of core strength.

As for Hayward he is now a 4th yr player and might be physically less imposing than he's ever been, though I wonder how much of that is lack of tenacity and application on his behalf.

I don't really agree with your comment on Hayward, I think he's been keen to get amongst it the last few weeks more than he has in his career? And also are we talking about strength or conditioning? Your original comment was about strength.

I don't think there is any confusion about conditioning being critical. But my point is there are many slightly built players who have a huge impact on the game. Not every player needs to resemble JPK, even in the midfield. As far as I would see it the younger players build up their conditioning over a number of preseasons even if they don't visually bulk up.

[KTigers]

I don't really get the criticism of Hayward. He has turned into a big unit, is a strong one grab mark and he can motor.
Once he starts learning how to get to the ball is more often he is going to be a really good player. His development
has been a bit slower than we'd have liked but I think 2021 will be his breakout year.

[gloveski]

I don't really get the criticism of Hayward. He has turned into a big unit, is a strong one grab mark and he can motor.
Once he starts learning how to get to the ball is more often he is going to be a really good player.

Spot on throw buddy and Heeney in that forward line then all of a sudden Hayward gets the 4th best defender behind Papley . Chances of them all playing together though that’s another thing


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[TheBloods]

I don't really agree with your comment on Hayward, I think he's been keen to get amongst it the last few weeks more than he has in his career? And also are we talking about strength or conditioning? Your original comment was about strength.

I don't think there is any confusion about conditioning being critical. But my point is there are many slightly built players who have a huge impact on the game. Not every player needs to resemble JPK, even in the midfield. As far as I would see it the younger players build up their conditioning over a number of preseasons even if they don't visually bulk up.

Watch Hayward's tackling efforts. Or should I say lack thereof. His opponents look like bars of soap he slips off them so easily.

Again, it is not about the build, but about their strength. I used Stephens as an example of someone who has a slight build but is strong. Callum Mills in his first yr or two was slightly built but incredibly strong. Ben King at Gold Coast has a slight build but is strong. Alternatively Gary Rohan has a decent build but lacks strength.

Hayward, Blakey and McInerney don't possess this strength, they are very easy to bring down and very easy to get around. They're fine now as they are young members of a junior squad that is developing but if and when we are in finals they will be exposed badly. This is NOT to say they aren't good footballers but I have doubts about the careers they'll be able to carve out when we start getting serious and can't afford physical liabilities in the team.

[Mel_C]

Watch Hayward's tackling efforts. Or should I say lack thereof. His opponents look like bars of soap he slips off them so easily.

Again, it is not about the build, but about their strength. I used Stephens as an example of someone who has a slight build but is strong. Callum Mills in his first yr or two was slightly built but incredibly strong. Ben King at Gold Coast has a slight build but is strong. Alternatively Gary Rohan has a decent build but lacks strength.

Hayward, Blakey and McInerney don't possess this strength, they are very easy to bring down and very easy to get around. They're fine now as they are young members of a junior squad that is developing but if and when we are in finals they will be exposed badly. This is NOT to say they aren't good footballers but I have doubts about the careers they'll be able to carve out when we start getting serious and can't afford physical liabilities in the team.

They need to do Pilates to build up their core strength. On one of Cal's podcasts it was mentioned that Kennedy does Pilates but don't know if that's an individual thing.