TooSerious

OK, I stuffed up last week and never got around to writing the post... and if i dont do a quick one tonight, I may end up in the same situation this week as Ive got a busy week this week again. So Im not gonna write much this week, but I will give updates of our fantasy league over the break.

One thing I want to mention though, is the situation at the Tigers regarding the sacking of Ubaka. Did everyone hear about that? Full on! I read an article in the local paper over here in Perth about it, but if you want to read more about it, head over to Andthefoul.net where <a href="http://andthefoul.net/archives/2714" target="_blank">they have covered it [/url]and also the aftereffects <a href="http://andthefoul.net/archives/2727" target="_blank">here[/url] and <a href="http://andthefoul.net/archives/2741" target="_blank">here[/url]. Basically, the Tigers owner stormed into the dressing room after their last game and fired Ubaka on the spot while Gleeson was at a press conference and had no idea about.

And just before we head over the break, I also want to remind everyone that the lockout for NBL Dreamteam is tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:30 AEDT

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Here are the results from Round 14:
<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>

<td align="right"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=212&amp;lid=1">Duncans Troops[/url]
191
def by
351
<td align="left"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=531&amp;lid=1">Nothin But String[/url]



<td align="right"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=661&amp;lid=1">King Kong[/url]
413
def by
421
<td align="left"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=443&amp;lid=1">Don Cottagers[/url]



<td align="right"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=881&amp;lid=1">Team Stowie[/url]
317
def by
354
<td align="left"><a...

Theres 5 reports today, cause well, 2 of them are a bit of a no show!

I would love to hear the things that you guys are hearing- so drop in and leave us a comment!

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GWS

First things first, with no dedicated training facility, it looks like the young giants are doing <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/gws-giants-struggling-with-lack-of-dedicated-training-venues/story-e6frexwr-1226242976109">a lot of travel[/url]. Surely this couldnt be great for them right?

Actually no, thats the only thing! Guess we need more GWS supporters!!

Hawthorn

13/1

Roughy ran laps and participated in the kicking and handballing drills. Didnt look too troubled.
Xavier Ellis was on the bike only.
Sam Grimley was apparently very good, taking the days honours over Pattinson. Could be another rookie ruck prospect. (Though there was also talk about a possible ankle, which would make him more of a downgrade target through the year!)
Frank Amos is also one to watch, competed well in all the drills and is in line for some early gametime.
Lot of praise for Hill. Veryfast is the one word used to describe him.
Sucklings kicking is emaculate.

Stratton, Young and Gilham are all on track for an NAB start.

Intraclub on the 7-9th.

Melbourne

11/1

Macdonald, Tapscott and Trengove were only running laps, Jurrah was absent.
Bate once again, was in the midfield group.
Trengove ran the 3k in 9.33 (compared to the GWSs Tom Scully who did it in 9.37).

Intraclub was apparently on the 17th, but I havent heard much about it- you guys hear anything?.


North Melbourne

9/1

Daw, Wright and Lynch were all on the sidelines.
Cunnington was very good in the contested work.
McIntosh is looking fit, will be interesting to see how the ruck situation plays out at North.
Leigh Adams spent a lot of the match practice drills in defence.

16/1

Daw, Richardson, Lynch and Kennedy were in the rehab group.
Harper...

Looks like the prospectus is arriving.

Well, not for me cause Im in the office, but for others. Fingers are crossed that its sitting there when I get home though.

Regardless though, I reckon we need a place to discuss all the fun little tidbits that we find from that marvellous tome that is the Prospectus.

Now that Dwight Howard has scored 94 in a game and is officially off the table according to Dabombers, I can be a bit more open about my thoughts about him. Truth is, I would have drafted him with pick #2 if I hadve had it, but i didnt. I had pick #9 and I was really hoping that he would fall to there, but I realistically didnt think it was possible, so I threw out trade offers left right and centre trying to upgrade my first pick, including a last ditch attempt that tempted Dabombers to swap 1st round picks the day before the draft (there was also an upgrade of a 12th round to a 6th round in it for him - or something like that)... But i couldnt get a deal done, and then I had to stick to hoping and hurry up and wait for my 1st pick to come around. I was getting so nervous when Howard was still available with only Dabombers to pick before me - and then the rest is obvious... he was snapped up and I missed him. Before the season, I actually thought Howard could have ended up our highest scoring player this season, but I would never have taken that risk in the draft if I had #1 pick. I do not think that anymore, as LeBron has started off brilliantly; and Howard has been a little slow out of the blocks... But I still reckon Howard will be one of the top 3 players come the end of the season. Ever since the day after the draft, I have been proposing trades to Dabombers to try and get him, and I even sent a solidarity email to Crossy who drafted Howard at #3 in Div1. Even though I think we may have been relatively close at times, I dont think we ever really got close in Dabombers mind as he obviously rated Howard really highly as well. A lot hinges on his FT shooting - if he can manage to improve it a bit, then he will easily be the best under our scoring... But thats a BIG if. There are rumours every pre season that Howard has been working on his FT shooting and he is improving, but it never actually pans out that way. As it stands, under our scoring this year, he...

My my, the NAB cup just keeps getting closer, doesnt it!

But until then, lets keep looking around the training reports to see what we can gleen.

Up today is the Bombers, who have been doing their darndest to keep info inside the club, Fremantle, who for mine will be very fantasy relevant this year, Geelong whos first open session will be in a few days, and the GC boys who were oh so delicious last year.

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Essendon

9/1

The players have been doing a lot of strength training up to this point in the season.
Jobe and Stanton are looking very fit (as youd expect!)
Hurley suffered from some minor hammy tightness, but shouldnt be affected.

14/1

Melksham, Heppell and Colyer are all looking noticeably stronger in the upper half.
Watson reckons that Kavanagh and Obrien are on track to play the NAB.

15/1

Crameri is still on track of a round 1 birth, keeping up his fitness base after shoulder surgery last year.

Fremantle

9/1

A bit of an injury scare for Mzungu, was crunched in a contest and grabbed his ankle, limped off but was later seen walking.
Michie, Morabito, Mundy and Fyfe still not at training.
Suban, Roberts, Broughton and McPharlin were all noticeably good.
DeBoers kicking was very good, (while one session doesnt make a trend, if his kicking does improve, hell be excellent value).

10/1

Lyon was on the radio and said that Balantyne "will play midfield at times this year". Thats a little less promising than it has been.
Mentioned that Crichton and Pitt have been standouts this preseason and will get opportunity through the midfield.
That Anthony was likely to play up forward.

11/1

Mzungu didnt train, but word is that its "nothing to worry about".
Also missing were Mundy, Morabito, Fyfe, Michie, Roberton and Forster.
Foster, Ibbotson, Mayne and Walters were in the rehab group.
Roberts was again looking good, while Barlow has come a long way.

14/1

Word is that Griffin destroyed...

I was planning to get the top 10 into this installment but what dya know, it turns out there was a bit more writing than expected. So, shortly Ill post another write-up that focuses on the newly formed Top 3 - and lets be honest they deserve their own write up. In the meantime, join me over the break for a rundown of the best of the rest...<!--more-->Everton

It wouldnt be an English Premier League season without Everton getting off to a slow start. It happens year after year without fail. I wasnt convinced of their credentials to lift as the season went on, but theyve been randomly picking up enough points to give themselves breathing space from the bottom clubs.

Their complex financial issues continue to be their Achilles heel while Davie Moyes continues to be their saviour, working with both hands tied behind his back. Theres been mistakes of course, nobody, including Moyes, is immune to that and getting rid of Yakubu certainly seems to be one of them, but sometimes he must feel like hes farting against thunder. It might not be pretty, indeed, some of his line-ups would bring a tear to a glass eye. Neville and Heitinga in the centre of midfield for instance but its a results business and on that score, Moyes is a success.

Tim Howards recent goal against Bolton means that hes now scored as many as Saha this season and is only two goals behind Evertons top goalscorer(s). You dont need to be Stephen Hawking to see where their problems lie, at least on the park.

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Baines continues to fire in crosses but to no avail, and how the Everton supporters must wish that Duncan “Big Dunc” Ferguson would do a Scholes and pull his boots back on, to get on the end of Baines delicious centres. Back to reality though and Donovan arriving is excellent news and could help Everton pick up the results required that will help them to a top-half finish … just.

Stoke

Stoke have added another string to their bow by learning how to pick up a few wins on the...

Well, first restore back is done- might have lost a few comments.

This computer hacking is hard.

Might need a power drink and some cheetos.

update: alright, phase 1 looks like its in, hasnt fixed the particular bug I was trying to fix, but hopefully it makes the site a little more stable.

What a tumultuous few days we've had coming to terms with the first six rounds rounds of the inaugural ORFFL draft. Banging, chanting, fishing, twittering. All are flying thick and fast, and then of a sudden, not at all



We've also had the coach of Humpty Doo accuse the newly appointed Travelling Secretary of the Savages of planning to knife yours truly in a mid-season coup.



Not cool Lucas. Not cool.



Anyway, join us over the break as we dissect The Good, The Bad and The Hutchison of Rounds 1 to 7 of the ORFFL Draft.



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Rnd 1: The Fast and the TooSerious



Opening like a mexican drug war, the selections went bang, bang, bang, and then bang. So fast did she fly that there was nary a moment to contemplate what actually occurred.



Dustin Martin at #4 was arguably more than a touch early, but in hindsight the F/M was really the only man that the Kevin Bartlett of the ORFFL had in his sights. Deledio at #8 was also slightly contentious given the pure mids on offer, but where are you going to find another 24 year old DEF capable of scoring 100+? Nowhere, that's where.



Also surprising was Buddy's slide to #13, thought he was a sure-fire Top 10, and Boyd being picked before C JUDD, given that he's older and has less runs on the board historically.



Cox and Goodes probably went early too if you were taking age into account, but that's what happens when you put decisions into the cold robot hands of the Picking Machine&amp;trade;



Rnd 2: Rise of the Tall People, Fall of the Small People



Following a trend that started in the back half of the first round, Ruckmen continued to get snapped up at an alarming rate. Well, alarming if you didn't have one. 5 went in the opening round, and another 5 in the second. Zac Smith going at #27 is unprecedented for a Ruckmen going into his 2nd year of AFL, and suggested to me that there was a genuine market panic regarding the availability of...

Rather than what Ive done historically with dumping a huge weekly post on every bit of training info for every team imaginable, Im going to try to mix it up a little bit this year, posting a week or twos worth of reports on a handful of teams every couple of days. It will be better for keeping a rolling content happening, but will also enable us to focus our discussions to a handful of teams.

So heree the first 4, in alphabetical order- Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood.

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Adelaide

30/12

Knights did all the running, but didnt participate in any drills, has a niggle in his quad.

9/1

Jarryd Lyons limped off after a heavy knock. Should just be a jarred knee.
Van Berlo and Dangerfield both split the honours in the endurance testing.

12/1

Luke Thompson isnt looking 100%.
Shaw, Young, Talia and Martyn spent most of the session doing laps.
Was a particularly tough session, lots of heavy tackling involved.
Jacobs and Jenkins are looking much fitter than McKernan, Dowdell and Craig.
Porplyzia, Van Burlo and Doughty all impressed for the day.
Brown, Grigg and Kerridge have all hit the ground running.
Van Berlo won the beep test over Brad Symes.
Lyons was clear of any structual damage, training in the boxing ring.

Brisbane

9/1

Looks like Hanley sat out a bit with ice on his hammy.
Leuenburger and Hudson did all there work in the ruck.
Sam Docherty is nearing the end of his rehab program and will be resuming full training by next month.
Jon Brown has carried his pre-christmas form into the new year, looking great.
Brett Burton has the young players adding weight to their frames.
Harvey is pushing the boys pretty hard from the sounds of things, hopefully its not a freo mkII here.

Carlton

13/1

Henderson looks to be moving well.
Walker (as mentioned by Rowe), is looking very fit.
Bower wasnt quite up to scratch, will definitely need to keep an eye on hit.
Gibbs and Yarran are...

So, here we pick up from <a href="http://tooserious.net/the-induction-camp-for-afl-draftees-part-one">yesterdays article[/url], with my interviews with Carltons Sam Rowe, Collingwoods Jamie Elliot and from the GWS, the #1 draft pick, Jon Patton.

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Sam Rowe
Carlton F/R, 196cm, 92kg, $106,600 in SC, $98,700 in DT.

W: Do you play Supercoach or Dreamteam?

SR: I do, I didnt play Supercoach last year though, I *ahem* missed lockout, and didnt bother with it after that.

W: I see, but youve played in the past? Howd you go?

SR: To start with, I was really into it, but then as soon as I start having bad weeks, I really cant get into it.

W: Hows it all going? How are you fitting into the Blues and hows training going?

SR: Its going well, fitting in well and having a great time. Really impressed with everyone and the club. Looking forward to getting some games in a months time when we start the practice matches.

W: So do you think youre on track for early games?

SR: Im doing what I can, trainings going well, but Ive only been there a month so far so I cant say too much, but its all going well so far and well see what happens.

W: You played at Norwood with Nick Duigan, how is it with him at the Blues?

SR: Yeah, hes been very good, I played with Duigs for about three years at Norwood and hes been very good. He was in quite a similar situation to what Im in now, so I just need to copy what he did.

W: So on the training track, who would you say are doing the best so far?

SR: By far and away so far, Andrew Walker. I know he had a breakout year last year, but if I was doing a Dreamteam, or Supercoach, Id definitely have him in there. Hes an absolute machine, hes the fittest, strongest, fastest guy going around.

So there you have it, Andrew Walker is smashing it. As it Sam Rowe, who I must say, looks a bigger frame than the 92kg Ive...