4/5/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Got sent in by the coach halfway through training. He’s trying to make sure everyone gets a break now and again. It was actually good cos my left foot has been a bit sore and it was causing me to run differently and as a consequence my left hip flexor is now sore. Hopefully it comes up ok for the weekend, we’ve got another big game against a finals contender.
6/5/06
Round 4 match - Lost by 8 points
After being behind all day we hit the lead late in the last quarter and just needed to hang on. What happened next was entirely my fault so the blame for the defeat sits squarely on my shoulders. A stupid turnover in front of their goal by me allowed them to retake the lead and close out the match. My man also kicked the sealer after I was trying to guard 2 opponents cos we were trying to attack in an attempt to score again.
The rest of my game was good, 4 marks from opposition kicks, and the rest of my kicking was much better than it has been. In fact I even got a vote in the best players despite the last 2 minutes.
Mentally I need to get over this and make sure I come back next week and perform well.
Losing happens and how you respond is what you are judged on.
9/5/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Our numbers were down at training which was disappointing especially coming off our first loss. The guys that were there had a good session though. It’s become fairly obvious that our forward line structure needs some work with quite a few new players in there. Hopefully we keep working on that at training. I need to focus on my kicking skills which have been a bit poor lately although I think it’s more of a decision making thing than technique breakdown.
11/5/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Training started ok before going downhill, at which point we got a rocket from the coach and had to do competitive stuff for the rest of the session. I think we might need a whole session like this, we seem to have a group of bloke who train with no intensity at the moment and are playing like it as well.
13/5/06
Round 5 match - Won by 115 points
Another game we were expected to win easily which we did. I spent the day at full back doing bugger all, the ball didn’t come down too often. Only 2 marks from opposition kicks this week. It was pleasing to bounce back the way we did though.
Another massive win. Are you guys one of the top teams in your league?
Yeah we won the flag last year, looking to go back to back with a much improved list this year. Last year we really only came good for the last few games and the finals series.
16/5/05
I was suppossed to have football training but I have a heavy cold so I had the night off to rest and recover. The coach was cool with that, he didn’t want me spreading my germs to the rest of the group anyway.
18/5/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Training was pretty brief tonight but it worked well. Everyone was enthusiastic and the balls moved around the track well. Looking forward to a good game this weekend, should win pretty well.
20/5/06
Round 6 match - Won by 139 points
Yet another win by a huge margin. I kicked back in the backline relaxing. Only took 1 mark from opposition kicks this week. The big wins are taking a toll on this stat. Next week will be different, it’s the Grand Final rematch and they’ll definitely be looking for revenge. Looking forward to a good week of training and a test next week.
23/5/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Ground was pretty muddy tonight so we did quite a bit of competitive stuff. I didn’t do too well for some reason. I think I just need to refocus a bit and I certainly need to get my head around this week’s game cos it will be a big test for us. I’ve also been asked by the coach to speak to the group about this week’s opponent, what I’ve learned about them, what beating them means to me etc.
At the end of training we had to do 500 star jumps as a punishment for missing some goals during a goal kicking drill. It was more of a mental punishment than physical but I’ll have to make sure to stretch my calves well before the next session.
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Training went pretty well although I have a few issues with the coach at the moment. Firstly on Tuesday night he asked me to speak to the group at this session about the importance of this weeks game and then forgot about it. My preparation for that was a waste of time. Then halfway through training he pulled me aside and said my form’s been down and he wants me to pick it up this week. I was a bit taken aback due to the fact that we’ve won both the last 2 games by over 20 goals and he’s been playing me at fullback. I was in the best players for 3 of the first 4 games all of which I played at centre half back. I thought it might have been a bit of a motivation tactic so went back and finished training off well. Blow me down if he didn’t bring it up again during the team meeting after training in ront of the group. Usually I’m pretty laid back back but this has pissed me off to the point that I will speak to him after the game when I’ve played really well.
27/5/06
Round 7 match - Won by 3 points
Well, what a game. As a grand final rematch it certainly lived up to the hype. They got away early in the 1st quarter to lead by 5 goals at quarter time. We got to work in the 2nd though and by half time we were only a goal down. The whole last half was an arm wrestle with us hitting the front for the first time with about 10 minutes to go. We ended up hanging on with some big individual efforts.
I played on close to the best forward in the comp and shut him down most of the day. He’s kicked 9 and 10 goals in the past 2 weeks and I managed to keep him to 1 which wasn’t even a goal as I touched it on the way through but somehow neither the goal or field umpires saw or heard it. Actually a bit unbelivable cos I got most of my hand on it and it made a fair bit of noise. Took 3 marks from opposition kicks and dropped 1 I should have taken.
The only negative is the issues with the coach that haven’t been resolved and probably won’t be, don’t really care though as long as he lets me get on with the job.
29/5/06
Rehab/Mobility
Weights
Snatch grip deadlift 33 107kg
Bench press 33 87kg
Bent over row 3*3 80kg
Mainly a recovery session with a fair bit of mobility work. Also I’ve been fairly slack with the weights so a bit of a short maintenance session for them.
30/5/06
Football training
Warm up
Soccer and touch footy
This was a very low key training session, we just played some soccer and touch footy for a bit of a run around. I certainly don’t think anyone in a world cup squad needs to worry about taking their place either. I’ve never seen as many hand balls either, when you’re used to using your hands it’s bloody hard not to.
1/6/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Just a regular Thursday night session before a game. The coach was pretty happy with it though. Positivity is always good.
3/6/06
Round 8 match - Won by 72 points
We started pretty slowly as a team although I started well. We got going in the 2nd half to run right over the top of them. I played a pretty good game, 8 marks from opposition kicks, definitely better to be playing at Centre Half Back. I did spend about 15 minutes at full back to start the 2nd half. Not sure what the hell the coach was thinking, with the way he’s been lately though I’m not overly suprised.
6/6/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Match practice
We don’t have game this weekend, the whole league has the week off. No to many senior players at training tonight as a result. We played a bit of a scratch match for about 45 mins and I found it very difficult to get a kick early with the U/18s and reserves players running around. They don’t play the same style of footy that I’m used to and do some really unexpected things, most of the time it’s not very helpful to the team either. I got going in the end though and had a few touches. My kicking skills are back in a big way as well.
7/6/06
Warm up
Medball throws
Weights
Snatch grip deadlift 33 115kg
Bench press 33 87kg
Bent over row 3*3 75kg
The medball throws were just some backwards overhead throws, push press, and slams. I haven’t done them for a while but they were ok. The weights were pretty good as well.
13/6/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Well after nearly a week off it was good to get back into some training. The session was pretty light, still a few boys enjoying a long, long weekend it seems. Hopefully Thursday night will be more serious leading into this weekends game.