27/7/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Training was much improved tonight, we split up into Senior, Reserves and U18’s squads so that probably had something to do with it. Individually I trained well, foot skills were very good. My right boot is causing a few problems though, basically I’ve worn out the part behind my heel. It’s already given me one big blister and my attempts to fix it haven’t worked too well. Hopefully I can see out the season without getting new boots because apart from that they are very comfy.
We got off to a great start for a change, 8 goals to nil in the first quarters. We had a 10 min flat spot in the last quarter but apart from that it was an awsome effort from the team. I played on a former AFL full forward who’s coming 2nd in our league goalkicking and kept him to 3 goals. It was looking like I could keep a clean sheet at halftime but a dropped mark from a kick out by one of our onballers gave him a cheap goal. During our flat spot in the last he kicked another 2, the first I should have stoppped, the second was froma bloody good mark by him. Apart from his 3 goals, he only got 1 other kick so I was pretty happy with my game. I also took 3 marks from opposition kicks.
Next week we play our hardest opponent in another Grand Final rematch. I’ll play on another ex AFL player who’s kicked a lot of goals in the last couple of weeks. I usually play pretty well on him and I’m looking forward to the challenge again.
Sounds like you’ve been playing quite well of late but geez, you must get very bored playing in the backline, with your team winning by 100+ points almost every week. Does your coach ever allow you to push forward?
Staying interested has actually been the biggest challenge over the course of the season. With the finals coming up it’s not really an issue anymore although I wouldn’t mind kicking a goal. It could well be the first year I’ve not kicked one.
30/7/06
Recovery session
Had a Sunday morning session, just a couple of laps and some skills. It was a bit of a giggle though, one of the boys turned up in his kit from the night before and a few boys were very seedy. Very funny watching them try and catch the ball in the early morning sunshine. Due to this session we haven’t got Monday night training so looking forward to Tuesday now.
Only a short session for me tonight. I’ve got a slight hip flexor strain and the coach doesn’t want any problems before this weeks match. I’ll get some treatment on it before Thursday’s session. I’m really looking forward to this weekend, it’ll be fantastic to see how far we’ve come since the start of the year and it’s be great to win and keep the wood over our opponents.
Once again I only did half the session due to a slightly sore hip flexor. I would have done the whole lot quite comfortably but the coach only let me do half as a precaution. Not really anything to worry about as it feels pretty good. Looking forward to the weekend, it’s always good to test myself out by playing on the better players.
Unbelievable win against the 2nd placed side. The game was tight until halftime, then we kicked 14 goals to 2 in the second half. We won pretty much every position on the ground, forwards were unstoppable, backs were miserly and on ballers awesome. What was great was that they came into the game fairly cocky and tried to rough us up with a bit of a dust up at 1/4 time. We flew the flag for each other really well and they left with thier tails between their legs.
I played well again. My opponent kicked 2 goals as their go to forward. They isolated us 1 on 1 so for them to win he had to kick quite a few more. I took no marks from opposition kicks this week. I was very much concentrating on limiting my opponents output so most of the time that meant taking him out of the contest or spoiling him rather than trying to outmark him.
We’ve got 2 games to go until the finals and we can’t afford to be cocky at all, this time last year we were the hunters, now we’re the hunted.
Another Monday rehab session, just a couple of laps, some stretching and a few strides, followed by stationary ball work and a light weights circuit. Everyone’s feeling pretty good and looking forward to the next few weeks. Mt hip flexor is still a bit sore and both hammies are tight as well. Hopefully they’ll loosen up for Tuesday night’s session.
8/8/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
This session was a bit flat, our Reserves can’t make the finals now so there was only a few of them at training which meant the numbers were down a bit and we were very spread out across our long drills. My hammies are still tight but getting better, should be right by Saturday. Hopefully Thursday night will be a better session, we can’t really afford a let down at this stage of the season.
10/7/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
This session was much better than Tuesday. The boys seemed in a much better frame of mind and the balls moved around really well. My leg soreness has pretty much gone although I was subject to a 3rd degree inquiry from the coach as to wether I needed a rest this week or not. I finally managed to convince him that I’m right to play, which I am. Just need to keep playing well now.
Pretty much the same story as usual, we got off to a good start and kept the pressure on for the whole game. We had to put up with a heap of crap from their supporters and then in the last quarter they got a bit punchy. It’ll be more of the same next week, I can’t wait for the finals to start so we can get on with playing proper footy.
I had 3 marks from opposition kicks, down a little bit. It was funny going from playing on one of the best in the comp last week to an absolute no name this week. His teammates just wouldn’t kick the ball near him.
We were a bit short on numbers, not many reserves players at this session. It went quite well though even when we were doing some new drills. A few of the boys thought it was funny to introduce new drills at this stage of the season but it kept everyone’s mind on the job.
18/8/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
This was a pretty good session, balls moved very well, everyone was enthusiastic. Also there was a lot of talk about not being complacent this week. We’ve got a couple of low key injuries so there is some changes to the team and all the blokes getting a game this week will want to play well to hold their spots for the start of the finals next week.
All the talk about not being complacent went out the window after we started well. Our 2nd quarter was crap and we went into halftime 3 points ahead. Both the coach and I gave the boys a rev up and we responded as we should, dominating the last half. It was disappointing that we needed a spray but the was we responded was a positive.
Personally I was given a bit of a run around by my opponent early and although I was going ok he played pretty well too. I went to Centre half back in the 2nd half and took control of the backline, we only conceded 1 goal after that. Also took 6 marks from opposition kicks which was pleasing.
We’re looking forward to the finals starting next weekend. 1st vs 2nd with the winner straight through to the grand final and the loser consigned to another tough knockout final the week after.
Another decent session, disappointing that a few boys were missing. It’s the time of year to have everyone keen and training well. The rest of the group was good, some of us are trying to grow goatees for the finals series. Mine’s terrible and should provide a few laughs, some of the others are more successful.
22/8/2006
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Our 1sts and 3rds are through to the finals leaving the 2nds as the only team not to qualify. As such there was only a couple of the 2nds players at this session. It was a pretty short, intense session where we moved the balls well with plenty of voice coming from the group.
Afterwards we had a meeting where one of the vice captains had taken some passages from Sun Tze’s The Art Of War and adapted them to our situation. We also wrote down 3 individual points that will halp carry us through the finals.
My 3 are: I will create a positive and enthusiastic presence within the team; I will concentrate on and be desperate at every contest I’m involved in; My physical and mental preparation for each game and training session will be second to none.
24/8/06
Football training
Warm up
Short skills
Long skills
Fairly slippery and wet conditions for this but the feeling and enthusiam was great. Everyone moved around the track really well and we’re looking forward to a good game. I’ve got another big job to do on their key forward and a good performance from me will see us go a long way to winning the game.
Great win and straight through to the Grand Final. Their midfield was on top early and we were a bit lucky to be level at quarter time. In the second quarter our midfield started to even it up and we went to halftime with a 3 goal lead. Basically we took control in the 2nd half and ran away with the game. Our 2nd halves have been our strong point all year and it was good to see this continue. There was a lot of good performances from our forwards and mids and the backline was very solid.
Individually I actually played quite poorly, only one mark from opposition kicks and I let my man have a free run at the ball too often. I’m glad to have the week off before the Grand Final and it’ll be good to get along to the Preliminary Final next week and do my homework on my opponent. I just have to remember that as a defender I don’t always have to beat my man straight up.
Feeling pretty sore, normally we have a day between the game and this session but our finals are played on Sundays instead of Saturday. Everyone was in high spirits as expected.