The inner footballer-what players think.

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I’ve posted this thread for forumers interested in the overall game experience from a players perspective as related to me from a former junior. It is my ambition to provide insights into the game from a players viewpoint not normally covered by mainstream media etc.

Hopefully this will improve our overall understanding and enjoyment of the game.

I am just a stock factory fan looking at the game from the outside. The stuff is as new to me as it may be to you.

I will just add discussion topics as the thread progresses.

Hopefully you will get something out of it.

All comments and observations very welcome.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Video review-2 parts

There is a a review of the last game and the players are assembled to watch it together.
The coach is identifying the individual mistakes players have made and asks them why they made them. What were they thinking about at the time. Coach expects honesty. In some ways a poor execution is better than a bad decision.
The coach will then suggest the right thing for that scenario. Players do not like this review very much.

Review of next opponents matches. Coach takes the players through opponents styles of play, injuries and capabilities. Every opposition player is addressed, but players warned that the other squad may line up differently.

All players are advised that the team will have a different game plan than the week before. No game is approached identically.

Opposition players are targeted with different objectives. So if you want to isolate a half, you might keep running at second rowers etc to wear them out. Where they get tired, you have the half for brekky. This can get very complex, targeting some players to adversely effect others. That was quite interesting.

Dodgy wingers and fullbacks are to be pounded all game.

So if you’re watching at home, see if you can pick up patterns in play.

One facet of training:

Later at training, the squad is divided and one half plays the role of the opposition and trys to replicate their qualities, while the other half envisages playing them. Then the situation is reversed so all players get an understanding of both sides.

Thanks for reading, more to come…

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Today we will elaborate upon some of the aspects training and also provide a few assurances regarding the character of players.

In relation to contact training, unfortunately, some players (a minority) go too hard and do hurt and occasionally injure people.

One day, a superstar who likes bbqs was getting a bit aggressive at training, so young bloke and a couple of others decided to give him some heat back in a tackle which included squashing his head into the ground. The boys got into trouble because the player was an NRL hero.

So in the training with the squad, the nrl side are treated more delicately than the other players although they are allowed to scrunch kids seemingly with impunity. Privileged!

The range of payment for grades can vary for the kids $150 to $750 a game with bonuses for wins.

There is also a special one on one drill which is horrific. One guy has the ball and the other has to tackle him. They start 20 metres apart directly in front of each other. The ball guy has to get past defender and the defender stop him.

Unfortunately, the competitors are chosen at random for this event. So massive front rowers can be pitted against half backs and delicate wingers. Young mate broke an index finger in this savage drill.

So we look at Lucy and we might say he’s having an off game or whatever, but he is a very scary guy to tackle one on one. The players make this look a lot easier than it is.

So even training can be fraught with real danger.

Tomorrow I am going to present on effective tackles and also, we will move into motivational speeches, what was said…and why this could have helped or not.

Ok, who are the good players to play with a coach to be coached by from a players point of view. I will try to make this on ongoing sub feature.

Players:

Sivo, very humble guy, warm and unassuming. Wonderful player.

There’s been some bad humour about Naden, but he’s apparently very friendly and kind to all juniors and had zero tabs on himself. Everyone likes having him around.

Coach

Matthew Head

One of the smartest footy minds out there. Over at Sgi I think.

Mentioned in dispatches:

Hook, unfashionable but highly regarded amongst many players.

Thanks for reading today’s instalment. If you have a question for young footy mate, post it here. No spin, no propaganda.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Just a quick addendum, everyone remembers our players having a punch on last pre season I think. It made the news etc, and I think we enjoyed the enthusiasm.

Well apparently, punch-ons are common and it’s just put down to the competitive nature of the sport and the youngsters testosterone and adrenalin levels near peak.

He said you can’t read anything into it at all.

He also said that players will be friendly and forgiving to each other after video review humiliation. One of those team bonding things. Just a player thing, no coaches orchestrating it etc.

 

[stryker]

Lol I love this shit.
Keep ‘em coming Phantom, such valuable insight!

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Lol I love this shit.
Keep ‘em coming Phantom, such valuable insight!

I thought it wouldn’t be of especial or particular interest to you Styker-puss, given your encyclopaedic knowledge of every single aspect of the game.

But i find comfort if it is of mild academic interest to you, in between your relentless sledging of the club and the defaming of 98% of the squad!

Tomorrow’s episode about correct tackling should be a good one.

 

[stryker]

I thought it wouldn’t be of especial or particular interest to you Styker-puss, given your encyclopaedic knowledge of every single aspect of the game.

But i find comfort if it is of mild academic interest to you, in between your relentless sledging of the club and the defaming of 98% of the squad!

Tomorrow’s episode about correct tackling should be a good one.

You are aware that most of us have played this game for decades?
Irrespective of the level reached, I’d wager most of us knew the majority of this info before you regurgitated it.
You are telling us how to suck eggs.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

You are aware that most of us have played this game for decades?
Irrespective of the level reached, I’d wager most of us knew the majority of this info before you regurgitated it.
You are telling us how to suck eggs.

No, it’s a good faith thread raising things I didn’t know about or know very little about.

So I thought, maybe there’s people like me I can share it with.

I’m honestly glad you’re enjoying it, there’s no bad will or anything negative to infer.

 

[Ned Kelly]

You are aware that most of us have played this game for decades?
Irrespective of the level reached, I’d wager most of us knew the majority of this info before you regurgitated it.
You are telling us how to suck eggs.

Nope, never played it except in the back yard. Hey Silvertail I do find it interesting. I wuld have liked to have seen more of this in the so called doco. I don't think you are telling us how to suck eggs but for those who need some instruction on the matter I prefer to use a spoon with my soft boiled, maybe a bit of pepper and Vegemite on my soldiers.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Hi everyone, it’s a terrible day for the game with the passing of Johnny Raper.

So for the moment, out of respect, I’m just going to post up some diagrams which I will address in due course.

As you know, tackling inevitably leads to broader objectives of player movement and I got a bit distracted.

But you can prepare for the next post by assessing these.

Vale Chook.

Fig 1 typical defence posture


Fig 2 Tramlines


Fig 3 Towards the gap

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Welcome back to the lecture series.

For some click bait, young mate said that in the junior ranks, his view was that Jackson Hastings was a much better player than Nathan Cleary.

I was very pleased to hear that- and very surprised!!

Looking at the figure 1 above, you will notice that the forwards congregate around the middle. Their workload is much greater than the backs, hence they are replaced more often.

They are in the middle to stop the progression of other forwards in front of them.

These days, the forwards are getting much stronger and larger and mobility is a big asset.

He did say, the massive winger was also in the mix as a big attribute now.

In attack, the idea of the forward is to do the following:

A) use up the other sides energy
B) push the ruck to a certain position on the field
C) try to bring other players in to a vicinity to isolate them.
D) Other duties per a fixed play etc.

Thus the one out runs is an example of A.

So when looking at one out runs, see how many people are involved in the tackle and the effort expent on stopping the attacker. The more in, the better. Also from kick off, the big forward will usually run to the middle to maximise attacking options on the next play or of course, another hit up.

As the game progresses, the forwards start to tire and should get sloppy in defence. They become slower and less threatening.

The best defence is ball and all and using as much force as possible to hurt the other player. This can be assisted by using centre of gravity and tacking upwards, head in a safe position.

And for positioning, don’t forget that the centre of the park gives you the options of throwing the ball either way. Accordingly, a lot of the game is played in the middle to maximise the attacking options.

So from this, I would conclude that Madge with his terror training was determined to strengthen the pack to withstand the whirlwind.

A very traditional application which did not seem to work and I think, to an extent, has been abandoned.

Ok, back to likeable players, Glen Buttriss is the ultimate raider. Always there for the juniors when he played NRL.

Also, when young bloke played for other sides, the squad was chockers with ex Panthera who didn’t make the cut.

Moreover, the Panthers did not treat discarded juniors very well and when they met them, there was always a grudge. The rejects wanting to own them.

As a snippet, young mate said that the fullback is the most important player on the ground as he is communicating to the other players as to where the other side is positioning. He is usually yelling all the time.

The tackling and attack attributes of a fullback are less important than his vision and communication. That was interesting to me.

Soon we will talk about players with no specific attack roles. Free agents, but often expected to defend like no tomorrow. And we will return to our footy diagrams young mate and I put together.

More later….

Vale Olsen.

 

[macnaz]

Thanks TSP

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Hi everyone, the weekend edition:

* players are most definitely on the hunt for a penalty at every opportunity. Faking is absolutely rife and systemic at all levels. Not trained for, not official policy, but definitely tolerated. No dishonour in it it’s an accepted part of the game amongst players. Crocodile tears when players object to fakers on field. Badge of honour amongst the boys if you get away with it.

* Tacklers. Slowing down the attack is a very big deal to provide the other defenders with precious seconds to reset. The third tackler in without cause continues to create controversy. It’s not an automatic given and it takes precious effort. League is about physical attrition as much as anything else.

* Held up over the line. Young blokes view is that many a legal try has been disallowed by perceptions of holding up. The merest contact of the ball with an atom of grass is a try as well as the try line.

* Many players are superstitious, some do things like eat certain things on the day and even dress in the same way. That extends to ensuring that a sock is placed the right foot in a particular way and all the rest. Of all the superstitions, the most annoying to other players can be the heavy metal through the earphones because it’s still loud!

* Each player is given their own time and space to go through their own rites before a game.

* Jackson Hastings had a tradition of facing a mirror and looking at himself. Other players thought he was just marvelling at himself and didn’t like it. I’m not saying this is what he was thinking about. I don’t know, but that’s what others thought.

He did not like being disturbed and was not very friendly to other players.

He did get the reputation of being a loose cannon and not much of a team player. Jackson spoke his demeanour and reason for it with Danny Weedler. He says he was very depressed and is benefiting from bulk proper counselling. This was only last year.

Here is the link and I think it is a very good interview to help people understand what Jackson thinks.

NRL outcast's mental 'demons' laid bare

'A lot of deep-seated stuff from my childhood'

www.google.com

I’ve got a really good feeling about his tenure, he’s going to enjoy being appreciated and looked up to by us. He hasn’t really had much of that before. The stars have aligned for him and us.

Young mate thought that this was good, but at the same time, his self isolation may have also provided him with a lot of motivation which it would be good to preserve. Interesting position. I’ve said elsewhere he has been rated by players when he was a junior as being outstanding and in top tier of all the young players.

Fingers crossed!

As a bit of fun, one of the Sharks players who played only 2 games in their awesome 2016 year was sure to get the proper tatt celebrating their victory with Team Member all over it. A few players found that a bit too audacious, but I don’t mind lol.

Thanks for reading.

 

[stryker]

One thing that always stuck with me coming through the grades in the early 90’s was that as you progressed, became more experienced and played in better teams, with the occasional rep games thrown in, the bigger cheat you became.
When I was 12/13 I was an honest backrower who did his job to a certain level every week. I took my runs, made my tackles and held onto the ball. By the time I was 16 I was well on my way to being a grub. When I hit opens, I was a psychopath who would do anything to win. If you tried to steamroll me, I’d get you down and drive my elbow into your face on the ground. I’d use opposition players private life info against them on the field.
”Hey Robbo, heard your bro went to jail again. Wonder how many cocks he sucked today”….
When I look back on it, this stuff was learned. Especially when you hit the opens. Guys would go away to rep camps at state level and such and return as different men. They’d share the crap they’d experience and we’d all copy it. It became a pissing contest to see what you could get away with.
All the diving and ref whining wasn’t around in those days, but the filthy grubby stuff was rampant and the better you were, the more you did it.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

One thing that always stuck with me coming through the grades in the early 90’s was that as you progressed, became more experienced and played in better teams, with the occasional rep games thrown in, the bigger cheat you became.
When I was 12/13 I was an honest backrower who did his job to a certain level every week. I took my runs, made my tackles and held onto the ball. By the time I was 16 I was well on my way to being a grub. When I hit opens, I was a psychopath who would do anything to win. If you tried to steamroll me, I’d get you down and drive my elbow into your face on the ground. I’d use opposition players private life info against them on the field.
”Hey Robbo, heard your bro went to jail again. Wonder how many cocks he sucked today”….
When I look back on it, this stuff was learned. Especially when you hit the opens. Guys would go away to rep camps at state level and such and return as different men. They’d share the crap they’d experience and we’d all copy it. It became a pissing contest to see what you could get away with.
All the diving and ref whining wasn’t around in those days, but the filthy grubby stuff was rampant and the better you were, the more you did it.

Yeah, this is fertile ground for further exploration. The toughness element.

I asked the young bloke about getting up from the heavy tackles and he said:

“ You don’t want to show any weakness, if the opposition sense you’re soft, they may try to target you”

You can’t be soft or cowardly because there’s no place to hide.

This can be car-accident stuff.

I see a lot of tackles and after the theatre of the collision, often I’m trying to see how the ball carrier is picking himself up, how he holds himself.

I’d be in intensive care for the rest of my life.

Players on the same team can be as nasty as the opposition if you wave the white flag. There’s a duty owed to the side.

The young bloke would belt and sledge people too. Hed sledge people after the game sometimes and said parents would fight and punch on. Like you, he said he didn’t really mind it. Not very civilised, but I guess the game de-sensitises and people become accustomed to the adversarial environment and nature of it.

That might explain why the players laughed about the training punch on last year. Didn’t raise an eyebrow, was a great joke!

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Ok, busy week:

The two greatest motivational speeches were the coach they liked who threatened to resign if they didn’t win and Steve Blocker Roach who used quite profound language and got all angry to inspire them. Then they won both of these matches.

Blocker was criticising a Victorian side. Words to the effect of

“ They can f**king be miserable c)$ts all the way home”

“ This is the Tigers, it’s our f**king state, who the f**k do they think they are playing against?”

And afterwards they got to meet Blocker who was very pleased they won and friendly to the boys. Completely different persona!

I asked “ do you think about the coaches inspirational stuff on the park during a game”

Answer: No, we are all too busy.

Hardest training run?

Having to crawl on all fours up a hill with the coach hitting us with a Bamboo stick.

This is actually for real. Wtf!!

Favourite players in terms of technique and overall footy love?

Very surprising answers, not my choices, but so be it:-

Dallas Johnson
Cooper Cronk

We live and we learn.

Geez, Good players but all time best?!

 

[gordsy]

I wonder how sides train for us. For the first four to 6 weeks they probably train hard against each other.
For the last 6 they probably just go to the pub as they know we will find a way to f**k it up

 

[stryker]

Dallas was a freak mate. Played well above his weight and never gave in. I rate him very very highly.
Cooper controlled the game better than any halfback I’ve seen at all levels for his whole career. Johns was good too but never dominated rep like Cronk did.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Dallas was a freak mate. Played well above his weight and never gave in. I rate him very very highly.
Cooper controlled the game better than any halfback I’ve seen at all levels for his whole career. Johns was good too but never dominated rep like Cronk did.

Just goes to demonstrate I’ve never played League other than park.

I fondly recall the gang tackles into the wire fence. It sounds worse than it was because it was springy, in fact, when you were going to get nailed, you ran to the fence on purpose and prayed that when you got smashed, you weren’t impaled by a stray metal frond.

But it was a lot softer than the ground.

You’d reverberate a bit on your way down and the audio of the fence noise was weird, people crashing into it. It was a lot more fun being a tackler, I remember that.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Just some time out for visitors here, @parra pete continues to entertain the forum with another classic: