AFL 2012

[Andrew]

With AFL Pre-Season (NAB Cup) being just a month away, let's get the discussions going underway.

1. Will be making another thread and hopefully sticky the thread where we can do our Football Tips. I will keep it all updated in Excel and post weekly scores. I'm going to add a bonus for every game that appears first in the round. For example,

Carlton vs. Richmond on Thursday Night, you predict the score. Whoever is the closest will be leading, if you get it right, you get two points.

With Great Western Sydney starting as a new AFL side this year how do you think they will go?

Do you think your team has what it takes to be premiers? Who will be the one to watch this year? Who will be sacked first?

With the Free Agency Rule being in used this year (I believe), who will be switching clubs?

Lots of discussion will be used here. Let's get it underway!
​

 

[Troy]

Looking forward to this season as there won't be a team having a bye every week. It was frustrating not seeing every team place each week and it had an impact on teams form. I also can't wait to see every game live since I have Foxtel, I hate how seven used to delay friday night football by over an hour each week so they can show Better Homes and Gardens.

With GWS I think that they will have a worse start than Gold Coast had this year. They barely picked up any mature players and so they will struggle this year. Will be watching on with interest to see how they go though and I hope that Folau does well up forward.

As a North fan I am sick of not playing finals so anything less than finals is a failure this season. I think that we should be in the 6-8 range at the end of the year.

 

[Heisenberg]

Just a suggestion: Will there be vbookie during the season?

Btw: I support Collingwood. I'm a cheer squad member. lulz.

 

[Troy]

I will be aiming to post vbookies during the season for AFL, I will aim to get a vbookie for every match. I will post some early threads like NAB Cup winner this weekend.

We have a good spread of AFL fans supporting different teams; North, Bulldogs, Collingwood, Sydney, Essendon. Should be a fun season as I suspect that we all expect our teams to be playing finals this year.

 

[Andrew]

If Doggies finish top 8 I will be surprised. North has a better chance then Dogs.

 

[Troy]

Fair enough, where do you think the dogs will finish, 9-12?

 

[Heisenberg]

I'm not Andrew, but I'm going with 10th.

 

[Andrew]

10th sounds about right

 

[Andrew]

Carlton's Lachie Henderson had a break out 2nd half of the year in 2011 playing as a centre half back and has been dying to get back out on the ground and show what he's worth for the entire 2012 season. Do you think Lachie Henderson can hold down the Centre Half Back position?



Fremantle are hoping to add a bit of pace into their midfield hinting that small forward, Hayden Ballantyne will spend more time in the midfield during the season



Collingwood's Ben Reid could possibly interrupt his pre-season after a freak accident in Thailand while away with his brother Sam (who plays for Sydney) and a group of mates. Reid thought the injury to his shoulder was severe enough to ring Collingwood Headquarters to let them know of the incident. Reid will be further assessed when he arrives back.

 

[Kylie]

Glad to see an AFL thread making the rounds here. I don't like making predictions, especially about my beloved Hawks (don't want to jinx them). I'll be very interested to see how a few teams fair this year. Won't expect a big impact from GWS. I think their main goal is to prove that Folau is worth the $1 million a year he doesn't deserve.

 

[Andrew]

I've got Hawks to win the premiers this year.

 

[Andrew]

[h=6]North Melbourne's Majak Daw has been suspended by the club for breaching rehab rules during their community camp.[/h]

 

[Troy]

Was completely blown out of proportion which was North's fault since they announced it at the start of the day but wouldn't say why. Basically he skipped some rehab sessions and then lied about it to Brad Scott. He is still a bit away from his AFL debut because the positions he will probably play are covered but I see him making his debut in the second half of the season to big fanfare. Bit frustrating that he did this but hopefully he learns from it and doesn't do it again.

In other North news I was happy that we picked Andrew Swallow as captain with Petrie and Ziebell as vice captains. Swallow has lead the way on the field and is a perfect choice to lead the club. Petrie is the perfect clubman but his age would have worked against him. Ziebell is awesome and it going to be a future captain of the club.

Very interesting that Melbourne selected Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes as co-captains. First of all I hate the idea of co-captains and I think that it is always better if one guy is captain and not a group of them. I think that Trengove is going to be great as captain because he has already shown by the way he plays that he is a leader and to be honest he can't do any worse than Green. Grimes is an interesting one since he had a great start to his career but has struggled with injury lately. I also thought that Frawley would be ahead of him as well in the leadership stakes.

 

[Kylie]

Ah that's why. Now how hard was it of North's staff to just say that in the first place? I get that they want to keep it quiet, but if they reveal nothing instead of something then the media will probe into it until they have something to go off, no matter how inaccurate the story is.

I don't mind the whole co-captain bit. As long as a club can function and show both an equal amount of respect then there shouldn't be a problem. Both Trengrove and Grimes aren't bad choices, although both are very young for that kind of responsibility....especially Trengrove (I think he's only 20 right?).

 

[Heisenberg]

COLLINGWOOD NEWS

Ben Johnson injury
Collingwood veteran Ben Johnson is set to miss 3-4 weeks of the pre-season campaign after suffering a hamstring injury during training at Gosch’s Paddock on Wednesday.

Scans confirmed a grade one strain for 30-year-old, who has played 224 games for the Magpies and is entering his 13th season at the elite level.

“Unfortunately for Ben scans confirmed a hamstring strain, and he will now go through a rehab program with the aim of being back into full training within 3-4 weeks,†Collingwood director of football Geoff Walsh said.

Johnson, a member of the 2010 premiership side, is one of two players on the Collingwood list to have played 200 games for the Magpies.

He played 16 games in 2011, including each of the club’s three finals, after missing a chunk a football in the middle of the season through injury.

He made his debut in round one of the 2000 season after being drafted from Preston under 18s with the 62nd overall pick in the 1999 draft.

Johnson has twice finished second in the club best-and-fairest (2004, 2006).

Johnson's injury occurred in the same week dual All-Australian Magpie Alan Didak tore his adductor muscle. Didak is scheduled to miss the next month of football after sustaining the injury on Monday.

Didak 'disappointed' to miss a month
Collingwood star forward Alan Didak has torn his adductor muscle in a training session on Monday and will miss the next four weeks.

Didak, who was enjoying a strong pre-season heading into his 11th season, sustained the injury during a training session at Gosch’s Paddock.

The dual All-Australian spoke to collingwoodfc.com.au about the frustration he feels after his latest setback.

“I was having a good pre-season and feeling positive about 2012,†Didak said at the Westpac Centre on Tuesday morning.

“I hit the ground running in Arizona after not having the season I would’ve liked last year, and continued to do all the training after Christmas.

“It’s extremely frustrating and disappointing to be sidelined for a few weeks, but hopefully I can recover well, get back and play some good footy in the early part of the season."

Collingwood director of football Geoff Walsh said the club is hopeful that Didak will be back on the field in time for round one.

“Alan has torn his adductor muscle and will miss the next four weeks,†Walsh said.

“He has had scans to confirm the injury and now will go through a rehab schedule to hopefully get him back and ready for round one of the home and away season.â€

Didak, who turns 29 next week, has played 202 games for the Magpies over 10 seasons. He was the Copeland Trophy winner in 2006 and was named in the All-Australian team in 2006 and 2010.

Most famously, he was a vital component of Collingwood’s 2010 premiership with two goals in the Grand Final replay. He played in all four finals despite a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery at the end of the season.

In the next four weeks, Collingwood play the Western Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney in the first round of the NAB Cup on February 18 before taking on Melbourne in the second round of the pre-season on March 3.

Statement on Andrew Krakouer
After recent conversations with Andrew Krakouer, the Collingwood Football Club has granted the player a four-week leave of absence, to allow him to deal with some personal issues.

It was agreed by both parties that it is best for Andrew to work through his issues, without the pressure associated with his normal training and playing commitments.

“The issues that Andrew is dealing with are of a personal nature, and we will be supporting him in every way possible during this period,†Collingwood director of football Geoff Walsh said.

"Andrew is held in high regard at Collingwood and we look forward to his return to team training in due course.â€

Andrew will be given a revised training program during this period, that will maintain his fitness and ball skills, but will not require him to be part of normal training sessions.

He will be given every opportunity and support to put himself in a position to return to the senior squad and play a meaningful role in the club’s 2012 campaign.

Magpies back Krak
Collingwood will give small forward Andrew Krakouer as much time as he requires away from the club to sort through his personal issues according to captain Nick Maxwell.

Krakouer was yesterday granted a four-week leave of absence to deal with personal issues, and while the Magpies hope to have Krakouer’s wizardry back in their forward line as soon as possible, Maxwell stressed the need for his teammate to ensure his personal life is in order.

“Obviously ‘Kraks’ is going through some personal issues so for us as a club, we just want to support him as much as possible,†said Maxwell.

“We feel as a club that the best thing for us to do is to give him some time away to deal with his issues. The playing group is fully supportive of that because we know he’s an important part of our football club, but also he’s just a great person and he’s someone who has added a lot to our club in 12 months.

“We want to make sure that he looks after himself off the field and gets everything right and then welcome him back with open arms as soon as he’s ready to come back when he tells us he’s ready.â€

Maxwell is confident that Krakouer will appear in the black and white in the near future, and hailed his teammate’s strong relationship with coach Nathan Buckley as an important link in Krakouer’s recovery.

“Even last year they were working together when ‘Bucks’ was trying to help him come into the team knowing that next year he’d be the coach,†he explained.

“I think the two of them are pretty tight, and they’ve been very honest and open with each other over the past month or so.

“‘Bucks’ is helping Andy through it.

“Whenever there’s personal issues for guys you just want to make sure they get that right. That’s the number one priority and number two is their football and trying to get them back here.â€

Bad week for the club it seems, hope Didak recovers good and same with Benny Johnson. They've both had a tough couple years with injuries. And yes, I'm a Collingwood supporter.