Great to see plenty of questions this week, so here we go.
Do you think your boys will be able to back up their great win from last week and get up over Freo, especially now that Ablett is back in the side. Is it a fairly strong team this week? - Ang & Steph
SK: As I said, I think our performance in Sydney was a marker for our team. We built on that last week and we will look to improve again this week. We have traditionally played well at Subiaco and with a little luck would have won twice over there last year. I am confident we’ll again play well and if we do that we think we can play with any team in the AFL.
Our inability to win many hit outs this year has put a lot of pressure on Scarlo and the boys, and reduced the opportunities for Kingsley etc. to post a big score for us. Do you believe that with your return we can begin to see the ball spend a little more time heading towards our forward line? – Roo
SK: We have been undermanned in the ruck with Loater and me both out at the moment. Sarge (Paul Chambers) has been doing well in games even though he hasn’t been winning a huge amount of hit outs, while Mooner and Henry have also contributed well. I think our midfielders have done a good job in working hard to nullify the tap pout edge that our opponents hold. I am sure once we get some depth back in the ruck we will improve in the hit outs and that should lead to better opportunities for us.
Just enquiring as to how James Bartel, and David Spriggs are traveling. Are they likely to return to the starting line up soon. Thanks for your time, good luck with the recovery. – Mark
SK: Thanks for the best wishes. Both James and David were among the best in the VFL last week. Unfortunately the VFL team has a bye this week, so they wont be able to push their claims for a senior berth. Both guys have shown in the past an ability to win their places back and I am sure they’ll bounce back again this year and contribute in the senior line up.
First of all Steven let me say that I can’t wait for you to be back in the side. I wish you a long successful tenure as captain. Just wondering, will Cam Mooney be back at Centre Half Back when you return. I thought he was a revelation in the wiz cup. The way he toweled up Hamill and the like was great. At one stage he burst through the centre square and really looked the goods. Much the same as Bizzel at Melbourne the accountability of playing back could be what he needs and one of the vital Key position players we need. – Fabian
SK: Cam Mooney has played well for us all year, in both Wizard Cup and over the four rounds of the AFL season. Cam played pretty well for us in 2002 and never really fought off an ankle injury he picked up last year in the pre-season. Now he is fully fit and playing as well as he has. Cam has been in the ruck recently and when we get back to full strength I think he will probably go back to defense and continue to play well.
Steven, Can you please tell me how long do the forwards practice their goal kicking. It was good to see we won last week I was screaming. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to when you guys come over in May hopefully to beat Power. Hope to see you back playing real soon. – Heather
SK: All of our players do extra work on goal kicking. The way footy is now even guys that play down back often drift forward and end up having goal scoring opportunities. Usually we have players do goal-kicking training after a session and they practice set shots, snaps and shots on the run.
Hey good luck with your comeback, don't rush it, I've prayed for you...you'll be sweet. I'm after some advice. I've been laid low with an achilles (strained) for 3 months...still feels pretty ordinary. 1: what exercises do you do to strengthen the area? 2: when do you know the time is right to really give it a good test? Last test I re-blew bugga straight away...been 2 months since then, still feels really stiff and achy (with little flexibility) every morning when I get out of bed. – Simon Greenwood
SK: This is a tough one for me to answer. As I found with my injury, every injury has a different set of circumstances. If the injury can be healed by rest rather than surgery, the toughest thing can be working through the rehabilitation process and allowing it time to heal fully. There’s always a danger of coming back too soon. The best advice to follow would be to undertake the rehab program that you have been given by your team’s medical staff. I have had times when I felt stiff in the area or it swelled up, and then I needed to back off a little and make sure I didn’t do any damage. Good luck with it, I hope you can get back out there sooner rather than later.
I live in Cobram, Buddha territory, and play u/17 with Cobram, have a part time job at the supermarket and studying year 11 at school. I just want to know what you think is more important out of footy, work or school? I love my footy to death and want to spend more time down the park having a kick and improving my skills but I’m finding, with work, that I don’t have time. I was greatly inspired by the comments of the people who watched the Cobram u/17 game against Tocumwal (17 May) and now FOOTY is the only thing on my mind, everywhere I go and I’m now deciding whether to lighten my work hours a lot so I can spend more time at the park. What should I do? - Mitchell Peart
SK: I get this question a lot from young players. I can understand how you feel – I was still in High School when Geelong drafted me and had to balance footy and school. While devoting all of your free time to footy would be very tempting, it’s important that you keep some balance and also keep your options open.
Even here at Geelong we encourage all of our players to keep going with their education or with work to keep that balance. If you keep working at your game and still go to school and keep up your marks while you work part time that will hold you in good stead for the future, regardless of how far you go with your football.
Kingy, having spent a bit of time in the coaches box (unfortunately, as we would rather you were out on the field) can you provide us with any insights on how things operate in the box during the game (without giving away any trade secrets). For instance, does 'Bomber' control all the moves or can the defensive coach make a positional move? Also, how do the stats get communicated during the game? Thank you – Tim Richardson
SK: All of the match committee generate ideas and suggestions in the box, but it ultimately it comes down to the senior coach. I don’t think we would be different to any other club in that respect. We keep our own stats as well as the official AFL stats, and we have a person that provides the key statistical information to the coaches throughout the game.
