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January 30, 2007

The Review: Week 6 (November 30th - December 6th)

Things started to slow down in terms of news at Skilled Stadium, to cover for this a few interviews were held.

We heard about Sam Hunt's second chance, how Joel Selwood is alright with comparisons to his brothers & how Neil Balme will have a soothing influence on the club.

The club announced they will be travelling to Swan Hill to hold a community camp from February 6-9.

David Whealdon: Geelong's new skills acquisition coach

On December 5th, Geelong announced David Whealdon as skills acquisition coach. It is his second stint at the club after being there from 1985-1990 in a variety of roles.

Wheadon’s AFL coaching background

Geelong
1985-90: Reserves coach, skills coach, assistant coach

Carlton
1991: Assistant coach

Essendon
1992-97: Football development manager, assistant coach, reserves coach

Collingwood
1998-99: Assistant coach

Richmond
2000-06: Assistant coach, T@FE co-ordinator

Posted by Sammy D at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 5 (November 23rd - November 29th)

It was quiet mid-week leading up to the AFL Draft.

The Geelong Advertiser was reporting that Geelong would be on free to air TV every week next season, while the boys were finally back training at Skilled Stadium for the first time during pre-season. Lastly we heard how Tom Hawkins was relaxed knowing he was heading to the Geelong Football Club in the next days draft.

Nathan Ablett agreed to a 2-3 year contract

There was more good news on the morning on the National Draft with news that Nathan Ablett had agreed to a contract believed to be 2-3 years for around $150,000 a season. Defenders Sam Hunt & Tim Callan had also agreed to new deals.

DRAFT PICKS

Joel Selwood - #14
Height: 182cm
Weight: 82kg
Club: Bendigo U/18s
DOB: 26/5/1988
Achievements: All Australian U/18, Vic Country U/18, 2005 Barassi Medal

The younger brother of West Coast’s Adam and Brisbane’s Troy was snapped up by the Cats with their first pick at the 2006 NAB AFL Draft. Although smaller than his twin brothers, the younger Selwood has been ticked in all the right boxes. He is a natural leader, strong at the contest and looks a readymade midfielder despite playing only three games in 2006 because of a knee injury. It was a massive relief for his Bendigo-based family that he has remained in Victoria.

Nathan Djerrkura - #18
Height: 186cm
Weight: 80kg
Clubs: NT Thunder/Scotch College
DOB: 19/9/1988
Achievements: All Australian U/18, Northern Territory U/18

The small midfielder was the Northern Territory’s best player at the 2006 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. An inside player, he likes to put his body on the line and has great pace and evasive skills. Attended Scotch College in Melbourne last year and is keen to embark on an AFL career.

Tom Hawkins - #26
Height: 197cm
Weight: 105kg
Clubs: Melbourne Grammar
DOB: 27/7/1988
Achievements: All Australian U/18, Victoria Metro U/18

The son of former star defender Jack Hawkins follows a long line of father-son selections at the club and there are high hopes for the young forward. Standing 197cm, he had been mainly concentrating on school football but, when he was unveiled at the 2006 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, Geelong fans had their first glimpse of a possible star in the making. A strong overhead mark and a lovely kick, Hawkins would undoubtedly have gone in the top few picks in the NAB AFL Draft such were the raps on him. Is expected to play senior football in 2007.

Simon Hogan - #34
Height: 181cm
Weight: 72kg
Club: Geelong Falcons
DOB: 16/8/1988
Achievements: Geelong Falcons most improved player

Quick, lightly framed midfielder from the Geelong Falcons who thrust himself into the draft spotlight with some excellent performances at the NAB AFL Draft Camp. Finished in the top 10 in five of the nine categories and was No. 1 for the shuttle run and the repeat sprints. Has plenty of improvement in him and will be given time to develop.

To round off the week it was reported that Tom Lonergan was making good progress in his attempt to get his career back on track after his emergency surgery.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 4 (November 16th - November 22nd)

Brent Prismall aims to play every senior game in 2007

With the draft coming up, Brent Prismall spoke about the "learning curve" that is AFL football. After believing he didn't deserve to play AFL football in his first season at the club he made his debut in Round 5 against Sydney breaking his arm just after getting his first ever AFL possession. He recovered to play 7 more games including the last 5 of the season.

"I definitely felt different this year. I'm not sure why, but in the back of your mind you always think when you get drafted, you're a chance to play senior footy that year," Prismall told gfc.com.au on Thursday.

"But looking back on my first year, I wasn't as fit as I should have been and I just didn't appreciate the hard work I had to do to get into the senior team."

"I think I've done that now but by no means have I hit the levels I need to be at. I still need to keep improving with my fitness and my skill and stuff. But I've got a bit more of an understanding of my body and AFL footy and what goes with it."

Prismall knows the worth of a strong pre-season and credits hard work at the start of this year to the fitness he was able to recover after his broken arm.

"After I had my arm broken, I really wanted to get back in there and looking back now, I got rewards for all that hard work I put in during that five week period when I couldn't do anything," he said.

"Over the pre-season (in 2006) I worked hard so that was pretty much why I got those rewards towards the end of the year."

As for this year, the former Western Jet says the Cats are already working hard after coming back from holidays and are reaping the rewards from hitting the track with vigour.

"It's been good. It's been solid and different but we're already starting to see rewards at the end of the tunnel," he said.

"We're really enjoying it."

"The name is Max and don't you forget it"

Jarad Rooke made his intentions clear that from now on he wants to be known as Max Rooke. The reasoning behind it being it's his middle name, his grandfathers name and what he prefers. We love it Max...well we don't really but we'll live.

Lastly the club reported it made a profit for the seventh consecutive year. The net profit for the year 2006 is reported to be $341,000 down on last years net profit of $737,000 with Cook stating the reason being an extra $1m was committed to the football department.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)