AFL Rd 15 2023 Carlton have the bye!

[Lods]

They go on a break after a good win, get on the piss, lose momentum, play like dogs against Haw. Lets revisit the argument when that occurs.

If that's the level of their professionalism then that will reflect on them.
Not on the coaches or fitness staff.
You might be right.
That would be in the words of Stewie Dew "beyond disappointing."

If the Hawthorn game is a debacle I suspect it will be more a break in the momentum gained, caused by the draw rather than not having a week of intense training.
The draw is beyond our control.
The whole purpose of the bye is a for a break and rest for the players in a very long season.

[kruddler]

Back in the day....and even during Careys time atop the AFL tree....going out and getting shitfaced on a weekly basis was just the standard. It provides great bonding (unless you shag your mates wife) and an ability to escape the scrutiny and pressures of afl, if only for 1 night a week.

Now we want everyone to be robots. Watch them 24/7 thanks to smart phones and social media and demand they be choir boys at the same time? Yeah nah.

Give the boys some 'destressing' time.
They need more of it, not less.

[Gointocarlton]

If that's the level of their professionalism then that will reflect on them.
Not on the coaches or fitness staff.
You might be right.
That would be in the words of Stewie Dew "beyond disappointing."

If the Hawthorn game is a debacle I suspect it will be more a break in the momentum gained, caused by the draw rather than not having a week of intense training.
The draw is beyond our control.
The whole purpose of the bye is a for a break and rest for the players in a very long season.

Like I said, if I was the Captain, my mind would be in a different space.

[Lods]

Like I said, if I was the Captain, my mind would be in a different space.

But it might actually be counter productive.
With good intentions, it might actually be the wrong move.
A rest may be just what some need.
They can savour the GC result for a week longer, come back next weekend with a week before the Hawthorn game and refocus.

In actual fact what will probably happen, and should happen, is a very individual approach to the week off.
Some players in recovery phase, who haven't played a lot in recent times will probably continue as usual.
Some with niggling injuries may get a good rest.

[northernblue]

I think we all agree that this bye has come at a bad time for us.
I certainly wish we were playing this weekend and could keep the good vibes and momentum flowing, there’s a very real chance of it dissipating by our next game but the bye it is and those who need rest (physical or mental) will get it and those who need to do more work will likely get that too.
Let’s see how we regroup and come back…

[LP]

No matter what happens in the lead-in or aftermath, this is probably this is the most boring week of the year.

It's like some omnipotent hyper-intelligent super-being took away all the fun just to screw with us!

[northernblue]

I wouldn’t give Gil that much credit…

[kruddler]

Well i know the boys have the bye, but they are still doing duties.

Had the sons auskick last night and Boyd, Fogarty and Hewitt were there helping out. Signing some autographs and taking photos with the kiddies.
Got a footy signed and got the kids to stand still for long enough for a photo. No time for chit-chat as there was a big line.
They were able to force a smile for an hour and pretend they all cared and gave the kids a good experience. I don't envy them having to do that....especially for little kids in collingwood jumpers .

[Gointocarlton]

Like I said, if I was the Captain, my mind would be in a different space.

I was listening to an interview with Stan Longinidis of Kick Boxing Fame on SEN, great fella to listen to BTW. Talked about his motivational speaking he does with kids, adults etc. He mentioned how he is a Coll supporter and when all the De Goey stuff with Bali was going on, he said he couldn't understand how he would so that and how in general players go on holidays mid season. His said "how much are you prepared to sacrifice?". And that's exactly what my point was with all this. What does it all mean to you and how far are you prepared to go?

[Lods]

I was listening to an interview with Stan Longinidis of Kick Boxing Fame on SEN, great fella to listen to BTW. Talked about his motivational speaking he does with kids, adults etc. He mentioned how he is a Coll supporter and when all the De Goey stuff with Bali was going on, he said he couldn't understand how he would so that and how in general players go on holidays mid season. His said "how much are you prepared to sacrifice?". And that's exactly what my point was with all this. What does it all mean to you and how far are you prepared to go?

I agree with that.
Heading off to Bali for a holiday is probably a 'bridge too far'.

I'm just not sure the more 'hard work' in this period is better than a couple of days away from the club.
Spending a bit of time with family and friends, and then back into it from Monday...is probably not so much of an issue.

I've no idea what the players we're doing last week.
I suspect it would be varied...and players that needed a bit of extra work will probably be getting it.
Others with a niggly injury or two, are probably having a rest.

We employ high quality fitness folks to give us the best guidance on these things.
A heavy training load for all players over a break could be the last thing the players need...but it might benefit some.

I'm talking from a Track and Field experience but the basic principles would be pretty similar for football.
Any training has two main components-
The workout followed by a period of rest and recovery.
Ideal training programs also comprise periods of high intensity and low intensity.
And it's not just the body that requires that rest and recovery, there's also the mind that needs that 'down time'...and sometimes the signs of that are pretty easy to spot...players getting frustrated by a practice that is not producing results.

So we don't know for sure what individual players have done over the last week, or what they'll be doing the next week...but hopefully it's been tailored on an individual basis.

The week after the bye is always a bit of a tricky time to navigate.
If we come out flat against Hawthorn it won't be because we didn't bust a gut in the off period.
The problem will be caused by the fact that after a good performance, the 'bye' came at an unfortunate time for continuity.

The majority of the hard training work would have been done pre-season.
During the actual playing period it would be more about maintenance.
But there would probably also be a few blocks of heavy sessions within that period.
It's why you may sometimes see teams have a flat couple of weeks while the heavy training period is occurring.
It may not be as noticeable as it was in years past (the old mid-season slump) because they probably individualise the programs so different players are being 'loaded' at different times.
In that case we're more likely to see an individual have a couple of off weeks.

The 'bye' is all about giving the players that mental and physical break in a long season.
If it's not used largely for that purpose, we should just keep playing.