While there's obviously players like Russell and Raso who could stand to pack on a few kilos, I reckon we've got a few players who might have overdone it, or aren't maintaining their weight too well (let's try and leave Whitnall out of this, genetics are clearly a factor for him).

Fevola and Scotland went about it and it worked wonders, Teague not so much.

Players that could stand to shed kilos to gain mobility (minimum 3 kilos):

Waite
Bryan
Kouta
Stevens
French
Houlihan

And to a lesser extent (2 kilos or so):
McGrath
Carrazzo
McLaren
Wiggins
Walker
Bannister

I understand the harsh nature of a suggestion like this but in some cases the extra bulk is clearly hampering performance, where in other cases burning off a little bit of fat may return a bit of lost zip.

Losing bulk does not = losing muscle, and there may be no change in strength.

I think we need to focus more on building strength this pre-season as opposed to getting players beefed up, as you say Jimmae it has effected several of our players.

Stevens is just puppy fat, poor presentation of a footballer for AFL standards.

Bryan needs to do the hard yards if given another year to gain more speed.

Houlihan has been killed by the extra weight. Has lost alot of his speed that made him so dangerous crumbing packs when he was younger.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

I don't think the above guys need to lose weight... Houla maybe but very borderline... And if anything i think Waite still looks to Lanky for mine, like a wingman, yet if he beefed up a few more kgs maybe then he'd be the CHB we need.

Kouta i think we might just see a slightly leaner Kouta next season just to help with injury ( body) maintenance. And French if we had a ready made No 1 Ruckman it wouldn't matter too much because he would most likely consider ending it...

Sorry Jimmae don't fully agree with you on this one.

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I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

To each their own T-Boy.

I reckon Waite will last longer in our 22 as a tall flanker who can actually chase rather than a KPP.

Here's a couple of shots of Waite today:





Here's an index of images on most of the players in question, just something I quickly snuck off Getty Images, I doubt there'll be any questions over copyright with the Getty Images watermark all over them.

Remember we're talking anywhere from 2 to 6 kgs here, not 10 or 15.

i dont think its a major concern but it is still a concern and i agree with all the names in your list except andrew walker, i know for a fact that he has a very strict diet and i don't think he's lost any speed, in fact he's probably our quickest player but as i said the rest of the names are pretty much on the money.

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Last edited by true_blue3 on Mon Sep 26, 1981 5:07 pm; edited 92 times in total

the scary thing is that our players have beefed up or whatever but still cant hold a decent tackle.

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

Bulk does not always translate to core strength.

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We dont have a decent balance...not enough really strong players or enough players who have real speed...Hawthorn broke all our tackles nd we couldnt lay any on Richmond because we couldnt catch them....

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen