Colorado Trips - waste of time and money?

[thebillingsmethod]

Hearing Bomber Thompson say the Bombers trip to Colorado was a total waste of time and money and given the Saints have now been twice and had their two worst seasons in a decade - can we justify these trips?

Surely a trip to NZ next year would be more worthwhile PR wise and cheaper and yes they have mountains in NZ.

E.g - this is just outside Wellington

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... rest-park/

[dragit]

I wouldn't listen to a word that demented coke head has to say for starters…

The fact that bombers don't seem to be accelerating their development like they were 2 years ago would largely be explained by the mass doping program being scaled back.

Pretty sure Colorado isn't the cause of our decline, not sure about the physical benefits… but the players love it and it hasn't cost the club much money.

NZ could potentially be a good alternative with our current alignment, but the link you have posted is for a national park not an elite training facility like Colorado.

[matrix]

i hear this coke rumor all the time

im actually starting to believe it.....




maybe write the club and view your opinion on colorado being a complete waste of time and money and your opinions on how we should travel to NZ instead?

[SainterK]

Diet or zero?

I wonder about trudging through the snow and if that had anything to do with the foot injuries?

[plugger66]

Diet or zero?

I wonder about trudging through the snow and if that had anything to do with the foot injuries?

I will go with none at all.

[Old Mate]

i hear this coke rumor all the time

im actually starting to believe it.....

He's got a few mates from the Cat days that think they are Tony Montana as well. One of them he recruited to the Dopers last year.

[cwrcyn]

A sub 100 IQ is no impediment to becoming an AFL coach. He's one of the most boring, uninsightful, and inarticulate individuals in the game. However, I don't disagree that trips to Colorado are a waste of time. New Zealand makes a whole lot more sense for a few reasons

[plugger66]

A sub 100 IQ is no impediment to becoming an AFL coach. He's one of the most boring, uninsightful, and inarticulate individuals in the game. However, I don't disagree that trips to Colorado are a waste of time. New Zealand makes a whole lot more sense for a few reasons

I actually think you will find he is a pretty smart person.

[Junction Oval]

I am not too sure about the long term benefits of training in Colorado , but I am sure that with such a young side, the "experience" is great for team morale and bonding between both players and coaches. Keep it going for next year, but NZ could be an option next time around, for all of the reasons mentioned by other Posters.

I think that it is well supported by a well known Saints benefactor, so not a major direct cost to the Club.

[FQF]

I think it has a lot to do with a team "bonding" session far away from the routine monotonous life of Melbourne together with the ability to train at elite facilities, and less to do with altitude.

Last trip the flights were sponsored by Virgin anyway, so it would have cost next to nothing.

[cwrcyn]

Anyone who saw his interview on Footy Classified after the AFL suspended Hird would surely have to question his intelligence. But then again, he may have just been playing dumb. Rat cunning or intelligence.....which one?

[Life Long Saint]

A sub 100 IQ is no impediment to becoming an AFL coach. He's one of the most boring, uninsightful, and inarticulate individuals in the game. However, I don't disagree that trips to Colorado are a waste of time. New Zealand makes a whole lot more sense for a few reasons

I actually think you will find he is a pretty smart person.

He may be smart but he's certainly not pretty!

[cwrcyn]

In all the time Thompson has appeared on 360 I have not heard him offer up a single snippet of insight. Boring is not a strong enough word to describe his persona and delivery on that show. Being a premiership coach buys you a lot of credits in TV land

[cwrcyn]

For a Murray Cod he's pretty smart

[cwrcyn]

And just as pretty

[Saint wagga]

The Colorado thing irks me a little bit. Training at altitude for 10 days, any possible benefits would have worn off by Christmas time at the lastest, thats fact...two long haul flights 4-5 days of travel transit in AC environs, changes to sleeping and rest patterns, completely different climate...it's counter productive IMO. We live in a country blessed with beautiful summertime weather, perfect for lots of outdoor training, running, cross training, skills training on great training grounds on 'real' grass...you name it you can do it, all a couple of hours away from Melbourne at most if you want to...By all means go on a hardcore boot camp for great bonding and mental toughness training...I get that these are really fun and useful parts of a team sport...but do yourselves a favour, save a s***load of money and do it in Australia!!

[SainterK]

They won the airfares this year...

Might be hard to justify next time, lets see what Finnis decides.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

for the team bonding i think its worth it ... i remeber GT pioneered the pre season team building trip years ago when we had a very young list.. it helped the younge group see some things outside of the football bubble that exists gives them some life experiance and at the same time helps the younger guys just coming in to get to know their teammate in a neutral location and gain some common ground in regards to the shared experiances ... anyone who has ever traveled with a group of strangers will tell you after a few days living in close qtrs experiancing something special bonds you quickly

[lewdogs]

I don't think it's worth it personally.

[Saint wagga]

for the team bonding i think its worth it ... i remeber GT pioneered the pre season team building trip years ago when we had a very young list.. it helped the younge group see some things outside of the football bubble that exists gives them some life experiance and at the same time helps the younger guys just coming in to get to know their teammate in a neutral location and gain some common ground in regards to the shared experiances ... anyone who has ever traveled with a group of strangers will tell you after a few days living in close qtrs experiancing something special bonds you quickly

I agree with all the points you have touched on St Trav - but for such a short time, why not go up to the NT or the outback, or along the great ocean road, or coastal NSW or QLD...my point is...the negatives of the overall trip aren't enough to warrant the 'team bonding' point...Team bonding can happen in places much closer to home, at much less expense and at much less interuption to training which at the end of the day is priority number 1...I think Richo is no-nonsense, I dont think he'll persevere if he thinks its a dud.

[plugger66]

A sub 100 IQ is no impediment to becoming an AFL coach. He's one of the most boring, uninsightful, and inarticulate individuals in the game. However, I don't disagree that trips to Colorado are a waste of time. New Zealand makes a whole lot more sense for a few reasons

I actually think you will find he is a pretty smart person.

He may be smart but he's certainly not pretty!

Well im not going to talk about looks but has you must be one handsome dude I suppose you can. They would blank me out on TV.

[Life Long Saint]

Well im not going to talk about looks but has you must be one handsome dude I suppose you can. They would blank me out on TV.

The self-effacing nature of your post doesn't hide its passive aggressive tone.

Not sure why you would feel the need to have a go at my looks or my attempt to add a bit of levity to the conversation by breaking out the term "pretty smart". Maybe it's something about small things and small minds.

Anyway, I do not consider Mark Thompson an attractive man...He certainly wouldn't make me turn.

Carry on...

[asiu]

Rat cunning or intelligence.....which one?

fingers on the same glove i reckon

[plugger66]

Well im not going to talk about looks but has you must be one handsome dude I suppose you can. They would blank me out on TV.

The self-effacing nature of your post doesn't hide its passive aggressive tone.

Not sure why you would feel the need to have a go at my looks or my attempt to add a bit of levity to the conversation by breaking out the term "pretty smart". Maybe it's something about small things and small minds.

Anyway, I do not consider Mark Thompson an attractive man...He certainly wouldn't make me turn.

Carry on...

You really have no idea about me but you are 100% wrong on what I said. Anyway think what you like. You are a very angry person on here anyway and wrong. And try and smile occassionally. Again I dont know you at all but smiling would seem a little hard. Its a friggin joke.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

for the team bonding i think its worth it ... i remeber GT pioneered the pre season team building trip years ago when we had a very young list.. it helped the younge group see some things outside of the football bubble that exists gives them some life experiance and at the same time helps the younger guys just coming in to get to know their teammate in a neutral location and gain some common ground in regards to the shared experiances ... anyone who has ever traveled with a group of strangers will tell you after a few days living in close qtrs experiancing something special bonds you quickly

I agree with all the points you have touched on St Trav - but for such a short time, why not go up to the NT or the outback, or along the great ocean road, or coastal NSW or QLD...my point is...the negatives of the overall trip aren't enough to warrant the 'team bonding' point...Team bonding can happen in places much closer to home, at much less expense and at much less interuption to training which at the end of the day is priority number 1...I think Richo is no-nonsense, I dont think he'll persevere if he thinks its a dud.

this is true you can build team bonding anywhere but i believe the players themselves kicked in some $$ to pay for the trip something i dont think the players would do if it was just a trip to the NT .. most players would travel over seas in their break anyway so the flight times and body clock issues are not going to be that big a deal .. and having traveled Australia i dont reckon its that much cheaper than a trip to USA when you consider the cost of hotels food transport ect.