Training 2015/16 preseason training (discussion)

[Granny Val]

Yes you are and I love it!!

I missed Sherrif, so am glad you replied. So many possibilities and such an exciting time. Can't wait for the season to begin.

 

[Clems Knee]

I'm quite sure I misunderstood you

Surely, we have enough class and big bodies in our ranks that we do not specifically need players in the team just to block or create pressure? All players should share that load. When necessary, Fyfe should be expected to block for Mundy or Neale and vise-versa. We'll be giving up too much otherwise.

Neale can't do that job. Too small. If Mundy or Fyfe do that job, they are not doing what they get All Australian nominations for. You can't be everything at once.

 

[Harry Reems]

It was a wonderful morning on terraces beneath the swaying Morton Bay Fig Trees over by the prison wall. The viewing verandah was packed, even without the usual media contingent there blocking everyone's path and view of training.

E Shed turned up with a fresh punnet of local cherries for everyone, but when it was discovered that he didn't bring any vanilla slices or sausage rolls as well he was quickly spurned and chastised by the other training watchers.

This was a mammoth training session of 2 and a half hours in the heat. We had the entire squad out there at various stages of the day, however Zac Clarke and Alex Pearce spent most of the day in the gym, as did Cam Sutcliffe, Sandi, Shane Yarran and Harley Bennell who appeared occasionally to run a few laps here and there.

Nat Fyfe just ran laps as well with a very mall top knot, so I think he may of had a hair cut.

I even heard that Josh Deluca made a brief appearance earlier, as did Michael Apeness.

I am still trying to learn who the new players are, so thanks to JMT and Gaskin for helping me out there, but It appears to me that many players have been assigned fitness building programs rather than be allowed to train with the main squad.

Collins is all class, so I am going to call him the "Collins Class Submarine" from now on.

Today we had two groups out there, the red bibs and the no bibs. This meant full ground drills from end to end in what could only be described as full match simulation training, which is strange so early into the preseason.

Chris Mayne is literally training like Chris Masten on steroids, and Ballas and Sonny are both training like eager young 17 year old kids.

Danyle Pearce was hitting all targets by foot and Ed Langdon is really impressing me, as is Mora who must be close to being the one to fill the last spot on the senior list.

Connor Blakely and Lachie Weller are also training well, so is Lachie Neale.

If anyone thought that Pav would be taking it easy leading up to Christmas, think again. He did as much as anyone today and didn't show any signs of tiring in the heat.

The ball movement from the backline through the centre of the ground then into the forward line was poetry in motion. Then at end the end of training Ross had a long chat with Chris Mayne out in the middle of the field.

The boys all then left the ground at about 11.40am to a large crowd of waiting autograph hunters.

A lively discussion about Jon Griffin on the terraces became very heated at one stage and quickly developed into a near all - in brawl. Luckily though that when training was finished, the brawling training watchers soon realised that nothing was being accomplished and the sound of a glass bottle being smashed against the scoreboard was enough to send the brawlers out into the car park.

Hands were shaken through clenched teeth as the festive spirt began to shine though, albeit through clouds of angst and divided opinion.

But after the fists had stopped being shaken towards each other from across the car park we then hit the Norfolk for a few beers followed by lunch at Pizza Bella Roma.

Yes a Merry Christmas to us all.

 

[Halfbaked]

While I'm youngish I might as well see what e

I really feel for DeBoer and Suban on this board. The two would literally give their lives for the club and do what they can do as best they can, but get so much hate here, it's not funny. The only thing they're guilty of is being picked ahead of BF favourites, really, and that's not really on them, that's on the match committee.

It would be interesting to see how much credit Judd and the drugie give average players like Chick and Read . Both of those rabbits played the same role as Suban and De Boer. As much as it hurts, they did go the whole way. Just saying.

 

[E Shed]

While I'm youngish I might as well see what e



It would be interesting to see how much credit Judd and the drugie give average players like Chick and Read . Both of those rabbits played the same role as Suban and De Boer. As much as it hurts, they did go the whole way. Just saying.

you make a good point however just to play devil's advocate would that Eagles side have been able to take the Hawks of last year? Their brawling style was particularly suited to taking on the Swans of that time who were their main rival. I would suggest that the style of the game has changed since then and skills are more important than ever.

 

[Tonga Bob]

It was a wonderful morning on terraces beneath the swaying Morton Bay Fig Trees over by the prison wall....we then hit the Norfolk for a few beers followed by lunch at Pizza Bella Roma.

After 18 years in Melbourne, I don't get homesick as much anymore. But these things right here... I want these things right now!

Anyhow, nice work training watchers for your December work, looking forward to your 2016 contributions. And best of luck jedi mind tricks on your next chapter!

 

[serial_thrilla]

Thanks for the training updates guys. Although it seems the usual TTHD wank is happening; I wouldn't mind a more critical eye on who is underperforming and not looking fully fit. The only negatives so far seem to be Tabs' lack of awareness and aggression and Yarran's pressure compared to Mayne and Walters. As well as E Shed's lack of pastries.

Let's not turn into a bunch of Eagles' supporters here...keep the rose coloured glasses off for a bit.

 

[estibador]

Thanks for the training updates guys. Although it seems the usual TTHD wank is happening; I wouldn't mind a more critical eye on who is underperforming and not looking fully fit. The only negatives so far seem to be Tabs' lack of awareness and aggression and Yarran's pressure compared to Mayne and Walters. As well as E Shed's lack of pastries.

Let's not turn into a bunch of Eagles' supporters here...keep the rose coloured glasses off for a bit.

We've been top 4 the last few years and finished top of the ladder last year.

Perhaps we actually have a bunch of pretty good players at the moment?

 

[jedi mind tricks]

Thanks for the training updates guys. Although it seems the usual TTHD wank is happening; I wouldn't mind a more critical eye on who is underperforming and not looking fully fit. The only negatives so far seem to be Tabs' lack of awareness and aggression and Yarran's pressure compared to Mayne and Walters. As well as E Shed's lack of pastries.

Let's not turn into a bunch of Eagles' supporters here...keep the rose coloured glasses off for a bit.

I agree with the more critical eye. Unfortunately training has changed a fair bit and the full ground match sims have barely happened.

Those match Sims can help separate the skill and fitness levels for the training watcher.

 

[salim malik]

Thanks for the training updates guys. Although it seems the usual TTHD wank is happening; I wouldn't mind a more critical eye on who is underperforming and not looking fully fit. The only negatives so far seem to be Tabs' lack of awareness and aggression and Yarran's pressure compared to Mayne and Walters. As well as E Shed's lack of pastries.

Let's not turn into a bunch of Eagles' supporters here...keep the rose coloured glasses off for a bit.

If you aren't fully fit you don't train,end of story. There aren't any Sylvia's running around this pre. And we all know what happened to him so I have no friggin idea where you are coming from.

 

[estibador]

I was a pretty average footy player and I used to look like a star at training when the pressure was off, even if I do say so myself.

I'd be pretty worried if AFL players from one of the top teams didn't look a million bucks in most training drills.

I do remember going down to watch us train a few times in the Drum years and it was no surprise we never won judging from what I saw. Silent Alarm and serial_thrilla would've loved the training reports I could've written back then.

 

[Ragtooth]

I see what esti means though.... For example in last pre-season, was there any evidence that Duffield and Muz would be struggling in 2015 or that that Sheridan could have had one of his best years, compared to someone like Crozier?

Or is it too hard to discover these things while watching drills and eating pastries? I suppose that's why clubs love pre-season matches....

 

[Belnakor]

I see what esti means though.... For example in last pre-season, was there any evidence that Duffield and Muz would be struggling in 2015 or that that Sheridan could have had one of his best years, compared to someone like Crozier?

Or is it too hard to discover these things while watching drills and eating pastries? I suppose that's why clubs love pre-season matches....

Muz always trains the house down. I thought people did say Duffield was looking a bit cooked last year.

 

[freoextra]

It was a wonderful morning on terraces beneath the swaying Morton Bay Fig Trees over by the prison wall. The viewing verandah was packed, even without the usual media contingent there blocking everyone's path and view of training.

E Shed turned up with a fresh punnet of local cherries for everyone, but when it was discovered that he didn't bring any vanilla slices or sausage rolls as well he was quickly spurned and chastised by the other training watchers.

This was a mammoth training session of 2 and a half hours in the heat. We had the entire squad out there at various stages of the day, however Zac Clarke and Alex Pearce spent most of the day in the gym, as did Cam Sutcliffe, Sandi, Shane Yarran and Harley Bennell who appeared occasionally to run a few laps here and there.

Nat Fyfe just ran laps as well with a very mall top knot, so I think he may of had a hair cut.

I even heard that Josh Deluca made a brief appearance earlier, as did Michael Apeness.

I am still trying to learn who the new players are, so thanks to JMT and Gaskin for helping me out there, but It appears to me that many players have been assigned fitness building programs rather than be allowed to train with the main squad.

Collins is all class, so I am going to call him the "Collins Class Submarine" from now on.

Today we had two groups out there, the red bibs and the no bibs. This meant full ground drills from end to end in what could only be described as full match simulation training, which is strange so early into the preseason.

Chris Mayne is literally training like Chris Masten on steroids, and Ballas and Sonny are both training like eager young 17 year old kids.

Danyle Pearce was hitting all targets by foot and Ed Langdon is really impressing me, as is Mora who must be close to being the one to fill the last spot on the senior list.

Connor Blakely and Lachie Weller are also training well, so is Lachie Neale.

If anyone thought that Pav would be taking it easy leading up to Christmas, think again. He did as much as anyone today and didn't show any signs of tiring in the heat.

The ball movement from the backline through the centre of the ground then into the forward line was poetry in motion. Then at end the end of training Ross had a long chat with Chris Mayne out in the middle of the field.

The boys all then left the ground at about 11.40am to a large crowd of waiting autograph hunters.

A lively discussion about Jon Griffin on the terraces became very heated at one stage and quickly developed into a near all - in brawl. Luckily though that when training was finished, the brawling training watchers soon realised that nothing was being accomplished and the sound of a glass bottle being smashed against the scoreboard was enough to send the brawlers out into the car park.

Hands were shaken through clenched teeth as the festive spirt began to shine though, albeit through clouds of angst and divided opinion.

But after the fists had stopped being shaken towards each other from across the car park we then hit the Norfolk for a few beers followed by lunch at Pizza Bella Roma.

Yes a Merry Christmas to us all.

Great report!

Can confirm that DeLuca did a lot of running and looks ready to move to the main group. Apeness still looks no where near the rest and is been followed by a team of rehab staff.

Agree that Mayne was mighty in his training and those that think Yarren (who is only training very moderately with a heavy knee bandage) will be replacing him are way off the mark.

 

[Kram]

I was a pretty average footy player and I used to look like a star at training when the pressure was off, even if I do say so myself.

Haha, I hear ya man.

 

[rgauci]

Great report!

Can confirm that DeLuca did a lot of running and looks ready to move to the main group. Apeness still looks no where near the rest and is been followed by a team of rehab staff.

Agree that Mayne was mighty in his training and those that think Yarren (who is only training very moderately with a heavy knee bandage) will be replacing him are way off the mark.

My new buddy (Yarran) is coming off a knee injury and hasn't entered full training yet. If Mayne doesn't look better than him on one knee he never will.

Wait till late Feb / March when he gets a couple of months of preseason under his belt before making judgment.

 

[sherrif]

Thanks for the training updates guys. Although it seems the usual TTHD wank is happening; I wouldn't mind a more critical eye on who is underperforming and not looking fully fit. The only negatives so far seem to be Tabs' lack of awareness and aggression and Yarran's pressure compared to Mayne and Walters. As well as E Shed's lack of pastries.

Let's not turn into a bunch of Eagles' supporters here...keep the rose coloured glasses off for a bit.

The above has been said before. However, it is hard to be critical when players are running their guts out and then practicing kicking without full tackling pressure.

The only things (interms of negative) I can think of are what is mentioned in the regular season write ups. Things like:
Grey still needs to work on his kicking or Barlow's kicks are way too up and under compared to most players. Tanner Smith has improved his kicking significantly, but could still further improve. A.Pearce still needs to put on some more muscle, which he is in the process of doing. Neale struggles kicking with the non preferred. Ballas fumbles too much and Dawson is not a good kick. Also, like has been mentioned Tabs struggles in awareness and in close activities. It could also be said that Danyle Peatce's kicking is truly elitel in training sessions, so his inability to transfer his near perfect kicking technique to real games (at times) is a tad disappointing.

Im just not sure what is achieved by pointing out deficiencies that keen followers of our team would already be aware of. In the past few season there has been an obvious scapegoat (player training badly Eg, Moller, Simpson or Sylvia) to be identified. That is not the case this year.

Just for the record if you ever have a look at the Eagles board they eat their own like no other team. Their opinion on Jetta is a prime example.

 

[not_working]

Extra-polating next season's form from early pre-season training is a fool's errand - too many things (injuries, team tactics and positional decisions, etc.) are still to happen to assign any meaning to what is happening now. So training reports (which I still very much appreciate) can either be celebrations of the wonderful club and wonderful players that we have, or absolute disasters in the form of poorly organised training or poor player fitness/injury (anyone not in the Colin Sylvia category can still recover their form from here) ....

 

[serial_thrilla]

I see what esti means though.... For example in last pre-season, was there any evidence that Duffield and Muz would be struggling in 2015 or that that Sheridan could have had one of his best years, compared to someone like Crozier?

Or is it too hard to discover these things while watching drills and eating pastries? I suppose that's why clubs love pre-season matches....

That's where the good training reporter is separated from the excellent training reporter. Looking for a suspect ball drop, a wider turning circle, a bit of hesitation going into a contest. I love hearing about how brilliant everybody is doing (and how the recovery group is shrinking), but the fact is that we don't have 45 Fyfe/Walters/Hill's on the park, and some guys are always going to be slightly off the pace. I suppose the plethora of positive reports yesterday just irked me a little bit; I've been hyped up by Freo off-seasons for about 20 years now and I've learnt to take a lot of it with a pinch of salt.

By no means do I want to see a scathing report on how terrible our squad is, but a bit of balance would be nice. freoextra's report was my favourite from yesterday: among the praise for the likes of Blakely and Walters, he also noted guys like Yarran and Tabs were a bit off, and that Apeness is taking a little longer than expected to recover.

I just don't like to think we're doing this:

 

[scon]

I wouldn't mind a more critical eye on who is underperforming and not looking fully fit.

Several of the training watchers appeared to have 'Sylvia Syndrome',while others would have to be close to unemployable old fools.
No-one speaks contemptuous snide like a clogged sproketman !
"It's nice that retirees and the unemployed can waste their time there, but let's not pretend there's any insight being brought to Bigfooty."

 

[Caldera]

Several of the training watchers appeared to have 'Sylvia Syndrome',while others would have to be close to unemployable old fools.
No-one speaks contemptuous snide like a clogged sproketman !
"It's nice that retirees and the unemployed can waste their time there, but let's not pretend there's any insight being brought to Bigfooty."

I'm all for a bit of balanced reporting in anything in life, but if I only get a choice of blind positivity or silence I'll take the positivity every time. Thanks to all the training watchers for their efforts this summer and previous years. Much appreciated.

 

[jedi mind tricks]

Several of the training watchers appeared to have 'Sylvia Syndrome',while others would have to be close to unemployable old fools.
No-one speaks contemptuous snide like a clogged sproketman !
"It's nice that retirees and the unemployed can waste their time there, but let's not pretend there's any insight being brought to Bigfooty."

How are they wasting their time?

Most training watches I've met work hours that allow them to attend training or are on holidays. Some of the older crew are retired but that's a pretty snide remark.

 

[Unique Name]

Can't wait for Serial's training report

 

[Kepfan]

Several of the training watchers appeared to have 'Sylvia Syndrome',while others would have to be close to unemployable old fools.
No-one speaks contemptuous snide like a clogged sproketman !
"It's nice that retirees and the unemployed can waste their time there, but let's not pretend there's any insight being brought to Bigfooty."

Whachu talkingbout willis.

Couldhavebeen alone brings the insight of a former coach.

 

[Unique Name]

How are they wasting their time?

Most training watches I've met work hours that allow them to attend training or are on holidays. Some of the older crew are retired but that's a pretty snide remark.

scon was quoting what Clogged said last year.