Training 2019 Training - pics, reports etc

Nov 27, 2016
17,279
33,425
AFL Club
Carlton
I know but choose not to know, but see.
He wouldn't be the first individual to come to a club with excess fanfare only to not live up to reputation.

For now it's all talk. We'll see by years end.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice....um Or something. Makes sense to me.
giphy-5.gif


On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

Eiffel 65

Cancelled
Sep 18, 2018
3,854
10,144
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
Gryffindor
Please enlighten me.

Has SPS improved his endurance to the point where he can play as a permanent midfielder or will he still be more of a half forward in 2019?

Is Fasolo on track for round 1 selection or is he coming from too far back?

Is O'brien working with the midfield or defensive group? Interested to hear if the club plans to play him across half back or wing.

How is Fisher tracking? Has obviously recovered from his broken leg but is he moving alright? Improved his fitness and maintained his agility and speed?

Is Cuningham pushing his case for selection?

Kennedy looks in really good condition. Should we expect a break out year or still need to give him more time given his injury history?
 

Soapy V

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 17, 2015
24,338
83,421
AFL Club
Carlton
Please enlighten me.

Has SPS improved his endurance to the point where he can play as a permanent midfielder or will he still be more of a half forward in 2019?

Is Fasolo on track for round 1 selection or is he coming from too far back?

Is O'brien working with the midfield or defensive group? Interested to hear if the club plans to play him across half back or wing.

How is Fisher tracking? Has obviously recovered from his broken leg but is he moving alright? Improved his fitness and maintained his agility and speed?

Is Cuningham pushing his case for selection?

Kennedy looks in really good condition. Should we expect a break out year or still need to give him more time given his injury history?

YES. Midfield easily
Borderline
Midfield only
Awesome
YES
YES. Really good condition. Breakout year ahead
 
Nov 29, 2018
1,317
5,013
AFL Club
Carlton
So this is my first training report for BigFooty. I hope it gives you blue bloods a clearer picture of just what’s going on at this great club of ours. Particularly after a long period of pain and suffering.


I’ll break it down into two parts. Part one will be the overall structure of the session, the drills and how the were executed. Part two will focus on the players I managed to observe throughout the session.


Part 1: Training Overview

The group emerged on time for once which was a relief. They spread out across the ground and played some good old fashioned kick to kick. A few players would do their own thing and jog around the square e.g. Weitering. Players seemed in really good spirits. Group then went for a jog and some light stretching together.

After about ten minutes the squad broke into grouped agility drills. The drill I particularly liked involved a square of cones and two players. Player 1 would stand in front of the square and point to one of the cones whilst the Player 2 would stand facing the Player 1 and move quickly side to side to in response to the directive. This is a great exercise to train defensive zoning whilst keeping your eye on the play/ball. The best performers were Zac Fisher (kid is a freak), Walsh (freak), Cuners and Polson (he impressed me today).

Stretching for 2 minutes followed this. I must say, I absolutely loved the way Russell structured the session. It was staggered and highly organised. At no point did the players seem confused or out of their depth. Every single component of the session had a purpose. Not just my opinion, but a sports coach who attended with me said the same thing. He was blown away impressed.

Alas, I go on. There was a light duties group on the Dick Pratt Stand side that worked purely on their running. This included Liam Stocker, Hugh Goddard, Caleb Marchbank, Will Setterfield, Darcy Lang, Lachie Plowman plus a few more at different times. They worked away at staggered running drills that were very specific. Russell’s program is highly customised to each individual. Stocker for example, had his directives to run along the wing for a certain distance. Walk then run back. This was all timed by the physios and Stocker himself. Liam was determined and on a mission. You can tell he has what it takes to become an elite athlete… it was all business.

For most of the remainder of the session there were several skills based drills. Some I hadn’t seen before but I really liked. Very practical and normally added a component to make it slightly harder. Brent Stanton ran much of these drills and his voice projected really well. Skills were very clean.

At one point Samo left the group and just ran bulk laps. This is yet again another example of Russell’s individual program. Samo began this during the skills drills. I turned to my friend and we both said the same thing “brilliant”. SPS doesn’t need to work on his skills so Russell had him building his endurance. Several players peeled off at different times and ran laps - this included Lobbe and Flip. Murphy and Kreuzer partnered up and ran some serious heat around the boundary line toward the end of the session. Tractor kept up and toiled valiantly.

The last drill I will comment on was the mini match simulation that was broken into two games. 6 or so on each side. Frenetic short passing on a tiny field with small goals to shoot at. The game I was watching included Walshy, Jones, Cottrell, Fisher, Curnow, Owies, Bugg, and a few more. Walsh is a genuine gun. Had the ball on a string finding the ball inside and outside. Jones pulled the trigger on some aggressive kicks which paid off. Cottrell actually really showed something. Took some courageous marks and hit targets. Looked up to it. Chaz Curnow was his usual brilliant self. But the play of the day was my man Zac Fisher. Picked the ball up cleanly, side stepped the opposition and thumped a low bullet pass to his player on the lead. Simply awesome stuff. Owies found a heap of the ball but lets himself down with his disposal.

One of the last drills involved one-on-one contested marking practice with a crumber to finish it off. Curnow was outstanding even against the ruckman. Took a hanger and the crowd loved it. McKay started tentative then really began owning the contest and took some great grabs. Finbar was matched up on Teaguey and really struggled to make an impact. Clearly not a kid that grew up playing key position. But I really like him as a talent. Has a beautiful left peg on him. TDK held his own and really took it up to the bigger bodies.

Session ended with lots of shots on goal (which us fans appreciate the importance of). McKay kicked it accurately, as did Finbar! Probably the only downside to Walsh’s day was this. Missed a lot of shots for goal at one point but I’m not overly concerned.



Part 2 Players:

I will only comment on the players that I managed to view for a period of time. If you have any questions about the other players I may be able to answer them.

Jack Silvagni - Murph called him ‘Latino’ for a reason. He is so tanned. Trained well. Practised his torps at the end and managed a few 65m bombs. Also battled hard in contested marking.

Paddy Dow - The kid is light on his feet and powerful off the mark. Missed a few kicks and is prone to the odd fumble. But his hands in tight are quick and clean. Will be a jet.

Marc Murphy - Legend of a bloke. Signed heaps of autographs at the end after gut running the boundary line. Trained well and kept building his fitness. Kicking looked cleaner than last year.

Lochie O’Brien - He was in my top 5 today was Lochie. He has put on considerable size and looks AFL ready. Used his voice really well in the handball drills and his skills were sublime. Glides across the ground. Will be a jet for us.

SPS - Moved really well and looked determined to get fitter when running laps of the boundary.

Cripps - Thought it was McKay at one stage. He is gigantic. Kicking for goal is the only area he needs to improve on. Nothing else to say. He’s our captain for a reason.

Harry McKay - Looked confident and stronger in the contest. Needs to clean up his field kicking.

Sam Walsh - This kid is a marvel. Glides across the turf, moves almost as quick as Fisher side to side. Has clean hands, is composed with the ball and most importantly is a legend of a bloke. Stayed way past the end of the session and was the star of the show. We have a gem. Straight after the session I popped more on him to win the Rising Star.

Jacob Weitering - Big Weiter Bot. That running style is hard to miss from the stands. Played really well in the mini match sim. His skills are elite for a big man and he really took charge of the backline. Hoping he can find more confidence this year.

Zac Fisher - My favourite. Elite in so many aspects of the game. Hard to see him not being a star.

Cam Polson - Surprised me in a good way did Cam. High intensity and was a bit of a sharp shooter in front of goals today. Could potentially see him making it up forward if he continues this way.

Fasolo - “Fasolo Everywhere” he shouted as he kicked an easy snag from the square. The crowd laughed and so did the players. He’s a funny guy and adds some swagger to the list. As Soapie has mentioned previously, he needs to improve his fitness but will kick goals for us this year.

Cottrell - Wasn’t expecting much but he more than held his own out there today. Particularly, in the mini match sim he was clean by hand and foot and had great awareness of those around him. If he keeps this up he’ll find himself on our list.

BSOS - Is actually quicker than I thought. Plays with confidence. Was caught out in a few drills by being too slow to react and execute by foot.

Buggy - Sharp shooter today in front of goal. Will play bulk footy next year.

Owies - He was everywhere today. Ball magnet. Probably because he was positioned in front of me wherever I moved to. He is quick and gets involved. But very poor by foot. His skills were several cogs below the rest. Was also exposed in the handball drills - struggled to weight his handballs to his team mate’s advantage.

Hugh Goddard - Struggled a bit physically today from my viewing. I heard him complain to the coaches that something was bugging him. Just ran laps. Needs to shed some muscle up top IMO. He is a hulking man and those leg joints don’t need any extra weight.

Setterfield - I cringed when watching him participate in some side to side movement drills. But Russell was close by watching him. It was specifically tailored to him though and he handled it well. Silky mover side to side. His kicking is one area for improvement. Not poor but a bit inaccurate at times.

Conclusion

As a final note, Andrew Russell was the real star today. For the first time this century, Carlton has a high performance system which will be the envy of the competition. There is so much thought and planning in everything that happens out there and Russell is the architect behind it all. He is visible to players and makes his way to every station and communicates clearly and succinctly.

Shane Crawford famously tweeted that the two most important roles in a football club are the High Performance Manager and the Head Recruiter. Carlton supporters, be content in knowing we now have the best of the best in both of these positions. This will be a fun ride.

Cheers,

NDNB
 

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Last edited:
Jun 19, 2018
6,024
14,991
frankston station
AFL Club
Carlton
So this is my first training report for BigFooty. I hope it gives you blue bloods a clearer picture of just what’s going on at this great club of ours. Particularly after a long period of pain and suffering.


I’ll break it down into two parts. Part one will be the overall structure of the session, the drills and how the were executed. Part two will focus on the players I managed to observe throughout the session.


Part 1: Training Overview

The group emerged on time for once which was a relief. They spread out across the ground and played some good old fashioned kick to kick. A few players would do their own thing and jog around the square e.g. Weitering. Players seemed in really good spirits. Group then went for a jog and some light stretching together.

After about ten minutes the squad broke into grouped agility drills. The drill I particularly liked involved a square of cones and two players. Player 1 would stand in front of the square and point to one of the cones whilst the Player 2 would stand facing the Player 1 and move quickly side to side to in response to the directive. This is a great exercise to train defensive zoning whilst keeping your eye on the play/ball. The best performers were Zac Fisher (kid is a freak), Walsh (freak), Cuners and Polson (he impressed me today).

Stretching for 2 minutes followed this. I must say, I absolutely loved the way Russell structured the session. It was staggered and highly organised. At no point did the players seem confused or out of their depth. Every single component of the session had a purpose. Not just my opinion, but a sports coach who attended with me said the same thing. He was blown away impressed.

Alas, I go on. There was a light duties group on the Dick Pratt Stand side that worked purely on their running. This included Liam Stocker, Hugh Goddard, Caleb Marchbank, Will Setterfield, Darcy Lang, Lachie Plowman plus a few more at different times. They worked away at staggered running drills that were very specific. Russell’s program is highly customised to each individual. Stocker for example, had his directives to run along the wing for a certain distance. Walk then run back. This was all timed by the physios and Stocker himself. Liam was determined and on a mission. You can tell he has what it takes to become an elite athlete… it was all business.

For most of the remainder of the session there were several skills based drills. Some I hadn’t seen before but I really liked. Very practical and normally added a component to make it slightly harder. Brent Stanton ran much of these drills and his voice projected really well. Skills were very clean.

At one point Samo left the group and just ran bulk laps. This is yet again another example of Russell’s individual program. Samo began this during the skills drills. I turned to my friend and we both said the same thing “brilliant”. SPS doesn’t need to work on his skills so Russell had him building his endurance. Several players peeled off at different times and ran laps - this included Lobbe and Flip. Murphy and Kreuzer partnered up and ran some serious heat around the boundary line toward the end of the session. Tractor kept up and toiled valiantly.

The last drill I will comment on was the mini match simulation that was broken into two games. 6 or so on each side. Frenetic short passing on a tiny field with small goals to shoot at. The game I was watching included Walshy, Jones, Cottrell, Fisher, Curnow, Owies, Bugg, and a few more. Walsh is a genuine gun. Had the ball on a string finding the ball inside and outside. Jones pulled the trigger on some aggressive kicks which paid off. Cottrell actually really showed something. Took some courageous marks and hit targets. Looked up to it. Chaz Curnow was his usual brilliant self. But the play of the day was my man Zac Fisher. Picked the ball up cleanly, side stepped the opposition and thumped a low bullet pass to his player on the lead. Simply awesome stuff. Owies found a heap of the ball but lets himself down with his disposal.

One of the last drills involved one-on-one contested marking practice with a crumber to finish it off. Curnow was outstanding even against the ruckman. Took a hanger and the crowd loved it. McKay started tentative then really began owning the contest and took some great grabs. Finbar was matched up on Teaguey and really struggled to make an impact. Clearly not a kid that grew up playing key position. But I really like him as a talent. Has a beautiful left peg on him. TDK held his own and really took it up to the bigger bodies.

Session ended with lots of shots on goal (which us fans appreciate the importance of). McKay kicked it accurately, as did Finbar! Probably the only downside to Walsh’s day was this. Missed a lot of shots for goal at one point but I’m not overly concerned.



Part 2 Players:

I will only comment on the players that I managed to view for a period of time. If you have any questions about the other players I may be able to answer them.

Jack Silvagni - Murph called him ‘Latino’ for a reason. He is so tanned. Trained well. Practised his torps at the end and managed a few 65m bombs. Also battled hard in contested marking.

Paddy Dow - The kid is light on his feet and powerful off the mark. Missed a few kicks and is prone to the odd fumble. But his hands in tight are quick and clean. Will be a jet.

Marc Murphy - Legend of a bloke. Signed heaps of autographs at the end after gut running the boundary line. Trained well and kept building his fitness. Kicking looked cleaner than last year.

Lochie O’Brien - He was in my top 5 today was Lochie. He has put on considerable size and looks AFL ready. Used his voice really well in the handball drills and his skills were sublime. Glides across the ground. Will be a jet for us.

SPS - Moved really well and looked determined to get fitter when running laps of the boundary.

Cripps - Thought it was McKay at one stage. He is gigantic. Kicking for goal is the only area he needs to improve on. Nothing else to say. He’s our captain for a reason.

Harry McKay - Looked confident and stronger in the contest. Needs to clean up his field kicking.

Sam Walsh - This kid is a marvel. Glides across the turf, moves almost as quick as Fisher side to side. Has clean hands, is composed with the ball and most importantly is a legend of a bloke. Stayed way past the end of the session and was the star of the show. We have a gem. Straight after the session I popped more on him to win the Rising Star.

Jacob Weitering - Big Weiter Bot. That running style is hard to miss from the stands. Played really well in the mini match sim. His skills are elite for a big man and he really took charge of the backline. Hoping he can find more confidence this year.

Zac Fisher - My favourite. Elite in so many aspects of the game. Hard to see him not being a star.

Cam Polson - Surprised me in a good way did Cam. High intensity and was a bit of a sharp shooter in front of goals today. Could potentially see him making it up forward if he continues this way.

Fasolo - “Fasolo Everywhere” he shouted as he kicked an easy snag from the square. The crowd laughed and so did the players. He’s a funny guy and adds some swagger to the list. As Soapie has mentioned previously, he needs to improve his fitness but will kick goals for us this year.

Cottrell - Wasn’t expecting much but he more than held his own out there today. Particularly, in the mini match sim he was clean by hand and foot and had great awareness of those around him. If he keeps this up he’ll find himself on our list.

BSOS - Is actually quicker than I thought. Plays with confidence. Was caught out in a few drills by being too slow to react and execute by foot.

Buggy - Sharp shooter today in front of goal. Will play bulk footy next year.

Owies - He was everywhere today. Ball magnet. Probably because he was positioned in front of me wherever I moved to. He is quick and gets involved. But very poor by foot. His skills were several cogs below the rest. Was also exposed in the handball drills - struggled to weight his handballs to his team mate’s advantage.

Hugh Goddard - Struggled a bit physically today from my viewing. I heard him complain to the coaches that something was bugging him. Just ran laps. Needs to shed some muscle up top IMO. He is a hulking man and those leg joints don’t need any extra weight.

Setterfield - I cringed when watching him participate in some side to side movement drills. But Russell was close by watching him. It was specifically tailored to him though and he handled it well. Silky mover side to side. His kicking is one area for improvement. Not poor but a bit inaccurate at times.

Conclusion

As a final note, Andrew Russell was the real star today. For the first time this century, Carlton has a high performance system which will be the envy of the competition. There is so much thought and planning in everything that happens out there and Russell is the architect behind it all. He is visible to players and makes his way to every station and communicates clearly and succinctly.

Shane Crawford famously tweeted that the two most important roles in a football club are the High Performance Manager and the Head Recruiter. Carlton supporters, be content in knowing we now have the best of the best in both of these positions. This will be a fun ride.

Cheers,

NDNB
amazing mate
but whos that next to lang in the third photo? cant really tell.
 

Mr_Plow

That name again...
May 18, 2008
17,226
65,653
Melbourne
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
Red Wings
So this is my first training report for BigFooty. I hope it gives you blue bloods a clearer picture of just what’s going on at this great club of ours. Particularly after a long period of pain and suffering.


I’ll break it down into two parts. Part one will be the overall structure of the session, the drills and how the were executed. Part two will focus on the players I managed to observe throughout the session.


Part 1: Training Overview

The group emerged on time for once which was a relief. They spread out across the ground and played some good old fashioned kick to kick. A few players would do their own thing and jog around the square e.g. Weitering. Players seemed in really good spirits. Group then went for a jog and some light stretching together.

After about ten minutes the squad broke into grouped agility drills. The drill I particularly liked involved a square of cones and two players. Player 1 would stand in front of the square and point to one of the cones whilst the Player 2 would stand facing the Player 1 and move quickly side to side to in response to the directive. This is a great exercise to train defensive zoning whilst keeping your eye on the play/ball. The best performers were Zac Fisher (kid is a freak), Walsh (freak), Cuners and Polson (he impressed me today).

Stretching for 2 minutes followed this. I must say, I absolutely loved the way Russell structured the session. It was staggered and highly organised. At no point did the players seem confused or out of their depth. Every single component of the session had a purpose. Not just my opinion, but a sports coach who attended with me said the same thing. He was blown away impressed.

Alas, I go on. There was a light duties group on the Dick Pratt Stand side that worked purely on their running. This included Liam Stocker, Hugh Goddard, Caleb Marchbank, Will Setterfield, Darcy Lang, Lachie Plowman plus a few more at different times. They worked away at staggered running drills that were very specific. Russell’s program is highly customised to each individual. Stocker for example, had his directives to run along the wing for a certain distance. Walk then run back. This was all timed by the physios and Stocker himself. Liam was determined and on a mission. You can tell he has what it takes to become an elite athlete… it was all business.

For most of the remainder of the session there were several skills based drills. Some I hadn’t seen before but I really liked. Very practical and normally added a component to make it slightly harder. Brent Stanton ran much of these drills and his voice projected really well. Skills were very clean.

At one point Samo left the group and just ran bulk laps. This is yet again another example of Russell’s individual program. Samo began this during the skills drills. I turned to my friend and we both said the same thing “brilliant”. SPS doesn’t need to work on his skills so Russell had him building his endurance. Several players peeled off at different times and ran laps - this included Lobbe and Flip. Murphy and Kreuzer partnered up and ran some serious heat around the boundary line toward the end of the session. Tractor kept up and toiled valiantly.

The last drill I will comment on was the mini match simulation that was broken into two games. 6 or so on each side. Frenetic short passing on a tiny field with small goals to shoot at. The game I was watching included Walshy, Jones, Cottrell, Fisher, Curnow, Owies, Bugg, and a few more. Walsh is a genuine gun. Had the ball on a string finding the ball inside and outside. Jones pulled the trigger on some aggressive kicks which paid off. Cottrell actually really showed something. Took some courageous marks and hit targets. Looked up to it. Chaz Curnow was his usual brilliant self. But the play of the day was my man Zac Fisher. Picked the ball up cleanly, side stepped the opposition and thumped a low bullet pass to his player on the lead. Simply awesome stuff. Owies found a heap of the ball but lets himself down with his disposal.

One of the last drills involved one-on-one contested marking practice with a crumber to finish it off. Curnow was outstanding even against the ruckman. Took a hanger and the crowd loved it. McKay started tentative then really began owning the contest and took some great grabs. Finbar was matched up on Teaguey and really struggled to make an impact. Clearly not a kid that grew up playing key position. But I really like him as a talent. Has a beautiful left peg on him. TDK held his own and really took it up to the bigger bodies.

Session ended with lots of shots on goal (which us fans appreciate the importance of). McKay kicked it accurately, as did Finbar! Probably the only downside to Walsh’s day was this. Missed a lot of shots for goal at one point but I’m not overly concerned.



Part 2 Players:

I will only comment on the players that I managed to view for a period of time. If you have any questions about the other players I may be able to answer them.

Jack Silvagni - Murph called him ‘Latino’ for a reason. He is so tanned. Trained well. Practised his torps at the end and managed a few 65m bombs. Also battled hard in contested marking.

Paddy Dow - The kid is light on his feet and powerful off the mark. Missed a few kicks and is prone to the odd fumble. But his hands in tight are quick and clean. Will be a jet.

Marc Murphy - Legend of a bloke. Signed heaps of autographs at the end after gut running the boundary line. Trained well and kept building his fitness. Kicking looked cleaner than last year.

Lochie O’Brien - He was in my top 5 today was Lochie. He has put on considerable size and looks AFL ready. Used his voice really well in the handball drills and his skills were sublime. Glides across the ground. Will be a jet for us.

SPS - Moved really well and looked determined to get fitter when running laps of the boundary.

Cripps - Thought it was McKay at one stage. He is gigantic. Kicking for goal is the only area he needs to improve on. Nothing else to say. He’s our captain for a reason.

Harry McKay - Looked confident and stronger in the contest. Needs to clean up his field kicking.

Sam Walsh - This kid is a marvel. Glides across the turf, moves almost as quick as Fisher side to side. Has clean hands, is composed with the ball and most importantly is a legend of a bloke. Stayed way past the end of the session and was the star of the show. We have a gem. Straight after the session I popped more on him to win the Rising Star.

Jacob Weitering - Big Weiter Bot. That running style is hard to miss from the stands. Played really well in the mini match sim. His skills are elite for a big man and he really took charge of the backline. Hoping he can find more confidence this year.

Zac Fisher - My favourite. Elite in so many aspects of the game. Hard to see him not being a star.

Cam Polson - Surprised me in a good way did Cam. High intensity and was a bit of a sharp shooter in front of goals today. Could potentially see him making it up forward if he continues this way.

Fasolo - “Fasolo Everywhere” he shouted as he kicked an easy snag from the square. The crowd laughed and so did the players. He’s a funny guy and adds some swagger to the list. As Soapie has mentioned previously, he needs to improve his fitness but will kick goals for us this year.

Cottrell - Wasn’t expecting much but he more than held his own out there today. Particularly, in the mini match sim he was clean by hand and foot and had great awareness of those around him. If he keeps this up he’ll find himself on our list.

BSOS - Is actually quicker than I thought. Plays with confidence. Was caught out in a few drills by being too slow to react and execute by foot.

Buggy - Sharp shooter today in front of goal. Will play bulk footy next year.

Owies - He was everywhere today. Ball magnet. Probably because he was positioned in front of me wherever I moved to. He is quick and gets involved. But very poor by foot. His skills were several cogs below the rest. Was also exposed in the handball drills - struggled to weight his handballs to his team mate’s advantage.

Hugh Goddard - Struggled a bit physically today from my viewing. I heard him complain to the coaches that something was bugging him. Just ran laps. Needs to shed some muscle up top IMO. He is a hulking man and those leg joints don’t need any extra weight.

Setterfield - I cringed when watching him participate in some side to side movement drills. But Russell was close by watching him. It was specifically tailored to him though and he handled it well. Silky mover side to side. His kicking is one area for improvement. Not poor but a bit inaccurate at times.

Conclusion

As a final note, Andrew Russell was the real star today. For the first time this century, Carlton has a high performance system which will be the envy of the competition. There is so much thought and planning in everything that happens out there and Russell is the architect behind it all. He is visible to players and makes his way to every station and communicates clearly and succinctly.

Shane Crawford famously tweeted that the two most important roles in a football club are the High Performance Manager and the Head Recruiter. Carlton supporters, be content in knowing we now have the best of the best in both of these positions. This will be a fun ride.

Cheers,

NDNB

Tremendous.
 

passmark

Brownlow Medallist
Aug 26, 2012
21,023
44,563
AFL Club
Carlton
So this is my first training report for BigFooty. I hope it gives you blue bloods a clearer picture of just what’s going on at this great club of ours. Particularly after a long period of pain and suffering.


I’ll break it down into two parts. Part one will be the overall structure of the session, the drills and how the were executed. Part two will focus on the players I managed to observe throughout the session.


Part 1: Training Overview

The group emerged on time for once which was a relief. They spread out across the ground and played some good old fashioned kick to kick. A few players would do their own thing and jog around the square e.g. Weitering. Players seemed in really good spirits. Group then went for a jog and some light stretching together.

After about ten minutes the squad broke into grouped agility drills. The drill I particularly liked involved a square of cones and two players. Player 1 would stand in front of the square and point to one of the cones whilst the Player 2 would stand facing the Player 1 and move quickly side to side to in response to the directive. This is a great exercise to train defensive zoning whilst keeping your eye on the play/ball. The best performers were Zac Fisher (kid is a freak), Walsh (freak), Cuners and Polson (he impressed me today).

Stretching for 2 minutes followed this. I must say, I absolutely loved the way Russell structured the session. It was staggered and highly organised. At no point did the players seem confused or out of their depth. Every single component of the session had a purpose. Not just my opinion, but a sports coach who attended with me said the same thing. He was blown away impressed.

Alas, I go on. There was a light duties group on the Dick Pratt Stand side that worked purely on their running. This included Liam Stocker, Hugh Goddard, Caleb Marchbank, Will Setterfield, Darcy Lang, Lachie Plowman plus a few more at different times. They worked away at staggered running drills that were very specific. Russell’s program is highly customised to each individual. Stocker for example, had his directives to run along the wing for a certain distance. Walk then run back. This was all timed by the physios and Stocker himself. Liam was determined and on a mission. You can tell he has what it takes to become an elite athlete… it was all business.

For most of the remainder of the session there were several skills based drills. Some I hadn’t seen before but I really liked. Very practical and normally added a component to make it slightly harder. Brent Stanton ran much of these drills and his voice projected really well. Skills were very clean.

At one point Samo left the group and just ran bulk laps. This is yet again another example of Russell’s individual program. Samo began this during the skills drills. I turned to my friend and we both said the same thing “brilliant”. SPS doesn’t need to work on his skills so Russell had him building his endurance. Several players peeled off at different times and ran laps - this included Lobbe and Flip. Murphy and Kreuzer partnered up and ran some serious heat around the boundary line toward the end of the session. Tractor kept up and toiled valiantly.

The last drill I will comment on was the mini match simulation that was broken into two games. 6 or so on each side. Frenetic short passing on a tiny field with small goals to shoot at. The game I was watching included Walshy, Jones, Cottrell, Fisher, Curnow, Owies, Bugg, and a few more. Walsh is a genuine gun. Had the ball on a string finding the ball inside and outside. Jones pulled the trigger on some aggressive kicks which paid off. Cottrell actually really showed something. Took some courageous marks and hit targets. Looked up to it. Chaz Curnow was his usual brilliant self. But the play of the day was my man Zac Fisher. Picked the ball up cleanly, side stepped the opposition and thumped a low bullet pass to his player on the lead. Simply awesome stuff. Owies found a heap of the ball but lets himself down with his disposal.

One of the last drills involved one-on-one contested marking practice with a crumber to finish it off. Curnow was outstanding even against the ruckman. Took a hanger and the crowd loved it. McKay started tentative then really began owning the contest and took some great grabs. Finbar was matched up on Teaguey and really struggled to make an impact. Clearly not a kid that grew up playing key position. But I really like him as a talent. Has a beautiful left peg on him. TDK held his own and really took it up to the bigger bodies.

Session ended with lots of shots on goal (which us fans appreciate the importance of). McKay kicked it accurately, as did Finbar! Probably the only downside to Walsh’s day was this. Missed a lot of shots for goal at one point but I’m not overly concerned.



Part 2 Players:

I will only comment on the players that I managed to view for a period of time. If you have any questions about the other players I may be able to answer them.

Jack Silvagni - Murph called him ‘Latino’ for a reason. He is so tanned. Trained well. Practised his torps at the end and managed a few 65m bombs. Also battled hard in contested marking.

Paddy Dow - The kid is light on his feet and powerful off the mark. Missed a few kicks and is prone to the odd fumble. But his hands in tight are quick and clean. Will be a jet.

Marc Murphy - Legend of a bloke. Signed heaps of autographs at the end after gut running the boundary line. Trained well and kept building his fitness. Kicking looked cleaner than last year.

Lochie O’Brien - He was in my top 5 today was Lochie. He has put on considerable size and looks AFL ready. Used his voice really well in the handball drills and his skills were sublime. Glides across the ground. Will be a jet for us.

SPS - Moved really well and looked determined to get fitter when running laps of the boundary.

Cripps - Thought it was McKay at one stage. He is gigantic. Kicking for goal is the only area he needs to improve on. Nothing else to say. He’s our captain for a reason.

Harry McKay - Looked confident and stronger in the contest. Needs to clean up his field kicking.

Sam Walsh - This kid is a marvel. Glides across the turf, moves almost as quick as Fisher side to side. Has clean hands, is composed with the ball and most importantly is a legend of a bloke. Stayed way past the end of the session and was the star of the show. We have a gem. Straight after the session I popped more on him to win the Rising Star.

Jacob Weitering - Big Weiter Bot. That running style is hard to miss from the stands. Played really well in the mini match sim. His skills are elite for a big man and he really took charge of the backline. Hoping he can find more confidence this year.

Zac Fisher - My favourite. Elite in so many aspects of the game. Hard to see him not being a star.

Cam Polson - Surprised me in a good way did Cam. High intensity and was a bit of a sharp shooter in front of goals today. Could potentially see him making it up forward if he continues this way.

Fasolo - “Fasolo Everywhere” he shouted as he kicked an easy snag from the square. The crowd laughed and so did the players. He’s a funny guy and adds some swagger to the list. As Soapie has mentioned previously, he needs to improve his fitness but will kick goals for us this year.

Cottrell - Wasn’t expecting much but he more than held his own out there today. Particularly, in the mini match sim he was clean by hand and foot and had great awareness of those around him. If he keeps this up he’ll find himself on our list.

BSOS - Is actually quicker than I thought. Plays with confidence. Was caught out in a few drills by being too slow to react and execute by foot.

Buggy - Sharp shooter today in front of goal. Will play bulk footy next year.

Owies - He was everywhere today. Ball magnet. Probably because he was positioned in front of me wherever I moved to. He is quick and gets involved. But very poor by foot. His skills were several cogs below the rest. Was also exposed in the handball drills - struggled to weight his handballs to his team mate’s advantage.

Hugh Goddard - Struggled a bit physically today from my viewing. I heard him complain to the coaches that something was bugging him. Just ran laps. Needs to shed some muscle up top IMO. He is a hulking man and those leg joints don’t need any extra weight.

Setterfield - I cringed when watching him participate in some side to side movement drills. But Russell was close by watching him. It was specifically tailored to him though and he handled it well. Silky mover side to side. His kicking is one area for improvement. Not poor but a bit inaccurate at times.

Conclusion

As a final note, Andrew Russell was the real star today. For the first time this century, Carlton has a high performance system which will be the envy of the competition. There is so much thought and planning in everything that happens out there and Russell is the architect behind it all. He is visible to players and makes his way to every station and communicates clearly and succinctly.

Shane Crawford famously tweeted that the two most important roles in a football club are the High Performance Manager and the Head Recruiter. Carlton supporters, be content in knowing we now have the best of the best in both of these positions. This will be a fun ride.

Cheers,

NDNB
B-
Not enough detail.


:p
 
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