Play Nice 2020 Pre-Season Training

Can you imagine the thoughts going through the draftee's heads. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

They've worked their arse off to get to this point and they've now arrived at their first AFL training session where they are mixing with the Fyfe's of the world. Must be an absolutely incredible feeling
 

FreoBraddles

Team Captain
Feb 19, 2016
569
2,953
AFL Club
Fremantle
THE RECRUITS
In a break from previous years the group of draftees were incorporated into the main training session, instead of playing kick to kick on the sidelines. Seem's this is most likely a JL decision and something he has brought from Collingwood - as I read that they put their draftees through a 2km time trial today (which a draftee actually won).

Liam Henry was in the rehab group on the far side of the ground, still recovering from his knee dislocation in a school footy game, with some minor strapping over his left knee. Did plenty of running as he hopes to join the main group after the Christmas break. Was also the first recruit to finish training, watching on the sidelines for a bit whilst the other six draftees finished their session.
The other six did the initial stages of the warm ups with the main group, before separating to do a few warm ups of their own led by Webber. They were then reintegrated into the start of the drills.


Draftees now involved in the first proper drill of the day.
Groups of 6. Two players at each end. Two in the middle. All 15-20m apart. Players at the end kick to each other, then those in the middle who spin and kick to the other end at 45degrees. Two balls - one starts at the opposite corner.

After this all players where split into three groups for three separate drills that they rotated through.
Drill 1 - In pairs they had to handball through three separate 'opposition' players and move the ball through.
Drill 2 - In pairs, players where competing for the ground ball.
Drill 3 - Player made a short kick to a coach, received the handball back and delivered the ball inside 50 to a leading player.

Hayden Young's kicking is phenomenal - The way he can mix it up between left and right is a huge asset of his. Also demonstrated clean hands when the ball was coming to him in the air. One of his inside 50's was millimetre perfect and hit a leading Tab's on the tit. Also noticed him giving out quite a few high five's etc. to his team mates when they came past in their run throughs or drills - seems to be keen to integrate into the group quickly.

Caleb Serong similarly showed good disposal and hands. Yes he's short, but he is really well built. As mentioned a few players made the comment that he is like a young Neale.

I watched these two along with keeping an eye on Henry the most, but will say that Frederick is quick. Butters made a few errors but that could easily be put down to nerves in session one. Thomas was solid without standing out.

Jarvis Pina also impressed me and caught my eye a few times with his running and his disposal. Quality pick up for the price we paid.
 
Last edited:

Jebus18

Debutant
May 1, 2016
93
277
AFL Club
Fremantle
Thanks to all that post anything training related!

A question, is O’Reilly training as a designated defender? How’s he looking?
For a while they split into what looked like mids, defenders and forwards, O’Reilly was with the forwards surprisingly, also Hilly and Conca were with the defensive group, Cerra seemed only with mids which is a good sign
 

FreoBraddles

Team Captain
Feb 19, 2016
569
2,953
AFL Club
Fremantle
THE REHABILITATING

Today's rehab/individual program group consisted of (from what I could see) Carter, Henry, Hogan, Sturt, Giro, Cam, Valente, Blakely, Dixon and Meek.

Nathan Wilson started off walking laps and has now got rid of his moon boot. Longmuir joined him for his first few laps whilst the main group did their warm ups.

Brandon Matera was in the gym working out during the session and didn't appear on the track at all.

Jesse Hogan was the last remaining of those in the rehab group. Towards the end he ran a few laps at a reasonable pace and then did some kicking and marking with one of the coaches.

Luke Valente is now working on his zig zag running, and not so focused on straight lines as he hopes to progress in his recovery.

Connor Blakely was running laps pretty freely at the end and was joined by Stephen Giro before he went and watched on whilst on the bike.

Nathan Fyfe didn't partake in the last drill or diamond runs and instead was running laps around the oval.

No sign of Alex Pearce in the rehab group or on the field.
 

FreoBraddles

Team Captain
Feb 19, 2016
569
2,953
AFL Club
Fremantle
THE REST

Today's session seemed to go for a little bit longer, and was quite a punishing session with lots of running and some new drills (at least from what I've seen over the pre season). You could tell the players where pushed with pretty much all of them looking buggered when they finally came in to end the session.

One of the first warm ups they did were runs between the two 50m arcs - A few observations. Aish has pace, Fyfe came first in his by about 10m and didn't even look like he was pushing himself, Hilly is moving better than I've seen in a long time.

DRILL 1: When they moved into the drill where they move the ball from one 50m arc to the other they only had two teams this time. Previous weeks they've had two teams combining to attack and the other team defending meaning it was almost always moved quite freely and with little pressure due to the outnumber. This obviously lead to a bit more pressure and the skills where still pretty good. At one point Aish made a dive/roll to take a mark off a short kick, where he was under little pressure so could have just collected the loose ball of the bounce. This impressed me, showing the standard to which he trains. In the same drill Hilly had the ball kicked over his head but ran back and marked at full stretch before kicking beautifully off of two steps.

------

DRILL 2: For those wanting match simulation, we didn't quite get there but we did get closer today. Longmuir started with the ball, in the first instances he told them to force the turnover from him, at which point they then went on the counter attack and had to kick the goal. Later on Longy moved to the wing and kicked to a player in defensive 50m where they then had to go forward to kick the goal. After each goal their was a run all players had to do before the drill restarted - Largely I think focusing on execution whilst fatigued.

-------
DRILL 3: The last drills they did had the team split into three groups - seemingly mids, forwards and defense.

The defensive group included the obvious as well as Cox, Conca and Hill. Not sure if I saw Acres with them for a bit as well, someone else may be able to confirm. They were all manned up on one another as one of the others kicked the ball inside 50m and they had to defend the inside 50.

The forward group consisted of Walters, Tabs, O'Reilly, Schultz, Lobb, Switta, Colyer and I think Banfield - Again someone else may be able to confirm. Similarly they took turns taking the ball inside 50m to a leading target. Thankfully they all seemed to be leading into different areas. Towards the end they varied their ball movement inside 50 and started further back/did a switch or two to get the entry they wanted.

The mids where on the far side and I didn't watch them too much, but Cerra was training exclusively with them which will please many.

----

At the end of the session they did the same diamond runs they've ended with most sessions but now at each 'point' of the diamond run they would stop for either squats, burpees or push ups.

At this point Cox had finished but he told a few training watchers that he had been ill so was just finishing slightly early.
Darcy was also spared the diamond runs but worked on his strength with the sledgehammer and tyre - Swining the sledgehammer then doing a 25m run and some burpees. He was absolutely stuffed after this, as were the players doing the diamonds.

Some points in summary.

Walters and Hammer were the most vocal of the players with Acres speaking up too. Quite a bit of encouragement amongst the group, especially during the running which in this heat would have been very challenging.

Sean Darcy stood out a few times in the second drill with the full ground ball movement. Managed to find space, showed clean disposal and was running hard.

Stephen Hill is looking in really good shape, running well and his disposal is still all class. Hoping like hell that he manages to stay fit through the season.

Hamling was the first on the track and would have been in the top three in terms of training standards. Along with his voice on the track, his leadership cannot be understated.

Any questions, ask away and I will try to answer as best I can!
 

Megalon

Skills pay the bills
Jun 22, 2010
563
1,457
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Thank you so much FreoBraddles, legendary training report across your last few posts :thumbsu:

PS I know it's been mentioned before but I am absolutely loving how involved JLo is in training. What better way to build relationships with players than to be out there on the ground, give positive and constructive feedback etc
 
Last edited:

Megalon

Skills pay the bills
Jun 22, 2010
563
1,457
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Was doing some running with the rehab group. Didn't look to have any strapping or noticeable impairment so could have just been doing an individual program today.

Could be that they rate his skills by foot but know his running has dropped off in games in recent years, needs to get back to being the running machine he was at GWS
 

GoFreo4eva

Freo Tragic Since the Beginning
Sep 15, 2013
558
1,285
AFL Club
Fremantle
THE REST

Today's session seemed to go for a little bit longer, and was quite a punishing session with lots of running and some new drills (at least from what I've seen over the pre season). You could tell the players where pushed with pretty much all of them looking buggered when they finally came in to end the session.

One of the first warm ups they did were runs between the two 50m arcs - A few observations. Aish has pace, Fyfe came first in his by about 10m and didn't even look like he was pushing himself, Hilly is moving better than I've seen in a long time.

DRILL 1: When they moved into the drill where they move the ball from one 50m arc to the other they only had two teams this time. Previous weeks they've had two teams combining to attack and the other team defending meaning it was almost always moved quite freely and with little pressure due to the outnumber. This obviously lead to a bit more pressure and the skills where still pretty good. At one point Aish made a dive/roll to take a mark off a short kick, where he was under little pressure so could have just collected the loose ball of the bounce. This impressed me, showing the standard to which he trains. In the same drill Hilly had the ball kicked over his head but ran back and marked at full stretch before kicking beautifully off of two steps.

------

DRILL 2: For those wanting match simulation, we didn't quite get there but we did get closer today. Longmuir started with the ball, in the first instances he told them to force the turnover from him, at which point they then went on the counter attack and had to kick the goal. Later on Longy moved to the wing and kicked to a player in defensive 50m where they then had to go forward to kick the goal. After each goal their was a run all players had to do before the drill restarted - Largely I think focusing on execution whilst fatigued.

-------
DRILL 3: The last drills they did had the team split into three groups - seemingly mids, forwards and defense.

The defensive group included the obvious as well as Cox, Conca and Hill. Not sure if I saw Acres with them for a bit as well, someone else may be able to confirm. They were all manned up on one another as one of the others kicked the ball inside 50m and they had to defend the inside 50.

The forward group consisted of Walters, Tabs, O'Reilly, Schultz, Lobb, Switta, Colyer and I think Banfield - Again someone else may be able to confirm. Similarly they took turns taking the ball inside 50m to a leading target. Thankfully they all seemed to be leading into different areas. Towards the end they varied their ball movement inside 50 and started further back/did a switch or two to get the entry they wanted.

The mids where on the far side and I didn't watch them too much, but Cerra was training exclusively with them which will please many.

----

At the end of the session they did the same diamond runs they've ended with most sessions but now at each 'point' of the diamond run they would stop for either squats, burpees or push ups.

At this point Cox had finished but he told a few training watchers that he had been ill so was just finishing slightly early.
Darcy was also spared the diamond runs but worked on his strength with the sledgehammer and tyre - Swining the sledgehammer then doing a 25m run and some burpees. He was absolutely stuffed after this, as were the players doing the diamonds.

Some points in summary.

Walters and Hammer were the most vocal of the players with Acres speaking up too. Quite a bit of encouragement amongst the group, especially during the running which in this heat would have been very challenging.

Sean Darcy stood out a few times in the second drill with the full ground ball movement. Managed to find space, showed clean disposal and was running hard.

Stephen Hill is looking in really good shape, running well and his disposal is still all class. Hoping like hell that he manages to stay fit through the season.

Hamling was the first on the track and would have been in the top three in terms of training standards. Along with his voice on the track, his leadership cannot be understated.

Any questions, ask away and I will try to answer as best I can!
Quality report! Thanks so much...
 
Sep 30, 2011
14,366
23,411
Freo
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Whoever is playing WC
Stephen Hill is looking in really good shape, running well and his disposal is still all class. Hoping like hell that he manages to stay fit through the season.
That would be amazing if it happens. We'd have instantly replaced Brad Hill and would only need to cover off the loss of Langdon.
 

theGav56

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 11, 2004
29,350
29,321
Bali
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Fremantle
That would be amazing if it happens. We'd have instantly replaced Brad Hill and would only need to cover off the loss of Langdon.
I am a quiet fan of Aish. He will bring plenty of positives, one of which is that he came across with the coach. Nice marking, decision making and disposal. I don't expect to see run down tackles and that kind of thing as we did with Langdon, but in the sum-total, I don't think we have lost anything there.
 

Fred Ziffel

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2011
9,718
10,398
Cockburn W.A
AFL Club
Fremantle
Not pretending to be a movement specialist, but Izzy Butters looks to me to have a very laboured running style. I noticed they had people videoing the new recruits running, so hopefully they can have a look at it and correct it if necessary. Jarvis Pina on the other hand just seems to glide across the ground.

Hayden Young had shades of MickyB running gait. Looked odd but beautiful kicking in the big circle work drill.
Same too from Minairo slipping in some daisy cutters in his new iridescent orange boots.
 

Fred Ziffel

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2011
9,718
10,398
Cockburn W.A
AFL Club
Fremantle
THE REHABILITATING

Today's rehab/individual program group consisted of (from what I could see) Carter, Henry, Hogan, Sturt, Giro, Cam, Valente, Blakely, Dixon and Meek.

Nathan Wilson started off walking laps and has now got rid of his moon boot. Longmuir joined him for his first few laps whilst the main group did their warm ups.

Brandon Matera was in the gym working out during the session and didn't appear on the track at all.

Jesse Hogan was the last remaining of those in the rehab group. Towards the end he ran a few laps at a reasonable pace and then did some kicking and marking with one of the coaches.

Luke Valente is now working on his zig zag running, and not so focused on straight lines as he hopes to progress in his recovery.

Connor Blakely was running laps pretty freely at the end and was joined by Stephen Giro before he went and watched on whilst on the bike.

Nathan Fyfe didn't partake in the last drill or diamond runs and instead was running laps around the oval.

No sign of Alex Pearce in the rehab group or on the field.

Was that Nathan Wilson out of the moon boot walking a couple of laps ?
Ignore the question. I was reading in night mode and couldn’t see your comment on Willow.
 
Last edited:

Fred Ziffel

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2011
9,718
10,398
Cockburn W.A
AFL Club
Fremantle
By the way, the flies were unbearable out there.
In the end I was forced to leave.
No shade, bad flies, nowhere to sit and stinking hot.
Here’s a tip for them. Try watering that bloody lawn and the trees in the southern bank . Whatever happened to the lilac trees in the concept artists impression ?
Some genius thought, let’s plant some shitty gum trees. Who’d a thought of that.
 
Last edited:
Back