Training Alright, alright, alright! Its the 2022 Pre-season training thread.

I hadn't noticed that particular poster was no longer with us, but now that I think about it, there definitely has been a significant decline in negativity and arguments here. I will refrain from sharing my thoughts.
 

Bulldogs Legend

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 18, 2015
6,848
7,454
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Fox. They show every game live. You can also record them and replay them if it's a great win :), or just to analyse what went wrong (I don't watch losses though ;) ). But these sorts of one-off games might be live streamed. VFL sometimes is, although they don't show every game.
I actually record mine and watch something on another channel or Netflix then start watching after the game is finished so that if it really starts to annoy me or I get too nervous I can fast forward.

i am seeking treatment for my condition but otherwise I am completely sane
 

Bulldogs Legend

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 18, 2015
6,848
7,454
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
They did have it once. Sometime during the first version of Fox Footy in 2002-2006.
Yeah you used to be able to select different sounds and commentary. I always thought they should have the disgruntled negative supporter option so it would make me feel like I was really at the game
 

Bulldogs Legend

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 18, 2015
6,848
7,454
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
I hadn't noticed that particular poster was no longer with us, but now that I think about it, there definitely has been a significant decline in negativity and arguments here. I will refrain from sharing my thoughts.
I’ve made sure that I still post individually so that everyone still has someone to complain about

Not sure it will fill the void but I am trying
 
Sep 7, 2015
15,619
35,936
AFL Club
Tasmania
It was awesome being back at Whitten Oval today. The weather was perfect. There were tonnes of people there. Not a mask in sight. It was just beautiful - felt like pre-pandemic. The vibe was amazing.

I didn't watch much of the actual training. Similar to TDC, I spent most of the morning chasing a toddler around. Keen as hell to get back to the footy this season. Woof woof.

Edit: Bevo had a bit to say about the practice game so I'll try to paraphrase for anyone interested.

He thought we should have won that game when we were three goals up. He said our forward line didn't function anywhere near as well as it should have. He also said that the connection between our mids and forwards was a glaring issue that will be the focus leading into the Brisbane match. He was happy with our dominance in the stoppages but disappointed that we couldn't turn that into a comfortable win. By the sounds of it we did put a bit of a price on that game and expected to win. He said that we have a winning culture that we need to keep fostering, including practice matches. He also mentioned that a few of our boys have had recent injuries and are probably about a month away. Sounds like Keath might be in doubt for round one. Bailey Smith trained and looked unhindered.
 
Last edited:
Mar 10, 2007
52,545
98,134
Melbourne
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Charlton Athletic, Roys FFC
Ok - here is what I saw. I didn't see everyone and I didn't make a full list of who was there and who wasnt.

The whole group did some warmups, then split into a couple of different skills drills. They were clearly focussed on linking up between players - 20 to 25 m passes, from a defender, then mid swivelling to deliver to a leading forward. This - as Bevo elaborated on - was due to the poor delivery I50 in the game v Essendon.

He indicated we'd smashed them around the ground and at the contest, but hadn't converted that advantage on the scoreboard - and with the club wanting to build a winning culture - they had been disappointed to lose. He was happy with getting some game time into Jones and McComb though.

He said we had close to 36 on the track today - which was for a light skills session - and the numbers were high compared to a lot of the pre-season, due to breaks, COVID, isolations and player movements over Christmas, plus the extended season we had.

They broke into smaller groups - with the mids, forwards and defenders grouping together. The defenders were looking at repeat defensive efforts, running back to spoil (keeping eyes on the ball) after delivering to someone who then kicked over their head - forcing them to run back. The defensive group then did some jumping bag spoils, before Cody, Naughton and JUH went down there to take a few hangers for the fans. I was at the wrong end to see the forward drills from where I was.

The mids setup some foam bags, then had to pick up a loose ball, dodge amongst the bags and deliver to another mid running past them, outside of a quite enclosed space. A close in handball drill if you like, extracting to the outside. Macrae, Bont, Treloar, Smith, Dunkley, Wallis etc and the rucks (almost typed something else then....) were working on this. Plus a few other tackle bag style drills.

Once they had done this - they then linked with the forwards - two groups in different jumpers - so if the orange team had the ball, the other forwards were acting as defenders. They'd start in the centre, and which ever mid group won the contest then looked to link up to a leading forward. Then rinse and repeat for 20 minutes or so. Again - focus on the delivery I50.

Wallis was an interesting one - he moved between a few groups during the drills, offering a bit of coaching advice.

Who did I see (or thought I saw): Bont, Dunks, Treloar, Sweet, Martin, Khamis, Cody, Caleb, Wallis, JUH, Naughton, Gardner, Richards, JJ, Williams, Schache, Crozier, Jones

Highlight: just good to get to see the guys in action. Wasn't groundbreaking stuff, just good to get to Whitten Oval, good to see the session and see the fans enjoying it. Also - clearly looking at improving I50 delivery. I was very critical of it in the practice match, so it's an area of focus for us.

Lowlight: Only partially joking - but one of the drills had the players jump a small hoop, dodge a foam bag and kick the ball to an assistant. Sweet managed to miss his foot with the ball trying to kick. He then fell over during the tackle bag drill. He just seems to be the old fashioned big man - can jump - but after that.... nothing.... It might just have been an off day and he laughed it all off - but if I had high hopes for him, it wasn't very encouraging with the game style we want to play. Martin is immobile, we don't need Sweet being next to useless once the ball is out of the ruck contest.
 

Old_Dog

Debutant
Nov 24, 2009
70
96
Camberwell
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
AUSC - Google it!

Attachments

  • OBrian.JPG
    OBrian.JPG
    1.8 MB · Views: 115
  • Group_shot_4.JPG
    Group_shot_4.JPG
    4.1 MB · Views: 113
  • Ass. Coaches.JPG
    Ass. Coaches.JPG
    1.8 MB · Views: 101
  • Group_shot_2.JPG
    Group_shot_2.JPG
    2 MB · Views: 99
  • JJ_1.JPG
    JJ_1.JPG
    1.4 MB · Views: 93
  • naughts_2.JPG
    naughts_2.JPG
    1.5 MB · Views: 91
  • marra3.JPG
    marra3.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 93
  • Sweet_1.JPG
    Sweet_1.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 90
  • Shache_1.JPG
    Shache_1.JPG
    1.5 MB · Views: 88
  • wally_1.JPG
    wally_1.JPG
    941.9 KB · Views: 88
  • Gards_1.JPG
    Gards_1.JPG
    1.6 MB · Views: 86
  • xDSC05108.JPG
    xDSC05108.JPG
    2.1 MB · Views: 91
  • Action_2.JPG
    Action_2.JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 90
  • Weightman_1.JPG
    Weightman_1.JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 93
  • Group_shot_3.JPG
    Group_shot_3.JPG
    2.2 MB · Views: 94
  • Buku_1.JPG
    Buku_1.JPG
    2.3 MB · Views: 100
  • marra1.JPG
    marra1.JPG
    3.5 MB · Views: 107
  • Robbie2.JPG
    Robbie2.JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 117
Last edited:
I went along but similar to others I was more focused on keeping my young kids entertained.

I reckon I saw about 10-15 minutes of training at the most. During that time, West missed three targets and dropped a relatively easily mark. Not a great sign when you're not even on the fringe of selection and you're struggling to hit targets at training.

Dunkley and Hunter both participated in drills with the midfielders and defenders.

Ed Richards looked very sharp from what I saw. He didn't miss a beat. The defenders did a drill where players were scattered in a 50m zone. A couple of players were centred in that zone with the other players circled around them, about 15-20 metres a part. The central players constantly received the ball from a teammate outside of them, and then the central player would have to quickly kick to a teammate on one of the outside cones. Most of the time the central player receiving possession from a player on the outside would then turn 180 degrees and deliver to a teammate in the opposite direction without any delay. Richards was very, very sharp in this drill. Big year for him if he can stay healthy.
 
Back