Training Preseason Training Thread - 2026

[Keys]

The below is the OG faux training report from nearly 9 years ago - often imitated but never surpassed

In the absence of Keys I went down for a trundle this morning to check them out on return. Just a few random notes I took down...

• A lot of running work again, clearly a focus even in the heat.
• Duggan looked on and was hitting targets left and right. Set for a huge 2017.
• Giles went up against Vardy in the ruck contests and I'd say that Giles has the inside running at the moment.
• Mitchell looked a class above the other midfielders bar Priddis. Just knew how to find the footy and wouldn't miss a target all session. Shuey was very quiet and seemed to be taking direction from Mitchell. Doesn't bode well for his captaincy credentials, maybe he doesn't want the gig?
• Won't say too much about it in case I was just reading too much into it, but Rioli looked as though he'd enjoyed the Christmas break a bit too much. A few of the coaches pulled him aside and they were having quite an animated conversation before Rioli was sent to do laps for the rest of the session. Good news for Le Cras, I suppose.
• Sheed kicked on his right foot for 80% of the session, I reckon. Nice to see players working on their non-preferred so readily.
• Petrie looked like he was doing a great job 'coaching' the younger forwards in between the drills. Darling in particular seemed to be following him around.
• Gee Venables has some skills. He mainly jogged laps before spending the last half hour or so on set shots - curled a few beauties from behind the boundary line at the end for a bit of fun. Hardly saw him miss a kick.
• What interested me the most was that McGovern split his time between the defenders and the forwards, could be seeing a swingman role in 2017. He was his usual dominant self down back in some match simulation drills before going head-to-head with Mackenzie in a forward role.
• Bayok is very fast - Cripps was in most of the drills with him and couldn't keep up.
• Nelson is pale as buggery and still doesn't really have the body shape you'd expect of an AFL player.
• There was a big bloke who pulled up next to me and I could have sworn it was Suma, but I'm sure I was wrong...
• Masto was the player picked to kick the goal at the end today and nailed it. Celebrations were huge.
• No sign of Cole, Parto or Hill. Couldn't tell you why.

Will upload pics later if I have time. Let me know if you have any questions!

You might wonder why I’ve put this up and stickied it

Because this is the standard all copies should be measured against and it’s a reminder of how high the bar was set

And to hopefully discourage sequels.

If you want to have a crack in my absence, go ahead but if it doesn’t equal the standard set (as judged by me), then expect

• A one week threadban for a first offence
• A two week threadban for a second offence
• A one year threadban for a third offence

Actual training reports, minus discussion, can become found here:

Training - Preseason Training Reports -2025/26

This thread has been setup for training reports only and won’t be open for replies Informative reports from the preseason thread will be copied into this thread so posters have access to the quality work from the likes of LittleFires without wading through pages of general posts

www.bigfooty.com

 

[KERRPOW]

Sometimes i forget this board actually has some kids using it. In my mind the youngens on here are like early 20 year olds

i thought it was all about insta for the young ones

 

[bzparkes]

Me and bender are jousting partners of the night time

NTTAWWT/Sex life/etc...

 

[bzparkes]

Reckon grossy hasn’t stopped running all week he’s been going non stop.

Clearly a focus in the heat.

 

[THE A5]

i thought it was all about insta for the young ones

I’ve had all forms but if you’re full blown nuffs this is the best place for footy info/chat. Twitter was quite good for it too. I just got reddit but on the surface level, I don’t think it’s anything special

 

[LittleFires]

Another day another brilliant write up mate. The team defence drill you mentioned with mini making his presence felt with his words, you reckon this might become a regular drill you’ll see? It’ll be interesting how we play it and from there off the rebound.

Reckon grossy hasn’t stopped running all week he’s been going non stop. Excited to see him in match sim when the time comes.

Ash Johnson and Archie watt being out there regularly is crucial for not just their development but also their leadership in terms of being in an afl pre season environment… these are the type of players the beagles need.

Rest up your eyes and fingers over the weekend, you’ve earnt it mate

Cheers mate. I'd imagine that practising team defence is already a regular part of training, but sometimes it's hard to see exactly what the purpose of each drill is so I haven't always noticed it. Given the time they devoted to the drill and Mini's demeanour it seemed like a pretty big focus of today's session.

 

[txbyhull]

I’ve had all forms but if you’re full blown nuffs this is the best place for footy info/chat. Twitter was quite good for it too. I just got reddit but on the surface level, I don’t think it’s anything special

I don't mind the reddit, and contrary to popular belief I quite enjoy hanging around the discord. Croob2 usually writes the yearly season preview and its a good read.

Definitely agree that BF is the best place for chat though. Definitely the most in depth

 

[mattyc75]

Is there any way to find out when you first signed up on here? If I had to guess I'd say I'd been on here roughly 15 years.

 

[Wild Kelly]

I use the term 'friends' somewhat loosely.

More like 'jousting partners' in a lot of cases.

Would you be interested in the pair of jousting sticks I have no further use for?

 

[nameless]

Is there any way to find out when you first signed up on here? If I had to guess I'd say I'd been on here roughly 15 years.

You signed up Dec 5, 2010

Don't ask me how I know

 

[mattyc75]

You signed up Dec 5, 2010

Don't ask me how I know

Wow there you go, I was bang on.
I won't ask...

 

[FatPizza]

Wow there you go, I was bang on.
I won't ask...

If you do, it would add nicely to your 10,166 posts.

 

[mattyc75]

If you do, it would add nicely to your 10,166 posts.

Thanks

 

[mattyc75]

If you do, it would add nicely to your 10,166 posts.

Thanks

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

Me and bender are jousting partners of the night time

 

[Boohemian]

I’ve had all forms but if you’re full blown nuffs this is the best place for footy info/chat. Twitter was quite good for it too. I just got reddit but on the surface level, I don’t think it’s anything special

Reddit is great if you’re looking for an answer, but it’s too big to be a community. Users are interchangeable, and often unnecessarily hostile.

 

[matt_bas]

I forgive you

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

Reddit is great if you’re looking for an answer, but it’s too big to be a community. Users are interchangeable, and often unnecessarily hostile.

The punters on r/AFL are clueless for the most part. I stopped using that site years ago, its full of bots and teenagers.

 

[DorothyG]

Reddit is great if you’re looking for an answer, but it’s too big to be a community. Users are interchangeable, and often unnecessarily hostile.

Of course Reddit is feels interchangeable and hostile ya Poindexter, there is like 500 million users afterall

If you want the warm and fuzzy feelings maybe stick to your knitting groups WhatsApp and leave Reddit for the big dogs



/s

 

[gravy_86]

I’ve noticed that in Reddit everyone acts all polite in pre- and post-round threads, complementing the opposition team etc, but actual match threads are ****ing feral. Whereas the BigFooty main board is just feral at all times.

 

[Boohemian]

Of course Reddit is feels interchangeable and hostile ya Poindexter, there is like 500 million users afterall

If you want the warm and fuzzy feelings maybe stick to your knitting groups WhatsApp and leave Reddit for the big dogs



/s

This feels like a true Reddit experience

 

[bzparkes]

This feels like a true Reddit experience

The true Reddit experience is expressing a different political opinion to the moderator, no matter how mild, and having the basement-dwelling mod insta-ban you and adjust the rules of the sub-reddit to accommodate, even if it's completely unrelated to the topic, or nobody was offended.

 

[wadistance]

Truly the end of an era for the club.

Is that Bailey smith?

 

[THE A5]

View attachment 2476730

I’ll let our resident rangas TY24 and HoneyBadger35 to gingerly touch tips

 

[THE A5]

I don't mind the reddit, and contrary to popular belief I quite enjoy hanging around the discord. Croob2 usually writes the yearly season preview and its a good read.

Definitely agree that BF is the best place for chat though. Definitely the most in depth

People my age use it but to me discord feels like a gen z thing.

 

[Mr Q]

Would you be interested in the pair of jousting sticks I have no further use for?

Tell 'im he's dreamin'