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

 

[TY24]

Tbf you’re way too old now to be an AFL player. We gotta start tagging TY24

I'm just entering my prime baby

 

[Proeagle]

I think most reasonable people know Archer is a real talent, it’s just they ultimately want to see as many of our young KPPs in the side as possible. Hence the suggestion of him moving back to allow guys like Jilliams or CDT to play forward

We drafted him as a key forward/ part time ruck but we definitely should be turning him into a ruck/ part time forward.

I was really impressed with his part time ruckwork in the games he played. He was winning taps regularly in games that Flynn/Williams were losing taps.

 

[Goroyals22]

Fun begins for those of us trying to get tickets to gather round games today

 

[RookiePick]

We drafted him as a key forward/ part time ruck but we definitely should be turning him into a ruck/ part time forward.

I was really impressed with his part time ruckwork in the games he played. He was winning taps regularly in games that Flynn/Williams were losing taps.

Flynn and Williams would lose in the ruck against a hat stand.

 

[Farang83150]

Visiting family in Perth so went to my 1st ever WC live anything (never seen them play, train etc...)
Was a really interesting watch.

 

[EaglesVille]

A few no shows at training today

Visiting family in Perth so went to my 1st ever WC live anything (never seen them play, train etc...)
Was a really interesting watch.

A few no shows today
Didn't see Harley or Hewitt or Gibney

 

[NYJetsfor2029]

https://archive.md/P334f

Not a lot there but a bit of on update on who’s not training and/or taking it easy today

 

[Farang83150]

A few no shows at training today

A few no shows today
Didn't see Harley or Hewitt or Gibney

Ginbey was definitely there, not sure about Reid or was he maybe training in a shirt with no number.

 

[EaglesVille]

Ginbey was definitely there, not sure about Reid or was he maybe training in a shirt with no number.

Harley on the bike apparently

 

[Bender_]

This guy was there today, no idea who he is though:




Is that the new midfield coach we got from Melbourne?

 

[Farang83150]

Last bloke to leave the ground (A.Reid?) getting in some practice on goals.

 

[LittleFires]

In the absence of Keys I went down for a trundle to open training this morning. As expected, the session was fairly light, lasting around 90 minutes with an emphasis on skill work and not too much running. There were a few players missing today and many who did train were kept to light duties.

The players came out at 9:15 and got into their warm up before moving onto a flow drill which involved kicking on the run. Over the following hour the players split into various groups and went through drills practising different skills - handballing in congestion, ground balls, kicking, contested marking, etc., some of which involved contact.

To finish, about half of the group was made to do run throughs through the middle of the ground and some along the boundary for 10-odd minutes, wrapping up around 10:50.

Details on who did/didn't train:

• No sign of Hewett, Allan, Grego, Champion, Brock, Dewar or Newton. Couldn't tell you why.
• HoneyBadger35 did the first part of the session but spent the last 45 minutes just watching from the dugout. No Johnson again
• I believe it was Garrison Kenh from our NGA who I saw today spending some time on the track. Didn't do a heap of training, but came out briefly to do a bit of kicking with fellow NGA product Tylah Williams at one stage.
• Gross I only saw very briefly, coming out about an hour into the session to have a chat to some players on the sidelines before heading back inside
• Allen and Bailey Williams also came out late and didn't really train, spending some time watching drills and walking around. Allen did a bit of kicking at one point but no more than that
• Hutchinson didn't do any on-ground training, instead spending about an hour on the exercise bike in the dugout
• Barnett worked away from the main group, doing run throughs (some while being held back by a trainer with a resistance band, and some with high knees) and light skill work. Went off to the dugout around 10:15 and finished with some time on the row machine and exercise bike.
• Harley Reid and Tylah Williams took it easy today, doing the warm up with the main group before splitting off and doing some running and skill work together. They finished with a bit of time on the exercise bike, with Harley heading inside around 10. Williams stayed out a bit longer than that, doing a bit of kicking with Kenh before finishing up around 10:30.
• Owies began the session doing run throughs and skill work away from the main group, later joining in for a couple of the lighter drills the main group was doing
• Duggan and Cripps came out about half an hour into the session, doing some of the lighter drills with the main group for the rest of the session
• Yeo was in and out of the main group, sometimes splitting off to do some work with a trainer - high knees, run throughs while being held back by a resistance band, run throughs while holding a stick horizontally above his head, things like that. Overall looks to be moving well and is slowly integrating back into the main group
• Ginbey and Young did most of the session with the main group, splitting off a couple of times for some run throughs. Young finished with the rest of the group, but Ginbey stayed back to do about 10 minutes on the exercise bike
• Kelly also did most of the session but sat out a couple of drills to do some work on the exercise bike
• The draftees (minus Allen and Tylah Williams) did the majority of the session but were spared the final run throughs at the end
• Jack Williams did the full session after having his training somewhat restricted in recent weeks
• Waterman also trained fully in a positive sign following his apparent hamstring injury last Monday

Not much of a chance for anyone to truly "impress" today given it was a more skills-based session, but here are some random notes I took down anyway:

• Johnston was again with the forwards, Maric and Baker with the backs, McCarthy with the mids
• Got a closer look at Harley as he ran past and it reiterated to me that he looks in good shape
• Young had his right shoulder strapped which may hint the reason why he's had a slow start to the preseason. Also wore a green cap in some of the drills to indicate non-contact
• Robertson (right shoulder strapped) also wore a green cap in some of the drills
• The players wore numbers on their training tops today which makes spotting them a hell of a lot easier. Although some were still wrong - Maric wore Grego's number for example
• I reckon Davis has added a bit of size, got a closer look at him and he looks a bit bigger, but still quite lean. Has had a strong start to preseason
• Archer Reid was the last to leave the track, staying out about 10 minutes after the rest had gone inside. He was again working on his set shots, this time alongside Mitch Duncan who I properly noticed for the first time today

 

[bzparkes]

This guy was there today, no idea who he is though:

View attachment 2490259


Is that the new midfield coach we got from Melbourne?

"Dear diary.

This is week 4 of insisting the unknown ginger at WCE training is infact HoneyBadger35 every time he's mentioned.

I don't know if I have the strength and determination to keep this up but, god-willing, I'll try..."

 

[Farang83150]

Duuuuursma looked really sharp on goals from all angles.
Bakes missed from directly in front about 15m out!
Dugo was practicing how to kick badly with some of the coaches towards the end, did it really well.

 

[boondy]

I along with many others (my wife, kids, mum, dog and few other posters etc), are ecstatic we took a really promising tall in CDT because many were/are underestimating our deficiencies in this area.

Nail a super promising mid with our first pick next year (may even be a west aussie!!!!!!!) and another with our 2nd, and we are starting to look well balanced.

Mind you, we could do something out there and take Van Hattum for LOLS.

Dogs definitely enjoy draft night

 

[KERRPOW]

Visiting family in Perth so went to my 1st ever WC live anything (never seen them play, train etc...)
Was a really interesting watch.

Great training report, beats mine

 

[KERRPOW]

This guy was there today, no idea who he is though:

View attachment 2490259


Is that the new midfield coach we got from Melbourne?

Thats HoneyBadger35

 

[DorothyG]

Any of the sport science nerds in here able to answer why we seem to start training at around 9/9:30 in the off season?

You don't see many people out running/cycling at that time of day

Days like Monday are going to happen pretty often in Perth where is pushing mid 30s by 10am.

Is there a physiological reason why the seen to start so late? 7-9 would make more sense to me, or even night training, like 7pm onwards?

Just a random thought that's been on my mind

 

[Doashuey]

Thats HoneyBadger35

This makes me reminisce of days gone by when we used to tag Badge in the cricket thread when it first started up. Of course, that thread first started up due to Badges frustration with cricket talk distracting from other sports talk like the pretend dress up wrestlemania etc.

 

[Chris_6678]

Any of the sport science nerds in here able to answer why we seem to start training at around 9/9:30 in the off season?

You don't see many people out running/cycling at that time of day

Days like Monday are going to happen pretty often in Perth where is pushing mid 30s by 10am.

Is there a physiological reason why the seen to start so late? 7-9 would make more sense to me, or even night training, like 7pm onwards?

Just a random thought that's been on my mind

Training in the heat is better.

 

[NYJetsfor2029]

And probably in the players’ Bargaining Agreement that most training occurs during normal business hours…

 

[HoneyBadger35]

This makes me reminisce of days gone by when we used to tag Badge in the cricket thread when it first started up. Of course, that thread first started up due to Badges frustration with cricket talk distracting from other sports talk like the pretend dress up wrestlemania etc.

If I wasn’t busy doing run throughs at MRP right now, I’d point out that we now have cricket chat in the training thread which is a bannable offense.

 

[Bender_]

Remember years back Simmo scoffing at the suggestion pro-footballers are out of bed before 8am.

 

[Astro7]

Any of the sport science nerds in here able to answer why we seem to start training at around 9/9:30 in the off season?

You don't see many people out running/cycling at that time of day

Days like Monday are going to happen pretty often in Perth where is pushing mid 30s by 10am.

Is there a physiological reason why the seen to start so late? 7-9 would make more sense to me, or even night training, like 7pm onwards?

Just a random thought that's been on my mind

Fair point, most people are up jogging and cycling etc from daybreak to before the heat turns on.
Also why light sessions and no shows on Wednesday...is it go hard on Monday and Friday?
Is Wednesday a physio, podiatrist and psychiatrist day? ((;

 

[THE A5]

This guy was there today, no idea who he is though:

View attachment 2490259


Is that the new midfield coach we got from Melbourne?

i swear I saw this bloke interview you on a podcast once