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

 

[LewyBroome]

I thought Bo Allan's big attribute was a big frame and his ability win contested possessions/clearances. And now all of a sudden we are planning to play him on the wing. Whats the story there? I am getting worried. Never a good sign when the coaching staff don't know what position to play a recent first round draftee and they end up shoehorning them into whatever position has the least number of other players competing for it.

Writing was on the wall very early.

 

[ziad]

Writing was on the wall very early.

Yep, looking like a bust for the pick we used.

 

[kane249]

I thought Bo Allan's big attribute was a big frame and his ability win contested possessions/clearances. And now all of a sudden we are planning to play him on the wing. Whats the story there? I am getting worried. Never a good sign when the coaching staff don't know what position to play a recent first round draftee and they end up shoehorning them into whatever position has the least number of other players competing for it.

Writing was on the wall very early.

Yep, looking like a bust for the pick we used.

You guys do remember Elliot Yeo spent the early part of his career on the half back flank for the Lions and Eagles before eventually transferring to inside mid?

He's had 1 year in the system and spent most of it injured, go dry your sheets and wait a bit longer before writing him off.

 

[Doashuey]

You guys do remember Elliot Yeo spent the early part of his career on the half back flank for the Lions and Eagles before eventually transferring to inside mid

He's had 1 year in the system and spent most of it injured, go dry your sheets and wait a bit longer before writing him off.

Bed wetting in full swing this early in the pre-season bodes well.

 

[WestCoast17]

Jake looks shorter than Elijah Williams too.

Wrong Williams, that’s Tylah. Elijah’s in our NGA for 2026 draft.

 

[Bender_]

Wrong Williams, that’s Tylah. Elijah’s in our NGA for 2026 draft.

Is there any relation?

 

[Boohemian]

You guys do remember Elliot Yeo spent the early part of his career on the half back flank for the Lions and Eagles before eventually transferring to inside mid?

He's had 1 year in the system and spent most of it injured, go dry your sheets and wait a bit longer before writing him off.

Haven't you heard? At 18 you're a fully formed individual. There's no capacity for growth or development. You come fully developed, ready off the shelf. [/big footy logic]

 

[EagleMan87]

I still remember all the people on here wanting to delist Brad Sheppard in his first few seasons.

Would've been a great call, that.

 

[Yeahnahmate]

I still remember all the people on here wanting to delist Brad Sheppard in his first few seasons.

Would've been a great call, that.

Yep, there was plenty of rueing that we didn’t select Jetta. Ended up with both and I’m more than comfortable with Shep’s career. Loved that guy

 

[TwoStriders]

Is there any relation?

I'm looking forward to the passage of play where Allan kicks it to Allen who hits up Williams who brings it to ground and then Williams crumbs it, handballs to Williams who kicks a goal and Reid and Reid get in on the celebration.

And we’ll all be fuming at the incompetent commentators, when they’ve actually nailed the names of the seven different players involved.

 

[Boohemian]

I'm looking forward to the passage of play where Allan kicks it to Allen who hits up Williams who brings it to ground and then Williams crumbs it, handballs to Williams who kicks a goal and Reid and Reid get in on the celebration.

And we’ll all be fuming at the incompetent commentators, when they’ve actually nailed the names of the seven different players involved.

I'm looking forward to Brian Taylor mistaking Dewar, Champion, Brockman and Williams for Liam Ryan.

 

[Avalor]

For those able to get to training for a watch, how's CDT shaping up? Chuffed with this selection! Watched a number of his videos last night. Very smooth mover with centre square nous aplenty, and good forward line craft. Will be a huge thorn in the side for the oppo. Plays more as a mid on close obervation with good skills, no fumbling and good with the handball.
Is this all showing out in training, early days?

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

I'm looking forward to the passage of play where Allan kicks it to Allen who hits up Williams who brings it to ground and then Williams crumbs it, handballs to Williams who kicks a goal and Reid and Reid get in on the celebration.

And we’ll all be fuming at the incompetent commentators, when they’ve actually nailed the names of the seven different players involved.

You'd throw in a Rawlinson for good measure.

 

[EagleMan87]

For those able to get to training for a watch, how's CDT shaping up? Chuffed with this selection! Watched a number of his videos last night. Very smooth mover with centre square nous aplenty, and good forward line craft. Will be a huge thorn in the side for the oppo. Plays more as a mid on close obervation with good skills, no fumbling and good with the handball.
Is this all showing out in training, early days?

Can't remember who posted it, but apparently CDT and Lindsay are already two of our best kicks at training.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Yep, looking like a bust for the pick we used.

Yeah might as well pay him out now and bring in someone with more potential.

 

[WeaponX]

Back on Bo Allen, I was super excited we drafted him and the early wraps on him was "big bodied midfielder". That enthusiasm waned when I saw he has no right side at all, push him to the right side and he is basically dead weight.

 

[PRANKSTER666]

Back on Bo Allen, I was super excited we drafted him and the early wraps on him was "big bodied midfielder". That enthusiasm waned when I saw he has no right side at all, push him to the right side and he is basically dead weight.

A large % of lefties have no right side...

 

[Barrybran]

A large % of lefties have no right side...

It'll be interesting to see how Lindsay goes with this

 

[Keys]

Just coming up 11.30 and whilst things are winding down there’s still about 25-30 players out there doing fitness work after a session that concentrated on full ground match play. With umpires assisting

I missed all the warmup as usual and the players were scattered across the ground in various groups working on skills or in modified training programs

I’ll leave it to LittleFires to give a full rundown on who did or didn’t train as he was here for the full session and has a better handle on that than I do. I will say several players who were initially training away from the main group, did participate in the full ground match play

Not going to run through every player but the following caught my eye:

• HR9 was a standout. Clean, presenting well through the middle and his kicks into F50 were flat and hard. And accurate
• CDT has the skills of some one much smaller. Agility is also very good. Can’t believe I was concerned about drafting him
• Rodriguez did a few nice things when he was participating in a midfield role. Liked his disposal on his left foot
• Clay Hall had a good session and was prominent in some passages
• Schoenberg was good in patches for someone I hadn’t paid much attention to previously. Will definitely get games next year
• Johnstone showed a bit as a forward earning praise from the coaches for one passage in particular
• Kelly was also very active and used the ball well
• Shanahan was timing his leads well
• Didn’t notice Duursma a lot but one kick that travelled at least 50m to a forward was class
• Good to see Yeo out there although he wasn’t out there for all of the match play
• Bo Allan was pretty active in match play but sat out other parts of the session
• Sam Allen was doing a bit of straight line running when I arrived and looked quite comfortable
• Robertson playing at the coalface during match play often going h2H with Graham
• Cole also working hard and doesn’t look like he’ll give up his spot without a fight
• Ditto Cripps
• Also like what I’m seeing from Newton

Players finished up around 11.45 with Long, McCarthy and Johnston among a small group who were last to leave

McQualter quite vocal throughout the session making sure the players knew what was expected, particularly in relation to positioning

 

[Seadog]

Back on Bo Allen, I was super excited we drafted him and the early wraps on him was "big bodied midfielder". That enthusiasm waned when I saw he has no right side at all, push him to the right side and he is basically dead weight.

Like 93% of all left footers, they probably should be banned from playing.

 

[RanaNaved]

This board is so confusing with it's ratings and writing off of player's.

This board had a collective microstiff for Draper and had a microsoft for Allan, and they performed virtually identically at the same competition against the same opponents, and they have similar strengths and similar weaknesses....confusing..

 

[Bender_]

• Bo Allan was pretty active in match play but sat out other parts of the session

And to think we kept this spud on our list instead of drafting Banfield Jnr.

 

[amazingjoshy]

Hard to foresee injury on a player that hasn’t been injury prone prior to the draft. Hopefully he gets a clean run at it soon. Never like to see injuries to kids

I 100% agree

Was trying to point out its way too soon to be worried about these kids and to let them have time to develop. Even the highly rated Draper hasn't done anything yet...

Since then we've had Allan already written off as a bust so I've failed dismally

 

[HoneyBadger35]

And to think we kept this spud on our list instead of drafting Banfield Jnr.

Can’t wait for him to have a good year so we can start getting people whinging we’ll lose him through homesickness or whatever the **** else is next.

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

Just coming up 11.30 and whilst things are winding down there’s still about 25-30 players out there doing fitness work after a session that concentrated on full ground match play. With umpires assisting

I missed all the warmup as usual and the players were scattered across the ground in various groups working on skills or in modified training programs

I’ll leave it to LittleFires to give a full rundown on who did or didn’t train as he was here for the full session and has a better handle on that than I do. I will say several players who were initially training away from the main group, did participate in the full ground match play

Not going to run through every player but the following caught my eye:

• HR9 was a standout. Clean, presenting well through the middle and his kicks into F50 were flat and hard. And accurate
• CDT has the skills of some one much smaller. Agility is also very good. Can’t believe I was concerned about drafting him
• Rodriguez did a few nice things when he was participating in a midfield role. Liked his disposal on his left foot
• Clay Hall had a good session and was prominent in some passages
• Schoenberg was good in patches for someone I hadn’t paid much attention to previously. Will definitely get games next year
• Johnstone showed a bit as a forward earning praise from the coaches for one passage in particular
• Kelly was also very active and used the ball well
• Shanahan was timing his leads well
• Didn’t notice Duursma a lot but one kick that travelled at least 50m to a forward was class
• Good to see Yeo out there although he wasn’t out there for all of the match play
• Bo Allan was pretty active in match play but sat out other parts of the session
• Sam Allen was doing a bit of straight line running when I arrived and looked quite comfortable
• Robertson playing at the coalface during match play often going h2H with Graham
• Cole also working hard and doesn’t look like he’ll give up his spot without a fight
• Ditto Cripps
• Also like what I’m seeing from Newton

Players finished up around 11.45 with Long, McCarthy and Johnston among a small group who were last to leave

McQualter quite vocal throughout the session making sure the players knew what was expected, particularly in relation to positioning

Thank goodness for this training report, I was beginning to think this was the "Bo Allan is shit" thread where all of the sad c**ts hang out.