Training 2026 Preseason Thread

[Lord Nev]

Only one whipping boy for me: Lever.

Glad you've finally recognized Langford and Windsor as young stars. Welcome aboard.

 

[TheBoss]

Leave it to Nev to misconstrue what another poster writes and confidently shove a position they've never held straight into their mouth!

 

[ray_purchase]

Jefferson looks to have improved a lot. Goodwins gameplan was a disaster for tall forwards.

Watch both Jeffo andf JVR break out this year.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Jefferson looks to have improved a lot. Goodwins gameplan was a disaster for tall forwards.

Watch both Jeffo andf JVR break out this year.

I think Jefferson has more potential weapons than JVR. But it's a matter of whether he can unlock them at senior level, or even VFL level for that matter as he has hardly dominated.

 

[Demon Attack]

I think Jefferson has more potential weapons than JVR. But it's a matter of whether he can unlock them at senior level, or even VFL level for that matter as he has hardly dominated.

No.

 

[Lampers]

I think Jefferson has more potential weapons than JVR. But it's a matter of whether he can unlock them at senior level, or even VFL level for that matter as he has hardly dominated.

Jefferson is outstanding for his size at ground level - not in an agility sense but with his one touch pickups. I’ve seen him consistently (in the VFL) be on a hard lead where the ball falls short and he just hoovers up the ball without breaking stride. That’s rare for a 195cm player or whatever he is.

Jefferson also roves well for a guy player that tall. You can debate whether he should be roving at that height, but he has a knack of being in the right spot for a spilled ball.

Finally he will generally judge the ball in flight better than everyone else once or twice a game for an easy mark.

So I agree he has more weapons than JVR who basically didn’t have anything much outstanding except set shot accuracy and even that seemed to drop off in 2025.

Jefferson has such a weird set of strengths though I don’t know if it will work at AFL level. I can’t ever see him being the main man tall forward. His leading is good but he will get slaughtered with body spoils and would require precise kicking. If Fritsch had moved on and with Melksham near the end I would’ve seen a more obvious role opportunity for Jefferson.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Jefferson is outstanding for his size at ground level - not in an agility sense but with his one touch pickups. I’ve seen him consistently (in the VFL) be on a hard lead where the ball falls short and he just hoovers up the ball without breaking stride. That’s rare for a 195cm player or whatever he is.

Jefferson also roves well for a guy player that tall. You can debate whether he should be roving at that height, but he has a knack of being in the right spot for a spilled ball.

Finally he will generally judge the ball in flight better than everyone else once or twice a game for an easy mark.

So I agree he has more weapons than JVR who basically didn’t have anything much outstanding except set shot accuracy and even that seemed to drop off in 2025.

Jefferson has such a weird set of strengths though I don’t know if it will work at AFL level. I can’t ever see him being the main man tall forward. His leading is good but he will get slaughtered with body spoils and would require precise kicking. If Fritsch had moved on and with Melksham near the end I would’ve seen a more obvious role opportunity for Jefferson.

Yeah he's nearly like a forward flanker who can float forward. JVR is pretty limited as a player. If he could clunk his marks he would be a lock for the FF spot. That's why i want to see Kentfield put pressure on him in the early rounds. He's a better contested mark. I'm not saying Jefferson is currently a better player than JVR, but he potentially has more weapons that if he does improve could be quite handy. But for whatever reason it hasn't clicked for him. Maybe Kingy can unlock it for him. Improvement out of JVR, Jefferson and Kentfield would be huge. It could go either way with these guys though. I have a bit more confidence in Kentfield than the other two at this point but it sounds like Jeffe and JVR have had solid preseasons.

 

[Bluelegs]

I'll believe it when I see it with Jefferson.

 

[schmuttt]

I'll believe it when I see it with Jefferson.

Yeah I can't get all the uncompetitive moments out of my head with him. JVR has actually played some good footy at AFL level in a terrible team for tall forwards and just lost a lot of confidence last year.

Jeffo reminds me of Liam McBean from Richmond years ago. Excellent at ground level for a big and too good for VFL but not AFL level.

 

[melbun]

Give Jeffo and JVR a chance. Wait and see what they do (or don't).

If they fail, there is always the rack and the cat o' nine tails.

 

[Demon Attack]

The Magician's greatest ever trick was being drafted.

 

[JP2]

It might be worth pointing out (from the clips I saw at least) that Jefferson appeared to be manned up against Lever for that match sim. So the pessimist in me says that the headline here shouldn't be that Jefferson is due for a breakout year, but rather that Lever is so completely cooked as a defender that even VFL-level forwards can expect a day out against him.

 

[Theseventhhamster]

JVR looked a lot less one dimensional before he bulked up too much and became a stiff plodder.

 

[stEdy]

Really don't see it with Jefferson.

Doesn't have the dog in him that you need to be a key forward playing on the big boppers and don't think he's clever or crafty enough to be a HFF either.

Think he's a 20-1 odds of becoming a competent long term player

 

[Crimson Azure]

How is no one talking about Salem when it comes to whipping boys?

Love me a 12 meter dinky kick.

 

[melbun]

talking about Salem

Stop it. Masochism is not my thing.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Methinks Salo was kind of instructed to kick those dinky 15 metre ducks.

 

[PerfectFooty]

Methinks Salo was kind of instructed to kick those dinky 15 metre ducks.

methinks salo took those dinky kicks because he built an entire reputation on being a good kick but either through himself, gameplan or both, didn't have the balls to risk a turn over

 

[Theseventhhamster]

methinks salo took those dinky kicks because he built an entire reputation on being a good kick but either through himself, gameplan or both, didn't have the balls to risk a turn over

When he tries to go longer his kick weight has gone to shit. Barely trust him to kick correctly to someone 40 metres away without it bouncing or going over their head any more than I'd trust Sparrow with the kick.

 

[Crusty Demon]

JVR looked a lot less one dimensional before he bulked up too much and became a stiff plodder.

He's trimmed down a lot. Might help with separation on his opponent. He'll need it as his hands are nearly Dawes levels of clunkiness. I still have some faith in JVR and everyone gets a new start under Kingy. His accuracy will come in handy. But can he find the footy and is the delivery going to be any better? With Trac and Oliver out you'd think there is hope for JVR.

 

[MarcMaverick]

He's trimmed down a lot. Might help with separation on his opponent. He'll need it as his hands are nearly Dawes levels of clunkiness. I still have some faith in JVR and everyone gets a new start under Kingy. His accuracy will come in handy. But can he find the footy and is the delivery going to be any better? With Trac and Oliver out you'd think there is hope for JVR.

Both Trac and Clarry were horrendous ball butchers. Hopefully Steele, Langford, Culley are better with the ball use.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Really don't see it with Jefferson.

Doesn't have the dog in him that you need to be a key forward playing on the big boppers and don't think he's clever or crafty enough to be a HFF either.

Think he's a 20-1 odds of becoming a competent long term player

20-1 is probably generous.

Sometimes i watch him at VFL or training and get why we drafted him. But sometimes i see him as the worst first rounder we've ever picked up. He has shown he is good below his knees. He's got some speed. He can clunk a mark from seemingly nowhere. His skills are sound. He's fairly accurate. And he shows some of these at VFL but just not for long enough or consistently enough. He does go missing for lengthy amounts of time, he lacks grunt and he's kind of inbetween that flanker and key position. I think he's got a fair bit in the trick bag, and it will be interesting to see if Kingy can unlock some of it at the levbel we need. Odds are against it, but hey, you never know.

 

[Lord Nev]

Really don't see it with Jefferson.

Doesn't have the dog in him

20-1 is probably generous.

Sometimes i watch him at VFL or training and get why we drafted him. But sometimes i see him as the worst first rounder we've ever picked up.

I'm happy to hold off on Jeffo for now. IMO he's a skilled, lead out forward who thus far has been developed under a 'bring the ball to ground/contest and defence' mentality that is the antithesis of his strengths. With faster ball movement, and (please for the love of god) a forward system that values leading at the ball carrier I would expect him to improve this year. The upside being, if he does and if he gets some confidence then he's a really good finisher and we need that badly.

I don't expect him to be very good this year, but if he can reset and start a positive trajectory from now then we've got a developing option at the right age to look to take over from Melksham/Mihocek and even Fritsch.

 

[Crusty Demon]

I'm happy to hold off on Jeffo for now. IMO he's a skilled, lead out forward who thus far has been developed under a 'bring the ball to ground/contest and defence' mentality that is the antithesis of his strengths. With faster ball movement, and (please for the love of god) a forward system that values leading at the ball carrier I would expect him to improve this year. The upside being, if he does and if he gets some confidence then he's a really good finisher and we need that badly.

I don't expect him to be very good this year, but if he can reset and start a positive trajectory from now then we've got a developing option at the right age to look to take over from Melksham/Mihocek and even Fritsch.

Yeah agreed. Different style with hopefully better users going forward will hopefully mean a few of our forwards who have struggled, finds life a bit easier. Time will tell. But I've said before Kingy has 2 years up his sleeve to turn this around. Might happen quicker, might not. But there's a grace period for the coach and a lot of the list.

 

[Lord Nev]

Yeah agreed. Different style with hopefully better users going forward will hopefully mean a few of our forwards who have struggled, finds life a bit easier. Time will tell. But I've said before Kingy has 2 years up his sleeve to turn this around. Might happen quicker, might not. But there's a grace period for the coach and a lot of the list.

Not sure on two years to turn it around, can take a long time for a team to learn the game plan well enough that they instinctively execute and can trust where each other will be. I'm expecting this year to be pretty messy, a few blow outs, but hopefully a few games where they put it together as well, then next year it should be more embedded.

Currently though IMO, the list doesn't match up to a 2 year turn around because we don't have a lot in the peak age bracket. We can possibly address that through trades, but I think it could be 3-4 years before we're firing if not. In 2 years we're looking at a lot of blokes gone and not much around the 28 year old bracket. 27-28 year olds in 2 years are Jiath, Henderson, Petty, Chandler, Johnson, and Sparrow. That's not a senior core to be carrying the load.