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Training Saints preseason 2026

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training report 30/1/2026
Training 30/1/16

I thought it would be easier if I just summarise today in one post. Obviously a few posters all there today, so views are my own etc.

Evident Gamestyle

Very evident we have been really well drilled this offseason to date, with how we want to play. everytime we came from our back half there was a huge emphasis to make the ground big and spread. Clear instruction that we wanted to hit a target as opposed to long down the line. Happy to switch the play with Jsos looking sorta like a quarter back hanging in the middle of the D50 to recycle the ball. Once we hit a target our midfielders really spread hard to get on the end of the next ball and get our running game going - Disposal very clean

Rehab

Tauru King Wood Howard Clark all in rehab. All just ran laps, Sprinted and did some exhausting kicking and running drills in that heat. I really want to talk about King. He trained for 2 1/2 - 3 hours today. He ran, He cut, He turned, He jumped, He moved after ground balls etc. He did it all and he worked himself to exhaustion. If he is chasing a round 0 spot - he is doing the work to give himself a chance. It felt exciting like he was genuinely close to the next step.

Dodson, Higgins & Stocker started in rehab but moved into the main stuff. (Dodson did the situational match sim but didn't play the full ground match sim, just ran laps for that)

Injuries
  1. O'Connell the poor bastard was flattened front on by Wilkie (purely accidental). Looked like concussion, blood nose aswell.
  2. Henry looked like a hammy. Really disappointing. Came off on his own accord, but I'm not sure that means much
  3. Pou got a poke in the eye at the end. I think he is fine but sat out the last 5 or so minutes of Match sim

General Training
massive emphasis on using the ball well, being aggressive with ball movement and aggressive defending to win the ball back

Match Sim
This was umpired by Jacob Mollison. Ive known him for a decade and had a quick chat before their warm up.He said they were told that Ross wanted a really willing session from our boys and that's exactly what was delivered. Really good skills for the majority of that session. Bodies put on the line and skills on show. Black side looked to be a predominantly A team. However our second string midfield of Pou, Hall etc started on the other side to go head to head.

instead of going in-depth on match sim, ill talk about the 5 who I thought were standouts today - In no particular order.

Phillipou
He was predominantly playing on ball with some small stints at half forward. He look like he has levelled up. I posted a photo at his size - which looks really comparable to Mitchito. But it translated to his actual game. He was dominant. He got plenty of clearances including making Nas look silly as he turned him insideout and waltzed out of the centre square and hit a target I50. He appeared to be really trying to work on hitting targets coming out of the centre. Can't wait to watch him develop. Really exciting

Jsos
I don't know what I was expecting. Thought he was undervalued at Carlton and if today was anything to go by, we replaced Battle 12 months later and have Tauru to boot. His kicking was a real standout today. Left foot, right foot. He hit targets he was comfortable directing our play from the back half. Defensively, he smothered his opponents and killed a number of high balls. Real highlight was a smother on Marshall where he corralled his man, slowed the play down - a handball got flicked back to Ro and Jsos just dived forward for a full body smother. Really impressive today. He also has put on a lot of size. Big guy now ( photo on previous page)

Liam Ryan
I posted a number of times that I was super excited to watch him in our colours. But he is such an underrated footballer with a really high IQ. He played at HF and his role was to roam between both Arcs, Link the play or try and get on the end of it. Great pair of hands, Great kick - everything he did ended up with a seamless transition forward for a shot at goal. He also has such an impact on the playing group. He makes it fun and the boys get loud around him.

TDK
the dominant big man on the ground. Marked nearly everything that came his way. Big strong, great tap work and a huge tank that had him beating Marshall, Keeler, Dodson, Armstrong etc. The one thing I think he needs to improve is that he runs under the ball when playing forward and its evident as his defender is so worried about him that he follows. But he looked really bloody good - fingers crossed that its a sign of things to come.

Max Hall
If you thought he was good last year, He is better this year. Played predominantly on ball. He was clean, Quick. Worked hard and when he was able to kick inside 50 good things happened, over and over again. We have a bloody good footballer here.He Joined Pou on the B team so he was against Nas, Windy, Macrae etc. Really good showing.
 
BrutThough said:
As much as we all love Tauru, I dont think it's accurate to say he "already more than carries his weight"

He was very much a development prospect last year who make multiple goal costing mistakes in games. There were multiple times Wilkie would scream at him to stop him making dumb or reckless decisions on where he kicked it because he was about to put us in a bad position. That didnt matter because we were no good and out of finals contention. But that shouldn't be tolerated the same this year when we expect to be better. So he will need to show improvement defensively and with his decision making to be a lock every week.

And it's okay if he doesnt or if he needs to go back to the VFL to work on some things in his game. He's still a teenager and he's got plenty of time to fix those things in his game. But as a supporter base, we need to move past the mindset that a talented kid is untouchable and has to play no matter what.
Click to expand...

I think this is a pretty well spot on assessment. He was bringing plenty of positives in a time when our season was shot and we were just looking for signs from our young players. But he also committed 2-3 howlers per game which wouldn't be tolerated from an experienced player.

That's totally fine though because he showed incredible athleticism, great reading of the play, awesome overhead ability and plenty of mongrel. As a first year player coming off no pre season we were more than happy to keep him in the side but those mistakes will need to be ironed out pretty quickly if he wants to stay in the senior side (and we haven't been decimated by injuries).
 
stavro#4 said:
Training 30/1/16

I thought it would be easier if I just summarise today in one post. Obviously a few posters all there today, so views are my own etc.

Evident Gamestyle

Very evident we have been really well drilled this offseason to date, with how we want to play. everytime we came from our back half there was a huge emphasis to make the ground big and spread. Clear instruction that we wanted to hit a target as opposed to long down the line. Happy to switch the play with Jsos looking sorta like a quarter back hanging in the middle of the D50 to recycle the ball. Once we hit a target our midfielders really spread hard to get on the end of the next ball and get our running game going - Disposal very clean

Rehab

Tauru King Wood Howard Clark all in rehab. All just ran laps, Sprinted and did some exhausting kicking and running drills in that heat. I really want to talk about King. He trained for 2 1/2 - 3 hours today. He ran, He cut, He turned, He jumped, He moved after ground balls etc. He did it all and he worked himself to exhaustion. If he is chasing a round 0 spot - he is doing the work to give himself a chance. It felt exciting like he was genuinely close to the next step.

Dodson, Higgins & Stocker started in rehab but moved into the main stuff. (Dodson did the situational match sim but didn't play the full ground match sim, just ran laps for that)

Injuries
  1. O'Connell the poor bastard was flattened front on by Wilkie (purely accidental). Looked like concussion, blood nose aswell.
  2. Henry looked like a hammy. Really disappointing. Came off on his own accord, but I'm not sure that means much
  3. Pou got a poke in the eye at the end. I think he is fine but sat out the last 5 or so minutes of Match sim

General Training
massive emphasis on using the ball well, being aggressive with ball movement and aggressive defending to win the ball back

Match Sim
This was umpired by Jacob Mollison. Ive known him for a decade and had a quick chat before their warm up.He said they were told that Ross wanted a really willing session from our boys and that's exactly what was delivered. Really good skills for the majority of that session. Bodies put on the line and skills on show. Black side looked to be a predominantly A team. However our second string midfield of Pou, Hall etc started on the other side to go head to head.

instead of going in-depth on match sim, ill talk about the 5 who I thought were standouts today - In no particular order.

Phillipou
He was predominantly playing on ball with some small stints at half forward. He look like he has levelled up. I posted a photo at his size - which looks really comparable to Mitchito. But it translated to his actual game. He was dominant. He got plenty of clearances including making Nas look silly as he turned him insideout and waltzed out of the centre square and hit a target I50. He appeared to be really trying to work on hitting targets coming out of the centre. Can't wait to watch him develop. Really exciting

Jsos
I don't know what I was expecting. Thought he was undervalued at Carlton and if today was anything to go by, we replaced Battle 12 months later and have Tauru to boot. His kicking was a real standout today. Left foot, right foot. He hit targets he was comfortable directing our play from the back half. Defensively, he smothered his opponents and killed a number of high balls. Real highlight was a smother on Marshall where he corralled his man, slowed the play down - a handball got flicked back to Ro and Jsos just dived forward for a full body smother. Really impressive today. He also has put on a lot of size. Big guy now ( photo on previous page)

Liam Ryan
I posted a number of times that I was super excited to watch him in our colours. But he is such an underrated footballer with a really high IQ. He played at HF and his role was to roam between both Arcs, Link the play or try and get on the end of it. Great pair of hands, Great kick - everything he did ended up with a seamless transition forward for a shot at goal. He also has such an impact on the playing group. He makes it fun and the boys get loud around him.

TDK
the dominant big man on the ground. Marked nearly everything that came his way. Big strong, great tap work and a huge tank that had him beating Marshall, Keeler, Dodson, Armstrong etc. The one thing I think he needs to improve is that he runs under the ball when playing forward and its evident as his defender is so worried about him that he follows. But he looked really bloody good - fingers crossed that its a sign of things to come.

Max Hall
If you thought he was good last year, He is better this year. Played predominantly on ball. He was clean, Quick. Worked hard and when he was able to kick inside 50 good things happened, over and over again. We have a bloody good footballer here.He Joined Pou on the B team so he was against Nas, Windy, Macrae etc. Really good showing.
Click to expand...
Great work today Stav. Really appreciated the updates and analysis.

Already booked my round 0 tickets with a mate who’s a pies fan. Hoping the boys play the way they’re practicing and we have great win.

I’ll be coming straight from the F1 so will be in fine form to hopefully celebrate a big win!
 

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training report #2 30/1/2026
They must read my reports, in the black tops and no music...or its match sim day.
Rehab group growing. King, Doogs, Clark, Wood, and Dodson ( in black top). All running laps, no Tauru so far.
So all but King coming back from minor soft tissue injuries. No majors yet (touch wood).
Tauru in black top, warming up, right knee strapped. Must be ok. No TDK or Marshall, wait here comes the troops, both plus Pou, Hill and Flyin' arrive. A big turnup, even McCrea and Stocks are out.
Spoke too soon, the music is back, someone needs to get on the graphic equaliser and sort out the base. Music actually not too bad, a bit more funky, bottom end stuff.
Tauru, Higgins and no.41 away from the main group in black tops so not in rehab but I would say no match sim.
Umpy's turn up.
Not 41, but Stocker who is 14, a bit dyslexic today.
Lots of VFL players, 27, 41, 48.
3 groups, forwards, mids, backs.
Unsurprisingly Owen is with the forwards, Hammer with the backs. Banfield and Fincher with the mids. Like Weds, clearance work with no contest, tap downs to the positioned mid. Dodson involved as well. Nice slick drill, TDK enthusiastic, McCrae and Hugo good in close, same with Fincher.
2010's dance music an upgrade but not as easy to take the piss out of.
Full field black v bibs, end to end transition, with forwards getting to space. Defence not contesting but trying to hold shape on transition.
Colin Young down again. Told he enjoys working with the Saints, we can snag a few players in his stable.
Umpys out, still no contact transition.
Quick transition of players off the bench.
From FB to hbf to wing back to the guts and then looking for either hff or the free forward transitioning to space.
Another 4 minute ball drill of keepings off. Can see why we dumped Aleer after picking up JSOS.
Far side, tackle practice.
Two groups swaps for another 4 minute block.
Over other side. Mids big effort evasion and defence. Ross lots of talk, said he loved it.
Tauru and Sincs, kick to kick. Tauru kicking off the strapped right leg.
Stocker nails Owens. Hastie nails Trav.
So much talk, Stocks, Windy, McCrae, Pou so different to preseasons past. Really intense, Ross encouraging, says he loves the attitude. Real mind on the drill stuff. Impressive. Trav with the big boys, got nailed a couple of times, got beaten on the outside, but got up and tried harder. Fantastic never give up attitude, Ross loved it.
Ok match sim. Four 15 minute qtrs.
Over the far side, music is definately to drown out instructions.
Blue tops v Black. Black probables v Blue possibles
McCrae, Flanders Naz, TDK guts for black. Hall wins first contest and Chito goals for Blue. Second clearance to Hall. Roh starting forward for Black.
Trav turns it over for Black quick transition for Flyin' joe the goose.
TDK uses the bag to jump, Coops good mark for Black second goal. Keeler impressive in the ruck, couple of telling marks. Wilks cruched far side by LOC, LOC comes off worse, looks like a shoulder. Just a,smack in the nose.
Henry off looks like a hammy, bugger.
Ryan sees the mismatch TDK on Armstrong, strong mark to Higgo for a joe the goose.
Ryan is absolute class, contested mark over Hastie, a 40 metre bullet to Naz for a goal.
TDK resting forward. Taking mark after mark.
1st qtr down.
LOC broken nose
Henry hamny?
TDK, Ryan, Flanders, Higgo, Wilson for Black
Keeler, Hall, Chito, for Blue
A few top changes Hall in black .
Transition from the back slick.
Lance drops a,sitter then gets Carroll HTB then he puts it OOF, sums it up for Lance unfortunately.
Banfield is impressive, forces NAZ to OOF, then reads the play for an intercept mark awarded 50 and goals.
3rd qtr, chito and Coops have swapped numbers for some reason. JSOS playing like Wilks.
Black class taking over, now fatigue is taking over NAZ is starring.
Spent the last qtr crapping on to stav so nothing much to report except Pou copped a whack in the head. Seems ok.
So a good hitout, some impressed, the 4 recruits, Banfield, Keeler, very good, NAZ came into it, a few of the other trackwatchers can fill you in.
Adios Amigos
 
On King, I'm still very sceptical about his body holding up to the rigours of AFL footy but it sounds like he is moving better than he was this time last year, right? Track watchers reported him constantly looking like he was uncomfortable/limping, but no such reports coming through this pre season.

There's a glimmer...
 

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stavro#4 said:
Ross direct feedback to Keeler.

Bolton blasting the black side (a team) about holding territory.


Ross just tore Hastie a new (Angus who the **** are you on? Find someone)
Click to expand...
haha heard the Hastie one, a pearler
"Angus, who are you on? WELL F..N get on him!"

got singled out a few times but came back with some good efforts
 
stavro#4 said:
Training 30/1/16

I thought it would be easier if I just summarise today in one post. Obviously a few posters all there today, so views are my own etc.

Evident Gamestyle

Very evident we have been really well drilled this offseason to date, with how we want to play. everytime we came from our back half there was a huge emphasis to make the ground big and spread. Clear instruction that we wanted to hit a target as opposed to long down the line. Happy to switch the play with Jsos looking sorta like a quarter back hanging in the middle of the D50 to recycle the ball. Once we hit a target our midfielders really spread hard to get on the end of the next ball and get our running game going - Disposal very clean

Rehab

Tauru King Wood Howard Clark all in rehab. All just ran laps, Sprinted and did some exhausting kicking and running drills in that heat. I really want to talk about King. He trained for 2 1/2 - 3 hours today. He ran, He cut, He turned, He jumped, He moved after ground balls etc. He did it all and he worked himself to exhaustion. If he is chasing a round 0 spot - he is doing the work to give himself a chance. It felt exciting like he was genuinely close to the next step.

Dodson, Higgins & Stocker started in rehab but moved into the main stuff. (Dodson did the situational match sim but didn't play the full ground match sim, just ran laps for that)

Injuries
  1. O'Connell the poor bastard was flattened front on by Wilkie (purely accidental). Looked like concussion, blood nose aswell.
  2. Henry looked like a hammy. Really disappointing. Came off on his own accord, but I'm not sure that means much
  3. Pou got a poke in the eye at the end. I think he is fine but sat out the last 5 or so minutes of Match sim

General Training
massive emphasis on using the ball well, being aggressive with ball movement and aggressive defending to win the ball back

Match Sim
This was umpired by Jacob Mollison. Ive known him for a decade and had a quick chat before their warm up.He said they were told that Ross wanted a really willing session from our boys and that's exactly what was delivered. Really good skills for the majority of that session. Bodies put on the line and skills on show. Black side looked to be a predominantly A team. However our second string midfield of Pou, Hall etc started on the other side to go head to head.

instead of going in-depth on match sim, ill talk about the 5 who I thought were standouts today - In no particular order.

Phillipou
He was predominantly playing on ball with some small stints at half forward. He look like he has levelled up. I posted a photo at his size - which looks really comparable to Mitchito. But it translated to his actual game. He was dominant. He got plenty of clearances including making Nas look silly as he turned him insideout and waltzed out of the centre square and hit a target I50. He appeared to be really trying to work on hitting targets coming out of the centre. Can't wait to watch him develop. Really exciting

Jsos
I don't know what I was expecting. Thought he was undervalued at Carlton and if today was anything to go by, we replaced Battle 12 months later and have Tauru to boot. His kicking was a real standout today. Left foot, right foot. He hit targets he was comfortable directing our play from the back half. Defensively, he smothered his opponents and killed a number of high balls. Real highlight was a smother on Marshall where he corralled his man, slowed the play down - a handball got flicked back to Ro and Jsos just dived forward for a full body smother. Really impressive today. He also has put on a lot of size. Big guy now ( photo on previous page)

Liam Ryan
I posted a number of times that I was super excited to watch him in our colours. But he is such an underrated footballer with a really high IQ. He played at HF and his role was to roam between both Arcs, Link the play or try and get on the end of it. Great pair of hands, Great kick - everything he did ended up with a seamless transition forward for a shot at goal. He also has such an impact on the playing group. He makes it fun and the boys get loud around him.

TDK
the dominant big man on the ground. Marked nearly everything that came his way. Big strong, great tap work and a huge tank that had him beating Marshall, Keeler, Dodson, Armstrong etc. The one thing I think he needs to improve is that he runs under the ball when playing forward and its evident as his defender is so worried about him that he follows. But he looked really bloody good - fingers crossed that its a sign of things to come.

Max Hall
If you thought he was good last year, He is better this year. Played predominantly on ball. He was clean, Quick. Worked hard and when he was able to kick inside 50 good things happened, over and over again. We have a bloody good footballer here.He Joined Pou on the B team so he was against Nas, Windy, Macrae etc. Really good showing.
Click to expand...


Ryan has played further from goal over the last couple of years. More like Max Hall than a stay at home small forward.
 
SainterinSydney said:
My son was born this morning. Another one for the army of Sainters!
Click to expand...
Congratulations Mate, Being a Dad is the best!

Good Luck and I hope mum and baby are all well
 
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