Training Saints preseason 2026

[gringo2011]

Not a bad comparison. They seem to have a similar athletic profile and similarly scrappy kicking. My question would be - do we think a Gilbert who is 5-6cm shorter still makes it in 2026 and beyond?

Gilbert was a line breaking runner. Nick Blakey is probably the closest thing to him now. Both have the rugby sidestep to get around an opponent and a good pace for size factor. The Lizzard can shank them when kicking on the run at times too but a better overall user.

Hastie is a better aerial player than Gilbert and probably a bit more nimble. He's got that rubber man body that seems to contort itself out of trouble. I see no reason why he doesn't make it if he gets consistency and meets expectations. He's got nice balance, really good hands, fast and different to anything else we have. The rest is up to him.

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Gilbert was a line breaking runner. Nick Blakey is probably the closest thing to him now. Both have the rugby sidestep to get around an opponent and a good pace for size factor. The Lizzard can shank them when kicking on the run at times too but a better overall user.

Hastie is a better aerial player than Gilbert and probably a bit more nimble. He's got that rubber man body that seems to contort itself out of trouble. I see no reason why he doesn't make it if he gets consistency and meets expectations. He's got nice balance, really good hands, fast and different to anything else we have. The rest is up to him.

This was in reference to Travaglia

 

[ScrappyDo]

This was in reference to Travaglia

I thought he was off track for that conversation. That said however, l reckon he's actually on track and tha Trav-Gilbo comparison is a bit wacky and born out of a bit of desperation.
Trav is a long way away from a finished product and possess an odd mix of traits that makes him difficult to project. Not dissimilar to Hastie in some ways, but in others poles apart.
Both will be a slow burn though.

 

[PJays]

Silvagni sidelined due to the groin injury that impacted his 2025

Who could've guessed that a guy who's averaged 11 games a year for the last 6 years would have a niggle?!

 

[saintmike65]

Thanks - as someone who lives interstate I really enjoy your insights .

What position do you see LOC and Armstrong playing next season?

Also , based on your observations this preseason, who has their nose in front for the vacant back pocket and hbf positions?

LOC I see as a disciplined lock down defender...Armstrong more attacking running defender.
The exciting part is Kobe McDonald could well be the best of the Irish!
Jack Carroll is my smokey for a HBF.

 

[Mstr Strokesman]

LOC I see as a disciplined lock down defender...Armstrong more attacking running defender.
The exciting part is Kobe McDonald could well be the best of the Irish!
Jack Carroll is my smokey for a HBF.

Enjoying the write ups thanks Mike.
What are your thoughts on Camminiti? Is he training with the forwards?Deep forward or up high as a connection ?

 

[Significant]

I would 100% be playing Travaglia behind the ball. I don't think we need to feel pressured into making him a midfielder at all with our current crop of youngsters.

Make him the Backline General, let him go to work on our defensive systems, and develop him into our finger pointing Goddard Mk II. I can see him intercepting everything, hitting the man and the ball hard, and similarly running hard the other way like a Wilmot or Blakey.

The only thing is footskills. I don't know if he has this to make it as that backline player, but everything, his tenacity, his voice, his direction - Goddard, Hodge, etc.

 

[Otiman]

Caminiti is most definitely our swingman and insurance policy in 2026. Dougs goes down he's our FB, King doesn't come up he's FF. Keeler could edge him for the forward spot. King and Howard both available, and two of Marshall, TDK, Keeler available he plays VFL.

 

[saintmike65]

Enjoying the write ups thanks Mike.
What are your thoughts on Camminiti? Is he training with the forwards?Deep forward or up high as a connection ?

Caminiti is mainly deep forward in training drills...he's a powerful unit now young hammer.

 

[akaifu]

Caminiti is most definitely our swingman and insurance policy in 2026. Dougs goes down he's our FB, King doesn't come up he's FF. Keeler could edge him for the forward spot. King and Howard both available, and two of Marshall, TDK, Keeler available he plays VFL.

Going off how highly Ross speaks of Caminiti, I think he’s ahead of Keeler no matter the position atm (except ruck obviously)

 

[SaintWrld]

Going off how highly Ross speaks of Caminiti, I think he’s ahead of Keeler no matter the position atm (except ruck obviously)

Let’s hope that a players performance is the deciding factor between wether they are picked or not, and not the fact that they are a coach favourite

 

[Vacuous Space]

Trav is a long way away from a finished product and possess an odd mix of traits that makes him difficult to project.

I don't think the above gets said enough.

Trav had more contested marks and intercepts than Tauru and Barrat combined at the Champs. He's a fierce competitor who got more tackles in a few weeks of midfield than some other first rounders got all year. He was an absolute running machine who loved to run and carry to a degree I've rarely seen in juniors.

Downside, he ran so much that he sometimes ran himself into trouble. He handballed too much and would sometimes handball others into trouble. His kicking was inconsistent.

Projecting him seems impossible to me. Too much of an outlier in too many ways. I don't think there's a perfect analogue to compare him to.

 

[MOLTEN GANGLANDS]

trav's kick is not good enough to play behind the ball, on ball, wing, forward

 

[dudeintheswamp]

Just in case anyone had forgotten about this

 

[Palantine]

got down to training today, a few observations

- Banfield is a new fave, he's a big lad, looked very similar in height to Barrat.
His defensive work is fantastic, 100% effort, repeat efforts, may burn himself out this year with trying too hard
Could see him getting games this year, physically looks ready (running?). Kicking needs work from small sample size

- Armstrong - reminds me of Goddard in the way he moves. His kicking is neat, seems pretty dependable with short kicking, higher pressure prob a challenge at this point but like the look of him

- Higgins - just super effective in the game sim stuff, makes a quick smart decision and hits the target

- Nas - freak show. kicking is great to watch, ball cuts through the air and can slice his kicks on kooky angles, must be hard for defenders to predict. Reckon we could see some great chemistry with him and Flyin', could be some exceptional plays with their combined skill and creativity

- Flyin' Ryan - looks pretty happy to me, smart player, nice kick, looked for Ro in the match sim stuff

- Wilkie - so Wilkie it hurt - Mr Dependable, super pro

- Carrol - stood out a bit, having a real crack. defensive work a highlight, made life hard for oppo

- Wilson - cruising around being an absolute specimen

- Pou - good, quick

- Garcia - see Pou

- Sinclair - wasn't just doing laps

- Cooper - very good

- Tobie - lots of voice, seems comfortable in the group, didn't watch closely

- Hastie - like him but misses targets too much for his position, gotta sharpen up his kicking

- King - moving way better than a couple of weeks ago, short kicking, short runs, some agility stuff. He's not skinny, big strong looking unit

- Ross - what are we paying him for - snoozing around having chats - vibe guy

No Hill, Mitch not in main group - chatted with staff & pool, Henry running laps as were Box, Lobster, Dodson (legs like tree trunks)
Rehab group of King, TDK, Stocker (gloved - hand injury?), Clark & other?

Awesome thanks

 

[Ads734]

Don’t underage LOC’s toughness and competitiveness working up the ground.

His development over the past two years has been rapid. Initially he just had attributes.
Fast tough could leap and tidy skills. The crazy thing is he actually translated this at AFL level.
But towards the end of the last year in the vfl he stopped being purely moments and started to string some consistency across the duration of the game.

This correlated with his move into the midfield. He began to accumulate clearances, use his size and tackle. I think the most encouraging component was that he actually showed an ability to drive his legs in the stoppage. The first instinct to revive the ball off the rucks hands and move the legs is not so inherent even in experienced AFL players. This was a massive sign to me that he can make it as a mid.

His last 3 vfl games.
18 2 tackles 5 clearances.
21 8 tackles 8 clearances both second highest
22 8 tackles (game high) 7 clearances team high

 

[akaifu]

Don’t underage LOC’s toughness and competitiveness working up the ground.

His development over the past two years has been rapid. Initially he just had attributes.
Fast tough could leap and tidy skills. The crazy thing is he actually translated this at AFL level.
But towards the end of the last year in the vfl he stopped being purely moments and started to string some consistency across the duration of the game.

This correlated with his move into the midfield. He began to accumulate clearances, use his size and tackle. I think the most encouraging component was that he actually showed an ability to drive his legs in the stoppage. The first instinct to revive the ball off the rucks hands and move the legs is not so inherent even in experienced AFL players. This was a massive sign to me that he can make it as a mid.

His last 3 vfl games.
18 2 tackles 5 clearances.
21 8 tackles 8 clearances both second highest
22 8 tackles (game high) 7 clearances team high

It looks like we're grooming him into a Mark O'Connor clone. Ultimate defensive utility who can play back, wing, inside mid and be accountable for a man. Allows Windy to be a ball-hunting mid

After all, Ross is always banging on about Geelong and Chris Scott's system so it'd make sense for him to be trying to mould some of our players into Geelong players

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Don’t underage

It looks like we're grooming him

 

[SainterinSydney]

I bid on a house today and chose number 7 for the bidding paddle for good luck ala Nas. Got blown out of the water, but was fun.

 

[CursingFijian]

It looks like we're grooming him into a Mark O'Connor clone. Ultimate defensive utility who can play back, wing, inside mid and be accountable for a man. Allows Windy to be a ball-hunting mid

After all, Ross is always banging on about Geelong and Chris Scott's system so it'd make sense for him to be trying to mould some of our players into Geelong players

Might be more Nash than O'Connor, as far as the Irish comparisons go?

 

[Tommy Wigs]

I bid on a house today and chose number 7 for the bidding paddle for good luck ala Nas. Got blown out of the water, but was fun.

Better have been no.7 house or that’s the reason.

Only alternative is unit 7/35 Harvey St

 

[SaintsSeptember]

There is also the issue re: his brother ... which I think might have come to a head today

THought it might have been him.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Going off how highly Ross speaks of Caminiti, I think he’s ahead of Keeler no matter the position atm (except ruck obviously)

Similar age , but Caminiti is more developed than Keeler. Very different player styles, and they will probably compliment each other if they ever have to play together.

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Caminiti is most definitely our swingman and insurance policy in 2026. Dougs goes down he's our FB, King doesn't come up he's FF. Keeler could edge him for the forward spot. King and Howard both available, and two of Marshall, TDK, Keeler available he plays VFL.

Yep, and given how many of our preferred talls tend to miss at least a chunk of games each season (King, Howard, JSOS, TDK) I expect we'll see Caminiti in the 23 more often than not, even though I wouldn't have him in my starting lineup.

 

[gringo2011]

Don’t underage LOC’s toughness and competitiveness working up the ground.

His development over the past two years has been rapid. Initially he just had attributes.
Fast tough could leap and tidy skills. The crazy thing is he actually translated this at AFL level.
But towards the end of the last year in the vfl he stopped being purely moments and started to string some consistency across the duration of the game.

This correlated with his move into the midfield. He began to accumulate clearances, use his size and tackle. I think the most encouraging component was that he actually showed an ability to drive his legs in the stoppage. The first instinct to revive the ball off the rucks hands and move the legs is not so inherent even in experienced AFL players. This was a massive sign to me that he can make it as a mid.

His last 3 vfl games.
18 2 tackles 5 clearances.
21 8 tackles 8 clearances both second highest
22 8 tackles (game high) 7 clearances team high

He was one of the really big improvers this year. Garcia, Nas, Windy, Hall all took the focus but Liam took a massive step up.


I was watching some guys playing Gaelic footy in Caulfield Park. They seem to be on the move at high speed when they take the ball a lot. Guys are at absolute full tilt when they take possession. They try to run themselves into space while options open up for them. It looked a very casual match but the skills of some of them were incredible. You can see why he might be good at taking the ball out of the ruck on the move.