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

 

[THE A5]

Haha we have a red head

Are you guys in ****ing preschool

Hit a nerve?

 

[squashface]

Haha we have a red head

Are you guys in ****ing preschool

Found the ginger

 

[Farang83150]

Harley changing it up a bit today, was wearing Bakers number 3!

 

[Farang83150]

Hewett hasn’t particularly stood out for me so far this preseason but he has been one of the players I’ve had difficulty picking out which might partially explain that

What I will say is he’s missed very little, if any, of the sessions so far. This is his first crack at an uninterrupted preseason since arriving at the club so that in itself is a positive

He looks fit and strong so at this point I’m taking that and look forward to him showing the benefits of building a proper fitness base for the first time as preseason progresses

He's one of the fluro green boot brigade.

 

[amazingjoshy]

I didn’t.

When we played Geelong who played on their best (Cameron) and 2nd (Neale) best forward? Ginbey and Brock

When we played Adelaide, who spent most of their day on Thilthorpe? Ginbey.

Could go on and on almost every week.

People in here want to pretend that Harry Edwards got 6 kicked on him in round 1 by King, got dropped and then all of a sudden came back a few weeks later and was prime Jeremy McGovern.

He just got an easier match up every week.

Edwards didn't play the last time we played Adelaide

 

[Boohemian]

Haha we have a red head

Are you guys in ****ing preschool

Just wait until you see the comments about Clay Hall's receding hair line.

 

[LittleFires]

Hey Keys and/or LittleFires just wondering what your take is on Hewetts pre-season so far.
Just watching some highlights of the Saints win last night for a little footy fix and some of the things he did, including a set shot goal from outside 50, really showed he has game lifting talent.
As the season progressed his output died off a bit and as he said it was the most games he has ever played in a season.

He already has that god given freak skill and that want to win attitude but given that persistent injury he had to deal with his fitness obviously has been hard to build to full AFL level.
Has he shown signs it is improving and has he been one of the guys doing extra running etc to build his fitness levels.

He could be that dark horse X-factor to complement Harley and give the opposition something extra to think about if he can perform in games longer and get through a full season.

Pretty much what Keys said. Hasn’t been a big standout just yet but importantly he’s largely been in full training. He’s been moving well and his fitness looks good - finished in the top half of 1st-4th year players in the MAS running test.

Fingers crossed he can finish the pre-Christmas block fully healthy and then really build a bit of momentum in January/February into the start of the season. Really excited by his potential and he’ll have an important role to play in our midfield next year.

 

[bzparkes]

Edwards didn't play the last time we played Adelaide

That's just how shit he is


Also, he played on Neale v Geelong, because they're both the same size.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Edwards didn't play the last time we played Adelaide

I wasn’t referring to the last time we played Adelaide

I was referring to when we played them in R11 and Edwards played but Ginbey played on thilthorpe.

 

[Keys]

Harley changing it up a bit today, was wearing Bakers number 3!

Not a change as such - he’s been wearing no.3 each session I’ve seen so far for whatever reason

Often did it last year as well

He's one of the fluro green boot brigade.

There’s a few of them unfortunately.

He’s just one of a few I personally have difficulty picking out. Might try to follow him on Friday

 

[amazingjoshy]

He did play when we played them in R11 and Ginbey played on thilthorpe.

So who are you claiming Edwards played on in that one then?

Crows only had Thilthorpe and Fogarty as tall fwds and Thrilla kicked 2 and Fogarty 1 in a 10 goal win

Rachele kicked 5 so you can blame Harry for that if it suits your narrative better i guess

 

[Farang83150]

Dev's a lot bigger than I thought he was, didn't see him last week but watching him run the boundary today, big bloke.

 

[Coasters7]

I reckon Hewett will be very good, but he's going to be a slower burn that some here might expect.

Zac Butters trajectory. Injury prone and sits in the forward line for years before breaking out as a mid

 

[jdisc]

Haha we have a red head

Are you guys in ****ing preschool

do we?

who is he?

 

[jdisc]

Dev's a lot bigger than I thought he was, didn't see him last week but watching him run the boundary today, big bloke.

can he ruck?

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

Hewett looked like he was doing a great job 'coaching' the younger forwards in between the drills. Keys in particular seemed to be following him around.

 

[Doashuey]

He was really physical when tackling blokes today, rag dolled a few right in front of me a couple of times in the drills.

 

[jdisc]

just saw Elijah Hewett coming out of North Perth chemist warehouse

how will this impact things?

 

[Farang83150]

just saw Elijah Hewett coming out of North Perth chemist warehouse

how will this impact things?

Was he running out or walking?

 

[Truckosaurus]

Not a change as such - he’s been wearing no.3 each session I’ve seen so far for whatever reason

Often did it last year as well

It symbolises he's only to give a third of his best that session, a bit like the non-contact caps. It encourages his team mates not to be terrified of playing on him.

 

[bzparkes]

Not a change as such - he’s been wearing no.3 each session I’ve seen so far for whatever reason

Often did it last year as well

Just getting the same preseason feel Judd had in his third year when he won his Brownlow.

Harley 2026 Brownlow confirmed.

 

[jdisc]

Was he running out or walking?

he was walking and elected to jaywalk across a busy Fitzgerald Street instead of using the traffic lit pedestrian crossing 3 meters away

but he was always quite the risk taker

 

[RookiePick]

Was he running out or walking?

Levitating

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

he was walking and elected to jaywalk across a busy Fitzgerald Street instead of using the traffic lit pedestrian crossing 3 meters away

but he was always quite the risk taker

Good through traffic.

 

[PepperTom32]

Reckon big Arch could be ruck ready sooner than expected?

View attachment 2494192

What happened to his lower right leg? His foot is attached to his knee. No wonder the big fella can’t kick straight