Training 2026 Off-Season & Preseason reports and discussion

[TheFourPillars]

I was under the impression that our three train-ons would be decided on by Christmas so if this was the last training run i'd expect some news soon.

I think we won't make the decision this early. They might let the ones we r interested train next year let the others know we r not interested.

 

[MrPremiership]

Finn still wearing a guard under his jumper to protect his kidney

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Just to add to Strapping Young Lad report.

LeRay and Greeves both being poor runners were told to go out hard in one of the running drills to push themselves and see how much they could stretch themselves.

Its a great way for coaches to know their limits and try to keep pushing them past it

Its a good way for sports scientists to see what they can do (believe it or not, sports scientists are responsible for 90% of a players gametime)

 

[Newmo89]

"reigning Peter Crimmins medallist Jai Newcombe."
cough Jack Gunston cough

Thanks for pointing that. Wasn't put in by me, but will get them to fix it up

 

[Tall Tales and True]

Notice Stanley in 40; just because, or ...?

(Perhaps Perez in 39, w O'Loughlin 'out of commission' at present??)

 

[Simon Crawshay]

At this stage, we have no players who are injured and only three players who are being managed from contact. The club has done a tremendous job getting the list healthy

Our fitness and medical team are the best in the business IMHO.

One or two years in a row with minimal injuries could be put down to luck to a degree but I feel like that's something like 5 years (more?) where we have had close to a full list to choose from for most of the season (aside from one or two notable exceptions like Day and most of his problems have arisen from the fact that Tigers players are dirty sniping dogs).

Hats off to them I say

 

[Simon Crawshay]

If he gets Italian concreter level anger then he will become the best defender in the game

I'll get excited when I see Mass rock up to a game in the middle of winter in a pair of work shorts, an old blue singlet, gumboots and half rolled ciggie behind his ears

The forward pocket would know he was in for a torrid day at the office seeing that!

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Ok, so most of this is probably covered by Newmo who disappointingly did not wear his illustrious salmon cargo shorts today....

As previously posted, everyone out on the track early and only Day running laps for the first third of the session before Sic, Dear, Karl and Finn did their own separate running.

Dimma and Wiz.
These two are like two little terriers constantly trying to one-up one another. Whether it's an agility run where they are competing for 1st place, match sim where they're in each others face or like last week, deciding to settle it all with a wrestling after training, they are pushing each other like brothers.

There was a drill today where half the squad started in the middle of the ground(the other half would have shots at goal from deep forward before swapping), and 5-6 players would then try to spread from the centre to pressure/intercept and corral the 6 assistant coaches who were set up around the square(one on each wing, 3 at either end of the square, so CHB/CHF and two flankers).
The emphasis was on the players pushing hard to each zone, imitating how we would defend a side that's just taken possession in the back half and is looking to switch or transition the ball. Some players like Scrim, Weddle, Morrison, McCabe, Ward and Moorey all put in great defensive efforts to either impact or intercept the assistant ability to switch and move the ball.

There was some contested stoppage work close to the goals at the south end, which had players very vocal and combative. Ramma trying to break a Ginni tackle, who just didn't give in and dumped him, was a nice little highlight.
There's quite a bit of footage from today floating about on twitter, I will see if I can upload some of mine to bf, but not sure how that will work.

Match sim started with Gold v Purple bibs.

Deep forward for Gold we had Ramma, Gunner, Lewis, Wiz, Moorey and Ginni, with Chol starting off the ground, rotating in a 3 way with Lewis and Ramma.

In the middle Newk was in the purple bib, and swapped out of the side with Weddle.
Gold mids were Meek, Croc, Nash, Ward and Harry.
The match sim was willing and played at a high pace, with the umpires on site being hot on high tackles and also the play on from out of bounds.
Frenchy, Moore, Newk, Weddle, Wiz, Battle, Greeves, Naarn, Chol all had good moments in the sim.

The session was topped off by some lengthy running, with a relayed shuttle from wing to wing, followed by a break and then a relayed endurance run, where each pair would take turns running 2-3 laps before handing over to their teammate.
Finn was as strong as we'd expect, combining with Dmac, they were pretty much unstoppable. Moorey, Wardy, Butts, McCabe, JD and Karl all put in massive efforts.
It was also noted today by other track watchers that Noodle looks the fittest he's been, and seems to improved his agility a little also. Some of his tap work, and in particular one tap straight down Wiz's throat deep forward in the match sim, was very good.

I was left impressed again by Schu and LeRay's running for each other, with Schu's stride seeing him swallow up Meeky in one of his last sets, and by this stage, despite LeRay having just completed his own set, he'd made his way over to the other side of the ground to urge on his mate and then ran alongside him 20m in from the boundary.
a couple of senior players had also done similar with Hilly, to help him finish off.

There's a lot of love in this group, and a lot of enjoyment which is great to see in a hard session to end the year.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

The club has a habit of sitting on injury news and releasing the info when they feel it's right

Don't think this is correct at all. I think they don't release injury news until they know exactly what the injury is and how they intend to manage it, before they share it with any media.....and that makes complete sense.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Notice Stanley in 40; just because, or ...?

(Perhaps Perez in 39, w O'Loughlin 'out of commission' at present??)

Doesn't mean much. Newk's been training in 12. Jars stole 5 the other day before Wiz could get it, just for shits and giggles.

 

[Atch]

I recon get a few rotations with noodle and meek, noodle sounds like he's leveled up, keep meek fresh stop him being burnt out, and each ruckman has a different playing style so would keep it original

 

[The Kipster]

Did the Cholster tackle Frenchie again? that was a beautiful tackle just a shame that he didn't get a free kick.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I recon get a few rotations with noodle and meek, noodle sounds like he's leveled up, keep meek fresh stop him being burnt out, and each ruckman has a different playing style so would keep it original

I'm a big fan of Meek but it's pretty clear we were burning him out playing him as solo rock this year.

If Reeves has improved his agility and all round game then I wouldn't mind getting a bit more of a look at Ned this year.

Still think Lord Meek has number one spot for 2026 but it sounds like Ned is giving it a red hot crack to make it his (competition is never a bad thing).

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Did the Cholster tackle Frenchie again? that was a beautiful tackle just a shame that he didn't get a free kick.

First training session I've been to this summer where Chol hasn't buried someone in a tackle.

 

[CHUBBSS]

I'm a big fan of Meek but it's pretty clear we were burning him out playing him as solo rock this year.

If Reeves has improved his agility and all round game then I wouldn't mind getting a bit more of a look at Ned this year.

Still think Lord Meek has number one spot for 2026 but it sounds like Ned is giving it a red hot crack to make it his (competition is never a bad thing).

Meek looked very good on the lead in the forward line and reeves gives a genuine match winning tap, I can see both benefiting, reeves lifting his aggression would be huge, he showed a lot in the box hill finals

 

[vanders]

For those that have been to training, are there any guys that get regular games that look like they're struggling or going through the motions so far? Or is everyone having best preseason ever?

 

[The Chad and I]

For those that have been to training, are there any guys that get regular games that look like they're struggling or going through the motions so far? Or is everyone having best preseason ever?

It's always the best pre-season ever man.
How can you be gloomy at this time of the year?

 

[stemline]

Legitimately, when you watch any of the players for any length of time, it is so obvious they are giving it absolutely everything. No one is going through the motions, even for a moment.

I watched Will McCabe for a while and his intensity looked to be at absolute maximum in every thing he did. I was going to make comment on here of how hard he's working, but then you look at the next player and the next and it's the same thing. They all look incredibly driven.

 

[TheFourPillars]

Did the Cholster tackle Frenchie again? that was a beautiful tackle just a shame that he didn't get a free kick.

First training session I've been to this summer where Chol hasn't buried someone in a tackle.

Just to add to everyones great reports

Chol nearly caught Frenchie again. This time Frenchie was aware of him and got away he actually got the ball out of a fair bit of congestion. He was one of our better performers in the sim

I though Hilly had one of his better days on the track laid some great tackles and had some some great defensive efforts. His efforts were lauded plenty of encouragement and cheering as other players ran over to pat him on the back

Impey and Battle provided some great zip and intensity of half back Gunners kicked a couple and so did the wiz. The wiz looked really sharp. His skills and pace really exciting.

Ward continued his great pre season along with Moore who looks like a man on a mission. The vice captain is vocal and driving the standards

For those asking about pre season and pre season intensity let me draw an anology. The environment at hawthorn is like a high end university like harvard or yale let me explain. Everyone at the club is so driven and focused. It starts with the so called boot studders and equipment guys all the way to the coaches. The whole football department.

I can imagine 1 yr players coming in and feeling a little intimidated and then inspired seeing the actions of the players and leaders. Every player trying to get the best out of himself and every other player

As SYL said quite a few of the boys got around some of our poorer runners giving them plenty of encouragement running along side them.

It reminds me of the 80s and Quinlan who was commenting at the time said They have got that team spirit Hawthorn and thats something u cannot buy

I am very excited about the coming season and January can't come quick enough

 

[Newmo89]

Massimo D'Ambrosio - Pre-season 2026 Interview

Talking Hawks · Episode

bit.ly

 

[ppphawk]

Given we’ve reached the last training of 2025, I thought it would be interesting to have a take on pre-season to date We can then compare this to what we see when the boys are back next year. here's what I’ve heard from the track watchers.

Stand out performers
++ wizard (moving fast, skills sharp)
++ ward (in great nick, bringing high standards and intensity)
++ ginni (same as ward)

Stepping up

• frenchie (evasiveness and disposal)
• Ollie (standout decision making with ball in hand)
• chol (tackling like a boss)

Round 1 potential
+ Dalton (afl ready body)

Looking fit
+ everyone

Let me know if I have any glaring ommissions and I’ll update this accordingly. Intentionally not trying to list every player, only the cream of our talented crop.

 

[Crankyhawk]

Our fitness and medical team are the best in the business IMHO.

One or two years in a row with minimal injuries could be put down to luck to a degree but I feel like that's something like 5 years (more?) where we have had close to a full list to choose from for most of the season (aside from one or two notable exceptions like Day and most of his problems have arisen from the fact that Tigers players are dirty sniping dogs).

Hats off to them I say

didn't we have a bad preseason start of 2023 or 2024?

 

[BJAD10]

How are the train on players looking, Perez, Stanley and Declase?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

How are the train on players looking, Perez, Stanley and Declase?

Perez the pick of them for mine. Declase is not a train on for a spot, he’s simply been there a few times.

 

[vanders]

It's always the best pre-season ever man.
How can you be gloomy at this time of the year?

Not being gloomy at all, just curious if any of the guys are struggling. Very happy to hear that they're all guns blazing