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

 

[15yearmember]

Ahhhh yes. I am happy to be exploited, for one day I shall be exploiting others. Good old fashioned work ethic.

Yeah that’s it.

Probably a reason some of us have slightly more interesting lives because we can think outside this narrow numpty mindset.

 

[15yearmember]

Not working for free and knowing your value does not equal lack of work ethic or doing the minimum, but carry on



This. Exactly this

I’d suggest I’ve got a considerably higher sense of my value + my actual value in part because I didn’t get caught up over estimating my value before I actually had very much.

But you do you.

I mean what would I know

 

[Shueygod]

Yeah that’s it.

Probably a reason some of us have slightly more interesting lives because we can think outside this narrow numpty mindset.

Being a corporate sheep and working unrewarded hours for “delayed gratification” correlates to an interesting life and thinking outside the box?

Wild take.

 

[Schtinker]

We drafted Yeo as a ruckman.

Still better than Barnett

 

[Boohemian]

Yeah that’s it.

Probably a reason some of us have slightly more interesting lives because we can think outside this narrow numpty mindset.

Mate, you post on here far too often to maintain any pretense of leading an interesting life.

The world has changed and the promise of working hard and being rewarded for it no longer rings true.

 

[bzparkes]

I’d suggest I’ve got a considerably higher sense of my value + my actual value in part because I didn’t get caught up over estimating my value before I actually had very much.

But you do you.

I mean what would I know

I did that for 20 years in hospitality, complete waste of time.

Doing the exact opposite in IT now and things couldn't be better.

 

[dinnaz]

Might be unpopular but I really don't mind the job that Clarke has done. It's way too early to judge him in my view - you have to wait a few years to see how his draft picks develop. Sure his decision to keep Cripps on the senior list and hamstring the club's ability to keep another academy player looks unfortunate but maybe he just didn't rate any of our academy boys bar Williams. Sacking your list manager half way through a rebuild only sets us back a couple of years in my view

Bo Allan > Murphy Reid
-Pick 3 for Baker
-Addinsal bid ****ups
-Owies
-Liam Ryan for peanuts
-Banfield F/S to saints

The "small" errors are stacking up

 

[dinnaz]

Is CDT our best player yet? Or are we playing him on the wing.

 

[FKASC]

Move on people

 

[ziad]

Mate, you post on here far too often to maintain any pretense of leading an interesting life.

The world has changed and the promise of working hard and being rewarded for it no longer rings true.

Have I stumbled into nut job central? How about pre season training?

 

[We_The_West]

Bo Allan > Murphy Reid
-Pick 3 for Baker
-Addinsal bid ****ups
-Owies
-Liam Ryan for peanuts
-Banfield F/S to saints

The "small" errors are stacking up

On the flip side... with the results of those moves...we got a future captain, Jobe Shanahan, Tom Gross, Josh Lindsay, Tylah Williams and Sam Allen ...

 

[We_The_West]

I think the biggest miss for this preseason will be not moving Tyrell Dewar back to the forward line and having him replace Liam Ryan

31

Liam Ryan

Age

29

Ht

181cm

Wt

76kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.3

3star

K

8.6

3star

HB

2.7

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.3

5star

D

9.9

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.3

3star

T

1.6

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

11.4

3star

K

9.0

4star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.8

4star

G

1.6

5star

as a high half forward.... The bloke has serious talent and a natural goal sense

 

[jdisc]

we've already scored a major victory this year with the beer announcement

 

[southcoast]

we've already scored a major victory this year with the beer announcement

The things that matter

 

[Elite Pete]

any training today or now on the Tues-Sat shift ready for the season?

 

[Obeanie1]

Bo Allan > Murphy Reid
-Pick 3 for Baker
-Addinsal bid ****ups
-Owies
-Liam Ryan for peanuts
-Banfield F/S to saints

The "small" errors are stacking up

What about the small and larger wins at the draft table?

Or do we just discuss the negatives?

Shanahan at 30.

A Reid at 31

Hough has done well as a 2nd rounder.

McCarthy a great MSD pick up.

Hutchinson a decent pick up.

Lindsay at 19 was rated top 10.

 

[kane249]

What a out the small and larger wins at the draft table?

Or do we just discuss the negatives?

Shanahan at 30.

A Reid at 31

Hough has done well as a 2nd rounder.

McCarty a great MSD pick up.

Hutchinson a decent pick up.

Lindsay at 19 was rated top 10.

Fred Rodrigues in the rookie draft also a potential bargain given he was top 10 going into his draft year

 

[Dark Sharks]

OOC 2027.
Someone mentioned on here about Yeo playing the Dangerfield role and I think this probably ends up being Yeo's role going forward.
90% forward and 10% rotating with bursts through the middle when he builds match fitness and the team needs.
Going to be a new look midfield at WC with HR, McCarthy, Hewett, Dev, Graham, B Allan, Newton, Gross, Duursma, Davis, Kelly all playing in and around the midfield.
Kelly, Graham, Hewett, Baker, Newton, Gross all playing HF and smaller forward roles and rotating on ball as needed IMO.

Even before his body was broken we pretty much stopped playing Yeo up forward since 2016.

2017 backline AA, 2018 into mid AA and since then he only ever really fills in in defense.

Bloke can play anywhere really. Wing if we want to keep him outside the contest a bit more, but he's probably not lean or fit enough for that.

 

[Obeanie1]

Fred Rodrigues in the rookie draft also a potential bargain given he was top 10 going into his draft year

Lol at some Freo fans change tune on how good Rodreguez is rated as soon as he landed here.

He was a big Freo fan too.

 

[wctorp]

Bo Allan > Murphy Reid
-Pick 3 for Baker
-Addinsal bid ****ups
-Owies
-Liam Ryan for peanuts
-Banfield F/S to saints

The "small" errors are stacking up

Pick 3 for Baker, Bo Allan and Tom Gross
We miss out on Lindsay if we didn’t trade up for him. Ryan was worth a second round pick at best.
Ending up with Rodriguez instead of Banfield.

Not worth getting upset over.

 

[evans1863]

What a out the small and larger wins at the draft table?

Or do we just discuss the negatives?

Shanahan at 30.

A Reid at 31

Hough has done well as a 2nd rounder.

McCarthy a great MSD pick up.

Hutchinson a decent pick up.

Lindsay at 19 was rated top 10.

Agree with this in general.

Overall its a net positive, but Clarke really needs Bo Allan to work out given the draft hand we gave up to get Baker and Graham across. It's also a lot harder to mess things up when you constantly have a pick in the top 3.

I think its a stretch to say Hutch is a decent pick up. 5 years for him seems a bit excessive at this point.

We also need to see what he can get for the likes of Bailey/Jack Williams. Good list management works both ways. We won the lottery with OA, probably about fair for Barrass and Ryan, but unders for Chesser (even if he was a likely delist for most of the year).

If we can add Warner as a UFA, and pick up the likes of Walter and Davies without giving up too much then ultimately he'll have done a great job of refreshing the list.

 

[bzparkes]

Agree with this in general.

Overall its a net positive, but Clarke really needs Bo Allan to work out given the draft hand we gave up to get Baker and Graham across. It's also a lot harder to mess things up when you constantly have a pick in the top 3.

I think its a stretch to say Hutch is a decent pick up. 5 years for him seems a bit excessive at this point.

We also need to see what he can get for the likes of Bailey/Jack Williams. Good list management works both ways. We won the lottery with OA, probably about fair for Barrass and Ryan, but unders for Chesser (even if he was a likely delist for most of the year).

If we can add Warner as a UFA, and pick up the likes of Walter and Davies without giving up too much then ultimately he'll have done a great job of refreshing the list.

Need to remember that Hutch and Allan are Massey's choices, not Clarke's.

There is an argument to be made about Massey not having pick 3 due tot he Baker trade but ultimately, it was he and his team that settled on Allan.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Have we given up on Bo Allan?

Bad luck to the kid. Seems like he has a great work ethic, so there's always corporate life if he wants.

 

[Keys]

any training today or now on the Tues-Sat shift ready for the season?

Open training this week is Wednesday

Next week it’s scheduled for Monday at a later start time of 10.00am

So I’m unsure of what program they’re running now as the break last week has thrown the usual routine out

Disappointing that not a single journo made their way down to Lathlain on Saturday for what might have been a full four quarter match sim based on what Jeppa posted on twitter. Even then his info was less detailed than other days he’s attended training. (I was working so couldn’t make it)

I don’t know if they trained today. After driving there twice last week (Wednesday and Friday) to see grass grow I wasn’t going to risk another pointless trip. Thus far, there’s been nothing across social media to indicate a training session was held - not necessarily surprising if they had a full hitout on Saturday

It’s all a bit of a mystery at the moment with only the sole open session each week being reliable even if it’s occurring on different days now - Thursday last week, Wednesday this week, Monday next week

 

[wctorp]

Have we given up on Bo Allan?

Bad luck to the kid. Seems like he has a great work ethic, so there's always corporate life if he wants.

Poor kid, we hardly knew him

Honestly don’t think many were complaining about the selection on draft night.