Training 2026 Pre Season & Training Reports

[JZTIME!]

From those who have attended and been close to this pre season, can we expect Pink or Dawson to play round 1?

They won't play both.

Pink from the session I saw.

 

[The Nostradamus]

From those who have attended and been close to this pre season, can we expect Pink or Dawson to play round 1?

They won't play both.

Decent chance they don’t play either depending on matchups

Chom and logue are the 2 main KPD then it’s whether the oppo have a tall forward line or not
Otherwise can get away with that plus lmac as a third tall

 

[the big lebowski]

From those who have attended and been close to this pre season, can we expect Pink or Dawson to play round 1?

They won't play both.

Dawson is miles off playing imo

Pink will be the first tall defender named

 

[DuckYeah]

Pink from the session I saw.

Dawson is a long way off being an AFL defender also.

People will draw attention to the dogs game where he tunnelled the **** out Darcy, but I still feel Darcy did his damage further up the ground.

“Shotgun” (shit name) would need to show something a little more this season

 

[HBFlanker]

Dawson is miles off playing imo

Pink will be the first tall defender named

Heading into his third year and out of contract at seasons end. Should we be expecting more from Dawson?

I had really hoped he would be a lock for round 1 at full back. He's a beast of a kid size wise.

 

[the big lebowski]

Heading into his third year and out of contract at seasons end. Should we be expecting more from Dawson?

I had really hoped he would be a lock for round 1 at full back. He's a beast of a kid size wise.

I just don’t think he can defend well enough

He’s still young and has the physical traits so there’s time

But he’d want to get a move on

 

[JZTIME!]

Heading into his third year and out of contract at seasons end. Should we be expecting more from Dawson?

I had really hoped he would be a lock for round 1 at full back. He's a beast of a kid size wise.

He just looks like one of those big blokes that takes time. Looks massive but not fully in control of it all just yet. I think he is the kid that hits 23-24 years old before it all clicks.

 

[Chadwiko]

From those who have attended and been close to this pre season, can we expect Pink or Dawson to play round 1?

They won't play both.

Pink will play round 1.

 

[backtothedraft]

Pink will play round 1.

The one thing i love about Pink is he seems to leave no stoned unturned in getting the best out of himself. Has come back looking fit both preseasons he's had with the club.

 

[Chadwiko]

The one thing i love about Pink is he seems to leave no stoned unturned in getting the best out of himself. Has come back looking fit both preseasons he's had with the club.

He's in incredible shape this year. Strongest he's ever looked.

 

[New_Roo]

Fisher forward is something. Doubt he will be good enough to get a game there, but at least we're not all in on 100% no defence distribution players.

playing fwd is nothing new? isnt that where he started off and played majority of time for Carlton

 

[New_Roo]

Nobody is mentioning that Goater actually played today ...

yes someone did, said he was smashed by Bull who kicked at least 3 on him

 

[New_Roo]

This damn well breaks my heart into a thousand pieces this post

its not like they didnt have their chances... CCJ is lucky that we dont have too much coverage in that area

 

[marklovesbeer]

If he is playing, we are having a stinker.

If any if our debutants other than Dellavedova play, it means our season has fallen apart and blooding youth for experience.

Goad is miles away.

Had a Saints supporting mate who is right into fantasy footy & he asked in a group chat ‘new / yet to debut players who will get games in the first half of the season’ from our clubs.
I said just as you have there.

Which, I guess, perhaps suggests we have stronger depth / more settled lineup than the past six or seven seasons.

 

[DuckYeah]

yes someone did, said he was smashed by Bull who kicked at least 3 on him

Flat track bully at training too? Go Bullfrog

 

[Caracas]

If anything Jy has been the worst with only 18 games over the last two seasons. But everyone hates him so that's ok.

Some of us still HFIJ. Have faith in Jy.

 

[Passmore]

Heading into his third year and out of contract at seasons end. Should we be expecting more from Dawson?

I had really hoped he would be a lock for round 1 at full back. He's a beast of a kid size wise.

He's not long turned 20. Just a big brute of a kid who needs time.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Patience is required with Will Dawson.

He was drafted as a 17 year old string bean, and he was the youngest drafted in his draft year. He has done bloody well to pack on the kilos, while retaining a pretty decent tank. He only just turned 20 for gods sake.

What he needs is to play the whole season as a defender, get his confidence up in one position and allow him to his his aerial strength to intercept.

He'll be fine, very confident he has a very long term future at AFL level.

 

[Heaps of fun]

Dawson has this year and potentially next year to focus on development. By the time he's 22-23 he's hopefully a mainstay in the side.

 

[North1411]

Patience is required with Will Dawson.

He was drafted as a 17 year old string bean, and he was the youngest drafted in his draft year. He has done bloody well to pack on the kilos, while retaining a pretty decent tank. He only just turned 20 for gods sake.

What he needs is to play the whole season as a defender, get his confidence up in one position and allow him to his his aerial strength to intercept.

He'll be fine, very confident he has a very long term future at AFL level.

Plus he hurt his shoulder in his first year if I remember correctly

 

[Merlin007]

So having had a look at what I consider our best performance last year (vs Brisbane), as a way of getting a gauge on whether we can reasonably expect improvement this season, I went back to have a look at what I thought was our worst performance. Picking the game was an issue in itself - for reputational damage, probably Good Friday was the nadir, but the worst scoreboard result was Round 20 vs Geelong.

And seriously, what an absolute cluster. With Xerri, Larkey, MacDonald and Wardlaw missing, it was in one sense a test of squad depth, and on that measure, the game was a massive fail. I'm also not sure it was the match committee's hour of glory, because the side put out and their line positions looked like this:


(Ps; Daniel rotated as the 7th back; FOS rotated through the wings; Sheezel mid-forward)

I suppose the match committee were endeavouring to test 'what have we got', but the answers were pretty clear by half time:

1. Charlie Comben is not a forward. Tried hard, but made no impact as a marking forward. Went back in the second half and immediately started taking intercepts.
2. Wil Dawson tried hard, but found the physical match up with Neale too much to handle.
3. Duursma was matched up on Jack Martin

19

Jack Martin

Age

31

Ht

186cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.2

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.9

5star

T

3.7

5star

G

0.9

4star

D

14.9

4star

K

7.9

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

4.3

4star

T

3.6

4star

G

1.1

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

4.6

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.0

4star

G

0.6

3star

for most of the game at HB, and although Martin was only a marginal player for the Cats, Zane is not a backman, perhaps best indicated by his failure to lay a single tackle.
4. the ruck depth was cruelly exposed. Teakle won some hit outs, but he and Maley as the relief ruck were well-beaten by Stanley and Blicavs. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the game where a line was drawn through both names
5. North just didn't have a match up for Jeremy Cameron

5

Jeremy Cameron

Age

32

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.5

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

2.6

5star

D

10.0

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.4

4star

G

2.0

5star

. Logue couldn't keep up when the game was on the line in the first half, and Pink (although good early) did no better when he got the job in the second half
6. Tom Powell spent on a lot of time on Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

, and - to put it mildly - got taught a lesson

Overall, it was a spare parts team that played like it, with connection a chronic failure, perhaps best indicated by the times Banch was picked out as the marking option trying to leave D50. Didn't end well, needless to say.

So, where does that leave us for 2026? I think it's fair to say depth is a bit better this year - if Larkey misses, it's reasonable to think Trembath and maybe Whitlock would give better options than shifting Comben from his best position.

But the big worry is Xerri - the side was a shadow of itself in this game, and if he misses this year, the options aren't great - a completely untried Goad, and CCJ who can't get on the park.

I thought having had a look at the Brisbane game, we've got grounds to believe we can improve this year. This throw-back is more of a concern - although the match committee could have done a better job against Geelong, the ruck depth has not really improved, and we could pay again in the same way.

 

[speedy]

Flat track bully at training too? Go Bullfrog

Still going with this song? It’s common sense that an individuals goal average will go up when the whole team is allowed to kick more goals. I made a comparison between Curtis and Cam last year. Curtis dines out on the bottom teams way more than Cam does.

 

[King Hansen]

Not sure we really got to the bottom of Ford.

There's more than a few players currently on our list I'd happily part with to keep the likes of him.

If he has potential why didn't any other AFL pick him up?

 

[the big lebowski]

So having had a look at what I consider our best performance last year (vs Brisbane), as a way of getting a gauge on whether we can reasonably expect improvement this season, I went back to have a look at what I thought was our worst performance. Picking the game was an issue in itself - for reputational damage, probably Good Friday was the nadir, but the worst scoreboard result was Round 20 vs Geelong.

And seriously, what an absolute cluster. With Xerri, Larkey, MacDonald and Wardlaw missing, it was in one sense a test of squad depth, and on that measure, the game was a massive fail. I'm also not sure it was the match committee's hour of glory, because the side put out and their line positions looked like this:

View attachment 2521249
(Ps; Daniel rotated as the 7th back; FOS rotated through the wings; Sheezel mid-forward)

I suppose the match committee were endeavouring to test 'what have we got', but the answers were pretty clear by half time:

1. Charlie Comben is not a forward. Tried hard, but made no impact as a marking forward. Went back in the second half and immediately started taking intercepts.
2. Wil Dawson tried hard, but found the physical match up with Neale too much to handle.
3. Duursma was matched up on Jack Martin for most of the game at HB, and although Martin was only a marginal player for the Cats, Zane is not a backman, perhaps best indicated by his failure to lay a single tackle.
4. the ruck depth was cruelly exposed. Teakle won some hit outs, but he and Maley as the relief ruck were well-beaten by Stanley and Blicavs. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the game where a line was drawn through both names
5. North just didn't have a match up for Jeremy Cameron. Logue couldn't keep up when the game was on the line in the first half, and Pink (although good early) did no better when he got the job in the second half
6. Tom Powell spent on a lot of time on Bailey Scott, and - to put it mildly - got taught a lesson

Overall, it was a spare parts team that played like it, with connection a chronic failure, perhaps best indicated by the times Banch was picked out as the marking option trying to leave D50. Didn't end well, needless to say.

So, where does that leave us for 2026? I think it's fair to say depth is a bit better this year - if Larkey misses, it's reasonable to think Trembath and maybe Whitlock would give better options than shifting Comben from his best position.

But the big worry is Xerri - the side was a shadow of itself in this game, and if he misses this year, the options aren't great - a completely untried Goad, and CCJ who can't get on the park.

I thought having had a look at the Brisbane game, we've got grounds to believe we can improve against this year. This throw-back is more of a concern - although the match committee could have done a better job against Geelong, the ruck depth has not really improved, and we could pay again in the same way.

My recollection of that game was that no one manned up Cameron and he made a mockery of our “zone defence”

 

[Merlin007]

My recollection of that game was that no one manned up Cameron and he made a mockery of our “zone defence”

it certainly started that way - McKercher ended up the closest man on a few occasions early in the game (!) but the TV replay suggests Logue and Pink were the principle match ups. Might need a 'down the ground' angle to explore the zone a bit better