Training Pre-Season Training '25 - '26

[Test Tickle]

2nd tallest list in the comp after Geelong and it shows

Essington?

 

[King Patty]

Essendon Match Sim on today.
hopefully some good reports later.
(no kako, assume Merrett with his mate Mitchell)

Black team
midfield Caldwell, Durham, Sharp, Roberts
forwards Caddy, langford, Wright, Duursma, Huss, Clarke

Red
Tsatas, Nguyen, saad
Gerryn

some players swapping teams

 

[King Patty]

 

[King Patty]

Huss may have kicked 5 goals.
Wright went well too.

Skills were not listed as great overall. But i guess its a bit of a rust buster.

Sounded like Vigo and Blakiston broke even in the ruck, but when wright went into the ruck late he was the most dominant, he was also the most dominant key forward.

 

[eth-dog]

Huss may have kicked 5 goals.
Wright went well too.

Skills were not listed as great overall. But i guess its a bit of a rust buster.

Sounded like Vigo and Blakiston broke even in the ruck, but when wright went into the ruck late he was the most dominant, he was also the most dominant key forward.

Shouldn't be surprised about that. He's by far the most experienced of the trio and is more than handy as a forward/ruck

 

[straightuplazy]

Report from "Ants", over at Bomberblitz. Hopefully okay to post here. Delete if not.

It was Black (probables) vs Red (kids & VFL). Conditions were perfect first half with a light breeze, but that got stronger in the second half. It was an 8 point lead to black at half time after a very late goal, but blew out to 77 points with the last quarter being a landslide. I believe both Tsatas and Gresham started red but spent parts of the second half running laps. There may have been other changes.
Overall, I thought our skills were terrible. No Merrett or Martin of course. In the first half despite having a dominant (on paper) midfield Black could not forge a gap. Game plan was to push faster, but pretty ineffective.
Black generally had Blackiston, Caldwell, Durham and Parish as the CBA. Not dominant until later in the game. Which was also when Wright rucked.
I was particularly concerned about the ruck. If the choice is Blackston vs Visintini I’m selecting Visintini on today’s performance. Blackiston for Black was pretty useless in the ruck contests, and didn’t do that much more around the ground. He’ll be monstered by AFL rucks. Play Visintini for the growth. Also, part of Black’s Q4 dominance was Wright going in there. So, that is an option.
Wright was the pick of the tall forwards in H1, although McMahon (I think) bobbed up for a few.
Reid was good distributing.
Langford was just class. Involved in so many of our good plays.
Huss was active throughout with goals and really cashed in in Q4.
SEH didn’t do great, but used it well.
Duursma definitely spent time forward, nabbed one or two.
I don’t think Cox played either.

 

[dank420_]

reported for white text

 

[ant555]

Report from "Ants", over at Bomberblitz. Hopefully okay to post here. Delete if not.

It was Black (probables) vs Red (kids & VFL). Conditions were perfect first half with a light breeze, but that got stronger in the second half. It was an 8 point lead to black at half time after a very late goal, but blew out to 77 points with the last quarter being a landslide. I believe both Tsatas and Gresham started red but spent parts of the second half running laps. There may have been other changes.
Overall, I thought our skills were terrible. No Merrett or Martin of course. In the first half despite having a dominant (on paper) midfield Black could not forge a gap. Game plan was to push faster, but pretty ineffective.
Black generally had Blackiston, Caldwell, Durham and Parish as the CBA. Not dominant until later in the game. Which was also when Wright rucked.
I was particularly concerned about the ruck. If the choice is Blackston vs Visintini I’m selecting Visintini on today’s performance. Blackiston for Black was pretty useless in the ruck contests, and didn’t do that much more around the ground. He’ll be monstered by AFL rucks. Play Visintini for the growth. Also, part of Black’s Q4 dominance was Wright going in there. So, that is an option.
Wright was the pick of the tall forwards in H1, although McMahon (I think) bobbed up for a few.
Reid was good distributing.
Langford was just class. Involved in so many of our good plays.
Huss was active throughout with goals and really cashed in in Q4.
SEH didn’t do great, but used it well.
Duursma definitely spent time forward, nabbed one or two.
I don’t think Cox played either.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

reported for white text

Racist.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

His training reports are suspiciously positive.

 

[faible]

His training reports are suspiciously positive.

Essendon usually look good when they’re playing Essendon

 

[Squeaky]

Essendon usually look good when they’re playing Essendon

Everyone does...

 

[Squeaky]

Essendon usually look good when they’re playing Essendon

And apparently last weekend in the match sim, Caddy kicked a goal after the final whistle to put one of the Essendon teams ahead. The first time Essendon has won after the siren. But not the first time Essendon has lost after the siren...

 

[dank420_]

His training reports are suspiciously positive.

He is him

 

[dank420_]

King Patty is a club plant imo

 

[ant555]

King Patty is a club plant imo

The primary "club plant" or signature tree feature at the Essendon Football Club's NEC Hangar training facility is the Quercus coccinea 'Bomber' (Scarlet Oak).
This specific tree was selected by Fleming's Nurseries and named after the club because its foliage turns a distinct black and red in autumn, matching the team's colors.

 

[jdstorm]

The primary "club plant" or signature tree feature at the Essendon Football Club's NEC Hangar training facility is the Quercus coccinea 'Bomber' (Scarlet Oak).
This specific tree was selected by Fleming's Nurseries and named after the club because its foliage turns a distinct black and red in autumn, matching the team's colors.

That’s actually very cool and a surprising attention to detail for a club that until recently hasn’t seemed to have that

 

[ant555]

Only watched the first 40 minutes yesterday. Have to say it was not one of the better match sims to watch. Bit scrappy. Can not be 100% definitive as I did not see how it played out in the end. Will say I thought the skill level was down. Do not know for sure but just looking at it, I suspect it was more about defensive structure yesterday.

Agree with what a few have said as far as the ruck match up. Vigo was a lot more competitive yesterday and matched Blakiston as far as the ruck went. Blakiston was still a bit better as far as around the ground contribution.

HEA is they guy who has surprised me a bit. Not ability wise but the fact that he has come on as far as fitness goes and his speed. Before the draft I had concerns on his speed and ability to consistently pressure and his lower level of endurance. Not as concerned now and he is right in the frame to play some footy early.

Reason Nick Cox has not been in match sim this week is a minor calf issue.

Roberts will play some midfield. Maybe more midfield than half back.

After joining in about 50-60% of the match sim the other day Perkins was back to running duties. Do not think it was a setback. Just the program he is on to avoid any setbacks.

McKay may have the odd brain fade with ball in hand, but his defence has certainly tightened up as we move along. He has actually been reasonable with ball in hand so far, but the problem is he has produced the odd real howler which does stick in the mind.

Fiorini has slotted into the wing seamlessly. He may not be flashy, but he will be a welcome addition as far as work rate and defensive running.

Duursma and his role is interesting. My mail from an okay source is he will still be mainly a wing, but he does start at half forward when the ball is bounced. After that he is generally playing the same role with his work rate up and back on one side of the ground. Still getting back in defence. The difference so far has been him doing a bit more defensive stuff inside 50 as well rather than setting up around 50 when the ball is deep forward. So maybe my mail is a bit off. He is still doing the traditional wing stuff but there is more a high half forward part to what he is doing. Whatever they are doing it seems to be working.

Kako pulled up a little sore which is why he has been having a bit of an easy time this week.

 

[dank420_]

The primary "club plant" or signature tree feature at the Essendon Football Club's NEC Hangar training facility is the Quercus coccinea 'Bomber' (Scarlet Oak).
This specific tree was selected by Fleming's Nurseries and named after the club because its foliage turns a distinct black and red in autumn, matching the team's colors.

Listen Ant.

That’s actually pretty cool.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Only watched the first 40 minutes yesterday. Have to say it was not one of the better match sims to watch. Bit scrappy. Can not be 100% definitive as I did not see how it played out in the end. Will say I thought the skill level was down. Do not know for sure but just looking at it, I suspect it was more about defensive structure yesterday.

Agree with what a few have said as far as the ruck match up. Vigo was a lot more competitive yesterday and matched Blakiston as far as the ruck went. Blakiston was still a bit better as far as around the ground contribution.

HEA is they guy who has surprised me a bit. Not ability wise but the fact that he has come on as far as fitness goes and his speed. Before the draft I had concerns on his speed and ability to consistently pressure and his lower level of endurance. Not as concerned now and he is right in the frame to play some footy early.

Reason Nick Cox has not been in match sim this week is a minor calf issue.

Roberts will play some midfield. Maybe more midfield than half back.

After joining in about 50-60% of the match sim the other day Perkins was back to running duties. Do not think it was a setback. Just the program he is on to avoid any setbacks.

McKay may have the odd brain fade with ball in hand, but his defence has certainly tightened up as we move along. He has actually been reasonable with ball in hand so far, but the problem is he has produced the odd real howler which does stick in the mind.

Fiorini has slotted into the wing seamlessly. He may not be flashy, but he will be a welcome addition as far as work rate and defensive running.

Duursma and his role is interesting. My mail from an okay source is he will still be mainly a wing, but he does start at half forward when the ball is bounced. After that he is generally playing the same role with his work rate up and back on one side of the ground. Still getting back in defence. The difference so far has been him doing a bit more defensive stuff inside 50 as well rather than setting up around 50 when the ball is deep forward. So maybe my mail is a bit off. He is still doing the traditional wing stuff but there is more a high half forward part to what he is doing. Whatever they are doing it seems to be working.

Kako pulled up a little sore which is why he has been having a bit of an easy time this week.

All you can really ask for from a winger. Ideal.

 

[Old Campaigner]

His training reports are suspiciously positive.

Yeah it's probably laced with hopium for obsessive fans

 

[joey_jo_jo]

Yeah it's probably laced with hopium for obsessive fans

Bomber Banter is a bit too much like that too. Need a happy medium between this style and the one straightuplazy shared from bomberblitz from a clearly broken long suffering fan

 

[EnolaGay]

The primary "club plant" or signature tree feature at the Essendon Football Club's NEC Hangar training facility is the Quercus coccinea 'Bomber' (Scarlet Oak).
This specific tree was selected by Fleming's Nurseries and named after the club because its foliage turns a distinct black and red in autumn, matching the team's colors.

Highlight of the pre-season so far.

I vote Quercus Coccinea as our next Board member.

 

[BomberTime]

Highlight of the pre-season so far.

I vote Quercus Coccinea as our next Board member.

Then can go on to become our CEO or assistant coach.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Bomber Banter is a bit too much like that too. Need a happy medium between this style and the one straightuplazy shared from bomberblitz from a clearly broken long suffering fan

Really what is needed is a balanced perspective combined with some knowledge of how other sides are tracking.