Training 2017 - Preseason Training

[scon]

Sonny saying 'I've been here 9 years now.'!
Wow!!Time flies like and arrow and fruit flies like bananas!

 

[DudleyDocker]

Quick report as I am at work, but feel free to ask any questions you have - I will do my best to answer.

As I said, around 35 on the track today. Kersten, Apeness, Grey and Johnson the notable additions from before Christmas. They all trained in the main group for the first half, then went off and did modified programs, mostly running. The trainers seemed a bit concerned about Kersten, asking a couple of times if he was OK. Apeness looks a long way off full fitness, but he and Brady were both doing lots of running when I left. Apart from one notable shank, Brady's kicking seems to be much better, as does Josh DeLuca's - I thought DeLuca was one of the stand outs today and can see him getting some games this year.

Other observations:

• Griffin Logue seems to be settling right into the group and I think skills and ability wise he is AFL ready. Not sure about his fitness, but he certainly looks an athlete so should get some games. At various times played on Cam Mac and Tabs and looked strong enough to handle both of them.
• Sean Darcy is going to be a good first ruck for us in years to come. He is strong, and not afraid to use his strength. He taps to good positions and his second efforts are great. At one stage he took the ball out of the ruck and had a ping at goal, and in another passage he tackled Son Son and smashed him into the ground. The look on Sonny's face was priceless.
• Fyfe and Cam Mac seem to be getting a real understanding going. There were a number of times Fyfe broke from the middle and put it into Cam's path - pretty to watch.
• Walters is the standout on the track, does everything at full pace and really shows leadership - he is in for a big season.
• Generally skills were a bit down today due to a strong south westerly breeze. Lots of mongrel kicks and the goal kicking was pretty average. You would think that training at Freo you would be used to a strong breeze but only the good kicks seem to adapt to it really well.

Ask away if you have any question.

 

[DudleyDocker]

Obviously Dale Miller didn't recognize him as well

Maybe I could get his job?

 

[FreoRicci]

Walters should be vice captain at least. His off field work has been brilliant since Ross banished him for being overweight/unfit. The way he has taken that on and just changed his life around for the better - as a father and husband. Not bad for a 50 odd draft pick

 

[dockerfemme]

There is a drill I have seen before, with ball movement up the wing and a player streaming forward from the centre square to run in to an open goal. Saw that drill this morning. I would really like to see more drills where we have a some players forward of the ball, rather than focus on the slingshot.

I took a companion to training this morning and we watched from under the Morton bay fig trees. As DudleyDocker said there was quite a breeze blowing which probably did not help the skills.

I think Dudley has given a good account of the session but there are a few things I can add.

I was pleased to see that the club had taken note of my post above and the ball movement drills all involved having one on ones inside the 50. (I need some kind of emoji now but I am not sure what).

Cam Mac was the main forward at one end, Tabs at the other. I was really pleased with what I saw of Cam Mac, good hands, good kick, a few tricks. If he can keep his head together I think it will be all good. Some of the drills involved Tabs providing a target on the wing and then the ball being moved inside 50 to Cam.

I second Dudley on Sean Darcy. He looks very promising to me. At one point he was doing uncontested ruck work right in front of me. The ball was thrown in from the boundary and he backhanded it over his shoulder and down the midfielders throat. Sure it was uncontested, but it looked like beautiful control to me. He gets involved when the balls on the ground as well and seems quite good below his knees.

The other that I liked the look of was Joel Hamling. Surprisingly tall, just a little under Tab's height, with the lanky build that really suits defenders, he looks strong on the spoil and agile when the ball hits the deck.

I can't say that the session was particularly intense or impressive, but good to see more on the track and the conditions were tricky.

 

[Okinakashi]

Nobody ever said that to me before!

Really - don't you dress in Purple spandex?

 

[heavho]

Agree with Walters being in the leadership group. Has shown a lot of leadership qualities over the past few years and has only continues that. Will be surprised if he isn't in there this year

 

[salim malik]

Bennell, A Pearce and Neale all running and part of a small rehab group that also incl Griff and Zac D.

Johnno part of the main group and told us he is ready to go full on. Luke Ryan back in full training.

Zac C and Uber the only two that weren't on the track at some stage. Zac C had a pressure bandage on his knee . No sign of a knee brace.

 

[scon]

On track for minor premiership and grand final appearance

 

[FreoRicci]

Has Darcy dropped a few kilos since training before Christmas? Seen reports he looks leaner already

 

[salim malik]

There was a moment in the match sims were B Hill gathered on the run ,a few steps then onto big brother who delivered lace out to Mc Carthy. Hopefully there will be a lot of that in the coming season.

 

[DudleyDocker]

Has Darcy dropped a few kilos since training before Christmas? Seen reports he looks leaner already

Definitely - he doesn't look overly podgy to me, just a big unit.

 

[Arcassius]

Definitely - he doesn't look overly podgy to me, just a big unit.

So a bit of conditioning (and HGH) and he'll be a monster?

 

[Granny Val]

I love Sonny. He is probably the best leader on the track and has been for a couple of years IMHO.

On that video it is amazing how Tabs dwarfs Cam Mac. This wont stop my buddy Cam though.

Looks like we are sharing the honour [emoji4]

On SM-G930F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[salim malik]

Definitely - he doesn't look overly podgy to me, just a big unit.

Kersten surprised me with his size. Huge thighs. Apeness also big thighs. It won't be easy moving those boys off the the high ball.

 

[DudleyDocker]

Kersten surprised me with his size. Huge thighs. Apeness also big thighs. It won't be easy moving those boys off the the high ball.

Absolutely. I was looking at out tall forward guys - Tabs, Apeness, Kersten, McCarthy and Strnadica and there is enough size and variety there to cause some real match up headaches for teams I think.

 

[Clems Knee]

Fyfe was involved in a chain of kicks and finished by kicking it to McCarthy, who marked the ball. The kick was in the general direction of the forward 50, but Cam put on a burst of pure speed to make the kick a whole lot better than it was.

I also noticed how flat (and precise) Lachie Weller's kicks were. He seems set to continue his good work in the back half this year.

I enjoyed the drills today, including the one described by Walters in his video where they handball the ball away and provide a shepherd.

Brad Hill did some sharp shooting practice at the Hospital end. The wind didn't affect his kicking in any way.

Nice to see Strnadica and Darcy involved in the match sims. Darcy won most of them, but his team often didn't get the clearance. But if either of those two get a game next year, we will be in a lot of trouble. It was good to see Griffin running.

 

[UFO Tatsu]

Definitely - he doesn't look overly podgy to me, just a big unit.

Saw him out shopping with Collins before xmas and definitely not podgy

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Has Darcy dropped a few kilos since training before Christmas? Seen reports he looks leaner already

Undoubtedly; He is vanishing before our eyes.
I reckon he's 5 kg less since we first saw him over here.

 

[Unique Name]

Johnson, Neale, Bennell, A Pearce, Apeness all back on the park is great news.

How about Crozier guys? Was he on the park?

Any indication yet how our talls are structuring up? Before Chrissy the training sess I saw had Tabs playing more the FF role and Cam Mac the CHF role. Today sounds like the opposite.... keep everyone guessing I suppose.

And is Dawson in the full group? It will be interesting who gets the gig on Hawkins round 1. I've been in the APearce/Hamling/Johnson camp asour three talls but Dawson towelled up Hawkins last time we played Geelong and a big reason they struggled to score against us.

 

[salim malik]

Johnson, Neale, Bennell, A Pearce, Apeness all back on the park is great news.

How about Crozier guys? Was he on the park?

Any indication yet how our talls are structuring up? Before Chrissy the training sess I saw had Tabs playing more the FF role and Cam Mac the CHF role. Today sounds like the opposite.... keep everyone guessing I suppose.

And is Dawson in the full group? It will be interesting who gets the gig on Hawkins round 1. I've been in the APearce/Hamling/Johnson camp asour three talls but Dawson towelled up Hawkins last time we played Geelong and a big reason they struggled to score against us.

Crozier in full training with the main group and training well, one of the better kicks today in tough conditions. Dawson in rehab at the minute.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Johnson, Neale, Bennell, A Pearce, Apeness all back on the park is great news.

How about Crozier guys? Was he on the park?

Any indication yet how our talls are structuring up? Before Chrissy the training sess I saw had Tabs playing more the FF role and Cam Mac the CHF role. Today sounds like the opposite.... keep everyone guessing I suppose.

And is Dawson in the full group? It will be interesting who gets the gig on Hawkins round 1. I've been in the APearce/Hamling/Johnson camp asour three talls but Dawson towelled up Hawkins last time we played Geelong and a big reason they struggled to score against us.

Hayden Crozier was in the main group. Zac Dawson was in rehab and doing solid running work with Lachie Neale and Jon Griffin.
Alex Pearce may have been with them also.
Shane Kersten in lap work and Harley Bennell in light end to end jogging.

 

[Clems Knee]

Hayden Crozier was in the main group. Zac Dawson was in rehab and doing solid running work with Lachie Neale and Jon Griffin.
Alex Pearce may have been with them also.
Shane Kersten in lap work and Harley Bennell in light end to end jogging.

Pearce and Bennell were the last two players out there when I left. While Harley was just doing 100m jogs (but a lot of them), Alex was running hard around some poles set around the ground. He was sprinting and turning quickly around the poles - got quite a sweat up.

 

[PurpleReign]

I took a companion to training this morning and we watched from under the Morton bay fig trees. As DudleyDocker said there was quite a breeze blowing which probably did not help the skills.

I think Dudley has given a good account of the session but there are a few things I can add.

I was pleased to see that the club had taken note of my post above and the ball movement drills all involved having one on ones inside the 50. (I need some kind of emoji now but I am not sure what).

Cam Mac was the main forward at one end, Tabs at the other. I was really pleased with what I saw of Cam Mac, good hands, good kick, a few tricks. If he can keep his head together I think it will be all good. Some of the drills involved Tabs providing a target on the wing and then the ball being moved inside 50 to Cam.

I second Dudley on Sean Darcy. He looks very promising to me. At one point he was doing uncontested ruck work right in front of me. The ball was thrown in from the boundary and he backhanded it over his shoulder and down the midfielders throat. Sure it was uncontested, but it looked like beautiful control to me. He gets involved when the balls on the ground as well and seems quite good below his knees.

The other that I liked the look of was Joel Hamling. Surprisingly tall, just a little under Tab's height, with the lanky build that really suits defenders, he looks strong on the spoil and agile when the ball hits the deck.

I can't say that the session was particularly intense or impressive, but good to see more on the track and the conditions were tricky.

I also took a companion today, my son, when he saw Cam Mc for the the first time he described him as "what Bart Simpson would look like as a grown up".
I also thought the session seemed a bit subdued.
In the drill that several have described above where they kick to a one on one contest on the wing I watched Hamling easily spoil the ball from Tabs on several occasions but each of the kickers dropped the ball right on poor Tabsy's head. When it came to Cam Mc's turn he kicked the ball to a bit of space that allowed Tabs to easily mark it on his chest. I know it's only training but it's such an obvious thing to do, or maybe they were training for the spoil, not sure. Buddy Franklin is well known for his goal kicking ability but he's also an elite field kicker. The little bit of field kicking I've seen from Cam Mc on the 3 or so sessions I've been to has been right up there. A couple of other observations from today, Luke Ryan "looks" nothing like a footballer. I don't mean in terms of ability, he's just the most unlikely looking player in the team, a bit like Crighton was. I didn't actually see him until the end of the session when they did a bit of end to end stuff, and I didn't even see him touch the ball, but I am looking forward to seeing him play in the coming months.
I agree with DD, Brady's kicking looked quite good today, long and low, he just needs to do it consistently in a game. There were a couple of little highlights in the drills, Tabs took a fine diving mark which he completed lying face up on the turf, Fyfe ran very hard to make it to a ball which I really didn't think he would get to. He stuck out a mitt and the ball just stuck. Very cool. Crozier kicked a lovely goal from about 45 out after receiving a handball following some very slick and precise ball movement.
Cam Sutcliffe was running laps which seems odd considering where he finished in the time trial. When did the Apeman's thighs get that big? I mean they are of Plugger Lockett proportions, it was good to see him out running about. I don't get the optimism about Balic, I saw each of his WAFL games and when I see him at training, well, I just don't see anything. He seems a tad slow and he has a loopy kick, having said that I would probably have let Deluca go after his first year, he did't even look WAFL quality but this year he has been one of the most impressive improvers on the track.
I agree with the Darcy optimism though, he just looks like he knows how to play the game. He has nice skills and he took a very solid mark at FF today in one of the drills early in the session which caught my attention. Kersten showed a hint of his ability today also, his experience comes to the fore on the training track especially when he matches up against the bigger but less experienced guys in the team.
One final note, I'm still finding it difficult to get used to not seeing Micky B out there. He always used to be the one closest to the scoreboard in the kick to kick session at the beginning of training. I miss his banter with his partner in that particular drill, I remember one session where he was warming up with Sandi and he missed him with 3 kicks in a row (how the hell do you miss Sandi from 30m) but Micky had an amusing excuse for each one of those misses, a good guy, sorely missed.

 

[DudleyDocker]

Nice report, thanks PurpleReign. Agree with you about Harley Balic. In the drills where they were delivering the ball to the tall forwards, he seemed to be the one always taking the wrong option or missing the target. Maybe he is just a bit full of Christmas pudding or something, because I had thought his skills were better than that.