Training 2019 Preseason

Mar 18, 2011
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Good game guys.

Not going to lie, pretty disappointed we lost. Apparently Fagan pretty angry at our performance.
You really shouldn't be. It's even less than a JLT game. It has no bearing on anything whatsoever. Some guys are just going through the motions to get miles in their legs and some of the feel back. I suspect Fagan, while maybe a bit disappointed with the start, would have got everything he wanted to get out of this game.
 

gcsunsfc

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Oct 24, 2012
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So seems like goal kickers were

Burgess, Rankine 2 goals
Miles, Wright, Day, Ah Chee, Fiorini, Lukosius, Macpherson, Miller, GHS all 1 goal
 
Aug 17, 2010
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Izak and Lukosius very classy. Did not see Ben King amongst a number of others who were missing.
Only a practice game but positive signs. Homeschool, Burgess and Collins much better than recruiting skinny kids. Result means nothing though. Just a pleasant hit out to watch. 2MP looking good. Miles is going to be a good addition. Just keeps getting the ball.
 

gcsunsfc

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Izak and Lukosius very classy. Did not see Ben King amongst a number of others who were missing.
Only a practice game but positive signs. Homeschool, Burgess and Collins much better than recruiting skinny kids. Result means nothing though. Just a pleasant hit out to watch. 2MP looking good. Miles is going to be a good addition. Just keeps getting the ball.
King was out with an illness
 
Mar 18, 2011
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Izak and Lukosius very classy. Did not see Ben King amongst a number of others who were missing.
Only a practice game but positive signs. Homeschool, Burgess and Collins much better than recruiting skinny kids. Result means nothing though. Just a pleasant hit out to watch. 2MP looking good. Miles is going to be a good addition. Just keeps getting the ball.
How did Horlin-Smith look? Did he play midfield?

What about Bowes, Fiorini, Brodie? Hit us with some player reviews, SunGod!

Darcy MacPherson?
 
Jul 21, 2010
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miles - servicable, played some good minutes in the middle, likely to hold his spot for the start of the season. can tell he's got the experience that others may be lacking
bowes - great performance, he's added a fair bit of size and covered the ground well. think he'll take a massive step up this year.
sexton - nothing too outstanding, don't remember seeing him in the second half so may have been rested up. decent hit out for him.
brodie - only played the second half. was lively at the start, seemed to fade in and out as the tempo and quality of the game petered out. was good in and around the contest.
fiorini - solid performance, played midfield as expected and played well around the contest. liked what i saw.
ainsworth - played the whole game from memory, had quite a bit of midfield minutes too and didn't look out of place. linked up well along the wing at times too.
ballard - somewhat quiet first half i thought at times, but had a really decent performance towards the second half. read the ball really well and was barely beaten all day i thought.
day - provided a decent contest around the ground, but wasn't an overly busy game for him. looked fit so hopefully he can step up this year.
ah chee - lively early, had some nice moments. played up forward and midfield mainly, and had a decent game. would think he'll be pushing for a spot in the team round 1.
thompson - played well on the talls, didn't get beaten often, but a seemingly quiet game as not a whole lot of the ball was down his end.
scheer - played most of the game, in the midfield. kicking action still needs a bit of work, bit of a high ball drop. other than that, decent game.
hombsch - surprise packet for mine, hadn't seen a lot of him at port, but played better than i expected. played on the talls at times, but definitely fills the void of the third tall defender that could run with the smaller forwards as well i thought. lots to like about his performance, went at the ball hard and defended well. pushing for a spot round 1.
nicholls - calf injury towards the end of the half didn't help his case much, wasn't a great game either. got smashed in the clearances, and dropped a sitter on the wing in front of the crowd. didn't really expect anything less, unfortunately.
lemmens - played a half and a bit, was lively around the contest and crashed in hard. nothing out of the ordinary, but think he'll be playing neafl for most of this year.
collins - solid body down back was good to see, dealt with most that came his way fairly well. looked to be vocal as well around the ground which is a big plus. hope he gets a good run at it as i reckon he'll add good value to our team this year. not afraid of a contest either.
powell - flashes of brilliance, definitely bulked up a little as well. some passages of player were very martin-like. will be interesting to see how much he plays this year.
burgess - brilliant game, played forward all game and kicked well, think he ended up with 3 or 4 goals? strong marking overhead too, lots to like! edit: apparently only kicked 2 goals, my bad.
wright - solid performance, got around the ground well and lead well down the wings. was effective on the counter attack as well dishing it out to the running players to push forward.
murdoch - kicking was a bit suspect at times, but decent game. played the quarterback role mainly down back with the kick ins, had a calf niggle and didn't play out the second half.
crossley - played the second half, attacked the contest well but not a whole lot else of note. think he'll be playing neafl this year predominantly with burgess & wright looked to have locked in positions in the team.
horlin-smith - can't remember if he played the second half, but his first half was exceptional. played on the wing and was a great outlet going forwards. really impressed with his performance, should play round 1.
rankine - best on ground by far. this kid is incredible, for a first year player he played as good as bennell did for us with a couple seasons under his belt. he was everywhere, his intensity around the contest and second efforts were a standout. roved the pack on the 50m arc and kicked the first goal of the arvo. definitely as elusive as harbrow, there was one moment on the wing near the crowd where he juked two brisbane players and sped off which i'll never forget. if i were a betting man i'd pop some money on him for the rising star.
joyce - was the runner, did a good job :)
heron - played down back on cameron, probably got beaten on the day but did some nice things.
lukosius - kicked the second goal of the arvo from 55 on a tight angle, added another one or two later on as well. marked well in the contest and has a lovely kick too. hope he plays a bit this year, excited to see how he develops!
nutting - played the second half, did some nice things, but probably playing neafl for most of the year.
mclennan - played the second half. looked really solid down back, has a brilliant kicking action too. might be a few ahead of him in the pecking order but expect him to play a few games this year.
macpherson - in and around the midfield for most of the game, spent a bit of time up forward. decent hit out, lots of competition for spots so will need to have a decent preseason to get a look in round 1.
dawson - roved around down back for most of the game. didn't look out of place, probably a few ahead of him too, but hope he gets a few goes at it this year.
graham - played second half, not a lot to do for him but didn't see too many negatives. neafl predominantly this year for him i think.
 
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GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
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I was happy with what I saw from Wright and Hombsch today. Both looked very capable at either end of the ground. Hombsch's intercept marking was exquisite and he did a good job of spoiling the ball in one-on-one situations, despite giving up several centimetres to his opponent/s. 2MP just seemed to be marking everything out there today and looked really reliable as our number one key forward. The only knock I'd have on Pete was that his accuracy in front of goal wasn't as great as I would have liked today.

All in all, they both impressed me.
 

Jirik13

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Jan 22, 2018
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Only practice games but for sure there were some promising signs.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Our first 2 goals by Rankine and Lukosius in first 4 min were our future in action. Even Evans was excited when passing by. Yes, Lukosius and Rankine are pure class. Rankine pretty unbelievable. During the game he had 3 Lions close around him. He faked them all and delivered perfect pass. Lukosius reads game beautifully and has a great kick. He did ice his calf after the game.

Hombsh a starter for me. Great interceptor, reads game well. Burgess and Collins also good.

Powell is getting better and better. Still missing 10kg but again great decisions, great kick, tough.

Wright looks ready to break out. Marked everything, running hard. He was also great in the ruck.

Miles a starter for me too. Better than Lyons already in my opinion.

GHS was also good.

Brodie played only last 2-3 quarters, solid. After the game he was running laps with a small group and was struggling together with Crossley. He may had interrupted preseason.

Not overly impressed by Nicholls. He was beaten by Archie and big O. He was icing back of his knee after half. Crossley already looks better - great aggression.

The last 2 quarters we also played probably academy players. I never seen them - numbers 47,49.
 

eppo67

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May 24, 2015
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Thanks everyone for the reports!

Gotta say I'm a bit bummed about Brodie. I thought this would be his year to step up but it sounds like he's not in the starting mid plans and still struggling with fitness.
Hi guys hope you have all been well.
I thought Brodie was excellent and will be one of our first picked mids this year. Lock it in. I was impressed with the hit out. Great to see plenty of big mature bodies finally. Good signs.
 
Jun 7, 2018
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That play where Rankine minced two Brisbane players had the crowd going. He's something else. I am so glad we had the balls to draft him. He is unreal.

As I've said since the start of 2018, he is the best player I've seen come through the draft in 5 years or more.

On Pixel 2 XL using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Jun 7, 2018
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Thanks everyone for the reports!

Gotta say I'm a bit bummed about Brodie. I thought this would be his year to step up but it sounds like he's not in the starting mid plans and still struggling with fitness.
As you said earlier it's just a praccy. Chill, he may have been managed. He wasn't bad.

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Aug 17, 2010
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I left after the third quarter. Rankine and Lukosius fit right in and just look like they know what to do. By my eyes Rankine had two goals.

Powell looked good to me, and Ainsworth pretty rock solid. Scheer hard at it, happy to take and give good contact.
Scheery looked to be playing on a back flank and moved into the midfield for the 5th and 6th "quarters".
 

Jirik13

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Jan 22, 2018
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Hi guys hope you have all been well.
I thought Brodie was excellent and will be one of our first picked mids this year. Lock it in. I was impressed with the hit out. Great to see plenty of big mature bodies finally. Good signs.
Agree, Brodie was good in contest in his limited minutes. I was just surprised how much he struggled with extra running after the game.

The only negative from the game is Nicholls. Time to get another ruckman before the season starts. As good as Wright was in the ruck I don't want him to play there if Witts goes down.
 
G'day all,
Seems like it was a solid performance all around and big 2 Metre Peter played well.
Sounds like Ainsworth did OK on a wing (keen on him as a smokey in SuperCoach, so trying to monitor his progress).
Hopefully Brodie will hit the ground running when the season starts up in earnest, liked his finish to 2018.
Hope you have better luck with injuries this year and stick it up a few people, good luck :thumbsu:
 

eppo67

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Agree, Brodie was good in contest in his limited minutes. I was just surprised how much he struggled with extra running after the game.

The only negative from the game is Nicholls. Time to get another ruckman before the season starts. As good as Wright was in the ruck I don't want him to play there if Witts goes down.
Agree Nicholls is not AFL standard. He's very poor. We need a back up from one of the State Leagues.
 

gcsunsfc

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Oct 24, 2012
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Burgess was loosely compared to McGovern, wasn't he? Marking is his strongest asset.
His SANFL highlights were all intercept marks so yes believe so.
We really struggled to
Burgess was loosely compared to McGovern, wasn't he? Marking is his strongest asset.
take contested marks in the forward line - even Lynch over the last year or two so another guy who can really grab them would be really beneficial.

How mobile is Burgess? If he is to play next to Wright and Day he needs to be pretty quick and mobile to help the forward line defence.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
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Has anyone talked about the crowd yesterday? Over 4000 for a scratch is very impressive, especially when you consider the threat of Cyclone Oma gave locals a fantastic reason to not go. The announcer on the PA said they weren't expecting anything close to the amount that showed up.
 

DoItForCaptBlood

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Lukosius' shot was also from the boundary line o_O
AND into the wind. There is no protection down that end and kicks were pulling to the left. I didnt know who it was except he looked young. I shook my head as he decided to go back for the shot. It was a 55m kick. But went dead straight and cleared the line easily. Not many senior players can make that kick.
As others mentioned, that Rankine is a R1 certainty. Miles is a professional grunt player, but will frustrate at times. You'll want Witts playing as many games as possible as Nichols is NEAFL at best.
Overall the Suns moved the ball very well in the 2 quarters I saw. Interesting Dawson playing back pocket as he has always been a mid. Did well. He is not quick but kept Rayner quiet and is a good user. He wouldnt be able to play there though on most small forwards.

Although some obvious big losses to the team from last season, some good pick ups too. Should be an ineresting season watching these kids develop.
 
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