eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
A downhill 3 km TT on a bike would take between 90 and 120 seconds
I wouldn't know but yeah, that's a possibility
Training 2021 Preseason Training
- Thread starter Lore
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- Apr 11, 2002
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- Iggles, Georgia.
So is there any sort of game any time soon?
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So no Baker or Waterman then?
Thanks. For. Coming
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Thanks. For. Coming
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eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Just because neither had photo's taken doesn't necessarily mean they weren't there, and if they weren't there it could be that they haven't flown down yet or could be in quarantine.
BomberFan355
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I’ll still need a tailwind.
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They weren’t there (according to blitz watchers)
EnolaGay
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Rigs out - spot the rangas
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- Feb 11, 2010
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Draper’s leg... 
nonamehack
Team Captain
Why is it that Trucks physique after years retired is on par with pretty much all our players?
Based on the photos there doesn't appear to be anyone under 12 or 13% body fat.
Based on the photos there doesn't appear to be anyone under 12 or 13% body fat.
23rd January 2021
- Dec 2, 2014
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Nacker...
Training today in warm conditions with hardly a breath of wind.
The modified group today was Zakka, Ridley, Laverde, Perkins, Stringer, Ambrose, Zerk, Johnson and McBride. Alex Hird trained for a while with the the main group along with Moore. Misiti didn’t train although was on the sidelines at the end along with Wanganeen in his moonboot who was getting quite a bit of support from a number of players.
No potential draftees for this year were sighted again.
Apart from McBride who did quite a bit of running the others didn’t do too apart from cycling until the last hour. Ridley and Perkins went for a light jog at one stage and then later had a kick of the ball for about 15 minutes but that was all.
In the last hour however every one of them was involved in an exercise session with the first year players and JHA guys where they rotated between different tasks - on the big ropes, bouncing medicine balls, doing pushups, pulling on ropes around a spindle and various other exercises. They did all this for a solid hour.
Heppell and Guelfi completed most of the session before going to the modified ground for a short period before the running began, which I will get to shortly. Heppell looks very good and seems to be nearly fully recovered. Shiel and Redman also completed the whole session after recent periods in modified group.
Regarding the main group three of us who have been watching training for years think it was probably the toughest session we have seen. It started around 8.15am and finished about 11.45. Not only was it a long session, but unlike previous sessions this week which have been a little lacklustre there was a high intensity throughout and plenty of talk and cheering.
And just when it looked like it was going to finish after about 2 1/2 hours the players went inside and returned with runners, and spent about the next hour doing lots of high intensity running, with barely a break.
Hooker really stood out to me during this, regularly at the front of the pack and looking very strong, even towards the end when the players were put into a back and front half, with the players behind holding onto a long elastic around the front player’s waist that he had to strain against.
Francis broke with about 20 minutes to go on one of many runs up the hill behind the second oval. It was really pleasing to see Langford then drop back to run with Francis and give him support. Francis looked ready to collapse at the end but he stuck with it the whole way, if at a much slower pace.
There was a lot to take in with the main groups.
Firstly they had a period doing the handball keeping off drill. McGrath is regulalry the best it this with his quick hands and deft sidestep. But I think Caldwell is even better. The pace of his movements and speed and precision of his handballs was exceptional, really some of the stuff I couldn’t believe how good it was. He has been hyped up as an inside mid, and today was when a could finally see it. He might not be the bull we have all been looking for but his ability to evade, make decisions and execute even when under immense pressure or taking a hit makes him someone to really look forward to this season.
I like most other people would have loved to get Dunkley for the right price, but I can’t see how this guy won’t immediately improve us.
There was a lot of work today around guarding an opponent before a lead. Firstly Just with the players in pairs facing each other with the defender trying to push, block and generally impede the attacking player from taking front position. This went on for quite some time.
Later a coach was added where the attacker would be making an actual lead with the coach holding on until someone was clear before passing. They would then run back and repeat the exercise about 5 times in a row in a really gruelling drill.
There were some great matchups with this. Wright and Hooker was probably the best with numerous almighty bumps and clashes, but on most occasions still Wright managing to take the mark.
Francis was also particularly good at this. He has the perfect knack of holding his opponent off with pushes and shoves, but then timing his turn perfectly when his opponent tried to make a break and keep front position to often take the mark.
Heppell was also very good, playing the role of the defender he completely smashed Brand and very rarely got beaten. Talking of Brand he has a long, long way to go with his fitness, he really struggled to finish these drills. It’s hard to imagine him getting his fitness to the required level this year.
Hind was matched up on Tippa in these drills and also did an excellent job, really harassing Tippa the whole way and probably broke even.
Stewart was matched up with Jones in another great contest. There were several times where they would end up diving at the incoming pass and end in a heap on top of each other.
It was also good to see Truck revert to a more hands on role when teaching players positioning in contests. I mentioned in previous years how well I thought he did this and again his advice seemed to have an immediate impact in the proceding drills.
There were several types of match sim that were played today, from the 3/4 ground sim that has been played a lot recently, to a half field forward drill and at times breaking into smaller groups playing half the field.
There was also one drill where there were about 5 more defenders than attackers with the attackers trying to break the zone. This was done fairly successfully which required patience, hard running and good foot skills.
In positioning in drills Hooker was mostly on Wright, Stewart on Jones, Cahill again back along with Heppell, and Hurley I think alternated but had a lot forward. Ham was also matched up on Cox again and also did a few good things.
In some of the drills with smaller groups I had a better chance to look at Tom Hird, and it was probably the first time I have started to see something there. He was matched up on Jones which is a big mismatch in height but he really kept at him and effected a few very good spoils, and was then very clean on the ground and with good quick disposal. I’m still not sold but it was still a promising effort.
McGrath I haven’t talked about too much but he as you could imagine is just continually improving. Whereas in the past his general modis operandi was to get the ball and flick off a quick handball, that is being replaced with a subtle sidestep after taking possession to evade pursuers followed by a run to break the game up and look for the best option. I can’t see any reason to think his progression towards being a gun midfielder won’t continue this year.
Francis again was excellent in defence with several good intercepting marks and a couple of huge leaps to spoil and again solid by foot.
But with all the talk of where the improvement is going to come from this year, and I know it’s been mentioned frequently in previous reports, but look no further than BSD. Big Sammy Draper.
Now there are a few obvious caveats. It’s pre season. He’s only really matched up against Phillips and at times Bryan and Wright. But my of my, it’s hard to take your eyes off him when watching. He’s big, strong, competitive and ultra aggressive and just full of enthusiasm. You really couldn’t ask more from a big man. He’s been excellent off the ground, great in packs and frequently drifts forward to take big pack marks in the forward line.
We were talking today about who is better than him in the league at the moment (taking into account the previous caveats) and the only ones we positively come up with were Grundy, Gawn and Nic Nat. And I can see him even matching them on his day with the improvement he’s shown.
Last year our biggest weakness (and for a number of years if truth be told) has been our ruck division. If we can turn that into a strength rather than a weakness, particularly with the traits he has with hisaggression and enthusiasm it could go along way to turning our fortunes around.
Training today in warm conditions with hardly a breath of wind.
The modified group today was Zakka, Ridley, Laverde, Perkins, Stringer, Ambrose, Zerk, Johnson and McBride. Alex Hird trained for a while with the the main group along with Moore. Misiti didn’t train although was on the sidelines at the end along with Wanganeen in his moonboot who was getting quite a bit of support from a number of players.
No potential draftees for this year were sighted again.
Apart from McBride who did quite a bit of running the others didn’t do too apart from cycling until the last hour. Ridley and Perkins went for a light jog at one stage and then later had a kick of the ball for about 15 minutes but that was all.
In the last hour however every one of them was involved in an exercise session with the first year players and JHA guys where they rotated between different tasks - on the big ropes, bouncing medicine balls, doing pushups, pulling on ropes around a spindle and various other exercises. They did all this for a solid hour.
Heppell and Guelfi completed most of the session before going to the modified ground for a short period before the running began, which I will get to shortly. Heppell looks very good and seems to be nearly fully recovered. Shiel and Redman also completed the whole session after recent periods in modified group.
Regarding the main group three of us who have been watching training for years think it was probably the toughest session we have seen. It started around 8.15am and finished about 11.45. Not only was it a long session, but unlike previous sessions this week which have been a little lacklustre there was a high intensity throughout and plenty of talk and cheering.
And just when it looked like it was going to finish after about 2 1/2 hours the players went inside and returned with runners, and spent about the next hour doing lots of high intensity running, with barely a break.
Hooker really stood out to me during this, regularly at the front of the pack and looking very strong, even towards the end when the players were put into a back and front half, with the players behind holding onto a long elastic around the front player’s waist that he had to strain against.
Francis broke with about 20 minutes to go on one of many runs up the hill behind the second oval. It was really pleasing to see Langford then drop back to run with Francis and give him support. Francis looked ready to collapse at the end but he stuck with it the whole way, if at a much slower pace.
There was a lot to take in with the main groups.
Firstly they had a period doing the handball keeping off drill. McGrath is regulalry the best it this with his quick hands and deft sidestep. But I think Caldwell is even better. The pace of his movements and speed and precision of his handballs was exceptional, really some of the stuff I couldn’t believe how good it was. He has been hyped up as an inside mid, and today was when a could finally see it. He might not be the bull we have all been looking for but his ability to evade, make decisions and execute even when under immense pressure or taking a hit makes him someone to really look forward to this season.
I like most other people would have loved to get Dunkley for the right price, but I can’t see how this guy won’t immediately improve us.
There was a lot of work today around guarding an opponent before a lead. Firstly Just with the players in pairs facing each other with the defender trying to push, block and generally impede the attacking player from taking front position. This went on for quite some time.
Later a coach was added where the attacker would be making an actual lead with the coach holding on until someone was clear before passing. They would then run back and repeat the exercise about 5 times in a row in a really gruelling drill.
There were some great matchups with this. Wright and Hooker was probably the best with numerous almighty bumps and clashes, but on most occasions still Wright managing to take the mark.
Francis was also particularly good at this. He has the perfect knack of holding his opponent off with pushes and shoves, but then timing his turn perfectly when his opponent tried to make a break and keep front position to often take the mark.
Heppell was also very good, playing the role of the defender he completely smashed Brand and very rarely got beaten. Talking of Brand he has a long, long way to go with his fitness, he really struggled to finish these drills. It’s hard to imagine him getting his fitness to the required level this year.
Hind was matched up on Tippa in these drills and also did an excellent job, really harassing Tippa the whole way and probably broke even.
Stewart was matched up with Jones in another great contest. There were several times where they would end up diving at the incoming pass and end in a heap on top of each other.
It was also good to see Truck revert to a more hands on role when teaching players positioning in contests. I mentioned in previous years how well I thought he did this and again his advice seemed to have an immediate impact in the proceding drills.
There were several types of match sim that were played today, from the 3/4 ground sim that has been played a lot recently, to a half field forward drill and at times breaking into smaller groups playing half the field.
There was also one drill where there were about 5 more defenders than attackers with the attackers trying to break the zone. This was done fairly successfully which required patience, hard running and good foot skills.
In positioning in drills Hooker was mostly on Wright, Stewart on Jones, Cahill again back along with Heppell, and Hurley I think alternated but had a lot forward. Ham was also matched up on Cox again and also did a few good things.
In some of the drills with smaller groups I had a better chance to look at Tom Hird, and it was probably the first time I have started to see something there. He was matched up on Jones which is a big mismatch in height but he really kept at him and effected a few very good spoils, and was then very clean on the ground and with good quick disposal. I’m still not sold but it was still a promising effort.
McGrath I haven’t talked about too much but he as you could imagine is just continually improving. Whereas in the past his general modis operandi was to get the ball and flick off a quick handball, that is being replaced with a subtle sidestep after taking possession to evade pursuers followed by a run to break the game up and look for the best option. I can’t see any reason to think his progression towards being a gun midfielder won’t continue this year.
Francis again was excellent in defence with several good intercepting marks and a couple of huge leaps to spoil and again solid by foot.
But with all the talk of where the improvement is going to come from this year, and I know it’s been mentioned frequently in previous reports, but look no further than BSD. Big Sammy Draper.
Now there are a few obvious caveats. It’s pre season. He’s only really matched up against Phillips and at times Bryan and Wright. But my of my, it’s hard to take your eyes off him when watching. He’s big, strong, competitive and ultra aggressive and just full of enthusiasm. You really couldn’t ask more from a big man. He’s been excellent off the ground, great in packs and frequently drifts forward to take big pack marks in the forward line.
We were talking today about who is better than him in the league at the moment (taking into account the previous caveats) and the only ones we positively come up with were Grundy, Gawn and Nic Nat. And I can see him even matching them on his day with the improvement he’s shown.
Last year our biggest weakness (and for a number of years if truth be told) has been our ruck division. If we can turn that into a strength rather than a weakness, particularly with the traits he has with hisaggression and enthusiasm it could go along way to turning our fortunes around.
- Dec 2, 2014
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I think there is a couple more around the league who have BSD covered but damn he's exciting
- Mar 28, 2010
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Langers running with the bucket hat, that's my guy.
Schnitzengruben
Norm Smith Medallist
- Aug 4, 2019
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Langford is a rig and Draper's leg looks like it's photoshopped.
EnolaGay
Premium Gold
Snelling is also a fair unit for a midget
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- Dec 14, 2008
- 19,841
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Good tricks, no tank whatsoever. May have improved the latter in his SANFL stint.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Love him to bits. One of my favourite players. Kicks goals for fun, has a definite cult figure potential too.
Has had quite a few injuries in the past though, which is a worry.
- Dec 14, 2008
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think i read somewhere he made 11 tackles all year - that would support your synopsis
- Dec 14, 2008
- 19,841
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- Essendon
might have lost cult status with the dreads
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Yeah, his injuries haven't helped in that regard. Last year was his first full pre-season. But it's definitely something he needs fixing
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
He's lost the dreads? Damn, that's disappointing
- Dec 2, 2014
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boncer34
Formerly "Dos23"
They've identified and are trying to fix a clear problem?
That's not the Essendon way. I don't like this.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Don't think that's Lowson. But the photo isn't great
Looks like a generic AFL Evolution player.
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