Training 2021 Preseason Training

[Yoda_]

I’m unsure on the Waterman option


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[owen87]

Injury update: January 20

The latest updates on Dyson Heppell, David Zaharakis, Dylan Clarke and more.

www.essendonfc.com.au

“Andy sustained that syndesmosis injury late in the season. As we always expect from Andy, he’s a professional and he did everything over that break to make sure he was right for day one of pre-season,” Murphy said.

I like that even the fitness boss expects nothing less than absolute professionalism from him.

 

[Nifft]

Injury update: January 20

The latest updates on Dyson Heppell, David Zaharakis, Dylan Clarke and more.

www.essendonfc.com.au

I like that even the fitness boss expects nothing less than absolute professionalism from him.

I thought it was a bit rough to call Heppell and Zaka "experienced campaigners" though...

 

[owen87]

I thought it was a bit rough to call Heppell and Zaka "experienced campaigners" though...

Bet he's a BF poster, he knows what it means

 

[Milanista28]

Nackers...

We finally managed to get a warn day to train today after virtually every training day previously being windy and very cold. We also had one of the few days without much wind, although it picked upon as the session went on to just a little breeze.
Of the modified group Perkins, Zerk and Ambrose were restricted to cylcing on the sidelines. Mcbride, Zakka and Ridley were also modified, McBride doing quite a lot of running getting back up to speed, with Zakka doing a quite a bit of running as well. Ridley was doing various exercises which looked like he was testing something out, it sounds very creative to say he’s managing his loads, I think there’s at least some sort of a niggle there.
Heppell, Johnson, Stringer, Guelfi and Laverde joined in with the main group for probably the first hour before going off in a group along with Alex Hird on the second oval. Laverde returned to the main group shortly after so really completed virtually the whole session.
Even so the work Heppell, Johnson, Stringer and Guelfi were doing on the second oval was quite strenuous in their drills, it was probably just not so much tackling, so you could really say they completed the whole session as well so expect they will all be with the main group by probably the end of next week for a whole session.
Caldwell and Gleeson didn’t do too much at all, I think they were both legitimately being managed.
Moore and Misiti did the warmup and not much else, and Alex Hird as mentioned also joined in with the modfied group for a while but didn’t complete the whole session.
There was no sight of Hind, Cutler, Clarke and Mossie, and no there were no possible new recruits to fill the vacant list spots training or on the sidelines.
Sheil, Redman and Hurley after previously being modified or ill, completed the whole session with the main group.
Eyre went of for a short while with a complaint on his left leg, but returned shortly afterwards and completed the rest of the session, taking into account the first year draftees nearly always sit out of some of the drills.
As others have mentioned the atmosphere was quite muted today, which happens sometimes and as a result some of the skills tended to be a bit sloppy as well.
We were having a chat about the drills mentioned in previous reports and highlighted by @jackie_mihocek on Monday where the play starts at halfback with a lateral kick and then often has a series of short passes.
We were thinking that rather than being a purely offensive drill and an example of how we want to move the ball it’s quite likely also a defensive drill and they are trying to teach the players how to slow down the opposition and force a long kick down the line. In particular today there were a number of instances where a coach was taking the kick while the players were trying to guard space and hinder cohesive ball movement forward.
There was also a lot of other drills today where the emphasis seemed to be on shorter kicks. with different leading patterns. Again I didn’t think the skills were quite as bad aas others did, but we all have our opinions.
In some of the match sim Cox was definitely playing on a wing lined up on Ham. As a possible sign of things to come for both players it was an interesting matchup to watch. Cox was just as fast, looked to have better endurance (we commented on one occasion where he managed to make himself a deep forward target when only seconds before he was on centre wing, we couldn’t believe he got there so fast) and when the ball was kicked to them in a one on one Ham had no chance in the air.
I’m still not sure Cox will get an early debut (but he may) but I suspect he will be given a chance by at least mid year once he learns defensive and running patterns.
Wright had I thought had his best session so far. I know a lot of people don’t expect much from him but I think he’s going to be very good value. Out on a lead in particular he looks very strong. He’s got excellent speed for someone his size, looks to have good endurance and mobility and his hands have improved from the early sessions and is taking most on the lead with a firm one grab. Ans he’a also a great kick.
He still has some work to do on his contested marking, but that was much better as well using his body perfectly to out manoeuvre Hurley on occasion (to the extent that Hurley looked a bit ginger in his shoulder afterwards) but then later although only matched up with Jones and Langford in marking drills he still managed to take nearly every mark, often from out of position. It’s certainly good to see signs of improvement. If he does manage to get on top of his contested making (a big if as that seems to be his biggest weakness) he could be a brute.
And as @CJohns said Francis was again a standout today. He seemed to be being used in a quarter back type role, and his kicking was again a feature. I can’t recall the last time I saw a bad miskick or turnover from him.
Just on some positional things today Hurley was again back and Cahill again was often deep in the backline. I can’t recall seeing Stewart that much today but I think he was also back.
I’m guessing training will be on Saturday again, hopefully I can find out before Saturday morning!

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Cox sounds like he's a real weapon. Surely a RD1 debut.

 

[brendan84]

Cox sounds like he's a real weapon. Surely a RD1 debut.

 

[Donakebab]

Latest training photos. Pidge, Zach, Darce and Stringer all looking in particularly good shape.

Gallery: Thursday training

Go inside Thursday's main session at the NEC Hangar.

www.essendonfc.com.au

 

[ghostdog]

Without knowing much about training and fitness and development, does anyone know if there's any real benefit to be had from conducting a 3 minute time trial rather than 2 minutes?

I just noticed Brisbane does 3, even in the heat they have up there. My first reaction was that we shouldn't be so half-arsed. Brisbane have returned to the top end of the comp for a reason, obviously more than just this, but every bit counts.

If the players are doing extra running themselves for the sake of that time trial, surely that drives improved fitness and standards?

 

[fairbump_playon]

Without knowing much about training and fitness and development, does anyone know if there's any real benefit to be had from conducting a 3 minute time trial rather than 2 minutes?

I just noticed Brisbane does 3, even in the heat they have up there. My first reaction was that we shouldn't be so half-arsed. Brisbane have returned to the top end of the comp for a reason, obviously more than just this, but every bit counts.

If the players are doing extra running themselves for the sake of that time trial, surely that drives improved fitness and standards?

do you mean 3km vs 2km?

if i recall correctly the 3 was in vogue until a few years back when most teams switched to 2. i always assumed the rationale was that the 2km was a more relevant mix of speed & endurance.

i think the people winning the 3 would be very similar to those winning the 2km.

the issue with distance running is that at a certain point it gets away from being similar to what an AFL player actually has to do on the field.

IMO the best fitness test when they return from off season would be some weird non-stop course of 30 / 50 / 100m sprints broken up with zig zag & agility stuff, and sets of burpees and squat jumps.

a lot of people who run great 5kms who would blow up after just a few minutes of actual footy.

 

[ghostdog]

do you mean 3km vs 2km?

if i recall correctly the 3 was in vogue until a few years back when most teams switched to 2. i always assumed the rationale was that the 2km was a more relevant mix of speed & endurance.

i think the people winning the 3 would be very similar to those winning the 2km.

the issue with distance running is that at a certain point it gets away from being similar to what an AFL player actually has to do on the field.

IMO the best fitness test when they return from off season would be some weird non-stop course of 30 / 50 / 100m sprints broken up with zig zag & agility stuff, and sets of burpees and squat jumps.

a lot of people who run great 5kms who would blow up after just a few minutes of actual footy.

Yeah, 2 min v. 3 min.
Are you into fitness, fp? What kind of time period would those sprints be done over?

 

[Lore]

IMO the best fitness test when they return from off season would be some weird non-stop course of 30 / 50 / 100m sprints broken up with zig zag & agility stuff, and sets of burpees and squat jumps.

That should be a thing. I'd pay to watch that.

 

[owen87]

Yeah, 2 min v. 3 min.
Are you into fitness, fp? What kind of time period would those sprints be done over?

3min or 3km?

They're different things.

A 3 min TT would be around 800 - 1.2km depending on which player was running it. A 3km TT would be a 9 - 10 minute duration.

 

[ghostdog]

3min or 3km?

They're different things.

A 3 min TT would be around 800 - 1.2km depending on which player was running it. A 3km TT would be a 9 - 10 minute duration.

Hells bells! 2km v. 3km. Soz. My brain is busy.

 

[owen87]

Hells bells! 2km v. 3km. Soz. My brain is busy.

I wouldn't think there's a meaningful difference in performance, as was mentioned before, the same guys winning the 2km would win the 3km, and it's probably not more reflective of in-game running for most players.

A winger is probably the role where that kind of running is most relevant; e.g. Blicavs, Scully, Whitfield* along with your HFF / HBF positions which are really just extra wingmen these days.

Your midfielders, for example, cover a fair bit of ground, but that's in a intermittent fashion where they're doing periods of low intensity from contest to contest, then 3-5m bursts often with players hanging off them, or holding their feet over the ball, along with 50 - 100m runs through space if there's a clear link-up chain of ball movement. So that's where the mixed sprints & agility & burpees fairbump mention would probably be more reflective of in-game performance.

From memory that's why they moved away from the beep test to the yo-yo test, as it was more reflective of real-world performance.

 

[Pweter]

IMO the best fitness test when they return from off season would be some weird non-stop course of 30 / 50 / 100m sprints broken up with zig zag & agility stuff, and sets of burpees and squat jumps.

a lot of people who run great 5kms who would blow up after just a few minutes of actual footy.

Spot on. Add to that running through some crash bags etc as you can be super fit and conditioned but add physical collisions to the mix and it drains you further.

 

[11kgm]

Spot on. Add to that running through some crash bags etc as you can be super fit and conditioned but add physical collisions to the mix and it drains you further.

I remember they changed our fitness test to be 2km then agility to finish

 

[BrunoV]

I think the reason behind the reduction is that the 2km time trial is a better reflection of the intensity and the distance of running during the course of a midfield rotation.

The 3km is a bit more settling into a rhythm than the sort of hectic semi-sprint that can be done over 6-7 min.

 

[eth-dog]

I think the reason behind the reduction is that the 2km time trial is a better reflection of the intensity and the distance of running during the course of a midfield rotation.

The 3km is a bit more settling into a rhythm than the sort of hectic semi-sprint that can be done over 6-7 min.

This is basically it

 

[ghostdog]

I wouldn't think there's a meaningful difference in performance, as was mentioned before, the same guys winning the 2km would win the 3km, and it's probably not more reflective of in-game running for most players.

A winger is probably the role where that kind of running is most relevant; e.g. Blicavs, Scully, Whitfield* along with your HFF / HBF positions which are really just extra wingmen these days.

Your midfielders, for example, cover a fair bit of ground, but that's in a intermittent fashion where they're doing periods of low intensity from contest to contest, then 3-5m bursts often with players hanging off them, or holding their feet over the ball, along with 50 - 100m runs through space if there's a clear link-up chain of ball movement. So that's where the mixed sprints & agility & burpees fairbump mention would probably be more reflective of in-game performance.

From memory that's why they moved away from the beep test to the yo-yo test, as it was more reflective of real-world performance.

Blicavs is interesting. I read somewhere that it got to a point where the caches had instructed him not to do the time trials anymore, but just to run flat-out for 15 minutes and see how far he runs. Not sure if true.

 

[owen87]

Blicavs is interesting. I read somewhere that it got to a point where the caches had instructed him not to do the time trials anymore, but just to run flat-out for 15 minutes and see how far he runs. Not sure if true.

If they were doing a 5km TT that would make sense, most AFL players would run 15+ mins whilst when Blicavs came across he'd have been a 13ish minute runner, so if the point was 15 - 17:30 mins worth of work, him running 13-13:30 would defeat the purpose.

 

[IHurley]

A 3km TT would be a 9 - 10 minute duration.

That's on a bike right?

Downhill. 'Cos I could do that.

 

[11kgm]

That's on a bike right?

Downhill. 'Cos I could do that.

I remember our boundaries umpires had to do it sub 10

 

[fairbump_playon]

This is basically it

it's all probably tied into time between rotations as well - 7 mins and then sit down for 2 would be common for midfielders i would think.

 

[fairbump_playon]

I remember our boundaries umpires had to do it sub 10

well that's just cruel. they've already been forced to be boundary umpires. can't we just leave them alone?