2021 Training Reports

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As per the subject...

If the club won't give us decent updates, let's compile our's all in one easy thread (though club reports can be posted in here too).

With many very heartfelt thanks to those who do regularly make it to training and report back.
 
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Harry Sharp just lapped Berry & McLuggage in the 3 ker at Nudgee earlier today. Hope he can get the footy as good as he runs....WHAT AN ATHLETE!!!

I assume they run the time trial so bloody early in the morning because you've got some heat up there? Our's just eased off today.
 
I assume they run the time trial so bloody early in the morning because you've got some heat up there? Our's just eased off today.
If nothing else Sharpy will raise the athletic benchmark required to be even slightly competitive in our team. The interesting element about Sharp is that the knock on him has been his kicking, yet in the short interview segment put out by the club he reports that is one of his strengths. Now, he would not say that if his development coaches did not provide feed back to that effect. Also it must be considered that he is effectively, due to his birth-date almost twelve months behind development wise compared to the draftees taken early in the 2020 draft. Let's hope we have a Gaff clone taken at a bargain draft pick.

Go Sharpy.
 

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Just went down to Yeronga to watch my first off season training for 2021, I got there around 7.20am and they were warming up and left at 9.15am and they were still going strong, some observations >

1- Whole group trained together, I did a couple of counts and there were at least 39-40 players there.
2- The only players I intentionally looked for and couldn't find were Jack Payne, Archie Smith and Marcus Adams, they could have been there though.
3- The attitude was upbeat and competitive, just the standard handball/kicking, half/quarter field drills.
4- Matho drove J.Berry into the ground in a vigorous tackle at one stage and Berry didn't appreciate it and gave him a forceful shove, all good though they made up pretty quickly.
5- Matho looking particularly big across the shoulders, Hippy doesn't look any bigger to me, Rayner looking very fit and slim, Dev Robertson looking noticeably bigger.
6- The drills were quite sloppy.
7- Daniher/Cocatoo/Birchall did the full session while I was there and looked to be running freely, Big Joe looked particularly sharp and agile.
8- I thought I saw Peter Garrett at one stage but it turned out the be Harris.
9- Zorko and Henry Smith looked like the only 2 on what you would call modified training, Zorks did a good 45 minutes of slow solo laps of the oval and Henry was doing some as I left, had been going for around 15 minutes, Smith's body looks well developed for a kid of his age.
10- Fages rather than sitting back as he usually does from what I have seen of off season training definitely looked to be actively running the show today.

Happy to take any questions and will answer if I can, I didn't take notes but there could be something up in that empty skull of mine if it's triggered by an insightful, probing question.:think:
 
Thanks Jason MP, do you know when and where next session is?
On holidays this week and would like to go down to training.
 
Thanks Jason MP, do you know when and where next session is?
On holidays this week and would like to go down to training.
No sorry mate, I think Monday and Wednesday morning are at Yeronga, usually starting around 7.30am. I'm lucky as I'm only a few hundred meters from there so can just pop down to see if they're on.

They do regularly train at Birubu street in Coorparoo as well, you used to be able to ring the club and they would tell you where and when training is on... although with this pain in the arse virus I don't know whether they would freely give out that information.
 
A few questions for you Jason:

1. Were they split into groups and which groups were Berry Jnr, Cockatoo and Ballenden working with?
2. How did the ruckwork of the younger guys look?
3. How were Sharp's and the two Irish lads' skills?
4. Was K Coleman doing any work up on the wing? How was B Coleman doing in the running?
5. On the running who was out the back and was there much difference there?
 
A few questions for you Jason:

1. Were they split into groups and which groups were Berry Jnr, Cockatoo and Ballenden working with?
2. How did the ruckwork of the younger guys look?
3. How were Sharp's and the two Irish lads' skills?
4. Was K Coleman doing any work up on the wing? How was B Coleman doing in the running?
5. On the running who was out the back and was there much difference there?
1- Hard to recall but I do remember Ballenden getting some on field coaching about body positioning from McStay, CEY was in that group as well, they were in groups of 8. Connor is such a beautiful field kick. They weren't in defined groups of defenders/mids/forwards though, it was a mixture of types.
2- There was no ruck work done.
3- Didn't notice Sharp or Uosis (I have no idea what Uosis looks like and there were a couple of younger guys that I couldn't place.... I would be able to pick Sharp out though) I did notice Madden, he looks a real talent to me, good kick, strong in a contest, evasive and of course lighting quick, I'd like to see him get a chance this year.
4- Keidean looked a natural footballer as usual, the drills were more circle work with everyone running back, forward and across the ground, Blake looked OK but nothing that stood out, he was struggling a bit with the pace of training, lots of hands above heads sucking in the big ones.
5- No running done, they usually do most of that as the last thing before wrapping up and I left before they finished.
 
No sorry mate, I think Monday and Wednesday morning are at Yeronga, usually starting around 7.30am. I'm lucky as I'm only a few hundred meters from there so can just pop down to see if they're on.

They do regularly train at Birubu street in Coorparoo as well, you used to be able to ring the club and they would tell you where and when training is on... although with this pain in the arse virus I don't know whether they would freely give out that information.
We went down last Wednesday morning around 8:30am, and the place was empty.

How sure are you they are doing Wednesday morning sessions,

Mighty Lions are you able to let us know when and where they are training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
 
We went down last Wednesday morning around 8:30am, and the place was empty.

How sure are you they are doing Wednesday morning sessions,

Mighty Lions are you able to let us know when and where they are training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
No not sure at all, I was going from memory and thought someone had posted that there was a Wednesday morning training session there late last year or in the 2 weeks they have been back post christmas.
 

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Looks like afternoon training is on For the boys at Yeronga this afternoon for anyone interested in going for a look.
Thanks for the tip, can't make it down today, granddaughter here and having a sleepover tonight, she's not the least bit interested in AFL, if it was the grandsons turn however we would have been there in a couple of minutes.

Looking forward to your report Dlions.
 
A couple of observations from this afternoon.

Birchall still looks like the same player he was last preseason. Doesn’t look trimmer to me. The only difference is that he’s not starting the preseason in rehab or on a modified training program.

I’m not familiar with Cockatoo’s physique, doesn’t look 100% fit, unlike most of the boys.

Rayner looks fit and trim. Was Running with (and staying with) Berry and McCluggage at the front of the group, as the whole squad looked to be doing three quarter pace run throughs when I arrived.

Dev Robertson has slimmed down. Not as big through the shoulders and upper arms as last year.

Harry Sharp has a leg on him, can kick 50 to 60 no problems. Needs to work on his accuracy when bombing to a contested pack (they were doing drills where a player would kick it long to a pack, and the talls would fly for the mark, with a couple of smalls crumbing).

But he didn’t have a problem kicking the ball between the big sticks. Actually everyone was bang on target during the practice match. There was a fair wind, and everyone accounted for it in their kicking.

First time I’ve seen Ballenden take a contested mark over a defender, after a wrestle with a tall defender during the practice match.

The sooner we have both Coleman boys in the team, the more dangerous we’ll be. Both were hunting the ball, applying pressure and tackling. And they both have the creative vision to spot and hit a target inside 50 for a shot on goal.

Both boys were evasive with ball in hand in a crowd, and without the ball. Blake sold a bit of candy on the 50, then shimmed around two defenders and hit CC lace out with a 30 meter low kick.

Keidean layed a run down tackle at the other end, after starting 15 meters behind his opponent. The turnover saw the ball transition the length of the field for a Daniher mark out wide, who went back for the kick, but then squared to Sharp 40 out on a slight angle. Sharp went back and kicked the goal.

I watched Sharp a bit, when not watching the Coleman brothers. At one stage, Rich kept up with Sharp over a short distance, as both went on a tight loop after a ball heading to the boundary. Sharp got there first, but Rich pushed him over the boundary.

Another time Sharp was on the wing, with his opponent Ah Chee. He got sucked towards a loose ball contest 40 meters away, while Ah Chee held his position. Ah Chee’s team won the ball before Sharp was anywhere near the contest, and sure enough Ah Chee got the ball, and took off uncontested in open space, then hit McStay who had a one v one contest, with a wonderful ball inside 50. McStay kicked true from 30 on a moderate angle.

Edit: My bad. That McStay contest and goal was from a good bit of play from Keidean holding the ball up, and evading defenders while his team got back, passed off to an overlapping CC who kick to McStay’s advantage, who took a good mark.
 
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How could I forget.

All aboard the Joe Daniher hype train.

I’ll admit I was very vocal early on, against the recruitment of Daniher.

If he’s ever been injured, you wouldn’t know it watching training and the intra club scrimmage.

He started the match in the ruck against Big O. Lost every ruck contest, but was putting body on body.

Was flying for the ball during the contested marking drills.
 
Thanks for the tip, can't make it down today, granddaughter here and having a sleepover tonight, she's not the least bit interested in AFL, if it was the grandsons turn however we would have been there in a couple of minutes.

Looking forward to your report Dlions.
Unfortunately Jas, I don’t have much to add really.
They got started a bit too late and the real action only got started as I had to leave, with an intraclub match getting underway as I was driving out 🤬

There was a small re-hab group working away separately to the others.
Zorks, Gardiner, McFadyen, Answerth and Archie Smith working in that group.
Marcus Adams is back with the main group and appears to be over the hand issue he had 2 weeks ago. And looking much leaner than he has been in the past.

Daniher definitely appears to be doing all of the work and Cockatoo as well, so good signs so far, for the both of them.
Cockatoo does look a little bit unfit but Daniher looks ready to play.

Berry Senior appeared to take a small time out to talk to the Dr’s about his shoulder looking in some discomfort As he discussed it with them.
He did go back with his group after but we will have to ask briztoon if he went around in the intraclub? And how he looked if he did?

Henry Smith is a big lump of a lad for an 18yr old and didn’t look out of place in the drills that I saw.
He was working with the group of forwards that contained Daniher, Hippy, McStay, and Fullarton. And I reckon was bigger in build and height than all of them, probably only Oscar is bigger in build in the team as a whole and Probably Archie Smith.

As I said I missed the scrub match so can’t add anything too much further.
 
Those who I noticed out of the scratch match.

Archie Smith.
Zorko and Neale (sitting in the coaches box).
MRobbo, JBerry and Henry Smith (doing laps).

Not sure where Gardiner, Answerth and McFadyen were.

The teams were mixed, definitely not an A team v B team.

After missing 15 months of watching training, I was very rusty in recognising a lot of the players, and for the most part I concentrated on watching the younger players to see who might be pushing for a first team spot.

Fullarton will definitely push McStay.

I feel Matho and CEY are going to be hard pressed to get a game.

Ely Smith didn’t impress in the scratch match. Fumbles and gets caught, drops the ball a bit.

Watching the scratch match, it was the Coleman brothers, CC, Ah Chee, Rich, Rayner, McStay, Fullarton and Daniher who stood out. And Andrews of course.
 
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