Training 2022 Men’s Preseason Thread - New training reports - 15/3

[Lore]

Replay link:

Full replay | Intraclub match

Catch all the action from today's intraclub match at the NEC Hangar.

www.essendonfc.com.au

Info inc team lists:

Live stream: Essendon intraclub game

Tune in here for a live stream of Wednesday's intraclub match at the NEC Hangar.

www.essendonfc.com.au

 

[Maxabillions]

Been nervous to do so since ASADA

Good sign we’ve put it behind us

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Really liking the positivity atm. First time in a long time I'm pretty happy with the balance of the list. Glut of young talented KPP none really too similar to each other. Two young mids, a small forward and half back and I think the balance is perfect.

Also Baldwin. Jesus. The way he moves and his power... he looks like he is going to be an absolute bully.

 

[EnolaGay]

I have noticed in the pre-season footage that our players look stronger which I thought we've thoroughly lacked in years gone by. Good to see.

I reckon every pre-season they look stronger/bigger. It's an off season optical illusion or something....

 

[Keystone agony]

I reckon every pre-season they look stronger/bigger. It's an off season optical illusion or something....

Hit the weights alot harder and as the season goes on less and less weight sessions plus the energy burnt from game day

If blokes are taking things seriously they should be at their biggest when they initially return. Then its all about maintaining as best as possible

Also helps when the suns shining

 

[nonamehack]

I reckon every pre-season they look stronger/bigger. It's an off season optical illusion or something....

Also just comparing them to other essendon players. Remember we dont have those midfield bulls that make everyone else look small.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

that perkins kids gonna break some hearts.

 

[Milanista28]

Benny from BB attended training today.

Weather was sunny, pleasantly warm with a light breeze. Arrived around 10:40am.

Reid and I think it was either Eyre or Bryan were in the hangar. Parish was doing repeat high speed laps on the other field. Jones was doing slow laps. That’s the only modified group that I noticed.
On field were
McGrath, Draper, Parish (laps), Langford, Caldwell, Francis, Snelling, Ridley, Perkins, Heppell, Jones (laps), Stringer, BZT, Ham, Guelfi, Brand, Baldwin, McBride, Durham, Waterman

I don’t think Hird was there. Definitely absent were Smith, Merrett, Sheil, Cutler, Cox, Lav, Stewart, Hurley, Hind, 2MP, Redman, Phillips, Walla.
Now the vibe… pretty damn loud.

The guys had clearly been putting in a lot of running while I was having a lazy morning. Still loud and putting in a lot of energy all the way to the end of the session.

Rance is huge. On field general / coach, like a super nimble Hooker. Loudest on the field by far. Tackled one of the players during a drill HARD. Seriously don’t underestimate what this guy’s influence is on our training standards.
Did hear him say to the team after a match sim drill “We are going to be an extremely dangerous side by hand.”
Francis was also really loud, putting in a heap of high speed running during the match sims. Was slowing down a tad in the final few laps, but nothing that I worried about considering his work rate all day. He’s really switched on. Great bit of play where Francis had the ball on the wing at 50, slowed down to draw the defender to him, then passed to a now open Baldwin who kicked a goal from the pocket. For all you that are writing Francis off, yeah… don’t be so hasty…

Baldwin. He’s exactly what you’d expect from a talented bloke who’s missed a lot of football. Physically a monster, he dwarfs BZT. Does a lot of stuff really well, but is a bit rusty on some stuff. For those that question our goal kicking coaching, he was working closely with Gia to nail a technical body mechanic thing that was causing him to miss snap shots really badly. 15 seconds of diagnosing the issue, called for Snelling to kick him another ball, nailed the next kick. Don’t expect him to dominate round 1, but I can’t think of a better attitude.
Speaking of attitude. On a compressed ground simulation, 8 attackers vs 6 defenders, time was running out and the attacking team were aggressively pushing towards goal. Gia took the ball on the wing and missed a shot for goal. Guelfi shouts out “PASS IT YOU SELFISH F*CKER!” Gold.

BZT is putting in the effort. He was leading the groups running laps. Not just by a bit, he was nearly catching the group in front. Huge change from a year ago where he was struggling off the back of the pack.

That batton has been passed to Brand, who is a long way behind on endurance. That being said, his skills during the drills were top notch. The guy was likely the most fatigued of all the players on the ground, but he was still nailing all his marks and kicks.
Waterman has slimmed down a fair bit. Still a unit, but I’d expect he’ll cover the ground a lot better. Kelly looks a unit. Well to be honest, pretty much all of the guys look in fantastic condition.

General vibe right now is a lot of running, with all the match sim stuff being designed for fast flowing ball movement and minimal physical contact. The guys are in cardio / ball skills mode. I assume contested work will ramp up into next year. I did notice a lot more repeat leads by the forwards, which is nice to see.

Cafe opens back up on 6th December, along with the rest of the facility.

 

[Lore]

Rance is huge. On field general / coach, like a super nimble Hooker. Loudest on the field by far. Tackled one of the players during a drill HARD. Seriously don’t underestimate what this guy’s influence is on our training standards.
Did hear him say to the team after a match sim drill “We are going to be an extremely dangerous side by hand.”
Francis was also really loud, putting in a heap of high speed running during the match sims. Was slowing down a tad in the final few laps, but nothing that I worried about considering his work rate all day. He’s really switched on. Great bit of play where Francis had the ball on the wing at 50, slowed down to draw the defender to him, then passed to a now open Baldwin who kicked a goal from the pocket. For all you that are writing Francis off, yeah… don’t be so hasty…

Francis due for a break out year I reckon.

 

[faible]

Benny from BB attended training today.

Weather was sunny, pleasantly warm with a light breeze. Arrived around 10:40am.

Reid and I think it was either Eyre or Bryan were in the hangar. Parish was doing repeat high speed laps on the other field. Jones was doing slow laps. That’s the only modified group that I noticed.
On field were
McGrath, Draper, Parish (laps), Langford, Caldwell, Francis, Snelling, Ridley, Perkins, Heppell, Jones (laps), Stringer, BZT, Ham, Guelfi, Brand, Baldwin, McBride, Durham, Waterman

I don’t think Hird was there. Definitely absent were Smith, Merrett, Sheil, Cutler, Cox, Lav, Stewart, Hurley, Hind, 2MP, Redman, Phillips, Walla.
Now the vibe… pretty damn loud.

The guys had clearly been putting in a lot of running while I was having a lazy morning. Still loud and putting in a lot of energy all the way to the end of the session.

Rance is huge. On field general / coach, like a super nimble Hooker. Loudest on the field by far. Tackled one of the players during a drill HARD. Seriously don’t underestimate what this guy’s influence is on our training standards.
Did hear him say to the team after a match sim drill “We are going to be an extremely dangerous side by hand.”
Francis was also really loud, putting in a heap of high speed running during the match sims. Was slowing down a tad in the final few laps, but nothing that I worried about considering his work rate all day. He’s really switched on. Great bit of play where Francis had the ball on the wing at 50, slowed down to draw the defender to him, then passed to a now open Baldwin who kicked a goal from the pocket. For all you that are writing Francis off, yeah… don’t be so hasty…

Baldwin. He’s exactly what you’d expect from a talented bloke who’s missed a lot of football. Physically a monster, he dwarfs BZT. Does a lot of stuff really well, but is a bit rusty on some stuff. For those that question our goal kicking coaching, he was working closely with Gia to nail a technical body mechanic thing that was causing him to miss snap shots really badly. 15 seconds of diagnosing the issue, called for Snelling to kick him another ball, nailed the next kick. Don’t expect him to dominate round 1, but I can’t think of a better attitude.
Speaking of attitude. On a compressed ground simulation, 8 attackers vs 6 defenders, time was running out and the attacking team were aggressively pushing towards goal. Gia took the ball on the wing and missed a shot for goal. Guelfi shouts out “PASS IT YOU SELFISH F*CKER!” Gold.

BZT is putting in the effort. He was leading the groups running laps. Not just by a bit, he was nearly catching the group in front. Huge change from a year ago where he was struggling off the back of the pack.

That batton has been passed to Brand, who is a long way behind on endurance. That being said, his skills during the drills were top notch. The guy was likely the most fatigued of all the players on the ground, but he was still nailing all his marks and kicks.
Waterman has slimmed down a fair bit. Still a unit, but I’d expect he’ll cover the ground a lot better. Kelly looks a unit. Well to be honest, pretty much all of the guys look in fantastic condition.

General vibe right now is a lot of running, with all the match sim stuff being designed for fast flowing ball movement and minimal physical contact. The guys are in cardio / ball skills mode. I assume contested work will ramp up into next year. I did notice a lot more repeat leads by the forwards, which is nice to see.

Cafe opens back up on 6th December, along with the rest of the facility.

I get the feeling Brand is one who really will make it as a FB if he can get his running up to scratch, sounds like his 1v1 defensive work is high quality.

 

[Milanista28]

We definitely have plenty of developing defenders. Reid could be our swingman.

 

[EnolaGay]

Cafe opens back up on 6th December, along with the rest of the facility.

This has me excited!

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Francis was also really loud

Like this

 

[EnolaGay]

It would be great if they could elaborate more in the training report:

There was a warm zephyr from the west. Franga's locks were tousled by the breeze, like the soft stroking of a lovers fingers, his chiselled frame silhouetted against the afternoon sun. Voices murmured amongst the ranks, encouragement between brothers in arms, a brotherhood that was forged in combat and fire.....

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

Yeh IKR, surely there was some bossom thrusting worth mentioning

 

[Nifft]

It would be great if they could elaborate more in the training report:

There was a warm zephyr from the west. Franga's locks were tousled by the breeze, like the soft stroking of a lovers fingers, his chiselled frame silhouetted against the afternoon sun. Voices murmured amongst the ranks, encouragement between brothers in arms, a brotherhood that was forged in combat and fire.....

 

[VelvetSledge]

BZT looking real big!



but then….

there’s Rance.



Christ.

 

[JT_the_Man]

 

[Lore]

BZT looking real big!

View attachment 1286599

but then….

there’s Rance.

View attachment 1286600

Christ.

The Baldwin interview has footage of BZT wrestling with him… BZT looks smol by comparison. Draper also looks physically under-developed next to Baldwin

 

[Lore]

 

[JDavey]

Essendon 2km time trial today for everyone back (results via BB)

Snelling
Perkins
Mcgrath
Durham
Shiel
Ham
Hird
Guelfi
Caldwell
Hind
Eyre
Ridley
Heppell
Smith
Cutler
Baldwin
Merrett
Draper
BZT
Stringer
Phillips
Bryan
Brand
Walla


Apparently Walla is noticeably out of shape, hope he can get right

 

[Lore]

Essendon 2km time trial today for everyone back (results via BB)

Snelling
Perkins
Mcgrath
Durham
Shiel
Ham
Hird
Guelfi
Caldwell
Hind
Eyre
Ridley
Heppell
Smith
Cutler
Baldwin
Merrett
Draper
BZT
Stringer
Phillips
Bryan
Brand
Walla


Apparently Walla is noticeably out of shape, hope he can get right

Wonder what happened to the rest

 

[faible]

Essendon 2km time trial today for everyone back (results via BB)

Snelling
Perkins
Mcgrath
Durham
Shiel
Ham
Hird
Guelfi
Caldwell
Hind
Eyre
Ridley
Heppell
Smith
Cutler
Baldwin
Merrett
Draper
BZT
Stringer
Phillips
Bryan
Brand
Walla


Apparently Walla is noticeably out of shape, hope he can get right

I'm not sure if it's good or bad that Ham is 6th on that list.

Cox not running it isn't helpful, I'd consider he'd usually give a benchmark where everyone is at like Ambrose used to do.

 

[VelvetSledge]

Essendon 2km time trial today for everyone back (results via BB)

Snelling
Perkins
Mcgrath
Durham
Shiel
Ham
Hird
Guelfi
Caldwell
Hind
Eyre
Ridley
Heppell
Smith
Cutler
Baldwin
Merrett
Draper
BZT
Stringer
Phillips
Bryan
Brand
Walla


Apparently Walla is noticeably out of shape, hope he can get right

Was afraid of this with how long he'd been away

 

[Milanista28]

I'm not sure if it's good or bad that Ham is 6th on that list.

Cox not running it isn't helpful, I'd consider he'd usually give a benchmark where everyone is at like Ambrose used to do.

Cox had a limp up apparently, so he's on the "Didn't have a full pre season list" Hopefully he doesn't miss too much.

Perkins coming in 2nd is great, should get some more mid minutes this season.

 

[faible]

Cox had a limp up apparently, so he's on the "Didn't have a full pre season list" Hopefully he doesn't miss too much.

Perkins coming in 2nd is great, should get some more mid minutes this season.

Snelling being up there isn't surprising given we know he's got a great tank on-field, having Perkins and McGrath right up there is very positive though, both are guys we'd love to see step up and have good seasons.