Training 2025 Pre-season

[bedford]

Then why not provide an update, whether it be positive or negative?

It's our way for many years and it's bullshit

 

[The King!]

All fair points , but i'll say again that the club had set themselves for 24/25 and 22 wasn't expected

Yeah and next year is 2026 , so this year is massive to capitalise on the team build that started around 2018/19, not saying we are falling to the bottom anytime soon, but we may be reworking for a few years .

 

[bedford]

Yeah and next year is 2026 , so this year is massive to capitalise on the team build that started around 2018/19, not saying we are falling to the bottom anytime soon, but we may be reworking for a few years .

After this and i like how he's trying to put a bit of mongrel back in

 

[RubbaDuck]

We didn't pick up one mid last year.

We will probably go all Academy this year depending upon Warner. If Warner stays we will probably only take Academy players with 3 highly rated players.

If we lose Warner then we will prioritize a mid in the draft I reckon.

I think Sheldrick will be in the mix for centre bounces sooner rather than later.
I predict Heeney and Warner forward more than last year. Smaller forward line replacing a tall.
I predict Mills into centre bounces as well.

Looking forward to the preseason matches.

No new mids but nonetheless our midfield has progressed from 2024.

We've effectively added Mills, a twice AA, B&F winning mid/defender now he's fully fit. He played just 8 games and we needed him badly for the GF. Taylor covers Parker's loss. Gus is fully fit and looks ready. Campbell is primed for serious midfield/forward time.

With so many rotating mid/forward options I expect Paps may be afforded more midfield time.

Heeney is looking the best I've seen him. If he can replicate or better his 2024 form and avoid injury the sky's the limit. He inspires the team. Chad's simulation plays almost border on arrogance, but his mutual respect for Heeney is obvious. Our big guns are strutting with that infectious confidence that turns games around in minutes. I'm bloody excited

Grundy needs to be managed and our depth will need to step up when called upon but otherwise I'm confident our midfield can match it with anyone if they bring the right attitude. Remember when a game against the Swans left opposition teams battered and bruised? Brisbane did that to us. We need to bring our hardest edge every week.

 

[RubbaDuck]

After this and i like how he's trying to put a bit of mongrel back in

Bedford, on this you echo my thoughts.

 

[wolftone57]

I said never enough

Yes I know

On Infinix X6525 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[wolftone57]

Grundy is 32 in 2026 and maybe Warner goes, Rampe might be in his last year now then you have Adams 33 in 2026.

Not to mention in 2026 guys who are still key or even our best players in 2026 are Lloyd 33 , Heeney 30, Papley 30, Melican 30 and even Mills 29.

A lot of our best 22 don't have much time left to win, maybe 2025 is the last real chance for this generation.

I like our youth coming through, but if we don't win in 25 maybe 26 then it might be a while longer.

Would be a shame for Heeney to play his whole career and give us 0 flags, Rampe , guys we love .

But I can see a world where Grundy is basically done next year and we lose a key part of feeding the midfield .

To be truthful,I think 2026 or 2027 are bigger chances. We have 3 super Academy talents coming at the end of the year

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[The King!]

To be truthful,I think 2026 or 2027 are bigger chances. We have 3 super Academy talents coming at the end of the year

On Infinix X6525 using BigFooty.com mobile app

Yeah but history suggests they will need time , even if they are good enough for senior footy straight away. Let's say 2 seasons to establish themselves then the guys I listed are declining or left.

I think we need to reinforce 25-29 year olds, but unfortunately we probably just watch chad leave for instance . Horse may have cost us a flag staying too long, maybe Cox can defy history and win year one

 

[bedford]

No new mids but nonetheless our midfield has progressed from 2024.

We've effectively added Mills, a twice AA, B&F winning mid/defender now he's fully fit. He played just 8 games and we needed him badly for the GF. Taylor covers Parker's loss. Gus is fully fit and looks ready. Campbell is primed for serious midfield/forward time.

With so many rotating mid/forward options I expect Paps may be afforded more midfield time.

Heeney is looking the best I've seen him. If he can replicate or better his 2024 form and avoid injury the sky's the limit. He inspires the team. Chad's simulation plays almost border on arrogance, but his mutual respect for Heeney is obvious. Our big guns are strutting with that infectious confidence that turns games around in minutes. I'm bloody excited

Grundy needs to be managed and our depth will need to step up when called upon but otherwise I'm confident our midfield can match it with anyone if they bring the right attitude. Remember when a game against the Swans left opposition teams battered and bruised? Brisbane did that to us. We need to bring our hardest edge every week.

How have you seen Heens to say he's looking his best

 

[caesar88]

Yeah but history suggests they will need time , even if they are good enough for senior footy straight away. Let's say 2 seasons to establish themselves then the guys I listed are declining or left.

I think we need to reinforce 25-29 year olds, but unfortunately we probably just watch chad leave for instance . Horse may have cost us a flag staying too long, maybe Cox can defy history and win year one

I'm completely with you on this, I feel like the timing of the two generations in our team isn't going to have much of an overlap.

One thing that does give me a little bit of hope is that Cox has mentioned a few times now that he plans on trying the young kids a lot more. There's no way of doing that while in a flag tilt unless you A) manage senior players and rest them when needed, or B) drop senior players when their form drops off. Either would be very welcome, both would be great to see.

TBD if Cox ends up delivering on it, but if he does, it could help speed up the development of the younger guys and make them more ready to be a consistent performer in a contender, like AJ, Hanners, Lloyd, Roberts etc. have been as young guys over the journey.

 

[anotherletdown]

Probably that most notable point coming out of this is that Adams isn’t currently “red-worthy” AND is at half forward.

No surprise there, pointless trade

 

[anotherletdown]

The season is a Month away ffs its not needed

Correct, but it should be opened directly after the first loss . Knee jerkers need a home

 

[Kiama Chris]

No surprise there, pointless trade

Too good to pass up that should have been passed up. Sad for all parties.

 

[The King!]

Adams has barely been given a run where he should play.

Maybe a coach who isn’t past his used by date will get good footy from him.

 

[caesar88]

Adams has barely been given a run where he should play.

Maybe a coach who isn’t past his used by date will get good footy from him.

We got 19 games of pretty decent midfield support from Adams in a season in which we won the minor premiership. So I would say the Adams trade made a lot of sense from our end. I'm not sure it made quite as much sense from Adams' end, if he was eyeing off more midfield opportunities.

Maybe he looked at our midfield and under-estimated a few in there. Although if he looked at us and thought we were light-on for hard, contested players on the inside, he might not've been that far off the truth...

 

[The King!]

We got 19 games of pretty decent midfield support from Adams in a season in which we won the minor premiership. So I would say the Adams trade made a lot of sense from our end. I'm not sure it made quite as much sense from Adams' end, if he was eyeing off more midfield opportunities.

Maybe he looked at our midfield and under-estimated a few in there. Although if he looked at us and thought we were light-on for hard, contested players on the inside, he might not've been that far off the truth...

I always felt we were being conservative to manage him through, then it just never happened. He had a solid year, underrated on here and maybe only noticed when he wasn’t there

 

[caesar88]

I think the thing I've liked seeing most from all of the pre-season footage has been the lightning-quick handball drills. I wish the Swans had done a compilation of all of our best clearances from last year. If they had I reckon 95% of them would be from us using quick hands to create fast clearances.

The two that come to mind would be against Carlton, when it went Grundy-Adams-Grundy-Wicks by hand out of the centre for Wicks' goal, and against GWS mid-year, when it went Jordon-Heeney-Rowbottom-Grundy-McInerney by hand out of the centre for McInerney's goal.

Honestly don't think we had better clearances all year, and both consisted of basically just handballs. It's soooo important.

 

[The King!]

I think the thing I've liked seeing most from all of the pre-season footage has been the lightning-quick handball drills. I wish the Swans had done a compilation of all of our best clearances from last year. If they had I reckon 95% of them would be from us using quick hands to create fast clearances.

The two that come to mind would be against Carlton, when it went Grundy-Adams-Grundy-Wicks by hand out of the centre for Wicks' goal, and against GWS mid-year, when it went Jordon-Heeney-Rowbottom-Grundy-McInerney by hand out of the centre for McInerney's goal.

Honestly don't think we had better clearances all year, and both consisted of basically just handballs. It's soooo important.

I'm just upset they didn't invite me to the 7 hour grand final review. I would have brought my own chair.

 

[bedford]

I think the thing I've liked seeing most from all of the pre-season footage has been the lightning-quick handball drills. I wish the Swans had done a compilation of all of our best clearances from last year. If they had I reckon 95% of them would be from us using quick hands to create fast clearances.

The two that come to mind would be against Carlton, when it went Grundy-Adams-Grundy-Wicks by hand out of the centre for Wicks' goal, and against GWS mid-year, when it went Jordon-Heeney-Rowbottom-Grundy-McInerney by hand out of the centre for McInerney's goal.

Honestly don't think we had better clearances all year, and both consisted of basically just handballs. It's soooo important.

Even local clubs have this as a number 1 drill , we are no different

 

[caesar88]

Even local clubs have this as a number 1 drill , we are no different

I'm aware. But I think it's one of the most important areas of the game these days and I've thought for a long time we aren't good enough in it, so I like seeing us work on it.

 

[caesar88]

I'm just upset they didn't invite me to the 7 hour grand final review. I would have brought my own chair.

They watched it inside a secure vault in case you showed up with your bag of tomatoes

 

[The King!]

They watched it inside a secure vault in case you showed up with your bag of tomatoes

It would in all seriousness be interesting , to actually hear them say what they tried too do at set moments.

 

[liz]

I'm aware. But I think it's one of the most important areas of the game these days and I've thought for a long time we aren't good enough in it, so I like seeing us work on it.

If you’d popped along to a training session any time in the last decade or two you’d probably have witnessed them doing similar drills. Yes, it’s important but it’s not a Cox innovation.

 

[liz]

It would in all seriousness be interesting , to actually hear them say what they tried too do at set moments.

There was a lot of focus on what they did (or more accurately, didn’t do) to support team mates. This focus has been continued into the pre-season.

However, just like hand ball drills, it’s not new or innovative. I’ve heard Cox himself speak before about the need for players to make quick decisions about whether they can impact a contest and, of not, to move to where they can help a team mate (eg create space, close down space, pick up an opponent et al). I feel this has been more of a refocusing during this pre-season than a radical change of approach or mindset.

 

[Bloods86]

Adams has barely been given a run where he should play.

Maybe a coach who isn’t past his used by date will get good footy from him.

I'm of a different opinion. The more time he spent in midfield, the less effective he was. Had some good games no doubt, but he was best in patches or that run with role against the Lions. I've said it several times, the 4 games where he played in the middle quite a lot, > 40% CBAs, he had 11 clearances total.

Given he doesn't really have a 2nd position, I think he's in line for some sub appearances and if we need a midfield tagger against someone a bit slower, allowing JJ to stay on the best oppo half back.

So not really surprised if he's still in the B team in pre-season.