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Training 2026 Preseason Thread

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Not us but has anyone seen this clip of Carlton's training going around. They look quite ordinary by foot
 
FootyBot13 said:
Oh hey, you can see the abondoned grandstand at Princes. Usually the cameras try and hid it.
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Well Channel 7 won't need to do any hiding with VFL games played there now
 

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28th Jan, Wed: Training report
  • Mihocek back training with the main group.
  • The CEO Guerra came about half way through the session in his pinstriped suit and dark sunnies. Shook Viney's hand and chatted with some players/staff for about an hour.
  • Non training/Modified: Viney didn't train (I'm questioning whether he'll play round 1), Laps Mcadam did his usual thing, Kentfield and Petty in fluoro concussion hats did some non contact stuff and a fair bit of running. Henderson didn't train. Tom Campbell still walking in a neck brace. Sharp still on a modified training block but is running at 90% percent. AMW did some 200m run throughs and maybe some other things. Gawn definitely doing some sort of modified training. He took part on a lot of the session but at some stages he stepped out and did some 200m run throughs. Melksham did some run throughs and not much else.
  • The first drill was kicking to an outnumbered 1 v 2 on the lead. So they were working on hitting a target i50 and the fwd trying to find space against 2 defenders.
  • After that it was more full ground stuff without tackling or caring too much about goals etc.
  • Overall, I'd say the kicking was very poor today. But it was windy. But it was still poor factoring that in. The ball kept sailing over the heads of our forwards and players continuously ran underneath ball and they never adjusted.


Top 5 Trainers:
- Rivers
  • Windsor
  • Culley
  • Steele
  • Kozzie

Special mentions: Steven May trained well. He was vocal and looked to be in better shape than 1 or 2 weeks ago (which doesn't make heaps of sense).
Tholstrup: He's putting his best foot fwd this pre-season.
Culley was also his usual busy self.

Other notes:
  • Xavier Lindsay has massive calfs.lol. Some of his training efforts were a bit inconsistent. I think he could bump up his intensity just 10%.
  • JVR just continuing to look super fit and strong. Elite shape.
  • Jefferson did some nice things.
  • Latrelle: did some really nice things. He kicked 2 goals in the match sim type drills. 2 classy finishes. Surely best 23 and plays most games.
  • Oscar Berry trained okay. Just needs to give himself more space from the man on the mark. Got his kick smothered once and was super close from multiple smothered kicks. But other than that, he's looking better each session.
  • Onley trained well. His kicking is the watch but he's a big lad and he was involved in training leading into pockets of space to take a few marks.
  • Thomas Matthews doing 90% of training now. Ready made prospect that needs no time in the gym.
 
Last edited:
schmuttt said:
Thanks Dan.

I noticed you've put Windsor as one of the better trainers a few times in your reports, what are you liking from his work so far?
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Mostly just going by who I'm noticing. Popping to space in the back line and actually being used often. He uses his speed with some 1/2 handballs and pushes fwd well. His speed does stand out to me at training. I haven't seen him in too much centre square stuff. Today, he did find a bit of the footy in the defensive half. That could be just the nature of the drill though.

I think King is going to embrace a bit of 'move it forward' footy, almost at all costs, even if not conventional and I think if Windsor can just take the game on and move the ball forward then I think King's reported game plan will suit him. I'm in the camp that I don't think he has star quality as I think his kicking needs a bit of work but I think if he can take the game on more and work just as hard defensively as offensively then he has the tools to become a strong afl player to me. The AFL isn't getting any slower so guys with elite speed will always be very valuable. That's why I like Xavier Taylor as well as Latrelle so far.
 

Track Watch: Jai Culley dominates Melbourne match sim, Max Gawn still on light duties​

After getting a lifeline to stay on at the Dees, former Eagle Jai Culley has put on another pre-season clinic as he stakes a claim for a berth in Steven King’s first team as Melbourne coach.

Emerging Demon Jai Culley has put another stunning performance during match simulation as he looks to claim his position inside coach Steven King’s best team.

The former Eagle was given a lifeline at the end of last pre-season, landing a vacant spot on Melbourne’s list after an ACL injury to Andy Moniz-Wakefield.

He played four games for the Demons last season, but after an impressive summer on the track it looks all-but certain Culley will feature in King’s round 1 side.

The 22 year old was a ball magnet – rolling through the midfield and pushing forward to set up attacking thrusts.

He wasn’t the only impressive Demon on track, with Koltyn Tholstrup enjoying a more-prominent midfield role.

The 19-gamer has struggled for consistency in the senior side through his first two seasons, but he performed strongly on Wednesday as a high half forward who rolled through the midfield.

Tholstrup provided track watchers with one highlight as he crumbed the ball in the centre square, burnt two trailing opponents with his leg speed and lacing out young ruck Max Heath coming out of the forward line.

FRESH FACES​

New Demon Changkuoth Jiath was electric off half back, often using his leaping ability to intercept marks from long down-the-line kicks.

Jiath played in tandem with Jake Lever in the back half, spoiling and intercepting as well as breaking through packs with ball in hand.

The Demons will be without Jake Bowey for much of the season after a foot injury in the summer, paving the way for an important role in defence for Jiath.

Former Saint Heath rotated forward and offered a target deep in attack, plucking a number of marks for his side.

First-round draftee Latrelle Pickett showed some class with a dancing effort that evaded three tackling attempts before hitting forward Aidan Johnson on the lead.

Jack Steele lined up on Harvey Langford during match sim and beat his younger teammate convincingly – leading Langford around the park and keeping the second-year player quiet.

IN THE FORWARD MIX​

It’s still early days in the King era at Melbourne, but the forward line still appears to be a work-in-progress as the key targets failed to fire in the match sim.

The incumbent Jacob van Rooyen took a strong contested mark on Lever, which led to a goal from a 45-degree angle, but otherwise struggled to impose himself.

Matthew Jefferson had an impressive session last week, but couldn’t impact in a similar fashion on Wednesday.

Bayley Fritsch was crafty up forward and hit the scoreboard.

Recruit Brody Mihocek has been limited this summer as he has battled a nagging foot injury, and while he failed to have influence the former Pie did participate in match sim in promising signs for Melbourne.

Kysaiah Pickett appears set for a prominent midfield role in 2026, but he did push forward to kick two goals in the 40-minute match sim.

TAKING IT SLOW​

Captain Max Gawn continues to wear a hand brace as he recovers from a broken finger.

The ruck took part in the warm-up drills but looked overly vigilant of his finger during ball work.

He moved to the boundary line and ran laps for the rest of the session, watching on as his teammates competed in match sim.

Christian Salem and Jake Melksham were restricted to running laps and kept away from the

main group for the session.

Shane McAdam also ran laps as he overcomes the Achilles injury that wiped out his 2025 season.

Steven May was still limited to a modified program, but he did participate in some of the larger drills.

Jack Viney still seems some time away as he recovers from his Achilles soreness.

Ruck Tom Campbell is still in a neck brace as he recovers from a torn ligament suffered at training.

Andy Moniz-Wakefield started with the main group but eventually completed light drills and did not participate in the match sim.

Track Watch: Jai Culley dominates Melbourne match sim, Max Gawn still on light duties
 
Surely whoever gave me shit about saying Culley is our closest player to a Brownlow needs to take some sort of penalty if he is our highest vote scorer in 2026.

I Love I Love Lamb?
 
Hey Dees fans

Any insight into the style King will have the team play this year? Will it be a Geelong short chipping to easy targets moving forward, the Goodwin keep the ball off at all costs or something different?
Cheets
 

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MarcMaverick said:
That'll upset someone, who had him as a whipping boy.
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Fair to say i know a bit more than a foxfooty reporter who probably cant name half the players.

Lever was his usual self. Screaming unneccessarily, running into trouble and questionable ball use. He was moving well though. Half of the article was made up. There wasnt any true match sim so they just hyping up anyone for the sake of a story. No accountability for journos these days.
 
Love to see that we're planning on trusting guys one on one aka not making the game hard for no ****ing reason.
 
Lord Nev said:
Not sure on two years to turn it around, can take a long time for a team to learn the game plan well enough that they instinctively execute and can trust where each other will be. I'm expecting this year to be pretty messy, a few blow outs, but hopefully a few games where they put it together as well, then next year it should be more embedded.

Currently though IMO, the list doesn't match up to a 2 year turn around because we don't have a lot in the peak age bracket. We can possibly address that through trades, but I think it could be 3-4 years before we're firing if not. In 2 years we're looking at a lot of blokes gone and not much around the 28 year old bracket. 27-28 year olds in 2 years are Jiath, Henderson, Petty, Chandler, Johnson, and Sparrow. That's not a senior core to be carrying the load.
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Yeah that was always a huge issue for us. Very poor around that age that should be peaking shortly. Hopefully the younger guys can carry that load or we're f*d. We had f* all behind Trac, Oliver,Max, May, Lever, Langdon, Melk, Viney. Once they are all cooked or gone it will be interesting to see what happens. Trade hasn't really ever worked for us as we struggle to attract players. Hard to get quality that age out of clubs. But we should have a ton of cash.
 
danster168 said:
Fair to say i know a bit more than a foxfooty reporter who probably cant name half the players.

Lever was his usual self. Screaming unneccessarily, running into trouble and questionable ball use. He was moving well though. Half of the article was made up. There wasnt any true match sim so they just hyping up anyone for the sake of a story. No accountability for journos these days.
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You wouldn't know more than the "Coach Cam" bloke though. Is at a lot of training sessions, every Casey game, and is moving into sports journalism as a job. Has you covered in everything but the beep test I reckon mate.

Not sure why you ignored that one, doesn't fit the narrative perhaps. Unlike you...
 
Lord Nev said:
You wouldn't know more than the "Coach Cam" bloke though. Is at a lot of training sessions, every Casey game, and is moving into sports journalism as a job. Has you covered in everything but the beep test I reckon mate.

Not sure why you ignored that one, doesn't fit the narrative perhaps. Unlike you...
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maybe provide something to the board first before potting others.

hopefully Coach Cam can provide some insights into Riley Bonner and Ricky Mentha then.
 
danster168 said:
maybe provide something to the board first before potting others.

hopefully Coach Cam can provide some insights into Riley Bonner and Ricky Mentha then.
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Look up a few posts slugger. Shared two training reports - BOTH of them called out Lever as a top performer. Wild hey.
 

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danster168 said:
hopefully Coach Cam can provide some insights into Riley Bonner and Ricky Mentha then.
Click to expand...
Mentha is mentioned in the Fox article that you didn't actually read. (You said they made up things about match sim, but nowhere in the article does it say it was match sim)...
 
Lord Nev said:
Look up a few posts slugger. Shared two training reports - BOTH of them called out Lever as a top performer. Wild hey.
Click to expand...

He was telling you to touch grass. All you do is repost articles and tweets. Honestly, you could be replaced by a content scraper and no one would notice the difference.
 
Lord Nev said:
Mentha is mentioned in the Fox article that you didn't actually read. (You said they made up things about match sim, but nowhere in the article does it say it was match sim)...
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i dont know what article youre talking about. im talking about the ones that you posted. which literally is headlined with 'Jai Culley dominates Match Sim'. Even though there was no match sim.
 
danster168 said:
i dont know what article youre talking about. im talking about the ones that you posted. which literally is headlined with 'Jai Culley dominates Match Sim'. Even though there was no match sim.
Click to expand...
Just pointing out slugger - "Coach Cam" said there was some match sim, Herald Sun said there was some match sim, reckon maybe you just didn't cotton on it was match sim when they did it maybe.

Also, you said: "Fair to say i know a bit more than a foxfooty reporter who probably cant name half the players." "There wasnt any true match sim so they just hyping up anyone for the sake of a story. No accountability for journos these days."

But in the Fox Footy article they didn't say anything about 'match sim'. Maybe you should show some of that accountability?
 

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