Training 2026 Preseason Thread

[markm106]

Minimum 4 weeks out for Culley. Not too bad but not ideal.

 

[Charlie_s123]

Minimum 4 weeks out for Culley. Not too bad but not ideal.

At least it's not 4 - 6.

 

[Lampers]

Minimum 4 weeks out for Culley. Not too bad but not ideal.

Arm fracture and as per the article on the club’s website you’d expect Culley would be able to maintain aerobic fitness on bikes and once the post surgery pain subsides some running.

 

[Daemon]

This has not been an ideal preseason.

 

[Capt_Concussion]

This year is essentially a free hit for King you'd think. Preseason has been a shocker.

 

[JP2]

I mean, if we're going to have a terrible preseason, this is the year to have it. No-one expects us to do anything, so in the worst case scenario we have to give a bunch of younger, fringe players a run to see what they can do under a new coach and get a high draft pick out of it.

The only worse preseason I can remember us having was in the run-up to the 2019 season, where we dropped off from preliminary finalists to third bottom. I remember Josh Mahony at the AGM at the end of the year saying that the entire list on the whole only completed 53% of the training sessions during the preseason, which meant that for any given session we effectively only had an average of half the team available. But that drop-off set us up to draft Jackson, Pickett and Rivers, who were all part of our premiership in 2021. Would happily accept an injury-induced collapse this year if it nets us a similar result.

 

[danster168]

This year is essentially a free hit for King you'd think. Preseason has been a shocker.

I just always blame Selwyn. We've basically never been healthy since he took over.

 

[Daemon]

I just always blame Selwyn. We've basically never been healthy since he took over.

I don't know how you can blame him when the injuries are all different.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Regardless, we need to find a new S&C and High Performance Coaches.

 

[Lampers]

I just always blame Selwyn. We've basically never been healthy since he took over.

I’m pretty sure Melbourne has the list with second oldest average age.

Then they recruited Jiath who was perpetually injured at Hawthorn, Mihocek with an existing toe injury and even Matthews with an existing knee injury.

Moniz-Wakefield and McAdam still recovering from serious injuries

Regardless of competence of the strength and conditioning guys those factors increase the degree of difficulty of having a preseason where most of the players are doing most sessions.

 

[Lord Nev]

Player Sponsor Event Notes (via Coach Cam on Twitter)

Injury-wise, confirmed Salem’s hamstring is why he’s out. Viney is out indefinitely with achilles soreness and is very much day-to-day with the approach. Culley was flying before breaking his arm in yesterday’s match sim. With the number of modified loads and injuries, 7–8 Casey players helped fill the gaps yesterday.

Ball movement is trending in a really positive direction according to Sparrow. In previous years the defence was rock solid, so in training offence would stall, this year it feels flipped. The pace and intent with ball in hand has impressed internally.

Definitely a much more direct game plan. Move down the middle, hit targets and give forwards one on one opportunities.

Mihocek has been really impressed with the work of Jefferson. He said Jeffo’s biggest weapon is his finishing, crediting the huge amount of work he’s put into fitness and conditioning. Because he finished the year under an injury cloud he never really had a break, “coming in ready rather than chasing form”. Roo is also looking the goods, while Chekers was described as a “calming presence” by Jeffo, helping build cohesion across the forward line.

Mihochek continues to gravitate toward younger players and enjoys helping them grow. He spoke about how seeing others succeed brings the best out in his own footy. Howes was also mentioned as someone who has looked really good throughout the pre-season by Viney.

Kozzie’s stiff arms were being described as “welcome to the AFL” moments for Tommy Matthews, who has spent time in the rehab group and spending time picking Viney’s brain.

Viney was offered the morning off after yesterday’s tough injury news but chose to attend the player sponsor event regardless.

Players were also saying they “can’t wait to move into Waverley”

 

[Demon 16]

Hope this is wrong but I’ve heard Viney out for almost the whole season.

 

[Lampers]

Hope this is wrong but I’ve heard Viney out for almost the whole season.

This will sound really harsh, but is Viney out for the year actually the worst thing? It would force the club to move on from him. As great as he has been at times, Viney especially more recently has been a bit of a “problem” due to poor foot skills and lack of positional flexibility.

He’s also shown he pretty much requires an unbroken preseason to be at his best and no matter what happens from now he’s had the furthest thing from that this preseason.

 

[Lord Nev]

This will sound really harsh, but is Viney out for the year actually the worst thing? It would force the club to move on from him. As great as he has been at times, Viney especially more recently has been a bit of a “problem” due to poor foot skills and lack of positional flexibility.

He’s also shown he pretty much requires an unbroken preseason to be at his best and no matter what happens from now he’s had the furthest thing from that this preseason.

I think we still need Viney (and Steele) tbh. We've seen how relying on young players in the midfield can go, and I'm not sure players like Windsor, Langford, even Culley with his injury history would go playing in the guts all game for a whole season.

Definitely agree on the kicking, but I was hoping they'd be looking at Viney and Steele as pure extractors this year who would address our clearance issues by winning it out to Koz, Langford, Windsor, Rivers etc etc. So in that setup he'd be more using it by hand most of the time.

Not fussed being without him for a bit, but definitely not for a whole year. We lack the physical maturity to deal with that, and we're already struggling with the injury list so we need all the depth we can get.

 

[Lord Nev]

 

[mrmonkey]

I reckon we could make do without Viney providing Steel stays fit. Viney missing most the season isn't an issue imo.

 

[MarcMaverick]

This year is a lab experiment anyway. New coach,gamestyle/plan, personnel etc...

 

[PerfectFooty]

Sounds like the Viney body issues of old is back again. Would at least be at 250 games at this point from the footy he's missed

 

[markm106]

With losing Trac and Clarry in the middle we can’t underestimate the need for big/experienced bodies in there. Got to get games into the likes of Langford and Culley also.

 

[mrmonkey]

With losing Trac and Clarry in the middle we can’t underestimate the need for big/experienced bodies in there. Got to get games into the likes of Langford and Culley also.

Yes, but we essentially replaced Oliver for Steele so we have only really lost Trac. Oliver hasn't been good for two years, maybe patches here and there but mostly average output. Trac is the big hole we're missing but he also hasn't had the same impact and I feel he has spent more time forward anyway. I'm not saying it won't be a challenge but I also think we shouldn't overestimate the loss in experience as well. Also think that our younger guys aren't undersized. It's not like when we lost Bruce and McDonald and relied on Morton and Gysbert. Langford is already a good size, Rivers is a solid player, Pickett is small but tough, not sure who else will go through there.

 

[markm106]

Yes, but we essentially replaced Oliver for Steele so we have only really lost Trac. Oliver hasn't been good for two years, maybe patches here and there but mostly average output. Trac is the big hole we're missing but he also hasn't had the same impact and I feel he has spent more time forward anyway. I'm not saying it won't be a challenge but I also think we shouldn't overestimate the loss in experience as well. Also think that our younger guys aren't undersized. It's not like when we lost Bruce and McDonald and relied on Morton and Gysbert. Langford is already a good size, Rivers is a solid player, Pickett is small but tough, not sure who else will go through there.

I think just the strong body of Clarry. Can’t bully him. He didn’t perform near where we would’ve liked. Langford and Rivers already have the big bodies. Just need the experience. Where to stand at stoppage etc. I’m linking the new mix. Just think Viney still an important cog. But agree that he is not someone we want in there all the time.

 

[mrmonkey]

I think just the strong body of Clarry. Can’t bully him. He didn’t perform near where we would’ve liked. Langford and Rivers already have the big bodies. Just need the experience. Where to stand at stoppage etc. I’m linking the new mix. Just think Viney still an important cog. But agree that he is not someone we want in there all the time.

Fair enough, I think the main thing is when we do have Viney in there, he can be the one on the inside winning it while the others stay out. Our biggest flaw was we had too many guys getting sucked into the contest leaving players free on the out.

 

[Phoenix_9]

How’s Jack Steele

9

Jack Steele

Age

30

Ht

187cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.9

5star

K

8.7

3star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

6.8

5star

CL

3.6

5star

D

21.3

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

16.8

4star

K

5.0

2star

HB

11.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

6.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

looking? (I haven’t been following preseason) I hope he kills it for you, did not deserve to be pushed out, I’m not happy about it. He’s a legend of a bloke/player

 

[markm106]

Fair enough, I think the main thing is when we do have Viney in there, he can be the one on the inside winning it while the others stay out. Our biggest flaw was we had too many guys getting sucked into the contest leaving players free on the out.

I’d like to see more centre bounces with one of Steele and Viney. Don’t want them both in there too often. Agree that you want guys like Viney feeding the better users.

 

[Bluelegs]

Not sure how fractured bones has anything to do with the fitness boss.