Training 2026 Training Blog - Training Reports only - *NO DISCUSSION*

[Aphrodite]

Same principle as the Bluemour File - this thread is for TRAINING REPORTS ONLY

No discussion is to take place in this thread!


All discussion belongs over here:

Training - 2026 Training - reports, pics etc

Begins tomorrow …

www.bigfooty.com

It's an easy reference point for training reports without having to sift through pages & pages of posts.

By all means copy and paste training reports from this thread using #TrackTalk hashtag which can be referenced back for discussion in the 'Pre-Season 2025 - Training reports, pics etc' thread & vice versa:-

​

Training - 2026 Training - reports, pics etc

Begins tomorrow …

www.bigfooty.com

This has been found to be a valuable reference tool for those of us that love reading training reports and can't make it to training sessions whether it be to due to work commitments, living interstate etc.

The time and effort our posters put in attending training sessions and keep us up to date on how our players/new recruits are tracking is invaluable and we all love reading their informative training reports and we thank you.

 

[Aphrodite]

Went along this morning to take a look at training. The Women were out first bit of running and even some dancing on the far side of the ground. With the match tomorrow they weren't going to do too much, couple running laps, Abby McKay, Lily Goss and Harriet Cordner. The group were in fine spirits and were really enjoying themselves, gave away some small footballs and signed stuff to finish up.

As the women were doing their signing session the first to fourth year players came out to begin their session. There was quite a large group training, including Lucas and Ben Camporeale, Charelson, Carroll, Wilson, Cowen, Motlop, Flynn Young, Evans, Moir, Lord, Boyd, O'Keeffe, Monahan and Duffy. Jagger Smith and Ollie Hollands were wearing the Yellow don't tackle me caps for some of the contact parts of the session. In addition there were senior players in Walsh, Cerra, Saad, Kemp, Newman, Pittonet and Lewis Young. Jacob Weitering was doing his own thing, not training with the main group, kicking with a trainer and running laps on his own, not sure why as he didn't look injured or anything.

In addition recently traded players Chesser, Reidy, Hayward and Florent joined in with the main group. Plus some others including Ethan Phillips, Flynn Riley and Sam Paea from the VFL team this year. There was a bloke I couldn't ID looked a little like Harry Charelson, similar size and build wearing No. 39, didn't recognise him and thought it was Harry in the wrong number to start with. No sign of Elijah Hollands or Will White despite the talk about them being invited to train on.

They trained for a couple of hours. Drills varied from handball competition in small groups, to kicking and running to support and get the ball back. Even some limited match sim drills through the middle of the ground. Quite a few drills worked on outnumbering the opposition and moving the ball quickly. Heard the coaches telling them to move forward (not sideways or backward), which hopefully reflects a change in the game plan. Finished with some running, about half a lap at a time, to be completed within a time limit and then repeated with limited rest.

#TrackTalk

 

[Aphrodite]

Training was held between 09:45am and 12:15pm


Senior players that were not present included:
Williams, Fogarty, Cripps, McKay, McGovern, Haynes, Hewett and Cottrell.

All the young players were at training

Please correct me if I am mistaken but Some train on players I identified were
45 Mirkov, 12 Paea, 31 Phillips and a red haired small forward wearing 39

All players took part in the training drills, which included:

Press formations
Fundamentals
Outnumber the evens
Attacking formations

In my view, the players that stood out were
Evans, Charleson ad their kicking and decision making skills were the highlight


The players that shifted in and out of rehab depending on the hardness of the drills included
Florent, Smith, Kemp, Cerra, Walsh and Newman.

A very slight concern when Motlop went away from the drills for a few minutes to address a finger injury

#TrackTalk

 

[WildmanOfCarlton]

Attended training again this morning, quite a nice day. As others have said both Harry Dean and Jack Ison ran out with the team and did the warm up and Dean in particular did quite a few drills. Cody Walker was also did some of the early drills, wearing his fathers old number and a hat, saw Andrew (also wearing a hat) and Arli down on the fence talking to Davies and one of the recruitment guys.

The bulk of the trainers were the first to fourth year players, can't recall seeing Cowen, the new recruits: Chesser, Florent, Hayward and Reidy. Plus Walshy, Pitonett, Hewett and Acres, and the same three from the VFL - Ethan Phillips, Flynn Riley, Sam Paea and Taj Logan. At different times noticed Cortrell walking and bouncing a ball near the goals, Kemp running laps and Weitering was out with a trainer doing his own thing again like last week.

Training was a lot like last week, warm up with running in a straight line, some agility stuff running to different coloured cones and kicking with a partner. They completed a number of different drills, usually with some playing defender in a coloured bib, to work the ball past the defence. Some of the drills were in tighter space with more defenders, while others had the defenders out numbered and covered half the ground. Right in the middle of everything they did some multilpe timed running drills around the boundary, with one group doing a shuttle run.

Then they completed a drill in pairs with one standing the mark, moving the ball backward and forwards the length of one side of the ground. Finally then played some match sim across the whole ground blue against orange (training tops turned inside out). The ball is usually rolled or given to a defender at one end and they attempt to move the ball the length of the field, Hollands and Jagga were wearing yellow don't tackle me hats, which didn't stop someone from tackling Oli at one stage.

I know some people are interested in who is "training the house down". Not sure I feel qualified to make those judgements. I will say I liked a few times Chesser got going, he moves very well. I also like a few things I've seen from Reidy and Flynn Riley who both are more agile than you'd expect. Jagga Smith is eye catching when he's got the ball and as usual the likes of Walshy and Hollands run hard at training like they do in games.




#TrackTalk

 

[David Sylvian]

Great day down in Lorne, boys were just rolling through the drills, ison and jagga smith impressed me with their burst, overlap running and skills.
Reidy is a unit, keen to impose his strength.
Elijah looked ok some nice foot skills.
Rehab unit with cotts fog, Kempy, Charleson. Boyd a shoulder issue, nothing to serious.
Crippa, wow!
The absence of taping, strapping among the group, all looked in great nick. Better half says the boys should just play as skins for some reason.
Overall an encouraging hit out.
Burgers and coke at the milk bottle went down a treat. As did the stroll along on the beach.







#TrackTalk

 

[BlueAbroad]

#TrackTalk

 

[Bamboo Harvester]

The session went for about 2 and a half hours - fair bit of match sim and skills work, ie kicking drills. It's something which has been discussed on here a fair bit, but there was a definite focus on kicking.

It was kind of weird though not seeing Curnow or Silvagni or TDK out there, and a whole bunch of fresh faces. Overall, we do look fairly short even with Phillips, Riley and Paea out there from our VFL.

Just a few random observations for this time of year:

• Reidy is one massive unit. Our ruck is a different look without TDK there -we now have 3 bash and crash brothers with him, Pitto and HOK. No doubt the focus for them this year will be to provide the contest - whether in ruck or up forward.
• Saad and Florent looked good across half back in the match sim...and keep a lookout for Billy, reckon he's found another gear and now looks more comfortable at this level. Think he'll be the successor to Saad, fingers crossed. Special mention to Gov who was also playing back in defence.
• Elijah was the clear standout today - maybe partially because I was looking for him, but his kicking on either side is outstanding, and has uncanny spatial awareness. Stood out in the match sim, and dominated the repeat running drills.
• I agree with Chloe - Cow has got a bit of presence to him, could be the new tatts, but he's a bit of a beast.
• We have to re-sign Walsh as a priority. Good to see him in full pre-season training rather than running laps. Outstanding today in the match sim and looked to be moving freely.
• Campo boys looked much better in the kicking drills than this time last year. The 2 Irish boys do seem to struggle just a little though - still doesn't look natural for them with the oval ball. You feel it's make or break for them this year.
• Reckon Harry D's gonna be a beauty when he's fully matured - loved his aggression at the ball, and composed by foot. I also liked the look of Chesser on a wing - if he can stay fit, we may have got ourselves a bit of a bargain there.
• Jagga took part in most of the drills/match sim. He's still incredibly light, and noticed he got easily pushed away from the contest on a few occassions. I could see his role more as the first receiver than on the inside.
• George is gonna have another cracking season.

Like I said in an earlier post, it's hard to take it all in with separate groups simultaneously undertaking drills all over the ground - your eyes are darting in every direction like Marty Feldman trying to take everything in.

Similarly in the match sim, you're trying to watch both sides at the same time - as opposed to when you're watch a proper H&A game, where you're concentrating on your own side and couldn't give a flying fornication about the other mob.




#TrackTalk

 

[AT97]

Random observations, so I’ll be a bit all over the shop.

We have a lot more noticeably good kicks in this squad. There were passages of play where the ball didn’t hit the ground (let’s see if this transfers to an actual game). Sizzling kicks to leading forwards too — I’m looking at Boyd and Wilson amongst a heap of others.

I’ve joined others in thinking Florent will be very valuable for us in ’26.

Byrne is a ripper. What you see in the draft-day highlights video is what I saw on the track.

Kemp and Newman joined in everything other than drills where tackling was in play.

Carroll and Fog were in rehab for the whole session, I think.

A game-simulation drill was played in a very tight, narrow area on one side of the ground — a 3/4-length field with the wings brought in tight. They went into the corridor as often as possible, with outlet kicks only seemingly at the minimum legally allowed kicking distance. They moved the ball quickly, but to me it wasn’t manic — it was more controlled — and the outlet was taken if the corridor was covered.

There was a drill in the forward line where players worked on blocking or creating paths for leading players, and bringing the ball to ground if there was no chance to mark. Harry, HOK and Kemp were all part of the same team. This was my favorite viewing of the session.

Still no idea who No. 50 was.

Not sure if Frank can recapture the form of late last year, but in the last couple of sessions I’ve seen he is certainly eye-catching. He just seems to be in positions where the ball ends up.

Speaking of eye-catching, Moir is another.

Lots of tight handball drills where the objective is to get it moving to the outside to run with it, or kick with less pressure.

Umpires were involved in quite a few drills.

I’ll leave the more nuanced commentary on drills to those who have more understanding than me.





#TrackTalk

 

[BlueAbroad]

#TrackTalk

 

[Tjblues]

Didn’t see Ainsworth, Cottrell, Duffy, Saad, HOF on the track at all (hard to keep track so not impossible one was there)

Fog, Kemp, Newman, Carroll involved in 1 or 2 drills but largely rehab. Carroll outmarked Flynn Riley 4 consecutive times during a drill at one point, looks a bit stronger.

Haynes ran a stack of laps but didn’t see a footy in his hands.

Clear standout for the day was Walsh for me. He’s moving at serious speed whenever he has the ball and his ability to follow up and dispose effectively without slowing is a serious weapon.

Others who look the goods:

Frank’s kicking is seriously good. Long penetrating and very rarely off target. Kicked 2 in 20 mins of full ground match sim

Florent just looks a plug and play every week guy. Wants the ball, uses it well and with purpose, always talking.

Didn’t see a heap of him but Billy Wilson was quick and clean. Wasn’t sure if he had AFL traits but he’s tracking better.

Honourable mentions:

Boyd looks to be taking his kicking on again.

Lucas Campo ran well and did a few nice things.

Acres ran his guts out all day and got a stack of it during the match sim.

Lord was busy, as was Motlop who proved a valuable link in the chain higher up the ground

Young players:

Jagga slowly ramping up

Didn’t see a heap of Dean/Byrne/Ison. All had a couple of moments.

Ison seemed to be splitting minutes on one wing with Chesser. Maybe both on a managed load?

SSP:

Lij showed he has all the talent. White worked hard.

Phillips is a nice size, competes in the air but his kicking is a bit untidy.

Riley got monstered in a drill by Carroll and looks a raw, skinny prospect.


Overall a long session. Out before 10 and finished running just after 1. Tough going given the heat but good to see the vast majority involved in almost all of it.





#TrackTalk

 

[DirtyLeeds]

Not so Little Dirty and I paid particular attention to the ruckmen, and the mid sized forwards.

Reidy's grunt and run was a highlight, out there to snatch the 1st ruck job, and as Pitto will attest went very hard (by the way any news as to what happened to Marc? Looked like a forearm jolt to the throat), whilst Riley is one big unit he was easily pushed off it, looked like a baby giraffe compared to Reidy, who ran with the ball on more than one occasion, and is a very good kick on the run too! Pitto looked a lot more lean, held his own in the ruck, but we felt that Reidy may have already gone past him with his ability to get around the ground.

Didn't see HOK in any ruck duels, H seemed to do anything around goals. HOK's kicking needs plenty of work, actually doubt he's a walk up start in the early season, he may have to wait as Reidy looks ready.

Moir, Haywood and Lij all looked in great form, kicked goals, marked and were involved in the fast passages of play that dominated the session. Throw in Frankie (who was literally everywhere), Mots (jumping out of his boots) and the unseen Ainsworth and we have a multipronged attack to support H. Might finally see more of Williams on ball too.

Also feel that Kemp goes back this year, seems like the Achilles is well and truly healed he trained full on, his speed was out there for all to see, and confidently jumped for marks. Jagga reminded me of David Glascott, quick feet and hands, relentless running, great kick, bring on round one. Newy just did Newy things, long searching kicks, straight line running, he's back. Didn't see Cotters, Ainsworth, or Saad and Haynes just ran laps

Overall we were impressed with the session, reckon we have the ruck catered for in Reidy, the dynamic of the forward line has changed and we have the cattle to make it work. And Kemp replaces JSOS down back. Still a Key Defender down, but Phillips (??) went alright so that may be the second slot taken.
As a group as they ran a lap they were really noisy, everyone in that group was banging on, there was more noise coming from them than the doof doof!! That impressed us, they already look bonded...






#TrackTalk

 

[Walshy_The_Goat]

Bluebaggers Edge | Final Open Training: Highlights & Report

I went down and filmed the lads as they had their final open training session, putting in the hard yards in hot conditions to round out 2025 - and there was one particular player who stood out massively!

WATCH:


Spotify: https://shorturl.at/EF2fS
Apple Pods: https://shorturl.at/4v2Du




#TrackTalk

 

[Walshy_The_Goat]

Here are the full highlights in all their glory!

Bluebaggers Edge | Open Training: Video Highlights Compilation!

Catch some of the video highlights we captured from the final open training session for 2025!





#TrackTalk

 

[Tjblues]

Training


No sighting

Motlop obvs

Non contact

Pitto
Jagga (only for some drills)

AFL academy

Cody Walker
Lewis houndsome (who is a very big boy)

Light duties

HOF
Newman
Cowan (did far more than the above 2)

Unsure of

48 (Phillips) maybe
47 (possibly Darcy tucker)

Managed minutes

Dean
Chesser
Cottrell

SSP

Didn’t think either WW or Lij stood out massively. Elijah at one point in the match sim completely split the defence open with a kick to Jagga in the middle, but both were fine without being spectacular

McKay walked off post warm up, came back out and did some v light jogging

Cottrell involved and moving well, kicking very high and a bit ordinary but good to see him amongst it

Haynes looks good, as does Florent

Generally skills not the tidiest but a very windy day so not unexpected

Walker would be in the conversation to play Opening round if he was allowed, athletic and impressive though tries to do a bit much with his kicking at times and sprays

Something about Matt Carroll. Looks confident and like he wants a spot in the 23. Provided great run and carry during drills

Ainsworth, Florent and Hayward are all highly competent. Provide direction, move with speed and purpose.

Slight concerns around BCampo. Able to compete physically with pretty much anyone but his kicking at pace or under pressure is almost always lacking in one of direction or penetration.

Surprised but pleased to see Kemp in essentially full training. Looks thicker than previous years

Byrne did some nice things, tidy kick, sticky tackles and took a really nice mark in his hands under some serious heat

Funny moment in front of the stand during match sim where Voss spent 5 seconds screaming at Ison to “lengthen” (move further forward as his team was trying to exit defence). After 1 handball the ball went to Saad who had a run and thumped it 55m straight to Ison who marked exactly where Voss told him to run.

Side note: 4 50m penalties during the 45 mins of match sim. Clearly the tightening of the stand rule is going to take some getting used to.

Session was fine, nothing to write home about. A little bit scrappy but 1 week post break and windy day mitigates that slightly. Out there for 3+ hours again.

** Editing to add that I agree with Kingy about Wilson. Looks very zippy and his kicking was precise and punchy **



#TrackTalk

 

[Walshy_The_Goat]

Was instructed by the club that I was unable to film the match sim due to sensitive setups/gameplans etc, unfortunately, so limited in the amount I could capture - but nonetheless here is my report and my accompanying vision!








#TrackTalk

 

[Soapy V]

Just a few added comments and observations from where I sat

1. Chesser is a beast and quick. If he can put it together we have a steal
2. Kemp was a worry around Aug/Sept. Had some treatment to "stretch" achilles? and now running without issue
3. Cottrell is easing in nicely. Was some concerns around injury but fingers crossed
4. Asked about SSP and no one says anything. It's a watch. I asked about getting another tall and it's definitely an option and they are looking at several players that could be considered. Derksen may be one? Both Elijah & White are flying. If they both still are mid Feb it's going to be a tough decision but no one is favouring one or the other
5. Watch Hayward/Florent and you notice how they do the little things well. Things we as a group haven't done. Little things like extra push ups, or support, or just that extra bit of running. Hoping it rubs off
6. Seems to be more skills work which is good. It was windy but we were working on pulling the trigger and drilling targets and changing angles
7. All coaches heavily involved.
8. Kids look good. It's pre season but Wilson, Charleson, Carroll, Lucas, Lord look more at home than before. Watching Lord and Walsh work in match sims is like twins. Both don't stop and just keep pushing and pushing
9. Ison has "it". Just a matter of getting miles into legs and losing that little bit of puppy fat. Has real size. Get him and Chesser into middle and we have some real size in there but have skill and leg speed
Dean looks like they are just easing him in. Looks very calm type and doesn't fumble or make mistakes. Almost unobstrusive
10. Walker looks 23 years old and ready to go
11. Jagga still building and doesn't do all drills. Looks great but I think they are being cautious
12. O'Farrell tracking well and has had no issues. After bye is target


Bottom line is everyone looks good and training looks sharp and professional but I have been here before. What I do like is the professionalism of new players and that we seem to be working more on skills. We also seem to have more options for spots than before

Also, (and it may be me) but I feel a lot of negativity and she'll be right attitude has left the group.

Fingers crossed


PS I was told previously that Duffy had really improved. After watching him I agree. He moves well and skills are good
Reidy is more mobile and has better skills than I thought. With Pittonet not in full training yet I would have him in front for ruck spot




#TrackTalk

 

[AT97]

I only saw most of the match simulation at the end of the session.

Blues v whites

Cotterel - managed
Evans - managed
Newman/HOF doing some running and kicking
Sure there were others who didn’t participate.

Walker doing runs and couldn’t see the other academy kid allocated to us.

Derksen played forward with the white. Didn’t him much in the play.

Only players who played regular senior football last season not in blues team were;

Mcgovern
Kemp
Pitto
Haynes
Cowan
White
Could be a couple more

Chesser only traded in recruit in white

Definitely felt as if the blue team had the core of our senior team.

Midfield had Cripps, Walsh, Hewett, Cerra, lord and Smith.

Wings alternating hb/hf Carroll, both hollands

Williams forward mostly, but also back

Backs weitering, young, saad, dean,

Forwards Mackay, HOK, moir,

All new traded in players in blue

Fun match simulation to watch. Quick and I thought reasonably skillful. Some push and shove and hard hits.

Walsh has found some acceleration didn’t think he had

Cerra good

Carroll and smith were everywhere

Great to see the linkup work of smith. can’t wait for the season proper to see him in action. Also, the fluro cap was off so he was crunched a couple of times.

Not sure who won the game but when I left whites were up…go figure.

Hope some of that makes sense.



#TrackTalk

 

[Juice030103]

My standouts of training

Jagga - Nick Daicos like. Great chain player and you just can’t catch the kid

Carroll - seems to be playing more wing which could be an excellent move. Got hot in a quarter looked like the best player out there for a bit

Cripps - one year on one year off, this years gonna be another good one. Looks all Aus level again


Walsh - probably taking on slightly too many tackles but never seen him so explosive before. Midfield will dominate this year. Rotated with Jagga a mid/ half forward


Reidy - pleasantly surprised. Athletic upgrade on Pitto. Will do the job just fine


Was coming into today expecting bottom 4 from previous YouTube vision, left thinking we are 6-9th range which is awesome in a transition year





#TrackTalk

 

[The Smoking Gun]

Just a couple of notes.

• Most of the list is pretty healthy. Newman & O'Farrell doing some agility work, running and kicking.
• Providing he keeps his head down and bum up Lij will get a list spot. Enormous footy IQ. One of the standouts yet again today.
• Anyone who thinks Hewett isn't going to have an impact this year, book a reservation into your local Sanitarium and organise 3 sessions of electroshock treatment now.
• Matt Carroll has added some size over summer and the longer the session went, the more influential he became. Hard to not see him in the starting 23. Reading of the play is exceptional, strong hands and puts genuine speed on the ball with his accurate kicking.
• Cripps, Cerra, Lord, and Hayward, among others had their moments as well
• Pitto back in full training with no %$#@* given. Just asked Smith who was rag-dolled, swung around and dumped into the turf.
• I'll worry about Acres when the club say 1-2 weeks.

Too early to do a best 23, but pretty much everyone deserved a participation prize. Solid session.




#TrackTalk

 

[BlueAbroad]

#TrackTalk

 

[chickendippas]

Carroll the standout for me today thought he was fantastic. Also thought HOK presented well and took some strong marks. He seems to have filled out quite a bit. Lij doesn’t waste the ball and surely will get a list spot. Did see him come off with an ankle right at the end though so hopefully nothing too serious.

Can see we are really trying to get the ball in the hands of our good users going inside 50. There were some really nice clean passages of play and some pretty scrappy ones. We’re clearly trying to use the corridor with quick movement to open up the 50 which was nice to see.

Only the one session so very hard to get a read on how we’re tracking but it was OK. Didn’t leave full of hope that we’d make a deep finals run or that we would be down the bottom. Somewhere in that 6-10 bracket would be my guess based on today alone.




#TrackTalk

 

[AllHart]

This morning's (Friday 23 January 2026) Open Training at IKON Park.

My 45 minute video featuring Carlton players undertaking a variety of practice drills, sprints, and some intense and enthusiastic match simulations.

​

#TrackTalk

 

[Walshy_The_Goat]

Bluebaggers Edge | Open Training | Carroll & Jagga Shine!

Carroll was the bolter with 3 goals, but it was Jagga who continues to leave us all floored! Tune in to hear the full report and catch the highlights we captured!






##TrackTalk

 

[Walshy_The_Goat]

Giving you the full highlights from the Open Training Match Sim! See who stood out, who kicked the goals and spot the leadership, chemistry and friendly banter amongst it all.



#TrackTalk

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

#TrackTalk