Training 2026 Training Reports

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Good forward lines trap the ball in their forward half. Ours did that inconsistently at best last year.

Two indicators of this are our tackles inside 50 stats and our forward-50 groundball gets stats. They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty solid proxies for how well we're preventing clean opposition rebound.

On that front, the picture for North is… telling.

Curtis led the entire competition for tackles inside 50 in 2025. He’s not part of this debate. He’d be picked in literally any AFL forward line.

After that, the drop-off is steep. Our next regular is Zurhaar, ranked at #48, and then there’s basically SFA until Konstanty down around #74.

For comparison, Geelong had four players inside the top 30.

The forward-50 groundball numbers tell a similar story. We’ve got Zurhaar at #16, Curtis at #18, then no other best-23 regulars until Larkey at #49... and that’s it for the top 100.

(Trembath pops up mid-table on both lists, but his sample size - three games - is too small.)

All of this is a long-winded way of saying: I think our forward personnel mix is part of the problem when it comes to how easily teams rebound against us.

I think sacrificing a tall so we can run multiple fast, defensively accountable smalls - players who harass opposition distributors and keep the ball alive - has to be a priority for 2026.

The best mix IMO is

Larkey, The Bath, Curtis, Zurhaar, Banch and one of Konstanty/Dovaston

Darling to play off the bench/horses for courses.

Having said that, our forward line functioned exceptionally well without Larkey, so who really ****ing knows..

 

[DuckYeah]

some on here still don't think he's in our best 23

He’s not.

 

[DuckYeah]

He must start until someone demands his spot. Larkey, Curtis, Zurharr, Trembath and Darling would be a nightmare for opposition defences. Someone has to end up with an inferior match up we can exploit close to goal. Under the roof that marking power could be an advantage.

Lol running defences will be licking their lips

 

[DuckYeah]

He’s best 23 but not ideal for team composition imo. If we play him early I’d imagine he’d spend more time rucking in order to look after X

Hows the new ruck rules going to impact Darling?

 

[DuckYeah]

The best mix IMO is

Larkey, The Bath, Curtis, Zurhaar, Banch and one of Konstanty/Dovaston

Darling to play off the bench/horses for courses.

Having said that, our forward line functioned exceptionally well without Larkey, so who really ****ing knows..

Thats right. And whether my opinion has CZ on the pine and Duursma on the pitch is moot. You have the right mix in the forward line.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Riley “The Mailman” Hardeman

Let’s all pray that the comparisons are contained to their physiques and nothing more.

 

[kanga kanga kanga]

How about calling him Ben?

We haven't had a Ben at the club since that legend who wore #10.

rough day for commentary if he name was ben dova

 

[rickety]

He’s not.

I reckon he is. I get that he "shouldn't" be, but also that he still is. Still fit and strong, durable, footy smart and a good shot for goal. Still takes a good defender. Imo.

 

[rickety]

Good forward lines trap the ball in their forward half. Ours did that inconsistently at best last year.

Two indicators of this are our tackles inside 50 stats and our forward-50 groundball gets stats. They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty solid proxies for how well we're preventing clean opposition rebound.

On that front, the picture for North is… telling.

Curtis led the entire competition for tackles inside 50 in 2025. He’s not part of this debate. He’d be picked in literally any AFL forward line.

After that, the drop-off is steep. Our next regular is Zurhaar, ranked at #48, and then there’s basically SFA until Konstanty down around #74.

For comparison, Geelong had four players inside the top 30.

The forward-50 groundball numbers tell a similar story. We’ve got Zurhaar at #16, Curtis at #18, then no other best-23 regulars until Larkey at #49... and that’s it for the top 100.

(Trembath pops up mid-table on both lists, but his sample size - three games - is too small.)

All of this is a long-winded way of saying: I think our forward personnel mix is part of the problem when it comes to how easily teams rebound against us.

I think sacrificing a tall so we can run multiple fast, defensively accountable smalls - players who harass opposition distributors and keep the ball alive - has to be a priority for 2026.

Was told at training yesterday that X and JK are the 2 that blokes don't wanna get tackled by.

 

[the big lebowski]

Hows the new ruck rules going to impact Darling?

CB he’s stuffed but we’re probably not talking more than 2-3 cba’s per qrt at max that he’s in there.

Around the ground it will be just like 2025 I’d say

 

[DuckYeah]

I reckon he is. I get that he "shouldn't" be, but also that he still is. Still fit and strong, durable, footy smart and a good shot for goal. Still takes a good defender. Imo.

Cant play 3 cumbersome talls. Its either Darling or Bath. Cant have em both. Im all for one of them taking Zurhaars spot. He doesn’t chase anyway. Useless defensively, im happy to drop him and then we can have bath and darling

 

[Caracas]

The best mix IMO is

Larkey, The Bath, Curtis, Zurhaar, Banch and one of Konstanty/Dovaston

Darling to play off the bench/horses for courses.

Having said that, our forward line functioned exceptionally well without Larkey, so who really ****ing knows..

Please, please let Dovaston be better than “can’t standya”…

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Please, please let Dovaston be better than “can’t standya”…

He’d want to be considering the investment.

But Konstanty gets first crack I reckon.

 

[RooInNorthLondon]

We have genuine competition at small forward now with three very different players. I think it is no bad thing if it takes Dovaston time to adjust to AFL and earn his spot. He is a competitor so it will only make him work harder and hopefully unlock more of his potential. It is better than gifting him it because he is a R1 pick. He does need a better nickname though. Dove (Dova is Latin for dove)? Drover?

 

[Themanbun]

Dovaston has shown application and a few glimpses. That's all you really need at this stage of his career. I only cast early doubt on those who don't show they have the required drive to live the life of a professional athlete.

 

[the big lebowski]

Dovaston has shown application and a few glimpses. That's all you really need at this stage of his career. I only cast early doubt on those who don't show they have the required drive to live the life of a professional athlete.

Yeah everything I’ve heard about him has been that he works very hard and wants to get the best out of himself

To what level that best is at afl level remains to be seen. But if he doesn’t make it it won’t be due to work ethic

 

[shinboner magic]

hate to be the one to say it but i’m not sure about dova

Some excel at training and look like superstars - some are better in games.

 

[Ura]

anyone planning on going in to training tomorrow? surely its match sim session after none for a week and a half

hopefully the boys ldu, konstanty back from gastro

I’ll be down there tomorrow. Doesn’t seem like they announced a Friday session so I’m hoping for a sim

 

[The Dingrel]

He must start until someone demands his spot. Larkey, Curtis, Zurharr, Trembath and Darling would be a nightmare for opposition defences. Someone has to end up with an inferior match up we can exploit close to goal. Under the roof that marking power could be an advantage.

And.....we bomb it to Larkey outmanned 3 to 1 time and again like he's Wayne Carey!

 

[Ura]

I think you can play a mix of Darling, Larkey and Bath. Darling and Bath surprisingly good tacklers for their size. More so with a deeper bench.
Bull, Curtis, Duurs as mids sized.
Dov, JK, Banch and RHJ as smaller ones though all likely to play up the feild.
Parker, Sheez, Jy and probably LDU all to rotate through aswell.

Ideally by year end Darling is phased out though. Hopefully because others have pushed him out

 

[The chorus]

We have genuine competition at small forward now with three very different players. I think it is no bad thing if it takes Dovaston time to adjust to AFL and earn his spot. He is a competitor so it will only make him work harder and hopefully unlock more of his potential. It is better than gifting him it because he is a R1 pick. He does need a better nickname though. Dove (Dova is Latin for dove)? Drover?

The Latin word for dove is columba

 

[Heaps of fun]

Dovaston has shown application and a few glimpses. That's all you really need at this stage of his career. I only cast early doubt on those who don't show they have the required drive to live the life of a professional athlete.

There's a lot more to making it in this caper than hard work. We've seen many blokes drafted lately that had elite application but little else to distinguish themselves as AFL players: eg Mahony, Phillips, Lazzaro and Drury.

You'd be hoping to see the better part of smaller players games early on. I'm not writing Dovaston off but I won't be surprised if some of these knocks on him are realised to be enduring.

 

[Lomas]

There's a lot more to making it in this caper than hard work. We've seen many blokes drafted lately that had elite application but little else to distinguish themselves as AFL players: eg Mahony, Phillips, Lazzaro and Drury.

You'd be hoping to see the better part of smaller players games early on. I'm not writing Dovaston off but I won't be surprised if some of these knocks on him are realised to be enduring.

To be fair, he’s been recruited as talent before application like the others.

 

[Merlin007]

He’d want to be considering the investment.

But Konstanty gets first crack I reckon.

I think Konstanty will be too - he's looked sharp in the training sessions I've been to. But OOC, no question he has to get better in front of goals.

 

[Ura]

Dov is fine. He has fast hands, kicking creates space and very high positional IQ. I’m not to stressed with him. When I have seen him at training he is doing a lot of the things I saw him do a JNR.