Bigman’s Training Reports (Update: 11th March)

bigman · Dec 1, 2025

Today was every footballer’s favourite - Time Trial Day.

First up, who was missing? Draper was the only one to not show his face at all, but a bunch didn’t do the run - Dawson, Walker, Michalanney, Hinge, Rankine, Marsh, Fogarty and Ludowyke. Some of these were understandable, but I was surprised that Daws and Tex didn’t run as they both otherwise trained fully.

Unfortunately Rankine appears to be managing some sort of injury. He was on the bike and moved pretty stiffly afterwards walking around the oval with Shane Edwards - perhaps a hamstring issue? Or maybe just cooked from the bike? Either way it’s a real shame as he was awesome last week.

Fog, Hinge and Max continue their rehab with lots of running, though Hinge again joined the main group for some drills. Marsh was also in the rehab group but looks completely fine so not sure why he’s being held back so much. Especially given he’s doing a power of running and trained fully last Monday.

Ludo did a bit more today, including some light running and skills work. He’s an interesting looking athlete - broad shoulders and long legs. Nice fluent kicking action.

Draper’s continued absence is strange. If it wasn’t for my reports there would be no indication whatsoever that he hadn’t kicked a single footy yet this pre season! Hopefully we can get some clarity on why he’s solely in the gym and nothing else.

Worrell wore a fluro yellow hat but did everything. Pedlar had some strapping on his knee but thankfully moved just fine.

Today also saw the return of Nibbler as well as the arrival of Ah Chee, who slipped in like a glove. Even in training drills his composure and skill level was evident. It makes you realise that we still don’t have quite enough of that on our list compared to sides like Brisbane.

A new bloke wearing 46 also appeared for the first time today, a tall left footer. Almost certain this was Tom Bell from WA. Looked a reasonable athlete and a nice kick, but only did some of the early drills before joining the rehab guys.

Worth noting that today was seriously windy with gusts over 50km. Not only did this make kicking and marking decidedly tricky, it was also unfortunate for the time trial, as much of the energy spent running into a headwind negated any benefits of the tailwind. Overall though the boys appeared to run well in what looked to be a 2km trial, though I can’t say for sure. The first to finish were at about the 6:25-6:30 mark, which was wind affected as I mentioned.

The squad was split up into six groups, with players being matched with those of similar running abilities. All ran at the same time but with different starting positions around the ground.

The groups were (in order from strongest to weakest - don’t read into the player order):

1. Neal-Bullen, Bond, Dowling, Keays, Cumming, Thilthorpe
2. Sholl, Curtin, Jones, Berry, O’Brien, McGuane, Foot
3. (Could be group 4) Milera, Ryan, Nankervis, Pedlar, Peatling, Cotton
4. (Could be group 3) Rachele, Soligo, Ah Chee, Laird, Drury
5. Edwards, Taylor, Cook, Worrell, N. Murray, Borlase
6. Keane, T. Murray, McAndrew, Welsh, Butts, Maley

I won’t lie, this was the most difficult time trial to keep track of so far since I’ve been doing this. There was a lot going on and with different groups finishing in different spots on the ground, most around the same 30 secs or so, it made it very tough to gauge who placed best.

However, some things I noticed:

Almost certain that ANB finished first, with Thilthorpe a seriously close second. Cumming lagged a bit behind the rest of his group.
Curtin finished first in his group.
Pretty sure Drury won his group. Very solid little runner and has obviously kept very fit despite being only a SANFL player.
Edwards appeared to win his group, while Taylor was at the back of the same group. The positive is Milk wasn’t in the slowest group unlike last year, and definitely ran better.
Toby Murray appeared to be the last to finish his time trial. I was a bit disappointed as it would mean he lost to 210cm McAndrew as well as Welsh.

Obviously I would’ve liked to provide more info but it really is a bit of a mess to cover. One big positive is that seemingly no one really lagged behind or needed someone to push them - everyone finished within about a minute of each other. That hasn’t been the case in previous years.

As you would expect, the boys were a bit jelly-legged afterwards so skills and energy were a bit off for the next 10 or so minutes before they found their groove. Drills were largely the same as previous sessions, including the one where the ball can only move via the wing.

There was also a new one, which involved a stoppage at half forward where the receiver would drill a pass to a leading player inside forward 50. This was fun to watch as those with inside chops really stood out, particularly Curtin.

Speaking of which, we may have got our first taste of which positions players are being earmarked for this year. The aforementioned wing drill listed players in groups on the big screen, and they appeared to be def/mid/fwd despite not being listed as such.

Keep in mind that wings are part of the midfield group without being specified, so Curtin may still be considered a winger and not on ball. But these were the groups:

Laird, Ryan, Worrell, Murray, Milera, Cook, Butts, Borlase, Keane, Sholl, Nankervis, Bond

McAndrew, Soligo, Curtin, Edwards, Jones, Dowling, Berry, Drury, O’Brien, Peatling, Dawson, Cumming

Keays, Pedlar, Walker, Maley, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Welsh, Murray, Taylor, Cotton, Foot, McGuane

Now things can change of course but some interesting observations to be made, namely Cook in the backline and Edwards considered a mid/wing. Plus Cotton as a forward and Sholl in defence as well based on this. Taylor is still in the forward group as is Rachele, but who really knows how concrete all this is.

Some player observations:

6. Curtin - knee strapping was back but gee he moved well, and was the first to celebrate and lift the energy of the group once the time trials were done. Also showed why he should make a great midfielder with his ability to break tackles (seemingly no one can bring him down) and his sixth sense for players on his peripheral.

7. Thilthorpe - we all know he’s a gun but the fact he appeared to almost win the time trial speaks volumes. He’s not going to coast on last year.

12. Dawson - he’s definitely looking a little bit thicker and not quite as chiselled as last year. Not overly surprising given the foot injury but suspect he’s got some ground to make up over the next couple of months.

13. Walker - I know he’s got nothing to prove (and looks in good nick) but I still think if you’re fit enough, you still do the time trial. I wonder if Burgo would’ve allowed the same leeway?

21. Bond - laid a glorious smother on a Nick Murray kick and deservedly got a lot of love for it. Doing little wrong and would probably be in my best 23 at the minute, such is his improvement over the past 12 months.

22. Ryan - finally showed a bit of razzle dazzle evading multiple opponents at a stoppage. Really like seeing him use his athleticism. More please.

27. Nankervis - looking really sharp and confident out there particularly when playing that distributing role off half back. His extra burst of speed and confidence to use it is a weapon. Pay attention Nicksy.

33. Cotton - love the way this bloke approaches the aerial ball, he really floats and grabs it at a high point. Interesting that he’s doing so much more with the main group than Marsh, despite being almost half a year younger. Also probably underestimated his build, he has some pretty decent guns for his age. A genuine watch next year.

40. McGuane - just don’t quite see it. Well aware he is an accumulator but he’s just so small out there and I don’t see the excitement or hurt factor. I do think we could’ve looked at Tom Lewis, who I know is on the slower side but at least he wouldn’t get ragdolled like McGuane clearly will.

47. Foot - showed a bit more today with some nice burst speed (Foot speed?) and agility around stoppage, there’s no denying he’s a good athlete. That ball drop though… when you see it you’ll know what I mean.

bigman · Dec 3, 2025

First bit of match sim today.

Draper missing again as was Cumming, and unfortunately poor Tom McGuane came out later on crutches and in a moon boot. Obviously not great for his chances, I’m hoping we can get him onto our sanfl team and see a year of him?

Quite a few in and out of the rehab group today. Rankine was strictly doing running alongside Ludowyke, while Ryan was also relegated to pounding the pavement (grass) by himself. Hinge joined the rehab group in the back half of the session whilst Worrell did a bit of work with them but otherwise trained with the main group. Fog did some light drills but is still mostly running alongside Strachan and the top-up Bell. Max was nowhere to be seen for most of the session but came out later on and did some pretty intensive running. And finally Tex and Laird don’t have any issues but were held back from some drills. Marsh returned to the main group though!

It sounds like a lot but the only truly injured players are (seemingly) Draper, McGuane, Rankine and Ludowyke, the latter which we knew had hurt his PCL earlier this year. Fog and Max appear to be nearing full training while Ryan looked to be managed, likely just soreness but I’ll keep an eye on it.

The majority of the session involved three different drills that five groups rotated through. Two of the drills were quite similar, involving two groups each and both were all about clean ball movement (and defending said ball movement). The only difference was one encompassed two thirds of the ground and was focussed on precision kicking, while the other was played in the other 50m arc and went across the ground - this one allowed kicking but emphasised handball chains and burst speed.

Both drills did not allow a grounded ball, as in which case it would be an automatic turnover. It obviously placed a lot of pressure on kicks hitting the target and definitely separated some of the good kicks from the lesser. The other drill was just light ground ball work and mostly acted as a bit of respite before rotating back into the one of the other two, which were far more demanding.

The most interesting thing today was the 15 minutes of match sim, between what appeared to be A vs B teams with a couple of exceptions. Laird and Tex did not take part, nor did the rehab guys obviously. Marsh was also held out.

Thankfully the teams were listed for everyone to see and they were as follows (16 a side):

Blue

FB: Keane Hinge
HB: Milera Murray Nankervis
_C: Peatling Dawson Ah Chee
HF: ANB T.Murray Keays
FF: Pedlar Thilthorpe
_R: O’Brien Soligo Curtin
IN: Berry

Yellow

FB: Butts Worrell
HB: Cook Borlase Bond
_C: Jones Rachele Sholl
HF: Foot Maley Taylor
FF: Cotton Welsh
_R: McAndrew Edwards Dowling
IN: Drury

Some interesting points to take out of it.

Obviously Rachele was in the ‘B’ team but it allowed him to play as a mid. Worrell was also B team which we know he isn’t - leadership work perhaps?
Nankervis played in the A side but worth noting that Laird didn’t participate. Still a good sign though.
Ah Chee on the wing.
Ibis ahead of Maley in the absence of Tex and Fogarty.
Curtin named on ball.
Cook the defender appears to be a thing, as does Edwards returning to the midfield.

Worth noting that there weren’t any stoppages. Instead the ball was kicked in a random direction and started from there. Tackles weren’t really allowed, only light grabbing.

Interestingly the game was essentially a draw with both teams kicking three snags each. Ibis kicked two goals for his team with Thilthorpe nailing a check side on the run, while for Yellow Welsh booted two and Taylor also hit the scoreboard.

I will say that there were a few dodgy kicks despite the really nice conditions. Keane and Murray both kicked absolute howlers out of deep defence that led directly to opposition shots on goal. And even in some of the earlier drills there were a fair amount of missed targets by foot. Early pre season days I know but I do wonder if we have enough good kicks in our team compared to the best sides

The group ended the session with some pretty intense running along the boundary, in which different players would have to lead the team (even Welsh on a couple of occasions).

A bunch of player thoughts:

3. Berry - hit a lovely pass to Ibis which set up his first goal. Interesting that he was part of the Blue team, but this was obviously without the likes of Rankine and Draper playing. Will be curious to see where he fits as the season draws closer.

4. Ah Chee - this bloke is just so clean and classy, very no-fuss and makes great decisions. Probably had one bad kick for the day - when it happened I was actually a bit shocked as he had otherwise been so clinical.

7. Thilthorpe - actually looks even fitter than last year without losing his size. Just ridiculous how well he covers the ground. He’s a special one.

14. Soligo - looks super sharp, hitting darts all over the ground and running so much better than he did in the back half of last season. We just need to get a whole year of his best.

15. Cook - Took a couple of kick outs and typically used it well. Can he get into the best 23 in this role? It’s certainly a good test for his competitiveness. But his boot is lethal, so you can see why they’re trying it.

17. Welsh - running better and the two goals is nice (one was a Joe the goose from Cotton though). He still drops a few too many marks and when the ball hits the deck I don’t see great footy iq.

19. Taylor - good to see my boy Milk taking advantage of his improved running ability, hitting up for more leads around the ground and just a lot more involved than previous summers. Still prefer him as a mid as you want him in traffic where he’s so clean and classy.

26. Marsh - nice to see him rejoin the main group and while he didn’t have a huge day, he rarely made a mistake with ball in hand. Very tidy player.

27. Nankervis - seems in a good space at the moment and looks at home in that half back role. Will Nicksy get a sudden onset of his annual Summer amnesia? We shall see.

28. Neal-Bullen - trained really well. He’s a great decision maker so you want the ball in his hands. What I want to see this season is for him to not get caught so much, as he doesn’t have much of an evasive game and isn’t the fend-off type. Can he find a yard of pace? Or play differently?

31. Dowling - got a fair bit of it, unfortunately had the worst kick in front of goal I’ve ever seen from him, going out on the full despite kicking from straight in front. Usually such a dead-eye too.

33. Cotton - marks the footy at a really high point which I love and gee he’s doing a lot of work for an 18 year old. Not sure about playing him forward though, at least full time. It’s a hard position to play when you’re adjusting back to footy.

35. Borlase - did a lovely spoil on Thilthorpe which got a lot of praise from the boys. The issue is that his game hasn’t really developed over the last couple years - he’s a very good SANFL player but he hasn’t developed enough tricks to compensate his lack of height and speed. Decent depth of course. But it is a contract year.

37. Drury - you would think he is a train-on such is his work rate and intensity out there. He’s a solid little player and makes good decisions, at his height though you need to be fast which he isn’t. But he can play.

39. Murray - took a ripping pack mark in between two opponents for his first goal. Kicked another and could’ve had three. He’s a funny one - not the most aesthetically pleasing trainer but when he’s on he really is on. He showed that last year.

47. Foot - was courageous as hell going back with the flight on one occasion and nearly got pole axed. Wasn’t necessary but indicates his mindset. Struggling a bit to get involved though, would like to see him own a drill or even session at some point.

bigman · Dec 8, 2025

I think for the first time this pre season, everyone showed their face.

Doesn’t mean that they all trained - more on that soon - but seeing every listed player out there in some fashion is a good sign for the health of the group.

Unfortunately Sid didn’t do nearly as much work as he did last Friday. After a few run throughs he headed back inside and didn’t reappear, which suggests to me his groins weren’t feeling great. Who knows what’s going on but I’m half expecting something to come out about him being sidelined indefinitely, just has that whiff about it. Sure hope not.

On the positive side, Cumming was back today although I’m not convinced he’s 100 percent at the moment. Doesn’t seem injured but he isn’t running as well as last year and seems fatigued easily.

Fog is almost back in full training, as he did everything bar the most intense drills. Same for Ryan. The rehab group was pleasingly small - just Michalanney, Ludowyke and Strachan. Max would have to be nearing a return to full training as he looks good to go. I wonder what the issue is? Ludowyke is still some ways off but he is definitely running better.

Thilthorpe must have left the session early as he did not participate in the match sim despite being initially listed. Didn’t see any incident where he got injured, so hopefully he was just managed. He still had that strapping on his right knee, so perhaps it’s something to do with that.

Rachele was also done early but this was almost certainly just management. Soligo had strapping around his left calf and was held off from doing the running portion of training. Pedlar thankfully had no injury from last Friday’s knock but does still have some right knee strapping.

Side note, I noticed a camera man recording training up close today, with a lot of focus on Nicks. Not sure if it was a club thing or perhaps something from outside.

There was barely a breath of wind today so no excuses for poor skill errors, and thankfully it was a pretty high standard affair. Much of the session revolved around five groups rotating between three concurrent drills - a handball game (across ground inside 50), a kicking game (two thirds of the ground) and tackling work.

Similar to other times, turnovers/fumbles were not allowed and would result in the ball being given to the opposition. Thankfully players were still willing to take some risks by foot. I also noticed in the kicking drill there was an emphasis on making the final pass a long ball over the top, with the forward goal-side of one or two defenders.

The squad then broke into two teams for about 15 minutes of match practice. Interestingly, the last two minutes involved the Blue team - which was up by a goal - kicking the ball around in the defensive half in order to burn up the clock. It worked well until ANB ended up going long down the line which created a turnover. Fortunately for the Blue team, the Yellow side stuffed up their counter attack and the game was over.

These were the teams:

Blue
FB: Keane Hinge
HB: Milera Murray Nankervis
_C: Cumming Dawson Curtin
HF: Ah Chee T.Murray Rachele
FF: Walker Keays
_R: O’Brien Soligo Rankine
IN: ANB Laird

White
FB: Butts Worrell
HB: Cook Borlase Bond
_C: Jones Berry Sholl
HF: Taylor Maley Peatling
FF: Pedlar Welsh
_R: McAndrew Dowling Edwards
IN: Foot Drury Bell

As you can see, pretty similar to previous sessions, although Peatling and Pedlar were in the B side and Rachele back in the As.

The Blue team won four goals to two. Finbarr (more on him soon) kicked both goals for his side, while for the Blue it was singles to Keays, Rankine, Ibis and Ah Chee.

The boys then did about 10 or so minutes of some pretty exhausting looking running work - just like last week, it was about 10x200m runs along the boundary at about 90 percent intensity. Different players would again lead the group each run, but it was evident that Dowling and Neal-Bullen ran the strongest. Marsh was also very good, the lad sure can run.

Some player thoughts:

Pedlar - even though he was on the ‘B’ team, I wouldn’t read too much into it. He’s training well - really jumping at the ball in the air and his hands have been super clean. Still the odd poor error but much tidier than I’ve seen previous.

Cook - hit some lovely kicks out of half back but did get beaten in one aerial contest by Keays, who is no Wayne Carey. Clearly an area of improvement but it’s early days.

Bond - hoping his regular appearance in the B side doesn’t mean much for his selection chances early in the season, because he looks great out there. Ridiculous physique and his ball use and composure has come such a long way.

Ryan - really struggled to get involved but I’ll give him some leeway as he had been in the rehab group the past few sessions prior.

Worrell - did a lovely burst through the corridor with three bounces, which I’ve seen before at training but he has yet to do in-game. Would love for him to bring this out of his trick bag at some stage, he really has wheels.

Peatling - not sure I would read too much into him being ‘demoted,’ but I will say that I haven’t been wowed much by his work so far this summer. Admittedly his best attributes don’t really shine this time of year. Just a slight watch is all.

Nankervis - hit one of the more glorious kicks off half back you will see, a 55m bomb on Curtin’s chest that cleared two defenders. Where was this kicking last year? Regardless, exciting times for Nank.

Laird - just quietly having a very solid pre season. Has done almost very session and is pretty fired up out there. Seems energised rather than going through the motions.

Milera - still want to see more dash from him but there’s no denying he is a calm head down back. The players look to give it to him as much as possible and I’m not sure he had an error by foot in match sim.

Dowling - even though he’s still in the B team, I think he’s one to keep an eye on. Not only covering the ground really well, but his new physique appears to have given him more confidence to get involved and demand the ball. Brought down Worrell with a lovely tackle at one point. He’s actually a bit hard to recognise out there such is the change in his frame. He’s not exactly Scott Thompson but credit to him, he’s clearly going hard in a contract year.

Maley - there’s a bit of (dare I say it) John Butcher about this lad. Slightly awkward shuffling gait, erratic kicking, lovely hands. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Took the best mark of pre season so far, a serious pack mark that got a bunch of cheers. Also saw him dob a goal from 50m out that sailed through beautifully. It’s the other moments that give reason for doubt - but credit to him, he was good today. Also likes to lay a big tackle!

Sholl - finally has some arms after about eight years on the list. Still has his work cut out for him, and I’m well aware he is a summer specialist, but he’s doing the right things.

O’Brien - kicked 6 out of 6 in the kicking test. I’m dead serious.

bigman · Dec 10, 2025

Once again almost everyone on deck which was good to see.

Draper and O’Brien were the only no-shows, although Max did all his work before the main group came out. He was doing high-intensity running with a lot of stop-start work, so I’m guessing he’s either coming off a hamstring issue or has had groin problems. Hopefully the former. He looks fit though.

Thilthorpe trained for most of the session but ended up suffering what appeared to be some sort of knock or head/neck issue. He walked onto the sidelines with a trainer and did some light run throughs, but obviously didn’t feel 100 per cent and headed inside. I’ll keep tabs on this one, hopefully it’s not a concussion and he was just feeling off. He also still has that knee strapping but I don’t think that was the problem, there was no limp.

I also noticed McAndrew must have headed inside early but I didn’t see any incident as to why.

Pedlar only ran laps but looked fine to my eye. I’m guessing it’s a management thing, though he sure did a lot of running. Only alternative I can think of is perhaps he didn’t get his gps up enough last session, but I doubt that.

Ludowyke was integrated into more drills which was pleasing to see. He still seems a bit restricted in his movements but it’s a good step up for him. He probably won’t want to do the kicking test ever again though - he missed all six targets and copped a fair bit of light-hearted heckling from Fog (who only hit two, mind you).

Ludo didn’t do some of the latter drills and joined Strachan and Bell in some light jogging. Cotton and Marsh did the majority of the session but were held back from the running portion. Ryan, Fogarty and Hinge are all pretty much in full training now.

Soligo’s calf strapping was gone and he trained brilliantly before heading in a little early, no issues there. Peatling had shoulder strapping and was wearing a fluro hat whenever there was contact work.

I also noticed Nicks seemingly took a back seat for today’s session, instead allowing Burns and Davis to run the show.

The first section of training involved the boys breaking into their positional lines. Backs worked on defensive exits and shape, the mids on 45 degree kicks and forwards on their i50 connection as well as defensive zone. The groups were as follows:

Backs - Murray, Cook, Hinge, Bond, Ryan, Worrell, Nankervis, Laird, Milera, Borlase, Drury, Sholl, Butts, Bell, Keane

Mids - Jones, Berry, Curtin, Rachele, Edwards, Dawson, Soligo, Rankine, Peatling, Dowling, McAndrew, Cumming, Foot

Forwards - Keays, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Walker, Welsh, Taylor, Marsh, Neal-Bullen, Fogarty, Cotton, Ludowyke, Maley, Murray, Strachan

The lads then broke into six groups for three concurrent drills, but all were the same - essentially keeping’s off by foot, with one team moving the ball back and forth and the other defending before swapping after a minute or so. Once again turnovers were not allowed - Ibis missed a few targets and was filthy with himself.

The lads then merged into three groups. Two would play what was essentially match sim over two thirds of the ground, while the other group would do skills work in the other 50 before rotating in. I was surprised just how physical this section was - the boys did not hold back much and there were some pretty big tackles and collisions.

This was when Filthy had to walk off. Milk also hurt his ankle/foot tackling Hinge but thankfully recovered - he really does have issues in that area though which is concerning.

I must also say that the drill became a bit sloppy at times, most notably when classy players like Dawson and Ah Chee weren’t involved. A few too many poor errors for my liking given the excellent conditions. I will note however that the pressure being applied was pretty impressive - players were really switched on at closing the space of opponents and forcing them into mistakes.

The drill then expanded into the whole ground between two teams, though the corridor once again had a diamond formation of cones around it. Still not entirely sure the method behind this, as I did see the corridor being used at times.

One thing I have definitely noticed is a focus on making quicker decisions and moving the ball on faster, particularly by foot. Play on will be called quicker than normal and players are having to think fast. Obviously this does lead to some pretty horrendous errors at times but I think most would prefer this approach as it’s more in-line with genuine AFL football.

A bunch of player thoughts:

1. Jones - I was asked about Chayce as I haven’t written about him much. He’s definitely working hard out there but I think he knows what we all know, that this is likely his last year on our list. He’s one who will look really slick at times then make a poor mistake out of nowhere. He’s actually had some pretty solid sessions thus far, but today he was noticeably quiet.

4. Ah Chee - laid an absolute ripping tackle on Foot who was tearing through the corridor. He’s a great get for us - composed but tough, and has real toe when he wants to use it.

8. Rachele - gee he’s a pretty big lad now. Interesting to see him in the midfield group. I still have reservations about him in there but I’ll be curious to see how much time he actually gets. No doubt he’s bulked up to make a claim for a midfield spot.

11. Edwards - still reckon he needs to toughen up a bit. He knows where to run to receive the ball, particularly exiting out of defence, but a couple of times today I didn’t see him really embrace contact when there was a footy to be won. Not saying he’s soft, but he’s gonna need more grit and aggression if he wants to force his way in. Can’t just cruise around getting easy touches.

12. Dawson - covering the ground a bit better now and gee his kicking was a thing of beauty at times. Also wasn’t afraid to put on a burst and take players on. Good session from the skip.

13. Walker - I was a supporter of retaining Tex on the list but while he looks fit out there, there were a couple of times where he seemed a bit limited in his movements (Eg bending over to contest a ground ball). Not panic stations yet as he’s still being a managed through the summer, but thought it was worth noting.

14. Soligo - was awesome. Ran on top of the ground and was seemingly everywhere. Just looked really energetic and sharp in his movements. Definitely today’s standout trainer.

15. Cook - hit some lovely passes coming out of defence - not easy ones either. Had a bit of Bailey Dale about him and I can see why they’ve trying him in this role. On the flip side, he did get fended off too easily by Rankine which cost a goal. That will be the test for him.

20. Hinge - he was deadset impossible to tackle today. Multiple times he was able to shrug off opponents with a swivel of the hips. Was quite impressive.

24. Worrell - had one of the worst kicking days I’ve seen from him - multiple times he turned it over directly to opposition. Not worried of course but he wasn’t quite as sharp as usual. Still wearing a fluro hat during contact work so perhaps he’s a bit underdone.

26. Marsh - didn’t do a whole lot but gee he just looks and moves like a footballer. Had a fun moment on the wing where he gathered a loose ball and put on the jets to try and get past Cotton. He almost did but Cotton did enough to affect the kick.

31. Dowling - I’m telling you, this lad has changed. Clearly has more confidence with his improved physique and has still retained his elite running ability. Even showed a bit of dash and power which you wouldn’t typically associate with him.

36. Maley - he’s still a hard watch at times but there’s no denying that he was a nuisance for defenders today. Not only does he jump at the ball, but his large and stocky frame makes him hard to shift once he’s in the air. I’d be more excited if he looked more natural with ball in hand, but he does compete hard and has genuine aerial presence.

38. Sholl - summer specialist I know but had one moment where he was the link in the chain four (!) times moving the ball from defence to inside forward 50. He’s sharp out there and moving so much better than he did last year with that knee issue.

44. Cumming - I’m a fan but he just looks off at the moment. Appears to lack energy and often looks quite exhausted out there. Wonder if there’s an issue behind the scenes? Just doesn’t look like his normal self.

47. Foot - I’m warming up to him. Still don’t think he has great footy iq or skills - he hesitates a bit too much instead of making quick decisions - but one thing he can do is get the footy and run. He’s a really powerful athlete and does some exciting stuff, and seems to be coming out of his shell a bit more now and willing to show his tricks. Has a fair goatee as well.

bigman · Dec 12, 2025

She was hot! Got up to about 35 degrees.

Sid was back today. Kinda. He did about 15-20 minutes of light jogging back and forth, although there were some rather large breaks in between. Safe to say they’re not exactly pushing him hard, which suggests to me he won’t return to main training until at least late Jan-February, and I think that’s being optimistic. He has kept himself in good condition though.

Thilthorpe thankfully trained, meaning whatever he suffered on Wednesday can’t have been too bad. He does still have knee strapping and was held off from having to do the running section.

McGuane has progressed to some light running which was good to see. Max did some of the early skills work before doing a bunch of running - I noticed he trained with knee strapping.

In fact a few of our lads have knee strapping - Max, Filthy, Pedlar and Nick Murray. Peatling still has shoulder strapping and wore a non-contact hat, as did Worrell although I’m not sure what his issue is.

Good to see Ludowyke step up his workload. I reckon he did about 60 per cent of the session which is definitely his most yet. He was held off from the match sim and running, although he did a bunch of laps by himself. I’m guessing when the players return next year he will be fully recovered (or very close to).

The first main drill was one I’ve seen before - three teams, with one on the sidelines waiting to rotate in. The coach will kick a ball towards a team’s half-back line, and from there they look to move the ball quickly to score, while the other side tries to defend. Any score results in the third team rotating in and becoming the defending team. This went on for about 15 minutes and is pretty intense stuff - players have to be really switched on as there’s a very tight turnaround.

The three teams then rotated between three concurrent drills:
1. Short spot kicking, before ground ball and tackling work.
2. Players move the ball from deep defence while their opponents attempt to cover exits.
3. Players lead to a designated kicker off half back - essentially they are decoys, as this would create space behind them for an isolated one on one between two big guys. Those who made leads would quickly turn around and sprint to the contest for a front and centre.

We then got about 15 minutes of match sim. Teams were:

Blue
FB: Laird Keane Worrell
HB: Milera Murray Hinge
_C: Ah Chee Dawson Cumming
HF: ANB Walker Rankine
FF: Keays Thilthorpe Fogarty
_R: O’Brien Soligo Curtin
IN: Rachele Cook Marsh

White
FB: Bond Butts Bell
HB: Nankervis Borlase Sholl
_C: Jones Berry Dowling
HF: Taylor Murray Drury
FF: Pedlar Maley Welsh
_R: McAndrew Peatling Foot
IN: Edwards Ryan Cotton

For the Blue team it was singles to Fog, Neal-Bullen, Rachele and Cumming, while Cotton and Welsh kicked a snag each for the Whites.

Interestingly this time around, after a goal the ball would always restart with a boundary throw-in on the wing. This is the first stoppage work we’ve seen in a match sim so far this summer. To the eye it seemed like McAndrew had the upper edge over ROB.

Finally we had a bunch of running, which I’m sure the players loved given the temperature was mid 30s at this point. Some were spared the pain - Thilthorpe, Marsh, Fogarty, Cotton, Bell and the rehab lads.

After the running, some of the boys (Rash, Cook, Marsh, Cotton, Taylor and Drury) did a ‘king of the ring’ style drill where two compete for high balls - the winner stays in and only rotates out if they are beaten. Rachele was the standout of this drill - his ability to get that initial push off his opponent was a real weapon. Cook was also surprisingly good (albeit some of the lads he was up against are a bit vertically challenged). He lasted around 10 rounds or so - by the end he was too buggered to give a yelp. Doesn’t help that the players had to lie on the deck and quickly push themselves up before each contest.

Dawson, Soligo, Curtin and Peatling did a bunch of stoppage work with ROB, McAndrew and Maley. Big Finbarr has a solid leap on him.

Overall it was a pretty impressive (and long - nearly two and a half hours) session, especially given the heat. Thankfully there were seemingly no injuries, although Milk did cop a hip knock from Dawson during the match sim and had to come from the field.
He returned, but gee he gets hurt a lot.

Player thoughts:

8. Rachele - I noticed he was the only one to lag behind the group a bit during the running. Suspect this is by instruction but difficult to know for sure. Trained well though.

14. Soligo - tracking really well for a good year. Will never be fast but he’s dynamic out there and strong through the core, even shrugging off Berry at one stage.

15. Cook - should be buoyed at getting some time in the ‘A’ team and I don’t think he wasted it. Looked really good coming out of defence and put on a really nice burst through the corridor which resulted in the Rachele goal. If it’s between him and Nank I’m still going Nank, but he’s doing a lot right.

17. Welsh - took some nice marks in the match sim and doesn’t lag at all in the running anymore, so credit to him. However, he just makes too many mistakes. His foot skills have been really erratic and he’s clumsy on the loose ball, often fumbling or running past it. He needs to sharpen up quite a bit.

23. Rankine - he’s a star but has clearly been instructed to hold back on going too hard and too fast, and it’s just so unnatural for him. He clearly wants to just play his way, but understandably the high performance guys want to save him for himself.

25. Peatling - had some nice moments where he used his pace out of congestion. But had an absolute howler coming out of defence that led to an ANB goal. Can’t be having those sort of kicks anymore, even at training.

26. Marsh - showed good composure in the early drills, but there was a moment in the match sim where he went to ground when he really needed to keep his feet. Also got shown up a bit in the ‘king of the ring’ marking contests. I’m not concerned at all - chalk it up to a combination of fatigue and lack of bulk. He’ll get there.

27. Nankervis - still killing it. His pace and agility (and confidence to use it) makes him dynamic and hard to curtail. He’s tough too - laid a ripping tackle on Rachele. Won’t lie though, I did wince a bit seeing him named in the B side. But I won’t look into it too much. Yet.

30. Milera - having a very solid summer. Gets given the ball a lot coming out of defence but for good reason, he’s one of the coolest heads out there. Last pre season I don’t think he deserved a round one gig but that’s not the case this time around.

32. Fogarty - good to see him back in pretty much full training after that surgery, but I want to see him lose a bit of size over the Christmas break. He’s just a touch bulky at present and it would do a lot for his ability to cover the ground.

33. Cotton - did a big spoil on Marsh in one of the earlier drills, in fact it was probably a bit too aggressive but it’s a good sign nonetheless. Kicked a nice long goal from 45m out in the match sim and although he’s only showing flashes, I think people will be pretty excited when they see him. He’s a cool, calm cat who times his aerial work really well.

37. Drury - I wonder if we are still considering him as a SSP option. He’s training his guts out there and not doing much wrong. I know he’s a bit limited but he can play and he’s only 21. Does he have the scope of others? Probably not. I guess it comes down to what they want out of that last spot on the list.

46. Bell - first time I’ve seen him really get involved and it was quite eye opening. He took a number of intercept marks which was promising (no Filthy or Fog though). Also showed that he’s not a liability on the deck with a couple hard ball gets and a lovely tackle on Chayce. The question mark will be his one on one defending, but I haven’t seen enough to judge that yet. He reminds me a bit of Keath in some ways - 197cm, lean left footer who is a neat kick. Not sure how quick he is but looks reasonably athletic. One to watch - similar to Drury, is he also being considered as a SSP selection? He’s doing all the work despite only being a SANFL-listed player. And he’s only 19.

48. Keane - did a big spoil on McAndrew that was over the top and a couple coaches (and Cumming) told him to chill out. Not sure he listened.

bigman · Dec 15, 2025

Bit of an uneventful session so I’ll keep it a bit shorter today.

First off, good numbers again with everyone showing up except Mark Keane.

Draper stepped up his running a bit, doing longer and faster run throughs alongside McGuane. He looked to be moving pretty well though I will note that he felt the right side of his groin quite a bit during the breaks.

Unfortunately it seems like Ryan may have hurt himself, as he left the track early and had a bit of a limp going. Hard to diagnose what it was, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t see him train again until after the Christmas break.

I also noticed late in the session Berry talked to a trainer and gestured towards his knee. Didn’t seem overly concerned but he did head in early.

Max did some of the initial skills work before doing a power of running by himself. No strapping today. Must be close to full training, surely.

Ludowyke was held out of the match sim but otherwise did a large chunk of the session and moved quite well. Foot skills were sharp. Also put a great chase on Bell in one drill, which is a feature of his game.

Peatling still has that shoulder strapping - I’m gonna guess an AC sprain - while Nick Murray and Pedlar both had quite a bit around their knees. They trained fine though Pedlar did seem a touch proppy early on.

Thilthorpe on the other hand has shedded his knee bandage and looked excellent out there today.

Interestingly during the warm up they did something I hadn’t seen before - each player would have to chase another of similar build, at full pelt, around a circle ‘duck duck goose’ style. Most players weren’t run down though I did see Curtin grab ROB in time. This drill also showed just how fast Butts is - you don’t really see it in-game but the lad can run.

Much of the session was based around three concurrent drills, with five teams rotating through. They were:
1. Kicking drill covering two-thirds of the ground, with teams trying to move the ball from one end to the other. Missed targets or dropped marks resulted in an automatic turnover. Play on was called quicker than usual.
2. Similar to the above, except across the ground and inside the other 50m arc. Focussed on handball and driving the legs, though kicking was allowed.
3. Light ground ball and contest work. Essentially a reprieve from the much more intense drills.

Then there was 15 minutes of match sim. I’m sure George would be pleased to hear that the ball always started with a boundary throw-in after each score. McAndrew definitely had the upper edge in the ruck early on, though O’Brien recovered pretty well in the last five minutes.

Teams were as such:

Blue
FB: Laird Butts Worrell
HB: Milera Murray Hinge
_C: Cumming Dawson Neal-Bullen
HF: Rachele Fogarty Keays
FF: Pedlar Thilthorpe Walker
_R: O’Brien Curtin Rankine
IN: Soligo Bond

White
FB: Nankervis Borlase Drury
HB: Cook Bell Sholl
_C: Jones Berry Dowling
HF: Taylor Murray Marsh
FF: Cotton Maley Welsh
_R: McAndrew Edwards Peatling
IN: Foot

Despite clearly having the lesser line-up, the White team grabbed the win kicking two goals to one. Admittedly they were kicking with a reasonable wind, but this definitely wasn’t the first time they’ve taken it up to the more experienced players this summer.

Marsh and McAndrew snagged goals for the whites, while Soligo scored the solitary major for the blue team.

I think what stood out to me was the pressure being applied and the defensive coverage in general. The white team were really good at not allowing easy exits out of defence and often found a way to disrupt their opponents.

The lads then did about 10 minutes of high-intensity running before breaking up into small groups to work on their craft. Cotton was held off from the running - to my eye he looked a bit fatigued today.

Some player thoughts:

3. Berry - won a couple nice clearances where he used his burst pace, but you can see the difference between his foot skills and a lot of the other lads we now have in the squad. Just lacks that bit of polish.

6. Curtin - got his hands dirty a couple times but got most of his footy finding space around the ground. He’s one that does have class and composure. Not shooting the lights out just yet but that’ll come, it’s hard to do a whole lot in 15 mins of match sim.

10. Pedlar - bit of an enigma this bloke. Will do something flashy like drilling a dart on his opposite foot, then two minutes later fluffs up the unfluffable. Just wish he was more consistent with his execution.

12. Dawson - working his way into things beautifully coming off that foot issue. Covering the ground well and his kicking continues to be pristine.

15. Cook - he’s definitely more visible this pre season. Admittedly he’s playing an easier role but he’s really getting involved and his ball use is a weapon out there.

19. Taylor - deadset saw this guy pull up sore from a shot at goal. He was fine afterwards but I swear his lower body is made from paper mache.

23. Rankine - he was the standout of match sim. Seemed to release the shackles a bit today and was just dynamic out there. Made a couple blues by foot but otherwise was very good.

36. Maley - peculiar body shape with thick legs and a short torso. Quite Grundy-like in that regard. But gee he’s hard to shift in the air, and his hands were again pretty safe today.

38. Sholl - his ability to cover the ground is pretty impressive, it’s not a surprise he got so much ball. To be honest he should be playing for a lesser side. He’s good enough. But we know his faults, which will make it hard for him to break back in. He can’t do a whole lot more than he’s doing right now, though.

39. Murray - sometimes does things that make you take notice. Like today, when he intercepted a loose ball in the corridor and put the jets on, speeding past several opponents. He has something, it’s just whether he has the polish and consistency to make it.

44. Cumming - better. Kicking was excellent and had a really brave moment where he went back with the flight and could’ve been poleaxed. Still think we’re not getting the most out of him with this wing role, but we’re struggling to fit Nank and others in at half back, let alone Cumming, so it’s a bit of a conundrum.

bigman · Dec 19, 2025

Well that was something.

I think the new Irish bloke might be a bit of a sicko. This was easily the hardest session I’ve seen since Burgo had them run endless laps at Richmond Oval a couple of years ago. In fact that was probably the only time Burgo really flogged the lads in his time here, and this was definitely on par with that.

It also seems that this was the final season of the pre-Christmas period. I wasn’t aware at the time that was actually the case, but given how today played out it makes a lot of sense.

The session was basically split up into two halves - AFLX (yes that’s what it was called) and a shedload of running.

Before that, a quick roll call. Almost everyone was there except for Keane once again (obviously went home to Ireland early) and Ah Chee. Maley was almost a no-show but emerged late to watch from the sidelines. He didn’t seem injured so not sure what the issue is there.

Fortunately it turned out Ryan didn’t injure himself last session, as he trained fully today. On the flipside, Ludowyke tweaked his ankle and headed inside with a trainer. He ended up re-emerging later in the session to have a gander, with ice attached to the front of his ankle, but it didn’t look too bad.

The rehab group was thankfully pretty small. After doing some initial skills work, Max ran laps again as did McGuane. Draper was out there for about 30 minutes doing very light running work.

One thing that was noticeable was just how many players had some sort of strapping. I counted up at least eight - both Murrays (knee), Pedlar (knee), Walker (calf), Taylor (knee), Peatling (shoulder), Ludowyke (knee) and Foot (arm). Felt like the Mummy Returns out there.

Another thing I noticed was how much sprint work the team has done in the past couple weeks, particularly in the warm ups. Burgo seemed hesitant to incorporate much sprinting but that hasn’t been the case this summer.

The AFLX section lasted about an hour and involved two concurrent games between four groups, with another group rotating in and out. Each game would go for about eight or so minutes and took place on both sides of the ground, with makeshift goals.

Despite the name, it was a pretty intense affair. Players weren’t holding back and there were some heavy hits. Thankfully other than Ludowyke no one got injured, though Dowling did get a big knock from Nick Murray (surprise) and took a few minutes to recover.

The coaches actually took scores and the Blue team ended up kicking the largest score (19.4) of the five groups. It consisted of Hinge, Peatling, O’Brien, Cumming, Rankine, Foot, Dowling, Ryan and Strachan.

I’ll post about how a bunch of the players went later on in this report. I was only able to watch one of the games at a time, but that still meant I was able to watch about half a dozen.

Following this, Nicks brought the group together for a reasonably long chat. Maybe to talk about his sweet new contract. I jest.

Then the running began.

Up and down the oval they went, with short breaks in between. It looked to be about a dozen times, at about 80 per cent intensity. The best runners (ANB, Filthy, Bond, Dowling, Marsh) would actually have to do a little more than the others, with their cones set slightly further back, while the worst runners were given a slightly shorter distance. This meant that the group as a whole would finish about the same time.

Unfortunately for the boys, this was just one set. They would then have to run over to a station (in groups based on their jumper colour) and do about a minute of skills work under fatigue. They then ran back to their starting positions for another round of running. Repeat four more times. Fun stuff.

Typically the best runners - as mentioned above - finished at the front each time, particularly Thilthorpe, Bond and Dowling. I was also impressed by a number of others - Rachele struggled a bit early but seemingly got a second wind and often finished at the front in the latter sets. Same with Curtin. Bell is also a very good runner, I wasn’t expecting him to do so well.

Most of the group completed the entirety of the running. A select few were held off from some of the sets, such as Tex and Cotton, just to not overdo it.

Marsh looked cooked by the end of the second set and sat out the third, before jumping back in except this time with the middle section of runners instead of the top guys. This definitely suited him better.

Milera was visibly struggling and appeared done after three sets, but to his credit he did return for the fifth and final one. Usually he’s a pretty good runner so think it just wasn’t his day in the heat.

Fog was doing ok until late in the third set and really struggled in the forth, before sitting out the last one. Like I said, he needs to have a really solid training period over the Xmas break.

Welsh and Taylor both did well considering their histories. I thought Welsh was done after lagging badly behind in the fourth set, but he found a way to keep going until the end. Milk was very good until the final set. Exhausted, he stopped running to catch his breath and get a drink of water right before the end, and obviously realised the error of his ways and ran the last bit by himself. I don’t think he realised just how close he was - I winced a bit, I won’t lie. He doesn’t need to give the coaches any ammo to not pick him.

The lads then went to the boundary and did the push up drill you’ve likely seen already. The final six looked to be Rankine, Drury, Bond, Keays, Foot and Rachele, with the latter three the only ones left standing. It was good to see all the other boys get around them cheering them on.

Overall it was pretty impressive (and slightly nauseating) to watch.

I will point out that sometimes the coaches (or S+C guys) will ask the lads to jog it in, but some walk before putting in a slight jog at the end. This wasn’t just today either. It’s only a small thing but I would prefer more uniformity at times.

I also noticed, for such a tight group, a couple of boys copped hits and looked sore yet few, if any, got around them. Ludowyke was obviously in a bit of strife with his ankle but had to wait some time before someone (a trainer) checked on him. A similar thing happened with Bell later on. I know the boys are professional and don’t want to stop unless required, but I would’ve thought a bit more compassion would be showed. Maybe it’s just me.

Some player thoughts on the AFLX stuff:

9. Murray - still has that knee strapping but I was impressed by his agility and willingness to put a step on his opponent. When he’s struggling he tends to look like he’s on rail tracks, but today he was quite nimble out there.

10. Pedlar - looked a bit sore in the running with that knee. Hopefully that clears up over the break. On the plus side, his aerial work was a real threat during the AFLX games. He just kept jumping at the ball and his hands were excellent.

11. Edwards - missed an easy tackle that a guy his size should’ve laid. He looks fit and there’s no denying his ability to find space and receive outside ball, but he needs to be more than that and get some grit in his game. Especially if he wants to be a mid. No use being 190cm and 90kg if you’re not gonna use it.

15. Cook - had a nice aerial win on Cotton and some of his kicking was just sublime - really punchy 50m darts. He’s always been a talent but it’s now or never and he’s making a genuine fist of it. Scratch matches will tell us more, as it’s the defensive stuff that will make or break this new role of his.

26. Marsh - think he needs the Xmas break as his contest work is down and he struggled a little bit in the running. Having said that, his ability to spot up targets up field is first class and that was evident again today. Get the ball in his hands as he will hit up players with regularity, and not just easy kicks either.

33. Cotton - showed a nice burst of speed when he took Strachan on and got past him with ease (not the toughest opposition I’m aware). Not longer after, laid a ripping tackle on Rankine who just couldn’t put one of his steps on him. He’s still figuring out where to run and just how hard you have to work, but he’s fun to watch.

34. Ludowyke - a shame about the injury, but I thought he did a couple nice things during the AFLX including a terrific run down tackle on Worrell. His willingness to chase and tackle is excellent for a big guy. Definitely needs to build his tank as he tires quickly.

47. Foot - had a nice moment where he burst away and took a couple bounces before slotting a goal, despite a good chase from Bond who is by no means slow. Still not quite sure where he fits in but he does offer something a bit different. Not to mention he worked really hard out there in the running/push ups, so he’s obviously desperate for a chance.

Overall a pretty good start to the pre-season. Draper’s absence has obviously been a real bummer, but otherwise the group is really quite healthy (strapping pandemic notwithstanding).

I thought the lads might be a bit flat after last season’s missed opportunity, and that may still show when games roll around, but so far that doesn’t seem the case and the energy levels have been consistently good.

One thing is for sure, our players are pretty huge. I know most footballers bulk up over the off season but we seem to be pushing it even further, to the point where even Dowling and Sholl finally have arms. The increase in sprint and agility work has also been interesting. Our S+C guys obviously aren’t afraid to risk injury.

There are a few individuals I want to see step things up a bit on return.

Fog needs to get fitter. Peatling needs to find his zest again, he’s been a touch underwhelming. Same with Cumming although his last couple of sessions were a return to form. I’d also like to see Tex step things up a bit after being managed a lot. He has been only ok in match sim, whereas in previous years he has often been quite dominant. Ryan probably needs to step it up a bit as well - we are pretty flush with hopeful half backs, so he needs to find a point of difference to stand out.

Thumbs up go to a number of players thus far. I’ve really enjoyed the work of Nankervis off half back - he seems in a really good space and has shown why he must play round one. Similar thoughts on Dowling with his bigger physique and more explosive game, he’s clearly giving his all in a contract year. Probably not so much a round one lock but he’s pushing his case.

Bond has been very good with his ball use and composure out there, while it’s hard not to be impressed by Curtin’s work ethic even if he’s yet to really dominate match sim.

I’ve also liked Cook in his new half back role, while Cotton has me excited for what he could produce in a couple years. Soligo looks really good out there as does Pedlar. Let’s hope for injury-free years out of those two. Sholl has been excellent but the proof will be in a couple months as to whether he can overcome his deficiencies.

I’ve been a bit lax on answering questions so feel free to chuck em through if there’s anything more you want to know.

bigman · Jan 12, 2026

A few things stood out today:

1. The health of the list - every single player was out there and while a handful only did running, there was no one limping or on crutches watching from the sidelines. In fact I’d wager the only two with any real injury are Keays and Draper, and Keays is already running like Keays. More injuries will no doubt come, but it’s a big positive regardless.

2. The lads really looked after themselves over the break. Obviously I don’t have any data to back this up, but to the eye the lads look in great condition on return. There’s no 2018 situation here.

3. We’re not messing around. The intensity of today’s session was genuinely impressive. Tackles were hard, players are twisting and turning at high speeds - they’re not going through the motions. I would be shocked if we come out of this pre season unscathed, but thankfully today we didn’t appear to lose anyone.

4. The ground surface is terrible. Sand was being kicked up a lot at the northern end. The ground was in good condition prior to Xmas, so I’m not sure what’s happened. Hopefully they fix it. Otherwise I’d prefer them to train somewhere else. Also, they need to mow the surrounding area. I know we’re leaving soon, but have a bit of pride.

Like I said, everyone showed up today.

Keays and Draper ran laps together for most of the session, which is already a big step up for Sid who barely showed his face in December. He finished up a bit earlier than Keays and had a chat to the trainers, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.

Three lads - Ah Chee, Cotton and Maley - didn’t do the main drills, only the early skills work. Otherwise they just did a bunch of running. They all look to be moving fine so I’m guessing they’re either being managed or are just a bit sore, either way nothing to be concerned about yet.

Strapping levels were much lower than pre-Xmas. Rachele had some knee strapping, as did Ludowyke (understandably), while the older Murray had a bit around his calf. They all seemed to be moving just fine and completed the whole session.

Pleasingly, Michalanney and Ludowyke are now back to full training. Max wore the fluro hat in contact work, still unsure what exactly his injury was. Peatling has fully recovered from what I reckon was an AC sprain. McGuane is also back in full training.

This week is when the AFL Academy lads train with clubs. For us, it’s Gabe Patterson, Ethan Herbert and Jack Gordon. There was a fourth lad who would appear to be NGA. My first thought was Jermaine Miller but he’s sure grown a bit if so. Any idea who it would be Mutineer

All four were held out from the competitive work, but joined for light skills and spent the rest either running or watching on. Patterson is a skinny lad but he’s pretty exciting, a natural forward with a burst of speed and a powerful boot. Herbert moves well for a ruck and has a leap, you’d love for him to grow just a bit more though. 200cm these days is at the low end. Gordon looks a reasonable six foot midfield prospect, still not sure how Archie Van Dyk missed out on academy selection though.

Umpires were there today for the first time this summer. Balmey also made an appearance.

Most of the session revolved around three concurrent drills, with five groups rotating between them:

1. Handball game - played across the ground, each team must score by handballing between two sets of makeshift goals. Kicking was allowed but the emphasis was on using speed and power to take opponents on.
Any grounded ball was an immediate turnover. Tackling was pretty ferocious in this.

2. Kicking game - played over two-thirds of the ground, players had to work the ball via foot, honouring short leads while the other team tried to intercept. Any grounded ball was an immediate turnover. I noticed a couple times that the team with the ball would soak up the last 30 or so seconds by chipping sideways and backwards - it would seem we are addressing our ordinary form in milking the clock. Obviously, proof will be in the pudding.

3. Tackling/ground ball work

The lads then broke into a short amount of ‘match sim’-style play with no stoppages. Teams were actually a bit more balanced this time:

Blue
FB: Michalanney Keane Ryan
HB: Nankervis Worrell Hinge
_C: N-Bullen Dawson Cumming
HF: Soligo Fogarty Rankine
FF: Pedlar Walker Ludowyke
_R: McAndrew Curtin Rachele
IN: Strachan Bell Foot

White
FB: Laird Butts Borlase
HB: Cook Murray Milera
_C: Jones Berry Sholl
HF: Dowling Murray Marsh
FF: Taylor Thilthorpe Welsh
_R: O’Brien Peatling Edwards
IN: Bond Drury McGuane

The lads then did about 10 minutes of interval running before working on their craft.

A bunch on midfielders did stoppage work (centre and boundary) with O’Brien, McAndrew, Strachan and Herbert. They were: Dawson, Curtin, Soligo, Rankine, Peatling, Berry, Dowling and Edwards (and Gordon). So that gives an idea of who is set to get genuine mid time at this stage. I still think Taylor should be in this group - let’s not waste his strengths.

Some player comments:

2. Keays - with the way (and amount) he ran today, I wouldn’t be concerned about the hamstring. He will be back in no time, so it won’t affect his prep. The only worry is reoccurrence.

5. Draper - much more promising watching him today. Obviously we will need to wait until he does football work, where he will need to accelerate and change direction. That will no doubt test that groin. But just seeing him do a heap of running is a big step up.

6. Curtin - I try to avoid hyperbole but this lad might have the best rig in the AFL. Just an insane build and yet still one of our best runners. How he’s only 20 is beyond me.

10. Pedlar - really liked what I saw today. Errors were minimal and his aerial work was superb. Looks fit and injury free. If he’s going to make it, this will be the year.

11. Edwards - laid a couple of big tackles in the handball game that made me take notice. More of that please - he has size and talent, just needs to get more grit and urgency in his game. Side note - he trails his opponent a bit too much. Would like to see him really switch on.

12. Dawson - looked like someone who had trained hard over Christmas to make up for lost time due to that foot injury. Definitely fitter.

22. Ryan - might be harsh but I was more impressed by his first pre season. I think he may be down in confidence, as he made a couple of poor errors and just isn’t taking the game on as much. Still plenty of sessions left to improve but I was hoping he would wow me.

25. Peatling - had a bit more zip and energy today. I think one thing holding him back a touch is that he’s not a particularly good runner. He’s an effort player so his engine needs to be elite or close to, but he’s only middle of the road in that regard. I’m a fan, but he needs to keep improving his game and I think that needs to be a focus for him, especially given how he plays.

33. Cotton - only did running so not much to comment on, but gee whiz he’s putting on size quickly. The buzz cut probably helps but I was surprised how big he’s already gotten for an 18 year old, particularly through the legs.

37. Drury - I say this quite a bit but this lad really doesn’t hold back. Trains like it might be his last. It’s a shame he’s small, because he has some ability and the work ethic to go with it.

40. McGuane - good to see him back, though I still feel Foot has it in the bag at this point. Looked a bit bigger to my eye but I suspect he will always be on the smaller side given his narrow shoulders. I hope we can get him in our sanfl program as he can play, I just don’t see it happening for him this summer.

44. Cumming - looked great out there today. Much more energy and talk. Maybe I read too much into things but he just didn’t seem quite himself most of the pre-Xmas block.

47. Foot - still have reservations but no denying he has a bit of speed and excels in traffic. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get the gig, though it seems a bit harsh pitting a 25 year old against a kid who’s only 18.

Also, I’m editing the thread title every time there’s a new report. Hopefully that makes it easier to know when a new report is up.

bigman · Jan 14, 2026

Looks like another session with no injuries, at least to my eye. Given what’s happening around the league, I think we take that and run.

Once again everyone showed their face, with the only two in rehab being Keays and Draper. Sid was out there for an hour and definitely did the most demanding running I’ve seen yet from him this summer. Hopefully he pulls up well and keeps this ball rolling.

No knee strapping for Rachele this time - instead he had some on his arm and wore the fluro orange hat. Didn’t seem bothered by it though. Bell also had a bandage around his arm but again, no issue.

After just doing running on Monday, Ah Chee, Cotton and Maley rejoined the main group today which was good to see. However, they didn’t participate in the 20 minutes of match sim, so obviously they’re still being managed for some reason.

Dan Gorringe was there today. Showed up later on all decked out in Crows training gear with a camera man. No idea why, can’t say I follow his work much.

The Academy lads - Patterson, Herbert, Gordon and Long - again trained and did the entire session which was impressive to see. I’m sure they’d be knackered after that.

Patterson is really quite impressive. In one instance he gathered a loose ball between two of our blokes and powered through them, also laid a couple of great tackles. Herbert does not move or kick like a ruck, he’s a really skilled lad for his height. Gordon was industrious again, though I’m not sure I see his point of difference, while Long was held off from the running portion of training but has a serious boot on him, could be something to work with there if he can get his engine up. Has quite a mature build.

After the warm up, the squad split up into three groups - defenders, mids and forwards.

The backs focussed on bringing the ball out of defence - first going wide, before hitting a 45 degree kick inside the corridor. The forwards pretty much just had goal kicking practice, while the mids did front-and-centre work where they would crumb a contest before moving the ball from one 50m arc to the other.

These drills then evolved. The backs did 1v1 work defending leads, while the forwards worked on their ground ball and pressure.

Some (George) would be pleased to hear the midfielders did about 15 minutes of stoppage work - both ball-ups and boundary throw ins. They didn’t have rucks competing against each other, however. Those participating were Dawson, Rankine, Soligo, Curtin, Rachele, Peatling, Berry, Dowling, Edwards, Foot, Cumming and Jones.

The squad then broke into three groups again, this time assorted. They rotated between three different drills:
1. Short kicks off half back before putting speed on the ball as they neared the forward 50.
2. Collecting a loose ball in deep defence, before moving the ball along the boundary up to the wing.
3. Stoppages in the forward pocket.

We then had roughly 20 minutes of ‘match sim’ without stoppages. Some players weren’t even allowed shots at goal so it wasn’t really a scratch match per se - it was also 16 a side with massive rotations. Why? No idea.

Teams were as follows:

Blue
FB: Ryan Keane
HB: Nankervis Worrell Hinge
_C: Jones Dawson Cumming
HF: Rachele Walker Marsh
FF: Pedlar Thilthorpe
_R: O’Brien Curtin Rankine
IN: Michalanney Neal-Bullen Soligo Sholl Bell Gordon Long

White
FB: Borlase Butts
HB: Milera Murray Cook
_C: Dowling Berry Drury
HF: Taylor Fogarty
FF: Welsh Murray Ludowyke
_R: McAndrew Peatling Edwards
IN: Bond Laird McGuane Foot Herbert Patterson Strachan

They seem to be mixing things up a bit more than left year. Obviously the Blue team was stronger but I wouldn’t read too much into it as to who is best 23.

The lads then did a solid block of running - up and down the oval at about 85 percent intensity, with very short breaks in between. Tex, Ah Chee, Cotton and Maley sat out the first bit but joined for the last five or so minutes. Good to see the Academy lads get through it all as well, minus Long who was held off and looked a bit sore.

This was followed up by a bunch of wrestling on the ground, before a whistle would be blown and they would have to quickly get up and sprint 20m. Peatling copped one to the jewels which floored him for a bit. I noticed McGuane was a bit sore and given some pickle juice, so possibly had cramp. Tex and Fog didn’t do the wrestling, instead running laps.

Some player thoughts:

4. Ah Chee - he’s a good watch. Just glides around and his composure and skills are a real treat. Knowing he cost us nothing in draft collateral is pretty wild.

7. Thilthorpe - was a bit more prominent today, working hard up the ground and taking a few clunk marks including one in defence. Doing what he needs to do.

8. Rachele - was able to get involved a lot pushing high up in match sim. Has a confidence about him at the moment winning some nice 1v1’s. Hopefully stays fit as he’s had a few bits of strapping over the summer.

12. Dawson - was the best out there today. Took some typical contested marks in match sim and kicking was excellent, including a perfect 50m dart to Pedlar inside 50.

15. Cook - so far, so good in this new half back role. Took a lovely mark with Rob bearing down on him, would’ve been quite easy to shirk it this time of year. His intensity has lifted too as he’s really dynamic out there. Does he get in? Maybe not initially, but he’s doing little wrong.

17. Welsh - in much better condition than last year, so credit to him. But I just don’t think he has the footy IQ to make it at AFL level. Just isn’t quick enough to make decisions and too often ends up making mistakes or fumbling. Will need a big season to stay on the list you would think, given our tall forward stocks. Hope he proves me wrong.

19. Taylor - struggling a bit to get involved in this half forward role. Granted there’s only so much ball to go around between 40 plus players, but it feels a bit like we are setting him up to fail. Suspect he will lift when games start but at the moment I can’t see him playing round one unless he dominates February. Pedlar would be in front at this stage.

23. Rankine - trained with real intent today, maybe a bit too much as he was a touch aggro at times! Obviously has a point to prove - barring injury, he will have a career year I think.

24. Worrell - took the best grab of the day, a terrific intercept pack mark in match sim. Similar to Filthy, just doing what he needs to.

40. McGuane - copped a big tackle in one of the earlier drills where he was unable to fend off. Doesn’t seem to have any hidden wiry strength as it sort of confirmed what we’ve thought - he’s gonna get rag dolled with that build.

47. Foot - I’m warming up to him. Maybe I’m just used to that ball drop now as even that doesn’t seem as bad anymore. He gives us something a little different with that power and burst at least. Practice games should tell us a lot.

bigman · Jan 16, 2026

Today was a fun watch - we finally got our first bit of true match sim. Centre bounces, umpires, it was all there for 30 minutes. I’ll divulge more later on.

Again, seemingly no injuries today. Which means we still only have two out of action in Keays and Draper, and I’m pretty sure Keays is close to returning. Sid definitely ran the fastest I’ve seen from him this summer, though he’s not doing any sprinting yet. He and Keays did an almost identical regime - a mix of running laps, strides up and down at about 80 per cent, and a bit of kick to kick in between. Only difference was that Keays went a bit harder and stayed out a bit longer. That’s now a few sessions in a row for Sid, so fingers crossed he’s over the worst of it.

Worth noting it was quite windy today - gusts of up to 40ish km/hr. I actually thought the standard was good considering, especially after some initial adjustment from the players.

The session kicked off with four concurrent drills. They were, to my eye:

1. Kicking the ball off half back to one of two teammates - short to a player on the lead with a defender behind him, or long over the top if space opened up. The player had to decide quickly which was the right option. This drill was also right into the teeth of the wind so made it quite interesting, as those with less powerful kicks had to make a judgement call on their own ability to hit the longer pass.
2. Handball drill in defence, flinging it around before a whistle is blown and the player with the ball needs to explode away and kick to half back.
3. Keeping’s off by foot along the wing, while opponents try to defend and intercept.
4. Ground ball contest in the centre, linking up via handball before kicking to a leading target inside forward 50.

Tex, Laird and Milera were held off from these drills. Just a management thing.

Then came the match sim, which was made up of two quarters.

The first ‘quarter’ was just 10 minutes, without stoppages. Instead the coach would kick the ball in a random direction and the players had to set up from there. Everyone, bar Draper and Keays, was involved.

Teams were as follows:

Blue
FB: Bond Keane Nankervis
HB: Laird Worrell Milera
_C: Jones Dawson Cumming
HF: Ah Chee Fogarty Rachele
FF: Pedlar Thilthorpe Walker
_R: O’Brien Curtin Rankine
IN: Neal-Bullen Peatling Soligo Berry Cook

White
FB: Michalanney Butts Borlase
HB: Ryan Murray Hinge
_C: Sholl Edwards Drury
HF: Patterson Murray Marsh
FF: Cotton Maley Welsh
_R: McAndrew Dowling Taylor
IN: Ludowyke Bell McGuane Strachan Foot Herbert Gordon

Goals to Rachele, Fogarty and Walker for the Blue side. Sholl kicked White’s solitary major.

After a short break, the lads then participated in a genuine 30 minutes of football.

If I had known, I would’ve taken down the exact centre bounce attendances. I’ll remember for next time. For Blue it was a mix of O’Brien, Thilthorpe, Dawson, Curtin, Rankine, Soligo, Peatling, Berry and Rachele. For the Whites, it was McAndrew, T.Murray, Edwards, Taylor, Dowling, Foot and Gordon.

Ah Chee, Cotton and Maley did not participate in this section, instead running laps. Teams remained the same otherwise. Worth noting that the Blue side kicked into the wind both quarters, so at least there was something to handicap what was otherwise clearly a superior team.

Tex bagged two for Blue with singles to Jones, Soligo and Rankine. Strachan kicked the White’s only goal.

Interestingly in the final two minutes the scoreboard was changed so that the White team was leading by less than a goal. Blue managed to find a way to win at literally the last second, courtesy of a Rankine snap which he duly celebrated. I will say though that the timekeeper gave him a bit of leeway, as I’m pretty sure it was all over before he kicked it.

Aside from the good standard in general, one thing that pleased me was the reluctance of players to just go down the line when bottled up. It still happened on occasion - usually when a lesser kick had the pill - but you could see the change in mindset.

I’ll post a bunch of player thoughts at the end of the report.

After a long chat with Nicks and Murray - the umps also had a talk - the lads then did a decent block of running. Similar to other sessions, it was up and down the ground at about 85 per cent intensity, with very small breaks in between. There was no Tex, Ah Chee, Laird, Maley, Cotton, Marsh or Ludowyke.

One thing about this running is that the players are divided into groups - from the best runners to the worst. The better the runner, the slightly further their cones are placed back. This means that the group as a whole finishes around the same time (20 seconds).

The groups were as follows:
1. Dowling, Neal-Bullen
2. Dawson, Thilthorpe, Bond, Rankine, Berry
3. Curtin, Cumming
4. Sholl, Jones, Rachele, Foot, Drury, Bell
5. Pedlar, Nankervis, O’Brien, Cook, Hinge, Michalanney, Edwards, Ryan
6. Taylor, Peatling, N.Murray, Butts, Borlase, Keane, Gordon
7. T.Murray, Fogarty, McAndrew, Welsh, Strachan, Herbert, Long

These groups aren’t always the same, as players get slightly managed from session to session. Usually Sholl is higher, for instance. But it gives a bit of an insight into their running abilities. Fwiw, Pedlar ran really well, often at the front.

Alright, a bunch of player comments:

3. Berry - thought he was pretty clean and industrious. Kicking was solid despite the wind. He’s definitely the leanest I’ve seen him, though I think injuries will have a big say on his place in the side.

4. Ah Chee - only played the shorter quarter but gee he had an influence. Was regularly used high up the ground and hit a laser pass to Tex for his first goal. His skills and decision making are high end.

6. Curtin - yeah, get excited. Had at least three clearances including a lovely pirouette out of a tackle which he then followed up for the one-two. Also took a couple of nice grabs and sold a bit of candy. His hands in tight in particular are an asset, plus no one can bring him down. Good signs.

7. Thilthorpe - played quite high up the ground in a roaming role, as well as a bit of a relief ruck. Got involved without hitting the scoreboard, but Tex was the one who stood out.

8. Rachele - played quite well. Laid a great tackle on Drury which rewarded him with a goal, and pushed up to the wings to provide an option. Typically efficient with the pill.

10. Pedlar - struggled to get involved, not for a lack of trying. Had a great summer so wouldn’t stress.

11. Edwards - had one nice clearance but still lacks a bit of urgency as he’s often second to the ball. Needs to get nasty.

12. Dawson - one of the best in the first quarter along with Ah Chee. Played mostly forward in the second term to give others a go and fell out of it a bit, but he’s looking great out there.

13. Walker - had a couple of ordinary moments early on, being out pointed by Borlase and not long after tackled htb by Taylor. Once he kicked his first, however, he found his groove and was the most prolific key forward. Kicked three and left a few more out there as his radar was slightly off. Still showing some signs of age catching up which worry me, but gee he can still play.

14. Soligo - didn’t get a heap of the ball but I liked his willingness to drive the legs when he did have it. Obviously a focus area for him and a much needed one.

15. Cook - got a chance in the A team and was solid without starring. His kicking and decision making, similar to Ah Chee, are real weapons. I think this move might actually be working, though we will need to see more.

16. Michalanney - just going at the moment, which is understandable given he’s coming off an injury (which I still don’t know what it is). Wearing the non-contact hat.

17. Welsh - Actually had a patch where he kept finding the ball, but really struggled making the right decisions, often blasting long in a panic. Also got caught htb by Peatling. Looks low on confidence.

19. Taylor - hardly dominant but seemed to enjoy playing mostly midfield and laid a couple of ripping tackles including the one on Tex. Still want more from him.

22. Ryan - showed a bit of speed off half back which was good to see. He’s one who has the ability to hit targets at pace. Better signs.

23. Rankine - appeared to play a bit more forward than midfield. Kicked the winner and could’ve had two but missed the snap after a perfect crumb off Thilthorpe. Also set up one of Tex’s goals.

24. Worrell - had a great moment where he took a big pack mark intercepting on the wing. Also had a howler where he handballed to the opposition in the corridor, causing the White team’s first goal courtesy of Sholl.

26. Marsh - took a nice intercept mark deep in defence, but otherwise pretty quiet. Copped a late hit from Keane that should’ve been a down field free to the White team. Good to see him get up and shove the Irishman afterwards.

27. Nankervis - worked his way into it nicely and by the end was one of the standout players. His speed is a real weapon, as is his ability to shrug tackles. Killing it.

28. Neal-Bullen - typically industrious, though he did miss an opportunity to put the Blue team ahead with just a minute to go. Would hate to see that in the real thing.

29. Laird - was fine, but I was disappointed to see him long bomb the ball inside 50 when others were really trying to hit up leads. He doesn’t have a good stab pass and he knows it.

32. Fogarty - still want to see him get more involved, but he did lay a ripping tackle on Butts which resulted in a goal. His voice is very good out there, very vocal lad.

38. Sholl - I thought he was the standout player for the White team. Worked tirelessly and found a fair bit of it despite Blue’s dominance. Personally would prefer him on the wing instead of Jones - indeed that wing spot is now an area of contention with Curtin moving into the guts.

39. Murray - barely touched it but love his attack on the footy in the air. Almost held a serious pack mark that he was unlucky to spill. Looked ok in the ruck against filthy as well.

McAndrew/Obrien - ROB basically confirmed what we already thought: he can’t jump and it’s going to be an issue at centre bounce. McAndrew was leaping over him. Other stoppages were much more even but it’s an issue.

47. Foot - had a bad moment where he was being cornered by the opposition and decided to go backwards, only to scrub the kick to Butts which led to Fog’s goal. This is what im concerned about with him - he has some tricks but he’s not a great user of the ball.

48. Keane - late hit on Marsh aside, he was very good. Intercepted, stepped around opponents and made plays. Typical Keane.

Long - laid a terrific tackle on Rankine which was holding the ball. There might be something here - he’s aggressive, pretty quick and has a lovely boot. If he can get his professionalism up, we might have a prospect on our hands.

Herbert - this guy is a talent. His work in traffic is already excellent with his step and quick gives, and he’s hardly a liability in transition. Hope he grows just a bit more.

Patterson - unfortunately copped a knock to the leg and didn’t feature much after that, doesn’t seem to be an injury though. Is a real talent but needs some development in the body for the way he plays.

Gordon - looks a solid prospect and knows where to run, but like I’ve said previously, I’m not seeing a point of difference. All four guys acquitted themselves well though. I was surprised just how much they did - even Sharp last year didn’t do as much as these lads. They’ll be cooked now but it would’ve been an incredible insight into what an AFL pre season looks like.

bigman · Jan 21, 2026

Sorry about no report on Monday, but it was a pretty middling session until Curtin’s injury anyway and I’m not sure how much any of us were in the mood given what happened.

To add injury to insult, as I mentioned above, Thilthorpe went down with some sort of leg injury after competing in a pack. He got up pretty quickly and took himself to the bench, so can’t be too bad, but it’s not exactly ideal. He didn’t train the rest of the session, but did stop for a photo opportunity with some kids before heading into the into the rooms.

Thankfully, aside from Curtin, we had full numbers again today. Draper and Keays were still in rehab but Keays is now doing a decent chunk of main training. Draper has progressed to change of direction work. Hopefully sprinting isn’t too far away.

Michalanney has strapping above and below his knee, which I’ve also seen with players recovering from hamstring issues. So it’s one of those two which is the mystery injury. No fluro hat anymore though and he is doing full training.

For the first part of the session, the players split into their respective lines (defs, mids, fwds). Each would do two different drills:

Defenders - handball drills in tight with opponents trying to cut them off + ground ball contest, linking up by hand before kicking to half back.

Midfielders - boundary stoppages + ball ups.

Forwards - ground ball contest, feeding it out for a shot at goal on the run + set shot practice.

This was when Rankine hurt himself, doing something to his knee on the boundary. Luckily it was a non-event and he did the rest of the session. Safe to say I was relieved.

Then came the practice match. Two quarters of 20 minutes (plus time on). Teams changed slightly in the break and I’ll list them all below. The standard was pretty good especially in the first term, before it got quite windy (40km gusts) and players became fatigued.

Q1 - Teams

Blue
FB: Bond Keane Worrell
HB: Laird Butts Milera
_C: Cumming Dawson Jones
HF: N-Bullen Thilthorpe Rankine
FF: Pedlar Fogarty Walker
_R: O’Brien Berry Rachele
IN: Ah Chee Soligo Hinge Cook

Yellow
FB: Ryan Borlase Michalanney
HB: Nankervis Murray Sholl
_C: Drury Dowling Marsh
HF: Taylor Welsh Cotton
FF: Murray Maley Ludowyke
_R: McAndrew Peatling Edwards
IN: Foot Bell McGuane Strachan

Q1 - Goals
Blue - Thilthorpe, Fogarty, Dawson, Neal-Bullen, Berry
Yellow - Marsh, Strachan

Q1 - Centre Bounce Attendences (8 total)
O’Brien/McAndrew/Edwards: 8
Dowling: 7
Dawson/Rachele/Peatling: 6
Soligo: 5
Rankine: 4
Berry/Foot: 3

Q2 - Teams

Blue
FB: Bond Murray Worrell
HB: Laird Murray Milera
_C: Cumming Dawson Marsh
HF: N-Bullen Thilthorpe Rankine
FF: Pedlar Fogarty Walker
_R: McAndrew Berry Rachele
IN: Ah Chee Soligo Hinge Nankervis

Yellow
FB: Ryan Butts Michalanney
HB: Cook Borlase Sholl
_C: Drury Dowling Jones
HF: Taylor Welsh Cotton
FF: Murray Maley Ludowyke
_R: O’Brien Peatling Edwards
IN: Foot Bell McGuane Strachan

Q2 - Goals
Blue - Neal-Bullen 2, Ah Chee 2, Pedlar 2, Marsh, Hinge, McAndrew
Yellow - none

Q2 - Centre Bounce Attendances (10 total)
McAndrew: 10
Rachele/O’Brien: 9
Soligo/Peatling/Foot: 8
Dowling/Edwards: 7
Berry: 5
Dawson/Rankine: 4
T.Murray: 1

As you can see, it was very much an A vs B scenario in both quarters. The only changes were in areas of contention - Butts vs Murray, Cook vs Nankervis, Jones vs Marsh and O’Brien vs McAndrew. No Keays, of course, plus each had no 23rd man.

Centre bounce numbers were also interesting. Rachele had the most of any non-rucks (15 of 18) for the Blue, which rotated an extra mid compared to the Yellow team. Rankine and Dawson weren’t given as much as usual (10 and eight respectively).

Guess this is a better time than any to talk rucks. McAndrew pantsed ROB in the centre, simple as that. In the 18 centre contest, McAndrew won 12 taps to ROB’s three. For the other three, one was indiscriminate while on two occasions Rob gave away a free to McAndrew.

Around the ground it was much more even - Rob probably had the edge at boundary throw ins - but it was quite stark at centre bounce. McAndrew would just jump too high for Rob almost every time.

A bunch of player thoughts:

1. Jones - got the A team wing spot first-up but didn’t do much with it. Very quiet across both quarters, which isn’t rare for Chayce unfortunately.

3. Berry - similar to last Friday, was pretty solid. Had one poor inside 50 but buttered up later on with a nice assist to Ah Chee. Also kicked a snap goal courtesy of a lovely pass from Thilthorpe. Used his pace a couple of times to burst out of traffic, including a centre clearance straight to Tex on the lead.

4. Ah Chee - game time was slightly restricted but he was typically sharp when on the ground. Bagged two goals and would’ve had a couple more if not for some near misses. Handed off to Neal-Bullen for one of his goals as well.

8. Rachele - I thought he was the standout today, and he was great on Monday as well. Seems in really good touch. Work-rate was excellent and won a few centre clearances where he used his agility to make his own space. Set up several goals with excellent forward entries.

10. Pedlar - didn’t really get into it until late where he bagged a couple of majors, but I thought his pressure game was good today and was unlucky on a couple of occasions. Did an excellent run down tackle on Ryan.

11. Edwards - won a couple of hard balls but otherwise was a bit of a non-entity despite getting a lot of midfield time. Seemed a bit fumbly and went to ground too much in the centre. Needs to do better going forward.

12. Dawson - uncharacteristically panicky on a couple of occasions in tight, handballing to the opposition. Still had some good moments but was overall on the quieter side. Played a decent chunk forward and kicked a snag.

14. Soligo - got better and better as the game wore on. Kicking was very good despite the wind and importantly found plenty of easy ball around the ground. Covering the grass much better than the back half of last year. Good signs.

15. Cook - had a couple of nice moments with the ball playing for the Blue side, but wouldn’t say he really stamped himself. Nank was the better of the two today.

17. Welsh - similar to last week, had another patch where he got the ball four-five times in a 10 minute burst but again just threw it on the boot instead of summing the situation up. He’s getting more involved thanks to his improved tank, but the finesse just isn’t there.

19. Taylor - played the graveyard forward role for a much weaker side, but still managed to do some good things. Won a few excellent hard balls and also laid a great tackle on Milera that was rewarded. Hit the post with a late snap on the run. Would’ve liked to see him get some midfield time like last Friday.

20. Hinge - made a couple of blues by foot including a howler in Q1 which led to Marsh’s first goal. On the flip side, laid a ripping tackle on Nankervis who was about to do one of his runs through the corridor. Kicked a goal too.

22. Ryan - we need to teach this lad better ball security. He’s not McHenry-levels, but he does lose the pill too easily when tackled. Makes it too easy for the umps to call holding the ball. Otherwise, was just ok. Won a good contest vs ANB but needs to get more involved offensively. He has the weapons.

25. Peatling - thought he was pretty industrious and won a few centre clearances, although a couple came from head-high tackles (big shock I know). Not sure if being in the B team is purely to get him more mid time or if he’s actually in selection danger. I wouldn’t have thought so, particularly with Curtin out for some time.

26. Marsh - now this one is interesting. Played mostly wing with some time forward, where he kicked two goals. The second was for the Blue team and came from a terrific pack mark. Exciting stuff. I think he may be an answer to our wing shortage. Perhaps a smokey for an early debut? I would’ve said unlikely but he looked good today working up and down the ground. And the fact he got a chance in the A side means he must be in our thoughts.

27. Nankervis - was ok for the Yellow team but really got going after swapping sides. His speed and willingness to use it is just so exciting. Also took a ripping pack mark. To be honest, his spot shouldn’t even be up for debate.

28. Neal-Bullen - played a bit closer to goal with no Keays, and Rachele playing bulk midfield time. Kicked the most for the day (three). Just a good player.

30. Milera - had a lot of ball go through him off half back, particularly in the first quarter. Good to see him hit up the corridor a fair bit, though we’re still not seeing much in the way of explosive running.

31. Dowling - thought he was pretty solid in the contest, much better than previous years. His improved size is definitely making a difference. Wasn’t easy finding much outside ball for the Yellow team so didn’t have a huge game, but I saw some clear signs of improvement.

33. Cotton - super quiet. Might still be a bit underdone due to soreness, but I think we are doing him a disservice playing forward. It’s a hard role for anyone let alone a bloke who hasn’t played footy in years. Free him up a little. I think he will make a good forward in time, but let’s get his touch and confidence up.

34. Ludowyke - had a bit of a mare unfortunately. Couldn’t hold his marks and even went the spoil at one point, his confidence clearly dented. I like the way he moves and competes but he needs to get those hands working better.

35. Borlase - speaking of mares. Cost two goals by letting the ball slip through his hands out the back. Needs to be a lot better than that in a contract year.

36. Maley - took a ripping mark on Worrell who he used as a jumping bag. Unfortunately missed the two shots on goal he had. He competes and his hands are usually excellent, but a player like him needs to cash in when he gets opportunities at goal because they will be pretty limited.

38. Sholl - after a great game on Friday, had a dog of one today. Didn’t get much of it and his kicking was woeful. Really seemed to struggle with the wind. Been good until now so needs to just write it off.

40. McGuane - had a couple of nice touches where he quickly summed up the situation. His vision and smarts are definitely there. Playing solely forward which is interesting. Makes it hard for him to really have any impact.

47. Foot - won a couple of centre clearances where he was able to use his strength and speed. Still too hesitant with ball in hand but he is quite exciting to watch when he gets it and sees space ahead to take the game on.

Overall best players were Rachele, Neal-Bullen, Soligo, McAndrew and Ah Chee, with nods to Peatling, Nankervis and Milera (and Marsh for showing some exciting signs).

bigman · Jan 26, 2026

I’ll keep today’s report pretty short as there wasn’t a heap to write about. Monday‘s are always the least interesting sessions, plus given the ridiculous heat it just wasn’t a particularly enthralling watch.

Unfortunately, Nankervis appears to be injured. He walked out in a club singlet to watch from the sidelines, but he looked quite stiff doing so. I didn’t see him get hurt last session so I’m not sure what happened. Hopefully it’s just soreness but he didn’t look particularly great. A real shame if he’s injured as he’d been killing it up to this point. Typical, huh? Let’s wait and see I guess. (Edit: Back issue apparently. Let’s hope it doesn’t become ongoing).

Soligo trained with the rehab guys at times and sported the yellow fluro hat, but thankfully it doesn’t seem too concerning. He did a power of running and looked fine. No strapping or anything. Hopefully just a minor niggle.

Rankine and Thilthorpe both trained fully after having injury scares last week. Izak did have bandaging around his knee which I didn’t like seeing, but he moved well out there at least. Max also still has knee strapping.

Rachele and Maley both did most of the session but headed in early. Rachele’s seemed to be some sort of knock. Maley I have no idea, maybe the heat got to him?

Keays is still doing a bit of rehab work, but he’s sprinting now so it’s only a matter of time before he’s back in full training.

Draper did pretty much what he’s been doing since the Xmas break - lots of running and some very light skills work. Patience is a virtue but hopefully we see some more progress over the next week or two.

It sounds like I’m listing a casualty ward but I should stress that only Curtin and Draper are write-offs for the early rounds at present. Maybe Nank depending on how bad it is.

Players broke into their respective lines (defs, mids and fwds) for the first part of the session. The drills were:

Defenders - ground ball contest in deep defence before hitting the outlet at half back. Also aerial work vs the coach with a bag.

Midfielders - boundary throw ins and ball ups.

Forwards - hitting up leads plus set shot practice.

They then broke into five groups, rotating between three different concurrent drills. I’ve mentioned these before but I’ll quickly sum up:

1. Handball game - played across the ground inside 50. Two makeshift sets of goals at each end. Players have to use hands and drive their legs to move the ball, and can only score via handballing through the goals. No grounded balls allowed or it’s an immediate turnover.

2. Kicking game - played in the other two thirds of the ground. Players have to use the ball by foot to move the pill from one end to the other. Any grounded balls are an immediate turnover.

3. Tackling - ground ball and pressure work on the boundary.

We then got about 15 minutes or so of match sim, albeit without stoppages. Teams were listed as follows, although Rachele pulled out and was replaced with Peatling.

Blue
FB: Bond Keane Worrell
HB: Cook Butts Milera
_C: N-Bullen Dawson Cumming
HF: Ah Chee Fogarty Taylor
FF: Rachele Thilthorpe Walker
_R: McAndrew Berry Rankine
IN: Pedlar Laird

White
FB: Michalanney Borlase Bell
HB: Ryan Murray Hinge
_C: Jones Edwards Sholl
HF: Cotton Welsh Marsh
FF: Murray Maley Ludowyke
_R: O’Brien Dowling Peatling
IN: Foot McGuane Drury Strachan

Couple of interesting selections there. How much to look into it? Not sure. Obviously McAndrew over ROB is the main one. Then there’s Taylor in the A team, Hinge in the B team. Butts over Murray as well.

The lads were spared a long running portion. Instead they did a few run throughs before working on their craft. No wrestling today.

Overall it was a bit of a sloppy session, I won’t lie. The boys found it hard to generate much energy. Obviously the heat played a big role but I wonder if they’re still flat about Curtin? He is a real energy giver out there too.

Some player thoughts:

3. Berry - he was really good in the handball drill. He is genuinely quick when he finds an opening to use his pace. It was frustrating watching him late last year, as I believe he is a better player than that. Turns 24 soon and OOC so it’s a massive year for him, but with Curtin out I think he will get early opportunities.

4. Ah Chee - doesn’t make mistakes! Even when he takes risks through the corridor. Also picked up a half volley at half forward, clean as a whistle, before spinning around and hitting up Cumming 50m away for a goal. What a get for nothing.

10. Pedlar - looks set to be our pressure forward. Laying big tackles and smothers, just training with real intent. He stays fit, he plays.

17. Welsh - credit to him, he was good today. He’s getting far more ball than he did last pre-season, and it’s no real surprise when you look at his improved body shape. The good thing is his ball handling and use was much better today.

31. Dowling - despite the heat, trained with a real sense of urgency. You can tell he wants it - I just don’t know if the coaches want him. Personally prefer him to Jones and Sholl on the wing. He gets more ball than Chayce and he’s a bit stronger and more dynamic than Lachie. He won’t be a star but we have a wing shortage and he’s one that can play the role.

34. Ludowyke - had a mare last Wednesday but was much better today, especially in the air. There’s something to like here - he’s tall, athletic, clean at ground level, competes aerially and has a pressure game. His hands will be the deciding factor in whether he makes it as a forward - if he doesn’t, I’m confident there’s a key defender still there though.

47. Foot - kicked a nice goal on the run from 45m. Minutes later hit a risky pass to Ryan in the corridor which helped set up another goal opportunity. I like elements of his game, I just wish he was a more natural footballer.

As I said, not much to say so feel free to ask questions.

bigman · Jan 28, 2026

Good to see Curtin at the club today. He was there on crutches handing out footballs to the lads as they came down the race, before watching on for 20 minutes or so.

The good news is Nankervis is already running again and looked more free in his movements. The bad news is Soligo didn’t even train today, instead he just walked laps. He didn’t have any discernible limp but he’s one who really needs to stay fit and healthy. Hopefully it’s nothing that will hang around beyond this week.

Ludowyke spent the session running alongside Nankervis. He looked fine though, so pretty sure this was just a case of managing his loads as he’s done a lot of work since Christmas. Milera also spent the second half of training running laps.

Interestingly Worrell was a no-show today - typically this isn’t something to worry about.

Draper is still solely in rehab but continued to do a fair chunk of work out there. Was good to see him incorporate some more dynamic movement into his running. No idea when he will join the main group, but the positive is that he hasn’t missed a session since the Christmas break.

Keays is back in full training which is great to see. Wouldn’t say it was his most polished session - the lad was a touch rusty as you would expect.

To be honest the skill level wasn’t great in general today, owing largely to a pretty hefty southerly wind. The boys really struggled kicking into it at times, as often the ball would seemingly hit an invisible wall and fall short. Even our best kickers weren’t immune to a couple of mis-kicks today. That said, I would prefer the lads to be a bit more polished. I can’t help but think teams like the Lions and Geelong would be sharper out there.

They incorporated a bunch of new drills today. The first set of rotations - between three groups - were as follows:

1. Short kicks from half back to half forward, honouring leads/free options while equal numbers tried to defend. This seemed to be all about controlling the tempo, likely for closing out quarters or dealing with a hard press. Run by Burns.

2. Boundary kick-ins from half back. The emphasis was clearly on both the attacking team and defenders setting up as quickly as possible. Run by Hombsch.

3. Quick hands in deep defence under significant frontal pressure. Run by Baulderstone.

We then had a couple more drills, one new:

1. Short kicks off one-two steps. They essentially went from pocket -> corridor -> goal square -> other pocket -> corridor -> repeat. Run by Godden. Hadn’t seen this before.

2. Taking place across two-thirds of the ground. Started with a loose ball in the centre. All about fast ball movement and cutting angles when possible instead of being predictable. If a point was scored, the defending team would take kick outs and try to get the ball back to the centre/centre wing. Run by Burns.

Finally we had today’s version of ‘match sim.’ The squad broke into three groups, with two playing at a time while the other would rotate on any time there was a score. The scoring team would rotate off, while the team that remained would need to take the ball from deep defence to attack. The team which rotated on would quickly need to set up to defend.

Hopefully that made sense. Obviously, this meant that teams had to be super switched on. It ran for about 20 minutes and the lads were pretty knackered by the end.

The session finished off with some running before breaking up into small groups to work on specific areas. And yes, the wrestling returned. No injuries this time though.

Some player thoughts:

3. Berry - thought he was one of the more dynamic players out there today. Seemed one of the most willing to drive his legs and change angles. Kicking was good too despite the wind.

12. Dawson - typically prolific. Just knows how to find space in transition. Thought he was the standout in the final drill.

15. Cook - I’ve spoken about this lad quite a bit but for good reason. He stood out again today. Laid a great tackle on Cumming which was paid htb, then added insult to injury by selling some candy. Every so often has an ordinary moment defending, but nothing yet that really worries me.

17. Welsh - first half of the session was having a mare, dropping marks and scrubbing kicks. Found his groove later on though after winning an excellent 1v1 against Hinge where he just turned him inside-out, leaving Hingey non-plussed lying on the deck. Enigmatic player.

21. Bond - thought he was sharp and tidy out there for the most part. Took a great mark at half back with a player right on his hammer. Still makes the occasional skill error or fumble but nothing like his early days.

22. Ryan - had a moment at half back where he saw the space ahead of him and just about go bang, only to bounce the ball wrong and leave it behind. He buttered up only to grubber kick it and turn the ball over. A real shame as it was clearly going to be exciting. It’s just not quite clicking yet, though I like his intent. Also got a fair bit of pill in deep defence and had a couple of lovely kicks.

31. Dowling - similar to Monday, I’m just liking his intensity out there. He’s visibly stronger over the ball and more explosive in his movements. Had a good aerial win on Neal-Bullen and minutes later stepped around Marsh.

38. Sholl - made up for his ordinary last couple of sessions. Was very good today, his left foot in particular being a highlight. I’ve said this before but has anyone told Sholl that he’s a left footer? His kicking suddenly becomes far more penetrating.

39. Murray - every so often has a pretty impressive session and today was one. The wind made judging the ball in the air quite difficult, but he managed to have really sure hands today.

42. McAndrew - took a great contested intercept mark, so he is capable. It’s the main thing holding him back. He improves that, he goes past ROB in my view.

46. Bell - pretty good athlete and a neat kick, but he needs to build his body up as he’s too easy to play against at times. Very lean lad, especially compared to our gorillas.

bigman · Jan 30, 2026

Three quarters of a scratch match today, so things are getting real. I’ll post a detailed summary soon, but firstly I’ll list who trained and who didn’t.

Thilthorpe went off in the second quarter of match sim after copping a knee to the lower back. Hopefully nothing serious like rib or organ damage. He ran off reasonably quickly which should be a good sign. Been a bit in the wars lately has Filthy.

Nankervis played the match sim, alleviating concerns about his back tightness. However, Soligo spent his entire session running and nothing else. It’s a lot more than he did Wednesday, when he just walked, but I hope it’s something small and not a groin issue like he’s had in the past. He didn’t seem to be in much discomfort though.

Milera and Ludowyke did a heap of running on the sidelines. Ludo actually ended up playing two quarters of match sim, but Milera did not participate. Gonna assume he’s just a bit sore.

Draper stepped it up a little with his rehab. Not only was he out there for a fair while, but they were pushing him pretty hard - he looked pretty knackered at times with all the running. It was also good to see him do the warm-up skills drills with the boys. Very simplistic stuff (handballs in tight, stoppage positioning) but it’s far and above what I was seeing pre-Christmas. Fingers crossed he keeps improving.

Ryan was a complete no-show, but so was Worrell last session and he was back today. I’ve learnt to only worry when the player is actually there but not training at all.

Curtin was there to watch the boys. As was Balmey.

Ok, so the match sim. Three quarters, 20 minutes each (plus time on). Worth noting there were field and (for the first time) boundary umpires present.

Q1 was basically A’s vs B’s. Q2 was almost identical save for a couple of positional swaps. Q3 saw a lot more changes, all of which I’ll detail below. Note - the club didn’t show the Q1 team on the big screen, so I’ll give my version of what it looked like (the names are all correct I can assure you).

Q1 - Teams

Blue
FB: Bond Keane Worrell
HB: Laird Butts Hinge
_C: Jones Dawson Cumming
HF: Ah Chee Walker Rankine
FF: N-Bullen Fogarty Thilthorpe
_R: O’Brien Berry Rachele
IN: Keays Pedlar Peatling Cook

Yellow
FB: Michalanney Borlase Bell
HB: Nankervis Murray Drury
_C: Sholl Dowling Marsh
HF: Cotton Welsh Foot
FF: Murray Maley Strachan
_R: McAndrew Edwards Taylor
IN: McGuane Atkinson Crane McDonald Taheny

Q1 - Goals

Blue: Dawson, Walker, Jones, Rachele, Pedlar
Yellow: None

Q1 - CBAs (out of six)

O’Brien, Dawson, Taylor - 6
McAndrew, Dowling - 5
Berry, Foot - 4
Rachele, Peatling, Edwards - 3
Rankine - 2
T. Murray - 1

Q2 - Teams

Blue
FB: Bond Keane Worrell
HB: Laird Butts Hinge
_C: Jones Rachele Cumming
HF: N-Bullen Walker Rankine
FF: Keays Fogarty Thilthorpe
_R: O’Brien Berry Peatling
IN: Ah Chee Pedlar Dawson Cook

Yellow
FB: Michalanney Borlase Bell
HB: Nankervis Murray Drury
_C: Sholl Dowling Marsh
HF: Cotton Welsh Taylor
FF: Murray Maley Strachan
_R: McAndrew Edwards Foot
IN: Ludowyke McGuane Atkinson Taheny McDonald Crane

Q2 - Goals

Blue: Walker, Keays, Rachele
Yellow: Nankervis, Strachan

Q2 - CBAs (out of six)

O’Brien, McAndrew, Edwards - 6
Peatling, Foot - 5
Rachele, Berry, Rankine, Dowling - 4
Taylor - 3
Dawson - 1

Q3 - Teams

Blue
FB: Michalanney Butts Bell
HB: Drury Murray Hinge
_C: Cumming Dawson N-Bullen
HF: Ah Chee Walker Rankine
FF: Pedlar Fogarty T.Murray
_R: McAndrew Berry Rachele
IN: Keays Atkinson Peatling Crane

Yellow
FB: Nankervis Keane Worrell
HB: Laird Borlase Cook
_C: Jones Dowling Sholl
HF: Cotton Welsh Foot
FF: Marsh Maley Strachan
_R: O’Brien Edwards Taylor
IN: Bond Ludowyke McGuane Taheny McDonald

(This ended up changing, as Cotton and Ludowyke ended up switching to the Blue side during the quarter. Hard to tell who exactly for).

Q3 - Goals

Blue: Rachele 2, Dawson 2, Rankine, Neal-Bullen, Ludowyke, Keays, Pedlar
Yellow: Maley 2, Taylor

Q3 - CBAs (out of 12)

O’Brien, Dowling - 11
McAndrew, Peatling, Edwards, Foot - 10
Rachele - 9
Dawson - 8
Berry - 7
Taylor - 5
T.Murray, Rankine - 2
Maley - 1

Alright, there’s the numbers out of the way. Now on to the match itself.

My takeaway at this stage is that we are moving the ball shorter and more precise out of defence compared to last year. There seems to be considerably less long kicks to contests. We are backing in our defenders to hit targets with precision, and if an option doesn’t present, we definitely tend to shift sideways to open up the field and find another way through. At times I thought it was a bit overboard to be honest.

Comparatively, once we hit the middle third of the ground we seem to switch gears and become more dynamic. Not to say it’s gung-ho through the corridor each time, but there’s more dash, handball receives, cutting angles and getting it in quick to our forwards.

Did the rules make much difference? Well, there were at least two 50m penalties for the stand rule. I’ll also note that the lasso rule does change things slightly but there is a unique by-product: players become desperate to touch an errant ball before it goes out of bounds, so as not to concede a free. There were a few times it was borderline deliberate, and I think the AFL may need to crack down on this.

As for the ruck, McAndrew beat ROB again. At centre bounce, I counted 16 hit-outs to McAndrew versus ROB’s five, and three of O’Brien’s were against the relief ruck in Toby Murray.

Around the ground it was a bit different. McAndrew appeared to have a slight edge at boundary throw-ins, while ROB seemed slightly superior at ball-ups.

Overall it’s a significant concern and I wonder whether the coaches have it in them to acknowledge reality and make a switch. It would be a bit different if ROB was monstering him around the ground, but McAndrew found more of the pill today and his follow up work was better.

How will McAndrew go against the best rucks? He may struggle, particularly with the running side of things, but ROB is basically conceding centre bounce each time at the moment. Is that what we really want?

As for the standout, it was Rachele as I’m sure many of you have already heard. Four goals from the midfield is no small feat. I will note however that his actual inside work was just decent - Berry was definitely superior in this regard. But in terms of around the ground work and overall impact, it was Rash’s day.

I’ll discuss a bunch more players:

1. Jones - very tidy first term, kicking a snap goal and using the ball well on the wing. Fell out of it a bit as the game wore on. Personally I prefer others, but he seems to be in round one contention based on his continual selection in the A team.

2. Keays - bit better today, kicking two snags in relatively limited game time. Laid a great tackle on Dowling which was paid holding the ball. Still looks slightly short of a gallop, but thankfully has a bit more time to sharpen up.

3. Berry - I know he has his detractors, but he was great today in the absence of Soligo. I thought he was the most dominant inside midfielder on the ground. Also set up several goals with good ball use (there were still one or two shanks in the bunch) and broke the lines several times. It’s worth remembering he was not exactly up against the cream of the crop. He needs to do it against the best in the league.

4. Ah Chee - quiet today but whenever he gets it he rarely coughs it up, even under immense pressure. Game time seemed quite limited.

7. Thilthorpe - won’t lie, prior to the injury he was having a mare with his ball judgement. Just kept running under it like he used to in his early days. That said, he did have one great moment where he took a half-volley super clean, immediately turned and speared a perfect left-foot kick inside 50 to Pedlar. Otherwise a day to forget.

9. Murray - was up against the big boys and did pretty well. It’s always a bit harder to judge key defenders at training unless they’re getting slaughtered, but he looked pretty agile and was typically competitive.

10. Pedlar - pretty quiet for the most part but did manage to nab two goals. The latter was from a great moment where Keane tried to step around him only to get absolutely nailed holding the ball, to much applause from the boys. Seems to be low numbers/high impact at the moment, very much a pressure forward.

11. Edwards - first two quarters I was disappointed. He was getting bulk midfield minutes but the large majority of his possessions were easy outside ball. If that’s going to be the case, he might as well just play half back. Thankfully, however, he found his groove in the third term and won some genuine hard ball including multiple centre clearances. He does slam the ball on the boot a bit much at stoppage - he looks much better using his size to feed players by hand. In transition he was typically good, aside from a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers. Encouraging, but there’s a way to go yet.

12. Dawson - played mostly forward in the second term, but actually kicked his three goals from the midfield. Inside work was a bit down on what we saw last year, but the rest was typical Dawson.

13. Walker - occasionally just doesn’t have quite the pace to get to a ball that’s falling short, and doesn’t seem keen on testing his strings with a diving mark either. Still kicked the two goals despite resting up a lot in the third term. Ok without being great.

15. Cook - bit more prolific than last week. Found some easy ball and you want the pill in his hands, such is his ability to hit targets (and not just easy ones). Floated in for a nice intercept grab. Still feeling his way into the role but I like what I’m seeing. And I think the coaches are too.

16. Michalanney - finally looked more like himself today. Worked hard up the ground and used his pace more. He’s not a vanilla player so it was good to see him show some pizzazz again. Still a few weeks away from hitting his stride I reckon.

17. Welsh - got most of his limited ball pushing up the ground to half back. I liked his energy and newfound work rate, though it was a pretty lean day overall. Tough for forwards in the B side.

19. Taylor - played a lot of midfield despite barely training there, and I thought he mostly took his chance. Won a number of clearances both in the middle and around the ground, plus also kicked a goal and set up Maley’s first. His hands were typically clean and his movement in traffic was all class. Just needs to get more ball as he’s more of a highlights man at present.

20. Hinge -seriously strong lad these days, very hard to bring down especially for the younger players. Overall though I wasn’t particularly impressed - I thought Cook was the better of the two today.

21. Bond - had a fair bit of ball early but ball use was a bit iffy. Fell out of it a bit and I didn’t really sight him in the last term, but thankfully he wasn’t injured. Needs to do a bit more as there are many vying for limited spots.

23. Rankine - just seems a touch off and I’m putting it down to his recent knee injury. He still had strapping on it and just wasn’t quite as quick or dynamic as usual. Wasn’t bad, just not typical Izak.

24. Worrell - solid today, particularly in the first term where he found a heap of it roaming around the backline. Intercept work was a bit down - most of his touches were uncontested. Seems to be (alongside Keane) taking most kick-outs.

25. Peatling - ok without being outstanding. Ball use was good and won some hard ball, but Berry was definitely the better of the two today.

26. Marsh - super quiet and I thought he just looked a bit flat. Might need a small rest.

27. Nankervis - good to see him back (no pun intended) from injury, albeit in the B side. Had a couple of nice intercept marks but you could tell he wasn’t quite at his best; not many bursts of speed and got caught by Nibbler on one occasion. Hopefully better for the run.

31. Dowling - good again today. Won the very first centre clearance where he took the ball at speed (courtesy of a perfect McAndrew tap) and delivered beautifully to Strachan inside 50. Continued to get plenty of it, including a number of clearances, though some of his use by foot was ordinary. Liking his evolution at present even if he doesn’t seem to be in favour with the coaches.

32. Fogarty - played very deep. Personally I prefer when he gets on his bike up the ground. I suspect his conditioning is still a bit under his usual level. Hopefully he can bridge that gap before the season starts, as he’s just not quite getting involved enough.

33. Cotton - think he touched it once. Was interesting seeing him move into defence late. I think that (or wing) would be the best way to go. Get him into it and feeling good about himself.

34. Ludowyke - dropped an absolute sitter at half forward in the second term, but had some nice moments in the third including a long range goal. His hands (and confidence in them) are his main weakness. Fix that and we have a player. Easier said than done, of course.

35. Borlase - much better today after having a mare last week. Took multiple intercept grabs and 1v1 work was good. Still pure depth but good to see him respond.

36. Maley - it’s hard not to like this guy. His commitment to the ball in the air is truly excellent. Even though his hands were a bit off early on, I still enjoyed his willingness to jump and compete. It’s something we’ve barely had in recent decades. He started clunking them after quarter time and actually converted his two shots on goal, one of which was near the boundary from 50m out. You won’t get polish but you will get a genuine marking option.

39. Murray - only ok but was interesting to see him do a bit of ruck work. Got beaten in the centre but tapped nicely to Keays for a goal from a boundary throw-in. As a key forward it does feel like Maley has taken some of his shine compared to last pre-season, however.

40. McGuane - had a couple of nice kicks but otherwise failed to have much of an impact. Is getting no midfield time which is interesting (and makes it tough for him to impress).

44. Cumming - liked his game. Floated into defence quite often which is where he does his best work. Not prominent, but was pretty sharp today.

47. Foot - got a lot of midfield time and was decent enough. Didn’t see as much burst speed from him as I would’ve liked, but he often got involved as a link in the chain out of stoppage. Had one sublime kick inside 50 which set up Taylor’s goal. I’ll give him a tick but I still want more.

48. Keane - despite a couple of poor errors (including the aforementioned tackle by Pedlar) he was our best defender today. Took multiple intercept marks, two of which were in packs where everyone collapsed but him. Just has such soft hands.

The lads finished off with the session with about 20 minutes of repeat running. At this point the temperature was getting to the mid 30s, so safe to say the new Irish fellow is not coddling our lads.

Having some difficulties with bigfooty at the moment so I haven’t been able to answer some questions. Apologies for that, hopefully today’s report provided some clarity.

bigman · Feb 2, 2026

Monday sessions are usually a bit lower-key and can often be uneventful (sans Wrestle-gate). Today, however, there’s actually a fair bit to talk about.

Sid has really stepped it up. I was pleased to see him do the warm-up with the main group, including mini sprints up the grassy mound. I thought that might be his share for the day, just a way to get him feeling involved, but then he did the early full-ground kicking drill as well.

Good stuff Sid, I thought, as he finally returned to the rehab group. But not long after that he disappeared, and I worryingly thought he must’ve headed inside. But no, he was doing full-on stoppage work with the midfielders. And he looked great.

He then did running on his own, but even that involved some genuine sprinting at full speed. He was out there for a good one and a half hours. Even when he looked a bit fatigued - and even a touch sore or tight to the eye when recovering from the sprints (just an impression, could be just lactic build-up) - they kept him out there running, so they’re really pushing him now.

Provided he’s all good and not pushing though any pain, and of course recovers well, it might be time to start feeling good about the prospect of Sid playing meaningful football this year. Which is a galaxy away from what I was thinking pre-Xmas. Let’s remain cautiously optimistic for now and hope for no setbacks.

It wasn’t all good news on the injury front, however.

Cumming joined the rehab group and did a limited amount of running before heading inside. I thought he moved pretty well but we know he has a history with soft-tissue injuries, so let’s hope it’s just some soreness being managed.

Ryan was back today but was relegated to running alongside Soligo for the session, so obviously he has picked up some sort of niggle. Both seemed in good spirits though and ran well. Worth noting Soligo joined the main group for a couple of the less-demanding drills, which is hopefully an indication he’s not too far away. We need a breakout year from him.

Taylor was a no-show (prolonged birthday celebrations?), as was Drury. On the plus side, Filthy trained fully after last Friday’s back issue. Milera, who has been managed lately, also did the entire session.

The first main drill was end to end football, with two teams playing on one side of the ground while two more operated on the other (and moved the ball in the opposite direction). It was pretty chaotic to watch but was clearly about quick ball movement, using overlap and constantly putting speed on the game. Skills were a touch sloppy at times as players adjusted to a decent northerly wind, but thankfully they really sharpened up as the session wore on.

The players then broke into their respective lines and did the following drills:

Defenders:
1. Kick to back flank -> 45 degree kick into corridor -> either kick to Godden in the centre or switch to the other flank.
2. Aerial 1v1 contests with a third coming in from behind to either intercept or clean up.

Midfielders:
1. Ball ups/boundary throw ins.
2. Centre bounce work.

Forwards:
1. Running shots at goal.
2. Kicks from CHF to leads inside 50, followed by shots at goal.

The boys then broke into three mixed groups. Two would do a kicking drill from half back, which emphasised taking the first option as soon as it presented. The other team did ground ball/tackling work before rotating in.

The final main drill was one I’ve mentioned a few times on here: full-ground, three teams, two at a time. As soon as there is a score, turnover or even neutral ball, the attacking team switches out and the other group comes on to defend, while the initial defenders become the attacking team and move the ball from deep defence. It’s all about being switched on.

The lads then finished with roughly 20 minutes of fartlek-style running around the boundary. They ran in groups depending on their running ability. I was really impressed by Pedlar once again - the lad has a genuine tank these days. Maley was a bit of a straggler though. Running clearly isn’t a strong suit of his.

One thing that really stood out to me today was the amount of aerial collisions. The lads are going genuinely hard at the ball and not holding back from crunching packs (or getting crunched). Even Billy Dowling - who had a rather soft moment in his solitary game last year - was willing to back into a pack and cop punishment.

Ok, a bunch of player comments:

1. Jones - I’ve been sceptical of his (likely) chances of starting round one - and still am - but he was good today. Was plenty involved and his kicking was excellent. And he just looks fit and lean out there, less barrel-chested to the eye than previous years.

7. Thilthorpe - good to see him out there, but gee his marking has gone a bit shite lately. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt but I don’t like seeing him run under the ball constantly like it’s 2022.

8. Rachele - every summer one guy will just take over and I think that’s Rash this year. He’s training with supreme confidence. Agile. Dynamic. Strong. Genuinely exciting.

9. Murray - I spoke about players crashing packs before - well, Muz was one of the biggest offenders, to no one’s surprise. He’s looking good lately. Lighter on his feet and doesn’t seem hindered with that knee.

10. Pedlar - no one commits more to the tackle than this bloke. I saw him miss a double effort to bring down Worrell, and he was absolutely filthy with himself. His aerial work is top notch at the moment too. He’s made it through to February without injury - can he keep it going?

15. Cook - I think it’s almost time to get excited about this bloke in 2026. Yes it’s just pre-season but he’s training with a confidence that he simply hasn’t had prior. One moment in particular stood out - he swooped on a loose ball at half back, scooping it up at pace with one hand then turning and bursting through the corridor. It was genuinely elite. Just needs to perform in the pre-season games now.

16. Michalanney - I mentioned on Friday that he’s starting to look like Max again and that was once more the case today. Getting his hands on it a lot more and is really starting to use his pace again. Good signs that he will hit the ground running when the season starts.

17. Welsh - I’ve been harsh on the lad and I still think he’s up against it, but it won’t be for a lack of effort. He’s made big strides in his conditioning this summer and he’s training much better for it. Last pre-season he barely touched the pill, but at the moment he’s presenting really well and his work rate is far superior. Still makes too many basic errors but credit to the lad for really switching on.

21. Bond - took a couple of nice intercept marks and is one who was willing to get crunched in the contest. Will be interesting to see who is favoured out of him, Cook and Nankervis. Can you have them all? Seems unlikely, though they all deserve it at this stage.

23. Rankine - after a middling showing on Friday, I thought he was pretty special at times today. Seemed to have more zip despite still having the knee strapping. In one of the main drills, kicked two goals on the run from 50m (near the boundary too) within a couple minutes of each other.

33. Cotton - poor bloke just can’t get involved at the moment. His positioning is just a bit off and he seems to have lost that confidence and swagger he showed pre-Xmas. Needs to find a way to get his hands on it and feel good about himself, but it’s also up to the coaches to help him.

34. Ludowyke - more and more I think this lad has something. He’s capable of plucking some real nice marks and is a great mover for his height. The main issue is that he also drops some real sitters. Whether it’s a technique thing or simply confidence - or both - hopefully he finds a way to fix the problem, because it’ll be exciting times if he does.

47. Foot - had a bit of a shocker today. Dropped an easy mark against Berry and proceeded to lose the contest, and also had some fumbles that will be really costly as an inside player. I just don’t know if he’s AFL quality, despite his athletic attributes. I do wonder if we may just wait until the mid-season draft, as brutal as it would be to the lad (and McGuane). But it’s a brutal business

bigman · Feb 4, 2026

The Sid train keeps rolling.

The lad did the majority of drills today, save for the final and most intensive one. He spent the rest of the session working on short bursts and lateral movement, as well as some stoppage work with the rucks, and was out there as long as almost any of the boys.

The sheer fact he pulled up well from Monday’s session was positive enough, but to step it up again today was exciting. What does this mean for his short-term future? I still highly doubt he’s in the frame for round one, as he just won’t have the match conditioning in him. But at this stage you’d have to think he will be ready for the start of the SANFL season, which is miles ahead of where I originally thought he would be.

It’s not all positive though. At what point do we worry about Soligo? He was completely absent today, and while that normally doesn’t mean much, the fact it comes after nearly two weeks of being managed is a concern. This is a bloke who has appeared to battle soreness (possibly groin) the past two seasons. He needs a clean run at it.

Let’s assume there’s an issue - our round one midfield looks really thin: Dawson, Rachele, Berry and Peatling. That’s pretty much it. No Soligo, no Rankine, no Curtin and no Draper. Would make things very tough. We’ve done ok with injuries this summer but our engine room has been hit hard. Let’s hope I’m overreacting and Soli is out there on Friday.

Thankfully the rehab group overall is pretty small. Ryan and Cumming were the only players who solely ran laps and did not participate in any drills. Cumming in particular did a heap of running so I’d imagine whatever his issue is, it’s pretty minor. Ryan’s been out of action for a week now and unfortunately has had a pretty forgettable summer overall.

Ludowyke did the majority of drills but, like Sid, was pulled out of the final one and did a bunch of running instead. Also worth noting that Curtin and Drury came out late to watch the boys. Curtin was walking without crutches which was good to see, although his gait did highlight just how bandy his legs are - no wonder he has knee issues. Drury seems to be managed at the moment with some sort of injury.

Taylor was back and trained fully after missing Monday’s session, so maybe he really did have a longer weekend for his birthday. McAndrew trained fully but did have some knee strapping. Rankine, Max and Ludowyke still have theirs as well.

Pretty sure I saw McGuane say goodbye to the lads and coaches before the start of training. From all reports he’s a great kid so it’s a shame things didn’t work out. Not sure if we have any plans for him or not re: sanfl, but it was good to see him handle things really well. It must’ve been pretty devastating.

The first main drill was a set of rotations (three groups):
1. Exit kicks out of defence. Players would kick from the back pocket to the half back flank, either honouring a short lead or going long to a player in space behind the defender. It was all about quickly identifying which of the two options weren’t covered by the defender. The receiver would then hit a 45 degree kick to a player in the corridor, who would then kick long to a 1v1 contest 20m out from goal.
2. Five-point spot kicks, with a few defenders trying to block up space and intercept.
3. Starting with a ground ball in the centre, players had to link by hand out of congestion before hitting a leading target inside 50. There were makeshift defenders (those plastic human-shaped things they also use as a man on the mark for set shots) placed within the forward 50 to guard space.

Initially Tex, Fogarty, Thilthorpe, Laird and Milera didn’t participate, but they ended up joining for the final rotation.

The lads then broke into three different groups for the other main drill. This one was similar to the drill I’ve mentioned a number of times, where two teams face off before rotating with the other. The difference was this drill only took place over two-thirds of the ground, and instead of a rotation happening after any score or turnover, it was after a goal or an allotted amount of time (about 2-3 minutes).

This meant it was less about being switched on and quickly getting structures right, and instead more game-like: the play would start with either a stoppage or loose ball, and teams were allowed to set up first instead of scrambling to get to their positions.

Interestingly Laird was named a midfielder but this was a bit of a misnomer - he played his usual high half back role. We just don’t have many mids on the park at the moment.

There were a few things I noticed from this drill, which are definitely trends:
1. We’re doing a lot of switching and changing angles. Long kicks down the line are rare.
2. If they aren’t happy with their immediate options, players will switch or even concede ground to a loose purposely placed behind the ball (Eg: Max, Worrell). There were very few kicks in hope or low-percentage attempts that could give the ball straight back to the opposition.
3. We are willing to go long out of the defensive half to a 1v1, particularly when the target is one of the big three. I didn’t see a kick to a pack, though keep in mind there were less players on field (around 13 each, hence the drill only taking place over two-thirds of the oval).

The emphasis seems to be on hitting quick kicks and not going the safe option down the line. Sometimes it can be a bit too back-and-forth but quite often switching play allows a quick break - guys like Nankervis and Cook are often used as the wide target to then burst and use their weapons.

Overall I thought it was a really sharp session from the boys. There was barely any wind and the ball-use was some of the best I’ve seen this summer. I’m usually pretty balanced and tend to point out flaws when I see them, but it’s hard to fault much today. It was also a slightly shorter session than usual, which makes me think Friday might be a big one.

Some player comments:

4. Ah Chee - does this guy ever make mistakes? Seriously quality ball user, whether coming out of defence or hitting a target inside 50. I’ve lavished praise on the lad this summer but for good reason. He’s one you just trust with the ball.

8. Rachele - training like he owns the joint at the moment. One kick in particular, an absolute dart to Cotton in the corridor from half back, was genuinely elite. He will get a lot of hype for his last few weeks of training but I’m sure he will embrace it.

10. Pedlar - laid a big tackle on Max that got a lot of love. His pressure game is really strong at the moment and is definitely one of his main jobs this year. Also jumping at everything and just looks really lively out there. I wouldn’t expect any midfield time though.

21. Bond - along with Rachele, I thought he was the other standout today. Got really involved and his ball use was a bit tighter than recent sessions. One lovely kick inside 50 to a leading Welsh stood out in particular.

24. Worrell - got a fair bit of it today but needs to watch he doesn’t get lazy on his kicks. A couple of times today he missed targets that a quality player like him shouldn’t. Yes it’s just pre-season training but at this point I think we expect more.

26. Marsh - got used quite a bit on the wing. Kicks with a bent leg but the results are usually excellent as it’s a tight technique with a good ball drop. Still needs to up his physicality quite a bit - more time in the gym will obviously help - but he’s going well.

28. Neal-Bullen - don’t write about him a whole lot, but he really is a quality trainer. Does everything at game intensity and rarely makes mistakes. Always looks to put speed on the ball instead of holding things up. Hopefully he doesn’t get caught as much this season as that was an issue last year.

32. Fogarty - got more involved, clearly benefiting from the quality ball use out there today. I’ve been on his back a bit this summer but it’s just because I expect a lot from him, even though he’s slightly underdone. More days like today please.

33. Cotton - this bloke has a terrific pair of hands, so I can see why we are playing him forward. The problem is that it’s just such a hard role for someone who hasn’t played footy in half a decade. Hopefully on Friday, assuming there’s match sim, he gets used in other positions.

36. Maley - won a nice aerial battle versus Butts and has a very sure pair of hands. At the very least he will be hard to play against, despite his flaws. He’s one with genuine aerial presence.

46. Bell - will be interesting to see how he goes this year in the reserves. He’s very lean and has a lot to work on defensively. On the flip-side, he’s quite athletic and a genuinely nice left-foot kick - some of his ball use today was top notch.

bigman · Feb 6, 2026

Unfortunately by far the biggest story of the day was the awful injury to Mark Keane. From my vantage point I couldn’t tell exactly what the injury was, but it didn’t look great and the vision is even worse.

Despite a couple of flaws, the lad is a gun intercept defender and play-maker, and will be badly missed given he sets up how we exit out of defence. It makes the Butts/Murray conversation easier, but this is a big blow.

Soligo also seems to be dealing with an issue (possibly groin) and was on light duties today. Combined with Curtin out for two months and Draper unlikely to play early, plus Rankine suspended round one and now the Keane injury, it does feel like our start to the season will be very tough. That’s a lot of firepower either out or underdone.

Draper, Ryan and Cumming did a bunch of running before the other lads came out. Quite a bit of it was at high speed, including sprinting and repeat efforts, so hopefully all three aren’t far off rejoining the main group. I did notice Sid had some work done on his groin by a trainer, but he did a lot of running afterwards which alleviated my concern.

Aside from that, everyone trained fully aside from Ludowyke who only played the first two quarters of match sim before doing a block of running. Was a bit of a shame as he clunked a really nice mark in the first term which would’ve boosted his confidence.

Speaking of which, today was essentially an internal trial game. Four quarters, umpires, the works. Worth noting the first term was cut five minutes short due to the Keane injury - the lads just went straight to the quarter time break.

They definitely seemed a bit flat after the injury, as you would expect, but overall it was a pretty solid hitout in reasonably hot conditions. The boys were pretty fatigued towards the end and the mistakes definitely ramped up, but there were also some really sharp pieces of play throughout that got me excited.

I don’t think we are quite as slick as this time last year - the missing personnel obviously plays a big role in that. There were quite a few top ups out there as well who just can’t match it with the senior guys, though I thought Taheny handled himself quite well.

They didn’t list teams this time so I’ll just read out the squads and the changes made to each as the game wore on.

—

Q1 - Teams

Blue - Jones, Keays, Berry, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Pedlar, Dawson, Walker, Michalanney, Hinge, Bond, Rankine, Worrell, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Butts, O’Brien, Keane

Yellow - N. Murray, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Marsh, Nankervis, Dowling, Cotton, Ludowyke, Borlase, Maley, Sholl, T. Murray, McAndrew, Strachan, Bell, Foot (plus a few top ups).

Q1 - Goals

Blue - Ah Chee 2, Rachele, Berry, Pedlar, Walker

Yellow - Maley, Cook

Q1 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of nine)

Blue: O’Brien 7, Berry 7, Dawson 6, Peatling 6, Rachele 5, Rankine 3, Thilthorpe 2

Yellow: Dowling 8, Edwards 7, McAndrew 6, Foot 6, Taylor 6, T. Murray 3

Q2 - Teams

No changes (aside from Keane out)

Q2 - Goals

Blue: Rachele 2, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Keays, Fogarty, Rankine, Jones

Yellow: Strachan

Q2 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of 10)

Blue: O’Brien 9, Peatling 8, Dawson 7, Berry 7, Rachele 6, Rankine 2, Thilthorpe 1

Yellow: McAndrew 9, Dowling 9, Foot 9, Edwards 8, Taylor 4, T. Murray 1

Q3 - Teams

Blue: IN - Nankervis, Borlase, Sholl, T. Murray, McAndrew, Bell

Yellow: IN - Walker, Michalanney, Worrell, Laird, Milera, O’Brien

Q3 - Goals

Blue: McAndrew, Thilthorpe, Ah Chee, Pedlar, Keays

Yellow: Taheny, Butts, O’Brien

Q3 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of nine)

Blue: McAndrew 7, Peatling 6, Dawson 5, Berry 5, Rachele 5, Rankine 5, T. Murray 2, Thilthorpe 1

Yellow: O’Brien 8, Dowling 8, Edwards 8, Foot 7, Taylor 4, Maley 1

Q4 - Teams

Blue: IN - Taylor, Foot, Butts

Yellow: IN - Keays, Dawson, Nankervis, Borlase

Q4 - Goals

Blue: Pedlar, Fogarty, T. Murray, Thilthorpe, Ah Chee

Yellow: Maley

Q4 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of eight)

Blue: McAndrew 6, Berry 6, Rachele 6, Foot 6, Peatling 5, T. Murray 2, Rankine 1

Yellow: Dowling 8, O’Brien 6, Edwards 6, Dawson 5, Keays 5, Maley 2

—

Ok, time for some (many) player comments:

1. Jones - once again pretty solid on the wing, though he did get caught holding the ball Chayce-style. Kicked a nice goal as well as setting up McAndrew’s in the third term. Still not sure which way we will go with the wings but he’s in the frame for sure.

2. Keays - not a big game in front of the sticks but interesting to see him play mostly midfield in the final term. Not sure we will go down that route much in-season but he was pretty solid in there, winning it out of the centre a couple of times. He’s always had pretty sure hands on the deck.

3. Berry - not nearly as prolific as last Friday. Started really well with a couple centre clearances and a goal, but for whatever reason drifted out of the game a bit. Still close to a lock for round one given the injuries to our midfield.

4. Ah Chee - easily one of the best out there with five goals (and could’ve had six if not for a Rankine stuff-up). They came from marks, kicks from the boundary, crumbs…just a very well-rounded player. Dropped an easy mark late he should’ve taken but otherwise was outstanding. Spent some time on the wing.

7. Thilthorpe - actually attended a centre bounce as a midfielder, which I found amusing. His marking is still way off his best but he was nonetheless able to have an impact with three goals (he left a couple out there too). He’s moving great, it’s just his overhead stuff that’s in struggle town.

8. Rachele - hard to back up last Friday but he was still impressive. Needs to learn when to take players on and when to release early, but one clearance in particular where he gave a lightning fast handball to Peatling was glorious. Kicked three goals and took a very good mark 1v1 against Laird. Work rate has improved a lot, allowing him to get multiple possessions in a chain.

9. Murray - took some kick-ins and whenever he did he went real long and straight up corridor. Did a ripping don’t-argue on Pedlar, but otherwise didn’t have a big game.

10. Pedlar - made a couple of typical blues but gee the good is very good. Hit the scoreboard in three of the four quarters - all snaps - and his overhead marking is outstanding at the moment. Laid a ripping tackle on Cotton. No midfield time though!

11. Edwards - won the first centre clearance of the game and had a great opening quarter despite having to go off briefly with a blood nose. Found it harder as the game wore on to have an impact at stoppage, but still got a fair amount of pill in transition. Laid a great tackle on Rachele that was paid holding the ball and took a nice mark against Peatling going back with the flight. Needs to stop kicking off the back foot at stoppages though - he will have to work on driving the legs a lot more in the reserves. Not ready yet but he’s coming along which is pleasing.

12. Dawson - doing what he needs to and moving really well out there. He’s a class above most and just does things effortlessly. Didn’t kick a goal but assisted in several of them. Played the last quarter in the B’s to even things up a bit.

13. Walker - didn’t do a heap for me today, the big Texan. Muffed a couple of chances he would normally take and didn’t have much of an aerial presence. Not awful but seen him play a lot better.

15. Cook - kicked a terrific goal from the boundary and I liked that he put on the jets on a number of occasions. Oddly enough though it was his disposal which let him down today. Worst I’ve seen him kick.

16. Michalanney - did one lovely burst through the corridor that was exciting to watch. Otherwise not a big day offensively.

17. Welsh - took a nice pack mark but also dropped a sitter, which kind of sums him up. Interesting to see Worrell (with ball in hand) yell out at him to keep running hard forward instead of thinking his work was done.

19. Taylor - I’m a fan but he wasn’t great today. Got a fair bit of midfield time but struggled to get involved aside from a few typically classy touches. Got a quarter in the A team but played strictly forward. Needs to do more.

20. Hinge - bit better today. Looked to put speed on the game and take risks with his kicks, which usually paid off. Set up Ah Chee’s second goal after taking a strong contested mark. Has developed a really nice swivel of the hips to break tackles.

21. Bond - very solid. Played a bit higher than usual and got a lot of it. Kicking was excellent and even took a kick-in or two. Nothing particularly eye-catching but has really turned into a dependable footballer.

23. Rankine - was just going until the third quarter where he played majority midfield and really exploded. Had a period where he won three of four centre clearances (high quality ones too). Hope he sheds that knee strapping soon, it’s a bit of an eyesore.

24. Worrell - up until the fourth term I had him as one of the best defenders on the ground. His intercept work was strong and he was providing a lot of drive. Then in the last quarter his kicking went to absolute shite, including two consecutive out on the full howlers - both under no pressure. Hope we don’t see that in the real thing.

26. Marsh - got a bit of it on the wing and probably should’ve been used more; he got ignored a few times when his teammates needed to trust him. Took a really nice pack mark in defence late in the game which showed his clean set of hands. A couple of work-ons though: he needs to move the ball on a bit quicker after taking a mark, and a couple of times he either went to ground or wasn’t strong enough over the ball. Needs some more time in the oven but will be a good player for us.

27. Nankervis - both he and Cook started in the Yellow side, so not sure who is preferred. Did one incredible run from defence where he broke tackles and left opponents in his wake, but unfortunately stuffed it up after receiving the ball back. Took a 1v1 mark against Ah Chee on the wing which is no easy feat. Think he just needs to do a bit more to guarantee a starting position, but the noise around him is positive.

28. Neal-Bullen - played a lot on the wing today in the absence of Cumming. Got a decent amount of pill but didn’t hit the scoreboard. Overall just an ok game after a great showing last Friday.

29. Laird - his lofty kicking still irks me but when it comes to mopping up ground ball in defence there’s not many better. Several times when things got a bit scrappy, particularly later on, it was Laird who took it cleanly.

30. Milera - did a couple of nice runs through the corridor and hit one kick to Marsh where he saw him last moment out of the corner of his eye, which was genuinely elite.

31. Dowling - found the going tough today. Got his hands on it a fair bit at stoppage but often found himself under serious heat or getting smothered. Doesn’t have much pace so needs to find a way to absorb and drive through opposition tackles.

33. Cotton - another quiet day but at least he found some more ball working up the ground. Had a nice burst where he showed his speed but unfortunately got smothered. Actually had two shots at goal but missed both.

36. Maley - kicked two goals despite playing for the far weaker side. Hands were good again and times his approach to the footy well. Didn’t mind his leap in the ruck either - I thought he did ok against the much taller McAndrew.

39. Murray - strange player. Can look deadset ordinary at times, yet will then take a really strong mark or do something that catches the eye. Got a lot of ruck time today and acquitted himself well, beating O’Brien a few times in the centre with his pure leap. Can get really lazy on his kicks at times, it’s like he loses concentration.

41. Butts - liked his work today. Did some nice work defensively including a great spoil on Dawson who was in the van. Even used his pace (he is genuinely fast for a big bloke) with ball in hand once or twice and kicked a goal (albeit from a 50m penalty).

42. McAndrew - beat ROB at centre bounce again, particularly in the first half. Took a couple of pack marks though I wouldn’t say they were the cleanest clunks I’ve seen, and managed to hit the scoreboard as well. I do think ROB got on top a bit late as McAndrew tired.

43. O’Brien - centre work (late game aside) was poor again but I do think he competed better around the ground and probably had the better of McAndrew at throw-ins. Follow-up work was a bit better than Friday and took a nice contested mark in front of goal, which he kicked truly. Still worried but he was better today at least.

46. Bell - once again struggled defensively but was a pretty solid contributor with his running ability and lovely kicking, including a terrific pass to Cook for his goal. Even sold some candy at one point. At the moment he’s a bit of early days Keath - great skills but a bit of a liability one on one. Will be interesting to see how he progresses.

47. Foot - got a massive amount of mid clock and was once again ok without convincing me of his suitability for AFL. Overruns the ball too much at stoppage and isn’t a particularly good kick. I like his energy and no doubt he works hard, but there’s too many rough edges for me at his age.

Also side note - there were at least three 50m penalties for the stand rule today. Get ready to hate it.

bigman · Feb 9, 2026

Boys and girls, I’m starting to feel a bit flat about our pre-season.

Sid was the latest casualty today. After looking sharp in some early drills, he ended up limping off the ground with either a groin or quad complaint. He went up the race before returning to do some run throughs, but obviously wasn’t happy and ended his session early.

It’s a big blow for the lad, who was genuinely looking like returning to footy in the next few weeks. I have no idea what exactly the issue is, but given he’s struggled most of the summer with groin issues, you’d think it’s alarm bells.

Hinge didn’t train at all - pretty sure I saw him watching from the sidelines, not sure if he’s injured or not. One to watch.

We also had a few in the rehab/managed group today. One of them was Dawson, but I think this is purely management and nothing more sinister. He was joined by Soligo who is definitely an issue for us. Maybe he plays some pre-season games but he’s a quite bit behind the eight-ball now.

I also noticed Berry come off late in the session with a lower right leg complaint. It didn’t look anything major but he didn’t do the running block with the rest of the team. Wouldn’t read too much into it but just something to note.

Edwards wore a fluro non-contact hat during the main drill but trained fully.

On the positive side of things, both Ryan and Cumming returned to the main group, the latter of whom trained very well. Additionally, Rankine has finally shed the knee strapping.

It just feels like too many blokes who are key to our future are either injured or under a cloud. I don’t want to overreact but I can’t help but think this might be a tough year for us - one positive is it should allow us to finally make a call on a few more fringe types like Nank, Cook, Taylor and Bond who have all been on the edge for the past two years.

There were two main drills today.

The first involved three teams, with two competing over two-thirds of the ground (the other did handball/kicking work in the other 50m arc and would rotate in after five or so minutes). This was essentially a smaller bit of match sim, including centre throw ups and kick-ins. I was genuinely impressed by some of the ball movement to be honest - we have some really nice ball users in our squad these days.

The other main drill I’ve mentioned a lot before - once again three teams, with two active at once while the other rotates on after a score. For the team which comes on, it’s all about getting to your positions as quickly as possible to defend the counter attack. It’s pretty chaotic to watch but it’s quite a nifty drill and highlights those who are really switched on and aren’t coasting.

The boys then finished with a decent block of running up and down the oval at pretty high speed. Once again no stragglers which is always pleasing to see.

I did notice the boys held off from crunching each other unlike other sessions. I even saw Murray have a little laugh when he had to stop short of poleaxing a teammate on the wing. Rachele and Peatling had a head clash going for a loose ball but thankfully neither were injured.

Some player comments:

9. Murray - he’s definitely moving the best I’ve seen for a long time. He’s also kicking like a mule - some seriously long bombs including a goal from 55m into the breeze. Hopefully this is a good year for him.

11. Edwards - with our midfield troops going down there will be some calls for a debut. I say wait a bit longer - he’s improving no doubt but he’s not ready yet. In particular he needs to learn how to drive the legs out of congestion. At the moment he really tends to slam it on the boot which won’t fly at AFL level.

13. Walker - trained better today. Took a couple of nice clunks and covered the ground well. It’s hard to judge veterans like Tex, because for him the pre-season is more about staying healthy than having a point to prove.

15. Cook - had the best moment today where he put the jets on, sold candy twice and dubbed a goal on the run. He’s such a talent. Really hope he gets an early gig, provided he performs in the pre-season games.

26. Marsh - kicking is top notch and he’s a good mover, but he really needs to work on moving the ball quickly after a mark. Too often he takes four-five seconds to weigh up an option. He usually hits it, but at AFL level you can’t be giving the opposition time to get back.

27. Nankervis - was worried when he warmed up with the rehab group but thankfully he did all the main drills. Wonder if he’s still carrying something? I thought he trained well though aside from a couple of blunders.

34. Ludowyke - good to see him rejoin the main group today. There’s something to like about this lad - one trick he’s got is his quick gives on the deck. Very sharp and creative with his hands. Kicking is less consistent - it’s a nice action but he’s prone to the odd helicopter.

36. Maley - gee he can mark. It does seem however that Ibis is the preferred of the two. I suspect they’re a bit worried about Maley’s ability to cover the ground.

39. Murray - speaking of Ibis, he was good again today. Dropped a sitter early on but quickly found his groove and does some things that make you take notice, whether it’s a big mark or a clean half-volley at speed. Had a pretty quiet summer until the last week or so but he’s going well now.

44. Cumming - thought he was the best out there today. Just super sharp with his marking and ball use, and often got used in transition which we need to see more of this year. Similar to Cook, get it in his hands!

46. Bell - this lad is a genuinely nice kick. He’s not a cannon boot like Murray but he’s got great touch and doesn’t mind taking a risk. If we are confident he can learn how to defend the big boys, do we consider him? To be honest he’s impressed me more than Foot. If he goes well, other clubs will sniff in the mid-season draft.

bigman · Feb 25, 2026

I’ll keep today’s report shorter as you’ve all seen the lads by now.

Berry must’ve done something to himself as he pulled out of the match sim portion of training. He didn’t look particularly sore or concerned, and wasn’t getting worked on or icing up. Perhaps he copped a knock or just didn’t feel great? One to keep in mind at least for Saturday’s game, not sure if he plays.

I also saw that Dowling was not named in the match sim, and did not notice him out there (admittedly I was distracted looking to see what Berry’s issue was). So Billy could be completely fine. Let’s hope so as our midfield is about as deep as a puddle at present.

Hinge was a no-show once again. We were recently told he was hoping to play Saturday but there’s no way that’s happening now. Must be in serious doubt for round one. Thankfully we have very adequate options in Bond, Cook and Nankervis to replace him.

Rankine, Ah Chee and Cumming did rehab together, consisting of a bunch of running and short/sharp work. All looked in good spirits and were moving well. Clearly they won’t play this week though, meaning Cumming will have no games under his belt bar half the internal in Port Augusta. Ah Chee at least had Origin.

Good to see Draper back out there and moving pretty well. I saw the picture of him icing his groin - I wouldn’t read too much into it, it’s highly likely a precautionary thing he has done after every session to aid the recovery process. He’s wearing a headband now; half the time he was adjusting the thing so might not be worth it Sid! His shoulders are massive now by the way, I think people will be surprised when they see him. Would be a chance to play limited minutes on Friday you would think.

First part of the session was devoted to rotations between three drills:
1. Keeping’s off on the wing.
2. Quick movement though the corridor to leading forwards.
3. Handball link-up work in defence.

The lads then broke into their respective lines, with the mids doing various stoppage work while the forwards/defenders competed against each other. Guys like Keays and Laird were with the mids but thankfully only as half forwards/backs for structure.

They then split into two teams for a very short amount of match sim (barely more than 12 or so minutes). These were very much A vs B which gives an indication as to what to expect on Saturday.

Blue
FB: Michalanney Butts Worrell
HB: Laird N.Murray Milera
_C: Jones Berry* Cook
HF: Neal-Bullen Fogarty Keays
FF: Pedlar Thilthorpe Walker
_R: McAndrew Rachele Dawson
IN: Peatling T.Murray

White
FB: Ryan Borlase Cotton
HB: Bond Bell Nankervis
_C: Sholl Edwards Marsh
HF: Taylor Welsh Draper
FF: Drury Maley Ludowyke
_R: O’Brien Foot Soligo

*Edwards replaced Berry in the A team.

Assuming they take Walker over to Perth, we will likely have a very similar team on Saturday as we did against the Powa. There’s at least three bench spots to fill, so you’d think Soligo (edit: scratch that) and Bond would be the ones to play seniors, as well as Taylor and/or Nankervis. Maybe Edwards as well depending on Berry’s fitness.

Not much point making many player comments as you’ve all seen the lads by now. But I’ll do a select few:

14. Soligo - was doing a bunch of running at the end of the session, including sprint work. He’s never been quick but I thought he just looked a bit restricted. We know he’s a quality player but I am definitely concerned about his readiness for round one.

Edit: just saw the news. Well that explains a bit. Not good news for the lad, hopefully we have a good solution for the issue. Definitely makes playing early games very unlikely.

15. Cook - has such a confidence about him, which has been the case practically all summer. He’s taking one-handed marks, dancing around opponents, etc. Would love for 2026 to finally be Cooky’s breakout year.

21. Bond - was one of the more prominent blokes in the (very short) match sim. He’s a good player Hugh, but until Laird eventually makes way, I wonder if he fits our structure. Personally I would go with Nankervis due to Nank’s line-breaking ability. It would appear Bond is the one preferred by the coaches, however.

24. Worrell - owned the match sim much like he owned last Friday night. He was a bit slow to get going this summer but Josh is peaking at the right time. Looks terrific at the moment.

32. Fogarty - is probably the most vocal out there of all the players, telling teammates where to set up and really encouraging them. So I can see why he has been voted in - I just hope he can maximise his own talent.

34. Ludowyke - not for this year but I’m confident we have found a player here. He’s moving really well now and definitely appears more confident, which is resulting in less dropped marks. He just looks like a footballer and has a pretty well-rounded game - he’s not just a kick-and-catch type. Half a dozen or so talls did speckie work on the orange bag at the end of training, and his timing was the best of the bunch.

bigman · Mar 6, 2026

Last true match sim of the pre season. Amazing how quickly it goes by.

There were some notable absentees which makes it a little hard to get a read on things selection-wise.

The skipper was a complete no-show but I see above that he was sick. Meanwhile the rehab group was quite extensive, consisting of Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Hinge, Rankine, Peatling, Milera, Borlase and Toby Murray.

It’s a big list, but the positive is that almost all of them look close to returning to the main group, particularly Rankine and Ah Chee who did a power of work. The only one who was held back was Hinge, who solely ran laps and seems to be a write-off for the early rounds.

Ibis was an interesting one. He started with the rehab group, was named in the A team for the match sim but was pulled out late, only to then take part for five or so minutes as a relief ruck before pulling out again. Seemed very odd, almost a bit farcical to be honest. Hopefully he gets over his issue quickly.

We did appear to have one or two casualties today - both Ryan and Bell didn’t finish the match sim. Bell looked fine afterwards but Ryan disappeared. It may have been a rolled ankle but don’t quote me on that.

On the plus side, despite my worries on Wednesday, Nick Murray completed the entire session and showed no signs of a hamstring problem. Marsh also trained fully and looked fine.

We have had a lot more hamstring/back issues this summer which has been well documented. I’m not in a position to judge our weights program or loading, but one thing I’ve noticed is that the new bloke appears to incorporate more sprinting and explosive movement in training sessions than Burgo did. Burgo often seemed to hold the lads back a bit whereas the Irishman appears to train us more at game speed. Our warm-ups are also longer and more intense. Whether all of this is right or wrong, I can’t say, though it would appear our bodies haven’t adjusted particularly well in the short term.

The match sim was two 25 minute quarters (no time on), with play paused halfway through each term for teams to regroup and receive instructions.

Due to low numbers we played 16 on field each, which isn’t exactly ideal. The teams themselves didn’t change over the course of play. They were as follows:

Blue
FB: Michalanney Butts
HB: Laird Worrell Bond
_C: Jones Berry Cumming
HF: Neal-Bullen Walker Keays
FF: Pedlar Fogarty
_R: McAndrew Rachele Soligo
IN: Cook

Yellow
FB: Atkinson Murray
HB: Ryan Bell Cotton
_C: Sholl Edwards Nankervis
HF: Taylor Welsh Marsh
FF: Maley Ludowyke
_R: O’Brien Draper Dowling
IN: MacDonald Richards Strachan
And here are the goals/CBAs for the game:

Q1 - Goals
Blue: Walker 2, Jones, Keays, Fogarty, Cook

Yellow: Marsh

Q1 - CBAs (out of 8)
Blue:
8 - Soligo
7 - Berry, McAndrew
5 - Rachele
4 - Keays
1 - Murray

Yellow:
7 - Edwards, Dowling, O’Brien
6 - Draper
4 - Taylor
1 - Maley

Q2 - Goals
Blue: Fogarty 2, Keays 2, Cumming, Neal-Bullen

Yellow: Draper, Edwards

Q2 - CBAs (out of 9)
Blue:
9 - McAndrew
8 - Soligo
7 - Berry, Rachele
4 - Jones
1 - Keays

Yellow:
9 - Dowling
8 - Draper, Edwards
7 - O’Brien
2 - Taylor, Maley

Worth noting the Blue team did some scenario training at the end, trying to wind down the clock with a minute to go (scores were adjusted so Yellow were only a couple points down). They actually remembered how to chip the ball around - hopefully we see that in the real thing.

Overall the standard was decent despite the glaring omissions. It was quite dewy out there resulting in some scrappy stoppages, and you could tell the boys are a bit in preservation mode, but there was some clean passages of play including a lightning fast coast-to-coast goal. The Yellow team was obviously smashed but they did miss some chances, whereas the Blues were remarkably accurate.

Alright, player comment time:

1. Jones - played mostly wing for the A team and was on fire early, helping set up Tex’s first goal and then booting one himself on the run from 50. Fell out of a bit thereafter and was put in the guts, but failed to have much of an impact there. Looks almost certain to get a gig round one but I think we could do better.

2. Keays - don’t like seeing him in the guts again - it’s not 2022 anymore Nicksy! - but he was typically industrious as a roaming forward where he does his best work. Kicked three snags in a half and there’s no doubt his set shot kicking has improved even more from last year.

3. Berry - if this bloke only played the Crows he would be a star. He killed it today. Had a five minute burst where he had multiple clearances at speed and assisted two Fogarty goals, drawing much love from his teammates. Just wish he did that against other teams (that aren’t West Coast).

5. Draper - definitely still looks short of a gallop but at least he’s clocking the minutes up. Kicked a goal after taking a courageous mark where a teammate took his legs out - he’s very lucky not to have done a Michael Barlow. Kicking and composure were mostly good but I thought he looked a bit flat-footed at stoppage, which isn’t usually the case. I wonder what his acceleration is like at the moment.

8. Rachele - definitely thrives on the second possession rather than doing the grunt work himself. That’s not necessarily for the worst given his skills and smarts, but I just want to see him win a bit more of his own ball at stoppage. Got plenty of it around the ground - his work rate is excellent - and despite not hitting the goals tally he did set up Keays for one. In fine fettle.

9. Murray - tried to take the game on a number of times, including one instance where he span out of trouble twice. He admittedly coughed it up, but it showed just how confident he is at the moment in his body.

10. Pedlar - very quiet after a great couple of weeks. Failed to hit the scoreboard and got most of his limited ball working up the ground. Hard to care too much though, he’s done the work. Can he get through one more week without issue and have an uninterrupted pre season?

11. Edwards - had a couple of nice clearances and a goal, but he’s too willing to accept the tackle rather than fend or evade. We don’t need another Jones-like situation here. There’s talk he may debut but I just don’t think he’s quite ready yet. He’s still got to add more grit and explosiveness to his game first.

13. Walker - in solid form at the moment. Kicked two majors and set up another couple as well. Moving great and is definitely in better health than this time last year when he had back/hamstring issues. Somehow he’s avoided them despite others going down.

14. Soligo - got bulk minutes and CBAs which no doubt tested his conditioning. Had some nice moments including a lovely drill kick to Tex, but he looks like a bloke who has missed a lot of training. I don’t think he’s ready for round one unless we are willing to do a Papley and manage his minutes. Personally I would wait a couple more weeks unless we just don’t have the cattle.

15. Cook - played mostly wing with some half-forward time, so basically the opposite of what he’s been training! Still managed to have a good impact though. Enjoyed his willingness to put the jets on a few times and he is really dynamic out there at the moment. Suspect he makes the round one team given his selection in the A team (albeit with some names to come in), which would be a just reward for a terrific summer.

16. Michalanney - rusty early, including a howler turnover that should have cost a goal - he does get lazy on his kicks on occasion. Found his groove a bit more as the game wore on. He’s not in tip top form coming off that knee surgery though, I think that’s clear.

17. Welsh - had a bit of a mare unfortunately. Tried hard but was terribly fumbly and coughed the ball up several times. This is an ongoing issue for him - he’s too jittery and lacks composure.

19. Taylor - had a terrible miskick which almost resulted in a goal against, and he was filthy with himself afterwards. Tackling and hands were good, but struggled to find much pill which continues to be an issue. A bit in no-man’s land at the moment.

24. Worrell - had one or two questionable kicks but was otherwise rock-solid back there. I would really like to see him take the game on more and break the lines with his pace - that will be the next step in his evolution as a player. He has it in him.

26. Marsh - played forward and had some good moments despite limited supply. Took a nice contested grab which he then converted for goal, and was used several times as an outlet coming out of defence. Almost took a pack mark near goal late in the game and was angry at himself for not completing it. We have a good one here.

27. Nankervis - has some strapping over his knee which may be holding him back. Played mostly wing. Continues to be super competitive - he made a great spoil that led to the Edwards goal - but he didn’t offer as much dash as usual. Cook and Bond appear to be ahead of him at present. I really hope we don’t force him out of the club. I know he has close mates here but at some point he will become disenchanted, if he’s not already.

32. Fogarty - was very good in the absence of Thilthorpe once again. Kicked three snags and made the forward 50 his own. It took a bit longer than I would’ve liked but he’s finally hitting form heading into the season.

33. Cotton - played as a defender once again and definitely looked more comfortable today. Not giving much aerially just yet but was used a bit coming out of defence and his disposal/decision making was really solid. Give him a few more games and he should start to hit his stride.

34. Ludowyke - had one of the worst shanks at goal you will see - even Izak Rankine exclaimed “oh my god” when it happened - which somehow almost turned into a goal assist (Richards marked the ball but missed). Otherwise, despite not kicking any goals, I thought he again showed his class. Did a nice sidestep to open up space for a shot at goal that only just missed, and directly assisted Edwards for his major through some nice deft hands.

McAndrew/O’Brien - interesting battle today. Despite what Josh Money said, McAndrew did not ‘smash’ ROB today. In fact ROB was all over him for the first 15 minutes, even in the centre - McAndrew’s timing was all wrong and ROB looked fired up.

Thankfully big Stretch eventually got his act together, particularly after the quarter time break. He definitely had the better of ROB in the second term at stoppage and started offering more around the ground.

He will need to be a lot more switched on going forward though - he was a slow starter against Freo as well.

bigman · Mar 11, 2026

Well peeps, it’s my final training report of the pre-season.

Let’s be honest, not many of you want to read about the drills we did today. You want to know who is playing and whether those under a cloud are ready to go.

Well, the lads did a bit of match sim today and these were the teams:

Blue (A)
FB: Michalanney Butts Worrell
HB: Laird Murray Milera
_C: Cumming Dawson Cook
HF: Neal-Bullen Thilthorpe Keays
FF: Pedlar Fogarty Walker
_R: McAndrew Rachele Berry
IN: Bond Peatling T.Murray

White (B)
FB: Ryan Strachan Borlase
HB: Cotton Bell Nankervis
_C: Sholl Rankine Jones
HF: Ah Chee Welsh Taylor
FF: Ludowyke Maley Marsh
_R: O’Brien Edwards Soligo
IN: Dowling Draper Drury

So there’s (practically) 21 of the 23 confirmed. Not too many surprises, but obviously good to see Ibis debut and Bond/Cook rewarded for great summers. It also suggests they’re confident Peatling is ready to go.

So who makes the final two spots? When they broke into their respective lines, there were two seperate groups for the midfielders to do stoppage work:

Group 1: Jones, Berry, Ah Chee, Rachele, Dawson, Soligo, Cook, Peatling, Nankervis, Ibis, McAndrew, Cumming

Group 2: Draper, Edwards, Rankine, Dowling, Sholl, O’Brien

Basically what I gained from this is that two of Jones, Ah Chee, Soligo and Nankervis will play. I suppose Taylor may also be in the mix, but I think that would only be if Ah Chee is deemed not ready.

Which two play? Ah Chee is obviously likely given he’s been declared good to go. Interesting that he was involved at stoppages too, so perhaps some wing time is on the cards (possibly swapping with Cook?). I’m not certain he’s fully match fit, but he’s an experienced bloke who should get the job done.

Ideally Soligo is the other player but personally I’m not convinced he’s ready. He doesn’t look rock hard fit and has barely played in the last six weeks. I noticed The Advertiser also suggested he may play reserves instead - I think that would be wise.

If that’s the case, it would then almost certainly be out of jones and Nank. Chayce has played some inside time lately which lends me to believe he will get the nod over Nank, given Soligo would be missing, but I’m just speculating.

The good thing is everyone got through the session with no issues (from what I could tell). Providing Filthy pulls up well, lock him in - he moved terrifically out there today and was in full beast mode.

I’ll give comments on a few other players:

3. Berry - looked great again. He won’t get a better chance than this year to make it. His speed, confidence and energy at the moment is the best I’ve seen from him - we just need to see it in the real thing.

5. Draper - no chance of playing early games, but he’s now put almost a month of training together. You can tell he’s still holding back a bit but if he can get through the next wave of trial games without issue, he should start to come into consideration post-Gather Round you would think.

10. Pedlar - kicked a goal in match sim but could’ve had three. Assuming he doesn’t step under a ladder between now and Saturday night, he’s made it through a pre-season without injury. Time to perform.

11. Edwards - I think Peatling being good to go means Charlie will have to wait a bit longer for a debut. If that’s the case, I think that’s not necessarily a bad thing as he still needs to work on his game. I suppose there’s still a chance he plays if one or two of the mids don’t get up.

15. Cook - once again looked uber confident out there today, no doubt buoyed by his selection in the A team. He deserves it, but similar to Berry, he needs to strike while the iron is hot.

20. Hinge - just ran laps today. Physically he looks fit but obviously something went very wrong with his back. I think he’s one we can cover for now given the emergence of Bond and Cook (and hopefully Nank).

23. Rankine - they made him do extra running today, so he will be cherry ripe for round two. No idea if he will play sanfl or not. Had a clearance today from a boundary throw-in that was genuinely elite, where he took the ball at pace and hit a perfect pass inside the corridor. It was a thing of beauty.

25. Peatling - the timeline of his hamstring injury does still concern me, but I saw nothing today that would indicate there is an issue. He looked ready.

26. Marsh - can’t see him getting named, but again he took a really nice pluck mark today in match sim. He rarely two-grabs the pill. He’s training as a forward now after trialling mostly as a wing during the summer.

27. Nankervis - made some errors today, including kicking into the man on the mark in deep defence. Certainly got involved but looked a bit low on confidence, which further leads me to believe he probably isn’t playing this week. A real shame given his talents. Personally he plays ahead of Jones for mine, which I don’t think is exactly a controversial opinion.

Was interesting to note that Nicksy was not happy with our set up at a boundary throw-in on the wing, and gathered all the players to re-enact it afterwards. It was a long discussion and I noticed it was Cumming who explained where everyone needed to be.

Anyway, I’ll leave it there. Obviously I’ll answer any questions and pop in to training throughout the season, but now that games are starting again my value is much more limited!

I appreciate all the love and feedback once again this summer. I’ve sadly had to announce more injuries than I would like, but I’m glad to just be able to provide a window into what’s been going on. Your support definitely makes it that bit more worthwhile, so thank you.

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Bigman’s Training Reports (Update: 11th March)

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