Bigman’s Training Reports

[Slime Roy]

It would actually be the merch store. The Shapes factory needs competent people.

DEI!

 

[LoBu]

I’m jumping at shadows - but can’t fathom why he would currently be even trialled in the A team

Likely a good reason that doesn't involve the selection of Murphy in the best 23.

For example, Hinge was reported to be training in the 'Bs' last week to play on Rankine. This approach to scratch matches is preferable for me.

 

[LoBu]

There's a selection panel made up of the senior coaches and head of football.

So Nicks, Burns, Van Berlo, Hombsch and Kelly. Where the balance of power lies...?

And now Murray would have a very strong voice in the room

 

[1970crow]

I'm ok with giving quality out of form players 2 or 3 weeks to find form, or fringe keepers/ delisted a dead rubber or two. You could end up with a better season/ list than you otherwise might.

But if you were going to risk playing an injured player, they had better be a fair bit better injured than the uninjured replacement is uninjured. And yeah, I know we are on the wrong side of that equation too often.

Don’t you think we’re better off developing younger guys with an extra couple of games instead of giving them to delist/fringe players so we can finish 10th instead of 13th?

 

[spenze]

Look at you amateurs, wondering if Murphy is in the 22 for round 1.

I'm more worried that he starts on the field

 

[Big Dub]

Don’t you think we’re better off developing younger guys with an extra couple of games instead of giving them to delist/fringe players so we can finish 10th instead of 13th?

Sorry, probably could have been clearer. Give a couple of (dead rubber) games to guys like Bond, who we aren't sure is a keeper or a delist.

In the Bond example, he showed enough to get a one year extension.

I wouldn't be giving games to guys we are sure we will delist, and only to fringe players when they are inside of the best 23 uninjured players.

 

[whitey_1975]

Man, I don't even know how Murphy made it into the scratch match, team a or b. Surely he would have been the ump or ball boy, cheerleader, anything, he ain't a footballers arseh*le. Dude should be playing amateurs football.

 

[craig crowing]

Man, I don't even know how Murphy made it into the scratch match, team a or b. Surely he would have been the ump or ball boy, cheerleader, anything, he ain't a footballers arseh*le. Dude should be playing amateurs football.

i

when will people complaining about threads going off topic realise they are only adding to their own complaints?

Point is not so much about going off subject its is why talking about Murphy, as we all agree totally insignificant going forward, look at last 5 post when posting this post where 4 about Murphy .
Why Why.
If Curtin ,Thiilthorpe,Rankine etc etc etc etc could understand .

 

[AFC979810]

Murphy now is in the same position Mackay was about 8 years ago

The club sees him as best 22, not high up in the 22, but at worst a bench spot. The guy who trains the house down, provides leadership and might sneak a few B&F votes here and there. Loyal and team first.

Terrible post.

8 years ago would take us to Feb of 2017.

8 years ago our side finished 1 game away from first place and % from a top 4 spot and Mackay was best 22 in that team.
We then went on to make it to the GF with Mackay a mainstay of that 2017 team.

There is a spot in quality teams for experienced whipping boys. Look at Richmond's dynasty.

The key point is that Murphy has been a shit role player for 7 years on a team that hasn't made the finals.

 

[Scorpus]

Terrible post.

8 years ago would take us to Feb of 2017.

8 years ago our side finished 1 game away from first place and % from a top 4 spot and Mackay was best 22 in that team.
We then went on to make it to the GF with Mackay a mainstay of that 2017 team.

There is a spot in quality teams for experienced whipping boys. Look at Richmond's dynasty.

The key point is that Murphy has been a shit role player for 7 years on a team that hasn't made the finals.

I agree, but I believe the club sees him as being on the level of Mackay which is why he gets selected so often

They think Murphy IS the experienced whipping boy in a potential dynasty team

 

[AFC979810]

Man, I don't even know how Murphy made it into the scratch match, team a or b. Surely he would have been the ump or ball boy, cheerleader, anything, he ain't a footballers arseh*le. Dude should be playing amateurs football.

The bad thing is that the inclusion of Murphy as a player makes more sense in 2025 than it has over the past 3 years.

 

[bigman]

Not a massive amount to take out of today’s session - I suspect we will get another scratch match on Friday which will be far more interesting - but with players dropping like flies at other clubs I’m pretty happy with a non-eventful session.

The only casualty today was Sholl who went up the race about half an hour into the session with a trainer. There was no ice or limp and he did return, but only to the sidelines to watch on. I’m thinking perhaps a head knock? Hopefully we can get some clarification.

Toby Murray was the only member of the rehab group (Strachan hasn’t resumed outside training yet but regularly helps out with organising some drills). Not sure the Ibis’s issue, possibly just still sore after copping O’Brien’s knee on Monday? Seemed to be moving fine as he ran a bunch of laps.

Welsh wore the fluro hat but did practically the entire session which is a great sign.

Training was structured very similar to Monday, albeit this time with music blaring throughout. I guess it’s to keep things interesting for the played and prevent monotony.

The first third of the session involved two concurrent drills, running along each boundary. One drill was full length of the oval while the other was only between the arcs. The former focussed on exiting deep defence and trying to get the quick break to allow space for our forwards. The smaller version was more about moving the ball from half back with short kicks without letting the ball hit the deck or be intercepted

The lads then had a bit of pseudo-match sim, except this time players had to wrestle their opponent on the ground before play was started. It went for about 20 minutes - enough to see some highlights but not enough for anyone to really strut their stuff.

Teams were again quite clearly A vs B:

Blue - Keays, Crouch, Curtin, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Murray, Dawson, Walker, Soligo, Michalanney, Hinge, Rankine, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Bond, O’Brien, Cumming, Keane

White - Jones, Berry, Murphy, Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Burgess, Ryan, Worrell, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Dowling, Smith, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, Butts, McAndrew

As you can see, a bit more of a return to regular transmission. Wouldn’t look too hard into Worrell playing in the B team (Hinge has done the same on other occasions). It’s now a trend for Nankervis however. Milera seems preferred at this stage - doesn’t mean Nank won’t play regardless but it does make it a bit more dicey than I would’ve expected. Summer amnesia is once again a thing unless Nank has had more injury issues than I realised.

Some player thoughts:

Curtin - he’s fun to watch when he gets the ball in traffic. He isn’t afraid to put on the jets and take multiple tacklers on - and it usually works. It’s a fair sight to behold given he’s this huge 197cm bloke. He’s still more highlights than dominance at the moment but the highlights sure are good.

Thilthorpe - did another one of those ridiculously clean pick ups at speed. He’s such a talent and looks to be moving freely, also got a fair beard going now which I’m sure many will be pleased about.

Murray - absolute energiser bunny out there, loved one moment in particular where he just barrelled straight through two opponents ahead of him.

Edwards - I still have queries about him being moved to the backline but if he can work on his defensive side (and he needs to), I can see the appeal as he is quite lethal by foot and calm with ball in hand. Was responsible for a number of exits out of D50 and only once turned it over. His kicks reach their target quick too which helps prevent the intercept.

Ryan - do rate him but wasn’t at his best. His kicking is usually a strength but today was a bit iffy. Subsequently seemed to lose his confidence, resulting in a bad fumble that could’ve easily cost a goal. Hopefully gets his mojo back on Friday.

Rankine - the mids did a bunch of stoppages after the match sim and often it was 23 exiting with ball in hand. He’s just so quick to read it, whether that’s the fall of the ball or knowing when to receive at speed. He’d just be wishing games were starting now such is his touch.

Mcandrew - took a couple of contested grabs at full stretch and is looking more comfortable out there. He’s no Max Gawn but at 207cm and with reasonable athleticism he does impress at times.

If there’s a scratch match on Friday as I expect/hope, I’ll put out a much more thorough review.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

The bad thing is that the inclusion of Murphy as a player makes more sense in 2025 than it has over the past 3 years.

Huh?

 

[1990crow]

Not a massive amount to take out of today’s session - I suspect we will get another scratch match on Friday which will be far more interesting - but with players dropping like flies at other clubs I’m pretty happy with a non-eventful session.

The only casualty today was Sholl who went up the race about half an hour into the session with a trainer. There was no ice or limp and he did return, but only to the sidelines to watch on. I’m thinking perhaps a head knock? Hopefully we can get some clarification.

Toby Murray was the only member of the rehab group (Strachan hasn’t resumed outside training yet but regularly helps out with organising some drills). Not sure the Ibis’s issue, possibly just still sore after copping O’Brien’s knee on Monday? Seemed to be moving fine as he ran a bunch of laps.

Welsh wore the fluro hat but did practically the entire session which is a great sign.

Training was structured very similar to Monday, albeit this time with music blaring throughout. I guess it’s to keep things interesting for the played and prevent monotony.

The first third of the session involved two concurrent drills, running along each boundary. One drill was full length of the oval while the other was only between the arcs. The former focussed on exiting deep defence and trying to get the quick break to allow space for our forwards. The smaller version was more about moving the ball from half back with short kicks without letting the ball hit the deck or be intercepted


The lads then had a bit of pseudo-match sim, except this time players had to wrestle their opponent on the ground before play was started. It went for about 20 minutes - enough to see some highlights but not enough for anyone to really strut their stuff.


Teams were again quite clearly A vs B:

Blue - Keays, Crouch, Curtin, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Murray, Dawson, Walker, Soligo, Michalanney, Hinge, Rankine, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Bond, O’Brien, Cumming, Keane

White - Jones, Berry, Murphy, Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Burgess, Ryan, Worrell, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Dowling, Smith, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, Butts, McAndrew

As you can see, a bit more of a return to regular transmission. Wouldn’t look too hard into Worrell playing in the B team (Hinge has done the same on other occasions). It’s now a trend for Nankervis however. Milera seems preferred at this stage - doesn’t mean Nank won’t play regardless but it does make it a bit more dicey than I would’ve expected. Summer amnesia is once again a thing unless Nank has had more injury issues than I realised.


Some player thoughts:

Curtin - he’s fun to watch when he gets the ball in traffic. He isn’t afraid to put on the jets and take multiple tacklers on - and it usually works. It’s a fair sight to behold given he’s this huge 197cm bloke. He’s still more highlights than dominance at the moment but the highlights sure are good.

Thilthorpe - did another one of those ridiculously clean pick ups at speed. He’s such a talent and looks to be moving freely, also got a fair beard going now which I’m sure many will be pleased about.

Murray - absolute energiser bunny out there, loved one moment in particular where he just barrelled straight through two opponents ahead of him.

Edwards - I still have queries about him being moved to the backline but if he can work on his defensive side (and he needs to), I can see the appeal as he is quite lethal by foot and calm with ball in hand. Was responsible for a number of exits out of D50 and only once turned it over. His kicks reach their target quick too which helps prevent the intercept.

Ryan - do rate him but wasn’t at his best. His kicking is usually a strength but today was a bit iffy. Subsequently seemed to lose his confidence, resulting in a bad fumble that could’ve easily cost a goal. Hopefully gets his mojo back on Friday.


Rankine - the mids did a bunch of stoppages after the match sim and often it was 23 exiting with ball in hand. He’s just so quick to read it, whether that’s the fall of the ball or knowing when to receive at speed. He’d just be wishing games were starting now such is his touch.

Mcandrew - took a couple of contested grabs at full stretch and is looking more comfortable out there. He’s no Max Gawn but at 207cm and with reasonable athleticism he does impress at times.

If there’s a scratch match on Friday as I expect/hope, I’ll put out a much more thorough review.

Good to hear Welsh is ok. 2025 hopefully a building block towards becoming a serious prospect for 2026.

 

[Crow till I die]

Not a massive amount to take out of today’s session - I suspect we will get another scratch match on Friday which will be far more interesting - but with players dropping like flies at other clubs I’m pretty happy with a non-eventful session.

The only casualty today was Sholl who went up the race about half an hour into the session with a trainer. There was no ice or limp and he did return, but only to the sidelines to watch on. I’m thinking perhaps a head knock? Hopefully we can get some clarification.

Toby Murray was the only member of the rehab group (Strachan hasn’t resumed outside training yet but regularly helps out with organising some drills). Not sure the Ibis’s issue, possibly just still sore after copping O’Brien’s knee on Monday? Seemed to be moving fine as he ran a bunch of laps.

Welsh wore the fluro hat but did practically the entire session which is a great sign.

Training was structured very similar to Monday, albeit this time with music blaring throughout. I guess it’s to keep things interesting for the played and prevent monotony.

The first third of the session involved two concurrent drills, running along each boundary. One drill was full length of the oval while the other was only between the arcs. The former focussed on exiting deep defence and trying to get the quick break to allow space for our forwards. The smaller version was more about moving the ball from half back with short kicks without letting the ball hit the deck or be intercepted

The lads then had a bit of pseudo-match sim, except this time players had to wrestle their opponent on the ground before play was started. It went for about 20 minutes - enough to see some highlights but not enough for anyone to really strut their stuff.

Teams were again quite clearly A vs B:

Blue - Keays, Crouch, Curtin, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Murray, Dawson, Walker, Soligo, Michalanney, Hinge, Rankine, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Bond, O’Brien, Cumming, Keane

White - Jones, Berry, Murphy, Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Burgess, Ryan, Worrell, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Dowling, Smith, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, Butts, McAndrew

As you can see, a bit more of a return to regular transmission. Wouldn’t look too hard into Worrell playing in the B team (Hinge has done the same on other occasions). It’s now a trend for Nankervis however. Milera seems preferred at this stage - doesn’t mean Nank won’t play regardless but it does make it a bit more dicey than I would’ve expected. Summer amnesia is once again a thing unless Nank has had more injury issues than I realised.

Some player thoughts:

Curtin - he’s fun to watch when he gets the ball in traffic. He isn’t afraid to put on the jets and take multiple tacklers on - and it usually works. It’s a fair sight to behold given he’s this huge 197cm bloke. He’s still more highlights than dominance at the moment but the highlights sure are good.

Thilthorpe - did another one of those ridiculously clean pick ups at speed. He’s such a talent and looks to be moving freely, also got a fair beard going now which I’m sure many will be pleased about.

Murray - absolute energiser bunny out there, loved one moment in particular where he just barrelled straight through two opponents ahead of him.

Edwards - I still have queries about him being moved to the backline but if he can work on his defensive side (and he needs to), I can see the appeal as he is quite lethal by foot and calm with ball in hand. Was responsible for a number of exits out of D50 and only once turned it over. His kicks reach their target quick too which helps prevent the intercept.

Ryan - do rate him but wasn’t at his best. His kicking is usually a strength but today was a bit iffy. Subsequently seemed to lose his confidence, resulting in a bad fumble that could’ve easily cost a goal. Hopefully gets his mojo back on Friday.

Rankine - the mids did a bunch of stoppages after the match sim and often it was 23 exiting with ball in hand. He’s just so quick to read it, whether that’s the fall of the ball or knowing when to receive at speed. He’d just be wishing games were starting now such is his touch.

Mcandrew - took a couple of contested grabs at full stretch and is looking more comfortable out there. He’s no Max Gawn but at 207cm and with reasonable athleticism he does impress at times.

If there’s a scratch match on Friday as I expect/hope, I’ll put out a much more thorough review.

I am an unashamed Dan Curtin fan for what I think he will become as a player. Your comment on his progress is intriguing as it seems he has real brute strength and can but tackles, has the sidestep and poise in traffic and we know he is a terrific kick. IF you were lining up the side, would you be confident enough to name him in the middle and play him there majority of the time, or is he still too far back in his development to contemplate that as yet. I just can see such upside to having a 197cm super talent on ball with Dawson and Rankine in there too and it would be a real point of difference for us imo and where better to learn his craft. But maybe I am jumping the gun a bit this season?

 

[bigman]

According to 7 filthy rolled his ankle but should be ok. I saw him sit out the final part of the session but didn’t realise it was due to an injury, you’d be surprised how easy it is to miss incidents like that with everything going on.

 

[1970crow]

I agree, but I believe the club sees him as being on the level of Mackay which is why he gets selected so often

They think Murphy IS the experienced whipping boy in a potential dynasty team

How many of our ‘whipping boys’ in the flag years, or near either side of, got to 100 games with us? We simply had zero players selected because they brought experience and continuity.

 

[beartoo]

According to 7 filthy rolled his ankle but should be ok. I saw him sit out the final part of the session but didn’t realise it was due to an injury, you’d be surprised how easy it is to miss incidents like that with everything going on.

Don't beat yourself up, mate. You do a mighty job for us all.

On SM-A256E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Mutineer]

According to 7 filthy rolled his ankle but should be ok. I saw him sit out the final part of the session but didn’t realise it was due to an injury, you’d be surprised how easy it is to miss incidents like that with everything going on.

 

[jimvic]

According to 7 filthy rolled his ankle but should be ok. I saw him sit out the final part of the session but didn’t realise it was due to an injury, you’d be surprised how easy it is to miss incidents like that with everything going on.

thanks very much for all the info Bigman - reports are Special. Is Welsh looking a little more trim, or still the same as when he was drafted?

 

[Keystone agony]

Draper alot in the B sides

Wouldve thought hes a guarantee even though a first year player

 

[Cromulant]

Draper alot in the B sides

Wouldve thought hes a guarantee even though a first year player

Not a bad thing to be playing against our "better" midfielders.

 

[Brenton Davy]

Not a bad thing to be playing against our "better" midfielders.

Exactly. No point going up against depth mids. Needs to find out when he really stands in the order of things

 

[1990crow]

Draper alot in the B sides

Wouldve thought hes a guarantee even though a first year player

Says more about the sides increased depth I think.

 

[George CantStandYa]

According to 7 filthy rolled his ankle but should be ok. I saw him sit out the final part of the session but didn’t realise it was due to an injury, you’d be surprised how easy it is to miss incidents like that with everything going on.

You need an assistant. I nominate 1970crow