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

[Jeffcrowe]

Jeez Laird just seems insufferable. Should've moved him on

I reckon Laird has forgotten where he came from

A little nuggety rookie selection out of nowhere that was very clean with his ground balls and quite a desperado defensively and team first to survive

Like to see him channel his 20 yo self playing for his career

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Quality report as usual bigman

I just hope we have a clear plan with Curtin.

We need to identify a role that allows him to bring his attributes and he gets time to settle into the role


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I reckon it’s extremely positive that we aren’t using him in defence so far this pre season

Think we working it out

 

[Betts are off]

Got my money on Pedlar

TBH I wouldn't be surprised if him and Rachele are both on the Straight and Narrow this offseason. Both have a point to prove early in 2025.

My horse would be a another local lad, Billy Dowling.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

TBH I wouldn't be surprised if him and Rachele are both on the Straight and Narrow this offseason. Both have a point to prove early in 2025.

My horse would be a another local lad, Billy Dowling.

Be a wise move from Pedlar in particular

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Every sportperson gets grouchier as they get older

A few more sore spots
Clock ticking
Can't quite do what you once did
The music the new draftees play in the gym SUCKS
Rebuilds and youth policies gunning for your spot

 

[Slime Roy]

Every sportperson gets grouchier as they get older

A few more sore spots
Clock ticking
Can't quite do what you once did
The music the new draftees play in the gym SUCKS
Rebuilds and youth policies gunning for your spot

Those things would only be a worry at a club NOT coached by Mafew Nix.
Seniority is King.

 

[skam85]

To be fair to Laird I get frustrated too when my co-workers can't execute simple tasks. The difference is I don't yell at them when it happens, that's what managers and coaches are for.

Do you tend to perform worse than them though?

 

[Coopers]

Problem with Curtin is that the coaches have options with him so need to make choices

I'm not sure how shrewd and intuitive those choices will be. Or even if the coaches will all agree on what's best.

Hopefully he's not hopscotched around the whole oval again this season

You could think of it as one of those graduate program things that really big companies do where you send them around 5 different departments in their first year and hope they don't quit

 

[bigman]

Outstanding bigman, thank you

How do you remember things in such detail by the way? Do you take notes? Photos of the electronic board? Photographic memory haha

With the ball movement drills, I spoke to an ex-Geelong player a few years ago and he said Brad Scott did lots of this, but that the attacking team was often outnumbered, sometimes quite heavily.

Meant they were always working through congestion, having to work extra hard to find space, had to be very precise with skills, choosing the right option was critical. Overloaded them so that the games felt easier.

Would love to say it’s all by memory but some things I have to jot down quick notes on, namely things like team lineups, time trial groups and winners etc. I want to get that stuff as accurate as possible so I’ll note them.

Thankfully the lineups are now on the big electronic board near the car park so it’s much easier to write down.

Player thoughts, drills and other observations however are usually just from memory. With multiple drills often occurring at once sometimes it’s just about individual moments that catch the eye, it’s not always that a player will outright dominate a session although occasionally it does happen.

Interesting anecdote about Chris Scott. From what I’ve seen at the AFC it’s typically been equal numbers or even sometimes slightly in favour of the attacking team, which would be contrary to what Geelong do then. Would be interesting to know why that’s the case - from the outside the Geelong approach probably makes more sense.

 

[DaKids]

TBH I wouldn't be surprised if him and Rachele are both on the Straight and Narrow this offseason. Both have a point to prove early in 2025.

My horse would be an another local lad, Billy Dowling.

Being a Saint doesn’t just refer to Billy’s old school. Fraid you’d do your dough backing that nag haha

 

[bigman]

Loving your work as always bigman. It’s absolute top notch quality and much appreciated mate. AND it’s seemingly gone to another level this year. Also thanks for “mixing it up” re covering most players so far in the reports you have done.

Clearly we are only a couple of weeks in but a few quick questions I had:

- some posters reported last years training was in their view a little sub-standard. Re the overall quality is there any noticeable difference at this stage? Or still too early to say?

- Pedlar - does he seem fitter and hungrier than last year? I really rate his potential but recognise 2025 is a huge year for him.

- Max - I actually thought he didn’t kick on quite as much as hoped in his second year but still had a good year. Your initial thoughts? Any gains in body size? For those expecting another Ben Hart it’s very unlikely he hits this level but even 75-80% as good would be a great long term output IMO

- Rachele, TT and Curtin I am hopeful are all elite players in the making. Very interested in your ongoing thoughts about our truly top end potential players. And who else may join this group… Draper, Murray, Worrell - even Peatling at a stretch.

- An interview in recent days mentioned both ANB and Fog are showing lots of on field leadership. Any other main “voices” you are detecting? Is Tex still as dominant or leaving it to the next generation?

- I still have hopes for Milera and Jones who have shown - at times - they are good AFL footballers. Also keen to get ongoing thoughts as both would be marginal players to make our first team which is great news in terms of depth.

- interested in our attacking mindset from defence. With Keane and Worrell as natural attacking and skilful talls, smaller distributors like Cumming, Hinge and Max (Milera and Jones even) all excellent disposal with attacking flair it’s interesting your initial thoughts re this aspect. Perhaps a more attacking game plan now that we have the cattle.

- with Nicks now goneski for the remainder of 2024 would be interested in any structural changes in training in his absence.

- have any players underwhelmed so far? Clearly those coming back from injury get some leeway.

So far if I could summarise what I think you are saying is Rachele in top notch condition and looking great, Cummings perhaps looking like the most impressive of the recruits and TT showing great glimpses of talent since returning to training. Other players that have performed consistently in every session?

Otherwise lots of players looking good but most also having an off day at least once.

Thanks again mate

No worries.

1. I wouldn’t say last year’s
standard was below par, at least not during the pre season. Has this year’s been more intense? Possibly, it does appear to have been a bit sharper with less downtime. I’m pretty sure the sessions have been at least 15 minutes shorter than usual yet the content has been largely the same, seems to be a focus on quality over quantity.

I will say there has been less running thus far. This time last year there was quite a lot more - now it’s typically just a few run throughs near the end of the session. There are Saturday running sessions that I don’t see however.

2. To my eye Pedlar seems fitter and sharper than last year’s pre season, although perhaps not as impressive as the summer prior when he had his break out year. Unfortunately he appears to have done a hamstring, hopefully it’s the only one he does.

3. Max has been pretty similar to last summer where he trained fine without really dominating. He seems to go to another level in the real thing which isn’t exactly a problem. Physically he looks about the same, I wouldn’t say he’s had the physical transformation that others have (eg Rachele, T. Murray, Taylor).

I’m not worried, I’m very bullish on Max having a great career. He does need to tighten up his kicking but he’s got lovely blend of attack and defence.

4. Even after multiple early draft picks we probably don’t project as having as many outright stars as some other clubs (eg Port, Sydney).
On the flip side I’m pretty confident we will have quality in all lines and not leave too much to too few. Which is the superior approach? I guess we will see.

Rankine is obviously the golden boy. Thilthorpe worries me a bit with his body and physical resilience but no denying he could be a special player for us. Draper isn’t perfect but should be a terrific player with his speed and stoppage craft. I think those are the three I’m most confident on being serious players for what is hopefully a premiership tilt (Rankine already is).

Curtin could be no doubt, my only issue is does he have the stoppage game to be an elite mid or the aerial game to be an elite KPP? I have slight worries but I can’t really say yet as we just haven’t seen enough of him. But then you see his kicking, composure, sidestep and body strength and it’s hard not to see him becoming a real weapon at some point.

Rachele might be a bit more limited than we once thought but if his peak is a 40 plus goal small forward who gets involved up the ground I think we’d be thrilled no? He still picks and chooses a bit but early Dale Thomas was the same, I’m not too worried. Gut feel is he’s in for a great year.

5. Fog would be right there as one of the loudest for sure along with Dawson. Neal-Bullen I haven’t noticed as much in that regard but I’ll keep an ear out.

I do think Tex has probably eased off on the on field coaching from what I’ve seen. He’s still loud but probably not as dominant out there as years previous.

6. Milera has the ability but eventually the body can’t keep taking so many injuries. He is moving really well to be fair but we can really only judge whether he’s still up to AFL footy once games start. Two major knee injuries for someone who relies on their agility is a genuine worry. Im staying optimistic but it’s gonna be dicey.

Jones is an enigma. On paper he sounds great - tough, fast, kicks low and hard, tackles like a madman and can take a grab. But then there’s the moments of no composure, the inconsistency within games, poor positioning etc. I want him to succeed but as our list gets better it’s going to get harder for him. He’s been pretty good so far this summer though and I do think our wings are an area where no one has really cemented their spot going forward.

7. Aggression by foot and taking the game on with run and carry appears to have been a real focus. There’s definitely been less chipping around and maintaining possession than this time last year. Hopefully this remains the case as I think our list build suits a more gung ho approach - we have elite forwards, let’s maximise them. And we finally have some real speed out there.

8. To be fair there’s only been five sessions thus far so plenty of time for players to lift and assert themselves more, it’s a long summer. But a few probably have to up their game a bit, to me Cook and Dowling are two who I would like to see have more of a physical presence out there. Cook needs to give more in the one-on-ones and Billy has been manhandled a bit in tight.

Standouts have probably been Rachele, Cumming and Keane thus far. But like I said, it’s still very early.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Every sportperson gets grouchier as they get older

A few more sore spots
Clock ticking
Can't quite do what you once did
The music the new draftees play in the gym SUCKS
Rebuilds and youth policies gunning for your spot

Except for Brad Johnson

 

[Cromulant]

Except for Brad Johnson

He was angry all through his career, he just smiled a lot.

 

[Betts are off]

Being a Saint doesn’t just refer to Billy’s old school. Fraid you’d do your dough backing that nag haha

I think you'll find a very high percentage of drunk 18-25 year old dudes in the members section of the test match are ex Saints and PAC boys.

That's why I chose him TBH. He won't be short on drinking buddies

 

[Cromulant]

Being a Saint doesn’t just refer to Billy’s old school. Fraid you’d do your dough backing that nag haha

His best mate's Dad owns a winery, the lad doesnt mind a drink or 2 either.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Luko chose Port because we wouldn’t match his contract terms. He’s on big money plus we would have had to take Atkins.

Said at the time Cumming & Peatling were more of a need for us when we were chasing all 3 of them.

Lukosius though is a bigger need for Port.

Worked well for all parties.

 

[Gtowncrow]

Whoops!

Identical twins...
Forgiven

 

[Gtowncrow]

It would be interesting to hear Davis' opinion of the differences between the Brisbane and Adelaide "system" once he has settled in. I mean what he truely thinks and not what he would say publicly.
He seems to be very diplomatic in the way he answers questions (understandably)

Hopefully Davis will be able to get his message across once he experiences all the pitfalls on and off the field.

As we start the 25 year, if we're 0/4 like last year, diplomacy will not be a required attribute for the director of coaching.

We all know the solution in such circumstances. Would he have the balls to make the call? I'm not so sure??

 

[adelaidecrows]

It would be interesting to hear Davis' opinion of the differences between the Brisbane and Adelaide "system" once he has settled in. I mean what he truely thinks and not what he would say publicly.
He seems to be very diplomatic in the way he answers questions (understandably)

Hopefully Davis will be able to get his message across once he experiences all the pitfalls on and off the field.

You wont get a true insight until after he finishes up in the industry. But he has probably said 'wtf is that?' more than once since he walked through the door.

 

[Jars458]

As we start the 25 year, if we're 0/4 like last year, diplomacy will not be a required attribute for the director of coaching.

We all know the solution in such circumstances. Would he have the balls to make the call? I'm not so sure??

Courage has nothing to do with balls.

 

[Slime Roy]

You wont get a true insight until after he finishes up in the industry. But he has probably said 'wtf is that?' more than once since he walked through the door.

"Dunno, it's called Kanga-Tech, we never worked out how to use it.. it cost 2 million dollars!"

 

[1990crow]

Is there training today?

 

[StickerMan]

Is there training today?

Good to see that I am not the only one who waits impatiently for bigman's reports!

 

[bigman]

Ripping session today despite the humidity, loved the intensity from the lads and they really showed some tricks today which was great to see. Also got pretty rough at times but thankfully the group left largely unscathed.

Once again putting speed on the ball and not being too conservative appeared to be a real focus. Players almost always looked to move the ball on quickly from marks and not get bogged down by the opposition. Was fun to watch and some of the transition today was seriously good - the impact of guys we traded in plus just recruiting more speed and class in general really showed today.

Pedlar unsurprisingly was in the rehab group but it would appear the hamstring injury wasn’t too bad, as he did quite a bit of running and didn’t appear overly hampered. Not sure he rejoins the main group prior to Christmas but looks as though he may have dodged serious injury.

Thilthorpe was restricted to just walking and some light running, hopefully whatever his back issue is, it’s fixed after the Christmas break or else it could be serious problem for his (and our) season.

Hinge stepped up his workload once again today, still not doing full training but is definitely progressing well from his groin injury. Strachan and Butts were once again absent and I don’t think we will see them until January. Welsh and Draper did a bit more today but were held off from the match sim.

Taylor rolled his ankle in the match sim but thankfully recovered pretty quickly and was able to do the end-of-session running.

Drills were largely the same as previous sessions although there was a ball movement section called 15 vs 11, with the attacking team having greater numbers. Huge emphasis on rapid ball movement in this one - players were not allowed to slow the play down - and the extra space really allowed some to showcase their tricks. Curtin in particular was quite dominant at times when drifting forward.

Match sim followed with the teams listed as:

Blue
Def: Bond Ryan Worrell Borlase N. Murray
Mid: Sholl (Wing) Cumming (Wing) T. Murray Peatling Soligo Crouch
Fwd: Keays Walker Cook Rankine Neal-Bullen
Int: Milera Taylor Dawson

White
Def: Keane Nankervis Laird Smith Michalanney
Mid: Jones (Wing) Dowling (Wing) O’Brien Rachele Berry Curtin
Fwd: Schoenberg Murphy Gallagher Fogarty Burgess
Int: Drury Edwards

Once again no true stoppages but I did notice there was more contest work this time around, with the ball being thrown at times to midfielders already under a fair amount of heat.

The boys then finished up with a decent chunk of running, split into two groups - midfielders and the rest. The mids ran six reps of about 300m at a pretty fast clip, with Sholl leading the way ahead of Cumming, Jones and Dowling. Curtin ran with the mids and kept up really well. Taylor and Edwards brought up the rear and had a decent gap put on them by the last couple of reps. I thought Taylor only really struggled on the last one, otherwise I’d say his running was a bit better than this time last year but it’s clearly still an issue.

Some player thoughts:

Jones - another good session from Chayce and is running much more on top of the ground than last summer. Kicking was sublime at times and I was impressed by how much he got involved today - sometimes he can drift through seasons without really getting his hands on it.

Murphy - copped a big hit from Murray (surprise) which appeared to hurt his collarbone but was able to complete the session. Once again he was really switched on and very quick on his feet. Hard to fault today.

Curtin - gee he does some nice things. Took a lovely mark where he just floated on Dawson. Also had a great moment where he sold candy to set up a Welsh goal. For someone with such an awkward walking and running gait he instantly becomes smooth as butter near the football.

Murray - can’t fault his intensity but once again he coughed the ball up a couple of times trying to hit the short kick. Finesse isn’t really his thing snd he has to be careful not to turn the ball over in such dangerous areas.

Edwards - want to see him train with a bit more intensity. Appeared to cop a small bake from VB at one point for not transitioning to the next drill quick enough and in general seems to be a bit off the pace. Running is definitely a bit down too, he will need to go hard during the Christmas break to get back to his fitness of last year.

Michalanney - had a few great moments including an elite intercept which he followed up with a lovely run along the wing. Always looking to use his speed whenever possible which is great to see.

Ryan - thought he had his best session yet including some terrific moments in one of the early drills. The highlight was a triple effort including two big tackles followed up by a loose gather which got him big plaudits from the lads. Also shrugged off Peatling in a tackle which suggests to me he’s building body strength nicely. Does have the occasional fumble - I think his ball security in general could use some work, it’s not McHenry levels but every so often he loses possession of the pill too easily. Just a minor thing I’ve picked up on since he’s arrived.

Schoenberg - credit to him, his work rate out there both in offence and defensively has been really sound the last few sessions. He’s definitely hardened his body a bit more this summer even if he doesn’t really look it in photos. He’s going to find it hard to win a spot but he does appear to having a real crack.

Nankervis - was seriously good today and is coming on in leaps and bounds. Has really developed the confidence to put the jets on and seems to know very few will catch him. Also had an elite moment where he dance stepped around an opponent before hitting up a teammate on the outside of his boot while off balance. Kicking in general was first class although he’s still pretty ordinary on his left - not sure he even needs one though with his speed and agility.

Neal-Bullen - very busy player and just really nippy in his movements. Rarely makes mistakes and when he does his follow up work is excellent. Thought he was one of the standouts today.

Milera - still working his way into it but had a classic Junior moment where he weaved and fended his way through two tacklers and laced out a pass to the leading forward. A great sign for his knee.

Draper - still being held back but he’s clearly chomping at the bit to showcase his ability. A few times today he put the jets on or did a little shimmy to dodge his opponent. Kicking varied in quality but I’m excited to see what he will do once the shackles are released.

Sholl - always a solid trainer but I thought today was the best so far this summer. His ability to find space is no fluke as he works incredibly hard out there. Still think he’s better on his left - he kicks around the body a bit more which gives more penetration and reaches the target faster. On his right he can sometimes loft them a bit.

Cumming - loving his work. Doesn’t provide quite the same run and carry as a Michalanney or Ryan but his ball use and decision making is seriously high level. Does not panic.

Lots of positives today I know but it was just an excellent session. I’m not afraid to call out poor efforts or mention when the boys are off their game but I really enjoyed what I saw today.

 

[Ham]

Ripping session today despite the humidity, loved the intensity from the lads and they really showed some tricks today which was great to see. Also got pretty rough at times but thankfully the group left largely unscathed.

Once again putting speed on the ball and not being too conservative appeared to be a real focus. Players almost always looked to move the ball on quickly from marks and not get bogged down by the opposition. Was fun to watch and some of the transition today was seriously good - the impact of guys we traded in plus just recruiting more speed and class in general really showed today.

Pedlar unsurprisingly was in the rehab group but it would appear the hamstring injury wasn’t too bad, as he did quite a bit of running and didn’t appear overly hampered. Not sure he rejoins the main group prior to Christmas but looks as though he may have dodged serious injury.

Thilthorpe was restricted to just walking and some light running, hopefully whatever his back issue is, it’s fixed after the Christmas break or else it could be serious problem for his (and our) season.

Hinge stepped up his workload once again today, still not doing full training but is definitely progressing well from his groin injury. Strachan and Butts were once again absent and I don’t think we will see them until January. Welsh and Draper did a bit more today but were held off from the match sim.

Taylor rolled his ankle in the match sim but thankfully recovered pretty quickly and was able to do the end-of-session running.

Drills were largely the same as previous sessions although there was a ball movement section called 15 vs 11, with the attacking team having greater numbers. Huge emphasis on rapid ball movement in this one - players were not allowed to slow the play down - and the extra space really allowed some to showcase their tricks. Curtin in particular was quite dominant at times when drifting forward.

Match sim followed with the teams listed as:

Blue
Def: Bond Ryan Worrell Borlase N. Murray
Mid: Sholl (Wing) Cumming (Wing) T. Murray Peatling Soligo Crouch
Fwd: Keays Walker Cook Rankine Neal-Bullen
Int: Milera Taylor Dawson

White
Def: Keane Nankervis Laird Smith Michalanney
Mid: Jones (Wing) Dowling (Wing) O’Brien Rachele Berry Curtin
Fwd: Schoenberg Murphy Gallagher Fogarty Burgess
Int: Drury Edwards

Once again no true stoppages but I did notice there was more contest work this time around, with the ball being thrown at times to midfielders already under a fair amount of heat.

The boys then finished up with a decent chunk of running, split into two groups - midfielders and the rest. The mids ran six reps of about 300m at a pretty fast clip, with Sholl leading the way ahead of Cumming, Jones and Dowling. Curtin ran with the mids and kept up really well. Taylor and Edwards brought up the rear and had a decent gap put on them by the last couple of reps. I thought Taylor only really struggled on the last one, otherwise I’d say his running was a bit better than this time last year but it’s clearly still an issue.

Some player thoughts:

Jones - another good session from Chayce and is running much more on top of the ground than last summer. Kicking was sublime at times and I was impressed by how much he got involved today - sometimes he can drift through seasons without really getting his hands on it.

Murphy - copped a big hit from Murray (surprise) which appeared to hurt his collarbone but was able to complete the session. Once again he was really switched on and very quick on his feet. Hard to fault today.

Curtin - gee he does some nice things. Took a lovely mark where he just floated on Dawson. Also had a great moment where he sold candy to set up a Welsh goal. For someone with such an awkward walking and running gait he instantly becomes smooth as butter near the football.

Murray - can’t fault his intensity but once again he coughed the ball up a couple of times trying to hit the short kick. Finesse isn’t really his thing snd he has to be careful not to turn the ball over in such dangerous areas.

Edwards - want to see him train with a bit more intensity. Appeared to cop a small bake from VB at one point for not transitioning to the next drill quick enough and in general seems to be a bit off the pace. Running is definitely a bit down too, he will need to go hard during the Christmas break to get back to his fitness of last year.

Michalanney - had a few great moments including an elite intercept which he followed up with a lovely run along the wing. Always looking to use his speed whenever possible which is great to see.

Ryan - thought he had his best session yet including some terrific moments in one of the early drills. The highlight was a triple effort including two big tackles followed up by a loose gather which got him big plaudits from the lads. Also shrugged off Peatling in a tackle which suggests to me he’s building body strength nicely. Does have the occasional fumble - I think his ball security in general could use some work, it’s not McHenry levels but every so often he loses possession of the pill too easily. Just a minor thing I’ve picked up on since he’s arrived.

Schoenberg - credit to him, his work rate out there both in offence and defensively has been really sound the last few sessions. He’s definitely hardened his body a bit more this summer even if he doesn’t really look it in photos. He’s going to find it hard to win a spot but he does appear to having a real crack.

Nankervis - was seriously good today and is coming on in leaps and bounds. Has really developed the confidence to put the jets on and seems to know very few will catch him. Also had an elite moment where he dance stepped around an opponent before hitting up a teammate on the outside of his boot while off balance. Kicking in general was first class although he’s still pretty ordinary on his left - not sure he even needs one though with his speed and agility.

Neal-Bullen - very busy player and just really nippy in his movements. Rarely makes mistakes and when he does his follow up work is excellent. Thought he was one of the standouts today.

Milera - still working his way into it but had a classic Junior moment where he weaved and fended his way through two tacklers and laced out a pass to the leading forward. A great sign for his knee.

Draper - still being held back but he’s clearly chomping at the bit to showcase his ability. A few times today he put the jets on or did a little shimmy to dodge his opponent. Kicking varied in quality but I’m excited to see what he will do once the shackles are released.

Sholl - always a solid trainer but I thought today was the best so far this summer. His ability to find space is no fluke as he works incredibly hard out there. Still think he’s better on his left - he kicks around the body a bit more which gives more penetration and reaches the target faster. On his right he can sometimes loft them a bit.

Cumming - loving his work. Doesn’t provide quite the same run and carry as a Michalanney or Ryan but his ball use and decision making is seriously high level. Does not panic.

Lots of positives today I know but it was just an excellent session. I’m not afraid to call out poor efforts or mention when the boys are off their game but I really enjoyed what I saw today.

Liking the sound of this speedy ball movement!


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