Bigman’s Training Reports

[Cromulant]

Worrell in the B's. Makes me sad.

I dont necessarily think it matters.

He'll be in the R1 side against St Kilda.

 

[AFC979810]

I dont necessarily think it matters.

He'll be in the R1 side against St Kilda.

Not so sure.

If it didn't matter they wouldn't scrimmage with the A's and the B's.

 

[Elder van Berlo]

An exhaustive list of competition for spots where the player with less AFL experience is currently in our A-team at training:

Lachie Sholl (74 games) vs Chayce Jones (92)
Mark Keane (31) vs Jordon Butts (75)
James Peatling (45) vs Harry Schoenberg (61) and Sam Berry (57)
Daniel Curtin (7) vs whoever he might be competing with for a spot.

If our best 22 has been on our list the whole time it is incredible we haven't done better.

Can't help feeling we are pinning our ears back and gunning for 7th. The biggest damage the Ben Keays goalpost thing might have done is to turn a determination to get back into the finals into an obsession that finals are themselves the end game.

 

[Cromulant]

Not so sure.

If it didn't matter they wouldn't scrimmage with the A's and the B's.

Someones gotta play on the good forwards.

They mix the teams up almost on a daily basis.

 

[1990crow]

Appreciate the words of concern about my absence, thankfully I was just tied up rather than anything serious. Must say I enjoyed all the love though!

I did attend Mondays session but believe me when I say it was very uneventful (not a bad thing this time of year). Thilthorpe, Rachele, Rankine and Draper didn’t attend but they all trained today so no issues there.

As for today, everyone was on deck aside from Fog and O’Brien (and Strachan). I thought Fog looked a bit stiff walking around but couldn’t tell you what his issue is, could be nothing at all. Will be curious to see if he plays in Friday’s internal. As for ROB, he didn’t appear at all.

Overall the group seems in good health although Sholl had a decent amount of strapping on his knee as did Keane. Hinge was only doing running early on but eventually joined the group for the main drills.

There were teams listed for one of Monday’s drills, but I felt it wasn’t worth listing them given the prominent names that were missing.

Today’s session also had teams for about 20 minutes of pseudo-match sim and they were as follows:

Blue - Keays, Murphy, Crouch. Curtin, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Murray, Dawson, Walker, Soligo, Michalanney, Hinge, Rankine, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Smith, Sholl, Cumming, Keane

White - Jones, Berry, Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Burgess, Ryan, Worrell, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Dowling, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, T. Murray, Bond, Butts, McAndrew

These are actually very similar to the teams on Monday but with the missing four added in. Both sessions Murphy and Smith were in the A team. Not sure how much to look into it though given Friday’s scratch match had neither in the starting A team.

The ‘match sim’ was more about controlling the ground and trying to prevent the other team from moving the ball from defence to attack. Teams were given a point for any intercepts, while hitting up a forward target (or scoring in play) also gave a point. The blue side won 11-6 so it wasn’t a blowout.

Other drills included the mids and defenders/forwards splitting off, with the mids working on boundary stoppages and the rest on aerial contests and front and centres. There was also some ‘king of the ring’ work at the end which is always fun to watch, unsurprisingly Thilthorpe was the hardest match up.

There was a bunch of fartlek-style running on Monday but thankfully for the lads they were sparred today in the searing heat.

A few player comments:

Jones - thought he was one of the better players in the ‘match sim.’ Got a fair bit of it on the wing and kicked a nice snap goal from the pocket. Always feel he looks quite natural drifting forward. Also noticed this summer he’s breaking more tackles when usually he’s been clamped.

Curtin - showed today he has a very reasonable opposite foot (rare for a lefty) when he received the ball at half forward and instead of putting a step on Edwards and onto his left, hit a lovely right foot pass instead. Was also very solid in the king of the ring.

Thilthorpe - such is his size and his hands, if he judges it well and gets front position it’s basically all over for his opponents. Pretty exciting to see what he’s doing at the moment.

Pedlar - took a ripping one handed mark in the pocket but sadly fluffed the set shot. Still very inconsistent with his skill execution at the moment - sometimes looks great, other times makes the simplest of errors.

Schoenberg - think people might be surprised how nuggety he’s become when they see him soon. Could be the buzz cut adding to the look but it’s showing in his football, as he’s become stronger around the ball and more difficult to bring down. Speed doesn’t seem too affected. At the very least he isn’t any slower than he was last year post-Achilles.

Nankervis - appeared to hurt his mouth in an aerial contest with Pedlar, but quickly returned to the field after being checked out. At this stage you would have to question if he plays round one given he’s rarely featured in the A side. Very strange in my view unless he’s had injury concerns. Hopefully he gets a real shot over the next couple weeks.

With the internal on Friday and the practice games following, most of you will see the lads for the first time this summer. Because of that, I might list the best performers over pre season, as well as how I feel our lineup is shaping out, in another post.

There’s still a bunch of questions I need to answer so I’ll get to them.

Jones appears to be around the mark. Would love to scrounge out a player after everything.

 

[ssj3Pretz]

Ben Keays goalpost thing might have done is to turn a determination to get back into the finals into an obsession that finals are themselves the end game.

Unfortunately a lot of supporters hold this view. They're happy to just make finals without actually being true contenders

 

[SugarShane]

Unfortunately a lot of supporters hold this view. They're happy to just make finals without actually being true contenders

Very few clubs jump into the 8 from nowhere to win a flag. It's unrealistic to expect us to win a flag after being in the wilderness so long.

If we win a final this year I'd consider the year a success. I know, 17 losers and if you ain't first you're last, but finals experience is critical to finals success.

 

[Archie87]

Nicks looks to be getting that yearly case of amnesia again where he forgets Nankervis can actually football quite well for the first month of the year....

 

[baldandbroke]

Nicks looks to be getting that yearly case of amnesia again where he forgets Nankervis can actually football quite well for the first month of the year....

Just needs to show his progression in the SANFL for a few months and hope for injuries - Nicks knows what he is doing.

 

[Crom]

I did attend Mondays session but believe me when I say it was very uneventful (not a bad thing this time of year). Thilthorpe, Rachele, Rankine and Draper didn’t attend but they all trained today so no issues there.

This would've been the Channel 7 promo filming day that was posted on socials.

Good to see you're OK, Bigman. Thanks again.

 

[Flip Side]

Appreciate the words of concern about my absence, thankfully I was just tied up rather than anything serious. Must say I enjoyed all the love though!

What I took from this is that Bigman doesn’t feel like being tied up is anything serious.

Bigman, being tied up may not be a federal offence - but it’s still unlawful restraint and punishable by the courts

Please advise the authorities so they can take action - I reckon a few posters would also be happy to exact revenge on the perpetrators

That is unless you were willingly tied up - but that’s your business.

 

[Cromulant]

Nicks looks to be getting that yearly case of amnesia again where he forgets Nankervis can actually football quite well for the first month of the year....

I agree to an extent, but to me it also shows we have a lot of depth in that area now.

Someone is going to miss out of Jones/Nank/Hinge/Sholl. Good position to be in, with the caveat that Jones has always been an exceptional pre season machine.

 

[Sizzlepack]

Glad to hear Bigman is OK! And of course, he delivered another report!

 

[StonesThrow]

Nank should be in the 1s from now on for sure. Problem is I would also like to see Milera have a good run at it injuries wise and get some form as he's fun to watch.

 

[Cromulant]

Nank should be in the 1s from now on for sure. Problem is I would also like to see Milera have a good run at it injuries wise and get some form as he's fun to watch.

Yep, someone's gonna miss.

I didn't even include Milera, oversight on my behalf.

 

[bigman]

How did Charlie Edwards and Oscar Ryan go today?

Looking forward to seeing these boys have a good crack going into their 2md seasons

Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

Apologies for the delay.

I thought Edwards was the better of the two though neither really stood out. Worrell and Keane were the most impressive of the defenders.

Both will start in the sanfl. They have Edwards training as a hbf/wing after playing predominately on ball last year. I have reservations but I suspect they want to make use of his kick, which isn’t exactly textbook but is definitely a strength.

I was more impressed by Ryan last summer. He’s bulked up a lot but hasn’t been able to get as much involved. Hopefully he finds form once games start as he has talent and a bit of mongrel.

 

[bigman]

Thanks again Bigman for the write up.
How did Milera go, did he find much ball ?

He was ok but wasn’t able to show the tricks we know he has.

I still have concerns he might not be cherry ripe for round one as he’s missed a lot of footy. But he does seem to be in serious contention.

 

[bigman]

Again a huge thanks and well done , it was pleasing the boys had a real hit out and showing some skills .
Some questions if don't mind.
Milera and Laird both being picked by most in our starting lineup round 1 but again didn't make your best ,so are they still in your top 23.
So many defenders and interesting out of those that did good job last year who might miss out
Didn't have Peatling down as played well but certainly attended plenty of centre bounce attendances so wondered your thoughts.
I am one of Shoeys fans obviously playing well but can he get a game in mids if maybe injury.
From what you have seen who would be next pick out of Shoey,Berry or Pedlar or even Taylor.
Re Curtin as you know I am excited about ,interesting your remarks about not aerial threat at 197 m why you think maybe not .
Any thoughts I would appreciate.

If I were picking the side id err on the side of caution with Milera and let him gain confidence in the sanfl first. But that’s looking more and more unlikely. Laird makes the side though his kicking wasn’t flash on Friday. He’d want to use it better when the real thing starts.

Peatling was good, just better in the previous trial game. He’s in, no doubt.

It’d be out of Berry or Schoenberg for the next in line mid unless they want to blood Draper. I think Berry is ahead but Harry has been impressive. Pedlar and Taylor appear to be considered forwards this year.

As for Curtin, it’s worth noting he grew a lot late so isn’t as accustomed to playing key position as some others. I think it’s more a matter of time than anything. His judgement and body work still need work of course but they’re decent. He has huge hands too which will help.

 

[bigman]

bigman even giving us CBA stats now, damn we've got it far too good - thanks as always!

Question regarding Berry - when he's played at AFL level, it feels like he's been put into the role as a defensive stopper mid to nullify the opposition running away with it - which in turn I believe has hurt his ability to rack up touches.

Since he's been stuck in the yellow team for the majority of the pre season, I presume he's been allowed to be more attacking / go for the clearance rather than a defensive minded role? If this is the case, has he been able to get more involved than he's otherwise been able to at AFL level?

I think the key to Berry is self confidence. At training, even against faster types like Rankine and Peatling, he’s shown the capacity to break away with speed and be quite dominant at times.

Unfortunately his ball handling has been an issue, particularly last year, and his kicking is too variable. I think he also doesn’t back himself as much as he does at training or in the sanfl. He’s quicker than many give him credit for.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

I think the key to Berry is self confidence. At training, even against faster types like Rankine and Peatling, he’s shown the capacity to break away with speed and be quite dominant at times.

Unfortunately his ball handling has been an issue, particularly last year, and his kicking is too variable. I think he also doesn’t back himself as much as he does at training or in the sanfl. He’s quicker than many give him credit for.

He’s got real power over first 10M

 

[skittlebrew]

He’s got real power over first 10M

That's where the money is especially if you have the body strength to break tackles.

 

[bigman]

Who matched up on McAndrew in the match sim? Please tell me it wasn't

Toby Murray but there was very little ruckwork Bicks.

 

[bigman]

Hey #bigman , we've had a history of (often enough) poor goal kicking from set shots.

I've read all your reports with a genuine enthusiasm. They're gold standard preseason info. But I don't remember any comment about goal kicking practice. Have you seen any of this outside of incidental game play scenario.

I can't imagine a KPF not having dedicated practise sessions on this very precise skill. Just like a tennis player would practice their gameplay but would dedicate a time purely on their serve.

Additionally, you made a comment earlier that it appeared that Ben Keays appeared to be looking for his right foot to help him develop an additional string in his bow. Have you noticed any guys working with coaches on individual skills like this example?

Keep up the good work mate. You're greatly appreciated here. Cheers

They do goal kicking work after each drill - burgo takes over, they do a sprint from defence to the forward line as a group and then quickly have a set shot under fatigue. They also do a bunch at the end of the session.

As for individual work, id imagine that’s usually done inside hq with vision, but often coaches (and senior players) will go to players to help them with their craft, positioning etc if they see something.

 

[Brenton Davy]

It shouldnt, neither will play in the AFL side in R1

This statement has “Hold my beer” written all over it…

 

[George CantStandYa]

bigman I have to ask, how the **** can you go out in this heat to watch training and what hours they training in this heat?