Bigman’s Training Reports

[bigman]

After a bit of a false start a couple weeks ago, good to finally have a true pre season session to kick off the 2025 campaign.

Most of the group was on deck, the exceptions being:

Thilthorpe - only walked laps before heading inside. No pronounced limp so not sure what’s the issue, obviously disappointing that he’s not out there day one however.

Butts and hinge - both didn’t join the main group, instead ran on the sidelines. Butts still has a slight limp although improved from when I last saw him. Has bulked up a lot, probably needs to fine down a bit over the next couple months. Hinge looked good, not sure why he’s being held back.

Draper and welsh - were relegated to doing a bit of running and bike work. Unfortunately didn’t do any of the footy drills.

Everyone else was in full training, although Strachan joined on the bike work halfway through.

Today was time trial day which is always pretty interesting viewing. It began with a 2km test on grass around aami stadium, about 23 degrees, followed by a 1km test at the very end of the session.

Players were split into three groups - best runners, intermediate and the slowest group. Eventually the fastest group caught up with the taller guys which made deciphering the groups a bit difficult but they looked pretty much like this:

Group A - Jones, Keays, Berry, Dawson, Rankine, Neal-Bullen, Dowling, Smith, Sholl, Bond, O’Brien, Cumming

Group B - Curtin, Rachele, Pedlar, Edwards, Soligo, Cook, Michalanney, Ryan, Peatling, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Laird, Fogarty

Group C - Murphy, Crouch, Walker, Taylor, Burgess, Worrell, Nick Murray, Borlase, Gallagher, Toby Murray, Strachan, Keane

(Walker, Smith, Soligo, Rankine, Strachan and Laird didn’t do the second time trial)

Neal-Bullen took out the 2km time trial, didn’t take exact times as it’s all a bit chaotic but looked to be comfortably under the 6:30 mark. He was followed by Cumming and Bond, then looked to be Sholl and Dowling.

Strachan finished last, Taylor second last although definitely an improvement from this time last year.

Bond took out the 1km test ahead of ANB from what I could see with a big final lap, looked to finish around the 3 min mark. With Strachan not running Taylor finished last, roughly about 20-25 seconds after Bond.

The rest of the session was mainly some skills and ball movement drills, nothing particularly noteworthy in terms of player position or set ups. Skill standard was solid although boys clearly still a bit rusty.

Some player thoughts:

Jones - has definitely fined down a bit since last season, which he had to. Isn’t the dominant runner he once was, he was about middle of the pack in the fast group.

Berry - looks fit given he appeared to be in the rehab group the last couple weeks, finished just at the back of the fast group which is nothing to be ashamed of.

Curtin - little bit of knee strapping still but definitely moved more freely than last season. In the limited drills he played back pocket, chf and a bit in the guts so who knows where the club has him pegged. Must say he looked good up forward. Has bulked up a fair bit too, still ran in the intermediate group as well (finished about middle of the pack) which is a feather in his cap as a tall.

Rachele - looks real fit and ran very well, winning the 1km trial quite comfortably in his group. Hamish was right when he said rash was in good condition .

Murray - moved as well as I’ve seen since the knee and ran strongly in his group. Absolute ball of energy out there and wasnt afraid to twist and turn so appears to be fully over the knee.

Pedlar - is a big watch this pre season and early signs are good. Looked to finish runner up in his group in the 1km trial and ran both well. Looked one of the sharpest in the drills too. Hopefully the penny dropped.

Edwards - has bulked up a fair bit but would appear to have dropped off with his running as he struggled in both trials (had wright alongside push him in the 2km). This time last year he ran really well so not sure if he’s not trained hard enough in the off season or wasn’t feeling the best. Doesn’t appear overweight or anything, maybe not quite as cut as some of the other lads perhaps.

Cook - ran solid without being spectacular, still doesn’t have the definition you’d expect for someone coming into his fifth year. Nothing alarming, was just hoping he might come back with a new physique.

Taylor - gone the buzz cut and has definitely bulked up a fair bit. Quite a bit bigger in the arms and upper legs which will be important given the way he plays. Running is still an issue for him but these things don’t change overnight and suspect he’ll never be particularly great in this regard. Definitely not as bad as this time last year where he really struggled, but I always worry how these things are perceived by the coaches.

Ryan - another to have gone the buzz cut and looks in good condition, did notice he appeared to play a bit on the wing in the main drill, will be interesting to see if that becomes a thing.

Neal-Bullen - unsurprisingly set the standard from the start with a dominant 2km time trial, just ran on a different level than the rest of the boys. Trained great too, very few errors when some of the others were shaking off a bit of rust.

Milera - thought he moved really well and looks in good condition given the knee injury. Suspect he knows his position in his jeopardy with the arrival of Cumming and emergence of Nank. Good signs.

Dowling - hasn’t bulked up much more since last season but gee he’s a good runner, only just a notch below the top guys in ANB and Bond. Will be interesting to see how he and Sholl compare over the next few months as they’re likely both gunning for the same wing.

Fog - I was impressed that he ran in the middle group instead of with the talls. Just shows how far he’s come with his running over the last few years.

Smith - actually looked super sharp and fit. Early days I know! He looked pretty good this time last year too. But must say he caught my eye today, looked like someone with a point to prove.

Draper - amazing how among the draftees he looked pretty built but put him next to seasoned AFL players and he suddenly very much looks like a first year player. Did predominately bike work, unfortunately will have to wait a bit longer to see him in the footy drills.

Toby Murray - made some errors but think he takes the cake for biggest body transformation. Is a fair unit out there. Can also chisel a dart when he hits them right. Interesting player.

Cumming - will be a great pick up. In ripping condition and performed really well in the running especially the 2km. Is leaner than I expected, very long limbed and very graceful with ball in hand.

Can discuss any other players if requested but those are the ones who stood out for various reasons. New training top looks great too just quietly.

 

[bigman]

Bit wet and windy today which made skills and ball handling a little dicey, but there was actually quite a bit to take out of today’s session.

Turnout was largely the same as Monday although Strachan never made an appearance. Given he was in the rehab group the past couple weeks it would seem he’s not 100 per cent.

Good to see Thilthorpe running laps today and looking fit, hopefully he can get over his back issue and return to the main group next week. Hinge and Butts were also doing running on the side, the former looking ready to go to my eye so not sure what’s keeping him out.

Draper and Welsh did their own running work before the latter headed inside early, don’t think it was injury related but can’t be sure. Draper stayed out there and joined Hinge and Butts for some laps. Looks fit as a fiddle.

Unfortunately Dawson left the track early after sustaining some sort of leg injury, my guess is a hamstring or calf issue? To be honest he looked lame almost from the start and was replaced by Andrew McPherson. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out of action for a couple weeks. Not ideal, best to do it now though if you’re gonna do it.

Milera, Rankine, Tex, Gallagher and Soligo completed most of the session before doing some late running away from the main group. Both Rankine and Milera trained with fluro hats as did Pedlar, not surprising given their injuries in 2024. They’re all moving great however so no concern there.

Keane copped a hit during one of the main drills and was forced to come off, appeared to be checking for blood so may have been a facial injury of some kind, hopefully no concussion issue.

One interesting nugget of info was displayed on the big electronic board, which not only showed the groups players were split into but also their designated positions (defenders, mids and forwards). They were as follows:

Defenders: Nick Murray, Michalanney, Ryan, Worrell, Nankervis, Laird, Milera, Smith, Borlase, Bond, Cumming, Keane

Midfielders: Jones, Berry, Crouch, Curtin, Edwards, Dawson, Soligo, Taylor, Rankine, Peatling, Schoenberg, Sholl, O’Brien

Forwards: Keays, Murphy, Rachele, Pedlar, Walker, Cook, Burgess, Neal-Bullen, Dowling, Fogarty, Gallagher, Toby Murray

Now keep in mind a few lads were missing (Strachan, Hinge, Butts, Draper, Welsh, Thilthorpe) but a couple interesting things to note - namely that Laird is considered a defender and Curtin a mid which I’m sure will make a lot happy. Rankine also considered a mid.

As for some player thoughts:

Berry - amazing how even in wet conditions he was clean as a whistle for the most part, yet in the real deal he’s become a serial fumbler. Shows how much it’s a mental thing rather than a skill issue.

Curtin - probably the standout trainer today, particularly in the main drill where he had the ball on a string. Ran hard to good positions and looked as fluid as I’ve seen since his injury (still has an awkward jogging gait). Played a mix of midfield and as a distributor from defence. Chatted for a while with Godden late in the session, appeared to be about being quick on his feet and agile.

Rachele - looks as fit as I’ve seen him. Running on top of the ground and looks super lively and just in great condition. Bodes well.

Soligo - contrary to Rachele, I think soli probably needs to fine down a bit over the next couple months. Nothing alarming but has obviously been managed with his groins and isn’t as cut as this time last year.

Rankine - can tell he’s struggling to hold back, just wants to put the jets on at every opportunity. Wish we could clone him, his speed is just on another level than the rest of the guys.

Peatling - still working his way into it but had a great moment at high half forward where he fended off the tackler, span out of trouble and hit a great pass inside 50. His kicking in general was among the best today, hard and low.

Schoenberg - DJ75 asked about his conditioning, I’d say he’s certainly not in bad nick but hasn’t undergone a big transformation to my eye either. Had one lovely burst through traffic today but wouldn’t say he’s really caught the eye yet.

Nankervis - Kept finding the ball today and was probably the main distributor from defence, burnt off a couple players with his speed which I think we’ll see more of now that he’s more comfortable at the level.

Neal-Bullen - probably made a solitary mistake today where he fumbled an easy ball, yet still buttered up and got out of trouble before setting up a goal. His standard of training is already easily up there with our best so hopefully more follow his lead. Maybe an indication that our skills at training haven’t been quite up to the level.

Milera - definitely ahead of schedule from what I expected given the severity of his injury. Bit of a forgotten man and obviously his spot is in doubt but I think people would be surprised just how well he’s moving out there.

Toby Murray - bit fumbly and error prone again today, just looks a bit nervous and jittery out there. Hopefully hits his straps soon as there’s no denying his physical transformation.

Pretty positive stuff aside from the Dawson injury. Quite a few fumbles and skill errors but given the weather and time of year it’s not particularly concerning.

Once again if you want to know about any particular players feel free to ask. I will get back to you later today

 

[bigman]

Definitely the most intense session of the first week. Whereas players were clearly instructed to hold back a bit previously, not so much today with a lot more bash and crash and defensive intent. Voice was also at a higher level - I’m sure jeffcrowe will be pleased!

Another positive is that whatever problem Dawson had on Wednesday appears to have been a non-issue as the skip did most of the session today and did not appear particularly impaired.

Once again no sign of Strachan. Butts was also absent while Thilthorpe and Hinge did running on the side. This was definitely the most work Filthy has done so far which likely means we’ll see him rejoin the main group next week.

Draper pleasingly got to do a bit more today, joining the main group for about half the session before doing some running with hinge and filthy. Welsh on the other hand was told to head inside not long after the warm up. Clearly he’s being managed heavily. On a side note Hamish Ogilvie made an appearance to see how the new lads were going.

Blake Drury also featured at training for the first time and I thought looked really comfortable out there, had some nice moments and rarely made an error. He was a very solid junior and while he probably lacks AFL attributes, he is a great get for our sanfl side and is a notable upgrade on the typical top ups we get. Trained as a small forward which suits us as we lack depth in that regard.

I will note a couple players headed in slightly early such as Rachele and Pedlar but I did not see any reason for concern. Overall I think this was the sharpest session thus far with some of the cobwebs being shaken off.

After some early sprint work there was an interesting drill covering about two thirds of the ground, starting with a stoppage at half back where the attacking team had an extra number both around the ball and ahead of the ball. The idea was to link by hand out of the stoppage and run the ball out before kicking long to the loose forward out the back. Players were encouraged by Nicks to work the ball out by hand but not overdo it, the key being identifying when to finally hit the long kick. The play typically started with the half back receiving a ground ball and this was where Cumming’s class really stood out, he just doesn’t panic. Berry also had a good couple moments where he got himself out of trouble with sheer strength.

The team was then split into three groups, two of which participated in a stoppage drill while the other played keeping’s off in the backline. After a period of time the three groups would then rotate. One thing I did notice was that Dawson was rarely at the coalface in today’s drills, instead he appeared to be playing more of an outside role. Whether there’s anything in that, I guess we’ll eventually see.

Finally there was probably the closest thing we will see to match sim this time of year, basically a full ground drill without proper stoppages (the ball was instead kicked in seemingly random directions). Emphasis was clearly on defensive transition after turnovers and trying to plug holes around the ground. It also allowed a bit more opportunity for players to take the game on and show their stuff, with Peatling probably the standout (must say he looks a lot like Berry out there with the cap on so may have attributed one or two moments to the wrong guy!). There was a fun moment where Rankine received the ball by himself in the corridor and just put the jets on - no one got near him.

The players then split into two groups for about 10 minutes worth of hard running with 30 second breaks in between sets. The defenders/forwards ran from end to end while the midfielders (plus a couple of the high end runners) went around the boundary. Curtin was in the midfield group and actually led most of the runs before tiring a bit late and being overtaken by the likes of Sholl, Cumming and Jones. Rachele also featured in the top couple for a few sets which was great to see. Edwards and Taylor featured last in the group but not by an overly concerning amount.

Now for a bunch of player thoughts:

Jones - definitely appears to have regained a lot of the pace which deserted him after his injury. The issue for chayce now is his ability to get involved enough. He’s got tricks that Sholl and Dowling don’t but he doesn’t find the ball like those guys.

Berry - had a couple fumbles today which isn’t great. Having said that he really is quite impressive at training with his burst speed and ability to fend off or shrug a tackle. Polish will always be the question mark but he’s become quite a dynamic player.

Crouch - unlike some of the other mids (Soligo, Taylor, Edwards) I actually think Crouchy is even leaner than last year and has very little bulk. Obviously he feels he plays his best football as light as possible particularly at this stage in career.

Curtin - played mostly as a high forward in the main drill and looks quite comfortable there. Had a really nice moment where he marked on the hff, chiselled a pass to Drury before running to receive the handpass, selling some candy to a defender and goaling on the run. Another thing I noticed was late in the session with the marking bag, he looked the most comfortable leaping and taking the high mark of all the talls. He took a nice speckie in an sanfl trial game early last year too, so don’t be surprised if he takes a ripping mark at some point.

Rachele - his delivery inside 50 was glorious today and he just looks super sharp out there at the moment. I do notice however that in tight he can clam up a bit under pressure. I’d like to see him be more explosive and dynamic in congestion particularly if he plans on getting some midfield clock. Physically he should have the skill set to do so.

Edwards - I’m a little perplexed that he’s struggled a bit in the running thus far. Last year as well as at the draft combine he was one of the stronger runners. On the plus side I do think he’s showing some AFL traits. Similar to Smithers he’s got an unusual action but there’s a lot of power behind his kicks and he gets real penetration on them. On the flip side he’s soft and crafty with his delivery by hand and times his release to outside players well. I think he could improve his physicality a bit however, sometimes when he gets caught he stays caught. He’s a big guy, he needs to use a bit more.

Cook - is training as a deep forward. He’s often the one who runs hard to receive the long ball over the top and kicked a couple of nice goals today including a ripper from the boundary. However overall he is struggling to get involved and I think the role doesn’t allow him to express himself enough. He needs more space to use his sidestep and pinpoint kicking, and I think this deep forward role seems to swallow him up a bit.

Taylor - kicked a nice snap goal and also laid a great tackle on Peatling at half forward. I did notice that he trained almost exclusively as a forward today. He was listed as a mid on Wednesday so it would appear they’re trying to use him in the mid/fwd rotation which makes sense.

Ryan - got his hands on it a fair bit today and aside from one bad blunder where he coughed up a goal, he was impressive delivering the ball out of defence and was really calling hard for the pill. I’d like to see him back himself in and use his pace more as he does have a turn of speed. There were a couple of moments where he could have broken the lines but didn’t.

Worrell - managed to get the ball higher up the ground a few times and he looked really comfortable and relished the extra space. I think sometimes he gets shackled a bit in the third tall defender role and I’d love to see him strut his stuff a bit more as he doesn’t move like a typical 193cm bloke.

Peatling - probably the most prolific of the mids today and looks more settled out there. Really enjoyed watching his clean take as well as his willingness to move the ball on quickly. Caught Edwards htb with a great tackle and was always used as a midfielder in each drill.

Draper - still getting used to the speed and size of his new teammates but had a couple nice moments where he dished off some nice handballs whilst being tackled. Had one bad fumble in the centre of the ground but that’s just nerves.

Keane - was beaten by Tex a couple times but he’s an impressive player, sees the game a bit differently and doesn’t panic with ball in hand. Took a nice intercept mark in front of his opponent which is not usually his go, typically he prefers to play from behind. If he can keep improving his positioning he will become a real weapon for us.

Lots of praise I know but it was definitely the most enjoyable session to watch thus far. Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[bigman]

One of the positives thus far this pre season has been (knock on wood) the consistency of numbers across each session. With Thilthorpe joining the main group for a fair chunk of today’s training, it means that only Hinge, Strachan and Butts are in the rehab group - and I’m pretty confident Hinge is just about ready to go as well.

Welsh isn’t injured as far as I can tell but was only doing bike work alongside Strachan, who has a compression bandage on his calf. Butts was a no show again so perhaps he’s hit a roadblock in his recovery from the foot injury. Milera joined the rehab guys midway through the session but it looks a pure management thing.

A young lad wearing number 46 joined for some of the early skills work as well as running alongside Hinge. He looked roughly 186-187cm, lean build with a dark mop of hair. At a guess I’m thinking it was Mitch Stevens? Not sure the AFL academy lads are joining yet so not sure who else it would be. He’s quite a broad lad despite being reasonably skinny, should really fill out in time.

Today looked to be a pretty exhausting session in 30 degree heat. Not a heap of running drills but rather it was the football stuff that knackered the players. Much of the session involved five groups (blue, red, yellow, white and green) split into three drills, with them rotating a number of times over the course of 45 minutes. They were:

1. Occupying about two thirds of the ground, two teams tried to move the ball by foot to score without turning it over. Any turnover or grounded ball would result in the other team gaining possession. Players were also forced to move the ball on quickly after taking a mark.

2. Taking place in the other third, this drill went across the ground and was all about using hands and speed to work the ball up. There were two sets of miniature goals at each end and teams could only score by handpassing the ball through. Only a certain amount of handballs were allowed and any mistake resulted in the ball being given to the opposition.

3. Basically a ground ball exercise on the sidelines with bags used to apply pressure. More of a recovery period than anything else.

The two main drills above involved a heap of defensive transition running and by the end players were noticeably fatigued and more prone to error.

Finally there was a bit of match sim work minus stoppages. Teams were as follows:

Blue team
Def: N. Murray, Borlase, Bond, Worrell, Ryan
Mid: Sholl (wing), Crouch, Cumming (Wing), O’Brien, Peatling, Soligo
Fwd: Rankine, Neal-Bullen, Keays, Walker, Cook
Int: Dawson, Taylor, Draper

White team:
Def: Keane, Nankervis, Laird, Michalanney, Smith
Mid: Jones (Wing), Berry, Dowling (Wing), T.Murray, Rachele, Curtin
Fwd: Schoenberg, Murphy, Burgess, Fogarty, Pedlar
Int: Edwards, Gallagher, Drury

Not sure how much to read into these teams, on paper the blue team was the stronger of the two but not necessarily any indication of how we will look next year. I didn’t record goals as it was less true match sim and more about ball movement and structure but the intensity was pretty high, a few tackling efforts were pretty vigorous one in particular leaving Sholl with a corked leg that he thankfully shook off by the end of the session.

Some player thoughts:

Jones - thought he had a really strong session. Got a heap of the pill on the wing, looked nimble and set up a number of shots at goal with pinpoint kicking. Yes it’s only training but it’s the best he’s looked since the foot injury.

Keays - got on the end of a few chains including a ripping dribble goal from the boundary 30m out, which he promptly celebrated hard as you’d expect. He appears bulkier than previous summers although it might just be an illusion from the buzz cut.

Berry - had a couple of good moments but also had a mare of a fumble. It was pretty much a dead ball and he was in space, yet still fumbled not once but twice ultimately causing a turnover.

Curtin - unlike previous sessions, thought he struggled to get into it today. Looked a bit off the pace and in particular struggled in the air. I have noticed he appears rather bandy legged? As in his legs shape outwards, which probably explains the running gait. At times he can be sluggish off the mark which I think he needs to work on. Once he gets the ball however he moves like silk.

Thilthorpe - didn’t do everything today but gee those hands. Was too good for his opponent on a number of occasions and looked like the version we saw late last season. To be honest Filthy being held back a bit this time of year might not be the worst thing as he tends to overtrain and hurt himself during the summer.

Rachele - bit of a broken record but wow does he look fit, just a really noticeable transformation. It’s clearly helping his footy too, his kicking and sharpness has been a standout so far this summer.

Pedlar - made a number of errors particularly once fatigue set in. Frustrating player as he’s got the skill and class but can make some head-shaking mistakes at times. To be fair it was his only underwhelming session thus far.

Edwards - is good at finding space to be used as an outlet coming out of defence. Also showed a bit more physicality in one moment through the corridor where he shrugged off a tackler and used his speed. Kicks like a mule too. Signs are there, just needs to really assert himself.

Dawson - ball use was the best I’ve seen from him in a while - only training intensity I know but some of the kicks he was hitting today were elite, particularly those long balls over the top.

Soligo - still think he needs to trim down a touch but he was great today. Took a couple of clunk marks under heat and was super clean in traffic including a lovely one handed take.

Cook - did some good things, work rate was solid, but let himself down with a couple of efforts including letting Smith beat him in the air near goal despite being in the van. Needs to take those moments and have more of a physical presence or he will be left behind.

Peatling - isn’t particularly flashy but one thing you quickly notice is his touch. Just a one grab player on the deck and really solid in the air as well. Will be good to watch him go to work once stoppages are introduced.

Schoenberg - similar to Pedlar, had some shocking turnovers under not much pressure. On the plus side he appears to have regained some of that explosiveness which was absent last year after the Achilles.

Laird - credit where it’s due, he was a standout today across half back. Racked it up and ball use was generally tidy, no sky balls. Obviously game intensity may change that but he looked great out there today.

Dowling - really like his composure but he needs to up the intensity a bit. Couple of times he got sweated on as soon as he took possession and didn’t really have an answer for it. Needs to be a bit stronger with his attack on the ball, today he looked a touch meek at times.

Draper - once again featured a bit more and had a couple of nice moments in the match sim. Intercepted a ball at half forward and followed up with a goal on the run which got a lot of love particularly from VB. Also laid a run down tackle on Berry. Still just bits and pieces as not doing all the work but some good signs for sure. Also has a handy leap on him, doesn’t mind jumping for his marks.

Borlase - wish his athleticism matched his footy smarts and ball use. Really nice user of the football and his positioning has come a long way. Quietly having a solid pre season thus far.

Gallagher - can take a grab and kicking has gotten a bit better, certainly longer at least. Unfortunately however he lacks polish and I don’t think he’s shown enough improvement since arriving at the club, even with basic things like his handball technique. Does make me question if we’ve coached and developed him well enough or if he was always going to struggle.

Cumming - will be a serious recruit for us. Rarely makes a mistake and is just cool as a cucumber even under heavy pressure. Lovely kick too. Should he stay fit, will be a great help to our side.

 

[bigman]

A slight concern I do have is that we are running a little low on talls at the moment.

Thilthorpe was back to walking laps which is a concern and hopefully doesn’t spill into the new year. Strachan is in a moon boot so will be out of action for a while you’d think, while Butts was again a no show. Burgess was also absent for some reason.

Not alarm bells just yet but it’s not ideal particularly given our lamentable ruck stocks.

On the plus side Hinge joined the main group for parts of the session while Milera stepped up his workload again and looks to be almost fully fit.

I did notice that Pedlar had some light strapping around his knee and Murray around his calf but both did not seem particularly bothered. Pedlar did head in early but not sure it was injury related.

Both Draper and Welsh participated in the early drills but were held off from much of the main stuff. I expect we will see more of Draper on Friday.

The first major drill involved small teams playing keeping’s off within a rectangular area roughly 50-60m long, with the opposition forced to solely defend (which looked exhausting to be honest). All about spotting targets quickly and minimising errors by foot. Worrell and Fog were the stars of the show here.

I did notice for this drill players still had designated positions. They were as listed on the electronic board:

Backs: Hinge, Bond, Keane, Edwards, Borlase, Worrell, Ryan, Milera, Nankervis, Smith, Michalanney, N. Murray

Mids: Draper, Peatling, Crouch, Jones, Laird, Rachele, O’Brien, Cumming, Sholl, Rankine, Schoenberg, Curtin, Dawson, Berry, Dowling

Forwards: T. Murray, Taylor, Neal-Bullen, Walker, Pedlar, Welsh, Gallagher, Keays, Drury, Cook, Mitch Stevens

Couple interesting things to note, namely Edwards being considered a defender, Laird and Rachele as mids and Taylor a forward. It would seem the coaches are trying to have as many players as possible train in secondary roles over the pre season.

The lads then split into three groups and moved into a bit of match sim across two thirds of the ground, with two teams facing off for roughly 10 minutes before rotating with the other team (which did some basic ground ball and contested work in the other third).

This drill was then expanded into the entire ground, with teams rotating each time there was a score. It’s still hard to truly judge given there were no stoppages and having 40 players divided into three teams meant there was more space than usual for players, but the intensity was impressive and players weren’t really holding back. Defensive work like spoils and intercepts were always celebrated the hardest.

I did also notice that there seemed to be a real emphasis on moving the ball on quickly after a mark and avoiding going backwards (Ryan appeared to cop it from the coach at one point for asking for a cheap kick behind Borlase). Running from behind to receive was encouraged however and players were taking risky options through the corridor, although once again do keep in mind there was a bit more space to utilise than usual.

Some player thoughts:

Murphy - hadn’t caught the eye much until today, but credit to him, he had a great session. Was super switched on defensively and put real heat on the opposition half backs. Also got a fair bit of ball and used it well. I’m well aware he’s not exactly one of the board’s favourites but can only call it as I see it.

Curtin - because there’s no stoppages it’s hard to judge his trajectory as a midfielder. When he drifts forward however he looks quite comfortable and I think his blend of strength, class and agility could serve him well as a centre half forward in the future if the midfield stuff doesn’t work out.

Murray - bull at a gate and is moving really well, definitely the most mobile he’s looked since the knee. He does however need to tighten up on some of his exits from defence. His long kicking is excellent, his short stuff however sometimes sells his teammates into real trouble and in dangerous positions on the ground.

Walker - had a bandage on the front of his knee which may have affected him but I thought he looked a bit sluggish and off the pace today, which is unusual for him as he’s typically a strong trainer. Maybe just a bad day.

Taylor - liked his pressure game today, really chased hard and tackled with intent. Didn’t get a heap of it but had one lovely moment at half forward where he took a contested mark, sold some candy and laced out a teammate. Has genuine talent but it’s a big year for him.

Worrell - had his best session so far this pre season. To be fair the drills really did suit the half backs but I thought his composure and vision up field really stood out. Occasionally overcooked his kicks but that’s about all I could fault.

Nankervis - I wouldn’t be surprised if he has one of the fastest first 10 metres on our list. Just has an ability to accelerate away from opponents almost with a bit of arrogance. Kicking has come a long way too since his first year.

Laird - even though he was listed as a midfielder, he still appeared to accumulate most of his ball at high half back and I thought he was really solid today and once again avoided his patented sky balls. On a side note, seems like he can be a bit of a grump on the training field when others make mistakes. Just something I’ve noticed.

Fogarty - has obviously taken a lot of inspiration from Tex and that includes his voice at training. Would be one of the loudest and most instructive players out there. Has come a long way.

Gallagher - for some reason was a bit of a ball magnet today, just kept finding space at half forward and he would take a lot of confidence from the session. Kicking has definitely improved, it’s still a bit lofty but has a lot more penetration and accuracy now. Curiously he seems to find handballing the harder skill.

Bond - had a great moment in defence where he took a lovely half volley, burst away with genuine pace and laced out his target by foot. On the flip side he is prone to the odd dropped mark or fumble. There may be a player there but needs to eliminate those times where he seems to lose concentration.

O’Brien - I’ve been asked about how he and Toby Murray are tracking in the ruck. Unfortunately there are very few ruck or stoppage drills at the moment, aside from some bag work at the tail end of sessions, so I won’t be able to judge likely until the new year. In terms of general play, Rob was the better of the two today.

Cumming - I keep singing the praises of this bloke but I’ll do it again. Didn’t get a ton of it but everything he does is with purpose and precision. Just super clean and composed. Would be great to play with as he consistently makes the right decisions and rarely puts teammates in bad positions.

Keane - thought he was probably the best of the lot today. Once again it needs to be said that these drills do favour defenders and Keane in particular was given the ball a lot by the coaches, but I love the way he opens the game up with his ability to change the angles and see players upfield that others don’t. He’ll make a bad mistake every so often but he creates far more than he coughs up.

 

[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.

 

[bigman]

Headed over to Richmond Oval, absolute peach of a day weather wise.

Won’t lie, I’m starting to get a little concerned about how many injuries we are starting to pick up. It’s not dire straits just yet as most are little niggles but it’s definitely not ideal:

Butts is still watching from the sidelines while obviously Strachan is out for a while.

Tex was solely running laps. He did look pretty fluid out there but it’s worrying that he’s now had back and hamstring issues over the last 12 months.

Ryan and Rachele did not train, instead only walking around. Ryan suffered a corkie on Monday apparently, not sure the issue with Rash. Looked in good spirits at least.

Cumming headed in early. Didn’t see the incident and seemed ok when he re-emerged from the change rooms at the end of the session, but given his recent soft tissue issues let’s hope there’s nothing in it.

Soligo, Nankervis, Pedlar and Thilthorpe did the early drills before heading over to the rehab group. All moved well besides maybe Filthy who still looks a touch stiff. Not too concerned about the other three, Pedlar seems to be recovering well from the hamstring. Not sure the problem with Nank, seems fine. Soligo is likely just management for his groins.

Peatling jolted his hamstring during match sim and came off before being assessed. Went back on and was still out there by session’s end but it looked similar to Rozee last year - I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s an issue there but will have to wait and see.

To be fair the boys are going pretty hard so injuries are inevitable but given it’s only December, this is a fairly sizeable casualty list. The positive is most of them are on the minor end though I do hold some concerns for Tex and Filthy as their issues can tend to linger and may not be resolved for some time. Let’s hope that’s not the case.

On the plus side, Hinge completed a full session and looked pretty good while Milera is basically in full training as well. Taylor also trained fully (and well) after hurting his ankle last week.

Today also saw Lachlan McAndrew join the group after being delisted by Sydney. He’s a very tall lad - put a fair gap on Baulderstone - and while not bulky he does look to be in good shape. He moved pretty well, reminded me of Hunter a bit, kicking is just ok (pretty high ball drop). Put a good chase on Sholl during match sim but gave an awkward shove in the back on his kick which received groans from the boys, thankfully Sholly didn’t rip his hamstring.

After a bit of keeping’s off style drills on both sides of the ground (with one team always defending which looked bloody tiring I must say), they then transitioned into an interesting drill where one team moved the ball from kick in while the other was focussed on intercepting at half forward and getting repeat entries. The latter team seemed to be encouraged to shift the angles and avoid just long bombing the ball back in - going sideways or even retreating a little was fine. They were however forced to play on quickly from marks so I wouldn’t say it was stodgy ball movement, more smart. Was good to see them often lowering their eyes too.

Finally the lads did a small amount of match sim minus stoppages, rotating between three groups. Unfortunately Draper and Welsh were held off from this part.

Overall the standard was pretty solid today, the dwindling numbers definitely had an impact but I saw enough to like. Friday is usually the most intense session so I look forward to seeing them again then. I just hope guys like Cumming, Rachele and Peatling are all good.

Some player thoughts:

Jones - he’s really impressed me so far this summer. He looks fit, quick and super sharp out there. He’s one of our most penetrating kicks so to see him really involved out there is great because in previous pre seasons he’s been a bit inconspicuous at times. Not so this year.

Keays - I’ve noticed he’s really working on his right foot to the point he barely kicked on his left today. Obviously knows he is very one sided and is trying to address it. Whilst far from perfect he was pretty good on his opposite for the most part.

Curtin - laid a ripping tackle on Neal-Bullen who would’ve gotten away from most players but not Dan. Is a very good tackler and is also adept at getting the ball away by hand when being tackled himself. Not particular surprising when you see him out there though, he’s a seriously big unit (whilst still having a lean and athletic build).

Murray - is clearly trying to develop more of an explosive running game coming out of defence. A number of times he looked for the handball receive and put the jets on. Isn’t afraid to use the corridor either, for good or bad - today was mostly good.

Edwards - appears to be training more with the defenders lately, I wonder if this was always planned or has only been a recent change. As I’ve said previously he is good at finding space coming out of defence. Also a bit of a super boot - not quite peak Smith but has a serious hoof on him. Would like to see more run and carry though, he’s a bit stationary at present.

Cook - better today. Still has the odd aerial contest where you’d love to see him hold the mark but was good to see him turn the jets on a couple of times and use his speed to get around opponents. Very much playing as a forward pocket so doesn’t get heaps of it but as you’d expect he rarely wastes it.

Welsh - noticed a couple times today he expressed himself a bit more and used his speed upon collecting the ball to create space. Reminded me a lot of Fog in those moments. Is looking a bit trimmer too although obviously has some ways to go yet.

Taylor - definitely appears to predominately be a forward pocket in the coaches’ eyes, for the time being at least. Not the worst thing for Taylor as he has some goal sense and is deceptively good in the air, and it’s probably his best pathway into the team given Rachele and in particular Rankine have trained a lot as mids this summer. Is it because of his running capacity? Possibly but he’s looked pretty decent in the role - had several goal assists - even though he’s a natural centre square player. Got a big applause from the boys when he sprinted 50m to chase down Cook and save a goal.

Peatling - obviously hoping there’s no issue with his hamstring but one thing you quickly notice about him is that he’s quite the contortionist. Very light on his feet and bends his body really well to allude tacklers.

Dowling - a bit of the Bizarro Dawson in that his kicking gets better and better as he gets closer to goal. Still slides on his kick but he’s great at spotting up targets inside 50 and even better in front of goal.

Fogarty - I’ve mentioned this before but he’s become a real vocal presence out there, particularly when it comes to making sure players are set up correctly. Suspect that even though the leadership group will likely be shrunk down this season, he should still be in it.

Draper - just small moments but had a nice one where he sold some candy, sped past his opponent and hit a nice short pass to Worrell on the 50m line. Still finding his feet in some of the drills in terms of positioning but after Christmas I expect him to hopefully be unshackled.

Borlase - having a sneakily good pre season and it’s a good thing too given Butts’ injury. Had some really nice intercepts today and even though he’s slow, he’s reasonably agile and a thinker with ball in hand.

Toby Murray - saw Tex go up to him after one drill to help him out with his body work and positioning. He’s a good athlete but struggling a bit in the air at present. Hopefully he can figure it out and start clunking them soon.

Keane - keep singing his praises but he’s a weapon out there. Gets used a lot by his teammates and it’s not surprising as he changes the angles and takes risks. Also becoming better at leaving his man and taking the intercept rather than sitting back. Still underrated in the media but not sure that will be the case for much longer.

Once this pre-Christmas block of training ends (I’m assuming next week) I’ll write up a list of who’s impressed the most so far.

 

[bigman]

Went down to Elizabeth today. Long drive but it’s a nice deck. It was a long session too - about two and a half hours.

One big positive is that a few of the rehab lads - namely Thilthorpe, Rachele, Pedlar, Nankervis and Ryan - all did the bulk of the session and looked to be moving pretty well. I did think Filthy looked a bit stiff early on but after about the halfway point he was an absolute force out there so hopefully after Christmas these back issues are no more. Did notice that Pedlar had a bit of strapping on his right knee and held back from really putting the jets on. Chayce also had some light knee strapping that wasn’t there previously.

Missing today were Milera and Welsh along with Strachan. Butts and Cumming were there but didn’t do any training or rehab. Tex was solely doing running once again. Not sure what’s the go with Welsh and Milera, hopefully nothing to worry about there.

Skills standard was a bit off early on, fair few kicks falling short. Maybe put off by having a small crowd watching. Thankfully the boys lifted as the session wore on and by the end there was some pretty slick stuff happening.

First major drill was groups of about 10 playing keeping’s off with handball within a small area. Taylor seemed to relish this drill with some pretty ludicrous handballs over his head and selling candy - he’s a real talent. Also noticed how quick Draper is to read the ball, always on the front foot.

The lads then split into two groups in what was essentially a half back transition drill, running alongside both boundaries. The ball started at a contest across half back, with the attacking team using handball and driving the legs out of congestion to hit targets up field. This drill really benefited players with wheels such as Rankine, Rachele and Schoenberg who all stood out.

Next was a match sim style drill in two thirds of the ground and involved three teams rotating every 10 minutes (the non-playing team occupied the other third and did their own kicking drill). This was when Thilthorpe just absolutely dominated as the deep forward and was too good for the likes of Keane and Borlase.

The three groups then became two, with about 15 minutes of match sim (including a couple of centre bounces). Teams seemed reasonably evenly matched although the blue team appeared the stronger of the two. What few CBA’s there were involved O’Brien and McAndrew in the ruck along with Dawson, Soligo, Crouch, Schoenberg, Berry, Draper and Peatling. With greater numbers it definitely made speedy ball movement difficult for the lads, who sometimes probably slowed the play down a little too much at times, but it was interesting seeing them adapt to the congestion that comes with full teams.

Finally there was a bunch of running with the mids going along the boundary at a fast clip while the rest went up and down the ground. A few of the boys ie Thilthorpe sat this section out. I noticed that the midfield group would sometimes switch up who took the lead, including the lesser runners like Taylor and Edwards. In fact Taylor was told to lead the final set and really gave it his all, he was buggered at the end but got a lot of love from Burgo and the players. Good stuff.

All the boys then grouped up for a quick chat in the middle of the ground, led by Tex and Dawson. It had the look of a final speech before the Christmas break but according to Daws they finish up on the 18th. I’ll keep an ear out on whether it actually was the last session or not - if anyone hears, let me know. Would save me some petrol and embarrassment.

Player thoughts:

Crouch - unsurprisingly got a bunch of it during the sim drills and even when others slowed things down he seemed to make a concerted effort to keep speed on the ball. Kicking was excellent today.

Curtin - led the midfield group once again during a lot of the running. He’s a serious specimen this kid and a very hard worker. Intercepted the ball at one point across half forward, dished off a handball and sprinted towards goal to eventually receive it back and kick the snag. Also more jovial and upbeat at training than you might think, similar to Worrell in that he’s quite vocal and gets around the lads.

Thilthorpe - as I said, looked a bit stiff early on but it wasn’t long before he came into his own and became almost unstoppable out there. His hands are so much better than any one else out there and he has a real presence these days. Please stay fit.

Rachele - wore the fluro hat but didn’t seem to be affected by whatever injury he had. In fact I thought he was the standout performer once again today. Looked fast and agile, took a couple clunk marks and kicking was razor sharp. Struggled a bit in the running at the end of the session but he had already done a power of work so I’m not overly concerned.

Pedlar - good to see him doing most of the training but he really needs to watch his kicking. He lacks touch by foot and often overcooks (or undercooks) the kick. For a skilful player he can be really quite wasteful at times.

Michalanney - had a great contest with Taylor at half back which he won (Taylor returned serve not long after with a ripping tackle). Is a great mover out there and a brutal competitor as we know. He does need to watch his kicking though, a bit too often he gets lazy on the kick and lets it hit the deck.

Rankine - aside from a couple of turnovers he was sublime in the match sim and really is on another level out there. I don’t talk about him a whole lot in these reports as we already know how good he is.

Peatling - was one of the best performers out there today and has definitely stood out more in the last few sessions. Thankfully appears to have dodged a bullet with that hole at Richmond Oval. Very elusive and sharp in mind, always looks to move the ball on quickly. Kicking has been rock solid too. Loves a bucket hat.

Schoenberg - liked what he did today. Put the jets on a number of times and I thought his ball use was quality even when at high speed. Looks confident at the moment. Obviously has a hard task ahead of him but he’s definitely giving it a real shot.

Neal-Bullen - elite trainer and almost never makes a skill error. He’s clinical out there and definitely helps prevent training sessions spiralling into lacklustre, mistake-ridden affairs. Excited about what he will do for us this season.

Smith - didn’t do much wrong but watching him today I couldn’t help but think he looked like a player who knows opportunities will be few and far between. Maybe looking too much into it but he’s just seemed to lack his customary zip and energy lately.

Gallagher - definitely growing in confidence and has genuinely come on in leaps and bounds in recent weeks. Last year he would barely touch it but that’s not the case at the moment. Still looks unsure when in possession at times but had one great moment where he gathered the ball clean as a whistle and exploded towards an open goal. Probably the first time I thought he looked like an AFL player. Still up against it but there’s no denying he’s come a long way.

Toby Murray - was having a pretty ordinary session but found his groove halfway through and started clunking a few contested marks which was great to see. Bit of an enigma, not sure he’s ready to step up to the next level yet if called upon. Needs a bit more time but there is some talent there.

 

[bigman]

Thankfully no issues finding the boys as they returned to aami stadium for the first time since early December. Must say I noticed the deck had a couple of issues with sand spraying up a bit especially in the centre.
Adam Kelly came out later on and inspected the surface, I wonder if he wasn’t overly happy with it.

The biggest positive today was the amount of players involved. A number of the lads who featured in the rehab group late last year completed the majority, if not all of today’s session, including the likes of Tex, Pedlar, Thilthorpe, Nankervis, Rachele, Milera and Soligo. Butts also did most of the session and looked to be in solid condition and without a limp.

Cumming was restricted to rehab but did a bulk of running work at a high intensity, which suggests to me he’s not far away from also rejoining the main group.

The only two to not train were Strachan and Hinge. Strachan made an appearance on the sidelines watching on (still in a moonboot) but Hinge was a no show. A poster recently mentioned Bond hurting his shoulder at a concert in the south east but I wonder if it was in fact Hinge? Bond didn’t appear to be carrying any sort of injury.

As I’m sure the players were rapt about, today was again 2km time trial day. It’s always hard to compare to previous times but if it helps Neal-Bullen, who finished first once again, appeared to finish slightly earlier than he did in November (around 6:15-6:20) and he didn’t have as much of a gap on the rest as last time with Bond, Sholl, Dowling and Thilthorpe not far behind.

The boys were split into four groups depending on their running ability. I always find this interesting as it’s a good indication as to where the fitness gurus rate them, and sometimes they change up giving an indication of whether players are improving or dropping off with their running.

The groups were as follows, with A being the fastest and D the slowest (players are not in order, also keep in mind I might not be 100% accurate as there’s a lot going on at once):

Group A: Jones, Keays, Berry, Thilthorpe, Dawson, Rankine, Neal-Bullen, Dowling, Smith, Sholl, Bond, O’Brien

Neal-Bullen took the honours. Was hard to make out the rest as there was a bit of a log jam and they finished at the other side of the ground, but looked to be Bond who finished second which is no surprise. Thilthorpe was actually leading for a fair chunk of the race before blowing up a bit on the last lap, seemed like he went out too hard.

Group B: Curtin, Pedlar, Soligo, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Laird, Milera, Ryan, Drury

Honestly difficult to figure out who won this group but looked to be Soligo, Drury and Milera out front.

Group C: Crouch, Rachele, Nick Murray, Walker, Cook, Michalanney, Burgess, Worrell, Peatling, Borlase, Gallagher

Rachele took the honours ahead of Peatling.

Group D: Murphy, Edwards, Welsh, Taylor, Fogarty, Toby Murray, Mcandrew, Keane

Murphy and Fogarty finished first and second, with Keane coming in third. Taylor came home hard to beat Edwards and Murray, with Welsh finishing last by some way - possibly upwards of 30 seconds later than the rest of his group.

Draper and Butts did not test. In fact Draper only did some of the early drills before heading inside. He looked to be moving fine so I’m curious as to why he was held off - poor Welsh wasn’t afforded the same luxury.

After some light skills work the players then moved into a couple of larger drills focussed on ball movement and using players to run and receive. They were split into three groups.

Teams were listed as follows:

Defenders: Borlase, Worrell, Bond, Laird / Nick Murray, Smith, Ryan Nankervis / Edwards, Michalanney, Keane, Milera

Midfielders: Berry, Rachele, Dowling, Curtin, Schoenberg / O’Brien, Soligo, Sholl, Taylor, Dawson / Mcandrew, Crouch, Rankine, Jones, Peatling

Forwards: Fogarty, Welsh, Murphy, Cook / Burgess, Drury, Pedlar, Neal-Bullen / Thilthorpe, Toby Murray, Keays, Gallagher

The lads then finished with some skills work in their various positional groups as well as some goal kicking. A few young onlookers were allowed to join for a kick - Michalanney was the one to go over and invite them. Good to see.

I’d say it was a slightly scrappy session which tends to be the case first up after a break. Fair few dropped marks especially from the big blokes. Nothing alarming however.

Some player thoughts:

Berry - gone the buzz cut which took a bit of getting used to!

Curtin - ran well in the trial and did a few things that I couldn’t help but be impressed by including a lovely no-look handball in congestion to a teammate that appeared to get some feedback from Rankine. Also very hard to tackle, he’s a serious unit.

Murray - noticed he had some strapping around his lower calf and a slight limp. Hopefully not too much in it as we need him fit and firing.

Pedlar - looked sharp and spritely again after having some injury issues in December. He’s someone who needs to be fully fit to play well, fingers crossed.

Edwards - relegated to the slow group in the time trial after being in one of the higher groups in his first pre season. Why the drop off? He ran a sub 6:30 at the draft combine and definitely didn’t run that today. Was hoping he’d come back from the break improved but he was beaten by Taylor. Questions need to be asked of him.

Soligo - mentioned a month or so ago I thought he needed to fine down a touch and to my eye he’s already done that. Looks fit and could’ve ran in the top group I reckon.

Michalanney - there wasn’t a whole lot of large-scale drills today but in the few that were, he was one of the standouts. His ability to rebound with genuine speed has come a long way.

Taylor - definitely ran better today than last time, though with the speed in which he finished I think he had more in the tank and was too conservative early. Solid signs regardless. Also trained well with his typical pizazz and flourish, he’s fun to watch.

Peatling - a little surprised he battled to keep up with Rachele in the running. That’s no slight on Rash who has improved considerably but Peatling is a reasonably established midfielder at this point.

Schoenberg - looked sharp! Running was only solid but he looks in good condition and took his opponent on a number of times and often beat them with speed and agility. Up against it as we know but would appear he’s giving it a shot.

Fogarty - most of the talls struggled in the air today but not Fog, he was on on-song from the outset. Laced out at least three or four lovely passes on his left during the ball movement drills.

Sholl - thought he was again a bit of a standout with his ball use and ability to get involved repeatedly. Physically he’s never going to be a big lad but he’s come a long way in this regard, probably the most solid I’ve seen him.

Any questions feel free to ask!

 

[bigman]

Noticed when I passed aami early this morning that there was some equipment out, so came back around 9 and indeed the lads were training for the first Saturday session I can recall.

With the time trial done and dusted on Thursday, there was a bit more footy to watch today and some exciting moments to take out of it.

Pleasingly the list seems really healthy at the moment, which wasn’t the case a month ago. Hinge made his return after missing Thursday’s session and seemed unencumbered, meaning Strachan was the only player not training at all. Cumming continues to run laps while Draper and welsh were again held off from sections of training. Butts and Thilthorpe completed most of the session but were held off from a couple of drills.

I can’t help but get excited about how Curtin is tracking at the moment. He looks so much more fluid and confident out there than he did last pre season after the knee injury, and I would say he’s right up there with the most impressive this summer. In any of the match sim-style drills he always seems to get involved in transition and he has a genuine physical presence now, whether it’s laying a big tackle or breaking them. At times he’s on another level than most of the other players out there.

More and more I think he might be our answer at CHF in a post-Tex world. He’s a natural at finding space and providing leads up the ground, plus it would give him the space to use his lovely foot skills and lateral movement.

I think it’s always interesting to track which position the coaches currently have each player in and whether or not these change throughout the pre season. Courtesy of the big electronic screen they were listed as follows:

Backs: Murray, Edwards, Michalanney, Ryan, Worrell, Nankervis, Laird, Milera, Smith, Borlase, Bond, Butts, Keane

Midfielders: Jones, Berry, Crouch, Curtin, Rachele, Dawson, Soligo, Taylor, Rankine, Peatling, Schoenberg, Dowling, Sholl, McAndrew, O’Brien

Forwards: Keays, Murphy, Thilthorpe, Pedlar, Walker, Cook, Welsh, Burgess, Neal-Bullen, Fogarty, Gallagher, Drury, Murray

Draper, Cumming, Hinge and Strachan weren’t listed.

Should note it was quite a physical session with some pretty hefty tackles being laid and the boys definitely went that little bit harder at the ball and man. Keane took it a bit too far giving Toby Murray a clip around the ear during a marking contest that left him dazed for a bit. Certainly not the first time the big Irishman has ruffled some feathers during training.

Also noticed once again that some sections of the ground are noticeably sandy and a few players lost their footing at times. Not ideal and I hope they address this as it’s not ideal.

Some player thoughts:

Murphy - the board’s favourite small forward trained well. Put on some excellent chases and tackles and his ball use was on point. Up against it with Nibbler now in the squad but can’t fault him today.

Rachele - continues to have a great summer and it’s his kicking that has stood out the most. There have been phases in his career where his foot skills have deserted him, but they’re pristine at the moment and he’s hitting some serious kicks through the corridor.

Edwards - really hope we don’t persist with his as a defender as he does have some natural midfield flair. Had a great moment in the middle where he accelerated out of a stoppage and took a couple bounces. More of that please.

Walker - had his best session for the year, which wouldn’t be hard mind you as he spent most of December on the sidelines. Looked a bit more free in his movement and ball use was as you’d expect. Laid a brilliant tackle on Worrell.

Soligo - after a slightly inconspicuous start to his summer, he’s really starting to hit his straps and is running more on top of the ground. Looks in great shape.

Cook - needs to get involved more. At present Gallagher is getting a lot more of the ball at training which says a bit. Elite when he has it but the same issues persist.

Peatling - once again I was impressed by his kicking. Didn’t think it was a strength of his but seems I may have been wrong. Gets a lot of depth on them too and kicked a lovely goal on the run from 50.

Dowling - seemed to get more involved last year, at the moment he’s struggling to get into it. Perhaps just getting a bit unlucky but I’d like to see him up the intensity a bit more. At present I don’t think he makes the round one side.

Keane - ear massage aside he was once again very good today. Cut off a number of forward entires with some lovely intercept and the ball seems to follow him back there at times.n

 

[bigman]

Blustery conditions meant today was a bit of a scrappy affair with plenty of missed kicks and fumbles, so not the most pristine viewing.

That being said, there was finally a bit more stoppage work which allowed some of the midfielders to shine instead of the typical half backs.

One of those was Draper who had his most complete session yet. He was only held off from one drill and looked to be really enjoying himself out there. Loves to put an immediate step on his opponent whenever he gets the ball and is exceptionally nippy and agile, one moment in particular stood out where he sidestepped two players in a row with ease. Kicking was very solid too on a day where many of his teammates were struggling. Been talk about him being eased in but that wasn’t the case today. Based on what he showed, he plays round one bar injury.

On the down side it would appear there were a few casualties today although to what extent I’m unsure.

Milera was the first to disappear - must admit I didn’t even see him go up the race and certainly didn’t see any incident which might have caused an injury. Perhaps it could be simply a case of management but given his history there has to be some cause for concern.

The other two were Cook and Nick Murray who both left the track a bit early. Neither looked particularly distressed but Murray did appear to have a slight limp walking up the race. Cook was in rehab a couple sessions ago so could be a reoccurrence of whatever issue he had. I did notice he wasn’t listed in the main drill so perhaps it’s just management.

Smith also had some treatment on his ankle but didn’t look too bothered, joining Tex and Fog for a chinwag with Fitzy who turned up to watch late in the session.

Cumming remains in rehab although he was being pushed pretty hard by the conditioning team so surely he’s not far away. If he’s not back on Friday I’m pretty confident he will rejoin the main group early next week.

One thing I noticed today was the competitive element has definitely been ramped up. Players are starting to really get physical with their tackling and body work, and more players are being left a little worse for wear after some big hits. Was interesting to watch them do some wrestling drills late in the session - poor Taylor was matched up against Curtin for much of it. Safe to say he was outmuscled.

The main drill was three groups of 13 facing off in ‘match sim’ across two thirds of the ground, with one of the teams doing light ball work in the other third before rotating in. The teams were as follows:

Backs: Nankervis Keane Michalanney Laird / Murray Hinge Worrell Edwards / Smith Bond Borlase Ryan

Mids: O’Brien Soligo Crouch Peating Jones / Mcandrew Sholl Dawson Berry Rankine / Burgess Dowling Draper Schoenberg Pedlar

Fwds: Fogarty Rachele Curtin Neal-Bullen / Welsh Keays Walker Murphy / Drury Murray Taylor Gallagher

Couple of small things to note with those teams, namely that Pedlar got some mid time, Burgess strangely considered a ruck over Toby Murray and Curtin definitely trending towards a mid/fwd role.

Both Dyson Sharp and Matt Leray both took part in most of the drills including stoppage work which good to see. As you’d expect Sharp was particularly good with his hands and tackling, without standing out. Will be good to see him again on Friday although it’ll probably be the last time we see him in Crows gear.

As for some other players:

Dawson - one of the standouts today, his ball use in particular was excellent despite the wind. Obviously a known quantity but he was dominant at times out there.

Walker - definitely seems in a better space now with his body. More lively and agile in his movements and looks fit as a fiddle which is unsurprising given all the running work he was doing in rehab.

Soligo - thought he was the best performer today. Appears to have timed his rise to full fitness well as he looks super sharp out there and is driving the legs at any opportunity.

Welsh - just a couple of moments but did some impressive stuff, including a ripping tackle on Keane that got big plaudits from the lads. Kicking was superb too, he just needs to get a bit more involved and is clearly being restricted by his running ability at present.

Schoenberg - similar to Soligo I thought Harry looked really dynamic and strong today. He probably looks the fittest I’ve seen him and a few times showed the pace he had pre-Achilles. Proof will be in the pudding come actual games but he’s having a sneaky good summer.

Smith - on the flip side I think Smithy is struggling a bit at present. Just a touch off with his ball handling and made a couple of strange errors today including one moment where he panicked and just hospital handballed to an unsuspecting teammate who was already under pressure. Love the bloke but it’s not quite happening for him at the moment.

Keane - had a great summer but a bit off today with his ball use and decision making. Was a bit too casual at times and even copped a bit of a bake from Crouch for going the blind long kick to the opposition instead of switching the play.

 

[bigman]

Bit of a dry session today, not just in terms of the weather but also the training itself. Most of it was skills and positional work, which at this time of year doesn’t provide the same intrigue or excitement as match sim does.

If anything the most intense part was the fartlek-style running at the back end, which looked particularly gruelling especially in over 30 degree heat. Seemed to go for a fair while. Was a bit of a surprise given Mondays tend to be the lighter session, perhaps they were given a reprieve on Sat?

Pleasingly, today saw Cumming rejoin the group for a few drills before doing a power of running with Dan Jackson to finish off. He already looked in great condition at the start of pre season but he probably looks even better now after all the laps he’s been doing. Hopefully he gets involved in match sim later this week.

Murray and Pedlar were solely in the rehab group and did a bunch of running. Pedlar didn’t look hindered at all by the shoulder injury so hopefully he dodged a bullet there. Berry started off alongside them but quickly rejoined the main group and looked to be moving well, although he did cop a stray Dawson boot in the cherries.

I did notice that Peatling left the track rather early, but this reminded me a lot of Milera last week who it turned out was just being managed. There was no limp to be seen so I think he’ll be fine, just figured it was worth mentioning.

Drury and Madgen were nowhere to be seen. Strachan came out halfway through to help with the rucks.

In the second half of the session players were split into their positions, which I think is always interesting. They were as follows:

Backs: Edwards, Michalanney, Hinge, Ryan, Worrell, Nankervis, Laird, Milera, Smith, Borlase, Bond, Butts, Keane

Mids: Jones, Berry, Crouch, Curtin, Rachele, Dawson, Soligo, Rankine, Schoenberg, Dowling, Draper, Sholl, McAndrew, O’Brien

Forwards: Keays, Murphy, Thilthorpe, Walker, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Burgess, Neal-Bullen, Fogarty, Gallagher, T. Murray

I did notice in an earlier drill Curtin and Rachele were listed as forwards and Edwards as a mid - as I’ve said previously, there’s been an emphasis on players training in multiple positions.

Cumming was also involved in that earlier drill and was listed as a midfielder. Taylor also joined the mids late in the session for stoppage work. At this stage it would seem he will only pinch-hit in there at most.

Truth be told there isn’t a heap to mention in terms of specific players but here’s a few comments:

Curtin - noticed in the stoppage drills he gave off a couple of rapid fire handballs above his head that I’d love to see him replicate in the real thing, at his height very few are going to be able to cut those off.

Thilthorpe - feels like he’s the only 200cm bloke on our list who looks like taking a pack mark at the moment. He’s judging them well - Rob and Ibis are far more scratchy at present.

Edwards - awkward action aside he really is a great kick both short and long, they just cut through the air. He just needs to get on his bike and get more of it, feels like he’s just cruising a lot out there.

Cook - he instantly looked better on the wing during match sim on Friday. Today he was back to the forwards and back to being almost anonymous again. He thrives in space and struggles a bit one on one, not the greatest combination for a deep forward.

Welsh - his boot isn’t far off Tex and Fog especially around goals. Getting his hands on it is another issue but gee he’s a lovely striker of the pill.

Hinge - after an interrupted start to pre season he’s looking like he’s back up to speed and running on top of the ground. Was too good for Curtin in the running who is no slouch.

Schoenberg - even in a lighter, more skills focussed session I thought Harry trained with a real intensity today. He’s not leaving a lot out there at the moment. He looked knackered in the running but kept up with some of the better runners. The power of a contract year.

Nankervis - I struggle to see how he doesn’t make our round one side. He’s a bit of an unknown still in AFL media circles but he’s regularly impressed this summer and looks more and more comfortable as that rebounding defender. If it’s between him and Milera, he gets the gig first up in my books. And that’s no slight on Junior who is training well, but Nank deserves first dibs.

 

[bigman]

Today was another day of match sim, consisting of two quarters running about 25 minutes long. There was a fair wind coming from the south which made things a bit sloppy at times but there was enough to take out of it.

Once again teams were very lopsided, with a clear A and B team in the first quarter. Things were evened up a bit in the second term but there was still a noticeable divide. Personally I would prefer to see much more even teams, particularly as the forward line for the B side was a graveyard at times. They’d have their reasons but I’m not a fan.

I also noticed late in both quarters the scoreboard would be heavily adjusted to make them close, obviously working on a bit of match scenario. Not sure the game style changed a whole lot other than the team in front being a bit more conservative and playing tempo footy.

Cumming was a no show, not even in the rehab group which was interesting. Very possible he was doing work inside. Im not surprised he didn’t partake in the match sim but thought he would’ve joined Pedlar and Murray on the sidelines for running at least. Perhaps he was simply given a session off.

Draper and Welsh were also absent. My first thought was that they may be doing the annual AFLPA gig in Melbourne for the first year players? Otherwise I’m not sure.

To make up the numbers a few SANFL squad members joined today, including Drury after a couple sessions off. I thought Ned Atkinson was one of the more impressive of the bunch, bit scrappy by foot but he’s a handy player.

Teams for the first quarter were as follows:

Blue (A team)
FB: Michalanney Keane Bond
HB: Milera Laird Hinge
_C: Sholl Rankine Soligo
HF: Keays Rachele Neal-Bullen
FF: Thilthorpe Fogarty Walker
_R: O’Brien Dawson Crouch
INT: Curtin Peatling Worrell

White (B team)
FB: Butts Borlase Nankervis
HB: Edwards Ryan Smith
_C: Jones Berry Cook
HF: Murphy Taylor McDonald
FF: Atkinson Burgess Gallagher
_R: McAndrew Schoenberg Dowling
INT: Drury Thomas Coleman

Unsurprisingly it was a bit of a bloodbath early on, though the white team did eventually find some rhythm and finished the quarter ok.

Not a heap of surprises with selection, though Milera over Nankervis I’m not sure about. Let’s hope we don’t repeat the same mistake of last year. Bond in the A team was also interesting though not a shock. Obviously there was no Murray or Cumming who would both come into that side, Draper possibly as well.

Positionally it was pretty much as expected although, unlike Friday, Dawson had bulk CBAs while Soligo played wing. Hope Soli doesn’t spend too much time out there as he is a natural stoppage player.

Goals were Keays 2, Rachele 2, Neal-Bullen, Dawson.

Second quarter teams were as follows:

Blue
FB: Bond Butts Nankervis
HB: Smith Ryan Edwards
_C: Sholl Rankine Soligo
HF: Murphy Rachele Neal-Bullen
FF: Thilthorpe Fogarty Walker
_R: O’Brien Dawson Crouch
INT: Curtin Peatling Worrell

White
FB: Borlase Keane Michalanney
HB: Milera Laird Hinge
_C. Jones Berry Dowling
HF: McDonald Cook Keays
FF: Atkinson Burgess Gallagher
_R: McAndrew Schoenberg Taylor
INT: Drury Coleman Thomas

With an improved backline the White team became a bit harder to score against and held their own around the ball, but really struggled to find avenues to goal once inside forward 50.

Goals were Thilthorpe 2, Rankine 2, Rachele, Walker

Unlike Friday where Rankine put on a clinic, there were no absolute standouts today but instead a bunch of solid performers - to my eye the better players were Rankine, Dawson, Rachele and Sholl while Schoenberg, Berry and Cook were the best for the white team.

Some player thoughts:

Berry - even against our prime mids he was too strong in the body at times to bring down. Ball use was a bit scrappy in congestion, though fumbles were kept to a minimum.

Curtin - actually didn’t attend a CBA, instead played as a high forward coming off the bench. Did a few nice things but also dropped a couple of marks he should have taken and I would’ve hoped for a bit more impact.

Thilthorpe - misjudged the ball in the air a few times, mind you the wind didn’t help. On the deck however he was typical Filthy - super clean and smart. He’s seriously clever when he gets it.

Rachele - very productive and worked hard up and down the ground for his ball. Kicked the three goals but pushed up high to get involved in transition as well. No mid clock however.

Edwards - barely touched it on the white team, on the blue side however he got his hands on it more and hit some lovely risky kicks, including a beautiful pass to Thilthorpe in the corridor which led to a goal.

Dawson - still our best mark around the ground and I thought his clearance work was great today. Was light on his feet and drove his legs from the contest. In fine form at present.

Cook - one of the few white team players who still got involved even when the blue side was all over them. Once again appeared to relish being on a wing, took a couple nice marks as well.

Ryan - bit up and down. Took a lovely intercept grab and provided some nice drive off half back, but also dropped a couple marks he should’ve taken including one that should have cost a goal if not for Gallagher spraying the shot.

Rankine - not as dominant as Friday but still doing some very special things in that midfield. He’s toying with some of the lads at times such is his confidence at the moment.

Schoenberg - best player for the white team in my view. Hard at the coal face and has added some real strength to break tackles. Overlap run was good too. Hard not to be impressed with him at the moment.

Nankervis - similar to Edwards, found it tough going for the white team but really asserted himself after changing sides. Did one run out of defence that really caught the eye. Hope he’s not being forgotten about again - he’s too good not to be in our best side.

Bond - one or two turnovers kicking into the wind but I can’t help but be impressed by this lad’s improvement. He barely touched it last summer - not the case today and the fact he was in the A team says a lot. Not sure he’s a lock for round one but must be closer than I previously thought.

Mcandrew - whilst not dominant I thought he got the better of rob today. Won more hit outs and offered just as much if not more around the ground. We’re talking about a bloke who will likely be playing for the Legs - starting to get a bit concerned about how rob is travelling.

Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[bigman]

Training took place at Richmond Oval today, luckily I checked AAMI early on and noticed there were no cars. There is a part of AAMI that has been sectioned off - I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s the same area Adam Kelly was investigating last week. Lots of sand was being kicked up and I gather the players gave some feedback. Thankfully the turf at West Adelaide seemed in pretty good condition.

It was bloody hot out there but that didn’t stop the coaches from putting the players through a mammoth three hour session, including a bunch of running throughout. Even ended with 15 minutes of fartlek style running at the end when the temperature was pushing 37 degrees. The boys looked pretty knackered as you’d expect but I was quite impressed with the standard of training overall, it was pretty sharp despite coming off a long weekend.

Had a bit of a scare mid-way through when Rankine went down with some sort of lower leg injury and limped off the field. Thankfully after about 15 minutes he returned and looked right as rain, even did all the running at the end. Safe to say I was relieved.

Crouch walked off the ground with a pronounced limp halfway through the running. My initial thought was cramp got the best of him, hopefully that’s all it is. Something to keep an eye on.

There were a couple of no shows today in Worrell and Nankervis. Could be any reason for their absence so no point speculating. On the plus side the only member of the rehab group today was McAndrew - otherwise, aside from Strachan, everyone was out there including Cumming who did all the drills aside from the end of session running.

A fair chunk of training involved the players being split into groups of four and rotating between drills in each quadrant of the ground. They were:

• A handball drill focussing on moving the ball by hand through traffic under pressure
• A drill focussing on getting numbers to an aerial contest to provide a front and centre
• A kicking drill from deep defence with the other team trying to lock it in
• A kicking drill focussing on hitting the leading forward inside 50 when 60-70m out from goal

Following this, they then split into their lines (defenders, mids and forwards) to work on their craft before forming two teams for about 20 minutes of match sim.

As has been the case this summer, it was clearly a case of A vs B. I couldn’t take down the exact lineups but the groups were as follows:

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

White - Jones, Berry, Murphy, Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Taylor, Burgess, Ryan, Schoenberg, Dowling, Smith, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, T. Murray, Bond, Butts, Cumming

Tex didn’t participate while Welsh was doing bike and strength work on the sidelines. Wouldn’t look too much into Cumming playing for the B’s, he’s still working his way back into it.

Not too many surprises with positions. Tex out meant Curtin played solely forward and he was decent, kicking two goals. Cumming spent a fair bit of time at half back. Can’t judge CBAs as there were none - only around the ground stoppages.

Dawson and Peatling stood out through the midfield while Thilthorpe and Rachele were the most dominant forwards. The white team actually had some good moments though - Cook kicked two goals and I thought Edwards provided some good drive off half back which was pleasing to see.

Only about 20 minutes however so there was only so much to take out of it.

As for some player thoughts:

Thilthorpe - his vision up field is pretty special and very Tex-like. He just sees players others don’t and is prepared to take risks by foot. He’s just a very multi-dimensional footballer and such a talent. He is still being managed a bit with his work-load - he did his own running instead of with the other lads.

Rachele - took a ripping grab one-on-one against Cumming who is no slouch defensively. Missed two gettable snaps at goal but looked the goods. One thing I’d like to see him do is quickly put a step on whenever he gets the ground ball. At the moment he seems to freeze at times when gathering the loose ball which often causes him to get tackled. He would do well to look at a Rankine or Draper type as to how to create his own space.

Dawson - once again looked really sharp in the guts. He’s fending off tacklers and really driving his legs to exit the stoppage, also once again took a terrific contested mark. In fine fettle at the moment.

Soligo - thought he looked a bit off today and struggled a bit in the running. Showed the signs of someone who was likely a bit crook, which isn’t what you want in 36 degree heat. Nothing to worry about regardless.

Peatling - he’s a real contortionist. Just bends his body in ways to avoid the tackle (or draw a high free) and is nippy in tight without having electric pace. Had some nice clearances and got involved quite a bit in transition. Good signs.

T. Murray - had some great duels with Borlase in the front and centre drill. Won some, lost some and broke even on a bunch. His body work is coming along nicely, but his hands however do let him down at present. Suspect he’s a real confidence player. I do like that he throws himself at the contest though, don’t think it’s a Himmelberg situation.

 

[bigman]

Apologies for the delay, had some business to attend to this afternoon.

Slightly lighter session down at Richmond Oval today after Monday’s sweat fest. Noticed a bloke was walking around with a pretty expensive looking camera and shadowed by a guy with a boom mic, not sure if they were club staff or an extraneous group. They got real close to the coaches when they were instructing the players. These weren’t the club social media guys either.

Pretty decent numbers again today although Nankervis was absent for the second session in a row while Taylor was also nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately Tex was back on the sidelines today doing solely running work. Seemed in good spirits but I suspect it’s probably that back issue flaring up again - if he doesn’t train on Friday then it’s obviously more than just management.

On the plus side Worrell made his return while Crouch trained fully after suffering bad cramp on Monday. Mcandrew also returned to do most of the session.

No major new injuries that I could see either. Berry copped the back of a boot to the face during match sim, and earlier on he left Peatling a bit worse for wear in a tackle. Both seemed fine. Draper copped a hit in the cherries from Peatling in a wrestling drill which downed him for a few moments but he recovered quickly.

Burgo was also back today after a couple weeks off. I was being more facetious than anything about him leaving, but it was a bit of strange timing for the head fitness bloke to be absent, though he obviously would have had his reasons. Good thing is currently our squad numbers are much better than December. Let’s hope our luck remains.

Part of the session was three seperate drills running concurrently around the ground, with teams rotating after about 15 minutes each. They were:

- one drill focussing on quickly identifying and hitting up short targets along the wing. There would be three smaller teams within this drill, with two passing to eachother while the other defended. Whenever the ball was moved to the other end successfully or a turnover occurred, the defending team would change.

- one drill focussing on moving the ball with speed from either stoppage or an intercept about 80m from goals, with forwards leaving space behind them for one to pelt towards goal and receive the ball over the top.

- one rugby-style drill in tight where players try to drive the legs and break tackles to get to the other side. Curtin was great at this (you may have seen the instagram vid). Ryan laid some serious tackles too.

Mcandrew, Draper and Welsh sat out one of the rotations but returned to do the rest of training.

The players then broke into their respective lines - Draper was matched up against Rankine in stoppage work which was fun to see - before the lads competed in about 20 minutes of ‘match sim.’ Worth noting there were no centre bounces or umpires again. Teams were as follows:

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

White - Jones, Berry, Murphy, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Hinge, Burgess, Ryan, Schoenberg, Dowling, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, T. Murray, Bond, Butts

Pedlar may have been in the white team but I didn’t spot him out there even though he was wearing a fluro hat.

There were stoppage set ups but no ruck contests, instead the ball was once again kicked in random directions by the coach. Rankine, Soligo, Peatling and Crouch were the most regular midfielders for the blue side - Draper, Berry and Schoenberg for the whites (Murphy replaced Berry at stoppages after he copped the boot to the face). Dawson played a mix of half forward and midfield. Curtin started as a deep forward but later on, after a quick spell on the bench, joined the mids for the last five minutes.

The lads then did about 10 or so minutes of wrestling work, which involved pinning your opponent to the ground before sprinting for 20 metres and doing it all over again. Looked pretty knackering. Rachele against Rankine was a good watch - the latter was surprisingly aggressive!

Finally, they then split back into their lines for the remainder of the session. The mids did handball and ground ball work while the forwards and defenders competed against eachother in a ‘king of the ring’ drill. This involved aerial contests where the winner (‘king’) would retain their spot until beaten, while the loser would rotate back to the end of the line. If the contest broke even, the king would still remain. Filthy and Fog were the standouts, both stayed king for about six or seven contests before fatigue got the better of them. There were actually two of these running at the same time, one for talls and the other for the smalls. Funnily, Rachele decided to compete with the talls instead.

Some player thoughts:

Curtin - definitely seems to be tracking towards playing forward with a sprinkling of midfield time. If Tex is fit, does he fit in or are we then too top heavy? He’s more mobile than your typical key forward. Will be an interesting dilemma. Positioned himself well in match sim, taking at least three marks inside forward 50. Round one looks likely at this stage. Also once again noticed how animated he was at training. Seems to have a really good bond with the group, lots of hugging and celebrations.

Rachele - his body work in marking contests has improved considerably. It’s not overly surprising as he has that dense body shape that is hard to move but he’s really taking advantage of it with some strong one-on-one marks.

Edwards - once again more involved across half back. They seem to like it in his hands as his kicks generally hit the target. I’d like to see him move it on a bit quicker after taking a mark l, he’s a bit stagnant at present. Rarely wastes it though. Definitely seen a bit of an uptick in his training form lately.

Soligo - looked much better today after appearing crook on Monday (perhaps Nank is sick and he got some of it? Or Soligo had it and passed it on to Nank? Just a thought, could be totally wrong). His stoppage work was excellent - clean and constructive.

Ryan - had a brilliant moment where he cut off a switch of play at half forward, burnt off his chaser with a bounce, then got the one-two with Edwards and dribbled the goal. Exciting stuff. Got a decent amount of ball too and used it pretty well. Also noticed he’s really filling out. Not the wiry shape any more - he’s becoming a pretty big lad.

Rankine - played mostly mid with some forward time. Had a special moment where he fumbled a ball on the boundary line, then instead of just letting it go out, he proceeded to tap it along the ground past the legs of Edwards and surged towards goal to hit up Rachele on a lead. He just has that magic.

Milera - had an exciting piece of play where he dodged the incoming tackler in the corridor before taking a bounce and putting the jets on. He fluffed the kick but it would have been a real confidence booster for him and his body, it was vintage Junior.

Smith - interesting that he was in the A team and not Hinge. Not sure I’d look into it too hard in terms of round one selection.

Draper - think we need to keep our expectations under check at present. He’s still definitely coming to grips with the stronger bodies in the midfield and finding it hard to break tackles. Physically he will definitely get there - he’s got excellent proportions in both the upper and lower body - but unless he quickly finds time and space he usually gets clamped at the moment. His tackling is already very good however and his work rate around the ground will ensure he still finds plenty of pill in the mean time.

Cumming - seems to be tracking towards playing majority wing with a bit of time across half back. He was great today. Typically composed and just silky out there, plays a bit in slow motion and doesn’t panic.

Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[bigman]

After doing a tour of Adelaide this morning, it was a nice surprise to stumble upon a scratch match today at AAMI Stadium, which oddly started at 12pm. The game consisted of three quarters of varying length (a couple went 25 minutes, the other just 20) and was a genuine hit out with centre bounces, umpires and some big hits.

Two sour notes were possible injuries to Cumming and Welsh.

Cumming only played the first two quarters, which didn’t worry me. It was the limping afterwards which did. Now this could just be some post-match stiffness and soreness, plus I didn’t see him walk up the race with any ice. But it’s definitely something to keep an ear out for especially given his history.

Welsh copped a hit in a marking contest in the third term and left the field cradling his arm and didn’t return. Hard to make an exact diagnosis, hopefully it’s not too severe but looked like a shoulder to me.

As usual it was largely an A vs B affair. There were a few changes after each break but teams were kept mostly the same and didn’t have too many surprises. They were as follows:

Blue - Keays, Murphy, Crouch (switched to yellow for Q2 and Q3), Curtin (switched to yellow for Q2 and Q3), Thilthorpe, Rachele, Murray, Dawson, Soligo, Michalanney, Hinge, Rankine, Worrell, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Sholl, O’Brien, Cumming, Keane

Yellow - Jones (switched to blue for Q3), Berry (switched to blue for Q2 and Q3), Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Burgess, Ryan, Schoenberg, Nankervis, Dowling, Smith, Draper, Borlase, Gallagher, Drury, T. Murray (switched to blue for Q2 and Q3), Bond (switched to blue for Q2 and Q3), Butts, McAndrew

Cumming and Nankervis only played the first two quarters while Tex (and obviously Strachan) did not participate. Tex did a power of running and some of the early skills work however.

It was hard to keep track of scores as they were changed late in each quarter for a bit of scenario work (eg five points up late in the term). The blue team were pretty clear winners but weren’t as dominant as what we saw at Norwood a couple weeks ago. In fact for most of the game the yellow team were quite competitive and actually probably won the midfield battle, at least to the eye, but they couldn’t stop blue’s firepower.

Goal tallies were:
Q1
Blue: Rachele, Fogarty, Curtin
Yellow: Burgess, Gallagher

Q2
Blue: Thilthorpe 2, T. Murray, Keays
Yellow: Pedlar 2, Dowling

Q3
Blue: Thilthorpe, O’Brien, Keays, Soligo, Fogarty
Yellow: Burgess

As for centre bounce, quite a few names ended up going through there. Crouch, Dawson, Peatling, Rankine, Soligo, Draper, Berry and Schoenberg were the most common attendees. Rachele and Curtin both actually got some decent time in there as well, though only after quarter time. Thilthorpe and Murray both helped as the relief ruckman at times.

Some player thoughts:

Jones - solid enough on the wing before drifting into defence in the third quarter. Got the majority of his ball for blue as you’d expect but also took a couple nice intercept grabs late in the third term. Think he’s around the mark without really pushing his case.

Keays - two goals is a decent return (though one was a freebie from Rachele) but wouldn’t say he was particularly influential. Missed a sitter where he snapped when he should’ve just kicked a drop punt. Him and Neal-Bullen were both pretty quiet actually.

Berry - probably best on ground and did some of his best work for the yellow side against our prime mids. Had a number of centre clearances and unsurprisingly laid some great tackles including a run down on Draper. Minimal fumbles too. A couple of iffy kicks but overall may have been the most dominant mid.

Murphy - played solely for the A team which was interesting. Was very quiet for the first two quarters before getting into it in the third. Hit a lovely inside 50 pass to Toby Murray but also missed a reasonably easy set shot which we’ve seen before.

Curtin - kicked an easy goal in the first term courtesy of a howler turnover by Butts, otherwise struggled to get into it early on. Moved into the guts midway through the second term and immediately got amongst it. Some nice flashy moments where he streamed through traffic and also set up Pedlar’s second goal. Just bits and pieces but good signs.

Thilthorpe - misjudged a couple aerial contests early on but found his groove in the second term and became a bit of a menace. Kicked a terrific goal in the third where he picked the loose ball up at speed and instinctively snapped over his shoulder. Special talent.

Rachele - only the solitary goal but had a number of assists and would’ve been right up there in score involvements. Also got some centre bounce time late where he had one or two clearances. Very solid.

Pedlar - ice cold in the first quarter but kicked two in a flash in the second term and looked much more confident. Was wearing the fluro hat but still copped a big hit in an aerial contest (thankfully he was fine). Funnily had an altercation with Keane, who proceeded to grab the hat and throw it over the boundary.

Edwards - had one poor moment defensively against Keays but thought he was pretty decent overall. Still needs to drive his legs more but used the ball well including a couple of lovely long kicks which resulted in scores.

Michalanney - solid as a rock in defence and actually played quite high up the ground at times. Looking to use his pace whenever possible which has been a consistent theme for him this summer.

Welsh - prior to the injury I thought he looked quite decent today. Found space a couple of times in the forward line and was busier than I’ve seen previously. Hopefully isn’t out for too long.

Taylor - just can’t seem to get into it at the moment. Looks a bit frustrated out there and doesn’t quite have his usual twinkle toes, seems to be getting caught more. Also didn’t get used in the centre which was strange - even Drury spent a little bit of time in there. Can’t say I’m overly happy about that.

Burgess - credit to him, thought he presented well today and was rewarded with two goals. Isn’t easy playing forward for the B team but he was sharp today.

Rankine - played slightly more forward than previous but still had his fair share of CBAs. Not as dominant as he was at Norwood but still very good as you’d expect. Does it easy out there.

Worrell - took a good mark on Burgess but I still want to see a bit more from him. Was by no means bad but he’s got heaps of talent, at the moment he’s playing it a touch safe. Want to see a bit more dash and wow factor which he’s capable of.

Peatling - if Berry wasn’t BOG then it was probably this guy. For a bloke who isn’t elite aerobically his work rate is excellent. Got involved in all spots on the ground, won clearances, took a good contested mark, laid some great tackles, won a couple of high frees (get ready for plenty of those). Well-rounded player.

Schoenberg - along with Berry thought he set the tone early for the yellow side and was really solid in the guts. Hit Welsh inside 50 with an absolute dart that got a lot of love from his teammates. Thought he started going to ground too much later on however as he fatigued.

Nankervis - good to see him back but aside from one lovely moment where he stepped past a couple opponents, he otherwise looked like someone who had missed a block of training. Once again played for the B side - given he only just returned I won’t look too much into it, but it’s not the first time this summer.

Laird - looked very much at home at half back. Obviously was only against the yellow forwards but he got a stack of it and for the most part used it well. Generally moved it on quickly too which was good to see.

Milera - once again selected for the A team. Definitely moving with confidence out there although uncharacteristically had a couple of absolute sacks off the boot, including one that barely scraped the outside of his foot and went out on the full.

Dowling - more involved today which was good to see. Got some CBAs where he seemed to play more of a defensive role. Work rate was good, a number of times worked hard back into defence to provide an outlet.

Smith - bit of a mixed bag. Started like a house on fire including a lovely dash on the wing that set up the yellow team’s first goal. But also had a couple of moment he’d rather forget including a shot at goal that he should’ve passed to Pedlar, as well as being caught by Soligo which reminded me of early last season.

Draper - got heaps of opportunity at the centre bounce. Was clean with his ball take and would’ve had at least 3-4 clearances, but was a bit handball happy and got caught a couple of times. Some good signs but also some evidence he’s not quite there yet.

Borlase - played on Fogarty and despite the Fog kicking two, I thought Borlase beat him. Did some really nice body work and even had one terrific dash through traffic that I had to double check was him. Only issue I had was a couple of times he went the double fist when he should’ve backed himself to take the grab.

Gallagher - didn’t get a heap of it but took a great contested mark under serious heat, he’s deceptively strong overhead. Also kicked a nice goal and set up Pedlar’s first. Still erratic at times with ball in hand but definitely improving.

Toby Murray - could’ve had a decent day out if not for some wayward kicking at goal. There’s something there but expect some ups and downs. Good to see him get some time in the A team.

Mcandrew - aside from ROB kicking a goal on the run, I think McAndrew got the better of him again today. Outreached ROB on a number of occasions at stoppage with his sheer height. Doesn’t offer a massive amount around the ground but I was quite impressed today, and once again left a bit worried about O’Brien, who wasn’t terrible but shouldn’t be getting beaten by a state league footballer.

Keane - still having altercations with his teammates but gee he can play. Lovely soft hands and has become a master of the slight nudge to edge his opponent under the ball.

Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[bigman]

Two and a half hour session in the heat from the lads, which can’t have been much fun. Monday sessions tend to be lighter so not a big report today.

Seems I jumped the gun on Cumming, turns out there was no such hamstring injury. Bit surprised given how ordinary he was moving post-game but great news nonetheless. Also great to see Welsh train, albeit in the rehab group. No strapping on the shoulder but was wearing the fluro hat and predominately did running before heading inside.

Was also good to see Tex join the main group for most of the drills. He was held off from most of the running (as was Draper and Nankervis) but looked to be moving pretty well out there. Still feels like it could be a week to week proposition this year for the Texan given his back/hamstring issues.

Once again the lads worked on their front and centres at the feet of the big blokes. There were some interesting aerial battles here. Burgess found it tough going against Butts but was too good for Worrell at times. Thilthorpe vs Murray was a good watch - aside from a lovely one handed grab from Filthy, I’d give the points to big Muz.

There was about 20 minutes of pseudo-match sim to finish off before a bunch of running. Teams were:

Blue - Keays, Murphy, Crouch, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Murray, Dawson, Walker, Soligo, Michalanney, Rankine, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Smith, Borlase, Sholl, O’Brien, Cumming, Keane

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

A few ‘interesting’ selections that I’m sure this board will be big fans of.
Wouldn’t look too much into them unless they become a trend.

A few player thoughts:

Jones - had a great moment at half forward where he just wanted it more than Laird and intercepted the ball up at speed before setting up a goal for the white team. If he starts the year as depth, which seems likely, he’s pretty handy.

Taylor - looked a bit more upbeat today and, despite the heat, was genuinely impressive in the running. Noticed at one point he had to have his feet/ankles restrapped, like I said I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still recovering from that rolled ankle in December.

Peatling - keeps impressing me. His start to the summer was solid without being spectacular but since the Xmas break he’s really stepped it up and has become quite prominent at times out there. Had one lovely clearance from a boundary throw in where he gathered the ball at pace and streamed away. Has a lot of strings to his bow.

Nankervis - had two absolute shocking kicks that resulted in goals to the opposition, felt a bit sorry for him. Curious as to why he’s being managed - clearly something was, or perhaps still is, troubling him.

Draper - had a fun moment where he received the ball on the wing and had the arrogance to dodge past Dawson and take three bounces with the skipper chasing. Unfortunately wasn’t able to finish his work - he didn’t have anything upfield so handballed to a teammate who was already under pressure - but it’s the dare and zip you want to see. Hopefully the polish will come in time.

O’Brien - took a ripping mark on Toby Murray which left the Ibis a little worse for wear. Was easily the best clunk the big fella has taken all summer. More of that please.

 

[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.

 

[bigman]

Big chunk of match sim today. Four quarters going for 25 minutes each, so very close to actual game length.

It was a good standard too - there was a wind from the south that caused some issues but overall I thought the lads looked pretty slick and exciting. Some very nice grabs today too which had been rather absent up until now.

As far as I could tell there were no causalities from the game, though Sholl was a late scratching after doing the warm up. I’m guessing it’s related to the corkie he received on Wednesday. He was listed to play but was replaced by Jones shortly before the start of proceedings.

Thilthorpe, Ibis and Welsh all played full games despite recent issues. Nankervis and Worrell were both held off from the final term. Rankine did not do the end of session running but looked to be ok.

Teams weren’t changed until half time, after which the defensive units of both teams were essentially swapped. There were also a few changes to the midfields for the final quarter.

The original teams, once again very much an A vs B situation, were as follows (I’ll note the players which swapped teams):

Blue:

Keays (switched to yellow for Q4), Curtin
Thilthorpe
Rachele
Murray (switched to yellow for Q3 and Q4)
Pedlar
Dawson
Walker
Soligo
Michalanney (switched to yellow for Q3 and Q4)
Hinge
Rankine
Worrell (switched to yellow for Q3)
Peatling (switched to yellow for Q4)
Neal-Bullen
Laird (switched to yellow for Q3 and Q4)
Milera (switched to yellow for Q3 and Q4
Fogarty
O’Brien
Cumming
Keane

Yellow:
Berry
Murphy (switched to blue for Q4)
Crouch (switched to blue for Q3 and Q4)
Edwards (switched to blue for Q3 and Q4)
Cook
Welsh
Taylor
Burgess
Ryan (switched to blue for Q3 and Q4)
Schoenberg
Nankervis (switched to blue for Q3), Dowling
Smith (switched to blue for Q3 and Q4)
Draper (switched to blue for Q4),
Borlase (switched to blue for Q3 and Q4)
Gallagher
Drury
Toby Murray
Bond
Butts (switched to blue for Q3 and Q4)
McAndrew

Goals were: Curtin 3, Thilthorpe 3, Keays 2, Rachele 2, Burgess 2, Jones, Pedlar, Walker, Soligo, Taylor, Rankine, Schoenberg, Neal-Bullen, Dowling, Fogarty, T.Murray

I also recorded the centre bounce attendances except for the rucks (O’Brien and McAndrew did the bulk of the work with a couple each from Thilthorpe and Toby Murray).

CBAs:
Crouch - 22
Schoenberg - 21
Peatling - 20
Berry - 20
Draper - 18
Dawson - 16
Rankine - 15 (played forward in Q4)
Soligo - 13
Keays - 7
Rachele - 5
Taylor - 4
Dowling - 1

Standouts for mine were Rankine (surprise), Neal-Bullen, Schoenberg, Thilthorpe, Worrell, Peatling, Soligo and Berry but most impressed in some way. Only a few had quiet games (Welsh, Gallagher, Hinge, Ryan and Tex didn’t have big days).

Thoughts on a bunch of players:

Keays - played forward and was solid before swapping to the yellow side for the final quarter and into the guts. Ironically kicked his two goals playing midfield and probably looked the sharpest I’ve seen him this summer.

Berry - has his work cut out for him to play round one but deserves it if he does. Only had the one bad fumble and was quite prolific at times for the yellow side, both at stoppage and around the ground. Doing a lot right.

Crouch - was strangely quiet for the yellow side - Berry and Schoenberg were far more influential - and even dropped a sitter which cost a goal. Swapped to the blues in the second half and quickly found his groove. Not concerned.

Curtin - played mostly forward but also spend some time on the wing which was interesting. Kicked three goals and was typically classy with the pill. Not a huge aerial threat today but finds ways to get involved. Laid a great run down tackle on butts on the 50 line and proceeded to dob the goal.

Thilthorpe - bit in and out of the game but when he was hot he was easily one of the most influential. Took a number of clunk marks including one on Murray where he was just too big and too good.

Pedlar - scrappy but I liked his endeavour and he seemed to enjoy his time in the blue side. Could’ve kicked three if not for some wayward shots. Not sure he plays round one but should get some confidence from today.

Soligo - played a mix of midfield and forward. Was super clean at the coal face and showed why he needs to play more there. Ball use was sharp even when against the wind.

Taylor - really liked his game. Despite playing forward for the yellow side he quickly got involved and I enjoyed his energy, both with ball in hand and his tackling. Kicked a lovely goal from 50 as well. Moved into the guts for the third term and unsurprisingly had several clearances. Moved back forward to make room for Keays in the last and went quiet, but pleasingly was one of the best in the running at the end.

Burgess - another good day at the office. Definitely seen an uptick in his intensity and work rate lately. Not easy playing key forward for the yellow side but he’s lifted no doubt.

Worrell - the best defender today in my view. Had a number of intercepts including a ripping specky in the second term. Sat the last quarter out but impressed me a lot.

Schoenberg - similar to Berry, up against it to break into the midfield but is doing a lot right. Intensity is top notch and is strong over the ball. Does love a whinge at the umpires however!

Neal-Bullen - was very good. Seemed to be involved in a lot of scores and was noticeably clean on the deck. Very unselfish footballer too.

Draper - couldn’t win a clearance for the yellow team but took a couple impressive marks that surprised me. Switched to the blues for the last and would have had at least four clearances where exited the stoppage at pace.

O’Brien - thought Mcandrew out reached and out jumped him too much at stoppages again, but he did finish off the game quite well as his opponent tired. Still a worry with his form I think, he needs a couple big praccy games.

Cumming - aside from a lovely mark over Murphy, seemed to be in cruise control and didn’t do a heap. Seemed to get through unscathed though and hopefully gets motoring over the next few weeks.

I’ll discuss a few more players later but feel free to ask questions.

 

[bigman]

Given many of you would’ve watched the internal on Friday, there’s not a whole lot more for me to add so I’ll keep it nice and short.

I wouldn’t expect Rankine or Sholl to play at Mount Barker. Rankine was a no show while Sholl was solely running laps with Max in the rehab group and had a heavily strapped right knee. He was rather ginger to start with, though he was moving better by the end of the session, but I’d be shocked if he played. Not sure he’s tracking great for round one.

Butts was also a no show so unless he missed due to a personal reason, I’m assuming he could be absent on Friday evening as well.

There didn’t appear to be any new injuries today thankfully. So hypothetically Max, Rankine, Sholl, Butts and Strachan will be the only ones unavailable on Friday.

There was some match sim near the end of the session. Teams were as follows:

Blue
FB: Murray Keane Worrell
HB: Bond Laird Milera
_C: Curtin Soligo Jones
HF: ANB Peatling Keays
FF: Fogarty Walker Thilthorpe
_R: O’Brien Dawson Crouch
INT: Rachele Cumming Draper

White
FB: Hinge Borlase Edwards
HB: Ryan Smith Nankervis
_C: Cook Berry Dowling
HF: Taylor Murphy Pedlar
FF: Welsh Burgess Murray
_R: Mcandrew Schoenberg Drury
INT: Gallagher

Now obviously this isn’t a definite indication of our starting side on Friday but it should go pretty close. At the very least it would suggest that Bond is the preferred replacement for Max, which makes sense even though I still think Nank is getting unfairly ignored.

As for the match sim, it was over pretty quickly so not a heap to take out of it. The intensity and skill level was pretty good though, the boys aren’t holding back a whole lot.

Just a few player thoughts:

Jones - beautifully read a switch of play from Edwards, getting the intercept and snapping the goal. If Sholl is to miss round one it would seem Chayce is the likely replacement at this stage, given he was in the As both last week and today.

Curtin - trained with the forwards for much of the session but was on the wing in match sim, so expect him to spend some time there on Friday.

Laird/Smith - wasn’t impressed by the ball use of either today. I fully expect Laird to play round one but a couple times today he failed to execute properly going inside 50, going long and high when the short pass would’ve been much better. Smith on the other hand turned it over a couple times exiting out of defence, including one poor switch which led to a Rachele goal.

Borlase - took a lovely intercept mark and received some love from Godden after the match sim. In a tricky place given we have better key defenders but I’d be curious as to who would be next in line, him or Butts.

T. Murray - his body work and timing has improved markedly over the last few weeks. Once again today he got into a great position to take a couple of pack marks, unfortunately his hands deserted him. If he can get more consistency in the air, he could be something. Liked what I saw from him in Port Pirie too.

 

[bigman]

I’d be quite surprised if Tex plays on Thursday. He came out to watch training today but didn’t participate at all. I’m assuming we don’t want him flying up to Brisbane, which makes sense.

Aside from Strachan, Max was the only other not to do any training. He came down late to watch but was obviously doing work inside.

Sholl trained but still has considerable strapping on his right knee and his lateral movement looked a little hampered. It does seem as though he might play on Thursday night though.

Rachele trained but didn’t do the last section for whatever reason. Rankine and Cumming were back and looked good.

Butts copped a knee from Thilthorpe late and finished training early. He didn’t seem too sore thankfully.

Training was pretty short today but gee the kicking and transition was sharp. Very little wind which would’ve helped. There was about 15 mins of match sim as well, with the teams as follows:

Blue
FB: Murray Keane Worrell
HB: Hinge Laird Milera
C: Sholl Soligo Cumming
HF: N-Bullen Rankine Keays
FF: Fogarty Curtin Thilthorpe
R: O’Brien Crouch Peatling
IN: Dawson Bond

White
FB: Butts Borlase Edwards
HB: Ryan Smith Nankervis
C: Jones Berry Dowling
HF: Taylor Murphy Cook
FF: Pedlar Burgess Murray
R: McAndrew Schoenberg Draper
IN: Drury Gallagher Welsh

Unless there’s an issue, you’d think Rachele plays Thursday night so that’s 21 out of 26 accounted for. Curious to see who the other five would be - you’d think Nankervis, Jones, Pedlar and maybe Dowling would be good chances.

Draper is the interesting one. I think he will probably travel as well but worth noting that in the various drills before the match sim, he was in a group consisting entirely of players in our B team from last Friday night.

Match sim was very short so hard to judge the players, must say though that the whites were actually the superior team which was amusing. Nankervis and Ryan in particular were very good across half back and hit some lovely kicks, which allowed quick transition for some easy goals out the back. Dowling was also once again very good, he’s in some solid touch at the moment.

 

[bigman]

Good to watch some match sim today even if it was just a half.

Thankfully no injuries to come out of it from what I could tell, although I have missed them in the past.

Unfortunately however Thilthorpe was relegated to doing running and light skills on the sidelines. I didn’t think he looked particularly hampered, hopefully nothing more than just managing a sore spot.

Keane was also training alongside Filthy and looked to be moving well, I’d be surprised if he didn’t suit up for the Saints game. Jones and Strachan were no shows unsurprisingly but Bond also missed a second consecutive session, not sure what’s the go is there? Cook and Burgess were also absent.

The scratch match consisted of one 25 minute flat quarter, and one 26 minute quarter in which the final 8 minutes had the scoreboard altered so that the A team were trailing by 13 points. They didn’t claw it back however, with each side kicking one goal apiece.

Teams remained the same for both quarters and were as follows

White
FB: Worrell Murray Michalanney
HB: Hinge Laird Milera
_C: Cumming Crouch Sholl
HF: Neal-Bullen Peatling Keays
FF: Fogarty Walker Curtin
_R: O’Brien Dawson Soligo
INT: Rachele Rankine

Yellow:
FB: Madgen Butts Borlase
HB: Edwards Smith Ryan
_C: Nankervis Schoenberg Dowling
HF: Taylor Murphy Gallagher
FF: Pedlar Murray Welsh
_R: McAndrew Berry Draper

INT: Drury

Goals: Keays 3, Rachele 3, Walker, Murphy, Soligo, Taylor, Rankine

Centre Bounce Attendances (out of 13):

White
O’Brien - 13
Crouch - 10
Peatling - 9
Soligo - 8
Dawson - 6
Rankine - 3
Rachele - 3

Yellow
Schoenberg - 13
Mcandrew - 12
Berry - 12
Draper - 12
Drury - 1
Taylor - 1

Dawson, Soligo and Peatling rotated between the midfield and forward line. Rankine played primarily as a high forward pushing up to stoppages.

I’ll go through a bunch of players but among the best were Soligo, Keays, Schoenberg, Rachele, Rankine, Worrell and Draper.

Some player thoughts:

Curtin - struggled to get into it unfortunately. To be honest Fog was the only tall who had any real influence. Feels like he’s second guessing himself aerially at present, I’d like to see him attack the ball with more confidence and intensity like Toby Murray has been doing.

Rachele - looked sharp after having some time off with that corky. Kicked a lovely goal from 50. Also got a few cbas and looked alright in there. His kicking is pinpoint at the moment.

Murray - played mostly on his younger brother and got the better of him.

Pedlar - barely touched it. Hoping he didn’t get an injury that I may have missed? Otherwise just had a very quiet one.

Soligo - number of times was able to get space on the attacking side of the stoppage and stream forward. Doing some exciting things at the moment.

Max - hard to judge whether the thumb was an issue or not as didn’t take any intercept marks. Had a couple of nice runs from half back though. Wearing the fluro hat but think he’ll be there round one.

Welsh - needs to stop running under the ball. He’s a capable aerialist but for whatever reason is struggling with his judgement at the moment.

Taylor - kicked a nice goal but otherwise quiet in the dreaded graveyard forward role for the B team.

Ryan - did a lovely dash through the corridor where he really broke the lines, ultimately resulting in the Taylor goal. Is now in a nice bit of form, hopefully hits the ground running in the sanfl and pushes his case.

Rankine - probably a bit too clever at times but he was very good. Curious as to why his cbas were low. Rachele did take some but it’s still a bit of a change from the norm. Perhaps it was to give Peatling more inside time.

Worrell - showing signs of a breakout year with his intercept marking and use from defence. Laid a ripping smother too.

Schoenberg - thought he was yellow’s best mid. Going full bore at everything and looks quick and dynamic out there. Almost kicked a ripping goal on the run. A victim of our improved midfield depth.

Nankervis - quieter game than his recent outings but still wild to me that Milera got the nod ahead of him. If you look at that A team there’s three spots to be filled and Keane and Filthy will obviously take two. So unless Curtin drops out, which would be harsh given his excellent summer, it’d be out of Nank and Draper for the last spot. Both should be playing.

Laird - probably the most prolific of our half backs. Ball use was a bit conservative but no doubting his ability to rack up back there and be part of our rebounds.

Milera - did one or two nice things, but I’m still not seeing a player who is demanding to be picked for round one and yet he seems to be in serious contention. Maybe there’s a grand plan and he’ll start in the SANFL but usually a trend is a trend for a reason.

Fogarty - played the highest up the ground of our tall forwards and was the most involved. Didn’t hit the scoreboard but was key in several goals with his marks on the lead and unselfishness with the ball.

Draper - not a heap of clearances but he often got the second possession out of stoppage and looked to put the jets on when he could. Had one outstanding moment at half forward where he blind turned and sped past a defender, sadly his kick just missed the target. Also liked his hands to the advantage of teammates today. Didn’t do any of the end of session running but he looks confident and ready.

Borlase - took a great intercept mark on Tex. Later that quarter flew at a pack and got badly winded, thankfully was able to recover and keep playing.

Cumming - got a stack of it in the first term. Quieter in the second but you love seeing the ball in his hands, his kicking and decision making will be very important for us.

Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[bigman]

Great to be back. Not sure the boys were feeling the same by the end of the session though, she was hot!

This is probably my favourite session of the pre season as we get to see who has really put in the hard yards to get a step ahead of their teammates. No time trial today (that’ll likely be next week) but still plenty to take out of it.

Most of the squad was there aside from a few absences. Interestingly Dawson wasn’t there, while Draper apparently was but didn’t train outside at all. No Sholl, Neal-Bullen or Cumming. No Ah Chee either but he’s not allowed to be back training yet seeing as he played in the GF.

Thankfully not too many in the rehab group. Fog was in there and probably needs to fine down a touch over the next few weeks, doesn’t look in peak condition. Max and Hinge were also in rehab though Hinge looked basically ready to return to the main group. Max seems not too far off, did a mix of running and bike work along with Fog.

The biggest body change would probably go to Edwards. Last year he returned like a player who had eased off a bit, but this year he’s incredibly trim. I’d wager he’s dropped at least 3-4 kilos. Puts him in really good stead to impress the coaches.

As for the fittest, time trials are yet to come but clearly Rankine and Curtin are right up there. Rankine looks supremely fit and Curtin moved as good as I’ve seen - plus he trained without knee strapping for the first time. Both dominated the end of session running block, putting a sizeable gap on their teammates.

I was surprised just how quick and energetic the drills were. There wasn’t much easing in at all after the initial warm up, it was pretty gung ho actually. Skills were pretty sharp though the typical rust showed up from time to time, particularly late as the temperature reached 30 degrees and fatigue really set in.

Marsh and Cotton did a surprising amount of work for their first session, only being held out of the running part. It was certainly a lot more than Draper and Welsh did last year.

Ludowyke is still recovering from his PCL injury and was solely on the bike. Poor bloke was buggered by the end of it and looked to be chucking his breakfast up. The lads got around him as he was cycling which was good to see, Rachele even spraying water in his mouth and Tex having a chat which I’m sure is surreal for the kid.

Both Marsh and Cotton handled themselves well. Marsh is a great shape for a footballer and his kicking class already stands out. Loved seeing him put on a step to get out of trouble in defence during one of the drills.

Cotton was particularly impressive. Took a little bit of time to get into it but soon found his confidence and took a couple of lovely grabs at full stretch including an intercept mark on Laird. Ball drop is a touch loose but nothing worrying. Moves great for his height and although on the skinny side has the frame to put on size.

Maley is more solid than I thought, quite thick in the legs. Reasonable mover though a bit of a waddler. As expected, hands were good but kicking action leaves a lot to be desired. Had one awful grubber out of defence that led to an opposition goal.

Just to clarify, there were no set positions or groups of any kind. There were also no train on players though Drury was there and it would appear Strachan will play again this year as was training in the rehab group.

Aside from Rankine and Curtin, I thought Soligo was the other standout today. Looks noticeably trimmer than this time last year and clearly had his acceleration back.

Some player notes:

1. Jones - wish he played like he trained. Still looks a touch stocky to me but he trained great, can’t see how he gets into the team though unless we cop a bunch of injuries.

2. Keays - did most of the session, and as always was the last to head inside after doing a bunch of goal kicking practice. Has shaved the locks again.

3. Berry - looks super fit and noticeably tanned. Has his work cut out though after his finish to the year.

7. Thilthorpe - was great as you’d expect, not sure about the bucket hat though.

8. Rachele - looks in good nick though he did languish a little in the running. Trained with sunnies on which is questionable…

9. Murray - trained pretty well but is still pretty bulky, hopefully can get his speed and agility back this summer.

10. Pedlar - looks pretty trim and moved well, kicking was great. Curious to see his time trial.

15. Cook - definitely the best he’s looked physically though im not sure he will ever look ripped like some of his teammates.

17. Welsh - not rock hard fit but certainly an improvement. Kept up just fine in the running though there wasn’t a heap of it. Will be an interesting watch.

19. Taylor - didn’t see any noticeable change in physique but did fine in the running and thought he trained particularly well in the full ground drill where his class stood out.

21. Bond - just a much more assured player than his early days. Unsurprisingly is in great condition.

22. Ryan - pleasingly looks to have bulked up a bit more which should help break tackles and not lose possession which he is susceptible to doing at times.

27. Nankervis - still very light but think he just has that body shape which struggles to put on size.

31. Dowling - similar to Ryan looks to have added some much needed size, though he will never be a particularly big lad with those skinny shoulders.

41. Butts - bit of an Adonis these days! Seriously impressive build, looks real fit. Good sign.

42. McAndrew - for his height his foot skills and mobility are actually pretty good. Similar to Strachan though he appears to struggle putting on much size, though with the new rules it may not matter as much.

Early sessions are more about seeing who’s there, who’s not and which players look fit and primed. Overall I was pretty chuffed with that I saw today. It wasn’t the longest sesh (90 mins) but despite the heat I thought the energy was good and there wasn’t much lethargy at all.

My comments will get more detailed as I see more sessions and match sim starts, for now it’s mainly about what shape they’re in.

As always, feel free to ask any questions.

 

[bigman]

Second session down.

Despite being quite windy and a few key players missing, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of today’s training. Ball skills and marking are still a bit rusty as you’d expect but the general intensity seems really good for this time of year.

Numbers were again pleasing though there were a few different names compared to Monday. No Tex, Milera or Laird this time, but Dawson returned as did Sholl. Berry was absent today as was Peatling, while ANB, Cumming and Ah Chee are yet to return.

Hinge did a bit of the session which was good to see. Fog and Max are still in the rehab group, not sure the issue with Max. Suspect he’s not far away rejoining the main group. Draper was again a no show, I guess they’re working on something in the gym? Seems strange he hasn’t set foot on the oval yet.

Marsh was only allowed to run laps while Ludowyke did some handball work before heading into the gym. He’s a huge lad, will fill out a lot with those shoulders. Cotton did almost the entire session save for the running.

The two train ons (McGuane and Foot) both did the bulk of training. Interestingly McGuane was eased into it - while the boys did the early drills, he was working with the high performance guys on his burst speed and quick feet. Both McGuane and Foot were held off from the running portion of training, as was Dawson and Keays.

One drill that really caught my eye today was full-ground and had the corridor coned off and filled with coaches, meaning it was a no go zone. Instead they had to move the ball up and down the wings. Additionally, whenever a team scored, they would remain the attacking side and have to immediately move the ball from defence. Typically in most drills, after a score the ball is handed to the opposition or the coaches. This change meant players had to be really switched on and not get caught out on the rebound.

Another interesting one was late in the session and was basically the AFL combine kicking test. Players had six kicks to make, three left and three right of varying distances, with teammates standing in hoops and not allowed to leave the hoop to receive the footy. Basically they had to be perfect kicks. Only half a dozen did this drill, but my boy Taylor was the standout, hitting 4 of 6, while Ryan (3) the runner up. Both very impressive given gusts of 40km. Curtin surprisingly was the worst of the group - I blame the fact he wore knee strapping again! Not sure the deal with that, one of the great mysteries.

The running at the end wasn’t too arduous, just end to end strides with 10–15 secs in between. Curtin, Dowling and Pedlar generally led the pack. Pleasingly, Welsh did not labour one bit. His time trial will be interesting but there’s no doubt he’s fitter at the moment.

As for the standout trainer, it has to be Cook. In the two larger-scale drills today he was the most dominant and really covered the ground, working up and down the wing. Had a few contested wins including two on Pedlar, took a few intercept grabs and was typically excellent with the ball. The penny seemed to drop for this lad late last year, he became a force in the sanfl and a different player. Hopefully he keeps riding that momentum this summer.

Some other player notes:

7. Thilthorpe - if you were concerned at all he might come back sluggish, don’t be. Ran like a greyhound out there, including one burst through the centre a 200cm bloke just shouldn’t do.

8. Rachele - no sunnies today. Looks fit though was a bit quiet during today’s drills, but whenever he gets the ball you can basically guarantee he will hit a target.

9. Murray - should clarify that he’s quite bulky but in great condition, I just think he could stand to lose a bit of that muscle. Had a ground ball where he wasn’t agile enough to beat his opponent, still an area he needs to improve.

10. Pedlar - beaten twice by Cook which isn’t ideal, but he’s certainly training with real energy and looks leaner to the eye. Kicking sharp again, bit more composed.

12. Dawson - think he’s not in quite as good condition as this time last year but that’s not a shock given the foot injury. Still trained really well, he’s a class above at times out there.

17. Welsh - like I said, has definitely slimmed down a bit and improved his running. And what a shock, he was able to get involved a lot more in the full-ground drills, even pushing up to take marks at half back.

19. Taylor - has probably bulked up more than I gave him credit for on Monday, though he’s still by no means a huge lad. Is definitely more involved so far this summer and training with more confidence, it’s amazing what extended time at AFL level can do.

21. Bond - similar to Taylor but his improvement in the last two years has been even more substantial. He’s a much more composed and confident player now with his decision making and ball use.

23. Rankine - is ready to play right now. He’s the best prepared on the list.

27. Nankervis - had a good session particularly with his kicking which seemed to desert him last year. Hopefully Nicksy doesn’t kill his confidence this time around.

33. Cotton - was good again. Made a few blues but for a bloke who hadn’t played footy in years, he kept running to the right spots and got used a lot in transition. Seems a pretty calm decision maker which I like. No idea where he will play yet, personally I like the idea of half back/wing for now. Curious to see if he has inside chops.

38. Foot - broad, strong lad and with the curly dark hair and tan I got him confused with Bond once or twice. Seems a good athlete, but my doubts remain from his draft year over his kicking and decision making. Willing to give him more time as it was windy and I’ve no doubt he was nervous.

40. McGuane - pretty much as expected. He’s very light, but knows where to run and is a neat player and good with his hands. Kicking lacks a bit of guts though, bit Crouch-like in that regard. Also one thing I noticed from his draft year is that too often he takes too long to move the ball on after a mark, and that was the case again today. Think he gets paralysis by choice.

41. Butts - mentioned it last time but I’ll mention it again, he’s in incredible nick. With his tan he looks in supreme condition out there, certainly no excess bulk.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[bigman]

And so the first week of pre-season comes to an end.

Nearly everyone showed up in some form or fashion today, bar a select few - Ah Chee, ANB and Rankine. Cumming made his first appearance for the year, while Sid finally showed his face - although he only watched from the sidelines alongside Ludowyke.

The rehab group was much the same as previous. Fog, Max and Strachan did a chunk of running and were joined by Marsh who was again held off from main training. Hinge and Keays were managed at times while Soligo finished up before the late session running. Rachele and Tex did their running work separately rather than with the main group, but otherwise trained fully. Foot, McGuane and Cotton were once again held off from the running portion. I’m surprised Foot didn’t have to do the running given his age and experience.

Curtin trained without knee strapping unlike Wednesday. I wonder if the new fitness bloke is trying to ween him off the bandage? It’s a curious case nonetheless. Jones and Pedlar both wore some slight knee strapping but neither seemed hindered in any way.

After the warm up, which involved sprint work, there was a ‘gauntlet’ drill which started with a loose ball at half back and focussed on moving the ball up the wing quickly with fast hands and speed, with opposition players trying to put on frontal pressure and cut them off.

The squad then split up into three different drills which they would rotate through. One was all about ground ball and quick hands in traffic whilst being tackled. Another was inside 50 entries from the corridor kicking to a solitary lead, while the other group was at half back and had one designated kicker (Tex, Dawson) choosing between multiple leading options on the wing.

The final main drill involved three teams with two active at a time, and similar to Wednesday would only allow ball movement via the wings. Each time there was a score, the ball would then have to move via the opposite wing. With one team rotating in and out, plus the attacking side becoming the defenders and vice versa, it was quite the complicated drill and really emphasised maintaining concentration - it also looked pretty buggering!

Finally the lads finished up with a bit more running than they had done the previous two sessions. The group would stride from one end of the ground to the other at about 80%, before jogging back and doing it all over again about 7-8 times. Usual suspects Dowling and Curtin were often leading the pack but the surprises near the front were Pedlar, Butts and, believe it or not, Welsh. Pleasingly no one was really languishing at the back - Laird was one of the slower runners but to be fair he’s not even required to be training yet and was likely just pacing himself.

Probably no absolute standout today though I was once again impressed by Cook’s intensity out there, he’s really involving himself and training with vigour which he needs to in a contract year. Seems to be in a good space. Pedlar was the other one - he was a ball of energy today, ran to the right spots and used it really well, often hitting targets on his right boot.

Other player notes:

6. Curtin - late in the session the lads broke into different groups to work on specific skills. Dan worked with the two rucks on reading their taps at stoppage and taking the ball at speed. A good little sign for his midfield chances.

11. Edwards - they did the same kicking test as Wednesday with the hoops, and in today’s group it was Edwards who performed best hitting 5 of the 6 stationary targets. Got a bunch of congrats from the boys. Is moving really well with his sleeker physique and used his speed a bit more. Worth noting in the final drill he appeared to be playing across half back, though I’m not sure how locked-in positions are yet.

20. Hinge - did almost all the session and looks really fit. A few times he was able to shrug tackles with a swivel of the hips and his general movement and speed was sharp. Big year for him after falling away last season.

22. Ryan - early days still but just want to see a bit more razzle dazzle from him, he’s playing a bit within himself and not showing quite the same flair as he did in year one. Not training poorly, just a bit pedestrian.

27. Nankervis - good again today. Took a serious contested mark on the far wing and his kicking has generally been rock solid. We need to find a way to get him in the team, he has too many AFL qualities.

31. Dowling - mentioned it in a previous report but there’s no doubt he has bulked up a fair bit from last year where I thought he was just too skinny. Still not a beast by any measure but he’s obviously put in the work and hopefully it helps his contested game which has been a weakness.

32. Fogarty - still in the rehab group and a little bit chunky particularly through the legs, but it is impressive seeing his work rate out there. He led the running even with Max being there and covers the ground better than he probably should.

33. Cotton - bit quieter today but just does some things that make you take notice. One instance was a reflex intercept where he jumped and stuck an arm out to intercept a handball, very clearly a basketball trait. Got lots of love for it. Also a very nice mark at full stretch.

36. Maley - did surprisingly well in the kicking test (3 out of 6 - Curtin only got 1 for comparison!) but you can see the cogs turning in his head when he gets it. Just not a natural footballer.

38. Sholl - about as muscly as I’ve seen him which isn’t saying much, but he does look in great condition and trained well. It’s easy to forget that he was really quite good in 2024 and I think that pre season knee injury really affected him last year.

40. McGuane - likes to put a nice little flourish on his kick and is a neat player, but gee he looks small out there even compared to short blokes like Rachele. Seems a good trainer and no-fuss player but I’m not seeing anything to really excite me yet.

41. Butts - the Adonis! Even his running is the best I’ve seen from him. Still an awkward kick of course but he’s going to give Murray serious competition this year.

42. McAndrew - surprisingly good skills for a bloke his size and pretty mobile too. If he can take advantage of his height in marking contests he could be an asset with the new rules as he jumps better than ROB, not that that’s a huge achievement.

47. Foot - still hard to judge as he struggled to get involved today. Looks the part with his speed, size and general movement, but his kicking action isn’t fluent at all. He seems to pause just before kicking and it’s an odd ball drop. I’ll wait a bit longer to make a call but I’m not enamoured with either of the train ons, for different reasons.

Feel free to ask questions.