canbracrow
Rookie
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2004
- Posts
- 49
- Reaction score
- 15
- Location
- Port Moresby PNG
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Norwood
The team arrived in Canberra late Sunday night on a direct flight from Adelaide. Met by the committee and members of the ACT Supporter Group, crowACTive, the team were in good spirits and looking forward to their Canberra stay. They arrived with plenty of equipment including about 8 bikes.
On Monday the boys were out to Ainslie Oval (by far the best surface in Canberra – like a billiard table with no centre wicket area, football only here) by around 9.30 for what turned out to be a long session, not finishing until around 12.20. It was hot, around 30+ for most of the session. Working the bikes for the whole session were Hentschel, Biglands and Tippett – he is a big barrel-chested kid who staff seem to be very impressed with so far. Working laps and run-throughs were Vince, Birdman, Gill and a couple of other young guys I didn’t recognise. Stiffy alternated between running laps and joining the main group. Massie helped out around the field, sporting two nice big black eyes.
The boys started with the usual set of warm ups, followed by some easy kick to kick and then end to end footy moving drills. Back into more running and stretching before some competitive work in small groups, first using the tennis ball and then with the footy. This high intensity drill had them running a small interchange system with each group. Watchers noted the speed with which the player needed to get rid of the ball and how hard the tackling was.
They conducted an exercise working the ball in groups through three groups spread between FF and CHB with red jumpers opposing. It was a delight to watch Bunji weave his way out of defence although there were gasps from the watchers when he got well and truly nailed on one occasion in a great tackle.
The group finished with a high intensity drill running the ball the length of the ground through the midfield and delivering to the forwards, often leaving the full forward area clear and having the forward players (Roo, Bock) run in towards the square on the lead. Jericho and Mattner running through the midfield from half back, Perrie and Bock moved very well along with the usual midfield suspects. This was the final drill on a very hot morning. While the preceding drills had some level of mistakes, this drill highlighted the session as a whole, sharp crisp movement with very few fumbles. Porps and Meesen wore the space helmets. Bock came off a little earlier than the main group complaining of a very slight strain at the top of his left thigh. Seemed to be okay though – perhaps just a twinge.
After training, the boys were very gracious in sitting out and giving their time to the local supporters who were there to see them. Unlike our counterparts in the home state, this is only the second time in memory that the Club has been in the ACT – the last being a loss to the Kangas a few years back – and so having the club here is a very special event for us.
Below is an article from the Canberra Times that might also be of interest.
Adelaide finds road to recovery's in Canberra
Merryn Sherwood
Adelaide coach Neil Craig hopes the world-class facilities at the AIS will help the Crows overcome their September bogey. The Crows - pace-setters for the past two home-and-away season only to fall over twice at the preliminary final - began their five-day Canberra training camp yesterday. "We have been training really hard," Craig said after a 150-minute session at Ainslie yesterday. "But part of the plan was to really maximise the facilities in Canberra and one of the greatest facilities they have at the Australian Institute of Sport is their recovery facilities. So we will work hard and then get into recovery, both nutritional and the water and the massages and more."
Craig said the camp was designed to help the Crows get back into rhythm after the Christmas break. "We are really just trying to maximise our preparation, mainly just trying to practice travelling and then having to train and all the things you get exposed to in the season proper," Craig said.
The sports-scientist turned coach said he would make the most of contacts he acquired while involved in Australia's elite cycling program. "It's always nice to go to any facility and have a network of people you know," Craig said. "Damien Farrow in particular from the AIS has done some work directly for us, mainly on decision-making and we are making some great progress in that area now."
The players were involved in decision-making at training yesterday, with radio head-sets buried in padded water-polo helmets providing a modern way for coaching staff to communicate with players. Football manager Graeme Dunstan said the ability to talk to players while they were completing drills wasn't all about encouragement. "Sometimes we actually just yell into the head-set and just try and bombard players with so much information and really try and distract them," he said. "So when it comes to game time they can shut out distraction and really focus on what they have to do." Craig said the head-sets had proved valuable. "We use it in an instructional kind of view, where you can communicate directly with the player, the next step is the player coming back to the coach," he said.
On Monday the boys were out to Ainslie Oval (by far the best surface in Canberra – like a billiard table with no centre wicket area, football only here) by around 9.30 for what turned out to be a long session, not finishing until around 12.20. It was hot, around 30+ for most of the session. Working the bikes for the whole session were Hentschel, Biglands and Tippett – he is a big barrel-chested kid who staff seem to be very impressed with so far. Working laps and run-throughs were Vince, Birdman, Gill and a couple of other young guys I didn’t recognise. Stiffy alternated between running laps and joining the main group. Massie helped out around the field, sporting two nice big black eyes.
The boys started with the usual set of warm ups, followed by some easy kick to kick and then end to end footy moving drills. Back into more running and stretching before some competitive work in small groups, first using the tennis ball and then with the footy. This high intensity drill had them running a small interchange system with each group. Watchers noted the speed with which the player needed to get rid of the ball and how hard the tackling was.
They conducted an exercise working the ball in groups through three groups spread between FF and CHB with red jumpers opposing. It was a delight to watch Bunji weave his way out of defence although there were gasps from the watchers when he got well and truly nailed on one occasion in a great tackle.
The group finished with a high intensity drill running the ball the length of the ground through the midfield and delivering to the forwards, often leaving the full forward area clear and having the forward players (Roo, Bock) run in towards the square on the lead. Jericho and Mattner running through the midfield from half back, Perrie and Bock moved very well along with the usual midfield suspects. This was the final drill on a very hot morning. While the preceding drills had some level of mistakes, this drill highlighted the session as a whole, sharp crisp movement with very few fumbles. Porps and Meesen wore the space helmets. Bock came off a little earlier than the main group complaining of a very slight strain at the top of his left thigh. Seemed to be okay though – perhaps just a twinge.
After training, the boys were very gracious in sitting out and giving their time to the local supporters who were there to see them. Unlike our counterparts in the home state, this is only the second time in memory that the Club has been in the ACT – the last being a loss to the Kangas a few years back – and so having the club here is a very special event for us.
Below is an article from the Canberra Times that might also be of interest.
Adelaide finds road to recovery's in Canberra
Merryn Sherwood
Adelaide coach Neil Craig hopes the world-class facilities at the AIS will help the Crows overcome their September bogey. The Crows - pace-setters for the past two home-and-away season only to fall over twice at the preliminary final - began their five-day Canberra training camp yesterday. "We have been training really hard," Craig said after a 150-minute session at Ainslie yesterday. "But part of the plan was to really maximise the facilities in Canberra and one of the greatest facilities they have at the Australian Institute of Sport is their recovery facilities. So we will work hard and then get into recovery, both nutritional and the water and the massages and more."
Craig said the camp was designed to help the Crows get back into rhythm after the Christmas break. "We are really just trying to maximise our preparation, mainly just trying to practice travelling and then having to train and all the things you get exposed to in the season proper," Craig said.
The sports-scientist turned coach said he would make the most of contacts he acquired while involved in Australia's elite cycling program. "It's always nice to go to any facility and have a network of people you know," Craig said. "Damien Farrow in particular from the AIS has done some work directly for us, mainly on decision-making and we are making some great progress in that area now."
The players were involved in decision-making at training yesterday, with radio head-sets buried in padded water-polo helmets providing a modern way for coaching staff to communicate with players. Football manager Graeme Dunstan said the ability to talk to players while they were completing drills wasn't all about encouragement. "Sometimes we actually just yell into the head-set and just try and bombard players with so much information and really try and distract them," he said. "So when it comes to game time they can shut out distraction and really focus on what they have to do." Craig said the head-sets had proved valuable. "We use it in an instructional kind of view, where you can communicate directly with the player, the next step is the player coming back to the coach," he said.
We'll look after you up here! 
