Carlton Forums Training Thread

[Blueboy16]

Training Report 3/1/2008

by EBIAC

An informative enjoyable read.

GO BLUES!

 

[Big Bad Sammus]

Training Report[/B] 3/1/2008

by EBIAC

Exceptional report EBIAC!!! x 1 billion.

Just a couple of quick questions....

1. Did Gibbsy look as if he had put on some mass?
2. When Juddy did participate, were his moves as silky as they always have been?
3. How did Hampson go?

Thanks champ!

 

[Beloved]

Training Report[/B] 3/1/2008

by EBIAC

Exceptional report EBIAC!!! x 1 billion.

Just a couple of quick questions....

1. Did Gibbsy look as if he had put on some mass?
2. When Juddy did participate, were his moves as silky as they always have been?
3. How did Hampson go?

Thanks champ!

Why, thank you very much.

1. Gibbs is slowly but surely building some mass. I finally got his autograph today and got a close up look, and he's well on the way to developing some muscle.
2. Judd started out with the main group, although his skills could have been a whole lot more silkier, but it's expected day 1 back at the office.
3. He did well today, aside from a few mental errors e.g handpasses to invisible players, things like that. Just small mental problems.

I think some of the boys had the yips.

 

[NWTYRX]

Also went down today. EddieBets has pretty much covered everything. Skills at times were disappointing, but other than that it was fairly good comeback session

I didn't see it in the report, but Stevens, Scotland, Hoops, Fev and Saddo didn't train, but I'm assured they'll be back on Saturday

 

[Bluebear]

Training Report 3/1/2008

by EBIAC


Sorry everyone for my lack of detail, and my tendancy to do very poorly at write ups.

Shame on you


NOT!

If there is one thing that is not lacking here its detail.

Nice job.

 

[Beloved]

Shame on you


NOT!

If there is one thing that is not lacking here its detail.

Nice job.

Thanks alot, if all goes to plan, i'll be heading down on Saturday morning aswell and hopefully completing another write-up.

 

[BrizzyBlue]

Righto Guys,
The first ones for the New Year are in. These are all from Talking Carlton: Thanks to Dane, pj canus, spartak, Mrs Caz and blu944.

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=647004#647004

Danes First:

well! here we go. this will be interesting.
Thursday 3rd January.
*Judd, Aisake, Hadley & Pfieffer in injury group (did tackling bag practice, and handball drills)
*Carrots, Fish and Blackwell running laps
*Walker dragging weights around the ground.
*Waite didn't look like he had much if any in the way of facial lacerations.
*Gibbs looked pretty sharp.
*Edwards impressed looks like he will get a game this year.
*Didn't see Fevola, he may have been there but I couldn't see him.
*Eddie looked good after Christmas
*Big K doesn't look like he will play for a while, he's miles off in the muscle department.
*Blackers is tiny, I think he will never get there.
*Ratts is very vocal, seems a good coach.
*It was hot.
*Benji was pretty sloppy all day.
*There were about 100+ people at training.
*I like Prince's Park
*Cheers

Thanks again Dano.

 

[BrizzyBlue]

OK, Here is pj canus report:

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19597

About 100 spectators and ideal conditions greeted the first skills session for 2008. The ground looks in terrific condition, excepting a rather dry centre square and patch at CHF at the Lygon Street end of the ground.

The perennial challenge for track watchers at this time of the year is to recognise the evolving squad, compounded by the changes also to the coaching panel. David Parkin would be pleased with the number of short-back-and-sides being sported by the playing group, however it might take a few sessions for the rest of us to pick up the new names. Ratts looked very much at home as coach, whilst it was strange to see Teaguey sporting the coaches’ white-tee-shirts and joining in the drills. It will be interesting to see how he fairs as a playing coach.

The session began with a handball session at the Brunswick wing. I was pleased to see that Waitey was there and moving without obvious discomfort despite his New Years misfortune. There was sufficient voice to invite strong echoes from the back of the Gardiner Stand. Andrew Walker cut a strange figure, trudging laps with his right arm in a sling and dragging a sled with weights behind him, as if parodying some ancient Egyptian construction worker. This provided much amusement to the injury group of Fish, Carrots and Blackers (I think?) each time Walks and his sled passed their handball exercises near the player’s race. Apparently Walker is a couple of weeks away from running again.

Meanwhile the main squad moved to the City wing for some kick to kick. Four groups began about 30m apart, with the distance increased each few minutes until they were kicking over 50m. The exercise again featured a lot of voice, suggesting a high level of enthusiasm for the first day back. The skills seemed to vary quite a bit, with a couple of stray kicks easily clearing their intended targets. Eddie Betts again did his fox terrier impersonation. He really does have some great reflexes and clean hands. It also looks as if he has lost a little weight – maybe we will see Eddie in the engine-room this year.

The main squad then split into four groups for circle work on each wing and at CHF/CHB. The emphasis on this exercise seemed to be continually creating options and space and for the player with the ball to take a moment to select the best option. I watched Steven Browne in the drill nearest to me. He looks a bit like Ricky Nixon in his playing days, although his safe hands, good leap and sound delivery provide hope that he is destined for a more notable playing career. Hampson was also promising; his leap, pace and acceleration support our hope he could be anything. He does appear to have bulked up a bit. It seems his Achilles heel will again be his endurance since he seemed to be blowing pretty hard at various stages of the circle work. It will be a challenge for the fitness staff to find a program to provide Shaun with the aerobic fitness to run out a game at high pace without compromising his leap or pace.

Benjamin also showed glimpses of his potential. He just seems to glide across the turf, and I repeat my hope that we will one day see him carrying the ball at full stretch down the wing at the G. Clint’s kicking seems to have improved. He looks a bit more relaxed in his release of the ball and there were a couple of cracking low passes. Unfortunately, like many of his team –mates, there were also a couple of strays and so achieving consistency seems likely to be the barrier to regular appearances in the seniors.

The group was then called together again for some end to end work. The emphasis seemed to be in moving the ball at pace in waves of four or five from FB through to either CHB/CHF and to then try to pin-point a pass to a leading forward 30m from goal. Ironically the drill emphasised to me the potential of our rucks. Sam Jacobs looks to have made some positive changes. He looks like he has shed a lot of the puppy-fat he had last year and this has meant his agility has improved with some clean retrieval of the ball from his bootlaces on a couple of occasions. I should stress that this is a relative improvement. His running and kicking of the ball still invokes fond memories of Harry Madden. Meanwhile Aisake’s pace and leap are as promising as that of the Hampster. Unfortunately he has retained the ungainly kicking style of Carlos, the trademark hyper-extended watching of a particularly cautious ball release adds a split second to each kick that will provide pursuers with a chance to complete a tackle at the elite level. Happily for all Blues fans the enthusiasm of both Aisake and Carlos shows no sign of waning. Meanwhile Kreuzer seems to be fitting in well. He already has a good size about him and his foot skills would easily place him in our best 22. He showed a couple of times today his most damaging weapon by creating additional options. One example was a clearance from FB to a HBF. Whilst the ball was airborne Kreuzer was already sprinting to create another option at CHB. It’s not spectacular, but with his pace and endurance it’s simply not an option provided by most other rucks in the league, barring perhaps Cox who provides the much admired option of a second mid-field option.

Ok – to the man of the hour. Juddy was relatively inconspicuous in his first skills session with the main squad. If you had returned today after five years at an Antarctic base station to watch your first training session I doubt you would have nominated Judd as a key to the side. This is not a bad thing, its simply because it is first day back. He did show a bit of voice and is clearly sought by the younger players who look to dish off to him at the first chance. His running seemed quite smooth, without deploying the after-burners at any stage. More importantly, he was not called to show his agility for an extended period today. It would be interesting to see how he would fair in the five-a-side handball comp that featured prominently in last years pre-season. It won’t be until we see some extraction exercises that we will get an indication as to how well he has recovered from his operation.

The overall impression of the end-to-end work mirrored the earlier kick-to-kick session. Nearby observers appeared impressed with the skill level, however I thought it was encouraging but must improve since relatively modest targets are missed without defensive pressure. This is again where a player like Gibbs stands out, because he is safe and regularly handles the ball cleanly and delivers with precision. Unfortunately even Murph missed a couple today. I expect that this will improve as we have reportedly emphasised fitness rather than skills in the lead-up to Christmas and presumably this will change as we approach round 1.
Training concluded at about 10:30.

Thanks pj. Love ya work!

 

[BrizzyBlue]

Righto here is the spartak report:

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19597

Watched the session today which included lot's of ball work. Medium Intensity. A few snippets:
- Judd: Did the full ground stuff and moved at about 80%. Then went out the back for a time trail around the park
- Jamison: Good size and trained well. Can definitely play key back this year.
- Waite: Did everything. Looked normal
- Stevens, Saddington, Ackland, Scotland, Russell & Fev: Not sighted (may just have been me)
- Cloke: Moved very well. Lots of unrewarded running. Fit as a fiddle
- Murphy: Lazy with a few one handers (Gav pulled him into line though), but a ball magnet and got heaps of it in the drills
- Carrazzo, Blackwell and Fisher: Ran 200's around the boundary line all session
- Betts: Busy
- Simpson: Busy and acts like a leader
- O'hAilpin brothers: Both prominent in the drills. Aisake did the time trail with Judd post training and was beaten by 100m
- Gibbs: Moved well
- Hartlett: Moved well
- Anderson: Moved well
- Bower: Prominent
- Jacobs: Tall, Lean and Prominent
- Grigg: Prominent
- Thorton, Houlihan and Edwards: Out there but quite. Under the radar.
- Benjamin: Busy, but kicking was very awkward. Taller than I thought.
- Couldn’t see who was in the rehab group at the Heatley stand end. They were doing shuttles ect
- Walker: In a sling and not doing much
- Kreuzer: busy, silky, tall and moves beautifully, but still light up top.
- The first year recruits (Kreuzer, Armfield ect) left the track early after walking a lap and doing some stretches. Cotton Wool
- Bentick: Needs a hair cut.

Thanks mate.

 

[BrizzyBlue]

Now Mrs Caz report:

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19597

Sounds like a run of the mill discussion between footy supporters really.
I thought the boys looked pretty fresh and enthusiastic after their break. Clinton looks like he may have worked on his kicking style a little and kicked some cracking low passes.

Gibbs is a Rolls Royce. Just trains beautifully, no ifs, ands or butts.
Kreuz will go ok....his big tank will only get bigger.

Waitey had a large plaster suck on his forehead over his left eye, but no other signs of any injury to his face. He'll be fine.

Judd.....well...he's just a freak. During a handball drill in the rehab group he was standing in the middle of a circle of 3. Had to run-on-the-spot quick time and anticipate who was going to handball to him, as the others passed the ball around. he never dropped it, and he was giving the most beautiful look-away handballs that the other guys had trouble anticipating the ball coming back to them! A joy to watch.

I couldn't believe until someone pointed it out towards the end of training, but we didn't even register that FEv, Houls, and Stevens weren't there. It's all about Judd now.

Thanks Mrs Caz, appreciate all you do.

 

[BrizzyBlue]

Now blu944:

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19597&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

Just to add my 2c to some of the other great reports:
We look like a group that is playing together for the first time, drills were executed reasonably poorly for the most part, but not due to lack of effort. In the absence of the older set, we look like an overly young squad and it's difficult to see how we'll match up against some of the harder bodied sides.

Two players have continued to stand out for me in the training sessions that I've seen to date, and today was no exception. Jamison and Gibbs are just killing it at the minute for mine. It's amazing how many internet pages are taken up by Carlton supporters bemoaning our lack of key defenders but also having such confidence in Hammer and Hartlett as our CHF ruck combo of 2008. I can tell you that Jamo will go a long way to solving one of our big man problems in the backline starting immediately. He's bulked up considerably, is fast, confident and popular with his teamates and can actually kick a football. Hammer is about 3 years away - which is to be expected - and Hartlett is more of a one year prospect, if you catch my drift.

Aside from Judd, Bryce Gibbs was the most talented player on the field today; he makes teamates who are older and have played the game since vickick look like they're onloan from County Cork. Still a bit to go with Bryce, but just get the "I told you so's" ready.
Of the Rookies, I thought Sammy Jacobs was the best I'd seen him, really presented strong and frequently in the full ground drills which was pleasing, he still looks a bit cramped when kicking but he has improved 100% on where he was last year. AJ is a great little mover but is the worst kick out there, if he was a spin bowler he'd a have an entire arsenal of deliveries that would befuddle batsmen. Lachlan Hill was really good, I think he'll be a sound pick up. Ellard was alright too.

Big K's mixed reviews should probably be put in context of different people's expections. The guy is a number one selection which brings with it a reasonable expecatation to be dazzled but at the same time he's a 19 year old ruckman, traditionally not the types that excite and take the competition by storm. Just remember that while we're all stoked at the leaps Hammo has made since joining the club, he was the one fumbling and miskicking while Kruez just one grabs and hits targets.
Carrazzo, Fish and Blackers were doing 12 X 200m sprints so their exclusion from the main group was not injury related as they were probably working harder than the rest. Carrazzo gave them both a lesson in fitness - he'll play a much larger part in our fortunes this year than he is largely given credit for. Also, Blackers looks the fittest I've seen him.
All first year recruits turned in before the last drill and it was amusing to see Mk walk his dwarves around the boundary for a cool down lap.

Joey A. took part in the full training for the first time and was in everything - great to see.

Thanks blu

 

[HBF]

Great read guys. From someone that was there, they are very detailed and accurate write ups.

 

[Blueinblood]

Blackers name now matches his hair..... looks better than b4

 

[Beloved]

Just so i'm clear, there's a training session at 9am tommorrow morning (saturday) at MC Labour?

Could somebody please confirm it? I'm always fearful that i'll go one day and there won't be any training.

 

[NWTYRX]

Just so i'm clear, there's a training session at 9am tommorrow morning (saturday) at MC Labour?

Could somebody please confirm it? I'm always fearful that i'll go one day and there won't be any training.

Yes, I can confirm there will be training tomorrow. And I've gone once on a saturday, when there wasn't training

 

[CarltonFan]

was freakin hot today!!! skills were pretty poor throughout the boys today. alot of dropped marks and missing the targets by foot. Hand skills were good though.

Bryce Gibbs is the clear standout, never drops the ball, never misses a target. He's bulked up, and looks in great shape. I would definetly turn gay for gibbsy.

1AW was dragging a weight around which was very funny. I wasnt aware he was injured, what wrong with his arm?????

jamo looks great, good soild spoil, good skills, will really step up this year.

hammer fumbles the ball alot with his ground work. Wasnt his best training session, and i hope he can improve in time for pre-season.

kruezer has great skills, and is big enough to jump straight into our first 22. love the kid.

armfield is bloody FAST! the kid will be great in close in the midfield, he can negotiate his way through alot of bodies, great agility. Just one thing, when they were doing a small match drill, he recieved the ball and ran with it for about 25m without bouncing the ball. Would this be cause of his rugby background and should we be worried he might do this on match days???

did anyone spot Ackland? i couldnt see him. (not that i was sad i didnt see him )

i was thinking while sitting in the stands how teague will cope as player/coach of the ants. it just wont work tbh. we need someone with experience in coaching who can give directions and develop the young kids when they play seconds.

that is all from me. CarltonFan.

 

[BrizzyBlue]

OK, here is another Training Report for Saturday 5th January 2008.
Thanks to pj canus from over on TC.

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19609&sid=7b36b65e3cb628f48a8841f7f0acb917

It was a bright sunny morning at Princes Park with some gusty easterlies ushering additional warmth that made it pleasant for the 100 or so spectators but probably a little warmer than would be preferred by the playing group. The squad arrived at 9:10 and was a little larger than Thursday with the addition of several senior players including Fev, Scotland and Hoops. I could not see Stevens, but he may have been disguised under the white caps a few players seem to be favouring. Andy Walker again took his sled for solitary laps of the boundary.

The first exercise was a set of four stations of tackle-bags set up on the City wing. On two of the stations the players had to crash tackle the bag, gather the ball off the ground and then from a metre or two provide a quick 1-2, 3-4 series of handballs to the coach who would batt the ball back randomly for the player to gather. The terriers such as Wiggo, Betts, Murph thrive on this exercise, however for reaction time and delivery Juddy stood out, the session concluding with his handball over the shoulder back to the coach that was just like Gibbs against the Tiges in round 1 last year (yes – I realise the irony of the analogy!).

The players were then directed to circle work in the centre of the ground. This was one of three or four versions of circle work used during a lengthy training session. As a result of the inclusion of the senior players the skills seemed to have improved a little from Thursday, however my impression was that they will need a lot of work over the next couple of months. The key gripes, especially in the absence of defensive pressure, are one grab marks and accurate delivery by foot over 30m or more. In most cases it appears that this is concentration, since the same culprits will often mark and deliver the ball cleanly in the next exercise. At first I thought that it might have been attributable to the wind, but this did not seem to affect players like Judd and Murphy.

Next was a couple of five on five competitions played out on each wing. Only handballs are permitted in this exercise and teams aim to get the ball in a 2ft by 3ft net at each end of a 50m field. This is a larger field than similar exercises and gave the speedsters a chance to show their wares when they found space. Armfield was one that impressed in this respect. He looks a bit like a quicker trimmed-down version of Teague. He looks a lot like a defender, appearing to take care to monitor his opponent and as a result managed a couple of impressive chase downs. He was also good on the rebound, although having used his pace to find space a couple of times he seemed to stop and wait for traffic and options to catch –up so he could dish off. Hopefully as he gains confidence he can use his pace to become a damaging rebounding defender who can even threaten the goals on occasion, a la Andy McKay. Another defender to impress was Jamison. He looks and moves like a key defender. Several of his successful efforts to frustrate leads from Fev won generous praise from Ratts. Hopefully Jamo gets a good run in the seniors this year.

The next exercise was again a version of circle work using most of the ground. The city wing was spared for a shuttle run set up for Fev, with lanes of about 10, 20, 30 and 40m length. At the end of the first and third lanes was a tackle bag and a ball would be kicked to him during the second and fourth. Fev got about a two-minute break between each set. This was a demanding exercise for a big fellow (Fev looks huge) but even so it appeared that Fev was struggling a bit, sliding into the tackle bags rather than tackling and standing hands on hips on laying on the ground in the intervals. That said, this is the sort of exercise I think should be persevered with for Fev, rather than for, for example, sending him for laps of Princes Park. This exercise better replicates the demands on his body in a match situation where he gets short (hopefully!) breaks while the ball is up the other end of the ground and is then required to make multiple leads /second efforts when we are attacking. Stick with it Fev, it will get you into shape as a century goal kicker.

The circle work in the middle changed to a length of the ground exercise. A high ball was kicked to the Heatley Stand goals where two KPP’s would contest the mark and then look to dish off to players who would run it in waves and deliberately using the overlap handball to HBF before finding running options in middle. The midfielders would then in turn attack the Lygon Street goals or look for a leading target. Our pace out of the backline really showed, players like Armfield, Betts and Jacko showed a clean set of heels to many. Murph through the centre was good, he seemed to have his kicking boots on today and couple of spearing passes to leading forwards were great to see. Cam Cloke was also good – his delivery today was amongst the better examples in the squad. I think there might be a few people who have forgotten what a positive impact he made in his early games and he will be a handy inclusion.

Kreuzer again showed his hard running and sound delivery skills by either hand or foot. Observers views appear to differ on his prospects for season 2008. I should therefore clarify that I hope he will play 12-15 senior games, with an average of 60-70 mins game time of which on 10-15 should be played in the ruck so that he has a video for review during the week. IMHO the rest of his seniors experience in 2008 should be spent as the third tall forward where his endurance, work ethic and delivery skills will provide a valuable attacking option. I don’t think anyone is expecting him to be our starting ruck anytime soon. I would prefer he gets a couple of pre-seasons under his belt and finds 10-15kg and learns the tricks of the trade at AFL level before facing that sort of task. I recall Ratts has said something similar – that Kreuzer will not be throw at the Clark Keatings of the league just yet.

The first year players were again spared the last half hour of the session, which finally finished just after 11. This seemed long session on a hot morning, however the players appeared to depart in good spirits, with plenty of chatter.

 

[HBF]

What a tremendous write up by pj. Well Done. Good to read that Murph had another solid session, following on from his efforts on Thursday.

However, a little disappointed that our kicking skills are still sloppy, and hopefully this will remain a focus for the remainder of the pre-season.

 

[fightclub]

I went along with a mate of mine who is a Bluebagger (have a soft spot for them as well I may add). I have seen alot of footy in my time and can give the following unbiased view. Hope that's ok ?
* Saw someone post a crowd of 100. Not sure where the other 60 or 70 were sitting !!!
* Murphy looks amazing. Has bulked up again but does not seem to have lost any speed. Was the standout today I thought.
* I must add that is only because the new number 5 did not do the whole session (what he did do was very, very good).
* Walker spent most of the session walking the boundary with a harness on, dragging a weight behind him for core stability whilst his shoulder heals.
* Fev got stuck into Walker every time he saw him, he couldn't stop laughing at him. Very funny !
* No Stevens, No Ackland. Only one of those was missed.
* Carazzo did not do the whole session.
* The skills on display during the session started badly and only got worse. By the end, Ratts got them in and had a bit of a go at him. Fair enough too when the main drill had groupd of around 10 streaming from defence into attack where it was 3 on 2 each time. The 2 defenders cleared the ball 4 times in a row at one stage...lets hope it was the tricky wind which caused the skill errors.
* All in all a nice morning in the sun and may I reiterate, Murphy really looks the goods for 2008 and will very much appreciate having Stevens and Judd in there with him.

 

[BrizzyBlue]

Now one from windows from over on TC. Thanks mate.

http://www.talkingcarlton.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19609

I'll give you mine....
Walker was doing his laps with weights in tow. He takes all his training very seriously. Was being timed and paid close attention to his lap times. Love the kid.

Didn't see Jordan Russell but I happened to notice (when I ducked out for a piss) Hoops and Scotland coming back into the change rooms having seemingly been for a run. Perhaps Russell was with them. Both Hoops and Scotland were involved in the early training but left maybe midway through.

Carrazzo is a much better athlete than I've ever given him credit for. He ran super in repeat 200s. Blackwell and Fisher battling in behind.
Murphy (for mine) was the standout. His kicking and ball handling were absolutely exceptional. Best I've seen him train.

Gibbs looked pretty good. Perhaps the above poster may have made the same mistake I made a couple of times - confusing him with Edwards. Edwards did kick over leading forwards a few times, don't really remember seeing Gibbs miss too many.

Kreuzer and Hammo competed in a bit of forward line play, both holding their own. I thought Hammo was a little disappointing actually when the ball hit the deck. Still has a long way to go.

I noticed Grigg did quite well as a defender, better than I expected. On the other hand I thought Austi disappointed just a little, for lack of intensity. Still, he is very young so we should give him plenty of time.

Apart from Murph, I thought Jamo was super impressive. Has filled out a bit, and looks in great shape. Really can't see how he won't hold down FB all year. Used the ball well, moved well, great build for a KPD.

Judd did more than he has so far. Didn't do all of it. If it was an ankle it was only minor. I'm happy for him not to do everything anyway.

Pfeiffer (I think) was kicking only on his left - perhaps because he injured his right ankle and is still recovering from that? He doesn't look fit enough either. Will take some time. But was into it all the same which was good to see.

Shields (understandably) needs a massive amount of work on his kicking, as does Hill, who was shocking for about 10 minutes there today. Could not hit a target to save himself.

Benjamin's kicking seemed slightly better today. Not as many poor efforts as I've seen from him in the past. A good sign. He has great closing speed.

Fev looked good. As did (apart from a few sprayed kicks) Edwards. I like him. Browne is a little beauty I reckon. Tidy. Doesn't fumble, do silly things, hits targets with nice efficient kicking on both feet. Seems to be putting on a bit of muscle. Armfield was also very solid, although I have to say not quite as tidy as Browne, but possibly does a few more things that stand out (like his chase down tackles for instance). I'm getting more convinced both will play a fair bit this year.

Cam Cloke looks in pretty good shape, and actually does quite well in the midfield drills. The disappointing thing for me about Cloke, Hammo and Kreuzer is that none of them seem capable (yet) of clunking a contested mark.
I realised late in the piece I hadn't really noticed Ando - that's probably a good thing. I tend to look for guys missing targets and then if they do I follow them for a while (like Hill).

 

[Beloved]

Training Report 5/1/08

by EBIAC

The team was 10 minutes late out on the park today, but you can't blame them, seeing as it was another The boys jogged over to the Carlton Legends stand, then to the Legends Stand end fo begin stretches. They then followed up the stretches with some short, slow relay jogs, followed by stretching, followed by a slow, quick handpassing relay. The next warm up invovled each player running 5 metres, doing a pushup, then running 10 metres infront of them, which was also followed by stretching. Andrew Walker again looked on from the side, and again pulling the same weight (the one in Thrusdays write-up) around the ground, in which he ended up circling the ground 5 or so times. For the ladies sake, Andy's Yellow breifs were hanging out the side of his training short.

Still warming up, the main group got into pairs and proceeded to do some chips kicks to each other, followed up by each player rolling the ball along the ground to their partner for crumbing practise. The team then moved over to the wing opposite the Calrton Legens Stand (i'm not sure what it's called, i'm still learning!) for some tackle/quick hands/reflex/pick up practise, which involved splitting into five lines. The first, third and fifth lines invovled the player charging at the tackled bag which had a football positioned on top of it, ultimately making the football fall to the ground, scoop up the ball and handpass it to the trainer for that specific line, who deliberately fumbled, or handpassed the ball awkwardly to a week spot on the polayers body (i.e the foot). The second and fourth lines of players had to dodge a shephard before scooping up the ball and handpassing it to to that lines trainer. Most of the young kids were more interested in attacking the tackle bad as hard as they can than completing the drill. I must mention Sam Jacobs tackling, as he produced what was by far the most ruthless tackle I have ever seen!

Carazzo, Fisher, Balckwell and another player, in which I couldn't recognise (the same player from the Thursday write-up I did) all broke away from the group to participate in some long range kicks to each other while the main group walked to the Carlton Legends Stand wing for some stretches. The special group (Carots, Fish, Blacky and the other one) then proceeded to handball to each other, as the main group moved to the Heatley Stand end where they broke into four groups, and split up to form a square (one group in each corner). Whilst in their respective corners, each group split in two, with one half being the marking/handballing half and the other the handball receiving/kicking half. A player from one group kicked the ball to the another, one half marking it and hadpassing it, the other half receiving the handpass and kicking it to the next group. The special group all took in turns of marking close range, fast kicks from Matty Lapping, while the others hadpassed to each other using the rebounding net to get the ball to each other. The main group continued the same drill, but introduced an extra three balls so that every player was working continuously.

While the special group played handpassing games with Lappin, the main group moved over to the Legends end, the to the centre of the ground for some stretches. Judd, Hadley, Aisake and another playing in which I couldn't recognise (excuse my lack of information!) also broke into their own group to do straight line runs at the Heatley Stand end. The injury group moved along from handpasses to running timed runs from goalpost to goalpost around the ground, whilst the main group split into two, each group positioned on each wing for some skins and shirts drills which involved some ruthless shepharding and tackling.

Jarrod Waite and Adam Bentick broke from the main group to run some timed post to post sprints, like the injury group. Brendan Fevola, who was training with no other players, but three trainers ran through one drill continuously, which involved him tackling bags, sprinting around a cone and sprinting back to take a mark on the lead, all occuring on the opposing wing to the Carlton Legends stand wing. Meanwhile, Walker was now free of the weight he was given to pull for 50 minutes. After getting his breath back, he walked over to Fev and conversed with him while Fevola, with hands on knees was sucking in air.

The injury group continued running post to post, stopping after each time to catch their breath and walk off their aching legs. Alone, Fevola was doing the same. The main group walked to the Legends end before returning to the centre to meet Fevola, Waite and Bentick, who rejoined the group to continue with them, first with stretches. After stretching, they were split into four different groups, and were moved out to various places in the centre square. Basically, the boys had a free kicking/leading session in groups. Before long, Matthew Lappin threw on a sash and picked up Brendan Fevola, defending against him, in which Fev used his size advantage to full use. Matthew then rotated picking up players, finishing up playing on Setanta, Waite and Hampson at the Heatley end.

After congrigating in the centre of the ground, the players were distributed around the ground in pairs to all teh different positions in an AFL line-up, simulating a game. The ball started in the centre, where it was delivered into the backline by the players simulating the opposing team, which was collected by the defending side who looked for the options outside the back 50. Those in the midfield then used their team mates to get the ball into the forward 50, and a scoring opportunity from a set shot. The interesting thing about this drill was the Ratten was screaming for the half-back defenders to run out of defence after clearing the ball to receive the ball again in the midfield. Bentick and Waite again broke from the group to chip the ball to each other, and walk around the ground.

Judd, Aisake and what looked like all of the new kids (I wasn't sure, I just assumed as I didn't recognise who they were) split from the group to do some short run at the Carlton Legends wing. The main group halted the previous drill for some stretching on the Carlton Legends wing before again moving to the centre of the ground. They then broke into four groups, again participating in a free kicking/leading session in groups. Chris Judd headed in at 10:30am, leaving his group of youngsters to complete a drill by themselves, which involved them standing in a line 15 metres away from three different cones. Each player ran up to the middle cone, side stepped to the left cone, then to the right cone, sidestepped back to the middle cone, then jogged backwards to the group. While the main group walked in the centre, the young group completed the same drill, accept this time minus the side stepping. The main group then made their way over to the Legends end, where they ran through a drill which consisted of a player scooping up the ball on the ground, bumping the trained with the bumping bag(I don't know what their called), before having a shot for goal. As time went on, an extra defender and two extra attackers were involved in the drill, where the attackers had to share the ball between them to get around the defenders, without making contact with the defenders bags whilst in possession. It then became one defender and three attackers.

The next drill involved the team splitting into four groups, on in the goal square of the Legends end, on at the 50m arch, one on the boundary 25 metres out, and the other in the same possition, accept on the other side, forming a square shape between the groups. They again proceeded to have a free kicking session, accept this time, when the ball was delivered to the group on the 50m arch, they had to run in 10 metres and have a ping at goal. Meanwhile, the young group ran around the outside of the ground, occassionally stopping for breathers and stretches.

At 10:55, the main group, injury group and special group all huddled on the 50m line at the Legends end, before moving behind the goal posts to innitiate a warm down job. The players ran half a lap, and walked the second half before repeating the same thing, and heading in. The young group followed the main groups actions 5 minuts later by doing the laps and heading in. Sean Hampson stayed out on the park an extra 20 minuts, continuously running laps before heading in. He looks to be in great shape.

The big thing I noticed today was that Fevola was always maned up, even in handballing drills. Looks like Ratten wants a big year from the Fev.

Excuse the lateness in my report, I didn't have any access to a computer yesterday.

 

[HBF]

Is anyone else as concerned as I am about our poor kicking skills? It wasn't great on Thursday, and seemed to have gotten worse on Saturday. At least Ratts knows that this needs to be worked on, as I have said in a previous post, hopefully this will be a focus for the remainder of the pre-season.

 

[Blueinblood]

in the hun it said our disposal was awesome

 

[Beloved]

Is anyone else as concerned as I am about our poor kicking skills? It wasn't great on Thursday, and seemed to have gotten worse on Saturday. At least Ratts knows that this needs to be worked on, as I have said in a previous post, hopefully this will be a focus for the remainder of the pre-season.

I think it has a lot to do with the way some of the players hold the ball. I'm constantly noticing that a large portion of the boys whilst running with the ball really hunch over it, instead of leaning back and letting it fly.

 

[HBF]

in the hun it said our disposal was awesome

Haven't seen that yet. Am about to go and purchase the paper.

I think it has a lot to do with the way some of the players hold the ball. I'm constantly noticing that a large portion of the boys whilst running with the ball really hunch over it, instead of leaning back and letting it fly.

Leaning back when you kick can make the ball go right (assuming you are a right footer). I've always found the more upright you keep your torso, the better your kicking is. Worked for me anyway.