Righto, so I poked my head in at training again today. Really shitty trying to watch from through the fence next to the merch shop and I wont be doing it again. Anyway, here are some bits and pieces gathered from what I saw.
Yarran, Hampson, Batch, Griff, Morris and Drummond all restricted to running laps at various paces. The one that seemed closest to full pace was Drummond. There was no sign at all of Lids, McKenzie or Chaplin. Pretty sure I accounted for everyone else including all the rookies.
Despite the early rain yesterday, training was a dry affair but with a pretty strong breeze which noticeably affected kicking.
First drill looked like they were working on exit kicks from stoppages deep in defence. A ruckman (either Maric or McBean) would contest against the speccy bag tapping to players goal side of the contest who would quickly kick towards the vicinity of the boundary. Looked pretty scrappy to be honest.
Next drill, a few of the boys put in mouthguards and many of the mids were doing stoppage work with 2 players in blue vests trying to defend a stoppage against a ruck (Ivan or Soldo) and 4 mids. Notable inclusions in this group included Moore, Townsend and Vlaustin. No sign of Cotch or Titch. Townsend is a mongrel and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Based on what I saw, he would be ahead of Moore to get first crack at the inside enforcer/protector role. His skills are definitely better.
There were other all ground drills etc but my eyes starting glazing over and I pulled the pin and moved on.
The only other things of note:
- Lock Alex Rance in for his 3rd AA. He will improve again next year.
- Ben Lennon. Looking fit, sharp and aggressive. Knocked more than 1 bloke over throughout training.
- Marboi Chol. I'm not sure what the knock on this bloke was that saw him slip to the rookie draft but he has some really exciting traits. Clean hands, a big leap and a neat left foot kick. If we don't sponsor him, then I'll be filthy.
Was too hard to focus on too much. Hopefully I can give a bit more next week when I can sit in the Jack Dyer stand and write stuff as I go (and actually see whats going on). Feel free to ask questions but like last time, I probably wont be able to answer them.
