Training Preseason Training Thread - 2024/25

[Keys]

And that’s me done for preseason

Probably the best conditioning I’ve seen the squad in since I’ve been attending training.

There’s a bit to look forward to this season albeit we’ll lose more than we win and there’ll be the occasional shellacking when things come completely unstuck

Stay positive, take the good with the bad as the players learn the new game plan and Mini identifies what he has to work with. Some will thrive, others will fall away but one thing I’m sure of is that the effort and desire to compete and improve will be there

Onwards and upwards, enjoy the season

 

[Beutbrute]

Ginbey was an AA onballer in his draft year.

Of course, Barnett was the AA ruck, so it's a cautionary tale that players can end up excelling in different roles once they make it to AFL, especially with Barnett now projecting as a KPD.

It would be really interesting to see Ginbey in the midfield now.
When he was playing there under simmo he also way looked like he was second guessing himself - playing to a structure and always defending before attacking, rather than backing his ability to find the ball. I think he's got more confidence in his game now and has learnt to back his judgment when to attack and when to defend.

I think he would be a very different player now if he played midfield.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

It would be really interesting to see Ginbey in the midfield now.
When he was playing there under simmo he also way looked like he was second guessing himself - playing to a structure and always defending before attacking, rather than backing his ability to find the ball. I think he's got more confidence in his game now and has learnt to back his judgment when to attack and when to defend.

I think he would be a very different player now if he played midfield.

I feel the opposite to this. Seeing how immediately comfortable he was when moved to half back, and then the progress we’ve seen so far this year cements my thinking he is and always was a hb.

I don’t think he reads and understands his positioning around the ball 10% as much as he does down back. His intercepts in the back half back up that he reads the play really well when the ball is in front of him.

There’s a good chance he is a multiple AA half back flank and never plays full time mid, at most a pinch hitter ala Crisp.

 

[ziad]

It would be really interesting to see Ginbey in the midfield now.
When he was playing there under simmo he also way looked like he was second guessing himself - playing to a structure and always defending before attacking, rather than backing his ability to find the ball. I think he's got more confidence in his game now and has learnt to back his judgment when to attack and when to defend.

I think he would be a very different player now if he played midfield.

I suspect the Ginbey to the midfield move is in the JD to the midfield column. Not the right DNA.

 

[Astro7]

It would be really interesting to see Ginbey in the midfield now.
When he was playing there under simmo he also way looked like he was second guessing himself - playing to a structure and always defending before attacking, rather than backing his ability to find the ball. I think he's got more confidence in his game now and has learnt to back his judgment when to attack and when to defend.

I think he would be a very different player now if he played midfield.

Let him settle in down back, he's looking good, lets see how much he can improve. Always a swing option later if required, but we have other mid choices now. Early days, but he provides much needed drive and line breaking...

 

[Beutbrute]

I feel the opposite to this. Seeing how immediately comfortable he was when moved to half back, and then the progress we’ve seen so far this year cements my thinking he is and always was a hb.

I don’t think he reads and understands his positioning around the ball 10% as much as he does down back. His intercepts in the back half back up that he reads the play really well when the ball is in front of him.

There’s a good chance he is a multiple AA half back flank and never plays full time mid, at most a pinch hitter ala Crisp.

Not disagreeing about his ability on the half back - I think it's where he should play. I do think he would look a lot different if he was in the midfield now.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Not disagreeing about his ability on the half back - I think it's where he should play. I do think he would look a lot different if he was in the midfield now.

I think he’d be behind Harley, Yeo, Kelly, Hewett and maybe even Graham in our midfield (at least in terms of output and maybe selection).

 

[Yeahnahmate]

I was all for Ginbey ending up a mid, but he just looks like an incoming star at AFL already off the half back, where he played a bunch in younger days. Now I say let’s keep him thriving there and if he morphs into something irresistible for our future middle then so be it, revisit then. He’s going to be a stellar half back with those attributes, and what a guy!

 

[FKASC]

Not disagreeing about his ability on the half back - I think it's where he should play. I do think he would look a lot different if he was in the midfield now.

I think in a couple more years he’ll look a lot more confident in the middle, maybe in more of an outside role. Running half backs are the new outside mids anyway, so it’s a bit of a moot point.

I don’t think he’s cut out to be an inside mid though.

 

[Bender_]

Would be an AA this year if he didn't go to prison for murder.

 

[Keys]

Sheed and Chesser absent from training for obvious reasons

Yeo working with a trainer on the outside oval and now looks to be headed to the stairs in the grandstand

Jamieson made a brief appearance at the start but was only out there for maybe 10 minutes

Hewett is walking laps in what I’m guessing is load management

Haven’t seen Champion

Everyone has done the warmup and continuing with main training

No contact work as yet

 

[Yeahnahmate]

Sheed and Chesser absent from training for obvious reasons

Yeo working with a trainer on the outside oval and now looks to be headed to the stairs in the grandstand

Jamieson made a brief appearance at the start but was only out there for maybe 10 minutes

Hewett is walking laps in what I’m guessing is load management

Haven’t seen Champion

Everyone has done the warmup and continuing with main training

No contact work as yet

Hey Keys, if you have a chance could you get some eyes on Hall. High hopes he will push into the side more this year but seemingly (from here) a quietish pre-season from him up until now

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Sheed and Chesser absent from training for obvious reasons

Yeo working with a trainer on the outside oval and now looks to be headed to the stairs in the grandstand

Jamieson made a brief appearance at the start but was only out there for maybe 10 minutes

Hewett is walking laps in what I’m guessing is load management

Haven’t seen Champion

Everyone has done the warmup and continuing with main training

No contact work as yet

Sorry for the cross post (also posted in injury thread) but Yeo looks pretty fit all things considered, and looks to be on track for a return in the first month of the season.

 

[Keys]

Jamieson is on the outside oval working with a trainer now- may have been there for a while as I don’t have a full view from my vantage point

Still haven’t seen Champion

Yeo was getting up and down the stairs pretty well for about 15 minutes

Hewett has gone to the outside oval as well

 

[boondy]

I think Duggan to the midfield is working and not getting a lot of kudos . Mind you this is my first positive statement about him .

 

[Chris_6678]

I think Duggan to the midfield is working and not getting a lot of kudos . Mind you this is my first positive statement about him .

I mean if he is a bigger body able to extract the ball out to say a Harley then i think he is role there will be justified.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Jamieson is on the outside oval working with a trainer now- may have been there for a while as I don’t have a full view from my vantage point

Still haven’t seen Champion

Yeo was getting up and down the stairs pretty well for about 15 minutes

Hewett has gone inside

Does it look more like managing Hewlett's loads or that he is experiencing some kind of discomfort?

 

[Bender_]

Hall was the standout mid in the intraclub for mine. Be interesting if we can find a spot for him without injuries.

 

[Chris_6678]

Does it look more like managing Hewlett's loads or that he is experiencing some kind of discomfort?

Loads. He has missed a lot of footy conditioning over the last 12 months so there is no need to have him going full tilt.

 

[JackOutback]

I think he’d be behind Harley, Yeo, Kelly, Hewett and maybe even Graham in our midfield (at least in terms of output and maybe selection).

Some half-back flankers are as much playmakers as the midfield these days, so not sure it matters if he moves to the midfield or not.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Some half-back flankers are as much playmakers as the midfield these days, so not sure it matters if he moves to the midfield or not.

Agree with this. Aggressive half backs are almost as valuable as clearance mids, especially half backs who can break lines and are strong in the air.

 

[swingdog]

Worked okay for Luke Hodge.

 

[THE A5]

I suspect the Ginbey to the midfield move is in the JD to the midfield column. Not the right DNA.

Not really. Jd always moved like a lumbering tall. Had straight line speed and was agile for key forward but his overall agility/mobility wasn’t like a midfielder. He also never possessed overall footy smarts. Ginbeys issue is IQ

 

[THE A5]

I mean if he is a bigger body able to extract the ball out to say a Harley then i think he is role there will be justified.

It’s probably other way around. Duggan not a great extracting mid.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

It’s probably other way around. Duggan not a great extracting mid.

I think we tend to think about midfield balance in terms of layers around stoppage, but another way to think about it is who are your flair players and who are your role/grunt players.

Harley/TK = aggressive flair players
Graham/Duggan = grunt/role players
Yeo/Hewett = balance a bit of both.

Dimma used to talk about this a lot in relation to guys like Dusty v Rioli (before the move to half back) back in 2018-2020.

Guys like Graham and Duggan do a lot of defensive work, defending oppo ball movement, pressure, tackles etc and guys like Harley and Kelly breakout of stoppage and help with the offensive transition/ball movement piece and Yeo/Hewett at least on paper can do both.

I think that's the kind of balance we should be thinking about in our midfield, not so much who is on their knees digging the ball out to who.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Some half-back flankers are as much playmakers as the midfield these days, so not sure it matters if he moves to the midfield or not.

The one thing I've noticed is Ginbey looks so much more comfortable attacking the ball when it's coming at him. He's hitting the footy head on and making use of that mountain of a body.