Training Preseason Training Thread - 2026

[Keys]

The below is the OG faux training report from nearly 9 years ago - often imitated but never surpassed

In the absence of Keys I went down for a trundle this morning to check them out on return. Just a few random notes I took down...

• A lot of running work again, clearly a focus even in the heat.
• Duggan looked on and was hitting targets left and right. Set for a huge 2017.
• Giles went up against Vardy in the ruck contests and I'd say that Giles has the inside running at the moment.
• Mitchell looked a class above the other midfielders bar Priddis. Just knew how to find the footy and wouldn't miss a target all session. Shuey was very quiet and seemed to be taking direction from Mitchell. Doesn't bode well for his captaincy credentials, maybe he doesn't want the gig?
• Won't say too much about it in case I was just reading too much into it, but Rioli looked as though he'd enjoyed the Christmas break a bit too much. A few of the coaches pulled him aside and they were having quite an animated conversation before Rioli was sent to do laps for the rest of the session. Good news for Le Cras, I suppose.
• Sheed kicked on his right foot for 80% of the session, I reckon. Nice to see players working on their non-preferred so readily.
• Petrie looked like he was doing a great job 'coaching' the younger forwards in between the drills. Darling in particular seemed to be following him around.
• Gee Venables has some skills. He mainly jogged laps before spending the last half hour or so on set shots - curled a few beauties from behind the boundary line at the end for a bit of fun. Hardly saw him miss a kick.
• What interested me the most was that McGovern split his time between the defenders and the forwards, could be seeing a swingman role in 2017. He was his usual dominant self down back in some match simulation drills before going head-to-head with Mackenzie in a forward role.
• Bayok is very fast - Cripps was in most of the drills with him and couldn't keep up.
• Nelson is pale as buggery and still doesn't really have the body shape you'd expect of an AFL player.
• There was a big bloke who pulled up next to me and I could have sworn it was Suma, but I'm sure I was wrong...
• Masto was the player picked to kick the goal at the end today and nailed it. Celebrations were huge.
• No sign of Cole, Parto or Hill. Couldn't tell you why.

Will upload pics later if I have time. Let me know if you have any questions!

You might wonder why I’ve put this up and stickied it

Because this is the standard all copies should be measured against and it’s a reminder of how high the bar was set

And to hopefully discourage sequels.

If you want to have a crack in my absence, go ahead but if it doesn’t equal the standard set (as judged by me), then expect

• A one week threadban for a first offence
• A two week threadban for a second offence
• A one year threadban for a third offence

Actual training reports, minus discussion, can become found here:

Training - Preseason Training Reports -2025/26

This thread has been setup for training reports only and won’t be open for replies Informative reports from the preseason thread will be copied into this thread so posters have access to the quality work from the likes of LittleFires without wading through pages of general posts

www.bigfooty.com

 

[Keys]

Great write up. Was Kelly out there?

The answer is literally in his post

I spotted 34 of our 38 currently-listed players, with only Brockman, Kelly, Flynn and Starcevich unsighted

 

[LittleFires]

Great write up. Was Kelly out there?

No. Him, Flynn and Starcevich are the only players left who haven't I haven't seen return yet, though they aren't actually required back until next Monday.

Could still see them return to training later this week.

 

[squashface]

No. Him, Flynn and Starcevich are the only players left who haven't I haven't seen return yet, though they aren't actually required back until next Monday.

Could still see them return to training later this week.

Assuming Starcevich isn't allowed back yet given he played in a GF. Flynn was/is overseas I believe. So TK the only unaccounted for player.

 

[Astro7]

The answer is literally in his post

I missed it. Need glasses.

 

[Bender_]

i've been catching bus no. 39 the last few days which runs down howick st and you can get a glimpse of the oval as the bus passes lathlain place.

this morning i had a glance and they put up a green blockout.

I hope this post makes it into the real training reports only thread.

 

[Astro7]

I hope this post makes it into the real training reports only thread.

I'm liking it, the post has a covert Spy v. Spy vibe.

 

[KERRPOW]

I hope this post makes it into the real training reports only thread.

Where is this said REAL training reports thread.

i am catching Bus No. 39 back home and will keep you guys updated as to the status of the green blockout...is it still up or not.

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

It will actually come in to Bus No. 34 after bids.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

I think Harley's just always destined to have a little bit of a gut

 

[NSLK]

It will actually come in to Bus No. 34 after bids.

I had bus no. 34 in my top 5

 

[KERRPOW]

Quick update guys (in the absence of keys)

Green blockout has been taken down.

Please like and subscribe if you wish to keep receiving more insights like this.

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

I had bus no. 34 in my top 5

Was cleaning the house twenty minutes ago laughing to myself knowing I'd return to this. Namaste, playa.

 

[ghostbat12]

• Ginbey, Brock and Baker stayed out for 10 minutes after the main group had gone inside

No Harley. at least he shows remarkable consistency.

 

[UseR2006]

No grego update again?

 

[Alesana]

I think Harley's just always destined to have a little bit of a gut

View attachment 2478920

Who is that in the middle between Hutch and Hall?

 

[squashface]

Who is that in the middle between Hutch and Hall?

Bo

 

[ashstores]

Biggest player turnout yet this morning for a relatively light session to start the week, focusing mostly on skills and lasting just over 90 minutes. About a dozen players appear to be on slightly modified programs at the moment and completed varying portions of the session away from the main group today. However the majority of those look to be moving quite well and tracking in the right direction.

As I mentioned earlier, Gross was the only one out there when I arrived at 9:00 and was completing the MAS running test with a trainer. The playing group came out about 15 minutes later and got into their warm up, before moving onto some kicking on the run, groundball work and handballing. They then split into two groups and did a drill involving pulling off short kicks under pressure. After this came a full-ground drill where they practised switching the ball in their back 50 and then moving the ball forward quickly to get to a leading forward. All of the drills today were split up by group run throughs of the centre square.

To finish the session they again split into smaller groups working on more position-specific craft, and ended with about 10 minutes of group run throughs along the entire length of the field. Most players went inside around 10:50 and the most eager trainers had all left the track by 11:05.

Details on who did/didn't train:

• I spotted 34 of our 38 currently-listed players, with only Brockman, Kelly, Flynn and Starcevich unsighted
• Tom Cole and Jack Graham made their first appearances of the preseason and trained fully
• Got my first look at Tylar Young, although he didn't actually do any training - came out around 9:30 and spent the rest of the session spectating and chatting with coaches/players on the sidelines. Unsure if he's injured (no visible signs of this) or just watching to see how we train before getting into it later this week - time will tell.
• WAFL signing Archie Watt was training again but Ash Johnson was not out there, so there were 34 total on the track today.
• Bailey Williams probably did the least of the players I did see (sans Young), only coming out around 10:00 for some light tap work with the rucks and doing no further training
• Barnett did about an hour of work away from the main group, completing run throughs, light handballing and kicking work and finishing with some light tap work with the rucks. Did some time on the exercise bike afterwards.
• Dewar and Jack Williams warmed up with the main group but split off after, completing run throughs and later joining Barnett for some kicking and handball work. Dewar finished up around 10:15 while J.Williams also did some ruck work with B.Williams and Barnett afterwards, before heading inside at 10:30.
• Champion and Yeo did the first 20-25 mins with the main group before splitting off and joining the rehab group. Similar to the above they completed run throughs and some kicking work, with Champion spending a lot of time running alongside Chance Bateman. Both finished up around 10:30
• Cripps and Duggan did the first 30-35 minutes of the main session before splitting off and running laps together, some at quite high speed. They also did some kicking work and finished just after 10:30
• Hall did the first 45ish minutes with the main group but split off at one stage to do some work on the exercise bike. He then did some on the spot handball work with Shuey and finished early. He did cop a pretty big knock during Wednesday's training session so I wonder if that has something to do with his lighter training load today.
• Ginbey and Hough completed most of the session but split up on one occasion to do some agility work together. For the full ground ball movement drill Hough wore a bright green cap to indicate non-contact.
• Gross did the vast majority of the session with the group after his running test but was spared the additional run throughs at the very end of the session, heading inside at 10:30.
• Waterman (shoulder) and Harley Reid (calf) trained fully.

A few other notes:

• Ginbey, Brock and Baker stayed out for 10 minutes after the main group had gone inside to do some extra kicking practice
• Waterman and Hough also stayed out after the main group had left, testing out their shoulders with some tackling and contested work
• Archer Reid was also one of the last to leave, staying behind to practise his set shots. He didn't do any ruck work today and played as one of the key forwards in the full-ground ball movement drill.
• Brock and Bazzo both look in good nick, with Brock in particular definitely looking well-built compared to last year.
• As I mentioned in my initial post, Gross seems to have improved on his time from last Monday in the MAS running test he did this morning. Nice reward for effort for him after enduring a few big running sessions last week.

Unfortunately I probably won't be able to make it to the other training sessions this week, but I'll be back for the senior players' return next Monday. Hopefully The Worst or someone else can fill you in (in my absence...)

Great work,thanks for going to the effort to write these reports. They are much appreciated and anticipated.

 

[DorothyG]

Gee
Halls hair is on life support at this point.

Join the fellow bald brothers.

 

[Keys]

I’ll be copying the reports into a separate thread so people can read them without wading through any superfluous discussion

As promised

Training - Preseason Training Reports -2025/26

This thread has been setup for training reports only and won’t be open for replies Informative reports from the preseason thread will be copied into this thread so posters have access to the quality work from the likes of LittleFires without wading through pages of general posts

www.bigfooty.com

Link is also in the stickied post at the top of the page for easy reference

 

[Goroyals22]

He mainly jogged laps before spending the last half hour or so on set shots - curled a few beauties from behind the boundary line at the end for a bit of fun. Hardly saw him miss a kick.

Well someone has to take Liam Ryan’s spot as social media’s master of kicking goals from places irrelevant to the game but missing from 25 metres out dead in front

 

[FKASC]

As promised

Training - Preseason Training Reports -2025/26

This thread has been setup for training reports only and won’t be open for replies Informative reports from the preseason thread will be copied into this thread so posters have access to the quality work from the likes of LittleFires without wading through pages of general posts

www.bigfooty.com

Link is also in the stickied post at the top of the page for easy reference

Kerrpow didn’t make the cut

 

[KERRPOW]

Kerrpow didn’t make the cut

Catching the no 39 bus instead of catching the train into work was a SIGNIFICANT detour to my travels and added 15mins of travel time at absolutely zero benefit to me, just to keep everyone here informed.

Absolutely gutted.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

I'm liking it, the post has a covert Spy v. Spy vibe.

Awesome band that 90% of the people on this thread will have no idea about unfortunately.

 

[bzparkes]

Awesome band that 90% of the people on this thread will have no idea about unfortunately.

A band?

Mother****er, Spy v Spy was a Mad Magazine classic.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

A band?

Mother****er, Spy v Spy was a Mad magazine classic.

Yes it was, but it was also an amazing Australian band from the 80s that used to tour Australia with Midnight Oil, Hoodoo Gurus, INXS etc and is still huge in Brazil these days thanks to their songs being in many surf videos at the time.