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

 

[Chris_6678]

Is Harry Taylor "officially" a coach? Or is he employed as something else, and he "volunteers" his coaching services?

Rapt to have him coaching the talls, was one of the very best KPPs in his time

He is a full time coach now.

 

[Doashuey]

Not a heap of note to take away from this morning's session, which lasted about 90 minutes and focused on skills and not much running. I spotted most of the players on our list at some point but a few were on managed programs today.

The players came out just after 9am and after a brief warm up, got into a full-group drill practising kicking on the run. They then split into four groups, each working on a different skill - one on set shots, one on (contested) marking, one on ground balls/handballing and one on kicking. After this they split into three groups, with all three doing a drill working on handballing in congestion, one of which only had light contact.

Over the next 45 minutes they repeated this rotation (split into 4 groups for different skills then into 3 groups for handballing) twice, going through various skills under the guidance of the assistant coaches. At 10:30 they split into many smaller groups to work on some more specific craft/skills (one of the groups was working on marking a high ball while on their knees, one was curling set shots from the boundary, etc.), and the players had all finished up by 10:45.

Details on who did/didn't train:

• I didn't see Yeo, Hutchinson or Schoenberg today
• Going to be honest, I completely missed Champion's injury and only learned about it when I got home and checked this thread. I saw him early on in the session so I ticked his name off, but then didn't notice that he'd 1. injured himself and 2. missed the second half of the session. Not sure how I missed that tbh, but I suppose these things happen when you're trying to keep an eye on about 10 things at once
• Allen (knee) didn't do much today, limited to stationary kicking and handballing work and spectating during the session
• Bailey Williams (groin) and Gross (quad) began the session with some stationary handballing before moving to the grandstand for a bit of stair work. After this Gross did a bit of kicking with Allen before heading inside just before 10, while Williams spent about 40 minutes on the exercise bike, finishing around 10:30
• Brockman and Cole were on a managed program today, joining in for the non-contact handballing drills but spending time on the exercise bike when the group was split into 4 groups for the other skill work. Suspect this is load management more than anything
• Baker (hamstring) trained away from the main group, spending about 40 minutes doing run throughs (some while being held back by a trainer with a resistance band) and spending the rest of the session helping out with the main group's drills
• Barnett (knee) started the session with run throughs away from the main group but joined in with the main group for some bits and pieces - participated in one of the kicking drills and one of the non-contact handballing drills. Also completed some change-of-direction/agility work away from the main group, finishing up with some work on the grandstand stairs. Appears to be progressing well in his recovery
• Robertson (shoulder) warmed up with the main group but spent the following hour doing run throughs and laps by himself. Finished up about 30 minutes early
• Allan was sporting a cast on his left wrist and was in and out of the main session, joining for some of the lighter skill work and spending the rest of the time running laps or doing stop-start sprint/agility work with a trainer.
• Owies split off at one stage to do some run throughs but did most of the main session, though he trained with the non-contact group for the handballing drills.
• Duggan and Cripps were again managed through the session, starting with some time on the exercise bikes and spending the rest of the session participating in light drills or helping out with other drills.
• Kelly was outside for the whole session, but whenever they split into 3 groups for the handballing drills he would spend that time on the exercise bike instead. As one of our veterans I suspect they're just managing his training loads
• Young (shoulder) trained fully until around 10am, finishing with about half an hour on the exercise bike
• The draftees (minus Allen) and Harley Reid trained fully until around 10:20, when they finished up early.
• Waterman (hamstring) and Macrae stayed out until the end of the session but split off a couple of times to do a bit of contact work away from the main group. Otherwise trained fully
• Jack Williams, Dewar and Ginbey trained fully today, though Dewar trained with the non-contact group for the handballing drills

Like I said, a light session so not much to take away from it. A few random notes:

• Duff-Tytler was holding his own quite well against the talls in one of the marking drills and got some praise from one of the coaches - think it was Harry Taylor
• In one of the handballing drills Starcevich was chatting to the players before it started - couldn't hear what he was saying but you can already see how valuable his leadership, professionalism and experience from Brisbane will be for our young group.
• I spotted another of our AFLW players today later in the session - this time Loosh Painter, who was doing some run throughs with a trainer

Yes yes, that's all well and good, but where are the updates on who is sporting a new do, who has changed barbers and has Cole trimmed those sideburns yet? And can we pleeeease get a folical update on Clay Hall FFS!?

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Things that didn't happen for 100

See what you wanna see, but as soon as we get a half decent KPD Edwards is in the dust bin.

 

[Bender_]

Yes yes, that's all well and good, but where are the updates on who is sporting a new do, who has changed barbers and has Cole trimmed those sideburns yet? And can we pleeeease get a folical update on Clay Hall FFS!?

Yet to address who the new redhead is too.

 

[Farang83150]

Not a heap of note to take away from this morning's session, which lasted about 90 minutes and focused on skills and not much running. I spotted most of the players on our list at some point but a few were on managed programs today.

The players came out just after 9am and after a brief warm up, got into a full-group drill practising kicking on the run. They then split into four groups, each working on a different skill - one on set shots, one on (contested) marking, one on ground balls/handballing and one on kicking. After this they split into three groups, with all three doing a drill working on handballing in congestion, one of which only had light contact.

Over the next 45 minutes they repeated this rotation (split into 4 groups for different skills then into 3 groups for handballing) twice, going through various skills under the guidance of the assistant coaches. At 10:30 they split into many smaller groups to work on some more specific craft/skills (one of the groups was working on marking a high ball while on their knees, one was curling set shots from the boundary, etc.), and the players had all finished up by 10:45.

Details on who did/didn't train:

• I didn't see Yeo, Hutchinson or Schoenberg today
• Going to be honest, I completely missed Champion's injury and only learned about it when I got home and checked this thread. I saw him early on in the session so I ticked his name off, but then didn't notice that he'd 1. injured himself and 2. missed the second half of the session. Not sure how I missed that tbh, but I suppose these things happen when you're trying to keep an eye on about 10 things at once
• Allen (knee) didn't do much today, limited to stationary kicking and handballing work and spectating during the session
• Bailey Williams (groin) and Gross (quad) began the session with some stationary handballing before moving to the grandstand for a bit of stair work. After this Gross did a bit of kicking with Allen before heading inside just before 10, while Williams spent about 40 minutes on the exercise bike, finishing around 10:30
• Brockman and Cole were on a managed program today, joining in for the non-contact handballing drills but spending time on the exercise bike when the group was split into 4 groups for the other skill work. Suspect this is load management more than anything
• Baker (hamstring) trained away from the main group, spending about 40 minutes doing run throughs (some while being held back by a trainer with a resistance band) and spending the rest of the session helping out with the main group's drills
• Barnett (knee) started the session with run throughs away from the main group but joined in with the main group for some bits and pieces - participated in one of the kicking drills and one of the non-contact handballing drills. Also completed some change-of-direction/agility work away from the main group, finishing up with some work on the grandstand stairs. Appears to be progressing well in his recovery
• Robertson (shoulder) warmed up with the main group but spent the following hour doing run throughs and laps by himself. Finished up about 30 minutes early
• Allan was sporting a cast on his left wrist and was in and out of the main session, joining for some of the lighter skill work and spending the rest of the time running laps or doing stop-start sprint/agility work with a trainer.
• Owies split off at one stage to do some run throughs but did most of the main session, though he trained with the non-contact group for the handballing drills.
• Duggan and Cripps were again managed through the session, starting with some time on the exercise bikes and spending the rest of the session participating in light drills or helping out with other drills.
• Kelly was outside for the whole session, but whenever they split into 3 groups for the handballing drills he would spend that time on the exercise bike instead. As one of our veterans I suspect they're just managing his training loads
• Young (shoulder) trained fully until around 10am, finishing with about half an hour on the exercise bike
• The draftees (minus Allen) and Harley Reid trained fully until around 10:20, when they finished up early.
• Waterman (hamstring) and Macrae stayed out until the end of the session but split off a couple of times to do a bit of contact work away from the main group. Otherwise trained fully
• Jack Williams, Dewar and Ginbey trained fully today, though Dewar trained with the non-contact group for the handballing drills

Like I said, a light session so not much to take away from it. A few random notes:

• Duff-Tytler was holding his own quite well against the talls in one of the marking drills and got some praise from one of the coaches - think it was Harry Taylor
• In one of the handballing drills Starcevich was chatting to the players before it started - couldn't hear what he was saying but you can already see how valuable his leadership, professionalism and experience from Brisbane will be for our young group.
• I spotted another of our AFLW players today later in the session - this time Loosh Painter, who was doing some run throughs with a trainer

Thought I saw Jack Graham leave the track early with what looked like a sore right foot maybe.

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

In 2025, only four teams had their top two goal scorers combine for 100 goals in the H&A season. Eight teams had less than 80 goals from their two leading goal scorers

124 - Geelong (Cameron 83, Neale 41)
112 - Gold Coast (King 69, Long 43)
108 - Western Bulldogs (Naughton 60, Darcy 48)
101 - Hawthorn (Gunston 62, Chol 39)

Where is Hawthorn going to make up 62 goals from when Gunston inevitable declines and/or retires? That's a lot of reliance on one very old player.

 

[amazingjoshy]

See what you wanna see, but as soon as we get a half decent KPD Edwards is in the dust bin.

Strongly disagree but we'll see

No need to make shit up though as your last post did

 

[LittleFires]

Is Harry Taylor "officially" a coach? Or is he employed as something else, and he "volunteers" his coaching services?

Rapt to have him coaching the talls, was one of the very best KPPs in his time

He was brought to the club at the start of 2024 as a "performance leadership consultant" and occasionally helped out with training last preseason.

This year though he's been out there for every training session I can remember, so I wouldn't be surprised if his position has changed into a full-time coaching role. He's not listed on the club's website as a coach, for whatever that's worth...

 

[Boohemian]

He's not listed on the club's website as a coach, for whatever that's worth...

Does the AFL and Champion Data manage that too?

 

[THE A5]

When down to training to see how the ranga was going but he wasn’t there. Apparently he was sent home to finish off the West Cost Eagles player highlights from 2016.

 

[mattyc75]

How spoiled we are for talls now. Not only do we get to see what Jobe can do in the forward line along side Waterman, we also get to see CDT's debut season, Archer playing ruck, a slimmed down and fitter Jack Williams...I'm even keen to see what Flynny can produce, I think he's got improvement in him too. Does Bailey work his way back through the pack? Perhaps not but he's pretty handy in the WAFL.

Land of the giants

 

[Eastern Rangers]

Strongly disagree but we'll see

No need to make shit up though as your last post did

Hedwards is one of those litmus test players for football nous. Would be quickly offered a contract by most clubs and would thrive at a competitive team.

 

[THE A5]

Strongly disagree but we'll see

No need to make shit up though as your last post did

The irony is that this poster is the one that’s seeing what they want to see. I think most on here had just about given up on hedwards or didn’t rate him highly at the start of the year. He did turn that around by end of the year and became that “set and forget”

Ginbey had to play KPD as we had no match up for Cameron and Brock really being meh

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

Reckon big Arch could be ruck ready sooner than expected?

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Reckon big Arch could be ruck ready sooner than expected?

View attachment 2494192

He's not looking to handball there, that's his set shot style.

 

[RookiePick]

Reckon big Arch could be ruck ready sooner than expected?

View attachment 2494192

ARCHER ON THE CHARGE!

 

[flyinghi64]

Yet to address who the new redhead is too.

Dunno, but still pale as buggery.

 

[bs9594]

If Waterman and Shanahan combined for 100 goals in 2026, that would be some sort of effort by them.

In 2025, only four teams had their top two goal scorers combine for 100 goals in the H&A season. Eight teams had less than 80 goals from their two leading goal scorers

124 - Geelong (Cameron 83, Neale 41)
112 - Gold Coast (King 69, Long 43)
108 - Western Bulldogs (Naughton 60, Darcy 48)
101 - Hawthorn (Gunston 62, Chol 39)

95 - Adelaide (Thilthorpe 55, Fogarty 40)
88 - Collingwood (Elliott 52, Mihocek 36)
87 - GWS (Cadman 44, Hogan 43)
85 - Port Adelaide (Georgiades 58, Rioli 27)
81 - Brisbane (Morris 48, Bailey 33)
80 - St Kilda (Higgins 46, Sharman 34)

79 - North Melbourne (Larkey 41, Curtis 38)
76 - Fremantle (Treacy 42, Voss 34)
76 - Melbourne (Pickett 40, Fritsch 36)
66 - Sydney (Heeney 37, Hayward 29)
54 - Carlton (Curnow 32, McKay 22)
54 - Richmond (Campbell 28, Lynch 26)
48 - Essendon (Wright 28, Caddy 20)
46 - West Coast (Cripps 24, Ryan 22)

If Waterman (2.13) and Shanahan (1.33) both play every game and repeat their 2025 goals per game average they’ll combine for 80 goals (Waterman 49, Shanahan 31)

Now, if Waterman can replicate his 2024 average of 2.65 goals per game and reach 60 goals, then Shanahan would need to average 1.75 goals per game to get the 40 needed for a combined 100 goals for the season between them

It’s within the realms of possibility but it needs both of them to play every game (or almost every game) for it to be any chance. Waterman has never played more than 20 games in a season and Shanahan will be in just his second season so the likelihood is they’ll each miss some games

If we get 85-90 goals out of them, it would be a fantastic effort

And a 40+ goal season from Shanahan should certainly have him in rising star territory

Appreciate the full breakdown, not impossible as you say but i think the 80 total seems more reasonable.

Regardless of the total, very excited to see them playing together for the first time soon. (and probably allowing Jake to go back to his preferred position with Allen gone)

 

[flyinghi64]

Hey Keys and/or LittleFires just wondering what your take is on Hewetts pre-season so far.
Just watching some highlights of the Saints win last night for a little footy fix and some of the things he did, including a set shot goal from outside 50, really showed he has game lifting talent.
As the season progressed his output died off a bit and as he said it was the most games he has ever played in a season.

He already has that god given freak skill and that want to win attitude but given that persistent injury he had to deal with his fitness obviously has been hard to build to full AFL level.
Has he shown signs it is improving and has he been one of the guys doing extra running etc to build his fitness levels.

He could be that dark horse X-factor to complement Harley and give the opposition something extra to think about if he can perform in games longer and get through a full season.

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

Hey Keys and/or LittleFires just wondering what your take is on Hewetts pre-season so far.
Just watching some highlights of the Saints win last night for a little footy fix and some of the things he did, including a set shot goal from outside 50, really showed he has game lifting talent.
As the season progressed his output died off a bit and as he said it was the most games he has ever played in a season.

He already has that god given freak skill and that want to win attitude but given that persistent injury he had to deal with his fitness obviously has been hard to build to full AFL level.
Has he shown signs it is improving and has he been one of the guys doing extra running etc to build his fitness levels.

He could be that dark horse X-factor to complement Harley and give the opposition something extra to think about if he can perform in games longer and get through a full season.

I reckon Hewett will be very good, but he's going to be a slower burn that some here might expect.

 

[Convocation]

 

[Farang83150]

Hey Keys and/or LittleFires just wondering what your take is on Hewetts pre-season so far.
Just watching some highlights of the Saints win last night for a little footy fix and some of the things he did, including a set shot goal from outside 50, really showed he has game lifting talent.
As the season progressed his output died off a bit and as he said it was the most games he has ever played in a season.

He already has that god given freak skill and that want to win attitude but given that persistent injury he had to deal with his fitness obviously has been hard to build to full AFL level.
Has he shown signs it is improving and has he been one of the guys doing extra running etc to build his fitness levels.

He could be that dark horse X-factor to complement Harley and give the opposition something extra to think about if he can perform in games longer and get through a full season.

He was really physical when tackling blokes today, rag dolled a few right in front of me a couple of times in the drills.

 

[Keys]

Hewett hasn’t particularly stood out for me so far this preseason but he has been one of the players I’ve had difficulty picking out which might partially explain that

What I will say is he’s missed very little, if any, of the sessions so far. This is his first crack at an uninterrupted preseason since arriving at the club so that in itself is a positive

He looks fit and strong so at this point I’m taking that and look forward to him showing the benefits of building a proper fitness base for the first time as preseason progresses

 

[javaguice]

Haha we have a red head

Are you guys in ****ing preschool

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Strongly disagree but we'll see

No need to make shit up though as your last post did

I didn’t.

When we played Geelong who played on their best (Cameron) and 2nd (Neale) best forward? Ginbey and Brock

When we played Adelaide, who spent most of their day on Thilthorpe? Ginbey.

Could go on and on almost every week.

People in here want to pretend that Harry Edwards got 6 kicked on him in round 1 by King, got dropped and then all of a sudden came back a few weeks later and was prime Jeremy McGovern.

He just got an easier match up every week.