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

 

[ArdentEagle]

I have lived in Perth most of my life and have never seen 42 degree C at night.
In fact, maximum temperature after sunset has never exceed 30 degree in Perth.(29.7°C, set on January 12, 2014, was the record)

Feb 2025 Perth Temperature

https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/202502/pdf/IDCJDW6111.202502.pdf

Minimum temp usually occurs right before sunrise.

Dusk period it can still be very hot.

 

[EagleEgo]

Minimum temp usually occurs right before sunrise.

Dusk period it can still be very hot.

A Perth night game in mid Feb would not be worse than an afternoon game in mid March.
It depends on what hot means. If we can play North Melbourne at 3pm in March, it is not too hot to play the state of origin in Feb at night here.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

A Perth night game in mid Feb would not be worse than an afternoon game in mid March.
It depends on what hot means. If we can play North Melbourne at 3pm in March, it is not too hot to play the state of origin in Feb at night here.

Day games in Perth in March are also dumb af.

It's like the slippery dip early season games on the Gold Coast at silly times for the climate. Just **** them off and have sensible fixturing.

 

[Godfather32]

A Perth night game in mid Feb would not be worse than an afternoon game in mid March.
It depends on what hot means. If we can play North Melbourne at 3pm in March, it is not too hot to play the state of origin in Feb at night here.

Except it's not a night game, the game will be nearly over by the time the sun sets

 

[jdisc]

Day games in Perth in March are also dumb af.

It's like the slippery dip early season games on the Gold Coast at silly times for the climate. Just **** them off and have sensible fixturing.

will never forget that midday brissy game last year

 

[Goroyals22]

will never forget that midday brissy game last year

Please. Last year’s game was fine but hardly oppressive .. they added a few minutes longer break..it was warm but no where near the 2019 round 1 night game debacle

 

[EagleEgo]

Except it's not a night game, the game will be nearly over by the time the sun sets

True! Should delay for at least an hour. It is a Saturday and Victorian can afford a late night TV watch

 

[Godfather32]

True! Should delay for at least an hour. It is a Saturday and Victorian can afford a late night TV watch

Yeah agree, has been done so it's played into Melbourne at prime time, should definitely be delayed

 

[DorothyG]

I have lived in Perth most of my life and have never seen 42 degree C at night.
In fact, maximum temperature after sunset has never exceed 30 degree in Perth.(29.7°C, set on January 12, 2014, was the record)

Feb 2025 Perth Temperature

https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/202502/pdf/IDCJDW6111.202502.pdf

Remember Christmas Day 2021. Was like 44 degrees.

I remember driving home from a families house in that evening. It would have been 10pm. The car was saying it was 37 the whole way home.

Minimum temps usually occur in the early hours of the morning, 2-4am

When the footy will be on, 7-8pm, there is still a very high chance of the temps being well into the mid 30s.

The positive is the sun will be down, so it would at least feel a fair bit cooler.

 

[THE A5]

Remember Christmas Day 2021. Was like 44 degrees.

I remember driving home from a families house in that evening. It would have been 10pm. The car was saying it was 37 the whole way home.

Minimum temps usually occur in the early hours of the morning, 2-4am

When the footy will be on, 7-8pm, there is still a very high chance of the temps being well into the mid 30s.

The positive is the sun will be down, so it would at least feel a fair bit cooler.

Yep that Valentines day that I mentioned above was steaming even after sunset. It was 42 at its peak but defs over 30 around sunset.

 

[wadistance]

The big question about the Origin game is will it be for real, or will it be like WWE with all the players agreeing not to tackle each other or put anybody at risk of an injury. Also, how many players come down with some kind of minor muscle strain in the two weeks before the game and have to pull out (because their club has told them to).

I have a feeling it will be a total farce. Most clubs are not even prepared to put their star players on for a half a game in an intra club scratchie at that time of year. Yet we are expecting them to give the green light to their best players to play in a full scale Origin game? I think most clubs will try and get late scratchings for their players. The AFL will have to have done some serious corralling of the clubs for this game to be real.

This is exactly what the afl want. They want it to be put to bed forever, so they’ve set it up to fail.

 

[Godfather32]

Remember Christmas Day 2021. Was like 44 degrees.

I remember driving home from a families house in that evening. It would have been 10pm. The car was saying it was 37 the whole way home.

Minimum temps usually occur in the early hours of the morning, 2-4am

When the footy will be on, 7-8pm, there is still a very high chance of the temps being well into the mid 30s.

The positive is the sun will be down, so it would at least feel a fair bit cooler.

The game starts at 4.40 though, gotta get it on tv at a decent time for the Vic's...
It's gonna be hot

 

[eaglevision]

Probably unpopular but there’s no space for Origin in my view. Very much doubt the players have an appetite for it despite what they say publicly, clubs certainly wouldn’t have a desire for it and the AFL would only want it to make money rather than to showcase state vs state.

I’d have no issue with us not releasing players for origin. One significant injury to anyone and it’s done. The used to be space for it but not in the modern game.

 

[Goldfish]

Probably unpopular but there’s no space for Origin in my view. Very much doubt the players have an appetite for it despite what they say publicly, clubs certainly wouldn’t have a desire for it and the AFL would only want it to make money rather than to showcase state vs state.

I’d have no issue with us not releasing players for origin. One significant injury to anyone and it’s done. The used to be space for it but not in the modern game.

If they really wanted it to succeed they should have moved the pre-finals bye to the week before the Grand Final (which also alleviates any concussion issues from the prelims), and played the State of Origin on that weekend with 16 of the 18 teams having players available for it. At least players would have the whole preseason to recover from any injuries they may sustain.

 

[eaglevision]

If they really wanted it to succeed they should have moved the pre-finals bye to the week before the Grand Final (which also alleviates any concussion issues from the prelims), and played the State of Origin on that weekend with 16 of the 18 teams having players available for it. At least players would have the whole preseason to recover from any injuries they may sustain.

Good point but then there’s the issue of players having their post season surgery and also on mandatory break as per the CBA. Always stealing from Peter to pay Paul regardless of when it is held.

The NRL is lucky that SOO became so tribal so early and there’s a huge reverence to it from players that they are desperate to play and some consider a series win not far off winning a premiership. That goose is cooked for the AFL.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

The NRL is lucky that it has remained a minor two-state league irrelevant for most of the country

 

[EagleEgo]

Any keen players start training today? (Though admin is still on holiday till 12th).

 

[Jeremy McLovin]

Any keen players start training today? (Though admin is still on holiday till 12th).

Imagine being able to be a pro athlete and doing footy for a living. Opening Outlook again this morning felt like putting handcuffs on.

 

[Boohemian]

Imagine being able to be a pro athlete and doing footy for a living. Opening Outlook again this morning felt like putting handcuffs on.

Ha. Yeah, it's a pretty lousy feeling. We're all working from home for a couple of months to start the year, so that at least takes the edge off.

 

[Doashuey]

Good point but then there’s the issue of players having their post season surgery and also on mandatory break as per the CBA. Always stealing from Peter to pay Paul regardless of when it is held.

The NRL is lucky that SOO became so tribal so early and there’s a huge reverence to it from players that they are desperate to play and some consider a series win not far off winning a premiership. That goose is cooked for the AFL.

They have a binary competition, thats why it works so well IMO.

 

[Woutizmoo]

I think IF state of origin is a succes they should make it every 3-4 years to prevent it going the way of the NBA. Would mean every SOO we get a fresh crop of SOO willing to put it on the line, if we have it every year or every second year there will be 'SOO regulars' who will give less and less of a **** every year.

 

[larrikin]

They have a binary competition, thats why it works so well IMO.

Yeah, the only way SOO can really work for AFL is Vic v the rest, which no one wants.

 

[Seadog]

Right, so we are all agreed that February is usually f#*king hot and still hot at night but not as hot as it is when the sun is shining.
The Pre Season Science Thread.

 

[WCErevival]

Why don't we have a SOO tournament featuring every state and territory. NT and Tasmania will be cannon fodder but it will sort of be like the FA cup where you get to see lower ranked clubs take on the bigger teams.

 

[squashface]

Why don't we have a SOO tournament featuring every state and territory. NT and Tasmania will be cannon fodder but it will sort of be like the FA cup where you get to see lower ranked clubs take on the bigger teams.

Are there enough players from Tasmania or the Northern Territory to even field sides?