Training Saints preseason 2026

Joffaboy · Nov 10, 2025

OK Guys and Dolls, a bit of a scrappy report, first session back.

Seems like no time trial or they did it very early at the Aths Track

Tom De Koning
Number: ?
Attributes: Blond hair, not at Carlton, in the gym.

Sam Flanders
Number: 3
Attributes: Bad Haircut, has stolen Lanceyboys nappy shorts. Clean at ground level.

Jack Silvagni
Number: ?
Attributes: Absent

Liam Ryan
Number: ?
Attributes: Absent

Matheus Phillipou
Injury: No strapping
Attributes: Moving well, taking mark at his highest point, looks very fit. Running well, totally unencumbered.

Max King
Injury: no strapping
Attributes: in rehab, slow jogging around the oval. Out om the oval for nearly the full session

Dougal Howard - Absent
Liam Henry - Absent

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Boxshall, Tauru and Hall first out, followed by Wilson and Windy.

Can already see the difference in size of the recruits like Dodson and Tauru.

Armstrong has a hideous tash, makes him look like a Sherlock Holmes villian.

Wilson has filled out nicely.

Wood and NAZ present, Pou and Carroll also present.

Boris taking training. Asking why Windy is present. Gringo's avi also taking training. Biscuit boy and bj also out.

Hugo looking nice. No undersized players, Keeler has a big barrel chest. Getting a real Paddy Ryder shape about himself.

Hunter walking about in the gym.

Only Silvagni at training is SoS. Hanging with Colin Young by the looks.

Higgo and Hunter front up. Hunters has a strapped knee, across the field to do some separate work. Doing laps, while Ming doing rehab, no strapping.

Fairly laid back ball work.

While I'm over the other side, watching rehab, Boss and Gubby walk past, Boss says down here a bit, out if my earshot, I must look suss.

Hall carrying on where he left off during the drills. Really good get.

No 55 training on, someone called Billy. Anyone know? Will Phillips I think.

Mason Wood misses my head by a foot with a torp while I was typing. A bit early to be targeting supporters you would think. Haven't even bagged him yet.

Has anyone mentioned Tauru's leap?

Interestingly the first session is all ball work for the first part.

Half ground positioning drill. Lots of talk, corridor work. Flanders not shy, 3 pick out Tauru who is not pressing in and tells him so.

Rapid change of 3 x 9 player groups.

Lol Woods yells out to Flanders ' that's the way Sammy, you worked it out pretty quick, get the ball to Naz'.

Higgo runs past and gigs Naz about his contract, smiles all round.

Wilson through the guts at full pace, bullet 40 metre passes to a leading Owen. Wilson looks terrific at full speed.

Pretty clean for an early session. High aerobic drill. Now the group is changing into runners.

Repeat 200's in two's. Wilson and Trav leads off. Only ones doing it a bit hard are the big guys, Dodson and Keeler, but its just because they are bigger.

Now 3 groups running alternate 300's, Flanders running laps.

Collard much fitter aerobically this year, slight off the back but keeping up. Really putting in. Starts to struggle at the end, but looks much better than last year.

Starting to string out a bit now, Keels and Godzilla trailing off but nothing like the Cordy/ Heath days.

Armstrong, well built, almost as tall as Sharman, they make teenagers big nowadays. Hard runner, good aerobically.

Nicola Xenos on crutches after the acl, probably down to begin rehab.

All over adios amigos.

akaifu · Nov 10, 2025

Saints TV · Nov 11, 2025

The boys are back.

Check out some highlights from yesterday's first session back.

jimmytigs · Nov 12, 2025

i was there today but wont spoil the reports from the regulars with my inferior one,but a couple questions before i take the dog out for a walk

1.who is 48 and 49?they were calling out the name joey a lot,i guess one is a joe
2.collard wearing 23,was it henry or tex wearing 4?bloody good size so im thinking tex as i wouldnt have a clue what he looks like
3.flanders on his own with a coach or running laps,any issues?found his shorts btw

took a few more notes,will mention them if theyve been left out by the regular guys,glad i got down there,enjoyed it,cleary was sitting in the stands,so maybe something on 7 news tonight

update,henry was wearing 4,so no tex,geez he looks like a squirt on the tele,he is a good size,him and lance must have swapped training tops today,henry did some drills and ran laps on his own

saintmike65 · Nov 12, 2025

Just to clear something up...player wearing #55 isn't Will Phillips, it's Billy McGhee-Gallambertie.

Of the players that missed significant football this year, Mattaes looked very fit and moved extremely well this morning, as did Liam Henry.
Max King didn't do much but still good to see him out there for a bit of a runaround.
Players to put on size are Tauru, Keeler, Armstrong, Said, Wilson, Travaglia, Garcia, O'Connell ...Phillipou looks to have more muscle instead of puppy fat.
As Tony mentioned Monday, our new defensive coach will be named by the end of the week.

jimmytigs · Nov 12, 2025

only there for 50 minutes,this is what i jotted down 10.25 to 11.15

flanders kick to kick with one coach at one end of ground,after that he ran a couple laps,did nothing at all with the group,didnt look hampered in any way,fixed his shorts problem

clark did one lap then went inside not to be seen again(he may have done more before i arrived)big red bandage looking thing on his leg,but didnt seem to be hampered

may have been butler also doing a lap,if it was he looked to be doing it tough,also went in didnt see again,if it wasnt butler i have no idea who he was,used to seeing butler all smiles,this guy looked mega stressed,but same hair style

keeler still in 37,henry in 4 collard in 23

mitch cleary watching on

irish armstrong,nice slice like pass to his right off his right,but does he have a left foot?

caminiti looks to be in ripping contested marking form

harvey and from a distance enright looked to be in charge

henry did some group drills then ran laps on his own,then laps with the group,looks in great nick,only ever seen him on tv before & either that is very deceiving or he has put on size,when i confirmed the henry/collard number switch they were running together & i know collards a squirt but thought henry was in the same division,but quite a bit bigger than lance

naz hugo wilson windy boxshall wood all in one group with dodson palming it down to them,wood aside got a great view into the future there

all started doing laps,sharman stocker owens carroll and #49 anti clockwise,the rest clockwise,keeler and caminiti tailed off first,collard henry tauru armstrong and #48 tailed off on the 3rd lap,one of the group of 5 was yelling excitedly on 2 of the laps when they passed the big group

as i left i passed the small oval/park on the south road side of the ground,two guys were doing laps,i think one was dougs and another was a young bloke,but cant be certain

absent

higgins
macrae
hill
king
dow
butler???
roma
dougs???
hastie
sincs
wilks
tdk
jsos
ryan

in the time i was there anyway

trav owens stocker carroll collard pou tauru barrat said sharman seemed to do most of their drills on the far side away from me,first close look at carroll when doing laps,looks the part for sure & tauru just has star look all over him,if we cant get him going something is wrong

if dow doesnt have to be at training i guess either does mason wood,i really want dow to succeed,but without knowing what he has got on its disappointing not to see him trying to make every post a winner,mason wood is an absolute beauty

Palantine · Nov 12, 2025

I wasn't down there for very long but was keen to get an early look.

Someone mentioned earlier about the number of young guns now on our list, and I thought this was evident with the likes of Garcia, Trav, Wilson, Barrat, Windy, the Pou etc... looking tall or muscular or a both. Everyone seemed pretty tall including O'Connell and especially Armstrong who looks already physically well-equipped and has a smooth on the run drop punt already.

I thought Henry looked very youthful and was running effortlessly. The way he was twisting and turning in one of the early up and down the flank drills, looking fresh and light. He may get firmly back on our radar if he can get through the pre season. As mentioned already Keeler a good size not just chest but a little thicker in the legs, and agree with comment about Caminiti looking 'ripped' I think it was - he always kind of did but he looks tweaked to AFL necessities to last season in season out.

Flanders looks like a soldier up for a fight. Already getting excited about what he'll do. He looks the happy as a pig in sh*t type around a footy club. But this is big guess work.

With a history of staunch heterosexuality (Seinfeld) Tauru is a thing of pure beauty leaping for the ball with blond hair swishing back. Even just running he looks brilliant. I can't see him not playing forward. The crowd will go mad for his on the lead high mark and picturesque set shot. He's got twenty iconic posters written all over him.

Toby has got shoulders now. Garcia is a little unit now ready to impact fully in the middle. Wilson looks and moves as good as the internet image that did the rounds. Coaching was busy but obviously this is an early early session. They tend to ramp up again when the big boys get back. I didn't see King myself. Disappointed to not spot TDK or JSOS.

What else; Collard looked comfortable and focussed, no evidence of what may be interpreted as poor body language. O'Connell was with a midfield group along with Toby receiving tap downs from Dodson. O'Connell very athletic and smooth moving. I'm not sure if Mitch has stopped added muscle maybe even trimmed slightly. With Marshall playing forward (if the case) they may have more versatile plans for him.

There were three guys I don't know. The smaller player already identified, then there were two blondes with jumpers in late forties. I would guess one was Campigli.

That's probably about my 45 mins worth

TheJackal · Nov 13, 2025

I guess I should probably put a few early thoughts down. As always, Joffaboy has done most of the heavy lifting so there's not a heap to be said really. Side note: not sure what those African witch doctors did to Joff but since that trip how good has the post quality been?

Its hard to comment too much after a couple of short sessions designed to blow the cobwebs out. They really have just been easing back in nicely.

I always take note of who is training with the 1-4 year players in the first few sessions. Its obviously unfair to interstate players or ones with families on holidays but I always think its a really big sign for who to look out for.

With that in mind, its important to realise that Nas, Windy and Mitchito are no longer 1-4 year players, still first on last off type of guys. Wood, Stocker, Henry and Sharman the other notables. We've got a few doing rehab like King, Higgins, Clark, I don't stick my head in the gym so there may well be others. Flanders older but new to the club.

Flanders gave me Stuv vibes with the way he looks in that number 3, not sure if it was because of the long shorts or his puffed out chest, just something about him. From what I saw he's a smooth mover with neat skills, very very excited about what he brings. Scared me a little when he went over to the rehab guys on the other side of the oval, ran some laps afterwards and looked fine - no doubt will be cotton wooled for a while.

Much has been said about how ripped Wilson is, he is in incredible shape and its a testament to his professionalism and drive. One thing that hasn't been said a lot of how smooth he is looking, he's always been quick but its like he's found an extra step off the mark to sneak through gaps. Watching him glide across the turf is a thing of beauty.

The other guy heading up the runs after each session is Travaglia. He exudes confidence and leadership, clearly a very hard worker and focused. His kicking in the first few sessions has still been a bit iffy at times, if he can clean that up he'll be a scary prospect. Our running afterwards seems to have backed off a tiny bit, I wonder if we've changed the set up after last year.

The other one who always looks iffy by foot at training is Hugh Boxshall. Its nothing new for him, when game time starts though its like he's an experienced 200 gamer great by foot... its strange to say the least.

One guy who I just love watching train is Said. He is just so clean and tidy with his skills especially by foot. He's yet to even put an a-grade VFL match together so who knows if he can at least push for selection - but I do think he has 'something', his ceiling is Chad Warner - not that he's even shown us that.

Liam Henry and Mason Wood had to be yelled at to calm it down, both having fun (being competitive) and going hard at a loose ball. Gave me a chuckle, Henry looks like a different person. Looks less worried, gliding on top of the grass, not hampered by his knee - he wasn't doing as much as the others but I saw some good signs there.

On Wednesday he swapped jumpers with Collard. I dont know what it is, but certain jumper numbers just fit well and look like they belong. 4 on Henry, 23 on Collard and while we are at it 37 on Keels just looked right for some reason. Its like last year, 42 on Heath just never seemed to fit, I feel the same about Keeler and 17. Strange analysis I know...

On Keels, he's definitely filled out. He's not ripped by any means, but, as evidenced by them running together, he's now broader than Caminiti across the shoulders. Some players like Hugo, Windy and Darcy have proper definition, that not Keels - but his chest and shoulders are noticeably larger.

Hugo, the bloke is a ball of muscle from top to bottom. His core and legs are solid as, if that makes sense. The guys scares me, he's got proper terminator vibes.

While I mention that, its hard to explain, but the boys look really strong in their glutes. That was never going to come out right... but they arent just top heavy, they look strong all over. Ima stop this train of though, its not coming out right.

Joey (Jonah), Billy (no, not Will Phillips, soory) and (I think) Bailey McKenzie have trained with us. I quite like that Billy kid, clean and compact, I seriously doubt any of the 3 would be in line for an AFL spot though.

Windy, Nas and Hall are looking a million dollars. I'm really impressed by Marcus, he's on the cusp of stepping up to a-grade quality in my opinion. He's worked and continues to work on his deficiencies and he's improved out of sight.

Interesting little nickname that Missy has given Nas, not sure if Marquee will catch on but I like it. His running isn't at that elite midfielder level, but he's still middle of the pack - worth going to training just to watch him kick a footy though.

Armstrong sporting an impressive mo, the nude nut and mo is a classy look! He's very raw, can't really comment much, he has a slightly awkward running style like his knees don't go high enough or something.

Mattaes looks in amazing shape, I still see a Bont ceiling for him - I'd love to see him just dominate the arcs the way Bont does. A bit like Keeler in a way, he doesn't look as ripped as some of the others, but he looks strong all over and not a kid anymore. Early days, but I reckon he might have improved his balance between manic and solid trainer which his body probably needs.

One of his biggest weaknesses in the midfield was hitting the contest at speed with the right timing - thats going to be his major challenge this year especially with the change in ruck rules. I really hope he will be in our leadership group, future captain.

I still like Carroll, hard to see who he displaces, but a quick left footer with size is like a unicorn in footballing terms. Its really hard to do a best 23 when guys like him are probably in the 30-35 range if not lower on our list.

Haven't really mentioned any talls, not heaps to report on really. They're just doing their thing. Tauru seems to have filled out a bit more - he's someone who when he hits you'll stay hit, Dodson is a great size and was giving me Jackson vibes for some reason, Sharman is all class, Kings varicose veins make me feel a little queasy, Hammer and Keels both doing good things in the air - Hammer maybe a bit ahead of Keels in the small sample set I've seen.

Well, I think its time to stop rambling. We are looking good, a bit sloppy if I'll be honest, but this week is just to blow out some cobwebs. Its nice to be back.

spiral3 · Nov 14, 2025

had a look at training today, a few thoughts
standouts Cooper (smart) & Hugo (movement)
Nas is ridiculous, had a kinda front on view of him charging through traffic at oppo, it would make your head explode trying to stop him
Love Tauru’s energy and attack on everything
Keeler moving nicely, looks very confident
Armstrong, a lot to learn in traffic, looks better out in the open - nice mo
King doing some small drills, moving like Frankenstein at the moment but good to see him building up
Higgins & Hunter on lap duty
I’m a fan of Boxshall but he gets in trouble with the coaches a bit, learning

Trav, he’s pretty loose, great endeavour but has that scrappy edge that makes me nervous
Flanders - as others have said - neat
terrible shorts

akaifu · Nov 14, 2025

saintmike65 · Nov 15, 2025

Training yesterday was interesting with heavy emphasis on high pressure stoppage drill and forward 50 best option entry.
In the stoppage drill Darcy Wilson and Nas both showed their power speed to break things open despite serious congestion.
Sam Flanders clean hands also on show!
Great to see Rowan Marshall back early, doing some forward craft and ruck work.
Copper Sharman looked particularly sharp, Hally taking up where he left off...Boxshall nearly killed Windhager in a marking contest, Garcia his usual relentless self.
Players look particularly fit and have obviously been hitting the gym.
Tex Wanganeen an interesting onlooker!

tony74 · Nov 17, 2025

SainterinSydney said:
Please give us a training report

Jonah Campigli, Bailey McKenzie, Billy McGee Galimberti, and Billy Richardson are training with the group at the moment

TheJackal · Nov 17, 2025

After wading through the piles of rubbish and being attacked by seagulls trying to get a decent meal out of all of the food scraps I managed to find the oval successfully today.

Was again a pretty good session.

Flanders and Nas linked up a fair few times and far out those two in full flight is a thing of beauty! I've really really liked what I've seen from Flanders so far.

Boxshall would have to be a bit taller than 188cm I reckon. Similar in stature to Phillipou, the two of them together have got some real size about them. Hugh trained very well, his fitness really shone through in todays session - only Darcy was (expectedly) ahead of him.

Hall, he's getting a lot of love from us but honestly deserves even more. He is just so good by foot its scary. Its incredible that we got him as a mature ager in a mid season draft. He's been training a lot with the mids and his endurance has improved a lot since last preseason. If I can use a golfing term, he hits a stinger with so much precision and its dead set effortless.

A 'victim' of Hall today was poor old Coops. The bloke was ankled by him so good, word has it Brad Hill is still laughing.

Hastie in the rehab group, the kid is a lot bigger than he looks, as do most footballers up close I guess. Clark and Barrat working together, Higgo sharing his minutes/kms between main training and conditioning.

Windy keeps on surprising me, which he really shouldn't anymore. His kicking seems really assured now, very clean with those short passes.

Keels and Hammer both look really good out there, leaving no stone unturned. Not discounting Dodson either, he's just so smooth for a big kid. Its going to be a squeeze for those talls with Marshall and King to compete with those guys, Sharman, Owens etc.

Armstrong is coming from a very long way back, I couldn't imagine how hard to would be to walk into a professional environment not having been brought up with a footy in hand.

A few famous faces hanging about in Bassat, SOS, Gubby (I think) and the likes. There's a real buzz about the place, its hard to explain without seeing it.

John2010362340 · Nov 19, 2025

Went down and had look today. Few observations.

About 25 on the track, few in rehab no sign of Max.

Key Takeaways: Boys look a lot bigger, Nas easy 2-3kg, Wilson 5kg, Pou looks like a Man now, Hammer has veins coming out of everywhere 3-5kg for him also.
Skills looked pretty sharp especially in close. They did a boundary line drill with Harves and Lenny taking it, and it was all very slick and clean.
Flanders ran laps for most of the session from what i saw, assuming because of his back issues last season they have him on a modified program.
Wilson looks set for a big year, was very impressive in one on one ball up drill, manhandled Garcia a few times. Harves giving him a lot of praise for his positioning and also mentioned his arms, can't underestimate just how big he has gotten which should give him huge confidence going inside. He was also leading the pack in the running drill, with Pou not far behind.
Moving on from Steele was the right call, considering the young bulls wanting to step up. Pou, Boxhall, Garcia, Wilson and others, all will warrant time in there next year. having Steele in the 2nds would've just been awkward for everyone.

Quick sharp session i was only there for an hour it looked like they were wrapping it up when i left.

Remboy · Nov 19, 2025

John2010362340 said:
Went down and had look today. Few observations.

About 25 on the track, few in rehab no sign of Max.

Key Takeaways: Boys look a lot bigger, Nas easy 2-3kg, Wilson 5kg, Pou looks like a Man now, Hammer has veins coming out of everywhere 3-5kg for him also.

Skills looked pretty sharp especially in close. They did a boundary line drill with Harves and Lenny taking it, and it was all very slick and clean.

Flanders ran laps for most of the session from what i saw, assuming because of his back issues last season they have him on a modified program.

Wilson looks set for a big year, was very impressive in one on one ball up drill, manhandled Garcia a few times. Harves giving him a lot of praise for his positioning and also mentioned his arms, can't underestimate just how big he has gotten which should give him huge confidence going inside. He was also leading the pack in the running drill, with Pou not far behind.

Moving on from Steele was the right call, considering the young bulls wanting to step up. Pou, Boxhall, Garcia, Wilson and others, all will warrant time in there next year. having Steele in the 2nds would've just been awkward for everyone.

Quick sharp session i was only there for an hour it looked like they were wrapping it up when i left.

Good report. I was there early for a little while. Max was doing some running drills when I arrived but went inside after about ten minutes.
Clark and Hastie just doing running.
Not much to take away from it other than we’re going to win the flag.
I also made sure to put my coffee cup in a bin.

Joffaboy · Nov 21, 2025

Windy, Owens, Hall and Armstrong out early.

Three in red tops other side in rehab. Clark, Hastie and King

First sighting of Stocker.

Boris watching from upstairs.

Few numbers I dont know, 48, 51, 56. VFL players? Will Phillips imposter also out there.

New recruit Ryan Byrnes looks great, fit, strong, looks like he has been in an AFL system for years. Looks like Wood has taken him under his wing.

Brad Hill on babysitting duties. In civvies.

Palletgate still an issue ( see evidence)

No Marshall, no Flanders.

King running load increasing, looks a bit more confident, good signs.

Gringo's avi looks like he could still play.

Hunter Clark will be out of rehab very soon. Lots of running and kicking

Shuttle run, NAZ and Pou ultra competitive.

Liam Ryan in no.27 working with Liam Henry.

Boris taking them through the shuttles.

Think Dodson has tweaked a hammy, up the race, straight into the rooms.

Groups split into two. One group ball drills and positioning v others in bibs.

Other group, in close and stoppage work.

Could turn for TDK. In the gym with his shirt off, looks good.

Hastie, hip issues. Will be with the main group from next week.

Half ground inside 50 entries, looking to spot up leading forwards or the fat side for wingers.

Nice hard leading from the square. Is against defence but not contesting.

Back to the box then leading out, repeat leads. Don’t understand the knock on Bolton, seems like an excellent communicator. Naz and Hugo hitting leads from Higgo and Mason.

Second group comes over. Boxshall abd Henry to lead from Sharman, Chito and Ronnie. Lance into the fray. Different running patterns for held and live ball. All leads out of the box.

Bolton having trouble with this group, cant get their running patterns right, defence outpointing them.

Half ground match sim, pretty high intensity. Trav looking good.

Barratt, Henry and Caroll running fast laps as is Higgo.

Liam Ryan easing himself into training running laps.

Great crumming goal by Hall. Hammer, Chito, Sharman up forward. Viking down back.

Dodson not back out, looked a high strain as well. No sighting of RTB this preseason so far. The transition has started.

High intensity running for so early in the season. Emphasis has changed from a developing group learning to run with endurance to a running group, with mature bodies, concentrating on footy skills and high paced explosive running.

Delivery into the wind is very impressive from Boxhall and Hall.

Three quarter field match sim. Wilson and Naz starring. Some bloke comes up and talks to me so no real comments on this drill.

Running now. Adios amigos

TheJackal · Nov 24, 2025

I was over on the other side of the track today so most of what I say will already be posted on Saints socials.

Firstly, Pou just ran the 2km trial with many of the talls (Ro, Hammer, Doug, Keels, Owens, Wilkes etc). He went out strong, was feeling it by the end but finished well ahead of the others, that's why he was nowhere to be seen in the 3km trial. He is in great shape, as I've previously said, I think he is being managed much better this preseason.

As for Wilson, he was going around out in front with Travaglia, then with probably 2 laps to go he put the burners on and when he is up and going its a sight! He created so much distance so quickly it was like he'd just started the run. Obviously he won it comfortably, I can't speak (write) highly enough of the win though. Its nothing new for him, but just wow!

There was daylight to second by the end but Bradley Hill was a clear second and finished so well, barely breaking a sweat it seemed. He is in terrific shape, I've seen it before but he's like an energiser bunny, always bouncing around with a smile on his face.

Hill had quite the margin of the next finishers. Hugo was in front of Windy but Windy came home like a train in the last 50m. If Windy came 3rd, it was only a few cms in front of Hugo.

5th was Travaglia, who as I said kept the pace up with Wilson over the first 3/4 or so of the trial. He blew up by the end, but good on him for pushing his limits (as everyone did).

Closely followed behind those few was Boxshall, Butler, Sinclair, Byrnes and Hall - that wasn't the order mind you.

It was nasty and a shame to see Boxshall bundled over, he was well entrenched in that top group at the time. Did well to get up and keep going to finish up there still.

I really liked seeing Hall up there, he has been at the back of the top running group for the past couple of weeks. Definitely building a tank to play more midfield.

Around or just after the top 10 was Armstrong, who came home like an absolute bullet. Seriously, it was one of those, where did that come from moments! Finished in front of LOC which was a good effort considering LOC is a pretty decent endurance runner.

Special mention to Lance, he finished strong, it doesn't really matter where he came - I was happier to see his strength and perseverance in the last 100.

Charlie and Kye were watching on, we all know Kye but Banfield really is a Boxshall clone. He's pretty physically developed for a kid.

Wood, King, Clark, Hastie, Ryan were among those who stayed back at the oval at RSEA park.

stavro#4 · Nov 24, 2025

Joffaboy · Nov 26, 2025

Wet and windy. Doogs, Hunter, Max, Butler and Marshall sitting in the foyer, King just in flip flops. Probably working inside today.

Storm has passed, Paddy Dow makes an appearance, good to see Doogs out in full training.

Absolutely freezing, shorts dont help. Windy AF

Henry and TDK in red tops/rehab. TDK doing runthroughs. Henry looks proppy, running slow laps.

What has happened to skinny draftees? Banfield already has definition and looks a good size.

Banfield No.27

Fincher No.29

JSOS out in a red top.

Henry's problem looks like an abdominal or chest muscle pull. Up to the rooms.

Hastie back in full training.

As we are in Melbourne, now sunny and not as cold.

Have we purchased injured players? JSOS and TDK in rehab, Flanders in the gym on a bike.

Lots more running than the first two weeks.

Doogs and Hastie running laps not in main running drills.

No.41 Ainsworth?, Ryan, Banfield, and Fincher. In a group doing repeat run throughs.

So none of the four recruits in full training today.

TDK doing repeat 80 metre run throughs.

I take it back, Flanders in the main training group.

Pou in the gym in red on the bike. Hope this is all their early preseason program.

Dont know WTF is wrong with JSOS, but not filling me with confidence.

TDK is fine, running ok, will be in the main group soon if no setbacks.

Gringo's avi taking a drill of ground ball gets and evading a defender.

Two other groups doing ball work to a lead.

TDK has the squekiest runners I have ever heard.

Biscuit boy taking the ball work/hitting the lead drill.

Rowan looks shattered to be still at the club. Not. Laughing his head off.

Pretty intense ground ball get, attack on the body drill. Doogs grabs Stocker and carries him 10 metres to the delight of everyone.

Ross makes an appearance.

Clock not started, RTB and Boris chatting, Gringos avi alerts them.

Armstrongs kicking improving. Still has to concentrate, needs it to be a bit more natural for AFL level. He is really well balanced with good evasive skills.

Next drill three groups. All three the same, in close contested ball work. Green bibs defending. Flanders nice in close.

Group2 Wilson and Hugo, good hands in close.

41 cant be Ainsworth, would be too small. Maybe Will Phillips

Dodson on the bike in the gym.

So possible injuries ( dont take as gospel and looks like nothing serious so far)

TDK calf – will be back very soon

Dodson hammy – on the bike

Henry abdominal muscle? Probably not too serious, a bit discomforted

Pou? – not sure if injured

JSOS? – not sure if injured

Max

Next up,12 minute half field drill.

Carroll HBF, Armstrong playing back for jerseys, Tauru back for bibs.

Marshall two good contested marks in defence/ midfield.

Flanders, NAZ, Wilson, Hugo mid for jerseys. Great chase down by Butts in bibs, or was it Hall? Cant tell.. Another mark to Rowan.

Trav hbf for jerseys. All willing, a little bit off but early in preseason.

Hastie’s disposal off, turnover then Lance cuts off a handball with a rundown.

Marshall another mark but straight turnover to Paddy Dow with a kick across goal. Nice to see him looking sharp. Dow another get, double bob, for a shot on goal. He and Carroll looking good. Confirmed, Carroll with the backs.

Hall , Dow, LOC in the mids with NAZ, Windy Flanders, Wilson, Hall, Hugo and Roh.

Usual Forwards, Wood, Higgo, Hammer, Coops, Butts. Owens.

Backs, Doogs, Wilks, Viking, Trav, Armstrong, Carroll.

Really impressed with the size of Banfield for a draftee. Quite a bit bigger than Fincher. Banfield has the hallmarks of the modern day winger.

The four, no.41, Banfield, Fincher and Ryan running laps. Ryan trails off. Looks slimmer but may be a bit underdone. Maybe the black top makes him look slimmer?

Banfield looks to have some running endurance, has dropped Fincher now, and Ryan is blown. Don’t think Ryan has ever been an aerobic beast. No.41 keeping up with Banfield.

Ok, full group repeat running. Draftees taking shots at goal. I will take my leave.

Adios amigos

Joffaboy · Dec 3, 2025

Nice and warm today. Cant believe Banfield is a draftee. Already has a V shape. Nice shoulders good definition, can't fathom why WCE wouldn't take him.
Wood always one of the first out with the young blokes. Absolute great example.
Ryan comes out of gym, goes back in crying, saying the warm weather reminds him of Geralton, wants his teddy bear and needs a night light to survive in Melbourne. Coaxed out by NAZ, but has a cap on to hide his tears.
Clark the only one in rehab. No King, must be GONE.
Barratt in full group training. Same with Hastie.
Hammer in the gym, cant spot JSOS or TDK.
Was Hugo not Hammer, both out on track.
Stocker in rehab singlet walking the boundary. King in the gym,looking scared of the weights, settles for a hula hoop ( think the yo-yo was taken). Looks like the hula hoop was too heavy,puts it down, decides to come out on the ground. Obviously the gym has intimidated him.
That fine specimen RTB makes an appearance.
Drills starts with two groups repeat shuttle runs.
Next up repeat 50's.
TDK out, will go over for a look.
Boxshall to the pool. No Macrae.
TDK has skinny legs for a ruckman.
Dodson in the rehab group, good to see, big big lad.
Group breaks up into five, 4 boundary running, for two minutes 1 group 50 metre run throughs. Clark in main running group. 90 second break then at it again.
Hill and Ryan not running, obviously distressed about living in Melbourne.
Ainsworth running his guts out. TDK fairly high paced run throughs, Max a little slower, Dodson laps.
Max changes from runners to boots and some light kick to kick with TDK.
Main group now into boots.
TDK repeat receive and kick in the turn, will be in the main group very soon.
Two groups broken up into smaller groups of four doing ground ball get drills.
3 groups inside ball work combo to supporting player to another on the lead. Forwards supporting player shoots at goal.
Hard to tell standouts. Tauru really needs to work on his disposal. Has been sloppy every time I have seen him this preseason.
Groups swap positions. To ally fears Ryan doing lots of running in the drills.
TDK still doing ball drills, Max having shots on goal.
Ryan may not be an athelete, but he sure is a footballer. Beautiful clean hands off the deck, lovely kicking style.
Ainsworth trying his guts out. If he doesn't get picked up, not for the want of trying. Spoke too soon, Ainsworth straight into the medical room.
Groups swap, will keep an eye on Ryan down at the goals. Nobody is surprised to know he loves a shot at goal. Banfield has a big boot, moves so well. WTF WC?
Great to see Doogs in the thick of things.
Next drill full ground movement, to supporting player, tap down at chf, ground ball get to support who hits up the forward on the lead. Very slick ( with no opposition).
Ryan obviously reads BF, swaps boots for runners. Not part of ball drills
Next drill 3/4 field contactless match sim, yellow bibs, v training tops. When I say contactless, there is contact at the contest, just no tackling.
Wilks, Barratt, Doogs, Tauru LOC back for bibs. Carroll, Trav, Armstrong hbf for reds.
There is tackling but not full on.
Bib swap. Backs stay the same as previous.
Caroll continues to impress me. Ryan running hard putting in. Henry out running laps.
Lol Ryan says to the trainer, f*** that hurt, would rather be out there, pointing at the drills.
Fincher with two big tackles, the boys love it. Second one on Trav they pile on. Looks like they are having fun. Lots of outgoing characters in the group.
Ryan and Henry back to laps. Ryan may not be Wilson and he doesnt like the running, but is putting in as hard as possible.
Next drill, 10 minutes, two groups. Stoppage contested work. Row v Keels.
Other group far side, contested defensive work.
Hugo, Hall, Flanders, Pou, Keels bibs, NAZ, Dow, Wilson, Windy, Ronnie, Row, reds. Now boundary stoppage work. Great contest Windy v Flanders, Pou looks fit, hunting the ball.
Looks like running to finish off the session so
Adios amigos.

Parkysp · Dec 3, 2025

Was good to get down there today. Pretty much what Joffa said but I know people like hearing from a range of people lucky enough to get there

I was standing near the South Rd end goals with the master class being run by Sir Robert in one of the drills. Tight inside near the boundary line running the ball out with the attacking team having more numbers than the defenders (bibs) so working the ball from inside to out then the free players working to 30m out on 45 degree to straight in front of the goals with the last forward snapping for goal.

Windy stood out with his clean hands in his group (2nd) along with Wilson for his (i'd say elite) pressure on the forwards when he had the bib on. Harves called Wilson out for a "well done" about 5 times.

Trav, Ryan, Hill, Roma, Dougs, Mitch were in the 3rd group. Dougs really involved as was Mitch
.Mitch showing off with his bull Mitchy stuff.

I missed the 1st group as I was battling Ticketek for gather round tickets.

Some general observations.

Pou - trained and moved well. Hands very good. Kicking was rusty but not a surprise as has been easing into full training

Windy - Wowza. His ball handling improvement is outrageous. Can't recall a single fumble amongst all the drills where he had someone right on him. Then the strength through his core enabling him to get the ball out and hitting targets.

Wilson - I saw he wasn't in a top 50 under 23 list last week. Moorabbin is about a 30 min drive down the Higway from Southbank. Really not that far for some reporters to go take a look. He has strength and pace and now knows where to go get the ball. He's a beauty.

Dougs - A lock for the key defender post if he's fit and trains like that. Great vocal leadership. Very positive which I dont think has always been his case.

LOC - Trained really well. Will be fringe as just behind Stocker (if fit) and a bit ahead of Hastie.

Butts - Trained well i thought and ran hard so may not be as far behind the other small forwards as I thought.

First session so some numbers and bibs got me so I'll have to study up.

Finally. The last drill had Sir Lenny and Sir Robert running a midfielders masterclass. Lucky lucky young men. Lenny throwing the ball in from the boundary to RoMa and Keels. RoMa largely winning at the start but Keels worked his way into it. Mids paired up into a jumper and bib combo. Garcia and Windy going at it.

The thing that struck me most watching that drill though was the amount of talent amongst that group. Nas, Pou, Windy, Garcia, Hall, Wilson. All can win their own ball and then spread. We have come such a long way compared to this time a couple of years ago when I went down to watch pre Christmas training.

Got my gather round seats behind the hill goals too so was a very good morning.

Longmembrey · Dec 3, 2025

Headed down today. I dont watch as closely as ithers but things I noticed:

Banfield looks VERY promising
King & TDK both looked good in rehab
Clark still looks proppy. Not sure what is the go there... although he never looks comfortable running.
My God Wilson can run. He is always looking back over his shoulder, I honestly think it's so that he doesn't run too fast. He looks that comfortable. And he is built like a brick outhouse
Higgins was good in drills
Collard is miles ahead with his running this year.

*Owens is a beast. So strong once he has his opponent under the ball in a marking contest. And he can keep up with the mids when running

Boxshall had ankle brace / strapping. Walked ok to the pool
Fincher looks like he belongs.
my jury is out on Travaglia, just doesn't seem up to the level. Early days I guess

*Caminiti is a specimen and very strong in the air

Unfortunately, it was not all good news. There is still 1 major area of concern:

spiral3 · Dec 5, 2025

got down to training today, a few observations

- Banfield is a new fave, he's a big lad, looked very similar in height to Barrat.
His defensive work is fantastic, 100% effort, repeat efforts, may burn himself out this year with trying too hard
Could see him getting games this year, physically looks ready (running?). Kicking needs work from small sample size

- Armstrong - reminds me of Goddard in the way he moves. His kicking is neat, seems pretty dependable with short kicking, higher pressure prob a challenge at this point but like the look of him

- Higgins - just super effective in the game sim stuff, makes a quick smart decision and hits the target

- Nas - freak show. kicking is great to watch, ball cuts through the air and can slice his kicks on kooky angles, must be hard for defenders to predict. Reckon we could see some great chemistry with him and Flyin', could be some exceptional plays with their combined skill and creativity

- Flyin' Ryan - looks pretty happy to me, smart player, nice kick, looked for Ro in the match sim stuff

- Wilkie - so Wilkie it hurt - Mr Dependable, super pro

- Carrol - stood out a bit, having a real crack. defensive work a highlight, made life hard for oppo

- Wilson - cruising around being an absolute specimen

- Pou - good, quick

- Garcia - see Pou

- Sinclair - wasn't just doing laps

- Cooper - very good

- Tobie - lots of voice, seems comfortable in the group, didn't watch closely

- Hastie - like him but misses targets too much for his position, gotta sharpen up his kicking

- King - moving way better than a couple of weeks ago, short kicking, short runs, some agility stuff. He's not skinny, big strong looking unit

- Ross - what are we paying him for - snoozing around having chats - vibe guy

No Hill, Mitch not in main group - chatted with staff & pool, Henry running laps as were Box, Lobster, Dodson (legs like tree trunks)
Rehab group of King, TDK, Stocker (gloved - hand injury?), Clark & other?

michaelcos · Dec 10, 2025

At training this morning.

Rehab Group - De Koning, Henry, Macrae, Dodson, Said.

Have not sighted King/Phillipou. Which is super worrying.

A unknown player wearing number 54 looks a player. Not sure if VFL listed

AirWinmar · Dec 10, 2025

Some observations from training today from what I can remember -
TDK, Henry, Stocker, Dodson, Barrat just running laps and Tauru and Armstrong in the gym / pool.

No King or Pou.

Banfield looks like a unit for a 1st year player and looks good in drills and sim and did very well in the running in the top few players in his group. Was actually quite vocal pushing and encouraging his team mates, which was surprising of a young draftee.

2nd the opinion on whoever number 54, was able to evade some players well in some drills - did kick a couple of sloppy kicks though.

Goddard was involved in some of the drills and still looks to move quite well.

Garcia is a competitive beast, him and Windy going at it a fair bit. He is intense. There was a ball up stoppage drill where Hugo nearly won every contest.

Chito looking good and clunking some nice marks. Good to see Dougs out there and his teammates seem really happy to he is out there too. Defended well in sim.

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