I went down to training today for a look and thought I would give a little bit of a run down. Apologies first because as I am not a Sydney supporter I did have a bit of trouble identifying the players out there especially the younger guys most of whom were a complete mystery to me.
I was a little disappointed that most of the senior guys did not train. Missing that I recognised were Barry, Goodes, Hall (appeared early but did not train), Jolly (warmed up I think but sat as soon as the running started and then disappeared), Malceski and O’Loughlin. Craig Bolton did a hard running session but did not participate in the drills. Bolton looks cut. LRT did some running around the oval and I think did participate in the kicking drills before leaving with the other talls.
The training was pretty low key and not as sharp as I am sure the coaches would have wanted. I think the absence of most of the senior players was telling. Roos was there today and ran the drills. After the warm up the players ran a 3ish km time trial (everyone counted on the way in and given the times I would expect it to be under 3kms), then did some kicking drills, did some kick in drills (invariably short and to the pocket and work from there) with focus being on sweeping the ball quickly up the field into the forward line before finishing with a short match. The talls left after the kicking drills and did not participate in the second half of the training.
As mentioned I did have a bit of trouble identifying the players although with a bit of help from skankdanker who was there I did pick up a few. This was how I saw them:
Ablett – horrible moustache. Looks very solid though and will certainly be a physical presence for you this year.
Barlow – seemed okay and moved around nicely but didn’t do anything that stood out for me. Still a fringe 22 player I expect although we will see how he steps up in the NAB.
Bird – came home mid pack in the time trial and seemed to be putting in in all of the drills. He was generally clean and his kicking was as good as anyone out on the park. You guys want the ball in his hands. In the practice match though he was really struggling and hunched over to regain his breath at each stoppage. He really did labour through the match at the end of training. Accordingly I think he still might struggle to play a huge number of minutes through the midfield this year and it might be another year before we see him really taking the AFL by storm. Great prospect all the same.
J Bolton – played and did okay without really dominating. Was going about 80% I reckon.
Kirk – see Bolton.
Brabazon – seems to move pretty nicely and looks like a player. Not the best kick in the world.
Crouch – looks fit and looked one of the better guys out there.
Currie – I can’t see him not being the number 2 ruck. He looks taller than his listed height of 200cm (especially compared to White) and moves very nicely. Did pretty well in the time trial, got around the field in the kicking drills and gave off nicely when he got the ball. Skills seem good and he has put on quite a bit of weight since last year. Still not huge but certainly holding his own now I think.
Grundy – from what I saw today I would be shocked if Grundy is not in your team come round 1. In the drill moving the ball from the kick in the players generally looked to use Grundy at every opportunity at HF. He looks fit, is up and moving well and takes a good mark.
Jack – probably not quite as polished with the ball as Bird but his disposal was good and he still has that bit better tank. He was another who worked hard throughout the session and looks cherry ripe. With Crouch looking like he might be back up and going it could well free up Jack from tagging roles and I think his hard running style would help the midfield. As mentioned his kicking pretty good today.
Johnson – I like the look of this kid and think Adelaide will be sorry for passing on him when all is said and done. He is a great mover around the field and has a very nice burst of pace. Today though he had more than a couple of lapses in concentration and spilt a fair few marks that he should have taken. Still he knows where to go and that is a good skill to have on its own.
Mattner – took half the kick ins and generally his kicks from the kick ins and around the ground were pin point. He did run himself into trouble a couple of times though.
McVeigh – was one of the more impressive guys out there. Was a real leader out on the field directing the younger guys and giving advice when warranted. He ran the session out well.
Moore – Did most of the drills but worked separately on some ball on the ground drills at the end. He is a nugget and seems much like last year. I think he might have brought up the rear in the time trial but don’t quote me on that.
Dan O’Keefe – was a guy I wanted to have a look at but I had no idea who he was unfortunately.
Richards – worked hard but was a little scrappy.
Shaw – I have never been a fan but for me he was the most impressive guy out there today. I am putting it nicely when I say that his kicking has never been a strength but it is currently looking much better than I have ever seen it. He and Mattner slit the kick ins and Rhyce was hitting his targets as well if not better than Mattner. He looked the sharpest guy out there and ran very hard throughout the session with very nice pace. He is looking like he will be a very nice pick up for you guys.
Veszpremi – got lost in the traffic a bit for me. When I did see him he was hitting targets pretty well and moving pretty nicely. He and Bird are built very similarly and from a distance are hard tell apart. They even move a bit alike and both had trouble running out the session. I can’t see him in the middle too much this year.
White – he is a big unit but I just don’t think he is tall enough to be a ruck. Apparently he has been working a bit with the backs and this might be where he ends up. He was doing it hard in the time trial but despite being at the back he was pretty close to others and I thought he performed admirably. He moves around the ground pretty well for a guy his size.
Gilchrist – very light but moves nicely and can kick a ball. He is a fair way off though.
Orreal – another who despite having very nice height is a fair way off physically. His concentration when marking needs to improve a bit as well as he drops too many at the moment.
Pyke – despite the hype I can’t see him being ready to play this year. Despite being listed as the same height as Currie he looks shorter and I would think him under his listed height of 200cm. He is a big boy though and has a very big set of shoulders on him. I think he might have trimmed down a bit from his rugby days but there is still a hell of a lot of him. In ruck drills at the moment he does not get full extension on his taps and tends to tap the ball in front of him at about a 70% angle. Maybe this is deliberate and might work in the boundary throws where he can get body contact but he will struggle with that style in the centre bounces. During warm ups he was working on his marking uncontested and he struggled a lot catching the ball and then delivering it back to the man. Interestingly though both his marking and his kicking improved markedly during the kicking drill when it was a little bit more dynamic. Both marking and kicking wise he is still a fair way off I think.
Nipper, Dipper, Nippo, Dippo??? – young brown haired guy. A little bit surprisingly he won the time trial. He has a bit of an awkward running style but he covers some ground. His kicking is okay but could use a little work. He covered a lot of ground at training and was another who was a bit knackered by the end of the session.
Young indigenous guy – moves very nicely and seems to do everything well except kick the ball at the moment. He needs to flatten out his kicking but he has a lot going for him.
I was a little disappointed that most of the senior guys did not train. Missing that I recognised were Barry, Goodes, Hall (appeared early but did not train), Jolly (warmed up I think but sat as soon as the running started and then disappeared), Malceski and O’Loughlin. Craig Bolton did a hard running session but did not participate in the drills. Bolton looks cut. LRT did some running around the oval and I think did participate in the kicking drills before leaving with the other talls.
The training was pretty low key and not as sharp as I am sure the coaches would have wanted. I think the absence of most of the senior players was telling. Roos was there today and ran the drills. After the warm up the players ran a 3ish km time trial (everyone counted on the way in and given the times I would expect it to be under 3kms), then did some kicking drills, did some kick in drills (invariably short and to the pocket and work from there) with focus being on sweeping the ball quickly up the field into the forward line before finishing with a short match. The talls left after the kicking drills and did not participate in the second half of the training.
As mentioned I did have a bit of trouble identifying the players although with a bit of help from skankdanker who was there I did pick up a few. This was how I saw them:
Ablett – horrible moustache. Looks very solid though and will certainly be a physical presence for you this year.
Barlow – seemed okay and moved around nicely but didn’t do anything that stood out for me. Still a fringe 22 player I expect although we will see how he steps up in the NAB.
Bird – came home mid pack in the time trial and seemed to be putting in in all of the drills. He was generally clean and his kicking was as good as anyone out on the park. You guys want the ball in his hands. In the practice match though he was really struggling and hunched over to regain his breath at each stoppage. He really did labour through the match at the end of training. Accordingly I think he still might struggle to play a huge number of minutes through the midfield this year and it might be another year before we see him really taking the AFL by storm. Great prospect all the same.
J Bolton – played and did okay without really dominating. Was going about 80% I reckon.
Kirk – see Bolton.
Brabazon – seems to move pretty nicely and looks like a player. Not the best kick in the world.
Crouch – looks fit and looked one of the better guys out there.
Currie – I can’t see him not being the number 2 ruck. He looks taller than his listed height of 200cm (especially compared to White) and moves very nicely. Did pretty well in the time trial, got around the field in the kicking drills and gave off nicely when he got the ball. Skills seem good and he has put on quite a bit of weight since last year. Still not huge but certainly holding his own now I think.
Grundy – from what I saw today I would be shocked if Grundy is not in your team come round 1. In the drill moving the ball from the kick in the players generally looked to use Grundy at every opportunity at HF. He looks fit, is up and moving well and takes a good mark.
Jack – probably not quite as polished with the ball as Bird but his disposal was good and he still has that bit better tank. He was another who worked hard throughout the session and looks cherry ripe. With Crouch looking like he might be back up and going it could well free up Jack from tagging roles and I think his hard running style would help the midfield. As mentioned his kicking pretty good today.
Johnson – I like the look of this kid and think Adelaide will be sorry for passing on him when all is said and done. He is a great mover around the field and has a very nice burst of pace. Today though he had more than a couple of lapses in concentration and spilt a fair few marks that he should have taken. Still he knows where to go and that is a good skill to have on its own.
Mattner – took half the kick ins and generally his kicks from the kick ins and around the ground were pin point. He did run himself into trouble a couple of times though.
McVeigh – was one of the more impressive guys out there. Was a real leader out on the field directing the younger guys and giving advice when warranted. He ran the session out well.
Moore – Did most of the drills but worked separately on some ball on the ground drills at the end. He is a nugget and seems much like last year. I think he might have brought up the rear in the time trial but don’t quote me on that.
Dan O’Keefe – was a guy I wanted to have a look at but I had no idea who he was unfortunately.
Richards – worked hard but was a little scrappy.
Shaw – I have never been a fan but for me he was the most impressive guy out there today. I am putting it nicely when I say that his kicking has never been a strength but it is currently looking much better than I have ever seen it. He and Mattner slit the kick ins and Rhyce was hitting his targets as well if not better than Mattner. He looked the sharpest guy out there and ran very hard throughout the session with very nice pace. He is looking like he will be a very nice pick up for you guys.
Veszpremi – got lost in the traffic a bit for me. When I did see him he was hitting targets pretty well and moving pretty nicely. He and Bird are built very similarly and from a distance are hard tell apart. They even move a bit alike and both had trouble running out the session. I can’t see him in the middle too much this year.
White – he is a big unit but I just don’t think he is tall enough to be a ruck. Apparently he has been working a bit with the backs and this might be where he ends up. He was doing it hard in the time trial but despite being at the back he was pretty close to others and I thought he performed admirably. He moves around the ground pretty well for a guy his size.
Gilchrist – very light but moves nicely and can kick a ball. He is a fair way off though.
Orreal – another who despite having very nice height is a fair way off physically. His concentration when marking needs to improve a bit as well as he drops too many at the moment.
Pyke – despite the hype I can’t see him being ready to play this year. Despite being listed as the same height as Currie he looks shorter and I would think him under his listed height of 200cm. He is a big boy though and has a very big set of shoulders on him. I think he might have trimmed down a bit from his rugby days but there is still a hell of a lot of him. In ruck drills at the moment he does not get full extension on his taps and tends to tap the ball in front of him at about a 70% angle. Maybe this is deliberate and might work in the boundary throws where he can get body contact but he will struggle with that style in the centre bounces. During warm ups he was working on his marking uncontested and he struggled a lot catching the ball and then delivering it back to the man. Interestingly though both his marking and his kicking improved markedly during the kicking drill when it was a little bit more dynamic. Both marking and kicking wise he is still a fair way off I think.
Nipper, Dipper, Nippo, Dippo??? – young brown haired guy. A little bit surprisingly he won the time trial. He has a bit of an awkward running style but he covers some ground. His kicking is okay but could use a little work. He covered a lot of ground at training and was another who was a bit knackered by the end of the session.
Young indigenous guy – moves very nicely and seems to do everything well except kick the ball at the moment. He needs to flatten out his kicking but he has a lot going for him.
