A ground the Crows could call their 'second home' was the choice of venue for this morning's three hour training session. Thebarton Oval has held many training sessions over the pre-season and today's was the first at the venue for the New Year.
With the seats in the stand a little dusty and with numerous spider webs visible, it wasn't hard to tell that we are in the off season. Although with just over a month away until our first competitive hit out against Collingwood in Dubai, a small group of around 15 players had taken to the oval early for a light kick to kick between each other. Not long after I had arrived, the players out in the middle retreated back to the change rooms.
About 15 minutes later the playing group emerged from within ready to go. The majority of players lined up in two lines facing each other and proceeded with a light kick to kick to warm up. Unlike before the Christmas break, just three players missed the whole session due to some sort of injury. Jonathon Griffin Nick Gill and Luke Jericho slowly paced around the oval before increasing speed to a light jog.
Next it was the main group's turn for a jog around the oval. Their only opposition for the morning, a few pesky sprinklers on the far wing.
To slowly ease into things the players started off using the whole oval freely moving the ball from one end to the other. A training exercise which is used at most sessions, the players would then have to stop at the sound of a whistle before completing some stretches and then they were off again. At one point head trainer, Stephen Schwerdt, ordered push ups. Injured forward Trent Hentschel was reduced to completing sit ups as he is slowly introduced back into football.
The next drill focused on both kicking and handballing. There were six groups in the middle of the ground, with about four lining up on one side facing the other four. The task was fairly simple where one player would kick the ball towards his opposing player. Not long after, they were stopped and each group was forced back 10m, meaning there was about a distance of 60m between each group. The order given was 'Body the ball" seemingly meaning that the kick lands about 1m in front of the leading player.
As this task came to a close, the players formed small groups around the ground. Down the south end of the ground, four groups assembled within the 50m arch, one group was positioned just off the centre circle and two were positioned down the north end of the ground -with one in the goalsqaure. Starting off with one football at the south end, the ball would move up the ground with a series of leads. Once it had reached its final destination, it was worked back down the other end of the ground using the far wing. Eventually four footballs were moving through at the same time. After a while of doing this, they switched wing, meaning the ball would be moved back down to the south end on the closest wing.
Trent Hentschel had now finished with the main group for the day and proceeded to work with a couple of trainers. He was mainly working on his agility, working in a tight space dodging around cones and collecting low handballs. He also worked on leading and marking. Having seen him complete the above drill, he doesn't looks too far away at all.
Three young guys also left the main group at this point. After some confusion I realised they're not ours, just some lucky boys with an opportunity to train with the Crows for a couple of weeks. Think Brad Ebert and James Wundke last year.
Now it was time to get down to business. White v Blue, oh and one player donning a red top. Douglas appeared to be the first chosen one in the red. Going to the left of screen were blue and to the right, white. The ball was thrown up in the middle and it was worth noting Bernie Vince was around the centre circle. Once the ball was caught up in a tackle, the man in charge, Neil Craig, was very quick to order 'Play on, keep the ball moving'.
After a few minutes the game was stopped and the ball was thrown up on the wing. At one point, blue decided to ease up pressure on the scoreboard and opted for a mini flood, with no players in their attacking 50. It was a familiar sight, as once blue regained possession of the ball in their defence 50; they moved the ball quickly down the ground. Brett Burton received the ball just outside of the 50 but took too long to take his kick and ended up passing to a three on one. Later in the drill, James Sellar took a brilliant chest mark on the lead of Basset from a long and loopy Ken McGregor kick. He was faced with a 45 degree angle about 40m out. Unfortunately, the ball sailed right. Richard Douglas was out of his red top and had passed the honour to Nathan van Berlo.
A break at 'half time' saw Peter Jonas lead a drill on the wing. Four cones made up a rectangle as two players each ran down one side before darting inside diagonally to come fact to face with their partner. The player without the football in his hands was to lay a tackle. As this continued two groups worked in the centre of the ground going through a handball drill. Richard Douglas invaded Simon Goodwin's attempted tackle and received plenty of praise for his effort. After both groups and swapped off and completed both tasks blue v white took their positions.
The ball started on the wing with a throw up, the two opposing ruckman were Biglands and Maric. It is worth noting Trent Hentschel left the training track at this point. Jason Porplyzia was in the thick of things for the blue team, gaining two clearances from a throw up. Brett Burton slotted a nice goal from about 50m out on a slight angle. McGregor was also up forward for blue. It seemed as if blue were doing all the attacking as the ball would just sweep across white's forward line before being rushed back down blue's end. Brent Reilly was clearing the ball well for white and Nathan Bock was playing down back for blue. Chris Knights, with his right calf strapped, kick a nice snap goal after an indecisive Bernie Vince kicked the ball into the man on the mark.
Veteran Andrew McLeod was part of blue's forward set up which also included James Sellar. Sellar took a nice mark, squished in between Graham Johncock and Nathan Basset (who partook in the whole training session). Scott Thompson also added some clearances to his name as I spotted new recruit, Brad Moran, playing down back for blue. In one piece of play, McLeod marked deep in the forward pocket for blue and centred the ball to Sellar who was leading Basset. Before Sellar could take his kick Neil Craig decided enough was enough and called his troops in for the post game chat.
Jonathon Griffin emerged from the rooms and appeared to wander around for a bit before Nick Gill and Luke Jericho joined him working on the punching bags, with a weight ball and through some handball drills.
The white training tops were not quite yet finished for the day and were brought out for a drill involving three separate groups on the ground. One group was in each 50 and another working within the centre square. Each group had their own ball and would start the drill with all the players huddled up in the middle of their allocated space. Half were white half were blue. A player standing on the edge of the space, with a man on the mark, would kick the ball in to start play. Basically the huddled players would break and lead and once the ball was in play it was shared around the space.
After this, the playing group was split into two groups with one on either wing. Half were in white, half were in blue. This drill centred on handballing, with the aim to bring the ball from side of the rectangle to the other evading the opposing players. James Sellar and Kris Massie didn't complete this one as they headed off to join the other guys going through some lighter drills.
As the session appeared to be drawing to a close the players went for a light jog before completing a couple of stretched. Low and behold they were up again and worked through a drill basically identical to the first main drill of the day.
However, Neil Craig decided to spice things up a little. For about two or three minutes the players were not allowed to call out and shout. The only voice which could be heard was Neil Craig's. Soon after, they were only allowed to work the ball from one end of the ground to the other using handballs. They went up and down about three times and only dropped the ball that amount of times.
After a chat in the centre of the ground the players started to head off the oval. Jason Porplyzia and Robert Shirley stayed behind for a couple of minutes, Shirley would throw the ball up to Porplyzia and he would punch it back down to Shirley. Out in the middle of the ground Ivan Maric, Brad Moran and Kurt Tippett went through some light handballing and Bernie Vince received some advice from Neil Craig.
It appeared that none of our first year players were at the session at all.
A couple of notes on the players: Brett Burton is showing no signs of troublesome knees, not one was strapped. Trent Hentschel's training load is slowly increasing although his right leg is still noticeable smaller than his left. Brad Moran looked pretty good, as did James Sellar. Overall their skills were sharp.
As my watched ticked over to twelve, I left feeling satisfied from the morning's session. As I walked down from the stand and into the car park I was surprised to see half the players leaving before I had managed to get to the car! I guess the showers aren't too good at Thebarton.
EDIT: Pics are up.
With the seats in the stand a little dusty and with numerous spider webs visible, it wasn't hard to tell that we are in the off season. Although with just over a month away until our first competitive hit out against Collingwood in Dubai, a small group of around 15 players had taken to the oval early for a light kick to kick between each other. Not long after I had arrived, the players out in the middle retreated back to the change rooms.
About 15 minutes later the playing group emerged from within ready to go. The majority of players lined up in two lines facing each other and proceeded with a light kick to kick to warm up. Unlike before the Christmas break, just three players missed the whole session due to some sort of injury. Jonathon Griffin Nick Gill and Luke Jericho slowly paced around the oval before increasing speed to a light jog.
Next it was the main group's turn for a jog around the oval. Their only opposition for the morning, a few pesky sprinklers on the far wing.
To slowly ease into things the players started off using the whole oval freely moving the ball from one end to the other. A training exercise which is used at most sessions, the players would then have to stop at the sound of a whistle before completing some stretches and then they were off again. At one point head trainer, Stephen Schwerdt, ordered push ups. Injured forward Trent Hentschel was reduced to completing sit ups as he is slowly introduced back into football.
The next drill focused on both kicking and handballing. There were six groups in the middle of the ground, with about four lining up on one side facing the other four. The task was fairly simple where one player would kick the ball towards his opposing player. Not long after, they were stopped and each group was forced back 10m, meaning there was about a distance of 60m between each group. The order given was 'Body the ball" seemingly meaning that the kick lands about 1m in front of the leading player.
As this task came to a close, the players formed small groups around the ground. Down the south end of the ground, four groups assembled within the 50m arch, one group was positioned just off the centre circle and two were positioned down the north end of the ground -with one in the goalsqaure. Starting off with one football at the south end, the ball would move up the ground with a series of leads. Once it had reached its final destination, it was worked back down the other end of the ground using the far wing. Eventually four footballs were moving through at the same time. After a while of doing this, they switched wing, meaning the ball would be moved back down to the south end on the closest wing.
Trent Hentschel had now finished with the main group for the day and proceeded to work with a couple of trainers. He was mainly working on his agility, working in a tight space dodging around cones and collecting low handballs. He also worked on leading and marking. Having seen him complete the above drill, he doesn't looks too far away at all.
Three young guys also left the main group at this point. After some confusion I realised they're not ours, just some lucky boys with an opportunity to train with the Crows for a couple of weeks. Think Brad Ebert and James Wundke last year.
Now it was time to get down to business. White v Blue, oh and one player donning a red top. Douglas appeared to be the first chosen one in the red. Going to the left of screen were blue and to the right, white. The ball was thrown up in the middle and it was worth noting Bernie Vince was around the centre circle. Once the ball was caught up in a tackle, the man in charge, Neil Craig, was very quick to order 'Play on, keep the ball moving'.
After a few minutes the game was stopped and the ball was thrown up on the wing. At one point, blue decided to ease up pressure on the scoreboard and opted for a mini flood, with no players in their attacking 50. It was a familiar sight, as once blue regained possession of the ball in their defence 50; they moved the ball quickly down the ground. Brett Burton received the ball just outside of the 50 but took too long to take his kick and ended up passing to a three on one. Later in the drill, James Sellar took a brilliant chest mark on the lead of Basset from a long and loopy Ken McGregor kick. He was faced with a 45 degree angle about 40m out. Unfortunately, the ball sailed right. Richard Douglas was out of his red top and had passed the honour to Nathan van Berlo.
A break at 'half time' saw Peter Jonas lead a drill on the wing. Four cones made up a rectangle as two players each ran down one side before darting inside diagonally to come fact to face with their partner. The player without the football in his hands was to lay a tackle. As this continued two groups worked in the centre of the ground going through a handball drill. Richard Douglas invaded Simon Goodwin's attempted tackle and received plenty of praise for his effort. After both groups and swapped off and completed both tasks blue v white took their positions.
The ball started on the wing with a throw up, the two opposing ruckman were Biglands and Maric. It is worth noting Trent Hentschel left the training track at this point. Jason Porplyzia was in the thick of things for the blue team, gaining two clearances from a throw up. Brett Burton slotted a nice goal from about 50m out on a slight angle. McGregor was also up forward for blue. It seemed as if blue were doing all the attacking as the ball would just sweep across white's forward line before being rushed back down blue's end. Brent Reilly was clearing the ball well for white and Nathan Bock was playing down back for blue. Chris Knights, with his right calf strapped, kick a nice snap goal after an indecisive Bernie Vince kicked the ball into the man on the mark.
Veteran Andrew McLeod was part of blue's forward set up which also included James Sellar. Sellar took a nice mark, squished in between Graham Johncock and Nathan Basset (who partook in the whole training session). Scott Thompson also added some clearances to his name as I spotted new recruit, Brad Moran, playing down back for blue. In one piece of play, McLeod marked deep in the forward pocket for blue and centred the ball to Sellar who was leading Basset. Before Sellar could take his kick Neil Craig decided enough was enough and called his troops in for the post game chat.
Jonathon Griffin emerged from the rooms and appeared to wander around for a bit before Nick Gill and Luke Jericho joined him working on the punching bags, with a weight ball and through some handball drills.
The white training tops were not quite yet finished for the day and were brought out for a drill involving three separate groups on the ground. One group was in each 50 and another working within the centre square. Each group had their own ball and would start the drill with all the players huddled up in the middle of their allocated space. Half were white half were blue. A player standing on the edge of the space, with a man on the mark, would kick the ball in to start play. Basically the huddled players would break and lead and once the ball was in play it was shared around the space.
After this, the playing group was split into two groups with one on either wing. Half were in white, half were in blue. This drill centred on handballing, with the aim to bring the ball from side of the rectangle to the other evading the opposing players. James Sellar and Kris Massie didn't complete this one as they headed off to join the other guys going through some lighter drills.
As the session appeared to be drawing to a close the players went for a light jog before completing a couple of stretched. Low and behold they were up again and worked through a drill basically identical to the first main drill of the day.
However, Neil Craig decided to spice things up a little. For about two or three minutes the players were not allowed to call out and shout. The only voice which could be heard was Neil Craig's. Soon after, they were only allowed to work the ball from one end of the ground to the other using handballs. They went up and down about three times and only dropped the ball that amount of times.
After a chat in the centre of the ground the players started to head off the oval. Jason Porplyzia and Robert Shirley stayed behind for a couple of minutes, Shirley would throw the ball up to Porplyzia and he would punch it back down to Shirley. Out in the middle of the ground Ivan Maric, Brad Moran and Kurt Tippett went through some light handballing and Bernie Vince received some advice from Neil Craig.
It appeared that none of our first year players were at the session at all.
A couple of notes on the players: Brett Burton is showing no signs of troublesome knees, not one was strapped. Trent Hentschel's training load is slowly increasing although his right leg is still noticeable smaller than his left. Brad Moran looked pretty good, as did James Sellar. Overall their skills were sharp.
As my watched ticked over to twelve, I left feeling satisfied from the morning's session. As I walked down from the stand and into the car park I was surprised to see half the players leaving before I had managed to get to the car! I guess the showers aren't too good at Thebarton.
EDIT: Pics are up.
