- May 8, 2006
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Wednesday,11th of April....
I'm over here in Vic on holidays for a couple of weeks and made my way down to Windy Hill today with my young bloke to watch the boys in action at training. Its the first time I've ever been to an EFC training session and geez did we enjoy the experience
We got autographs galore including our main target..Lloydy
The boys ran out and got started with some kick to kick warm ups and then moved over to the far side of the ground to do little sprints in between those flexy poles. Hird still moves quick for an old coot
Welsh,Nash,McKinnon and NLM went over to the side and handpassed to Welshy who sat on one of those big ball things untill one of the coaching staff came over and told Welsh "You're supposed to be walking laps for half an hour"....so off he went.
Lots of different drills followed (I'd be hopeless trying to explain them in detail) but I hardly saw a mark dropped or a kick go wayward. The group sounded very vocal and in good spirits,lots of loud voices and encouragement from the older players and Sheedy in the middle of it all directing the troops.
When the boys first ran out,Sheeds followed out behind them and stoppped at the gate and spent 10 minutes signing autographs and cracking jokes. He then said "Well,I betta get out there and do some coaching I suppose" and off he went...he's a classic.
Halfway through the end to end drills, Jetta and Lovett broke off together from the main group and did end to end running,hving a rest for 5 minutes in the members end goal square before doing it again...they must have been givin an easy night for some reason.
It was fantastic to finally see some of the young blokes in action up close.
Jay Neagle impressed me with his size,height and marking skills. At one stage,him and McVeigh had a one on one marking contest with McV wacking Jay around the head with a smack that could be heard for miles around
(it was a hard hit)..but he held the mark strongly and impressed mw with his attack at the ball
JJ seemed to move alright and looks pretty right to me..wonder weather he will return this week??
Good to see Rama running strong all through the session. Danny Chartres' body looks like a million dollars compared to what he looked like last year at Peel...good skills Danny.
They call Mal "Big Dog" as well as Mal....funny stuff hearing that nick name.
Towards the end, Hirdy went to the grandsatnd pocket by himself with an old guy trainer and practiced snap shots from 25-30 out. To stand there and watch the great man from 10 mtrs away and watch him slot about 20 from 25 kicks through the big sticks is a moment I will remember for ever. Such skill from the champ and my young son was pretty happy about it too.
I reckon there was about 200 fans watching and when Hird came in towards the end to go in before the group,he was swamped by dozens of kids...my son missed out on a Hird autograph because he couldn't make it through the rush,but he was pretty happy to get lloydy at the end when the players went along the fence and signed everything in sight.
Can't believe how different WindyHill looks now compared to the old days,but it still feels like home looking up at the Alan Hird stand and RS Reynolds stand.
The Hall of Fame is sensational and to stand there and look at all those cups stacked up....makes you even prouder to be an Essendon supporter.
One highlight....a bunch of kids throwing tennis balls up against Peter Jackson's office window and seeing his bald head look down with a slightly annoyed look on his face...
I'm over here in Vic on holidays for a couple of weeks and made my way down to Windy Hill today with my young bloke to watch the boys in action at training. Its the first time I've ever been to an EFC training session and geez did we enjoy the experience
We got autographs galore including our main target..Lloydy
The boys ran out and got started with some kick to kick warm ups and then moved over to the far side of the ground to do little sprints in between those flexy poles. Hird still moves quick for an old coot
Welsh,Nash,McKinnon and NLM went over to the side and handpassed to Welshy who sat on one of those big ball things untill one of the coaching staff came over and told Welsh "You're supposed to be walking laps for half an hour"....so off he went.
Lots of different drills followed (I'd be hopeless trying to explain them in detail) but I hardly saw a mark dropped or a kick go wayward. The group sounded very vocal and in good spirits,lots of loud voices and encouragement from the older players and Sheedy in the middle of it all directing the troops.
When the boys first ran out,Sheeds followed out behind them and stoppped at the gate and spent 10 minutes signing autographs and cracking jokes. He then said "Well,I betta get out there and do some coaching I suppose" and off he went...he's a classic.
Halfway through the end to end drills, Jetta and Lovett broke off together from the main group and did end to end running,hving a rest for 5 minutes in the members end goal square before doing it again...they must have been givin an easy night for some reason.
It was fantastic to finally see some of the young blokes in action up close.
Jay Neagle impressed me with his size,height and marking skills. At one stage,him and McVeigh had a one on one marking contest with McV wacking Jay around the head with a smack that could be heard for miles around
(it was a hard hit)..but he held the mark strongly and impressed mw with his attack at the ball
JJ seemed to move alright and looks pretty right to me..wonder weather he will return this week??
Good to see Rama running strong all through the session. Danny Chartres' body looks like a million dollars compared to what he looked like last year at Peel...good skills Danny.
They call Mal "Big Dog" as well as Mal....funny stuff hearing that nick name.
Towards the end, Hirdy went to the grandsatnd pocket by himself with an old guy trainer and practiced snap shots from 25-30 out. To stand there and watch the great man from 10 mtrs away and watch him slot about 20 from 25 kicks through the big sticks is a moment I will remember for ever. Such skill from the champ and my young son was pretty happy about it too.
I reckon there was about 200 fans watching and when Hird came in towards the end to go in before the group,he was swamped by dozens of kids...my son missed out on a Hird autograph because he couldn't make it through the rush,but he was pretty happy to get lloydy at the end when the players went along the fence and signed everything in sight.
Can't believe how different WindyHill looks now compared to the old days,but it still feels like home looking up at the Alan Hird stand and RS Reynolds stand.
The Hall of Fame is sensational and to stand there and look at all those cups stacked up....makes you even prouder to be an Essendon supporter.
One highlight....a bunch of kids throwing tennis balls up against Peter Jackson's office window and seeing his bald head look down with a slightly annoyed look on his face...
