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I managed to get to Waverley this morning and was fortunate enough to see the boys training. I didn’t plan on doing this but figured it may give some of you guys that footy fix for the week.
Overall the session went for about 1.5 hours and it was a very warm and still morning. As most of the squad appeared to be out on the track it made for hectic viewing and it was difficult to focus on any one particular player.
My first impression was how slim some players looked in comparison to last year. In particular Big Boy, Hodge, Poppy, Lithers, Schoe, Langford Snr and Junior Boy. Watching them train towards the end of last year I thought that they were trim enough, but seeing them up close today, the physical change is noticeable. On the other hand, Gunners seemed to have bulked up.
When I arrived the players were in the middle of a drill focused on forward entries and structures. The backs and forwards played on one another and there were multiple one on ones. Gibbo, Stratts, Rough and Schoe stood out. Stratts was maniacal. My attention kept getting drawn to Schoe. As I said, he appears to have slimmed down a lot and was moving beautifully. His ball use was fantastic and he had a real presence about him. I am of the opinion that he will be used as a forward this year (or that keeping him forward will be the preferred option). Watch this space …. again!
Lake and O’Brien were watching from the gym and Duryea, Spangher and Langford Jnr were running multiple laps. Shem was on the side lines in his gear but didn’t appear to take part in too many of the drills. Frawley was with him and didn’t do anything. It was apparent that some of these players were not injured, but doing different things as part of their training regime.
When Langford Jnr ran past me (a few times) I was pleasantly surprised. He was moving freely and didn’t appear to stand much shorter than Spangher. He was also much leaner than I envisaged (in fairness to him I’d only seen him on the Hawks TV interviews). Given his age he may prove to be a key position prospect over the next few years, if he continues to grow in both height and strength.
Anyway, the majority of the session involved the players partaking in various drills in four set groups. There appeared to be no specific grouping (i.e. mids, forwards, backs etc) and the drills mainly centred on ball use, precision passing and decision making. They would do one drill for a while before moving onto the next.
Whilst this was going on, other players would break off into smaller groups of two or three and do 100m or 200m repeat sprints (for example Cyril, Jon O’Rourke and Josh was one group that I saw).
Overall, nobody really stood out in the main session which was very sharp and vocal. They were all exceptional! Hodge, Mitchell, Hill, Gibbo, Gunners, Burgoyne and Langford Snr showed sublime skills. As per usual, Billy Hartung and Woody were also up and about and Sucklings foot skills were outstanding. He was also prominent throughout the session with his talk and second efforts.
The new kids didn’t really stand out (I was watching out for them) and Litherland continues to show that he has grown this pre-season. He not only supports his team mates, but is also quick to issue instructions. I like it!
The session finished with games of touch rugby or similar, where instead of being tackled, the players had to lay two hands on an opponent. Breust, Mitchell and Hill were excellent during these drills and managed to evade most of their opponents (no surprises there) and Hill was more than happy to let the other lads know it!
There were two games of rugby going on at once, and whilst I focused on the game nearest to me, something caught my eye on the game farthest away. I’m pretty sure it was JML (although it could have been Junior Boy) evade three or four players to score a try. It was an electric run that brought about a loud applause from his team mates and coaches watching from the sideline. He made the others look like they were standing still and you couldn’t help but be impressed by it! If it was JML then those acts at training will go a long way to forging a reputation at our mighty club.
For those wondering, Birchall was not out on the track and I didn’t see him looking down from the gym, and Whitecross was training very strongly.
I also saw Max Bailey and Tim Clarke (Richmond Reserves Coach and ex-hawk) watching on. It was great to see officials, trainers etc. greeting them and catching up! You can take the hawk out of Waverley but you can’t take Waverley out of the hawk!
I re-iterate, nobody really stood out as the overall training level was exceptional. We’ve set a high standard at Hawthorn which has been embraced and implemented by one and all. Spots on our team will be fierce and the competition within the club is more than healthy.
Overall the session went for about 1.5 hours and it was a very warm and still morning. As most of the squad appeared to be out on the track it made for hectic viewing and it was difficult to focus on any one particular player.
My first impression was how slim some players looked in comparison to last year. In particular Big Boy, Hodge, Poppy, Lithers, Schoe, Langford Snr and Junior Boy. Watching them train towards the end of last year I thought that they were trim enough, but seeing them up close today, the physical change is noticeable. On the other hand, Gunners seemed to have bulked up.
When I arrived the players were in the middle of a drill focused on forward entries and structures. The backs and forwards played on one another and there were multiple one on ones. Gibbo, Stratts, Rough and Schoe stood out. Stratts was maniacal. My attention kept getting drawn to Schoe. As I said, he appears to have slimmed down a lot and was moving beautifully. His ball use was fantastic and he had a real presence about him. I am of the opinion that he will be used as a forward this year (or that keeping him forward will be the preferred option). Watch this space …. again!
Lake and O’Brien were watching from the gym and Duryea, Spangher and Langford Jnr were running multiple laps. Shem was on the side lines in his gear but didn’t appear to take part in too many of the drills. Frawley was with him and didn’t do anything. It was apparent that some of these players were not injured, but doing different things as part of their training regime.
When Langford Jnr ran past me (a few times) I was pleasantly surprised. He was moving freely and didn’t appear to stand much shorter than Spangher. He was also much leaner than I envisaged (in fairness to him I’d only seen him on the Hawks TV interviews). Given his age he may prove to be a key position prospect over the next few years, if he continues to grow in both height and strength.
Anyway, the majority of the session involved the players partaking in various drills in four set groups. There appeared to be no specific grouping (i.e. mids, forwards, backs etc) and the drills mainly centred on ball use, precision passing and decision making. They would do one drill for a while before moving onto the next.
Whilst this was going on, other players would break off into smaller groups of two or three and do 100m or 200m repeat sprints (for example Cyril, Jon O’Rourke and Josh was one group that I saw).
Overall, nobody really stood out in the main session which was very sharp and vocal. They were all exceptional! Hodge, Mitchell, Hill, Gibbo, Gunners, Burgoyne and Langford Snr showed sublime skills. As per usual, Billy Hartung and Woody were also up and about and Sucklings foot skills were outstanding. He was also prominent throughout the session with his talk and second efforts.
The new kids didn’t really stand out (I was watching out for them) and Litherland continues to show that he has grown this pre-season. He not only supports his team mates, but is also quick to issue instructions. I like it!
The session finished with games of touch rugby or similar, where instead of being tackled, the players had to lay two hands on an opponent. Breust, Mitchell and Hill were excellent during these drills and managed to evade most of their opponents (no surprises there) and Hill was more than happy to let the other lads know it!
There were two games of rugby going on at once, and whilst I focused on the game nearest to me, something caught my eye on the game farthest away. I’m pretty sure it was JML (although it could have been Junior Boy) evade three or four players to score a try. It was an electric run that brought about a loud applause from his team mates and coaches watching from the sideline. He made the others look like they were standing still and you couldn’t help but be impressed by it! If it was JML then those acts at training will go a long way to forging a reputation at our mighty club.
For those wondering, Birchall was not out on the track and I didn’t see him looking down from the gym, and Whitecross was training very strongly.
I also saw Max Bailey and Tim Clarke (Richmond Reserves Coach and ex-hawk) watching on. It was great to see officials, trainers etc. greeting them and catching up! You can take the hawk out of Waverley but you can’t take Waverley out of the hawk!
I re-iterate, nobody really stood out as the overall training level was exceptional. We’ve set a high standard at Hawthorn which has been embraced and implemented by one and all. Spots on our team will be fierce and the competition within the club is more than healthy.
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