As signposted last week, I went to the training session.
I am always apprehensive about writing too much about summer training sessions, because I know it is a million miles from the heat and battle in the long cold months of the regular season, and we have a mostly very young list.
Basically I think one has to be careful to not get too carried away in the summer months.
What I will say though is Charlie Curnow really caught the eye. Looks to have bulked up a bit, has that really strong but still rangy/athletic look to him. He is so multi talented/faceted, with his run and kicking the particular stand out traits for me. He can kick them on the run from anywhere. He has a fair bit of Next-Kouta about him. Now, what was that I said about not getting too carried away...
Other than that, I can say in the first half of training the players were split up into 3 groups, so the group that was furthest away from me was hard to see, and I imagine some of the players I didn't notice were likely in that group.
to my eye Harry McKay stood out. Not sure if it was because he performed well/looked good out there or bec I was subconsciously seeking him out. But irrespective, I can say he certainly is a very agile/athletic mover for someone so tall. He shapes as a very promising player for us, IF he has the nous and IF he has a good pair of hands on him. Without these tools I think it will be difficult for him to thrive as a tall forward. Certainly though I liked what I saw of harry in training last week.
Similarly, and again careful to not get too carried away, I liked what I saw of Fisher and SPS. Fisher seems very serious/determined, which is consistent with reports of him when drafted, shapes as the type of player who takes training seriously, in the Judd mold. So that is a good thing if true.
A general comment, I have been to quite a few training sessions going back 20 years and I think I saw more than a fair share of dropped marks and poor kicks last week, so hopefully that is not a bad omen. Maybe the nerves of training in front of the faithful got the kids.
Other things I noticed ...
- Casboult looked very fit, which is good, but his kicking as we know will always be questionable. But he did look in fine condition.
- in ground to ground link up drills Gibbs was positioned across the defensive side of midfield, so a high HBF. if this is a sign of where he will play this year it makes sense, he is a good user of it so might have a role as a deliverer positioned more times than not in the defensive side of the center square. Does this make sense? Obviously he will roam more times than not, but I would't be surprised to see him often positioned across high HB, where we can utilise his fine kicking skills to hot targets further up the field.
- Jack Silvagni looked one of the most skilled players out there, all class and skill. Didn't necessarily look particularly bulked up though.
- SPS as signposted earlier looks a talent. A few times applied excellent defensive pressure. When he has the ball he looks determined to retain possession before dishing it off, looking for the best option for ball use.
- Jaksch and Boekhorst, to my eye still look rather skinny out there. I am not sure Boekhorst has cut his hair since last year.
- Didn't see Smedts or Palmer or Sumner at all, maybe they were in that far distance 3rd group.
- Pretty sure I saw Pickett a few times and if so he looks an excellent mover and user of it. One of the stand outs for me actually.
- Gorringe and Thomas surprised me with their size. Gorringe looks to have bulked up, looks a very strong unit, while Dale looked taller than I recall.
That's it.
Later,.