Training Reports

[KiwiTiger]

Boys on the road this morning to Rotorua. Have to make a Getaway style video of tourist sites/spots on the way. For that guy who wrote the letter to Hun about the Tigers recruiting hobbits, he'll be interested to know that they will be driving through Mata Mata which is otherwise known as Hobbit-ville. I dare say the each teams video will make some joke about that!

Haere Ra

 

[tigland]

Thanks for the updates Kiwi.

Keep them coming.

 

[RFC_Official]

Boys on the road this morning to Rotorua. Have to make a Getaway style video of tourist sites/spots on the way. For that guy who wrote the letter to Hun about the Tigers recruiting hobbits, he'll be interested to know that they will be driving through Mata Mata which is otherwise known as Hobbit-ville. I dare say the each teams video will make some joke about that!

Haere Ra

Did you crack the photo gallery? http://www.richmondfc.com.au/tigers in new zealand/tabid/16913/default.aspx

 

[KiwiTiger]

Did you crack the photo gallery? http://www.richmondfc.com.au/tigers in new zealand/tabid/16913/default.aspx

Ha no. I was in my car incognito as I'd been briefed by a team leader to "escort" them to the team hotel as they had no directions. Don't tell anyone!

PS Luke M drives like a nut!

 

[THE_GUN]

Ha no. I was in my car incognito as I'd been briefed by a team leader to "escort" them to the team hotel as they had no directions. Don't tell anyone!

PS Luke M drives like a nut!

He Knows How To Drive

 

[RFC_Official]

Training times updated:

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/training times/tabid/8765/default.aspx

 

[HighFlyer]

you definitely do need a passport to NZ !!

I think they were probably thinking VISA not passport.

 

[RichosGuns]

Popped down to training today and decide i'd share a report with my fellow tigerheads.

To start of with the only players I didn't see out there today were Browne, Thurstfield and Hislop( )

It was pretty warm out there and the guys were taking plenty of fluids. There were two groups, the rehab and main squad. Foley, Jackson, Riewoldt, Contin, Nason, Farmer, Moore and King were in the rehab squad. This squad did some basic handball drills and thats about it. Farmer and Nason also did some laps. Conca and Griffiths weren't in either squad, Conca ran some laps at the start of the session with Nas and Griffiths did some along with some skills work toward the end.

To simplify things a bit I have split the report into a few different parts:

BODYSHAPE
Not too many of the players too that much different. Graham looks a bit lighter, but Vickery hasn't added any size. Rance is an absolute specimen and Houli, Miller, Contin and a couple of the other guys also looked really fit. Nason looks a bit large through the arms. Those FB photos of Hicks and Astbury potray a bit of fiction as while they have gained weight, they definatly aren't as big as those photos suggested.
Of the new guys Batchelor looks a bit bigger in real life then his 78kg suggests while Helbig looks alot slighter then 85kg. Derickx is also a good size but unless Graham has grown a few inches I very much doubt he is at the 201cm his profile suggests. Conca is definantly not 184cm. I would say he is more likely around 180/181cm. Not much taller then Nason, and also has a large head which so his shoulder level is about equal to Nason's. Conca is a pretty good size though atm.

SKILLS
A bit of skills work was done at the start of the session and most of the boys looked okay. In fact, 9 out of 10 kicks were hitting targets in uncontested running situations. However when a bit of pressure was added quite alot of targets were being missed by foot.
Regarding the handball drills - PATTY CONTIN FTW. His hands were awesome. Made Foley look like a plodder. But again this was in an uncontested situation.
Troy Taylor has immaculate short kicking skills. I couldn't tell which footy was his preffered because he was hitting 30m passes on both feet with ease. A few other players includeding McDonald, Tuck and Martin missed a few.

MATCH SIMULATION
The squad took part in abot 30 mins of match simulation primarily focused on stoppages. Two pretty even teams were established, from what I could see it was:
Bibs: Cotchin, Deledio, Contin, Martin, Miller, Post, Vickery, Graham, Astbury, Newman, Edwards, Rance, White, Gourdis, Houli, Grigg, Grimes, Morton

Vs

Non-Bibs: Conners, Batchelor, Helbig, Webberly, Tuck, Westoff, Hicks, McGuane, Derickx, Nahas, Dea, McDonald, Taylor, and a few others that I can't remmember.

In this, as expected the "bibs" were a bit stronger and played with a tall foward line of Miller, Vickery and Post. These three proabably kicked about 5 - 6 between them with Cotch and Graham also kicking one each. Down the other end I think Nahas snagged a couple but it was hard to see.

Campbell ran the drill with Dima barking instructions from the side. It was probably a bit of a probables Vs possibles scratch match looking at the teams in review.

In this game Cotchin was head and shoulders above the rest and probably Edwards was the next most impressive. Deledio, Post and Newman were also good. For the Non-bibs Webberly was super impressive, while Dea and a couple of others were good.

In the match itself skills in reality were actually pretty poor going inside 50. Around the wings it was much better with Rance, Houli and Edwards impressive.

FLYING
Cotchin is simply at another level. He wins the contested footy and has good skills. Was always chatting to his teammates and will be our next captain.
Deledio was his normal good self but I would say Edwards is the next level down. He really found plenty of the football on the wings and used it well.
Graham was actually pretty impressive today. Took a very good mark about 40m at full extension and another one at fullback. Was clearly the better ruckman.
Rance was very impressive today. Shanked a couple of kicks but showed good sighes and i'm definatly not a Rance lover.
Vickery played foward all day and looked alot more impressive, as did Post.

RG - Mythbuster
From what I saw today heres a few BigFooty myths I'm going to bust:

- Derickx is not going to be our number 1 ruck in round one and is a fair bit behind Graham. Graham dominated the hit-outs today and while Derickx did look good at ground level Graham was far superior.

- Rance is not spud. I thought he was tbh but was really impressive today. He did play on the youngster McDonald but he linked up really well with Deledio and the other mids and used the ball well.

- Gourdis is not the answer to our fullback woes. He cost his team a couple of goals today and copped an absolute bake from Hardwick something to the effect of "Tell him to kick with his right ****ing foot. **** ME!!!." Most posters here no he doesn't have the best skills, but Post out bodied him way too easily today and Vickery got the better of him aswell. Tucky also copped a half bake but nowhere near as sinsiter.

- Jake Batchelor is at this stage the best prepared of our picks to play next year. Unfortunatly he is a HBF'er and hence will be a bit down the pecking order.

- Dean McDonald is not a slack trainer. He may not have had much of a fitness base when he came to the club but he is certainly working hard enough now.

So that's that.

Any questions, ask away?

 

[db26]

Thanks for the report .How does Grigg look and hick kicking??.Does Post look like he can hold a forward line spot this year???.Also interested in young Westhoff.Thanks

 

[TOOs_Finest]

Thanks RG! Great report, the effort is much appreciated. Any further details on Batchelor? Height, marking, kicking, pace?

Cheers mate.

 

[Heisenberg_]

Very good write up, thanks heaps.
How is Martin looking, and what about Houlis kicking?

 

[bigstyletiger]

RG thanks heaps for the report. Currently in China and was planning on going cold turkey until I got home but couldn't resist. Fantastic report. Can't wait to see how a few of the boys develop next year. If Edwards could take the next step it would be a massive bonus. Promising news on Post and Vickery and I hope Gus surprises a few.

 

[RichosGuns]

Thanks for the report .How does Grigg look and hick kicking??.Does Post look like he can hold a forward line spot this year???.Also interested in young Westhoff.Thanks

RE: Grigg

He seems to have assimilated well into the group and was pretty vocal. His has a pretty similar shape to Tuck - strong and lean but not bulky like Martin. In the scratch match he played in the middle and half forward. He was just okay. Laid a couple of tackles and chopped off a couple opposition kicks. Could defiantly work a bit hard to get onto the uncontested footy though. Didn't see him kick too much tbh.

RE: Hicks

I think he has put on some size, but like Nahas he stands out a bit for his size. He was playing in the "possibles side" and they were kicking to the other side of the ground. As he was playing as a forward pocket I didn't see alot of him in the match.

RE: Westoff
He has defiantly added some size but still looks skinny compared to Post, Astbury, Gourdis, etc. I actually thought he was one of the better performed players in the short kicking drill, drilling 20-30m passes where the ball wasn't did go above head height. Leppitich spoke to both him and Post above running through the ball when it was kicked to them rather then slowing down and waiting for it to arrive. Westoff was also down the other end in the match though I'm pretty sure he snapped one goal which he roved from a contest. Seems to have pretty good agility for a guy his size but needs to work on his overhead marking.

Thanks RG! Great report, the effort is much appreciated. Any further details on Batchelor? Height, marking, kicking, pace?

Cheers mate.

Was pretty impressed with Batchelor today. He played in the back pocket and was often matched up on bigger opponents (Miller and Vickery). Fortunately for him he didn't get in any wrestling situations. But as I said, he looks to be a could size - probably around 188cm or so and 82 or 83kgs. He defiantly looked like he belonged out there. In the match he was in the back line with McGuane, Tuck, Gourdis and Conners and was probably the safest option out of defense. Defiantly showed something. Though he did pick up a bit of loose footy and was tested in contested situations so its hard to tell. But as I said, I thought he was the most impressive of all the 1st years.

Very good write up, thanks heaps.
How is Martin looking, and what about Houlis kicking?

Martin was solid. Not great, not bad. His non-preferred foot short passing was poor and was well and truly outshown by the rather laconic Taylor. He won a bit of footy in the scratch match but I didn't really notice him that much.

Houli I thought was very impressive. I think he will play more games then Grigg for the RFC if today was anything to go by. He has a really good build and worked hard to receive alot of the ball. He got some of the zones mixed up as did the youngsters and generally either took the safe option by foot or kicked to a contest so his kicking skills are somewhat hard to judge.

 

[Toadvine]

What was impressive about Dea? What position did he play?

 

[fightingfury_88]

Thanks for the report RG!

 

[Morro]

Great report mate, well done!

Just wondering what your thoughts were watching Miller today?

 

[Kegguss]

Great report RG!! Loved the detail you went to in the write up!! If Batchelor can keep that up during the pre-season, there is a big chance we will see him in 2011. I liked what I saw in his highlights and am glad to hear he is doing well. I am curious to hear more about Dea and Grimes??

 

[RichosGuns]

Great report mate, well done!

Just wondering what your thoughts were watching Miller today?

Miller is big, but not as "massive" as many of those photos made him out to be - he is just ripped. Quite a few boys in the side are bigger then him. Brad trained pretty well and played mainly at CHF for the scratch match where I think he kicked 1.1 He seemed to understand the zones pretty well. He didn't see a great deal of the footy but deliverly was pretty average. He took one insane mark in the drills where he ran back with the flight 30-40m and took a mark looking over his shoulder.

I think he will play a bit at CHF this year in the team. I think Vickery is much better closer to goals with Riewoldt. Post also played closer to goals today and did well.

Great report RG!! Loved the detail you went to in the write up!! If Batchelor can keep that up during the pre-season, there is a big chance we will see him in 2011. I liked what I saw in his highlights and am glad to hear he is doing well. I am curious to hear more about Dea and Grimes??

RE: Dea

He is a really good size. Maybe 6'2" and 85kgs+. Today he played on the back flank/pocket in the possibles side. He made a couple of nice passes by foot and laid a really good tackle. Other then that didn't do a whole lot with Conners and Batchelor clearing most of the defensive ball.

RE: Grimes

Grimes I assume played for the Probables side today along with Rance down back. I think he played against Westoff but neither had a big influence though it was hard to see from where I was. Hasn't added much size but you wouldn't call him skinny

 

[Morro]

Thanks mate.

Good observation regarding understanding the zones etc. This alone may also give him the jump on some of the youngsters. Just being a bit smarter.

 

[tigerwill]

How was Foley travelling? Injury free?

 

[juss]

Top effort RG.
Most pleasing part for me was to hear that Cotchin is standing out. We've had to be patient with him but finally his body seems to be allowing him to do what his talent deserves.

Can't wait to see him in 2010, I said this in another thread, if we win 6-8 games, he could poll some votes and I have him as a smokey for top 10 brownlow.

 

[_RT_]

Thanks for the report RG

 

[middy]

Great report mate, got home from working in the rain and this has made my day. Quality stuff.

 

[RichosGuns]

How was Foley travelling? Injury free?

As I said mate he was in the rehab group. He did some handballing drills and a little bit of footskills but not much... They did a bit of running toward the end of the session but then he disappeared up the race with Moore while Farmer, King and Nason stood on the sidelines and watched the scratch match. Contin joined the match.

Any other questions?

And no worries guys, I know how good it is to get a Richmond fix in the offseason

 

[JustTheTonic]

As I said mate he was in the rehab group. He did some handballing drills and a little bit of footskills but not much... They did a bit of running toward the end of the session but then he disappeared up the race with Moore while Farmer, King and Nason stood on the sidelines and watched the scratch match. Contin joined the match.

Any other questions?

And no worries guys, I know how good it is to get a Richmond fix in the offseason

Awesome report.

Watched a VFL game early last year and saw Contin tear it up..... got a really good feeling about the kid. Looked a natural footballer with good spacial awareness and understanding of the flow of the game. If he has/can add some muscle and a tank i think he may be the smokey to get a seniors game this year (And of course give the Trombone someone new to blow his Trombone about!).

And Mr. Taylor.... please, put your head down and work hard mate.... cause there is a 'dreamtime story' developing at Punt Rd, and we want you to be a part of it.

RG... see O'Reiley out there?