Training Reports

[Rayzorwire]

It might just be the way I read it, but I'm not sure how the poor skills of Nahas, Browne and Taylor could lead to you rating us as a 12th or below side seeing all three are very unlikely best-22 candidates. I'd be worried if the obviously worst offenders were inside our best-22.

I enjoyed it, thanks, and to you cormick.

 

[Equus]

G'day guys. Might seem a little weird but i like to get along to training sessions whenever I can. Go to Richmond's most days as it's very easy to get to (especially after Collingwood at 9 across the road). I've decided to get a few notes going. Hopefully you can get something out of them. I do it for pure enjoyment so hopefully i can get some constructive criticism about where I may have gone wrong.

http://pissiaflblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/richmond-training-january-7th-2011.html

That is amazing! Very informative and well written.

 

[Pissi123]

Dude, if you are going to provide that to us on a regular basis, we will give you your own thread.
Outstanding stuff and great to see a true footy follower following footy.
Kudos to you. Very informative stuff and thanks.

Thanks so much, I'll be down there on Monday, wednesday andfriday most likely so I'll hopefully do something much like this again. Thanks so much for the kind words!

 

[Pissi123]

It might just be the way I read it, but I'm not sure how the poor skills of Nahas, Browne and Taylor could lead to you rating us as a 12th or below side seeing all three are very unlikely best-22 candidates. I'd be worried if the obviously worst offenders were inside our best-22.

I enjoyed it, thanks, and to you cormick.

haha very true. That came across poorly. There were 8 groups from memory so it was hard to keep track of who was doing what. Just seeing a few balls hit the ground and noticing who were the repeat offenders i suppose.

I may seem a bit harsh on the skills because I am down at Gosch's a lot and you barely see a loose kick. Obviously because we are a few years ahead in development.

 

[Morro]

G'day guys. Might seem a little weird but i like to get along to training sessions whenever I can. Go to Richmond's most days as it's very easy to get to (especially after Collingwood at 9 across the road). I've decided to get a few notes going. Hopefully you can get something out of them. I do it for pure enjoyment so hopefully i can get some constructive criticism about where I may have gone wrong.

http://pissiaflblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/richmond-training-january-7th-2011.html

That is gold mate!

Thanks heaps for that. I am guessing you coach or aspire to some day.

You obviously love your footy.

 

[Pissi123]

That is gold mate!

Thanks heaps for that. I am guessing you coach or aspire to some day.

You obviously love your footy.

Yeh I definitely aspire to some day become a coach in the AFL, as an assistant or as a scout/opposition coach. I'm still only 16 so I thought doing something like this would be a good stepping stone for bigger and better things.

 

[TigerTime88]

Great training reports. The best part about them is they have no bias.

 

[JR#8]

G'day guys. Might seem a little weird but i like to get along to training sessions whenever I can. Go to Richmond's most days as it's very easy to get to (especially after Collingwood at 9 across the road). I've decided to get a few notes going. Hopefully you can get something out of them. I do it for pure enjoyment so hopefully i can get some constructive criticism about where I may have gone wrong.

http://pissiaflblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/richmond-training-january-7th-2011.html

Very good, thanks for posting. Keep up the good work!

 

[CeltDave]

Yeh I definitely aspire to some day become a coach in the AFL, as an assistant or as a scout/opposition coach. I'm still only 16 so I thought doing something like this would be a good stepping stone for bigger and better things.

Great Stuff - it is genuinely nice to see someone so passionate, going after their longer term objectives so young.

Keep up the good work and I hope like many talented young footballers that a few in the coaching ranks @ AFL level are watching your progress as a prospective coach, tactician, recruiter.

 

[_RT_]

Also headed down yesterday and saw a few things differently to what others have.

A few quick points:
- Foley & Cotchin trained for a while. Both pulled the pin a little early though
- Riewoldt looks no smaller despite the loss of 3kg, in fact I thought he looked a little more toned/defined.
- Taylor really struggled with the run throughs. Martin wasn't as bad as mentioned. Struggled occassionally but did also finish in front of his group on occassions as well.
- King is a machine. Led his group every run through and at the end when others were winding down he was pushing out a few quick laps. Also has some impressive artwork on his upper left arm.
- Houli is a leader, was constantly barking out encouragement as well as instructions. Seems to have a very good grasp of whats going on.
- Thursfield Vickery Astbury & McGuane looked to have added some muscle to their upper bodies.
- Griffiths had both shoulders heavily taped but did the full session as far as I could see. Was out there until about 11.40 which was just before I walked out.

Now for some detail:
The drill that was being run when I got there was, to me, all about decision making. Campbell would stand about HF and kick a ball to about 15m out where a contest would happen. The backline would get the ball and would work to clear it. They outnumbered the attackers but would have to make sure they hit the free target. As they got to the HB line there would be 2-3 attacking midfielders and 1-2 defensive mids, again the idea seemed to be making sure we picked the right option. Once that was achieved the same thing would apply to the forward line, 3 attackers to 2 defenders. The ball carrier would have to either hit up the free forward or take a shot themselves. Pleased to say that on nearly every occassion we got it right. When we did get it wrong, Campbell would talk to the player who messed up and let them know what they did wrong.

The runthrough drill seemed to be about zonal positioning. They would run up and down the ground in waves, much like you would in general play. Lade would walk to an area of the ground and would blow a whistle, the players would then scramble to get into the position they needed to be in for the zone. You could hear the players yelling to each other where they were and where their teammate needed to be. For the most part we got this right. During this drill Foley & Tuck stood out.

After this the players went into warmdown mode. They split into groups and did varying activities. The slips drill was interesting, a couple of times Jack turned away shaking his hands, for the most part though we did hold most of the marks although players were punished if they juggled. Jack also did some marking under high balls. The KPD were working with Leppa in the sqaure practicing their spoiling, looked like they were having a comp to see who could punch the ball the longest distance.

Might head down again on Monday as it will be my last chance before heading back to work.

 

[Bojangles17]

G'day guys. Might seem a little weird but i like to get along to training sessions whenever I can. Go to Richmond's most days as it's very easy to get to (especially after Collingwood at 9 across the road). I've decided to get a few notes going. Hopefully you can get something out of them. I do it for pure enjoyment so hopefully i can get some constructive criticism about where I may have gone wrong.

http://pissiaflblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/richmond-training-january-7th-2011.html

good work daniel a great read, rayz makes a genuine point below in suggesting the skill level of our 30th + ranked player hardly being representative of the group...good stuff though, welcome to report anytime

 

[tigerwill]

Thanks to all for the reports. A lot of us can't get to see training 1st hand, so its good to get some insights.
Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[folester41]

i think martin is one of those blokes that doesnt train well but is just very effective on the field, im sure there is a player like this in every team in the AFL.

 

[Spluff]

Martin trains his ass off. He's just not very fit at this point.

 

[jko'neal]

I wouldn't be too fussed about Martin not winning foot races at training, I'm certain we didn't pick him to win sprints or play like Stephen Hill. And it's not like the club is full of plodders, take your shorts and decent footwear down next time and ask to run against guys like Lids, King, White and a few others and see of you get within daylight of them.

 

[_RT_]

Are the Martin comments directed at what I posted or the other guy? Thought I gave an accurate account.

 

[jko'neal]

Are the Martin comments directed at what I posted or the other guy? Thought I gave an accurate account.

Mine was just about people (not you) seem to be making an issue out of him finishing back in running exercises at training. I would bet my left nut guys that play like him from other clubs are in the same boat at their training.

 

[DoItForCaptBlood]

I would bet my left nut guys that play like him from other clubs are in the same boat at their training.

Yes..wonder how J.Selwood goes on the sprint run-throughs?

 

[_RT_]

Mine was just about people (not you) seem to be making an issue out of him finishing back in running exercises at training. I would bet my left nut guys that play like him from other clubs are in the same boat at their training.

As I mentioned from my vantage point, on occassion he seemed to struggle, but then the next run through he would be up the front. To me it seems like he was simply pacing himself.

 

[Azzleberry]

Martin trains his ass off. He's just not very fit at this point.

Wouldn't be so sure about that. With this blokes training 4-5 times a week over a few months of the pre season, it wouldn't be uncommon to see blokes go through peaks and troughs in their training. It would be impossible to get yourself 'up' for every training session. I am happy as long as he can do all the training and does not have any injury setbacks.

 

[tugga]

Thanks for your report too RT. Good to read.

 

[Morro]

Yeh I definitely aspire to some day become a coach in the AFL, as an assistant or as a scout/opposition coach. I'm still only 16 so I thought doing something like this would be a good stepping stone for bigger and better things.

At 16, to take the time to do this is bloody impressive. All the best with your coaching aspirations, I am a playing coach and it is so rewarding, wish I had your dedication at a young age, would love to be able to make a living doing something I love.

You are always welcome here mate !

 

[_RT_]

At training now anyone looking at heading down would want to hurry as the 11am session has already started. Will provide a report later.

 

[Madtiger2006]

At training now anyone looking at heading down would want to hurry as the 11am session has already started. Will provide a report later.

I got there at 10:10am. Was good. Taylor looks bigger. He's probably 192 or 193cm tall by the looks of it

 

[_RT_]

Be aware this is a long post.

Just got back from training and it was a long session despite the rain. I arrived around 9.45 and the players were already into their warmups.

Firstly none of the first year draftees were in attendance, they were all at the induction day, so unfortunately nothing to report regards them.

When I first arrived there were 3 groups, 1 was rehab the other 2 were the main group spilt in 2. In the rehab group were: Jackson Moore Morton Nason Hislop Post Webberley Griffiths Graham & Hicks, they were pretty much doing stationary handball drills for about 30 minutes and then went inside for gym work I'd presume, except for Morton who came up into the stand for a while.

The main groups warm up consisted of 2 activities, first one was working on footwork, with the players running a slalom course at 1 station, while the other 2 were using a rope ladder where the players had to step in every square and at the end sprint as a ball was kicked/thrown towards them.

The other activity involved the players shadow boxing for want of a better term. They would pair up and one player would try and slap the other on the shoulder/arm. After about 3-5mins they swapped.

First actual ballwork drill involved the players lining up about 10m apart on 3 sets of cones. It was a variation of the old star handball drill for those of us that have played footy. Basically they would criss cross the rectangle with handball. After about 5-10 minutes they went to about 20m apart, this was followed by short kicking about 30m then slightly longer after that. Pleasingly despite the rain it was good to see for the most part kicks hitting their target and players taking the ball in the hands rather than on the chest. There was the occassional miskick though but as I said considering the rain skills were pretty good.

Next drill was another handball drill where the group split into 3 smaller groups. They were pretty evenly matched in terms of talent, i.e. Deledio Cotchin & Martin were all on different teams. During this drill one player would wear a red top which meant he could be used by either team to maintain possession. To me it looked very much like decision making and defensive pressure were what was being worked on as a few times Campbell would give feedback/penalise players who did the wrong thing.

From here they split off again into 2 groups. One group went and worked on clearance work i.e. blocking and getting into space. In this drill though there was no ball work basically Lade was simply showing the players how to use their bodies to put their opponent off balance. Its hard to describe in words but think of Olympic style wrestling. The ususal suspects were in this group with the exception of Tuck & Deledio who stay with the other group who worked on forward/defensive play.

There were 2 drills running in this group, the first had the defender trying to keep the forwards leads restricted to the boundary line, while Hardwick kicked the ball to the forward. I really enjoyed the way Hardwick would take time to stop and talk to Dea Rance & Grimes about positioning. He would give them little tips about how to best set up so they can change position quickly to keep up with the forwards.

In the second drill the players would be around 35m out from goal and the forward would have to try and work out how to create space for themselves. For the most part our forwards were quite successful at finding space. During these drills it was interesting to see Taylor was matched up on Deledio and on occassions was able to out position Lids and take the grab.

From this they split into 3 groups again and went into a drill where it was a mixture of keepings off and zone play. Basically the attacking team would have 1 extra player and would have to work on moving the ball from end to end(about 100m). Players were only allowed to kick during this drill which again seemed to work on decision making for the attacking side and pressure/accountability for the defenders. Like the earlier drill this also went about 40mins with teams spending about 5 alternating between attack/defense and recovery.

Final drills again saw the group split into onballers/flankers working with Lade & Campbell, while the key forwards/defenders working with Hardwick and Leppitsch. Although Taylor isn't what I'd consider a key forward he remained with this group.

The onballers started off with more body work, basically they had to work against another player and push them backwards over a 10x3m course. There were a couple of spills during this drill where players really went hard at each other. From here they then worked on clearance setups. Looked like there was an even spread of first and second choice players in each group and there was some pretty handy clearance work being done.

In the other group they again worked on positioning/creating space. Basically Hardwick was about 40m away from the players and would have on of the trainers kick a ball to him, like he was a midfielder taking possession. The forward would then have to best work out how to create some space for himself and provide a strong lead for Hardwick to kick to. In this drill Riewoldt and Miller excelled getting free pretty much every time and taking a grab, although on occassion Rance Gourdis & Astbury would do well to stop them. I was pleased to see Vickery & Taylor also do well in this drill. On occassions both would be up against Thursfield and Astbury both would manage to find space and take pretty strong grabs, which considering the constant rain during the session was pleasing to see.

From this training pretty much wound down as players went into warm down drills and its at this time I took my chance to leave as the rain had eased a little.

For mine the standouts at training today were:
Foley - trained the whole session and not once did I see him pull up or limp. Looked as sharp as ever and his ball handling in the conditions was pretty well spot on.
Houli - is going to add a fair bit to our side if training is anything to go by. During competitive drills he was constantly at the bottom of packs or was blocking so a teammate could get into space. Disposal was pretty much spot on as well.
Taylor - Friday I was disappointed with his workrate. Today there was nothing to be disappointed with. So what if he comes last in runthroughs, today he was working as hard as anyone. During the keepings off drills he laid a couple of crunching tackles, including nailing Cotchin and Riewoldt a couple of times each.

Any other questions about players feel free to ask and if I can I'll respond if I can.

Unfortunately though this is the last time I'll be able to head to training as I'm back at work from Wednesday, so hopefully someone else will be able to provide some reports over the next few weeks.