Training Training updates 2026.

[Cousin of Daicos]

Really wanted to go to training today with the weather being so good

But opted for Friday instead. Weather should be ok

Looking forward to attending my first training session for the season

 

[Jen2310]

Really wanted to go to training today with the weather being so good

But opted for Friday instead. Weather should be ok

Looking forward to attending my first training session for the season

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

I wish. Sadly I can only take the one day off work so Friday was the call. Which I'd prefer because it's Saturday the next day (make a day of it with the kids) and it also means I can avoid going into the office lol

 

[Horaceg]

Really wanted to go to training today with the weather being so good

But opted for Friday instead. Weather should be ok

Looking forward to attending my first training session for the season

Make sure you stretch

 

[Sea fog]

Well it looks like there is a lot of info from todays training but here is another 1 from FB from Anabele G




Conditions? An unclouded light blue sky, a feeble breeze and early twenties temperature provided ideal conditions for today’s session


The missing? Reef and Hill


Returnees? Jamie and Membrey.


Infirmary - main permanent member Beau who spent most of the session with physios completing running drills and various exercises though he did participate in the first drill of the day. IQ arrived after ten but mainly was confined to walking some slowish laps, perhaps indicating that his hammy concern is worse than minor given that his movements were laboured on Friday. Howe walked over to this area not that long following the commencement of training proper, despite being the early bird on the arena today. He was thereafter not seen again. Similarly Moore left the arena accompanied by trainers halfway through the session and remained indoors. A few players like Josh diverted to do some running in the rehab area while main running drills took place in the centre of the ground and Houston ended up in the vicinity of rehabilitation looking worse for wear after partaking of the majority of the work during the session. He certainly was moving gingerly and favouring a leg, or a hip. Unless there are major injuries emerging regarding the aforementioned trio, there might be an enforced omertà to keep a positive focus on our summer training.


Point of interest? There were two ‘ring-ins’ from the AFL Academy - one wore Reef’s number, while the other was a mature looking guy with blond hair who sported #10 and looked close to 200 centimetres. He looked a fine prospect and confident when he participated in the whole ground ball movement.


Ruck variation? With Stafford now assuming the coaching reins in this area the rucking tutelage looked slightly different from the Fraser era. Could it be in response to the rule change? Or is it Stafford’s imprimatur in this area? What was notable was that he rotated and schooled more players through his centre square ‘school’. Firstly there were the usual suspects - Cameron, Steene, Smit and Frampton. Then there was the second tier of Moore, West and finally Buller. Greg seemed to be providing tips on knee movement etcetera and had them jumping into the bag held well aloft and directing tap outs. Interestingly Moore was able to achieve the greatest elevation and he looked athletic, seemingly starting as if he was competing in the high jump. Cameron was his normal solid, dependable self and West while misfiring at first eased into the task. Maybe this change to the coaching will refresh the rucking group.


General drills/activities? After the customary warm-up, the early running was a slight deviation from normal procedure with everyone forming two lines abutting the goals at the John Cain Arena end. There were cones strategically placed and they were asked to run at increasingly longer distances as they took off from the start with the trainer telling them to drive through their legs and stretch out. The taller types noticeably took longer, more athletic looking strides. This was the first of a number of running phases during the session.


There were also some close-in handballing and kicking drills with half of the group green or orange vested to form mini-teams within each station. There were also some ground movement elongated stages with one where the white clad occupied one half of the ground and the black the other but each group further divided with half wearing one of the previously alluded to vests to provide a competitive edge within each semi-circle. Before rounding off with some agility work around cones, there was an interesting skinny pseudo match simulation involving three teams of nine. They played in territory between the wings with goals at the pavilion and outer wing ends. It was reasonably competitive and gave some clue to positional intentions though there hasn’t been enough hard core match sim to this juncture to highlight whether the game plan will be rewrought in any significant way. It was pleasing to watch the mix of seasoned players and neophytes pitted against each other in a contest that was spirited and enjoyable for the combatants. Clearly Pendles is going to remain in defence alongside Perryman, while Josh who was taking kick outs during various match play routines also looks destined to have at least some role in the backline.


Random observations of players::


Saxena - looks really nippy, certainly has excellent evasive and kicking skills. Seems confident and prepared to become heavily involved in drills and match-play.


Hayes - has definitely bulked up which doesn’t appear to have compromised his pace, finished nicely during the ‘lightning premiership’ contest at the end.


Smit - is a beastly unit in the mould of some of erstwhile Afrikaner cricketers who could pack a punch. He has a determined mindset. Is being trained as a defender though skills are occasionally flawed. Looks more of the mongrel type as a ruckman and marking seemed a bit surer today than Friday.

Prindable - a standout today in all phases but was dominating possession during the improvised match sim at the end. His team had to play two matches in a row but he buttered up well and was ubiquitous in the first game, bobbing up everywhere and has a bit of toe. He follows up his work, running on and demanding the ball. His skills were generally very sound and he moves with a trace of power. Surely a chance for a first-up debut if he stays upright


Long - with a new influx of recruits monopolising eyeballs it’s easy to overlook that he who improved so much last year, is still working hard and probably acutely aware of the next layer of personnel coveting a midfield spot


Lippa - enjoyed a good session, moving smoothly above the ground today and setting others up. With a new cohort of potential distributors on the list, Lippa et al will be pushed to perform consistently to maintain their spots and they probably understand that there are subalterns who will be nipping at their heels which is great for heightening the competitive juices of the players


West - an encouraging session from our forward aspirant, he took and eye-catching contested mark during the match sim and moved with confidence, quite often getting to the best spots to impact. With the departure of Checkers, there is room for him to grow.


Buller - looked likely at times but was outpositioned by Frampton at times during the match sim and needed to focus on imposing himself on contests, though occasionally was the victim of some poor forward disposal. Will be interesting to see our plans for him in terms of how we rate him against West and whether he’s earmarked for the forward/second ruck position


Maynard - played forward in the match simulation which was an interesting development though it might have been tied to the distribution of the players between the three reduced teams


Tew - encouragingly performed well over the course of the session in multifarious activities, effecting interceptions and demonstrating athleticism in marking and when ball carrying.


Ryan - looks vanilla and at times sloppy when executing bread and butter skills


Perryman - so efficient that he blends into the action. Took a powerful mark which would have been challenging for many but he is fearless and almost robotic the way he makes most moves look perfunctory.


Roan - another who moves seamlessly through a crowd and could be the ‘steal’ we can cherish as he runs relentlessly at reasonable pace and caps his work off with some polished actions in traffic.


Allan - has shorn his locks so is now sans headband but he still needs to become involved and demand the ball. Surely this is a seminal year for him.


Cochran - was interesting to see him pitted against Membrey during one of the phases of midfield and they swapped roles depending on how the ball came in and he was able to mark and goal from an angle. Is a smooth mover of lean build.


Jamie - fitted back in without missing a beat and was not out of placing sporting Nick’s #35 as he strutted his stuff with aplomb

 

[Jen2310]

Monday January 12.

Absent:

• Reef
• Hill

Rehab:

A few went in an out.

• Beau
• IQ (walked around the track)
• Houston

Moore, Nick, Josh, Crisp were in and out bit joined the squad after doing some run throughs to start off the session.

Moore did leave the track and didn't return, but hopefully there is nothing there to be concerned with. Howe too finished up early. Eye on wed session for those two.

The two new boys joining training this morning as it happens this time of year are two from the AFL Academy via Northern Knights 17 year olds

• 202cm Ruck/Forward (wearing #10) Harry Van Hattum
• 193cm Key defender, Tate Hodgson (wearing #26)

+ Lippa was excellent, ran, intercepted chains of possession, and used his kicking skills to set up plays through the middle of he ground.

+Westy, looked to be in good fitness, took some really nice contested marks, which anyone should not be surprised about.

+ Prindable - Very impressive session. They must him in the guts, looks tough and not afraid to get down and dirty in a contested situation.

+ Swadling - Showed his running pace and capacity as he works hard to put himself in good positions to recieve the ball. Its sure gonna be handy.

+Saxena - You can see his weapons on show. Real smooth and silky, glides around. Has real pace, kicking seem to be really good and we know what he's like around goals.

+McCarthy - While will take time with his body, you can clearly see he moves well for someone his height. Slow burn but I reckon he'll be fun to watch as he develops.

Jamie and Membrey were back for their first session of the year, and neither seemed to have missed anything physically.
The latter seemed to play deep forward at times, sometimes on Cochran.

In match play forward the end, it was interesting they had Maynard play forward. I think him and Perryman had a bit of a giggle about him, with Pez his opponent.

Josh played down back, playing on Jamie who was spotting the usual 35, which him and Nick tend to wear each others numbers most time at training.

Pendles also played down back too, which opened up opportunities for others through the midfield.

Parker was quite lively around the ground, hopefully will get a lot more opportunity this season.

In terms of the rucks stuff, it was interesting the ruck coach had multiple players he was working with in terms of the centre bounce hit outs he was teaching them.
Players included, Steene, Smit, Cameron, Frampton, Buller, even West and Moore
Moore very athletic, shades of his father, he rose higher than anyone else in that situation. But I wonder if it took a bit out of him as it was not long later had he left the track.

Houston did a number of drills, but seemed to be a bit ginger, as he attempted to do some running in the rehab group. This was the first real session he was getting into more drills so maybe just a bit sore.

 

[Peters_Nuts]

That's 3 reports highlighting how good Prindable is looking. Love to see it.

 

[Rorzza]

Well it looks like there is a lot of info from todays training but here is another 1 from FB from Anabele G




Conditions? An unclouded light blue sky, a feeble breeze and early twenties temperature provided ideal conditions for today’s session


The missing? Reef and Hill


Returnees? Jamie and Membrey.


Infirmary - main permanent member Beau who spent most of the session with physios completing running drills and various exercises though he did participate in the first drill of the day. IQ arrived after ten but mainly was confined to walking some slowish laps, perhaps indicating that his hammy concern is worse than minor given that his movements were laboured on Friday. Howe walked over to this area not that long following the commencement of training proper, despite being the early bird on the arena today. He was thereafter not seen again. Similarly Moore left the arena accompanied by trainers halfway through the session and remained indoors. A few players like Josh diverted to do some running in the rehab area while main running drills took place in the centre of the ground and Houston ended up in the vicinity of rehabilitation looking worse for wear after partaking of the majority of the work during the session. He certainly was moving gingerly and favouring a leg, or a hip. Unless there are major injuries emerging regarding the aforementioned trio, there might be an enforced omertà to keep a positive focus on our summer training.


Point of interest? There were two ‘ring-ins’ from the AFL Academy - one wore Reef’s number, while the other was a mature looking guy with blond hair who sported #10 and looked close to 200 centimetres. He looked a fine prospect and confident when he participated in the whole ground ball movement.


Ruck variation? With Stafford now assuming the coaching reins in this area the rucking tutelage looked slightly different from the Fraser era. Could it be in response to the rule change? Or is it Stafford’s imprimatur in this area? What was notable was that he rotated and schooled more players through his centre square ‘school’. Firstly there were the usual suspects - Cameron, Steene, Smit and Frampton. Then there was the second tier of Moore, West and finally Buller. Greg seemed to be providing tips on knee movement etcetera and had them jumping into the bag held well aloft and directing tap outs. Interestingly Moore was able to achieve the greatest elevation and he looked athletic, seemingly starting as if he was competing in the high jump. Cameron was his normal solid, dependable self and West while misfiring at first eased into the task. Maybe this change to the coaching will refresh the rucking group.


General drills/activities? After the customary warm-up, the early running was a slight deviation from normal procedure with everyone forming two lines abutting the goals at the John Cain Arena end. There were cones strategically placed and they were asked to run at increasingly longer distances as they took off from the start with the trainer telling them to drive through their legs and stretch out. The taller types noticeably took longer, more athletic looking strides. This was the first of a number of running phases during the session.


There were also some close-in handballing and kicking drills with half of the group green or orange vested to form mini-teams within each station. There were also some ground movement elongated stages with one where the white clad occupied one half of the ground and the black the other but each group further divided with half wearing one of the previously alluded to vests to provide a competitive edge within each semi-circle. Before rounding off with some agility work around cones, there was an interesting skinny pseudo match simulation involving three teams of nine. They played in territory between the wings with goals at the pavilion and outer wing ends. It was reasonably competitive and gave some clue to positional intentions though there hasn’t been enough hard core match sim to this juncture to highlight whether the game plan will be rewrought in any significant way. It was pleasing to watch the mix of seasoned players and neophytes pitted against each other in a contest that was spirited and enjoyable for the combatants. Clearly Pendles is going to remain in defence alongside Perryman, while Josh who was taking kick outs during various match play routines also looks destined to have at least some role in the backline.


Random observations of players::


Saxena - looks really nippy, certainly has excellent evasive and kicking skills. Seems confident and prepared to become heavily involved in drills and match-play.


Hayes - has definitely bulked up which doesn’t appear to have compromised his pace, finished nicely during the ‘lightning premiership’ contest at the end.


Smit - is a beastly unit in the mould of some of erstwhile Afrikaner cricketers who could pack a punch. He has a determined mindset. Is being trained as a defender though skills are occasionally flawed. Looks more of the mongrel type as a ruckman and marking seemed a bit surer today than Friday.

Prindable - a standout today in all phases but was dominating possession during the improvised match sim at the end. His team had to play two matches in a row but he buttered up well and was ubiquitous in the first game, bobbing up everywhere and has a bit of toe. He follows up his work, running on and demanding the ball. His skills were generally very sound and he moves with a trace of power. Surely a chance for a first-up debut if he stays upright


Long - with a new influx of recruits monopolising eyeballs it’s easy to overlook that he who improved so much last year, is still working hard and probably acutely aware of the next layer of personnel coveting a midfield spot


Lippa - enjoyed a good session, moving smoothly above the ground today and setting others up. With a new cohort of potential distributors on the list, Lippa et al will be pushed to perform consistently to maintain their spots and they probably understand that there are subalterns who will be nipping at their heels which is great for heightening the competitive juices of the players


West - an encouraging session from our forward aspirant, he took and eye-catching contested mark during the match sim and moved with confidence, quite often getting to the best spots to impact. With the departure of Checkers, there is room for him to grow.


Buller - looked likely at times but was outpositioned by Frampton at times during the match sim and needed to focus on imposing himself on contests, though occasionally was the victim of some poor forward disposal. Will be interesting to see our plans for him in terms of how we rate him against West and whether he’s earmarked for the forward/second ruck position


Maynard - played forward in the match simulation which was an interesting development though it might have been tied to the distribution of the players between the three reduced teams


Tew - encouragingly performed well over the course of the session in multifarious activities, effecting interceptions and demonstrating athleticism in marking and when ball carrying.


Ryan - looks vanilla and at times sloppy when executing bread and butter skills


Perryman - so efficient that he blends into the action. Took a powerful mark which would have been challenging for many but he is fearless and almost robotic the way he makes most moves look perfunctory.


Roan - another who moves seamlessly through a crowd and could be the ‘steal’ we can cherish as he runs relentlessly at reasonable pace and caps his work off with some polished actions in traffic.


Allan - has shorn his locks so is now sans headband but he still needs to become involved and demand the ball. Surely this is a seminal year for him.


Cochran - was interesting to see him pitted against Membrey during one of the phases of midfield and they swapped roles depending on how the ball came in and he was able to mark and goal from an angle. Is a smooth mover of lean build.


Jamie - fitted back in without missing a beat and was not out of placing sporting Nick’s #35 as he strutted his stuff with aplomb

Excellent!

 

[WanderingDude]

That's 3 reports highlighting how good Prindable is looking. Love to see it.

Does three reports mean three trains? I don’t want to miss out. Late last season I wanted Mitchell to enter our midfield and boost it. If Prindable can get early games and support Nick brilliant. Loved Mitchell at his best, this could be really good.

 

[Daicosian silk]

That's 3 reports highlighting how good Prindable is looking. Love to see it.

Prindles might end up replacing Pendles in the midfield

 

[BillyElliott]

 

[Peters_Nuts]

View attachment 2508840

The Media are going to eat this up.

 

[PiCkLeJuiCe]

The Media are going to eat this up.

Pendles also suffered a calf injury in the PF.

 

[TradeDraft]

Injury Curse has Returned

 

[JoinDate]

Good to hear Prindlebury going well. If he doesn't win 2026 rising star I'm calling a rigged competition.

 

[BillyElliott]

Injury Curse has Returned

Have you missed the injury news relating to other clubs today?

 

[Eric Shin]

So many soft tissue injuries for Howe is concerning.

 

[No SPIN]

As another poster has already discussed.....Just projecting the same sentiment that CFC's midfield was terrible last year....CFC's midfield got flogged running into finals losing six of their last ten games and against top sides won one game against Adelaide a team of note who's midfield is shite too.

It will be interesting to see what Fly does to fix it, Fly pretty much has the same cattle as last year.

Thank you to all posters training updates, much appreciated!

We got smashed by just 2 midfields in those ten games - GCS and BNE.
Considering they’re the top 2 midfields in the competition ( and we narrowed the clearances gap in the subsequent PF against BNE), I think we are far better placed than you believe.

 

[WanderingDude]

Injury Curse has Returned

The injuries we have are all standard and short term. Bobby is the outlier and that will run its course, I trust the club. Moore, Beau and Houston are the ones I would like to be different.

 

[anshell]

So many soft tissue injuries for Howe is concerning.

Yes,especially when one of those happened in the second training session of the new year,That is a big worry for him,

 

[Rorzza]

We got smashed by just 2 midfields in those ten games - GCS and BNE.
Considering they’re the top 2 midfields in the competition ( and we narrowed the clearances gap in the subsequent PF against BNE), I think we are far better placed than you believe.

IMO, you need to go back and watch the Fremantle highlight.

 

[Peters_Nuts]

IMO, you need to go back and watch the Fremantle highlight too.

FFS I had finally forgotten about this game too

 

[Jen2310]

So many soft tissue injuries for Howe is concerning.

The calf is the old man injury as they say.

 

[No SPIN]

IMO, you need to go back and watch the Fremantle highlight.

Lost the clearances 43-39, not sure how that supports your view.

 

[sr36]

Lost the clearances 43-39, not sure how that supports your view.

Might have meant the other Freo game. We got smacked around the ball the first time we played them, but won it through quick rebound with Billy and Bobby putting on a show in a wide open forward line.