Training Training updates 2026.

[Chrispiesssss]

 

[Pistol Night]

Everyone needs a mate like Eddie. What a wonderful human

 

[Pistol Night]

Hopefully he can learn the meaning of ‘wit’ at school.

Gee tell me what you really think Mick

 

[Sea fog]

This just landed on fb from Annabele, this the first report for a few sessions I think.

It was pleasantly warm with the heat of the day gradually climbing - sky was light blue with a light peppering of clouds. The AFLW trained prior to nine. You could see them practising moving the ball quickly but there were still too many dropped marks and fumbles compromising fluidity. One could see some duplicate drills with the guys. They were finishing off with sprints as Prindable and Saxena the early birds graced the arena.

Roll call - only HDM was not sighted and it was pleasing to be able to tick Bobby Hill’s name

Rehab - can one believe that not one player was in the infirmary (touch wood). Bobby did many of the drills, switched to some running, integrated back into the drills and finished with running.

Anything of particular interest? As Bobby was doing his running, Eddie Betts arrived on the scene. The former paused and chatted with Eddie who had initially spoken to the trainer working with Hill. Eventually they hugged and parted. Eddie acknowledged our question and said that he was helping Bobby get back on track. He also laughed at his erstwhile club Carlton when a trackwatcher asked how they were going.

How did the players warm up? There were three separate groups who partook of resistance tape movements and lots of jumping. Instructions were for the latter to ensure you stick your landing and go far forward after a few sets, hop on the reverse leg.

Activities? There was some specific ruck work involving Cameron, Steene, Smit and Buller. There was a cleaving of players into a few groups mainly centred around forward handballing, ground retrieval of balls with some tackling involved. Lippa, Sidey, JDG, broke away at one point to do some goalkicking. There was a bit of sprinting between poles and cones and some whole ground ball movement (grid attack)

The final item as part of the main fare was the crossground (skinny match simulation) between three teams - orange, black and white. The teams were well chosen because two of the encounters were tied and all were close.

Random observations of players mainly based on matchplay.

Bobby Hill - was in deep conversation with Jamie as a prelude to the session. Participated in most of the drills showing he certainly hasn’t lost any pace or his evasive skills but his challenge will be body conditioning and improving his stamina so that he reaches the level he achieved when playing regularly. A lesson he also would have learned is that being out of action for a long time consigns one to a relentless running routine which he has shown over the years, like many others, is not his preferred modus operandi - Bobby thrives in the pure footy-related activities.

Reef - is looking much more confident, and aggressive in the way he is performing during match simulation and he’s now at the stage where he doesn’t require any forays back into rehabilitation to undertake agility work or running. He’s getting closer to playing VFL again barring further setbacks.

Moore and Howe - both participated in everything, including two matches with their designated teams - the former orange and the latter black. They ran, marked well and Moore was laying tackles. It will be interesting to see if Fly favours reintegrating both back into the senior team providing they survive Wednesday’s main session given that the defence is the sector of the ground probably operating the most smoothly despite some missing personnel and the way they’ve been under siege due to our threadbare mid set-up.

Cochran - looked good during matchplay, taking a notably strong intercept mark and some onlookers believe it would be a hard message for him to swallow if Howe replaces him given that his form all summer has been consistently solid and that he’s one we need to have a stake in our future. The lack of integration of youngsters into our seniors is a polarising topic among the trackwatchers and the main area of contention regarding McRae’s stewardship.

Smit - is beginning to look more athletic, even managing to baulk a player despite his relative bulk and he, like Reef, seems to be growing in confidence. Of course the test for players of his ilk will be their VFL form which will ultimately govern their chances of promotion and list retention.

Frampton - performed solidly during the matchplay and one hopes that under the guidance of at least one of those purported to return, he can just focus on his own game. He’s a classic example of the KISS principle wherein if he stays within his lane he becomes an invaluable member of the defensive structure, especially with our vulnerability to injury there and the fact that being vocally instructive is not his caper.

Long - got a bit of the pill during the match sim but again his delivery by foot left a lot to be desired at times. His first kick sizzled across the turf like one of Rex Hunt’s famous wormburning mongrels.

Allan - playing for the black team, he looked good when allowed to play in his preferred inside mid role, sharking from the middle and powering long towards goal.

Anderson - looked good throughout the session demonstrating his strength and aggression. There was a bit of a discussion around how similar he and Long are and whether Angus is putting pressure on the #44 as he is adept at gathering the ball from stoppages due to his power. Again though the feeling is that McRae despite his strengths is a tad belligerent and it will be tough for him to displace Ned.

Swadling and Saxena - both had a few moments during match sim and like the aforementioned Cochran, their form will dictate where they may feature long range during the season.

Steene - took a towering intercept mark during one of the matches and he’s rising high as a ruckman to take the tapouts. Surely he may be considered at some point as a contender for the Buller/McStay role depending on their form, with Membrey’s hold on his place also looking tenuous

Nick and Josh - the siblings ran freely and peppered the scoreboard during the triangular matchplay setup.

McCarthy - does some neat things but again understandably showed the rawness of his frame when entangled with Frampton after being ragdolled by Moore in a previous session. This season will be about building for him but there are some tools to work with.

Two unanswerable questions - Will Allan be retained and be permitted to play in the middle which seems to be the only position he shines, or will we revert to type and go with the likes of Sidey and Pendles in there again, thus maintaining antediluvian roles?

Will Bobby Hill play again this year (assuming continuity of training), to ‘fatten’ him up for the trade market or the establishment of a platform which allows him to have his best ever season in the prime of his footballing life?

Some trackwatchers did opine that they would be miffed if he earned a place before some of the youngsters who’ve worked hard all summer.

 

[Sea fog]

Just play him!

I have just seen the pics of him and some footage and I do not think he is at all ready.

 

[peter9789]

In fairness we have the oldest list in the competition and fielded one of the oldest Premiership sides in history in 2023.

Outside a generational talent like Nick our success under McRae has had little to do with our junior development so far IMO.

While we don't win the 2023 Premiership without our veterans, the era we are currently living in is unique, and for all of it's benefits it does have the one possible negative in that it's stopped us being able to give more speculative junior talent senior opportunity. While some of these players would indeed have sunk with more responsibilty, others could have slowly improved with more AFL exposure, which has been the tried and tested pathway across history.

The fact is we are in a moment when not only the soon to be games record holder is still playing, the bloke sitting No.2 on Collingwood games played remains a teammate. Then we have the consecutive games record holder still running around.

While that is remarkable, in just about any other Collingwood era that is 3 players either long retired or banged up, and that would have forced our hand to play more kids.

While I'm not suggesting we would be a better side right now having played an Allan ahead of a Sidebottom etc in 2025, I do know we are close to arriving at the moment when the Piper has to be paid, when some greats are gone and we feel the one downside of their longevity inside the 23.

Personally I feel the biggest test for McRae is still to come and the question of whether he can take a new crop and develop them into Collingwood premiership players is yet be answered.

Fair to say the cupboard currently looks pretty bare for junior talent so the challenge ahead will be massive for McRae, O'Bree and Leppitsch.

P.S.- For the record.....

2010 Collingwood premiership side average age 24y 57d
2023 Collingwood premiership side average age 27y 243d
2026 Collingwood round 1 average age 28y 140d

Good post

The great regret in looking at those years is that we never fully capitalised on the 2011 / 12 years with the talent we had. Lucky I suppose that in 2010 they didn't play extra minutes in the grand final as that could have slipped away from us.

But to your point, our talent is very thin on the ground now, stacked full of midfield, flanker types and not much high end talent coming through particularly in KPD / KPF.

 

[granniewolf]

This just landed on fb from Annabele, this the first report for a few sessions I think.

It was pleasantly warm with the heat of the day gradually climbing - sky was light blue with a light peppering of clouds. The AFLW trained prior to nine. You could see them practising moving the ball quickly but there were still too many dropped marks and fumbles compromising fluidity. One could see some duplicate drills with the guys. They were finishing off with sprints as Prindable and Saxena the early birds graced the arena.

Roll call - only HDM was not sighted and it was pleasing to be able to tick Bobby Hill’s name

Rehab - can one believe that not one player was in the infirmary (touch wood). Bobby did many of the drills, switched to some running, integrated back into the drills and finished with running.

Anything of particular interest? As Bobby was doing his running, Eddie Betts arrived on the scene. The former paused and chatted with Eddie who had initially spoken to the trainer working with Hill. Eventually they hugged and parted. Eddie acknowledged our question and said that he was helping Bobby get back on track. He also laughed at his erstwhile club Carlton when a trackwatcher asked how they were going.

How did the players warm up? There were three separate groups who partook of resistance tape movements and lots of jumping. Instructions were for the latter to ensure you stick your landing and go far forward after a few sets, hop on the reverse leg.

Activities? There was some specific ruck work involving Cameron, Steene, Smit and Buller. There was a cleaving of players into a few groups mainly centred around forward handballing, ground retrieval of balls with some tackling involved. Lippa, Sidey, JDG, broke away at one point to do some goalkicking. There was a bit of sprinting between poles and cones and some whole ground ball movement (grid attack)

The final item as part of the main fare was the crossground (skinny match simulation) between three teams - orange, black and white. The teams were well chosen because two of the encounters were tied and all were close.

Random observations of players mainly based on matchplay.

Bobby Hill - was in deep conversation with Jamie as a prelude to the session. Participated in most of the drills showing he certainly hasn’t lost any pace or his evasive skills but his challenge will be body conditioning and improving his stamina so that he reaches the level he achieved when playing regularly. A lesson he also would have learned is that being out of action for a long time consigns one to a relentless running routine which he has shown over the years, like many others, is not his preferred modus operandi - Bobby thrives in the pure footy-related activities.

Reef - is looking much more confident, and aggressive in the way he is performing during match simulation and he’s now at the stage where he doesn’t require any forays back into rehabilitation to undertake agility work or running. He’s getting closer to playing VFL again barring further setbacks.

Moore and Howe - both participated in everything, including two matches with their designated teams - the former orange and the latter black. They ran, marked well and Moore was laying tackles. It will be interesting to see if Fly favours reintegrating both back into the senior team providing they survive Wednesday’s main session given that the defence is the sector of the ground probably operating the most smoothly despite some missing personnel and the way they’ve been under siege due to our threadbare mid set-up.

Cochran - looked good during matchplay, taking a notably strong intercept mark and some onlookers believe it would be a hard message for him to swallow if Howe replaces him given that his form all summer has been consistently solid and that he’s one we need to have a stake in our future. The lack of integration of youngsters into our seniors is a polarising topic among the trackwatchers and the main area of contention regarding McRae’s stewardship.

Smit - is beginning to look more athletic, even managing to baulk a player despite his relative bulk and he, like Reef, seems to be growing in confidence. Of course the test for players of his ilk will be their VFL form which will ultimately govern their chances of promotion and list retention.

Frampton - performed solidly during the matchplay and one hopes that under the guidance of at least one of those purported to return, he can just focus on his own game. He’s a classic example of the KISS principle wherein if he stays within his lane he becomes an invaluable member of the defensive structure, especially with our vulnerability to injury there and the fact that being vocally instructive is not his caper.

Long - got a bit of the pill during the match sim but again his delivery by foot left a lot to be desired at times. His first kick sizzled across the turf like one of Rex Hunt’s famous wormburning mongrels.

Allan - playing for the black team, he looked good when allowed to play in his preferred inside mid role, sharking from the middle and powering long towards goal.

Anderson - looked good throughout the session demonstrating his strength and aggression. There was a bit of a discussion around how similar he and Long are and whether Angus is putting pressure on the #44 as he is adept at gathering the ball from stoppages due to his power. Again though the feeling is that McRae despite his strengths is a tad belligerent and it will be tough for him to displace Ned.

Swadling and Saxena - both had a few moments during match sim and like the aforementioned Cochran, their form will dictate where they may feature long range during the season.

Steene - took a towering intercept mark during one of the matches and he’s rising high as a ruckman to take the tapouts. Surely he may be considered at some point as a contender for the Buller/McStay role depending on their form, with Membrey’s hold on his place also looking tenuous

Nick and Josh - the siblings ran freely and peppered the scoreboard during the triangular matchplay setup.

McCarthy - does some neat things but again understandably showed the rawness of his frame when entangled with Frampton after being ragdolled by Moore in a previous session. This season will be about building for him but there are some tools to work with.

Two unanswerable questions - Will Allan be retained and be permitted to play in the middle which seems to be the only position he shines, or will we revert to type and go with the likes of Sidey and Pendles in there again, thus maintaining antediluvian roles?

Will Bobby Hill play again this year (assuming continuity of training), to ‘fatten’ him up for the trade market or the establishment of a platform which allows him to have his best ever season in the prime of his footballing life?

Some trackwatchers did opine that they would be miffed if he earned a place before some of the youngsters who’ve worked hard all summer.

I've been wondering what happened to Annabelle's musings.
Glad to see her back.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

This just landed on fb from Annabele, this the first report for a few sessions I think.

It was pleasantly warm with the heat of the day gradually climbing - sky was light blue with a light peppering of clouds. The AFLW trained prior to nine. You could see them practising moving the ball quickly but there were still too many dropped marks and fumbles compromising fluidity. One could see some duplicate drills with the guys. They were finishing off with sprints as Prindable and Saxena the early birds graced the arena.

Roll call - only HDM was not sighted and it was pleasing to be able to tick Bobby Hill’s name

Rehab - can one believe that not one player was in the infirmary (touch wood). Bobby did many of the drills, switched to some running, integrated back into the drills and finished with running.

Anything of particular interest? As Bobby was doing his running, Eddie Betts arrived on the scene. The former paused and chatted with Eddie who had initially spoken to the trainer working with Hill. Eventually they hugged and parted. Eddie acknowledged our question and said that he was helping Bobby get back on track. He also laughed at his erstwhile club Carlton when a trackwatcher asked how they were going.

How did the players warm up? There were three separate groups who partook of resistance tape movements and lots of jumping. Instructions were for the latter to ensure you stick your landing and go far forward after a few sets, hop on the reverse leg.

Activities? There was some specific ruck work involving Cameron, Steene, Smit and Buller. There was a cleaving of players into a few groups mainly centred around forward handballing, ground retrieval of balls with some tackling involved. Lippa, Sidey, JDG, broke away at one point to do some goalkicking. There was a bit of sprinting between poles and cones and some whole ground ball movement (grid attack)

The final item as part of the main fare was the crossground (skinny match simulation) between three teams - orange, black and white. The teams were well chosen because two of the encounters were tied and all were close.

Random observations of players mainly based on matchplay.

Bobby Hill - was in deep conversation with Jamie as a prelude to the session. Participated in most of the drills showing he certainly hasn’t lost any pace or his evasive skills but his challenge will be body conditioning and improving his stamina so that he reaches the level he achieved when playing regularly. A lesson he also would have learned is that being out of action for a long time consigns one to a relentless running routine which he has shown over the years, like many others, is not his preferred modus operandi - Bobby thrives in the pure footy-related activities.

Reef - is looking much more confident, and aggressive in the way he is performing during match simulation and he’s now at the stage where he doesn’t require any forays back into rehabilitation to undertake agility work or running. He’s getting closer to playing VFL again barring further setbacks.

Moore and Howe - both participated in everything, including two matches with their designated teams - the former orange and the latter black. They ran, marked well and Moore was laying tackles. It will be interesting to see if Fly favours reintegrating both back into the senior team providing they survive Wednesday’s main session given that the defence is the sector of the ground probably operating the most smoothly despite some missing personnel and the way they’ve been under siege due to our threadbare mid set-up.

Cochran - looked good during matchplay, taking a notably strong intercept mark and some onlookers believe it would be a hard message for him to swallow if Howe replaces him given that his form all summer has been consistently solid and that he’s one we need to have a stake in our future. The lack of integration of youngsters into our seniors is a polarising topic among the trackwatchers and the main area of contention regarding McRae’s stewardship.

Smit - is beginning to look more athletic, even managing to baulk a player despite his relative bulk and he, like Reef, seems to be growing in confidence. Of course the test for players of his ilk will be their VFL form which will ultimately govern their chances of promotion and list retention.

Frampton - performed solidly during the matchplay and one hopes that under the guidance of at least one of those purported to return, he can just focus on his own game. He’s a classic example of the KISS principle wherein if he stays within his lane he becomes an invaluable member of the defensive structure, especially with our vulnerability to injury there and the fact that being vocally instructive is not his caper.

Long - got a bit of the pill during the match sim but again his delivery by foot left a lot to be desired at times. His first kick sizzled across the turf like one of Rex Hunt’s famous wormburning mongrels.

Allan - playing for the black team, he looked good when allowed to play in his preferred inside mid role, sharking from the middle and powering long towards goal.

Anderson - looked good throughout the session demonstrating his strength and aggression. There was a bit of a discussion around how similar he and Long are and whether Angus is putting pressure on the #44 as he is adept at gathering the ball from stoppages due to his power. Again though the feeling is that McRae despite his strengths is a tad belligerent and it will be tough for him to displace Ned.

Swadling and Saxena - both had a few moments during match sim and like the aforementioned Cochran, their form will dictate where they may feature long range during the season.

Steene - took a towering intercept mark during one of the matches and he’s rising high as a ruckman to take the tapouts. Surely he may be considered at some point as a contender for the Buller/McStay role depending on their form, with Membrey’s hold on his place also looking tenuous

Nick and Josh - the siblings ran freely and peppered the scoreboard during the triangular matchplay setup.

McCarthy - does some neat things but again understandably showed the rawness of his frame when entangled with Frampton after being ragdolled by Moore in a previous session. This season will be about building for him but there are some tools to work with.

Two unanswerable questions - Will Allan be retained and be permitted to play in the middle which seems to be the only position he shines, or will we revert to type and go with the likes of Sidey and Pendles in there again, thus maintaining antediluvian roles?

Will Bobby Hill play again this year (assuming continuity of training), to ‘fatten’ him up for the trade market or the establishment of a platform which allows him to have his best ever season in the prime of his footballing life?

Some trackwatchers did opine that they would be miffed if he earned a place before some of the youngsters who’ve worked hard all summer.

If I see one person complaining about Bobby Hill playing ahead of Jai Saxena I swear to Christ...

 

[Jen2310]

Training - Monday, Round 3.

Bobby returns.

In his slim shady look with a neck tatt, he hit the track all smiles. Did the warm up and some light skills before heading to the boundary on AAMI park side to do some running.
Eddie Betts turned up, had a chat to him, and watched a little before heading off.

Today's session was more about that. Some skills work, and then some cross ground match play which was split up into 3 sides with a limit number of players per side.

Only HDM was missing from the squad, otherwise everyone was accounted for. Nobody in rehab also, which is nice to see. Touch wood.

Moore and Howe completed the session with ease as they both aim to put their hand up to play on Friday, and I would think both are on track to do so.. but would you bring back two players who have been battling calf issues most of preseason to play on the hard marvel deck? is the question.

Saxena guided across the forward line in match play, and Swadling was the ball magnet he is as he collected gains of possession with his work rate.

It was pleasing to see Ed keep training in the middle, he had this burst from the centre clearance as he delivered the bal to Josh who kicked a goal.

The midfield set up had Josh, Allan, Anderson in one side, Pendles, Swadling and Long on the other. On the final team you had Nick, Prindable and I think Crisp.

 

[Jen2310]

I've been wondering what happened to Annabelle's musings.
Glad to see her back.

She took a trip to canberra for a few days.

 

[Vicky Park]

Play them any 10 second clip of any game.


My youngest told me last year "i cant even watch them Dad I hate them that much". I nearly started crying with pride. The little con man has converted 3 other kids at Auskick to barrack for Collingwood now and they've formed a little Anti-Hawthorn union and abuse the shit out of one of my Hawk mates when hes running laps with the seniors. The other Dads are a bit pissed off with me. **** 'em

Posts like this help to reinstate my faith in humanity.

 

[BillyElliott]

This just landed on fb from Annabele, this the first report for a few sessions I think.

It was pleasantly warm with the heat of the day gradually climbing - sky was light blue with a light peppering of clouds. The AFLW trained prior to nine. You could see them practising moving the ball quickly but there were still too many dropped marks and fumbles compromising fluidity. One could see some duplicate drills with the guys. They were finishing off with sprints as Prindable and Saxena the early birds graced the arena.

Roll call - only HDM was not sighted and it was pleasing to be able to tick Bobby Hill’s name

Rehab - can one believe that not one player was in the infirmary (touch wood). Bobby did many of the drills, switched to some running, integrated back into the drills and finished with running.

Anything of particular interest? As Bobby was doing his running, Eddie Betts arrived on the scene. The former paused and chatted with Eddie who had initially spoken to the trainer working with Hill. Eventually they hugged and parted. Eddie acknowledged our question and said that he was helping Bobby get back on track. He also laughed at his erstwhile club Carlton when a trackwatcher asked how they were going.

How did the players warm up? There were three separate groups who partook of resistance tape movements and lots of jumping. Instructions were for the latter to ensure you stick your landing and go far forward after a few sets, hop on the reverse leg.

Activities? There was some specific ruck work involving Cameron, Steene, Smit and Buller. There was a cleaving of players into a few groups mainly centred around forward handballing, ground retrieval of balls with some tackling involved. Lippa, Sidey, JDG, broke away at one point to do some goalkicking. There was a bit of sprinting between poles and cones and some whole ground ball movement (grid attack)

The final item as part of the main fare was the crossground (skinny match simulation) between three teams - orange, black and white. The teams were well chosen because two of the encounters were tied and all were close.

Random observations of players mainly based on matchplay.

Bobby Hill - was in deep conversation with Jamie as a prelude to the session. Participated in most of the drills showing he certainly hasn’t lost any pace or his evasive skills but his challenge will be body conditioning and improving his stamina so that he reaches the level he achieved when playing regularly. A lesson he also would have learned is that being out of action for a long time consigns one to a relentless running routine which he has shown over the years, like many others, is not his preferred modus operandi - Bobby thrives in the pure footy-related activities.

Reef - is looking much more confident, and aggressive in the way he is performing during match simulation and he’s now at the stage where he doesn’t require any forays back into rehabilitation to undertake agility work or running. He’s getting closer to playing VFL again barring further setbacks.

Moore and Howe - both participated in everything, including two matches with their designated teams - the former orange and the latter black. They ran, marked well and Moore was laying tackles. It will be interesting to see if Fly favours reintegrating both back into the senior team providing they survive Wednesday’s main session given that the defence is the sector of the ground probably operating the most smoothly despite some missing personnel and the way they’ve been under siege due to our threadbare mid set-up.

Cochran - looked good during matchplay, taking a notably strong intercept mark and some onlookers believe it would be a hard message for him to swallow if Howe replaces him given that his form all summer has been consistently solid and that he’s one we need to have a stake in our future. The lack of integration of youngsters into our seniors is a polarising topic among the trackwatchers and the main area of contention regarding McRae’s stewardship.

Smit - is beginning to look more athletic, even managing to baulk a player despite his relative bulk and he, like Reef, seems to be growing in confidence. Of course the test for players of his ilk will be their VFL form which will ultimately govern their chances of promotion and list retention.

Frampton - performed solidly during the matchplay and one hopes that under the guidance of at least one of those purported to return, he can just focus on his own game. He’s a classic example of the KISS principle wherein if he stays within his lane he becomes an invaluable member of the defensive structure, especially with our vulnerability to injury there and the fact that being vocally instructive is not his caper.

Long - got a bit of the pill during the match sim but again his delivery by foot left a lot to be desired at times. His first kick sizzled across the turf like one of Rex Hunt’s famous wormburning mongrels.

Allan - playing for the black team, he looked good when allowed to play in his preferred inside mid role, sharking from the middle and powering long towards goal.

Anderson - looked good throughout the session demonstrating his strength and aggression. There was a bit of a discussion around how similar he and Long are and whether Angus is putting pressure on the #44 as he is adept at gathering the ball from stoppages due to his power. Again though the feeling is that McRae despite his strengths is a tad belligerent and it will be tough for him to displace Ned.

Swadling and Saxena - both had a few moments during match sim and like the aforementioned Cochran, their form will dictate where they may feature long range during the season.

Steene - took a towering intercept mark during one of the matches and he’s rising high as a ruckman to take the tapouts. Surely he may be considered at some point as a contender for the Buller/McStay role depending on their form, with Membrey’s hold on his place also looking tenuous

Nick and Josh - the siblings ran freely and peppered the scoreboard during the triangular matchplay setup.

McCarthy - does some neat things but again understandably showed the rawness of his frame when entangled with Frampton after being ragdolled by Moore in a previous session. This season will be about building for him but there are some tools to work with.

Two unanswerable questions - Will Allan be retained and be permitted to play in the middle which seems to be the only position he shines, or will we revert to type and go with the likes of Sidey and Pendles in there again, thus maintaining antediluvian roles?

Will Bobby Hill play again this year (assuming continuity of training), to ‘fatten’ him up for the trade market or the establishment of a platform which allows him to have his best ever season in the prime of his footballing life?

Some trackwatchers did opine that they would be miffed if he earned a place before some of the youngsters who’ve worked hard all summer.

Woah, Annabel not holding back on her thoughts on Fly

 

[BillyElliott]

Play them any 10 second clip of any game.


My youngest told me last year "i cant even watch them Dad I hate them that much". I nearly started crying with pride. The little con man has converted 3 other kids at Auskick to barrack for Collingwood now and they've formed a little Anti-Hawthorn union and abuse the shit out of one of my Hawk mates when hes running laps with the seniors. The other Dads are a bit pissed off with me. **** 'em

Smart kid. Obviously takes after his mother.

 

[Pistol Night]

Smart kid. Obviously takes after his mother.

"Karen" as he calls her. He walks a dangerous line when he goes down that path

 

[Vicky Park]

Will Bobby Hill play again this year (assuming continuity of training), to ‘fatten’ him up for the trade market or the establishment of a platform which allows him to have his best ever season in the prime of his footballing life?

Some trackwatchers did opine that they would be miffed if he earned a place before some of the youngsters who’ve worked hard all summer.

Some track watchers opined what? Are they kidding?

Bobby Hill is straight back into the seniors, as soon as the coaches and fitness staff think he’s ready.

It’s got nothing to do with who’s worked harder, and everything to do with talent. Doesn’t have to be ‘fair’. The coaches would be derelict in their duties if they played a youngster ahead of a fit Bobby.

 

[BillyElliott]

"Karen" as he calls her. He walks a dangerous line when he goes down that path

I take that back.

He's not so smart after all.

 

[Fruit]

This just landed on fb from Annabele, this the first report for a few sessions I think.

It was pleasantly warm with the heat of the day gradually climbing - sky was light blue with a light peppering of clouds. The AFLW trained prior to nine. You could see them practising moving the ball quickly but there were still too many dropped marks and fumbles compromising fluidity. One could see some duplicate drills with the guys. They were finishing off with sprints as Prindable and Saxena the early birds graced the arena.

Roll call - only HDM was not sighted and it was pleasing to be able to tick Bobby Hill’s name

Rehab - can one believe that not one player was in the infirmary (touch wood). Bobby did many of the drills, switched to some running, integrated back into the drills and finished with running.

Anything of particular interest? As Bobby was doing his running, Eddie Betts arrived on the scene. The former paused and chatted with Eddie who had initially spoken to the trainer working with Hill. Eventually they hugged and parted. Eddie acknowledged our question and said that he was helping Bobby get back on track. He also laughed at his erstwhile club Carlton when a trackwatcher asked how they were going.

How did the players warm up? There were three separate groups who partook of resistance tape movements and lots of jumping. Instructions were for the latter to ensure you stick your landing and go far forward after a few sets, hop on the reverse leg.

Activities? There was some specific ruck work involving Cameron, Steene, Smit and Buller. There was a cleaving of players into a few groups mainly centred around forward handballing, ground retrieval of balls with some tackling involved. Lippa, Sidey, JDG, broke away at one point to do some goalkicking. There was a bit of sprinting between poles and cones and some whole ground ball movement (grid attack)

The final item as part of the main fare was the crossground (skinny match simulation) between three teams - orange, black and white. The teams were well chosen because two of the encounters were tied and all were close.

Random observations of players mainly based on matchplay.

Bobby Hill - was in deep conversation with Jamie as a prelude to the session. Participated in most of the drills showing he certainly hasn’t lost any pace or his evasive skills but his challenge will be body conditioning and improving his stamina so that he reaches the level he achieved when playing regularly. A lesson he also would have learned is that being out of action for a long time consigns one to a relentless running routine which he has shown over the years, like many others, is not his preferred modus operandi - Bobby thrives in the pure footy-related activities.

Reef - is looking much more confident, and aggressive in the way he is performing during match simulation and he’s now at the stage where he doesn’t require any forays back into rehabilitation to undertake agility work or running. He’s getting closer to playing VFL again barring further setbacks.

Moore and Howe - both participated in everything, including two matches with their designated teams - the former orange and the latter black. They ran, marked well and Moore was laying tackles. It will be interesting to see if Fly favours reintegrating both back into the senior team providing they survive Wednesday’s main session given that the defence is the sector of the ground probably operating the most smoothly despite some missing personnel and the way they’ve been under siege due to our threadbare mid set-up.

Cochran - looked good during matchplay, taking a notably strong intercept mark and some onlookers believe it would be a hard message for him to swallow if Howe replaces him given that his form all summer has been consistently solid and that he’s one we need to have a stake in our future. The lack of integration of youngsters into our seniors is a polarising topic among the trackwatchers and the main area of contention regarding McRae’s stewardship.

Smit - is beginning to look more athletic, even managing to baulk a player despite his relative bulk and he, like Reef, seems to be growing in confidence. Of course the test for players of his ilk will be their VFL form which will ultimately govern their chances of promotion and list retention.

Frampton - performed solidly during the matchplay and one hopes that under the guidance of at least one of those purported to return, he can just focus on his own game. He’s a classic example of the KISS principle wherein if he stays within his lane he becomes an invaluable member of the defensive structure, especially with our vulnerability to injury there and the fact that being vocally instructive is not his caper.

Long - got a bit of the pill during the match sim but again his delivery by foot left a lot to be desired at times. His first kick sizzled across the turf like one of Rex Hunt’s famous wormburning mongrels.

Allan - playing for the black team, he looked good when allowed to play in his preferred inside mid role, sharking from the middle and powering long towards goal.

Anderson - looked good throughout the session demonstrating his strength and aggression. There was a bit of a discussion around how similar he and Long are and whether Angus is putting pressure on the #44 as he is adept at gathering the ball from stoppages due to his power. Again though the feeling is that McRae despite his strengths is a tad belligerent and it will be tough for him to displace Ned.

Swadling and Saxena - both had a few moments during match sim and like the aforementioned Cochran, their form will dictate where they may feature long range during the season.

Steene - took a towering intercept mark during one of the matches and he’s rising high as a ruckman to take the tapouts. Surely he may be considered at some point as a contender for the Buller/McStay role depending on their form, with Membrey’s hold on his place also looking tenuous

Nick and Josh - the siblings ran freely and peppered the scoreboard during the triangular matchplay setup.

McCarthy - does some neat things but again understandably showed the rawness of his frame when entangled with Frampton after being ragdolled by Moore in a previous session. This season will be about building for him but there are some tools to work with.

Two unanswerable questions - Will Allan be retained and be permitted to play in the middle which seems to be the only position he shines, or will we revert to type and go with the likes of Sidey and Pendles in there again, thus maintaining antediluvian roles?

Will Bobby Hill play again this year (assuming continuity of training), to ‘fatten’ him up for the trade market or the establishment of a platform which allows him to have his best ever season in the prime of his footballing life?

Some trackwatchers did opine that they would be miffed if he earned a place before some of the youngsters who’ve worked hard all summer.

Word of the day - Antediluvian

 

[Pistol Night]

LATEST PICS: Bobby Hill returns to Magpies training

Bobby Hill has returned to training for the first time since January

www.afl.com.au

 

[BillyElliott]

 

[anshell]

It’s so great to see Bobby back at training again.That’s the best news I’ve heard all year,at least football wise anyway,

 

[Piesinmyeyes]

Supreme athlete.
(Please stay away from the Tasmanian Salmon
Stick with the prime cut Angus Pies).

 

[legendstatus]

For all the talk around Bobby is anorexic or can't fit through a door - he looks in reasonable shape to me

 

[JuniorB]

Some track watchers opined what? Are they kidding?

Bobby Hill is straight back into the seniors, as soon as the coaches and fitness staff think he’s ready.

It’s got nothing to do with who’s worked harder, and everything to do with talent. Doesn’t have to be ‘fair’. The coaches would be derelict in their duties if they played a youngster ahead of a fit Bobby.

I agree - Bobby is a Norm Smith medallist, and a fit Bobby makes us so much better.
We could have used him against Adelaide.

 

[Abdul_The_Bull]

"Karen" as he calls her. He walks a dangerous line when he goes down that path

You have taught him well....

 

[Pistol Night]

You have taught him well....

I didn’t even have any input on that. Apart from pissing myself and getting glared at the first time. Then he changed her Netflix username to Karen and surprisingly the little shit is turning her into one through persistence