Didn't think I would get a chance to get to training today but managed to see the boys one last time before heading away on holidays...

This is the third training session in two weeks I've seen and I'm just going to mention a few blokes who have been outstanding.

1) Tom Scully: Has completed all sessions and in every session has done something that has caught the eye. He is showing excellent speed and endurance, never looks tired and is always focussed. He never has brain fades...always does the job well every time. The exciting thing is that he is showing improvement. His short and long kicking have both been powerful and accurate, and he is more than handy over short distances on his right foot. During boundary throw in simulations the other morning, Jamar was tapping it down to players gathered around the ball. Each time a different player would swoop past to collect the tap. Of all the players Scully was the cleanest, gathering at times difficult taps at full pace and bursting away from the pack. Those moments got me genuinely excited.

2) Jamie Bennell: Mahoney mentioned in his brief review of the players that JB was running with the elite runners at training. He is certainly looking fit. Like Scully, his pace does not drop off during long sessions. He looks confident and has put on a little bit of muscle. He has completed all drills well and his long kicking today was excellent. His marking at full speed has also been a feature. I don't know where he will play next year but I would love to see him up around the wing. Still needs to improve his kicking on the left.

3) Nathan Jones: Jonesy is kicking with excellent penetration and accuracy. He is always up and about and sets a highly professional standard for all the younger blokes. He has completed all the sessions and just looks set for his best year for the club. In amazing condition when you consider he only returned to the track recently from a fairly serious back injury at the end of last season.

4) Col Sylvia: Unfortunately Col was not training with the main group today, just working on kicking drills with the injured/not ready for full training group. Even in that group, his kicking on the left and right was faultless. He has looked super fit to date and mentioned in the media recently that his body was the best it has ever felt. He has also been vocal, trying to get the boys motivated and pumped up. I highly doubt he will be considered for captaincy as he would like to purely focus on staying fit, but his leadership capacities have been evident at training and I wouldn't be unhappy if he got the surprise nob...er, nod.

5) Jake Spencer: Big Spence has been outstanding on the track. He looks super fit, is running well and most importantly, his kicking has improved significantly. He has shown the ability to kick well on goal and on the run. He has marked well on the lead coming out of the goal-square and has clearly put his hand up for the 2nd ruck position (if one still exists). Considering that the Dees did not go for a ruck in the draft tells me that they believe Spencer will make it (or perhaps they have Rookie rucks in mind). Either way, great signs from the big fella.

Honorable mentions to J Mckenzie, Col Garland, C Bartram, J Rivers - all completed full sessions and looking good. Bartram seriously does more short kicking practice than any other player on the list and is pretty reliable at training. Very accurate and powerful over short distances, but as usual, his long kicking lets him down. Good to see him working hard however.

Questionable performers

1) J Watts - after completing a full session last week in which he didn't kick well on goal, he has either been missing from training or training with the injured group. His kicking at training has been poor, and today when completing short kicking drills with col Sylvia, he just could not hit the target. He seems to be okay but must be suffering from some sort of niggling injury and isn't setting the house on fire. The main disappointment is that he is not out there with the main group, certainly no long term concerns.

2) J Trengove - Watched Trenners really closely today and he is definately fit in terms of endurance and was today kicking beautifully over long and short distances. The main quiery seems to be his speed atm and it just looks like he is adjusting to his heavier body. His hips are bigger and thighs more pronounced and it looks like they are weighing him down when he goes to take off. Today's training was the best I have seen from him in the last two weeks and I think he will be fine, but speed remains a minor concern.

3) Tommy Mac - It might seem harsh but T-Mac has not impressed on the track. Fumbles regularly below his knees and appears to be unfit during drills that require continued speed and endurance. His kicking is fine, but he does not move quickly and I just can't quite work out where he would fit into our line-up. Certainly a useful half-back flanker in reserve, but whether he should remain on the Rookie list I am unsure.

Last men standing

Very few have completed all the main sessions. It seemed that today especially pre-season was starting to take its toll. Davey went down with what looked like a jarred knee, with some concern for a while as he lay on the ground in pain. He got up and walked off the track with a limp and just hoping he is okay. Seemed distressed at first but then appeared to be okay. J Grimes rolled his ankle and was in a fair bit of pain. Got up gingerly and needed assistance. J Frawley also hurt his ankle but kept going.

Macdonald, Bail, Maric and Blease were absent today. Morton did not complete the full session, nor did Tapscott, Jetta, Gawn, Martin, Strauss, Watts, Jurrah or Fitzpatrick.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks and hopefully some of the new recruits will be on the track by then and can have a good look up close.

Go Dees!

Cheers.

Edited November 19, 201014 yr by Bhima

Good report, thanks.

I don't mean to harp on Bartram, but his skills can be good at times.

I still think his biggest problem is making the right decision.

Scully likewise cops it for his kicking, but he will be elite in this aspect. Along with many other facets of his game.

Bookmark it.

They were basically broken up into 3 groups.

Bail, MacDonald and Blease did the shortest session. They walked around the oval a couple of times and just did handball and short kicking drills.

The second group included Sylvia, Watts, Gawn, Fitzpatrick, Jetta, Newton, Tapscott and Gysberts.

Tapscott also did a bit of running with the main group. They did sprints, handball and a fair amount of circuit work. They had even numbers which suggests that they were paired off as a group to perform a certain set of exercises. Sylvia seemed to be there as a leader or mentor. He led the sprints and consistently hit targets. I'd like to see him in the leadership team.

The rest were in the main group, running laps and taking part in the main drills. Grimes got a knock on the leg and walked off early with no sign of a limp (probably just a precaution).I didn't see Davey and Jurrah at the latter part of the training but they were with the main group for most of the session. Any ideas where they went?

Great to see Garland in full training, and Jamar. I'm certain the big Russian had specialised training last year and did a fair amount of his training away from the main group. Today he was one of the boys. imagine if he has a full pre-season...

Thanks once again guys. Bhima, have a great holiday, and I look forward to further reports when you return.

Maric was there - in the main group. I agree about Jones - he was in everything - he was also doing the kicking drills with Maric and lost nothing in comparison.

Good reports there. Like them a lot.

Glad to hear the positives, but also the perceived negatives.

Bhima's description of Trengove was very interesting. I obviously have done nothing close to a pre-season like these guys will be doing, but I can say that when you're not used to doing heavy weights on your legs, it can be hard work running, especially doing the kind of running he will be asked to do. I'm not surprised if his legs feel VERY HEAVY and it is hard to get going from a standing start.

Like you said, Trengove should get used to it and I'm sure it will hold him in good stead for this season and future pre-seasons/seasons. A comparison with Scully is interesting. Just thinking of the last game of the season against North, Scully looked like he was flying and could go for another 10 weeks at the same pace. trengove looked like he was looking forward to the off-season. Not having a go at his effort, but he looked like a player struggling at the end of his first season (common and understanable). I'm sure trengove will come good, but Scully just sounds / looks out of this world. I can't wait to see him with a pre-season under his belt (imagine him in a few years!).

As for Watts, I get the feeling we will see more great good, positive moments from him this year, but we still won't get the consistent performances from him. I reckon he will be like that for next year and probably two years after that. To the point where the rest of the footy world will probably start to forget about him. Then he will slowly creep up on them all and end up being the player that those with a bit of forsight can see he will become.

As for the little injuries (I hope that's all it is) to Davey and Chip, I'm sure it's just regular stuff that often goes on and isn't a concern. They're not silly and won't push them on a dodgy ankle/knee during pre-season.

Thanks for the reviews.

George_on_the_Outer has posted a few pics on Demonology.

Thanks for the review.

George_on_the_Outer has posted a few pics on Demonology.

That last photo with Newton in it - He needs a visit to Jenny Craig even after two weeks back he is still a fatty booom boom.

Thanks for the excellent reports.

Thanks for the excellent reports.

Yes Maric was there and he too looked like he has baulked up. Was impressed with what i saw of him.

Bhima you might have to take off your black hat and sunnies. Good report though.

Bit harsh on Jack Watts though, i thought he trained quite well from what i saw.

Trengove is definitely a lot bigger in the legs already.

Jurrah was Jurrah today.

Thanks for the reports, I always look forward to them.

Great news about Scully, though not a surprise by any means.

There were testers there at training today so I believe a few left session early to go and do that

Awsome report there mate - great to hear something meaningful here overseas. I find the club tends to release some pretty bland assessments of this type.

Thanks alot!

My only concern about Trengove is how good Dustin Martin looks right at the moment.

My only concern about Trengove is how good Dustin Martin looks right at the moment.

Hahahahaha

Hahahahaha

X2

My only concern about Trengove is how good Dustin Martin looks right at the moment.

Yeah. Dustin Martin was good last season. Better than Trengove. But I can't believe how over hyped he became. He had a good first year in a really bad team. Should be a good player in years to come.

Yeah. Dustin Martin was good last season. Better than Trengove. But I can't believe how over hyped he became. He had a good first year in a really bad team. Should be a good player in years to come.

I think they were on par for the first half of the year. Not much was between Martin, Trengove and Hannebery. The second half of the year saw Trengove drop off but he wont be the first youngster to do that. Scully was probably the pick of the lot for second half of the year form. If Trenners can get back to his early season form next year then unless Martin is at polling big Brownlow votes level I wont be disappointed with our choice.

Yeah. Dustin Martin was good last season. Better than Trengove. But I can't believe how over hyped he became. He had a good first year in a really bad team. Should be a good player in years to come.

But was Martin + any other ferals player better than Scullgove?

But was Martin + any other ferals player better than Scullgove?

Martin + Riewoldt was, but as far as the real young'uns goes, probably not.

This isn't specific to that training session and I am aware that it is only early in the preseason, but i'm really please with the fact Addam Maric is giving it a nudge.

Courtesy of Nathan Jones' blog:

Trainer of the week went to Addam Maric, he’s in ripping knick the kid and running really well, fit and firing.

http://www.nathanjones.com.au/?p=236

This isn't specific to that training session and I am aware that it is only early in the preseason, but i'm really please with the fact Addam Maric is giving it a nudge.

Courtesy of Nathan Jones' blog:

http://www.nathanjones.com.au/?p=236

it is what occurs on the football field that really matters. got to talk the talk then.

According to the club's Twitter:-

The next open training session is: AAMI Park - Friday 26th November - 9:00am

Appreciate reports from those going to what will be the first open session with the four new recruits.

So where do they have their closed sessions???

This is going to be such a huge year. In year's gone by we'd be praying for HUGE improvement from about 6 guys, of which one or two would get better, and 3 would drop off, with maybe one big surprise. As it is, only 3 or 4 players on the list you would say don't have any improvement left in them. I couldn't see Jamar, Frawley or Green playing any better than they did... The list is going to have a massive upswing either this year or next... And I'm picking this year.