I got down to training this morning. 

There were a fair few were out on the track but I believe Clark, Sylvia, Tappy, Spencer, Pickles, Viney, Jurrah, McKenzie and one or two others were in the rehab group. 

Viney and McKenzie did a fair bit of running, Viney really put some quick 300m sprints in and Jordie looks almost ready to rejoin the main group.

 

Now that I've seen the whole group back training in the new year I can honestly see that physically we're a bigger team. Bigger bodies, frame and height. 

The new draftees have a good build, Tynan in particular. He impressed me and I think he may get a game this year.

 

Plenty of warm up drills and short kicking etc, then some contested handball work with one or two players applying pressure, with quick rotations and fairly constant intensity throughout.

 

Then they did a fairly basic drill, kicking the ball through the wing to running players without any opposition pressure. It required well weighted kicks and timed leads etc. A few did well (Watts has a well weighted kick on him) and others did not. Poor old Cale Morton gets slaughtered on this site, but he was fairly poor I must say. He made the most clangers I saw out of anyone today, seems to be low on confidence, plenty of dribber kicks etc. Although Cale looks to have put more weight on than last year, he is still one of, if not the skinniest in the whole team.

 

For quite a while after this they did some match simulation, but it was quite hard to follow. Royal would randomly kick or handpass the ball to someone in the mid group, where they would then make up to 5 handballs and then kick it long into the forward line. But what was strange was that the forwards seemed to let the backman mark the ball at ease rather than contest. Then the backman would rebound from inside 50 almost straight away, so it was quite focused on getting the ball out of the backline. This meant there wasn't much time to rest between plays, which was good I guess.

 

A bit of goal kicking pratice as well, then I had to leave. 

Cheers

Nice work trenners. some reports the other day that clarke might have sustained a slight hammy niggle last week. I know he was in the rehab group but how did he appear to be moving?

Cheers for the report. Could you see what was wrong with Mitch Clark?

Nice work trenners. some reports the other day that clarke might have sustained a slight hammy niggle last week. I know he was in the rehab group but how did he appear to be moving?

Beat me to it.

I concur with trenners-09 (I put up a report on 'ology). The session was long, 110 minute when I left, with a lot of contested running the ball and in-close handball. It was fairly breezy so quite a bit of skill required to hit a target when kicking to the northern end. All activity was timed and the rests and discussion were well managed before gettng straight back into it. I will respond to specific questions when they arrive.

Clark didn't do anything too strenuous, he worked with Bail and Sylvia and did some 3/4 running. He didn't seem to be in pain and he didn't seem to be favouring a leg. Just a slight tweak I would say.

Thanks waynewussell, your report on 'ology is pretty much spot on! Another thing to add is that Neeld stood back and had little involvement in training until the match simulation drill, where he started to bark instructions, althought it was Royal who actually ran the drill.

The new draftees have a good build, Tynan in particular. He impressed me and I think he may get a game this year.

Thanks for the report.

I think you might mean Taggert who at 188 and 87 is a big kid with a good kick on him, Tynan is a similar height but about 10kg lighter. They seem to be getting mixed up a bit.

I also dropped in today. This was the first time I have actually been to training so it was all new to me.

I'll see if I can add to trenners report without repeating what has already been written.

The full ground drill as stated seemed to be focused on bringing the ball out of the backline, with quick transistion around the boundary, not much up the middle except a kick-out from CM which went straight to the opposing team (boy is he struggling ATM). Garlo seemed to be the main focus in delivering the first or second disposal up the field, with Choco shouting for the play to start with him on most occasions. Bennell constantly played the link man and did little wrong in swirly conditions. The midfield stayed up the field and constantly Jones beat several players and delivered well by foot. After the initial drill the play was stopped and players were called in given instructions and sent out again, this happened about 5 times in about an hour. (I like this as the drill seemed to get better and better and produced several end to end plays).

Jordie and JV ran 300m sprints as suggested, but I was amazed at the speed and recovery of Jordie, Jack wasn't far behind but seemed to be blowing a bit harder (this is to be expected).

No sign of Aaron Davey (not sure whats going on there)

No sign of Aaron Davey (not sure whats going on there)

Training like he played last year!!!!

Training like he played last year!!!!

That's some Old Gold Cadburys Comedy there.

Dark and Bitter!

Taggert impressed today, not so much ahead of others, but as a rookie. He certainly has a good build and he went hard at the pill in contested work.

That's some Old Gold Cadburys Comedy there.

Dark and Bitter!

yes

Sorry rpfc I could not help myself.

My dad told me many years ago

"never lead with your chin son

Someone will certainly punch you on it".

Should have remembered it.

Thanks for all the reports guys....stuck in the office all day today...!

Thanks for the report.

I think you might mean Taggert who at 188 and 87 is a big kid with a good kick on him, Tynan is a similar height but about 10kg lighter. They seem to be getting mixed up a bit.

To be honest, both have a good build. I'd be highly surprised if Tynan is 10kg lighter than Taggert. Tynan is the bloke with reddish, thick mop-like hair. He has some sizeable arms for someone of his age. I took some photos of the session, perhaps he has bulked up considerably since he was tested last year.

yes Sorry rpfc I could not help myself. My dad told me many years ago "never lead with your chin son Someone will certainly punch you on it". Should have remembered it.

I think Confucious said something similar: "Never lead with your chin, marking with hands much easier."

I think Confucious said something similar: "Never lead with your chin, marking with hands much easier."

Didnt he play for the Canton firebirds?

I think I remember him on a HFF!

To be honest, both have a good build. I'd be highly surprised if Tynan is 10kg lighter than Taggert. Tynan is the bloke with reddish, thick mop-like hair. He has some sizeable arms for someone of his age. I took some photos of the session, perhaps he has bulked up considerably since he was tested last year.

Yep he is, must have filled out a bit.

To be honest, both have a good build. I'd be highly surprised if Tynan is 10kg lighter than Taggert. Tynan is the bloke with reddish, thick mop-like hair. He has some sizeable arms for someone of his age. I took some photos of the session, perhaps he has bulked up considerably since he was tested last year.

Thanks a lot for the report T_09.

Is there any chance of getting the photo's uploaded?

Cheers

cheers for the report guys

Happened to drive by, so it was my First time at training for 10 years or more, It has changed !

Got there when they were doing the 4 or 5 handballs before the long kick forward, actually counting up to the 5, but contested and tight, very little room.

Then later they swapped a bit and had the ball coming out of defence out onto the wings.

Some observations

it was too windy for great football, but they worked hard

Some of our lads have been working in the gym, particularly Pettard and McKenzie compared to last year at least

Collingwood were training behind us with seperate groups, senoirs the other side and must have been reserves this side.

Did not recognise anyone close but H. O'Brien was in the far group.

Our guys to my mind were more developed in the shoulders than the Collingwood guys close this side, I was surprised, did not expect this.

As I was leaving after about 25 mins our rehab group of 5 were working with a ball doing variations of kick to the lead, mark then handball back, jog to the rear

For both a short version and a longer one, at least it was ball work.

Only recognised 3 Jurrah, Tappy, and Spencer I think

Was not long enough and I could only recognise a few players in the main group, but it was enthusiastic and energenic, pleased i went.

Rang up and purchased our two members tickets for the coming year, so for me 15 straight and 35 out of 44 since I was 18...

Go Dees Give 'em HELL !!!

We must be training like machines when we have two reports and the only player mentioned for any criticism is MFC's favourite whipping boy.

The only reason Morton is continually criticised on this forum is because he has been, and still is talked up so much.

There would be not nearly as much criticism if people didn't jump out of the blocks stating he would be a 'star'.

Edited January 30, 201213 yr by stevethemanjordan

The only reason Morton is criticised on this forum is because he has been, and still is talked up so much.

There would be not nearly as much criticism if people didn't jump out of the blocks stating he would be a 'star'.

Wrong, the reason why Morton cops it on here is he has been extremely disappointing and if he wasn't a first round pick he would have been delisted on his form over the past 2 years.

As an underage footballer Cale was rated extremely highly and over his first couple of seasons he showed enough to indicate he would make a reasonable AFL footballer. I don't know what happen but he has became a shadow of the player he was when he arrived at the club. Hopefully he can gain confidence this year as show some form.

Edited January 30, 201213 yr by drdrake

Wrong, the reason why Morton cops it on here is he has been extremely disappointing and if he wasn't a first round pick he would have been delisted on his form over the past 2 years.

As an underage footballer Cale was rated extremely highly and over his first couple of seasons he showed enough to indicate he would make a reasonable AFL footballer. I don't know what happen but he has became a shadow of the player he was when he arrived at the club. Hopefully he can gain confidence this year as show some form.

I'm sorry, I'll word it differently.

I believe that one of the reasons there is ongoing discussion and debate about Cale Morton here at demonland is because many people still rate him as a highly skilled footballer and it's something that

myself and many others can't work out.

Everyone sees our game differently. Everyone has played football at a different level. Some higher than other's. Some haven't ever played competitively.

Whether people will like to admit it or not (and as I'm sure it would go with most sporting codes), as a general rule

the higher the level of competition one plays of their sport, the greater their understanding of the game will be. Is that a reasonable statement?

For the people that think a forward running, unaccountable, non-contested, average disposal but high possession count game deserves praise, I question their football knowledge

and to what grade and level they have played football themselves.

For people that believe Cale's kicking ability is a feature of his game, I question how deep their knowledge and to what grade/level of football they have played themselves.

For the people that believe Cale's weight issues are the sole hindrance of his footballing abilities, I again question their understanding of the game and to what level they have played themselves.

Cale was rated extremely highly after a dominant year playing under 18 football. He was taller than most and could run all day translating to dominant games of football which included

high possession counts and marking over opponents easily. Contested football, aggression, tackling, blocking, defensive running and marking (among other attributes) were/are not

attributes Cale Morton carried or carries. But why would they be when he was given the football so often and could out mark most at under 18 level?

His disposal is another debate all together.

As an 'outside' player, his kicking skills are not up to standard in my opinion and many other's. (Again, the answer will be different depending on

the person asked and to what level they have played the game).

Nothing happened to Cale Morton. He just got a shock once he made it to an AFL club and I think he has realised that having a large tank and being taller than other's

isn't enough to make it as an AFL player. Maybe under 18's or amo's.

It's not looking great for him. But obviously he, (like every other player on our list) has a chance to show whether or not he can develop enough weapons to contribute to the

team on match day.

Edited January 30, 201213 yr by stevethemanjordan