I have a mate that is mates with Fitzy and he told him he is worried he won't be on the list next year with the influx of talls.

Should be a catalyst for him to improve and cement a spot in the 22.

I was there too and was equally impressed with Barry...

I genuinely think the FD have high hopes that he'll get plenty of game time this year.

I hope you're right. The sooner he's a staple in the team the better. He'll add a dynamic that can really impact games.

Toumpas, Barry and Blease give the side the speed, spread, and kicking skills they haven't had for years.

Anyone know who wore number 45?

Cheers.

Matt Jones

The video of training [now removed] showed some interesting centre square drills.

By the by, why would the club care about videos?

I mean it's not a closed session - far from it, the maggies were apparently on the adjacent ground and the dees don't go anywhere these days without TV film crew.

Big Brother is watching.

Loved Matt Jones work. Did I see No 23 out there - who is that. Sellars also some nice work. I loved the video even if the Club didn't. It gives a better perspective on tackles running etc.

6 weeks today to go before our first NAB appearance.

Looking forward to it to see if what we are gleaning from the training reports is as positive as some/most of us hope.

Matt Jones

Thanks Longsuffering, looks to have a bit of speed about him.

Thanks Longsuffering, looks to have a bit of speed about him.

absolutely!, i had to look up to see who that was, he was motoring up the ground! great to see!

I have a mate that is mates with Fitzy and he told him he is worried he won't be on the list next year with the influx of talls.

Am I the only one that is hoping this is incorrect?

No matter what player you are, you DO NOT worry about next year. Play your arse off in the seniors all year, and contracts will take care of themselves. You're on an AFL list, work hard, do what's asked and repay the club by playing well. Most times they will repay you the favour by giving you a contract extension.

Been loving the reports all summer.

Good to hear positive things about Barry, will be interesting to see how the fd use him this year.

Just wondering how Nev Jetta has been progressing?

The video of training [now removed] showed some interesting centre square drills.

By the by, why would the club care about videos?

I mean it's not a closed session - far from it, the maggies were apparently on the adjacent ground and the dees don't go anywhere these days without TV film crew.

saves on airfares for sheedy & horse.

Not much to add from BH other than some players still have a lot to work on skill wise (was quite breezy) others were superb. Jordie, Viney, Barry and Dunn stood out to me with quality foot skills over 30m.

Caught glimpses of Fitz and his pace for his size is a real standout he also finished of a fwd drill where they had to make about 6 different leads, snap, lead again, snap and lead very well. His repeat efforts have improved, if he can impose and realise he is massive, quick and can keep pushing himself he could do some damage for us.

Repeat sprints.... Killer. I was disappointed seeing Blease in last group and seeing Spencil neck and neck with him a number of times before Blease finished last one off strongly. He has improved and will keep doing so.

As stated the Pies were on othet oval. One drill i watched was doing a bit of ball work from back pocket all the way down the ground to hit a fwd target, while being pressured and there skills are still two steps ahead of Dees but we are getting better. They finished off with sprint session and was interesting to see Dane (should be sacked for off field problems) Swan finished the strongest of there entire team.

Also funny to see a Pies tragic taking pages of notes of the training session, one can only assume to go on fan site doubt he is a patch on FNQ

Been loving the reports all summer.

Good to hear positive things about Barry, will be interesting to see how the fd use him this year.

Just wondering how Nev Jetta has been progressing?

Jetta looks good too, improved. Skills, fitness/endurance have all clearly improved he looks like he will be able run out a quarter of footy let alone a full game this year. Really looking to see more run and carry out of the whole backline this season.

He is training in the back line group, will be tough for spots in that group.

The video of training [now removed] showed some interesting centre square drills.

By the by, why would the club care about videos?

I mean it's not a closed session - far from it, the maggies were apparently on the adjacent ground and the dees don't go anywhere these days without TV film crew.

I've been edited! Looks neater but funny how the edit isn't noted at the bottom of the post as it usually would be when a change is made (as per post above and now this one!).

Edited January 11, 201312 yr by binman

Been loving the reports all summer.

Good to hear positive things about Barry, will be interesting to see how the fd use him this year.

Just wondering how Nev Jetta has been progressing?

Liked what I saw of Nev - a lot, but am a big fan

Jetta looks good too, improved. Skills, fitness/endurance have all clearly improved he looks like he will be able run out a quarter of footy let alone a full game this year. Really looking to see more run and carry out of the whole backline this season.

He is training in the back line group, will be tough for spots in that group.

Nev Jetta is close to finishing his first FULL preseason, he has always had the skills but his miserable run with injury kept killing his fitness...we saw a couple of glimpses late last season what he can do

..I spoke to him a couple of trainings ago....this is what the training staff want from him...... bringing it out of the backline but also his toughness and tackling and evasive skills in traffic, helping extricate the ball from congestion.......

...made a joke of being the perfect sub because when fit he can play a variety of positions....if that got him a regular game then he would take it........I made a joke about him cleaning up Nicho in one session I saw (his main opposition for the small defender)...said 'he needed to do it"....

If he can get through the rest of the preseaon and the NAB cup he is my smoky for the coming season....and yes biased, nr 39 on my jumper...been there since I chatted to him after praccy game at Casey when he first arrived

Good to see the turnout this morning, the club must be happy with the support. As for training the reports are pretty much on the mark.

A few things I will add are that there seems to be a lot of competition for places this year with a good even balance of players across the board. NAB cup form will have a big say in who makes it into the starting 22 this year particularly for the likes of Jetta, Strauss, Tynan, Taggert, Nicho and a long list of players who have yet to consolidate a place. Neeld showed last year he will pick a player who puts in early by picking Tynan in the first game.

There is no doubt about Barry's skill and his running ability and if it translates on match day then we may see a bit of him this year, I hope so. A couple of passes into Dawes in the drills had his eyes light up. He will be a happy man if he gets this sort of service from Barry, Davey, Toumpas and Watts on game day.

Interesting to watch big Max and Jesse Hogan kicking on the far side of the ground for a while. Everything was timed, videoed and accounted for, they weren't there to fill in time. They must be itching to get into the main group though. The year that Hogan gets at the club in advance of his peers where he gets to train and play in an AFL environment will pay off big time. It will be great watching him at Casey this year, I wonder if the club will get him a run in the NAB cup like GC did last year.

Watching Jack Viney kicking before training with NIcho and he is a very good kick over shorter distance, low, hard and accurate. Like Joel Selwood I think he will be ready to go from game one, he is made for AFL.

Watching Jack Viney kicking before training with NIcho and he is a very good kick over shorter distance, low, hard and accurate. Like Joel Selwood I think he will be ready to go from game one, he is made for AFL.

You really know how to excite a lady, good for you

I feel Hogan should definitely be played NAB cup. Give him a taste for the real (semi-real) stuff and help him keep his focus for the year coming up where he is not eligible. Plus me being selfish wants to see the kid in all his hulkiness glory.

Hopefully we can play him and it won't look suss from a tanking perspective. I know the AFL have an eye on us when it comes to list experimenting. Can we gag CC for 2013?

Billy - there is nothing wrong with any player being worried about their position. Who are we to dictate to them how they should feel about their vocational stability? Or judge how they would react to their perception of vocational instability?

They are just people after all.

Hi All,

I'll keep this pretty short as most people have covered off today's training.

- I was impressed with Jamar's stong grabs in full ground drills.

- Davey looked great! I really hope he has a blinder this year. He's like a new recruit for us.

- Jesse Hogan is the biggest 17 year old I have seen, I can't wait until he has 50-60 games behind him.

As I said about Monday, Dawes is still 2-grabbing a lot of marks and Troy Davis just isn't up to it. The ball movement from defensive 20-40m is a short, sharp kick to the wing. Davis just can't use the pill that well.

Lynden Dunn looks really fit and strong.

Of course there's nothing wrong with being worried about your position in the team, it is just a little out of the ordinary to hear someone verbalize that. Comes across as a little insecure, which is not going to help him keep that spot he's worried about.

Anyway I'm sure he has the goods to make it. Look at all the adversity he's overcome already.

Good news in this tweet from Jack Trengove:

Happy to wave goodbye to the crutches and reintroduce the left hoof with the ground! Happiest man alive!

Good news in this tweet from Jack Trengove:

That's great news 'WJ'.

Of course there's nothing wrong with being worried about your position in the team, it is just a little out of the ordinary to hear someone verbalize that. Comes across as a little insecure, which is not going to help him keep that spot he's worried about.

Anyway I'm sure he has the goods to make it. Look at all the adversity he's overcome already.

It was probably nothing more than a comment between friends and probably should have remained so rather than posting it on here where it should be patently obvious it would create a raft of posts expressing concern. I can only hope Fitz doesn't read these forums.

Just want to add my two bobs worth.Attended training today. First time at Gosch’s and only second time ever. I will provide some personal observations below but need to explain that my view was frequently obstructed by the hoards of people milling around Ben-Hur for his autograph.

The first thing I liked was the preponderance of big bodies. We will no longer be pushed off the ball like wimps.

Hogan was running laps ( at a fair pace too). I can’t believe he is only 17. He will be huge and looks like he could play now. Dawes trained with the main group and was moving freely. Another poster noted that he was fumbly but, at this stage, his building fitness is the main concern.

I am a big fan of Jake Spencer, so I watched him closely. He is bigger but kept up the pace in running drills. He also hit his targets by foot on the 3 or 4 occasions I saw him kick. It was very interesting to watch him and Jamar contesting marks. Jamar won these contests. It was as if he was saying, “you’re going to have to do better to take my spot kid”.

Dom Barry certainly looked silken and reminded me of a young Aaron Davey. Aaron Davey BTW also looked the goods.

Max Gawn was running laps and looked to be moving very comfortably.

Rhodan looked very fit and dangerous. I would be putting in the “short ones” to avoid running into him.

Overall, I was really impressed with what I saw. The simulation type drills particularly. The wind was flukey but the ball movement was confident and accurate.

Our skills looked much improved