Training - Friday 20th December, 2013

[Demanding Success 298]

Roos not there today. I was told he went to Sydney.

Not training- Clark Frawley, Gawn and Viney and I think that was it.

Riley and Kent were doing a fair bit of work on the side. Running and boxing, enjoying the sun I think.

Also in rehab: Byrnes, Clisby, Dawes, Jetta and King.

Trenners left early.

They trained for about an hour with the balls and then they did the tan and runs up Anderson Street hill.

During training they split up into groups of about 7 or 8.

The groups went to different stations.

One was a shepparding type drill, one a snap shot at goal drill, a keeping off drill and kicking to a leading player drill.

People can see what they went from this if you know what I mean.

Watts' skills are awesome, he looks to me to have lifted his intensity.

I found it really funny watching Spencer left foot snap for goal.

Although his kicking in the leading drill was pretty good.

McDonald did a bit of softer tackling drill with spencer at one stage. McDonald must be close to full body drills.

Cross, Jones, Toumpas and Vince all train very well.

Strauss and Michie were in the group with the younger guys. Both looked good.

JKH is very quick and a hard trainer, if he gets games in the preseason and goes well he could play round 1. I think there will be lots of competition for spots though so it will be tough for him.

On the whole training was pretty good but it's not a game.

Rawlings took training today.

[dazzledavey36 48,860]

Thanks DS!

Interesting with JKH he seems to be the Draftee that's standing out the most with his training. Been hearing nothing but real positives and good reports. Could be a steal!

[Hannibal 5,814]

Thought it was very sloppy with low intensity today.

[Thehardtackler 785]

Spoke to Sam Blease today amongst others. What an impressive young man he is. He was very impressed with the way that Roos has helped rebuild their shattered confidence. He said that they were all gutted after the Essendon match last year and it sounds like it took the stuffing out of them for the remainder of the year.

Shannon Byrnes asked me if I would like to join him for a repeat 300m sprint. I declined but he seemed a great bloke.

Was impressed with Michael Evans change in build, he has apparently added another kilo or two.

Bernie Vince is so enthusiastic and Dom Tyson is such a humble individual.

Hogan looks like he bites the heads off bats whenever you see him, quite a scary looking individual for a young footballer.

I will be back to see them train on 6 January. My friend saw the drills earlier and reckons that they all mostly looked enthusiastic and sharp.

Merry Christmas to all Demonlanders, I am sure that we will do better in 2014!

[Machsy 2,858]

Thanks for the reports.

I'm hoping Rog was there again today, his reports are usually bang on.

[All the Jacks 99]

Spoke to Sam Blease today amongst others. What an impressive young man he is. He was very impressed with the way that Roos has helped rebuild their shattered confidence. He said that they were all gutted after the Essendon match last year and it sounds like it took the stuffing out of them for the remainder of the year.

Shannon Byrnes asked me if I would like to join him for a repeat 300m sprint. I declined but he seemed a great bloke.

Was impressed with Michael Evans change in build, he has apparently added another kilo or two.

Bernie Vince is so enthusiastic and Dom Tyson is such a humble individual.

Hogan looks like he bites the heads off bats whenever you see him, quite a scary looking individual for a young footballer.

I will be back to see them train on 6 January. My friend saw the drills earlier and reckons that they all mostly looked enthusiastic and sharp.

Merry Christmas to all Demonlanders, I am sure that we will do better in 2014!

Spoke to Sam Blease today amongst others. What an impressive young man he is. He was very impressed with the way that Roos has helped rebuild their shattered confidence. He said that they were all gutted after the Essendon match last year and it sounds like it took the stuffing out of them for the remainder of the year.

Shannon Byrnes asked me if I would like to join him for a repeat 300m sprint. I declined but he seemed a great bloke.

Was impressed with Michael Evans change in build, he has apparently added another kilo or two.

Bernie Vince is so enthusiastic and Dom Tyson is such a humble individual.

Hogan looks like he bites the heads off bats whenever you see him, quite a scary looking individual for a young footballer.

I will be back to see them train on 6 January. My friend saw the drills earlier and reckons that they all mostly looked enthusiastic and sharp.

Merry Christmas to all Demonlanders, I am sure that we will do better in 2014!

The last training session for 2013 thanks and good to see Sam is Happy

[monoccular 16,120]

Once again many thanks for all who put in their reports.

Again, I approach the season with confidence, not for the first time!!!!

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,244]

Thanks all the reports.

Frawley has missed the last 3 or 4 sessions. Clark the last 2 or 3.

I assume all good with these fellas.

[angrydee 842]

Heartfelt thanks for all the reports.

Have a great Festivus, keep safe and rest up so you will all be fresh to attend training in the new year.

[Dees2014 2,377]

Spoke to Sam Blease today amongst others. What an impressive young man he is. He was very impressed with the way that Roos has helped rebuild their shattered confidence. He said that they were all gutted after the Essendon match last year and it sounds like it took the stuffing out of them for the remainder of the year.

Shannon Byrnes asked me if I would like to join him for a repeat 300m sprint. I declined but he seemed a great bloke.

Was impressed with Michael Evans change in build, he has apparently added another kilo or two.

Bernie Vince is so enthusiastic and Dom Tyson is such a humble individual.

Hogan looks like he bites the heads off bats whenever you see him, quite a scary looking individual for a young footballer.

I will be back to see them train on 6 January. My friend saw the drills earlier and reckons that they all mostly looked enthusiastic and sharp.

Merry Christmas to all Demonlanders, I am sure that we will do better in 2014!

Yes, I was there for most of the time. I agree with one or two other posters that perhaps the intensity was not there yesterday compared to earlier sessions.

Not sure whether this was because of closeness to Xmas or Roos' absence - I hope and think it is the former. I don't think it is a good look if they only try hard when Roos is around.

I spent most of the time behind the goals watching them kick for goals in groups of 7 or 8. This took the form of kicking from three different positions: one from the left forward pocket where they were required to snap over their shoulders from about 25m out; the same from the other pocket; and then finally kicking over a "dummy" (supposedly in place of the man on the mark) from about 30 meters out.

My observation of this exercise is we still have a long way to go. I reckon their percentages were no better than 50% accuracy in this.

Some were a lot better than others (notably Nathan Jones, JKH, Jeremy Howe, Riley). Some were abysmal (Colin Garland, Matt Jones), and others just average, including Jack Watts and Jesse Hogan which surprised me.

The good thing was that all results were being logged by a trainer into a computer behind the goal, and so presumably further practice will be scheduled in due course. On today's performance it is very much needed. The good thing is it has been noted early in the pre-season so they can get it right by March.

I also agree with the comments on here about JKH. Not only is he a great kick, but his intensity at the ball, his tackling, and his speed is very impressive. I think we might have found a bargain here. A quality small forward would round out the forward set up very nicely, and I think (hope) he will be ideal.

One further observation I'd make is that Dermott Breretton turned up and watched the session for fully an hour. I have been to many pre-season training sessions for the Dees, and that is the first time I have seen a senior football commentator attend a session, unless there is an announcement to be made or there is some controversy running. Maybe I just have not noticed before, or maybe, just maybe, they might be getting the word that there are interesting thing happening down at Demonland!

[DemonTux 95]

I was there too. Everything said above seems spot on.

Re Trenners - he was complaining about something in his right foot/ankle area before he left. Looked happy still so don't think it was bad (but hey, i'm no doctor), just another indication of them not pushing even the slightest niggle (I hope).

JKH is getting a lot of praise around here and I was pleasantly surprised watching him today, very quick, great kick, felt my self thinking about the Wiz and Flash while watching ... similar traits, let's just hope he has some magic (selfish confidence?) too.

What else? Salem walked laps, hoped to see some of Hunt's speed but every time I looked, he seemed pooped. Jamar did some running with the rehab group then left.

Tyson's kicking action ... hard to work out why it looks funny, its like he only straightens his leg at the last second so it makes it look like he is kicking late/only using half his leg.

Watching Dunn and Hogan go at it in a shepherding drill at close quarters was great, if looks could kill ...

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Great reports. Thanks - much appreciated.

[Roger Mellie 3,511]

Thanks for the reports.

I'm hoping Rog was there again today, his reports are usually bang on.

Apologies for the lack of Mellie insight. I got RSI from typing up all those training reports and had to take a week off.

[Elwood 3184 1,268]

Apologies for the lack of Mellie insight. I got RSI from typing up all those training reports and had to take a week off.

Please don't do that again. I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms.

[Whispering_Jack 28,004]

Thanks for those who have reported on the 2013 pre season training. Work commitments have prevented me from getting down to any of the sessions to date although I did manage to pass a Goschs Paddock session while driving down Punt Road one day. My brief observation which lasted a nanosecond was that they were training the house down.

Look forward to more in 2014.

[Slartibartfast 15,800]

Spoke to Sam Blease today amongst others. What an impressive young man he is.

I spoke to him when we was just returning from injury at a function some three years ago I reckon. I was very impressed. I just hope the maturity with which he spoke can translate on the field and that he can reach his potential.

He has some elite skills that could make him very good but has some weaknesses that could be deal breakers.

And many thanks to all those that post reports, great stuff and good to get some differing opinions.

[Demon16 69]

Thanks all the reports.

Frawley has missed the last 3 or 4 sessions. Clark the last 2 or 3.

I assume all good with these fellas.

I mentioned on the Monday training thread that Clark had injured his hamstring to some degree. copped some grief from a few clowns on here for some reason, but i stand by it.

[CBDees 3,162]

Thanks guys for all your reports (and through the year). I was worried initially when the first post appeared at 3.30pm (or 4.30pm on the Demonlander time scale) as i feared the last training session for 2013 might go unreported. i am also quite excited by the consistent positive reports about JKH. Let us hope that he becomes Wizard Mark II.

[Dees2014 2,377]

I was there too. Everything said above seems spot on.

Re Trenners - he was complaining about something in his right foot/ankle area before he left. Looked happy still so don't think it was bad (but hey, i'm no doctor), just another indication of them not pushing even the slightest niggle (I hope).

JKH is getting a lot of praise around here and I was pleasantly surprised watching him today, very quick, great kick, felt my self thinking about the Wiz and Flash while watching ... similar traits, let's just hope he has some magic (selfish confidence?) too.

What else? Salem walked laps, hoped to see some of Hunt's speed but every time I looked, he seemed pooped. Jamar did some running with the rehab group then left.

Tyson's kicking action ... hard to work out why it looks funny, its like he only straightens his leg at the last second so it makes it look like he is kicking late/only using half his leg.

Watching Dunn and Hogan go at it in a shepherding drill at close quarters was great, if looks could kill ...

Agree on Salem. In my observations behind goals, he was playing ball fetcher. He must be injured. He didn't look happy in this role, and from all we read about him he is a very intense trainer and somewhat of a perfectionist. Let's hope he joins the main group early in the new year.

On Tyson, yes he does have an unusual kicking style but it does overall seem effective. He is also bigger than I expected. Likewise Vince - he is going to be twice as effective as Sylvia and hopefully much more consistent. Both Tyson and Vince I reckon will be major plusses for us next year.

[SaberFang 7,141]

Headed down for an hour to watch the boys. JKH was an absolute standout from where I was watching (doing drills with Harmes, who had some sloppy missed marks from easy kicks). JKH consistently goes hard at the ball, has a speedy pace, very clean hands, and a nice kick about him. Couldn't find much to fault him over. Would love to see him in round 1 next season.

Dom Barry had a few sloppy disposals and botched marks as well.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Lamashtu

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,460]

Thanks guys for all your reports (and through the year). I was worried initially when the first post appeared at 3.30pm (or 4.30pm on the Demonlander time scale) as i feared the last training session for 2013 might go unreported. i am also quite excited by the consistent positive reports about JKH. Let us hope that he becomes Wizard Mark II.

...but as a one club player.

[Machsy 2,858]

As for the asbence of Frawley, Clark and others from the last few training sessions, I have a possible answer for it...

I've been informed by a source at another club, that a small group of players elected to start preseason training early, in order to get more time off immediately before Christmas. I imagine this is probably standard practice across the industry, with the new mandatory leave conditions.

Some might also recall that Frawley began training earlier than required.

I believe Clark did likewise.

Entirely possible that injury has played no part in their absence.

[Pinball Wizard 272]

Thanks for those who put in training reports. I sense they're a little more measured this year than they've been in the past. Perhaps because we previously tended to get wrapped up in the goings on forgetting that there are other clubs out there training at higher intensity and skill levels.

Please keep up the good work of informing us as to what's happening and go dees!!!