Training - Wednesday, 22nd January, 2014

[hardtack 10,400]

Injuries like coaching appointments aren't over until they are over. Clark has had a bad run with injuries but no worse than the Golden boy Hird had and he came back, no more than the Ox and he came back and lots of others.

Oh no! Are you saying that Clark is going to have a troubled post AFL life?

[nutbean 8,838]

Oh no! Are you saying that Clark is going to have a troubled post AFL life?

I should have used some less "controversial" examples.

Lenny Hayes had three bad injuries in a row and lost the better part of two seasons and he came back strongly last season.

MJT may be right and we wont see Clark playing in the future - we have two seasons of him being a part time player. But I just dont write players off until the player or the club do so.

[Satyriconhome 10,339]

I see mjt has gone off early today, was there today, had a chat to NATHAN Jones, today was a light session for everybody, hardly had a bead of sweat on him....Clark will be fine, for somebody who is crocked, he was doing the lateral exercises in the rehab group quite easily.

Nathan is champing at the bit for the NAB Challenge, we agreed it won't be a mickey mouse go this season, there will be 36 blokes trying to get Roosy to put them in his 22 for the first round

Had a chat to a couple of other players, everybody has been told what role/position/spot they are expected to play this coming season, been given specific things to work on that will help in this role/position/spot

Emjoying the training because as I have mentioned before it is all footy orientated, if that makes sense

[biggestred 4,787]

can anyone explain to me why they do football sessions only 3 times a week? why not 5?

[hardtack 10,400]

I should have used some less "controversial" examples.

Lenny Hayes had three bad injuries in a row and lost the better part of two seasons and he came back strongly last season.

MJT may be right and we wont see Clark playing in the future - we have two seasons of him being a part time player. But I just dont write players off until the player or the club do so.

Sorry NB, I just ran your statement through the Demonland Logical Conclusion app and that was what it came up with. I agree entirely that Clark could make a comeback and have a long and uninterrupted career once he is over his foot issue; none of us have a clue as to how Roos has chosen to manage his fitness/training program, particularly if there are hamstring issues to deal with on top of the recovering foot (can one impact the other in terms of load?).

Of course the major tell-tale factor that everyone will agree is a sign of Mitch resigning himself to the fact that his AFL career is already over? His interest in photography! In fact, I have noticed that a number of our players (including Nathan Jones) now have Instagram accounts, so I think it is safe to say that we can expect to see a severely depleted list by the end of the year.

[DeeZee 7,296]

can anyone explain to me why they do football sessions only 3 times a week? why not 5?

Bodies need time to recover.

Sometimes they will do swimming or gym work etc...

Remember AFL is one of , if not the most physically demanding sports in the world.

[Ouch! 2,205]

I'm not a physio and I have not been to training to watch them, but I would have thought that if there was a set back relating to his foot, then you would see a moon boot on him quick as!!!

It was reported he had hurt his hammy before Xmas and that they would take it slowly with him, To me it seems that is exactly what they are doing with him. He is running laps and from all reports he is doing them fairly unhindered.

I am less concerned about the forwards than I am about the Rucks (as I think someone else mentioned)

[Vagg 2,437]

Does this count for Dawes, Clark & Hogan all "training together"...??

[nrc73 77]

Dawes, Salem, Kent, Dom, Toump and Frawley all practicing set shots at goal. Dawes has fantastic accuracy, hardly missing a shot.

Some have mentioned that today was a 'light' session. Can't help but think .. wouldn't it be much closer to match simulation to have the forward line guys go through 300m sprints / a few shots at goal / 300m sprints / few shots at goal / etc. ..?

Has anyone noticed if this has already been implemented in training? Always easier to kick for goal when heart rate is low / relaxed.

[biggestred 4,787]

I understand it is physically demanding.

so why not do short skills based sessions in between longer competitive sessions?

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

I'm not a physio and I have not been to training to watch them, but I would have thought that if there was a set back relating to his foot, then you would see a moon boot on him quick as!!!

It was reported he had hurt his hammy before Xmas and that they would take it slowly with him, To me it seems that is exactly what they are doing with him. He is running laps and from all reports he is doing them fairly unhindered.

I am less concerned about the forwards than I am about the Rucks (as I think someone else mentioned)

At last some reason Oucher. You summed it up well. Pre-season, every club is flying, optimistic about the season ahead, last years also rans look ripped and never have trained better. The media is starved of some sensational headlines and therefore go fishing. Yes, Mitch has not played much in 2 years. Precisely the reason why Roos, the medicos and fitness staff will take it very cautiously with him. As oucher said, if the foot was still a real issue, the moonboot would be prevalent.

Based on a very vague report in the currant bun, I am not reaching for the alarm bells yet.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

"Mitch is on track to play early in the year and ideally he plays Round 1. We will monitor him closely for the next 5-6 weeks, and if he is ready for a NAB Challenge game, we will play him.

No idea why people are panicking, sounds like everything going to plan.

So what if he s not ready for round 1? He was rushed last year to play round 1 and look what happened. I dont care if he comes back round 10 as long as hes ready to go.

His injury in round 1 last year had nothing to do with his previous injury...

[waynewussell 4,864]

Here's my top ten at training... I've only watched twice... Not intended to be a list of "best", just a list of those who impress with full pace repeat efforts. The sort of thing one does to get noticed by the coach.

1 James Strauss

2 Nathan Jones (doesn't need to impress coach any further - unless Captaincy is the motivator)

3 Jayden Hunt

4 Jay Kennedy-Harris

5 Jeremy Howe (can't help it - just good at everything)

6 Daniel Cross (see Jones)

7 Lynden Dunn

8 Jimmy Toumpas

9 Cameron Pederson

10 James Harmes

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

Here's my top ten at training... I've only watched twice... Not intended to be a list of "best", just a list of those who impress with full pace repeat efforts. The sort of thing one does to get noticed by the coach.

1 James Strauss

2 Nathan Jones (doesn't need to impress coach any further - unless Captaincy is the motivator)

3 Jayden Hunt

4 Jay Kennedy-Harris

5 Jeremy Howe (can't help it - just good at everything)

6 Daniel Cross (see Jones)

7 Lynden Dunn

8 Jimmy Toumpas

9 Cameron Pederson

10 James Harmes

Great to see so many new players in that list. It shows that Roos has recruited people who work hard and are determined to get better. It'll force all of the deadweight that's been coasting on our list for years to either step up their game or start looking through the classifieds.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,644]

can anyone explain to me why they do football sessions only 3 times a week? why not 5?

They may be training in the gym and pool on the other days. They might also be in those "meetings" all players complain about.

And I wouldn't discount the possibility of training at a "secret location" every once in a while to allow game plan adjustments without public scrutiny.

[Matt Demon 1,407]

Providing Dawes & Hogan have no setbacks they will play some nab games & will be fine for round 1. As for Mitch, what I was told was his foot is fine & he was going to be doing heavy blocks of running throughout the Xmas break & January to get enough fitness up to play at some stage during the nab games. Unfortunately he nicked his hammy just before xmas so the original plan has been pushed back until his hammy is good to go.

[Young Dee 1,303]

Here's my top ten at training... I've only watched twice... Not intended to be a list of "best", just a list of those who impress with full pace repeat efforts. The sort of thing one does to get noticed by the coach.

1 James Strauss

2 Nathan Jones (doesn't need to impress coach any further - unless Captaincy is the motivator)

3 Jayden Hunt

4 Jay Kennedy-Harris

5 Jeremy Howe (can't help it - just good at everything)

6 Daniel Cross (see Jones)

7 Lynden Dunn

8 Jimmy Toumpas

9 Cameron Pederson

10 James Harmes

Nice to see Strauss up the top. People probably sick of me bringing it up but I see him as the greatest untapped player on the list.

Big injury free year for Strauss and we may just have a decent rebounding defender (with speed and a good KICK)

[jayceebee31 697]

Did Roos turn up? Please advise

Thank you

[Young Dee 1,303]

They may be training in the gym and pool on the other days. They might also be in those "meetings" all players complain about.

And I wouldn't discount the possibility of training at a "secret location" every once in a while to allow game plan adjustments without public scrutiny.

I think the club will avoid any "secret" vault like locations from now on.

As you can see Essendon has learnt from it's mistakes and has decided if it is going to cheat it better not get caught - so what do they do? They built a giant vault.

[old55 22,777]

Is there a session on Australia Day holiday Monday 27/1?

[Satyriconhome 10,339]

Did Roos turn up? Please advise

Thank you

Yes he was there, I only know because I saw him arrive, he doesn't stand out on the field when most of them are in red and blue polo and cap

They may be training in the gym and pool on the other days. They might also be in those "meetings" all players complain about.

And I wouldn't discount the possibility of training at a "secret location" every once in a while to allow game plan adjustments without public scrutiny.

Do you actually mean football, ie kicking the ball, sessions, it has always been that way, pre season they work 5 days a week, so assume as someone has said maybe there is footy work inside AAMI park or somewhere else on one day, after training today was lunch followed by weights

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

At training now, only player not sighted is Viney. Rehab group is Jamar, Clark, Dawes, Fitz, Riley, Matt Jones, Tappy, Kent, Hogan, and Gawn

This is the secret forward line

FF. Kent Clark Hogan

HFF. Tappy Dawes Matt Jones

They have thrown Gawn & Jamar in there to help with the forward stoppages

Fitzy and Riley rotate off the bench.

It's just a ploy .me thinks

[rjay 24,579]

I understand it is physically demanding.

so why not do short skills based sessions in between longer competitive sessions?

Pretty sure they do, it's just not advertised. Small groups of players are out doing some skill based stuff on other days.

[DeeSpencer 24,697]

Got there at about 10am to find 5 distinct groups:

Absent: Viney and Garland

Rehab (on the multi purpose oval) all running, all looking reasonable: Hogan, Clark, Fitzy, Riley, Dawes, Tapscott, Kent, Jamar, Matt Jones

Remedial kicking: 25, 8, 13, 50, 44, 26, 18, 39, 42. Doing a drill that involves facing sideways then turning, shuffling feet and kicking to a target 25m away. Seems a clever drill to practice a quick decision and kick to a stationary target. They then paired up in same coloured vests and practice kicking to leads. Spencer and Westrupp a fair bit of work, but mostly drop punts and nothing horrendous as a group

Marking: Watts, Evans and JKH doing a drill that involves using your body to bump into a guy on a bag before taking the mark. All about controlling the body to go at a defender without going too hard.

Byrnes and Blease doing some work as a pair. Small defenders (Terlich, Strauss, Clisby etc) were doing a drill where they led out 10m at 2 kickers who in quick succession kicked footies to them. It had a focus on quick and sure hands that attacking defenders need when put under the pump.

The rest of the guys practicing quick handballs to get to open space. Like a midfield group exciting clearances

Then Grimes, Nicho, Spencer, Michie, Byrnes and McKenzie had done enough for the day

After that all besides the rehab did some simple lane work starting with tackling, the various handball drills. Really basic stuff like picking it off the deck and criss cross handball. But I like it. It's traditional training for a reason, it emphasises the fundamentals done well are vital. Good spirit and voice from the lads.

From there it expanded in to different ball movement drills. A triangle set up with a group in the goal square and one on either flank practiced moving the ball around. Kick in to a target then fast flowing handballs until a man is clear out in space and moving on. An emphasis on getting to open space and on following up to the next group.

By that time quite a few more had dropped out of training and were practicing goal kicking after a light jog for others. The rehab group, then joined by some who had dropped off started some handball games on the sideline. The initial one was where everyone gets a footy in hand and someone introduces an extra footy which means whoever has to catch that has to then handball his footy away and so on and so forth. Really fun stuff for the players and they got a couple of circles together and had a mini comp. Clark and Watts some of the winners. At one stage Kent (i think) suggested when you stuff up and get knocked out of the group you get pelted with a footy but Clark just simply said none of that with a presence that tells me he's respected. Good leadership.

Anyway main group training rolled out with more on the sidelines doing handball drills or sitting in the sun than participating. Even Grimes, Spencer, Michie etc who left 30 minutes before came back. After a while Roos noticed that they weren't doing much so hastily called them in to observe the forward line ball movement drill that was starting on the far wing. That could've happened 20 minutes earlier and players divided in to positional groups and maybe even coached (by spare coaches or senior players) on what was happening but oh well. Usually when guys finish up they go back to AAMI so it was strange seeing them just milling around waiting for the rest.

Main group finished around 11 and my overall impression was it was a bit of a middling session. It seems the players are nearing fitness levels that the staff are happy with so there wasn't flogging on the track and instead there were lots of managed loads. It also seems that Roos is happy to keep patiently teaching fundamentals and clear drills. I also got a sense it was a bit of a Wednesday at this time of year session ie. the pressure might be on for Mondays and Fridays as the bigger work load days and it's not yet time for physical pressure drills that risk injury.

Bernie Vince impressed, as did Strauss and Blease doing the full session. JKH just finds a way to keep getting touches of the footy at training, he's like Jones and Cross in that regard. Salem did most of the session and looks good without there been too much to see. Harmes and Hunt the same. Hunt is athletic with his movement. Harmes seems busy as well. Georgiou moves ok.

[DeeSpencer 24,697]

As for the forward line watching Hogan and Dawes today they look fit and ready to go. Dawes did some marking stuff with Kent post his running and then got Miller to kick him a few high balls to grab before goal kicking. I think it's already been mentioned he's only a week or so til back doing footy stuff and it looks that way. Same with Hogan. I get the feeling that if we were in season and Hogan jarred his knee in a game that he would be playing this weekend or next at worst.

Clark's harder to judge. There's no obvious sign of any problem with him but he does seem to be on a more restricted program than others.

Byrnes is back in main training. Blease is training very well. JKH the same. Tapscott was in main training and is doing a fair amount of work in rehab. Howe is going really well.

Come round 1 right now it looks like we will have at least Spencer to ruck and then Hogan, Dawes, Howe and take your pick of a few options for the smalls spot.

What we don't have is the second ruck/key forward spot sorted yet. There's still lots of time but Clark, Fitzy, Jamar and Gawn all seem a while away. But that's not the end of the world. We can make do with Pedersen or use Dawes or Hogan as that back up. It's one spot in 22 and if we lose round 1 it's not much of an excuse.