Went down for a look this morning. List of things I observed in no particular order. . 

 - Maynard and Balic completed their 2km time trials... Maynard finished about 200m in front. Both were well and truly spent at the finish.

- One particular drill was just focused on the "Dustin Martin don't argue". Picking the ball up off the ground and pushing off a bag/opponent with the hand. 

- Jones, Weid, Kent, T.Smith in rehab. Ditto Viney and Joel Smith but they were running lap after lap rather than the balls.

- Brayshaw had his thigh taped up and at one point removed himself from the main group to complete some run thru's. He joined back in soon after.

- I was most impressed with Dion Johnstone. Put on some muscle and his skills on both side of the feet was a highlight. Crumbing off the forwards and kicking them from all angles.

- Lewis certainty entrenched in the back-line group. Vince also down there. 

- Omac looked noticeably bigger in the legs and arms.

- Trac also looking fit without any strapping on the knee.

 

Was Trac still on light duties? 

10 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Was Trac still on light duties? 

No he was with main group

Unsighted: 4 new draftees (presume it's AFL induction time). Vanders, McKenna

Rehab: As PB outlined. 
Joel Smith did a bit of footy work and plenty of running with Viney. The other 4 did a lot of footy work and you'd think wouldn't be far off joining in the main stuff. Jones looked ready to go. Weid's kicking was a bit off in the swirly breeze. Balic joined the rehab group after his long run.

Lots of different group drills really mixing it up but the focus was definitely on sharp kicking and clearing congestion.

Most interesting drill might've been working the ball cone to cone in the middle of the ground then getting it in to a forward v defender one on one with Garlett and DJ both swooping on any loose balls from 30m or so in front of the contest. And I was also impressed with Dion. Not under any pressure but he was timing his run, gathering and snapping nicely. 

The full corridor 9 on 9 or whatever it was had mixed results but Lever was composed with the ball and Clarry took it on and kicked long to targets nicely. 

great reports

Got down to Gosch's today for about 80 minutes... observations other than those already mentioned,

• Bernie's predicted demise was premature! His ball handling and kicking to position in the conditions was of the highest quality and he was up to speed in the sprints
• Ditto Lewis
• Impressed by Filipovic's increased bulk, athletic running and sure hands
• Jetta terrific in man on man defensive rebound activity
• Oscar McD consistently effective at spoiling in the arial contests
• Tom McD had the safest hands in the marking exercises I watched
• Petracca bustles like a bull and gets what he wants
• Bugg is looking like best 22 again
• Lewis an unlikely dead-eyed-dick on the day
• Oh yes, a bloke called Clayton continues to make the difficult look easy

Would like to know how big Mitchy King and Lachie Fillapovic is going..?? Lachie intrigues me more then anyone on our list.

Do the boys have open training on the weekends? 

Would love to head in, but can’t during the week.

10 minutes ago, Jack son 5 said:

Do the boys have open training on the weekends? 

Would love to head in, but can’t during the week.

Now this may shock you Jack S 5 but at this time of the year they get the weekend off just like you.

9 minutes ago, old dee said:

Now this may shock you Jack S 5 but at this time of the year they get the weekend off just like you.

well that's just plain selfish !

48 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

Got down to Gosch's today for about 80 minutes... observations other than those already mentioned,

• Bernie's predicted demise was premature! His ball handling and kicking to position in the conditions was of the highest quality and he was up to speed in the sprints
• Ditto Lewis
• Impressed by Filipovic's increased bulk, athletic running and sure hands
• Jetta terrific in man on man defensive rebound activity
• Oscar McD consistently effective at spoiling in the arial contests
• Tom McD had the safest hands in the marking exercises I watched
• Petracca bustles like a bull and gets what he wants
• Bugg is looking like best 22 again
• Lewis an unlikely dead-eyed-dick on the day
• Oh yes, a bloke called Clayton continues to make the difficult look easy

sounds like there wasn't a house left standing. knew i should have got into the construction business.....damn

10 minutes ago, nutbean said:

well that's just plain selfish !

Quite obviously nutbean it is all about them.

2 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Joel Smith did a bit of footy work and plenty of running with Viney

Surprised to hear Viney doing plenty of running - I know he has to maintain base fitness BUT recovering from a stress fracture in the foot I would have thought there would be plenty of anything but running ?

3 minutes ago, Sydee said:

Surprised to hear Viney doing plenty of running - I know he has to maintain base fitness BUT recovering from a stress fracture in the foot I would have thought there would be plenty of anything but running ?

There has been plenty of anything but running for the past nearly five months. Trust medicos to decide he's ready to run. 

2 minutes ago, It's Time said:

There has been plenty of anything but running for the past nearly five months. Trust medicos to decide he's ready to run. 

He's been running for last couple of weeks, joked with him today about taking a pic to show he has both legs working ok, said he will be running too fast for the camera soon

He is tightly controlled to ensure he only does what he is supposed to

Said just ticking off the sessions and loading the foot gradually

Pic later

2 hours ago, waynewussell said:

Got down to Gosch's today for about 80 minutes... observations other than those already mentioned,

• Bernie's predicted demise was premature! His ball handling and kicking to position in the conditions was of the highest quality and he was up to speed in the sprints
• Ditto Lewis
• Impressed by Filipovic's increased bulk, athletic running and sure hands
• Jetta terrific in man on man defensive rebound activity
• Oscar McD consistently effective at spoiling in the arial contests
• Tom McD had the safest hands in the marking exercises I watched
• Petracca bustles like a bull and gets what he wants
• Bugg is looking like best 22 again
• Lewis an unlikely dead-eyed-dick on the day
• Oh yes, a bloke called Clayton continues to make the difficult look easy

Have heard very little about Clarry this preseason.  

He's looking good in the photos - very excited to see him unleashed this year!

 

Can anyone comment on how Jones was looking/moving in the rehab group?  Same with Weideman.  Do they look far off??

14 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Have heard very little about Clarry this preseason.  

He's looking good in the photos - very excited to see him unleashed this year!

 

Can anyone comment on how Jones was looking/moving in the rehab group?  Same with Weideman.  Do they look far off??

Jones looks perfectly fine, jumping, sprinting, turning and kicking well. 

Weid's looked like the wind and being a bit underdone was playing with his kicking. But he looks strong and fit, just more like a guy who's missed some time and is still getting back. 

1 hour ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Have heard very little about Clarry this preseason.  

He's looking good in the photos - very excited to see him unleashed this year!

 

Can anyone comment on how Jones was looking/moving in the rehab group?  Same with Weideman.  Do they look far off??

I hope to see Clarry add to his game this year. Everyone knows he's elite inside the contest but let's not forget he's a beautiful kick and as he showed in his junior years he's more than capable of going forward and kicking goals. Clarry has a few more strings to his bow than a lot of ppl realize.

1 hour ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Have heard very little about Clarry this preseason.  

He's looking good in the photos - very excited to see him unleashed this year!

 

Can anyone comment on how Jones was looking/moving in the rehab group?  Same with Weideman.  Do they look far off??

Got along for about an hour with Mrs Worship, Agree with everything everyone else has said. Only a few things to add. Thought Tim Smith cannot be far off rejoining the main group, was impressed with how good his marking, speed and kicking was. Also looks to have put on a bit of size in the arms and shoulders.

Jones looked ready to go and for those Kent followers; no he didn't look like he was going flat out at everything but he and Jones were very competitive with each other and there was a lot of banter and smiles, didn't look disinterested at all.

Balic looked a little sore/tired to me and I saw him get quite a bit of treatment from one of the trainers. This would have been after the 2km trial, which we didn't see, so that may have had an effect.

Some of the funnier /lighter moments in the main group were seeing Jeffy trying to stop/tackle Maxy and at one stage JKH had to take on/tackle first Jessy and then Max in quick succession.

Really enjoyed the 9 x 9 drill mentioned earlier and the comments about Dion were what I saw too, but it was also interesting how often Keilty was on the end of the possession chain kicking at goal.

I can't not mention young Clayton, I wasn't paying particular attention to him today but he is eye catching and he will surprise a few with his further improvement. From what I saw today I think the Cats might get a bit of a shock in the opener. Can't wait.

Got down there for an hour. I am sure it was AVB running laps while I was there?  Jones, the Weid, Kent running laps after some limited ball work earlier away from the main group. Jones looks fit to me. Keilty went down in a marking contest and spent 10minutes looking very ginger on his left ankle but recovered well to dominate some later drills. I liked the series of drills pitting defence against offence, the emphasis in working the ball out of congestion. Where was this competitive training stuff in the Bailey, Neeld years?

Some of the tacking was very willing which I like to see as well as drills which forced players to work together in confined spaces. This is replicating game day which I think you should be doing at least 50% of the time at some stage of the preseason as well as honing your kicking and hand balling skills in conventional circle work. 

Liked the work of Clarrie, Vince, Maynard, The Track, J MAC and Hogan. 

43 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

Got down there for an hour. I am sure it was AVB running laps while I was there?  Jones, the Weid, Kent running laps after some limited ball work earlier away from the main group. Jones looks fit to me. Keilty went down in a marking contest and spent 10minutes looking very ginger on his left ankle but recovered well to dominate some later drills. I liked the series of drills pitting defence against offence, the emphasis in working the ball out of congestion. Where was this competitive training stuff in the Bailey, Neeld years?

Some of the tacking was very willing which I like to see as well as drills which forced players to work together in confined spaces. This is replicating game day which I think you should be doing at least 50% of the time at some stage of the preseason as well as honing your kicking and hand balling skills in conventional circle work. 

Liked the work of Clarrie, Vince, Maynard, The Track, J MAC and Hogan. 

4

Hes been a ginger a lot longer than 10 mins....

 (someone had to do it )

 

Edited January 15, 20187 yr by ding

Does anyone know if the Team, as a whole, is in the Third year of their physical build up to the required AFL level, or is this all different now. As i remember there was mention of a program being put in place, possibly by Misson, a couple of years ago.

7 minutes ago, willmoy said:

Does anyone know if the Team, as a whole, is in the Third year of their physical build up to the required AFL level, or is this all different now. As i remember there was mention of a program being put in place, possibly by Misson, a couple of years ago.

This goes back to Neeld's time 'willmoy'...I think it was smoke & mirrors, they just weren't good enough.

That team could prepare for 10 years and not make a dent on the competition.

With the spread of talent through different age groups we have now, you would expect AFL level physical capability to increase with time in the system, so at different rates.

3 minutes ago, rjay said:

This goes back to Neeld's time 'willmoy'...I think it was smoke & mirrors, they just weren't good enough.

That team could prepare for 10 years and not make a dent on the competition.

With the spread of talent through different age groups we have now, you would expect AFL level physical capability to increase with time in the system, so at different rates.

I've been barracking so long i lose track of the decades now.....

51 minutes ago, rjay said:

This goes back to Neeld's time 'willmoy'...I think it was smoke & mirrors, they just weren't good enough.

That team could prepare for 10 years and not make a dent on the competition.

With the spread of talent through different age groups we have now, you would expect AFL level physical capability to increase with time in the system, so at different rates.

Incorrect I spoke to Misso, it takes on average 3 to 5 years to get a player to a level to consistently perform at AFL level, there are exceptions such as Clarry and a serious injury doesn't help obviously

Misso has had the core of the squad for 3 to 5 years and we are now seeing a team of strong athletes that can run all day, only bit missing is to play footy for 4 qtrs each game which will come with ability to run out games and to be physically capable of hammering your body (oo er) for 3 hours

Edited January 15, 20187 yr by Satyriconhome