Hi guys, long time reader, first time poster.

Went to have a look at training this morning. Impressions as follows:

- very light session focused on skills and touch

- a few drills where they broke into several groups aimed at hitting up a player quickly in congestion with a 25 metre pass, with half of the players the attacking targets and the other half (wearing pink bibs) the defenders looking to spoil - Tyson surprisingly sharp here with his passes (his foot skills are underrated)

- Melky and Hibberd doing laps and kick to kick. Neither looked overly impeded, although both still look to be around 90%

- Viney doing laps in sneakers - looked to be running well with no obvious discomfort

- Oliver and Petracca very close and love each other’s company - lots of man love between those two - Petracca’s kicking for goal not as sharp as it could be, trajectory seems a bit ’stabby’ at times (similar to Melksham). I wonder if the same traits that make both of them excellent field kicks somewhat impede them when kicking for goal

- Gawn looked to be moving very well and participated fully in all drills - will definitely play

- Vince on the sidelines with Todd Viney and a few others looking on, felt a bit sorry for him but probably the right call to give him a rest

- Hunt looked good, but kicking skills still need a bit more polish 

- Harmes still had his glove but was looking super confident and was regularly landing 45 metre goals off a step from boundary. Taken another big step this year. Seems like a really nice bloke too - I was on the fence watching them kick for goal and he made a point of coming out to where I was to say g’day and how my morning was going

Really positive vibe and energy around the place - lots of camaraderie, laughter and encouragement. Great to see.

Go Dees!

Welcome Russian! Great start mate thanks for the report! 

MAXYYYYYYYYYY WOOHOOO   

Maxy was never in doubt. 

Bring on Sunday! 

16 minutes ago, BigRussian said:

 

- Petracca’s kicking for goal not as sharp as it could be,

- Hunt looked good, but kicking skills still need a bit more polish 

 

No wonder they both struggle with those things in games if they cant get them right at training with no pressure.

18 minutes ago, BigRussian said:

 

- Harmes still had his glove but was looking super confident and was regularly landing 45 metre goals off a step from boundary. Taken another big step this year. Seems like a really nice bloke too - I was on the fence watching them kick for goal and he made a point of coming out to where I was to say g’day and how my morning was going

 

Agree, Harmes has been one of our biggest improvers this year and is an automatic best 22.

Cant wait for tomorrow and show the footy world what were capable of in a big game. Great summary Jamar!

Nice report @BigRussian. My son thought he saw Vanders walking out initially but I didn’t see him out there at all. Did you see him out there?

16 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Agree, Harmes has been one of our biggest improvers this year and is an automatic best 22.

I thought he improved a lot last year cementing a best 22 spot and has consolidated it this year. Early in the year I thought he was struggling but the last couple of months he's been fantastic.

Now that you mention it DZ no I can’t remember seeing him at all. Hannan seemed to be doing all of the drills so it could be that Vanders is a late out and Hannan comes in to replace him...

Thanks for the report Big Russian. Please post more.

5 minutes ago, BigRussian said:

Now that you mention it DZ no I can’t remember seeing him at all. Hannan seemed to be doing all of the drills so it could be that Vanders is a late out and Hannan comes in to replace him...

Yep, that’s what I’m thinking as well. Hopefully there’s no issue with Vanders.

59 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Yep, that’s what I’m thinking as well. Hopefully there’s no issue with Vanders.

Fingers crossed there is no injury to Vanders. If there is you'd think it would be Game Over. [censored] I hope not. 

45 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Fingers crossed there is no injury to Vanders. If there is you'd think it would be Game Over. [censored] I hope not. 

Hoping it’s general soreness from last week. I went through Thursday’s training thread and no mention of AVB training or not training on that day. Did any track watchers notice him on Thursday?

Edited August 11, 20187 yr by Dee Zephyr

1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Hoping it’s general soreness from last week. I went through Thursday’s training thread and no mention of AVB training or not training on that day. Did any track watchers notice him on Thursday?

He was fine on Thursday, great report @BigRussian

Edited August 11, 20187 yr by Satyriconhome

I thought AVB looked proppy in the last qtr against Suns!

 

5 hours ago, BigRussian said:

Hi guys, long time reader, first time poster.

Went to have a look at training this morning. Impressions as follows:

- very light session focused on skills and touch

- a few drills where they broke into several groups aimed at hitting up a player quickly in congestion with a 25 metre pass, with half of the players the attacking targets and the other half (wearing pink bibs) the defenders looking to spoil - Tyson surprisingly sharp here with his passes (his foot skills are underrated)

- Melky and Hibberd doing laps and kick to kick. Neither looked overly impeded, although both still look to be around 90%

- Viney doing laps in sneakers - looked to be running well with no obvious discomfort

- Oliver and Petracca very close and love each other’s company - lots of man love between those two - Petracca’s kicking for goal not as sharp as it could be, trajectory seems a bit ’stabby’ at times (similar to Melksham). I wonder if the same traits that make both of them excellent field kicks somewhat impede them when kicking for goal

- Gawn looked to be moving very well and participated fully in all drills - will definitely play

- Vince on the sidelines with Todd Viney and a few others looking on, felt a bit sorry for him but probably the right call to give him a rest

- Hunt looked good, but kicking skills still need a bit more polish 

- Harmes still had his glove but was looking super confident and was regularly landing 45 metre goals off a step from boundary. Taken another big step this year. Seems like a really nice bloke too - I was on the fence watching them kick for goal and he made a point of coming out to where I was to say g’day and how my morning was going

Really positive vibe and energy around the place - lots of camaraderie, laughter and encouragement. Great to see.

Go Dees!

Much appreciated russian. 

Great report BigRussian and welcome to the boards. Look forward to hearing from you in future  

5 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I thought he improved a lot last year cementing a best 22 spot and has consolidated it this year. Early in the year I thought he was struggling but the last couple of months he's been fantastic.

He did DG, he started to run harder last year, and has improved again,,, together with better confidence, he's one of our best ball handlers now.

mr Reliable.

4 hours ago, Demonland said:

Fingers crossed there is no injury to Vanders. If there is you'd think it would be Game Over. [censored] I hope not. 

I think he would get sore in the legs after such long layoff from playing.  I would expect it anyway.    Especially back and starting out at this business end of the season.

8 hours ago, Satyriconhome said:

He was fine on Thursday, great report @BigRussian

So he's an out then?

14 hours ago, BigRussian said:

- Vince on the sidelines with Todd Viney and a few others looking on, felt a bit sorry for him but probably the right call to give him a rest

He's having a bit more than a rest by all reports. 

Many thanks for the rundown.  We really need to win this one I think.