TRAINING: Wednesday 24th January 2024

[Demonland 72,189]

A plethora of Demonland Trackwatchers were out in force to bring you their observations from the Demon's Preseason Training Session out at Gosch's Paddock.

DEMONLAND'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

I’m at Gosch’s Paddock today and I will attempt to bring you a running commentary of my observations.

NO SHOWS: Clarry, Smith, Ben Brown

REHAB: Lever, Melksham, Salem, Jefferson, Andy Moniz-Wakefield

BLUE: Trac, Brayshaw, Fullarton, Verrell, Hunter, McVee, Sestan, Woey, JVR, Sparrow, May, McAdam, K. Brown, Laurie, Chandler, Turner, Bowey, Tomlinson, Howes, Hore, Yze in #46, Billings in #48

WHITE: Viney, Max, Nibbler, Farris-White, Schache TMac, Adams, Rivers, Kozzy, Spargo, Petty, Fritsch, AMW, Tholstrup, Langdon, #44 (may be Windsor)

I’ll just be giving observations of players and not in depth description of drills. 

They have separated into 3 groups rotating different warm up drills. 

Adam Tomlinson is looking super fit and skills are sharp. Always impressed me at this time of year. 

I was critical of Bailey Laurie’s skills last season but he looks to cleaned them up. Has been silky. 

Trac is an absolute beast.

2 separate keeping’s off/tackling drills going on. 

5 players not involved; Angus Brayshaw, Kynan Brown, Daniel Turner, Koltyn Tholstrup, Tom Sparrow (all still doing their own tackling drills but importantly, Angus Brayshaw doesn’t have a “do not tackle” hat/bib on)

4 Rucks/Talls doing a separate drill - Tom Fullarton, KFW, Josh Schache & Will Verrell. 

JvR is a Monster. 

Match SIM about to start. Tholstrup walks to position into the forward pockets and hip and shoulders an unsuspecting Turner. Love the kid. 

Caleb Windsor will play this season is my hot tip. Skills, class and composure. 

Lachie Hunter is back training in full. Does not look hampered at all by the recent calf niggle. 

Jack Viney training the house down. 

Koltyn Tholstrup will also play this season. I have no doubt. 

Ben Brown has entered the building and doing kick to kick with Tyla Hanks on the boundary. 

As reported in previous training report TMac is a defender. 

Blake Howes playing deep on Shane McAdam. 

Trent Rivers and Kozzy running through the middle. 

Hore on Fullarton

Adams on JVR

JVR just took a magnificent contested mark against TMac. 

TMac made some good spoils in defence.

Very impressed with young Noah Yze. Looks a dead ringer for Nick Daicos. Let's hope he is half as good. Will most certainly be drafted by the Dees as a Father/Son. Is built like he could already play and has some height and will still have a season in the U18s and then a preseason. A lot to be excited about.

Tom Sparrow not taking part in the match SIM and has joined the rehab group. He participated in all the group training prior. 

Adam Tomlinson on Harry Petty

Steven May on Fritta 

Great spoil from May. His spoiling and intercept marking is top notch. His short passing not so much.

Jake Bowey also playing through the midfield. 

Koltyn Tholstrup has just kicked the last two goals from outside 50. One on the run and one off one step. 

Shane McAdam can play and has a fair leap on him too. 

Tom Fullarton with some agile moves breaking tackles and selling candy. 

Have I mentioned that Jack Viney is a Bull?

JvR JUST ABSOLUTELY CRUNCHED VINEY IN A TACKLE. VINEY GOT STRAIGHT BACK UP. 

Great tackle from Kozzy. He is in great nick and is super fit. 

Christian Salem despite being in rehab and doing separate training with a trainer looks to have slimmed down and looks very fit. 

Blake Howes is another who looks the goods and should play this season. Excellent hands, reads the ball well and has beautiful weighted disposal. 

Jake Bowey just executed a pinpoint pass to the advantage of a lead from JVR. I would love to see Bowey delivering more into our forward 50 this year. 

Bayley Fritsch's defensive work has been beautiful. Some good strong tackling.

Maxy's marking is as always very clean.

Jake Melksham’s rehab looks to be very far progressed and he is looking super fit and has bulked up in his upper body.

I'm excited by what we could get from Jack Billings. He has very clean disposal and constantly hits up his targets.

DEESPENCER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Melk looks just about ready to go! I'm sure they'll hold him back but he's doing a lot of moving around and kicking.

Jake Lever on the bike. BBB in the tent. Jeffo doing a bunch of whatever. AMW with a really solid running sessions, had Ricky Korda Mentha with him for a bit. Tom Sparrow in and out of some running.

Totally agree that Salo looks fitter than he has in a long time. Not sure if he's lost weight or if he's just added a lot of core strength. He did a huge session of sprints and longer runs.

Harry Petty was in full drills early then taken out. Lachie Hunter in full stuff until about half way through the match sim when he went for some run throughs.

After some warm up drills the first competitive one they went in to was a 2 way handball drill, split in 2 different groups. A middle group with an extra mid going both ways and then a group out on the wing that had 3 different back flankers taking turns to run off the back off the drill for overlap. It was Trent Rivers, Jake Bowey and Judd McVee.

I was impressed by Bailey Laurie’s quick skills at times but he's a guy who takes it on and will make the occasional error. Harry Petty was in the drill and looked strong and agile. Riv and Judd McVee have great moments of burst off the line. Shane McAdam's a bit iffy at times but there's other moments where he just plants the foot and is gone, he has incredible acceleration. Billings struggled a little in this, he found the contest a bit hot.

Then it was time for a couple of periods of 14 a side match sim. Starting midfields of Jack Viney, Kozzy Pickett, Charlie Spargo in white and Tracc, Bailey Laurie and Jack  Billings in blue. With Caleb Windsor and Kynan Brown on one wing and the starting wings on the other.

The first period was high class. Blake Howes hit up Bayley Fritsch with a couple of beautiful kicks. An Ollie Seston dart in to corridor found Tom Fullarton and on to Jack Billings then Kade Chandler close to goal. Charlie Spargo hit up Jack Viney charging through the middle, who spread it wide to Caleb Windsor on a forward flank, he rolled inside and actually missed Koltyn who picked it up on the bounce and dished a handball to ANB for the snap.

The second period was a bit messier as teams stepped up their pressure. Will  Verrall nailed Charlie Spargo in a tackle. JvR out marked Jed Adams and Tom McDonald with relative ease. After about 4 errors in a row Tracc swooped on a contest and cleanly set up a goal. Melk was on the boundary with plenty of advice for the guys coming off and had a long chat to Shane McAdam.

Then it was more 2 way handball. This time it was Blake Howes, Gus and Jake Bowey in the orange bibs. I noticed Bailey Laurie in pink going both ways in the other group. And then handed over to Jack Viney. I mostly watched the close group but I did look up to see JvR just destroy a Viney fend off and eat him up in a tackle. Fritter also sling tackled Bowser in to next week but let go before any damage done. I saw more tackling from Bayley Fritsch today than I've ever seen his career.

Might've been one more match sim period in there somewhere then I left as they were moving in to more craft stuff with the talls working doing some lead up contest work, wingers and new guys some ground balls and the rest kicking goals on the run from 40.

Team impressions:

More focus on run and carry and forward handball

More full ground spread and switching in the match sim which was great to see

McQualter vocal in drills and in revving up his blue side.

Tracc and Viney are both rolling, but with Clarry sidelined, Gus smartly being held back (and down back) and Salo and Sparrow out for now it's hard to judge the 2 way impact of the midfield

Individual impressions:

Blake Howes: I'm not quite there yet, can nail quick penetrating kicks but still very thin and has too many contests where he doesn't impact the ball or the body

Koltyn Tholstrup: very busy half forward, marks cleanly over head, puts in the work rate, moves the ball well by hand, not perfect by foot but there's some good decisions mixed in and bobs up in dangerous places

Caleb Windsor: He found a really good chunk of the footy in the match sim. Kicking wasn't quite in sync and even missed some handballs as he gets up to the pace of AFL level but I was impressed by how he was getting the ball and the number of defensive efforts he produces. He'll lay a tackle or get a hand in to cut off a kick or handball a fair bit.

Jed Adams: Didn't see a heap of contests with him involved but there were times he linked up or swooped on to loose balls and used it really well.

Marty Hore: looks really comfortable 

JVR: Last year he bashed and crashed with Petty and Hibbo most of the summer and he held his own against quality defenders, where others and the media were hyping him up I was more cautious as to his early season prospects. He wasn't up against that same quality today but what I saw was a real presence with the way he draws the ball.

Jack Billings: I reported above that he underwhelmed me in the handball drills, a little fumbly, didn't hold his tackles, didn't dish it cleanly. The match sim was an entirely different thing. Time and time again he found pockets of space to receive the ball and then quickly and accurately moved it on. Kind of left feeling conflicted that he might be our best ball user and not by a small margin. As someone skeptical of his recruitment and aware of his injury history it feels every uneasy to witness just how important the was.

WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Got down there for 90 minutes. Others have covered key moments very well, so I will put in a few observations that haven't already been reported.

The full ground activity is non-stop running, a real stamina test. Players are called to play on if they pause for longer than three seconds. The intensity is sky high. The physicality is brutal at times. Shane McAdam came off second 'beast' when trying to block a rampaging Trent Rivers. He had to take time out for a short period with a saw jaw. Rivers was exceptional with strength on the burst, and ball carrying finesse. Bayley Fritsch slung Jake Bowey roughly to the carpet (immediately apologised) but Bowey had bounced up like a rubber ball and tore through the middle with perfect delivery. Bowey's speed on the run from defence was sensational, time and time again. Blake Howes and Caleb Windsor are putting tremendous pressure on the selectors at this early stage. Howes took an excellent high mark in defence, then ran back with the flight for a magnificent spoil in the very next rebound. He is taller than I thought. Tom McDonald is fitter than he has been since 2021. He is match ready, wherever he plays.

Charlie Spargo was another standout in the end-to-end match sim, making excellent position and displaying outstanding short kicking skills (nothing new there, but he is another that looks very fit). Was impressed with Tom Fullarton again. We have a live one there! He is athletically gifted and shows the 'clevers' with ball in hand. Max Gawn was taking big clean marks down the line and dispersing with excellent foot skills.

After each period of 'play' the teams (Blue and Grey) huddle together for evaluation and tactical discussion. I was near the Blue huddle and May, Petracca and Brayshaw did the (straight) talking. Other senior input I noticed ... Jake Lever tutoring Matt Jefferson on marking technique and Melksham advising Shane McAdam on positioning.

I left feeling that we will play a very fast, very effective game style in 2024, with very good list depth and several emerging young guns on the rise!

SLARTIBARTFAST'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

I'm just back from training and it's really interesting reading others views of today as they differ from mine a bit.

JvR said in a recent interview that today is ball movement day and Friday's are match practice so take that into account when you hear about players scoring goals.  It's non stop movement and there is plenty of space and lots of room in the forward line and there are goals scored all the time.  It's not "match practice" and the tackling is done with care.  For me it's more like intensive circle work but maybe I'm wrong.

Perspective at training is always interesting. Bowser has been mentioned a lot particularly for his disposal but I thought he was a bit off today missing some kicks he would usually hit, but he was very involved and very focused.  He's agile and tough. Noah Yze was very involved and looks a good prospect.  Got lots of the ball and didn't look out of place out there.  But my standout for the day was Jack Billings.  He's a Moneyball pick and he'll be a beauty.  His kicking today was better than anyone out there as he hit up hard targets all day.  He's clearly fit and covering the ground well and will be regular best 22 from round 1.

JvR is looking very imposing taking contested marks and finding space well.  He's put on some bulk but it hasn't impacted his speed or spring and he is still super aggressive at the ball.  His kicking is also very reliable.

Caleb Windsor was more involved today than I've noticed on other days and certainly has a turn of pace although on one occasion when he was out by himself and running down the wing Shane McAdam nearly caught him. Unlike others I don't see him as a round 1 candidate but who knows.

All the older players were involved in ways you'd expect and I endorse the comments made about Jack Viney and Trac.

I saw Harry Petty in the match sims early but he either didn't get much of it or didn't do much of it because I didn't see him involved much.  I hope others can clarify his day.

It was a tough day today, hot, humid and they ran for a full two and a half hours.  There was also a good crowd, amazing what happens when you advertise training and give people a bit of notice.

DEESPICABLE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Got there just in time for match sim and it was good viewing - I think it was 14 a side so as to increase space and minimise head knock potential and they even had two on bench which makes you wonder why the AFL insists on 18 a side - yes i know it's traditional but when that rule was created, players didn't run the whole field like wild banshees.

In terms of match sim, here's my ovservations:

Firstly I think a nasty head clash between T-Mac and Shane McAdam early may have impacted McAdam's play in the match sim - the last time I came to training he was a highlight machine, this time I didn't feel he was involved much. But I'm still sure he'll play Rd 1.

Also a lock for Rd 1 is Jack Billings. He hits targets and moves so well, although 14-a-side is bread and butter to him. But with Hunter out with a calf (that's what the club says, so let's stick with it), then you have to think Billings starts in his left-side wing.

As with others, the highlight play (at least Goody's yelling approval made it clear he thought so) was Caleb Windsor's commitment in the air to spoil Kade Chandler. Windsor also went for a few runs and you can sense he is looking for the goal-assist each time he goes forward - please don't train that out of him Goody. He may go close to Rd 1 after all, but I'd be disappointed if Langdon doesn't get first shot on the right wing.

Charlie Spargo played down back and I don't mind this except that when he's in the same side as Jake Bowey and Judd McVee, then we are too small. Bowey saved his best work for the goalkicking drill straight after match sim, he was the only player to convert from 50m on the run three times in a row. He's an amazing kick for a little guy and is more accurate than Rivers, so here's the thing Goody, figure out how you can get him into a position where he's likely to get that sort of long-bomb on the run opportunity a few times each game.

While we are on that, yes I know defenders train with defenders, forwards train with forwards and never the twain shall meet, but can someone please explain to me why we can't use a bit of a modern-day Barassi move and swap players around from time to time. They aren't all numbskulls - some get the pre-requisites of both spots. For example, why not swap Spargo and Bowey from defence/forward spots at halftime - that won't bugger up rotations and they are both smart players. 

A few others that stood out to me in match sim.

Firstly Jed Adams is getting closer to being ready for AFL level. It may not be until Rd 15, but I reckon he's starting to look the part. I still worry about the reliability of his kicking but Harry Petty began his career with a couple of howlers - errors do happen, but he has now got the body to cope. He's behind Disco, Tommo and Marty Hore in the queue, but he's getting close.

Secondly, and I suggest some of you go straight to the next paragraph because this isn't what you want to read, the most impactful player in the first half of match sim wore the No.19. Cringe. Yep Josh Schache snagged a couple and led well - if we hadn't seen last year he'd be in the side now. Maybe the 14-a-side suits him more, but he did look very good.

And for those of you who are Bill Laurie fans, then I'm sorry to say it wasn't his game. He seemed to be playing like a defensive midfielder trying to cleverly come out of defence and twice was scragged beautifully from behind. A few minutes later he laid a dreadful over the top tackle and became virtually the only player not paid a free kick for a chase down. Bill is creative (we all know that) and he was in the group with the better runners at the end of the session. But he just does not seem to be able to explode away from a contest like Trac.

Finally i was standing on the outer side in the shade and after a while I notice I was near Perty and Richo and a couple of other dudes. I did overhear them talking, out of the side of their mouths which is the Demon way of late, about culture. I almost piped up and told them to choose another topic because the only people that should have talked about culture - Goody and Roffy - are too scared to do so.

One more thing on the real topic, I didn't mention it earlier, but there were two players who were the clear standouts of match sim and provided the warmth and enthusiasm for this old fan to be looking forward to the coming season.

One is a little fella called Kozzie and he played in the middle and bounced around like a guy in the front row of a Smashmouth concert. The club's told us he'd play midfield minutes before but with Shane McAdam around now, maybe it will actually happen. And if he does he could win the Brownlow from there.

And for the purists, you'd have to be a puffin muffin not to have noticed how good JVR looked as our full-forward. He's the closest thing to Charlie Curnow that we have on our list. God help us if he gets injured. 

SCOOP JUNIOR'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

I also headed down to training this morning. Pretty much all of it has been very well covered by previous posts.

I wouldn't call the full ground drills match sim. It was under pressure and with tackling but there were less players on the ground and no stoppages. The focus appeared to be more on ball movement and transition running forward and back. When reading comments on this part of the training it should be taken into account that while it looked a bit like match sim it was more full ground ball movement under pressure.

The drills have been well set out here so just some observations on certain players:

JvR - yes it's only January ball movement training but I thought he had more presence and strength in aerial contests than at this stage last season. Last January you'd see him jump at the ball and be brave and aggressive but it didn't really seem like he'd actually clunk the ball in the pack or be in best position to mark it. This time I thought when the ball was in his area he actually looked like being the dominant force in the pack and the most likely to impact. That said, with Jake Lever not training and Steven May not involved in JvR's contests, he wasn't exactly playing on the cream of the crop defenders which he will face during the season.

Bayley Fritsch - seemed to be on a tackling rampage. I thought he was very physical with his tackling, bringing blokes to ground on a number of occasions. Not sure if just a one-off or he has targeted this as an area to focus on but it was noticeable. 

Jack Billings - as others have said, he excelled in the ball movement in finding space and then arcing onto the left and kicking long and accurately to teammates on the lead. He showed real class. But again 14v14 in 30 degrees in January is a far cry from the cauldron of the MCG on a cold day in July. I think he has the potential to really add to our side as our midfield mix could really do with a long-kicking left footer. It can help change the direction of play and with switching. We have Lachie Hunter and Jack Viney but both are not long kicks and the former almost invariably looks for the 20-30m chip option.

Christian Salem - just did running on the side but I agree with others, he did seem noticeably leaner than last year.

Koltyn Tholstrup - he just has a great presence about him. Presence is such an intangible thing that is hard to explain, but he has it. He's a good size (both in height and thickness) and looks like he could develop into a really powerful player when he puts on more muscle. Had a few wobbly kicks during the day but he's a player that you seem drawn to watching and I'm looking forward to seeing him play matches (most likely starting with Casey).

Kozzie - does some things no one else on the list can. A pick up, sidestep and acceleration away from the constant almost in one move.

Steven May - speaking of presence. Whenever there was an aerial contest in his area, you just knew he would mark it or impact the contest. A tremendous footballer.

NASCENT'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Blake Howes hitting up some beautiful passes in the corridor.

Tom Fullarton being used quite a bit across the mid part of the ground. Decent field kick despite his kicking action. Is lined up against KFW

Koltyn Tholstrup really getting involved and looks dangerous on the half forward line

Maysie and then Trent Rivers defending superbly 

Jed Adams has a very nice left boot on him

Think Jack Billings will be a lock for our 22 if he stays healthy

Maysie telling Kynan Brown to watch the ball after he fumbled it, was aware that Fritta was bearing down on him and subsequently got bowled over.

Fritta again bring good defensive intent, tackling an unsuspecting Bailey Laurie for a turnover in attacking 50

TMac's hair is worse in real life

Steven May a rock, dominating the air

Blake Howes looks impressive. Wouldn't surprise to see him in round 1 calculations. Covers the ground well, has good defensive intent with follow up acts and uses it well.

JvR has kicked 3 in the last 5min. Last one courtesy of a clever checkside pass from Laurie while under pressure. JvR has impressive size, mainly playing deep and leading up or contesting 30metres out. Haven't seen him get up much past the flanks.

Caleb Windsor back with flight and spoils a certain Kade Chandler mark and goal

Match sim over, now goal kicking drills.

Caleb Windsor, Angus Brayshaw, Jack Billings, Ed Langdon, Kynan Brown and Taj Woewodin doing 1v1 work on the wing with the ball knocked to them as if from a ruck contest.

KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Hot morning, minimal wind, general impression is they are working well as a unit, and the intensity was there.

Most were out early, teaming up in various groups. Some goal kicking, others running and direction changing carrying water filled bottles, rucks were drilling together.

Rehab, Lever (later on the bike with Melky) in runners, not really training, but helping Jefferson out. Melky still doing leg exercises to strengthen the injured area. AMW running with Mentha. BBB down for a short run, Salem working very hard by running extensively. Sparrow did everything except the sims.

The scoreboard is up and running.

Whistle goes and they are into it with minimal warm-ups. They are into 3 stations, exercise, handball, and short kicking with good execution. Competitiveness starts with 2 handball games. Some have yellow bibs and start out of bounds, they then run on into the game, and attempt to break lines. McQualter runs one group. He appears to love them winning at what they do, really encourages them to win and be hyper-competitive. When they had a break it was Woey who did a fair bit of talking, McQualter took a back step.

The sims were next. The attackers were very good at first, but as they tired, the defenders started to dominate. We look good when we spread, and when they get the overlap with smart play and good timing. Interestingly, they ran a few through the on-ball position, Langdon, Laurie, Spargo, Gus, Hunter, ANB, Billings, Rivers, Kozzy and Bowey and the usual players. They ran on the Wings, Hunter, Langdon, Windsor, K.Brown, and Woey. May dominated with his reading of the play. Max is looking fit. Spargo missed a few easy passes, but his excellent tackling made up for it. Fritsch was tackling well and seems to be honing his defensive game. JVR creates competitiveness when the ball is forwrad, also taking a few marks and creating separation on some leads. Chandler getting front and centre. McAdams in the forward area and doing well, had a head clash which seemed to have slowed him down.

Then into goal kicking. Williams moved the mannequins out near the 50 to challenge them with longer kicks, not too successful.

Finished with running.

At one stage in the goal kicking Tracc was dry retching, later during the running he left the field for the sheds (unusual) escorted by training staff. Couldn't tell if it's a soft tissue injury, as his gait is always a bit funny. I expect he was suffering exhaustion, due to the training load and the heat.

JONTEE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

I went down to training and even with old man eyes JVR was a standout from over 300m away.  Has much playful competitive energy too.

A reasonable crowd there to watch, even a kid in a Pies jumper; certainly a change from 10 years ago when there wasnt many more than a fella in a rain coat standing next to a tree.

As I walked the boundary I heard some very familiar DL voices so I propped there for awhile and listened to the chat.

Just a few of my observations; Bowey forward having shots on goal; Lever giving an instructional drill whereby you start with your back to the play then turn quickly to get the ball; Jefferson lying on the ground with someone on top and trying to get up; Salo just jogging forever with no sweat; Melky looks great.

And they did this drill where you shake your hands in the air and run forward as if wearing flippers.  Looked damn silly.

Saw Richo and Perty as well.

Go Dees

DEMONWHEELS' PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Seems like there were lots of Demonlanders there today! It was certainly a good crowd.

I was there as well for about 30 mins while the full ground drills were taking place and have to agree with most of what has been detailed already.

Probably the biggest take-out in terms of players was Billings. He was busy and was getting the ball to distribute into the forward 50 consistently, ensuring his kicks were to leading forwards and to their advantage - low and hard.

But for the most part I came away a bit disappointed with all other entries heading into F50 as most players in possession would virtually send a long kick into the forward line as soon as they passed the middle of the ground, giving defenders every chance to spoil and not really using the extra players around them to just get 20m or so closer and allow for a second lead (or even a proper extended lead) from the forwards. Still feel it was a bit ‘kick and hope’ in most scenarios and didn’t feel there was a discernible strategy going in BUT keen to hear from others who were there if they saw the same?

I understand it was not a full match sim so maybe it wasn’t a focus but surely we should be taking every opportunity available to improve that aspect of our game.

TRAINING THREAD WITH EXTRA COMMENTARY

[leave it to deever 17,511]

Tx very much for this.

I hope Tommo gets a regular gig down back this year. I didn't get why he didn't last year.

[DeeZone 9,841]

Well that has been an enjoyable and fun read, so many to thank but here goes - thanks Demonland, DeeSpencer, WayneWussell, Startibart, Deespicable, Nascent, Scoop Junior and all posters, all great reports and excellent comments. Felt like I was there and in very hot conditions to boot.😁😁

[redandbluemakepurple 358]

Any watcher got an opinion on Tom McDonald's current speed off the mark?  

[whatwhat say what 22,755]

awesome read

full froth engaged