TRAINING: Friday 22nd November 2024

[Demonland 72,147]

Demonland Trackwatchers were out in force on a scorching morning out at Gosch's Paddock for the final session before the whole squad reunites for the Preseason Training Camp.

DEMONLAND'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

It’s going to be a scorcher today but I’m in the shade at Gosch’s Paddock ready to bring you some observations from the final session before the Preseason Training Camp next week. 

Salem, Fritsch & Campbell are already on the track. Still no number on Campbell’s guernsey. 

The 2 new boys Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay are here. 

As is Harry Sharp.

Trac is BACK!!

TRAINING: PETRACCA, Harvey Langford, Xavier Lindsay, Clarry, Kolt, Brown, Jefferson, Sestan, Howes, Rivers, JVR, Turner, Kentfield, Hore, TMac, Laurie, Petty, Verral, Adams, Sharp, Fullarton, Windsor, AMW, Woey, Bowey, Chandler

Spargo in rehab. Doing knee raisers on the spot. 

Viney was leaving the track as I arrived after running/sprinting on the boundary. 

REHAB: Spargo, Campbell, Howes, Sestan

Fritsch and Salem were training separately but have now joined the main group. 

Langford is warming up with the main group. 

Lindsay is doing some drills/exercises with Spargo. Not sure if that is because he is in rehab or not. 

Clarry has come off the track and taken his boot off and is applying something to what appears to be a blister. 

Lindsay and Spargo jogging slowly around the boundary now. Their pace picks up a little as they do more repetitions.

Clarry back out on the track. 

Windsor has a laser pass. * see updated comment a little later.

New mature aged recruit Aidan Johnson is here too. 

Full length end to end drill with the outnumbered team defending in white bibs. 

Salem not participating in this drill and now doing sprints along the boundary. 

Trac is looking superb. Fit and strong. Just did a little shimmy and sold some candy and delivered a pinpoint pass. 

Petty and TMac are defenders in this drill. 

Disco and Fullarton also forwards

Trac absolutely tearing it up on the track. 

Gave Windsor a big wrap the other day and earlier for his laser passing but he has missed a number of targets as the session wears on. Hopefully an aberration. 

Boys still running to the water station at the end of drills. 

Good to see Langford not gasping for air or on his haunches at the break. 

Split into two groups. 

And a third smaller group of Fritsch, Fullarton & Aidan Johnson. 

One group is one on one marking and if the ball drops another player mops up and dishes a handball off to a player running past to have a shot at goal on the run. If the ball is marked the player dishes off to player running past. 

The other drill is a one on one hand balling keeping’s off drill with tackling. Langford just laid a ferocious tackle on Kolt to the cheers of all the players. We’ve got another good one here. 

The group of 3 of Fritsch, Fullarton and Johnson are working with Choco Williams on a tackling technique drill. 

Kynan Brown now jogging laps. Might be as a precaution but does not look too hampered.

Langford and Sharp now doing a one on one tackling drill with Choco.

Salem, Sestan, Howes and Campbell are doing some ball drills on the adjacent soccer ground. 

Some observations on individual players.

Trac - looks super fit and does not appear to be suffering any ill effects from his injury last season. Was in very good spirits and was an absolute beast on the field. Very bullish on him for the 2025 season.

Langford - is a massive unit for an 18 year old kid. Has beautiful skills and is not afraid of contact. Will not be surprised if he debuts in Round 1. I think we have found a good one here.

Lindsay - rehabbing from a PCL injury at the end of the season. Saw him doing some kick to kick and liked what I saw but there is not much to go on. Excited by his highlights.

Didn't see enough of Sharp to make an assessment. Nor did I see enough of Aidan Johnson but he is a solid unit too.

My first time this preseason seeing Salem and Fritsch. Both look in good nick.

WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Aidan Johnson is fitting in nicely. Plenty of pace, long arms, looks at home!

Trac just nailed a 50 metre pass to Roo… wild cheers from the group!

Choco chatting to Langford and Johnson on the boundary before unleashing them

Trac to Clarrie for a goal… a sight to see!

Campbell doing ruck exercises out in Victory’s turf

22 players on main oval, full-field transition

Trac is in everything… often the last kick inside 50 to a lead, often Roo

McDonald just out-marked Roo and is in peak pre-Christmas condition

Langford is already asserting himself in the close-in handball/tackle group. Just got tackled by Trac, also showed a nice side-step. Then he and Tholstrup got hold of a rampaging Trac and refused to give an inch.

AMW just ran through 3 tough tackles, rugby style, bounced off each and delivered the handpass

Jefferson wrestles Johnson to the ground in a tackle, no mean feat.

Sharp, Tholstrup and Fullerton just completed what looked like a 1500 or 2k run. Sharp lead but Tholstrup was with him all the way. Sharp by 5 mts in the end. Fullarton 30 Mtrs  back. On that note, I’m off to parking meter… more when I get home!

Everything Johnson did at his first hit-out read, "I'm not here to make up the numbers at Casey" 

I would have to say that this was the most exciting training session I have attended at Gosch’s. Following so soon after the 2024 Draft, with Clayton and Tracca joining the new boys. With Jonesy back out there where he belongs… Johnson, the new Dark Horse! Fritta and Salem joining in on many of the main activities, and a number of other blokes back from holiday. A hot day in Demon hell!

BINMAN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

I went. Some random thoughts:

Is there a more beautiful sporting precinct in the world?

Not sure why the players looked so hor and bothered, it wasn't that hot, in the shade.

Tracc was doing fast laps, stopped right in front of me, on his haunches gasping. Looks in incredible shape. He's a beast.

On Tracc, if I was goody I'd tell him not to EVER kick under 40 metres. He is so much better kicking long, weights the ball beautifully with his long kicks. 

Langford is bloody huge. As waynewussell noted he and kolt both tackled tracc at one point, was very willing.

Clarry looks in much better shape than he was this time last, and even at season's end. But is still a ways off his very best condition - which is OK, preseason has just started.

Clarry's effort was first class, pushed himself very hard right to the end.

Clarry's class stands out like a flashing light. At one point he scooped the ball of the deck one handed and in the same motion hanballed into space so his targeted receiver did not have to break stride. Thing of beauty.

TMac was in unbelievablely good shape. Best I've ever seen him. Trainer of the session IMHO. His effort and intensity was off the charts. In one drill he missed a target and screamed an obscenity in anger. 

Great to have chunk back at the club. Vocal. Encouraging. Good energy. And as an added bonus his tree trunk legs make clarry's look positively svelte.

At the end group of about 12 players, almost all forwards, did a goal kicking drill. Four things worth noting.

One, no petts. It would appear he us defence bound.

Two, group included bowey. He came over near me to take somd snaps from the boundary and I asked him if we might seem him up forward. He said, no but we might see him on the wing and he hopes to snag some goals.

Three, roo barely missed a goal. Beautiful, neat kicking action that looks exactly the same every time, from whatever distance.

Four, Turner kicks the ball unbelievably hard.  Also dead straight. He looks very focused and driven. I have a feeling he will really impose himself next season.

DEESPENCER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Got there late at about 11 and could only handle the heat for about 40 minutes.

Rehabbers have mostly been covered I think but XL (no strapping, walking fine) and Spargs were just chilling with Choco by the time I was there. 

Salem looking more comfortable than last year to my eye. Sestan and Howes ran together and there body shapes are coming together too!

Not seen: Gawn, May, Viney (by me), Lever, McAdam, Billings, Langdon, Chandler, Sparrow, Pickett, McVee

Langford is a big boy, but no extra weight on him, he has huge feet (not sure what that means - big shoes!). Johnson clearly isn’t built like a full time pro just yet but he seems to have fit legs and athletic look to him, I reckon a good preseason and he’ll look the part. No strapping on the knee and completing gentle run throughs with Harvey with ease.

Probably only about 16 in full training so doubt drills were all that insightful but first one I saw was the mids simulating a contest on the half forward flank then going inside 50 to a 3 on 3. Initially with a spare defender then without. Focus on getting to the corridor and kicking out to the fat side.

Mids: Verrall, Tracc, Oliver, Rivers, Laurie, Bowie, Woey, Windsor. 5 on 3 so not a lot of pressure 

Tracc bursting from congestion. Clarry had a couple of trademark zips through. Windsor getting handballs inside 60 = a shot inside 40 in no time.

Forwards: JVR, Disco, Jeffo, Kentfield 

A big focus on spade and separation. Kentfield took a nice mark on the lead and hit up Jeffo. He’s a large unit. Jeffo’s stronger, still need to iron out that spine. He came up on leads and forced contests a couple of times, he has a closing speed on leads and swooped on a crumb and dished handballs in a flash of an eye. Not fully willing to say it’s magician time just yet but it could be close.

Backs: Petty, T Mc, fake Petty, Hore, AMW as the key backs out there

Tommy had a good spoil and forced the ball over the line and was met with Clarry saying ‘gets better every year’

Next drill was 8 on 8 condensed in to a 60 x 30 rectangle on the wing just trying to get short kicks through the zone. If this is our game plan with these current players we might be in trouble! Turnover central! But it was 30+ degrees and over 90 minutes in. Bassett preaching the need to be up on opponents, clear with handovers and to take away the 45 on the mark. Not sure he knows about the stand rule tho so that will be interesting. Windsor about the only one to find space but a couple of sneaky Jeffo leads. 

Overall takeaway was I hope the rehab group trims down before Christmas but seemingly a good core out there. Interested to see what Chappy can do with these young key forwards.

SCOOP JUNIOR'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Went down a bit later and most of it has been covered.

-Two main drills that I saw were 1) stoppage at various parts of the ground where someone would collect the ground ball and then the focus seemed to be on spreading and moving the ball out of the area and eventually to the forwards. 2) kick from half back on the Punt Rd side of the ground where the kicker would try find a teammate to hit up. It was very difficult as the defensive side was playing a hard one-on-one style meaning it was difficult to find a free player. Also, the play seemed confined to the Punt Rd side, so the option of switching the play to the fat side was not there. It was essentially trying to pick a way through on the skinny side of the ground. Lots of turnovers but I don't think any team finds this an easy thing to do.

-Rivers was with the mids in the stoppage drills, as was Bowey. While Bowey does tend to go to the back of stoppages as a half back maybe this was an indication of spending some time further up the ground?

-Great to see Trac and Clarry in the stoppage drills. Trac just looks in sensational physical condition and his burst and lateral movement looked like it hadn't missed a beat. Clarry to me seems in better shape than last year but he does look a bit thicker through the upper legs than the others. Not sure if that's just his shape but he does look bigger through there than what he did 3-4 seasons ago. The key for him is whether he can get that burst out of congestion back that he was missing this year. That's what elevates his game to the next level.

-Lindsay is not built like Langford but he is definitely not a bag of bones as some draftees are. He has some upper body size and at about 6"0 has decent height for a mid. Certainly a stronger build than say Windsor had at the start of his first pre-season last year. As for Windsor, he is such a beautiful mover. In the stoppage drill, when he got the ball he just burst away and they struggled to keep up with him.

-Langford has that prototype big-body midfielder frame. He still has some filling out to do but the frame is there to really develop into a powerful unit.

-The amount of running they do under the sun in 30 degrees is really quite incredible.

KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

The heat is on and the players didn't take a back step.

Goody ran them hard, especially after a sim completion from the back to forward area. They had to sprint back up the field. Tholstrup felt it.

JVR was pushing high, though became the last man forward in the non action area. Looked a bit bored, am worried about his training and application. Previous preseasons, he was the aggressive one, only seen him attack it once. Hope it just a bit of being lackadaisical during the early parts of preseason, and he starts getting into it.

Some ball movements during the sims were very quick. There was room for a few of them to have multiple bounces down the wing, Windsor and Rivers took my attention.

A couple of pressure moments caused them to rush and miss the target. Forgot who the defenders were.

Chaplin continues to make his mark on the forwards. We definitely have a “front and centre” more prominent. They are also doing more short passes within the 50 to a dynamic group of leads.

Harry Sharp looks a player to me. Well-rounded in his skills. Finding separation and has confidence in his disposals, he was linking out of the halfback area.

Johnson looks and moves like Petty.

Unsure how Jed Adams is going. Trying to keep it simple, but just not executing well at times?

Clarry was being extremely playful out there. Last year he kept his head down, low profile. Now he is back to being stress-free and engaged.

Tracc was nervous as he entered the field. Had a longish chat to Goody, then got down to work. Disposals have improved.

Fritsch was in boots for the first time. Joined in a couple of sims, outpointed a tall defender with ease and skill. I reckon he is building for a big year.

Salem also in boots and in a few sims. He has trimmed down since his first pre-run, and is pushing himself hard in the boundary runs.

Lindsay has a mentor in Spargo. Appears to know the routines, and appears well coached through his developing years.

Langford, first impression is that of an enforcer.

N.Jones had a bib on in the sims. Hasn't lost much, closing speed and surprised a couple of them, then doing beautiful clearing kicks to hit the mark. Leading by example and being humble about it. Put him on the rookie list.

WHISPERING JACK'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

A few bonuses from attending my first Melbourne training session of the preseason:-

• I had heard in the media that most of the players drafted over the previous two nights would not be attending their club training sessions this week but would be joining in next week to give them a break before the start of the hard work of the preseason but it was gratifying to see all three MFC draftees in attendance. We’re not pussies!

The two young guns look impressive. Harvey Langford looks a big unit, strong and very much at home with the group having worked with them a year ago as an Academy train on player. I sense that like Clarrie back when he started, Langford is a chance to make his debut in Round 1. Xavier Lindsay is closing in on his recovery from a PCL incurred on the eve of the Coates Talent League finals and ran sprints on the boundary with Charlie Spargo - both ran well and look to be well advanced in their respective recoveries. Aidan Johnson was a surprise attendee given that he was only drafted 12 hours earlier. It seems that not long ago, he was your typical country big man, carrying a bit of weight (and throwing it around) who trimmed down a bit at Werribee on the way to a VFL flag. He wasn’t drafted to continue the journey at Casey but is seriously on a trajectory to continue his physical build up to do what the two young draftees are planning - to be playing AFL football regularly at the elite level. 

• Christian Petracca was present on the training track with his club for the first time since the Kings Birthday debacle. It took no time at all to show the small group of Demon faithful and his teammates that he has lost none of his class and ability. He’s almost back in town.

• And if he’s closing in on town, then Clarry’s in the CBD for the first time in almost two years, give or take a bit of work needed on his blisters. He’s certainly looking determined to make up for lost time and backing that up with a fitter and trimmer body shape than he had at this time 12 months ago 

• The first weeks of preseason are reserved for the players in years 1 to 4 with Caleb Windsor, Jacob van Rooyen, Daniel Turner and Tracc’s understudy Koltyn Tholstrup with the rockstar looks, standing out.

• Despite all the bonuses of the day, I made the big mistake of forgetting the Aerogard and the combination of flies and heat made it difficult to concentrate on each individual training drill. I therefore defer to our regular track watchers who are more onto the ins and outs of today’s preseason training session than I. However, what I can say is that after a tough twelve months for the Demons, I can see plenty of blue sky coming up in the season ahead.

DITCHA'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

I attended some of the training. I spoke to the Ghost Writer who was in fine form. It was good to see Trac training, and looked in good spirits. Aiden Johnson is a big solid unit. Langford will be big in a few years. I was pleased to see the forwards coach giving instructions during drills. It was good to see Brad Green at training.

[Demonland 72,147]

Some photos courtesy of @gs77

 

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,118]

A very noticeable feel-good vibe from the track watchers, the likes of which I don't think I've registered in previous years/sessions.

Its very evidently from the players, both individually and as a cohort. Hard not to feel good about 2025.