PRESEASON TRAINING: Monday 2nd December 2024

[DistrACTION Jackson 9,210]

Surprised Langdon wasn't in that group.... maybe taking it easy early days?

[DubDee 26,117]

Anyone see the distance between the top 3 in the trial?

[In Harmes Way 7,823]

Tommy Sparrow, nice result. Obv the syndesmosis isn’t giving him issues, thankfully

[Deespicable 2,886]

It's always nice to go down to a December session and see the newbies who do the odd drill, but spend most of the time looking from afar as they are handled with kid gloves - they are 18 after all.

For me there were a few standouts that my eyes were drawn to on more than one occasion.

One of the first to the track was a thinner, younger looking T-Mac and during all the drills, and the running he looked sprightly - It's ben a long time since I've picked him out as one of our best at training, but there you are. His protein diet must be working because he looked skinnier in the legs.

The second player that I kept spotting was Kynan Brown. He was noticeable in the 2km run when he was second to Harry Sharp and he was crisp and evasive in all the drills, his only problem being a couple of errant bounces where he must have chosen some hard turf as the ball sprung back past him twice. I was bullish about Kynan last year when I felt he deserved a proper game (not 30 seconds off the bench as sub) and I am going to be even louder now. He looks ready and Werridee, it's time to amend your team (version 7656) and get him in.

The third player you can't keep your eyes off is Clayton Oliver and it's not just the copious amount of sunscreen he wears. He seems to be making an early point this build-up to say, I'm a tackling god again, take me on at your expense. Sure he isn't the fastest in the 2km, but he is the fastest at reading the play - poor Toby Sinnema happened to be in his group when one of the few drills with tackling permitted happened and was taken down like a lion devouring a young deer. Clayton was back to his omnipresent self, a real livewire at training and I suspect his in-jest tackle on serial sidelines pest, Leo McDonald, will make the Herald Sun tomorrow as their photographer got a lovely shot of him taking on the 3yo. 

Congrats to Toby Sinnema who dusted himself off from Clayton's attack and then made two great tackles himself. Sinnema is from Dandening and is 16 and presumably was brought down to keep Kalani company. If he's part of our academy, that's great but if he's not, then unfortunately you will need to go down to Punt Rd to see him play in 2026, as he's a top-5 cert in my eyes - unless he doesn't grow.

As with others, spotting Kalani White was easy - he's 200cm tall, looks like a young Sam Darcy and he kicks like his dad Jeff, giving the ball way to much hangtime. But that will be trained out of him, especially if he hangs around Steven May rather than Dimma and co. He also has the White-family leap, so he's a project to behold. But sadly though if you were a betting man, then you'd say he ends up staying with his mates on the Gold Coast. But that's a topic for others. Kalani was a little tentative and that's OK, he just turned up for his first session with a bunch of men, most of whom he's never met before. But gees, it would be great if he chose us.

The other person to draw your attention was Trac, who was back with his trademark smile along with quite a bit of gasping, especially after the 2km time trial. He's lost a bit of fitness, but I reckon he'll pick it up again pretty soon and he clearly had that air of a club great about him every time he got the ball in drills, spinning it around like Andrew Gaze between each kick. He also imparted a bit of wisdom on Harvey Langford and Ricky Mentha - he's not too shy to hand out a few instructions, which is great and a sign of leadership that we need. 

The other highlights that I saw were a supersonic goal on the run under pressure by Trent Rivers, it's your guess where he will play, and a bit of Kossie magic, spinning in and out of trouble as he does with the tribunal regularly. From a haircut perspective, the big change came from Kade Chandler, who has gone for the In the Navy look, although maybe it was part of a charity cut.

I better mention Harvey Langford, who is a strong looking individual who did most of the drills with the team, despite being a newbie. There's no way he'll be held back this year.

Our other high pick, No.11 Xavier Lindsay, just did running drills, which was fine when he had Shane McAdam and Fritter to keep him company, but he had to go solo with no fitness trainer, for his final 10 run throughs. I know sometimes it's hard to have enough staff and players have to be resilient, but I couldn't help thinking you don't leave an 18yo in his first session at Gosch's Paddock in solitary confinement. Imagine he goes back to his parents place and they say, "how was training?". Does he reply "Great" or does he express his isolation.

Finally, there was no real gp distinction with most of the drills today, so positional switches will have to become apparent in later session. But Goody did take all the players (bar the newbies) for one final full-ground session and explained a revolutionary new tactic. It's called the man-on-man defensive strangle. Amazing. Players actually had to man-up. Don't worry, that will never catch on!

 

[Ghostwriter 1,764]

This is Roy George (not to be confused with the pop icon of the 80s, first name Boy). No, he doesn’t have a ‘TEXT’ face tattoo, that’s just me trying to caption the pic in the blinding sunlight. He was at training to support Koz. They’re either very close friends or possibly related… cousins(?). He’s gonna train with us on Wednesday and/or Friday and is hoping to get a contract. Richo is finalising the “paperwork.” Doesn’t necessarily means it’s a cert.

Roy trained with Freo but it didn’t end well coz he “stuffed up.” He was living in WA but now lives in Melbourne. Kolt introduced himself to Roy, he welcomed him and they seemed to get along really well. Kolt is a future captain.

Speaking of Kolt… he has the flu, so if it’s just track-watchers in attendance on Wednesday and no one else, we’ll know who to blame 😅

Anyways, Roy confirmed what we all know and what some of us knew all along… Kozzie was NEVER going anywhere, it was never a consideration. His little family is happy and settled in Melbourne. 

[buck_nekkid 6,044]

A glorious day to visit Gosh’s to see a training session.

Highlights:

In the running, Sharp, Pup, Bowey, TMac and Langford all did well.  Trac looked like a man amongst boys and also ran strongly.

Some of the drills:

A zig zag kicking and markng drill, that led to a contested drill where the person on the mark was straight in front, the kicker went straight back but looked at the 45 degree angles to pick out a lead.  Think we will go quicker off the mark to players leading from these angles.

A contested ball drill.  Oliver laid a few beautiful tackles.  One passage saw the ball go 3>13>7>16>5 (goal).  About as fast as you could read that, too!

A forward drill with the bigs contesting and knocking it to ground for a small to sweep ink and either goal, or offload for a goal.  Lots of discussion about positioning and strategy.

A forward drill concreting on the forward staying in motion, and the small providing a legal block for the forward to roll around and mark.

A full ground drill moving the ball fast and good contests between the backs and the forwards.  Petty on Roo was worth the watch.

Overall, a good session.  When things were not going as planned, players were called in and things explained an reset. Some great teaching from the coaches to individuals and lots of good chat and banter amongst the players.

Kalani White looks great in Dees colours, and was not out of place. 

Shane McAdam worked away from the main group, but seemed in good spirits.  Cheered hin one as he did some faster laps, got a hey and a smile.

Some old guy running around “Working the room” to use his term for it, handing out flyers for the election.  Didn’t give me anything, Im obviously not his ‘type’!

Will answer any questions that I can.

 

[Ghostwriter 1,764]

My favourite observation today…

Ed coming up behind Clarrie (while he was slapping on a year’s worth of sunscreen), and without a word spoken by either of them, applying roll-on sunscreen to the back of Clarrie’s neck. 🥹

[FTB 278]

Absolute quality work from the track watchers. Those of us who can’t make it to any training sessions won’t miss a beat if this standard continues.

[waynewussell 6,237]

I was impressed by Kossie's 2k run. He seems to have trimmed down and the engine is stronger for longer. I suspect a new role for him in 2025.

[Pennant St Dee 13,301]

Cheers to all track watchers for the info very much appreciated 

[Demonland 73,138]

2 hours ago, seventyfour said:

Is Petty still training with the backs?

 

1 hour ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

Thanks for those providing updates and insight. Can someone advise any obvious shifts in players in the forwards, mids and backs groupings. Particularly interested in where Petty and Fullerton were grouped but any other observations appreciated.

I was hoping to be looking out for that but my migraine forced me from the track. Will look out for all of that at the coming sessions.

[buck_nekkid 6,044]

Petty was definitely with the backs

[DistrACTION Jackson 9,210]

2 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Petty was definitely with the backs

Will be interesting to see what the backs will look like. Hard to see May, Petty, Lever and McDonald in the same side. 

[buck_nekkid 6,044]

2 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Will be interesting to see what the backs will look like. Hard to see May, Petty, Lever and McDonald in the same side. 

Lever was in rehab, and seemed to by troubled by his Right leg or ankle as he picked up some training supports and carried them back to the truck.

[Diamond_Jim 12,626]

Thanks for the wonderful reports.

Gives Baseball Spring training camp vibes where the cost of tickets reach A$100 for a spot behind the dugout or the plate.

And we get it for free... long may it occur

[DubDee 26,117]

6 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Will be interesting to see what the backs will look like. Hard to see May, Petty, Lever and McDonald in the same side. 

 1-2 of them are usually injured

May is 32 and he can’t be expected to play 23+ games

Petty transitioning back to the backs makes the most sense i reckon

One of AJ or Jeffo will be playing round 1 i reckon!

[monoccular 17,573]

2 minutes ago, DubDee said:

 1-2 of them are usually injured

May is 32 and he can’t be expected to play 23+ games

Petty transitioning back to the backs makes the most sense i reckon

One of AJ or Jeffo will be playing round 1 i reckon!

Sure depth is vital, but come September, late September in particular, IF all are fit there will be some terrible disappointments all around.   It happens, and overall would be a great problem to have. 

[seventyfour 1,177]

26 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Petty was definitely with the backs

That confirms it - flag in 2025. Thank you!

[Demon Disciple 12,268]

Put TMac forward. He’s lighter, moving very well and can run for days.

it worked in 2021. Rinse, repeat

[DeeSpencer 26,070]

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

Anyone see the distance between the top 3 in the trial?

T Mc was in a different group, probably put 20 seconds on Laurie, Woey, Melk, Petty.

Sharp perhaps 10-20 seconds on Kynan Brown who would’ve been 10-15 seconds to Chandler, Sparrow with the others like McVee in that group not far behind.

The biggest unknown is just where the Billings, Viney, Salem, Rivers, Petracca,  Clarry, JVR group fit in. But judging to the gaps between the other groups running at the same time I don’t think the leaders of that group were far behind the Sparrow mark.

 

[He de mon 942]

1 hour ago, Deespicable said:

The second player that I kept spotting was Kynan Brown. He was noticeable in the 2km run when he was second to Harry Sharp and he was crisp and evasive in all the drills, his only problem being a couple of errant bounces where he must have chosen some hard turf as the ball sprung back past him twice. I was bullish about Kynan last year when I felt he deserved a proper game (not 30 seconds off the bench as sub) and I am going to be even louder now. He looks ready and Werridee, it's time to amend your team (version 7656) and get him in

My money is in Kynan to take Nibs role next year.

[M_9 2,091]

1 hour ago, waynewussell said:

I was impressed by Kossie's 2k run. He seems to have trimmed down and the engine is stronger for longer. I suspect a new role for him in 2025.

Well, we all know his role for the first three matches. Unfortunately it's not new.

[Ethan Tremblay 30,962]

Sharp the new Nibbler 

[demon3165 2,798]

3 hours ago, Ditcha said:

I attended some of the training. I was very impressed with the instructions the forwards coach was giving to the forwards. His message was he does not want forwards standing still, but too be moving to make it harder for defenders. Several drills were conducted to help improve the forwards. 

Oh, that's music to my ears, and about time! Next is the mids to go low and hard on passes into the forward line.

[demon3165 2,798]

1 hour ago, waynewussell said:

I was impressed by Kossie's 2k run. He seems to have trimmed down and the engine is stronger for longer. I suspect a new role for him in 2025.

That's what he needed to do and if that's the case he will benefit greatly from it.