PRESEASON TRAINING: Friday 6th December 2024

[waynewussell 6,237]

Windsor's run won't be lost playing off half back. In 19 games in 2024 he kicked 8 goals as a winger. I see him getting shots at goal from HB by being involved in a chain. Houston kicked 7 goals in 2024, Zorko kicked 9. I don't think we lose much in goals by playing Windsor off HB.

[Demon_spurs 1,867]

1 hour ago, VNightCityLegend said:

I have had enough watching that sh*t club Tottenham embarrass itself over and over again. 🤣😂

AFL round 1 v GWS cannot come quick enough! Let’s hope Melbourne can deliver. 

Again, I feel your pain

[DeeZone 10,074]

Big thanks to WayneWussell, Dannyz, Ditcha and all posters, great training reports and observations a lot of great questions asked and answered today, sounds like boys are fit and working well together. Out of curiosity WW how is Nathan Bassett fitting in with the playing group?

Edited December 6 by DeeZone

[waynewussell 6,237]

Just now, DeeZone said:

Big thanks to WayneWussell, Dannyz, Ditcha and all posters a lot of great questions asked and answered today, sounds like boys are fit and working well together. Out of curiosity WW how is Nathan Bassett fitting in with the playing group?

... So well that I haven't noticed him, even though I have observation of Bassett's influence on my list of important tasks, I usually get distracted by some other matter. Perhaps other track watchers will have something to add on this topic.

[Adam The God 30,403]

1 hour ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

It did get him into the game more, but I feel it’s time he just focused on being the best full forward he can be.

I also love the idea of a mature, physical back up ruck who can really throw his weight around. Johnson also seems very athletic, so I don’t think his lack of height will be a huge issue in the ruck.

Yeah, I think I can see where DS is coming from, but in games where JVR rucked, it was clear he could barely put his arms up post rucking to take contested marks forward, and often double grabbed after this.

We may well switch to Turner, Jefferson and JVR as second ruck later in the year if it doesn't work with JVR is the main guy, but I reckon we've got to give it some time.

[Deespicable 2,880]

Ok, I went down to training and after writing a lengthy report for you on Monday was going to quietly avoid putting fingers to the laptop. But then, the shot that was heard around the world happened and I thought you'd enjoy knowing about it.

Ok, what shot. Well here's a test guess which player I am talking about from this detail.

The ball heads long to the wing and Roo looks set to mark but in comes this strong looking Dee with hunger and nudges Roo aside and takes a really strong mark. He then goes back to kick with his left foot and seeing Roo overcommit on the mark, beautifully baulks him and charges down field, get his balance and sees a player 65m away hoping for an over the back in the goal square. He balances after the baulk and then thumps his left footer over the top to his waiting teammate. It was by far the play of the morning and given I was standing on the far side of the ground, I had to check my glasses weren't fogging up. Could it be No.26. Surely not. I looked again as he made his way back and yep it was No.26 - Jed Adams.

The same Jed Adams who only minutes earlier before match sim had completely fumbled and left the ball behind in a drill. The same Jed Adams who I, like many of you, had put down as one of Jason Taylor's handful of misses. The same Jed Adams who later on in the one-on-one forward drills looked confident enough to outpoint anyone.

Yep, there are signs that in his third season since being taken with pick 38, that the 20yo is finally making headway. He's not about to push out Steven May or T-Mac for rd 1, but there's no doubt he's starting to show enough to get an AFL game at some stage if we get injuries. With Tommo gone, the queue for key backs isn't quite as long and even with Petty looking likely to play there, he's only two hammy twings or twangs from being named. 

While Adams had that 'moment', there were three clear stars on the track that you couldn't help but notice on a regular basis.

The first was Clayton. Yep i know how frustrated we were with him the last two seasons, but right now he is back having fun and looking like a Brownlow Medal runner-up again. He kicked goals, he gave one off to tricky Ricky Mentha and he intercepted passes, made strong leads etc etc. He's probably 100-1 for the Brownlow right now, but given our draw, he might go close.

The second was Kossie. He may not be playing until round 4, but watching him weave and turn his way out of trouble was mega exciting. On what we are seeing so far, he may end up playing quite a bit in the middle as he is mega fit. 

The third and most important of all is the positional switch that is going to make us exciting again. And I'm not talking Petty back to defence. In match sim, there's probably just 15 a side and so there are only five defenders. No prizes for guessing T-Mac and May with Petty, who may well be just there until Jake Lever is back over his knee soreness. Jed McVeigh and his precise kicking is also there again after a late (somewhat baffling) dabble in the midfield last season. And the other small down there is our No.6 Caleb Windsor. Those of you who are Robbie fans will recall that Barass even sent Tulip down to full-back so Goody's move is only somewhat revolutionary. Caleb waltzed off half-back like he was doing cone drills and at one point he flew across in front of Roo for a nice mark. Caleb has more height than Bowser and Salem and he has more pace and he's also a damn good kick like them. he also seemed happy to switch the ball - was it just me, but I reckon our defence switched way more often than last year - another positional adjustment for those of you looking for what we are doing differently. 

Well there were quite a few other things that happened and yes I saw some improvement from Luker Kentfield and I reckon Woey looks quite a bit faster than last year and Aidan Johnson looks strong and promising and Disco Turner is up there with Olly for passion to win the footy. And I could go on all day, but I walked away from training second guessing one thing and I had to go back and ask a fellow track watcher one thing. 'Did you see Jed Adams take that mark over Roo on the wing?' I said. 'Yep' said my colleague. 'That was No.26.'

[Ghostwriter 1,680]

2 hours ago, waynewussell said:

Have to head off now. I look for other’s more detailed observations to come.

Shame you didn’t hang around for the presentation session out in the middle. Riveting stuff. 😜 Every year they give out awards for admin staff achievements, they did it today straight after training before the players even came off the ground. Poor bastards looked like they’d sooner be anywhere other than there. But they were rewarded with a Zooper Dooper each. Zooper Dooper fixes everything… they were like a bunch of kindergarten kids 🥹

[daisycutter 29,701]

2 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

The nickname 'Adjective' is a possibility...

so that'd be adgy then?

[Robbie87 152]

Great report Deespicable - thanks. Here is hoping Jed Adams can take a step forward. The absence of Tomlinson down back at VFL level might be just what he needs - more responsibility on key forwards. Windsor observations are interesting - I keep getting flashbacks of Robbie Flower when I watch this bloke on the move. Stick the number 2 on him?

[BC_1718_DC 1,354]

9 minutes ago, Deespicable said:

Ok, I went down to training and after writing a lengthy report for you on Monday was going to quietly avoid putting fingers to the laptop. But then, the shot that was heard around the world happened and I thought you'd enjoy knowing about it.

Ok, what shot. Well here's a test guess which player I am talking about from this detail.

The ball heads long to the wing and Roo looks set to mark but in comes this strong looking Dee with hunger and nudges Roo aside and takes a really strong mark. He then goes back to kick with his left foot and seeing Roo overcommit on the mark, beautifully baulks him and charges down field, get his balance and sees a player 65m away hoping for an over the back in the goal square. He balances after the baulk and then thumps his left footer over the top to his waiting teammate. It was by far the play of the morning and given I was standing on the far side of the ground, I had to check my glasses weren't fogging up. Could it be No.26. Surely not. I looked again as he made his way back and yep it was No.26 - Jed Adams.

The same Jed Adams who only minutes earlier before match sim had completely fumbled and left the ball behind in a drill. The same Jed Adams who I, like many of you, had put down as one of Jason Taylor's handful of misses. The same Jed Adams who later on in the one-on-one forward drills looked confident enough to outpoint anyone.

Yep, there are signs that in his third season since being taken with pick 38, that the 20yo is finally making headway. He's not about to push out Steven May or T-Mac for rd 1, but there's no doubt he's starting to show enough to get an AFL game at some stage if we get injuries. With Tommo gone, the queue for key backs isn't quite as long and even with Petty looking likely to play there, he's only two hammy twings or twangs from being named. 

While Adams had that 'moment', there were three clear stars on the track that you couldn't help but notice on a regular basis.

The first was Clayton. Yep i know how frustrated we were with him the last two seasons, but right now he is back having fun and looking like a Brownlow Medal runner-up again. He kicked goals, he gave one off to tricky Ricky Mentha and he intercepted passes, made strong leads etc etc. He's probably 100-1 for the Brownlow right now, but given our draw, he might go close.

The second was Kossie. He may not be playing until round 4, but watching him weave and turn his way out of trouble was mega exciting. On what we are seeing so far, he may end up playing quite a bit in the middle as he is mega fit. 

The third and most important of all is the positional switch that is going to make us exciting again. And I'm not talking Petty back to defence. In match sim, there's probably just 15 a side and so there are only five defenders. No prizes for guessing T-Mac and May with Petty, who may well be just there until Jake Lever is back over his knee soreness. Jed McVeigh and his precise kicking is also there again after a late (somewhat baffling) dabble in the midfield last season. And the other small down there is our No.6 Caleb Windsor. Those of you who are Robbie fans will recall that Barass even sent Tulip down to full-back so Goody's move is only somewhat revolutionary. Caleb waltzed off half-back like he was doing cone drills and at one point he flew across in front of Roo for a nice mark. Caleb has more height than Bowser and Salem and he has more pace and he's also a damn good kick like them. he also seemed happy to switch the ball - was it just me, but I reckon our defence switched way more often than last year - another positional adjustment for those of you looking for what we are doing differently. 

Well there were quite a few other things that happened and yes I saw some improvement from Luker Kentfield and I reckon Woey looks quite a bit faster than last year and Aidan Johnson looks strong and promising and Disco Turner is up there with Olly for passion to win the footy. And I could go on all day, but I walked away from training second guessing one thing and I had to go back and ask a fellow track watcher one thing. 'Did you see Jed Adams take that mark over Roo on the wing?' I said. 'Yep' said my colleague. 'That was No.26.'

‘Jed McVeigh’ being Judd McVee? 😂
 

interesting that you called his midfield shift “baffling”? 
 

if we don’t eventually play him as a midfielder, another club will pay him big money to be an on baller for them. 

Edited December 6 by 12345_54321

[DubDee 26,112]

1 hour ago, waynewussell said:

Jefferson now looks at home among the big boys. He is stronger and able to jostle for position without being shoved aside. He is enjoying the work and has good goal sense, with crafty snaps and some length when required. I get the feeling he now knows he belongs.

Thanks for the great reporting mate

Any idea if Jeffo can or could be 2nd Ruck?

[waynewussell 6,237]

28 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Thanks for the great reporting mate

Any idea if Jeffo can or could be 2nd Ruck?

No... Jeffo will never be expected to learn how to second ruck!

[Ghostwriter 1,680]

Important news about Harvey Langford…

He hasn’t been given a nickname yet. He’s always been Langers but knows he won’t be Langers now because Ed gets called Langers. He’d be happy with Harves.

Told y’all it was important news. You’re welcome 😁

[BLWNBA 1,123]

4 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Max needs to do this much more. So often he takes a great grab and then goes back and holds up play, only to do a loopy kick and turn it over. I love Maxy, but field kicking other than long down the line is not his go!

Great comment. Almost fortuitously, I was rewatching the 2021 Qualifying Final against Brisbane last night and there was a short discussion on this very observation.   

[DeeSpencer 26,069]

3 hours ago, layzie said:

Does Johnson have much work to do to get up to speed on the fitness side DeeSpencer? 

I think his time trial was solid, ran with a group of talls and was behind Disco but ahead of May/Jefferson if I remember correctly. 

[demon3165 2,798]

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

Important news about Harvey Langford…

He hasn’t been given a nickname yet. He’s always been Langers but knows he won’t be Langers now because Ed gets called Langers. He’d be happy with Harves.

Told y’all it was important news. You’re welcome 😁

Then surely he will get junior.

[demon3165 2,798]

Well, if Windsor did play play off, H/B May and co. need to get the ball back in a lot quicker than they have been in the past and know where he is instantly.

[Earl Hood 6,099]

36 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

Well, if Windsor did play play off, H/B May and co. need to get the ball back in a lot quicker than they have been in the past and know where he is instantly.

It would be a nice change to see a variety of set plays from kick ins to be more attacking and to keep the opposition guessing. The May long kick to the left to Max near the boundary for the spoil over the boundary was playing the percentages but it slows our ball movement and makes us so predictable. 

[DistrACTION Jackson 9,193]

2 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

It would be a nice change to see a variety of set plays from kick ins to be more attacking and to keep the opposition guessing. The May long kick to the left to Max near the boundary for the spoil over the boundary was playing the percentages but it slows our ball movement and makes us so predictable. 

Agreed. I don't want May taking kick outs anymore as well, he has had quite a few howlers.

Bowey, McVee, Salem & Rivers should be taking all kickouts

[Slartibartfast 17,518]

5 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Keen to get your thoughts on the following:

- Harry Sharp - do you think there's a best 22 spot available based on what you see at training?

- Jed Adams - do you think he could come in a do a job if needed in 2025?

- Tholstrup - is he another that will lock in a best 22 spot this year based on training?

- Back up ruck - who at this stage do you think will be the second in game ruck? Please don't say JVR....

I've been to all but one of the training sessions this year and I think there is a spot in the best 22 for Harry.  He's been very impressive.  He attacks the ball hard, he's got good clean hands and makes good decisions.  He can run all day gets to the right spots and has been heavily involved in all the full field match sims.  His disposal has been iffy at times but the same can be said for most. My view is that Chandler will take the ANB spot, Sharp will take the wing with Windsor playing off half back.  That's the initial plan as far as I can see. 

Jed Adams was impressive today and certainly had a few cameos but he's still 5th banana for a spot down back and even perhaps 6th because Howes is tall, similar in height to Tmac and has been playing the Lever role pretty well. Howes reads the play well and is clean and disposes well.  He's also been good in the contested possession drills I've seen and will fight hard to consolidate his spot in the team this year.  He strikes me as someone who will mature late but mature well.  He's a lot taller than when drafted and it's probably taking a while to adapt to the different role he'll play given his growth.

The Kolt just reeks leadership and enthusiasm on field.  He goes hard the whole time and he's a 1st round talent.  There is a fair bit of competition for spots but he'll be a valuable player this year. He didn't participate in full field drills today and was running the boundary but didn't look impeded in any way.

I'm different to many on AJ. He's got to show he's AFL standard before he gets in the team and he won't get in just to be Max's chop out. He hasn't shown me that he's up to that and he's only had half a season of VFL exposed form really.  Turner and JvR will be two talls, whether we play a third or whether we look for a different structure I don't know but if Petty is going to play back AJ or Jeffo have to step up.  Whilst there have been signs neither has grabbed the opportunity to date.  Having said that the match sims don't really seem to give the talls much of a chance to show their stuff so there is a bit of water to go under the bridge.

Missing today were Verrall and Bowser although I notice someone said they saw him.  I didn't and if he'd been there I think I would have noticed as he's been a bit of a standout to date.  As reported Kossie, Clarrie and Windsor were very good and I thought Knuckles played well.

Chandler was very vocal today and played his role.  I expect him to be part of the leadership group when it's decided. It was also good to see Fritta in all the drills as was Campbell.  Lever and Spargo look to be the ones with issues with Lever behind Spargs.  Makes me wonder if that explains the "Petty back" decision but that is total speculation.

[DiscoStu17 781]

4 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Yeah, I think I can see where DS is coming from, but in games where JVR rucked, it was clear he could barely put his arms up post rucking to take contested marks forward, and often double grabbed after this.

We may well switch to Turner, Jefferson and JVR as second ruck later in the year if it doesn't work with JVR is the main guy, but I reckon we've got to give it some time.

Has anyone seen AJ practicing ruck craft with Max, Tom & Will yet? 
He doesn’t look big enough to me, but I’ll look at some of his games tonight. 

[kev martin 10,397]

A few observations. 

Coaches are micromanaging, here are a couple of examples. For delivery of ball to Turner, 'look for where he wants it kicked'. To Sestan, 'Ollie keep moving, get to the next contest, that is your strength'.

Gawn and Cambell were rucking for the mids when they separated into their lines. I would assume Tom will be the back-up ruck if Max goes down. I doubt he will be the second ruck.

Lever and McAdam were running with gusto as they did laps. Both started the session in boots.

Charlie who is not in a training jersey, has to be closer to getting down with the squad.

Goody and Whitford took the backs for drills. I think Basset had the session off. Each defender had a mannequin as an opponent, 8 of them. They moved around it and kicked with precision to the next player.

Sinnemar was very clean. I sense the players appreciate that, a new young one that doesn't hold the drills up.

The sims. 

Turnovers make it easy for the other to find space and go direct to for goal. Something I think we will need to work on.

Kossie was looking for Mentha. 

They were keen for the contest, hard hits occurred and high marking attempts that hit through packs. JVR has his spark, he hit some packs, nearly marking it, bringing the ball to the front.

Wings included, Sharp, Billings (who is looking good), Langers and Woey.

Edited December 6 by kev martin

[dazzledavey36 55,311]

Thanks for all the reports.

How is Mentha adjusting to the training loads? Keen to know what his skill set and speed is like from the regular attendees?

[DemonWheels 1,070]

7 hours ago, roy11 said:

is there much physicality in these "match sims" this time of year, Just curious if any lingering mental scars with trac. 

I’ve been down a fair bit over the last couple of years and my heart is almost always in my mouth with the way some of them attack it during training.

For example in full ground drills or match-sim May tears out from full back ready to spoil and happily clean up whoever is in front of him, oncoming or otherwise. Constantly hear the clash of bodies and skin-on-skin slaps as tackles are made. It’s pretty brutal, particularly for the in tight on-ballers. But even all the tackling or evasive drills they all do, if you get caught you are brought to ground the same as will happen in a game. The only difference is that there probably isn’t the unbridled aggression that comes with a true opposition and a proper game. But at the same time these guys are all playing for their spots, particularly now that our squad has had a bit of a reset and looking rather healthy, only adds to the competitiveness.

[4_Kent_Watts 892]

8 hours ago, Greg Schneider said:

What’s fantastic about it ? What’s Bowey offering on a wing that Windsor isn’t ? 

Personally I'd like to see Bowser moved to forward of centre as his kicking into 50 befits us greatly.