Observations from today:

Anyone who worries about the 3 ‘wantaways’ should get down to training- i have no doubt all 3 are focused, committed and in for a big year.

Trac Coaching and leading from the sidelines.  The tackle that Clarrie laid (see GW’s post above) and Kossie owning the footy in drills.

Fullarton looked really good forward of the ball today and in contested drills - although he was brought down by Howes in one play like a lion about to feast on a gazelle.

Also impressing(apart from the usual suspects):  Billing’s, Kentfield, Johnson.

Aim to use the corridor as first priority in drills.

Melk running really fast repeat sets.  Sestan also running, grabbed for hammy at one stage.

All rehab boys doing agility and ball receiving work.  Spargo kicking the ball to them.

Seen chatting to Choco - Gary Lyon and Bill Browless’s boy (big lad with a mop of hair that his dad would die to have!)

Choco sharpened up KW#34’s kicking at goal with a slight ball drop adjustment and momentum shift and he began toi hit them beautifully.

Trac was frustrated with his snapos around the body, and Choco gave him a few gentle Tils and he was back on track again.

A nice day for it.  Happy to answer any questions.

Edited December 11, 2024Dec 11 by buck_nekkid

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

He is an impressive unit - he walked past me at training.

The orange vest seemed to be a ‘focus player’ in corridor drills, used by both sides to run through the middle and connect.  Trac and Kossy both has runs in the vest.  They were tackled, so it wasn’t a contact thing.   I think it is about creating a focal run through player to assist rapid corridor transitions that everyone can work off/to.

3 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Kolt is out there training with the others. He looks fine. I don’t know what Melk’s issue is but he doesn’t look happy. 

He was with the rehab group - l think - and training in front of me He looked fine ( he better cause he’s one of my favourite players! )

18 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

The orange vest seemed to be a ‘focus player’ in corridor drills, used by both sides to run through the middle and connect.  Trac and Kossy both has runs in the vest.  They were tackled, so it wasn’t a contact thing.   I think it is about creating a focal run through player to assist rapid corridor transitions that everyone can work off/to.

Ack. 

Any idea if that’s true of both the pink and orange vest? Track definitely spent the first exercise in pink (where it was observed he was deliberately ‘touched’ to seemingly simulate a tackle cf. a completed tackle/body contact) before moving to the orange vest for EX. 2. FWIW, I 100% agree with your observations relating to the orange vest. 

Genuine question, not attempting to play semantics or be a smartass. 

 

To clarify I mean Melky

1 minute ago, BLWNBA said:

Ack. 

Any idea if that’s true of both the pink and orange vest? Track definitely spent the first exercise in pink (where it was observed he was deliberately ‘touched’ to seemingly simulate a tackle cf. a completed tackle/body contact) before moving to the orange vest for EX. 2. FWIW, I 100% agree with your observations relating to the orange vest. 

Genuine question, not attempting to play semantics or be a smartass. 

 

Perhaps they didn’t want the link players to spend too much time being crunched in tackles?

7 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

Ack. 

Any idea if that’s true of both the pink and orange vest? Track definitely spent the first exercise in pink (where it was observed he was deliberately ‘touched’ to seemingly simulate a tackle cf. a completed tackle/body contact) before moving to the orange vest for EX. 2. FWIW, I 100% agree with your observations relating to the orange vest. 

Genuine question, not attempting to play semantics or be a smartass. 

 

No stress, I don’t know, it was just what I observed…

1 hour ago, buck_nekkid said:

Gary Lyon and Bill Browless’s boy

😮  didn’t know they had one.   Amazing what modern technology can achieve way beyond IVF.

Will he be a FS Cat or Demon. 

44 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

The orange vest seemed to be a ‘focus player’ in corridor drills, used by both sides to run through the middle and connect.  Trac and Kossy both has runs in the vest.  They were tackled, so it wasn’t a contact thing.   I think it is about creating a focal run through player to assist rapid corridor transitions that everyone can work off/to.

It’s definitely a case of orange vest = player in focus. Kozzie’s been training well all along but geez he was killing it while wearing the orange vest. The way he moves… it’s a joy to watch. You can almost feel his confidence rising to an even higher level.

On the subject of confidence, Shane’s confidence is building more and more with each session. He’s really come out of himself. His uncle Jeremiah was there along with another family member which made him really happy. They’re visiting from Fitzroy Crossing where Shane is from. Uncle Jeremiah said I should visit sometime. I got sunstroke just thinking about it. 🥵

My first training session in 30 or 40 years!  Last I went, Gerard Healy was still playing for us.  That's a while ago!

Didn't notice Roo out there.

The players look both smaller and bigger than they do on tv.  Like Ed Langdon is taller than I thought he was yet others look smaller/lighter.  They say the camera adds 5 kilos and I'd believe it.

Anyway, I've few comments as it was all new to me.  Trac was doing a lot of yelling/leading, Max was hanging back a bit, Vines headed off early with this poop chute issue, Kalani is a stripling but looks a likely sort, Claz is nowhere near as fat as the media would like to have you think (might not be the skinniest either but he looks a lot leaner than he did last season).

Good to chat with some other Demonlanders, like Ghostwriter.

Quite a few players out there today on individual programs and training in and out of the main squad. In rehab we had the 5 regulars being McAdam, Lever, Spargo, XL and Sestan doing their thing. While May, Campbell, Melksham, K.Brown doing a lot of boundary running but also involved in lots of the main squad drills. Fritsch and Salem training fully with the main squad which was good to see. 

Today the group focused a lot more on ball movement and various kicking drills, working the ball from the back pocket diagonally across to the other side of the forward line. I think our players will start to get the hang of the new tactics soon as it looks as though we will be more attacking next season and understandably takes a bit of time to adjust. Last month I was there at training they were doing a lot more running drills, but now they are more focused on ball movement. 

Fullarton surprised me today, he was involved in quite a few things and outclassed his opponent. One to watch. Trac again continues to impress me and is in for a big year, showing great leadership and very vocal. Turner keeps getting better and better and will do nicely this year as the 2nd key forward to JVR. JVR was a no show today so hopefully he is okay. I was also surprised with Kentfield's speed. He raced Windsor over 80m from the centre square to the boundary line and they drew even going flat out. 

Gawny is really taking a step back this year and letting others lead the way. You can see he is much more relaxed and will ramp things up closer to next season. There's definitely a vibe in the air that everyone knows their role and is executing it to a good standard. Maybe a bit more maturity in the group. You can sense that whatever came out of the review a few months back is already in play. 

2 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

An appropriate photo, as I had brunch with Mrs. Redleg at the Salem's cafe in Brighton this morning.

14 minutes ago, thirty-one said:

My first training session in 30 or 40 years!  Last I went, Gerard Healy was still playing for us.  That's a while ago!

Didn't notice Roo out there.

The players look both smaller and bigger than they do on tv.  Like Ed Langdon is taller than I thought he was yet others look smaller/lighter.  They say the camera adds 5 kilos and I'd believe it.

Anyway, I've few comments as it was all new to me.  Trac was doing a lot of yelling/leading, Max was hanging back a bit, Vines headed off early with this poop chute issue, Kalani is a stripling but looks a likely sort, Claz is nowhere near as fat as the media would like to have you think (might not be the skinniest either but he looks a lot leaner than he did last season).

Good to chat with some other Demonlanders, like Ghostwriter.

Nice meeting you too today 31. 👍

Thanks for the training reports, folks. Loving your work 👌

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

Perhaps they didn’t want the link players to spend too much time being crunched in tackles?

Good point. 

1 hour ago, buck_nekkid said:

No stress, I don’t know, it was just what I observed…

Fair point, my obs. could’ve been off. Appreciate the insight, anyway!

Edited December 11, 2024Dec 11 by BLWNBA

Thanks to everyone for the in depth and thorough reports.

@buck_nekkid I'm intrigued on what impressed you the most about Kentfield today? Times I saw him at Casey I wasn't overly impressed but when you've been shipped over to the other side of the country and expect to influence straight away in a completely different environment then I think it's okay for a bit of leniency in the kid.

I'm keen to see how he goes after a full pre season at AFL level.

Big thanks to BLWNBA, buck_nekkid, Dingo, Ghost Writer, thirty-one, Where Demons Dare, Demonland and all posters for your training reports and observations, another great read today.😁👍

Thanks to all for their reports

What is up with Sestan being in rehab?  I like the sound of what he offers (though I have never seen him) but his presumed position is getting very crowded and he surely must make a debut in 2025, and a decent one at that, if he is ever going to make the grade and remain on the list. I guess he was a low risk high ceiling sort of pick anyway. 

19 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Thanks to everyone for the in depth and thorough reports.

@buck_nekkid I'm intrigued on what impressed you the most about Kentfield today? Times I saw him at Casey I wasn't overly impressed but when you've been shipped over to the other side of the country and expect to influence straight away in a completely different environment then I think it's okay for a bit of leniency in the kid.

I'm keen to see how he goes after a full pre season at AFL level.

he was involved, ran hard, handled the ball well, linked up with the forwards and seemed to really ‘fit in’ for the first time.

37 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Thanks to all for their reports

What is up with Sestan being in rehab?  I like the sound of what he offers (though I have never seen him) but his presumed position is getting very crowded and he surely must make a debut in 2025, and a decent one at that, if he is ever going to make the grade and remain on the list. I guess he was a low risk high ceiling sort of pick anyway. 

He grabbed his right hammy during a drill and stretched it out after a run around the boundary.  Suspect it was ‘awareness’ and the hammy is what has been troubling him..

Edited December 11, 2024Dec 11 by buck_nekkid

10 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Thanks to all for their reports

What is up with Sestan being in rehab?  I like the sound of what he offers (though I have never seen him) but his presumed position is getting very crowded and he surely must make a debut in 2025, and a decent one at that, if he is ever going to make the grade and remain on the list. I guess he was a low risk high ceiling sort of pick anyway. 

It seems to be his right Hammy/Glute. Every session the Physio is getting his elbow into those areas and working hard on it. I overheard him with one of the rehab trainers saying that they want him to focus on his running today at a higher pace, so hopefully he isn't far away from main training. Selection is looking very tight already so he'll have to push himself even more this year if he wants to play 5+ games. Good luck to him though, I think he'll be a good player for us in the future. 

As 'GW' already mentioned, we spoke with Petty and tried to get a bit more information out of him on where he will be positioned next year and asked if he'll be our swingman next year? with a wry smile he said he'll be "happy to play anywhere." So he's not giving anything away for now. 

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Thanks to everyone for the in depth and thorough reports.

@buck_nekkid I'm intrigued on what impressed you the most about Kentfield today? Times I saw him at Casey I wasn't overly impressed but when you've been shipped over to the other side of the country and expect to influence straight away in a completely different environment then I think it's okay for a bit of leniency in the kid.

I'm keen to see how he goes after a full pre season at AFL level.

To put it bluntly playing at Casey last year he ran more kilometres than the Leyland brothers on a trip around Australia running from the forward to the backline and back no wonder Casey struggled in games, the kids got great aggression and a football brain I hope Chaplin can get him to the next level.

Clarry is fit, happy to outrun others in sprints. Getting heavily involved in the sims. They were getting them to make and hit leads over the back and running towards goal.

They are hitting each other hard and willingly in the drills.

Petty slammed Tracc backwards and onto ground with a don't argue. That got them going hard at each other with plenty of intensity, during one of the handball games. Goody's words, something along, doing like we ask you makes a much better, and easier drill.  When doing the drills without shape it led to being caught in tight spaces. When following the correct patterns and structures they moved the ball to the open spaces, and with better completions.

Wings in the sims, included Sparrow, Billings, Langers and Woey. Sparrow is running the rails without too much strain, looking trim.

McVee was everywhere. I saw him start with ball on the defensive point post, then he finished the play off in the half-forward area inside the 50. Heading to being one of our elites.

Petty was used forward and back.

Kossie had the different coloured bib on (the linking player), later it was Tracc. Kossie got picked off few times, but got to the contest and impacted after the error. I like his ability to see ahead of himself. Working hard on being a playmaker.

Jefferson had a great session, hands are sticky, kicking snaps with confidence, and finding separation out the back.

Bowser is our best field kick, hitting some incredibly hard passes. Many are still floating the ball, not Bowser, gets the ball to the player, flat and direct. Salem is not far behind, with beautiful kicks.

Mentha likes to dance with the ball, got caught a few times, love his cheekiness/bravado to take them on.

Rivers got picked off a few times as well. They were playing down the corridor, with high reward, high risk sims. 

Turner is another looking good. Moving fast, getting separation and appears set for a big year.

Fritta is also playing well. Very fit, even strong as he cleans the defenders away from the contest. Goaling is a natural, effortless action.

Adams and Howes are making a few errors.

May is starting plenty of plays off the backline. His fitness is improving.

Langford and Kolt (looking bigger), also made a few errors.

Turnovers will kill us.

JVR was not out there today.

Tmac had some strapping on his right shoulder, moving well.

Lever, a patella support on his left leg, running with intensity at times.

Hard extensive session. They are being put through their paces.

Edited December 11, 2024Dec 11 by kev martin