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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.

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!

Chandler, Lever, and Petty walking from AAMI with the coaches as I arrive. Some are already on Gosch's, they are getting down to prepping. The sun block, hydration, the Tech in the jersey, and all in runners. Plenty of buzz around for our first full hit up. Yet no balls on the field. The time trials! They are hyped and ready. Those ahead of their times appeared to be, Sparrow, Kolty (maybe flu related), Sharp, and another but cannot recall. They got to sit out when the others did 5 more sets of 120 metre runs close at the end of the training. Kossie is fit and running very well. Goody got round him soon after his run and gave him the warmest of embraces, slaps, and words. Verral struggled, though ended his running with some push. Sestan ran better than other years, a little slow but not struggling. Langford led for some time, looks like a competitor, overrun close to the end. (Between some drills Tracc was getting around him, offering some insights) Great to see Maysie and Melk back. They all got round each other after the running, plenty on their haunches. Great effort all round. Shane McAdams back on the exercise bike. His body shape is good, looks like he has been working out. Lever has increased his workload, with a variety of running drills. My guess is that of Achilles awareness. Fritta is putting in hard runs. My guess is that his goal is being very fit. Xavier Lindsay is on a modified program and is going at about 70% effort. Spargo spent most of his time on the bike. Rumours were spreading that Roy George is being picked up. The drills were a little off. Windy, hot day, with some exhaustive running, I reckon caused some astray kicking and fumbles. Ricky Mentha has good hands, also doesn't do two errors in a row. It was apparent that he puts his head into it, after a mistake. Looks like Kossie, Rivers and Woey are in the mids squad, whereas Windsor and Petty are backmen. I like what Chaplin is doing as a forwards coach. He was getting the smalls to crumb. Two of them would follow the flight of the ball, the talls would bring it down, then the smalls either, handball to their partner who would snap, or they would snap. He was very hands-on at describing the movement patterns he wants from those marking forwards. The backs worked with the mids. They were getting the connections and fast ball movement down the wings. Langdon with leather poisoning and Sparrow running the wings very well, often the last one with the ball. Goody set up a full field structure, getting them to position where he wants them. Looks like a high press, with no one in the forward 50. Some goal kicking from the mids and forwards, as the backs settled down for a chat about structures. Jed Adams had some testing from the trainer, after some sims. Appeared to have a slight limp A good session.

I'm a bit late to the party but I made it down to training today and the boys were really put through their paces. The time trials were interesting. Harvey went out hard and held on well only to be overtaken by a few of the mature boys but he's fit enough to play AFL. Clarrie was at the back of his group but only by a small margin but he was totally spent at the end of it and I thought he was going to be sick. But then to my surprise he was up and at it in all the later drills. Interestingly they all did the time trials with shirts off and reports of Clarrie being overweight are grossly exaggerated, he might not be at his thinnest but he is far from fat. He looked in very good shape to me and as others have reported he's in good spirits. He was in the same group as Kolt who beat him but interestingly when all that group finished they fell to the ground in exhaustion but the Kolt didn't. He stayed on his feet and encouraged the others to get up. Leadership written all over this kid. Sesso also seems to have slimmed down well and is running much better than previous years. I don't think he's there yet but he's made big steps towards AFL fitness and if he continues as he is he might be a smokey for R1 when Koss is out. Verrall is really struggling in the running. He was a long way back in the time trial and in the end one of the trainers ran with him to keep him company. He really needs to get that right because he's way below AFL fitness at the moment and he's now entering his third preseason. I'm not suggesting he's not putting in the effort, just that he really struggles with this sort of running. Interesting in later running drills he was keeping up much better which was a positive. I was also interested in Aidan Johnson's performance. He looked pretty comfortable out there and kept up well in the time trials and other running. Beyond that I didn't really notice him much in the drills. To my surprise Petts is training with the backs as is Windsor. McVee is there too so it would seem that Duke and Knuckles won't be in the midfield this year which is against expectations. I don't see how Petts, May (who does look like he's been in a good paddock) Lever and Tmac fit in the one backline and it's hard to see Tmac missing out because he is in the best knick I've ever seen him. He's moving really well, he's really lean, his ball handling and kicking is good and his lateral movement is better than for a while and I'd suggest that's as a result of his feet being injury free. I've been to all but one session and he's the standout so far for me but I'm a big fan so perhaps I'm bias. Beyond that it was a great day for the track watcher I didn't think. Lots of little drills which didn't really show much and the boys were spread out all over the field making it hard to get an overall picture. I liked what I saw from Langford who to my eye didn't appear much taller than Clarrie when I saw them standing together but it's hard to tell given Clarrie's hair. Fritter was doing heaps of running at a very good clip and he did it for a long time. He looks really fit so I've no idea what his issue is. McAdam also did a fair bit of running and looked comfortable and he looks in good condition. I wonder if they just want to get him really fit before throwing him into full training and exposing his body to the level of stress. I can confirm previous report on Sparrow. He looks really lean and he was running really well. I think he may have got a rocket at the end of last season, he looks a new player. Billings also looked really fit. I'm going again on Wednesday and hopefully they'll do a bit of full field ball movement which is where I think you can judge players more critically. Boy was it humid at training today, skills were pretty good given the level of fatigue and the conditions.

Kalani is exactly 200cm, was measured this morning. He’s still growing but is happy enough that he’s taller than his dad which was his goal. 😁 His younger brothers are coming along well. They’re both playing for a team, I can’t remember the name of it but it’s up in QLD, of course. Kalani’s training indoors tomorrow with the boys but won’t be training with us Wednesday and Friday because he’ll be training with the AFL Academy. He’ll be back at Gosch’s next week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I’m here. Completed a 5km run and sweating. Have to leave by 11:30 but will bring as many live observations as I can and then later will provide some individual thoughts on players particularly those who have just returned to the track. I will not be providing live commentary and assessment on Trac’s micro facial expressions.

He could help with building the Culture of the Club.

I am very excited to hear that Roy George has been granted permission to train with us over the pre season for a Cat B spot. When I heard he was playing for Casey this year I tapped into my connection at the Tyntynder Football Club where he played majority of his footy this year in the Central Murray Footy league. 'Genuine freak' with freakish and exciting traits which was relayed back to me. Had one game where he apparently tore shred and kicked 6 and then another 4 another week. I watched a few of his Casey games this year where I was surprised how well he adjusted. I remember thinking this kid shows some genuine footy smarts that cannot be taught. Evasive and agility was top notch and you'd think with a professional environment around him he could be an absolute smokey to watch if he applies himself well. Really hope he does well.

At this stage there’s no training at Casey until January. Gosch’s all the way. Was just told the boys are “in for it” this morning. They’re gonna be pushed harder than ever. Selwyn is smiling from ear to ear 😅

Spaz (and pretty much every OG player) looks lean and perfectly toned, muscly but not bulky, sorta ‘streamlined’ and in general, agility has improved. It’s incredible how markedly different some of them look compared to this past season. Even players like Vines and Melks who have been in amazing shape all along are looking in the best shape of their careers. Honestly, it’s astounding how incredibly fit and toned they are. Even Bowser’s rocking an impressive six-pack. According to one of the Club physiotherapists it’s due to the conditioning program and a focus on increasing stamina. And it’s clearly paying off because when they run to the boundary for drinks between drills there’s no apparent signs of excessive fatigue; no one struggling to suck in air, no one grimacing, no bloated red faces and no vomiting, which would be forgiven and even expected such was the intensity and length of the session coupled with the relentless heat (the sun went behind a tiny cloud only once giving a whole 60 seconds of relief 😅). Shane Mc is also in amazing shape. He’s been training “full on” since preseason started, not with the main group (as we know) but just as strenuous. He’s in a really good place mentally as well. Definitely the most confident and upbeat since he joined us. Methinks our psychologists are killing it.

This short-arsz…

Huge thanks to Demonland, WWussell, Dspicable, Ghost Writer, gs77, Fritta and Turner & Kev Martin and all posters special comments and insights, some great and detailed reports today. What a great read and positivity thread, some good shots as well, including Kalani, Toby and the mysterious Roy George.😁😁😁👍

Nothing too special in the drills after the time trial. Choco with some point to point kicking that didn’t go all that smoothly but wasn’t a disaster either and a few other smaller drills. Chappy took a big forwards group (both in height and numbers) for some work on kicking inside 50. A focus on how to legally block for both the high kick to the hot spot and the flatter kick to the lead in to the pocket. Backs and mids were doing a 2/3rds ground ball movement drill to get the ball out from the backline. Focus seemed to be on short accurate kicks to leads. I tried to watch the new guys. Langford - looks very comfortable in main training. Not the most pure kicking action and I think he’ll miss targets with depth control. His strengths look like really fast accurate hands and he just know where to run to get the ball. Plus Size (XL20) - a lot of lap running. Did some basic kicking drills and the ball comes off his boot fast and low with good accuracy. AJ - missed a few kicks in the drill immediately post the time trial but generally looks comfortable out there. In a drill moving the ball from a contest under pressure in backline he looked comfortable bending down to get it and evading pressure. Dished out on a long lefty handball and generally when he marks he extends his long arms nicely. Jeff Junior kicks the ball like the son of Jeff/academy player, he can spin it for a ruck. Natural mover. Tall. Thought he fumbled a couple of marks but just naturally he’s marking way up high. There’s some tools there for sure! The other kid Toby has some go and a nice left foot, hide him away for a year please! Watched a bit of Kentfield, he did a decent time trial given he’s a huge lad. Skills are nice and he moves pretty well. Not blown away but if Casey aren’t hopeless he’ll do more than his 4 touches a game this year.

Petty was definitely with the backs

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. 🥹

Here are some pics of Clarry from today: Here he is laying a tackle during the football drills in the latter part of the session: And another one :-)

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.

Here are some pics of Kalani White from today's training: Early on was doing a kick-to-kick drill with Dees NGA player Toby Sinnema: Kalani and Toby Sinnema chatting with Langford: This was during the football part of the training session after the time trials:

In my experience, that is helpful if the activity is listening to Dark Side of the moon. Exercise activities not so much.

Harvey Langford has a beautiful pass by foot.

Kossie just won his group!

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.

I'm going to miss being your go-between!! Good to have you back :)

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.

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.

Jeffo seems to have gone MIA after the time trial. PickettFence the main suspect

What a fabulous / positive thread …….. and it hasn’t been derailed once by needless one-up man-ship. A real pleasure to read. Huge thanks to all contributors!

Get Kalani White now!!! Really looks the goods but needs some upper body work obviously. With the full squad at training it was hard to spot standouts or for that matter concentrate on any particular player. Turner, Langford and Lindsay yet to get numbers on their backs. Spargo on the bike, Lindsay, McAdam and Fritter running the boundary. Chin is obviously well respected by the club and said a few words to the group. TMcs family always seem to be in attendnace at training. About 60+ onlookers at any one time with the highlight being the HUN camerman who asked which one was CP5. Really?

First casualty of the preseason …. Me …. I have to leave training with a migraine from dehydration. Hopefully I’ll be back on Wednesday.

So nice seeing Trac, Clarry and Kozzy on the track.

Clayton finished well to pip Roo in his group… not leader but impressive drive to the line. Jack Viney ran a brilliant last 200 to get very close to Billings in his group.

Cheers to all track watchers for the info very much appreciated

Clarry has overtaken JVR

Langford front of his group followed by Howes Bowey and Kozzy

Here's TMac's group from this morning's time trial - leading over Petty, Melksham, Woey and Laurie. Petty & co. Petty, Melk, Woey & Laurie TMac building a significant lead Sharp was a machine today - miles ahead of his group Chandler, McVee, Sparrow & possibly Windsor in a chasing group

Here's one of the groups from the latter set of time trials. Billings setting the early pace ahead of Trac, Kolt, Salem, etc. Salem, followed by Rivers, Viney, Roo and Clarry: Trac taking the lead: Trac and Kolt breaking away in the push to the finish line from followers led by Billings: Recovery!

Confirmed to be Sinnema

It would be great if your group could find a decent brief to represent us at the tribunal. We get stitched up every time

Thank you to everyone who provides us with a training report or photos. They are much appreciated.

Billings is no slouch when it comes to middle distance. He looked impressive winning his group from a blistering final 200 by Viney!

Clarry is reapplying sunscreen and has used up the quota of a small nations rations of zinc

Sharp leading Langdon in their group

I heard Kelani White is here!

I'm making this assumption based on zero information. But I think we actually 'hid' George this year. I think we invited him down to Casey to get some exposure and see how he'd go, then realise soon enough in his performances that he had AFL traits immediately which meant we then had to hide him again. If some remember he played a couple of earlier games then completely vanished without any fuss. We've then told him not to nominate for the draft as that would have increased the risk of him being picked up by anyone in an open draft with the promise that we would be inviting him down to trial for us. It now makes sense why we chose not match the bid on Riak Andrew and I have absolutely no doubt that we still wouldnt have selected Andrew even if he had gotten through to the rookie draft. We deliberately kept that Category B spot open with the thought all this time that we would be inviting George down to then trial and have fitst dibs on him. This is all guesswork on my behalf.

Bit of talk previously about clarry being a bit overweight. I wish my overweight looked like his!

A few more of Langford:

Here are some shots from one of the sets of time trials - part of the squad ran in this one, with the runners broken into three groups spaced around the boundary. Here's Langford heading up his group. Followed by Howes (apologies if I mis-identify anyone), Bowser, Koz, Marty Hore, etc. Kozzy tailed by Hore, AMW and Ricky Mentha: Koz closing on the finish line: Here's May and Jefferson: Here's Luker Kentfield ahead of May and Jeffo: Here's Turner followed by Fullarton and Aidan Johnson:

Impressed with the session. Will report later when I’m a proper keyboard.