Attended training at Ainslie Oval this morning. What follows is a short synopsis of what I observed.
Overall impression was one of great enthusiasm throughout the group. Constant talking, backslapping and encouragement during a very solid 2 hour session, about half of which was devoted to what I'd describe as 'competitive match day simulations'.
On the injury front Cam Bruce was nowhere to be seen (as would be expected), Matty Wheelan jogged laps, and Dunny and Wheaters walked laps (no indication what was restricting these two). More worrying, (and without wanting to set too many alarm bells ringing) Chooka McLean spent the entire session sitting in the stand, looking pretty disconsulate and with his knee strapped.
Returning from injury: Flash participated in the whole session and looked to be sharp and unrestricted. Barts did everything except the competitive stuff. To me he looked really good and free in his movement. He iced his knee when he came off, but I suspect this was just precautionary. Riv completed the whole session and looked ok. Beamer did most of the work, but to me he looked a bit stiff in his movement late in the session (hopefully I'm just jumping at shadows). A couple of the veterans (Neita and Robbo) sat out the competitive stuff, but I presume that's just 'easing' their older bodies into the season.
For most of the session there were things going on all over the oval, and it was difficult (for me at least) to take everything in. However, there were a few standouts from my perspective. A very trim Bater played a running link between defence and attack in the match simulations, and he won just about every competition he was involved in. He looked sensational. Chunk also looks to have fined down over summer, and won every hard ball that I saw him compete for. Flash looked to be back to his best. As quick as ever with those magical foot and hand skills and exceptional ball control below his knees. Millsy was also very good, especially in the competitive stuff.
Hope you find my observations interesting, as I have done browsing Demonland since I found it a few weeks ago.
I'm really looking forward to attending what DB described as a 'scratch match' on Friday. That should provide a better insight into how we are travelling in the lead up to the NAB Cup.
Attended training at Ainslie Oval this morning. What follows is a short synopsis of what I observed. Overall impression was one of great enthusiasm throughout the group. Constant talking, backslapping and encouragement during a very solid 2 hour session, about half of which was devoted to what I'd describe as 'competitive match day simulations'. On the injury front Cam Bruce was nowhere to be seen (as would be expected), Matty Wheelan jogged laps, and Dunny and Wheaters walked laps (no indication what was restricting these two). More worrying, (and without wanting to set too many alarm bells ringing) Chooka McLean spent the entire session sitting in the stand, looking pretty disconsulate and with his knee strapped. Returning from injury: Flash participated in the whole session and looked to be sharp and unrestricted. Barts did everything except the competitive stuff. To me he looked really good and free in his movement. He iced his knee when he came off, but I suspect this was just precautionary. Riv completed the whole session and looked ok. Beamer did most of the work, but to me he looked a bit stiff in his movement late in the session (hopefully I'm just jumping at shadows). A couple of the veterans (Neita and Robbo) sat out the competitive stuff, but I presume that's just 'easing' their older bodies into the season. For most of the session there were things going on all over the oval, and it was difficult (for me at least) to take everything in. However, there were a few standouts from my perspective. A very trim Bater played a running link between defence and attack in the match simulations, and he won just about every competition he was involved in. He looked sensational. Chunk also looks to have fined down over summer, and won every hard ball that I saw him compete for. Flash looked to be back to his best. As quick as ever with those magical foot and hand skills and exceptional ball control below his knees. Millsy was also very good, especially in the competitive stuff. Hope you find my observations interesting, as I have done browsing Demonland since I found it a few weeks ago. I'm really looking forward to attending what DB described as a 'scratch match' on Friday. That should provide a better insight into how we are travelling in the lead up to the NAB Cup.