Viney Vidi Vici

but then again... its Jack on the field, not Jessica. Anyone know how decent Jack is then?

yep, although i'm nopt convinced they will be in our plans going forward, with some other quality talent set to come into the side, I was impressed by two reasonably low (high?) draft picks coming straight into the side, and showing really good signs as both of you have mentioned. I loved Bennell's run, and Jetta is a bit of an excitement machine who looks ready to burst.

all spot on Barry. Say hi next time if you see another bloodnut sitting on the sidelines (me).

I cant tell if the last part is sarcastic or not...

Yeah, Jarka, its a worthwhile comment, but from what I can tell, its no big deal, just Watts being an 18-year old guy, as one myself, I understand. These things will sort out. O'Donnell has the experience to know how to get these guys acting like adults in an adult environment. I'm not fazed.

for those thinking of fitzpatrick, he really doesn't look ready for AFL yet. not quite up to speed at the moment.

Didn't see him down there. only saw him running through the midfield.

Didn't see him down there. only saw him running through the midfield.

did my research, answer is O'Donnell. Development coach... his job is to get these guys up to speed I suppose.

Thats why I asking about the assistant coaches. he was an older looking, tubby kind of guy. wow, he can get stuck into them. Watts was absolutely nailed, for first, being flat footed, but then disagreed with the coach and a lot of 'F...ing smartass' could be heard. Nothing massive to worry about, just a typical 18 year old response from a guy in an adult world. I can understand, but pretty sure he'll keep his mouth shut now. and yeah, Blease was pretty quiet, just doing lap stuff. not close to joining by the looks. Strauss, yes, if he can do it under pressure, he's well equiped to fill in a gap for us. and to those Cheney-downers, just prepare yourself for a little suprise. He's well involved in training, and i think much more impressionable than a lot of players.

seems like the place for a report then... well, i turned up at 8:45, thinking the boys would be warmed up by then. instead, all there was, was an empty field and a bunch of cold supporters. but anyway, by 9:15 the players came out, and rehab group split off. From what i could see, it included bate, garland, wonna, blease, Davey (don't know why, but looked fine), jamar, spencer. I think i heard jamar say something about his foot. hes running, just not sprinting. Meesen and Johnson and Tapscott were doing their tennis ball catching thing. not sure what was up with tapscott, but he sure didn't look happy about having to take it easy on the sides. Bruce and Mcdonald were noted absentees, for obvious reasons. Team was also joined by about 8 scorpions players. A few kicking drills, showed younger players generally don't have the constincency yet of the older players. Though I was impressed with Strauss. In some tackling drills, Jones was definatly was very very vocal in his encouragement, leadership coming out strong. Watts copped a fair roasting, but seemed to step up effort after. Sylvia was good to watch. When he missed a tackle, i felt sorry for the scorpions kid who copped it next turn around. Its a theme I like from the older guys, if they make a mistake, they hit back harder again. A few ground drills were done, kind of a set play to get ball from defence to forwards, usually involving plenty of run-with, and continued running, with plenty of goals kicked on the run from midfielders. Before I left at 11, had a kind of real match simulation going on, which was basically the same thing as before with more intensity. From my end, Chip was taking quite a few kick-outs and was pretty decent at it. Warnock was involved a lot, and trained really hard. Then they got Strauss in on the kickouts. It was interesting listening and watching Kyel Cheney in this situation. He was very vocal, and giving lots of support and advice in teaching Strauss what to look for. He seems a guy who knows the game well, and likes to learn. A few players i noticed... Strauss- great kick, i like his style. Watts- much bigger, good skills, should play a few games this year Hughes- something about him... seems fit now, and really bounces, and gets involved Gysberts- looking good, agile scully- sprinting again, solid tackler, fantastic vision and handball trengove- great running, finds space, good kick either foot bartram- trains hard bell- still not convinced Miller- taking some good marks and running hard, but kick letting him down. moloney- looks like he belongs in a nightclub when wearing the fleuro singlet. Interesting listening to West behind goals. He wasn't happy with the running game yet. A few times he pointed out to an assistant how our players would run, then just about stop as the ball got to them. something i'm sure he'll work on. Also he wasnt happy with a few loopy handballs, and gave some good advice to cheney about getting off the mark without you, or a teammate being cleaned up. question though, anyone know who the assistant coaches are? I recognise wellman and West, but not the others.

well... from training this morning, he's looking very competent, with good all-round skills, as been reported before. Can take an overhead mark, but still is pretty skinny. Will be a good midfielder, and even had a little run off a forward flank today in a drill. With not being all that developed yet, I can't see him taking this season by storm, but you never know.

oh dear... that thought always worries me. Dunn in the forward line. SHould be perfect for it... but then again, so should Newton.

Mentioned before I'd be happy to if theres a camera. don't have one myself.

this thread is virtually asking for this stuff. hahahaha.

Saw him training in that role... And Axis Of Bob, very good analysis, I agree.

if i go to training on friday morning i'll keep an eye out for him.

I think thats the core of the argument. Theres heaps of them! Im hoping the coaching staff can manage all of them into great players for the club, and as RR said, I hope we can get 50 games into all of them as soon as we responsibly can, and the key word is 'responsibly'. I don't reckon its too 'responsible' to chuck them in the deep end, as we did beamer, sylvia and Mclean, but from what that interview by West tells me is, that they know what their doing with player development.

At training, at least on Friday, saw Scott West having a big input into training, running actual drills more than Bailey I think. I think he's a good guy to have around. I know we all want to see these new players come out and star straight away, but in reality, it'll take any new player a while to find his feet (unless their freakish, a la Rich), and the whole lot of these youngsters in the same team won't lead to victories, or even close to victories, which i reckon are still crucial. So with that in mind, i think the players introductions to AFl will be gradual.

wow... this thread took a turn and kept going. good points made though. Are players like Petterd good to have, even as a depth player? (I think this is what people are getting to by saying he's important but not in best 22)

sounds interesting KoD... just a jealousy point, saw Scully driving a new Dodge the other day! he's my age, not fair! but yes, obviously, hurry up footy season.

I think the question has been, in which position? He hasn't really made any position his own, and i think thats why people view him as vulnerable. He made a couple of handy hauls as a forward in 09, and im hoping he can move on a bit from that to a regularly performing forward (the role i think he'll play)

He was still involved in the last couple of match simulations so must have happened very late if it did? Only treatments I saw was Grimes after a head collision, and he was back after 10 minutes.

Sylvia looks ridiculously scary in these photos.

One of my favourites. Sure Shepp would love him too.