Slartibartfast

Why does he think the Pies have the wood on us? What was their game plan against us?

Lever out there

Lever in trouble? Boot off at half time. Not looking happy.

Yep. Guess which end😀

It’s really windy here.

I've met him and he's a ripper and that might be clouding my judgement but not only do I want him to make it I think he will. He's been good all PS and although it's not the real thing he's still competing against and with top end talent and doing well. I don't see the lack of pace that many have talked about but I might be wrong. His ball handling in the wet in the GF last year was elite and he was a clear BOG to half time when the game was in the balance. His kicking is very good, his hands are good and over his 3 or 4 years he's coming to understand what he can and can't do. Also, this PS his tackling, in the full on sims that I've seen, has been a highlight. So I'm buying. I think he can take ANB's spot because I think what we might lose in aerobic capacity we gain two fold in skills and scoring potential. I think too many judge young kids who play low possession positions that are heavily defensive related on possessions in their early games. This kid will leave no stone unturned to succeed and I'm hoping he gets a go with us and develops the confidence to succeed.

👏😀👏

I was at training today and it's all been covered. There wasn't any real match sims which I find the most revealing so I thought I'd reflect on what I've noticed most over the training sessions I've seen. The intensity has been high and the skills have been good but I expect when the real stuff starts and real match pressure is applied we will see our fair share of skill errors. I'd like to think that we will be more direct and a lot of the drills in match sim have been moving the ball quickly from the backline forward with a focus on the key forwards running into space out the back. But this relies on the opposition letting us do it and I don't think that's likely to happen. We may be a little more direct but I'm guessing there will be many plays to the forward pocket in an effort to lock it in and create repeat entries. Our improvement forward will come from having fit KPF and better delivery. Over the PS journey there have been a few surprises for me. Steven May has been consistent and terrific down back, he's been in good form. Tmac has been good all preseason and isn't giving his spot up without a fight. JvR has been a real surprise. We've been told to be patient and not expect too much but JvR hasn't read the script. What sets him apart from the other KF is his intensity when the ball hits the ground. He's brave in the air and ferocious when it hits the ground in a way Tmac, BBB, Fritta and Gawny aren't. That makes him a pretty attractive option forward but of course with everyone fit someone is going to miss and from reports BBB is flying in the match sims at Casey. My best and most consistent performer goes to JJ. He's never flashy, never the best but just always good. He does the basics very well and is finding a lot of the ball particularly when playing inside mid. He suffers from being too versatile and hasn't made a position his own. But his PS form has him clearly in the best 22 and I'll be fascinated to see where he fits. The other player pushing really hard is Kade Chandler. He's too good for Casey but he needs to really take his chance when it comes. For me, he takes ANB‘s spot because in my view his skills are significantly better but of course there are those that argue ANB plays such an important structural role for us he's a lock. I don't see it that way. Kossie is another to catch the eye. He looks bigger, stronger and more involved. We know the talk, now it's a matter of seeing if he really does play meaningful midfield minutes and if he can perform. Of the young kids Judd McVee is the best performer for mine. Howes, DSmith, Laurie, Woey, and this years crop aren't close imo and will find it really hard to get a go. Howes looks to be the most dangerous with very good AFL attributes but he's a way off it in my book. I imagine they will have a full match sim at Casey on Friday and then go into the season proper training pattern from then on which means Wednesdays at Gosch's will be craft sessions and a bit of loosening up between matches and for Wednesday track watches that takes a bit of spice out. Anyway, I'd be interested in other track watches views and who their standouts of the PS have been. It goes without saying that the mature players all do well - Gawn, Trac, Clarrie et al. We know what they bring and all are doing well.

Very good intel @Demonland, thanks.

Thanks Picket, great stuff. Any news on how Sestan and AFW went?

I've watched a lot of the training at Gosch's and really thought today wasn't as physical as many of the earlier sessions. But it seems others disagree and I'm happy to get a different view. But to those who have posted it was physical how do you rate it with previous sessions?

Just back from training and having read the posts by others there isn't a lot to add. I've not noticed Jefferson much to date but he was very good today. He marks the ball at his highest point timing his jump really well. He was a lot more involved in the match sims and disposed of it well. It's the first time I've really thought he's shown something in the match sims but I think he'll be good. Schache was disappointing for mine today. I noticed a few skill errors under little pressure and he just seemed a bit off. For mine he's well behind BBB, TMac and JVR. Deakyn Smith didn't do much but he's only just got back into the match sims and like most of the younger players he just wasn't involved. When you report on training sessions it almost goes without saying that blokes like Clarrie, Gus, Trac and the other mature players do well. So I tend to concentrate on the younger players or those who I think might push for selection. The two standouts for me today were Kade Chandler and JJ. Kade was so clean with the ball, I didn't see him fumble once and his disposal by hand or foot was pretty good although like everyone he missed the odd target. JJ was in everything and got leather poisoning. I think I'm like many who really like him but struggle to see exactly where he fits in but on his performance to date during PS he is best 22 and my observation is his best position is midfield. He's clean with the ball, he's brave, he gets it and he makes good quick decisions by hand. I just wonder if we should start to spread the load on Viney, Clarrie and Trac and start to give kids like JJ and Tommy S a bit more prime time mid roles. It would give the top boys a bit of a cop out and it would make the opposition concentrate on more than the big three. Others to impress today were Bowser who I thought was very good, Riv who looks in good form, JVR who continued his good form and for a bit of a smokie, JFW who I reckon is well ahead of where they thought he would be. He's nowhere near senior level but for a young kid who hasn't played any real footy he shows quite a bit, and encouragingly plenty when the ball hits the ground. My boy Olie Sestan did some nice things too but his fitness needs some real development. And for Dazzle, Joel Smith started to do more than just running the boundary with some gentle agility work. The match sims today weren't a fierce as some others I've seen and it was more ball movement today. Players were not finishing forward plays with shots for goal and the tackling wasn't as intense. It was a solid session going for well over 2 hours. JOEBOY'S TRAINING REPORT KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT

That's good Dazzle. Yesterday at training I saw him come off (a normal rotation) and just feel for his hammy. He did the rest of the session but I did wonder. If he was moving well today that's good. How did Joel Smith train?

I'd love an update on Joel Smith Dazzle. I hold great hopes for him.😁

At the risk of prompting another Dazzle "why did we sign him up for 2 years" I have to advise it was Joel.

I arrived at 9.15am to find the match sims well underway and I imagine they started early to allow them time to get organized for the community camp at Yea. On the rugby oval adjacent to Gosch's a few are the boys were doing some gentle drills. Clarrie, Nibbler, AMW, Jefferson and Melk were doing a bit of keeping off, handball drills and some running. I only watched as I made my way to the main oval. J Smith and Verrell were doing running around the boundary and as far as I could tell the only no shows were Salo and Lingers. All the rest were involved in the match sims including Gawny and Jake Lever. Goody would throw the ball in on the wing and the white and blue team would contest from there. Brodie got a lesson from Max over the journey but Brodie was good around the ground and did some good ruck work on the odd occasion when he got the better of Max. JJ was playing inside mid in the absence of Clarrie and was doing very well. He was very clean and won a number of clearances. Kyah Farris-White was playing as a KPF with Brown and TMac and really didn't get into it but it's interesting that they see a bit of KPF in him. May was in everything and a real standout on the day and Max was marking very well around the ground. JvR continues to impress. On one occasion he was involved in a marking contest at FF with the ball bouncing away to another player who was 15 metres away but he then pressured and tackled the defender drawing applause from Goody and the players. He's very competitive when the ball hits the ground and I'd hate to be the match committee selecting the KPF if all the boys are fit. In another piece of play the ball was cleared from the centre wing throw in and was kicked forward. JvR took the bouncing ball at full pace and instantly handballed to Spargs who kicked beautifully to Fritta. It was a fantastic piece of play again drawing applause from Goody and the staff. After match sims they broke into three groups and did craft training. One was marking practice and on one occasion Kossie sat on his opponent's head and took a screamer. When he landed he jarred his knee and went to get some medical attention but returned and completed the running at the end of the session. The session finished at about 10.40 and the players all headed off together. I imagine it will be a pretty relaxed skills session at Yea tomorrow with a lot of meet and greet particularly if the advertised training session is on again at Gosch's on Wednesday.

That's good news Demonland, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Thanks for letting us know. One wonders why they weren't put in place on the multiple other occasions it's happened but better late than never.

They haven't personally apologised to me, not that they need to! More to the point have they given any undertaking to put a procedure in place to ensure it doesn't happen again? That's what a professional organization would do. It's not that hard.

Can't agree here. It's not that hard to keep the website and other social media up to date. Not providing training information just to avoid what happened yesterday would just a cop out by the Club. I mean really, it's not that hard. If there is a change in details a simple call by the FD to member communications and an adjustment to the appropriate sites. It already happens because all our social media staff were at Casey. Someone stuffed up and they should be made to read this thread to understand it's not something that doesn't matter. Can't agree here either. I'm trusting Picket did actually get to training and on that assumption and based on his report then there was nothing special that he saw that needed to be protected. I imagine they moved it to Casey so they could get match practice on an MCG sized field and not on the much smaller Gosch's paddock. If the club really do want a "secret closed" session then just don't provide any information or do what they are doing on Friday and say the players are having a day off. There's no need to put so many supporters to the inconvenience of yesterday. Yesterday was just sloppy pure and simple. It's not the first time and I doubt it will be the last. Look, it's no biggie for me, I get to a lot of training sessions and I didn't have to make any special arrangements but many here did and I can understand their disappointment and fury.

Probably longer seeing the rugby boys had booked the oval. I don't think the Club understand the effort many make to attend training. Perhaps if someone from the Club got down there every now and again and chatted to the trackwatcher's they'd get a better idea. Some of the stories here are very sad.

How long would that take Demonland? Perhaps it's too difficult.

I worry for those that got it, particularly Demonstone who seemed to get it withing minutes.

Sestan was 38. He's a big strong boy with a beautiful kick but in the match sims he's a rookie trying to get involved. He managed to do that a few times but it was much more difficult today to find targets so his kicking didn't stand out like it had in other sims. I'm a big fan, he's got good hands, is fairly composed and isn't slow but he's just a young kid learning the ropes at the moment.

Demonland and others have reported most of what happened so there isn't really much more to add. I concur that 44 and 46 looked very good, 46 the pick for me with this strength and poise but I've no idea who it is. The Wednesday format at training seems to be fairly consistent in terms of drills but the match sim today was quite different from last week. Today was a "real" match, contested stuff, full ground and at high intensity. There was much more kicking I thought with less overlap handball and the defenders stayed deep with the forwards making it a real contest. Last week was more focused on working the ball forward with overlap run and kicking to a forward out the back. Make of that what you will. I was standing close to where the players interchanged and when they came off they were spent. I thought Hibbo was going to have a chuck at one stage but thankfully kept it in. Verrell did some of the match sim for the first time and I liked what I saw. He's pretty coordinated and not scared to take the game on. He did limited minutes but is out of the rehab group and now getting involved in the drills. AMW was running laps until late in the session and Sparg's was doing running and not the match sims but he was doing the handball drills. I left before the end to beat the parking inspectors so look for later reports. Impressive today were Riv who I thought was everywhere until I realized Viney was also in 24! Confusing at a distance. But the real Riv was pretty impressive and looks very strong. Tmac really does look in good condition and played well despite his error with Kossie (again, I thought it was Riv but I was obscured in my view. JvR looked very good too and just continues to impress. Kade Chandler won't let the coaching staff forget him, he's been very lively and his tackling is a real standout. Kossie not as impressive today but still lively and as reported Langdon and Hunter look very good on the wings. I'm with those that think Hunter will be excellent for us if he keeps his mind on the job. If you had to summarize today's session beyond those I've mentioned our good players did well and the younger players struggled to get into the sims as much but almost everyone did some good stuff. And just to save Dazzle the trouble, J Smith was in the rehab group, I just don't understand why we gave him a 2 year extension. (actually I can but that's another story)! Just having a bit of fun Daz! DEESPENCER'S TRAINING REPORT KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT NUDGE'S TRAINING REPORT

That's why you go to training is it?🙃