Melbourne preseason training

[Barra13]

And from todays;

4 groups for a long period this morning.

Macartney - taking extensive handball drills; some of which I haven't seen before and may have brought with him from Geelong/Ess/Bulldogs.  Zig-zag chain where 20-30 balls fed quickly.  Relies on quick clean hands and accurate lay-off.  One error just means the drill almost falls apart.

Matthews taking mids for body contact possession and footwork.

Offensive kicking group.

5-on-2 get ball and split offensively drill.

[Purple 77]

God I hope McCartney transforms our young mids like what he did at the Dogs.

[Purple 77]

I've noticed Toumpas isn't getting the praise he was getting pre-christmas at training... wonder if he is keeping it up?

[Mat0369]

Good session again today, lots of ball movement drills.

Casualty ward first, no Trengove, Neal-Bullen or King.

Watts and White did a short handballing session and then into swimming

Howe did a few laps of slow pace running with Andrew Nicol

Vince and Hunt were in rehab, doing laps and a bit of ball work

Brendan McCartney appeared for the first time, did a lot of talk, during the drills

Standouts in the match sim, sorry to say for the lemon suckers, Matt Jones and Jordie McKenzie, but for the optimists, Petracca did the best session  I have seen from him, put Ben Newton on his arse during one match sim, playing him as a forward mostly, except when they had a full field drill with what seemed to be designated  link man who had to be involved in the play, Petracca, Brayshaw, Billy Stretch (who was another to shine) and Jeff Garlett (another standout with his reading of the game and quick hands) were these designated link men.

Others to shine, Dean Kent, a four bounce run down a wing and a post high goal,, Salem off half back and taking kick ins, Jack Grimes and Jimmy Toumpas, both off half back.

Roos again was stressing the simple option, Viney was guilty once of going sideways, was told in no uncertain terms later on.

Another drill, Fitzy got the ball unmarked on the far wing, Roos shouted Dawes so loud everybody heard it, Fitzy did the right thing and kicked straightway down Dawes' throat, Dawes had got himself free over the back.

I was already considering both this guys to go along with Labamba. It might be worth forking out the extra cash on both compared to someone like a Membrey

[Barra13]

Todays session;

Short session today about hour and a bit

Not there Trengove, Neal Bullen and King (think he has a health issue)

Rehabbing - Vince, Watts, Terlich, Hunt, Howe, White -  2 on a very short session Dawes (a deload day, said he was resting on his laurels), Newton

Most of the session squad was broken in groups, defence, midfield, forward, Petracca and Vandenberg trained exclusivel with forwards

Forwards  - goal kicking drills, defence - spoiling, midfield - stoppages

Brayshaw, Salem and Lumumba trained at some stage with defence, rest of time midfieldish

Last off the track, Cross, McKenzie, Grimes and Vandenberg

Only the new players will be at AGM tonight, Gus Brayshaw is actually looking forward to attending

Nathan Jones and Lynden Dunn both very humble when I congratulated them on captain and vice captain, Dawes nearly tore my arm off when shaking his hand, Lumumba same as Jones and Dunn, Cross as well

Didn't get a chance to ask Garlo, will try on Friday, it was miserable day weather wise, most players just glad to get inside

    Vince and Hunt wearing out the boundary line running laps today. Vince did some non-contact drills as well with Terlich, Watts and Howe on the opposite side. Hunt did a bit of kick to kick with a trainer for awhile, then pounded out the km's again.
    Dawes, Newton and White were kicking to each other early but they must've left soon after as I didn't see them for most of it.
    No sign of Trengove or ANB.
    It must've been a good year for coaches / trainers... they seem to have multiplied like the rabbits this last spring! They were everywhere - it almost felt like they outnumbered actual players.
    McCartney was there, instructing some of the younger fellas and also Spencer with marking. Also did some reflex / off-the-ground hand ball drills 1 on 1 with White.
    Started off with short kicks in groups of 3's then some drills in the middle.
    The team then broke off into forwards, mids and backs for drills.
    The forwards consisted of Hogan, Fitzy, Kent, Garlett, JKH, [Pedersen], Vandenberg and Petracca. This was good to watch, drills included roving marking contest / stoppage and kicking around the body on the run, from different spots inside 50. After awhile the drill was changed so half were in high viz and manned up the other forwards. Alternately, each player would be simulating a kick in from the goal square and have to pick one of the other 3 leading players in 1 on 1's, then back to goal kick and repeat. They also practiced dribbling the ball towards goal from either boundary. Garlett appeared to kick the most, more accurate than the rest with the dribble goals. Then probably Hogan, who ended up on the end of the majority of kick outs following good leads etc. Petracca looked pretty comfortable in from of the big sticks. I think I mention it every time, but how are his legs so big?!? Vandenberg looks very solid /  big through the upper body, quite a unit.
    Didn't see much of the backs as they were at the other end, but included the McDonald bros, Dunn, Garland, Frost, Grimes and Jetta. Don't quote me on it but pretty sure I saw Lumumba and in there for at least part of it. Salem was there for the last part as well, though did more time with the mids prior to that. They were a fair way away but was all getting ball out of defence, surprisingly...
    The mids trained in 3 groups, rotating through different drills. The one closest to me was led by Goodwin, who also put on a high viz vest for parts to make up numbers. Shame he isn't playing anymore, laid some good tackles! This drill was 2 of Spencer, Gawn and Jamar in the ruck trying to tap to their 'team' (vest or no vest) who would try and clear the ball. This basically involved all players I haven't mentioned above... Toumpas trained with the mids all session, whereas Salem joined the backs after awhile.
    After these drills everyone practiced their set shots at the Swan St. end. All looked reasonable, considering the gusty conditions, but then again they were under zero pressure.
    Jones and Brayshaw were keeping score again, trying to put each other off. From what I heard I'm pretty sure Brayshaw actually won today. Career limiting move for him showing up the captain...? Jones seems to have taken him under his wing.
    Jetta, Garlett and JKH seem to stick together a lot of the time.
    Salem and Viney also kicking with/against each other. Salem didn't miss too many...
    O McDonald kicked pretty truly as well, one off his left too.
    Once again McKenzie and Cross were still there when I left, along with Grimes and Spencer, as the last on ground.

[Barra13]

From todays session;

C&B has advised players not doing drills.  No sign of King, Trengove and ANB. And I didn't see Brayshaw but he may have been there and White was in rehab.  Long session.  Started at about 9.45 and was still going when I left at 12.00. Hot but little if any wind so conditions were great.

It was very much ball movement, match simulation at 75% pace, full ground drills.  Some of the skills were very good and there were various players who made mistakes from time to time.  It will be interesting to see if the intensity lifts in the coming weeks.

Players to impress were Kent who I noticed more than anyone.  I had him fringe 22 but on todays performance he'd seem to be well in for me.  Clean overhead on the fast lead, very good kick and got it a lot.

Hogan seemed to be everywhere.  Lots of the ball and some good marks and good kicking.  But remember the intensity is not AFL standard.  JKH also came to notice, Petracca did some nice things and looks comfortable, I liked what I saw of Billy Stretch and Dom Tyson just had the ball on a string.  Col Garland did the whole session and did well, Grimes was good and I noticed Pedersen a bit.  Salem was clean and Vandenberg had a bit of a purple patch and looks a big strong boy.

I was chatting to mates most of the day and not fully concentrating on training so these are general observations only.  These match sims are really like dancing with your sister.  There certainly didn't seem to be a "get the ball and go" mentality, still "mark, go back, pick an option".  Unless a player was clearly in space it looked a bit stop/go to me.

Edit:  Just to clarify.  When I mean 75% that relates to spoiling/tackling/body contact stuff.  The pace of play was 100% flat out.  I suppose if I had to describe training it was skills work will little if any body contact stuff.

[Barra13]

a couple of reports from todays session;

Beautiful morning out there - sunny with a light SW breeze. I arrived probably close to 10am and it looked like the group were just finishing their warm ups. Definitely not cancelled today! Long session... I left around 12:30pm when it was winding down, though quite a few were practicing set shots among others things. Again, more of a skills / ball drills session that finished with sprints and laps. General comments below:

    No sign of King, Hunt, Bail or Trengove today.
    ANB was back, running laps with a light strap to his knee. Good to see him again!
    Rehap / light duties group seemed to be White, Watts, Garland, Fitzy, Terlich and Howe. Watts, White and Howe did a few light things on the far side of the oval but spend most of the session doing laps. Bernie also did only laps I believe. Garland did drills early while Fitzy and Terlich ended up doing basically all the drills later in the session. Brayshaw left early today.
    First drills were all basic kicks and hand balls in pairs and then group loops with running.
    Great to see Kent and Hogan amongst it all
    Intensity then went up with contact drills - players separated into tall forwards/backs and everyone else. One midfield group was doing a ground ball gather then brace for incoming tackle and try get a handball off. Apart from that I can't actually remember too much of these drills...
    Next were full ground drills with players moving from one station to another and included kicks, hand balls, play on etc. These are quite interesting looking at kick accuracy as the players are under more pressure. A few errors but tidied up with minimum fuss.
    Full ground drills were then two teams, blues vs high viz, trying to maintain possession from a stoppage at defence and moving the ball inside 50 then goal. Lots of voice in these, either calling for the ball or directing other players into space or pointing out options. Quite fun to watch these ones. Gawn was used as an option quite a few times, covered ground and got on the end of a few to convert. Petracca was pretty good, also M Jones, Lumumba, Grimes and Hogan.
    A couple things stood out to me during these drills. Stretch doesn't look like a 1st year draftee - did not look out of place, just strength in a contested situation more like a draftee. Very impressed! Love Garlett's speed, not always used but provides options. Frost is quick too, a couple quick spoils. Lumumba was mainly down the other end from me but saw quite a bit of run followed by a couple long kicks. Will make an impact. Hogan just looks like he wants the ball so bad every time.
    After these drills most players did sprints followed by a lap of the oval.
    McCartney seems not to be running drills but be providing feedback to players on various aspects of what they've done such as technique and timing. Heard the word "fantastic" quite a few times as well things like "you should've committed to that lead earlier.." etc.
    One funny moment saw the McDonald bros in a 1 on 1 at FF during a full ground drill with TMac defending. Oscar managed to outmaneuver Tom and took a great grab. Then went back and kicked the goal to big applause and shouts like "There's a new McDonald!"
    Dunn got a calf strapped at one point but went back into drills. Did a lot of directing from FB during drills.
    Byrnes took part in the all the training today. If a remember correctly he was going to be a playing coach at Casey this year...?
    Love the way Jetta gets stuck into all his opponents, whether it's Dawes/Spencer or whoever he only knows one way.
    Salem looks such a gifted footy player, saw him take a couple one hand grabs during the ball drills. Looking forward to his 2015.
    People have mentioned Toump a bit lately - he looked pretty quick to me today. Plenty of running in all the drills and quite involved. Didn't stand out to me today but I don't mean that in a bad way at all as much of the group was pretty solid today.
    Jamar is tracking very well and is the clear no. 1 ruck at this stage, in my opinion. Stronger than the younger rucks in rucking drills, taking good grabs and running well.
    Also have Cross firmly in top 18, geez he's in good nick. What a great addition to the team.
    Petracca should definitely get opportunities this season if he continues the way he's going.
    Grimes, TMac, McKenzie and Salem did a intercept / 3rd man up marking drill in defence towards the end.
    Vandenberg took part in all the drills today and also doesn't look out of place. Improved fitness will help but a lot to work with there.

On light duties today I noticed Watts, White, Howe and Vince all running laps with Fitzy doing so later on. Kent, Garlett and Garland were in and out of the main group with a few niggles. Dunn had his calf strapped and was taking it fairly easy but later joined the main group along with Petracca and Terlich. Vandenberg seemed to be in full training.

After all the warm ups and stretches the group really didn't get underway until 10am where they split into three groups playing keepings off. It was mainly talls on talls, mids on mids and small forwards on small backs etc. Hogan's aggression for the ball was of note and Riley, Viv and Jetta were impressive with their quick hands and at closing down players quickly, causing turnovers.

Later on, the players had a drill where they kicked the ball from the BP to other side of the HBF where the awaiting player took a running mark and pushed off with speed hitting up an awaiting player near the corridor and then handing that ball off to a player near the centre circle where that player would hit up a player inside the 50 for a goal. The boys were really vocal in this and mostly hit their targets but I must say Pedo and Fitzy dropped a few easy marks and their kicks weren't that great either.

The second drill was a bit more contested with the High Vis (green/white) tops being used. In this drill a coach would kick a ball near the HBF and a player would have to win ball and then kick to the other side HBF where that player would mark the ball and continue to kick down the line to a player near the wing. From there the players would look for options inside the 50 and utilise short passes to score a goal. I found the movement to be really good in this drill and all were hitting up targets under pressure.

The players later split into three groups again where I watched the group closest to me which were the rucks/KPF's and KPB's doing 1 on 1 marking/spoiling contests. Hogan, Jamar, T-Mac and Frost were the standouts for me at winning the contests. Their bodywork and aerial skills were sensational, I'd say Frost and Hogan impressed the most, but O-Mac was also giving Gawn, Spencer and Pedo a run for their money which I liked.

Around 11am they moved into match sim where they were focusing on getting the ball from the back line to the forward line and using run and carry and short passes whilst maintaining possession. The movement was very quick which was good to see and the boys were all talking to each other to help look out for their man. They would often rotate the backs and forwards with miss matches, I think i saw Jetta on Gawn a few times... but the back line were really holding it together and switching opponents so no one got loose. Grimes really impressed with his voice and direction to the players and the same goes to T-Mac. I noticed Gawn looked very damaging down forward marking everything that came his way and kicking straight through the goals every time (he's definitely in my SuperCoach).

All in all it was a moderate training session, I didn't see any players gasping for breath. I think Roos just really wants to cement that quick ball movement into the players whilst also giving the kicker some options.

Players who impressed me today were Frost, Gawn, Kent, Stretch, Viv and Grimes.

[Purple 77]

Cheers again for relaying the reports barra.

I keep reading that people are surprised by Billy Stretch... like he is clicking on to AFL quicker than expected.

Still, Toumpas is the one I want to see make a huge step this year.

[Big Mac]

Cheers again for relaying the reports barra.

I keep reading that people are surprised by Billy Stretch... like he is clicking on to AFL quicker than expected.

Still, Toumpas is the one I want to see make a huge step this year.

Agreed - Toump really needs to show something this year. Doesn't seem to be getting mentioned as much anymore, but hopefully he can get involved in the NAB Challenge

[Barra13]

Another one here;

I was there, didn't see as much as i liked as it was one of my puppies first outings so was more concerned with her (if gave a black lab a pat in passing, she appreciated it)... that and we managed to stand behind the rehab group of watts, howe, white, vince, ANB at times garlo and fitzy (but they were back in the main group on occasion so might have been a rest day)

STILL onto what I took away from it.

Generally I get to one or two preseason sessions a year so it is interesting to see how training both in method and quality has evolved. From Danahir where  (granted i was young and it was a fair while ago) it looked like they mostly just went out for a kick around to baily with lots of circle work and spreading to Neeld's one on one tackling drills then an uninspiring practice match where no one could hit a hand-pass and I thought it was just because we had developed good defensive tackling pressure (how wrong was I) to early last year where they rotated through little "pods" of different skills so i was just hoping we would not turn it over as much (stuffed i know where the much improved defense came from) to this year where the post have been expanded and it looks to be much more all encompassing all ground type of work where the focused stuff from last year is being applied in a broader manner. What does this mean for the season? considering my previous record, i'm not the one to answer that.

On to the drills... apart from the mandatory handball soccer type of keepings off at the start, the rest of the time day was full length ball movement. So to me, speed of ball movement, retaining possession and kicking to big targets was the order of the day. Two quotes from McCartney, "clear space, you don't want the defender near there" and "good you have learnt it and are getting much better"

play watch...

My stand out would be Max Gawn, don't know if it was he was the only one out there in white shorts but monster-ed the forward line. Up until now he has looked like a baby Giraffe all gangly and awkward (much like fitzy still is, but looks better at full speed than a jog) but seems to be turning into a baby gazel much more surefooted, refined, a thing of substance (probably not the best analogy but it's all i have)

Shannon Byrnes. Even though he blew up allot (resting on his retired laurels?), was clean as a whistle

How Hogan, turned grimes inside out I'll never know, such a great turning circle for a big guy, didn't seem to miss a kick

JKH for screaming at pedo where to fill space during the match sim while pedo was stuffed from the previous contest

Jack watts for both taking the time to have a chat about black labs and the work he was doing with white in rehab. "bunny in the middle" was White catching short kicks and hand balling back and watts was all encouragement and coaching him towards the end when white looked tired to "concentrate"

special mention to Kent, Vandenberg (more of a unit than I thought, dunn sized & moved well, wasnt happy with his shoulder early hanging around the rehab guys) & Petracca (even if he missed the last set shot of full ground with the whole team watching after an elongated approach)

[Barra13]

And one more;

Beautiful morning for training with a blue cloudless sky and cool breeze creating an ideal training environment. Most earlier posts summed up the session pretty well, I'll see if I can add a fresh spin on the mornings events.

Arrived at around 9:30 to see the boys warming up with some basic handball drills. Vince, Watts, White, Howe and Neal-Bullen (good to see him back) spent most of the session running laps.

The boys then split up into three different groups (talls, mid-sized, smalls) where each played a "keepings off" type of drill where they could only handball. One player who impressed me in the smalls (I think) was young Billy Stretch who was just ramming and tackling into anyone who had the ball. Also loved watching him use his pace to shrug off anyone Who dared to tackle him. Although I don't expect him to play much senior football this year, I could see him making a nice cameo and play a few games.

Next on the agenda was a full field drill where players kicked the ball to a leading player which would continue all around the ground. Enjoyed watching Petracca during this drill as his kicking action is a thing of beauty. While on the topic of "Truck", his endurance appears to have improved since he was first drafted. Noticed that he was going harder for longer periods of time. Dunn, Hogan, La Bamba and Jetta were some other stand outs but to be honest, most players were very solid. As mentioned in another report, Fitzy dropped a sitter but I'm just being picky. It was a entertaining drill to watch.

The final drill I tuned in for involved the boys moving the ball from the back line to the forwards at the other end of the ground. I didn't see much of the stoppage work in the back half and who was involved but there was plenty of fast movement through the wing courtesy of Lumumba. Hope we see plenty of that this year. I also noticed that Hogan was pushing himself up the ground to provide a target for the players in the middle. I remember seeing that during the Geelong NAB cup game last year. Meanwhile in the forward half of the ground, Gawn was feasting at everything at everything that came his way, using his height and strength to clunk almost every mark that came his way. Although it was a simulation, he easily finished with about 4 goals including a running one from 40 meters out on an angle. I last thing I remember from this drill was TMac launching himself to take 2-3 fantastic defensive marks in defence against the likes of Gawn and Dawes. I remember a fellow viewer who identified himself as a Collingwood supporter (who was clearly blown away by our impeccable training standards as well as TMacs efforts) asking me who number 25 was.

I left shortly afterwards.

A few short points

- Noticed that Oscar Mac has put on a few kilos over summer, looked a bit stronger in the arms which assisted him in outplaying Hogan in some marking drills

- Bail, Hunt and King weren't present.

- Couldn't help but notice Shannon Boo-urns participating in many of the training drills with the boys. Obviously still wants to be a part of the training environment and among they boys instead of just being the Welfare Manager.

- To those who were there: anyone else notice Garlett wearing the number 33 instead of his usual 36? I've noticed it during the last few training sessions I've been to.

[Purple 77]

Haha, is an opposition's unbiased praise proof that we are on track?  :P Sarcastic or not, I'm calling it  8)

[Barra13]

One from todays session at Casey;

I was there from just after 9 to finish up about 10.40. Not many on lookers barely a dozen at the start. First training for me this season and the change in body shape of many is very noticeable esp. Fitzpatrick.

Rehab consisted of Watts, Hogan, Vince (I think I saw him once!). No shows were Roos, Riley, King

I saw Hogan do a few laps and then he heading in about 9.30. Didn't see Garland at all until the end of training (maybe inside) and I saw Garlett (wearing 33) and I think vandenberg at the start doing short kicks to each other then not seen after that. White appeared mid train but didn't see him on the park. Maybe they were in rehab on the other side of the ground?

Forwards did a lot of leading and goal kicking. Mainly Dawes (who looked a bit bored by the end) Gawn, Fitzpatrick, Pedersen, Petracca, Bail & JKH. Gawns leading was good. Jamar & Spencer did all the ruck work.

Toumpas was very visible playing the outside receive and runner. Looked sharp but up close he is a small unit compared to the others, same with Michie.

It was a light session I feel

Last out there were Jamar doing some skills with a coach and Salem doing one on one defensive punching with Rawlings, as well as a few doing goal kicking and yes, Cross was one of them.

[Ricochet]

Any word why Hogan was in the rehab group mate?

[Barra13]

Nah nothing as yet, maybe just a rest day for him. Will post if I hear something.