Training 2024 Pre-Season Training Reports (NO DISCUSSION)

[George]

Been asked a few times now to have a separate thread only for training reports so some of us can filter through the discussion and just see how the boys are ticking along.

Let's see how this goes, the thread title says no discussion so I'm positive I'll be deleting hundreds of posts. If you want to discuss a training report please quote the post, copy all the text in the text field, go to the training thread, paste it in the text field, then leave your reply there. Please dont ask me to just move your posts over if you do it by accident - cant be arsed

if I come across any reports in the other thread I'll stick them in here, feel free to do the same

 

[George]

Training Friday 8/12

Rehab group: Crouch, Steele, King, Hotton, Owens Van Ess, Wood, O’Connell

Drills focused on ball movement, both offensive (ie, moving the ball from halfway line of the ground into the forward line) as well as out of defence. Lots of quick, short, sharp kicks, with most kicks hitting a leading forward target.

Really impressed with Pou & Windy. Very keen and diligent trainers and seemed like they were the first back and ready to go after each drink break.

Zac Jones trained really well, and his pace is a real feature. I know he has his knocks, but his pace is a real point of difference for us. He looks fit again after a year interrupted by injury.

Liam Henry looked really sharp. Great defensive efforts during the drills and intercepted many forward thrusts. He’s been really impressive all week. Looks to have fit in really well with the group.

Howard also moving really well and looks to be back in full fitness. I know he has a lot of critics, but structurally he is really important.

Hunter Clarke trained really well and is so clean below his knees. His kicking skills are sublime and even in today’s windy conditions, his kicks hit the target more often than not.

NAS looks like he’s filled out a bit more. Not massive by any stretch but looks more mature. He is deceptively tall. With him, Sincs & Boner we have some elite kickers off the half back line. It will be interesting to see what this means for Jimmy as I think he’ll be competing for a spot with Stocker & Bonner.

I overheard a supporter ask Jimmy Van Ess how his injury was going to which he replied, going well, should be back in full training post-Christmas.

Allison has also trained really well this week. He’s an amazing athlete who will be a hard match up as for his size, he’s an elite runner and there wouldn’t be too many his size that could keep up with him. Probably only his kicking lets him down at times at it looks loopy and forced.

Those not training included Collard, Garcia, Butler, Hayes, Higgins & Caminiti, although Caminiti came out at the very end (in the red rehab group shirt) and ran a couple of laps. He had a brace on his finger so I assume he’s had some sort of finger surgery, but really struggled with his running (perhaps a fitness issue??).

Owens once again ran laps – doesn't appear to be injured and like others have stated, perhaps he is being managed?

I was over in the forward pocket where Hammer was doing his half rat pace run throughs. I couldn’t quite hear the convo with the fitness guys but his actions looked like they were doing some remedial work on his running action.

He certainly wasn’t moving very freely though. Was running like me on a Sunday after 80 overs in the field the day before. He looks like he’s been smashing it in the gym though. Clearly hasn’t missed a leg day.

Winx is *ing huge. If he doesn’t tear a few games apart with seriously big bags I’ll be stunned. He was doing run throughs with Van Es & made Jimmy look like he was a Collingwood 6 footer.

Henry looks like he’s been at the club for a decade… very vocal, positive whenever someone did something good. When young Hastie shanked one Henry was the first to get over to him with a little word of encouragement.

Great to see Skunk out there for the whole session too… looked like he was really enjoying himself.

Keeler did a couple of nice interceptions & every one got around him… then Allison got out the back & burnt him a few times & you could hear Ross letting Isaac know about it. The big fella certainly has some bounce about him…

Reports about Ari Gold’s shoe are correct

The little tackling drill they did at the end was pretty funny… Moose v Roma & Scud v Coops Roma & Scud absolutely dominating the 1 on 1 contest but Moose & Coops were absolutely filthy they were getting beaten.


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My notes. Backs up lots of what kick it lace out posted plus some info re the running g groups.
Very rough, just what I saw

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Half ground sim. Henry lively, Oleary looked good. Dowworking Hard.
Doog, Campbell doing laps.
Chito doing laps and Crouch.
Shoenmaker has a big arse, really good size.
Doogs Campbell joined in on the second round of sim.
RL long chat with Bonner, lots of praise for Zones.
Chito is a unit.
3 team rotating through sim.
Van Ess going to DFC saying building up loads
Keeler full training, jumps like Nic Nat to spoil a long spaghetti arms kick.
Cody up forward, Hunter being used to kick long third possession from defence.
Someone in 34 not Garcia. Garcia and Butts back from DFC.
Zones lots of intensity, Dow, gets to where he needs to be.
Skills good in blustery conditions.
O'Connell's running with a Blake Acres lookalike.Could be Hotton.
Can't spot Collard, might have gone home
Skunk looking sharp in all drills. Wilson out there but hard to spot in purple bib.
Full ground drill, 8 playwr rotations. Concentration on speed of ball movement, Hill, Naz, Dow, Hunter moving well to position. Non contact.
Hunter Dow, Pou, Sinc, through the guts.
Wilson has lots of work to do on skills. Monday and today, sloppy.
Hammer running laps with the indigenous socks on.
Shots on goal after every drill before drinks.
Contested drills, Pou, Naz, v good. Naz beat Allison twice in a row.
Have not seen Wilson hit a target, drill where quick turn and hit a target 30 metres on the lead, Ronnie, Hill, Windy, Liam all hit target, Darcy misses. Early days.
Now they are all missing the bullets, lobbing them a bit, blustery conditions.
Running drills.
Wilson, Pou, Alison, Windy Titanic O'Leary in top running group. Pou and Alison trail off a bit, other four together
Naz, Liam leads second group.
Liam streets the second group.
Wilson O'Leary together in the first, Pou and Coops at the back.
Hunter running well.
Roh leads his group of Paton, Dow,Doogs and others. Stocker keeping up not trailing off.
O'Leary is a running machine, keeps with Wilson all the way.
Bonner running well, Ronnie leafing his group.
Windy keeps with Wilson, O'Leary trailing off slightly, not as fit as the AFL listed blokes, but can run.
Others blowing a gale, Wilson looks like he is doing a Saturday morning jog.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

Enjoyed going down there today to eyeball some of the new guys and see how everyone is looking this time of year. As per last year lots of professionalism in the form of well organised drills and verbal from the playing group. Noticed Windy and Jones calling out instructions, lots of encouragement. I'm not sure if I've seen such a well sized group in a while especially with young guns Windy, Owens (surely full beast mode next season), Pou, Wangamilly etc.. all putting on size. Hotton's a good size.

Of the new recruits I really wanted to get a look at Shoey's kicking and saw him slot a practice shot from boundary about 45 out like he was sipping water. Excellent stuff. Willy or Darce as they were calling him looked thinner than what I was expecting (Schoenmaker's a great size and ran laps well) but saw his vertical leap which I think he did well (first?) at the combine, just popped up off the ground to mark.

Paddy Dow runs on top of the ground nicely as you'd expect and looks well suited to the team. Same with Bonner (who I at least think was Bonner). Hunter looks more like a man in his body now, and him and Dow doing one on one stuff was wicked to watch. Both quick hard cats. Same with Sincs and Henry - both powerful explosive units.

Keeler seems to be filling into his body better now and has lost (for me) an awkwardness in his body from last year. Saw a sketch of what he might become. Good things. Howard's shape looks different bit more filled out in a good way, and Campbell in supreme condition as you'd expect. Hastie was smaller and thinner than what I was expecting, needs to put on a lot in my view, but the Irish guy O'Connell was decent and quite tall. King came out toward the end running laps - he looks perfect, don't think he can get much better physically - freak.

Not a lot more to report on that Joffa,kick it lace out or a few others have already reported on....great detailed posts there everyone.

The air temp was rising rapidly down there this morning,

As an earlier poster commented on.....big Maxy is looking a million bucks.

I personally think if he can get thru a whole season uninjured......I strongly suspect that he could rip the comp apart.....it will happen sooner or later.

As KILO mentioned....Henry was lace out with his kicking today.....he certainly grabbed my attention....very very impressive.

I noticed that Keeler had the small strap above his left knee on again for the first time this pre season........hopefully all is well there.

And a special shout out to Darcy Wilson.....at the end of the sprints/running session....he pulled up 20 feet from us and we heard you Darcy....he barked out something that sounded like "Duck Me" ......lol.

And lastly....is there anything RTB can't do !!!!!!!!!

He was lying on the ground about 30 feet from the fence.....limbering up and stretching(obvioulsy giving his new hip a good workout)...a group of players ran past him in front of the fence....he barked out something to them....and the speed picked up.

I thought has this guy got eyes in the back of his head.

Very impressive RTB.

 

[Jayman15]

Training reports Mon 11 Dec. thanks guys

Despite slippery conditions, the standard of training was very good, with the skill level definitely up on this time last year.
Although only running laps, Owens and King are looking very strong & look primed for big seasons!
Of the second year players, Phillipou looks ready for a jump up in performance, with his kicking, marking and athletic prowess fully on show.
Of the recent additions, both Henry and Dow look to have slotted in seamlessly to their new club, Henry in particular showing his speed and class regularly.
Darcy Wilson looks ready made and would have to be in serious consideration for round 1 if he performs in the match sim & practice matches.
Wilson’s running power is extraordinary given his tender age, with a combination of endurance and speed a feature.
When Shoemaker and Collard get senior opportunities, they will give enjoyment to our supporters, with Collard’s amazing agility and Shoenmaker’s elite kicking attributes.
All and all an enjoyable day’s training!!

Not a whole lot to add to saintsmike65's excellent post(not posted were some ramblings about a missing hat.....go figure......lol)

One can only wonder what George's PM report contains to his almost "Mason's" group was......lol.

It was a very very soggy Moorabbin this morning.......fantastic if you were a duck........vast sheets of water were on the supplementary training oval next to Rsea Park.

The surface on the main ground held up extremely well.

As Tyrian stated earlier........most kicks and handballs hit their targets despite the slippery conditions.....very impressive to say the least.

One drill had all the players in position over the ground......on que..... every player moved in the same direction....can't recall seeing that before......not sure what that was all about.

It was "hands on heart" stuff when Tim went up the ramp with a trainer and went thru the "double doors of doom"

Thankfully he was back on the track 20 mins later.

Keeler nearly pulled off some incredible pick ups off the deck......you just thought...wow.......the greasy conditions didn't quite let it happen.

As saintmike stated......with Wilson.....you just can't help but think he'll be a player........his kicking at times is subline and I really noticed today the distance he can get for a guy of his build.....he took an awesome mark also.

I keep thinking it but Garcia(Hammer light) is a smaller clone of the Hammer....the likeness is uncanny.

A special shout out(again) for Darcy Wilson's size 47 shorts......I'm sure he's channeling his inner Eddie Betts.

Mind you.......Arie's shorts also would be consuming large quantities of fabric....lol.

Speaking of Arie......he had 2 shots at goal....on the boundary at the 50 ish mark on either side of the ground......he nailed both.

Special shout out(No-2) to the guy that made my coffee........superb !!!!!!

 

[Jayman15]

So after a day of renovations and educating some of the usual word slurring operators on here, I've finally got some free time.

Had the day off (well, wOrKiNg fRoM hOmE) so decided to check the boys out () this morning.

First time down at training this pre-season, looking to get down to more in the new year as well. And because I'm not a bitch, I'm happy to share publicly

I think Mave (could be wrong) mentioned it the other day about drills where the boys would go coast-to-coast in waves, and they were doing a bit of that this morning. Keeping in mind that it was atrocious conditions, the skills really were impressive from the boys and the, uh, rolling zone? they were running was moving very very smoothly. Couldn't find a player out of position. Saw quite a bit of stoppage work, breaking from stoppage, lots of contested stuff.

There's clearly a focus on leg speed and power running, some of the kids were really impressive. Darcy Wilson's gut running is something else for a kid his age. I don't follow the draft so usually don't know much about the kids coming through but for pick 18 or whatever he was it looks like he'll play round 1 the way he's travelling. Hitting targets from anywhere, power running, it was all there. After noticing him during the drills I decided to keep my eye on only him, and would urge anyone going down to training to just watch the kid go. Could swear I saw Harves in one of the passages of play. Gut running, stop at the stoppage, hands on knees, and go again. Dunno where the kid gets it from.

Spoke to one of the coaches who said Tim has eased back into the club following the issue in September and it was great to see him out there for a bit - they gave him the option of coming back after Christmas to start fresh but it's good to see him in a good enough mental space to get out there now. I didn't see him do much to be honest but just to be there was a step in the right direction.

Also was told a group of them went in for minor ops and considering it's the norm for many at this time of year, the list is very healthy. Most players on the list will complete the required amount of sessions to be "hardened" (that was the term, bit fruity) by the start of pre-season games/more competitive match sim in January.

As some have mentioned, Owens is a physical specimen, Pou has not only beefed up a bit but worked on his craft - looked very sharp. He's got a bit of the cankles going, needs to sort it out IMO. Didn't see Caminiti while I was there but been told he has also come back in ripping nick despite a little op on his knee. Keeler playing key defense, dunno about it personally but eh, coaches know more than I do. Bloke has the skill of a rover so could play anywhere. Glides across the turf.

I also wanted to give special mention to the core young kids on this list - not only were they IMO the most vocal out there today but in general they are really driving this group. Was told that they have a message group (not as good as the boomer PM wankfest on here) and our BF boy Windy, Pou, Mitch and co are driving the club forward and have set standards that apparently are reminiscent of 2003/4. Yes we have some senior players on the list but they've seemingly taken a back seat, and it's not just the physical output - some of the kids are relentless in the gym, at training, etc. Hellbent on getting the most out of themselves - coaches are extremely happy that we have these 1-4 years taking us forward. To me it's a bit of a shame that we couldn't really rely on the senior players over the years and now the new crop are taking the bull by the horns (which is not a shame ofc).

Best on today for me was Wilson - if he doesn't play round 1 I'll eat Dard's hat (and he needs it, blokes bald with a real ugly hair on the sides, nothing on top type setup)

I'm a little surprised we've managed to turn the list around (wait and see? or are we legit?) without bottoming out like we did in the early 00's though. Plucked these kids from nowhere.

iPhone users may need to sync their phones to reveal this post in full - please let me know and I can direct you to some good Android products

 

[Saint Watto]

It was a very very humid/muggy morning at Rsea........the humidity at times felt crushing.....when the sun came out at times,I retreated to the "clubhouse"

Loved the 15 second cool breeze that occasionally popped up.

Where was Jane Bunn when you need her !!!!!

No surprise with the humidity considering the incredible storm that hit last night at 11 pm........amazing lightening displays and thunder....and the torrential rain was like looking thru fog.

I'm 10 mins by car from Rsea and what I normally cop.....Rsea normally cops it too.

But the ground surface looked great.

A couple of different drills to Wednesday.

The first was centering the ball from the left pocket(building side of the ground) to the waiting foward near the square..........everyone(including right footers) had to use their left foot......no surprise that most of the right footers missed their target.

The second was continued ruck contests and tapping to players racing past.....the running patterns did look slightly different to normal rucking drills.

Higgo has a massive amount of tape om his back(back issue)......he pulled the jumper up and you thought "wow".......3M sponsorship anyone?

Darcy Wilson gets a mention yet again........he looked superb in his long white socks.....stood out like a beacon........you couldn't help but wonder where his sandals were........lol.

Hammer takes a size 17 shoe.........O'Connell isn't far behind....he also has huge "boats"

Everyone keeps mentioning it but Arie's long range goals/kicks are an absolute delight to watch.

The group certainly did a lot of running today.

It's always fascinating watching the boxing gloves go on at the end of a session......10 groups of 2 were sparring for a good 15 minutes.

All in all....a sharp session.