Training 2024 Preseason training reports and discussion

[Warwick]

How is Fort looking for those who go to training?

He is ungainly but can clunk a mark in our forward 50. And we all know what an accurate shot on goal he is.

If he could keep working on his forward craft, he could be in line to play a lot more games.

It is difficult though, as Oscar will be obvious first choice, and I think Joe is effective in the ruck for 10-15% of the game - at the very least, it gets him involved if he's struggling a bit.

 

[brutus76]

Give the Suitcase from Panmure 800p/a and 200k of cows from Tommerup sent to his old man's place!

 

[mpal6]

How is Fort looking for those who go to training?

He is ungainly but can clunk a mark in our forward 50. And we all know what an accurate shot on goal he is.

If he could keep working on his forward craft, he could be in line to play a lot more games.

It is difficult though, as Oscar will be obvious first choice, and I think Joe is effective in the ruck for 10-15% of the game - at the very least, it gets him involved if he's struggling a bit.

Fort Becomes Loyal Lion Despite Rival Interest

Darcy Fort has re-signed until '25.

www.lions.com.au

Looks like he had interest from elsewhere but chose to recommit. May be he's comfortable with the 2IC role behind BigO and since he's in hometown already can set himself up for life beyond footy.

 

[Berrygood]

Give the Suitcase from Panmure 800p/a and 200k of cows from Tommerup sent to his old man's place!

View attachment 1889858

I'd do that deal in a heartbeat

 

[Berrygood]

If players like Sharp, Lohman and Smith can start to pressure more established players the addition of Doodee and Ashcroft back into the side gives us some good progression with very few players new needing to adjust to our system or game plan.

It's an organic growth now that doesn't seem so interesting or dramatic as the last 5 years or so but it's such an awesome position to be in. It's a sign that we really are in our window.

The big question for me is still the transition of Zorko and the reshuffle of the back line to fit Doodee...

I'd still like Linc to replace Zorks if I'm honest... it's almost a straight swap and opens the door to roll some new blood through the forward line given that seems to be where we are most stacked...

Such good problems to have!!

Zorks will play his usual role at least till Ashcroft returns. It will be up to him to play well enough to hold it. Ashcroft out gives Dev the start to the season. A good thing, Dev gives us another defensive mid to give Dunks a spell and allow him to add to his role. When Ashcroft returns he's likely to take either of their spots depending on form. Linc will continue to play his role, no change there.

Doedee is the easy fit. He slots in for Gardiner or Lester as the 3rd tall defender. I expect he'll have to work for it, I reckon Darcy is fit and down for a big year.

 

[Dalions]

Would have been a damn hot one for the boys this morning.

 

[Brett C]

Thinking of heading out to a session this week, any ideas where I can check session times/days?

 

[Mr Ripper]

Thinking of heading out to a session this week, any ideas where I can check session times/days?

Lions Roaring Onto Sunshine Coast For 2024 AFL Community Camp

The Brisbane Lions will take their pre-season on the road next week, as the Club travels to the Sunshine Coast for a series of training sessions and community activities.

www.lions.com.au

 

[Section 5]

Attended my first training session for this season.
There were only two idiots out in the sun for the training session today. Viewing from outside the boundary that is.
Me and someone from the club who was retrieving the balls at certain times.
I think because of the predicted 39 C for Ipswich the coaches decided before training there would be no dedicated running sessions.
The players would do enough running in the normal course of a training session anyhow. Payback may come Wednesday or Friday.

Below from memory which could be better these days.
They started with the whole group of players and trainers forming a big circle with arms linked over shoulders & heads bowed.
I could not hear what was said, but assume it was in memory of Nicole Duncan.

I had no idea what they were doing for the first exercise. No balls involved and a little bit of jogging.
Then it was some basic warm up with balls jogging up and down the ground.

Next some pretty standard kick to players, handball receives, then the kick forward. Back and forth with a lot of balls in play

With the warmup over they split up into a few groups all doing different things.
Weaving between flag sticks, collecting handballs off the ground, ruck contests, some stoppage work.
Except for the ruck contests the players swapped over when the whistle blew.

Then they split into 2 groups one at each end of the ground.
This was purely a stoppage exercise but coming out of defense.
I heard the term "umbrella" and "don't get sucked in" as the assistant coach was pointing to players outside the stoppage.
My read on this (i could be wrong) would be if you are a player on the edges of "the umbrella" don't get sucked into where the ball is.
Have trust in your players on the inner circle of that umbrella. They will do the job and sometimes get it out to you.
Mostly the ball was cleared by players on the inside. Occasionally handballed to the outside player.

Next, we had two groups one at each end doing a similar drill. Then they swapped over.
A clear it from halfback drill.
Groundball get with handball receive then to players in the middle and onwards to the forwards.
The other group a long way from me with the same drill, but they appeared to clear it via the boundary.

Then they split into quite a lot of groups. I only concentrated with a midfield group of 8 in front of me.
A few ball handling, eye coordination, reflex exercises with some fun attached.
(a) Pairs facing each other, hands in air with each player having a ball in their opposite palm to the other person.
Players had to pass the ball then swap it over to their free hand and continue until someone dropped it.
(b) Pairs holding the ball as tight as possible. One player holding the pointy ends the other the middle sections.
On whistle wrestle the ball from your opponent.
Repeated quite a few times but with the ball in a different rotation spot and players swapping pointy for middle.
(c) 8 players in a very confined space had to hold a ball in there non preferred hand. No tucking the ball into your body.
You had to keep your ball safe while fending off others, but the aim is to eliminate someone by dislodging their ball.
Whistle blows when one or more got eliminated. Last player standing with a ball wins. Lots of banter between players.
Did this a few times which the players enjoyed. Probably because there was a winner, and players like to win.

Two groups one in the forward third of the ground. Doing basis stuff till they got their go in the mini match sim.
Mini match sim, in that it was played across the ground between the 50-meter arcs.
Hard to tell how many on each side but i doubt it was 18. Edit it was 13 each side.
Players had a very small area to find another player in space.
Looked to me like the aim was a short pass or handball being the preferred way to move the ball.
Long kicks happened but mostly they were over the back into space for players to run into.
When the forwards marked, they did take a shot on goal. Two pink goalposts only 2 meters high and 5 meters wide.

That was the end of the session on the field anyhow. Started 8.00 am, finished 9.50 am with only a few staying out longer.
Ipswich temperature according to BOM with apparent temperature in brackets
8.00am: 29 (33.1), 8.30am: 29.8 (34), 9.00am: 30.5 (35), 9.30am: 31.6 (36.9), 10.00am: 32.6 (37.9).

During the session i overheard Will say something like this to one of the trainers, "that was my best sprinting session so far."
That could mean anything, but it is encouraging anyhow.

Doedee and Berry took part in all but the match sims when they did some running drills but nothing fast.
Dev involved in a few drills but mostly running. He is looking very trim this year.
Ashcroft and Payne in the rehab group with about 5 others.
If posters, ask who was training or missing i most likely can't tell you until they start wearing the Lions gurnsey with numbers.

Photos of the rehab guys. That may help with who most likely trained in the main group.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Attended my first training session for this season.
There were only two idiots out in the sun for the training session today. Viewing from outside the boundary that is.
Me and someone from the club who was retrieving the balls at certain times.
I think because of the predicted 39 C for Ipswich the coaches decided before training there would be no dedicated running sessions.
The players would do enough running in the normal course of a training session anyhow. Payback may come Wednesday or Friday.

Below from memory which could be better these days.
They started with the whole group of players and trainers forming a big circle with arms linked over shoulders & heads bowed.
I could not hear what was said, but assume it was in memory of Nicole Duncan.

I had no idea what they were doing for the first exercise. No balls involved and a little bit of jogging.
Then it was some basic warm up with balls jogging up and down the ground.

Next some pretty standard kick to players, handball receives, then the kick forward. Back and forth with a lot of balls in play

With the warmup over they split up into a few groups all doing different things.
Weaving between flag sticks, collecting handballs off the ground, ruck contests, some stoppage work.
Except for the ruck contests the players swapped over when the whistle blew.

Then they split into 2 groups one at each end of the ground.
This was purely a stoppage exercise but coming out of defense.
I heard the term "umbrella" and "don't get sucked in" as the assistant coach was pointing to players outside the stoppage.
My read on this (i could be wrong) would be if you are a player on the edges of "the umbrella" don't get sucked into where the ball is.
Have trust in your players on the inner circle of that umbrella. They will do the job and sometimes get it out to you.
Mostly the ball was cleared by players on the inside. Occasionally handballed to the outside player.

Next, we had two groups one at each end doing a similar drill. Then they swapped over.
A clear it from halfback drill.
Groundball get with handball receive then to players in the middle and onwards to the forwards.
The other group a long way from me with the same drill, but they appeared to clear it via the boundary.

Then they split into quite a lot of groups. I only concentrated with a midfield group of 8 in front of me.
A few ball handling, eye coordination, reflex exercises with some fun attached.
(a) Pairs facing each other, hands in air with each player having a ball in their opposite palm to the other person.
Players had to pass the ball then swap it over to their free hand and continue until someone dropped it.
(b) Pairs holding the ball as tight as possible. One player holding the pointy ends the other the middle sections.
On whistle wrestle the ball from your opponent.
Repeated quite a few times but with the ball in a different rotation spot and players swapping pointy for middle.
(c) 8 players in a very confined space had to hold a ball in there non preferred hand. No tucking the ball into your body.
You had to keep your ball safe while fending off others, but the aim is to eliminate someone by dislodging their ball.
Whistle blows when one or more got eliminated. Last player standing with a ball wins. Lots of banter between players.
Did this a few times which the players enjoyed. Probably because there was a winner, and players like to win.

Two groups one in the forward third of the ground. Doing basis stuff till they got their go in the mini match sim.
Mini match sim, in that it was played across the ground between the 50-meter arcs.
Hard to tell how many on each side but i doubt it was 18.
Players had a very small area to find another player in space.
Looked to me like the aim was a short pass or handball being the preferred way to move the ball.
Long kicks happened but mostly they were over the back into space for players to run into.
When the forwards marked, they did take a shot on goal. Two pink goalposts only 2 meters high and 5 meters wide.

That was the end of the session on the field anyhow. Started 8.00 am, finished 9.50 am with only a few staying out longer.
Ipswich temperature according to BOM with apparent temperature in brackets
8.00am: 29 (33.1), 8.30am: 29.8 (34), 9.00am: 30.5 (35), 9.30am: 31.6 (36.9), 10.00am: 32.6 (37.9).

During the session i overheard Will say something like this to one of the trainers, "that was my best sprinting session so far."
That could mean anything, but it is encouraging anyhow.

Doedee and Berry took part in all but the match sims when they did some running drills but nothing fast.
Dev involved in a few drills but mostly running. He is looking very trim this year.
Ashcroft and Payne in the rehab group with about 5 others.
If posters, ask who was training or missing i most likely can't tell you until they start wearing the Lions gurnsey with numbers.

Photos of the rehab guys. That may help with who most likely trained in the main group.

Fantastic summation! Thanks so much Section 5!

"I heard the term "umbrella" and "don't get sucked in" as the assistant coach was pointing to players outside the stoppage.

My read on this (i could be wrong) would be if you are a player on the edges of "the umbrella" don't get sucked into where the ball is.

Have trust in your players on the inner circle of that umbrella. They will do the job and sometimes get it out to you.

Mostly the ball was cleared by players on the inside. Occasionally handballed to the outside player."

This is music to my eyes. This is exactly what has let us down in a lot of games where we lose or look ordinary... Players getting sucked in to the contest and leaving their opponent unattended on the outside.

Collingwood also control the outer shell of the stoppage very well, and this is something it looks like we are trying to improve on as well with the use of an "umbrella". It's interesting that Collingwood tend to put a ring around the stoppage, with players at 4 points of the compass, whereas we are doing it slightly differently, using an umbrella rather than a ring. Whether this involves less personnel or simply concentrating the same personnel into a tighter space will be interesting to see. Hopefully the former, as I'm a huge fan of decongesting the stoppage wherever possible.

"Players had a very small area to find another player in space.

Looked to me like the aim was a short pass or handball being the preferred way to move the ball."

Really looking forward to seeing how we execute this on game day. It ties in with Dalions' training report also. I'd be interested to know from either of you, whether the emphasis was mainly on reducing the time of disposal (ie how long it takes to go from one player to the next) or ALSO on reducing the amount of time in possession (ie making a decision as quickly as possible).

Great stuff thanks again

 

[Dalions]

Fantastic summation! Thanks so much Section 5!

"I heard the term "umbrella" and "don't get sucked in" as the assistant coach was pointing to players outside the stoppage.

My read on this (i could be wrong) would be if you are a player on the edges of "the umbrella" don't get sucked into where the ball is.

Have trust in your players on the inner circle of that umbrella. They will do the job and sometimes get it out to you.

Mostly the ball was cleared by players on the inside. Occasionally handballed to the outside player."

This is music to my eyes. This is exactly what has let us down in a lot of games where we lose or look ordinary... Players getting sucked in to the contest and leaving their opponent unattended on the outside.

Collingwood also control the outer shell of the stoppage very well, and this is something it looks like we are trying to improve on as well with the use of an "umbrella". It's interesting that Collingwood tend to put a ring around the stoppage, with players at 4 points of the compass, whereas we are doing it slightly differently, using an umbrella rather than a ring. Whether this involves less personnel or simply concentrating the same personnel into a tighter space will be interesting to see. Hopefully the former, as I'm a huge fan of decongesting the stoppage wherever possible.

"Players had a very small area to find another player in space.

Looked to me like the aim was a short pass or handball being the preferred way to move the ball."

Really looking forward to seeing how we execute this on game day. It ties in with Dalions' training report also. I'd be interested to know from either of you, whether the emphasis was mainly on reducing the time of disposal (ie how long it takes to go from one player to the next) or ALSO on reducing the amount of time in possession (ie making a decision as quickly as possible).

Great stuff thanks again

On the day I was there it was all about the speed at which the ball got to the receiver.
Moving the ball on quickly but more about the speed it got there once it left the hand or foot.

 

[Section 5]

"Players had a very small area to find another player in space.

Looked to me like the aim was a short pass or handball being the preferred way to move the ball."

Really looking forward to seeing how we execute this on game day. It ties in with Dalions' training report also. I'd be interested to know from either of you, whether the emphasis was mainly on reducing the time of disposal (ie how long it takes to go from one player to the next) or ALSO on reducing the amount of time in possession (ie making a decision as quickly as possible).

Great stuff thanks again

They did this "mini match sim" preseason last year so nothing new to the players.
They may do this drill during the season too but i only go down preseason.

I don't really have an opinion on what i think the coaches are after.
I just suppose everything is reduced in size between one player and the next.
So, players have to adjust in a more confined space and their reaction time would be less.
You would think they would take a bit more time to find a loose player, but the ball was moving quite quickly.
Maybe that was the instruction move it on and find a player or kick the ball out the back into space.
So, if you turn it over so be it. There were quite a few turnovers but not an alarming amount that i saw.
Even the goalkicking makes the players concentrate more on kicking to a particular spot rather that a bit bigger area.

 

[Grasshopper17]

They did this "mini match sim" preseason last year so nothing new to the players.
They may do this drill during the season too but i only go down preseason.

I don't really have an opinion on what i think the coaches are after.
I just suppose everything is reduced in size between one player and the next.
So, players have to adjust in a more confined space and their reaction time would be less.
You would think they would take a bit more time to find a loose player, but the ball was moving quite quickly.
Maybe that was the instruction move it on and find a player or kick the ball out the back into space.
So, if you turn it over so be it. There were quite a few turnovers but not an alarming amount that i saw.
Even the goalkicking makes the players concentrate more on kicking to a particular spot rather that a bit bigger area.

Yes you'd expect the reduced space would help the players better hone their skills. And hopefully also their decision making.

I guess in a perfect world more time/attention would be devoted in these drills to the patterns players run off the ball, to allow their team mates the necessary time and space to get the ball uncontested. But there's only so much time I guess in what is an abbreviated preseason.

It's also possible the sport is not quite ready for that level of intricacy yet. Mind you it's catch 22 a bit; the game won't be ready for it till one coach (probably Sam Mitchell) does it and everyone else realises what a difference it makes. Time will tell I suppose.

 

[T Rick]

Attended my first training session for this season.
There were only two idiots out in the sun for the training session today. Viewing from outside the boundary that is.
Me and someone from the club who was retrieving the balls at certain times.
I think because of the predicted 39 C for Ipswich the coaches decided before training there would be no dedicated running sessions.
The players would do enough running in the normal course of a training session anyhow. Payback may come Wednesday or Friday.

Below from memory which could be better these days.
They started with the whole group of players and trainers forming a big circle with arms linked over shoulders & heads bowed.
I could not hear what was said, but assume it was in memory of Nicole Duncan.

I had no idea what they were doing for the first exercise. No balls involved and a little bit of jogging.
Then it was some basic warm up with balls jogging up and down the ground.

Next some pretty standard kick to players, handball receives, then the kick forward. Back and forth with a lot of balls in play

With the warmup over they split up into a few groups all doing different things.
Weaving between flag sticks, collecting handballs off the ground, ruck contests, some stoppage work.
Except for the ruck contests the players swapped over when the whistle blew.

Then they split into 2 groups one at each end of the ground.
This was purely a stoppage exercise but coming out of defense.
I heard the term "umbrella" and "don't get sucked in" as the assistant coach was pointing to players outside the stoppage.
My read on this (i could be wrong) would be if you are a player on the edges of "the umbrella" don't get sucked into where the ball is.
Have trust in your players on the inner circle of that umbrella. They will do the job and sometimes get it out to you.
Mostly the ball was cleared by players on the inside. Occasionally handballed to the outside player.

Next, we had two groups one at each end doing a similar drill. Then they swapped over.
A clear it from halfback drill.
Groundball get with handball receive then to players in the middle and onwards to the forwards.
The other group a long way from me with the same drill, but they appeared to clear it via the boundary.

Then they split into quite a lot of groups. I only concentrated with a midfield group of 8 in front of me.
A few ball handling, eye coordination, reflex exercises with some fun attached.
(a) Pairs facing each other, hands in air with each player having a ball in their opposite palm to the other person.
Players had to pass the ball then swap it over to their free hand and continue until someone dropped it.
(b) Pairs holding the ball as tight as possible. One player holding the pointy ends the other the middle sections.
On whistle wrestle the ball from your opponent.
Repeated quite a few times but with the ball in a different rotation spot and players swapping pointy for middle.
(c) 8 players in a very confined space had to hold a ball in there non preferred hand. No tucking the ball into your body.
You had to keep your ball safe while fending off others, but the aim is to eliminate someone by dislodging their ball.
Whistle blows when one or more got eliminated. Last player standing with a ball wins. Lots of banter between players.
Did this a few times which the players enjoyed. Probably because there was a winner, and players like to win.

Two groups one in the forward third of the ground. Doing basis stuff till they got their go in the mini match sim.
Mini match sim, in that it was played across the ground between the 50-meter arcs.
Hard to tell how many on each side but i doubt it was 18.
Players had a very small area to find another player in space.
Looked to me like the aim was a short pass or handball being the preferred way to move the ball.
Long kicks happened but mostly they were over the back into space for players to run into.
When the forwards marked, they did take a shot on goal. Two pink goalposts only 2 meters high and 5 meters wide.

That was the end of the session on the field anyhow. Started 8.00 am, finished 9.50 am with only a few staying out longer.
Ipswich temperature according to BOM with apparent temperature in brackets
8.00am: 29 (33.1), 8.30am: 29.8 (34), 9.00am: 30.5 (35), 9.30am: 31.6 (36.9), 10.00am: 32.6 (37.9).

During the session i overheard Will say something like this to one of the trainers, "that was my best sprinting session so far."
That could mean anything, but it is encouraging anyhow.

Doedee and Berry took part in all but the match sims when they did some running drills but nothing fast.
Dev involved in a few drills but mostly running. He is looking very trim this year.
Ashcroft and Payne in the rehab group with about 5 others.
If posters, ask who was training or missing i most likely can't tell you until they start wearing the Lions gurnsey with numbers.

Photos of the rehab guys. That may help with who most likely trained in the main group.

Couldn't help notice the size of that ACL surgery scar on Will's knee - is that normal? Also, interesting to see Dev with that wrist guard on his injured wrist. From memory, he broke a bone in his wrist in the PF against the Blues and played the GF with a broken wrist. It is now 12+ weeks since surgery to repair that.

 

[rye]

for those interested, the mongrel punt have written a preseason guide for brisbane. find it here

im not sharing it here to comment on the entire article, doing that would be retreading a lot of discussion points that have been seen on this forum in some capacity in the last 12 months

instead the section on rayner is one i want to highlight. the author makes the comparison to stringer; particularly the stringer that had that tremendous run of form at the back end of 2021. this comparison has also been made a couple of times here

but there is a very exciting stat the author brings up - when rayner attended centre bounces, he won the clearance a whopping 28.6% of the time - most here would see rayner as an effective centre bounce player but this figure is nuts! rayner is very damaging when he does win these clearances as well, with the capacity to burst out the front of packs and get f50 entries from centre bounces.

if rayner builds his fitness base to the point where he is even attending 30-40% of our centre bounces, we have an absolute match winner on our hands. he only attended 8% of centre bounces in 2023 and with ashcroft likely missing until around the byes we have midfield rotations to go around.

IMO our capacity to get that bit of improvement necessary to pinch a flag could hinge a lot on rayner taking the next step. has the talent and from track watchers reports sounds like hes come back in great nick to give himself the best possible chance of going up a gear. heres hoping

 

[Section 5]

I did not take many photos when i attended the training session today.
I will add some different ones here. A few that tie in a little with my training comments.
Berry really has trimmed down. Looking more streamlined for that wing role he has been playing the last few years.
I could not get the big group image in one shot.
As i mentioned in my training comments they are most likely paying their respects for the late Nicole Duncan.

 

[Section 5]

Couldn't help notice the size of that ACL surgery scar on Will's knee - is that normal? Also, interesting to see Dev with that wrist guard on his injured wrist. From memory, he broke a bone in his wrist in the PF against the Blues and played the GF with a broken wrist. It is now 12+ weeks since surgery to repair that.

A quick google search revealed these images of a typical scare after ACL surgery.
The link with the video (3.5minutes) is interesting for people like me who don't really know what really takes place in the surgery.
It looks like Wills scar is about the correct length.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery Guide

Learn more about anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction including cost, physiotherapy requirements and the recovery timelines.

www.medbelle.com

Dev had wrist scaphoid surgery.
"Scaphoid fractures are a type of broken wrist. They happen when you break your scaphoid bone — a small bone near the base of your thumb. You might need surgery, but even if you do, you should make a full recovery. People usually need around three months to heal from a scaphoid fracture."

Scaphoid Fracture: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

Scaphoid fractures are a type of broken wrist. They happen when you break your scaphoid bone — a small bone near the base of your thumb.

my.clevelandclinic.org

 

[Section 5]

One last thing on yesterdays training session.
I took a photo of team names listed on a whiteboard before the 1st mini match sim.
The whiteboard was a long way away, so i had to clean the image up enough so i could read it.
Teams only had 13 on each side and were just named 1,2,3. Other players may have been added too.
It included 7 VFL players named. I could not read those names properly so will just indicate "VFL Player".
This does not indicate what may lie ahead when the proper match sims start and later the 2 trial games.
The names are in the same order as on the whiteboard.
There were a few match sims so players could have changed positions/teams or additional players added.

Team 1	Team 2	Team 3
Andrews	Prior	Joyce
McKenna	Lester	Starcevich
VFL Player	Coleman	Answerth
VFL Player	VFL Player	Madden
Sharp	Bailey	Tunstill
Wilmott	Fletcher	Lyons
Dunkley	McCluggage	McInerney
Reville	Smith	Lane

Fort	VFL player	VFL Player
Ryan	Morris	Cameron
McCarthy	Lohmann	LLoyd
VFL player	Daniher	Rayner
VFL Player	Gardiner	Hipwood

 

[McIvor]

for those interested, the mongrel punt have written a preseason guide for brisbane. find it here

im not sharing it here to comment on the entire article, doing that would be retreading a lot of discussion points that have been seen on this forum in some capacity in the last 12 months

instead the section on rayner is one i want to highlight. the author makes the comparison to stringer; particularly the stringer that had that tremendous run of form at the back end of 2021. this comparison has also been made a couple of times here

but there is a very exciting stat the author brings up - when rayner attended centre bounces, he won the clearance a whopping 28.6% of the time - most here would see rayner as an effective centre bounce player but this figure is nuts! rayner is very damaging when he does win these clearances as well, with the capacity to burst out the front of packs and get f50 entries from centre bounces.

if rayner builds his fitness base to the point where he is even attending 30-40% of our centre bounces, we have an absolute match winner on our hands. he only attended 8% of centre bounces in 2023 and with ashcroft likely missing until around the byes we have midfield rotations to go around.

IMO our capacity to get that bit of improvement necessary to pinch a flag could hinge a lot on rayner taking the next step. has the talent and from track watchers reports sounds like hes come back in great nick to give himself the best possible chance of going up a gear. heres hoping

Any chance then that Cam could attend most centre bounces without playing a full time midfiled and just reverting back to half forward when not playing as a mid? I’m sure I’ve seen other clubs do such a thing and even Richmond with Martin.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Guessing that Rayner centre clearance stat was from a small sample size. He seemed to often go into 1 or 2 centre bounces at the start of quarters along with our other 2 best clearance winners

Not to say he wouldn't be a gun mid with clearance but I don't think seeing that stat really changes anything

 

[Grasshopper17]

One last thing on yesterdays training session.
I took a photo of team names listed on a whiteboard before the 1st mini match sim.
The whiteboard was a long way away, so i had to clean the image up enough so i could read it.
Teams only had 13 on each side and were just named 1,2,3. Other players may have been added too.
It included 7 VFL players named. I could not read those names properly so will just indicate "VFL Player".
This does not indicate what may lie ahead when the proper match sims start and later the 2 trial games.
The names are in the same order as on the whiteboard.
There were a few match sims so players could have changed positions/teams or additional players added.

Team 1	Team 2	Team 3
Andrews	Prior	Joyce
McKenna	Lester	Starcevich
VFL Player	Coleman	Answerth
VFL Player	VFL Player	Madden
Sharp	Bailey	Tunstill
Wilmott	Fletcher	Lyons
Dunkley	McCluggage	McInerney
Reville	Smith	Lane

Fort	VFL player	VFL Player
Ryan	Morris	Cameron
McCarthy	Lohmann	LLoyd
VFL player	Daniher	Rayner
VFL Player	Gardiner	Hipwood

Interesting to see Wilmot on a wing (presumably) and Gardiner up forward. Which I think is what you're highlighting here.

 

[Section 5]

Interesting to see Wilmot on a wing (presumably) and Gardiner up forward. Which I think is what you're highlighting here.

Yes, Gardiner the obvious one although it does not mean much unless he continues to pop up forward.
Wilmot, we know can play wing, but he could be having a go in the midfield. Again, let's see if that continues.
Ryan, Morris & Lloyd all getting an early look.
Very early days to make any assessment on what the coaches have in mind.

 

[PattyKwasagun]

 

[Grasshopper17]

Unusual to see this level of detail out of northern clubs this time of year. Good stuff.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Yes, Gardiner the obvious one although it does not mean much unless he continues to pop up forward.
Wilmot, we know can play wing, but he could be having a go in the midfield. Again, let's see if that continues.
Ryan, Morris & Lloyd all getting an early look.
Very early days to make any assessment on what the coaches have in mind.

I'd love to see us revert to 3 tall forwards and have it work. It will all boil down to forward pressure, and hopefully that is the acid being put on the 3 of them at training.

Their intensity or otherwise at their end of the ground will have a massive knock-on effect all over the ground, as we found with Gunston last year.