Bigman’s Training Reports

Remove this Banner Ad

Reader mode
George Kramer said:
Seems he was playing more ruck, so what’s the plan with him? And what does that mean for ROB?
Click to expand...
Be interesting to see whether there are some games where ROB gets subbed out in 3rd quarter and TT plays out remaining game in ruck and uses his running power

Might be other games where TT is looking dangerous forward and he stays forward

I guess it’s all about getting him into the game so he can have max impact
 
Tex Danger said:
More likely to start as 3rd tall or just tall general defender and then transition

Ala Dawson, young doing now

If we try build his body as a KPD the transition will be hard but if we keep a focus on power and agility it won’t be hard.

While he’s taller it’s not dissimilar to the daicos, sheezel, mckercher, Reid introduction
Click to expand...
Agree

I see his strengths more as a utility than a key defender
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Tex Danger said:
I think people assume because of his height if he starts back it’s as KPD but it just doesn’t have to be that way. It’s just an easier entry point
Click to expand...
I reckon it’s harder for him , he’s not a natural one on one defender

His strengths are things like composure , ground balls , ball use , outside game , endurance and agility …Very similar strengths to Dawson
 
Jeffcrowe said:
Extremely excited re Thilthorpe’s last few weeks bigman

Also I have a sneaky suspicion Rankine might start in centre square at opening bounce in round 1 which would be exciting
Click to expand...
If thilthorpe can get consistent he will be frightening up forward. He has a very high ceiling when he gets it all together..fingers crossed that is this year
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Jeffcrowe said:
Be interesting to see whether there are some games where ROB gets subbed out in 3rd quarter and TT plays out remaining game in ruck and uses his running power

Might be other games where TT is looking dangerous forward and he stays forward

I guess it’s all about getting him into the game so he can have max impact
Click to expand...
Surely this season we won't use ROB for most of ruck duties like we have in past years.

We should not have a month of consecutive games where ROB does the majority of rucking.

We should be looking to sub off ROB in some games to use Thilthorpe's mobility later in games.

Also, depending on the opposition ruckman matchup, we should also be looking at games to use Thilthorpe as main ruckman & use someone like Burgess to rest ROB.

Also, if Thilthorpe is not getting into games up forward, put him in ruck, wing, CHB, wherever the ball is to get him into games... as we can't afford for him to drift out of games too much.
 
bigman said:
Significant amount of match sim today so it’s going to be a long report. Let’s get started.

First off unfortunately fog appeared to leave the track early after kicking the first goal. I actually didn’t see an incident occur or even see fog walk off, but he was clearly withdrawn and replaced by burgess. I recall him being in some discomfort on Wednesday after the running drills. Perhaps it may be related?

Laird was a no show today surprisingly. Once again no sloane, gollant or soligo. Butts and milera ran laps. Murray and parnell did skills work with the main group but sat out match sim. Rachele trained fully although wearing a fluro hat and thigh strapped. Curtin did everything except the late session running and looked to be moving freely.

Match sim was split into three periods. Unlike last week, the teams changed significantly each period meaning that each has to be analysed individually.

Period one appeared to be a genuine A vs B scenario for the most part. Teams were as follows:

Blue team (A): Jones, Keays, Murphy, Crouch, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Dawson, Walker, Michalanney, Hamill, Hinge, Burgess (after fog injury), Rankine, Worrell, Fogarty, Smith, Sholl, O’Brien, Keane

Yellow team (B): Berry, Curtin, Pedlar, Edwards, Cook, Taylor, Burgess (before fog injury), Ryan, McHenry, Nankervis, Dowling, Himmelberg, Borlase, Gallagher, Toby Murray, Bond, Strachan, Madgen, top-ups

Blue kicked six goals in the period to none. Goal kickers were:

Blue: Burgess 2, Fogarty, Murphy, Rachele, Dawson
Yellow: none

For the Blue team, centre bounce attendees were rob swapping with filthy, plus dawson, crouch and rankine. Yellow team featured strachan in the ruck with berry, taylor, bond and edwards.

—

Period two saw a number of changes, with the teams a little more even although still quite a bit in favour of the blue side. Teams were:

Blue: Jones, Berry, Crouch, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Pedlar, Dawson, Walker, Michalanney, Hinge, Burgess, Rankine, Worrell, McHenry, Nankervis, Smith, Borlase, Sholl, O’Brien

Yellow: Keays, Murphy, Curtin, Edwards, Cook, Hamill, Taylor, Ryan, Dowling, Himmelberg, Gallagher, Toby Murray, Bond, Strachan, Keane, Madgen, top-ups.

Blue kicked six goals to Yellow’s one. Goal kickers were:

Blue: Thilthorpe 3, Rachele, Pedlar, Hinge
Yellow: Keays

Centre bounce attendees for the Blue included rob, dawson, crouch and berry, with rankine swapping with bez for one of them. Yellow’s cbas once again involved strachan, taylor, edwards and bond, with keays replacing bond halfway through.

—

Finally, period three saw even more changes, although once again the Blue team was the stronger of the sides. Teams were:

Blue: Jones, Keays, Berry, Murphy, Crouch, Curtin, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Pedlar, Dawson, Walker, Hamill, Ryan, Rankine, Nankervis, Himmelberg, Gallagher, Sholl,

Yellow: Edwards, Cook, Michalanney, Taylor, Hinge, Burgess, Worrell, McHenry, Dowling, Smith, Borlase, Toby Murray, Bond, O’Brien, Strachan, Keane, Madgen, top-ups.

Blue team kicked four goals to Yellow’s one. Goal kickers were:

Blue: Thilthorpe, Burgess, Rachele, Dawson
Yellow: Madgen

Centre bounce attendees for the Blue team were thilthorpe, dawson, crouch and berry, with burgess swapping with filthy in the ruck for one. Yellow team featured rob and strachan swapping turns in the ruck, alongside taylor, bond and edwards.

Interestingly the last few minutes of this period definitely saw a focus on maintaining possession and running the clock down. There was one moment late where pedlar took his 30 seconds with a set shot, only to go lateral to Keays at the last second who soaked up even more clock.

Now for individual player thoughts:

Jones - went in and out of the game as can happen with the wing role. Had a nice moment where he helped out in defence (even breaking a tackle) before receiving the one-two from nank, streaming down the wing and hitting tex with a lovely 45m dart. Also set up a burgess goal with a lovely weighted pass.

Keays - was a bit stiff to hit the post three times, although one was an absolute soda. Had a good impact when he moved into the middle for the yellow team. Solid without being spectacular.

Berry - was Yellow’s best player in the first period and clearly relished the opportunity to join the A team after. Clearance work was very good and showed good bursts of speed. Kicking was mostly good although he did revert back to old habits a few times where he didn’t steady enough before disposing of it, I think it’s a concentration issue more than anything.

Murphy - popped up here and there and even pushed high up the ground for a couple of boundary throw ins. Kicked a snap goal from a nice crumb but otherwise not a big game.

Crouch - very influential today particularly in the first period. Would have had close to half a dozen centre clearances overall. Super clean, ball use was on point and looks to be really enjoying his football this summer.

Curtin - took a little while to get into it but had some nice moments in the second period and clearly relished being on the Blue team for the third. Played on tex at stages. Showed good composure even under significant pressure, only had one moment where I thought he panicked a bit when he had more time. Also not afraid to break tackles or take players on. Good signs.

Thilthorpe - quiet early on and dropped an easy mark that would’ve been a certain goal, but went bang in the second period with three consecutive snags all from contested marks on dragon. Then took another on worrell early in the final period playing almost exclusively as a ruckman. When he gets his confidence up he becomes seriously hard to stop. Exciting stuff.

Rachele - despite the quad strapping I thought he moved really sharply today and looked dangerous particularly in the first period where he was electric. Ball use and decision making were super sharp and kicked a goal in every period, including a ripper from the boundary in the last. Didn’t attend a centre bounce due to the corky from Monday.

Pedlar - once again started in the b team before switching after the first break. Not sure why that has been the case twice now. Kicked a goal, could’ve had a couple more but was a bit wasteful. Looks fit and reasonably sharp, interested to see if there’s anything going on because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Edwards - won a clearance or two playing in the middle as well as spending some time on a wing. Had some unfortunate nervous fumbles that caused turnovers but occasionally does some things that make you take notice, like a nice spin out of trouble or a clean gather on the deck at speed. Definitely a work in progress

Dawson - absolutely brained it in the absence of laird. Was dominant in the centre particularly after the first break. Kicked two goals on the run from 50 and just seemed to be everywhere. Gun.

Walker - was reasonably productive playing quite high up the ground. Was more of a conduit to goal than the main man. Getting the job done without starring at the moment, which is fine.

Cook - had a couple of nice moments when he pushed up the ground but was otherwise quiet today playing forward for the struggling Yellow team. Want to see him do more in next week’s internal. Don’t think he’s playing round one on present form however.

Michalanney - another who was solid without being spectacular. Pushed a bit higher up the ground on occasions and took the game on a couple of times using his speed. Also took some kick ins.

Hamill - very good in the first period where I thought he was really clean with his ball take and disposal, including setting up fog’s goal with a lovely drilling pass. Struggled to find it on the yellow team however and never really got back into the game.

Taylor - some moments here and there but gee he’s very crash and bash and it’s no wonder he gets hurt a lot. Needs to find some more easy ball and i thought he was only ok with his inside work which is usually a strength.

Hinge - took a couple of nice intercept marks patrolling across half back. Also snuck forward for a goal. Not dominant but did his part.

Burgess - quickly swapped into the Blue team after fog went off and looked pretty good. Took some nice marks and kicked three goals including a lovely snap late in the first period. Showed why having him is so handy for our depth. Whether he’s best 22 even with fog in the side remains to be seen. Could go either way but I suspect the coaches are worried about giving up defensive pressure.

Ryan - took some of the kick ins for the Yellow team and has an impressive knack of being able to wriggle himself out of tackles. Another who seemed to enjoy playing for the Blue team when given the opportunity. Got a bit of it and ball use was pretty good, still probably a bit down the pecking order for that half back role from what I can see particularly once milera gets back.

Rankine - excellent early playing exclusively on ball, where he has proven to be a real weapon this summer. Fell out of a bit but still set up a couple of scores with his deft touch by foot. Would love to see him start in the guts opening bounce round one.

Worrell - had a couple nice moments where he took the game on but otherwise I was a bit underwhelmed. Want to see him exert himself on the game a bit more as he has the talent.

McHenry - solid enough playing as a high half forward but there was some instances where he unable to break tackles once caught and got pinged. Ball use was tidy however.

Nankervis - failed to complete a couple of marks early on that he should’ve taken, including a fumble that directly led to a rachele goal. Worked his way into it however and once he moved into the Blue team he looked a lot more confident and became one of the more prominent distributors off half back. Would like to see him use his speed and take the game on even more, im not convinced many will catch him.

Dowling - ball use was good but struggled to find a heap of it playing an outside role. Would’ve liked to see him rotate into the cbas where the Yellow team badly struggled.

Smith - thought he actually played his best in the final period on the Yellow team, where his smarts really stood out and seemed to give them a bit more structure behind the ball.

Himmelberg - nothing wrong with his distribution by foot out of defence but I thought he was quite badly beaten by thilthorpe in the second period where he kept getting out marked. To be fair he was in the rehab group not that long ago so hopefully can start to turn it around quickly now that’s he’s healthy.

Borlase - pretty quiet again today. Played on tex early on and was reasonable. Had one bad moment in the final period where he fumbled and went to ground too easily which caused a pedlar shot on goal, needs to get this out of his game when he gets fatigued.

Gallagher - sold his teammates into trouble with some dodgy handballs early on but I thought he actually worked his way into the game reasonably well, the highlight being a terrific tackle on Ned which was paid holding the ball. Found a bit of it playing across half back, still very much learning the ropes though. Expect some teething issues early days in the SANFL.

Sholl - played all three periods for the Blue team on a wing with soligo out. Once again thought he was reasonable without starring. Don’t think he banged the door down for a round one spot but looks set to get some more opportunities in the next few weeks.

Bond - didn’t get much of it at the centre bounces, found a bit more of it in space where he could use his running power. Really think he should be looked at as a tagging option as hard to see where he otherwise fits in.

O’Brien - pretty solid with his ruck work, also found a decent amount of ball particularly as an option through the corridor. Would like to see him give the handball a bit more although to be fair his kicking has been completely fine.

Strachan - would have liked to see him have a greater impact, particularly with his ruck work which wasn’t quite up to his usual level. Do wonder how he deals with motivation knowing rob is still the preferred ruck.

Keane - not as much ball today but was rarely exposed defensively even when matched up on tex which was good to see. His composure calms things down and continues to be a real positive.

If I were to give votes today it would be as follows:

5 votes - Dawson
4 votes - Thilthorpe
3 votes - Berry
2 votes - Crouch
1 vote - Rachele

Overall a good hit out and a lot of the same players continue to have great pre season form. Some boys who need to step it up a bit in the upcoming trial games but not everyone can dominate, particularly those who played predominantly for the weaker Yellow team today. Hopefully a couple of those lads get a real shot at it to show their wares.
Click to expand...
Awesome Bigman. I can't wait for this season.👍
 
If Cook doesn't look like making our best side, then perhaps we look to play the extra midfielder / forward... like Berry.

Allows us to rotate more players through the midfield & play someone like Dawson for some minutes up forward.
 
DJ75 said:
I'm confused as to what the plan is with Cook.
It seemed like we were going to develop him as the McAdam replacement. He's a guy that needs to really build his confidence. Yet we keep putting him on the B team where they don't kick a goal.
What's the plan?
Click to expand...

Not playing him is the plan
 
Ciao Giacomo said:
Gollant has played well in his limited opportunities at AFL level and has been one of the best forwards in the SANFL. Cook has barely fired a shot in the SANFL let alone in the AFL.

I do concede that Cook has an excellent highlight reel*, mostly selling candy, but he struggles to find the ball. I would love to see Cook make his mark in the AFL but I would not be betting on it.

*Tariek Newchurch has an even better highlight reel.
Click to expand...
I'm just basing this on Bigmans reports not any highlight reels
 
Jeffcrowe said:
I reckon it’s harder for him , he’s not a natural one on one defender

His strengths are things like composure , ground balls , ball use , outside game , endurance and agility …Very similar strengths to Dawson
Click to expand...
Harder if it’s as a kpd but not if he’s that 3rd man up intercepting type roll on a less dangerous marking target
 
Scorpus said:
Not playing him is the plan
Click to expand...
I definitely thought cook coukd be an option but I don’t think we’re necessarily looking for a “McAdam replacement”

We also had no McAdam for much of the year anyway

Tex, Thilthorpe, Fog as talls
Rach, rankine, pedlar, Kaeys, Murphy (I know those 2 are maligned here but this is more based on what we tend to select) as smalls

That’s a good forward 8 mix
 
Tex Danger said:
I definitely thought cook coukd be an option but I don’t think we’re necessarily looking for a “McAdam replacement”

We also had no McAdam for much of the year anyway

Tex, Thilthorpe, Fog as talls
Rach, rankine, pedlar, Kaeys, Murphy (I know those 2 are maligned here but this is more based on what we tend to select) as smalls

That’s a good forward 8 mix
Click to expand...

It's interesting how all five smalls really should be midfielders
 
Reader mode

Remove this Banner Ad

Bigman’s Training Reports

Similar threads

Thrillthorpe7
Training 2025 Pre-Season
50 51 52 53 54
Replies
1K
Views
78K
1970crow
1970crow
C
Signed 2004 Crows Training Ball
Replies
2
Views
530
Carn The Texan
Carn The Texan

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top