Bigman, how is FOG looking this preseason, he looks a brute but is he moving across the ground well? He always looks like he needs to lose about 5kg, but if he is moving well then who cares
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We don’t talk about weights anymore.
He looked heavier than Tex in that photo - I think he still needs to lose some weight
Its just his build. He has massive legs. Always has.
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FOG is one of the players i'm always most excited to watch. He's still teasing a bit, but I just feel like the era of Darcy is right on our doorstep!
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jenny61_99
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I reckon Tex has had three weddings in the last couple of weeks... might have been feeling the excess!
I thought this was Thilthorpe’s session today.
A poster asked me earlier this week if he had shown more strength and aggression with his increased size and I saw some of the fruits of that during today’s session.
Busting through tackles, fending off opponents and driving his legs it was exciting to watch him strut his stuff. Skills and ball handling wise he is already elite for a big man so to see him play so aggressive was pleasing. I would imagine he’s pretty much over whatever he had coming back from the xmas break as he’s moving much better.
No aerial stuff to really judge yet which is obviously key in his development but really good signs today, he looked unstoppable at times particularly in the stoppage drills which were run by the umps for the first time this pre season
Nearly full numbers today which was great to see. Sloane and milera were back in almost all drills while dragon also participated in some. Pedlar was back and did not appear to be under any duress. Rob was on the sidelines still, Murray and Harry (for a short while) too. The father sons were again back today and participated in the early skills stuff. The senior players especially sloane were super encouraging of them and once again they did not look half bad. The older stevens son in particular wearing 19 was quite impressive in his size and movement.
The stoppage work which was the first of its kind this pre season took place over two drills with full contact allowed (and visibly much enjoyed by the players). The first was centre square work where only one ruck went up, likely to avoid injury. Groups were split into three rotating through although with Rob still in the rehab group it meant strachan and filthy didn’t switch out as the rucks. Those involved were berry, crouch, rachele, sloane, pedlar, edwards Dawson, soligo , Taylor, rankine, laird and bond. As said before I thought thilthorpe basically owned this drill.
The second was boundary stoppage work. Rachele, rankine and pedlar were no longer involved which would suggest they’re still not seen as full time mids and instead going to be used mostly for the centre square. The wings were involved in this drill which included jones, nank, billy and sholl. Once the ball was cleared and driven forward, the coaches would force an almost immediate turnover and players had to quickly transition from offence to defence or vice versa. Berry and soligo stood out the most to me in this section.
This was followed by the typical two-thirds ground drill where the ball is randomly kicked towards half back with one team moving the ball forward and the other defending. There was seemingly no a or b team so hard to judge which players are favoured at present. The drill was split into three phases with all players participating in at least two of them. A similar drill then took place between three teams with one switching out each time the ball was turned over or a goal was kicked.
I will post some player thoughts on this drill:
Jones - saw him fend and spin out of a tackle which hasn’t been a strong suit of his. Perhaps his increased size has been intentional to give him more power and strength to break tackles. To me still looks a little too heavy but it may be a directive from burgess
Keays - did not participate in any of the midfield work and this has been the case all pre season.
Berry - thought he was sharp today, in particular one moment where he intercepted a difficult high ball on the wing before winning it on the ground and dishing it out. Using his pace too which is good to see.
Curtin - did some nice things including a run down tackle on cook that forced a turnover, a number of his famous sidesteps and a beautiful half volley taken at high speed followed by a lovely pass. Had one bad moment where he tried to do too much and was caught by cook at half back but a rare error for him
Rachele - looked sharp today and good to see him on the track after leaving the track early on Monday. Thought he looked a bit more explosive and aggressive including a nice fend off on Gallagher where he then took off and drilled the ball to tex.
Edwards - still finding his way but I liked how he got more involved and was able to find space. Kicking still awkward but was effective today. Will be a bit of a slow burn I suspect.
Taylor - copped a nasty hit which left him in some distress, thankfully he returned to the field after a short hiatus and was able to get involved quite a bit. Rarely wastes the ball and takes his time to sum up situations rather than kick blindly. For me he fits a real need in our midfield although he has to find a way to stop getting hurt, this wasnt the first time I’ve seen him on the wrong end of a bump across the pre season.
Ryan - made a couple of mistakes but this lad just has it. Doesn’t have that raw rookie look about him, instead shows a level of composure that reminds me of max this time last year. Might have to rely on injuries to get in but he looks more ready every time I see him. Physically already developed quite a bit too since the draft.
Milera - seemed to relish being able to train almost all the drills and looked real sharp including a lovely burst through the middle of the ground before lacing out burgess, as well as run down tackles on both crouch and thilthorpe which were htb.
Gallagher - trained across half back which hasn’t really been the case up until now, was more forward earlier in the pre season.
Sholl - thought he made some uncharacteristic errors by foot today. Has anyone told him he’s a better kick on his left??
Butts - don’t like to be too negative but I feel like his game is still going a bit backwards. Not taking the game on and slows things down too much, and overall I don’t think hes moving as fluently as previous years. Doesn’t scream a confident player at present which he needs as a defender. Hopefully lifts once match sim starts.
Keane - every so often makes an absolute howler, usually a lazy kick that dribbles along the deck, but overall unlike butts appears to be full of confidence and taking the game on. Sometimes looks too casual in his movements but it almost always seems to work. Almost.
Finally there was a bunch of running at the end of the session. The group was divided into two groups - mids and the rest. The mids ran about 150m at high speed around 10 times, while the rest did wrestling drills. They then swapped once the mids were done and did high speed runs of about 100m.
The mids were split into three groups which appeared to be roughly based on running ability, as follows:
Bond, jones, billy, keays / sholl, Ned, rankine, edwards (only for five reps before rested) / Dawson, berry, cook, pedlar, Taylor. Berry joined the second group once edwards was done.
Things that caught my eye was cook keeping up well with dawson in the later reps and taylor although still last definitely not lagging as much compared to the same drill last pre season. Good to see.
A poster asked me earlier this week if he had shown more strength and aggression with his increased size and I saw some of the fruits of that during today’s session.
Busting through tackles, fending off opponents and driving his legs it was exciting to watch him strut his stuff. Skills and ball handling wise he is already elite for a big man so to see him play so aggressive was pleasing. I would imagine he’s pretty much over whatever he had coming back from the xmas break as he’s moving much better.
No aerial stuff to really judge yet which is obviously key in his development but really good signs today, he looked unstoppable at times particularly in the stoppage drills which were run by the umps for the first time this pre season
Nearly full numbers today which was great to see. Sloane and milera were back in almost all drills while dragon also participated in some. Pedlar was back and did not appear to be under any duress. Rob was on the sidelines still, Murray and Harry (for a short while) too. The father sons were again back today and participated in the early skills stuff. The senior players especially sloane were super encouraging of them and once again they did not look half bad. The older stevens son in particular wearing 19 was quite impressive in his size and movement.
The stoppage work which was the first of its kind this pre season took place over two drills with full contact allowed (and visibly much enjoyed by the players). The first was centre square work where only one ruck went up, likely to avoid injury. Groups were split into three rotating through although with Rob still in the rehab group it meant strachan and filthy didn’t switch out as the rucks. Those involved were berry, crouch, rachele, sloane, pedlar, edwards Dawson, soligo , Taylor, rankine, laird and bond. As said before I thought thilthorpe basically owned this drill.
The second was boundary stoppage work. Rachele, rankine and pedlar were no longer involved which would suggest they’re still not seen as full time mids and instead going to be used mostly for the centre square. The wings were involved in this drill which included jones, nank, billy and sholl. Once the ball was cleared and driven forward, the coaches would force an almost immediate turnover and players had to quickly transition from offence to defence or vice versa. Berry and soligo stood out the most to me in this section.
This was followed by the typical two-thirds ground drill where the ball is randomly kicked towards half back with one team moving the ball forward and the other defending. There was seemingly no a or b team so hard to judge which players are favoured at present. The drill was split into three phases with all players participating in at least two of them. A similar drill then took place between three teams with one switching out each time the ball was turned over or a goal was kicked.
I will post some player thoughts on this drill:
Jones - saw him fend and spin out of a tackle which hasn’t been a strong suit of his. Perhaps his increased size has been intentional to give him more power and strength to break tackles. To me still looks a little too heavy but it may be a directive from burgess
Keays - did not participate in any of the midfield work and this has been the case all pre season.
Berry - thought he was sharp today, in particular one moment where he intercepted a difficult high ball on the wing before winning it on the ground and dishing it out. Using his pace too which is good to see.
Curtin - did some nice things including a run down tackle on cook that forced a turnover, a number of his famous sidesteps and a beautiful half volley taken at high speed followed by a lovely pass. Had one bad moment where he tried to do too much and was caught by cook at half back but a rare error for him
Rachele - looked sharp today and good to see him on the track after leaving the track early on Monday. Thought he looked a bit more explosive and aggressive including a nice fend off on Gallagher where he then took off and drilled the ball to tex.
Edwards - still finding his way but I liked how he got more involved and was able to find space. Kicking still awkward but was effective today. Will be a bit of a slow burn I suspect.
Taylor - copped a nasty hit which left him in some distress, thankfully he returned to the field after a short hiatus and was able to get involved quite a bit. Rarely wastes the ball and takes his time to sum up situations rather than kick blindly. For me he fits a real need in our midfield although he has to find a way to stop getting hurt, this wasnt the first time I’ve seen him on the wrong end of a bump across the pre season.
Ryan - made a couple of mistakes but this lad just has it. Doesn’t have that raw rookie look about him, instead shows a level of composure that reminds me of max this time last year. Might have to rely on injuries to get in but he looks more ready every time I see him. Physically already developed quite a bit too since the draft.
Milera - seemed to relish being able to train almost all the drills and looked real sharp including a lovely burst through the middle of the ground before lacing out burgess, as well as run down tackles on both crouch and thilthorpe which were htb.
Gallagher - trained across half back which hasn’t really been the case up until now, was more forward earlier in the pre season.
Sholl - thought he made some uncharacteristic errors by foot today. Has anyone told him he’s a better kick on his left??
Butts - don’t like to be too negative but I feel like his game is still going a bit backwards. Not taking the game on and slows things down too much, and overall I don’t think hes moving as fluently as previous years. Doesn’t scream a confident player at present which he needs as a defender. Hopefully lifts once match sim starts.
Keane - every so often makes an absolute howler, usually a lazy kick that dribbles along the deck, but overall unlike butts appears to be full of confidence and taking the game on. Sometimes looks too casual in his movements but it almost always seems to work. Almost.
Finally there was a bunch of running at the end of the session. The group was divided into two groups - mids and the rest. The mids ran about 150m at high speed around 10 times, while the rest did wrestling drills. They then swapped once the mids were done and did high speed runs of about 100m.
The mids were split into three groups which appeared to be roughly based on running ability, as follows:
Bond, jones, billy, keays / sholl, Ned, rankine, edwards (only for five reps before rested) / Dawson, berry, cook, pedlar, Taylor. Berry joined the second group once edwards was done.
Things that caught my eye was cook keeping up well with dawson in the later reps and taylor although still last definitely not lagging as much compared to the same drill last pre season. Good to see.
Thanks Bigman. You’re a legend.
Based on your reports, seems like Cook has an opportunity to start forward/best 22 and young Ryan will feature early. Really exciting stuff.
Taylor also starting to excite me. I really hope he gets fit enough to feature.
Based on your reports, seems like Cook has an opportunity to start forward/best 22 and young Ryan will feature early. Really exciting stuff.
Taylor also starting to excite me. I really hope he gets fit enough to feature.
Been saying this since he first started. Always nails kicks on the left and his right foot seems to be more inaccurate and possibly getting worse over time.
When he has time, he also takes a while to make a decision and usually just takes a safe long option on the right foot. Needs to take the game on or he has little affect on the game.
Bigman in these drills where they moved the ball forward, did the forwards take turns leading to a specific area or was it like a scatter gun and the player with the ball had multiple forward options?
Was Tex still the main target or were the entries shared around?
Was Tex still the main target or were the entries shared around?
now that we're in contending mode, it'll be interesting to see whether Nicks/VB are wedded to the 4 man midfield system. Dawson, Crouch and Laird are locked in as full timers, leaving 1 spot vacant. How many, and who, will run through the final spot?
Smith isn't stupid enough to allow tyat sort of hit to his statistical output.
Hopefully it's Fog going to another level and not Tex falling off a cliff.
Thanks Bigman, your summaries of training are awesome, it’s great to hear about how the boys are tracking. Just a couple of questions, is Hinge working with the defenders? Or is he being used on the wing. I just think his upside as either an inside or outside mid is untapped and would love to see him tried over the summer. Also just wondering who Dragon is? I’ve been trying to work it out from a process of elimination, but I’m struggling.
Full credit to Bigman I’ve loved the detailed insights through the Summer. Thankyou!!
I popped down to training today also and here were my observations…
Was a fair bit of competitive whole ground 16 v 16 which was great to watch transitioning the ball from defence to attack.
-Oscar Ryan looks to have settled in, moves well across half back, comfortable getting the ball and uses it. Has zip.
-Edwards is a big boy but raw
-Worrell stood out a fair bit. Looking very fit, confident and vocal on the field
-Milera looked v good then was rested for much of it. Most of the veterans were eased out some drills to manage them
-Curtin has an Elite leg that can hit gaps in zones. Already a better kick than many in the squad from what I saw. He’s a big boy- coped fine with the AFL training standard, running etc
-Berry getting it a fair bit but doesn’t look super confident with his decisions- people often in his ear trying to help him which I’m not sure it actually was.
-Nankervis has thickened up and a few real classy plays showing composure in traffic. He’s a pretty good size now and his body shape change made me take a while to recognise him.
-Butts compared to others really slow decisions and ball use is questionable - not sure he’s a lock anymore
-Pedlar intensity through the roof- monster but burns it occasionally. In good nick
-Jones Nank Michalanney, Worrell Dowling all thickened up noticeably
-Keane looks leaner/fitter
-Chase Jones surprisingly looking very good considering his injury late last year which looked serious
-Rankine = gun does it all so easily in match play. Never rushed into decisions.
-Rachele often takes difficult options and I wish sometimes he’d take the simple option when it’s there. Looks in good condition though but finishing was average to poor in the breeze.
-Smith consistently butchered the ball when going for short hit up kicks to leading forwards in the breezy conditions.
-Tex virtually another coach out there(did more coaching then some assistants out there). May have a future as an assistant as looked comfortable in the role.
-Burgess kicks the ball beautifully and a v good athlete.
-Probably Cook and Gollant fighting for McAdam’s spot. Not much between them.
-Didn’t notice senior players (Laird, Dawson, Sloane) much today apart from Crouch who was racking up the touches as per normal.
I popped down to training today also and here were my observations…
Was a fair bit of competitive whole ground 16 v 16 which was great to watch transitioning the ball from defence to attack.
-Oscar Ryan looks to have settled in, moves well across half back, comfortable getting the ball and uses it. Has zip.
-Edwards is a big boy but raw
-Worrell stood out a fair bit. Looking very fit, confident and vocal on the field
-Milera looked v good then was rested for much of it. Most of the veterans were eased out some drills to manage them
-Curtin has an Elite leg that can hit gaps in zones. Already a better kick than many in the squad from what I saw. He’s a big boy- coped fine with the AFL training standard, running etc
-Berry getting it a fair bit but doesn’t look super confident with his decisions- people often in his ear trying to help him which I’m not sure it actually was.
-Nankervis has thickened up and a few real classy plays showing composure in traffic. He’s a pretty good size now and his body shape change made me take a while to recognise him.
-Butts compared to others really slow decisions and ball use is questionable - not sure he’s a lock anymore
-Pedlar intensity through the roof- monster but burns it occasionally. In good nick
-Jones Nank Michalanney, Worrell Dowling all thickened up noticeably
-Keane looks leaner/fitter
-Chase Jones surprisingly looking very good considering his injury late last year which looked serious
-Rankine = gun does it all so easily in match play. Never rushed into decisions.
-Rachele often takes difficult options and I wish sometimes he’d take the simple option when it’s there. Looks in good condition though but finishing was average to poor in the breeze.
-Smith consistently butchered the ball when going for short hit up kicks to leading forwards in the breezy conditions.
-Tex virtually another coach out there(did more coaching then some assistants out there). May have a future as an assistant as looked comfortable in the role.
-Burgess kicks the ball beautifully and a v good athlete.
-Probably Cook and Gollant fighting for McAdam’s spot. Not much between them.
-Didn’t notice senior players (Laird, Dawson, Sloane) much today apart from Crouch who was racking up the touches as per normal.
Nice write up, thanks
Watching 7news. They showed Himmelberg and said sometimes gotta go backward to go forward. New role for forgotten crow.
I’m assuming berg is training as a defender then
