Training Pre season training

[akaifu]

Training Report 27/11

Rehab Group:
King, Wood, Stocker, Windy. Windy looks close to re-joining main training as he was running laps at a very quick pace which suggests he may be close to returning to the main group.

No Zac Jones or Liam Henry

Harry Boyd was training. He's a HUGE unit (arms & legs) although not overly tall for a ruckman at 198cm. Very, very strong though.

New Recruits:

All there bar Alix Tauru

Some new numbers:

Travaglia #5
Boxshall #37
Dodson #34
Said #33
Barratt #28

There was also another kid training with this group wearing number 39 (I think it might have been Elwood Peckett).

Main Training:

Three groups rotating through 3 different drills. One of these was a tackling drill. Pou and Hugo were tackling for keeps. High intensity. Darcy Wilson was also impressive in this tackling drill. Collard showing off his side stepping in the tackling drill. Macrae is also a very strong tackler. He and Steele were matched up together in the tackling drill and seem to have already formed a very strong connection.

The new recruits trained away from the main group which involved warm ups, running drills and then some light kick to kick work. Patrick Said has some pretty nice skills for a smallish guy. Boxshall also looked pretty good. Travaglia is the skinniest of our new recruits so will need to put on some size. Damien Carroll took the session with the new recruits. Looks like they will be slowly integrated into the main training group.

Most of the drills seemed to be focused on stoppage work and moving the ball into the forward 50. Given our issues in the first half of last season, it looks like it's a definite area of focus. What's clear from training is that we have a lot of good ball users in our squad, particularly kicking skills.

I watched a couple of the ruck drills where two rucks were pitted against each other. Ro Vs Heath, (Ro easily won), and Boyd Vs Keeler, (where Boyd easily beat Keeler through his sheer strength). He's a very strong boy.

Pou, Hugo & Keeler continue to be the standouts. Keeler is a very good runner for his size, and is clearly our best big man runner. I guess the only thing that has held him back is his competitiveness, but based on what I have seen so far it seems like the penny has dropped for him. Perhaps having guys like Pou & Hugo are driving him to become better?

At 11.30am, the players swapped boots for running shoes and finished off the session with some running drills. In fairness to Max Heath I think his running has definitely improved since last pre-season. Zane Cordy still needs to remove the pebbles out of his shoes

Overall, the standard of training is incredible. So professional, which is probably something that has been missing since the last time RTB was our coach. Everything is so well planned and co-ordinated and the players are so in sync with everything. Even the quality of the drills is very high. Lots of targets being hit, very clean, and lots of encouragement for each other. At one point Pou was yelling out encouragement to teammate in another group on the opposite side of the ground. This guy is the real deal, and someone you can build a club around. A natural born leader, and will drive standards at the club for the next 12 years. Even in the running drill towards the end, players broke into small groups and ran fast laps around the oval - Pou made sure to be in the same group as Wilson, Garcia, Irish & Steele. He does not take short cuts. So much so that when others walk to re-start a drill, he runs to the starting position. I'm really excited to see what this kid will do next season.

Cheers,

If Dodson was wearing #34 then what was Garcia wearing?

 

[phantom13]

Go on.

Just alot of stories around the traps of players taking issue with the way he does his business.

 

[Broski]

Training Report 27/11

Rehab Group:
King, Wood, Stocker, Windy. Windy looks close to re-joining main training as he was running laps at a very quick pace which suggests he may be close to returning to the main group.

No Zac Jones or Liam Henry

Harry Boyd was training. He's a HUGE unit (arms & legs) although not overly tall for a ruckman at 198cm. Very, very strong though.

New Recruits:

All there bar Alix Tauru

Some new numbers:

Travaglia #5
Boxshall #37
Dodson #34
Said #33
Barratt #28

There was also another kid training with this group wearing number 39 (I think it might have been Elwood Peckett).

Main Training:

Three groups rotating through 3 different drills. One of these was a tackling drill. Pou and Hugo were tackling for keeps. High intensity. Darcy Wilson was also impressive in this tackling drill. Collard showing off his side stepping in the tackling drill. Macrae is also a very strong tackler. He and Steele were matched up together in the tackling drill and seem to have already formed a very strong connection.

The new recruits trained away from the main group which involved warm ups, running drills and then some light kick to kick work. Patrick Said has some pretty nice skills for a smallish guy. Boxshall also looked pretty good. Travaglia is the skinniest of our new recruits so will need to put on some size. Damien Carroll took the session with the new recruits. Looks like they will be slowly integrated into the main training group.

Most of the drills seemed to be focused on stoppage work and moving the ball into the forward 50. Given our issues in the first half of last season, it looks like it's a definite area of focus. What's clear from training is that we have a lot of good ball users in our squad, particularly kicking skills.

I watched a couple of the ruck drills where two rucks were pitted against each other. Ro Vs Heath, (Ro easily won), and Boyd Vs Keeler, (where Boyd easily beat Keeler through his sheer strength). He's a very strong boy.

Pou, Hugo & Keeler continue to be the standouts. Keeler is a very good runner for his size, and is clearly our best big man runner. I guess the only thing that has held him back is his competitiveness, but based on what I have seen so far it seems like the penny has dropped for him. Perhaps having guys like Pou & Hugo are driving him to become better?

At 11.30am, the players swapped boots for running shoes and finished off the session with some running drills. In fairness to Max Heath I think his running has definitely improved since last pre-season. Zane Cordy still needs to remove the pebbles out of his shoes

Overall, the standard of training is incredible. So professional, which is probably something that has been missing since the last time RTB was our coach. Everything is so well planned and co-ordinated and the players are so in sync with everything. Even the quality of the drills is very high. Lots of targets being hit, very clean, and lots of encouragement for each other. At one point Pou was yelling out encouragement to teammate in another group on the opposite side of the ground. This guy is the real deal, and someone you can build a club around. A natural born leader, and will drive standards at the club for the next 12 years. Even in the running drill towards the end, players broke into small groups and ran fast laps around the oval - Pou made sure to be in the same group as Wilson, Garcia, Irish & Steele. He does not take short cuts. So much so that when others walk to re-start a drill, he runs to the starting position. I'm really excited to see what this kid will do next season.

Cheers,

Hearing about the leadership qualities that Pou has displayed this preseason, it makes me think of Elijah Tsatas slumming it at the Hangar. One is looking like a standard setter, leader and potential star of this league, while the other is a chance of being delisted.

 

[jimmytigs]

If Dodson was wearing #34 then what was Garcia wearing?

would think a typo,someone else reported dodson in 38 earlier

 

[gringo2011]

Just alot of stories around the traps of players taking issue with the way he does his business.

Yeah, Carlton fans said he left with a lot of players happy to see the back of him. Don't know how true it is but certainly not many fans upset about him going.

 

[aussierulesrules]

100%. We can't fall back on depth. That said Lyon has been pretty brave playing kids first when there is the option of an okay older player there and a developing kid. I'd say injuries to mids and forwards cost us the whole season this year. Even when our form was better late it was a rag tag side. Having King, Butler, and a Henry along with a decent midfield group should be huge. So many players have a step up in them too. Wood was down after he injured himself, Owens was below his best, Windhager....even Clark, Dow, Jones and those type of fringe players have more in them.

If everything can fall into place I think we could be rapid improvers.

You could also point out that we didn't play a home game until about quarter of the way through the season and by that time momentum had definitely dropped away and people stopped showing up. That's a real energy sapper.

100% agree with all of that. Was going to say largely the same thing in response to someone else’s comment the other day re the low point of our year, which was probably the Freo and Melbourne losses.

I think by that stage the toll of our brutal draw (5 games interstate or in Geelong in the first 9, two 5 day breaks, ZERO legitimate home ground advantage games in the first 9) and all our injuries, finally caught up with us, and we’d just lost all the confidence and momentum that we built up last year and in the first couple of rounds. And it took until we got those two “soft kill” games against West Coast and Gold Coast, then the bye, for us to regroup, reset, tweak some things, regain our confidence and momentum, etc.

Totally agree that if everything falls into place we could really shoot up. So many guys under 25 with serious upside and our midfield in particular ought to be so much better.

On the other hand, if we get hit hard by injuries again, coupled with another brutal first 9 weeks draw, we could easily be bottom 4. Given how young and inexperienced our depth is.

I could see how we could be anywhere from as high as top 4, to bottom 4, or anywhere in between. Especially as 5th bottom this year had 11 wins and percentage of 98!

 

[sasaint]

Marshall (29)

Boyd (26)
Heath (22)
Keeler* (20)
Dodson (18)

(Ages by the start of season 2025).

I’m inclined to agree with you, but only because of those five only Keeler has - in my view - genuine multi-positional versatility, albeit Moose has shown some aptitude as a forward.

I think both Keeler and Ro could be handy up forward so maybe Boyd could be a Ruck/rover when Ro needs a rest and Ro goes forward.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Thought that might be the case. I would shocked, in those circumstances, if he wasn’t the “Sandy Rookie” next year.

The problem is that if he’s shaping well, then he can be picked by anybody

 

[Tommy Wigs]

So Tauru potentially inside working on the back?

 

[Yawkey way]

Thought that might be the case. I would shocked, in those circumstances, if he wasn’t the “Sandy Rookie” next year.

Earn it.

 

[phantom13]

100% agree with all of that. Was going to say largely the same thing in response to someone else’s comment the other day re the low point of our year, which was probably the Freo and Melbourne losses.

I think by that stage the toll of our brutal draw (5 games interstate or in Geelong in the first 9, two 5 day breaks, ZERO legitimate home ground advantage games in the first 9) and all our injuries, finally caught up with us, and we’d just lost all the confidence and momentum that we built up last year and in the first couple of rounds. And it took until we got those two “soft kill” games against West Coast and Gold Coast, then the bye, for us to regroup, reset, tweak some things, regain our confidence and momentum, etc.

Totally agree that if everything falls into place we could really shoot up. So many guys under 25 with serious upside and our midfield in particular ought to be so much better.

On the other hand, if we get hit hard by injuries again, coupled with another brutal first 9 weeks draw, we could easily be bottom 4.

I could see how we could be anywhere from as high as top 4, to bottom 4.

The saints in no mans land thread has so many people refusing to see any way we could possibly improve from last year.

As it stands to me, we showed good form in the back end of the year (including beating a grand finalists and a prelim finalist), weve (softly) adressed the midfield issue with Macrae and have considerable expected improvement in the likes of Windy, Pou, Garcia, Wilson as well as role players in Clark, Dow etc. Our forward line has a shot at using its VAST talent with a decent pre season, some continuity and chemisty (combining with a decent if not good midfield) and our backline remains pretty solid (albeit Battle is a loss).

To me its weird most non saints fan seem so assured well be terrible this year.

 

[Miha]

Who’s wearing #50

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Who’s wearing #50

Sounds like Boyd

 

[Munga]

The real question on everyone's lips, could Boyd break Gehrig's AFL benchpress record?

 

[yipper]

Sounds like Boyd

Lazar Vidovic is back??

 

[Imtellingya]

So there’s no spot for Elwood on the list, but he’s training with us anyway?

Curious.

If I recall

So there’s no spot for Elwood on the list, but he’s training with us anyway?

Curious.

If I recall part of the agreement with Sandy was that Sandy players could train with the Saints players to improve their skills. There was sometimes up to 6 or so Sandy players training with the Saints last pre season and continued throughout the season.

 

[Remboy]

44 characters and ego's the coach has to deal with. I bet there are a few in every club that dislikes the coach and think they should be getting a shot at the big time before such and such a player.

Or they think they are better than they are like the Hotton's and hate the coach and club when they are cut. I have no dog in this fight, I dont want to be friends with a coach, but maybe, just maybe Bolton didn't offer Touhey a biscuit and that upset him.

If my coach pinched the last tim tam out of the cookie jar that would be the tipping point for me too.

 

[NextYearPlease]

More interested in knowing if he can play football...plenty of young guys can run fast

Didn’t you see any games last year?


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[aussierulesrules]

The saints in no mans land thread has so many people refusing to see any way we could possibly improve from last year.

As it stands to me, we showed good form in the back end of the year (including beating a grand finalists and a prelim finalist), weve (softly) adressed the midfield issue with Macrae and have considerable expected improvement in the likes of Windy, Pou, Garcia, Wilson as well as role players in Clark, Dow etc. Our forward line has a shot at using its VAST talent with a decent pre season, some continuity and chemisty (combining with a decent if not good midfield) and our backline remains pretty solid (albeit Battle is a loss).

To me its weird most non saints fan seem so assured well be terrible this year.

I wouldn’t get too caught up in what those types are saying in that thread.

They don’t see the potential because they don’t want to see the potential.

All they want is to suck you into a never-ending argument to nowhere.

It’s narcissism 101. They’re just after attention.

They throw out bait, see who takes it, and then when they’ve got you on the hook, they go into their little bag of tricks to keep you engaged for as long as possible. Gaslighting, strawmanning, projection, etc.

And bonus points if they can get under your skin and get you upset.

It’s all designed to fuel their extremely fragile ego.

If you’re going to be posting regularly online, it really pays to do some research on narcissism, because those with narcissistic personalities are all around, and getting into any kind of debate or argument with them is about as pointless as banging your head up against a brick wall.

I know this through a lifetime of experience of dealing with it. Not knowing what it was I was dealing with until a couple of years ago.

They can and will argue that the sky is green and water is dry until the cows come home, no matter how much evidence to the contrary is put before them.

Why? Because the more nonsense- or things that are not true, but not so obviously untrue that you’ll just dismiss them- that they spew out, the more they know people will take the bait and get sucked into an argument with them, and then they win, because they’re getting the attention they desperately crave like a drug.

And they’ll use all their subtle tricks and tactics to keep you arguing and giving them that attention for as long as possible.

Thankfully, they’re not that hard to spot once you know what to look for. Their MO’s are basically all the same.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Between 9 and 10 minutes, but I don't think the club has released exact times so I won't either

No club releases the times as they're all commercial in confidence

 

[aidansbonor]

Training Report 27/11

Rehab Group:
King, Wood, Stocker, Windy. Windy looks close to re-joining main training as he was running laps at a very quick pace which suggests he may be close to returning to the main group.

No Zac Jones or Liam Henry

Harry Boyd was training. He's a HUGE unit (arms & legs) although not overly tall for a ruckman at 198cm. Very, very strong though.

New Recruits:

All there bar Alix Tauru

Some new numbers:

Travaglia #5
Boxshall #37
Dodson #34
Said #33
Barratt #28

There was also another kid training with this group wearing number 39 (I think it might have been Elwood Peckett).

Main Training:

Three groups rotating through 3 different drills. One of these was a tackling drill. Pou and Hugo were tackling for keeps. High intensity. Darcy Wilson was also impressive in this tackling drill. Collard showing off his side stepping in the tackling drill. Macrae is also a very strong tackler. He and Steele were matched up together in the tackling drill and seem to have already formed a very strong connection.

The new recruits trained away from the main group which involved warm ups, running drills and then some light kick to kick work. Patrick Said has some pretty nice skills for a smallish guy. Boxshall also looked pretty good. Travaglia is the skinniest of our new recruits so will need to put on some size. Damien Carroll took the session with the new recruits. Looks like they will be slowly integrated into the main training group.

Most of the drills seemed to be focused on stoppage work and moving the ball into the forward 50. Given our issues in the first half of last season, it looks like it's a definite area of focus. What's clear from training is that we have a lot of good ball users in our squad, particularly kicking skills.

I watched a couple of the ruck drills where two rucks were pitted against each other. Ro Vs Heath, (Ro easily won), and Boyd Vs Keeler, (where Boyd easily beat Keeler through his sheer strength). He's a very strong boy.

Pou, Hugo & Keeler continue to be the standouts. Keeler is a very good runner for his size, and is clearly our best big man runner. I guess the only thing that has held him back is his competitiveness, but based on what I have seen so far it seems like the penny has dropped for him. Perhaps having guys like Pou & Hugo are driving him to become better?

At 11.30am, the players swapped boots for running shoes and finished off the session with some running drills. In fairness to Max Heath I think his running has definitely improved since last pre-season. Zane Cordy still needs to remove the pebbles out of his shoes

Overall, the standard of training is incredible. So professional, which is probably something that has been missing since the last time RTB was our coach. Everything is so well planned and co-ordinated and the players are so in sync with everything. Even the quality of the drills is very high. Lots of targets being hit, very clean, and lots of encouragement for each other. At one point Pou was yelling out encouragement to teammate in another group on the opposite side of the ground. This guy is the real deal, and someone you can build a club around. A natural born leader, and will drive standards at the club for the next 12 years. Even in the running drill towards the end, players broke into small groups and ran fast laps around the oval - Pou made sure to be in the same group as Wilson, Garcia, Irish & Steele. He does not take short cuts. So much so that when others walk to re-start a drill, he runs to the starting position. I'm really excited to see what this kid will do next season.

Cheers,

Thanks for this, really appreciate it

 

[botts]

I’m putting 50 bucks of Hugo to win the rising star

 

[saintbill]

Never say never of course and not saying he'll reach the level of this superstar but Darcy Wilson is the best chance of not having 2nd year blues since the legend Harves.

I just looked back through the AFL tracker for this seasons games and Darcy's running stats would have had the football world in complete meltdown if he played for "insert overrated big Melbourne club name here". And oh he wins the ball at either end.

There was no one close that had 12 (plus) 15km games whilst having the most sprints at close to or above 30 each time. Hilly only beat him close to the end of the season when he had his "first winter" blues. He bounced back in the last few rounds to be metronomic again.

He may well get injured but just like Harves did once he started getting 30 disposals a game because of a workrate better than anyone else I'm convinced it would only be injury that will get Darcy. There is no "putting effort into him". Opposition coaches won't have the players to go with him and if they do they'll want their own player to do their own thing.

We have a beauty on our hands. Reckon I'm a fan?

Was at a Saints event a few months ago and Jake Batchelor said Wilson was the best runner he had ever seen in football, ALREADY!

Seriously excited about this kid.

 

[my name was taken]

The saints in no mans land thread has so many people refusing to see any way we could possibly improve from last year.

As it stands to me, we showed good form in the back end of the year (including beating a grand finalists and a prelim finalist), weve (softly) adressed the midfield issue with Macrae and have considerable expected improvement in the likes of Windy, Pou, Garcia, Wilson as well as role players in Clark, Dow etc. Our forward line has a shot at using its VAST talent with a decent pre season, some continuity and chemisty (combining with a decent if not good midfield) and our backline remains pretty solid (albeit Battle is a loss).

To me its weird most non saints fan seem so assured well be terrible this year.

Main board is a cesspit anyway.

You'll find it's the same people who say every off-season for a decade
-Geelong collapse imminent , who don't
-Carlton top 4 lock, who havent been close to a lock
-Essendon will finally win a final, just outlandish shit.

Sure they will be right eventually, but so was that octopus who 'predicted' world cup winners. Pretty sure that octopus had a better strike rate too. An octopus has 9 brains, and it's still 9 more than any of those posters.

 

[Nutsngum]

Main board is a cesspit anyway.

You'll find it's the same people who say every off-season for a decade
-Geelong collapse imminent , who don't
-Carlton top 4 lock, who havent been close to a lock
-Essendon will finally win a final, just outlandish shit.

Sure they will be right eventually, but so was that octopus who 'predicted' world cup winners. Pretty sure that octopus had a better strike rate too. An octopus has 9 brains, and it's still 9 more than any of those posters.

Its a lot of people who are really just there to aggravate and troll others, not provide any real discussion.