Training Pre season training

[Joffaboy]

Praise the Lord we are Christmas Premiers once again!

Seriously though, great info in here, appreciated as always & very exciting times/signs!

I re read my player by player review after some constructive criticism and yes, I had hardly a bad word to say about anyone.

I think it is because pre Christmas training is fairly not contact drills so little pressure. Every player on the list has the requisite skills to be on an AFL list so are elite in the context of their AFL ability.

When I do the post Christmas review I will cast a much more critical eye on the players and try to be as realistic as possible. there are caveats though. I am a glass half full type of person so I look for the good in a player, I am also a mug supporter who is amateur compared to the people who are actually on the ground making decisions in the AFL industry.

Like the other track watchers who do great training reviews here (not that mine are great mind you), it is intended to give most of the posters here who cant get to training a taste of what is happening. Maybe not the most accurate, however it is an opinions game so take them with a grain of salt.

 

[SteeleSaints]

I too was a little surprised at how small in build the "Flying Viking" was.

I'd hadn't seen him that close up before and when he was powering away(ala Tour de France) on one of those "Super Bikes" was a little shocked at how slim he was.

As you say....very very early days for him.....he's just a kid.

His Gippsland coach said he had hardly touched the weights in his junior years, for me thats a bit of a red flag. But it may have been more his family circumstances than his motivation. He doesnt have a big frame but he doesnt rely on strength as a part of his game. Dalrymple and the club rated him highly lets hope he can fulfill that potential.

 

[SainterinSydney]

His Gippsland coach said he had hardly touched the weights in his junior years, for me thats a bit of a red flag. But it may have been more his family circumstances than his motivation. He doesnt have a big frame but he doesnt rely on strength as a part of his game. Dalrymple and the club rated him highly lets hope he can fulfill that potential.

Also pretty much every other club did as well and Norf were strongly considering him at 2.

 

[Diehard Saint]

His Gippsland coach said he had hardly touched the weights in his junior years, for me thats a bit of a red flag. But it may have been more his family circumstances than his motivation. He doesnt have a big frame but he doesnt rely on strength as a part of his game. Dalrymple and the club rated him highly lets hope he can fulfill that potential.

Not a red flag.
An indication of how much more he can still grow and improve once he does hit the weights.

Lot of clubs rated him even without having done them.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

His Gippsland coach said he had hardly touched the weights in his junior years, for me thats a bit of a red flag. But it may have been more his family circumstances than his motivation. He doesnt have a big frame but he doesnt rely on strength as a part of his game. Dalrymple and the club rated him highly lets hope he can fulfill that potential.

Sometimes i take the opposite view.

If some country kid doesn't have elite training , and doesn't do a lot of weights, and they are still as good as the academy kids in the draft, perhaps they can improve to a huge extent in a professional environment.
For those already in a professional environment , what you see might be what you get.

 

[SainterinSydney]

His Gippsland coach said he had hardly touched the weights in his junior years, for me thats a bit of a red flag. But it may have been more his family circumstances than his motivation. He doesnt have a big frame but he doesnt rely on strength as a part of his game. Dalrymple and the club rated him highly lets hope he can fulfill that potential.

Nick Riewoldt started off a skinny kid as well.

 

[SteeleSaints]

View attachment 2190914
Nick Riewoldt started off a skinny kid as well.

A lot of young players do, but Roo obviously had the frame to build on. The other thing is that was 20 odd years ago, the best young kids now days are much more developed and generally hit the gym years before they are drafted.

 

[SainterinSydney]

A lot of young players do, but Roo obviously had the frame to build on. The other thing is that was 20 odd years ago, the best young kids now days are much more developed and generally hit the gym years before they are drafted.

Too much St Kilda pessimism! We need some Xmas optimism.

 

[pebblesofsand]

This year we started the season against the cats ( and we brought it to them ) with 4 new players.
Henry, Wilson, Bonner , and Collard ( Sub).

Lineup was :
Stocker , Cordy , Wilkie ( Howard injured during Community game , Webster suspended , Paton-Pec ).
Battle , Bonner , Wanganeen-Milera ( Sinclair-calf , Clark-face ).
Wood, Ross, Hill
Wilson, Henry , Owens. ( Butler-ankle, Wilson had put in an outstanding pre-season, and with other outs, deserved selection).
Higgins , King, Membrey.

Marshall, Steele, Phillipou

Windhager , Byrnes ,Crouch , Sharman. ( Dow-knee, Hayes-knee ,

I think Sharman was a late out and Collard was sub.

To me that was a pretty straightforward selection, with best substitutes for those injured.
Even with a few second string players we did well against the Cats.

Its harder to come up with an "obvious" best 22 next year.

Maybe :
FB: Webster, Howard, Wilkie.
HB: Sinclair, XXXX , Wanganeen-Milera
C: Wood, Phillipou, Hill
HF: Henry, Butler, Sharman
FF: Higgins, King, Owens.

F Marshall, Macrae, Steele

B: Windhager, Jones , Byrnes, Garcia, Wilson , Clark , Dow
What's great is i really don't care who misses out on those bench spots.

XXXX -- golden question, Shoey? Barrat?, Keeler? Hammer?, or do they go conservative and use Cordy at FB, Howard at CHB?

Have my doubts that Henry will be fit enough to play 1st round. Other than that I pretty much agree except for Sharman as a lock for 3rd tall fwd.

Third tall defender and 3rd tall fwd are about the only two spots that don't really pick themselves at this stage. Safety first option for defence might be Cordy.

But then again Sharman or Caminiti could easily be selected to either play back or fwd.

Schoenmaker looked OK last year but its a completely different role which means he'd need to improve his marking and defensive side.


May not start the year there but my money is on Barrat as 3rd tall defender by the end of the year.


FB: Webster, Howard, Wilkie.
HB: Sinclair, XXXX , Wanganeen-Milera
C: Wood, Phillipou, Hill
HF: Wilson, Butler, XXXX
FF: Higgins, King, Owens.

F Marshall, Macrae, Steele

B: Windhager, Jones , Clark ,Dow (Vacant spots - mix of Sharman, Caminiti, Cordy, Schoenmaker, Barrat ????)

 

[ScrappyDo]

I too was a little surprised at how small in build the "Flying Viking" was.

I'd hadn't seen him that close up before and when he was powering away(ala Tour de France) on one of those "Super Bikes" was a little shocked at how slim he was.

As you say....very very early days for him.....he's just a kid.

It's probably context at work. In his draft night video you get to see him alongside normal people and he's a lot bigger. He's a bit of a unique build though. I can't think of a comparison tbh.

 

[akaifu]

Tauru’s build is not a problem in the slightest

 

[ScrappyDo]

Tauru’s build is not a problem in the slightest

No one really said it was...

 

[akaifu]

No one really said it was...

Calling it a red flag implies it

 

[gringo2011]

Sometimes i take the opposite view.

If some country kid doesn't have elite training , and doesn't do a lot of weights, and they are still as good as the academy kids in the draft, perhaps they can improve to a huge extent in a professional environment.
For those already in a professional environment , what you see might be what you get.

Worked okay for Nat Fyfe.

 

[Joffaboy]

His Gippsland coach said he had hardly touched the weights in his junior years, for me thats a bit of a red flag. But it may have been more his family circumstances than his motivation. He doesnt have a big frame but he doesnt rely on strength as a part of his game. Dalrymple and the club rated him highly lets hope he can fulfill that potential.

He is in the AFL system now, do the requisite training, commensurate with your physical build and what the expert trainers want and how they want you to develop.

Don't do that and you will be out on your arse and we will talk about a no.10 bust. It is as simple as that.

I saw blokes on Wednesday do a 2 hour gut busting, high intensity session followed by multiply 500 hundreds. I saw players like O'Connell almost pass out, I saw Collard have a poor 500 hundred, Henry on the bike 'c'mon brudda, stop the head wobbles' as Collard stuggled. Next go he went as hard as he possibly could for the 500 and continued on for another lap, he was passed by one runner but he kept going as hard as he could even though he was completely blown, collapsing on to his hands and knees at the finish line.

I saw King run himself until he was retching, and then backed up for more. This is what is required and demanded at the Saints. Everyone from Steele down gets with this commitment or your AFL career will be short. Tauru has been on the sideline watching, he knows what is required.

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

He played as a rebounding half back, not as a lock down. Major difference

And it looks like we are preparing him for more midfield this season

I’d rather have faith that he can be a more consistent version of his Collingwood game than to have faith in him replacing Webster

He might not be the most gifted player on the list, but his immense work ethic leads me to believe he can still become a very good player for us in a position of need alongside Pou

He played abit of both. Anyway, as I said, he's accountable 1 on 1, so is suited to nullifying the small forward.

 

[Leap of Faith]

And how was Webster the first few years at the club? Stocker and Sinclair likewise. You blokes have very short memories and are quick to write kids off if they arent super stars in their first couple of years. McLennan might not play 200 games or displace anyone in the side, but he is a young kid who will keep improving over time. He has one elite skill in contested marking, none of our current small defenders possess that, he is worth persisting with.

Have a look at the years of development the recent sucessful clubs have put into some of their group before they became premiership players. There are no quick fixes in football, just hard work and development

Speaking of writing players off before they’ve had a chance - Harry Boyd says hi.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Speaking of writing players off before they’ve had a chance - Harry Boyd says hi.

OK .... i'm thinking we should start a long discussion about whether we were right in getting Boyd, or whether we should have tried to keep Tom Campbell.

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

Have my doubts that Henry will be fit enough to play 1st round. Other than that I pretty much agree except for Sharman as a lock for 3rd tall fwd.

Third tall defender and 3rd tall fwd are about the only two spots that don't really pick themselves at this stage. Safety first option for defence might be Cordy.

But then again Sharman or Caminiti could easily be selected to either play back or fwd.

Schoenmaker looked OK last year but its a completely different role which means he'd need to improve his marking and defensive side.


May not start the year there but my money is on Barrat as 3rd tall defender by the end of the year.


FB: Webster, Howard, Wilkie.
HB: Sinclair, XXXX , Wanganeen-Milera
C: Wood, Phillipou, Hil, although you left out Keeler.
HF: Wilson, Butler, XXXX
FF: Higgins, King, Owens.

F Marshall, Macrae, Steele

B: Windhager, Jones , Clark ,Dow (Vacant spots - mix of Sharman, Caminiti, Cordy, Schoenmaker, Barrat ????)

Caminiti & Sharman then, it seems, although you left out Kèeler.

 

[akaifu]

OK .... i'm thinking we should start a long discussion about whether we were right in getting Boyd, or whether we should have tried to keep Tom Campbell.

In 10 months time after Boyd wins the Norm Smith

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

OK .... i'm thinking we should start a long discussion about whether we were right in getting Boyd, or whether we should have tried to keep Tom Campbell.

Biggest reason in getting Boyd over Campbell, is that he's 26 y.o. Other reason is that he was the best credentialed State ruckman. Done, move on haha.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

In 10 months time after Boyd wins the Norm Smith

We still have a void in our Bigfooty since the relevance of Longer vs Hickey stopped.

 

[SaintWrld]

For what it’s worth I heard last night from a very reliable source that Caminiti will be staying with the forward line group when he returns from his shoulder recon rehab in the new year.

 

[SteeleSaints]

Speaking of writing players off before they’ve had a chance - Harry Boyd says hi.

The difference is Boyd wasnt on our list when I was discussing him.

Now if Boyd suceeds I will be the first the concede how very wrong I was. Time will tell I guess I still have strong doubts. My beef with picking up Boyd was discussed before the National Draft and I was concerned we would be over looking quality kids to fit him in. As it turned out we passed on Hofmann and didnt take Cole or Peckett, so that left list positions for players like Dodson (huge potential ruckman) & Said then to grab Boyd as a rookie. Its a lot different to considering taking him as a National Draft choice.

You might recall I was skeptical of Adrian Cole as a prospect, said I wouldnt take him and copped ridicule because of it. Plenty on the forum thought I was nuts and had NFI what was I was talking. I think I was well vindicated when he was completely over looked in both drafts by all clubs. Elwood Peckett was also but at least the club have continued to work on his development brought him into the fold at Sandringham and would think he is a MSD chance if we have any LTI's.

I also had strong discussions with some re Smiley's game, as some touted him as a definite No 1 pick which I questioned. As it turned there is talk that the Saints werent even going to take him if he fell through to our picks. Footy is a subjective topic, I have strong views at times because I want the best out of all our players and sucess for the club.

 

[SteeleSaints]

Caminiti & Sharman then, it seems, although you left out Kèeler.

What about Boyd?