LittleFires
All Australian
Couldn't find a thread for this yet, so thought why not start one...
1st-4th year players in non-finals teams report back for preseason tomorrow. 5th+ year players are required back two weeks later (Monday Nov 25) although we generally see most senior players come back a bit earlier than that.
From an injury standpoint, by my count here are the players who finished 2024 under an injury cloud and may have a delayed start to training:
...so in summary, I'm guessing at least Sheed, Hewett, Brockman, Long and Jamieson will be on separate programs to start. There will probably be more than that with the handful of injuries and surgeries that usually happen in the off-season, but we'll get a better idea on that in the next couple of weeks.
Importantly though, all of the players I've listed should be back in full training by post-Christmas.
There are usually also a couple of positional changes over the course of preseason - here are some players I'm particularly interested to see where they train, especially under a new coach in McQualter:
Open training has been scheduled for this Wednesday from 9:30-11:00 on Oval 1 (https://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/matches/open-training). This appears to be different to the last couple of years, where all pre-Christmas sessions have been on Oval 2 which is easily visible by the public, even for closed sessions.
I'm tipping there will be a closed training session tomorrow (Monday) where the 1st-4th year players will do their fitness test on return - last year it was the MAS 'beep test' style running test, and I'm assuming it'll be the same this year with Mat Inness still in charge as High Performance Manager. I'll try get down tomorrow and see how they go on the track, although if they're training on Oval 1 that will make it a bit harder to watch.
(Also just FYI - due to personal commitments this summer I am not going to be able to watch training nearly as much as I did last preseason, where I went to most training sessions, open and closed. Pre-Christmas I will be able to get down occasionally, but from January I will be out of the country (INB4 Whore Island comments) and unable to provide juicy training reports like last year. It shouldn't be an issue though as I'm sure the reliable Keys will be all over it this preseason).
1st-4th year players in non-finals teams report back for preseason tomorrow. 5th+ year players are required back two weeks later (Monday Nov 25) although we generally see most senior players come back a bit earlier than that.
From an injury standpoint, by my count here are the players who finished 2024 under an injury cloud and may have a delayed start to training:
- Dom Sheed - Underwent further foot surgery in mid-August. I'm tipping he'll be under a modified program to start with given the number of setbacks he's had in recent years.
- Elijah Hewett - Had the sesamoid issues the last couple of years and when he was on the brink of a football return in mid-July, scans revealed a hotspot in his foot. The West is reporting that he's ready for day 1 of preseason but I wouldn't be surprised if he's on a slightly different program to start given his lack of a fitness base.
- Tyler Brockman - Underwent surgery in mid-July after suffering a season-ending syndesmosis injury. Been almost four months since then though so he may be back into full training already.
- Noah Long - Injured his PCL in early May and underwent surgery. Has been 6 months since then so he's likely to be fairly advanced in his recovery. Started running again in early August.
- Brady Hough - Probably will be fine, but was subbed out of R24 with a knee injury. Fortunately scans at the time cleared him of any major damage, so I doubt it will limit him very much.
- Jeremy McGovern - Underwent season-ending thumb surgery after R23. Highly doubt this will still be affecting him.
- Callum Jamieson - Underwent double surgery in late July on both his ankle and knee. This sounded like a fairly significant setback at the time so I'd be surprised if he's back in full training already.
- Liam Ryan - elbow was often heavily strapped in the second half of the season
- Jayden Hunt - carried toe and knee issues throughout 2024 which seemed to impact his form. Did play the last 10 games of the season though.
- Jake Waterman - played through ITB soreness around his knee in the back half of 2024. Missed R19 due to the issue but then played the final 5 games of the season
- Harley Reid - Had some issues with his finger and potentially his ankle towards the back end of the season - both of which he was able to play through.
- Tim Kelly - Played through the season with bone stress and cartilage damage in his knee
- Oscar Allen - Was often wearing heavy strapping late in the season and sometimes seen icing his knee post-game. May have been precautionary given his injury history but wouldn't be surprised if he had some clean-up surgery post season.
...so in summary, I'm guessing at least Sheed, Hewett, Brockman, Long and Jamieson will be on separate programs to start. There will probably be more than that with the handful of injuries and surgeries that usually happen in the off-season, but we'll get a better idea on that in the next couple of weeks.
Importantly though, all of the players I've listed should be back in full training by post-Christmas.
There are usually also a couple of positional changes over the course of preseason - here are some players I'm particularly interested to see where they train, especially under a new coach in McQualter:
- Campbell Chesser - A huge year coming up for Chess. Will the club experiment with playing him in the guts or at half back, or do we persist with playing him on the wing?
- Matt Flynn - Not a positional change per se, but how will Flynn present for day 1 of preseason? Injuries significantly stifled his football in 2024 and he often looked short of a gallop. Needs a big and uninterrupted summer to prove he's capable of being an AFL-level ruck.
- Clay Hall - Transitioned from inside mid to wing late in the season and it got him a few games at senior level to end the year. Will the club continue experimenting with him on the wing, or is it back to the engine room for Hall?
- Harry Barnett - After struggling all season as a ruck in the WAFL, Barnett finished the season playing full-back and showed some promising signs. The departure of Barrass and our subsequent lack of key back depth may see him trialled there throughout preseason.
- Bailey Williams - Someone I am very intrigued to see where he's used. Throughout the last few seasons it has seemed as though the club has seen him as a forward/ruck, who has been forced to play ruck out of necessity. In 2024 Bailey finally got a chance to play as that forward/ruck in the few games Flynn was available, but the combination really did not work as hoped. In fact, through the last 5-6 weeks of the season, Bailey was preferred as the main ruck despite Flynn being available to finish the season. Will McQualter redouble the efforts to play him as a forward, or will he primarily be competing with Flynn for the main ruck spot? Fascinating watch for mine.
- Ryan Maric - After starting his career as a forward, Maric showed promise later in the year on the wing and in defence with his skills. Will be interested to see where he trains over summer.
- Jack Hutchinson - Another interesting watch. After showing some potential in spurts as a forward, Hutchinson was thrown into the midfield in the second half of R24 and had 18-odd disposals in a half, looking at home in the engine room. Will the club look to continue exploring a midfield move for Hutch, or is it back to the forward line for him?
- Liam Baker - Where will the club look to settle him? Is capable of playing in all thirds of the ground.
Open training has been scheduled for this Wednesday from 9:30-11:00 on Oval 1 (https://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/matches/open-training). This appears to be different to the last couple of years, where all pre-Christmas sessions have been on Oval 2 which is easily visible by the public, even for closed sessions.
I'm tipping there will be a closed training session tomorrow (Monday) where the 1st-4th year players will do their fitness test on return - last year it was the MAS 'beep test' style running test, and I'm assuming it'll be the same this year with Mat Inness still in charge as High Performance Manager. I'll try get down tomorrow and see how they go on the track, although if they're training on Oval 1 that will make it a bit harder to watch.
(Also just FYI - due to personal commitments this summer I am not going to be able to watch training nearly as much as I did last preseason, where I went to most training sessions, open and closed. Pre-Christmas I will be able to get down occasionally, but from January I will be out of the country (INB4 Whore Island comments) and unable to provide juicy training reports like last year. It shouldn't be an issue though as I'm sure the reliable Keys will be all over it this preseason).
