2015 Pre-Season

[Twodogs]

First job tomorrow morning is to get Thursday morning off work! I'll be there

Looking forward to the.training notes Jaytee.

[LostDoggy]

Just got back from Eureka Stadium watching the lads go through the paces. The sun was out, but the wind was pretty severe and absolutely freezing.

There was a decent turnout, probably around 50-65 people. More were turning up as I was leaving. Alot were sitting in there cars around the ground due to the chilly wind.

I missed the last 20-25 minutes due to needing to be back at the office, so saw just over an hour of training.

It was a pretty stock standard session, with majority of the drills done at most pre season sessions.

They did the normal warm-ups, then broke into the 3 groups and did some drills. The midfielders involved a heap of handballing in close before releasing a player in the open to deliver. Big focus on the quick movment still.

A kicking drill followed which I have seen them do a few times now where they finish up with delivering with the opposite foot to the goal square. The swirling breeze made this pretty sloppy.

Half the group then played some 9 on 9 using only the wing between the 50 arcs. Seemed like if the ball hit the deck it was a turnover. The other half of the group were working on the other side of the ground with what appeared to be a pretty intense and high pressured handballing drill. Then they swapped over.

Some observations:

Those who I didn't see/notice were M.Boyd, Hrovat, Honeychurch & Darley.

Bontempelli didn't train at all. He sat on the excercise bike on the boundary line all session. Didn't notice any signs of injury.

Kobe Stevens didn't join the main group. He was restricted to a couple of laps of the oval and some straight line running. Looked to have some sort of issue.

Talia came out with his knee bandaged, participated in the warm-ups then left the field with a slight limp. Came back out and went through a pretty intense boxing/sit-ups/push-ups session on the boundary.

Fletcher-Roberts and Zaine were out before the main group doing a heap of running and a little but of one on one work on the lead. Despite an interupted run at it this year, Roberts looks in pretty good condition. Both didn't join in the main group.

Prudden trained and looked fine. Showing no effects from the big hit.

Biggs also trained which was good to see. Looked to be moving pretty well. Hopefully he is right to play against Melbourne.

Jongs kicking has come such a long way. He was one of the standouts in the kicking drills. Looked fluent on the run and natural. Something I couldn't say 12 months ago. Although his opposite foot is still a struggle.

Interesting that Goodes was with the midfielders. He is in terrific nick. Trained really well today. I certaintly see him being upgraded.

Wood is just playing and training with confidence at the moment. He was a standout in the 9 on 9, cutting off several kicks. JJ impressed me aswell, was very vocal in organising his teams set up.

All the draftees seemed to be out there. All looking more comfortable.

The most impressive thing for the morning was seeing Clay Smith. He participated in every drill and was busting his gut. Absolute gem of a kid. You can just tell they are trying to hold him back.

[Webby]

Wind's pretty cold in Melbourne today, to be fair. The Kennel wouldn't be much fun, I'd say and Docklands downright freezing!

[Go_Dogs]

Wind's pretty cold in Melbourne today, to be fair. The Kennel wouldn't be much fun, I'd say and Docklands downright freezing!

It is.

Thanks for the report. Really pleased to hear Smith did the full session.

[Maddog37]

Goodes is that trim I had to take a second look to recognise him. I think Biggs has a hammy issue.

Honeychurch was there.

We look so young it is scary. The positive to that is the enthusiasm they have. Boyd bounces round like a big puppy.

Ayce looks in great nic to my eye.

[doggies ftw]

Clay did the whole lesson? There was an article only yesterday that mentioned he's aiming to be back by the end of the NAB cup. I didn't really take too much from it as thought surely thats just a mistake, but is it possible? *!*!*!*! if we can slot him straight into Libbas position it will go a long long long way (but not even close ) to getting rid of my disappointment over losing Libba

[Testekill]

Clay did the whole lesson? There was an article only yesterday that mentioned he's aiming to be back by the end of the NAB cup. I didn't really take too much from it as thought surely thats just a mistake, but is it possible? *!*!*!*! if we can slot him straight into Libbas position it will go a long long long way (but not even close ) to getting rid of my disappointment over losing Libba

Would you ever tell Clay that he's not ready to come back?

[azabob]

Wind's pretty cold in Melbourne today, to be fair. The Kennel wouldn't be much fun, I'd say and Docklands downright freezing!

What about Ballarat where training was?

[Webby]

What about Ballarat where training was?

It was a response to the report saying that Ballarat is absolutely freezing today. ie. Melbourne's wind is bloody cold today, too.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Awesome news re: Clay. Thanks for the report.

[jeemak]

Thanks for the report, appreciate you taking a bullet and missing the joys of work to see the session!

I'm always really nervous with players coming back from knees quickly. It's probably not rational, but something doesn't sit right with me having the return subject to any sort of fanfare or hype, especially when the same knee has been done twice in two seasons.

[Bulldog4life]

Thanks for the report, appreciate you taking a bullet and missing the joys of work to see the session!

I'm always really nervous with players coming back from knees quickly. It's probably not rational, but something doesn't sit right with me having the return subject to any sort of fanfare or hype, especially when the same knee has been done twice in two seasons.

Yes same here although Libba senior came back in 6 mths just about a record I think.

[Mantis]

Yes same here although Libba senior came back in 6 mths just about a record I think.

Wasn't it more like 4 months?

[Bulldog4life]

Wasn't it more like 4 months?

Could have been Mantis not 100% either way.

[Bulldog4life]

Could have been Mantis not 100% either way.

Tony Liberatore returned after his second knee reconstruction 18 weeks after surgery.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...777166204.html