Preseason training

[NAUGHTY100]

McNeil has been a bit of a whipping boy but I thought his form really improved in the 2nd half of last year, if he can keep improving then I think he can fill that 2nd small fwd role we desperately need.

Love to hear that for Sanders as well, I think we need to get games into him this year, maybe coming off the bench into the midfield rotation.

Grantysghost will be very happy to hear McNeil did well , he seems to come up better each preseason, fitter stronger , guy has plenty of pace , but as others have said he has just has to nail those gettable goals that he misses .

[NAUGHTY100]

Some of the bullet points for today.
Accurate goal kicking was a pleasant surprise and made for a higher quality game.
Richards, Bontempelli, Darcy and Liberatore were the better performers
Freijah played across half back so I'd say we have settled him there. Sanders was really strong in the midfield and kicked the first goal.
Croft played a fair bit on the wing and to be honest I don't think it suits him
McNeil and West kicked 2 goals each and should be locks for the best 25 considerations.
Davidson was the pick of the pups as a winger, He moves well and and has some excellent defensive attributes.
Gardner was mainly pitted against English and does okay in the role. Busslinger was the FB, JOD CHB
Arty was on a wing and I think it suits him
Hynes kicked a goal and did well. Jaques was used as a forward and while I don't think it's his best spot he knows how to read the play.

Really happy that Davidson was the pick of the new boys , i have high hopes for him , with his marking ability , his run and goal sense he could be a very important cog in the machine.

[Guest]

Kennedy and Davidson to both play round one IMO.

[mal68]

We haven't seen much of Gallagher as he has pretty much been with the managed group for all of the preseason.
I'm not sure how to compare them but I do think they have some claims for a spot with us on the wing
Based on what we have seen so far, Poulter is being remodeled as a forward (and it's working very well) and Baker hasn't spent much time on the wing.
That means the field is narrowing a bit for potential wingers. I'd say Williams and one of either Davidson, Gallagher or Arty are the current front runners.

Cheers, interesting. Definite weak spot for tbelist

[mal68]

Not sure I can edit that but weak spot for the list.

Our coaches don't seem to rate the importance of it

[Bornadog]

[Danny Delre]

When do the regular track watches think the next simulation will be?

[dishlickers987]

Pleasing to hear Darcy doing well. If he can step up to a 50 goal a year forward this year we will be much better off, i realise his goals aren’t kicked in a vacuum considering JUH but defences will have a real handful each week if he can be that level of a threat in front of goal.

[GVGjr]

When do the regular track watches think the next simulation will be?

Really hard to say, the days of the sessions are typically Mon, Wed and Fri each week but you never really know until the day.
I'll try and find out tomorrow.
Normally the match sims are on a Friday but I think the weather conditions factor in to the planning

[Spindles11]

Thanks heaps for this Gary. Love hearing about Darcy tearing up defences. Something I think he’ll do a lot in his career.

[Danny Delre]

Really hard to say, the days of the sessions are typically Mon, Wed and Fri each week but you never really know until the day.
I'll try and find out tomorrow.
Normally the match sims are on a Friday but I think the weather conditions factor in to the planning

Appreciate it. I can make it Friday. Would they have 2 in a week?

[GVGjr]

Appreciate it. I can make it Friday. Would they have 2 in a week?

It's unlikely but given the short week last week it might be a chance.

[DISHLICKERS]

Have heard that Kennedy of the Luke type has impressed and club very happy to have him with his foot skills

Smoky for round 1 given we lack foot skills and he has got that on both sides.

[bulldogfan]

Look i didnt want to say anything about juh i thought i should leave it .But yeah i know he has been training then not training do u think he will be ready for round 1

[Dogs 24/7]

Pleasing to hear Darcy doing well. If he can step up to a 50 goal a year forward this year we will be much better off, i realise his goals aren’t kicked in a vacuum considering JUH but defences will have a real handful each week if he can be that level of a threat in front of goal.

Isn't it exciting? Each year he seems to be making some progress.
12 months ago on the fantastic training reports it was apparent that Darcy was closing the gap between he and Lobb for the 3rd tall forward and back up ruck man role and when he eventually got the promotion he didn't disappoint.
Now he's the clearly in the best key forwards with Naughton working through a managed program and Marra limited in some unknown capacity could Darcy become that dominate #1 key forward for us this year? I wouldn't bet against.
I'll be the first to admit I'm just going off the detailed training reports updates on the Rewards Board but they're giving me hope that Darcy might really be a star forward.