Preseason training

[Rusty12]

I think the 3 that stand out at this stage are Luke kennedy , Davidson , and Jaques a little further behind the 1st two, interesting comparison of Davidson and Bedendo , i get the althleticism comparison but concistencecy was Bedendo's problem were Davidson granted it was only 1 year we saw but he seemed to step up most weeks , Kennedy is my dark horse his running especially defensively is top notch and his disposal great both feet (memories of Lindsey Gillbee ) Jaques i think is more of a need fingers crossed this kid comes on quickly because he would be the perfect foil for the bigger guys down back, great reader of the play knows when to jump and when to stay back and has proficient disposal .

Jaques for me

[Rusty12]

Arty has tremendous upside. I would like to see him given a chance early.

Im curious, what is the upside you see in Arty? How do you define upside?
He will be 22 next year, there is nothing athletically or physically that stands out.
Drifts in and out of games at both AFL and VFL level.
To me, what we see at this point is what it is: a below-average AFL player, who plays a few games if injuries take their toll, and if he is in your best 22 come finals, you are making up the numbers.

[mjp]

Im curious, what is the upside you see in Arty? How do you define upside?

I'm with you.

He doesn't get the ball. His best skill - endurance running - has never been explored at senior level (probs because he doesn't get the ball)...

[SPower]

Personally, I have a selfish view of Arty, purely romance full. Arty went to the same secondary school as my youngest son and his mother is a close relative to the Krakouer family.
We have historically had less indigenous than some other teams and seems like a great young man too,
As noted he is low possession in the stats , but just hope he finds a consistent spot this season.

[jazzadogs]

The young boys are promising but I think Kenndy is a shoo-in for round one.
He is a ready made professional afl footballer, ready to go.

Don't forget we brought in two Kennedy's - Matt traded in from Carlton, and Luke with our last pick in the draft.

The reports on Luke in his first few weeks of pre season have been really positive.

[GVGjr]

Don't forget we bought in two Kennedy's - Matt traded in from Carlton, and Luke with our last pick in the draft.

The reports on Luke in his first few weeks of pre season have been really positive.

The Smith trade went down to the wire because we needed to Geelong to sweeten the deal just a bit so that we could adequately compensate Carlton for Matt Kennedy. It was part of a complicated trade with the Saints and Carlton that included Macrae.
Then with Luke Kennedy we did a late trade with Brisbane for a F3 so that we could position ourselves for Luke Kennedy.
I really wonder where we had Luke Kennedy on our draft order?

[GVGjr]

A bit of a Xmas/New year bonus for all members and this is some of the content and discussions contained on the rewards board for active members.
This was the last Doggy-Bag Takeaway for the year.

Doggy-Bag Takeaways - 18/12/24 (9) (and the final one for this year)

When I got there today the players were heading to the clubhouse with roughly a 50/50 split some players wearing Green and others in the traditional Blue.
I decided that with Match Sim very likely today I'd forgo the presentation and watch the players and I think that was the right call.
The ground didn't have a lot of equipment on it so all signs were looking positive

Players did their normal warm-ups that included running in small groups around the oval in a beep test style and a lot of skills drills using the football.
There wasn't a lot of action over in the rehab area so it hopefully going to be a lot of our players involved.
there were about 5 players or more that would join in the match-sim today and we would have to assume they're linked to Footscray. Dan Orgill and and Jarrod Gilbee were there and a couple of players that we couldn't identify.
The other 3 players acquitted themselves pretty well in the warm-up drills and did okay in the match sim. One of them is very likely to might be Billy Crofts and one other I initially thought might be Josh Chatfield. I'll try and find out more.
At least one of the players is either Medwell and Williams who played in the match sim last Friday.

Match-Sim
Previously this has been done in 2 x 15 minute quarters but today it was 4 x 12.5 mins
Originally it looked like it would be an A (Blue) vs B (Green) contest but with a number of higher profile players wearing Blue heading over to the Managed/Rehab area the sides started to look more evenly matched.
I'll go through some of the players

Weightman started in the midfield. His fitness level is being rewarded with more midfield time. Got forward to kicked a good goal for the Green Team but seemed to cop a slight injury in the marking attempt.
He went off for a while but returned to do some running with the other players being managed.
Gardner is clearly our 2nd ruck man and he competes with Engkish quite well. Good to see him fit this time of the year. He did well around the ground and we resisted the temptation of using Lobb in that role and the same when Darcy came on late.
Garcia probably put his best performance in a preseason game today. He was right in the midfield and very aggressive with his tackling and kicked a long left foot goal was well. After tackling Harmes into the ground they got into a spirited push and
shove that looked like it might escalate at one stage. Rather than help Harmes up, Garcia chose to kick his fallen cap further away from him. Later in the game it was Vandermeer but not quite as spirited.
Busslinger started in back line and did okay but was later moved forward at times in the 2nd half to greater effect and held a couple of marks. His kicking was better today.
Freijah was back to his normal HB role was was excellent right through the game and went on a couple of run and bounces efforts
Dale was one of the best performed players again. Really used the ball well which is no surprise.
Johannisen has turned the clock back a bit and has rediscovered his ability to run and create.
Sanders was right in the middle of things but probably overused the handball again but that's a bit of a hard call and being picky.
Poulter surprised with his ability was a forward. He kicked two goals himself and gave one unselfishly away.
Khamis started up forward but was wasteful with the footy but was far better when he returned to the back line
A.Jones had a great battle with Davidson but while he again did some good footy skills and footy IQ acts he has to get the ball a bit more to really impact games
Davidson was very noticeable today and just looks like the modern day winger with his ability to run, take a mark and use the footy well. He might have been drafted as a forward but might surprise in a midfield or even HB role.
Jaques uses the footy quite nicely and seems to match-up well against opponents and pulled off one excellent interception where he got in front of Vandermeer. He's got a great ability to read the play.
Vandermeer does some good things but had a bad period in the game where he missed his targets. It's okay to put high demands on other players but he has to set the example himself.
Bontempelli started forward and as either the deep forward or right in the centre square contests. I had him as the best performed player on the day.
Richards was one of the better players in the green as one of the midfielders. One thing I noticed that when pitted against Bont and Liberatore he did a lot of work physically to deny them a front spot in the contested ball ups.
Darcy came on late and provided a target for the Green team as they mounted their surge to close the lead. Gallagher got a bit of the footy but doesn't quite finish his good work. Williams was a bit quiet and got caught a couple of times.
Bramble was good right over the 4 quarters and he;s still not wearing his shoulder strapping. Smith started forward given he's been a bit injured and only had a couple of better moments.
McNeil played a fair bit today and might be close to a full recovery. Looked okay without being one of the better players. The big win is that he's quickly recovering.
M.Kennedy also took a step forward given he;s been in light duties for a while. In the centre square contests and did okay.
Croft played forward and even on a wing and is looking to be one to watch. A huge rundown tackle of Williams was a real highlight

I'll add something about the rehab players later.

[Danny Delre]

A bit of a Xmas/New year bonus for all members and this is some of the content and discussions contained on the rewards board for active members.
This was the last Doggy-Bag Takeaway for the year.

Doggy-Bag Takeaways - 18/12/24 (9) (and the final one for this year)

When I got there today the players were heading to the clubhouse with roughly a 50/50 split some players wearing Green and others in the traditional Blue.
I decided that with Match Sim very likely today I'd forgo the presentation and watch the players and I think that was the right call.
The ground didn't have a lot of equipment on it so all signs were looking positive

Players did their normal warm-ups that included running in small groups around the oval in a beep test style and a lot of skills drills using the football.
There wasn't a lot of action over in the rehab area so it hopefully going to be a lot of our players involved.
there were about 5 players or more that would join in the match-sim today and we would have to assume they're linked to Footscray. Dan Orgill and and Jarrod Gilbee were there and a couple of players that we couldn't identify.
The other 3 players acquitted themselves pretty well in the warm-up drills and did okay in the match sim. One of them is very likely to might be Billy Crofts and one other I initially thought might be Josh Chatfield. I'll try and find out more.
At least one of the players is either Medwell and Williams who played in the match sim last Friday.

Match-Sim
Previously this has been done in 2 x 15 minute quarters but today it was 4 x 12.5 mins
Originally it looked like it would be an A (Blue) vs B (Green) contest but with a number of higher profile players wearing Blue heading over to the Managed/Rehab area the sides started to look more evenly matched.
I'll go through some of the players

Weightman started in the midfield. His fitness level is being rewarded with more midfield time. Got forward to kicked a good goal for the Green Team but seemed to cop a slight injury in the marking attempt.
He went off for a while but returned to do some running with the other players being managed.
Gardner is clearly our 2nd ruck man and he competes with Engkish quite well. Good to see him fit this time of the year. He did well around the ground and we resisted the temptation of using Lobb in that role and the same when Darcy came on late.
Garcia probably put his best performance in a preseason game today. He was right in the midfield and very aggressive with his tackling and kicked a long left foot goal was well. After tackling Harmes into the ground they got into a spirited push and
shove that looked like it might escalate at one stage. Rather than help Harmes up, Garcia chose to kick his fallen cap further away from him. Later in the game it was Vandermeer but not quite as spirited.
Busslinger started in back line and did okay but was later moved forward at times in the 2nd half to greater effect and held a couple of marks. His kicking was better today.
Freijah was back to his normal HB role was was excellent right through the game and went on a couple of run and bounces efforts
Dale was one of the best performed players again. Really used the ball well which is no surprise.
Johannisen has turned the clock back a bit and has rediscovered his ability to run and create.
Sanders was right in the middle of things but probably overused the handball again but that's a bit of a hard call and being picky.
Poulter surprised with his ability was a forward. He kicked two goals himself and gave one unselfishly away.
Khamis started up forward but was wasteful with the footy but was far better when he returned to the back line
A.Jones had a great battle with Davidson but while he again did some good footy skills and footy IQ acts he has to get the ball a bit more to really impact games
Davidson was very noticeable today and just looks like the modern day winger with his ability to run, take a mark and use the footy well. He might have been drafted as a forward but might surprise in a midfield or even HB role.
Jaques uses the footy quite nicely and seems to match-up well against opponents and pulled off one excellent interception where he got in front of Vandermeer. He's got a great ability to read the play.
Vandermeer does some good things but had a bad period in the game where he missed his targets. It's okay to put high demands on other players but he has to set the example himself.
Bontempelli started forward and as either the deep forward or right in the centre square contests. I had him as the best performed player on the day.
Richards was one of the better players in the green as one of the midfielders. One thing I noticed that when pitted against Bont and Liberatore he did a lot of work physically to deny them a front spot in the contested ball ups.
Darcy came on late and provided a target for the Green team as they mounted their surge to close the lead. Gallagher got a bit of the footy but doesn't quite finish his good work. Williams was a bit quiet and got caught a couple of times.
Bramble was good right over the 4 quarters and he;s still not wearing his shoulder strapping. Smith started forward given he's been a bit injured and only had a couple of better moments.
McNeil played a fair bit today and might be close to a full recovery. Looked okay without being one of the better players. The big win is that he's quickly recovering.
M.Kennedy also took a step forward given he;s been in light duties for a while. In the centre square contests and did okay.
Croft played forward and even on a wing and is looking to be one to watch. A huge rundown tackle of Williams was a real highlight

I'll add something about the rehab players later.

Amazing insight mate. You are a legend.

Did the younger Kennedy play?

[GVGjr]

Amazing insight mate. You are a legend.

Did the younger Kennedy play?

Yes he sure did. Midfield and half forward from memory.

[Woofingwarrior]

A bit of a Xmas/New year bonus for all members and this is some of the content and discussions contained on the rewards board for active members.
This was the last Doggy-Bag Takeaway for the year.

Doggy-Bag Takeaways - 18/12/24 (9) (and the final one for this year)

When I got there today the players were heading to the clubhouse with roughly a 50/50 split some players wearing Green and others in the traditional Blue.
I decided that with Match Sim very likely today I'd forgo the presentation and watch the players and I think that was the right call.
The ground didn't have a lot of equipment on it so all signs were looking positive

Players did their normal warm-ups that included running in small groups around the oval in a beep test style and a lot of skills drills using the football.
There wasn't a lot of action over in the rehab area so it hopefully going to be a lot of our players involved.
there were about 5 players or more that would join in the match-sim today and we would have to assume they're linked to Footscray. Dan Orgill and and Jarrod Gilbee were there and a couple of players that we couldn't identify.
The other 3 players acquitted themselves pretty well in the warm-up drills and did okay in the match sim. One of them is very likely to might be Billy Crofts and one other I initially thought might be Josh Chatfield. I'll try and find out more.
At least one of the players is either Medwell and Williams who played in the match sim last Friday.

Match-Sim
Previously this has been done in 2 x 15 minute quarters but today it was 4 x 12.5 mins
Originally it looked like it would be an A (Blue) vs B (Green) contest but with a number of higher profile players wearing Blue heading over to the Managed/Rehab area the sides started to look more evenly matched.
I'll go through some of the players

Weightman started in the midfield. His fitness level is being rewarded with more midfield time. Got forward to kicked a good goal for the Green Team but seemed to cop a slight injury in the marking attempt.
He went off for a while but returned to do some running with the other players being managed.
Gardner is clearly our 2nd ruck man and he competes with Engkish quite well. Good to see him fit this time of the year. He did well around the ground and we resisted the temptation of using Lobb in that role and the same when Darcy came on late.
Garcia probably put his best performance in a preseason game today. He was right in the midfield and very aggressive with his tackling and kicked a long left foot goal was well. After tackling Harmes into the ground they got into a spirited push and
shove that looked like it might escalate at one stage. Rather than help Harmes up, Garcia chose to kick his fallen cap further away from him. Later in the game it was Vandermeer but not quite as spirited.
Busslinger started in back line and did okay but was later moved forward at times in the 2nd half to greater effect and held a couple of marks. His kicking was better today.
Freijah was back to his normal HB role was was excellent right through the game and went on a couple of run and bounces efforts
Dale was one of the best performed players again. Really used the ball well which is no surprise.
Johannisen has turned the clock back a bit and has rediscovered his ability to run and create.
Sanders was right in the middle of things but probably overused the handball again but that's a bit of a hard call and being picky.
Poulter surprised with his ability was a forward. He kicked two goals himself and gave one unselfishly away.
Khamis started up forward but was wasteful with the footy but was far better when he returned to the back line
A.Jones had a great battle with Davidson but while he again did some good footy skills and footy IQ acts he has to get the ball a bit more to really impact games
Davidson was very noticeable today and just looks like the modern day winger with his ability to run, take a mark and use the footy well. He might have been drafted as a forward but might surprise in a midfield or even HB role.
Jaques uses the footy quite nicely and seems to match-up well against opponents and pulled off one excellent interception where he got in front of Vandermeer. He's got a great ability to read the play.
Vandermeer does some good things but had a bad period in the game where he missed his targets. It's okay to put high demands on other players but he has to set the example himself.
Bontempelli started forward and as either the deep forward or right in the centre square contests. I had him as the best performed player on the day.
Richards was one of the better players in the green as one of the midfielders. One thing I noticed that when pitted against Bont and Liberatore he did a lot of work physically to deny them a front spot in the contested ball ups.
Darcy came on late and provided a target for the Green team as they mounted their surge to close the lead. Gallagher got a bit of the footy but doesn't quite finish his good work. Williams was a bit quiet and got caught a couple of times.
Bramble was good right over the 4 quarters and he;s still not wearing his shoulder strapping. Smith started forward given he's been a bit injured and only had a couple of better moments.
McNeil played a fair bit today and might be close to a full recovery. Looked okay without being one of the better players. The big win is that he's quickly recovering.
M.Kennedy also took a step forward given he;s been in light duties for a while. In the centre square contests and did okay.
Croft played forward and even on a wing and is looking to be one to watch. A huge rundown tackle of Williams was a real highlight

I'll add something about the rehab players later.

Thanks for that mate . Loved reading about Croft has an exciting mixture about him

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Don't forget we brought in two Kennedy's - Matt traded in from Carlton, and Luke with our last pick in the draft.

The reports on Luke in his first few weeks of pre season have been really positive.

Yes forgot, not oly Matt but also Luke now.

[Spindles11]

Thanks Gary. Love hearing that we’re flying this time of year

[GVGjr]

The boys will be on the track next Thursday at 10am. You will probably need to enter via the main gate as the cafe/bakery isn't open until the 13th.
I doubt the toilets will be open and if it's warm you will most likely need to bring a drink.

[Danny Delre]

Whats the best days to go see a bit of match sim over the next few weeks please?

[GVGjr]

A bit of a New Year's bonus for the WOOF members who haven't yet qualified for the Rewards Board access yet.
Yesterday there was 3 different summaries of the training session.
If you have been sitting on the fence about making a decent contribution to discussions here on WOOF then maybe this motivates you.

Doggy-Bag Takeaway - 09/01/25

Muzzled Dogs
A big improvement from the December sessions in terms of the number of players coming in and out of the rehab area.
Naughton is still there and there must be a bit of a concern that he's having significant time and he's not really being test in contract drills.
Coffield who went off with a leg injury prior to the Xmas break is still confined to running which doesn't seem to include much sprinting.
M.Kennedy who was also in the rehab group for a couple of sessions before the break spent a fair bit of time there again today. He seems to be further advanced than Naughton and Coffield.
Gallagher did a similar workload as Kennedy and is further advanced than before the break,
Weightman, Dolan (who is referred to as JD) Duryea, Ugle-Hagan and Treloar spent part of the session having their workloads managed but very late in proceedings. There might have been a couple of others as well.

2km time trial
With the ground marked out accordingly it was apparent early on that today's session was going to be largely focused on running.
This was quickly confirmed when the players came out wearing their runners and carrying their footy boots.
The players did a a few running drills before the time trial while a youngster from Caufield Grammar and who has previously acted as a pacemaker for us was running by himself.
The players were sort of split into 3 groups. A small group of players who's running drills were more 200mtr focused along a blue line from Barkly st to Geelong rd and back.
This group had the likes of Garcia, Weightman, Treloar and Duryea but also had a few others.
Then there was a bigger group that contained the traditionally better performed endurance runners and another group with a lot of the taller and older players which would start a bit later.
Before you knew it the pacemaker was leading the group out and there was a bit of a logjam as players jostled a bit up front and to get into the rhythm.
Freijah went straight to the front with Sanders, Bontempelli, McNeil and Croft around the mark as well.
L.Kennedy and Davidson were just a couple of steps back and would start to press their claims a bit later.
Richards was just back a bit further as well and then the lead group started to break away.
Throughout this running the pacemaker kept checking his watch at the various markers as the group fell in behind him. He was running to a strict plan and didn't deviate from that.
Even when the a couple of players looked to pace him he calmly checked his watch and stayed on pace even though he would have easily out kicked them.
The main group started to stretch out leaving just 7 in contention. Croft and McNeil eventually fell off the pace as Freijah, Bontempelli and Sanders stretched their advantage.
With the final lap the pace quickened up and Freijah and Bontempelli pushed really hard and to Sanders credit he kept up with them until the last 200mts.
From that point Freijah put 35mtrs on Bont and powered home for a win in what appeared to be 6.17 time. Bontempelli 2nd, Sanders 3rd, L.Kennedy 4th and Davidson 5th,
Hard to know the order for the next lot but McNeil, Croft and Richards were in that group. Bramble and O'Donnell were just a bit behind them
Would have loved to have seen how Weightman and Garcia would have finished today

The 2nd group arrived a bit later and I think Jaques led them in.
As a side note, this time last year Darcy was a real plodder in runs like this but he is vastly ahead of where he was 12 months back which is a real positive.

Skills drills
Today was a real running focused session but there were quite a few skill drills starting with the normal Kokoda D offensive and defensive actions drills and a new one called Real Star Drill
The drill is moving the ball all over the ground and it's one they regularly employ but it's done at a fast pace and any mistakes really stand out.

Players were later split into 3 groups for the Kokoda D and 4th Phase drill with the teams being pitted against each other.
Grey had Busslinger, L.Jones, Bramble, JJ, Bont, Richards, Williams, Vandermeer McNeil and Darcy with M.Kennedy and English as alternates.
Red had Lobb, Duryea, Freijah, Cleary, Baker, Sanders, Smith, West, A.Jones and Davidson with Croft and Gallagher as alternates.
Blue had Khamis, Jacques, JOD, Dale, Pouler, L.Kennedy, Gardner, Liberatore, Scott, Garcia and Harmes.

Some Snippets
Darcy out marked Lobb twice in quick succession
L.Kennedy outworked a defender and would have kicked a goal
JJ providing a lot of dash.
Bramble looks to be a lot more composed with the football than 12 months back.
O'Donnell is a more imposing figure now. His mobility looks pretty good but he shouldn't get pushed off the footy much from now on.

Pupdates
Hynes is a fair way off the pace with his running. Looks okay when he has the footy but his injury prior to the draft has put him a bit behind.
Dolan completed nearly all of the session so it was a massive step forward today for him.
Jaques is making a fair bit of progress. He looks skilled and composed in the drills and his kicking skills are standing up to the quicker pace.
Davidson continues to impress. He's had a couple of interruptions early in December but he doesn't look out of place on the track.
L.Kennedy is not only doing well in the endurance based drills but performs so well with the footy in his hands. It's not just his kicking skills but also his decision making
I'm going to add Brew to this group and today was a real positive. Unless he gets injured he's going to be move from train with player to a listed one.