Training Session Updates

[LostDoggy]

Re: Training - 20/12

I think there might be a couple ahead of him like O'Keefe but yes he could very well get a game or two during the season. I couldn't see many more games than that though.



He looks very strong now and vastly different to skinny type of youngster that arrived at the club a couple of seasons back. If he is 100% over his knee injury he could be in for a good season.



Running has been the main focus on this pre-season especially given our new fitness coaches credentials and I think O'Keefe in particular has benefited from it. There were times last year where he clearly faded in the the 2nd half of games or the last quarter but watching him yesterday he looked to be moving vastly better than what I previously remember. He also seems to have a different, more upright, running style as well.
Ward already had a nice running style but seems to be an even harder runner now than before as you would expect from someone more physically ready than he was 12 months ago.

With some of the older players like Johnson looking very sharp opportunities might still be difficult for the youngsters.

Thanks again for the report GVG .
Great news on Okeefe ,he seems an out & out footballer with natural talent who would be a very exiting player if he could get himself superfit.He still managed to win alot of the ball this year probably due to his reading of the play.He may be the sought of player that finds the ball easier to get at Afl level for that reason.
Bill Davoren paying divedends already it seems.
What do you think GVG?

[Go_Dogs]

Re: Training - 20/12

I'm getting very, very exciting about what Griffen may be able to do this year. He is a terrific footballer, and I think we may finally start to see the best out of him.

As always, many thanks for your report GVGjr.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Training - 20/12

Great report - thanks.

I am trying not to get too excited about 2009, but with reports like that it is difficult to keep the lid on things

[LostDoggy]

Re: Training - 20/12

I'm getting very, very exciting about what Griffen may be able to do this year. He is a terrific footballer, and I think we may finally start to see the best out of him.

As always, many thanks for your report GVGjr.

Agree, 20-22 games from Griff & we could have back to back Brownlow medallists!

[GVGjr]

Re: Training - 20/12

Thanks again for the report GVG .
Great news on Okeefe ,he seems an out & out footballer with natural talent who would be a very exiting player if he could get himself superfit.He still managed to win alot of the ball this year probably due to his reading of the play.He may be the sought of player that finds the ball easier to get at Afl level for that reason.
Bill Davoren paying divedends already it seems.
What do you think GVG?

At the moment he would be used as an impact player for 10 to 15 minutes per quarter but in time once his fitness and running improves we should see him develop into a very versatile player. He could be used off the half back in a role similar to Gilbee's and of course as a smallish goal kicking forward.

He's not there yet, but Davoren and Paul Williams should help fast track him along.

[GVGjr]

Re: Training - 20/12

Read in the paper today that Boumann had a shoulder operation, how did he look?

They break up on Tuesday and they are back on the 5th of January.

Boumann just ran laps, I didn't see him do much in the boxing which probably supports that he had the shoulder operated on and it will be a lot of running that he will need to work on for a while yet.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Training - 20/12

At the moment he would be used as an impact player for 10 to 15 minutes per quarter but in time once his fitness and running improves we should see him develop into a very versatile player. He could be used off the half back in a role similar to Gilbee's and of course as a smallish goal kicking forward.

He's not there yet, but Davoren and Paul Williams should help fast track him along.

Thanks GVG, it will be great to see him & some other young pups in the NAB cup.
We didnt play any in last years Nab cup for memory which made us the odd team out
as it is the perfect stage to blood them.

[Mantis]

Re: Training - 20/12

Thanks GVG, it will be great to see him & some other young pups in the NAB cup.
We didnt play any in last years Nab cup for memory which made us the odd team out
as it is the perfect stage to blood them.

It will be a different story this year.

We have 2 trips to Perth in the first 4 games of the official season so I don't think we will be taking many of our experienced players to Darwin for a NAB Cup game in energy sapping conditions.

Our younger guys will no doubt get a chance to shine in this game.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: Training - 20/12

He could be used off the half back in a role similar to Gilbee's and of course as a smallish goal kicking forward.

Cheers for the insights into OKeefe

He's one I hadn't even thought of the for the half back playmaker role, but you are right to suggest he could be a candidate - he looked to have a pretty neat left foot when I saw him last year but I'm not sure how much depth he has with his kicking yet

[GVGjr]

Re: Training - 20/12

Cheers for the insights into OKeefe

He's one I hadn't even thought of the for the half back playmaker role, but you are right to suggest he could be a candidate - he looked to have a pretty neat left foot when I saw him last year but I'm not sure how much depth he has with his kicking yet

You're probably right about kicking depth and he would play the role a bit more like Nathan Brown did than Gilbee does I suppose.

[Topdog]

Re: Training - 20/12

Pretty tough for anyone to play it the way Gilbee does. The guy has such a brilliant kick.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: Training - 20/12

You're probably right about kicking depth and he would play the role a bit more like Nathan Brown did than Gilbee does I suppose.

I was thinking perhaps similar to Guerra, so we've both picked out lefties

He's probably a bit quicker, but then Guerra has proved a lot of people wrong and created a good niche for himself with the Hawks

But then Topdog is probably right - we've been spoilt with Gilbee, he sets such a high standard for footskills it's hard to imagine many doing it as well, let alone better

[Sedat]

Re: Training - 20/12

I'm getting very, very exciting about what Griffen may be able to do this year. He is a terrific footballer, and I think we may finally start to see the best out of him.

He's been Dogs BOG in 3 of the 5 finals we've played since 2006. He is going to be a special player.

[Twodogs]

Re: Training - 20/12

Stopped by training this morning for half and hour or so on my way to somewhere else.



The boys worked did lots of work on their skills. The wind was blowing in that fierce Whitten Oval way and most of the guys were having real trouble controlling their kicks into the breeze but Jarod Harbrow isnt human. He didnt miss a target with any of his kicks.

[GVGjr]

Re: Training - 20/12

I had another look today but it was mainly team running by squaring off the Blue, White, Red and iridescent yellow teams in several different contests.

Cross dominated the first running drill which was to see how many laps could be run in a set time. Callan ran very well and Williams ran a terrific last lap where he made up significant ground on Cross and passed many others.

There was running drills up and down the EJ Whitten stand steps, 100 metre sprints and even 100 metre sprints carrying a 20kg weight mainly performed in pairs.

There was a variety of other cross training activities as well.