-
-
Re: Pre-season
Just a quick report from today.
Took me 30min to put names to faces. Squad looks a lot taller than previous years.
Lake ran laps, Cooney did some training by himself.
Didn't see hopper or Morris.
Not sure who was on crutches behind the goal.
Williams and murph had a kick to kick.
Did some forward line drills with jones, grant, redpath, panos and skinner. Defenders were talia, markovic, mulligan, hargrave and hill.Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
I was at Training Today and there was No Intra club Today.
I was really impresses with McCartney gee can he talk always giving instructions and not shy to give
players and the other coaches a bake!Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
It was just another training session. No intra club.
Pretty grueling session though. They were worked over fairly hard from both a physical and mental standpoint. As per usual, there was a lot of match simulation. Some of it was full ground, some of it was half ground, some of it was in extremely close quarters. Additionally, there was a lot of contested work being done too. Heaps of emphasis on tackling/wrestling, then giving repeated efforts. The players were stuffed, but kept digging in. It was pretty good to see. There's no doubt our training is far more aggressive than it has been in previous seasons. Players are giving and taking hits constantly, are being forced to make quick decisions with the ball by both foot and hand in various drills and are having a lot instruction from the coaches.
- Hargrave looked pretty good. In a few of the match simulation drills, he picked off passes and read the play really well. Seemed to be moving well, although I don't think he did the full session. Nice to see him out there though.
- Gilbee is still the best kick at the club. I don't think I saw him miss a target at all. They still looked to get the ball in his hands often, so maybe he's got a bit left in the tank. Let's hope so.
- Dahl is in super nick. He's extremely quick and agile, but most importantly, knows where to run. He wins so much of the ball because he reads the play. His hands are quick and his decision making is very good. Rarely missed a target by foot too. He's going to be a good player, but we already knew that.
- Moles is in good condition, ditto Veszpremi. Both look fit and run the lines well. Moles is a smooth mover and covers territory quickly. Stands up in tackles and does use the ball nicely. I said it last week, and I'll say it again. He can be a good player.
- Lot of the play was directed through Zeph, who looks much better than he did last season. However, he still has a long way to go. The effort is there, especially in winning his own ball and applying defensive pressure. He does take too long to make decisions with the ball in hand, and doesn't know where to lead. Boyd. Minson and the coaches were supportive of him, and are always barking instruction to keep working hard and moving around.
- Panos and Jones both look fit and strong. Both were running pretty well too. Neither featured heavily in the match simulation, but they are moving well.
- Tom Hill has a great pair of hands but his decision making was ordinary. Turned it over a few times, mainly due to kicking across the goal/ground. He's not slow and moves well for a big guy -- interesting year ahead for him.
- Howard still leaves me unconvinced. He just doesn't seem to get involved much, and when he does, he fumbles the ball or his passes drop short. His disposal by foot is drastically overrated at this stage, and Tutt IMO, is a far better user of the ball.
- Johanisson (sp?) has put on some good size and looks a lot fitter. He used the ball well, although I would like to see him back himself a little more. Took the safe option too often. There's something to work with here.
- I can't say I've seen Redpath's physical presence yet, but he kicks the ball very well. Low, hard, flat, straight.
- Tory Dickson is a good mover. He doesn't look quick, and he's not -- but he's got a good football brain and makes good decisions. He seems to have this uncanny ability to turn around and avoid being tackled. Did it a few times. I'm reluctant to say 'turn of speed', as it's more of a 'turn of avoidance'.
- Adam Cooney had an intense session by himself. He started off with a limp and really didn't look too good. However, by the end of it -- he was running more freely. He was pretty buggered too. Lots of short sprint/repeated effort type stuff. My expectations aren't high of Coons, but here's hoping his body is OK.
Overall, the squad is looking good. Training is interesting to watch, and I am positive we'll see a better side this year. Whether that means we'll make finals, I don't know. But we do look strong and committed, which is all you can ask for at this stage of the year. Once the intra club and NAB cup matches begin, then we'll see who has the ability to step it up in a game sense.W00F!Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
Thanks TBB, fantastic to read that write up, much appreciated.[COLOR="Red"][B][U][COLOR="Blue"]85, 92, 97, 98, 08, 09, 10... Break the curse![/COLOR][/U][/B][/COLOR]Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
Agreed. Very nice work TBB.
Helps us country folk stay informed outside of generic newspaper rubbish.Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
Rohan Smith said 1st Intra-club match will be 1st week of Feb (3rd I think?)Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
True, but from the glance I had this morning, Dickson does it somewhere in between the elegant twirls of Murphy and the space-clearing shimmies of a Scott West.
Other brief notes from me:
Shaggy looked v good, Minson looked fit and strong, Vezpremi was moving well, the wrestling drill is fun to watch (and young Clay Smith looks to have good core strength already), Johannisen did some nice things, Lin Jong is a decent size, and from the bits I saw, Cooney was moving pretty nicely.[SIZE="1"][B][CENTER][I]Although it broke our hearts it did not break our will[/I][/CENTER][/B][/SIZE]Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
Thank you for the report TBB.
And to all others who file reports, it great to be able to keep in touch and listen to the progress.It's better to die on our feet than live on our knees.Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
Thanks TBB.The curse is dead.Comment
-
Re: Pre-season
I too went to training today. Great wrap up by The Bulldogs Bite. Here are a few of my observations...
- It was good to see Cooney moving around and Lake doing some running and kicking. Cooney especially was doing a lot of touch work and kicking with Bubba.
- Skinner showed some good hands on some leads in the drills but his finishing skills from set shots needs to be improved. He’s impressive though when the balls in front of him with that reach. They were looking to go to him too but I agree he needs to improve his positioning as he leads to some strange spots
- Redpath as mentioned by many is a big unit and has cult figure potential… moves well and looks great by foot with his passing and marked and goaled in one of the forward line drills.
- Pop Dahl in your dream team. He was busy in the drills and looks like he’ll build on last seasons efforts.
- Hargrave looked very good in the drills picking off plenty of long kicks into the forward line moving freely and out positioning his opponent. I noticed that him and Ayce finished off with just running when the others got into the physical stuff.
- Towards the end of the training session I really enjoyed watching the guys going at it in a body on body drill where they wrestle each other and take each other to ground then need to get up quickly for a contested pick up and bump. One pair that sticks in my mind is when Clay Smith and Wallis were paired up against each other. I thought Clay held his own and they were really going at it. There will be some healthy competition amongst those young midfielders this year.
- Physically I thought Tutt and Jones are looking a lot fitter /stronger. DJ too is looking really fit, was front running in the drills and looks comfortable with the ball. He might surprise this season.
- It was a very intense session, very physical, lots or contested work with repeat sprints…Vesz was working hard but by the end was struggling in the repeat sprints at the back of the pack. You could see he was working hard to get through, you can’t question the effort. He’s looking leaner but still needs to improve his endurance.
- Of the rookies and new kids… Talia looked solid in the defensive drills and Lin physically was matching it with the big boys and skills were ok, looks like a bit to work with.
- Fletcher Roberts is light on but was having a go. He’ll need a lot of time in the gym.
- Clay Smith has a real go, matching the big boys physically and although training is not always a true test his field kicking looked ok to me. Which I’ve heard was a knock on him.
- The guy on crutches looked to me like Alex Greenwood, he also had a moon boot on his left foot.
Overall my impressions were mostly that I was glad I was on the side of the fence that I was on, sipping on my latte! Bmac works them hard and was loving the hard stuff. You could hear him laughing and getting into the boys in the contested drills. Certainly the commitment was there and I don’t know how we’ll go this season but we’ll certainly make the better sides earn their wins on what I’m seeing. We’ll win a few clearances and contests if they keep training like that.Last edited by Guest; 14-01-2012, 11:38 AM.Comment
Tweet
Comment