Collingwood Training, January 28th

I was finally back at Gosch's to see Collingwood train after a few sessions off. Here are a few notes I took down.

• Players Come out at 10:13. Much later than usual, they are usually out by 9:30.
• They are split up into black and blue tops. Teams seem very even for the intra-club.

• Maxwell still with tape on the right shoulder.
• Wood and Jolly wore shin pads on one of their legs for rucking in the upcoming match.

• Start off with the usual kick-to-kick.

• Ceglar, Shae-mac and J-mac go off with the trainer for handballing as the players have a kick. Strapping around Shae's left hammy. I reported an issue last week. Obviously it wasn't something as minor as the soft tissue concern he had last year (early pre-season).
• Main group into a lap/stretches.
• Shaw has the legendary headband on. Haven't seen this since last pre-season.
• Criss-cross hanballing in the goal square after the lap.
• Then into a marking/hanballing drill using ground ladders. Four groups with 2 coaches each group feeding the ball out 20m apart.

• Ceglar, Shae and J-mac run a lap as the umpires begin to warm-up in the middle.
• One thing I've noticed is that Macaffer is with the main group. You can tell he hasn't touch much of the pig skin this pre-season though. A few fumbles.
• Shae continues to run laps as the main group moves into various skill drills.
• Ceglar has the left knee strapped. It seems as though there is a bit of discomfort, as he talks to the trainer.
• The match finally kicks off at 10:58.

Intra-club

• Davis starts in the backline on Ball who is a high half-forward.
• Fasolo starts in the center.
•  N Brown leave at 11:00 as the game begins.
• Simon Buckley taking a few of the kick-ins.
• Harry-O starting forward on Johno.
• Gordon playing loose in the backline. They are obviously trying to take advantage of his lovely left boot. Seems a bit lost however.
• Leroy kicks the first two goals playing at FF from the goal-square. Stong marking against his opponent Keefe.
• Swanny with a lovely goal on the run from a tight angle. 
• Krak given a go in the guts after about 5 minutes playing forward.
• Macaffer moving freely up forward. Doesn't seem 100% fit and up to scratch hands-wise, but plays very well as a lead up forward. 
• Seedsman also impressed me. He took a very strong mark. Didn't think he had it in him.

Bests = Fasolo, Pendles, L Brown, Swan, Beams

• Second third begins. Harry starting forward again. Leon still down back with Shaw on a wing.
• Shaw kicks a 65m drop punt straight through the big sticks. What a goal!
• Lovely play from Leon and Shaw down the wing. Linking up with 3 possessions each. The chain ends with a Macaffer goal.
• Shaw finding an absolute tonne of this quarter. As is Krak and Leon.
• Shaw kicks his second of the quarter. He loves playing on the wing. Gives him the ability to kick a sneaky goal here and there.
• Leon has taken a few of the kick-ins this third.

Best = Shaw, Leon, Krakouer, Pendles, Ball

• First sign of Tarrant. Staying in the goal-square with Maxwell watching on. They both didn't take part in any of the match.
• Harry down back now.
• Toovey goal. Set up by a great pick-up and dish-off from Fasolo. Working hard in the pocket after spending a lot of time in the middle.
• Krak is a clearance machine. I've counted about 5 this third. Reads the tap so well and is silky smooth in close.
• Jye Bolton goal. I've seen a bit of him today.
• After three 15 minute thirds, the players walk off together. Good signs from the squad.

Best = Krakouer, Harry, Thomas, Pendles

For me, the 2 players that impressed me most during the game were Fasolo and Krakour. Krakour is just a ball magnet and collects so man clearances. He also uses it quite well. So much class! Fasolo looks like he is ready to find a place in this side. One thing I did notice was that he was easily bumped off the ball in a marking contest from Wellingham, causing him to fall to ground. I still believe however, he will push for a place very early in the season. The coaches gave him plenty of time in the center today.

Goals 

Leroy - 3
Swan - 1
seedsman - 1
Beams - 1
Shaw - 1
Macaffer - 1
Toovey - 2
J Thomas - 1
Blair - 1
Bolton - 1

North Melbourne Training, January 26th

I got there at 2:10, so I missed the start of training, but anyway here's the notes.

• What looks to be the main group start of with some light handballing.The main group were doing dynamic stretches in the goal-square.
• Spud Firrito having a chat with Brad Scott in the middle of the ground as this is going on.
• The main group was doing stock standard handball drill. Weaving etc in the middle of the ground.
• The rehab group consisted of H-Mac, Scott Thompson, Lachie Hansen, Ed Lower, Cunnington, Ben Ross, Jamie Macmillan, Sam Wright, Spud Firrito, Grima and Mabon. They walked two laps together.

• Harvey branched off from the main group to do some some work with the trainer. Stretched with him and also practiced marking off a strong lead.

• Mabon walked the boundary with the trainer.
• The main group then moved into a kicking drill. They looked to switch the play and play around the flanks. Harvey added himself into the drill after roughly 15 minutes with the trainer.
• Leigh Adams running laps.
• Midfield moved into a stoppage drill. Majak rucked against Goldstein. Couldn't notice too many things as the drill was on the opposite side of the ground. I did however note the amount of pace coming out of the drill. Fast runners were everywhere.
• Defenders using a sheppard to practice giving your team-mate a uncontested mark. Using the body to take out the forward from the contest. Tarrant was training with the backs.
• Urquhart training with the midfield group.Looks like he is all good now. Didn't fully train last week.

• Midfield move into a drill where one player uses a dummy lead to drag their opponent whilst the other player was free in space and took an uncontested mark. Crocker was all about creating space for the team mate.
• Forward kicking for goal close to us. Boomer was training with them rather than with the midfield. Players aren't missing many.
• Backs just having a bit of fun tacking speccies on the the trainer.
• Rehab group doing handballs. Must have gone in early.
• Main group all got together and paired according to size. Grappling/tackle drill. They looked to take down their opponent. I didn't think I saw one pair go to ground. Not sure if that was the instructions.
• Into another tackling drill. Has been a good 20 minutes of tackling.
• Sam Wright running on his own between cones as players run the boundary.

• Majak Daw had some one-on-one work with Cameron Pederson? Here are a few videos of that.

 

• The 5 players that were running together at the end are still doing laps 30 minutes after the session ends.
• The players end by signing autographs.
• I had a look at the training board. Something to note: Sam Wright was only allowed to kick 20m

North Melbourne Training, January 19th

Sorry for posting this so late, but here are my notes from training on Wednesday.

• Player roll out at roughly 1:45. Kicking between themselves with a few light stretches.

 

• Boomer comes out and goes straight to Pratt, all nice and friendly.
• All kicking together now. Short 10m passes. Surprised by the amount of balls hitting the deck.
• Light lap, Greenwood and Pratt don't run with the group but stay back kicking together.
• 50m run throughs in pairs followed by more stretches and a lap.
• H-Mac walking the boundary on his crutches for the Fox Sports News cameras. Looked good on the T.V that night, but when you're there live it is cringe worthy. 
• Matthew Lloyd spotted in the crowd next to me. One of the officials having a chat with him. 
• Nathan Buckley also noticed.
• The news reporter in front of me was having trouble with her dialogue. She took a good 15 minutes trying to get a 15 second piece done...and it was a practice.
• Brayshaw comes out and greets the crowd. In very casual attire.
• Players then split into two groups. 60m run-throughs at about 80 percent.

• Pratt and Greenwood leave very early (about 20 minutes into the session)
• Haven't noticed Scott Thompson, Cunnington or Bastinac.
• Urquhart, Garlett and Delaney ran the boundary for most of the session.

• Grima not with the main group. He walked the boundary with the pill in hand
• The players kicked in pairs, extending the length of the kick as the drill progressed.
• Into a full ground drill. Looking to move the ball at good pace through the guts.
• Ben Warren impressed me in this drill. Very clean with both hands and feet.
• Boomer Harvey is just demanding the footy. He is so loud for a little man.
• Haven't spotted Sam Wright in this drill. Not sure if he left early?
• After that drill, the players move into simple kicking for goal at either end of the ground. Have seen this before at North training.

• 15 minutes later and the main group is split into two; one doing stoppage work and the other working on leading/contested marking.
• Daw and Goldstein rucking against each other. Majak is so damn big. I noticed when he came out at the start of the session. His arms/shoulders are massive. He is winning a decent number of taps against Todd as well. He will be one to watch in the next few years (or so we hope)!
• Whilst the midfield group continued to do clearance work on the wing, the forwards/defenders worked through a drill inside the 50m arc. The trainers would kick out leading forwards and it would continue from there. Milky impressed again in this drill.
• Here are a few videos from the that drill. Sorry for the lack of camera work quality.

• I left shortly after this.

Collingwood Training, January 19th

Yet again a huge crowd came out and attended Collingwood training due to the tennis. Here's a few notes I took down.

• Players rolled in at 9:15. First thing I noticed was Maxwell, and his tapped up right shoulder.
• Harry not spotted. The injury I reported last session could have been serious? Let's hope not!
• Goldsack and Ceglar also no-shows.
• Reed with some strapping on his shin. 
• The usual kick-to-kick to start off.
• Today, the players were in colours. Red = Midfield, Blue = Forwards and Black = Backs
• Leon yet again a defender.

• J-Mac walks the boundary as the players run a lap. Starts to ease into a jog however after the players are stretching.

• The first drill involved the coaches kicking to the players from about 20m and then the players would sprint another 30m. The ground ladder was used before the players marked.

• Malthouse arrives latish.
• Macaffer and Dale doing some straight line running. Let's hope nothing wrong with Thomas as he didn't train last session. He seems to be running a lot more freely than Macaffer which is a good sign. He is metres in front on every run.

• The main group were rolling the ball along the ground for the other to pick up and I tried to spot Gordon (was seen to be below par pre-draft below his knees), but couldn't see him. A few of the other first year players weren't training either.
• Keefe joins in the straight line running with Dale and Macaffer.
• Maxwell training with the main group. He is fine! Was in a handball drill trying to get the ball into the nets.

 

• Krak, Swan and Pendles were together for this drill in the red. All I can say is that i can't wait for next year. Running rings around the other two teams (of three).
• Goal kicking was the other drill at this time, as well as pivot kicking at the other end. Have seen this on a few occasions. Players are rotating between the three.
• Dale leaves very early at 9:47 with people swamping him for autographs.
• Tarrant now joins in with Keefe and Caff running the straight lines as Dale leaves.

• Nathan Brown a tad over-confident in the handball drill. Has been caught a few times trying to take on the game.
• Fasolo is working super-hard. I just can't wait to see him play NAB cup (hopefully). I think he will be a gem at pick.45
• Keefe leaves at 9:54 as Tarrant and Caff continue running.
• Didak Leaves straight after at 9:55. Having nothing of the autographs, just sprints straight past everyone.
• Maxwell takes himself out of the main stuff. Kick-to-kick with J-Mac. Looked fine in the handball drill and doesn't seem troubled kicking.
• Caff and Tarrant leave at 9:57.
• I would hate to be a player today. About 50 people wanting and autograph/photo.
• Shaw leaves at 10:05.
• Rounds and Nathan Brown have a kick to themselves away from the main group. Both looked fine though.
• Maxwell, Sharrod and Cloke leave at 10:08.
• Cloke's left hand is troubling him as he comes off. Talking to the trainer. Fairly sure it's his left pinky.

• Forward start a leading drill. Token pressure from the defender. 
• Backs and Midfield doing clearance work. Jolly winning all the taps against Wood. Krak with a number of clearances.
• Shae comes off a tad sore (10:20). Didn't see the incident. Looks like a left hamstring. He had a soft tissue strain earlier on in the pre-season. Hopefully this isn't a re-occurring thing.
• Shots for goal from the forwards. Fasolo is a huge kick. 60m drop punt straight through the big sticks.
• I left shortly after this.

Collingwood Training, January 17th

I headed to Gosch's to find an abnormal amount of people watching on, Australian flags around the shoulders was the norm. Anyway, here are the notes...

• Maxwell was thankfully noticed as the players came out. I reported a right elbow on Friday, but the shoulder was strapped.
• Goldsack also spotted but went straight into a casual stroll around the boundary with J Mac.
• Ceglar turned up a few minutes later with strapping on the left knee and joins in with them.
• I'm not sure if it my eyes were deceiving me, but Goldsack seems to have slimmed down a fair bit. His arms seem leaner.
• The usual kick-to-kick as well as a lap to start us off.
• Run-throughs for a warm-up. 

• Short and sharp handballs in pairs. Didn't notice too many that used their preferred alone, which wasa good sign.

• Dale Thomas a late comer, left straight away however with Goldsack.

 

• Short 10m kicks from the main group which moved into a 30m pass.
• Shae does not look too clean. Dropped two consecutive marks and when he does mark them, it looks quite awkward.
• Macaffer trained with the main group up until this point. It wasn't anything that put strain on his groins, just a stock standard mark to kick in a straight line.
• Love the constant talk from Harry. He is one of the players I can see really improving on last year, even though he was an AA. He strives for success and I feel he will shift into the next gear from what I've seen this pre-season.
• The next drill involved handballing through the swarm. The blacks are the backmen and the Blues are forwards. Tarrant and Leon with the backs. Bucks taking control of this one.

 

• As the drill was near me the ball comes tumbling my way. Give my best Buckley-esque impersonation but fluff the kick back to him...shattered is an understatement.
• Away from the main group, Dick, Nathan Brown, Maxwell, Didak, Rounds and Caff were doing a few short leads/kicking.
• Another kicking drill for the main group followed this.
• Malthouse wasn't seen all day.
• Caff back into some straight running, the usual this pre-season, Nathan Brown joins in as well.
• Weird looking full ground drill going on. Would start at one wing and work down to the goal-square.
• Leon caught Wood who had plenty of time to get rid of it. Just looks like he doesn't want to be out there. Seems lethargic.
• Gordon was playing FF on Tarrant. Didn't notice many evenly matched contests between them, so I couldn't really see who won out of the two.
• Tangle between Shae and Gordon. Could hear the knees bang from where I was. Both players walk it off.
• Beams leaves early at 10:12
• Didn't see the incident, but Harry looked like he had copped a knock and came off talking to the training. He ends up leaving early with Brown and Macaffer at 10:15

 

• Ugle is a very fiesty type. Runs his guts out.
• Seedsman found the pill a fair bit, and linked up well with Sidebottom throughout the drill.
• Gordon isn't overly clean with the ball but has a very nice left foot.
• Wellingham leaves at 10:21
• Whilst the full ground drill is going on, Maxwell, Dick and Didak are continuing to have kick-to-kick.
• Cloke had a shot 35 out on a very tight angle on the non-preferred side for a left footer. Nails it! Why can't he always kick like that?!
• Maxwell leaves early at 10:35
• Into two drills. One handballing, looking to get it into the nets either side. The other is a full ground drill looking to play solely down the corridor and stream the ball down the ground as fast as possible.

 

• I left shortly after for Richmond training which was conveniently, was not on!

Collingwood Training, January 14th

 It was absolutely pouring down in the city. Probably wasn't the best idea to turn up in hindsight. Anyhow, the notes are here.

• The players were having their usual kick-to-kick, whilst Ceglar and J Mac walked around the perimeter straight away. The walk moved into a light jog after 5 minutes.
• The players weren't grouped in colour this time. 

• Next warm-up involved tackling and grappling.  
• They then used the pads (which are worn as short/top) for a handballing drill. A lot of pressure on the ball carrier.

• Whilst this was going on, Dick, Rounds and Nathan Brown worked on some light tackling with the trainer. All of them had their shoulders taped up. Just easing them into some work with the shoulders.
• This same drill minus the pads is then used on either side of the ground in each goal-square
• Didak wasn't training with the main group all session. Spent a lot of time kicking with Jack Perham.
• It looks as though Fasolo is the only 1st year player that is truly ready for the NAB cup. He is the only guy with a body big enough to not be broken in half. Hopefully we get a taste of him this year.
• Macaffer spent most of the session runnning up and down the ground.
•  Zone drill was next. Working the ball up the ground, holding possession through the zone. 

 

• Maxwell came down hard and looked to be clutching his right elbow (the one that isn't strapped). Didn't see the incident personally but he has come of worse for wear and pulls himself out of the drill. Walked along the boundary with the trainer. 

• He left straight after.

 

• Didak and Macaffer leave about 30 minutes into training
• As the drill ends, J Mac, Ceglar, Dick, Nathan Brown, Rounds, Swan, Seedsman and Shaw leave together.
• The main group move into a 3/4 ground drill.
• Tarrant played as a defender on Dawes and took a few kick outs.
• Early finish (10:24) and I don't blame them.
• Pendles and Ball stay behind for 10 minutes having a kick together, whilst Shae works on his goalkicking with the trainer.

Western Bulldogs Training, January 13th 2011

After being refused entry at Visy Park, I decided to make my way to Whitten Oval to observe the Western Bulldogs' training session.

• Early warm ups included run throughs, agility drills as well as using ropes for resistance.
• Fascinating drill in the sand pit. First 5 minutes would involve the players running around the 3 cones, the next was in pairs and involved sticking tight with your opponent/evasive work

• Higgins was teamed up with boyd in the pit. There was a tangle between players as 2 pairs would be in the pit at the same time. Higgins looks to have smacked his foot and possibly hit a nerve? Came off a bit ginger and was shacking his hands. Had a talk with a trainer and gave the all good. Nothing to worry about you'd think.
• Bit of fun and games before the main work. The whole group watched as hudson had a shot form the boundary 30m out. Missed both attempts, one out on the full.
• First main drill was a simple 4 point handball as shown below in the video.

• After this they went into a six point kicking drill
• Whilst all this was happening Cooney was first seen, slowly running laps of the oval. His movement looked a bit impaired. Might just be me? After one lap he went straight back into the sheds.

 

• The main group then split up into colours/non-colours.
• Zonal work was next, the drill was all about leaving your man to cover the next kick. 

• At this point in time Hill, Howard, Wallis, Hooper and Boyd were not with the main group.
• The next drill involved handballing through the swarm. The defending players didn't hold back and ran straight at the offending player and putting on as much pressure as possible. Three groups in the drill. As you can see below the far group had the ball at this stage. Plenty of pressure, not a lot of space.

• Assistants noted that the players should "run wide".
• Cooney and Williams then ran a lap together. They would stop after 3/4 and run back around.

 

• Onto a full ground drill. Looking to move the ball quite fast. Impressed with Zeph Skinner, very good leap and a nice left foot. Could also kick well on his right which I noticed.
• The next drill was much like the one before. Teams of five tried to handball through the other group who would use the "swarm" and attack the player in twos and sometimes threes. Putting pressure on the ball carrier is key. Boxing them in and closing down the space.
• Split up into four drills. All pretty simple. Midfield group worked on their clearances in front of me. 
• Ed Barlow was with the midfield and was being utilized as a tagger. Possible run-with player this year?

 

• Ward and Cooney start to have a light kick with each other. Slow leads. After 5 minutes, Ward walks off and Cooney sits back talking with the coaches and overlooking the clearance drill with the midfield group.
• I left shortly after this.
• Noticable absentees from what I noticed include Lake, Cross, Hargrave, Hall.