You are the best in business mate
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Thanks very much Tbone
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First pre-season training for me this off-season, have some time off atm so will try and get to a few more over the break.
Got there at 9:30am, missed the skills warmup and maybe the first 5 mins of match sim but caught the rest.
Wandered over to say g’day to @CJohns and some of the other training regulars at half time (I was the one in the white tee & blue cap!), was great having some Lunchtime Catchup live commentary haha
Generally speaking, it’s pretty bluddy tough to tell who’s who a lot of the time with no numbers & lots of new faces so I would’ve missed plenty, especially when the play was on the other side of the ground. Whilst it’s a positive sign to see this level of match sim at this time of year, skills were for the most part pretty scrappy IMO.
Cox, Baldwin, Menzie, Caldwell & Setterfield ran laps. Only noticed Kako, Day-Wicks, Clarke & Prior out of the new draftees in match sim (other than Prior, the others only played a half IIRC). Hoare played as well (pretty sure he played the whole game - was physical & competed well but disposal by foot was a bit dicey at times).
Lots of the play started either from a kick in (even after a goal), or they’d set up in the middle for a stoppage but treat it almost like a free kick had been awarded, someone at random gets given the ball & everyone quickly works to get into offensive/defensive positions as the play starts.
Merrett - looks like he’s ready to play this week. Was everywhere, a couple of fluffed disposals but otherwise used it really well, lots of run and link up, led from the front.
Parish - was also busy and looked good - fingers crossed he gets a clean run at it next year.
Hobbs - did well I thought. Cracked in, won some nice contested possies and got involved a bit on the outside. Not sure if he’s in the best 23 just yet or where he fits in the team with our bounty of mids but had some nice moments today.
Martin - Still got plenty of it behind the ball but was everywhere - tended to go for the riskier kicks which didn’t always come off but was mostly clean & composed.
McGrath - ran himself into trouble on a couple of occasions but for the most part was really good off half back. Lots of run and carry, mopped up on the deck, didn’t notice any panic dump kicks today. One of our better players IMO.
Tsatas - less stoppages today with the way they started each play so didn’t get a heap of it but whenever I noticed him he showed his clean hands and used the ball well (kicking was fine - didn’t see any shanks). dude looks fit and just doesn’t fumble. would like to see him get more involved in outside run and link-up possession.
Ridley & Redman - as you’d expect. mopped up off half back, took some good intercept marks, both got forward to hit the scoreboard (I think Red ended up with 2 for the day).
Langford & Perkins - Felt like they played a little higher up the ground but the penetration with their field kicking on a windy day caught the eye. I like it when these two have the footy in their hands, more of it I say.
Caddy - other than the nice snap for goal, I think the videos I took only really captured his ‘almost’ moments. Took a couple of ripper marks (dropped a couple of others) and looks to be moving really well, getting involved up the ground and then working back to be dangerous i50. Repeat efforts were good, big fan of this kid.
Vigo - kicked 3 goals from set shots (loud cheers after each one), first couple were from getting into good positions forward and (thankfully) got used, last goal was from a nice contested mark. As you’d expect, I think he’s still finding his feet and building that confidence but he’s a big lad who showed a bit today.
2MP - moving really well, got to good positions on the lead, kicked 2 or 3 and his field kicking was also solid - one of our best key forwards on the day. I still have him in my best 23.
Lual - a couple of fumbles but was otherwise much more involved than I’ve seen him before. Received lots of encouragement from his teammates for getting into good positions - seemed to be playing a little further up the ground at times. One that pleasantly surprised but I think would still be a fair way down the pecking order for a senior game atm.
Hayes - competed really well in the air, was probably helped by the conditions but he’s improving for sure and is looking stronger each year.
Kako - only played the first half but you can’t miss him - energizer bunny with a nice side-step and some blind turns to get a contested ball out to a teammate. seemed to playing more HF/mid when I noticed him, although it felt like lots of the players stayed between the arcs today tbh.
Lav - Great in the contest & very vocal today, kicking is still a concern.
Overall I wasn’t exactly blown away by the standard but I think the heat/wind/time of year would’ve played a big part in that. I liked that the session was really vocal - lots of instructions & encouragement, good to see given we’ve lost Hepp, Kelly, Hind, etc.
ADW is a unit, Reid is a giant, Caldwell (edit - and Menzie) looks in ripping nick even though he’s just running laps atm, only sour note was Duursma who went off with a tight hammy.
Uploading some videos shortly!
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The Duurs tackle on Nguyen happened (hysterical voice) right in front of me!
He bit off more than he could chew but I loved that Nguyen wasn’t at all afraid to back himself and take a risk. He nearly got away with it, too. More often than not, I’d expect that move to be a winner at senior level.
EDIT: For those that are interested, the tackle in question appears at around 1:57 during the second of @nickers fine videos
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Saad watch?
Noticed a couple of good runs to break the lines but didn’t have a lot of space to work with today
Training watchers, Is Reid a lock for round 1 barring getting through the preseason?
205cm mobile giant could be handy up forward as well.
Hope these work!
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I know this site is full of Baldwin lovers, but Hoare is just a miles better option to sign.
I’m staggered another club hasn’t taken a chance already after his VFL season last year.
He’s a jet.
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Duursmas injury prone career continues and is a watch as we head to the new season. Struggles to out sessions and games together, fir several years now. A pity, he’s a good player.
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Its the outdoor area of the social club. In summer they would have live music, food trucks and kids kicking on the oval.
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Baldwin is a very good player too when not injured.
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Soon to be Reid lovers, he will be the King maker, they are just backups.
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Thanks for the heaps of footage Nickers. I was however disappointed at the level of intensity (Paul Weston says hi!), the no. of apparent turnovers not under pressure and the level of fumbling. It also appears that the players solution to having congestion ahead of them is limited to switching the play across the oval every time……inevitably slowing ball movement. Need to be a lot better than that to compete effectively!!
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Yeah I didn’t think the standard was great overall, first session I’d been to this off-season and usually it’s less match-sim heavy at this time of year
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I’ve tried a few times and couldn’t get it work
edit: wow, it worked. Test video below
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Was Bryan there today?
video test
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Anyone catch who was on Vigo? Happy for him to kick 3 and all but that’s concerning for the team defense unless the sides were very lopsided.