Training 10/1/2018 What really happened

Football Discussion Dustin Fletcher Hangar
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Training did eventually kick off today at about 2.45pm, warm but overcast and hardly any wind.

I was concerned not to see Baguley but he did eventually show up and had obviously been working on his tan which at this stage is a nice golden brown. Not quite the full dark bronze so he needs to lift a bit in this area. Hopefully a more concerted effort surfing right through the preseason will see him attain his previous levels.

There was a good focus on midfield clearances. One drill was conducted in a very small space with 2 teams of about 10. Kind of AFLX in your backyard. No kicking was allowed and scoring was by handpass though the goals. Gleeson was surprisingly good at this, evading tackles and brushing off players like The Langford and dumping Tippa. In fact Gleeson was really good throughout the session.

Ambrose was in beast mode today and looks bigger across the shoulders. In kicking drills out of the backline under pressure he looked to have improved his kicking. Brown on the other hand double handles the ball and as a result doesn’t get the kick away as effectively. I think dilly dallying with the ball in hand has been mentioned here before, it’s an area he could improve.

Devon Smith is a great nuggety little player who punches above his weight/height. I’ve heard mention of dodgy knees but he shows no signs in fact he went hard all session.

Some marking contests near the square were a bit of fun. Hartley was bossing it with his punch outs. The loser of the contest stayed to try again. At one stage Zerrett vs Hartley, Zerrett got easily beaten so the it was Zerrett vs some other big guy (can’t remember) and Zerrett beaten again. So then it was Zerrett vs Ambrose; a frustrated Zerrett dodged behind Ambrose then ran up his back to take the speccy over the top. Big cheers from the players and crowd in attendance.

Francis not in attendance sshhhh!

I’d only ever seen Adam Saad on the TV so it was quite the experience to see him take the ball in front of me at jogging pace then put on the afterburners. Woooah!

Stringer looks to be fitting in with the group well. He nailed a beautiful inboard pass and also a tight snap, had his kicking boots on today. I must note that whilst Hurley has rocked up with a sensible haircut, Stringer has taken the strange samurai thing to next levels of ridiculousness.

Hartley has grown his hair a bit which suits him but probably more importantly looks really fit and strong; he was moving well and seems really confident. There’s improvement left in this guy.

All in all a great afternoon at training, I wish they held it more often in the arvo.

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Great work on the update. Much appreciated from Singapore.

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Thanks Hambo, great report especially like the under-utilised description.
image

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FAKE NEWZ

Or is that the other training thread?

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Great report. Thanks @hambo

Stringer’s haircut is worse than Hurley’s ever was, and that’s saying something.

I might need to bring it up at another AGM.

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I’m backing in Harley to improve this year and solidify his spot. I reckon he has tonnes of upside and he will get the balance right this year. He is only 24 which is young in KP years. Just heading into his prime

It’s great to hear he is putting in a good pre season

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Yeah i agree, he’s got a lot of tools this guy. In a good backline with a good midfield in front him I think he’ll be a very solid kpd and probably slightly better than that. He’s got real guts too as the 2016 GC home game demonstrated

His bigger, 3 years younger, and a better kick than David Astbury

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He is an excellent kick, when Hooker was 24 there was plenty saying he wasn’t up to it, when Hooker was the age Harley is now there was talks of him being traded.

Harley has good speed, decent leap. Reads the ball well to smother.

His head and the look of a guy Cleary over processing directions hurt him a bit last year. But he can absolutely defend and is my preferred KP to put on the big forwards.

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Thanks!! Lovin these training reports!!

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I don’t see a team without Hartley in it unless we’re playing against a small forward line. He’s needed for your 198+cm guys.

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Could there be anything more beastly than Ambrose in Beast Mode? We missed him in the middle of 2017 when he did his quad. If fully fit he will be a very handy player in defence and allow Hurls to roll off and intercept mark. Agree with wob as well, Hartley will play a major role on the big opposition forwards. He is tracking OK for a bloke with just 2 AFL seasons under the belt.

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If Hurley is gonna continue to trim down and turn himself into a flanker, then both Hartley and Ambrose are going to be needed most of the time.

Those two taking their game to another level will be crucial to our future success, as it locks Hooker in the forward line.

Glad to hear Harts is bulking up, that will serve him well.

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Thanks for the report @hambo. Nice work.

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Great report I’m liking the sounds of our backline players there is no doubt losing ambrose in the middle of last year really hurt us,I’m getting excited

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As long as Hartley stops grabbing blokes. He’s got to be told not to grab guys.

Funny thing, the time he could have grabbed someone legally, he didn’t and allowed Rampe to kick to Rohan in the goal square.

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At the end of training today I saw James Kelly giving some instruction on how to deal with blokes blocking/holding etc. James was a master of sneaky little JuJitsu type moves and demonstrated some of these techniques.

If I was more eloquent, I could give you a better description of this but unfortunately I’m not so you’ll have to do with the laconic version.

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Thanks for the entertaining & very informative report.
With each of these, there seems to be someone or something new to get excited about.
So much to look fwd to!!

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Nice reports guys, much appreciated.

On Hartley, I think his holding issues come from him taking his eye off the ball and looking to his opponent. I’ve watched back a number of games this off season & he’ll seemingly be in front of his opponent or corridor side which is good positioning but then turn to his opponent & engage body contact. As soon as umpires see them take their eye off the ball, even incidental contact will usually be called. In 2016 he played much more instinctual and I think he needs to go back to that. I’d back him to even a contest if he makes the incoming ball his sole objective. Having Ambrose as a lockdown on the better forwards will no doubt help too.

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:slight_smile: :clap:

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Personally I reckon they look out for the pulling or stretching of the jumper.

You can lock arms, kidney punch them, give them one in the back of head once they have taken a mark, stomp on their foot or ankle tap them (hello Billy D) etc, but if the umps see the FF’s jumper being pulled, instant free kick, no questions asked - & often the FF has a fist full of the FB’s jumper too, but umps don’t seem to notice that.