A glorious, but cool day here in Shepparton. Currently 17 degrees on the way to a maximum this morning of 22. Later in the afternoon it will reach 25. Cloudless blue skies are preparing the morning for perfect training conditions with only gentle breezes. The training session starts at 10.00am and scheduled to last till 12.00 then a session mixing with the attending supporters. Reports will follow in the early afternoon.
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I hope they took a train or bus to get there and didn’t try to fly. Looking forward to more reports, both about the weather and the form.
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It’s almost like they are trying to get further and further away from me!
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How’s the turn-up there today? Any updates greatly appreciated!
Did they do a Match Sim or just Drills
Did they use a stretch filter on Caddy?
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When can we expect a training report
If we don’t get the reports soon, these reporters should be sacked. Or at the very least, dock their pay
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CJ they laughed at the remembrance of that Wangaratta flight. It seems it was terrifying as they had to make several attempts to land but the plane kept being pushed off course so they had to abort. On this trip they drove their own private cars.
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The internet is slow in Shepparton.
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Try courier pigeon
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FFS just lurk patiently like the rest of us.
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By 9.30am the wind picked up and was blowing about 45km/h and quite chilly. Players started coming out to do some stretches and warm ups. The crowd just starting to build. Around 50 to start but built up close to 1000 by the end.
The training was quite relaxed, no great pressure and was concentrated on skills like leading and passing.
They were divided into 3 rotating groups with each having a few different variations with one group working on defence.
There was no match simulation due to the cricket pitch area being roped off to protect that area from football damage. I chatted to Heppell about that and he said they would have to work around it but it was disappointing not to have any real match play.
Since there have been complaints recently about the lack of video for training drills I will provide a number of short videos below of different players in leading and marking drills coming out of the backline.
Players of interest to show good signs - DRAPER - joined in all the training, leading, marking drills and seemed unrestricted. At one stage he released a huge bomb. His kicking to others leading was very good and accurate.
STRINGER looks fit and his passing was excellent.
One disappointment was DAVEY JNR as his passing was often astray while his twin JAYDEN was quite the opposite.
I took close notice of TSATAS and his ball drop seems lower and his passing, although mostly 25-30 meters was low and accurate. I hope he can maintain that when under pressure.
HEPPELL worked hard and told me that competition within the team for places is fierce and he said “We will all have to fight for our place in the team.”
KELLY was clean and efficient and chatting with him he said he preferred the wing to the half back line and is working hard to win a wing.
There didn’t appear to be ruck drills as all 3 were active in general play, leading, marking and passing. It was a skills session and for big men they did well.
GRESHEM and HOBBS were very active and lively.
It’s hard to add much more due to the lack of aggressive competition but overall it was a clean session in reasonably strong winds.
Some of our players recovering from injury were on the sides working on their fitness and strength, SHIEL was on sideways leg stretching but looked to be moving freely though not at full pace. TEX spent quite a time on the bike as well as boxing. He said that he should be back in full training next month.
One puzzle or mystery mas the absence of COX. I didn’t sight him. If he was there he was the invisible man.
Down below I will post short videos of different training drills and some photos for you to see for yourself - the crowd as well as the players.
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That ground was where Walla nearly killed Dangerfield. The only positive memory from that day. Stinkin’ hot, got smashed by the Cats. Thank goodness the pub had some icy cold beers afterwards.
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Yes, I was there that day and Walla’s tackle on Dangerfield was amazing. That same day Hibberd who had just moved from Frankston was marking everything and showed he would add something tio our team, sadly only for a few short years.
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To whoever mentioned the GWS social media team the other day in reference to the discussion about training content as well as just being clever and pretty funny, well they’ve done it again 
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Having trouble uploading. Will work on it.
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He’s actually on a WebEx, but had to dial in due to laptop issues…
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