Training in hot, windy conditions at Tullamarine.
I will start by emphasising that there was a strong north west wind which affected the performance today so there is some mitigation for some of the poor kicking I witnessed.
Having said this I thought that they were rather flat today compared to the previous session. There was no laughter today in the huddles and the whole session lacked crispness and talking between the players to any great extent.
This doesn’t mean things are going badly just that they were different today.
Today I will concentrate on the forward line where the key forwards were Joe, Carlisle and at times Hardingham. A lot of work is needed in this area particularly with leading and passing into the forward line. The last pass in particular to set up the shot of goal seems almost random at times and this was further hampered by poor passing. For example on successive occasions Hibberd had made position and taken a mark in the forward line which was good play on his part but on the first occasion instead of taking a shot from 45 metres out he tried an unsuccessful pass across the face of goal to the forward pocket to a player who was covered and even if he had marked it would have been on an acute angle. The second disposals was then kicked over the head of the forward leading up at him resulting in a turnover.
A lot of the passing in the forward line lacked precision I and was often to stationary targets and the kicking for goal was pretty average. Carlisle and Howlett both had kicks that were marked by the man on the mark. Hocking was indecisive after a mark and finished doing a long, high kick to Winderlich in the pocket which he had little chance of marking andChapman did a similar silly pass to the pocket. Stanton kicked a point then his next kick was a scrubber along the ground.
Space needs to be created in the forward line and in the windy conditions passes need to be drilled to leading players, even if they are fairly short passes, to set up shots at goal away from the pockets.
Having made these points there was also a lot that was good out there today. Carlisle marked well and so did Joe who was opposed to Hurley for a fair time and had the better of him I thought. Hurley is learning the full back role and should be good on the body on body contests but his disposal was down today and at this stage he is not providing a lot of dash out of defence.
Ashby did some good things again today and was used to provide some run up the centre to break up the play and also kicked a good torpedo goal. Van Unen showed a bit today at times and I was interested to see him minding Carlisle for a short while today. Hep ell and Winderlich were both impressive and Bellchambers did okay in the windy conditions.
It was a long session running until after midday and sometimes a session just has to be ground out which is what happened today.
Thanks Jackie. How is Ashby's pace? Is he truly quick? Or just "quickish" orrrr?
On Hurley, really hoping his kicking out of the back can be a real weapon this year. He is an exceptional field kick most of the time
thanks jackie.
The lack of an obvious plan regarding movement into the forward line frustrates me a lot. Without removing some initiative from players, there should still be a set procedure(s) where if player D has the ball 60m out, then forwards X,Y and Z run to A, B and C and players K and Y run to here or there and Player D kicks it one or two players. And kick is to a moving target running to space rather than this ■■■■ high kick on top of their heads to a stationary target.
Decide on a plan(s) and work to making it instinctive.
Felt like I was at a game.
Felt like I was at a game.
ha - and I thought it just happened. Sounds like they actually practice this stuff.
Once again, thanks Jackie.
A bit worried this time round. Sounds like a really sloppy session 
However, it’s good that they’re practising the fwd line movement as that was obviously our weakness. I’d expect Bassett is working on it.
Like the move of Hardy fwd too, could be that X-factor.
Thanks again for the report, Jackie. As you say, not every session can be a standout.
Felt like I was at a game.
ha - and I thought it just happened. Sounds like they actually practice this stuff.
Just bought a hot dog with stale bread and paid $5 for a can of coke.........it was just like being there.
A north wind upsets lots of people in different ways, not just those kicking around a footy. May thanks on the latest write up JM.
Settle down guys, it's one early training session in crappy conditions.
Also happy to hear Hardy training fwd, really hopeful he becomes an exciting weapon.
Cheers JM. Your efforts are much appreciated.
Season over!!!
It's not all bad.
Good to see Joe building up some confidence on...um...never mind.
Settle down guys, it's one early training session in crappy conditions.
Also happy to hear Hardy training fwd, really hopeful he becomes an exiting weapon.
Cheers JM. Your efforts are much appreciated.
just wait and see the tainty this place throws after the first pre-season game (win or lose).
thanks JM, loving your work
Hi Jackie
Have cory Dell and Jetta also been in the forward drills or are they working on the other oval?
Is there 2 distinct groups training ie first 18 on MCG oval and rest on the etihad oval or just evenly mixed young and old?
I notice you mentioned ashby and Van Unen in the drill above.
and Gumby isn't in the rehab group. yep - half fullIt's not all bad.
Good to see Joe building up some confidence on...um...never mind.
Thanks Jackie. How is Ashby's pace? Is he truly quick? Or just "quickish" orrrr?
On Hurley, really hoping his kicking out of the back can be a real weapon this year. He is an exceptional field kick most of the time
Andrew Lovett was quick and Ashby is not at this level. He is similar to Winderlich - very good pace but not blistering. He is also capable of taking marks like Winderlich where you are a but surprised how high he can stretch overhead. He tried to create some play today by running around the man on the mark but then got tagged eventually. More players need to do this to open up space by running with the ball.
It will be interesting to see how our forward line copes after losing our defacto CHF and regular hit-up target in Davey. It still baffles me that so many of our forward entries were deliverd to him in the air.
If Joe becomes the dominant forward we’re hoping for then it should straighten us up a bit. Having Hurley down back and not leading to the pockets constantly should also help.
Agree that Hardingham could provide X-factor as a forward.
Jackie - I like the fact that you observed a sloppy session and called it that way. Cay you give our training performance a rating out of 10 for all the sessions you observe in the future. Your reports are valuable and this would be appreciated.
thanks jackie.
The lack of an obvious plan regarding movement into the forward line frustrates me a lot. Without removing some initiative from players, there should still be a set procedure(s) where if player D has the ball 60m out, then forwards X,Y and Z run to A, B and C and players K and Y run to here or there and Player D kicks it one or two players. And kick is to a moving target running to space rather than this **** high kick on top of their heads to a stationary target.
Decide on a plan(s) and work to making it instinctive.
I don't think there is a lack of a plan - as I have explained before play is constantly stopped with players frozen in position while the coaches analyze, criticize and explain where they want them. Today I suspect it was more of a case of couldn't/wouldn't follow the plan, hampered also by the wind. Bassett and Bomber has really been trying to get the forwards organised but they haven't had their jobs for very long.
Hi Jackie
Have cory Dell and Jetta also been in the forward drills or are they working on the other oval?
Is there 2 distinct groups training ie first 18 on MCG oval and rest on the etihad oval or just evenly mixed young and old?
I notice you mentioned ashby and Van Unen in the drill above.
I haven't seen much of Jetta but Cory is well in the mix in the forward lineand is kicking a lot of goals. I noticed today he was issuing instructions in one of the huddles.
One group might have more senior players than another but basically it is a mix.
Jackie - I like the fact that you observed a sloppy session and called it that way. Cay you give our training performance a rating out of 10 for all the sessions you observe in the future. Your reports are valuable and this would be appreciated.
I guess calling it as you see it is one of the differences between this site and the official site but while I might point out a bad kick or a dropped mark in a factual way I am not going to bag players or play favourites beyond reporting the facts of what I actually saw.
I won't rate sessions out of ten:
- I'm not a good enough judge
- I don't have all the information about what they are trying to do
- I only actually see a small part of what happens. As I explained previously if they are training on two ovals I can only see one and if I am at ground level on an MCG size oval its hard to see what is happening in the distance.