Hola HM, 24 in yellow was Josh Freezer. Got exposed playing FB a few times as he was assigned Giles and Bellchambers to whom he gave up about 10cm. Made a particularly ghastly mistake by foot deep in defence.
He’s one who often looks the goods at VFL level but was in over his head today.
32, I am fairly sure was Hickey.
HM, I thought Tagliabue was playing? Number 2 in yellow? Was taller than Bellchambers, who continually rag-dolled him.
Having seen the last half a dozen training sessions, I think Langford as a probable is no surprise. He is ticking a lot of boxes. Running patterns, Marking, Work rate and Goal Sense are all excellent for a player in his 1st pre-season. 1 hour into the Match simulation he was still presenting on 100m leads.
McKernan has actually stepped up the last 2 weeks. Seems to be playing with more confidence.
Was solid in the air and at ground level and is definitely a competitive beast. May well prove us wrong.
Carlisle is getting closer and he knows it. Lots of grappling and repeat leading drills with fitness staff today. You’d reckon if he pulls up well after this session that he’ll be back in training next week. At one stage Hird came over, asked Jake how he was feeling and stood and intently watched him doing drills for a few minutes.
He knows how important Jake is to our chances this year.
I thought the inclusion of so many VFL players, and the absence of some high quality, unsurprisingly, saw a significant drop in the quality (not intensity) of the match play as compared to the last couple of weeks.
Just seemed to be a lot more congested and less of the free flowing ball movement, I’ve become accustomed to! It definitely felt a little kamikaze in the first half, hence Hird asking the players to take care of each other at the break.
I do I wonder whether the strong form of Gwilt since the break has lead to the coaches experimenting with Baggers further up the ground. Was interesting to see him in the f50 on several occasions today. Does seem as though he are really trying to build the most versatile list possible. As mentioned previously, Dempsey is yet to really hit his stride after a largely modified pre-season, so he is a major structural Q come round 1.
Melksham was good today. Super vocal, angry as ever and most importantly his decision making with the ball was sound again. Will watch him with an eager eyes over the next couple of weeks.
Tribunal aside, it’s anyone’s guess how the best 22 will look come round 1, On exposed form, I’d say there is as many as 10 guys fighting over 2 spots.
