Is it just hot because so many players are burning up the track?
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This.
Hows Clarke travelling.
Not a lot to report, no intensive training took place today. But my notes are below:
Pretty short session probably understandable given 37* heat.
Broke into 4 groups. One doing short reflex type drills in front of the hangar, another doing goal kicking drills, another doing clearance work in the middle & at the airport end a small group taking kick outs.
Kick outs drills were Gleeson, Baguley, Hurley, Zerk, Ambrose & Redman although it was difficult to see at the other end that was fenced off & due to the heat players wearing light training singlets (some black,some purple) with no numbers to identify.
Goal kicking at the city end. Kicks from 45* angle each pocket & straight in front approx 30m out. Then later some from right on boundary around the corner. Fantasia, Begley, McKernan, Stewart, Green, Houlahan, J Merrett & 1 couldn’t recognise. Stewart & Begley kicked two shockers from straight in front, Begley shocker was a floating inverted torp mongrel. Stewart was largely disappointing with his conversion. Green deadly.
Reflex team was Walla, McKenna, Parish, Long, BJ, Hooker, Leuy, Z Merrett, Heppell, McGrath, Zaharakis, Brown, Mynott, Langford, Saad, Daniher, Colyer probably more but too hard to see.
Clearance group Bellchambers, Guelfi, Smith, Stringer, Mutch, Myers & a few others. Aim seemed to be to exit the area with a quick handball either to the side or behind the stoppage into space.
Didn’t see Francis, Laverde, Clarke or Ridley but that doesn’t mean they weren’t in attendance.
Dispersed around the ground to do a rather extensive autograph & photo session. Players most generous with their time.
Players were probably on the ground for an hour maximum.
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Much appreciation for the report Mr Sunbury.
Good to see Green has his kicking boots on. With a little better conversion I think his position in the team will be secure.
Sheedy needs to get more lid off.
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Training harder than ever
Essendon Football Club performance coach Mark Harvey says the Bombers are training harder than ever before this pre-season.
Harvey said it was partially a result of the side’s disappointing elimination final loss against Sydney where the team was comprehensively beaten in the contest.
“They’ve certainly been put through the bullring,” Harvey said on Tuesday afternoon.
“Our blokes have been training really hard, particularly physically, so they’ll be looking for the break.
“We’ve put a lot more emphasis on our physicality and our pressure.”
Harvey said he was expecting the club’s younger brigade to pick up the load and help drive the squad’s improvement.
“I’d like to think that our first to fourth-year players are the guys that really need to step up now,” he said.
“If this team’s going to go somewhere then those guys are the ones that we’re really looking to to put pressure on the senior guys and hopefully, in the end, make selection quite difficult for everyone.”
As the club’s defence coach, Harvey admitted he won’t be seeing much of 2017 NAB AFL Rising Star winner Andrew McGrath, who has been training predominantly in the midfield.
“He is starting to really excel in the midfield, we’re starting to see his stoppage craft really evolve,” Harvey said.
McGrath spent most of his first season in the back half, but Harvey described McGrath as a “serious talent” who can easily step up into the middle of the ground.
“We saw what he did in his first year, he played with great composure and he is really good in close and makes quick decisions.”
Another Bomber expected to enter the midfield in 2018 is former Bulldog Jake Stringer, and Harvey said he is likely to spend the majority of his time in the middle, while resting at times in the forward line.
“We’re going to train him a fair bit in the midfield and see how that evolves,” Harvey said.
“Obviously if he can get down there with Daniher and Hooker and those sort of guys when he’s resting as a mid, that will hopefully give us a dominant three or four key forwards down there.
Harvey said Stringer’s ability to break out of contested situations has been impressive.
“He’s a big bull and he does move with the intent of trying to get through those difficult situations.”
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Langford is going to be a gun half forward in another club.
Not a mid.
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How many midfielders have changed clubs to get more half forward time?
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Not a clue.
I agree except the other club bit. I’ve never thought he was a midfielder. He is not fast enough to make decisions. And thats not something that can be trained. Decision making can but not speed
I think you contradicted yourself.
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Not when Jobe first arrived at the club. But he changed. I recall an interview after he started to go better as a mid - Jobe gave some credit to discussions with Diesel Williams who told him that a big part of getting the ball was to always attack it with everything you had.
I maintain that his decision making issue only presents itself when he has no options and keeps holding it in the hope that something will open up
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Pendlebury does have different gears though in terms of tempo/speed, which is a kind of intensity I guess. He has just been good enough of a player to make that shift down in gear look smooth - when you notice it.
Da Langf will need to have a similar ability to spool up quicker by foot or hand. I liked what I saw in the vfl this year. He’s a weird cat, as a player, plays it really cool - closest bomber I can think of in the last 30 years is carracella, and he is not much like him either. Maybe Lucas (strangely)?
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Which is a VERY good problem to have.
I swear you hear sh*t like “training harder than ever” EVERY YEAR
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But not from Melbourne.
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Bravo…
Melbourne really is farked.
Agree 100%, One thing we can all agree on is Langers is not a panic merchant, Even when he’s in trouble he’s trying to think his way through it, It’s a very good trait to have as an inside mid.
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