It looks that way. He’s in too deep now and won’t notice til he’s finished.
Hopefully not-a-mod @theDJR can fix that
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The only issue is the Bulldogs are probably top 2 in skill and they have just a windy training oval
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So in a couple years we are going to have Ridley, Langford, Jones, Perkins, Reid, Cox & Merrett (If he stays) all playing together, and all with elite disposal by foot.
It’s going to be weird to watch for an Essendon supporter. Looking forward to it.
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Yes I’m aware of the Hanger, spongy floors and the top class facilities but thanks for thanks sharing.
I wasn’t referring to any of those points. I was referring specifically about the continual windy conditions of our ovals.
My question was to someone who has observed numerous trainings and learnings.
For example swimming in the ocean is different to swimming in a pool, different conditions.
Setting up full match simulation in a gail not being able to hit targets because of the wind may or may not have an effect.
Hence my question.
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Good thing this isn’t a Latino website.
Puta seems to be their universal swear word.
If windy and wet they can go kick footies inside the hangar?
How could you make a training facility better than what else that out there is?
Training today in cool conditions with a medium strength wind. It was a long session today for the last training of the year, starting around 8.30 and finishing out 11.45.
Out on the track today:
Mcgrath, Draper, Parish, Langford, Smith, Caldwell, Merrett, Francis, Cox, Ridley, Perkins, Hind, Wright, Jones, Bryan, Cahill, Ambrose, Zerk, Reid, Eyre, Ham, Guelfi, Johnson, Clarke, and Brand.
Smith, Johnson, Gueli, Brand and Hird were in the modified group, although Hird also joined in probably half of the drills.
Cox, Perkins, Reid and Eyre either joined in most of the drills or sat some of them out. They also spent a bit of time getting one on one tuition from Leigh Tudor.
Clarke was helped of the ground by 2 trainers from an incident that none of us saw in one of the ball movement drills. He was later walking around inside the Hanger so probably nothing too serious.
Bryan had a bit of work on his right wrist but after taping it up completed the session.
Langford also appeared to get some sort of niggle but returned after some stretching and massage from the trainers.
There were a couple of real standouts today:
Firstly Archie Perkins. he was in everything in the drills very clean with his hands, showed composure to select the right option when under pressure, stood up well in a couple of tackles but still got the ball out to a teammate, and hit up several beautiful passes to leading forwards. he also showed great pace both attacking the ball and running to position where he seemed to just glide across the surface. He also has a good size and ready made build. I also spent a bit of time watching him in a tackling drill where they had to manoeuvre and then attack a trainer holding a large bag. He seemed to tackle harder and with more ferocity than anyone else. I’m calling it now, lock him in for round 1.
I finally got to see a bit more of Hird today in the drills, and he’s another one that moves really well. He was on the end of several chains moving the ball to the forward line, I think he has a great tank on him like his father, along with a very good turn of pace. He seems to be a one touch player with neat disposal. My only real knock on him is what position he would be best suited to, as while he has bulked up a bit in the upper body (from a very slight frame to OK) he is still another quite short player.
Langford continues to go from strength to strength and has been a real standout. he has been particularly strong in the running and was today regularly 10-20 metres in front of his running group on most runs, as well as creating a much bigger and stronger presence in the ball movement drills.
Cahill has had a very solid pre season as well so far, again one of the front runners in most of the running but has also been very clean both with ball handling and disposal by hand and foot.
I’m happy to say Francis was much better physically today, often towards the front of the pack running and generally looking good in the simulations. He may have just had an off day on Monday.
Draper was also very good today, moving through traffic very well and quite tidy with his disposal, which tends to be the only real knock on him as it can be a bit sloppy at times.
Jones also stood out, I think he has grown a bit more during the off season and must be approaching 200cm himself now, but he moves and handles the ball like someone much smaller.
I also really like the look of Hind, which is a bit of a surprise as I thought at the time it was a strange draft selection with the limited list spots. My main concern was his disposal, particularly by foot, but I’ve hardly seen him miss a kick in any of the sessions, and nearly all have been very well weighted accurate passes. And he is certainly very fast, probably the fastest at the club now and I would think at least a match for Saad. I also like the way he has been making position and loudly calling for the ball, you want somebody that wants to take on the responsibility of having the ball in their hands. I’m sure we’re looking at him as a possible replacement half back, St Kilda from what I saw played him mainly forward which I don’t think is his best position.
Of the other new recruits Wright continues to look impressive physically and in athletically, the only downside is he has dropped a few marks that he should have taken, both today and in other sessions. Hopefully this will improve over the rest of the pre season
Cox, Reid and Eyre all showed some flashes, particularly with kicking, although Eyre also missed some targets on occasions. It probable won’t be until February or March before we can get a better guide as to their progress.
Giansiracusa seems to be a great addition to the coaching ranks as much for the attitude that he is bring to the playing group. there were several drills where he has had the players competing against each other, including marking, tackling and goalkicking drills, where the players have become very animated, supporting and cheering each other, as well as abusing him in a friendly fashion if he adjudicated against them. The main thing is they really seemed to be enjoying themselves, and that’s half the battle in a long and sometimes gruelling pre season.
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Never?
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I’m really bummed about the reports of a Clarke injury.
I was hoping that maybe his demotion to the rookie list would ignite something in him and he could become the big bodied midfielder we didn’t get to draft this year.
Hope it isn’t as bad as feared.
edit: Read nackers post. Good to hear he was walking about in the hangar afterwards.
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Stop it!
Way too excited
well there goes the lid
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Hook Nackers training reports straight to my veins!
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Glad to be one of the first on this kid’s bandwagon.
Get on board! I’m so excited.
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And I’m spent.
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How was Merrett? Did he get involved?
Thanks @nackers. Always appreciated. Great to hear the vibe is good & there’s plenty to keep us smiling about over the break. I do hope Clarke is ok.
I’m lid off & I reckon @Humble_NSW_Fan will cave in soon. Hope Santa is good to you - you deserve it!
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Trouble is, it’s not an “if it’s windy”, because it is always windy. If you look at 6pm news weather, every time they make mention of wind strength and illustrate with how strong gusts were in various suburbs, Tullamarine is the strongest.
And you can’t do proper match sim training drills inside the hangar. It is good for some purposes, but you still have to practice kicking the ball to each other on the lead outside, and when it is windy that practice is less productive.
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