I know people don’t want us to tank, but I really really want Harley Reid.
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A couple of quick observations from me too.
- Rhett Montgomerie looked great. My first glimpse. Built for it, works really hard and has a great leap. Everyone was noticeably getting around him for some of his efforts
- I thought Guelfi was super impressive. I can see why the group loves him. Showing a lot of leadership and spending a lot of time with younger players discussing positioning. With the leadership aspect of his game developing I’m not sure how easy he falls out of the 22.
- A few battles between Stringer and Kelly when kicks came into 50 were TOUGH. Good to see this kind of physicality in training.
- Shiel looking a weapon (this has been noted many times but it’s true)
- Good to see how vocal 2MP and Laverde were as noted by Blummers
- Cox appeared on the boundary in training gear but I don’t think he participated in anything on the grounds, maybe inside
- I like Jye Menzie, he trained with the VFL / developing group but he’ll be pushing soon, knows where the goals are
- Weid and JDavey spent most of the session running.
Not very detailed but I hope it gives you a little fix.
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You need to end your posts with “That’s all folks!”.
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Very surprising if Mass was training with a VFL/Development group given the reports so far this pre season.
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Why do all these bargain pick ups look like ready made guns for us? Is Dodoro and his team super good at identifying talent or is it… all our senior players are average so it’s easy for these plodders to shine?
I’m joking, kinda
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I feel we’re letting all this training talk distract us from the real issues here. Lets talk more about the chair situation please.
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I went this morning - arrived about 10am so missed the start. No real match sim but lots of attack v defence drills that incorporated sections of gameplay.
I almost exclusively watched the main ground so didn’t see much of quite a few players but will comment on who I noted below.
As mentioned earlier by @Blummers32, the defenders were looking to try to get across and assist the key backs, attempting to force a long kick and then have 2v1s where possible. Interestingly, the attacking side was also trying to create a plus one going forward - either by taking on and then drawing a second defender or by having a nominal winger / high half forward charging into the open side of the forward 50. There were several instances where coaches would stop the drill and instruct players to ‘get the plus one going forward’. In particular, Davey Jnr became a real target for this as a dangerous link player. He was being implored by the coaches to get free and when he did so his team mates were instructed to go to him. For about 10 minutes straight it was a ‘get the ball to Davey’ drill. I think he has been given a clearly defined role and may find himself at AFL earlier than we may have thought. There’s potentially tank issues he needs to overcome (I have no idea whether he can run out four quarters of AFL match intensity) and he’s not strong enough to stick all his tackles (despite his manic intent in this phase of the game), but it appears they want him as a defensive half forward that pushes up around the stoppage and then charges forwards to be the inside 50m kicker. In the drill today, Hayes was intercepting everything until Davey started to cut loose. Once they started getting it to him in space he really opened up the forward third with angled runs and lovely to advantage kicking.
In addition to this his goal kicking was on point today. Kicked a couple of goals in the attack v defence drills and then spent some time with Jayden kicking set shots from the wrong pocket for a right footer. Threaded quite a few with stylish ease. On Jayden, he did stack of running - some seemingly at a much higher speed than I’d seen previously - and then kick to kick with a coach and goal kicking to finish.
Other players I noted:
Martin’s power running really stands out amongst the group. He’s not that super top end speed of Shiel or Hind, but his motor runs at a high rate without slowing down. He just moves away from opponents and never stops. Consistently in the right spots often in space. Also looks significantly stronger this year. And as we all know, a beautiful user.
Massimo was assigned Davey for a lot of what I watched. When it was a 50/50 ball he did well to hold his own but as the session went on Davey had too many tricks and was able to find space on the lead and running into space. Did extra contested marking work late against McGrath and clearly wants to improve his defensive work.
Baldwin as particularly adept at bringing the ball to ground and then being the one who follows up. Very clean at ground level and creative by hand once he gets it. Also spend time in a contested marking ‘extra’ at the end and was quite good. Didn’t get beaten and followed up all the 50/50 contested to win it at ground level.
Hayes is a really nice prospect. He’s got great size and he’s a powerful unit despite being just a kid. Reads it so well and intercepted a lot of balls today. Uses it really well too and makes good, quick decisions.
McGrath looks really powerful and playing in the backline brings out the hyper-competitor within. He was running hard and kicking nice little 30-40m darts all day. When he wins it on the fly, takes ground and then hits those kinds of kicks, he’s real changer of momentum. Late in the session he then joined the KPPs in the contested marking ‘extras’. This drill had the KPPs pair up and then fight a 1v1 to mark in the goal square. McGrath went over with Massimo, and they initially went head to head. As the drill went on however, McGrath kept doing extra 1v1s against KPPs whose partner was getting a footy or having a round off. In about 20 different contests only Laverde (courtesy of an outrageous one handed pluck) and Phillips (courtesy of being twice McGrath’s height) outpointed the diminutive half back. He won every other contest. Looks to have the drive, power, leap and competitiveness to really help out the D50 this year.
As I mentioned, I didn’t see a large chunk of the squad due to where I set up, but if you’ve got any questions, feel free to ask.
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Under previous coaches we usually had a pretty set back 7 in most games, with limited assistance (both in terms of players moving position and general help! 
) from the rest of the field. Is there any signs of a 7th back? I expected the ones listed to be 6 of the 7, and the last to be between Hind and Mass. So interesting that with Hind injured, Mass isn’t in there.
Although from what else you wrote maybe its Montgomerie, or maybe its the 5 vs 5 setup didn’t allow for the 7th player?
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I think it’s Mitch Szybkowski.
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I was about to write something about him, but couldn’t quite work out how to put it.
At the last training session I went to, I did notice his name called more often than not in the competitive drills. For a forward he does get to the right spots.
He did the same today. He just finds a way to create an option for the midfield with a lead. And at times it isn’t honoured.
He and Snelling in particular seem to have some interesting leading patterns that differ from Stringer and 2MP.
The other thing I noticed with the Stringer v Kelly matchup was at time Stringer played a more selfless role. He does try and create a screen for the other forward at times which is something I never noticed about him.
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Hayes forward or back?
It never got to 6v6 with an extra loose man.
The only time I noticed the loose man was in 5v5.
The comment about the settled back 6 was when they were on Marvel ground and it was clear who were the forwards and defenders. It was pretty noticeable that was the best possible forward setup v backline setup.
The comment with Montgomerie was when they were on the MCG pitch. The choice of players weren’t quite defined and were pretty random. The players would talk to try and get the best matchups possible for the drill then switch out with someone on the sidelines.
Today seemed a targeted approach to see how the backline works without the help of the midfield flooding back or the sixth defender.
I’m not sure if I noticed it last week or whether this is a one off.
I’ll keep an eye out next week when I drop back in.
It’s pretty tough to tell what to look for at training but also what the drill is targeting. Is it defence or attack?
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I hope this isn’t true.
He’s got real dash and his kicking is elite. He ads something the others don’t.
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Whilst I agree you need to remember Hind was on modified training.
So even without Hind they went with this setup.
I thought you could only have one of Laverde or Kelly, but that doesn’t look to be the case.
One thing they were working on with Mass was the defensive side. They obviously are prioritising defensive players in the backline over attacking ones.
I hope by the end of the year, there is clarity as to where Reid can fit in, how Mass fits in and what happens with Hind.
By then, maybe Redman plays midfield a bit more freeing up a creative spot in the back 6.
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I really don’t get the obsession with moving Redman out of the backline that some of Blitz seems to have.
And Kelly and Laverde played together fine for the second half of the season. I’d have thought them, Zerk, Redman, McGrath and Ridley were total locks. Which it sounds like they are.
Reid should eventually be pushing Laverde out of the KP defenders. Mass and Hind would be pushing for either the 7th defensive spot, or next in line depending on how steady a defence Scott wants to play.
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Genuine question because I’m in BrisVegas and haven’t been to training - How is his defensive running? Offensively he catches the eye probably because he gets a lot of the ball in space -but is he working hard defensively as well?
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Based on what I have witnessed at training, if the below 6 are all fit, it’s Mass vs Hind for that 7th defender spot.
Rids, Zerk, Kelly
McGrath, Lav, Redman
Not a bad problem to have, if there is competition for spots
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IS there any chance Hayes sees game time at AFL level this year, sounds like hes fitting in pretty well for a kid whos a KPP size.
What about Cox?
or is he forgotten as injured again?