Training this morning in cool conditions with a gentle breeze. The session started at 11am and went for a little under 2 hours.
The modified group consisted of:
- Draper who completed about half the session with the modified group before joining the main group for some drills, match sim and centre clearance work opposed to Bryan.
- Zaharakis - did some circle work with the modifed group, some running but also joined in some drills with the main group for I think the first time this year.
- Perkins - it looked like he was just being managed, mainly some running on the second oval
- Mo22ie joined the modified group early for some handball drills
- Jones - similar to Draper, about 50/50 modified and main group. His right leg was bandaged but he was showing no real signs of the leg complaint. He was also out doing goalkicking practice on Tuesday so should be right to go for Saturday if they want to give him another run, but of course may be rested as a precaution
- Stringer - did the warm up then went back inside before coming out and doing some running. Time is running out for him for round 1, they probably have about 5 sessions left I would think he’d want to complete at least 2 or 3 of them to be considered.
- Redman, was on the sidelines again but didn’t train with his calf complaint.
- Ambrose, did the warm up and a little running
- Eyre, did the warm up, some circle work and a little running. It looks like he was just managed like Perkins
- Phillps, the warm up only, he’s missed a few sessions now.
- Clarke, did the warm up and also some kicking for the first time since injured
- McBride, on the sidelines in a moonboot
- Hurley, again on the sidelines on crutches, he seemed in a more jovial mood, was smiling and having some jokes with trainers and players on the sidelines.
Shiel who previously had looked sore completed the whole session without a problem, as did Gleeson, Laverde, Hooker, Zerk, Johnson, Snelling and Hird who all had been recently in the modified group. Caldwell also completed the whole session after having his ankle looked at on Monday.
The session for the main group consisted of lots of kicking and ball movement drills, some match sim, and quite a bit of keepings off handball, which they haven’t done so much of this year.
Overall I thought session was fairly sharp, maybe aided by the fact that it was a bit shorter in length than most other main sessions of recent times.
I paid a bit more attention to Waterman today, he looked understandably a bit more upbeat than previously. One of my concerns initially when he started training was I thought he was carrying a few extra kilos, but even in the short time he has been with us I think he has trimmed up to a reasonable degree. I was therefore also a bit concerned about his tank, but I can’t really think of a time when he’s fallen behind the rest of the group when running, so I imagine that will be fine as well.
One thing that wasn’t evident from his time in the practice match on the weekend was his defensive pressure, which overall I think has been very good. He’s chased hard, laid some crunching tackles and also consistently contributed with goal assists. Really it’s been hard to fault his effort since he’s arrived, and with another solid showing on Saturday he should debut in round 1.
I know I’ve already talked quite a lot about Cox previously, but it’s hard not to notice him when training. They’re not trying to make him into something he’s not, he plays like a midfielder, pure and simple which is hard to believe for someone his size. A couple of things he did today I was just shaking my head at, easily collecting contested ground balls and dodging and weaving his way out of trouble. And then added to that is his elite running where he continually leaves others in his wake with 80 - 100 runs at a very good pace. His handball and linking up work is also excellent, he just needs to get more consistency with his kicking. It’s hard to see him also not debuting in round 1 at this stage.
Bryan I thought was competing quite well against Draper in ruck contests. Draper still has a clear advantage when the ball hits the ground and is much more imposing around the ground, but Bryan seems to be coming on well.
I had a bit of a look at Johnson as well, who has also integrated into the main group in the last week or so. He’s quite a neat kick but otherwise I haven’t seen a great deal so far to think he will take the place of other small forwards, but as he’s just working back from his knee injury so still a bit early to make amy definitive judgements.
Overall it was a good hitout with no noticeably new injury concerns, it will be very interesting to see how the cope with Geelong.
