A morose and sombre requiem played on the radio as I drove to training this morning. The industrial environment, together with a morning dull and gloomy with billowing grey clouds and a chilling stiff breeze lent an almost Dickensian atmosphere. My heart weighed heavy as I strode across the second oval towards training. My mood may have been due to the morning conditions, or due to @nackers last report, I am not sure.
However – as the boys ran out, there were cheers, jeers and catcalls and the vibe was generally buoyant, rapidly washing away the cloying sensation of foreboding.
And who should quickly join up with me, but @nackers and @jackie_mihocek. ‘Great’, I thought. ‘This will be fun.’
And it was, really. I spent most of the time chatting to nacker’s binoculars instead of eagle-eying the players so this report will be sparse, and added to by the others, I’m sure.
A bit of a crowd gathered to this advertised session, though parking was not available with the lot taken up by the now usual tradie utes.
Despite the weather, Gleeson had a vivid streak of zinc over his nose – you can never be too careful. He trained well, and continues to be one of my favourites. From the very first warm-up run, Snelling seems to be first at everything – eager, energetic, positive – we may have more here than some think.
TBell and Mozzie were both out training and in good spirits. TBell looked fresh and active – less like 2018, and more like 2019.
The boys spent most of the time in a light match-sim – maybe at 70%, which is a step up from previous sims this pre-season. Hibberd, Parish, BeZerk, Smith, Begley, Townsend and Laverde all featured prominently.
Gown emerged from the hanger on crutches, and Heppell did a bit of cycling. Redman made a quick cameo.
It was great to see Stewart come out towards the end and ruin a series of straight laps. He’s a big boy, and I wonder if he could make a decent full-back in light of our current team composition.
Mozzie and Stringer had their turn of being filmed taking set shots - I’m sure many here will be pleased to hear that this seems to be a regular and methodical thing, and hopefully, be part of goal-kicking coaching.
Shiel spent quite a while practising set-shots.
The 2nd oval was used by Fanta, Shiel, Gleeson later on and Draper.