The morning was quite cool, a bit wet and smokey - like my…leftover brisket.
Blue ■■■■ scurried over the lush turf, hunting for sweet sweet morsels, as the scar of a construction site continued to spread like an ugly skin-growth. The blue tongues poked their heads out and said "■■■■ this ■■■■, and scampered back inside to watch their Dinosaur Junior video clips. Rows of upturned white plastic chairs lined the upper balcony viewing area, while a sprinkling of patriotic supporters weathered the inclement conditions.
There will be more comprehensive reports than mine on this training session, as I spent much of the time uncharacteristically arguing about succulent points such as ‘Hooker forward or back’, ‘Mutch - does he have any stand-out skills’, ‘Hibberd’s jawline compared to Jobey’s’, etc, to make my usual notes.
Speaking of Mutch - the plucky lad was first-out this morning, sprinting into the drizzling rain, kicking a ball to himself, as the rest of the group huddled inside the yawning, gaping, cavernous dark mouth of the EFC Hanger.
It was an all-business type of training session. A few drills after warm-up, a lot of play-sim, and lots of running. Merret took part in this and looked to be running well. I did not spy Hooker or Joey. Stewart did some light running, and Phillips looked the fine athlete doing laps. Shiel is growing out his hair.
In one fitness drill where groups run half a lap and back, and then took shots at goal, the entire list was sectioned into three groups, organised it seemed, into levels of stamina, as evident by Ham, Ambrose and Clarke in the first group, and Stringer, Smack and Francis in the third. Interestingly, Hibberd was in the first group about to run, when he was called out and told that he would be ‘tested later’ - he took no part in the drill.
Parish looks in fine form, and is my pick for top 3 in B&F this year.
Both ovals were used today. Trent (assistant) gave the usual zero info on Joey and Hooker.
