Training this morning in a moderate temperature for late June without too much wind.
Everyone trained to some degree today except McKenna and Stewart in isolation.
Of the rehab group Jones, Bryan, Crauford, Johnson and Mutch were mainly restricted to running, although all except for Crauford did join in some ball movement drills, Mutch with the aid of a brace on his left arm covering his broken wrist. It can’t have been too bad a break if he’s back doing some ball work already.
Heppell and Hird both made a brief appearance on the sidelines with moonboots on, handballing from a chair.
Daniher, Gown and Draper all trained with the main group without and special period with the rehab group for possibly the first time. They all completed the whole session except for Daniher who finished about 5-10 minutes before the rest of the group.
Joe looks to be moving without any problems. I would think all three of them would be ready to play in a scratch match for at least for a quarter or two either next week or the week after, so all in all it’s looking very promising for all of them.
It was particularly pleasing to see Draper take the ball from a ruck contest then turn, run and bang the ball through for goal from 55 metres. There was no pressure on him at the time but even so, I couldn’t see any other of our ruckman doing it as well.
It was a very strange session today. As there is no contact allowed now in full group practice they alternated between their designated groups 5 groups of 8 or 9 in different parts of the two ovals and a no contact match simulation. It’s a big advantage I would have thought to have the 2 ovals as it would have been very congested with 5 different groups on the same ground at the same time.
The match sim though was just weird. They would kick the ball to a typically congested situation but only one player would go for the mark, other nearby players wouldn’t jump, and all the defensive players could only corral the player with the ball. Maybe they will improve at this in the coming weeks but it led to a very low pressure, low intensity situation all round.
If I was going to describe the look and mood of the group today I would say they looked fresh and buoyant. The enforced rest and dramas of the last week looks to have resulted in unifying the group even further. I couldn’t detect any sign of bitterness or unease and several players including Bellchambers, Hooker and seemed to have a real spring in their step.
Here’s hoping all this translates to a big win on Saturday night!