Training Report - 20/08 2:00pm

[LennyBoy]

I headed down to a very overcast and chilly training session witnessed by about another 50-60 die hard Saints Supporters and media from both Channel 7 and 10.

The session went for just over an hour in duration and mainly consisted of partnered work focusing on ball skill execution in game simulated exercises and also midfield / forward structures.

No doubt the desire and hunger was evident but at times our ball skills looked second rate for a a team in finals contention with Robert Eddy, and Clinton Jones copping a brunt of the criticism.

Overall the session was about a 6 or 7 out of 10 with a lot of time put into midfield structures and rotation. Our big names specifically Riewoldt looked terrific very clean and determined.

Points of Note:
* No sighting of Milne or X which is a major concern
* Sam Gilbert restricted with movement in right knee - ran laps only
* Kosi heavily taped but will play although not training
* Goddard didnt train in any capacity

Interesting Observations:
* Luke Ball very interested on looker 1-2 weeks away
* Rehab Group: King, Schnid's, Raph, Lenny, Harvey - Laps Only
* Raph looked very sore, and left the track 20 minutes in - not competing in any individual exercises.
* Gwilt played a deep forward role in a number of exercises

In / Outs:

Could well see a surprise at the selection table based on training today. Leigh Fisher looks as if he will be assigned a tagging role, as he spoke heavily to Lyon and the assistants both during and after training. I would also say Armo has the nod above a Birss and Fizz.

In: Armitage, L Fisher
Out: Milne (Inj), R Eddy

When Fizz was prompted after training " Good Luck for this Weekend" his reply was "Thanks I'll need it. Don't think I'll be out there Sunday". Quite interesting.

Final Minutes:

Very good of the boys to stick around and sign a number of autographs. Well done to Rooey, Dal and Joey specifically for sticking around.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

When Fizz was prompted after training " Good Luck for this Weekend" his reply was "Thanks I'll need it. Don't think I'll be out there Sunday". Quite interesting.

the boy is fairly negative from the few times i have spoken to fizz he seems to always be very critical of himself and his perfromances (almost as if hes reading this site every day

[fonz_#15]

thanks for the report.

milney would likely have only just got back from perth and he will not play this week.

[suss]

Great report.

Leigh Fisher looks as if he will be assigned a tagging role, as he spoke heavily to Lyon and the assistants both during and after training.

Maybe Fish could do a job on Goodwin cosidering a) he's not that fast b) but still their best player and c) would otherwise be tagging Dal and generally causing us heart ache.

[Mr Magic]

When Fizz was prompted after training " Good Luck for this Weekend" his reply was "Thanks I'll need it. Don't think I'll be out there Sunday". Quite interesting.

the boy is fairly negative from the few times i have spoken to fizz he seems to always be very critical of himself and his perfromances (almost as if hes reading this site every day

Was almost the last player off theground and spent the last 5 minutes in deep discussion with the coaches .
Then trotted over to sign autographs.

Charlie Gardiner was last off.

[Teflon]

Thanks for a great report - much apreciated.

[WayneJudson42]

Many thanks

[stinger]

i would think gardiner would be one of the outs......

[Eastern]

Thanks from me too !!

[Otiman]

Good in depth report, thanks.

A few points.

X not training is a worry, unless he was working on other things pushing hard for his selection this week.

As for our ball skills looking second rate, that's just about par for the course at moorabbin, or wherever we may be playing.

[mad saint guy]

How is Birss looking at training? By now plenty of people in his position would have spat the dummy and stopped trying. Is this the case or is he still toiling away in hope of finally being rewarded with a senior game?

[MCG-Unit]

Thanks for the training report, LennyBoy - glad to hear Leigh Fisher maybe still in the mix

[Bernard Shakey]

X was there.
I spoke to him and he was quite cheerful, but left the field early.
Hope he does play this week.

No appearance from M Gardiner.

Banger, Max, Gilbert and Kosi ran laps.

Innaresting what different people see at training. I don't know on what basis LennyBoy can rate a training session as 6 or 7 out of 10. I don't know what the benchmark is. I've been to every open session the past few years and would say this one was about average, better than last week.

The great thing to see was noboby on crutches and bandaged like mummies as was the case for the last few years.

Goddard did train and looked OK to me.

I wouldn't think Leigh Fisher will be playing any more games for St Kilda.

Gram looked very good and didn't seem to be worried by his knee this week.

Bakes leg wasn't bandaged this week, but I wouldn't expect to see him play senior footy again this year.

[markinUSA]

Great report thanks... much appreciated!

[Otiman]

Innaresting what different people see at training. I don't know on what basis LennyBoy can rate a training session as 6 or 7 out of 10. I don't know what the benchmark is. I've been to every open session the past few years and would say this one was about average, better than last week.

You're usually pretty spot on, Bernard Shakey. Sometimes people just see what they want to see.

Agree with you on Fish and Bakes, sadly. Good to hear about Gram though. Could tear Adelaide another new one, shades of NAB cup final.

[Mr Magic]

Bakes leg wasn't bandaged this week, but I wouldn't expect to see him play senior footy again this year.

I watched the last half an hour or so and Baker's right knee was certainly bandaged.
I don't know what type of bandaging he had on previously but I watched him go up the race and he certainly didn't appear to be moving freely.

[LennyBoy]

Innaresting what different people see at training. I don't know on what basis LennyBoy can rate a training session as 6 or 7 out of 10. I don't know what the benchmark is. I've been to every open session the past few years and would say this one was about average, better than last week.

You're usually pretty spot on, Bernard Shakey. Sometimes people just see what they want to see.

Agree with you on Fish and Bakes, sadly. Good to hear about Gram though. Could tear Adelaide another new one, shades of NAB cup final.

I'm basing my assessment of the session on four key criteria.
1. Intensity
2. Skill Execution
3. Tactics / Drills
4. Productivity

Having closely watched Adelaide train for 3-4 years before moving to Victoria - I'm saying the benchmark Neil Craig would set a benchmark of 8 out of 10 for his players, and based on today's output our skills will need to improve 25% before game-day - read into it what you will.

I was just a tad disappointed in the ball hitting the deck as often as it did.

[Life Long Saint]

Surely we would expect a light week on the track after a trip to Perth especially on the Wednesday training session?

Check back on Friday to see how intense they are.

[Solar]

Innaresting what different people see at training. I don't know on what basis LennyBoy can rate a training session as 6 or 7 out of 10. I don't know what the benchmark is. I've been to every open session the past few years and would say this one was about average, better than last week.

You're usually pretty spot on, Bernard Shakey. Sometimes people just see what they want to see.

Agree with you on Fish and Bakes, sadly. Good to hear about Gram though. Could tear Adelaide another new one, shades of NAB cup final.

I'm basing my assessment of the session on four key criteria.
1. Intensity
2. Skill Execution
3. Tactics / Drills
4. Productivity

Having closely watched Adelaide train for 3-4 years before moving to Victoria - I'm saying the benchmark Neil Craig would set a benchmark of 8 out of 10 for his players, and based on today's output our skills will need to improve 25% before game-day - read into it what you will.

I was just a tad disappointed in the ball hitting the deck as often as it did.

firstly thanks for the report

interesting thoughts on training

I will add only two things
1. It is the open training and usually this is not a great gauge on where the players are at. Ross loves doing most of his stuff behind locked doors.

2.Second adelaide are always intense when it comes to training. Different cultures and different clubs

[Saintschampions08]

Innaresting what different people see at training. I don't know on what basis LennyBoy can rate a training session as 6 or 7 out of 10. I don't know what the benchmark is. I've been to every open session the past few years and would say this one was about average, better than last week.

You're usually pretty spot on, Bernard Shakey. Sometimes people just see what they want to see.

Agree with you on Fish and Bakes, sadly. Good to hear about Gram though. Could tear Adelaide another new one, shades of NAB cup final.

I'm basing my assessment of the session on four key criteria.
1. Intensity
2. Skill Execution
3. Tactics / Drills
4. Productivity

Having closely watched Adelaide train for 3-4 years before moving to Victoria - I'm saying the benchmark Neil Craig would set a benchmark of 8 out of 10 for his players, and based on today's output our skills will need to improve 25% before game-day - read into it what you will.

I was just a tad disappointed in the ball hitting the deck as often as it did.

2.Second adelaide are always intense when it comes to training. Different cultures and different clubs

That doesn't mean its acceptable.

In fact, it's probably one of the reasons they've been more successful since their induction to the AFL.

[LTN16]

Thanks LennyBoy

[BAM! (shhhh)]

You're usually pretty spot on, Bernard Shakey. Sometimes people just see what they want to see.

Agree with you on Fish and Bakes, sadly. Good to hear about Gram though. Could tear Adelaide another new one, shades of NAB cup final.

I'm basing my assessment of the session on four key criteria.
1. Intensity
2. Skill Execution
3. Tactics / Drills
4. Productivity

Having closely watched Adelaide train for 3-4 years before moving to Victoria - I'm saying the benchmark Neil Craig would set a benchmark of 8 out of 10 for his players, and based on today's output our skills will need to improve 25% before game-day - read into it what you will.

I was just a tad disappointed in the ball hitting the deck as often as it did.

2.Second adelaide are always intense when it comes to training. Different cultures and different clubs

That doesn't mean its acceptable.

In fact, it's probably one of the reasons they've been more successful since their induction to the AFL.

6 of one, half dozen of the other. Neil Craig's well known for running hard training sessions. Adelaide always starts the season as one of the fittest teams, and often has a hot start as a result.

At the same time, they're becoming known for not finishing the season as strongly as they start them.

A lot comes down to coaching philosophy, which can be a bit hard to guage when you get the impression that open training's are more about putting on a PR exercise than about the actual training. I'm sure there are objectives for these training sessions other than PR, but I'd hesitate to judge Lyon & St Kilda's overall training philosophy on the back of them.

[st.byron]

When Fizz was prompted after training " Good Luck for this Weekend" his reply was "Thanks I'll need it. Don't think I'll be out there Sunday". Quite interesting.

the boy is fairly negative from the few times i have spoken to fizz he seems to always be very critical of himself and his perfromances (almost as if hes reading this site every day

no chance of him ever understanding ur posts trav coz theyre completely bereft of punctuation or anything at all that makes a sentence readable or gives it structure i know weve been thru ths before just havng a dig at u

[st_Trav_ofWA]

When Fizz was prompted after training " Good Luck for this Weekend" his reply was "Thanks I'll need it. Don't think I'll be out there Sunday". Quite interesting.

the boy is fairly negative from the few times i have spoken to fizz he seems to always be very critical of himself and his perfromances (almost as if hes reading this site every day

no chance of him ever understanding ur posts trav coz theyre completely bereft of punctuation or anything at all that makes a sentence readable or gives it structure i know weve been thru ths before just havng a dig at u

[saintbrat]

note- some players were still off doing the clean up the bay duties

Bakes ran more freely than other weeks- but it's always the days after a game that he gets sore,

kosi was great with a bunch of kids- one wearing no 23 and one No 18- he made sure that BJ when he did come out was over to say hi.