training report 19/12

[spiral3]

Checked out some of training yesterday, not heaps to report but a few observations

Saw about 1hr of training which involved lots of 100m run throughs, 14min full ground match sim, backline to fwd line ball movement drill and more 100m run throughs.

Tricky to pick out players on the ground due to new faces, no numbers and many wearing caps

- John Beveridge in attendance, getting on now but nice to see at the club, nice connection with Roughy and Paddy Mac
- Brad Hill, fit, great mover and ball use, perfect addition
- Max King had two or three shots on goal during match sim, opposed to Nath Brown. Brown had the better of him early in pack situations. King did well later when on the move.
- young very tall bloke working with Roughy on one on one bodywork, then Skrobolak (sp?) ruck work. Thought the player was king but later realised it wasn't. Must have been Abalaskis?, if so looks to have trimmed down. kicking it ok too
- Bell, only did one or two good things, lacks fitness and strength but that's to be expected
- Byrnes, chunky in the legs, ran his guts out in run throughs, working hard to impress, good to see
- Leo, beautiful kick, accuracy and depth. Lots to learn but looks eager and his kicking is a real asset. Best fwd 50 entry that I saw during ball movement drill.
- zak jones, forgot about him, didn't notice til end, sorry
- marshall, looks primed, moving well, dragged Carlisile by the hand through at least one run through, great camaraderie
- ryder, ruck work excellent
- battle, played all simulations as a backman
- hunter, lively, great in traffic
- austin, doppelganger of Gilbo
- membrey - addressed the group pre match sim
- bytel - lively, hard to pick out as I haven't seen him before, kicking penetration was good (as asked in Bytel s*** fight thread)

Not in full training, Webster, Hanners,
Didn't see Parker or Darragh

[Junction Oval]

Thanks Spiral for taking the time to put your notes down. Many will appreciate the report.

Interesting. It's all full-on now to the season start.

[skeptic]

Interesting RE Battle continuing to play as a back.

Wonder how they’re planning to structure up.

One would think
Geary, Howard
Roberton, Carlisle

Would be a lock.

Battle and Wilkie make that too tall

[Junction Oval]

Apart from Geary, Wilkie would be the next smallest player of that group.

The addition of Howard and if Roberton can get on the park, we now look very solid down back. I like the consistency and reliability of Wilkie's performance.

[Choppa]

Thanks spiral 3!

[B.M]

Some of the boys were in pretty good form on the dance floor last night!

[Joffa Burns]

Backline set up will be interesting as clubs like to let the backline settle for continuity as a group:

Talls: Carslile, Howard, Brown, Austin, Joyce, Battle, Clavarino

Medium talls: Battle, Austin, Joyce, Clavarino, Wilke, Roberton

Mediums: Roberton, Wilkie, Coffield, Webster

Smalls: Savage, Webster, Geary, Clark, Paton, Jones, McKenzie

There is probably 14 guys fighting for spots assuming Clark and Jones play further upfield.

[B.M]

Clark will play off HB imo

Ratten likes his creativity and run from HB and he’s in front of most of the other HBs on 2019 form

He would be behind
Hill, Hannebury, Steele, Ross, Gresham, Billings as a mid
Maybe a better option than Dunstan?

[saintspremiers]

Some of the boys were in pretty good form on the dance floor last night!

Aren’t they on leave until 6 Jan now?

If so, they have it pretty good - only returned to work start of November after about 8 weeks off and another 2 weeks off!

[Gershwin]

Clark will play off HB imo

Ratten likes his creativity and run from HB and he’s in front of most of the other HBs on 2019 form

He would be behind
Hill, Hannebury, Steele, Ross, Gresham, Billings as a mid
Maybe a better option than Dunstan?

Surely we drafted him as a mid and after a couple of years in the system he is ready to play there. His mate Coffield can take a HB spot.
We need at least 8 quality mids in the 22.

[saintbob]

Clark will play off HB imo

Ratten likes his creativity and run from HB and he’s in front of most of the other HBs on 2019 form

He would be behind
Hill, Hannebury, Steele, Ross, Gresham, Billings as a mid
Maybe a better option than Dunstan?

Surely we drafted him as a mid and after a couple of years in the system he is ready to play there. His mate Coffield can take a HB spot.
We need at least 8 quality mids in the 22.

[B.M]

Who has 8 quality mids?

You have 3 starting inside mids

2 staring outside mids (w)

2 on the bench to rotate through

And sometimes a forward or back may roll through the middle.

But 8 quality players rolling through there... don’t think any team has that?!

You need quality HBs and forwards also...

[freely]

I'm grateful for the contributions on this site from those like BM who really seem to know the inner workings of football clubs, the way they select and train and so on - but I hope one day we'll get a coach capable of thinking outside these narrow tramtracks of what "all" clubs do. Won't be king of the kids ratten of course - but one day.

[skeptic]

I’ve always been under the impression that HBF is one of the easier positions on the ground to play.
I think it was GT that said he used to start players off there because the ball came to them to it was easier for noobs to adjust to the increased pace.

For that reason I think it makes more sense for a player Coffield that clearly has talent but isn’t as far along as some players in their development to go there.

Meanwhile at some point guys like Clarke are supposed to take the next step...
Gotta start playing them in the middle at some point and treating them like the players you want them to become. And he’s good enough to make it

[B.M]

Agree it’s one of the easier positions to play, but because you get so much drive from HB it’s important quality decision makers and ball users are across HB.
HBF who run and carry and generate i50s on the turnover generate scores.
They also need to be able to read the play and drop off when required and have the balance of attacking and defending spot on.

It is most important you have quality across HB
Shannon Hurn and Leroy Jetta combo is the best in the AFL imo, Houli and Vlaustin are good too.

[skeptic]

Agree it’s one of the easier positions to play, but because you get so much drive from HB it’s important quality decision makers and ball users are across HB.
HBF who run and carry and generate i50s on the turnover generate scores.
They also need to be able to read the play and drop off when required and have the balance of attacking and defending spot on.

It is most important you have quality across HB
Shannon Hurn and Leroy Jetta combo is the best in the AFL imo, Houli and Vlaustin are good too.

And that’s why personally, I’ve always felt that Savage and to a lesser degree Webster are two of the more overrated players on our list.
For a player that is ok at best in defending he’s not nearly damaging as you’d want and Webster, whether it be injury, poor coaching whatever, has simply never played a sustained patch of really good football. His disposal is very inconsistent.

I have no argument against Clarke being suited to that role... my sense however is that he could transition to the midfield and be good enough to continue developing there whilst a guy like Coffield isn’t ready for that transition but could do well enough on a flank. He can run, has decent disposal and awareness, and looks to me like he’s alright defensively.
I would rather play him there with the view of trying to progress his development

[Impatient Sainter]

With the huge number of tall defenders I cant see the sense in Battle still training with the defence?

[B.M]

I have massive doubts on Coffield

Lacks something

[To the top]

Coffield commenced playing some very good footy late in the season, then there was his performance v Fremantle until injured where he was at another level

Can seriously play - plus is 191cm

In Adelaide for a reunion function those who are associated with Port Adelaide have queried Austin who they had a high opinion of and did not appreciate losing A key defender needing a few kgs on his light frame so it will be interesting to see how he presents following a season of injury

Howard they are most annoyed also at losing (St Kilda offered more plus a longer Contract) because they viewed him as the ultimate swing man who can also play off a defensive flank to maximise his intercept abilities such are his attributes (and can appear laconic at times but when on form is a class act). Can also go forward so between Howard and Battle it will be interesting particularly if Austin is as good as they present

Ryder we should get 2 very good years out of

[skeptic]

I have massive doubts on Coffield

Lacks something

What?

[To the top]

And for confirmation, I have always been of the view that you build very good teams from the back - so Carlisle, Roberton, Clark, Coffield, Battle, Howard and Austin position us very well in my view These are all class players including because of the reputation they bring in regards Howard and Austin

[BackFromUSA]

I have massive doubts on Coffield

Lacks something

What?

Belief.

[skeptic]

I have massive doubts on Coffield

Lacks something

What?

Belief.

If that’s the case, maybe we could show some belief in him and see how he responds

[lewdogs]

Posted this on bigfooty and thought I'd add it here...

Went down to training today. Found it kind of hard to take in because there was so much going on! A lot of running, interspersed with handballing drills, kicking drills and some match sim, so a bit hard to take it all in but I'll offer a few general comments.

Hannebery and Webster were running laps with another big guy who may have been Abbot. Webster ran a LOT, but obviously not participating in anything else so guessing he's still having issues with his hand. He and Hannebery had a kick around at some stage, so obviously Hanners is pretty close to getting back out there, guessing he'll be back in after Christmas.

Stand outs of training were:
Hill - fit as, he was really leading the way in the running stuff, saw him talk to the whole group at another stage, aside from the fact that he is just silk in everything he does. Looks like a great pick up.
King - he was playing full forward in match sim on Brown, it was a really good battle! He took some good marks, but mostly it's his kicking and work at ground level that looks pretty sublime.
Carlisle - appears to be about ten times fitter, really asserting himself.
Roberton - great to see him back out there, was playing loose back and looks comfortable.
Battle - looks in absolutely ripping nick.
Marshall - just a gun.
Clark - saw him do some nice things in the centre during match sim.
Lonie - did some really good work, I like what he brings to the team. I heard Ratten comment to another coach about something good he did.

A few other things I noticed; Leo Connolly is an interesting prospect. He's a good size and he kicks it beautifully off both feet. He was getting a lot of instructions and clearly looked a bit like a deer in the headlights, but when he gets it he uses it really well. Could be one to watch for the future.

The back line will be really hard to get into this year. I don't get the impression Battle will be moved forward judging from match sim. So Battle, Roberton, Wilkie, Howard, Webster, Geary, Savage, Coffield... bit of a logjam for spots back there.

Dougal Howard seems a competitive bloke. In a handballing drill where they have two teams and have to handball around he got called for a high tackle on Marshall when he thought it should have been HTB and he was not happy!

Logan Austin copped a spray from Ratten for not giving a handball to Hill when he was calling for it.

Jack Bytel is a great size! Didn't really notice him much, his kicking seems great though. But he looks very big and has the body of an AFL midfielder.

Zak Jones used his pace well at one stage, dashing through a pack and opening things up.

All in all it was interesting to see how much running we did! Some focus on skills but I think fitness is still obviously a huge focus for the group. There seemed to be a good vibe about the place, and always great to get down and have a look at the beautiful 66 cup.

[66Iwasthere]

They have been doing skills sessions since day 1, quite a departure from last year when the emphasis was on running. They do it in small groups according to position and often use the grass area on the other side of the car park for these sessions.