Training

[CJK]

Seems not.

[Primmy]

I was just having a think about Swans training, especially today's report re sand hill work. I couldn't think of anything I would like to do less. Not even sandpapering my toenails. No wonder Mick took off from Driver Ave with a smile. No more sandhills.

[Bas]

They have done alot of sand hill work this pre-season.

Even Lewis Johnston (toe) and Craig Bird (calf) who pulled out of the main session were made to crawl up and down a large dune. That would leave you with a great mental picture later in the season.

A bit Sound of Musicish........Climb every (sand) mountain.

Full report below:


Pro challenge: sand dunes - Official AFL Website of the Sydney Swans Football Club

[Jeffers1984]

OK managed to get to training today to see how the boys were going.

First time i've ever been to training so i didn't really know what to expect but man those guys are fit running those laps around Lakeside oval and beyond.
Todays drills included standard kick to kick, handballing in game situations and length of the field transfer of play with an offensive vs defensive team.
Alot of runs in between, pretty stock standard stuff i guess.

Few Observations:

Bradshaw, Meredith and Lewis Johnston were not present at all.

Jesse White did not participate in any of the drills. Only participated in the first run but then disappeared for the rest of the session. This guy is a man mountain, seriously massive.

Jetta Participated in a run and a handball in game situation drill but was no where to be seen afterwards. However i did see him pull a nice tackle on a full running Jude Bolton. The guy is very very slight but that tackle was a nice sign.

Seaby Did not impress in the slightest. I got a good look at the ruck vs Ruck contested marking drill where it was Seaby Vs Mumford and Seaby Vs Orreal. Seabs was outbodied easily by Mumford and never really won a a contest against him. Against Orreal he was able to outbody him to get in position for a mark but he fluffed every single attempt. Got to a point where he dropped a near sitter and kicked the ball away in frustration. Hopefully just a bad day for him but i was very disappointed in what i saw. Even had a few shockers in the set shot drill where Pyke was showing him up from 40-45 metres.

Goodes Looking awesome as always however had a bit of a scare where he was in a marking contest with Mattner who spoiled him from behind but then took a tumble over Goodesy taking them both down. Goodes came up gingerly on his knee but seemed to be ok and participated in the rest of the drills.

Quickly:

Mumford - Swears alot, shows alot of passion and was very vocal encouraging team mates. Did drop alot of marking attempts in the ruck vs ruck marking duel but i like what i see from his tap work and off the ball play. He will be a shepherding king in my book and no one will be able to go around him because he's so ****ing massive.

Hanners, Shaw, C Bolts, Veszpremi and Kristin Thornton- Didn't participate with the main group today. All seem to be on pure running programs only. I think it was Hanners' first session but man he looks fit.

Cheese - Looks pretty determined to succeed. Aced all the 3km runs or however long they went for, finished first each time. In the drills his skills looked sharp but we all know he has problems transforming that onto the main stage. Just quietly he knows how to do the soccer juggle with a sherrin very well. Kept it going for 3 minutes or so.

Mcglynn, looking good as well. Mcglynn is a little terrier not giving Mcveigh an inch in those in game handballing drills. His kicking was efficient and i'm thinking he could be a real value trade success for us in a few years. Crouch's replacement is where i see him i think as the negating tagger for the small quick midfield types.

Heath and Reid all participated but will need extensive amounts of time in the gym. Heath was heavily coached and encouraged more than others in some of the in game situation drills. Coaches yelling at him to push harder etc.

Malceski - Guy is looking the goods. Power running and delivering the ball like the Macleski we knew and loved. He had a strong presence out there showing alot of bounce and enthusiasm. He will claim his spot back in the 22.

Rohan - definitely stands out with his red hair but what also stands out is his acceleration. I only saw glimpses due to the nature of the drills but i can easily see him bursting out of a congested pack and burning his tagger. Once he gets a season of AFL training into him he will be an excitement machine. Skill wise he seemed competent. Can kick the ball 50 metres from a set shot and IIRC didn't seem to miss a target by hand or foot. Hard to completely judge again by the nature of the drills i saw.

TDL - Looks a silky smooth mover. Great on a lead, blew his opponent by a good 2 metres but the few times i saw him had to juggle his mark. Didn't take one cleanly but you can see why they are impressed with him. He'll be deadly if he gets the right service. Will be a great foil to our Triple Towers.

Sumner - Penetration on his kick is impressive. Long darts to his targets.
I saw Stewie Dew and Stuey Maxfield spending alot of time together during drills. Get those 2 prestigious left footers to mentor that boot on Byrons because it's got alot of potential.

I took alot of photos as well which i'll have to put up when i get the time, but this was my observation from the 2 and a half hours i was there.

[Cant turn right]

Love your work there Jeffers. Thank you.

[ShockOfHair]

Thanks, Jeffers, great stuff.

Mumford to lead our ruck this year, Seaby to battle it out with Currie, Pyke, etc for no. 2.

[Jeffers1984]

Thanks guys.

Photos are up

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffers1984/sets/72157623158911235/

[satchmopugdog]

Thanks Jeffers..MOD has a lot of strapping on his knee....yucky.

Wonder what those Sydney Roosters thought of it all?

[ScottH]

Nice review and pics, mate!!

[Auntie.Gerald]

awesome Jeffers !!

How about Matt Odwyer - is he coming along ??

great shot mate of Matty on the prowl !!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffers1984/4304805320/in/set-72157623158911235/

[hammo]

Thanks Jeffers. Really appreciate the reports of training when people are able to get down there. The best I get is a brief look on the bus on the way to work.

[RogueSwan]

Thank you for the run down Jeffers.
I hope you are right that Seaby may have had an off day. I think we need to start the season with 2 solid rucks. Maybe Orreal will come on quick enough. [fingers crossed smiley]

[Primmy]

Thanks Jeffers. Good to see Jake has finally started to fill out his body; I have a feeling he was wondering when all that hard work was going to pay off. MP is an unit isn't he. As for Mummy.....hes frightening. Will make myself available asap to do a follow up viewing - just for research you understand.

[707]

Hey there Jeffers, I was over in Sydney this weekend for a wedding so borrowed a car and took the plunge into the scary Sydney traffic to watch the same training session as you. I assume you were the guy with the really BIG lense? Sorry I didn't chat more to you, I was the guy in the yellow cap.

It was my first Swans training session since 1993. They trained on the main SCG oval and I was the ONLY person watching, dark days indeed.

Different nowadays, I counted at least 21 staff in blue coaching shirts. What a wide variety of tasks and drills were undertaken over the two hours I watched. Too hard to see everything that's going on, but Jeffers, I agree with most of your observations.

Mumford is a massive unit and I reckon he will develop really well and prove a trading steal

Barlow - liked what I saw, please get it together on game day Ed

Mcglynn - could prove another trade steal, impressive over most areas, a great addition to the midfield.

Tadgh - just looked fresh and classy whenever he touched the ball

Malceski - looked like the pre knee Mal. What a huge boost he and Tadgh will be for us

TDL - Looks the goods for a guy who's just into the AFL system. Just what we've needed in our team for a while. Must start IMO.

Sumner - unheralded but this guy could be a late draft surprise packet. Would not be surprised to see him get a run this year.

[EMJ]

Jeffers great reporting and fabulous photos.

It is good to read your comments and then to see some action photos. You are a great photographer as well as journalist.

Only makes the anticipation of the NAB cup and seeing the guys play at Blacktown even more exciting.

Thanks - great job.