The pre season begins !!!!

[Melbourne_Blood]

Bloody Sydney weather

[Meg]

Bloody Sydney weather

Tell me about it! It's pouring again right now.

[707]

From the Swans website this morning, Tom Harley about Luke Parker being close to signing a contract extension -

"He's the youngest player ever to be voted into the Swans' leadership group and he's an integral part of our future, both on and off the field.

"He's exactly the type of player you want at your club. On the field he's ruthless and competitive and off the field he really drives the troops.

"We've had fantastic leaders in (Jarrad) McVeigh, Kieren Jack and Josh Kennedy and Luke's the next one to bridge that gap before we get to the really young ones in Callum Mills and Isaac Heeney.

"We're very confident Luke will be with us for a long time."

In more positive news for Swans fans, Lance Franklin "hasn't missed a beat" this pre-season after stepping away from playing in last year's finals series.

Lot's of good and interesting news in this story, Luke about to re-sign, mentions 19yo Heeney and 18yo Mills as future leaders, Buddy physically going well, all good news :-)

[royboy42]

Re Training for the next few days. I called the Swans office today to confirm tomorrow's times at Lakeside. Was told next open training is Monday.
A couple of queries. Obviously if training is at Lakeside it cannot be closed. The surrounds are a public recreational area.
And my understanding is that the SCG is still off limits. (possibly with the test finished, that may be wrong.)
And the promise to detail training times on the website seems to have got lost in the post Christmas action.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Ladies and gents

I'm being a little picky again this year but the stats on the player profiles are way out for several players

How does the website get this so wrong each pre season ???

[Scottee]

It's even worse on the Swans app. Lewiis Jetta is still playing for us according to that and Sam Naismith is still on the Rookie list, not to mention a number of other things.

[graemed]

Watched training this morning for a short time before other duties dragged me away.
The first year players were away at the inductees camp but the rest of the squad plus extras were involved in time trials initially followed by skill drills.
One of the drills involved tackling and believe me there were some very competitive tackles being laid, Kieran Jack in particular was taking no prisoners.
The next drill focused on creating loose players, defensive running and team play.
Reg was outstanding in this skill work, I must admit that I have been a critic in the past of his decision making and execution but he was a stand out in this drill. His vision and ability to hit targets was first rate.

[Vurt]

What was Buddy doing? Couldn't spot him in the 3km video that was just posted

[707]

Hanners second behind running machine Hiscox in the 3km time trial - that folks is great news building on what was a great season for Hanners in 2015. Edged out perennial second placer Rampe who must be feeling the effects of those off season fags!

With rotations down from 120 to 90 this year, endurance players will be more valuable than ever so this kind of much improved effort is gold.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Geeze Robbo is making himself standout with great performances in the running department this off season.....I wonder if Robbo will actually start to become that player that is very difficult to not pick week in week out and a Gary Rohan might miss out on the 22?

I heard thru the grapevine that Abe Davis has come back looking like a player that may get a call up in 2016 !!!

[graemed]

He was the focus of one photographer in particular but otherwise was very competitive. Featured brilliantly in one scoring passage during drills after combining with Reg and Rampe.

[707]

....................... I heard thru the grapevine that Abe Davis has come back looking like a player that may get a call up in 2016 !!!

Our lack of depth is worrying so it's guys like Abe Davis we want/need to step up this year. Could develop into a unique type of player, fingers crossed.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Graemed - did u mean Robbo or Abe ?

[RogueSwan]

From the Swans website this morning, Tom Harley about Luke Parker being close to signing a contract extension -

"He's the youngest player ever to be voted into the Swans' leadership group and he's an integral part of our future, both on and off the field.

"He's exactly the type of player you want at your club. On the field he's ruthless and competitive and off the field he really drives the troops.

"We've had fantastic leaders in (Jarrad) McVeigh, Kieren Jack and Josh Kennedy and Luke's the next one to bridge that gap before we get to the really young ones in Callum Mills and Isaac Heeney.

"We're very confident Luke will be with us for a long time."

In more positive news for Swans fans, Lance Franklin "hasn't missed a beat" this pre-season after stepping away from playing in last year's finals series.

Lot's of good and interesting news in this story, Luke about to re-sign, mentions 19yo Heeney and 18yo Mills as future leaders, Buddy physically going well, all good news :-)

Article from last week saying pretty much the same thing.

[liz]

Seems like Hanners is flying a bit of a lone flag for the interstaters in the running department. He was the only non-NSWelshman to finish in the top 5, and from the photos, it looks like the Jack brothers may have been next over the line (or at very least, were in the next few home).