Round 2 vs Essendon

[KSAS]

Sinkers didn't play round one.

Right you are! He was named as one of the emergencies. R1 Seemed so long ago now!

[bloodspirit]

I dropped by on training this morning. Some short observations:

* they WEREN'T training as a whole group - seemed to be about a third of the squad (approx. 14 players) and they were subdivided into two groups training at opposite ends of the field. Curious. Why wait all this time to be able to train together and understake stricter isolation measures and then not actually train all together?

* it was overall a very light hearted, easy training session. There was lots of laughing and banter. Nobody worked up a sweat or did much to work up a sweat. There was a bit of light jogging. There were lots of kicks for goal. A few stretches. Some handballing drills and games. A bit of kicking in pairs. Nothing involving contact. Nothing resembling match simulation.

* Hard to read too much into that but I was impressed with COR's focus during the training. He just seemed to be pushing it a bit harder than the others e.g. when they were handballing to each other in pairs he was with Brett Kirk and he was handballing at a faster rate and also deliberately doing some more testing handballs (higher/lower/left/right) to keep his partner on his toes.

* When Parker and Heeney were kicking to each other I thought Heeney's kicking accuracy was superior. There was a bit of a breeze that had to be factored in but most of the time Parker didn't need to take a step whereas Heeney would have to move a couple of paces this way or that to catch the Sherrin.

* Bell's accuracy kicking for gaol seemed to go down once Horse showed up and everyone was scrutinising the kicks a bit more closely. At one point Bell was attempting an around the corner set shot from tight in the pocket and Horse said something to throw him off as he kicked (they were all doing this to each other) and he missed wildly. Another wild miss a bit later on.

* Most of the time Bell paired up with Elijah Taylor. I had been wondering and it turns out that Elijah Taylor is the one (apart from Zac Foot) who has the shock of dyed blond hair. In a way, I think this is a good sign because it possibly shows his confidence. However he looked like the least fit player there. Conversely, when they did some of those handballing drills I noticed his stillness as he was catching and handballing the multiple balls that were flying around. He's definitely got talent. He also kicks beautifully and powerfully too.

* A player who made a good impression, although ironically for the (slightly) wrong reasons was Maibaum. He was quite understated in the way he went about it, not calling attention to himself, but I noticed he succeeded with every kick for goal I saw him attempt (which I didn't notice for anyone else). That said Heeney was showboating and attempting any number of party shots including from slightly behind the goals and outside the boundary fence. So it's no wonder he didn't kick them all. Heeney was the only player who spoke to me, when he called out to me that Parker was cheating (by overstepping the mark? I didn't quite follow) in one of Parker's shots for goal.

All in all, nice to eyeball the team in the flesh in the beautiful winter sunshine. Only 10 days until footy resumes! (Or 13 days in our case, unfortunately.)

[MattW]

Good on you, bloodspirit.

I popped on to recommend the video of the match sim on the official site. A well compiled montage.

My observations from it
- Melican looked fit and sharp. I still think he's in our best 22 and adds flexibility to our defence, freeing Aliir or Rampe to play more rebounding roles.
- Taylor looked sharp around the stoppages. I think he'll become a useful player as his confidence comes on.
- I remain excited to see Gould and Stephens develop with us. Both seem to have great attitudes and are developing a bond. The former looks a future leader.

[liz]

Nice rundown tackle from young Reynolds in that montage. Good effort, good technique.

[goswannies]

* they WEREN'T training as a whole group - seemed to be about a third of the squad (approx. 14 players) and they were subdivided into two groups training at opposite ends of the field. Curious. Why wait all this time to be able to train together and understake stricter isolation measures and then not actually train all together?

I think a number of sporting teams are taking the precaution of still not training together or even one entire part of the squad (eg forwards, defenders, mids etc) training together lest one player contract covid or has the symptoms and takes out the entire group for a minimum of a couple of weeks while they confirm the players/groups covid condition

[bloodspirit]

Good on you, bloodspirit.

I popped on to recommend the video of the match sim on the official site. A well compiled montage.

My observations from it
- Melican looked fit and sharp. I still think he's in our best 22 and adds flexibility to our defence, freeing Aliir or Rampe to play more rebounding roles.
- Taylor looked sharp around the stoppages. I think he'll become a useful player as his confidence comes on.
- I remain excited to see Gould and Stephens develop with us. Both seem to have great attitudes and are developing a bond. The former looks a future leader.

That video is good to see. It is everything that today was not. (That footage is not from today - most likely was on Friday.) I wonder if we avoided contact and hard work today because they are being extra cautious to help the players avoid injury? Perhaps Friday is the relatively full-on session and Monday the relatively lighter one?

I agree that Lewis Taylor looked good in one passage in particular. It was also encouraging to see Melican in action and taking some intercept marks although way to small a sample for me to express any opinions. Absolutely agree that it will be exciting to see all of our draftees develop - at this stage I hold out hopes for all of them, with E. Taylor being a bit of a wild card. What do you base the observation about Gould and Stephens forming a bit of a bond on, MattW? I gather they spent a little bit of time together in SA towards the end of the lockdown period, possibly with Stephens visiting Gould's family's farm??

- - - Updated - - -

I think a number of sporting teams are taking the precaution of still not training together or even one entire part of the squad (eg forwards, defenders, mids etc) training together lest one player contract covid or has the symptoms and takes out the entire group for a minimum of a couple of weeks while they confirm the players/groups covid condition

That would make sense if it weren't for the fact that the video shows us the whole group played a full contact match sim last week.

[TheBloods]

That video is good to see. It is everything that today was not. (That footage is not from today - most likely was on Friday.) I wonder if we avoided contact and hard work today because they are being extra cautious to help the players avoid injury? Perhaps Friday is the relatively full-on session and Monday the relatively lighter one?

I agree that Lewis Taylor looked good in one passage in particular. It was also encouraging to see Melican in action and taking some intercept marks although way to small a sample for me to express any opinions. Absolutely agree that it will be exciting to see all of our draftees develop - at this stage I hold out hopes for all of them, with E. Taylor being a bit of a wild card. What do you base the observation about Gould and Stephens forming a bit of a bond on, MattW? I gather they spent a little bit of time together in SA towards the end of the lockdown period, possibly with Stephens visiting Gould's family's farm??

- - - Updated - - -



That would make sense if it weren't for the fact that the video shows us the whole group played a full contact match sim last week.

Could it simply be that the training days have changed? Don't forget that match simulations over the summer continued until the conclusion of pre-season, then they got into the Marsh community games. This time is a little different, as they will be going from match simulation, time trials etc virtually straight into round 2. So it's possible that the club has had to adjust the training schedule per the lead-up to the Sunday game against the Bombers.

[707]

Good on you, bloodspirit.

I popped on to recommend the video of the match sim on the official site. A well compiled montage.

My observations from it
- Melican looked fit and sharp. I still think he's in our best 22 and adds flexibility to our defence, freeing Aliir or Rampe to play more rebounding roles.
- Taylor looked sharp around the stoppages. I think he'll become a useful player as his confidence comes on.
- I remain excited to see Gould and Stephens develop with us. Both seem to have great attitudes and are developing a bond. The former looks a future leader.

I think there are AFL rules about numbers in contact sessions, I think clubs can only do full on contact three sessions a week, obviously today was not one of them.

Gould was Captain of the SA U18's so will obviously bring that into his senior career.

Thanks for the first hand reports from training, appreciated

[MattW]

That video is good to see. It is everything that today was not. (That footage is not from today - most likely was on Friday.) I wonder if we avoided contact and hard work today because they are being extra cautious to help the players avoid injury? Perhaps Friday is the relatively full-on session and Monday the relatively lighter one?

I agree that Lewis Taylor looked good in one passage in particular. It was also encouraging to see Melican in action and taking some intercept marks although way to small a sample for me to express any opinions. Absolutely agree that it will be exciting to see all of our draftees develop - at this stage I hold out hopes for all of them, with E. Taylor being a bit of a wild card. What do you base the observation about Gould and Stephens forming a bit of a bond on, MattW? I gather they spent a little bit of time together in SA towards the end of the lockdown period, possibly with Stephens visiting Gould's family's farm??

- - - Updated - - -



That would make sense if it weren't for the fact that the video shows us the whole group played a full contact match sim last week.

Re Gould and Stephens: a few little things.

There was a short video on the OS of a Gould and Stephens kicking contest at the former's farm (won by the latter to the former's annoyance).

Gould was on 'Ask a Swan' last week and mentioned he'd probably choose Stephens to drive a long distance in the sponsor's car, noting a developing friendship.

Then there's just a flash of affection right at the end the clip, which is pretty standard but stood out a little in light of the above.

[TheBloods]

Re Gould and Stephens: a few little things.

There was a short video on the OS of a Gould and Stephens kicking contest at the former's farm (won by the latter to the former's annoyance).

Gould was on 'Ask a Swan' last week and mentioned he'd probably choose Stephens to drive a long distance in the sponsor's car, noting a developing friendship.

Then there's just a flash of affection right at the end the clip, which is pretty standard but stood out a little in light of the above.

Being drafted together does seem to make certain players bond more. Will and Ollie, Liz and Rowy, now Gould and Stephens.

[stevoswan]

Good on you, bloodspirit.

I popped on to recommend the video of the match sim on the official site. A well compiled montage.

My observations from it
- Melican looked fit and sharp. I still think he's in our best 22 and adds flexibility to our defence, freeing Aliir or Rampe to play more rebounding roles.
- Taylor looked sharp around the stoppages. I think he'll become a useful player as his confidence comes on.
- I remain excited to see Gould and Stephens develop with us. Both seem to have great attitudes and are developing a bond. The former looks a future leader.

Was Taylor the one with the new 'shaven sides' haircut? If so, he looked quick!

[MattW]

Was Taylor the one with the new 'shaven sides' haircut? If so, he looked quick!

Yep, he certainly looked clean. He was quoted in an article last week saying that he's been working a lot with McVeigh.

[Markwebbos]

Yep, he certainly looked clean. He was quoted in an article last week saying that he's been working a lot with McVeigh.

Some of Macca's speed must have rubbed off on him?

[MattW]

Some of Macca's speed must have rubbed off on him?

It was a bit of a non-sequitur. But you can look quick by reading the play well.

[Mel_C]

We finally trained on the SCG today. Is there a reason why we weren't allowed on the SCG prior to today?

Has Naismith been training since we came back? I haven't noticed him in any photos or footage. I have only seen Sinclair and Knoll in the ruck.