2021 pre-season training

[Syd76]

I attended training this morning and can confirm the coaches, and at least some players, are back. Unfortunately it didn't start until 9.30 and I couldn't stay long enough to see very much.

Pretty much all that I did see was that 8 of our most junior players emerged and then, after spending a bit of time warming up, and supervised by pretty much the whole complement of coaches (I can't say I identified them all individually but there were many of them so probably included Inness (the new performance guy replacing Rob Spurrs) and maybe our new physio - I did see Horse, Macca, and Cox for sure), they ran a time trial (pretty sure it would have been 2 km), running laps around Lakeside Oval.

The order in which the group of 8 completed the time trial was: Gulden (sprinted off at the beginning and then maintained his lead from start to finish without ultimately increasing the gap on second place he established in the first 150 m or so), Ronke, McLean, McDonald, Sheather, Wicks, Bell, and, far behind (I reckon about 300 m behind Gulden and well over 100m behind Bell), Amartey. Amartey was far behind last season also, so, despite his reported quickness over 20 m, it seems that he doesn't cover the miles quickly. I would have thought this was a concern for someone who wants to play in the midfield but perhaps not because he isn't improving and we keep re-signing him. As Ted Richards has pointed out, the 2/3km time trial doesn't really reflect the repeat sprint efforts that are more typically required in a game, and it is worth bearing that in mind when considering these results.

Great to see Gulden determined to make whatever good impression he can from the get-go. Impressive to see McLean do so well for a big man. Logan McDonald lived up to his reputation as having a good tank by finishing not too far behind first place.

None of the other players showed up while I was there. I'm curious why the two other draftees, Campbell and Carruthers, didn't take part in the time trial too.

HNY to you.. thanks for the update.. please keep them coming....

[TheBloods]

I attended training this morning and can confirm the coaches, and at least some players, are back. Unfortunately it didn't start until 9.30 and I couldn't stay long enough to see very much.

Pretty much all that I did see was that 8 of our most junior players emerged and then, after spending a bit of time warming up, and supervised by pretty much the whole complement of coaches (I can't say I identified them all individually but there were many of them so probably included Inness (the new performance guy replacing Rob Spurrs) and maybe our new physio - I did see Horse, Macca, and Cox for sure), they ran a time trial (pretty sure it would have been 2 km), running laps around Lakeside Oval.

The order in which the group of 8 completed the time trial was: Gulden (sprinted off at the beginning and then maintained his lead from start to finish without ultimately increasing the gap on second place he established in the first 150 m or so), Ronke, McLean, McDonald, Sheather, Wicks, Bell, and, far behind (I reckon about 300 m behind Gulden and well over 100m behind Bell), Amartey. Amartey was far behind last season also, so, despite his reported quickness over 20 m, it seems that he doesn't cover the miles quickly. I would have thought this was a concern for someone who wants to play in the midfield but perhaps not because he isn't improving and we keep re-signing him. As Ted Richards has pointed out, the 2/3km time trial doesn't really reflect the repeat sprint efforts that are more typically required in a game, and it is worth bearing that in mind when considering these results.

Great to see Gulden determined to make whatever good impression he can from the get-go. Impressive to see McLean do so well for a big man. Logan McDonald lived up to his reputation as having a good tank by finishing not too far behind first place.

None of the other players showed up while I was there. I'm curious why the two other draftees, Campbell and Carruthers, didn't take part in the time trial too.

Thanks for the updates bloodspirit. They really are needed in this time when it is harder than ever to attend training. It sounds like rather than the traditional 2km time trial, where you have half a dozen groups of 7-8 simultaneously conducting their time trials, amounting to about 35-40 players running laps at once, this year they may opt for smaller groups separated. Which is disappointing as it renders the concept of a finishing order somewhat irrelevant.

However it sounds like a very, very underwhelming day one of 2021 training in general. Not the club's fault given players will be flying into NSW still, but I do wonder if clubs should've held off resuming pre-season until the entire squad was available to do so.

[SeanM]

Thanks for the updates bloodspirit. They really are needed in this time when it is harder than ever to attend training. It sounds like rather than the traditional 2km time trial, where you have half a dozen groups of 7-8 simultaneously conducting their time trials, amounting to about 35-40 players running laps at once, this year they may opt for smaller groups separated. Which is disappointing as it renders the concept of a finishing order somewhat irrelevant.

However it sounds like a very, very underwhelming day one of 2021 training in general. Not the club's fault given players will be flying into NSW still, but I do wonder if clubs should've held off resuming pre-season until the entire squad was available to do so.

I did not think the attendance was too bad. Maybe 34 though not everyone fully participating.

[bloodspirit]

I did not think the attendance was too bad. Maybe 34 though not everyone fully participating.

Good to hear SeanM. I guess more turned up later.

I think, TheBloods that you might be right and that the players are being trained in separate small groups for Covid reasons.

- - - Updated - - -

Can you report any more, SeanM? Which 34 players did you see (even if you can't name check them all)?

[SeanM]

Good to hear SeanM. I guess more turned up later.

I think, TheBloods that you might be right and that the players are being trained in separate small groups for Covid reasons.

- - - Updated - - -

Can you report any more, SeanM? Which 34 players did you see (even if you can't name check them all)?

2nd Group
Stephens first, Clarke maybe 10m behind though finishing strongly, a big gap to Mills in 3rd, Florent 4th and then I think Warner/Rowbottom/Campbell/Blakey were fairly close together. Kennedy was with this group for the drills but I don't think he ran around the oval.

3rd Group
Fox well ahead for the whole run. He was probably at least 10sec faster than the winner of the other groups. A big gap to Ling in 2nd. Then a gap to Malachy/Rampe/Lloyd finishing very close together in a competitive sprint near the end. Then Gould in 6th, Melican in 7th and O'Connor in 8th.

4th Group
I don't think they did the run. They warmed up and seemed to go to the drills. Parker, Hewett, Hickey, Hayward, Dawson and Gray seemed to be a group of 6 for the drills. Sinclair, Reid and McCartin were with this group but did not really participate. Sinclair and Reid were doing their own thing. McCartin was talking to Longmire.

(I left midway through the 4th group.)

[bloodspirit]

Thanks SeanM! Great performance by Lingy!! Also good start by Carruthers to be keeping up with Rampe and Lloyd, who are both very good runners. Solid by Mills. No surprises for Stephens and Clarke who are known for their elite running ability.

Curious to wonder why they've grouped the players in this way. The first group was comprised exclusively of our least established players, all young. The second group is also young, led by Mills then Florent, and is mostly midfielders. The third group seems to be a bunch of defenders - interesting that Mills trained with the other midfielders and Carruthers with the defenders. The last group seems to be a mix of more senior players, with the talls possibly on limited programs.

Those not mentioned: Brand, Heeney (on the road to recovery from injury), Hayward (another one coming back from injury/surgery?), Naismith (rehabbing), Papley (??), Buddy (coming back from injury), McInerney, Taylor, COR.

Great to have something to talk about after a couple of weeks break.

[TheBloods]

Thanks SeanM! Great performance by Lingy!! Also good start by Carruthers to be keeping up with Rampe and Lloyd, who are both very good runners. Solid by Mills. No surprises for Stephens and Clarke who are known for their elite running ability.

Curious to wonder why they've grouped the players in this way. The first group was comprised exclusively of our least established players, all young. The second group is also young, led by Mills then Florent, and is mostly midfielders. The third group seems to be a bunch of defenders - interesting that Mills trained with the other midfielders and Carruthers with the defenders. The last group seems to be a mix of more senior players, with the talls possibly on limited programs.

Those not mentioned: Brand, Heeney (on the road to recovery from injury), Hayward (another one coming back from injury/surgery?), Naismith (rehabbing), Papley (??), Buddy (coming back from injury), McInerney, Taylor, COR.

Great to have something to talk about after a couple of weeks break.

A possible explanation may be that because of the restrictions forcing them to train in smaller groups, they want players training with the fellow players they'll be heavily involved with? For example that cohort of midfielders make sense. Stephens, Florent, Campbell, Rowbottom, Warner and Blakey is essentially the entire next generation of our midfield. I like the idea of them training skills together and becoming familiar with how each other plays.

[SeanM]

A possible explanation may be that because of the restrictions forcing them to train in smaller groups, they want players training with the fellow players they'll be heavily involved with? For example that cohort of midfielders make sense. Stephens, Florent, Campbell, Rowbottom, Warner and Blakey is essentially the entire next generation of our midfield. I like the idea of them training skills together and becoming familiar with how each other plays.

That does seem to make sense.

2nd group are mostly mids. 3rd group are mostly defenders.

The 1st group has a few forwards (Mcdonald, Ronke, Wicks) and rucks (Mclean, Amartey). Also Bell who has played mostly half forward. Not sure where Gulden and Sheather will play but they have played forward at times as juniors..

[SeanM]

The drills were similar to what I have seen them do before. And all groups did similar sessions apart from the last group not doing the run.

Run
Already discussed. They did a warmup beforehand. I think it was 4.5 laps starting from the south goal posts and ending near the north goal posts. Some players were going full effort. Others were running within themselves.

Skill Drills
Kicking the ball back and forth in pairs or threes. Also picking up rolling ground balls and handballing it on.

Handball drill
4 attackers try to handball past 3 defenders. Always seems like a worthwhile drill. Because it puts the players under close pressure to receive the ball, make a decision who to handpass to as well as move into space.

It is nice a drill to watch new draftees because they have to execute a handball in congestion, have clean hands, make decisions and they can use a bit of evasion. Unlike a drill where they are kicking the ball back and forth under no pressure.

Kicking drill
Player runs forward and kicks the ball to a player running towards him.

Possession Drill
Attacking team arranged roughly in a circle and trying to keep possession against 2 defenders.

Drill moving the ball upfield
Initially 2 attackers handpass past 1 defender, then kick upfield to one of 2 leading options, who then kicks forward to one of 2 leading options.

For the later groups this drill evolved a bit to be more realistic. It became more of a kick-in sim with more realistic passing options and pressure. And the attacking players were expected to stay involved and keep running forward.

[stevoswan]

Longmire on Swans return - YouTube

[bloodspirit]

I meant to add that Sheather looked big and Errol was definitely the smallest in the group. Wicks was a little bigger than I remembered. I presume he hasn't grown.

On SEN I saw that the deputy in charge of the AFL Academy hopes McDonald gets 5-6 games this season but doesn't reckon he is ready for a whole season at AFL level.

[SeanM]

Full squad return to pre-season training - YouTube

There is some training footage on the Swans youtube channel.

There is footage of Heeney and Franklin who I did not realise were there. I may have left too early or not been paying attention to the area near the Swans tent.

[Markwebbos]

To my untrained eye it does look like Mills-the-Messiah is training with the mids. Could 2021 finally be the year?

[Mountain Man]

I attended training today. NSW Covid restrictions applied so that the groups were restricted (8 or 9 in the ones I saw) and there was strict separation of 30 minutes with very limited contact to the following/preceding players. I don't think much can be read from the composition of the groups.

Others have described the groups, and I missed the final one which apparently had forwards such as Franklin and Heeney.

Guilden is certainly very small, but a real effort displayed. McDonald in the 1st group is still quite small - certainly compared to the current size of say McCartin. McLean trained in that group and is far larger.

In the 2nd group, Rowbottom and Blakey seemed rather slow in the laps run; and in the drills. Stephens ran well and Campbell's kicking was all that others have indicated - low darts, fast and accurate. He is still undersized compared to say Florent.

Kennedy joined the drills for the next group to even up the numbers, but did not exert himself. Later, Reid and Sinclair did a similar part involvement.

In the "defenders" group, Gould seemed much more agile; previously I sensed him as a bit muscle bound and a straight-line runner. In the 5 attackers, 3 defender handball drills he was both vocal and active.

In the "midfielders" group, Haywood looked very much as home; Hewett retains the hirsute appearance; Hickey seems agile, but is certainly not a massive immoveable tap ruckman presence.

The drills done by each group were pretty much the same, and 30 minutes long, so really just a first day back to shake out the cobwebs. There was (mostly) a 3 lap run, but confined to the 8 in their group. For the 1st 2 groups there was a trainer calling out elapsed time as encouragement/pressure, but i did not notice that for later groups.

The Test starts tomorrow so there was a heap of security trying, transport barrier erection and event activity, but it was a warm sunny day after fortnight of rain. It was nice to be there

[TheBloods]

In the 2nd group, Rowbottom and Blakey seemed rather slow in the laps run; and in the drills.

That is very disappointing and frankly not good enough.

Stephens ran well and Campbell's kicking was all that others have indicated - low darts, fast and accurate. He is still undersized compared to say Florent.

But this is very encouraging. Stephens and Campbell being integrated into our midfield mix gives me great cause for excitement, though my expectations are tempered for a second and first year player, respectively.