Training Report

[Armoooo]

Lol I just remembered, did anyone see Cahill get sconned in the face? or some of the posis the boys were pulling, looked like they were testing out some tantric positions rather than warming up...

[saintbrat]

liked the shoes

[thirty-seven!?]

I would like to finish up with a bit of a rap for Alistair Smith, he probably impressed me most this afternoon. I believed that he was an athlete first and a footballer second, but after today I believe he is a competitor first and everything else next. He DEMANDED the ball, he was on of it no the most vocal player out there and he really surprised me. In one of the little training exercises they were practicing how to kick it to a contest in a zone, there were 3 attacking players and 2 players playing a zone defence, the point of the exercise was to hit your man in the zone but he would actually wait for players to make their leads or go out wide because he NEEDED to hit his target, everytime he was an attacker he'd give a loud clap when one of his team mate won the ball. He eventually got a speaking to from who I assume was Leigh Tudor about the point of the exercising being to try and kick it in the hole in the zone. But it was just so great to see a guy that really loves to compete and win. His skills were good enough and we all know he has the fitness and speed to play AFL, I now know he's got the attitude, I really hope he can develop into a good young player, I believe he may just need to put a bit of development into his decision making and ability to read the game but IMO he could very well have a future.

Just wondering, Wat is he like physically?? Does he look like he could break into the seniors this year?

[Armoooo]

I would like to finish up with a bit of a rap for Alistair Smith, he probably impressed me most this afternoon. I believed that he was an athlete first and a footballer second, but after today I believe he is a competitor first and everything else next. He DEMANDED the ball, he was on of it no the most vocal player out there and he really surprised me. In one of the little training exercises they were practicing how to kick it to a contest in a zone, there were 3 attacking players and 2 players playing a zone defence, the point of the exercise was to hit your man in the zone but he would actually wait for players to make their leads or go out wide because he NEEDED to hit his target, everytime he was an attacker he'd give a loud clap when one of his team mate won the ball. He eventually got a speaking to from who I assume was Leigh Tudor about the point of the exercising being to try and kick it in the hole in the zone. But it was just so great to see a guy that really loves to compete and win. His skills were good enough and we all know he has the fitness and speed to play AFL, I now know he's got the attitude, I really hope he can develop into a good young player, I believe he may just need to put a bit of development into his decision making and ability to read the game but IMO he could very well have a future.

Just wondering, Wat is he like physically?? Does he look like he could break into the seniors this year?

I would say he is physically prepared for the rigours of senior footy, or atleast some exposure to it. He isn't as bulky as Jack Steven or Nick Heyne, but he is probably the most defined of our younger players. He would probably be a similar build to Dal Santo. However given his type you would imagine he would be an outside mid/ flanker so he is big enough as is.

[Spinner]

I managed to make it down to my first session in a couple of years and here's a few observations...

I mostly noticed the younger blokes...

Steven looked pretty good if somewhat lazy, he seems to be included in the senior group rather than the youngsters, good sign for him IMO...

Heyne can do some very nice things but can make some very simple things look hard also, I pray he turns out to be a Steve Johnson rather than a Charlie Gardiner.

Choo Choo (Rocky, Rocko)has a heap of potential, I would say he had a kicking efficiency of around 80%, when he would weigh up a kick the player he would be kicking to rarely had to move, he is also a pretty consistent set shot. However he doesn't seem to get a lot of distance in his kicks, he seemed to struggle to get past 40m, sometimes he would try and boot the hell out of it and it would just come off the side of the boot, chances are other people will have noticed him shank a few and I believe this is why. One positive is that he is quite hard on himself and seems to want to get the best out of himself.

I hope McEvoy makes it because if he does he is leadership group material, he really took charge a few times today, he even helped out Rhys Stanley a little bit.

Luke Miles has some great pace, but he seems to have some confidence issues, he doesn't look like he is willing to break a pack and demand the ball.

Eljay Connors looked alright to me today, I saw him drop a couple of marks but his skills were ok from what I saw.

I had a few words with BJ after the session, he just had a corkie apparently, who knows what that means

Somebody was going crazy on a bike upstairs and looked EXTERMELY fit, I believe it was Baker.

Milne was Milne.

Sam Fisher took it pretty easy from what i saw, he didn't seem to have any sense of urgency, he was probably instructed to take it easy this session.

Kosi was doing a lot of running and looked like he does normally, I've always thought he runs weird.

Xavier was looking very good, he looked fit, energetic and upbeat, judging by that effort he is just about 100%

I would like to finish up with a bit of a rap for Alistair Smith, he probably impressed me most this afternoon. I believed that he was an athlete first and a footballer second, but after today I believe he is a competitor first and everything else next. He DEMANDED the ball, he was on of it no the most vocal player out there and he really surprised me. In one of the little training exercises they were practicing how to kick it to a contest in a zone, there were 3 attacking players and 2 players playing a zone defence, the point of the exercise was to hit your man in the zone but he would actually wait for players to make their leads or go out wide because he NEEDED to hit his target, everytime he was an attacker he'd give a loud clap when one of his team mate won the ball. He eventually got a speaking to from who I assume was Leigh Tudor about the point of the exercising being to try and kick it in the hole in the zone. But it was just so great to see a guy that really loves to compete and win. His skills were good enough and we all know he has the fitness and speed to play AFL, I now know he's got the attitude, I really hope he can develop into a good young player, I believe he may just need to put a bit of development into his decision making and ability to read the game but IMO he could very well have a future.

Best. Report. Ever.

Especially for this stage of the season. Bar the senior players training poorly, you identified the lesser likes and provided information on them. Fantastic analysis.

Excellent work.

[wiesel]

I managed to make it down to my first session in a couple of years and here's a few observations...

I mostly noticed the younger blokes...

Steven looked pretty good if somewhat lazy, he seems to be included in the senior group rather than the youngsters, good sign for him IMO...

Heyne can do some very nice things but can make some very simple things look hard also, I pray he turns out to be a Steve Johnson rather than a Charlie Gardiner.

Choo Choo (Rocky, Rocko)has a heap of potential, I would say he had a kicking efficiency of around 80%, when he would weigh up a kick the player he would be kicking to rarely had to move, he is also a pretty consistent set shot. However he doesn't seem to get a lot of distance in his kicks, he seemed to struggle to get past 40m, sometimes he would try and boot the hell out of it and it would just come off the side of the boot, chances are other people will have noticed him shank a few and I believe this is why. One positive is that he is quite hard on himself and seems to want to get the best out of himself.

I hope McEvoy makes it because if he does he is leadership group material, he really took charge a few times today, he even helped out Rhys Stanley a little bit.

Luke Miles has some great pace, but he seems to have some confidence issues, he doesn't look like he is willing to break a pack and demand the ball.

Eljay Connors looked alright to me today, I saw him drop a couple of marks but his skills were ok from what I saw.

I had a few words with BJ after the session, he just had a corkie apparently, who knows what that means

Somebody was going crazy on a bike upstairs and looked EXTERMELY fit, I believe it was Baker.

Milne was Milne.

Sam Fisher took it pretty easy from what i saw, he didn't seem to have any sense of urgency, he was probably instructed to take it easy this session.

Kosi was doing a lot of running and looked like he does normally, I've always thought he runs weird.

Xavier was looking very good, he looked fit, energetic and upbeat, judging by that effort he is just about 100%

I would like to finish up with a bit of a rap for Alistair Smith, he probably impressed me most this afternoon. I believed that he was an athlete first and a footballer second, but after today I believe he is a competitor first and everything else next. He DEMANDED the ball, he was on of it no the most vocal player out there and he really surprised me. In one of the little training exercises they were practicing how to kick it to a contest in a zone, there were 3 attacking players and 2 players playing a zone defence, the point of the exercise was to hit your man in the zone but he would actually wait for players to make their leads or go out wide because he NEEDED to hit his target, everytime he was an attacker he'd give a loud clap when one of his team mate won the ball. He eventually got a speaking to from who I assume was Leigh Tudor about the point of the exercising being to try and kick it in the hole in the zone. But it was just so great to see a guy that really loves to compete and win. His skills were good enough and we all know he has the fitness and speed to play AFL, I now know he's got the attitude, I really hope he can develop into a good young player, I believe he may just need to put a bit of development into his decision making and ability to read the game but IMO he could very well have a future.

Best. Report. Ever.

Especially for this stage of the season. Bar the senior players training poorly, you identified the lesser likes and provided information on them. Fantastic analysis.

Excellent work.

totally agree. It's really hard to get info on the lesser know players sometimes.

[thirty-seven!?]

Thanks armooooo for the info on Smith... Would be interesting to see a recruit come out of left field and play seniors (i.e. Not one who we're expecting)

Can u give us any insight into Cahill or Stanley? 2 other "lesser lights" whom we havent heard a lot about...

[goodie]

Thanks armooooo for the info on Smith... Would be interesting to see a recruit come out of left field and play seniors (i.e. Not one who we're expecting)

Can u give us any insight into Cahill or Stanley? 2 other "lesser lights" whom we havent heard a lot about...

Cahill didn't take part in main training, he was with one of the small groups doing reflex drills. Don't expect to see him this year, he looked a tad skinny and his frame lacks definition.

Stanley looked okay from what little I saw, decent height but needs to go on the Steven King diet. I think he was one of the ones who did a little ruck work during the warm ups (the demolition work means there are limited vantage points), but he did train with the main group.

Pretty sure I've got the right names to faces, but feel free to correct me

[Iceman234]

Thanks Armoooo, couldn't for the life of me at the time think of who "Smitty or Smithy" was in some drills.

He looks good, did quite a bit in front of us.

I thought Eljay was quick and smart.

Farren Ray has some great skills down low, hope he can show it for us on match day.

Rocco/Rocky for Choo choo, how has he copped that nickname?

Fingers, nice car!

[james rose]

as an aside did anyone notice my crazy little brother running around... he was doing run through work of his own

[stinger]

good job armooo....much appreciated.....

[MCG-Unit]

Thanks for all the reports and pics guys

[fingers]

Thanks Armoooo, couldn't for the life of me at the time think of who "Smitty or Smithy" was in some drills.

He looks good, did quite a bit in front of us.

I thought Eljay was quick and smart.

Farren Ray has some great skills down low, hope he can show it for us on match day.

Rocco/Rocky for Choo choo, how has he copped that nickname?

Fingers, nice car!

Yeah have to agree on Smith. Not sure about choo choo...could only think Ross - Rosceo - Rocco??

I liked the look of Lynch - seems intent on learning. Good level of intensity.

Thanks

I didn't see you until I was driving out Iceman...were you coming or going then?

[Armoooo]

Thanks armooooo for the info on Smith... Would be interesting to see a recruit come out of left field and play seniors (i.e. Not one who we're expecting)

Can u give us any insight into Cahill or Stanley? 2 other "lesser lights" whom we havent heard a lot about...

Yeah as stated earlier Cahill didn't take part in most of the session, he just came out and watched for a little while and copped a ball to the face for his efforts, after that he did some group work with a couple of other players, I may be mistaken but I think I saw him playing kick to kick with Dempster.

I didn't see a lot of Stanley, I only saw him doing some skills works, he was a good enough kick for his height but looks pretty raw.

I also forgot to mention, I saw Dal Santo having quite a few set shots and a few running shots from 50, he was having shots alongside Milne and Roo, and IMO it looked like the sort of session you'd expect a flanker/ pocket to take part in.

Also I'm not entirely sold on Farren Ray yet, he was playing kick to kick with CJ early on in the piece and while he woul hit his target he has a very deliberate kicking type, one that could easily be thrown out the window when pressure is on, he's got good hand skills but his kicking needs a complete overhaul IMO.

I also think a couple of Choo Choo's highlights are worth a bit of elaborating. They were doing one exercise where a player would have to sprint 5-10 meters before kicking to a player on the lead. When the ball was kicked to Ross it was a bit of a shocker, it bounced about a meter before him, yet some how he managed to completely stop it dead on the ground, pick it up and get his kick away, all in one beautiful movement, there are skills like that that simply can't be taught.

He also took a beautiful mark where he used what little weight he had to knock off Geary (?) and take a really nice one hander, it got a little bit of an 'ooohhhhh' from the crowd which was good to see.

[fingers]

He also took a beautiful mark where he used what little weight he had to knock off Geary (?) and take a really nice one hander, it got a little bit of an 'ooohhhhh' from the crowd which was good to see.

that was a good grab for a little fella.

[kp83]

Does anyone know what's going on with Raph Clarke? It seems he hasn't trained for a while now and from memory he hasn't played the last 2 practice matches. Is he injured or am I mistaken?

[Eastern]

Does anyone know what's going on with Raph Clarke? It seems he hasn't trained for a while now and from memory he hasn't played the last 2 practice matches. Is he injured or am I mistaken?

It could be that that he has just had his medication altered (it is almost exactly 12 months since he was diagnosed) menning that he would have his work-load lightened to near enough to nothing so that the medicos can get his medication right !!

[Bernard Shakey]

Word at training yesterday is that he has a slight hamstring problem.

[Saints94]

Great report Armoo......... love it

[bobmurray]

I was at Moorabbin at about 2.00 pm today and most of the squad were out on the oval..i didn't see Roo or Kosi...

The players were split into groups..

Sos had a group that were doing handball drills including handballing whilst being scragged by an opponent..

There was a small group on the far side of the ground doing kicking drills.

Elshaugh seemed to have the majority of the group down the south road end....must have been teaching them stuff about take aways from boundary throw ins..there seemed to be a lot of discussion between Elshaugh and the players,he was seeking different opinions on where the ball should be tapped and where the crumber should place the ball when he sharked it....

The players room under what is remaining of the stand was open so i stuck my head in there for a look,i saw a big empty space where a gym must have been and i saw what must have been som sort of theatre room for watching replays etc....

There was a team of electricians working in the old gym and there has been new windows installed in the section between the old stand and the Huggins stand which makes me think the demolition has finished and now some renovations are happening to bring the place up to an acceptable standard....

[BakesFan]

Was Bakes...?


a) Pedalling in an air-conditioned room?
b) Pedalling outside on a cold day?
or
c) Excited about the Saints prospects this season?

[bobmurray]

Was Bakes...?


a) Pedalling in an air-conditioned room?
b) Pedalling outside on a cold day?
or
c) Excited about the Saints prospects this season?

He was doing the handball drill

[Bernard Shakey]

Would you believe taking a leak while keeping an eye on the boys?

[saintbrat]

I see what your on about bakes fan- But think you will find it's visual illusion from the cornicing in the room.

[Iceman234]

I didn't see you until I was driving out Iceman...were you coming or going then?

Watched training then was sneaking back in for a quiet one with a mate...