Training on Wednesday

George M · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 1999 8:29 pm

I watched training today and it was more of the same.

What I did notice of interest was Chris Tarrant. As he jogged laps with Shauble and Orchard, I did not recognise him, as he seems to have put on some weight. He looked bigger than Shauble and has probably put on 5-10 kilos of muscle. He looked like a big man. This is great news because he needed to put on weight. He is an excellent mark but did not show this much in the seniors last year as he was easily pushed off the ball by his opponent.

Another player to impress was Rupert Betheras. He won the B&F in the reserves last year and is training very well. He has excellent pace and very good skills. Expect him to play games this year.

Mark Richardson trained OK and looked slim. He has blond tips in his hair as does Anthony Rocca. Anthony Rocca is very impressive at training, with his kicking being superb. Fingers crossed that finally, maybe he just might fulfill that potential.

My only concern is the pace of Nick Davis. He looked extremely slow in training drills when opposed to Wasley. It is a big worry.

All will be revealed in the intra-club match on Friday week 2.00pm Vic Park.

Mick · Posted: Sat Jan 23, 1999 5:15 am

George thanks for your very informative training reports. I was wondering if you could provide some info on a few other players :

Raso - has he built up ? - the kid has some skill but still looks like a little leaguer

Patterson - is there any obvious attempts made to improve the skills on his left side

Schauble - has he slimmed down ? he put on the weight we wanted last year but unfortunately most of it went to his arse and slowed him down incredibly.

Presta - does he look like he'll ever put a stamp on a game ?

King - has reasonble skills but has he put any weight on - his kicking lacks depth too - any improvement ?

Wasley - real problem last year seemed finding the ball (which we won't see until games start) but kicking depth was poor - any improvement ?

How are the older brigade of Brown, Crossisca, Richardson, Monkhorst, Watson coming along ?

Also does anyone know if the Pies ever train outside of business hours - I now live a couple of km's from Vic Park but have no chance of making a 3:00 session - an early morning ,twilight or weekend session (if they
exist) I'd be able to get to.

Cheers
Mick

George M · Posted: Sat Jan 23, 1999 3:25 pm

Well Mick of the players you have mentioned, not much has changed from last year.

Raso and King look the same size to me, although Raso may be a little bigger. King looks to be the type that will never put on weight.

Presti has only recently rejoined training after shoulder surgery and does not get involved in body to body drills yet. His kicking is appauling at training and it has not improved at all from last year.

Gavin Brown is training well and has not missed a session from what I have seen. He is having an injury free pre-season which is a rarity for him in recent years. The good news is that he seems to have taken a leadership role at training, giving advise to both Shaw and young players. He and Buckley get along well from what I see, which is terrific.

Wasley is a great athlete with terrific stamina and pace. His only problem is his kicking but he looks to have improved it. On one training night all his kicks were hitting the target and the whole team, including Shaw were congratulating him after every kick. It seems there has been a real effort to improve his kicking.

Schauble looks similar to what he did in the final rounds of last year. There has been no effort to put on significant weight this year which is a good idea, considering he could hardly move early last year with his fat arse.

The older players such as Watson, Patterson, Crosisca and Monkhorst are getting through the pre-season just like any other pre-season.

David West · Posted: Tue Feb 02, 1999 4:09 am

George,Have heard very little of Paul Williams.This is unusual because he is one of the best ball carriers in the team and yet I hear nothing of him.Can you assist?

George M · Posted: Tue Feb 02, 1999 7:31 pm

Paul Williams is coming along well. They are nursing him through the pre-season to avoid stress fractures in his feet.
He played the second half of the intra-club match and played well. His position was in the backline where he uses his amazing pace and excellent kicking skills to good effect. There is no doubt the plan is for him to play much of this season in the backline.