Training report 11th January-

[warburton lad]

Arrived at Collingwood training this morning with a great sense of anticipation and hope that I would see a display that would indicate a positive year ahead. As the sun kissed the billiard table like surface, the players burst on to the track ahead of schedule at 9-00 am.

No surprise to see Pendles, Sidebottom and other senior players leading the way with good use of voice.there was a fair deal of energy in the group. Lynden Dunn impressed with his encouragement of the younger lads.great to see Varcoe and Wells out on the track to dispel some of the pre-Christmas hysteria. Tremendous to see Bucks getting around the group supporting the players during the warm up stretches. If he's under the pressure, his mood did not reflect it.

The drills showed a willingness to take risks and go-inside a fair bit more than I have observed in the past under Buckley. The man himself spent a good deal of time observing the movement, but he intervened less than, say, 2013, in the mechanics of the ball movement. Previously, he was very proscriptive of where the guys should be positioned. He seemed to give them more freedom this morning.

The players rotated between drills with great regularity: Tarks, Burns and Pebs worked with small groups of four players each working on quick gather and disposal by hand and footy. The usual suspects ( Pendles, Treloar, Elliott) were great, but not outdone by the likes of Smith, Brown and Daicos. Nick Daicos neither fumbles, nor misses targets. Awesome!!

The goalkicking group at one stage included Fasolo, Elliott, Broomhead, Treloar and Sidebottom. Some party -tricks there!! Interesting to note the improvement in the goalkicking technique of Mason Cox; his action is much more fluid and he has more penetration as a result.

Lockyer & Burns ran a contested ball drill where players where forced to kneel and then scramble for the ball to return to a teammate. Jack Crisp and Josh Thomas excelled at this, but neither of them handled the ball as well as Aish or Daicos who were outstanding.

The younger players stood out with the energy they brought to the group. Callum Brown is a live wire and not afraid to put his body on the line. Nick Daicos worked hard and seems very skilled; he is quicker than was reported. Rupert Wills has come back in terrific nick-has really fined down his body shape and appears to be moving quicker. McLarty is a good size and a real goer as well. Has a slightly unusual running style, not dissimilar to Billy Picken, but far quicker.

Kayle Kirby has sublime skills, but has a few kilograms to shed if he is to play AFL. His body shape had a little of the Dave O'D 1910 about it, but Dave is almost 60 years old. If Kirby gets his body right, he will be a sight to behold.

Broomhead delighted track-watchers with his pace and disposal. I hope this kid gets a good run from the footy gods.

Treloar is 23/1 for the Brownlow- get on him, given that he finished fifth last year off the back off virtually no preseason. The Lad will certainly be on him, so to speak.

Keeffe and Josh Thomas both appear to have bulked up considerably. Keeffe, once a raw-boned lad from the Deep North, has filled out well and was not easily moved in the physical stuff of the session. At 204 cms, he may present a handy pick up for the team. Thomas spent a lot of time on his goalkicking and rarely missed from a variety of angles.

Rocca worked with Cox and the latter' palming of the ball belied his inexperience in the code. Older track watchers said his work reminded them of Len Thompson!
It's my belief that Cox should be groomed as a second ruck. He has the body size now to hold his own in the contest and has good footy smarts.

Of those returning from injury:

Scharenberg: this guy looks to have filled out as you would expect from a guy who has spent considerable time in the gym. Moves smoothly, if not overly quick, but shows good decision-making skills.

Ramsay: it would appear that he has fully recovered from the knee injury. His speed away from the contest, to overlap for a handball receive was very noticeable. He also put great pressure on the player in possession with his closing speed. Although still fairly slight build, he pressured tenaciously.

Elliott: a real highlight. He showed great energy, vim and vigour during the drills. It was obvious from today that he cannot wait for the 'real-stuff'..!! I cannot think of a player of his size that marks the ball so cleanly.

Crocker : did some fairly relaxed jogging and walking around the field.

Langdon: hit the track at 9-45 and did similar to Crocker. Fairly easy-paced jogging.

Reid, Wells and Brayden Sier worked away from the main group, leading and passing with no obvious discomfort. After a while, Reid & Sier ran laps, whilst Wells & Bucks had a five minute discussion on the sidelines before Wells recommenced sprint training..
At one stage, Sier got seared for not keeping pace with Reid in the run through.


Of the veterans, Howe, Blair, Goldsack and Dunn all did well.

Two quick points: it was disappointing on an advertised 'open session' that the cafe was not open for patrons and that our social club was booked out for an Australian Open tennis function! Poor form.

Secondly, one supporter did not like the loud music played to help the player training. He pulled the plug-literally. Sanity prevailed, and the boys were soon training to the beat of White Stripes and other artists.

It's hard to judge intangibles like 'player morale', but the group seemed to enjoy their work and there was lots of encouragement throughout the session. The younger players were certainly well supported by the more experienced seniors.

Hopefully this augurs well for a successful season for the club. Sorry I could not report more.

[didick]

Thank you WL for the detailed report. Great reading.

[KenH]

Thanks for the report I love reading these!

[HAL]

NO problem.

[Member 7167]

Thanks for the report. Very encouraging.

[Dave The Man]

Thanks Again Mate

[winpies]

Thanks for the report Lad, appreciate it.

[neil]

Thanks Lad for the effort as well as the report

[qldmagpie67]

Lad as usual a fantastic report much appreciated
Take a couple thousand from petty cash for your troubles

[foreigner]

Thanks Lad for the update.

No sighting of the other Elliott - WHE?

Typo on Josh Daicos too.

[warburton lad]

Thanks Mr Foreigner. To be honest, I was unaware WHE was on the track, but Warburton Lass informs me he is moving well.

Daicos is going to be great

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

WHE was participating in the centre duals against De Goey and Josh Thomas, but doing nothing to stand out otherwise.

Agree with your thoughts about Josh Daicos. Now looks a couple of cms taller than Callum Brown. When he fills out I think he will turn out roughly the same build as his old man.

Kirby seems to have added fat over the Christmas break which was disappointing to see. He will soon learn was it takes to become a professional AFL player.

Your comments about McLarty seem to apply to McCarthy. He is the quick one but it's difficult to judge when you see them only kicking the ball and jogs round the oval.

Sier has no fitness base but returned in good condition over the Christmas break. Until he can get fit he's one of those footballers impossible to judge other than to say he has the look of a great AFL footballer.

[swoop42]

Thanks Yoda much appreciated.

Great to hear Nick Daicos impressing.

Imagine how good he'll be when old enough to be on the list.

Sorry couldn't resist.

The farce is strong with this one.

[RudeBoy]

Thanks Laddy. Your reports are always informative and reliable. I was especially glad to hear of your assessment of young Daicos. We can only dream. Cheers

[Stevo75]

Great job lad. Always enjoy reading your thorough reports.