Training Report: 22/12/05

[Johnson#26]

Watch this space - report and pictures coming up shortly.

[Proud Pies]

[Johnson#26]

His kicking was actually very good. He hit plenty of targets and was doing nicely. Looking much sharper than last summer.

More to come.

[Stinger]

Is that a fly in the Guy Richard's photo. Pesky buggers!!

[Johnson#26]

Yup. Yet another damn fly!

[die4pies]

Great stuff as always J#26.

Great to actually meet at last.

I was late...very late, so my pics are brief:

[Johnson#26]

Training Report: 22/12/05

With the Christmas break in sight, there was extra pep in the step of a rejuvenated Collingwood team this morning, finishing their final training session prior to the festive holiday. The session was short and sharp, and it is clear that the month long training block has already paid off for many of the players.

The team began at 9:00am, half an hour earlier than previously had been advised by the club. I was fortunate to arrive earlier than expected, and was able to view the majority of the session. The main group was mainly focusing on ball control early on, rolling the ball out to each other in lanes in the middle of the ground. As this happened, the injured group consisting of Chad Morrison, Guy Richards, Cameron Cloke, Travis Cloke, Sean Rusling, Julian Rowe and rookie Shannon Cox were situated on the half forward flank on the western side of the oval. Their main objective was to pair up, and attempt to hit a pole stuck into the ground, causing many low balls to go awry. Morrison, the former Eagle, scored a hat trick, managing to send the ball hurtling into the middle of the small, thin pole three times in succession. The main group then set off to begin short kicking in lanes, prior to spreading further up the field.

With assistant coach Gavin Brown controlling the majority of the drill, the players were soon instructed to spread out even more, with the player in possession of the ball to kick short to an assistant coach, run past for the receive and then kick to the next teammate coming off the cone. The injured group then went off to handball the ball into a net, working on their reflexes. The injuries suffered by these players are not serious, with the club taking the “better to be safe than sorry” train of thought.

The core group huddled in the middle of the ground before stretching, then heading off to the boundary for a drink, with the mercury climbing by the minute. The leaders of the team – especially Buckley and Fraser – were quite vocal during the rest, advising them that by the end of the session they should be “knackered”.

At this time, Rhyce Shaw, on the comeback trail from injury, headed off with fellow onballer Paul Licuria to the wing where they did some short handball drills. Licuria has been on a restricted program all summer. They were soon joined by Tarkyn Lockyer, who was sent to the rooms by fitness advisor David Buttifant to get a cut to the knee patched up. Key position player Tristan Walker was by now doing some short kicking with some assistant coaches in the centre of the ground. In the handball group, Cameron Cloke and later Shannon Cox were forced down for sets of sit-ups after losing a handball game.

The squad was now split up into three groups:

Group One: Coaches – Michael Christian and Alan Richardson.
Shirts: Hall, Nicholls, Toovey, O’Brien, Clement, Holland.
No shirts: H.Shaw, Davis, Tarrant, Wakelin, Thomas,


Group Two: Coach – Darren Flannigan
Shirts: Maxwell, Egan, Fraser, O’Bree, Johnson, Malthouse.
No shirts: Buckley, Anthony, Fanning, Caracella, Pendelbury.

Group Three: Coaches – Mick Malthouse, Gavin Brown and Wayne Carey.
Shirts: J.Cloke, Iacobucci, Davies, Rocca.
No shirts: Burns, Swan, Iles, Cook, Lonie, Stanley.

I focused on the groups coached by Christian and Richardson. Each group spent ten minutes (five minute halves) playing touch football – this information is a blow-by-blow account of all three matches:

Group One:

-Goal to Clement
-Dale Thomas terrific ‘dummy sell’, prior to a run, bounce and goal.
-Thomas scores another, opting to cleverly handball the pill out in front of himself whilst being tackled, keeping his feet, running onto the loose ball and goaling.
-O’Brien goals to keep shirts in touch
-Thomas again in the action.
-Heath Shaw goes in hard

Winners: Skins.

Rhyce Shaw, Licuria and Lockyer leave for the gym.

Group Two:

-Point to Cook
-Goal to Jason Cloke
-Stanley with a classy dodge
-Cook again a behind
-Rocca shows a burst of pace
-Sam Iles scores a behind
-Goal to wingman Ben Davies – 8/7 – lead to shirts.
-Lonie goes out on the full on his non-preferred right boot.
-Rocca penalized for throwing the ball away after a questionable Christian umpiring decision
-Stanley prominent.

Half time

Richards and Walker complete kick-to-kick in centre.

Second half:

-Stanley shows pace
-Jason Cloke scores his second
-Lonie displays his class
-Skins lead 25/15
-Rookie Iles goals – 32/15
-Iles shows a smart football brain.

Winners: Skins.

Group Three:

-Egan goal (via O’Bree’s good work). 6/0
-Anthony misses. 6/1
-Maxwell scores maximum value. 14/1
-Pendelbury misses
*Julian Rowe leaves the track
-Buckley caught out by younger opponent

Half time:

-O’Bree out on the full
-Caracella goals. 14/7
-Buckley goals. 15/11
-Egan misses a sitter
-Malthouse catches Pendlebury
-O’Bree goals. 22/11
-O’Bree again goals. 28/11
-A behind to Caracella. 12/28
-O’Bree misses. 12/29.

Winners: Skins.
Best on ground: Shane O’Bree

The team then huddled in the centre of the ground, where the players gathered in a large circle and after a few words from the coaches clapped each other off the track, with only Buckley, Iacobucci, Anthony, O’Bree and Fraser remaining on the field for some extra work. They soon floated off the field, ending the session for the day and the rest of the year, with the Christmas holidays now all theirs to enjoy. The month long block has certainly benefited the younger players – with the new draftees already showing their wares, Dale Thomas displaying many of the tricks up his sleeve. It has also rejuvenated several of the more experienced players, with the trip to Arizona now beginning to show its hand.

Player Notes:
-Maxwell now has a much shorter haircut, similar to what he had in his first AFL match (round nine 2004 vs Adelaide).
-Stanley looks a big chance to be in the mix for round one against the Crows, showing great pace and skills through the midfield
-Dale Thomas is all class, and has the x-factor by the bucketload. Scored plenty of freakish goals, displaying plenty of innovation along the way. His body has been build up, and he is on track to playing senior football in 2006.
-Ryan Cook has added a bit of bulk to his body since he started at the club, and has a nice kick.
-West Australian rookie Shannon Cox has an injured hamstring, but is nothing serious.
-Shane O’Bree now appears fitter than ever, and looks set to return to his best form of 2001.
-Josh Fraser has built up and will spend time up forward.

The team will restart training early in the new year.

[BBHS]

Obree does'nt look that fit to me.

[Northern Pie]

[Johnson#26]

All fixed, NP. Word didn'tshow any problems with it, so it let it run.

BBHS, he is in much better shape, running more freely.

[Johnson#26]

More pics...

[katie_clokes_4eva]

lol poor cam..serves ya right mate

[Jake the Muss]

well done guys, great photos and great report.... God i can't wait for the footy season to start

[AFL_Record]

Great work, Johnson#26. I appreciate it, Mate.

What's wrong with C2, C3 and Julian Rowe?

[Johnson#26]

Not sure on those three, unfortunitly. Both Cloke's were running smoothly a week ago - prehaps general soreness? As for Rowe, he is often in that group (or has been all pre-season). Tex and Stretch have not joined the main group from memory this year, which is a worry.