On the Track (training updates) 2024

[Stinga]

Gday guys, does anyone know when training starts back in 2024? Nothing appearing on the official website on the training page. I'm keen to try to get my Grandson down to a session in January during the holiday period. Thanks in advance for anyone who knows and can help. Cheers.

[LaurieHolden]

^ I believe it's Thursday 11th for a 12.45pm start, and 9.30am Saturday 13th January, before getting back into regular programming the following Monday, January 15th.
(all back at the 'whatever we're calling it now' Centre)

[Stinga]

Thanks Laurie.

[BazBoy]

Are any intra club game planned The probables versus the possibles

[The Black and White Lion]

swoopluke latest video with 2024 training session. some smooth moves in there. too many players in 33. Naicos wearing 7 at the start. Begg and Dean in 43. Johnson behind the ball. nice goal Billy! Anyone know if all the train on players have returned in 2024?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8B88M0L1d8

[LaurieHolden]

Track Chat ~

Punter in the outer #1
Just back from catching the first 45 mins of training. Some observations as follows...

Elliott - looking ripped / leaner
Nicky D - also looking ripped, but stronger. Body like a UFC fighter now, with some puppy fat making way during the off-season. Skills and involvement even better than this time last year. A step ahead of everything & in a diff class. Quite scary...
De Goey - in similar class. Disposal A1. Attitude A1. Fit. Has to be his AA year this year...
Maynard - lean upper body. Makes sense.
Howe - Ripping shape, fitness and skills
AJ - Def bigger, and def playing as key forward option
Bobby - stronger. Lively and as agile as ever...
Eyre - Impressive. Tall lad, but disposal looks very good. Building up, but still has more scope for filling out. Bit quiet personality wise, but has the tools
Allan - actually looked leaner (legs) v end of last season to me. Skinfolds and running obv a focus over off-season, with more midfield time awaiting. Similar personality to Eyre... just not standing out too much
Reef - quiet
Dean - still looks a little proppy / cumbersome to me. Reminds me a little bit of Scharenberg and his foot issues... physique good tho
Krueger - quiet
Lipinski - in a lot. just runs a lot, in the right places, neat skills and knows the system wellRyan - strong, alert, lively
Steene - big. Will be a unit when done
Mitchell - solid
Pendles - as loud and lively as I've seen him... just loves it
Sidey - looking fit, agile... defying time
Beau - fit, strong, quick
Oleg - fit, athlete
Cox - strong, disposal a bit off
Bytel - looked agile, up for it, at the level
Noble - good, stronger, bigger. vocal

Rookies - not there

Punter #2 in the Outer
I popped in for about 30mins

Things that stood out / v happy about
best by foot I’ve ever seen at this time of year. Actually, cleanest disposal period. I’ve been to some Jan sessions and it was like U12s.
Dean noticeably bigger
HH also looks like he’s lost weight and added muscle
all the boys looked super fit

Thought Reef played out of the square for many drills and may end up a central target


Jen @BigFooty Pre-season. January 11th. 12:45pm

Everyone was on deck, bar obviously McStay.
In the rehab group, Maynard did a fair bit of drills before he went over and did some running. He had some other runners alongside him. Carmichael (who was sporting a blue cap), I think Jordy and checkers joined him at various stages.

It was a really warm afternoon. glares at the burns on my arms and back but a very solid first session. There was no real proper match sim, but more skills based and working through ball movement.

There is no changes to the SSP, all the candidates are still training. I had a message from David King before I saw him at training, who #44 in white was because he was mighty impressive. I replied that it was Josh Eyre. So I went and had a chat to him for the last half of the session. He didn't a fan of Bytel or Teakle. But does like Eyre. He was there with Xander McGuire, who was reporting for ch 9.
A few other reporters from other networks were there too.

Players in different numbers which gets annoying especially the SSP when you are trying to keep track.

Notables:

- Reef: I thought he was really impressive. Kicked a few goals and seemed to be playing a bit higher up the ground. More that HHF role Got a fair bit of the ball too. Looks strong. His body is now made for afl.
Johnson - I thought he looked fit, and moved around the ground with ease. He too seems to be moving up the ground and getting involved a bit more.
Noble - Looks bigger. Stronger, while not losing his pace. I did laugh when he came speeding through defence and ran about 100 metres before bouncing the ball.
HH - Looked to have trimmed down a bit, and added muscle. Lost that puppy fat you get as a kid. Looks fit and moved well.
Fin - Got involved a fair bit. Looks ready, he knows his time is now.
Ryan - Has bulked up in the shoulders and upper body, looks strong. When this time last year, he was a stick.

The draftees that had draftee seminar today, so they had lunch, and then they left for that, which explained their absence.

They split off into groups and worked on various of things including ground balls and tackling. They also did some "on the siren" where you had to kick the goal, Jamie kicked his after some bantering from teammates around him. Beggy also slotted his through as well.

After they completed the match play, there was a session of conditioning running toe be had. Most partook this apart from the rucks who were doing some work on their own.


@davidking34
Pies : First day and that type of session: good when good, but poor when poor.
I’m a Reefe McInnes fan - looks ready for more responsibility fwd of the footy.
Josh Eyre is fighting for list position - looked terrific, that left foot in-board may suit Fly’s plan?
Early days 👍

[The Black and White Lion]

excellent thanks Laurie

[Jezza]

Thanks, LH.

Any updates at this time of the year are priceless.

[Quincy]

Another report from Annabelle at Extreme Black and White.

The players were lucky to return to training under an unblemished royal blue sky and watched by a reasonable gathering of the faithful, some dressed in their Pie gear and rather optimistically clutching pens as they coveted the elusive autographs. Ned and Wrighty oversaw much of the session. Given it was the first session back, it seemed as is customary under McRae, that the players spent the morning planning and listening to Fly as he outlined our mission statement and collective purpose for the season. Guess they’ve already come up with their slogan or mantra to spearhead a back to back campaign.
Tew and Harry training prior to the main session and a few of us speculated that this could be because sometimes at this time of the year, there is an official seminar for these new draftees.

Sans the neophytes, a smattering of players – Elliott, Sidey and Howe were also out early honing their kicking and handball skills before being joined by the rest of their peers. After entering the arena, most headed for the mini-hurdles, or the area adjacent to them. They showcased an aggressive jumping routine with some gusto and some effected high knee lifts as they went through their paces. Many of them also balanced weights above their head as they negotiated said hurdles.
The session proper commenced at 12.38. All players were clad in black or white tops which, like Macbeth’s existential views, signified nothing as the likes of the feted Nick sported white, like many of his GF teammates and VFL players such as Harrision, and SSP hopefuls such as Teakle wore black.

There were no obviously corpulent specimens among the group who all looked fit during the first post-Christmas workout. Checkers who is still clearly managing a niggle (probably hamstring), completed running on the outer side with Josh Daicos. Both Daicoses wore #7 today, though the latter favoured the black strip. While some were still travelling incognito, making identification a bit difficult, JDG returned to his #2 guernsey today. Quite a few sported fluro orange boots to add a bit of flamboyance to the group.

When training began, all those clad in black tops remained on the outer side and they added to their warm-up regimen with an extended session to sharpen their muscle movement and memory.
The rest partook of twin drills which focussed on quick in-close actions by hand and foot.

After a period both swapped so that all players were exposed to the range of movement and skills offered by both stations.

Following this the players all assembled on the outer side, which was thinly ringed by spectators. Much to the chagrin of those thronging the pavilion side, a lot of the action seemed destined for the opposite vantage point.
During the sprints, Cox breasted the tape in the initial group and was the cheerful recipient of high fives from his teammates. They completed quite a few run throughs before switching to a drill which involved much of the ground and involved swift and clean ball movement followed by unloading to a teammate in the forward line who would have a shot at the big sticks.

Then there were four stations all showcasing different skills. Half would wear the black of white tops, while the alternate players each group would sport either the yellow, blue, lime green or brown vests. The foci were on ground ball skills, tackling with the bags used, close in handball, and kicking to position.

After a rehydration break, three groups participated in further drills while the ruckmen wen through dedicated skills in the middle. The players here included: Cox, Teakle, Cameron and Begg. Some of the groups overlapped so that the handballs and kicks executed occupied a large part of the oval.

After this there was another whole ground ball movement exercise which presented as a pseudo match sim. Then the defenders assembled at the tennis centre end, with the forwards completing activities at the river end.

Judging from this organisation of personnel, the defence will remain the same. The players here included: Murphy, Oleg, Moore, Howe, Noble, Ryan, IQ, and WHE. They competed for marks and laid off kicks to one another. Reef, Krueger, Ash and Richards were among the forwards.

Before match simulation proper. When the players congregated in the middle and the board was held up to show positions, applause broke out.

The match simulation was reasonably willing and accompanied by audible verbal instructions from within the group. Moore was constantly telling the defenders to ‘squeeze’, there were urgings to go through the corridor and clear guidance from some to the youngsters as to where to kick the ball.

Fin, Reef and Begg all look discernibly built up. Fin appeared to involve himself more in the action, which Reef was a standout. If there is going to be a seminal year for him, surely this is it. He seemed to be at the end of many of the forward forays, leading and marking strongly. He even was adept at picking some ground balls which was heartening to see as a below the knees weakness has been identified by some. Beau moved at great speed through the middle at times, while Allan and Ryan who also look more muscular featured in some of the play.

Hill was at his springy best on occasions as he plucked the ball out of the air. The SSP contingent was on show with Hustwaite getting a bit of the pill, Eyre taking a few grabs and Bytel flashing in and out of the play. Sam Sofronidis also bobbed up at times.

It was interesting to note that at times when a player would mark within range of goal, the players would call ‘siren’ and it was clearly orchestrated to simulate the match pressure of a money shot. Jamie took one from about forty out on a reasonably acute angle, and had to withstand players ribbing him as they tried to distract his focus. Fortunately, he drilled the goal and the same players ran to congratulate him. Beau was also put on the spot.

After match simulation, all bar Begg, Cameron, Cox and Teakle underwent more punishing running which mimicked a beep test. WHE is obviously a bit out of top condition as he lagged badly in this. Some of it was staggered.

IQ drifted out of the match sim to keep Josh D. company in the running stakes.

When Begg was competing one on one against Cox, Fraser was telling him to go harder all the way to keep Coxy honest. At one point Mason clutched his lower back but kept persevering.

I spoke with Jen who was conversing with David King and Zander McGuire and asked the former what he thought of the session. He considered it average but okay for first day back. He seems to be enamoured enough of the Blues atm, to nominate them as the flag fancies at this juncture.

[LaurieHolden]

Pre-Season update from u/memoriesofmchale -

**SSP**

The most intriguing development at the draft was not who Collingwood took but the absence of players. Collingwood had multiple list spots it could fill but only took two rookies, indicating a change to list management where established talent is preferred over a blind haul of five eighteen-year-olds (without wanting to heap criticism on them, St Kilda did this. You can expect at least one or two to underperform).

**Eyre** There has been some controversy over how talented Eyre is. I don't think it's a particularly well-kept secret he was rated by the senior coaching staff given he played VFL earlier in the season and performed to a high enough standard that he was asked to trial for an AFL list spot. Had it not been for COVID, he probably would have remained on an AFL list. He has flexibility at both ends and is more talented than Sofrinidis. The biggest barrier to his signature is fitness, having experienced leg-muscle injuries over his career but he is working through this. He is 199cm and possibly still growing.

Note: I started a war over a comment that I thought he was the most likely to be signed. I am not the first nor the last to suggest this. I have since furthered my research and maintain this position pending fitness. Social media has bias but on Eyre not much exists for him. I wrote last season I thought it was likely he would be seen on our list in 2024, especially if Ruscoe left (see below).

**Sofrinidis** The Richards precedent saw us ask Sofrinidis to join us for training rather than committing at the first opportunity we had. The VAFA star has performed to a reasonable level but does not look likely to challenge for a senior list spot. My understanding is we're chasing talent that could play at AFL standard if called upon. This is why I don't think Sofrinidis will be signed but the bloke has done what is asked and by no means am I criticising him. He could probably make an AFL list elsewhere and in time, do well.

**Bytel, Hustwaite and Sullivan** are the midfielders all likely all competing for the same spot. They each have strengths, Bytel is the fittest; Hustwaite knows the system the best; Sullivan has the best resume.

**Teakle** surprise option but he has been working with other rucks and competing well. He can lead strongly. I'd need to see more to make a ruling either way. He can compete with the other ruckmen. His arrival at the club would likely see Begg or Steene cut at the end of the season.

**Ned Long** Didn't return after Christmas. Don't rule him out altogether but it seems likely he'll spend the first half of the year with the VFL side.

**AFL list**

**Fin Macrae** The haters have spent a busy pre-season finding reasons as to why Macrae won't succeed. I think it's about time we start looking for why he will. He's a workhorse and strong midfielder. The club did not choose to trade him when teams were asking questions - he could have a regular job at West Coast. His game in R24 showed all the right signs, particularly with Key Fly Stats like tackling.

**Reef McInnes** McInnes the most likely to replace Dan McStay provided he can stay fit. His second half of a VFL year was dominant and had he not recently injured/heeled at the time, he may have challenged for a spot in the Grand Final side. He is two centimetres shorter and a similar weight. He can also float into the midfield.

**Nathan Kreuger** Kreuger's concern will always be fitness and stringing together enough game time. I think Kreugs is aware his time in Collingwood colours is fading unless he can string together a turnaround.

**Ash Johnson** Johnson would be the better contested mark out of McInnes and himself. He has gained bulk over the off-season and is training as a key forward, not at the half forward position McStay plays. Johnson's weakness is four quarter involvement. Although earlier in the year he was averaging higher goals per match, he was not producing around the ball. His off-season work has seen him improve so the next step is to compete more at VFL/AFL level. This is an area McInnes, who has midfield experience, is better at, hence why I think he is more likely to be selected in R0. That is not to say AJ won't be seen, however.

**Ed Allan** The Western Australian son of former Hawthorn and Fremantle player Ben Allan is a remarkably humble young man who has put together an outstanding pre-season. Dixon has trained his son well and he now looks closer to an AFL debut. Fly mentioned he and Ryan were chances last year. Finding space may be difficult but he will always be challenging. Second in the beep test is very impressive for someone who also won the 20m sprint test at the draft testing. Speed and endurance with his 194cm height is a great combination. Has good skills too. Huge upside, another one to watch.

IQ won the beep test and Ed Allan seems to have arrived as a cardio beast, beating Lipinski and Naicos, plus all other mids. Some of the big guys hung on well till the end, notably Eyres.

[Take_a_Screamer]

Josh may be injured?

Collingwood star becomes latest Magpie under injury cloud
The Magpies onballer was visibly in discomfort on Saturday.

https://www.zerohanger.com/collingwood-star-becomes-latest-magpie-under-injury-cloud-146779/

[LaurieHolden]

Training pictures 13/1/24 c/- u/Independent_Drag_983

https://www.flickr.com/photos/199275044@N02/albums/72177720314021156/

[think better]

Great updates LH - I really like the u/memoriesofmchale summation of the SSP prospects

Jen from Bigfooty always has her finger on the pulse.

I like the sound of Eyre as an SSP prospect

[Harrysz]

My thanks to those posting training updates. They are invaluable and informative. I enjoyed Quincey's "Macbeth’s existential views".
'

[piffdog]