On the Track (training updates) 2024

[The Black and White Lion]

My SSP thoughts and observations from afar given the latest Murphy incident:

Eyre: Could help cover any KPB as well as insurance for Murphy if he goes down again.
Sofronidis: Promising enough, could he sign with Pies VFL instead
Bytel: Looks and sounds to be just ahead of the other SSP mids.
Hustwaite: Has the maturity and appears to have the body, not sure about the speed. Strangely he looks taller in the AFL jumper than the VFL jumper. Will he stay at the Pies VFL or join his bro at Box Hill if he's not taken?
Sullivan: Looks tough but doesn't appear to have an edge over anyone yet to me, not so sure he's as versatile as Bytel and may just be that VFL best level.
Teakle: Could be insurance for Ruck and KPF and to release Frampton to concentrate on KPB if needed.

Right now I'm thinking the PIES will take Eyre and Bytel as SSPs and hold a spot in the MSD.
Begg seems to have shown enough to get more of a go as the Ruck back up whilst Frampton is insurance. Eyre can cover the KPB to give further insurance if Frampton needs to ruck or play forward or is injured himself. Don't think Will Kelly is coming back given Eyre's showing and Markov's all round game in 2023.
Bytel appears more versatile than the other SSPs and looks good linking up or leading up so I'm edging that way.

It's hard to tell what the FlyHineWright brains trust is thinking though I'm guessing we will find out in the next few weeks if train on players stop turning up or if SSPs are signed. Still doesn't help the early season anxiety though.

[gurugeoff]

Why don’t the ssps not taken all play vfl with us, and we pick one in the mid season draft on a needs basis.

Speaking of vfl, if we have the depth we think we do, then I’d like to see them having a great year too

[warburton lad]

[Culprit]

^^Jen knows her stuff. Anyone who knocks her simply doesn't.

[LaurieHolden]

Pre-season training: January 29th c/- Jen @ BF

Casualty Ward
Josh Daicos and Jakob Ryan were out and about, doing some running and their own stuff away from the squad and they deal with their own recoveries from niggles.
It was nice to see Mihocek back in full training after his calf injury.

Maynard and Ash Johnson were also not training.
This is the 2nd session for Ash -- with Friday he was absent too. Last wed he did hurt his lower leg, but played out the session. So maybe he pulled up sore and its management.


Today's session First thing that was noticeable was that none of the SSP's came out onto the ground to train. Did discover later they were up above on the balcony were the coaches watch training. Not sure how many were up there, but I did find it strange if they were there, why not have them train. Must have been some reason. Guess we'll see come wed if they are all back training or not. on ball movement from D50 to F50, stoppages and a bit of match play which was separated into groups of threes. Whites, Blacks and yellow vests.

They also did the pressure drill, also some tackling, goal kicking. Felt lighter than usual. Wed and Fridays might be the days that's more intense

Reef looked very strong with his marking, and pressure.
Lippa played well, was involved in a lot of chains through the ground, and contested plays.
Begg was playing in defence, not sure this is because we were a key defender short with Eyre not participating, or if this is something they are trying out.
Elliott was back up forward most of the session.
Noble was good down back, setting the play up.
DC was the dominant ruck. Seems he is getting that #1 ruck mantle back.
Kreuger did a couple good things up forward.

Live training footage c/- Ultimate Greatness
https://youtu.be/Now6yh2CyI4?si=sStaw3arxDM8E6LZ

A few observations I (LH) had as follows -
Carmichael (#15 white) is right in contention to stake a claim for a midfield position. He was in everything.
Ed Allan (#15 black) has put on noticeable bulk over the past 12 months. Looks keen to get amongst it.
TJ - we've got one here. Haven't seen a first-year player read the play and move as well as he does for some time. He did a great spin out of congestion at one stage. What he lacks in bulk is made up in his evasive qualities, dash and creativity.
JDG is in great nick doing JDG things.
Elliott covering the ground well and looks as fit as any pre-season to date.
Howe vocal in directing traffic and impacting as you'd expect.
Naicos simply operates on a different plane, embarrassed a few today that simply couldn't go with him.
Frampton moves as quickly as pouring vegemite out of a jar.
Kreuger teasing again, looks ready to go as usual.
Cox looks to be earmarked to spend time deep forward. Plenty of drills where to replicate ball coming to ground allowing the rovers to do their thing.
Cameron moving well, clearly the dominant ruck.
Macrae perhaps not as clean today as previous sessions where he simply didn't fumble. The few that didn't stick were more due to poor delivery from teammates.
Reef's leading patterns and second efforts noticeable. Looks ready to go.
Lipinski, IQ, Jiath and Macrae leading the running drills.

[gurugeoff]

full page story on Sofronidis in the herald sun this morning.

He is only 24, looks older with no hair. Played TAC, Did not play in 2020, 2021 due to injury and covid. He olayed TAC with Nathan Murphy.

among the quotes in the article

from collegians teammate and former Hawthorn defender, David Mirra - "He's as good as i've played with. He's a star"

from Lions offical Michael Cove - "he runs like a 5'10" midfielder and marks like a 6'8" forward.

i wonder if the paper has got a whisper from the club?

[Boot]

[gurugeoff]

no full page stories on the other guys trying out - is that a sign?

[lazzadesilva]

I just wonder why the Lions and Hawks people mentioned didn’t immediately notify their clubs about this potential champion player in Sofronidis? 🧐

[LaurieHolden]

I do like these one-on-one repeat performance drills. 2nd efforts are very much of Fly's DNA.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2v3vxNvP6d/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[LaurieHolden]

Pre-season training: January 31st c/- Jen @ BF

Wednesdays are generally known as 'fight day' and that's what this morning was focused upon.

Fight.
Stoppage.
Contest.
Fight.
Fight.

Fight with your own. (sounds like Nicks Match Day thread - LH...)
Fight with those you are against.
What do you have in you? Let's find out.

It was more of a less a full squad on deck for a session in cool and windy conditions. Only Dan McStay and Josh Daicos were absent from this morning's festivities.

Back from his minor accident on the weekend, Maynard was free to resume full training, and he participated in every drill. Even match sim, so back from his shoulder injury he has been cleared to do it all. Good signs for the upcoming pre-season games which are not too far ahead of us now.

Ash Johnson was back from whatever ailed him the last few sessions.
Jakob Ryan continued to work himself back from his shin issue he had previously been dealing with. He did some running, change in direction and helped out with some drills. He wouldn't be too far away from resuming.
Markov I noticed just did a running session away from the squad. He didn't seem to be worried about anything physically, so maybe just a bit of deloading more than anything that's wrong with him.

-- >

They worked through some rotations, and one of them near me was stoppage work including the likes of Lippa, Carmichael, Bytel, Hustwaite, Allan, even the likes of Beau was included in this specific drill.

The group also separated in 2-3 individual teams where they would work through a handball game, that required running through a 20-30 metre passage from one end to another, you must handball to your teammate without getting caught out by the opposition.

In between drills and before and after match play the talls would have to do 1v1 fight drills against one another. Sometimes it was forwards v defenders, and sometimes it was forwards v forwards and defenders v defenders.

Then there was around 15-20 mins of match play to end the session. The teams were mixed up, I assume they have been doing this all pre-season so to make the teams even on both sides so not to have a one dominant side and one who cant' score.

The teams went as follows:

Black forwards
Teakle, Reef, Kreuger, Schultz, Richards, Beau.
v
White defenders:
Eyre, Frampton, Dean, WHE, Maynard, TJ

Black midfield
Sullivan, Pendles, Nick
Carmichael & Allan on wings
Cox
v
White midfield
Jordy, Fin, Mitchell
Sidey & Hustwaite on wings
Steene

White forwards
Jamie, Johnson, Hill, HH, Bytel, Checkers
v
Black defence
IQ, Noble, Crisp, Sofronidis, Moore, Howe


Sullivan looked really impressive. What he can do an extractor, and then push forward. He's big body physic He's able to push through packs and through contests. I've really started to notice him a lot more post Xmas.
IQ had a minor issue when he got a knock during the handball game, I was initially concerned, but thankfully he was able to come back on and finish off the season; albeit with tape around his shin.
Kreuger did some good things, you start to have hope he can have some sort of impact this season, but then you always worry he'll get injured any moment now.
Noble was active in defence, and around up and around the midfield.
Allan I thought was really good. Minus a couple mistakes, but thought his use of the footy and his run along the wing was really strong.
Harrison is looking good. The way he'll just speed past any opponent and ran into F50 with ease, it's a sight to see sometimes. He's one to look out for.
Eyre was solid and almost took this huge mark over the top of a couple players as it came into D50, but given the ball basically landed in between his hands and forearms, when he came down to ground, it spilled out of his hands. But geez it was exciting to watch at the time.

Live training footage c/- Ultimate Greatness
Click Here To Check Out And Subscribe to his Channel On YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srAsgAZctyk&ab_channel=UltimateGreatness

[Quincy]

From Annabelle at Extreme Black and White



There was a bank of white cloud covering when all the coaches and Howe graced the arena at 9.15, but the sky was hardly glowering with shards of bright blue penetrating. Shortly thereafter, most of the remainder of the squad emerged.

The report from casualty reads as follows:
Clearly Josh Daicos was an in-patient today as he did not make an appearance, even to check out the weather which was favourable - the vista evident to fans, was alternately bathed in sunshine, or covered in slightly duller light.
Jakob Ryan participated in all of the early drills and became kicker for one which involved one on one duels. Later he undertook a lot of agility work with a trainer. He was wearing a bandage on his lower right leg.
Oleg spent the session running laps and doing some individual work with a trainer. Clearly he is nursing a niggle.

There were some near misses to alarm the reasonable number of fans who’d arrived to monitor training. About halfway through proceedings, IQ went down in a drill. He was assisted to his feet by teammates but was hobbling appreciably when upright. He started hopping and then was aided by a physio to leave the ground. When he was near the pavilion, he was explaining how the injury occurred and there was some speculation that it may be a PCL injury the way his knee banged into the turf. Fortunately, he re-entered the arena in time for the next major drill, after the whole group had been ushered inside, clearly for some instructions. He sported a square of tape just below the left knee. With the number of incidents occurring at training around the venues, his temporary absence was enough to give the onlookers pause.

Beau copped a heavy knock during stoppage training and remained on the ground before gingerly regaining his feet. Howe also was inconvenienced when knocked in a drill with the ‘big boys’ at the river end but resumed after a breather.

The SSP crew was in attendance again and striving hard as we move inexorably towards the decision deadline. There is some talk our call on these players may be imminent.

The long whistle for the commencement of training sounded at 9.25 and the first three groups reprised all recent sessions. The outer side was reserve for a high-octane warm-up which today featured aggressive jumping and hopping. In the middle there was tackling and evasion work taking place between two fluoro green poles. As it progressed there were two tacklers grappling with each target accompanied by a high volume as players screamed “Take him!” The coaches constantly asked them to reset. The third group at the John Cain Arena end honed their handball skills between yellow cones, with half the players donning yellow vests to create the competitive edge.

The groups rotated to provide exposure of the range of activities to all players.



This protracted phase of training was called warm-up fundamentals
As per usual, the whole squad reunited and sprinted between strategically placed cones, with the latter running tougher by virtue of the start being from a prostrate position which is clearly aimed at warming up the muscles even further and simulating match situations.

Therein followed an assembly of four groups with some undertaking tackling, some handballing, with those at the far end, mixing their skill base with some shots for goal. It is patently obvious that shooting for goal is one of the players’ favourite indulgence.
The players in the middle where there was a stoppage focus were likely suspects; Cox, Allan, JDG, Crisp and Pendles, with Cameron and Cox competing for the ruck. The smaller players would shark the hit outs and burst away with the ball.

At the JCA end there was an emphasis on spoiling, practising leading for the ball and competing in one-on-one duels.

The next stoppage group which rotated through the middle included: Begg and Steene who battled it out in the ruck, Sullivan, Nick, Pendles, Lippa, and Hustwaite who fought for the crumbs.

While this segment of training took place, the scoreboard illuminated the word FIGHT which appears to signify that everything has to be hotly contested, and the players put inordinate pressure on their opponents with even some latent aggression on display from WHE.

The combined groups all met in the centre and the whiteboard was held aloft for everyone’s perusal.

They then cleaved into two main groups with players at both ends paired with another – one had to be a forward, while one did the defending. They competed with gusto and there were some interesting match-ups, including: JDG/Mitch, Moore/Ash, Richards/Beau, Cox/Begg, WHE/Sofrinidis, Reef and Murphy. Ryan was the kicker to the river end.

Following this the players took a rehydration break some seemed overcome with lassitude as they were blowing hard and audibly gasping. Howe was down on his haunches, spraying jets of water over his head and saying “Suck it up!”

The players stood in a line facing McRae who showered praise on some, commending the efforts of individuals in training and imparting some pearls of wisdom for them to contemplate as they attacked their next bracket of drills.

The next was some mini-match play captained by six players who aren’t the putative leaders as three teams opposed each other and rotated. The alternative to the black or white tops were yellow, blue and green vests. It was here where IQ sustained his ‘false alarm’ injury.

This was willingly contested and profanities were borne on the wind as players battled for supremacy. When IQ walked from the ground, he showed the physio how the mishap occurred with his arms splayed explaining how he was pushing and then …

The scores were called by the coach overseeing each ‘match’ and very long whistle brought about the cessation of this energetic display.

Three groups again assembled with more focus on stoppage play in the middle and again the likely participants were: Beau, Crisp, Fin, Sidey, Allan Nick, Carmichael, Mitch and Hustwaite, w3ith Cox doing the bulk of the rucking. These stoppage set-ups appear to offer a preview of how we will be setting up once things get super serious.

At either end, the taller players competed for marks in packs with some occasional leading. There was then some half ground ball movement featuring overlapping groups.

The frequent wardrobe changes much to the chagrin of onlookers rendered identifying all the players at given moments an occupation fraught with vexation and laced with a liberal dose of mystery. Not only did they frequently change tops, from black to white, but they constantly mixed up the numbers on their backs.

Thereafter there was match simulation. Again the centre square configuration offered clues to our plans for the season but it was interesting to see Carmichael opposed to Sidey on a wing.

Cox rucked against Steene and Begg while it was instructive to see the likes of Fin and Allan getting so much practice in the middle, working with seasoned extractors like Mitch.







Random observations of players:

Q – it was great to see him rise – Lazarus like to move freely in the match simulation and play his defensive role with aplomb.
TJ – such a lissom athlete who glides over the turf and in the drills, he shimmied his way around targets. He is a paragon of elusiveness and in the match play he got the ball and used it with precision.
Nick – again shone in the match play, dobbing a long goal and impressing with his ubiquity and utility. If his popularity index was tested on the footy fan Stock Exchange, he would be more highly rated than most, with perhaps only Jamie at Collingwood threatening his top dog mantle.
Eyre – again looked solid and he nearly nailed a specci at the river end.

Sullivan – looks some chance of being listed and he’s clearly earmarked for the Adams role of being the high forward – the conduit between the middle and forwards, if he gets the gig.

Sofrinidis – thought he did all right in a spirited one on one duel with WHE in the marking and leading duels but he was relatively inconspicuous in the match simulation.

Begg – has to be rated as one of the big improvers this off-season. He is looking physically robust, is marking well but really showing out in rucking contests whereby he wins taps, some very accurately palmed, and on some occasions he follows his work up to impact the next contest.

Hill – moving like a treat, and manifesting that innate ability to know where the goals are but also execute well by foot.

Allan – while he fumbled one ball, his recovery was good and he continues to be prominent in the way he attacks drills and is involved in the match play.

Cameron – looks fitter than when he returned from injury halfway through last season. He’s manoeuvring his body well and his hands are vice-like.

Mitch – he has to be commended for how often he positions himself well to receive or hunt the ball, his footy nous is top notch.
Pendles and Sidey – evergreens who continue to approach training so professionally in their twilight years and show youngsters how to win the ball and dodge opponents.

Steene – takes the odd good grab and is learning the caper in the ruck but showing promise.
Checkers was pleasing to see him return to the fray and fit in seamlessly; he dobbed a major and was his customary unflustered presence.
Lippa – is unobtrusively show3ing that maybe some of his indifferent form last year may have been aberrant. He looks super fit and is running tirelessly, linking up with others and often kicking crisply.

After match simulation, it seemed to be a bit of players’ choice as they sauntered in desultory fashion to various sectors of the ground. Usually at this point, captain and coach have a lengthy conversation which perhaps is debrief of the morning’s proceedings.

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

Hi all, can anyone confirm if open training will go ahead tomorrow Fri 2 Feb @0930?

Thanks

[WhyPhilWhy?]

Good info Annabelle, but geez, wind it back a bit…

[nomadjack]

^^^Thank Christ it wasn't just me...