Training 2025 Pre Season and Training Reports Thread

[Del203211]

Crossley will be good for us but needs to lose 7-8kgs asap. No player is playing in the best league in the country in that shape.

 

[Dale4captain]

Crossley will be good for us but needs to lose 7-8kgs asap. No player is playing in the best league in the country in that shape.

Agreed he needs to get an AFL body together quickly however we don’t want him to slim down a heap. His major advantage is his size not allowing the other ruck to move him.

We just need him to get a tank together and convert the KGs into a bit of muscle. Needs to stay around that 115kg mark to be effective though imo.

 

[cleveland]

When do we unleash Fridge to the midfield?

 

[NthBondiDoggies]

When do we unleash Fridge to the midfield?

Or is he so cool under pressure he is the Freezer!

 

[cleveland]

Or is he so cool under pressure he is the Freezer!

Players are calling him fridge so i will stick with that

 

[FootyFest]

I was impressed by the speed and confidence of Croft also. He covers the ground confusingly quickly for a big guy.

Yes I forgot about Crofty, looking forward to seeing a lot more of him.

 

[seaweed]

There’s a hell of a lot of doom and gloom on here, crikey. I’m certainly not going to write our season off on the basis of one practice match

 

[cecil]

No Bont, Libba, Treloar, Dale, Jones, JUH, and only limited minutes for Lobb, English, Naughton, Bramble, Weightman and a few others. Hardly panic stations when missing half our best team

 

[Dale4captain]

I know he’s no longer as well connected as previously to the dogs but Mark Stevens believes Crossley is a possible round 1 starter.

He’d get some very reasonable intel. Just something to consider

 

[_Cerberus_]

There’s a hell of a lot of doom and gloom on here, crikey. I’m certainly not going to write our season off on the basis of one practice match

Some of the comments are over the top in negativity. It's an irrelevant preseason game. The first match that is not vs your own club. Missing a few stars, heavy in rotation, experimentation on roles and tactics. I swear some fans are never happy unless we win ever single game by 100 points. It's as bad as those Supercoach nerds getting caught up on players in intra club match sims. The preseason in general rarely gives away much at all.

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

the result doesn't mean much IMO
i want to see growth in our younger players, that's what matters most to me

 

[Proffessor]

I'm actually feeling OK with what I saw on display yesterday.

Freijah, looks like he is continuing his impressive development trajectory, and is ready to fill the hole left by Richards' transition into the midfield.

Sanders, clearly got the memo about his pace difficulties, and has physically transformed himself in an effort to address this part of his game.

West, looked ready to step up to a more permanent\senior role in the side, and also looked like he had worked hard on his pace given how he was attacking his 'half time' sprints.

Lobb, looked imperious in Defence, continuing on from where he left off last year.

A bunch of our young draftees showed they wouldn't look out of their depth if they got an early call up, and most of our players looked pretty fit.

The weather conditions were tricky and we had a large number of key players that were either absent or just coming back into competitive training after interrupted preseasons, so I really wouldn't put much stock in the result of the game.

There were still plenty of positive signs for optimistically inclined supporters to get excited about.

 

[HK_Bulldog]

It will be interesting what we do with JOD. Got his pants pulled down in the final but was okay when moved forward. By the reports, same thing happened yesterday. To add to the intrigue, I thought Naughton under-delivered last year so if that continues, some decisions might need to be made.

 

[Mofra]

It will be interesting what we do with JOD. Got his pants pulled down in the final but was okay when moved forward. By the reports, same thing happened yesterday. To add to the intrigue, I thought Naughton under-delivered last year so if that continues, some decisions might need to be made.

He's just not a KPD for me. He can take the third, play a mobile intercepting/rebound role.

I feel like he's being thrown everywhere because he's showing real signs but hasn't 'owned' a position. Amazing athlete for his size and uses the ball well for a tall.

 

[Mofra]

I know he’s no longer as well connected as previously to the dogs but Mark Stevens believes Crossley is a possible round 1 starter.

He’d get some very reasonable intel. Just something to consider

I'd worry about opposition rucks running off him as the game wears on. If we limit his TOG, that hurts our rotations. If we do play him and he reverts tot he kick behind the play ruck style he demonstrated in the first half yesterday, that means we're probably going with 2 talls both forward and back.

 

[Unorth]

I know he’s no longer as well connected as previously to the dogs but Mark Stevens believes Crossley is a possible round 1 starter.

He’d get some very reasonable intel. Just something to consider

Not a large sample size at all but our record when Tim has played with either Stef Martin or Sweet is very good. Could be an attempt to recreate that with Marra's absence (probably lengthy) opening the door for a hail mary attempt to fix the competitiveness of our midfield.

"Bevo's strip club" was so thoroughly dismantled in the final I think it's wise to move away from it, it surprised teams initially (Collingwood) but when the Hawks were allowed time to really game plan around it for a final, we got smashed. Which isn't surprising, inherently it's a plan that admits we're going to lose the first or second contests nearly every time with Tim as our primary ruck, which meant the Hawks could plan around winning it every time, it was gimmicky and put us on the back foot more than usual with that ruck setup.

Also possible it would be done to simply maintain structure with Crossley making way for Marra if he returns to the side.

Would be surprised if it happens under Bevo, but there would be some valid reasons for it. As much as you would then have to plan around a lower ToG for Crossley. Stevo does get good intel. Interesting.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

"Bevo's strip club" was so thoroughly dismantled in the final I think it's wise to move away from it, it surprised teams initially (Collingwood) but when the Hawks were allowed time to really game plan around it for a final, we got smashed.

Our mids led all relevant stats in that game. Clearances, centre clearances etc. All while losing the hitouts by 15.

How exactly did they get smashed?

 

[BrisDog]

I quite liked what a saw from Crossley at the stoppages. Using his weight to create space at stoppages and palm the ball in the general vicinity of our players will be a refreshing change if we pick him up. Not the kind of bloke to drop his head either.

 

[Del203211]

I know he’s no longer as well connected as previously to the dogs but Mark Stevens believes Crossley is a possible round 1 starter.

He’d get some very reasonable intel. Just something to consider

I can see a world where Bevo wants Crossley to take most stoppages and English floats behind the ball. But there’s no way right now based on Crossleys current fitness.

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

Anybody concerned the lack of improvement from our draft picks the last 4/5 yrs ?

We don’t seem to have much growth/improvement coming through from the young players

Outside of Darcy who has been the star , jamarra has been good but poor accuracy is hurting him and with off-field issues

 

[Dogsfan1]

Anybody concerned the lack of improvement from our draft picks the last 4/5 yrs ?

We don’t seem to have much growth/improvement coming through from the young players

Outside of Darcy who has been the star , jamarra has been good but poor accuracy is hurting him and with off-field issues

Joel freijah buss croft sanders there is a heap coming threw and hynes looked great yesterday

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

Joel freijah buss croft sanders there is a heap coming threw and hynes looked great yesterday

Buss Croft arnt proven yet as they haven’t played.
Freijah looks decent.

But outside of a few, the 20-23 draft looks lacking

 

[grassman75]

The thing is he hasn’t put anything out there other than that he knows what it is and won’t say.

Maybe he doesn’t want to and it’s all he can say. There are clearly issues. The fact Smiley agrees is good enough for me. He’s usually spot on.

 

[cleveland]

Joel freijah buss croft sanders there is a heap coming threw and hynes looked great yesterday

only one is proven at the level tbh

 

[Dogsfan1]

only one is proven at the level tbh

So what there young they have so much time to prove themselves