Training 2025 Pre-season

Remove this Banner Ad

I don't think our problems stem from fitness.
I think our side has the cattle but they don't play them in the right positions. Need more inside.
That is all pretty much that is needed.

We can't be getting to grand finals this many times on luck. The talent is there.

Just unleash Gus.
I don't agree. I think endurance has been an issue. We can't sustain pressure for long periods. We drop off. Suddenly, we are chasing. The program this preseason is all about endurance. There are different styles of fitness. Building mass, speed & endurance. The last is something I think may have been a little lighter in the last few years. Probably because the list was so young. But now our list has matured we are upping the endurance training

On Infinix X6525 using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

Log in to remove this ad.

I swung past training today. Despite the weather (windy, rainy) there were a few observers standing around, lurking under the trees next to Tramway Oval.

I don't have a lot to report. I wasn't there all that long. The parts I saw kept alternating between full-pitch match sim, running exercises, handball games (as seen in the Inside Sydney Episode 2) and some drills with kicking etc. They kept alternating between the footy/matchplay and the other fitness stuff, as opposed to doing all the running and drills and then turning to match sim etc. It looked like a fun mix for the players, albeit challenging.

Different players were on the sidelines for different amounts i.e. some players were running most of the time while the bulk were doing drills and match sim. Others were mostly with the main group but sometimes on the sidelines with the others on modified programs, and others were just with the main group the whole time. There are a few players that I don't remember seeing at all - but that doesn't mean they weren't there - I didn't do a head count except in my mind after I had left. Logan, Paton and Mitchell were some I don't recall seeing. Dattoli was on the sidelines not participating at all when I saw him. Hamling, Hanily, Campbell were among those mostly on the sidelines.

Wicks again appeared to be training with the backs. I wouldn't swear to it but in a brief glimpse it looked like to me that McCartin was playing as a forward. Snell was playing with the backs (not midfield). Also, looking at the Inside Sydney video I don't think he has the tank to play midfield even if he has put on the size to contest the ball.

Edwards told me he isn't yet doing full training but his body is all good and recovered from the broken fibula he copped in the last round last year. He looks massive. I don't think he'd be that easy to shift.

Buller seemed to be training normally which is good to see. Hope he gets a clear run at it this season.

Pretty sure Matty Lloyd was training with the group (wearing #46) and so I think it's safe to say he's been re-signed to play VFL this year. He looked like he was tiring compared to the full-time professionals (fair enough). Chamberlain and Carmichael from the Academy were there, with Colin O'Riordan on the sidelines keeping an eye on them (until he got too cold and had to return inside away from the weather).

I had a quick chat to Blake Leidler. I welcomed him to the club and said we need a lockdown small defender and he said that's the plan. I said "bit of competition this season though" (I had Wicks, Paton and Bice in mind) and he agreed emphatically.

A couple of players had to come from the training to the sidelines to get treatment on this or that while I was watching including Cleary, Gulden and Fox. Fox finished his training a little early, probably a bit sore with something.

The first year players weren't shining but the second year players looked like they have come on well (Cleary, Snell, Green).
 
I swung past training today. Despite the weather (windy, rainy) there were a few observers standing around, lurking under the trees next to Tramway Oval.

I don't have a lot to report. I wasn't there all that long. The parts I saw kept alternating between full-pitch match sim, running exercises, handball games (as seen in the Inside Sydney Episode 2) and some drills with kicking etc. They kept alternating between the footy/matchplay and the other fitness stuff, as opposed to doing all the running and drills and then turning to match sim etc. It looked like a fun mix for the players, albeit challenging.

Different players were on the sidelines for different amounts i.e. some players were running most of the time while the bulk were doing drills and match sim. Others were mostly with the main group but sometimes on the sidelines with the others on modified programs, and others were just with the main group the whole time. There are a few players that I don't remember seeing at all - but that doesn't mean they weren't there - I didn't do a head count except in my mind after I had left. Logan, Paton and Mitchell were some I don't recall seeing. Dattoli was on the sidelines not participating at all when I saw him. Hamling, Hanily, Campbell were among those mostly on the sidelines.

Wicks again appeared to be training with the backs. I wouldn't swear to it but in a brief glimpse it looked like to me that McCartin was playing as a forward. Snell was playing with the backs (not midfield). Also, looking at the Inside Sydney video I don't think he has the tank to play midfield even if he has put on the size to contest the ball.

Edwards told me he isn't yet doing full training but his body is all good and recovered from the broken fibula he copped in the last round last year. He looks massive. I don't think he'd be that easy to shift.

Buller seemed to be training normally which is good to see. Hope he gets a clear run at it this season.

Pretty sure Matty Lloyd was training with the group (wearing #46) and so I think it's safe to say he's been re-signed to play VFL this year. He looked like he was tiring compared to the full-time professionals (fair enough). Chamberlain and Carmichael from the Academy were there, with Colin O'Riordan on the sidelines keeping an eye on them (until he got too cold and had to return inside away from the weather).

I had a quick chat to Blake Leidler. I welcomed him to the club and said we need a lockdown small defender and he said that's the plan. I said "bit of competition this season though" (I had Wicks, Paton and Bice in mind) and he agreed emphatically.

A couple of players had to come from the training to the sidelines to get treatment on this or that while I was watching including Cleary, Gulden and Fox. Fox finished his training a little early, probably a bit sore with something.

The first year players weren't shining but the second year players looked like they have come on well (Cleary, Snell, Green).
Great report - thank you!
 
I get that the back-to-back time trials are the main event of this video (and that was great to see!), but I personally loved the handball drill exercise where one group was trying to handball the pill from point A to point B, while the other group was trying to intercept. I actually got stressed out just watching it. Not sure anyone managed to avoid getting caught in a tackle or having their handball cut off in the air or on the ground at least once. A manic drill that I'm pleased we are doing. Our ability to create and prevent spread by hands hasn't been good enough since the JPK/Hanners era.

I also loved McInerney just coming in with the seemingly-unwarranted hip-and-shoulder on Cleary at that ball-up. Absolutely sent him flying LOL. Might've seemed unnecessary but I love to see that, from a now-mature player to a young kid learning the ropes.

 

I've said this before, but I am constantly in awe of his controlled aggression. He's just never flustered. You would never know, watching that guy casually and calmly running around doing drills out there, that that's our hardest and most physically-manic player. Someone who plays in such a tough and aggressive way must surely have that aggression within them, that shows in other ways. Rowbottom doesn't seem to have any. He literally channels it all into the contest. Have never once seen him remonstrate with an opponent, argue with an umpire, berate a teammate, punch the turf in frustration, be involved in a melee, do a single dirty act, carry-on after a goal, etc.

Deadset freak.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

I get that the back-to-back time trials are the main event of this video (and that was great to see!), but I personally loved the handball drill exercise where one group was trying to handball the pill from point A to point B, while the other group was trying to intercept. I actually got stressed out just watching it. Not sure anyone managed to avoid getting caught in a tackle or having their handball cut off in the air or on the ground at least once. A manic drill that I'm pleased we are doing. Our ability to create and prevent spread by hands hasn't been good enough since the JPK/Hanners era.

I also loved McInerney just coming in with the seemingly-unwarranted hip-and-shoulder on Cleary at that ball-up. Absolutely sent him flying LOL. Might've seemed unnecessary but I love to see that, from a now-mature player to a young kid learning the ropes.


That handball drill would be very taxing too. No chance to recover. You are either bursting to create space or tackle or avoid being tackled or grappling and as soon as a “goal” is scored it goes again. 5 mins of that would hurt.

I am also loving this insight of the inside Sydney videos over the last couple of years. I do wonder what decisions are made about balancing IP - do we keep our drills and strategy internally or release it to fans and opposition?
 
That handball drill would be very taxing too. No chance to recover. You are either bursting to create space or tackle or avoid being tackled or grappling and as soon as a “goal” is scored it goes again. 5 mins of that would hurt.

I am also loving this insight of the inside Sydney videos over the last couple of years. I do wonder what decisions are made about balancing IP - do we keep our drills and strategy internally or release it to fans and opposition?

That was one of the drills they yesterday (maybe more than once). They didn't do it for more than 5 minutes and I think they were rotating about two players per side through a notional 'bench' on the sidelines. Also, in case it's not obvious, there are a reduced numbers (I'm not sure exactly how many but let's say 10 a side). It was especially the more senior players who were involved in this drill while the young 'uns were on the far side of the oval doing something else (I didn't take note what).

I didn't get a comprehensive view of what was happening because I took the opportunity to chat to a few people and I also had to keep checking to make sure I wasn't getting booked for parking on the special event clearway that had been set up on Driver Avenue to cater for the cricket match in the evening and so I only had one eye on the training: hence my somewhat sketchy report.
 
I've said this before, but I am constantly in awe of his controlled aggression. He's just never flustered. You would never know, watching that guy casually and calmly running around doing drills out there, that that's our hardest and most physically-manic player. Someone who plays in such a tough and aggressive way must surely have that aggression within them, that shows in other ways. Rowbottom doesn't seem to have any. He literally channels it all into the contest. Have never once seen him remonstrate with an opponent, argue with an umpire, berate a teammate, punch the turf in frustration, be involved in a melee, do a single dirty act, carry-on after a goal, etc.

Deadset freak.
Why did you want to trade him at the end of his 3rd or 4th year? Ho would have returned bugger all in draft picks, and we had just traded out Hewett
 
Thats the thing i dont get about our group all these tough pre-seasons to just shit the bed over and over

You can train all you want, game day is an entirely different.

I was doing drill work and bout practice 6 hours a week and nearly 10 hours strength/ agility/ fitness training. Trained in Europe for 2 weeks in the lead up. But the moment I competed in the world cup I got nervous and completely tightened up.

The pressure is something else at the highest levels, let alone a grand final with 100,000 people watching.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Training 2025 Pre-season

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top