Bigman’s Training Reports

[Kane McGoodwin]

Whoops!

Bit like we got Andrew Fagan rather than Chris...

Is there a Brad Fagan lol.

 

[Shifty Crow]

A slight concern I do have is that we are running a little low on talls at the moment.

Thilthorpe was back to walking laps which is a concern and hopefully doesn’t spill into the new year. Strachan is in a moon boot so will be out of action for a while you’d think, while Butts was again a no show. Burgess was also absent for some reason.

Not alarm bells just yet but it’s not ideal particularly given our lamentable ruck stocks.

On the plus side Hinge joined the main group for parts of the session while Milera stepped up his workload again and looks to be almost fully fit.

I did notice that Pedlar had some light strapping around his knee and Murray around his calf but both did not seem particularly bothered. Pedlar did head in early but not sure it was injury related.

Both Draper and Welsh participated in the early drills but were held off from much of the main stuff. I expect we will see more of Draper on Friday.

The first major drill involved small teams playing keeping’s off within a rectangular area roughly 50-60m long, with the opposition forced to solely defend (which looked exhausting to be honest). All about spotting targets quickly and minimising errors by foot. Worrell and Fog were the stars of the show here.

I did notice for this drill players still had designated positions. They were as listed on the electronic board:

Backs: Hinge, Bond, Keane, Edwards, Borlase, Worrell, Ryan, Milera, Nankervis, Smith, Michalanney, N. Murray

Mids: Draper, Peatling, Crouch, Jones, Laird, Rachele, O’Brien, Cumming, Sholl, Rankine, Schoenberg, Curtin, Dawson, Berry, Dowling

Forwards: T. Murray, Taylor, Neal-Bullen, Walker, Pedlar, Welsh, Gallagher, Keays, Drury, Cook, Mitch Stevens

Couple interesting things to note, namely Edwards being considered a defender, Laird and Rachele as mids and Taylor a forward. It would seem the coaches are trying to have as many players as possible train in secondary roles over the pre season.

The lads then split into three groups and moved into a bit of match sim across two thirds of the ground, with two teams facing off for roughly 10 minutes before rotating with the other team (which did some basic ground ball and contested work in the other third).

This drill was then expanded into the entire ground, with teams rotating each time there was a score. It’s still hard to truly judge given there were no stoppages and having 40 players divided into three teams meant there was more space than usual for players, but the intensity was impressive and players weren’t really holding back. Defensive work like spoils and intercepts were always celebrated the hardest.

I did also notice that there seemed to be a real emphasis on moving the ball on quickly after a mark and avoiding going backwards (Ryan appeared to cop it from the coach at one point for asking for a cheap kick behind Borlase). Running from behind to receive was encouraged however and players were taking risky options through the corridor, although once again do keep in mind there was a bit more space to utilise than usual.

Some player thoughts:

Murphy - hadn’t caught the eye much until today, but credit to him, he had a great session. Was super switched on defensively and put real heat on the opposition half backs. Also got a fair bit of ball and used it well. I’m well aware he’s not exactly one of the board’s favourites but can only call it as I see it.

Curtin - because there’s no stoppages it’s hard to judge his trajectory as a midfielder. When he drifts forward however he looks quite comfortable and I think his blend of strength, class and agility could serve him well as a centre half forward in the future if the midfield stuff doesn’t work out.

Murray - bull at a gate and is moving really well, definitely the most mobile he’s looked since the knee. He does however need to tighten up on some of his exits from defence. His long kicking is excellent, his short stuff however sometimes sells his teammates into real trouble and in dangerous positions on the ground.

Walker - had a bandage on the front of his knee which may have affected him but I thought he looked a bit sluggish and off the pace today, which is unusual for him as he’s typically a strong trainer. Maybe just a bad day.

Taylor - liked his pressure game today, really chased hard and tackled with intent. Didn’t get a heap of it but had one lovely moment at half forward where he took a contested mark, sold some candy and laced out a teammate. Has genuine talent but it’s a big year for him.

Worrell - had his best session so far this pre season. To be fair the drills really did suit the half backs but I thought his composure and vision up field really stood out. Occasionally overcooked his kicks but that’s about all I could fault.

Nankervis - I wouldn’t be surprised if he has one of the fastest first 10 metres on our list. Just has an ability to accelerate away from opponents almost with a bit of arrogance. Kicking has come a long way too since his first year.

Laird - even though he was listed as a midfielder, he still appeared to accumulate most of his ball at high half back and I thought he was really solid today and once again avoided his patented sky balls. On a side note, seems like he can be a bit of a grump on the training field when others make mistakes. Just something I’ve noticed.

Fogarty - has obviously taken a lot of inspiration from Tex and that includes his voice at training. Would be one of the loudest and most instructive players out there. Has come a long way.

Gallagher - for some reason was a bit of a ball magnet today, just kept finding space at half forward and he would take a lot of confidence from the session. Kicking has definitely improved, it’s still a bit lofty but has a lot more penetration and accuracy now. Curiously he seems to find handballing the harder skill.

Bond - had a great moment in defence where he took a lovely half volley, burst away with genuine pace and laced out his target by foot. On the flip side he is prone to the odd dropped mark or fumble. There may be a player there but needs to eliminate those times where he seems to lose concentration.

O’Brien - I’ve been asked about how he and Toby Murray are tracking in the ruck. Unfortunately there are very few ruck or stoppage drills at the moment, aside from some bag work at the tail end of sessions, so I won’t be able to judge likely until the new year. In terms of general play, Rob was the better of the two today.

Cumming - I keep singing the praises of this bloke but I’ll do it again. Didn’t get a ton of it but everything he does is with purpose and precision. Just super clean and composed. Would be great to play with as he consistently makes the right decisions and rarely puts teammates in bad positions.

Keane - thought he was probably the best of the lot today. Once again it needs to be said that these drills do favour defenders and Keane in particular was given the ball a lot by the coaches, but I love the way he opens the game up with his ability to change the angles and see players upfield that others don’t. He’ll make a bad mistake every so often but he creates far more than he coughs up.

Quality report as usual bigman

I just hope we have a clear plan with Curtin.

We need to identify a role that allows him to bring his attributes and he gets time to settle into the role


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[119others]

A slight concern I do have is that we are running a little low on talls at the moment.

Thilthorpe was back to walking laps which is a concern and hopefully doesn’t spill into the new year. Strachan is in a moon boot so will be out of action for a while you’d think, while Butts was again a no show. Burgess was also absent for some reason.

Not alarm bells just yet but it’s not ideal particularly given our lamentable ruck stocks.

On the plus side Hinge joined the main group for parts of the session while Milera stepped up his workload again and looks to be almost fully fit.

I did notice that Pedlar had some light strapping around his knee and Murray around his calf but both did not seem particularly bothered. Pedlar did head in early but not sure it was injury related.

Both Draper and Welsh participated in the early drills but were held off from much of the main stuff. I expect we will see more of Draper on Friday.

The first major drill involved small teams playing keeping’s off within a rectangular area roughly 50-60m long, with the opposition forced to solely defend (which looked exhausting to be honest). All about spotting targets quickly and minimising errors by foot. Worrell and Fog were the stars of the show here.

I did notice for this drill players still had designated positions. They were as listed on the electronic board:

Backs: Hinge, Bond, Keane, Edwards, Borlase, Worrell, Ryan, Milera, Nankervis, Smith, Michalanney, N. Murray

Mids: Draper, Peatling, Crouch, Jones, Laird, Rachele, O’Brien, Cumming, Sholl, Rankine, Schoenberg, Curtin, Dawson, Berry, Dowling

Forwards: T. Murray, Taylor, Neal-Bullen, Walker, Pedlar, Welsh, Gallagher, Keays, Drury, Cook, Mitch Stevens

Couple interesting things to note, namely Edwards being considered a defender, Laird and Rachele as mids and Taylor a forward. It would seem the coaches are trying to have as many players as possible train in secondary roles over the pre season.

The lads then split into three groups and moved into a bit of match sim across two thirds of the ground, with two teams facing off for roughly 10 minutes before rotating with the other team (which did some basic ground ball and contested work in the other third).

This drill was then expanded into the entire ground, with teams rotating each time there was a score. It’s still hard to truly judge given there were no stoppages and having 40 players divided into three teams meant there was more space than usual for players, but the intensity was impressive and players weren’t really holding back. Defensive work like spoils and intercepts were always celebrated the hardest.

I did also notice that there seemed to be a real emphasis on moving the ball on quickly after a mark and avoiding going backwards (Ryan appeared to cop it from the coach at one point for asking for a cheap kick behind Borlase). Running from behind to receive was encouraged however and players were taking risky options through the corridor, although once again do keep in mind there was a bit more space to utilise than usual.

Some player thoughts:

Murphy - hadn’t caught the eye much until today, but credit to him, he had a great session. Was super switched on defensively and put real heat on the opposition half backs. Also got a fair bit of ball and used it well. I’m well aware he’s not exactly one of the board’s favourites but can only call it as I see it.

Curtin - because there’s no stoppages it’s hard to judge his trajectory as a midfielder. When he drifts forward however he looks quite comfortable and I think his blend of strength, class and agility could serve him well as a centre half forward in the future if the midfield stuff doesn’t work out.

Murray - bull at a gate and is moving really well, definitely the most mobile he’s looked since the knee. He does however need to tighten up on some of his exits from defence. His long kicking is excellent, his short stuff however sometimes sells his teammates into real trouble and in dangerous positions on the ground.

Walker - had a bandage on the front of his knee which may have affected him but I thought he looked a bit sluggish and off the pace today, which is unusual for him as he’s typically a strong trainer. Maybe just a bad day.

Taylor - liked his pressure game today, really chased hard and tackled with intent. Didn’t get a heap of it but had one lovely moment at half forward where he took a contested mark, sold some candy and laced out a teammate. Has genuine talent but it’s a big year for him.

Worrell - had his best session so far this pre season. To be fair the drills really did suit the half backs but I thought his composure and vision up field really stood out. Occasionally overcooked his kicks but that’s about all I could fault.

Nankervis - I wouldn’t be surprised if he has one of the fastest first 10 metres on our list. Just has an ability to accelerate away from opponents almost with a bit of arrogance. Kicking has come a long way too since his first year.

Laird - even though he was listed as a midfielder, he still appeared to accumulate most of his ball at high half back and I thought he was really solid today and once again avoided his patented sky balls. On a side note, seems like he can be a bit of a grump on the training field when others make mistakes. Just something I’ve noticed.

Fogarty - has obviously taken a lot of inspiration from Tex and that includes his voice at training. Would be one of the loudest and most instructive players out there. Has come a long way.

Gallagher - for some reason was a bit of a ball magnet today, just kept finding space at half forward and he would take a lot of confidence from the session. Kicking has definitely improved, it’s still a bit lofty but has a lot more penetration and accuracy now. Curiously he seems to find handballing the harder skill.

Bond - had a great moment in defence where he took a lovely half volley, burst away with genuine pace and laced out his target by foot. On the flip side he is prone to the odd dropped mark or fumble. There may be a player there but needs to eliminate those times where he seems to lose concentration.

O’Brien - I’ve been asked about how he and Toby Murray are tracking in the ruck. Unfortunately there are very few ruck or stoppage drills at the moment, aside from some bag work at the tail end of sessions, so I won’t be able to judge likely until the new year. In terms of general play, Rob was the better of the two today.

Cumming - I keep singing the praises of this bloke but I’ll do it again. Didn’t get a ton of it but everything he does is with purpose and precision. Just super clean and composed. Would be great to play with as he consistently makes the right decisions and rarely puts teammates in bad positions.

Keane - thought he was probably the best of the lot today. Once again it needs to be said that these drills do favour defenders and Keane in particular was given the ball a lot by the coaches, but I love the way he opens the game up with his ability to change the angles and see players upfield that others don’t. He’ll make a bad mistake every so often but he creates far more than he coughs up.

Loving your work as always bigman. It’s absolute top notch quality and much appreciated mate. AND it’s seemingly gone to another level this year. Also thanks for “mixing it up” re covering most players so far in the reports you have done.

Clearly we are only a couple of weeks in but a few quick questions I had:

- some posters reported last years training was in their view a little sub-standard. Re the overall quality is there any noticeable difference at this stage? Or still too early to say?

- Pedlar - does he seem fitter and hungrier than last year? I really rate his potential but recognise 2025 is a huge year for him.

- Max - I actually thought he didn’t kick on quite as much as hoped in his second year but still had a good year. Your initial thoughts? Any gains in body size? For those expecting another Ben Hart it’s very unlikely he hits this level but even 75-80% as good would be a great long term output IMO

- Rachele, TT and Curtin I am hopeful are all elite players in the making. Very interested in your ongoing thoughts about our truly top end potential players. And who else may join this group… Draper, Murray, Worrell - even Peatling at a stretch.

- An interview in recent days mentioned both ANB and Fog are showing lots of on field leadership. Any other main “voices” you are detecting? Is Tex still as dominant or leaving it to the next generation?

- I still have hopes for Milera and Jones who have shown - at times - they are good AFL footballers. Also keen to get ongoing thoughts as both would be marginal players to make our first team which is great news in terms of depth.

- interested in our attacking mindset from defence. With Keane and Worrell as natural attacking and skilful talls, smaller distributors like Cumming, Hinge and Max (Milera and Jones even) all excellent disposal with attacking flair it’s interesting your initial thoughts re this aspect. Perhaps a more attacking game plan now that we have the cattle.

- with Nicks now goneski for the remainder of 2024 would be interested in any structural changes in training in his absence.

- have any players underwhelmed so far? Clearly those coming back from injury get some leeway.

So far if I could summarise what I think you are saying is Rachele in top notch condition and looking great, Cummings perhaps looking like the most impressive of the recruits and TT showing great glimpses of talent since returning to training. Other players that have performed consistently in every session?

Otherwise lots of players looking good but most also having an off day at least once.

Thanks again mate

 

[triggyscrewedus]

Curtain will be an excellent player.
Not worried in the slightest about finding him a defined position, especially so early in his journey.
It's as simple as playing the talent and letting the game come to him, it will quickly become apparent where he does his damage.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Curtain will be an excellent player.
Not worried in the slightest about finding him a defined position, especially so early in his journey.
It's as simple as playing the talent and letting the game come to him, it will quickly become apparent where he does his damage.

How do you reckon Curtin will turn out?

 

[Carmo]

Looks as though there was more to Pedlar leaving the track early. Hamstring tightness according to channel 7, footage didn’t look overly positive.

Adding that to the collection of talls you mention being off the track starts to become a worry

 

[tinman]

I loved the suggestion of him at CHF - Fog, Thilthorpe and Curtin sounds very nice.

For his development I think that it would be good to settle Curtin somewhere. Longer term I see him as someone who can play just about anywhere, a bit like Dawson, perhaps even more versatile.

 

[triggyscrewedus]

How do you reckon Curtin will turn out?

Nothing short of a Norm Smith in our Premiership team

 

[Jcpdragonx]

Curtain is a KPF

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Problem with Curtin is that the coaches have options with him so need to make choices

I'm not sure how shrewd and intuitive those choices will be. Or even if the coaches will all agree on what's best.

Hopefully he's not hopscotched around the whole oval again this season

 

[CrowTownRoad]

A slight concern I do have is that we are running a little low on talls at the moment.

Thilthorpe was back to walking laps which is a concern and hopefully doesn’t spill into the new year. Strachan is in a moon boot so will be out of action for a while you’d think, while Butts was again a no show. Burgess was also absent for some reason.

Not alarm bells just yet but it’s not ideal particularly given our lamentable ruck stocks.

On the plus side Hinge joined the main group for parts of the session while Milera stepped up his workload again and looks to be almost fully fit.

I did notice that Pedlar had some light strapping around his knee and Murray around his calf but both did not seem particularly bothered. Pedlar did head in early but not sure it was injury related.

Both Draper and Welsh participated in the early drills but were held off from much of the main stuff. I expect we will see more of Draper on Friday.

The first major drill involved small teams playing keeping’s off within a rectangular area roughly 50-60m long, with the opposition forced to solely defend (which looked exhausting to be honest). All about spotting targets quickly and minimising errors by foot. Worrell and Fog were the stars of the show here.

I did notice for this drill players still had designated positions. They were as listed on the electronic board:

Backs: Hinge, Bond, Keane, Edwards, Borlase, Worrell, Ryan, Milera, Nankervis, Smith, Michalanney, N. Murray

Mids: Draper, Peatling, Crouch, Jones, Laird, Rachele, O’Brien, Cumming, Sholl, Rankine, Schoenberg, Curtin, Dawson, Berry, Dowling

Forwards: T. Murray, Taylor, Neal-Bullen, Walker, Pedlar, Welsh, Gallagher, Keays, Drury, Cook, Mitch Stevens

Couple interesting things to note, namely Edwards being considered a defender, Laird and Rachele as mids and Taylor a forward. It would seem the coaches are trying to have as many players as possible train in secondary roles over the pre season.

The lads then split into three groups and moved into a bit of match sim across two thirds of the ground, with two teams facing off for roughly 10 minutes before rotating with the other team (which did some basic ground ball and contested work in the other third).

This drill was then expanded into the entire ground, with teams rotating each time there was a score. It’s still hard to truly judge given there were no stoppages and having 40 players divided into three teams meant there was more space than usual for players, but the intensity was impressive and players weren’t really holding back. Defensive work like spoils and intercepts were always celebrated the hardest.

I did also notice that there seemed to be a real emphasis on moving the ball on quickly after a mark and avoiding going backwards (Ryan appeared to cop it from the coach at one point for asking for a cheap kick behind Borlase). Running from behind to receive was encouraged however and players were taking risky options through the corridor, although once again do keep in mind there was a bit more space to utilise than usual.

Some player thoughts:

Murphy - hadn’t caught the eye much until today, but credit to him, he had a great session. Was super switched on defensively and put real heat on the opposition half backs. Also got a fair bit of ball and used it well. I’m well aware he’s not exactly one of the board’s favourites but can only call it as I see it.

Curtin - because there’s no stoppages it’s hard to judge his trajectory as a midfielder. When he drifts forward however he looks quite comfortable and I think his blend of strength, class and agility could serve him well as a centre half forward in the future if the midfield stuff doesn’t work out.

Murray - bull at a gate and is moving really well, definitely the most mobile he’s looked since the knee. He does however need to tighten up on some of his exits from defence. His long kicking is excellent, his short stuff however sometimes sells his teammates into real trouble and in dangerous positions on the ground.

Walker - had a bandage on the front of his knee which may have affected him but I thought he looked a bit sluggish and off the pace today, which is unusual for him as he’s typically a strong trainer. Maybe just a bad day.

Taylor - liked his pressure game today, really chased hard and tackled with intent. Didn’t get a heap of it but had one lovely moment at half forward where he took a contested mark, sold some candy and laced out a teammate. Has genuine talent but it’s a big year for him.

Worrell - had his best session so far this pre season. To be fair the drills really did suit the half backs but I thought his composure and vision up field really stood out. Occasionally overcooked his kicks but that’s about all I could fault.

Nankervis - I wouldn’t be surprised if he has one of the fastest first 10 metres on our list. Just has an ability to accelerate away from opponents almost with a bit of arrogance. Kicking has come a long way too since his first year.

Laird - even though he was listed as a midfielder, he still appeared to accumulate most of his ball at high half back and I thought he was really solid today and once again avoided his patented sky balls. On a side note, seems like he can be a bit of a grump on the training field when others make mistakes. Just something I’ve noticed.

Fogarty - has obviously taken a lot of inspiration from Tex and that includes his voice at training. Would be one of the loudest and most instructive players out there. Has come a long way.

Gallagher - for some reason was a bit of a ball magnet today, just kept finding space at half forward and he would take a lot of confidence from the session. Kicking has definitely improved, it’s still a bit lofty but has a lot more penetration and accuracy now. Curiously he seems to find handballing the harder skill.

Bond - had a great moment in defence where he took a lovely half volley, burst away with genuine pace and laced out his target by foot. On the flip side he is prone to the odd dropped mark or fumble. There may be a player there but needs to eliminate those times where he seems to lose concentration.

O’Brien - I’ve been asked about how he and Toby Murray are tracking in the ruck. Unfortunately there are very few ruck or stoppage drills at the moment, aside from some bag work at the tail end of sessions, so I won’t be able to judge likely until the new year. In terms of general play, Rob was the better of the two today.

Cumming - I keep singing the praises of this bloke but I’ll do it again. Didn’t get a ton of it but everything he does is with purpose and precision. Just super clean and composed. Would be great to play with as he consistently makes the right decisions and rarely puts teammates in bad positions.

Keane - thought he was probably the best of the lot today. Once again it needs to be said that these drills do favour defenders and Keane in particular was given the ball a lot by the coaches, but I love the way he opens the game up with his ability to change the angles and see players upfield that others don’t. He’ll make a bad mistake every so often but he creates far more than he coughs up.

Appreciate all your work Bigman! Your training write ups are the best part about this forum

 

[Slime Roy]

Problem with Curtin is that the coaches have options with him so need to make choices

I'm not sure how shrewd and intuitive those choices will be. Or even if the coaches will all agree on what's best.

Hopefully he's not hopscotched around the whole oval again this season

Reading these comments (particularly this one) has reminded me just how baffling some of our decisions have been in the past five years (if not longer)

Given our track record,
Murray Davis is in for a wild ride!