2023 Preseason

[707]

Below is from the Swans website - very pleasing to see Corey Warner finishing third, just what's needed for a wingman and it's also pleasing to see McDonald, Campbell and Gould named as big improvers.

"Stephens, who finished first in the two previous time trials before Christmas, was closely followed by Errol Gulden, Corey Warner and Dane Rampe. There were a significant amount of personal bests throughout the playing squad with Logan McDonald, Braeden Campbell, and Will Gould amongst the big improvers."

https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/...2km-trial-form

[ugg]

This article about Brisbane's preseason quotes Lions football boss Danny Daly:

..."Then we'll have a bit of a training session hit out against Sydney Swans over in Sydney, that'll be February 23 or 24 I think.

[SeanM]

On Friday morning got there around 9.30. The players were doing running, mostly shuttle runs and sprints of the length of the oval.

Again Hickey, Franklin and Reid were doing stuff on the side and then left for somewhere else. There were a few players that did not do the running. And there were guys like Hall Kahan and Rankin who ended up doing most of the drills during the session but instead did lots of running around the oval later in the morning.

- Drills
They then split up into their positional groups do a few drills. I think all groups did a drill where attacking players would try to handball back and forth through 3 opposing players in a narrow corridor. Interestingly Heeney seemed to be training with the mids today. He may float between groups.
* Mids then did a drill where 8 attackers players would try to keep possession with short kicks against 7 opposing players.
* Forwards were practicing a series of short kicks to players making leads in the attacking 50m.
* Defenders were practicing working the ball out of the defensive 50 kick in with short kicks.

- 1 vs 1 ground ball contest
A coach would roll a ground ball and two players would compete over it. Either evade, tackle or compete for the possession of it. They let the contest run for a while so you could see how it could get tiring.

- Handball drill in small circle.
7 attackers using handballs trying to keep possession in a small circle against 3 defending players. Watching the group in front of me. I could hear Cox telling the defending players to work together to shut down the attackers. And telling the attacking ones to communicate more to take advantage of their numbers.

- Kicking drill
Players set up along the 4 corners of a big square. Then kick and run to the adjacent corner.

-Handball drill
In a medium sized circle, 7 attackers try to keep possession against 5 defenders using handballs. They had to try to reach a certain number of consecutive handball possessions before it got turned over.

-12 vs 12 round robin
Split into 3 teams and played brief games of 12 vs 12 on a smaller marked out oval. Less intensity than Wednesday. Each side would try to move the ball upfield with short passes. It is a bit congested because it is a smaller oval and everyone is marked up. So it slower ball movement and at a certain point players will have to kick long.

-15 vs 12 on full oval
Did 30 minutes of 15 vs 12 on the full oval. Attacking team would try to move the ball from their goal upfield. If the defensive team managed to turn it over, they could have possession for a while before the drill got reset. It was not that physical. Though if there was a loose ball contest, the coaches would let it run for a little bit. It was a better spectacle and quicker ball movement because of the larger oval and the attacking team having a spare man on each line. Also allowed the small forwards like Konstanty more space down the wide channels and opportunity to get involved.

- More running
Some players had to run as a group around the oval. Others were paired up where one player would have to tag the other as he randomly ran within the oval.
Cox did some work with the rucks. Combination of tap work, contested marking, ground balls and skill work. He made them run to different spots of the oval. to operate under fatigue This time Amartey joined in with the rucks though he usually trains with the forwards.

- End of session
Players did their own thing, worked in small groups or had the opportunity to work with a coach individually. Stephens and Mitchell were kicking short passes to each other, Rowbottom, Parker, Warner and Mcinerney were practicing picking up rolling ground balls under pressure. McCartin and Edwards were doing 1 vs 1 contested marking against each other. A lot of players having shots at goal.

I think one of the draftees Mitchell might have had his family watching the training session. It seemed like he was introducing them to some of the other players. Maybe they drove up from Victoria for the weekend.

[bloodspirit]

The Big Questions - 2023 Sydney Swans Season Preview - The Mongrel Punt

What I Love About My Team In 2023 - Sydney Swans - The Mongrel Punt

[707]

The Mongrel Punt is a quality read, puts almost all the professionals in the shade

[bloodspirit]

The Mongrel Punt is a quality read, puts almost all the professionals in the shade

Almost? Who else to you rate?

[Auntie.Gerald]

I thought we all knew best on this forum anyway 🤪😁😆

I'm starring to get a little fired up for 2023 🔥

Love the long form mulling on footy and fun to read vs the pressures of click bait writing on most mainstream channels 😀

[707]

Almost? Who else to you rate?

Only Jake Niall. The rest are click bait rubbish, writing for the lowest common denominator masses, very much like reality TV shows!

[bloodspirit]

Thanks 707.

I went to training today. Unfortunately, I was distracted chatting to my mate one of the Swans staff and didn't pay too much attention to training and cannot offer a good report. Fortunately, I saw that SeanM was there and hopefully he will provide one of his excellent, detailed reports later today.

I did see snippets, and the things that I recall include:

* intensity from go to whoa was great

* it was that format alternating between mini-match format and running drills that SeanM has been telling us about. Towards the end, there was a bunch of talls including both McCartins, Rampe, Ladhams, McAndrew, Webster (VFL player), and McLean that were running and working about as hard as I've ever seen the Swans train. They looked absolutely spent by the end.

* there was a moment during one of the mini-matches where I looked up and the ball had been kicked. Cam Owen marked it and turned and kicked it inside 50 (accurately finding a target) in more or less one motion - that was exciting to see from a project ruck.

* the McCartins looked in ripping form. I saw TMac defending against Heeney. At one point the ball came in in the air and TMac just brushed Heeney aside. (Generally Heeney was looking his usual sharp self and excellent aerial threat.) When the McCartins ran, they were running shoulder to shoulder pretty much the whole time (and much of that time with Rampe right with them too) making up a very tight-knit threesome.

* I'm pretty optimistic Gould will get a debut this season (although I would have said that the past couple of seasons too).

* I didn't get a good sense of who was and wasn't there but don't think I clocked Buddy, Hickey or Reid.

* bit by bit the players trickled off and the last 3 were Caleb Mitchell, Isaac Heeney and Luke Parker practising goal kicking from acute angles (even Don Pyke was joining in)

* Apparently Caleb Mitchell is a great guy and the players have dubbed him 'Sid' (after Sid from Ice Age - so perhaps not super flattering?)

* the players were pretty disappointed by the end of last season. The whole group spent time in the pre-Christmas bloc reviewing the GF and addressing the loss.

[gloveski]

Thanks 707.

I went to training today. Unfortunately, I was distracted chatting to my mate one of the Swans staff and didn't pay too much attention to training and cannot offer a good report. Fortunately, I saw that SeanM was there and hopefully he will provide one of his excellent, detailed reports later today.

I did see snippets, and the things that I recall include:

* intensity from go to whoa was great

* it was that format alternating between mini-match format and running drills that SeanM has been telling us about. Towards the end, there was a bunch of talls including both McCartins, Rampe, Ladhams, McAndrew, Webster (VFL player), and McLean that were running and working about as hard as I've ever seen the Swans train. They looked absolutely spent by the end.

* there was a moment during one of the mini-matches where I looked up and the ball had been kicked. Cam Owen marked it and turned and kicked it inside 50 (accurately finding a target) in more or less one motion - that was exciting to see from a project ruck.

* the McCartins looked in ripping form. I saw TMac defending against Heeney. At one point the ball came in in the air and TMac just brushed Heeney aside. (Generally Heeney was looking his usual sharp self and excellent aerial threat.) When the McCartins ran, they were running shoulder to shoulder pretty much the whole time (and much of that time with Rampe right with them too) making up a very tight-knit threesome.

* I'm pretty optimistic Gould will get a debut this season (although I would have said that the past couple of seasons too).

* I didn't get a good sense of who was and wasn't there but don't think I clocked Buddy, Hickey or Reid.

* bit by bit the players trickled off and the last 3 were Caleb Mitchell, Isaac Heeney and Luke Parker practising goal kicking from acute angles (even Don Pyke was joining in)

* Apparently Caleb Mitchell is a great guy and the players have dubbed him 'Sid' (after Sid from Ice Age - so perhaps not super flattering?)

* the players were pretty disappointed by the end of last season. The whole group spent time in the pre-Christmas bloc reviewing the GF and addressing the loss.

Awesome thanks for the write up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[707]

Thanks for your training report bloodspirit, we all appreciate the RWO unbiased reports ;-)

[SeanM]

On Monday I got there after 10am so training had been going on for a while before I got there.

- Ball movement drill
Ball gets moved quickly from goal to goal. I have seen this drill numerous times. Kicked from the goal square to back pocket. Who kicks a diagonal ball inside to a player who handballs to a running player. Who kicks to a leading player running to the wing who then kicks a long ball into the attacking 50.

- Handball drill
6 attackers keep possession using handballs in a smallish circle against 3 opposing players. The coaches wanted the attacking players to get a certain number of consecutive possessions. Another point to note is that they were in their positional groups for this drill, presumably to build up cohesion and communication among players who play in the same part of the field. Whilst in previous preseasons, you would see players mixed up for a drill like this.

- 18 vs 15 match sim
I think it was 18 on the attacking team and 15 on the defending team which would give an extra player on each line. It went for about 20-25 minutes. Not heavy contact but the coaches let it flow for a little bit if there was a loose ball. And reset from a stoppage only when it got too messy. If the defending team won possession they could attack as best they could with their lesser numbers. Some of my highlights from where I was watching from.

* Mills got a bit praise from the other players for his defensive cover. A long kick had got over the back of the defence which gave Magor a clear run at it in space. But Mills somehow ran back and seemed to knock it away from him.
* Florent had a few eye catching runs from deep in defence to half way.
* Heeney a few classy moments that you expect from him. Can seem like he is completely covered by the defender, but can run up to half forward, float in the air and cleanly take a contested mark. Also saw him judge the ball and get out the back of a marking pack unopposed for an easy goal.
* Konstanty. First time I have been able to get a good look at him. He did ok and got involved which can be hard sometimes as a young small forward. I saw him make a wrap around tackle on one of the senior mids to get a holding the ball decision. Also seemed to get to a few loose balls in the forward line. And I saw him lead up to space at half forward to take a mark.
* Corey Warner. There was a few times he got possession under immediate pressure. But he stayed composed, looked around at his options and kept possession with a short kick or handpass. Also I saw him regularly use his running ability to get to contests or get to open space to create a passing option.

- Running
End of the sessions was mainly running split up into three groups. Repeat runs of half the boundary of the oval which is probably 225m. I heard the fitness coach praise Fox. You could tell from the boundary Fox has got the ability to run repeat sprints and still be relatively strong at the end.

Also at this time the 1st year players were mainly doing basic skill stuff with the coaches rather than the extra running.