liz
30th July 2003, 11:38 PM
Popped along this afternoon to watch a bit of the boys training - first time for the season (me that is, not them!)
Got the timing a bit wrong I think, because they were finished about 45 minutes after I arrived. Either that or Roosey has them doing very light training at the moment!
Even though I didn't see much of the session I got a very good vibe from it. I went a few times last season and their skills looked fairly ordinary at times, as if they were going through the motions a bit and not really concentrating. And at times that certainly carried through to matches.
Today, however, they looked switched on and like they were having a whole heap of fun at the same time. There was one drill that had me chuckling aloud. The players were in two teams, each team occupying half of the ground, lengthwise. They were having races to see which team could carry the ball from one end to the other quickest, and score a goal at the other end. The catch was that Roosey was standing in the middle shouting out how they had to do it, changing the rules each time. Sometimes it had to be by handball only, othertimes with certain kinds of kick. The funniest was when they had to do it through a series of torps! This game them lots of practice at celebrating goals as well - they were certainly getting into it and having a great time. Some of the torps weren't too bad, either!
On the less positive side, the actual group training was small. There were probably as many players on the sidelines watching as there were training.
I counted at least 8 players (other than Ball) who played last weekend, and who we have no reason to think won't be playing this weekend, who were not training. I won't name names! At least 11 other players weren't training out on the ground either, including Powell, LRT, Warfe, Frosty, James, although a handful of them did arrive out to watch looking as if they'd just stepped out of the pool or shower.
Meiklejohn was training, wearing a very very strange red and white helmet. He looked like a character from a superhero cartoon. I noticed him being given some individual work on contested marks, with help from PK and Longmire. Roosey seemed to be watching this very closely.
O'Keefe was participating fully and looked good. He and Jude spent a lot of time at the end when most other players had disappeared doing kick to kick with each other. O'Keefe certainly has a very nice kicking style.
Fixter was also out there, as was a very strange looking McVeigh with the mop of hair gone - completely. Ablett was looking quite sharp and also pretty vocal, more so than in previous sessions I've watched. Hopefully that's a good sign.
Got the timing a bit wrong I think, because they were finished about 45 minutes after I arrived. Either that or Roosey has them doing very light training at the moment!
Even though I didn't see much of the session I got a very good vibe from it. I went a few times last season and their skills looked fairly ordinary at times, as if they were going through the motions a bit and not really concentrating. And at times that certainly carried through to matches.
Today, however, they looked switched on and like they were having a whole heap of fun at the same time. There was one drill that had me chuckling aloud. The players were in two teams, each team occupying half of the ground, lengthwise. They were having races to see which team could carry the ball from one end to the other quickest, and score a goal at the other end. The catch was that Roosey was standing in the middle shouting out how they had to do it, changing the rules each time. Sometimes it had to be by handball only, othertimes with certain kinds of kick. The funniest was when they had to do it through a series of torps! This game them lots of practice at celebrating goals as well - they were certainly getting into it and having a great time. Some of the torps weren't too bad, either!
On the less positive side, the actual group training was small. There were probably as many players on the sidelines watching as there were training.
I counted at least 8 players (other than Ball) who played last weekend, and who we have no reason to think won't be playing this weekend, who were not training. I won't name names! At least 11 other players weren't training out on the ground either, including Powell, LRT, Warfe, Frosty, James, although a handful of them did arrive out to watch looking as if they'd just stepped out of the pool or shower.
Meiklejohn was training, wearing a very very strange red and white helmet. He looked like a character from a superhero cartoon. I noticed him being given some individual work on contested marks, with help from PK and Longmire. Roosey seemed to be watching this very closely.
O'Keefe was participating fully and looked good. He and Jude spent a lot of time at the end when most other players had disappeared doing kick to kick with each other. O'Keefe certainly has a very nice kicking style.
Fixter was also out there, as was a very strange looking McVeigh with the mop of hair gone - completely. Ablett was looking quite sharp and also pretty vocal, more so than in previous sessions I've watched. Hopefully that's a good sign.