2023 Preseason

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Rather than expanding the interchange bench to 5, or ditching the medi-sub completely, the AFL have simply removed the "medi" prefix. The sub can come on once per game, and the player subbed off may not return to that game.

A 5 man interchange would have helped more big guys get a game. I think this version probably won't help them so much, but it may be good news for any ageing superstars who might not be quite up to running out a full game every week anymore, but could make a worthwhile contribution for half a game (especially after a little of the games intensity has died down) - and remain a viable drawcard/marketing behemoth.

Gosh, if only the Swans had a player that fitted that description.

[Ludwig]

Rather than expanding the interchange bench to 5, or ditching the medi-sub completely, the AFL have simply removed the "medi" prefix. The sub can come on once per game, and the player subbed off may not return to that game.

A 5 man interchange would have helped more big guys get a game. I think this version probably won't help them so much, but it may be good news for any ageing superstars who might not be quite up to running out a full game every week anymore, but could make a worthwhile contribution for half a game (especially after a little of the games intensity has died down) - and remain a viable drawcard/marketing behemoth.

Gosh, if only the Swans had a player that fitted that description.

It just might be called "The Buddy Rule" after next season.

[707]

One week in and Aaron Francis notes that we train 'hard'.

A bloke who realises this is his last chance. I was initially aghast we would chase him but have warmed to the fact it may prove to be a cunning recruitment.

Any Sydneysiders getting to training so we get an unbiased report on the houses being trained down?

On a seperate note, was fantastic to see a pair of Holden on-two's in the last two appearances of the famous Holden badge at the V8's. How appropriate Holden's last win was by a young guy with the name Broc!

[bloodspirit]

I made it to training today and come bearing a training report and ready to tell my unvarnished perceptions.

So, today was the full team's first day back on the track. Pretty much everyone was there. The only omissions I noted were Lance Franklin and Nick Blakey.

They started off with warm up exercises before moving on to the main event.

*****

First day back means - TIME TRIAL! For the juniors who were there last week, they had to do it again. In my opinion it's always a bit of a marquee event as far as pre-season training goes, and I'm always keen to see the results.

The first 10 finishers, in order, were:

Stephens
Fox
Clarke
Gulden
Rampe (came home with a wet sail as he usually does)
Tom McCartin
Harry C
Mills
Corey
Florent.

The next finisher was the quickest of our new draftees - Caleb Mitchell - in a very respectable performance.

I was interested and slightly surprised to notice that the fastest time was over 6:15 for 2 km, which is slower than the fast draftees go at the combine and slower than I reckon Dyl would have run back when he did the combine. I rationalise it this way: since running was always his strength (and still is) Dyl (and probably other elite running draftees) focus on building up their strength, and they stack on some weight, and so it is harder to maintain their elite running times. Is one of you well placed to comment?

The last finisher was new, young project ruckman Cam Owen. I think his time was roughly 7:45, and he was lapped by some of the field.

Some other observations:

* Lloyd was middle of the pack - I thought he was a better run than that

* Wicks was one of the slower smalls (not a good sign for him given the new competition that has arrived at the club) - I didn't notice where Konstanty finished (actually I really struggled for a long while to identify Konstanty. He, along with HHK who has shaven away his long hair, and the VFL recruits, were the hardest players to recognise) but I'm pretty sure it was in front of Wicks.

* Gould did really well, was keeping pace with the likes of Hayward

* McAndrew was by a small margin the fastest of the group including himself, Amartey, Edwards, and, further back, Owen. They were the back markers for the event.

* After last week reporting that Roberts struck me as slow, this week I noticed that he was slow again BUT very interestingly he ran with Parker on his shoulder the whole race and finished a nose in front of Parker. Parker clearly has the tank, so maybe Matty does too? Perhaps even the time trial is more about speed than endurance (albeit speed over a longer distance). Not quite sure how to interpret this but I think it makes me hesitate to be too hard on Matty for his time trial.

* Braeden was somewhere in the middle (again, well in front of Wicks). Lest my report from last week be taken as saying Braeden is slow, that is not what I said last week. What I said was that last week Braeden expressed disappointment in his own running performance (and he was a fair way behind the guys at the front). Last week I wasn't sure whether Braeden had run in the first or second group of runners (separated by about 15 seconds) and I was thinking that if he had been in the second group he had done really well and made up time on some of the guys in the first group. So, I asked Braeden how was his time trial and he said something like "horrific" and so I inferred that he must have been in the first group and been a fair bit slower than the others in his group. I'm just spelling this out because with the Chinese whispers effect I think my report may have led to him being branded as out of shape - which may or may not be the case - but is not what I said or what necessarily follows from what I saw. [At least, I hope that's what I said, I haven't gone back to check.]

* Sam Reid, HHK and Lachie Rankin all did not do the time trial because they are returning from injuries. I'm also not sure if Hickey and Ladhams ran - although they were around and they looked sweaty afterwards.

****

After the time trial, they got on with the rest of training. And it struck me as a tough session. So much so that I asked if it was tougher than usual and I learned that it is normal that Mondays are the toughest day of training.

They kept training for well over 2 hours in total, in warm conditions. And despite the time trial up front (which no doubt left them gassed) they didn't get many breaks at all during that time and the senior players finished with 200 m sprints! Most of the training was kicking drills

One player who I think deserves recognition for his hard work was Tom McCartin. He was by far the strongest runner of all the tall players. Gould also did well, and Melican and McLean did ok too.

I feel harsh reporting this but overall I thought the most disappointing performance (on the day overall, not so much the time trial specifically) was Aaron Francis'. He looked distinctly less fit that anyone who was on our list last season. Essendon's review said they were not fit enough - turns out maybe they're right. I think 'Frank' will either get fitter or get delisted when his contract expires. Assuming he gets fitter which I think is likely, hopefully it really helps him make that transition into being a better, and more consistent, player. I'm thinking he may not be pushing for a spot round 1 at this stage.

Other stuff

The new draftees

I found Konstanty the hardest to spot. He was wearing a cap and he looks a bit like one of the VFL players. Plus he spent most of his time training on the far side of the ground so I didn't see much of him. I heard he's moved in with Logan and HHK.

Vickery in some ways is not so distinctive but there's something about his posture that stands out to me. He seemed to be hanging with some of the other defenders e.g. Harry C, Tommy Mc, maybe Fox or Lloyd. He looks like a humble kid. I've got high hopes for him. I love that we made the somewhat surprising choice to draft a small, lockdown defender with a relatively high pick.

Caleb Mitchell - looked reasonably solid and, as I've already mentioned, seemed fit and ran strongly. He's tallish and was not wearing a cap which made him easier to spot.

Cam Owen - the gangliest guy (possibly after McAndrew) on the ground. A long term prospect.

Jaiden Magor - easy to spot with his very distinctive haircut. Tom Papley looked to be taking him under his wing. Interesting to see Papley spending time with Magor rather than Konstanty which is what the media was hyping. Although I'm sure this was just one sample and I daresay Tommy will give time to both of them.

Will Edwards - also fairly easy to spot because he's tall and blonde. Can't report much about him except in terms of his time trial performance where he was on a par with Amartey.


VFL

I identified the 4th VFL guy as Hamish Morrison from the Academy. Hamish Morrison Draft Profile - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central (formerly AFL Draft Central) I already reported the other three last week: Indhi Kirk, Christian Webster, and Toby Alker.


I will conclude by giving a shout out to fellow fan Angela who was there with her dogs and who is a sometime lurker but never-yet poster on these boards. Hello Angela - hope you will join the conversation!

[Mark26]

Awesome update Bloodspirit. These reports are gold for those of us who live outside of Sydney.

I thought your comment on Ladhams and Hickey quite funny and imagined them hiding out of sight, spraying themselves with water bottles and materialising panting when everyone had finished.

Thanks again.

Let's hope Francis takes off in our culture.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I watched Flynn and Jezza from GWS run 12 mins for 3km at the GWS Academy at 17/18yrs of age

I watched Jezza say to Mark McVeigh say "anyone else want to ruck this guy" when at the Academy.......Hezza gave up against a muscle bound yound 17yr old ruck 194cm tall

[707]

Now THAT, Bloodspirit, is what I call a report!!

Excellent stuff that I'm sure we all enthusiastically digest, thanks so much for taking the time

[joeykanga]

I watched Flynn and Jezza from GWS run 12 mins for 3km at the GWS Academy at 17/18yrs of age

I watched Jezza say to Mark McVeigh say "anyone else want to ruck this guy" when at the Academy.......Hezza gave up against a muscle bound yound 17yr old ruck 194cm tall

Are Jezza and Hezza the same person and you watched Jezza say to Mark McVeigh say to who?
Alas ....What does this all mean

[Mel_C]

Awesome update Bloodspirit. These reports are gold for those of us who live outside of Sydney.

I agree...thanks for the update Bloodspirit.
All we got down here on Channel 7 news was that Buddy missed training because of finger surgery.

[Scottee]

Thanks Bloodspirit.

Did you see what Sheather was up to?

Sent from my SM-T865 using Tapatalk

[bloodspirit]

I didn't quite finish one sentence: it should have been "Most of the training was kicking and marking drills and handpassing games." The handpassing games looked exhausting, at least when combined with the other running they did.

I also think Harry deserves a nod for finishing top 10 in the time trial (ahead of no less than Mills, Corey Warner and Florent).

The other thing that stood out is that the numbers of coaches and trainers and physios etc is bulging back out to pre-pandemic levels. There were over 20, maybe even 30, club staff there either directing training (a few coaches), running water bottles, standing by in case of injury, chatting or just observing. Apart from Tom Harley and Charlie Gardiner being there, Kate Mahony (head of the AFLW program) was there too curiously. She said she was just there to check it out and chat with the other staff (I was curious).

I also met our new media guy, Tom Chadwick, who started at the club about 6 months ago. He works in the team headed by Loretta Johns and with Andre Cupido (who usually did the team selection videos during the season). He was previously based in Melbourne and spent about 3 years at Channel 7 News.

- - - Updated - - -

Sheather was there. Not certain if he did the time trial. He is almost (but not quite?) completely rehabbed after his injury.

[Bloods05]

Are Jezza and Hezza the same person and you watched Jezza say to Mark McVeigh say to who?
Alas ....What does this all mean

So it isn't just me then.