Most sports have been moving towards increasing game simulated skills via fitness drills the last 25 years or more
I suspect with the Swans we needed to re weight our pure running parts of the pre season with skill based fitness due to our final adjustment in playing style last two seasons
Great to hear !!!
To me it shows that we already have a high level of fitness.
Because of Gather Round (I think it's a great name) being added to the season schedule, there is only one official practice game for each club before the season proper starts, hence there will be more pre-season match simulations to make up for this.Originally Posted by SeanM
Last edited by stevoswan; 10th December 2022 at 05:15 PM.
Not a lot to report from training today. I ran into SeanM and maybe he'll have more to say. He was still there when I left not that long before the storm hit.
The drills were more what we tend to expect at this stage of pre-season - more focused on skills and fitness than game play. Chad impressed me in one of the drills that highlighted his power: the players had to pick up an inflatable vessel that was half full of water and sprint 20 m with it and put it down again. Chad looked really sharp in that (opposite Parker no less) and he looked switched on in some other drills too.
Buddy was there, kicking a ball on the sidelines. As were Tom Harley's boys (separately).
There was a fresh face for the VFL team: Jordan Endemann Jordan Endemann Draft Profile - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central (formerly AFL Draft Central). Another ex-Academy player who was a top up for us in the VFL last season. He is rehabbing an ankle injury.
Heard good things about Jaiden Magor. If he works out, we'll have picked up a bargain.
HHK was running on the sidelines, coming back from injury. He looks like a good runner.
That's all I got.
All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated, and well supported in logic and argument than others. -Douglas Adams, author (11 Mar 1952-2001)
Thanks BS. Magor will prove to be a top 20 player from this draft I reckon, so much upside after an injury impacted season. I was excited when we picked him up, and basically for free :-)
Wow big call 707
He looks dangerous around goal with his opportunistic tendencies to sniff a goal and both feet kicking ability looked very natural.
Reminds me a little of the way Hayward plays with a good leap, goal sense and unpredictable movement.
He's a South Adelaide player Auntie, it's become a footy factory down there. My team, last senior flag 1964, I can remember listening to that game on the wireless LOL
Guernsey numbers for those interested, gleaned by a BF Insta follower - Edwards 28, Mitchell 35 and Owen 40. A few low numbers still to have their owners stick their hands up.
10 & 12 either side of Papley's locker, one should go to Konstanty his newest partner in forward line crime, and the other to my boy Magor
Last edited by 707; 12th December 2022 at 04:05 PM.
U bet 707 !!!
Love the passion and if he can handle the rigours of being a professional athlete ... he certainly has the skill
*I got there Monday after 9.30am. They were still doing fitness exercises like running whilst being attached to a resistance band or lifting bags.
Separately there were a group of about six on the side doing straight line running. I think it was Franklin, Reid, Rankin, Sheather, McLean and Hall Kahan. I did not keep track of which of those guys joined the main session afterwards. Though as Bloodspirit mentioned. Hall Kahan did a lot of running around the oval for most of the morning.
* Next the players split into 3 groups and rotated through 3 skill stations. There was a basic kicking drill and opposite side of the field might have been a ground ball or handball drill.
In front of me they were doing a marking practice drill. They would pace back and forth and then judge a high ball, leap and take it above their heads. Recently they seem to be doing more marking drills during the skill sessions. Last week they did a drill where 2 players would body each other and a third player would practice floating across and taking the intercept mark. I am guessing because intercept marking is becoming an important part of the game.
* Next they split into 2 groups and rotated through 2 handball drills. Far side seemed to be players trying to keep possession by handpassing within a small square. In front of me the drill was the attacking players having to handpass through a narrow corridor with 3 defenders lined up vertically opposing them. So they had to draw the first defender, handpass and then draw the next defender etc.
* Next drill was another handpass drill. 4 attacking players would pick up a ground ball under pressure from 3 defenders, handpass their way through them and then kick to a 2 vs 1 contest further upfield.
It was interesting because the first attacking player picking up the initial ground ball would be under immediate pressure and sometimes would get tackled and wrapped up. McVeigh briefly stopped the session and said they had to anticipate what was going to happen and adjust. I think he meant they had to position themselves as an option for the guy about to get tackled or he had to absorb the tackle and get a quick handball away.
* Next was a quicker ball movement drill. It could have been 14 attackers vs 7 defenders. So expected to move the ball quickly from goal to goal with quick kicks, passes and run. Rather than take a mark, slow it up and look at their options.
* Next they split into 3 teams, marked out a smaller oval with cones and started to play round robin 15 vs 15 I think. Not match sim but each team trying to move the ball upfield from their goal until it got turned over. At this point it started to rain moderately. But then it was sudden sideways torrential rain. And everyone ran to cover and training was over.
Last edited by SeanM; 12th December 2022 at 08:01 PM.
Big thanks to Sean and bloodspirit for these reports! Much appreciated.
Thanks for the report 👍
SeanM, the details of the drills in your reports is impressive. I don't know how you keep it all in your head! Anyway, I like that we notice and report different things.
AG, I think it's very unlikely that Konstanty and Francis will become regulars in our best 22 this season. There is a role there for Konstanty but he only turned 18 last month and is brand new to professional football. Francis faces a fair bit of competition from both the incumbents and Gould and Melican (although perhaps he offers more of an intercepting presence than those guys but he'll still have to see off one of Rampe or Paddy Mc).
All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated, and well supported in logic and argument than others. -Douglas Adams, author (11 Mar 1952-2001)
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