Got there Monday after 9.30am and training would have been going for a while.
-At the beginning I saw Reid, Franklin and Hickey doing stuff on one side of the oval. Reid and Franklin stayed longer running and kicking the ball to each other. Melican was in the main group and seemed to do almost all of the session. Hall Kahan and Rankin were also in the main group now rather than doing constant running around the oval.
- They were doing a drill when I got there. Split up into 3 teams and split the oval in 2 lengthwise. Team A attacks against team B and once they score a goal. Team C starts attacking the other way on the adjacent oval against team A. Then once they have scored, team B starts attacking on adjacent oval against team C. They did a very similar drill last week. But today they allowed a lot of time for the defending team to get into position. So it seemed less about counter attacking against an exposed opponent trying to get back into position.
- Then set up on 4 corners of a large square and did a simple long kicking drill. Players would just have to kick and then run to the adjacent corner.
- Next split up into 3 teams and played 3 games of round robin 12 vs 12 on a reduced sized oval. Konstanty got a big cheer from the players for a defensive effort. He made an initial tackle on a player to force a rushed disposal. Then got up and chased and dragged down the next player catching him holding the ball. Also saw Florent go for a few runs from defence and use the ball well with short passes. Also saw Hayward's athleticism with his pace and leap. He was able to intercept a few kicks in the forward line and get into space to take marks.
- Next after a small amount of running. They split between mids and fwds/defenders. Mids were doing some kind of 7vs7 game originating out of stoppage. I went over to the Northern goal to watch the fwds/defenders. They were doing 3 vs 3 contests. There would be a long high kick to 2 talls competing in the goal square with 4 smalls/mediums running in to crumb. Each group got to face 3 consecutive aerial contests so they had to reset quickly. Watching up close I appreciated having a key defender like T.McCartin. He was was able to use his bodywork and reading the flight of the ball to regularly take clean contested marks above his head. So often there was not a crumbing opportunity for his opponents.
- Rest of the session seemed fairly light and easygoing. A few players had to do a few pushups and have shots at goal from 30m directly in front. Then rotated through 3 skill stations. (A handball game handpassing between poles, picking up a loose ball under pressure and a kicking drill.) Then they did a simple ball movement drill moving it from a goal kick-in to the opposite goal. When I left around 11am the players were starting to do their own unstructured stuff.
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