There’s 5 reports today, cause well, 2 of them are a bit of a no show!
I would love to hear the things that you guys are hearing- so drop in and leave us a comment!
GWS
First things first, with no dedicated training facility, it looks like the young giants are doing a lot of travel. Surely this couldn’t be great for them right?
Actually no, that’s the only thing! Guess we need more GWS supporters!!
Hawthorn
13/1
Roughy ran laps and participated in the kicking and handballing drills. Didn’t look too troubled.
Xavier Ellis was on the bike only.
Sam Grimley was apparently very good, taking the days honours over Pattinson. Could be another rookie ruck prospect. (Though there was also talk about a possible ankle, which would make him more of a downgrade target through the year!)
Frank Amos is also one to watch, competed well in all the drills and is in line for some early gametime.
Lot of praise for Hill. Veryfast is the one word used to describe him.
Suckling’s kicking is emaculate.
Stratton, Young and Gilham are all on track for an NAB start.
Intraclub on the 7-9th.
Melbourne
11/1
Macdonald, Tapscott and Trengove were only running laps, Jurrah was absent.
Bate once again, was in the midfield group.
Trengove ran the 3k in 9.33 (compared to the GWS’s Tom Scully who did it in 9.37).
Intraclub was apparently on the 17th, but I haven’t heard much about it- you guys hear anything?.
North Melbourne
9/1
Daw, Wright and Lynch were all on the sidelines.
Cunnington was very good in the contested work.
McIntosh is looking fit, will be interesting to see how the ruck situation plays out at North.
Leigh Adams spent a lot of the match practice drills in defence.
16/1
Daw, Richardson, Lynch and Kennedy were in the rehab group.
Harper and Goldstein were missing, while Curran was wearing a moonboot.
Urquhart might have done a knee, certainly left early.
Mabon was following Petrie around in every drill.
Wells is looking extremely fit.
Intraclub match on the 7th Feb.
Port Adelaide
Blimey, I’m finding it difficult to hear much about Port at the moment, would love if any of you diehards could share some thoughts!
That said, I have heard that Moore is training the house down and should be watched closely through the NAB.
Posted in 
Saints finally have open training next Wednesday so will try get along and provide people with a report.. Im particularly interested in our senior players as ive heard something about a possible setback or injury to one of them, hence all the closed sessions so far this year… Not sure who but want to see who isnt in full training…
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Walesy, not much happening at Port apart from the 2 injuries mentioned earlier this week (Lobbe and Hitchcock). Primus was on 5AA the other night and said training is going very well. He was not prepared to single out any players for special attention over the radio. He did say that training this year is a vast improvement on last year due to the number of guys on the track this year. Last year a lot of players had operations and were on modified programs during the pre season. I have been too busy over the summer to go down and take a look at training.
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Kangaroos ruck division will be very interesting. If McIntosh gets good game time, he is a very good price, as he’s got a discount and a low 2011 average to start with.
Interesting to hear he’s doing well and Goldstein is injured. But very early days still.
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On GWS, I read somewhere that Coniglio has been training well – I think it was on here somewhere actually.
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Just some more news on Hawthorn:
- Buddy is looking very fit, and raring to go. Was out-wrestling all our defenders (except Gibbo) in a one on one drill, which we all know is not his strength.
- Cyril is also looking fit, and bigger than last season
- Suckling was hitting every target at a recent training session, despite the weather being wet at times, and very windy. His disposal is looking even better than last year.
- Amos Frank was the opposite. Perhaps it was the conditions, or fatigue, but his disposal was a bit sloppy. TBH, not sure we will see him this year, there would have to be a couple of rookies ahead of him to get upgraded, not to mention a few on the main list who would get a shot before him.
- Shane Savage is an absolute beast. Is looking bigger, and more toned than last year. He is also performing extremely well out on the track. Expect him to improve on last year, and not trail off towards the end of the season as his body tires.
- Mitchell and Gibbo are both looking fantastic, and performing well out on the track. Gibbo’s leadership is on show lately, with him really being vocal, etc., and helping out the other guys. Hodge having an uninterrupted pre-season as well, and is looking good.
- Fast is an understatement with Hill. Skinny as hell, but the guy can run. Not sure there is anyone that could catch him, even the likes of Cyril. I hope he gets games this year, because the guy is exciting as hell, and could end up being a huge steal from the draft.
I tried to keep it to fantasy relevant players only, as i didn’t want to write too big an essay :p
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On Melbourne:
Melbourne seems to be employing a very Collingwood 2011 game-style (unsurprising seeing as Neeld was instrumental in developing the forward press that has been a feature of Collingwood’s past couple fo seasons). Expect plenty of long bombs to high-marking forwards. There is a huge emphasis on winning contested ball and clearing the congestion through handball at training.
James MAGNER (rookie list – Sandy Zebras 2011 B&F) is a brute, looks very similar to Moloney. Hard-bodied inside MID who is likely to see plenty of seniors action during the year.
Mitch CLARK is training very strongly and enjoying pre-season at his new club. He is training exclusively as a forward, however.
Perennial TS heart-breaker Jack GRIMES has started full training post Christmas. His skills and reading of the play look very sharp. He will no doubt tempt many again with an injury-discounted starting price.
Jeremy HOWE is picking up where he started last year. His marking is a feature and has very good skills on both sides. He appears to be played as a high HFF ratating through the middle, his delivery inside 50 is a feature.
Rookies TYNAN and TAGGART have ready-to-go bodies. Rory TAGGART in particular looks a strong prospect off half-back with a neat kicking action.
Colin SYLVIA has had an injury-interrupted pre-season. Avoid.
Not too much else to report from a fantasy perspective. No mids are really at a level worth serious consideration, although MOLONEY has been training strongly.
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Regarding Port, Carlile was back training yesterday (Wed 18th)
Also, I have been informed that Brad Ebert has been training well and looks fitter and stronger than he was at West Coast.
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Ruddy, Do you have anything on Shiels?
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@Hendy
Shiels has been training well. He goes a bit under the radar, like guys like Sewell or Kelly, because they are surrounded by stars, but Shiels will improve further this year. Obviously he is putting on a bit more weight, and this will really help with what he does best; contested ball and tackling. He is looking pretty fit, and will have likely increased his endurance. Has been training well, without being a standout. Having said that, the standouts are guys like Buddy, Mitchell and Gibson, who were all in the AA squad of 40 last year, so don’t take that as him having an ordinary preseason.
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Thanks Ruddy, I am looking at him for a little smokey.
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@Thrice – thanks for the word on Sylvia. I had him as my F/M.
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