Below is training report re Collingwood from another website. Thought I would share in the Ruck thread given the Grundy observations but the other players mentioned are also interesting. My bold. Need an interpreter for the nicknames. Shaz is Scharenburg? Checkers? Atu?
After being summoned to the middle of the ground, could hear the instructions and was excited to see that I’d be witnessing the time-trial. Interesting to note that many finished in exactly or around about the same position as the early December test. Phillips set the pace early and always maintained clear ground on any opposition. As they passed near where I was standing, one of the fitness staff called out the time to “Flipper” and encouraged him to bring it home strongly. Lynch was with Sidey early but eventually the latter forced himself into the silver medal position. The players were all asked to note their time and report it to one of the official before cooling down. Some of the players didn’t take part. What was interesting was Grundy again brought up the rear and he was never in any danger of not finishing last. I could hear his laboured breathing (his gasping was audible) and he clearly doesn’t relish this. The penultimate finisher was Mason who does really seem to push himself but didn’t look in terrible discomfort. Interestingly Brodes looked fine in some of the basic match-simulation and drills later and we all know he has elite stamina Shaz took part in this and finished in the middle of the field. Lynch ran impressively, exhibiting a good style and looking confident and relaxed. Have also thought that he has looked comfortable in the drills and match-simulation. Sier performed more strongly here than in the beep test, as did Tay, but Josh Thomas was fourth last by my reckoning with only the heaviest guys tailing him so maybe endurance could be a targeted area for him with competition for spots hotting up in his area of the ground. Guys like Callum and Daics also finished mid-field but Checkers looked quite comfortable for a bigger body. Noticed that Tyler Brown trailed Atu as they separated themselves as a clear duo in the middle of the group. Great to see IQ finishing in the top five.
It was good to see Treloar return to the fray. He looked particularly enthusiastic and was relishing his chance to rejoin full training as he wore citrus coloured boots and a beaming smile. Crisp was spotted in his training gear for the first time and he did some running on the sidelines. Also on lighter duties were JDG, Langdon, Reid, Goldie, Wells, Dunn, Greenwood, Shaz and Kelly. Neither Beams, nor Mayne made an appearance on the arena. Earlier Varcoe had runs some laps too but took part in main drills later in the session. Kelly and Wells did a lot of running up and down one section of the oval together, while Jordy and Langdon did some solo running. Tommy worked particularly hard not giving himself much breathing space between run-throughs and he appeared to be running at a fair click. Noticed that he had some light strapping on his left knee. Jordy went in a few times only to reappear and he was obviously working to some program orchestrated by the fitness crew.
