Intra-Club Training Reports

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Hmmm

@Seymour Skinner - believe you were watching the game, can you verify?
Yeah I'm in iso so I had nothing better to do than watch a team I don't follows intra haha

I thought Hobbs looked well off the pace, got to alright spots but just wasn't his day, got caught HTB 3-4 times in the first half. Hopefully a downgrade option.

Caldwell BOG till half time, durability still a massive concern, only playing half the game is a bit of a red flag, recall him killing them early in that first final then went missing in the second half.
Looked like Hobbs was lining up on him early, which he took advantage of.

Wasn't paying 100% attention, but I'm fairly certain Ridley took all of the kick ins for the red team, bar 1, which was a quick play on by Cutler (?), which was him kicking it to Ridley in the pocket.
Redman and Heppell were also on the red team with Rids, neither took a kick in, Heppell on the wing a fair bit too.
Hind was switched from the black team to the red team after HT, didn't take any kick ins.
Ridley's role to me looked as solid as you could ask for, Kelly wasn't even playing either.

The Red team also just didn't concede many points, it wasn't 1s v 2s, but I think the red team was a fair bit stronger.
 

Goodie's Guns

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Yeah I'm in iso so I had nothing better to do than watch a team I don't follows intra haha

I thought Hobbs looked well off the pace, got to alright spots but just wasn't his day, got caught HTB 3-4 times in the first half. Hopefully a downgrade option.

Caldwell BOG till half time, durability still a massive concern, only playing half the game is a bit of a red flag, recall him killing them early in that first final then went missing in the second half.
Looked like Hobbs was lining up on him early, which he took advantage of.

Wasn't paying 100% attention, but I'm fairly certain Ridley took all of the kick ins for the red team, bar 1, which was a quick play on by Cutler (?), which was him kicking it to Ridley in the pocket.
Redman and Heppell were also on the red team with Rids, neither took a kick in, Heppell on the wing a fair bit too.
Hind was switched from the black team to the red team after HT, didn't take any kick ins.
Ridley's role to me looked as solid as you could ask for, Kelly wasn't even playing either.

The Red team also just didn't concede many points, it wasn't 1s v 2s, but I think the red team was a fair bit stronger.
I was watching while at work so didn’t get the chance to post any commentary of note, but can 100% endorse this summary of proceedings by SS.

I might have been slightly more impressed (or maybe even just less critical) with Hobbs than some of the assessments floating around this morning. Certainly not arguing that he looked possibly a step off the pace to the likes of McGrath and Caldwell, but after the first quarter it felt like he worked into it a little more. I thought he had some impressive moments with just clean hands feeding a ground ball to a teammate, and a couple of tap ons to teammates advantages that might not have been noticed by average punters, but things that the coaches would have liked to see. Think he’s still there or thereabouts heading into the final couple of practice matches before round one.
 
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S
I was watching while at work so didn’t get the chance to post any commentary of note, but can 100% endorse this summary of proceedings by SS.

I might have been slightly more impressed (or maybe even just less critical) with Hobbs than some of the assessments floating around this morning. Certainly not arguing that he looked possibly a step off the pace to the likes of McGrath and Caldwell, but after the first quarter it felt like he worked into it a little more. I thought he had some impressive moments with just clean hands feeding a ground ball to a teammate, and a couple of tap ons to teammates advantages that might not have been noticed by average punters, but things that the coaches would have liked to see. Think he’s still there or thereabouts heading into the final couple of practice matches before round one.
Spot on. Hobbs was also given some pretty good opponents. He eased into it. (Just hope your job doesn’t involve vehicles or machinery…)
 
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From yesterday's West Australian newspaper :-

West Coast Training Notes: Intrigue builds over Willie Rioli’s comeback date as Campbell Chesser puts hand up

WILLIE’S WAIT

Willie Rioli trained away from the main group this morning, casting doubt over whether the premiership forward will make an appearance against Fremantle in next Friday’s scratch match at Optus Stadium.

While Rioli’s training has been backed off recently, he still looked to run strongly in an indication he has not suffered any serious injury.

The 26-year-old worked on the second oval with midfielder Luke Edwards, with a focus on crumbing the ball and snapping for goal, and rounded out the session with some punishing runs.

If the Eagles hold Rioli out of next week’s hit-out, his first appearance following a two-year doping suspension could come in the second pre-season meeting with the Dockers on March 6 at Fremantle Oval, a venue synonymous with his famous footballing family.

Rioli, who played colts for South Fremantle in 2013, also made his comeback from a serious hamstring tendon injury at the historic port ground in 2017.

JK ROLLING ALONG

Doubts surrounding Jack Darling and Oscar Allen haven’t forced the Eagles to push the panic button with their last man standing up forward in Josh Kennedy.

Kennedy, 34, has been on a specially designed program throughout the summer and again sat out most of the main session to do his own thing.

The champion spearhead took part in match simulation last Friday in an indication he’s ready when required, though the West Coast could look to manage his minutes or sit him out of one of the pre-season derby fixtures.
Fellow veteran Shannon Hurn trained with the main group and looks in excellent condition following a strong summer on the track.

CHECKMATE

Draftee Campbell Chesser, the Eagles’ first first-round draft selection since Jarrod Brander in 2017, looks to be handling his first pre-season with ease as he pursues a likely early-season AFL debut.

With fellow next-gen midfielders Luke Edwards, Xavier O’Neill and Zane Trew all in rehab along with skipper Luke Shuey, the path is clear for Chesser to play in the pre-season games and stake his claim for a round one berth.

The pacy Chesser, 18, was used on a wing in drills but could develop into an inside midfielder as his career progresses.
 
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I was watching while at work so didn’t get the chance to post any commentary of note, but can 100% endorse this summary of proceedings by SS.

I might have been slightly more impressed (or maybe even just less critical) with Hobbs than some of the assessments floating around this morning. Certainly not arguing that he looked possibly a step off the pace to the likes of McGrath and Caldwell, but after the first quarter it felt like he worked into it a little more. I thought he had some impressive moments with just clean hands feeding a ground ball to a teammate, and a couple of tap ons to teammates advantages that might not have been noticed by average punters, but things that the coaches would have liked to see. Think he’s still there or thereabouts heading into the final couple of practice matches before round one.
Hobbs definitely improved as the game went on, but on the back of that showing, with the mids split across two units, and Shiel, Stringer & Langford all missing.

Looked a bit lost outside of stoppages at times, which is fair enough, young kid in a new system and his A game as a junior was as a clearance beast, think he just takes a little while longer to get the nod.

Or maybe I'm just a bit bias as I don't want to pay up for all these rookies at the start!
 

Bomber18

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Yeah I'm in iso so I had nothing better to do than watch a team I don't follows intra haha

I thought Hobbs looked well off the pace, got to alright spots but just wasn't his day, got caught HTB 3-4 times in the first half. Hopefully a downgrade option.

Caldwell BOG till half time, durability still a massive concern, only playing half the game is a bit of a red flag, recall him killing them early in that first final then went missing in the second half.
Looked like Hobbs was lining up on him early, which he took advantage of.

Wasn't paying 100% attention, but I'm fairly certain Ridley took all of the kick ins for the red team, bar 1, which was a quick play on by Cutler (?), which was him kicking it to Ridley in the pocket.
Redman and Heppell were also on the red team with Rids, neither took a kick in, Heppell on the wing a fair bit too.
Hind was switched from the black team to the red team after HT, didn't take any kick ins.
Ridley's role to me looked as solid as you could ask for, Kelly wasn't even playing either.

The Red team also just didn't concede many points, it wasn't 1s v 2s, but I think the red team was a fair bit stronger.
View: https://twitter.com/jordsfttv/status/1493848057066115073?s=21


Your thoughts seem to be confirmed here on the kick ins
 
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Yeah I'm in iso so I had nothing better to do than watch a team I don't follows intra haha

I thought Hobbs looked well off the pace, got to alright spots but just wasn't his day, got caught HTB 3-4 times in the first half. Hopefully a downgrade option.

Caldwell BOG till half time, durability still a massive concern, only playing half the game is a bit of a red flag, recall him killing them early in that first final then went missing in the second half.
Looked like Hobbs was lining up on him early, which he took advantage of.

Wasn't paying 100% attention, but I'm fairly certain Ridley took all of the kick ins for the red team, bar 1, which was a quick play on by Cutler (?), which was him kicking it to Ridley in the pocket.
Redman and Heppell were also on the red team with Rids, neither took a kick in, Heppell on the wing a fair bit too.
Hind was switched from the black team to the red team after HT, didn't take any kick ins.
Ridley's role to me looked as solid as you could ask for, Kelly wasn't even playing either.

The Red team also just didn't concede many points, it wasn't 1s v 2s, but I think the red team was a fair bit stronger.
Great feed back! Thoughts on parish? Really high on my radar for a pod.
 
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Watched the Bombers Intra club, good to have footy back!

First note, is how good is the commentary of these games, you forget how good the commentary can be after watching the "professionals" and then you see the casual just do a fantastic job of it. None of the idiotic comments, if they don't know who a player is they're honest and actually talking football!

Red vs Black, midfields were equal, it sure looked like Black had the first team forwards and Red had the first team defenders.

Notable outs to me were Kelly, Shiel, Stringer, Jones, Durham, Hurley, Langford, Walla and Zach Reid.

Game was scrappy, KP guys had no influence at all other than bringing to ground, not sure if it was more the midfields not hitting targets or the forwards not clunking, probably a bit of both.

Merrett - Started HB in Q1 and Q2, started middle Q3, didn't note it for Q4 but think he was in there. Definitely playing across half back mostly, even as a mid was basically the back of the pack floater. I don't love the role but if he does play it he's a back who could be huge. That weird one where him playing back they didn't look to get him the ball or do anything with it, just seemed to be there for the sake of it. Weird because with Kelly in they already had too many backs so to throw their best midfielder and McGrath also back is weird.

Heppell - Wing in the 1st half, went to HB more in the 2nd from what I could tell. He was prolific and looks good. We know what he is, both those roles are pretty much the same thing for him, he'll get cheapies and he wont take risks with the ball so he'll score well.

Hind - HB for the black team for the first half, was the only genuine best 22 defender, imo, that was on that side and he was the clear main man for them, unlike Merrett they looked for him at every chance. Went to the red side in the 2nd half and slowed down a fair bit as there was more sharing.

McGrath - Midfield into HB, basically switching with Merrett. Didn't really do anything of note to me, which kind of sums his career up to date, nothing bad, nothing great, just solid.

Draper - Really liked the look of him, looks in good nick. The Bombers have great ruck depth, imo, so he didn't dominate like you'd normally expect but he showed some good signs, especially around the ground.

Nick Martin (Potential SSP) - Had to be just about best on ground, playing HF in the black forward line is a great sign, apparently was excellent in their last match also, the other two main candidates were solid but he showed a lot more to me, looks very AFL ready if he does get picked up. No certainty to play though with Stringer, Shiel and Langford all out.

Parish - Really good game from him, especially early. Looks in ripping touch and had by far the clearest pure midfield role of their established guys. No dicking around in other positions, just pure mid. Firmed in my eyes as much as you can from these types of games.

Smith - HF as he's been, not a lot of impact. Think he's dusted for fantasy purposes.

Caldwell - Really good 1st half, don't think he played 2nd half. Looked really good, kicking still a bit of a question but hard at it and showed plenty. Had the most distinct midfield role for the reds in the first half.

Hobbs - Very clear midfield role, all he played from what I could tell. Grew into the game. Don't know how to take his role, normally you want to see a kid playing forward/mid, a genuine AFL role, and this feels more like giving a kid who will be a gun in a couple of years a chance at that role. Weird that if he got that role in the real stuff he's an absolute lock but it feels like a bad sign :LOL:

Francis - Playing forward, actually did some nice things.

Snelling - Also forward with a bit of mid, no distinct role difference to last year.

Cutler - HB for the red team and played well, looks pretty settled in their back mix. Stole a kick-in or two from Ridley.

Cox - Played wing 1st half, was solid. Played mid 3rd quarter, nothing of note there. Rucked in the 4th and didn't do much. Same as last year basically looks likely.

Ridley - I didn't notice him in the 2nd half (wasn't watching it as closely) but was definitely the floating defender in the 1st half, red team were on top for the most part so didn't get a lot of chances but looked good. No Kelly makes that an even better sign, imo. A tick.

Laverde - Back for the reds, solid game.

Perkins - Big midfield role in first half, has added a lot of size and looks very good. They mentioned a calf niggle over the last month which is an issue big enough for me to move on but his role was great, more forward in the 2nd half. Black team and was the 3rd mid after Parish and Hobbs.

Stewart - Also KP for the red team, looked a settled group.

Wright - Forward for blacks, was alright, rucked a bit.

Bryan - I really rate him, would be targeting him hard as another club. Serious talent, just moves so well at that size and does genuinely good footy things.

Baldwin - Couple of nice things, not prominent.

Redman - Was alright, didn't stand out, didn't notice him take any kick-ins.

Lord - Good pace to him, looked a bit rushed and a little flustered but there's something to work with.

BZT - Solid game, held his feet well in the contest and wasn't beaten.

Ham - Wing/HF and some mid rotations, played well. Not really interested for fantasy.

Phillips - Gave a good contest in the ruck. Stock standard game for him.

Guelfi - Think he only played the first half. Was alright but nothing special.

McDonagh - Great left boot on him, good size, in the black team and took some kick-ins. Hard to see where he fits in, especially if Merrett, McGrath and Heppell are floating back and with Cutler, Redman and Hind also there. Would think the defensive skills of Redman are more important than a great left foot. Should score well if he can break in though. May be a downgrade target if a couple of injuries were to hit.

Brand - Thought he did a couple of nice things, a couple of years off still I think.

Wanganeen - Really nice flashes, thought Graham was better but believe they've got two spots so could be a chance.

Fejo - Great pace and movement, didn't get a lot of it but what he got stood out. Like Wanganeen I thought Graham was clearly better.
 
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