The sun is out.
A beautiful Thursday morning to have another look at Essendon training.
Unlike last week, when the focus was primarily on first-to-fourth-year players, today’s session featured a much larger group who warmed up on the track before getting to work. Here are my most important notes on the session.
Who’s out there.
After not being on the track during my last visit, Caldwell this time made an appearance but purely ran laps only. He was joined early by Menzie, wearing the fluorescent green cap, with Menzie later transitioning to the main group in non-contact training and match simulation.
McKay, who had also been missing during my November 20 session, was present today, but spent his time on the boundary with Cox and Goldstein, the trio limited to light work with basic kicking and handball skills.
Cox eventually left the group to focus on strengthening exercises off to the side.
In positive news, Duursma, Guelfi, and Jones, who had only been jogging laps last week, participated fully in the session today, showing no signs of restriction.
Setterfield was a noticeable absence, as well as SSP hopeful Baldwin.
There was also an interesting development with Tyler Sellers, a 22-year-old former North Melbourne forward who was delisted after playing two games in 2024. Sellers appears to be training for a spot on Essendon’s list, participating in all drills and match simulation. Unfortunately he struggled to make an impact today.
All the new draftees participated in the early training drills, but only Kako took part in the full-ground simulations, while the others ran laps.
New rookie-listed Prior completed the entire training session, showcasing his foot skills on several occasions when taking kick-ins after spending time as the deepest defender.
After starting on the sidelines with McKay, Cox, and Goldstein, both Wright and Reid eventually joined the training drills and later the match simulation, lining up against each other for most of the session.
Drills.
The early training drills focused heavily on quick hands in tight spaces, with an emphasis on finding teammates in space on the outside. As with last week, the priority was on moving the ball forward rather than sideways or backward.
Nguyen stood out during these drills, constantly on the move with changes in direction, sidesteps, fast hands and showing confidence in taking his opposition on.
Davey impressed also, not shy in wanting to tackle above his weight division.
However, like last week, a few players struggled to make the right decisions when choosing the best handball option when going forward.
Match sim.
Unlike last week, when only two-thirds of the ground's width was used in simulations, with one of the boundaries marked by the edge of the centre square, this time the full ground was in use.
Building upon the improvement in ball movement I noticed last week, the focus was once again on taking the available space ahead through run, carry and by handballs taking territory.
This was particularly evident in the defensive group, where Redman took on a vocal leadership role. He and Coach Jacobs frequently coached Lual and Hayes, urging them to stay engaged and involved with multiple possessions in chains.
When the players were forced to kick in the back half, kicks went on a 45° angle as a start to a change of direction, eventually stretching the width of the ground in order to open the areas for midfielders and forwards to work in and out of.
Stand outs.
Martin started in defence, initiating transitions. After disposing of the ball, he worked up the ground, doing his own thing,moving with the ball forward. Merrett played the same role at the opposite end. Both of their initial possessions involved changing directions by foot, opening up spaces, and directing where the play would move to next.
Both El Hawli and Duursma were the wingers on opposite teams, spending the majority of their time on opposing wings, with Jones also spending some time out wide. Duursma and El Hawli both maintained their width for switches, then cut back inside at a 45-degree angle either using leg speed or foot skills when moving the ball forward. Duursma was the more defensive of the two, spending more time behind the ball, while El Hawli the more aggressive.
Perkins started at half-forward and moved up high for his possessions. When he was used on the way forward, he was direct and decisive, carrying the ball through the middle, taking ground, and going long.
Despite talk of Perkins stepping into Stringer’s forward-line role, his performance today reinforced my idea that he thrives when given the freedom to push higher up the ground. He and Durham were among the standouts during the match simulation, using the space afforded to them to carry the ball and instinctively move it on quickly.
Since there was no stoppage work today, Draper spent most of his time as a forward. It was very noticeable that he played wide and took on a passive role, allowing more traffic to go through Caddy and Wright as key forwards.
It’s only early.
This week's training session was much more valuable to witness, with the highlight once again being the focus on aggressive ball movement. While there are still some players to integrate back into full training, the majority took part, which is certainly pleasing to see for late November.
Go Dons !
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