Carlton training notes 24 January 2020
Carlton Live was out in force today, with 3 members attending training – Jon Rowe, Trevor Wollard and Mark McKenzie. It was great to see the guys today after the new year. What I have loved most about doing Carlton Live is the friendships that I have made along the way.
Anyway, down to business.
Today’s training was mostly a match simulation. Followed by a drill focusing upon quick transition forward and back.
Trevor videoed parts of today’s scratch match, which can be seen here:
What was noticeable today was the license to run and carry, break lines and take risks. If it didn’t come off, then the players had to manage the downside by being structured and into place quickly.
David Cuningham really stole the show today, he had his own ball and found space out of traffic at will. He also hit the scoreboard. Very dangerous and Mark McKenzie made the comment – “he looks ready to explode.”
Will Setterfield was the other one who really impressed. Will looked great all day playing through the midfield and pushing forward. He is playing a lot more inside on the ball rather than in a wing position that he did last year. He also finds space and hits the scoreboard.
Part one: “Blue team” vs “Orange team”. Blue team was close to what you would expect a round one team to be, Orange being the seconds.
Finbar O’Dwyer provided some early highlights.
Zac Fisher looked great out of the middle.
Marc Murphy looked completely unhindered by his ankle injury from his last training session.
Tom Williamson was running beautifully, hitting the ball and players hard then delivering on that massive left foot of his.
Lachie O’Brien seems to be getting better every session and also has a damaging left foot.
Sam Docherty was looking A1 – reading the ball, delivering the ball, setting up the other players. No strapping on Docs knee. We will be immeasurably better with him in the team.
Tom DeKoning was playing full forward alongside Levi Casboult. TDK was also doing back up ruck. His development is coming along well.
Mitch McGovern, Harry MacKay, Matthew Kennedy, Jack Silvagni – were all running laps.
Missing: Chalie Curnow, Ed Curnow, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Harrison MacReadie, Liam Stocker.
Part two: Both of the teams were mixed up with more of a balance between “senior” and “seconds” players.
Levi Casboult was doing some great work in the air and kicking goals.
Eddie Betts really exploded in this session and gave us the magic that we love so much.
Paddy Dow however produced the highlight of the day (after filming – of course!!) with an inside ball get, explosion out of the pack, bit of a dance and goal.
Sam Walsh is just looking better and better. Impossible to think that it is only his second year. Trevor made the comparison with Robert Harvey about the time and space that he has.
The Carlton Live sponsored Jack Martin was also impressive.
I got a bit of a look at some of the newer players today too.
Sam Philp – I have mentioned in previous notes that he looks the goods and will push for round one. I already have him in my Supercoach team as a rookie.
Brodie Kemp – although he was only running laps, he cuts an impressive figure. I’m sure we won’t see him until 2021, but already I can’t wait to see what he brings.
Josh Honey – had a couple of ‘Wow’ moments during the match sim. His attack on the contest is impressive. He is rookie listed but one worth getting down to Preston Oval to keep a track of.
Fraser Phillips – Another worth keeping an eye on. He has that long, rangy look that reminds me a bit of Michael Sexton. He did some impressive things aerially and seems to have a good sense of where to position himself. His decision making let him down on a couple of occasions, but it wasn’t catastrophic. He is young and there in a lot to work with.
Sam Ramsay is a bit of a little livewire, reminds me a tiny bit of early Zac Fisher.
The last 3 names are going to take some time – so don’t expect them to make an instant impact. But you can see enough there to get excited about the twos.
The final drill was an interesting one. Note: that one wing was cordoned off. The drill started off with a scrambled ball into the back line with one player mopping up then quickly finding the outlet kick. The drill was to transition the ball as quickly as possible into a marking forward. For the defensive team, it was to win the ball back and score themselves. We saw some great forward pressure here from Eddie and Finbar to get a couple of scores.
Report: Jon Rowe with input from Trevor Wollard and Mark McKenzie
Video: Trevor Wollard
Image: Mark McKenzie. See Mark in action not only on Carlton Live but also Blue Horizons
