Training Report - 17/11/08

By jackie mihocek
Training today at LaTrobe Uni in cool conditions.

In the second week of pre-season the tempo has increased and the session has lengthened. The key point is the tight organisation and high level of concentration from players and staff. Everyone has a job to do and there is little room for frivolity as players concentrate intently on their tasks.

The two big issues that supporters constantly ask about are injuries and skills.

Assuming that the level intensity seen at training carries over to other aspects of preparation that we don’t see – re-hab., weights, meetings etc.the club seems to be tackling these issues well.

With regard to injuries – especially soft tissue injuries – the Club appears to have started a more gradual build up this year to peak later which is a good idea. Hopefully the new recruits from the draft will get a more gentle introduction which will increase their capacity to get on the field as the season progresses. It is a purely subjective observation on my part but I get the impression that the players are reporting “minor” twinges straight away and receiving immediate assessment/treatment rather than trying to impress by toughing it out. I think this may have been a problem from someone like Gumby in the past. This has coincided with a change of fitness staff and an increase in staff numbers and so far I have not seen amny new injuries at training so hopefully the club is on track.

Skill development is constant and if you go to training you see time and again drills aimed to simulate match conditions and the execution of skills under pressure – some of which I have described previously. However the training that we see is only a very small part of the players’ overall development. The players also have many meetings including meetings with selected players for game learning and decision making. I would be confident that the intensity of training and attention to detail applies to the 90% of preparation that we don’t see and report on.

My overall assessment is that things are progressing well and a bigger stronger Gumby is right up there this year.

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Posted 17 November 08 in Training Report