Hi everyone,

Sorry this is 24 hours late – I had to finish off the Cowboys blog before 60’s and Miatch beat me to death. They are hard task masters those two.

I rocked up to Old Saleyards just after the field session started at 8:30am on Tuesday. A two hour torture test awaited the players. During the physical warmup, these were the things I noted.

1. There is more high intensity movement than last year when the old Bart Cummings Melbourne Cup type preparation was in order – miles in the legs.
2. There is a focus on getting on the ground and back up in the shortest possible time. I am sure this has been a goal for years, but a lot of the drills are focused on enhancing this skill. You can see some of this in the club’s video on the week’s effort on the track. I love watching them smash each other in the wrestle room.
3. Gutherson is a thoroughbred. If it was Easter, you would throw the bank at him. He looks so poised, a true athlete. Always leads from the front, with IDG, Norman and Alvaro next. No one comes close to touching Clint. Alvaro has got a great attitude. I am sure all of them do but this guy tries 100% at everything he does. I reckon the bathroom at home is spotless after he cleans it.

The boys then split into forwards and backs. The forwards focused on ruck, line speed and defensive positioning. The backs worked on kick returns and the combinations of the back three. Bevan looks sharp as a tack, his passing game was on song. Apparently 2016 was only an introduction for him, like an entree at your favourite restaurant.

On to an intensive ball work session where the group again split into three for a full field workout. Teams swap out after a mistake or a few completed sets. These sessions are hard fought with the attitude of winning clearly present.

Key takeout for me was the emergence of many of the younger players. They don’t seem to be intimidated by the elder group who appear to have done a great job in making the youngsters comfortable to perform at their best. As per yesterdays report, Dane Aukafolau is a tall and powerful centre/wing who will only improve in this company. He combined well with his inside men, ran good lines and looks a good bet to play first grade at some stage in his future. Jack Morris is strong beyond his years and plays it hard in the middle. Doolan also gets his hands on the ball and has a run.

The Fog has taken to full time training with ease and his ball work and kicking game is solid. Of course these guys will be tested in their defensive duties as the pre-season wears on, but you couldn’t be happier with them at the moment.

The other interesting and probably expected item to note is the early season form of the new recruits. With something to prove, Nathan Brown, Kirosome Auva’a, George Jennings and Josh Hoffman are doing good things. They are all in great shape, look powerful and I think are ready to rock. Frank Pritchard is running hard in the middle and Vave is a vocal team member who supports the group and appears to have settled in nicely. Matagi looks mean and focused.

For me, most of it comes back to Corey and his class. He looks unreal in the middle, throwing all sorts of passes and creating space for his outside men (particularly Semi). Its beautiful to watch and I think many of us forget the first half of his year. After all, I think he threw away the Dally M in 2016. In a drill he bombed the hell out of the back three and to their credit, they handled just about everything.

On a really hot day there were a few ice packs at the end of the session including this bloke who walked around with one on top of his head! Frank is in the middle of everything and the players have quickly warmed to him.

As the players did extras after the session, Peni proceeded to do his best Tim Cahill impression with a bout of shadow boxing in the corner. The players gave him heaps! If you haven’t read the Peni story, if was a good one this week.

As Mitch pointed out earlier in the week, there are about 44 players on the field, all in the same gear, usually wearing hats so sometimes you can miss things or get players confused. Sorry if I missed anything !

Go the Eels!!

Chris

Photos courtesy of Ben and the Eels.

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