Toyota AFL Premiership season round one matches
Collingwood v Fremantle, MCG, Saturday, March 22, 2.10pm (Fox Sports); Western Bulldogs v Adelaide, Telstra Dome, Sunday March 23, 1.10pm (Fox Sports);
AFL Telstra Community camps
Collingwood: The Magpies travelled to South Africa for a training camp from January 20 to February 6. The high altitude camp was based on the success they have had with Arizona training regimes in the past two years. The club was based in Potchefstroom, about 120km south west of Johannesburg. On February 6, a group of players headed to Cape Town to hold their community camp in what is the club's designated development zone.
Adelaide: The Crows decided their trip to Dubai was enough travel for one pre-season and have scheduled their community camp for the BarossaValley starting on May 5. The Crows players will conduct training sessions, NAB AFL Auskick clinics and also visit local schools and hospitals in the Riverland area during the two-day stay which coincides with AFL Community Football Weekend.
Medical room
Collingwood: John Anthony is back playing again after spending 12 months on the sidelines as he recovered from a neck injury, while Brodie Holland looks a picture of fitness after a year ravaged by achilles injuries.
Adelaide: The Crows suffered a massive injury blow in the lead-up to the NAB Cup competition when top ruckman Rhett Biglands re-injured his knee and will miss the season. Just two other players Trent Hentschel (knee) and Nathan Bassett (family reasons) have been ruled out of the Dubai clash. Hentschel is rated as a possibility to return from a horrific knee injury in the opening round of the 2008 AFL premiership season.
Pre-season bolters
Collingwood: Rhyce Shaw is reaping the benefits of completing his first ever full pre-season, and proved it with a starring on-ball role in the club's recent intra-club match. The Pies' first pick in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, John McCarthy, is reported to be fitting in well, while Irish rookie Kevin Dyas is impressing with his poise.
Adelaide: Kurt Tippett has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of Adelaide’s most exciting prospects. The young ruckman had a horror 2007, requiring a shoulder reconstruction and cracking a vertebra. But given Biglands on-going injury woes and his own strong pre-season, the 201cm Queenslander looks set to make his NAB Cup debut on Saturday in Dubai.
Veteran watch
Collingwood: Anthony Rocca has surprised the club's medical staff with his speedy recovery from post-season groin surgery. He made it through the club's intra-club hit out in Potchefstroom despite coaching staff expecting the big man to hold off on match practice until later in the pre-season. Tarkyn Lockyer also performed well in the match.
Adelaide: Brett “The Birdman” Burton is back in full flight having missed just one session in Adelaide’s gruelling pre-season. “Birdman is getting a bit older,” Burton said recently. “But this off-season was the first in about six years that I didn’t require an operation and that means I was able to start doing a lot of work during the break to prepare my body for the pre-season. You see over time with any player that if you can get a good pre-season under your belt it certainly helps you to get through the season.”
Position battles:
Collingwood: The Pies look like they'll have plenty of forward options, with Sean Rusling a likely starter along with Rocca. With Travis Cloke fit and ready to capitalise on his best-and-fairest award last year, and young guns Ben Reid and Chris Dawes knocking on the door of senior selection, the Pies already possess a handy number of key forwards. And to top it all off, Cameron Wood's arrival could see Josh Fraser spend more time in attack.
Adelaide: With veterans Simon Goodwin and Tyson Edwards likely to spend time up forward this season the battle is on for spots in the Crows’ midfield. Nathan van Berlo and Chris Knights cemented their place in Adelaide’s best 22 last year and now youngsters Richard Douglas, Bernie Vince and David Mackay are keen to follow their lead. Douglas, Vince and Mackay have been earmarked as potential replacements for Goodwin, Edwards and Andrew McLeod in the years to come and with so many changes to the Crows’ playing list, coach Neil Craig says their time is now.
Club's words:
Collingwood: Coach Mick Malthouse said the club would use its South African training camp to build a solid base for the 2008 premiership season. "Our preparation is forthright in as much as, one, it is to play the game in the pre-season competition, two, to prepare for round one against Fremantle and three, to prepare for the whole season.
“So as much as our immediate thing is when we go and play in Dubai, we've got to make sure the reason for the camp is not just to play in Dubai, the reason for the camp is to be ready to play for the whole season. "Hopefully, by leaving it a bit later, and training in these conditions at altitude, it will prepare us a little bit better than what we were last year, and I thought last year was quite good."
Adelaide: Craig says: “There are some spots in the team that are really competitive and some areas where we actually want to try and do some different things in terms of our flexibility.”
“There's the need to try some new faces in the midfield during the NAB Cup, so we'll do that. Obviously if we were playing for four points the make-up of our side would be a bit different but certainly we won’t compromise our fierce competitive nature.”
