Coach Brenton Sanderson covered an array of different topics in his press conference after training on Thursday.
Here's a sample...
Brenton Sanderson on...
Which players have impressed him this pre-season…
“I’d hate to name just one. We’ve seen improvement from the whole group. The guys that I’ve liked are the guys aged 20-23. In round one next season, we’ll have 30 players aged 23 or under, so we’re going to be a young team and a young squad, but the improvement curve in that group is going to be pretty steep we hope.
“The three boys we brought in during trade week, Lewis Johnston, Tom Lynch and Josh Jenkins are just desperate to play. They’re doing everything they can to make that round one side. They’re probably the three boys, coming from outside the group, who have set a good example.”
On the possibility of Patrick Dangerfield spending more time in the midfield next year…
“Not just Paddy … but there’ll be a lot of guys, who have played a lot as forwards or at half-back, that might get little pinch-hits in the midfield, or spend more time on the wing or on-ball. The modern game shows that you’ve got to rotate a lot and that players have got to have the ability to play in different positions. Jimmy Bartel won the Norm Smith Medal playing in the middle, on the wing, at half-back and also at centre half-forward, so you’ve got to play a lot of different roles in the modern game.”
On the improvement of rookie and former US College basketballer Ben Dowdell…
“It’s Incredible. It’s hard to believe how quickly that kid is improving. Some of the drills today he didn’t look out of place at all. He’s going to take small steps in improvement once the games start, but his application to training has been first class.”
On a reserves team…
“It’s certainly on the agenda and something we’d love to have. I think a reserves side is going to make us better as a football Club and a football team. Typically, the sides that have their own players go back and get coached by their own coaches improve quicker. With the development of our younger kids, it’s imperative that at some stage down the track we have a reserves side. We understand it’s a delicate issue. We’re not going to shove it down anyone’s throats just yet, but we’ll slowly keep chipping away at it.”
On former Geelong premiership skipper (and teammate) Tom Harley being at training on Friday…
“Tom’s in Adelaide to see his family and it was good to catch up. He was just calling through. I think he’d heard the whispers like everyone else that we’re training well and that the boys are in good shape. He wanted to come and have a look for himself. I showed him a few drills we were doing and got his opinion on them. He was amazed I think to see us doing so many contested ball drills. For this time of year, we’re pretty well advanced in game-based training.”
