Tom North looks good. Kicks the ball well. A pretty good size he is brilliant in clearance drills. Probably quicker than advertised. Not lightning, but far from slow. Will develop well at Peel and not without a chance of getting a game at some point.
Hugh Dixon has been pounding on the laps as they try to get him fitter. Is already a massive unit. Listed at 194cm on the afl.com.au website, but I asked him at end of a training session if he grown since being drafted and he said he was now 196cm. Up until Monday he had only been running laps and spending a lot of time in the gym, apparently on Monday he joined in the main training and looked ridiculously skilful according to a friend of mine who is retired and never misses a session.
Apeness hasn't been joining in everything, but is close to joining in full training. He is another who has been pounding out the laps to get fitter for the season proper. Probably joining in about 70% of main drills he looks a bit more streamlined and a bit more athletic, but still has a lot of work to do to gain the conditioning the coaches require for him to be selected for Freo.
Im a teacher and Ive watched a fair bit of Freo train in the school holidays over the years. The most impressive thing about the recruits we have brought into the club this year is their foot skills. Our overall skill level of the squad is significantly up on previous years.
The stars of the preseason have included Matera, Grey and Ballantyne who all look significantly fitter. Matear is an absolute gun kick and looks like a wonderful acquisition and I think it will be a choice between one of Grey or Ballantyne for a designated forward pressure role.
One player struggling a bit is Johno. He looks a bit heavier and apparently suffered a minor injury on Monday.
Brayshaw and Cerra bot train well, but are a bit smaller than some draftees on the strength side. I would be surprised if they played an inside mid role in their first year at AFL level. Both were actually two of the youngest players drafted last year and even though they were drafted early both might need a little bit of time playing against men at WAFL level before making their debuts.
Alex Pearce is training with main group two out of the three sessions they have a main session every week. Is looking and moving wonderfully. His kicking has improved a lot since he last played for Freo and he is now 98kg, so he looks nothing like the skinny kid we drafted.
