Collingwood players focus on quick, clean ball movement on day 2 of Falls Creek training camp
COLLINGWOOD hopes a workout on a tennis court at Falls Creek will help the team move the footy quicker and cleaner under pressure next season.
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COLLINGWOOD wants quick and clean ball movement next season as coach Nathan Buckley handed the reins over to his assistants at Falls Creek on Tuesday.
After a solid running, cycling and boxing session from 6am, the young Pies worked on their short kicking and handballing skills in congestion on a tennis court under bright sunshine.
New assistant coach Brenton Sanderson was vocal and took some of the early drills, emphasising the need to move the ball “quickly and cleanly” under “pressure and anxiety”.
Defender Matthew Scharenberg is in full training in his comeback from two knee reconstructions and is aiming to play in the Pies’ first NAB Challenge game, in a major boost to the club’s backline stocks.
Scharenberg, 191cm, has played only four senior games since being taken with pick 6 in the 2013 national draft but his intercept marking and pinpoint kicking skills are highly rated at the Holden Centre.
The players also completed some competitive team-building exercises as they set out to make the finals for the first time in four years in 2017.
Buckley said last month he wants the Magpies to mount a genuine challenge for next year’s premiership.
“Above all, 2017 is our year to return to being contenders for the flag,” Buckley said at the best-and-fairest awards night.
“The greatest danger for most of us is not in setting our aim to high and falling short, but setting it too low and reaching it.”
Key forward Mason Cox said the Falls Creek camp was a challenging start to the pre-season.
“It is the first kick in the ass you get after you get back (from the off-season break),” Cox said.
“You do a bunch of weights and running around and there is no better place. It’s a beautiful place, Falls Creek.
“You look around once in a while seeing snow on the mountains still and the beautiful landscapes and realise how fortunate you are to be doing what you are doing and working out for a living.”
Captain Scott Pendlebury has returned to training two weeks early and is on hand to help lead the Magpies’ first to fourth year players during the week-long camp.
Originally published as Collingwood players focus on quick, clean ball movement on day 2 of Falls Creek training camp
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