EXPERIENCED recruits Heritier Lumumba, Jeff Garlett, Sam Frost and Ben Newton have earned strong plaudits from coach Paul Roos for their pre-Christmas training.
Roos said the quartet had already fitted into the squad well and he was genuinely impressed with their progress.
“To see the three of them running around – ‘H’ (Lumumba) has real speed and professionalism, Jeff – we all know that he’s quick, but I wasn’t sure how quick he was until he came to train and he’s got really good skills. And Ben Newton hasn’t played a lot of footy [but] has got beautiful skills and Sam Frost is another one [to impress],” he told Dee TV.
“They have played some senior footy, but you don’t see them on a weekly basis training, so they’re probably the four that jump out.”
In fact, Roos said he had been impressed with all 44 players with their pre-season efforts.
“I’ve been really pleased with everyone across the board. There has been improvement in every single player,” he said.
“I’ve done a bit of a summary with all the players this week individually and it’s pretty hard to fault any of them, because they’re all working really hard and trying to improve.”
Roos said the seven draftees – Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch and Oscar McDonald from the NAB AFL Draft and Aaron Vandenberg and Mitch White from the NAB AFL Rookie Draft – had all settled in well, despite joining the club once pre-season was under way.
“It’s a tough time [for them] because they come in three weeks after the other guys, so they miss out on the real technical component of our training block, so they’re thrown into the deep end a bit,” he said.
“But we try to protect them and [the last week before the Christmas break] was probably their biggest week, watching them do their fourth session on Wednesday.
“They’re all really high quality kids, but it’s going to take time. They’re coming from systems – particularly the TAC Cup system, which is a fair way below what we’re used to – so the first part of it is just an education process. You get them to enjoy it and get them to fit in as much as they can and get good habits nice and early in their career.”
Roos said Melbourne’s training up to the Christmas break far outweighed the same stage a year ago.
“Looking back 12 months ago, I think we had 10 or 12 guys [out on the track] and there were so many players that played a lot of senior footy during the year that didn’t have any [training] pre-Christmas,” he said.
“Certainly having the numbers out there has made a big difference.”
Roos said it had been a tough pre-season for the players, but he said the game commanded it.
“Last year we did a lot of ball work and not as much running, whereas this year, it’s a combination of both. We’re doing a lot of ball work and a lot of running as well,” he said.
“The demands of the game have gone up to another level and for us to get to where we were and where we want to get to – is a big jump.
“It has to start somewhere and we identified the pre-Christmas period as a tough period for the players.”
“The great thing is that new guys that have come in have all added to the environment – from a football point of view and training point of view. Really, it has been a real lift from last year.”
