Tiger Talk

With 2020 underway I thought I’d take this opportunity to give our members, supporters, and volunteers a little insight into how the boys are travelling as we are midway through what has been a fairly demanding pre-season. We started the squad off late November and were able to get around ten sessions into them before the Christmas break; these sessions consisted of light ball work mixed in with sprint based running work. We are pleased to have Glenn and Lisa Fogarty on board from Activ8 fitness class and they have provided us with some solid boxing work to improve strength and  our overall fitness base. The players completed a Natone Hill 2.7 km time pre and post Christmas to assess where their fitness was at.

It was pleasing for the coaching staff to see that around 70% of the playing group came back in better condition…. a real sign of hunger for improvement. With the main age bracket of the squad around 19-24 years old it’s fantastic to see the work rate of this young group so far! Players  such as Zane Awde, Jake Barrett,Gerard Lynd and Mark Cripps just demolish the work we put in front of them. Our ball work has seen consistent improvement from Day 1 and as a coaching group, we were definitely in agreement that we thought it was a lot better than what we anticipated. We’ve kept things short and in close so far with a huge emphasis on working on contested ball in close and fast hands to our outriders. Basic skills over 25-35 metres has also been a high priority to sharpen up our overall skill level. February will be our month to take things out and really educate the players on our overall game style and patterns of ball movement. I certainly believe that we don’t need to overload the squad with too much initially … “let’s learn to walk before we run” type of approach.

It’s great to see some leaders emerging amongst the boys, Dylan Huxley sees and understands the game and his teammates really well. James Caulfield has a mature head on his shoulders and Mark Young approaches his football in a real professional manner which we love. Our first hitout will be an intra club game on 11 February then we will compete in a gruelling club triathlon on the 16th Feb which will finish off what will of been a really demanding block of training the players have gone through. Will will taper things off as we head into our two official pre season hit outs against DOSA and then St Pats up in Launceston.

As a coaching group we are rapt where the group is at, if anything, they are slightly in front of where we expected they would be and that’s full credit to the players for turning up and getting the work done. We are regularly seeing 30+ on the track which is really healthy for this time of year.

The Hobart Tigers Football Club is pleased to announce that James Caulfield will be Coaching our Under 19s side in Season 2020. James is a returning Senior player who is excited to develop the next generation of Tigers. He will bring great energy to the role and we look forward to seeing what he can achieve! James has played regular Senior Footy with Hobart, as well as previous stints in the TSL with Kingborough and North Hobart. Pre-Season training for the group commences on Tuesday. Will you #AnswerTheCall?