Kaine Baldwin SHINES (Essendon Training Update)

[@abstractions1816]

Saw Kaine the other week queueing up behind me entering a theatre for a show. Was just him and his mum spending the night out together, wholesome af. Love the bloke hope he gets another chance.

[@everythingessendon548]

Early contender for the mum tick of approval award

[@Manwithoutplans]

Alrighty alrighty. I indeed visited the open training today and took some notes and formed some opinions. I'll just write down what I had and we can go from there. Duursma, Johnson, McKay, Caldwell and Parish (I believe) were all running laps and not quite actively participating in the drills. Gresham was also on that list but he might have participated in a couple of the drills I can't quite recall. Caldwell was having a kick around and running laps. Menzie was in the no-contact cap Reid was looking quite good, he was agile and good with the ball. Gerryn was one of the standouts for me. He looked thinner than he did in his highlights, almost the same build as Reid, just a little bigger around the thighs (which made it a bit hard to tell them apart tbh as they both had caps on at stages). He is so agile for his size and he was kicking off both feet, he even pulled a spin move on Jones(double checked it was durham actually) in one of the drills. Peter Wright and Zach Reid were actually having a good little 1v1 contest in a ground level drill. And Peter has been taking marks and being a little more aggressive in the drills which was good to see Prior was actually really solid and had some good defense going on. Hoare was visibly behind the other guys, he just looked a little out of place (at least to me) at times. Baldwin was actually very good. I'm still not convinced on the injury prone aspect of him. Tzatziki and Martin were both noticeably bigger, Tzatziki especially so. Perkins did look a little slimmer around the thighs, so maybe he is trying to get a bit more evasive. Perkins was actually not that impressive, granted I didn't see all he had to offer, but he had a sort of... lacking? And paired with the things he said the other week about preparing for his footy career to be over, definitely reinforces the idea that he has a lack of confidence or attitude towards his footy. Langford was playing more half forward, and he was stellar. I didn't get it on film because ofc i put my phone down but he basically dribbled the ball between two defenders. Dylan Shiel and Merett both played a little out of halfback. Jones was playing good, he was on the wing but I wouldn't be surprised if he plays forward this year. Nguyen was performing pretty well, he is very quick and he has good hands. Unwin blitzed past two players with ball in hand (one i think was zachy and the other might have been hobbs) Nate Caddy wasn't there, but I don't think he is injured. Andy Mcgraph still a shank but he's very evasive. Redman was very good. He was quick, he was accurate, and he had a bit of courage in his marking. Guelfi was clean and looking very good. Martin was awesome. I genuinely think he could be our crighton medallist 2025 and maybe all australian if he does play more midfield/wing. Kako was putting on some good defensive pressure but he still has a bit to work on there, he is quick though but he showed a little bit of ego in one of the drills. Tzatziki was wide open and he opted to try and break the tackle instead of handballing to him (which he did manage but he got called on it by the development coach). That ego will go when he adjusts a bit more to being at the bottom of the pecking order. Archie Roberts was another standout, he is looking bigger. Dylan Shiel and Merett both played a little out of halfback. Durham still good as ever. Draper was good and so was Nick Bryan, they were playing on each other. Goldstein looked fit. Definitely our 3rd ruckman now though. I saw very little of Ridley actually but he was definitely in the drills and the scrim. Angus Clarke was looking very clean. Good hands, good kick. Johnson was injured, but I was watching him have a kick around with Caldwell and he has a nice flat and fast kick. Mckay kicked over duursma's head twice in a row. He is a unit though and I look forward to seeing him play again. I didn't get to stay the whole day because I had some other important things to do, but from what I saw, I think that Hayes is still a little ways out from playing afl (he might be ready by the end of the preseason, hard to tell he was just getting pushed around a little bit). Luaman is probably in the same boat, but he is going really good. I reckon both of them get a shot during the year though. Really the when depends on injury. Hobbs and Awlyn probably go the end of next year. Hobbs has the aggression, but his ball use is no good and he's too small to be a gut midfielder. Alwyn just doesn't touch the ball enough. Vigo is a big question mark. It looks like he can play, but he also fills a role that I just don't think we need rn so I'm interested to see what we do with him. remind me of anyone else and I'll try and remember what I saw Just remembered Archer Day Wick also seemed to be out for injury. OH SAADY YES apologies forgot him (which is funny because of how great he was) He was the first bloke out and 9:35am ish, followed by Gresham at around 9:45. The rest rocked up at around 10 with some coming over in the next 30 minutes after. He was pretty quick, he was good with the ball and is definitely one of the keenest people out there. I'd say he is in our best 22 but it depends on where he plays and who he replaces. Also Also, I got a video of Dylan pushing hobbs over which was pretty funny. Adding a bit more to Tzatziki, he is definitely ready for afl. The added muscle made him a real hard player to pin down. He’s also got a bit more explosiveness.

[@everythingessendon548]

Love your work mate! Cheers for the effort put into this

[@fnaah_au]

tzatziki, rofl. :)

[@Manwithoutplans]

@ yeah my dad and I started calling him that before we learnt to pronounce his name. It stuck and I’m staying with it :)

[@joshharrison9252]

How's tsatas kicking going now any improvement?

[@Manwithoutplans]

@ it looked better. Granted I didn’t see him get too many kicks in, the scrimmage was pretty short and most of the drills on the day were handballs and ground work. He definitely won’t be an elite ball user, but he had some good passes, stationary and on the run. Definitely not as bad as mcgrath, 2 of the 4 or so possessions andy had he turned over. I’d say he’s somewhere above parish in terms of ball use.

[@fnaah_au]

Peter wright kicking goals - ehh. Showing off strong marking: HELLOOOOOOO

[@everythingessendon548]

Hello indeed

[@rosssmith557]

Happy for him to get a go

[@everythingessendon548]

He’s giving it a crack!

[@rosssmith557]

@everythingessendon548 copy copy

[@paulm6324]

I hope Kane gets through, I saw him in a training video last year where he was doing sprints with Jackson Edwards. They were just going through the paces, top blokes. I thought Kane was in for a big season, he doesnt lack commitment, just needs some luck like Reidy.

[@everythingessendon548]

Yep good video!

[@Capital.Bomber]

Great update F. I really think we need to watch how this pre season plays out before we start making team predictions. It will show by the end of it who is really putting in the effort. That being the case, attitude will transfer into next season.

[@windyhillbomber]

Felix, you’re drinking the preseason cordial!!!

[@everythingessendon548]

I can’t help myself

[@rogerklemke8004]

Great update Thanks

[@everythingessendon548]

Cheers!

[@TheGunmanChannel]

It's alright man, I don't know what day it is either 😆

[@everythingessendon548]

What’s the point of knowing the date if it’s not footy season

[@roryjoneskrissy]

They all mash together this close to Christmas

[@LachlanHarrison-y7t]

Www new vid already got tickets to Essendon v Gold Coast round 0

[@everythingessendon548]

Massive! Hopefully it’s a good game

[@georgepappas4628]

Wasted trip as it will be GC by how far.

[@LachlanHarrison-y7t]

@ I live in bribsane

[@StevenBoyle-fg4nc]

Last roll of the dice for Baldwin, he should be performing better than anyone at the moment.

[@everythingessendon548]

Yep, his career depends on it

[@LeighlovesDingo]

I’m going to compare Kaine Baldwin to Brian Lake. Not in amount of ability, but more so in ‘type’ of player. Brain Lake was FAR from an athlete. Would score horrendously at a draft combine. But, he was a footballer. Could read opponents, time his jump & had exceptional hands. That’s how I see Kaine Baldwin and they’re the reasons the club is hell-bent on getting him up & going.

[@everythingessendon548]

Wouldn’t mind a Brian Lake at the club

[@MarkScanlon-mb7bv]

Will Hoare needs a chance. Not injury prone & he is an intercept gun!

[@space_ace_1]

a fit Baldwin is a beast but Hoare has serious potential, tough call unless Baldwin gets injured again

[@stevemouat1033]

Go Baldwin but if he gets injured mid-season then pick up Hoare in the mid-season draft.

[@LeighDiffey-v6b]

@@stevemouat1033we won’t have a list spot mate for MSD if we sign Baldwin via SSP.

[@georgepappas4628]

The big question is, can Essendon finally win a final??.

[@LeighDiffey-v6b]

The media control the narrative here and it’s appalling. Ultimately the decision will be in the hands of Rosa and the list management team. It was reported and was rather obvious that Baldwin looked really proppy just last week?! Now the reports are he’s the best he’s ever looked? Puzzling to say the least. I’m for signing Hoare for our SSP, Baldwin has had plenty of time and opportunity.

[@ronbr1000]

Kaine Baldwin a terrific bloke but needs to improve his leg speed.

[@everythingessendon548]

Easier said than done, looks to have shed a few kgs though

[@BuzzOff.]

Duursma hammy. Injury prone.

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Translate to English!!! 😂😂

[@everythingessendon548]

Yep, hopefully not too bad

[@rumpoleonthehilloldchap]

Baldwin as slow as a wet week. perfect to run the drinks and cut the oranges.

[@everythingessendon548]

That’s a tough role