The box at the apex for junior coaches to tick should be for their players to enjoy what they do.

It’s no different at elite level; Adam Simpson puts it under the banner of ‘love of the game.’  He never wants his players to lose focus of the reason they play.

If he ran a barometer across the enjoyment levels of players – particularly the forwards – at today’s captain’s run, the rating would have been through the roof.

The captains run is reserved for the players in the squad for the approaching fixture. While the look of the session has changed, needing to break it down into their respective lines and training at staggered intervals, there is still plenty to achieve.

Forwards coach Luke Webster has introduced a weekly challenge and today vice-captain Josh Kennedy, always a bit creative in this space, came up with the idea of kicking sky balls to a teammate to see how many he could catch, while cradling balls already in possession.

Brendon Ah Chee was first catcher, did a great job, marking four and holding one between his legs. He had half a dozen under control, but the one between his knees slipped out in the completion of pouching ball six.

Jamie Cripps, also creative in this environment, marked footies, stuffed them up his jumper and in his shorts to end up with six.

Jake Waterman took that inventive lead and had seven in possession before grassing the eighth.

Others came and went, but Waterman won out. He looked like the Goodyear blimp, but he was triumphant.

This exercise at the end of a short-sharp skills session, was a great way to complete their preparation for Port Adelaide tomorrow.

Incidentally, on the more serious front, Liam Ryan looked in no discomfort and should be there for three important milestones.

Jack Darling and Lewis Jetta will play their 200^th games while Jamaine Jones will play his first game for the club.

The presence of Jones means the club will, for the ninth time in history, have five Indigenous players take the field in the same game.

And when the defenders followed onto the Royal Pines Resort’s make-shift training oval, Jeremy McGovern did all that was asked of him.