Forty-five emerging football talents descended on Mineral Resources Park earlier this week to participate in a special Naitanui Academy training session.
The group, which comprised both senior and junior members of the academy, were put through their paces by former West Coast Eagles Fraser McInnes and Jacob Brennan, as well as the club’s game development manager Kim Hannah and game development officer Chris Brown.
In spite of many participants recently completing seasons with their respective WAFL Colts, WAFL Futures or Public Schools Association teams, the athletes were not ready to take their foot off the accelerator knowing that the academy’s October 9 derby clash with Fremantle’s Next Generation Academy was only a few weeks away.
Training on Mineral Resources Park’s second oval, which replicates the dimensions of the MCG, the players eased into the session with a productive warm-up before diving head first into full ground ball movement drills.
Working up and down the ground, the players honed their kicking, handballing and decision making skills, which were the key pillars of their previous training block that took place at Perth Modern School last month.
The group finished off the session with a drill that focused on moving the ball out of the defensive 50, through the midfield and into the attacking arc, culminating in a goal.
Brown said the coaching group was impressed with the strides the group took throughout the session.
“It’s always great train at the club’s nest and we had a fantastic turnout of 45 kids, with many of our PSA and WAFL-listed players joining us for the session now that their seasons are over,” Brown said.
“The coaching group – under the watchful eye of Kim Hannah, Jacob Brennan and Fraser McInnes – have been working tirelessly over the past month to develop a program to improve the group’s fundamental skills and game sense. The level of improvement we have seen in recent training sessions has been very impressive.
“We have drilled down on key areas such as our range of kicking, clean hands and footy game sense since restarting in July. To see the boys out here utilising the full oval and putting all their skills into practice has been fantastic.
“The group is building very nicely towards our October 9 derby versus Fremantle and we are excited for their first big hit out of the year.”
Following the on-field session the group headed into the facility's classrooms to touch base with academy head coach Drew Petrie and marquee ruckman Nic Naitanui via video link from the Eagles’ Gold Coast hub.
The star duo provided an update on the team’s progress in Queensland before fielding questions from the academy players, who were eager to pick their brains.
“It was great to hear from Drew and Nic, who chatted about all things footy and hub life before dishing out some top shelf advice and fielding some considered questions from the floor,” Brown said.
“It’s always a privilege to have Nic join us and we are sure some of the well wishes from our players propelled him to another excellent performance against North Melbourne on Thursday night.”
