Falcons reveal 87 invitees

GEELONG Falcons coach Daniel O’Keefe says there will be a stronger focus on skills training pre-Christmas after the club released its list of 2019 pre-season invitees.

Eighty-seven players make up the large squad, featuring recognised names such as 17year-olds Sam Witherden (brother of Brisbane youngster Alex Witherden), Henry Walsh (brother of potential No. 1 draftee Sam Walsh) and Oliver Henry (brother of Geelong young gun Jack Henry).

“We’ll start November 19 and we’ll go through to the week before Christmas, so we’ll have a good five or so weeks purely based on conditioning and more of an emphasis on skills — probably more emphasis on skills than I’ve coached in the last couple of years,” O’Keefe said.

“We’ll take it back to the basics and fundamentals of our game and try and implement them as quickly as possible, and we’ll do more game plan stuff post-Christmas this year.

“Traditionally, the Falcons have been a very good ballwinning side, whether that’s something that’s been in the water down here, I’m not sure, or it’s the way we teach it that’s worked in the past.

“But it’s when we get the ball, what happens next, and I think that was an area for us to develop this year that we maybe didn’t get right or could have done better.”

Cooper Stephens is expected to be one of the squad leaders after producing an impressive bottom-age year at the Falcons, while Jay Dahlhaus, Keidan Rayner, Charlie Harris, Jesse Clark and Lachlan Smith will also be expected to take the next step.

“Cooper Stephens is one that stands out,” O’Keefe said.

“He played Vic Country this year and played on grand final day and played really well in the young guns game against the best players in the country.”

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