BIG BUZZA BLITZES TRAINING
Strong pre-season form impresses Enright
GEELONG big man Wylie Buzza has continued his strong pre-season after being one of the shining lights during a heated contested training session at Deakin Oval yesterday.
Buzza is one of a host of Cats who will come out of contract at the end of the season and will be fighting for a spot in the senior side come Round 1, given that Geelong is investing heavily in developing tall Esava Ratugolea and recruited young key forward prospects Nathan Kreuger and Blake Schlensog last year.
The 22-year-old is only nine games into his AFL career but 2019 looms as one of the most important yet for Buzza. Forward coach Corey Enright said it had been pleasing to see the Queenslander’s work ethic at peak levels this summer.
“One of Wylie’s strengths is his ability to give us a contest and work really hard when the ball is in his area, so now he is just trying to work on things like getting into position early when the ball is being delivered,” Enright said.
“He has shown snippets of what he can do at AFL level and we are looking for him to keep developing his game and to take his chances when they come.
“Apart from ‘Hawk’ (Tom Hawkins), who has done it year in year out for a long time, we don’t actually have too many senior key forwards, and Buzza is probably the next senior marking target. He is only three or four years into his career though, so for him it is about using his strengths and complementing the guys down there.
“He has been working really hard this pre-season and his forward craft and running patterns and ability to finds space is really good, so it is about making sure that when he gets his chance he is ready to go.
“We aren’t locked into our forward line yet and the next six weeks guys will be fighting for places, so it is a good spot to be in.”
The Cats will look to adapt a modified approach in attack this year, with the application of pressure inside-50 a key component of the change in philosophy.
Enright said with JLT games on the horizon, it was crucial his charges got the most out of an impending six-week training block.
“Obviously the guys we brought in were based on what we needed. Gary Rohan and Luke Dahlhaus have been well documented, and those guys have come in and done what they have been asked and more,” he said.
“They have brought a lot to our group in the front half with their maturity, so that takes a little bit of the pressure off some of the guys coming through. But the competition down there is good and that is going to be important over the next little period for us.
“We have some new guys coming in, so it is important to get as much as we can out of our training sessions so that when JLT and Round 1 comes around we will have some confidence in how we want to play.”