Hi guys,

Have a read of my blog and hear what we've been up to at the St Kilda Football Club this week.

Monday
9am- I was in at the club for recovery after our win against Collingwood in the VFL on Sunday. A few of the boys were very sore after the hit out, but everyone was really up-beat and positive ahead of the next game.

10am- Once recovery was over with and the legs were feeling fresher, all the boys headed into the theatrette for a meeting. We reviewed the last game (prior to the bye) against Geelong to look at ways we could improve for the game this Sunday against North Melbourne. The reviews are always beneficial, especially considering I’m a first year player; there were plenty of helpful points that I’ll look at for the rest of the season.

After the meeting was over the AFL boys had a training session as they had just got back from their five day break with the bye. I hung around for a little bit to watch the boys because I had a 2:30 physio appointment. With plenty of spare time ahead of physio I trained with the speedball in the gym. I’ve started to enjoy the speedball and used it for around 40 minutes. Once my physio was over I headed home for the day.

Tuesday
9am- Tuesday was a short day. I was in at the club for a 9 am weights session with the boys and also a 30 minute bike session in the altitude room, which was very solid. After the off-legs session all the boys headed into the basketball court for some footy development which is always a bit of fun with some of the games the boys make up.

12- Once footy development was done we began our recovery, after a 10 minute stretch I headed into the freezing ice baths for 10 minutes so I could feel fresh for a hard training session on Wednesday. When recovery was over I headed home for the day to rest so I could feel 100% for the first training session for the week.

Wednesday
9am- The development group headed in for a mid-season review. We discussed what areas we think we are doing well in, as well as things we could improve on to help benefit ourselves and the team. The boys really took a lot out of this meeting.

12pm- Today was the first training session of the week for the whole squad and to begin the session we all had a meeting with Ross in the theatrette.

1pm- Once the meeting was over we split up into our playing groups and did our usual preparation. I’m in the midfield group so its good to see how blokes like Nick Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna go about their preparation. When all the preparation was out of the way we were ready for a solid session on the track, which it was. It was also great to see the fans come out to support the boys. Once training was complete we did our usual recovery methods in the ice baths and stretching.

7pm- Wednesday was exciting for all the players as we had the AFLPA meeting at the Crown Palladium. It was very exciting to see so many high profile players all in the same room together.

Thursday
Thursday was another off-legs day so it was a reasonably short day.
I was in at the club at 9am for weights and an off-legs bike session, which was very tough. Following the session the boys did their usual recovery and then headed into the theatrette to listen to opposition analysis coach Danny Sexton, detail how the Kangaroos are going and what the areas they are doing well in.

Friday
I was in at the club for a massage at 9am. Today is the second training session for the week and all the boys are pumped to get out there and train. Tomorrow the VFL boys are playing in Ballarat, so tonight I will be driving down so I don’t have to travel too far on Saturday morning.

Saturday
Saturday is game day for the VFL boys. We take on the North Ballarat Roosters and hopefully we can make it two consecutive wins for the Zebras!

Sunday
There will be a recovery session for the VFL boys in the morning and then I will head into Etihad Stadium to see the Saints hopefully get up against North Melbourne.

Thanks for reading my blog,

Go Saints!

#9 Sam Crocker