The club started in mid-November, but because of the amount of players it has who travel there have been five different groups working together.
Coach Darby Morrison, in his third season in the role, said the team trains one night a week together and then does its remaining session at a variety of locations.
“One night a week our players do their own thing in their groups,” Morrison said.
“We have quite a few travellers, so we have a few who train together in Shepparton and another group in Echuca-Moama.
“There is a third group in Nathalia, about four train with me in Bendigo and then there are the Picola-based players.”
Walsh has had an interrupted start to his season, not getting under way at all in the 2020 season.
“I’ve been involved in two-and-a-half pre-seasons though,” he said.
The Echuca-Moama group has six to eight players involved in its program, led by co-captain Sean Solar and president Clinton Barnes.
Walsh trains with four players at Bendigo, including key recruits for 2022 Charlton Hindle and Mitch Hore.
They are close friends of the coach, Mitch Hore originally from Echuca, who were playing at South Bendigo last season.
“Charlton will be mid- or half-back and Mitch will be a key forward,” Morrison said.
“They were both at South Bendigo, who would have made finals for the first time in a while if not for the interrupted season.”
Picola United had its last training session on December 13 and will resume with two sessions a week from January 16 in the new year.
“The pre-season wasn’t a lot more than ticking the legs over. We had a lot of injuries last year during the season, so we are trying to make sure we are doing everything right,” he said.
The club has had 35 different players attend pre-season sessions this year, the standouts being Ian Fry, Sean Solar and Blake Jorgensen, who is the co-captain.
Assistant coach Joel Thompson has been supporting Walsh with the pre-season, as he does during the season proper.
“I am there on Thursday and Saturday during the season and he looks after the Tuesday night,” he said.
Walsh said a couple of our club’s under-age players, Zac McKenzie and Lachlan Caldwell — who both played seniors last year — had been outstanding in the pre-season.
“We are encouraging all the juniors to come out and train. Dan Atkinson, the thirds coach, has been quite supportive,” Walsh said.
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