This exploratory study investigated the problems outlined in the literature surrounding the development of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). The authors analysed blog postings over an eight-week period to identify the varying levels of student conception of TGfU using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The findings revealed that students move through at least two SOLO levels of metacognitive development. For pre-service teachers, TGfU represents a challenge to their pedagogical paradigm.