I got down to training this morning to check out how the boys are looking and to validate what everyone else has been writing this pre-season.

1. Casey fields are in ripping nick and the whole complex including the leisure centre which is nearing completion creates the feeling of a sporting Mecca.

2. Like every pre-season the boys look in great nick, as everyone is boasting Col sylvia looks in top shape and flies through the session which is a major positive given he has never completed a pre-season. When fully fit he really does have all the tools to be a quality AFL player. He trained with the forwards for most of the session and I can see him playing a high half forward role working up the ground in not dissimilar to Ryan O' Keefe.

3. Nath Jones is carved out of stone and his kicking looks to have improved. While he is never gonna kick the ball like Wheaters, his consistency of hitting the leading target was good.

4. Aussie has definately lost weight. I watched him for a lot of the session and he genuinely would have missed only a handful of targets in 3 hours. He is a great kick and in the game simulation drills he showed a lot of smarts in where to run. He was training with forwards and looked to have a prominent role, I see him moving in the midfield and even onto half back in the future although for now he'll continue as the crumbing forward.

5. Bucks is a dead ringer for Buddy Franklin from a distance. I expect a break-out year from him, with his acceleration he could be anything, although he has a habit of recieving the ball running onto his left side (which is non-existent) then having to double back onto his right. Although that is easy fixed and its encouraging to see he wants the ball and is not afraid to take the game on.

6. Its been mentioned before and for the non-believers ill validate this, Juice is TTHD (training the house down). He attacks the ball, is clean, showed intensity which has never been his strength and his kicking top shelf.

7. Watts looked good, always smiling and do some nice things, left the track early although was no reason to be concerned. The most likely youngster behind Watts has to be James Strauss showed geat leg speed chasing down Lynden Dunn from a long way back and we know about his kicking ability. I like Neville Jetta he is pacy and his skills very neat, would like to see him a little more involved in the game type drills to make an assessment of whether he'll play NAB cup.

8. Shane Valenti trained very well and his kicking on both right and left was impressive, his a bundle of energy and i see him as the first promoted. Another who impressed was Kyle Cheney, he has nice kicking skills and was drafted for his attack on the ball. Should play NAB cup. I was interested to get a look at spencer, i didnt see him doing much competitive ruck work but other than that he trained very poorly. His kicking is absolutely shocking and should carry a bucket of sand around the ground, a groundsmans nightmare. Zomer was a little more positive, a big boy and has more presence. John Meesen, i just dont think he's up to it, looks impressive in the running and has reasonable skills, yet in the game simulation drills he's slow with his actions and decision making and subsequently makes poor decisions. I'd love to see him prove me wrong but i cant see him having an impact

9. Morton, McNamara and Blease spent the first hour running laps, before McNamara and Morton joined in the second half of training. Chooka joined them for some laps at some stage to "add some muscle to the group" in his own words, although did most of the session otherwise.

10. Jack Grimes trained well, he keeps it really simple and is very good at it. He's your socks pulled up, jumper tucked in future midfield general. He reminds me a bit of Bryce Gibbs, he trained with the backs and expect a role coming off half back or playing on a small.

11. Modified group included Flash, Jamie Bennel, Liam Jurrah, Jamar, his moon boot, Rivers. The 3 indigenous boys did very little but walk laps, tell jokes and do some stationary ball work, Flash didn't kick on his left at all which makes me think he has some hamstring soreness. Its not incommon for players to have lighter weeks though so dont stress too much, Jurrah especially will be eased into training as the workload would be a shock to his system. Robbo ran 200's at a fair clip and looks to be progressing nicely.

12. Bater worked really hard and looks to play a prominent place in the forward line, Bailey encouraged him to use his right foot when appropriate although had little success.

13. Ricky Petterd was kicking choppers.

14. Stef Martin fumbled a bit at times.

15. Beamer is looking massive and expect him to continue on from 08 where I think he crashed in when it counted and proggressed as a player and leader.

16. Bail, Healey trained ok without doing anything spectaculer.

17. Everyone else was out there and working hard.

18. The focus of training surrounded skills, ball movement and decision making.

If you've got any questions please fire away.

Fantastic Flash, I've said it many times before I value these training reports greatly and want to pass on my thanks for the effort involved.

Cheers.

Super report. Thanks for your effort and insight. I'm a long way from Casey so these reports are really appreciated.

2. Like every pre-season the boys look in great nick, as everyone is boasting Col sylvia looks in top shape and flies through the session which is a major positive given he has never completed a pre-season. When fully fit he really does have all the tools to be a quality AFL player. He trained with the forwards for most of the session and I can see him playing a high half forward role working up the ground in not dissimilar to Ryan O' Keefe.

Does he "bleed red and blue"?

If you've got any questions please fire away.

Thanks for taking the time to post Flashdance. How was Riv - was he just doing light work or is there a suggestion he may have had a recurrance of his injury?

bater was told to use his right because he should have been using it, and was going on his left instead - and taking longer to get rid of the ball as a result.

at one stage he (jokingly) said i do use it bails, its for balance.

jack watts on the other hand, he looks just as natural on his left as his right. can kick. has a surprising turn of pace too - and dont be too fooled by his skinnyness, i think he has excellent core strength.

robbo was doing sprints infront of me, and still doesnt look like he was moving properly - although it is coming back.

miller looked awesome.

col looks fantastic too, but if he lets down this year, itll be his attitude. he didnt know what he was doing for a drill, and so had to ask questions - and bailey was very quick to point out that he would know what he was doing if he hadnt been talking while bails had been.

juice still looked a little lazy to me at times - like he was doing the hard stuff at full pace, but then when it was a bit easier he was a bit lazier, if that makes sense.

pj killed everything

spencer just wasnt confident at anything at all - i actually think hed be ok if he got a bit of confidence about him, but he has no confidence at the moment and it shows.

petterd impressed - his defensive coverage in the invasion drills (ie tennis ball game and end to end stuff) was superb

aussie looked fantastic. the kid is seriously talented, and has an excellent attitude to match.

dunn actually impressed me too at times, but i think he is a forward and not a tagger - or at least a flanker. just my opinion.

i have to say though, on the drive home, despite all the good things i saw, i was concerned.

it was hard to put my finger on why exactly, but ill have a go.

there didnt seem to be a sense of urgency from most of the players - certainly not a sense of purpose. you didnt get the feeling that they were going to train flat out and improve on their weaknesses constantly so that down the track they could really kick some arse. just little indicators. some players you could see were really driven - miller, jones for example, but overall it just seemed like there were a lot of sheep, not a heap of voice coming from other players - almost as if they are scared to take ownership of their own destiny.

a little example is bate continuing to kick with his left even though he should have been using his right, and bails had told him a couple of times to use his right - he still used his left. when he did use his right, rarely, it was horrible. hell, that might cost us a game one day.

the other thing that bugged me was that there were no consequences for a turnover. bails or mahoney just said "turnover" - after a mistake of course, and play continued - sometimes with the same player with the ball, quite often with the team. TURNOVERS ARE BAD PEOPLE. YOU SHOULD BE PUNISHED IF YOU TURN IT OVER!!!!!!!

anyway, those are my thoughts for now

there didnt seem to be a sense of urgency from most of the players - certainly not a sense of purpose. you didnt get the feeling that they were going to train flat out and improve on their weaknesses constantly so that down the track they could really kick some arse.

Apparently they have five years to improve their skills.

Why do it now?

BECAUSE I WANT TO SEE A MELBOURNE PREMIERSHIP BEFORE I DIE!!!!!!!!

haha

its more about culture - if everyone is improving all of their skills as much as they can as often as they can, then as a club we will be as good as we can....

otherwise the message is, whatever, we still get to play afl n get paid shitloads

lol you stirred me up clint_bizkit

oh, just wanted to add.

danny hughes looked good. hit targets, moved well.

glad he is still with us - he might just make it yet

Wheels? Damnit, does the man even exist anymore?

Wheels? Damnit, does the man even exist anymore?

you got no dash.

That's a shame, I always thought of myself as rather zippy

That's a shame, I always thought of myself as rather zippy

girl

i watched wheels just for you 45.

the man did what he always did. flew under the radar, did all he needed to do, unsung superstar.

looked sharp. and fit!

was looking after his aboriginal brothers - i think they really look up to him - as well they should, hes an excellent role model not just to the wider community but especially to the aboriginal community.

green also looked fit and sharp. and strong

i watched wheels just for you 45.

the man did what he always did. flew under the radar, did all he needed to do, unsung superstar.

looked sharp. and fit!

was looking after his aboriginal brothers - i think they really look up to him - as well they should, hes an excellent role model not just to the wider community but especially to the aboriginal community.

green also looked fit and sharp. and strong

flew under the radar,hes the man, thats why he never plays, you to a peas in a pod pathetic.

lol Jack, you're having a laugh aren't you? That's why he has one of the most effective disposals in the league, that's why he played each of the past 10 games, 6 of his 9 seasons have seen him play at least 16 games, for a career total of 140.

That's sensical, 140 matches = never played.

You're saying he "never plays" because he flies under the radar? Possibly because he plays some of the hardest, most aggressive and through the lines footy of anyone at our club.

Well done

lol Jack, you're having a laugh aren't you? That's why he has one of the most effective disposals in the league, that's why he played each of the past 10 games, 6 of his 9 seasons have seen him play at least 16 games, for a career total of 140.

That's sensical, 140 matches = never played.

You're saying he "never plays" because he flies under the radar? Possibly because he plays some of the hardest, most aggressive and through the lines footy of anyone at our club.

Well done

yeah laughing at you , any man or should i say lady, that has vlads photo i laugh at,mattys a great player and i dont think his body will hold up to much longer, hes as has hard as you can get agent,plays for the jumper orange.

yeah laughing at you , any man or should i say lady, that has vlads photo i laugh at,mattys a great player and i dont think his body will hold up to much longer, hes as has hard as you can get agent,plays for the jumper orange.

What on earth are you on about...

I think I have a headache now...

Back to Wheels, be it or not that he does or doesn't play, he has done his duty. Breaking Nathan Brown's (Rich) leg in 2005 will put him the history books forever!

wheels is only 29. i dont think his body is ready to give up.

he has also spent a lot of time injured. which i know sounds like a contradiction - but he is far from breaking down.

besides. didnt he get rubbed out for having a punch on with fev? what a legend

wheels is only 29. i dont think his body is ready to give up.

he has also spent a lot of time injured. which i know sounds like a contradiction - but he is far from breaking down.

besides. didnt he get rubbed out for having a punch on with fev? what a legend

no comment, we dont want our players punching other players,not good for projects like heartland,we want our players to be respected.

he is respected. for being [censored] tough.

grow up in cranbourne , bambi, then you how how to look after yourself.

Jack....are you 12?

he is respected. for being [censored] tough.

fool

you dont earn respect by being bambi

by the way, does "looking after myself" mean carrying a weapon?

you dont earn respect by being bambi

by the way, does "looking after myself" mean carrying a weapon?

tool of the year goes to benno and its only january.