mr i know how to look after myself in cranbourne. youre my hero.

you must be sooooooo tough. i wish i was half as tough as your little toe, then id be waaaaay tougher than anyone ive ever known combined.

please sir, can i have your autograph

i bet vinnie jones is scared of you

chopper craps himself when you drive past

Wow, can you both shut up?

haha apologies, red mist there for a few mins

Oh for gods sake kids, get it together......please

Yeh look let's get this discussion out of Cranbourne and back into Melbourne.

- Wheels cruised through training, during a kicking drill the other players were marvelling with his ability to kick the ball with the out side of hit foot to a player in his peripheral vision

- Good call on Danny Hughes Benno, looked impressive, very comfortable on the track, has sound skills, a boomin kick in fact and hopefully he can stay on the park this year and show us some of his freaky skills

- Riv did very little, didnt see him at the start then wondered out mid session and stood around with the modified group. From all reports he didnt train on wednesday either, i cant give u any information on what is wrong with him although maybe he is having a light week after being re-introduced to training or has been pulling up sore. I highly doubt he has had a re-occurance of such a rare injury.

- Benno in reference to your concerns re: urgency and intensity, i think that as the session was very skill based the focus is more on skill execution than intensity and noise, i think ud find that during sessions where more contact and competitive work was being done you'd get plenty of hunger on show.

Funny as and very interesting thread. Go wheels. Go you good thing. Go Dees.

pj killed everything

Forgive my poor grasp of modern lingo, but is that good or bad? I'm thinking good, but just seeking clarification. I'm a big fan of PJ, but as an around the ground mobile ruckman, rather than as a forward target; a role which I don't think he'll ever master.

flashdance, i think i heard someone mention that it was more of a lighter session, so this could explain it. i havent been to mfc training in years, although i know from my own experience coaching and playing that the lighter days can seem less purposeful. but even so, i was still concerned... they seemed to be a bit flat or lazy or, well, something. it was hard to put my finger on. but i do feel they are not taking ownership of their destiny (luke, it is your destiny)

pringle, yes pj was very good. they did a clearance drill and id say he had about 1/4 of them himself - even after taking the taps. and hit targets, moved beautifully.

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!

Not to forget that great bump on Hird that knocked him for six in the final. That was gold!!!!

And flipping, pile driving, Shane Crawford. Or his ice-hockeyesque check on Andrew Welsh. All within the laws of the game.

And flipping, pile driving, Shane Crawford. Or his ice-hockeyesque check on Andrew Welsh. All within the laws of the game.

[/quote yeah that was the best,45hotdog.

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

yes turnovers are bad, but if it is mach simulated drills then you dont stop to do punishment it should be done at the end or something like that. sometimes coaches dont even give punishments they will just chat to after training and say 'mate, if you want to play at this level then you cant turn the ball over like that.'

but thats the idea - in a game, if theres a turnover, suddenly everyone is in the wrong position. as happened to us a million times this year.

if its a simulated game, and a turnover occurs, why doesnt the other team gain possession like in a real game??

Any opinions on Bail and Strauss? Someone has suggested that they're the two most likely to debut in the near future.

strauss looked likely. did some excellent chase downs and has pace. he also looks like the sort of little [censored] that supporters will love - and hate. exactly what we need IMHO.

couldnt pick out bail, mainly because i have no idea what he looks like. but strauss caught my eye. he was vocal too, and i spent 30 mins trying to work out who he was, although the nickname straussy is a bit of a giveaway

strauss looked likely. did some excellent chase downs and has pace. he also looks like the sort of little [censored] that supporters will love - and hate. exactly what we need IMHO.

couldnt pick out bail, mainly because i have no idea what he looks like. but strauss caught my eye. he was vocal too, and i spent 30 mins trying to work out who he was, although the nickname straussy is a bit of a giveaway

Cactus and I know Strauss personally and he isn't really the sort of person that supporters will hate in my opinion.

Yeh from all reports Struass is a top fella. A good private school boy and very likeable, i thought he trained very well yesterday. His kicking is the feature of his game something DB will be keen to promote as much as possible.

Rohan Bail was pretty inconspicuous at training didnt notice him until towards the end of the session when he kicked a nice goal from 40 out on the run, is a good size and has the body to play senior footy now. A real show for the NAB cup.

i meant opposition supporters

strauss looked likely. did some excellent chase downs and has pace. he also looks like the sort of little [censored] that supporters will love - and hate. exactly what we need IMHO.

couldnt pick out bail, mainly because i have no idea what he looks like. but strauss caught my eye. he was vocal too, and i spent 30 mins trying to work out who he was, although the nickname straussy is a bit of a giveaway

its still only january bennnnnno,i dont know if hes a [censored] or not bennnnno, but hopefuly he can have a good year.

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

Watts was in the top 3-4 at draft camp for 20 metre sprints as well as verticle leap. add to that good hands, can take a pack mark and kicks well on both. Barry P and Bailey did their homework , there is no suprise about Watts. should be a gun

How has Cam Bruce been training?

didnt see a lot of bruce TBH.

Thanks for the excellent reports. I'm interested in which groups players are training with ie. midfield, forwards, backs. So if you noticed, who were the following players training with:

Moreton

Watts

Petterd

Strauss

Blease

Sylvia (forward?)

Garland/Martin

Zomer

Buckley

Bail

Bate

If indeed they were training in such groups.

Cheers

yes turnovers are bad, but if it is mach simulated drills then you dont stop to do punishment it should be done at the end or something like that. sometimes coaches dont even give punishments they will just chat to after training and say 'mate, if you want to play at this level then you cant turn the ball over like that.'

You guys are only looking at ONE side of the coin here.

Don't forget that the 'opposition' in these drills are MFC players too.

It would be a bit '[censored] poor' if the COULDN'T effect a turnover or two in these drills. To me that shows good defensive pressure. Anyway given they have the 'inside knowledge' on their opponents; ie. their team mates they should be able to sut them down more than the opposition.

Thanks to everyone for all the reports. Keep em coming.

Hopefully I can post my own after next Friday's training so long as all the right planets align so I can make it down there, that is, if they don't cancel beforehand because of the hot weather.

A few requests for those going to training next week.

Who's flying? Who's put on weight?

Seriously, as another has posted, who is training in what group? ie. forwards, backs, mids. Are there any surprises?

And if you can remember, in the competitive drills who are direct opponents? ie. Davey vs ? Miller vs ? Newton vs ? PJ vs ? Sylvia vs ? The same names seem to be coming up, and they are all the right names, but someone must be copping a towelling!! I haven't seen Bell's name mentioned too often.

Go Dees - Building for the Future.............................to beat Collingwood in another Grand Final.................... or Carlton..................... Essendon............. West Coast, etc, etc,