The most notable feature of training today was that there was no sign of ANY of the indigenous crew .

Surely they can't all be playing in the All Stars game .

Wheatley didn't train and was noticeably limping .

Jamar was walking laps minus the moonboot .

Robbo was training at around 75% capacity , and was participating in most manoeuvres .

Rivers ( yay ) was not inconvenienced by anything and will definitely be available for selection in our first pre season hit out .

Moloney was in everything and dispelled earlier reports that he may be feeling some inconvenience from a niggling injury .

Newton crashed to the ground quite heavily in a marking contest and was not consoled by Garland whom he had earlier pushed into the fence.

Valenti and Sylvia were my picks as the standouts at training , and I have seen nothing to dispel my earlier claim that this is Sylvia's year - barring injury .

Dunn's thighs are massive and he actually looks out of proportion because of this , but he ran the lines well and fast , so the buildup may be intentional .

I noticed Zomer for the first time ever today , and he actually impressed with his body size , agility, and kicking .

Petterd and Grimes have also bulked up appreciably and may offer salvation off the half back line .

They may've all gone up to watch/support/be a part of it.

Thanks for the report Joeboy!

I know this happens every year, but after I'd completely written off last year pre season before writing off this year sometime in August, I'm suprised by how excited I'm getting for the start of the season.

Not just about how we'll be playing but that I feel we may be developing the core of a strong team. I just hope our development team can do the trick

you got to august 2008 before writing off this year? youre more optimistic than i thought. i had 2010 written off after round 2 2008

The most notable feature of training today was that there was no sign of ANY of the indigenous crew .

Surely they can't all be playing in the All Stars game .

They are all up in Darwin at an Indigenous conference.

Those not playing in the all stars game will fly back tomorrow.

Seems Juice is clashing with someone at most training sessions...

He has got one of those heads you just wanna punch.

this whole juice thing interests me. did it look heated joeboy?

this whole juice thing interests me. did it look heated joeboy?

Newton was acting ' sheepishly ' after the event , and did make an effort to apologize , but this ' incident ' coming on top of his attempted physicality against Jones last week , was not necessarily a bad thing IMO . Perhaps it indicates a new and aggressive edge to his game in conjunction with an obviously stronger body

Petterd and Grimes have also bulked up appreciably and may offer salvation off the half back line .

Hi Joeboy. Thanks for the report.

I notice you didn't mention whether Cale Morton has bulked up at all.

Are we to assume that he's still skin and bones (a three word answer will suffice )?

Newton was acting ' sheepishly ' after the event , and did make an effort to apologize , but this ' incident ' coming on top of his attempted physicality against Jones last week , was not necessarily a bad thing IMO . Perhaps it indicates a new and aggressive edge to his game in conjunction with an obviously stronger body

I agree. I'll be happy if he's doing the same thing to opposition defenders come the season proper.

Some real aggression & competitiveness is sorely needed; if tempers boil over it is just a sign of how much they care.

I'd only be concerned if it is particularly unsportsmanlike behaviour and if it creates a rift through the playing group.

Hi Joeboy. Thanks for the report.

I notice you didn't mention whether Cale Morton has bulked up at all.

Are we to assume that he's still skin and bones (a three word answer will suffice )?

no discernible difference

I agree. I'll be happy if he's doing the same thing to opposition defenders come the season proper.

Some real aggression & competitiveness is sorely needed; if tempers boil over it is just a sign of how much they care.

I'd only be concerned if it is particularly unsportsmanlike behaviour and if it creates a rift through the playing group.

i know we cant make assumptions, but i start to worry that everyone might not like him

I agree. I'll be happy if he's doing the same thing to opposition defenders come the season proper.

Some real aggression & competitiveness is sorely needed; if tempers boil over it is just a sign of how much they care.

I'd only be concerned if it is particularly unsportsmanlike behaviour and if it creates a rift through the playing group.

Newton has done that in the VFL when frustrated and not focussed and ends getting either heavily penalised and sometimes reported. When tempers boil over it usually case of losing the plot. Aggression is only good when it is directed at the ball and not the player.

At the moment Newton has to prove himself a worthy and reliable AFL footballer. His efforts to 'rough" someone up are going to rebound on him and hardly cause a discernible rift. He needs to earn their respect not foster their angst.

Long time since my last post but I thought I would have a few words after my first trip to Casey.

Firstly, depending where you come from, it's a long drive. In saying that, traffic caused most of the issues and had there not been a jam around Bulleen Road I would have made it in about an hour. The good thing to know is that the coach tells us that the players are actually enjoying training there and for most of them the journey isn't substantially more than the previous training venues.

Secondly, I'm not going to sit here and tell you what blokes were doing. There's a couple of reasons for this. I got there late for starters and to comment on an individual who may have trained for a couple of hours in total would be unfair when I only watched them for 45 minutes. And secondly there are better track watchers around than I.

What I thought I would mention is that Casey seems a good fit. The coach came across at the end of the session and talked to my daughter and I for a little while and my impression is that the players and coaches are loving the new surrounds. That was backed up by earlier watching a very enthusiastic bunch go through their paces. They seemed to be loving it. Also, as many have stated before me, the surface is great. The coach also mentioned that the curator is a Melbourne supporter who contnually asks him if there is something more that he wants.

Finally, I would like to say that my first one on one impression with the coach, albeit 15 minutes, was extremely positive. It;s difficult to say why I walked away happy, perhaps it was because he decided to talk to us, but I did. He seems very measured, in control and knows exactly what he wants to get out of his players. And more improtantly when he expects them to get there. The final comment that made me smile was his description of Jake Spencer. He mentioned that he never missed a session and during those barely missed a minute and he was definitely progressing nicely. He didn't talk up skills etc. just his endeavour. As a bloke who's been a try hard sportsman for 20 years I love the blokes who play to their best at every opportunity. Perhaps he won't be good enough for AFL but Spencer will never die wondering. I think that's a great thing.

Pft, Newton. I'd care if I thought he was in our best 42....

PS: Thanks for the update.

OOOhhhhh getting really excited now! Thanks for the infor guys.

I'm not sure what to make of Newton with these last incidents, maybe we just have to wait and see when competition starts.

Newton has done that in the VFL when frustrated and not focussed and ends getting either heavily penalised and sometimes reported. When tempers boil over it usually case of losing the plot. Aggression is only good when it is directed at the ball and not the player.

At the moment Newton has to prove himself a worthy and reliable AFL footballer. His efforts to 'rough" someone up are going to rebound on him and hardly cause a discernible rift. He needs to earn their respect not foster their angst.

Fair enough. I've never actually seen Newton play or train.

I think a bit of aggro is fine if it doesn't affect his performance & isn't a result of a poor performance.

But it sounds like it may be just that.

We shall see.

Fair enough. I've never actually seen Newton play or train.

I think a bit of aggro is fine if it doesn't affect his performance & isn't a result of a poor performance.

But it sounds like it may be just that.

We shall see.

Regarding Newton, I remember a Sandy game a couple of years back where he told Paul Wheatley to go and get effed after Wheatley tried to tell him he should have done the team thing.

Got to admit im loving all this talk about Sylvia....

People bag Sylvs, but really, we all love that great man.

Rivers ( yay ) was not inconvenienced by anything and will definitely be available for selection in our first pre season hit out .

Moloney was in everything and dispelled earlier reports that he may be feeling some inconvenience from a niggling injury .

Newton crashed to the ground quite heavily in a marking contest and was not consoled by Garland whom he had earlier pushed into the fence.

Valenti and Sylvia were my picks as the standouts at training , and I have seen nothing to dispel my earlier claim that this is Sylvia's year - barring injury.

1/ Rivers - please be able to play 18+ games this year. The backline walks taller when you're around

2/ Moloney - 18+ would be magnificent from you too. A good red and blue heart inside a hard body will make the opposition think twice about picking up our ball.

3/ What is wrong with this guy. During games he looks like he'd rather be fishing and at training he wants to cause trouble. Better kick a bag this year, son.

4a/ Valenti. Love the kid. No fear and guts like you wouldn't believe. Hope he makes it into a 100+ gamer, and then some.

4b/ Not my favorite player by a long way. Seems like he's disinterested in the game sometimes but I would love to be proved wrong and see him do the things he was drafted to do.

Thanks Joeboy