Between the Sandbanks by Whispering Jack

[Demonland 73,140]

BETWEEN THE SANDBANKS by Whispering Jack

I've been holidaying in Frankston where a little over fifty years ago they filmed the movie "On the Beach" starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire. There's still some controversy about whether the female star said the film "is a story about the end of the world, and Melbourne sure is the right place to film it," but I've had no problems spending the last fortnight on the beach here. The weather's been glorious, there are great sights and sounds around the bay and there are plenty of places nearby for fine food and relaxation. And you can vegetate on the beach where the world allegedly ends in the film.

There was only one thing in the world that could tempt me to stray out of the region and away from the sparkling beach on a magnificent summer's morning. That thing was the discovery that the Demons were training at Casey Fields which, according to the GPS application on my iphone, is a mere 24 minutes away in light traffic. After applying an ample quota of sunscreen and Aeroguard, I was on my way.

My thoughts on the road to Casey Fields centred on what Melbourne needed most after three very lean seasons that produced a mere dozen wins. The obvious thing was that the team simply had to learn not only to how to win again but how to be winners on a regular basis. It has to achieve this against a backdrop of a very young list with few stars and few veterans to lead the way. The club has only six 100 game players. Clearly, the 50 to 100 game group has to step up while the younger brigade gets game time into their legs. Moreover, it's time to get a reasonable run with injuries.

To be sure, when I arrived at the ground I discovered there were a fair number of players who, for want of a better description, I will call the "rehab group". I knew that Colin Garland, Sam Blease, Aussie Wonaeamirri, Tom Meesen, Danny Hughes and Rhys Healey were in various stages of recovery. There were others with them including (disappointingly) Liam Jurrah, Mark Jamar, Paul Johnson and Tom MacNamara. It wasn't clear whether these blokes were suffering from any ailments or niggles or whether they were simply given light duties for the day. I later learned that the Warlpiri Wizard suffered a minor injury before the end of year break. Other players were rotated in and out of various drills. For instance, Tom Scully trained with the main group for well over an hour and then ran laps at mixed speed with Cameron Bruce.

Players in the rehab group seem to have plenty of options if they can't join in full training. Some jogged or ran, others got on their bikes while others still too advantage of the swim centre down the road.

Despite the numbers apparently in rehab, it was a positive that as far as I could work out, the full list was in attendance and, with more than two and a half months to the first bounce of the season proper, there are no apparent serious injuries. Colin Garland was doing laps and showing no discomfort from the foot injury that kept him out for all bar one game in 2009. He could struggle to be right for round one given the seriousness of the injury but the rest should be right provided there are no major injuries in the interim. Aussie was doing some running work with Matty Bate and he looked in good nick too despite being hampered by a hamstring injury - something he will need to learn to control to avoid recurrences. All in all however, things are looking hopeful on the injury front. Bate is looking a lot stronger and might be considered for a key position again this year.

Just quietly, I think that the Demons might have done quite well with their Pre Season Draft selection in Joel Macdonald. He comes with little fanfare but he looks a balanced footballer who can run and carry and should stake a claim on a half back flank allowing Cale Morton and Jack Grimes to move back into the midfield. Those two are now into their third seasons and I believe ready to show their true quality. We've only seen glimpses of what Grimes can do but he was once again impressive today and I have a feeling that he will move quickly into elite class. Another third year player, Addam Maric was particularly impressive. He looks fitter and more intense than in the past and you get the impression that he's going to produce a break out game where he will lift his stature and cement his place in the team. Perhaps a seven goal effort or a high possession game further away from goals?

The focus was naturally on the club's much vaunted #1 and 2 draft picks and neither Tom Scully nor Jack Trengove let the sparse crowd of spectators down. Scully is the type of player who's going to be in everything whenever he's on the field. He's quick, he knows what's going on around him, where to position himself and where to put the football to his team's advantage. Trengove will also be a revelation. He's skilled on both sides of the body, does courageous things and does the extraordinary. He throws himself into the fray in a way that you can tell that he's not only played against men at a high standard but that he's already more than held his own against them. So has his mate Luke Tapscott who has a big body and is a sensational kick. My only concern with him is that he might be a bit too big and that might need to work on fining down a little lest he ends up having weight issues a little further down the track.

There's been some publicity about Jack Watts having bulked up by putting on 5kgs but, looking at him, he still has a way to go before you would be confident about him assuming a key position. Nevertheless, he still has enough by way of sublime skills to suggest that he will significantly increase his games tally this year, probably somewhere on the forward line.

Two other young blokes Jordan Gysberts and James Strauss showed that they were not uncomfortable training at this level and indicated they would be challenging for senior places this year.

Of the more experienced players I was most impressed by Colin Sylvia, Aaron Davey, Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones. James Frawley had some good tussles with Brad Miller and came up with the line of the day as Miller lined up after taking a mark when he called out:

"That your first kick today?"

Miller responded by taking another mark moments later.

Apart from that, what can I say but that the rest trained the house down and when I returned to the beach and onto the sandbanks where they filmed a movie about the end of the world happy to have had my first fix of the footy for 2010?

Photo by Big Kev