A few of the reports of training during the week have mentioned a slight drop in intensity compared with the sessions prior to the break.

Perhaps this is due to the absence of some of the more senior players who I believe are entitled to a longer break under the CBA?

Well Brad Green has tweeted that he's back:

"Back in Melbourne Town, after spending Christmas and New Year with family and friends in Tas.. The season is just around the corner"

It will be interesting to see whether there's a step up in intensity from Monday onwards as the senior players return and the team begins the run up to the first practice matches and the NAB Cup.

A few of the reports of training during the week have mentioned a slight drop in intensity compared with the sessions prior to the break.

Perhaps this is due to the absence of some of the more senior players who I believe are entitled to a longer break under the CBA?

Well Brad Green has tweeted that he's back:

"Back in Melbourne Town, after spending Christmas and New Year with family and friends in Tas.. The season is just around the corner"

It will be interesting to see whether there's a step up in intensity from Monday onwards as the senior players return and the team begins the run up to the first practice matches and the NAB Cup.

I haven't had the opportunity yet to make it to a pre season session so I wouldn't know but I think the blokes running them know what they're doing and that each of the sessions has a purpose for the different mixes of players at the club. What might appear to some as a drop in intensity might not be what it seems.

Hopefully, I'm going to get the chance to be at training soon. If anyone knows where and when the next session is on I would appreciate it if the information was posted here at some time over the weekend. Who knows? The stars might align and they could be training at a location close enough for me to get down and have a look.

Whisperer - I haven't been able to get there either, but it does sound from all reports, official, here and at 'ology, that this preseason is like no other in terms of professionalism and planning; all credit to Jim and the team for setting us up to have a genuine chance over the next few years, and avoiding the quick fix attempted solution.

Some have complained along the lines of 'all this fitness stuff - where is the ball'; well, it isn't much use being an elite ball user if you are either too unfit to get it, or too buggered once you get it to use it properly, or too unfit to lay the shepherd etc to 'do an assist'!

I amongst many are really looking forward to the preseason competition, and the real stuff.

The "fitness stuff" is bloody important. You need it to cope with a long season of games and training on a weekly basis for eight months.

Hopefully, I'm going to get the chance to be at training soon. If anyone knows where and when the next session is on I would appreciate it if the information was posted here at some time over the weekend. Who knows? The stars might align and they could be training at a location close enough for me to get down and have a look.

From MFC on Twitter:- The next open training session is tomorrow at Gosch's Paddock - Monday 9th January - 9:45am

From MFC on Twitter:- The next open training session is tomorrow at Gosch's Paddock - Monday 9th January - 9:45am

Thanks She Devil 64.

Now I just need to reshuffle some commitments for tomorrow and, with a bit of luck, I can make it down.

Cheers

I am heading down for the first time ever to training in the morning. Can't wait

I'll be heading down this morning and will give a report as soon as I get back to the office.

I'll be heading down this morning and will give a report as soon as I get back to the office.

writing training reports for us while ur at work, living the dream my friend! look forward too it!! B)

I'll be heading down this morning and will give a report as soon as I get back to the office.

Steamin if you get the chance can you please tell me what Strauss' skills look like?

Hear great reports that he is looking big and running well but would like to know if skills look sharp. It's his BP/RHBF role to lose by Round 12 of the season IMO.

Got down to the paddock again this morning. Great to see the senior group back onboard. Not sighted were Viney, Couch, Magner, Tynon, Taggart, Sheahan.

Modified program... Jurrah, Jamar, Strauss, Lawrence, Spencer, Bartram, Tapscott, Sylvia, Cook. Of these, Tappy ran some serious lap times, Strauss is close to rejoining the main group, as is Lawrence. Jamar did a lot of steady running and looks fitter and trimmer than last season. Jurrah ran timed 200's at 3/4 pace... still in arm guard. Sylvia did a lot of the initial ball-handling and looked sharp.

Running wise... Nicholson cruises at the front, Clark is good, Blease improving, Bate very strong, Dunn dropping off back... Davey gradually bridging gap, Gysberts now challenging Garland and moving up in his group.Petterd ran well, as did Howe.

Misson, Royal and Greaves leading activities... Neild a quiet observer, Craig busy in one on one assistance, encouragement. Viney right in the thick of end to end skills work. Moloney can be heard throughout encouraging and supporting. Jack Watts the enthusiast in every new drill.

Jack Grimes did everything to perfection, Martin owned the tap work against Fitzpatrick... An impressive 90 minute session

Thanks for the report Wayne.

Pics also up on Facebook!

I also attended training this morning and it was a lively session.

I'll do a report later but it was just my luck that all of the newbies to AFL football were receiving some form of induction run by the AFLPA at Etihad Stadium so I missed them all. According to their twitter:

The draftees will take part in 8 workshops run by current AFL players speaking to them about their experiences.

Mitch Clark and James Sellar were there as they have already been in the system and weren't required for the induction of new players. I think Clark will make a very suitable addition to the forward line and provide the height and strength that we've been so badly in need of for a long time. Of course, he can't do it on his own there and will need help from fellow forwards and good service and delivery from the midfield.

I'm not good at the bit about about describing all of the drills but it looked very structured and I await reports from others on such things. I was moe interested in seeing the players and how they were progressing ... and of course, the new blokes ... ah well.

More later.

Got down to the paddock again this morning. Great to see the senior group back onboard. Not sighted were Viney, Couch, Magner, Tynon, Taggart, Sheahan.

Modified program... Jurrah, Jamar, Strauss, Lawrence, Spencer, Bartram, Tapscott, Sylvia, Cook. Of these, Tappy ran some serious lap times, Strauss is close to rejoining the main group, as is Lawrence. Jamar did a lot of steady running and looks fitter and trimmer than last season. Jurrah ran timed 200's at 3/4 pace... still in arm guard. Sylvia did a lot of the initial ball-handling and looked sharp.

Running wise... Nicholson cruises at the front, Clark is good, Blease improving, Bate very strong, Dunn dropping off back... Davey gradually bridging gap, Gysberts now challenging Garland and moving up in his group. Petterd ran well, as did Howe.

Misson, Royal and Greaves leading activities... Neild a quiet observer, Craig busy in one on one assistance, encouragement. Viney right in the thick of end to end skills work. Moloney can be heard throughout encouraging and supporting. Jack Watts the enthusiast in every new drill.

Jack Grimes did everything to perfection, Martin owned the tap work against Fitzpatrick... An impressive 90 minute session

Loved the report, just got confused with the viney situation...really do appreciate the effort.

Any word on Morton's apparent size increase? Was Howe showing any ill effects from the eye accident last week?

Loved the report, just got confused with the viney situation...

We have two at the club.

Howe showed no ill effects and took up training where he left off. The Viney who was in the middle of the action firing off handballs to sometimes unsuspecting players (Sylvia) was Todd. Morton has shown gradual increase in size... He is about where Tuck was when he played his 400th!

I went to training. i actually thought it was a pretty cruisy training session. Jurrah, Mckenzie and Tapscott were going at comfortable paces, not raising a sweat. In fact all runners were like this. I just don't really like the nature of footy training sessions in that there is a lot of hands on hips waiting for their next turn. When you think about it each player has to line up for about 3 minutes in a lot of drills before its their turn to go. There is a lot of socialising, a lot of hands on hips and jokes etc. Everyone is jovial and you can hear their voices but if they were being worked hard enough, how come they have the energy to even talk?

We were a joke last season, and every session should consist of skills work and exercise work to exhaustion/fail. How come there hasnt been any players vomiting?

i've seen 3 sessions now and only 1 of these sessions I'd consider difficult fitness wise.

The only positive is that the skills seem to be good.

We were a joke last season, and every session should consist of skills work and exercise work to exhaustion/fail. How come there hasnt been any players vomiting?

Good lord

I too want my players overworked and tired before the season even begins. Surely we'll play better if they've been run into the ground!

i'm suprised first session back wasn't a 3km time trial. Doesn't take much to setup and complete...give a good idea how they went over the break. Plus they did a 3km time trial before xmas.

We were a joke last season, and every session should consist of skills work and exercise work to exhaustion/fail. How come there hasnt been any players vomiting?

i've seen 3 sessions now and only 1 of these sessions I'd consider difficult fitness wise.

Maybe you should have had a quiet word to Neeld and Misson as they obviously have no idea of what they are doing?

exactly. the season proper doesnt start for 3 months!!!!

like when you drop a mark or turn it over there was a 5 push-up penalty. What the hell. How about 50 pushups and you do them at the end of the session. ffs!

To me Freak it looked like the players were spending pretty minimal time on the witches hats. Yes in between drills they get a rest as things get organised but between cones they were moving pretty fast and the assistant coaches made an effort to get footies and fire off kicks/handballs etc to players coming to the back of the line. Todays session was about getting some touch, getting the basic skills done right, learning the game plan and keeping the legs rolled over. Not every session should be gut busting, swimmers, cyclist and runners certainly don't train that way.

As mentioned above new draftees were at AFL induction. Tapscott and Spencer did laps, they look a bit of a way off. Strauss did sprints then he and McKenzie went in the middle for a few kicks. Jamar and Jurrah ran laps together with the big fella really helping Liam along. Lawrence, Cook and Sylvia started in the main group then broke into the rehab drill of 2 guys with 2 footies either end and a guy in the middle leading and marking each footy at a time. Jet and Grimes did this just before the xmas break. Lawrence and Sylvia looked good, Cook looks like he's battling his way back and I think we wont get much out of him this year at this rate. He probably needs the year in the VFL followed by a healthy preseason before he'll shine.

After some close in work the players broke into 2 drills and did a 5 star spreading the ball around and finish with a goal drill. The foot skills were surprisingly reasonable but the better kicks (Watts, Davey, Blease) still stand out. Then they broke in lines. Once again Jetta will be a back, Nicholson a mid and McDonald, Davey and Blease forwards this year.

As for individuals... Clark leads and marks well. Sellar looks pretty strong in the air defensively and has genuine size, Grimes looks ready to go. Jones and Moloney look a good size - strong but not slow. The midfield group looked short on class and numbers to be honest - hence Magner, Couch and Viney coming in. That said Stef Martin seems more advanced than last year and should combine well with Jamar who they are obviously letting freshen up after a couple of tough seasons. The backline group seems ready to go though and even with Jurrah still getting the miles in his legs the forward group seems much more dangerous with Clark and Davey added in.

There wasn't much game plan style stuff today. I'm still concerned about our ability to move the ball under pressure and our contested ball winning ability but with a fair while til the season starts I'm happy we might well have a fit side with some talent.

I went to training. i actually thought it was a pretty cruisy training session. Jurrah, Mckenzie and Tapscott were going at comfortable paces, not raising a sweat. In fact all runners were like this. I just don't really like the nature of footy training sessions in that there is a lot of hands on hips waiting for their next turn. When you think about it each player has to line up for about 3 minutes in a lot of drills before its their turn to go. There is a lot of socialising, a lot of hands on hips and jokes etc. Everyone is jovial and you can hear their voices but if they were being worked hard enough, how come they have the energy to even talk?

We were a joke last season, and every session should consist of skills work and exercise work to exhaustion/fail. How come there hasnt been any players vomiting?

i've seen 3 sessions now and only 1 of these sessions I'd consider difficult fitness wise.

The only positive is that the skills seem to be good.

I think it's fantastic that the players are really enjoying training.

The run to exhaustion/fail that you spoke of is pre-christmas break training. I thought it was well documented although I've never been to a session.

We have some of the best in the business holding the reins now. Your questions are quite rare.