And so ... after a big weekend in sport when the test match finished early to enable a perfect segue into a fortnight of tennis, the Demons are moving training back to Casey Fields where they can fly under the radar in preparation for the season to come.

And it's Casey for the entire week as James Sellar informs us on twitter;

"Weekend is over... @melbournefc got all next week out at Casey fields... Looking forward to it."

So now it's over to those among us who live nearby or have the time on their hands.

I might be a chance for Friday!

Strong northerly blowing through making skills tough. Howe is a freak.

I am pumped about Howie for 2012 - looks really fit, great skills both sides and hands are amazing.

I am pumped about Howie for 2012 - looks really fit, great skills both sides and hands are amazing.

What position will Howe play?

What position will Howe play?

The forward line shows a lot of promise with the likes of Howe, Clark, McDonald, Watts. Then throw in some mid heights Jurrah, Sylvia, Green

The forward line shows a lot of promise with the likes of Howe, Clark, McDonald, Watts. Then throw in some mid heights Jurrah, Sylvia, Green

offensively yes, defensively....not 100% convinced

I am starting to belive Howe's ex-U18 coach who commented that he is the best mark he has seen since Royce Hart.

I am just as impressed with his skills on both sides of the body. It really opens up the forward line when someone on the HF line can kick with both feet. Green and Davey could learn something from him!

offensively yes, defensively....not 100% convinced

It's hard to defend in your forward 50m arc when your forwards are on the wing. I'm a firm believer if we can get the ball inside our forward 50m arc 55+times per game we will win those games.

offensively yes, defensively....not 100% convinced

That was largely due to a mindset, which saw a constant flooding of the oppositions's forward line and the idea that "flooding" was the first, not the last resort.

New coaching panel, new head coach who is as tough as nails. I am confident this mindset will be turned on its head and it will be the opposition that will be straining to defend our incursions. Not how it used to be.

Now consigned to history ... thank goodness.

The forward line shows a lot of promise with the likes of Howe, Clark, McDonald, Watts. Then throw in some mid heights Jurrah, Sylvia, Green

You can add Petterd to the mid-heights list but things are starting to get quite competitive for forward spots all of a sudden. I wonder where Petterd will feature in years to come. Depth is good but depth players are seldom content when they could/should be playing regular footy. An interesting one for mine.

As you can tell I'm not much of a photographer

Plenty more here - http://s1244.photobu.../gg568/tfitz420

The photos are much appreciated... hope you enjoyed the heat and wind!

edit: A few vanity observations. Moloney has joined the tattoo sleeve club. Greeny looks better with a bit of (albeit thin) hair than the nearly-shaved look he had last season... and is it just me or has Bate's hair got even more orange?

Edited January 16, 201213 yr by rhaz

Thnx for the photos has Martin joined the Leningrad cowboys?

Jeremy Howe is a great pick up. BP gets credit for that one. Neeld will love coaching this kid. He could be anything. He believes in himself too. From game one like Jordie, he just went for it.

Two things I noticed:

Has Beemer got a new sleeve tat?

What's up with Stefan martin's hair?

You can add Petterd to the mid-heights list but things are starting to get quite competitive for forward spots all of a sudden. I wonder where Petterd will feature in years to come. Depth is good but depth players are seldom content when they could/should be playing regular footy. An interesting one for mine.

Oh god not photos, posts of "WHY ISNT XXXX PLAYER BIGGER???" in 3... 2... 1

Just kidding. The photos are much appreciated... hope you enjoyed the heat and wind!

Sorry 1858 how could I forget Ricky.

Well done Finnson. The photos are very much appeciated.

And Rhaz not to disappoint you. I did notice Morton in one of the pics. So he must have put on bulk otherwise he'd been blown off the park.

Sorry 1858 how could I forget Ricky.

Well done Finnson. The photos are very much appeciated.

And Rhaz not to disappoint you. I did notice Morton in one of the pics. So he must have put on bulk otherwise he'd been blown off the park.

Yeah i deleted that part of my post because i was about to make comments about Morton haha... but im sure lots of others will. It's just when there are other beanpoles like Fitzpatrick around that are visibly putting on weight/size yet Cale STILL isn't.

Sellar has some good size. Grimes looks well developed. I think it's Tynan with red hair - looks like he has a strong frame that will develop well.

From these photos it looks like Moloney has trimmed up a fair bit, do you think this would be deliberate instruction from the coaches? Would be interesting to see how much his running time has improved since start of preseason

You're the man Finnson !! Thanks for the pics !!

Morton needs to trim down / not train with a hat on.

On a serious note, James Manger is a big unit, I like the look of him.

Magner looks in great shape. Seriously think this bloke will see a fair bit of seniors this year. Having a player with his strength (reported to be a freak in the gym) in the midfield will be invaluable to the young blokes around him.

I went to training. It was such a windy day, so much so that the foot skills were horrific. A few stood out however i.e. Sylvia, Moloney, Trengove, Magner and young Taggert. It was my first training where I've seen the draftees and Taggert was the standout. His kicking is elite. Tynan has great hands and moves well but his kicking needs some substantial work unfortunately. That said, it was a terrible day for footskills with shanks going everywhere and from everyone. Fitzpatrick kicked one on the full from 30metres out and brad green kicked one which i reckon came off his shin and dribbled along the ground. Frawley was all over the place too but it was really tough conditions. Don't get me started on Troy Davis.

Strauss, Viney, McKenzie, Spencer, Tapscott, BArtram, Jurrah, Jetta, leigh Williams were amongst those not taking part in full training. I couldnt see Sam Blease. Grimes did full training which was a big plus.

They did a few drills which involved handballing through traffic and kicking in traffic. They then moved on to a full ground drill with an emphasis on a defensive zone pushing the team wide. The other team (i.e. the one being directed wide) would then try and work the ball down the ground provided it was along a wing. My take from this drill is that next year we will be PLAYING WIDE FOOTBALL. Take this for what it is.

The mood was jovial and the drills were pretty inventive so the players seemed pretty enthused. Stef Martin is training well and will play a big part of our year in 2012 even if the big Russian steps up. I also hope James Magner gets elevated. He looks like he would be a real asset and Im hoping he can play all 22 games next season.

All in all a pretty good session in terrible conditions. The spirits were high. Also, at one point Viney was walking the boundary and I noticed how small he is. Sure, he is built but he isn't an intimidating guy or anything but a ball rolled over to him and I reckon he did a 20metres handball off one step. impressive.

Thankyou all for the reports and photos (Finnson) - appreciated. By the looks of some of the photo's, it looked very windy and trying conditions for effective kicking.

They did a few drills which involved handballing through traffic and kicking in traffic. They then moved on to a full ground drill with an emphasis on a defensive zone pushing the team wide. The other team (i.e. the one being directed wide) would then try and work the ball down the ground provided it was along a wing. My take from this drill is that next year we will be PLAYING WIDE FOOTBALL. Take this for what it is.

Interested in the above in practising and emphasising their defensive zone by pushing the team wide along the wing. Equally, we could be aiming to replicate this against opposition in games too.

Cheers for the reports/photos.

Good to see mckenzie and gysberts putting on some size, would've liked to see cook a bit bigger ( was hoping descriptions of him being a bean pole were harsh).

Love that our medium size KPF (petterd, green, jurrah, howe) get to play their proper positions on flanks and pockets instead of having to be focal points.

I was surprised to see how big grimes has gotten, pleasently surprised.

Did jamar complete a full session? if so how were his skills?

Apparently Stefan Martin got some hair style advice from his latino cousin Ricky