They're back at Goschs Paddock today.

Thanks DH. I'm looking forward to an even more comprehensive report later in the day.

Can we have some observations of where people see Rohan Bail fitting in

Can we have some observations of where people see Rohan Bail fitting in

Casey!

Agreed.

Not a lot of room for him going forward.

I mean, where would be play? At whose expense?

He's a bloody good runner, but as we acquire more of these, what other attributes does he have that set him apart from other players?

Not overly hard or physical, doesn't have sublime skills, not great winning the contested footy, not a great mark or goal kicker, doesn't have exceptional pace, doesn't read the play especially well...

He's ok at a lot of these things, but is that enough?

He's vanilla as far as I'm concerned, and we're best off when he is a depth player.

Casey!

If that's where Rohan spends most of his time this year then I will be happy, because it will signal to me we are a better team than I thought.

Agreed.

Not a lot of room for him going forward.

I mean, where would be play? At whose expense?

He's a bloody good runner, but as we acquire more of these, what other attributes does he have that set him apart from other players?

Not overly hard or physical, doesn't have sublime skills, not great winning the contested footy, not a great mark or goal kicker, doesn't have exceptional pace, doesn't read the play especially well...

He's ok at a lot of these things, but is that enough?

He's vanilla as far as I'm concerned, and we're best off when he is a depth player.

While I agree in some respects Jose, his work-rate is in the upper echelon at the Club. That will stand him in good stead for a long way. Premium Madagascan vanilla bean perhaps?

Can anyone tell me if the club is training this Friday?

Can anyone tell me if the club is training this Friday?

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/season/training-times

Got down to see a short session today. Good crowd to start with, reckon quite a few came and watched the first hour before moving onto the tennis.

On arrival, at 9.30, Spencer and Jordie McTackle were already leaving.

Jamar, Davey and Hulk only had a short appearance walking laps (ditto Frank Grimes and one of the new kids). At on stage Hogan picked up the ball and slotted a drop punt from an impossible angle, very impressed!

Didn't see Viney, Toumpas, Captain Jack and a few others.

After warm up drills and close in hand pass drills, we went into some end to end work. Had an AFL field and boundary ump there, they don't get any less annoying at training.

Used the corridor quite a bit here, though also had a lot of diddly little sideways passes in last line of defence till they chose a better option - fine when it works, not when it doesn't, as seen by Dunn spilling a sitter in the goal square. Usual suspects frustrated with their kicking. Tommy Mac continues to impress me, though constantly needs to improve his kicking, which is better than it was.

Blease and Tappscott initially lined up with the forwards. One of the drills kept seeing one or two forwards grab a defenders vest and switch sides. They used the boundary at times, but didn't hesitate to go up the guts when the opportunity arose.

One exercise had 3 teams, constantly rotating one off for a short break, another involved simulating a free deep in defence and having to break quickly to clear it.

Last exercise, after many had left, involved end to end stuff with little to no pressure.

Overall, looking good but let's not get too carried away, saw a bit of the filth's training after ours and we have quite a bit of work still to do.

Bail, doing laps early

i thought this was a topic about today's training, from the look of the pictures there were a few people there so hopefully we will get a report posted to get us back on topic.......obviously Bail is going to be one of the moving targets this season alongside Dunn....Bail has played 30 odd games so let's wait and see shall we.....he is like Jetta when fit Neeld picks him so he must see something

Bail is hard. He has a mean streak and always has a dip. Needs to work on his tacking technique, which has hopefully improved with the specialist coaching this preseason, but he can run all day and can play on a wing, either flank or on ball (rover and tagger). If he can't find a spot this year, we're doing pretty bloody well.

Bail was working on his break away speed today alone with the trainers. He was jogging to a cone then sprinting (maybe 20m?) and was timed. All around the 4.0-4.4 mark. He then went to run laps. Must have been running for the better part of 2 hours. They could be working on his endurance.

Just before 9 Gawn, Spencer, JV, Toumpas, Tom Mc, Nicho and Jordie were running laps. JV was with Nicho and Tom M infront of the others.

JV, Nicho and Tom Mc then were kicking 30(?)m passes. Imagine a wire from JVs foot to Nichos chest. Nicho'and Tom Mc kicking looks a lot better but 2 grades below JV. After Spencer and Gawn did ruck work with Toumpas and Jordie below. JV and Nicho joined them later. I'm worried cause JV was the stand out by a mile. Gawn did some good work and seemed to be moving without any issues.

Jordie then had a 10 minute kick to kick with Toumpas. Looks like he is working really hard on it - he was concentrating a lot.

The rest of the group then emerged for stretches and running. Some in close work followed which I had trouble distinguishing everyone from where I was standing. The match simulations I was a lot closer.

There were a lot of full group drills today in 3 groups, mid, fwd and backs. The backs had the better of the other 2 groups. Standouts today were Dunn (hard for me to say that), Jones, Tommy Mc, Nicho, Terlich.

I was impressed by Barry's intent, Kents left foot (he looks a little lost in the match sims but he doesn't look like a first year player). Dawes contested marks, Fitzy staying back to work on his kicking for goal, Howes intent, Watts voice, Bleases second efforts, Nicho playing link up, Couchs accumulation.

Edited January 23, 201312 yr by Dee-licious

Bail is hard. He has a mean streak and always has a dip. Needs to work on his tacking technique, which has hopefully improved with the specialist coaching this preseason, but he can run all day and can play on a wing, either flank or on ball (rover and tagger). If he can't find a spot this year, we're doing pretty bloody well.

Agree with your point about the tackling. To me Bail looks good when he is running with the ball in his hands. BUT he gives away soooo many free kicks when not in possession, often at critical times in a game by a head high tackle or by falling into an opponents back. The most annoying thing is he doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes...

Drives me freakin crazy.

What does a top 8 side at training look like, never been to one,

assume they don't drop the ball, miss a kick, drop a mark, break into a sweat, look unkempt in their training tops, not get a hair out of place...........

this is training......

they have now been at it solidly for nearly four months.........I am waiting to watch the praccy games and then the NAB Cup and then decide if we have improved or not

I have been to training about seven or eight times and have been impressed by the effort being put in, that's all I am interested in at the moment

I think Bail is very hard but as mentioned above he can lack subtlety ( or grey matter) in that a lot of the times he goes in at 100 miles an hour and gives away a free kick.

My knock on him is his disposable is average at best.

Thanks DH. I'm looking forward to an even more comprehensive report later in the day.

Happy to oblige as long as:-

1. They're still on the track when I go home and

2. The train goes past AAMI Park very slowly or stops when we pass by.

Agree with your point about the tackling. To me Bail looks good when he is running with the ball in his hands. BUT he gives away soooo many free kicks when not in possession, often at critical times in a game by a head high tackle or by falling into an opponents back. The most annoying thing is he doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes...

Drives me freakin crazy.

So an average of 1.4 free kicks per game against him is too mamy?

I do really love how one person puts something in a post on this board and it becomes a self perpectuating myth

And I would suggest that he gets to more contests to tackle and maybe give frees away.

Jonesy has same average, would you like to say the same about him? And Jordie McKenzie is higher

Agreed.

Not a lot of room for him going forward.

I mean, where would be play? At whose expense?

He's a bloody good runner, but as we acquire more of these, what other attributes does he have that set him apart from other players?

Not overly hard or physical, doesn't have sublime skills, not great winning the contested footy, not a great mark or goal kicker, doesn't have exceptional pace, doesn't read the play especially well...

He's ok at a lot of these things, but is that enough?

He's vanilla as far as I'm concerned, and we're best off when he is a depth player.

Can't agree entirely, Jose. I think he is hard, generally goes when it is his turn, and does have excellent pace. Also, he is in the top few players in our team for creating run and carry, breaking away from contested situations.

Agree about his other deficiencies, though.

I think he is still just in our best 22, but will have to improve his skills, particularly kicking and execution of defensive pressure, if he is to stay there as the team improves.

Can we have some observations of where people see Rohan Bail fitting in

From the 3 sessions I have seen my opinion is he will be in and out of the side where ever he plays. His fitness is top notch within the group, his run and carry looks good to cement a spot but his skills by foot are his weak point. Which after this preseason picking up some quality skill players, will see players who miss targets moved to the fringe. Skills by and hand and foot are a must for Neeld. If he can improve those he could be very damaging coming off the wing/half back line with stints in the middle.

I’ll leave the comprehensive reports to BH or others but I’ll share some of my personal observations.

I got there before the official starting time and Gawn and Spencer were being put through some ruck/ midfield drills. Viney, Mckenzie and two others completed the set up. It was the first time I’d seen Gawn standing next to Spencer and, given Spencer’s size, Gawn is a real ogre.

The drills weren’t competitive as such because Gawn and Spencer were put in predetermined positions to take the tap. Gawn looked fully free in his movements. Interestingly, Viney fumbled a couple of times and got really dirty on himself. They stayed at this for a good 20 minutes then left. I heard Jordie tell another spectator that he had a “bike test” – so I’m guessing they all had. I did not see Jamar until later and he was walking laps with Davey. Grimes was also walking laps later.

Trengove was also there early but didn’t do any training.

After some running work, the bulk of the players worked in two large groups that consisted of moving through traffic and disposal under pressure. I had noticed earlier how fit Frawley looks and he was very impressive in this drill. Barry also stood out with his very quick and clean hand skills. This was a very fast session with continuous movement and group interchanges. In general it was quite impressive.

At the conclusion of that, I saw Mitch Clarke heading off. He was intercepted by a proud young couple with their little kids all done up in Demon gear. He very obligingly posed for a number of shots with dad and his boys. It was a nice moment.

The next drill of interest was match simulation, using the whole ground and three rotating teams. I found Dunne very impressive. The wind was getting up at this time but he got plenty of the ball, handled it cleanly, and kicked long when required. I confess to having doubts about Dunne but he certainly looked good today. Nicholson was also very impressive. He was covering a lot of territory and using the ball well. Watts was also good and always seemed to have plenty of time.

Dawes moved well and doesn’t seem to have any injury issues. He made position well but was not dominant. Tom Mac. Spoiled him on occasion.

The training was mostly taken by Craig but Neeld did arrive later.

_{I got down to Gosch’s Paddock this morning. After chatting to Jordie McKenzie it became apparent that Wednesday is not the best day to get to training. He said most of those on lightened loads did the full session on Mondays and Fridays, and then did minimal weight-bearing stuff on a Wednesday. For example, McKenzie, Evans, Spencer, Gawn and Viney did some stoppage work at the start of the session, and then they headed inside for a bike session}

_{Other observations:}

_{-I didn't see Toumpas, but I arrived at 9.30. Trengove and Joel Mac walked some laps and then went inside with the others and did a bike session.}

_{-Clark did some very light 20m straight-line running and that was all.}

_{-Taggert, Grimes, Jamar, Davey and Hogan did some stuff inside and then came out and walked some laps.}

_{-Bail did repeat effort running by himself for the duration of the session.}

_{-Dawes continued to impress me with his mobility at ground level and his strength in marking contests. He rag-dolled Gillies at least a couple of times that I saw.}

_{-Frawley spent part of the session working with the forward-line group. Perhaps Neeld sees him as an option down there until big Mitch gets right, considering that we already have Garland, Gillies, Watts, McDonald and Sellar who can play KDP roles???}

_{-It was a very busy session. There were 2 AFL umpires taking the full ground stuff again It mostly focused on ball movement from defence to attack, using both sides of the ground, and on working hard defensively when we don’t have the footy.}

_{-Dean Kent is a beautiful kick. Twice I found myself applauding him hitting targets 50m away.}

_{-Clisby and Stark did most of the session. Stark struggled a bit to pick up the pace of training, but Clisby was calm, made good decisions and used the ball well. I had a chat to Mitch Clisby and he said he was happy to be doing something other than just running laps.}

_{-Tappy completed the session. If he continues to build his tank I think he can useful as a high half forward.}

_{-Fitzy was jumping out of his skin. He got on the end of a couple and took some strong marks on the lead. If he can improve this area of his game he can be really dangerous t AFL level.}

The next drill of interest was match simulation, using the whole ground and three rotating teams. I found Dunne very impressive. The wind was getting up at this time but he got plenty of the ball, handled it cleanly, and kicked long when required. I confess to having doubts about Dunne but he certainly looked good today.

I confess to having doubts about your spelling

Thanks to all reporters, much appreciated.

I’ll leave the comprehensive reports to BH or others but I’ll share some of my personal observations.

I got there before the official starting time and Gawn and Spencer were being put through some ruck/ midfield drills. Viney, Mckenzie and two others completed the set up. It was the first time I’d seen Gawn standing next to Spencer and, given Spencer’s size, Gawn is a real ogre.

The drills weren’t competitive as such because Gawn and Spencer were put in predetermined positions to take the tap. Gawn looked fully free in his movements. Interestingly, Viney fumbled a couple of times and got really dirty on himself. They stayed at this for a good 20 minutes then left. I heard Jordie tell another spectator that he had a “bike test” – so I’m guessing they all had. I did not see Jamar until later and he was walking laps with Davey. Grimes was also walking laps later.

Trengove was also there early but didn’t do any training.

After some running work, the bulk of the players worked in two large groups that consisted of moving through traffic and disposal under pressure. I had noticed earlier how fit Frawley looks and he was very impressive in this drill. Barry also stood out with his very quick and clean hand skills. This was a very fast session with continuous movement and group interchanges. In general it was quite impressive.

At the conclusion of that, I saw Mitch Clarke heading off. He was intercepted by a proud young couple with their little kids all done up in Demon gear. He very obligingly posed for a number of shots with dad and his boys. It was a nice moment.

The next drill of interest was match simulation, using the whole ground and three rotating teams. I found Dunne very impressive. The wind was getting up at this time but he got plenty of the ball, handled it cleanly, and kicked long when required. I confess to having doubts about Dunne but he certainly looked good today. Nicholson was also very impressive. He was covering a lot of territory and using the ball well. Watts was also good and always seemed to have plenty of time.

Dawes moved well and doesn’t seem to have any injury issues. He made position well but was not dominant. Tom Mac. Spoiled him on occasion.

The training was mostly taken by Craig but Neeld did arrive later.

Hey bbo, nice report. do you have to let your parole officer know when you come to the big smoke?

I'm excited about this Dunne fellow. Anyone have anymore info on him?