BH- Did you see the Bail/Dunn incident??? It was uncomfortable to watch.

Those that I didn't see, or didn't join main training - Frawley, Trengove, Clark, Rodan, Gawn ...

Based on what you have seen at training so far, who would you pick as the small defender in round 1- also what would your starting midfield line up be Mr Hur?

BH- Did you see the Bail/Dunn incident??? It was uncomfortable to watch.

No. I saw Dunn land on McKenzie after he spoiled him in a marking contest, but not the incident you're referring to. Maybe I was on the other side of the ground.

They're all mates and would be ribbing each other about it later. I like to see those types of incidents. There haven't been enough.

I agree with others about Tommy Mac. He looks exceptional at the moment. He defended really well and is still rebounding like he did. He's just a fantastic runner with great judgement and a really good size.

I was impressed with Clisby. He was clean in defence and carried the ball really well. Gave some good overlapping run from deep, which is what we need to move the ball quickly.

I don't want to throw more petrol on the Viney fire, but he makes it hard not to.

Towards the end there was a drill with the forwards and midfielders involving stoppages. It seemed very much to be an A-team vs B-team in the midfield, with just an A-team setup up forward. It was Jamar, Jones, Jones, McKenzie, Viney, Grimes vs Spencer, Evans, Magner, Couch and Taggert (IIRC) in the midfield. The forwards were Dawes, Pedersen, Fitzpatrick, Davey and Tapscott. They were set up like an X (20 metres apart) with Dawes in the middle about 30 metres from goal, Pedersen and Fitz playing deeper, but separated, and Tapscott and Davey playing higher (about 40 or so metres out) but spread out. The stoppage was won and then kicked forwards (either quickly under pressure or measured if they get space) where one of the talls knocked the ball down for a small to run onto the ball.

With the running, they did repeat sprints with Misson in groups over about 30 metres. There were different targets for different players: a B cone, an A cone and an A+ cone (each one about 3 or so metres past the last - ie, Bs did 30m, As did 33m and A+ did 36m). In the midfielders group the A+ group were Grimes (who was ultra impressive), Jones and Viney.

One thing about the drills is that there was a marked improvement from last year with the intensity. Especially defensively. The pressure that was placed on the ball carrier was very good and there seemed to be a lot of drills done to emphasise this. The match simulation had some turnovers, but a lot of that was to do with the defensive intent of the defending team. It was good to see, and easy to notice that the players genuinely value the defensive aspect.

BH- Did you see the Bail/Dunn incident??? It was uncomfortable to watch.

I saw it, but I thought it was a scuffle designed to take Bail out of the play while Dunn's team cleared the footy. I didn't even register it as an incident of note.

On to the full ground circle work type drill where the ball starts in defence, is usually switched, but wasn't always, and worked forward by kicks, overlapping handball receivers and hard running, before trying to hit a target close to goal.

Did they use the whole ground or did they continually stick to the boundary?

Great report, thanks for taking the effort and for the information.

Same question to you Bob, just saw your post.

Based on what you have seen at training so far, who would you pick as the small defender in round 1- also what would your starting midfield line up be Mr Hur?

I'm more interested in how players perform in the NAB Cup. Jetta and Nicholson both cough the ball up. I'm not sure either are the answer. But both have their upside too. Let's see them line up on an Eddie Betts, Jetta (Essendon), or Rioli and see how they go containing those players before locking either of them in.

In the midfield Grimes, McKenzie, N. Jones, Trengove, Sylvia, Viney are the locks with Evans, M. Jones, Taggert, Toumpas all ahead of Magner, and Couch.

I saw it, but I thought it was a scuffle designed to take Bail out of the play while Dunn's team cleared the footy. I didn't even register it as an incident of note.

It got quite heated. As Dunn was walking off Bail followed him and gave him a big elbow to the back of the head. I didn't think a whole lot of it, but there were two people standing near me who thought it was bad enough to yell out to the coaches near the tent to get them to do something about it.

In the midfield Grimes, McKenzie, N. Jones, Trengove, Sylvia, Viney are the locks with Evans, M. Jones, Taggert, Toumpas all ahead of Magner, and Couch.

Kent?

Did they use the whole ground or did they continually stick to the boundary?

Great report, thanks for taking the effort and for the information.

Same question to you Bob, just saw your post.

They mainly stick to the flanks. They're happy to centre it at CHB coming out of defence, but will then look for a leading option on the wing. I doubt it's set in stone that they can't use the middle, but it would have to be low risk I suspect.

Kent?

He's competing with Tapscott for a forward-line spot. Definitely won't be midfield this year. But I like the look of him.

Cheers Ben Hur.

It got quite heated. As Dunn was walking off Bail followed him and gave him a big elbow to the back of the head. I didn't think a whole lot of it, but there were two people standing near me who thought it was bad enough to yell out the coaches near the tent to get them to do something about it.

That is disgraceful. Outlawed in UFC for a reason! Extremely dangerous.

Tommy Mac just glides over the turf...he's a running machine!

I think the older draftees like Byrnes, Rodan, Terlich etc have been brought in for quite a specific reason. Sounds obvious I know, but I've often discussed this theory in relation to Australian cricket as it was and as it is now.

My theory was that, while we had great players, it highlighted the importance of having a very strong second tier. How good was Martin Love to only play one test!? The result is that talent wasn't relied upon and second group really pushed the talented players to another level. It's not necessarily even a conscious thing, but talent is maximized due to natural competition.

Hope that makes sense.

As for cricket now, there doesn't appear to be that really strong second tier, but perhaps it's been being developed through that awful rotation policy. Another story.

I suspect Melbourne hasn't had an environment like that for a number of years, where it is ultra competitive. Guys like Rodan, Brynes and the rest will do wonders for the likes of Tapscott, Watts, Blease etc who have natural ability but haven't really had to compete for a spot like this.

Cheers once again for all the reports fellow Dees.

Two things which make me happy with several reports

• With the season getting closer intensity seems to be lifting

• It appears Viney just has what you can't train a willingness to keep going and when you think he is done back for more. I know we have been hearing this about him for a few years but greatto hear he appears to be carrying it over the senior footy

Once again thanks feeling positive but also apprehensive as season is getting closer. All part of the journey