Whats roos like? Is he easy to approach and talk to. He comes across as an easy going approachable guy.

Slightly off topic but I taped the Geelong v Fremantle game from earlier in the year when the Cats thrashed a depleted Dockers team at Simonds Stadium. It was Viv Michie's one and only game and was the starting sub coming on in the third quarter. He has a decent build but he struggled to keep up with the tempo of the game. To be fair, the Dockers copped an absolute flogging and it would have been difficult for a young bloke to impress. Still, on that performance, he would not be an automatic selection in our starting 22 for round 1.

My thoughts on today.

■ Spencer runs pretty well for a big fella. He is a massive man.

■ Viney has a very solid core.

■ Viney and Michie did some kicking drills after some 60 odd metre run throughs. Michie appears to have a neat kick on him.

■ Clark looks to be going pretty well. Something would have to go wrong for him to not make round 1.

■ McDonald is a great runner. (I know we all know this) he doesn't just lead every run, he dominates them.

■ Trenners has started back very well in the running stakes. The new interchange rules will suit him. It will take the sting out of the pace near the end of quarters.

■ I chatted to Chip, Watts and Dunn when going back to my car. They did the tan and then runs up the Anderson Street hill. For anyone that has done this before it is hard work that hill. They aren't really back until the 18th.

■ Josh Mahoney said that there will be 15 players plus the draftees on this date. He is very positive about the way things are going.

■ Evans is running pretty well. I hope he has a decent run with no injuries.

■ Howe looks very fit so early.

■ Matt jones has a bit of work to do running especially with the new rules. Not saying he is unfit, just needs some work. I guess it is his first real pre-season. I'm hoping all the current mids push hard and push each other.

■ Hogan did lots of running with Viney and Michie. The kid really can run and is a big unit.

■ They did some short ball work but its mostly about running.

■ Tyson ran mostly the whole session.

■ My mate's favourite player Terlich, ran off and did the tan after the ball work while most did a timed run.

■ The run was about 5 minutes as far as they could go. McDonald led easily. Fitzy was about a half lap behind at the end.

■ Nicholson and Hogan did a kicking drill near me. Nicho kicked the ball really well. He obviously has some decision making issues during games which affects his kicking. Maybe Roosy can simplify things for him to help this. I am not a negative person and try to take positives from everything but he will be under the pump under roos game plan if he can't do this.

■ I didn't see Blease go near a footy and he ran the whole time.

■ Toumpas will really benefit from his first preseason uninjured. He ran well and kicks beautifully.

■ Rawlings is everywhere at training. He impresses me. He appears to have a rapport with everyone.

I went down to training today, and have in a few seasons gone past.

One thing that stuck me almost immediately was how hands-on and involved Roos is. He was running the drills, he was giving the instructions and telling them what he wanted them to do. During one simple drill where they were running back and forth picking up a loose ball and handballing it off he stopped them all, told them a more effective technique, physically demonstrated it, then had them start again. "Much better" came the call not long after. Saw that happen several times in numerous drills. I don't recall seeing Neeld EVER get involved in anything like that. He tended to stand back and watch everything while the assistants ran the drills.

Re the laps they were doing, Tom McDonald smashed them as usual.

At the other end of the field, Maia Westrupp was struggling. In the time it took McDonald to do three full laps of the oval, Westrupp managed just over two. The next slowest was Fitzy who was about half a lap ahead.

I was watching Clark pretty closely most of the time and like Ruffles mentioned earlier, he looks fine. Running well and kicking great of both feet.

My thoughts on today.

■ Spencer runs pretty well for a big fella. He is a massive man.

■ Viney has a very solid core.

■ Viney and Michie did some kicking drills after some 60 odd metre run throughs. Michie appears to have a neat kick on him.

■ Clark looks to be going pretty well. Something would have to go wrong for him to not make round 1.

■ McDonald is a great runner. (I know we all know this) he doesn't just lead every run, he dominates them.

■ Trenners has started back very well in the running stakes. The new interchange rules will suit him. It will take the sting out of the pace near the end of quarters.

■ I chatted to Chip, Watts and Dunn when going back to my car. They did the tan and then runs up the Anderson Street hill. For anyone that has done this before it is hard work that hill. They aren't really back until the 18th.

■ Josh Mahoney said that there will be 15 players plus the draftees on this date. He is very positive about the way things are going.

■ Evans is running pretty well. I hope he has a decent run with no injuries.

■ Howe looks very fit so early.

■ Matt jones has a bit of work to do running especially with the new rules. Not saying he is unfit, just needs some work. I guess it is his first real pre-season. I'm hoping all the current mids push hard and push each other.

■ Hogan did lots of running with Viney and Michie. The kid really can run and is a big unit.

■ They did some short ball work but its mostly about running.

■ Tyson ran mostly the whole session.

■ My mate's favourite player Terlich, ran off and did the tan after the ball work while most did a timed run.

■ The run was about 5 minutes as far as they could go. McDonald led easily. Fitzy was about a half lap behind at the end.

■ Nicholson and Hogan did a kicking drill near me. Nicho kicked the ball really well. He obviously has some decision making issues during games which affects his kicking. Maybe Roosy can simplify things for him to help this. I am not a negative person and try to take positives from everything but he will be under the pump under roos game plan if he can't do this.

■ I didn't see Blease go near a footy and he ran the whole time.

■ Toumpas will really benefit from his first preseason uninjured. He ran well and kicks beautifully.

■ Rawlings is everywhere at training. He impresses me. He appears to have a rapport with everyone.

Great write up DS. Please attend training more often.

I say chap, going completely off topic some what, you never heard of the GFC, *some of us Baby Boomers have the same level of pathological hatred of Lehman Bros exectives as some posters on here have towards an administration whose name shall not be said)..........the more you had, the more you lost.........my pina colada has to wait for a few years yet, I am sitting in an office pretending to be productive like everybody else.............I get to training coz I have too much leave built up and I am encouraged to use it

I could understand your employers encouraging you to take time out of the office.

Is there a training log/diary for us that have work etc. Unlike most of you generation z's doing a degree online with less than 5 contact hours per week, it is a bit hard for us to leave the office and watch. Also, unlike you baby-boomers that witnessed 1964, who are sipping on pina-colada's reading the stockmarket and complaining about low-interest rates, the productive meat-in-the-sandwich needs a bit more notice.

Can we have some indication earlier?

pTGR

X-Gen (Funding the pension for the crafty baby-boomers; paying for the education of our future leaders)

Ah TiGeR ever the Martyr; you do have a computer so all you need do is LOGON to the MFC website.

Thanks for the reports. It's much appreciated by those of us who can't ever take time off to attend training.

I'm cautiously excited about Clark!

Any news on Gawn, hope he has a huge pre Christmas and remains injury free for once.

I'm cautiously excited about Clark!

Shut up, Jaded.

Slightly off topic but I taped the Geelong v Fremantle game from earlier in the year when the Cats thrashed a depleted Dockers team at Simonds Stadium. It was Viv Michie's one and only game and was the starting sub coming on in the third quarter. He has a decent build but he struggled to keep up with the tempo of the game. To be fair, the Dockers copped an absolute flogging and it would have been difficult for a young bloke to impress. Still, on that performance, he would not be an automatic selection in our starting 22 for round 1.

To be fair to Michie whenever we play at Geelong most of our players look like witches hats so I'm not too worried. B+F win at WAFL level means with a decent preseason he's in our best 22.

Gawn did most of the training yesterday but he and clisby headed back before the final run.

Thanks for the write ups guys, awesome.

The groundsmen are removing the stench of the former tenants. Due to lack of rain it lingered longer than expected.

Brilliant!!

To be fair to Michie whenever we play at Geelong most of our players look like witches hats so I'm not too worried. B+F win at WAFL level means with a decent preseason he's in our best 22.

Peel Thunder won 3 games so his B+F win is of no real consequence as a barometer with regards his place in our Best 22. Matt Jones finished fourth in ours and, while I like him as a player, is no certainty of being in our best 22. Most WAFL best and fairests won't be on an AFL list next year. Moreover, Paul Johnson and Mark McGough finished top 5 in the entire WAFL (Sandover Medal). I'm not potting Michie but saying his B+F win for the worst club in a major Australian football league is of huge significance re: him being in our best 22 or being a good AFL player is nonsense.

Whilst I agree with your analysis Goodoil, the reason I think Michie will prove to be a bloody great pick up is that:

1. He was a required player at Freo - they wanted to keep him; and

2. Freo has one of the best midfields in the competition.

I'll be absolutely stunned if he's not in our best 22 in 5 months from now.

no photos?

Whilst I agree with your analysis Goodoil, the reason I think Michie will prove to be a bloody great pick up is that:

1. He was a required player at Freo - they wanted to keep him; and

2. Freo has one of the best midfields in the competition.

I'll be absolutely stunned if he's not in our best 22 in 5 months from now.

Number 1 is the key. Ross Lyon doesn't tamper too much with winning formulas, so it wasn't going to be easy for him to be best 22 with their stable midfield and his injury interrupted preseason.

I also wouldn't take notice of any player's first AFL game. I don't think it provides any inkling to the future, one way or t'other.

Peel Thunder won 3 games so his B+F win is of no real consequence as a barometer with regards his place in our Best 22. Matt Jones finished fourth in ours and, while I like him as a player, is no certainty of being in our best 22. Most WAFL best and fairests won't be on an AFL list next year. Moreover, Paul Johnson and Mark McGough finished top 5 in the entire WAFL (Sandover Medal). I'm not potting Michie but saying his B+F win for the worst club in a major Australian football league is of huge significance re: him being in our best 22 or being a good AFL player is nonsense.

But he did get Sandover votes in 7 games, a fair effort in such an apparently poor side. I'm happy to wait and see.

We traded him for pick 54.

Why should I be more excited about him than pick 54 in this years draft and I can tell you I'm not too excited about that.

The reality is that this kid played 1 game for Freo who probably use around 32 players during the year. And he didn't play against St. Kilda in the final round where they left out 11 or so of their best players so I'm hoping he was injured for that game.

I wish him well but I'll be excited when he plays well in a game. His CV doesn't support the hype many have for him.

WJ you are being anything but fair on Michie. You saw him play one and half quarters of football. In his first game of AFL. Against Geelong. At Geelong.

Yet you think "he struggled to keep up with the tempo of the game" and isn't an automatic selection in our best 22.

Christ...

We traded him for pick 54.

Why should I be more excited about him than pick 54 in this years draft and I can tell you I'm not too excited about that.

The reality is that this kid played 1 game for Freo who probably use around 32 players during the year. And he didn't play against St. Kilda in the final round where they left out 11 or so of their best players so I'm hoping he was injured for that game.

I wish him well but I'll be excited when he plays well in a game. His CV doesn't support the hype many have for him.

he was injured

To be fair to Michie whenever we play at Geelong most of our players look like witches hats so I'm not too worried. B+F win at WAFL level means with a decent preseason he's in our best 22.

Similar to Magner, Couch and Valenti?

Don't like your logic.

WJ you are being anything but fair on Michie. You saw him play one and half quarters of football. In his first game of AFL. Against Geelong. At Geelong.

Yet you think "he struggled to keep up with the tempo of the game" and isn't an automatic selection in our best 22.

Christ...

On top of that, his highlights from that match look as good as anything we saw from the bulk of our midfielders this season.

Similar to Magner, Couch and Valenti?

Don't like your logic.

Valenti is the best on that list would have to be shattered he wasn't born five years later. He was just a solid c grader in the big league but would have been in our top 5 if he was on our list last year.