I think they are on borrowed time.

Yes. I'm still amazed Bail is on the list, and when playing against Nicho in the Amo's before he was drafted, I couldn't believe that we took him. Baffling that there are that many players in the Amo's who I'd confidently say could be on AFL lists and providing a lot more than what Nicho has given us.

Anyway, great to read the positives as always, thanks for the report.

from AFL site

Trengove feeling clear of mind, strong of focus

Fit Demons put through paces

Im curious about the second link....who's this mob theyre referring to ?

Thanks to all for their reports. Sounds impressive.

This bit from Macshy maybe impressed me most re the half forward drills:

"First cone had a player start about 10m closer to goal than true CHF, and lead hard at a coach kicking the ball for them to mark pretty much dead on 50. The player had to mark, then quickly turn and go, kicking to the other cone at the top of the square, where the 2nd player would be in a 1v1 contest with Brad Miller. The 1st player had to follow their kick and crumb or receive the handball around the top of the square and snap a goal. Then repeat.
More than anything, this drill seemed designed to make the players switch on to following up their kicks, and practice holding ground, protecting the dropzone in a 1v1 contest."

I can but fantasise at the joy it would bring to so many long-suffering Demon fans were this, especially what is described in the highlighted line, to occur in competition.

Many younger souls will never have witnessed this all so basic requirement for sustained success in red & blue.

GO DEES!

Did you make it along today Rog?

Of course, but I just hung out with Machsy on the fence and didn't see anything so here's

tasmanlvr's report from Bigfooty:

+ Notes

Rehab:

Kent, Clisby, McKenzie, Blease, Tyson, Hogan? Could be a rest day for Hoges'.

Hogan, Clark and Byrnes headed off. To the gym I'm presuming. Evans, Barry too. Blease running laps.

Started with runthroughs and stretches.

Grimes and Clisby are walking laps.

Groups of three doing 50% sprints.

Short 25m kicks.

Toumpas looks like he's got a tat over the off season? (Edit: paint) Never noticed it till now.

Group split into three. Group on the wind doing short kicks keeping it away from three defenders. Group nearest to us (we were in the forward pocket) had JKH, King, Howe, Salem, Westrupp, Tapscott and Bail. Involved kick from 35m out to the goalsquare - one on one contest with Miller. Group at the back doing some defensive drills, getting the ball out from defense.

IT IS COLD.

Same drill but altered to include a handball. JKH copped a solid falcon.

Group comes together and does a handball drill.

Gawn and Tyson have left to do running on the alternate oval with Blease.

Spencer, McDonald and Strauss doing non contact work.

Toumpas hit the deck copping a bump from I believe Nicho. Lands awkwardly, limps initially. Walks it off and continued on. Thank goodness.

Terlich leaves the main group to do some running. Hopefully he doesn't have a hammy niggle.

A weaving drill followed. Three handballs before the next group goes, and so on. Addition of defender afterwards. I like. Kick added. This is a seriously good drill. Might try to add it in local footy.

Full ground drill afterwards.

Drill was changed about a little bit.

Harmes is good. Makes right decisions, knows when to handball etc.

Some of the group doing 300s except for first year players.

Another full grounder based on movement around the ground + goal at the end.

A new drill that I haven't seen. One player at one end, a small group at the other and a large group in the middle, half defending, half attacking. JKH as a defender, brilliant pressure on Harmes. Garland lays a great tackle on Frawley and Jones nails Pedo. Salem goes flying after a bump. Nicho wants to kill everyone he sees. Eyes light up when there's an opportunity to bump.

JKH taking on everyone.

More 300s for the >2nd year players. Bail and Nicho are dominant. Cross, Watts and Toumpas just behind. Westrupp struggling way behind the group. Like, a long way behind. Melbourne V Essendon level behind.

Full ground drill based on ball use. In the fierce wind.

One thing you notice on the track is that Nathan Jones is very quiet. You don't hear him seriously demanding the ball. Even young blokes like Toumpas and more experienced guys like Howe make some serious noise on the track but you don't hear any from Jones. It'd surprise most who can't attend training.

Ball use decent in the wind.

Same drill, but defenders added.

Drill altered again. (Last drill seemingly) Working from defense. The first drill - defenders don't touch it. Slow, methodical build up. Un-Melbourne like.

They both seem to have an interesting skill.

They seem to be able to pass the ball half a metre in front of the intended recipient.

There's the problem! The recipients are running a half a metre too slow!! ;-)

Edit: Oh, and thanks for the great report Roger! ;-)

Edited December 11, 201311 yr by hardtack

Our reporters (who do a great job - thanks to all) regularly refer to players running 300m drills. I'm curious as to why 300m is the distance which always seems to be the one chosen. Is it because it's longer than a 200m sprint and therefore does something to benefit aerobic fitness? Anyone know?

Our reporters (who do a great job - thanks to all) regularly refer to players running 300m drills. I'm curious as to why 300m is the distance which always seems to be the one chosen. Is it because it's longer than a 200m sprint and therefore does something to benefit aerobic fitness? Anyone know?

I guess Dave Missen knows what he is doing. And what is more, all drug / supplement free one would presume.

There's the problem! The recipients are running a half a metre too slow!! ;-)

Edit: Oh, and thanks for the great report Roger! ;-)

Oh no Hardtack I am wrong again!

Lucky for Jones, Toumpas, Howe, Garland etc. the players are running a little bit faster.

I previously would mainly login to be able to like certain posts from valued demonlanders.

It is a shame the like button has gone..

I rarely log in now when visiting demonland, unless I passionately want to make a comment.

Yeah, looked to me like Toumpas had a fair bit of work done on his left shoulder and back, when he took his shirt off.

Paint you say? Looked a bit more intricate than that.

Was a bit surprised, because he just never seemed the type for tough stickers...

I liked Harmes. He took a few good strong grabs, has good size.

Quick too.

Not sure about his disposal. Sloppy handballs need to be eliminated.

Decision-making, awareness and reading situations is not quite there, not like it is with a smart kid like Salem or JKH.

Might take longer to figure it out, but should be a solid prospect.

Nicho might be poorly skilled and not the most natural footballer, but he does work hard, and was leading the first couple of 300m runs by 10m+ to McDonald then Bail.

Watts' skills were sublime in the weather.

He looked very very good.

I actually saw something from him today I've never seen before - he actually gritted his teeth and really pushed to change direction quickly or burst off at times, and him being out of breath afterwards due to the effort. Not just his usual laconic performances, although there were plenty of those.

It was pleasing to see.

And Frawley looked dominant whenever he touched it.

His kicks today were really pinpoint too. At least the ones I saw.

Showed some nimble footwork to dodge some defenders lunging to make tackles, and then finished with a decent fend off and pinpoint delivery. Looked a million bucks... but it is preseason.

Our reporters (who do a great job - thanks to all) regularly refer to players running 300m drills. I'm curious as to why 300m is the distance which always seems to be the one chosen. Is it because it's longer than a 200m sprint and therefore does something to benefit aerobic fitness? Anyone know?

I saw different runs. Some seemed to be doing 100m, some 200m, some 300m.

There were also runs that were time where it was the aim to run hard along the boundary as a group until Misson blew his whistle.

Usually went about 300-400m.

Yeah, looked to me like Toumpas had a fair bit of work done on his left shoulder and back, when he took his shirt off.

Paint you say? Looked a bit more intricate than that.

Was a bit surprised, because he just never seemed the type for tough stickers...

I liked Harmes. He took a few good strong grabs, has good size.

Quick too.

Not sure about his disposal. Sloppy handballs need to be eliminated.

Decision-making, awareness and reading situations is not quite there, not like it is with a smart kid like Salem or JKH.

Might take longer to figure it out, but should be a solid prospect.

Nicho might be poorly skilled and not the most natural footballer, but he does work hard, and was leading the first couple of 300m runs by 10m+ to McDonald then Bail.

Watts' skills were sublime in the weather.

He looked very very good.

I actually saw something from him today I've never seen before - he actually gritted his teeth and really pushed to change direction quickly or burst off at times, and him being out of breath afterwards due to the effort. Not just his usual laconic performances, although there were plenty of those.

It was pleasing to see.

And Frawley looked dominant whenever he touched it.

His kicks today were really pinpoint too. At least the ones I saw.

Showed some nimble footwork to dodge some defenders lunging to make tackles, and then finished with a decent fend off and pinpoint delivery. Looked a million bucks... but it is preseason.

Interesting that these three are among the worst kicks in our side.

I was real excited when JKH slipped to us at pick 40, really did not think he was going to giving his skill. Seems like by training reports he is surprising a lot and looking the goods!

I saw different runs. Some seemed to be doing 100m, some 200m, some 300m.

There were also runs that were time where it was the aim to run hard along the boundary as a group until Misson blew his whistle.

Usually went about 300-400m.

These were just before I left.

They looked to be about two thirds of one boundary lap whatever that distance is.

I think the timing changed, because on a few later runs they seemed to cover more ground.

Michie is one I'm not sure on.

Physically he seems good, skills are there, but I wonder about upstairs.

I thought he took the wrong option a couple of times, and thought a little slow.

His decision making today may have made him look slow, but he definitely covers the ground well and isn't slow by foot.

No, physically I thought he was sound.

But I think he thought slow, when making decisions.

Maybe merely adjusting to a new gameplan.

I'll give him some latitude, but I've been getting the feeling some expect a lot from him in 2014, and I think they may need to alter their expectations.

I couldn't fault the intensity or application last year at all. I reckon it's a myth they're training harder. But they do look a lot happier and ebullient. The training is also smarter, because much of the fitness is from the harder running during the training. So if you're meaning that from an intensity point of view then I agree.

The training intensity under both Roos and Neeld is light year ahead of the Bailey regime.

So wish the like button was available.

Hammer, nail, head, bang.

Yeah, looked to me like Toumpas had a fair bit of work done on his left shoulder and back, when he took his shirt off.

Paint you say? Looked a bit more intricate than that.

Was a bit surprised, because he just never seemed the type for tough stickers...

At a bar less than two weeks ago one of his teammates stated "Toumpas plays like a girl". Perhaps he's trying to shed this image.

No, physically I thought he was sound.

But I think he thought slow, when making decisions.

Maybe merely adjusting to a new gameplan.

I'll give him some latitude, but I've been getting the feeling some expect a lot from him in 2014, and I think they may need to alter their expectations.

Mach, how involved is Strauss in training at this point?

I saw a few reports last week stating how well he was kicking it, and was hoping that he would come on from there.

Did he train okay? Or just not getting involved enough?

So wish the like button was available.

Hammer, nail, head, bang.

Really? Pretty [censored] poor if true.

And Frawley looked dominant whenever he touched it.

His kicks today were really pinpoint too. At least the ones I saw.

Showed some nimble footwork to dodge some defenders lunging to make tackles, and then finished with a decent fend off and pinpoint delivery. Looked a million bucks... but it is preseason.

Uh oh.

Calling it now, he will play Round 1

Already salivating at the thought of him crumbing at the feet off Clark, Hogan, Fitzy, Dawes and Howe.

What crumbs? Clark, Hogan and Howe won't drop [censored]!

Calling it now, he will play Round 1

Already salivating at the thought of him crumbing at the feet off Clark, Hogan, Fitzy, Dawes and Howe.

Draft night Roos was pretty strong on no first year player getting a game (may have been just Salem)..

But clearly he is standing out and i would love to see him playing round one (maybe as Neade did for port), but manage his load well and rest him regularly so he doesn't burn out.

Draft night Roos was pretty strong on no first year player getting a game (may have been just Salem)..

But clearly he is standing out and i would love to see him playing round one (maybe as Neade did for port), but manage his load well and rest him regularly so he doesn't burn out.

I don't think he was strong on that at all. He said they aren't expected to play in their first year, but if they are doing the right things and earn their place then they would be selected.