Off air now, will try to answer anything else tonight or tomorrow

I'm looking forward to Roger's training report.

haha..again with this? Roger doesn't do reports. He copies reports from BF.

haha..again with this? Roger doesn't do reports. He copies reports from BF.

Knew I should have included a "winky" emoticon ;-)

Thanks again for the reports. Would appreciate any observations on Strauss, seems to slip through the cracks.

Knew I should have included a "winky" emoticon ;-)

Ah

Thanks again for the reports. Would appreciate any observations on Strauss, seems to slip through the cracks.

I think he is lucky that Bail and Nicholson are still on our list.

The time is surely fast approaching where we put the spotlight on his return on investment.

I'm looking forward to Roger's training report.

Early runout

Early runout

In that case we better send Holmes out to locate him... no point in getting Watson to assist as he's gone missing as well.

Thanks again for the reports. Would appreciate any observations on Strauss, seems to slip through the cracks.

Size might be a concern for Strauss.

If he's too much behind at this stage it's obvious he wont make the cut.

May need to look at becoming a tradesman if he isn't up to scratch.

In that case we better send Holmes out to locate him... no point in getting Watson to assist as he's gone missing as well.

Elementary humour.

Elementary humour.

You flatter me sir!

Mitch Clark died early in this thread but seemed to come back to life later on.

This is possibly counter intuitive but rucking part time may actually be protecting him compared to playing forward full time.

Sounds like today's training was very physical with the aim of getting some tension out before a final week then Christmas break.

Nice to know Kent is alive. Shame he's a far way back. If he's got patella tendinitis I wonder if they'll be able to fix him before next season. Physios opinion please!

Tapscott in full training in positive as well.

I thought Mitch Clark died for a brief second. Seriously people enough with the Clark scares.

By tasmanlvr from Bigfooty with thanks:

I arrived a little later than I'd like. Bear with me!!! To put it in perspective I ran from Jolimont to AAMI Park at 9:30. I feel like Tom McDonald now. Elite athlete/10.
Rehab has Clisby, JKH, Byrnes and Blease.
Some handball work and ball control/bumping kicked off my time here.
Dawes was here briefly, then left.
A drill similar to that done on Monday. Three handballs, handball to another group of three and vice versa. Roos is animated, imploring that players 'DON'T GO EARLY!!!' Defenders were added - McDonald, Tapscott, N.Jones and Hunt. Swapped after a circuit. Hogan is wearing a vest too.
Fair crowd - I'd say 40 people. Will be bigger in January I expect.
Spotted Dawes in the rehab group. Better signs given he wasn't even in there in all training sessions, coming off his arthroscope of his knee.
Roosy brought the boys in for a chat then proceeded to do a variation of the same drill, this time adding a kick.
The one voice I'm consistently hearing, even from the other side of the oval, is Toumpas. I'm impressed. He really is a future leader.
Moved to the other side of the oval. A mistake is made by the attacking group, Strauss is tackled by Clark due to a poor handball which put him straight under pressure. The tackle leaves a big RIP in his jumper. (I'll show a photo of this) Aggression not seen since the David Schwarz days. ROOS IS INFURIATED BY THIS MISTAKE. Brings the group in to talk to them, presumably to avoid that in the future. Best thing I've seen a coach do at Melbourne training.
Of course, the boys go for a stretch AFTER I move.
New drill I've seen - pick the ball up, kick to wingman standing on a hat, kick to player running from centre square inside 50, kick a goal. N.Jones nails a kick to Spencer who takes it on the burst + kicks a goal. I am impress. So are the boys with yells of 'SPENCILLLLLLLL' ringing around Gosch's. The boys are enjoying themselves immensely.
Mitch looks imposing and I'm frightened. So will opposition defenses if he's fully fit.
Group split in two - more stoppage work.
I'm at the far end where Roos is. There is more defensive tackles than the start of pre season. Dunn lays a crunching tackle on Howe and Toumpas is praised by Roos for his vision in traffic.
Spencer/Strauss/McDonald now watching on from the sidelines but doing some ball work.
Drill restarts. Some BRILLIANT pressure by the defensive team forces a turnover. These are scenes I've not seen for a long time. If at all.
Harmes takes the challenge on. Takes a handball on the burst, evades N.Jones and does brilliantly.
Roos is very supportive of Terlich, praising him for his effort.
Another drill. Working on ball movement around the ground. Watts does not go hard enough at the footy and Cross punishes him by forcing a massive spoil.
Cross stands out in these drills. He still has heaps to offer, but he had to do it at another club given the Dogs are assembling a super midfield.
Harmes chases Viney down! Impressive!
Westrupp struggling yet again. I'm not sure he's cut out for this. It was worth a go but I don't think it will work.

Garland tackles Clark in a defensive drill and Mitch immediately grabs the ankle/foot. The right one. (this happened right in front of where I was standing)

Toumpas leaves early. I'm not too focused on that because the big news is Clark. He isn't limping but he is sore.
UPDATE: Clark is okay and rejoins. Approaches Garland, gives him a bro-hug. DON'T DO THAT AGAIN MITCH.
Garland has a spell along with the first year players. Jetta goes to the sidelines too.
Heart rate is still high. Mitch is sprinting now. *Wipes plenty of sweat of brow*
Dom Tyson is progressing. Still has plenty of strapping on his knee. Thighs are HUGE wow.
Mitch goes off. Hopefully as a precaution after earlier.
Another drill. Apologies as I completely lost concentration and remained concerned about Mitch. It's a full ground drill which involved ball use. The boys are implored to slow it down and be wary of your options. Hogan's working up to the wing from the forward line. Expect plenty of that in 2014.
Bernie Vince effortlessly gets 60m goals.
Session surprisingly finished up afterwards.
Photoshoot being done with Watts and Robbo for New Age Caravans as I walked out.

I thought Mitch Clark died for a brief second. Seriously people enough with the Clark scares.

seriously do you want to be informed of what goes on at training or not?

I get the feeling ... that Clark himself has become hyper-aware of his foot and anything related to it.

Yeah, him and all the rest of us! Clark's injury recurring is the single most disappointing (credible) thing I could imagine happening in the off-season.

Yeah, him and all the rest of us! Clark's injury recurring is the single most disappointing (credible) thing I could imagine happening in the off-season.

Agreed

I don't know why but it seems inevitable.

A few observations from my visit this morning.

Cross is a general.

King is a big boy and when he fills out in a couple of years, could be very handy for us. He has footy smarts.

Mitch moving well and more tatts.

Vince not as defined in the upper body as I expected, but we know he can play.

Hunt is super fast.

Michie is very strongly built.

Nicho still sprays them.

Dunn got a blood nose and just wiped it away and got on with it.

Georgiou strong but not tall. Picked up a half volley beautifully and his kicking was fine. He is there to make the seniors.

Many of the players have developed physically.

Training seems to be done at more pace and with more intensity.

Roos stops them when he sees an error and corrects it and then continues.

There are far less breaks and they are moving most of the session. Clearly the fitness is improving.

Tyson looked ok to me for his first hitout.

Jordie did some drills and some running in rehab group with Blease.

Watts looks stronger.

Strauss looks stronger and was clean and hopefully this is his year.

Harmes looked ok.

Tapscott is a bull.

Jimmy looks stronger and raring to go.

Salem is not a big boy but is pretty clean with the ball and has pace.

Hogan, all I can say is stay fit and sign him for life.

Generally it looked more professional than in the past and I noticed a lot of the players encouraging each other, no one more than Nathan Jones, who kept going up to the new boys and encouraging them.

I arrived a little later than I'd like. Bear with me!!! To put it in perspective I ran from Jolimont to AAMI Park at 9:30. I feel like Tom McDonald now. Elite athlete/10.

Great report Rog!

Thanks for the reports it all sounds like it's going along nicely.

Gee the reporter on Big Footy must type as he goes, I do it from memory

Strauss to answer the question is training well, the ripped jumper mentioned, it was nearly in half, so Clark certainly left his mark

I was stood with Redleg chatting so his report is pretty spot on, some good observations

Once again many thanks to all those who post these reports.

It does sound as if the intensity is far greater under Roos than previously.

Cheers for the early update Swooper but out of respect let's get this right from the start of this young man's career with us.

It's Aidan Riley. Aidan with two A's and Riley without the extra E's and extra L's.

We get it right to begin with and then hopefully we don't have a high percentage of people spelling his name wrong for his entire career.

I hope we have the spelling problem for many years to come!

Maloney and Trengrove say "hi"!

Great stuff Saty... how is Barry looking now? particularly when seen alongside some of our newer and more highly regarded recruits? He's a player I would love to see getting a chance.

I am also interested in how he is developing : I would love to see him earning a chance.

I am also interested in how he is developing : I would love to see him earning a chance.

Semantics :-). I'm pretty sure we both mean the same thing.

I am also interested in how he is developing : I would love to see him earning a chance.

Barry is training exclusively with the midfield, so I don't think it will be a small forward opportunity, (Salem was with the forwards today), it is hard to judge about Barry's physique or changes to these days, we now have some big bodies on board, he does look 'more powerful', if that makes sense, in his work.

On the training , as you know the players speak to me, and no names, one told me this year is 10 times better because the emphasis is the running in the game, not just running, it has a purpose, and another one said it was good to be treated as adults this year, so you can take that whatever way you want.

I am also interested in how he is developing : I would love to see him earning a chance.

I don't care if it's Dom Barry or any other player on the list how nice would it be to see earning a jumper back in fashion instead of just getting one. (without having a go at hardtack).