Training - Wednesday, 22nd January, 2014

[Seve Ballesteros 10]

Just back from a long overseas stint and I've been sifting through these preseason training reports.

Frankly, I'm more than a little disappointed not to hear that Col Sylvia is going gangbusters at training and that this is going to be his year at last.

Absolutely devastated!!!

[jackaub 1,402]

This is the third week as far as I know that Jack Viney hasn't trained with the main group and the two times I have been to training I haven't sighted him

Does anybody know what the injury is and prognosis?I hope it isn't that serious.

[DeeZee 7,425]

This is the third week as far as I know that Jack Viney hasn't trained with the main group and the two times I have been to training I haven't sighted him

Does anybody know what the injury is and prognosis?I hope it isn't that serious.

He has an ongoing hip problem, not sure how serious it is though.

I think it just annoys him and gives him niggles every now and then.

[Gorgoroth 12,972]

Didn't Viney train with the main group part of last week?

[rpfc 28,542]

Guys, leave Saty alone. He obviously has a great passion and deep love for the MFC. He goes to every game and most trainings as well as a lot of the Casey games. I wish I had his commitment. I'm glad a lot of the people at the Club see him and recognise his loyalty and treat him with the respect he deserves. Keep it up Saty! Wish we had more like you mate.

He's a fully grown up person who can take some constructive criticism just like the rest of the human race.

We all appreciate any poster who can give their time and report on training - but that is not a double edged sword - no supporter needs to go to training and report on Demonland to those at the club.

This is a nerve center for the anxieties of a supporter base - it sometimes (more often of late) is brazenly caustic, facetious, and unfairly rude.

Relaying any 'relevant' information to players and staff is not desirable.

If you disagree, please explain why it is a good or benign thing.

[Satyriconhome 10,879]

Can you please stop forwarding the opinions of about 5 people on here to people you see at MFC training?

I don't know why you do it.

What is wrong with you people, you actually believe that nobody at the Club either reads or monitors this site, of course they do, to gauge the feeling of 'so called' supporters.

I made a joke about the snarky comment and it was taken that way, gee there can be a modicum of intelligence shown in conversations, I know it is a rare beast on here

If posters don't want there opinions, baggings, comments, snide remarks, player assessments read by somebody at the Club, then don't post

As I have said before I will say exactly what I want to say

[Wormburner 674]

Or supporters.

My Grandmother was French, so there is some Froggy blood in me (although diluted considerably by alcohol)- does that count?

[rpfc 28,542]

What is wrong with you people, you actually believe that nobody at the Club either reads or monitors this site, of course they do, to gauge the feeling of 'so called' supporters.

I made a joke about the snarky comment and it was taken that way, gee there can be a modicum of intelligence shown in conversations, I know it is a rare beast on here

If posters don't want there opinions, baggings, comments, snide remarks, player assessments read by somebody at the Club, then don't post

As I have said before I will say exactly what I want to say

Did you know the club intructs players not to visit this site?

And yet, here you are defending the relaying of any "opinions, baggings, comments, snide remarks, player assessments" to the players?

[Satyriconhome 10,879]

Did you know the club intructs players not to visit this site?

And yet, here you are defending the relaying of any "opinions, baggings, comments, snide remarks, player assessments" to the players?

The Club instructs the players not to read the site, but other people 'employed' by the Club do, I know that for a fact, they would be mad not to

They see the 'standard' of some of the posts

Do you also really think that some players don't know what supporters think of them, you want to see some of the tweets Nathan Jones got last season, Col Sylvia in particular as well got some really informative feedback

Next time you speak to a player, ask them about the snide remarks they get from heroes at the G when they are walking off after a game or warm up, or out of the window of a car driving past AAMI Park of Goschs, or even when they are out for dinner

It's an adult world we live in

I do not 'pass on' comments from here, I don't have to, you post as if certain posts on here are something to be ashamed of, are they?

[jazza 1,323]

What is wrong with you people, you actually believe that nobody at the Club either reads or monitors this site, of course they do, to gauge the feeling of 'so called' supporters.

I made a joke about the snarky comment and it was taken that way, gee there can be a modicum of intelligence shown in conversations, I know it is a rare beast on here

If posters don't want there opinions, baggings, comments, snide remarks, player assessments read by somebody at the Club, then don't post

As I have said before I will say exactly what I want to say

its all good saty

i like your style and humour,this site is for opinion

ps. tell them to get terlich heading more boundary side when coming out of defence

[rpfc 28,542]

The Club instructs the players not to read the site, but other people 'employed' by the Club do, I know that for a fact, they would be mad not to

They see the 'standard' of some of the posts

Do you also really think that some players don't know what supporters think of them, you want to see some of the tweets Nathan Jones got last season, Col Sylvia in particular as well got some really informative feedback

Next time you speak to a player, ask them about the snide remarks they get from heroes at the G when they are walking off after a game or warm up, or out of the window of a car driving past AAMI Park of Goschs, or even when they are out for dinner

It's an adult world we live in

I do not 'pass on' comments from here, I don't have to, you post as if certain posts on here are something to be ashamed of, are they?

If the players get exposed to it 'everywhere' and it is pointless to shield them the 'adult world we live in' then why do they bother telling players to not read this site?

Maybe you should tell Mahoney of this incongruity when you next see him at training?

[rjay 24,993]

The Club instructs the players not to read the site, but other people 'employed' by the Club do, I know that for a fact, they would be mad not to

They see the 'standard' of some of the posts

Do you also really think that some players don't know what supporters think of them, you want to see some of the tweets Nathan Jones got last season, Col Sylvia in particular as well got some really informative feedback

Next time you speak to a player, ask them about the snide remarks they get from heroes at the G when they are walking off after a game or warm up, or out of the window of a car driving past AAMI Park of Goschs, or even when they are out for dinner

It's an adult world we live in

I do not 'pass on' comments from here, I don't have to, you post as if certain posts on here are something to be ashamed of, are they?

They would be derelict in their duty if they didn't read a supporter site to gauge the feelings of members. It's good to know they are taking some notice.

As for the standard of posts, it depends on who is doing the reading. I'm not a big fan of bagging players but each to their own.

Of course the players will hear criticism over the fence, it's just part of the game. If they're smart they won't (and I doubt they do) bother with sites like this. It would only do your head in. I work in a biz where this type of criticism, rumour and innuendo is part it unfortunately. You really just take no notice and go about doing what you do.

[timmyo64 44]

Dawes, Clark, Hogan, Howe

Dawes, Clark, Hogan, Howe

If they can play all together we will be unstoppable... as a mate put it - what team can man all of them effectively? Throw in JKH and thats a headache for any opposition.

Say it again!

Dawes, Clark, Hogan, Howe

you do realise, clark has played 11 games as a key forward and history proves he struggles to stay on the park.. he is hardly proven

dawes has not done a thing since 2010 - would hardly worry opposition defence

hogan - HAS NOT PLAYED A GAME!

Howe - takes a couple good marks a game at best, then goes missing

i need to elaborate no further, these are the cold hard facts! get real

to add, these guys havent even trained together let alone play together, you dont even know that they will function well.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

you do realise, clark has played 11 games as a key forward and history proves he struggles to stay on the park.. he is hardly proven

dawes has not done a thing since 2010 - would hardly worry opposition defence

hogan - HAS NOT PLAYED A GAME!

Howe - takes a couple good marks a game at best, then goes missing

i need to elaborate no further, these are the cold hard facts! get real

to add, these guys havent even trained together let alone play together, you dont even knonw that they will function well.

They have trained together, ffs Dawes and Clark went overseas together to train this preseason.

Think about it this way. Franklin took every oppositions #1 defender and dragged them in to the mid all year leaving Roughhead with the #2 leaving Gunston with the #3. We can do the same thing with Clark, Dawes, Hogan and Howe. Howe would draw the #4 defender... #4.

That would worry any defence... Quick paced Clark, Hogan and Dawes who are a bit agro and would run through you and you have Howe who prefers to mark on top of you...

With the exception of Hogan, they are proven, no one apart from you has disputed that. But as i referenced its a matter of if they can all play together due to their injuries.

[old dee 23,801]

you do realise, clark has played 11 games as a key forward and history proves he struggles to stay on the park.. he is hardly proven

dawes has not done a thing since 2010 - would hardly worry opposition defence

hogan - HAS NOT PLAYED A GAME!

Howe - takes a couple good marks a game at best, then goes missing

i need to elaborate no further, these are the cold hard facts! get real

to add, these guys havent even trained together let alone play together, you dont even know that they will function well.

Some painful facts there timmyo64

Right now it is doubtful they will all be in the same side together.

Because we are so desperate for improvement we have a habit of over estimating our players.

Lets see how this develops but miracles don't happen too often.

[McQueen 17,865]

you do realise, clark has played 11 games as a key forward and history proves he struggles to stay on the park.. he is hardly proven

dawes has not done a thing since 2010 - would hardly worry opposition defence

hogan - HAS NOT PLAYED A GAME!

Howe - takes a couple good marks a game at best, then goes missing

i need to elaborate no further, these are the cold hard facts! get real

to add, these guys havent even trained together let alone play together, you dont even know that they will function well.

Party pooper.

It's much easier to deal in hypotheticals.

Get real.

[timmyo64 44]

They have trained together, ffs Dawes and Clark went overseas together to train this preseason.

Think about it this way. Franklin took every oppositions #1 defender and dragged them in to the mid all year leaving Roughhead with the #2 leaving Gunston with the #3. We can do the same thing with Clark, Dawes, Hogan and Howe. Howe would draw the #4 defender... #4.

That would worry any defence... Quick paced Clark, Hogan and Dawes who are a bit agro and would run through you and you have Howe who prefers to mark on top of you...

With the exception of Hogan, they are proven, no one apart from you has disputed that. But as i referenced its a matter of if they can all play together due to their injuries.

they didnt go to america because of dawes's knee

think about it, franklin is one of the greatest forwards of all time and roughead is the raining coleman. clark has played 15 games as a forward and barely gets through 4 quaters dawes hasnt even come close to 50 goals in a season. its nothing close to hawthorn

dawes is as slow as a snail and doesnt have the greatest leap, could be effective one out monstering a smaller opposition in the goal square, but clark cant run so he will be there. Howe doesnt think about what he is doing, rather just jumps at it, often on a team mate, which then takes them out of the play. clark does the same.

as for no one disputing that, only demonlanders dont dispute that. the same people who ever pre season for the past 7 years claim all these players to be looking sharp and on track every pre season and things look on the up. the strike rate is low and is has very little credibility.

[Slartibartfast 17,336]

Did you know the club intructs players not to visit this site?

And yet, here you are defending the relaying of any "opinions, baggings, comments, snide remarks, player assessments" to the players?

Have you thought that maybe the reason they tell players not to visit the site is because they read what's on here?

Of course the Club keeps a close eye on here. They would be negligent not to as it's the best way for them to know what people are thinking. We've had Craig Cameron and Cameron Schwab posting on here and we've had directors and candidates for the Board post on here. I'd be stunned if we haven't had employees post on here.

Discussing the content of Demonland with staff is pretty harmless and benign. I don't agree with Satty on everything but he's got you here game set and match.

[Ouch! 2,266]

Can I ask some questions relative to training from those that have attended a few sessions over the years?

I have read a lot of the reports over the preseason, and they have been good to read!

It sounds like this year the coaches are drilling the players to encourage two way running, but also a lot of game specific running, give and go and then following up and assisting type stuff. I have a hunch based on what I have read that we are going to play through the middle, and not around the boundary, and that we will play a game style suited to creating stoppages and then extracting the ball from these. Which is something I would have expected from Roos.

Roos has said that he isn't just going to plonk his swans gamestyle down and get the MFC to play that way, but we will no doubt be playing a same style that is similar, but suited to the players that we have.. and lending from the other top teams where ever possible...

So what will that be? and are there any other clues from training that people can see that would indicate:

Are we going to be playing a higher possession short kicking style of football? or more of a run and carry approach?

We kicked the ball significantly more than we handballed (About 4000 kicks to 3000 handballs in 2013) do we expect more of the same?

Do the drills and the way the boys are training suggest that specific steps are being taken to address the very large differential on uncontested ball that we saw last year?

It would just be interesting to get a few people's feel on what style we are going to be playing... any players playing different roles in 2013 ... other than Watts and his midfield role?

[PaulRB 6,392]

My guess is we'll focus on rapid ball movement whenever possible, contest and spread coupled with shutting down opposition and forcing more contests (i.e. Swans style). Breaking even in contested ball situations will tilt games our way given we are solid back and forward (assuming a fit list).

A common scenario would be along the lines of tight handballs to create space from contested or congested space, in order to break out or get the ball out to designated outside players (Watts, Blease, Strauss) whose job it will be to deliver long balls to one of the four leading "tall" forwards who'll rotate up to the wing when required.

Not saying anything groundbreaking here.

[Satyriconhome 10,879]

Can I ask some questions relative to training from those that have attended a few sessions over the years?

I have read a lot of the reports over the preseason, and they have been good to read!

It sounds like this year the coaches are drilling the players to encourage two way running, but also a lot of game specific running, give and go and then following up and assisting type stuff. I have a hunch based on what I have read that we are going to play through the middle, and not around the boundary, and that we will play a game style suited to creating stoppages and then extracting the ball from these. Which is something I would have expected from Roos.

Roos has said that he isn't just going to plonk his swans gamestyle down and get the MFC to play that way, but we will no doubt be playing a same style that is similar, but suited to the players that we have.. and lending from the other top teams where ever possible...

So what will that be? and are there any other clues from training that people can see that would indicate:

Are we going to be playing a higher possession short kicking style of football? or more of a run and carry approach?

We kicked the ball significantly more than we handballed (About 4000 kicks to 3000 handballs in 2013) do we expect more of the same?

Do the drills and the way the boys are training suggest that specific steps are being taken to address the very large differential on uncontested ball that we saw last year?

It would just be interesting to get a few people's feel on what style we are going to be playing... any players playing different roles in 2013 ... other than Watts and his midfield role?

A lot of it is based on a stoppage and then running in waves supporting, then going back the other way, some of the drills the other day did suggest it is getting it out to our 'perceived' decent kicks...........

Expect to see Jones N and Vince "resting' forward for the goal kicking ability and Cross at half back

Apart from Watts in the middle, if in the 22 you will see Clisby rotating through there

Jetta is to be played on half back, upto him whether it is in AFL or VFL

Bail will be forward (same as Jetta)

Barry in the middle

[Ouch! 2,266]

My guess is we'll focus on rapid ball movement whenever possible, contest and spread coupled with shutting down opposition and forcing more contests (i.e. Swans style). Breaking even in contested ball situations will tilt games our way given we are solid back and forward (assuming a fit list).

A common scenario would be along the lines of tight handballs to create space from contested or congested space, in order to break out or get the ball out to designated outside players (Watts, Blease, Strauss) whose job it will be to deliver long balls to one of the four leading "tall" forwards who'll rotate up to the wing when required.

Not saying anything groundbreaking here.

Thanks for that.

Doesn't need to be ground breaking you indicate that you think that we still will be moving the ball into our forward 50 using longer kicks, rather than a shorter possession game like Hawthorn and Richmond seem to favour.

[hardtack 10,555]

If the players get exposed to it 'everywhere' and it is pointless to shield them the 'adult world we live in' then why do they bother telling players to not read this site?

Maybe you should tell Mahoney of this incongruity when you next see him at training?

I would hardly think they are ordering the players not to read this site... more likely they recommend that they don't read it because it might not always be flattering. The players would know what to expect based on what they get on Twitter, Facebook etc.

[Akum 2,660]

Can I ask some questions relative to training from those that have attended a few sessions over the years?

I have read a lot of the reports over the preseason, and they have been good to read!

It sounds like this year the coaches are drilling the players to encourage two way running, but also a lot of game specific running, give and go and then following up and assisting type stuff. I have a hunch based on what I have read that we are going to play through the middle, and not around the boundary, and that we will play a game style suited to creating stoppages and then extracting the ball from these. Which is something I would have expected from Roos.

Roos has said that he isn't just going to plonk his swans gamestyle down and get the MFC to play that way, but we will no doubt be playing a same style that is similar, but suited to the players that we have.. and lending from the other top teams where ever possible...

So what will that be? and are there any other clues from training that people can see that would indicate:

Are we going to be playing a higher possession short kicking style of football? or more of a run and carry approach?

We kicked the ball significantly more than we handballed (About 4000 kicks to 3000 handballs in 2013) do we expect more of the same?

Do the drills and the way the boys are training suggest that specific steps are being taken to address the very large differential on uncontested ball that we saw last year?

It would just be interesting to get a few people's feel on what style we are going to be playing... any players playing different roles in 2013 ... other than Watts and his midfield role?

Great great post.

My impression FWIW is that we're training to get the ball from clearances and out into the open, and then to make our uncontested possessions count. Which, incidentally, is the way we played against Roos' Swans in that 2010 game, and which was so difficult for them to stop, as good as they were defensively.

We seem to be working on getting the ball to the outside at clearances, then making position ahead of the ball and kicking to leads. Also, overlapping to provide an extra man, again in the open.

This doesn't mean, of course, that we neglect the defensive game. It's more a matter of how we convert defence - winning the ball in defensive or contested situations - into attack.

Which was the area we were most deficient in under Neeld. We suffered so badly defensively because we could rarely hurt teams going the other way, which meant we were always under pressure while our opponents rarely were.

With Roos, it seems to be more about all-round game and transitional play.

[Akum 2,660]

...

A common scenario would be along the lines of tight handballs to create space from contested or congested space, in order to break out or get the ball out to designated outside players (Watts, Blease, Strauss)

...

Interesting. When Watts, Blease & Strauss were recruited, our midfield was full of contested ball-getters who didn't use it well. These three were supposed to add that dimension. Unfortunately by the time Blease & Strauss got over their longterm injuries, that midfield had gone.

Maybe at last we're going to use these players' skills to our best advantage, rather than trying to turn them into something they're not.