Training - Monday 27th January, 2014 (Australia Day Holiday)

[Don24 103]

Does anyone think Tapscott can be made into a good AFL footballer by Roos and co?

I think he certainly can ... has some great attributes, IMO he is just classic example of a young player who has never had a good run at a pre season and lacks the running capabilities to take the next step. Hopefully he cans stay on the park and start putting it together.

He is a good kick, strong hands, and tough as nails. Good attributes to have if he can get his running ability up.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,209]

Does anyone think Tapscott can be made into a good AFL footballer by Roos and co?

For a so called dead eye d*ick, Tappy has a goal kicking accuracy of 11.13 over his career.

Needs work in that area.

[jayceebee31 669]

With regards to Tapscott, Blease, Jetta and co ... if indeed they do not perform this year, they will be out the door - come August or September 2014.

[CBDees 3,162]

Any more reports from training?

[Hannibal 5,814]

Any more reports from training?

Fuddy Duddy went, but wants to be begged for his contribution. I won't be bothering.

[DeeSpencer 23,134]

Any more reports from training?

Big crowd, lots of families and dogs etc. Jamar, Gawn, Dawes and Kent all taking part in some drills. Leaves Fitzy, Hogan, Clark, Viney, Riley and the absent Garland as the true rehab group.

Heaps of different and game specific drills done for short periods. Skills under pressure and fatigue the weakness but to be expected. Pressure application was good. I'll post more later

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,209]

Anyone know what's wrong with Fitzpatrick?

His injury has gone under the radar and un-reported in the media.

[jazza 1,323]

Anyone know what's wrong with Fitzpatrick?

His injury has gone under the radar and un-reported in the media.

bagdad bob is doing a report on his own footy page as we speak

[Bitter but optimistic 21,256]

Went to training today but will probably be my last for a while.

Far different conditions warm and windy.

Reasonable crowd with quite a few kids (anklebiters to teens) in demon colours.

I was there for the start and went and watched some of the recovering tall timber.

This was Fitz, Hogan, Clarke, Gawn and Jamar. It was a re creation of Friday with lots of stretching, flexibility and movement around low markers.

Viney was also with them but again just mucked around with the ball and headed off after about 20 mins. He looks fine and seemed to kick the ball with freedom.

They then went on to some moderately paced running. When I looked over there about half an hour later Dawes had joined them and all were engaged in tapping/ handballing drills.

I watched the main group for about an hour. There was a lot of emphasis on tackling, scrapping and wrestling type contests.

Spencer, Cross, Clisby, Jordie and another did some contested marking practice. They seemed to be working on timing the bump/push to gain advantage.

Some individuals.

I watched Trengove a bit today. He is very fit and maybe a bit lighter. He was quick and elusive and looks like a mid who gets his own ball.

I thought Jack W lacked intensity on Friday but today he went at it in tackling drills and hit the bag hard. He also fired off some quick and accurate handballs in those team on team possession drills.

I took a reasonable look at JKH today. I dont think he is hard bodied enough yet but he showed good and quick hand and tackling skills.

Toumpas was also very impressive in the tackling/possession drills. He was surprisingly strong and was keen to impress.

Hogan returned to the main oval and ran about 4 timed 300s. He looks very fit.

Long and often sad experience tells me that Melbourne plays good January football. However, this year I like the vibe. The players are competitive but also supportive. They seem to enjoy training.

[CBDees 3,162]

Another BigFooty Report from Tasmanlvr (bolding is mine)

It begins again. Another week at Gosch's.
Alright, so I'm here now and it seems that they are doing their general stretches/runthroughs.
Rehab: Hogan, Jamar, Clark, Fitzpatrick, Gawn, Riley. Dawes and Kent are on the track doing seperate exercises with Miller.
Short kicks the order of the day.
Split into three, four, five? Huh? One group doing short kicks, one group doing some weird activity with an occasional kick + contests when they do occur. One group doing upper body strength drills and one doing a quick kick or something along the lines.
Some lower strength drills now. Pretty much they are doing some grappling/wrestling activities. What is this even.
Two groups doing stoppage stuff. Nice. Tappy laying tackles in one group. Yes yes yes. You have blokes you don't expect throwing themselves around at training! Blease, Tapscott, Byrnes etc. I haven't seen this in far too long.
Boys called in now. Should be interesting to see what they do now.
Alright, split into two now. One group doing pick up/ride bump/handball like they always do and one group doing more stoppage drills.
Okay... they seem to be doing this play-fighting thing and I can't even. What the hell. I was speechless for a solid couple of minutes.
There is a great crowd here today!
Full grounder now, standard switch drill and kick down the line culminating in a goal.
They're doing an extension of this drill now. Rehab group doing activities on the sidelines. Fitzy doing work on the sideline with ruckwork, Hogan doing some sprints and the others watching on.
Skills are up, a few missed targets here and there (Nicho missed one but in an extremely strong breeze this is impressive.
Quick half lap, Grimes and Trenners at the front. Words I thought I'd never say - Tom McDonald at the BACK??? in a running drill??? Wut.
A stoppage drill now. Two groups, one on the sideline, one participating. Of the first group, Christian Salem looks solid getting into space and finding the footy. Liking the fact that Chris Dawes is a designated forward.
Of the second group, you still notice people using their bodies, people hitting targets. WHERE WAS THIS TWO YEARS AGO? Players are taking this fair dinkum srsly.
Three groups now. Defenders/midfielders/forwards. Defenders doing a switch drill, midfielders doing stoppages, forwards doing lead-up work.
Another full grounder now. Looks like the match simulation we had on Friday but a tad different.
Now a proper full grounder match simulation drill. And there's huddles and spreads coming off the kick in. New recruits looking decent. JKH, Salem finding space; Tyson using the ball efficiently and getting it often
Dom Barry using run and carry and then nails a long kick pn the run to the designated full forward whom I can't recognise up the other end.
Another bloke who's looking solid is Byrnes. He's having a nice little patch here. Getting the ball and using it well. Somehow I think he'll benefit a bit under Roosy.
What I'm liking is hearing Lynden Dunn's voice consistently. He sounds like he wants to be part of the leadership group.
Some pushups/running combos. Here's a statement - during one run JKH smokes everyone in a run from the centre circle to the goalsquare and back. The bloke is picking himself for round one.
Training finished after that. Wished I had a bit more info but the training sessions are starting to get a tad repetitive. See you Wednesday.

[mdemonski2 403]

I was there but hard to focus on drills and training report as I had both kids running amock.

Some random observations:

Some competitive one on one marking/spoiling near me was really impressive. Dunn a stand out, rarely beaten and uses voice to instruct younger guys. Despite his light frame Hunt actually did ok in the same drill.

Michie, Cross, Tyson etc. means we can actually work the ball through in the full length match drills. Lots if game simulation today. Players really intense and involved with lots of discussions/analysis when they were rotating through the drill.

Watch Watts this year. I think he is set for a real bolter.

Blease and tapy might also surprise a few.

Skills pretty good for most of the session. And it was nearly all skills (although we did get there 40 min late)

Saw Hogan and Clark do a run through but not much else. Viney not sighted.

Howey a great bloke with the kids. My little one asked how many speccies he would take this year. He said how many do you want. She said just 30! Not asking much are we!

[mdemonski2 403]

Anyone know what's wrong with Fitzpatrick?

His injury has gone under the radar and un-reported in the media.

Ran laps but also did some grappling work with Rawlings. Not sure what us wrong with him or how far off he is.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Have you considered that she might be meeting her lover?

have you considered that he maybe meeting his love' ?

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,185]

I went for the third view this pre-season. Ball handling and intent were good but kicking was poor with some blame on the blustery conditions. Big focus on in close hands, tackling and two way running. Tyson and Grimes really stood out to me today for their hard run and clean handling and skills. Trengove will never be a jet but is clearly moving better than anytime in the last 2 years. Session went a good 2.5 hours and overall mood among the group was excellent. The guys in rehab have been mentioned but they are definitely doing a lot more than when I saw them 3 weeks ago and are building toward round 1.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Are you serious? I was in the surf for a good couple of hours, first I've heard about it.

beware Matt Demon, the world is an angry place atmo, & getting angrier, attacking, in all forms, volcanoes, earthquakes animal attacks, & yes shark attacks, crocs, Dogs, etc.

we are in late stages of prophesied events of this old time. imo last december was the beginning of "troubled times"... prior to the new time. aquarius

.... the return of spirituality dominance & peace for a millennium.

interesting times now & frightening ahead, before the dust will settle.

.

[Akum 2,660]

beware Matt Demon, the world is an angry place atmo, & getting angrier, attacking, in all forms, volcanoes, earthquakes animal attacks, & yes shark attacks, crocs, Dogs, etc.

we are in late stages of prophesied events of this old time. imo last december was the beginning of "troubled times"... prior to the new time. aquarius

.... the return of spirituality dominance & peace for a millennium.

interesting times now & frightening ahead, before the dust will settle.

.

Wow! You really should give this post a try out in the Adam Goodes thread.

On second thought, better you don't.

[RalphiusMaximus 5,993]

Re Viney, didn't he concuss himself last week? That would get him a couple of weeks on light duties.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Wow! You really should give this post a try out in the Adam Goodes thread.

On second thought, better you don't.

I haven't read the goodes thread, but I have reading about this stuff for decades now, & recently the bibles views, & amazed the see the correlations in all of them. saying the same but with differing angles. self oriented angles.

I prophesise that the Demons will start to rise!

[dee-luded 2,958]

Re Viney, didn't he concuss himself last week? That would get him a couple of weeks on light duties.

I imagine thats why he's going easy.

[Akum 2,660]

I haven't read the goodes thread, but I have reading about this stuff for decades now, & recently the bibles views, & amazed the see the correlations in all of them. saying the same but with differing angles. self oriented angles.

I prophesise that the Demons will start to rise!

In the footy sense, or the spiritual sense? Or both?????

[rjay 23,922]

Others have given a pretty good rundown of the session so just a few observations.

I like the interaction with the players and coaches, noticed Roos & Stone in discussion with Trengove and Jones then Jones at another time, I'm guessing about the mid set ups as that was what they were previously working on. The communication appears to be good so I think players will be in no doubt about what they are required to do.

We now have more than a couple of players who can kick the ball well, hopefully this translates to match day but bringing in Tyson, Michie & Vince with the recruiting of Salem added to Watts, Strauss, Barry and Toumpas the forwards will get some ball to advantage.

We need to thank the Doggies for giving us Cross, the guy is a natural on ground leader and sets a great example at training. Adding him with Vince to our midfield along with Tyson and Michie as young guns and hopefully the emergence of Watts and Trengove the opposition should have more than Jones to worry about this year.

Terlich seemed to pick up a minor injury in one of the drills where he was tackled pretty hard. Did a few light run throughs then went in.

Over all I know some have asked about the game plan. If trainings anything to go by then it's nothing startling. Win the hard contested ball and spread, switch & share the ball and run hard both ways. No evidence of the down the line Malthouse/Neeld approach.

[DeeSpencer 23,134]

As mentioned the highlight is probably how much physical stuff they are doing.

At least in the years I've been to trainings I have rarely seen much physical stuff at all and if it is done its usually tackling bags or pads.

Almost every session they do a couple of drills that involve picking up a ball along the ground as another player lays a tackle then get the handball out. They then go in to grappling on the ground and today they added a bit of fun for the players. In pairs they'd link hands then have a strength test trying to whack each other in the head. It looked silly but it wasn't done in a silly way. It was just a bit of fun but competitive and interesting. Obviously the new recruits will help (Aidan Riley a big smokey as well if he gets fit and can show his stuff) but Roos seems intent on making sure our guys aren't bullied at the contest.

The 3 main rucks were all back on track for some part doing some hit outs and were used as forward targets for a drill. With his long legs, added size and speedy bounds I'm telling you right now Jake Spencer is going to monster a marking contest at some point this year. He's got a heap of work to go in all areas of his game so I'm not predicting anything from him in terms of what improvement he's made overall but at some stage he'll either clunk a mark or break a pack in half and everyone will be surprised.

[rjay 23,922]

As mentioned the highlight is probably how much physical stuff they are doing.

At least in the years I've been to trainings I have rarely seen much physical stuff at all and if it is done its usually tackling bags or pads.

Almost every session they do a couple of drills that involve picking up a ball along the ground as another player lays a tackle then get the handball out. They then go in to grappling on the ground and today they added a bit of fun for the players. In pairs they'd link hands then have a strength test trying to whack each other in the head. It looked silly but it wasn't done in a silly way. It was just a bit of fun but competitive and interesting. Obviously the new recruits will help (Aidan Riley a big smokey as well if he gets fit and can show his stuff) but Roos seems intent on making sure our guys aren't bullied at the contest.

The 3 main rucks were all back on track for some part doing some hit outs and were used as forward targets for a drill. With his long legs, added size and speedy bounds I'm telling you right now Jake Spencer is going to monster a marking contest at some point this year. He's got a heap of work to go in all areas of his game so I'm not predicting anything from him in terms of what improvement he's made overall but at some stage he'll either clunk a mark or break a pack in half and everyone will be surprised.

He's a big unit 'master' and he doesn't mind throwing his weight around.

[stuie 7,374]

Coupla (hopefully different) notes to add to the heap of info already posted:

* Have a feeling maybe Fitzy is being managed through some diabetes troubles. Wasn't taped up at all, didn't run much, but was struggling a bit in between grappling/ruck work drills.

* Spencer was kicking really well today. Usually hit targets on the run.

* Dawes didn't do much once with the main group. Sat in the forward line purely to be a target.

* JKH just bounces around, and was one of the very few players able to get his hands above the tackler too.

* Nicholson just a terrible kick.

* Watching Vince, Tyson, Cross, Jones, and Toumpas out there I'm genuinely excited about our midfield.

* Watching the backline without Garland is like a whole different scenario ... bit worried.

* King is at least 2 years off playing AFL.

* Salem being very slowly eased into things.

* Byrnes is just a space filler.

Eerie feeling leaving training today happy with our midfield but concerned about each end of the ground ...

[dee-luded 2,958]

In the footy sense, or the spiritual sense? Or both?????

:lol:

is there any difference in affairs of the heart, footy is all about Passion; its rooted right into our spirituality, IMO. but at the physical plane, acted out.

imo psychology is the doorway between our physical conscious mind & our subconscious true selves. our real base self. IMO all the rubbish superiorities, & insecurities are all in the false conscious EGO.

EGO is driven by insecurities ;;; we play sport, barrack, & create conflict, to appease the desire to overlook our lacking inner . us against them.