Went down to training this morning, early start and bloody cold.

No sign of Jake Spencer, don't know why.

Dawes, Grimes and Watts had pretty easy sessions, Dawes joining those on light duties who included Strauss, Blease among others, they did slow laps though Dawes was well ahead of them. Terlich was in this group, very light duties. Tapscott also did laps but at much faster pace than this group, hopefully he can get himself on the park consistently and save his career, I think he has the ability, but he has to show it.

Most of the session after the warm up involved quick use of the ball, getting it into the forward line quickly. Overall the skills were pretty good, with some of of the usual suspects spraying it.

Chip spent quite a bit of time seemingly working on the most effective set shot routine. Early on, most shots were going right, but with him jogging in a bit more fluidly he started to nail them consistently.

Overall, it seemed to me that not only did the players seem to be enjoying themselves more than in the past, they seemed to be more like a team, I know that is subjective and all "touchy feely" but it was an impression I got and a positive one.

One last thing, I was in awe of the quality of barrels that Lynden Dunn was sending about three miles out of the goal square at the end of training.

Any questions feel free to ask, will try answer as best I can.

Any questions feel free to ask, will try answer as best I can

Someone just posted in another thread that Watts ;left early with a possible hammy

Did you see that?

Someone just posted in another thread that Watts ;left early with a possible hammy

Did you see that?

Yep, saw that, Saty had a quick word with him, had a mild corkie, will be fine for the weekend

Max Gawn?
Jessie Hogan?

How did Jordie train, after all, no Jordie no Melbourne.

Max Gawn?

Jessie Hogan?

No sign of Hulk but Ned Kelly was out there for the bulk of training and looked like he is ready to don the armour

Yep, saw that, Saty had a quick word with him, had a mild corkie, will be fine for the weekend

Thanks for the report and great news that Watts is ok.

Any reports on how Garland trained?

How did Jordie train, after all, no Jordie no Melbourne.

Jordie looks in good shape, primed to take on Ablett.

Another I meant to mention and looks like he is in the best shape of his career is Neville Jetta, not surprising considering he has just done his first full preseason. He'll play this year if he stays fit

Thanks for the report and great news that Watts is ok.

Any reports on how Garland trained?

Would be expecting him to play this weekend, most likely at Casey to give him some match fitness

Yep, saw that, Saty had a quick word with him, had a mild corkie, will be fine for the weekend

Phew

thanks for the update

Lynden Dunn had the barrels going about 70m. Repeatedly. Most impressive.

The other thing was the one on one coaching Jade Rawlings was giving to Georgiou. How to position himself, harass, niggle and spoil. Also the third man up option and the footwork involved in getting to the contest but also being in the correct position. Also impressive. But then I don't get to training very often,,,

Got there late. Met fellow and even met a fellow poster RGRS

Stood watching the training with RGRS (who needs to harden up - cold?)

As per the norm had a chat with a few

Watts - he crouched down to have his photo taken with a young kid after he had finished training, that would have tested the hammy!...told me he just had a mild corkie

Tyson - was actually shocked to see Carazzo come to him on Saturday, was told by coaches to just keep playing the way he has been told to, was pleased with his defenisve efforts

Bail - said he was still working on his set shots was pleased to see the 'Watts' method work on Saturday

JKH - said him and Dawesy had kissed and made up after Dawes' spray just before he kicked the goal, working on getting the understanding around the 'new' forward line

Jetta - put his form down to being injury free and enjoying his footy down at Casey

Terlich - for all the team pickers, reckons he is sweet for Sunday

Trengove - most of what he said in his presser on the Club website, you can tell it is a mixture of relief and disappointment, relief because he had begun to doubt himself and of course disappointment for being out so long

Viney - looking forward to Sunday, just wants 22 having a crack again "it's a simple game"

Evans - complimented him on his all action sub appearance, said it was required if he wants to stay in the team

Kent - absolutely no injury worries and is feeling the fittest he has been

Chip asked me what I thought of him as a forward, I gave the right answer

Georgiou - this bloke is so refreshing to talk to, asked him about his footy background a bit more, this is paraphrasing "never really thought of footy as a career, just progressed through the juniors at Norwood whilst at school and uni, then cracked a spot in the senior side and it sort of went from there,, only looked at maybe footy as a career in September last year" "doesn't think who he is matched up on, just another body"

I think that is about it

Somebody actually wanted to talk about walk whilst I was typing, cheek.

Were any not in last week 22 joining in main group

With Trengove going down, and with Terlich being 50/50 any chance we might elevate Jetta this week?

I would have thought they are playing similar positions at the moment, and I know Clisby could be another possibility.. but it sounds like Jetta is in ripping form at the moment.

The main group was everybody except who RGRS said, the split will be on Friday when the team is known.

Terelich said he is fine, he didn't seem troubled, just did a light session

I asked were Spence was, and got non-commital (which could mean something private/personal)

Nev Jetta said he hasn't heard anything about being elevated

"Nev Jetta said he hasn't had anything about being elevated"

He's the obvious candidate. As far as selection goes, he and Clisby must be neck and neck.

has jetta been playing small defender for casey?

i got the impression he had moved into the midfield to some degree.

that's a great line from georgiou: "just another body".

has jetta been playing small defender for casey?

i got the impression he had moved into the midfield to some degree.

that's a great line from georgiou: "just another body".

At windy hill he played mainly backline in the first half then Mid field and forward in the second half.

In the second half he was IMO the best on the ground. won the game off his own boot.

From reading reports from last week they suggested similar.

IMO he is a forward / mid.

He is not a backman IMO.

has jetta been playing small defender for casey?

i got the impression he had moved into the midfield to some degree.

that's a great line from georgiou: "just another body".

Nev has done all three, halfback, midfield and forward, what i put a week or so ago, was rookied to see what he could do if he manages a full pre seaon and doesn't get cruelled by injury, starting to see the results...........told me he is just gonna play the best he can, that's all he can do

At windy hill he played mainly backline in the first half then Mid field and forward in the second half.

In the second half he was IMO the best on the ground. won the game off his own boot.

From reading reports from last week they suggested similar.

IMO he is a forward / mid.

He is not a backman IMO.

OD, Nev would disagree, was halfback as junior, his preferred position

OD, Nev would disagree, was halfback as junior, his preferred position

Well he seems to play the other positions better to me now Saty.

That is my observations.

Hope Spencer is ok. He came off with about 10 minutes to go looking sore in one of the legs but then came back on after a rest. He doesn't need much training though I would've thought considering he had a huge work out on Saturday. So likely a good rest and a few minutes on the bike might be enough to keep him ticking over and he can train later in the week.

On Jetta. I don't like defenders less than 185cm unless they are lightening quick and attacking. It just make it hard for them to beat opponents in the air and to match up on a range of opponents. If lost in traffic you want your small defender to be able to roll on to a mid sized forward and still have a chance to spoil. As Jetta isn't a damaging attacking defender I do worry about him defensively cause he could only play on true small forwards like JKH, you wouldn't want him up against a Lindsay Thomas/Michael Walters. It's a bit of an issue for Clisby as well but Clisby seems to me to have a bit more height and speed. What Jetta has is clean skills, neat evasion, bit of mongrel for the ball and man. I still think he can contribute forward and midfield but it has to be that he's still got a lot of development potential. I don't know how much injuries and coaching have detracted from his true potential. We may be starting to find out.

This is Nev's first full pre season

This is Nev's first full pre season

And I think it is showing

Thanks for the report. I missed these.