As Lao Tzu once said, "The longest march starts with a single step". I think the beginning of our march took place, with the appointment of Peter Jackson.

Sweety we are on the way! To quote the Proclaimers "We're on the way from misery to happiness today - uha uha"

Damn you ManDee, now I will have that stupid song stuck in my head for the rest of the day!

I think another point worth noting is that our playing list are not only learning the game plan, but they are also starting to understand the ways of Roos. One thing that stood out last year was Roos sticking to minimal team changes to try to provide stability within the playing group. I would be hoping that all on our list will have that exact thought constantly resinating in the back of their mind and they will be pushing themselves that little extra to make certain that they are first selected. As they will know that once a starting 22 is named and they are not in it, they will have to work exceptionally hard at Casey to get a look in.

or he has turned his game around

Yes true but I am less than confident he will develop decent kicking skills and decision making....

Yes true but I am less than confident he will develop decent kicking skills and decision making....

well yes, but it is up to him now and i'd say he's got a year to make or break

there is a lot to like about him, just has too many clangers

well yes, but it is up to him now and i'd say he's got a year to make or break

there is a lot to like about him, just has too many clangers

He really does get to where the ball is. That's the big plus.

What he does with the ball a lot of the time is the big minus.

I'd be interested to know if Grimes' clangers are more frequent as the game goes on. Just re-watched the Carlton game and he was hitting targets. I wonder if he just gets exhausted with the ball coming in endlessly in recent years. More so than others? If so, maybe when he has a chance to catch his breath when the ball is in our forward line he will look better.

I reckon it is two drafting periods so far sweet Dee it started in November 2013

It's great to see OD being positive.

I'd be interested to know if Grimes' clangers are more frequent as the game goes on. Just re-watched the Carlton game and he was hitting targets. I wonder if he just gets exhausted with the ball coming in endlessly in recent years. More so than others? If so, maybe when he has a chance to catch his breath when the ball is in our forward line he will look better.

I think Grimes needs more time to hit up targets - than others. He has to get set to hit a target.

I will admit, I'm not big on Grimes, I don't see him on our list beyond 2016.

Grimes is OK when he's running and balanced. His clangers tend to happen when he stops (e.g. when he gets a mark or free).

He tends to lean back to kick instead of forwards, and over 30m or less, this means he has to hold back on his kick and not kick through the ball. So it could go anywhere. And it tends to float.

If he wants to hit a target short, he needs to lean forwards and kick it firmer. Which isn't a problem when he's moving.

If he's not moving, he shouldn't go for short targets.

There are very few Dees who can reliably hit a target with a short pass. Toumpas, Watts, maybe Salem, that's about it.

That's also why Davey was so valuable for 2 or 3 seasons under Bailey. He could short-pass to someone in space and get our running game going.

Imagine next year when we land a big name recruit via free agency.

Can only hope.

MFC have had many instant "saviours" over the years: John Tilbrook, Peter Moore, Kelvin Templeton, Carl Ditterich to name a few. None of them worked. It was not until Neale Daniher arrived when he took a good list and developed it, that we made progress. I am very wary of magic bullets, it can destroy the fabric of a team, particularly a young team, unless you are very very careful.

Article from The Age highlights the gulf between first year draftees and AFL level - Christian Petracca and new Demons look to an easier road ahead, in it Mahoney is quoted with

"Now, there is a science-driven understanding that the gap between under-18 and AFL football continues to grow, and cannot be bridged in a summer.

"Our players went through their hardest session for the pre-season on Monday," Mahoney said. "Our first-year players completed less than 50 per cent of training, and that will be consistent with how they'll complete their first pre-season.

"Anything further than 50 per cent of a pre-season is too big a step-up for a player coming into his first year. It's something we monitor very closely. If we feel players are starting to show some signs [of fatigue] we certainly look out for them - not just in pre-season, but during the year as well."

Does anyone think that PEtracca may have shown some signs of fatigue after the first session?

Hard to compete for spots off the rookie list......

And every year we get excited about the new recruits. Every year we get excited about the 'hardest pre-season ever' and the great shape of our list.

Every year we get smashed in round 1.

Let's just wait and see how well they do.

Normally yes but with the year starting with Trengove eligible [and likely to go on] the LTI list, the two latest rookies are in a unique situation where they find themselves as eligble as any other player on the list. This is not to say that Roos and the FD will make a call on upgrading a rookie too early but the opening has been created if any player really impresses. Personally i feel that our coaching staff will have a nice problem on their hands come Round 1, namely trying to identify the best strating 22. This, for the first time in years, will not be a case of who can we get to plug a gap [like we did with Pederson et al] but which deserving player do we have to leave out to reduce the list to 22. A good problem, but it won't be easy on some players. let us hope that Casey are out-and-out runaway premiers this year, driven by the depth of talent afforded by Melbourne and their revised coaching structure.

hello, Nathan Jones anyone?

I recall Nathan Jones when he first started and i was disappointed with his lack of chase. Now he is a warrrior. I feel that there are a number of Demonlanders who will be surprised in the improvements of Salem and Toumpas this year, some may even be disappointed by the slow start of Petracca and Brayshaw and others by the football being played by Mitchie, Vandenberg and Neal-Bullen. Hogan will be a star and Jones, Tyson and Vince will be even more productive than ever. Underestimate the current depth of our list at peril and drop the idea that we need x number of A-Graders to compete! I would be happy to have the lowest number of players in Sheahan's Top 50 again this year as long as it is compensated by us being in the Top 4 on the AFL Ladder!

Damn you ManDee, now I will have that stupid song stuck in my head for the rest of the day!

What was the name of that song?

Oh yeah. If we could kick 500 goals.

If you look at teams like Hawthorn you will see that they rest players like Rioli before finals. Hopefully as we improve players like Viv Michie can come in and cover our best 22 and we can rotate players to rest our stars.

If you look at teams like Hawthorn you will see that they rest players like Rioli before finals. Hopefully as we improve players like Viv Michie can come in and cover our best 22 and we can rotate players to rest our stars.

This is making the call that Viv Mitchie will never be part of our best 22! Some of the experts have other views!

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-12-06/your-clubs-best-22