WE HAVE A GOOD NUCLEUS

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

Believe it or not, there wasn't a bad article in the Herald Sun. Touches on our use of leading teams, and the belief our young brigade-- Viney, Hogan etc. have that we are onto something as a club, and they want to stick around to be a part of it.

Hogan touches on saying no to luring advances from Freo too.

I'll post it below for those with no HS paid website access, but it shows that YES we may still be shite, but our recent few years of drafting/trading has brought a great nucleus for our club to build around (the picture of them standing there, says it all):

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-to-use-lessons-of-recent-losses-against-western-bulldogs-at-the-mcg/story-fnp04d70-1227366592985

JESSE Hogan had to fight all his natural urges as he punched Paul Roos’ digits into his mobile phone.

Like teammate Jack Watts, the hulking Melbourne spearhead reluctantly volunteered to miss last week’s game.

Not because Hogan wasn’t feeling confident, like Watts, but because the goalkicker was still too sore from the loss to Sydney the week before.

In the past, the Hogan, 20, admits he just would have just played against Hawthorn, at the risk of making his niggles worse.

But in the big picture of Melbourne’s rebuild, where every inch of improvement is considered critical, Hogan had to show greater maturity.

“I really learnt from last year having a stress-related injury, that you are not going to play 22 games of AFL footy, when you are the size and carry the weight that I am,” Hogan said.

“So I called ‘Roosy’ and he was super supportive of my decisions and understanding, but I have come along way with that because usually I would just want to play.

“And I would have loved to be out there, absolutely I would, it (105-point loss) was hard to watch.

“But like I said, I had to put my club first rather than be selfish and just put myself out there when I couldn’t give 100 per cent.”

Hogan is back in against the Western Bulldogs, desperate to help the club snap a run of three-straight losses to the competition’s heavyweights, Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn, that has put the club’s development in the past year-and-a-bit back under the football spotlight.

On Tuesday, the club headed off-site to Brighton Grammar, where the players and coaching group sought answers from each other in a series of routine Leading Teams sessions.

The focus was not on centre bounce stoppage positioning, or kicking angles, but rather attitude and energy. They drilled into each other’s mindsets.

While the Demons firmly believe they have come a long way under Roos, gun key defender Tom McDonald, 22, says the poor form over the past month has tested the players’ confidence and recent growth.

“It (heavy losses) takes it very close to tearing it (players’ belief) apart, if there are not certain individuals who can stand up and pull it (their performance) back together. It can fall apart very quickly,” McDonald said.

“In my third year (in 2013), we won two games and midway through that year we had lost our way and there was no coming back, but we are not at that point, yet.

“We have had three bad weeks and if we can just get enough guys to buy-in, and really have a crack this weekend, it can turn around just as quickly as it has gone the other way for us.”

Hard-nut onballer Jack Viney, 21, added: “100 per cent we don’t accept the performances we have dished up over the last three weeks, but I know improved performances are just around the corner.”

Slick utility Christian Salem, 19, said: “Our two wins this year have been a real positive in that it shows when we play our brand of footy we can match it with anyone. The last three weeks have been pretty tough … as a whole club we have to make a stand.”

McDonald said that means, first and foremost, playing with intensity today.

“This week is going to be about attitude on the training track and bringing the energy and excitement,” McDonald said.

“I think we have had the fun sucked out over the last few weeks. If we bring the energy and the excitement, then all of sudden the intensity and the attitude at the contest will be there on the weekend.”

What the Demons have in their favour as they face another critical juncture, perhaps as opposed to recent years, is a stable coaching group, a more balanced list profile and seven of their most important and talented young players recommitting to the cause in the past year.

While much of the focus on was on James Frawley’s free agency departure last year, it was more important that Hogan, McDonald, Viney, Salem, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Angus Brayshaw, and today, Christian Petracca signed on for the long-term.

Hogan says his future was “never in doubt”, despite a lucrative advance from Fremantle last year to become the shiny new spearhead of a hometown club in premiership mode.

Instead, Hogan agreed to a new two-year extension, saying he would not back away from the opportunity to change the course of a club which has been stuck in the lower reaches of the ladder since 2007.

During wins against Richmond, where Hogan climbed above Tiger Alex Rance to kick the sealer from the boundary line, and Gold Coast, the Demons’ power forward saw glimpses of what the future may hold at Melbourne, if they work hard enough and stay together.

“At the start of the year, when we won games, (the players knew) how big a deal it is for us and how exciting it was,” Hogan said, in a rare interview.

“We are not accepting of losses. We want to win (games) back-to-back-to-back and be a strong side.

“With the list and resources we have around us, we can develop into a team that’s a juggernaut. “If we can (do it) from where we are now, then, you can look back at this and say ‘look at that’. We can be one of those (success) stories that everyone wants to be.”

Viney has similar visions for the young midfield group. “You think back to (a young) Collingwood, they had ‘Pendles’ (Scott Pendelbury),’ Swanny’ (Dane Swan), (Dayne) Beams. Everyone knows that midfield,” Viney said.

“That is something I want to get to and when you think about Brayshaw, Petracca, Salem, (Dean) Kent, (Aaron) vandenBerg these guys who are coming through, we are trying to create something special.

“I’m going to be doing everything in my power to get this club to where it deserves to be, that’s winning a flag, pretty much.”

Of course, that all starts with being consistently competitive from today, but Hogan and Viney, unashamedly, are believers.

For No. 3 draft pick Brayshaw, the hair still stands up on the back his neck when he runs up the MCG race, admitting he was surprised “how positive” the atmosphere was at Melbourne when he arrived last November.

“Having watched football you know the performances Melbourne has been putting up and the big beltings were common, too common,” he said.

“And I expected that to be reflected in the environment when I arrived, but it was actually the opposite.

“When you are walking up the race at the home games, we can hear the big bells (from the AC/DC song Hells Bells) ringing in the background and the crowd starts building and the whole thing is really special.

“’Roosy’ is great at the pre-game pump-ups, the way he starts slow and builds and builds and builds and you just want to get out there.”

Coach-in-waiting Simon Goodwin said there would be “blips on the radar” in their journey to build a gamestyle “that hopefully resembles a team that is going to be involved in finals in the not too distant future”.

He said that started with “bringing great effort and intensity around the ball” today against the Dogs.

“It was something early in the season that we were doing, and it was something that people were attracted to,” Goodwin said.

“It really is about getting back to that. It is the first thing we must get right, getting the ball and making the tackle and doing the things that helps the team at the contest.”

Edited May 24, 2015 by The Song Formerly Known As

[What 18,810]

Great article.

Jesse really sounds like hes in it for the long haul.. Special kid.

[jumbo returns 6,703]

I was just about to post something similar, Song. Thank you for posting the whole article.

Time for us to create our own PACT.

My love for Jesse Hogan has now reached a metaphysical level!!

[deanox 9,657]

Damn you Song. Now I have high expectations for today!

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

Damn you Song. Now I have high expectations for today!

keep your hopes down , Charlie Brown. It helps

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

P.S JACK VINEY WILL CAPTAIN THIS CLUB AFTER JONES.

[sue 9,006]

Obviously Hogan was also too scared to play against the Hawks....

[Gorgoroth 12,702]

Great read.

I look forward to the day I look forward to watching the team.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

Hold on Song, haven't you been reading this forum for the last week? Roos should be sacked, our list is beyond horrible and no-one gives a stuff about the jumper! Get with the program pal!

[markc 975]

lets get them all on the park together first !

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

I do agree with what you're saying, we've just been burnt before is all.

Interesting that Toumpas wasn't pictured.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

I do agree with what you're saying, we've just been burnt before is all.

Interesting that Toumpas wasn't pictured.

He wasn't pictured because he wasn't drafted in the Bailey era. Neeld drafted him.

[dazzledavey36 52,738]

You look at those players and think yep pretty impressive for the future. But then you forget we also have Alex Neal-bullen and Billy Stretch still to come on. Both showing encouraging signs at Casey. Add all of them on top of Dom Tyson and the future is bright.

Imagine if Trengove came back fully fit from his injury...

[monoccular 17,319]

P.S JACK VINEY WILL CAPTAIN THIS CLUB AFTER JONES.

Great to see a positive article and hear positive things from our younger players.

Re the next captain, Tom McDonald would also have to be in the running.

[dazzledavey36 52,738]

He wasn't pictured because he wasn't drafted in the Bailey era. Neeld drafted him.

Pretty sure he ment that recent on in todays Sun.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

He wasn't pictured because he wasn't drafted in the Bailey era. Neeld drafted him.

I mean in the photo at the top.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

Pretty sure he ment that recent on in todays Sun.

I mean in the photo at the top.

No worries, and yes, when you put it in the context of the one at the top it is a little interesting.

[Ethan Tremblay 29,979]

I do agree with what you're saying, we've just been burnt before is all.

Interesting that Toumpas wasn't pictured.

Grimes has bigger arms and shoulders in this photo than we does now.

Thanks for posting the op sfka, good reading.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Ethan Tremblay

[whatwhat say what 22,133]

Not pictured, not mentioned.

Big few weeks coming up for Jimmy T.

[M C 221]

Grimes has bigger arms and shoulders in this photo than we does now.

Thanks for posting the op sfka, good reading.

Didn't he drop weight to help with his soft tissue injuries?

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Grimes has bigger arms and shoulders in this photo than we does now.

He's gaunt now.

[Mickey 4,469]

The 7 up the top are the ones who have signed contract extensions, aren't they? That's why Toumpas is absent

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,210]

I would like to think Frost is part of that nucleus.

[Lucifers Hero 38,982]

Wouldn't read too much into the pic...Viney isn't there either.

He would be part of any nucleous...unless that is Viney front and centre but it looks more like Newton to me.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

Wouldn't read too much into the pic...Viney isn't there either.

He would be part of any nucleous...unless that is Viney front and centre but it looks more like Newton to me.

It's Viney.