Popped along to training today. And whilst its the start of pre-season i would say most of the players wouldve been doing a lot of individual training in the off season. Because of this i was keen to see who was bulking up and who wasn't.

Players that look to me to have changed body shapes include:

Vandenberg: looks a lot fitter and looks to be covering the ground a lot better than last season.

Petracca: he looks dramatically different and has lost the big hips that he had this time last season. A picture of fitness.

O.Mcdonald: he is still thin but he is showing signs of filling out. It won't be this season but maybe next pre-season he'll start to really fill out but i like the signs.

Billy stretch: he looked super fit last pre season and he now looks even more fit to go along with some strength.

Watts: hasnt bulked up but has lost weight in his legs and looks set for a midfield role if in the best 22.

Trengove: didnt see him do much but he has the perfect physique if it wasnt for his ankles.

Salem: he has trimmed down again and now looks like he can maybe play more midfield time.

Hasn't bulked up:

Vince: he never does though

Gawn

Max king: i feel that he hasnt changed since the day he arrived. He still very much has a boys body.

Viney: still big. Maybe a bit too big in the hips/legs but as a true inside mid maybe its not too much of an issue as long as he can track his own player around the ground.

Anyway back to the training:

The day was windy so kicking was dreadful. Terrible kicking for goal as well as field kicking.

The draftees didnt do much. They just played kick to kick, did some run throughs etc. The ruckman we picked up looks to have some pretty questionable foot skills but he is a project playet and i wont be looking at senior action for a couple of years. Oliver lead the run throughs and covers the ground quite well. His short kicking was a tad floaty but it was super windy. Weidemans body needs a lot of work. He has a boys body and as he should but i'd be wanting an extra 5kg of muscle before contemplating senior football. His kicking was quite good.

I couldn't spot hogan or brayshaw at today's training.

They did some half ground ball movement finishing in a goal, but trying to emphasize using the hands and finish off close to goal.

Not much else to report.

Dropped in from about 2:40 to 4.

Missing: Hogan, Brayshaw, Tyson, Newton, Viney, Lumumba, JKH, Spencer, Garlett

Laps: Jones, Vince, Trengove. Bernie at a steady pace, Nathan motoring. Trengove doing his own thing.

Modifield program for parts of the session: ANB, King, Frost, Terlich, Petracca. Max King has a right wrist injury, was only marking with his left arm.

Now the new boys. Oliver is a good size for a mid as we all know. In decent condition as well. He reminds me of Brayshaw last year, maybe a little heavier in the legs but otherwise he's a mixture of muscles and skinny, toned and untoned. Weideman is tall and light, but not too skinny. Same for Mitch King, looks like a young ruck but not really a beanpole. Hulett is a physical specimen, he's definitely the most ripped of the bunch, but not overly tall, there's a noticeable drop (even if it is only an inch) between him and Weid. Wagner looks more mature, strong in the legs, bit skinnier in the upper body.

From all that I saw they did their own thing on the far wing. Some handball weave around a defender. Some kicking drills. Kicking 20m to a partner whilst swapping ends that tested the kicking as they progressively fatigued. Weideman kicks nicely for a tall, likes to use his left as well. King ok for a young ruck, better when fresh and for his age he's probably more advanced than Gawn and certainly more advanced than Spencer. Hulett probably the best kick of the bunch at least over short distances. Oliver isn't a bad kick, but did drop off a little when fatigued. They then did some interval running. Oliver led the bunch of them which is a good sign, they all stayed pretty compact over the 300m or so repeats that they were doing. After that they watched training. Hulett and Weideman took particular interest in the drill Rawlings was running with a group of talls practising contested marking. Oliver and Goodwin had what looked like a friendly chat, with Oliver threatening to take a hanger over Goody at one stage and having a laugh.

It was more of the type of small drills for the main group. Mainly kicking or handballing under pressure. Some quick reaction and tackle drills as well. They spent a long time doing a drill where 2 players would get the ball in the centre square, work passed 1 play pressuring then kicking inside 50 to a 3 on 2. One half rotated everyone through the midfield players, whilst the other group used Salem, Melksham, White and ANB as the 4 in the middle and then rotated through the forwards. Melksham looked sharp and skillful. If his decision making improves he'll be hand from half back. Petracca, Kent and Vanders floating through a forward line was fun to watch.

Anyway after a variety of drills with a competitive focus it was on to some repeat sprints through the centre square. I counted 26 in this group to start with. Nice to see Petracca joining in. A group of 6 - Kent, Oscar Mc, Smith, Watts, Dunn, Jetta split off to do repeat longer sprints around the boundary. Whilst another group consisting of Kennedy, Frost, Terlich, King went with Crossy to do longer runs than that, maybe 300m or so. Kennedy led that group in a good showing. Poor Max King continues to trail. I'm surprised they haven't pulled him out to do more and more individual work on his running.

It was hot and very gusty which no doubt impacted the skill level, but the good players shone through whilst the kicking deficiencies in several others were highlighted. Frost and Hunt are two who have a lot to offer with their athletic traits but can't reliably kick drop punts.

Given that pessimism is my natural state regarding the MFC I am little concerned that we are outsmarting ourselves with so much competitive training and the risk of injuries. We've already mounted a decent toll even if they are only minor niggles.

I also worry we split in to too many random and individual drills that leads to a lot of down time between drills and splitting of the playing group. I'm not sure how they manage the continuity of message.

As an example Max King and Dawes were doing some goal kicking whilst out of the main group. Dawes was doing the right thing as a senior player and giving king some advice in how to kick for goal in the windy conditions. Unfortunately, King is a very nice natural kick. He's got a solid rhythm and kicks the ball well. Dawes is anything but. So I'm not sure he was the right man for the job. Dawes continued to slice several of his next kicks out to the right as he is prone to doing whilst King slotted a few.

Just a few observations. Plenty of good bits as well and nice to see the new guys in action.

Thanks Freak... good feedback on the players development.

Thanks Freak.

But if you want to get your like counts up, say more about the draftees, even if its made up. That's all anyone wants to hear right now.

Thanks for that detail Georgiou

I also worry we split in to too many random and individual drills that leads to a lot of down time between drills and splitting of the playing group. I'm not sure how they manage the continuity of message.

As an example Max King and Dawes were doing some goal kicking whilst out of the main group.

Seems to be the latest trend doesn't it?

Everyone has their own individual program that they follow, and only do group work if it fits into their own program.

Is training really that scientific now?

Some interesting observation fellas, thnx for the reports.

Thanks Freak.

But if you want to get your like counts up, say more about the draftees, even if its made up.

That's all anyone wants to hear right now.

Lol. True. But there was genuinely not much to report. its hard to read into a 20m kick to kick and some run throughs

Havnt heard much about Kennedy, any indication of what his role will be this year? I got high hopes for the kid and feel he could play a role like Jamie Elliot for us

Havnt heard much about Kennedy, any indication of what his role will be this year? I got high hopes for the kid and feel he could play a role like Jamie Elliot for us

Did well in one of the running drills. Uses the ball nicely on his left, the right is good for balance and that's it. They haven't split up in to lines at any stage but I imagine he'll be playing high half forward/wing/mid. Won't be taking marks like Jamie Elliott from what I've seen. If he builds his tank and starts to handle the pressure better than he did at Collingwood then he'll be a nice pick up.

Rawlings got a group of 5 - Dawes, Pedo, Gawn, Oscar, Grimes for a one on one marking drill.

Started with practising technique from behind. All about lowering your hip and leaning in to move the guy in front forward or at least hold your ground. Also practising the defender using a technique to roll their shoulders and spin behind to get back position. Interesting stuff. Filmed on the iPad with the best examples demonstrated to the group (including Weid and Hulett who weren't participating).

Then they practised holding front position and marking under what Rawlings deemed 70% pressure with a whack to the shoulder blades.

At one stage Grimes protected front spot with a series of well placed elbows behind to Oscar Mc that made Rawlings very happy. He was loving it. Oscar competed well the big boys and put his strength to the test. Pedo held a few grabs with strong hands. Big Duncan used his height to take a few nice grabs. The one disappointment was as usual Dawes, who just gets way too bogged down in the strength battle and can't push off, take a couple of steps and mark at full reach. When it works by dominating the strength battle he then just sticks his arms out marks unopposed, but way too often he didn't capitalise on winning the battle by going and getting the ball. After you've out bodied your opponent you have to either protect enough space in the drop zone to get to or jump up and mark clear of the incoming fist. I thought Rawlings was much too kind on him, he needs to practise marking on the move and wasn't. Anyway. Something interesting.

Lol. True. But there was genuinely not much to report. its hard to read into a 20m kick to kick and some run throughs

"The kicking drill was where the new guys shone, especially the short kicking. After leading all comers in the run through drill, which was in itself exciting, Oliver hit every target on the chest, at full tilt, when others appeared to suffer from fatigue. A clear standout"

Paste that in, and watch you likes rise by 30%

You're welcome

Havnt heard much about Kennedy, any indication of what his role will be this year? I got high hopes for the kid and feel he could play a role like Jamie Elliot for us

But people keep saying he isn't a forward Oli?

Thanks for the reports, they're very much appreciated. It's great that we get some variety and different points of view in these threads as they help to paint a more accurate picture for those of us who, for whatever reason, cannot attend ourselves.

Really appreciate that you put in the time and effort to share your observations.

I always find it interesting that clubs have to teach young players so much about the techniques of the game outside of any game plan. GRRM mentioned above how Rowlings was showing a seasoned group how to take a one on one mark and Dawes showing King how to kick a ball. Why aren't these skills taught at TAC level and even earlier. In my opinion 90% of these techniques skills should be addressed before they enter the AFL system especially kicking, both left and right foot.

I would of thought that clubs would prefer to just concentrate on their game plan drills instead of spending so much time educating their players on the basics.

Maybe the reason is because the recruiting age is so young but that said I would like to know what they teach them at TAC level.

Just my thoughts.

Photos are up.

http://www.aflphotos.com.au/galleries/results/?q=collection:AFL%202015%20Training%20-%20Melbourne%20301115&image_id=412374

I always find it interesting that clubs have to teach young players so much about the techniques of the game outside of any game plan. GRRM mentioned above how Rowlings was showing a seasoned group how to take a one on one mark and Dawes showing King how to kick a ball. Why aren't these skills taught at TAC level and even earlier. In my opinion 90% of these techniques skills should be addressed before they enter the AFL system especially kicking, both left and right foot.

I would of thought that clubs would prefer to just concentrate on their game plan drills instead of spending so much time educating their players on the basics.

Maybe the reason is because the recruiting age is so young but that said I would like to know what they teach them at TAC level.

Just my thoughts.

Kicking in particular is so bad across the junior systems. Unfortunately I'm kind of a fan of the idea of letting kids be kids and not a tennis or soccer style system where any good kid at age 10 has to go to a sports school and train for many hours a day to refine their techniques. Instead it's a matter of drafting kids who either kick well or have enough good attributes and working on their kicking. Hopefully there's a balance that can see better refinement of kicking starting all the way in Auskick without ruining the fun of the sport for kids or making an industry out of it and forcing parents to fork out more for their kids when they already have enough to pay for.

That said, there's definitely a role for AFL clubs to keep teaching and refining kicking even if all kids came in a good standard. No matter the sport you have to keep practising your skills in isolation.

And for things like contested marking that definitely has to be taught at AFL level because the step up to playing against men and in strength and athleticism is so big. Plus even the big tall kids aren't taking contested grabs in the under 12's and maybe not in the under 14's. They don't have defenders good enough to stop them most of the time. So even if taught expertly it's only a skill they've probably learnt in the last few years and have never tested against bigger, stronger and faster opponents.

is Frost on the gear?

Built like Phar Lap.

Geez, how much fitter does Vandenberg look??

He was superb in his first year but I reckon we will see him take his game to a whole new level next year. Could be anything.

Geez, how much fitter does Vandenberg look??

He was superb in his first year but I reckon we will see him take his game to a whole new level next year. Could be anything.

Ben, do you have a brother Jack?

Rawlings got a group of 5 - Dawes, Pedo, Gawn, Oscar, Grimes for a one on one marking drill.

. Filmed on the iPad with the best examples demonstrated to the group (including Weid and Hulett who weren't participating).

Post it for the rest of us?

But people keep saying he isn't a forward Oli?

He said himself in his interview today that he can push forward...

Did Dawes get slashed in the face over the break or something

Ben, do you have a brother Jack?

My parents would have to be exceptionally cruel people for me to have a brother named Jack. Thankfully, they're not cruel.

Post it for the rest of us?

By the MFC support staff, not by me.

I can't Saty-ate your need for content that well sorry.