Got there after 2, stayed for 90 or so minutes, wasn't paying awfully close attention as I was meeting a friend for a catch up.

Frost and Dawes were gone 5 minutes later. Seemingly just making an appearance. Lumumba not much after that. No sign of J Smith, Harmes or Newton.

Vince (with a finger/hand bandage), Jetta, Watts, Spencer running laps. Trenners having a kick, then out in to sprints in very good time. Got a big cheer from the boys.

Tyson and Brayshaw did kick to kick with Crossy then in to some paired runs. Tyson put a gap on Gus. 

Jeffie doing some drills with the young fellas and then boxing with the boxing coach. The 4 draftees did some boxing as well. Including where the boxing coach hammers in to their guts whilst they are kneeling and doing upper cuts. Clarry in particular was copping a hammering and grunting and swearing his way through it. Great stuff.

Nath Jones back in the main group! Petracca as well.

Usual pressure ball movement style drills. Different ones I remember:

1. Lining up in a line like a tug of war without the rope, ball thrown to one group who have to handball to another

2. 5 v 3 defenders in tight then 2 more handballing from congestion up to a trainer 

3. Kicking from backline to goals up 1/3rd of the ground v 3 defenders

4. Forming a conga line and running around a cone before the ball being thrown out for one group who then had to handball through the congestion

Lots of pressure on the skills and there were some clean moments. A group featuring Garlett, Petracca, Vanders had the ball motoring from the backline through to goals.

The highlight of the session was in a handball drill where it became 5 v 2 at the end to weave through handball to a trainer, young Ben Ainsworth (who's usually all class) sold too much candy and stalled momentum leading to the ball movement breaking down. I think it was Ben Matthews who yelled to him "Benny if you to sell candy then f off to the candy shop". Maybe a little harsh on the kid but the point was made clear and he's talented enough to take the criticism. Made for a chuckle from the crowd and a few others though.

Otherwise it seemed a pretty straight forward session. 

7 minutes ago, Georgiou R.R. Martin said:

...

4. Forming a conga line and running around a cone before the ball being thrown out for one group who then had to handball through the congestion

... young Ben Ainsworth (who's usually all class) sold too much candy and stalled momentum leading to the ball movement breaking down. 

Otherwise it seemed a pretty straight forward session. 

Are you sure you didn't stumble onto the club's Christmas Party instead of footy training?

Actually, a nice, pithy summary. Much appreciated.

 

5 hours ago, Georgiou R.R. Martin said:

5 hours ago, Georgiou R.R. Martin said:

skills and there were some clean moments. A group featuring Garlett, Petracca, Vanders had the ball motoring from the backline through to goals.

 

Trac and Vanders were both looking clean and strong with their disposal. They are going to be very good to watch this year. I think I overheard Vanders giving some cheek "Trac! Would you prefer laces in or out?"

I wasn't there long, but, I also noticed the focus was on decision making and skills under pressure. Feedback being shot out in retrospect by the coaches ( as an aside, loved seeing Todd kicking balls back to Jack after a goal kicking drill finished).

Stretch junior was looking pretty sharp in the skills sessions. Prompting, I think it was Dunn, to jokingly call out "skills!..and he knows it!" He is going to look pretty smart streaming in off the members like his old man.

Harmes is going to be interesting. He keeps making you look. From what I saw; very few mistakes, great intensity, a little unpredictability and a sense he is not going to give up his place easily.

Also loved watching Hogan practice his leading and marking out in front with the assistants. I get the sense that what he seeks is seeking him. 

Thanks Georgiou, spot on with your report! I hope you don't mind I used your piece to bounce off. Will pop in anything else I remember as others report or as I feel the need to exaggerate the potent potential that is the future of the MFC. 

2 hours ago, Georgiou R.R. Martin said:

Got there after 2, stayed for 90 or so minutes, wasn't paying awfully close attention as I was meeting a friend for a catch up.

Frost and Dawes were gone 5 minutes later. Seemingly just making an appearance. Lumumba not much after that. No sign of J Smith, Harmes or Newton.

Vince (with a finger/hand bandage), Jetta, Watts, Spencer running laps. Trenners having a kick, then out in to sprints in very good time. Got a big cheer from the boys.

Tyson and Brayshaw did kick to kick with Crossy then in to some paired runs. Tyson put a gap on Gus. 

Jeffie doing some drills with the young fellas and then boxing with the boxing coach. The 4 draftees did some boxing as well. Including where the boxing coach hammers in to their guts whilst they are kneeling and doing upper cuts. Clarry in particular was copping a hammering and grunting and swearing his way through it. Great stuff.

Nath Jones back in the main group! Petracca as well.

Usual pressure ball movement style drills. Different ones I remember:

1. Lining up in a line like a tug of war without the rope, ball thrown to one group who have to handball to another

2. 5 v 3 defenders in tight then 2 more handballing from congestion up to a trainer 

3. Kicking from backline to goals up 1/3rd of the ground v 3 defenders

4. Forming a conga line and running around a cone before the ball being thrown out for one group who then had to handball through the congestion

Lots of pressure on the skills and there were some clean moments. A group featuring Garlett, Petracca, Vanders had the ball motoring from the backline through to goals.

The highlight of the session was in a handball drill where it became 5 v 2 at the end to weave through handball to a trainer, young Ben Ainsworth (who's usually all class) sold too much candy and stalled momentum leading to the ball movement breaking down. I think it was Ben Matthews who yelled to him "Benny if you to sell candy then f off to the candy shop". Maybe a little harsh on the kid but the point was made clear and he's talented enough to take the criticism. Made for a chuckle from the crowd and a few others though.

Otherwise it seemed a pretty straight forward session. 

Was he sprinting by himself, or with others?

Interested, as its easy to look good when you are not being burned off by someone. I recall many years of reports about us looking sharp at training, only to be murdered once a real opponent appeared.

Hoping he was running with someone else, and still looking fast.

Every time I see Petracca's name within a training thread my anxiety level goes through the roof.

 

I saw about the first 45 minutes of training today.I had been to quite a few training sessions throughout the 2015 season and had noticed towards the end of the season how fatigued some of the players looked.So it was a nice sight today to see everyone looking sharp and refreshed.

Georgiou has given an excellent report so I wont go into too much detail but I'd like to point out a couple of things I noticed such as:

• Petracca's disposals were flawless,after each drill he was asking Goodwin and N. Jones for feedback about his decisions
• Clayton Oliver seems to have a good head for football,as soon as he gets the ball he has already made a decision what to do with it(a refeshing sight after the 'deer in the headlights'   mentality we have seen in previous years by Melbourne players)
• Kent and Vanders tearing it up again.

 

 

Who is Ben Ainsworth?

5 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Are you sure you didn't stumble onto the club's Christmas Party instead of footy training?

Actually, a nice, pithy summary. Much appreciated.

 

I'd love for them to just run some laps like in the good (bad) old days and I could simply report on who finished where but those days seem long gone.

They were really getting creative today with some of the starting positions for these drills. I'm guessing the theory is simple. Get the players in strange spots so they can then spread (both in an attacking and defensive way) like it's a game scenario. But it did look interesting seeing them jog up in a line around a cone before spreading out and playing keepings off with the footy.

2 hours ago, faultydet said:

Was he sprinting by himself, or with others?

Interested, as its easy to look good when you are not being burned off by someone. I recall many years of reports about us looking sharp at training, only to be murdered once a real opponent appeared.

Hoping he was running with someone else, and still looking fast.

Running solo. And he didn't seem to be doing a huge number of them to test endurance/repeat speed. It's too early to tell what shape he's in regarding speed and endurance for footy. I'm just positive that he and staff have the freedom to let him sprint 150 or so metres. That'll do me for now.

13 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Who is Ben Ainsworth?

AFL Academy kid training with us who despite his diminutive size would've been a first round pick more than likely if eligible for this years draft.

He's been in a fair few drills  and doesn't look out of place. The other kid is a bit taller and skinnier and has been mainly with the rehab group.

Anyone know what's happened to tasmanlvr?

15 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Anyone know what's happened to tasmanlvr?

Yea was wondering as well. Really appreciate all the reports though,  thanks to all

I went to training today too, with my brother, was the first session we had been to this pre season.

On a side note, my brother is a sponsor of Jack Trengove (hope he doesnt mind me saying that!!!) and we had a chat to JT in between his running and skills.

JT seemed really happy and said he was feeling good. He was moving well and is just getting used to doing everything again, basically getting accustomed to doing what everyone else would see as normal, such as running! He stated he aims to be ready to be selected in round 1.

Back to everyone else though, I got there really early and all of JT, Gus, Dawes, Spencer, Vince, Watts, Tyson, Frost were all doing running from 1:15 to 2:00. Of these guys, the most of them then went on and did kicking skills for over an hour. They were all working really hard. 

Then everyone else arrived. To whoever said Harmes wasnt there, he was, but I understand missing people as they were hard to distinguish at times.

Some seperate notes from me:

I was super happy with the skills in real blustery conditions, best I have seen in a while.

Was also really pleased with the enthusiasm, energy by all players and especially loved the tackling and pressure, it was super hard and fierce. I didnt see many tackles get broken, not without trying, but the tackles stuck and they went in hard.

I also know, from a reliable source (always wanted to say that!) that they are trying to train the team to now be more attacking, play more modern football, not just the Paul Roos 1 on 1 style. Goodwin is more of a modern coach who wants to attack more, defend as a team and take the game on. Hopefully they pick it up well and we see more forward movement this year.

Individually:

Petracca is a beast, his skills were really good too and his leap is still huge

VDB looks slimmer and really was impressive.

I thought kennedy trained really well and his speed and evasiveness were impressive.

Hunt looks really quick and his skills were fine.

Gawn has improved, just looks more agile and better endurance. Can see him dominating this year.

Hogan was hogan, but what i liked most was his vision and risk taking decisions in drills, he takes the game on!

Wiedemann looks real tall, but is skinny in comparison to others. Can see he is working hard but will take some time.

Kent looks great and his foot skills and pace were great. I rate him so highly, so i hope he stays fit this year.

Along with kent, the kicking skills of Salem just look so smooth, he was moving well, so lets hope he can make the move to the midfield more this season.

I like the look of White, his foot skills were great and he goes in hard and has some size. Very good back up.

 

Cant think of any others right now, but if you have any questions, just ask!

Overall though i was really impressed today, made me fell much more confident, consdering some of our better and more senior players werent doing heaps.

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Yokozuna said:

I went to training today too, with my brother, was the first session we had been to this pre season.

On a side note, my brother is a sponsor of Jack Trengove (hope he doesnt mind me saying that!!!) and we had a chat to JT in between his running and skills.

JT seemed really happy and said he was feeling good. He was moving well and is just getting used to doing everything again, basically getting accustomed to doing what everyone else would see as normal, such as running! He stated he aims to be ready to be selected in round 1.

Back to everyone else though, I got there really early and all of JT, Gus, Dawes, Spencer, Vince, Watts, Tyson, Frost were all doing running from 1:15 to 2:00. Of these guys, the most of them then went on and did kicking skills for over an hour. They were all working really hard. 

Then everyone else arrived. To whoever said Harmes wasnt there, he was, but I understand missing people as they were hard to distinguish at times.

Some seperate notes from me:

I was super happy with the skills in real blustery conditions, best I have seen in a while.

Was also really pleased with the enthusiasm, energy by all players and especially loved the tackling and pressure, it was super hard and fierce. I didnt see many tackles get broken, not without trying, but the tackles stuck and they went in hard.

I also know, from a reliable source (always wanted to say that!) that they are trying to train the team to now be more attacking, play more modern football, not just the Paul Roos 1 on 1 style. Goodwin is more of a modern coach who wants to attack more, defend as a team and take the game on. Hopefully they pick it up well and we see more forward movement this year.

Individually:

Petracca is a beast, his skills were really good too and his leap is still huge

VDB looks slimmer and really was impressive.

I thought kennedy trained really well and his speed and evasiveness were impressive.

Hunt looks really quick and his skills were fine.

Gawn has improved, just looks more agile and better endurance. Can see him dominating this year.

Hogan was hogan, but what i liked most was his vision and risk taking decisions in drills, he takes the game on!

Wiedemann looks real tall, but is skinny in comparison to others. Can see he is working hard but will take some time.

Kent looks great and his foot skills and pace were great. I rate him so highly, so i hope he stays fit this year.

Along with kent, the kicking skills of Salem just look so smooth, he was moving well, so lets hope he can make the move to the midfield more this season.

I like the look of White, his foot skills were great and he goes in hard and has some size. Very good back up.

 

Cant think of any others right now, but if you have any questions, just ask!

Overall though i was really impressed today, made me fell much more confident, consdering some of our better and more senior players werent doing heaps.

 

 

 

Throughly enjoyed reading your report on training - thanks plenty.

Thanks also for the added info on Trenners. It's fantastic that his own personal goal is to be ready for seniors in round 1.

Thanks for the info Yoko. Makes sense that those in the rehab group started early because some of them finished so soon after 2. 

Don't know how I didn't see Harmes. That said I swapped ends with the same group a lot of the time. Presume he was in the other half.

I'm not a huge wrap for Petracca's kicking myself, he has a high and mechanical ball drop and really thumps the ball instead of timing it off the boot, but that said he has so much power that he can spear the ball fast and hard with decent accuracy. In short, there will be some turnovers and wayward kicking with his style but there will also be moments where he bursts out of traffic and spears it lace out to someone. 

Sam Weideman has such a big frame with broad shoulders, height and solid legs but is pretty much stick thin elsewhere. I was impressed by his kicking particularly his confidence on his left foot. To have a tall who can lead up and mark and then back himself on his left opens up a lot of options going inside 50. 

Rob Jackson occasionally puts up videos on Instagram of the boys training and there was a really great one today of Petracca

 

for those who have Instagram there is some good videos of the boys training also, especially great to see some vision of the boys for us non-Melbourne supporters who only get to read the great reports on Demonland.

 

Edited December 14, 20159 yr by felixdacat
Wasn't finished post

7 hours ago, Yokozuna said:

JT seemed really happy and said he was feeling good. He was moving well and is just getting used to doing everything again, basically getting accustomed to doing what everyone else would see as normal, such as running! He stated he aims to be ready to be selected in round 1.

10 hours ago, McQueen said:

Every time I see Petracca's name within a training thread my anxiety level goes through the roof.

 

I'd be prepared to bet that if you didn't see his name in a training thread your anxiety levels would go even higher.

2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I'd be prepared to bet that if you didn't see his name in a training thread your anxiety levels would go even higher.

Fair call that.

Gee, that vid says a bit about his self confidence as far as the reco goes.

 

Fantastic stuff.

33 minutes ago, faultydet said:

Gee, that vid says a bit about his self confidence as far as the reco goes.

 

Fantastic stuff.

I think the concern is more for lateral movement than vertical, still impressive.

 

16 hours ago, McQueen said:

Every time I see Petracca's name within a training thread my anxiety level goes through the roof.

 

Know what you mean. Also agree anxiety levels would be even higher if he isn't mentioned. But that 200kg's photo is encouraging. They're certainly testing out that reco.

 

21 minutes ago, AzzKikA said:

I think the concern is more for lateral movement than vertical, still impressive.

 

Obviously, but its a whole lot better than being told he is still "off weights"

15 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Anyone know what's happened to tasmanlvr?

he posted on FB apologising for not reporting recently - due to some family health issues.  he then added "not too serious"

so im sure the master of prose will be back in action in Jan

22 minutes ago, It's Time said:

Know what you mean. Also agree anxiety levels would be even higher if he isn't mentioned. But that 200kg's photo is encouraging. They're certainly testing out that reco.

 

It's not just a "photo".  Click on it.