Training - Saturday, 16th January, 2016

[olisik 4,060]

I see Ben ken as a Ro Bail upgrade. 

 

Il take it

[P-man 13,367]

Wayne - much appreciated.

Did you note where Frost played when joining the full ground match sim? forward or back?

[The Third Eye 288]

Day 2 diary: Footy weather comes to Qld

 

[Akum 2,660]

 

Footy weather comes to Qld

 

Is there anything that Roos can't do??? 

[TheoX 1,222]

 

Watched Kennedy throughout yesterday's training and saw no similarity with Toumpas other than he had two legs and was wearing footy boots!

Never said they were similar style players etc. The only comparison I made to Toump was lack of composure: if you watched Kennedy's AFL games last year: he s**ts himself every time he goes near the ball, Toumpas style. Toumpas always looked a million bucks at training too. Again, hope I'm wrong. Thanks for the training reports.

[Cards13 9,117]

 

As far as I can gather the Dawes issue is still the calf, that has been troubling him since he joined the club, it is not a new injury, reckon if it doesn't fix itself up this time, he may have to walk away

Big news Saty.

[Balance Demon 92]

I only have one thought on Toumpas and that is that under pressure or not he struggled to hit the correct target under pressure or not that would open up the game for the team.

I was at the game in Darwin last year and I had to tell my son that the team will be off if they did not give him the ball at all. I am sure he is a great person but would not cut it under Paul and style of play the coaches are developing.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,110]

Day three gallery. 

Interesting to see who's lifting what with those deadlifts.  Trengove doing the same as Viney and apparently with less strain to judge by his face. 

Is the third last pic Hunt?  If so, he's really improved his body shape.  Looks about right for AFL now. 

[dazzledavey36 55,990]

I might be wrong but is this Jayden Hunts first ever Pre season?

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

For those who would like to venture over to Demonology http://demonology.me/threads/mfc-training-sat-jan-16-maroochydore.2096/  there are two good training reports (Brady and Range Rover) plus pictures if you are a member

[dazzledavey36 55,990]

 

For those who would like to venture over to Demonology http://demonology.me/threads/mfc-training-sat-jan-16-maroochydore.2096/  there are two good training reports (Brady and Range Rover) plus pictures if you are a member

The reports on Oliver and Weideman from them seemed pretty positive.

[bing181 9,436]

 

For those who would like to venture over to Demonology http://demonology.me/threads/mfc-training-sat-jan-16-maroochydore.2096/  there are two good training reports (Brady and Range Rover) plus pictures if you are a member

Demonology? I'd forgotten it even existed ...

[CBDees 3,167]

 

For those who would like to venture over to Demonology http://demonology.me/threads/mfc-training-sat-jan-16-maroochydore.2096/  there are two good training reports (Brady and Range Rover) plus pictures if you are a member

Some very encouraging reports, singling out many of the guys, especially:

1) Stretch, NB and Salem,

2) Gawn,

3) Hunt and Harmes,

4) Wagner and Hulett,

5) T. McDonald and Frost, and

6) Weideman (especially when he fills out)!

 

 

[monoccular 17,697]

 

As far as I can gather the Dawes issue is still the calf, that has been troubling him since he joined the club, it is not a new injury, reckon if it doesn't fix itself up this time, he may have to walk away

Unfortunately, more likely limp away not walk. 

[Lucifers Hero 40,563]

A fascinating behind the scenes look at Sunday's training.  http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-01-18/day-3-diary-build-up-to-big-week

Some light and serious extracts: 

- Elite performance manager Dave Misson brings the group together with a piercing whistle

- The positivity around the group is genuinely noticeable.

- In the gym, draftee Clayton Oliver digs deep; Jesse Hogan works closely with McCartney in a craft session and Tom Bugg makes the most of each session.

- Jim Plunkett, a facilitator from Leading Teams, oversees the session for the next two hours.  He says today’s session is all about “standards and behaviours”.  “It’s about setting up some really clear standards and behaviours around what it means to be a Melbourne player and put the jumper on and what we want to represent this year,” he says.

- Hogan: “Tommy’s a bit of a father figure for us, so we just listen to him and we do most of the cleaning and he does most of the cooking, but it’s been good.”

I liked the bit about 'what it means to ...put on the (Melbourne) jumper..'  Something we all cry out for in our post-game commentary is for our players to respect and play for our jumper.  Will be good to see how this plays out during the year.  I hope it means they never drop their heads and never give up. 

[Lucifers Hero 40,563]

And http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-01-18/hogan-aims-to-build-every-session  Extract:

Overall, Hogan said his pre-season had been a positive one.  “I’m working a lot more on my marking and trying to take it to another level,” he said.“My running and strength is something I’ve been working on and I’ve put on a little bit of weight, so running with that is going to be a little different for me.

The way I read this he putting on weight is deliberate. 

WOW - Jesse taking his marking to another level will be really awesome to see!  Opposition backmen: Beware!

[M_9 2,175]

 

I might be wrong but is this Jayden Hunts first ever Pre season?

Jayden did pre-season last year. It appeared as though Roos was priming him for a role at HB. He tweeked his back early Feb from memory in a match simulation. Milkshake's suspension may make it a tad easier for Jayden to get a game.

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

Hogan, Petracca, "The Big Weed" and Tommy Mac all sharing a house. Not too hard to picture that list as the best four players in our next premiership side. 

[Gorgoroth 13,188]

 

Hogan, Petracca, "The Big Weed" and Tommy Mac all sharing a house. Not too hard to picture that list as the best four players in our next premiership side. 

Brayshaw says Hi.

 

Viney says SMASH!!!

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

 

And http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-01-18/hogan-aims-to-build-every-session  Extract:

Overall, Hogan said his pre-season had been a positive one.  “I’m working a lot more on my marking and trying to take it to another level,” he said.“My running and strength is something I’ve been working on and I’ve put on a little bit of weight, so running with that is going to be a little different for me.

The way I read this he putting on weight is deliberate. 

WOW - Jesse taking his marking to another level will be really awesome to see!  Opposition backmen: Beware!

2017 pre-season: "I've slimmed down a bit this summer, last year I was carrying too much weight and it impacted on my running but I've managed to not lose too much strength and improve my running."

[Jrono64 135]

I made the trek up to the training on Saturday from the GC to finally see the boys up here for the first time in three years. Most things have been covered pretty well but I thought I would share some things that I noticed as repayment for the many training reports I have sifted through.

I know everyone is always keen to hear about the new fellas so I'l start with them:

Oliver:

The kid has a massive frame and knows how to use it as evidenced by his crunching tackle on VDB (who looks like a bigger Viney at the moment having lost his excess fat), however, it looks like it will still take a while for him to look the part, happy with the aggression for now. He looked right at home during contested work and was really enthusiastic in defense as well when playing handball keeping's off early. He did look a little bit lost on the outside and knowing when to lead for a ball but he may just have been catching his breath. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this but he is one of the most energetic people I have ever seen when standing on the mark, this may be how he has increased his fitness.

Weidemann:

He's a pretty strong overhead mark and a fairly decent kick but it does seem that occasionally he loses focus and funnily enough it's the shorter kicks that go slightly astray, it looks a bit like his ball drop is still a bit high. He was a really great bloke and very happy to have a chat with the fans, he seems like he could be a potential leader at the club and a future replacement ambassador for Wattsy.

Hullett:

Everyone already knows he is a massive unit, he easily looks like 26 year old veteran entering his prime. Unfortunately, I didn't see a lot of him for some reason and i'm not sure if he was up the other end or doing other things.

King:

Still very skinny in the way that Oscar Mac was when he first started and needs to get up his fitness, one of the coaches kept on getting in his ear and the boys resting on the sideline were very encouraging while telling him where to run and when he put in the effort.

Wagner:

In my opinion he should get an upgrade at the start of the season, he reads the play quite well and had a pretty decent left boot. He was usually the centre of most drills and I found my eyes constantly being drawn to something he had done, not sure if it's just because of the blonde hair or not but he seemed a bit like the next VDB pick up with a bit less muscle and a bit more skill, he should cover for the loss of Melksham.

Smith:

I was really surprised when I saw this guy, from reports I expected a skinny kid who might look a little lost in training. He impressed me with his skills and seemed to be running really well. He has a good strength base to start from and his basketball background seems to have prepared him for football. He did not look at all out of place.

Bugg:

I'm pretty keen to this guy play, he was in all of the right places and found the ball easily. He did however take the completely wrong option out of defense at one stage kicking a long bomb to (i think) billy stretch on the sideline with big maxy 10 metres away who came thundering over with a massive spoil much to the fans pleasure, he completely crunched all in his path. He's very vocal on and off the ground and seems to have fit in very well pretty quickly.

Kennedy:

I think most people have covered it pretty well, his lateral evasive skills are excellent and his kicking wasn't nearly as bad as his 'highlight' reel made him out to be. Looks awful with the new shaven head but I can't hold that against him if he plays the way he trains.

Some other observations:

Maxy Gawn absolutely ragdolled Watts when he tried to run around him in the keepings off. Watts didn't seem happy and got up to push him back but I don't think Max noticed.

Vandenburg layed a few very strong tackles and a big bump on Tommy Mc which is no small feat.

I watched Trengrove pretty closely in the rehab group as I'm one of the many hoping he has a spectacular comeback. He looked very comfortable running and no longer looks like a sick cow during the sprints, while not the fastest, he certainly looks a lot quicker than he did pre-injury, more season debut Trengrove. I watched him do a bit of kicking too and seemed pretty comfortable but did not use his left. It was basically a kick to kick amongst the rehabbers and crossy, gawn? Hoges, spencil and King. He is also looking pretty big in the chunk style of body only taller. If I didn't know about his past injuries I wouldn't have thought he was that far away from a return to football, looks can be deceiving I guess.

Chunk and Gus are ultra competitive during a drill at the end of training, a trainer would throw up the ball for spencer to tap down to two competing players. Chunk and Gus were only interested in versing each other. Chunk came out on top 4 - 0 last I heard and absolutely let Gus know about it chanting '4 nil, 4 nil'. Salem and Garland were up against each other and Salem was unhappy about having his arms held while behind Garland, it seemed a fairly even contest.

Tommy Mcs kicking looks to have improved and he was switching the play really well, lets hope that translates to games.

Gus and Terlich got blasted by one of the coaches for 'not running [censored] hard enough'. A bit unfair on gus as he was still bitter about giving a free away on wagner.

A real stand out early on for me was JKH, he was really agressive in the drills and seemed constantly involved both defensively and offensively. Great hands in the hand ball drills.

Kent also looked great, during a two on two drill he was dominating the others and wrong footed JKH and burst past which didn't look like an easy thing to do.

Hoges left very early with the rehab group which included nibbler but both looked fine, might have just had a rest day. It was a bit of a shame I didn't get to see him but my sister ran him down in the car park and got a photo much to my annoyance.

I didn't see Max king anywhere but it was hard to tell the difference between some with the hats on.

Dom Tyson seemed to be on light duties and a fair few older supporters were asking me if I could see him out there, again, the hats didn't help.

Our training gear seemed pretty flimsy, Salem, Bugg, Kent all had big tears in their gear or needed new singlets. Could just be the aggression? 

Let me know if you have any questions and i'll do what I can.

P.S. I did not check for spelling errors, couldn't be bothered.

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

Were Gawn and Spencil rucking against each other? Would love for Jake to keep some pressure on Max. 

Excellent report thank you Jrono. 

[Jrono64 135]

 

Were Gawn and Spencil rucking against each other? Would love for Jake to keep some pressure on Max. 

Excellent report thank you Jrono. 

Thanks fndee,

Not during the two player contested drill at the end of training, I actually don't believe I saw any ruck contests all day if someone else can confirm? I think the trainers were just giving it to a player to start the full field contests. They may be taking a cautious approach to Max's knees, it would be the first time he made it through a full preseason I think.

[monoccular 17,697]

Thanks to all the posters. 

Once again we can enter a preseason full of optimism. 

This time though it sounds like the stars are starting to align 

[Demon Spofforth 289]

I was there on Saturday as well, making the trek up from Brisbane. Pretty much everything has been covered by others and managing young kids made it hard to watch everything. But a couple of things that stood out for me were:

Bugg looks the goods and saw plenty of it in the match sim drills. Going to be a shrewd pickup I reckon.

Watts very vocal with encouragement and instruction. Some great foot skills on display as well but then a dropped mark at a crucial time. Was pretty wet though.

Brayshaw and VDB running themselves into the ground to get to every contest and cover blokes defensively. 

Viney having quite a strut and smashing into guys wherever he could. Tipping him for a breakout year for my supercoach side.

Gawn taking some good grabs in the wet conditions and showing precise skills for a big man. A clear standout.

Wiedemann is skinny and got pushed around a bit by TMcDonald/Dunn but never stopped moving and doesn't mind flying for a mark.

Jones giving Frost an absolute earfull for having a snap at goal rather than dishing off a handball to Kennedy in the clear. Frost looks huge though and has good pace.

TMcDonald giving OMcDonald an absolute earfull for not filling the space that Garlett ended up leading into for an easy mark. My young boy learnt some new words.

Goodwin and Rawlings very impressive with their instruction while Roosy sat high up in a crane taking it all in.

Kent working hard to create an option for team mates and looked dangerous around goal. Really hope he stays fit this year.

Overall, the standard was good given the weather but the odd mistake under pressure still there. Then again, I think that was the point of some of the drills they were doing. It was also very willing and physical (tackles/bumps/shepherds) and there would have been a few sore boys afterwards.