34 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Any camera crews taking video for the nightly news ?

7, Fox Sports and Dan Cherny from the Age.

Guys thanks for all the reports. They are really appreciated while I'm sipping on my 4th bundy after I have just set my camp site up for the Easter madness!

Good job. 

Cheers. 

7 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

Wait, Petracca  played?

Last week Misson said he was 4 weeks away.  [censored] me dead, they could have had another 200 people in the crowd if not for misinformation like that.

Anyway great to hear , JT, Weed and TRACCA all exciting.  Would love a Petracca debut vs Essendrug, might be too early though.

 

 

No he said he'd need 4 weeks of training, which he's now had and said he'd be close to this week. I didn't know if I'd see him today but they gave him the all clear. And it's nice to keep him under wraps and let Trenners have a moment in the sun. 

I expect he'll need a minimum of 2 weeks at Casey, making round 4 the earliest possible. We just have to keep being patient. 

Based on today I expect highs and lows to his form anyway. He might need to be dropped, rested or switched roles for his development. But there will be highs.

As good as it seems Petracca could be, there is little chance he will walk into the seniors based off one intra club/match sim in the last 18 months.

He will play VFL for at least a couple of weeks before even being considered I think.

1 hour ago, Peter Griffen said:

I do think Essendon would be a good round to bring Track back, clearly he's fit and firing and Essendon with most of a VFL/TAC cup side aren't going to be the same as a full step  up in intensity and so on

Exactly. Give him a taste of the MCG against the Drug Cheats & then back to Casey if needed

those old crocks will burn out before he does..

Christian Petracca = rich man's Jake Stringer.

But I'm still in favour of holding him back, maybe as far as Round 5.

All positive news from the "match simulation" practice today but I think we should all breath for a bit. It was another step for both JT5 and JT9's return to footy. I still expect both will play a couple of proper VFL games to give them match fitness. 

But great news for both of them, the more quality we have putting pressure on the picked 22 the better. 

A few snippets:-

I wasn't expecting Christian Petracca to do anything more than take part in some of the early drills but was pleasantly surprised that he then took the field for the match simulation and continued through the match practice part with few breaks.

I was expecting him to be a bit scratchy considering that he last played Under 18 football in the latter part of 2014 and that was the case to some extent. He started off on the bench for a few minutes and then went onto a wing/flank and was patrolling those areas without the ball getting near him apart from the one or two opportunities to tackle. Then all of a sudden, he got his hands on the ball and that was all she wrote. He was in everything and showed out with his strength, tackling, marking and kicking. I will say however, that for the most part, he was allowed to roam free and that won't happen under the pressure cooker of AFL football. 

It was supposed to be Jack Trengove's day and from a football perspective, it was a faultless comeback. He took a couple grabs early, he positioned himself well and looked very much the Trengove of his early career. He's not fast but then he's not the slouch he appeared to be in the period before his foot injury was diagnosed. I suppose a lot will depend on how he pulls up in the next 24/48 hours. Then, let's hope that there are no recurring effects or issues with the foot. Hopefully, in a month's time he will be back on the G.

The others to show out for me were Heritier Lumumba and Angus Brayshaw, both obviously a class above this level. Billy Stretch, ANB and Jayden Hunt did some nice things and will get games this year.

Sam Weideman - I saw him struggle for opportunities out at Casey a couple of weeks ago but not so today. He is mobile and very good in the air and I expect him to get some game time this year. When he gets some meat on his body, he is going to be a difficult opponent and if we ever get to see him in full flight in the same forward line as Hogan and Petracca at AFL level, it will be exciting days for Demon fans.

Joel Smith has some tricks from his basketball background and will be worth watching over the next year or two.

The tall Casey player is Oscar McInerney - he towered over our two Kings. Tim Smith, the Casey CHF who has had some injury problems looks back in town and that should be good for the Scorps.

As I was leaving Gosch's Paddock I noticed Satyriconhome chatting with Christian Petracca. I hope Satyr has an exclusive for us on that score.

4 minutes ago, Pates said:

All positive news from the "match simulation" practice today but I think we should all breath for a bit. It was another step for both JT5 and JT9's return to footy. I still expect both will play a couple of proper VFL games to give them match fitness. 

But great news for both of them, the more quality we have putting pressure on the picked 22 the better. 

I presume that you are referring to CP5?

 

Parts of trenners presser that mfc put on twitter. Maybe more on ch7 sport tonight.

  Trengove: It was great - it was pretty much just an extension of the training session but there was a match simulation component

Trengove says he hopes to continue to build match fitness - with the rotations in AFL football now you need to be at a high level

Trengove says he hopes to play restricted minutes next week and be ready for VFL round one

Trengove says when the footy's around now, he doesn't think about his foot anymore. He's building confidence with every session.

Trengove says it's good to see plenty of players putting their hands up for selection - match simulation is good for confidence.

Trengove says we're not putting any limits on Christian Petracca - "he put his best foot forward today"

Trengove says he's just focusing on getting used to the speed of the game again and getting used to body contact again

Trengove: I'm certainly starting to believe more and more with every session - the dream is to get back out on the G again.

Edited March 25, 20169 yr by dees189227

^^^ must watch presser imo, on the mfc website.

35 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

7, Fox Sports and Dan Cherny from the Age.

Quote I heard with reporter talking to camera this morning:

"demon practice match today in preparation for their clash with the Giants, they had in their inter club practice match their Giant future on display" or words to that effect.

He went on to single out Petracca, Trengove, Weideman, the Kings, and Lumumba. It was very very positive, even if you discount commercial television's tendency towards the sensational. Whether this goes to air is another matter, but it does illustrate the positive vibes about MELBOURNE developing in the media. And about time too.

Edited March 25, 20169 yr by Dees2014

Loved JT's presser and admired the strength of his statement when asked about what he would do if he saw a Melbourne player using drugs.

His reply "That's not gonna happen, not at this club."  Strong words that would lead you to believe that the club culture is very strong too.

3 hours ago, olisik said:

His issue is that he may not be able to run out games yet. No point having him explode first quarter then struggle the rest of the game

Those out of condition Hacks at Essendrug will tire out much quicker than Petracca. 

They have only been together since February

Great thread! Thanks everyone who's reported.

This has certainly put the Good in my Friday!

2 hours ago, Dees2014 said:

Agree, but after seeing him today am more convinced his comeback will be successful. That would be a huge boost for the club - like having three number 2 draft picks "debut" for the club in the space of about a month: Oliver, Petracca and JT. When fit, all of them will be A-graders. I'm predicting Petracca will debut against Norf, and JT comeback against the Pies. Weideman, mid season. 

Cant wait to see Petracca and JT feeding Jesse in the square.

Doubt Petracca will debut interstate. 

7 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Doubt Petracca will debut interstate. 

Why ?........A lot less pressure on the lad than the MCG....

Edited March 25, 20169 yr by Bossdog

It's starting to look like we have a bit of depth here boys!!

Edited March 25, 20169 yr by ILLDieADemon

They need 3-4 weeks each at Casey.

All going well they'll play rounds 5/6.

I personally would like to see petraca playing against Essendon. He is fit enough and has they skills to come straight in, trying him against one of the lesser teams will mean a lesser opponent to start with rather than front up like watts did against a top side with a quality opponent. The only issue is obviously going to be who to drop from the current team. I guess we will get an answer to that tomorrow at the end of our GWS game.

1 minute ago, Deecisive said:

I personally would like to see petraca playing against Essendon. He is fit enough and has they skills to come straight in, trying him against one of the lesser teams will mean a lesser opponent to start with rather than front up like watts did against a top side with a quality opponent. The only issue is obviously going to be who to drop from the current team. I guess we will get an answer to that tomorrow at the end of our GWS game.

You might like it, but it's not going to happen, nor should it happen. 

3 minutes ago, ProDee said:

You might like it, but it's not going to happen, nor should it happen. 

You are a buzz kill prodee!!

I got Rd 22 for when he will be ready from Trac this time     I was more impressed by the Weed    must have seen too much of Trac at training and knew what to expect     JT very satisfied with his hitout today,  is really fit hardly looked like he had a run when I spoke to him      as  he says "another box ticked"

7 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

I got Rd 22 for when he will be ready from Trac this time     I was more impressed by the Weed    must have seen too much of Trac at training and knew what to expect     JT very satisfied with his hitout today,  is really fit hardly looked like he had a run when I spoke to him      as  he says "another box ticked"

sorry?

I hope Trengove's injury was the thing holding him back (speed wise, etc) when he last played. Because as a junior, he was so clean, well balanced, poised and could execute really well. He is exactly what we need to drill the ball into Hogan. We have the bull at a gate style players that can extract the ball, now we just need the calm, classy outside types that do not panic - Trengove was that player in under 18's. Watts is similar in that regards.

Good to hear Petracca got through unscathed, I've been backing him for the rising star for quite sometime now. Soon people will understand why, he is a level above these young kids who just enter the system. Petracca is a different beast, I was glad we landed him. We have a hell of a list, when I start reeling names off, I think we have the best - and most diverse - young list in the league.

Edited March 25, 20169 yr by KingDingAling