12 hours ago, Dante said:

Harmes is still a bit young and impetuous, the club like the way he takes the game on and must be confident they can hone his skills in due course. He's just what we need he's got a fearless attack on the ball and loves to run. I think it will take a season or so before he is the player he can be.

I think he's a good mark too and certainly can amass the ball, but I reckon his ordinary disposal will be his downfall.

Will Monday training continue to be starting around 11am?

I'll be in Vic on Thursday til Monday and should get a chance to catch Mondays session.

4 hours ago, rjay said:

Go up to the local oval and run a quick 400 and see what you do.

Should answer the question...

 

 

...of course logic says you are right, but practice is not always logical.

Funny thing.  I know a few folks who are into running and they all tell me that hunching is the worst thing to do and you need to keep yourself upright with the shoulders back.  It seems that your instinct is to hunch/bend over but it's not necessarily the best thing to do, which is probably why the reports are saying that Lewis was making his group stand up and walk around rather than collapse on the ground or adopt the classic Hands on Knees pose. 

51 minutes ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

Funny thing.  I know a few folks who are into running and they all tell me that hunching is the worst thing to do and you need to keep yourself upright with the shoulders back.  It seems that your instinct is to hunch/bend over but it's not necessarily the best thing to do, which is probably why the reports are saying that Lewis was making his group stand up and walk around rather than collapse on the ground or adopt the classic Hands on Knees pose. 

It might also be Lewis telling them to get into the habit at training of not showing fatigue so they can (hopefully) translate this approach to matchday.

8 hours ago, McQueen said:

Will Monday training continue to be starting around 11am?

I'll be in Vic on Thursday til Monday and should get a chance to catch Mondays session.

Steve

Training times can be found here: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/afl/training-times. Monday not listed yet, however the girls are training on Thursday night and the guys on Friday morning. 

14 hours ago, olisik said:

Surprised Trengove will be eased in. He did play until the end of last year and was due to have a big pre season to get his explosiveness back as a last ditch effort. 

Would have expected him to be ready and raring to rock it with the main group from day 1.

Why? It's November, he looks fit and healthy, couple of sessions to get the foot used to the load again, I am sure he will be on a program to get him up for first game of NAB cup

On VDB another month so after Xmas for him for main group

16 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Stayed for around an hour and a half, they came out later than 11 and it was fairly warm so I left not long after they began a full-ground drill.

I'll leave the moment-by-moment commentary to those who are good at it, I'd rather describe the things that stood out to me during the time I was there as well as answer any questions to those who have them.

Rehab group from what I saw: Trengove, AVB, Stretch, King, Viney, T-Mac, JKH, Oliver, Kent and Hibberd. (May have missed a couple). T-Mac, JKH and Kent all did the running component with those who were due back today. (The ones who started a few weeks back were exempt from the running component from what I understand).

Everyone else was there except Lumumba as has been previously discussed.

Early observations: 

Attending training sessions is a rarity for me, but the one thing that continually surprises me when I do attend them is the sheer size of AFL players in general. As an MCC member who sits second level most weeks, it's hard to get a gauge on the size of AFL bodies compared to 'average-sized' humans like myself. Stretch for example walked passed me on the boundary-line and I couldn't really believe the size of him. I'm 180 cm which is his height but he was much thicker than I thought. No doubt this isn't news to regular attendees. 

The rehab guys did their own running component, Stretch and Trengove did a few timed laps and another thing that stood out was again the difference in body shape/mechanics of those two. Stretch's lower half, especially his glutes/quads and hammies are much more developed than Trengoves and he also clearly carries less weight on his torso. Trengove on the other hand has a bulky upper body with a slightly hunched back but his lower half is much less developed, especially his glutes and calves which seem disproportionate to his upper half. Again, probably obvious to some but one can clearly see that with a body like his, it makes sense that he is so one-paced. Out of the rehab group, I'd be interested to know why Trengove, Oliver and Stretch were part of it. (If anyone knows the answer.)

Running observations: 

The running component for the guys who were due back today lasted about 5-6 minutes at what seemed like a 'as hard as you can go' intensity for the entirety of it. No surprises Tom McDonald blitzed the field and if AFL wasn't his caper, he'd be an Olympic middle-distance runner. Others to impress were Jones, and Bugg who were neck and neck most of the way, JKH (surprised me) and Spencer (also surprised me). Funnily enough, Jordan Lewis was last. But he was also the most vocal when the running finished, yelling at guys to get up off the ground and walk it out.

Having Lewis, Jones and Vince is the elder statesmen out on the track is a pretty nice thing. And along with the rest of the list, there's a definite confidence within the entire group. No longer do I shudder at certain players who in my mind shouldn't have been playing at AFL level. And the talent is insanely exciting. There's young talent everywhere, which no doubt adds to the positivity that was on display.

Standouts/player comments:

Sam Weideman, (similarly to Hogan a couple of years ago) is an imposing figure and presence. I think it's his body shape at this stage and the way he moves that excites. He just looks like a guy who is going to easily fill out his frame and with that will come further confidence. Beautiful hands and he just kept catching my eye today. Already looks close to Hogan's size.

Salem: He just looks bullet proof at the moment and is one I think could be a game-changer for us if he plays a full year in 2017. Looks like he is in really good condition and his foot-skills are just disgustingly good.

Gawn: Trains like he is a demigod. Knows he is the best ruckman in the league and looks driven to hold onto that mantle. Work-rate and intensity over the duration of the session was really impressive as well as skills and ball-handling below his knees. If he remains injury free, he'll be AA again without a doubt.

Harmes: Just a smart player in my eyes. A footballers footballer. I know people knock his disposal at times, but generally I think it's an execution problem rather than a decision making one. He moves so well and just looks so natural kicking on both feet. Will be a really handy rotating mid in a few years I reckon.

Brayshaw and Petracca: Can't wait until they reach that 100 game mark. Brayshaw looks fit, I like his left over his right foot but it's pretty handy that he is dual-sided. (Still not on Mitchell's level which is something I keep hearing).

ANB: Looks like a man on a mission, was vocal, was hard on himself and was angry at others for not "[censored] spread"(ing)! 

Garland: (For Wiseblood) - Deliberately tried to ignore him because of my propensity to criticize him. But I will say this: No left foot, constantly looks exhausted, can't see him as a best 22 player... 

Overall, the man-love and mateship between all players but particularly the young talent is pretty contagious for the group. At one stage I thought Petracca was going to kiss Hogan but it didn't happen. The positivity, intensity and overall vibe has clearly changed from sessions I've been to before and you can tell that they're super confident in each other and individually. It's an exciting time, of that I'm certain.

Any questions, feel free.

STMJ

Please attend more training sessions Steve. Absolutely sensational report.

 

I've said this in past years and I'll say it again: thank you for the reports!

Keep giving us the training reports/observations/photos they're all great and much appreciated especially for us country folk (and for those living OS).

ps: I read somewhere that H was a no show!

3 hours ago, small but forward said:

Steve

Training times can be found here: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/afl/training-times. Monday not listed yet, however the girls are training on Thursday night and the guys on Friday morning. 

Cheers mate, I had a look there before posting. It's just my flight departs at 1pm on Monday so it'd be great if the session started at 9.30am.

19 hours ago, olisik said:

Surprised Trengove will be eased in. He did play until the end of last year and was due to have a big pre season to get his explosiveness back as a last ditch effort. 

Would have expected him to be ready and raring to rock it with the main group from day 1.

me too. he played at over 10 games last year, I was hoping he would be fully fit and attack preseason with the main group from day one.  perhaps his body is playing up again.

he needs to get a good month of work in before xmas you'd think 

16 hours ago, daisycutter said:

danger is an average kick? wow, give me average any time

Danger can kick long to a context or long to the goals but give him a leading target to hit from 40m plus away and hes very average.

35 minutes ago, Grimes Times said:

Danger can kick long to a context or long to the goals but give him a leading target to hit from 40m plus away and hes very average.

Agreed.  His disposal is actually really average shading to poor.  People tend to overlook this because he is so eye-catching busting tackles, bursting away fro the pack and blasting a 60m bomb.  The debut game for Geelong that everybody raved about is a classic example.  I don't think I've ever seen more hand-passes aimed at the feet. 

Thank you  STMJ - a great  and thoughtful report.

15 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

It might also be Lewis telling them to get into the habit at training of not showing fatigue so they can (hopefully) translate this approach to matchday.

This report about Lewis already leading is a nice bit of fluff which the club would like, being a regular attendee at training, have heard over the last few years Jones, Viney, Trengove, Gawn, Tommy Mc and Grimes all telling the players to stand up and not hunch over after the running in the first part of pre season

8 hours ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Garland: (For Wiseblood) - Deliberately tried to ignore him because of my propensity to criticize him. But I will say this: No left foot, constantly

I was only there for a short time and was hot and bothered, couldn't figure out why Col kept falling over, now I know

 

4 hours ago, DubDee said:

me too. he played at over 10 games last year, I was hoping he would be fully fit and attack preseason with the main group from day one.  perhaps his body is playing up again.

he needs to get a good month of work in before xmas you'd think 

I already covered this, every single player is on an individual program and knows exactly what they have to do at every indoor and outdoor training session, assume this was just a session to get Trengove up and running again, he looks really fit, will ask him again on Friday