18 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

are we winning?

Gold dc

Thanks for the updates guys!

Any chance you can provide a half time update on who looks good/using it well/getting a bit of it etc etc?

Thanks from Sydney!

how's grimesy's kicking....no oob's i hope

How long to go, I've just left work

Gus on. Point. 

Bugg goal soon after. 

Track with brilliant burst but nothing kicks.

Gus with a lovely step from a stoppage and checkside poster.

better kick out from white team. Jones involved a lot

And from the AFL website:-

Hunt the Demon standout

We've reached the halfway point of Melbourne’s intraclub game at Olympic Park Oval and it’s the form of emerging defender Jayden Hunt that has caught the eye.

Hunt, who was judged as Melbourne’s best young player by the coaches in 2016 – despite not being nominated for the NAB Rising Star Award – has impressed with his competitiveness and defensive instincts.

Jake Melksham has won plenty of the footy through the middle of the ground, while Jay Kennedy-Harris' zip up forward has been noticeable.

Kennedy-Harris will be looking for a big year after being hampered by a hamstring injury last year.

Angus Brayshaw is set to play in the second half of the intraclub class as he works his way back from a calf problem.

Dom Tyson is not playing as he continues his rehab from a dislocated patella tendon suffered pre-Christmas.

Standing next to Mark Stevens who as we speak is trying to manufacture a story re a Watts injury. Getting his camera man to zoom right in to see what is being rubbed...  

Hunt, Harmes and Weiderman good in last.

46 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Gus just doing skill work with the boxing coach 

 

JHK work rate stands out. 

 

Garlett fumbles. 

 

These Casey blokes are ordinary 

Agree. The difference in standard between the Casey boys is incredible.

Not sure of this means the Dees boys are really good or the Casey boys not. In previous years when I have watched practice games the difference certainly not as noticeable.

 

 

13 minutes ago, JTR said:

Standing next to Mark Stevens who as we speak is trying to manufacture a story re a Watts injury. Getting his camera man to zoom right in to see what is being rubbed...  

Good luck with that one Stevo, seeing as Jack now involved with some tackling drills!

21 minutes ago, JTR said:

Standing next to Mark Stevens who as we speak is trying to manufacture a story re a Watts injury. Getting his camera man to zoom right in to see what is being rubbed...  

More like Stevo rubbing himself...

Ben Guthrie of the AFL website liked Angus Brayshaw in the second half:-

Brayshaw turns it on

Ben Guthrie reports: Angus Brayshaw was the dominant player on the ground in the second half of the Demons’ intraclub clash at Olympic Park Oval.

After sitting out the first half, as part of his comeback from a calf problem, Brayshaw shone up forward and through the midfield.

The young star, who battled repeat concussion symptoms in 2016, had two shots at goal on the run and missed both, but it was his ability to find space in the first place that was most impressive.

Marquee recruit Jordan Lewis’ ball use – particularly through the middle of the ground – was noteworthy, as his deft kicks often opened up the other side of the ground and led to scoring shots for his side.

The Dees appear to have finished their intraclub style hit-out, but are now working in their individual groups on different aspects of the game.

For instance, the backs and forwards are competing in one-on-one style battles, while the midfielders are working on their efforts at stoppages.

We will wait to see whether they go back into any type of match play.

Harmes with a cramp. He worked hard in the match sim.

1 on 1 drills were great! 

Keilty copped something. 

In to the 3 team shuffle now.

Guthrie's report seems decent. 

Lewis, Jones, melk hunt, JKH. Braysh 2nd half. Gawn. Oliver. Bugg's run. That's most of the best. 

Frost was solid. Kicking seems better. Garland slowing it up and using the longer options helped the backline ball, he was good. 

2 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Harmes with a cramp. He worked hard in the match sim.

1 on 1 drills were great! 

Keilty copped something. 

In to the 3 team shuffle now.

Guthrie's report seems decent. 

Lewis, Jones, melk hunt, JKH. Braysh 2nd half. Gawn. Oliver. Bugg's run. That's most of the best. 

Frost was solid. Kicking seems better. Garland slowing it up and using the longer options helped the backline ball, he was good. 

Just on Dec, he got a petty decent corcky up in QLD so he has been running around sore all session

Good to hear Bradshaw performing well. He's a super talent who was restricted a lot last year due to knee injury then concussions. If he gets a good run at it he will definitely help us move up the ladder. He's a natural footballer and is versatile as well. I think he'd give good drive if required to play half back, he's obviously good through the midfield and decent up forward as well. He's one of the most exciting reasons to watch us this year.

I managed to attend and found most of the play very ordinary with a lot (and i mean a LOT) of turnovers and kicks intercepted. To be fair, i didnt think it was the easiest to see who was who. A blue team player could be wearing a white hat or vv. Lets hope thats all it was.

Standouts in no particular order as I noticed them were trengove, salem, lewis, oliver, brayshaw, hunt and jkh. 

In terms of the new players, dion j seems a good tackler but was a little snap happy, burning teammates to use his apparently elite radar to miss everything a few times. Lewis is a godsend - positions himself very well and receives the ball often at the back of the square where he swivels and switches out wide. Will be a very good addition. 

As noted Hannan didnt partake in the intraclub but there is something about him, rangey type but good style. 

Mckenna is neat and might be a player but he still struggles to find it or get involved.

T smith - certanly hard at it but hes a bit 'messy' for mine. Not sure that matters, robbo was the same kind of messy, but i will say i can at least understand why he never got picked up. 

Keilty - I was a fan at casey but he either struggled to get involved today or i didnt notice him. When I did, I generally liked what i saw.

Some random other thoughts...viney was absolutely off his game, very quiet and looked like he struggled with the heat. A lot of emotional energy expelled this week for him for sure, but I personally feel it is way too early for co captaincy and very early days that looked true. Sorry. 

Frost will play many games - pleasingly controlled his kicking and set up quite a bit with his speed. 

Hunt is somewhat of a revelation but can do too much. Needs to be careful he doesnt get stuck with the hog (sp?) tag as he continually ignores options instead choosing to sidestep and try the getaway. Tommy Bugg was rightfully filthy for a few moments he was ignored.

I love Salem. Just does the right thing, 95% of the time. Very similiar to lewis actually. 

Weid looked alright. We miss kent. Jeffy actually looked in decent nick. Avb is important. Anb is not, fumbly one paced mid who just isnt as refined as the top level requires. Watts very quiet, didnt look like the apparent AA season he is supposed to have according to a few. I like hulett.

I dont think anyone has said this but jkh is competing with stretch for the wing spot. Both good link players with neat skills and play to their limitations. not sure we could carry both in same team.

 

Ok that rambled on. Any questions happy to answer

I thought Hunt, JKH (worked really hard) and Trenners (didn't look slow to me) were solid in first half. Melksham disposal not great 

Just back from watching the match sim. On phone so will be brief. 

Major positive: No injuries as far as I'm aware  

Standouts: Brayshaw, Lewis, Viney, Hunt, Salem, Jones, Oscar Mac. JKH and Melksham also impressive in bursts  

Little disappointed in Hogan and Weid: too often play from behind. Really hope Hogan is given more license to roam up the ground this year rather than playing near goal all the time. 

14 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

I managed to attend and found most of the play very ordinary with a lot (and i mean a LOT) of turnovers and kicks intercepted. To be fair, i didnt think it was the easiest to see who was who. A blue team player could be wearing a white hat or vv. Lets hope thats all it was.

Standouts in no particular order as I noticed them were trengove, salem, lewis, oliver, brayshaw, hunt and jkh. 

In terms of the new players, dion j seems a good tackler but was a little snap happy, burning teammates to use his apparently elite radar to miss everything a few times. Lewis is a godsend - positions himself very well and receives the ball often at the back of the square where he swivels and switches out wide. Will be a very good addition. 

As noted Hannan didnt partake in the intraclub but there is something about him, rangey type but good style. 

Mckenna is neat and might be a player but he still struggles to find it or get involved.

T smith - certanly hard at it but hes a bit 'messy' for mine. Not sure that matters, robbo was the same kind of messy, but i will say i can at least understand why he never got picked up. 

Keilty - I was a fan at casey but he either struggled to get involved today or i didnt notice him. When I did, I generally liked what i saw.

Some random other thoughts...viney was absolutely off his game, very quiet and looked like he struggled with the heat. A lot of emotional energy expelled this week for him for sure, but I personally feel it is way too early for co captaincy and very early days that looked true. Sorry. 

Frost will play many games - pleasingly controlled his kicking and set up quite a bit with his speed. 

Hunt is somewhat of a revelation but can do too much. Needs to be careful he doesnt get stuck with the hog (sp?) tag as he continually ignores options instead choosing to sidestep and try the getaway. Tommy Bugg was rightfully filthy for a few moments he was ignored.

I love Salem. Just does the right thing, 95% of the time. Very similiar to lewis actually. 

Weid looked alright. We miss kent. Jeffy actually looked in decent nick. Avb is important. Anb is not, fumbly one paced mid who just isnt as refined as the top level requires. Watts very quiet, didnt look like the apparent AA season he is supposed to have according to a few. I like hulett.

I dont think anyone has said this but jkh is competing with stretch for the wing spot. Both good link players with neat skills and play to their limitations. not sure we could carry both in same team.

 

Ok that rambled on. Any questions happy to answer

Agree on the above.

interstingly I also noticed a lot of turnovers and fumbles. Appeared to me that a lot of these can be attributed to the Casey boys that made up the numbers today.

i thought the Melbourne boys were on the whole pretty clean with their skills.

guess we will see more accurate how we are tracking when we play the doggies in the first praccy match next week. 

Great report fr_ap.

How did Petracca go? Lots of glimpses in 2016 but he never really tore a game open, was it more of the same today?

 

I have been to enough of these preseason match simulations to know that it is impossible to read too much into them. 

The good. No injuries to report. Stoppage work clean. Hunt. Clarry. Brayshaw will go to next level. JKH looked clean and will pressure Jeffy and Kent for a forward spot. 

The not as good. Lots of sideways kicks when clear options forward. Too much slow play from off the mark. General kicking poor with Harmes, AVB, Bugg and Viney the worst offenders. 

 

Hopefully we don't rush Kent and Tyson back for JTL. Still give them a run but I'd really like to see how guys like Johnstone, Weed, Hannan, JKH and Smith go 

26 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

I managed to attend and found most of the play very ordinary with a lot (and i mean a LOT) of turnovers and kicks intercepted. To be fair, i didnt think it was the easiest to see who was who. A blue team player could be wearing a white hat or vv. Lets hope thats all it was.

Standouts in no particular order as I noticed them were trengove, salem, lewis, oliver, brayshaw, hunt and jkh. 

In terms of the new players, dion j seems a good tackler but was a little snap happy, burning teammates to use his apparently elite radar to miss everything a few times. Lewis is a godsend - positions himself very well and receives the ball often at the back of the square where he swivels and switches out wide. Will be a very good addition. 

As noted Hannan didnt partake in the intraclub but there is something about him, rangey type but good style. 

Mckenna is neat and might be a player but he still struggles to find it or get involved.

T smith - certanly hard at it but hes a bit 'messy' for mine. Not sure that matters, robbo was the same kind of messy, but i will say i can at least understand why he never got picked up. 

Keilty - I was a fan at casey but he either struggled to get involved today or i didnt notice him. When I did, I generally liked what i saw.

Some random other thoughts...viney was absolutely off his game, very quiet and looked like he struggled with the heat. A lot of emotional energy expelled this week for him for sure, but I personally feel it is way too early for co captaincy and very early days that looked true. Sorry. 

Frost will play many games - pleasingly controlled his kicking and set up quite a bit with his speed. 

Hunt is somewhat of a revelation but can do too much. Needs to be careful he doesnt get stuck with the hog (sp?) tag as he continually ignores options instead choosing to sidestep and try the getaway. Tommy Bugg was rightfully filthy for a few moments he was ignored.

I love Salem. Just does the right thing, 95% of the time. Very similiar to lewis actually. 

Weid looked alright. We miss kent. Jeffy actually looked in decent nick. Avb is important. Anb is not, fumbly one paced mid who just isnt as refined as the top level requires. Watts very quiet, didnt look like the apparent AA season he is supposed to have according to a few. I like hulett.

I dont think anyone has said this but jkh is competing with stretch for the wing spot. Both good link players with neat skills and play to their limitations. not sure we could carry both in same team.

 

Ok that rambled on. Any questions happy to answer

You have hit the nail on the head with ANB. 

When a young midfielder exceeds expectations at VFL level, the step up to AFL standard is huge but you see signs. I don't see him as having any standout feature except for his endurance which is rather wasted unless you are at least a rotating mid. 

Wish him all the best. Not sure there's something there he can make himself famous for. 

8 minutes ago, Sylvia Saint said:

Great report fr_ap.

How did Petracca go? Lots of glimpses in 2016 but he never really tore a game open, was it more of the same today?

 

Similar today. Eye catching moments but no consistently in it.