THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

[Demonland 64,416]

From the Demonland Blog ...

THE JIGSAW PUZZLE by Whispering Jack

Friday, 8 December 2006: There are 113 days to go before the opening bounce of the season proper but who's counting?

True, it's a long way to go before autumn sets in, but the scene before me on this idyllic early summer's day suggests that this group is focussed on what has to be done over the ensuing months in order for them to accomplish their mission ...

The picture is something like a nearly completed jigsaw puzzle. In fact, forty-three of its forty-four pieces are there already. The group is made up of the thirty-eight senior list Demons, two veterans and three rookies while the remaining space in one small corner is reserved for another rookie and that last piece of the puzzle will be put into place on Tuesday morning.

The Trevor Barker Oval is in reasonable condition given the drought conditions we're enduring in our region of the world. The sun's shining and there's not a cloud in the skies although a reddish tinge of smoke from the bushfires raging in the north east of the state lingers. You can smell a whiff of it in the air but the players seem oblivious to this.

Pre-season training has changed a lot over the years. In the early days of the game, players used to turn up to training in March, often worse for the wear and carrying the extra pounds (or kilograms if you like) brought on by the excesses of the Christmas period. Then along came John Kennedy who introduced commando training at Hawthorn and things were never the same again.

As the game became more professional, you came to expect something better from your players - higher levels of fitness, the youngsters bulking up and greater athleticism from the group. In the early 'nineties, players were expected to run 100 hundred metre sprints almost back to back as part of their fitness regime.

Well, we've now reached an even higher plane in the evolution of the footballer/athlete. The players today are by and large presenting as super athletes with chiselled bodies and skin folds that barely register on the Richter scale (there is always an exception to every rule but more of that later). Training might still be intense but it's varied and concentrates on many different facets of a player's physical and mental make up.

You sense that the team is being prepared for a long hard campaign with the aim of peaking at the business end. That's what it's all about - a professional approach to a sporting season that starts in February and ends in late September. We want consistency but we have to match it with the others when the pressure starts building in August and reaching a peak over the following month. With results of 7th, 8th and 5th in the last three seasons, Melbourne simply has to improve in this area if it wants the mission to succeed.

Of course, you still have to put yourself into the race early (and not be 0-3 after round three as the Demons were in 2006) and the team looks in good shape at this stage. We still have a rehab group but it appears to be of a reasonably acceptable size for this time of year.

Colin Sylvia's arm is in a sling, suggesting that his pre season proper will be delayed until well in the New Year. I can't even call him plain "Colin" any more because we have another one at the club (but again, more of that later). Clint Bartram is recovering from the ankle he injured in round 22 while Brent Moloney, whose season was wrecked by shoulder and groin problems, is on target to resume full training soon. Paul Johnson and rookie Daniel Hughes are also on the sidelines with Matty Whelan who is running slow laps. Recruit Ricky Petterd is recovering from a hamstring injury and is doing some restricted work.

That said, the rest of the group looks to be in pretty good shape. Brad Green, who had a lot of niggling little problems during the year, is moving well, as is Adem Yze. Jeff White always looks good at this time of year and today is no exception. Nathan Carroll, who appeared to have been recruited to the club almost by default as a rookie a few years ago, continues to impress with his attitude. He now seems quite at home with his role as a footballer playing well at the highest level.

However, the stand out from my point of view is Brock McLean whose physical appearance and approach to training justifies his elevation to the leadership group at the tender age of twenty years. He's a little lighter than in the past but he's still a strong and fearsome unit that's headed for stardom. Two other players to impress are Daniel Bell who I expect to kick on enormously in 2007 and Matthew Bate whose debut season was underestimated in many quarters. Bell appears lighter and leaner but still strong of body and having that important asset of good pace. Much the same can be said of Bate who works hard on the track and can only get better and better with time. And the Jones boy looks super fit!

I haven't seen much evidence of massive bulking up from players like Lynden Dunn and Michael Newton but Simon Buckley is certainly much bigger in body than he was twelve months ago when he first arrived at the club and Ryan Ferguson, while no Adonis, is also no longer the stick figure he was a few years ago.

As I said earlier, most players' skin folds are right down. However, Byron Pickett well and truly makes up for that all on his own. Sporting a beard, the Byronator looks like he's been in a reasonably good paddock of late and will need to do the hard work if he is to be a contributor again next year. He needs a good fitness base because, as we saw late this season, a few weeks' lay off with injury can prove disastrous in terms of his ability to fully see out a game. Also sporting a beard but with no apparent excess body weight is The Flash, who takes training in his stride. Nothing explosive is needed right now!

All four National Draft selections are on hand and my first impression is that none of them are likely to make an impact in 2007. That is not to say I'm not impressed - it's simply a case of there being plenty of work to be done before they can reach the level of regular senior players both physically and with their skills. We didn't have any of picks 1 to 5 and we are in a position where we can wait for our youngsters to develop without any great pressure on them.

James Frawley looks the closest to AFL standard although I would not expect him to occupy a key position for another year or two. His kicking looks awkward but is certainly not problematic, as some have suggested.

Colin Garland is interesting in that he is of a height to be a key forward one day and has a lot of up side in his development. Another awkward looking kicker of the ball, but no problems with accuracy as he slots a couple of long shots through the big sticks at the Alf Beus Can Hill end of the ground.

Isaac Weetra is another player who has plenty of development to go and I can't see him in the red and blue until at least 2008 bearing in mind that he was mainly an Under 17 with Port Adelaide Magpies this year.

So who will be the 44th man - the person who will occupy that final piece of the jigsaw puzzle in that small corner of my picture?

I can't say that I'm greatly impressed by any of the four invitees on show. Andrew Ericksen is 204cm tall but light as a feather and doesn't show a great deal of the aggression that you need from a ruckman at AFL level. The Swans invested three years in him but cut him adrift at the end of the current season without a game at AFL level. In that time, Sydney traded for Darren Jolly, Paul Chambers and Peter Everitt but they also drafted a young 200cm ruckman in Daniel Currie in November to replace Ericksen. Enough said.

The Fanning name might be big at Melbourne but former Magpie giant David "Flaps" Fanning looks as if he's half a kilometre to the west of the TBO - all at sea.

Stefan Martin from Old Hailybury is interesting. He has a good leap but, at 196 cm will struggle against the modern day ruck giants so unless he can play key position as well, he might find this level too big a big step up from VAFA Under 19's.

Andre Gianfagna is the other invitee but, having been dropped from the rookie list just a couple of months ago, it would surprise if he were reinstated next week.

Craig Cameron is watching proceedings and I hope he can pluck out one of his special smokies (perhaps that word might not be appropriate in view of the bushfires raging around the state) to fill the last piece of the puzzle next Tuesday.

And by then, it will be 109 days to go but then ... who's counting?

[THE PICTURES by Finks]

[occo 2]

From the Demonland Blog ...

THE JIGSAW PUZZLE by Whispering Jack

Great summary. Good work. Very worried about Sylvia - will he ever have a full preseason? And Moloney, even though he played a small amount in 06, I think he is essentual and in our 22. Whelan and Bartram are a major concern too but Wheels is very mature and he will do his best I'm sure. As for Bartram, well he had an interupted preseason by being drafted and starting preseason later than everyone else and look what he has acomplished to date.

Brocky is a star, but still don't think Bell will be a star, never have though, but happy to be proven wrong.

[Freak 100]

A good report but not a very positive one. All i got out of that was that Sylvia is gonna miss out on another full pre-season, not to mention petterd, hughes, bartram, Moloney, Johnson and Whelan all not taking part in full training .

I also got out of it that both Fralwey and Garland have unco kicking actions and probably wont be seen in 07 and Weetra has alot of work to do. Added to that both Dunn and Newton have not added much needed weight and we have no decent rookies training with us

If was to pick out 5 things i wanted out of this pre-season from an individual players perspective it would be:

1. Sylvia to get through it.

2. Dunn to bulk up considerably

3. Unearth 1 potential 07 debut player (e.g. Bartram)

4. moloney to have a full pre-season.

5. Bate and Jones to get quicker (i.e. evasive movements).

Looks like not much of these are looking good.

[Deeman 1,399]

A good report but not a very positive one.

Freak, your problem is that your glass is half empty. There were plenty of things in the article that were cautiously optimistic and I'd rather read honest opinions than rose coloured ones anyway.

[godees 640]

Freak, how unlike you to look at everything negatively.

From a more positive perspective:

7 people in the rehab group is not too bad. According to Saintsational Stk has 18, yes 18!

And Hughes, Petterd and PJ (arguably) aren't best 22 anyway.

Also, who cares if we don't unearth another Bartram. As good as Bartram was, we shouldn't be relying on first year players to win us premierships.

[Freak 100]

Freak, your problem is that your glass is half empty. There were plenty of things in the article that were cautiously optimistic and I'd rather read honest opinions than rose coloured ones anyway.

Hehe, very good point that you make. I would prefer to hear only good news though and have the bad news swept under the carpet!

Freak, how unlike you to look at everything negatively.

From a more positive perspective:

7 people in the rehab group is not too bad. According to Saintsational Stk has 18, yes 18!

And Hughes, Petterd and PJ (arguably) aren't best 22 anyway.

Also, who cares if we don't unearth another Bartram. As good as Bartram was, we shouldn't be relying on first year players to win us premierships.

I actually believe Hughes is better than most people give him credit for. I think he should be close to senior selection yet he isnt even on the senior list yet. There is something about hughes that I like and if Miller and Bell can get gigs than Hughes deserves one. I reckon he could kick 35+ goals from a pocket next year.

[Deeman 1,399]

Hehe, very good point that you make. I would prefer to hear only good news though and have the bad news swept under the carpet!

Very good. Well you might like these reports then -

ALL IS WELL WITH THE WORLD

THE SKY IS FALLING

[Damo 2,970]

If was to pick out 5 things i wanted out of this pre-season from an individual players perspective it would be:

1. Sylvia to get through it.

2. Dunn to bulk up considerably

3. Unearth 1 potential 07 debut player (e.g. Bartram)

4. moloney to have a full pre-season.

5. Bate and Jones to get quicker (i.e. evasive movements).

My Five Things.

1. Green to get his kicking Mojo back. Please.

2. Robbo to get his jumping Mojo back. Please.

3. Sylvia to get through it. Agree. Dont rush it, although this baby may be going out with the bathwater.

4. Moloney to have a full pre-season. Agree. But I doubt he will get back to top 22.

5. Bell to have a full pre-season. Just so it can be proved to me and others that he is not a footballer.

[Toad33 57]

Freak you need to learn to read between the OTHER lines.

By the way, there is still about 4 months to the pre-season comp, which incidnenly is more time since the last season. This equates in plenty of time for the younger lighter brigade to hit the weights and put on some muscle.

Don't Panic.

You have my permission to start panicing when there are 18 in the rehab group 4 weeks from the first game.

GO Dees

[Hannabal 4]

My biggest concern with Sylvia is OP, not his shoulder being in a sling. It may be giving his legs the break they need. Anyway, we'll all know in a few months, til then, take things in your stride.

We'd all like no rehab group, but reality suggests otherwise.

[DeeBest 13]

By the way, there is still about 4 months to the pre-season comp, which incidnenly is more time since the last season.

Um, it starts Mid Feb. Its virtually Mid Dec now, closer to 2 months till NAB Cup.

We finished playing in mid September which was three months away.

Buy a calendar.

[Whispering_Jack 27,927]

A good report but not a very positive one. All i got out of that was that Sylvia is gonna miss out on another full pre-season, not to mention petterd, hughes, bartram, Moloney, Johnson and Whelan all not taking part in full training .

I also got out of it that both Fralwey and Garland have unco kicking actions and probably wont be seen in 07 and Weetra has alot of work to do. Added to that both Dunn and Newton have not added much needed weight and we have no decent rookies training with us

If was to pick out 5 things i wanted out of this pre-season from an individual players perspective it would be:

1. Sylvia to get through it.

2. Dunn to bulk up considerably

3. Unearth 1 potential 07 debut player (e.g. Bartram)

4. moloney to have a full pre-season.

5. Bate and Jones to get quicker (i.e. evasive movements).

Looks like not much of these are looking good.

Funny, when I read the article again I thought I was being reasonably positive. In any event I think you're reading what I said from the wrong perspective.

Firstly, it's unheard of at any AFL club that you have 100% attendance from the entire list during the pre season. You're always going to have some players going through rehab. It's a fact of life. Some of those guys doing laps etc. are no doubt on special programmes to meet their own physical needs and it's not a total loss if some start their pre seasons proper in January.

Secondly, you can't expect to find a 22 game first year player every year if your first pick is # 12. My expectation is that none of our draft picks "are likely to make an impact in 2007" but that is not saying that one or two of them will not make their AFL debuts next year. And it's not saying that one of them might not surprise us as did Bartram this year. Remember, twelve months ago very few expected Bartram to play even one AFL game in 2006.

Thirdly, what does it mean when you expect a layer to "bulk up"? In the case of Michael Newton for example, that might mean putting on 4 to 5 kgs over a period of six months. We're halfway through that period and I wouldn't be able to tell whether or not he'd put on half that weight. I have no idea whether or when a weights prograamme would be involved or when we're likely to see the results.

Fourthly, we haven't picked one of the four potential rookies training with us and you should remember that whoever is selected is certainly not eligible to play AFL unless we have a long term injury and the particular rookie is selected to take his place. There's no Bryce Gibbs out there that I can see ATM anyway.

The other thing about pre season training is that it's not like an actual game where you can measure a team's performance so it's not really possible for anyone to state positively a lot of things you might expect to read. It's only a series of observations from one session so I'm not getting carried away.

But if you want to come away with positives then I must say that I forgot to mention that Travis Johnstone looked absolutely terrific.

[Finks 19]

A good report but not a very positive one. All i got out of that was that Sylvia is gonna miss out on another full pre-season, not to mention petterd, hughes, bartram, Moloney, Johnson and Whelan all not taking part in full training (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) .

I also got out of it that both Fralwey and Garland have unco kicking actions and probably wont be seen in 07 and Weetra has alot of work to do. Added to that both Dunn and Newton have not added much needed weight and we have no decent rookies training with us (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

If was to pick out 5 things i wanted out of this pre-season from an individual players perspective it would be:

1. Sylvia to get through it.

2. Dunn to bulk up considerably

3. Unearth 1 potential 07 debut player (e.g. Bartram)

4. moloney to have a full pre-season.

5. Bate and Jones to get quicker (i.e. evasive movements).

Looks like not much of these are looking good.

That's why I don't rate ya, Freak.

[Slartibartfast 15,724]

5. Bell to have a full pre-season. Just so it can be proved to me and others that he is not a footballer.

What?

I thought we are supporters but I may have misread you.

[DeeBest 13]

Great report Jack. For an early December training report it seemed positive enough to me.

[Freak 100]

That's why I don't rate ya, Freak.

Getting a bit personal aren't we?

Not once have I made my posts personal

[Damo 2,970]

What?

I thought we are supporters but I may have misread you.

Supporters, yes.

Readers of the play. I think so. Yep.

But thats me, Not Bell.

Cant read it. Cant write it.

Its not me giving him pressure. Its those that expect him to be better than just good at Sandy.

Dont know why he has his urgers, but for my money Godders just hangs in there.

You may say different types. Different positions...

I say different tent, same desert!

I admire Belly's tenacity and application.

Yours as well....

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

When the time comes, I can't wait to raise this again.

I'm right behind Belly, while I agree he has his faults, I'm of the opinion his positives far out-weigh his negatives. Perhaps even the eternal optimist doesn't believe he can be a great player, but I certainly think he can play a few really good seasons, if uninjured.

[Pepe Dee Pew 0]

Good report WJ. Love to hear the latest training news.

We did well in the draft last year. Bartram ans Jones at pick 12 looks like he will make it.

Players like that with those picks only come along so often. Luckily for us CAC has structured the list in a way that this years picks will not need to make an impression for a year or two.

When will Colin Sylvia get a full preseason? Will he be a gun (as touted prior to drafting) or just a good average player?

[WonnaJurah 5]

We also missed Bizzel getting a full pre season so we can work out if he is back on deck

[Toad33 57]

Um, it starts Mid Feb. Its virtually Mid Dec now, closer to 2 months till NAB Cup.

We finished playing in mid September which was three months away.

Buy a calendar.

Sorry my oops

I meant the real season.

In essence it doesn't really matter. Players are on weight programs right through the year.

GO Dees

[Rampaging Demons 1]

Great report for those footy tragics that cannot get along to a training session....

Brock looks terrific and so does someone else in Nathan Jones. The midfield has a real feel of grunt if they are all up and running with Maloney, Sylvia, McLean, Junior and Jones being able to hold their own.. then you have Bate that played more and more in there at the end of the season and you have a 10 year midfield in the making...

Also think that Daniel Blel showed that he will make it - his game on farmer in the final was excellent.. especially his tackling, his attack on the man and also his assuredness with the ball... has good size, so expect him to play more this year....

ferguson now weights 94 kgs which is well up on what he started out as.... he has given himself a chance to play afl footy - he has shown that he is too good at vfl, so now needs to hope for a little bit of luck!! hope he can make it...

[Demon15 0]

Funny, when I read the article again I thought I was being reasonably positive.

But if you want to come away with positives then I must say that I forgot to mention that Travis Johnstone looked absolutely terrific.

You were - great report.

There's no such thing as good or bad news. - Just news.

It's how you deal with it that counts.

I enjoyed the view on Nathan Carroll's approach - one of our top 5 IMO for next year.

I think too much is expected of Moloney. As a 22 year old, missing most of a season means serious stuff occurred to him, and he shouldn't be expected to front up straight away next year at the start.

Mid-year at best.

We want him as a 10 year player, and he needs management with a long term view now. A full pre-season was never going to happen this year. I'll look forward to him carving up the Pies on Queens Birthday.

[dazzledavey36 48,647]

Great report for those footy tragics that cannot get along to a training session....

Brock looks terrific and so does someone else in Nathan Jones. The midfield has a real feel of grunt if they are all up and running with Maloney, Sylvia, McLean, Junior and Jones being able to hold their own.. then you have Bate that played more and more in there at the end of the season and you have a 10 year midfield in the making...

Also think that Daniel Blel showed that he will make it - his game on farmer in the final was excellent.. especially his tackling, his attack on the man and also his assuredness with the ball... has good size, so expect him to play more this year....

ferguson now weights 94 kgs which is well up on what he started out as.... he has given himself a chance to play afl footy - he has shown that he is too good at vfl, so now needs to hope for a little bit of luck!! hope he can make it...

how did jace bode and heath nevile go? been wondering about the progress for a while now.

[Jaded No More 57,674]

I think too much is expected of Moloney. As a 22 year old, missing most of a season means serious stuff occurred to him, and he shouldn't be expected to front up straight away next year at the start.

Mid-year at best.

I tend to agree.

It will take him some time to get back to full fitness, and settle back into the side. He has had a very long layoff.

However, a reduced program in the first half of the season, should hopefully see him at peak fitness come finals. This may well work in our advantage.