BIG RED SIGNING IN:

I am assuming a "match simulation session" is now the new fandangled term for praccy match. If that is the case we are playing at Moorabin today at 3pm. Shame about the lack of notice:(

BIG RED SIGNING IN:

I am assuming a "match simulation session" is now the new fandangled term for praccy match. If that is the case we are playing at Moorabin today at 3pm. Shame about the lack of notice:(

I believe that regulars Redleg and Scoop Junior have gone down to Moorabbin and will provide a comprehensive report at some stage of the day.

I believe that regulars Redleg and Scoop Junior have gone down to Moorabbin and will provide a comprehensive report at some stage of the day.

I attended the ground at 2pm with the intent of seeing the boys perform but at 3.30 when I had to leave to pick up my son from school, they were just starting their warmups; the Saints had the first use of the ground and seemed quite content to overstay their welcome.

Some casual observations :

TJ was seriously tanned , but not kitted up to play,

Aaron Davey was not going to play and walked laps of the oval with TJ,

Byron was not going to play , and seemed well overweight (as expected),

Lynden Dunn, Brock McLean, Nathan Jones and Matthew Bate all seemed to have fined down,

the Skipper looks in fantastic shape,

Miller moved fluently and obviously has thrived with a proper pre season under his belt,

Sylvia did sprints on his own away from the rest of the group and seemed to be unhindered by the shoulder injury that had restricted him .

Brad Hodge (former Demon reserves' player, oh yes, and current Australian cricketer) and daughter were keen observers.

Not a huge amount of game time...roughly three 10-12 minute periods.

Bartram, Bate, Davey, Godfrey, TJ, Pickett (save for 10 minutes), Sylvia, Wheatley, Bode and Hayes did not play.

I thought Nathan Jones was the stand-out. He was opposed to Brock. Won a lot of footy and was ferocious at the ball. Ran hard up and down the ground.

Liked the look of Frawley. Showed a heap of confidence in carrying the footy and a good turn of speed. Ran past to get the handball back, something you don't often see of a 192cm defender. Excellent mover. Kicking is awkward but whether that affects the delivery is another thing. He was practising his kicking after training with the video cameras.

Also liked the look of Petterd. He stands his ground and took a couple nice overhead grabs. Like Frawley, moves well.

Junior got quite a bit of footy, while CJ found a bit of it and used it well. He could be important off HB/wing with his precise delivery.

Rivers was very good and was composed as usual.

White was forward for most (all?) of the session.

Good to see Moloney back out there and in amongst it. He'll get confidence from each competitive run.

Neaves looked quite slow and was lapped by PJ when chasing after a loose ball.

Bruce cruised through and Dunn took a few marks out on the lead.

It was a pretty sloppy hit-out. Skills weren't great but that's usual for this time of year. It was pretty competitive and the boys were throwing themselves in, especially early in the game. But you can't read too much into these types of "match simulation" sessions.

I noticed a fair few players dropping back into defence to fill the hole. Running teams like Freo and WCE run from behind the ball and that looked like a bit of a focus with some specialised drills focusing on moving the ball out of defensive 50m from a throw-in. It was probably also used to test the ability to spot up targets in a crowded forward line.

I'm sure Bob, Kev and Redleg will add their thoughts.

I heard a news report on SEN regarding the intra club practice match today that said:

- Robbo was on fire up forward.

- Whitey spent the majority of the match up forward.

- Maloney and Bizzell were also on fire and looked back to their best after having injury ruined seasons last year.

- The other notable standout was Nathan Jones who was everywhere apparently.

- The match was 4 x 10 minute quarters.

I would be interested to hear from others.

The MFC said there would be another game at the Telstra Dome on Tuesday 20th at 10am. Not sure whether it would be an intra or inter club match. The girl on reception at the MFC wasn't too sure.

It would be nice if the club could post this type of info on the website well in advance. They are pretty slack in this respect.

It's interesting that Daniher is now acknowledging that the priority in the pre seson competition is not to win it but rather to test out the new blood . He said on SEN this evening that he was impressed with the peformance of Frawley , albeit brief , and was confident he would unearth other young tyros like last year's early success with Bartram .

Long time reader... Love the site.

Just curious as to how Daniel Bell played? He's one of my favourite players. There hasn't been much said about him in the pre season.

Also does he train with the midfielders or defenders? I think his best position would be in the middle.

Thanks and go Dees!

Bartram, Bate, Davey, Godfrey, TJ, Pickett (save for 10 minutes), Sylvia, Wheatley, Bode and Hughes did not play.

Thank you for the report.

Any idea why Bate or TJ weren't playing?

Long time reader... Love the site.

Just curious as to how Daniel Bell played? He's one of my favourite players. There hasn't been much said about him in the pre season.

Also does he train with the midfielders or defenders? I think his best position would be in the middle.

Thanks and go Dees!

I didn't go to Moorabbin this afternoon because like many of you, I actually work for a living. However, I've just been at a meeting also attended by Redleg and had a chat with him about the "match simulation session" (obviously the influence of Grant Thomas remains all pervasive down there at Moorabbin ). Anyhow, I believe that his comment about Belly is that "he tackled ferociously" which is what you like to hear about someone coming off half back.

Hopefully, Redleg, Scoop Junior or one of the others will come on later to expand on that but FWIW I think Belly's in for a good season. I spoke with him briefly at training on Australia Day at Trinity Grammar and he was full of praise for the training regimen he'd undergone thus far and the fact that, as a result, he was getting through training without feeling in pain which is the opposite of what was happening this time last year.

And the word on TJ is that he has anything from a "niggle" to a broken toe.

There's a report on melbournefc.com.au about how Neale Daniher saw proceedings and his objectives for the forthcoming Nab Cup.

I didn't go to Moorabbin this afternoon because like many of you, I actually work for a living. However, I've just been at a meeting also attended by Redleg and I believe that his comment about Belly is that "he tackled ferociously" which is what you like to hear about someone coming off half back.

Hopefully, Redleg, Scoop Junior or one of the others will come on later to expand on that but FWIW I think Belly's in for a good season. I spoke with him briefly at training on Australia Day at Trinity Grammar and he was full of praise for the training regimen he'd undergone and the fact that, as a result, he was getting through training without feeling in pain which is the opposite of what was happening this time last year.

A few other points to note.

Nathan Jones was fantastic. He was everywhere and tackled hard. He is a ball magnet and looks much fitter than last year.

Bate's hair is back to his natural orange and you can't miss him. He didn't appear to be injured and may have just been rested.

Byron does not have to worry about being thrown out of a fashion parade for being too skinny. He is probably bigger than me.

Michael Newton got out on his own a bit and took some nice marks.

Simon Buckley went hard and has developed from last year. He is still quick but went in and got the ball which was good to see from a youngster.

Ricky Petterd looks the one who with Frawley is likely to get a go early. He does not seem overawed and shows tons of courage especially one passage where he took a strong mark while the pack was coming from behind.

Robbo was in some of the play and Green and Bruce did a couple of nice things. Moloney was back to his form of 2005 coming out of the centre with the big bomb.

For mine Brock and Nathan are the two barometer boys, if they play well in the tough clinches we will be in with a big show.

Thread of the off-season so far. Finally some indicators of how some have trained, albeit only for a short time and only in a soft hit-out.

Thanks to all who've contributed here.

Bartram, Bate, Davey, Godfrey, TJ, Pickett (save for 10 minutes), Sylvia, Wheatley, Bode and Hughes did not play.

Were all those players just injured or resting?

Scoop I thought Hughes played. No.38 light blue. If that wasn't Hughes, who was it? Perhaps you meant Hayes. He didn't play.

Jones tagged Brock and beat him hands down. Brock got a few nice clearances from centre breaks but around the ground it was the Jones boy all the way. A really promising performance. I also really liked Moloney's game. He will be a valuable addition. Buckley played on Newton and did ok, but Newton, against an opponent not suited to him, did well.

Belly was ok. Didn't dominate. He played on Dunn who also got a bit of it on the lead. Green played on Bruce who I thought won easily. Junior was good and Rivers was excellent.

I really like Petterd, he's going to become a very accomplished footballer. Courage, clean, good vision, good delivery and knows how to get it. He played a wing against CJ, whose game I also like.

In general training I was impressed by Miller. Really seems to have his agility back and showed strong hands.

One of the more interesting features was the game was played under NAB Cup conditions. 20m kicks for marks, no marks kicking backwards but most importantly the "hands in the back" rule. The 20m rule makes flooding much easier as the players have to kick it further the opposition team can move further back. I think the rule will be counter productive. The hands in the back rule will frustrate everyone. I couldn't believe a couple of the frees given today.

The game at Telstra next Tuesday is intra club and will be about 4 x 15 minute quarters.

Scoop I thought Hughes played. No.38 light blue. If that wasn't Hughes, who was it? Perhaps you meant Hayes. He didn't play.

Correct. Slip of the tongue (or should that be finger). I meant Daniel Hayes.

Bell: Belly was ok, but still made one of those typical blues when he runs into trouble, hesitates, tries to get around and is then caught. I'm a big wrap for Bell but he definitely needs work on his awareness and decision making. Awareness is something that is usually natural and is difficult to teach, but hopefully in Bell's case he can focus on becoming more decisive when he has the ball.

Thread of the off-season so far.

Not far from it! Great to hear Moloney had a run and did well.

were all those players just injured or resting?

You didn't need to quote a 35-line post to ask a question about only 1 line You can edit the quoted text when you reply, so maybe next time cut out the irrelevant bits so it's easier to read. Sorry if this sounds rude - just makes things easier to read if slabs of text aren't quoted for no reason.

Thanks for the report everyone.

Can someone elaborate on the ruck contests?

Who is likely to be riding shotgun for JW this year? Any really positive sign from any of our other ruck prospects?

Thanks

Go Dees

Can someone elaborate on the ruck contests?

Who is likely to be riding shotgun for JW this year? Any really positive sign from any of our other ruck prospects?

White played mainly forward. Johnson and Jamar did the rucking. At ballups there was no "running and jumping", the ball is just thrown up and the ruckman basically stand underneath it and go body on body. Usual stuff I'd say. Jamar better in the ruck, PJ better around the ground.

Belly's brainfade when he got caught was because he doesn't take the first option. There were no clear targets for him to kick to so he held it hoping for one. He then just ran into trouble. If there is a clear good option he always takes it.

FWIW, I thought Brown was good as was Ward. But Ward plays a very outside game.

FWIW, I thought Brown was good as was Ward. But Ward plays a very outside game.

Ward played on Hughes, who got the ball nearly every time after it had been turned over after Wardy ran off him. Ward plays loose unaccoutable football from halfback and gets caught out frequently.

Ricky Petterd looks the one who with Frawley is likely to get a go early. He does not seem overawed and shows tons of courage especially one passage where he took a strong mark while the pack was coming from behind.

i saw the highlights of the practice match on Sports Tonight last night and there was one contest where a guy was on top of the back and crashes into the turf big time. That the contest you're talking about Redleg?

i saw the highlights of the practice match on Sports Tonight last night and there was one contest where a guy was on top of the back and crashes into the turf big time. That the contest you're talking about Redleg?

No. I think the one you are referring to is where Robbo went crashing to the turf in what looked a nasty incident, but he just bounced up.

Hopefully, Redleg, Scoop Junior or one of the others will come on later to expand on that but FWIW I think Belly's in for a good season. I spoke with him briefly at training on Australia Day at Trinity Grammar and he was full of praise for the training regimen he'd undergone thus far and the fact that, as a result, he was getting through training without feeling in pain which is the opposite of what was happening this time last year.

Hope to see him freed up a bit more and become part of the midfield rotation.

This might have been answered in another thread (apologies if it has). Will the Telstra Dome be open to the public when we train there next Tuesday?

This might have been answered in another thread (apologies if it has). Will the Telstra Dome be open to the public when we train there next Tuesday?

yep been answered but thats ok. other trate with this detail is 'WE GET SPECIAL TREATMENT'. Gates are open yes and game starts 10:30. Double check that topic tho

Which gates are open?

Thanks