Jump to content

Featured Replies

  • Author
2 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

Sounds like the old 'possibles' vs 'probables' from the days of yore .... for those who go back that far.

That’s exactly what it looked like.

The only regular blokes i recognised from the whites were Mitch Brown up forward,  Jetta down back, possibly Viney and Baker as well as the draftees.

 
4 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Went down to Casey Fields for an hour this morning. A beautiful sunny and non windy morning (a rarity for Casey) for the lads to train in. Was a bit of a treat to watch some footy given the 17 games spent watching in the lounge room last year. I took my viewing position behind the fence in the pleb section and saw everyone's favorite mercurial small forward of the mid 1990's -early 2000's watching his son and the boys intently.

I picked a great day for it as it was essentially an intra club game, for the 60 minutes I was there. They had the blue team with numbers on versus the white team with no numbers, and given the blue team won 9.5 to 3.1 you could probably imagine the blue boys had the much stronger line up! (More game simulation may have continued after I left at 11???)

The standard looked OK but given I haven't been to a training session since a week before the infamous 2013 season started, I have nothing to compare.

Notes for the blue team:

Petracca - looked a million bucks rotating through midfield and forward and kind of looks a class above everyone else - not sure if that's a positive or a negative? His chizzling kicks and overhead marking is a thing of beauty.

Hunt - played as a half back flanker circa 2016/2017. Looked ok.

T Mac - Played wing in the first half of the session. Then as the third key/floating fwd in the second half. Looks fit, no issues. 

B Brown - Kicked 2 difficult set shots that essentially nobody at the club can drill. Very excited to have him at the club. Will probably kick a lot of goals via free kicks.

Harmes - Played exclusively in the centre square and did not play well. Seems a distance away from 2018 and isn't excelling at any position at the moment (ie -since 2019)

Tomlinson - Looks settled down back as a key defender, continuing on from his late season recovery after the wing failure. May was in rehab but I think Tomlinson will be there regardless come round 1.

Jordon - Not sure if he'll make it but he was heavily involved today through the middle of the ground and featured in many transitions towards the forward 50. Moves well and I reckon he'll play games this year.

Lockhart - Starting back pocket while Jetta was in the white side.

Fritsch - Becoming one of my favs. 2 or 3 goals and adds some class to our forward line. Kicked a nice set shot today.

Gawn - Nailed a nice set shot today.

Spargo - I'll have to wash my mouth out with soap but Charles looked good at half forward, involved in a fair bit of play.

The new draftees played for the white side. 

REHAB Boys:

May, Brayshaw, Vanders, Pickett and Smith. I suspect May, Pickett and Smith are injured as this pre-season is too short for players to miss back to back sessions for no good reason.

Jackson ran laps.

Didn't see Hibberd or Melksham. Not sure if Viney was absent or playing for the white side.

Hopefully there were other posters at Casey today who can add to the above, and provide a more ""footy technical" training report. 

 

 

 

Ermahgerd.jpg

4 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

I'm hoping that Vand is in rehab because he missed the first few weeks of training rather than injury worries.  And hopefully, Pickett and May are out of rehab soon.  Brayshaw may be there for a while given his foot surgery.

this was confirmed in the afl.com.au report

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Didn't notice the Sam Blease look a like (forgotten his name)

hopefully lookalike is the only thing they have in common and maybe speed?

18 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

That’s exactly what it looked like.

The only regular blokes i recognised from the whites were Mitch Brown up forward,  Jetta down back, possibly Viney and Baker as well as the draftees.

not ideal for baker as a 4th year player with basically a straight shot at the wing possie in the snr's to be in the 'B' side. i hope it doesn't take him 15 weeks to crack a game this year but i get the feeling he's gonna be a close but not quite type with Hunt's move to HB to free up Salo/Riv to move up the ground combined with the jacko/tmac wing possibility too

 
5 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Jordon - Not sure if he'll make it but he was heavily involved today through the middle of the ground and featured in many transitions towards the forward 50. Moves well and I reckon he'll play games this year.

Did  Jordon play with the Blue team or White team?

Thanks for making the effort BBP and for the detailed report.


Marty Hore ACL confirmed ????

can't get any luck this man, hopefully they give him a gig at seasons end and give him a chance to get himself right coz i really like what he offers 

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/852887/hore-suffers-acl-injury

my thought process and its an unpopular one which i dont think i like but the club might consider, Cal Moore is probably the front runner for Carltons 1 SSP spot due to Curnow's injuries right, so does OMac get a last resort chance as a relatively like-for-like mature defensive option who knows the club in the knowledge that he's purely a depth player and is unlikely to be called upon?

Other recently delisted similar options could be:

  • Sam Skinner -swingman (delisted by BL training at NM)
  • Hugh Goddard/Harry Macreadie (blues)
  • Majak?
  • Jono Marsh (StK)
  • Lewis Jetta
  • Suckling

 

 

4 hours ago, adonski said:

Gonna vom if we play T Mac on a wing 

Pretty surw Gonna Vom plays for Essendon. 

But back to the thread; I'm really pleased to hearthat Brown still has his lovely long straight kick. Part of his appeal is that you don't need to get the ball in really close to goal to realistically expect a goal from him.  That's why he also often is is allowed enough space to give a birst lead, gain a few steps ahead of his opponent and then meet the ball at the top of his long-armed 200cm height, leaving defenders with nothing they can do except chop at his arms from behind.

Which is why he gets a lot of goals from free kicks.

It was true when he was at North and it'll still be true when he's with us. There's Youtube videos of 'every goal by Brown' and its unmistakable that most of those free kick goals epuld have been mark goals anyway. 

Sorry, rant over.

Other thought; it wluld be a sublime kind of MFCSS to imagine that now we've recruited multiple other potential small forwards, Spargo came good and we were left with a traffic jam of high draft picks struggling to find a role. ?

  • Author
42 minutes ago, Baghdad Bob said:

Did  Jordon play with the Blue team or White team?

Thanks for making the effort BBP and for the detailed report.

Thanks BB.

Jordan was certainly in the blue team wearing the #23.

As mentioned before, he was one of the more involved in the match sim. Can’t put my finger on it but he looks like a likely type at AFL level. We’ll see what happens.

ANB was also very busy alternating between half forward and midfield.

 
1 minute ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Thanks BB.

Jordan was certainly in the blue team wearing the #23.

As mentioned before, he was one of the more involved in the match sim. Can’t put my finger on it but he looks like a likely type at AFL level. We’ll see what happens.

ANB was also very busy alternating between half forward and midfield.

Great report Powell. How was young Kobe Farmer and Deakyn Smith.

  • Author
16 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Pretty surw Gonna Vom plays for Essendon. 

But back to the thread; I'm really pleased to hearthat Brown still has his lovely long straight kick. Part of his appeal is that you don't need to get the ball in really close to goal to realistically expect a goal from him.  That's why he also often is is allowed enough space to give a birst lead, gain a few steps ahead of his opponent and then meet the ball at the top of his long-armed 200cm height, leaving defenders with nothing they can do except chop at his arms from behind.

Which is why he gets a lot of goals from free kicks.

It was true when he was at North and it'll still be true when he's with us. There's Youtube videos of 'every goal by Brown' and its unmistakable that most of those free kick goals epuld have been mark goals anyway. 

Sorry, rant over.

Other thought; it wluld be a sublime kind of MFCSS to imagine that now we've recruited multiple other potential small forwards, Spargo came good and we were left with a traffic jam of high draft picks struggling to find a role. ?

Brown kicked beautifully today albeit missed one challenging set shot he could’ve got.

If he plays 20 + games this year, I can’t see how he doesn’t kick at least 40 goals this year. He is such a professional goal kicker.


  • Author
Just now, dazzledavey36 said:

Great report Powell. How was young Kobe Farmer and Deakyn Smith.

Thanks mate.

Sorry, I couldn’t keep up with the white team. They didn’t have numbers on their backs and most of them had caps on to make it even harder to tell.

The only bit of Kobe I saw was a set shot from 30 that he just missed. Apparently kicked a goal from reports.

Hopefully trackwatchers next week can keep an eye on him. His Dad was encouraging him from the sidelines.

2 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Brown kicked beautifully today albeit missed one challenging set shot he could’ve got.

If he plays 20 + games this year, I can’t see how he doesn’t kick at least 40 goals this year. He is such a professional goal kicker.

40 goals from a Demon player,  really sets the rest up, well I hope it does, a good start to win  few games one reliable forward

1 hour ago, Turner said:

Marty Hore ACL confirmed ????

can't get any luck this man, hopefully they give him a gig at seasons end and give him a chance to get himself right coz i really like what he offers 

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/852887/hore-suffers-acl-injury

my thought process and its an unpopular one which i dont think i like but the club might consider, Cal Moore is probably the front runner for Carltons 1 SSP spot due to Curnow's injuries right, so does OMac get a last resort chance as a relatively like-for-like mature defensive option who knows the club in the knowledge that he's purely a depth player and is unlikely to be called upon?

Other recently delisted similar options could be:

  • Sam Skinner -swingman (delisted by BL training at NM)
  • Hugh Goddard/Harry Macreadie (blues)
  • Majak?
  • Jono Marsh (StK)
  • Lewis Jetta
  • Suckling

 

 

I think with have enough depth in the backline: 

Lever | May | Tomlinson | T Mac | Hibbo | Jetta | Lockhart | Salem | Smith | Hunt (seems to be down back again). 

Just get Wiz jnr on the list

8 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Went down to Casey Fields for an hour this morning. A beautiful sunny and non windy morning (a rarity for Casey) for the lads to train in. Was a bit of a treat to watch some footy given the 17 games spent watching in the lounge room last year. I took my viewing position behind the fence in the pleb section and saw everyone's favorite mercurial small forward of the mid 1990's -early 2000's watching his son and the boys intently.

I picked a great day for it as it was essentially an intra club game, for the 60 minutes I was there. They had the blue team with numbers on versus the white team with no numbers, and given the blue team won 9.5 to 3.1 you could probably imagine the blue boys had the much stronger line up! (More game simulation may have continued after I left at 11???)

The standard looked OK but given I haven't been to a training session since a week before the infamous 2013 season started, I have nothing to compare.

Notes for the blue team:

Petracca - looked a million bucks rotating through midfield and forward and kind of looks a class above everyone else - not sure if that's a positive or a negative? His chizzling kicks and overhead marking is a thing of beauty.

Hunt - played as a half back flanker circa 2016/2017. Looked ok.

T Mac - Played wing in the first half of the session. Then as the third key/floating fwd in the second half. Looks fit, no issues. 

B Brown - Kicked 2 difficult set shots that essentially nobody at the club can drill. Very excited to have him at the club. Will probably kick a lot of goals via free kicks.

Harmes - Played exclusively in the centre square and did not play well. Seems a distance away from 2018 and isn't excelling at any position at the moment (ie -since 2019)

Tomlinson - Looks settled down back as a key defender, continuing on from his late season recovery after the wing failure. May was in rehab but I think Tomlinson will be there regardless come round 1.

Jordon - Not sure if he'll make it but he was heavily involved today through the middle of the ground and featured in many transitions towards the forward 50. Moves well and I reckon he'll play games this year.

Lockhart - Starting back pocket while Jetta was in the white side.

Fritsch - Becoming one of my favs. 2 or 3 goals and adds some class to our forward line. Kicked a nice set shot today.

Gawn - Nailed a nice set shot today.

Spargo - I'll have to wash my mouth out with soap but Charles looked good at half forward, involved in a fair bit of play.

The new draftees played for the white side. 

REHAB Boys:

May, Brayshaw, Vanders, Pickett and Smith. I suspect May, Pickett and Smith are injured as this pre-season is too short for players to miss back to back sessions for no good reason.

Jackson ran laps.

Didn't see Hibberd or Melksham. Not sure if Viney was absent or playing for the white side.

Hopefully there were other posters at Casey today who can add to the above, and provide a more ""footy technical" training report. 

 

 

See I told you there is no way he is playing wing for us... #fingeronthepulse

8 hours ago, Docs Demons said:

We have gone from boiled lollies to chocolates these past few days with training reports. Very much appreciated BBP and others.

We’ve gone for chocies to boiled lollies on the injury front by the sounds of it. Dang.

Thanks for all the training reports. The heartening common thread to see is that Tommy Mac is fitter and apparently injury free at this stage. Great news. And Trac is continuing to star. Lots to look forward to.


4 hours ago, Turner said:

Marty Hore ACL confirmed ????

can't get any luck this man, hopefully they give him a gig at seasons end and give him a chance to get himself right coz i really like what he offers 

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/852887/hore-suffers-acl-injury

my thought process and its an unpopular one which i dont think i like but the club might consider, Cal Moore is probably the front runner for Carltons 1 SSP spot due to Curnow's injuries right, so does OMac get a last resort chance as a relatively like-for-like mature defensive option who knows the club in the knowledge that he's purely a depth player and is unlikely to be called upon?

Other recently delisted similar options could be:

  • Sam Skinner -swingman (delisted by BL training at NM)
  • Hugh Goddard/Harry Macreadie (blues)
  • Majak?
  • Jono Marsh (StK)
  • Lewis Jetta
  • Suckling

 

 

I suspect that  by the seasons end Unfortunately All our Half back flankers/ defenders will have I MO passed Hore in talent and achievement.

Hore's problem is that he is older and can't mind either talls  ( not strong enough ) and smalls ( not quick enough) and mark intercepting is his main skill. Virtually a Lever clone so don't need 2 of them. Sad that he is injured never the less and he doesn't deserve this fate.

 

Had a look down at Casey today for training. I’m not the best training observer and the view wasn’t the best as you have to stand on the outside fence. So can’t go up to the boundary.

Trac hasn’t missed a beat. Dominated the match practice. Played through the midfield.


Ben Brown presented well and kicked a couple if not more. A big unit and as expected has long run up. 

Fritsch looked sharp up forward. 

Tmac played mainly a high half forward role I thought. Turns out wing/forward. Got a bit of it and looked to be moving well.

James Jordon played through the midfield in what seemed to be the A team. Got a bit of the footy. 

Rosman I didn’t notice too much in match practice. But took a nice grab playing forward. He’s a big unit. And moves well.

Bowey seemed to injure himself early in the session. Came off and rode a stationary bike. Then came back out later with some skills stuff. Didn’t look like anything serious. 

Chocco has them doing a fair bit of skills stuff. Starting out with short kicks then longer type drills

I thought the skills looked pretty good and there seems to be a focus on moving the ball quickly out of congestion. 

Jackson didn’t do much but was out there early and then later. Maybe having a light day or has a niggle. Didn’t seem injured. (Read afterwards he has Achilles awareness and will be back training next week)

Gus I believe did some skills work

Hibberd didn’t seem to do any training. I saw him kitted up but maybe doing work inside as he walked past a couple of times. 

Petty seems to be in full training. I thought I saw him in match sim. But seems no one else did. 

Harmes seems to be back in the midfield. Got a bit of the footy.

Also I thought Spargo and ANB were lively up forward.

I also thought I saw Melksham participating in the skills work pre the match sim. But I think others have reported he missed. However I’m sure it was him. 

Great read and thanks for the report. 

For those that attended, did ANB play in the blue team? 
 

I’m glad to hear Spargo had continued his form of last year too. He did some nice things last year and was unfairly in and out of the team at times. Seems he isn’t one of Goodwin’s favourites. On the other side though is Harmes. Disappointing to hear he looked a mile off. If he has another year like last he could very quickly become surplus to our needs, with a lot of like-for-like players. 

On the positive sides:

- Good to hear that Trac doesn’t seem to be taking a backward step from last year

- Brown kicking three in first first hit out with good accuracy (something that has burnt us in the past)

- Wiz jnr scoring a goal and showing good attack, sounds like he’s not doing any harm towards getting an opportunity 

- Lever showing good early signs 

Very sad to hear about Hore though, poor bloke doesn’t seem to have luck on his side. Sounds like we have some niggles to go with a couple of long term injury’s (to be expected), hopefully they get themselves right for a chance at pre-season matches. 

I may have missed it in previous reports but any word on Sparrow? Can't recall him mentioned in any if the training reports to date, is he injured? I thought he did ok when given a chance last year.


  • Author
3 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I may have missed it in previous reports but any word on Sparrow? Can't recall him mentioned in any if the training reports to date, is he injured? I thought he did ok when given a chance last year.

Sparrow played in the blue side. Played in the mid - half forward area and kicked an easy goal on the run from 20 but didn’t notice much of him.

I thought he looked ok mid season last year, particularly against Collingwood.

9 hours ago, Dame Gaga said:

Thanks for all the training reports. The heartening common thread to see is that Tommy Mac is fitter and apparently injury free at this stage. Great news. And Trac is continuing to star. Lots to look forward to.

I wasn't aware T Mac was injured last year

If he was why did they play him?

 
4 minutes ago, Kent said:

I wasn't aware T Mac was injured last year

If he was why did they play him?

I think it is a permanent injury. He is always apparently stretching his toes to mitigate against it.

2 minutes ago, Wrecker46 said:

I think it is a permanent injury. He is always apparently stretching his toes to mitigate against it.

Thanks Wrecker I was not aware of that fact!


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • CASEY: Collingwood

    It was freezing cold at Mission Whitten Stadium where only the brave came out in the rain to watch a game that turned out to be as miserable as the weather.
    The Casey Demons secured their third consecutive victory, earning the four premiership points and credit for defeating a highly regarded Collingwood side, but achieved little else. Apart perhaps from setting the scene for Monday’s big game at the MCG and the Ice Challenge that precedes it.
    Neither team showcased significant skill in the bleak and greasy conditions, at a location that was far from either’s home territory. Even the field umpires forgot where they were and experienced a challenging evening, but no further comment is necessary.

    • 2 replies
  • NON-MFC: Round 13

    Follow all the action from every Round 13 clash excluding the Dees as the 2025 AFL Premiership Season rolls on. With Melbourne playing in the final match of the round on King's Birthday, all eyes turn to the rest of the competition. Who are you tipping to win? And more importantly, which results best serve the Demons’ finals aspirations? Join the discussion and keep track of the matches that could shape the ladder and impact our run to September.

    • 157 replies
  • PREVIEW: Collingwood

    Having convincingly defeated last year’s premier and decisively outplayed the runner-up with 8.2 in the final quarter, nothing epitomized the Melbourne Football Club’s performance more than its 1.12 final half, particularly the eight consecutive behinds in the last term, against a struggling St Kilda team in the midst of a dismal losing streak. Just when stability and consistency were anticipated within the Demon ranks, they delivered a quintessential performance marked by instability and ill-conceived decisions, with the most striking aspect being their inaccuracy in kicking for goal, which suggested a lack of preparation (instead of sleeping in their hotel in Alice, were they having a night on the turps) rather than a well-rested team. Let’s face it - this kicking disease that makes them look like raw amateurs is becoming a millstone around the team’s neck.

    • 1 reply
  • CASEY: Sydney

    The Casey Demons were always expected to emerge victorious in their matchup against the lowly-ranked Sydney Swans at picturesque Tramway Oval, situated in the shadows of the SCG in Moore Park. They dominated the proceedings in the opening two and a half quarters of the game but had little to show for it. This was primarily due to their own sloppy errors in a low-standard game that produced a number of crowded mauls reminiscent of the rugby game popular in old Sydney Town. However, when the Swans tired, as teams often do when they turn games into ugly defensive contests, Casey lifted the standard of its own play and … it was off to the races. Not to nearby Randwick but to a different race with an objective of piling on goal after goal on the way to a mammoth victory. At the 25-minute mark of the third quarter, the Demons held a slender 14-point lead over the Swans, who are ahead on the ladder of only the previous week's opposition, the ailing Bullants. Forty minutes later, they had more than fully compensated for the sloppiness of their earlier play with a decisive 94-point victory, that culminated in a rousing finish which yielded thirteen unanswered goals. Kicks hit their targets, the ball found itself going through the middle and every player made a contribution.

    • 1 reply
  • REPORT: St. Kilda

    Hands up if you thought, like me, at half-time in yesterday’s game at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs that Melbourne’s disposal around the ground and, in particular, its kicking inaccuracy in front of the goals couldn’t get any worse. Well, it did. And what’s even more damning for the Melbourne Football Club is that the game against St Kilda and its resurgence from the bottomless pit of its miserable start to the season wasn’t just lost through poor conversion for goal but rather in the 15 minutes when the entire team went into a slumber and was mugged by the out-of-form Saints. Their six goals two behinds (one goal less than the Demons managed for the whole game) weaved a path of destruction from which they were unable to recover. Ross Lyon’s astute use of pressure to contain the situation once they had asserted their grip on the game, and Melbourne’s self-destructive wastefulness, assured that outcome. The old adage about the insanity of repeatedly doing something and expecting a different result, was out there. Two years ago, the score line in Melbourne’s loss to the Giants at this same ground was 5 goals 15 behinds - a ratio of one goal per four scoring shots - was perfectly replicated with yesterday’s 7 goals 21 behinds. 
    This has been going on for a while and opens up a number of questions. I’ll put forward a few that come to mind from this performance. The obvious first question is whether the club can find a suitable coach to instruct players on proper kicking techniques or is this a skill that can no longer be developed at this stage of the development of our playing group? Another concern is the team's ability to counter an opponent's dominance during a run on as exemplified by the Saints in the first quarter. Did the Demons underestimate their opponents, considering St Kilda's goals during this period were scored by relatively unknown forwards? Furthermore, given the modest attendance of 6,721 at TIO Traeger Park and the team's poor past performances at this venue, is it prudent to prioritize financial gain over potentially sacrificing valuable premiership points by relinquishing home ground advantage, notwithstanding the cultural significance of the team's connection to the Red Centre? 

    • 4 replies
  • PREGAME: Collingwood

    After a disappointing loss in Alice Springs the Demons return to the MCG to take on the Magpies in the annual King's Birthday Big Freeze for MND game. Who comes in and who goes out?

    • 430 replies