LAST WEEK AS YOU RECALL WE LEFT DR. SMITH, THE ROBOT AND WILL ROBINSON LOOKING FOR DR. SMITH'S LOST DENTURES, UNAWARE THAT THEY WOULD SOON BE WHISKED TO AN ENTIRELY ADVENTURE IN TIME AND SPACE.

Dr Smith, ""I just knew I put them down over here by this Rock"".

Robot, ""Dr. Smith your memory must be fading"".

Dr Smith, Silence you Cackling Clod

Will Robinson, Here they are Dr, Smith I have found them. Hey Doctor Smith, Robot come over here I have found something else!!

Will Robinson '' I remember this this is the Taurons old matter transfer unit, they must have left it behind.

Robot " You are correct Will Robinson"

Dr. Smith "Matter Transfer unit? How interesting"

Robot "DANGER DANGER"

Dr. Smith "Silence you interfering incomprehensible bringer of doom"

Will Robinson " We better do as he says Dr. Smith Dad said we should not touch any Alien machinery until he has checked it out."

Dr. Smith " It all looks very simple, push a button here , turn a dial there" Adjusts levers

Zoooom Tish, Zappppppp Weird sounds all of a sudden a mazer beam envelops the Robot and He Vanishes

Will Robinson, ROBOT ROBOT 

Dr. Smith "What have I done" oh the pain, the pain!

LATER ROBOT WHERE AM I WHAT IS THIS PLACE ?????? Casey Fields?? I must have overloaded my servo mechanism and are in some trance, Whoah who goes there???

Picket Fence " I know you your the Robot from Lost in Space, Yes but where am I and who are you"

I'm known as Picket Fence I come down and watch The Mighty Melbourne Demons and file training reports

ROBOT ''It does not compute"

Picket Fence "" Look I've read the Script Your gonna be Ok

Robot "You''ve read the Script??? 

Picket Fence "Yeah I've read the script and what happens is Don, Will and Professor Robinson will replicate the sequence from the Taurons matter Transfer unit and in about an hour or so you will be whisked back to Priplanus" So hang out with me and I'll talk you through what I do, Tell you what can you do dictation?? 

Robot "Affirmative" Ok start dictating:-

Picket Fence ventures to Casey fields to file this report.

Fresh Breeze sprung up today coming from the Sth. West some modifications when kicking into the cross breeze were evident but all in all not a bad day out in Casey. Solid 3 plus hour session again with quite a few highlights and observations.

NO SHOWS   MAJAK DAW, HARRISON PETTY, and I also didn't see JAKE MELKSHAM

MODIFIED DUTIES T. MAC, ANB, CHARLIE SPARGO (although they all took part in Running drills)

SKILLS, DRILLS AND MANOUVERS

DRILL 1  Small ball work in close formation emphasizing correct option and skill drill under pressure in disposing of ball

DRILL 2 Running through cones strategically placed and turning and disposing of ball under pressure

DRILL 3 Goal kicking Drill from every concievable match dynamic and distance, included inside shots outside shots, trick shots running and pinging from variety of angles, coaches presenting ball from setups and all with clear intention of practicing and perfecting routines from almost any situation.

DRILL 4 Methodical Diamond ball press using the old diamond configuration but whole ground, running in threes and fours handballing, overlapping, precision handballs and kicks to next group in the diamond formation, Like a very advanced and technologically hyped Circle work for want of a better understanding. This was clinical, precise with barely and funble and it was done at High Velocity.

DRILL 5  3 QUARTERS OF WHOLE MATCH SIMS WITH AFL UMPIRES 

DRILLS 6 A, B, C Small group work on stoppages, Boundary work and kicking and handball practicals.

PLAYER WATCH

MAX, CLARRY, JV, JAKE LEVER, STEVEN MAY, BBB, BAILEY FRITSCH, TRACC All "Brilliant"" As usual really you only have to take a look at what the strong inner core do just relentlessly day in day out they just do no rest on laurels they keep driving the perfection bus so tight that it sits flawlessly on superb conditioning and just the expectation that hard work and dilligence are the cornerstones of success.

ANDY MONIZ-WAKEFIELD  Wow what a dynamo, absolutely provided the highlight of the day when he took possesion rover like on the wing, assessed options, delivered long, sprinted forward, recived the ball back again and crashed a classy goal. Will play in 2022

SAM WEIDEMAN  Probably as involved in match sims as I have seen him, kicked a couple of goals marked around the ground and was non to shabby in the ruck vs Max when called on. Can see some tangible improvements

ED LANGDON Played on Fraser Rosman and I though Fraser did some very nice things, Ed Langdon just runs all day and gathers possesions at will 

JAMES JORDON  Was very good today linking up creating play and ran all day, I thought that for the last two weeks that TOM SPARROW has been more impressive, but today James was very telling.

TAJ WOEWODIN  Noticed him a bit more today, he fiited in well uses the ball well and seems to be finding his feet a lot more. Similarly DANIEL TURNER, and BLAKE HOWES trained impressively and clearly as their confidence builds there form will create excellent and robust jostling for spots in the senior team.

LUKE DUNSTAN Copped a knock or two but continues to impress with his zeal and attack on the ball. Disposal has been questioned but for mine he uses it thoughfully and with good skill.

JACOB VAN ROOYEN Not as prominent today but still looks likely to take a freak mark or snap a cool goal. Will keep a closer eye on him in coming months

HARMSY Probably for me was highlight no 2 where he got the ball in heavy traffic, powered his was out and kicked an inspirational goal for the Red side when they really needed it

OSKAR BAKER He also was influential in the play today got the ball mused his pace and disposed of it very well.

FINAL THOUGHTS 

Gus trained without a helmet😁 and looked good, there was a player no 39 but have no idea who he was!?? Another full on session and it is clear that the levels of professionalism continue to rise and that that infectious will to win as derived from our player cohort, continues to drive up standards to another level. I can see tangible warmth, empathy, and collegiality among then player and coaching fraternity and this points to a period of sustained success. There will be no premiership hangovers at M.F.C You can bank on it.

Did you get al that Robot??

Robot "Afirmative"

And just like that. one minute he was here then ""Whoosh"" He was Gone, it was all after all in the Script!

""I WISH I KNEW WHERE I WANTED TO BE WHEN I WANTED TO BE WHERE I WAS TODAY""  P.F

As astute as always PF 🙌

Can't thank you enough PF, these reports are sensational 

Nice stuff Picket, much appreciated. 

There's a match simulation but it won't let me upload on here.

Watching the video there's an unknown playing running around wearing number 39. Anyone know who it is? Train on player?

I went down to Casey Fields for today's training.

The boys started with lighter drills (kicking, shots on the run, snaps from the pocket, set shots) before moving into a drill where the players were in four groups (two at each end, two on each wing) which involved basic kicking to a lead, giving off to a player running past and then kicking to the next group.

Missing from training (at least to my eye) were Melksham, Petty and Daw, while TMac ran laps. TMac didn't appear too bad and ran at a pretty steady pace - I would presume he will be back in training fairly shortly.

Then match sim began, which was three 20-minute quarters (or should that be thirds?). Of the training group, ANB and Spargo didn't play in the match sim (but trained prior to then).

Blue v Red, with Blue seemingly a predominantly "A team". Teams were as follows:

Blue backs - Lever May Tomlinson Bowey Hibberd Salem Hunt

Blue mids - Oliver Petracca Viney Langdon Brayshaw Sparrow Jordon Gawn

Blue forwards - B Brown Weid Fritsch Pickett Chandler

Red backs - Turner J Smith D. Smith McVee Rivers Baker

Red mids - Dunstan Harmes Woey AMW Rosman Howes Jackson

Red forwards - M Brown JVR Laurie Bedford

There were a few fill-in players who played for the red team.

My comments below are subject to a pretty ordinary viewing position about 30m behind the goal and behind a fence.  But I'll try my best!

-Unsurprisingly, the Blue team dominated. Scores were B 3.3 v R 0.4 at the first break, B 8.8 v R 1.6 at the second and the final scores were B 13.13 v R 3.7 after the three terms. I've just included that for those who like those things - it means nothing, especially when after the second term the entire Blue "A" defence switched teams with the Red defence. Jackson also switched into Blue as a forward, taking Weid's spot, while Weid went into the ruck for Red.  I also noticed Chandler in Red for the third term.

-Blue were just too dominant in the midfield and even when Red were able to get the ball forward, May, Lever and co. were just too well organised to allow easy scores.

-Goalkickers for Red - Harmes, AMW and Chandler. Harmes kicked a nice long-range goal on the run and handed an easy one over the top for AMW in the goal square, while Chandler kicked a nice snap from the pocket.

-Goalkickers for Blue - Fritsch 5, B Brown 4, Weid, Jordon, Langdon, Jackson

-Fritsch and Brown were obviously the most dangerous forwards - Fritsch got his goals mostly in opportunistic fashion, including a 50m penalty, marking a floater that he judged best and getting an over-the-top goalsquare handball from Viney, but smart forwards get themselves in the right positions.  He also kicked an absolute beauty, gathering a ground ball with back to goal, turning and drilling a left-foot drop punt on the spin. Brown kicked all his from set shots, one from a free, one from a 50m penalty (having marked on the lead) and two from marks out in front. His kicking was excellent, with two of his goals from fairly tight angles. He looked slightly more mobile to me - I think he was very straight-line last year and while he will never be the greatest exponent of lateral movement, he did look a bit more agile.

-Gawn was just superb, especially in the air - he dominated the ruck and marked everything in sight, whether in a one on one or in a pack of 6 players.

-Oliver was his usual ball magnet self, just racking up touch after touch and setting up the play, particularly in the first two terms.

-Trac was a bit quieter but got better as it wore on. He took two lovely marks as a forward where he parked himself in line with the ball, used his big frame to protect front position and the drop zone and just marked on his chest.

-I thought Weid was really good in the first two terms as a forward. He really launched at the ball and took several contested marks. He spilt some others but hit the pack hard each time. He wasn't as effective in the ruck in the third but he was up against Max.

-D Smith seemed to get a head knock during the game and went off. He didn't return to the match sim. Other than that I didn't see any other injuries.

-Viney was pretty solid and Sparrow did a few good things. Sparrow is just a brick outhouse - both in the upper body and the legs - you wouldn't want him hitting you at full speed.

-May and Lever were really solid with their positioning and understanding of where to be, rarely if ever allowing any easy inside 50 marks. Tomlinson also did some good things and it was great to see him play the full match sim at full intensity.

-I probably noticed less of the Red team, given Blue had more of the ball and the vantage point wasn't great. But I liked the look of Howes - he is still quite thin but when he got it he made really quick decisions, which is not always typical of young players adjusting to the increased pace of the game. JVR showed a bit but it was a tough day for Red forwards up against AA defenders.

Pure gold, as always, Picket.

Thanks for getting down there the way you do. 👍

Great insights as usual Fence. Thank you! 

Quick question: From what you've observed this pre-season:

-  have Bedford, Chandler and AMW been training for similar roles, and what are those roles (?),

-  how would you rate them, in order?

 

 

Thanks SJ it is great getting different views on the same session.  Disappointing lack of sci-fi based pre-amble 😉

 

9 minutes ago, Salems Lot said:

Thanks SJ it is great getting different views on the same session.  Disappointing lack of sci-fi based pre-amble 😉

 

Haha I'll leave the sci-fi to the experts - it's definitely not my genre!

Just now, Scoop Junior said:

Haha I'll leave the sci-fi to the experts - it's definitely not my genre!

What's your genre scoop?

20 minutes ago, Salems Lot said:

Thanks SJ it is great getting different views on the same session.  Disappointing lack of sci-fi based pre-amble 😉

 

Great reports from both of you and great thanks also from us who can't be so lucky.

45 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

There's a match simulation but it won't let me upload on here.

Watching the video there's an unknown playing running around wearing number 39. Anyone know who it is? Train on player?

Matt Buntine 

 

14 minutes ago, old dee said:

What's your genre scoop?

TV/Movies - Sport, True Doccos (eg. crime/legal), Thrillers, Mystery/Drama

@picket fence any players heading for the Twilight Zone?  😃

(Viney sure trains for keeps)

 

10 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

 

McVee looks a natural

And get Rivers into the guts

9 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

 

Fantastic coverage DS boy it's nonstop out at  Casey on Training day. Everyone having a dip and no shirkers. Way to go Dees. 
Thanks DS 

2 minutes ago, adonski said:

McVee looks a natural

And get Rivers into the guts

I don’t think Trent will want to be any closer to Viney that he already is. And regaining his spot in the first choice backline should be his immediate aim!

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

ANDY MONIZ-WAKEFIELD  Wow what a dynamo, absolutely provided the highlight of the day when he took possesion rover like on the wing, assessed options, delivered long, sprinted forward, recived the ball back again and crashed a classy goal. Will play in 2022

Thanks so much PF and SJ!!

This definitely excites me PF.  Makes me think of Farmer out at Waverly!
Had seen the youtube highlights but given we'd missed out on Mac I thought AMW would be very much a project player and if we're lucky develop into a regular one day.  Sounds like he's holding his own!

From the highlights video a few things stood out.

1. Clarry is such a transition weapon

2. Luke Jackson isn’t done doing crazy things for a guy his size

3. Howes is getting a rude initiation to the core strength required for afl footy. Not a bad thing.

4. Weid is clearly hungry, but defenders also know they can take him on out the other way.

5. Chandler sets up 2 goals despite botching them originally. He’s got tricks to get out of trouble. Now he has to learn to stop getting in trouble so much 

https://twitter.com/melbournefc/status/1491995337690861569?s=20&t=13WpKBJZ2rS8nD8xaTqNXwhttps://twitter.com/melbournefc/status/1491995337690861569?s=20&t=13WpKBJZ2rS8nD8xaTqNXw

 

35 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

 

Absolute training drill for the blue team.