TRAINING: Wednesday 14th December 2022

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DEESPICABLE'S TRAINING REPORT

Note, there is one more session on Friday at GP before the players break for X-mas.

Firstly, there are a handful of players who now have been on limited duties for the past two weeks and it's fair to say that round 1 is starting to look unlikely for them, unless they emerge fit and fired up from the X-mas break and nail a heap of sessions.

The five are: Hibberd, BB Brown, Angus, Joel Smith and Deakin Smith. 

On top of that two of our newbies - Will Ferrell and Jed Adams - have been on extra, light duities - it's possible they won't return after X-mas simply because they would have been bored out of their brains just doing endless run throughs and watching everyone else get stuck into it.  

Three other players copped knocks today but all seemed fine after them - May (ribs), Gawn (knee) and Sparrow (head knock from Spargo tackle). All kept going at match sim. Kozzie wasn't there today either, but he was the pick of the bunch the week before, so hopefully nothing untoward about his absence today.

As to the highlights of the match sim (note I left about 11.15am, so those that stayed till the end can update anything extra as required).

T-Mac: I can say that he is looking as good as new and I am not sure why some here said he may have long-term injury worries. Sure he is no longer capable of winning our 200m rep sessions and yes he's a tad porky around the hips from his all-meat diet, but the big fella is just a clever lead-up, lead-back player with strong hands and we all know he's a deadeye d*ck and has a huge tank. If he returns from the break with a passion for the sprints then he's a monte to line up forward with Fritter and JVR and his best mate Melky will miss out. It's as simple as that. 

JVR: Ok, I am sold. He is ready and only an injury will stop him playing rd 1 now. In fact it's a shame we have to wait until round 15 for his battle with De Koning. While his nice hanger over Lever today was the highlight, he was so much more than one grab. He dished, he tackled and he wore my pre-Robbie idol Greg Parke's No.26. I reckon he said I don't want Jonesy's No.2, I want 26 for Parkey because maybe his grandfather knows him or used to be a copper or something. Either way he is starting to take on that junior Schwarter look and along with T-Mac and Gawny, he is the frontrunner to play as our talls rd 1, subject to injury of course. A quick note here that Schache has also been looking mega impressive as well at training playing as a mobile forward swinging onto his left, but I suspect he will have to wait until injury to get his chance. And with so many TFs on the park, I can see why the club ain't moving Petty there just yet. 

CP5: Ok, I am not sold. Yes I know his 2020 was a breakout extravaganza and I know his 2021 was brilliance personified with his ability to lift in big games making him Martinesque. But right now he's like Danger or Fyfe - a turnover machine that looks like he's going to break the game open but lets you down big time by foot. Yes I know he was injured late last season, but everything you don't want to see was on display today and last week when I attended. He just coughs the ball up time and time again as he looks to split the game open through the middle. Yes it was windy so he was not alone in miskicks (even Bowey had  a howler or two). I remember Goody eventually had to pull Clayton aside three years ago and explain to him that he had to take more responsibility for going forward than just giving it off by hand, but I reckon when Goody comes back from hols he will need to pull Trac aside and just tell him to back off the media, back off the nice guy stuff and just get down and dirty. Or find a new psych. Ultimately our year will be determined by whether Trac gets back to being one of the best five mids in the game.

Hunter: As withT-Mac, he made sure the club knows his quality. He lined up on Ed 'Sheerin' Langdon and he was clever, composed and ducked on to his left with the ease of Karl Amon. He will play round 1 barring injury or returning from his break in the bad books and he will play the left wing which means us MCC members will get to see Langdon close up for the first time.

Lever: After an injury-riddled '22, he's running strongly again and looking like the All-Aussie of 2021 again - although JVR postered him on one occasion. As with Trac and Salem, he's one of three stars who if they get back to their form of '21, then finals are looking likely.

Grundy and Gawn: The quick take off from down back after goals (or likely goals) in match sim meant there was little centre bounce work done, but both these guys still look superb. Gawn's marking is just so clean, while Grundy is mega quick with a dish off. They bring so much to the table and are very different.

The kids: Sorry but so far all our youngsters other than JVR are still a fair way off. I did like the work and run of Judd McVee though - he's really improving and looks likely to get a go at some stage this year. It's interesting that a decade ago, a new recruit just had to fart to get noticed, but now they have to train the house down over and over to even look like getting a game in the ones. And unlike in Jones's early years, there are so many well-ensconced senior players that it's hard to see changes anyway.