PRESEASON TRAINING: Wednesday 22nd January 2025

[binman 44,824]

The brain is a funny thing.

Like all dees fans, when claz first started his career, I was blown away by his spatial awareness and how incredibly fast his hands and decision making were. 

Incredible.

But it becomes easy to take for granted, and I sort of stopped appreciating it as much.

And then he has a year where he's not in condition to play at his best and It's almost as if I had forgotten it.

Watching that clip was a reminder he can do things that very few players can, things that can't be taught.

i have to say im feeling a sense of excitement about this season I haven't for many years. Not so much in terms of expectation of success, but more seeing claz back to his best, tracc happy and firing, Windsor and Kolt's second season, Turner going up a level, Langford and Lindsay's debuts and JVR perhaps becoming the best key forward in the AFL.

Edited January 23 by binman

[Gorgoroth 13,220]

9 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Is it just me or does Steven May look the fittest he has since joining the club? He looks supremely fit in the photo gallery.

I thought the same thing, he looked leaner but more defined in his muscle definition too.

[old55 23,860]

1 hour ago, Freddy Fuschia said:

Agree, it was a very positive article but why do they highlight it with an video interview with Eric Gulden?

Will be requesting a trade to us?

[tiers 2,883]

I attended for the first time in a long time. I couldn't figure out the meaning or purpose of the drills and they looked like any footy club at any level. But so long as they work, who am I to doubt them.

I made three observations:

1. Tracca looked slimmed down in the body. I recall how in years past Plugger Locket slimmed down and lost his mojo which was his strength in the contest. I wouldn't like to see Tracca any slimmer.

2. There was one new player that I did not recognise who has grey hair. I can understand premature baldness, but grey hair. Get it coloured son.

3. Caleb Windsor signs with his left hand. If only he would also bounce the ball with his left hand when running it would bring back memories of our greatest player.

[biggestred 5,311]

34 minutes ago, binman said:

The brain is a funny thing.

Like all dees fans, when claz first started his career, I was blown away by his spatial awareness and how incredibly fast his hands and decision making were. 

Incredible.

But it becomes easy to take for granted, and I sort of stopped appreciating it as much.

And then he has a year where he's not in condition to play at his best and It's almost as if I had forgotten it.

Watching that clip was a reminder he can do things that very few players can, things that can't be taught.

i have to say im feeling a sense of excitement about this season I haven't for many years. Not so much in terms of expectation of success, but more seeing claz back to his best, tracc happy and firing, Windsor and Kolt's second season, Turner going up a level, Langford and Francis' debuts and JVR perhaps becoming the best key forward in the AFL.

Clarry is one of about 3 or 4 dees that constantly have me saying "wow, howd he do that, that was amazing". The others are/were Alan jakovich, Liam jurrah and the wizard.

 

Last year he had a shocking year by his standards. Still averaged 25 touches. Ridiculous. 

[Gator 18,053]

30 minutes ago, biggestred said:

Clarry is one of about 3 or 4 dees that constantly have me saying "wow, howd he do that, that was amazing". The others are/were Alan jakovich, Liam jurrah and the wizard.

 

Last year he had a shocking year by his standards. Still averaged 25 touches. Ridiculous. 

He averaged 23.

And it was a poor year by any gun mids standards, not just his.

[Go Ds 335]

1 hour ago, Neil Crompton said:

I wouldn’t have thought that there would be too many posters on here who didn’t know who “chin” or “disco” were. We’ve all made the effort, though constant reading of posts, to learn the nicknames of the players. Our track reporters don’t need criticism for using this shorthand while posting.  @WCW even posted a list of all the nicknames last year I think. Perhaps her better half, @Ghostwriter, could repost that list. A new poster I can understand not knowing, but for someone who has read training reports for two years, these nicknames should be second nature I would have thought. 

No, I meant BACK THEN I had to work out those nicknames. (Actually I still think I've only heard the nickname Chin on here)

And, yes, a list would be useful.

[Ghostwriter 5,459]

11 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Is it just me or does Steven May look the fittest he has since joining the club? He looks supremely fit in the photo gallery.

He says so himself. He says it’s the fittest and strongest he’s ever felt and he attributes his current mentally great headspace to being a dad. Baby Millie is the perfect addition to his life. Geez he adores that little girl. You get him started on the subject and he doesn’t stop. 🥹

[Ghostwriter 5,459]

22 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

No, I meant BACK THEN I had to work out those nicknames. (Actually I still think I've only heard the nickname Chin on here)

And, yes, a list would be useful.

I’ll post a list 👍🏽
 

But I’m surprised you’ve only heard the nickname Chin on here. Everyone at the club calls him Chin. I’ve not heard a player or coach or trainer call him anything else. Even admin staff call him Chin.

We have a massive Chin fan in the cheer squad who holds up a handheld banner that says “Sweet Chin Music” and no one has ever questioned him on it. 🤗

[Go Ds 335]

31 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

I’ll post a list 👍🏽
 

But I’m surprised you’ve only heard the nickname Chin on here. Everyone at the club calls him Chin. I’ve not heard a player or coach or trainer call him anything else. Even admin staff call him Chin.

We have a massive Chin fan in the cheer squad who holds up a handheld banner that says “Sweet Chin Music” and no one has ever questioned him on it. 🤗

Yes, STAFF call him Chin. I just don't have any involvement with staff. On TV he's just Chandler. Obviously there's plenty of things you'd expect almost any Melbourne fan to know. But sometimes it's easy to forget some things aren't.


BTW I found this. All it needs is the new recruits to be added. I think someone called Xavier Lindsay 'Francis' (which again I had to work out). I can only guess the rest.
 

 

Edited January 23 by Go Ds
Added link

[SthSea22 658]

32 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

He says so himself. He says it’s the fittest and strongest he’s ever felt and he attributes his current mentally great headspace to being a dad. Baby Millie is the perfect addition to his life. Geez he adores that little girl. You get him started on the subject and he doesn’t stop. 🥹

Great to hear

 

Maysie did come from a broken home (Father in and out of gaol) so it makes sense why he is rejuvenated in life with his first bubba 

[Fritta and Turner 4,696]

42 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

I’ll post a list 👍🏽
 

But I’m surprised you’ve only heard the nickname Chin on here. Everyone at the club calls him Chin. I’ve not heard a player or coach or trainer call him anything else. Even admin staff call him Chin.

We have a massive Chin fan in the cheer squad who holds up a handheld banner that says “Sweet Chin Music” and no one has ever questioned him on it. 🤗

In December Goody called the players together and said 'Now Chins going to address the group on the next drill'.

[Ghostwriter 5,459]

46 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

Yes, STAFF call him Chin. I just don't have any involvement with staff. On TV he's just Chandler. Obviously there's plenty of things you'd expect almost any Melbourne fan to know. But sometimes it's easy to forget some things aren't.


BTW I found this. All it needs is the new recruits to be added. I think someone called Xavier Lindsay 'Francis' (which again I had to work out). I can only guess the rest.
 

 

I’ve just started a new thread dedicated to players’ current nicknames. Some have more than one so I listed the one I hear them use the most. Of course there’s sometimes a nickname we use on here that nobody calls the player eg. Andy Moniz-Wakefield is referred to as AMW on here but gets called Andy by his teammates. 

[DeelightfulPlay 2,723]

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

He says so himself. He says it’s the fittest and strongest he’s ever felt and he attributes his current mentally great headspace to being a dad. Baby Millie is the perfect addition to his life. Geez he adores that little girl. You get him started on the subject and he doesn’t stop. 🥹

This is so lovely to hear, how nice for May!!

[Slartibartfast 18,120]

4 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

I wouldn’t have thought that there would be too many posters on here who didn’t know who “chin” or “disco” were. We’ve all made the effort, though constant reading of posts, to learn the nicknames of the players. Our track reporters don’t need criticism for using this shorthand while posting.  @WCW even posted a list of all the nicknames last year I think. Perhaps her better half, @Ghostwriter, could repost that list. A new poster I can understand not knowing, but for someone who has read training reports for two years, these nicknames should be second nature I would have thought. 

No offence taken by me Neil. I think @Go Dsmakes a fair point. I hate picking up a thread where there is a comment about a player in a previous thread and you don’t know who the player being referred to is.

First world problem.

[Ghostwriter 5,459]

15 hours ago, Beetle said:

So another sausage fest at your joint for you and your long suffering teenager for next few weeks @Ghostwriter?

The poor bastard groans when he knows we’ve got a sausage sizzle coming up, but the groaning was next level because two sausage sizzles in three days = bigger than usual sausage overload. 😂

 

[Beetle 4,739]

19 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

The poor bastard groans when he knows we’ve got a sausage sizzle coming up, but the groaning was next level because two sausage sizzles in three days = bigger than usual sausage overload. 😂

 

I’m not sure what we are talking about anymore….

[Salems Lot 2,692]

2 hours ago, Go Ds said:

Yes, STAFF call him Chin. I just don't have any involvement with staff. On TV he's just Chandler. Obviously there's plenty of things you'd expect almost any Melbourne fan to know. But sometimes it's easy to forget some things aren't.


BTW I found this. All it needs is the new recruits to be added. I think someone called Xavier Lindsay 'Francis' (which again I had to work out). I can only guess the rest.
 

 

C'mon GD, I'm an old bloke too but the nicknames become second nature as you read the posts and reports, I promise that you will get used to them.  Demonland is a fan forum, I WANT the nicknames as it makes me feel closer to the club

[DeeZone 10,590]

A huge thanks to Ghost writer, Deestar9, Wayne wussell, Demonland, Roost it Far, Ditcha, Startibartfast, Kev and all other track reporters and posters for another track feast. Sounds like another great turn out at Gosh’s for the boys.

[Go Ds 335]

50 minutes ago, Salems Lot said:

C'mon GD, I'm an old bloke too but the nicknames become second nature as you read the posts and reports, I promise that you will get used to them.  Demonland is a fan forum, I WANT the nicknames as it makes me feel closer to the club

Yes and no. Once i saw names such as Chin and Lingers pretty quickly they were lodged in my memory AND I am used to them. But I can also understand a new fan getting on here and giving up on posts (and possibly this site?) if they keep wondering who is being referred to. Anyway it's a first-world problem - it was a slight nuisance at the time and was never gonna stop me visiting here from then on. (And it's very hard to go at people giving their time for free.)

[BigBadBustling 455]

There was a report last week that referred to a player as Jai. I was scratching my head trying to work out who picked up the nickname Jai, checked the whole list. Couldn't work it out.

Until I realised Jai, was actually Jai, as in Culley. Gave myself a swift uppercut.

[Ghostwriter 5,459]

1 hour ago, Salems Lot said:

C'mon GD, I'm an old bloke too but the nicknames become second nature as you read the posts and reports, I promise that you will get used to them.  Demonland is a fan forum, I WANT the nicknames as it makes me feel closer to the club

This is my reason for using nicknames; it’s a term of endearment. It would feel weird to call them by their real names. I don’t think I’ve ever called my own sons by their real names. I can’t even remember their real names 😂

[chook fowler 19,772]

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

The poor bastard groans when he knows we’ve got a sausage sizzle coming up, but the groaning was next level because two sausage sizzles in three days = bigger than usual sausage overload. 😂

 

sausage overload - I wish

[hardtack 11,106]

16 hours ago, bing181 said:

Yet.

He wouldn't be the first to take a few seasons to find his feet at AFL level.

Can only be a positive if he does.

I’m pretty sure that was the case with ANB.

[Pinball Wizard 374]

We celebrate our players - that’s a given and should never be underestimated. There are, however, many other heroes of the Melbourne Football Club.