Jump to content

Featured Replies

Posted

Demonland Trackwatchers beat the Friday heat to bring you their observations from this morning's Captain's Run out at Gosch's Paddock in the lead up to their first hit out in a Practice Match tomorrow against the Kangaroos.

TRAVY14'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

On the park:

Trac
Spargo
Gawn
Viney
Langdon
May
Fritsch
Salem
Henderson

Rehab: McVee (updated to include Melk, Kolt, AMW and Kentfield)

Spoke to "Gus" the trainer, he said these are the guys not playing tomorrow.  Will be playing a lot of the kids.

Henderson training to get to know the guys.

General drills with running incorporated into it for fitness, nothing really to report.

McVee doing plenty or run throughs at gentle pace, but impressed considering its an eight week hammy.

Rest of the team rocking up now for captains run.

Windsor in footy boots!!

Windsor just left the track, not looking comfortable.  Not a new injury, but obviously still recovering.

HARVEY WALLBANGER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Absent: McAdam

Rehabbing: Melksham and McVee lots of running. Moniz-Wahefield. Tholstrup and Kentfield not doing much.

Not playing tomorrow: May, Salem, Petracca, Viney, Spargo, Gawn, Langdon, Fritsch, Henderson, Windsor

Train-on: Roy George (Culley not present).

Leaves the other 28 available to have a run tomorrow:

2 van Rooyen
8 Lever
13 Oliver
14 Billings
16 Laurie
17 Bowey
19 Langford
20 Lindsay
21 Jefferson
22 Howes
24 Rivers
25 TMac
26 Adams
27 Hore
28 Verrall
29 Campbell
30 Sharp
32 Sparrow
33 Fullarton
35 Petty
36 Pickett
37 Chandler
38 Sestan
39 Mentha
40 Woewodin
41 Brown
42 Johnson
? George

Windsor did some running with the main group - a big step forward from last week. Don't expect him to play tomorrow though.

Based on what we saw today I expect the Casey game will not have any AFL listed players, and as reported earlier it may be that Roy George has a run in the main game (even though not on the list?).

Given the nature of Kolt's injury he just turns up to training but he is not doing any running or drills. Today he spent quite a bit of time with his friend Kentfield - gentle stretches etc, hand-balling, etc. They will both be a couple of months away based on official and unofficial reports.

KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS

Gorgeous morning, right temperature, no wind, plenty of vibe around (excited, nervous, up), they are ready to hit and compete. 

The veterans of Trac, Spargo, Gawn, Viney, Langdon, May, Fritsch, Salem, and the new one Henderson, had their own program going. They did join in some main drills. Henderson looks OK, can run and covers the ground smoothly, also has a good kick on him. In a general drill where we hadn't dropped a ball until Henderson let one slip. Good learning curve for him. A few others missed after that. I think, starting in that group of leaders will be good for him.

The veterans group did an excessive number of run throughs.

The others were about 28 or so in numbers. Going to be an interesting hit out tomorrow in the sim against North. 

Goody controlled the training, mainly by himself. The sims had him structuring mostly infront of the ball. The contest weren't there as they kept distance and allowed each other space.

Kossie heavily involved, as a small forward. Oliver, rotated with him in from the forward to the mid-area.

JVR getting his hands on it, with Turner as his offsider.

Jefferson and Johnson at the end that they weren't kicking too.

Backline being led by Lever who got the intercepts.

Sharp played high half-forward. 

Verral and Campbell rucking in different teams.

H.Langford, looked nervous, fumbled a few. Hope he enjoys his first hit out with team tomorrow. 

Lindsay is going well, I like that he is quiet, absorbing all he can get, and plays with poise. Will be a good role player for Goody as he is a quick learner.

They had some goal kicking at the end, Mentha has a good banana shape on his snaps.

Brad Green was down at training, hanging out with the "brains trust", on the far side. (First time I have noticed him down at the Paddock).

PST2025-28.png

 

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

  • PREVIEW: Gold Coast

    The Gold Coast Suns find themselves outside of the top eight for the first time since Round 1 with pressure is mounting on the entire organisation. Their coach Damien Hardwick expressed his frustration at his team’s condition last week by making a middle-finger gesture on television that earned him a fine for his troubles. He showed his desperation by claiming that Fox should pick up the tab.  There’s little doubt the Suns have shown improvement in 2025, and their position on the ladder is influenced to some extent by having played fewer games than their rivals for a playoff role at the end of the season, courtesy of the disruption caused by Cyclone Alfred in March.  However, they are following the same trajectory that hindered the club in past years whenever they appeared to be nearing their potential. As a consequence, that Hardwick gesture should be considered as more than a mere behavioral lapse. It’s a distress signal that does not bode well for the Queenslanders. While the Suns are eager to remain in contention with the top eight, Melbourne faces its own crisis, which is similarly deep-seated but in a much different way. After recovering from a disappointing start to the season and nearing a return to respectability among its peer clubs, the Demons have experienced a decline in status, driven by the fact that while their form has been reasonable (see their performance against the ladder leader in the Kings Birthday match), their conversion in front of goal is poor enough to rank last in the competition. Furthermore, their opponents find them exceptionally easy to score against. As a result, they have effectively eliminated themselves from the finals race and are again positioned to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

      • Haha
    • 3 replies
  • NON-MFC: Round 15

    As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

      • Haha
      • Like
    • 276 replies
  • REPORT: Port Adelaide

    Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

    • 3 replies
  • CASEY: Essendon

    Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

    • 0 replies
  • PREGAME: Gold Coast

    The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

      • Haha
    • 159 replies
  • PODCAST: Port Adelaide

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 16th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Power.
    Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
    Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 33 replies