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I too can't believe what some people are reading into Mark Neeld's comments. I think he's been very straight forward, logical and consistent in how he's dealt with the issue of giving a few of his star players a rev at the start of pre season. That he compliments them two months later for responding the way he wanted them to suggests that he's happy with what he's achieved so far. There are no Martians or Seagulls in Neeld's world - thank god for that! I have no problem with Neeld's approach and it doesn't appear that any of the players have either.

In my personal opinion Neeld had to pitch for the job, which meant list analysis from albeit from afar. He had an intimate knowledge of what makes good teams and saw these two as those with greatest potential. He then put together his first impression of them with what he had observed from outside and made public statements after already issuing them the challenge personally. Although he says he is not looking to individualise I think that is in terms of talking up the team aspect of things rather than individuals. Reality is when it comes to training every single player is different and has a different program.

Lutz You seem to me to be an angry person who likes to attack ppl and personalise things. I will correct my mistake.

Mitch Clark-130

WorkSafe was worried about him and the high winds.

Sorry to nitpick but would it be possible for this thread to get back on the subject of today's training by any chance?

Big skills session today. I arrived 10 am, and it was solid ball work for 80 minutes. Skills were very good considering the conditions. I think we're developing a forward line that can take a contested mark. Jack Watts is just a beautiful ball handler, end of story, and as his maturity and strength improve, he will sit on top like cream. Completely agree with previous post re: Howe....he is a standout, in all areas. Mitch Clark is also a serious athlete : agile, strong, skilled. Expect another big year from Steph Martin, also very skilled. A smokey may just come in the form of Jack Fitzpatrick. He has a very nice pair of hands, and again extremely agile for his size. Cannot agree about Luke Tapscott's legs......they are big, just not as big as his neck! He may have had a little testosterone overload as a toddler I suspect. The list as a whole is just noticeably bigger, due to another year of physical development, and that we have very obviously drafted size. Magner is Moloney like, and Couch is very solid. Sellar is a very big unit, and Clark is just a tad meatier than Scully! The reality is they are all serious athletes......not one of them had a physique that wasn't cut to the bone, and their foot and hand speed and reaction times are something to behold. We will not be unique as a team in this regard obviously, but I would urge anybody who has the chance, to get to a training session and see the elite level these guys are at. When you're sitting in the outer about to give someone a spray for a perceived lack of ability, it might just make you think twice. In the midfield, I have to mention Nathan Jones again, he is a training beast, and with Brent Moloney and Colin Sylvia, pretty much everything they touch on the training track turns to gold. They set a dynamic example for the youngers...... For anyone out there who worries about the effort that goes into their conditioning, or whether they are trained to a peak, both physiologically and skill wise, worry not. That WILL NOT be the issue. Their ability as a TEAM, and that team's ability to work together with confidence to a plan against an opposition with the same idea, THAT will be the issue, and we're not going to know anything about that til round 1 rolls around.......ain't it exciting?

Why do you say that? It's one of a number of explanations but I don't see it as anywhere near the most likely. Closer to the least likely in my opinion but what the hell, there's a lot of nit picking going on here lately about what people say and mean and what they don't say and mean.

Thanks for the report Demonsterative Dont let the keyboard hero critics put you off, you are the one adding value here. Cheers

I'm not usually a nitpicker but for you, I'll make an exception. We never had a Cam Johnstone. Sure it wasn't Cameron Johnston you were thinking of?

I am not being conservative, just something I believe in. And to say "that is the problem with our supporters", what a load of rubbish. My mates I am talking about dont even support melbourne, so i guess you can call all teams supporters conservative. I am all for people wearing jumpers, just thought I would add my opinion. The fact I am a member, go to the football and wear our colours should be good enough!

Hi All, My 7 year old and I went to our first training session today (managed to dodge the downpour expertly) The following are a few observations but please understand that as my first session it is hard to compare. So in no particular order: Jack Watts looks significantly bigger than last year and more importantly is developing a bit of confidence about himself Col Sylvia was training with the main group, I don't know if it is a first for the year but he looked totally switched on in the skills session I love Jeremy Howe, he must be the pick up of last year for us, he has a touch of class about him with whatever he is doing Chin looked huge up close Stef Martin has a totally wacky hairdo at the moment (he was also looking good in the ruckwork i saw) Tom McDonald seemed a little off pace today - was given push ups at the end of oner of the sessions No LJ; apparently he was inside on the bike Jacks T & G were in the rehab group, according to one of the trainers they are managing their load. JT then proceeded to do a heap of laps at a good lick. Mitch Clark has great touch below his knees Kelvin Lawrence looked extremely keen No sign of Morts Cook is a beanpole We timed it till 35 minutes into the session before anyone kicked a footy - not a complaint, just an observation, all of the skills training to start the session was fast movement of the ball through traffic via hand. I was impressed how slick they looked but do take that with a pinch of first timer salt. Sam Blease was excellent in the close in work, extremely fast and accurate with his disposal. Nathan Jones is a training machine We left after about an hour and they looked to be moving into a game simulation but maybe someone else will have further insight. By the way there was heaps of parking on Swan Street east of Punt for anyone interested in heading down Go Dees.

From my experiance foxtel will always do deals. Call them and get a price, say it is too expensive, hang up and they will call you back a week later throwing all sorts of incentives at you.

2 or 3 years ago Bate was a shining light in an otherwise mediocre team. Some considered him close to top 50 in the league. He has talent. But he is in no mans land in that he's not a true midfielder and not a true KPP forward. He has excellent disposal I50 and regularly hits targets. I feel he could be an excellent HFF. I have doubts about his ability to be a very effective midfielder, but would love to be proven wrong. Aso, I know we have a severe lack of class in the midfield compared with the best teams, but in 2000, I really don't think we were much different. We had a solid but workmanlike midfield. We will only be a REAL premiership contender when we get this class in the mix and firing 100% (I'm thinking Trengove, Sylvia at his best, Jones to step up as well and become elite (similar to Dane Swan in my opinion) and Viney to add the finishing touch). Add Grimes with a couple more years development,Morton with a few added kg's and perhaps Tappy and McKenzie rotating through and we could become a class midfield. Even Bail and Jetta add another dimension. Time will tell, but in the meantime, there's no reason we can't significantly improve and make finals this year with the stocks we currently have.

i feel jumpers are fine at any age, unless you look like a condom full of porridge in it. i had 15 last year, but i think ill get 11 this year - not for mitch, but for the great man Jim...

Xbox gaming, visiting inking parlours and looking for schoolgirls around the bayside suburbs Oh sorry ......wrong club.....scratch that

We won two last year...

Haha, nice work. Feel free to share anything else interesting