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Just back from the track. There were basically 3 groups today. The main group of about 27 (excellent numbers for the first official week of training) included Strauss, Grimes, Pederson, Taggart, Jetta and Davey. Also fantastic to see Jordie Mac in the main group from week one. That must be a first. Two small groups plus Mitch Clark made up the numbers. Jones, Byrnes and Tapscott were set aside for sprint work. Terrific to also see Tappy having a good start to the pre-season. He's been doing some running work with Jonesy over the past 4-5 weeks and should be ready to join the main group on Monday. Again this is another great sign from a guy who has never done a full pre-season with the main group. He said a number of players are well ahead of last year and they are doing a lot of explosive work plus a fair amount of endurance stuff. Their training sounds like a killer - pre season starting after the GF, and now they do endurance and football work in the morning; weights in the arvo, then lectures, pilates and finishing at 6 on their training days. Thank god they also get a fair bit of recovery time. Another group consisted of Tynan, Evans, Sylvia and Hogan. They basically walked a few laps and finished early; a couple did the handball work on the mini- trampoline. Colin was back last week but has been ill and spent a bit of time saying hello to the coaches and Byrnes.. I gave Tynan the points for the most improved body. He has definitely built up around the shoulders - his delts are bigger and have more definition. Earlier this year he was a skinny kid who ate pizzas after club functions. Now he's ready for a calender shoot. Mitch Clark was there too. He did some left foot passing with one of the trainers, and walked around the sidelines for a while. I think he desperately wants to get back in the main group and i like guys who injured but still show hang around the training and encourage the team. Those absent included Dawes (still o/seas), the Russian (on a honeymoon) Gawn (possible twinge in the hammy on Monday according to reports) and Fitzpatrick (modified program). The main training group finished about 11, then 5 unfortunate guys had to do 8 two minute runs to build up their endurance. Spencer, Rodan, Davey, Viney and Garland were the victims and it was hard work. I believe most of the main group did this session on Wednesday. Two highlights: Spencer attempting to kick left foot. Seasoned training watchers said they had never seen anything quite like it. Leigh Brown joining in the 8 two minute runs and encouraging the others. A kind person might say that Leigh has only added about 15kgs since his playing days, but he was running with the pack, and...luvving it. They did a lot of ball work today, by hand and foot. Lots of burst stuff - run hard - get the ball - and hit the target. It was fabulous to see so many faces on the park, and they are clearly well ahead in fitness compared to this time last year.

I was at the session this morning, loved it, seriously need AFL to start again asap! Plenty of pure footy drills before running around Tan to finish off. Things that were noteworthy: • Strauss is the forgotten man I feel, but his right foot is a real weapon and was the best kick at a windy session today • Pedersen is just real solid in all aspects of his training, could not see a weakness and a good mover for his size • Viney joined in everything, but even though he is a junior star, the rise in class he now faces was apparent • Clark was stalking around, helping were he could. So obvious he was busting to join in. I LOVE the presence and attitude of this guy! • the new navy training strip is a winner • Credit to Spencer, his endurance running was great and he had Garland, Viney and Rodan covered • the whole session just smacks of professionalism, presents well, everything catered for and training on Collingwood's old Gosch Paddock Oval had a better feel, and a fence too! • spoke to man boy Hogan, who did minor drills. Like his strut, his confidence, the first bloke to ever give me a boner I reckon... I recommend anyone who has the chance to attend a training to do so, puts all the media crap out of your mind and you can't help but love how far Neeld, Craig, Misson has taken this group in 12 months.

This is fantastic and surely a sign of better things for the Melbourne Football Club. Forget the sheer ignorance about the meaning of the word "troll". For the first time in my living memory, Demon fans are being looked upon as "ferals" - we've joined the great toothless masses, never again to be looked upon as inhabitants of ski lodges, cigar smoking denizens of the Army & Navy Club and partakers of high tea on Sunday afternoons. We've broken out of the private schoolboy mould and can now proudly join the ranks of the football proletariat, ruffians saying and doing the unspeakable. Thanks Crikey for liberating us from a lifetime of being recognised only as genteel wimps. We're now officially "ferals" and we're out to get anyone who tries to stand between us and the premiership. Anyone who's been to training lately can see that it's rubbing off on our players too - look at them. No more nancy boys and it's a prerequisite for all in the Demon army to be "feral". Even Jack Watts will be on carry over points in 2013!

Lucky I hadn't finished photoshopping him into the Demonland Banner for 2013.

I think most professional footballers now would prefer to keep playing on till they drop dead The financial inducements and the lifestyle attractions are too overpowering for a player to make an objective decision

The cost of running a standlone team has been reported as costing up to $500K*. Based on 2012 membership figures (which were down on 2011), this equates to ~$14 per member. To put that in perspective, if we applied this as a flat 'tax' on 2013 members it would be a ~6% increase for Red & Blue Adult 11 (General Admission, home game only) members. Using a proportional method, in which each member is levied a set percentage of their membership, memberships would increase by only a few percent across the board. Thus, a fairer question is 'are you prepared to increase the size of your membership fee by less than 5% to fund a standalone team'? To that I answer, resoundingly, yes. *In case you're concerned about cost blowouts, if the figure was $600K it would be ~$17 per member, which equates to a little under an 8% increase for Red & Blue Adult 11 members if applied as a 'flat tax'.

This is what I mean when I refer to the damage done to the club by the media's treatment of the "tanking" story - Denis Pagan urges the AFL to go easy on Melbourne for tanking Denis Pagan is a nice bloke and his sentiments about the AFL not going to hard on us over tanking are well and good but there's a heavy presumption of our guilt running throughout the story. The propaganda effect has won out and in the eyes of the world we're guilty of an offence before we've even been charged, seen the evidence or put our case. Our jails would be brimming full if that sort of thing happened in society. Worse thing. There'd be no lawyers because once somebody accuses you of something, you're automatically guilty. That sort of thing doesn't even happen in totalitarian societies where, at least they give defendants a show trial.

Its a bit Jonny Bravo !!! lol

Tim Broomhead would be alright. We need someone with a ridiculous name to sweep up across half back.

It must be the pipe and bottle of Grange.

It would be great if these threads had a training report or two chucked in with three pages of waffle. (Yes, I appreciate the irony of this post)

What's going on with Sylvia's hair in that photo? Is he trying to look like Beavis or Butthead?

I say....jolly good show eh what !!!I mean..you f*#ken beaudy !!

I value my hair or what is left of it, so I'll cease from reading the entirety of this thread. PS. Our player's didn't tank, and they didn't receive orders to go out and do so, nor was there motive to do so, if you want to widen the definition a tad (for CB). Keep it simple. Peace out.

This post demonstrates everything that's frustrating about this sordid episode. The club is, despite what the media is saying, not guilty of anything. It may or may not be found guilty in the future of something it may or may not be charged with but for the time being the presumption of innocence applies. And for your information, in the event that some court, tribunal or other body hears charges and makes a finding that the "weight of evidence is not sufficient to prove tanking" then it will be a finding of "not guilty". This I advise. My brief fee is £250. Thank you.

Not sure if this has been posted, but I have never seen a journalist get caught out lying quite like this before!!

How did a 30-second aside in a lengthy match committee meeting morph into a specific meeting held by the Melbourne Football Club in 2009 supposedly as a call-to-arms to its football department to lose matches? Imagination? Read first the stories written and published in the Age in a whirlwind five day spree in which its chief football writer, aided by underlings who produced nothing much to add to the subject, carried out her relentless daily attack on the Melbourne Football Club and some of its senior officials with nothing much to go on but a ½ minute grab of lighthearted comment at a meeting in a place ominously referred to as "the vault":- Tanking affair darkens for Dees Senior Demons drove tanking Secrets from the vault Why the Dees alone are facing probe Three losses that raised eyebrows A timeline on tanking What they said about tanking 'We tried to stop tanking' Jobs on line: Dees warned Sheedy saw Dees' problems coming Demons: shock & awful and finally ... a small semblance of sanity Dark artists drop the ball And this is how the rival Herald Sun dealt with revelations by former Demon coach Dean Bailey that the events that were supposed to have taken place in "the vault" had been blown out of all proportion - Dean Bailey tells the AFL he didn't order players to lose A lousy 30 second grab became the arrogance at the heart of the innuendo! Dripping through The Shrew's ministrations are attacks on two Melbourne people who are the targets of her malice. "Melbourne will be harshly punished. Cameron Schwab and Chris Connolly will be finished at the club." Connolly's sin appears to be that he cracked a few funnies but the case against Schwab seems to devolve down to innuendo and the fact that, instead of doing somersaults and handstands after Melbourne's round 15 win over Port Adelaide, he appeared "grim-faced". The problem is that said game was one of the most shyzen exhibitions of football in the history of the game. In fact, IMO it was so bad that anyone who didn't walk away from the game with a grim face needed to be institutionalised. WHAT NOW? This is your opportunity to help us build "The Wilson File" to help us uncover the reasons for this arrogant, obsessive hatred on the part of one journalist towards the Melbourne Football Club and those who are working hard to make their club a success once more. We want solid evidence here - articles with links and quotes from appearances on radio and television. Help us get to the bottom of the arrogance at the heart of the innuendo.

I'm in the serious belief that the Dees could have a spot in the finals next year. In the season just gone, I watched in disbelief in many games as our defenders and midfield worked hard To get the ball to our forward 50 only for it to be rebounded out again and again. This was particularly evident after Mitch got injured. In picking up Dawes, Pederson, Byrnes and Rodan I Can't see our attack falling down at half forward anymore. Especially with Viney and Wines (hopefully ) joining the midfield and our draw (GWS and GC both twice) I am very excited about 2013. Am I justified in this thinking or am I an over enthusiastic optimist?

wilson appears to me to be one of those people that you cannot argue with. no matter how much evidence you provide, to the extent of being obviously 100% correct, she will disagree with you and twist everyones words to suit herself. these people are in need of help.

I think Melbourne looks pretty good out of this. Cheynee Stiller comes down from Brisbane. He endures a handfull of brutal training sessions with Melbourne. Rather than risk getting drafted and facing a season of this fitness regime, he retires. Go Dees!

Good to see the standard and expectation was set high...

"Hurry up and put the weights on it! Can't... hold... much... longer..."

Roos get a gentle rap over the knuckles for the Hansen thing - a $20,000 fine for not being cooperative. I like the part where: there was..."insufficient evidence to substantiate a breach of the rules in regards to the treatment of Hansen". North have apologised and put processes in place to ensure it doesn't happen again. Read more: http://www.theage.co...l#ixzz2BhV7hlyA On this basis, re the MFC related (tanking) investigation, I am expecting (hoping) the AFL will say: '...there was no evidence that Melbourne players were instructed to not try to win games and there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the coach(es) did anything more than list management which all clubs do when no longer in contention for the finals. The rules will now be further tightened to ensure that (tanking) accusations such as these do not recur...' The AFL might apply a fine but not sure what it would be for...face saving maybe. Can live with a fine even if it is at the high five/low six figure range.

Over my coffee break I gave this a little thought. This might just put the Dees in a strong position. " do it my way fellas or we walk" Lets see how clever CS and the board are over the next month.

yeah, finishing running the tan.

The tan is a running track around the Botanical Gardens. Running track for public and whoever else chooses to use it. Very popular running spot. Has quite an incline on one side.Not sure how long McQueen But it is used by The Dees, Pies, and Richmond on a regular basis. Hope that helps.

His change in shape is quite noticeable, I think he could be a bolter this season. With an increase in stamina/endurance, and, a clean bill of health, watch out. I salivate at the prospect of Tapscott, Viney and Wines (touch wood....literally) either coming off the square or starting in the guts.

Thanks for the reports guys. Hope you are still employed

nice pics on the afl site...Jack Viney should really consider the head band

There could be a number of reasons. Green is more of a mid-sized lead up forward or a wingman, but he does not have the speed we want out of those positions. Byrnes and Rodan can play midfield and forward and have the speed we needed/wanted. We are obviously wanting to give the young guys opportunity, and if we have younger players that play the same role that Green filled (guys like Howe, and maybe Taggert) then Green would have been holding back there development. Given the height we now have in the forward line, I can understand how Green would be on the outer. I couldn't see him getting a game ahead of Howe that's for sure. It all seems to come back to this premiership model that this group of coaches etc have brought in. He possibly didn't fit in it, or had players ahead of him in the pecking order which meant he wouldn't be a regular. Not the first time its happened to a player i'm sure.

I know this is irrelevant though I didn't want to open up a fresh thread for it , do you guys think that Neeld helped Green score the coaching gig? With his relationship with Malthouse and all I would think he did which is a pretty good indication that Green left on good terms and that Neeld continued to support him when he was no longer a player.

Given the amount of elite sport played "above the shoulders" none of us should be surprised by what positive momentum (or the opposite) can do for a group. Belief goes a long long way....beat Port in Rd 1 and then Essendon and we're 4-3 going into Rd8 vs The Tiges....it becomes a huge game at that point. It's possible but we need to be 5-3 early season; unlike the Hawks who can be 3-5 and still finish top our group doesn't have the true self belief yet - they'll talk about it but doing it is unique....Dawes, Byrnes in particular will help with the belief. We're a much better chance of finishing 7-10th that many experts predict - someone will come from low ladder to finals; best it's us! Dream on I say.

I had to write a comment to the paper - what we have is a comment about going easy on a penalty to our club from someone who is out of the game before the investigation is finished, before the finding is handed down, before the MFC has had a chance to defend itself of any charges - if indeed charges will be laid at all. Does my head in that it needs to be published at all.

With on field improvements, even success. Tanking stuff put to bed, stand alone VFL team, settled sponsors (you forgot the sponsor drama of that power mob) , increasing membership, great weather, warm beer and cold pies, beating the filth on QB (Dawsey kicking 7 and giving Buckley the bird). Tell me I'm dreamin' , but I'm looking forward to 2013... Oh, and that witch having to publicly apologise AND face Gary Lyon on TV.

That is the longest Bow I have seen so far this century

Totally agree WJ. Pagans comments are sickening really. Lets be clear. The only acceptable outcome is one with no repercussions. Anything else and the club needs to go to war.

Got any job openings?

Gold .... Never thought I'd say how good hutchies voice sounded !! How stubborn is she for crying out loud ...

I don't think we'll move out of Casey. They'll rejig it, but they're not silly - they know how important the area is. Not the only VFL club in strife IIRC - aren't Coburg in trouble and once the agreement with the Tiges is up they plan on setting up a standalone?

This might not have an immediate bearing on the question of Hit and Miss Wilsons attacks on the MFC, but I think it provides an additional line of questioning about the extent to which she graces (or otherwise) the once noble art of the sports journalist. I, for one (and having a disabled athlete in the family), was shocked by the YouTube clip linked to a posting in the Wilson in the Gutter thread showing her dismissal of disabled sport as supposedly not sport at all. But I wasnt the only one, and there were a few postings registering dismay before the issue got overrun by responses to other Carolingual* dross that seemed to be flushing down the drain almost hourly for a while there. Its easy enough to say that the comments themselves reveal the absence of any basic sense of humanity or decency (let alone grasp of equity) that we ought to expect of any journalist. But The Age is unlikely to be at all moved by that, given who can pass as a journalist in other parts of most newspapers nowadays. Theres a different line of attack, though, one that calls into question her elementary capacity to function as a sports journalist. Her remarks about disable sport in fact show a complete misunderstanding not just of disabled sport but of sport itself. In a book called The Philosophy of Sport, the British academic Steven Connor argues that sport, all sport is based on two things: (i) physical exertion (he takes sport to be the strenuous use of the body, differentiating it from games, like chess, which might need bodily movement but not exertion: and (ii) constraints imposed on the use of the body in some way (the offside rule which means you cant occupy a certain part of the ground) or use some part of the body (hands in soccer) or use some part in a particular way (to throw the ball in real football except in the case of Geelong, obviously). So, Connor says, all sport involves bodies that are one way or another disabled. And then he adds, in a way that ought to shame Wilson not just for her understanding of the disabled but also for her understanding of sport itself. Stick with it, its a bit dense but worth the effort: The objects and instruments of playing sport are the means of both imposing and surpassing disability, of imposing disability in order for it to be possible partially to overcome it. It is for this reason that there is no real difference between able-bodied and disabled sports, since all sports are means towards the exertion of freedoms through the imposition of impediment. Disabled sports deserve our interest and support, not just in order to give us an opportunity to be condescendingly generous with our attention, or because they solicit our respect for the spirit of striving they exemplify, but because sport is not possible without the assumption of disability, which means that disabled sports are the only kind there are. I guess someone can say easily enough that the problem with expecting sports journalists to understand sport would be to open a can vault of worms that would see the likes of Robinson and Denham disposed of as well and that would only be the beginning. But theres something really, basically, fundamentally disturbing about Wilsons incomprehension of what shes supposed to be writing about that puts her beyond common or garden buffoons like that pair; and Im grateful for how Connor explains why. * my attempted coinage, not to be confused with Carolingus. Definitely. (see Online Urban Dictionary).

Its a well trodden 'journalistic' path. You get a snippet of info from an insider, use colourful language such as 'vault' instead of meeting room, allude to sinister actions and disgruntled ex-employees/senior players. Throw a few damning stats in there (65 interchanges well below season avg etc) and presto you have a story. They have not quoted anyone anywhere saying they were told to lose. I cant believe anyone is that stupid that they would tell an AFL investigator or journo that. Even thick-as-a-brick Brock didn't say outright we were told to lose ('it was a vibe' - a bit like Denis Denuto from the castle). There is no smoking gun. Hold fire support our club and remember revenge is a dish best served cold. And winning will cure a lot of ills.

I think we have one special man watching over this team. Jim Stynes will get his day in the sunlight were all his dreams for our club will come true. The work this one man has done for all us MFC members will never be lost, and the red and blue family will finally see this start to grow in 2013. God i miss you Jim Stynes your amazing mate. The MFC had a very hard year in 2012 but hungry players like Viney,Jones,Clark,Grimes and Trengove will not rest till this club finish what Jim started. RIP Jim Stynes MFC FIRST & FOREVER

Well ...they are training the house down this year.

agree. The Casey area could be as big as GW$ in time. We must stay out there alone. It is ours to develop

I drove past Casey last weekend and couldnt believe the number of additional houses going up adjacent to the Park since I was last there (VFL finals). We need to harness these new families. If the "takeover" goes ahead we need to tie households into a Casey Social Club and develop the younger members of the families as Demon supporters. What about a free three game membership to the families of the newest of the houses (as you drive in to the Park) or alternatively a free membership to the Casey Demons. Saturate the schools, Auskicks and family days at Casey with MFC players. Put a bus on to take families to the MCC from Casey. Make Casey ours.

By the end of his third season he will be averaging 8 contested marks, 5 goals per game, splitting packs and maiming opposition (and maybe a bit of blue-on-blue). On top of this, he will be playing for a team that has got huge momentum and threatening for a flag so I have no doubt that this first 3 year contract will be the first of many. Oh and BTW, I am placing no expectations on this kid at all.

I think this is an indefensible attitude. We deserve nothing more than a 'sorry for your time, you guys were really awful' from the AFL Commission. I want the club to accept no sanction and no expectation of firings and no guilt. We did nothing wrong. We didn't tank.

Yeah I reckon you're right, we deserve what we get an if we win a flag in the next 5 years i think we should hand that back too and maybe to completely clear our conscience we should raffle jack Viney off and the winner gets him and we can donate the proceeds of the raffle to St Vinnies.

yeah and Judd played 134 for West Coast - neither he or Brad Miller have the slightest thing to with Stiller

I am happy to join you Deemachine and hope the team emulates your name to produce the result you predict It is going to be THE real test of Neeld and the coaches to get the effort and impact from every one of the squad and to position them for the structures they have for the variety of teams and conditions they will meet. It appears we have improved but we must remember that all other teams will also improve. I think with the youth and talent we had there is greater improvement than most teams will be able to reach. With the careful additions we have made our game plans should provide extra improvement. And I look forward to such improvements being noted and reported from training. Was a little concerned that it may be leaking improvement to the opposition but Hey lets make them worried about us, lets get them prepared for the toughest game of the season every time they play us and let some of that be because we have so much skill and so many options that they still will not know what to expect YEP I'm positive! GO DEES