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My thoughts on today. ■ Spencer runs pretty well for a big fella. He is a massive man. ■ Viney has a very solid core. ■ Viney and Michie did some kicking drills after some 60 odd metre run throughs. Michie appears to have a neat kick on him. ■ Clark looks to be going pretty well. Something would have to go wrong for him to not make round 1. ■ McDonald is a great runner. (I know we all know this) he doesn't just lead every run, he dominates them. ■ Trenners has started back very well in the running stakes. The new interchange rules will suit him. It will take the sting out of the pace near the end of quarters. ■ I chatted to Chip, Watts and Dunn when going back to my car. They did the tan and then runs up the Anderson Street hill. For anyone that has done this before it is hard work that hill. They aren't really back until the 18th. ■ Josh Mahoney said that there will be 15 players plus the draftees on this date. He is very positive about the way things are going. ■ Evans is running pretty well. I hope he has a decent run with no injuries. ■ Howe looks very fit so early. ■ Matt jones has a bit of work to do running especially with the new rules. Not saying he is unfit, just needs some work. I guess it is his first real pre-season. I'm hoping all the current mids push hard and push each other. ■ Hogan did lots of running with Viney and Michie. The kid really can run and is a big unit. ■ They did some short ball work but its mostly about running. ■ Tyson ran mostly the whole session. ■ My mate's favourite player Terlich, ran off and did the tan after the ball work while most did a timed run. ■ The run was about 5 minutes as far as they could go. McDonald led easily. Fitzy was about a half lap behind at the end. ■ Nicholson and Hogan did a kicking drill near me. Nicho kicked the ball really well. He obviously has some decision making issues during games which affects his kicking. Maybe Roosy can simplify things for him to help this. I am not a negative person and try to take positives from everything but he will be under the pump under roos game plan if he can't do this. ■ I didn't see Blease go near a footy and he ran the whole time. ■ Toumpas will really benefit from his first preseason uninjured. He ran well and kicks beautifully. ■ Rawlings is everywhere at training. He impresses me. He appears to have a rapport with everyone.

Went along today, but it's the first one I've seen so hard to make comparisons.. but I'll go through my observations: Kent and Tapscott went back into AAMI after a short while and didn't return. Hogan, Viney, Michie, Nicholson were in a separate group doing running drills and then handball and kicking drills led by Miller. Byrnes was with them early before heading back into AAMI. Tyson did lots of running drills with above group / alone and looked fine, before joining another group for handball and kicking. Have to say, his reflexes by hand are bloody impressive! Frawley, Watts and Dunn went past (not in uniform) doing their own training and jogged across to the Tan. The main Group (Gawn, Spencer, Pederson, McDonald, M Jones, Howe, Toumpas, Trengove, Evans, Terlich, Fitzpatrick, Clisby) did a couple timed runs around the paddock and should be no surprise that McDonald was first each time. Followed by Trengove, Evans, Howe and Toumpas (last 3 pretty close, not always that order). Gawn left probably about half way through. Blease seemed to be on his own program. Did quite a few laps and some kicking drills with Miller. Clark started kicking with a trainer before joining the main group for mark > handball > kick drill and other handball drills. He then did laps with Westrupp, helping the kid out. Clarks running was good and kicking was fairly spot on. Westrupp looks a fair way off but having a good crack. Brad Miller quite vocal, firm and encouraging but having a laugh too - like the way he goes about it. Toumpas going pretty hard and a beaut kick. Spencer struggled with a few ball gathering from your feet drills but was running really well.. even overtook M Jones. Trengove leading from the front. Anyway, nothing too technical but that's what I got out of it.

you absolute moron

The groundsmen are removing the stench of the former tenants. Due to lack of rain it lingered longer than expected.

Here's a comparison... AFL Games: Neitz - 306 Hogan - 0 I'm excited as anyone, but let's let the kid play.

Busy ruling Westeros.

Does the ruckman really need to be able to get the ball that much? Which AFL ruckmen currently get stacks of the ball? Picking a selection of first rucks, with their max disposals in 2013 and their disposals average for 2013: Aaron Sandilands: Max disposals in 2013: 14, average: 9.2 Sam Jacobs: 20 (next best 14), 11.27 Matthew Leuenberger: 21, 13.5 Matthew Kreuzer: 18, 11.4. Want to see how Robbie Warnock went? Tom Bellchambers: 17, 10.28 Jonathan Giles: 16, 10.5 Max Bailey: 15, 8.89 Todd Goldstein: 20, 11.95 Mark Jamar:16, 8.11 Max Gawn: 18, 8.92 Jake Spencer: 15,10.00 .... These stats are very boring to produce and probably even more boring to read, so I won't go any further, but the punch line is that pretty much all the chief ruckmen in the side had very similar stats in terms of amount of the ball they get, and that includes good ruckmen like Sandilands. I only did very rough numbers from that point onwards, but the only ruckmen who had numbers for disposals in the midfield/flanker range (~15 average) were Dean Cox and Will Minson. The rest were very much in the 10-12 average range. I don't see a lot of evidence supporting any assertions that getting the ball is an important aspect of a ruckman's game.

Noted that David Misson indicated that Grimes is back from leave early and training already and was on the training track first day with with the younger players. I believe this is a statement by Grimes that he is the captain of the MFC and wants to retain the captaincy. A fine young man who has taken the the first opportunity set the standard. A good start to pre season for me.

I went down to training today, and have in a few seasons gone past. One thing that stuck me almost immediately was how hands-on and involved Roos is. He was running the drills, he was giving the instructions and telling them what he wanted them to do. During one simple drill where they were running back and forth picking up a loose ball and handballing it off he stopped them all, told them a more effective technique, physically demonstrated it, then had them start again. "Much better" came the call not long after. Saw that happen several times in numerous drills. I don't recall seeing Neeld EVER get involved in anything like that. He tended to stand back and watch everything while the assistants ran the drills. Re the laps they were doing, Tom McDonald smashed them as usual. At the other end of the field, Maia Westrupp was struggling. In the time it took McDonald to do three full laps of the oval, Westrupp managed just over two. The next slowest was Fitzy who was about half a lap ahead. I was watching Clark pretty closely most of the time and like Ruffles mentioned earlier, he looks fine. Running well and kicking great of both feet.

I think that if Neita had stayed in the back line he would have been one of the all time greats; as it is he had to play up forward when Ox went down and for most of the time, had to carry the whole forward line. If he was a bit more selfish he probably would have done better, but he is without doubt one of the nicest guys and least egotistical player we have ever had. It beggars belief that after all the time he spent at the club some can only put [censored] on him.

The price for all the directions is a training report!!

It's simple. He'll be offered a monster contract. If we don't improve, he'll go. But we'll have a horribly early draft pick. And then with compo we'll have the following pick. Probably more than we'd get in a trade. If we improve, the draft pick compo wouldn't be great, but he stays anyway. If he still wants to go, compo has been removed and we've made it clear to him we'll match the offer... We match the offer, as we'll have space. We then tell him we'll take him in the ND or PSD as we'll have an earlier pick than GCS. And we force GCS to trade us Prestia for Frawley. Win / win / win..?

Loved big Neita!! Does this mean that I will have to wait with baited breath watching Hogan's first shot at goal, knowing that it controls his destiny for the rest of the day?

Popped past quickly on the way in to town. The boys were training the house down. Interested to see Byrnes out there. Mitch, Blease, Dom Tyson doing rehab drills. Dom was getting moving doing some reasonable intensity 200m runs, so his hammy can't be too much to worry about. Running groups were just getting started with 3 x 5 per group. Roos was out there again, so ratio is building. Will await more info from others who got to stay for the real business.

Uhh yeah. I don't think that's what BH said. Well done on the staggeringly misguided view on a club champion though. As for Hogan, I too expect him to be a better player than Neitz. He's bigger, has stickier hands and will be harder to stop, I think.

The stats that I showed illustrate a direct correlation between teams that win the most HOs and those that win the most Clearances. It directly refutes your point about HOs being less important, and it also backed up my point that with our team being the outlier has more to do with what midfield is at the feet of our ruckmen. You are more than welcome to analyse it differently, but I wouldn't get in the habit of willfully misreading things just to back up a point - it leads to journalism...

Yes the longest serving captain of the club was "selfish". Jesus Christ the man is a legend.

On the way to our first preseason session yesterday I was driving along with a fellow Melbourne supporter dissecting our list. We seemed to agree that there is a large amount of "Sleeping Talent" on our list. And for the last 24 hours the thought of unfulfilled potential has been at the forefront of my mind...I thought I would share with you some of my thoughts: As all Melbourne supporters now know, there is no promise that sleeping talent will ever arise from the slumber. Just ask Cale Morton, Jordan Gysberts, and Lucas Cook who all seem to be in an ever lasting coma. Potential makes every Melbourne supporter sick to the stomach. We have heard it all before... So why is this season different to all other seasons? It might not be...However, all of a sudden we have the "messiah" at the helm. A man that seems to motivate men better than any other in the football industry. A man that when he speaks, he makes complete sense and because he makes complete sense, people listen. Not only has he turned average footballers into integral members of premiership teams (Shaw, Kennedy, Mcglynn etc.) he has also given birth to two A-grade coaches in Longmuire and Lyon. The man has the runs on the board. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results...However, I like his chances a lot more than those that have come before him. If Roosy is able to turn this club around, which players will finally arise from their slumber. There are plenty of possibilities...Lets have a look at some of our "Sleeping Talents": #4 Jack Watts- A shift into the midfield might spark his performance, but it would seem a shift in his mind is what is required. Will he be remembered as the soft private school boy or the gun number 1 draft pick? #5 Jimmy Toumpas- A full preseason could just do the trick. Will he be another draft blunder or the next Simon Black? #6 Chris Dawes- Will he return to the form that saw him become a premiership CHF or is he just here to boost his superannuation? #7 Jack Viney- Will he turn those bursts of brilliance from season 1 into a consistent A-grade midfielder? #8- James Frawley- Once considered the brightest prospect out of any key position backman in the league. Will Frawley be a one hit wonder or the gun we all hope for? #9- Jack Trengove- No longer with the burden of being captain and hopefully a full preseason under his belt...Is Trennerz ready to live up the hype of being pick 2? #11 Mitch Clark- Should be our best player, but can his body hold up? #17 Sam Blease #19 James Strauss #35 Luke Tapscott- All first round draft picks, but the jury is well and truly out. The same generation as Gysberts, Morton, & Cook, but hopefully not the same destiny. #37 Max Gawn- The giant man has shown glimpses, but can he become Aaron Sandilands or will he be the next Daniel Bandy? #48 Jack Fitzpatrick- He teased us last years with spurts of form, but will he be able to go that extra mile? #? Viv Michie- Had 6 plus 30 possession games in the WAFL last year...Just ask James Magner, doesn't mean he can bring it to the big league. #? Dom Tyson- He's already had 24 and 26 possessions at AFL level. So did Jordan Gysberts...Will his body let him fulfil his potential? #9 draft pick- Can he come in and make an immediate impact in the way Daniel Rich and Ollie Wines have previously? As you can see there are many questions that are yet to be answered. All the aforementioned have sleeping talent...Most of them have scars from years gone by. Some physical, most emotional. Will Roosy be able to heal the wounds and as he says himself, "find what makes them tick"? The jury is out. But if this man is good as all say he is, there is plenty of sleeping talent at his disposal.

RESTRICTED Free Agency.

Gotta feeling we are going to see something special from Trengove and toumpas this year.

I say chap, going completely off topic some what, you never heard of the GFC, *some of us Baby Boomers have the same level of pathological hatred of Lehman Bros exectives as some posters on here have towards an administration whose name shall not be said)..........the more you had, the more you lost.........my pina colada has to wait for a few years yet, I am sitting in an office pretending to be productive like everybody else.............I get to training coz I have too much leave built up and I am encouraged to use it

I'll just leave this here:

Mate.. Are you even a Melbourne Demons Supporter? Wow.. I can't believe some could hate a 300 game player, who Carey said was the hardest to play on .. And also kicked a lazy 500 odd goals?? Do you even football?

You know people are desperate for footy when they are scrounging to give directions to training!

Clubs can obfuscate and lie all they like, but in the end you can only pick those who haven't been picked already. I'm sure clubs would have a priority list, and on draft day just cross off those who are already gone.

Hope u r right dbj but I will not be relaxed until his signature is on the dotted line. He is a gun an we need to keep him and reward him for his loyalty.

Well, no, but the system is two years old. Hawthorn could have 'met' that ridiculous Franklin wage but that wouldn't have been the end of it - he could have gone to Sydney through the draft if he wanted to. Hawthorn wouldn't have got Pick 19 though. I said this before - if I was Hawthorn I would have put that threat out and said we will trade him. They didn't, they thought a whinge would be better and that's that. And, you are right, there should be less doubt about it; it should be like the NBA. But I really do wonder if the Players Assoc. know what they are getting themselves into as they push for US style 'freedoms' for players. That way leads to players traded without their consent, non-guaranteed contracts, and clubs re-signing players against the players will (which is what we would be talking about here if the AFL had an NBA like system).

Are you talking about this year? The kid booted 48 goals in 16 games FCS and you call that barely making an impact? Anyway, C7 news in Perth played an interview with him last night combined with a WAFL highlights package. The kid can seriously play and as DWA mentioned above, is ready to go. Our huge need for a crumbing forward can be answered right here with Garlett and he can rotate through the guts as well therefore boosting our onball capacity. On skills alone, he's a shoe-in for pick 9 but whether that's enough remains to be seen. He's turned his life around and will go early this year.

That's not the full story - there's another option in there - we match the offer, but he still insists he wants to go to that club and he's unsure he can get there via the draft - then we can trade him to that club (or another club if he agrees).

I too still dont get what this thread is about..

why would clubs be advertising who they want to pick. it's not in their interests it is more in their interests to obfuscate and lie i don't place any credence in these "rumours" except perhaps for the top 3

The tenet I would have thought very simple. This year is the last time we go to the trough ( hopefully ) with a low ( high) pick as a norm. In other words we start unifying as a team , start playing as a decent team and climb the ladder. As a result we wont have an under 10 pick from here on in unless we trade for it. We have to stop relying upon the notion that some uber wonderkid will arrive as some manna from heaven to save the day. Not that hard to decipher really

It is what it is.

Are you OK?

I don't understand what this thread is?

Arrogant?? You've obviously never spoken to him. It's called self belief.

I thought this was about me, some days I get in a solid 14 hours.

I agree, Neita was great, but he wasn't quite a superstar, everything we have seen from the hulk promises more

He is also 19/20. Let him play. We have alternatives. I can't believe I am saying this but we have some good, solid leaders. They can't get through yoga without getting injured, but they are good solid leaders and we added a couple more in the off-season.

Can we let him play a bloody game of AFL footy first, please.

SCATTERGUN!!!

Played a few games for Melbourne. Low profile type of guy. Did the one percenters and team stuff.

I'm with Ben Hur. I sincerely hope, and believe, that Hogan will be better than Neitz. If he's not, I'll be disappointed.

There's an article up on the MFC site with Dave Misson. He says the following: Encouraging signs I'd say. I really hope we see a full season from him.

God i hope we get Freeman please God let this dream offseason continue. But if we do miss out on him, i would be happy with Sheed and Lennon.

this is whats most exctiing All the dormant talent thats been laying in ruins, their young careers shot to pieces by a combo of Neeld and Bailey and others. it can still be resurrected - kids written off as spuds.. like Tapscott and Strauss. these boys can play.... Gottta feel sorry for them Now its time for Roos and Stone and the rest to help them rise like the phoenix

If I want to compare and prognosticate I friggin will. I did if for the likes of Neitz and I'll do it for Hogan. If Hogan equals Neitz I'll be a little disappointed. He's a better package and I firmly believe will be a better player.

may as well leave boyd out too and just list your top 7 midfielders

You really are a narrow and unimaginative fellow moon - I'll pray to Lord weaver to provide you with some suitable inspiration or quotations for reflection. BTW this is a a dud thread - Cale is history ( and apart from the injustice alluded to above ) let's move on.