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Ok here goes - I will start with the absentees: Roos, Hogan, Dawes, Clark, Jamar, Gawn & Viney. I these guys were there but not training. Rawlings took most of training. I got there at 9.45am and the ground was strangely under the cover of fog with tempretures around 17-18 degrees. The sun broke through soon after and it heated up quite quickly. When I arrived they were finishing off a pretty tame warm up of kick to kick. They then split the group in half and the groups went to opposite ends of the ground. They started with what could only be explained as long bombs to a one on one, no real standouts here as it was a pretty so-so drill. The real stuff got underway at about 10.15am. They started with contested work on the wings. I kept hearing 'PATIENCE' & 'GIVE YOURSELF SPACE'. They were working on fast handballs out to a free RUNNING player which had to hit up a hard leading forward. The lead up forwards consisted oF Pedersen, Blease, Tappy, Bail & Howe. The usual culprits butched going forward but the real standouts for me were Tyson, Vince, Toumpas and Jones, all these boys delivered it with precision. The backs were working really hard by this time. The drill they were doing was very labour intensive and a very interesting drill at the same time. One defender was a designated spoiler, Nicho in this case. One coach would stand at the top of the 50 and put it high towards the forwards and Nicho had to work his arse off to spoil whichever player it went to, He did this on nearly every occasion. I was happy when they started to work on the kick outs. This was good to watch because the use of the ball was sublime. The defender (Frawley) would go sideways then it would be run up and feed to the mids leading onto the wings then the ball was automatically switched to inside the corridor (very un Neeld like). A few standouts here were Jones, Strauss, Tyson, Toumpas (didn't miss once), Trengove (still slow), Cross & Watts. Dom Barry's speed in this drill was there for all to see. After a short drinks break they broke into 'whites & blues'. To put it simply a white guy tagged a blue guy. They again broke into two groups (whites mixed with blues) and the lined up on opposing ends of the centre square, they had to work in fours and run it up whilst getting hassled by an opponent. The objective seemed to be get it to the loose man running at full tilt then deliver it to the forwards. They showed some really good signs here, Blease was continually told to 'TAKE IT ON & GO,GO,GO' which he did and burned off every time.The notables again in this drill were Garland (received huge applause for one tackle), Vince (kept slipping tackles), Trengove (tackling machine), Tappy. Tappy was included in every part of the session for those that want to know. Finally they moved into a full ground drill. This started very slow and sloppy, whoever was running the drill (not Rawlings) kept barking 'FASTER & MORE TALK' and I must say the boys stepped it up from there, This drill was a combination of all the previous drills but this incorporated the full ground. The emphasis was quick sharp ball movement. The thing that stood out was the constant running after disposal to support to player up field, This was continually reiterated by the coaches. This drill was done with game day intensity (as it should). The sun was getting quite hot by this stage so I took off. I will just list a few players below as I know most people want a bit of individual feedback. Howe - smooth mover, probably the best out there today. Jones - standard session. Tyson - as MJT stated we got a steal here. Rolls Royce. Toumpas - has lost the arse and gained some speed, get excited because from what I saw today I am. Vince - like Tyson he just smoooth and smart with the footy. Barry - bloody quick. Tappy - impressive today and participated in everything. Dunn - worked the hardest of anyone and was the most vocal. Jetta - very fumbly today and looked a bit off. One last thing, when I left Grimes had everyone in a big group barking orders about offensive run. Very CAPTAIN like, read into it what you will. Happy to answer any questions.

Here's my report (will most likely just be dot points, I took notes as training went on). No Paul Roos to be seen, not sure when he's back. They did a slightly longer/harder session today, and will taper off this week considering it's going to be 40 degrees until Friday. Rehab/Not training: Dawes Viney Clark Jamar Clisby Kent Riley Fitzy King Harmes Hogan Salem Gawn (Some have said that first year players were at Etihad, this would explain Harmes/King/Salem etc missing). Hogan was at training - more on him later Warm ups were standard, was fairly foggy early - ground a bit slippery but cleared up 1/2 way through the session Plenty of talk noticeable right from the outset Trengove - not as big as those gym pictures suggested, they always look bigger after doing a weights session Watts - has improved in shoulder size, still has no chest though Groups of 3 for kick-to-kick warm-ups, Westrupp partnered up with Dunn which seems to be a common thing (judging from other reports) First drill - 3 different groups (fwd/mid/backs) Mids - 2 on 1 shepherding Backs - Repetitive spoiling efforts in both pockets - run to the opposite pocket after each effort Fowards - 1 v 1 forward 50 entries, Tappy and Pedersen with the forwards and looking OK Rehab group on a different oval at the back of Casey Mids - switched to repeat effort 2 v 2s, all handball work Hogan: Walking around the rooms/with trainers, his left knee is bandaged but can't see any visible tight strapping, so good signs there I guess. He was walking around fine without a limp, carrying a footy around and looked disappointed not to be out there. An interesting note is that 3-4 times during the session he kicked a ball about 20m to a teammate, which indicates that the club doesn't have a problem with him putting load onto the injured leg, which is a good sign. New drill now - doing defensive 50 rebounds, primarily using one wing and shifting the ball at pace with runners & support up to half forward. Skills look OK but nothing special. Quote from Byrnes after he came off for a slight rest: "Too many f*cking dropped marks out there" - He looked visibly frustrated. Nicho still can't kick, missed a 25m target by about 5m too short Evans has bulked up, didn't recognise him at all Dom Tyson - no strapping on his knee and looks to be moving freely, he covers the ground really well, doesn't look to be struggling at all which is a good sign. Change in drill - circle work around the 50m arc and inside 50, using handballs only with perceived pressure from opponents, all about working space and running to the right areas to support teammates. About 2 minutes into this one of the coaches yelled out "Come on boys, much quicker, we can go much quicker than this, more talk, come on", to which the entire group responded by picking up the intensity and overall volume. This was good to see, as the sun had come out by this stage and it was quite warm. Good encouragement from the group for their teammates during the pressure drills, noted when Garland managed to get a good tackle on a player, a few players yelled out and gave him a clap, good to see. Strauss - came off disgruntled about 2/3 through the session and overheard him say "Right one, right one". Went straight into the rooms, only to emerge later while having the trainers look at his underarm/shoulder area. Didn't see what happened but he came out later on with ice on it. Not sure how bad it is but we'll find out over the next few days I assume. Poor kid, if he has more injuries this year I don't see him in the side next year. Pedersen - looks much better than he did last year (the tyre is gone). We know he has big hips which can make him look a bit 'wider' but he's looking much better than last year. Hopefully, he can show some good improvement under Roos. Cross - can't kick but still works hard. His shoulders are big but so well defined. It shows the true difference between a senior body and even a player like Trengove, who looks biggish but doesn't have that sort of definition. Run throughs to finish off the session - Chip and Tappy leading the group, although Tappy came off after doing 4/8 total, with hamstring tightness by the looks (pushing himself too much perhaps?). That's about all from me, sorry I didn't go into detail with all of the drills but it was my first session I'd seen this year so was trying to get a good look at a few of the newer guys. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them.

I was able to get down there with a camera, here are some pictures to go with the reports given so far. Hope to get down there to Casey Fields on Friday again with the camera. Bit rusty with the camera, will move around more Friday and get closer to the action where possible for closer ups. It's a link out to my Flickr account, hope this is ok. http://www.flickr.com/photos/114275455@N06/

He is the Captain and was clearly acting like one.Happy to say I am once again his Sponsor. Hope he along with all the other players has a great year. Thanks for the report, they are good reading for people who can't get to training.

Excellent reports from Seraph and Steamin, leaves me with little more to add. Cross: Very impressed ... he may be older (who am I to talk about a 30 year old being old!), but he knows how to move in traffic. He will be a real bonus for Jones because he can get the ball and dish it out. One of those types who you wonder how he got 30 touches at the end of a game. Tyson: Still a young and developing body but can he move the ball quickly! Sharp hands and along with Cross will set new standards for the mids. His best may be some time away, but he is a real gem in the making. Michie: Another good pick up. Moves effortlessly and almost appears to be going half pace, but is suddenly there in the thick of it when needed. Toumpas: Agree with the other reports. Lost that puppy fat, moves quickly and can he kick ... accurately and quickly. Has quickly adapted to AFL pace which he struggled with in his first year. Spencer: Please stay on the ground fit, we will be needing you more than we should this year. (Jamar, Fitz, Gawn, Clark, Dawes all sidelined ... do we have anyone else over 200cm?) Nicholson: can only kick when not under any sort of pressure. Once the drills involve an opponent the ball goes anywhere. Jamar: not even out with the rehab group. No hope for start of season. Too hot to stay to the end. The foggy start at 9.30 with the temperature at 17 soon disappeared!

Gee you sprout a lot of sanctimonious crap but I think that takes the lead. Like in every profession there's a few bad apples but if you do nothing wrong you are almost certain to avoid them. If you are drunk in a nightclub and being a tool you might find a bad cop but if you behave you'll likely not give them any reason for them to cross the line. Even in this case there's been no mention of police acting irresponsibly only the mention of one Campbell Brown.

I'm not big on training reports Stu, there's a couple of fellas there that are writing it down. Dom Tyson moves very well, I'm very impressed with the way Tapscott is doing the sprints he's right behind Frawley every time, Cross, Jones seem to be leading the way, Viney seems to be in the rehab group as he was boxing inside earlier, Toumpass has added a bit of bulk and Watts looks really fit, Trengove seems very slow to me but he uses the ball well, Tyson has to be the steal of the draft how they managed that is beyond me, I don't know a few of the players as the list has changed so much, I will try to give more later.

van berlo did his Achilles at training today sanderson heard to comment its okay we have Bernie vince to cover him oops

Add me to the list of people that think your attitude totally sucks. I've never met a policeman who treated me with anything but total respect. Isn't it strange how all the people who whinge about the behaviour of our police force all seem to exhibit similar traits to each other? Those who treat police with respect get treated with respect in return. Those who think "cops should be belittled, abused, pushed and punched" clearly don't understand the law or their place in a civilised society, and frankly I don't blame our police for treating people like you however they deem it necessary in order to maintain their authority and safety.

OTH

Great reports guys! Was Viv Michie there at all? I can't remember him being mentioned for the last couple of training reports :/ I have high hopes for this guy

Really enjoyed all the training reports while I was in Europe for 5 weeks through December and January - thanks heaps to all contributors. I am also trying to entice some friends from Finland to join MFC as members - gave them a footy for Christmas!

I was initially very strongly against this expansion but now see it as reasonable and indeed prudent given the need to retain our established lead over the other codes through growth. I have been to a few games at the stadium now and you can see how it will work there when the team becomes competitive. Its a nice place to watch the footy, especially on a mild Sydney day (when often it's 4 degrees colder and blowing in from the south in Melbourne). BTW it's not a new stadium, it's a redevelopment of the Showgrounds main arena and has been used by local AFL junior representative competitions for at least a decade. The area itself is nowhere near as bad as is described here by many posters (yes, my house is lower north shore but I don't mind pockets of the west). I agree that the club has erred with their Scully contract but definitely not the Folou one. Here we see one of the greats of league and union completely incapable of competing physically in our great game (a balance of power and aerobic capacity). It's more Izzy's loss I reckon but did not diminish the AFL brand in any way. Yes they could have balanced their list better (is SOS the new BP?) but their young players are very good if they can keep them together. And with wins will come interest. And over time, with interest comes TV ratings, player recognition, memberships, merchandise sales etc. I am certain the AFL would be happy to eat into the Rugby League mindshare out there and to coexist with soccer for the next couple of decades.

What an absolute stupid comment......Usually I like your posts Biff but you just lost a lot of respect....

I'll question the police. I'm glad we have police integrity departments, media scrutiny and if it comes to it public outcry and protest such as what happened in North Queensland. But I can't remember the last time in Victoria there was even question over police using excessive force in a fatality. Yet as Stuie pointed out just last week 3 police got put into the Alfred ICU with severe burns just doing their job. Biffen wasn't promoting that we hold police accountable through protest but was actually suggesting that when a protest gets unruly that instead of backing down that when cops come in to control things that they should be abused and punched. He's obviously had a bad experience at a trade union, G8, save the trees, Tecoma maccas protest etc. I understand that's a trick situation where the cops move in to disseminate what usually start as peaceful protests but the other thing to realise in most of these cases is that the courts +/- have made a decision. Want to live somewhere where the law can encroach upon you? Move to North Korea when your own nephew can execute you when he feels like it.

Lucky we're friends or I'd tell you to fluck off !

But where are the "but he isn't Wines" folk? Still on holidays in SA?

History prior to the invention of alcohol too dull to write about?

I'll probably add some more later, but I think we have some real problems for the start of the season. Today the rehab group consists of Gawn, Clark, Dawes, Viney, Fitzpatrick. They were the ones who turned up. No Hogan or Salem(that I saw). The troubling aspect is that it leaves Spencer as our sole big man, with maybe Pedersen as a back up.. With the first NAB game just over a month away, this is looking ominous to me. Dawes and Clark at least have seasons behind them and may not take as long to get back up, but I still strongly subscribe to the theory of every week off the track after New Year means 1 week less in season proper. Billy Stretch looks keen and capable. But he is still a skinny kid and only 17, so you can't expect much else, and you really can't do comparisons based on training sessions. It is pleasing that he has the opportunity to participate at full AFL level training and the club get the chance to look at him close up, like they did with Viney.

I will put my report up within the hour. I was one of those fellas MJT.

You're a flat out d#*khead. Try, just once, thinking before you post... http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/police-injured-in-gas-explosion-remain-in-hospital-20140108-30gpg.html

Not me. I am really enthusiastic about our future. We have some potential guns for the first time in ages and a new culture being taught by a Coach that the players respect and will play for.Bring on the season I want to see improvement. No more do I want to hear a player or manager refuse to even consider us as a destination.

Yes I think there should have been a weighting score given to the various categories. If we look at the player histories of the likes of Dermie or Wayne Carey,even Arron Hamill, I think agression is a Hugh plus. How would Dermie have scored on this table, under sized, probably little endurance, speed? Not sure! What he did have was aggression, football smarts and the will to succeed. I am backing Hogan at this stage, he meets my criteria that should be a given for all our kids, he likes physical contact. Here is hoping that he can stop jarring his knees and that he re-signs at the end of the year.

Can't see why Hogan falls behind in strength, speed, versatility (can play CHB) and kicking (field and goal kicking both good), along with the absurd leadership rating (a kid who is fiercely competitive, works hard, hates losing and hasn't come close to an indiscretion to date). I think these ratings have been largely educated guesses by the author, and at the end adjusted because Hogan came out too far on top, making it a comical comparison.

GWS had two purposes IMO. The first was to ensure there was a game in Sydney every week. TV rights sustain the code and this was necessary. It's something we rely on. Secondly GWS doesn't have to be the dominant sport in Western Sydney, it just has to have a presence, just like the Storm. Over time it will find a level and attract people. Why do you think they built such a small stadium. Some of the implementation has been botched and the AFL would be furious with Sydney pinching Franklin but the big picture decision was right on target.

I'd say that given he's due to face court in February, there must have been a bit more to it than just a "misunderstanding".

The decision to go into Western Sydney was a good one. The AFL needs to be proactive and dynamic in ensuring AFL football is the dominant sport of this nation. The start had to be made at some point. Mistakes have been made, though. Overpaying for Folau and Scully stand out as two big stuff ups - big money needed to be spent on players who would attract attention and hopefully be the faces of the new club. Folau was a disaster in all respects, whilst, even if Scully was playing well (which he isn't), he's not a good media performer so he isn't going to help much in that regard. Nonetheless, this is a long-term project for the AFL. It's not something to be judged on 3 years of work. The goal is for AFL to become a sport of choice for kids in Western Sydney. That was never going to happen in 3 years. When GWS starts playing competitive football, improvements will begin to be seen. The effect of being an effective joke of the competition cannot be understated.

Tasmania does not expand the AFL product. It is all about the economics of sports broadcasting, and that is all about viewer eyeballs. Tasmania does nothing for that, but the Swans in Sydney, the Lions in Brisbane, and GCS on the Gold Coast have been largely responsible for a five fold increase in broadcasting rights dollars in the last 10-15 years. GWS admittedly is the biggest gamble, but I have no doubt they will see value there eventually out of further increased broadcasting rights.

So the A league is getting 18000. Who are they competing against? Certainly not the AFL. I don't see any games of footy being played at the moment. The AFL has not missed the boat at all.

As a final gesture of reconciliation 'master', I humbly give in. You're right. Police should immediately surround all skinny 15 yr olds clearly in need of help carrying shoplifted knives and shoot them dead without hesitation. You make perfect sense. Sleep well.

Pretty much anything except shoot him He was a 15 year old boy and there were plenty of them to restrain him. Unless he was built like the hulk then they didn't need to shoot him

They're saying 3 months .... If he is back in 3 months then I would be investigating them for every drug under the sun for Nathan. Swallow did his against us and still isn't back full training. Shocking injury to a very good player and I'm sure we all wish him all the best.

I'll have to retire from this debate. I cannot match it with a "master" statistician like yourself. FMD!!

Funny. Ill give you that one Bitty.

Well we all knew Dawes would miss pre-season after his surgery. Hogan's just out of action for a few weeks, and they're being cautious with Clark after his pre-Christmas injury. Can never be too careful at training. Just look at the Crows and Van Berlo, he won't even play this season after going too hard at training. That's the last thing the trainers want for Mitch.

Oh my, looking for another 2 week sin bin Bitty? Had a few drinks today have we?

I'll toss a few extra dollars Shazza's way.

With consistent reports of him shaking the ball and his contract up at the end of the year I don't see the point continuing with Nicholson as a defender. He should be swapped to train as a forward and can compete with Bail and Byrnes (plus Tapscott, Blease, JKH) for the defensive small forward job. His elite endurance and good speed could allow him to develop in to a Matty White (Richmond now at Port) role and it's much easier for some players to put the ball between the sticks than it is to accurately hit up a moving team mate under pressure. Anyway I know it's off topic but I don't see how continuing with such a flaw will work.

It's a vicious circle, if the pay was better then more would want to get in to it but it's not, by the look of it, a desired occupation. I understand what you are saying by the way.

Second best ball winner and consistent but not quite our second best I'd say. I expect Viney, Vince and Tyson to join Nath Jones as midfielders with more output than Matt Jones in 2014. Probably McKenzie, Cross and Trengove as well. Then Matt Jones will be fighting it out with Michie, Evans, Toumpas and Watts One thing about Matt Jones - as he's a good runner and reader of the play if he tidies up his kicking then he can rotate to the half back flank. With a lot of teams playing just 6 defenders you need one or two mids who can take their turn lining up on the half back line to spell the back 6. No one hates the contract extension. I'm just worried that we always seem to sign mediocre players to decent deals when they haven't quite earned it. All of Blease, Dunn, Strauss, Tapscott, Bail and Nicholson being contracted this year is a perfect example of that. It didn't matter much this year but in a couple of years we might have a few rookie promotions and lots of draft picks and not have as much space on the list that we would have liked. It's a bit like we are scared of everyone leaving when I'd rather back the club to keep guys and the players to play to an expiring contract.

Well please give us your insights from training today... I'm assuming you're there and have better things to offer?

Having moving up to Brisbane (late 2012) I have been to a number of Brisbane and GC (non MFC) games on my own just to get my footy fix. It is certainly my perception that the Brissie crowd are there for a social occassion; their attention to the game is loose and certainly the crowd in the outer is heavily into catching up with friends, having a drink and generally chatting about things other than football. This social aspect was quite distracting when you are trying to concentrate on the game (mind you the lack of clothing material that some females paraded was quite distracting as well). The GC crowd on the other hand was much more what I would call footabll orientated - more attuned to the ebbs and flows of the game. Given the (limited) experience I have had with the two teams, the GC supporters are much more like the traditional supporters back in Melbourne; passoniate about their team, bag the opposition and the umpires and to me represent a much healthier proposition to the growth of the game in this market. The Brisbane crowd are much more like the Sydney crowd and will get on board when the team is flying but will be quite passive when not going so well.

I will head down, anyone know what time it kcks off?

Funny how someone mentioned Gunston but no comment on the undeniable top key forward in Cameron. Of the rest Patton has done two knees and was never the most athletic. I see a lot of potential but he's coming from a mile back. I think he'll be like a Tom Hawkins. A big monster but never the most maneuverable and therefore if off his game he'll struggle. Daniher and Boyd are these new breed of 200cm types. They'll take a longer time to develop but both have that Kurt Tippett like ability to ruck and to just be too darn big for defenders. Boyd is stronger, Daniher more rangy. I'd be happy with either of them but the reason I like Hogan more is his versatility. He's got the fitness and agility that he can play CHF, FF, crumb goals, lay big tackles, out run big defenders, over power weaker ones.

I thought that Ro Bail was doing well in that role under Bailey, until his concussion issues. Perhaps he'll fill that role again, but he's much maligned on this forum.

Sorry, but I don't understand what anyone is talking about here. And I don't really understand the twitter jargon. I opened the link and saw a load of photos from what appears to be a US trip. What is the big deal?

The way some people are talking about Cross's kicking is absolutely ridiculous. The man was an absolute champion of a team that was pushing for a Grand Final spot and will bring nothing but leadership and 110% effort to our rabble of a club. Kicking may not be his strong point, but he by no means is completely bereft of the skill. To liken it to "Spencer in his first 1-2 years of league footy" is absolutely moronic and of the up most disrespect to a player (Cross) who is held in high regard and respect by virtually everyone in the game.

Not as sick as I am watching them.

The drafting of Billy Stretch is going to be a little more complicated than the Viney selection. Much will depend on where we finish which will determine the cost in terms of draft position that we'll be asked to give away in order to get him. The other side of the equation is how he develops personally and as a player. Will he be a top 10 prospect or will he drift? What if we badly need a top key position defender and not a slightly built midfielder like Billy? Too early to make a call I think.

nup.....need 100 games