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The drive to Casey Fields is always interesting. If you haven't been there for a few months, you're immediately struck by the amount of new residential building happening which is of course, one of the main reasons the Melbourne Football Club is out there in the first place. This is one of the fastest growing residential regions in the country and over time, it's hoped that the club will benefit from that growth and develop a much healthier supporter base than it has at present. But all that is of no effect unless the club prospers and grows on the field and that's what I was looking for as I made the trip down the freeway to Cranbourne. I wasn't expecting too much with the temperatures edging towards the low forties and the flies congregating around the small but hardy group of supporters who braved the oppressive conditions. This was compounded by the non appearance of the bulk of the club's talls who are suffering various ailments, none of which are said to be long term in nature. Missing were Mark Jamar, Max Gawn, Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes, Jack Fitzpatrick and Jesse Hogan. That left us to concentrate on a pre season training session in the heat involving many of the club's midfielders which is the area that has caused us so much distress in recent years. Even then we didn't see Bernie Vince or Aidan Riley and Jack Viney turned up but I didn't see him on the track. Even the coach is far away in Africa and we're less than a month away from the start of what used to be the NAB Cup. However, there was enough on display to suggest that the emphasis in off season recruiting on the midfield will pay off. That is not to say that from hereon in the Demons will be elite in that division but rather, that they will be competitive and will perform like the bulk of the midfields in the competition and not resemble a bunch of fugitives from Madame Tussaud's waxworks. This is what I took from training and from what I have seen of the influx of players into the club through trades and the draft. Dom Tyson looks all class, Viv Michie looms as a surprise packet, Daniel Cross has class and experience and we know what (the admittedly absent) Bernie Vince can do. Jack Watts is a classy mover and disposes of the ball well. Jimmy Toumpas looks as if he's going to step up in a big way and we have high hopes for Jack Viney, Sam Blease and a resurgent Jack Trengove minus the burden of the captaincy. Then there's one who impressed me this morning - Michael Evans who deserves a break from injury looks fit and solid and could be a bit of a surprise packet. This will all add quality to our 2013 midfield of one, namely Nathan Jones. The way they trained and ran in the heat was impressive. There were a couple of little blokes who could also surprise by adding pace and skill to the set up in Dom Barry and Jay Kennedy-Harris. And if these changes made by the new coach bring result in a more solid, efficient and reliable engine room, imagine how much this is going to be appreciated by the overworked defence of the past and how the forward line (currently all in rehab apart from Jeremy Howe) will benefit in terms of greater opportunities for scoring. Of course, all this is written in mid January, a traditional time for rose coloured glasses and things could well change dramatically over the coming months but I think we're on the up and up. I remember sitting high up in the gods in our round three match against Richmond two years ago and, realising that our static midfield was bereft of any run and spread, knew we were in a spot of bother. Now, I know that we will no longer be wax figures in the most important part of the ground and that is where I see our improvement in the months ahead.

Agree, Jack.Whilst I'm aware of how training is completely different to a game and that many individuals can look like a million dollars on the track, I still firmly believe there'll be a massive improvement from our team this year. I can understand why many supporters are not so confident, (mainly based on past false hope). However the fact remains, previous coaches didn't identify that it was our midfield that was at the crux of it all. Plenty of other excuses were made. A handful being not enough experience or games which means lack of fitness, smaller bodies, frail minds, no confidence or trust in each other. Poor drafts. It's all a big snowball effect really. And when you've got a midfield where two of your most senior players in Moloney and Sylvia are not driven to be the best players they can be, it just adds to the midfield issue. Our forward line and backline are pretty strong. So there's no worry there for the moment and providing everyone stays on the park for the majority of the year. Look at who we've brought into the midfield this year. Not only is there quality. There is now depth. Cross, Vince, Michie, Tyson. Two experienced mids with elite work rate (unlike Sylvia or Moloney) and smart footy brains. (Also unlike Sylvia and Moloney). Tyson who I'm absolutely confident will be our best mid within 4 years. Look at his skill set. Michie who whilst has only played one game, can play. Will provide great support as he plays with intensity, works hard and has good skills. It doesn't matter as much that the latter two haven't played much AFL. They can both play and will have support unlike Trengove and Toumpas in their first years. Add those four to a midfield of regulars being Jones, Trengove, Viney, Watts and Toumpas and you can see there is a great mixture of experience, talent and depth. All of those players are hard working, (Watts maybe still getting the hang of it), skilled and smart. It's an immediate upgrade on Matt Jones, McKenzie, Bail, Evans, Nicho etc. And then you've got the new draftees, Salem, Hunt and an immature Barry to learn and develop at Casey for the year, only to play once their form and desire warrants it. What a position to be in. This is a monumental change. And without having mentioned the new coaches or the game plan, it's a huge midfield upgrade and will completely change the dynamic. I have no doubt we may be a bit shaky perhaps early on in these practice games. But when we click, it will completely change the psyche of every player and it will turn into a positive snowball effect. All we need is that sniff. I can feel it coming.

I'm an unabashed Watts fan. What many are forgetting is that the coaching staff we now have will utilize players strengths That in itself will improve our team greatly and everyone's chance to perform. The other is that the players will have a coaching staff that believe in them and encourage them. Watts in particular will benefit from this belief. Why am I a fan? Because Jack stayed at the MFC when he could so easily have chosen the softer option of going to another club and left behind the mismanagement of his career that started with him being a marketing tool (presentation of jumper, leaking of pick one prior to draft, playing first game against Collingwood and the brazen promotion of that debut etc etc) rather than a footballer. He could have opted for more certain success rather than the 5 years of inept performance that has been our club since he was allocated/selected by it. But he stayed with his mates and he stayed with the club. He showed character. I wish him all the best and I think Roos will find a role that he can play very well. Midfield? We'll see. Good luck Jack, you deserve it.

I just got back from training. It was a quick hour on the track for the players. That being said, it was not an easy session. Most were blowing bubbles very early and were stuffed at the end of the session. Not only was the humidity hard for the players, but the drills they did were bloody hard work. It seemed that they were working on some more pressure, 2 way running and some tactical stuff in the drills today. The first drills were 3 separate games of 5 on 5 after a tap down from the ruck. They had to run the ball to an end to score and then the other team got the ball. The focus was on picking up a man when defending, cutting your opponents space and blocking/ hitting their bodies to make it hard for them. Tackling was also full on here. By the end of this they were already knackered. Harmes was dry reaching and done and King was battling to move. Next they did a drill focusing on carrying the ball out of defense and once on the HFF it reverted to carrying out of the HBF and hitting a lead up from CHF who quickly played on and hit a lead up FF. Was really happy with the skills on this drill and the voice. Last drill they did was the hardest work. It was a full ground drill which started with either 5 on 5 or 6 on 6 in the middle and a FF at each end. They played around with quick hands in the middle until a coach called out a team who had to work the ball up to their FF. If they got it to the FF then the game swung around and the forwards became defenders and vice versa. The team then had to try and take the ball up the other end of the ground. Tackling, pressure etc. was full on and any mistake etc. was a turnover. There were 2 sets of the 6 on 6 and each group worked for 3 or so minutes and then came off to swap. They did this probably 5 times each and each time they came off they were all stuffed. During this drill you could here them focus on running to space, 2 way running and more importantly the defensive pressure, especially blocking ot getting a body on someone so they could not run to spcae. Overall they trained really well, under the circumstances. I have written on other training sessions, so you will probably know who I have rated so far, but from today the best trainers were: * Barry - fast and skilful and pushed really hard running both ways * Tyson - just silky and running is improving * Dunn - I am not a huge fan of his but he is working hard and he has a beautfiul kick * Pederson - worked his butt off and his defensive pressure on more nimble players was really good today * JKH - continues to look really good * Hunt - has speed to burn but I watched his skills today and he kicks the ball better than I thought * Michie - I watched him closely today and he is really composed and strong over the ball Did not see Vince, Jetta, Fitzy at all today while Viney, Dawes and Clark did some running/riding. Was great to see all the players in their training jumpers with their real numbers, does make it easier for people who dont watch training so much. And yes, Stretch was wearing 7 and Brayshaw 15. Also had a good chat to a mate of mine who works at the club, and he was telling me about some of the players. He does not pick the team, but if he did, he said JKH would be his smokey this year and says that Tyson is an absolute gun and a steal !!! He also said Dawes is close to resuming full training as is Clark, but they are being very cautious with them both so they are ready for the start of the year. He said Clark only twinged the hammy but they are being very careful. Also said seeing Hogan hurt his knee, you would have thought he did an ACL, but only a couple of weeks, so we are bloody lucky !!! Also said Salem was quite sick before Xmas and they are just taking it easy with him as he will be a very good 10 year player, so there is no rush this year. Any questions I am happy to try and answer.

Training pictures at Casey today including an action sequence of young Billy Stretch ==> http://www.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=36047047&AlbumKey=ccGjHn

I've been to training and given reports before myself. Don't think you're too special. And there's no rose-coloured glasses re: Watts. I just prefer reasonable intelligent criticism, rather than unfounded Herald-Sun style lemming criticism. Each to their own.

Well just a note to finish the car buying saga After deciding getting a car was all too hard in the lead up to Christmas I returned to the market this week. I was today armed with three quotes from dealers of my desired model I went to an AHG dealer. They matched my cheapest price after a bit of bargaining. I have now made the purchase. So a MFC sponsor has a sale that they would not have had if they were not a sponsor, the dealer is a considerable distance from where I live I would normally have bought from my other quotes. Almost forgot I made no mention of MFC membership. In my opinion don't tell them, it makes the operation smoother. Go Dees and I feel good for supporting AHG and the MFC.

How dare you interrupt the childish bickering with something relevant to the thread.......

You speak as tho you have knowledge of the players and can predict what will happen in the future confidently, and with bias. I see the glass a lot more half full and recognise that Watts has been through a lot more than you give credit, including 14 kms plus a game. Time will tell what happens but he chose to stay when a number of clubs were after him so let's see what happens in 2014 and I think you will eat your words.

I, for one, am truly grateful to ALL our intrepid reporters, especially those who brave intense heat so that the rest of us can know what's happening with our playing group. Everyone is human, and that invariably means having opinions and biases. I still appreciate each and every training report. Thanks folks.

What is this, North Korea? Training reports, whilst highly subjective, should be accepted without question? Why don't you refrain from posting until you have something intelligent to contribute? I doubt anyone would miss your posts.

The drive to Casey Fields is always interesting. If you haven't been there for a few months, you're immediately struck by the amount of new residential building happening which is of course, one of the main reasons the Melbourne Football Club is out there in the first place. This is one of the fastest growing residential regions in the country and over time, it's hoped that the club will benefit from that growth and develop a much healthier supporter base than it has at present. But all that is of no effect unless the club prospers and grows on the field and that's what I was looking for as I made the trip down the freeway to Cranbourne. I wasn't expecting too much with the temperatures edging towards the low forties and the flies congregating around the small but hardy group of supporters who braved the oppressive conditions. This was compounded by the non appearance of the bulk of the club's talls who are suffering various ailments, none of which are said to be long term in nature. Missing were Mark Jamar, Max Gawn, Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes, Jack Fitzpatrick and Jesse Hogan. That left us to concentrate on a pre season training session in the heat involving many of the club's midfielders which is the area that has caused us so much distress in recent years. Even then we didn't see Bernie Vince or Aidan Riley and Jack Viney turned up but I didn't see him on the track. Even the coach is far away in Africa and we're less than a month away from the start of what used to be the NAB Cup. However, there was enough on display to suggest that the emphasis in off season recruiting on the midfield will pay off. That is not to say that from hereon in the Demons will be elite in that division but rather, that they will be competitive and will perform like the bulk of the midfields in the competition and not resemble a bunch of fugitives from Madame Tussaud's waxworks. This is what I took from training and from what I have seen of the influx of players into the club through trades and the draft. Dom Tyson looks all class, Viv Michie looms as a surprise packet, Daniel Cross has class and experience and we know what (the admittedly absent) Bernie Vince can do. Jack Watts is a classy mover and disposes of the ball well. Jimmy Toumpas looks as if he's going to step up in a big way and we have high hopes for Jack Viney, Sam Blease and a resurgent Jack Trengove minus the burden of the captaincy. Then there's one who impressed me this morning - Michael Evans who deserves a break from injury looks fit and solid and could be a bit of a surprise packet. This will all add quality to our 2013 midfield of one, namely Nathan Jones. The way they trained and ran in the heat was impressive. There were a couple of little blokes who could also surprise by adding pace and skill to the set up in Dom Barry and Jay Kennedy-Harris. And if these changes made by the new coach bring result in a more solid, efficient and reliable engine room, imagine how much this is going to be appreciated by the overworked defence of the past and how the forward line (currently all in rehab apart from Jeremy Howe) will benefit in terms of greater opportunities for scoring. Of course, all this is written in mid January, a traditional time for rose coloured glasses and things could well change dramatically over the coming months but I think we're on the up and up. I remember sitting high up in the gods in our round three match against Richmond two years ago and, realising that our static midfield was bereft of any run and spread, knew we were in a spot of bother. Now, I know that we will no longer be wax figures in the most important part of the ground and that is where I see our improvement in the months ahead.

Don't think Machsy's comments were obnoxious. I think perhaps he had an issue with a training report which was more of a series of personal opinions about players abilities and careers rather than a training report. Correct me if I'm wrong Machsy. However, thanks again for making the effort to get to Casey and giving your views farmerwiz.

Regarding WorkSafe - from the Essendon thread one could probably conclude that WorkSafe take little interest in things AFL :-(

I'm left right out

and then we come back to utilities where less is more. you use less, you pay more

Well this is exciting. I should start another thread, "Jack V at the milk bar" .... but I'll just put it here instead. We don't want to clutter the board with sightings. He was there to support the milk bar owner. What a champ.

I love you YzeMagic

Left, right, left, right...yo left, yo left, yo left, right, left.. I think anyone who is deemed "left" should be ordered to wear an "L" around their neck, preferably one made out of a heavy metal. They can be pelted with tomatoes in the street for basically being the root cause of all that is wrong with society, including corrupting our children and producing a generation of lefty, brainless scum.

This thread needs to be cleaned up. Personal slights say more about the one giving those slights.

thing is DC...PT is and ought to be a Public Service provision. By all means run it properly but that often is at loggerheads with pennypinching and eyes only on the bottom line. To have allowed two incompatible train designs loose on once homogeneous network was ridiculous. Had there been ONE authority overseeing this wed have saved millions...Remember.. the franchise didnt buy the trains..just ordered them WE paid for them. One lot the crappy french Xtraps cant even run safely at theposted speeds allowed. Brilliant !! btw I have much respect for Ingénierie Française, but those xtraps were from the bargain basement what other city allows more than one body to oversee one element of infrastructure ?? f'n stupidity to the x !!

Done bb If it helps the MFC then good, Don't need anything more than that.

I think a few on here have undersold the effort and ability of Matt Jones. He was an oustanding addition to the side last year and arguably our second best midfielder behind Jones. If his developement continues this year he will be a good mid for us and IMO has the wood on Michie, Trengove, Watts, Mackenzie Toumpas and Viney. Not saying these blokes wont be good players and all probably have bigger up sides but that is potential against proven ability and on last years form Jones is better

That is my understanding as well dc. Bring back the SEC I say. We have been on the downhill slide ever since Jeff sold it.

Jacko is superb on the talking circut. Yes an absolute nutjob but a sharp one. Far from stupid. He could play. Hard to inagine that the year he kicked over 70 goals along with Healy the club finished last. The rest of the forward line must have been sublime!!

Tell them you are a member OD. It is why the sale was made. All helps keep the sponsorship strong.

Seriously, you two, its incredibly boring wading through piles of your crap on every thread.

"To whom," Jack. "To whom."

Most of the spectators have left and the players are now in the rooms. The only two people out there now are my son who posts as Blistering and my grandson who's wearing the famous #31 and playing under 10s this year. Needless to say, he's training the house down.

Wishing Carey and Neeld all the best. Was Garry on the selection panel?

No need to kick a man when he is down. Good luck Mark, hope you make a good fist of the job. You may need to work on your smile mate.

Good luck and best wishes to him. He did his best.

Monday February 3 Annual General Meeting Members Dining Room, MCG, 6:30pm Friday February 14 Round 1 NAB Challenge Richmond v Melbourne Etihad Stadium, 7:10pm Sunday February 16 Family Day Luna Park, St Kilda Thursday February 27 Community Camp Alice Springs Friday February 28 Round 2 NAB Challenge Melbourne v Geelong TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs, 5:40pm Saturday March 8 Practice Match & Casey Family Day Melbourne v Hawthorn Casey Fields

Oh dear me. It's the 'Zero-sum game' interpretation of football scoring.

I saw Maia at training yesterday and I was surprised how well he went. By that, I mean that I was expecting him to be well below rookie standard but he's not. He's quite an athlete and he has some skills.I think he should be good to get his fair share of games at Casey seniors this year whereas he was a long way off being even development league standard last year.

"Hi Six6Six, You have quite a few great shots of Maiai Westrup. Is he starting to look like an AFL footballer rather than a misplaced kiwi?" fndee, There are a few shots of Maiai Westrup but you may be confusing Billy Stretch (No. 7) with Maiai as the both have similar build and look. There is a sequence of billy going through his paces under the watchful eyes of Bret Allison, Colin Garland and Viv Mitchie

Sounds like most of our list, in fact I struggle to think of any of them that gut run and consistently stick tackles.

Are you for real , those stats are terrible!

Last i heard Portsea and Sorrento were trying to distance themselves further by establishing a Principality !!

Party at Robbie's.

Demonland is a sadder place due to the demise YzeMagic. If my memory serves me right he was going to nominate for the draft at one stage. ( he could have been better than some of our other pickups)

PT whether utility run or privately operated is too painful to discuss when i think of all the wasted money and dumb decisions i could cry and to cap it off no-one pays anyway (well mostly)

The idea of subdividing the transit system under the notion of "competition " was the start of the rot. How can there be competition with different elements servicing different destinations etc. It was flawed as a concept and buggered in delivery. Yes that was a Govt decision... a bad one. Myki , also a Govt introduction. The authority, any authority that actual RAN a system didn't want it as was full of problems from the get go..it too a govt decision not an PT one, they just have to wear it. these things occurred as result of 'agendas' not genuine progress

how do we get jacko onto demonland? he would fit in well he's not from romsy is he?

I do and if I could quote I would and of course you won't just believe me, but unfortunately it's true, and one day the players will talk about. But you also just state he's a good guy , with no evidence either for that statement.

I reckon he'll stay, GWS have the $$ but we have the future.

Will the Carey school bus be renamed the reality bus?

I wont sink the boot into Neeld. Was he a failure at the MFC ? yes Should we have got a senior coach ? ( in hindsight yes). Was he a very well credentialled assistant coach coming out of a very good system. ? yes Whilst a few here did want an experienced coach, no one suggested he was a poor choice from the assistants available.

He'd have to be one of the first head coaches to not get a job immediately after. I simply cannot believe we failed ruined his stocks, I still maintain we mucked it up at the hire when we just wanted a Malthouse clone. It's not his fault he wasn't good enough, and he was obviously trying; but he'd have to be close to the worst senior coach in this century.

I had forgotten Jacko played for the MFC. Now that you have reminded me I thinks its time to change Clubs. Not a fan of Mr Jacko :wacko: :wacko: