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* A bit sunnier today, but still a bit of humidity in the air so conditions would have to be testing for the crew. * The main oval was still shifting under foot a bit this morning so a lot of the drills were taking place on the smaller oval which is drier & in better nick. The swapping between ovals must be so they can make use of the full size main oval to simulate game play better, and when they don't need it they are playing it safe with preventing injuries. * Neal-Bullen, Stretch, Harms, & Vandenberg running separate from the group. Terlich & Kent join them soon after. * ANB's moving freely and running well, so no issues with the knee. Apparently no ligament damage and no history of that injury so he's come out of that allright. Just unlucky. * In earlier drills, looks like the 1-5 year old guys training separately. Good chance to see them in action. * Like the look of Whitey. He tackles well and has a point to prove I reckon. Beautiful kick. Runs a little funny but so what. Seems to have become popular amongst the guys too. Always praising him. * Overall young guys training with good energy and spirit - good sign. * Hoges practising short range one grab reflex marking with Millsy rocketing them at him. Didn't see him drop one and all one grab. Millsy seems to be working a lot with him one on one. * Brayshaw composed, good decision maker. Looks like he thinks through the pressure situations well, or perhaps he doesn't think and it's all instinctive. * Hunt has got to work on his handballing. Lacking a bit of confidence I'd say. * Slightly concerned about Petracca's endurance for second the way he lopes around and then all of sudden he proves me wrong and takes off at speed. Definately a burst player...BBall influence. Really good footy skills though. * Newton working hard. * Stretch runs through the middle and snags a sausage just like his old man. * Sensing major competition for midfield spots. You can feel it out there. Casey's midfield should go allright this year. * After 2 hours training they break into full ground match simulations * Salem looking good. Good speed followed by a bullet pass. Class. Ready to blossom i'd say having had a full preseason. * Get the feeling Garlett does his best work in games. * Hogan playing the forward and out jostles Dawesy - impressive. They swap around and Dawes gets one back on him. * Lamumba breaks away with speed out of a pack - He's still got it. * Bit of driving tackle work by the big blokes is interesting to watch. Mids doing the same in background. Seeing who can hold there ground. Jamar makes them all look silly for a bit. Hogan looks a little tentative against the ruckmen. And then all of a sudden to my suprise big Maxy fires up a bit and rattles a few rib cages. * Relay team event to finish off. Approx 400m. Frost is so quick he should be going to the Olympics. Made them look silly. Dunny tries to psych out Petracca. Petracca not fazed and has a unique turn of speed that's hard to describe. He's got a down force/ g force/ after burners thing going on. Low to the ground like Ablett. * Quieter day tomorrow I'd say, not sure if it's worth going down. Wait and see how I feel tomorrow. Will definitely be checking out Saturday's session.

Where there's smoke there's usually fire. The constant chatter about an "incident" with MC at the club, timed with his peculiar retirement, indicates a man running away from his demons rather than confronting them. It seems increasingly clear to me that he orchestrated a 'retirement' with his manager purely to usurp his contract and get to a more successful club. To assuage himself of the creeping guilt for screwing the MFC he then victimised himself to supporters by claiming he was "unwanted" by the club without an explanation why. The explanation seems increasingly likely it was actions of his own doing. Having dealt with depressed patients for many years, this is a typical blame deflection tactic; to blame others for ill will that you have caused, relying on the ignorance of people to prevent a backlash and keep yourself painted in a positive light.

Don't know about the pets, but the Collingwood Football Club gets a higher average IQ out of the deal.

Brought a tear to my eye when I read that MC had injured his calf. A tear of happiness that is. What comes around goes around and couldn't happen at a nicer club either.

How depressing....

Thanks mate, didn't think my reports are that good. Can I come down to Goschs to report?? A few things come to mind: 1. I don't want to make Burgs too jealous because he's obviously reading my material - Thanks Matt 2. If someone wants to pay for my airfair & accomodation each week I'll happily provide an ongoing coverage. 3. I'll happily talent scout for the MFC up here in qld in a part time role - Thanks Todd & Jason, I know your reading this too.

I am leaning more to the champion team than a champion led team. Our history is littered with failures by the big hope of the moment. We are on the right track IMO, bringing in talented young players and properly developing them. Also adding an experienced player where possible. We are building a good playing list and we are on the right track.

Thanks RB. Top job. The best back handed compliment ever?: * Get the feeling Garlett does his best work in games.

Looking at the photos on the club website. Nathan Jones has no chance of becoming AA this year while he continues to wear plain ordinary black footy boots.

If Dangerfield does move and goes somewhere other than Geelong, I will attempt to eat my scooter

On the back of Glen Bartlett's suggestion that we should be aiming to become the 'Yankees' of Aussie Rules, I think the club should be offering half price tickets for our Home games to International Tourists. Team up the promotion with China Southern airlines and a few of our other partners to help market the offer, maybe The Duke Hotel etc where exposure to tourists is pretty high and I think we'd be getting a few more people to the ground each week and also creating a real name for ourselves.

I think your avatar may have taken steps in that direction too.

Poor old Mitch, can't catch a break. Whatever he does and wherever he goes problems arise. Oh well shiit happens. I'm glad its happening at Geelong now.

Interesting posts from many on here re MC. My initial post starter was a fair bit "reserved" and upon reflection I will go a bit harder now. I am lead to believe he was no longer welcome at the MFC for two main reasons, one being a quite personal"situation" with a well known old club favourite and the second being he tripped up verbally a few times re his explanation of why he could no longer play with us. If you lie then you have to have an extremely good memory. Perhaps MC hasn't a very good memory. I am absolutely sure the Karma Freight train will come steaming into view very shortly and that most of us will be vindicated in a most suitable and convenient manner.

So do I 'daisy'...it's just many seem to take as a given that we were offering up picks 2 & 3 and I seriously doubt we would be that stupid.

I'm rapt that Brayshaw and Petracca are on our list.

maybe our age od but i agree i don't think they are necessarily morons themselves, just a moronic decision to do it

Maybe wishing injury on someone does work. I won't do it to anyone else from now on.

Well Dawesy gave me the Death Stare across the fence the other day. Maybe next time I'll say I'm your mate and he'll calm down a bit. No need to worry about me - I'm more of a player critique r than befriend er.

interesting wrap Tom McDonald gave Sam Frost on the AFL website. He could be the surprise packet - those two could be the core of an awesome backline

Ps dog was buried in his mfc collar and the whole family had a service for him in the back yard followed by a stirring rendition of 'it's a grand old flag'.

I was just devastated when i heard Mitch had a soft tissue injury again He will be feeling so low today...Such a hard life. More wedding shoots to come....

It says a lot that I'll be absolutely rapt if we finish 10th.

I went and watched a training at Gosch's really early on when he was returning from a string I believe. He was beaming being out on the track with the boys and doing some run throughs at good pace while kicking a few pills around. You could see he was just loving being out with the lads and you could see the team mates all being right behind him chirping it up. It was nearly right in front of me when his calf went pop and he went down. He hit the ground a few times and looked absolutely devastated to the fact I thought he might have been crying, not in pain but just devastation and frustration. As lame as it is I nearly teared up as well as he looked an emotional reck and was clearly shattered. I don't think Mitch is necessarily a bad person for leaving us as we will never know what really happened. - Maybe he is just an emotional bipolar suffering crazy man who Roos and co thought it would be safer to get rid of instead of his team mates and us waiting for the return of our messiah. - Maybe also, he is a dog, used the club to get fit again and ditched us for another chance at glory. - Maybe he's just a 12 year old in the body of a potential superstar who put to much pressure on himself to single handedly lift a club and his body forbid this causing his dark days. I actually hope he has a good year and his body holds up as he is a wonderful player and the game needs more like him when he is at his best however I hope the cats massively bottom out and we leap frog them on the ladder. Would be glorious.

It's all a lot simpler if you consider players to be employed by the AFL, not individual clubs which can only divvy-up the salary cap.

How easy I am cast aside, the Cat Stevens song starts the chant and the crowd joins in, he would have to get past me RB where is the interaction with the players haha and the guns photos

so their plan is to grab the best players in the comp and win flags we should have a plan like that, it is not bad

Sorry TDI Moronic is probably the wrong word. I just don't like tattoos. I am happy if you are happy with yours enjoy, the world should be big enough to tolerate all our little differences. Sadly in some parts of the world it isn't

I've read a few interesting articles on player development in soccer, the general premise is that young players do look better because of the coaching. The idea behind this is that in soccer player talent is identified very, very early (under 10's) so a player who receives 10+ years of elite coaching will look better than the guy who's had none. An interesting point put forward is that players born towards the start of the year are more likely to make representative teams, this is due to the cut off date for age groups being December 31. If you are born on January 1 you have 10 months of growth/ physical development over a player born in October. With the same talent level you generally take the bigger/ more athletic kid. When it's time for rep teams the next year the kid born in January not only has 10 months of growth on the one born in October, they also have experience at a higher level. Once again, if they have the same talent you pick the older kid because he is physically larger and now has a year of experience in the system. etc etc. This idea doesn't translate fully to AFL, as talent identification isn't done as early so the 'older' kid doesn't have as much of a leg up through years of elite level training, but it would be interesting to do an analysis of player birthdays across the competition (particularly for players who have gone through the TAC cup/ AIS systems) as I think you would find the birthdays to be skewed towards either end of the year.

it's just a personal opinion grint i don't care what anyone does to their own skin, not for me though, and none of my business really what others do bit like religion eh?

And the soft tissue injuries continue for the 97 game player. Meanwhile, 199 game player Lamumba is flying in his 11th preseason. The two were drafted only one year apart.

I write letters to them but never get responsed (sic)... I can't understand why not. I even sign off with my name and age, Timmy age 62 and a half. I just don't think they're as friendly as they used to be when I was 10. Must be a generational thing.

I won't have a solid answer on that until we seen games I'd say. Nothing to compare it to given the last time I watched training was Neeld era out at Casey. Having said that you can feel that there is an evenness across the board and they seem to be meshing well. I haven't noticed anyone noticeably getting it wrong.

OK, I don't know much... But I do know that Paul Roos will not start draft picks... Give the kids a chance to play in the 2's and let them prove over time that they are able to match it with the big, fit guys...

Great report again RB, from what I can gather Hunt is a confidence problem, played second fiddle to Salem and Josh Kelly at Brighton Grammar, now with missing a year, tends not to show his attributes with so many ahead of him, coaches are working with him on it, Roos always encouraging him to take the game on Garlett loves the running drills doesn't he, although I am surprised he is not shining in the game simulation, normally does in Melbourne And yes White does have an individual running style, I reckon we should put a video on the club website of Toumpas, Fitzpatrick, Hogan, Petracca and White running laps together, that should scare a few opposition teams

NAB Cup will tell a story. I can definitely see the gap between where they are at and the more senior guys...Even last year's recruits are ahead in some ways. Still a bit of time to go before the season so who knows? They don't seem to be ready to go like a Brock McLean was at that age. Petracca slightly ahead of Brayshaw perhaps at this stage. Can easily see him playing off a forward flank from the get go. Adjusting to the intensity is the key. Time will tell.

...a deal that Danger did not want, and until he's a FA he can simply knock back offers from 'unattractive' clubs. More than likely he wants to either stay at the Crows or move to the club of his choice. We are highly unlikely to be that club. I'd love to be wrong on that point, but I never thought it would happen in the recent trade period. He'd only move to a club perceived to be in the flag hunt and of those it's likely to be the Cats or Hawks IMO.

Nothing stands out about Hunt for me at this stage. Obviously he needs more development in my eyes but what do I know. I was thinking today about the difference the elite under 18 pathway makes when they come into the AFL system compared to 18 year olds that have just played at school or local club level. It's noticeable the type of training and coaching that they have already been exposed to. Even the AIS level kids seem to have a big advantage compared to TAC Cup or SA u18's for example. If my memory serves me correctly, Hunt didn't have a whole lot of elite level junior training. So if I look at him as a tennis player convert/ project player then I feel a little bit better about where he is at (minus his draft position). I don't want to be too negative and for all I know he will start playing games this year and suprise the heck out of me and I hope he does.

I'm with you on this 'Redleg' and have been around long enough to have seen the messiah failures at the MFC. Let Carlton continue with it.

The sad fact is that you are wrong. It actually takes tremendous strength to deal with, and overcome, depression. But for someone who refers disparagingly to "fruity people" elsewhere on this board, I wouldn't expect you to understand that.

seems pretty apt to me

I typed moron into google, then images and I kid you not scroll down a bit and this is what I found. Now I am not suggesting that our friend BBO is a moron but his avatar is listed as one.

I read this and I am surprised you didn't hear my jaw clunk as it hit the desk. I am stated "anti capital punishment" but I can respectfully listen to arguments to the contrary and whilst not agreeing, understand views to the opposite when we are talking about crazed and inhuman killers. But this ??? I also try to draw a distinction between moderate and peace loving muslims and radicals murdering in the name of their Islam. I wish it was black and white but when you read news like you have posted DC, it is very hard to see where exactly the line between the two is.

Here is hoping Dangerfield is as awful a person as Frawley is. I, for one, would welcome our new disloyal mercenary! I would toil in underground sugar caves!

I live in Bangkok, there are many pubs that have all games live. And instead of paying for AFL live, the MFC offer a international membership which gives you the same access to all matches. Might as well give your money to the club instead of the AFL. All up and down Sukhumvit Rd there are Aussie and other pubs which have cheap beer plenty of expats and all games live, although most Demon games will be morning games here. I was the same when I moved here, worried about my footy fix and can honestly say I watch more footy here than I did back in Aus.

From all reports atlanta was Ryan's preference but for whatever reason they took there time and were happy to let him slip to the bills.. I'd be all for Quinn but reports suggest he might be New York bound.. The other is todd bowels from Arizona but his also front runner for the jets job, maybe whoever doesnt get that job will get the Atalanta one. Why can't there be a roos type saviour out there for me

How about, "what goes better with a fungal infection, red or white? Or, is a kiss and cuddle with my fungal infection out of question?

Cross is a gun, his ability to win the ball at stoppages is crucial for us. Yes we've drafted well but they're not there yet. This might be his last year but if fit he must play, I'd have him ahead of Viney at the centre bounces, most likely a different story next year.

I would say that both Salem and Toupas have more chance that M. Jones if they keep training as they have been to date [according to TDI's reports] and I suspect that Petracca similarly has as much chance as Brayshaw.