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A few observations from today's training: * I'm getting a little tired of training reports so today's is brief, but I'll dig deep Tues/Wed and keep setting the standards. Saturday's reports show that the work I'm putting in is starting to pay off. Focus Bruiser.... last quarter ... push it out mate! * Another humid one and the sun had a real kick in it when it showed itself today. * No sign of the coaches for the first 2/3 of training, they showed up for the match sims. First time I've seen Stafford at camp today. * Skills were a little off I thought early on, with the fumbling a touch contagious. The skills got better though once they cleared out the weekend's cobwebs. * Earlier part of training not quite as intense as Sat, but it picked up as the session went on. * Stretch's speed and skills - wow * Noticed Toump a bit more today. * Harmes had good intensity and good skills I thought. * A lot of the players sounded like coaches out there today. * Tommy Mac back to the change rooms for something. * Oscar Mac's kicking a little better than Sat - Better than I thought. * Crossy's kicking does look to have improved. * Whitey's kicking is right up there with some of the best left footers I've seen - bullets * Jonesy reckons Newts is going really well. Real happy with him. * Young guys setting the standards at times in training. (Come on young Demonlanders, got to step up to the mark with some good training reports back in Melbourne) * Later in training Jonesy really happy with the standard being set. * Vandenberg stands out the most to me today. Has been in rehab a lot but more involved today. Really sharp hand-balling and strong precise kicking. A good find - Look for him to impress in the NAB cup if fit, but looks right to go right now. * Garlett 70m Torp goal, makes it look easy.

Well, there's one thing that hasn't changed in 115 years.

Sure BM, am happy to. My sources are legal, media, what I can broadly call regulatory, and from sporting administration. The best sources though by far are from sporting regulatory ones, particularly offshore. I hesitate to be specific, but as I have said a number of times on here, the world is watching us on this issue. It is regarded by powerful figures in the international sporting regulatory circles as a test case. Basically, they say if the sporting establishment in Australia get away with this anyone will get away with anything. A lot of us don't understand that in politics we are a middle power, but in sports we are a superpower, and have been seen up until three years ago as a beacon for common sense and integrity. The forces for good offshore hope this will remain to be the case, but regard Essendon as the test. They cannot believe Hird's behaviour has been tolerated for so long, and that Essendon has allowed itself to be consumed by this particular black hole. I might also add if you piece together all the threads going back several years you are able to draw your own conclusions. I obviously have an interest in these sorts of things, and so far have been pretty close to the mark. It remains to be seen I suppose, but my legal sources would be amazed if either Hird or Essendon got off on the actions in which they are currently involved. By the way, all of them say Tania Hird is a serial offender on these sorts of issues - a junior lawyer put into the spotlight by marriage and seemingly unable or unwilling to get out of it. Does that help?

From an outside perspective and view of who should be in our LG: Jones (Captain) Dawes (VC) Lamumba Cross Grimes Dunn The first four of those to me are no brainers. They're all highly driven and professional trainers and they're the ones who our younger crop will look up to. Especially on game day. Dawes and Lamumba love to direct and vocalise instruction on-field and Jones and Cross just lead the way with their unrelenting attack and focus on winning the ball. Whilst of course Grimes displays many leadership qualities, relinquishing the captaincy does say something about his own form on game day. As Saty says, I have no doubt that players respect him highly as a leader in some areas of his game, but as far as form goes, you don't want your captain turning the ball over consistently. Im sure he'll remain in the LG and I'm looking forward to seeing him concentrate solely on his own game day performance. Dunn is an interesting one. After his first really consistent year as a full-back, people are throwing his name up as a leader. It seems as though last year has given him a boost of confidence and after hearing him speaking about wanting to display more leadership qualities, I'm glad the penny has dropped for him and I hope last year will be a benchmark for him in terms of competitiveness and discipline levels. The most important thing I see in all of this is that the players who are voted into the leadership group really nurture and show the way for what will hopefully be a really strong younger crop of leaders coming through. It's of utmost importance and will be a big factor in regards to how far we can go as a side over the next 5+ years. Hogan Viney Petracca Brayshaw McDonald Salem Toumpas These players show leadership characteristics and some of them have been leaders/captains at 18's level. We need to see these guys grow and really follow in the footsteps of guys like Jones, Cross, Dawes. They need to adopt the same habits on and off-field. It's exciting because we have some really good senior leaders on our list (unlike in years gone by) and we also have an unbelievable coaching group in Roos, Goodwin and Macca which is something any young team would be envious of. The early signs are good, let's hope we get a bit of luck along the way. Can't wait for Round 1.

Pretty casual light skills training day today so not much to report. Lamumba entertaining the troops, has them in stiches - looks like it's comedy hour. I like ANB's allround confidence, and his goal kicking was impressive - could hear a nice thump each time. Breaking the skills down and focusing on technique. Kent reminds me a bit of Jakovich with his attitude - I think he likes the limelight and wants to be "the man". Fine by me just what we need. Finished with a comp to see which teams could hit the goal post the most in one minute. Dunny copping a ribbing for every miss. Whitey & M. Jones did well and would you believe the the Ruckmen very hard to beat as a team. Maybe because they have a lot of practice at hitting the post. Speaking of posts, that's the end of mine.

All I can do is hope the we succeed. I don't hope that Clark fails; that just makes me a nasty, small minded person. What I do hope for is that we rise above the selfish, duplicitous manipulative nonsense the club has been exposed to and thrash the pants off the cats when we next see them. And I hope that Clark is unable to play ever again and retires friendless and alone.

WCE and Freo play away every second week and do every year. Good sides win anywhere and poor ones lose anywhere. Can we please get over this hard done by issue with the draw every year.

Let me pose this for consideration. Players of clubs talk to each other and several have mates and relatives at other clubs. Did not one Essendon player mention he was being asked to have 52 injections in his stomach to a player from another club? If not why not? Did not one player mention it to a parent/wife/girlfriend etc? If not why not? Is the reason that they were told not to by the club? Wouldn't that raise suspicions of wrong doing? Did the players ask Dr. Reid if it was ok to take these injections? If not why not? If yes, then it can only be assumed that Dr. Reid would have said they were safe and legal. If he said that, on what basis would he have done so? It is probably fair to assume that Dr. Reid was never asked by the players if the injections were safe and legal. If the players didn't ask the Doctor about the injections, given what the AFL does in respect of drug education to AFL players, these players cannot blame others for taking drugs, on the say so of a Coach or a Sports Scientist.

Nah The bought into the Kool aid story. 'Everyone's doing it but we are going to do it better' They signed waivers and apparently NOT ONE player checked with anyone outside the club including ASADA etc. Not believeable. Fails the sniff test. Guilty. Goodbye.

Agree. All are winnable. It's mentality as much as anything else. Especially for us. If we win the first two, we'll be riding high and brimming with confidence in heading to Adelaide. The MFC have the worst record of recent starts to the H&A season and the players who have been around for a long time on our list know it. Confidence plays a huge role for those particular players. We have a better list than we did last year with the additions Lamumba, Hogan (regardless of what people say) and Garlett. We have have greater depth and talent running through the midfield with upgrades to our midfield like Tyson, Vince, Michie, Newton and Cross. Two years ago we had Sylvia, Rodan, Magner, McKenzie, Nicholson etc in our starting 22. Sure other teams are improving but we are without a doubt bridging the gap quickly thanks to list management and coaching. None of those games will be blowouts and we are in with a big chance in each of those four games.

Exactly what Moses said at the Red Sea when he saw the Egyptians coming. His direct no-nonsense straight-up-the-middle tactics that day parted the waters & the opposition was swamped.

I'm sure Oscar Wilde could have come up with an appropriate line about losing a Coach, a CEO and a Captain all in the same off-season. "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."

WJ, This to me explains a lot. I could never quite understand why News took such an uncompromising stand on ESSENDON because in marketing terms there is nothing in it for them. Sure they make EFC tragics happy, and I suppose it is news of sorts, albeit very biased news, but by taking such a partisan view of ESSENDON, you are just pissing off the the 17 eighteenths of the rest of the AFL supporters. Understanding Thompson's background makes it all fall into place. Rupert wouldn't give a stuff about AFL so RP can have a free hand to be Hird's propaganda machine. He hasn't held back. Fortunately at the end of the day it won't make any difference, but it sure keeps us Demonlanders busy!!

Foxtel, a Murdoch company, have an obvious stake in the AFL's prosperity. It's easy to see why all Murdoch media is aggressively pro-Essendon, pro-Hird, anti-ASADA. Rich men have rich friends, and it's an intimate circle at that. Being "in" with rich media contacts is invaluable if you're running covert, illegal drug operations (you know, in case someone finds out and you need a positive PR campaign by the media to discredit the prosecutor). Plus, one of the senior editors at the Herald Sun is a high-ranking member of the Essendon FC, I believe. Believe me, if this whole scenario occurred at a lowly, poor club like us, Saints or Bulldogs this would've been a whitewash and finished years ago. Essendon's board are incredibly powerful with high-ranking connections in politics and media. It's why their aggressive campaign against ASADA has actually been successful convincing so many that Hird is innocent. They've successfully manipulated every corner of the AFL market, even getting Sam Newman to constantly discredit ASADA on The Footy Show. And we all know the demographic of people that still watch that [faecal matter] show.

Deanox. If it was one player you would say he is a Richard cranium and guilty. But with 34 that don't communicate you have to say they are all effin dick heads and are all guilty as sin. I can't believe that none of the 34 spoke to each other.

Silly line this one mate. Jetta will be a smoky for the other reasons that you have listed, not this one.

Many thanks for all those that took the time and made the effort to keep all the training reports coming in. I think a few of us realise now what its like not being there and have to rely on others interstate for info. well done. Sounds like the boys have their heads down and bums up. Now looking forward to seeing it delivered in battle. I'm trying to keep the lid on it, but I have to admit, cant wait to get under way. I like what I am hearing.

First 4 rounds GC, GWS (away), Adelaide (away), Richmond Nothing there scares me, we should be aiming at 4-0. Not saying we will of course but there's no reason to think we should be extreme underdogs in any of those games. Anything less than 3-1 will be disappointing.

That's a very deep question 'La Dee', maybe too deep for this forum.

Noah went alright as well. Exceptional in the wet and was lethal inside the 50m arc.

I'm not sure who your referring to there but the Bombers' influence within the Murdoch empire is far more powerful than senior editorship at the HUN. Try CEO of Newscorp - Rupert has got a crush on you

This photo really does speak a thousand words about what we're dealing with here. No doubt Little was over the moon when Abbott took power (thanks to the Murdoch hate-campaign against Labor), considering he's the most buyable politician in Australian history. Donate enough money to the Libs and they'll invent any policy you ask! Certainly don't have to look long at his list of "achievements" so far as PM to see who actually comes up with his 'policies' (here's a clue: the billionaires who want to keep more of their money and want us to keep less of ours.)

Loving the reports RB, refreshingly matter-of-fact and pragmatic. Also great for DL'ers who can't make it up to QLD. By the sounds of it we've unearthed two Jason Taylor gems in White and Vandenberg. Shouldn't be surprised, but the club's recruitment being so competent is a strange feeling. Also loving that the coaches left players to coach themselves, under the watchful eye of Jonesy and the LG. Another excellent tactic to improve player communication and uncover some more natural leaders amongst the group.

I suspect they are both lost in the smoke JVF. If either of those get a run I will be seriously worried about our ability to rise in 2015

I don't think they would understand the Red White and Blue Print.

Not only remembered as drug cheats, are drug cheats.

Was living in the country and could not get Saturday morning off work to get there in time. Had to get scores via telegram.

I have the arcticle kicking around here somewhere, rather than pull the house apart, I'll have to rely on my 'not as good as it used to be' memory. Now this involved Richards, not Bobby Rose. 100% sure on that. Although I do vaguely remember a Rose incident. You;ll will have to visulise this, so get that imagination going. The article was very well written so I hope I can get close. If iirc it was written by Harry Beitzel for Inside Football? Apologies if not word for word, but here goes, as I remember it. The MCG, Melb V Coll, 1956 or 58?? somewhere around there. Back when the 2 biggest clubs were the Dees and the filth. As usual the ground was packed to the rafters. Home and Away game. To set the picture, 10 of thousands of feral pies supporters, along with just as many passionate Dee supporters. Both teams hated each other as did the supporters (not much as changed) Noel McMahen well known for being a tough, ruthless player.Brick walls wouldnt hold him back. Lou Richards, cheeky, cunning and known to mouth off (whence Louie the Lip), but a bloody good footballer. Umpire = Harry Bietzel Its a close game, typical Melb V Coll game of the era. Richards gathers the ball on Melbourne's 1/2 forward line.Richards ducks and weaves around a few Melb players, weaving out of a pack. McMahen spots Richards from half back, his eyes light up. Like a steam train, comes roaring in from the backline, with Lou firmly in his sights. Lou not knowing McMahen has penciled in for the coroner, weaves out, and into the clear. Suddendly Richards looks up and sees McMahen is about to send him into the next century. So Richards sensing the gravity of it all, throws the ball away and hits the ground, a split second before the McMahen express nails him. From over the fence its seems to all and sundry, McMahen has just flattened a Collingwood hero, bottles, and heaps of abuse and other obstacles come hurtling over the fence Louie is down for the count. Pies supporters are now going ballistic. Now the crowd doesnt know this, but McMahen , hadnt touched him. and instead of stomping on the now motionless Louie, (being the 'gentleman' than he was) he steps over the corpse, but from a distance it looked he had just run through him. Spot fires all over the ground start up. players pushing and wrestling, Supporters threathening to jump the fence.Beitzel being the sole umpire (only 1 ump back then) Looks around, looking like an all in brawl is about to breakout. Wonders he next move, so he stands over a montionless Lou Richards, as says. "For christs sake Louie, GET UP!. He didnt touch you!" Amongst the noise, a cheeky little voice comes back that could be almost heard all over the ground, says to Harry... with a cheeky grin ,says "But gee Harry, he didnt miss me by much."

I recently read a thread on Bigfooty about potential R1 upsets. I know, it's BigFooty. However, the consensus from the non-Melbourne fans indicates that us beating GCS would be a considerable upset. So at this stage I'd agree we have the underdog tag. A lot of water to flow under bridges until then but the reality is it doesn't matter what we or the neutrals think. It's what the players think when they run out on the ground

Not what I said at all. You said he struggles to get a game most weeks. I pointed out he's played 42 from a possible 44 since drafted which is hardly struggling. At which point you went off on some weird tangent concernig top 12 clubs. Whatever. I mentioned my thoughts on the leadership group. StevethemanJordan's excellent post better explains what I was too lazy to write To finish on Matt Jones, he is a footballer with obvious limitations but he has a crack & provides run that others can't (or won't). I don't think many understand why he gets a game and I don't think he deserves a lot of the cheap shots he gets on here. Same applies to Bail. However neither would remotely be candidates for the LG in my view. I do agree OD that we will be a better team when those two, among others, have been supplanted in the team by better players.

I agree. Though i would say that they are more likely to be remembered as "the naive, possibly stupid players caught up in the Essendon supplements scandal who seemed to have disregarded or not understood the clear message that under the WADA code athletes are fully responsible for what goes into their body and that being part of a cult like football environment where independent thought is aggressively discouraged is not an excuse for taking a banned substance" The idea that the main driver for the EFC to so vigorously fight the process in their appeal (and Tirds) is their concern for the player's reputation is the classic furphy. They should - and probably are - be more concerned with their own reputation and dragging things out to minimise the numbers of EFC players who are suspended

GC are ahead of us, although they may be without their best player. GWS in Canberra is not the fait accompli that some (for some reason) think it should be. Adelaide away - this will be a line in the sand game for the Crows - they have already mentioned this off-season that the loss to us was the derailment of the season. Richmond is still a feather in the wind, but we dream of being a feather in the wind - they are ahead of us. We could smash an Ablett-less GC, come up to Canberra and grind out a win against GWS, we can go to Adelaide and gauge the disinterest of Danger Mouse playing his last year in SA, and allow Richmond to think they have won before they have and then beat them. We could be 3-1 but we could also be 0-4. We could be 1-3 and be playing good footy.

I mirror the MFC. I look a million dollars in Jan/Feb - come March I am bound to disappoint.

bummer

I tincidunt Demonland, ergo sum. ("I post on Demonland, therefore I am") With thanks to Rene Descartes and Google Translate

Was impressive how he beat The Flood with his "ark" play.

I think Melbourne will finish above Richmond on the ladder. It's more about Richmond struggling (because of lack of depth) than us massively improving.

I think Crossy is just doing what he does, and did at Footscray. Apparently he wants a career in football beyond retirement, and he's making every post a winner in that pursuit. I'm sure he's grateful to MFC for giving him the chance, but there's also enlightened self-interest operating there.

I cannot remember anything as strange as that McQueen

So many predictions I have made have been dead wrong, so I hesitate to make predictions. Like most seasons, I am looking at making the finals. Next year I want consecutive finals. Then a flag. Yeah I might be dreaming, but would prefer that to the defeatist attitude our supporters have had for so long. The weak clapping of "brave" defeats, cheering the boys off as they were so good to get within 2 goals. Is it any wonder our players have had a similar attitude for so long. Any decent sportsman goes into a game believing that they can win. Our players haven't had that belief for a long time. Self belief is a huge thing, if Roos can help the players find it, finals are possible

Yes sports journalism has certainly been under scrutiny, but there have been a few who have been truly outstanding in the best interests of excellence in sports reporting eg Caro and Patrick Smith. There have also been some truly awful examples of either highly naive (Gerard Whateley) or simply ignorant and unprincipled (Tracy Holmes) or simply biased (Mark Robinson). I think what it has shown is the sloppiness and laziness of a lot of our so called gun sports reporters. They certainly show no inclination to seek the truth, with the honourable exception of the two mentioned above, and when you have some appreciation of what is really going on, their sloppiness and bone ignorance is truly amazing. They appear more mouth-pieces of PR agencies than professional journalists.

We'll finish this discussion Gomorra

"Substantial assistance" would essentially mean giving information to assist in the successful prosecution of at least one other person. That might end up being S. Dank but it would almost certainly involve the Essendon players. I wonder what they would get? Still seems extremely light to me.

11 games last year we led in the last qtr but ended up with only four wins. In 2012/13 Richmond managed to upset the Hawks, anything can happen. If the team runs out with a negative mindset it's already over. The win over the Crows last year was massive, in the past travelling = automatic loss.

Sod em

Moses always played well in the wet. Left the opposition for dead.

What has that got to do with this discussion?

A couple of points on Garlett, when he first arrived, had a chat to him, asked him if he was going to join in on the Malthouse bagging that both Lucas and Robinson had done, said he was now a Melbourne player and that was in the past He is really good mates with Nev Jetta, they both laughed about Garlett's love of lap running, almost as much as Nev, but I asked the fitness staff, he has not missed a session and his numbers are where they should be, still doing the same speed etc at the end of the session as at the beginning, so fitness is not an issue Nev, JKH and Garlett are forming a tight little unit, with Nev as the 'Uncle' as JKH calls him And yes the pub moment was out of character, I have asked a few who should know If Roos wanted him that will do me, I have seen a couple of moments of magic that show if his head is in the right place he will be an asset, only training I know, one he was running across the middle of the ground from left to right with ball in hand, stopped, turned and kicked down the throat of Matt Jones on left wing, not even sure how he saw him....another drill was stood with Dunny who we all know has developed into a good one on one player, Garlett went to take off Dunn went with him, but Garlett just spon around and was five metres away before Dunn could react As for him being soft, he does the wrestling drills with Nev, so I doubt he is that soft, he also knows how to tackle

All teams should get better but they don't. There are so many variables Key football staff leave. If they be coaches or valued assistants or a football manager like Neil Balme or Rodney Eade Coach stays too long. Coach loses players. Poor coaching. Out of date/poor game plan Poor player recruitment Injuries - Long list of out of season surgeries or in season injuries or injuries to key players Board instability. Lack of unified direction. Player leadership vacuum Second class training facilities/fitness staff To some degree all these things can effect on field performances of any club and we have suffered through most of them over the past years plus a few other issues that most on Demonland know well We are now strong across all areas of the club. The opportunity to improve rapidly and ahead of other teams is there and I believe we will. With a reasonable first couple of games and an injection of confidence who knows what could happen

Well this is awkward.... I spoke to a demons fan at a kids birthday yesterday, I thought he was interested in what I was saying... Moving on, I think the first 4 games are winnable, depending on which Richmond shows up. Could look at another win or 2 in rounds 8 and 11. 6 from 11 wins, could be slightly optimistic but sounds good to me.