Leaderboard

* Slightly cooler today, but only by a smidge. * Roosy takes up his post in the Cherry picker again. * Vince only one running separate from the main group. * A fair few tackling drills today - Going in hard. *ANB getting praised for his disposal - I concur. * Brayshaw prides himself on his disposal - you can tell. * Newton looks to be a good pickup. Impressed me several times today. Disposal and inside 50's awesome. You can see a bit of Port play about him also. * Good spirit amongst the guys, playing what looked to be a cross between ring a ring a rosie & pass the parcel football style. * Good kicking early on. Some guys hot and cold between days, but overall looks pretty good. * Looks like being a big session, geeing each other up to keep setting the standards. * Vanders, Harmes & Kent all with the main group (not rehab today). * Petracca good vision & hands. * Garlett looks sharper today - good speed and best I've seen him all camp today. * Not a big fan of the attitude today. Seem to be a bit tired, grumpy and getting up each other (long camp) * Vanders doing pretty well again, getting lots of direction about where to go on the field today. * The guys who still have to prove themselves are constantly standing out for their efforts. Suprise-suprise * Vanders high half forward, Brayshaw high half back in Sims. * I get a higher perch to see what Roosy likes so much about being high up. It instantly occurs to me how much of a difference the good kickers make to the game plan. The lefties in particular (Hawthornesque) open up the game so well. Newton, Kent, Whitey - It reminds of what Davey use to do. * The session is taking a little nose dive at this point - A few look a little over the camp and starting to mentally switching off. Looking for the finish line - My advice ... get some more Carbs for the brain, it supposedly runs exclusively on glucose. * Lamumba streaks out of the middle with a nice read - He did some nice things today. * Roosy addressing the troops, hope he is telling them to lift their game. * Petracca a little off early, but lifting his efforts now and impressing again. Roosy has definitely told them to finish off the camp strongly and they all picked up their standards - well done boys. * Matt Goodrope looks like Trennners from a distance. * Howie dancing a little jig, hammy can't be too bad. * Newton a good tackler as well - Is there anything he isn't good at, any weakness? Haven't found it yet. * Into a few drills to get something right and then back into match sims. Finishing off strongly now. * Roosy more happy with them now. * JKH/ King/ Watts & Howe off to ice up early. Didn't see Howie train again but I could be wrong. * Kent & Riley doing a bit of extra running at the end (catch up from being in rehab I suppose) * Bit of specific individual training to finish off. * Signing off from Maroochydore. It's been a great week and a half. I realised afterwards just how much I have got out of going along each day. You definatley feel a part of it in a way and it's a real boost to the work day. * Well done MFC - now go and win some games.

On past form we would end up with Norman Gunston.

I'm against it, it's none of my business, as long as all clubs are inside the cap I'm happy.

Does everyone else love the hell out of that room? The perfect three personalities to bed with Petracca, each with contrasting and admirable traits. Really curious about which 3 players they put Brayshaw with.

Watts' often plays well in Darwin when they go in those big cool rooms during the breaks. You could be on to something here Ron! I'm just a bit over the Roos is a messiah because he got Watts to have a season remarkably similar to ever other year he's had. And that Watts' is some kind of special outside player who can play good footy whilst refusing to put his body on the line. It's crap. He's not the third Hill brother. He's not even Andrew Gaff. You got to go when it's your turn and do defensive things. It's really pretty simple stuff.

This is one of those threads that makes up for all those threads that descend into pure pettiness/mediocrity. Thanks for the reports RB - they've been absolutely sensational and very much appreciated.

correct, azzkika, this is a cherry picker

Agreed. The letter reads like a contrived after the fact ass covering. Was it really hand written and not email? Does he have an Essendon email account? Any email account that he uses professionally? Why not use that instead of hand writing something of such importance that there would be no possible duplicate nor proof of delivery or existence. Any one in the workforce that uses email is taught in week 1 to "PUT IT IN AN EMAIL" for proof. The snail mail version of this is a REGISTERED LETTER with a photocopy! A flimsy memo for something so important FFS? I might take 6 weeks off work without advising anyone and on my return drop a post dated letter in my bosses office, "sorry boss, I wrote you a letter, didn't you get it?" "sorry boss for the 4 hour lunch break, I wrote you a letter, can't you find it?" "Sorry boss, I didn't like my colleagues stripping the office bare and selling the furniture and computers for personal profit, but I wrote a letter, can't you find it?" "The hand-written letter was intended for chief executive Ian Robson and his directors, and yet none of the above were aware of it until February this year. That document was not seen by Evans until about one year later, shortly before the story broke" How very convenient, just before the story broke it pops into existence. Link From memory the "letter" wasn't found till AFTER the story broke. "Lost" until the SHTF? Any fair minded person would have to be suspicious. You could plant a market garden in this steaming pile of a story!!!

No problem guys - all in a days work Also my way of giving back to the guys down in Melbourne who provide an ongoing coverage for supporters interstate like myself.

I fear the blood rule would see him being unable to take the field.

While not sticking strictly to a Paleo diet I am eating less and drinking more water.I have some scales on holiday but they are not very accurate. Depends if you lean what it shows. Get home on Saturday and back onto regular scales and would expect a small loss. Might try and go a bit more caveman when I return. That doesn't mean belting the wife over the head with a club either, especially as I would be scared she would belt me back harder.

Absolutely agree. Watts is clearly a very good player. It's just that many have wanted him to be a different type of player to what he actually is, which is a highly skilled, athletic, outside type player with supreme vision, i.e. not another hard nosed ball winning inside mid in the mould of Nate Jones, or a burly aggressive forward like Jonathon Brown. Doesn't mean he's not an excellent player to have on our list though. I reckon Roos knows/recognises this.

That must make it really difficult with only half a brain as well....

Forget Danger I say we go hard for Tim Cahill, one year contract as a key forward.

..and I read yours as: "Lamumba steaks out of the middle with a nice red..." Oh boy, I made a meal out of that one..

I am not Watts basher but "very good player" and "excellent player to have on our list" is overreach IMO. I agree with your assessment of his skillset and he is the player that I am most comfortable having the ball in his hand and I love his vision in that he opens up play.To be a very good player he needs to do it more consistently. As yet he has not been a week in and week out footballer. He has had some games where he is really been good for a couple of quarters and then goes missing. I think Roos understands exactly what he has but I would hope that he has expectations that he does what he does more frequently and consistently

When running a programme as 'cutting edge' as this he should have been all over it. Instead he says he wrote a memo that was never received (dog ate my homework) and thousands of injections were carried out at a clinic across the road supposedly under his watch. Yeah I reckon he should be deregistered..

Clearly climate scientists are not real scientists I know that cos Rupert told me

Exactly. In a functioning forward line with Dawes, Hogan, Pedo/Jamar/Gawn/Fitzpatrick causing some concern for the opposition I envisage Watts playing the mobile third forward option. Someone who is tall and mobile and drifts back and forward along with Howe. He has the skills but there is always the question marks over his desire. Let's hope this year it all comes together. And we have in other threads talked about his leads not being honoured by a fairly pedestrian midfield. If our midfield becomes competitive and more skilled, things could change markedly. Fingers crossed as usual for the last 8 seasons.

I would say that Goddard and Del both went for what they thought were premiership tilts. The bombers blew up on Goddard and Del is still in the race but I can't see him getting there. Daisy got a great offer to join his mentor. The delusional Carlton people would have you believe they are a legitimate contender, I would say that is for the spoon.... I don't know if we can offer more money than other clubs but wouldn't want to anyway.

Give it a rest! You (and heaps of you) have your complaints about Jack - Demi Dee expresses positive belief about Jack on the basis of thinking he will benefit from a toughening up of the team around him. Do you disagree about the toughening up of the team around Watts? Do you disagree with Demi Dee's point that someone who is not especially aggressive himself and has been criticised for not being physical enough could be expected to walk taller when surrounded by tougher team-mates? But no - you have to ignore the positive thoughts and grab for the negative spin you can put on this comment on the growth of the team and its probable impact on Watts. An attemptedly arrogant Watts, with his physique and character, and the lack of support around him, would only have invited mockery until now. I agree with Demi Dee - things may be very different this year, and if Jack is part of the general improvement in confidence and assertiveness, it will be lovely to watch. Starting the assertive and physical stuff was never going to be Jack Watts' thing - but we all know what he will have to offer when there is a space made for him to do it. (And don't pick at that - you might as well argue that everything depends on the ruckman, because he's the first cab off the rank every time there's a ball-up; or try to argue that forwards are useless because they aren't the ones who get the ball down there. Watts is a role-player. Demi Dee suggests the team is developing in a way that makes his role more viable than it has been. Good point to make, and without any need for sneering and - yawn - Watts-bashing.)

Watts will grow enormously this year. We all agree his skill set, vision, size and knowledge across all the lines should see him potentially be one of the most damaging players in the league. What he has lacked from day one is that feeling of having his back covered. The confidence to go in hard, knowing that if it all turns pear shaped, a couple of the boys will stand them down. One or two of those players whom others fear. Someone to rag doll the opposition, make them think twice. We have lacked that presence. Watts will find a swagger when other teams know it's going to hurt to play us. Collingwood had it that day, but, I think Watts would love nothing more than to run amok against their young backline while Hogan quietly shatters their self belief.

Norman Gunston, played by Garry McDonald, would that mean we could have three McDonalds on the list.

Old Dee, my mother always told me, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." You need to substitute "positive" for "nice" and teach yourself to be optimistic. Every time we utter negative comments a little part of us shrivels up and dies. At this rate you're talking yourself into an early grave. I'm not sure my contact is going to be able to help you out if you don't do your bit. If you want to live to see another premiership, you'd better get on board the optimism bus. Don't give me any of that reality bus BS - wouldn't you rather be on a bus heading for somewhere sunny and bright instead of driving around in circles thinking about how bad things might be? Get on board OD.

Me too AD

Just to expand on the issue about Jack Watts and aggression... In my opinion, the way Mick Malthouse and, I suspect, Mark Neeld coach(ed) was to say to the players. "This is my hypothetical perfect footballer. You have to change to become that footballer". On the other hand, I believe Paul Roos coaches by saying to the players "I need to know what you're good at and what your weaknesses are. We're going to make the best use of your strengths and try to eliminate your weaknesses."

The need to change environment as part of your recovery is a thoroughly plausible and legitimate possibility. I know because I've had to do it myself. I'm bipolar, and several years ago I had a full-blown episode which forced me off work for a time. Work itself wasn't the trigger, but the environment was compounding the problem. Thanks to the good grace of my employer at the time, I was able to return to work in the same job but in a different office - virtually the same as returning to footy but at a different club. I find it staggering that anyone on here thinks they can diagnose, analyse or otherwise understand Mitch's health and condition based purely on a few media statements and his Twitter feed.

I will start by saying I like Jack Watt's and I think he is a good player. I don't think Jack Watt's body is the problem, I think he has an aversion to pain. And by the way so do I. Jack's fear of pain is more highly developed than most AFL footballers, I think he is too smart to allow himself to get hurt. He will still be a good player for us, better as the team improves around him. On Petracca I hope he is not like Anthony Bannick, (look him up)

You were there to see the fight? You are a legal expert? Let's just wait and see the outcome before making uneducated guesses.

Our entire team has improved a lot - on paper. I'm feeling more confident this year than others that we'll finally start winning games by good margins. The forward line looks good as long as Hogan stays fit, Dawes lifts and Pedo backs up his talk with some walk and gets on the end of a few more goals this year. With the other talls resting forward and our smaller brigade with another year and solid pre season behind them it should result in better scoring ability. I'm wary of placing too much expectation on Petracca. Sure, he's a well built and skilful youngster who can kick long goals but he's not played a game yet. I reckon we'll get more goals from Tyson and Salem this year. I just want the season to hurry the f... up and start.

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

Sometimes I just think it is the Richmond jumper. You could put the leagues best 22 in those colours - and they'd still finish 9th.

seaweed extract apparently Bbo.... but mind the gritty sand http://www.larrysfunnybone.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Beginning-of-logic-300x242.png & IF you need a break between sets, either have a Kit-Kat, or take up art looks like even Raffa has gone Paleo over the off-season

Another sensational finish at the 'G from the Stars, and a brilliant innings from Hanscomb to win them the game (and bring up his ton) when they looked gone for all money. Marsh batted well too.

i don't think medications count as a diet bbo but as i alluded to before a mars bar gives a quick energy rush (but as you know comes with great responsibility)

Having had to trim more than a page of posts, I think this is done and dusted. If you want to continue to talk about mental health, start a thread on the general board. This thread's about an injured Geelong player - one who no longer cares for our club - which makes it dubious at best.

:) tell this to your northern seat buddies DC time for Paleo so they can get the energy to stand & yell & cheer, instead of wrapping hands together

Completely different anti doping rules in place, different burden of proof. Surprised Galbally would offer such an opinion in those circumstances. Surely, he's aware of the WADA Code and the AFL's anti doping policy? No?

Dodging penalties by saying "But I was told it was OK by our doctor" is a recipe for rampant drug cheating. Sadly for the naive, deaf or inattentive, it can't be used as an excuse. It can be used to hang the doctor however.

I don't understand how you can think that the fact that MC has got himself well enough to recommence an AFL career makes your assertion (bolded above) correct. I would have thought the opposite is true if anything. That's to say there is every chance that if he simply, in true Aussie bloke fashion, tried to 'tough it out' and stayed put his mental health might have got much worse, any other issues in his life might have got worse and he may have ended up quitting (or being fired) and never return to footy. I am guessing, contrary to your views that he would rethink his decision to retire, that MC and those who care about him most likely think he made exactly the right call. Supposition of course but he presumably got professional advice that retiring was the best thing he could for his mental health. I very much doubt that outside of forum posters he would have received any advice from trained professional to 'tough it out'. A quick glance at the Beyondblue website linked above would demonstrate that such strategies are likely in fact to make things much worse. Toughing it out is the very reason so many Australian men suffer from depression. And of course the less said the better about characterizing him retiring from footy to get treatment as running away from his problem (as opposed to actually addressing it which is what he has done). The fact he has chosen to recommence his career at GFC is completely irrelevant to the any discussion about his choice to retire.

What constitutes "facts" on these forums is often known in other circles as "chinese whispers".

Do you know this as fact Lamashtu? Just curious to know who MC actually said this to and where his manager stated as fact that he was unwanted at Melbourne. Is there an interview or article you can link here? I'd genuinely like to know, as all I've ever heard about this has been (at best) speculative hearsay. Cheers

Jack took captaincy very seriously and there is every chance that he took the loses and set-backs of the last few years personally...not it being his fault but that he couldn't lead his team our of the mire, either by his own performance or motivating his team. I would like to see him in the LG. Different times and people, I know but I didn't like it when Green went from captain to no-where. I just feel we need to give the right message through behaviour and treating our ex-captains with more respect is one such way. We didn't do it with Junior and Green; we are somewhat doing it with Trengove and I hope we do so with Grimes. So hope to see him in the LG.

Where is the dislike button? Can't get to it quick enough.....

Moonie, as you may now realise,TDI has a close connection to the boys. Let no man intervene. The lads can choose their own friends.

Who are you again and where am I?

Collingwood Football Club's new home ground with state of the art retractable roof! - courtesy of Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson.

Even at this early stage that is post of the day for me.

this is the worst logic I've ever seen

Thats' because they never went on end of season footy trips