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Sorry , had something to do first before I could put this up. Good session again today, lots of ball movement drills. Casualty ward first, no Trengove, Neal-Bullen or King. Watts and White did a short handballing session and then into swimming Howe did a few laps of slow pace running with Andrew Nicol Vince and Hunt were in rehab, doing laps and a bit of ball work Brendan McCartney appeared for the first time, did a lot of talk, during the drills Standouts in the match sim, sorry to say for the lemon suckers, Matt Jones and Jordie McKenzie, but for the optimists, Petracca did the best session I have seen from him, put Ben Newton on his arse during one match sim, playing him as a forward mostly, except when they had a full field drill with what seemed to be designated link man who had to be involved in the play, Petracca, Brayshaw, Billy Stretch (who was another to shine) and Jeff Garlett (another standout with his reading of the game and quick hands) were these designated link men. Others to shine, Dean Kent, a four bounce run down a wing and a post high goal,, Salem off half back and taking kick ins, Jack Grimes and Jimmy Toumpas, both off half back. Roos again was stressing the simple option, Viney was guilty once of going sideways, was told in no uncertain terms later on. Another drill, Fitzy got the ball unmarked on the far wing, Roos shouted Dawes so loud everybody heard it, Fitzy did the right thing and kicked straightway down Dawes' throat, Dawes had got himself free over the back. Pics will be on Twitter soon, Demonpk, any questions, feel free.

Was lucky enough to go to the AFL National Coaching Conference on the weekend and thought I would share where AFL people think coaching is at and where it is going. Keynote Speakers: Alistair Clarkson, Brendan Bolton, Leigh Russell (http://www.leighrussell.com.au/), Shane Pill (West Adelaide) and Matt Jones (Dandenong Stingrays) There were a couple more that I didn't attend for the sake of relevance and time management but the clift notes to what they said: Clarkson - 'Fun and Games' Apparently, the higher you go in the elite pyramid of footy, the less enjoyment the players seem to have playing the game. At the Hawks, they have a focus on playing games at training that look at game sense and spatial awareness and less on the usual drills that we have all grown up with in our footy lives. The games would include anything from a handball game to some soccer to some head tennis with the soccer ball to anything they can think of. He cited James Frawley as one player that was surprised to see how many 'games' they were playing at training... Bolton - 'Creating a Learning Environment' 'Challenge the comfortable, and comfort the challenged' was the message from Bolton about how he works with the players at the Hawks. In relation to the games they play at training - he reiterated that that is how one learns quicker - not by being told what to know, but to work it out themselves. The players would then take those basic lessons into games of where to run, when to block, when to help, when to corral and not tackle etc. He noted that both Clarkson and himself have a background in teaching and it shows through in how they approach teaching the players as a participant in the knowledge gathering rather than a recipient. Russell - 'Emotional Intelligence' This is something that we will know a great deal about and something that I have seen the importance of since Roos has taken over. We have all seen the failure of coaches that do not have a balanced approach to those under their charge with their emotions and empathy. She said that EI stems out of self-awareness and that those that can control their emotions and display a level of empathy and build relationships can then begin to coach - before that happens, you have nothing. Pill and Jones - 'Practical Coaching of Game Sense drills' We were treated to a training session from the Dandenong Stingrays on Etihad on Saturday (some big boys, I think TGR was there as he mentioned he saw Jake Lovett, I saw some very solid units...). The kids did their warm up and got their skills sorted and then we saw Jones take them through a handball game that is fairly simple, then incorporated some kicking and then moved into a 'zone ball' game that looked a little like an NFL-AFL-Free Jazz hybrid. Now I have done these games before with my boys, but the difference here was that these 'drills' were the focus of the sessions that they do. There is no 'coned' drill where blokes trudge from cone to cone and stand behind a line - its all free style games with a few well define rules. Another thing is that some of these games can be AFL styled but with 12v12, or 6v6, or 3v5. etc. Another thing to note was the way the coach talked to the players - never told them what he thought they were doing wrong - he asked them what they were doing right and what they could do better and he asked specific individuals rather than the same bloke every time. I also had a chance to hear Nathan Basset (Ball movement and transition), Darren Crocker (Stoppage work), Stan Alves (effective training sessions), and Peter Schwab (building a game plan). I will add a bit more on these later but I can expand on anything that anyone has particular interest in.

I have a feeling it could be more than 1 of those 3 that surprises. McKenzie's bad disposal is the biggest exaggeration on demonland. He is no Salem but he is no Godfrey either. He did one of the worst kicks of all time last year but he also set up the goal that won us the game against Essendon with pin point disposal under immense pressure. That was no fluke.

You can't boycott something you're already suspended for.

Just plain selfish

From SEN: Essendon players will not participate in any AFL-sanctioned games unless they are guaranteed any possible suspensions will be backdated to last year, says Mark Robinson. The chief football writer for the Herald Sun believes the Bombers will not participate unless they can be assured any suspension will start from the last time they played in 2014. They must not be confident they can establish they are innocent. Hey here's any idea - they can threaten to boycott the entire home and away season unless their suspensions are backdated as well.

All these blokes can kick, up until recently their team mates gave them little to kick to as they did not work hard enough to make position, or create space. If this can be turned around those who have been pilloried for their poor disposal may well surprise. Much of our poor disposal is due to lack of viable options and team mates poor work rate than straight out sub standard skill. We also have more than our fair share of poor decision makers when under pressure.

How to improve game day experience. 1. Have a curtain raiser. 2. No shitty songs at full volume. 3. No shitty ads at full volume. 4. No pre-game [censored]. 5. Luke warm 4n20 with sauce while watching the curtain raiser. 6. No betting odds 7. The prospect of actually watching a win/close game. The end

I actually think the MFC players acted (intentionally or otherwise) in a form of satire. I don't believe they had any intent to make light of child abuse, quiet the opposite. With taboo subjects I'd rather people out in the open making jokes than afraid to criticise and sweeping under the rug. That's the hallmark of those who allowed these things to happen for so long. Somewhere in the world there are (so proclaimed) Islamic nutbags who probably don't care about Rolf Harris, yet find photos such as the one I posted as extremely upsetting. Of course I think they are nuts and you have nothing but good intentions in criticising Georgiou. But exactly where do you draw the line between what is offensive and what isn't? I don't believe it but I can understand why some people think their god is pretty sacred and important whilst Rolf Harris isn't no matter how evil he is. That's what free speech means and the right to offend and be offended (which doesn't excuse bullying, harassment or otherwise). You aren't hanging him. You aren't barging in to his work armed and shooting the place up. But you are suggesting he doesn't deserve a promotion and an opportunity based on one incident that happened in his spare time, that wasn't criminal and wasn't intended to hurt anyone and if it did the responsibility might have to go to the media who made a fuss about it more than him anyway.

As someone who is based in Sydney, I can say with certainty that the training reports during the pre-season are the most valuable/important contributions that posters make on this site. That being the case, would others please respect this and stop dragging otherwise interesting threads into mindless/petty personality-based sniping.

What I would like to be reading in a couple hours time: -Stand out from today, silky Jim Toumpass -Jack Watts was super strong around the contest, head over the ball and determined -Fitzpatrick read a long ball perfectly, positioned himself for a text book contested mark, only to have Dawes jump over the top of him and take a strong one grab mark -nick maxwell wandered onto the park, mistakenly got in between Viney and a football, Medical staff are still attending -petracca "don't argued" Mckenzie through a fence, burst for 40m and nailed a goal from 60 -JKH stepped through traffic, ran to the 50m only to be run down by a desperate defensive tackle from garlett -didn't see one backwards kick in match simulation for the whole session -frost spoiled at fb, cleaned up by Jetta, hand off to lumumba who stepped through a tackle and hit a 50m switch on the chest of McDonald who took 2 bounces down the wing and hit hogan coming out of ff Anything I missed?

I almost threw up watching the news and hird carrying on about how hard done by he and the players are in all this, still won't take any responsibility for what happened, hope he gets banned for life

The game must go on. I have purchased my tickets and if they try to cancel the game, I'll take the AFL, Hird, Essendon, and Dank all the way to the High Court over this ... no, wait.

Enough on the references to Mad Monday. I say congratulations Georgiou, thanks for filling in a hole created last year when we were missing Clark and Hogan, and good luck in taking Norwood to their fourth Premiership. Let us see at the end of this season whether Georgiou's performance this year vindicates Norwood FC's faith in him.

Well I thought that was key to the ridicule Wormburner. Their intent was to innocently ridicule Harris for being a [censored] pedophile, so one dressed as a young girl and the other as Harris. Do you really not get where they were coming from, dumb though it was? Hey, I thought it was risky, dumb, naive and in poor taste, but without an ounce of malice toward child abuse victims, nor were they intending to portray child abuse as a less than serious offense, which was the only point of my comment above. The Melbourne players hearts were in a good place, they're good guys, they just stupidly, naively as kids do, underestimated how some would view their silly joke. They've been heavily whipped publicly, they apologized, hopefully their punishment should all be over now.

Well that's plainly stupid.

Saty, I sure hope you have a very thick skin because, I for one, want you to keep up the great work of your regular reports. Being stuck here on the Gold Coast (yet, poor me! LOL), I really appreciate the time and effort you put into the reports for us pathetic, unappreciative sods! Constructive debate on this site is great. But, I cannot abide the constant sniping by some.

I appreciate TDI's training reports and admire his positive outlook, but some people think that the likes of Bail, McKenzie and Matt Jones, all well into their 20's, magically become good kicks in the pre-season. They see them hit targets on the training track under no pressure in January and February and think this will translate into games. Just take it with a grain of salt because you know that once the real stuff starts Grimes will be putting them out on the full, Bail will miss plenty he should kick, McKenzie will shank it from 15 meters out and Matt Jones will kick the ball at peoples feet. Aside from Hogan, it will be the development of Toumpas, Salem, Kent, Petracca, JKH, Newton etc that determines how many games we can win this year. If these young blokes that can kick can push McKenzie, Matt Jones, Bail, Grimes and eventually Cross out of the side we will improve.

They weren't "making light of child abuse" at all, they were ridiculing Rolf Harris. Which is a completely different thing, almost the exact opposite.

That is Pathetic!!

Come on mate, comparing Jordie McKenzie to Brett Kirk is drawing a very long bow. Look at what each achieved at the mid way point of their careers. I'd take Kirk's kicking any day over Jordie's. It's great to see him putting in everything on the track, good on him, but the reality is he's a battler with poor kicking when it matters, during games.

This is what is wrong with this site, and why a lot don't post, I was asked, because I have attended every training session as to who I thought was training well, I named a 22 and tried to justify why I had picked them, rather than debate, which I will do, we have a few posters (some who have never seen a training session) who either get personal or just go on last year or the year before and repeat the same old boring mantra I am fully aware of players weaknesses, I for one from the pre season on last year kept informing that Blease still wasn't getting the bit about defence, I got howled down about that as well, yet I was proved right Thank you, this is the bit I am trying to get across, some do not want to listen

Roos actually knows what he is doing, McKenzie has been an outside mid in a lot of the drills and his link up work has been excellent, this is where he has been lacking in the past, Roos is obviously looking as to whether he has done the right thing and improved, McKenzie has been doing heaps of work with Cross, so his actual positioning has improved as well. Same with Grimes he is trying to set up so Grimes is the spare man, doing the Nick Maxwell role and mopping up and then bringing the ball out, his kicking is getting better and better as well, although that could be more of having runners everywhere to choose from

No you can wake now, get out of bed and face the real world.

I haven't come close to the High Court for many years - it's not really in the nature of my current practice to end up there. However, the amount you're quoting sounds like the cost of filing an application but it's likely to cost big bucks to have the application prepared and IMO a case of lot's more $'s down the drain to go with the estimated $1½m incurred by all parties so far which Hird or whoever's paying won't ever get back. I mentioned a couple of pages back the issues Hird and his advisors need to deal with in order to get leave to appeal. I think about one in three applications get to see the light of day in the High Court and, based on the judgments of four Federal Court judges, I think Hird's chances of overturning the judgment completely if he made it there are about one in twenty. On that basis, his best option for success is to take whatever money he wanted to waste on litigation to the Casino, lob it all on red or black (how very appropriate) at the roulette wheel and hope for the best. His chances would be much better over there.

As someone who works when training is on, I second this post.

"Our players have less rights than the average Australian citizen" Uhh hirdy, its not about their rights as citizens. Its about the contracts they signed to be able to play afl and the conditions that then apply. They arent going to jail, they will just not be able to play AFL. If i signed a contract and part of it was that i would be sacked or suspended if i failed a drugs test or if there was evidenceto suggest i had taken drugs, id expect to be sacked or suspended! Hird considers High Court action

no shortage of chutzpah out at the hangar. that's for sure

This is getting to Monty Python levels (if not already). So if the AFL don't backdate their suspensions, they will suspend themselves?? I hope whatever they took was performance-enhancing, because it doesn't sound like it was improving their thinking skills ... :)

James Hird, winner of the Australian Legal Profession Association Client of the Year 2015, contemplating yet another exercise in futility ~ Hird needs $100,000 to launch High Court Appeal Go for it Jimmy. The legal profession loves you, even if nobody else does (other than Tanya and Bomber fans on Kool-Aid).

Spencil is nailing goals, Jordie is in the best 22, Fitzy's pinpointing passes and Matt Jones is kicking truly. Woweee! They're training the house down. Round 1 can't come quick enough!

I think you are in the pessimist. Get out of there.

How has anyone else not commented on this? Jake Spencer kicked truly.......from on the edge of the 50. When Roos comes up for Sainthood I'm almost certain this will be offered up as his first miracle

Yes the intensity is there when they are told, they have to be careful that someone like Hogan or Dawes doesn't kill one of their own players, McCartney set his standard today with Max Gawn when the big guys were doing contested work, Maxy went half arsed in a second effort and rightly got told so by McCartney Dawes/Jamar/Hogan is frightening to watch sometimes Roos loves the banging bodies, there is a lot of emphasis on this when footy drills are not on

Preseason training also allows you to compare the skills of players on our list, hence my question regarding where Saty saw the many mid range mids we have. ATM Saty rates McKenzie higher than some. If he can't retain that rating in games he won't play.

Thank for your dedication in providing training updates TDI, I enjoy reading them. I do have a couple of queries however. As for the 'lemon suckers', I can't say I am in the same boat that you lump some in when it comes to analysing our list and critiquing individual players like Jordie McKenzie and Matt Jones. In fact I am more than happy to point out their individual strengths. Just as I am happy to point out their weaknesses. Out of interest, with our now new and improved midfield that features greater depth and quality than in previous years, do you see a spot in the 22 for a player like McKenzie? If so, can you outline why? What puts him ahead of someone you've left out? What does he offer that they don't? Is the reason you now regularly point out players on the lower end of the 'skill' spectrum at training, (such as Matt Jones and McKenzie) purely an emotional one due to the fact that you have formed some sort of face to face relationship with the player? Do you think an individuals performance is based entirely upon how much of a pre-season they've completed? You've spoken about the fact that Jordie is having his first full pre-season in a while which you believe will translate to his performance. I agree in some respects and aspects of playing the game. Take Dan Nicholson however. Arguably our best runner whilst on the list and certainly had enough full pre-seasons to give himself the opportunity to cement a spot in our 22. His skill level didn't seem to change regardless of how much or little of the pre-season he completed. He had questionable footskills. He always will have. The same applies with McKenzie in my mind. Anyway, would love a response to my questions written in bold.

Getting pretty sick of being force fed a manufactured 'game day experience'.

It was mad Monday FFS stop making a big deal over nothing.

I voted "other". If you are going to put a mix of current and past players on the banner then I suggest you keep it to those who have achieved something meaningful. Our captain has, three time winner of the best and fairest (admittedly not against the strongest group of players) qualifies him. Robbie has. Jimmy has. And David Neitz has. Unquestionably. Most number of games for our club. Most games as captain. Most goals for our club. A two time All Australian. Loyal in difficult times and just a ripping person. Many may not know but David received a career ending neck injury in round 5 2008 in the final year of his contract. As such he was entitled to something in the order of one years pay as compensation and of course his salary (contract) at that time was significant as he was captain. The cost of that compensation was the liability of the club and as we all know our financial position was poor at that time. David declined the payment. It cost him many hundreds of thousands of dollars. He had been playing footy for all his life; his career and earning capacity was over and in all likelihood he would never earn that sort of money again. But for the good of the club and at significant personal disadvantage he passed on the money. You'd go into battle with Neita knowing he'd always cover you. He's never received the recognition he's deserved IMO and now would be a terrific time to recognize his achievements and contribution - both on and off the field. Without disrespect Paul Roos is a Jonny come lately as far as our club is concerned. Dom Tyson has achieved nothing by comparison (and I love him). And Lynden Dunn? Drafted in 2004 and has put together 139 games. Having Dunny up there would just remind me how poor we have been. Let's recognize Neita, he deserves it.

I'm very interested to see how Brendan McCartney goes at the Melbourne Football Club. I think he is a man of great character who is highly regarded in AFL coaching circles. Specifically in his role as a development coach. It must not be forgotten the brilliant work he did at Geelong from 2000 until 2010. He was instrumental in helping to change Geelong's culture. The only issue is his unfortunate tenure at the Western Bulldogs as the senior coach. The questions need to be asked? Will he get along alright with Daniel Cross? Has he learnt from his player relationships at the Western Bulldogs? Were the Bulldogs players "sooks" and too soft or was he too harsh on the players? Personally I think Brendan McCartney has learned ALOT from his time at the Western Bulldogs and he will be brilliant in his development coaching role at the Demons! In the end, time will tell how well this relationship will work between Brendan McCartney and the Melbourne players. Either way, I have faith in the football department that we made the right decision in recruiting him to not only develop our players but also to be a mentor for Simon Goodwin when he takes over from Paul Roos as senior coach of the Demons in 2017.

Omg... I can not believe that just happened, why in the world would you throw it!

Well he wasn't captain then. Hopefully the box ticked off on another dumb thing in life as we have all done. Some of the qualities of great former captains certainly made them not ideal citizens. I can think of a few greats who should have been in prison rather than leading football teams.

Sorry, that's known to be unknowable.

irrespective of that - the major difference between the Doggies and us is the dogs at the time of letting Cross go did have some quality mature "runners" in Boyd, Griffin, Picken with up and comers in Libratore and Wallis - so whilst I don't agree with their decision ( fortunate for us !) I can understand their rationale for making the decision. We on the other hand were screaming out for mature heads with good work ethic. I would think therefore that both McCartney and Cross have moved on from that time.

i don't think hawthorn supporters had much trouble getting a good match day experience when it all boils down, 9 out of the top 10 reasons for a good match day experience are one if you rely on repetitive group chanting and free clappers then the obvious is sadly missing

The point of the reference has obviously gone right over your head which, given your monomania is hardly surprising (as is your feeble effort at wit). I'll just leave you not knowing what it is that you don't know whether you know or not. Amongst the known knowns is, of course, that you haven't got a bloody clue what's in Hird's contract.

A few 8 Goal 3rd Quarters & 9 Goal Final Quarters will do me. The Match day experience is all about hard assed footy to me. The Demon Shop in the City Square is a cool idea, bottom of the Melbourne Town Hall.

Wow, there's a first post with punch.

James just maybe what you did with Dank was unlawful Ever thought of that....? The Essendon list was bigger and stronger than other clubs at the time. Bones were broken. This is how the story emerged. Opposition players & coaches got very angry and made enquiries. This is from a very close source at Carlton who was part of that enquiry process. It happened. "Get me the good stuff (Dank) We are playing Carlton this week" You wanted to gain an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE...didn't you... This text came from your phone James. I read it and others via ABC 7.30 Report contacts.. And you still want to take this to the High Court and continue compromising the people's game?? In one respect i hope you keep your job so you can feel and hear the hatred and vitriol aimed at you weekly, the public will not forgive you James. On the other hand i would prefer to see the legal profession break you & show you up to be the tainted sportsman you really are. I despise you James Turd & your gutless club.... End rant. I feel better

Flower and Stynes are icons, could they be highlighted even more? Roos and Jones would do me as representing the current team. PS. Feel free to post my pic as a way of attracting more readers and members to Dland.