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Got there around 9:45ish this morning and it looked like the boys had just finished warming up. You wouldn't think it was February ... almost felt like mid-winter out there! The odd shower and cold, gusty winds didn't really make for fun viewing conditions so I was pretty glad it wasn't a long session in the end. Basically all skills and drills from what I could see. Anyway, I'll note down my thoughts below: Vince and Hunt wearing out the boundary line running laps today. Vince did some non-contact drills as well with Terlich, Watts and Howe on the opposite side. Hunt did a bit of kick to kick with a trainer for awhile, then pounded out the km's again. Dawes, Newton and White were kicking to each other early but they must've left soon after as I didn't see them for most of it. No sign of Trengove or ANB. It must've been a good year for coaches / trainers ... they seem to have multiplied like the rabbits this last spring! They were everywhere - it almost felt like they outnumbered actual players. McCartney was there, instructing some of the younger fellas and also Spencer with marking. Also did some reflex/off-the-ground hand ball drills 1 on 1 with White. Started off with short kicks in groups of 3's then some drills in the middle. The team then broke off into forwards, mids and backs for drills. The forwards consisted of Hogan, Fitzy, Kent, Garlett, JKH, Pederson, Vandenberg and Petracca. This was good to watch, drills included roving marking contest/stoppage and kicking around the body on the run, from different spots inside 50. After a while the drill was changed so half were in high viz and manned up the other forwards. Alternately, each player would be simulating a kick in from the goal square and have to pick one of the other 3 leading players in 1 on 1's, then back to goal kick and repeat. They also practiced dribbling the ball towards goal from either boundary. Garlett appeared to kick the most, more accurate than the rest with the dribble goals. Then probably Hogan, who ended up on the end of the majority of kick outs following good leads etc. Petracca looked pretty comfortable in from of the big sticks. I think I mention it every time, but how are his legs so big?!? Vandenberg looks very solid/big through the upper body, quite a unit. Didn't see much of the backs as they were at the other end, but included the McDonald bros, Dunn, Garland, Frost, Grimes and Jetta. Don't quote me on it but pretty sure I saw Lumumba and in there for at least part of it. Salem was there for the last part as well, though did more time with the mids prior to that. They were a fair way away but was all getting ball out of defence, surprisingly ... The mids trained in 3 groups, rotating through different drills. The one closest to me was led by Goodwin, who also put on a high viz vest for parts to make up numbers. Shame he isn't playing anymore, laid some good tackles! This drill was 2 of Spencer, Gawn and Jamar in the ruck trying to tap to their 'team' (vest or no vest) who would try and clear the ball. This basically involved all players I haven't mentioned above ... Toumpas trained with the mids all session, whereas Salem joined the backs after a while. After these drills everyone practiced their set shots at the Swan St. end. All looked reasonable, considering the gusty conditions, but then again they were under zero pressure. Jones and Brayshaw were keeping score again, trying to put each other off. From what I heard I'm pretty sure Brayshaw actually won today. Career limiting move for him showing up the captain? Jones seems to have taken him under his wing. Jetta, Garlett and JKH seem to stick together a lot of the time. Salem and Viney also kicking with/against each other. Salem didn't miss too many ... O McDonald kicked pretty truly as well, one off his left too. Once again McKenzie and Cross were still there when I left, along with Grimes and Spencer, as the last on ground.

While it is only February and it IS only training, there was plenty to like about the situation we had today on the track. I don't need to repeat what TDI and Ruffles have reported, so I'll just add some general observations, and what makes this year different from the past dozen or so years that I've been at training ... * The way the training is so much more organised. As Ruffles noted, the coaches have multiplied like rabbits in the off-season, but it is only good. It means when you have 40+ players turning up, we have the resources to spend one-on-one time with them. Especially good for the younger ones who can be taken aside or given extra tuition. Roos runs the show, but then expects all the assistants to get their groups together for specialist work. e.g. Goodwin with the mids, but working on boundary throw ins. Rawlings with the defenders, but working on getting to and spoiling a contest, and then following up with delivery out of defence. * The concentration on kicking. Now I know this has been a bug-bear of supporters for many years, and we all envy the likes of Hawthorn who deliver flawlessly when needed. However, there has been much more emphasis on clean delivery by foot this year, and again, while it is only training it certainly looks to be having an effect. Practice makes perfect, they say, and it looks like it might be happening. For the whole session I didn't see a kick go astray. Certainly can't say I've seen that before, so hopefully come the season ... * The competition for spots. Again it is a month away from any serious type football, but we are in a good place. TDI and Ruffles have told you about who is on limited/restricted work, but of that whole group Howe, Watts, Vince and Terlich were the only ones who played last year. And Watts and Vince must be within days of a return to full training given the speed they are running around the boundary. Remember the start of last year? Garland, Gawn, Jamar all missing, T.Mac out after 1 game ... This year for example the backs are Dunn, Garland, T McDonald, Frost, Lamumba, as certainties. Fill the last remaining hole with Grimes, Salem, Howe, Watts, Jetta etc. In the ruck Jamar, Spencer and Gawn are all fit, with Fitzpatrick looking in the best condition he ever has at the club. 1 ruck last year to start, and we have 4 this year! Can we throw in Pedersen as well? Forwards are equally endowed with Hogan and Garlett as extras this year. The mids have added Lumumba (when not defending), and have a full list to pick from save ANB at the moment. Did I mention draft picks 1 & 2? Where do they fit in? A big change from when we pushed the prime draft picks on to the field at the first opportunity in years gone. Expect some interesting viewing at Casey in the first half of the year. * Medical management It's only little things, but we are keeping players on the track now through better management. Watts and Vince allowed to run at will and full pace. Not so Howe who had to run a steady pace with a trainer alongside. No risks being taken, and problems managed on an individual basis. Big players ( Dawes) given occasional light sessions to save them from the punishing that happens. Players told to report the slightest injury or suspected problem as soon as it happens. No "getting through it" or "running it out" before the medico's have had a look.

I agree, I want finals in 2015.

Short session today about hour and a bit. Not there Trengove, Neal-Bullen and King (think he has a health issue). Rehabbing - Vince, Watts, Terlich, Hunt, Howe, White - 2 on a very short session Dawes (a deload day, said he was resting on his laurels), Newton. Most of the session squad was broken in groups, defence, midfield, forward, Petracca and Vandenberg trained exclusively with forwards. Forwards - goal kicking drills, defence - spoiling, midfield - stoppages. Brayshaw, Salem and Lumumba trained at some stage with defence, rest of time midfieldish. Last off the track, Cross, McKenzie, Grimes and Vandenberg. Only the new players will be at AGM tonight, Gus Brayshaw is actually looking forward to attending. Nathan Jones and Lynden Dunn both very humble when I congratulated them on captain and vice captain. Dawes nearly tore my arm off when shaking his hand, Lumumba same as Jones and Dunn, Cross as well. Didn't get a chance to ask Garlo, will try on Friday, it was miserable day weather wise, most players just glad to get inside. Again any questions, feel free and pics will be on Twitter Demonpk, also nice to have a good chat with George on the Outer.

Really a set up for Petracca. They asked him and Brayshaw what his first impression was of the club. He said the TAC were slowly bridging the gap so the step up to AFL standard wasn't so huge. Brayshaw then jumped in and said Christian really felt the first day when the running was pretty full on and he struggled. Roos then asked them both who were they looking up to within the club to model themselves on. Petracca said it was Jack Viney. He loves the way he trains and plays. Brayshaw said it was Nate Jones, he is lucky enough to be living with him. They do a lot of running together and also have bets on the side at goal kicking. He is losing a bit of money at the moment. They both have really picked 2 great role models.

Had a chance to chat to him when I was down in Melbourne last weekend - his former Ainslie NEAFL mates smuggled him into the Sat Night of the Coaching Conference at Etihad to watch the last 60 mins of the Asian Cup (he didn't watch much of it though). He was strictly on the waters too - he is very keen to do the right thing (TGR - if you were anywhere near the bar on the far end of the room - that's where he was). He is a very confident boy but said he has got nothing on these AFL boys. Hopefully they can take that confidence into games... I won't repeat everything he said but one piece of relevant information was that the 1st year players have not been given a position of the ground that they will play or a specific role - they have just been told to concentrate on a basic mindset of good behaviours; all the ones you can think of that a player needs - from training habits, to recovery, to in game behaviours like sheparding, attack on the footy and the how they want to play as a team. I would say it is like a little boot camp to get the new recruits up to speed - tinker with the plan for those with experience with it, and let the recruits learn in their first year. He is confident they will give him a couple years to get going but he looks solid, he looks stronger than he was a few months ago, and he is just keen to get down to Casey and play some good footy in 2015 and earn that second year.

mfc website: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-02-04/dees-aim-for-finals-in-16 Extracts: - Jackson knows the task will not be easy and emphasised the aspiration was to play one final before Roos departed as senior coach at the end of 2016. - Jackson said the club wanted to have 50,000 members by 2017. - He proposed that the club's heartland ranged from Malvern to the south-eastern suburbs, part of which used to encompass the club's recruiting zone. - Melbourne has focused its energies on the City of Casey growth corridor after striking a 30-year-deal in 2009 and Jackson admitted the club was in an ongoing discussion with the City of Casey about that arrangement. "We're not going to walk away from that entirely. It's more rebalancing up the effort. I think the effort was out of balance in the past," Jackson said. Great goals and doable. Wouldn't it be fab if Roos could end his tenure with a finals appearance! Great for Goodwin to come in on a high. Interesting comments about 'rebalancing' the relationship with Casey. Another major plank of past administrations being dismantled! BTW Life Members from tonight: Lynden Dunn, Alan Johnson, Lynda Carroll, Aaron Davey, Stephen Bickford, Clyde Laidlaw Congratulations to all. Hasn't it been a great year for Dunn, first Vice Captain and now Life Membership!

Perfect leadership group. It's funny, under the new guard (Roos, PJ etc), I no longer find myself thinking the club is doing 'curious' or 'interesting' things. It now just makes common sense, almost boringly obvious/measured decisions, about pretty well everything. This is just another example.

what short memories people on here have.

It sickens me that Chris Connolly has effectively been hounded out of football, for telling a recruiting meeting that they would all be sacked if the MFC didn't get the PP. Whether it was a joke or not, that comment and that comment alone, got CC supended for a year without pay. That has then led to his virtual expulsion from the AFL. Who did he inject? Whose life did he put at risk? Didn't he cop it on the chin immediately? How many Court challenges did he launch? How many following seasons of AFL football did he stuff up? Yes it sickens me, that CC is lost to football and the Bombers golden boy swans around blaming the whole world, for a system he was ultimately responsible for, yet at the same time taking no personal responsibility and getting paid like a king, while he does so. SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Interestingly a question was posed about potential for a standalone VFL team. While it was unanimous amongst the club that would be the preferred option, there is a binding partnership agreement with Casey in place until December 2018, and would be prohibitively expensive to break, so we're stuck with that alignment till then. The "Red and Blueprint" was nowhere to be seen tonight, replaced with "Respected and Great", or something to that effect. With 6 key pillars to take us forward. Docklands has never been looked at as a potential new training ground, Aspendale Elsternwick had but would cost $37 million to get completed, E Gateway is a possibility we might look at down the track. We are looking for something that will fulfill our needs in ten years time, right now there's nothing that we 'need' at AAmi that we don't have but we're looking to future proof. Intimidated that some government and sports admin types would prefer us out of Aami, and the Rebels based there in our place. Just on the training levels, the accepted amount to have been considered to have had a full 'uninterrupted' pre season is considered 25 sessionsby Feb 14. And the number that have, touch wood, completed that are way up on last year as previously stated. Great to see Ron Barassi in attendance, he will be the voice of a new rebranding marketing campaign to kick off in the next few weeks. Pretty straight forward meeting, Roos ended his speech with a quip that Petracca was the best ever footballer to come out of Beverly Hills, and on that light hearted note he was off!

Not sure if he was ever Vice Captain, was definitely in the Leadership Group at the time, but I recall Corey McKernan plastering Matt Capuano's nose across his face during a training drill at Norf. Two rucks vying for the one spot, the old bull "teaching" the young bull how to give yourself the best chance of obtaining said spot. I have read it on here about Dunn tackling Bail when he was off-limits - can someone who was actually at training that day back this up? The story with kneeing Viney - would Viney want it any other way? Not a Dunn apologist, but as with a number of things on here, I am taking it with a grain of salt. FWIW, the training session I went to at Maroochydore, I stood at the fence within arms reach of a group of players during one drill. Was good to hear them talking/encouraging/instructing during a drill - stuff you don't get to read about on DL or see on TV. This particular drill, Jetta was scrapping the hell out of each of his opponents, probably 30 metres or so from where I (and the group) were standing. At least four of the players were yelling out to Jetta to stop it as it was deemed a "non contact" drill. Terlich, who was in the group, explained that Jetta does this during a game and never gives away a free kick so he keeps doing it. The talk went from a few players yelling at Jetta to stop the contact, to yelling at his opponent to "fcuking punch him". A member of our 2015 Leadership Group was among those yelling. In regards to the LG, I think it's a great group. They are a group of mature bodies who, I hope, reagardless of the game status (ie on the line, we're getting smashed, or god forbid, us smashing someone), none of them will put the cue in the rack, and will play "team first" footy, rather than worrying about individual KPI's and trying to impress (and earn the respect of) fellow teammates, something that younger leaders often feel obliged to do.

There's one aspect of this which has hardly been aired and that is the fact that the alleged illegality of a joint investigation was first raised by the Essendon/Hird camp in August 2013 at the time of the AFL's governance sanctions against the Bombers. At the time those sanctions were accepted, albeit grudgingly by the club and all of its personnel with the exception of Doc Reid (the prevailing view is that he fought them to preserve his professional standing). The Essendon/Hird camp could have gone to court then to seek a ruling on the legality of the joint AFL/ASADA investigation but instead held their fire for ten months while the investigation proceeded, thereby delaying the issue of infraction notices and the ultimate tribunal hearing for several more months. The whole strategy has been one of delay and obfuscate; a battle of attrition hoping to break ASADA's resolve or force it into committing errors allowing them to gain some relief by stealth. Four Federal Court judges have unanimously dismissed the notion that the investigation was unlawful. I don't see how it could possibly be in the public interest for an appeal to the High Court to allow the hearing of the claims of anti-doping violations by the players in a properly constituted tribunal and its outcome to be further delayed and placed in doubt for another twelve months which is what would happen if leave to appeal was granted. #endthefarcenow

"By all reports miles from the pack in terms of fitness" I go all the way to Maroochydore to file a training report only to be met with this throw away! Garland is ready to play a big part in our resurgence. He is going to balance out a backline that includes Dunn, McDonald, Jetta, Grimes, and Lumumba beautifully. He was tearing it apart up north, and I'm so glad we have him fit and firing... you'll have to wait until the real stuff starts to retract your misfire!

Roos did a brief q and a with HL and Frost and then Petracca and Bradshaw, 'on the couch' he dubbed. H said he was impressed with professionalism of club, expected it to be way behind Collingwood, Frost happy to be back home in melbourne, living with family and having a break from footy at the end of each day. Petracca commented on big gap between tac cup and afl, brayshaw concurred, reminding us of the footage of Christian near death experience on day one of preseason! Lyndon dunne's little boy had his demon jumper on with 14 and 'Daddy' on the back. Too cute! PJ talked about 10 year strategic plan and others have said, it includes 6 pillars he talked about 3. 1. Fans. In the attempt to engage new fans in growth corridors, heartland has been ignored. More focus on inner East and bayside suburbs 2. Branding, linking MFC with the city of Melbourne. Interesting that he said that the facts that we were the original club in the competition, we wrote the rules of the game, and that we bear the name melbourne, is not WHY we are great but why we NEED to be great. That we have a sort of responsibility to the city to be great. We can expect more efforts to strengthen links between the footy club and the city of Melbourne going forward. 3. Footy, others have covered this, aim to make finals 2016. Roos compared this preseason to the last, in that 38 players had completed benchmark 25 sessions, compared with only 25 last season. These comments aren't meant to be a verbatim account, so excuse any shortcomings please

MFC Twitter extracts re Paul Roos' at AGM: - Roos says last year we had 25 players complete all of the pre-season training sessions. This year, we should have 38 out of 44 achieve - At some point you have to go from being a competitive team to being a team that wins. -The biggest focus we've had in the pre-season is to be a very competent and good two-way running team, as all of the best teams are. - Paul Roos will now conduct a Q&A with Heritier Lumumba, Sam Frost, Angus Brayshaw and Christian Petracca. Looks like all the training reports from DL's are spot on re the level of training: 38 of 44 players completing pre-season is amazing!

Hemingway, I call it the Sunshine Coast effect. In the weeks leading up to the Maroochydore camp, the smart ass Victorian supporters would hang frequent shite on us Qld'ers. In turn, what we saw, present company included, were training reports of the highest quality, and the raising of the bar to such heights that cocky Mexican's soon realised that their standards were quite poor, and to be considered a "decent training reporter", they needed to lift their games. On behalf of all Qld'ers that assisted in this change, to the rest of you I say "you're welcome"!!!

Sorry to be pain RB but IMO it has nothing to do with the Demons, Dees or Melbourne.It is all about winning Games and Flags over the last thirty years.

I cannot believe the MFC had begun working with Dank literally hours before the sh!t hit the fan He is just a con man with some scientific knowledge Meanwhile the Bummers still train. Hello Gill...anyone home??

I do not mean necessarily broke in the financial sense, although I think both with Essendon and Hird I think this is a possibility. For the first time in this episode, Hird when discussing going to the High Court, he has said "I need to raise the $100,000 to do it first". He has also recently sold his Toorak house, allegedly to pay for his fight. If he is found guilty by ASADA, in my view likely (I know some on here question this as he hasn't been issued with infraction notices currently - well all I will say is that neither were Armstrong's coaches initially but after he was rubbed out, they also received penalties ranging from 10 years to life), and even rubbed out for 5 years, his ability to earn an income will be severely reduced and my guess is that Essendon will use this as a reason not to pay out his contract, particularly if a new regime takes over there. Then there is Workcover, which is more likely to impose heavy fines (than for instance send directors to jail, although that also is a possibility) both on Essendon and Hird. Confirmation of penalties either by the AFL Tribunal or CAS will almost certainly be followed by legal action by the players rubbed out (and any coaches and officials affected) against the AFL, Essendon and Hird. These will not only be extremely costly to mount (and Essendon have said they will cover any legal cost of the players, although it is unclear whether this includes legal action against the Club itself), will probably take years to resolve, and could result in overall damages in the tens of millions of dollars. Even Hird and Essendon would struggle with that. At best it would severely weaken the club for decades. In this I have absolutely no sympathy for either Hird or Essendon. I do have some for the players, even though they all have extensive education about drug taking, but you could imagine a sociopath like Hird making it a "my way or the highway" type stance in this which would make it very difficult to resist. The downside for the rest of us is that this whole episode will severely damage Aussie Rule football in general, and the AFL in particular, when the challenge coming from Soccer is greater than ever, and lifestyle and technological changes give the young so much more choices than playing and watching sport. We don't need the Hirds of this world, and the sooner we are rid of them the better.

People that don't understand ruckwork tend to play down the intricacies. If it were easy, anyone could do it, just get a tall dude. Clubs are prepared to trade for ruckmen or develop them for years not knowing if they will ever be any good. Why is that? Ruckmen are important. If ruckwork was not important why not just have an extra midfielder and concede the ruck? Sides with dominant ruckmen usually win. So the opposition will plan to negate that influence. How? Position, timing, variation, blocking, aggression etc. I use to love watching Jimmy play, not a dominant ball up ruckman but he would beat his opponents by running them into the ground, he would get to more stoppages than his opponent and give silver service to his onballers.

ESSENDON have also been sold a "pup" by their PR and legal advisors. All their advice, and the advice to the Hirds, which has seemingly been devised to appeal to James and Tania's sociopathic egos, has been extremely self serving. What surprises me is Little's behaviour in all this, particularly given his extremely successful business career. Anyone who has delt with senior advisors of this sort in corporate life, as I have, always treats this sort of advice with some degree of scepticism, especially when it is so obviously self serving. There seemingly is no nuanced response in this case, and his love for the EFC seems to have has got in the way of his previously ruthless business judgement.WJ, I'm sure you are as aware as I am, that the PR and Legal communities in Victoria just view ESSENDON and particularly the Hirds as a gift which just keeps on giving. I was in a discussion the other night with a number of barristers who are friends of my lawyer children, and most of the topic discussed was how could they get in on the Hird/ESSENDON millions. There was no discussion on the rights and wrongs of the case: simply the naivety of the "players" and how this might make them rich. This looks very much what has been motivating their current advisors and seems to be reemerging in the discussions about a High Court challenge, one they have no hope of winning, except how it will make the advisors themselves financial winners - again! One wonders when this will ever end. The problem is that the consequences of this behaviour is that it will almost certainly break Hird, morally and financially, and possibly also send an extremely wealthy club like essendon to the wall. It need not have been so. If they had stuck to the advicers employed under Evans with the AFL's strong support, this would have been over long ago, with Hird removed from the AFL richer, and ESSENDON now preparing for an optimistic 2015 campaign. Instead a cloud now hangs over the AFL and Essendon, and is likely to erupt into Armageddon during the course of this year - all because of the huge egos and distorted personalities of three very flawed people.

Darren Crocker (NM Midfield Coach) "Stoppages and Bodywork" That's my own title, the official one was 'Stoppages and Transition' but I got more transition chat from Bassett (I will get to in another post). They want to be the iniators and agressors at stoppages and while that is all well and good for any team to say, what they mean by that is that they won't wait for contact - they will give it first, they will try to work you under the ball, push you off to give themselves room, and shepard and push you to keep you from going to where you want to go. He illustrated that they train the players how to do these things using a very simple drill with the small trampoline net that every sunday cricket team seems to have these days. Just throw the ball to a pair and get one to aggressively get in front and cut off a player at the last minute (called wedging), work a player under the ball and take the ball over the top (this was illustrated with a ruckmans tap and is the player is called the 'piggy in the middle' - they try to avoid getting to close to the contest), and push an opponent off balance and receive the ball and hand it off. All of these require timing. He noted Ziebell is effortlessly well timed with all his aggressive movements (they love this bloke, seriously love him). Stoppage Principles: Balance attack and defence, Roles, Urgency and Workrate, be predictable with the taps and create space, 3rd man up an option (and not just to punch it a distance, also as a close tap), Inside contest (get into position late, drift there, create seperation), outside contest (wings, mid fwd roles defined and very disciplined), and use the first option when you get the pill. Point of Interest - he showed the Hawks manipulating both the Power and the Swans at stoppages in the forward half and on centre wing. With the Power, the forwards came up in a wall to the goal side of the stoppage to stop the power from going 'out the back' and through the middle. Against the Swans the made the Swans forwards push up into nothing positions following a deliberately misplaced wing that gave them one less forward, the other wing does the same and suddenly the Swans have 4 forwards (as a CHF, when this happens often, it is curtains - you can't score much when it is 4 against 6. This is using a team rule of the Swans against them. Crocker illustrated it beautifully. And lastly, he went through a few centre clearances of the Roos including a couple against Nathan Jones. And I mean, Nathan Jones. He is our target for most of our taps and due to Jamar being a left hander and the fact that Jones gets 40% of our clearances - teams know exactly where we are going. It is testament to Jones that he continues to be so effective. I have missed a couple of things (TGR?), but if anything peaks interest let me know and I can expand.

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.

Or what

He might not be the best motivational speaker but don't underestimate his role in the current winds of change and improvement (unmeasured I know) at MFC. I know we love PJ and Roosy and we hear a fair bit from them, but Bartlett's fierce business acumen, acute understanding of the organisational playing field, and ability to lead quietly in the background letting others take the spotlight is a rare gift. Since he took the top job I have considered all the changes and decisions to be from 3 great people not only 2. Having said that PJ and Roosy do make me feel ok about footy again!

I haven't found the time to pore over Bruce Francis's ramblings on Bombertalk as yet. Francis claims to have spent 40 hours interviewing Dank. I find that surprising. When Dank was asked some time ago why he didn't defend the Cronulla players he said he didn't have the time as he had clients he had to serve. Strange that he found 40 hours for Francis. Given that Francis is house-bound in Tweed Heads, that's a heck of a lot of time to spend on the phone. Anyway, here's part of Francis's answer to the question 'did he think Dank was 'the genuine article - honest?' "I don't know enough to make such a judgment. Dank has given very plausible responses to my questions but it is still impossible to make a judgment. For example, prior to speaking to him, I thought as TB-4 helped soft tissue injuries, he must have used it at EFC. I asked him what he used and why. He said Thymomodulin because it boosts the immune system and consequently helps ward off colds, flu and coughs, which are the worst things that can happen to a football team. And here's me think that a navicular, ACL or sof tissue injuries were the worst things that could happen.

FWIW - my husband and daughter(Collingwood supporters) are furious that they lost Lumumba. Its a big win for us. Having suffered through many Melbourne/ Collingwood clashes, it always made me nervous when he got his hands on the ball. I think he will be a good leader and I'm happy he is in the LG.

You and i obviously have different definitions of what a leader is. A follower mindlessly toes the party line. A leader refuses to be a sheep and stands up for what they believe in. Anyway, different strokes for different folks.

Who else wants to put in for a group present for Peter Jackson?

Agree. The red and blue look bloody fantastic. Best looking Guernsey in the competition. I might be little biased..

Really cannot believe how Hird still Still and I say again STILL says "Its about the players" Wrong James, it is and has always ALWAYS been all about you and your huge ego! Your zero understanding and self righteous justifications now cloud what was, an excellent playing career and is now, perhaps almost forgotten. Whatever you have done in a previous playing life, whatever qualifications you think give you brevity and credibility, whatever "Good Will" you built up with the AFL and others is now eroding into the abyss! And do you know what James, there is one person to blame for the maelstrom you have put your club through! Do you know who that is James???

Not many watching....obviously unannounced on club website. 4 groups for a long period this morning. Macartney - taking extensive handball drills; some of which I haven't seen before and may have brought with him from Geelong/Ess/Bulldogs. Zig-zag chain where 20-30 balls fed quickly. Relies on quick clean hands and accurate lay-off. One error just means the drill almost falls apart. Matthews taking mids for body contact possession and footwork. Offensive kicking group. 5-on-2 get ball and split offensively drill. No Greg Stafford today. Is he still ruck-coach?

Match day experience? Bring back the bloody reserves! When I go to local footy, I'll get there at half time of the reserves, watch the rest of their match, then all of the seniors. Was exactly the same when the AFL used to have them on as the curtain raiser. Also, the infamous bugler. Let me explain, I've been to probably 3 MCG games in the past 4 years. The first time I heard the bugler, I loved it, and from where I was sitting, a number of supporters loved it. As soon as they heard him, there was a cheer (not one from the Bronx), and clapping along started immediately. I was actually disappointed that he wasn't there when I last went to a game. Can I just say with the bugler, FCS people, the Club are trying to do something that ISN'T commercialised, they are trying to do something that is recognisable when the MFC play at the MCG, why don't you just support it and make it a hit? Nothing new that gets introduced will get off the ground when supports shite-can everything. Look at Port as an example with their raising of the scarf pregame. Very few of their supporters bitched and moaned about doing it, the majority took it be the scruff of the neck and now it's a fixture before their game. Something that I think may work would be getting one or two large jumpers that are held up by certain bays in the crowd. It's probably a bit soccer-like, and it's generally something that the AFL do before the Grand Final, but I'd be quite happy to be part of a bay that held up one large jumper as the team runs through the banner. I'm in my mid 30's, and would find this an exciting part of the pre-match experience. I would imagine what it'd be like for kids in the 4-18 year old range. I'd also think the players would like seeing it too. In regards to the Demon Shop (off topic, but has been spoken about), the current location is crud. Either shift it to where the MCG Sports Tours start/finish from, or find a shop front that is more accessible. At Christmas time I was in Geelong. My wife barracks for them, and part of our stay in Geelong was to visit the Cats Shop. I was bloody jealous that she could access it so easy, and bloody peed off that the day I spent in Melbourne, I didn't go to the Demon Shop, due largely to its inconvenient location. I can assure you, I would buy something every time I go there.

And this is a problem - more like poetic justice!

Roosy stated that Col stepped away to focus on his own game.

Idiot. You're basing that from a poor 2014 where he was rushed back in to our very average team. He's been a good young player dealing with injuries, to a solid role player, to a sensational player in 2013. Even with a disastrous year in 2015 he'd be on the list. Versatile 3rd tall defenders with decent skills and pace don't grow on trees.

I tend to think that Col just had a terrible 2014 and wants to get his game back together without the distractions this year. If he can have an injury-free year and recapture the form he showed in 2013 then he'll be a regular in the side and that's a lot more important than a spot in the leadership group.

Still a valuable contributor. Must stay.

WB fans are still filthy that they got rid of him after 2013.. Ask any of them and not one single bad word to say about Crossy. They still love him and respect him highly.

I badly wanted to get Crossy here and he certainly hasn't failed to deliver. Haven't met him but would like to, just to thank him for coming to our club.

Or he just might want to concentrate on his own game just like Roos mentioned...

Yeah lets halter his development just like Trengove and Grimes Tyson still has a lot to learn and development. That's how good his upside is from what he showed last year. He is still a 21 year old with only 35 games experience. No need to burden the kid with any leadership titles. Cross is in there because he sets the example on and off field. Just because he isn't the future like Tyson doesn't mean he shouldn't be in there. His knowledge and experience is very vital for our development and that's why he is in there. He is the type of bloke like James McDonald that when he talks you can hear a pin drop in the room. Very respected amongst the group

Sylvia and Maloney were often legless and played alright

There's no rush. The very reason Cross was brought to our club was to teach and inspire. We've learnt from our mistakes. Think about how much better prepared all of our young 'leaders in waiting' will be having learnt for a couple of years from these guys. This is the perfect platform to unearth our next batch of leaders who will really take the club to new heights. Hogan, Viney, Bradshaw, Petracca, Salem etc. We're in a great position.

He must be standing on his soapbox then.

Very happy with the group of experienced, hard and proven players. Would love for Grimesy to return to his best footy and get the football worlds respect back but I am sure he still has it from his team mates. Its a good group which I think if any of them had something to say to there team mates, the team mates would listen. A far cry from out of form kids taking the responsibility of a team with has beens in Rodan and Byrnes supported further by ol'mate Clark. Stoked also that there was no silly youth inclusions as well such as Viney, Tyson, McDonald etc. I am sure these three and others have exceptional leadership qualities but lets just let them find there own feet in the footy world prior to being a leader at our beloved club. Well done Roosy and the MFC!

How good does the guernsey look

Needs more dragons and stuff.

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.