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I only want to hear one thing from summer training and that is that no one is injured.

Here you go, mate.

Played against Sam this year when we played the Raiders twice. Was surprised to learn that he was only 18 half way through the year because he gave us a touch up. To finish 3rd in the leage best and fairest is an outstanding achievement considering its one of the strongest leagues in country victoria that featured the likes of Fevola, Kosi, Dean Polo, Setanta O'Hailpin, Kayne Petifer, Sean O'Keefe, Chris Hyde and many more. I also wouldn't compare him to Jayden Hunt at all. Hunt was a true blue smoky because he had hardly played any footy except for the odd school game where Murray has played against senior and AFL seasoned veterans. Could he adjust to AFL? Absolutely, but he would need to really knuckle down and work hard because he got cut from bushies due to lack of work ethic and poor endurance. We know that can all get fixed though. I would rookie list him first. I think the fact that he has played a whole year at senior level instead of teenagers can be a plus on your side for development. There is definitely huge potential there. The 2nd time we played wodonga we put all of time and homework onto Murray as he caught us off guard last time and dominated. Rarely do you put a tag on an 18 year old at senior level in bush footy but the kid is just too good for this standard. Good luck to Sam. Hope he gets drafted purely on the fact that we don't have to play against him..lol

Saty doesn't post during the off-season (until training starts) so he is not on DL to defend himself. So I feel a need to come to his defence (even tho I have him on 'Ignore'...too much unfriendly banter with other posters, for mine) Here goes: Saty is passionate about MFC He volunteers his time to the club He is very defensive of players and officers of the club...sometimes he goes overboard on this. Sometimes he is quick to attack DL's who have a different view to his... ...he is not the only one on DL that has this affliction I might add! He is quirky in his training reports and sometimes tells us stuff we don't care about. He also gets under peoples skin and likes to antagonise. But we can't doubt where his heart is and I think this years training reports will be the worse for his absence...Saty has a job so won't get to training often so he won't be making many training reports. For some this is a blessing in disguise. For others, especially non Melbourne residents it will be a great loss. So maybe we should cull the anti Saty stuff; it is irrelevant and disrespectful and stick to training talk.

The sarcasm and blatant rudeness you see on here from some posters is completely unnecessary and is what leads to many threads devolving into sh!tfights. You can't be a complete ar$ehole in the way you critique someone's else's opinion, and then turn around to claim that strictly speaking, you didn't insult them personally. Belittling someone's opinion in an overtly rude way is insulting. If they fire a personal insult back at you, you don't have any right to call foul. You shouldn't have been an ar$ehole in the first place. Keep the humour, but a little diplomacy and class wouldn't go astray. Remember you are talking to another Melbourne supporter. They aren't the enemy.

No one is injured so far

It's a two way street, KDA. I never bothered picking apart his reports and very rarely engaged with him at all. That being said, it drove me absolutely nuts when ANYONE else would post a report and Saty would pick it apart, contradict FACTS and just try and make it seem like he knew more than anyone else. One example comes to mind, where a poster did a training report and mentioned that Dawes did a bit of training with the rucks. Saty said that Dawes definitely did not train with the rucks, even though this poster said that they were training directly in front of him. This poster reiterated that he was absolutely certain of what he saw, and that caused Saty to become very rude and condescending. Next match, lo and behold, Dawes had several stints in the ruck.

PUMPING FOR PARISH by Whispering Jack Darcy Parish was always going to be highly sought after in light of his All Australian selection as a bottom ager in 2014, an achievement matched that year by his Geelong Falcons teammate Rhys Mathieson. The two are midfielders but they're different types and I have watched them from afar this year knowing at the back of my mind that it remained an imperative for Melbourne to continue to improve its stocks of onballers. Parish is the outside silky smooth ball winner with quick hands who also goes well on the inside; the other gets the hard ball inside the stoppages. Would one of them be claimed by the Demons? Parish's 2015 campaign stalled early when he broke a thumb. However, before that he was in fine form in two AIS Academy games against Northern Bullants and Werribee:- https://vimeo.com/127122213 https://vimeo.com/125095504 The injury caused him to miss the first two rounds of this year's Under 18's carnival but he came back from a seven week break to play for the Geelong Falcons in late May and gathered 25 disposals in his team's 10 goal win over the Western Jets. A week later he was repeating the dose for Victoria Country against Vic Metro in a game which was streamed live on the AFL site. Watch the replays of each quarter. http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q1 http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q2 http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q3 http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q4 Parish again recorded 25 possessions and with partner in crime Mathieson, dominated proceedings. Parish followed up this performance a week or so later against South Australia when he starred again with 24 disposals including seven inside-50 entries. He once again demonstrated quick hands and sure and precise execution. By foot, he regularly hit his targets. However, he was a bit of a disappointment in his next game, the televised return game v SA at Simonds Stadium where he was reduced to a mere nine touches. However, in that match, he was played off a half back flank and despite taking a few hits, he still showed the assuredness and poise that is part and parcel of his game even if he was subdued and played out of position. To prove that he's something special, he came back with a vengeance in the last game against Western Australia in a game where he was the dominant midfielder on the ground picking up 29 disposals. That display ensured his repeat selection in the All Australian team, a feat shared with Mathieson. The two midfielders continued to dominate their part of the ground at the Geelong Falcons and when Charlie Curnow rejoined them after his stint out with injury, there were high hopes that their team would feature in a classic TAC Cup finale against the well performed North Ballarat Rebels team with Jacob Hopper and Darcy Tucker. That was not to be however, with the Falcons going out in straight sets and the Rebels losing their preliminary final. If we are to develop a top line midfield, we could do a lot worse than draft this pair with picks 3 and 7 respectively. There are some however, who believe the club is interested in Curnow and that he could end up as one of the modern prototype tall midfielders. To me however, Parish is the stand out for pick three and I would not be unhappy if the club's recruiters took Mathieson with their second pick at seven (or whatever number it turns out to be after taking into account the bidding selections). There are too many imponderables to come out with a definitive second pick for Melbourne in this draft but I would be most surprised if Parish's name wasn't called out in three weeks time. His selection would give the club the best three midfielders available to the club from the last two drafts and set it up better in this area than at any time since the introduction of the draft system. The only other contender would be Curnow but on my viewing, the latter isn't even in the same parish. But Inside Football's Brett Anderson believes otherwise so in the interests of providing a semblance of balance, this is worth viewing. https://vimeo.com/136785936/description Here are the SEN Inside Football profiles of Parish, Mathieson and Curnow which are essentially quotes from their TAC Cup coach:- Unlike club recruiters, I'm not paid to follow up on a myriad of players from junior footy to Under 16s and 18s. I haven't spoken to their families, junior coaches, schoolteachers or seen them dozens of times live in games and on the training track or had the opportunity to interview the players themselves. And I must confess that not long ago I was over the moon that Melbourne had just drafted Jimmy Toumpas who was in my view "stolen" at pick four. Before him it was Tom Scully and a year earlier, Jack Watts was the next big thing. You can go back to Colin Sylvia and Brock McLean and even Travis Johnstone. They were all talented and all were going to be champions but one way or another, in that respect, they turned out to be failed early draft picks who were either wrong choices or not properly developed as footballers by the club. Those currently charged with the job of list management and recruiting seem to be doing something better in recent times so perhaps this time the club will get it right and develop an emerging midfield good enough to keep our forwards well fed and thereby to usher in a new era for the club.

Why is it that we now seem to be linked with all the players that you would hope that we are linked with? Wodonga kid Sam Murray is another case in point. Given what we've done for the past two years since Prenderghastly left, you would have to say that Taylor and his team are equal to any other side's recruiting officers. Harry McKay would appear the perfect fit at No.7 - one spot before Carlton - and his extra height means he can potentially do a better job than Curnow/Weideman as back-up ruck. Gold Coast won't take him because they chose 2m Pete last year. Essendon may however, but that would be a big call as they need midfielders now more than ruck/forwards given that they have Daniher and Leuenberger on top of Hooker. Was Taylor thinking McKay when we moved up the order? If we go Harry, being so young he would most likely spend the year and maybe all of 2017 as well - bulking up and wising up - in the VFL. But we have another year of Pedo and Dawes as our forwards who can back-up the rucks, even if Sam Frost's turf-toe doesn't mend. With Jamar and Fitzy gone, we have to get at least one more tall anyway and why not go a guy that may be a gun. We already have five new recruits this year - included Petracca and Trengove with Bugg/Melkshake and Kennedy - so it doesn't matter if we burn pick No.7 on a 2018 prospect. But even though a lot of wisdom points to McKay, if Taylor really rates someone else, then his record means you back him in.

I am sold on this kid and really hope we select him with our pick 3. I know that taller midfielders are all the rage at the moment and some think that Parish is too short. Cast your eyes over this list of current players that are within 2cms of Parish or shorter and hopefully it will allay any fears; Rory Sloane: 183 Marc Murphy: 180 Steele Sidebottom: 180 Lachie Neale: 176 Joel Selwood: 182 Jaeger O'Meara: 182 Gary Ablett: 182 Dion Prestia: 175 Stephen Coniglio: 181 Dylan Shiel: 181 Sam Mitchell: 179 Nathan Jones: 180 Jack Viney: 178 Andrew Swallow: 182 Brent Harvey: 167 Travis Boak: 183 Robbie Gray: 183 Jack Steven: 180 Leigh Montagna: 178 Dan Hannebery: 181 Kieran Jack: 178 Andrew Gaff: 181 Luke Shuey: 183 Not too shabby a list that!

I watched all of the 27 minutes and feel I have a better understanding of this player. It's still only a snippet, but it's enough to start forming an opinion. He won't cut it in the AFL as a pure midfielder, so forget drafting him as one. He's just not sharp and clean enough around congestion. At one point when he had to handball left-handed he clumsily fabricated an awkward dish-off with the right. He needs time in congestion that elite midfielders just don't get in the AFL. I appreciate he'll become better in the application of these aspects in an AFL environment, but I can't imagine he'll ever be strong enough to make it his full-time role. One can fall into the trap of concentrating on what a player isn't good at and not what they are good at. Notwithstanding the above, he's got a really good footy brain. He doesn't get too rushed and often waited until the last moment to execute the best option. This was noticeable on numerous occasions. He's a good lead up player, moves well with good pace and agility and looks a natural forward. When the ball is on the deck in the forward-line he'll still be dangerous, because he's had that midfield background and can be creative by hand. He's not as good a contested mark as Hogan, who is, but he's still strong overhead. He actually looks a hulking figure despite not being overly tall. But he's no Stringer. Having seen this extended footage there's no similarity. He actually looks like a more athletic and faster Paddy McCartin. I can imagine him complementing Hogan well and can see them teaming together. But I don't know if he's the best available key forward at pick 7. I too wouldn't take him at 3, but wouldn't be averse at 7. I haven't seen Weideman, who some think is also a great prospect. I suspect one of the two will be there at 7, so it will be interesting to see how things unfold. I can't imagine Essendon taking both Francis and Curnow, because neithers best position is midfield and they're desperate for midfield talent. I doubt Curnow will play more than 5 or 6 games in 2016, whoever he plays for.

must say about saty that i could see both sides of the coin i just preferred to take the good and ignore the bad. not that hard. he certainly provided food for thought on training and went to a fair degree of effort both to attend and document upto a point i also enjoyed his jousting with certain posters....very entertaining at times, with neither side exactly covering themselves in glory what i don't understand is all the regurgitating especially about a fellow demonlander and dees supporter when he's not here to defend himself move on "lemonsuckers" as saty would say

only on Demonland would we debate training reports that don't even exist yet !! we're a keen lot aren't we !! Go Dees

The Tigers continuing their strategy of hoping that other clubs' rejects will take them to the next level.

Firstly, on the vision, I think it's worthwhile checking them out - I've also found while doing some research on players that sometimes the links no longer work after a while. Secondly, the point about us getting the top three mids if we take Parish is the best three available to us so obviously, getting the best of the academy players is outside that range. The club is holding an information evening for one of the supporter groups which I'm in during the last week before the draft. There was a similar one last year where Jason Taylor and Todd Viney were as open and as frank as they could possibly be i.e "the best three players are Brayshaw, McCartin and Petracca [no particular order]. St Kilda will take one and we'll take the other two". I hope that they will be able to tell us something similar in two week's time.

How about this; happy for the training reports, not so much for the way our opinions were belittled henceforth? Pretty much covers it.

I think someone posted before BB, after me, but I won't be able to read it unless quoted. (kidding nutbean)

how about we just close this thread

Hey mods, can we have a vote out a poster for a week button. Must get 10 separate posters to vote for a holiday. We could have a vote for, to get them back. It would give some posters an idea of how un/popular they really are. I think some are delusional. -That is probably me.

I'm looking forward to Missons first injury report. Even if listening to him does rob me of the will to live.

Ernie you have a fairly grim view of history. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". George Santayana or later Churchill's "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"

I have no regard or respect for the pre Roos' era as a coaching, development environ.

I spoke to a family member of a current player yesterday and he said it was expected that they would take Parish at 3. Whether he was speculating or had heard from inside the club I couldn't be sure. Anyway thought I'd pass it on.

Not anyone's type really.

In all seriousness, though, the point I was trying to make was that he didn't respect other Demonlanders' reports, yet people on her complain when people are disrespectful towards him. There's a reason that he gets as much crap as he does.

We have all the tall backs we need right now. I can see us using one pick on a tall forward, but the real need in our side right now is midfield class.

Poor kid doesn't even stand a chance with that 'religiously judgemental and narrow minded train of thought'..... We've all read the poisonous bile and nasty vitriol you spew at the current government in power in the general discussions forum and most let it go (because its, well, you), but bringing an innocent kid into it is hitting way below the belt in my opinion. Save your political opinions for the general discussions forum please.

Darcy Parish was always going to be highly sought after in light of his All Australian selection as a bottom ager in 2014, an achievement matched that year by his Geelong Falcons teammate Rhys Mathieson. The two are midfielders but they're different types and I have watched them from afar this year knowing at the back of my mind that it remained an imperative for Melbourne to continue to improve its stocks of onballers. Parish is the outside silky smooth ball winner with quick hands who also goes well on the inside; the other gets the hard ball inside the stoppages. Would one of them be claimed by the Demons? Parish's 2015 campaign stalled early when he broke a thumb. However, before that he was in fine form in two AIS Academy games against Northern Bullants and Werribee:- https://vimeo.com/127122213 https://vimeo.com/125095504 The injury caused him to miss the first two rounds of this year's Under 18's carnival but he came back from a seven week break to play for the Geelong Falcons in late May and gathered 25 disposals in his team's 10 goal win over the Western Jets. A week later he was repeating the dose for Victoria Country against Vic Metro in a game which was streamed live on the AFL site. Watch the replays of each quarter. http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q1 http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q2 http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q3 http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-07/under-18s-vicc-v-vicm-q4 Parish again recorded 25 possessions and with partner in crime Mathieson, dominated proceedings. Parish followed up this performance a week or so later against South Australia when he starred again with 24 disposals including seven inside-50 entries. He once again demonstrated quick hands and sure and precise execution. By foot, he regularly hit his targets. However, he was a bit of a disappointment in his next game, the televised return game v SA at Simonds Stadium where he was reduced to a mere nine touches. However, in that match, he was played off a half back flank and despite taking a few hits, he still showed the assuredness and poise that is part and parcel of his game even if he was subdued and played out of position. To prove that he's something special, he came back with a vengeance in the last game against Western Australia in a game where he was the dominant midfielder on the ground picking up 29 disposals. That display ensured his repeat selection in the All Australian team, a feat shared with Mathieson. The two midfielders continued to dominate their part of the ground at the Geelong Falcons and when Charlie Curnow rejoined them after his stint out with injury, there were high hopes that their team would feature in a classic TAC Cup finale against the well performed North Ballarat Rebels team with Jacob Hopper and Darcy Tucker. That was not to be however, with the Falcons going out in straight sets and the Rebels losing their preliminary final. If we are to develop a top line midfield, we could do a lot worse than draft this pair with picks 3 and 7 respectively. There are some however, who believe the club is interested in Curnow and that he could end up as one of the modern prototype tall midfielders. To me however, Parish is the stand out for pick three and I would not be unhappy if the club's recruiters took Mathieson with their second pick at seven (or whatever number it turns out to be after taking into account the bidding selections). There are too many imponderables to come out with a definitive second pick for Melbourne in this draft but I would be most surprised if Parish's name wasn't called out in three weeks time. His selection would give the club the best three midfielders available to the club from the last two drafts and set it up better in this area than at any time since the introduction of the draft system. The only other contender would be Curnow but on my viewing, the latter isn't even in the same parish. But Inside Football's Brett Anderson believes otherwise so in the interests of providing a semblance of balance, this is worth viewing. https://vimeo.com/136785936/description Here are the SEN Inside Football profiles of Parish, Mathieson and Curnow which are essentially quotes from their TAC Cup coach:- Unlike club recruiters, I'm not paid to follow up on a myriad of players from junior footy to Under 16s and 18s. I haven't spoken to their families, junior coaches, schoolteachers or seen them dozens of times live in games and on the training track or had the opportunity to interview the players themselves. And I must confess that not long ago I was over the moon that Melbourne had just drafted Jimmy Toumpas who was in my view "stolen" at pick four. Before him it was Tom Scully and a year earlier, Jack Watts was the next big thing. You can go back to Colin Sylvia and Brock McLean and even Travis Johnstone. They were all talented and all were going to be champions but one way or another, in that respect, they turned out to be failed early draft picks who were either wrong choices or not properly developed as footballers by the club. Those currently charged with the job of list management and recruiting seem to be doing something better in recent times so perhaps this time the club will get it right and develop an emerging midfield good enough to keep our forwards well fed and thereby to usher in a new era for the club.

I hear the training reports are out for 2-4 weeks.

Leaving aside questions about his value as a number 1 pick, courage, relative skill level, how much he annoys some fans (dees and others) etc etc i would be very surprised if, barring injury, he does not play most games next season. Why? Well the evidence of Roos tenure indicates he selects him most weeks. There is no logical reason why this would suddenly change next year. As for talk he was put on the trade table but no one wanted him i call bulltish. Where is the evidence this is true - apart from some vague comments from Roos about everyone being on the table. But there was no rumours about him being linked to any trade. But lets say for the sake of argument they did put him up for trade. Logic would suggest another club didn't offer enough to make it happen, which implies the club rates him high enough not to let him go for peanuts, ie they see him as a best 22 player. If the club really didn't rate him in the way many fans don't they would have bitten the bullet and taken whatever they could have got, as they did with Toumpas. As if another club wouldn't have taken him for say a second round draft pick, a valuable enough trade if you thought a player had no future at your club and you were dead set keen on trading him.

Agree with all of this. Having watched these highlights it reinforces how brilliantly Mahoney & Co performed in trade week. It was genious doing those deals to get 3. These highlights show Parish is the best pure midfielder in this draft. After that you have to probably go to Mathieson and you wouldn't call him an elite top 10 player. We wouldn't have got a top 10 quality midfielder at pick 6, that's for sure. IMO no way in the world would you use 3 on a decent half forward flanker like Curnow and not get the best midfielder. Essendon must have been spewing when we got 3. What a pleasure. Not sure why Curnow keeps being called a KPF. At 191 he's a flanker. Nowadays a KPF is 194+. Darlings the same height, is a great HFF, kicked 39 goals this year but he's not a KPF as was proven in the GF where he wasn't tall enough to win contested marks. You can see why this draft is rated as a weak one. Everyone other than the top 2 have issues. Parish short and slight compared to say Brayshaw who was the best pure midfielder last year. I really don't know who'll be available at 7 but have confidence Taylor & Co will pick the best available for our needs. Would be happy with Curnow and from what I've heard Weideman if either is still there. Fact is that pick is going to have an element of speculation no matter who it is, as there aren't any standout's after Parish.

Desperate?

Agree.. besides getting Yarran they nabbed some no name from GWS who was bound to be delisted.This was on the back of not trading at all last year. Hard to say where i see the tigers going next couple of years. I hooe we overtake them next year.

Glad to hear that Liam is on the mend, hardtack, and particularly that he can play footy this season. Very good news! As for the mysteries of Medicare, I have no clue....(which is not an unusual feeling :-)

Obviously Not DD. JW still doesn't look strong enough let alone fierce enough!

I think he should take a leaf out of Nat Fyfes book who said in his Brownlow acceptance speech, that at the start of last years pre season he went to the fitness coordinator and said he wanted to be a more powerful and stronger player, and worked really hard at it.

Nice pun WJ.

Maybe the fact that he gets a game every week, tells you more of how the Coaches rate his game.

Rubbish. He nails most of his shots.

3 best midfielders available in the draft over the past two years. no excuses now melbourne, turn them into something.

Every thread Satyricon posted in became about him. It was annoying as [censored].

good job.....you'd never know it was digitally altered

The idea of a 'spine' is a bit outdated as a good centre is mitigated by the fact that there are so many mids now that go through there - the 'centre' position is used less and less. And more on your point - setting up your talls is second only to setting up your midfield. I say 'best available' but if there is a 'position' to shore up it is talent in the middle.

Has Barry Prendergast still got a paid gig in footy. Just hilarious if so.

And to think they traded Jacobs to Adelaide and brought in Warnock. Wow that's a stuff up of Melbourne FC proportions.

Was devo when he picked Carlton over us. Phew.

We have 3 list spots and I believe we have to use a minimum of 3 draft picks by AFL regulations. Can't see us paying out an NQR to sign up an older NQR.

Jack is the most overly criticised player in the AFL, all because of his draft position. If he was pick 50 no one would comment. There is a bloke running around for the Giants getting $1.2m a year, playing pretty ordinary football and escaping criticism for his pick 1 position and high salary. I think we will see an improved JW now, especially if he is allowed to settle in one position. BTW, I think he is the leading goal assist at the MFC and probably the best kick for goal. And yes there is a spot in our 22 for him.

Don't talk to the players and get any interesting goss cos you'll be accused of being an apologist. Don't give any opinions cos you'll be accused of knowing nothing about footy. And don't favour anyone or you'll be accused of having favourites. And don't tell us that we've improved because you'll be told "it's only training". Really looking forward to your reports!