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His hounding off this site by the selfish minority is a loss to all of us. We all have difference interests and focuses when it comes to training reports and Saty provide a unique perspective. It personally doesn't interest me what drills the players are doing but I don't berate posters for posting that information. He was a pain in the bum at times but there isn't a poster on this site who isn't now and again. A sad loss. I hope I can catch up with him on Friday and find out what's happening. I'll be sure to keep it to myself to avoid upsetting some.

The last for this year. Have a Merry Christmas and I'll be back in the new year. Enjoy ==>https://www.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumKey=jW7wbz Mobile==>http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-vWmhGZ

No matter how you perceive him I for one miss his training reports and contact with the players.

Hey! Everybody chill. I posted the picture because it was JT and this is the JT progress thread not the free hit at Saty thread. Get back on thread. Keep this crap up and I'll think twice about posting pictures at all.

Posts have been deleted because people are sick of reading about Saty. No-one wants to have to scroll through pages of crap to get to the real stuff, which in this case is info about JT's recovery.

I don't understand this. We all knew of his "unique" style. Why not just take note of the stuff that was of interest ( and yes there was some interesting titbits in his reports regarding some training and some debuts that were imminent) and ignore the stuff you didn't like. What I found unfair is that many did not debate with him on contentious football/player issues - I thought he was demeaned mainly because of his "fanboy" style. Whilst I was not a big the fluffy stuff I just ignored those parts and took interest in things I found relevant. No...a bloke who went regularly to training and took the time to post was hounded off this site.

Getting a little bit excited for next year... His old coach at Ainslie went down to Melbourne and watched training and said that he saw Vanders dominate the way he dominated at Ainslie. Now, that might not be the nicest thing to say about the other players but it makes me think he will avoid the second year blues if healthy. In the guts and leave him there.

And there goes another thread...

The training threads are much more enjoyable, and far easier to read now. No endless bickering while one bloke defends his pets beyond all reason. Its great that he doesn't post any more. He hounded himself off the site.

Looking forward to the day posters give up on discussion on Scully and be thankful what we got in return and have now at our disposal.

Wife. "So there's an email from Demonland thanking you for our $100 contribution. What was that for? Me. "Err, um, well it was sort of for a lifetime membership, good value really" Wife. "But you did that a few years ago." Me. "I decided to join again" Wife. "So you've got two Demonland lifetime memberships? What one for now and one for the afterlife? Well I hope your team is better on the other side than this one"

Sorry, All my fault. But I don't think it's saty.

Lol. He was the main offender at berating and belittling other posters opinions. Training threads have never been better since he brought the disdain upon himself and stopped contributing. He's got a Twitter account for those who miss his inane commentary of the players.

Oh I think they all should have accepted the 2013 settlement. I think it would have been the most satisfactory outcome all round. It was supported by ASADA, the AFL, the Federal Government, the ASC, Essendon (under Evans) and was strongly pushed by the league's crisis management consultants at the time under their current PR Director Liz Lukin who was responsible for most of it anyway. The only problem was that Hird had to admit guilt and resign, but his sociopathic personality and that of his wife could not bring themselves to do that. The fault lies with both Essendon and the AFL, who simply were too weak to force him out - a monumental deficiency in corporate leadership and competence which does no-one any credit.

It is Saty !

Yeah that's what i say when i see a photo of me.

Exactly. It's easy for us to criticize players for their disloyalty, but it's important to remember that football is their job and this job very rarely lasts longer than 15 years. Most people have goals in their line of work, whether it be promotions, raises, finding new clients, etc, but they also have a much longer time to achieve these goals than footballers do to achieve theirs. It's common sense that every footballer has a goal of winning a premiership, and they need to put themselves in the best position to do this while also looking out for their financial interests. They need to make the best decisions for themselves and their futures. Football is a business. That being said, Tom Scully will always be a [censored] of the highest order.

Our clash strip should either be a red jumper with navy MFC logo (the intertwined letters ala MCC/Carlton) or a red jumper with navy yoke. Our school jumper was red with navy yoke and it looked great. Whoever decided red is a "dark" colour is a nimrod.

And they want to bring him back to the fold. The mind boggles.

Thanks Six6Six, superb stuff! Toddy has blown up like a second hand lawnmower... Vanders looks in terrific nick. I hope Oliver has some SPF50+ on those shoulders. My kids are both bloodnuts and are ghosts...they'd look tanned standing next to him.

Tyson, Melksham, Bugg, Kennedy, Newton, Pedersen, Garlett, Michie, Lumumba, etc, all say hello to those getting upset on this thread.

It's a bloody good impression.

I think you're being a bit tough on Wattsie. The light in that shot has caught him just at the wrong angle which gives the impression of a bit of a belly. He actually looks to have muscled up a bit.

Geez he looks in ripping shape in that photo. Somebody put a man where a boy used to be. The two things I'm most excited about for 2016 are CP5 and Jack Trengove returning to the MCG.

I saw about the first 45 minutes of training today.I had been to quite a few training sessions throughout the 2015 season and had noticed towards the end of the season how fatigued some of the players looked.So it was a nice sight today to see everyone looking sharp and refreshed. Georgiou has given an excellent report so I wont go into too much detail but I'd like to point out a couple of things I noticed such as: Petracca's disposals were flawless,after each drill he was asking Goodwin and N. Jones for feedback about his decisions Clayton Oliver seems to have a good head for football,as soon as he gets the ball he has already made a decision what to do with it(a refeshing sight after the 'deer in the headlights' mentality we have seen in previous years by Melbourne players) Kent and Vanders tearing it up again.

Trac and Vanders were both looking clean and strong with their disposal. They are going to be very good to watch this year. I think I overheard Vanders giving some cheek "Trac! Would you prefer laces in or out?" I wasn't there long, but, I also noticed the focus was on decision making and skills under pressure. Feedback being shot out in retrospect by the coaches ( as an aside, loved seeing Todd kicking balls back to Jack after a goal kicking drill finished). Stretch junior was looking pretty sharp in the skills sessions. Prompting, I think it was Dunn, to jokingly call out "skills!..and he knows it!" He is going to look pretty smart streaming in off the members like his old man. Harmes is going to be interesting. He keeps making you look. From what I saw; very few mistakes, great intensity, a little unpredictability and a sense he is not going to give up his place easily. Also loved watching Hogan practice his leading and marking out in front with the assistants. I get the sense that what he seeks is seeking him. Thanks Georgiou, spot on with your report! I hope you don't mind I used your piece to bounce off. Will pop in anything else I remember as others report or as I feel the need to exaggerate the potent potential that is the future of the MFC.

Got there after 2, stayed for 90 or so minutes, wasn't paying awfully close attention as I was meeting a friend for a catch up. Frost and Dawes were gone 5 minutes later. Seemingly just making an appearance. Lumumba not much after that. No sign of J Smith, Harmes or Newton. Vince (with a finger/hand bandage), Jetta, Watts, Spencer running laps. Trenners having a kick, then out in to sprints in very good time. Got a big cheer from the boys. Tyson and Brayshaw did kick to kick with Crossy then in to some paired runs. Tyson put a gap on Gus. Jeffie doing some drills with the young fellas and then boxing with the boxing coach. The 4 draftees did some boxing as well. Including where the boxing coach hammers in to their guts whilst they are kneeling and doing upper cuts. Clarry in particular was copping a hammering and grunting and swearing his way through it. Great stuff. Nath Jones back in the main group! Petracca as well. Usual pressure ball movement style drills. Different ones I remember: 1. Lining up in a line like a tug of war without the rope, ball thrown to one group who have to handball to another 2. 5 v 3 defenders in tight then 2 more handballing from congestion up to a trainer 3. Kicking from backline to goals up 1/3rd of the ground v 3 defenders 4. Forming a conga line and running around a cone before the ball being thrown out for one group who then had to handball through the congestion Lots of pressure on the skills and there were some clean moments. A group featuring Garlett, Petracca, Vanders had the ball motoring from the backline through to goals. The highlight of the session was in a handball drill where it became 5 v 2 at the end to weave through handball to a trainer, young Ben Ainsworth (who's usually all class) sold too much candy and stalled momentum leading to the ball movement breaking down. I think it was Ben Matthews who yelled to him "Benny if you to sell candy then f off to the candy shop". Maybe a little harsh on the kid but the point was made clear and he's talented enough to take the criticism. Made for a chuckle from the crowd and a few others though. Otherwise it seemed a pretty straight forward session.

As I've said several times before. The AFL sanctions were for governance failures and very specifically not for drug cheating. If they are found guilty what are the AFL going to do. Do nothing and they let off a Club for the greatest systematic drug cheating program in AFL if not Australian sporting history. Can't wait to see how Gil spins this one. Of course they have to be found guilty for this to be an issue.

http://m.3aw.com.au/news/essendons-fate-with-wada-to-be-known-by-christmas-says-sam-mcclure-20151216-glpbch.html Most replies to 3AWs tweet are that asada/wada are corrupt. Honestly even if they are found guilty no essendon fan boys will believe it

For an excellent report on Monday's training session pop over to big footy and read proper gander's two parter

for all those people who used to argue "suck it up" and "you can't beat city hall", maybe they could explain how essendon has convinced the afl to have a clash jumper in just red and black. especially given essendon's current lowly status. i'll be waiting.

I knew as soon as I posted it... what have I done.

...and it would have been another AFL cover up if they had accepted the settlement. I'm happy it's gone to the CAS as it's now the only way that we may find some truth. Not what the AFL want or EFC but sport could well be the winner here.

Have just watched the replay of this match. For me the highlight was that on a couple of occasions, most notably in the first quarter, Geelong pushed hard and looked like tting on top but we fought back. Brayshaw was a highlight also, so fierce. Was a pretty good game by Watts and watching the game again reminded me how often he is involved in our scoring chains.

So the OP'er has an issue on emailing The Age, I take it? And 'the issue' has moved to journalists views on ISIL/ISIS...... to climate change. When there's a thread littered with debate on climate change.

I would have thought, that for all that they (Essendon) can muster in defence of their integrity and honour, with solicitors, public appeals and the might of the AFL, they cannot manage to bring the main protagonists along with the "missing baggage" to the forefront for the world to be able to support them. I did see that some parochial people in the press are quite content though to drag in clubs like Carlton and Collingwood as if they were partly to blame as if "arrogance and entitlement" were the same as cheating. Is demise imminent?

I wouldn't push the honest Evans line to far 'Dees2014'...he was certainly rolled by the Hird crew and was one of the first casualties. As for being the only honest one, well he did take the AD phone call and it looks like he was working to do a deal to minimise the damage. Is this honesty or pragmatism?

BB, they have - his name was David Evans, and he not only got rolled by Hird, but had a breakdown as a result. He still is the only honest one amongst the whole sorry and unprincipled bunch.

Like talking to an ex "Hi how are you?..." (Get me outa here...)

F him, no longer one of us.

I went to training today too, with my brother, was the first session we had been to this pre season. On a side note, my brother is a sponsor of Jack Trengove (hope he doesnt mind me saying that!!!) and we had a chat to JT in between his running and skills. JT seemed really happy and said he was feeling good. He was moving well and is just getting used to doing everything again, basically getting accustomed to doing what everyone else would see as normal, such as running! He stated he aims to be ready to be selected in round 1. Back to everyone else though, I got there really early and all of JT, Gus, Dawes, Spencer, Vince, Watts, Tyson, Frost were all doing running from 1:15 to 2:00. Of these guys, the most of them then went on and did kicking skills for over an hour. They were all working really hard. Then everyone else arrived. To whoever said Harmes wasnt there, he was, but I understand missing people as they were hard to distinguish at times. Some seperate notes from me: I was super happy with the skills in real blustery conditions, best I have seen in a while. Was also really pleased with the enthusiasm, energy by all players and especially loved the tackling and pressure, it was super hard and fierce. I didnt see many tackles get broken, not without trying, but the tackles stuck and they went in hard. I also know, from a reliable source (always wanted to say that!) that they are trying to train the team to now be more attacking, play more modern football, not just the Paul Roos 1 on 1 style. Goodwin is more of a modern coach who wants to attack more, defend as a team and take the game on. Hopefully they pick it up well and we see more forward movement this year. Individually: Petracca is a beast, his skills were really good too and his leap is still huge VDB looks slimmer and really was impressive. I thought kennedy trained really well and his speed and evasiveness were impressive. Hunt looks really quick and his skills were fine. Gawn has improved, just looks more agile and better endurance. Can see him dominating this year. Hogan was hogan, but what i liked most was his vision and risk taking decisions in drills, he takes the game on! Wiedemann looks real tall, but is skinny in comparison to others. Can see he is working hard but will take some time. Kent looks great and his foot skills and pace were great. I rate him so highly, so i hope he stays fit this year. Along with kent, the kicking skills of Salem just look so smooth, he was moving well, so lets hope he can make the move to the midfield more this season. I like the look of White, his foot skills were great and he goes in hard and has some size. Very good back up. Cant think of any others right now, but if you have any questions, just ask! Overall though i was really impressed today, made me fell much more confident, consdering some of our better and more senior players werent doing heaps.

I bloody love the fact that Trengove is able to kick footys around. Kudos to all who are able to give us these updates, much appreciated from regional Queensland.

Unfortunately it's the story of the hand that feeds them 'Macca'...

I am quite surprised at how so few have even wanted to talk about it ... it jumps out at me but again, I can now understand those just not wanting to know. How would we feel about the sport if we knew that a multiple premiership winner had some "help"? I prefer to get these things out in the open even if it's just to clear the air. I see your point about the AFL but it's the general public which is turning the blind eye. We don't ask enough questions. And the investigative journalistic skills with regards to sport in this country is virtually non existent. At least, that's how I see it.

For the record - Rivers was offered a tad over base payments to stay at the club. He was offered significantly more by a club who doesn't pay their mid tier players all that well. There is a small pocket of loyalty that still exists in some footballers. Albeit that is easier to be loyal when you play for the Hawks and you keep winning flags. But as I have said before - we, the supporters, actually pay to watch football - not only are we loyal, we pay for the privilege of being loyal. Footballers are paid professionals with limited lifespan in the game. I expect loyalty from them on the field and expect them to play as hard as they can for the dollars I spend to watch them. I am under no illusion though that these same footballers ( in the main ) will make career decisions based around money and/or chasing finals success. I don't like it but I have come to accept it.

Earl you should be Knighted for services beyond the call.