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All the nonsense going on here about his kicking foot is comical. The supporting foot takes all stress when kicking. The adverse forces to an injury such as JT's on the kicking foot are effectively negligible. If he wants to kick on his left, he can and will. To say it's the least of his worries is to overstate it. Jumping, landing (particularly landing), push off at high speed. These are the critical forces, not kicking.

Mentioned in the Sun today, that MFC and Hogan's Manager, are to meet to discuss an extension to his contract. Hopefully his contract can be extended by 5 years and that will be one distraction removed.

If Paul Roos wants to stay at the MFC he will stay at the MFC, i would be absolutely shocked if the clubs position was any different.

Roos would not be retained on a $1.5m salary. He would be realistic enough to understand a diminished role in admin/culture maintenance or whatever would be worth signifcantly less. He wont leave to coach elsewhere. He would be a tremendous asset to retain around the club.

Your reading way too much into a very small issue..

The Toiges grasp on 9th is slippiing

Are you being serious? He said he didn't expect to be drafted and went at pick 4. Now he's saying he' s not AFL ready and would be happy with a couple of games. I wouldn't read any more into it than he appears to have a lower opinion of his potential than many others. He looks to me to be a kid who will let his footy do the speaking. He'll probably still be speaking like this when he's accepting his first Brownlow.

...but as we know, they've not smart.

He's a country boy so maybe unlikely to have big tickets on himself. Maybe he is repeating what he has been told.

We got the good one Garlett was a bargain

When he comes back, stars in a few premierships, re-takes the captaincy once Jones retires and wins four Norm Smith medals in a row as part of our historic 10-peat... Well, reckon he'll be happy to retire feted higher than nearly any other player in the game ever. No pressure, mind...

I so wanna say something here but I think it would earn me at least a post deletion or at worse a holiday !

Interestingly there was an article about Menzel at Adelaide also not coming back in good enough condition and having to go off into the fitness group as his fitness level isn't good enough for their midfield. Mentioned that Jacobs and Betts were able to advise the fitness people what to expect from a player coming from the Blues. Sounds like us a couple of years ago.

I was lucky enough to win a signed jumper from Clayton during the NAB Draft. Already have the number 13 on the back and ready to see what this guy is made of! New article today on the Dees website: Oliver tempers expectations in first year

Cheers mate. I went on Fox Sports last night after posting it on the Facey page. Turns out they were keeping an eye on me for a little bit (following me and all) and wanted me to post in The Crowd. Hopefully I can get a few more posts in in the near future.

Footy is coming.

Still waiting for one flag in my lifetime...just one

Ahem... It’s been a while coming, but I’m finally back on the track. The last month and a bit I really apologise for not being able to make it down - firstly the Aus Open shifted training anyway, and then uni got really hectic. Summer school does that when you try to pack everything into a very short period of time. So yeah sorry for not being able to get a few reports down. Regardless, I’m finally at Gosch’s for the first time in a long time and the scene somewhat surprises, a couple of players are already into their rehab and there’s a few players here and there doing extras. It’s a credit to the work Roosy has done to ensure that players are a lot more thorough and professional in their training habits. It certainly would not have been seen under Neeld. One thing that maybe the club can perhaps invest in is a new cloth – the cloth used still has the old Schwab logo emblazoned all over it. Irrespective, I carry on. Jay Kennedy-Harris is the first player to walk past of those who isn’t doing any form of rehab – I would say that he’s somewhat more shredded than the last time I was here. Clearly the boys are putting in a lot, especially in their upper bodies, from everything I’ve read and seen. Looking further up and I notice Heritier Lumumba in the rehab group – even he’s looking a little bit slimmer than the last time I saw him train. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of one of the first to arrive is the fact that there is an umpire walking across. Can’t work out who it is but that only means one thing – match simulation. You beauty. Not entirely unexpected because our first game is in 12 days, but that also means I get to have a serious look at what Goodwin has planned for us. That’s pretty exciting. So some Billy Stretch’s to get into it. Christian Petracca is having a bit of a kick-to-kick with Crossy and Max King over on the near side. Christian’s still looking fit and is starting to kick the ball around. I don’t realistically expect him to play in Round One to be honest. Not unless he absolutely kills it in whatever NAB Challenge game he’s slated to play. Expect him in the VFL to start with. Put him on your SuperCoach bench. The first drill is split up into two groups, one of them doing a handball drill where they have to work their way past a defender who’s wearing a bib, the other group doing some kicking drills. There’s a couple of things I notice. The first of which is Sammy Frost looking really strong on the training track, which is really pleasing – of course Sammy had his injury issues throughout all of 2015 with that toe of his and I’m really looking forward to him giving Hogan a chop out up forward this season. The other is Jack Trengove. Also a well-documented case in 2014/15, and I’m pretty sure regulars who’ve either gone to the track or seen photos of him circulate on social media know how ripped he is. It’s really promising to see him running at a good pace, using the ball as if he was never gone and backing himself to take on faux defenders as well. It’s really promising to see. The second drill is a full grounder and more or less I’m keeping my eye in on the new blokes more than the ones who were in the best 22 last season. Sammy Weideman is the first I’m keeping an eye on as part of our hopeful future forward line dynasty. The pleasing thing is Weideman’s looking really good out on the track to start with physically. He’s moving around really well after coming off that well documented five-month injury layoff. There’s still a bit to work on, and that combined with just getting some regular game time into the bloke means that Casey supporters will be seeing a lot of him to start off with. Which is understandable and I’m willing to wait. ‘Clarry’ Oliver is the next bloke who comes across over to the far side where I’ve found myself. Early indicators are everything I’ve expected from a bloke who’s been a rather late bloomer, but also one who has a truckload of potential. He does not miss a beat with his kicking. It is probably the definition of ‘low and hard’ which I hear on the regular. If there’s something I question about him it’s probably his explosiveness off the mark, but then again it’s the first time I’ve seen him in full training. I’m now happily convinced I might see him play a number of games this year. Not as many as Gus Brayshaw managed straight off the bat, but I’m expecting Neal-Bullen and Stretch-like amounts of games (so around 10 then). The next drill passes by and it’s a bit of a change up from what I’ve seen previously. There’s four groups – one which wears white vests, one which wears green, one in pink and one wearing their normal jumpers. The aim of the drill sees one team try to move the ball as quickly as possible through the ground, mostly incorporating good decision making and use through the middle. While the other group sits out, they are asked to sprint from the near-side wing to the goalsquare. Some things which are pretty evident – Tom McDonald continues to up his leadership game as he organises the defense, where he also makes some excellent tackles whilst defending. The drill also sees a bit of an injury scare for Dean Terlich, who lays a tackle then gets up relatively gingerly, holding his right ankle. After some consultation with a physio, Terlich is able to jog off, but it’s certainly the last thing he needs as he battles to get back into the side. The drill, irrespective, carries on. Another bloke who continues to impress with his decision making and ability is Salem. He always seems to find a bloke in space, even under pressure. It’s a very special ability he has and I’m hoping that he can make the most of what is hopefully a move to the midfield for season 2016 which is exactly what I want to see. Hopefully he stays injury-free. Additionally, a bloke who’s really flying under the radar as a candidate to see more gametime in 2016 is Oscar McDonald. What I’ve really noticed is that his improvement has been every bit as rapid as brother Tom’s. His running and ball use in this drill is very good. I think he certainly has the ability to win a spot in that Melbourne defense, particularly now that Melksham is out for the year. When you look back at his performance against the Giants in Round 23, I’d back him in for sure. The next drill is a bit of a change up, similar in nature to the previous drill but now much more tightly confined to one area of the ground and split into three groups. Both the group in front of the faithful and the one on the wing are trying to clear the ball either end – the one in the 50 are either trying to kick a goal (white vests) or are trying to get a clearing kick (jumpers), whereas the one on the far-side wing encourages more handball when trying to clear the area. On the near-side wing there’s an interesting quartet – Tom McDonald, Sam Weideman, Mitch King and Cam Pedersen. All four are working on their one-on-ones. The inclusion of Pedersen as a defender intrigues me in a sense, given that a lot of our supporters rate him as a forward higher than even Dawes. Then again, with Frost coming in and Pedersen still (in my eyes anyway) a member of the best 22, you have to put him somewhere. Anyway, I can’t help but admit that it’s pretty exciting seeing Weideman manage to beat McDonald in a one-on-one. As for King, he is regularly outpointed by McDonald, highlighting how much development he needs to get games. It’s a very eye-opening experience seeing the difference between a developing forward and a top-line defender. As the groups chop and change, there’s some pretty ordinary news with the sight of Tom Bugg heavily limping. It appears to be a right ankle injury, and seriously struggles to stay upright when he puts pressure on his foot with his boot off. Bugg leaves the track, his NAB Challenge campaign somewhat clouded at the moment. Bit of a highlight and reinforced confidence comes when Kent pursues a high ball which was kicked as the boys move off to their next drill, and marks at full tilt. Quickly, he then delivers a low sort-of chizzler to Harmes. Maybe not massive in the scheme of things normally but remember Kenty is coming off a hamstring tear which completely ruined his 2015 season, and he’s looking good out on the track. Pretty significant in terms of his fitness if you ask me. This next drill that I mention is a little closer to match simulation but there’s a great big flood of about 30 players trying to get the ball in one half of the ground, perhaps even only inside the forward 50. The jumpers have the ball first and work their way to about 20 out where Alex Neal-Bullen takes a good mark under pressure, and converts. The green vests side works their way up in a far more unconventional manner, which sees short kicks and switches aplenty. In particular, there’s a really good switch from Oliver which is rather impressive. The boys then get into a boundary throw in situation, and what impresses me is Vandenberg winning the ball from a Max Gawn tap, then progressing to work about 60-65 metres to win the ball on the opposite wing, delivering a good ball inside 50. Another instance seems to be bringing out the weird and wonderful today – Gawn CRUMBS a marking contest and gets the hands to Viney. Yep, it’s all happening. Speaking of Viney, he has been everywhere in this drill, collecting seven touches, a couple of clearances and a goal to boot in this drill. He has really taken his second half of the season by the scruff of the neck and looks to be building to an even bigger 2016. Remember, he played 16 games. He missed out on the B&F by just one votes to Vince who we all thought was a dead set machine all season. Viney is an animal. As the sides are changed around a little to even things up (the jumpers have provided much of the play), Kennedy and Vandenberg (who has also gathered plenty of the footy in this drill) combine for a svelte Kennedy snap around the body for a goal. While Kennedy still has a knock on his decision making which has again been fairly evident today, that kind of goal sense will be handy for us this year and it’s enough to see him in my SuperCoach side at the moment – albeit on the bench. Another couple of things I take out of this drill is that Gus Brayshaw looks to be carrying on his solid debut season, and collects around about nine touches and kicks a goal. Hogan (I surprisingly haven’t mentioned his name a lot, if at all) has had a very solid session, and although Dunn manages to get a hand on a marking attempt, Hogan’s cat-like reflexes allow him to outpoint Dunn on the ground. He still very much looks the player he was last season – set shot still on point, and really getting into a really good rhythm now. The only true difference you see with big Hoges’ is his electric green boots which are slightly less fluoro than mine – or so I’d like to think anyway. I’m just hoping I have something over him which isn’t our ages. Annoyingly, despite the boys heading off into match simulation, a combination of my mother returning from the Harbour City and Mernda starting training at 6 meant that I had to bugger off. Nevertheless, I remain very happy with the improvements the boys have shown since I last saw them train in December. Couple of other things I take out of it -There is an intraclub on Friday at Casey Fields at around 9:45 in the morning -Following the Dees/Dogs game at Craigieburn on the 6th of March there will be a practise match involving the women’s teams

Loved Titus O'Reily's Twitter post on this "Chris Yarran won't play for the first third of the season. His teammates have yet to announce which third of the season they won't play."

Move on rjay That was a very different club environment with very different recruiters, development, and coaching.

I'd be inclined to ignore the words and judge him by his actions on the training track. I think this method stands up when you look at the Cook case.

If Roos can have such an influence on team culture and leave a lasting trademark like he did at Sydney in this, his last year at the club, then see ya Roosy - you've done your job. I reckon the club will leave it up to him and how comfortable he is that his job is done. That said, if were discussing this without Macca in the frame I would be a little concerned.

don't see anything wrong with a couple of singers, nut

so why is all this inner sanctum posturing and intercourse relevant to whether chubb insurance should pay surely it is just a legal question of whether the insurance contract conditions cover an action initiated by hird or not. if hird got bad or misleading advice (not from chubb) then i can't see the relevance, but then i've never understood the relevance of hird and essendon's tactics and utterances since the very start surely if hird thought chubb would pay he would first have cleared it with chubb before blundering forward. maybe messiahs don't think they need to bother

Jack Viney is in the top 3 most important players on our list, and the quotes in that article illustrate part of the reason why. ‘‘Jack Viney has probably been the one I’ve admired the most,’’ Oliver said. ‘‘Just how hard he is at training, and how competitive he is in everything he does. ‘‘He just hates losing so that’s someone who’s been a bit of a role model for me.’’

Big smile emanating from Princes Park!

The thing with the team this season is there are so many individual X factors, e.g. VB and Kent having a greater running capacity with a full pre-season under their belt. No-one knows exactly how they will go but almost everyone acknowledges their high ceiling. It makes for an exciting year at the very least. 10 wins and no thrashings will be a pass.

Why on earth people worry about this when he's contracted for the next 2 years is beyond me.

There are some very odd 'sets' on our list, for assistance with diagnosing autism spectrum disorders. We have a young ruckman/forward from the Murray Bushrangers, named M King, competing directly for a spot against a young ruckman/forward from the Murray Bushrangers, named M King. We have three forwards under 180cm whose names begin with K and whose height is inversely proportional to their name length: Kent, Kennedy, and Kennedy-Harris. We also retain our long-held crown for having the most players with names beginning with J. Not since the heady days of Neale Daniher and 'surnames beginning with W' have we had such sustained AFL-wide dominance on our list. I hope this has cleared up some of the confusion.

Dodged a bullet here. "Yarran arrived at Richmond for the pre-season overweight and has injured his calf muscle twice in the pre-season." Link http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-richmonds-chris-yarran-wont-play-in-seniors-in-first-third-of-season-20160216-gmw2sp.html#ixzz40NdaPqJ2 If you turn up overweight you obviously haven't done enough training in the break. If you haven't and then try to keep up with pre season training you are likely to get injured. Double whammy. There was a lot of talk last year about us trying to get him. Phew, not our problem. Lesson here about being careful in recruiting players who have attitude problems at their old Club and thinking you are going to turn them around. Sylvia anyone. You are on notice StKilda.

I was guessing this to be the consensus from demonland, nothing wrong with him making fair assessments of where he is sitting in the midfield and at the end of the day, he should want to get his body ready for an AFL standard. Regardless of this, Brendan McCartney has a very high opinion of Clayton Oliver and said that he is a "really special talent" and "has somethign that most draftees dont have"

I'd rather two pages on how Billy Stretch was travelling, or how a couple of big toes are going, or Brayshaw, or Kent, or Oscar.... Fitzy? Ffs.

"shorts" betts was probably a bettser one, but

He took less money to play with the Hawks. He was atrociously dealt with by MFC. He was a much better player than he was given credit for.

I'd prefer a 100 year contract that would take him through to his next lifetime.

Try the AFL "benevolent" fund. They have most to gain in shutting Hird up.

After reading that it is clear that Dank is no mastermind. He is a fool.

In fairness though - he left as he thought he had more left to offer on the field and the club didn't - the MFC were right in this. However I do draw the difference between the club then and now and point to Daniel Cross - I think Crossy thought he had more to offer on the field but we quietly moved him from on-field to off-field.

I bloody hope he's not. Let the kid focus on himself and don't place any unnecessary pressure on him. He hasn't played a game in almost 2 years. If - and that's a huge if - he gets back on the park this year he will lead in his own way; he doesn't need a title.

Umm...they sort of do? (see them drinking - looks like they're getting ready to tunnel ball!)

Can't wait for the first bounce of the ball.

The way I see it... If Trengove makes it back and by "make it back" I mean fully fit and injury free and able to play at a sustained level of play in accordance with his abilities pre-injury, then there's no doubt he's best 22. None whatsoever. Will he "make it back" from this injury? Notwithstanding his terrific inroads, there's still doubt.

I was surprised how big VDB is. Up close he looked nearly as tall as Dunn and has a strong frame. He is the Freo type mid, the type Roos loves. Another thing I noted, was just how fit these guys are and how much they run. They look much fitter as a group, than I have seen over the last 10 or so years.

I went today from 2 till 3:00 maybe later. I havent really read all previous reports. I was looking for leading and kicking skills and they did that on my side coming out of the back 50 hitting up a player coming from the pocket to the wing. Lucky we are good at grabbing half volleys as sometimes it was the lead and other times it was the kick. it was 50-50 successful/good, there was no pressure. The good players were good, but thats about 8 or 10. Hogan whose body is like a 200 cm version of Leigh Mathews, short legs, long body; is just outstanding. Could play in the middle. Kicks long low passes to a spot where he expects his teammate to be. Watching him kick he pushes the ball out and connects with the very point beautifully. Or else boots it truly from 50 or so. Next is Trengove, ANB Brayshaw Garlett and Garland who hit targets and lead with timing and took hard fast one grabbers. Ppl cheered Garlo for something when I 1st got there. He was very good to my eye. Viney, Gawn and Salem were ok but I prob missed the good sh!t. Too many others were hit and miss. Watts sh!ts me. He is the nicest guy Ive ever seen. The love was all around. Id swap him for Robbie Muir. If you dropped a mark (im counting 2 grabs as a drop) or lead wrong or kicked a softy under no pressure to a player who had to stand under it, you still got a high 5 from the dude at CHF. His hands will be sore right now but Im sure he has lots of lanolin. Im happy with inside work and defense. Dunn and big Mac are grouse. I perked up watching Tom and Jesse toy with the kids in a push and mark, when they battled each other it was a bull fight for a second or 2. i had them 5/3 Hoges way. Forwards and delivery to them is however, my pet hobby horse. We arent good as we could be. It may have been an easier run day after harder days but seeing North belt the suitcase out of the under 25s - well thats the little papers story, it seemed half a ballarat. Everyone looked very fit. It was my 1st training session this summer and by 3:20 I jumped back on the scooter. Everyone seemed happier than me.

Great reports! My interest, belief and confidence in this team is usually peaking about this time in February. Before crushing defeats and a big injury toll give way to a round 1 belting . A belting that it brings in both the start of early signs of winter, reveals how carried away I actually was and shows just how far off the pace we truly are. BUT....this year feels genuinely feels different. Less blind hope and more, at least it SEEMS, reasoned confidence. Not counting the established players that I feel we can fully count on Jones etc etc , there is Kent, Petracca, Trengove, Hogan, Dyson, Viney, Brayshaw, Gawn, Benken, Hunt, the weed and Oliver ( eventually) as well as the new game plan, etc etc ETC. Just SO many players and things to look forward to watching this year. I look at the coaches and see Roosy, Goodwin and McCartney...( I cant ever remember seeing an array like that at this club) I look at the admin team and see Jackson. I know its Feb and I know I shouldn't say stuff like this solely on the back of promising training reports....(mad) but if my heart could talk it feels like 1987 all over again.

Couldn't resist dropping into Gosch's this afternoon to see if the rumours about Trengove recently returning to full training were true. H, JKH, Newton, Max King and Vince were all in rehab although most looked unhindered by their respective aliments and should hopefully be back in full training soon. Newton seems to be moving pretty well at the moment. Still has strapping on his ankle but was running laps with no obvious discomfort. H was doing some 100m sprints. Ran at a good pace and looked sharp, it really looked like he was galloping across the ground. Petracca seemed to switch between the rehab group and full training a couple times. Had his knee strapped as well (although this might be for his injury last year). Not sure where he is in terms of his fitness and if a NAB Challenge game or Round 1 are possibilities. In the main group, Captain Jones was the only noticeable absentee. As mentioned in earlier reports, today's drills were heavily focused on efficient ball movement. An early drill I took note of involved an in-close game of 'keepings off' where one group would quickly hand pass to each other while being pressured by the other group. O McDonald and Weideman made a couple blues here where their hand passes were smothered. Frost impressed me here. For a big lad, he has fast hands and can hit a target. He also nonchalantly hammered a 60m torp through the big sticks while waiting for the next round to start. Neal-Bullen also looked really sharp here. Next drill involved the full ground and players leading and kicking the ball to each other around the oval. Players would rotate around the oval as they completed their kick. Players in the forward group would lead up to the ball and then have a shot. There was a great moment when Stretch nailed a bullet pass to Weideman who subsequently played on, straightened, and kicked the goal through the big sticks. Kent, Dunn and Salem all looked especially classy here. For those wondering (like myself), yes, Trengove is in full training at the moment. Looks completely at home with no discomfort whatsoever. He kicked with his right foot. There was also some one on one training where Mitch King, T. McDonald, Hogan, Hulett and Weideman would pair up and compete to mark or spoil the ball. Although Weideman looked a bit out of his depth against McDonald, at times he showed great signs of his one on one ability. At one stage he completely out manoeuvred McDonald and marked in front of him. The final drill I stayed for was general match simulation practice. Jayden Hunt looked absolutely brilliant here, he has a real knack for breaking away from the pack with his speed (think Sam Blease but with more muscle and grunt). Laid some fantastic tackles and at one stage completely outplayed his opponent by spoiling his mark, subsequently crumbling the ball and delivering a brilliant pass to Sam Weideman who proceeded to kick the goal from a tight angle. I left soon after. All in all, the group is looking classy and starting to knuckle down for their first NAB Challenge match in 12 days time.

There didn't seem to be too much trouble sighting the players at the training session that I went to this afternoon. Apparently the lights were on so it was all on display to see. Injured and missing first: Jones not there. Dawes neither (not unexpectedly). Rehab group: Vince, Lamumba, Max King, JKH?, Petracca, Newton. All the rest were training with the main group including Trengove. * Petracca bandage on knee, which I didn't see last week. * JKH ran a lot of laps but didn't seem to have anything wrong, maybe just a training load situation. * Newton with tape on achilles. * Lamumba and Vince must be very close as both seem to be moving very freely. Lamumba putting in a 3.9 for 50m. Hope I don't jinx him because Dawes did a 3.6 last week, and look what happened to him. * Petracca complaining about having to do the continuous sprints. " there must be an easier way to do this apart from 30 times over..." * King must be just building up condition as there doesn't seem too much wrong with him either. The Rest: * Trengove moving freely and while I didn't see a left-foot kick, neither did he have to in the drills I watched. But he looks comfortable and is back in the game. * Hunt can move and as one of the conditioning coaches said: " he now has the body which can tolerate what the coaches want him to do". His speed will be a real asset come the main event. * I can't describe how good Max Gawn is with his mobility and quick hands. Then he is a mountain to get around when he sits in the goal-square. Watch out Todd Goldstein! * Joel Smith is a chip off the old man's block. He has a really good spring on him, and once the body is up to AFL standard, we might have something special * Hogan, Hogan, Hogan. What can you say! He is just seriously good, as if anyone didn't know that already. He owns the whole forward half and demands the ball when it comes his way. Poor Weideman had to take him one-on-one in a drill. What a lesson for the kid. * But Weideman was with the main group and while Hogan showed him how to play, he is like Smith someone who will develop quickly and has that something special. Never dropped the head, and knows how to get his own ball. * Oliver is already playing with the mids, and has trimmed down so much from his U18 days, he now needs to build up some muscle mass up top. Has the legs already and has the smarts and toughness. Might get a game at the end of the season, but then also nice to have him developing while Petracca and Kennedy and Trengove take up spots in the middle this year. * Kennedy showing plenty in the middle and will be up there for selection. Didn't see enough of Bugg to draw any conclusions. * Dunn is an absolute lock at FB and Col and Tom his permanent henchmen. Just solid all three. There is nothing like these older strong bodies when it comes to contests, and each of them holds their own. Not much more to add, but it would be nice to see Vince, Petracca and Lamumba back with the main group soon. It would give us nearly a full list going into round 1.

Just got back from training too, got there from about 2.15pm when the warm up drills were finishing. The first part of training consisted of standard drills and not much to report, but a few things caught the eye. I noticed that a few of the younger key position talls (Wiedeman, King, Hulett etc) were doing some contest work and it was mostly about body positioning and jostling, but that the actual mark was pretty much left uncontested. I thought this was strange as surely it would be useful to practice marking with more pressure on the mark itself. But Tom McDonald came over and showed how it was done and later on Hogan also got involved in this drill. His spinning moves and jostling really are great to watch, he tries everything to get space on his opponent. Also noticed a handball drill where players would handball sideways 3-4 times either towards the boundary or into the centre square. It seemed the emphasis was on switching the play but not necessarily handballing backwards. There was still an offensive feel to it. I also thought that handballing was used quite a bit over the top to break a press, which worked half the time, but relied on good long handpasses and also would fall apart if an opponent pressed up onto the next contest from the other direction. Hunt really does catch the eye with his athletism and his run down on Harmes was great to see, which was a follow up from a spilled mark, so it was good to see him make amends. He also broke the pack nicely in a match simulation later, although I feel that sometimes he kicks in hope rather than finding and drilling to a target. Plenty of others were giving him encouragement and challenging him and I can see why, because if he becomes a proper 'footballer' rather than just a great athlete and an OK footballer, then he could be anything. The match simulation with two umpires later on in the session was pretty good. Plenty of stoppages held up play, but also some good breakaways too. Viney seemed to be in everything and Stretch is great to watch when he gets some space. Brayshaw just seems to know where to go and Gawn gets to so many contests and was doing well in some of the close in work by getting his hands free and the handball away. He really is hard to tackle to the ground. I though there was an overall attacking intent and plenty of mistakes were made, but the ball was generally moving forward and everyone was working hard to follow up on any mistakes. I think this will improve in actual games with our best 22 on the park, because keep in mind that the whole list was out there and most of the mistakes came from the inexperienced players. N Jones was a no show (should have taken the chance to ask Misson why) and Terlich seemed to hurt his ankle halfway through (Vanders tackle?), then got some treatment and left the track. He seemed to be walking ok so maybe just a rolled ankle. Some ladies nearby asked Petracca what the 'problem' was with him, but he laughed that off and said nothing, just need to put a few more weeks on the leg again after the moon boot came off. No issue with the knee or toe. He joked and said he'd be back by Round 22, but then said he'll be fine for Round 1 or at least that was the aim. Go Dees

Just left Gosch's Paddock. Skipper was the only noticeable absentee. Started out watching the rehab group which included Petracca, Vince, JKH, Newton, Lumumba, and M.King. Petracca, Vince and Lumumba looked in great physical condition and didn't look too far off re-joining the main group. The main group were doing a bunch of drills which seemed to have an emphasis on ball movement through the corridor. Goodwin was in charge and seems a natural leader. McCartney was providing constant encouragement and tips to the players. Of the players that stood out to me, Vandenberg looks set for a huge season, is in pristine condition and was all class - particularly by foot. Jayden Hunt provided an inspirational run down tackle on Harmes in one of the drills and the boys got around him. Just on Hunt, I was super impressed by his performance on the track today. Neal-Bullen was also in pretty good form and was probably the loudest player out there. Bugg left the track early with some kind of niggle in his right leg and didn't return. I'm so rapt to see Trengove training with the main group. Brayshaw was super in the match simulation and Weideman kicked a lovely goal from a tough angle 45m out. He still has a ways to go though. Oliver's positioning at the stoppages was impressive for such a young player and was often the first disposal in the chain. Everyone was in high spirits and you get the sense the boys are itching to get into the real stuff.