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I dropped into training for an hour or so and the posts above explain why I didn't recognize a couple of the players! The session was still going when I left but it didn't seem to be as exhausting as some I've seen in the past. But what it did show was that they are straight into ball work, tackling, handball drills, match simulations and clearance work in a serious sense. There was pressure in every drill, not three quarter pace stuff as they got to know a drill or worked on game plan but a full on application of what they were practicing. I've not seen that intensity until well after Christmas in previous years which shows the maturity of the group and a different focus from the coaching staff. The other thing I noticed was how much more involved Goody is compared to previous coaches. He's hands on and a nuts and bolts sort of coach. The rehab group included Viney, Pedersen, Tom Mc, Lewis, Trenners, Jetta, Oliver (but I think he was in some of the early main group work), Max King, Vanders, JKH and maybe some others. None appeared inconvenienced other than Oliver who really didn't look all that happy. Of the players in the main group I focused on Joel Smith mostly who really is an imposing athlete. He trained well and is certainly comfortable in all the drills but he did fumble a couple that he shouldn't have although that's not surprising given the intensity of the session. Others to impress were Dom Tyson who looked really good, Billy Stretch for his dancing feet in tight situations and his ability to hit targets, Hoges for his sheer athleticism and agility for his size and Max Gawn for his vision in traffic which was very impressive. Hunt was also very impressive, perhaps the standout for me because I kept noticing him although I wasn't looking for him. He's very strong in the legs now and his kicking was pretty good today. But best of all he just kept finding the ball in match simulation and made good decisions when he got it. Petracca seems to have fined down quite significantly in the upper body but certainly not in the legs which are powerful and huge. I also liked that they were doing specific tackling drills, both practicing their technique and also standing up in the tackle and dishing it off. Again, these are drills I've not seen done at this time of the season. Jason Taylor was looking on but spent a fair bit of time on the phone as you'd imagine! And just for the record, H was a no show!

It might have been a better idea to have written "Back"

And: Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 2m2 minutes ago Straight into it! First day for Dion Johnstone! #myheartbeatstrue 0 replies0 retweets0 likes Reply Retweet Like More He's possibly the youngest looking footballer I've ever seen.

I don't know where or when, but from MFC Twitter: Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 7m7 minutes ago Some new faces at training this morning, welcome @mitchhannan! #myheartbeatstrue 0 replies0 retweets2 likes Reply Retweet Like 2 More

I wish you'd told the FD this before the draft cos they probably don't know. Just kidding. The FD obviously have a lot more faith in Pencil than many here.

So he's nuts.

So apparently, serving time for drug cheating is a good qualification for being a leader: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dyson-heppell-renovated-rejuvenated-and-ready-to-captain-essendon-20161124-gsx1vl.html The Heppell who returned to the club's high performance centre only a few weeks ago was the same laconic-talking, mop-haired favourite of the fans, but consequently, one perhaps even more suited to assuming the mantle of Essendon's next captain than he already was. Angry rant incomming. IDGAF if serving a year out for being a drug cheat helps you 'grow' as a person and gives you 'perspective'. If the club is serious, it should not be rewarding this behaviour by giving one of the 34 the captaincy. Apply your new found [censored] perspective after sport Dyson. You don't deserve to be captain. You failed your team when it mattered most, your character has been shown to be lacking. If you're a better person now, fine. But Essendon, or any club, simply cannot reward or condone your behaviour or lack of moral fibre. Go write some [censored] up self-help book about overcoming adversity, or get some speaking gigs and get paid a heap for it. I don't care. But you do not deserve to captain an AFL side. You have served your time and deserve to play AFL again. Nothing more, nothing less. You do not deserve to be rewarded for your actions. You said, explicitly, on AFL 360 a year ago that you knew what you were injected with and were ok with it. So you, as a person, a [censored] human being, contributed to the distress of Hal Hunter and his family because they STILL DO NOT [censored] WELL KNOW WHAT IT WAS, AND TRIED SUING THE CLUB TO FIND OUT. But no, you can't tell anyone what it was, because it was banned. God forbid you tell Hunter, lest it expose to the world what you knew and when you knew it, increasing the public knowledge of your culpability. Give me a [censored] break Dyson. And Rohan Connolly, GAGF too. Don't write this [censored] and then call yourself a journalist you [censored] cheerling [censored] merchant. Either report on just the facts, or take a proper moral stance. This fluff bs is unacceptable. Apologies if any profanity gets through the filter, and for the considerable lapse in forum etiquette. I'm just really really angry with this story.

1 last thing I'd like to note, is his listed weight shows 88kgs, where the last time he weighed in he was up to 96kgs, pure muscle. A good pre-season in him and he will have a very competitive amount of strength.

Its great isn't it? Plapp must be stoked as both likely to be with Casey most of the year so they don't lose the talent or the synergy and history they have with their Casey team mates. But will have the advantage of AFL level training, development and training. A win for both young men and both clubs. A very smart move.

And acts it too.

Short and 'sweet' from ASADA: "...This man {Dank} should not be allowed near any athlete, anywhere in the world, ever," McDevitt said. Here, Here!! http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-throws-out-stephen-dank-appeal-after-noshow-20161128-gsz99f.html

Who did he go up against..? Walked past you at work today Cell, look like you could still play today. Isn't Spencer enough as a backup? I don't know of any better backups that are happy playing 2nd fiddle & don't have their eye on the door so they can be No. 1 elsewhere.

The other positive is that the MFC players who played multiple game for Casey and Smith and Keilty will know each other pretty well, which has to hep in terms of them settling in and the general vibe around the club

Got this image up on the MFC app ... Oops? (sorry about quality, had to reduce it to post & maybe went too far the other way)

...and I guess this means Jobe won't get his Brownlow back?

Dank's has to go into the history books as the greatest coward in Aussie sport. He not only failed to get himself off but, despite his bluster, never lifted a finger to deliver on his oft repeated promise to help players get off. Weak.

As any average or worse kicking ruckman should.

Does anyone mind if I delete this?

So, half Scottish, half Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian or Montenegran

Our second rookie draft pick for 2017 and we know him well. He's the Bull!!!

They call him Flipper, Flipper...

All that means is you are old LDC!

but the afl say they are only happy with predominately white, though as we are increasingly seeing this is selectively applied the opportunity for change (mfc) is growing with the afl seemingly being more lenient on this requirement. the ball is with the mfc i feel

Harry wants money and as much as he can get. He doesn't want to earn it though It's that simple. I would call it breach of contract, but i have no idea if i am legally correct.

I will declare my bias off the bat, I have know Declan and his family for a long time and have followed his career very closely. He has had a fantastic year at Casey being voted VFL player of the month in June and culminating in being named in the VFL team of the year. At 21, 195cm and 90+ kg, he has shown that he can more than hold down a key position and has battled manfully in the ruck when required this year. He must be worth looking at either as a late pick or in the rookie draft. Unfortunately I have not seen any Casey games live this year due to work commitments (I have watched a lot on TV/replay) can those how have seen him live shed any more light on Dec and his draft chances?

On SEN drive home show, Jon Ralph, along with Mark "Mr Perception" Allen and Adam Cooney (enuf said), were tearing strips off Dank. Worst criminal in Oz sport history, etc etc. Even to the point of wishing financial ruin on him. (A tad harsh!) I wanted to ring in ... "so tell me, this Dank must have done something terrible. Something really awful to be the worst villain in Oz sport history. Tell me, what specifically did he do?" I expect they would have backtracked at a million miles an hour. "Oh, we don't really know" ... "He robbed these young men of the prime of their careers, the cad, etc" .... all while avoiding the obvious "he was the technical expert in Oz's greatest doping scandal and injected all those players with multiple PEDs." If Dank is the biggest villain, how did he get that way? Did EFC walk into the rooms one day to find this stranger injecting their players against their wills? Or did someone else ... potentially an even greater villain in sports history ... invite him in and direct him to these deeds? The wilfull blindness makes me shake my head. Is this our great game?

Oh please, he wasn't on his own in the second half, besides which, it is the past Pencil was offered a 1 year contract by the club We now have 2 ruckman ready to go and 2 developing, plus a variety of backups, Lachan can be built properly

There is a nice highlights reel - Declan Keilty

VP nailed most of what I saw. I was impressed by Hannan and DJ's kicking technique when lining up for goal. Simple run ups, came in straight, nailed kicks easily with nice penetration. Vanders was leading out Viney on a few longer laps. T Mc, Pedda, Jetta, Lewis, JKH, King and Trenners were all part of the rehab group doing runs. Maynard was doing light jogs with the two draftees before heading off early For what it's worth Hannan had jumper 19 on and DJ had 37.

I assume he will be training as a defender? Very happy for him.

Makes sense. No point taking him at Melbourne as the O Mac nickname has already been taken.

Stoked for Dec and his family. He comes from great stock! Cant wait to see him in a Melbourne jumper.

Good get

Declan drafted as a rookie to join Tim Smith - we know him well also!!! A big day for Scorpions recruits as Oscar McInerney was also taken by Brisbane.

And big Fitz back for the Hawks!

Source hinted at Brayshaw but not as reliable as last year

Don't sweat it. I reckon Demonland is covering the rookie draft. Give us another Brayshaw please !!!

The robbo conundrum - at the breakfast table: do I go the red, or straight to the whiskey? Oh, sorry, wrong robbo.

put a limit on the no. of academy picks which get a discounted rate or have a sliding discount (reduces with each extra academy pick) add more stringent conditions on what constitutes an academy pick

And in a shock development that caught the rest of the world by surprise, Stephen Dank failed to file the required paperwork today as required by the AFL anti-doping appeal board.

Dropped in briefly for the last half hour. Quick ball movement drill was a thing of beauty - so clean and precise and me thinks decision making was even quicker than last year, although sometimes first glance in a while can be deceptive. Having extra quality/depth with Hibberd and Melksham and McKenna Since last season Jack Viney is even more muscular - is this possible? He looked a bit like Naim Suleymanoglou as he did his 250m reps around the boundary with Dean Kent. Both Weideman and Oscar are still in need of more upper body weight training - still scrawny. Both Hunt and Smith look stronger though. Good to see range of skills drills and the Auskick one-on-one drill was a sensation as revealed earlier. Brayshaw just pipped Jones 2-1, O.Mac downed Weid 2-1. Bernie swept Tyson 2-0 with complete guts and desperation, Frosty managed to get ball to ground and won 2-1 against Hoges, Jack W was too tall for Harmes and won 2-0 and in the match-up of the day Salem was too classy for Petracca winning 2-0 with his one-hander a gem. Boys looked happy and most looked really fit (about 12 were on light duties) and two Dons seem to have fitted in perfectly. There was one player apart from Salem who stood out. When it came to 1km trials, this player was told to rack off from the second group because they obviously knew he was too quick. He nonchalantly went over to the A group which comprised Bugg, ANB, Melky, Harmes, Hunt, Oscar and Jones. He sat at the back for the first lap and then decided to just step it up and whizzed around them all and then took off the gas and won it easily with a bit of a smirk. I suspect you can all guess who it was and everything he did showed he is fair dinkum and clearly our number 1 main man for next season - subject to injury. My guess is that Jesse will play as a mobile forward similar to Nick Riewoldt this year - a bit like the Carlton game this year where he lead up and was the pack-mark outlet all day. Note: I'm not usually a huge Hoges fan, but you could just tell he's primed and it's not even December.

Declan had an interview with the Mebourne staff today about his draft prospects

he loves the club. i don't understand why he doesn't do more in the media. he's articulate, he's good looking, he was a 'flair' player, and he loves his footy. he's a top dude from my interactions with him and he well deserves success in a post-footy life!

Most of it's been covered today and I just had a quick look. But the more I see of Mitch King the more I think he'll get there in a few years. Looks much stronger already and big across the shoulders. He tires after a bit but when they are doing kick to kick he starts off moving and kicking nicely for a tall man. He's got to be 202+ by now. Trenners doesn't have the definition of some other guys but he looks lighter in the glutes. I think he's literally working his butt off so there's hope there. A large rehab group today and a lot of players going in and out of drills. Frost and Hunt haven't fixed their kicking yet so it will be important to get them in space where their speed is still as impressive. Watts in team drills where he can duck out on a lead and then spin and kick is deadly. If the backline skills pick up and he can start finding space and being hit up he's got another level in him. Salem seems to have lightened off a little since the first week back, or maybe just got more of a tan, he looks very good. He took a set shot from the pocket that was as sure a kid as you'll ever see. Hoges nailed one from the right forward pocket which is the side he struggles with. Just has to back himself and his straight routine and he'll get more confidence on that side. If he stays fit all preseason and his tank is vastly improved I think Dom Tyson's going to rack up some 40 touch games. We know he gets the ball in tight but he just seems to bob up in creative areas on the outside as well.

Righto, I'll bite. I dropped into training for an hour or so this morning. I didn't take any notes so I'm just going by memory. - The rehab group consisted of Oliver, McDonald Snr, Trengove, Kent, JKH, King and some bloke name Jordan Lewis. - Garlett was present and ran laps with Hibberd, the latter looking extremely knackered after he finished his set. Meanwhile, Daniel Cross still looks in ripping shape. He ran the same amount of laps and barely looked fazed afterwards. - The main group warmed up with some general stretches and running exercises. Nothing too special. - Too my surprise, the soccer balls came out and the boys divided up into groups of five or six where they would try keep the ball in the air for as long as they could without using their hands. The group closest to me which consisted of the Skipper, Gus, ANB, Petracca and Hogan completed a nice set of 30 or so passes using only their heads. - Next, the boys split into groups of two and the staff brought out a set of harnesses which would be put on a player who would walk forward while the other team member attempted to pull him back. Interesting little exercise that I haven't seen before yet at a Melbourne training session. - A few kicking drills followed where coaches would attempt to put pressure on the player kicking. - Noticed a lot of match simulation drills involving the boys splitting up into two seperate groups. Bit like a game of keepings off. Had too leave around this time so I didnt see too much. A few other bits and pieces - Oscar McDonald looks more filled out, but he had a couple of shockers in regards to disposal. - It's a cliche, but plenty of players look in ripping shape at the moment. Stretch, Smith, Salem (looks incredible given the last six months), Hunt and ANB are all players who looked to have bulked up a bit. - Petracca is so clean. He just doesn't make mistakes. - Lewis is a beautiful kick. He had a kick to kick with TMac, JKH and Pedders and he didn't miss one target. Apologies for not taking any notes. Expect a more detailed training report next time I attend a session.