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Standout observations: Hogan looks amazingly fit and content. Petracca has slimmed down remarkably. Tim Smith regularly outmarked anyone he was up against. Tyson, Jones, and Watts were standouts.

Found out what was wrong with Clarry, one of the victims of the asthma/hay fever storm a couple of weeks ago, on medication, trained strongly, highlight his one on one battles with Jonesy Goody had them doing a lot of contact work today, most came off complaining of sore forearms, obviously the first serious hitting in a while Paraphrasing Me "Goody, they are all whinging anout sore arms" Goody "Good, it won't do them any harm" Interesting innovation in tackling drill, they have to hold tennis ball in each hand, so they have to use arms and body and not grab Agree Hogan is in a really good place. So is Watts, had a handball drill where player has back turned and has to spin and handball to one player out of three who isn't holding a ball, with his basketball skills, Watts turned this into comedy routine, particularly when Gus Brayshaw was the 'piggy' resulting in a quick headlock on Watts by Brayshaw Mitch King is not far off had him rucking against Greg Stafford I have to work now, got some good pics Including newbies will put them on Instagram and Twitter tonight, any questions feel free

There are as many views to football as there are people really but one that often resonates among a fair few is the notion that sport , at the elite level especially , is a game played between the ears. What this suggests is given the vast majority of all playing are similarly fit and able then there must be a particular aspect that separates the winners from the also-rans. This quality is invariably ascribed to all that which goes on in players minds, both in the contest and prior with preparation. A very big part of this mental state is what is colloquially known as the buy-in. It's to do with belief not only in the individuals ability and preparedness to use it 100% but what he/she can contribute, what their fellow players are capable of and belief in them and a commitment to the strategies of the coaches and club in general. When this happens great synergy develop resulting in the sum being greater than its parts. Another thread asks where or what we might achieve in 2017. Whatever that will be will be only and because of the degree of buy-in that occurs. If there's a less than 100% harmonic then the machine doesn't purr at its loudest. I'm noticing , and had this discussion with some ( not all Dees either ) that Melbourne seems to be finally gelling. Players are buying in A very noticeable example is Jesse Hogan. I mad a comment ( numerous times ) through the season that he didn't seem 100% committed out there. His body language, his play and results all spoke to this IMHO.. I had the thinking ( still do ) that if he were to 'switch on' he would become that remarkable beast of a footballer we all wish and hope he can. He's signed, he's become a Demon ( wholeheartedly ) he's come back from his break fit and stronger, physically and more importantly I feel mentally. Petracca realises he'd been stuffing around. He's also back fitter, leaner, and more hungry to show the club, his team mates and the long suffering supporter that he , and the club mean business. The buy-in can come from unexpected sources too. Jordan Lewis surprised the football world with a trade request to....Melbourne. He believes this is the team going somewhere and he wants in. The players , with only an exception or two have returned in excellent shape and demeanor . The coaches have the footies out early. They have bought in too, Bought in to the players abilities finally being at a level to lift the gameplan to 'attack' So when we/you are at the footy, at training of even just listening to interviews etc take note of the attitude than emanates. There seems little "might" around these days and a lot more "WILL" and where there's a will as they say , there's the way. Often when comparing teams ,players etc you wonder why Team X seems to be doing better than Team Y when really the cloth and the cut seem near identical. The difference I suggest will be the degree of buy-in, the difference will be level of commitment to the contest. Players, teams that have bought in go harder, higher, longer.The individual lift becomes infectious and sustaining. This is why that long sought success will finally arrive. From the buy-in. Go Dees

Never seen Hogan smile so much

Just a bit of a sore calf, had a pressure bandage on, I asked

Really great signs. I'm generally not one to remind posters who make what i consider to be completely wrong player assessments but geez i'll be tempted to do so to those posters who made comments before he re-signed along the lines of him being over rated, we can cover him, he is too one dimensional (really?), he's good but not great etc etc. I say again the last player to come tor Melbourne with comparable talent and impact was David Schwarz pre knee injuries. If he can avoid injury i have no doubt whatsoever he will be our first superstar since Flower. And what is exciting is that i don't think the Trac is far behind.

How people can leave Garlett out of our best 22 staggers me. After Hogan (1.95), and Watts (1.73) Garlett was our third heaviest scorer (1.71). Took 4th most marks inside 50 after Watts, Gawn and Pedo... Kicked 2 or more goals in 11 or his 17 games...

Even hearing him on the news last night was like listening to a different person. Perhaps a number of factors last year weighed heavily on him. Hope it bodes for a huge year

I found it strange that GWS would pick up both De Boar in the draft and then Muzugi as a rookie where I thought Grimes would be a better option, bias included, but it makes sense now that he didn’t nominate for the draft after not getting picked up as a DFA. While I’m sure it wasn’t the ending he wanted, to get drafted, play 100 games and captain the club you grew up supporting is every Demonlanders dream. Well played Grimesy you gave it all and more.

I have 2 issues with the players. 1: They have not been contrite in any way and still harp on about being innocent and hard done by, which come from the club mainly. They should just take the punishment, come back and do their job. They have that right and although I would never really respect them they have the right to return to their life. 2: (which is actually aimed at the media) The return of the players should not be celebrated in any way shape or fashion. The whole come back story the EFC are running is disgusting. The players should have simply returned and got on with things. The AFL should have shut down any thought of celebrations or fan fair as it is entirely inappropriate to celebrate the return of a cheat, what sort of message does that send! As we all know the AFL are inept and entirely incompetent and bound to the short term dollar, they have no sense of what is best for the game long term!

Yes they were bad angles. From my perspective he didn't look lean ,but his body looked strong and his aerobic capacity allowed him to compete comfortably with anyone who opposed him.

Thought I'd bump this thread now that Jesse is committed and we're beginning to see positive articles in the media like this one. These comments in particular warmed the cockles of my heart; "Being away from family and friends was something I was going to have to sacrifice, but in the end it's worth it," he said. "We're building something special at this club and if I was to potentially leave and to miss that and watch these boys achieve whatever they achieve ... it would be pretty hard for me to watch." Losers become winners

I can catagorically say i will never go to another Essendon home game, i don't want to contribute money to a team that believes cheating is okay, and STILL to this day the players have never publicly taken responisibility for their own failings in this situation, they just play the victim card.

explain to me where the clash is (especially when you add dark shorts to mfc)

All the best, Jack. A great clubman and a pretty bloody good footballer. Leaving the AFL to have a kick with your mates in a local league is a suitable exit, given the fella he is.

26 wins. Easy.

I feel cheated that we don't get 3 word observations for each player! Robbed!! Thanks for the feedback though joeboy, really great to hear how Hogan is travelling at the moment!

It would be rather unfortunate really, should Lumumba retire in comming weeks as predicted, the sentimentalist in me would have loved to see Grimes take his spot again as a delisted FA (if that's even possible), as unlikely as it would be. Turning down "bigger" money offers to play footy with his mates, says a lot about the true spirit of the game and sport that some others would do well to take note of.

Awesome thread, love hearing everyone's expectations and thoughts for next year. In my opinion our list has definitely improved over the off season - by exactly how much is hard to say - but I'd suggest with Melksham, Hibberd and Lewis at the very least joining our best 25 we are adding some extra quality. Include a fit Salem and some more fitness into last years recruits and we're looking even better. Our depth across the board is pretty solid and I reckon if we get a decent run with injuries we can improve on last year with a similar bump up in wins from the year previous. Looking for at least 12 wins. If everything is truly right in the world and 2017 treats us nicely - then North will plummet, Pies lose their coach and implode, similar story with Tigers if they don't fire, Carlton begin to stumble, Port have the pressure on and are almost in the same boat, Weat Coast might drop away again in an off year, Hawks might have lost their soul and most importantly St Kilda begin to top out with a lack of true talent (they worry me) then we might just jump a few more places than previously expected and imbed ourselves in the finals. Can't wait!

I'd say that is 3 into our best 22 and not one of the outs is/was comfortably in our best 22. So you would have to say we have improved on paper.

Only the Ox's mind could put those 2 sentences together.

Ox said on SEN this morning that Trac had shed 6-7 kg. Said he'd be amazed if he didn't win the Brownlow.

Clarry has an ability to raise his fitness, speed and footskills to high levels when needed and then to look like he can barely run a lap or kick a drop punt when its not a competitive endeavour.

Maybe it's the cookies

A quick, nimble, mercurial forward who averages 30+goals a season... Highlights from Last year...

those dormant Dees fans are waking up! they can smell what we're cookin!! off-field I dont think we have ever been in better shape since I started follwing the Dees

Had a chat to Sandringham club mate last night about Lachlan. Said has worked really hard this year as he spent his 17th year injured. Filled out much more and they feel he has growth left in him. Very coachable and a very good kid.

Pedersen is the biggest surprise of that lot. Good lesson in the value of persistence.

Totally agree, P-man. As others have mentioned, Jeffy doesn't have the margin for error next year like he did in 2015 or to a degree this season - although I get your point regards "the cream on top." He just seems that much more frustrating to me when he's having an off game.

I'm no mathematical genius WB, but given we finish top 4 then we only need to win 25 games. Unless you're counting an end of season exhibition match, which I'm less fussed about winning.

He's in a happy place........ and so will we be if we can pinch a flag

For technical reasons I couldn't add my own text to the above quote. What I wanted to say is that if the election of Donald Trump has taught us anything, we shouldn't just believe something to be true because it is said often enough. (There was a similar experience in Europe in the early 1930s, too). Is there actual, confirmed, real, factual evidence which supports the AFL's claim regarding (1) viewer confusion and (2) player difficulties?

Cynicism is the natural protective blanket of most Melbourne supporters but I think there is a lot of sense in your post Beelzebub. When you combine the factors you mention with the natural enthusiasm injected by a new coach (okay not new in the ordinary sense) the players can enter the season with a feeling of confidence and commitment. Confidence can be a brittle thing however so it is very important that we get a few good performances under our belt early in the season. From there.... who knows....we may even come to look upon the Darwin game as a welcome winning break from the winter slog

He has been dead for years - it's just no-one has told him yet.

Agreed, with the addition that they should also not be rewarded. I find the idea of Heppell as captain because he's "grown as a person" whilst being banned for drug cheating sickening.

It is regrettable that after "serving their time" there has been acknowledgement of wrong doing. Protestation of innocence has been the only constant. I would find it easier to move on were their some recognition of what was done and a statement to never repeat the circumstances. Any publicity of any participants should be used to educate the next generation of what should be done.

I'm not against what the club is trying to do with the new logo and the whole marketing campaign to broaden the appeal of the club. Quite to the contrary. However we shouldn't sell out on our core identity to go chasing a few cheap tourist $. The new logo looks great on the all red polos the club has on sale and I think many tourists and members alike (including myself) are more likely to purchase a classy looking item like that, than the tacky looking clash jumper. Further the AFL has clearly accepted that the all white is not required for some and just need to accept that red can provide a sufficient colour contrast for the MFC as other non white colors such as yellow for the WCE.

I appreciate what you're saying P-man but the three players i listed in Jones, Dawes and Grimes are the three i view as being willingly moved on, where as Dunn requested a trade due to opportunity, so if we weren't going to play him in the seniors he was going to look at other clubs. i think Casey will take a hit, but i think they'll still be a fairly strong side with the natural progression of our younger players that will rotate through there this year, ANB should be better again this year and he might spend a bit of time there. I'd have also kept Grimes on for one more, he's an experienced player with an AFL body who would have been very handy if injuries hit hard at some stage.

Did he not nominate for the draft? That would be going above and beyond if he was to stick around to continue helping develop the younger players. Wouldn't rule it out with Grimesy.

With her ball boy Earl. Geez, do you not know anything?

12 wins with a percentage of over 100 would be a very good result. As well as not losing games when we're $1.25 favourite. Scary to think that had we'd beaten Essendon and Carlton as well as only losing to Geelong by 40 points in the last game, we would've played finals.

Will be disappointed with anything less than 8th. The building blocks are in place. It's time to deliver now.

His perseverance has been Herculean. His professionalism is lauded by everyone. There is no way he's in the rehab group b/c he's out of condition as a result of being too heavily on the cans in the off season etc. I'm sure it's just part of his (modified) programme.

The simple way of looking at it is we have added 3 players I expect are walk up best 22. We have not lost any player who was walk up best 22. Our depth past spot 30 will lack maturity but will likely be better in quality if called on occasionally. Additionally the additions to the list bring a more balanced mix of positions in my view than what we had prior.

It's great to be able to read through a thread like this and not see it full of new draftees that we'll all be placing unrealistic expectations on over the summer, only to see them swamped and bashed in round one. When was the last time we had zero debutants in round one..? (Got bored an then answered my own question... this could be the first time we haven't had a first gamer in a round one side since Round One 2007!)

Who said he was lucky to be given a contract? Mahoney? Jack? Jack is one of the most professional players on the list. Your concerns about the shape that he has come back in are totally uneducated.

27,297... Big bump since this morning!

I will preface my expectations with an overview of how I see us ,,,,,now, For many many years you could look at our list and think, well, of the 44 or so only a dozen are really good AFL players., another dozen can be more than useful "on their day" half a dozen would be...I'm not too sure why we have them. The rest were either noobs or nqr's It's been a long time since I looked at our list and thought ( really thought, not hoped ) we actually have the possibility ( very real) of assembling something quite potent here.....and there's depth in most places ( * ruck worries me still ) From back through the guts to the pointy end we have ability. It could be very easy to get carried away and I have done in the past, but I'll temper my expectations to, we will play finals and wont just make up the numbers there either. I expect us to play a more consistent winning brand of footy and string games together on more than a couple of occasions through the season. Teams we should have beaten we now will. I dont think we'll fully get a 'well oiled machine " act happening just yet in 2017...2018 with another season and preseason ..yes. 2017..finish...13-14 wins place 6-8. make 2nd week of finals...scare the bejeebus out of a lot of teams !! Make Collingwood cry twice again !!always good value There are the usual caveats 2018....in the Granny !! Go Dees ( thread needs a poll btw )

And he can mark....

IN: Jake Melksham (in effect) Jordan Lewis Michael Hibberd Pat McKenna Mitch Hannan Dion Johnstone Lachlan Filipovic Declan Keilty Tim Smith OUT: Jack Grimes Matt Jones Dean Terlich Lynden Dunn Chris Dawes Ben Newton Viv Michie Max King Looking good to me