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I reckon that will be on your gravestone, old dee.

Fact is in 2017 we were: 18th in defensive one on ones 18th in opposition scoring from 50m entries. We were also monstered by guys like Brown, Hawkins, Daniher etc. Our defence is very vulnerable. The club knows this and Lever is clearly there to help us improve on this. There will be a multitude of strategies to deal with improving our defence including improving individual performances. Hibberd and jetta are not infallible but are AA quality. So is Lever. Frost and OMAC are the clear weak links that oppositions try to exploit. How the coaching staff manage/improve these two will go a long way to to ensuring our game style is fit for finals.

Article here detailing plans being pushed by MFC hierarchy to have a new facility built to accommodate the Football Department and club administration. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/melbourne-football-club-considering-new-training-facility-next-to-goschs-paddock/news-story/ef692ba70fd95c0c2334174f443f7284 It’s in keeping with Bartlett and co wanting to keep the club central, visible and associated with the city of Melbourne. (There might even be a merchandise store that isn’t terrifying to visit)

The Age (Peter Ryan) predicts Melbourne to finish 1st. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/aflw-2018-preview-predictions-and-players-to-watch-for-season-two-20180126-h0otj4.html MELBOURNE Captain: Daisy Pearce Coach: Mick Stinear Ins and outs In: Bianca Jakobsson (Carlton), Ashleigh Guest (GWS), Eden Zanker, Maddy Guerin, Tegan Cunningham, Claudia Whitfort, Erin Hoare, Kate Hore, Anna Teague, Maddie Shevlin Out: Pepa Randall (GWS), Maddy Boyd (GWS), Deanna Berry (Western Bulldogs), Jess Anderson, Mia-Rae Clifford, Stephanie De Bortoli, Sarah Jolly, Elise Strachan Key player: Daisy Pearce Handled the attention with aplomb, but you sense the Demons' champion was dissatisfied at the results. A great stoppage player, she has elite disposal skills and a fierce competitiveness. Only a premiership would satisfy. How they went last year: 3rd The shock loss to the Lions derailed their season with the inexplicable defeat to the Giants ruling the Demons out of the grand final. Both losses came in the wet. The Demons are good but were not able to cope with the structures in place early in the season. The Demons controlled the ball in most games but did not score enough. Prediction for this year: 1st They should have their eyes on the premiership as they have a quality list with depth. Pearce and Karen Paxman are both stars while emerging talents Lily Mithen and Jasmine Grierson are dangerous. Veteran Melissa Hickey provides stability. The pieces are all there. It's a matter of the Demons putting them together.

Not having one ds in true Demon spirit I will be burnt.

To me SEN is on the skids. Hutchy may be shrewd when it comes to the figures ($), but I am not sure his identification of so-called 'talent' is that good. While I know much of the programming still relies on the summer sports calendar, personally I find most of the programming to be exceptionally boring. The previous cameo by Dr Turf on KB's morning program was OK, but I just don't believe the chemistry can last for an entire program. Andy Maher, to me, is extremely tedious, particularly his incessant preambles into inane questions. Why SEN went back to the future with Maher beggars believe really. While Finey could rankle, I at least found him entertaining and particularly enjoyed his segment with Geoff Poulter, interviewing past VFL/AFL stars. As for Whately, time will tell I guess. Not that I think Whately is not an excellent sports broadcaster, but the fit with SEN just doesn't seem to me to be the right synergy.

There’s no room for your reasoning here Wayne. More outrage or get out.

Born and raised in the Goulburn Valley, Vic, moved to Queensland at 31. The locals here are ok, just a little slower than Vics, and clueless when it comes to any sport other than Thugby League.......

Great prospect imo, and another sign that we now a professional Club, with our eyes firmly fixed on the big picture .

All - this is not meant to start a political discourse but I have just finished "Aboriginal Australians - A history since 1788" by Richard Broome - well researched and not a difficult read. Highly recommend it. I also finished Fire and Fury - inside the Trump Administration by Michael Wolff. His writing style reminded me a lot of Caroline Wilson. He cleverly mixes quotes with words attributed to others that may be quotes but you are really not sure. He mixes a whole lot of quotes with opinion or what he thinks "may" have been said. It becomes so intertwined it leaves the reader none the wiser as to what actually was said and what wasn't said, what is fact ( quotes) and what is fiction ( pure opinion). Having said that - for the life of me, it must have been the biggest snowjob of all time that anyone connected with Trump allowed him one minute of access as he has zero good words to say about anyone in the Administration.

Fascinating read here about Israel's attempts over the years to assassinate Yasir Arafat, an extract from a forthcoming book about the history of Israeli intelligence agencies and their targeted killings. What stands out is the moral tussle between senior military / intelligence / government figures, and the lengths to which some of them were prepared to go to, to get rid of the PLO leader, and how they were thwarted by others who thought the collateral damage (such as shooting down a commercial plane) was too high a price to pay. Really looking forward to the book as the article reads like a thriller and seems to be meticulously researched, with multiple sources giving their perspective on how each event unfolded.

The Dees camp goes until 5 Feb so no other clubs are using the facility on the Saturday. It's usually the first Saturday in February (last two years anyway) and kids have always been back at school by then. Only reason I can see is that the Footy Dept decided they wanted the Saturday to be a closed session or have the boys doing something else that day. As I said above, I'm disappointed with the decision but can also understand the Footy Dept having the final say.

My goodness, what a calendar! When I first heard about The Everest I was a critic thinking it encroaches on the Melbourne spring carnival. After reading a few articles post The Everest the interest it generated in Victoria was immense for the sprint races. The planning was spot on, a fortnight later you have the Manikato followed by the Darley Classic a fortnight after that. The scheduling of the race didn't effect Melbourne bound horses. A race worth $10mil and it's not eligible for group status. Some think the Australian Racing Board should step in and amend the rules to give the race the status it deserves.

Not by me!

You can add to Lever and Lewis the recruitment of Melksham and Hibberd, too. Not because they were both superstars, but because they chose us and not as a last resort.

As a Brisbane-based supporter, very disappointed with this. Not bagging the club as being hopeless or anything, but as others have said, this has been scheduled for the Saturday morning each of the last 3-4 years and been a big success with 300-400 attending and plenty of local media exposure. We drive up every year and my two young boys love it, being one of the highlights of the year. They've been asking me for weeks when it'll be and are now very confused. I appreciate the footy department comes first but scheduling it for Friday instead of the traditional Saturday is actually worse than not having one at all and just claiming the week is a closed one. I see there's plenty of Demonlanders taking the pi$$ and seeing no issue. That's a complete lack of understanding of how successful the Saturday sessions have been in the past and the exposure the Dees have been able to have with young kids , local media and the general footy community up here. Really feels like an own-goal.

I don't see the issue as Queenslander's rarely work anyway. (Unless you are originally from Vic).

Sometimes it has to be about the supporters. There are a lot of QLD and nationwide passionate Demons that might not even get a chance to see the team live at all throughout a year. Last year we were receiving daily diary reports for the duration of the training camp of what players were getting up to and that included the weekend. It doesn't have to be a training session on a Saturday for supporters to attend, the club could organise a simple Meet and Greet for a couple of hours.

Love the royal blue for clash games. Retro is back in style. Perhaps some 1970s music as we prepare the games. Dragon? Simon and Garfunkel?

Was just asking the question there seemed to be a few upset posters who couldn’t attend being on a Friday, I thought someone might have asked the club the reasoning for the Friday session, being that I live in vic I personally couldn’t care less when they have it

It's a terrific go-to listing isn't it! Whilst the racing calendar might seem like a chaotic schedule to non-aficionados, that link to all the Group races makes sense of it all. I especially like the write-ups for the Group 1's or Group 2's where it's mentioned how the acceptors arrived at those races via certain lead-up races. That stuff helped me at the Ascot Carnival. I'll try and remember to copy & paste the link every time we go to a new page. It's going to be quite a challenge coming up with our 'best bets' ... I've done that sort of thing with mates before putting a trifecta/first 4 together but not so much with multi betting. I might end up trying to find something at Rosehill (early doors) So where does everyone have the most luck/best results? I much prefer Flemington/Randwick/Rosehill but I've had a few decent collects at Caulfield/Moonee Valley. I like Ascot (WA) but have only had sporadic bets at Eagle Farm/Doomben/Morphettville. But because the Demons rarely ever play on a Saturday arvo (2 games this season) the Qld & SA carnivals could well be front & centre this time around. Sha Tin for the big events is becoming a favourite too (especially when they race there on a Sunday) And the big races from Europe have great appeal - I kinda like the thought of having a trifecta or 2 in those big European races and then waking up on a Sunday morning with a healthier account!

Seems a natural spot for it if we can pull it off, public park and all. Flag and proper Dees only facilities in my lifetime isnt too much to ask?

Nothing happening at the Camp, and it's always good to plan vertical integration..........

Please stick to the title of thread! Nice to hear what’s happening at this Camp, not all the self indulgent drivel.

Easy solution Deezone.

If I keep reading this thread I will end up in the fetal position...................................!!!!

Any reports of what they have been doing so far?

Yep, they would never think about coming up and playing all to themselves on Daintree Oval, which is used for nothing else, because of too many crocs and snakes roaming around. Plenty of guns here to protect them though, because they have weekend celebratory shoot offs. A far more sane area of FNQ......

Was planning on going but yeah, nah Friday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Another quality Melbourne "feels like an own goal" Demons moment.

Glass half full. He will give his all, as always, but last year when we got caught out with the zone-style defence so that Jetta ended up as the sole defender on a tall forward, it wasn't usually a success.

Who can’t handle a tag. So yeah, very very good player. If he starts beating tags then I’d agree with superstar. Can’t beat a tag. Not a superstar.

All good bloke. I was taking the pizz out of myself, not you.. Shame for your son. Once a year opportunity. Terrible scheduling.

Spot on D77. It’s always been on a sat for as long as I can remember so why change it now. It makes no sense and pisses a lot of qld supporters off.

My first thought when I read the club's email was to take the kids out of school and take a day off. Wife vetoed that very quickly. I also sent an email to the club explaining my displeasure. Even through the performances of the past years I could find positives and we stayed fat with the club. But this really p's me off and stinks of arrogance. There is two games at the Gabba this year and would have spent hundreds of dollars on the functions etc. Right now I don't think I want to.

We went up from Brisbane last year on the Saturday, and the kids had a great day in what seemed like a pretty big turn out. Doesn't make much sense to change it to a Friday.

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. We have been going for a few years now. We bought memberships with this session the only highlight up here (qld) for years and they put it 9am on a friday when people have work and the kids have school. My daughter is a Young Demon member and the email was sent to her. Talk about neenah neenah. Kids are devestated. Wife is upset too as we ussually call back through Mooloolaba to pick up some awesome fresh prawns. I'll finish by saying this event is usually well supported and really successful.

So the boys r coming up and the club has decided to do an open training session on FRIDAY 2/2. Its great they are coming up but FMD some of us work for a living and can’t get up on Friday. Really dissapointing for the club to have it on a Friday.

Its good thats its an early match R3 and we get it out of the way. Its also at the G and not Jihad or Hobart or somewhere. I think well smash them (like guitars).

What a great thread, very complex questions answered so well and detailed. As I can follow. But I only played reserve grade amatures. Running around chasing the ball really. The crystal balls the recruiters have are large indeed. We are as blessed now as we were stuffed before with our earlier recruits. Change of personnel is a credit to our FD I assume. I also hope Mr Spargo goes as well as his highlights package indicates I for one was most impressed. Go Dees

Interesting question VP. I think it’s just risk/return territory i.e. with a top pick, recruiters probably feel safer in selecting a kid who has proven form over the past year. As everyone knows though, we closely followed Lever in his draft year and he was apparently in the mix for picks 2&3 but the club simply couldn’t go past Petracca and Brayshaw. Hence the Trengove to Richmond for pick 12 trade, which was to be used on him. Jaidyn Stephenson, who Collingwood picked up last year, probably fits the category of an elite junior with injury concerns who was still selected with a high draft pick. If Collingwood didn’t pick him, he may very well have slid to pick 20 or so. Spargo will be a player - you kind of just know he will. He’s the sort of player the Swans would typically land with a second round pick. Pleasantly surprised that we landed him though.

Saw most of the session this morning. And while everyone looks good in pre-season, because there is no pressure and it's all about getting to maximum fitness levels for the season ahead, I made the following observations: * Jones not at the session, although was sighted running strongly before the main group came out. * Viney running laps very strongly, before he went inside. * Brayshaw carrying heavy strapping on hamstring, and was hindered when running, although he competed in all the session and the running drills. * Petty and Balic running laps. * Smith, Spargo, Petty, Kent, Weideman, all in the rehab group with Cross running the drills. None of them can be too far away from joining the main group. Vandenberg not sighted by me, but didn't see this group working for long. * ANB, Bugg and Tom Mc by far the leaders in the running drills, with all 3 trying to get over the line first. Tom Mc eventually grinding them down after half a dozen 400m runs, but ANB held on through the lot. Buggy hitting the wall in the last one, but led the early sorties. * King and Filopovic will be more than adequate back-up for Max. Both can kick the ball ( unlike Spencer) and were in the middle of the pack in the running drills, so are building their endurance to the necessary level. Interestingly, Max is certainly in the top 1/3rd in the running drills. The sprinters like Garlett and Frost struggle with the longer distances, not surprisingly, but would beat most over 100m easily. The surprise is Hunt who is out in the leading pack for distance, and we all know he can turn on the jets as well. Saty, 666, Hardtack and little tacker should have some ripper photos, which we should see later. They would have more if they hadn't gas-bagged on about the merits of various photographic equipment, but hey, who am I to criticise?

Anyone go? Got this off Ben Guthrie.. A few standouts in 9 v 9 match sim at @melbournefc training: - Christian Salem is in top nick and is covering the ground well Tom McDonald had a real presence up forward Corey Maynard has excellent game sense. Look for him to play senior footy early this year.

More photos taken by my son Liam at yesterday’s (Wednesday) training session - and considering Liam’s just 15, I’m extremely proud of his efforts so far. Here’s a link for those able to view in Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/tim.fleming.75/albums/1579333815435229). Otherwise, here is a subset, albeit quite a substantial subset, for those who can’t...

Trac is rehabbing at the moment, Salem is ticking of the sessions, looks super fit and strong, working exclusively with the mids

Couple of notes from this morning Balic just has a minor niggle Weed hopefully with main group after Maroochydoore To the knockers, great one on one drills today with Omac and Frost, probably a draw, Omac not outmuscled, coaches encouraging ferocity in the contest Pics later on Insta and a lot later on here

For the benefit of those who can’t access the Facebook album, here are a few shots taken by my son Liam at yesterday’s AFLW training (posted here because it seems the AFLW forum gets very little traffic).

We chased McKenna for a reason, just had a rotten run, he has a year, they will reevaluate then, he is rated within the club Same with AVB, has a year contract, we all know what he can bring, if they can get him back As I have stated before, with injury these days the Club does it properly, joked with Boxing Coach that he was the leash for Viney, to ensure he only did what he was supposed to Of the rehab on Monday Kent - full shoulder reco, so no contact work, probably knows the longer in rehab further down the pecking order Jones - has had a calf niggle Petracca - same, niggle in the leg, not sure where, think the quad Joel Smith - building back after a couple of serious injuries Tim Smith - same Balic - was in rehab, didn't seem restricted or uncomfortable, so probably reported a niggle Weed - coming back from ankle op

After putting us through 10 years of garbage and then finish 2017 off not only the last games performance but a player lead cancellation of a camp that focused in on mental toughness, we get the right to take little swipes like.

I’d be jealous.... if I wasn’t a zillionaire.