Leaderboard

Training continued. I watched Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver going at each other as the mids trained. Lots of pushes and punches to chest area. Oliver seemed to win front position (timing of hits) though Tracs able to win the ball because of his stability in the space when the ball came down. Oskar Baker and Billy Stretch trained with the midfield. Nathan Jones giving plenty of instructions and delivering with fast handballs.The mids did some drills playing through obstacles, quick lateral ball movement and straight running when in possession. At the same time the backs contested with the forwards in game simulations. The Casey players ended the session with goal kicking. The AFL squad contested with a simulation. Coaches wanted them to go pretty hard. Aaron VandenBerg getting plenty of ball. Joel Smith breaking lines. Jesse Hogan clean collection and hitting targets. Bernie Vince working hard and plenty of talk to structure the backline. Bailey Fritsch having so much composure with ball in hand always runs to space. Jack Viney playing smart football and so fast at the roll and go when he gets the ball. The backline communicating well to set up and cover the space. Neville Jetta seems to be enjoying training. He was working/instructing Jay Kennedy-Harris for a while. He is vocal towards everyone and appears to be growing as a leader. Lachlan Filipovic training well and appears to be improving as a marking tall. Christian Petracca finished his session with a few 70 m sprints under supervision and being timed by the coaching staff. Tom Mcdonald a little uncomfortable after some timed runs, but beyond that he looked good.

No need for your first sentence. We like information not one upmanship. Indeed, thanks are in order, as Kevin's reports have been fantastic. All those reporting on training should be valued for their contribution.

I prefer not to talk to them unless they are open to forming a genuine friendship. Already plenty of sycophants around. I am just writing what I observe. He trained well, other than that recovery period. Did you see him turn pink?

Jeez, imagine how much you would know about him if you did focus on him.

I'm not too fussed about the MFC implications. Just thought it was a ripper game, and am punching the sky because I like Geelong as much as a bucket of hot sick.

Also good to see Gary Hardeman down at training today, chatting with Todd and Jack Viney, Peter Jackson and some of the players.

Rehab, fitness test group had Tom Mcdonald and Dom Tyson in it. Dom Joined the main group after 3/4 of an hour. Tom remained in rehab. He looked to be moving well with good skills on display with Daniel Cross and Dom. At the end he was tested with some 400 meters. He appeared to be running out of steam by the end. His endurance seems compromised at the moment. Jayden Hunt was walking laps. The general atmosphere was full of intensity with plenty of noise from both players and coaches. All seemed to have purpose. The emphasis appeared to be about quick hands, locking the ball down and finding targets over the back of the pack. The talls and smalls separated, with the talls doing marking practice and the smalls tackling each other (showing strength, power and endurance). Close to the end of training the Casey team went off to kick goals while the AFL team did match simulations. Aaron vandenBerg and Pat Mckenna training well and stayed with the AFL team. So they are unlikely to get a game in the seconds yet. In the AFL squad team was Cam Pederson, Harry Petty and Sam Weideman.

We've tread on this banana peel before. Let's just win against St Kilda before the sky punching.

Great game. Seriously good footy. Glad for the Doggies, happier it was Geelong

In they context of afinals spot that could almost balance out Gawn's miss.

Gotta say I enjoyed that revenge for Round 1

I haven't had much of a focus on him. What I've noticed is he has good composure, stands tall in the marking contests, can punch the ball well (yet to really crash a pack though), absorbs information from those around him, responds well to calls and follows instructions, has a good kick and very reliable by hand. The learning curve is exponential and his body has matured quickly since joining the MFC's system. His big test maybe his decision making under AFL pressure and his general leg speed.

I was at the game tonight. The most noticeable thing IMO was Richmond's structures. They almost permanently left someone (often Martin or Riewoldt) deep forward. As in, within the forward 50 when the ball was at the other end of the ground. At midfield stoppages they would have 5-6 players set up well forward of the ball. It forced Sydney to keep their defenders in their backline and not up at the contest and that gave Richmond space to break away from stoppages. It was intriguing, and IMO proof that we don't necessarily need to change the rules or bring in zones to get around congestion.

BT: ‘the dogs have the numerical numbers, here...’ FMD

I don't see anything particularly wrong with the article. We can be a thin skinned mob at times. I am however p....off that ex board members seem to want to open their mouths again. To me they are total non entities after what they stood by and watch happen. There are misgivings about Pert from around the football community it seems and that's ok, as Caro says PJ didn't leave EFC with a clean skin. I'm not so sure about whether this Murphy fellow is a good or bad endorsement of anyone. That enquiry seemed a bit of a put up job and there was only ever 1 real boss at Collingwood, he escaped any real criticism. My personal feeling is that Bartlett has felt a bit left out in the rebuild and has been seen as a figurehead. There were rumblings about the relationship between him and PJ a few years back. PJ liked to run the ship and he ran it well. To turn something around like he has with our club there really needs to be only one person in charge...it can't be done by committee. Now, someone like Bartlett doesn't get to where he is in life without a substantial ego to go with it. Now was his chance, he couldn't move on PJ or whilst PJ was in the job as he had way too many credits in the bank. I've never met Bartlett but watching from a far I can't say I'm a fan. He doesn't seem to engage with the supporter group from what I've seem, maybe I'm wrong here. I just hope he doesn't let his ego get in the way and this appointment works well. Pity it was time for PJ to retire, another few years would have been good for us but I have a feeling not so good for Bartlett and his board.

Even as a young kid, I loved seeing new kids make their debut for the Dees. Nothing has changed. Its exciting to get that first glimpse of talent, when you think "gee this kid can play." So often a false dawn, merely tantalizing. Occasionally though, we get to see the "real deal" for the first time. Robbie Flower, Garry Lyon, Bayley Fritsch to name a few. Still one of the great things about AFL. So it will be exciting to watch Harry Petty run onto the ground and get his first touch. Let's hope he falls into the successful ""he's got what it takes" South Australian camp and not the "well he had talent, but we never got to see it" camp.

Jeff has the talent to be our first choice small for a few years yet, he has to step up and take back his mantle, if he doesn’t, then yes his future at the club looks pretty poor and he won’t be worth much, if anything, as trade bait

Thanks for the support. Satry's alright for me. I can enjoy his contrary views. Gives me a laugh. He is probably just finding his feet on how to socialise. We all learn something with our interactions.

Saty “ On Track” as per usual with his antics. Totally unnecessary telling a poster he should talk to the players. People give up their spare time to report observations from training to passionate Demons and get garbage thrown at them out of spite it seems.

Hard to go past 'Froggy' Crompton's match winning goal in 1964: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iy6A3uDEYs

Was out dining with family and friends last night but the venue had a sports bar nearby and a couple of sneaky visits had. What i saw is what we need to be...abd we're nowhere near it yet. May or may not be heading in right direction but we're quite some distance from what i saw Richmond doing. Good luck to them Over to you MFC

Great game tonight. Tigers deserved the win as they held their structures better than the Swans. Typical Rance game. Flopped around like a fish and lost every contest he went near. As usual the commentators didn't say a negative word about him though other than his losses and mistakes were "uncharacteristic". He's an overrated soft [censored]. Cotchin on the other hand has developed into a brilliant player. He was always more outside ball user, but the past 2 years he's really lifted his intensity and physicality and he just always leads his players from the front and sets the standard. Great to watch.

I'm just wondering why anyone would want to read that kind of vulgarity. It's just gross and clearly not appropriate, for this forum, or any forum. It's the first time I've ever heard of any dope football commentator being sacked on the spot, and we all know how low the bar is for commentary quality in our sport, so I'm a bit surprised you're surprised I don't want the comments on here. Seriously. It will take anyone two seconds for anyone to Google it if they desperately need to know what was said. I even told you exactly where to look. There is absolutely zero need for someone who comes in here to chat about the awesome game that just happens to unwittingly stumble upon Hall's revolting comment.

Lets hope we don’t stuff up Sunday. The dogs will be hard to beat in a couple of weeks.

How good is Richards?!

He’s never been in the botanical gardens.

Maybe he should approach them...interesting idea I know but I think it's his responsibility, not the other way around. That's what made Ian Dicker such an important figure at Hawthorn, he galvanised the supporters.

A straight kick by Max and an umpire not making up his own version of the blocking rule and we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.....

The 1948 GF may rank as our greatest ever victory because we beat a rampant favourite Essendon in replay. There was a play in the first game involving Norm Smith that nearly got a goal which would have brought victory but was unsuccessful. In replay the following week we thumped Essendon to win the flag, I think this was Norm Smith's last game. From Red Fox, pp160-2: "By time on in the last quarter the Demons had reduced the margin by just a point - the scores were Essendon 7.27.69 to Melbourne 8.9.57 - before a remarkable Demon fightback took the game into previously uncharted territory. The man who sparked the revival was Norm Smith, as Don Cordner recalled: Norm took a mark on the left half-forward flank about 35 yards out and he drop-kicked a goal - right through the middle. Drop-kick it. Mind you, he was a very accurate drop-kick, but thinking back, with the state of the games as it was and it being a Grand Final of all things, it appeared a gutsy decision to use that type of kick. Norm kicked only one goal in that game but it was one that really mattered. Moments later, the Demons rushed the ball forward from the centre bounced and Spud Dullard marked at half- forward, seemingly outside scoring range. Spud didn't look for anyone, he just launcheed into this torpedo-punt - he couldn't have struck it any better in his dreams- and it sailed through for a goal, Cordner marvelled. Sud wasn't all that bright and to his dying day i don't think he realied what he actually did. He'd levelled the scroes. We didn't know how much time there was left, but we knew that the next score wins.Melbourne again won the ball and this time Norm Smith - who had been one of the best afield gifting Mueller at least three of his six goals - marked 50 odd metres out. Insted of wasting valuable time by going back for his kickn, and risking not covering the distance, Smith played on immediately and blazed away at goall, his kick drifting across the facce of gaol and out of bounds just afew metres from the behind posdt. Cordner has such a vivid memory of thee frantic final moments that, at 85 years of age, and almost 60 years after the event, he relived the experience as though it awas happening before his very eyes...

laughable article. She is one of first who used to say the Melbourne Boys Club is ruining the place - before Roosy came along - and now past players and melbourne people 'arent happy'. what a joke. and Malthouse isn't happy? he signed that damn succession plan himself so he can complain about himself Pert oversaw a period of success at the Pies, won their first flag in 20 years and had them commercially flying. And to call him a discard after being a CEO for 11 years is disrespectful. Clearly they were very happy with him the majority of the time Jog on Caro

Would be worth less at the trade table than he is worth to our team. Until this year, he was the highest goal scorer at the club since coming across from the Blues. 40+ goals a year every year. Considering our recent scoring problems, lack of speed and lack of crumbers, it'd be stupid to trade him. If anything it's stupid he's not in the team at the moment. The coaches obviously don't like something about his game at the moment and want it to change, but I doubt he'll ever tear up a game at VFL level, so he's just rotting away there. We need his speed and goal scoring power. People saying Spargo has taken his spot aren't quite correct. Spargo, while small, has played more as a high flankers pushing up into the midfield and has yet to show he can play as a small combing forward. Not dissing the kid as I love him, but he doesn't play as a small crumbing forward. Jeffy is competing with Hannan for that spot and IMO should be in the team.

Despite our improvement, watching the Tigers and Swans last night was depressing, We have a long way to go to match their intensity, tackling, contested ball, aerial strength, leg speed, relentless running, confidence and mental toughness. Both sides just constantly will themselves into the contest to win and carry the pill. They both have a handful of out and out stars supported by a whole plethora of swarming willing worker bees who run through brick walls and attack with frenetic speed of movement and decision making so quick that you wonder how it's done. They may have a great coach but more importantly they have a bunch of players who have the perfect combination of skill, fitness and win at all costs mentality. Coaches and players may learn by watching but you need to have 22 players who can go out on the paddock and replicate that same action. Not easy but we must aspire to it. .

The Richmond v Sydney game last night, is a great example of why we struggle to compete with the top teams. Richmond is amazing at absorbing pressure and then releasing. How many last quarters have they won in tight games? How many have we lost? For me, while there are no standout teams, Richmond, West Coast (minus injuries) and Sydney stand a rank above. All of these teams have match winners, all of these teams can grind out games, and all of these teams have finals experience. We are not there on any of those fronts.

Is it just me or is Cameron Ling the worst commentator going around? No wonder ratings are down. Bruce has lost the plot and every comment is followed by "don't you think" "isn't he" or "aye" - it's cringeworthy. Oh and Rance is getting found out to be the dog and [censored] he is.

If Petty can pull a Fritsch/Spargo and immediately look at home from day 1 and lock down the Lever role, we are back in business and the balance is restored. Frees up Joel Smith to use his speed off half back and Hibberd to go back to accumulating the footy and giving us drive. I hate to put that mush pressure on a first gamer, but he can be a HERO.

Haha, both games now 1-0. The instructions to the Japanese would be simple right now. No more yellow cards. I had no idea that “Fair Play” was a tiebreaker.

I was trying to indicate my views may be wrong. Your point gave me a laugh. Sometimes I'm over opinionated. Always willing to give a reply a go.

Seriously are you that naive. It has nothing to do with the past. Ffs they are creating a new culture and for the 100th time like happened with Brisbane, Geelong and the great Hawks sides of this century you will not see genuine consistency in this group until the large bulk of the playing group 15 to 20 players average around the 100+game mark. As pro dee has tried to tell you the current culture was started by Roos and Jackson. Vince, Cross and Lewis brought the good habits and the professional approach to get the best out of yourself and Viney, Lever Brayshaw and Oliver will pass that on.

Might have been handy lurking in the 50 against Port.

We are not that far off. We do lack leg speed, especially on the outside and mental toughness is probably the other thing we need. But taking a big scalp will change the belief of the playing group. You need to look at the teams this week as an example. Since 2014, nearly 5 seasons of footy, Richmond’s team this week have 12 players that have played together plus have picked up 3 players with experience (Caddy, Nank, Prestia). Sydney have 15 players. This week we are fielding a team that only 7 players have played together since 2014. That is a massive difference in experience and continuity. We are 12-18 months away from getting to that level. Might even only be 6 months.

Yeah he was like, totally just having fun.

Don’t get sucked in by his trolling Kev. Your reports are bang on and really appreciated.

Struggling with slight "niggle". It was apparent during the recovery period. He looked suprised by his shortness of breath after the timed run. A bit like, Gee I am injured! His body also "glowed" with a pink hue. There was pollution and mist around the Park, (no wind to blow the particle matter away from the city) which wouldn't have helped his oxygen levels. However, I believe he will be OK to play.

Not surprised you took that even remotely seriously and got all huffy about it.

You get Ollie Wines and you don't get Clarrie simple. It's like the Hawks take Judd over Hodge they don't bottom out and only get one of Roughie Franklin and Lewis. It's time to forget the past

Tiges will be one of the teams in the GF. Who knows for the other, but on tonight's showing, not sure it matters.

Really looking forward to seeing how he goes and I hope we put a bit of time into him for the rest of the year. Injury permitting, it'd be great to see him stay there for the rest of 2018. I want our 2019 backline to consist of Lever, OMac, Petty, Hibberd, Jetta, a Smith or Hunt and a kicker. Therefore, I hope we give Harry some time to gel with OMac, Hibberd, Jetts and Smith.

I think most players would run out puff after sprinting close to 400m