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The drills were quick and simple. They appeared a little fumbly at first but later improved. Hopefully that's all the hangover from Darwin we have. The morning was cold and the wind was light at the start and a little stronger by the end. The conditions were reasonable for good skills. Nathan Jones vocal, placing high expectations on his troops. Group bonding appeared to be emphasized for a bit of the time. Bailey Fritsch and Oskar Baker in with the mids. Forwards had Dean Kent with them. Backs had Cam Pederson and Aaron vandenBerg. The split into these groupings only lasted for a short time. Then it was into two groups, The talls who practiced marking and the rest. Game simulations were short, with no tackling. Mainly focused on lateral ball movement then finding a corridor. Oscar McDonald and Harry Petty working on Tom Mcdonald and Jesse Hogan. In the rehab group was Jayden Hunt, Joel Smith, Dean Keilty and Dion Johnstone. Jayden was running hard by the end. Dion only doing easy laps. Joel eventually joined the main group so must have made it through the tests. Harley Balic and Billy Stretch were not on the track. Pat Mckenna appeared to have some right hamstring tightness and left early. Goodwin had some focus on Christian Petracca during individual goal kicking. The running group at the end of training included; Cam Pederson, Mitch King, Lachlan Filopovic, Tom Bugg, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Mitch Hannan, Dom Tyson, Sam Weideman, Oscar Baker, Josh Wagner and Tim smith. Cam working very hard leading most of the runs. Jay running home well on the last lap with Dom second behind him when it became competitive. Oskar most of the time tailing the group. PS. I think I saw Brendan in the rotunda of the botanical gardens with his binoculars watching Collingwood train. (not serious).

Is there a session on today? If so i cannot find the time as i was planning on heading down to have a look. Cheers Summary of Training: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just got here. They've split into 3 groups and all doing what looks like ground balls/touch work. JKH looking clean on both sides of the body as is Gus. Groups swap to the next cones now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dom is in the group in front of me and he just looks like a dejected man.. In saying that his skills look very slick as is young Flippa! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now doing some what looks like 80% run throughs. Hunt in the footy boots doing what looks like 400m timed sprints. Joel Smith is on the other side of the ground getting worked over by the rehab crew. Seems to be moving well. Group has split into full ground drill now. Maxy, Flip and King doing ruckwork with Stafford. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skills has started off a bit sloppy.. Salem, Vanders, Tmac missing kicks. Fritz and just oozes serious class with his kicking skills. As i type this i must say there's been a bit too many sloppy kicks for my liking.. hopefully it improves as the session goes by. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bit overcast and bit breezy mate but nothing threatening at all. Jeez poor JKH does a lot of hard running and spread for minimal reward. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Group has now split into 5 small group just doing extra touch and groud ball. Vanders is a seriously big unit! Id love to know his actualheight because hes definitely alot taller then Wagner whos listed at 189cm tall. Btw no Billy Stretch here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Group has now split into 2 big groups with one closest to me doing 4 point kicking which then finishes in the middle group who kicks up to full forward. Clarry is one of those leading forwards along Smith and Tom McDonald. Lewis, Spargo, Gawn hardly missing targets. Dom, JKH, Pedi and Baker also kicking well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Groups have split into forwards, backs and Mids. Some interesting ovbservation here. Fritsch is with the mids playing a sweeping role off a hslf back qlong with gus and Baker. Interestingly Lewis is also with the mids doing stoppage work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Austin Bradtke is also here doing some work with an assistant coach. Bloody tall kid! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The session has finished but the guys who played at Casey are doing some boundary line run throughs. Though Kent and Vanders are doing goal kicking practice with some forward while Goody stands on the mark and watches on. Jones just doing extra touch with Ben Matthews. MOD EDIT: @dazzledavey36 is answering questions throughout the thread.

Another fun fact: Do supporters remember Glenn Luff's (from Champion Data) hot plot in 2015 and 2016 ? It was a graph that showed a team was in the premiership window if their average scoring was 100 points > and their defence averaged 86 points <. There is only one team to round 16, 2018 who is in the hot plot sweet spot. Any guesses ? The Dees are the only team in the premiership window based on this once used metric. Btw, I know it's no longer relevant. Footy changes quickly and scoring has dried up over the last couple of years. Nonetheless, i thought it interesting when I checked lat night.

Hmm. Given he's been dead for close to 55 years, i'd kinda doubt it!

I was beside a tree looking quite dodgy, so i dont think anyone was game to shout me a coffee! Also good to see Anthony McDonald down there watching on with Todd Viney.

Hope Stretch is ok. Would hate for him to be an out due to injury, after he just came back and showed some good signs!

Bontempelli out. That’ll help.

Looking at some stats on the AFL website, and noticed something positive about Melbourne. In recent years one of the criticisms labelled at Melbourne is fade-outs across a game. A strong first half followed by a poor second, or a strong first quarter followed by a shocking second, and so on. Well this year we seem to have improved markedly in this respect. So far this season we have been consistent across all four quarters, winning 9, 9, 11, 11 across the four. This places us equal 3rd for total quarters won, tied on 40 with Richmond and West Coast. We're equal 4th with Geelong for first half performance, but the second half as you can see is where we really shine. We've won 22 second half quarters, to be ranked 1 in the competition! Just something little that's positive we can take away from the year so far. Full rankings: First quarter wins 1st - Richmond & West Coast 11 2nd - Melbourne, Geelong, Swans 9 3rd - Filth* 8 4th - Port & Hawks 7 Second Quarter wins 1st - Richmond 11 2nd - Swans & West Coast 10 3rd - Melbourne, Geelong, Filth* 9 4th - Port & Hawks 8 3rd Quarter Wins 1st - Melbourne and Filth* 11 2nd - Port, Swans, Hawks 10 3rd - Geelong 9 4th - West Coast 8 5th - Richmond 6 4th Quarter Wins 1st - Richmond 12 2nd - Melbourne & West Coast 11 3rd - Port & Geelong 9 4th - Filth* 8 5th - Swans & Hawks 7

Interesting given Clarry was rested at Full Forward a couple of times in Darwin. I like Clarry resting forward.

Group has now split into 2 big groups with one closest to me doing 4 point kicking which then finishes in the middle group who kicks up to full forward. Clarry is one of those leading forwards along Smith and Tom McDonald. Lewis, Spargo, Gawn hardly missing targets. Dom, JKH, Pedi and Baker also kicking well.

Lewis made the correct decision. No point taking himself out of the play only to create a one on one. The idea was to let 2 freo players rush at the ball creating Jordan as the loose man. It almost came off. I’ll trust Jordan’s judgment with 300 games over yours

is only the little toe....amputate <not serious>

Its now or never for JKH! Time to reward good form.

Just a few more notes. I dont think Mitch King will be on the list next year.. at the end, Weideman and Fillapovic were down one end and King down the other. They would kick the ball at each other for them to try and mark it at it's highest point.. unfortunately King was just dropping them and even Fillopovic was yelling out to him to try and stick his arm up higher. Not basing it on that, but he's just someone that can't to seem to get the basic fundamentals right. Fillapovic on the other hand is an interesting one.. I see something in him and wouldnt be surprised if hes kept on the list again for another year. Big thick set of legs and starting to add some size on his upper body will help also. He's also not a bad kick of the footy, in fact he's alot better then King. Reminds alot of when Stefan Martin started out for us as that raw and gangly project player.

DD36 moving to Melbourne to take over the training reports and doing a sterling job. Satys worst nightmare has become reality.

Truly a miracle. The entire rescue team and volunteers are heroes. Special mention to Dr Richard Harris - the Australian doctor and diving expert with over 30 years of experience who helped to co-ordinate the Thai cave rescue. He was apparently the last person to leave the caves after the final group of soccer boys and their coach were rescued. He has been described as 'The best, not good - the very best'. I am so glad your wife was right Ding.

Bit overcast and bit breezy mate but nothing threatening at all. Jeez poor JKH does a lot of hard running and spread for minimal reward.

Just got here. They've split into 3 groups and all doing what looks like ground balls/touch work. JKH looking clean on both sides of the body as is Gus. Groups swap to the next cones now.

Personally, I hate it when players are criticised for their “demeanour”. If you think you can understand what’s going on in a person’s mind by the snippets you see of their face, you’re just wrong. You can’t. It also doesn’t matter if he’s never been angry on the footy field. Anger is a complex emotion and not everyone reacts constructively to it. If you think you can tell he isn’t taking it seriously because he’s not angry, you’re wrong. You can’t. Then there’s those complaining about his public comments about wanting to be the best. Watts was potted mercilessly about his comments that he moved on pretty quickly from losses, so we get a competitive, ambitious youngster in, and suddenly that’s no good either. People, honestly, stop going looking for reasons to criticise our players. It’s stupid to criticise Petracca now when he’s just played one of his best games of the year. It is possible to just enjoy the ride sometimes without needing to be pissed about something, y’know?

Lets give Oskar Baker a go I the seniors this week because pineapple dee is 'partial to rangas'.

He’s 3 years away from his best football. He’s going to be an absolute champion. You’re impatient that’s all. His size just means it’s a long road developing his tank

much like the mfc, vaggy?

Your sons lack of ability to hit a target 10 metres away has caused Billy to tear his quad of the bone.

I was at the kids clinic with my sons on Monday morning and my son was doing a kicking and marking drill with Billy and at one point he looked to grab for his quad. For the next 5 mins he looked to be uncomfortable and kept stretching it. Could have been just tightness, may be unrelated, but I thought at the time I hope he hasn’t done any damage.

Ssoooo he wasn’t kicking for goal then..

The session has finished but the guys who played at Casey are doing some boundary line run throughs. Though Kent and Vanders are doing goal kicking practice with some forward while Goody stands on the mark and watches on. Jones just doing extra touch with Ben Matthews.

A live training report. Brilliant! Is Balic out there? Many thanks @dazzledavey36

Some interesting ovbservation here. Fritsch is with the mids playing a sweeping role off a hslf back qlong with gus and Baker. Interestingly Lewis is also with the mids doing stoppage work.

So we don't get to hear "it's all about where you are at round 23" this year, bugger.

unlike gaff, is not a free agent, wherein lies the rub we only have to give up salary cap to secure gaff; getting polec in would cost value in a trade class player...but gaff is better inside AND outside

Every member of the team, and its coach all safely rescued from the cave. RIP the brave volunteer Ex- Thai SEAL who died while helping to save the boys and their coach. This was an incredible rescue and one that should be remembered for generations. Inspirational. Well done Thailand and all of the international volunteers. You are amazing.

On this day (10 July, 1858) Tom Wills wrote a letter to Bell's Life magazine which would create the Melbourne Football club. Now that cricket has been put aside for some months to come, and cricketers have assumed somewhat of the chrysalis nature (for the time being only, it is true), but at length again will burst forth in all their varied hues, rather than allow this state of torpor to creep over them and stifle their now supple limbs, why cannot they, I say, form a football club, and form a committee of three or more to draw up a code of laws? If a club of this sort was got up, it would be of vast benefit to any cricket ground to be trampled on, and would make the turf firm and durable, besides which it would help those who are inclined to become stout and having their joints encased in useless superabundant flesh. If it were not possible to form a football club, why should these young men who have adopted this new country for their motherland - why, I say, do not they form themselves into a rifle club, so at any date they may be some day called upon to aid their adopted land against a tyrant who may some time pop upon us when we least expect a foe at our very own doors. Surely our young cricketers are not afraid of a crack of a rifle when they face so courageously the leather sphere, and it would disgrace no one to learn in time to defend his country and his hearth. A firm heart and a steady hand and a quick eye are all that are requisite and with practice all these may be attained. Trusting that someone will take up this matter and form either of the above clubs, or at any rate some athletic games. You've treated me poorly over my lifetime, but I still love you. Happy 160th birthday Melbourne Football Club!

Super bad luck, got in the seniors finally after a lot of solid work in the vfl then first game in gets a long term injury. Good luck on the rehab Billy.

Nah, sorry don't buy that Saty, if that's the case imagine how he looks with Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca, Viney and co!

JKH for me. He’s earned a shot. Big stakes for him though. If he fails I doubt we’d see him in the jumper again.

Needs to be a 10 to 15 goal win, especially without Bontempelli.

can add port to that list too

Agree with this, although it must be said an 18-22 year olds are far from grown men. They are glorified teenagers who can legally buy beer.

Austin Bradtke is also here doing some work with an assistant coach. Bloody tall kid!

Looks fine to me? And as i type this hes just joined the main group with the backline group.

Great news on Hunt. Look forward to seeing him in the team soon. Terrific write-ups. Thanks.

One of the AFL [censored] journos, Nick Bowen I think, was 90% sure on a podcast yesterday Sloane was going to the Hawks. Nice try [censored].

Skills has started off a bit sloppy.. Salem, Vanders, Tmac missing kicks. Fritz and just oozes serious class with his kicking skills. As i type this i must say there's been a bit too many sloppy kicks for my liking.. hopefully it improves as the session goes by.

Now doing some what looks like 80% run throughs. Hunt in the footy boots doing what looks like 400m timed sprints. Joel Smith is on the other side of the ground getting worked over by the rehab crew. Seems to be moving well. Group has split into full ground drill now. Maxy, Flip and King doing ruckwork with Stafford.

Snap!!!

No need to explain *. It's obvious.

No problem mate. Looking forward to the report.?

Nice scooter Nathan. I like your parka Clayton, it really suits you. Jack, are they a new pair of Chelseas? Wonderful.

Scotland records highest temperature ever, with a recording of 33C. amid much worldwide publicity this has been attributed as proof of global warming unfortunately, the record is no longer claimed due to "technical difficulties" apparently an ice-cream truck (of all things) was photographed idling with its exhaust pipe in close proximity to the stevenson's weather station responsible for the "record" reading you couldn't dream this stuff up

I also noticed him taking the final mark on the siren to seal the victory, as well as winning a contested ball that got it inside 50 which eventually lead to the match winning goal. I guess we see what we want to see.