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I appreciate Saty's reports of training. I don't always agree with what he says but he fronts up and gives us his thoughts and descriptions of training. He (correctly) called out a poor comment from Dr D (whose report I also appreciated) that Bradtke won't make it .... based on a November training, which is an immensely premature call to make on the least developed player on our list. That's fine and both posters are entitled to their opinions. Both acted very respectfully. But the posters coming in afterwards are a waste of space. Posters complaining that their posts will be deleted .... they bloody well should. Small minded bullies. Posters ganging up to bully Saty are just pathetic.

Aaanywho.. back on topic. Its a pity I've moved back up bush, some of those training days i attended around finals time were a fantastic experience. I'm now keen to keep a close eye on Kade Chandler and Tom Sparrow. Just a quick one. James Jordan is from my way ( Yarrawonga ) and played a couple of senior football matches with some of my mates still playing there. Have heard nothing but glowing reports on him. Fantastic kid who works extremely hard and has enormous upside. Was also cut by Sandringham Dragons, but just kept plugging away and working hard. Reminds me of when Clayton Oliver was coming through the ranks.... The fact that he's already played senior footy for the strong Ovens and Murray league will only hold his development in good stead. Me personally, i think next year will be a development year for him. Spend most next year learning his craft at Casey around midfield and half back. I think he'll develop similar to James Harmes, where give it 60 to 70 games and he'll become a very handy player.

Are we talking about me here or someone else? I'm totally confused Anyway, i could be wrong on bradkte. If someone told me that tom mcdonald who torched the ball in the backline for 7 years would become one of the best and most accurate key forwards in the game today then i wouldnt have believed them so anything can happen.

Last known sighting.

I disagree with much of what he says, but this is rubbish. A group of posters gang up together, bait him, and then smash him whenever he opens his mouth because they know he'll react. It's been happening for years and those posters should be ashamed of themselves. It's like high school. He likes thinking the best of the players. Why don't you just view his reports through this lens and not be a [censored] about it?

I have been an avid reader of Demonland.com since its inception (I think). We should always praise contributors to the site, providing their contributions are legible and not bullying. I enjoy reading all contributions and always had a giggle at Yzemagic's wonderful sense of mischief and imagination. He/she did get a few readers quite excited. We should all be great full for everyone who contributes to the site whether it is on the mark or not. We are humans, that have passions, emotions and varying forms of skill. Some not so good and some that are masterful. personally I dislike reading a training report ( of which this is the topic) and noting "Trump" like responses which are divisive and ruin what should be an optimistic conversation. I praise the wonderful contributors as we all should by being respectful to how they contribute to this forum. If you are not sure what this means, "Play the ball not the contributor'.

Good un you Axis. I wish more on here would stand up. Most of us, especially those of us interstate who can't go to training, just want to get a sense of the training and most importantly for me who's training and who's injured. I take most poster's comments on players with a grain of salt. I just don't understand why all you posters who dislike Saty so intensely don't just put him on ignore instead of derailing these training threads all summer with your boorish personal attacks on him which he then responds to in kind. It ruins it for the rest of us and brings down the quality of Demonland. It happens every year. Last year the Admins stepped in quickly and the rest of the summer was ok. It shouldn't be necessary.

Only a short session today. The full squad is back next week. Enjoy. https://www.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=SJK3N4&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=1&playButton=1&randomize=0&speed=2&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=2&clickable=1 Mobile==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-cgfmZz?mobile=true

Then deal with it through the correct channels, rather than by baiting and bullying. It's awful to watch. Posters get in on it together and figure it's OK to do it because there are other people doing it. It's not. Stop bullying.

I hope you all realize Bradtke is very young and has not played football for at least 3 years otherwise he could not be selected a Rookie B. He will be developed by some of the best development coaches. He played a non contact sport so he will take time to adjust. So right now we cannot judge players like Bradtke until he has played at least 3 seasons of football, James Harmes was judged by many on this site to be taking up space on the list not so long ago. We all should just enjoy the journey to a possible Premiership and not heap praise or barbs along the way. I hope we can win one for all the MFC players and coaches both past and present to enjoy the moment of pure joy.

Hey guys, One of my first training reports so be nice Feel free to ask me any questions. - Oliver ran around the boundary the whole time. Looked fine, just needs fitness. - Lever ran around the boundary too. Looks much bigger in the upper body which was nice to see. Has obviously been hitting the weights hard. - Steven May. Wow. Easily the best trainer today. Is probably the best kick in our team and was looking very comfortable in front of goal too when having set shots for about 15 minutes. He could definitely go forward in games. Bedford tried to dance on May in a drill and May went straight at him and took him to the ground. Got a bit of an applause from the players and a laugh from the coaches. A good lesson for Bedford. This is AFL. May also lifted Nibbler up off the ground rugby style and almost flipped him over completely but he landed okay and continued. You could hear 'well done Stevie' throughout a lot of the training sessions. - Petracca ran around the boundary and he definitely still has the Petracca plod and could definitely strip weight off. - Harmes was running around the boundary and looking in great physical nick. He has dropped weight and is so thin around his waist now. - Sparrow is a good kick and hit a lot of 30m targets comfortably. I liked what I saw. - James Jordon seems to lack a bit of pace but if he can find his feet at afl level, I think it will be half back. Composed and a good user. Also pinged one from 55m off 1 step in between drills. - Preuss trained very well. His kicking is very good from what I saw. barely missed a target. - I can actually see why bedford slid to the 70's in the draft. he is quick and he has tricks but his kicking needs work. I think he will be quite shaky in front of goals. - Kade Chandler was the pick of the draftees today. He plays with intensity and is quick across the field. He could develop into a decent player. Has a bit of Ben Kennedy about him. LOL. And whilst Kennedy wasn't up to AFL standard that doesn't mean Chandler can't. A nuggety small forward left footer with intensity. - I wouldn't be holding my breath of Austin Bradtke making it. I don't want to go too early but he seemed way off the pace. In terms of physicality and skill. Even in training he seemed out of his depth. - After training finished, the draftees were forced to do a bunch (maybe 4 or 5) 300m run throughs as full pace. James Jordon was the pick of the bunch there. He tired in the last couple but he was clearly the best of the lot at these distances. nietschke performed well too.

I'll preface this by saying I hate having to moderate this forum but if you post just to abuse or troll you can have a holiday. People enjoy training reports particularly in the offseason and many know how to filter out the noise. May I suggest you use the ignore if you can't help yourself rather than derail a thread and ruin it for the rest of us.

CHANGES 2018 by The Oracle PART 3 - WHO WILL LOVE A LITTLE SPARROW? The takeaway of many from last week’s AFL National and Rookie Drafts was that Melbourne’s selections were somewhat left of centre and moreover, depressingly so when viewed through the lens of those who spend most of the year following the so-called draft experts. After all, the world is full of people who admire the rock stars but who will love a little sparrow? The fact that most of the club’s picks appeared to be off the radar of the pundits and pretty much unloved by them, suggests that the Demon recruiters either erred in their judgement or that they had a plan to overcome the fact that they were entering the draft at a time when more than 25 of the “best” names had already been called out. It’s not simply my optimism as a fan, but rather, the appearance of a pattern in the selections that leads me to support the latter view. There is an element of dash and enterprise among the new crew that suggests that the club is satisfied that the combination of its maturing young list together with the players brought in by way of its trades, allows it to take in some youngish prospects with time to develop and nurture them from within the nest like bird mothers do with their young sparrows. The new faces in the drafts came mainly from the junior ranks. Three of the club’s draftees (including the club’s only rookie pick) were members of the successful South Australian Under 18 national Championship winning team and two others participated in opposing sides in the TAC Cup Grand Final. The mature agers coming in through the draft system each won best and fairest awards at their respective VFL clubs in 2018. The newcomers are:- AFL National Draft 27. Tom Sparrow Height: 182cm. Weight: 81kg. DOB: 31/5/2000 Position: Midfielder/half-back Recruited from: South Adelaide U18 (SANFL) Sparrow is not so tiny. He is known for his strength and tackling and has good run and endurance. In due course, he will fit into a Melbourne midfield led by the likes of Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and James Harmes. Pick 33 James Jordon Height: 186cm. Weight: 84kg. DOB: 20/12/2000 Position: Midfielder Recruited from: Oakleigh Chargers U18 (TAC Cup) Jordan is an outside midfielder who made his senior debut early this year at Yarrawonga and played APS football with Caulfield Grammar before finishing the season at TAC Cup with runners up Oakleigh Chargers. He has footy smarts, shows composure, has excellent disposal and decision making skills. Pick 53 Aaron Nietschke Height: 184cm. Weight: 77kg. DOB: 26/5/2000 Position: Half-back/midfielder Recruited from: Central Districts U18 (SANFL) A versatile utility, Nietschke won the league best and fairest in the SANFL Under 18s averaging 32 disposals and was super impressive when moved up to the Central Districts Seniors late in the season where he averaged more than 20 possessions in his three games, mainly off half back. Pick 56 Marty Hore Height: 189cm. Weight: 89kg. DOB: 5/3/1996 Position: Defender Recruited from: Collingwood (VFL)/Bendigo Pioneers U18 (TAC Cup) Winner of the last two Collingwood VFL best and fairests as an intercept defender with good skills who is considered to be close to AFL ready. Pick 75 Toby Bedford Height: 176cm. Weight: 69kg. DOB: 27/5/2000 Position: Small forward Recruited from: Dandenong Stingrays U18 (TAC Cup) If the club picked up a steal, then it was with its Next Generation Academy member Bedford who was one of Victoria Country’s best in the national carnival and a member of the Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup premiership team. The classy small forward is fast, agile and runs down opponents. Rookie Draft Pick 14 Kade Chandler Height: 173cm. Weight: 73kg. DOB: 13/1/2000 Position: Forward Recruited from: Norwood U18 (TAC Cup) The dynamic, strong tackling small forward, has endurance and an impressive vertical leap. He averaged six tackles per match in the Under 18s Championships. Pre-Season Supplemental Selection The last of the club’s newcomers arrives as a pre-season supplemental selection (PSSS) which comes into play today. Corey Wagner Height: 180 cm. Weight: 74 kg. DOB: 23/3/1997 Position: Midfield Recruited from: Casey Demons/North Melbourne Brother of Josh, the blond midfielder who won Casey’s best and fairest this year, joins Steven May, Kade Kolodjiashnij and Braydon Preuss as a newcomer with AFL experience (8 games at North Melbourne in 2016/7). These changes will not entirely close off the books. The club still has a list vacancy which can be filled during PSSS period which runs until 15 March, 2019. For the time, the club’s lists read like this:- PRIMARY LIST: Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Sam Frost Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Nathan Jones James Jordan Jay Kennedy Harris Kade Kolodjiashnij Jake Lever Jordan Lewis Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Corey Maynard Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Aaron Nietschke Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Braydon Preuss Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Billy Stretch Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Kade Chandler Declan Keilty Tim Smith Corey Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Guy Walker

I am more excited about the Dees than ever. I’ve been a Demonland member for over 10 years but I’m finding that I am less and less inclined to read it. This thread is typically off-putting. I love it when people go to the trouble of reporting on training in the off-season but finding myself scrolling through threads to find factual info or considered opinions. Please leave your egos at the door

No, no, no...whilst I think they both go way over the top on the 'Saty' bash apart from that they are both very good posters. ...and yes they do have a dip at others from time to time but just don't take it personally. Both 'Wise' & 'dazz' provide excellent information & food for thought. They've just got a bit of a blind spot, that's all. 'Sats' not totally innocent here either, he will play it a bit. I expect he will play the 'take my bat & ball home' card at some stage. That always gets traction. On the whole, I just find the nitpicking thing boring & skip over the posts that don't have much relevance to me.

Only a short session today. The full squad is back next week. Enjoy https://www.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=SJK3N4&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=1&playButton=1&randomize=0&speed=2&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=2&clickable=1 Mobile==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-cgfmZz?mobile=true

The divisions might start after Christmas. The senior boys only get back to full time training on Monday.

Here's one - Jordan Lewis to retire at the end of the season receiving accolades from all corners of the footy globe. Jordan announces that despite the lack of a fifth premiership medallion, that the three years he has spent with the Melbourne Footy Club have been the most satisfying of his career and upon confirming that he will remain with the club as an assistant, states that he is now "a Demon for life".

I'm most interested in which groups back, mid, fwd, players are training with - e.g. Joel Smith, Dec Keilty, Bailey Fritsch, KK, VDB, Jayden Hunt and to lesser extent but still interesting - the draftees?

““Not I,” said the Swan “The entire idea is utterly absurd I'd be laughed at and scorned if the other Swans heard”. Typical of the Swans not to pick a Sparrow.

Track teases us a bit. Hidden in there is a game controlling monster. When isolated he is rarely beaten in contested ball. We just wait for the day he totally gets his tail up, plays for 100 mins and adds being a defensive beast forward, if that makes sense.

Another Guy wearing 43.

Agree with this. Final warning to all.

• Top 2 finish - qualifying final against the Crows. We win by 41 points. • Prelim against Collingwood. Margin not clear. • We will play in 5 H&A games with crowds in excess of 77,000. • The Weid to kick 44 goals by Round 23. • Tom Sparrow to play at least 6 games. • Viney Top 3 Brownlow finish. • In Round 23 we win the toss against North in Tassie and kick with the wind in the first quarter.

Lens needs more Vaseline. Or run them through photoshop first. Filter> Noise> Add noise> Move slider to about 30%> Select "Monochromatic" You could then add some Motion Blur if you want. Save as "Demonland proofs" Share to Demonland. They should look much more like the images we are used to seeing from training.

I agree with the bolded part, Bob. It was silly to say that a kid in his first few training sessions won't make it, especially as he's been concentrating on other sports over the last few years. Bradkte is a project, one in which we may not see the results of for years to come yet. The club knows this, so writing him off now is off the mark. The rest? You should know better. He gives as good as he gets round these parts.

Nah, not bang, so put it back in your trousers, he is entitled to his opinion, but think he, as I said, had his ex basketballer goggles on I was at the craft day on Wednesday and Bradtke particpated in all drills, so wasn't pulled aside as not good enough Also received praise for 2 decisions and kicks in a drill Bradtke is young and raw, first 2 weeks of full time training, to call early he won't make it borders on the silly Besides which I have watched 5 live sessions and have a different opinion,

Close checking can slow him down, affecting his performance and space-finding; a close defender can work him over fairly easily it would seem. At the same time, he has an enormous upside to his game in several key regards which must elicit deep respect and admiration; therefore, here's hoping that his game skills and opportunities expand in the pre-season and into the season itself as he is extremely valuable as a player in form to the team.

I swear every year the new recruits are getting bigger and bigger. Dream of the good old days when Toump and Morton got drafted and they made me feel like I could have been a footballer.

FFS there's some ill-informed rubbish floating round. Petracca's issues are nothing more than: 1) He has / had no tank. Picture Jack Ziebell with loads more talent. It took North years to get Ziebell to run out a game. It's not an effing attitude issue. He's just building a tank - very slowly because that's his dna. He works incredibly hard but he'll never be an ANB on the track. 2) He had the goal kicking yips in 2018 Last year was a different picture IMO

Here we go again lads and ladettes. Time to place your predictions for season 2019, i.e. how easily will we win the flag next year? Just kidding. There’s a chance we’ll be runner up I guess. Any success. Any failing. Any accolade. Any controversy. Be as optimistic or pessimistic as you like. This is a safe space for sad sacks. Closest to the pin with their quality and quantity of predictions will win the much coveted, much desired, much craved......okay maybe not craved....Demonland Crystal Ball. PREVIOUS BALL HANDLERS 2018: Skuit 2017: ding 2016: wretched.sylph

It made BBO horny.

Is there a way posts can be tagged in threads? So that the reports on the actual training can be filtered so you only have to read those if you like. I really enjoy reading training reports from actual Dees followers, but there is a mountain of rubbish to sift through in nearly every single thread. Would improve the quality of the site immensly I feel

Opens things up for your Rams now in terms of the 1 seed Gorg ... as always, a lot can change in the NFL from week to week.

There may be treat later, Six was at the session, so there may be some decent photos in the offing On Bradtke, watched him working with Greg Stafford, listened and carried out to the letter what was instructed

Newly drafted rookie Kade Chandler stood out with his strength over the ball, especially with one piece of play where he got lower than his opponent and kept the ball in his area before scooping the footy up and dishing to a teammate in traffic. The act won warm praise from Gold Coast recruit Steven May who patted his younger teammate on the back. Top draftee Tom Sparrow looked powerful and confident as he acted as a conduit between defence and attack in one drill, while James Jordon's skills by foot were impressive. Must say if these draftees come through and play anywhere near that of Oliver in his first year, it would be simply amazing. Lever back on the track too. Things are looking bloody good!

Please do post it, I am sure that this one picture will be more than enough to change DrDee’s mind, surely your pic will provide him with more evidence than what he would get from watching live training for over an hour.

Send all complaints to the Herald Sun.

Sorry, this is an average games ladder, it does show age but it is not in order.

I knew i'd seen him somewhere before...

Managed to find a few decent betting races for the weekend. The Winterbottom Stakes over the 1200m takes centre stage on Saturday but the focus on Sunday will turn to the inaugural running of the Jericho Cup at Warrnambool. Anyway, here are the 5 races that I picked out that might be of interest. Saturday Doomben George Moore Stakes $200k Saturday Rosehill Festival Stakes $160k Saturday Moonee Valley R7 Hcp $100k Sunday Warrnambool Jericho Cup 4600m $300k Saturday Ascot Winterbottom Stakes $1Million

That's racing DZ ... and the jockey slipped when they jumped.

I can't for the life of me understand why alleged "supporters" are writing these young blokes off sight unseen (or based on a brief video). What is it that you don't get? Apart from the fact that they are boys that are still growing and maturing, they have been selected by the powers that be at our club as having the potential to be AFL footballers. FCS give them a bloody chance!