Leaderboard

Paul Amy reporting that Coldstream's Darcy Fritsch (younger brother of Bayley) is training with the Casey Demons.

Just did everything to an excellent level, got praised out loud by coaches at least 4 times Him and Weid seemed to have done a heap of extra work, think he was paired with Weid for a reason, like Billy Stretch, Weid is fastidious with his preparation

A day on the paddock from six Enjoy ==> https://www.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=tSGMjx&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=0&playButton=0&randomize=0&speed=2.5&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=2&clickable=1

'Closed' session unsuccessful given it's being held at Gosch's Warming up down here - I love preseason Looks like most of the team out on the track and the operation recovery boys very active and with ball in hand. Clarry's shoulders looking ok, bit of ball work and some run/walk laps Lever on the bike, peddling aggressively. Brayshaw in recovery group... unclear why?? Don't see Jack Viney Big Maxy looking like it's going to be a huge 2019. Nibbler looking exceptionally fit. Saty getting some photos, I lool forward to his update

Love it that Jake took the bike outside in the heat to be with and watch the boys train and feel apart of team. Could have easily have stayed inside in an air conditioned gym. Leadership material.

I listened and it was pretty dull. Most of the questioning was of the style of "I think this, I think that, I will expound at some length, what do you think about that?" Hib response: "yeah, nah, I reckon that's about right." Eg one of the two hosts said that Nathan Jones hogs most of the publicity events for MFC. Gawn has overtaken him for fame but NJ's inked up arms are more famous again. Hib: "yeah that's about right" But at this time of year, can't really expect anything too earth-shattering. The "highlights": Missed out on meeting Natalie Portman as the "older boys" were not back at training. Club hit a brick wall in the prelim. Didn't review it much as a group. Put it behind them. "The way we play is right but need to do it on the big stage" Thought WC would win GF based on prelim. Is May overweight? Maybe by a kg or two but so far, doing drills, he has fitted straight in. KK also fit in quickly, to play on wing? Lever will leave no stone unturned to get fit. How to fit in all of them including OMac & Frost? Maybe play May at FF at times. Is club ready for 6 on 6? Haven't gone through that yet. Mostly fitness, getting used to contact. Doesn't expect things to change much, although Adelaide playing 2 spare won't happen. Teams will find ways to counteract it. Fortunately Hib plays footy better than he interviews but that's mostly on the hosts who saved his voice by suggesting the answers in the questions. I reckon they spoke at least as much as Hib. (Andy Maher current world champ at answering his own questions.)

Sorry, was too busy eating my egg and bacon roll, KK was second, Joel Smith and Tommy Mac thereabouts

A detailed report They ran They kicked They marked They handballed A 2k time trial followed by 2hrs of craft Standout today was again Harry Petty

These photos are off my iPhone so apologies for quality. These are a sequence of the players doing the 150m sprints in pairs. You can see from the faces how hard they are working. This is KK and J Smith who were always the lead pair. You can see the next pair just starting. That's Miso first in on the right. He had a stop watch and was counting them off. A lot of them had their own heart rate monitors and timers on their wrists. ANB and T Mac. You can see how they've matched pairs in their running ability Good to see Fritschy already in his second season matched with the Skipper Sparg's not throwing up yet but in a feet not touching the ground mood with JKH Good to see Melk back in the main group at least for running and with his best mate. This is why we got both of them These guys were always the last pair. Maynard is just getting back into full training after 6 months or so out. Not sure why Frosty is there.They weren't lagging too far behind although Maynard was tiring by the end. These two were separated from the rest. I reckon it's another sign of how professional the training is nowadays. Ruckmen clearly can't run like elite running midfielders so why make them try to compete against people they can't and don't need to because they have a different role. But put them against someone else they are closely matched two and they'll be able to push each other much further. Same goes for all the other pairs. It's smart organisation and attention to detail. What I also really like about this photo is the look on Gawny's face. This is not the joker Gawny face, this is the professional sportsman driving himself to continue to be the best player in the competition in his role. That is the very serious Gawny face fighting the pain barrier. You can also see what a monster Preussy is. This photo doesn't do him justice. He looks about 20% wider than Gawny. He's a huge package. I'm sure having Gawn to compete against constantly will be raising the bar for both of them. I'd love to know what it's like compared to what he was doing at North. Saty good question for you to find out. Best mates paired together. Attention to detail again. Happy players. Successful team. You can see the pain Hibbo's putting himself through. This is the preparation stuff we don't usually know about during the season. Funnily enough Melksh looks like he's suffering less even though he's just coming out of rehab. Shows you how they stay in rehab a long time because when they are released they are back up to the standard of the main group and can slot straight in to the main training. Wagner brothers paired together. I guess they did a lot of this at Casey but they must be loving it with the big boys. Petty is keeping up with them pretty comfortably. He looks like he's a very good package of skill and athleticism. This is the group jogging back between 150m sprints running past the trainers in red who were picking balls up for them to pass to each other and back as they jogged back to start the next 150m.

That would be Goody’s influence. Neil Craig made Vince (an average trainer) do everything that Goody (a good trainer) did in the pre-season leading into the 2009 season including all extra sessions etc. Vince won the crows B&F in 2009

Maybe we should borrow Punt Road a few times midweek? After all, we have allowed Richmond to play their home matches on our ground (the MCG) for decades!

Different player to May. We need May to wrestle with and distract the opposition monsters whilst Lever comes in from the side to pinch the ball out of the air with his spaghetti arms and be off down the field before they have noticed.

It’s that rare beast – an AFLW training report. Disclaimer: I’m terrible at recognising players without their numbers and haven’t put names to faces for the new recruits. So my observations are quite generalised. The main drill I witnessed was moving the ball from end to end, re-setting once the defensive team touched it. The players were divided into four teams for this, at first playing on two smaller sized areas, which saw lots of missed short kicks and drops marks (at least in the drill closest to me). Paxman stood out and was constantly in motion, even while the drill was re-starting. Then the area was expanded, with the four teams rotating on and off. They had more success with this, hitting targets better and switching with some fluency. Someone got put down in a hard tackle; after a short break, play resumed, so probably just precautionary checks. There were some nice evasive moves in this drill from players who were not familiar to me so that either bodes well for our new additions or poorly for my eyesight. Next up, they split into line groups – no positional surprises there in terms of this year’s players. Defenders practiced spoiling from behind; mids roved to L. Pearce and worked on clearing to outside runners; forwards practiced goal kicking. Rushed set shots was a major bugbear of mine this year, so I was happy to hear them being exhorted to take the full 30 seconds. Even still, some were taking them too quickly in my reckoning. Zanker has a great action and Cunningham struck a nice one from a fair distance. Back to the mids – away from the main group were Paxman, O’Dea and (I’m fairly certain) Mithen, practicing their positioning and bodywork at ball ups. Onto the most critical part of any pre-season training report: hats. A startling lack of hats – perhaps as summer players most prefer to practice as they play? There were some visors though, all facing forwards, none backwards. There were a couple of players running laps, my best guess would be Patterson and Emonson. Aside from that there were no noticeable players recovering or absentees, although now that I think of it, I didn’t notice Kate Hore or Talia Radan, who I guess is the first AFLW premiership player on our list. Daisy stood out as always but for different reasons than usual, of course. She was behind the boundary line when I first got there but was soon between the drills providing encouragement and feedback with the coaches. Overall, there were positive vibes. I wouldn’t say they’ve quite trained the house all the way down, but I hope to get along to a post-Xmas session to check the progress.

I tried asking a few re Brayshaw, got absolutely nothing so left it No not really, I thought it was an amusing line They started the day with a Nibbler won 2k time trial at 8.30

Got there with Mrs Worship and a semi regular training watcher whose opinion I respect and who doesn't post here. The huddle was a big thing for me in that it is so obviously player driven. The coaches and support staff just stand back with grins on their faces. For those of you who cannot attend/ or have attended sparsely over the years, I can say that I've had my rose coloured glasses on over the last 7yrs I've been able to get to training (usually 2 or 3 times a year). The difference now is amazing and the level at which they are training prior to Xmas is so, so different to the past. Mrs Worship thought she would be bored after 45mins but couldn't believe how good it was to watch for 2 hrs. That was largely because there was always something different happening and the skill level was very sharp even when they had been deliberately fatigued. What a wonderful change from bygone years. Some particular highlights for me; * at some stage, under the new rules, Preuss will grab the ball out of the centre ruck ball up and kick an 80m torp for a goal (did this 2 or 3 times while we were there). * Our friend who has been to a number of earlier sessions said it has been amazing seeing May, KK and Preuss come on as they had really struggled with the fitness and to some extent skill level in the early sessions. This bodes well for their commitment and our staffs ability to get them up to speed quickly. This also left me with the feeling we can get more out of them than their previous clubs. * Max and Preuss really look like they get on well together however Max is enjoying showing who is top dog. Preuss may have some comeback in the long accurate kicking department however. * Near the end of the session it was big boy marking/spoiling one on ones between Max, Weid, Preuss and May with Jade Rawlings sending maybe 20 sky balls in their direction. Frustration was evident as anyone teamed up against May lost the contest. (cannot wait to see Tomahawk have the smirk consigned to history when playing against us in the future). Oh and Ben Brown might be in for a shock also. Not so highlights and in some cases awaiting further and better particulars; * Maynard was getting a bit of work on his groin near the end of the session (hopefully just tightness) * TMac was very quick to get his kicking boots off and walk back barefoot at the end. * Hannan still wasn't sighted. Other random obs, anyone in rehab doesn't wear a number, the only exception to this appears to be Preuss but we think they haven't been able to supply training tops big enough yet. Chandler really looks like he could be something. Likewise thought Bedford will really benefit from the program and may contribute earlier than some might expect. The other new faces really didn't look out of place without being outstanding. Having said that KK really does look classy. Pretty much agree with the other comments from those who attended.

The best trainers were paired with the not so, that's my understanding of what was organized for the "break". I'm pretty sure that a player who was a not so good and then nominated someone else as a not so good wouldn't be teamed up with each other if that's what you're asking. I don't mind the idea as I think with our new "togetherness" the better trainers would take much enjoyment out of helping a fellow teammate improve and the NQR player could see what the better trainers did in the down time. From my observations and some of the other comments regarding "pairings" this appears to be a very clear strategy to keep players pushing each other. I think the pairings in some of the run throughs, eg Melksham and Hibberd are pitting mate against mate, in some brother against brother, big ruck against big ruck. I can imagine the coaches going to a really good trainer and saying "look you've nominated x as a not so good trainer, how do you feel about trying to help improve them over the break". I'd think it would form strong team bonds.

No Clarry, Viney, Jetta, Brayshaw or VandenBerg. Sorry, but doesn't even come close.

I love the fact that there is so much competition for spots, that you have to start now and go hard to get a spot in the team. We have competition at all lines in the squad now (although Gawn is a cert for 1st Ruck). Great environment to take it to the next level. Lets see what we do with the new rules (666). Thanks to all for the training reports and pics!

Harry 'Tom' Petty

Majority of rehab group were out for 2hrs as well, Gus lifted the speed of his lap running, was working to a plan, kept checking in with fitness staff, was just running in shorts and gps bra, low socks, no strapping anywhere, so again, mystery deepens, didn't seem hampered at all Have a work shift this afternoon, wil post pic tonight

joel smith 2019 to be james harmes 2018?

Ironically, he's rumoured to possess a tremendous farting capability.

Officially it's a "Closed" session today but if anyone is attending training we'd appreciate an unofficial report. Thanks in advance.

No haven't seen him for a while, got nothing when I asked, Viney was missing as well

Well, I'm one of those rare bods who expects the team to win EVERY game. So, guess that's 25 for me...!

Stretch would need to go up a few levels this preseason if he is to break into the team. And even then we would need a few mids injured or out of form.

24 ish

Check out the C part of the MCG name, heavy use during the season would prevent us using it then,

You take great pics @Six6Six

I was joking with him a couple of weeks ago, he reckons he has spaghetti arms anyway, seems to have put on a bit of muscle, has been doing a bit of upper body work though, we all forget he still only 22, don't think he will ever be May's size though

Good post STMJ. I think there is little doubt we will be impacted by the number of players we have who have had interrupted preseasons. History tells us as much. The question is how much (Note: to be clear i'm not suggesting you think otherwise - i'm sure you agree and were just being conciliatory) Of course a mitigating factor will be that most in rehab have been able to keep their fitness levels up, but any disruption hurts to some degree and the issue we have is so many players are having some interruptions. An issue for the dees is the 'Melbourne way' ie goody's way places a huge emphasis on fitness but also high intensity, high impact football that will expose any deficit cause by interrupted preparations. With so few player's rehabbing last year we were able to make a fast start. But one huge positive (and at the risk of jinxing them) is unlike last year Tmac and Viney both seem to have had uninterrupted preseasons thus far. If that continues we will have both ready and raring to go round 1, which will go along way to offset the high impact of the number of players who have had interrupted preseasons

Assume you meant Harry, obviously exit interview said the opportunity is there if you want to take it, has looked switched on from 1st session

Looks like Lever is on the bike.

If you thought Steelers and Raiders would be game of the week, then you are seriously special.

Yes I am blaming the Royal Antediluvian Order of the Buffoles (RAOB) myself!

==> https://www.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=tSGMjx&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=0&playButton=0&randomize=0&speed=2.5&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=2&clickable=1

IMO clubs who have adopted family values over pokies should be rewarded by the AFL, as otherwise the clubs like Hawks, Blues and Bombers have an advantage in income, derived from gambling, which is so harmful to so many.

Dropped in to the Demons Shop for a birthday present for our "3" legged friend. That photo is not a thank you smile. I have a feeling its a WTF have you done to me now. Anyway I love it. So does my son. My wife and daughter who are the dogs alpha and beta weren't impressed. Especially when they found out how much it cost.

I’m unexpectedly here. Down from Sydney and the timing worked out nicely. You can read about training but it’s something else being here. The main group are doing repeat 150metre sprints over and over. As they finish they jog back through a group of trainers who throw balls at them or ground balls which they pick up and pass back. Or at other times they go straight into shots on goal but very rapid and then jog back for the next 150. When you are right next to them you see just how brutal the running is. A lot of the running is in pairs with equally matched runners. I love what I’m seeing. They are clearly training them to execute skills straight off maximum exertion. It’s real game simulation rather than just running around recovering then do some gentle kicking. As you’d expect nowadays it’s super organised. No particular standouts in the running. However I did see ANB kick a goal straight through the middle. Halle bloody lujah. Preuss and Gawn were doing their own run throughs. I hope they get on they’re spending a lot of one on one time together. Preussy is a monster. Now running shoes off and footy boots on. The whole group have gone into a tight huddle in the middle. Someone has started up a chant and the whole group repeats the chant as one. Different phrases over and over. Finished by chanting I have no fear and jumping up and down on the spot. Incredible sense of commeraderie.

Another highlights video for new demon Tom Sparrow

Thats right rpfc. Squawker will be a hell of a player.

Not sure if serious or in jest, but yes!

From all reports and my own one session observation both Smith (seniors) and Keilty (Casey for now) will be trialed as forwards (at least initially). With the additions of May (from Round 1) and Lever (whenever he returns) in the backline and the loss of Hogan up forward it makes sense to trial these two.

Bloody Hell. It’s near the end of a 2hr session. Frosty has gone down to a goal square on his own with a bag of balls. Wondered what he’s doing. He’s kicking torps that are almost hitting the bloody cross in the centre circle. One went off the side of his boot. We’ll call that the 2018 Prelim Finals kick. I’ll call the centre circle ones the 2019 GF kick.

No, some of that was tanking...or conveniently bottoming out to refresh the list if you like.

LOL Spargo is nicknamed 'Chuck'... I've always had the thought of this lookalike.