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Hunt, for all his admirers, looks to be back, was zooming around today with ease Standout for me today was Salem, some of his kicking was sublime when they did ball movement As I have mentioned before, competition for spots is going to be fierce, which is only a good thing

Lever is making great strides in his rehab, was up and about today, very vocal Keilty is definitely being set to play as a forward this year Preuss has shaved his head, as if he needed to, to look more imposing, only needs the beard now I have to go to work this arvo so will post the pics on Insta and here tonight

I mainly focused on the rehabbers today as the new draftees were at Marvel for induction. In that group were Brayshaw, Oliver, Petracca, AVB, Stretch, Hunt, Harmes, Baker, Jones, Melksham, Lever, Jetta, O.Mac and T.Smith. Melksham, Brayshaw, Oliver and Lever all running boundary laps with a few of them vomiting towards the end. Jonesy doing sprints and a lot of boxing. He's getting a lot of work done on his lower back from the Physio. Petracca also needed further work on his knee throughout the session telling the Physio "It hurts when I stop moving." But he looked to be fine movement wise. All the rehabbers were moving really well actually. Everyone just ticking off each session and building nicely for round 1. Standout for me today was AVB with his leadership, he was really vocal and serious and wasn't letting anyone slack off. He was also showing Stretch and Baker how to tackle. No Viney on the track today.

Yes but a bit difficult to stay in shade, drink lots of water, take pics and talk to players, plus posting on here A lot of today was speedy ball movement, either by hand or foot 'Rehab' group did a heap of work again, including some bag work, Clarry having a couple of interesting sessions, made a hash of one jump and landed on his shoulder, without any concern thankfully The smaller of stature did a one on one drill which was fun to watch, Garlett, ANB, Spargo, Corey Wagner, JKH No sign of new draftees, assume AFL induction is on this week

When i watched training back in September, Salem was just simply sublime with his kicking. His kicking on his right foot is just as sweet on his left.. Get the ball in this blokes hands and watch him just slow the game down and choose the right options. I reckon he will go up another level this year.

Billy is fine, right where he should be in his 'rehab', I asked, we get it right these days, no rush, still January, always get a big hello, so head is in a good space as well Agree with @Caligula's cohort Viney wasn't out there today PANIC not, so AVB took it upon himself to 'lead' the group Only thing holding Salem back at the moment is Arsenal's owners reluctance to spend money in the January transfer window ??? Goodwin wants two footed players, so they have to kick with their non preferred during training, most are actually getting better at it, think they HAVE TO??? Jonesy is using the boxing to let off a bit of steam, think his issue is similar to Brayshaw, a niggle that won't settle, again no rush

One of only two players I can genuinely say I went to a game just to watch them play. The other was Gary Ablett Sr.

I wasn’t at training today but he was in the rehab group on Saturday and worked well in all of the drills he undertook. I’m no expert but, by the way he was moving, I don’t think he’s too far from joining the main group.

I still believe the club will continue to throw him in the midfield at times. Just to add more depth and class going through there. But i like him down back setting us up from behind. Speaking of class, i genuinely think he'll develope into Shaun Burgoyne clone for us. Has all the attributes to become a seriously class player us over the journey.

Agree dazzler. i think salem has scope for improvement, particularly as unlike previous year, last year and so far this year he has had uninterrupted pre season. He is also now entering that key stage of a players career - 70+ AFL games - where all the parts start to come together. Plus i suspect the mid filed experiment is dead and buried and he will play out his career off the HB - which gives him some nice continuity. Its interesting what you said about his right foot kicking. Ii don't recall him kicking on his right much in games. If he starts to do so that can become a weapon off HB as it opens up space with opposition players covering his left side

Nowadays its to watch the team win

only about 328,011,559, not counting illegals ?

I live in a rural part of the north of England. No sports bars here, just village pubs. I watch games on BT Sports. They do about five a week, and a highlights package. They also cover the Big Bash and Ashes tests. It's not too costly a subscription, especially if you have a BT phone line. I used to use the watch afl service but WiFi here is fairly poor and I got frustrated with constant buffering. If BT are not covering the Melbourne game I listen to the radio coverage. I've always enjoyed that, it takes me back in time.

Robbie was the reason people went to games during the 70's and 80's.

IMAGINE by Whispering Jack The Demons made their official return to the training track for 2019 on a sunny Saturday morning at Goschs Paddock with most of the interest initially centred on a small patch of ground in one of the pockets where the rehab group was going through the paces. Some good pieces of news on that score. The rehab group is considerably smaller than it was prior to the Christmas break with Christian Petracca (knee), James Harmes (shoulder), Jayden Hunt (shoulder), Neville Jetta (shoulder), Oscar McDonald (hip) and Tim Smith (foot) all having fully recovered and training with the main group. More good news. The remaining rehabbers were all training at a reasonable level leaving one to think that they all should be right for the opening of the season, with the exception of Jake Lever (knee) who might not be that far away by the end of March. Key midfielders Jack Viney (foot), Angus Brayshaw (back) and Clayton Oliver (shoulders) have been on modified training programmes but appear on target to return to full training in the next month along with Oskar Baker (hamstring, Mitch Hannan (knee), Billy Stretch (toe) and Aaron vandenBerg (shoulder). Nathan Jones was apparently troubled by hamstring tightness and took it easy with a bit of sparring practice and Jake Melksham was the only player missing (possibly because his wife is expecting a child any day now). And after Friday’s shocking news of Tom Mitchell’s broken leg at Hawthorn’s training, the really good news was that nobody ended the session on crutches or in a moon boot. The story going round during the break of a renewal of Tom McDonald’s toe woes was just that - a tale with no substance. There’s a blister on a big toe but mine’s worse than his and it’s not going to stop me from being at the MCG on Saturday 23 March when the season starts with a game against Port Adelaide. So with that game in mind, the attention turned to the blokes who were training their butts off in the warm-up to what promises a tough month or two heading up to the 2019 season. I’ve tried to steer away from all of the media speculation about Melbourne being one of the top three in line for the premiership but the inescapable take away from the session is the observation that the maturing list now runs strong and deep in quality and the club’s recruiting appears to have added icing to the cake. We are light years away from the position we occupied when Dave Misson arrived to find that the club’s fitness and training regime was well below the standards of most AFL clubs. We no longer need to go into raptures about young draftees stepping up to the plate for round one because that simply isn’t going to happen. The younger recruits will all be given plenty of time. However, there are three (perhaps four if you add former Collingwood VFL player Marty Hore) ready-made potential additions to the team who have arrived from other clubs to add strength to Melbourne’s 2019 campaign. The added depth will certainly put pressure on the veterans like Jones and Jordan Lewis - that sort of pressure being another plus for teams that want to go places in this tough competition. The addition of another club’s captain to your list is something that doesn’t happen often so my first observation is that Steven May from the Suns looms as a significant addition to the ranks. That was made clear from my first sighting of him on the track - he cuts a very imposing figure out on the ground and one can’t escape the feeling that his move to Melbourne is one that will be a great one for his career and for the club. Imagine him and Jake Lever as additions to the defensive structure of the side that took part in last year’s finals. Imagine another revitalised former Sun in Kade Kolodjashnij and a fit and re-energised Jayden Hunt and/or Billy Stretch added to that mix tearing down the flanks or the wings. At 206 cm and 109 kg Braydon Preuss is a big man and it’s hard to reconcile why North Melbourne let him go. True, Todd Goldstein had a good season last year and Ben Brown and Majak Daw (before his tragic issues) were considered adequate pinch hitters in the ruck but Preuss is a monster who promises to provide major headaches to opposing clubs that struggle now to counter Max Gawn. With the new rules coming in this season, pity their ruck divisions at centre bounces and pity the defences having to counter resting talls. Speaking of pity, I want to go back to the rehab group for a moment and talk Jack Viney who set the tone for the rest of the players in this group with his steely determination and toughness. Back in the day, it was generally considered that being on the injured list gave players the opportunity to slack off a bit at training. Pity anyone with that view when Jack Viney’s around! Late in the session, he was doing repetitions around the boundary with Brayshaw and Lever and he attacked them with brutality. It was understandable that he was able to beat off the latter but, by the end, he had Angus gasping in his wake. Viney was restricted to only 10 of a possible 25 games due to those nagging foot injuries and was rarely able to play at his best when he was on the field. On that basis, you could almost consider a fully recovered Viney as a “recruit” in 2019. The other players who impressed at training were 2018’s big improver James Harmes and the youngster who could take that improver’s mantle, Bayley Fritsch who seems to be relishing his first full AFL pre season. Then there’s Christian Petracca. I’m looking for him to really break out this year. Imagine that!

We all do, they're compulsory in-car equipment. But like most of the locals, I only wear it in emergencies. Right-wing populism isn't really my thing.

Here's a thought depending on match day role why wouldnt the club offer special access package with Bernie into rooms etc and market it as "Weekend with ( at) Bernies" ??

When Clarry can play Stae footy and dominate at centre half forward ( as Flower did) when he destroyed Ross Glenndining, then I will agree! Not quite as polished YET!

. Who could be, our Wolfman ? Viney? AVB ? Harmes? Jetta? Gawn? Weide? Maysy?

He sure started like a rocket at Port. 6 goals in a JLT game and then a 2 brownlow vote performance in round 1. Then he fell off the cliff shortly after. He just strikes me as a very unprofessional AFL player.

Understandable that Pies midfield is ranked first. They got to a grand final on the back of a strong midfield and have added Beams to that group over the off-season. I do think it will drop off, as Pendles is slowing up and Beams has to start dropping off soon too. Tigers rely on Martin. Cotchin is a good player, but doesn't get heaps of ball compared to most other mids. Edwards is average, Lambert is decent, Prestia is decent. Hardly anything to write home about and we are comfortably better IMO. GWS is still strong despite losing an insane amount of talent. Imagine if they had Shiel, Treloar, Adams, D Smith etc still in there! As it stands, Ward, Kelly, Coniglio are all guns, but their depth has been eroded now. We've showed we can beat them late in the year. Our midfield is right up there. Best of all, our 1st choice mids are young and have years ahead of them. Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw. That starting 4 is one of the best going round and will build together for years to come. We'll never struggle to win our share of the ball if we can keep Viney, Oliver and Brayshaw on the park. Add in guys like Harmes, Jones, Petracca etc and it's a great midfield. It would be good to get another quality pacy mid though, hoping that Sparrow could become that player. While we lack key forward depth, the midfield is still the most important part of the team and we need to continue to add elite talent there.

That is one piece of information that we are cruelling for - just where Stretch happens to be fitness-wise, at the moment and indications for the coming months. He could be devastating on a flank, if fit.

Berlin with watchafl, born 1964!!

Correct...we should be following in Nigel Smart’s pre season footsteps..

I’m in Abu Dhabi and about to move to Dubai. I never miss a match and go to work the Aussies Abroad Grand Final Day every year. Hopefully to watch the dees this year.

Collingwoods midfield is very much at it's peak. Sidebottom, Pendles, Wells, Varcoe, Beams are more likely to decline than get better at this stage of their careers. Wouldn't be surprised if some of those players really didn't have the impact they should in 2019.

You’re right there Rodney In my supporting memory there has been a lot of bath water consumed , so I never take anything for granted 1994 > 1995 prelim to missing finals 1998 > 1999 prelim to bottom 4 2000 > 2001 grand final to missing finals 2002 > 2003 semi final to bottom 4 2006 > 2007/17 semi final to 12 years of misery but I really do think this is a group that is mature and has a core now entering their prime and ready to take the next step , for once we just need a bit of bloody luck too and these boys might go out and make some history

some of the loses we had last year were sort of the loses we had to have really. Goody was still working out what our best team looked like and suitable game plans. I think loses like the ones to the Hawks, Port, Saints and Cats were mostly down to bad team balance/ player selection and/or an unsuitable gameplan. sometimes we got beat by the better team and sometimes I think we pushed it too far, but I can understand why it was done, as the coaches have to learn more about the group and themselves. its all part of the learning curve, and I think we learnt a lot from last year.

I’m in Perth.

I don't think its about complacency, particularly with the personalities we have and the spark from the way we finished the year. It will be can we handle true expectation. We are expected to make finals and expected to be a contender. We will be the hunted most weeks, one of those teams the opposition set themselves for.

Seriously scary.

It’s one of the more popular brands of “baijiu” which literally means “white alcohol”. It’s actually not white but clear like vodka. Another brand, Maotai, is perhaps the most famous. These well known brands are often very expensive and highly prized as gifts. They are all all very high in alcohol content and to me taste bloody terrible and more useful for stripping paint or starting engines. Give me a Harbin lager any day.

How’s Sparrow going?

You’re only as good as your last game and in Melbourne’s case, the team didn’t score a goal until the third quarter of that game. How on earth could you be complacent with that at the back of your mind?

Comparisons are odious most of the time. Let's hope Tom carves out niche for himself. He has some raw talent. Pace and attack on the pill. As for Clarry and Robbie F. Robbie could do everything. Incredible mark, dual sided, quick, goalkicker, never beaten one-on-one, courageous... The most graceful mover I've seen. Clarry on the other hand has amazing hands and is great in traffic.

Robbie was the best Demon I have ever seen. He was poetry in motion. He would do a blind turn take a specks and run bounce left handed then kick with his right. He was a ball player and a true champion.

Or Pattie

I'm based in Shanghai at the moment. I think it's better than living in Melbourne sometimes for two reasons. 1. The games start two hours earlier than Melbourne time. Not as much time waiting around nervous. 2. You can get as immersed or as a distanced as you want during the season. Can always go to the Sports Bar and have drunken yarns to other diehards if you want a good atmosphere, but after a loss, it's easy to move on, because nobody outside of the small expat bubble GAF about footy. The 24/7 AFL media in Melbourne is good to avoid after a loss! Having said that, nothing beats going to a game live at the G.

It will be one hell of a match-up. Same goes for the AFC. In the end, we got the best 2 teams from each conference so bring it on.

Yeah, was moreso Alshon and Ertz on that last drive. Really did feel like it was inevitable after the roughing the passer penalty. Seemed the gods wanted Foles to keep going. I think Rams play KC in superbowl, but i'll have a closer look.

I wish the game was Sunday. Trying avoid scores all day at work will be a killer.

No idea what you're talking about re. Our wolf, however, I like the above photo as I do rate May as a key defender, so if he is matched up on Weid all preseason, it can only be a good thing for a developing young forward.

And, if you count illegals, you can probably double that figure!

Sheesh, looks like the Saints are still enjoying the music from their week off, Eagles on a mission.

Complacency, not sure who, if anybody, he is judging this on Every player I have spoken has one aim at the moment, to be in the Rd 1 team, knowing the competition is going to be fierce Besides which Gawn and Viney would never allow it

I'm not sure about Lovell not 'living up to his potential'. I thought he was a damn fine player, hampered by injury.

We could have fallen off the cliff after the final round heartbreak of 2016 and been the same old Melbourne. Instead we went to another level. I dont believe complacency will be an issue, this is a team of hungry animals.

Reminds you of Andy Lovell with darker hair? Hard to tell.

Admitedly this quote is from Tom’s coach prior to the draft so probably a bit of hyperbole but I do like the bit about speed, power and endurance - “He’s become an animal, an absolute ripper,’’ said SA under-18 coach Tony Bamford, who had no hesitation in selecting Sparrow, 182cm and 81kg, in his AFL under-18 championship-winning side this year. “Tom’s got that rare combination that every club wants — speed, power and endurance. “He’s the type of player who wins the ball on the inside but is so powerful he can get on the outside and really hurt the opposition there. “He is very driven, motivated, diligent and professional. He’ll not only make it as a long-term AFL player but he’ll stand out in his first month of training because of his workrate and toughness.’’