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No, but did a full rehab session, they work just as hard Another good session today, lots of work with quick ball movement Garlett was very good today as was Hibberd One of the new guys burnt Lewis in one of the ball movement drills, a quick quiet word, good to see There was lots of banter and laughter today, but the drills were slick Harmes, who is no slouch, was doing a a bit of one on one with Hunt, Hunt just used his zip to break free, after about six goes, Harmes out loud 'he's just too quick' to everybody's amusement

A snippet from a Ben Guthrie article on afl.com.au from this mornings training. While McDonald's determination to keep presenting at the footy was noteworthy, Kade Kolodjashnij's foot skills; Bayley Fritsch's aerial ability, as well as his decision-making, and Michael Hibberd's run and carry were among the other highlights of the match practice.

I checked with Trac, playing weight 110kg, might not be a serious answer

#hatwatch

I watched them for a while. Spargo is noticeably stronger. His skills impressed me. Petracca out muscled Hibberd in one drill and took off with the ball. Clarry was with a smaller group probably the rehab group working on short kicking and fast ball movement. He was very comfortable. Melksham was walking around the boundary line with his shoes in his hand past Clarry who asked him " Are you ok ? " Melksham just shook his head. Looked a little downcast. He was walking with no apparent discomfort so I m not sure what was going on there. When the rain came there was a bit of fumbling but the ball must have been pretty greasy. Easy to forgive.

Went to Friday training and Vanders looked great.Participated in all the drills.

CPs upper body looks trim. No handlebars and as someone mentioned, not burdened by body builder type muscle ""assisted"" development. What is striking is how huge his upper legs or thighs are in contrast to his torso. That's just the way he has been made, with his genetics.

You really think so? I mean I was joking but you know your footy so perhaps you're right and lever was recruited to support omac. And whilst personally I'd have may, hibberd, jets and lever ahead of him good on you for giving him the FMD (Fore Most Defender) title. Takes a strong character to admit when you got it wrong and change your tune.

I think saying "most teams would be jealous of our back line without lever or may" is a bit of a stretch when Omac and Frost are the two tall's. Talk about rose colored glasses lol ... Frost only learned how to hit a target in his last few games last year. And while Omac is serviceable, to say he is enviable is borderline insanity. Agree we are in a good position now and that competition for spots will indeed be fierce. Also baffles me that some here think the answer to a struggling back line last year was to remove our leading and most accurate goal kicker from the forward line.

I’m hoping that’s a joke (the part where you asked him).

We shouldn’t be assuming anyone’s gender. The fella on the right may be a chick.

I can help you with this. I know a bit about body language. Did he shake his head up and down or side to side. The answer will offer a clue to his state of mind and body.

If that's terry towelling, I want one.......now!

Yep thats why he was recruited. To support Oscar. FMD

It's so easy to look at a single photo like this and take it out of context. Unless we know what his right hand was doing, I'm sitting on the fence and making no judgment.

I blocked this unsavoury clown eons ago. It's a waste of time.

I'm going to my first session for the year. I'm not the greatest training reporter but I'll make some observations which might interest the Hoi polloi.

I'll have to tell premiership captain Shannon Hurn he's too heavy at 187cm and 95kg. Just have some faith in the footy dept. A player's ideal weight is pretty simple for conditioning coaches.

I just don't get what the issue is with Trac. I reckon he had a really good season last year playing a difficult position and contributing consistently. I watched a few games since season end and this week watched the game against Freo in Darwin specifically to watch Billy Stretch. Petracca was very good that game and close to best on. If you watch the two finals games he was influential and his touches are quality and his vision elite. He uses the ball exceptionally well and just needs to overcome the yips in goal kicking to be even better. I doubt the footy department have any of the concerns that are often expressed here about Petracca. He's just finished his third year of playing at this level and doing very well. People's negative comments are based more on their heightened expectations than any failing in Petracca's performance. The kid is a gun.

If you’ve played competitive footy, you will have a fair inkling that AVB is the sort of bloke you know as opposition that the contest in general is going to brutal and most likely hurt yourself in the end. He’s the sort of grunt and mongrel that Roos and Goodwin have built the list by and which ultimately we hope to have the edge in when we go deep in September. I’m very pleased we didn’t lose him to Sydney because his value is measured in more than just meat and potatoes. I hope to see him feature quite a bit this year.

I wish Max would kiss me like that.

At least he’s working on the man-on-man defensive side of his game.

Bugger the scarves. Mfc bucket hats in the membership packs next year

Japan beat Uzbekistan overnight so we have avoided Japan in the group of 16 and now face Uzbekistan. That loss to Jordan cost us as had we won we would have had a far easier match against Vietnam. Almost no coverage of the non Australian matches in the Oz media so far. Doubt that it will change. Went online and the ticket prices for the first round of matches at least were very reasonable...about A$25 if I recall. Off to Bangladesh late next week so I may miss the pointy end of the tournament but I may get lucky with the hotel TV coverage. From what I hear sports bars in Dhaka are few if any !!

I was at training .Petracca is in great condition.Built like the proverbial brick out house.

Smart, bumping the price up from $1.05 to $1.12 on race day.

Winx has only ever won 2 from 21 barrier trials

Lets hope he can also become a better kick on goal.

Can’t help but agree hw he has powerful legs which provide that burst and strength he is at his best one on one and has a good footy brain, hopefully he will continue to work hard and gain that continual improvement through to his hundredth game and beyond. I love his enthusiasm and joy in winning.

Sometimes (more often than not) to quote Frank Zappa, as a player "you are what you is and that's all it is"... How many people thought Robbie just needed a bit more muscle on his sleight frame? No matter how much he tried it was never going to happen Trac has a big frame, he's a big guy, always has been & he uses it to his advantage. He's not over weight or muscle bound like Conlin & Templeton back in the day... There's a bit of Dipper about him, could you imagine a scrawny, skinny looking Dipper?

The most effective third tall, mid sized, ball winning and goal scoring utility who was genuinely fierce in his attack at the ball and opponents in recent times was our own (former) Martin Pike. In Balmes only good year as our coach, before all the injuries, Pike filled a slot together with Lyon and Schwartz as a forward with no specific role other than to attack hard at the ball. We taught him so well that he went on to play the same role in four premierships with NM and Brisbane and was always in the best 22 so it was no fluke. I can see Vanders filling a similar role anywhere from midfield to full forward. His disposal should be less of an issue if he continually denies the opposition the ball or the ability to dispose effectively. Thrown into the mix with TMac, Weeds and Preuss, he offers our coaches another mismatch opportunity in the midfield or the forward line. When added to the potential of Tracca, Melks, Jeffy, Spargs, Mitch, ANB and any new guys, the potential options are so great that it might take some time for the best combinations to sort themselves out. That's why the coaches get the big bucks. 2020 Go dees.

I can't see us losing a game all year!

In this photo, you can see his balance clearly, leveraging from one side of the body to the other due to leg power at release in his leap. This assists him to land laterally, one side or the other, in the tackle and to overcome his opponent's force direction and efforts. Hence, Vanders gets very few '...in the back calls...' when in the process of tackling. A compensatory opponent pain dosage is often donated should the impact have the correct geometry to nail the bastard into contact with the ground and his body force over the top of it all. From our perspective, not even Nureyev could choreograph a prettier or more elegant pas de deux. All is generally assisted by his bulk, his strength in the upper body as well, in his '...gonna getcha'...' attitude and in his role as a 'tough-nut' using unusual force attributes whether in contact with the ground or alternatively, having taken off (in flight) with a particular fall-point in mind. As you can also see in this photo, Pendlebury was doing his best to overbalance down the midline in a forward direction, milking a free kick if he could. Friggin' ineffective, Pendles, bad luck but you are dealing with Vanders so get out of his way because it ain't gonna help your match stats.....

I was living overseas at the end of 2005 and early 2006 and i used to go to extreme lengths for a bit a of WiFi (which wasn't so common then) just to read Demonland and have arguments with Rhino Richards. Hindsight proved me correct in all of those arguments by the way.

I love the Vanders types. They play tough and every opponent knows it. They must constantly wonder where he is. When he tackles you know it will hurt.

My father, a 70 year Melbourne supporter, was supposed to have a table in the dining room with his mates that day. Unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly and our family and his friends ended up with a couple of extra tables having a fairly emotional lunch. At half time there were a number of black humour comments that he was ‘lucky’ that he wasn’t around to watch just how crap Melbourne were. And then the tide turned. What a roller coaster it was and, of course, we all thought they were playing for Dad and he was helping from above. Then we were able to have a kick on the G after the game and quietly spread half his ashes on the ground, CHF scoreboard end.

Maybe you're just tall for your height...!

Can someone from the "Petracca is overweight" camp please show your workings as to how you've come to that conclusion?

"Melbourne in the first half were like one of those nervous African dictators. They always took a different route home. Now they're kicking goals." What a gem from DC.

Can’t underestimate the impact AVB had in the finals against Geelong and Hawthorn. Was an instrumental part in our blanket attack on the footy and opposition.

As I mentioned on Monday, AVB was the standout in the Rehab group with his leadership and the way he was approaching his training. He should be Tyson's direct replacement in the midfield and rotating forward at times.

He was injured round 11 June 2. I don't know when he was operated on, but I assume about a week later, so let's say June 9. The standard recovery from ACLs is 9 months. It won't be a one size fits all, some come back sooner and some probably come back later. Also, I don't know if it being his second ACL on the same knee warrants a more cautious approach, or whether it has no effect. I'd just be guessing. Nine months takes him to approx. two weeks before our first game on Saturday 23 March. Theoretically, if it's a standard recovery he may well be ready to play round one. Lynden Dunn, who did his ACL one month later in round 15 on July 2, has targeted his return date as round one. I won't be advising medical staff one way or another, I'm not that stupid, but I won't be surprised if he's ready for round one based on historical timelines - assuming he doesn't have any hiccoughs along the way. I also won't be surprised if it's round 4 or 5 when he returns. His minor set back a few weeks ago won't impact things, I wouldn't have thought.

Hi all, i discovered Demonland over the weekend and immediately signed up. I live in South West France, near the beautiful Dordogne River. I've been a Melbourne supporter for more than 60 years. I attended the '64 Grand Final and still vividly remember the Gabelich and Crompton goals. I have been an overseas member for four years and watch every game on watchafl.