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The squad was already out on the paddock when I arrived. There were 24 players, 5 coaches and numerous support staff. No Steven May, Nathan Jones, Jake Lever, Angus Brayshaw, Kade Kolodjasni, Jake Melksham, Aaron Vandengerg, Jayden Hunt, Alex Neal-Bullen, Harrison Petty, Ed Langdon, Adam Tomlinson or Harley Bennell. There was a also good number of administration people there. Noticed that Joel Smith and Tom McDonald are on a different program to the rest of the squad by doing some work in rehab. The simulations were going strongly and there were obvious changes in their methods. They were run by Troy Chaplin. The types I saw were, a group of midfielders moving the ball quickly by hand and then clearing to leading players on a call from the coaches. Then, two separated teams, one in the centre and the other in the forward area. The ball is given to the forward team. A fast spread and finding players to pick up entailed. They had to run very hard with plenty of communication to get to position, force a contest, fill space, create a turnover, hit players on leads and make overlaps. All ball movement was by foot. Joel Smith and Tom McDonald both participated in the contact simulations and played well. Thought Kade Chandler, Christian Pettraca and Oscar Mcdonald stood out with skills. Toby Bedford laid good tackles. Michael Hibberd reading the play and getting to many intercepts. Max Gawn leading well always giving an option. Jack Viney playing smart football. If second week in is much to go by, we are looking good. The training is well organised and they are pushing them. They then we're put through the running programs. Half doing fartlek and the others 80 meter sprints. Two coaches Troy Chaplin and Mick Stinnear were also running laps. I don't think Bernie Vince is with us this year. Perhaps Jordan Lewis has taken over his role. At the end, the squad had a moment of silence in a circle and in the middle for remembrance. After, Braydon Preuss did some leading and goal kicking practice. James Harmes and Jack Viney goal kicking at the other end of the field. Christian Salem, Marty Hore and James Jordan finished with some tackling practice.

Another really good session For his admirers Joel Smith joined in some of the ball movement drills Hibberd in attendance, another one with a completely different body shape, looks super fit Viney, Gawn, Harmes there was well Weid, Hannan and Baker just light work Nietschke doesn't look too far off, so another new player, doing laps at full pace Petracca and Salem there, Trac was probably the stand out during the ball movement drills, Salem was his usual immaculate foot skills Another one who is looking good early on is Spargo, stronger and faster, did some really good ball distribution by foot

Got there around 10am, it was beautiful weather out on the track. The ground surface was looking immaculate! About 26 payers in attendance today. Crossy was putting Neitschke through his paces with kicking, marking drills and then sprinting through to collect the handball receive and then kick it down the line. Later, Neitschke went on to do repeated 200 - 300 meter boundary laps at about 80% pace with about 2 - 3 mins rest between sets. He was cooked by then end of it... The main group were doing defensive drills ran by Chaplin. It was a 6 on 6 system where the players would try and move the ball out of defence by kicking laterally or along the boundary. Petracca intercepted the ball about three times so he was definitely switched on and moving like a cat. Players then switched into their runners and half did interval training around the boundary marked with cones. They would sprint 50 meters, jog 40 and walk 10 and repeat for about 10 minutes continuously. The other half would do 100 meter sprints with 30 seconds rest. They finished up around 11am and Preuss stayed back to do extra goal kicking and forward craft with Max Rooke. Preussy has lost considerable weight in the upper body and looking really fit. Salem, Hore and Jordon also stayed back and did a bit of ground ball touch skills. Special mentions go out to Hibberd and Sparrow who both looking in ripping condition. I think Sparrow may have grown a bit as i saw him running laps with Joel Smith who is 188 cms and Sparrow was just a touch smaller.

Get there early, you can get an egg and bacon sanger and a large coffee for $10 at Richmond station Believe the Wednesday session will start at 4.30am or thereabouts, night vision goggles optional???? Agree with KM, Hibberd in ripping nick, got the rig out at the end, never seen him do that before Gawn on the other hand Had a chat to Salem about the EPL and his visit with Trac to the elite sports facilities to train, said they both benefited It was Mick Stinnear running with Chaplin Nev was out even earlier Bradtke was gyming, if that's a word

Carlton have too much influence at HQ. Libba admitted Carlton tanked and there was crickets from HQ.

On Jordan - not to derail - but he is 2 months older than Noah Anderson and 1 month older than Tom Green (pick 2 and 3ish from this year). You have to think another year in the under 18s and he would have been taken a little higher than 33.

This is still a thing ? good luck tomorrow @grey wolf @Brownie and others in the northern rivers

If we bid on Green and GWS don't match then this would be a huge coup for us. Green is rated on level with Rowell and Anderson. The comparisons to Cripps is real. Drums are beating that it's looking more likely we will bid on Green and GWS really considering whether to match or not.

Our half-back line is going to look like an 80s porn film. I'll refrain from making any fisting jokes.

I would rather get 2 top class players, than be greedy and get 3 lesser players.

What a [censored], happy to see him go to Carlton and chew up their salary. Absolutely no where near worth the money he is demanding.

That several clubs are prepared to package up their mid teen pick for a top 10 shows there must be some real gems in the top 10 that won't be on the table at 14, 15, etc. Two top 10 players (@3+8) are far better for us than one top player @3 and two lesser more speculative players in the mid to late teens, especially now that we are likely to have Bennell. Unless we get an offer too good to refuse we take 8 to the draft!

I only saw the running at the end but 4 of 5 are clearly in full training. Sparrow is an impressive physical specimen and was solid in the repeat sprints. You'd have to think he'll be in contention as a contest to contest half forward and some midfield rotations. I actually think Bedford is a little miscast as a small forward, I liked his work around clearances a junior and he's another who looked to be handling the running. Still skinny but doesn't look out of place out there. Same goes for Chandler. I was trying to think of players who have bulked up from year 1 to 2 as much as Jordon. Josh Tynan was one, that didn't end well. Chip Frawley another on a positive note. Considering he's pretty much the same age as a lot of the guys about to be drafted it's interesting to see the physical development. In the season review stuff they said they saw his future as an inside mid and he certainly has more of that build than the skinny flanker that we drafted.

I see it unfolding somewhat like this...

Why bump a 5 year old thread just to make this inane contribution? Fair dinkum.

So 2 assistants and a strategy person. Not a brigade then. Sam pietsch? Please. Hardly anyone would know what he did. Viney retired and went farming. And had been there long enough. I'm not playing technicalities. The above is hardly a mass exodus. Again I reckon it is close to industry standard. Gws just made a grand final. Their most successful year ever. And sacked their head of football. Change happens. What you call a mid year crisis meeting I call a sober review, with meaningful outcomes. In other words sound management. Meant we were well positioned to get richo, move on mcartemy in a respectful, non acrimonious manner and not wait till the end of the year to get required change happening. Change that tbey recogised they had to make. Unlike a club in crisis like the crows. Smart stuff. And has paid dividends with the quality people we have attracted.

Pruess could be our secret weapon in 2020... according to Burgess he's lost 8-10 kgs. He clearly showing the team and coaches that he wants to be in the 1sts next year and not stuck down in Casey. Same goes to Omac, he's looking much stronger in the shoulders.

Rawlings, McCartney, Jennings, Viney, Sam Pietsch... You can play the technicalities game but when a club have that many leave, (no matter the terms) over a single off-season, you know something is up. We had a crisis meeting off the back of our horrendous first half of the year. There was a complete restructuring of positions at assistant level, (that's alarming given it was the middle of the season). And by the end of the year, we had an exodus. I'm not comparing us to Adelaide, I'm looking at us. In the eyes of the footballing world, we were at crisis point by mid-year and by year's end something had to change. And it did.

Interesting that GWS pick 6 (1751) is almost exactly 80% (1787) of our pick 3 (2234). If we bid Green at 3 and GWS try to trade down to later picks to match they will need to strike a deal heavily in their favour to get any benefit. I don't think it's worth it and they wasted their time and points trading up to 6 from 12 and 18. They'd be better off with those picks now. They clealy failed to offer us a decent trade involving a player for 3 and it has backfired.

This may be the ultimate first world problem Steve, but you have no idea how frustrating I find it that I can’t pick that ‘n’ up and put it where it belongs

Turned up at 10:45, 15 minutes after the advertised start time. Training finished after a minutes silence at 11. My report: it was sunny.

Given the importance of mental health, I would suggest any criticisms of players not returning early should be tempered by the thought that some players might be better off not being at the club at this time of year. I hasten to add I'm not speaking with any specific knowledge, but we need to be more aware that the needs of individual players differ.

I just don’t think we traded selections with North to get pick 8 to then (potentially) split it. IMO we’ll take it to the draft. I’m hoping for Young and Kemp at picks 3 and 8.

We've done well with Bernie, Crossy and now lewis staying on at the club after they have finished. Very good for morale and club building.

The hills in the northern rivers are shrouded in smoke but still the drums beat and the chillums glow... we should bid green at three because he’s next best... a powerhouse mid... I don’t think gws will match but will take Jackson.. they need to build a team not just collect endless high pick mids..young, Stephens, Serong not the upside... Kemp maybe ... if we get green then we swap 8 in order to get Worrell and Pickett at 14-17 or 15-21.... meanwhile back at the turntable I have Miles Davis and John lee hooker trading licks in a denis hopper soundtrack...

Yet to see any realistic hypothetical that would make me want to trade either top 10 pick. If we were going to trade, I would have done it during trade week for a player + pick. Cant see any club with the currency to make it worth our while.

I'm still scarred by the Hogan exit. I'm not emotionally ready for another tall prodigy from WA!

But we did get a million dollar report from his brother @kev martin

100% agree last year was a horror show. On field. And most now understand and acknowledge the reasons why. But to say we were a club in crisis is, in my view complete rubbish. My definition of a club in crisis is the crows. As evidence of being in crisis you say we moved on a 'whole brigade of assistant coaches'. A whole brigade? How many have we moved on? I might be missing someone but all I can think of is McCartney and Jennings (who technically wasn't an assistant coach). Am I missing someone? Let's say I am. That means we have moved 2 assistant coaches and one strategy person on. Hardly a 'whole brigade'. In fact I'd suggest 2-3 changes a year would be industry standard.

I also love what's coming out of the club recently but it doesn't fly in the face of any poster rightly expressing their disgust from this season. I'm not sure what your definition of 'crisis' is for a team that went from prelim to second last over the course of a year, but I'm pretty sure moving on an entire brigade of assistant coaches is a good indicator as to what went down in our mid-year 'crisis' meeting.. It was either Goodwin or his assistants that were going to go and one of those two things eventuated. You can paint it however you like, but the season was an absolute horror show and changes were rightly made. We were in a crisis and made some bold calls. Now it's the beginning of a new pre-season so naturally everybody is optimistic as new recruits, coaches and announcements are released.

This is where the AFL should institute a rule that says the average per year is what cold be matched. It its 5 years for 600k AVERAGE per year, that is what clubs should be allowed to match, not the heavily front ended number. If another club will pay 600 per year for 5 years............ Rule worth considering imo. He would have been nice, but we dont need him.

From Cal Twomey State-of-play-how-the-first-round-of-the-draft-is-shaping-up An update from Cal Twomey with some interesting tidbits, some of which as already been discussed here. Melbourne were offered a bundle of three picks by Giants (not stated which ones) for pick 3 which we rejected. Rivals thinks we are unlikely to move on pick 3 now. Giants no certainty to match a bid on Green if it comes as early as pick 3 (I don't believe that) Melbourne and Freo may do a swap of pick 8 and 10 so Freo can get 2 picks in before Henry (obviously other components to the trade but not discussed in the article) Cats possibly looking to acquire Carltons pick 9. Gold Coast keen on our pick 8 with picks 15 and 20.

Dustin Fletcher? Michael Tuck? Lever has grown a mo, thst will do me Beautiful day at Goschs, report and pics later

Check out his Instagram. He's been visiting tracks and gyms in the US.

Green will be a Giant next year regardless of when the bid comes. He, Rowell and Anderson are the clear top 3 players in the draft.

Matt Balmer (Fox Sports) presents his Top 25 draft prospects: Future AFL stars headline class of 2019 If the selections at the draft meeting follow his Top 25, the Demons will select - 3. Hayden YOUNG “Clubs: Dandenong Stingrays/Vic Country Position: Medium Defender Size: 188cm, 83kg Bio: Young’s standout trait is his biggest weapon, with the left footer able to slice through opposition teams exceptionally well. His vision to find targets out of the back half makes him a top pick, with a number of outstanding highlights coming in the Under 18 Championships. The 18-year-old averaged 22 disposals and 5.3 marks during the carnival, playing behind the ball and controlling the play for Vic Country. He has remained consistent in the back-half of the year, with three consecutive strong outings against the Dragons, Power and Ranges — collecting 25 or more touches in each game. Young is also a strong intercept mark and reads the play well.” 8. Brodie KEMP “Clubs: Bendigo Pioneers/Vic Country Position: Utility Size: 192cm, 89kg Bio: A ruptured ACL ended Kemp’s season in July, just as the 18-year-old was looking to push his case to be a top-five selection. Kemp’s Under 18 Championships were exceptional, finding a role up forward as he booted the matchwinning goal against South Australia. He has the capabilities to play down back and through the midfield, averaging 20 disposals and 6.5 marks during the carnival. Kemp wants to be a midfielder in the future and given his 192cm heights, clubs will certainly be watching him closely as they consider selecting the Vic Country prospect with a top-ten pick.”

Only Two games actually. The Cardiff Commonwealth Games (two gold medals) and the Rome Olympic Games. Gold in the 1500 metres. I assume either of two things. You are only very young and don't remember the Great runner or you are just trying to be clever. I opt for the latter. Am I right? Remember this was a discussion on fitness and conditioning and not football prowess. And Mr Elliot was oh so fit. Cheers, mate.

It’s fawking huge.

As I have posted before "The year we had to have" has allowed Pert the opportunity to go thru the entire organisation, an 'Off Field' rebuild. So much support now for Goodwin that hopefully he can prosper and with that more wins and a stronger culture.

hill went to the aints......duh

If we believe he is worth it, we should go hard at him with 3, and see if GWS want to play. If they do, it costs them and we move on to next best, and if not we get a gun midfielder. Would not be surprised if this plays out on draft night.

Is Herb somehow related to basil?

Buckley had taken Collingwood backwards for 6 consecutive years, before he was told to ease off the players, evidently by Maxwell, because they were miserable. Tigers were a basket case, couldn’t win a final, even in the year they broke through2017, remember a loss they had against GWS mid season, snatching defeat from arms of victory in last couple of minutes, due to lack of leadership, & defensive frailties! End of 16 supporters tried to overthrow the board. Sometimes, a few minor changes can have a major impact, add a little luck with injuries and the draw, or just a hot streak of form and an opportunity can open up in front of you. Dogs in 16, Tigers 17 and even Brisbane this year. As was previously mentioned in many sports get your defensive structure correct, don’t over complicate the game plan for the players, improve your skills, keep pressure up across the field and you can go close! 1. Our backline maintaining a defensive structure should be one of the things that change, and 2. our mids covering a lot more ground defensively. Richo at St Kilda exploited both so will pass on learnings and Burgess plus recruitment of Langdon and Tomlinson should help with the second. Add a few wins and some confidence and we just might get a pleasant surprise in 2020.

Any reports on training would be appreciated for those of us interstate. I'm not interested in the rest of the nonsense posted.

From the outside it appears that both Hardwick and Buckley took some time to transition from the ruthless mindsets they had as players to the renaissance men they have become as coaches. Both were given the required time to do this (but only just) and their respective clubs are now better for it as a result. Personally, I think Goody was a little further down this road at the time he joined us which gives me hope that we won't have to wait quite as long to see the benefits.

Take him at pick 2 and pay what we can afford. Maybe around 350-400k Wanted to play for Carltank? Bad luck pal, its a draft

A few of the usual suspects may need some humble pie over this appointment. I guess he didn't depart in the manner their agendas suggested he did

Can’t believe the afl hasn’t matured from the go home factor. Professional footballers wanting to go home. Getting paid half a mill a year and you miss your mates and mum? Grow up!