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I arrived at about 9.15 with things well underway. I won't repeat what Demonland has said about rehab and missing players only to confirm that TMac was doing gentle agility runs and small kicks in rehab when I arrived but didn't look in any trouble at all. The missing as far as I could tell were Jones, KK, AVB, Spargo. The drills included the "handball game" where you had to handball to a teammate and run the ball down the "ground" for a goal. A missed handball or a "touched" player with ball was a turnover. They did this at full steam for about 30 minutes and looked exhausted at the end of it. Then onto the ground sims and I'm not surprised some of the skills were off. The was gentle contact in the drills but no physical pressure. On the sidelines were a rotating group with a heavy emphasis on tackling technique with a coach I didn't know. There was wrestling and some exhausting looking drills one which included diving under a person's leg and then bunny hopping back over them. They seemed to do about 20 of these. The new boys were involved in all these but didn't do the match sim stuff. They finished with running. Most were doing 100 metre run throughs but Gawn, Preuss, Trac, JJ, Dunkley, Sparrow, Langdon and Brayshaw were doing repeat 300 metre runs around the boundary. JJ won each one in about 50 seconds. They did about 6 with somewhere between 20 seconds and two minutes intervals. I left when the footy's were put away shortly after. Some player observations: Trac. It's been said before but he looks in ripping condition and just looks a cut above everyone else with his speed, ball handling, kicking and agility. He stood out like dogs testicles. Joel Smith - trained well I thought particularly in the handball games. No sign of any residual physical issues from last season. JJordan - looks in really good shape. He doesn't look quick in a straight line but had no trouble in the handball drills finding space and executing. His running is great. Neita - first time I'd really seen him. Not what I thought. He's a half back flank/wing runner. Not a big body but found a lot of space in the sims although his kicking was a bit off. He wasn't the only one. ANB - boy, can this bloke run. Was in everything but no noticeable improvement in execution. Hibberd - how can someone with such a nice kicking action miss so many targets? He looks to have taken off some weight over the off season. Jackson - reports about his poor kicking have been grossly overstated. Kossi - will be a fan favourite. Didn't see much of him today as the young kids clearly being managed. Rivers - moved nicely and not shy. All he did today was good but I didn't see him under any pressure. Hunt - looks good but struggles to get involved. Sparrow - second in the runs behind JJ and was involved. Chandler - did some really nice things. Has pace, was sure with the ball and clean. Impressive Dunkley - the invisible man. Probably got heaps but just seems to be one of those players you don't notice. It was windy today and by the time they did the sims they'd gone hard for about 90 minutes. I'm not surprised they were a bit scrappy. But if Trac stays fit - get excited.

Pickett wearing 36. Has a beautiful kick.

I'll preface by saying I'm just making an assumption here but groups of 6 to 8 at a time were pulled from whatever main drill they are doing at the time to do intensive exercises described above (grappling, burpees, leap frog [pictured above]). They were then thrown back into the drills and in my uninformed opinion that was to simulate the end of quarters/matches and to get players used to kicking, handballing & competing when spent. These groups rotated throughout training even during match simulation. By the end of the footy skills part of the session players were understandably tired and hence the mistakes. I guess that's why they are training this way and as the fitness levels rise and they get used to this then less mistakes will be made. That's the way I see it but perhaps I'm way off.

Jesus Petracca looks fat. ????

You nearly got it right - it's Christian, not Jesus.

Not mine

On drafting: Moneyball selection, very good depth and can play competent AFL footy. I support it. On training: He seemed mainly to be at the other end to me and by the end of training looked spent. Look he's the player he was at Essendon and will be the same for us. Good luck to him but I suspect if he plays the FD will be disappointed that Weed or TMac haven't kept him out (injury or form).

I think someone needs to tell Jackson he's no longer in Perth..... could miss the season with Pneumonia

Weid Jackson Size Comparison

Yours and other reports are greatly welcomed by most and I think they've been very balanced. Keep up the good work.

On this point we have a few players that kick magnificently during these drills. Steven May hits targets lace out on the run with 40 to 50m passes.

Did they remove part of his calf, or the whole dam thing? Hard to strain it if you don't have one I guess. Seriously though, pull a miracle and get that bloke right and we gain an A grader filling a huge hole (small forward) for free. Haven't been this keen on a recruit for long time.

If you train with physicality some injuries are going to occur. Leave the fragility to the mindset of some supporters.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step ...

I could say autocorrect but I’d be lying. Jackson of course with apologies to the man himself. Perhaps I should change my name to Old Baghdad Bob.

I didn't speak to any Essendon supporters this week and i'd appreciate a few Likes for my efforts.

Thanks BB, Dland & Saty for those great reports and those fab photo's Saty. Also all posters. Greatly appreciated.............!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or in the WHite House where theu'd simply call it fake news.

This is December, there are going to be kicking, handball, marking etc errors, hopefully by the end of March they will be mostly eradicated Is there a point to reporting them? If so, Bedford didn't miss a target today Personally I am glad they are using the ball with the stripe, simple guide, so no over thinking, wouldn't surprise me if it was Lewis' idea

I think this is a big misconception. Keeping players in the 2's and letting them learn their craft there rather than in seniors when they are not really ready for it is a big plus for me. Let players develop at their appropriate level and promote them when they are ready. Secondly we are not in "development" mode, we are in "win the flag mode". The player that is the most valuable to the team at the time plays. I hope we've passed the "give the kids a game to give them a taste" stage. We're better than that. A good moneyball selection for mine.

Jeez you overthink things. He's cheap and handy tall forward depth. Break glass if required.

If he is doing 100 metre sprints after taking his boots off you can bank on it being management.

??? Season over. Will book the ⛷ for September.

Nor did I, and I am married to one!

You're bang on @Demonland - we've got elite staff now, exposing the athletes to discomfort, both physical and psychological, in a style called 'graded exposure'. They'll learn they can cope with the fatigue, build their base lines and capacity and thrive and execute more consistently. Goodwin has built an impressive team of staff in the off season

Richmond December 2019

Really? A First round draft pick Vs a Cat B rookie. Wouldn't any result from Bradtke be considered a bonus.

Thanks DL for your reports/updates today.

Backs: Omac, Lever, May, Lockhart, Hore, Hibberd, Jetta, Salem, Harmes, J Wagner, Rivers, Nietzsche Mids: Gawn, Preuss, Brayshaw, Petracca, Sparrow, Jordon, Dunkley, Langdon (Oliver left the track before Match Sim) Forwards: Jackson, Pickett, ANB, Hunt, Weid, Brown, Bedford, Chandler, Melksham, Bradtke, C Wagner Fritsch goal kicking Viney bike Others in rehab have left (Tomlinson, Bennell, Petty, Baker, TMac, Hannan) Did not see Vanders or KK.

I'm not sure if that was a focus but I was impressed with his leading down the guts and he didn't drop many.

Had to leave but will post pictures later. @DeeSpencer, @Satyriconhome & @Baghdad Bob will no doubt post their thoughts and observations.

Leads well. Marks well. Kicks well. I think we'll see him play this year.

Those that sit within 20 rows of us will know that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact Daisy Pearce and the rest of the AFLW team refuse to sit anywhere near you. Mainly because your cross dressing standards offend their sensibilities.

Agreed. We really missed the boat on Brad Ebert.

Hibberd played on Fritsch for a bit of the match sim and made on great closing spoil and took a nice mark. Fritta got him once or twice as well. He looks fitter and still has more defensive smarts than most of our players. He had a few nice kicks as well, it just seems like he's off in his kicking on the run. Not sure if that's fatigue, feeling perceived pressure now he's lost a little speed or a confidence to technique error. I'd like to see him balance up and go for shorter smarter targets. He expects to outrun opponents and launch it 60 like he used to and I don't think he can do that with the same reliability.

Two quick ones of the new boys.

T Mc rolled an ankle on Monday. Don’t think it’s anything more than that. Viney’s done enough training for pre christmas. If they shut him down until January I’d be happy.

I like it - Flash's number.

I'm on auto renew, so I don't really watch that stuff. I've never understood how people only want to jump on when a team is flying. Doesn't it feel better to watch them get to that point? Thick and thin. I really don't get it. I hope the club enjoys the cash the bandwagoners bring, but I'm not sure what else people like that add to the club, and I'm damn sure I don't like them dancing around after 15 minutes of support as if they just kicked 5 goals in the last q to win the game.

Calm down old + dee

Really? That's important to know. I was very concerned about the side, before the first game this year and I believed we had too many VFL players on the squad, we've eliminated quite a few of them and replaced them with AFL players. I think we've had a good draft/trade person and I'm now quite bullish about the upcoming season. We made the finals in 2006 and at the start of 2007 we were expected to play finals again, I looked at the side and just couldn't see it and by quarter time in the first game our season was over. That was the same feeling I had at the start of this years season. This time I think we've done a very good job of replacing those VFL players and we have a year in to the recruits we picked up last year, they will be the better for it. Weideman cops heaps on here but I have faith in him, he's only 22 and most big forwards take a while to hit their straps, I know he can play and it's now a matter of him putting it together consistently. He had problems with injuries and confidence, his contract and the [censored] he copped on social media, that plays a big part in young players of today. I'm rapt in the recruits we have and we've finally added some excitement to the team, Jackson be a revelation as will Kossie, Rivers will do a good job of replacing Young and will surprise a few. The view we have of some of the players is not shared by the club, players like Spargo are highly regarded by the club but some posters on here want them sold off to the lowest bidder. Hopefully after we win a few some of the negative posters on here, we know who they are, will change their mind, although there are some who would still complain about someone playing a bad game in a winning grand final.

Love your work, Luci, but you've said "We have the 2nd highest number of players in the age group 'sweet-spot' of 22-26yo. Second only to Bulldogs who have 22." By my reading of the table, St Kilda is top with 24 and we're second with 22. Or am I reading it wrong?

I thought we were passed the days of expecting kids to carry us and not understanding what development was, I guess it takes a while to sink in with some supporters.

Worms are good, think of another word. A...hole sounds more like it.

Dees make it to the GF against Brisbane Lions Go into the final quarter with a 35 point lead. Extend that lead by kicking the first four goals, stretching it to a 59 point, unassailable lead. Tears begin welling in the eyes of all Demons supporters. Two minutes till full time. Aliens arrive out of nowhere and begin attacking the earth. Nobody hears the final siren over the panic.