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I hate the old school, fixed mindset talk about players being unable to fix skill execution once they are in the AFL system, it is complete rubbish. Skills can be learned and improved at any age and at virtually any level of skill. If we perceive our players to have skill deficiencies then it is absolutely the right thing to develop drills and training aids to assist players to improve. Doing anything but this would be crazy.

What the hell if the footy’s got a line down the middle. Does it matter ? If it helps with ball drop then so be it. We often hear the cry that players and coach need to get back to the basics, well it looks like that is the case here. Are other clubs using the ball? Probably. It’s a bit like telling an Olympic sprinter not to practice his starts out of the blocks because it should be second nature.

Russell Robertson is one big example.

Naive mate. Have a look right across the league. Our blokes are far from the only ball butchers going round. Then have a look at the U18 champs. Making the draft pool doesn't equate to having elite skills. Anything the club can do to improve, even 1%, should be considered a positive rather than derided

That was when the three rookies were doing the "intensive exercises" together during match sim. When the breakaway groups were doing them they mostly paired off with players of similar builds. Luke probably should have paired off with Rivers. On Rivers he's probably taller than the specs I've seen quoted. He's a big kid. Doesn't look small standing next to Jackson. Has huge mitts. Will be a big unit with a few Preseasons under his belt. Have been told he can play midfield as well averaging 27 possessions and a goal a game as a mid.

Swans did OK in 2012 winning a Premiership. They went out straight after it and got a biomechanics specialist purely to work on the squads kicking skills. He was using all sorts of far out methods. He was filming everything they did and each part of their kicking techniques and working on improving them. They recruited a bloke a year later who was going OK. He'd won a couple of premierships. He had a weird kicking action when he arrived where he went right out on an arc. They retrained his kicking style after he arrived. He's going OK. He's now 7th on the all time goals list and about to pass 1000. His name is Lance Franklin. In theory you're right that you might expect 18 year olds to arrive with perfect kicking skills. But that's a fantasy. At least they have finally appointed a resource to focus on kicking technique. It's awesome he's gone out there to find whatever it takes to get the improvement. Instead of being upset about it you should be wrapped the Club's doing something about it. In 2018 we were the best converters inside 50. We're not miles away. Cheer up. Look on the bright side of life. Things are being done.

Nice work DC. I wasn’t going to sign up this year until I saw improvement but caved in (I’m all talk). We had another little one a few weeks ago and she’s been added to the membership tally.

I think it’s just reality - I agree that ideally all players would have their kicking technique down pat by AFL, but in practice plenty of them have ingrained bad habits, and it’s not isolated to the MFC. I also doubt they’re using the ball to teach them how to kick from scratch. They would all know the theory. It’s more that it gives the immediate feedback and it comes cheaply, or possibly for free. A 1%er, if you will. I think in terms of concerns, this ranks a solid 0 out of 10

Blind Freddy could tell you this was a problem last season. Would you prefer that this wasn't addressed this season?

Agreed. I’m still angry from that time Garland smiled at training.

This is a bit disheartening. We need May focused this year if we're any chance of success.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. We couldn't use them all due to time constraints but appreciate the team effort. I'll post the show shortly.

For me, the more interesting thing re: kicking is highlighted in the photos above. The good kicks (Salem, May) have their weight forward over the ball. The less reliable kicks (Langdon and Brayshaw) are leaning back on their kicks. Gawn is an example of a guy who has changed his kicking style and is now a good kick. Leaning forward. Trac is a great field kick, but terrible set shot. In the photo above, he's in play and his weight is... going forward. It's a fairly simple mechanical adjustment. Hopefully it's something that gets picked up on and fixed (like it did with Max).

This post rekindles some memories from the 2008 National Draft which Demon fans would know for better or for worse as the “Jack Watts Draft”. It was during the National Under 18 Championships of that year when Watts from Brighton Grammar and the Sandringham Dragons starred on the MCG at centre half forward for Vic Metro against Vic Country. Late in the game with mark a minute-and-a-half left he was three or four deep in the pack but clunked the mark and kicked the goal that won the game. From that point on, Watts was regarded as one of the likely number 1 prospects for the national draft, jockeying for that position with WA ruckman Nic Naitanui. During that period, he had a rival in schoolboy ranks in another key forward draft prospect Mitchell Brown who was also at the Dragons but attended Mentone Grammar. In August, 2008, it was Brown representing the Associated Grammar Schools who upstaged Watts for the Associated Public Schools in the annual match between the two schoolboy competition representative teams. The AGS won easily and the star of the game was Brown with 8 goals at full forward. It has been claimed that over the preceding 12 months, he has grown from rover size to 193cm. Early in the season he missed the cut for the Dragons and even played for Old Mentonians in the VAFA. His goal tallies for Mentone Grammar before the APS/AGS game were 7, 7, 6, 8 and 7 and he was eventually invited to join the Dragons in mid-season playing with them for the last five games. The eight goal haul pushed him to the forefront of recruiters’ minds and, after originally not being considered by most as a top-20 selection, Brown was selected by Geelong with their first round selection 15th overall in the 2008 AFL Draft.

Assuming that you can afford it, the bottom line is that all members should renew their memberships irrespective of results. If everyone "dropped the ball" because of results, we would have no members and no club. Now would that make you happy ? Does it make you feel good by saying, "I told you they were hopeless, they may as well merge or go out of existence." Call it stupidity, blind faith or loyalty, it does not matter. Really the folks who sign up only if the team is winning are bandwagoners. The types who suddenly come out of the woodwork and profess their loyalty by turning up to finals games. Egotists who think that the success or failure of their team is a reflection on them. No, its not about you, its about supporting the oldest club in the world from cradle to grave. Otherwise go and support a franchise club or Melbourne Storm with its deep history and decades of existence and surviving against the odds.

doing my bit. re-signed plus added new membership for grand son

Pleased about Rivers being picked-up by the MFC ... he is an exciting prospect ripe for the bigtime. He will get a larger frame and I suspect, quickly, too. Could develop into a key backman, for mine; has that Gary Hardeman look about him and related movements, yet taller. If he turns out to be half as good a footballer as GH, then he will star after a decent. complete orientation.

totally meaningless.

Well that's him done then...pension him off.

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.

You should have added again after wrong.

This is a companion piece to the video. All the wheeling & dealing that influenced the 1st round. Good read: Inside the draft's first round: Twists, turns, bluffs and the big calls

I predict that this thread becomes a mess and will need a template.

I thought his training was going well when I observed him. Reading the play beautifully. Experience will help him in decision making. Like ball disposal to the right area, turning into space and evading the tackler, and structuring and leading the defensive team. I believe his achilles problems are behind him now. This could give him confidence to push his body to a higher limit.

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

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.

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.

I’ve used the Precision Footy at my footy club and it’s a really good training aid .... and I’m well into my 30s! It’s deliberate practice, especially at times where you are just doing a simple kicking drill (or warming up) and you can just focus on technique. Then, after repitition, this will feel more natural and will naturally transfer into time where you are not focusing on technique. I think the golf analogy is a really good one. Look at the best golfers do their warm ups. They have any number of training aids, from mirrors that they putt on, to poles to align their stance. Would you go up to Jon Rahm and tell him that it’s ridiculous to warm up with an alignment stick, since any decent golfer would already know where he’s hitting it?

Club Profiles and Rankings Not sure the average age per se means a lot but the profile by age group is interesting. We have the 2nd highest number of players in the age group 'sweet-spot' of 22-26yo. Second only to Bulldogs who have 22. Surprisingly, we have the equal fewest (13) of 18-20 yo so being ranked as the 14th youngest is a bit of a quirk of averages. If the number of players under 20 is a guide we can no longer say we are a 'young' team. While we have the equal highest number of players (17) in the experience 'sweet-spot' of 51-150 games we are still relatively inexperienced as we have very few (3) with >150 games. Interesting that the recent consistent finalists have 9-12 players there. It is interesting to see the bulldogs also have 17 in the 51-150 group with 10 of those having 101-150 games. When combined with their players in the age group 'sweet-spot, it wouldn't surprise to see them feature well into the finals.

Thanks for the memory Tarax. I really liked Loewe - he had hands approximately the size of Tasmania and could mark anything.

Old dee, you've officially moved from pessimistic to maudlin. Cheer up...there is a bonus to be found from poor performaces. One can rock up to the G late on gameday and still get a good seat.

The value I attach to my Redlegs memberships (other than the donation to the club for the last 20 years) is that I spend time with my niece. And hopefully, will one day have the pleasure of sharing a Demon premiership with her at the G. So the Redleg memberships for the two us will continue until I fall off the perch.

Funny to watch him in the continuous hand ball drill, threw himself in with gusto and spent his petrol tickets early, suddenly realised the drill lasted longer than he thought Fought through it tthough

To quote from the marketing article posted above: “Sherrin Precision is designed for players and coaches at all levels, as well as teachers and parents that are instructing the game.” ALL levels... and despite what you said above, there’s no reason that shouldn’t include elite players, as some players have certain skills that could be considered elite and others that could be improved. Players that are elite in all facets of the game are few and far between.

I understand where you are coming from, Dr D. What has been ingrained into the subconcious mind from an early age is VERY hard to change. BUT, think it's been shown that, if you practice the correct techniques long and hard enough, eventually those correct techniques will start to overwrite the incorrect techniques that have been etched into the subconcious brain. It's not easy (always better to learn the correct techniques in the first place), but I think it IS possible to teach an old dog new tricks, so to speak.

Thanks for all the reports, too much sugar and you get over hyped and the detox is terrible, much better to have a bit of home truths about bad kicking and how fit someone is or isn't. See the negative and enjoy the positive. I think the changes off field and the new recruits are bold, good to see some results from the [censored] of 2019. July 2019 would have been better to change something (like the results of games). not sure how though. I like 2020 much better as a number and a year and we are not there yet. Might even buy my membership again but not until late Jan. Go Dees !!

Impressed by Jackson's decision-making; smart footballer!

Note that each club has a different number of players on their lists which makes looking at raw numbers a little misleading i.e. Esse has 42 vs GC with 49. I have transformed the numbers into proportions which while still not perfect helps with comparisons. Age, games played and capability are important factors in determining the potential of a playing list now and into the future. Age profile (driving strength & maturity): If you have a list with a higher proportion of players 27+ years of age you want to be challenging for a flag before you tip over the edge and need to bottom out to get youth in. Geel, WC, North, Coll, Rich, Port, Hawt, and GC lead in that order. For North and GC, this is a concerning given they aren't playing finals and certainly not challenging for a flag. Perhaps this is part of the reason North were happy to get multiple 2020 draft picks in from Melb in exchange for their round 1 2019 pick The Saints, Melb, Bris, and Carlton lead in the combined 18-25 year range in that order. Being in this range should suggest you are an up and coming team assuming recruiting, coaching and development are aligned. It seems that teams in this space can have a breakout year that defies their profile but doesn't happen consistently until the list ages e.g. Melb prelim, Bris prelim, perhaps Bulldogs flag Games profile (driving experience & know how): The age of your list will often drive the number of games your list plays. Players like Mitch Brown who are older but have played fewer games are pretty rare and seem to be rookies/depth players. Although despite having the 2nd lowest group 26 years or under we have the 7th highest games played in the combined 51 games or more group. Having not had much success and many quality senior players to hold our youth back in the past may be a positive in the future Draft profile (driving talent & capability): While age and games have an important role in list profiles, having high end draft selection to get A and B graders coming through the door is also critical. Picks 1 to 7 tend to play a significantly greater number of games than those from 8-20 which plateau, with further drops after that. Which is why teams looking to reshape their lists tend to push some of their quality older players out the door to get quality picks for a rebuild. It would have been good chart the proportions of players to be selected in different draft rounds across clubs but I don't have the data (i.e. round 1, 2, 3 rookie etc) but suffice to say we have had a healthy number of high end draft picks Overall: Experience which belies your age is the ideal mix when complemented with high end drafting. So while we have a relatively youthful list which often means you are only capable of a breakout year, hopefully our relatively high experience and talent will lead to sustained success before our time is due. Fluctuations (particularly for emerging teams) can also be driven by fixtures (based on the ladder position of the prior year) and injury levels (less depth)

The media will be most unhappy not having any club reps to talk to.

Mmmm, maybe a little premature predicting his demise. Hasn't even turned 30 yet. Certainly had a poor 2019 season but doubtful that was age related.

I'm not sure that Luke will gain much from having Kozzie as a leap-frog partner

Agreed. We really missed the boat on Brad Ebert.

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

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

Nor did I, and I am married to one!

No, he’s a good pick up who costs nothing. I’m happy about it.

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

They don't need his help for that...