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Great report fr_ap, must have taken a while to type! I've been an irregular track watcher in previous years but for one reason or another I've got down more often this year and it's been interesting to see the continuity of training over time. I think people who read the reports need to understand that it's virtually impossible to see even 20% of what's going on when it's not match simulation or stratch matches as the players are usually broken up into 3 or more different groups who move to different areas of the ground and you just can't watch everything. So if, for example, you see Rivers in a medium intensity drill in front of you and he hits the target regularly with his kicking you'll have a totally different impression than if you see him in his first scratch match under pressure. Neither report will be wrong. My view is fr_ap's report is taken from a different aspect to mine. I watched this scratch match (for want of a better description) yesterday through the lens of the first of the season. The skills were scratchy and I nearly said in my report that if we played like that in the first game we'd get thrashed. But I didn't because I think if you watched any team have their first scratch match it would be very much the same. There are many reasons for this. Firstly it's December and the first time they've really gone hard. Secondly the cumulative effect of weeks of really hard training has an effect, especially during the second stint of the practice. And thirdly every player knows what the other is going to do because they know the game plan and where people should be. As Saty has said in another thread last week was a really hard week, designed to be the most exhaustive of the PS to date. This has an impact. I remember one player saying to me some years ago they just wanted PS to end because he was sick of being sore. As we watch players running round it's hard to remember how tired they are, we don't know what little niggles they've got or if they're practicing something rather than doing what they'd normally do. These things are particularly relevent for younger players and we still have a pretty young list. I watch training for attributes, cameos or the such to see what players can do (or can't). My description of Jackson's ground ball gather is a good example. I don't really care if he misses a kick or drops a mark but when I see he is capable of taking a contested ground ball at full tilt and dish it of with his left hand I'm impressed. Not many can do that. When I see Rivers kick in drills and consistently hit targets I'm impressed. He can do it. When I see Pickett dodging and weaving in the handball drills I'm impressed because few if any are doing it as well as him. Or when I see someone like Dunkley doing well on Langdon when I really haven't noticed Dunkley much during other sessions I take notice. And that's the sort of thing I report. Sorry to bore you but I think it's important to understand where people are coming from when they report and to understand that often while the reports will be of the same players it will often be reporting different things. While the reports might seem contradictory they are probably not. It's why having different people reporting is so good as it gives a much more rounded picture for those that aren't there. And then of course there's the different reporters prejudices but lets not go there.........

Managed to get down for my first session of this off season. Stayed from the start until about 10:30 when I had to duck off. I'll give a rundown of the session I saw and then go through each player at the end (it will be the only way for me to remember what I thought about them all!) Rehab: Tomlinson - walking laps, Baker - walking/jogging laps, and a grouping of Jones, KK, Hannan and Bradtke. Jones does look grumpy about being in this group. None appeared overly encumbered. Hannan perhaps a little but he has an odd gait. Tom Mac no show, though he did appear later before I left. Spargo & Bennell unsighted. A few extremely looking fit umpires running the boundary - more on that later. Started with warm ups and run throughs - nothing much to comment on here other than to say I enjoyed the work of the trainer (not sure it was Burgess). Loud, clear and funny too, had the boys in good spirits to start the session. We seemed to have a couple of random players training with us - not sure of names, background etc. Lockhart seems to struggle with the warm ups and exercises. Think he is far from a natural athlete. They then moved on to some kick to kick, but in groups of 4. 2 pairs kicking to each other, with the aforementioned training balls with the yellow line down the middle. One player marks and hands off left or right to the player who immediately hits up the target with a short kick. I know some of you will love this - but there was an emphasis on kicking with the wrong foot every 2nd kick or so. Fair to say there were some average skills here from all and sundry. Reports of Rivers' kicking appear far overstated - he is a long way off Fritsch levels to whoever said that. Pickett too, is not as natural on his wrong foot as previous reports led me to believe. Jackson on the other hand has very neat skills on his preferred right in particular. There is something there that reminds me of a little less polished Bont (at least in kicking style/elbows/etc). Some of the poorest wrong foot kicking came from Bedford, Sparrow (although his preferred has improved from last year) and Dunkley, all of whom were grouped together hence particularly noticeable. I was too far away from the other groupings to comment other than the draftees who I specifically looked for. They then broke into groups - Key position players down one end, with the wings occupied by the mids/flankers/pocket players. I was closest to the Key position guys so will start there. This drill involved a coaching member kicking out from the pocket to a 2v1 situation on the HFF - 2 defenders vs 1 forward. Forwards included Fritsch, Weideman, Petty, a train-with player, and Brown. Backs included OMac, Lever, May, Joel Smith, Hore. The first 2v1 situation seemed to be about one defender engaging while another went third man up. An umpire was on hand calling holding the man if the engaging defender held on too much, which was a good idea (even though the players didn't seem to notice or care when a free kick was called as the drill was moving too fast). The 2nd defender would then drop off and the forward and remaining defender ran into the 50, pivoted on a cone with the forward leading to the coach on the HFF. If the defender didn't check his man closely enough, the kick would be delivered to the leading forward. This only happened once. If there was not enough separation on the lead, the forward would double back around to receive a high kick at the point of the goal-square, with the defender trying to body and ultimately spoil/outmark. The 2nd umpire was on hand to watch these contests for holding too, and called a couple. In general, there were two stand-out players in this drill - being 1) May and 2) Joel Smith. May is just an absolute brute - he is strong, physical and intense, and with a running jump can fly as well as 3rd man up. Joel Smith is a very impressive athlete - as big (if not bigger) as most of these boys, but also faster and with more spring, reads the flight of the ball well too. He has sure hands and outpointed more or less every forward on every occasion, either punching or marking in a 1v1 vs the forward. Weideman was disappointing - to me he just doesn't have the required intensity to body up and shake clear of his opponent. He always seems to want to take a running jump or simply reach over the top, which didn't work in particular against Smith who just rises too high. I have been prepared to give him time but I have my doubts. The concern for him is that he shows no more than Petty, who is a couple years his junior but appears to have more of the intensity required. If Sam fails to perform this year, I think the coaching staff might just run out of patience. Fritsch was undersized in this drill so didn't star, but he's a fantastic overhead mark as we know, times his leap exceptionally well and positions himself to protect the dropzone. Brown is a funny one - appears much more comfortable with the ball on the deck than he is in the air. Can't jump particularly high. Lever isn't an especially impressive player in 1v1 situations, but won his share of contests purely by getting front position and drawing a free kick. Hore went OK, OMac is just too sluggish (I like him, but this may be his downfall) and the train-with player was a nice athlete too with a good burst of speed. Would have liked to have seen Luke Jackson in this drill though I imagine he would have been rag-dolled. I then moved to the wing where a group of mids/flankers/pockets were doing some kind of transition drill from end to end involving a player marking the ball from a kick, selling a dummy around the man on the mark and handballing out to a free player, who looked to be trying to deliver kicks clearing a pack of players that I imagine is supposed to represent the 'body' of players in the middle of the ground as we transition out of the 50. i.e. aiming to clear the centre circle ish and go arc to arc. There was some average kicking here from a few - Brayshaw (who was wearing #43 oddly), Langdon, Dunkley in particular. Langdon's kicking isnt great, very high ball drop. Dunkley likewise doesnt appear to have a particularly low or controllable kicking action - struggles to kick with any penetration by my eye. Brayshaw's issue was more of sloppiness than action. Jetta & Oliver looked good in this drill, didn't mind little Chandler either who is neat enough by foot. They then moved into a sort of semi-full ground match simulation. There was only one scoring end, teams split into training tops vs hi-vis vests. Fair to say the hi-vis team, who were not the scoring team, struggled, although there may have been a deliberate outnumber in certain parts of the ground, it was hard to tell. Due to the vests it was also a little more difficult to tell who was who in this drill. There appeared to be an emphasis on kicking out, then going back i50 and switching to the free side with speed. This wasn't always particularly well done and quite a few poor kicks were intercepted i50 by the attacking team leading to set shots on goal. In particular, one turnover to Weideman's lap who does have a good set shot kick and drilled it. Couldn't see who the culprit was. The absolute stand-out in this drill was Fritsch. He honestly made it look easy - either presenting up at the ball as a forward, or intercepting the hi-vis team's exit from the back 50 and just strolling into goal. An exceptionally skilled and smart player who has the scope to do very special things in the forward line I think. Other strong contributors in this drill were May, who took one very good pack mark when he had no right to, and I liked Lockhart's work as a small defender. He's tenacious, has good agility, is elusive, and creative by hand and foot. He shares many attributes with Jetta and I can see why they might have him in mind for that role. Because we know he can go forward, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a few 22's during the year as he could be handy to move up forward when we need a goal at the end of games. LJ struggled up forward to be frank - hands to a lot of balls but couldn't quite bring them down. Being matched up on Lever and May is a steep learning curve. Individual Player observations: Pickett - Applied decent forward pressure in the match simulation, without ever laying too many tackles or getting much of the ball. Couldn't bring down Viney, managed to bring down Gus on the wing. Early days but I had hoped to see him with ball in hand a little more. Next time hopefully. Didn't seem lightning quick but there wasn't a lot of space to show this off. Rivers - a very good size that would allow him to play early if good enough. Didn't get overly involved in match simulation but I will repeat that his kicking is perhaps not as good as it has been touted. Kicked twice into the man on the mark. If he's to transition to a mid, will need to improve his speed of thought / hand in contested situations, but like Kossie, early days and he is getting used to the tempo. Jackson - Very interesting player. I can see why they think he might be a mid long term as he's good below his knees, makes good decisions by hand and is neat by foot. As above, struggled as a forward against the bigger bodies. If he plays early in the fwd line, I wouldn't be expecting much aside from the odd cameo. Tomlinson - Absolutely massive unit. Would have to be the biggest 'winger' of all time. Walking laps. Langdon - Does have good running patterns as has been touted, finds pockets of space to receive the ball and got a fair bit of it in the match sim as a result. I like the timing of his late runs into the 50 behind the forwards/backs, was found by Fritsch in the goal square with a particularly raking kick on one occasion. May - Discussed above - I will only add that he is absolutely crucial to this team. There is no other defender like him on the list and you can see he makes them all walk taller. Very vocal and a leader. My only criticism is that he does everything with so much gusto, he has a tendency to over commit to contests that he has very little chance of winning, and can sometimes leave his man free as a result when he misses the ball or something. Jones - Rehab, looked grumpy. A lovely left foot kick, was teaching Bradtke to drop the ball lower. Seemed fine and probably not far off. Salem - Looked his usual self, nothing of note. Skinny legs! Harmes - Watching him in the Match Sim, I think he is the Hibberd replacement. Similiar players - speed, can shrug a tackle, not easily beaten. A good player who has become a consistent trainer. Petracca - Other than wearing a funny hat, I did not think he was particularly noticeable. Didn't get a lot of the ball, though had good burst speed when he did. Needs to continue working on making faster decisions when he receives the ball as his indecision allows defensive numbers to get back. Viney - Looked good overall other than some loopy kicking. But strong in the contest, shrugging off would-be tacklers, and generally involved. Moving well. Lever - As above, a strange player who isn't overly strong, fast or athletic. Very vocal and a leader though; we are paying him for his brain rather than his body. Prone to erroroneous kicking out of D50. Spargo - Absent Brayshaw - One observation above, but not too noticeable otherwise. Just travelling along it seems. Brought down by Kossie when he should not have been. Gawn - The quietest session I have seen from him. Barely noticed. Good in the contest when called upon. Bedford - Got a little bit of the ball; he's got spunk which I like. His kicking can let him down though, quite loose action and tends to overhit his passes. Good height for a small forward. Oliver - Our best player. Good things happen when he gets the ball. Just understands where to kick it, when to run, and how to position himself and his team mates. No particularly outstanding moments but just consistently makes smarter decisions than the rest of the list. Hibberd - I thought he looked a little more like his 2018 self, industrious coming out of D50 and strong in the contest. A very important player still. KK - in rehab, barely resembles a footballer anymore in size. Honestly looks like one of the volunteers/trainers running around. I hold little hope. Melksham - With Fritsch, the most dangerous forward on the ground in the Match sim. Such a good user of his body when the ball is in the air and had quite a few set shots as a result. Hannan - in rehab. Weird gait, weird player. Can't help but think his days might be numbered if Fritsch continues to star and Melksham holds the other HFF. But injuries, declines or other circumstances can provide his opportunity if he can get fit. Preuss - Does appear leaner, though lost a little of his imposing presence as a result. Didn't get a lot of ball in the match sim. In no man's land in my opinion; neither a forward, doesn't look like a 1st ruck anymore and doesn't strike me as anything else. I liked his game against Carlton last year though when he was our 1st ruck. AVB - Our most physical player. Bashed and crashed his way around, including bringing down the non-contact Neitschke. Love having him back. Generally very involved; a full year of him on the park will make us so much better, as we all saw during our 18 finals run. Jordon - Can't say I noticed him too much but suspect he was playing for the hi-vis team and therefore absent a number. Has no particularly noticeable style, height, hair or hat so he is a tricky one! Tmac - As above, no show at the start though arrived later in runners. Not sure what the issue is. Weideman - Some commentary above, in short I have concerns. If he has put on strength/size, it doesn't show in terms of how he uses it. More intensity required. Nietschke - First I have seen of him and agree with others that he appears to naturally find space and the ball. Not a particularly great user but could have a role one day. Appears diligent if his form during the warm ups / exercises is anything to go by (much more than some other players). Omac - Some discussion above - I like his kicking skills and like his genuine size, I think he is effective on the gorilla forwards if they don't have much speed. Put space around him though and he's all at sea; if I was coaching the opposition I would be taking him deep to isolate at every opportunity. Got called for quite a few holding the man free kicks in the key position drill because once they get separation, he can't keep up and so holds on. At this point I think we may have seen close to his best in 2018. If May were to go down, he's a serviceable replacement but barely adequate. One thing I did notice is that he is perhaps too 'smart' for his own good - in the key position drill I described above he often wouldn't bother sticking too close to the forward on the first lead because most of the time the leads weren't being honoured; a quirk of the drill given they were trying to practise 1v1 contested marking. He began to double back almost immediately knowing that that's where the drill would very likely end up. Again, in my view this shows his lack of intensity. Nonetheless, he's not the worst depth in the world but not convinced he will ever be a best 22 full back, at least not in a very successful team. Hunt - I liked what I saw from him today. Seemed to be picking the ball up in the back half and looking a little like his 2017/2018 self running it out of the back half, but pleasingly lowering his eyes. One to watch, could be a quiet improver. ANB - Not too noticeable, as usual buzzing around the contest to receive exit handballs. Knows his role, has limitations but there is a place for him in the 22 when on song. Brings more energy albeit less skill than the nearest competition for an endurance small flanker (C Wagner). Fritsch - See above. A beautiful player who made quite a few look silly. Judging by the quality of his forward half intercepting (very prevalent in the time I watched), the time down back may have actually done him some good in this area. Appeared to read the ball coming out very well. Sparrow - I like his size, speed and power, but he needs a touch more guile or it will all go to waste. When he receives the ball in traffic he doesn't have a heap of composure in deciding how to get rid of it, and bombs it away quite often as a result. As I noted above, in the drills his kicking seemed slightly improved from his first year. He could be something but it's going to take some work; he's one who I think would benefit from consistent AFL exposure with its high tempo. VFL will help too, but won't exactly accelerate his development in his problematic area given you have more time at that level. Baker - jogging laps. Good size. I am hopeful for him as he showed a bit particularly against GWS at the G last year. Hore - a very non-fuss player and valuable depth. Bit of a 'tweener but does everything well without ever excelling. Not sure of his future. Petty - Moves like a big key forward should. He's imposing & heavy. Decent skills during the kicking drills, but barely touched it (that I saw) in the match sim. Chandler - Busy little player who I don't mind; has a sidestep and can work his way out of trouble. May be too small to make the grade given he doesn't possess the elite skills or pace that supposedly Pickett does. But he's a goer and will give himself every chance of making it you sense. Jetta - Looked good, free and running well after I have had concerns on his age/body/decline. Early days with a full season of knocks and bruises to come but a very composed leader. Rarely makes mistakes. C Wagner - Can get the ball on the outside and has OK skills and pace. Looks a million bucks at VFL level but can't match it with the big AFL mids I fear. May one day have a role as a flanker but it's not something he's especially natural at in my opinion. Reminds me of ANB. Lockhart - As above I liked his work today. Has genuine footy smarts and elusiveness in a way that many on our list do not. Not a natural athlete at all but knows his game. Will play games this year IMO. J Wagner - Same old. May have been responsible for a couple of turnovers but not sure it was him (hi-vis). Squeezed a lovely kick around the corner to Pickett down the other end. An error-prone player who is depth at best & I think knows he's potentially on his last chance. In his favour is that he seems durable and does not get injured. Growing his hair. Joel Smith - See above. Loved what I saw in the aerial drill. A bit of a clunky kick but when you watch him in training up close he's an absolute specimen. Would love his groins to stay trouble free and see what he can do with a bit of time in the 1s. Not sure it's the time for that given our ambitions, but he could be a very good player I think. Has a rare athletic profile that many would kill to have. Bradtke - Rehab. Beanpole. Working on set shots, hit them OK. Stafford working with him on his kicking as he seems incapable of hitting any kind of a low spearing pass (similiar to gawn though). Seems athletic, long way to go. Dunkley - I watched with interest as I find him difficult to judge. He's a relatively smooth mover over the ground but it kind of translates to his kicking in that his steps/run up don't change when kicking. That sounds good but it's not; it means he kicks in full stride rather than steadying himself with minor adjustments like some of the best do innately. This results in overhit, long kicks (we know he can hit long kicks from his set shot kicking last year). Does seem to be able to find the footy. A weird one, not sure on his future. Those who would draw comparisons to his similarly 'agricultural' brother when drafted would be missing that KDunk does not have Josh's explosiveness. Maybe he can develop it though? Brown - A few things mentioned above - he's alright. Decent depth. Not a lot of overhead presence but I like his searching leads. Notwithstanding he may all of a sudden become important, I'd like to think he's been signed to force Weideman to step up. Not sure it will work, but I like that idea. My overall impression was that training was fine. Not amazing, not bad, just training. I remain concerned about our key forward stocks as neither of Weideman or Brown showed much, and Petty is promising but still young and inexperienced at the craft. It's not a particularly strong group though. This was relatively glaring in my view particularly given the absence of TMac, and I think you'll find we still rely on him quite a lot this year at least if he is fit. If he's not, it might be struggle town again. The positive for the forward line was that Fritsch and Melksham looked absolutely terrific and would give many half back flankers a good bit of trouble. Nothing I saw convinced me that we've 'solved' the forward pocket role, but it's Kossie's 2nd or 3rd week and the drills weren't particularly conducive to small forward play, with the most contested forward 50 ever in the match sim. Our other small forwards are mostly 2nd/3rd year players. Personally, 2018 Spargo is still the best of the lot if he can rediscover his form. His footy IQ was very important to us that year. Backline looked strong with May, Joel Smith and Lever an interesting combination I haven't previously considered. If a team got picked from today, Joel Smith would be in it. Midfield is now stocked all through the depth chart, albeit with late / speculative draft choices, so let the best men win. But no one is touching Oliver. Not even close. That's actually turned out to be quite a long post....

He also told MFC to come forth, but they came fifth and missed the double chance.

For the first time I arrived before the players who wondered over at about 9.15. For consistency my first stop was rehab and there was some good news. Vanders and Petty weren't in it. Bradtke was along with KK, Jones, Hannan, Oscar Baker and Bennell. Jones was doing a lot of running scaling down to Bennell who was doing gentle 100m runs. Tomlinson was also there and doing gentle runs for the first time. The usual warm up drills with a bit of stretching and some short runs and kicking followed before they broke into groups for some kicking, leading type drills where the skills were pretty good. Viney was in fine form in front of me along with Chandler who was out in full training despite missing Wednesday (as did Vanders). Another drill involved some leading and marking against a defender in genuine contest work and the first player of the day to really impress was Joel Smith. He was in everything, marking really well and getting a lot of it. We noticed an umpire doing some warm up laps and were excited to see some real match practice. It was 100% flat out but with "respectful tackling". What fun!! Players to impress: Fritsch: If there was a "best on ground" it surely went to this bloke. Had the ball on a string, was clean and clunked mark after mark. The only downer was his kicking was a little off but he looks to have make another step up from last year based on today. Harmes: Just involved in everything playing half back. Made space, was clean with the ball, kicked it well and made good decisions. I think there is little doubt he'll play back this season and hopefully play that Laird/Lloyd role. Melksham: in everything. Jetta: he was back with his dancing feet, got plenty of it and kicked very well. You'd have been proud of him Saty! Langdon: Just did what he did at Freo. Up and down the wing, plenty of possies with his execution still a bit off. Dunkley: I call this bloke "Mr Invisible". Never seem to notice him but today he was on a wing in front of me marking Langdon and he got his fair share of it and looked comfortable. Bedford: I saw this bloke a lot at Casey last year and he never really got involved but today he did - often. Sadly he fumbled a fair bit and didn't make the most of his chances which was odd because he's got neat skills. Jackson: I don't want to hype this bloke too much but he did one thing in front of me that was special. Langdon was gathering a ground ball and for all the world looked like it was his. Jackson swooped (and I mean swooped) in at full pace, gathered it cleanly and gave a left hand handball off to a teammate. It was a thing of beauty. This kid could be anything. But to balance my report it's only fair to say he missed some marks he should have taken but it's the first time he's played in a genuine full pressure situation. He gets more of the ball on the ground than in the air and the more I see him the more I can believe the talk of midfield in a few year. Pickett: He was involved, had no trouble with the pace of the game and did some nice things but also make mistakes missing a chest mark he should have taken at one stage. But he's got that typical indigenous talent of speed and lateral movement. His closing speed is terrific. Oliver, Brayshaw, Gawn, May and Lever all did well but you've seen them do it often. There were two sessions of match sim each lasting about 10 minutes with the draftees sitting out the second along with Vanders and Petty. They finished with some serious running before the end at about 11.15. Spargo was there in a moonboot and TMac didn't train, I've no idea why. Vanders and Petty seemed to get through fine and Jones doesn't seem far away. Hannan was also doing much more than a week or so ago and Baker did some running at about half pace which I haven't seen before. Tomlinson and Bennell look a long way off and KK has been on the same program for the week it would seem. It was great to see something like real footy.

Why Melbourne will improve in 2020: -Maysie is one of the top 5 key defenders in the comp. Fully fit, watch him prove it next year. -Trac is training with a rare intensity and will take his game to a new level. -Viney is doing his first full preseason in 3 years. The bull is hungry. -Gus will play as an inside mid and show an improved desire to run both ways. -Hibbo is as fit as he has ever been. He realizes his spot is on the line and is desperate to keep it. -Langdon and Tomlinson are the two gut running wingmen we’ve been crying out for and will run both ways all day on those MCG wings. -Jackson is a rare talent. Expect him to play early and have an impact with his athleticism and desire. Watch the big fella hunt the footy when it hits the ground. -Rivers will add class to the half back line. Hard, and a beautiful kick. He’ll play early too. -vanders doing his first full preseason in 3 years will add that toughness that we lack. He’s our barometer in many ways when he’s up and going. -Expect a fully fit T-Mac to work his way up and back and become the player that he was in 2018. Watch Weideman or Brown play the stay at home forward role and allow Tom to thrive as the second banana. -Fritsch is the player I’m most excited about. I expect him to kick 40 plus and finish top ten in the Coleman. He is a star. -I think Harry Petty has the ability to become one of the gun young key forwards in the comp. Competition for spots in the forward line will be at a premium with T-Mac, Weid, Brown, Jackson, Petty and Preuss all looking to cement roles in there. -Joel Smith adds versatility and athleticism to our backline. He is hungry. -Lockhart and Dunkley are doing their first AFL preseasons. I can’t wait to see how good they can become. -Kossi won’t get many touches and I don’t expect him to hit the scoreboard in a huge way in 2020. But watch the manic pressure he will bring to a forward line that allowed teams to waltz the ball out of its forward 50 in 2019. -The team will be hungry. -They will be super fit. -They will have a slightly softer draw. -They will have more than a one dimensional game plan that relies on them winning contested ball. How far up the ladder these improvements take us?

I went down today as well and don't need to contribute much due to BB's fantastic report. I agree on Fritsch - he was the clear standout to me in the match sim. His hands on the lead were so clean it was like he had superglue on them. Just one-grabbing everything no matter the speed of the incoming kick nor the pressure being applied behind him. Just some additional observations: May - there was one moment where he went to spoil the ball near the boundary where I was standing. The intensity with which he attacked it combined with his size and speed was genuinely frightening - I would be a worried opposition forward with him lurking around in defence behind me. Pickett - showed really nice touch and technique with his kicking (right and left foot) in the non-contact kicking drill. Looks a real natural kick of the ball. He got in some nice positions on the lead during match sim but didn't appear to demand the ball, which isn't an uncommon trait for a new player finding his way into a new group of players. Jackson - I didn't see the groundball BB referred to, but you can just see an athletic specimen here. He's all arms and legs and will obviously need to put on upper body size to compete in the marking contests (he dropped a few marks he could've taken), but I don't think I've seen an 18-year-old ruckman move around and look as clean at ground level as him. Appears to be a really unique sort of player and an exciting talent. Melksham - was also excellent in match sim with his ability to find space to work into, demand the footy and then use it well. Him and Fritsch could be a pretty dangerous mid-sized forward duo. Weid and Petty - both appear to be bigger/stronger than last season, which gives them some more presence out on the field. Sparrow - just a body shape comment like Weid and Petty, but he has that big upper body / chest like Vanders (and they say the same ferocious attack on the ball). The question is obviously whether he is good enough - if so, him and Vanders could cause some serious chaos around the footy.

Absolutely agree with you Saty - apologies to you and the poster if I implied otherwise. I was sincere in my comment that I must have been looking elsewhere when he kicked well. I'm very bullish on him and if you check his welcome thread was ecstatic to get him as late as we did. While my report might be more critical than others - I hold this team to high standards. I watch a lot of senior and junior footy and am under no illusions that we came 17th. When Weideman consistently cannot beat any of Omac, a (talented) convert in J Smith and a recent addition in Hore in a marking drill, that opens him up to criticism. Would love him to prove me wrong. There was certainly some good in there too and hopefully that came through

I am interested in who people think are the 'Core"players should be in the team week in week out. A number of these are evident but I am sure we all have different views. Looking at the list as it stands at the moment and trying to envisage a team is an interesting exercise. To my mind we have a group of core players that will be selected week in week out as long as they are in form and fit. These guys are established players in the team that have a solid background of work in their portfolio and are expected to do their jobs. The second group I have are the players that I call borderline. These are the ones that Are either on the way up developing, on the way down as they age or ones that I think have found their natural level and are below the ‘çore’ standard required. The third group are the young developing players that need time to develop. Last group are the Rookies. So, in my opinion our core players are the following: · May (D) · Salem (D) · Harmes (D/M) · Petracca (M/F) · Viney (M) · Lever (D) · Brayshaw (M) · Gawn (R) · Oliver (M) · Melksham (F/M) · T McDonald (F) · Fitsch (F) In addition to these 12 I would add: · Tomlinson (M) Recovering from Injury · Langdon (M) So, the team with these in place reads as: Backs: Lever. May. ……. HB: Salem. …….. Harmes MIDS: Tomlinson. Oliver. Langdon HF: Melksham. …….. Petracca Forwards: Fitsch. TMac. ……… Ruck: Gawn. Viney. Brayshaw I/C The second group of players is quite extensive and this is where I expect a few people to disagree with me. In the aging group I have: · Jones (B/M) · Hibberd (B) · Jetta (B) These three to my mind are running out of legs a bit. All have been excellent players for us but I can see them being overtaken by younger legs as the season progresses. The next are quality players that need to find their best fitness/form: · Hunt (F) · Vandenberg (M/F) · Neal-Bullen (F/M) · Hore (B) · O McDonald (B) · Weideman (F) · Preuss (R/F) · Hannan (M/F) · J Wagner (B) These players are of a quality that can step up into he first 2 hen required but we need a few of them to make the move into the ‘core’ group. I am referring to Hunt, VDB, ANB, Hore and Weideman. OMac is there about but needs to have the player around him for support. Smith (F) is another I have in this group but is one that I see making a big step up this season if he can stay injury free. Petty (B/F) is an interesting one. I like what I saw of him at the end of the season. Has a bit of an edge to him and has a bit of confidence in himself as well as ability. Injury free could establish himself. Third group are the young developing/new players; · Spargo (F) · Baker (M) These two have played a bit of senior footy but almost need to take a tep back to move forward. Spargo will not be helped with a pre-season injury he is suffering. Also in this group that we wait to see their development are; · Bedford (F) · Jordan (M) · Neitschke (M) · Sparrow (M) · Jackson (R/F/M) · Pickett (F) · Rivers (B/M) I expect that all of these may well pick up a game or two during the season and it will be up to them to see if they can keep a place. Lastly, Rookies. It seems to me that the rules are in place now that you can use these guys as you see fit. I know there are rules but the rules now are a lot more relaxed than they used to be. · Chandler (F) · C Wagner (M/F) · Lockhart (F/M) · Dunkley (M) · Bradtke (R) All of them except for Bradtke will have roles to play at some time during the season. My present team with the gaps filled is: Backs: Lever. May. Jetta HB: Salem. OMac Harmes MIDS: Tomlinson. Oliver. Langdon HF: Melksham. Weideman. Petracca Forwards: Fitsch. TMac. AN-B Ruck: Gawn. Viney. Brayshaw I/C Hunt, VDB, Jones, Petty Back 6 have a lot of experienced heads but would need good reactive match coaching to cover the players. Tomlinson, Petty, Jones and Hunt have flexibility to cover any problems back there during a game. Front 6 Is about as good as we can expect. VDB, Petty and Tomlinson can all go forward with a resting mid to cove there. Mids running off max look good. In that 22 there are 13 players that can rotate through the center.

Great thread , thanks to all for their differing opinions, extremely good to read Go Dees. Still think 2020 will be good

Some great shots from an Instagram user.

Agree. This thread has fantastic reports, probably the best I have read. Love that observations differ and track reporters can disagree without condescension. Keep it up guys!

Weid has started later due to surgery.... will watch how he progresses. He will play a role this year and confidence will come.

these are great reports and, for the most part, great banter too keep em coming demonlanders!

Such a well balanced post. Best training report thus far!

Why, the training thread has turned into a really good thread, we are getting different perpectives and opinions and good discussions without posters reverting to boorish or childish insults if they don't agree I have a different opinion on Rivers kicking skills after watching him, but I like to read others without necessarily agreeing with them Exactly what a forum should be I hope @fr_ap goes to training and reports again, the depth and detail was top class

Could not possibly agree any more. The Carlton game this year completely summed up our reliance on T Mac. An in form T Mac kicks 6 goals to 3 quarter time and we're flying with a 30 point lead. He then gets injured, misses the last quarter and we get outscored 5.4 to 1.3 and almost lose the game. Then of course we lose the remaining 7 games in his absence. Excellent balanced report. Certainly a lot more critical than the other reports but that's fine.

@Baghdad Bob great report again, but did Preuss play on a wing ?? Discussed the rehab previously with Crossy so I could follow progress Layman's terms Walk Jog Run Run faster all straight line Agility Contact Main group So Hannan has moved on, Baker just starting, Bennell and Tomlinson same

yes, it's too much to ask for but i'm still going to ask anyway

I’m as excited about Kozzi as anyone but don’t be surprised if it is Chandler or Bedford that are providing the manic pressure in our forward line. Don’t forget Chandler had 5 tackles on debut before getting injured. Jordan will be pushing for midfield selection too so competition for spots will be greater than it was in 2018 when we finished 4th.

A few years ago, i had Sen and Josh mahoney was speaking about Jack, this was before he was captain. Mahoney said Jack would sit down with all the first year players, such as Clyaton Oliver, from the previous match. Mahoney said it was all Jacks idea, and that he was told to do it from the coaches, Mahoney said he was blown away, by what Jack was doing. He also said at all the clubs he has been to he had never seen such leader ship skills. I love big Maxy as well so would be happy with both being captians.

I never understand this line of thinking, if we win enough games we will make the 8. The other 7 teams that win enough games will also make the 8. Picking which team(s) will drop out of the 8 has no bearing on us making it.

it's true that there is a history, but it is all about context all the team are referred affectionately as boys by supporters also note the qualifier "our" in "our indigenous boys". pretty inclusive i'd say. nothing to see here unless one gets overly super sensitive.

Based on what? I might have missed some training reports, but the bits and pieces I've seen haven't talked him up much and a few have been critical of his intensity and attitude. Missed the start of 2018 due to a poor attitude. Failed to run both ways this year. I want it to happen, but this is pure hopeful speculation based on the available evidence.

The ones who don't win enough games. Every year it's a new ball game and if we win enough games to get in, does it bother you who drops out? I'm bullish this year and expect to make the top eight, if not top six.

If Brisbane can be close enough to finishing 1st by round 23 after where they were in 2018, then a list of everything going perfectly right for us would just as easily do the same. Furthermore Edit: Unless teams like Geelong, RIchmond or WCE really nail their away games as much as their home games and get seperation, then i reckon there will be a glut of teams within the top 10 and 2 wins or losses in the final two rounds could easily see you either in the top 2/4 or missing the 8 all together. We should improve enough to be a part of that glut if all goes to plan.

My thoughts on our playing list for 2020. Senior core: May Salem Harmes Petracca Viney Lever Brayshaw Gawn Oliver Hibberd Langdon Melksham Tomlinson Tom McDonald Weideman Fritsch Jetta J Smith Probables: Jones Spargo Kolodjashnij Hannan Preuss vandenBerg (if fitness continues, certainty) Oscar McDonald Hunt Neal-Bullen Hore Brown Lockhart Depth: C Wagner J Wagner Baker Young players who will feature in 2020: Jackson Pickett Rivers Sparrow Jordan Petty Chandler Dunkley Young players still developing in 2020: Bradtke Nietschke Bedford Bennell potentially added to the list. The depth has definitely improved in what was a successful offseason trade and draft period.

We certainly look to have some nice depth, even more than 2018 when we made the Prelim. Helps that most guys are in training rather than sugrery. Jake Lever must get back to his best and become the star he should be.

Expect one or more of Petty, Jordan, Chandler or Bedford to be core players by finals time. They are all coming through together and are setting the bar higher that previous recruits in the same age bracket.

Great post. The list is looking v strong. I also expect ( if fit)Smith and Pickett to play more afl games than vfl this year. Perhaps rivers and Lockhart too. IF Hibberd , Jones, Weideman and Jetta dont play well early they could really struggle to get a game this year. Heavy competition fr spots. Haven’t said that about our list fr a long time.

B: LEVER, MAY, JETTA HB: HARMES, SMITH, HIBBERD ? LANGDON, OLIVER, TOMLINSON HF: MELKSHAM, T.MCDONALD, PETRACCA F: PICKETT, WEIDEMAN, FRITSCH FOLL: GAWN, VINEY, BRAYSHAW IC: JONES, SALEM, PETTY, BROWN EMERG: HUNT CASEY B: LOCKHART, HUTCHINS, J.WAGNER HB: HORE, O.MCDONALD, RIVERS ? JORDON, SPARROW, DUNKLEY HF: VANDENBERG, WHITE, NEAL-BULLEN F: BEDFORD, JACKSON, CHANDLER FOLL: PREUSS, MUTIMER, MUNRO IC: C.WAGNER, NEITSCHKE, HANNAN, BAKER EMERG: BENNELL, KOLODJASHNIJ, SPARGO, BRADTKE

Dropped by to watch training for about 40 minutes. Not a seasoned 'track-watcher' so won't go into too much detail. What I saw that I really liked: Fritsch; was sublime (playing forward) during the match simulation Vandenberg; seems to be back to his bone-crunching best. Jackson; showed some genuine pace at times. Extraordinary mover -floats across the ground; when he runs it looks like he's on a travelator. Rivers; sublime kicking skills - did shank one, it was the exception that proved the rule. Joel Smith; very impressive (playing back) in the match simulation. Looks fully fit. Look forward to reading what more seasoned track watchers made of the session.

Reality is you don't know what the inner sanctum or playing group thinks. Why not ditch Gawn, Jetta and Viney along with Jones who has already stood down. Any part of the leadership group of 2019 should go by your logic FFS, it's comical

Don't underestimate Marty Hore. Can't afford T Mac to get injured.

Its a huge fail if we don't play finals. How about we win the flag? Is that too much to ask?

Also Tough Kent didn’t mention Clarry or Gawn, our ultimate weapons!

I agree with you Dante but I am not quite as bullish as you. I think we are a 7-8th placed talent at present. We cannot expect miracles from our draftees in 2020 and I still worry about our ability to kick winning scores against the better sides. Imo it all still hangs too much on TMac. However I think we will make the eight in 2020 probably in that spot.

During the season, this site is always much busier after a loss.

It’s a fail if we don’t make the 8. I think we will unless we end up with the same injury run as last year.

The Lord said to Peter, I will make you a fisher of men. He said to Satyriconhome, I will make you a banger of bodies who run an average of `11 km each session.

Someone please ask anyone at the club what the hell the plan is with KK. Astonishingly silent!

FMD Saty !!!! You've rendered me speechless!!!!

That was then, 2019. That was all negative. We're talking 2020, an even year, and one for growth.

I called Kozzie to 36. Reckon it's a great choice, a chance for him to add his own history to the number.

Does anyone know if half time breaks have always been 20 minutes? It would be ironic if the half time break used to be shorter but was extended to 20 minutes under pressure from the TV rights holder who wanted to pack in more ads.

Training was underway by 9.10 when I arrived and my first port of call was rehab. Walking around to the rehab group I look for Vanders but sadly no sign. I don't think we can deduce anything from him not being there. He was fine on Monday so hopefully, and most likely, it's just managing his loads. There were three in rehab. Joney, Petty and KK. They were doing the usual running of around 100m repetitions and as always didn't seem to be in any trouble. But that was all they did for the day and they didn't do a lot. Later, Bennell and Oscar Baker made an appearance but didn't do any work that I saw although by that stage I'd moved to the other side of the ground and wasn't concentrating on rehab. There was still no sign of Spargo. So onto the drills. Across the ground from flank to flank teams of initially 8 per team would move the ball by foot from one end to the other. Lots of hard running in these drills and the kicking was okay. Later this exercise reduced to 6 and was handball only. Much more running as quick at that. There were a couple of highlights involving the new boys. The first was Kossi, nobody could catch him and his lateral movement and ability to avoid tackles was very good. His skills are also very good, natural and duel sided. The second was Rivers in the 6 player handball drill. In this drill a player was often out the back and able to run into the open "goal" and as Viney ran in Rivers took him down, hard. It was the only tackle of the sot that I saw and I reckon Viney loved it. Rivers looks very like Fritsch in his movement and physique and has similar kicking skills. Jackson was also very good in these drills. He's exceptionally athletic and is also duel sided by hand. I haven't noticed whether he has the same skill by foot. He's very quick off the mark and for a young bean pole he's really well coordinated. His ball handling is also clean and he knows how to be involved. None of the young blokes looked out of place in these drills. They moved on to a short session of match sim with some body contact by it was not fierce. Someone else may be able to explain but there are two teams but there are also two who wear white vests. No idea what the point is here but today it was CWagner and Melk. No real standouts in the match sim for me but it was brief. They then broke into four groups. One was goal kicking, one marking with the emphasis on positioning, one was clearance work and the final one was tackling, wrestling and some really gruelling exercises. This last group was exhausting just to watch but the players really seemed to enjoy it, particularly the wrestling. They finished with some running with Langdon, Jordan, Sparrow doing well but in the final 400m run around the group ANB dominated. Bedford also was very good, Neita right up there along with Hunt and Oscar. Training finished at about 11.30. With a fit list this year Casey will be fun to watch if the young blokes are playing. I'd expect Sparrow to make a bit of a run at senior footy and Neita looks likely. The last few spots in the best 22 will be interesting to see.

You could say it is part of our evolution as a club ... ?