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Sydney Swans draftee Dylan Stephens would hear new Melbourne small forward Kysaiah Pickett breathing behind him on the field and knew he was in strife. The two youngsters, who are best friends, have played against each other and together many times over the past few years. Stephens, who was pick No.5 in this year’s AFL National Draft, quickly learned he needed to act quickly when Pickett was lurking in the vicinity wearing an opposition jersey. “I think he’s absolutely ready for it (the AFL),” Stephens said. Newnes reveals why he turned his ies, AFLPA rally behind Beams in late“For him, what he can do with the ball is amazing, but if he doesn’t get his hands on it as much as he would have liked he can impact the game in other ways defensively. “He can clean people up, tackle, pressure, and even for me playing against him, you just know he could be anywhere. “He’ll catch you in no time and his presence, you hear him breathing behind you and start to panic and that impacts your skills Don’t be fooled by Pickett’s 170cm stature. The teenager, who was the bolter of the draft after being snapped up by the Demons at pick No.12, likes to hurt opponents and has done so on many occasions. Although, Stephens said he thankfully had never been cleaned up by his mate on the field. “I think he looked after me,” Stephens laughed. “A couple of times he’s had me and lifted me a little bit and then just took me down a little bit. “If I were anyone else I think he would have gone straight through me.” “As a person, at first he is quiet and that’s how he’ll come across,” he said. “But when you get to know him he comes out of his shell a little bit. “And when he does, the kid doesn’t shut up. “He doesn’t stop talking.”

Anything other than finals is a a failed year. We should always think that way. For too long we have made up the numbers within the AFL and been content enough with that. if Bartlett and Goodwin want to leave their mark on the Club long term, then they and their support staff must demand that result. When we do not make finals, we identify what went wrong and fight tooth and nail to rectify it. I am hoping this is what is happening right now. The good clubs make September, we as Supporters and Members should expect to be there.

I expect us to finish top 4 in season 2020. injury being the only caveat... It will be a wasted season if we don't.

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....

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.

Good post. Jetta will surprise many by having a close to AA year. Core player for me

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

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.

You rang?

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 know a lot about Kurt Mutimer. Quick, tough left footer apparently, and a former Eagle who at 22 is young enough to push his case for an AFL chance again. Thought it was an interesting prospect given his assets, and how we've used Casey to have a look at players in the past.

Fair enough - it's a big call but not an eggnog-level call! I'll start by just going 'yep, Tim Kelly'. I'm basing it on 16 goals in those final seven games when he was allowed to settle forward. For a mid-sized half-forward in a team which only managed 66 points a game in that period, that's phenomenal. Pushed out to a full season that would work out to a neat 50 goals. So, my call is basically that Fritsch's form of late 2019 once he was moved permanently forward is how he will continue in 2020, and that, without any further improvement, puts him right up among the top class of goalkickers, never mind half-forwards. Meanwhile, the top-pick midfielder Rayner, Brayshaw, Cerra, Dow all look great but are lucky to crack 20 disposals in a game and only Brayshaw has really earned the contested ball and tackling credits. Hell, those guys were all supposed to be midfielders when drafted and Fritsch has them all covered even on possession counts. They're all good players but there';s nothing the likes of Walsh, Taranto or Oliver among them. Liam Ryan and Jack Higgins are beautiful players who have done great things coming into top teams and been very effective as creative small forwards. Would be completely happy if Pickett followed their level! Jaidyn Stephenson is similar in the sense that he has had a clear role in a top team - luxuries denied to Fritsch. He also deserves a lot of credit for showing consistency. He's the most like-for-like rival to Fritsch in terms of role (assuming Fritsch is allowed to settle forward). It'll be a head-to-head comparison to watch in 2020. Aaron Naughton has had some GREAT!!! games and if that becomes anything like his norm then he'll be a superstar. But he's also turned in more than a few stinkers or had minimal real effect for many games. Impressions are influenced by just how memorable his best games have been. There's some others of note, like Worpel, Miers, and a few kids of course who might just emerge a bit in 2020. But that's not a big pool to pick from and the fact is that if Fritsch delivers in future what he showed in those last seven or eight rounds of 2019 then he is a truly elite half-forward. Plus, turns out 2017 was a weak draft that we did well to trade out of. Hopefully the same is true of 2020.

And to complete the trilogy I've gone for some value again, fellas. Weekend Special Monday 01.00am France Ligue1 Bordeaux vs Strasbourg Bordeaux (Win) & +2.5 Goals Match Score $4.25

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/melbourne/swans-draftee-lauds-best-mate-and-new-dee-kysaiah-pickett/news-story/095c1f04876435fea6544b87ba4fbcea For him, what he can do with the ball is amazing, but if he doesn’t get his hands on it as much as he would have liked he can impact the game in other ways defensively. “He can clean people up, tackle, pressure, and even for me playing against him, you just know he could be anywhere. “He’ll catch you in no time and his presence, you hear him breathing behind you and start to panic and that impacts your skills.”

Monkey Business: Italia Serie A Mon 1.00am Bolognia v Atalanta Atalanta (W) $2.00

Weekend Special EPL Monday at 01:00 Wolves v Spurs Spurs Win $2.25

Wow. I had no idea Graeme was that eloquent.

Hmm, players I see as being of that core 'definitely AFL quality every week' unless something is serious wrong with their body or form - B: Jetta May HB: Salem Lever Harmes C : Landgon Brayshaw HF: Melksham T.Mac Petracca F: Fritsch FOLL: GAWN Oliver Viney Fourteen 'feels' like a good start, and then there's a good block of players who might also warrant that 'reliable AFL quality' term in 2020 but I'm not prepared to declare it based on some question mark or another, from age (at either end) to chronic injury to whatever - Tomlinson, Vandenberg, Smith, Hore, Jackson, Pickett, Weideman, Hibberd And of course all the guys like Hannan, Hunt, the Wagners, Nibbler, O.Mc who when in good form a perfectly acceptable cogs in the machine. Seems like the main thing we really have a question mark on whether we can have enough truly AFL standard guys out there is the tall forward bracket. Interesting to watch Weid, Jackson, Brown and see what they deliver. Just one of those proving to be a reliable target and hard worker for 2020 would make a big difference to our game.

I reckon India are like Collingwood, biggest supporter=membership base and they basically control the whole sport due to the power and influence they wield.

Very true, that "context" is everything. We must all be prepared to respect that and acknowledge it. Sometimes that does clarification and genuine apology if offence caused. I have often found that discussion results in both sides of an offence apologising to each other.This usually also results in increased understanding, education and progress.

From the above as far as I can tell: Lever - full training Preuss - full training Weideman - full training Tomlinson - rehab, light jogging Spargo - moon boot AVB - full training modified for load Bradtke - full training except for last Friday where he did little. Load management?? Petty - out of rehab but load management. Only played one of two match sims on Friday Baker - rehab, light jogging Hannan - rehab, 75% running JSmith - full training Jetta - full training Chandler - full training but missed Wednesday. Full training Friday Oliver - full training KK - 75% running Jones - 75% running TMac - Full training until Friday. Watched training Bennell - rehab, light jogging

Geelong and West Coast both aided by massive home ground advantage which always gives them a head start. With their lists they'll still be there you would reckon although a lot of the Eagles' best are ageing. I am hoping, not yet expecting them to drop quickly. Richmond and Giants both good enough and hungry enough to be right in it. Lions had an amazing injury-free run but even without that they have built a very good list and I expect them to be back. That leaves Collingwood, Essendon and the Dogs. Essendon are in strife and are most likely to miss according to notables like K Cornes. As for the other two, I think they are both vulnerable depending on injuries and results in close games, but the Dogs moreso. The Woods consistently over achieve. So two or possibly three places up for grabs tops. It doesn't leave much room for error but anything less than finals would be a big disappointment.

I can't disagree with any of the above posts, I enjoy reading well thought out scenario's, some of our Locks will continue to improve and unfortunately some will fade for what ever reason. However I am starting to feel Cocker - hoop that we now have the right mix of players to be able to cover all our possible needs, just need the coaches to be a bit daring at different times during the year and in games........!!

God I love Nev. I defy anyone not to adore this guy. Just an all around star.

We won't lose a game in 2020.

Let's go corporate speak and call it is his 'stretch goal' then. Quite right that it'll all come down to consistency. But I'm not worried about rivals up forward - a return to 2018 attacking power compared to 2019 is worth close to 120 goals (1570 points for vs 2300) to share around! Ugh. I just got a shudder at the exposure to just how much we stalled in 2019. All is well. All is well. All is well.

Thanks so much for the great report. One question hit me - Did / could / should he (Jones) be doing the same with Tracc?

Well Macca I agree with a couple of items on your list, not sure our whole forward line is dysfunctional but we definitely only have one key forward and he needs to turn around a very ordinary 2019. I find it difficult to see us kicking a winning score against the top sides. And sadly I share your lack of enthusiasm for our coaching department. our season will IMO turn on how many injuries we get to our better players, I am assuming a better run than this year AVB is vital to our chances. Having said that I still think we can win 13- 14 games and make eighth place.

Can't be bothered looking it up, so maybe not word perfect, but Yeats had a memorable couple of lines (after reflecting upon past glories) - "Where fashion or mere fantasy decrees, we shift about All that great glory spent Like some poor Arab tribesman and his tent"

I would have left the flat track bit out. I agree with others though. When I first read this thread my first thought was the India/Collingwood double. South Africa remind me of Geelong.

Yup, they're good points DP. Key injuries aside our biggest hurdles lie between the ears as the talent is there.

Wandering nomads don't build empires. To build an empire 1st you need a castle.

The topic was core players in the 22 but most seem to breaking down best 22. To me our core players for 2020 are May, Gawn, Oliver & Tommy Mac. The engine room was ok in 2019 but the bookends let us down, if we get this right then the support cast will follow.

Core= those who while not irreplaceable there is not like for like at Casey, so to have a good competitive season these guys need to play 18+ games each.... Backs...May and harmes (toughness and run) Mids Oliver Langdon (smarts and run and run) Forwards...TMac Melksham Petracca ((running targets) When these guys are out the cracks could open Would be nice to add Pickett Bennell and Jackson but.....

Trac does't have much of an issue. He's coming into his prime and his stats are showing he is going (tracing) well. If anything his ball drop from set shots is ridiculously high. Weid for me doesn't quite get in the right position or doesn't hold the mark when he does. Most posters on here think it is a strength thing. I think it is ability. We'll find out this year. I hope I am wrong.

I would like to think we make the 8 in 2020, but I don't think so. For me its more about the coach & game plan. We have the talent & we have all seen what we can do when injury free & all on the same page, however, last years horror show doesn't give me a great deal of confidence & lets face it, we all get a little bit over excited this time of year. We have some amazingly gifted players, but they have to all 'buy in' to the strategy & believe in it. That was clearly missing last year. Two things that are glaringly obvious for me for what its worth..... 1/ Lack of confidence/knowledge from our coaching staff last year to adjust to 666, injuries & game plan 2/ Lack of balance within the team. (too many slow, low disposal efficiency players that panic under pressure & not enough pace. (only 2 quick rated players) I hope I'm wrong & like every Melb supporter I wish nothing for a few early wins, but Goodwin is up against it & the first 11 games before the bye will determine his future.

I couple years ago halftime in the MGC dunnies a fellow supporter looks at me and says "Don't worry. We can come back." "No we can't, we're forked, they don't even look like it." "Yeah, you're right." He was pretty easily swayed. We shrugged our shoulders and parted company. Good times. Having said that, I think we do need a home, our own dung heap so to speak. A place players and supporters can call our own, to strut around like we own the forken joint, enforce a sense of club identity. I'm sure players would rather turn up to one central place to train as close to the city as possible. Even if you were trying to convince a player to come across from another club and you told them we train at Goshes Paddock but then we also gotta travel across to bumfork Casey fields too. Thats when the clubs like Hawthorn, Collingwood, Richmond, Geelong etc start looking alot more attractive. Then you throw in the extra money those clubs can splash around toward medical depts etc and we fall further down the list of desired destinations.

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?

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

i don't understand the denigrating of viney at all for me it's either jack solo otherwise it's jack and max as half-skips there's a LOT that goes into being captain these days beyond what we see on field

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.

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

All l need to do is think back to crunch finals matches against geel and hawt in 2018 where he drove the team forward with huge tackles and pressure with no match practice in the lead up and lower midfield minutes. Injury would be the only reason you would replace jack and even that doesn't make sense but don't trust me read player ratings for yourself. Top 3 mfc players in both crunch games Jack Viney: 9: Couldn’t have asked for any more from a guy who hadn’t played a game for 62 days. Won 20 disposals and didn’t give an inch with 11 tackles. JACK VINEY: 8 Like one of those energiser bunnies, just wind him up and watch him seek and destroy. Imagine what he would be like in finals when fit ! We forget too easily sometimes.

We all love Nev. Wouldn't it be great to see back pocket Nev kick the winning goal in time on in a Grand Final against Collingwood?

No coincidence that a lot has started to go right for the club, since Jetta has been involved. Grateful to have him and hope we keep him on in his career after footy to build stronger indigenous roots.

We'll win the Premiership Easier draw, great run with injuries, an ounce of luck and a lucky bounce of the ball in the dying seconds sees Petracca kick the winner after we were 45 points down in the second quarter

Dogs were looking to take him at pick 15 - hence, we took our man at 12 https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-12-05/inside-the-drafts-first-round-twists-turns-bluffs-and-the-big-calls