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Saty they weren't ready physically. If what you're suggesting is right nobody would consider practicing. Tennis players, golfers, cricketers and the list goes on. They'd do a few running and gym sessions and not lift a bat, racket or club. We all know that's not the case. They practice what they do before a game. They hit ball after ball after ball This is important in an individual sport but doubly so in a team sport because not only do you have the individual skills that need honing you have a game plan to mesh with 21 other players that needs hours of practice. In 2019 we didn't have that and it showed in every facet of our game. People often use Oliver as an example of someone who "didn't need a preseason to have a good season". Rubbish. 2019 was a shadow of his 2018 and if your assertion is correct it should have been better given his age and the natural progression that should have taken place. People are focusing on the injury toll but it's the preseason. The skills practice so many missed out on. The game plan execution so many missed out on. The match fitness so many missed out on. It's been reported that the PA players went to the three quarter time huddle knowing we were shot physically. All they had to do was keep running. They did and they won easily despite the game being in the balance at that point. We weren't physically ready and we were not "ready to go". It's quite simple really.

THE YEAR THE SKY FELL After a number of years of linear movement up the ladder, the Melbourne Football Club unexpectedly went into serious decline in 2019, slumping from fourth to 17th in a season that coach Simon Goodwin described “a complete wipe-out”. Those around the club who tried to analyse the apocalyptic events that unfolded during the year were hard pressed to find a single reason for the debacle but the most plausible explanation was that the club’s troubles stemmed from a lack of fitness and injuries that derailed the season before it began. There was a significant amount of optimism surrounding the Demons over the summer months. Some of the pundits in the media were even suggesting that they were flag favourites based on their forward momentum over a number of years, their midfield strength as shown statistically by their control of stoppages and their high scoring in 2018 suggesting a coherent system of play and a powerful forward line. The team was maturing and it was thought that the sky was the limit but, as it turned out, the sky fell. Melbourne’s newly appointed head of high performance Darren Burgess recently said that he believed there wasn’t much the club could have done about the situation the club found itself in both before and during the season. “Having done a lot of research on what happened last year there was a lot of comment about their fitness or lack of, the surgery just kills you,” he said. “When you’ve got 17 or 18 players in surgery and 16 were in their best 22, it just kills you.” And so the club went into the pre season without many of its key players, particularly in the midfield. The signs in the two JLT Community Series matches against Richmond and Brisbane were not good although when considered with the hindsight of knowing they were against two of the top three place getters after the home and away season including the eventual premier, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The team ran out of steam in its first game - at home against Port Adelaide and then failed miserably at Kardinia Park when despite winning the hit outs and clearances and making 73 inside 50 entries to 48, it was thrashed by 80 points. These figures are bizarre enough but the trend was already set for the season. The team could win the ball well enough out of the centre but conversion into goals was a problem while opposing teams had no problem with their own accuracy on the rebound. They managed to kick straight (a rare occurrence for the year) against Essendon in their third game but the Bombers were more accurate making it 0-3 for the Demons and a difficult start from which to recover as the injuries began to mount. The win against the Swans in Sydney was welcome but two more disappointing losses put the club in the danger zone. A couple of unconvincing victories against Hawthorn and Gold Coast provided some respite and a trip west looked promising for three quarters against the Eagles before another fade out put paid to the club’s hopes for the season. All the while, the injuries mounted - they were compounded not only in the number of players out but by the length of time out with their injuries. For most of the first half of the season, the Demons struggled with losses in their defensive half but after the mid season break for the bye, the club successively lost all of its key forwards and won only two more matches - against Fremantle and Carlton to limp home to a five win season and 17th place on the ladder. In the latter half of the year, the club tried a reshuffling of the assistant coaching panel but nothing could help as the team lost seven on end, albeit a number of the defeats could be regarded as honourable given the material Goodwin had to work with as the season rolled dismally to a close. Max Gawn and Clayton Oliver created history with a tie for the Keith “Bluey” Truscott Memorial Trophy. Co-skipper Jack Viney finished third and he was followed by James Harmes, Christian Petracca and Bayley Fritsch. With highly touted recruit Steven May hobbled by injury, it was left to a VFL player, Marty Hore to take the honours of best newcomer. Given the injury woes at the club, it’s not unsurprising that the Casey Demons also struggled although their ninth place finish was commendable in the circumstances where coach Jade Rawlings and later Sam Radford had so few players with AFL experience available to them. The AFLW team missed captain and star player Daisy Pearce on maternity grounds and also missed out on the finals under the weight of a massively skewed conference system. A surprise loss in the first game against the Dockers didn’t help. In the end, a big win against Adelaide was required to make the finals - a win that simply didn’t even look like eventuating. Karen Paxman, Elise O’Dea and Lauren Pearce were the pick of the squad. And so, as we enter a new decade, the club can look forward to a few acquisitions in the playing side, notably wingers Ed Langdon, Adam Tomlinson and forward Mitch Brown, the possibility of a rejuvenated Harley Bennell and a trio of youngsters from interstate. On the off field side, the experienced Alan Richardson comes onto the coaching panel and possibly the most important change in light of the fitness and injury woes of 2019 is the signing of fitness guru Burgess who is tasked with raising the sky back to the heights of 2018 ... and further.

The Weird, has to go from an occasional contributor to dynamic KPF.

If we’ve spent pick 3 on a bloke who won’t play in the seniors for at least two years then I’d be thoroughly amazed. If you can’t see what Jackson has in terms of capabilities and then mesh it with an AFL program and deduce a set of possible outcomes that couldn’t see him play earlier rather than later, then well, we have plucked a guy that should’ve been a third rounder and we know that’s not the case.

We'll likely see him for 10 games or so barring injury, but I think people need to temper their expectations with him. Just because he's a pick 3, doesn't mean he'll play and dominate immediately. Tall players take longer to develop, and going by the few bits I've seen from training Jacko appears a long way off it. He's brilliant with ground ball for a bloke his size, but he really struggles with contested marking and was getting schooled by Omac last time I saw him. All his best moments I've seen at training have been using his smarts to avoid a contest - floating across a pack to take an uncontested mark or not going up with a pack and gathering the ball like a crumber when it's not marked. He's got potential, but fans need to have patience with him. Most development required for genuine best 22 candidates in my view are Weid and Baker. Weid has shown he can play well at the level, but needs to cement himself and play his role consistently at AFL level. He needs to stay on the park, kick a goal a game, provide a marking target and repeat leads. If he stays fit, works hard, and his teammates honour his leads, then he'll come on in a hurry. Baker has some great traits and his pace could be a godsend for us, but he needs to learn how to use it at the right time eg. running to create space, running away from content, when to slow run to make sure his kicking is effective etc. Still not convinced he'll make it, but I hope he does.

I'd love to have a wager on that.

The better way to have phrased point No.1 is that at our 2018 best the MFC has show it's self capable of playing football that is well and truly capable of beating just about any side in the competition and that a return to that level of list fitness, system and confidence should have us right up there again. We are inherently a much better team than our 17th finish would suggest. If we are to improve significantly, then I think point No.2 has to be improved game plan and system. It will be a big test for Simon Goodwin and the coaches. If we don't improve in this area, then everything else falls down. I'm backing Goodwin to produce the goods. In 2018, he took us from a team that defended well, but struggled to attack to the highest scoring team in the comp. Perhaps there was an over correction towards attacking at the expense of defense and last year we frankly didn't have the troops and it all fell apart, but if Goodwin can coach that change in game style in one direction, I believe he can wind it back the other way as well. Everything about whom Goody was as a player and his various clean-outs of players who wouldn't commit to me says he has the fortitude and abilities to set expectations and get the team to two way run much better in 2020 - Langdon and Tomlinson should help in this regards as well. I initially thought Tomlinson could be a lot further down the list of reasons, but this realisation of how important he would be structurally, now makes me think where he is nominated relatively is about right. Point No.3 or 4 for me would be the age profile and continued natural development of list our with key mids like Oliver, Brayshaw, Trac, Harmes, ANB (perhaps Viney if he can maintain fitness) and other guys guys like Freitch, Salem and to some extent Weid/Petty. Sure some other clubs could also claim this, but I think with a fit list we are ahead of similar lists like St Kilda, Brisbane & Freo and I expect the age profiles of some clubs up the top like Geelong, WC and Collingwood will have them heading in the opposite direction. No.9, I would just have as generic 'wild card' factor. Into this I think you could lump a hoast of players like Jackson, Pickett, Rivers, AVB, Joel Smith, Bennell, Sparrow, Baker, Dunkley and perhaps KK. There is no certainly that any one of those players in particular will pop up and star, but I think there is a fairly high chance that at least one of them will. Again I think we have more in this category than other clubs due to a combination of frount loading the draft just gone and our annus horribilis 2019. I'd probably also add a No.10 point - Depth. Provided we can keep a fairly fit list up to Rd.1, having players like O Mac, Petty, Pruess, Brown, Hore, Spargo, Hannan, Lockhart, the Wagners and possibly Jordan, Chandler and Bedford as fringe/depth players is a lot better than I suspect a lot of other clubs have. Sure we looked fairly exposed when we needed to use alot of them all at once last year, but using them more so in isolation to plug holes and maintain selection pressure, I think they are all more than capable of doing a job and some could also develop and get better.

Saty always thankful for your training reports but this is not your finest work. Given the overwhelming amount of detail the Club (President, Head of football, Coach, conditioning staff etc etc etc) provided about how unready physically the players were this is a bizarre post. It's worse than that, it's actually insulting the players to ignore everything the Club has said about the impact of physical injuries and suggest it was a mental problem. Disrespects the effort players who missed a pre season put in to nevertheless do their gut busting best.

As I was reading through that excellent, detailed, insightful post, with no recollection of it, I thought, “the first reply is going to be a one-liner from a long term member with a very high post count about how all that is just an excuse and other clubs have injuries too”. I think I’ve been here so long I actually know how threads will play out without even needing to read them.

For all the reasons bb lists this comment is palpable nonsense, on two levels. One being that it is an incontrovertible fact most players were not physically ready to go round one. Indeed arguably most never reached optimal fitness levels. Two it is supposition on your part that most players were not mentally ready. It may well be true of some players and there have been some comments from mfc people implying that (e.g. lewis), but nonetheless it is supposition. I am assuming you keep repeating this nonsense to create some drama. But perhaps not. Maybe you actually believe it to be true, in spite of all the contrary evidence and the statements from the club. I'm not sure which of these two scenarios is stranger to be honest. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

I'm a bit sick of this stance. Do you think Goodwin hasn't rewatched the game? Do you think the assistant coaches haven't rewatched the game? Do you think they didn't take that game into account when making decisions about player's future? Do you think they didn't watch to see where our system fell down and how WCE dismantled us? Do you think they didn't watch that game as part of each individual player's preseason preparation? Of course Goodwin has watched the game and so have the assistant coaches. What they haven't done is sit down with the players and go over it the way they go over most games. They know the players know what happened. There is no point sending the players off with a review of that game in their minds at the end of the season. They would have wanted to send them away with a much more positive message. And before you say "well that didn't work" just review the presentation by Mahoney at the Members Information Night to realize why we had a shocking 2019. It had nothing to do with "not reviewing the game".

You seem to have totally missed the point, not straying one centimeter from your negative narrative despite just about everyone - including the new Fitness Guru - now finally acknowledging that it's hard to win a lot of games with either injured or recovering from surgery players. I just shake my head some times...

I don't think KK really needs development as much as he does to get over his concussion problems. Unless you are talking about him learning to better position his body and be smarter about which balls to go for like Gus Brayshaw reportedly did post his concussion problems.

The better title fir this thread would be : 2019, the year that wasn’t

I hope the Weid and Preuss perform and we let him develop in the background. as it should be for a tall. and bring him in when he knocks the door down and some.

I actually think both the Wagner brothers are not that far off being pretty decent, solid footballers in their respective positions. Good athleticism, reasonable skills and bucket loads of courage (thinking mostly of Josh in this respect). The things I guess that are a bit questionable about Josh in particular are his decision making and skill execution under pressure. I think players like the Wagners could probably be categorized as nearly, but not quite playing at the required standard to be regular firsts players. It's probably is these kind of players and guys like Lockhart, Spargo etc that we need to take a step up and play a role for the team when required, such that their presence in the team is seamless and helps us get those 3 or 4 more wins during the season to take us from finishing just inside the top 8 to inside the top 4. Not to say that their development can be mismanaged, but players like Jackson, Pickett and Co are probably going to be good players regardless and their talents will push them up to playing seniors where they will have plenty of opportunities to develop an understanding of what is required to play at the top level.

Written on 2nd July and was ahead of the curve. Subsequent information provided by the club confirmed it. It's the greatest reason to have the greatest optimism going into 2020. Bring it on!

I think (hope) we can be competitive this year with Burgess and the recruits but to win the big games we need Oliver Brayshaw and Petracca to go to another level and be A grade match winners....

Baker will knead more development that Neita will kneed (sorryx2)

Based on last year we need about 21 players to undergo very serious [censored] development

Such an open question. In terms of fitness? Skill work? Game plan/rules understanding? I realise it’s a combination of all of these and other things so we are really narrowing it down to the newbies and the rookies... For me it’s probably Bedford. His time trial running has been fantastic so he’s got that right... shown a few glimpses last year so I reckon the staff should be investing heavily into Toby. He and Kozzie could prove really dynamic in the forward half as a pairing.

Only 9 sleeps to go until the best DL pre season training threads recommence. Can’t wait. Life’s been so meaningless since the last ones. Happy New Year everyone. 2020’s going to be a ripper. Strap in my fellow long sufferers. It’s about bl$&dy Time from It’s Time.

We also won two finals with him making a valuable contribution as a first year player so if he gets fit and healthy he could do that again. I hope he does. Before he became institutionalised with Melbourne stupidity he was a smart footballer.

We put out a team that beat the pies in the first pre season game. Dees were a ‘buy’! We started the season and the complete lack of physical and mental preparation became apparent. We may have had 22 fit players to put on the park, but they had almost zero preparation in the systems. The so called ‘connection’ didnt emerge for the whole season. So they may have been ‘physically ready’ (they could get out there), but they had no systems training, no endurance to run out matches, and pretty quickly zero confidence. Now turn the calendar over to 2020. We have already had most of the team in main training, handling footballs and running match-valid drills.

I got this book for Christmas and knocked it over while camping with family in the last week, and it was an absolutely fantastic read. It’s his life story (obviously) but looking through an analytical lense — his philosophies in life in leadership and how they were shaped by his personal and professional experiences. You get some insight in to his time in to the MFC - in particular how he transformed himself over time, his relationship with Chris Fagan (his right hand man and underrated influence in the relative success over that period) and how the club never really gelled at any stage he was here (financial issues, revolving door board and CEOs and so forth), particularly in contrast with his stint at West Coast at the end. Personally I got more out of reading about his time at Essendon though as a player and then a coach. It painted Kevin Sheedy in a very different light for me. It even made me want to watch the 1993 grand final - puke! Given that it’s heavy on the philosophical side of life, if it’s a yarn with all the gory details of the ins and outs of Neale’s time at the MFC (or anywhere else), this isn’t the book, but personally I lapped up every word and it cemented Neale as one of my life heroes and all time favourite footy people.

Wrong guy. In saying that I would rather Corey in the side then ANB. Corey is depth for now. His brother on the other hand shouldn't even be on our list.

Agree Chook, although more like a horror show than the year that wasn't..... Pressure sits firmly with the coach in 2020 rather than the players......although May apparently on $800k a year needs to get on the park & perform. Goodwins lack of accountability & lack of action, especially in the back half of the season was laughable. Performance early in the season will clearly dictate our path.

I'm with Ethan......can't see Jackson playing seniors for at least 2 years & although some say he can play forward, not sure hes going to tip Wiederman , T Mac, Petracca, Melksham, Hunt or a fit Vanders out of a spot. Throw in ANB & Goody's love child's Hannan & Spargo & the Dees just don't have the luxury & time to blood in 2020. Wins are a crucial for SG future. I will take that wager Matt.

Rather over dramatic, you cant help injury to players Most players were ready to go 1st round, physically, mentslly another different matter

Good summation there LT agree with 95% of that. The 5% I disagree with is the Weid has to average better than 1 goal per game. 1.5 is my mininium. I expect an average of 2.

Agree. And i'd add tmac. He is critical I reckon. I also think melksham is super important.

This is simply a product of having a poor culture during the time the club was simply not focussed on winning, while at the same time drafting alot of early draft pick talent without the right sort of culture and development program around them. You could also say we didn't pay enough attention to character when drafting players but this could be a bit unfair on who we drafted

After a number of years of linear movement up the ladder, the Melbourne Football Club unexpectedly went into serious decline in 2019, slumping from fourth to 17th in a season that coach Simon Goodwin described “a complete wipe-out”. Those around the club who tried to analyse the apocalyptic events that unfolded during the year were hard pressed to find a single reason for the debacle but the most plausible explanation was that the club’s troubles stemmed from a lack of fitness and injuries that derailed the season before it began. There was a significant amount of optimism surrounding the Demons over the summer months. Some of the pundits in the media were even suggesting that they were flag favourites based on their forward momentum over a number of years, their midfield strength as shown statistically by their control of stoppages and their high scoring in 2018 suggesting a coherent system of play and a powerful forward line. The team was maturing and it was thought that the sky was the limit but, as it turned out, the sky fell. Melbourne’s newly appointed head of high performance Darren Burgess recently said that he believed there wasn’t much the club could have done about the situation the club found itself in both before and during the season. “Having done a lot of research on what happened last year there was a lot of comment about their fitness or lack of, the surgery just kills you,” he said. “When you’ve got 17 or 18 players in surgery and 16 were in their best 22, it just kills you.” And so the club went into the pre season without many of its key players, particularly in the midfield. The signs in the two JLT Community Series matches against Richmond and Brisbane were not good although when considered with the hindsight of knowing they were against two of the top three place getters after the home and away season including the eventual premier, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The team ran out of steam in its first game - at home against Port Adelaide and then failed miserably at Kardinia Park when despite winning the hit outs and clearances and making 73 inside 50 entries to 48, it was thrashed by 80 points. These figures are bizarre enough but the trend was already set for the season. The team could win the ball well enough out of the centre but conversion into goals was a problem while opposing teams had no problem with their own accuracy on the rebound. They managed to kick straight (a rare occurrence for the year) against Essendon in their third game but the Bombers were more accurate making it 0-3 for the Demons and a difficult start from which to recover as the injuries began to mount. The win against the Swans in Sydney was welcome but two more disappointing losses put the club in the danger zone. A couple of unconvincing victories against Hawthorn and Gold Coast provided some respite and a trip west looked promising for three quarters against the Eagles before another fade out put paid to the club’s hopes for the season. All the while, the injuries mounted - they were compounded not only in the number of players out but by the length of time out with their injuries. For most of the first half of the season, the Demons struggled with losses in their defensive half but after the mid season break for the bye, the club successively lost all of its key forwards and won only two more matches - against Fremantle and Carlton to limp home to a five win season and 17th place on the ladder. In the latter half of the year, the club tried a reshuffling of the assistant coaching panel but nothing could help as the team lost seven on end, albeit a number of the defeats could be regarded as honourable given the material Goodwin had to work with as the season rolled dismally to a close. Max Gawn and Clayton Oliver created history with a tie for the Keith “Bluey” Truscott Memorial Trophy. Co-skipper Jack Viney finished third and he was followed by James Harmes, Christian Petracca and Bayley Fritsch. With highly touted recruit Steven May hobbled by injury, it was left to a VFL player, Marty Hore to take the honours of best newcomer. Given the injury woes at the club, it’s not unsurprising that the Casey Demons also struggled although their ninth place finish was commendable in the circumstances where coach Jade Rawlings and later Sam Radford had so few players with AFL experience available to them. The AFLW team missed captain and star player Daisy Pearce on maternity grounds and also missed out on the finals under the weight of a massively skewed conference system. A surprise loss in the first game against the Dockers didn’t help. In the end, a big win against Adelaide was required to make the finals - a win that simply didn’t even look like eventuating. Karen Paxman, Elise O’Dea and Lauren Pearce were the pick of the squad. And so, as we enter a new decade, the club can look forward to a few acquisitions in the playing side, notably wingers Ed Langdon, Adam Tomlinson and forward Mitch Brown, the possibility of a rejuvenated Harley Bennell and a trio of youngsters from interstate. On the off field side, the experienced Alan Richardson comes onto the coaching panel and possibly the most important change in light of the fitness and injury woes of 2019 is the signing of fitness guru Burgess who is tasked with raising the sky back to the heights of 2018 ... and further.

Don't be that is very clever.

We haven't really had a dominant midfield for many years. I mean really dominant. We had a good year in 2018 but you have to go back to Todd Viney or greg Wells to find a dominant mid. We have the makings of our best midfield for many years if they can continue to improve, Oliver can become more damaging, Tracc can impose himself and Viney can return to form.

Post script - I think it was rather remiss of the Hun to not mention Jetta in the reasons our backline will improve. Provided he doesn't drop away as he ages, Nev would have to be right up there with the best small defenders in the comp and we missed him immensely last season. It could also be noted that we will miss some of the atletisim from Frost, but that could be more than compensated by a fit Steve May and the sounder ball movement that should result through having him and players like Jetta down back.

A better question might be Tomlinson or Baker.. Tomlinson obviously for now, but we should be blooding some experience into Baker this year too. Does he have to add more forward and defensive strings to his bow to get an op on the wing?

Except the Rabbitohs have got a super large pokies venue of their own (Star City Casino) The Panthers have got 6 venues including the 'World of Entertainment' venue. So whether these clubs have always had them, just getting into them or revisiting, it all amounts to the same thing. Read more here

I think the best 22 of MFC wasted talent would just about win premierships against the best 22 of other clubs.

In the 90s, we had Jackovich, Charles and to a certain extent Lyon and Schwartz of whom we didn't get the best of due to injury. Martin Pike was a fairly handy player that we discarded for cultural reasons. He probably wasn't the most talented player to ever pull on the red and blue, but Clint Bartram was a good heart and soul player cut down by injury. Troy Brodbridge is another in the sadest of circumstances. Lyndon Dunn is one that whilst playing plenty of games I don't think we used to the fullest of his capabilities. I also think Austin Wonemerri at his most brilliant was another player we never got the best out of for a sustained period. It's all a bit depressing really.

I've got 2 books from the early 60's 1. A Manual of Australian Football. By Alan Scott, coach of Ballarat College rival to St. Patrick's College famous coach Brother O'Malley. 1965 Lansdowne Press, 86 pages "This is the most comprehensive and down-to-earth book ever written on the art and science of playing Australian football" 2. How to Play Aussie Rules. First printed 1960, Revised enlarged edition 1963, 120 pages. Lansdowne Press, edited by [censored] Wordly, foreword by Bruce Andrew. Different chapters written by many of the greats e.g. Bob Davis, Norm Smith, John Coleman, Ken Fraser, Alistair Lord, Ted Whitten, Verdun Howell, Ron Barassi, Bob Skilton, Thorold Merrett, Terry Callan, Graham Arthur, Kevin Murray, Allen aylett, John Nichols, Roy Wright, Jack dyer, Neil Roberts, Alan Nash, Hayden Bunton Jnr, Darryl Baldock, Hugh Buggy. p.s. [censored] was D.i.c.k. ......go figure

I still have mine. Wore it once. Good times.

Doing the deed actually increases testosterone (and estrogen) production, the night before a game would be the perfect time to fire off a few rounds.

Correct, it sapped and impurified their precious bodily fluids. That's why Ron did not avoid the company of women, but he did deny them his essence.

I think we will look back on Gawn's career and say the team didn't really make use of his dominance. Recently I have been asking myself who was the more influential ruckman.. Max or Jeff White... Jeff at his peak rucked superbly, acted as the linkman when the ball was bought into the corridor and could take a wonderful high pack mark up forward. White's tactic f belting the ball forward from the centre bounce was often referred to as being as good as a kick. Okay zoning etc may have made that more difficult but I cannot think of many occasions when's Gawn's dominance has been used in a planned way.

Some Demonic match calling from beyond the grave would be quite appropriate I think.

I get my 20 year membership this year.... just waiting for the postman. Not bad for someone who has only lived in the country for 21 years.

I’ve never quite understood why so many people feel the need to share images of the membership pack they get in the mail on all of the mfc fb groups. Every member of every club gets the same thing every year. It’s not exactly a surprise. It’s a bit like sharing your monthly gas bill.