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I got caught in traffic on the way to the ground and thought I'd miss a bit but as It's Time has said it was a later than normal start at around 9.30. As usual over to the rehab group and a quick check as to who isn't there. Jones, Tomlinson, Baker and Spargo the four in rehab with Jones, Tomlinson and Spargo looking to be more advanced. Jones hasn't changed his training for about 4 or 5 sessions now and watching him it's impossible to tell what's wrong. Tomlinson was running very strongly as was Spargo so I'm surprised to hear Spargo is 3 to 4 away but that could be to do with agility on his ankle. There were many runs around the outer side of the ground by these three and they went for a good 2 hours before heading in. During that time they did a fair bit of kicking and a small bit of (sort of) circle work without any signs of a problem. Baker is a little behind by the look of things but seemed relaxed and raring to go. About half way through the session Bennell turned up and did his warm ups and then some runs around the outer side of the ground. No sign of any discomfort but he's only going at half pace. Again nothing much has changed and it looks like they are playing the long game with him. Once he had finished his running program he started some casual goal kicking practice. Around the corner, tight ankle, snaps, set shots you name it he did it and while I was watching he missed two out of about 20. Unbelievable. The no shows were Hannan, KK, Neita, AVB, May and Smith. Of that lot AVB is a usual "misser" of training and we know about the issues of the others bar May. Missing Hannan was disappointing but it could just be management. Wednesday will tell. It's Time has done a great job describing training. There was stoppage work, forward entry work built around match sims as well as specialist crumbing work, high marking practice, handball drills and some gut running. I liked it in one match sim where Trac decided to tackle Jackson and while on the ground pushed his head into the ground and then wouldn't let him get up. But Jackson got the better of him and had Trac on the ground at the end of the wrestle with lots of smiles and laughs between the two. Trac really does keep things fun and involves everyone. Trac provided the highlight for me in one passage where he was surrounded by a pack of players and dodged and weaved his way out of the pack. The other highlight was Brown who really did well today. Marked well and kicked very well which stood out on a day where skills were down and mistakes were made. I suppose it was their first hitout in a month or so but I'm expecting better later. Pickett did some really nice things, not so much spectacular but just really neat skills and Jackson continues to impress with his ability to be in general play once his ruck work is done. Harmes, Oliver and Viney were all busy and Melk and Fritter did well up forward. I left at about 11.45 when things looked like they were closing down and the smoke was getting pretty bad. It was a pretty solid session with another to come on Wednesday.

Had a couple of shopping errands on way home, but saw most of session. Will try and not repeat what has been covered. Highlight: Trac. Drifted forward during match sim. Lever fell and he was forced into a Tim Watson style jump over the top of him and then turned and snagged one truly. He also had a dust-up with Action Jackson. Jacko snared him in a nice tackle and Trac gave him a bit of razz back and Trac was constantly cheeky with jibes throughout most drills. he's ready to play midfield, hence why Harmes is training off half-back and looking exceptionally good in the role of a right-side clearer. For the fans: Satay reckons he'll play all year in the VFL and if it came to touches at training then the stats men would say no way to Kozzie. But watch him closely. He's electric. He's the same mould as Cyril, built strongly through the hips and as a result, even though he's tiny height wise, he can hold his own. He'll play at some stage - maybe even Rd 1 if he does well in our two praccy games. And by well, that means five touches! He ain't an accumulator, he's a matchwinner! For the haters: I've said previously that ANB has been in our top two trainers previously and is a monte to play Rd 1, but (queue disbelievers and nasty trolls), Oscar may be playing himself into a spot in Rd 1. With Smith and May not there again, Oscar has had to step up and he's done a couple of things that I doubted he could rin the past two sessions - spoilt cleanly and outmuscled his opponent and I'm told he was pretty handy in the time trials as well - although 3km is way different running to the legspeed that he lacks. The only player who clearly had the wood over him at training today was his big brother Tom who tossed him aside like a ragdoll a couple of times. It's for that reason that I am still very wary to say that Oscar can hold his own on bigs and I'd be having Petty train with the backs every now and then just for security. But Oscar's disposal skills means when there's system down back, he is an asset. Lowlight: Obviously May hurt himself on Friday in the time trial, but Joel Smith's absence again is more of a worry. Praying he is just flu stricken and not more OP. VDB was missing today (one session doesn't make a summer) while Hannan continues to be an absentee. I did see him rehab train late December, but he never looked comfortable - knee issues are plaguing him. Rehab club: I reckon you'll find Jones (hammy), Tomlinson (calf) and Spargo (foot) back in the main gp in the next week. Baker is still a couple of weeks away at least, while Harley got a huge cheer from a few of the guys for just doing a few run-throughs. I reckon he did about 20 of them and had no obvious discomfort so maybe, just maybe. Five debutants this season (and in debut Rd order): Pickett Rd 1: as stated above, I'm in the lovers club already. He may only get five touches in Perth, but at least three will create goals. He'll be in and out all season as he learns to cope with AFL intensity. Jackson Rd 2: I reckon they'll take him as emergency to Perth and then play him the next week at our first home game of season v GWS. He's more mobile than Weed, Tomlinson (based on last year) and even Petty. Whacko Jacko looked great as a forward today and brought down Trac with his second effort. Trac took his headband off him in return and it did seem most of the boys liked getting into him, but he has that Jesse type arrogance about him (must be a Perth thing). Once in, may play whole season if he remains uninjured. Toby Bedford Rd 4: He hurt his ankle today, but he's been lively all pre-season. He's not as explosive as Kossy but he now gets his role. When he was playing match sim today, it was a bold new order with Kossy, Bradtke and Bedford making Jetta and Wags work overtime. I reckon he'll be switched in and out of the side with Pickett much of the year. JJ Rd 6or7: I suspect the week after we play Richmond there'll be a push to bring this guy in to our midfield and based on today, he'll play before Sparrow gets a game this year. During match sim drill it was evident just how quick Jimmy's hands are and how accurate. One came just after Sparrow had butchered a release handball and as a result the comparison was stark. Yes JJ needs to keep working on his speed, but he'll be the prime mover in the VFL this year and at some stage will get the call-up. Trent Rivers Rd 6 or 7: This guy may surprise everyone and be our best pick of this year's draft. He's quick, can leap and is a nice kick. He was mega impressive in the tackling drill today - kept breaking free. My only worry is that he still looks like a little kid and I hope they don't rush him in too early. But having said that, if Joel Smith is out for long, then Rivers and his pace may be summoned earlier than even I think. Obviously Langdon will be playing Rd 1 - he has just fitted in seamlessly (an everyready engine). Tomlinson may be playing Rd 1 as well, but too early to make a call on that. Brown is a chance as well as he keeps presenting, but he has stamina, not speed like Whacko. Finally, there's lot of players whom I generally don't mention because we all know they are quality but you couldn't help but notice the work of Gawny today. The big fella made the midfield/ruck drills an issue because he was just so good at tapping to his teammate that it rendered the contest ineffective because there was no way anyone could stop his team.

Hunt: He's run two very good time trials and hasn't missed a session that I've seen. His ball handling is clean and he's also competing and taking some good high marks. He also appears to be training with the mids. He is a lot taller than you think and has developed into a fairly solid unit. His speed still impresses and he's capable of some good long kicking but he hasn't eliminated the kick he appears to miss of his instep that swings left. He'd be a real bonus if he could find his 2017 form and it's not out of the question. His hair is also quite long! Langdon: He is just doing what Langdon does. He's a terrier around the packs, he's clean with the ball and his first few steps are very quick which enables him to find space. He's also very good at finding space in match sims on the wing and being used. Hasn't missed a session and his last time trial seemed a significant improvement on his first. I think he's going to be fantastic for us and will provide something we just haven't had in the past.

I just read through some of my posts to respond and saw all the typos I couldn't see on my phone. For some reason the Edit option isn't available on most of them. Sorry about that. I had a great chat to Nev after training. It's amazing to think of how he and quite a few of the indigenous players are when they first come to the Club or into the AFL system and what a ripping self confident man he has become. Very friendly. He actually came up to me. I asked him if there was much of a change under the new regime. He said the main thing now is that they are on to full match sim and game plan work way earlier than he has experienced before. Said probably because so many have come back after the break in such good shape and there are so many of them fit. I asked him if there was more emphasis on working on i50's. He shrugged his shoulders and said having all the targets down there like Weid and T Mac meant there were targets to kick to this year compared to in the past. I asked about his nephew. He said he's settling in well. We exchanged old ankle injury stories. I didn't realise his was so bad in 2012. I never really recovered from mine done playing footy. He has no problem with his. Said he was surrounded with great medicos physios etc.

Getting a sympathy vote. It also freaking them out a bit. Hopefully because of the crutches and not my personality. Dave Head of Sports Science is taking rehab with Crossy. All very positive (of course). Said there’s been no major setbacks. Bennell is doing well, everything is going to plan. No setbacks. Chatted to Jonesy he was upbeat. Didn’t get anything out of him about progress. Just said All good. Spargo is 3-4 weeks away but said he’s in good shape and loving it. Everyone is very positive about a rebound. Hmmmm no May out there. Harry Petty is twice the size he was this time last year. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 03 (Burgo) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 04 (Rehab Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 05 (Rookies & Rucks) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 06 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 07 (Match SIM) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

Match sim. Welcome to AFL footy Luke Jackson v Maxy. Maxy wins hit out Luke follows up lays tackle gets ball hand balls the clearance. He’s running everywhere Max just following at a light jog till the next contest which he wins easily pushing Luke out. Borderline in the back. Maxy really is a freak of nature how he looks so coordinated for such a tall player. I remember seeing him play his first game and thinking they’d got his height wrong. Jacko just came over the top of Maxy in a contest but didn’t hold the ball. Another contest Jackson great pick up and clean clearing hand pass to player running past. T Mac looks really up and about. Moving very well. Don’t know if this sim is more about defence than attack but i50 connection is struggling. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

From what I saw I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about Tomlinson and Jones. Both trained really well. Spargo trained well but is still dealing with some stuff on his foot/ankle. Bennell from what I was told is going well without any setbacks. I’ve just seen him and it’s near the end of the sessions so he seems to be engaged smiling and chatting to the rehab guys. No KK no May. Haven’t been able to find anything out about them. Gus appears to be a bit of a worry. He came off and spoke to someone and was shaking his head. I didn’t see him leave but he’s not out there since then. Toby Bedford tweaked something earlier and is coming off now limping near the end of the session. I suppose this is a bit of self evident comment but compared to this time last year Lever is well and truly up and about. Doing full training, strong body language, no hint of knee awareness. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

I’m here for my annual pre season visit. I can report that reports of everyone turning up an hour early are greatly exaggerated. There’s me hoping around on crutches 2 assistants putting out cones and some birdies flying around. Tony Grieg gound report. My key disappeared into the ground easily. There’s also a lot of water on the outside of the ground suggesting a good watering. Grass is maintained beautifully cut like grass. Players now appearing in the distance. As I write. I’m starting over with rehabbers. Will see if I can get some info. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 02 (Rehab Chat) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 03 (Burgo) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 04 (Rehab Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 05 (Rookies & Rucks) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 06 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 07 (Match SIM) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

He is 13 foot tall?

It’s really interesting seeing one aspect of Burgo’s influence. He talks a lot about burst speed and agility being points of difference with soccer. You can see a lot of exercises geared to this. For instance a warm up in front of me. A line of 20 plus players running just a very short 10 metre. Jest off the mark and holding yo their hands in front of them chest night then holding them above their heads and yelling something out when they hit the line and everyone looking at each other to see if they were first. Lots of laughing and talking. Great vibe. Dave said oday is the first day back into full training. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 04 (Rehab Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 05 (Rookies & Rucks) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 06 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 07 (Match SIM) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

Heard he has a small back issue and the club is being conservative as to not exacerbate it and make it a long term injury. Might just be a slightly slower build up for him heading into the season proper. No alarm bells yet.

A hand balling game was going in for a while where they are in teams. I got taught a drill like this by the Swans when I was coaching junior footy in Sydney. It can actually run more about setting up defence than the attackers. They train to coral players into a position where they only have one place to handball to so your opponent at the next contest can anticipate where to go to block their opponent down the field. It’s a good one. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 07 (Match SIM) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

Kossie is much more built than I expected. I’ve seen players with less of a physique playing ing senior footy. He looks bigger than Spargo. Rivers a good size too. Funny seeing the players up close. A lot are a lo taller than you think. Harmesy for instance. You think of him as a short midfielder but he’s 186cm which I’m the general community is tall. They are all so lean they don’t look huge like the good old days. Rucks are practicing fine hand tapping with left hands then right. Brayshaw appears to be managed still. He did some rum through a on his own then as a target for the ruck taps while everyone else is doing a half field sim. Draftees: Jacko doing tap training with rucks. Kossie and Rivers doing some hand balling ground ball contests with 3 unknown train with players who they are explaining the drills to aim must only be here for a short visit. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 06 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 07 (Match SIM) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

You'll find Bruce's borderline erotic gushing over Kossie (assuming it happens) will be far more tolerable than when he does it for oppo players. In fact it will be justified and even appropriate.

From what I saw he was doing more of the delivery to targets i50. He looks to be focusing a lot more on picking targets and doing good specific passes. We tend to notice the bad ones of which there were a couple but there were a lot of very good passes from him. He seems to be fitting in well. He's got good speed and did some really good passes that I saw. Didn't see any obvious bad kicking that he has a reputation for.

Doing i50 delivery drills. In some they’re starting to kick laterally around the 50 arc if there’s not a clear target and only kicking in when there is. Worked really well the couple of times they did this. Must say this work is what I was most hoping to see. It was a mixed bag but great to see. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

He has his own injury issues. Shouldn't be sharing them 'round.

Didn't you see the annoucement made last week? It was all over the papers. “I have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this club. I intend to step back as a ‘senior’ member of the MFC and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Simon Goodwin. I now plan to balance my time between Melbourne and North America, continuing to honour my duty to the Melbourne Football Club. I look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as I continue to collaborate with Simon, Max, Glen, Gary, and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept my deepest thanks for your continued support.”

Good. And good on the club for getting the info out. A benefit of a solid block of preseason training is mitigating the impact these sort of hiccups.

Interesting point. You may well be right, but with injuries the way they were, i am glad he stuck it out. i think he will a great coach, why? Because he never shirked a tough game in his prime. He mostly instigated the toughness. Jordan was always proactive We need more of that to win the serious games

Didn’t do anything with the rehab group. Just walking around. I suspect he’d done his work indoors and had come out to watch the rest of the training. No May. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

Bennell just arrived.

Interesting the rehab era are doing 100mtr run through a and there’s a movement guy giving some of them some comments about their running technique. IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 05 (Rookies & Rucks) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 06 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 07 (Match SIM) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 08 (Bennell & May) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 09 (Drills) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 10 (Rehab) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 11 (Burgo Drill) | IT'S TIME TRAINING REPORT POST 12 (Bradtke)

Hopefully not out for 4-cyst

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/552969 Official now. May a cyst, Smith an infected cut. Both back next week. Jones managed.

on toilet paper?

A defense led by Oscar McDonald and Harry Petty looks tantalising on paper.

I assume the first is misinformation.

Interesting Burgo agility drill going on. Players have to do 3 somersaults along the ground then jump straight up and lay a tackle on a player waiting there. I guess it’s brain training as much as physical.

Taylor Adams was sitting next to me at the Big Bash last night. Slim build not particularly tall. The modern midfielder?

Trying to blend in with the rehab crew?

Agree with much of what you are saying Macca. But at the same time, I do wounder if the expectations or lack there of within the supporter base and or the recent history of lack of success feed back and infect the psyche within the playing group and club. The players last year did also talk about riding the wave of support that embraced the club come finals time and in some ways I wounder if that contributed to us playing too many players carrying injuries along the way that ended up totally screwing our 2019, where as a club more confident and focused on winning flags would have taken better stock of what finishing 5th meant for the road ahead in finals and wouldn't have thrown the kitchen sink at winning two elimination finals at the expense of the physical well being of so many of those players? Anyways I know for me personally I've learnt the lesson that winning premierships from the lower rungs of the 8 is a folly and if we are not on track to do that, then not to get too hung up about the season as it plays out win/loss and final position wise. Also to finish in that top four, it usually means only 5 - 6 losses for the season or only one loss in every 5 - 6 games, so if that's not how we are tracking, then again it's just another development year, perhaps with some additional finals experience added on.

Sorry OD I believe Fritta will star and be nearly a full A grader and opposition teams will have trouble minding our new and improved fitter forward line with some finishing skills.

If the list isn't prepaid for the season proper with injuries and surgeries inevitably you don't expect to be playing at your best. There are always reasons why a team is on the up or stagnating or struggling. However we have our reasons and now we have the chance to turn it around and it has to be with the head down and bottom's up approach so to speak. With the new recruits and the football department in shipshape our list looks to be in a healthy state and that said there is no reason to think that we cannot finish in the top 4 . I don't expect any less with the list we built over the last five years We have suffered enough. IMO l think the boys know that and they feel the same l am sure. Top for no less.

You're playing with words here mate... We started a rebuild at the end of 2013 when we brought in Roos...part of the process was bringing in Goodwin. That means by the end of 2020 we will have had 7 years to bring in players, trade out players, basically build a club/team that will seriously contest for the flag. I think that is probably long enough. Just making up the numbers will not be a successful season.

My gut says he's had full seasons every year until last year. maybe just hold our nerve a little.

Partially agree, but I don't see much about the way Freitch plays as being non robust. Guy is a better pack mark than some others twice his size in our team. Have seen him frequently put his body on the line and bring down quality marks, so I don't get this thing about Fritta needing to step into gear - he just needs to be played in position forward where he is best suited and of most value to our team and not down back, where perhaps he doesn't have the right mindset to be either a defensive player or distribute the ball as confidently on the rebound.

My gut tells me not to expect much from May. Looks like the classic " we bought a crock"

Deeoldfart surely by this age you realise this will never happen. Injury reports are seldom truthful. The second language of the AFL is lying.

I maintain that the MFC took decades to escape the success is the 50's. Back then players flocked to join the MFC because we were successful and were the establishment team. However during the sixties the competition started to go professional and the MFC believe that players would still want to come to the MFC simply because we were Melbourne and played at the G. Norm Smith tried to tell the club things were changing but they could not see it. We stayed stuck in this mind set for decades and the rest is history. IMO we have only really got with it in the last 7-8 years. We still have no home. I place the blame on decades of "conservative" management.

So for me, just making the 8 in 2020 will be just - meh, now show us if this side is really something and finish top 4 in 2021. P.S. to contradictory to almost everything I have stated in this thread, I took out the G.F. gaurentee membership option early in 2018, because if we ever do make it again an win one, by F%#@, I'm going to be there at the G to remember it!

I prefer to view things as the club will do whatever regardless of how we feel or what we say or do. We'd like to think that we make a difference but really we don't. I have been involved in local sport all my life and that is where one can really make a difference. Just my view of course but the club obviously knows its supporter base wants success ... and they know we're fiercely loyal too. Just like any other fan base I gave the Hawthorn example because I don't believe their supporters are any different to ours ... in the last half century 12 flags versus 0 flags. And considering our lack of success in the half century it's quite amazing to have over 50 thousand members. We are the club's greatest asset. Make no mistake about that. Fitzroy & South Melbourne supporters lost their clubs because of a lack of onfield success (which evemtually effected their supporter numbers) So never beat yourself up about your own support for the club. You and the rest of us are playing our part.

Agree 100% BBP. Your last sentence says it all.

IN I agree with this comment (in bold) and I would take 11 wins, purely because it's a 6 win improvement on last year. That's how bad we were. Off season surgeries and injures explain a drop off, but they can't alone explain a 5-17 drop off. We are supporters can't excuse that. I think some posters are putting in amazingly high and lofty expectations on this side (eg - top 4) and have forgotten that we're the reigning second worst club in the AFL. Just making the 8 isn't a successful season in a broader sense, but us making the 8 off a 5 win season would be a very good achievement IMO.

The premier rarely comes from outside the top 4. Dogs in 16 are about the only exception I can think of off the top of my head in the past 2 decades. If your not finishing top 4, your not truely contending, just pretending. In 2018 we were one win off finishing top 4, so I hardly think it's an unattainable goal with the list we have. I really do think it's partly a mindset thing, but it's a barrier the MFC needs to break to win us that elusive premiership.

There's a difference between how I see us going and what I see as a successful year. I have no idea how we will go this year but I am optimistic... However if we aren't contender then I think our season is a fail and by the clubs metrics if we go by what Pert and Bartlett tell us it should be seen as a fail. It will be the 7th season since Roos came on board and that's long enough. The rebuild will be close to a fail if we don't see results soon.

I don’t really care about the personal barbs - I just don’t think they’re especially necessary. I have a full kit bag in terms of friends and life experience, such that getting invested in petty stuff with people on a footy forum who I don’t even know is just a waste of time and energy. ProDee took the time to step out his views, and I actually like to read considered (albeit differing) perspectives on matters of interest - hence, the thank you.

Hats off to the Titans, did not see that one coming just proves this league really is "Any Given Sunday" (Saturday in this instance)

Canon 5D Mk3 with 100-400 L Series Mk11 lens

So just looking back on the 2018 W/L record and ladder again - another 1 win and we finish 3rd and play WC in Perth for the 2nd Qualifying final, another 2 wins and we finish 2nd and play WC in Melb. Sydney in Rd 21 was the other very winnable game that we through away. At the time there was uproar and panic on Demonland that it was the game that would see us miss our opportunity to make finals. In retrospect, it was a game that prevented us from finishing top 4. I know hindsight is kind of useless is some respects, but I think it can also be a useful guide and learning tool. That game against Sydney also really sums up the step change in maturity that those core players like Oliver, Brayshaw, Trac, Viney and even Max need to take. My recollection of that game was that we absolutely blew them out of the water in the first quarter and established what really should have been a match winning lead. Instead we enabled Sydney to peg back the lead over the course of the 2nd quarter and then start to dominate and dictate the game. A mature side would have known how and when to defend that lead and close out the game. I really do think that in 2018 we showed we were close to good enough. Really looking for us to go to that next level and become clinical and consistent in seizing the opportunities that present.