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When does the season start?

I think ironically he has lacked self-confidence on field or has been trying too hard to be unselfish. That's been a good step in his development, nothing wrong with humility, but now I feel he's ready to take the game on and explode.

He is coming to the Dees? Sorry the temptation was too great.

My boy. Picked him last year as an improver and have stayed on him.

Gus back in the middle with Viney and Oliver. Harmes can now roll through if we need someone shut down, I think now most of us are confident in Harmes’ ability to play just about anywhere. Then there’s Trac, all the talk sounds exciting at the moment, just bounce the ball already.

Harmes from all training reports will be playing off a half back flank. Jordan will play midfield this year. Could be a Smokey to win the rising star if he gets a gig round 1.

Does he have the desire to be great? Does he have the mongrel to be great? Does he want to lead his teammates to be better not just be a fun guy? He has the package outside of the above, he showed small signs of wanting the above last year and this offseason. I hope for us and him he can keep it up for the next how ever many years as he could be one of the most exciting players in the game to watch.

Had a quick chat over Christmas with a relative of mine that is closely tied to the Petracca clan (specifically the older brothers). Reckons the penny has dropped and he has taken massive strides forward in maturity and ownership of his career/goals/fitness and wants to leave no stone unturned to ensure he reaches his potential (also with a mention to this being the last year of his contract, not that he wants to move but wants to build on what he’s done). Broken up with the Mrs and been spending all summer committed to the cause and working bloody hard.

The roasting 'we' dished up You mean the constant parping from a couple of the less informed on here Repeated by a small group of the more easily led on here As if

yes, but it still wasn't a smart deal either initially or now. It was a big gamble based on very long odds grundy's deal is much different and better, but still carries a decent risk

There seems to be a clear gap between the top 7: Gawn, Oliver, Viney, Petracca, Brayshaw, Langdon, Vanders and Tomlinson and the rest, but it’s still early days. It’s a long season so Harmes likely ends up back in the midfield for some part of the year. Jordon, Sparrow and Dunkley should push for games. And Jones will have his moments if made to work for a game and then used correctly. Im still a believer in Oskar Baker having some strong afl qualities. If they get his body right and give him a catch up preseason he could provide something in the second half of the year.

Could we include in the discussion “players who need a hair transplant” just to even things up and make this an even more exciting and stimulating topic than it is already!

Any player who sports a hair bun. And if you’re reading this and have one, it includes you.

Yeah, I know, but in the tradition of Australian journalism, why let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Nathan Jones. A hair cut is singular is it not?

Oscar as default option says it all.... Crazy Horse Cowton played in a premiership for NORF If I recall... Frost our Crazy Horse, Oscar ......... Goldfish Food How could we have been so Blind??

I really like Trac.

It was clear during the 2019 season how focussed Track was on the field and it showed in him having a solid and consistent year at HF after a slow start in the first 5 or so games. When reports of him wanting to play predominantly midfield arose during end of season reviews I was very pleased as it showed he was determined to do what was needed to succeed. Looking forward to his continued improvement in 2020.

I'd sign Oliver to a 7yr deal in a heartbeat. The power really is with the players right now. Good luck to him. Hope they lose De Goey to a crap club.

I'm expecting him to be an absolute dud who can barely scrape a game in the twos for the first three years. Once we've traded him to the Blues , along with a first round pick who goes on to be the next Dustin Martin ,we will watch him dominate the competition and applaud ourselves for our ability to develop raw talent. In return we'll get a brat with two [censored] knees and a drug problem, a chronic drunk and some geriatric has been.

Im starting to think you're not a fan of oscar.....

On the contrary, Jonesy should grow it out and sport the horse shoe hair like Bruce Doull. It will strike fear into the small defenders!

What does your club's starting midfield unit look like going into 2020? Who has the strongest midfield in the AFL? We've broken down every side's starting 4 and depth. YOUR CLUB'S STARTING MIDFIELD UNIT AND DEPTH Max Gawn Clayton Oliver Jack Viney James Harmes Next in: Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw, Adam Tomlinson, Ed Langdon, Christian Petracca The league’s best 'hit-out to advantage' player in Gawn gets Oliver, Harmes and Viney to aim at and subsequently they'll be constantly licking their lips. That quartet will begin most games as Melbourne’s on-ball starters. Nathan Jones is no stranger to spending plenty of time in midfield, despite moving to a more peripheral position in his twilight years, while Brayshaw will roll through and Petracca will often be used for some grunt. New additions Tomlinson and Langdon will be sliding by on the outside ready to receive anything from the insiders. Gawn receives little assistance but you can expect to see Tom McDonald occasionally pinch-hit in the ruck if Braydon Preuss remsin in the VFL.

5 mids in to 4 inside mids spots just doesn’t work. Oliver and Viney aren’t getting shifted. Brayshaw plays his best on ball. Petracca needs an extended run in the midfield to show he can do it. Half back where Harmes can use his run and ability to compete isn’t that much different to the midfield in importance. Makes sense to use him there. Langdon on one wing. Tomlinson on the other where he’ll be asked to do a role I’d imagine. Vanders a bit of everything as a utility mid/forward. Yes Vanders is a risk but everyone else is unproven, although the young guys should do very well at Casey. Bennell the even bigger question mark and the dream scenario would be him coming in to the midfield mix during the season.

I get these write-ups are space-fillers, but I'd have our back 6 well down the list of pre season priorities. Depth (especially talls) is an issue, but May, Lever, Jetta, Salem, Harmes & Hibberd is a solid starting line up by any measure. Provided we don't get decimated with injuries again, I think they'll gel just fine. I think there's much bigger question marks surrounding our forward line & ball movement.

It's a tricky one, because on the one hand Franklin's presence probably made the difference of - Two additional finals appearances (2018, 2017) Two, debatable three, top-four instead of top-8 finishes (2016, 2015 and perhaps 2014) So in the first five years of the nine year deal he has basically been the difference between Sydney being a genuine premiership contender and having an image as an outstanding, exciting team, or Sydney being just another mid-table better than average team in and out of finals with a few flashy stars and reliable old hands. On the other hand... what would the salary cap difference have meant? Players traded out of the Swans in Franklin's time include several handy names; Lewis Jetta, Toby Nankervis, Tom Mitchell(!), Nic Newman, , Dan Hannebury, Gary Rohan and Zak Jones. For how many of those losses was Franklin's recruitment and salary space a factor? As for the future? No doubt Franklin's athleticism won't be as potent as it has been, but he is still a very smart forward. You do have to wonder though - ten weeks out of full training for a 'simple' knee arthroscopy does seem like a lot. Maybe it isn't just the Demons who are a bit shady when it comes to injury reporting?

Surely they've dropped by now?

I’m looking forward to seeing him without the yips in front of goal. Fix the ball drop too.

Yes agree the Partnership Team is doing a great job given the on field performances and the negative social media some of our so called supporters post last season.

Nobody. I am convinced that the structure these days should be 2xCHF with the nominal FF position being either left open for players to run into or used to rotate a player (obviously usually a ruck) to mess around with opposition defence structures. Two centre-half-forwards share the job of ensuring there is always someone offering the long lead to our confused clearance packs AND always someone lurking ready to burst out with the shorter lead or at least contest in a dangerous area where all our mad mix of medium-sized half-forwards can swarm through. And those two CHFs should be McDonald and Weidemann, particularly so that Weidemann has a constant reference point for the work rate required in the role while also always having an experienced player around to direct and encourage him.

We need to dish up kale and spinach for him instead of roasts, if we want him to become a lean endurance athlete. ?

So the roasting we dished out on him last year, has not been wasted on deaf ears, apparently. A little flung Mud can do wonders, for false self perceptions. Get the right message into young heads and development Will most times occur. False praise is 'THE Most' destructive type of support anyone can spray on our young players.

There is risk for the Pies if Grundy suffers a serious injury or becomes injury prone. Advantage for Pies is that if he does avoid injury they will likely be paying Grundy less dollars than his market value in back years of contract if salary cap keeps increasing. Grundy gets security but sacrifices maxxing contract value in back end years of contract.

Clark Keating....

Really good from Zurich. Zurich to match players’ donation to bushfire crisis

Am I missing something or has Lever retired?

How good's footy?

I wear my Melbourne New Era hats all the time, will be sure to get a new one for 2020.

Wow I can remember when this site was about football

Agreed, it's definitely our area of weakness. We should've retained Garlett unless he wanted his career to be over. It pains me to say it but I'd say Corey Wagner looks the most ready for round 1, but hoping Pickett can show signs in the Marsh series as he clearly has the biggest upside of the group. Hopefully ANB can have a bounce back year as a small forward and kick his 25 like he did in 2018.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/553620/training-gallery-dees-go-indoors (Trying desperately to keep the thread on track...)

Most derailed thread. Ever. Just to get back on topic, it seems training was not "postponed" at all. Rather it was moved indoors. And away from Saty's prying camera, they were prepared to do some competitive work with "shirts on" versus "shirts off". I'm tipping if the club announces a Gosch's paddock training day with half the team with their shirts off, there'll be a larger crowd of spectators in attendance than normal.

I'd like to see Weid earn the spot through his pre season efforts …. and then keep it through his good form. It is time for him to deliver the goods - he can't survive on "potential" much longer.

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.

We gave pick 6 for him, should never have happened. He was worth around pick 20 at most.

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.

Can’t help thinking we were sold a lemon with May. Ability means nothing when sitting on the sidelines.

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.