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With so many best 22 on wedding duties it seems, it was interesting to watch the rest, in particular the newbies. First thing I was looking at were general ball-handling skills. For mine, the clear standouts are Salem, Jetta and Fritsch. A gap, then Petracca, Oliver, OMac, Petty, May, Lever, Hore (all just natural ball players). A negligible gap to the rest, and nobody stood out as being below par for an AFL list. Skills were very pleasing, but then today’s conditions are perfect. Work-rate, or just general effort, I would say Viney, Petracca, Nibbler, Jetta, Jordon, Sparrow (keen as), who all seem to push that bit harder for longer. Again, no player was lacking in energy or output. Most pleasing difference to last year is seeing Vanders at full tilt, same for Lever, OMac as most physically impressive of the big boys (aside from Tomlinson), Preuss looking ripped, Viney out front of every running drill, Weid seeming to own his size, the effortless, innate ball skills of newbies Jackson and Rivers, Spargo looking sharp and slippery (until he departed), the easy pace of Langdon, and a general sense of competitive urgency, despite that it was only training. A fit, available list is the primary essential for success over a season, so we’re looking in very good shape for the opening. Fingers crossed. Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

I love revisionists who try and change history. Martin did a deal with Carlton and then refused to talk to us. We never had a chance of getting him. Bennell did not cost us Martin.

I would have thought that if we had any notion of signing him up, he should be going to Maroochydore. One of the great aspects of the Qld training camp is the bonding that occurs - and IMV would be worth going for that alone.

Lady at the scarf collection said the boys at Melksham’s wedding will have a mini training session up in Byron then fly straight to Maroochydore. Also, membership as of this morning is at 30,278. A bit less than this time last year but on par with 2018. Overall, club is happy with the renewals so far.

The arm is a trial. Pretty soon all limbs will be similarly fitted so that Goody can remotely control from the coaches box (or the bunker)! Look forward to all players running out for Round 1 if it proves a success.

Absolute best thing for Harley will be when season starts and fans and media are not interested in him and he can just get on with it.

In addition, wouldn't all the medical staff (docs, physios, etc) also be at the camp? If so, his recovery may be better managed if he's where the support staff are.

head tilt will compensate.

Joel Smith also back in the main group Demonland Training Report 06 (Missing Players) | Demonland Training Report 07 (Fritsch) | DeeSpencer Training Report 01 (Match SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 02 (Langdon vs Tomlinson) | DeeSpencer Training Report 03 (Stoppage to Forward Entry SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 04 (Tailored Positional Drills) | Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

I would imagine it is a done deal and both parties have committed to each other. He wont be on a lot of money this season and he wont be pushed with playing until he is right. If he cant get on the field by the end of the season it would probably be ended. It is worth the risk, as he is a real talent who has a serious injury, that could be overcome and ten you have a very good player for nothing. If it doesn't work, it is like delisting a rookie who didn't make it.

I’ve currently got the same injury. Been very difficult to get over but I am however twice his age. Still a jet too.

In my unprofessional opinion I would say very close. Going full pace. Appears to be sitting the mandatory time out from procedure.

Remedial kick time. Defenders kick to kick around the arc. Small forward snaps. Forwsrd entries for plenty. petty, Brown, Preuss, Tomlinson, Viney doing 2 v 1 make a decision and kick short or medium Langdon, Sparrow, Vanders picking up in the middle, giving a fend and trying to hit a lead up forward coming at them. Nice to see drills tailored for individual players Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

Tomlinson back in the main group. Edit: spoke to soon. Tomlinson and Spargo just joined rehab boys. Demonland Training Report 05 (Joel Smith) | Demonland Training Report 06 (Missing Players) | Demonland Training Report 07 (Fritsch) | DeeSpencer Training Report 01 (Match SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 02 (Langdon vs Tomlinson) | DeeSpencer Training Report 03 (Stoppage to Forward Entry SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 04 (Tailored Positional Drills) | Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

I’m going to take one for the team here, I don’t do a lot of in depth reporting normally because my time is precious (and I don’t have really fast typing skills). Having said that; I may end up rambling a bit as I enjoy a Merlot at the keyboard. I live in Ballarat but I was house sitting in Emerald for a couple of days and finished up this morning. I had to pick up some stock for our business on the way home (in Moorabbin). I thought I would swing by and see what I could see. (All they could do was ask me to leave) I got there around 1000 (I seriously wish I had got there at 0900). While checking out the parking situation I could see Crossy on another oval putting Hannan and someone else (I couldn’t make out in the distance) through their paces at a serious fast clip. They were running up and down the field handballing to each other. 1hr 30mins later they were still at it. For other track watchers, Hannan can’t be that far away now can he? I just walked in and proceeded around to the side opposite the grandstand. There was a full ground match sim going on Pinks vs Blues and the scores were up on the electronic boards 2.6 to 4.2 as I walked around, the player I noticed the most was Smith. He seemed to be everywhere in defence. There was a family standing outside the fence observing proceedings so I went up and said G’day. Turned out to be the parents and siblings of Tye Hourigan who had been invited along to train today. The family and Tye had no idea that would include 2 x 30 mins full ground sim! Ty is from Traralgon and has been playing defence for Gippy Power. He looks a likely type about 6’2 in the old and around 80kgs. From hips and down looks like a ready-made footballer. Soon after the sim stopped and they moved into a number of drills for the different groups (mids/rucks, fwds and backs that have been largely described before. This was all done at a great pace and with good skill. After about a half hour of this it was back into 30min full ground match sim. Max got on top of Pruess early resulting in a number of centre clearances. One of the early ones ended up with Petty on a great lead and I walked around to stand directly behind him. The wind was blowing around 40km/hr across from right to left and I was muttering aim at the right point post. Standing behind him he looked to be aiming 2m inside the right goal post. It was a lovely kick off the boot and in the last 6m of its flight it went hard left by 5m. This was the only real negative I saw for the day and both teams went on to score around 4.2 so the adjustment to the windy conditions largely improved. In the match sim I could count 4 Casey listed players. Stockdale clearly being one and a couple of others I didn’t recognize. I know that can’t be right and there must have been more but I couldn’t spot them. Having said that it is the most First’s I’ve seen playing in sims, at this intensity, in January EVER After the match sim they went into more position related drills again. I moved around more to a the pocket /half back position on the grandstand side. There were a couple of tackle coaches I haven’t seen before working with all the talls; Max, Preuss, Jackson , Lever, Weid, TMac, Hore, etc . They were working in a 10m circle and the object was to escape with the ball. This went on for 20min and I was exhausted just watching them. To the left of me Goody was controlling a drill where 4 or 5 players would be in a small circle doing quick handballs. When he blew the whistle the last player with the ball had to break away and run and kick the ball 40 m to Greg Stafford. The remaining players would run both sides of the ball carrier in support. Stafford would punch/ tap the ball in the path of the “wave” and they would share the ball around till a leading forward presented or one of the wave was close enough to shoot for goal. Both Tomlinson and Spargo participated in this drill so I would expect them both to be very close to rejoining everything. They didn’t do match sim. Unsighted on the day: Baker, KK, Melksham, Neitzke, Bennell and Chandler. May was there but I didn’t see him do much, however the dressing was missing from the leg (happy face, mine and his) Some general obs. Our older brigade are up and about, Nev is back and handing out lessons to anyone he comes near. Hibby is not handing over his role this year if he stays fit (although Rivers did impress me and looks ready to go if a spot presents). Tmac is also back, leading well, finding space and clunking marks. Jones may surprise a few in the forward line. Lever was outstanding today in the cut off/ intercept role. Viney and AVB will take a lot of teams by surprise if they stay this fit (yes, AVB did everything today including swapping bibs at one stage to even things up). Sparrow was good in the guts at times. To go to another level this year: Max, Clary and Trac (that should put the wind up a few teams). OMac looks to have bulked up and be quicker, is that possible? Jackson was willing but not that effective in the match sim I saw today. The practice matches will be interesting and I can see a difficult decision coming re Cossie. Is the magic he brings enough to play him even if he goes missing sometimes due to fitness? On today’s observations I would play him round one. He will make a lot of defenders nervous and he will have that reputation very quickly. Nibbler however is giving every indication that he wants a spot in that forward line. I’m excited!!! (In a BBO kind of way) They finished around 1215 today so it was a really solid session. I had a great time today and couldn’t get the smile off my face. I also noticed this with Goody and a number of the other coaches. A great way to lead into Maroochydore. Near the end of the session I got Tye Hourigan’s family to come inside the fence near the entry gates and while we were chatting a fella in his 20’s came in with his dog on a lead and asked if it was ok if he came in to have a look. He was wearing Richmond shorts so I told him very sternly, “It’s a closed session and you will have to leave” He was very apologetic and left. Made the day even more worthwhile.

Here’s a link to Liam’s photos from today’s session, on Facebook. @Demonland, can you please do your magic and host them in this thread? https://m.facebook.com/tim.fleming.75/albums/2831695143532417/?ref=bookmarks

And looks like we could be developing an elite sports photo division. Liam has added to an impressive array of pictures to complement our outstanding reporters. Thanks all

This from another club's fansite, which would suggest the injury is not fatal ... He was running the tan in Melbourne footy club get up this morning being supervised by someone else in uniform. They haven’t put a line through him yet.

The training session was pretty cruisy. The first thing i noticed is how slim all of the players are. Obviously forgoing strength for a gain in speed which was necessary as we were slow as f$%k last year. jetta looks in great shape, as does Petracca. Everyone else just looks slim. One of the drills was the players doing 4 or 5 backwards somersaults on the ground then getting up dazed to tackle a player. I thought it was a stupid drill and at what point in the history of our game has a player been required to do that. Oliver was basically passing out from either lower blood pressure or being dazed. not a good look i front of all of the kids but more importantly a stupid drill. Could have spent that time doing goal kicking practice. Rivers, runs well but his kicking needs a lot of work. Jackson was unsighted in all of the match sim stuff so we need to temper our expectations on him. Joel Smith was playing defence. Personally i think he is better forward but regardless he needs to be in the team as we are simply too slow otherwise. Dee Zephyr Training Report

Would be amazed if this adversely influenced his season start. Looks in great nick otherwise.

These are my most pleasing aspects of this preseason too.

I spoke to trent rivers who said kossie got a slight concussion on Friday.

The Demons have so much potential upside this year, we can only hope they deliver: - Better drawer - Better pre season by miles or km’s for youngsters (getting to practice drills with a full team makes a significant difference in connection) - Appears Burgess is driving them to a new level of fitness that is better suited to our style of play, plus greater running endurance, leading to strong 4th quarters, rather than fadeouts - Fingers crossed, seemingly few injuries amongst our top 20 players, then depth looks a whole lot better, totally different team - Hopefully a settled back six of Jetta, May, Lever, Salem, Hibberd, (OMac or other), only Salem didn’t have serious injury issues last year - Oliver, Viney & Brayshaw in the middle, all having full pre seasons relatively injury free, Petracca better tank to spend more time in the middle. Max is max, and Preuss getting fitter as backup! - Langdon speed, ball winning & distance gained, Tomlinson endurance & coverage - Harmes providing flexibility and backup for backline, mids, wingers & even forwards - Forwards with TMac full preseason, Melksham & Weideman the same, starts to look very different, add Fritsch full time in the forward line, Petracca cameos - Then just as bonus, VDB, Smith, Jackson, Rivers, Pickett with hopefully players like ANB, Hunt getting back to their best, and possibly Jones having impact off the bench - Richardson joining as a coach will help improve our game plan, as he so easily picked us apart Maybe as a long long time Demon, I’m overly optimistic, or just thinking eventually things must turn, but it seems we have a massive upside. 2018 showed we could do it, from round 5/6 we played some exhilarating football smashing teams for 6 weeks, then the last 6 matches including two finals wins aside from the horror prelim, we had some terrific wins! The other factor is our star players Max, Clarry, Petracca, Viney, TMac & May are getting into the 24-28 age bracket, aside from Clarry at 22/23, that their bodies are strong enough they know what footy is about and should be ready to roll! Look at when the Tigers broke through, Rance, Martin, Cotchin, & Riewoldt all were over 26yo, look at Eagles as well, the Hawks threepeat, our time is coming Petracca will have a breakout year, so will May being fit and TMac will be closer to 2018 form, and who knows how well Viney will play after having an injury free pre season, his first for many years, even Clarry had the two shoulder ops at end of 2018, will be in better shape 2020 an even year, an Olympic Year, my prediction - a hugely improved year for the Demons! Top 6 maybe even top 4, memberships for family locked in months ago. Go Demons!!!!!!

Viney on the right hits up Petty, handball over to J Wags who places it perfectly for Fritsch to take a nice mark holding the space under pressure from J Smith. In half game stoppage to forward entry simulations Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

Ah yes I saw Tom as well. #notastalker

Well said D3 there are a lot on here who look for the negative in everything Melbourne and for some only a Premiership will stop that. (Actually the first one will be called a flash in the pan and there will be a lot of negativity about winning another one ). I thought a lot of comments on here were very old school and quick to criticize. I don't think this promo is saying we are back, it's more about the road to redemption and what is needed to get back. Sure we could do something like this after the fact but that doesn't sell belief or memberships now. I also like it because it requires buy in from the players, we want them to bust a gut and go to another level. This promo is not about them being there yet, but it is about the journey.

Jeepers a training report thread turning in to a defence of Jeff Garlett's hardness. What's next? - 21 reasons why Simon Godfrey was actually a good kick - Brock McLean wasn't slow, just poorly used. - Mark Neeld - underrated. - 7 reasons why you should try the Bat soup in Wuhan

Also around the 3 month mark. It sucks because I haven’t been able to bench the usual 140kg limit for a while now. ?

I had a chat to the Bionic Man, as Gus called himself, doesn't seem to overly concerned with the setback, still running

Gus injury.. https://www.afl.com.au/news/367738

I agree with what he says about Tomlinson on the wing. Could he be a CHB option ? Salem might be a bit slow but his disposals are certainly near the best at melbourne.

Lol. Love your work worship. Similar to your comments elsewhere, I do wounder if and how anyone could get much understanding of game plans from watching training drills and even circle work or match sims. I guess the well trained eye might make some pickups about these things, but then, I guess that Richmond aren't exactly going to go changing their set-up based on what they just saw a 17th placed Melbourne's training. I'm guessing the valuable information is all the verbal instructions delivered by the coaches at the huddles on what we are trying to achieve which can't be spied from the outer. As @Earl Hood so poignantly noted, it's only if we can actually translate what we do on the track to matchday that anyone will take serious notice and there are no secret games, so the tactical game plan stuff is well on display for all to see then anyway. I'm not totally dismissive that tactical initiatives at this point in the season can't / don't make a difference but agree with you that it's beyond most casual observers to pickup.

Nothing serious with Gus. Only minor according to training staff member.

Match sim under way. Viney’s work rate and T Sparrow finding space to take a couple of nice marks the highlights so far DeeSpencer Training Report 02 (Langdon vs Tomlinson) | DeeSpencer Training Report 03 (Stoppage to Forward Entry SIM) | DeeSpencer Training Report 04 (Tailored Positional Drills) | Webber Training Report Dr. D Training Report Dee Zephyr Training Report

I usually park on Alexandra Avenue (near corner Anderson Street) and then walk over the bridge over the Yarra to Gosch’s.

Reports of Martin on $900k in year one versus Bennell on a base rookie wage. Even if we had the salary space and he was open to coming I would not take him for that or anything close to it.

Way back on page 1, this used to be an interesting thread about present players doing their training. Pity that another otherwise excellent training thread has been derailed.

That is complete rubbish, you are just ignoring other posts in this thread, which is normal for you, for his size Jeffy had no qualms about tackling or contact, that's how he got the final shoulder injury, by putting his body on the line 1 bump in a highlight reel, against junior opposition, I have watched Kossie at training, he has some exciting traits, when he gets fitter, he will be good to watch but he is also not getting near to bringing down the bigger more mature bodies

Sign him up anyway. Its a lot less risk than signing a cooked KK for 3 years on much more coin. He's unbelievably talented.

Including all the rookies, up to 20 players (or more) won't be at the club after the completion of the 2021 season ... so have a look at the complete list and see if you can come up with the 20. Of course, a lot has to play out yet but the numbers don't lie. And it is not really about identifying the 20 ... more so about recognising the actual numbers. It's like the bust rate with drafting ... over 40% for first round picks. In baseball the bust rate is 75% for first round draft picks. In the NFL the bust rate is 40%+ for first round picks and the draftees are 21-22 years old with 4 years of College football behind them. Including the rookies, in one 2 year stretch during the Roos era over 25 players were dispensed with. Why? Because there just isn't the available talent available so therefore the lists need to be constantly churned over. So why be so concerned with the equivalent of 1 rookie spot where the impact on the salary cap is negligible anyway? The usual suspects here are jumping at shadows with their over-the-top comments (or perhaps they have a hidden agenda) The value of 1 spot on the list is overrated anyway ... the real issue is getting to a point where the club has 25 bona-fide AFL standard footballers on the list. Bennell is definitely worth the punt as at least we know the bloke has some untapped talent ... the last 10-12 players on the list are often devoid of real talent ... they are often just making up the numbers. How many top players are in the league in totality? 100? 120? And there are close to 900 players in the system. There are hundreds that fall short every season. And hundreds of not-so-good players are kept on lists because there aren't any decent alternatives.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony is now precisely six months away. This is a highly significant fact for Melbourne fans because the last time that the games were held in Tokyo was in 1964 and we know what happened in that year, don’t we?'

The Dees were the disappointment of 2019. Can they turn it round in 2020?

@Supermercado feel free to use this graphic on social media. if you'd like to widen the net I can post this on the Demonland Facebook and Instagram. We have a heap of followers on those platforms and it should (hopefully) get more votes. Let me know.

Fort William, a football team in the Highland League in Scotland didn't win a game for 840 days recently. And they play for ten months of the year. Don't know if they'll be on this show that starts on Netflix on 01 March though. Can't say if we'll be featured either. I started following the Packers because they were so bad at the time (pre Brett Favre) that their fans started wearing paper grocery bags over their heads at their games in embarrassment. Straight away I thought, that's the team for me!

Maybe that's what they're saying? "To hell and back.... to hell again."