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Meanwhile Saty at Goschs ...

We're back. Looks like a few senior players have joined the 1st to 4th Year players at the first day of preseason training. Max Gawn, Jake Lever, Tom McDonald and Christian Petracca join the young guys. It doesn't look like they're at Gosch's Paddock. The City of Casey sign tells me they're probably out at Casey Fields. Any trackwatchers there today?

An Old Dee but a Good Dee

No but they are training the house down. Sorry could not help myself.

TMac looks in good nic. Hopefully his injuries are behind him and he has a good season.

✅ Jack Carroll. I’ve been pushing his name for the Dees for a while now. I always have seen him as an outside mid. Skilled and evasive. Left footers have that style. Half back or wing. Suited to our needs and wouldn’t have to match it with inside mids. We have plenty of those. A touch of a young Simon Black imv. He can kick 50 metres easily and likes to kick but also creative with handball. East Freo boy like Jacko and Riv.

There's a little bit of footage of Carroll here. https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/giantroo-draft-videos.1181782/post-68047495 Looks a good mover with a penetrating left foot kick, but certainly from last year would have to do a lot of work on his tackling and strength at the contest. He's as young as any player in this draft as well so might take a bit more time to build up. He looks like a half back flanker to me, at least in the early years.

Cal's Phantom Draft is in Cal Twomey's 2020 Phantom Draft: Top 30, late picks, your club's whispers He has us taking Jack Carroll and Max Holmes at 21 and 23 respectively with a bid on Sydney's Errol Guldon in between (which he predicted would be matched). He has tipped Macrae to go to Richmond one place before us :( JACK CARROLL - 21 POS: Midfielder Ht 187cm, Wt 79kg, DOB 20/12/02 From East Fremantle/Western Australia There are plenty of clubs who are fans of Carroll, with the talented West Australia turning heads with his decision making ability and capacity to dodge and weave through traffic. The midfielder is adept at winning his own disposals – noted by his place atop the colts' competition's contested disposal count – but also can get into space. At his height he also offers a bigger presence than some others around his mark in the pool. If not him? The Demons would be looking to see if Bailey Laurie is available, while Finlay Macrae would also be wiped off the board if still available at the Dees' pair of picks. MAX HOLMES - 23 POS: Midfielder Ht 189cm, Wt 74kg, DOB 29/8/02 From Sandringham Dragons/Vic Metro There's always room for a smokey. Holmes would be a genuine surprising inclusion in the top-30, but it is not beyond the realms. The excellent athlete shapes as a real bolter given he has played so little football in the talent pathway, but he put himself on the map with his testing, when he ran 2.8 seconds in the 20-metre sprint and 6:25 in the 2km time trial. He played one game for Sandringham last year having given away an athletics career, with his mother Lee Naylor a former Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist. If not him? The Dees have been linked to Holmes for his running power and he would get a look under certain scenarios. Caleb Poulter is another who may be in their thoughts as the first round stretches out. Melbourne "The Dees will use three picks at the draft, but where their third selection actually is remains in play. Melbourne is another club who is open to offload its second-round pick in exchange for a future pick if it can find a taker, which would mean they grab their third player at No.50. They have shown some interest in Sandringham Dragons small Jake Bowey, as well as athletic tall Fraser Rosman, who blew away the testing with his speed and endurance mix and can play on the wing. Another outside option who they could think about is Gippsland's Ryan Angwin, while leaping tall Jaidyn Hunter attracted some investigation through the year." *Cheers to the admin for cleaning up my post, I haven't got my head around the toolbar just yet.

elegt really does like the mfc

Cairns should be our new home ground. Wonderful place. Tropical paradise.

Is that Oliver? I thought he was traded to Carlton?

Holmes has been playing firsts for Melbourne Grammar since 2018, assuming your daughter schooled with him in primary school due to that institution's gender requirements, and has played good APS footy. Been judged BOG in a game at each year level and as a year 10 at first XVIII level, which is a good effort He played rarely for the Dragons but when he did they used him as a half-forward, marking flanker hybrid type. He has a good footy brain and clean hands on the lead and at ground level, a good runner and a good leap with nice timing. Kicking is probably a query but he isn't just an athlete, he has some football ability, just is underexposed to non-APS watchers, which to be honest I am now. But he showed promise in his brief TAC Cup forays as a forward, but you can see the versatility he could bring to the table and has probably played other positions for Melbourne Grammar. All the same, I'm surprised by the link, but with imagination you can certainly see him having had a very good TAC Cup year this year had he had the chance and probably a nice piece of clay for an AFL team to work with.

Something that always stands out when I see pics of Petracca at training is he is quite often the guy that’s laughing or smiling the most (and others around him doing the same). He’s so clearly a character and teammate that others like to get around and soak up his energy. I’m not saying he should be thrust into a leadership position next season but it’s clear his standing at the club isn’t just from his playing ability but his passion and upbeat attitude.

Harmesy doesn't care what you or anybody else thinks of his tattoos. He's not sorry or embarrassed by them. Here's another one he's just had done ...

A very Lurch moment

always throws me a bit when someone changes his name i once worked with a guy named xxxxx crapp who changed his name in his 40's to some scottish name which i cant remember somehow crapp always seems to stick

I don't think it's odd. There could be a number of reasons such as land value(ie, keeping it from becoming more expensive), Government directive (ie, if it's government owned land or a government-led project, the government might be insisting on secrecy) or not wanting to give those who may oppose the development opportunities to kill off the proposal before the funding is locked away.

There will always be a place for an improving Sparrow in the team; he's going to be a 'knock-em-down' backman once he gets physically developed and fit, fit, fit. i like the boy!

He showed some good signs this year.... we just have so much inside mid depth though that its almost impossible to see him getting a regular gig (unless played out of position).

That bloke in picture #16 looks pretty good. What a welcome sight.

Thank you for the compliment. Its fun to throw up theories so its good that a few posters indulge the sport and that others are interested. I agree that Coll will slide down the ladder next year. I find it hard to see how we can get their 2021 first pick. It will probably be in the 8 - 12 range as next year's draft is not compromised with Academy and F/S picks. They would probably want this years 18 and 19 as they will slide to the mid 20's after the Academy and F/S picks. I doubt we would do that trade. And I suspect other clubs will make better offers to them.

I could imagine that a potential site may become more expensive to buy or lease should it become clear that it is in consideration for all or part of a redevelopment. I expect that much of the land will likely be Government owned, but some could be privately owned. I wouldn't want us to have to pay over the odds (to buy or lease) because it leaked out that we were considering that site.

We will be training at Casey in 2021 because building will start soon at Goschs!!!!

GWS have done the comp a huge favour this off season. Firstly, Geelong's offer to Cameron designed to put GWS out of the running takes up a huge chunk of their sal cap. Secondly, they surprised Geelong by matching the bid. Thirdly, Geelong gave up 3 first round picks in a trade. Geelong would have expected to have the draft currency to take both Falcon players (Bruhn and Henry) touted for the first round with the picks they started with. Little chance of getting either now, even if they put up their 2021 1st pick. Geelong, being Geelong will still stay at the top but GWS have helped weaken their list management somewhat.

Probably better to have player models from the knees up.

As an aside, an 'own goal' by Saints to use players with Nike boot sponsors to promote the launch of new sponsor NB gear. st-kilda-explains-awkward-nike-intrusion-after-fans-mock-new-balance-ad "... it feels like a loss for New Balance" Photographer could have chosen different poses that didn't show the footwear. Too simple...

Every single pre season, we kick off wearing the same NB gear from the season prior. I see they've provided fresh kits to GC & ST Kilda. Small matter but it's strange to me.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/525574/update-locked-and-loaded-what-your-club-s-2021-list-will-look-like Collingwood have to take 6 ND selections. Gold Coast can only take one.

You didn't notice the absence of houses in the background?

Hi Burgo, thanks for dropping by DL

I think they are at Casey for the long term covid wise

Stop being logical LDC. For god sake man can’t you see the conspiracy here?

Unpopular opinion: I enjoy watching the modern game more than the games in the 80s. There's more going on in the modern game, it's more contested, the pace is higher, the quality of the players is higher, the tactics go beyond 'ruckman behind the ball' or matchups, and the goals actually mean something. Looking back at those old games .... it just looks like glorified circle work to me now.

It is weird, given who his father is, that it hasn't generated any press. Even if he's not AFL standard, you'd think there'd be an article on Fremantle and MFC 'rejecting' the son of a former champ. Perhaps there's a bit of Jake Lovett about this one; people really wanting/wishing a son of a gun to be better than he is. I do love the romance of the Father/Son rule and it would be great to see Viney, Woewodin, Farmer and White don the red and blue together again one day!

Great post. Was the only reason to go to the footy. Legend

Watching some of the Melbourne sides in the late 70s and early 80s the only thing to look forward to was Robbie. Like a diamond in brokenglass.

Robbie was simply the best and fairest of his era. No Charlie makes a mockery of the system.

Demonsone, Bartlett also explained that when they researched the major sporting clubs around the world to determine best practice, he said that a large number of these major clubs had both a city base and a second base outside of the city. This is the concept we have apparently adopted - a city base in the MCG precinct area and a second at Casey.

It would appear that a significant number of posters on here for some reason don't believe a word of what Glen Bartlett has told us at the beginning of July about our new training facility. In his podcast he has clearly stated that: - our new training and administration facility will be in the MCG precinct area. - it will include a social club - the training oval will not be MCG size - due to space restrictions - we will have a second training facility at Casey (including MCG size oval, and a good sized indoor kicking area) - the initial phase (to analyze option sites, establish the requirements for the new development, and recommend a preferred option) has been completed - the second phase of the development is now in full swing - ie focusing on the preferred site only, and finalizing the Concept Master Plan for this site. - the entire process from analysis, through concept development, to detailed design to construction completion was going to be about a 4 year process (from memory) Until proven otherwise, I'm more than happy to not only believe what Glen has outlined, but also to be very excited about what he has outlined. Yes its too many years overdue, but it looks very real at the moment.

Collingwood are my second team.

I spent a week at Bleasdale one afternoon. We were asked to help ourselves. The result was not pretty. Great wine though, I still buy there Malbec.

The statistics show he kicked 10 goals and 6 behinds in 8 matches and had more tackles than most senior players get in a whole season but they don't show how many tackles created opportunities for others. It also does not show whether the team won or lost the games? Some times we judge players on the obvious statistics but don't show how many times a player chases an opponent and causes a turnover thru pressure?

Kobe Farmer’s 2020 WAFL Colts stats - nothing spectacular which might explain the silence from both Melbourne and Fremantle as well as his presence here. My guess is that he might be offered a place within the system - perhaps at Casey - with a view to earning a place on the rookie list somewhere down the track.

Oscar McDonald stopped the best forwards going around.

Yeah, as I heard it, the only real benefit of ice baths was in reducing inflammation and immediate soreness. If it had any lasting benefits that was just a matter of people changing behavior as a result of that reduced inflammation - it could even be counterproductive if someone then overdoes the exertion again before they are ready. Stretch immediately prior has definitely been debunked - stretching should be all about building up that base flexibility, range of movement and suppleness, not a pre-game activity. Warm-ups there is still a bit of a debate but it leans towards being a bit warm and 'engaged' before really kicking into high intensity, but not some 20-minute jump around session. Also, playing (suitable) music while repetitive training makes a big difference to 'experienced' fatigue and capacity to keep going. It also greatly helps skills retention. As does saying what you're doing out loud! Crazy self-narrating backyard kids know what they're doing.

Dr. Depression is back