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Went with a friend to watch training this morning. They have 3 sets of temporary grandstands set up next to the rooms for spectators and get a good view of everything. Fritsch was the only absentee and J Smith was on the bike for the whole session. Everyone in their own numbers except JVR in 44, Kye Turner is 47 and Burgoyne 33. Started off with goal kicking which has been described before. Then an agility routine where where they ducked around ski poles whilst marking short kicks, receiving and giving handballs. Then a couple of other similar groups (of which there were 3 of 15 or 16 players). In one a ball was tossed in with 5 in white tabbards trying to intercept or tackle whilst other team handballed it around. At this stage one of the groups was all the tall players probably 194 or more and their skills below their knees were great. The had to at least bounce handball through the group a couple of times. When you saw 16 such tall players together you realised we are going to be a tall side, even if 6 are at Casey. May's anticipation and tackling stood out. Then whole ground long kicks one way, punch to defend and switch with handballs from defence then run and handball or short kicks to the other end. Very slick movement. It was in this that I saw Grundy on a few occasions just take off and try and get ahead of the play into the forward line. From that and previous reports,I think that is what he is going to do. They then did different versions of match practice which included free kicks, 50 metres etc. In this it stood out just how far the 1st and 2nd year players are behind the senior players Hibberd, May, Lever and Petty work really well together. Of the new players Hunter stood out - just kept hitting targets and got a bit of the ball. Grundy was very mobile but Max dominated. Schache took one good mark but that's all I saw him do. The 2 Turners were OK but a level below the others. Burgoyne was in the match practice but didn't seem to do much. Kozzie was quiet but looked good if that makes sense. Brown was very good, TMac and Bowie were OK JVR was impressive. Chandler and Spargo got involved. Trac, Oliver, Viney Langdon, Brayshaw, Harmes and Sparrow were a level above the rest. ANB was quiet and at one stage came off with maybe a groin issue, but came back on. Thommo did well - looks to have lost weight and moves a bit freer. Salem, Melksham, Jordan, Dunstan and Laurie were quiet. The young ones do well in the skills drills but just don't have the body or presence to impact in the match play. Seston has a body that could compete but a long way behind. Howes is probably the closest but will take him a while.

Once they find out who I am I’m sure the club will pull out all stops to provide me with every detail and a cheese platter for my visit.

Casey Fields this morning STINGA'S PRESEASON TRAINING REPORT

Mark Jackson had that.

How about we stop the body shaming on here. None of our players deserve this sort of ridicule, particularly Gus. We have no idea what his situation is anyway. Gus has a history of this? That was 7 years ago Daz - would no longer be on his record.

Gus has said himself that he was never blessed with a good rig and could never get that super toned look some of the other boys have, no matter how fit he was. Not everyone has the same body shape, and the beauty of AFL is that great players come in all shapes and sizes. If Gus is aerobically fit, whether he has a 6 pack or a 2 pack is absolutely irrelevant. Jack Watts always looked like a god out there, but it didn't make him the player we all wanted him to be. Gus has proven time and again that he can play multiple roles to a very high level, and was one of our best players in that third quarter in the grand final just 2 years ago with basically the same body shape. To doubt him now because he isn't sporting a Petracca physique is silly. Ed Langdon is not ripped either, but nobody is having a go at him. P.S.- if only all of us can be this 'unfit' 😅

I'm still winning @ 80% against my Backgammon app 😤

Seriously though, if we can’t get a training report, could someone please apprise us of any snake sightings at Casey Fields.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times Prior to last Fridays training session the link above had training listed as Casey on Friday 13/1 and then also Casey on Monday 16/1. At some point after Fridays session the information about Monday’s session at Casey was removed from the site and replaced with information above Wednesday’s (18/1) session at Gosch’s. Keep checking that link for information about Monday 23/1 although that may be subject to change.

It shapes as an interesting year for bowser. From a good luck charm best 22 lock who only knew winning. To getting dropped in the back of his second season. He didn't appear injured - did he miss a game? - so perhaps it was a classic case of second year blues. However, I have little doubt Salem either out injured or not at his best had a big impact. Bowey was suddenly the main distributor off half back and other teams put work into him. He is a super important player for us, Salem even more so. But almost as important is both playing regularly together. They compliment each other really well and if Salem is fit and firing the opposition is more likely to give him more focus than bowey . Which helps bowey get off the chain a bit more and set up some scoring chains. If Hunter can cement a spot in the best 22, suddenly we have three elite kicks distibuting the ball in that critical half back, wing zone. That's a big improvement from 2022 right there. A question for the track watchers (loving the reports) - how are bowey and salo looking?

Love the Bowza. Really hope he cements his spot this year.

Musing over 2022 during the off-season has been an interesting process. I’m sure all of this has been discussed six ways to Sunday but it’s January and I’ll do anything to spur more MFC discussion to temper the withdrawals. For me, one of the big challenges during 2022 was the number of physically challenging games. Teams were well aware of our strength around the contest, and often tried to get lots of numbers to stoppages and make the game a bruising encounter to have a chance of winning. Ignoring the games against the top 8 (as you expect these to be challenging), there was a few of these against the bottom 10. Round 2 against Gold Coast was warm and humid and the Suns really competed hard. Round 10 against the Kangaroos was similar, with the first half full of fake aggression from them (Langdon had his ribs broken in this game). In Round 16 against Adelaide, they pushed heaps of numbers around every contest to make it ugly and the game was tough. A lot of Dees players looked sore after the game. Round 18 against Port in Alice Springs was an exhausting game on a warm day on that large ground. The game was very end to end so the players looked pretty exhausted afterwards. In the Round 22 game against the Blues, they played man on man the entire game making every contest and stoppage a battle. When the Dees have looked their best during 2021 and 2022 it was when more of our players were getting to the next contest / spill of the ball. But due to small injuries and decreased fitness we were unable to sustain this during the second half of the year. That made more games more physically taxing – either by turnover (forcing more defensive running) or by more fiercely contested stoppages. It's a bit of vicious cycle – due to injuries and decreased fitness, the players were unable to move from contest to contest and win more post clearance possession, which in turn created more physical burden on their bodies leading to new or aggravated injuries and fatigue. This is highlighted in the Round 22 game vs Carlton – that game was a slog because the players didn’t have the fitness to push forward and back to get any sort of outnumber or overlap. Because our few elite level kicks were out of form (Salem, Bowey), having to constantly kick or handball to a contested situation meant our disposal efficiency was down, and turnovers were up. A lot of our goals come from outnumbering teams as we transition from defence to attack, rather than from elite disposal that cuts through a tightly packed defence. My question is – will the coaching team develop a strategy to combat overly physical games to help protect players from fatigue and injury, or will they continue to see contested ball as something we always have to win on the day. There is merit in having a tactic that can be engaged at times during quarters to try slow the game down and/or reduce stoppages. This will give opposition teams something else to consider. I remember two games - Sydney (vs Freo in Perth) and Carlton (first game vs Pies) - where they adopted slow deliberate ball movement to get themselves back into the game and swing momentum their way. If the team is fit enough to play the field position, surge style game play, they’re also fit enough to lead into space to hold possession through short kicks. I know there is a limit to how long you can do this before a long kick to a contest is needed, but given we have very good marking defenders it’s something we can probably repeat several times in a row once we win back possession. The longer off season (compared to 2021) and no longer being reigning premiers will (on its own) increase our chances of not having as many bruising encounters. Teams won’t be quite as ‘up’ for games against us as they were in 2022. But I hope lessons have been learnt, and the coaches have some strategies for trying to protect the players so they are fresher at the pointy end of the season. If we start strong again this year, teams will start to focus a lot of attention of us and I hope we have strategies for dealing with it better than we did in 2022.

We already have 2 rucks in Max and Brody. KFW for the future and Verrall as tall. We only have a list of 44-45, so how many rucks do you want? Last year Casey used Bell for most of the year, Daw when he was on the list, with JVR as resting backup. Even brought in The Spencil! Casey can do the same again this year without MFC putting one on the list.

No. All he wanted to know was what our backup plan was if Max or Brodie went down. I'm not sure why you double-down on the panic statement unless it struck a chord with you.

what part of Dingos post implied panic? a simple question is all. Relax

In addition, hell of a nice fellow and has intelligence in football, life and scholastically. We have a ripper in every aspect !!

My Collingwood supporting mate has a little Demons sticker on the back of his ute. He just doesn't know it's there.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times AFL Training Sessions Date: Wednesday 18 January Time: 9:30am Location: Gosch's Paddock *Please note: Training times and locations are subject to change at late notice.

I think you are really on the same page expressed differently. Few would argue that a fit Salam would not be one of the first choses - that is a fit Salem. Nobody should be picked, automatically or otherwise if they are not for whatever reason fit for cause. I hope we have learned that the hard way 2022.

During the tennis they often spend a bit more time out at Casey. It seems they’re only going to designate certain sessions as open and chose to refer to Wednesday that way. You can try the socials as well as calling and the website, but you might need someone on here to confirm if they don’t call it an open session.

If we lost both Gawn and Grundy I think we'd probably go with Schache/McDonald combo before Verall. He's just a project player ATM. I'm still trying to get my head around having the best two ruckman in the AFL in the same team. It will make it difficult for a prospective ruck to get a game, but maybe Verall is far enough away that he only just comes right as Maxy retires.

Met a mate at the races who knows the Jefferson family well. Family has been running the Jefferson Ford car sales business for about 40 years. They are big supporters of Collegians in the VAFA where the father was a top player. Matthew has been a leading junior footballer both at school (Wesley College) and with Ashburton in the Yarra Valley Junior Football League (he was in their interleague side with Elijah Tsatas and Ollie Sestan) and various representative sides from Oakleigh Chargers to Vic Metro in the National Championships. Reckons he needs 12 months in the AFL system and he’ll be a gun.

Broody Grundy first Will Verrall second Josh Schache third Dont be such a panic merchant . other's to do throw in's on forward line eg Tmac JVR etc.

Saw what looked to be pretty much the whole list out early in Yarra Park this morning doing an extra fitness session with kettle bells, rowing machine and the like. Didn't stand around and watch as it wasn't exactly footy stuff. For me Gus looks better in person than the training image everyone is talking about but I don't have any further insight. There are still questions about our best midfield mix and fewer sessions in the main group is unfortunately probably not the best prep. Dustin Martin was looking very fit over at Punt rd oval today, and seemed to be a few kgs down from last year. I've caught bits and pieces of the Gosch's sessions over the last couple of weeks. I'd agree that Sestan looks like the most comfortable of the draftees, I'd probably temper expectations for this year given he's pretty raw. You get some good things and some not so good things and I think they will want that gap bridged a bit before he's let loose. Schache has pleasantly surprised me watching how he performs in terms of intensity and tackling during the in-close drills.

Got to training about 9:50 & headed off by 11:30. Rehab / Light Drills: • Jed Adams • Kyah Farris-White • Will Varrall • I think i spotted Joel Smith, but could be wrong. The above doing light drills. Andy Moniz-Wakefield & Trent Burgoyne doing seperate laps / runs for the whole session. James Harmes, Angus Brayshaw & Steven May all started with the main group but then progressed to light duties / laps for the remainder of the session. The latter two did the bulk of the session before partnering up for some sideline runs. They all moved fine to me so you would think it's just a conditioning thing. Some key takes: Lever is the voice of the squad. Very vocal & always directing / encouraging. Got to be in serious contention to captian the side when Max's time is up. Petty is in ripping touch. He was the best tall defender out there today, no question. He aint playing forward, well not unless our KPF stocks take a big hit. Kozzie's left foot is all class. Used it a few times out there today & each time it was pure & hitting the target. You can tell he's super confident in his game. Strap yourselves in! Geez we missed T-Mac. He's training really well at the minute & one-grabbing everything. Hand's look really good. Nothing better than seeing Trac leap & mark at the highest point. Thing of beauty. Dunstan know's how to find it. Probably had it the most out there today. But we know he's limited. JVR, well he's ready. Strapping young lad who's just a real workhorse. Competitive af. There's something about Oliver Sestan. From the way he looks, to his build & the way he finds space. Once they get his tank up to the level he'll be one to watch. Oliver & Hunter were back at it today. Neither involved heavily... but they were crook just the other day so. Gus does seem a bit heavy to me. He's never been a specimen, nor will he ever be, but yeah, the rig doesn't look in top shape. He's got time to work that out. Last one, spoke to Choco, asked if there's any injury concerns & he said Nope. The boys looked good today. That's me done. 🔴🔵

You mean this Angus Brayshaw yeah? https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxVCZUdL9bCzVZPPkoL9rznnA026zPSvtT

artificial intelligence still has a long way to go apparently

Also photos of Gus from the past 2 trainings. Mountain out of a mole hill. Never been gifted with the rig, and is pretty open about that on podcasts and that stupid interview he did in his towel one game. Will be in the 4 man midfield rotation and have his best year since 2018

Someone uploaded a few flicks to instagram from training recently, he looks in better nick here

I'm waiting for my new stickers to come,.. Especially the ones for the license plate. I do not have a car myself, But I quite enjoy the thrill of sneaking around very late at night and surreptitiously placing them on random license plates in the neighborhood. It is my way of creating new Melbourne supporters.

Don't disagree greatly Kev. I don't think we can rule some in or out at this stage. BTW my name Tommo means Adam Tomlinson not Sparrow who could well have his break out year based on the training observers. He has up to now to be frank a very good looking tease who does quality plays but just not quite enough of them. His time should be this year also. Schache if he trains well and shows intensity might put his hands up as an I/C due to his versatility or as a replacement for an injured KPP forward or back. To be honest I hope Turner and Tommo in defence and JVR and Sestan ( if he can get fitness and endurance into his body) up forward are given opportunities as specialists if they have earned it. I see no reason so far that any players who have fitness issues now are ruled out yet but come February would want to be automatic match sim competitors in full scale match approach. Yes Tmac and Salo are vital and I have no doubts that both will fully fit raise our standard in play to more like 2021, and I include Riv in this category plus Tommo to have a stellar year as his ACL year becomes a thing of the past. He and Turner and perhaps Joel Smith ( if he has an extended run at full fitness) might go head to head for a third ( or fourth tall in defence) spot if those positions are ever needed. I hold high hopes also that Jed Adams is a quick developer ( although lightly framed as of now) as his highlight reel shows a real appreciation of how to play in defence at full throttle. I when I first saw Harry Petty's highlight reel earmarked him for a key position role in the future. Time and injury held up his progress but surely his opportunity came up when Tommo unluckily went down and he has never looked like surrendering his spot since. AA may be within his CV in the near future if he continues to mark and defend as safely as any one of his tender age. ANB needs a 2021 style goals total, Hibbo usually performs well once fitness is obtained, BBB needs his fitness to be carefully managed but we know his best is a boon to our goals per game totals. Melky could again be handy but if it was a flip of a coin job between him and Sestan I would give Oliver a go every time earlier in the season if he was AFL fit enough. Brodie and Lachie are virtually A graders who should improve our supply in total and style to our forwards if the game plan is upgraded from 2022. Plenty of hard work for all to replicate 2021 but I am confident we have a greater spread of talent and youth in 2023 than even that flag year. Have other sides like Geelong Brisbane Swans or Pies got their teams at the top gone past us. Not if we play with the culture desperation and demon spirit of 2021 again, along with the little bit of luck with injuries that is needed in a flag year.