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Another interesting revelation at the training/sponsor function was that Joel Smith is going to play forward this season. A pretty hard forward line to fit into. Also , Choco said he has taken over as goal-kicking coach. I’m surprised he wasn’t that before…..but it’d be great if he makes a difference to that facet of our game.

Choco mentioned this before a player sponsors event on Saturday but here it is confirmed by Channel 7 in the last 10 seconds of the clip.

I flew in this morning from the Central Gippsland wetlands to Casey, to check out MFC training, for the first time since Grand Final week 2000, and maybe even to give a report. Perhaps the fact that I was obviously the only observer, for several hours, should have been a dead giveaway, but a genial Richo enlightened me. ''How did you get in, don't you know it's a closed session, and do you work for a club?" ''Mate'', I say, ''Richo,''' I say, ''I'm just a retired schoolteacher with too much time on my hands!'' ''No worries'',says a grinning Richo. Anyhow, I'd love to give a scintillatingly informative report, but [1]. it would probably all be redacted, and [2]. duck season is imminent.

Yes I was very happy to hear this. I have noticed on two separate occasions at training that Choco was instructing certain players kicking for goal. Once with Ben Brown and once with Max. I didn't put two and two together that this might be a new role for him. Proof of success will be in the pudding as this area has been a glaring weakness in our game for a long time.

I was watching Joel get some goal kicking assistance from Williams. The one where you kick in the alley and over a dummy. He miss hit every ball. Perhaps he was still suffering with his infection, but he appeared extremely anxious around Williams. Either he scares him or he overly wants to impress him and creates anxiety. He better get over it, if he wants a job forward.

The players have always had a designated 2nd position and it only makes sense that they train/play in that 2nd role to understand it and more importantly the players around them can jell with them when in that role. When TMac went back in defence briefly last year it was seamless, just the way it should be. This sort of thing is what I will find fascinating during the season when combined with the strategic sub. Some teams will just opt for the sub as backup if someone gets injured, however I could see it being used in a variety of ways. Is it the stopper role? An oppo player gets off the chain and someone needs to sit on them. Harmes on the bench comes on for the second half to fill that role? Rivers as sub comes on to quiet a rebounding defender or to allow Gus time in the middle. These things have been managed by the interchange in the past but now we have a true break glass in case of emergency option. The permutations are going to be interesting.

I think they are going to run the legs off opponents. The forward line may play high and the back flanks may push up. [We need to get our transitioning and reactivity right.] During general play, I can see us pushing a back (River's, Brayshaw) and a forward (ANB, Spargo, Kossie) into the middle, with our ruck's filling the kick away from play. We will open our forward area, for getting the ball over the back, and trust the experienced backs to fill and cover. Pack running and hunting, overwhelm them when we don't have it and spread when we do. I don't think they will change that exhausting type of game plan. They will always ask, how long can the opposition go with them till MFC break it open. There is also a chance Kossie will join Rivers, as both get more starts in the middle. Rivers is looking very strong, and makes a difficult match-up. The stuff that will beat us is still the opponents fast balls and switching. Hopes that our wingers can close that down.

Rivers in the midfield is not the only difference during a game we may see. Our main midfield group, Petracca, Oliver, Viney need a chop out more during games. The game will be even faster this year. Noting we already have another big bodied midfielder in Grundy, who looked in great nick yesterday.

Great news. Hopefully Gawn and Petracca spend a lot of time with our new goal kicking coach.

If you were a betting man then the result would be different ... that's how betting works, BDA! haha

Nice cover version. Here's the original.

He is also very team orientated. In his earlier sessions, he would let others get to the ball, or would quickly dish it off to them. It is tough in his precarious position. Lately he has been taking them on and pushing harder to get the ball. The longer he is with us the better he is looking, whereas K.Turner is falling off the pace. Burgoyne is a chance, I reckon.

It was straight kicking, 30 m out. I was explaining more the impression Williams has on him. Usually Joel is a pretty good set shot with a smooth gait.

Super Bowl is on today and starts at 10:30am. Given that a lot of the players are big fans of the NFL I wonder if today's session, if there is one, will accommodate for that?

Enjoyable and inciteful read thanks Grazman. I look forward to the next installment.

Don't think Riv will bother to kick to the forward pockets unless Fritta JVR or BBB lead there. Anywhere within 50m he is entitled to a well lined up serious shot for goal. Hope Chocco gets to him at training and guides him. About Joel Smith playing forward and missing a practice shot I presume it is the one where players turn side on and and screw the ball around on the side. Can't imagine that Smithy would be able to place the ball side on his boot. Just let him kick it straight or teach him properly how to do it. Ironically we have enough players that miss easy set shots in front from 25m out. We must improve in this area to fully convert our opportunities.

Mate, settle down. Jordon Lewis is not the only making these comparisons, the well respected Mongrel Punt had this to say last year; "Jordon played 22 games in his rookie season and slotted in as a peripheral component of the Melbourne midfield with a minimum of fuss. Comparisons to Brisbane champion, Simon Black, had me raising my eyebrows – it is always tough to place a label on an unproven young talent like that. However, there was nothing about the way he played the game that would lead me to think those comparisons were too outlandish. Jordon was composed, balanced, and used the footy well. His vision was excellent and like many young players, he did not seem to lose too much steam throughout the home and away season." No one is claiming that JJ will reach the dizzy heights that SB did, as you may believe we are saying. That is absurd. What I mean is that the way JJ plays reminds me, and I'm sure others, of the way SB played. He is having a very solid pre-season. Trackwatchers have commented on his composure, his hardness around the ball and his ability to think his way through traffic. SB had these attributes in spades.

Saty in a training thread....as rare as a Mr snuffleupagus appearance in Sesame Street!! Don't be a stranger!

The Rivers to midfield move is certainly intriguing from my point of view. He looks extremely fit from seeing him up close and he's got that perfect combination of speed and power alongside his height being 188cm which is now the norm for being a modern prototype midfielder. I like it.

I just want the season to start already!

I haven’t seen good or bad with Burgoyne. He’s built in to his time and had more chances once back in full training and match sim. But I really haven’t seen enough of anything. Pressure, skill or ability to find the ball. I don’t know what others have seen with Kye Turner but I think he’s been fairly consistent. At times he gets beat, other times he’s marked or spoiled. He shows very good recovery once the ball hits the deck. His kicking doesn’t look great but isn’t terrible. Does he read the ball in the air or hit the contest hard enough for afl footy - I’m not sure. But I think he’s pretty close and and might be only one good training away from locking it up. We are deep with tall defenders but light on for mediums and lock down players. Particularly if Joel Smith trains as a forward

Bout F'n time.

And just like that a huge turnover! (I'm watching live for a bit)

The Open Sessions Training Times have been updated on the MFC Website. Date: Wednesday 15th February Time: 9:30am Location: Gosch's Paddock *Please note: There are no public undercover areas available at Gosch's Paddock so please come prepared for weather conditions. Training times and locations are subject to change at late notice.

Just a question. If we move our headquarters away from the G area, do we risk losing it as our home ground over time? Could our home games there be whittled away and relocated to Marvel? The game is all about the dollar now and we don't always pull crowds particularly given the number of interstate sides we play there. For what it's worth, I don't care where our base is, so long as it's all under the one roof and equal to or better than the facilities of other sides. If moving out of the G precinct has any implications for where our home ground is down the track (noting Marvel is also in the City of Melbourne) then, no thanks. I'm happy to play the odd game there, but if it crept up to four or five games a year.... yes, I'm cynical but I really don't trust the AFL.

If he wants out, or is leaning out, the circus comes. What is the incentive to push for a public decision? Because that is the only thing that will disperse the circus. I am all for coming to an agreement at some point if he is to go but ultimatums solve nothing and probably push him out. At some point we have to get comfortable with good players being wanted by other clubs if we are continue to be a good team.

Actually I did in point 2, but I agree he's important - 2nd in their B&F and maybe they continue to push him up onto a wing but I think he is more a half back, maybe my bias but I don't see him as a genuine winger like Lingers. The class they have tends to be off half back (Dawson, Smith, Milera) and now at half forward with Rankine and Rachele - they need some through the midfield.

He does have a second he was AA 21, 22

Thanks @WERRIDEE, it's good to see what others think of the opposition for the up coming season. I'm going through every team and trying get a handle on their strengths and weaknesses to make my preseason forecasts and this includes challenging the assumptions I hold that could well be a serious case of confirmation bias such is my antipathy for the other 17 teams (vale Fitzroy who were the only team that came close to being my second side). Making my prognostications I try to list the best 18 and then the next 10 best players (most sides will use somewhere around 38-40 players over the course of a season). Typically I disregard 1st year draftees as some like Nick Daicos will be very good, but the overwhelming majority only have cameo moments and are rarely influential on the outcome of where sides finish. I think the starting 18 is just about right - although you could mount an argument for Shane McAdam who came 7th in their B&F to be at least in the 22 if not on the ground. So the draw: They play Brisbane, Port Collingwood, GCS, GWS and West Coast twice. Based on last years form, only the last two I'm counting as gimmes. They have a first up hitout away against the Giants before playing a block of tough matches against top eight aspirants in Richmond, Port, Freo and Carlton before they draw breath against the Hawks in Tassie. They then play Collingwood, the Cats, Dogs, Lions and Suns (away) in the next five weeks. I think its a possibility that they could be 3-10 going into the bye. 1. Darren Burgess- so we know they were significantly fitter last year and I expect that to repeat itself - won't have any problems running games out. 2. Defence seems to have all the right pieces in place with enough spread of age and experience. Worrell is light on for games and I've penciled him in for key position post along with Butts and Doedee who are solid talls, Smith, Dawson, Milera provide good run and quality ball use, and I'm a fan of Nick Murray as a lockdown defender. 3. Rucks. O'Brien is a good ruckman and Thilthorpe is developing well. The only other ruckman is Kieran Strachan who won the Crows SANFL B&F and made the SANFL team of the year, but with only five games to his name, if O'Brien goes down (only missed two games last year when he was dropped) 4. Contested Ball winners. They had two last year (Laird and Keays) that had more than 200 CP(we had 4). I know they were missing Sloane (33 this year and coming back from an ACL) and Crouch is on the outer and it will be interesting to see if he forces his way back in or if his ticket has been punched. They really need a Soligo, Berry or Sholl to really make an impact this year, but I'm not sure they can address this in one season. I know they have high hopes for Luke Pedlar, but he's unlikely to do that after only 5 senior games. I know they were ranked 3rd overall for CPs as a team, but it's a very uneven spread in terms of workload and it's why initially I thought the player they could least afford to lose to injury was Rory Laird. 5. Class - their forward line has it with Rachele and Rankine, but they need it in the midfield - as hard as they work, and tackle they lack big bodies and powerful brutes to break a game open. Keays, Hinge, Berry, Sloane, Schoenberg are all honest players, but I doubt one of them forces their way into a top four midfield - well with the exception of Laird. Anyone that's getting 360 CPs in a season is worth a spot in your midfield. To me the player that sums up Adelaide is Ben Keays. An honest hard worker that gives his all for the team, but in the back of your mind he's the place marker for the classy midfielder you need to draft/trade into the team. The other big problem is the wings... with no Seedsman now they seem to be rather thin in this under-rated department. 6. Their most important player. - initially I had their B&F winner Rory Laird - but I've swapped it to the big Texan. Without him I just don't think their forward line can work. Fogarty made big improvements last year - but without Tex he gets the best defender and Thilthorpe the second best tall - I think it's probably a season too soon for that for both of them. Tex is 33 this year and while there's no reason to believe he can't maintain that form (for some reason tall forwards don't decline as sharply with age as other footballers), the older a player gets the more you worry about how prone they are to getting injured and how long it will take them to recover. Is he due for an on-field injury as opposed to his self-inflicted off-field damage? The assumption I need to challenge is that Adelaide and Matthew Nicks will continue to build on their development over the last three seasons, 3 wins, 7 wins, 8 wins. There'll be high hopes for a 10 - 12 win season. Football trajectories are rarely linear though and I can see a slide on the cards for Adelaide. I have too many concerns to have them winning more than 7-8 games, and if things go really wrong as they could with only the 2nd youngest and 2nd least experienced list in the comp it might be a difficult season for them. I can see a scenario where they finish bottom four, but not one where they finish higher than 10th.

what did the club actually say? giving him some time? or giving him as much time as he wants? i hope the club has set a time limit (not publicly) of by the mid season bye. if it drags on after that it could have an impact on the whole team and detract from the premiership focus and we end up in another media circus i know you can't absolutely force it, but there comes a reasonable time when it must be resolved

It strikes me as a bit childish... ... and I'd know!

The Bros on the Deebrief podcast criticised our stance of ‘giving Kozzie all the time he needs’ to make a decision and to push for a signature now; tacitly pushing for an ultimatum on the eve of the season. Do people actually think that is a good thing to do?! Hands up who is that dim, to think that would be good for him this season or that it would keep him around long term? Bizarre.

If true, then Lewis is much sillier than I thought. Jordon and Black are barely playing the same sport, let alone comparable as footballers. Black player 300 games, won a Brownlow, a norm smith, played in three flags, won three B&F and captained his club. JJ will be very fortunate to emulate one of those.

It’s not that hard as May showed in signing an extension during the week. If you want to stay at the club sign on the dotted line………………………………………….

Cyril kicked 40 goals or more twice in 11 seasons. Kozzie has done it twice before he is 22 yo.

Yep......can't wait to see him reach top gear. Hope it's in a red a blue jumper. I think as great as Petty is ..he too will probably reach new heights ...no pun intended. I also think Sparrow has incredible potential.

Such an incredible set of highlights and that was just the goals. He's right up there with the best of all time IMHO. I'm not going to waste any emotional energy getting worked up about if he stays or goes. There's nothing any of us can do about it. I thank Scully for teaching me that no player is irreplaceable or worth getting worked up about. He turned into Hogan turned into May. Life goes on. But having said that what a player. Ever since I saw his pre draft highlights he has reminded me of Cyril Rioli. So I did a little bit of picking. Here's some stats to compare them. Kosie Cyril. Kosie Cyril Kosie Cyril Year 1 1 2 2 3 3 Games 14 25 25 19 23 20 Goals (Av) 7 (0.5) 24 (1.0) 40 (1.6) 21 (1.1) 41 (1.8) 27 (1.4) Tackles (Av) 35 (2.5) 87 (3.5) 87 (3.5) 89 (4.7) 62 (2.7). 98 (4.9) Some very interesting comparisons. The one that stands out for me as I always thought Kossie's defence work and tackling was way ahead of Cyril. Wrong. Also interesting that Kossie's tackling dropped off last season. But Kossie is clearly a much more substantial goal scorer than Cyril who kicked 42 in his 8th year and 47 in his 9th year.

clear starting inside trio: oliver, petracca, viney next cabs: brayshaw, sparrow, harmes, jordon, dunstan already best 23 potential rotations: pickett, rivers, anb and then a bunch outside the expected best 26 side

Fixed!

Don’t think I’ll ever forget a player that was involved in the first premiership I’ve seen, even if they pizz off to another club.

A few kgs? From his face? I had no idea his face was that fat.

Great news for the club. He’s an elite key defender at the height of his powers. His game against Buddy in the first final was possibly the best I’ve ever seen from a key defender. He embarrassed a legend of the sport and made him look like an absolute second rate spud. Was incredible. May will be key to another flag if we win another one during our window.

I am happy to admit I didn’t see the ability he has from the videos pre his drafting. JT has done it again.

Turner and offer Burgoyne a spot with Casey.

Fwiw Byron Pickett's son Bryon Pickett jnr (Kozzie's cousin) has just moved down to Melbourne this week and I believe will be living with Kozzie and Trent Burgoyne.