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Rest easy DD. It is just about done. They’re just sorting a couple of points with the Dees. There is no other Club as a spoiler, just working through some small operational t’s & c’s with the Club.

I spoke to Jake Lever today at the kid's clinic. He was 100% adamant that he was playing Monday night. In his words, "I'm definitely playing Monday night. Unless I hurt myself at training between now and then". I also had a chat to big Maxy Gawn. He said that he was playing too. That was if they picked him, of course.

Mitch Cleary on the tradies podcast stated that the deal with Kozzie from the Melbourne camp is that its really close to being done. There's been a shift. "Tracking the right direction" with the club and his family being on board. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tradies-6-clayton-olivers-secret-phone-call-to-a/id1676700145?i=1000609495885 Talk starts at 7:55.

Hopefully we at least get Lever back this week. I've been thinking about the loss and about how poor we were, by our standards, behind the ball. Our intercept game was off and Essendon scored far too easily going inside their forward 50. I started wondering: when was the last time we played a game without both Gawn and Lever? The answer? Round 16, 2019. 3.5 years since we've played a game without at least one of our two elite intercept marks in the side. I doubt it's a coincidence that we looked so poor defensively as a result.

Exactly, I've watched old games from the 70's, 80's and even early 90's and as soon as a player was tackled it was either ball up or holding the ball. Then coaches bought in congestion and the AFL massively relaxed how quickly decisions were made in order to stop the game becoming one repeat stoppage after another and allowing players to use strength to break tackles. At the same time modern fitness programs really kicked in and the average bulk and upper body strength of players went right up too. I'd like to see 3 changes: 1. A massive and widespread clamp down on holding the man at stoppages. It's crazy to me that umps will pluck out free kicks in front of goal for a defender having their arms around the waist of a forward even if there's no holding and the forward has initiated contact, but allow so much at stoppages. Oliver should get 10 free kicks a game. 2. Be prepared to pay a ball up if a guy is tackled cleanly and immediately 3. Pay holding the ball if there's been prior opportunity more so than if the tackle is fully complete. Whilst it will lead to a few instances that look a bit like touch footy if a player has had prior they really only need to be wrapped up The first 1 in particular I just find really inexcusable that there is so much holding at stoppages. The more open stoppages are the less danger there is of repeat tackling.

Someone mentioned the question about Kozzie from the youngster. It happened just as Kozzie was entering the field and clearly heard the question and Gave FRicho the thumbs up which Richo acknowledged. I hope he has decided so we can quickly move on. The session was short and sharp with Max, Hibbo and Lever all spending some time with the fitness team. It is also noteworthy that Van Roo had an enormous knee bandage on one leg. I wonder if he is carrying an injury. Nothing mentioned. I was pleased to see the session finished off with goal kicking drills. The media complain that clubs don't practice goal kicking but all players were having a go. I watched Ollie Sestan as he has a set routine and did not miss any of his dozen or so shots on goal. A most enjoyable day

I travelled out to Casey Fields today with my daughter and two grand kids for the MFC kids Clinic. My first trip out there 1.5 hrs each way But very impressed with the facilities the organisation of the clinic, player and staff involvement and the large number of kids and parents in attendance. The kids got to mix with the players and have a lot of fun with like minded kids of their own age as children were split up into similar age groups. When the clinic concluded we were lined up along the fence line with the kids and all players involved came along from both ends and signed their autographs and posed for photos, etc, which took a long time. clinic started at two and it finished at 4:30, I felt very proud of our player group for giving up so much time for their fans. The sun shone for us and my two left feeling very happy with themselves. My only complaint was that there were no famous bacon and egg rolls, so had a hot dog and coffee instead. Well done MFC.!!!!

Big call I reckon Lever has it in the bag

For what it is worth. A youngster at training yesterday asked Richo in front of 200 fans and over the P.A about Kozzie and where would he play. Richo paused and as luck would have it the question coincided with Kozzie entering the ground and he clearly heard the question. He gave Richo and the kid a thumbs up which Richo acknowledged. Theatre or a portent of what he has decided, I don't know but Richo was quick to point out that Kozzie had acknowledged. Richo replied that Kozzie is a much loved player loved by one and all at the club and that Kozzie loves the club.

I'll be interviewing Demon rookie Judd McVee on the Demonland Podcast tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. If you have any questions that you'd like Judd to answer let me know below. I'll post the interview here some time on Thursday evening so look out for it wherever you get your podcasts.

You are the only poster in this thread that I care about Fingers crossed it gets done soon

Always good to see low profile players rewarded after several years of development and hard work. His form this year warrants a new and improved contract.

Which backline player has taught him the most? Where does he think he will end up playing long term? Backline or somewhere else?

Just maybe he's not GONE

Can back up what a few have said. Kozzy and his management as well as the club are almost in the position of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It’s as close as it’s ever been. Would imagine in the next couple of weeks at some point it will be announced. Brilliant news! Although from a personal stand point, I hope they hold the announcement off until the week of Round 10 when we play Port on the Friday night😂

I braved the rain and wound up next to the coaching marquee on Sunday. I felt like Bailey took a while to work out how to play around Harmesie(who is a clear step up from VFL) on the day, but he is obviously regarded as a young leader around the VFL team with lots of clear vocal input to his team mates. I thought he had an exceptional game imposing himself on the game as it progressed. A pity he could not convert his snaps on goal because that would have made it a BOG performance. I know he was devastated by his first seniors game and is keen to get another run (he is family friends of a friend).

Goody’s comments suggest they will rethink it, if it happens again.

Its a shame you missed out 'kev'. We love your work and that you tirelessly turn up at Gosch's just in case there is a session. I suspect most of DL's feel the same Your training reports are one of my favourite parts of DL. Thank you.

We sat behind the cheer squad rjay and Gus did a lot of work off the ball clearing space for the likes of McVee and Bowey. Numerous times he would give a clever little bump to Ess forwards so May and co could have a free jump at a mark. Ran it out until the end, he was the least of our worries on Saturday. It almost feels like early 2021 where Gus was solely judged on his possession numbers until it was known what his exact role was.

Looking forward to your podcast

Any information about being drafted would be interesting. Did any other clubs show interest? What happened in his draft year to see him slip down to the rookie draft (he was highly touted the year before from memory)?

Harmes is too good for VFL.

James Harmes is not a best 22 player at the MFC right at the moment. he's right on the fringe and i suspect will be at another club next year. Ripping guy and great team man, but it's one of those good team problems we haven't had in a really long time

i think the umpires could help a little by blowing the whistle quicker in stoppage srcimmages. they seem to let some of them go on for ages, you can only hold someone still standing in a tackle for so long. apart from sling tackles these scimmages get more dangerous for other injuries the longer they are allowed to continue

The fact it was my first training for over 35 years might give you an indication as to how important you and other training watchers are to me and so many others on Demonland. I, like others, attended because of the invitation relating to 10+ year members, and in my case oddly coinciding with a couple of hours free on Tuesday. I have never looked at the website to see when training might be due to not generally being in a position to go anyway. I hope to see you at training in the week before the Grand Final in this and the next few years. I might be able to make a special effort to attend those.

Personal issues aside, he is in the same basket as T-Mac imo. The difference between their best and worst is just too great at this point in their careers, (especially T Mac). Harmes doesn't need to do anything other than the basics at a high standard and he doesn't do that often enough which is why he is a 'maligned' player. I'd like him to play another week in the VFL and reward someone like Laurie who has played two great games in a row. Harmesy should be made to earn that spot back.

@Tim, @DemonWheels, @old dee, @old55, @layzie, @pitmaster, @Bimbo, @sisso, @tiers, @Demons1858, @Demonland, @Hawk the Demon. Does anyone have an answer to why you didn't nform this site and myself about the training today? At the moment, I feel taken for granted. I need support, otherwise I will not post and you can get reports from another. I turned up today with guess work and uncertainty. That could have been totally different, a little heads up would be appreciated.

The more astute among us know a [censored]-stirrer when we see one. The whole ‘we need differing views to promote debate’ thing is an easy out for these sadsacks who bag our own players under the guise of offering different views to promote debate.

I would love to have voted, Harmes as a pure tagger, follow them wherever they go, play fwd, back, mid and bench, whoever he has to slow down.

The umpire shouldn’t have let Draper nominate for the ruck when he was so far away. By the time he had reached the contest, he was at full pace and TMac was a sitting duck. Very ordinary moment.

Sorry Kev! While the invitation from the club to attend training was a very welcome one it was quite ambiguous with very little detail other than what time to be there and that there'd be free coffee and a briefing from the higher-ups. It sounded like it could potentially be a more formal thing with only a few members given the 'invitation' aspect so I didn't even bring my kids (even though they're on school holidays) as I thought they wouldn't be allowed given they aren't 10 year members (literally had my membership card ready if they were going to check!). Maybe silly on my part as it turned out to be a very casual affair and essentially open to anyone who wanted to be there.

Good grappling takedowns are designed to avoid impact to the head and to maximize control of the person

Come on Kozzy. This thread needs to be put to bed. Sign the deal!

Winners At Last posted a thread about it the week of April 6 which for some reason I can't seem to find. It may have been merged with another training thread and therefore lost in the wilderness. I've been to one training session in 12 months so I'm really out of it when it comes to how these things are organised, it was billed as an 'exclusive viewing' for 10+ year members so I didn't know what to make of that either. I think in the past I've assumed that you're more cluey than me at deciphering the club's communication but have only recently learned that most of your efforts come from good old guesswork. Short answer is I just assumed you would have known. I'm getting more familiar with how you work though and if I or others here can do anything to support your efforts in bringing us these brilliant reports then we're more than happy to help out. We love your training reports Kev and appreciate everything you do from the bottom of our hearts.

I'm a bomber am I, my membership for the last 22 years as a Redleg and Trident does not say that.

Forward line has been fine it's our defence and mids that have let us down vs Bris and Ess. Highest scoring team in the comp but we are leaking goals far more easily than we have in the past.

In Lethal's interview with Goodwin, Lethal said we were No.1 in the league for set shots with an accuracy of 66% so far this season. Probably well known by many on here already but Goodwin confirmed we have stepped things up in this area with Choco taking over the goal kicking skill sessions from Stafford this year.

How about in the days before smartphones and devices? I was lucky to post 3 times a week sometimes! And you could forget about posting in a gameday thread at the game unless the G had an internet Cafe that I wasn't aware of!

Unfairly pessimistic take IMO. For one, look at who we've played in this 9-10 period. The final 14 games last year were almost exclusively against 2022 top 8 sides, with repeat travel/venue changes. So far this year we've played three 2022 finalists plus the in-vogue 4-1 Essendon, and with repeat travel/venue changes. More than happy to be proven wrong on this but I'm confident there isn't another side whose previous 19 games have been as challenging as ours. More importantly, we reset over the summer and there should be no reason to expect us to be 5-0 or necessarily 4-1. The 10-0 start last year is a perfect reminder than being scintillating right now is not necessary. It arguably isn't even a good thing. So when you say things like "we still have no idea what exactly is our best forward mix", that shouldn't be viewed as a strictly negative thing. I mean, never mind the fact that we've been forced to make changes (Pickett suspended Round 1, Fritsch missed Round 1, Gawn injured Round 2, Brown injured Round 3, Spargo injured Round 5). And never mind the fact we're the highest scoring side in the competition. It's not all bad that we're working through different combinations. We're learning how, for example, JVR works with TMac, and how Brown works with Grundy/Gawn. If we'd picked the same forward line each week Goodwin would be exposed to the 2022 argument against him that he's "stubborn". Also we're 6th in the comp for average CP differential, so our CP game hasn't fallen apart. We're 3-2 and one game off the top. We've hardly lost touch with 1st despite playing more games interstate than at home, having our hall of fame captain miss 80% of the season so far, and playing some reasonably good sides to boot. We've integrated Grundy, Hunter, McVee and JVR into our side, and we've had success with some positional changes (Petty, Rivers, our general approach to centre bounces). Having said all that, the one thing you didn't mention that I'd like to see improvement in is the rate at which our opponents score when going inside their forward 50. It feels like we're not as stable behind the ball as we were in 2021-22. That will in part be down to May missing two games, Petty being moved back/forward, Lever missing a game, Gawn missing four games, and a lack of continuity back there, but I'd like to see that area improve.

Ha yes, I do remember that. That was when I read this site daily but was too scared to actually post anything! Now look at me go.

Probably not the right thread but the TMc knee to the back wasn’t even a free as I recall …. barely a week after the AFL reiterated that it would not be tolerated. When Cox returns he will feel that he has free rein. Such typical AFL hypocrisy / double standard.

Why should the general public know, right? Outside of the Club it’s nobody else’s business. Even within the Club there’s some who aren’t privy to the reasons. I don’t know about other clubs but our Club is very successful in keeping things under wraps. Speaks to the trust and respect of everyone involved.