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Rehab: BBB, TMac, Hibbo (the three in runners and no involvement in the main training) and K Turner (doing his own program). Oliver, Petty and Verrall with the main group in full training. Bowey, has the "white hat" on, though is having a full session. Tough conditions (windy), that they are handling well. Plenty of noise as they support and call each other, they remain professional as they perform, then more relaxed during the ends of drills. After warm ups and small drills, they split into two groups, with rotations into each station. First was goal kicking, the other was handball in tight areas until the whistle, then they clear and make a ball entry into the fifty. They used left/right wing, and centre area, as the starting place. Emphasis, on spread and delivery. Several rotations into the goal kicking and midfield set up drills. They finish with a little bit of running, though not too much. Petty, Trac and Sparrow last to leave.

In other NON-MFC news Bernie Vince had a day out today.

Best performance doesn’t care about what day of the week it is, if the work needs to be done today, it needs to be done today. The players would likely be well educated on that and given they would all love to win another GF i suspect they realize it’s a minor inconvenience as apposed to a big problem. From my elite swim coaching days, i can tell you that around 95% of the athletes at the swimming trials in Melbourne at the moment would train around 48 out of 52 Saturday’s per year, along with 9-11 other sessions throughout the working week and most will be paying $ for the privilege of doing so and not earning a cent from the sport. All in the name of making Australian teams and swimming for the country.

The amount of high intensity running he did on the ground post game that i witnessed, he must have been close to playing on Monday. I was amazed how well he was travelling. I’d put good money on him playing given the ten days between games. Bloke even admitted to slipping out of the hospital for a run against doctors orders while cooped up in hospital. Wouldn’t be surprised if he ran 10km bare assed in a hospital gown while pulling a drip stand with him.

Hibbo giving it his all, ends up in the rehab group after each game

This is fun

I just spoke to a Pies supporter friend of mine who is good mates with Joel Smith. Kudos to some of our analysts here on Demonland , Binman and others who were spot on. When asked how did you do it and what was your game plan against Collingwood, Joel said that we had to give something away to gain something, and it was letting them have the wings to move the ball, but. Completely blocking the corridor and and have more numbers down back, which meant they couldn’t attack with that run they are used to through the middle .

When Max was interviewed by Whateley last week before the Pies game, the topic of the short bye and 3 x 10 day breaks was brought up. Max actually said that the strength and conditioning team saw it as an advantage to the rest of the competition due to the training blocks we could get in to help with the backend of the season.

Lots of Saints and Tigers fans having their first shower of the year.

Petty with the main group. Thanks Kev Very interesting.........selection wise

The Giants have overtaken the Dockers on the Ladder.

The Gabba is a double edged sword for the lions. They have a phenomenal record up there. It must be the best home record in the AFL, surely. Geelong wouldn't be far behind I guess. Every season they bank good points from their home games. But most games are at night, and it is almost always humid and slippery, so the ball is on the deck and the conditions are tough going. The conditions suit contest to contest, tough footy. And that's basically the lions game plan in a nutshell. Meat and potatoes footy. Works well at the gabba, but not so well elsewhere, particularly at the G, where the extra space and better conditions expose their lack of leg speed. That's the other edge. Build a game plan and list, by design or otherwise, to maximise wins at gabba. Gets them to top 4, so big upside. But if the game plan and list can't deliver a flag they're stuck if they don't change something.

I agree @Jaded No More. No matter how you count the number of days in the break, we are copping the rough end of the pineapple here.

I always say that any true Melbourne supporter will go to the snow mid-week to avoid rubbing shoulders with the riff-raff on weekends.

When I entered the MCG on King’s Birthday wearing my Melbourne scarf, a Collingwood supporting lady asked me why I wasn’t at the snow. I just said, because my Range Rover has broken down. She looked at me with a mixture of surprise and jealousy. (Of course, I don’t have a Range Rover. Nor have I ever missed a game because I was at the snow.)

Your home-delivered liquor arrived? Get stuck into it!

Trigger warning. Clearly, freo are uber fatigued. They have no run in their legs AT ALL, hence no overlap run, spread or ability to cover outlet kicks or slow the giants' transition at all. The goal the giants kicked in the last second of the third was the perfect example. No question in my mind they are in the middle, or had just completed a heavy block of aerobic conditioning. Probably expansion why giants were short priced favorites. I note this because we have been in the same boat the last three season, including this year. Fatigue has been a factor in our surprising mid season losses. But WE HAVE NEVER folded like freo are now. All our losses have been close. We have willed ourselves to keep in touch, have pushed through the pain and fatigue barrier. As dees, fans, should be proud of, and laud those efforts, Freo have done the opposite. Hugely concerning attitude and mindset. Alarm bells ringing if you are a freo fan.

Shiver me timbers. Dockers about to lay anchor in the bottom six.

How did we lose to the Dockers?

No they don't get any more blocks of 2-3 days off. Once the season starts, their only real break from the club where they can do what they want eg veg on the couch, go to noosa, fly home to see family et etc is the four days they just had. That's it. They will get at least one day completely off a week, and occasionally two days. Bur not a proper rest or extended break until after their season has finished. But even on their days off they would likely still do fitness work and certainly won't go interstate or away for a trip. As -coach- said, these are elite level, professional athletes. They don't 'rest' in season. Take the nine day break from the cats game to the giants game in the Alice. We play Thursday night. They might get the Friday off, but then have to train hard on Saturday. Sunday off, and back to the club for more hard training Monday through Friday. Assuming we fly out Saturday (could be Friday I'd they are doing community stuff like previous years), they all get up ultra early, fly to Alice and have a captain's run on traeger Park Saturday arvo. Play Sunday. Fly out Sunday night. Back in their own beds, say 3am monday morning, maybe Monday off, then back on deck for more training Tuesday.

I don't understand why people get so worked about the size of our bye. There are only so many days between the start and the end of the year - if you get a shorter break between games one week, you are going to get a longer break another week. Every team is still playing 23 games in a 24 week period. The players might prefer to get a shorter break now, and an extra day or two between games closer to finals.

The thing that annoys me tho is the lack of consistency If 90% of AFL players are getting 12 days off, why should ours only get 9?!

As always, thanks for the update Kev. It’s terrible that our players are training on the Saturday of their bye round after playing just days ago. I’m very surprised the players didn’t go to the AFLPA. I would have.

We have fond memories of Alice Springs in 2022, I would recommend that anyone attending hook up with the Demon Army they guided us to best seating handed out flags and allowed us to join in the crowd noise. Great day out in unfamiliar circumstances and who would forget The Kozzie, Kozzie, Kozzie chant as he lit up the ground with six great goals that helped us keep Port at bay.!!!

Agree on all of that. At one point in the second the crowd was so cagey; Melb fans because we were dominating and doing nothing, and Pies fans probably because they were being dominated. It was like a theatre crowd. Hearing coughing and the players yelling. BUT the crowd got involved at moments and was really loud and energised - Grundy, Hunter hit, our 3rd term and the the last 10 mins both sides. Was good fun to watch that footy game. Tough contest and reminded me of the finals in 2018. Love this team! Glad to have seen them live the last three weeks.

Like their senior affiliate, the Casey Demons have a bye this weekend and the reigning premier will relish the break as an opportunity to regroup after a torrid few weeks that have seen them drop out of the top four to and fallen as far as seventh place on the VFL ladder. The Demons have been hit by injury and suspensions in recent weeks but they should be assisted by a number of players returning to the fold for their next game against Geelong VFL at GMHBA Stadium next Friday night. They follow up that game on 2 July when they host the GWS Giants at Casey Fields. These two contests are winnable and success in these games would restore the Demons’ final four aspirations. The clash against the Giants will see the return of the PLAY4BCNA game for both of Casey’s VFL and VFLW sides. This is the annual day when the club invites everyone to contribute to the cause of raising funds for Breast Cancer Network Australia. One way of doing so is by purchasing a beanie with all proceeds going to the BCNA, so jump online at Casey’s store to purchase yours today.

Pick 9 Pick 8 Pick 7 Pick 6 What a day!

Good to hear we’ve got the brains-trust commentating tonight. Richmond kick their first goal: Hamish, “And the Saints get their first.” When Luke Darcy comes across as the smartest in the room… you’re in trouble.

They were very sharp today. As you said, "With a shorter break the focus should be right on this week." At times the ball didn't spill. They adjusted really well to the windy conditions. Even the goal kicking, which they did a fair bit of, was good.

Deadset, the deliberate amateur nature of the score review and lack of cameras between goal and point post presumably is all about clicks and driving anger. The notion of ‘it’s better to be spoken about negatively, rather than not at all’ is the AFL modus operandi in full flight.

Tiggers and Giants winning would be a very satisfactory result.

If you are staying at one of the campgrounds south of the gap, we should have a few at the Alice Springs Brewery, a popular local… Consider a day trip without trailer to Chmabers Pllar, or to the East Mac’s. Another day trip without the trailer would be palm valley. Returning home, I would strongly suggest a trip to the West Mac’s, a stunning place, stay at Glen Helen the drive the Mereenie loop to Kings Canyon, doing the hike around the canyon. Both of these places are brilliant and the trailer should have no issues with the loop. From the canyon, head to Uluru and Kata Tjuṯa for a few days before heading back south. Just a few suggestions for you, there’s a heap you can do out here, just depends on your timeframe.

That answers those 2 questions kev - literally only a 4 day break and they can train on weekends. Mcrae said their players are not back on deck till next Monday, meaning their players get six days away from the club, and our only four. The pies don't play till Sunday week, meaning an 11 day break over tbeir bye period to our 9 days.

Currently using our homes equity to feed my lad. Chicken nuggets provide good value and added growth hormones.

I'm going and have ordered (and paid for) tickets but have not received them yet. (Dealing with Ticketmaster must surely provide some atonement for my many sins) I'm not sure about sitting with the Demon Army though, as I might run into Demonland's resident nut case @WalkingCivilWar - scary thought. I wonder how many Demonlanders are heading up for the game?

The following image was created by AI and includes 3 stereotypes in the one photo.

"Clayton Oliver comes clean after 'slipping out' of hospital despite suffering a foot infection... but Melbourne superstar insists he did NOT go for a run" 'Definitely didn't go for a run, I couldn't run, I just wanted to get a change of clothes.' "With the majority of his teammates enjoying a well-earned break after the win over Collingwood, Oliver was on the track on Thursday completing a 45-minute running session. “I thought I was pretty close (to playing last week), but going off today’s training session I was nowhere near it so probably good decision by the docs,” Oliver told 7NEWS. “A week in hospital is no good and (I) wasn’t too flash today. “I didn’t realise how bad I actually was, foot feels fine, just a bit unfit.”"

Love that guy

If the Tigers win tonight the Dockers will drop another spot

Toby Greene is one of my favourite non MFC players, absolute gun.

I reckon there's about 8,000 at the Giants game. Not too shabby for a plastic team playing an interstate opponent in a graveyard time slot in the @rse end of nowhere.

Hibbo has prepared like this before and still found himself in the team. Bowey would also be out of concussion protocols. Petty was doing a little bit of forward work today at training. There wasn't much backline preparation out there, though May spent a fair bit of time working with D.Turner.

I’m fine with it considering we have 3x10 day breaks in a row where I’m sure players get at least 2-3 days off/10, but I don’t like the fact our interstate players only get 4 days home for a bye. Especially those from WA. Bit of trek. Would be nice for them to have more time with their families, the go home factor is tough enough already.

I agree we should be given equal access to adequate to breaks, but right now we don’t, so we we have a choice, do what is required to perform at our peak with a view to winning the premiership, or don’t. Everything you do as an athlete has a cost and a benefit. Take a longer break to provide a mental rest, and you loose physiological improvement opportunities. Take a shorter break and you get less mental recovery but greater potential for physical adaptations. I would put trust in the guys/gals in the club who are highly qualified in these areas to give our boys the best chance of success as they are the experts.

What you call a 9 day break is what most of us would call a 10 day break - 12/6 to 22/6. If you play on consecutive Saturdays, that is seen as a 7 day break (ie. a week between games). Using your method, it would be 6 days as you only count the days that no football is played by the team.

St Kilda play a boring defensive style game that is not one bit exciting to watch. Leave them at Marvel with their 25k fans.

Cant forgive him for the game in Adelaide in 2011 when Trengove tackled him and he squealed like a stuck pig. Said he was concussed. Trengove got 3 weeks for a perfect tackle. Danger came back the next week and kicked 6 goals. Have hated him ever since.

I’m at the cricket at Edgbaston and I can confirm the whole crowd are Jacob van Rooyen fans.

@A F you are spot on with your crowd analysis. I have never attended a game with a quieter 80k plus attendance. Mates who watched the game at home say the crowd sounded insane on TV akin to a final so I suspect some channel 7 audio foul play. We were clearly outnumbered (as expected) but our supporters were as good as I’ve heard all year. I’m pretty vocal and emotionally invested so it’s often hard for me to personally get a gauge. I think the Big Freeze beanies also give a bit of a false indication if the crowd ratio given the sea of blue throughout the ground. BUT I will say that is the best behaved Collingwood crowd I’ve experienced in years. I got the feeling they were pretty content with how they were travelling going into the game so weren’t overly phased by the outcome one way or another. Last year on the other hand was absolutely feral.

Plus the CHATANOOGA CHOO CHOO.... IS BAAAAAAAAACk🤩