Leaderboard

I actually did tell him exactly that! He appeared outta nowhere (my umbrella means no peripheral vision) and I knee-jerked and yelled out, “CLARRIE!!!” He said “how are ya?” I said, “better now that I’ve seen you here!” Dave, the physio called him to go and as he walked away I yelled out, “We love you Clarry!” He actually responded, “I love you, too.” 😅 Afterwards he came over and we had an awesome chat. It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him. He told me about his 10 days with Chin and his family. I said, “Kade’s a great kid.” Clarrie says, [censored] oath he is!” That’s so Clarrie. 😁 He reckons he needs to lose five kilos. I said, “where the hell from?” He patted his belly. He ran off with the physio and when he came back to the fence he said, “you’re still here.” I said, “Yep, got a problem with that, fat-guts?” He laughed and said, “you’re a real fan” meaning because of the weather. I said I most definitely am. He pointed to his temple and said, “We remember this.” I mean, we hear things like this from the girls all the time. It’s rare that one of the boys say it. I’m back again. We just chatted again. He’s so funny. I said I’d better step back from him lest I take his eye out with my umbrella. Dave said, “geez imagine if that happened!” and we laughed. Clarrie says, “it wouldn’t matter, I’ve got two.” Then I said, “seriously Clarrie, you need to know us supporters love you so much, we’ve got your back, we always have and we always will, and we’ll always love you.” He said, “well someone has to” (love him). Before I could say anything he quickly added, “nah, thanks for that.”

OMG LOOK WHO’S HERE!

That's probably the best training report ever produced on Demonland.

If we offered him to Adelaide for two first rounders next year do you think they’d notice the difference?

Braved the elements for half an hour or so, couple of observations. Sestan did a couple of things that made me raise my eyebrows, in a good way. He’s just a smart, clean footballer who makes good decisions. Just needs to build his tank and there’s a real player there. The bloke in 26 is definitely Jed Adams. He looks a hell of a lot like Petty, and has filled out to a similar size, hence the confusion. Petty watched proceeedings from the sidelines but isn’t in a moonboot or anything. Rivers and Woey have gone to new levels physically. Really excited to see where Rivers can get to this year, he was a real standout while I was there. Sparrow was often fumbly, and annoyed at himself. We need him to step up next season. Lever is just an outstanding leader. He's got a great mix between barking orders, giving a spray, and putting an arm around players when needed. Great talker too, for me it’s him and Trac as our next leadership duo. Kept a close eye on Jefferson as I’m really keen for him to him to have a big season, especially if Petty ends up leaving. With the caveat that it was very much not a day for key forwards, I was left a little disappointed. He’s definitely put on a bit of size which is promising but his competitive instincts and follow up play compared to JVR is chalk and cheese. He has a strange posture, sort of hunchbacked, and he just doesn’t seem to relish body contact at all. Another thing I noticed was when Selwyn Griffith had set up a little 30-40m sprint between cones for players rotating out of a drill. He’d bark at the players to go flat out during that time but was half distracted, getting things prepared for the next drill. So nobody was really watching them to make sure they did it properly. EVERYONE, including Windsor, Tholstrup etc did this at 100% and really pushed themselves. Everyone except Jefferson, who took a quick first few steps and then cruised the rest. It probably sounds like nothing, but for me attitude is what often separates the good from the excellent. Hoping I just got him on a bad day, and as I said it undoubtedly was a tough one for the bigger boys.

MY NEW FAVE PLAYER!!! For now anyways 🤭 He’s soooo nice. I told him welcome to the Dees. He said he feels like he’s been with us for years. He says the boys are all treating him like a close teammate already.

Ok but I ain’t no Pickett Fence. So, they’re all out in the middle skipping. It’s pretty cute. They look like little kids. Selwyn is working with Fritta who is running along the boundary about 20 metres then he stops, looks at his watch then runs again. Fritta stopped for a chat. He said his foot/leg is coming along well, and they’re happy with the progress Now they’re practicing short sharp kicks to each other. Now they’ve split into two groups. Meanwhile Fritta is running really well. He just told me he’s currently running at 40% I smiled and said that’s good but tbh I have nfi what that means.

MY NEW NEW FAVE PLAYER! Again, so nice. I told him welcome to the Dees and he said similar to what Shane said about the boys immediately getting around him and making him feel like “part of the family.” I don’t know why but he and Tommy Sparrow ran a lap of the ground together after the others had all left. That’s when I pounced! 😅 After a chat and a pic I thanked Jack and turned to leave. Jack motions towards Tommy as if to say your turn and Tommy was ready but I said, “nah, Spaz is yesterday’s news.” 😂

Definitely the new guys. Also noticed Daniel Howes, Matty J and KFW were hard at it the entire time. And Knuckles… looking so good now that he’s bulked up and giving it everything out there. I spoke with Marty, a property steward, about how long the session was (over two and a half hours) and Monday’s was long as well. He’s at most sessions and he said today’s was the “most brutal” he’s seen in a while. They literally did not stop, apart from one time when a few of them came to the tent for a drink of water. And aside from the start when they’re jogging and skipping, it was high-energy intense training. The only player I thought struggled a little was McAdam. Same as on Monday. He’d oftentimes be hands on knees, sucking in air. At one point the seven new guys were doing short sprints in two groups on the boundary right in front of where I was. Incidentally, Kolt nailed it, and was like the leader in his group, telling Caleb and Kynan when to stop and go and encouraging them. It was great to hear him assume the responsibility. Anyways Shane had to continue doing the sprints on his own once the other six rejoined the main group. Methinks he’s not used to such intense training yet.

Roll Call - apart from Clayton, ANB and Lachie Hunter were both there and training with the main group. Clayton just doing short runs with the physio. Fritta and Petty not involved with the group. Fritta doing stretches, Petty seems not ready yet. So 11 of the 44 not there, Chandler, May, Viney, Brayshaw, B Brown, Kosi, Langdon, Schache, Tomlinson, Melksham, Smith.

I saw Kynan and Spargypants standing together and thought it must be bring your kid to work day.

I think you mean Blake. I called in Daniel in the interview with Jason Taylor despite having Blake Howes written on the page in front of me. I am going to blame you for this mix up despite it happening before you writing your post.

It would be perfect if WCW could do the boundary-riding interviews and the other guys could do the training drills etc.

Please let him know all supporters love him xx

Thank you WCW for your great efforts in inclement conditions and for getting up close to Shane McAdam and Jack Billing’s those smiles say it all. Great to hear that Clayton was relaxed and responded to you and joined in a warm conversation as well. Very important that he knows how we all feel about him, special thanks for that. Look forward to seeing you catch up with the rest of the new boys during pre-season.😁😁

Oh I forgot I’m supposed to be reporting on the actual training sesh. The group nearest me is practicing ruck work. Matty J and KFW are looking good. KFW is a bloody tall unit and Matty certainly looks imposing now that he’s muscled-up some. Absent on Monday but here today: Nibs and LH12 Goody looks as though he’s gained weight. 🤭

Really like this, shows heaps, and I know it’s “only” his age group but it shows, confidence in himself, strength of character, maturity, leadership, again maturity beyond his age. and he played against seniors last year I think. hope he can play footy. We might have an absolute gem, future leadership as well, fingers crossed

Don’t encourage her. DL will turn into the Bold and the Beautiful or Days of our Lives.

He injured his foot against the Giants in Alice Spring last season. He came back in Round 24 against the Swans and appeared to injure his foot again but came back on the ground and ended up kicking 5 goals for the match. He played in the 2 finals after that but I assume there are some lingering issues unless this is a whole new injury. Foot injuries are a bitch and they never seem to fully go away.

Best training report I've ever read. 🤣👏❤️💙

How do we know it's not an AI generated deep-fake?

Yeah yeah, we are a rabble. 9 losses in 2023 for a total 79 points combined. It’s a game of fine margins these days and the luck in our forward half disappeared late in the season. Most consistent Melbourne team I’ve seen supporting them. A few tweaks here and there and we are in it up to our eyeballs in 2024.

Hope your windscreen wipers are locked down 😂 @WalkingCivilWar

I’m on my way there, but if you wanna know more than just whose hair looks good, I’m not yer man. 😅 I hadn’t planned on going but a friend who loves the Dees but hates going anywhere on her own insisted we meet up there same as we did Monday. She just called me to bail. 🙄 Looks like I’ll have to annoy the coaches a little more than usual. 😜

Slightly off the topic but every single supporter could do worse than watching a compilation of Clayton Oliver's highlights. It has been forgotten the calibre of footballer Clarry is. There's no way we miss the 8. The coach is brilliant and he's hired a strong strategist in McQualter.

I braved the weather and went down for most of the session. Was good, players did some running and stuff.

Well done all, with special thanks to @WalkingCivilWar. Your convo with Clarry speaks for us all.

Petty in track suit, no moon boot. Fritta in training gear but just doing light work. As WCW said - probably not far away from joining in fully.

He's always been my number 1 preference for our next captain by a long way. Glad others are starting to realise what an incredibly influential leader he is.

The group up my end are doing running overlapping handball drills. Ricky Lever is in this group. If he’s not our next captain there’s something terribly amiss.

In 2021 we had a charmed injury run. Fit players in every position except for May in the GF. But nobody told him he was injured. In 2022 and 2023 we suffered from injuries that took off the top percentage of our form. Losing by 7 points and 2 points does not a culture issue make. Simply we could field our best combination. Injuries decide flags every year. Let's hope for a benign injury year. GO DEES

We have lost the last two finals because, quite simply, we lost our forward line due to injuries and there was a disconnect in our gameplan. If this is your idea of cultural issues, then get in bed with the media and bash the club. Without going over the personal struggles a few of our players are facing—personal struggles that all clubs, Collingwood included, face—you have chosen to side with the media crowd and declare that there must be a cultural issue. You have no idea what has happened or is happening behind the scenes, so your post is just a rehashed version of what is said in the media. Do you have an original thought?

You have beautiful eyes. If you don't mind me saying so.

Sorry Andy, didn't realise you'd said exactly the same thing. I should have read all before posting. I reckon it's confirmed as fact then. 😉

TV cameras were here on Monday but no Clarrie. Today it’s Clarrie but no TV cameras 😎

Yeah, I feel like Kolt is a born leader. The right kind of leader… he wasn’t bossing the other boys around, nor was he overbearing or condescending. I could hear every word he said to them and was super impressed. The other boys liked the way Kolt was steering things. He’s really sharp, too. Seems to be well aware of all that’s going on around him.

I reckon your colleague is spot on there. He has a really nice vibe about him, very genuine. And he trained so hard but didn’t mind being approached at all afterwards.

Was told by a die hard St Kilda supporter colleague that Billings is an outstanding character.

Fritta wasn’t in a moon boot. That was all just for show. Keep ‘em guessing etc. There was one time when he was at the Club in the pool and the media were waiting but he’d forgotten to bring the moon boot. He had to wait until they’d left but they were in it for the long haul. He said by the time they packed up and left and he could get out of the pool he looked like a prune 😂

Agreed try going down to Swan Street on a Richmond home gameday and advise them that the Tigers actually finished 3rd in 2017, 2019 and 2020.

That poor fella from WA will be jumping on the next plane home after training today

Your red and blue face will turn purple in this rain WCW. Better wear a hat so they don't think you are a Freo spy trying to pinch another of our young guns. 😉

Thanks Layz, but I had trouble telling *Jed and Petts apart the other day so my report mightn’t be worth reading 😭 * still not sure which one it was. I hope it was Petts because if it was Jed he might wonder why I called him Harry… and we’ve met before… several times 🤦‍♀️

Because if we don't do this and start exposing some of our more promising kids then we'll fall completely off the cliff once the likes of May and Gawn retire. Introducing the kids alongside May and Gawn will only benefit their development.

Ch 7 were on the other side of the ground - they had already filmed Clayton. The journo was looking to interview someone from the Club as I left.

You can do the track report. I believe in you!

Just two years in a row of straight sets exits after winning a flag with a list that should be making a preliminary final at minimum.