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THE TIME MACHINE HG WELLS Prelude: Picket Fence arrives at Casey Fields and finds THE VENUE OPEN!! Storyline: Fence hears a faint swooshing sound in car park and a materializing object which is the Time Machine from the 1960s Classic movie of the same name. Prospective Writers dialogue as follows P.F What the??? Cheezus it’s the Time Machine from The movie, complete with a semi transposed Rod Taylor in the role of inventor George Wells. George Wells. Where am I? and who are you? P.F “I am known as Picket Fence for reasons that aren’t relevant to this narrative. Well.. you are back in the 21st Century and to be precise Monday 22nd of January 2024. How did you get back? last thing I remember was that you went forward in time to look after Eloi from those nasty Morlocks. George Wells “Yes that is true but the Metro Goldwyn Mayer have this plan to remake the movie using off cuts and creating another end scenario” P.F “ I see, I spose it doesn’t matter that you are meant to be deceased”? George Wells “ Look in this day and age if they can De age Harrison Ford in Indi 5 then I can be recreated, anything is possible in movieland! P.F “ So why are you here”? George Wells “ Well Metro are looking for extras to play the parts of Morlocks and they are of the belief that such people live in a locality known as Magpie Land , wherever that is, can you help”? P.F “ Yep sure but I gotta do my training report for the late arvo edition of Demonland. Just to refresh my memory what do these Morlocks look like”? George Wells. “Yep just look at this picture” P.F (Gagging)” Geepers they are horrid allright. Yep I know exactly where to find heaps of them, so I’ll file this report and then we will go. I hope you have 4 wheel drive in that Gizmo? George Wells “ Roads where we are going.. we don’t need roads” Script Editor Sorry wrong movie!! CASEY TRAINING REPORT 22/1/2024 NO SHOWS Clarry, ( More later) T.Mac, Joel Smith, also didn’t notice Koltyn Tholstrup, also not sure I noticed Trent Rivers, Tom Sparrow was doing laps as well. REHAB, Salem, ( Running laps) Jeffo ( On Bike and weights)Melky Bike, weights and some sideways manoeuvers. Jake Lever ( Did what looked to be a minor leg injury and spent rest of session on the bike! Lachy Hunter did a mammoth running session and ball work at full speed and looked unhampered by his calf injury.Andy Moniz Wakefield laps SKILLS , DRILLS and MANOEUVERS, I’ll leave the small drills out and you get the idea of multitasking, just concentrating on small group drills, ball, skills and interweaving patters focusing on correct options and correct disposal. These open and Clozed drills are more of less similar to others that I have reported for all of my traing reports. Discrete nuances of slight differences seem to keep things charged up and would also alleviate the potentiality of same old same old. Main Match Sims There were several components of each of the following 4 training drills 1 Running in waves selecting correct handball , kick and creating excellent options using ground space and alternative entries into the forward half from transitioning out of defence 2 Precision kicking to multiple targets on the lead. 3 Stoppage work near goals and either resulting in players kicking goals or creating avenues to rebound out of defence. 4 Whole ground transitioning using a lopsided manpower whereby the white shirts were outnumbered 10 to 18 With Red shirts running in waves. What this meant was the defence were outnumbered many times so had to choose to run to the player most likely to receive from the ball carrier. This was interesting in itself and players rotated through Red shirts and White so everyone had an even go of defender or attack. PLAYER WATCH Jack Billings Put on a clinic today, was in everything and his astute positioning , skills and polish were phenomenally good. Kyah Farris White A quick learner, looks to be developing some skills, Pace and decision making. I thought some of his grunt and efforts were good today! Kynan Brown Will of the wisp, but quick hands, elusive and explosive pace, Might surprise a few early here. Taj Woey Looking like he belongs, has taken some incremental confidence into this year and links up well on the move! Disco Turner I know I haven’t been a fan but he looked composed in defence and took a couple of good grabs and ran well out of the rebound. Blake Howes, Likewise to Disco Turner looks like settling and created some good ball use movements Josh Schache Took some great CONTESTED Grabs and also played well as ruck around when required could be a surprise packet this year Adam Tomlinson, well I thought he trained outstandingly well today looked a complete and competent defender. Marty Hore, Played bigger than what he looks and I thought was excellent on the Half back Flank. Shane Mc Adams IS A FREAK,!! Just knows where to run, is stealthy, crafty and will make a HUGE impact this year. Caleb Windsor Well I can see why we drafted him, full of class, and excellent by hand and foot. Will play games this year! The usual Cast of Spargy,Kossy, Nibbler, May,Tracc, Gus and BBB also were significant. Final word goes to Noah Yze. ON WHAT I SAW TODAY, he is a monty to be drafted by us, has skills, speed and is a very very good player already! TRAINING HIGHLIGHT??? This one is for u WCW FRITTA near centre of the ground, gathers the ball, CRASHES NOT 1 BUT 2 TACKLES and layed the ball off VERY CLARRY LIKE. Now just to get the great man back!!! FINAL THOUGHTS It remains to be seen if we have fixed our forward entries and conversion rates, some relatively easy shots just miss, but it is the just miss that bothers me, In close game like last years finals and just goal or just miss can make all the difference. Great to see 100 or so people enjoying training INSIDE the ground for a change, nice one MFC cheers to all P.F P.S Slithers had the day OFF!

Forgot to mention HARRISON PETTY, BACK IN FULL TRAINING AND LOOKING VERY DANGEROUS UP FORWARD!

Dad and I ventured down there today, and McVee was excellent today...that kid is an absolute gun...took on Trac 3 times in a row, and beat him on all three....Trac let out a few swears after...

The “our game relies on X player” argument is such a furphy Because guess what? EVERY team in the league has a handful of players who they rely on, and who, if you took out of their game plan, they’d struggle Where would Geelong have been in 2022 without Selwood and Hawkins? They wouldn’t have been Premiers that’s for sure and we saw the proof of that in 2023 How many games and moments did Pendlebury and Sidebottom win for the Pies this year? Again, they’re not Premiers if those two aren’t fit and firing, and it will be a close watch to see if they can continue at that level in 2024 Yes, if Gawn and May fall off a cliff next year it will affect us, but that isn’t unique to us and can be said about any other contending team The real issue is - as always - injury and availability of players, which I maintain has been our biggest issue these past two years and which can effect every team

Thanks for the report PF, but you must have missed the Demonland community memo - apparently we have zero depth and 2024 is already a write-off.

One core player 'almost leaves' - also known as... 'stays'. One fringe player dumb enough to be caught allegedly powdering during the season. One superstar player with personal issues related to ADHD and side effects of the related medications. I mean, throw in 'one of the shortest and mildest injury lists in the competition' and it doesn't seem so bad. Certainly better than any of Richmond's premiership year pre-seasons. This train of thought made me look back. I know we don't comment at all about Oliver's personal situation but my memory has been jogged; Lance Franklin, a player almost as good as Oliver, took indefinite leave from playing right at the start of the 2015 finals series citing mental health issues overwhelming him. Always worth remembering that these things happen and that players do recover and return to their absolute best. Franklin played every game and kicked 81 goals in 2016. Oliver, still just 26, remains on target for the ultimate records of most disposals, most tackles and most clearances in the history of the game. I plan to celebrate every Oliver milestone a little more knowing that he has had to get past some obstacles on the way.

Yeah well, coz I greatly respect and love Clarry Choo Choo and the sauce, of info in hindsight better to keep my mouth shut, for a change! But nothing sinister I can say!🤐

Solid and relaible as always, also Bill Laurie showed a bit today as did Jake Bowey. Sheesh competition for places will be at an all time high with the quality we are assembling!

and i thought it was the university of bitterness and optimism 🤣

Thanks Dazz it appears that it is a combo of both BUT stay at home he is covering a lot of territory running up the ground even as far as almost CHB before sprinting back to forward line. If this is the plan, it might, just might Click!

You see I bl@@dy told youse all. Don't recruit any Western Stralians. Even from the middle of nowhere. Go home factor has struck already. Makes Jackson look like a career Demon. 😎

PICKET FENCE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS NO SHOWS Clarry (More later), T.Mac, Joel Smith, also didn’t notice Koltyn Tholstrup, also not sure I noticed Trent Rivers, Tom Sparrow was doing laps as well. REHAB Christian Salem (Running laps), Jeffo (On Bike and weights), Melky Bike, weights and some sideways manoeuvers. Jake Lever ( Did what looked to be a minor leg injury and spent rest of session on the bike! Lachy Hunter did a mammoth running session and ball work at full speed and looked unhampered by his calf injury.Andy Moniz-Wakefield laps SKILLS , DRILLS and MANOEUVERS, I’ll leave the small drills out and you get the idea of multitasking, just concentrating on small group drills, ball, skills and interweaving patters focusing on correct options and correct disposal. These open and Clozed drills are more of less similar to others that I have reported for all of my traing reports. Discrete nuances of slight differences seem to keep things charged up and would also alleviate the potentiality of same old same old. Main Match Sims There were several components of each of the following 4 training drills 1 Running in waves selecting correct handball , kick and creating excellent options using ground space and alternative entries into the forward half from transitioning out of defence 2 Precision kicking to multiple targets on the lead. 3 Stoppage work near goals and either resulting in players kicking goals or creating avenues to rebound out of defence. 4 Whole ground transitioning using a lopsided manpower whereby the white shirts were outnumbered 10 to 18 With Red shirts running in waves. What this meant was the defence were outnumbered many times so had to choose to run to the player most likely to receive from the ball carrier. This was interesting in itself and players rotated through Red shirts and White so everyone had an even go of defender or attack. PLAYER WATCH Jack Billings Put on a clinic today, was in everything and his astute positioning , skills and polish were phenomenally good. Kyah Farris-White A quick learner, looks to be developing some skills, Pace and decision making. I thought some of his grunt and efforts were good today! Kynan Brown Will of the wisp, but quick hands, elusive and explosive pace, Might surprise a few early here. Taj Woey Looking like he belongs, has taken some incremental confidence into this year and links up well on the move! Disco Turner I know I haven’t been a fan but he looked composed in defence and took a couple of good grabs and ran well out of the rebound. Blake Howes, Likewise to Disco Turner looks like settling and created some good ball use movements Josh Schache Took some great CONTESTED Grabs and also played well as ruck around when required could be a surprise packet this year Adam Tomlinson, well I thought he trained outstandingly well today looked a complete and competent defender. Marty Hore, Played bigger than what he looks and I thought was excellent on the Half back Flank. Shane McAdam IS A FREAK,!! Just knows where to run, is stealthy, crafty and will make a HUGE impact this year. Caleb Windsor Well I can see why we drafted him, full of class, and excellent by hand and foot. Will play games this year! The usual Cast of Spargy, Kozzy, Nibbler, May, Tracc, Gus and BBB also were significant. Final word goes to Noah Yze. ON WHAT I SAW TODAY, he is a monty to be drafted by us, has skills, speed and is a very very good player already! TRAINING HIGHLIGHT FRITTA near centre of the ground, gathers the ball, CRASHES NOT 1 BUT 2 TACKLES and layed the ball off. VERY CLARRY LIKE. Now just to get the great man back!!! FINAL THOUGHTS It remains to be seen if we have fixed our forward entries and conversion rates, some relatively easy shots just miss, but it is the just miss that bothers me. In close game like last years finals and just goal or just miss can make all the difference. Great to see 100 or so people enjoying training INSIDE the ground for a change, nice one MFC cheers to all P.F Forgot to mention HARRISON PETTY, BACK IN FULL TRAINING AND LOOKING VERY DANGEROUS UP FORWARD!

This is typical of what can be done if we had a Comms team that was capable of anything other than taking happy snaps of players whose names we already know..." https://www.nmfc.com.au/news/1481945/training-report-young-forwards-fire-in-match-sim

Picket another terrific training report from Casey Fields. Pleased to read your positive take on the progress of Josh Schache and Adam Tomlinson, both psst nominees for the DL ‘Whipping Boy’ Hall of Infamy. Given your use of the familiar is Charlie Spargo a chance for redemption too?

Thanks Picket and well done. Something to look forward to as well...two sons of guns Taj Woewodin and Kynan Brown playing in the same team.

Thanks for the report @picket fence.. certainly appreciated for the likes of myself who live in a different state and can't attend. I'm interested around your comment with Josh Schache? Does he playing the roaming CHF role using his high endurance levels or is he poaitioned as as the stay at home forward? Then obviously playing as the 2nd ruck role as well which we'll need for Max. Also, how was Ollie Sestan during that session?

Report on AFL Website says (and shows) Lever hobbling off the field with an ankle injury and Salem not training due to hamstring awareness. https://www.afl.com.au/video/1073569

Outstanding work picket ! Thanks for the comprehensive info!

Bloody AI.

Perfect answer

Twice

Rivers featured in the photo gallery on the MFC Website. PHOTO GALLERY: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/albums/1482425/training-gallery-january-22?modal=true&type=gallery&playlistId=1482425&playlistSize=49

Am aware of that. Although compared to other clubs, we are very average in any content area. Wish it would be improved upon.

Thanks very much - great report.

What? No snakes? @picket fence

Closest player i have seen to RDB in 70 years of supporting the dees

That has lemon written all over it.

Trouble is that we have quite a few that can play half back (Rivers, Salem, McVee, Bowey & Brayshaw) And right now, we may be a class mid down to start the season. Can any of those HB's play as mids? Possibly Rivers & McVee but it's a big step up in terms of endurance and the ability to do so (play as a mid) Where as we know Brayshaw can play the role of a mid. The key is for either Brayshaw to release a fellow mid or being the release player himself. For that to happen we need better schemes from centre-bounces or stoppages But Brayshaw can play as a holding mid or defensive mid. From memory, a couple of times he played that role was against Adelaide & Brisbane. And he played very well on both occasions He was like a rock at the back end of the square And he was the release player when king hit by the filth thug. In the year when he finished 3rd in the Brownlow, he was often the release mid, dashing forward We're actually quite blessed that he can play so many roles

^ This. I love him to bits but playing him out of the centre gives you exactly that. He refuses to dish off unless he's hitting the deck or tackled. If there are players in a better position (facing the direction of play and free), he'll ignore them and hack kick over his shoulder. This works in (surge mentality) finals but not often during the season IMO. I think he's a very creative player when he has to look for options.

If we get 10 games out of each of TMac and Brown our season is dead

Binman, I'm glad you've raised this as one of the things I would love to see in 2024 is Bowser trialled in the midfield. While I partially agree with others that he doesn't have the size, he's not far off, and it hasn't been an issue in the past - he has always been undersized, and yet starred as a junior as a mid. In the words of Jason Taylor, was drafted as a possible midfielder in the mould of Sam Mitchell. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-16/afl-melbourne-demons-jake-bowey-journey-to-grand-final/100463912 One of the main reasons I want Bowey in the midfield is that he has the type of creative foot skills that we lack, particularly going into the forward 50. There are very few players that have both the IQ to create opportunities + the skills to deliver. Nick Daicos is the one of the best examples of these players - they create for the team mates, as opposed to reacting to their team mates. Travis Johnstone was brilliant at this this, and it is exactly what we need when going inside 50. Bowsers kick to Brayshaw in the third Q of the GF was an example of what i'm talking about. He saw a spot on the ground inside 50 that only Brayshaw could reach, and led Gus to the ball. He did so under immense pressure - and it led to a critical goal. Kozzie is the other player that has similar IQ + Skills that creates with the ball by foot. You couldn't play both in the middle at the same time, but I think adding Bowser to the mix would give us exactly what we need in an era of defensive zones and flooded backlines. Cheers

I think the one we had in 2019 where we only had about 16 or 17 players actually training at one point would qualify as that though.

Billings, Blake Howes, Taj Woewodin, Bailey Laurie... we could even look to push Salem higher if needed. We have ample coverage.

To be fair to the Herald-Sun, the headline writers have to come up with something and whenever Demons are involved, using "hell" is always going to be a natural fit. It's like bad news at Carlton will result in a headline using "blues" and for the Bombers an injured player will be "grounded".

Half expecting the next HS headline to be Harry Petty asks for a trade home due to a calf issue...on the family farm.

I just looked at the pictures from training on Friday and was amazed at the change in Sestan's body?

That was some drive by Mayfield at the end of the half.

It seems that, once again, truth wins the day. There actually is a UBO dc. UNIVERSITÉ DE BRETAGNE OCCIDENTALE Based in the Breton port city of Brest, UBO in June 2023 declared an ambition to be known as the "Oceanic university of France". While this aspiration led to some concern that other disciplines might be downgraded, it suits the university’s location and existing profile. Founded in 1971, UBO has a roll of around 22,000 students, about two-thirds of them undergraduates, both in Brest and at its base in Quimper. The 14,500 undergraduates divide between the faculties of letters and human science, sports and exercise science, science and technology, medicine and health, dentistry and law, economics and management.

Agree, but remember all the knockers here on Demonland last season who wanted him dropped? Grrrrr

God knows where we’ll finish. You could make an argument we’ll win the flag or you could make an argument we’ll finish outside the 8 if we’re unlucky. it’s probably the most uncertain I’ve felt going into the season for a few years. The Oliver issue, all the noise about culture and some of our best players getting older. Not ideal. Let’s hope we can have a better run with injuries in 24.

Benny started pre-season looking like the competitive tall forward he always was. I note he was not doing the match sim in most recent training runs. Fullarton will definitely feature in forward / ruck plans, and he is very fit and willing. Will Verall is the big improver and may have an impact by mid-year.

The thing I really respect and admire about ANB has been his determination to continually work on and improve his basic football skills. He has always been a great athlete, but his ball handling skills, until this past year in particular, have been, imo, well below the standard required to maintain a permanent position within the team. In his early years he rarely had clean control over the ball - he seemed to almost always fumble. Hence, he became a whipping boy on here. But those days are hopefully fully behind him as he has worked his butt off to improve these skills, as the last half of last year showed. He is not a natural footballer like a McVee, so he has had to work harder than most to reach his current standard. He was never a favourite of mine, but because of the skills improvement he has achieved, ANB is now a Dee's player I admire more than most.

Those critical of ANB are four years behind the times! What are you watching? ANB is one of the biggest improvers in the comp! He is very close to top 5 on our list. Enjoy what he brings instead of staring into your outdated rear-vision mirror.

A well placed source told me that Blake Howes does some unbelievable things on the training track and is ready to explode. The source compared his fend off and running as looking very similar to Chad Warner.

Crystal Balling Judd McVee, February 2023 DistrACTION Jackson Posted February 14, 2023 I think there's a very low chance that Jefferson debuts this year. If van Rooyen didn't last year, I can't see the selectors backflipping on this philosophy and picking him this year given his slim size. My thoughts on the 5 most likely to debut this year: 1. Jacob van Rooyen 2. Blake Howes 3. Judd McVee 4. Bailey Laurie 5. Taj Woewodin Lord Travis Posted February 14, 2023 JVR, Howes, Woey. JVR a lock to play barring a serious injury before round 1. Could become best 22 if he handles senior level well. No others likely to become best 22, but could see Howes, Woey, Laurie all getting a run at some point if they perform well at VFL level. Howes in particular has been close to selection already and shown flashes this preseason in match simulations. Jefferson needs time to build his body and learn at Casey. He sits behind BB, Tmac, JVR, Schache in the pecking order for tall forwards at this stage. Mcvee doesn't look likely and probably be delisted end of year tbh. Deakyn Smith could potentially surprise as a small defender, but is an outside chance. Would be great if he could take over the Hibberd smaller defender lockdown role. waynewussell Posted February 14, 2023 McVee is progressing well. Those who have attended pre-season would be aware that he is highly regarded and is doing well as a defender in match sim... more likely to get an extension than be delisted. Whispering_Jack Posted February 17, 2023 I recall reading at the time when Melbourne drafted Judd McVee as a rookie at the end of 2021, that the recruiters were relying in part on the initial impression he made when he was part of WA’s midfield mix two years earlier in the state's Under 16 National Championships campaign in 2019. It was back then that McVee’s class came to the fore. He was regarded as a clean ball handler, an efficient disposer of the football who had a cool head. His stocks fell during the Covid19 years and he barely held on to his state spot but managed to take a place across half back for WA in what were regarded as the U19 Nationals of 2021. It’s still a way to go but hopefully, the long memory and/or faith paid in him by a Demon recruiter plus his own hard work and development will pay off in spades.