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About 38 to 40 players down at training. BBB walking laps. Spargo still in rehab, doing short run throughs. Salem has full kit on and doing individual work with a trainer. He is is starting to get into some sprints. I cannot see Moniz-Wakefield out there. Viney and Chandler have broken away from the drills that have some contact and are doing run throughs. Melky, Bowser, McAdam, Hunter, doing main training without any indication that they are aren't fully participating. Three stations, all in a competitive handball game. Now four stations with a competitive kicking game. Some 3 on 3 , others 4 on 4. Goody has joined one of the stations with a bib. Calls for move the ball quick ring out. Bibs play defensive. The whistle goes and they all head off for some goal kicking. A short look at it, as they gather centrally and set for a full oval drill. Viney has rejoined the main group, but Chandler has returned to the sheds, The energy is great, many having a good time, calls are loud and plenty of support for their teamates. Two stations and doing stoppage simulations. McAdam playing out of the stoppage area, like a high half-forward would. Occasionally looking disinterested, though that may be his demeanour. I think he his a shy kinda fella. Chaplin was doing most of the talking when they gathered. They finished the session with some sprints along the boundary, and some runs down the middle, then off to individual stuff, goal kicking and low ball gets. Choco working with Petty on his goal kicking. Before the runs, McAdam was getting some work on his left hip. Completely the sprints, but not the runs down the middle. A trainer has continued to work on that hip now for the past 5 minutes.

I was dragged into an antiques / brick-a-brac store in country Victoria (Maryborough) by my partner today. I wouldn't say that I was kicking and screaming, but I think it's fair to say that she was more keen than my good self. Anyway, whilst browsing I discovered this book - which I was not only not aware of, but it appears to be a first edition (1958). Needless to say, I wasted no time purchasing it, and can't wait to settle in for a good read. What it did do, though, is got me wondering if any fellow Demonlanders have made any unexpected discoveries of little gems whilst on their travels. I'd be interested to know of the treasure trove that we have out there.

I think I can help you out. "Effing" is a euphemism for a naughty word that we can't say on here.

Could at least have got there an hour early with your blower vac WCW.

This was us 10 years ago… couid be us again one day. We need to support the roos not dig their grave.

Not in the same league as yours @Checker Mate. I walk into Vinnies in Canberra a few months ago and there is a basket with scarfs. Down the bottom - 8 Melbourne scarfs. They are now washed and waiting to be hung up in grand final week at my local cafe in Fyshwick.

Geez, once he starts he can’t stop talking. Love Lever. He had a big smile on his face when they showed a couple of stats (defensive) we are number 1 in over the last 4 years.

Here it is. You can’t screen record off Kayo anymore so I videoed my computer screen.

There was a thread I read somewhere and some guy who was deaf commented on it. DM walked past Viney 'well done mate' then walked past Windsor in a tracksuit, then came up to Fritsch and said 'F** that bloke looks about 12' Fritsch says "What?" Dusty repeats it and walks off. Fritsch looked bewildered.

A lip reader on reddit reckoned he said "[censored] me he looks about 12" and pointed at Windsor 😂

Hey @WalkingCivilWar, can u also ask Melky if he’s aiming for a ‘9 month post surgery’ return to play’? If it helps, obviously tell him you’re asking for a friend.

@WalkingCivilWar did you ask Fritta what Dusty said to him post game? Looks like he told him to f off which I can only assume is due to jealousy over his glorious hair 🤷‍♀️

This will be a good game. I think Geelong should be favorites and have the better form, their last two wins full of merit. Melbourne got a bit beat up before the bye with Oliver and May both playing injured. Our advantage is that we have had two long stretches between games and after taking a while we got our game going in the second half last week, we are the fresher team this time around. May, Oliver and Petty should be improved, we should be focussed and hopefully Geelong are a bit flat.

This makes my blood boil and heart break at the same time. What a way to ruin a fantastic moment for the young kid and family. Antisocial morons like that are long past their expiry date. P.S. can that [censored] remind us when he last kicked 6 goals in a Premiership win...?

Until we're worried about the AFL going broke, why are we talking about killing teams? This is a sport with nearing 200 years of history. You don't rip that up in search of a dollar.

The AFL should be told about this man, see if there is any vision, he needs a life time ban

Alright this is a bit much now. We just had a phone call from Steven May wanting to speak to my junior membership son and thank him. "Hi is ... there? it's Steven May". What a bloody legend! When I was his age I was the only kid wearing a Dees jumper at a country footy clinic with my hero's number on the back (who won't be named) and the #%&*# gave me nothing. Should have kept it for the boy though he loves Salo.

A palate cleanser @Jaded No More

Honestly, the bloke will probably play 1 or 2 games at casey and then come back in. He will drag us kicking and screaming as far as we can possibly go. determination = 20. If he hadnt popped his knee last year he'd have dragged us to a flag himself.

Don't get suspended

That kind of story just astounds and disappoints me. It was a night of unification, with remembrance of those who had given their lives and sacrificed much. How can others be so ignorant of the occasion, creating division and role modelling toxic masculinity. What an unhappy person.

My take: General comment Under Goody, since the start of 2021 our method has been forward half (ie get it inside 50 as quickly and directly as possible and keep it there - hence the hated long bomb), territory first, brutal football with insane pressure and huge tackle numbers. Basically Hardwick's template with an improved defensive system and some other tweaks (eg one less at the stoppage). As @rpfc has noted, this year goody is trying to implement a game plan and system that has a focus on turnover and fast effective transition from the back half, ideally into an open forward line to help with 'efficiency'. Territory is still important of course. Switching just allows oppo defences to get set up. So if we can't go fast, we try and at least hit up leads that move us towards our goal. And we seem to be setting up really deep defensively - deeper than other team using a similar method ATM (Cats, Giants, Tigers and Swans - ironically one of the teams who really developed the method, the Pies, are playing our 2021-23 method, as is the blues). The point Turner kicked in the first q after a beautifully weighted kick from Fritter, who had pushed up to the wing (leaving our inside 50 all but empty) and marked after we turned the ball over was the perfect example of the method in action. Fritters and Turners first goals were other good examples. Key categories/indicators no longer as key/critical: Time in Forward Half Metres Gained Inside 50s The 2024 Red and Blue print: First and foremost, as has always been the case, and will always be a fundamental under goody: Defence Contest New in 2024 to reflect the changed method: Transition, back half football - scores from defensive half being the key indicator Scores from turnover (was important last year, but critical this year) Clearances (on watch in terms of relevance/importance)*: *Last season clearances were not key stats, or at least not in the way they once were. And because we have always given up a player at stoppages, even for us, a straight-line team, they were of limited value as key indicators. So i'm not sure how relevant clearances are. We are down on total clearances this season, but are number two for most scores (blues #1) from stoppages and number one for least oppo score when they win stoppages. So i'm starting to think it is pretty important, though again not as important as scores from turnover (which is aprox 60-70% of scoring now - or was last year). Here are some of the KPIs i think are relevant for our 2024 method (the list is obviously not exhaustive and the club would have a huge number of team and individual data points they measure to assess if we are the right track): Key Performance Indicators Defence Opposition score Intercepts Intercept marks Scores from turnover Marks inside 50 Contest Contested possessions Pressure Post clearance possessions Tackles Tackles inside 50 Ground Ball Gets Contested marks Clearances:* Centre Stoppage Scores from stoppages Hit outs Hitouts To Advantage Transition from back half Points from defensive half Inside 50 to score ratio Rebound 50s Score sources (from most to least relevant): Turnover Stoppage* Centre bounces* Kick in* Marks: Uncontested marks inside 50 Contested marks Marks inside forward 50 Marks inside forward 50 per inside 50 Intercept marks Marks on lead High performance program, fitness, and fatigue TBD

Can we have weeks on top of the ladder since 1896?

Collingwood were the masters of this style of play and we shut them down on KB with some ease. We should get over them.

It sounds like McAdam only played 10minutes in each of the first three quarters and didn't play at all in the last. Surely needs another run at Casey after only playing approximately a quarter of footy.

If we do a number on Geelong this week to break their winning streak, and I think we can, that will set us up as serious contenders for the flag. Thank God its not at Kardinia Park. Go Dees.

I’d like to second that Mono, thanks Kev, WCW and all posters love your training reports and observations.!

There is no such thing as tanking any more. 1. The league has some magic formula to give clubs access to additional players/picks. The old system which encouraged tanking under a formula previously used no longer exists. 2. Finishing bottom gets you the first pick, and then pick 19...one pick after the premier for that year, and so forth. So all you finish up with is one player/pick more than the premiers. Look how much it has done for WCE this year. That is not how you build a list. 3. WCE played finals in 2020. There is no way the league will give them any access to extra picks. As hard it is to believe, they haven't been bad enough for long enough yet. 4. WCE were offered 3 first round picks for pick 1. They refused, just so they could get 5 minutes of coverage with Reid when they selected him. With Darling, McGovern, Gaff all gone in the near future, they will need more than 1 player to replace them.

Thanks radar, that would have been so special. In 2016 my wife and I did a cruise from Fremantle to Brissie and the ship stopped in at Milne Bay and we got to stand on the very airstrip that Bluey Truscott flew from in his Curtis Kittyhawk in 76 Squadron, it was surreal. Bluey and all members of our defence forces were so heroic driving the enemy back and forcing their re-embarkation!!!

Maybe the term “ no good” could be changed to “ not good enough for AFL”.

On First Crack they talked about our ‘evolution’ as they called it to transition it better off half back. King identified a stat around score percentage from ball movement from defence that had us 17th post bye last year and 3rd this year. Progress! Also, like 4 of the last 5 premiers were 1st in this stat. Anomaly was us in ‘21. And that was when we beat Geelong (1st that year) from clearance score dominance). The Transition is happening!!

The Cats are an interesting team. They slingshot from defence and they are exceptionally well drilled in how they move the ball. They don't put as much emphasis on clearances as others. They don't do chaos Losing Dangerfield makes helps because he is the one guy that can set up a Cat chain. Disrupting their precise ball movement and having some weapons ourselves will be the key.

We may well win another flag with this group, but nothing will ever top 2021 in terms of absolutely perfect football. It was pure magic.

Kind of funny in a way. Well played Dusty.

This medallion from a friend's 1964 Demon scrapbook.

You need to give your phone a jolly good talking to, @Jaded No More. It keeps adding a superfluous "s" to Mc Adam.

I really hope that’s what he said because I love Dusty and I reckon that comment is 100% spot on 😂

He had a down game last week so the ongoing knee issue might now be getting the better of him.

Thanks very much Kev & WCW for the updates and efforts first thing Monday! Have not seen or heard of Jack doing anything separate to the main group so far. IMHO has not been the same player since the trip to Adelaide. I figured it could be just a fatigue / form or minor niggle thing. We're only talking a couple of off games since and coming off a high benchmark but also might be a little niggle going on here? Just speculation and hoping this isn't anything other than a corkie or similar (at worst). The comparative numbers from the first five rounds vs the last two rounds appear to support the drop off. We'll need him AND Clarry back to near their best for the Cats. Worth a watch as the week progresses. #7 J Viney Rnds 0 - 4 Rnds 5 & 6 % Change Contested Poss 10.8 8.5 -21.3 Uncontested Poss 12.2 10.0 -18.0 Effective Disposals* 14.8 13.0 -12.2 Disposal Effeciency % 67.9 70.5 2.6 Contested Marks* 0.2 0.0 -100.0 Marks inside 50* 0.2 0.5 150.0 One Percenters* 2.8 0.5 -82.1 Clearances* 4.2 4.0 -4.8 Rebound 50s* 2.6 2.0 -23.1 Inside 50s* 4.8 4.0 -16.7 Tackles* 5.0 4.5 -10.0 Score Involvements* 5.2 2.5 -51.9 Meters Gained 377.6 309.0 -18.2 Turnovers* 4.2 4.5 7.1 Intercepts* 4.0 0.5 -87.5 Tackles Inside 50* 1.0 0.0 -100.0 Time On Ground % 81.6 73.5 -8.1 Goals* 0.6 0.0 -100.0 Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - *DD's Player Rating 3.9 2.6 -33.5 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Thanks Kev and all others including WCW Did I read it right that both Bowey and Melksham were in full training? Fabulous news if I am reading correctly. Would it mean that Bowey could be back this week or next, and Melk only a few weeks later presumably via a few at Casey

I was in the Geelong coterie box on Saturday afternoon and word in there was he's 50:50 at best. They will err on not playing him as he's had multiple concussions. It's probably less about Stanley and more about Geelong's smart ball use to avoid Max down the line. That will be one of the deciding factors in the game.

https://www.afl.com.au/video/991955/petty-party-as-six-goal-show-uncovers-new-weapon?videoId=991955&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1690704583001&references=AFL_MATCH:4953 I'm backing Petty to turn it around as a forward. He pretty much missed the entire preseason, so he has some catching up to do. Definetely worth persevering.

While we have some very experienced players, we also had five in the team against Richmond who had each played fewer than 10 games (Howes, Windsor, Laurie, Turner, Woewodin).

That’s great news WCW. Is he wearing a cap or jumper to indicate “no contact” or is he good to go?

To me - result hinges on availability of Tom Stewart. If he plays they'll have a brick wall that we won't be able to penetrate. I went to Geelong-Carlton and the Cats looked great across the ground. Their biggest weakness is Stanley who was deplorable. Max should be able to own the ruck. We should have more explosiveness around stoppage, I'm feeling a big game from Clarry. The other piece that is often overlooked is that our team is very experienced now. We don't fire on all cylinders every week and you can't draw too much from that Richmond first half. My prediction if Stewart plays is flip of a coin. No Stewart and I see a Dees 3-4 goal win and a heap of expectation coming our way for the rest of the year.

Sam is actually no good not sure why this was even posted or mentioned. hes playing in the wafl reserves

Hore for Woewodin and McAdam in for Laurie with Billings to be the sub

Working onetime Timor Sea, I flew into Truscott then choppered out to vessel