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Went over... here's my report One more training session before the lads’ head off to Adelaide to play at the wonderfully named Playford Alive Oval, which joins the pantheon of great grounds such as 1300 Smiles Stadium, GMHBA Stadium (believe me, say it quickly) and the good old Woolloongabba ground. Up and coming names for grounds include “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” Oval and also the “She sells sea shells by the sea shore” Park. For the slightly less eloquent, training today returns to the familiarity of Gosch’s Paddock. Gosh. Additionally, today is the very antithesis of everything Melbourne has stood for over the past two weeks or so as the less-familiar February feel of the cooler autumnal air is replaced by the more-familiar but steadily disappearing scorching variation of Jesse Hogan’s 2015 season. It’s going to be a bloody hot one, not that anyone in the area, by now, need this piece of ‘breaking’ news. Anyway, less jabbering on about how hot the weather is and speculation over how I can improve the names of our simplistically named grounds, and more about how the Dees’ train this morning. If they want to come out and train, that is. At 10:15, not one of the boys fit for full training appear – it’s all, in fact, the rehab group. White, Newton, Dawes (solely walking laps of the ground), Petracca, Vince et al are all out on the ground, not doing an awful lot. Kennedy-Harris was out there, but has since disappeared. Finally, out of the AAMI Park mire, a wild Dean Kent appears, hopefully keeping in mind that we need someone with Mean Look just to keep him there in a move not seen since the good old days of trying to catch Raikou, Entei and Suicune all the way back in Pokemon Gold and Silver. #throwbacktuesday A couple of things I notice as the boys file through – firstly THE CLUB HAS TAKEN MY ADVICE and invested in the new cloth I called for last week which is excellent. Secondly the sight of Christian Petracca in full flight getting the dukes up and reminding us all that Daniel Cross (who is acting as his direct opponent) is a retired footballer is a sight for sore eyes. As the boys gather in to do their traditional Billy Stretch-es, the boys are all up and about cheering a couple of times – the first, and loudest, I presume is for Jack Trengove’s return to full training; the second (not as loud) cheer is for Max King training with the main squad again and the third (small) cheer… you can make up a story to your own liking, I couldn’t tell you that one. A look around as the boys pass by the faithful for the first time, Hogan and Brayshaw are embracing in the manliest cuddle you can see; Tom McDonald has borrowed the #5 jumper just to confuse us all and James Harmes seems to have recovered from the unusual sort of claret formation that he had on Friday; obviously I presume most of you would have seen the photo of him looking more like the Flash than a professional footballer. The stretches are such that I decide to replenish my water/sugar supplies across the road, and are perfectly controlled when I sit back down on return as they start their drills for the day. In between I see a bloke who I thought was Stevo and was ready to give him the ‘how do you do’ until I realised that it evidently wasn’t old mate, and then I see Hogan drill a goal from a difficult angle with frighteningly consummate ease. He goes okay. That first drill that I mentioned for the day, split into two groups, goes briefly. One on the far side of the wing doing some sort of stoppage drill, and another group doing a triangle-like drill focusing on ball use and delivery inside 50. It looks like it was set to start well but believe me, Maxy Gawn coming close to barrelling into the fence just near where I’m at isn’t fun. The next drill is this kind of zigzag formation which goes all around the ground and then ends with a burst down the middle and delivery to the goalsquare. Seeing Viv Michie absolutely streaking down the middle is a good sign, seeing Billy Stretch dart through the centre equally so. Meantime in the rehab group there seems to be this sort of goalkicking competition going on between Petracca, Jones and Cross which gets super competitive – Petracca absolutely nails it with a savagely beautiful goal on the run, and then you see the unusual sight of Jones shanking not one, but two kicks on the run that you would expect him to kick 11 times out of 10, the first going completely across the face and on the full. Such is the competitiveness between captain and arguably one of our two most prized talents I take my eye off the wider drill to focus on all the banter going on. It’s fun to watch. The next drill in the meantime is more of a quick decision-making drill involving the use of handball in a small confined space. Easily the highlight of this drill is that man again – Hoges. Fairly corralled to such an extent by Jetta, the big boy not only finds his way through ole mate Neville but also two other players with ease to break open, almost midfielder-like. I wouldn’t exactly be against seeing Hoges put into the midfield for small bursts. Even if he is our best forward. He’s capable. Another bloke who’s doing well for himself in this session is Wagner. I haven’t talked a hell of a lot about him since he’s come to the club, anyway, bottom line is he’s a competitor, a fierce one at that, and he doesn’t mind a tackle. He might be a decent chance of getting on to the senior list in place of Melksham. The next drill is one which goes both ends, two groups in the middle trying to win a stoppage and two groups in either forward line jostling for the footy. A team in green bibs tries to defend against a team of jumpers. Near side, Weideman has the hard task (again) of manning Tom McDonald, while a couple of balls go in his direction, McDonald is just too strong for him at the moment. Meantime on the far side there is the extremely pleasing sight of Trenners’ going for a stroll, and also winning a hard ball in another contest. This drill lasts another 10-15 minutes or so. The next drill after that is a spreading drill much like the one I detailed last week. Again, like last week, it’s pretty much the jumpers who are all over the bibs. Having the two best readily available players at the moment on form (Hogan and Viney) does that. Additionally pleasing was Bugg muscling his way towards getting Jetta in a crunching tackle which is a dead set ripper. Also pleasing was seeing Kennedy get the ball three times in the middle of the ground before delivering an absolute rip-snorter of a ball to Watts inside forward 50. One more thing about Hogan, he’s on both teams at various stages of this drill and also, this drill is showing how much he’s outright dominating today. At one end, he delivers a low chizzler to a team-mate (might have been Bugg) in a crowded forward 50, and then at the other end he delivers the most perfect ball you could imagine, scything through a pack to find Stretch all on his own. You had to be there to appreciate it really, Hoges’ field kicking is so underrated. In the meantime, Jeffy misses a sitter from 20 out. His set shots are something he has to continue to work on. He missed a whole heap of simple opportunities last year and if he sorts it out, we will be a much better team for it offensively-wise. Mind you there was nothing much wrong with the lead up, he took a ripping overhead mark from a very solid Viney ball, and he is still positioning himself really well. I think it’s five of the last six years he’s kicked over 40 goals, the challenge for him with me is to increase that to 50. If he’s kicking 50 goals a year he’s not far off his old mate Eddie Betts who some reckon is worth a million a year (except for Carlton, obviously, who reckon he’s not even worth $650k a year!). The boys put the footy’s away now at least and then get into some running. Just as a measure of Trenners’ running capacity at the moment he gives Bernie a slight start then overhauls him at top speed. That’s always a good sign. Does that mean he could be finally over all those foot problems for good? As a finishing up kind of drill (or at least the way I see things because the surrounds are getting cleaned up) there are various different groups. One doing a kind of fending off drill, one doing a stoppage drill and one doing a goalkicking drill. Nothing of the sort really standing out, but with the clean up in mind and the lure of airconditioning at Edwin’s too great knowing there isn’t much of the session left, I get over to the joint for a spot of lunch.

Still makes me laugh:

He was. The really pleasing thing that I should really have mentioned was that in about 10 minutes of a drill that I mentioned his name in he had six or seven touches.

I was there today, for the White lovers, has had a slight ankle issue, same with Terlich who did part of the session, JKL is hammy HL and King were back in main group for 3/4 , then did an interesting drill with Crossy on the other soccer oval, with one in goal and the other firing shots at them? Trengove did most of everything, looked unencumbered (nice word) Nathan Jones was rehabbing, asked him why, said it was age Hogan is fun to watch in the match sim Only one who didn't seem to be there today was Spencer Hulett hurt himself today, but seemed minor If you have any question feel free, tasmanlvr has the drills covered On the Petracca/Jones front, Trac made his usual smart comment to me when I passed him and Jonesy as they sat and watched the last of the match sim, I actually managed to get him embaressed much to Jonesys' amusement.

Good call. I knew there was a top level cover-up underway as soon as the ASADA charges were laid, but i'm absolutely staggered, that NOBODY of high profile, has attacked the drug cheating scum, and called them for what what they are. To a man(woman), everyone has backed them, and called for insane outcomes, such as leaving WADA/Chasing ASADA/Accusing everyone EXCEPT the bloke who instigated the program. This country has lost 100% of its anti-drug standing. We used to be the recognised world leader in the fight against drugs, but the essendrug cheating affair has exposed us for what we really are. Soapbox preaching, better than you, grandstanding, world champion hypocrites, of zero integrity. F*&k dill, and his afl sycophants, you all make me want to spew.

Cards, Trenners was fine, I watched a few of the early drills he was involved in, stepping off both feet, and quite a decent pace, reckon he is itching to get a crack at one of the NAB challenge games, got a big smile as he noticed I was taking a picture

You can use either then. ?

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." The opening line from The Go Between, L.P. Hartley. I never miss an opportunity to trot that one out. And clearly readers of a football supporters' forum will be very receptive to that information.

The MFC and its support of women in football:"The Melbourne Football Club continues to be an industry leader in supporting women in football. Through its AFL Women’s team and support of both senior and junior women’s football in Victoria, the club actively works to encourage the growth and development of the sport from the grassroots level through to elite senior football."MELBOURNE AFL WOMEN’S TEAM "The club actively pushed for a women’s national competition for a sustained period of time and saw its efforts come to fruition in the form of the inaugural AFL Women’s Draft and AFL Women’s Exhibition Match in 2013." VICTORIAN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL LEAGUE SPONSORSHIP "The Melbourne Football Club has been a major sponsor of the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) since 2009. The club is proud to be the first AFL club to financially support a women’s football league, delivering a variety of programs and initiatives to ensure women in football have the opportunity to develop their skills on and off the field." SOUTH METRO JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE YOUTH GIRLS PARTNERSHIP "The Melbourne Football Club is a proud partner of the South Metro Junior Football League (SMJFL) Under 10, Under 12, and Under 14 and Youth Girls competitions." HALLAM SENIOR COLLEGE SPORTS ACADEMY – AFL "The Melbourne Football Club supports the Hallam Senior College Sports Academy which offers female secondary school students a unique Australian Rules Football Development Program. Melbourne supports the program through providing students with a variety of opportunities, including participation in the club’s work experience program, player visits, students leadership forums and student inductions sessions." DELIGHT & SURPRISE "The Melbourne Football Club is genuine in its support of women’s football. The club’s Delight and Surprise Program is an initiative that works to engage participants at the grassroots level of female football. Each session of the program is run by one male and one female Melbourne Football Club player, who arrive unannounced at a local club training session to surprise Youth Girls footballers. The junior players then participate in a training session run by these elite footballers, along with receiving some special giveaways." http://www.melbournefc.com.au/club/community/women PLUS The MFC has: - The MFC introduced a self esteem program for year 9 female students called Dare to Dream- Launched the first under 12's football team and Tridents Academy- Launched the first Auskick program for girls in primary schools ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's fitting that the oldest football club in the league and the one that invented the rules of the game looks like getting the first licence for women's football. Melbourne has been supporting grass roots women's football for many years now and has many active programs in place. Whether it be pioneering the game 150 years ago, pioneering the Irish experiment, pioneering the Father/Son rule through to pioneering women's football, the MFC has led the way with major football initiatives and will rightly gain the forst licence of the AFL Women's League. To think that some opposition clubs think they can waltz in and get preferential treatment when it's been the work of the MFC and Footscray that has led to the possibility of this league forming is arrogance in the extreme. Although, I do like the mad scramble for licences now that the competition has become reality. Clubs are falling over themselves to be part of it.

Tricky thread title there LD-vC. Don't really know about coaches and wise decisions. But Clarkson would laugh and laugh at missing out on a mickey mouse award... ...he has 4 premiership cups that says AFLCA are idiots!!

Your interpretation of the conversation is very poor. He said that Hogan signing on isn't as close as recent reports suggest and that Melbourne "wouldn't be feeling as good as 10 weeks ago". He doubted it would happen prior to the season commencing, but more round 6 or mid-season. He mentioned that the McDonald brothers were out of contract and that was it. He said that if they could sign both bookends - Hogan and McDonald - then we'd become a destination club. Their signings are that important. The amount of times I've heard conversations like this distorted by supporters in the re-telling is incredible. Do people actually listen ?

Insane isnt it. Fully agree. I wonder sometimes how Ahmed Saad must feel as this progresses. Ive noticed a real change in my reading habits during this saga. I used to love the papers but I read them LOT less now ( the've been SO full of compromised bullsh@t) and read social media much more. We've officially moved into some kind of football dictatorship, full of propaganda and cowtowing. No one can be trusted to stand outside the enforced norm. (Wonder if Whately will suddenly retire sometime this year) But hey, pies are 50 cents cheaper and by golly there'll be no players on phones. If I wasnt so addicted to seeing melb win another honestly Id want to walk away from the sport.

Hello all, I'm a Hobart based long time reader who rarely posts, however I have offered to assist the club in circulating the details of a couple of functions they are holding in Hobart leading up to the match against North in rd 3 at Bellerive on Sunday 10 April. Hopefully my efforts at posting the flyers are successful. I'm really excited that the club will be in town and are making an effort to engage with Hobart/Tassie supporters. I think the events are something we need to support and potentially build upon as I understand that Tassie is the only state without an MFC Supporters Group. Hope to see you there.

and then I see Hogan drill a goal from a difficult angle with frighteningly consummate ease. He goes okay. I sense a new Twitter hash tag when talking about the Hulk!...... #hegoesokay

And tonight we introduce Banned Essendon player and CAS adjudicated Drug Cheat....Dyson Heppell. Put your beers together...... Farcical at best ....more akin to corrupt really. Rome burnt while Nero fiddled. Our great game is being ridiculed under the reign of the Dill.

Heppell's appointment just shows the AFL aren't serious at all about the drug issue. It's a tacit message to the fans that "they did nothing wrong, CAS stuffed up and we can't change it". The guy is serving a suspension for DRUG CHEATING. Even if he's technically allowed to to media for the AFL, there's no way he should be doing it. Sends the complete wrong message. I wish I loved the game a little less so I could walk away from it.

If you think it's "irrelevant" you have the democratic right to ignore this thread, any articles on the subject and our section on Women's Football when we get it up and running. Also, if you really thought it was "irrelevant" then you wouldn't have wasted your time posting or the time that others spent reading it.

Funny...the AFL get all shirty over phone use by a non- returning player , in a nuff nuff NON premiership game. That's a no-no ....but please , go get employed at an AFL sanctioned show, feel free to advertise your sponsor ( even though whilst banned they AREN'T your sponsor !! ) AFL.....what a joke

Hear, hear. On SEN this morning, KB & Smith were bickering about whether Essendon should pay for Carlise, Melksham, etc. Was it caveat emptor, or should EFC wear all costs? Neither made their case very well. I felt like calling in and saying EFC should pay because they should be hit from all directions with whatever penalty. They not only caused immense damage to the game of Aussie Rules, but to our nation's standing in the world of sport. Hit them with everything so that no-one ever dreams of doing such a regime again. (but I know from experience that calling SEN is literally a waste of time.) The Dealmaker had his chance to show the world where he stands on drugs in sport ... and he took it. He's shown the world.

It's disgusting that in this country so many are scared to speak out against the old boys club. Some how , it's footy and that makes it OK. From Tim Watson absconding from his duty as a father in favour of that club to the AFL openly condoning the flouting of rules. We're a sad society at times. There was a time the 4th estate would lead a crusade. Now most are worried about upsetting the false-god. The snakeoil sellers are winning. What went wrong !!

Well said. And let's not forget that Spencer carried the ruck when we beat the Dogs early in the season and partnered Gawn in the win down at Geelong. Clearly he's number 2 in the pecking order, but he's a capable fill in. I also reckon his actual ruckwork is underrated and often maligned without a lot of foundation.

I'm also in the MCC, but I expect to hear a few renditions of "well done Bater!" and "wow, Blease has bulked up a bit!"

Here is one of them at work

National women's football league set to expand to eight teams ... and Demonland will have its own section for the womens' game starting soon ,,,

For a coach of the Doggies Beveridge has a lot of inside knowledge of the banned players movements. He is aware they are all training together next week including Crameri. F me dead this ban is a joke of the highest order. A number have said it already but the AFL community is just thumbing its nose at the sanctions handed down for PED use. We've been found out as a parochial backwater that bleats about everyone else being to blame for our own dark waters. Take ownership of the f up AFL, Dons, players, AFLPA, media lap dogs, Balme, Mr 0/300 Warner, Dons groupies. It happened and they were found to have broken the rules of the code, banned for 2 years.

Like Roughead? Best news I have seen here for ages.

I'm looking forward to watching you play Clarry, and thanks for reading Demonland.

Maybe it's their sense of humour we should worry about.

oh really well IDGAF what you think

Maybe he is officially the senator for little known, irrelevant, or lost causes.

I agree with this guy. justice has not been served here! They all should be serving a two year ban and not just ten months.

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pg-melbourne-demons--jake-spencer I don't think the stats back you up. His first few games last year when he was our sole ruckman he did well and when looking at the stats remember that Gawn didn't play until round 10 last year. Spencer was also very good against Geelong. Your description of him as a "standing tree-stump" is insulting and clearly wrong. I don't recall anyone saying Gawn is not clearly our first pick ruck but Spencer is a good backup. Your assertion that he doesn't involve himself past the ruck work is not born out by his tackling stats. He gets involved in stoppages, chases and competes. Just for the record he had more tackles in his 7 games than Gawn did in 13. And if you think being a negating ruck is worthless you only need to see last weeks practice match. It was only when Spencer went off that Gawn took control and gave is mids an easy ride. Gawn is clearly no 1 but Spencer is a worthwhile backup.

No, not jesting. While not the ideal situation, having a big bodied ruckman who can make a contest and negate the influence of the opposition ruckman is a reasonable option should plan A be unavailable. Jake Spencer is not anybody's first choice, but I (non-jestfully) believe that if Gawn was injured and Spencer was called up, we would not be smashed by the opposition ruckman. However, if Spencer was delisted and we called up King instead, then we would be destroyed by the oppostion ruckman; whether it be at stoppages, forward line, backline or anywhere in between.

We differ on Spencer's capability - he's not a starting AFL ruckman but he's not as hopeless as you make out. The problem is that players that are good enough to be starting AFL ruckmen are in that role and don't want to move to be Gawn's understudy. The difference is that you think Spencer is light years off and I think he's closer than that.

he'll certainly inject something new i've heard heppell interviewed many times and he didn't strike me as someone with something interesting to say you can only come to the conclusion that hiring him for this gig was a cynical exercise by those concerned and a slap in the face to the general sporting public and officialdom

Yes but it's not that simple is it? If you want a second A grade ruckman then they need to be able to play in the best 22 along with Gawn and that means play ruck-forward. Clearly that is a very desirable outcome - but they don't grow on trees and you have to pay heavily to get one. Even then many prefer to be the #1 ruck option and will go to a club where they can fill that role. It's more likely that we'll find a forward who can ruck enough to relieve Gawn - Frost, Weidemann, Max King. That means if Gawn gets injured then we need a reasonable replacement at Casey like Spencer.

Of course he does. But that is exclusively because we have nobody else on the list who can play a full AFL game in the Ruck. Clearly both King boys are underdeveloped and Frost and Dawes are not Ruckmen. It's like saying Jordie McKenzie was a valuable depth over the last few years. We had nothing else to compare him to, so of course he was valuable depth. Surely you jest. You are reducing the role of a Ruckman and limiting the influence and importance they can have on and in a game by making a statement like that. Are you purely talking about a stoppage situation? If that's the case, yes kudos to Jake for his competitive spirit during stoppages. He doesn't kick goals, he doesn't take contested marks, he doesn't understand where to run as a Ruckman, he doesn't tap to advantage and he certainly doesn't limit the influence of opposition Ruckmen in these areas of the game. So in the broader context of the role of a Ruckman, he does get smashed 'in the ruck'. Gone are the days where Ruckmen were solely on the field to 'compete' at Ruck stoppages. I'll deal with it this year and hope that Max King can make some inroads as a forward/ruck at VFL level. But if Gawn gets injured this year and Spencer plays any more than a handful of games on his own, we're in big trouble for the reasons I've expressed. We don't yet have the midfield strength, forward potency or backline capability to cover for Spencer's glaringly obvious weaknesses in so many areas of the game. If we are to improve this year and stay competitive during games, Max Gawn will be a significant contributor to it.

Did you ever go to a game at Windy Hill. Now that was fear.

I'm in the MCC

Did he squeeze out a truck?

Robbo: (Burps) Dyso I imagine it just be really hard on you boys (small beer burp) waking up in the morning and just getting on with it, being innocent and all. Heppell: Yehhhh naahhhhh yeh sort of like you just wake up and yeh but na the boys are all yehhh. I made the mistake of watching Heppell on the Footy Show once before, he really is a ditz. One less fox footy show to tune into now.

Wherever the women's game goes from here I am proud that we, along with the Bullies. will go down as a foundation Club. I can see Daisy Pearce will become one of the first "revered" pioneer names in the game.

it's a "practice match". Every club will have different agendas and those agendas are matched to best performance in round one, not supporters expectations.

Nothing wrong with fielding a strong side. He does go on to say that it's an eight man bench, so in reality, it's your best side plus four playing emergencies. The idea being to have the team fully firing for round one. We don't have the luxury of easing into the season, nor will we be resting any stars so they're fresh for September. The MFC list, if anything, needs every possible opportunity to play together as a team as there has been such a big list overhaul once more this preseason.

Absolute rubbish on all counts, John Ralph has lost all credibility over the Essendon saga, he is trying to create news out of thin air now.

This has gone a bit off topic, but anyway, I was at a talk given by the Bulldogs recruiter Simon Dalrymple last week and he said ruckman are super hard to find. Apparently Port were willing to pay heaps for Jamar had they been given a top up player. The Bulldogs wanted a look at an 18 year old but the TAC club said that they didn't want to put their forward structure out on the eve of finals. It's very hard to find physical, competitive, athletic (endurance, speed and agility) and skilled big men. Spencer is 0/10 in skills but with a good run at it potentially better than average in the other categories. Max King has lovely skills but needs to work on the other 3 aspects. Mitch King is just a baby for a ruckman but I like his game sense and his skills are ok for an 18 year old ruck. I wish we had the spare cash to have an international prospect developing. Maybe it's something we will get to next year.

umm Dyson Heppell... are you kidding me.... I wonder if Lance Armstrong does cycling commentary?

Always so many "ifs" IF we had picked Wines, or Stringer, we may have won a few more games and never had a look in at Brayshaw and Petracca. Time to move on.

That is Wagner up in the air.