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Had a look down at Casey today for training. I’m not the best training observer and the view wasn’t the best as you have to stand on the outside fence. So can’t go up to the boundary. Trac hasn’t missed a beat. Dominated the match practice. Played through the midfield. Ben Brown presented well and kicked a couple if not more. A big unit and as expected has long run up. Fritsch looked sharp up forward. Tmac played mainly a high half forward role I thought. Turns out wing/forward. Got a bit of it and looked to be moving well. James Jordon played through the midfield in what seemed to be the A team. Got a bit of the footy. Rosman I didn’t notice too much in match practice. But took a nice grab playing forward. He’s a big unit. And moves well. Bowey seemed to injure himself early in the session. Came off and rode a stationary bike. Then came back out later with some skills stuff. Didn’t look like anything serious. Chocco has them doing a fair bit of skills stuff. Starting out with short kicks then longer type drills I thought the skills looked pretty good and there seems to be a focus on moving the ball quickly out of congestion. Jackson didn’t do much but was out there early and then later. Maybe having a light day or has a niggle. Didn’t seem injured. (Read afterwards he has Achilles awareness and will be back training next week) Gus I believe did some skills work Hibberd didn’t seem to do any training. I saw him kitted up but maybe doing work inside as he walked past a couple of times. Petty seems to be in full training. I thought I saw him in match sim. But seems no one else did. Harmes seems to be back in the midfield. Got a bit of the footy. Also I thought Spargo and ANB were lively up forward. I also thought I saw Melksham participating in the skills work pre the match sim. But I think others have reported he missed. However I’m sure it was him.

If Oliver doesn’t make some big changes to the way he plays, including significant improvements to playing “team first” footy, the Club May well consider that his trade value is attractive. I can tell you that Yze ran a lengthy video session this week based on the positioning and work rate of our midfielders particularly when we don’t have the ball, and Oliver, Petracca & Viney were the continuous culprits of most examples. I’m loving what I’m hearing about Yze’s intent to improve the defensive efforts, selfishness and team first acts of the big 3 egos.

The teams were picked with one team full of the guys who have been training well and those who would most likely have been picked in a game if we had it today against a team of the rest. My source from within the club was talking up the Weed to me as well, really rating how he has trained and become stronger and is looking really impressive, for what it’s worth.

Went down to Casey Fields for an hour this morning. A beautiful sunny and non windy morning (a rarity for Casey) for the lads to train in. Was a bit of a treat to watch some footy given the 17 games spent watching in the lounge room last year. I took my viewing position behind the fence in the pleb section and saw everyone's favorite mercurial small forward of the mid 1990's -early 2000's watching his son and the boys intently. I picked a great day for it as it was essentially an intra club game, for the 60 minutes I was there. They had the blue team with numbers on versus the white team with no numbers, and given the blue team won 9.5 to 3.1 you could probably imagine the blue boys had the much stronger line up! (More game simulation may have continued after I left at 11???) The standard looked OK but given I haven't been to a training session since a week before the infamous 2013 season started, I have nothing to compare. Notes for the blue team: Petracca - looked a million bucks rotating through midfield and forward and kind of looks a class above everyone else - not sure if that's a positive or a negative? His chizzling kicks and overhead marking is a thing of beauty. Hunt - played as a half back flanker circa 2016/2017. Looked ok. T Mac - Played wing in the first half of the session. Then as the third key/floating fwd in the second half. Looks fit, no issues. B Brown - Kicked 2 difficult set shots that essentially nobody at the club can drill. Very excited to have him at the club. Will probably kick a lot of goals via free kicks. Harmes - Played exclusively in the centre square and did not play well. Seems a distance away from 2018 and isn't excelling at any position at the moment (ie -since 2019) Tomlinson - Looks settled down back as a key defender, continuing on from his late season recovery after the wing failure. May was in rehab but I think Tomlinson will be there regardless come round 1. Jordon - Not sure if he'll make it but he was heavily involved today through the middle of the ground and featured in many transitions towards the forward 50. Moves well and I reckon he'll play games this year. Lockhart - Starting back pocket while Jetta was in the white side. Fritsch - Becoming one of my favs. 2 or 3 goals and adds some class to our forward line. Kicked a nice set shot today. Gawn - Nailed a nice set shot today. Spargo - I'll have to wash my mouth out with soap but Charles looked good at half forward, involved in a fair bit of play. The new draftees played for the white side. REHAB Boys: May, Brayshaw, Vanders, Pickett and Smith. I suspect May, Pickett and Smith are injured as this pre-season is too short for players to miss back to back sessions for no good reason. Jackson ran laps. Didn't see Hibberd or Melksham. Not sure if Viney was absent or playing for the white side. Hopefully there were other posters at Casey today who can add to the above, and provide a more ""footy technical" training report.

Absolutely correct. I believe there is a concern that we have too many that can only play inside midfield and nowhere else. eg Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes, Sparrow, Jordan & Vanders. Yze wants team first footy and those not willing to conform will not be in there and will be considered trade worthy and it is only my speculation that the one with most trade value is the one that needs to conform the most. GPS tracks the players who run the most metres towards the opposition’s goal when the opposition has the ball, the Club calls it Defensive Metres and particularly tracks all midfield & forwards on this stat. Most on here would be very surprised if you saw that list of ranked players. Once again, a Demonland whipping boy tops that list.

Good summary, i was also there watching from outside leaning up against what resembled prison bars. Petracca gave his all in the intraclub and was knackered when he came off. Jordan featured a few times. Brown at FF looked good. Hibberd in rehab saw him a couple of times. Bowey came off very early before match sim with hopefully only a little niggle. Did not seem bothered by it but went into the rooms for a while. Jackson had an easy day not taking part in the match sim or drills. Had his top off on the way in and has added a good few kilos of muscle. Looks like he is serious about his footy - in serious good shape for his age. TMac has trimmed down but still looks pretty big as he is big framed. Concentrated on ball movement. Looked sharp. Choco took an early drill concentrating on well placed short kicking. Another drill concentrated on moving the ball wide from inside to outside. Rosnan for the white jumpered team kept presenting time after time which was good but other options were taken in the main. His turn will come. Is tall, quick and took a good mark. Overall impressed by what i saw.

Kobe Farmer, the son of beloved Demons great Jeff, is already making a good impression as he angles for a rookie berth ahead of 2021. The 170cm Farmer uses his nous as a clever small forward and was among the goals in match sim on Friday morning's searching session. – Michael Rogers

Yes, Yze is not going to let the big 3 get away with what Ben Matthew’s did. On a positive note, some of the Demonland whipping boys were pointed out and praised by Yze in the same videos for sacrificing their attacking position by moving to take the defensive positions that were often not occupied by the big 3.

ANB played in the blue team and was very busy rotating between small/medium forward and midfield, The thing I like about ANB is he can kick a goal out of nowhere. Will be right in the mix for round 1. I was probably harsh on Harmes as it was only a glorified training run, but he hasn’t looked crisp for a while and is probably down the pecking order in the midfield. Could we try him up forward? Is a true shot for goal and can take an overhead mark. He’s kicked bags of 4 and 3 on occasion.

Burgo’s injury update had him on a modified program due to last years injury and then an illness knocking him around over summer. It’s likely he’s been in and out of drills and they’ve just told the reporter he’s coming back from groin issues. If he’s doing a decent portion of the sessions that means they aren’t too worried. Any real concern would have him back in full rehab

Spot on Dazzle. Plus Vanders & Melksham. Yze certainly delivered it in a positive, educational manner. It wasn’t done in a way to belittle those players but I think we’ll find far less tolerance for a lack of defensive running, not filling defensive positions in transition as well as stop plays, taking on the tackler 2 & 3 times, panic handballing etc.

I'm guessing the likes of ANB and Spargo were one of those names. How did Trac, Oliver and Viney take the feedback @goodwindees

Its hard to see everything. I'm guessing some of the issues happened after you left. Thanks, a good article. It confirms much of your report. I've taken the liberty of summarising it for those that just want a snap shot: "MELBOURNE defender Marty Hore is headed for scans after injuring his knee in a crunching tackle at Demons training on Friday morning. Reigning best and fairest Christian Petracca also looked in discomfort early in the two-and-a-half-hour session after copping a heavy knock to his left shoulder. While he was taken from the field for assessment, the midfield gun returned moments later with the shoulder strapped and finished the hit-out unencumbered". Sounds like the tackling is quite fierce! Hoping we don't have to much 'friendly fire' injures in the pre-season! "Forward recruit Ben Brown impressed during one hour of match simulation, booting three goals with his typical long run-up and dead-eye approach on goal. The 28-year-old later jarred his finger but was able to join teammates for running efforts that closed out the morning. Brown combined in the forward 50 with Sam Weideman, while a lively Bayley Fritsch alternated between attack and the wing with a leaner Tom McDonald. Steven May sat out the match play due to a minor ankle injury but will return next week and was among a group of six who were put through lighter drills on the secondary oval. He was joined by Clayton Oliver, who was managed for loads, Joel Smith, Kysaiah Pickett, Angus Brayshaw and Aaron vandenBerg, who is easing back after being forced to quarantine following a stint in NSW over his break. Second-year tall Luke Jackson was reduced to running laps after reporting recent Achilles awareness and will be back in full training next week alongside draftee Jake Bowey, who nursed a corked calf. Veteran Michael Hibberd was restricted to watching on and assisting coaches, still recovering from an ankle injury, while Harrison Petty (groin) missed". Sounds like the minor injuries are building up. And on the really positive side: In defence, Jake Lever excelled alongside Adam Tomlinson and Jay Lockhart who played a lockdown role in the stronger 'A' side. Jayden Hunt played off half-back in the same line-up and will settle in defence this season after several years playing as a half-forward. Captain Max Gawn showed no signs of the knee injury that hampered parts of his 2020, covering the ground with ease for the entire session. Jack Viney impressed in the midfield and landed a heavy blow on Weideman that left the forward rattled, while first-round pick Bailey Laurie was clean in congestion. Kobe Farmer, the son of Demons great Jeff, booted one goal and showed promising signs as he vies for one of two vacant rookie spots ahead of the season. If Cleary gives us that write-up for each session we won't have to trek to Casey.

Sorry to hear Marty go down with his knee he is a handy backup to have and l rate him. He missed every game in 2020 with an injury to a broken toe and then had surgery on his Quad that ended his year. Now the ACL in 2021 just isn't fair for Marty. Hope he gets back for the start of 2022. Good luck mate !

More importantly, it takes a Coach with the balls to actually take the hard decision and move the player out of that position OR out of the team. This is where I think we have now evolved. Won't matter if your name is Oliver or Viney or Petracca when he's in there. If you don't play inside mid as Yze wants, you won't play inside mid and if you don't have another position that you can play, you might find yourself playing inside mid at Casey.

1.Tmac and Fritsch rotating forward and wing 2. Hunt and Melksham moved to other positions 3. Ben Brown in. 4. Hannan moved clubs. Thats a huge amount of changes to our forward structure and I [censored] love it.

So the senior coach has either not picked up on this weakness or ignored it. Why does it need Yze to point it out?

Thanks for all the training reports. The heartening common thread to see is that Tommy Mac is fitter and apparently injury free at this stage. Great news. And Trac is continuing to star. Lots to look forward to.

I still Kelly will be a significant interest for us.

I think with have enough depth in the backline: Lever | May | Tomlinson | T Mac | Hibbo | Jetta | Lockhart | Salem | Smith | Hunt (seems to be down back again). Just get Wiz jnr on the list

Yes, he's turning heads

Thanks for those who can get out to training and provide their views! I'm interested if any DLs saw this exchange, for 2 reasons: (1) Was is just an opportunistic tackle from Viney or was he generally very aggressive all round (I'm hoping he's going to take the aggression up this year as I think he's more valuable getting 20 touches and 10 bone crunching tackles than getting 30 touches and 3 or 4 tackles) (2) How was Weid's reaction, some guys really fire up and play their best after getting a big shot, and I think Weid needs some sort of physicality early in a game to play his best. If he jumped up and played on then getting hit hard might be the best thing for him.

I reckon he was pretty good in his first season... He needed to steady and convert a bit better but will learn that. ...and he brought the forward pressure that we sadly needed. For a kid that doesn't have a tank he sure worked hard up and back, he wasn't afraid to work. Couldn't ask for much more.

I have just seen this. This one hits a raw nerve.. I am deeply saddened to head Mark has sadly passed away. When he told us of the terrible news that his wife had passed away i PM'd him and told him I was here for a chat if need and was thinking of his children who had just sadly lost their mother. I am now utterly devastated for his kids that they have now lost not only their father, but a beautiful soul. We got talking footy around the period and his biggest wish was to see the Dees back playing finals and hopefully winning a flag in his time. I engaged again a while back when he posted about his health battle and you wouldn't have picked it due to his positivity and just happy that he was still able to spend quality time with his kids. I just seen that he was only logged into demonland last Friday. To @Hell Bent I am deeply sorry for your loss as his close mate. To his family and close friends if they are reading this, my thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. To Mark, RIP old mate. It was an absolute pleasure that I was able to connect with you even if we never met. Time to be reunited with your darling wife.

He’s a ripper JJ and as per my best 22 post a ways back I think he’ll feature in R1 & be the real breakout star this year w/sparrow to be right up there also. great to hear he was in blue, great signs! Class kid I’m telling you. Choco already rates him as a real Smokey for this year also. Believe it was Smith who got BBB. Love the TMAC wing/fwd move now that he’s trimmed down, THIS is why he excelled 2018 as he was able to rotate fwd when opponents tired or not expecting it and get marks running back pagans paddock style. Another move I had in my best 22 so fingers crossed both pan out. Marty Hore is a great user had a real loss. Must look at replacements. Farmer will 100% take one slot, maybe Majak or Skinner for the other.. few others it could be also inc Scharenburg.

For the 45 odd minutes of match practice I saw, T Mac played the first half of the session on the wing, ie - he’d start on the wing at a centre bounce and then roam up and down the field chasing a kick. B Brown and Weid were obviously our 2 key fwds. But in the second half of the session T Mac would start as the third key fwd at a centre bounce behind Weid and Brown. However T Mac was given a licence to roam down the field while the other two big boys were more stationed inside 50. Jackson did not play the match practice and was instead running laps. On Weid, he’s going to get some great protection from BBB as he’s clearly not going to get the number 1 key defender. It really is his time to have a consistent 20-22 game season and start to really hit the scoreboard and continually take some big grabs against lesser defenders.

Possibly missed the match simulation under coaching instructions - we have a relatively small injury list so far this pre-season that would typically grow much larger if Vanders was permitted to play in any competitive way!

Wondering if we’re going to get any training reports from this track watcher?

I see Picketts role to create opportunities through pressure acts and ground balls. He is not going to be a high volume possession getter nor are many in this type of role. It is also not unusual to look back at players in this role being a touch off in their first year seizing opportunities, which he was. The key for me is how many times he was at the right spot as well as how many times he was at the right spot in multiple points of a possession chain. It is worth looking at for his first year his average pressure acts and ground ball gets against others in similar roles. Note I have excluded Cameron and Papley who I would suggest play more as leading forwards not pressure forwards. He is no guaranteed elite but for a first year he was above average in both and certainly has good numbers to become an elite in that role at minimum as he builds his endurance and strength.. Pickett; Pressure Acts 14.9, Ground Ball Gets 4.1, shots at goal total 26 D Rioli; 14.5, 2.9 , 23 Tippa; 14.3, 3.4, 32 Butters; 13.1, 5.1, 18 Butler; 16.3, 2.6, 45

Aaron Davey slow as a wet week? Do you actually know this for a fact? The Davey I saw in his debut season was imo one of the fastest players in the competition with his ability to just run down any opposition with his sublime closing speed.

Some of you guys crack me up. No one knows what the future will bring with kosi, Point in case is Aaron Davey. At 16 years of age he had his sublime skills but was as slow as a wet week. And look what happened there. Relax and let it unfold If it happens you will enjoy it more,

At the same age, I was comparable to Cyril, too. I was the same age.

On the one hand I'm really pleased with what Yze is doing. On the other hand I'm disappointed that in the 4 years of the Goodwin regime, the coaches collectively, weren't able to get an A-grade midfield to gel as a cohesive unit and to do the 'attitude-adjustment' required. Hopefully, Yze sorts out the midfield roles of Oliver and Viney who seem to play or want to play the same role.

Yep ANB played played in the blue team. Played well to.

Sparrow played in the blue side. Played in the mid - half forward area and kicked an easy goal on the run from 20 but didn’t notice much of him. I thought he looked ok mid season last year, particularly against Collingwood.

I really wish they would forget about the social club, it's a white elephant and as you say a waste of valuable space. If/when it's built I may be proven wrong but how many people are going to wander past there on their way out of the G if it's a night game or a late Sunday game, let alone in general. 6 months of the year and 6 days a week for the rest of the year it will be left dormant. Much better idea to focus on getting a dedicated area at the G that is accessible to all members (not just MCC) if they want to have a social club location. Isn't Collingwood's in the Ponsford Stand? Surely we could use the area behind the Legends reserved seats on level 2 of the Northern Stand (from memory there is a bar in there?)

Yeah kinda forgot about that game.... What a year he had in 2000.

Pretty surw Gonna Vom plays for Essendon. But back to the thread; I'm really pleased to hearthat Brown still has his lovely long straight kick. Part of his appeal is that you don't need to get the ball in really close to goal to realistically expect a goal from him. That's why he also often is is allowed enough space to give a birst lead, gain a few steps ahead of his opponent and then meet the ball at the top of his long-armed 200cm height, leaving defenders with nothing they can do except chop at his arms from behind. Which is why he gets a lot of goals from free kicks. It was true when he was at North and it'll still be true when he's with us. There's Youtube videos of 'every goal by Brown' and its unmistakable that most of those free kick goals epuld have been mark goals anyway. Sorry, rant over. Other thought; it wluld be a sublime kind of MFCSS to imagine that now we've recruited multiple other potential small forwards, Spargo came good and we were left with a traffic jam of high draft picks struggling to find a role. ?

Can someone give a summary of the article please?

Must keep Salem.

So we should just throw the Kozz out onto the nature strip, with the Hard Rubbish Dr. Depression??

geez apologies i just remember seeing it in the background of a flick i scrolled past on some socials didn't exactly stop for a forensic analysis

It wasn't really a "comparison". He simply said he's seen Kozzy do some things up the field that he hasn't seen since Cyril. He didn't say they play the exact same way. He didn't say Kozzy will be as good as Cyril. He didn't say they do all the same things. Pretty silly to say it's a "woeful comparison" given a) It wasn't a comparison, and b) The bloke giving his opinion has 4 flags and has spent a fair bit of time watching both players in training.

Whether the comparison is appropriate or not, I feel that Lewis: has genuine faith in the quality and ability of this list; and has sufficient knowledge and experience to be able to hold, and express, a credible view on this.

Geez that's concerning if true. I'd have hoped he's in rehab with a slight niggle, not because he can't keep up with the others. He's a well paid professional athlete FCS! And the COVID breach with his mate Charles was less than professional. His lack of fitness might explain some of his poor shots on goal last year. He really did miss some sitters that other small forwards eat up for breakfast. With respect to the Rioli comparison, I can see where he's coming from. Kozzie can def do some things that 99% of the league can't with his awareness and cleverness. But he obviously needs to start nailing the shots on goal that Cyril would kick in his sleep.

This brought a tear to my eye, I remember markc's posts about his wife's battle. My thoughts are with his kids, hopefully they have a great support network around them to help them through this horrible time.

HB very sorry to hear. I recall his story about his wife and himself, very sad to hear cancer claimed him and leaves behind the kids. I totally feel the doing the washing or folding clothes piece nowadays haha. Cancer is a [censored], I went to see my old man who died 20ys ago on the 16th of Jan in Apollo Bay. We spread his ashes in the ocean across the road from our family house on the Great Ocean Road. He was a mad Dees man, he used to wear a Dees track suit (top and bottoms),scarf/hat (depending on season) and on those really cold days the full length Dees coat over the top. An impressive site I’ll never forget. The last game we got to was the 2000 granny, but one of my most vidid memories was taking him out of hospital and wheeling him down Swanston st in a wheel chair (The Docs and Mum said he wasn’t allowed to go as he was so sick, he demanded I do the right thing by him and take him) for the Reconciliation March. He was a staunch/aggressive anti-rascist/advocate for the indigenous community. He had a smile the whole time even though I kept having to take him to the side of the road for him to vomit and then at the end of the March I had to lay him down to sleep until he had enough strength for the return leg. Possibly the proudest I’ve ever been. RIP Mark and Bryan.

don't you miss all those wonderful articles written in the 2019 preseason saying how good we were going to be. Best midfield..best this and that and the list went on. I think every pundit had us in the eight and many had us as premiers. Bathwater never tasted so good

Obviously, so now we know you're a shoot from the hip kind of poster.

Thanks LH. Yes, given the short pre season you'd have to think May has a niggle of some sort. Hopefully he gets back to main training ASAP as he clearly benefits from a healthy pre season. I watched from outside the cyclone fence (behind the Wiz who was inside) on the outer wing and could see most of the play. I didn't even try to get into the ground given that other posters have a had a few issues so far. I'm assuming COVID protocols essentially bans supporters from coming in??