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Went down to Casey and watched through the fence. Don't know why you can't get into an area that could be partitioned off on the outer wing for supporters. Other clubs seem to have supporters around the grounds. A couple of rehab groups. Brayshaw, VDB, Viney and Hibberd doing laps. Bowey, Smith, Petty and Brown doing exercises, run throughs and similar on the outer wing. Bowey Petty and Smith together with coaches doing various drills whilst Brown just ran up and down the boundary line. B Brown doing a lot of body work drills with Stafford whilst other training going on. Apart from warm ups there were 3 main drills on whole ground. 1. Williams ran the first one where there were three teams. Yellow tabs, white tabs and Melbourne jumpers. going in triangular pattern HFF to HFF to FF anticlockwise with emphasis on fast continuous movement. 2. Two teams Orange tabs and melbourne jumpers run maybe by Yze. Full ground match play. They put cones down to bring the boundary in 20 m on each side so all play was through corridor areas. All about the side not in possession trying to touch the ball where it would be turned over to the other side. Kossie was one out with a white tab running through the middle going for runs bouncing the ball trying to avoid others. At one stage tracc chased him while he bounced it 4 times. Trac couldn't catch him but never gave up. Kossie kept the same 2 m in front. After Kossie kicked it Tracc collapsed to his knees trying to bet some breath - it was a great chase. Kossie just kept going. Nothing wrong with Kossie fitness. TMac is much fitter - at one stage he sprinted from the centre to the goal square to take a mark. Jordan looks really good. Jackson has gone up a level and has mixed the mobile ability to be more assured in his ball handling, especially at ground level. Bowey looks more advanced than Bayley. Oliver got tackled and went down for a while and one of the coaches convinced him to take 5 minute rest but then came back as strong as ever. The only other one to have a problem was Baker who was limping for a couple of minutes but then appeared to run it out. Rosman was the one who stood out for me. He's athletic, big strong and has a leap. Marked a few over the top of others and got a few handball receives running past. Plays like Bontempelli and even kicks like him. Wouldn't be surprised if he played first up. Spargo, Langdon and Hunt impressed. Weid presented well. Thomo, May and Lever main defenders but no close checking (emphasis on intercepting). Like the first drill it was about quick continous movement. 3. Two separate games on each side of the ground with little league type goal posts 2 m apart. Match play where eventually players tried to kick goal through the 2 m gap. No set shots - just snaps on the run. Rosman did a beauty from 40 m out. across his body. I left at 11 and they were still going.

If you are looking for speed to break the lines we have him J Hunt played his best football off the half back flank. He knows how to kick a goal running through the middle of the ground and links up well.

Sure. Xavier Maher Murray Bushrangers. 185cm inside mid with power and acceleration from the contests who is able to break away from packs with speed and use the footy well. Was part of the AFL Academy program and was tipped to go inside 25 in the draft. Worked with him back in the under 16's. Currently training with Carlton. Melbourne showed interest pre draft. Liam Kolar Northern Knights. 195cm utility who a bit like Rosman is a freakish athlete who plays mostly down back, but was training in the midfield group over the summer with the potential of playing the wing role. Has high level of speed and endurance and another who was tipped to go top 30. Pretty sure who it was Richmond who showed strong interest. Will no doubt get another fair go in the under 19s program. Kaine Baldwin Glenelg Tigers. 194cm strongly built key forward who last few years has been ruined by knee injuries. His under 16's championships was elite to the point that he was then talked about a potential top 5 draft prospect. Since then he's had two knee reconstruction. Sam Fisher Swan Districts. 22 year old mature age player who had an outstanding season in the WAFL this year and averaged about averaged 26.9 disposals (ranked 2nd in the WAFL) and 7.5 clearances (3rd) per game. He won the Sandoval medal by playing as an inside/outside midfielder and has an immense running power that is able to run his opponents to the ground. Who was someone I personally hope that we would invite to train. Would put enormous pressure on our mids, and show them what two way running is all about. Rhyan Mansell Eagle SANFL. One bloke who i thought was extremely stiff to miss out in the draft. 182cm rebounding defender who came from tassie and had a consistent season with the eagle. Great skills by foot but also his ability to read play and use his great strength with his intercept marking. Currently training with Richmond. I hope he gets picked up. Henry Walsh Geelong Falcons. 204cm tall 18 year ruckman who also was part of their AFL Academy Program. He is a good player at ground level and wins a number of clearances with his follow-up work. He was expected to have a huge role at state and NAB League level, but hasn’t been able to show how much he has developed in 12 months. Watch for him in the under 19s program coming up this year. Needs to add a few kilos but. Jackson Callow 195cm Strongly built 18 year old forward from Tasmania who again was extremely stiff to miss out. He is a contested marking beast who again came through the AFL Academy Program. I would have loved either him or Baldwin to be invited for a train on over the summer just to see how they would go in a professional full time environment. Kicked 24 goals in 14 games as a bottom age player in the NAB league back in 2019. Will be keeping a close eye on him this year. I've named 7 players so far @jayceebee31 @Baghdad Bob. Happy to keep going??

Thanks for taking the time to get along to training and report back Stinga If we are to improve we need an improvement in output from within and new blood My takeaways which are all positives - Kossie fit and building a tank - BBB doing body work with Stafford - IMO his weakness is body on body this is something they are working on it seems - TMac is fit and moving well hopefully a return to 2018 form - Rosman - he could be a real bonus if he can step up and contribute from the get go (we can only dream that he is anything like the Bont - Spargo and Hunt are players that need to keep improving so encouraging that they are looking good - Not too many in rehab/injured - Also pleased to hear they may have binned the failed experiment of Harmes on HBF

I think that the reason for the excitement is because the season isn't far away from starting. Hopefully we will be able to see games live in the flesh. It is called withdrawal symptoms.

Great work Stinga, thanks! Is it just me, or is there a hint of 'Demonland' excitement in the air?

I agree with a lot that has already been said about Jayden, I believe that 2021 will be a good year for him, he can play half back, wing and is a real opportunist around goal but I am really thinking Rivers and Hunt off the half back line would be very hard combination to beat.

It’s interesting that Hunt is back training with the backs and Harmes is with the midfielders isn’t it. Perhaps the coaching panel was trying to be overly clever in moving them, but these two owned those positions a cpl years back. Sometimes you have to stick with your strengths.

I wish him no ill, the club is bigger than any player. Hope he is in a good place health wise

He was the consensus number one, so not just so MFC in this case. At the time the Tiges would have loved him...grew up a Richmond supporter. How lucky were they to miss???

Fair to say I'm no fan of how he (and his Dad) went about the whole situation with the Dees, but doesn't feel like the right time for a pile on, even if it's a more footy-focused one. Seem to remember something about his wife's Dad having brain cancer (not sure if remembering correctly), and no idea if this has any relation to that, but there's clearly some bigger issues happening in his life and no matter what I think of him as a footballer; some things are bigger than that and I wish him well.

Excellent report Stinga. That's disappointing to hear that other clubs are welcoming supporters to training but not us. I assumed it was a COVID rule across the board that supporters are not allowed into training venues?? At the end of the day you can still get an ok view behind the fence but it would be nice if the club could welcome back a bit of fan engagement after the miserable 2020 in VIC.

Greatly appreciated stinga, this report is fantastic.

Well done, Stinga. Was beginning to think we had no shows today...

You don't give a spot on your list to someone that is not up to standard. I have no idea if this kid can play, he meets a need that we have but he needs to be up for to it. The club doesn't need to rush the call, we can have him do a complete pre-season, see him in intra-club and maybe a couple of Casey pre-season games, or if still uncertain have him play at Casey and pick him up in mid season draft. There are a number of players that missed out on being drafted that could have been if they played footy last year. There could be some real bolters available in the mid season draft, I'm a bit of a fan of at least leaving 1 pick for this draft.

As much as I luv what Jayden can (occasionally) bring to the table, it concerns me that after 6 (?) years at the club, we haven't been able to find a permanent role for him. We started him in defense - and loved his run off half back - then tried him on the wing, then moved him forward for a couple of years (where he has been one of our top goal kickers for that time), and now we have swung full circle and, if reports are correct, we have him training with the backs again. By now he must be the most well rounded player in the squad - or the most confused. The fact that he hasn't found a permanent home is a major concern for me. Is this the fault of our development team and our selectors, or does the problem lie with Jayden himself for not stamping his name on a particular role? Many posters have stated, his defensive skills need to improve. Others have included that his field kicking skills are lacking - yet he is one of our most accurate kicks for goal. Personally i'd like to see him provide the dash off half back again if we can afford to lose him from our forward line. But i really feel we have failed in our proper development of Jayden, but hope that with our new coaching team we can at last find the best role for his unique talent, and develop him to own that spot.

McMahon didn't miss though If he misses that shot for goal a lot of things could (or would) have been different It was a real sliding doors moment ... Tiger fans who for years were filthy that McMahon kicked that goal are probably now thankful that he did kick the goal Do Richmond win the 3 flags without Martin? And if they had have lost that game against us does Martin end up elsewhere? It should be remembered that Trengove was all the rage as well and the Tigers might have picked Trengove over Martin if Jack was available. Or Scully of course who they were just as enamoured with One goal kicked or missed changes the course of history. The bottom end of the ladder in 2009 had 3 or 4 teams that weren't trying to win so any unplanned win didn't suit any of those teams

Every-one's a genius recruiter with 10yrs of hindsight. 5-6yrs ago Martin shopped himself around for big coin and got no takers. Still a loose cannon. I think it was the rocket he needed to prove every-one wrong. Would the same thing have happened if we picked him up ..... Who knows.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/01/25/hawks-midfielder-steps-away-from-football/ I see the unloved Tom Scully has withdrawn from training for a fortnight to focus on a personal issue. While not wishing him any non-football ill will, if this is how it ends for him how do demonlanders think he will be remembered, not just by Melbourne supporters, but in general? For mine he will always be an unfulfilled and over-rated talent who succumbed to Kevin Sheedy's BS and financial lust. Otherwise he is entirely forgettable for his contribution to the game.

Agree all the above thanks for going great write up makes me smile

Great report made me feel as though I was there instead of in BRISBANE !!!

Well done stinga thanks for your observation, Good to know something is coming out of training. Rosman looks impressive i like that.

It’s all about winning... I truly believe the Club is finally realizing this point. All the other issues are side points, not Primary. Win games, entertain our supporters and they will dig deep inside the wallet

Average footballer, seems like a robot of a person, plays a boring style of footy built on running 50kms to receive one handball, has a punchable face, disliked by his teammates across three clubs. He’s not exactly a likeable bloke, regardless of him bailing on us all those years ago. Don’t blame him for taking the money and leaving either. I’d have done the same, as would most others. Just don’t like him!

I would’ve took the money too if I were Scully. We were a basket case of a club. He set himself up for life. Made the most out of a very limited skill set. When it’s all said and done Scully was an above average athlete and below average football player. He got paid millions more than footballers twice his capability. Fair play to him.

Surprised MFC supporters still hate him. Yes, in 2012 and 2013 I can understand the hate but surely by now he's a long forgotten former MFC player that is now at his third club and is probably near retirement.

Tommy Mac plays Both KP and interceptor role in one really and I like Petty ( if fit) and Mitch Brown in that role also. These options are real and of some substance. Hibbo Smith and Lever are not KP backs but smaller med size options in a glaring emergency. Lever has proven that one on one he is not the answer rather floating intercepting and distributing from the backline. Hore is like Lever But the last thing we should do is panic and get just an interceptor. A serviceable 195 cm marking and strong bodied defender would be more useful overall.

Here’s a bit more Dicky Betts. But the reason I’m posting this is that he’s joined for the second number by another of my favourite guitarists, Brian Setzer. The dueling guitars are amazing and the tone that Setzer gets is just something else. He was still essentially a new kid on the block in ‘84, but boy could he play that thing!! Even Betts looked a little gobsmacked! Enjoy!

While I was annoyed with how Scully and his father went about it at the time I have very little ill will towards the bloke in retrospect. He was a 19yo kid thrown into something he was not ready for and that blame rests on the shoulders of Sheedy and co. I don’t have any issue with him taking the GWS deal, I just wish he’d been a little more up front about it. With whatever is happening in his personal life now, I hope he gets through it ok.

He’s been overlooked in the draft by every other club. He wasn’t a stand-out for the Colts. If he didn’t have the name Farmer on his back I doubt we would have looked twice at him. Maybe he’s a late developer and we strike gold. It would be a great story for sure but the odds are against. Let’s see how he goes but I won’t be getting my hopes up.

I have a reserved seat on my membership. I should be able to use that seat and get into the game with my membership card instead of having to book through tickitek and pay 5 bucks more for a seat somewhere in noddyland. The whole thing disgusts me.

There are not many ex-demons that I dislike. I think Frawley gave good service and earned his move and I was sorry to see Watts go but understood the reasons. I hope Jesse Hogan can get his career back on track at the Giants. I hope whatever personal issues are afflicting him are resolved but I couldn’t care less about Tom Scully the footballer

When: Saturday 30th January Time: 2.10pm (AEST) Where: Metricon Stadium Weather: 28°, scattered showers, lightish breeze https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/853720/three-debutants-confirmed-for-round-1 (With apologies to Megs who posted the same article in another thread) It will be great to watch the 3 debutants running around this weekend. Bannon from all reports is a good mark but is also lightning quick for a 177cm tall. Was somewhat of a slider to overall 5th pick. Eliza McNamara is very small and light whilst Fitzsimon has been easily Gippsland’s best NAB player. Full team to be posted on Friday I’m very much looking forward to seeing the red and blue jumper running around again this weekend.

Seriously , seems rather laid back to me, might be just me.

I could reel off half dozen names on our current list i would gladly move out for Farmer to get a spot

I could reel off 10 names from the draft/state leagues that missed out who had far greater impact, but are imo better players in general then farmer.

The issue that the club had with Hunt of half back was his decision making and disposal, the run and dare was always great but the final execution let him down. Playing him up forward, he didn't really bring a great deal of defensive pressure more a fast hit up small forward. I think he will be looking at being the number 1 small lock down defender ahead of Lockhart and Jetta

It was remiss of me not to post this. ...but one of the great acoustic guitar players and one of my guitar heroes Tony Rice passed away on Christmas day. Tony was at the forefront of new bluegrass for want of a better title. The first time I heard him was on a David Grisman album called "Hot Dawg"...just brilliant. I'm lucky to have a copy of the CD, lucky because I looked it up last week and found it going for around US$900+ on Amazon. Probably my all time favourite acoustic instrumental album, it has a cover of Django's "Minor Swing" with Stefan Grappelli guesting. Tony was a beautiful singer but suffered some muscle issue and lost that singing voice a number of years back, then to cap it off over the last 10 years he had issues with his elbow that virtually stopped him playing. He wouldn't perform if he couldn't play like Tony Rice. Play and sing it again Tony...

In 2012 Tom Scully moved to GWS on a six figure sum and signed a contract for six years worth six million dollars, However his father Phil was also working as a recruiting officer for the Giants and was on a 100,000 dollars a year for six years. Not long before signing Tom. How coincidental, as Tom stated he had no knowledge of an offer to his father prior to signing his own deal. That is not fair play.

The book title? The 3 Flags of Richmond (How Jordan McMahon Changed the Course of History) And it shouldn't be forgotten that Richmond were also tanking that day ... they and their supporters desperately wanted Scully

There are a lot of good suggestions above as to who should be in the leadership group based on their performances last year. This, despite the fact there was only a Captain, Vice Captain in formal roles. On this basis, I don't see the need to "recognise" a larger leadership group as clearly the names listed above see themselves as leaders anyway (and I'm sure the feedback they receive inside the club affirms their actions).

Obviously we are the "hardcore" supporters on here but for me it is times like these when I would take out a membership without hesitation. Once the dust settles can rethink things but for me signing up means becoming a member, not just a season ticket holder.

From MelbourneFC website: THREE new faces will be pulling on the red and blue this weekend, as the Demons announced their debutants for Round 1. With the players’ families gathering over the fence at Gosch’s Paddock, Alyssa Bannan, Eliza McNamara and Megan Fitzsimon received their guernsey’s before the Tuesday night training session begun. Megan Fitzsimon has been drafted with pick No.35, joining the Demons from Gippsland. The 18-year-old is an explosive footballer who can play through the middle and up forward, and she knows how to kick a goal. Fitzsimon has had a major impact during her time in the NAB League and will benefit from playing alongside some quality teammates at AFLW level.

The Scully/Trenners vs Martin debate has been done to death but I'll add a quick 2 cents to the argument. Development wise we were such a ridiculous basket case at the time and I really think the tanking issues with creating a culture of losing played it's part in it. I think we could've been handed the greatest player potential wise (I'm talking Judd, Ablett, Voss etc) and still completely stuffed up his development. Therefor I see the argument of who we chose being moot, I think Dusty should just count his blessings that we didn't choose him.

It's only a rookie spot, so it's worth a crack. If he doesn't improve then we part ways. But I'd like him to have the year to prove his worth. Next year Woey's son is in the draft and I hope we take him too. He's supposed to be very good.

Thankfully, he'll end his career as a very ordinary pick one. Imagine if he became an AA quality gun and you had to watch him run around every week ? Good riddance.

I have a suspicion Langdon is in the leadership group. Watching the Captain’s Run podcast, Brayshaw and Gawn were talking about how Langdon has taken Rosman under his tutelage and is getting more involved with other players. To which Gus said not surprising since he’s moved ...... i probably cant say that can I. To which Gawn said no.

I so badly wanna see a Melbourne Demons game live. I miss interaction.

I believe technically we can still get Oscar back as a pre-season supplementary... (Ducks for cover)

From the training reports we've got 13 in the defensive group. Hore is out injured; Petty, Hibberd and Smith are in rehab. That means we need to find a starting 7 from these 9: May, Lever, Tomlinson, Salem, Rivers, Hunt, Lockhart, Bowey and Jetta. A re-inforcement could be handy It is possible that TMac and M.Brown could fill in.