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I know I'm a bit late to the party but I've been down to a couple of training sessions including Monday's, I enjoy watching the boys do their time trials but really it's not as indicative as some might think. Trac struggles in the time trials because of his physique but that doesn't mean anything. The younger boys, particularly the talls struggled. Adams and Verrell were examples of this. Sestan is not a natural athlete but is working hard on his fitness by the look of things as is Jefferson. For a bloke of Tomlinson's size his running is outstanding. He ran with Nibbler until there was about a lap and a half to go and then just went. I thought he was on his last half lap when he broke away but no. He was so strong and was really impressive. But that doesn't mean he's a different footballer to last year, he's just an outstanding athlete. When I go to these sessions I'm really only interested in the young blokes because in the main that's where the improvement will come from but it's such early days it's not really realistic to take much away. But in the wet last week I was impressed with how good the ball handling was from all players. Verrell did some impressive stuff below his knees and it just shows he's got some skills which are rare in big men. He may be a key position player prospect as well as a ruck. His issue is his stamina, he couldn't play ruck at AFL level purely based on not being able to get to enough contests. McAdam is another to impress. He's just got that magical indigenous ability to make the difficult look easy and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do. But he was another struggling with his running so that will be a watch. As others have said The Kolt has swagger but it doesn't look like arrogance to me. And he can kick it, both distance and accuracy. He did a really good time trial so looks to have the fitness to play early. Windsor hasn't stood out but what he's done he's done well. Kicking is good and ball handling is clean. I've liked what I've seen Kynan Brown do but he's as skinny as so it will be a while before he's ready even if he's got the skills, and Marty Hore just looks at home. I've been a track watcher for a good long time now and I well remember watching James Strauss train and thinking he could be anything. Training form at this time of year is very problematic in terms of predicting players development but we look pretty good. As I've read the other posters comments the common comment is "I'm looking forward to seeing *insert player* get a go this year. The issue of course is there will be very few spots up for grabs if we have a reasonably fit list. Billings and McAdam can both play and would be in front of the young guys. Howes and Laurie (yes, I'm still a believer) have multiple preseasons under their belt and Woey looked promising last year for a second year player. The question is "who for". I mean how does Kolt get a go? Who does McAdam get in for and Billings as well. Spargo has been impressive. This brings me to my final point. At this time of year we have unbelievable depth with far too few spots for the players. But when we've lost a few games it's more like "we are just swapping the deck chairs on the Titanic". It's groundhog day.

Sparrow is a totally different player to JJ. He is much more dynamic, much more damaging with his ball use, and has a good burst of speed. JJ lacks those things, which made him surplus to our needs. Accumulating possessions in our midfield is not a valued skill when you have the likes of Clarry and Viney getting 30+ touches a week every week. I wish JJ the absolute best at Sydney. He is a lovely, hard working kid and I totally get why he left.

Go you Lil Red Fire Engine.

He and Koz could cause headaches in the middle as a one-two punch combination then down back and up forward just running amok. Or not. To be honest, I don’t really watch football.

I went past on Monday post time trial and they did a lot of full ground transition work. It was outnumber play, but they were definitely practicing moving the ball quickly inboard through the corridor and as as another poster said, having a couple of options deep. No bombing down the line/to the pocket to be seen. It was very fun to watch.

It tells me that we didn't have a forward line. We lost Petty and Melky before the finals, and we lost Gus in the first few minutes, so Tracc was forced to play more minutes in the midfield rather than take a leading role forward. It got worse for the Carlton game when we lost JVR. If these players had been available, I think we would have defeated the Pies and we would not be having this conversation about our gameplan.

Now we just need relief at the other bowser...

I think this draft just passed we recruited in an area that needed strengthening for quiet some time. Our F50 was in dire need of rejuvenation and the inclusions of McAdam, Billings, Tholstrup and Fullarton to an extent will help give that area of the ground competition for spots. Last years finals series was a cold and brutal reminder of the need for cool heads when presented with goal kicking opportunities. we could never capitalise on our domination in periods of games especially against better opponents, we have had very little depth in our small forward department. Small Forwards seem to do most of the damage these days in front of goal so we went out and drafted for a specific need an area we have neglected since Kozi got drafted. Im confident with this new injection of live wire forwards and cleaner bill of health with our forwards that it will drive us back into GF calculations.

David Rennick, one of our Board members and all-round nice guy, is the CEO of MCM (Melbourne City Missions), a charity organisation that combats homelessness in Melbourne. He slept with us at Sleep at the ‘G this year and his passion for the cause is undeniable and very admirable. (Just quietly, we were the only AFL club to have an organised group of members participating.) *puts trumpet down* Also, the players do a lot of stuff that goes ahead without publicity. They are oftentimes called upon at short notice in their spare time and they always oblige. edit: there’s a special event this Saturday morning… We found out yesterday the entire playing group is participating.

I agree with everything you say. I've watched a small amount of pre season at Casey over the last few years and you see the newer guys is the various drills and you think 'how good will they be'. Then as the pre season goes along and the match sim part of training becomes more serious the senior players continue to dominate. The better on ballers still get the ball 30 times so leaves less opportunity for the newer guys to stand out and you realise how much further they need to improve. But then 3 - 4 years ago Bowey, Kossie and Jackson came along and last 2 years it was JVR and McVee. Sometimes you just don't know until a few games into the season. But as you say they have to overtake a player already there, so only leaves a spot for 1 or 2 permanently. Your best players have say 12 year careers. (18 to 30 years of age) With 24 main players, mathematically that only allows for the 2 a year.

Best way to compare them all would be looking at impact after the same amount of games/same age. JVR v Ben King - Jacob Van Rooyen and Ben King AFL Stats Comparison (footywire.com) - he has him covered in most stats and kicked almost identical goals with almost 20% less game time JVR v Max King - Jacob Van Rooyen and Max King AFL Stats Comparison (footywire.com) - again has him covered in most stats JVR v JUH - Jacob Van Rooyen and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan AFL Stats Comparison (footywire.com) - JVR wins again JVR v Amiss - Jacob Van Rooyen and Jye Amiss AFL Stats Comparison (footywire.com) - this one is tight and I'd probably give them a tie. Will be interesting to watch both their careers as they were the same draft. I won't bother with the other ones, but this shows that at the same age JVR is outperforming some of the guys who are now becoming established key forwards.

Great signing. Looking forward to Bowser's development going from strength to strength.

Play him in the midfield please.

Hopefully we see Jake play further up the ground in 2024, because I don't think the lock down defender role is suiting him at all.

It would have been my late mother's 102nd birthday today. .....just sayin' Miss you too, Mum 😥

Deflatingly

The AFL have been aligned with homelessness agencies for decades. I suggest the club is doing their bit as other clubs do and have for many many years.

they have to be footy department related questions. Bear in mind the AGM is the following week, good time to ask that question then. I'm sure plenty of members have an opinion about this!

Any further news? Some tough questions need to be asked at the next MFC AGM regarding the progress (or lack thereof) for our Home Base.

Demon3165 Was it our game plan or our inability to implement it, ie, take advantage of all those extra I50’s that we generated but failed to capitalise on, we’re the misses due to fatigue opposition pressure or missing talent.? Bringing in McQualter plus additional quality forwards should smarten up our F50 entries.!

THE MAN FROM UNCLE

Thebarton and Dingley will be. We haven't even got to the West Lakes and Waverley stage.

Not sure if mentioned elsewhere but the entire team went and served food at a place for the homeless on Monday. Appears ‘operation humility’ is underway and I quite like that it hasn’t been widely reported and isn’t being leveraged as a PR exercise.

Here’s the thing: Jed Adams and Harry Petty are one and the same person. True story. He/they trained well. He’s/they’re coming along nicely. There’s basically just a mo separating them. Not even a mo, slightly more than bum-fluff.

2024 draft prospect, Harvey Langford is training with the Dee's for a week: Harvey Langford (Dandenong Stingrays) Midfielder/Forward | 188cm | 15/03/2006 Langford put together a stellar bottom-aged campaign with Dandenong, averaging 22 disposals and just under a goal per his 14 games. His consistency through the middle stages of the Talent League season was outstanding, standing up as a young leader in the Stingrays side. In terms of style, he’s a strong stoppage player with clean hands and the ability to impact when rotating forward. Intrepid reporters and fence jumpers might get a glimpse if they venture out to Casey in the next week. If so, we'd love to hear from you - @stinga @picket fence @waynewussell and any others!

We can tell 😄

Love bowser. Agree that it would be nice to see him perhaps rotate through a wing. Could use his skills delivering inside 50. Should reach out to Banana Boat to see if their interested in a sponsorship deal, I'm sure clarry and bowser would appreciate it.

It’s relevant because he’s going to be playing for us in 2027.

Nicely articulated, but he's not in their best 22

Couldn't have said it better myself.

If you were very old, you would know that that comment should be directed to Joyce (aka Rosie Sturgess). I am old*, but it was slightly before my time. I think I need to adjust my medication. *but I am happy

In 21 the game plan was contested football bring the ball down boundary side contest to contest worked well, we then went into 22 with the same plan and if you look it up I said after i think it was round 10 we would not win the flag with that forward set up said the same thing about not winning the flag in 23, sides figured us out but we kept doing the same thing. Which brings me to your second point we did not have any contested forwards to play that type of game plan regarding forward entries, so if it was our inability to execute the game plan who's fault is it then as they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, remember we 69 entries into the forward line against the pies to 37 what does that tell you? Whilst adding Billings, Fullerton and McAdam should help I hope Goodwin changes how we move the ball forward I also hope he uses Kossie in a different way and by that I mean like the pies used Hill and Elliot, he goes no further than the half forward line full stop and then leads back and stop trying to take mark of the year all the time. We have a great backline strong midfield but need an outside runner as we are one paced there, Langdon and Hunter need to get away from playing boundary side and create more inside run. but thats the game plan at the moment and I hope it changes and i'm sure it will. In closing we create enough forward entries to win games but need to change how we go about it to win the next flag.

We miss you Angus. Hope you are ok. Just watched the 21 granny for the 102st time ( I know .....it's an amateur number). You played the toughest and bravest game about. Tx .

On and on goes the debate about Maynard's intentions. Common sense makes it pretty clear: (1) A player can run straight at an opponent in an endeavour to smother a kick or make a tackle. (2) A player can leap in the air to attempt a smother. (3) A player can't do both by launching himself off the ground towards an opponent at top speed without creating the near certainty of a high-impact collision. Only the AFL can't see this.

I'm warming to secret plays. Spargo to mark the kickouts perhaps ? And then to Schache who just slips off the bench

Reflecting on Jordon's role at Sydney - he'll be a reliable presence in a midfield that already has quite a bit of flair and power. In a way it is the exact reverse of his scenario at Melbourne where he was 'just another' solid midfield player in a team that was in need of some dynamism. That perspective has been shown in our recruiting and drafting choices, too.

Given what Todd has said, I wonder if some of those that are leaving might have had a less than positive end of season interview with the coaching/list staff. At the end of the 2020 season Elise O'Dea, Maddy Guerin, Harriet Cordner, Bianca Jakobsson and Alisha Newman (and one other I can't recall just now) all headed off to other clubs, and the talk was how we obviously had problems if such a list of departures was occurring. But my understanding was that most, if not all, of those losses were club initiated, with the players not fitting in with our future plans and them being informed it would be best for them to look elsewhere. Our three seasons after that we went 25-4 in H&A, and prelim, runners up, premiers. Maybe we are looking at a repeat in 2023. But perhaps not three seasons till the next flag. 🙂

Wow, this kind of exodus has been such a long time coming that I'm almost (almost!) relieved the other shoe has finally dropped. Most upset about Gay, who I have in my "top 10 players to please, please let us keep". On the fringes of that, but still. The one consolation is there were definitely questions about her durability (always have to find a silver lining - we could lose Hanks and I'd still find something to nitpick to make myself feel better!). As for reasons for leaving, I agree the "stick-together-ness" after the premiership that had such huge buy-in was always going to have an abrupt expiration date on it. Even if we had gone back to back, I suspect this would have played out to some extent. And who know what kinds of expectations were set in exit interviews regarding what 2023 might look like for these players... Of course, pay is probably the big one. The next few seasons in particular the pay raises could be the difference for some between being a year-round full-time athlete and not. Faced with that decision, with the opportunity to fulfill what was likely previously a pipedream for many? Well, the day I begrudge an AFLW player for moving for money hasn't arrived yet. Getting closer though.

Imvho sparrow can absolutely be a grade and also a potential leader/captain of the club, thats how highly i rate him. Look for him to go up a level or 2 this year

Also defiantly.

Still so triggered by this, really hope we smash them KB. Bright side is my moderate respect (must have been COVID brain) for Collingwood well and truly evaporated.

He's using a toddlers keyboard.

Let’s hope there isn’t eight 50m penalties handed to us for dissent 🙄

Would love to get the panels thoughts on another Tim Lamb special with trading up in the draft order by trading picks 14, 27 and 35 for pick 11 (pick 13 on draft night)?

If I attend, I’ll be submitting the following questions: 1) what was the rationale and perceived competitive advantage behind playing one man less than our opponent in the semi final, on a warm September night. Bearing in mind that the opposition’s sub was instrumental in setting up the winning goal. 2) Why did we play one tall defender short against Collingwood in the qualifying final when McStay kicked 2 goals on smaller opponents and 2 goals was essentially the difference. We demonstrated in the Essendon, Fremantle and Carlton (rd 22) losses that playing just 2 tall defenders is a losing formula. 3) Why did we travel back to Melbourne between our West Coast game and Gather Round, rather than setting up camp in Adelaide prior to the Essendon game? A game that proved to be our most lethargic and poorest of the year. Where was the foresight and innovation that the Dogs showed when they went from Gather Round direct to Perth (rather than heading back home) and had a solid win over Freo? 4) How is the club addressing our gross inaccuracy in the finals series, and ensuring that next year we give ourselves every opportunity to win a final rather than lamenting miss after miss.

Perhaps I sold myself short in my earlier post, dpositive, since I did attempt a reasoned argument in my email to that fellow. It's just that earlier I offered the punch line. In the email to the biomechanic, and in response to his evidence that having jumped in the air Maynard was "essentially a projectile", I remarked: "What you are saying is that an athlete who jumps in the air is a missile with no ability to shape what happens next. Good luck with that line talking to a room of gymnasts." I pointed out: "as a professional athlete of many years' standing Maynard has spent half his lifetime in gymnasiums and has a strong core formed by weight training and pilates sessions. He was able to guide himself in mid-air. Your projectile comment would be laughable had it not helped create a precedent for future concussion events." See? It wasn't all slagging off. Just some of it, and I would say, deservedly so. I stopped short of calling him bogus, so there was some restraint.

Broadmeadows

I challenged it. Tracked the clown down on google (not difficult) and wrote to him the morning after the hearing at his Catholic University email. Told him I was no bio-mechanic but I could recognise tripe when I see it. Still waiting for a reply.