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Petty moving very well 😀

Petty and McAdam last ones on the track working with the Selwyn. Both have been getting high 5s from assistants and trainers. Both seemed to have ticked off some boxes today.

I had a good chat to Petty when getting a photo with my son. He said he needs a solid block of training / fitness after missing so much of the pre season. If everything goes to plan he's looking at 4 - 6 weeks.

Selwyn Griffith is kicking the ball to McAdam far and high in the air and making him run to it. Moving much better than I have seen in a number of weeks. Can’t be too far off returning to the main group.

I’m at Gosch’s Paddock this morning in the lead up to our first match of the 2024 AFL Season.

Demonland, thank you very much for the updates, much appreciated

Training Squad: Full Squad so easier to make rehab group. Rehab: Brown, Spargo, Turner handballing in triangle. Woey who I reported as having strapping on quad after Casey game is warming up with main group as is McAdam & Petty

A nice late morning run, good temperature with a bit of wind about. They are out of the sheds and walking down to Gosch's with smiles on their faces. The review about Wednesday must have gone well. The three of Kossie, McAdam and Moniz-Wakefield walk with Wheelan from a different area. Great to see Petty with the squad, Fullaton, Woey, Clarry and Moniz-Wakefield as well. McAdam did the warm-up with them. Petty building his fitness with extra running after the drills. Rehab was all split up into different programs for different levels. BBB, Spargo, Turner, Hunter (in runners but doing very little), no Melky. The squad is looking good, there was a great atmosphere about them today. It appears they are happy with the preseason being over and ready for the season to get going. They had a low-key recovery session run today. The main drills were two groups, one with the mids starting on the goal side of centre, (via a tap down) then moving the ball by handball and finding a forward who were running set patterns. Three opponents against about nine attackers. Then they changed to using the other direction. The other one started from the back of centre (via a kick towards that direction), with the backline spreading, finding a runner with a kick and hitting up a forward. Then again repeating towards the opposite goal, it also had about the same numbers of defender as the previous squad. I heard Goody say if you have any doubt of where to run, head towards the straight line corridor, and don't hang out for the angled inside kick. Plenty of kicking for goal. Many doing what Tracc does and having shots after the session has ended, mostly the young ones, but also Kossie, and Fritsch. Chandler was not hitting them well, still with the yips. Ended his shots with three bad misses, then walked off. Really needs to work on his art and get it right, I reckon.

I love that Salos back in town. How many times, especially pre flag, have I seen a shambolic Melbourne - to be cured by a Salem tackle/block/turnover/sidestep and perfect delivery. Statement play and recalibrates the whole team

Happy to be the underdog all year.

While nowhere near as interesting as the great Freo ride of '23, we have two chances to have an improved draft hand by finishing above both Sydney and the Bulldogs. We hold Sydney's 2nd round pick which can land anywhere between pick 21 - 38 and the bulldogs 3rd rounder which will fall between pick 39 - 56 (pre-FA and other compensation). Get your mobility scooters ready people. It's time to ride, at a medium pace.

That news about McAdam and Petty is very, very pleasing. If we can be 4-2 or better going into our round 6 bye, with the best of our forwards still to come... look out.

Selwyn kicking the ball high up to Petty who is being manned by Stafford and another trainer and Petty needs to lead and get separation from the two. Moving & jumping very well.

Petty now left the main group and doing 200m sprints. I don’t think there is anything nefarious to it. Probably easing back into the main group.

I have done this kind of drill previously at semi professional level a decade and a bit ago and it's absolutely not as easy as it sounds. Depending how many repetitive efforts it can be a taxing drill and I'm glad he's getting a solid workout in.

I tell you what if Windsor kicks one of his pacy running goals I'll be up on the couch

Thanks for giving up your time on Saturday Andy, great to hear that Woey has trained and of course Petty and McAdam sounds very promising. Go Dees.!!

Now McAdam doing some lateral movement ground ball drills. Reckon if he gets through today he’ll be training with the main group next week.

I think David would know a lot about culture. Played with Travis Johnson and Daniel Ward and all three went broke as self confessed gambling addicts. Plenty of others were seen regularly at racetracks and TAB’s. Thankfully all three sought help and have turned their lives around. Yes we have had a poor pre season in the media, but aside from Smith, nothing to do with culture and clearly agenda driven, unless you think a boy’s personal mental health issues are a club culture problem. I am disgusted at the media treatment of Clarry and several media people should be ashamed of themselves. Michael Warner you are at the head of that queue. How much have we heard about Carlton’s new recruit Elijah Hollands and his Court drug appearance? How much did we hear about Bailey Smith after an initial mention? Same for Ginnivan. There are plenty of other examples of bad behaviour in the AFL that gets little mention after the first airing if at all. Certain clubs are treated differently by the media, why. Yes we have our share of problems, but we are not pariahs, yet treated like one in the media. There is an obvious agenda out there in footy media land and probably more one.

A mixed bag. JVR dead eye. Trac sometimes watch your head.

Will be load management would have reached their km’s, I would assume

I think that’s stumps.

Main Squad: May, JVR, Salem, McVee, Trac, Windsor, Viney, Lever, Gawn, Clarry, Billings, Langdon, Laurie, Bowey, Schache, Tomlinson, Jefferson, Howes, McAdam, Rivers, McDonald, Adams, Hore, Verrell, ANB, Fritsch, Sparrow, Fullarton, Petty, Kozzy, Chandler, Sestan, Tholstrup, Woey, K Brown, KFW, AMW

Absolutely not in disarray, and as for people saying if Clarrie is physically fit he plays no ifs or but, that would be a massive mistake. The club knows what they are doing and if he’s ready they will play him. If they choose to give him another week or so it will be for the best. Swans midfield still has Guilden, Warner, Heeney, with Sheldrick who will step up this year and Jordan, Rowbottom to run through there. Papley may also get short stints through there. I don’t think our FD will be underestimating them

4-6 Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

So did Grundy!

It’s not that simple and I’m glad it’s not. We have copped heat all through the off season regarding our culture and the steps with Clarrie were started last year, before any stories broke in the media. I love Clarrie as a player and what he brings but this is part of building a solid team first sacrifice culture like 2021. Nobody no matter how good they are is immune from that

i wish mediocrity upon EVERY club

The Coodabeen Champions have called it a day after more than forty years on various radio stations across Melbourne. When the lads chose the theme from the spaghetti western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as their signature tune, the game was uncomplicated with little time for scientific strategy. Summertime was for easy living and games of cricket, footy teams assembled in February, played practice matches in March and the season opened in mid-April. In their time, the Coodabeens saw changes upon changes that have turned the game on its head and, very late in the piece, they bore witness to a modern day miracle — the resurgence of the game’s perennial ugly duckling into a fully fledged premiership team. They saw the ugly, the bad and the good but in September 2023, the ugly returned with a vengeance. Collingwood won a flag and it was time for them to go. We usually judge a club’s off season by two measures, the quality of its list management in the transition from the past year to the present and then, by the way it prepares for season ahead with the aim of the team approaching the opening round in a positive frame of mind. The list management side of things always involves an element of conjecture about how the new blood introduced will fare and whether any departing players will leave gaps that the club might struggle to fill. The trading, free agency and draft process of October/November saw the following changes to the club’s lists:- In: Jack Billings (St Kilda), Shane McAdam (Adelaide), Tom Fullarton (Brisbane), Caleb Windsor (Eastern Ranges), Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco), Kynan Brown (Oakleigh Chargers), Marty Hore (Williamstown) Out: Brodie Grundy (Sydney), Michael Hibberd (Port Colts), James Harmes (Western Bulldogs), James Jordon (Sydney), Luke Dunstan (retired), Deakyn Smith (delisted), Kye Turner (delisted) As stated, such things are open to conjecture. Time will eventually tell the tale but the vibe for me is a little bit of good mixed with a touch of bad in that there isn’t much coverage in ruck for an injury to Max Gawn in the short term or, down the track when his career ends, and the ongoing issue of the need for key forwards in light of the impending retirements at the end of the year of Ben Brown, Tom McDonald and Jake Melksham and potential flight risk back to South Australia of Harry Petty. The other side of the off season is the need for peace, quiet and harmony in preparing for the year ahead. This was, for the most part, ugly and bad. The staff had barely finished packing the team’s equipment away for the summer when Joel Smith was provisionally suspended over an alleged positive drug test for cocaine from the Round 22 game vs Hawthorn and more recently, he was accused of trafficking or attempted trafficking. Smith faces a long stretch out of the game if his guilt is proved. Quick upon the heels of that news, followed revelations of Clayton Oliver’s now well-documented health and legal problems, an extended stint on the sidelines after a brief but disastrous appearance at the club’s December training camp in Lorne amid questions surrounding his future. No sooner had we finished singing Auld Lang Syne and the team came back to train, that the injury list started to grow. When the time came for the first scratch match against the Tigers, there were more than a dozen players unavailable through injury and suspension (including a raft of tall forwards). The Demons made a bright start at Casey Fields but things turned ugly and the defence leaked ten successive goals against an unfancied opposition forward line. They came back but the ebb and flow left some bad vibrations as Richmond’s new coach won the bragging rights if such things belong to match simulations in the month of February. The fans were digesting all of the above when the shock news came in of the forced early retirement of Angus Brayshaw, a much loved and experienced team leader and premiership star. A brilliant career cut short was a massive blow to the player as it was to all who love the club. The off field bickering and the fallout dating all the way back to the replacement of the club’s former chair in 2021, continued as mediation talks fell apart. The media had its fun and games, somebody mentioned “culture” and then, amid all the gloom and doom and ugly fake rumour mongering and speculation about the coach’s premature demise, the fans were finally treated to some very good as Max Gawn led the team to a demolition of the Blues at Ikon Park. And we noticed some rising fortunes among maturing players, new strategies and the emergence of new blood but wait - it was still only a scratch match. Which brings us here to Round Zero, 2024 at the end of a cycle of The Ugly, The Bad and The Good. I was surprised to see the early betting odds from last week heavily favouring the Swans to win Thursday night’s game. That was before the AFL Community Series matches but even then, Melbourne’s form turnaround against Carlton and Sydney’s insipid display in the NSW Derby in Canberra and injuries to Luke Parker and Taylor Adams were insufficient to bridge the gap. What it did take to even things up odds-wise was the announcement by Demons coach Simon Goodwin on Monday confirming that Clayton Oliver had been selected to face the Swans. Suddenly, we seem to have a standoff but I’m not buying. I will gladly concede that even in the absence of Callum Mills, Parker and Adams, Sydney has substantial midfield depth led by the likes of Eric Gulden, Chad Warner and a bevy of mid size players but … Melbourne’s midfield setup headed by skipper Max Gawn in dominant form in the ruck and the class of Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney, a resurgent Christian Salem back to full fitness and rising midfielder Tom Sparrow is miles ahead of whatever the Swans can produce. Brodie Grundy might have a point to prove but in cold, hard light of the evening, he won’t hold a candle to Gawn. Sydney farewelled Buddy Franklin well before the end of the last season but his replacement key forwards, McDonald and Amartey are hardly in his postcode at this early stage of their careers. And it’s a bad time for them to come up against Steven May and Jake Lever while their remaining forwards (and I include Tom Papley in that lot) are unfortunate in that they are likely to be strangled by the desperate defence of the likes of Jake Bowey, Judd McVee and Trent Rivers. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the culture of the Melbourne Football Club but little understanding that it’s actually a strong point because it’s a culture of hard work, attention to detail and hating defeat on the field of play. Cop that, Swans! Because Melbourne kicked away the chance to win both of its finals matches in 2023 (and a few others in the latter half of the season), there’s a perception out there that it has a weak attack. That’s a total misperception because even with those “connection” issues in the second half of the season it was still the sixth highest scoring team in the competition. The Demons have a good ground ball game and, as they showed last Thursday at Ikon Park, they’re handy in the air when the ball travels forward. Straighten them up a few percent and they would be top two or three in that category. And they have recruited well with youngster Caleb Windsor and Jack Billings — both of them excellent disposers of the football — to go with Bayley Fritsch and Jacob Van Royen who are no slouches with football in hand. On the small, spaceless SCG, Melbourne should be well suited to the size of ground and conditions expected on the day, even without Kozzy Pickett, Harry Petty, Ben Brown and Shane McAdam who are still to come into the forward mix. There’s something else to consider and it’s a factor of the early start to the season and the fact that the Swans have played their practice matches in oppressive heat and have not finished off strongly. That’s a sign for me that it’s unlikely for this matchup to turn into a standoff. To the contrary, it’s going to be a good, old wild, west ugly massacree with Melbourne winning bad by 49 points. THE GAME Sydney Swans v Melbourne at the SCG Thursday 7 March 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Sydney Swans 117 wins Melbourne 96 wins 2 drawn At the SCG Sydney Swans 14 wins Melbourne 9 wins Last 5 meetings Sydney Swans 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Longmire 7 wins Goodwin 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 11.11.77 defeated Sydney Swans 7.14.56 in Round 24, 2023 at the SCG The Demons prevailed after a see saw game, thanks mainly to its midfield dominance in the personage of Jack Viney, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver and an outstanding return from injury of Bayley Fritsch who overcame a knock to his foot in mid game to finish with five goals. Scores were close until three quarter time but a four goal to nil final term sealed the deal. In form forward Jake Melksham suffered a devastating blow with an ACL injury that placed his career in jeopardy. THE TEAMS Injury and Suspension List: Round 0 Ben Brown — knee/ available Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ available Kysaiah Pickett — suspended/ 1 week Harrison Petty — toe/ 2 weeks Lachie Hunter — calf/ 3 - 4 weeks Daniel Turner — hip/ 7 - 8 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ TBC Jake Melksham — knee/ TBC Joel Smith — suspended/ TBC

They really seem to be pushing him - assuming he must be close to playing

Keen to hear about the progress of Spargo, McAdam and Petty if they’re out there.

We can expect possibly seven changes to the Melbourne lineup for the return game against Sydney with the following likely outs:- Angus Brayshaw (retired), Lachie Hunter, Jake Melksham, Daniel Turner (injured), Clayton Oliver (managed?) and Kozzy Pickett & Joel Smith (suspended). That’s a lot missing in such a short space of time but let’s not forget the David Parkin principle which says that for clubs to win flags, they need to constantly turn over new talent and he thought having five new faces in a team each year was good for the cause.

Make sure the clear plastic cover is put on pre game

O Mac’s third life begins good luck to him

Geez, talk about going from one extreme to the other. Why are roughing up JJ & tapping him on the backside the only two choices for Viney? Just because Danny says no to roughing him up doesn’t mean he suggests the tap on the backside. FWIW, JJ left our Club because we weren’t in a position to afford him the opportunity that he’s now getting at Sydney. Zero animosity. He left with our collective blessing. Same goes for Toby.

For all the knockers. NSFW @binman

Selwyn kicking the ball to McAdam on the lead out of the pocket. McAdam marks and kicks back to Selwyn and then has to run back to position by zig zagging out of the way from another trainer applying blocking pressure.

Guaranteed we will go into the Swans game with the same lineup as the Blues game with Brown slotting in for Kozzy. I’d like to see Fullarton get a nod over the early rounds but we’ve also got to give Schache a look in too.

Has it actually been a shocking pre season? Or has the media told you it’s been a shocking pre season? If you didn’t listen to the nonsense coming out of your tv and radio how would our pre season look? Aside from Clayton’s troubles, what else have you got beyond accusation? A few injuries that have carried over from last year? We traded well, for need. We look fit. If it’s true we are down the bottom of the testing ladder it would seem it’s all a bit of a blow up. The media are not honest actors. They will do whatever they can to keep their jobs and create “entertainment”. The proof of what kind pre season we’ve had will be how we go this season.

The death ride is about the journey (****posting) and not the destination (pimpley 18 year olds)

From The Age (Jake Niall) : Gun Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver is on track to play in the AFL season opener against the Swans at the SCG, subject to confirming his fitness levels. The Demons confirmed that Oliver was trending in the right direction to be selected and play at senior level in the first game of 2024. But Oliver, who performed well in the VFL practice match against Carlton on Wednesday, had to show he was fit enough to run out the game at senior level, according to a senior club source, speaking on condition of anonymity about a player who has been in headlines over summer. Woohoo!

But there's no way Rodney would have played the next week if he did what Maynard did. Equally, there's no way Maynard would have played the next week if he did what he did and Rodney was out there.

Those last two kicks!

Deathriders! Let's Ride!

As the original Freo Death Rider I can’t condone nor authorise this supposed sequel. Sorry.

What would ruffling up JJ achieve? Premiership player who always went about things the right way.

I was out last night & one of the speakers was Brad Scott. Of course the first question Caro asks him was about culture at clubs & cited MFC & all our “off field dramas”. He answered it very well saying culture is literally a day by day thing. You work on it every day ..he has some extremely talented players who don’t necessarily embody the right “culture” so they have to work on it. He then said he would never criticise Melb & he heard Max Gawn (who he said is an icon incredibly talented..exceptional etc) & Max said “Melb has a great culture (paraphrasing). He then left it at that. That kept Caro quiet. The other point he made very clearly is that unless you are inside the club no one has really any idea what is happening. So my long winded point is ..we have to trust everybody around Clarry to make the right decisions. We simply don’t know all the facts & that is fine by me.

Agree Slarti. There is more to this than just his football performance and those that know best will decide if he plays. Those that would appear to know best have said/implied that multiple times. On pure footy he would appear right, on his other issues I wouldn't have a clue.