Demonland

I can only find highlights: http://www.afl.com.au/video/2017-11-12/match-highlights-aus-v-ire-first-test

I wish there was a t-shirt version of the jumper replica as I don't rock a tank top very well.

From the Facebook page: Training Report #2 A.K.A the Max Gawn show It’s Max Gawn’s world. We’re just living in it. I turned up 40 minutes late to training, kept guessing by the inability of the open training times page to load. Feel like I don’t miss a lot though. Guessing I would have missed stretches, warm-ups and a kicking drill here and there, so that’s okay. What does happen when I show up is I have a shocked expression on my face. There’s about 26 players here but the quality of those has improved on last week. For instance, Maxy Gawn is here after a trip to New Orleans, Dom Tyson makes an appearance, as does Tom McDonald. For a large part of the session, Tyson and McDonald are rehabbing, doing a lot of running drills. Gawn, however, joins in with the main group on occasion. More on his progress later. First part of business when I get here is the group put in some quick drills when they run in twos. For instance, you’d see Brayshaw and Harmes running together (and looking good), while Harley Balic is improving. The vibe is much more competitive than last week. They’re after good times. This was only brief – a lot of focus, interestingly enough, was on ball skills this morning. After that, the Dees set up a full ground drill. One group working on stoppage work here and there, another small group trying to take marks from a kick up forward. Gus is one of the players up forward (interestingly enough – he spends plenty of time as a forward in these drills) and looks okay again. Clearly the drill is of good quality judging by the applause at the end. After that is quite a red-hot drill – a full-grounder which almost resembles an intraclub at times. The primary focus is ball movement here. It’s also here where Maxy captures the eye for the first time. Bit of a footnote – there’s a piece on the SEN Facebook page with Tim Watson talking about Maxy and how fit he is. He reckons he’s in as good a shape as you’ll ever see from a ruckman. From what I saw out there – he’s pretty close to the mark. Not only is he looking VERY trim, but he’s also moving incredibly well. It’s probably characterised by Maxy taking advantage of an intercepted ball from a teammate, then setting up another with a brilliant handball which eventually finds its way to Petracca who kicks a ‘goal’ in this drill. The prowess of the other ruckman in this side – Mitch King – is also going swimmingly. This is realistically one of his first chances to show the Dees how far he’s come post-ACL and the evidence looks pretty good. Kingy clunks a contested mark over Hunt – not overly impressive on paper but the method of his madness looks extremely impressive – hitting the ball at speed, and holding on to it while his body is at all these different contorted angles… if that makes any sense. Anyway, it’s impressive. He might get game time this season. In fact, he probably will with our ruck situation. The other bloke who impresses me with his field kicking is – again – Angus Brayshaw. Playing as a forward in this drill (as mentioned), Gussy finds space to get a couple of marks after some good ball movement. First kick – absolutely threads the eye of the needle, perfectly weighted to (I think) Maynard who is running back towards goal, going over a defender in the process. It’s an excellent kick. Just to rub it in a bit, Brayshaw then gets another kick. Same spot, same method, rolls around quickly, looks again and takes even more risks with this kick. Again, it’s spot on, except it’s dropped this time around. Seriously, this kid is legit this time around. The boys then revert back to the two-by-two running drills. Gawn, Tyson, McDonald are doing separate running activities. At this point, Gawny has his shirt off, almost as if he genuinely wants to rub in how good a shape he’s in. Honestly don’t blame him. Again, Brayshaw and Harmes are constantly up the front. Good areas. After that, the Dees decide it’s time to do some set shots. The change up has been intriguing. All eyes on Gus as one proclaims ‘safe as houses Gussy’. He doesn’t let them down. In the meantime, Trac is cracking it after every snap shot he does, dropping quite a few f-bombs here and there. That’s November for you. More running to finish off – this time it’s more in the form of set time running – they’ll start off with a two-minute run, followed by 90 seconds, one minute and then a very quick run at the end. Again, Nibs looks good. He’s constantly up the front. This time, Maynard is also setting a very good place, sticking with Nibs most of the way. Billy Stretch looks good too, again. What startles me during the last run, however, is Maxy – randomly joining in – and keeping a very good pace with Nibs and Maynard. I’m shook. It’s just one session but that was a hell of a statement sesh from Gawny. He wants his All-Australian spot back. You can tell. Training finished up after that. A rather quick one this time around, but quite a spirited one. I might be able to make my way down on Friday. Let’s see how that goes.

No need for a written report. Photos and perhaps attention to which players aren't training with the main group (ie: injured or modified program) would be appreciated.

I love the International Rules games until one of our players get injured.

You would think that the club would give him extra time but I'm secretly hoping he's the type of guy that will rock up to training early. I won't begrudge him the extra time off as it is earned and deserved.

Harley Balic should be there as he is in the 1st to 4th year players who have already started preseason training. I'm not sure when the "older" players start. Looking forward to seeing some photos. Thanks.

Apparently Pendles finger doesn't require surgery but yeah I'd hate it if he was a demon.

November, December and January are generally pretty quiet but there are a few contributors to this site who attend training during this period and report here.

This is the thread for pre-season training news for the week commencing 13/11. If you're heading down to training this week please report on it here. We'd love to see some pictures too.

Hibberd was great. I don't think this game suits Jetta as its not played man on man.

Australia taking a page out of the Dees playbook in the second and taking a nap in the second quarter.

Hibberd had a game high 13 disposals in the first quarter.