Demonland

Transition/Interception drill. Simulating opposition kicking from our half forward to half back and we intercept and transition through the middle to hit up one of our forwards. Lots of long handballs. Out numbered amount of opposition in white bibs to simulate pressure from oppo. 2 separate groups simulating this drill on either side of the ground.

Brown and Spargo doing rehab together.

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.

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.

Petty moving very well 😀

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.

McAdam has split from the main group and is doing 200m run through on the boundary as he’s been doing the last few sessions I’ve been to.

Selwyn Griffiths taking the boys through some warm up jog troughs

Hunter just arrived in training T-shirt and runners. Will keep an eye on what he does.

Not present: Melksham & Smith

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

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

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

Melbourne 11.11.77 defeated Sydney Swans 7.14.56 at the SCG in Round 24, 2023. It was a massive team effort in a dead rubber for the Demons against a side that had a lot to fight for in their last home game for the year. The midfield starred, Bayley Fritsch managed five goals in his return from injury after giving us all a bit of a fright and Jake Melksham cruelly suffered an ACL injury that ended his season of resurgence. This was the club’s most recent victory (leaving aside this week’s scratch match vs Carlton which doesn’t count). Ironically, two players not selected by Melbourne for this game, Brodie Grundy and James Jordan are almost certain starters for the Swans next Thursday. SYDNEY SWANS B T. McCartin D. Rampe H. Cunningham HB O. Florent N. Blakey J. Lloyd C E. Gulden C. Warner D. Stephens HF W. Hayward H. McLean I. Heeney F L. McDonald J. Amartey R. Clarke FOLL T. Hickey L. Parker C. Mills I/C B. Campbell R. Fox J. Rowbottom S. Wicks SUB A. Francis EMG L.Melican M.Roberts IN J.Amartey OUT T. Papley (hamstring) MELBOURNE
 B J. Bowey S. May T. Rivers HB J. McVee J. Lever C. Salem C L. Hunter J. Viney A. Brayshaw HF K. Chandler J. Melksham A. Neal-Bullen F E. Langdon J. van Rooyen K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn C. Oliver C. Petracca I/C B. Fritsch J. Smith T. Sparrow D. Turner SUB B. Laurie EMG T. McDonald A. Tomlinson T. Woewodin IN B. Fritsch D. Turner OUT J. Schache (omitted) A. Tomlinson (omitted)

If you enjoyed the 2023 Deathride then you're going to love the 2024 Playing Possum Ride.

POWER B: R Burton 3, B Zerk-Thatcher 25, E Ratugolea 27 HB: L Jones 34, A Aliir 21, D Houston 5 C: M Bergman 14, W Drew 28, K Farrell 6 HF: J McEntee 41, T Marshall 4, C Rozee 1-C F: Z Butters 9, C Dixon 22, W Rioli 15 Foll: I Soldo 13, O Wines 16, J Horne-Francis 18 I/C: J Burgoyne 7, T Boak, D Williams 23, J Sweet 24, O Lord 30, F Evans 31, D Byrne-Jones 33, J Mead 44 Emergencies: J Finlayson 11, T McKenzie 12, T Clurey 17, M Georgiades 19 DOCKERS B: Oscar McDonald, Alex Pearce, Jordan Clark HB: James Aish, Luke Ryan, Ethan Hughes C: Matthew Johnson, Andrew Brayshaw, Jeremy Sharp HF: Michael Walters, Sam Sturt, Pat Voss F: Sam Switkowski, Matt Taberner, Josh Treacy R/Fol: Sean Darcy, Nat Fyfe, Caleb Serong I: Cooper Simpson, Hayden Young, Jaeger O’Meara, Karl Worner, Liam Reidy, Bailey Banfield, Joshua Draper, Neil Erasmus E: Will Brodie, Brandon Walker, Corey Wagner, Jye Amiss