Demonland

Live scenes from Casey

Here are all the Hitout Ratings for 2022 as average hitouts don't paint the entire picture. Max played 22 games and Preuss played 10. Jackson also played 22 games (1 or 2 without Max) Rating points 1. Tim English (Western Bulldogs) - 15.7 2. Jarrod Witts (Gold Coast) - 14.8 3. Max Gawn (Melbourne) - 14.5 4. Matt Flynn (GWS) - 13.4 5. Scott Lycett (Port Adelaide) - 13.3 6. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 13.1 7. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) - 13.1 8. Peter Ladhams (Sydney) - 12.9 9. Nic Naitanui (West Coast) - 12.9 10. Reilly O'Brien (Adelaide) - 12.5 Score Involvements 1. Tim English (Western Bulldogs) - 7.6 2. Peter Ladhams (Sydney) - 6.5 3. Sean Darcy (Fremantle) - 5.8 4. Rhys Stanley (Geelong) - 5.7 5. Max Gawn (Melbourne) - 5.6 6. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 5.5 7. Luke Jackson (Melbourne) - 5.2 8. Sam Draper (Essendon) - 5.0 9. Reilly O'Brien (Adelaide) - 4.9 10. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) - 4.8 10. Rowan Marshall (St Kilda) - 4.8 Clearances 1. Tom Hickey (Sydney) - 6.0 2. Tim English (Western Bulldogs) - 6.0 3. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) - 5.5 4. Nic Naitanui (West Coast) - 5.3 5. Max Gawn (Melbourne) - 5.0 6. Sean Darcy (Fremantle) - 4.8 7. Peter Ladhams (Sydney) - 4.5 8. Oscar McInerney (Brisbane) - 4.3 9. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 4.2 10. Scott Lycett (Port Adelaide) - 4.2 Hitouts 1. Jarrod Witts (Gold Coast) - 37.4 2. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 36.5 3. Reilly O'Brien (Adelaide) - 31.9 4. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) - 30.3 5. Nic Naitanui (West Coast) - 29.7 6. Peter Ladhams (Sydney) - 27.8 7. Sam Draper (Essendon) - 27.4 8. Max Gawn (Melbourne) - 27.4 9. Sam Hayes (Port Adelaide) - 26.3 10. Toby Nankervis (Richmond) - 25.3 Hitouts Win % 1. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 56.8 2. Paddy Ryder (St Kilda) - 54.5 3. Max Gawn (Melbourne) - 53.5 4. Nic Naitanui (West Coast) - 53.0 5. Andrew Phillips (Essendon) - 51.2 6. Jarrod Witts (Gold Coast) - 50.7 7. Toby Nankervis (Richmond) - 50.1 8. Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne) - 50.0 9. Ivan Soldo (Richmond) - 49.5 10. Ned Reeves (Hawthorn) - 47.8 Hitouts to Advantage % 1. Marc Pittonet (Carlton) - 44.2 2. Jarrod Witts (Gold Coast) - 38.9 3. Sean Darcy (Fremantle) - 38.4 4. Matt Flynn (GWS) - 37.9 5. Scott Lycett (Port Adelaide) - 36.5 6. Ivan Soldo (Richmond) - 36.0 7. Sam Hayes (Port Adelaide) - 35.4 8. Tom De Koning (Carlton) - 35.4 9. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 32.9 10. Tom Hickey (Sydney) - 32.9 Sharked Hitouts % 1. Ivan Soldo (Richmond) - 36.0 2. Luke Jackson (Melbourne) - 31.7 3. Sam Draper (Essendon) - 27.6 4, Oscar McInerny (Brisbane) - 26.5 5. Lloyd Meek (Fremantle) - 26.1 6. Rhys Stanley (Geelong) - 26.1 7. Rowan Marshall (St Kilda) - 25.9 8. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) - 25.3 9. Hugh Dixon (West Coast) - 25 10. Reilly O'Brien (Adelaide) - 24.7 Hitouts to Score % 1. Marc Pittonet (Carlton) - 13.7 2. Peter Ladhams (Sydney) - 12.6 3. Max Lynch (Hawthorn) - 12.5 4. Scott Lycett (Port Adelaide) - 12.5 5. Paddy Ryder (St Kilda) - 12.2 6. Ivan Soldo (Richmond) - 12.0 7. Sean Darcy (Fremantle) - 11.6 8. Rhys Stanley (Geelong) - 11.5 9. Lloyd Meek (Fremantle) - 11.4 10. Tom De Koning (Carlton) - 11.0 10. Braydon Preuss (GWS) - 11.0 Hitouts to Opposition Score % 1. Ivan Soldo (Richmond) - 22.0 2. Sam Draper (Essendon) - 12.0 3. Tom Hickey (Sydney) - 11.0 4. Hugh Dixon (West Coast) - 10.7 5. Nic Naitanui (West Coast) - 10.1 6. Luke Jackson (Melbourne) - 10.0 7. Paddy Ryder (St Kilda) - 9.5 8. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood) - 9.3 9. Max Gawn (Melbourne) - 8.9 10. Oscar McInerny (Brisbane) - 8.0 Clearance to Team Score % (Best teams at converting from clearances) 1. Geelong (29.1) 2. Collingwood (27.8) 3. Hawthorn (27.7) 4. Carlton (26.7) 5. Adelaide (26.0) 6. Melbourne (25.9) 7. Richmond (25.40 8. Sydney (25.3) 9. GWS (25.1) 10. Western Bulldogs (25.0) 11. Essendon (24.5) 12. Brisbane (23.9) 13. St Kilda (23.6) 14. Fremantle (22.9) 15. West Coast (22.5) 16. Port Adelaide (21.8) 17. North Melbourne (20.1) 18. Gold Coast (19.5) Opposition Clearance to Score % (Worst teams at defending clearances) 1. Richmond (31.5) 2. Essendon (27.7) 3. North Melbourne (27.5) 4. West Coast (26.1) 5. Sydney (26.0) 6. Gold Coast (25.4) 7. Adelaide (25.1) 8. Carlton (24.5) 9. Hawthorn (24.4) 10. Fremantle (23.8) 11. Melbourne (23.3) 12. Brisbane (23.3) 13. Collingwood (22.8) 14. Geelong (22.7) 15. GWS (22.7) 16. Western Bulldogs (22.5) 17. Port Adelaide (21.4) 18. St Kilda (21.3)

Why so early? Is there a banner for practice games or will there be a BBQ?

In fairness to Tom he just returned to the main group after a couple of weeks in rehab. It might take some time to hit his stride.

Veteran Demonland Trackwatcher Picket Fence made his way down to Casey Fields on Friday to bring you his observations from Preseason Training and the Match SIM. PICKET FENCE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS NO SHOWS & REHAB Petty, Melks, Hunter, Fullarton, Jefferson. Not sure I saw Salem Clarry and Verrell both doing a POWER OF RUNNING and [censored] does CLARRY look mean, fit and PUMPED MATCH SIMULATION NOTES Full match simulation of 4 quarters of which I saw 3 quarters Windsor ... an abslute LOCK for round one, really surprised me with his turn of speed, precision set ps and pin piont disposal, might become our best ball user and Wow has he got some X FACTOR Disco Turner ... probably the best I have seen him in match sims, deft movements, a turn of speed and makes very sound decisions Jack Billings ... another LOCK for ROUND 1 just uses it so well, makes excellent position and his decision making was fantastic Shane McAdam … took not 1 not 2 but 3 MARKS OF THE DAY, will complement Fritta magnificently, just knows where to position himself, very very dangerous around goal and will be an absolute SURPRISE packet Ed Langdon ... HAD IT ON A STRING , Elusive, quick, precise and typical Langdon run all day Andy Moniz-Wakefield ... Again I mention him and although quieter later was heavily involved of the back flank, wing and anywhere else, CAN PLAY Spargo … The Salt and Pepper man was in everything, played very well and bobbed up all day Taj Woewodin … A lot to like, gets involved is fearless and sets up the play very very well. One to definitely keep an eye on Kynan Brown ... Just NEVER GIVES IN, just gives and Gives with second and third efforts, good skill set and elusiveness Schache Did some very good things took some marks, was very competetive with Max and although overshadowed, I can ALMOST see him playing round 1 based on today ONE WORD SUMMATIONS Max Outstanding Kozzy Freakish Tomlinson Belongs Viney Beast May Fearless Lever Methodical Tracc Superstar A lot going right, very high standard game and one which should give the selectors plenty to think about in the coming weeks. BRENNO'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I headed down to Casey for a few hours this morning whilst I was “out seeing a client” 😉. It was hard to tell who was who on occasion as a lot of them didn't have numbers on the jumpers and were wearing caps. So go easy if I botch a few things here. I’ll do my best to share my observations. I arrived around 9.40 and the drills were underway. Clarry was running at a solid pace for most of the session and according to the man himself he thinks he is a “couple of weeks away” from joining the main group. Will Verrall did quite a solid amount of running along the boundary with Clarry and didn’t look far off. Viney wasn’t participating in the drills when I first arrived but joined shortly after and played through the entire match sim later in the session. Whatever he limped off with the other day clearly is no issue. Fullarton also jogged for about an hour and didn’t seem to be uncomfortable but was at minimal pace. Salem was hanging around near the interchange bench for a while during match sim, but he did not train at all to my knowledge. I didn’t see Petty, Bowey, BB, Hunter, Melky, or Smith at all. They may have been on the far side of the ground from me or inside on the bikes, but as far as I can tell none of them participated today. Jefferson participated in a few drills, but I didn’t notice him after the first 20 minutes. There were about 30 mins or so of ball movement drills before the good stuff started! Match Sim was made up of 3, 20 minutes “quarters” and there was AFL Umpires there to officiate. The teams started off with what seemed to be a mix of the best 22 and depth players on both sides, with the starting backs lined up on the starting fwds. Having said that the blue team was clearly stronger through the middle, even with Gawny and a few others on team white. After the first 2 “quarters” there was a changeup in teams and the blue team was stacked with our likely best 22. Interestingly ANB, Billings and Thommo all lined up in for the white team. Some interesting inclusions on team blue included Windsor on the wing and Howes and Macca playing down back. Macca looks fit and held his own today. Thommo and Disco might be stuck in Casey for a while longer it seems, although both did some nice things. Our key defensive depth looks great … The key forwards on the other hand look very thin. Roo was quiet today but is a great focal point when moving the ball forward. However as good as he is as a target, we really need another Key Fwd to step up or it might be much of the same in 2024. There seemed to be a focus on scoring quickly and coming from behind in this period, The white team were given a 30 odd point lead for the blues to hunt down, which they did comfortably. At one point during match sim Laurie received the ball during a center square stoppage and blasted it forward in a hurry. Chappy then yelled out, “Connect Bill, Connect!” I liked this as it shows they are working on a major issue we have had for the past 2 seasons. A work in progress but at least a sign they are addressing it. I was pleasantly surprised with our game style today, I thought the ball movement looked much faster then previous years and they used the corridor quite often too, this had mixed results but that's to be expected. Although Blue dominated the session, I must say there were some good signs from our younger brigade and depth players. All the draftees took part in the match Sim and showed signs of what they could become. Really liked Kolts energy and attitude, a future leader in the making IMO. Kynan had some very nice moments and looks like an absolute work horse, just goes, and goes. And Windsor…. Ill get back to this lad. Taj lined up in quite a few CBAs and did some nice things when faced up against our starting Mids, He really stood out to me today, as did Laurie. Positive signs aside, Gawn, Track, Viney & Gus were our starring 4 for blue at this point, and they looked levels above the opposition. Overall, the standard was to good watch and I left with optimism for the season and our future with our youngins all showing a bit. Just some notes on individuals: ANB - Undoubtably starting 22, he was BOG for white by a country mile IMO. Great player for our young players to watch and learn from. Kosi – Everything he touches turns to gold. He really stands out with everything he does. He does stuff that no one else on the list can. Track - looks to be in extremely good nick and was just a powerful beast all day. Viney - Seemed completely unhindered to me and at times untouchable. Kicked a very nice goal during match Sim. Gus – Looks to be fine after his big knock. Played a mix of halfback and midfield. I really like the look of him in the guts and should stay there until Clarry is back IMO. Track, Oliver, Viney, Gus should be our priority mids in 2024. Elite! Windsor – I will be shocked if he doesn’t play round 1. It’s the first time I have seen him play live in any form and he looks like a ripper. Used the ball well, ran hard to give and receive, competed better than expected in the contest and just looked like he belongs. I may have just caught him on a good day and his consistency might not be there yet, but I am a fan already. A shoe in to take Hunters role, just a matter of when. Sparrow – I know some on here are big Tommy fans, but from what I saw today he is in danger of losing his spot to one of the young and hungry up and comers if he doesn’t improve. He just seems to have stagnated. Taj, Kynan, Kolt, Lauire could all push him out if he is not careful. Schache – Never been a fan of this bloke, however I must admit he impressed me today. Got bullied a tad in the ruck Vs Gawn but that’s to be expected. He shouldn’t have to go up against many starting rucks at AFL level and from what I saw today he may well be our backup ruck/fwd this year. He had a great moment when he competed in the ruck with Gawn, smothered an attempted clearance kick then followed up with a big tackle locking it in. The boys and coaches loved it! Laurie – Thought he was a mile off the pace in his AFL games last year but looks to have stepped it up bigtime. He found a lot of the ball and looked clean, calm, and effective. Howes – Not sure if he will play down back in the AFL but during the drills and match sim he had moments that made you take notice. The kid can play, just not sure how he gets a look in. McAdam – Took a few BIG marks, one on poor old Gawnys back. He must be getting sick of that! McAdam will add to our forward line potency for sure. He didn’t get a huge amount of it but he was impactful. Looks the goods. Spargo – Looks super fit and was his creative self. Big fan! Lever – Loved his voice and leadership, I still think he will be our captain one day. Gawn – Dominated the ruck and was never out marked as expected. Today did highlight how badly we need to ruck depth ASAP though. Anywho, it was a great morning, and I am excited for the season to start! I’ll do my best to answer Any questions you lot may have! GO DEES! WALKING CIVIL WAR'S UPDATES FROM THE DEMON ARMY Maysie and Vines are training with the main group.👍🏽 Schache attack going really well up against Maxy. Caleb Windsor will play in opening round (that’s a lock-in 😂) Clarrie has been running all morning. Looking good but still has a ways to go. The match sim is underway right now, after which the boys have a “HUGE running session” lined up, according to one of the training staff. (They’re gonna just luuuurve that! 😅 especially Maysie who recently told me he [censored] HATES running) It seems it’s the ‘A’ team vs the ‘B’ team. B team actually holding their own. Caleb is in the A team. Kolt is in the B team. TMac in the A team. Apparently it’s a case of “Windsor… Wow. Just wow.” He and Tracc together = amazing A QUICK OBSERVATION FROM MATT DEMON Steven May (who left the main group on Wednesday due to general soreness and ran the rest of the session) came off late and didn't look comfortable. Tried a couple of run throughs and shook his head. He spoke to the trainer and went inside. What this space I reckon.

2024 FREE AGENTS *qualifies as previously delisted player ^qualifies as previously having changed clubs as a free agent ADELAIDE Will Hamill* Elliott Himmelberg Ben Keays* Rory Sloane Brodie Smith Taylor Walker James Borlase* BRISBANE Jarrod Berry Hugh McCluggage Darragh Joyce* Ryan Lester Jarryd Lyons* Dayne Zorko CARLTON David Cuningham Sam Durdin* Jack Martin* Matt Cottrell* Caleb Marchbank COLLINGWOOD Will Hoskin-Elliott Jeremy Howe Scott Pendlebury Steele Sidebottom Oleg Markov* ESSENDON Dyson Heppell Andrew McGrath Todd Goldstein^ Jake Kelly^ FREMANTLE Ethan Hughes Matt Taberner Corey Wagner* Bailey Banfield* GEELONG Jed Bews Patrick Dangerfield Mitch Duncan Zach Guthrie Tom Hawkins Jack Henry Jake Kolodjashnij Mark O'Connor Brandan Parfitt Rhys Stanley Tyson Stengle* Emerson Jeka* Zach Tuohy GOLD COAST Ben Ainsworth Sam Day Brandon Ellis^ Nick Holman* Sean Lemmens Darcy Macpherson Jarrod Witts Levi Casboult* Jack Mahony* GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY Isaac Cumming Nick Haynes Lachie Keeffe* Adam Kennedy Harry Perryman Callan Ward HAWTHORN Luke Breust Blake Hardwick Harry Morrison Conor Nash Cooper Stephens* Chad Wingard* MELBOURNE Tom McDonald Jake Melksham Adam Tomlinson^ Marty Hore* Joel Smith NORTH MELBOURNE Hugh Greenwood* Bigoa Nyuon* Toby Pink* Liam Shiels* Cam Zurhaar PORT ADELAIDE Travis Boak Charlie Dixon Francis Evans* Trent McKenzie* Todd Marshall Quinton Narkle* RICHMOND Jack Graham Noah Cumberland* Dylan Grimes Dustin Martin Kamdyn McIntosh Toby Nankervis Dion Prestia Ben Miller* Sam Naismith* ST KILDA Josh Battle Riley Bonner* Tom Campbell* Tim Membrey*^ Seb Ross Jimmy Webster Mason Wood* Liam Stocker* SYDNEY Harry Cunningham Ollie Florent Will Hayward Lewis Melican Sam Reid Robbie Fox* WEST COAST Liam Duggan Andrew Gaff Jamaine Jones* Josh Rotham Elliot Yeo Zane Trew* WESTERN BULLDOGS Taylor Duryea* Tim English Jason Johannisen Tom Liberatore Lachie McNeil* Lachie Bramble*

I would assume that most welcome backs were done in the change rooms. The Goody interaction might have occurred on the field because Goody might not have been in the change rooms with the players.

In case you are wondering, here are the other Match Simulation Practice Matches that are scheduled. Match simulations (live on Kayo) Sunday, February 18 Melbourne v Richmond, Casey Fields, 10am AEDT Wednesday, February 21 North Melbourne v Collingwood, TBC, 10am AEDT Thursday, February 22 Sydney v Greater Western Sydney, Tramway Oval, 10am AEDT Carlton v Geelong, Ikon Park, 11am AEDT Brisbane v Gold Coast, Brighton Homes Arena, 5pm AEST Friday, February 23 Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn, Whitten Oval, 11am AEDT St Kilda v Essendon, RSEA Park, 2pm AEDT Port Adelaide v Adelaide, Alberton Oval, 5pm ACDT Saturday, February 24 West Coast v Fremantle, Mineral Resources Park, 4.45pm AWST

I would assume that any of the sessions not listed would be considered "Closed" or at the very least unadvertised in order to not encourage attendance.

Gosch's Paddock Wednesday 7 Feb | Gosch's | 9.30am - 11.45am approx. Casey Fields Friday 2 Feb | Casey | 9.30am - 11.45am approx. Friday 9 Feb | Casey | 9.30am - 11.45am approx.

TRAINING GALLERY FROM 31/1/24

Seven action-packed periods of match simulation against the Tigers will also feature signing opportunities, kids activities and partner givaways, kicking off at Casey Fields on Sunday, February 18. The Melbourne Richmond clash will be followed by school holiday open trainings in April and July also featuring signing opportunities, giveaways and kids activities. Full details of the three Demon Family Series sessions can be found below. Demon Family Match Simulation: Date: Sunday 18th Feb Location: Casey Fields Gate open: 9.30am Match commences: 10am Inclusions: Seven-quarter match simulation Signing opportunities Kids' activities Partner giveaways Demon Family Series April School Holiday Open Training Date and location: TBC (Gosch's Paddock or nearby location) Inclusions: Players training Signing opportunities Kids' activities Partner giveaways Demon Family Series July School Holiday Open Training Date and location: TBC (Gosch's Paddock or nearby location) Inclusions: Players training Signing opportunities Kids' activities Partner giveaways

A number of Demonland Trackwatchers descended upon Gosch's Paddock on Wednesday morning to witness the return of 4 time Bluey winner Clayton Oliver and also bring you their observations from Preseason Training. DEMONLAND'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Rehab: Clarry, Hunter, Melksham, Fullarton, Brown, Verrell Absent: Smith, Sparrow White: Max, Rivers, Kozzy, Trac, Lever, JVR, TMac, Langdon, AMW, Jefferson, Spargo, N Brown, Sestan, McAdam, Laurie, Tomlinson, Billings Blue: Viney, May, Fritsch, Brayshaw, Bowey, Hore, KFW, Salem, Verrell, Schache, Adam’s, Tholstrup, McVee, Chandler, ANB, Turner, Woey, Howes Hunter working with a training testing out his calf. Was back in full training last week after a calf complaint. Looks like he has had a reoccurrence. Petty out on the field in White talking to an assistant coach with a footy in hand but not training with the main group. Clarry spent the first 20 to 30 minutes working 1 on 1 with new Assistant Coach Andrew McQualter and then began doing run throughs and other exercises separate from the main group with instruction from High Performance Manager Selwyn Griffiths. He ended his session doing a marathon session of running laps and interval running with Salem at a good clip. Whilst not in the main group it was great seeing him interact with players and the general feeling amongst those in the crowd watching was one of joy and optimism. Bang! Bang, Bang, Bang. Salem back training with the main group. Looks to be in exceptional nick. Clarry doing some drills with Selwyn end with a kick to a stationary Petty. Verrell has left the main group and is running laps. Salem, Hore & McAdam have left the main group as well and are running laps. AMW & Jefferson have left the main group and are doing a 2 on 2 handball drill with Clarry and Selwyn. My uneducated guess is that the players I have just mentioned as leaving the main group are being eased back in to full training and are “avoiding” the physicality of the current drill. Main group has finished with the keeping’s off hand ball and tackling drill and Hore & McAdam are back with the main group. Salem went with them but then came back to the boundary. Will keep an eye on what he does. Rivers is a beast with his run and follow-up off half back. Windsor picks the ball off the deck, sells some candy and pinpoints a pass across the ground to McVee. He has some silky skills. Trac don’t argues Kolt and then somehow creates space in a sea of people accelerating out of the pack. Vintage powerful Trac. Clarry and Salem running half laps at a very quick pace. Windsor with great closing speed to tackle AMW and stop a certain goal. With a cloud on Hunter could we see Windsor as an early round starter? Viney (who is hobbling maybe a corkie) and May (looking sore) have joined Hore and McAdam in separating from the main group to do some run throughs along the boundary whilst the main group splits into two groups to do a keepings off handball drill with tackling. May did not join the main group but continued running laps at a decent pace for the remainder of the session. Viney hobbling off the field now. Does not look comfortable running. Jefferson doing some leading and one on one marking work with 2 trainers separate from the main group. JVR’s marking on a lead is lethal. Now we just need to hit him up more often. Howes drills a beautiful pass down JVR’s throat on a lead. JVR gets some air time and takes a lovely chest mark. Gawn doesn’t have much competition around the ground and has complete aerial supremacy. Spargo getting a lot of the footy in more of a midfield role. Bowser is elite by foot. Billings too is very accurate by foot on the run hitting up targets. Kozzy is very classy will ball in hand. Praying for more midfield time in 2024. Both Howes and Laurie are also elite by foot. I expect both of these two to get a look in sooner rather than later. TMac's disposal out of defence has been great which also surprised me. My surprise packet this preseason is the work of Fritsch up the field and his physicality when laying tackles. Did not expect that and am loving it. In case anyone isn’t aware Trac is an absolute beast swatting off opponents as he does whatever he pleases. Bit concerned with Petty. He rocked up to training in the white Jumper indicating he was in one of the teams (Blue vs White jumpers). He had boots in hand but then didn’t train. Another uneducated guess but I get the feeling he was intending to train but then had a niggle or awareness and didn’t train. He didn’t do any running like the other rehabbers and just watched on the sidelines. He just walked back to the rooms with a trainer and whilst wasn’t exactly limping his walking did look hampered. Watch this space. KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Oliver is down training. He is out early with Gawn doing some simple centre work drills. Now he is drilling with McQualter, as Goody looks on. During a break Goody comes over to him and they embrace. What I would love to see, is him joining the main group when the whistle for collecting together goes off. They have collected and Oliver is doing his own program. Plenty out early, Rucks all drilling together, a few of the smalls drilling fast steps and shimmies around mannequins. Many are goal kicking. Tomlinson and TMac drilling together. No Sparrow. Rehab include, Petty doing mainly bike work, Melksham strolling around, Fullarton exercising with a trainer, BBB and Hunter very light duties. Jefferson training with an assistant. Starting numbers of full training was about 31 players, no run-ons (Yze, Mentha). We ended with about 27, 28 fully fit players. A bit of a worry given we are 5 weeks out. Viney was tackled between a player and the ground, shorts were ripped on one side, and he was limping. Kept playing, then left for some run throughs but couldn't complete them. Cork to the hip, I reckon. May ran some laps, as did Salem, who partnered Clarry in numerous laps. McAdam had some laps, though returned to the sim. Hore ran laps before the end of sims. Verral seems to have a running program going, fitness I reckon. Warms ups were the same as usual, 3 stations, one funny walk, the other handballs and third was short kicks. They then do some run throughs, Tholstrup putting in more than the others. They then go to more dynamic kicking drills, one precision, one lead to long kick to behind the player. A third was also used, (didn't observe well). They were boisterous, and playfully in the approach to each other. Off to the handball games, which became interspersed with the sims. They were still running many players through the on-ballers, Spargo, Billings, Bowey, Laurie, Viney, Gus, Tracc. The wings had some young players, K.Brown, Windsor, Woey, as well as Langdon there. At one stage they put Tholstrup down back up against Rivers who was forward. Jed Adams was looking good. Spargo ran the legs off the others, Kossie was playing a little selfish, Howes kicking was elite a few times. McAdams loves getting out the back for a goal. JVR holding some marks and getting on the lead. Fritta is back. DEESPENCER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Caught about 40 minutes today, some of the handball drills and then a few periods of main stuff. I think Bowey was the standout, he’s really charging off the back in the handball receive drills and kept that going in the match sim. Using it well too. The other player who really impressed me was Fritsch just much more involved as a complete player coming up the ground in match sim. Match sim was fairly messy and unremarkable. Certainly more focus on run and carry and switching. Bowey, Pickett, Viney & Spargo all had moments in the corridor. Blue team had Chandler and ANB at half forward and seemed to have an easier time pressuring and moving the ball than white team which had Gawn, Pickett, Tracc and a talent edge in the middle. Not too much on the new guys. Kolt had a few link ups and found space in the match sim. Windsor still iffy with some of his disposals but there’s times were his pace is a huge advantage. They’ve finally got him a jumper that fits and he looks stronger. One that stood out a bit in the small handball drills was Jed Adams. Kossie burnt straight passed Schache and was planning the do the same to Adams but Jed quickly chased him down. I know he was impressive in the grand final sprint but he has really good speed off the mark too. Plenty to work on but that’s such an advantage for a tall defender. WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Got down there for 90mins. Clarrie was looking good and giving off good vibes. He said hello, I told him it was good to see him. He did some photos with a young bloke near me, who was stoked. He had affectionate interactions with BBB and Billings, then soft tackled AMW to the ground and held him down (in good humour). I'm reporting a future injury... whoever tackled Viney, tore his shorts half off and gave him a corky! Many impressions from the session have already been posted, so I only have a few observations to share. Fritta looks very fit and is in everything, more physical in the contest than I remember. Tom McDonald is very strong in the clinches and I now have him on a par with Tomlinson, with Disco very close behind them. Adams looks good on the burst, but doesn't yet have the strength of the other three. Adam's kicking is also a bit iffy target-wise. I watched Stafford's ruck group closely. Max is dominant, as you would expect, but he provides elite competition for the up-and-comers. On todays form, Schache is the closest to providing Max with any competition, followed by Verall, who seems quite a bit shorter (even though listed as 199) and Farris-White, who is clearly improving. I need to report a few well known negatives from today's end-to-end stuff. Lever still stuffs up the occasional short pass and Trac still murders a few passes and gets very grumpy with himself. Petty was on the sidelines for this activity, but he and Tomlinson were yelling a lot of advice to the youngsters about positioning. They were particularly vocal toward Kynan Brown, who seemed only moderately interested in what they were calling out. It's true, Caleb Windsor is a talent. Quick, evasive and sure by foot. Glides around like a famous wingman who owned the members' wing! JONTEE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS For me it is a short train ride to training. It feels like you have enough time to eat a Burger with the Lot whilst waiting for the Punt Rd lights to change. Clarrie!!!! - lifted my spirits; still has that same boyish grin and his preferred method of greeting seems to be a wrestle. Light duties, lots of running, some dodging and don't quote me but has magnificent hips. Couldnt lay a tackle on him in a phone box. Had more sunscreen on than the combined U9s cricket team. Looked in excellent spirits. Lots of media in attendance Chin and Spargs train like they are competing for the same spot. Salo, Hore and McAdam runing some laps. I dont think Salo would raise a puff blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. McAdam fitness work in progress. BBB made an appearance on the boundary line, handballing. What a head of hair - to think mine started to clog the vacuum cleaner from 15.... TMacs hair coming back to normal. Petty - light duties, feeding handballs into a drill May doesnt tackle lightly No matter where I stand on the fence it always seem to be happening on the other side....grass is always greener..... Go Dees FOLLOW ALL THE OTHER DISCUSSION IN THE LIVE PRESEASON TRAINING THREAD FROM WEDNESDAY'S SESSION.

The counter to that is that some of those players might not be getting a good fitness base into them but if the option is full team round 1 (or 0) or full team on GF Day then you know what I'm going to pick.

I have been saying for a long time (on the podcast) that my problem with Petty is that he is very injury prone. I can only recall one full season (2021) and I believe he had an interrupted preseason that year.

At training in the free flowing Match SIMs (which really is just end to end circle work and is only approx. 13 on 13 and not really a substitute for the actual pressure of a match) Spargo is utilised as a link up through the middle. He gets a lot of the footy and uses it really well. I can't see him being used as a mid on match day and as a forward pocket or even high half forward we don't get to see enough on match day of what I have witnessed at trainings with him. That said I still think he is best 22.