Demonland

Credit for this tweet should go to @WalkingCivilWar

So now we have reports of his hamstring, calf and groin. Amazed he can walk.

Missed Opportunity

My kids and nephews and nieces are devastated that there is no family day this year. It's the only chance they get to have face to face with the players.

I only wish I had the access that the Club has to players and officials and the platform they have to bring informative and creative content to the supporter base and beyond. And I’d do it for free.

Should wear one of these.

I wouldn't mind either attending or taking part in a faithful reenactment of our premiership a la Civil War Reenactments where people dress up in period clothing to reenact the event. The period clothing.

Guys let's not derail the Injury Thread with discussions about our forward line woes. Talk about them in the Forward Line Woes Thread.

I can't recall hearing a reason but he has been doing a separate modified program away from the main group for the past few months at training. Over the past weeks he has slowly been integrating into the main group initially for the warm up drills and then doing a modified program when the contact drills began. Yesterday was the first time I have seen him in the contact drills but before the end he left the field (not necessarily because of anything sinister) to ride the bike in the shed. I have not seen him much in a match situation but from limited viewings at trainings he has a great pair of hands, takes a good grab and has nice skills and a good kick. Can't comment on whether he has any mongrel in him but he laid a nice ferocious tackle at training yesterday. He got a lot of kudos from his teammates for it and I can only surmise that it was the type of congratulations you would receive if it was the type of actions the team wanted to see more of.

All of the above. Rehab in my training observations usually just refers to anyone not training with the main group and doing anything from a modified program to chatting with @WalkingCivilWar over the fence.

Reports mention calf awareness. He was doing a lot of jogging and light running today and to my untrained eye looked somewhat hampered. I initially thought hammy but could easily have been calf which is what is being reported albeit not directly from the club to the membership base yet.

Posted by @Jeremy in the injury thread. If the media have it right then Petty injury today was a Toe and McAdam has a calf injury/awareness.

Another training report mixed up in with some injury speculation. Melbourne could be forced to field an undermanned and inexperienced forward line against Sydney in its season-opener next month as lingering injuries add to availability woes. Just a month out from the Demons’ opening round clash with the Swans, defender-turned-forward Harrison Petty is still battling a foot injury and veteran key forward Tom McDonald had a fresh calf complaint at training on Wednesday. Petty — who booted eight goals across two games in attack late last season — has had a limited summer due to a Lisfranc injury he suffered last August. Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson said last week that the Demons were looking to “up the loads” for Petty and see “how he responds”. However, Petty did very little after taking part in some early drills at training on Wednesday, spending time on the exercise bike and doing weights while teammates took part in some modified match simulation. McDonald was restricted to some ball work on the sidelines, while recruit Shane McAdam also trained away from the main group in a further concern. Fellow off-season signing Tom Fullarton (hamstring), key forward Ben Brown (knee) and marking mid-sized forward Jake Melksham (knee) have already been ruled out of the start of the season due to injury. Livewire small Kysaiah Pickett impressed on Wednesday as he brought some magic in attack, but the 22-year-old is unavailable to take on the Swans after copping a one-match suspension for bumping Carlton captain Patrick Cripps in last year’s semi-final. The Demons will also be without Joel Smith — who booted three goals in last year’s semi-final — as he remains provisionally suspended after returning a positive result to an in-competition doping test last August. Melbourne is set to face off with Richmond in a seven-period match simulation hitout at Casey Fields on February 18, in preparation for its clash with the Swans at the SCG on March 7. OLIVER TREADING LIGHTLY Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver remains on light training duties away from the main group. Oliver spent most of Wednesday’s session running laps at Gosch’s Paddock, as well as doing some one-on-one ball work with assistant coach Andrew McQualter. He had started training doing some roving drills with ruckman Max Gawn. The 26-year-old only returned to the track last week, after taking an extended break from the club to deal with personal issues. Teammate Christian Petracca had said on Tuesday that Oliver would “integrate soon” with the main group, but no official date has been put on his return. Rebounding defender Christian Salem – who has had recent hamstring niggles – ran laps with Oliver after taking part in some drills with the main group to start training. Wingman Lachie Hunter (calf) was also part of the rehabilitation group and completed a limited individual program. NEW KOLT HERO? First-round draft pick Koltyn Tholstrup continues to impress and looks likely to become a fan favourite in the years to come. The No. 13 pick from last year’s draft showed that he knows how to find the footy during some modified match simulation on Wednesday, but also used the ball very well across half forward and set up teammates inside 50. The forward connection piece has been an ongoing issue for the Demons, but is one which Tholstrup could help address. No. 7 draft pick Caleb Windor also caught the eye once again. The wingman appeared to have the wind knocked out of him at one point, but picked himself up and got on with it. The running machine — who has strong agility and evasive skills — has drawn comparisons to Carlton’s Sam Walsh and looks capable of making an early-season AFL debut. LITTLE BACK-UP After the departure of Brodie Grundy to Sydney during the trade period last October, Melbourne has been left lacking in the ruck department. Behind captain Max Gawn – who turned 32 in December – there are only two other recognised ruckman on the list, both of whom are rookies. The two rookie rucks are Kyah Farris-White and Will Verrall, who are 20 and 19 respectively. Farris-White went up against Gawn during modified match simulation on Wednesday and looks to be improving, but still has plenty of development to come. Brisbane Lions recruit Fullarton is capable of doing some ruck work, but will miss the start of the season through injury. The Demons will have their fingers crossed that Gawn can get through the season unscathed, because after him the ruck cupboard is relatively bare.

Found the source Melbourne could be forced to field anundermanned and inexperienced forward line against Sydney in its season-opener next month as lingering injuries add to availability woes. Just a month out from the Demons’ opening round clash with the Swans, defender-turned-forward Harrison Petty is still battling a foot injury and veteran key forward Tom McDonald had a fresh calf complaint at training on Wednesday. Petty — who booted eight goals across two games in attack late last season — has had a limited summer due to a Lisfranc injury he suffered last August. Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson said last week that the Demons were looking to “up the loads” for Petty and see “how he responds”. However, Petty did very little after taking part in some early drills at training on Wednesday, spending time on the exercise bike and doing weights while teammates took part in some modified match simulation. McDonald was restricted to some ball work on the sidelines, while recruit Shane McAdam also trained away from the main group in a further concern. Fellow off-season signing Tom Fullarton (hamstring), key forward Ben Brown (knee) and marking mid-sized forward Jake Melksham (knee) have already been ruled out of the start of the season due to injury. Livewire small Kysaiah Pickett impressed on Wednesday as he brought some magic in attack, but the 22-year-old is unavailable to take on the Swans after copping a one-match suspension for bumping Carlton captain Patrick Cripps in last year’s semi-final. The Demons will also be without Joel Smith — who booted three goals in last year’s semi-final — as he remains provisionally suspended after returning a positive result to an in-competition doping test last August. Melbourne is set to face off with Richmond in a seven-period match simulation hitout at Casey Fields on February 18, in preparation for its clash with the Swans at the SCG on March 7. OLIVER TREADING LIGHTLY Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver remains on light training duties away from the main group. Oliver spent most of Wednesday’s session running laps at Gosch’s Paddock, as well as doing some one-on-one ball work with assistant coach Andrew McQualter. He had started training doing some roving drills with ruckman Max Gawn. The 26-year-old only returned to the track last week, after taking an extended break from the club to deal with personal issues. Teammate Christian Petracca had said on Tuesday that Oliver would “integrate soon” with the main group, but no official date has been put on his return. Rebounding defender Christian Salem – who has had recent hamstring niggles – ran laps with Oliver after taking part in some drills with the main group to start training. Wingman Lachie Hunter (calf) was also part of the rehabilitation group and completed a limited individual program.

Where did you hear this? The Training thread or officially?

Training Photo Gallery from @Six6Six Enjoy. Mbl ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-gL7BLf/i-SNLGXjH/A 4K ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-gL7BLf/i-bZWB8bG/A

MFC PHOTO GALLERY FROM TODAYS TRAINING

100% has some awareness in the legs. I’m no sports injury specialist but if his running today was solely a fitness issue as has been suggested then he is a long way off from playing. I don’t believe that to be the case. Whilst his conditioning when arriving at the club probably wasn’t up to scratch as has also been hinted at he has shown some impressive moments on the track that I have witnessed and I would still have picked him in the opening round given that Kozzy is out. Today he 100% looked to be carrying something and did look uncomfortable at times. Most likely hammy awareness. Again I am not qualified to make that assessment but I wasn’t the only one to observe that. If that is the case then he may be pushing up hill for opening round but I am choosing to start the year positively and hope he can play in one of the practice matches and then tear the SCG apart.