Demonland

Both boots off. Insoles out of boots into runners. Runners on. Still sitting in cart. Not good.

Melksham’s on bike in the weights shed.

Petty has come from the field and taken off one boot and is sitting in the cart next to the weights shed. 😱

Hunter doing the same now.

Turner and TMac just chucking the ball to each other hard.

Brown doing 150-200m jogging along the boundary. Looks comfortable. McAdam doing same and does not look comfortable.

Sparrow back training with the main group.

Both in the main group for now. Will keep an eye on them when they do the “match sim” stuff later on because that will be a good indicator of where they are.

Steven May is training with the main group so hopefully he is over the soreness from last week.

TMac just in a training singlet joining the rehabbers. He was doing warmup drills with the main group. Is wearing runners not boots. Hoping it’s a similar situation to Petty not training last week as part of a scheduled de-loading week. He is leaning against the fence so doesn’t appear to be doing rehab.

At the moment he is with the main group doing the post warmup drills. Will keep an eye on him.

McAdam and Melk have joined the rehabbers. They are just doing kick to kick to each other at the moment. Not sure what McAdams ailment is but now doing the same agility exercises with Melk with a trainer. Brown and Hunter doing kick to kick about 35/40m apart.

Clarry back doing drills with McQaulter separate from the main group. Mixture of short passes, handballs or ruck taps from Mini ending with snaps at goal from Clarry.

Salem doing warmups with the main group. Will also keep an eye on him to see if he participates with the group for the whole session.

Turner has joined Hunter and Brown in rehab.

Clarry and Max doing ruck tap/roving drills. A good sight to see.

AMW and Fullarton working on agility drills with a trainer. Hunter doing stretching with Brown on the fence. Now doing basic agility work with another trainer. Worrysome that he is at Browns rehab level of training.

Verrell doing warmup drills with the talls. Will keep an eye to see if he’s in the main group for the rest of training.

REHAB: Brown, Hunter, AMW, Fullarton, Turner, Clarry, TMac, Melksham, McAdam

Clarry doing drills with McQualter. He was leading toward Mini zig zagging before running straight at him to mark the ball on the lead.

Petty is present with footy boots on.

Clarry is in the building (Gosch’s Paddock)

All players in Blue guernseys today

I’m crossing the Yarra as we speak. I’ll provide my observations on individual performances. Shout out if there is anyone in particular you want me to comment on.

The rest of the list:- 52 Koltyn Tholstrup An intriguing prospect for Simon Goodwin, the brash Tholstrup was taken at pick 13 as an energetic and bold forward prospect with elite finishing skills. The 186cm forward from Western Australia was a needs-based selection, so don’t be surprised if he gets early chances in the senior side after playing plenty of senior WAFL football last year. 51 Tom McDonald The veteran never quite got going in 2023 given form and injury issues, kicking four goals against easybeats West Coast but only five majors from his other seven games. At his best he is an athletic beast who draws the footy. But the Demons could start round 1 with Harrison Petty, Jacob Van Rooyen, Shane McAdam and Bayley Fritsch forward. Therefore, McDonald needs to prove himself again — at 31 years of age. 49 Jack Billings An unknown quantity at the Demons, but he was a canny acquisition for a club looking for more class on the outside. The question is whether he can eke out a meaningful role at a club that will hope to have a vastly improved run with injuries and has also drafted Koltyn Tholstrup and Caleb Windsor as half-forwards and wingmen. 48 Adam Tomlinson Has played wing and key defence at the Demons since moving from GWS as a free agent, but never quite locked down a spot. If Petty is to play forward, he could play as the third tall behind Lever and May. But he needs to seize the moment as an uncontracted tall. 44 Tom Fullarton Ex-Brisbane key forward Fullarton was identified as the Brodie Grundy replacement, even though he played little ruck in the VFL for the Lions in 2023. The athletic tall had only 50 total hit-outs across 19 senior games, so he’s an unlikely choice given he will need to provide Max Gawn with regular chop-outs to keep the skipper fresh for finals. 40 Ben Brown A premiership hero in 2021, but his badly damaged knees might have put paid to his career. He will play out the final season of his contract, hopeful he can add a late burst to his games tally with the Demons in the flag window. However, he only managed seven AFL games for four goals and eight VFL games for 11 goals in 2023. Let’s hope his body allows him to make a final charge. 39 Marty Hore Resuscitated his Demons career after a brilliant stint in the VFL, averaging 122 ranking points, 22 disposals and an amazing 5.5 intercept marks for Williamstown in 2023. At only 190cm he might not quite play as the third tall, but an injury or two will pave the way for him to add to his 14 games for the Demons in 2019. 38 Jake Melksham Comes into the season off an ACL tear, but with his form almost career-best before his knee buckled last August. With the Demons having drafted a pair of forwards and secured Shane McAdam, he will need to work his way back through the VFL. But he will believe he can be a finals difference-maker. 36 Taj Woewodin The midfielder-forward is highly regarded at the Demons and after impressive VFL form he won four straight AFL games from rounds 17-20, averaging nine possessions. It was a solid grounding which the 20-year-old son of Shane will be desperate to build on. 35 Bailey Laurie Played five senior games in 2023 — including the qualifying final against the Magpies — as a 179cm forward, but for little impact. The 21-year-old was the No. 22 pick in the 2020 draft so will be given chances as an elusive and clever small forward in 2024. 34 Jed Adams The 196cm key defender spent his first year in the VFL after being taken at pick 38 in the 2022 national draft. There he won 1.5 intercept marks a game across 20 matches in a solid year, adding experience playing against men. 33 Blake Howes The club’s No. 39 pick in the 2021 national draft emerged as a likely type in 2023 after a 2022 season decimated by a foot injury. Playing 14 VFL games, the former junior forward averaged an impressive 93 ranking points and 23 disposals. Watch this space. 33 Josh Schache Was contentiously preferred to Brodie Grundy as a finals sub given his capacity to ruck and play in attack. But despite an excellent VFL season, he had only 10 possessions in limited game time across three AFL games. Won another single-season deal, but is surely up against it for senior chances. 32 Kynan Brown The father-son was selected in last November’s rookie draft as a tough inside midfielder who thrives on tackling and contested ball. The son of former dogged defender Nathan will take time to build his tank and experience in the VFL. 31 Matthew Jefferson A 195cm key forward who was drafted at pick 15 in the 2022 national draft. One day he will be a serious prospect, but he is likely to need another year in the VFL. He had a solid 2023 season with Casey, averaging 1.3 contested marks and kicking 23 goals across 20 games. 30 Andy Moniz-Wakefield The NGA prospect had a solid season as a clever small forward in the VFL, kicking 20 goals from 19 contests splitting his time between the midfield and attacking half. He also averaged 1.8 clearances and 3.6 tackles. There’s plenty to like. But for 2024? Maybe not. 28 Will Verrall The mid-season draftee is an impressive ruck prospect and played nine VFL games last season, averaging 10 touches and 16 hit-outs as well as laying 10 tackles in a match against Williamstown. He’s a future prospect, but given the Demons’ thin ruck stocks it would only take injury to thrust him forward. 28 Oliver Sestan A medium-sized athletic forward who kicked 12 goals in 16 VFL games and was given another deal after missing the back-end of the year with injury. Still only 19 years of age. 18 Kyah Farris-White The former basketballer signed a new one-year deal as a category B rookie who in his first year mixed time with Dandenong in the Coates League and the Casey in the VFL. He averaged 2.5 disposals and 6.5 hit-outs in his eight VFL games, so he’s some way off. 15 Joel Smith We docked Smith almost 50 ratings points for stupidity. A player who kicked three goals as an unlikely semi-final target was subsequently nabbed by authorities for a cocaine positive detected on match-day from a previous contest. He is facing a two-year drug ban so who would know if he will play at all in 2024. But he will be pushing his case to downgrade it to three months. POSTSCRIPT: As Whispering Jack pointed out below Daniel Turner was inadvertently left out. If the article is updated with his inclusion, I’ll do a re-edit.