Demonland

And 7 more for the Cats … How the flag table would change Including VFA 1870-1896 1897-2022 Carlton 22 16 Essendon 20 16 Geelong 17 10 Collingwood 16 15 Melbourne 16 13 Richmond 13 13 Hawthorn 13 13 South Melbourne/Sydney 10 5 Fitzroy 9 8 North Melbourne 4 4 West Coast 4 4 Brisbane Lions 3 3 Footscray/Western Bulldogs 2 2 Adelaide 2 2 St Kilda 1 1 Port Adelaide 1 1 Fremantle 0 0 GWS 0 0 Gold Coast 0 0 Brisbane Bears 0 0

I assume the club will stream it on the website as they have done the past few years.

He has been in rehab for the last few sessions (since Wednesday 25/1 at least). Prior to that all reports had him flying, figuratively not literally, at training.

What's your pass mark for the Dees in 2023? Finals? Top 4? Top 2? Grand Final? Flag?

PICKET FENCE'S TRAINING REPORT NO SHOWS JACK VINEY, MATT JEFFERSON, CHRISTIAN SALEM. Also Did not see ADAM TOMLINSON INJURIES MODIFIED DUTIES MAX, JOEL SMITH, ANB, AMW,( NO 47 Not sure who ) and during training CLARRY ( More on this latter) SKILLS , DRILLS AND MANOUVERS After warm ups and Run Throughs, players broke of into 3 Groups doing a variety of Close in Handball through traffic to hit clean target with players pressuring. One on one groundhog day ground ball gets Telescopic Talls in Marking contest situations Pressure the ball carrier, two meters away closing fast to kick to a lead Dodge through stick men and kick for goal ( Forwards only) Greg Safford masterclass for Rucks but specific emphasis on newbies Will Verrell and Kyah Farris White ( Gee what a huge unit he is) Half ground transitioning including stoppage work on both boundary side wings and emphasizing manned positioning and quick breakaways using precise handballs to break out of traffic and finding leading player on lead or further handball, chip kicks to favored positions to free up play and present scoring options closer to goal. · Highlight is always the full ground Match Simulations and today Two Official Umpires were in charge of proceedings adding to the Life like and professional dimensions of this aspect PLAYER WATCH Firstly, a downside. CLARRY Is clearly still hampered by his hand/Thumb injury to the extent that after one drill he went to the medico’s on the boundary and disappeared to get treatment strapping and was then on modified duties running light ball work drills but he did not play in match sims. FWIW I would be totally keeping him away from all ball work for a week or two to avoid any further damage. He is far too an important player at this point of time, but the Medicos must know what they are doing! GRUNDY put on a masterclass in ruck after being pitted against Josh Schache and Will Verell. What he also provides is Run and carry, he uses handball well and is pretty good below his knees. The other standouts for me were JAKE BOWEY, who was pitted against Kyle Chandler. He mopped up at will and was instrumental in launching attacks time and again with that precisity of kicks for which he has become adept at delivering. BAILEY LAURIE was involved in a couple of excellent passages of play and perhaps he may still be in calculations for game time this year. He was creative, smooth with maneuvering and fired creative handballs to advantage. BAYLEY FRITSCH was opposed to Pig and toweled him up kicking the Blues 3 out of 6 goals . He looks more or less on song for another standout season. PIG was good with a few good marks and line breaking run but overall Bailey got the chocolates. LACHY HUNTER is my pick for a most important role this year. He just continuously bobs up in dangerous positions and gets plenty of the ball and sets up forwards with precise kicking and canny running. He was on Taj Woewodin for a time and he got a bit of the ball as well but was no where near as damaging. TOM SPARROW Impressed me greatly today with style and flair, he looks like “He Belongs” and is gaining confidence in all aspects, a dasher with speed, he posses flair and takes the game on, His kicking to position has also improved. Although WILL VERALL was beaten in the ruck, he showed on a couple of occasions a turn of speed when he got it and the flair which he played reminded me a bit of David Schwartz with those flashy run by. BLAKE HOWES dis a few nice things and seems to be gaining confidence, as did DEAKYN SMITH of Half back and thereabouts who intercepted well on a couple of occasions and delivered to a target. I thought JAMES HARMES was very very good today in match sims and set up play after play as we know he can and does do. JOSH SHACKEY ATTACKEY took a brilliant Pack Mark and goaled from 40 and was busy and will no doubt come into calculations, particularly if Max is not right ( Incidently Max completed many Running drills almost at 3 /4 pace and I would say he will be right back to full training next week) LUKE DUNSTAN gets his fair share of the ball but isn’t dynamic or damaging with it but is always reliable and dependable. TRACC was Trac and KOZZY was Kozzy and he looks like he will be given more Midfield time this season. Same with MAYSIE and PETTY.

DEMONLAND’S TRAINING REPORT Rehab Group: Lever (in runners but kicking the ball well and seems to be moving well), Max (not present), Melksham, Howes, AMW, J Smith - then later joined by the following not participating in contract drills/Match SIM - Brown, Spargo, D Turner, Verrall, Adams Stafford was out early with Grundy & Verrall doing ruck drills. White Guernseys: May, Bowey, Trac, JVR, Rivers, Sestan, Nibbler, Kozzie, Grundy, Hunter, Harmes, Fritsch, Laurie, Jordon, K Turner, #46 (may be Cooper Simpson from Dandenong Stingrays Blue Guernseys Clarry, Salem, Langdon, TMac, Brown, Tomlinson, Brayshaw, Dunstan, Spargo, Chandler, Petty, Burgoyne, Jefferson, Adams, Sparrow, McVee, Schache, D Smith, Hibberd, Viney (wearing #24), Woey, #44 (May be Zane Duursma) Disco Turner doing some short sprints and sideways runs with a trainer away from main group and rehab group. Farris-White in civvies behind the fence not doing any training. Been told he is not training as a result of concussion. Jefferson lovely hands and very clean disposal Kozzie is everything, everywhere all at once. I’ll eat my hat if he isn’t playing more midfield minutes this season. Reiterate Laurie’s poor disposal that someone mentioned the other day. Missed a couple of targets. I normally wouldn’t have noticed but someone mentioned it the other day and I saw 2 instances in a couple of minutes. Bowey and Salem are so clean with long disposal off half back. Lachie Hunter is going to be a weapon for us on the opposite wing to Langdon. I don’t know what our forward setup will be with so many options at our disposal but JVR will be playing Round 1. If you wrote off Hibberd write him back on. Impressed with Schache’s marking and disposal. Time will tell whether he can break into the team and be more than just a like for like for Weid. Disco Turner now just running laps at a decent pace. Doing the whites vs blues 5 on 5 handball drill in a small circle with an alternating player on yellow as the both teams player. Goal is keepings off the other team and handball through the goal at the other end of the circle. Yellow was Trac now Brayshaw. Harmes is in yellow now. Woey is very skinny & wirey. Wouldn’t mind him bulking up. Like what I see though in terms of skills and intensity. Langdon came off second best tackling JVR. Limped off to the side but is back amongst it now. Adams doing some work with one of the trainers away from the main group now. I would assume it’s because the main group is doing a contact drill and he is recovering from a shoulder injury. Impressed with Adams size. Was running laps later with the ruckman Verrall and is not much shorter than him. Full ground SIM about to start. Beautiful kick from Laurie hit up long target. Earlier poor disposal were handballs. Maysie very vocal and at times quite matter of fact in his critique to players. He has a high standard that he expects from his defenders. At one time he called Kye Turner over to him and ask him to run over to him. Kye proceeded to jog over and Maysie yelled "I said [censored] run". Trac untouchable. I’ll say it again Jefferson has solid hands. Once he builds up and does his apprenticeship at Casey he will be a very good addition to our forward stocks. Spargo running laps and not participating in the Match SIM Oliver didn’t participate in the 5 vs 5 handball drill and I haven’t seen him handball much if at all today. Is taking marks (on the chest) and kicking the ball. Intensity in the Match SIM is high. Another group of players doing the 5 on 5 handball drill. Viney in Yellow then Dunstan then Chandler. Grundy took Viney down in a great tackle. Would love to know what role we play JJ in this season. Looking very slick at training. Fritsch gets a free kick against for a sling tackle on Viney. Verrell, Adams and Turner doing some kicking drills on the rugby field adjacent to the main oval. I’ve been very impressed with Trent Rivers this training session. Another match SIM about to start Sparrow getting amongst it. TMac tries to take on Kozzie and gets dumped in a tackle. Holding the ball. Any question marks on Gus’ fitness should be put to bed. Ben Brown has not participated in any of the Match SIM or contact parts of training. Grundy vs Schache in the Ruck Clarry marking balls on chest. Not quite comfortable using hand. Something’s NQR Langdon wearing the invisibility cloak. No one near him and he’s racking up possessions. A note about the match sim; every time a player takes a mark they have about 3 seconds to dispose of it. Stafford taking the tall forwards in some marking and leading drills. TMac, Schache, JVR & Jefferson. Chaplin taking Grundy & May in some one of one marking contest drills That’s it from me. In summary we’re training the house down SLARTIBARTFAST'S TRAINING REPORT Demonland and others have reported most of what happened so there isn't really much more to add. I concur that 44 and 46 looked very good, 46 the pick for me with this strength and poise but I've no idea who it is. The Wednesday format at training seems to be fairly consistent in terms of drills but the match sim today was quite different from last week. Today was a "real" match, contested stuff, full ground and at high intensity. There was much more kicking I thought with less overlap handball and the defenders stayed deep with the forwards making it a real contest. Last week was more focused on working the ball forward with overlap run and kicking to a forward out the back. Make of that what you will. I was standing close to where the players interchanged and when they came off they were spent. I thought Hibbo was going to have a chuck at one stage but thankfully kept it in. Verrell did some of the match sim for the first time and I liked what I saw. He's pretty coordinated and not scared to take the game on. He did limited minutes but is out of the rehab group and now getting involved in the drills. AMW was running laps until late in the session and Sparg's was doing running and not the match sims but he was doing the handball drills. I left before the end to beat the parking inspectors so look for later reports. Impressive today were Riv who I thought was everywhere until I realized Viney was also in 24! Confusing at a distance. But the real Riv was pretty impressive and looks very strong. Tmac really does look in good condition and played well despite his error with Kossie (again, I thought it was Riv but I was obscured in my view. JvR looked very good too and just continues to impress. Kade Chandler won't let the coaching staff forget him, he's been very lively and his tackling is a real standout. Kossie not as impressive today but still lively and as reported Langdon and Hunter look very good on the wings. I'm with those that think Hunter will be excellent for us if he keeps his mind on the job. If you had to summarize today's session beyond those I've mentioned our good players did well and the younger players struggled to get into the sims as much but almost everyone did some good stuff. And just to save Dazzle the trouble, J Smith was in the rehab group, I just don't understand why we gave him a 2 year extension. (actually I can but that's another story)! Just having a bit of fun Daz! DEESPENCER'S TRAINING REPORT Bit of a mixed bag out there today. I think the heat and grind of summer took a bit out of them and they were down a few numbers. Match sim was 14 on 14 with not too many on the benches. Viney was probably best on, just consistently helping out down back and then chaining up again on the way forward. JvR does look ready for a crack at it but he’s also consistently battling and often beaten with Hibbo who is having an incredible summer down back. JvR will find it easier against most afl key defenders IMO. Petty was about the cleanest out there in a small tight handball drill. Looked good in match sim too. I really want to see him embrace his attacking game this year. May seemed to be playing higher up and had a heap of the ball. Sometimes should take the easy one faster, which is true of a lot our players, but his aggressive kicks looked good too. K Turner is an interesting prospect, he was often the full back for May’s white team and probably got caught between opponents at times. But his athleticism when coming at the ball stands out. Got a fist on a few balls too although one went straight to the corridor. Not the most fluent kick but his right foot does have potential. Had a good battle with Jefferson. Jefferson: obviously a lot of work to do and doesn’t hold too many marks but there’s times where he hits the contest nicely. Has a touch of time and class to the way he moves through traffic. Got on the end of 2 early goals in a row in one of the match sims. Grundy was a mixed bag. At times his tackling, kicking and ground ball work is excellent. Other times his marking isn’t great and he’ll take on more than he can chew trying to evade smalls. Seems to be building though, so hard to know how much is rust. Rivers and Bowey were good. Salem was excellent, always looks completely spent when he comes off though, but it was a hot one out there. Hunter had his moments but probably spent a fair bit of time chasing Eddie. KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT A bit of a hot day, very little wind, great time to get the conditioning up. They worked hard all session. Finishing with running the fartlek program. They were pushing hard. The training's have a pattern about them now. They start with some goal kicking before the 9.30 official start, some are still making their way down from AAMI. Today the emphasis was on snaps. 5 mannequins in an arc, that a player moves from one to the next for a repeat of 5 snaps on the move. Sestan and Bailey thrived, Chandler did alright as well. Sparrow's kicking them from the boundary as Langdon attempts to keep up. Into the warm-up, then some small movement handballs along the lines to a central coach, then below the knee pick-ups. Kicking drill of 8 groups and about 6 balls. White group drill with white, and blue drills with blue. Appears chaotic, highly skilled, and makes them pick out their own team. They then expand the area. The next one, is the 3× line, run throughs, 3 balls and a player rotating the central position. Plenty of switches, short and long passes, handballs, bounces, and communication. Some have a bib on and seem to be defensive and/or swinging. No tackling practice this time, they made up for that in the sims. The scoreboard remained nil all. It started scoring as they went into the handball games. A group playing with goals at each end of a rectangle (20×45 meters). The other a game with goals near the handball contest and a leading forward 50 meters away. Blue got a jump on white, but was quickly negated when the sims started, as white got off to a flyer, then blue came back at them. The result of the session went down to the wire. The timer was on and three scores in the last 4 minutes (blue once, white twice), left white one kick from taking the day. Liked the way Hunter plays, runs the rails and keeps wide, reliable, hands, kicks, and decisions. Sparrow's working hard and powerfully., Viney’s everywhere, Jefferson gets to the right places, Verrall showed a bit, has agility and able to stay in the contest when the ball hits the ground, Schache made some good leads, Fritch working hard on his defensive forward role, May is getting stronger and appeared to captain the whites, Kossie looks to be doing the midfield work, Sestan is a smart player, though I haven't seen his defensive game yet. A few players were burnt when the ball mover decided to go down the central corridor, instead of to a player near the boundary. We locked the ball in the forward area a few times, which had Goody and Yze calling out with support. Some of our quick ball movement was a thing of beauty. A good crowd down there to watch them (more than 100), plenty of the players signed autographs. NUDGE'S TRAINING REPORT Well it was a real treat to get down to GP today and see the boys train well in the flesh on a lovely Melbourne Summers day!!! I’ll keep my notes brief and in summation or dot point format if possible, as always the Reginald trackies do a bang-up job 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Highlights: • First thing that really caught my eye right out of the gate was how much Clarry has altered his shape. Is far less top-heavy and far more ‘sinewy’ in I feel is an effort to utilise his first step more & be more explosive more often given the added midfield depth this year. Significant change imho • Thought JvR was super impressive in the flesh. Has come a LONG way condition wise & will only fill-out more but his touch in the 1-1 drills was absolute quality. What really impressed was the ‘un-teachable’ things, the nuance that comes with being a killer contested mark ala David Schwarz 1993-1994. I’m talking. About the angles, the deft touches, the use of both hands independently, the nudging of the opponent one-way whilst he angles the outside hand the other. His timing in air is still developing, but the bustling 1-1 with opponent stuff is 💯 craft that’s there and will be plenty good this season right outta the gate. He got away from Petty a few times on the lead, but was well quelled in the air by Pig or Petty, but JvR is only soaking it all up to build craft and you can see him rethinking the next contest. • Next standout was the all-around quality seen on both teams in the SIM on all lines. GAWN are the days where the class of a select few just scream out at you in comparison to the group. Sure, Viney, Trac, Clarry, May etc they shone brightly but it’s with 5% here and 5% there as opposed to just out & out utter domination! • Salem & Gus were silky smooth and the former’s hands were again sublime as always. Best marking mid in the game just about. Salem was reading the play well and breaking lines inc some forays through the middle. Just a class act that will benefit enormously from a full pre season. • Thought that TMAC looked in absolute RIPPING nick, combo of 2018/2021 with 10% more upper bulk on shoulders and 10% more pep in his step in movement. Fluent both ways and lateral movement was there too. In air timing looked sharp sharp sharp • McVee is a player! just has real poise, smart by foot — doesn’t get lost and has real 360 footwork as well, which stood-out. Seems to be a player looking for smart bagged with little kicks to set up teammates, inc a nice weighted kick to Gus that helped setup a Grundy i50 mark • May looked to be even more of a general than usual with Lever absent. Looks mega fit and will scare the he’ll outta most fwds this year. Never beaten and set up numerous forays and switches.. • Wingers delight!!! Hunter and Ed just looked to be two thoroughbreds out there tearing up Flemington straight… having double the wide run means we now genuinely have an offensive and defensive threat at all times and means we can switch to either side of the ground without hesitation which makes all the difference. Hunter sneaking behind the defenders was also encouraging but most of all seeing the joy he was clearly experiencing being out there was wholesome! • The ball movement for both teams in the SIM was controlled but maniacal. First option handballs were taken and the ball barely ever hit the deck unless there was a spoil or strong aerial contest. The hands were clean and there was a number of side-back kicks to space to look for that overlap and turbo charged speed lane to open up. Given nature of ball returning to play before the kick has even passed the line, it was damn impressive to see the teams moving constantly to create space & not afraid • Vines was everywhere, wearing White #24 and really does look poised for an AA year. Like Clarry? Looks stronger yet leaner, a real trend in our mids • Hibberd competes so dang hard he looked frighteningly strong and fast. His arms are such weapons and it is so great to see him set a std for all to follow. His competitive edge has already begun to help Riv, Bowser, Woe etc • AMW has some real size about him, looking fwd to seeing his explosiveness once rehab completed. Spargo running laps was showcasing those new arms, holy heck they’re huge haha • Fritta was himself, finishing well and moving with cleverness inside 50. Wil benefit a heap from having an attacking wing to help him get in behind the defenders as well as swifter movement honouring his early leads more often • Almost ZERO deep corner locked entries 🙌 this was my absolute #1 TAKEOUT from todays session. The i50 licks were almost exclusively precise and <20m to a target in space and even the penetrating long balls were always to a target leading into open space ahead of the d50 opponents ie over the top and not just bagged in there with a set defence!!! Was evident this was being driven by the coaches and both Ooze, Choc and Staff all commented to players at points re how dangerous we look with this M/O. • Kossie is not only gonna play mid in bursts but he is going to dominate while doing it! Just has soooo much time and space in close and even when clearly barely in 2nd gear, it was evident that he could toy with anyone at anytime. Footwork is sublime, explosiveness is off the charts bit he looks SUPER! • ANB did some nice finishing things i50, Chandler looked competitive but still behind Spargo, Nib etc.. Burgoyne did couple nice things in the handball drills, def quick off mark first 3-8m especially but it’s his lateral movement that is his 1Wood. • Both Turners looked a little lost at times and caught in-between the play when compared to Harry, May, Rivers, Pig.. • Banter and talk was consistent and the encouragement for younger lads was excellent! Gus was vocal, as was May & the usual suspects. • Schache impressed me on several occasions. Running the ground well and seems to have a slightly steely-eyed focus & gave me the feeling he was really confident in his body and base fitness right now inc his frame which is strong, nimble and has a real pep In his step. Could be the real sleeper form this years recruits and with not much expected it could be the right time for Him to really come into his own • Seston is a player. His old man said until now he’s always just been told ‘sit in the goal square and feast’ so he’s learning risky what it takes to be an elite footballer and is clearly getting a huge ROI in just what it takes. Powerfully built, he’s got a low centre of gravity and legs that offer him explosiveness that I’m not sure even he would be aware of just yet, but there’s some serious x-factor there and if he manages to get the Petracca-type fitness build he is potentially something scary. But he may not & could be gone in 24m, but the risk/reward ratio is abundantly clear and well worth taking. Has a bit of A Jakovich about him. • Grundy looked fit and will be much better for the preseason as he needs some touch but that’s to be expected considering the amount of footy he’s missed. But showed his agility and ability to match it at ground level with the smalls as well as doing some nice things in the air as well. Look fwd to him getting some touch in early rounds and then lookout!!! Overall, it was a sensational session and loads of takeouts. Forth and evenness the big thing in combination with the movement..

WIZARD333'S TRAINING REPORT I went down and it was locked out for first hour but could see through fence then allowed in. Max Gawn ran laps — it looks like a 3 to 4 week injury. Andy Moniz-Wakefield ran laps. Blake Howes was taken off late as was on restricted minutes. Adam Tomlinson loudest on track and a leader - surprised me but won't be in best 25. Jake Lever on bike and walking up n down stairs, yelling out as he does. Melky copped a niggle so ran laps but is in amazing nick. Think he and Hibbo play Rd 1, Hibbo always surprises how well he still goes. Grundy and Brown need to go for marks and not just tap to mids at times. Gawn a lot better than Grundy, significant but last 3yrs tells you that. Clarry went off with a hand injury and came back on. Hope it's not related to last year Our mids look fit, Viney, Trac & Harmes. They will dominate again Bayley Fristch will have another great year, just reads it so well Trent Burgoyne didn't do a lot to notice Kozzie Pickett will play a lot of midfield, goody push him along, he looks amazing and training in there Tom McDonald in full training and forward, Petty back. Not many injuries and we are fit so lots of positivity to be had. U just want to be fit this time of year Matt Jefferson will be a player, took some nice grabs. Think Fritter and Jeremy Cameron for who he is like. Two years away. We are so mature and train well and physically strong, no doubt a Top 8 team when you watch them. Good voice n leadership Angus Brayshaw looks good but doesn't stand out. He is a match day gun though Lachie Hunter will be handy, he cheats out to space well Questions remain - can Kozzie give midfield more creativity but at what expense up forward Tom McDonald always important to us so if he plays does JvR miss? I don't think Goody knows who plays yet in key forward roles, I like JvR and McDonald and a bit of Gawn - no Brown. Will give good movement and contests and defensive work, plus Fritta Can u play Brown, Grundy and Gawn? I don't think so. Are Laurie and Spargo, Nibbler & Melky good enough to allow Kozzie to play mid or good enough anyhow to create a better mid forward connection on last year? Not sold on it We need a fit Lever. Can Rivers and Bowey step up? Hard to see Jordan playing if Hunter plays Can't see Woey getting a game as mids and wings bat deep Goin to see alot of same players, hopefully JvR plays but hard to see many other youngsters stepping up so can goody find the players motivation and some strategy improvements as with TMac (Brown or Grundy misses) that same team should win another flag in talent but also went 6-6 on way home and lost 2 finals. Fingers crossed, go dee's. well worth trying to get to training, it's good to see our elite athletes, everything is timed to the second and micro analysed with cameras drones etc MCQUEEN'S TRAINING REPORT As mentioned previously, rehab consisted of Max Gawn, J Smith, AMW (looks laboured in his running) and Jake Lever. Max put in about 45 mins of light running and short passes without any venom in the kicking action and then disappeared into the rooms. I overheard Caitlin Nobes telling Tom Brown that Gawn’s hammy isn’t too bad. She also politely asked the CH 7 cameraman to not broadcast any of the recordings he’d done prior to her coming over. Adams and Verall doing some conditioning work and skills/positioning activities but did not join main group. All coaches in attendance apart from Choco Williams. Chaplin particularly vocal and demonstrative. Warm ups consisted of handball keeping’s off drills and then some end-to-end full ground overlap drills. Skills were okay in this but without any pressure I wasn’t expecting to see so many missed kicks and ordinary handballs. Main offender was Bailey Laurie in my opinion but there were several others. Match SIM then started with blues and whites. I couldn’t discern who was the first and second string groups were and they eventually switched it up anyway. Highlights - Jefferson has great hands and a well timed leap. He received praise from teammates and coaches on a few occasions. Pickett OMG he is sublime. Just cruises effortlessly when he has the ball and then cranks up his attack on the opponent when he doesn’t. Viney is in for a career best year based on what I saw today. In everything. Chandler will play plenty of footy this year if he can translate his training form into the heat of a game. Tomlinson was terrific down back and fair ripping it into anyone who was not doing what was required. Hibberd also very creative and was the main architect with switching the play across half back. BBB also performed strongly this morning and moved well. Howes looks a player. Lowlights - Laurie I thought was poor. Mainly handballs at teammates feet. Harmes lacked involvement in the match sim. Melky pulled out of match sim and ran a few 200m and was in discussions with staff about some niggle. Oliver was in real discomfort with that hand. He was point to the top part of his hand just below the wrist. I was thinking the worst given the carry on he was animating. Once he returned to the field he went straight back into match sim and got nicely winded but the hand seemed to be okay. Watch this space. Summary: Overall I was relatively impressed with the session. Grundy was moving well and the forward entry looked sharper with an obvious focus on neat entry into the 30m hotspot. There was a few Joe the Goose goals during the sim so it may be something in planning to create more of those opportunities. Melbourne traffic sucks. If I was a player I would quickly start to loathe the drive to Casey. No snakes seen. Any questions let me know and I’ll try to provide insight. Cheers

TOUGH KENT'S TRAINING REPORT I journeyed out to Casey today and was fortunate enough to watch two quarters of match simulation. Here is a brief rundown of random occurrences/thoughts. First of all, there was no Jake Lever (ankle) or Joel Smith involved. AMW is still in rehab and was running strongly. It was Blue (Probables) v Red (Possibles) JvR was in blue. Ben Brown, T-Mac, Hibbo and Tom Sparrow were in red. Gus Brayshaw started at half back for blue and stayed there all game. Josh Schache rucked for the red team against Max/Brodie. Adam Tomlinson played in the Lever role. First goals were to Blue team through Fritta and JvR. Rooey followed his goal up with another strong mark but missed a very gettable goal. He contested strongly all game. The half forwards all pressed up the ground high, leaving lots of open space behind them. It was obvious that we have been told to move quickly from defence. They went short a lot and also moved the ball on by hand to defenders streaming through from behind. There was a definite urgency in the way they moved they footy. Max took a mark on the lead, but missed a gettable goal. Lachie Hunter was in everything. Kozzie and Clarry were dominant. Salo was very industrious off half back and looked like the Salem of 2021. Promisingly – Brodie Grundy finished the quarter off with 2 goals, one from a strong grab and the other from a handball over the top. At the break – Blue were 4-5 to Red 0-1. Chandler took the game on and evaded many tackles. However, I think his lack of a right foot might hurt him at senior level as he did run himself into trouble a few times. Ben Brown took a strong pack mark, but missed a very kickable goal. Kye Turner got a fist in a few times and looked strong in the air. Taj Woey got a little bit of the footy. Koz did a run-down tackle in the square, but only managed to hit the post. Melky was in the blue and missed two consecutive snaps on goal. I would say that he is very much in their round 1 plans. Sparrow snagged a goal from a push in the back from Clarrie. Fritta got a goal out the back – evidence of the open forward line apparent there. Ben Brown got one on the lead and goaled. Hunter hit Fritta on the chest. Fritta in turn kicked it out on the full from deep in the pocket. Viney was in everything. Nibbler, who was in red, was also busy. In the second half, Grundy took three marks leading up at the footy. He was a highlight for me. He competed strongly, and if he couldn’t mark it he made sure he brought it to ground. When Max was in the ruck, Grundy started forward. When Grundy was in the ruck, Max started forward. The ruck at the time would then drop behind the play. Kye Turner, playing on JvR, showed some real dash. He was good. took no part in the match sim. Hunter missed a very gettable goal after marking a Spargo chip. He was very vocal on field. He was my other highlight. I think Blue won the second period by a couple of points. YOKOZUNA'S TRAINING REPORT I also went to training. They worked really hard, was a long session, and the intensity was up. So the worry about missing skills is nothing. Nobody is prefect and when working so hard with very little rest, errors will happen. In the match sim I was happy to see more efforts to switch the ball (we didn’t do much of that last year) and also trying to spot up a short 45 kick to open the ground up or get out of congestion. Stand out players for mine: Trac, Viney in the middle were too good and strong - Oliver ran well so has recovered from his illness. Grundy was really good - very positive signs. Melksham was great, missed a couple of shots but was almost BOG for mine. Fritsch also dominant and so classy. Was impressed with JvR jumping at the ball and his run ing - seemed very quick and much fitter. Kozzie also dominated with and without the ball. From the backs Salem was very classy and used then all well and I really liked the look of number 47 - I think he was Kye Turner. Other notable/impressive players: Really impressed with Woey today - first time I had seen him get so much of the ball. The reds had less possessions so they did struggle to get a lot of it - Woey, Sparrow and Jibbers were there best. Like Hunter too - used the ball well and finds/creates space. He and Langdon will be a great wing duo. I also liked the attack om the ball of some of the younger guys like Deakyn Smith/Judd McVee/Chandler Overall I was happy with what I saw - all having a red hot crack under pressure and fatigue - senior players doing well - young guys looking better and some new ball movement. GATOR’S TRAINING REPORT Lots of targets missed in the modern day circle work pre match sims. But it was pretty frenetic and there were some great passes too. Match sims: Standouts were Petracca, Viney, Pickett, Hunter, and Salem is moving like Salem of 2021. Spargo was very involved also, while Grundy got better the longer it went. He isn't a great contested mark, but he'll pluck them occasionally and he fights tooth and nail once it hits the deck. Don't write off Hibberd. He's moving well and contested strongly. Schache took one good mark. He played as the red team's alternating ruckman, along with Farris-White. Does he compete like a big man? The talent is there. Oliver looked good. He's physically looking imposing. Brayshaw played in defence. It was a ''high'' back role. After match sim the fwds, backs and mids all did extras within their own groups and Brayshaw stayed with the defenders. Of the younger brigade Woewodin was great early, Kye Turner really impressed me, Rivers is looking strong and intense, JvR kicked a couple and took one excellent mark. He turns 20 one month into the season, so he's not some skinny 18 year old who'll take a long time to contribute. He'll be good in 2023. There's something about McVee also. He's a really nice kick and has footy IQ. Disco Turner took a nice grab but had to be helped off later after a marking collision. I'm not sure if he came back on, but I don't think there was much in it. Bowey was busy. It's going to be a tough team to crack. They finished off doing 100 metre sprints, then 80 and I think 70. They were still going when I left. Some were doing it tougher than others but Sestan was doing better than I expected. Unfortunately, I barely sighted him during match sims. He found it hard to get involved. But those sessions happen, especially with a young player. And he may have got more ball than I realise. When they've got caps on, like he did, you miss things. He lined up at HF. Chandler was OK. He tries to do a bit much at times, but is clever. I can't get excited by him, but I appreciate why others expect him to get games this year. All in all it was a good session with a few of the young guys impressing. I wouldn't take much notice that a few senior guys were in red. They have to balance it out from a competitive point of view. There was plenty of good play and plenty of turnovers, but that's what happens when you play yourself and both sides know what each other is trying to do. Adams, Verrell and Burgoyne did a lot of boundary running. Jake Lever was in good spirits. He was repeatedly walking up and down the outside steel steps in front of the pavillion before heading over to a stationary bike. Once or twice he was vocal in his encouragement to those training. No doubt he'd prefer to be out there, but he was walking freely and seemed in good spirits. Gawn ran off at good speed and I didn't even suspect an injury at the time. He didn't return. We've all seen players hobble off by two trainers after bad hamstrings, so I expect it's not severe. Let's hope at worst it's a regulation hamstring with a 21 day recovery.

DEE ZEPHYR'S TRAINING REPORT Morning all. First time at Goschs for a while, there’s a scoreboard set up which I’ve never seen here before. Possible match sim? Williams yelling out to players to get their hands off hips during drills. Gus looks fine to me. Absolutely., first two mins of match sim and his kicking is exquisite on both sides. He’s moving incredibly well. Some observations from a match sim drill that lasted about 15-20 mins. The purpose seemed to be fast ball movement from the backline with players linking up through the middle and hitting forwards on the lead or over the defenders heads as the forwards ran behind them to an open goal. The play would end when a forward took a mark deep or scored a goal, play would resume instantly from the back with the non-possessing team now pushing back to defend really hard and fast. Coaches were screaming at players to do just that. Kozzie looks in immaculate condition and was a standout in the short time I watched. Spargo never misses a target and he’s really clever when you watch him closely. He has a very good sidestep. Viney is Viney, just doesn’t stop harassing and getting in your face. Hunter is really good at finding free space on his wing and drifting forward to become an option. Schache looks really good, I liked his movement and involvement deep forward. Will be interesting to see how we use him. Melksham another looking really good. Ben Brown was having shots at goal prior to the match sim drill. Left knee bandaged, didn’t see him after that. STIFF ARM'S TRAINING REPORT I'm here too. My God, Kozzie is all class. Very wet conditions but he's kicking like a dry day Haven't seen Blake Howes ANB looking super fit. Seston has hips and legs like Lethal Leigh! Must build a tank though Woey has put on considerable size Lever and J Smith were around earlier. Not doing match sim. Non contact Melksham good skills in the wet during match sim Fritter smothers Pig kick out of defence, collects, turns, snap on the left for goal. Classic Fritter Grundy last by a long way in every half ground run through Jefferson looks good but is very, very light. Knickname should be Pirate. Give him 12 months in the gym. Good hands and a beautiful kicking action. Needs time and development, but has much potential. Got a bit of it in match sim. JvR did well today, very assured, put on size over summer Setson and his tree trunk legs In the kick and mark session near the end I saw Grundy, Tmac, JvR and another drop 7 marks in a row. The marks that were eventually held were two or three grabs. I know it's wet and early January, but it no joke when fans over the fence are laughing at simple spilled marks. DEESPENCER'S TRAINING REPORT Grundy looked a long way off all session. Positioning and marking aren’t a strong suit, and whilst he got involved with some ground balls with good vigour he didn’t do anything with it. He was probably the biggest individual downside. The tempo is incredibly fast, I’d still like to see more switching and run and carry with forward handballs to open up space. There’s some lovely fast aggressive kicks that pay off but faster long down the line purely for the sake of being faster won’t make us better. I agree Chandler had a strong session with some good positioning, attack at the contest and tackling. Pickett, May, Hibberd, Salem, Petty, Langdon, Melksham were others that looked good. McVee was the big improver. Not sure about top end speed but he looks genuinely quick, and he was scything through traffic with ease with solid disposal. My immediate thought was he’s likely to debut this year. JVR was his typical energetic self, crashed in to some packs and his follow up is exceptional, he has a desire for tackling that we haven’t seen from a tall. Need to see a dry day to see if he can hold a few more. Hibbo and Petty mostly had him covered. Big Kyah contested for a mark with Gus and quickly came down and was back on to the loose ball. Whilst he’s a long way off it’s nice to see the athleticism is as advertised. Was good to see Deak Smith back in training too. K Turner had some moments, he covers ground very easily and looks a natural runner for a tall. D Turner had a great goal saving tackle at one point, he looks super fit and lean. Lockdown back has to be an option for him, and I even wonder if he finds himself stuck in the key back log jam if he can contribute to the midfield. Jefferson (unsurprisingly) got moved out of the way by May a couple of times in match sim and was otherwise quiet. But he did swoop on to a loose ball nicely. In fact that’s probably the standout flash I’ve seen from him - he changed direction and accelerates like a talented player. Burgoyne in full training, moves well, seems clean enough, got in to space a couple of times. But not heavily involved so far. Haven’t seen Howes or J Smith. Only briefly saw BBB. AMW did some repeat runs and has spent the time off legs building a solid upper body. No Lever. And Adams and Verrell doing their own thing as per usual Petty’s copped about 6 injuries in the last 20 minutes. Think he just popped a finger out. SLARTIBARTFAST'S TRAINING REPORT What a terrible day to be a trackwatcher, but wow, was it worth it. It rained just about the whole time and the standard of play was very good given the conditions. Ball handling was generally clean, very few dropped marks but of course very few contested marks taken. Training is great fun compared to the old days. Today’s training mainly consisted of handball keepings off game and match sims which are good fun to watch. At the start of training Lever, Howes and J Smith did a couple of little handball drills but not much else and were not sighted by me after the proper stuff started. AMW did his usual boundary running but there is no lateral movement in his training yet so I'd imagine he's still a long way off. Verrall and Adams also doing bits and pieces and quite a lot of running and as far as I could tell everyone else was in full training. The match sims are interesting. They are now played at full pace with what I call "respectful tackling" but the intensity is there and the players are really determined. There is also an "interchange bench" where players are practicing going on and off the field when the situation allows, but it's a designed part of practice, not just some random interchanges. Players like Trac and Oliver do their thing and look to be pacing themselves a bit to me but that doesn't seem to apply to Viney who is just in ripping form at the moment. There were two standouts for me today. Langdon must be invisible because nobody was near him all day in the match sims and just kept on getting it. His ball handling is good and his kicking was precise. The other standout was Chandler. His tackling was ferocious and he's so clean with the ball in the wet. He'll put real pressure on the small forwards this year because he just looks ready and very keen. For Dazzle I can report that Jefferson was quiet but it wasn't a tall forwards day. JVR and TMac were also quiet and that just puts it in perspective. Burgoyne was interesting. I thought he did quite well without dominating. He was involved in quite a few passages of play but to me he doesn't have the x factor that a lot of the First Nations players do. Based on what I've seen he'd be behind Chandler and AMW and I doubt he'd be picked up but there's a bit of water to go under the bridge yet. Others to impress me today were Trent Rivers who seems to be more imposing than previous years. He looks big and strong and is now a man rather than a boy. Judd McVee was clean in what he did and Woey was also pretty good at times. Fritter was good around goal and very clean and Melk did a couple of eye catching things. Kossie was just out there having fun, nobody could catch him and he just did what he pleased. The other positive was Salo who was involved more than I've seen him. Hunter found the ball regularly and his kicking is just great and to confuse the selectors even more JJ was clean and involved with good kicking. Oh, and Seston produced some really good kicking during the sims. All in all most players showed good patches but the comment from Monday's reporter about the young kids looking good in the drills but a bit lost in the sims is so spot on. The major problem we will face at the beginning of the season is going to be the selectors trying to work out who to play. There are a lot of contenders for multiple spots and there will be some disappointed and hard done by players. KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT Lovely day for it, that is, for going hard and making an effort (without the heat). They made the most of it, plenty of omf, hits and gut running in the sims. Amazed by the number of fans, at least 80 of us. Made a good atmosphere. The players really are happy out there, I have seen and heard the talk, support, and camaraderie that shows our culture is fine at the Dee's. There also seems to be a sense of equality amongst them. The warm-ups included some funny movements and body positions. High knee runs, with arms folded, and body turned sideways. I think it creates balance and gets the legs carrying when the body is contorted. Must have a purpose, no matter the Monty Python funny walk appearance. Anyway, the kicking drills aren't much better. Six points in a rectangle by two sets. I think six balls a set. Appears chaotic, as they lead and kick into (what has some method) each of the points. They handled very well considering the slippery conditions. The next drill is through three lines and grouping at each end, 80 meters apart, with a player starting in the middle who rotates in and out. They kick and handball to either leading players from the other end or use a short pass to the central player, or go lateral to one of the other lines. Eight players involved, with three balls moving from end to end. Really making them use the eyes and brain to make decisions. Then they extend the length of the run through. They break into two stations, one a handball game, the other handball with a team being able to kick to a leading player and his opposition, or score the handball. Both competitive. Next one is some tackling practice, then the sims. I liked K Turner and McVee, Salem doing some beautiful long passes, Schache was having some good involvement. May and Tomlinson stopping lots of attacks. Langdon and Hunter competed well against each other. Plenty of action in closed areas, as tackling and fumbles made for some scrambling footy. A few kicks and hopes, but generally most plays were done with intention. The sims were played at great intensity, as there were no stoppages and another ball was in quickly once the forwards got a mark or kick on goal. After sims, they broke into stations of, goal kicking or one on one marking. Then some hard boundary running to finish. I've seen the score board twice now. It seems red versus blue the blue tops. They appear to keep score in all activities they have a competitive edge to them. Blue won the day by 2 points, I think 217 to 219. Blue led most of the session then red hit the front late into sims, and finally blue kicked an easy goal to win it. There was a score that favoured blue even before the drills started, must have done some pre-field competition. He's getting fitter, doing much better in the runs, though not fast he has some endurance capacity. His kicking and hands were great today and he got a fair bit of action in the sims. Both did well in the sims, though a few ball fumbles (tough conditions). Jefferson made separation for himself, the backs either couldn't go with him or gave him some freedom. He still needs to lift his eyes but did some nice plays. Burgoyne was in lots of plays in both the back area and forward area. He was very team focused, making room for and bringing in other players. A few occasions his second and third efforts made a difference. JvR has been slamming him. Likes to use his body to create space. Good contest, he is so close, not easy for a marking forward in these conditions but contest very well. Petty just gets on with it, though I think he puts it into the old memory bank. They were very eager in the sims. Good hard play and lots of gut running. Laurie, is always hunting that loose ball off the packs, but seems to be a bit away from the contest and is often blocked and others get to it first. Did some nice tackles, finds it difficult to be involved. Woewodin, is running the lines very well. His endurance is building. He and Chandler both started the sims on the wing. Tackling well, creating overlaps and links. Looking strong. McVee, good involvement, bringing pressure, finding the ball and making good decisions. I felt the same early on in the sims. Late into the action he came into his own. He ran hard and got to more contest and covered the zone in the back-line area. He made good decisions with the ball and was the factor that brought the red tops back onto contention. GEORGE ON THE OUTER'S TRAINING REPORT Kade Chandler was in absolutely everything. Tackling Steven May to the ground, that's hard for someone twice his size, but Kade did it!. He just kept throwing himself into every contest, and would have to be making a serious tilt for a full time slot in the seniors. Viney v Petracca head on? Frightening to watch as the immovable met the unstoppable. Both bounced off and continued on their merry way. A bit worried about Grundy. Just doesn't take one grabs (and yes it was slippery), but he doesn't look to be all that fit. Was streets behind the others in his running group, but was also lagging in the match sim. The usual benchmark of who is on the track post 1 Jan is promising. J Smith seems to be the only semi permanent out, at the moment, although AMW looks a long way off with only running exercises. Hopefully Lever and Howes are just temporary stays from the main group. BITTER BUT OPTIMISTIC’S TRAINING REPORT Just back at The Manor and thawing out - I dressed for a balmy day rather than arctic conditions. The comprehensive reports above cover most things but I will add couple of observations. For me, the standout player across all drills was May. He started with some goal kicking (pretty good too) but was very prominent in all the simulation drills.He wasn't saying much but was very physical and aggressive towards getting possession and using it well. He was setting an example and a standard . He looked super fit (although I didn't stay for the final run throughs) and, on today's showing, I'm really looking forward to an AA season. It appears BBB still has some work to do. He looked ok in the short goal kicking drill but when he had a kick from about 50 it fell well short. I didn't see much of him after that and I suppose he's on a special program. Saw a first (for me anyway). Clarry came off during one of the simulations. He was blowing a bit and was handed an inhaler. He had a couple of puffs and seemed fine. Is this usual for him? Had a few looks at JvR. Good shoulders and lean rather than bulky upper body muscles. There's physical development left in him. He flew for a couple of marks but I didn't see one stick. However, he wasn't alone in that given the conditions. My overall impression of the session was intensity and enthusiasm. I was close to the "interchange area" for one of the match sims and was interested to note that players on the "bench" were having animated discussions about tactics and positioning - again a high level of passion about doing the job well. The overall "vibe' was very upbeat and made me very upbeat about 2023.

STINGA'S TRAINING REPORT Went with a friend to watch training this morning. They have 3 sets of temporary grandstands set up next to the rooms for spectators and get a good view of everything. Fritsch was the only absentee and J Smith was on the bike for the whole session. Everyone in their own numbers except JVR in 44, Kye Turner is 47 and Burgoyne 33. Started off with goal kicking which has been described before. Then an agility routine where where they ducked around ski poles whilst marking short kicks, receiving and giving handballs. Then a couple of other similar groups (of which there were 3 of 15 or 16 players). In one a ball was tossed in with 5 in white tabbards trying to intercept or tackle whilst other team handballed it around. At this stage one of the groups was all the tall players probably 194 or more and their skills below their knees were great. The had to at least bounce handball through the group a couple of times. When you saw 16 such tall players together you realised we are going to be a tall side, even if 6 are at Casey. May's anticipation and tackling stood out. Then whole ground long kicks one way, punch to defend and switch with handballs from defence then run and handball or short kicks to the other end. Very slick movement. It was in this that I saw Grundy on a few occasions just take off and try and get ahead of the play into the forward line. From that and previous reports,I think that is what he is going to do. They then did different versions of match practice which included free kicks, 50 metres etc. In this it stood out just how far the 1st and 2nd year players are behind the senior players Hibberd, May, Lever and Petty work really well together. Of the new players Hunter stood out - just kept hitting targets and got a bit of the ball. Grundy was very mobile but Max dominated. Schache took one good mark but that's all I saw him do. The 2 Turners were OK but a level below the others. Burgoyne was in the match practice but didn't seem to do much. Kozzie was quiet but looked good if that makes sense. Brown was very good, TMac and Bowie were OK JVR was impressive. Chandler and Spargo got involved. Trac, Oliver, Viney Langdon, Brayshaw, Harmes and Sparrow were a level above the rest. ANB was quiet and at one stage came off with maybe a groin issue, but came back on. Thommo did well - looks to have lost weight and moves a bit freer. Salem, Melksham, Jordan, Dunstan and Laurie were quiet. The young ones do well in the skills drills but just don't have the body or presence to impact in the match play. Seston has a body that could compete but a long way behind. Howes is probably the closest but will take him a while.

REDLEGS23'S TRAINING REPORT Got to training about 9:50 & headed off by 11:30. Rehab / Light Drills: • Jed Adams • Kyah Farris-White • Will Varrall • I think i spotted Joel Smith, but could be wrong. The above doing light drills. Andy Moniz-Wakefield & Trent Burgoyne doing seperate laps / runs for the whole session. James Harmes, Angus Brayshaw & Steven May all started with the main group but then progressed to light duties / laps for the remainder of the session. The latter two did the bulk of the session before partnering up for some sideline runs. They all moved fine to me so you would think it's just a conditioning thing. Some key takes: Lever is the voice of the squad. Very vocal & always directing / encouraging. Got to be in serious contention to captian the side when Max's time is up. Petty is in ripping touch. He was the best tall defender out there today, no question. He aint playing forward, well not unless our KPF stocks take a big hit. Kozzie's left foot is all class. Used it a few times out there today & each time it was pure & hitting the target. You can tell he's super confident in his game. Strap yourselves in! Geez we missed T-Mac. He's training really well at the minute & one-grabbing everything. Hand's look really good. Nothing better than seeing Trac leap & mark at the highest point. Thing of beauty. Dunstan know's how to find it. Probably had it the most out there today. But we know he's limited. JVR, well he's ready. Strapping young lad who's just a real workhorse. Competitive af. There's something about Oliver Sestan. From the way he looks, to his build & the way he finds space. Once they get his tank up to the level he'll be one to watch. Oliver & Hunter were back at it today. Neither involved heavily... but they were crook just the other day so. Gus does seem a bit heavy to me. He's never been a specimen, nor will he ever be, but yeah, the rig doesn't look in top shape. He's got time to work that out. Last one, spoke to Choco, asked if there's any injury concerns & he said Nope. The boys looked good today. That's me done.

WAYNE WUSSELL'S TRAINING REPORT Haven’t noticed Oliver, Petracca and Hunter, just about everyone else accounted for. Petracca here! J Smith striding out in rehab. BB taking lots of shots on goal after session marking in goal square v Stafford Younger players tending to float short passes to leading forward (D Smith, 33, 39, KF-S) while Petracca, Viney, Kossie, ANB shoot hard and low bullets Harmes, Verall, & Adams doing agility, ball handling JVR stand out in team pressure ball carrier/ break free / handball to outside runner activity. He is quick, follows up, sure by hand Kossie un-tackleable in same activity Watching full length competitive Blue v Red, using all but Punt Road flank. Kossie brilliant midfield to forward… golden moment when he confronted Viney, bounced off him with ball and nailed a 50 metre kick to Harmes Petracca now dominant. Seeing much more of Max than Grundy. First fumble by JVR. Howes marking and kicking well. Sparrow impressive in one of the handball / kick forward groups Hibberd contesting well, Brayshaw so laconic… lacking precision, no one is worried! Full ground sim now. JVR reads ball better and snaps a goal v May & Lever Schache marks in front of Lever. McDonald has been very good in everything this morning. Big Max brings Kossie to ground with a strong tackle. Jefferson’s pass to Seston off! Haven’t seen Petty for quite a while! Ed doing what Ed does! Beautiful pass by Viney to Schache, who is prominent close to goal Match sim was so exciting to watch… speed ball taken to the next level! Boys back in small group skill activities, which are a bit boring by comparison (but essential of course!) It’s 11:10 and I’m about to check out… If I was picking 23 on today’s training… Max, Petracca, Viney, Langdon, Kossie, McDonald, Fritsch, JVR, Rivers, May, Harmes, ANB, Schache, Howes, Sparrow, Lever, Brayshaw, Hibberd, Melksham, Jordan, Dunstan, Spargo, Grundy DEELIGHTFULPLAY'S TRAINING REPORT Had a few drill stations going when I arrived late. Good to see some of the seniors, like Melky, providing guidance to the new boys like Kyah. Burgoyne has joined in some of the drills and might be off rehab. Burgoyne now joining the agility training and Harmes off to the main group Kossie caught a nice short chip in from the side then kicked off - doubled back and intercepted once it was turned over. Looking dynamic in the pack Splitting up into different groups again, match sim done. One group set up for the handball game drill - if there is a turnover then the group opens up and practises a long kick goalwards (with Harmes marking) Viney scooped up a ground ball, broke out of a tackle and ran into space before beautiful kick forward Some final observations of the match sim (unfortunately I had to leave): Harmes weaving before kicking a low goal. Spargo fairly active and involved. Lingers did a short chip to Spargs who moved into the space. Ed later positioned himself down the line nicely as usual Tomlinson fumbled and course corrected with kick to Chandler. Chandler dropped but had a good second effort back. However reds put the pressure on and Kossie in particular was strong with tackle and attempted smother Jed and Verrell running laps, Burgoyne and someone else doing short runs on the other side. DEESPENCER'S TRAINING REPORT Petty on laps. Haven’t seen Oliver or Hunter. BBB not in the main drill. Gus is. Harmes in the green hat playing full forward. Full ground match sim drill with a focus on moving the ball as fast as possible. Spare man in white bib going both ways. When it was Tracc it was humming. Since then it’s been Laurie - less humming as he hunted wide for kicks and didn’t power both sides, and Kossie - quick but more chaotic Lever very busy. Schache (playing on grass) looked great until he was spoiled by Bowey JVR loves an untimely fumble but he’s like a Labrador out there, just involved in everything That last set really belonged to Blake Howes. Probably had 8 touches in 5 minutes. Spoiling/out marking talls, lacing kicks, linking up. The match sim with even numbers started really ugly, it was pretty much a lowlight reel of last years end of season. Couple of Woey turnovers off half back. JJ stagnating with the ball. Melksham getting run down. ANB getting it at half forward then getting run down by Melksham! Fritsch was the meat in a Sparrow and one other big collision. He had to go off but came back on. Tracc was tended to at the next break. Then Tommy Mc (who was racking up touches) was having his knee assessed. Gawn reads the ball in the air so much better than Grundy. But Grundy did get on the lead once or twice. Once fatigue opened it up a little the ball started to move end to end with some nice passages of play. Personally id like to have seen the coaches pause it at the start and redirect the focus on how to play uptempo against elite pressure. Ie. More switching, more movement, more handball link ups (all the small drills they’ve been training before the match sim) Pickett was busy through the midfield. Viney seemed to be playing more on a flank. Sestan had a few kicks pushing toward the wing/half back from a half forward start. He laced perfectly weighted kicks to T Mc and Grundy and a lovely inside ball to Petracca that set up a scoring opportunity. He looked completely spent after every repeat effort. I wonder if a haircut and training in a white hat rather than a dark hat would help a little! But if he can develop as an athlete the skills are there. SLARTIBARTFAST'S TRAINING REPORT A lot has already been covered so I'll add a few observations. The match sims were at full pace with respectful tackling but there was no lack of effort and intensity. At stages Tmac, Trac, Fritta and Kyah all came off for attention but all returned other than Kyah who may have got a head knock. He took a terrific contested mark but was wacked in the process and Gus escorted him off the ground and he didn't return. It's very early days but I like what I see from him. He gets involved and competes and when he gets a chance he usually does something. He's very long term but there seem to be some fundamental there. Kossie played back in the match sims and it was most likely a midfield role. He really is so special and looks set for a fantastic year. His bump on Viney and subsequent gather was really eye catching. I agree that Blake Howes had a purple patch. His hands are really good and his uses it well but towards the end there were a few clangers he'd rather forget. Kade Chandler is really for AFL footy. He's got great intensity, keeps his feet and uses it really well. Buy shares in JVR if you haven't already. He was terrific today and he's not a mark or forget player. He really hunts the ball on the ground and backs himself in traffic to do something useful with the ball. I've been really impressed with him the last couple of training sessions. You'd also want a speculative bet on Oli Sestan. His kicking is outstanding for both length and accuracy but what impressed me is he found the ball well for a rookie in the full match sims. I'm backing JT to have found something special here but beware, I've been wrong lots of times. Tmac seems to have his hands back. He usually takes time to get up to pace and take one grabbers but the last two sessions he's clunked them first time every time. He's not giving his spot up without a fight. Interestingly he played back a bit so I'd imagine he's the swingman. Jake Lever seems to be moving very well, much better than last year. A return to his AA form would be a huge bonus. Jack Viney was in everything and has done all of the sessions I've seen. Good news, a full PS is a good omen for Jack. Gus did the whole session but looked a touch off the pace. Found lots of it but got caught a couple of times. Adams and Verrell did a lot of running. Interesting times. I haven't seen them touch a footy at any training session and they look miles off the level of fitness required. Joel Smith and AMW did running and strength drills and I'd guess they have groin issues. DSmith did a bit of ball work but not a lot so he's progressing slowly. BBB on light duties today, hope it's just management as he's look really good so far this PS. DEMONWHEELS' TRAINING REPORT It was great to get down to see the team train this morning – left feeling very enthused and confident about our year ahead. I don’t think I’ve felt as confident as I do now after departing a training session at this time of the year before, would mainly have a few question marks on certain elements of the team but I think our list is in great shape and we’ve got great balance across the whole squad. On top of that it would seem we’re pretty fit and healthy, long may it continue! Highlights: Sparrow – Appeared to me to have an extra step and is really bursting forward once he gets the ball. Signs of Dangerfield / Petracca about him even more after this mornings showing. Just appeared to have a bit more time and was in the thick of it and was always dynamic with what he was doing once he got hands on the ball. Kossi – He was heavily involved when on the ball in the match sim and even more so in the handball drills. Super dynamic and exciting to watch. Again it felt like he was constantly bursting forward like Sparrow and moving past opposition players. JVR – Looks so hungry and keen to impact. He’s a busy player and constantly moving / chasing when not in possession himself. Very impressed with what I’ve seen so far and no idea how that translates into the year ahead but looks like he could really make his mark on the team. Howes – Looked very comfortable across half back and was quite assured in his decision making. Got a bit of it in the match sim from where I was standing. Pretty tough back line to break into but I reckon he’ll offer something a bit different to the others once he gets in. Trac – As others have mentioned he was everywhere, primed for another big year and looking super fit. Schache – Had a bit of a presence up forward and albeit he wasn’t being closely checked he was certainly getting his hands on it. Feel he could have an impact in tandem with Fritsch if BBB falls off a cliff. KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT Into the warm-ups, which seem to be the same as usual. A scoreboard is out. My guess is that they use it to simulate time left, scores and quarter, so they can perform particular scenarios. They go into kicking drills, not the kick to kick type, but with players set at 4 points and at angles. It creates more chaos and gets them concentrating. A day that seems to be getting them into competitive mode. They do some handball games. Two stations are about 7 on 7, and one station is larger, then they rotate through them. Back to kicking drills, 3 stations, one hitting up the leader going sideways, another with the leader going away from the kicker and the kicker having to put a full range hit, can't remember what the other one was, they rotate through them. Full sims, tackling and competitive. Sparrow put his body on the line numerous times, I saw him body whacked 4 or 5 times. It was at a frenetic pace and got heavier as it continued. Worried a couple of times, Bailey got a hit, Tracc went down, Farris-white came off head hit (great leadership by Brayshaw as he escorted him), Impressed with Pickett, sharp turning, untouchable with ball, beautiful disposals, closes down space so quickly. Schache has a good lead, gets separation. Lever and Viney (holding back from tackling) keeping up the standards, Howes looking good as was Woewodin who has the same composure as Salem. No-one can keep up with Chandler. JVR is ready. Spargo getting to the drop of the ball. Tomlinson was playing too high, let attacking players get space behind him. Brodie still finding his feet. Some of our ball movement from back to forward was quick, delightful, and deliberate. Good structures already. Bowey did some great intercepts. They didn't do any stoppage plays, so Grundy, Max didn't go up against each other. After the sims into some goal kicking for mids and forwards, with the back-line hanging together in a warm down, talk it over kind of gathering with the ball moving between them. They were whistled, the runners are put on and away they go. Gruelling lap sprinting and fartlek running. They will sleep well tonight. Tracc was still on the paddock doing set shot kicking after everyone had left. Interesting that Hunter is not at training, not a good sign as these ones seem really team building. Talked to Richardson. Burgoyne (#33), they haven't decided yet. He will play for Casey if not listed. Lives with Pickett. I also asked about J.Smith. He tells me they still rate him and is not far off from completing rehab. Talked to J.Smith, told me he got an infection. Must have been post minor surgery. Talked to the volunteer, tells me Friday is for Casey. So I assume Monday, Wednesday 9.30 am at Gosch's and Friday at Casey, will be the schedule. GEORGE ON THE OUTER'S TRAINING REPORT Good news from the session: lack of obvious injuries being carried...i.e. apart from Kossie with a single tape under his knee, there were no other players with strapping, unlike the finals last year. Even BBB, who was only doing goal kicking, didn't have his usual knee bandage. There were some heavy knocks. Kyah F-W got hit heavily on the scone in a marking contest, and didn't look all too well. Gus assisted him off the ground while calling for trainers. But he rejoined later. Fritsch was very tender after being tackled and clutched at his knee, hobbled off, but also came back on. Trac went down in a tackle and was looking the worse for wear, but also returned and was seen taking shots for goal after everyone else had long departed back to AAMI. Definitely buy the JVR shares, with Blake Howes as the smokey speculative. And if Sestan can build some endurance( he is a loooong way behind at the moment) he will be something special with his strength and kicking skills. DEESPICABLE'S TRAINING REPORT Got there a little late, but saw all the match sim and the running drills at end of session. My thoughts (although much of this has been covered by others). T-Mac: If I had to pick a BOG from the match sim, then T-Mac got the 3 votes easily. He is moving freely and the less-tight defence during the match sim just suits him to a tee as his smarts and positioning are always better than others. Trac: As someone who has been critical of his turnovers in recent times, I have got to say he was 100% with his disposal today and looked a clear team leader. The downside was that he appeared to jar his knee in a tackle late in match sim and spent a bit of time with treatment. The outcome must have been OK, because he did all the running drills at end of the session. Angus: After missing most of pre-Christmas on light duties, he was back doing everything today, except that he was a little out of touch. Got caught with it a couple of times. But he'll be better for the run. Rivers: This is a crucial year for Trent as he lost his way a little last season. And I liked what I saw from Riv and he has bulked up a bit so isn't as easily brushed aside. He also looks mega fit. JVR: It's now almost obligatory for everyone to comment on our new FF. And yes he did look pretty good matched against Steven May. But he did also make a couple of turnover howlers. But it's his ability to keep at it, that make him so watchable. Kossie: T-Mac got my votes, but who did I enjoy watching. It looks like he's going to play in the middle at times and he will provide a spark and break open the lines. It's just like watching Cyril or Aaron Davey. He's the most dangerous player on our side. Mr Electric. Ollie Sestan: He didn't touch it much, but when he did, he made a few lovely link-up plays. I have said before that I reckon JVR is the only newcomer likely to play this season, but who knows, this guy may be a chance late in the season. He has big Brian Wilson style hips, so he's hard to push off it. Harmesy: Had to play up forward in the match sim and I do feel for him. He was willing to go to Essendon in the off-season so he could get some midfield minutes and let's hope his natural happy-go-lucky nature can overcome his obvious frustrations. He's a Melbourne man through and through so I hope he can find his way through what shapes as a tricky season. OLD DEE'S TRAINING REPORT I went along today for a first look for 2023 and I will not pretend to give a run down but I do agree with those who have given long reviews. Petracca did injure his left knee and came off twice to complain to about it but went back on and from the way he played it did not seem to worry him in play. I had the binoculars on him and he seemed to be moving ok. Today I did something I don't think I have done since mobile phones came into regular use. I left it home and without the the player list on it I was struggling with the newer players / numbers etc. Quite a few times I thought that was a nice piece of play but little idea who the player was. Verral looks the goods and after a couple of years to build his body up will help no end. I liked Chandler today I thought he played well. IF anyone doubts the importance of Tmac they should have been there today BOG IMO. Interesting from my view of match play they seemed to constantly go around the flanks with very little through the centre alley. Now that may have been the directions for play today but it concerns me as the play tends to end up in a pocket most of the time. Last year we were constantly ending up trying to kick goals from difficult angles. Interesting that when you watch practise I marvel at the kicking and hand ball accuracy, come game day and it goes to water. As I have said over the years Practice is like dancing with your sister.

DEESPENCER'S TRAINING REPORT The 4 unsighted Kozzy, Petty, Hunter and Oliver . Lots of players in different numbers making it confusing. Brayshaw mostly doing some kick to kick and repeat jogging with Adams and Verrell. May and Harmes were in more drills then pulled out for light stuff. Burgoyne, Deak and Joel Smith on light duties. Joel did some solid repeat sprints. AMW on the watt bike. For a solid period they split in to 3 groups. Group A did a drill from the half forward flank working through token pressure 4 on 1 to then hit up 2 leading forwards v 2 defenders with another defender dropping back covering leading lanes. Some good hit up kicks in this. The other 2/3rds rotated through a bigger drill using about half the ground. A long kick out of the backline went to the 2 rucks (Max and Grundy had some good marking contests) from which the emphasis was on super quick transition back inside 50 and using the switch or diagonal as much as possible. T Mc, Brown, Schache, JVR all prominent. It wasn’t even numbers or full pressure but the speed on the ball from the mids/backs/high half forwards was really impressive. Some nice kicks to leads and up over the defenders too. JVR had a ball bounce off his hands and Jefferson arced across from his own lead, swooped on the crumb to gather it in the air, straightened and finished with ease. It was a bit like a taller right footed Fritsch with the touch of class. Kynan Brown looked comfortable mixing it in traffic and like he has some zip in close. Kye Turner looks a similar size to our other tall backs, seems to have good athleticism and didn’t do anything that stood out too much. But the defenders weren’t tasked with any true competitive drills. I noticed a couple of very clean Bill Laurie moments and he’s certainly changed his shape. Howes had a beautiful spearing kick to Ben Brown’s chest at one stage too. SLARTIBARTFAST'S TRAINING REPORT Players were out early doing some stretches, light kick to kick and a few of the boys were doing goal kicking where they ran between a line of poles on each side of them and kicked over a metal "man" for goal. The standout was Oliver Sestan who is a beautiful kick for goal. Tmac, Melk and KFW were others doing this drill. They then broke into groups for the 2 Km time trial. A number of different groups started from different parts of the ground and they didn't finish where they started so it was hard to tell who "won". After the time trial they then went into the drills described by DeeSpencer. Players to impress me today were Bowser who looked really good and kicked the ball beautifully, Kade Chandler who was in everything and also kicked very well for goal, Seston who did well in the drills and again kicked very well for goal and Tmac who was moving really well and was very clean with his marking. KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT Time trial day. Tough day for it given the heat and dryness. Tomlinson killed it, looked like ANB might burn him after he passed him 400 out, Adam was having nothing of it. Jack Viney the other stand out, also got around his players afterwards, and supported Verral who really struggled. Ben Brown was running very well, almost caught Gawny. Grundy was a bit slower than what I expected. A few absentees, Petty, Oliver, Pickett, and Hunter. I wasn't sure if Burgoyne (43) was there. A run on a player with 33 on his back looks like him. Light duties included, May, Harmes, D.Smith and Brayshaw. Poor old J.Smithy, in rehab mainly by himself. Appeared to be lower back/left hip problems. Moniz-wakefield also rehabbing. No kick to Kick, to start, but into drills where they have cross angles and move around each other. First with handballs, then with kicking. They use a variety of movement, with the last formation being schimmys and movement to four points with some defensive pressure. They're into sims with two groups, not much tackling First group start with a scramble kick out of the backline and a coach brings the ball to ground, and they swoop outside the 50 and create a delivery inside the 50. The other group kicks a long ball out of the backline, to the talls competing, which then gets moved back to the forwards. A few of the players rotated through the different styles. Into two groups talls and smalls. The talls do one on one marking, and the smalls tackling each other. The tackiling had some competitive vibe added to it. The goal kicking drills were performed in a completely different way. The alley is formed between the stakes and a body model that is kicked over. One on each side of goal at about 35°. Williams stands behind the model and gives them immediate feedback. Mainly about the ball drop, how straight it is and where the foot contacts the ball. He knew if the kick was goaled or not, even without looking. It was the most accurate kicking I have seen at training. Keep it up Chocco. After the goal kicking, they went to 8 repetitions of about 150 meter runs. The last three to leave were, Tracc, Viney and BBB, using the Williams method and with his feedback to get the set goal kicking right. Good start to 2023, they looked sharp and the noise volume was encouraging. Appeared happy to be back into "it'. Addit: I didn't see Hibbo get attention. My thought was he was back to full training. Hope it is not that niggling calf/achilles. TOUGH KENT'S TRAINING REPORT I got down to training today. We settled on the fence. Choco Williams came over for a chat. My two boys played soccer with Leo and Bella McDonald, kids of Tom. It was good to be back. There was no Oliver, Petty, Pickett or Lachie Hunter today. Goody and Ooze were MIA. Troy Chaplin seemed to be calling the shots. Kye Turner and Kynan Brown (son of Nathan) joined the main group. Trent Burgoyne was on a modified program. Joel Smith and Andy Moniz-Wakefield were in re-hab. Gus Brayshaw did a lot of things with the main group, but is on some sort of modified program. James Harmes was wearing a green hat signifying that he was a ‘non-contact’ player. First up was the dreaded 2km time trial. The players were split into 4 groups of similar running ability. The two more able groups went first. Adam Tomlinson led the top group from start to finish, looking very fit in beating home Nibbla in second place. JJ came third, closely followed by Ed Langdon. For those interested in times, I timed the third group. Rick Lever won this group in a time of 6:30, Bailey Laurie not far behind him in 6:36. Josh Schache won the big fella’s group, ahead of a fast finishing Gawn. Ben Brown really impressed me. He hammered home behind Max and looked the best he has since late 2021. Brodie Grundy seemed to labour, which is not surprising considering his injury problems. The young blokes struggled. Will Verral in particular, took over 8 minutes to complete his 2kms and he had Jack Viney for company on his last lap, with Vin yapping to him the whole way home. The warm up drills were focused on quick ball movement and hitting short targets under pressure. One ball movement drill I found fascinating was red v whites. The whites (defenders) would move the ball up the line. The reds would receive the ball at half back and sling shot the ball forward through quick hands and feet into the corridor. The forwards would all set up high across half forward. They would then lead far and wide, especially back into the open spaces of the forward line towards the goal square. There were no indiscriminate kicks inside 50. Each kick, be it long or short, was towards a leading Brown, McDonald or Fritsch, mostly moving back into an empty forward zone. This was very different to our long kicks into pockets last year. I won’t ramble any further. I’m happy to answer any questions.

DEMONLAND'S TRAINING REPORT Rehab: Gus, Hibberd, Jed Adams, Will Verrell, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Burgoyne, Joel Smith, Deakyn Smith I will collate all of my posts/observations below: Mids doing one on one ground ball drills Talls doing one on one marking drills Hunter came off second best in a drill and is limping One on one tackling drill saw two epic match ups. Trac vs Clarry Viney vs Sparrow Can’t see Joel Smith. I think Burgoyne is also amongst the rehab group. Kozzy is back at training - looks massive, so clean picking the ball off the ground, superb disposal. Some different numbers being worn at training today. Salem wearing #2 JVR wearing #6 Hunter wearing #35 Kye Turner (train on player from Haileybury) is a big unit and looks impressive in the air and has clean disposal. Jacob Van Rooyen (JVR) & Grundy are the standouts for me. Both clean in the air and by foot. Matt Jefferson is tall and very skinny. Will benefit from a year at Casey, a year in the weights room and another preseason. Can Mark. Melksham vs May in this drill. No steaks involved. ----- observation after training - Melksham trained really well Grundy vs Gawn in the ruck. Grundy wins. Taps to Viney. Viney to Schache. Schache handballs back to Viney. Viney blind turns out of a tackle and goals. Some more epic battles; Disco Turner vs TMac Petty vs JVR Disco as the defender took a great contested mark against TMac. Some of the delivery into the forward line in this drill is poor. TMac not happy with it. TMac is impressing me as other trackwatchers have previously mentioned. Strong marker and straight, accurate shot for goal. All the defenders have been monsters and have been excellent as expected. Can’t see JVR NOT playing Round 1. Trac super competitive. Viney impressive as always. Clarry is a magician. As reported Sparrow has put on size and I expect him to be a mainstay in the middle. Kozzy will definitely play more midfield minutes next season. Ben Brown has also been impressive. So good on a lead up the middle. I wish we delivered it to him more that way than putting high on his head in a pack of player. Sure he is very good one on one with his height and long arms but if the ball is delivered high in a pack then forget about it. Let him lead up the guts. The race for spots in the forward line is going to be fierce. In summary, we’re training the house down. Grundy could be the recruit of the year especially if it means Gawn plays a kick behind the play (and not in the forward line). 3/4 length ground match sim. Max vs Schache in Ruck. Grundy playing forward. Max taps a beauty to Kozzy from a boundary throw in. You love to see it. I hope Kozzy sees more midfield time. Now JVR is rucking against Grundy and beat him. Max playing forward. This doesn’t bode well for my wish of Max not playing forward. Kozzy sells some candy, kicks it to Max who passes nicely to Grundy outside the 50 who plays on and drills a goal from 50. None of the new recruits (first years) are taking part in the match sim. JVR beating Grundy in many of the boundary throw in ruck drills that start off each match sim drill. this observation is not a knock on Grundy. TMac killing it up forward. Grundy kicks another. Lever left the track with a knee complaint. Currently in the hands of the trainers. Finished with the trainers. No one looks concerned. Is limping a little. The boys then took off their footy boots and put on the runners and then did so run throughs but Lever did not participate. He then hopped on the bike that is set up under the shelter. I don't think he looked too worried. That is they weren't icing it or sending him off to get scans. Gus was doing some light running and is currently on the rower. No visible strapping on his body. Joel Smith now doing weights under the new structure with the other rehabbers. It was a long training session. Started before 9:30am and was still going at about 11:40am when I had to leave as they were doing some running after a 2 hour skills session. I will say that the tackling and intensity was absolutely fierce and I was worried that there would be plenty more mishaps. Thankfully there weren't. I was up close and personal for a few Jack Viney tackles and if my arm wasn't already in a sling from shoulder surgery it would have been after witnessing that devastation. WHISPERING JACK'S TRAINING REPORT It was around about this time four years ago that I turned up to Gosch’s Paddock on a sunny December morning to witness a sparkling Melbourne training session. With a few exceptions, the boys were training hard, looking fit and healthy and all was sweetness and light. I drafted a glowing report about the Demons’ prospects for 2019, sat back and looked forward to a year of football bliss. To my surprise, the Dees had a shocker of a season finishing in 17th place. They even ended the year below Carlton who turned at 1-10 halfway through the season and they sacked their coach! We snuck home by a single point against the eventual wooden spooners on the Gold Coast and the whole dismal year ended in doom and gloom with bushfires ravaging the continent. The scourge of Covid-19 was waiting for us around the corner. Come January, my New Year’s resolution was never to write a glowing preseason training report again. Hence, in summary, my impressions about this morning’s session at the Paddock was that it sucked! Some of the negative things I noted in my head as I watched the session were:- • The number of players who were in rehab or injured during the session. The rehab group included premiership players Angus Brayshaw and Michael Hibberd while Jake Lever hurt his knee during the session. Bulldogs recruit Lachie Hunter also took a knock early but resumed training. Others in rehab were Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Joel Smith, Deakyn Smith, newcomers Jed Adams, Will Verrell and train on potential recruit Trent Burgoyne. Disappointing. • Hardly any of the young players appear ready – most of them were kept back from the simulated match play and trained separately under Choco Williams. They might have been good at NAB Cup or APS football, but they are not ready to play AFL senior football in 2023, not even the kid we plucked out of obscurity from Xavier College. Recruits are not what they used to be, and we might as well start getting used to making the long drive down the Monash Freeway and beyond to Casey Fields if we want to see those blokes next year. So disappointing that we will not get to see our first rookie draft pick burning up the G against the Bulldogs in Round 1. • Who oversees the players’ wardrobes these days? I noticed a couple of ruck duels between two blokes who were both wearing the number 6 on their backs. How do they expect us to tell them apart so that those of us who take the trouble to turn up to a training session can report on their performances with some accuracy? Not good enough! • There was too much fun and frivolity. Players were having a fun time but it’s December - exactly the time when players should be knuckling down for the rigours of the long season ahead. • My god, Christian Salem's aged! His hair has turned grey overnight! • I have a number of other complaints and that’s why this report isn’t a glowing one as you might have expected. Take off the rose coloured glasses and start worrying. Think MFCSS and with a bit of luck I might make a different New Year’s resolution at the end of 2023. Merry Christmas all!!! PICKET FENCE'S TRAINING REPORT Greeting all and welcome to Gosh’s paddock, where Bigfoot sightings have been recorded, seems I just cannot get away from dangerous entities in presenting my reports INJURIES MODIFIED DUTIES Gus , Hibbo, Jed Ad, Will Verell, Andy Moniz -Wakefield, Joel Smith ( Just cant take a trick) although Will Verrell , Hibbo, Gus and Young Burgoyne were all doing run throughs SKILLS , DRILLS AND MANOUVERS After warm ups and Run Throughs players broke of into 3 Groups doing a variety of · Close in Handball through traffic to hit clean target with players pressuring · One on one groundhog day ground ball gets · Telescopic Talls in Marking contest situations Main drills consisted of half ground match sim which all took part in after rotating with another corridor footy drill on the other side. Other than that a full match sim which excluded the newbies was a terrific look at our game style which often took the ball from one end of the ground to the other. I unlike others was happy with forward line presentations and it appears that we are going to be spoilt with the riches of players and depth the likes of which I have never seen from an MFC outfit. In fact the contest for places in this team are going to be FIERCE. PLAYER WATCH A I’ll start with the usual suspects and throw a few other observations in. VINEY,was in scintillating form pace, disposal, grunt finishing of were all of an extremely high standard as per usual. CLARRY CHOO CHOO Beast and I mean beast just literally just cannot be stopped, at one stage he was tackled by three players in a contested get shrugged them all of and fired out a deadly handball. Just left me speechless. T MAC,HEEEEES BAAAACK, Bigger badder and better than ever, looked super fit and ran around looking very dangerous indeed. Speaking of Back, BBB is over his injuries and proved time and again what an ASSET he will be yet again as a key forward. MAX, CP5, LEVER, MAY LANGERS all were shining lights in match sims and general drills OLD NEW BORROWED AND RED AND BLUE PLAYER WATCH B BRODIE GRUNDY, Will be unstoppable this year for the MFC, After seeing him today I’m still scatching my head at Collingwoods stupidity and player list debacle that saw him now with us. This guy runs like a gazelle, is great below his knees and is a decathlete like runner, all thus plus his great ruck work and can kick a goal, ( WILL FINISH TOP 3 IN OUR B&F BANK IT IN). LACHY HUNTER, again Dishlickers inability with player management has seen us the beneficiaries of a very fine player. He has “Elite” endurance, smart footy brain, great disposal and puts himself in dangerous positions often. MATT JEFFERSON, yes he needs to put on weight, but gee he looks like he belongs, can Mark, leads well is a dead eye kick and has great “Hang time” a la Aaron Naughton, he knows where to run and will play senior footy later in year I believe. JVR, Looks like he knows its time, crashes packs, aerialist, is never out of the play and has that Swarrta presence. KYE TURNER, Reminds me in some ways of a cross between Andy Goodwin and Anthony Ingerson, just seems to be aware of his surroundings and has a good skill set. KYNAN BROWN, No 39 Really liked the look of this player, moved well has pace good skill set and plays not dissimilarly to his old man, terrific to see, Also liked the look of OLIVER S no 38. Built low to the ground a la Peter Daicos and he also looks very comfortable coming from a low fitness base, also has clean hands and has that ability to ride a Bump into a position where he still is over the ball, Looks a definite Goer! JOSH SHACKY ATTACKY ALREADY Better in every way to Weeds and thats no direspect, he just is a cut above with his body use, Marks and Kicks well and does not get pushed under the ball. Anyway that’s it from me, I’m meeting an old friend from England who drives a Pink Rolls and I will tell her all about the Dees Depth and how we should be able to atone for a somewhat disappointing finals series to bounce right back in 2023. Cheers all P.F

DEESPICABLE'S TRAINING REPORT Note, there is one more session on Friday at GP before the players break for X-mas. Firstly, there are a handful of players who now have been on limited duties for the past two weeks and it's fair to say that round 1 is starting to look unlikely for them, unless they emerge fit and fired up from the X-mas break and nail a heap of sessions. The five are: Hibberd, BB Brown, Angus, Joel Smith and Deakin Smith. On top of that two of our newbies - Will Ferrell and Jed Adams - have been on extra, light duities - it's possible they won't return after X-mas simply because they would have been bored out of their brains just doing endless run throughs and watching everyone else get stuck into it. Three other players copped knocks today but all seemed fine after them - May (ribs), Gawn (knee) and Sparrow (head knock from Spargo tackle). All kept going at match sim. Kozzie wasn't there today either, but he was the pick of the bunch the week before, so hopefully nothing untoward about his absence today. As to the highlights of the match sim (note I left about 11.15am, so those that stayed till the end can update anything extra as required). T-Mac: I can say that he is looking as good as new and I am not sure why some here said he may have long-term injury worries. Sure he is no longer capable of winning our 200m rep sessions and yes he's a tad porky around the hips from his all-meat diet, but the big fella is just a clever lead-up, lead-back player with strong hands and we all know he's a deadeye d*ck and has a huge tank. If he returns from the break with a passion for the sprints then he's a monte to line up forward with Fritter and JVR and his best mate Melky will miss out. It's as simple as that. JVR: Ok, I am sold. He is ready and only an injury will stop him playing rd 1 now. In fact it's a shame we have to wait until round 15 for his battle with De Koning. While his nice hanger over Lever today was the highlight, he was so much more than one grab. He dished, he tackled and he wore my pre-Robbie idol Greg Parke's No.26. I reckon he said I don't want Jonesy's No.2, I want 26 for Parkey because maybe his grandfather knows him or used to be a copper or something. Either way he is starting to take on that junior Schwarter look and along with T-Mac and Gawny, he is the frontrunner to play as our talls rd 1, subject to injury of course. A quick note here that Schache has also been looking mega impressive as well at training playing as a mobile forward swinging onto his left, but I suspect he will have to wait until injury to get his chance. And with so many TFs on the park, I can see why the club ain't moving Petty there just yet. CP5: Ok, I am not sold. Yes I know his 2020 was a breakout extravaganza and I know his 2021 was brilliance personified with his ability to lift in big games making him Martinesque. But right now he's like Danger or Fyfe - a turnover machine that looks like he's going to break the game open but lets you down big time by foot. Yes I know he was injured late last season, but everything you don't want to see was on display today and last week when I attended. He just coughs the ball up time and time again as he looks to split the game open through the middle. Yes it was windy so he was not alone in miskicks (even Bowey had a howler or two). I remember Goody eventually had to pull Clayton aside three years ago and explain to him that he had to take more responsibility for going forward than just giving it off by hand, but I reckon when Goody comes back from hols he will need to pull Trac aside and just tell him to back off the media, back off the nice guy stuff and just get down and dirty. Or find a new psych. Ultimately our year will be determined by whether Trac gets back to being one of the best five mids in the game. Hunter: As withT-Mac, he made sure the club knows his quality. He lined up on Ed 'Sheerin' Langdon and he was clever, composed and ducked on to his left with the ease of Karl Amon. He will play round 1 barring injury or returning from his break in the bad books and he will play the left wing which means us MCC members will get to see Langdon close up for the first time. Lever: After an injury-riddled '22, he's running strongly again and looking like the All-Aussie of 2021 again - although JVR postered him on one occasion. As with Trac and Salem, he's one of three stars who if they get back to their form of '21, then finals are looking likely. Grundy and Gawn: The quick take off from down back after goals (or likely goals) in match sim meant there was little centre bounce work done, but both these guys still look superb. Gawn's marking is just so clean, while Grundy is mega quick with a dish off. They bring so much to the table and are very different. The kids: Sorry but so far all our youngsters other than JVR are still a fair way off. I did like the work and run of Judd McVee though - he's really improving and looks likely to get a go at some stage this year. It's interesting that a decade ago, a new recruit just had to fart to get noticed, but now they have to train the house down over and over to even look like getting a game in the ones. And unlike in Jones's early years, there are so many well-ensconced senior players that it's hard to see changes anyway.

DEESPICABLE'S TRAINING REPORT Well it was nice to ride the bike down to Gosch's Paddock rather than battle the freeway traffic to Casey and there's always a touch of excitement arriving at the start of the new season with all the new numbers and faces. I had to dash off to a meeting in town at 10.20am, so others may have a fuller report, but by then a fair bit of the gp action had taken place and they were into their match sim, so I think I had the gist of it. Firstly I'll knock off the injuries quickly - Angus and Petty were on light running duties - too early in season for me to assess if they are recovering from fun activities in Europe, but clearly both have minor niggles to deal with. Let's wait and see if they are training with the main gp on Monday before we write them off for the season eh. May wasn't there at all. Also absent from the track was Goody, he seemed to leave it to his lieutenants - Reece Conca among them. Chocco was also taking very much a backseat approach as well, preferring to talk to spectators in his floppy hat. Yze, Staff and Matty Whelan were prominent. The only new injury occurred early when Jed Adams seemed to jar his ankle in one of his first run throughs and after hobbling off for a physio check up he returned and was restricted to just run throughs. Adams is listed as 196cm but he looked almost as tall as Will Verrell and the pair were left to do pretty rudimentary running drills when I was there - must have been the most boring session they have ever encountered I suspect. They did have Angus with them for a fair bit, so at least he would have brought a bit of humour to lighten their mood. A quick word on Adams, he is a big boy in the Jake Spencer clumsy mould at the moment - I'd be gobsmacked if he played seniors this year - but he is a big, strong looking boy so who knows down the track. At the other end of the extreme is Jefferson forward who is a light-bodied tall. He seems to be more coordinated than Jed, but it was noticeable that he missed just about every set shot at goal during early goalkicking practice. He was wearing JVR's No.21 as well, presumably he is waiting for his kit to be made with his number. There are always some players who standout at training and ANB again was everywhere when match sim got going. During the drills it was hard not to notice the skill level of Spargs and Bowey and I also thought it worth mentioning that the kicking of Woey's kid was sensational as well - low, flat, hard and direct. Kicking will not stop Taj from making it this year. His ability to win the ball might. Once match sim got going, it was a dreadful mistake to make Olly the chameleon (the player allowed to play for both teams). That meant he not only got the ball 20 times for the reds, but he also got it 20 more for the blue tops as well. But there were a few standouts and the main one was Kozzie who in the highlight play picked the ball up down back, weaved out of trouble, then brushed off a would-be tackler (I think Harmsey) with a don't argue and then proceeded to run for about 30m before sending the ball another 50m deep into JVR territory. Yes if we want a new midfield weapon, then Kozzie is available and I suspect like Trac three years ago, he now has been told that if you are mega fit, then you can join the mids. Trac and Fritter were also prominent and I also liked the work of Melky, who I know we've all written off, up forwar. But I'm sorry it's hard not to also watch JVR move - he will be playing first round barring injury and while he is still a bit of a project tall, he now has ripping Schwarter style arms that means he won't look like a kid when we all get to see him against the Dogs at the MCG on Saturday night. Surprisingly T-Mac was out there training - yes he's a bit overweight but I'm sure his latest diet will sort him out by round 1. Ben Brown also did some light drills, kick/mark stuff, so rumours of his debilitating knee seem to be way off the mark. And Jake Lever did a lot of work, not just with his mouth. He may well be back to his AA form this year.

KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT A wintery morning, coldish and windy. Great morning for the time trials, headwinds on one side and a tail on the punt rd side. Clarry smashed it. Goody was over the moon, they embraced several times. He is set for a ripper. Looking thin, nearly wirey. He is also showing some leadership qualities. Others out front were Adam Tomlinson, he was in a different group to Clayton but gee, beat Tmac by at least 25 metres. ANB caught the front group. Some bad news, Hibbo was having difficulty with his Achilles, left training. Petracca was the only one missing. So many new players out there. Here are some new numbers, 6 Grundy, 12 Hunter, 19 Schache, 26 Jed Adams, 28 Verral, 33, 38, 39, 43 (Burgoyne?), 45, 46 Sestan, 47 Jefferson and 47 Farris-white. Plenty of train ons. Clarry has the hair bun. Langdon has crewed. Salem white. After the time trials, they got into their boots, and it began. Competitive right from the start. Into two stations, two players competing for position as the ball is thrown in the air, the other was soft tackling as the front player picks up a ground ball. Moved into three stations, short kicks, and the other two I can't remember. They transitioned to handball games with 6 on two in bibs. They then went to two stations, a sim with minimal tackling, (Hunter caught my eye with great outside run and kicks to advantage, Kossie and Sparrow as well). The other was a hard tackling handball game in restricted space. The tackler was not brought to the ground, but was expected to break and get the handball (plenty of noise as they prove to each other their shimmy and ability to stand up). They went to their lines. Looks like TMac is with the back-line, as is Woewodin, and Salem stay there as well. Tomlinson doing some work with the rucks and the back-line. Forwards bringing the ball to ground and snapping. Some mids and forwards kicking down an alley, with a camera under the supervision of Williams for goal. They then got their runners on again and hit up 10, 150 metre, in under 20 sec sprints. Deakin Smith, and Moniz-wakefield, Verral, and Adams on a modified program. Grundy and BBB working together in their individual program. They have moved a gym under the shed where Joel Smith and Angus Brayshaw did light duties and were joined with some of the new players. There may have been some drills I missed, it was a long session and with so many players out, there it was hard to follow. Addit, had a good look at Farris-white kicking when on the run and it was ok, hit lots of his targets. DWORSHIP'S TRAINING REPORT A few other random observations, BBB looked to be moving untroubled by his knee, although it was lightly taped. At one stage he was doing a lot of one on one twisting and turning with a trainer. The funniest thing I saw was a drill that Grundy was supposed to be involved in but he was off with the fairies and Clarry had to yell at him and then take him through the drill he was supposed to do. It would have made him feel better a short time later when Choco introduced a couple of drills that were obviously new and everyone struggled. The drills were all about quick and sure ball movement and as soon as they all had got the idea Choco just started barking at them "faster, faster, faster" On the injury front; Joel Smith appeared to be feeling his groin a lot but I've never watched him that close so maybe he has a habit. Clarry had to get the Ventolin puffer out at one stage so him leading his group in the trial is even more impressive. Clarry also left the drills at one stage and was having some discomfort around the wrist and thumb area (hope that's not from the break last year). He got it taped and went back out so should be good. Disco came off and had his left boot off and looked to have tape high on his heel but was more than likely for a blister. Of more concern to me was the the tape down the side of his foot and supporting his big toe. The trainer was manipulating the toe and asking him how it was but he did go back out. Finally, I'm not 100% sure that Pig's issue was the achillies as I saw him pointing to his calf. Could be both. Regardless he has a bit of time before the season start. All in all I was pretty happy with what I saw for the first session back. For those of us who have been observing training for 20yrs, some of us would remember us not looking this good at the start of round one. I almost forgot, during one of the avoiding/breaking tackle drills Melky tried to side step Grundy and Grundy rag dolled him. He put him down gently but it was great to see.

SLARTIBARTFAST'S TRAINING REPORT Grundy in 6, Hunter 12 and Schache 19. AMW and Smith running reps, Grundy, Fritta and TMac all doing drills with running interspersed. Tmac looked totally unhindered and was doing the warmup kicking drills. I didn't see Harmes, Lever, Brayshaw, Gawn, Oliver, Lingers, Melk, Tomlinson, Dunstan, ANB, Petty, Brown and Smith. I didn't see Taj either but he may have been there. Usual warmups, then ball movement drills on 3/4 ground. Had to leave earlier than expected unfortunately so that's about all I saw. Spoke to AMW very briefly and he said he'd added 8 kilos and was 182 but still growing. He's got an infectious smile and personality. Hoping for really big things from him. Deakyn Smith running laps, Joel Smith not there. TIM'S TRAINING REPORT That’s true, but it was good to see senior players Trac, May, Salem, Viney, Pig, Schache and Hunter on track and involved in the match sim drills. It must be good for the junior players to see big dogs “up and about” and joining in sessions they don’t have to attend. Especially good to see TMac looking uninhibited, as @Slartibartfastpointed out - we sorely missed him last year. It wasn’t a frenetic match sim, but it was still pretty intense for a first up session in terms of running in support of teammates as they moved the ball up and down the ground. Just shows how the level of professionalism has lifted in recent years.Trac ‘talked the talk” at the B&F about how they’d already been doing running doing fitness work for a couple of weeks back then, and he was certainly “walking the walk” at Gosch’s today as a leader. I guess you always like to see them moving freely this time of year, and it was good to see Viney/Salem/Rivers in particular looking good; all three were either banged up last year or have been inhibited by injuries (Viney). I was interested to see the cut of the jib of Kyah Farris-White. Yeah, he’s tall, but fwiw he moved quite nicely for such a young beanpole, including mobility during the drills. Long way to go, but good luck to him.

DEESPENCER'S TRAINING REPORT Unsighted: Oliver, Pickett, Langdon, May, Harmes, Brayshaw, Melk, Tomlinson, Joel Smith, Verrall. No Dunstan, ANB either Rehab: Ben Brown, McDonald, Hibberd, AMW, Deakyn Smith Benny Brown doing pretty short jobs but joined in one drill and kicked the footy around. Hibbo and AWM doing solid work. T Mac not looking a mile off. New boys: Adams (Jed Adams): In runners and t shirt, did a good session on the watt bike. Good height, not big but solid frame, looks like he'll fill out once they do get him going though El Jefe (Matthew Jefferson): Joined in some drills and match sim, kicks a nice drop punt and seems to have loose easy arms that easily hold marks Kyah (Kyah Farris-White): joined in some drills, has a monster of work to do on his kicking, poor Choco wasn't marking many of his 15m stabs Sestan (Oliver Sestan): solid but not heavy, will need a preseason to change his frame a little but hardly a mile off, kicks accurately with punch when doing some kick to kick with Choco Grundy: looks healthy and moves well, got involved a bit as a forward in the match sim, later was doing some runs with Fritsch and not dropping too far off him Hunter: was heavily involved in the match sim. Partly because he had a good stint in the pink jersey that's the extra number that goes both ways. Had some nice kicks. Bobbed up in good areas. Looks fit but solid. He had to really motor to get a quick one-two which tested those legs but he got it done. I don't think he'll star and those little legs might need some rest at times, but I think he'll be revitalised. Schache: was the main target of one of the match sim teams and so got on the end of plenty. Didn't really have too many contests. Certainly looks fit and strong in the legs. Will always have more narrow shoulders but is solid up top too. If he never has an opponent he'll be good! Wait and see if he can do more. Things that caught the eye JVR was the main target of the other match sim team and he was prominent. Had some solid marking contests with Petty and he definitely has a good crack at it. A couple of two grab marks and drops, hopefully that's just early season stuff. But he looks really fit and strong and doesn't lack for energy. McVee - paired up with Salo and drills and they linked up on the same team a bit. Looks stronger but also to be playing quicker Rivers - had a stack of it, not as efficient with his use but a few kicks that missed by inches Woey - looked sharp and used it well Sparrow - had the hair flowing and moves like some kind of new age armoured vehicle. JJ - the match sim was all focused on fast ball movement and JJ was playing to instruction and getting it on nicely. Used the left at one stage, had a nice run and penetrating accurate kick at another, willing at the contest Petty - cleaned himself up nicely spoiling Fritsch at one stage, but got back out there for a nice battle with JVR. Had some spoils, marks, tackles and just generally did Petty stuff. Looks good Gawn, Petracca, Viney, Lever were all doing their things. Was good to see them all healthy The one drill I saw Sestan join in was where they split in to pairs and just did some very token pressure one-on-one marking and one-on-one ground balls with a coach just gently lobbing a ball out in front. Sestan was joined up with Hunter and no one was providing any real pressure, but he just looked very comfortable in how to use his hips to hold off an opponent and gathered cleanly then could handball on either hand and seemed to be favouring using his left. Doesn't mean much, but it's a sign he's not super raw. Would've loved to have seen it done with real pressure and Viney or Petracca but hey, it's early days!

KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING REPORT Down for my first look at our squad, A beautiful day with quite a few out early. The defenders doing some passing to each other on the wing and the rest having goal kicking practice. Once the session starts, they go about it earnestly, with a no nonsense physical trainer taking the reins. Quite regimented in the warm-up and when doing the runs. There is no room for ambiguity. After the warm-up, they are into 3 groups and 3 stations. Strength, goal snaps and a power station. They then go to a drill which is working across each other with precision kicks. Williams with the one-liners and keeping them amused. The next one is similar but with the space opening up making for longer kicking. They go into simulations. A bit rusty for the first couple of plays, but it doesn't take long till they get the ball movement right, or the defensive press causing turnovers. After sims comes some running. Still pretty mild as they only do 4 laps, though within time limits and different groups running at times, appropriate to size and age. My impressions are: Trent Rivers is looking stronger and bigger, as is Jordon. Tom Sparrow looks fit, as does Laurie. Bayley Fritsch as skilled as ever, though appears to be on a slightly modified program, and did not participate in sims. Grundy the same and was doing his own running program. Deakyn Smith, Moniz-wakefield and Hibbs on a modified program that appears to be about fitness as they spent all their time running. Spargo and Chandler in everything during sims. Howes and Woewodin working with Viney. JVR has great hands and is bringing the energy. Goodwin wants more from Pickett. Pettraca and May struggling with the running. Hunter was struggling with connection, Schache looks the better one at the moment. Farris-white has a fair bit of work to do on his kicking style, appears to have a good endurance engine. Mathew Jefferson was mainly working alongside Farris-white and both didn't participate in sims. He appeared a touch nervous as he dropped some simple chest marks and had a little difficulty finding connection when drilling his kicks. Needs to also work on fitness. Not at training: Salem, Lever, TMac, Lever, Brayshaw, Gawn, ANB, Oliver, Langdon, Melksham, Tomlinson, Petty, Joel Smith, Ben Brown. TIM'S TRAINING REPORT Thanks for the report Kev, beat me to the punch. The work this morning was of a similar structure to Monday’s session, and like that session I was impressed with the general intensity of the work. Two different types of match sim; one in a congested smaller space using handball to move the ball backwards and forwards while maintaining the “shape” of their set ups, the other using most of the oval to move the ball by foot and run in support. It was demanding enough work for the first week, and shows that these days players are expected to be in physical condition to go straight into game plan work and skills work without having to waste valuable pre-season time “getting fit”. Kade was very busy, and was attempting spoils on big guys as well as his ever-present effervescence and intensity. Looking at Jefferson in the kicking they did late in the session I actually thought he looked quite comfortable and had nice hands; the running was a bit of a challenge for him, but that’s something that will come in time and with work. In regard to the running KFW was pretty darn good for such a young tall. As I said about Monday’s session, it was great again seeing a lot of senior players being part of the match sims. As Kev mentioned, there were also other senior players who did their own work separate from the main group. At one point in the warmup on the eastern side of the oval Grundy had to retrieve a footy that had bounced its way onto Punt Road and into the gutter. Welcome to the DIY MFC, Big Fella! I also chuckled at Mark Williams during the running yelling at a group “don’t let the new bloke beat you” as Lachie Hunter led that group past where I was standing.