Demonland

The Melbourne Racing Club has agreed to sell a $195 million parcel of land at Caulfield Racecourse to Mount Scopus Memorial College for the Jewish private school to build a new campus. The MRC’s decision to sell the 7.5-hectare site will clear the racing club of its $165 million debt, and could have implications for the Melbourne Football Club’s proposal to build a $100 million training and administration base at the racecourse. The tract of land being sold to Mount Scopus runs the length of the western precinct of the racecourse – from Station Street along Kambrook and Booran roads to Glen Eira College. The land was previously used for stables and training facilities, but has remained largely unused since horse training stopped at Caulfield in 2021. MRC chairman John Kanga said the club had been negotiating with the college, which intended to build a new campus on the site, for more than 12 months and had engaged consultant Ernst & Young as part of a review process. He said the deal, expected to be settled within two years, had bipartisan support. “It will benefit not only the school and its students, but also have a positive impact on local residents and the broader community,” he said. The 75-year-old Mount Scopus Memorial College operates three campuses – in Burwood, Caulfield South and St Kilda – but has been searching for a new super-site closer to the city’s Jewish heartland. In June, The Age reported the school was looking to strike a land-swap deal with the state government to relocate its three campuses to the Caulfield Hospital site. The school transports about 1000 students from the Caulfield area to Burwood each day, costing parents thousands of dollars each year. A source familiar with the land deal, but not authorised to speak about the school’s plans, said the racecourse deal would eliminate the college’s need for the hospital site. Kanga said the MRC’s ability to clear its debt was not only a win for the club but also the racing industry, which was suffering from a significant downturn in wagering turnover. “As everyone is aware, I have only been club chairman since October and have been highly critical of the $165 million debt incurred by the former committee and executive team,” Kanga said. “This sale will completely clear that debt, reducing risk and stabilising the club’s financial position.” Kanga said the new MRC committee would reverse the policies of the previous committee by continuing to race at Sandown, shelving a costly, and what he considers “unnecessary”, plan to build a new Caulfield grandstand, and moving the Caulfield mounting yard back to what he sees as its “rightful position” in front of the grandstand. Two sources with knowledge of the Mount Scopus agreement, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the school campus project would complicate Melbourne Football Club’s plan to build their long-awaited home base at Caulfield. The AFL club would require state government and Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust approval to proceed, because the training ovals would be built on Crown land inside the track. This masthead reported in October that the Demons would need to raise $70 million from governments, the Melbourne Cricket Club and private investors to bridge a funding gap for the project, which would end a 20-year search for a central, purpose-built headquarters. The Demons would also use cash reserves from profits and launch a fundraising campaign, although they would not draw on their future fund. Melbourne Football Club’s contested election will be decided on December 17, when the club hopes former MCC chairman Steven Smith will be elected to the board and take over as president at the end of next year. CEO Gary Pert, who will finish in that role at Christmas, is continuing as a consultant on the Caulfield Racecourse project while the business case is being prepared. Mount Scopus Memorial College’s 2023 financial report revealed it had $51 million in property, plant and equipment. The MRC’s plans to wipe its debt comes as the Victoria Racing Club, which runs Flemington, reels from losing $70 million across the past four years. The club that hosts the Melbourne Cup last week axed up to 40 jobs as it moves to rein in years of spiralling debt. It borrowed heavily to open a $128 million grandstand in October 2018. Moonee Valley is pushing on with plans to reshape its track and build a new grandstand after next year’s Cox Plate, which would form part of a total project cost between $200 million and $250 million. The Valley posted a $12.4 million loss in the past financial year, but poured money into construction of its Moonee Valley Park project – an investment that was expected to reap greater dividends when completed properties were sold in following years.

For those not regular patrons to the training threads I assume the rehab group is as follows: REHAB: Spargo, Lever, Lindsay & McAdam

Koltyn Tholstrup and Kalani White arrived a little later.

MCG Car Park. The short training session featured run throughs of about 150m up a steep hill.

Players not in attendance: Max, TMac, Melksham, Lever, May, Salem, Petty, Bowey, Tholstrup, McAdam, Hore, Lindsay.

Some veteran Demonland Trackwatchers ventured down to Gosch's Paddock to bring you the following observations from another Preseason Training Session. WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Rehab: Lever, Spargo, McAdam, Lindsay, Brown Sinnema is excellent by foot and has a decent vertical leap. Windsor is training with the Defenders. Windsor's run won't be lost playing off half back. In 19 games in 2024 he kicked 8 goals as a winger. I see him getting shots at goal from HB by being involved in a chain. Houston kicked 7 goals in 2024, Zorko kicked 9. I don't think we lose much in goals by playing Windsor off HB. Just had a short chat with Browny, who is running 200 at a fair clip. He said his break from main group was “awareness”. Main group now in competitive 3/4 ground match sim (of sorts). Tracc hemmed in and tackled in forward pocket, quick handball to Clayton, snapped goal! McAdam now in various runs around boundary. He looks fit and is running freely. Sharp skirting in front as Riv is spoilt from marking. Sharp passes wide to Woey who slots a nice goal from 45. Fritsch just kicked a Fritsch goal in traffic/snap from 15. Tracc turns it over with a scrubber low pass which is intercepted. Very good chain through the middle, Bill long low pass to Max, handball to Kossie, kick to Mentha, finds a deep forward. Ball movement is quick, non-stop, disposal is mostly sharp with limited pressure on ball carrier. Fritta just chased Ed and Howes from behind wing to inside 50. "Bill" Laurie continues to nail long passes to leading players in corridor. Bad kick by AMW from back pocket lands with Kossie intercept, who sends it back in to a leading Fritsch. AMW meets him head on and brings him to ground earning a coaches free kick. Whole group now doing sprints from 50 to 50 arcs. Only a couple, then sprint to drinks. McAdam still running. Brown still running! Players broken into several groups now for contested work. The competitive, 1 on 1 marking with the talls was great to watch. Disco out pointed Maysie with his regulation sticky fingers. McDonald got the better of Max. Jeffo also competed well. Jefferson now looks at home among the big boys. He is stronger and able to jostle for position without being shoved aside. He is enjoying the work and has good goal sense, with crafty snaps and some length when required. I get the feeling he now knows he belongs. Lever is certainly doing a power of running through and over obstacles, building up leg/foot strength and flexibility. It's reassuring to have McDonald and Petty in peak fitness at this stage. Have to head off now. I look forward to other’s more detailed observations to come. DANNYZ'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Woey's physique is seriously impressive. As big an off-season change as I can remember seeing. Not that he was in poor shape to begin with, however, impressive gains! A lot more hand balling and lateral movement through the middle. Less kick in hope and reliance on territory only. Windsor with the backs. Adds class to our ball transition. Radford involvement has increased. Seems to have a lot of say in game plan/tactics. Kentfield & Fullerton focus areas are their one touch with marking. Jonesy brings the group in between 25-33 closer together. I believe there is a spot for Sharp on the wing. He will be fighting with Bowey, XL & Woey for that role. Jed Adams for mine probably isn't quite at the level and I was surprised the club re-contracted him so early. Happy to be proven wrong. Tholstrup would be an on-field starter in the 18. Everything he does is with intent. His defensive efforts in the front 50 are infectious. Second ruck will be Aidan Johnson. DEESPICABLE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Ok, I went down to training and after writing a lengthy report for you on Monday was going to quietly avoid putting fingers to the laptop. But then, the shot that was heard around the world happened and I thought you'd enjoy knowing about it. Ok, what shot. Well here's a test guess which player I am talking about from this detail. The ball heads long to the wing and Roo looks set to mark but in comes this strong looking Dee with hunger and nudges Roo aside and takes a really strong mark. He then goes back to kick with his left foot and seeing Roo overcommit on the mark, beautifully baulks him and charges down field, get his balance and sees a player 65m away hoping for an over the back in the goal square. He balances after the baulk and then thumps his left footer over the top to his waiting teammate. It was by far the play of the morning and given I was standing on the far side of the ground, I had to check my glasses weren't fogging up. Could it be No.26. Surely not. I looked again as he made his way back and yep it was No.26 - Jed Adams. The same Jed Adams who only minutes earlier before match sim had completely fumbled and left the ball behind in a drill. The same Jed Adams who I, like many of you, had put down as one of Jason Taylor's handful of misses. The same Jed Adams who later on in the one-on-one forward drills looked confident enough to outpoint anyone. Yep, there are signs that in his third season since being taken with pick 38, that the 20yo is finally making headway. He's not about to push out Steven May or T-Mac for rd 1, but there's no doubt he's starting to show enough to get an AFL game at some stage if we get injuries. With Tommo gone, the queue for key backs isn't quite as long and even with Petty looking likely to play there, he's only two hammy twings or twangs from being named. While Adams had that 'moment', there were three clear stars on the track that you couldn't help but notice on a regular basis. The first was Clayton. Yep i know how frustrated we were with him the last two seasons, but right now he is back having fun and looking like a Brownlow Medal runner-up again. He kicked goals, he gave one off to tricky Ricky Mentha and he intercepted passes, made strong leads etc etc. He's probably 100-1 for the Brownlow right now, but given our draw, he might go close. The second was Kossie. He may not be playing until round 4, but watching him weave and turn his way out of trouble was mega exciting. On what we are seeing so far, he may end up playing quite a bit in the middle as he is mega fit. The third and most important of all is the positional switch that is going to make us exciting again. And I'm not talking Petty back to defence. In match sim, there's probably just 15 a side and so there are only five defenders. No prizes for guessing T-Mac and May with Petty, who may well be just there until Jake Lever is back over his knee soreness. Judd McVee and his precise kicking is also there again after a late (somewhat baffling) dabble in the midfield last season. And the other small down there is our No.6 Caleb Windsor. Those of you who are Robbie fans will recall that Barass even sent Tulip down to full-back so Goody's move is only somewhat revolutionary. Caleb waltzed off half-back like he was doing cone drills and at one point he flew across in front of Roo for a nice mark. Caleb has more height than Bowser and Salem and he has more pace and he's also a damn good kick like them. he also seemed happy to switch the ball - was it just me, but I reckon our defence switched way more often than last year - another positional adjustment for those of you looking for what we are doing differently. Well there were quite a few other things that happened and yes I saw some improvement from Luker Kentfield and I reckon Woey looks quite a bit faster than last year and Aidan Johnson looks strong and promising and Disco Turner is up there with Olly for passion to win the footy. And I could go on all day, but I walked away from training second guessing one thing and I had to go back and ask a fellow track watcher one thing. 'Did you see Jed Adams take that mark over Roo on the wing?' I said. 'Yep' said my colleague. 'That was No.26.' KEV MARTIN’S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Coaches are micromanaging, here are a couple of examples. For delivery of ball to Turner, 'look for where he wants it kicked'. To Sestan, 'Ollie keep moving, get to the next contest, that is your strength'. Gawn and Cambell were rucking for the mids when they separated into their lines. I would assume Tom will be the back-up ruck if Max goes down. I doubt he will be the second ruck. Lever and McAdam were running with gusto as they did laps. Both started the session in boots. Charlie who is not in a training jersey, has to be closer to getting down with the squad. Goody and Whitford took the backs for drills. I think Basset had the session off. Each defender had a mannequin as an opponent, 8 of them. They moved around it and kicked with precision to the next player. Sinnemar was very clean. I sense the players appreciate that, a new young one that doesn't hold the drills up. The sims. Turnovers make it easy for the other to find space and go direct to for goal. Something I think we will need to work on. Kossie was looking for Mentha. They were keen for the contest, hard hits occurred and high marking attempts that hit through packs. JVR has his spark, he hit some packs, nearly marking it, bringing the ball to the front. Wings included, Sharp, Billings (who is looking good), Langers and Woey.

A couple of intrepid Demonland Trackwatchers headed down to Gosch's Paddock for the midweek Preseason Training Session to bring you the following observations. Demonland's own Whispering Jack was not in attendance but he kicked off proceedings with the following summary of all the Preseason Training action to date. We’re already a month into the MFC preseason (if you started counting when the younger players in the group began the campaign along with some of the more keen older heads) and in less than a few hours’ time, most of the list will be hitting the track for another grueling session at Gosch’s Paddock. If you haven’t been following our training threads, today’s Herald Sun article Demons ponder big man reshuffle to fix forward funk by Jay Clark has a crack at bringing you up to speed with the goings on at the club. In the hard paper edition the article is on page 63 and it’s entitled “Dees go for Petty change”. Clark writes that “Melbourne could make footy’s first big positional switch of the summer and return Harrison Petty to a key defensive role next season”. This is not an official call for Petty who struggled to have an impact up forward last year - Clark says he will be trialled in both forward and defensive roles over summer. He adds that this opens up some scope for “marking targets Daniel Turner, 2022 first round pick Matthew Jefferson and VFL recruit Aidan Johnson to partner ace goal kickers Jacob van Rooyen and Bayley Fritsch”. Clark also points out that it’s a crucial year for the club in fighting off possible poaching efforts for Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver after they explored moves to leave during the trade period but he confirms the gun midfielders “have put those issues behind them”. Accompanying the article which also mentioned the team-building exercises at last week’s camp in Victoria’s high country are the following pointers to highlight some of the preseason moves at the club:- “Harry Sharp on the wing With running dynamo Alex Neal-Bullen heading to Adelaide, the Dees recruited Brisbane grand final emergency Harry Sharp to add run to an ageing midfield. The 21-year-old showed his aerobic prowess on Monday when he decimated his new teammates in a 2km time trial and he is likely to be given first dibs on the opposite wing to Ed Langdon. Caleb Windsor to defence With Sharp and potentially No.11 pick Xavier Lindsay joining the Dees’ wing stocks, second-year Windsor is likely to move to a running half-back role used to great effect by Fremantle’s Jordan Clark. The club is aware that with Steven May and Tom McDonald both on the wrong side of 30 and Jake Lever often copping knee niggles, having pace around them is essential. Midfield reboot It’s not just the arrival of No.6 pick Harvey Langford that has the Dees excited. Both Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver set tongues wagging at Gosch’s Paddock on Monday. After a horror 2024, Oliver seems to be keen to re-establish himself as one of the league’s best tacklers, while Petracca looked fully engaged instructing the first-year players.” Well … that’s your history lesson about the preseason so far. Of course, most of the above has already been covered in our own preseason training threads. Now it’s over to our track watchers to fill us in on today’s action … WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Gawn and Melksham first out, closely followed by Tholstrup. I’ve counted 42 out there at the moment. Haven’t seen Roy "Boy" George this morning. Fritsch is not kicking in the short pass to lead activity. Salem is running with him and he hands it off. Campbell has a slow, loopy pass. REHAB GROUP: Lever, McAdam, Spargo & Lindsay A little late on this, but haven’t seen K White. McAdam now having shots at goal by himself. Verrall = lackadaisical. Ollie trailing in on the sprint to drinks. Fritta now running the boundary at good pace. Lindsay now running the boundary. Clarrie has left the training field. I watched the group on the Punt Road boundary where Clarrie was involved. It was a run and handball, with little goal posts at each end. It was non-stop with attacking team v defending team. Seemed like even numbers. It was played in a 50-metre section of the wing, quite congested, but the non-stop run by ball carriers was impressive. Clarrie showed trademark burst and lightning handball on occasions. He brushed some opponents aside, but the very next play he ran into Kossie, who trapped him in vice-like arms and bought him to ground, hard! Immediately after this, Clarrie took himself to the side line and sucked in the big ones on all fours. Soon after this he slowly walked the perimeter... I think this must have been just before he threw in the towel. I add that he was pushing himself to the limit everytime he had the ball in all the activities I watched. The speed of Sharp was very evident in this same activity. He bounced off tacklers and spun around on-coming defenders to speed away and deliver to teammates. He then ran on at blistering pace to start a new chain from the backline... think, "beep beep"! Langford's poise by hand and foot was on show in end-to-end exercises on that same wing! NO. 41'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I saw Clarrie earlier having a few puffs of an asthma puffer, plus what I assumed to be a couple of hits with a nasal spray. I suspect that probably has a lot do do with his early departure. DITCHA'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I attended some of the training. Very impressed with how fit everyone looks. During one exercise Luker Kentfield failed to take his time when kicking for goal, and missed. Choco told him to take his time, and kick the goal. Clayton Oliver left training early with physio, but seemed OK. FRITTA AND TURNER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Once again a very pleasant day watching the training with a full squad in attendance. It took me ages to find Jed Adams until the boys started yelling Jed Jed Jed (dead give away) and i realised he was in a No number Jumper. No Kalani White but Toby Sinnema was there. Lever, Spargo, McAdam, Lindsay and Fritter in rehab ie not taking part in all the drills. They did a separate drill and then on the bikes and running the boundary. Don't know whats wrong with Fritta but it aint running. Lever dragged the bike to the boundary line and yelled encouragement, and you better be encouraged ok!!!! AMW did a great block on the Kolt and a fantastic tackle on Viney. Maysie gives instructions to the backs with a flick of a hand and guess what, seems to position well and find space. Langford has a first and 2nd effort and seems to instinctively know where the ball is in a contest. He also looks like Turner but with curls. AJ ready to go and is strong at it. Kynan shows plenty of run and dash. Hore wacked his knee cap on the ground, a minor cut, and had some strapping as a precaution. Tracca had the cap with a 'sun shade' on the back. (Reminds me of the cartoons I watched years ago). Moving well. Sharpie looked er sharp and got lots of vocal support from his team mates. Campbell looks like he is enjoying it. Max and Clarrie were gassed at time. Clarrie did not participate in the match sim at the end. I think Kynan pulled out early. Not many track watchers as last time but the number grew to 60+. KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Coaches are working hard. Plenty of instructions, and a variety of new drills that are making them use different skills. Bounces and run, more focus on having opponents, handballs with the players getting in the way of opposition, and opponents (Jones) getting in the way of runners. They are happy and training with skill and high standards McAdams with boots on and kicking goals. Spargo getting closer. Langford likes a goal and can kick them on the run and from a long way out. Fritta doing some training drills and extra running. Salem has already dropped a few kilos. Melky in an orange bib during sims (the only one), and connecting through the middle and then hitting up with some beautiful kicks. Tackling in handball game was ferocious, I worried about them at times. Bowey was in with the backs when in their lines but matched up against Windsor on the wing in the sims. The other wing side had Billings and Langdon. Tracc playing with some flair, his field kicking has also improved. Oliver was trying to dance around opponents but got caught a few times. When Clarry was boundary running with Campbell, he was belching . Perhaps he had an upset stomach. Wasn't the temperature in the low 20's. I was in the shade most of the time, and comfortable. McAdams is still on light duties. Gawn is getting more involved with the leadership role, He is in cruise mode. Oliver is trying hard. Viney is excelling and isbest by a far distance, also, atending every session so far. Billings is looking very good. Running hard, getting plenty of ball and with good disposals. Back to the club in great shape. Harry Sharp has looked good from day 1. Glides around the field, comfortable with ball in hand, he is not disturbing the pecking order as he is keeping a humble and happy disposition. Howes started preseason with the occasional fumble and misskick. I feel a few may have jumped above him. Today he had a good run at it. Hoping he is finding some confidence from it. His body is looking taller and stronger.

Meggs' Review of Melbourne's AFLW Season 9 ... Congratulations first off to the North Melbourne Kangaroos on winning the 2024 AFLW Premiership. Roos Coach Darren Crocker has assembled a team chock-full of competitive and highly skilful players who outclassed the Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final to remain undefeated throughout Season 9. A huge achievement in what was a dominant season by North. For Melbourne fans, the season was unfortunately one of frustration and disappointment but there were some positives to celebrate. A tough draw, a slew of injuries to key players, an exodus of quality, battle-hardened teammates, and a bevy of young recruits conscripted prematurely, culminated in a lowly percentage (87.9%), and missing finals, finishing ninth. The best of the rest. One positive of the season was the exposure of young players to the real thing. Georgias Gall and Campbell, Ry Wotherspoon and Alyssia Pisano all garnered valuable match day experience. While recruits Grace Beasley and Denby Taylor looked promising and well-suited in the red and blue. Other positives to celebrate were the cohort of rising stars who had personal-best seasons (see below) and foundation coach Mick Stinear’s contract extension to 2025. The following are some reflections on Season 9, 2024. Offseason trades and 2023 draft A significant cull by stalwart Demon recruiter Todd Paterson jettisoned eight players as part of a list refresh. A raft of higher draft picks was yielded in the exchanges. The jury remains sequestered on whether it was a successful trading period. While two retired, six other players went on to play a total of 62 games for rival clubs in 2024. This was quite an experience drain, especially in midfield and defence. Melbourne went to the draft with 5 picks (5, 12, 24, 29, 55). Todd chose Alyssia Pisano, a small forward (8 games), Ry Wotherspoon a forward utility (10), Jac Hose, a ruck recovering from an ACL (0), Jemma Rigoni a father/daughter selection (0), and Delany Madigan a defender (1) who has been delisted after one season. Interestingly Melbourne did not select available defenders Lucy Cronin (Pies) or Mikayla Williamson (Hawks) who both excelled in defence in 2024 and earned rising star nominations. Young Dog Elaine Grigg at pick 6 was another who excelled in her first year. The Demons off-season recruits included US College Basketball star Grace Beasley (3), ex-Port Adelaide small utility Lily Johnson (5) along with injury replacement players Grace Hill (8) for Hose and Denby Taylor (7) for A Mackin. The newbies played a total of 42 games. Ex-Dees making their mark in rival colours To recap: Eliza West and Casey Sherriff were traded to Hawthorn, Maddi Gay to Essendon, Libby Birch to North, Charlotte Wilson to Gold Coast and Jordie Ivey to Collingwood VFLW. Westy took the competition by storm, averaging 22 disposals and 8 tackles in her 13 games. She was instrumental in her new team’s rise to second position on the ladder alongside the deputy Sherriff. Birch is now a 3-time premiership player. The regularly injured Maddie Gay (while a Demon) suddenly played every game for the finals-bound Bombers this year and became their key defensive architect. Wilson and Ivey were solid defenders for their teams. The ‘fixed-ya’ When AFLW published its 2024 fixture in May 2024 it was obvious that the handicapper had given MFC a really tough draw. It ended up even harder as the teams we played did better than expected and teams we didn’t play did worse A post-season article by AFL media confirmed that the Demons had the hardest fixture: It was a kind of fixed-ya fixture. Thank you, AFL. The Nadir Practice match losses to lowly Carlton and an improving Port Power, the aforementioned ‘tough draw’ and long-term injuries to Aimee Mackin (season) and Liv Purcell had lowered our confidence meter for the season opener at Sleepy Hollow. Equally, the Cats practice match form was patchy. On game day, Kate Hore was the clear standout and starred along with Blaithin Mackin for a nail-biting 2-point win. Sadly, a Tayla Harris shoulder injury ended her season. Thence came reality checks at Casey against the reigning premiers and the eventual premiers. Then came long term injuries to Lauren Pearce (broken wrist) and Paxy (foot). More bad news ensued with Grace Beasley doing her ACL at training to be out for the season. Smarting from the Kangaroo hiding, Mick fired up his troops for the clash at Fremantle Oval and we led by 3 goals at ¾ time. Sadly, we could not sustain it and went goalless as the Dockers piled on 4 goals and to add insult to injury, Blaithin Mackin hurt her calf and Eden Zanker her knee. Cursed! Round 5 was a Bomber dee-capitulation. Our worst loss in history, 65 points. A busted nose for Lize Mac and plenty of bruises and hurt feelings to go around. A dismal display to witness. The Demons had lost 7 of their past 8 games and Mick Stinear’s win loss record was taking a battering. Return from the Void Where to from now? Mick and his coaches huddled and emerged with a simplified game plan and agreed to place individual players in their optimum position. Maeve Chaplin in a post-season interview confirmed there was a change of game plan. It was a good move as the Dees slowly roared back to life with four straight wins over Giants, Crows, Saints and Tigers with Alyssa Bannan looking dangerous around goals. The penultimate game was the must-win match in Cairns against the high-flying Hawks. Of course, the injury curse struck yet again with Kate Hore, a late withdrawal with a sore quad. Tyla Hanks brilliantly led the team as we battled hard in hot and humid conditions. We lost by 6 points and with it the chance to secure a finals place. A 47-point drubbing of Collingwood next week made us feel better, but it was not the finish to the season we were hoping for. Maevo named in the AA squad Melbourne FC had one inclusion in the AFLW All-Australia 42 player squad. Maeve Chaplin, who put together a career-best season in 2024. In 11 matches Maeve averaged 13.6 disposals at 78.7% efficiency (team-high), 4 rebound 50s, 6.7 intercepts (10th in the league) and 2 intercept marks per match. A unique journey, Maeve was overlooked in two drafts and then was signed as a replacement player only to be delisted and then drafted again in that same year 2022. Don’t forget she was a S7 2022 premiership defender. We love Maevo and what she brings every week. Player movements 2024 The Trade Period opens on Thursday 5 December 2024 and closes 11 December. AFLW is reporting that superstar Tayla Harris is Collingwood or Hawthorn bound. The Hawks pick 14 would be tempting. A high-quality draft awaits. Heart and soul warrior Lily Mithen is said to be considering a tempting offer to move to Gold Coast in a deal which could land the Dees pick 2. GCS have No. 1 draft pick Havana Brown in their academy. The 2024 Draft (AFLW’s first fully national draft) is being held on Monday 16 December 2024. The calibre of players available is the strongest on record and the Demons will, by the sounds of it, have some high picks. Todd, please recruit some skilful contested footy mids with strong bodies and footy nous. Zippy Fish from East Fremantle is one impressive player (in name at least) and who knows who else Todd has in mind for the early pick. There are several excellent midfielders available. For a later pick we could consider 2-km time trial dynamo Oakleigh Chargers’ Sarah Poustie. Meggs wrote about Charlotte Brewer who impressed in a game with Casey VFLW. She has Demon connections via her grandfather Ross and current Casey VFLW coach Matt. Choose wisely Todd! Personal-best seasons Several players had their best ever seasons at Melbourne which is worth celebrating. We congratulate Maeve Chaplin on her AA nomination. Maevo started brilliantly in the practice matches and assumed the Demon defensive ‘generalissima’ for the entire season. Libby who? Eliza McNamara is an endurance queen who was able add four-quarter contested footy to her game in 2024, racking up career-best possession numbers (22.2 per game) and averaging 392 metres gained. Sinead Goldrick has always been a pleasure to watch but in 2024 she was crucial in everything she did both in defence and midfield and kicked 3 goals to boot. In last year’s season Demonland review, Meggs argued that ‘Fitzy (should) be played on the ball where she has done well in VFLW. You want the ball in her hands because she has good skills and makes good decisions.’ Well in 2024 Mick sent Fitzy into the middle and she recorded career-best possession numbers (13.6 per game, up from 7.8). Her one-percenters are a feature. It would have been a good coaches review for her for sure. Best and Fairest In the AFLW Best and Fairest, Demons scored 32 votes (2023:46). Kate Hore earned 12 votes (2023:12), Tyla Hanks 8, Blaithin Mackin 4 (first ever votes), Alyssa Bannan 3, Liv Purcell 2, Eliza McNamara 1 (first ever votes), Paxy Paxman 1, and Eden Zanker 1. The Demons Best and Fairest will be held on 9 December 2024 with Meggs tipping our talisman captain Kate Hore to win the B&F once again. Expect Goldie and Maevo who both played outstanding footy in both halves of the season to be thereabouts, with Hanksy and Eliza Mac to complete the top five. Melbourne FC has written a piece on some of the top-performing Demons of the season and is copied here: Alyssa Bannan A fan-favourite Demon, Bannan was back to her brilliant best this year. The 22-year-old’s speed and infectious energy inside 50 was a spectacle to enjoy throughout 2024. She finished as the team’s leading goal-kicker for the season, kicking 12 majors across her 11 games including a four-goal haul during Week 8. Blaithin Mackin Mackin started the season as one of the top performers across the league before injury halted her rise. Her ability to take on the contest and bring the ball forward was an important part of her game. Minus the match in which she was injured, Mackin averaged 17 disposals, and 371 metres gained. Could her early impact be enough to push her high in the count? Eliza McNamara 2024 was a season that put McNamara’s name on the map. Lining up for Melbourne along the wing, the 22-year-old produced career-best numbers and made regular impact during games with a relentless attitude at the contest. She averaged 22 disposals, seven intercepts and five marks. Kate Hore As expected, the Melbourne skipper embraced her second season at the helm. With a dual role, lining up in the midfield and forward line, Hore influenced in many ways. From performances that saw her lead the charge inside 50 to displays of strength in the contest, she continued to be a consistent contributor for the red and blue. Maeve Chaplin In a breakout year for the Demon, Maeve Chaplin well and truly made her mark in Melbourne’s defence. The young defender was a powerful strength coming out of the backline. She averaged 6.7 intercepts (10th in the league) and 13.6 disposals, with a disposal efficiency of 78.7% (a team high). Sinead Goldrick This season, fans got to see even more of Goldrick’s explosive and exciting talent, spending time in various positions across the ground. Her speed and aggressive attack went from strength-to-strength this year as she averaged 16 disposals and six intercepts, also taking her opportunities inside 50, kicking three goals. Tahlia Gillard Gillard’s 2024 saw her, once again, lead Melbourne’s backline at just 20 years old. The tall Demon has become an unstoppable force with another year of experience under her belt, now cemented as one of the best lockdown defenders in the league. This season saw her average six intercepts and a league-high six spoils. Tyla Hanks A dependable Demon since her first season at the club back in 2019, Hanks provided a level of stability in Melbourne’s midfield this year. The hard-working and crafty Demon led by example as the club’s vice-captain, averaging 18 disposals, five tackles and four clearances. Thank you, readers, Well, that’s all for Season 9. It has been such a pleasure writing about this wonderful team and if you’ve got this far, thank you so much for reading. Meggs wishes everyone all the best for the festive season. Lots to get excited about in 2025 with both our men’s and women’s footy teams. Go Dees! MEGGS

That doesn't make me feel any better.

You can't post a statement like that on Demonland without any other context.

Interesting that Fritsch isn't in the rehab group. He didn't do the time trial the other day (neither did Max or Campbell) and isn't doing everything in the main sessions. Wonder what the situation is here? @Ghostwriter any insight?

👀

Here are some excellent photos from @gs77 taken at this morning's session.

There were many Demonland Trackwatchers braving the morning heat at Gosch's Paddock today to witness the players go through the annual 2km time trials. DEMONLAND'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Max, TMac & Melksham the first ones out on the track. Runners are on. Guess they will be doing a lot of running. TRAINING: Max, TMac, Melksham, Woey, Rivers, AMW, May, Sharp, Kolt, Adams, Sparrow, Jefferson, Billings, Petty, chandler, Howes, Lever, Kozzy, Mentha, Fullarton, Salem, Spargo, Turner, Viney, Kentfield, Johnson, JvR, Langford, Lindsay, Fritsch, Verral, Clarry, Sestan, Windsor, Laurie, Brown, Hore, Campbell, McVee, Langdon, Bowey, Trac. I think Kalani White is training with them. Kalani White is kicking the footy with MFC Next Generation Academy prospect Toby Sinnema. Main group of players doing warmups. Main group doing run throughs from half back flank to goal. Running groups around the oval. Spargo not training at all at the moment. Max is in a smaller group not on the same schedule as the other group. Max’s group is Campbell, Fritsch, Kalani White and the other kid. They must be doing the 2 or 3 km time trials The first lot are in 2 groups of about 8 at different points of the ground. 2nd lot are doing the warmups and will likely do the time trials after the first lot finish. Langford front of his group followed by Howes Bowey and Kozzy Rehab group consists of Lever, Spargo, McAdam and Lindsay Not sure why Gawn, Campbell and Fritsch aren’t doing time trials but are doing shorter running stints. Sharp leading Langdon in their group Trac leading his group that consists of Kolt Viney JvR Salem Rivers Billings with Clarry well at the rear Sharp has a big lead on Langdon. Sharp absolutely smashing it. Wouldn’t be surprised if there is a record broken today. Billings and Viney leading their group with Trac back to the middle of the pack with River Salem and then JvR and way back Clarry. Clarry has overtaken JvR. Runners off and footy boots on. Gawn, Campbell and Fritsch who weren’t doing the time trials have all joined the main footy session. Lever, McAdam & Lindsay are working with a training doing exercises on the boundary. Spargo has not joined them. Harvey Langford has a beautiful pass by foot. So nice seeing Trac, Clarry and Kozzy on the track. Spargo on the bike in the shed. First casualty of the preseason …. Me …. I have to leave training with a migraine from dehydration. Hopefully I’ll be back on Wednesday. WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBERSVATIONS Might be the timed run this morning. The cones are out for the short warm-up activities. First players just coming out of AAMI. Running shoes on! I heard Kalani White is here! Kossie just won his group! Clayton finished well to pip Roo in his group… not leader but impressive drive to the line. Jack Viney ran a brilliant last 200 to get very close to Billings in his group. Billings is no slouch when it comes to middle distance. He looked impressive winning his group from a blistering final 200 by Viney! DEESPENCER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Time trials in groups. Big lumps: Luker, Jeffo, May Flankers: Pickett, Howes etc as above. Sestan a fair way off. The better running players are having a go now. T Mc is dominating his group ahead of Petty, Melk, Woey, Laurie Sharp is gapping to Brown, then a similar gap to Langdon, Chandler, Sparrow, McVee with Windsor a fraction off the back Billings gap to Viney gap to Rivers, Tracc, Kolt, Salem gap JvR group with Clarry off the back. Wait .. Clarry has overtaken JvR. Nothing too special in the drills after the time trial. Choco with some point to point kicking that didn’t go all that smoothly but wasn’t a disaster either and a few other smaller drills. Chappy took a big forwards group (both in height and numbers) for some work on kicking inside 50. A focus on how to legally block for both the high kick to the hot spot and the flatter kick to the lead in to the pocket. Backs and mids were doing a 2/3rds ground ball movement drill to get the ball out from the backline. Focus seemed to be on short accurate kicks to leads. I tried to watch the new guys. Langford - looks very comfortable in main training. Not the most pure kicking action and I think he’ll miss targets with depth control. His strengths look like really fast accurate hands and he just know where to run to get the ball. Plus Size (XL20) - a lot of lap running. Did some basic kicking drills and the ball comes off his boot fast and low with good accuracy. AJ - missed a few kicks in the drill immediately post the time trial but generally looks comfortable out there. In a drill moving the ball from a contest under pressure in backline he looked comfortable bending down to get it and evading pressure. Dished out on a long lefty handball and generally when he marks he extends his long arms nicely. Jeff Junior kicks the ball like the son of Jeff/academy player, he can spin it for a ruck. Natural mover. Tall. Thought he fumbled a couple of marks but just naturally he’s marking way up high. There’s some tools there for sure! The other kid Toby has some go and a nice left foot, hide him away for a year please! Watched a bit of Kentfield, he did a decent time trial given he’s a huge lad. Skills are nice and he moves pretty well. Not blown away but if Casey aren’t hopeless he’ll do more than his 4 touches a game this year. DITCHA'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I attended some of the training. I was very impressed with the instructions the forwards coach was giving to the forwards. His message was he does not want forwards standing still, but too be moving to make it harder for defenders. Several drills were conducted to help improve the forwards. FRITTA AND TURNERS PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Get Kalani White now!!! Really looks the goods but needs some upper body work obviously. With the full squad at training it was hard to spot standouts or for that matter concentrate on any particular player. Turner, Langford and Lindsay yet to get numbers on their backs. Spargo on the bike, Lindsay, McAdam and Fritter running the boundary. Chin is obviously well respected by the club and said a few words to the group. TMcs family always seem to be in attendnace at training. About 60+ onlookers at any one time with the highlight being the HUN camerman who asked which one was CP5. Really? DEESPICABLE'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS It's always nice to go down to a December session and see the newbies who do the odd drill, but spend most of the time looking from afar as they are handled with kid gloves - they are 18 after all. For me there were a few standouts that my eyes were drawn to on more than one occasion. One of the first to the track was a thinner, younger looking T-Mac and during all the drills, and the running he looked sprightly - It's ben a long time since I've picked him out as one of our best at training, but there you are. His protein diet must be working because he looked skinnier in the legs. The second player that I kept spotting was Kynan Brown. He was noticeable in the 2km run when he was second to Harry Sharp and he was crisp and evasive in all the drills, his only problem being a couple of errant bounces where he must have chosen some hard turf as the ball sprung back past him twice. I was bullish about Kynan last year when I felt he deserved a proper game (not 30 seconds off the bench as sub) and I am going to be even louder now. He looks ready and Werridee, it's time to amend your team (version 7656) and get him in. The third player you can't keep your eyes off is Clayton Oliver and it's not just the copious amount of sunscreen he wears. He seems to be making an early point this build-up to say, I'm a tackling god again, take me on at your expense. Sure he isn't the fastest in the 2km, but he is the fastest at reading the play - poor Toby Sinnema happened to be in his group when one of the few drills with tackling permitted happened and was taken down like a lion devouring a young deer. Clayton was back to his omnipresent self, a real livewire at training and I suspect his in-jest tackle on serial sidelines pest, Leo McDonald, will make the Herald Sun tomorrow as their photographer got a lovely shot of him taking on the 3yo. Congrats to Toby Sinnema who dusted himself off from Clayton's attack and then made two great tackles himself. Sinnema is from Dandening and is 16 and presumably was brought down to keep Kalani company. If he's part of our academy, that's great but if he's not, then unfortunately you will need to go down to Punt Rd to see him play in 2026, as he's a top-5 cert in my eyes - unless he doesn't grow. As with others, spotting Kalani White was easy - he's 200cm tall, looks like a young Sam Darcy and he kicks like his dad Jeff, giving the ball way to much hangtime. But that will be trained out of him, especially if he hangs around Steven May rather than Dimma and co. He also has the White-family leap, so he's a project to behold. But sadly though if you were a betting man, then you'd say he ends up staying with his mates on the Gold Coast. But that's a topic for others. Kalani was a little tentative and that's OK, he just turned up for his first session with a bunch of men, most of whom he's never met before. But gees, it would be great if he chose us. The other person to draw your attention was Trac, who was back with his trademark smile along with quite a bit of gasping, especially after the 2km time trial. He's lost a bit of fitness, but I reckon he'll pick it up again pretty soon and he clearly had that air of a club great about him every time he got the ball in drills, spinning it around like Andrew Gaze between each kick. He also imparted a bit of wisdom on Harvey Langford and Ricky Mentha - he's not too shy to hand out a few instructions, which is great and a sign of leadership that we need. The other highlights that I saw were a supersonic goal on the run under pressure by Trent Rivers, it's your guess where he will play, and a bit of Kossie magic, spinning in and out of trouble as he does with the tribunal regularly. From a haircut perspective, the big change came from Kade Chandler, who has gone for the In the Navy look, although maybe it was part of a charity cut. I better mention Harvey Langford, who is a strong looking individual who did most of the drills with the team, despite being a newbie. There's no way he'll be held back this year. Our other high pick, No.11 Xavier Lindsay, just did running drills, which was fine when he had Shane McAdam and Fritter to keep him company, but he had to go solo with no fitness trainer, for his final 10 run throughs. I know sometimes it's hard to have enough staff and players have to be resilient, but I couldn't help thinking you don't leave an 18yo in his first session at Gosch's Paddock in solitary confinement. Imagine he goes back to his parents place and they say, "how was training?". Does he reply "Great" or does he express his isolation. Finally, there was no real gp distinction with most of the drills today, so positional switches will have to become apparent in later session. But Goody did take all the players (bar the newbies) for one final full-ground session and explained a revolutionary new tactic. It's called the man-on-man defensive strangle. Amazing. Players actually had to man-up. Don't worry, that will never catch on! BUCK NEKKID'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS A glorious day to visit Gosh’s to see a training session. Highlights: In the running, Sharp, Pup, Bowey, TMac and Langford all did well. Trac looked like a man amongst boys and also ran strongly. Some of the drills: A zig zag kicking and markng drill, that led to a contested drill where the person on the mark was straight in front, the kicker went straight back but looked at the 45 degree angles to pick out a lead. Think we will go quicker off the mark to players leading from these angles. A contested ball drill. Oliver laid a few beautiful tackles. One passage saw the ball go 3>13>7>16>5 (goal). About as fast as you could read that, too! A forward drill with the bigs contesting and knocking it to ground for a small to sweep ink and either goal, or offload for a goal. Lots of discussion about positioning and strategy. A forward drill concreting on the forward staying in motion, and the small providing a legal block for the forward to roll around and mark. A full ground drill moving the ball fast and good contests between the backs and the forwards. Petty on Roo was worth the watch. Overall, a good session. When things were not going as planned, players were called in and things explained an reset. Some great teaching from the coaches to individuals and lots of good chat and banter amongst the players. Kalani White looks great in Dees colours, and was not out of place. Shane McAdam worked away from the main group, but seemed in good spirits. Cheered him one as he did some faster laps, got a hey and a smile. Some old guy running around “Working the room” to use his term for it, handing out flyers for the election. Didn’t give me anything, Im obviously not his ‘type’! KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Chandler, Lever, and Petty walking from AAMI with the coaches as I arrive. Some are already on Gosch's, they are getting down to prepping. The sun block, hydration, the Tech in the jersey, and all in runners. Plenty of buzz around for our first full hit up. Yet no balls on the field. The time trials! They are hyped and ready. Those ahead of their times appeared to be, Sparrow, Kolty (maybe flu related), Sharp, and another but cannot recall. They got to sit out when the others did 5 more sets of 120 metre runs close at the end of the training. Kossie is fit and running very well. Goody got round him soon after his run and gave him the warmest of embraces, slaps, and words. Verrall struggled, though ended his running with some push. Sestan ran better than other years, a little slow but not struggling. Langford led for some time, looks like a competitor, overrun close to the end. (Between some drills Tracc was getting around him, offering some insights) Great to see Maysie and Melk back. They all got round each other after the running, plenty on their haunches. Great effort all round. Shane McAdams back on the exercise bike. His body shape is good, looks like he has been working out. Lever has increased his workload, with a variety of running drills. My guess is that of Achilles awareness. Fritta is putting in hard runs. My guess is that his goal is being very fit. Xavier Lindsay is on a modified program and is going at about 70% effort. Spargo spent most of his time on the bike. Rumours were spreading that Roy George is being picked up. The drills were a little off. Windy, hot day, with some exhaustive running, I reckon caused some astray kicking and fumbles. Ricky Mentha has good hands, also doesn't do two errors in a row. It was apparent that he puts his head into it, after a mistake. Looks like Kossie, Rivers and Woey are in the mids squad, whereas Windsor and Petty are backmen. I like what Chaplin is doing as a forwards coach. He was getting the smalls to crumb. Two of them would follow the flight of the ball, the talls would bring it down, then the smalls either, handball to their partner who would snap, or they would snap. He was very hands-on at describing the movement patterns he wants from those marking forwards. The backs worked with the mids. They were getting the connections and fast ball movement down the wings. Langdon with leather poisoning and Sparrow running the wings very well, often the last one with the ball. Goody set up a full field structure, getting them to position where he wants them. Looks like a high press, with no one in the forward 50. Some goal kicking from the mids and forwards, as the backs settled down for a chat about structures. Jed Adams had some testing from the trainer, after some sims. Appeared to have a slight limp A good session. SLARTIBARTFAST'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I'm a bit late to the party but I made it down to training today and the boys were really put through their paces. The time trials were interesting. Harvey went out hard and held on well only to be overtaken by a few of the mature boys but he's fit enough to play AFL. Clarrie was at the back of his group but only by a small margin but he was totally spent at the end of it and I thought he was going to be sick. But then to my surprise he was up and at it in all the later drills. Interestingly they all did the time trials with shirts off and reports of Clarrie being overweight are grossly exaggerated, he might not be at his thinnest but he is far from fat. He looked in very good shape to me and as others have reported he's in good spirits. He was in the same group as Kolt who beat him but interestingly when all that group finished they fell to the ground in exhaustion but the Kolt didn't. He stayed on his feet and encouraged the others to get up. Leadership written all over this kid. Sesso also seems to have slimmed down well and is running much better than previous years. I don't think he's there yet but he's made big steps towards AFL fitness and if he continues as he is he might be a smokey for R1 when Koss is out. Verrall is really struggling in the running. He was a long way back in the time trial and in the end one of the trainers ran with him to keep him company. He really needs to get that right because he's way below AFL fitness at the moment and he's now entering his third preseason. I'm not suggesting he's not putting in the effort, just that he really struggles with this sort of running. Interesting in later running drills he was keeping up much better which was a positive. I was also interested in Aidan Johnson's performance. He looked pretty comfortable out there and kept up well in the time trials and other running. Beyond that I didn't really notice him much in the drills. To my surprise Petts is training with the backs as is Windsor. McVee is there too so it would seem that Duke and Knuckles won't be in the midfield this year which is against expectations. I don't see how Petts, May (who does look like he's been in a good paddock) Lever and Tmac fit in the one backline and it's hard to see Tmac missing out because he is in the best knick I've ever seen him. He's moving really well, he's really lean, his ball handling and kicking is good and his lateral movement is better than for a while and I'd suggest that's as a result of his feet being injury free. I've been to all but one session and he's the standout so far for me but I'm a big fan so perhaps I'm bias. Beyond that it was a great day for the track watcher I didn't think. Lots of little drills which didn't really show much and the boys were spread out all over the field making it hard to get an overall picture. I liked what I saw from Langford who to my eye didn't appear much taller than Clarrie when I saw them standing together but it's hard to tell given Clarrie's hair. Fritter was doing heaps of running at a very good clip and he did it for a long time. He looks really fit so I've no idea what his issue is. McAdam also did a fair bit of running and looked comfortable and he looks in good condition. I wonder if they just want to get him really fit before throwing him into full training and exposing his body to the level of stress. I can confirm previous report on Sparrow. He looks really lean and he was running really well. I think he may have got a rocket at the end of last season, he looks a new player. Billings also looked really fit. I'm going again on Wednesday and hopefully they'll do a bit of full field ball movement which is where I think you can judge players more critically. Boy was it humid at training today, skills were pretty good given the level of fatigue and the conditions. IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I made it down there yesterday but was flat out heading back Nth to write before now. I was planning a big one but there are so many excellent track reporters nowadays most of it's been covered. But here's a few comments. Poor old Jason Taylor had the misfortune of being identified by me. He was standing a bit away from the coaching section. So much for a nice quiet uninterrupted observation of training. I'm afraid I wasn't going to let Demonland down by letting him get away with that. In summary he laughed when I said it must be a bit like watching his babies run out on the field and strange so soon after just picking them. I asked him what expectations were there about when Lindsay might play. He said Oh well he's coming off a PCL and won't join in full training till mid Jan so it will be a while. I mentioned that Johnson seemed to be doing incredibly well at keeping up with the running especially as he's just come in. He said Yeh, he loves running and is a really good runner. Amazing for me given how most players who have come over from other clubs haven't been able to get close to the MFC running when they start in pre season and this guy's come in from only one season of VFL and is way more up to speed than any of them. He looks particularly agile and quick off his feet. Firstly I haven't managed to get to training since before Covid. The first thing I noticed is how much bigger they are now than I have seen in the past. A few years ago they had a real emphasis on running over strength and the squad had collectively trimmed down. It is noticeable they have bulked up again but I would say with more refined training practices nowadays they are probably running better than they did then. Secondly Viney's leadership really stood out. It's interesting that others picked up that Max was taking a bit of a back seat. But it's been interesting that Vines has turned up from day one of the 1st to 3rd years and has led them all the way. Today he was very noticeably leading all over the ground. When his group finished their 2km's he stayed on his feet when everyone else was collapsed and he walked around to every player in the group and patted them and gave them words of encouragement. His fitness was also right up there in the running. Thirdly. Clarry. I noticed in photos I've seen since they've started back that he's still got that bulkiness he had last year. Then in the 2km he was lagging off the back of his group. I was thinking this really isn't looking that great. But near the end of the session they did multiple 120m run throughs and he led his group in everyone of them and that's at the end of a very tough session. Sigh of relief. Don't worry about Clarry he's clearly done the work in the off season. Fourthly, I don't know why I'm numbering these points. Pointless. Oh well. Kossie blitzed his 2km group. He's really done the work this off season and I get the feeling he's realised he needs to make the most of his god given talent. I'm picking him to have a special season. Fourthly, others have mentioned Harry Sharp. His running was extraordinary. It wasn't just that he blitzed the group with his endurance but he's that very rare combination of speed and endurance. I have no doubt he will replace ANB's role and end up being an upgrade with better pace and skills. There's a lot to learn to get up to ANB's contribution though. I thought he was leading the B & F earlier in the season. Fifthly Jefferson has really bulked up since last season. He has a mature AFL footballers body now. A lot rests on him making it as a viable key forward. It's been such a long time since we've been able to develop one from the draft other than JVR. Windsor was surprisingly lagging back in the 2km but then again he's coming back from a long term injury but I thought he would have been up to speed by now. I can't believe he will be played anywhere than the wing. So few players know now to play that role and he's walked in from day one nailing it. No doubt in the off season players get moved around to play different positions to learn them. Wingers often play deep in defence and off half back in transition so it makes sense for him to be doing that. The role nowadays is all about transition now anyway. Kentfield took me a while to pick up. He didn't stand out so much in height and build. He's a very strange build. He's huge around the hips and [censored] and it's almost like his body which is much skinnier sits on top of his hips. It was interesting to see Selwyn Griffith walking around the boundary doing menial things like placing posts in the ground. It just shows you how they run on such short staffing nowadays. Its just appalling the AFL haven't lifted the coaching soft cap back up by now. Go Dees. I have to say that this time last year I was supper flat and pessimistic about the coming season. Mind you there was a lot of turmoil then. I feel very different this preseason. There's minimal injuries. There's clearly articulated recognition of the failings in the gameplan that is being addressed with changes in the coaching staff which didn't happen last season. I have a gut feeling that Jefferson is going to start performing in 2025. I'm picking Tholstrop to be a big improver. Kossie looks like he's done a power of work over the break. He had a pretty ordinary 2024 so hopefully he goes to next level. We have Maxy back up next year in Campbell. Langford will at the very least add desperately needed depth to the midfield that we didn't have this year. Onwards and upwards Dees.

I was hoping to be looking out for that but my migraine forced me from the track. Will look out for all of that at the coming sessions.

That could be him. Similar look.

It was.

Spargo on the bike in the shed

First casualty of the preseason …. Me …. I have to leave training with a migraine from dehydration. Hopefully I’ll be back on Wednesday.