Demonland

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.

From watching LIVE last Wednesday and the photos and videos since he has been wearing number 24. Must have hulked out on the number 7.

Action Jefferson?

The Dees trained out at Casey Fields this morning and veteran Demonland Trackwatcher was there to bring you the following report.

Looks like the next official open training session is on Wednesday at Gosch's Paddock. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times Date: Wednesday 1st February Time: 9:30am Location: Gosch's Paddock

Was strapped on Wednesday too but I'm not surprised given the proximity to his surgery and other reported incidents involving his thumb/wrist.

You must have read wrong. 😉

If there are any training reports from today, the links will be posted right here ⬇️

Nothing listed on the official site but there is a good chance it is out at Casey. The club has recently put a warning on the Training Times page that Casey sessions are closed. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times Casey Fields Training Sessions All Casey Field training sessions are currently closed to the public.

Just as much at the footy too for a pie, chips and a coke, oops I mean pepsi now.

Neither looked out of place in the squad. That is, they weren't raw recruits fumbling, nervous and making mistakes.

Like he's a part of the furniture. Fits in well. Can take a good grab in a pack or intercepting. Reads the play well. Has clean disposal. Will also benefit from another pre-season in the gym in an elite program (if he gets a gig on our list).