Demonland

First-round draft picks Luke Jackson and Kozzie Pickett are firming for round one AFL debuts, with Melbourne development coach Jordan Lewis declaring the pair are on track to be unleashed at the first opportunity. Dees draftees firming for round one debuts

Here's a snippet from tonight's episode.

The Preseason Documentary To Hell and Back: Episode 2 Premieres tonight (16/2/20) @ 7:00pm. This 12-minute episode, which begins on Day 1 of the Dees’ pre-season campaign, will give fans a look at the boys’ training schedule, as led by performance manager Darren Burgess. While the Demons get to work in November, 35-gamer Aaron vandenBerg is still stuck on the sidelines due to his on-going foot injury. The 27-year-old opens up about how he monitors the pain and shows how he prepares his body for a session in the rehab group. In other news, former Docker and Sun, Harley Bennell, meets Simon Goodwin and the Melbourne recruiting team for the very first time. We sit in on Bennell’s meeting at AAMI Park, as he looks to earn one last chance at AFL level.

Yes. I'll post a link to the stream in this thread once it is available. It's usually 2 or 3 days after airing for the This Is Your Sporting Life shows.

Or you can listen to his interview on the Demonland Podcast.

If that's the case then it is an Closed Open Session.

Double Bogey? Albatross?

There’s a closed Training session tomorrow presumably at Casey. Perhaps that will be an intra-club match. That is, if we have enough men to fill two teams. ?

That can be said about any player in or out of the leadership group.

Captaincy and leadership group is usually voted for and announced during the Maroochydore camp (at least in the last few years). Presumably as someone else mentioned they are hoping to ride the media wave of the preseason doco and intertwine the announcement with some narrative from the series.

What's your pass mark for the Dees in 2020? What would mean a successful season for your team? Top four? Finals? Six wins? AFL 2020 predictions: Every club's pass mark for this season Melbourne Qualify for the finals How do you bounce back after a season from hell? Internally, Melbourne have probably set the bar higher than this, but the reality is, they won just five games last year with pretty much the same list. They should be in much better nick come round one this year and will hopefully have learned some lessons from 2019. Having been handed a favourable draw, this season will be the year where we learn if the 2018 preliminary final appearance was the outlier or the Dees are ready to finally challenge again.

From this article: Eagle Jack Darling fractures cheekbone Jeremy McGovern (heel) and Tom Barrass (foot) are set to increase their training loads over the coming weeks. Big men Oscar Allen (hernia), Nathan Vardy (ankle) and Tom Hickey (calf) are also making steady progress.

My thoughts on TMac are based purely on his ability to talk in front of the media. As someone else mentioned in the Co-Captains Model thread you need a mix of PR person and leader on the field which is why Max and Jack make a good pairing if you have to go down the Co route. As for TMac's on field leadership role I cannot speak to. For some reason I do think it's important to have leaders across all lines. TMac for mine seems like the best option up forward.

Seven years ago, we kicked off a series of women's football exhibition matches against the Bulldogs. Tomorrow night, we'll go up against them again, with a few familiar faces on either side. ?: Seven years later: O’Dea ready to take on the Dogs

I think TMac into the leadership group is a no brainer. Well spoken and key player in the forward line. Hard to see Jetta not being in the group. We keep hearing and, if you head down to training see, how good a leader Lever is. Playing Devil's Advocate he does have a susceptibility to injury. He's had 2 ACLs. We need leaders on the field. Perhaps that is me being a little harsh. On paper I like Lever as a leader. Never really thought of Melksham in that way.

Semi-related in terms of numbers. Recent years have seen the Dees cut down the numbers of people in the Leadership Group. A number of years ago I recall having a large group. Do you prefer a smaller group? Brisbane have named a 9 man leadership group this year meaning that half the players on the field are officially "leaders".

With the Captaincy likely to be announced in the coming days/week who do you think will form the 2020 Leadership Group? 2019 Leadership group Nathan Jones (co-captain) Jack Viney (co-captain) Max Gawn Neville Jetta With Nathan Jones vacating the captaincy does he still retain a spot in the Leadership Group? Who else deserves a call up? Tom McDonald? Jake Lever? Steven May?

Last year when we lost the first two on the trot the stats were that not many teams ever make the finals from 0-2. 0-3 would be a disaster.

What’s your 2020 Doomsday Scenario? Another Preliminary Final heartbreak ?, Demons start season 0-3 ?: Your AFL club’s doomsday scenario >>> Your AFL club’s doomsday scenario for 2020 season MELBOURNE – The Demons start the season 0-3 It’s a long way back when you start the season with three losses on the trot – and Simon Goodwin’s side don’t have the easiest of introductions in 2020. The Demons travel to Perth to play West Coast in Round One before taking on GWS at the MCG in Round Two. In both matches, Melbourne’s opposition will start as favourites. A home game against Fremantle in Round Three shapes as the club’s best opportunity to walk away with the four points, but even that match isn’t straightforward. But start the season at 0-3 and you can all but kiss finals goodbye.