Tough Kent

Dan Turner played forward in a scratch match against Carlton and apparently did ok. He was training with the forwards today and Greg Stafford spent a lot of time with him. Brown, T-Mac, Smith, Turner and Fritta were the hit up forwards in red denoting they’re in the selection picture. Roo and Schache were in the green vests. Grundy trained with the mids.

Laurie had 9 touches, 4 score involvements and 2 assists in a quarter and a bit. I thought he was good when he came on.

I saw the session. Kev did a great job with his write up. Based on what I saw of Clayton, if he doesn’t play in 6 days time there is something sinister going on. Jack Viney was definitely at training and in great spirits. I watched him and Jed Adams play wrestling in front of me.

Lots of plodders

This is not the end of the world. You can't replace an Oliver, but a bit of adversity never hurt anyone. The 22 who take the field on Saturday will know they'll have to give everything they've got to cover the loss of Clarrie. They'll be switched on and crack in.

Having had lots of issues with hamstrings, you can experience tightness and still be able to run at a reduced speed. There is the risk that you can advance the strain though. If it were a significant strain, he could not have played on. One would think it would either be hamstring tightness = 7 -10 days or a strain = 21 days.

I like JJ, but with opportunity in the midfield limited and at this stage, a minimum of 4 top 36 draft picks that I'd expect to be used on regenerating the midfield, I think he might be best placed looking elsewhere.

No White, Moose Munro or Baldi leaves us short in the middle at this level. I, too, worry about our midfield depth. We must use those 4 x top 36 draft picks this year to compliment our current on-ball brigade and look towards the future beyond Clarrie, Trac and Vines.

It was definitely him. I think the players were having a bit of fun with it. The kids were trying to get the camerman to sign their books.

I spoke to Jake Lever today at the kid's clinic. He was 100% adamant that he was playing Monday night. In his words, "I'm definitely playing Monday night. Unless I hurt myself at training between now and then". I also had a chat to big Maxy Gawn. He said that he was playing too. That was if they picked him, of course.

It could have been Harry Demattia from the Dandenong Stingrays. He was at the kid's clinic today in MFC gear signing autographs for the masses.

I remember he played as a third tall forward at the Giants for a while next to Cameron and Jon Patton.

I've been to 3 or 4 sessions this year and two things are clearly evident to me: 1. The players and the coaches are really holding each other to account. Before, during and after drills there is always lots of animated discussion, finger pointing and head nodding. They obviously have very clear objectives of what they want to achieve in drills/match sim and they are not scared to have difficult conversations when needed. 2. There's a real urgency in everything that they do. Whether it's the intensity in a drill, the delivery of an instruction or the willingness to fix mistakes, everything seems to happen at a million miles an hour. I'm much more confident that the mindset of the whole club is in a better place than it was at any time during 2022.

Thanks dw! No, Trent came off as the match sim was starting.

I watched Max chase someone (I can't remember who) flat out for about 40 meters on the grandstand wing. The coaches applauded his effort. It was in the second half and was a huge effort. I wonder if that's what caused the tightness?

Sestan was on and off a lot, like most of the young boys and didn't really impact. Dunstan won a bit of the footy for the reds and was okay. He got mowed down a couple of times, once by Hunter and found it a bit quick. He just didn't hurt the blue team with the footy and seems to kick around corners a lot.

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 GATOR’S TRAINING REPORT

Tomorrow is at Casey.

Lachie Hunter is away at the moment. Hopefully you'll see him on Friday down at Casey.

For a smaller fella, he has got the biggest legs and hips I have ever seen. He looks a real power athlete who could impact at Casey level this year. Aerobically, he's a long way off though. This could weigh against him this year.

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.

The boys are training at Gosch's on Monday. The session will commence at around 9:30.

How's Finn E-B going? I see he had 11 touches to half time.

I was a bit sceptical about our potential recruiting of Brodie Grundy. My thinking was that we need a key forward more than anything. But the more I think about it, the more I am coming around to it. I heard Josh Jenkins talk about the way some clubs use ruckmen these days. One plays in the back half and the other patrols the forward line. Imagine having big Brodie clunking everything inside defensive 50 while Maysie, Petts and Rick smash their defenders in one on ones. Then you've got Gawny dominating the airways up forward with T-Mac and young Rooey smashing into every pack and clearing bodies for the skip.... And then it comes to centre bounces. The Carlton back up ruckman in Silvagni goes into the middle breathing a sigh of relief that he can see big Max down in the goal square, only to look across the circle to see big Brodie staring across at him. There will be no let off for opposition at stoppages. I would also feel a bit more comfortable with our game plan of kicking it long down the line when the opposition block our run when we have the two-headed Gawn/Grundy monster waiting to swallow the ball whole. I'm starting to get a little excited by the thought of BG coming to the reigning premiers actually.

Jackson sustained a pretty serious ankle injury in his last game for Box Hill. He had surgery and is looking at 4 months of re-hab. In his position, this is a pretty significant hurdle for him.