Tough Kent

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.

For me, this is not about being bitter or angry. I love this team. They will forever be my sporting heroes. This is just my own honest assessments and views on our 2022 season. I started to worry after the trade and draft period. We brought in a one player, a fringe player from St. Kilda who could potentially crack our 22. “Don’t worry. The improvement will come from within!” we were told. Teams don’t stand still. That Geelong side we beat in the prelim are an 8 goal better side this year due to changes in personnel and a tweak in their game plan. I believe that we just thought incremental improvement would happen. Into the season. We were winning, but there were worrying trends. Failure to bury teams. Drop offs in games. Lack of cohesion going inside 50. Scoring was labour intensive. “That’s okay. We’ll click when it matters” we all thought. Then we started to play the good teams. Teams that were ravenously hungry. Teams that had studied us intensively for 2 years and had worked us out. Teams that out-hunted us, and ran across the top of the ground a lot better than us. Teams that knew that if they stayed in games against us, they could run over the top of us. Did we have a Plan B for such occasions? I’m not sure. The football world could see the issues. Lack of skill execution under pressure. Lack of cohesion going forward. Lack of reliable focal points in attack. Drop off in our pressure game. What was done about it in the second half of the year to buck these trends? Nothing. Goodwin was stubborn. He backed in his game plan. He backed in his core group of players. And by the time it got to last night, we were forced to play banged up players and players in questionable form because it was too late to bring in options from Casey. I am glad the season is over. Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy the year at all. My heart was telling me we could win the thing, but my eyes and brain were telling me something different. The players said all the right things about being hungry, but Sydney showed us last week what it means to be truly hungry for 4 quarters. It is so hard to go back to back. Am I excited for next year? Bloody oath! We finished 5th in a year where our forward line was broken. We led in 7 of our 8 losses by 20 plus points. When it mattered, our important players were banged up and not at their best. I believe that with a few changes to 22 after an aggressive trade period and some adjustments to the game plan, we can challenge again in 2023.

This is why I wouldn't be putting the house on Geelong to win the flag just yet. In 2022, Geelong played against teams in the current top 8 only 7 times. They haven’t played a current top 8 side twice. They also haven’t played a current top 8 side for 5 weeks and they’ve played West Coast and North twice. Melbourne have played against current top 8 sides 10 times this year. We’ve played Freo, Collingwood and Brisbane twice, and only played West Coast and North once.

The mystery of what caused the Nibbla vomit is solved. It was a punch in the guts, but not from [censored] face Zorko. It was Noah Answerth that got him.

I had a conversation with Jason Taylor at the President's Club on Friday night. He played a pretty straight bat. Me - "What's Dogga doing next year?" JT - "He's going okay, isn't he." I asked him again. JT - "We'll be good either way." Me - "How would Freo even come close to doing a deal if he does go? They'd have to get another club involved." JT - "We've been having these conversations for a while now. We'll do well out of it."

I could be wrong but did I see Andy Moniz-Wakefield in #41 and Blake Howes in #22 in that video?

The players return to training the next day so I reckon Dogga will be back from Perth.

I just got an email from the club. The 5th will push ahead. Details will be released this afternoon.

I love that we are no longer referred to as 'Melbourne' in print or TV articles. We are now 'the reigning premiers'.

Someone said after the GF that for a premiership side to get better, they need pressure to come on the 23 who played from those outside the team. Who will create that pressure for us? B: Deakyn Smith, Daniel Turner, Joel Smith HB: Jayden Hunt, Adam Tomlinson, Marty Hore(?) C: Fraser Rosman, Kye Declase (?), Osker Baker HF: Jake Melksham, Mitch Brown, Bailey Laurie F: Kade Chandler, Sam Weideman, Toby Bedford Rucks: Majak Daw, Luke Dunstan

I have seen very little from this under-sized small forward to get excited about. Please, I wouldn't give up a second round pick for him. He's just not that good.