Tough Kent

As good a player is Gawny is, check the stats on our ability to win the ball from stoppages. He's hitting it, but for whatever reason, we aren't dominating clearances. There's a real lack of cohesion in there. I'm all for Gawn spending 2 or 3 centre bounces a quarter in our square, hoping we win the clearance and then releasing him up the ground.

Forward. He got on to the end of a few and kicked a few goals. He presented really well and seemed to be moving a better.

Thanks mate. Rosman trained with the mids and was used as a wingman. He covers the ground very well and I couldn't believe how he was passing some accomplished runners in the interval stuff. He got his hands on the footy a bit during match sim and definitely didn't panic. His ball drop is unique, but he was certainly trying to spot up targets in wet and greasy conditions. They work with this kid and I think he will become a player.

He looks fantastic. Lean, engaged and he mopped up everything. I'm not sure why he was taken from the main group to work with one of the fitness staff, but he did a heap more running and work whilst there so he is definitely fit.

They both trained with the mids. It was interesting watching them in the drills where they were up directly against Trac, Oliver and co. JJ in particular held his own and broke away from a couple of contested situations with the footy in hand. JJ AND Nieta did the interval running together and are very similar in size and running ability.

Thanks mate. BB seems to be moving quite well and wasn't restricted at all. I watched him closely in one on one duels and we certainly won't be relying on him to take contested marks. Maysie had his measure in the square and moved him around quite easily. Brown is very vocal on the ground and was definitely happy to have input into discussions around ball movement into the 50.

Thanks mate. Petty did the whole session. Hibbo was in a tracksuit top and didn't do much at all outside of some light ball handling. James Harmes was the only player that I didn't spot today.

I got down to Casey today. It was good to be back watching the boys live. I waltzed into the ground and moved around at will, until Benny Gibson came over and told me I was welcome to stay, but that I had to stay in a certain part of the ground. So I stood just in front of Jeff Farmer and Matty Whelan who were on the hill chatting for hours! Some observations: -Brayshaw, Pickett and Lockhart made up the re-hab group. (Although vandenBerg and May spent time working away from the group with the fitness staff.) Gus did quite a bit of light running and kicking. They ran Kozzie into the ground. -Jordan Lewis was there today. He even did the interval running with the players at the end of training. -Choco ran a drill early where the focus was on kicking. He was very vocal and dead against players kicking around corners. -Clayton Oliver was wearing a pink hat at training. I'm not sure why, but I overheard he was wearing it because he came first in something. -T-Mac was a stand out for me. He marked and moved well. He seemed to be involved in everything. -Jake Lever was by far the most vocal on the ground. He likes dropping the f-bomb, does old Jake. -Jayden Hunt was training with the defenders. Melksham was with the mids and spent a lot of time out on the wing in match sim. -Kobe Farmer and Deakyn Smith were training with the group. Both looked lively at times without standing out. -A lot of the drills were focussed around ball movement, defensive structures and delivering the ball inside 50. There was a lot of stopping of the play by coaches to talk through the way players were setting up on the ground at various times. I'm happy to answer any questions.

I'm not someone who obsesses over DFAs and would generally give an untried kid a spot on the list through the draft, but Schultz is a tackling machine and would be our best defensive forward straight away. He always looks threatening around goal, and at the feet of Brown, Weideman and Jackson, he may get more opportunities than he would at Freo. Surely a 2 year deal, a return to Victoria and a spot on our list would trump a year on Freo's rookie list?

What are you waiting for?? Go and have a froth or two and see what you can find out. It's your Demonly duty.

My concern with a Weideman/Brown forward line would be the lack of defensive pressure once the ball hit the ground. Both of these blokes apply very little heat on defenders when they have the pill.

WB - If it's not too much trouble I'd love you to PM me the article. I just rushed up to the shop to buy the HS only to get home and discover it's in tomorrow's edition.

Oliver not happy with the lack of success and direction at Melbourne, so he decides to fraternise with Carlton... Okay. This is their 45th rebuild since 1995. If I was chasing stability and a club that was guaranteed to be at the pointy end of things in the short term I'd be heading to Carlton too. (Insert sarcasm emoji here.) Anyone see the irony in this?

The thread has gone very cryptic all of a sudden.

If you are a bit unsure about Polec can I suggest you go back and watch the highlights from our Round 23 game against North in 2019. I was in Hobart for that one and I remember watching Polec that day and thinking "This bloke is exactly what we lack". In a 5 point win for North he had 29 possessions and kicked 2 goals 2 in a BOG display in which he was the difference. I just remember his ball use being really good on a windy day where others struggled to hit targets. Maybe my judgement is clouded by this display, but if he can bring some of that to the table, well I'm in.

Me too, if possible. Much appreciated.

Why does going after Smith preclude us from going after talented kids? I thought having a balanced list was key?

The club might not have much say in this one. If you're told that there is no opportunity in the mid-field or on a wing, you'll have to fight for your spot as a defensive forward and there will be no guarantee for a contract beyond next year, you'd probably get your manager putting the feelers out too.

I'd love to know what people's definition of soft is? If it means not getting sucked into the contest at every single opportunity like 90% of our mids (bees to the honeypot) then I'm all for soft.

I've got a feeling they're going to have to think outside the square here. Are there any crash and bash big meat heads in the state leagues who compete in the air and on the ground like their life depends on it?

We really do overrate our own in here. In the last 4 years, Merrett has won 2 BF, finished runner up and come third. He is an All-Australian and 3 times made the Under 22 team of the year. He is a very, very good player who would instantly make our team better. He is an outside player who has been forced to play an inside role due to Essendon's needs. He would be our wingman for the next 8 years. Apart from one good year, what has Brayshaw achieved? And people think a straight swap is fair? Crazy. Merrett was forced out of Essendon's leadership group last year by their players because he was considered too driven to succeed and he needed to work on building relationships with teammates. These are not problems Brayshaw has. We would demand Brayshaw and a late first/early second round pick.

I generally let him be with rumours and stuff. But that throw away, unaccountable comment from McLure was eating away at me. I'm just glad there is no substance to it.

I exchanged texts with one of the players this morning. I asked him about Clayton and he said it was crap and he asked me where I'd heard the rumour. (He hasn't tuned into any footy related media since Sunday.) When told it was Sam McLure who started the rumour, he said that Sam loves a headline and not to read anything into it.(He then inserted a Pinocchio emoji which I thought looked exactly like Sam.)

Brown - contract next year

I'm unsure of who is in and out. I do know that ANB has been named but needs to get through training with a sore hip.