The Devil Inside

Fellow posters, I have been saying from training we are making sure we 'build' the young guys properly, there is no rush, I for one, am not at all surprised King kicked 5, never misses at training, and Harmes got to play in the midfield without Michie, Riley. ANB or Tyson in there as well and shone, just let the coaching staff get on with the building

I wonder when his recurrent dislocation of the patello-femoral joint will happen again?

The medicos have fixed that issue, I asked him, just unlucky first up

As for the comments on his fitness, he is another Cross, trains when he doesn't have to, both he and Stretch were really fit when they arrived at the club

I am almost reluctant to ask but given that Toumpas and JW are mentioned what about the rest of the squad.

If you watched last night Port andCats played at an intensity that would be foreign to most of our squad.

While it might be pleasing that Roos bellowed at them at one stage (reported by TDI) the players running around within their own comfort zonemaynotbe the best training. I have a lot of faith in Roos, the coaching team and the players but have seen them fail to impose and react to pressure. They need to learn this and apply their fitness and skill under pressure.

Was there an appreciable level of intensity at this training session?

No training is about carrying out a task/role/skill over and over until it becomes second nature, then when the pressure comes you can still carry it out, we are getting there, Roos gave himself three years, it is only year 2, out best is a lot better, he is working on the worst, his pet peeve is players not listening, you will see Plapp mention 'coachable' and 'listens' in his reviews. We have a realy good coaching panel now, if the players listen to it we will get somewhere. When Roos bellowed, he and Goodwin had spent a couple of minutes explaining something, the players ignored it, not surprised he went off

Definitely, it's not easy to land a job these days......

Especially when you turn up to the interview on a scooter

The scoot is a good selling point, it shows I am a well balanced individual

One of the questions was "demonstrate how you can handle a difficult situation, can be either real or imagined", I said I am a semi regular contributor to Demonland", they said "the job is yours"

Can I ask if you know - do the players know at the last training session who will wear the vest or is that decided on the day of the game ?

(i.e does ANB know he will starting or subbing ?)

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't, spoken to a few of them, depends on weather forecast, changes to opposition etc, would assume ANB will be sub, seems the Roos way, although Billings has just dropped out of the Saints side, may change the thinking

Saty do you think Stretch will play?

Not sure, would be good if he did with ANB, bit like Jones and Brayshaw now, Billy and ANB combine really well

What did the hammie group do in that 30 minutes? Gentle laps? Any hints as to whether they are all 426??

vanders and Salem walked laps and did a bit of handball, Kent was running on far side of oval

I asked him outright and he said yes

He also led the warm up lap when training started to a lot of banter, plus the handshake, plus the confirmation with me, expect him to debut

Other points from training, the hamstrung group, Salem, Vandenberg and Kent did about 30 minutes and then left

During one of the match sim/ball movement drills Roos got very angry and 'bellowed', unlike his usual approach, think it was a case of the players completely ignoring what he and Goodwin had just told them

Toumpas looks a completely different character at training now, a lot more relaxed, think he is getting used to being in the team and will continue to improve

I asked him outright and he said yes

He was training. If they think he's ready, I guess they'll play him. I saw nothing to suggest one thing or the other.

I did

Didn't see anything to suggest that ANB will play this week ? I have been very impressed with the crop of 2014 debuts and have high hopes for this kid. This season may be lost in regards to finals but witnessing the 1st year impact and talent that Vanders, Stretch, Brayshaw are putting out gives me high hopes for a better 2016.

I did

One of the assistant coaches shook the hand of ANB at the ens of training if that means anything?

The final team is usually advised to the players after training. Probably good news for the kid.

I would not be 'surprised' if ANB debuts

Its a Sophie's choice dilemma. To me Watts is like a virus in the team. His lack of efforts, his inability to win critical one-on-one contests, his refusal to put his body on the line, his refusal to pick up his man (and point to everyone else to do so), is a festering sore in the team ethic. 'Why should I go if he doesn't', 'He doesn't put effort in and gets selected I am sick of it', 'Why should I bust my arz and drive the ball forward only to see it come back because Watts couldn't win the one on one'. etc etc.

I like Watts with the ball in his hand, He is an elite decision maker and his delivery skills are something we severely lack. But I struggle with his negatives and think on balance they outweigh his positives. You must have players that can win their position and Watts in 100 games has done that maybe 3 times? Even if it was 10 times its simply not good enough.

Grimes on the other hand is a fearless warrior with shocking disposal. This can be just as debilitating for a team when we are running clear with the ball and he kicks it OOB on the full or turns it over. Granted he seems to have improved this but its a highly limiting factor if you can't keep posession of the ball and keep turning it over.

So they both have fatal flaws. But on balance I would take Grimes over Watts any day because he can win his position and his effort and grunt are critical to a team ethic that we have to develop more.

Hyperbole to die for

Some of the comments etc re King are the reasons I have stopped contributing on here

He is a 19yr old ruckman/forward, we have the opportunity to build him from the ground up

I have spoken to the coaches, he hasn't got the physique just yet to compete against the ruckman he would come up against in the seniors at VFL level, he needs at least another year

They are playing him as a forward as he is a good kick, as can be seen from his consistent goalvscoring up to now, because we have had fit ruckmen, the thinking is he gets more game time in the Development league at the moment

They will obviously assess his progress at the end of the year, just at the moment they are more than happy with his development

From training you will find Spencer and Michie playing for Casey today

Toump trained really well, confidence is growing

Was that role to: search, kill, destroy everything and anything that lays in the path of him getting the football? If so, then MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, Aaron.

That's what was liked about him when they were watching before we got him, only rookie though, always the chance he couldn't lift to AFL level, which has now been put to bed in a big way

As for the set shots on goal, I think that is a rule now, unless there is somebody completely open

What was that?

Something slightly rude

I was at the game last week ( a rare event) and while pleased with the win and the visible evidence of some of my feelings, I was never confident that there would not be a turnaround until about bugler time.

The players still seemed to lose concentration at times and forgot the little things that made them competitive and put them in front.

They need to play with intensity for the whole game as any drop off in effort is exploited and the momentum can quickly swing.

Forward line pressure at the start was apalling and it seemed the crowd from the fence to level 3 were all aware of it. Yelling for players to lock it in, man up, pressure. These tactics worked as the doggies were forced into mistakes. In defence and in the middle the pressure on opponents was generally more sustained.

It was to me the example of intensity on your opposition that resulted in poor disposal and provided turnovers that we were able to exploit. added to the scoreboard pressure as the dogs scored badly we began to get more confident.

it isnt about feeling good its about performing under intense pressure.

Pressure on getting named in a successful side means greater intensity at training and better performance in the intensity of a match.

Sorry for that long preamble.

But was there a more intense and competitive attitude at training than usual TDI?

I don't mind your preamble, but that is the whole point of where we are at now, from what I can see there are only 3 teams at the moment who can maintain the rage for the whole 4 quarters, Sydney, Hawthorn and Freo, West Coast and GWS are using speed of movment at the moment, but other teams will fgure that out as they have done with Port

We are a long way off, the intensity at training counts for nought, in fact Roos stresses getting the skills right at training rather than the intensity, you need the intensity during the game and if your skills are good, you won't be putting yurself under pressure

I'm just really pleased to hear that the mood is very upbeat - if they are happy, less likely to leave at end of year (Howe/Garland etc.).. We are in with a big chance

Go Dees

Told Howie that was right next to him in the crowd for his hanger at the weekend, and was going to offer him pen on way down.......got the reply i thought it would, just thought Garlo wasn't training, means nothing these days, Garlett wasn't there last week for last session

I haven't been driven off, will still do the training reports, and that's all, the rest of the topics bore me now, same subjects discussed 1000 ways

Of course spoke to both Nev and Jack, neither sure at the moment, both said the team thing, will be hard to replace a fellow player who played their role and the team won, but of course both want to be named, especially Nev

Training was on again, same drills as per the last few weeks, ball movement, ball movement, ball movement, with designated kickers and more and less defenders

Tyson and Jamar only ran laps

Whole squad very upbeat, the skills today were very good, with the normal one or two errant kicks and handballs

Viney looks ready to tear somebody apart

Jeff Garlett arranged a performance by Indigenous dancers at the end of the session, lot of footy dept and admin staff attended

The boots that Jeff is going to wear on Saturday are cool, put a pic on Twitter later

Complimented Fitzy on his game, said he is really enjoying the role down back, same with Aaron vandenBerg, really enjoyed the role he was given

Any questions as per the norm

Pics on Twitter Demonpk later

OUT:

M.Jones - did well, but given the concussion combined with the 6 day break and flight, he won't play

Bail - can't believe people are trying to say he had a good game, he may done part of his job defensively, but you need more than 5 disposals, 3 tackles, missed his only chance on goal, which was crucial

Newton or Riley - either would be a bit stiff, but one will need to make way if all of Jetta, Viney and Tyson are fit

IN:

Jetta

Viney

Tyson

Crucial for him? Crucial for you? Crucial for the end result?

Me I would leave Tyson out, let him get a bit of touch at Casey for a week

Call me old fashioned, but I dislike the way folks speak so harshly about their players. We are all blessed or not blessed with differences of intellect, skills, aptitude etc. It may be a supporters site but we should not write with such disdain and contempt about people just because they are footballers and seen as expendable. Sure talk about trades but do we need to be so harsh in our reasons.....no skills, hopeless etc? Would you like to be described in this way?

No of course they wouldn't, they would complain about being attacked personally, you are like me and a bit old fashioned, it says more about modern society unfortunately

Bail & Jones did their jobs. If you'd seen much of Footscray this year you'd know that so much of the Dog's attack this season has been generated by the run & distribution off half back by Murphy, Johanniesen & Wood. Our two "spuds" significantly reduced their impact. Good planning from Roos.

I had to trawl backwards through the pages to find this, nice to see someone else who actually watches the game and not the stats

As for the question "what game were you watching", it depends on how much they can see from the bar

Fitzy key defender....one game YES.........Spencer working his way into the season....YES

Pretty sure Matt Jones and Terlich are contracted? At this stage i'd probably add Jamar and Riley to the list though. Also Max King and Jayden Hunt will both need to show something at VFL level before the season is out.

As for Trengove, i can't see any takers given his injury history. I'll back him in to make a full recovery and become a vital cog in our midfield rotation.

"Gee I am sick of MFC not developing players properly", so let's rush a guy who has had a serious back injury and a 19 yr old who is still leaning his craft, this post is one of the reasons I love Demonland and its posters

Any idea of the team TDI?

Out of Gawn, Fitzy, Riley, Newton, Stretch, Toumpas, Bail did any particular 4 do more training in one spot or the other? You've got 2 hours to take an educated guess?

Any ideas for positions of Grimes, Lumumba (Wing or half back), Fitzy (back/ruck?) or otherwise?

How was the voice/energy? I hope the guys have shook off a bad few weeks and can go in confident.

Fitzy was minding Pedersen in the ball movement drills, but then Terlich was on Hogan, so I wouldn't read too much into it, as jimcor said the players were prretty upbeat, they always go in confident, they wouldn't be AFL players if they didn't, it is maintaining that confidence for 4 quarters that is the issue

Fitzy & Newton not listed in the Scorps squad. Definite ins?

Who knows these days, Fitzy played a straight bat when I asked him, Newton actually looked fresher, if that makes sense