The Devil Inside

He has been training strongly, not sure where he fits in the pecking order now, interestingly he no longer trains with the rucks when they work with Stafford, probably had done enough match time not to play last Saturday

Thanks , you are not overly critical The best are named by Casey, not even the coach Brayshaw did not dominate, if he did, I would be clamouring for his inclusion as well I am on the Brayshaw bus, but I want it parked at Casey for a few rounds so he starts to dominate and comes in in top form and confident Yes, JKH and Salem got chances early last year as a sub, but what alternatives did Roos have, players he had no faith in, Clisby, Blease, Strauss, Tapscott, besides which Salem who is now the half back saviour, was horrible for most part, but did a couple of exciting things, he was better towards the tail end of the season, same with JKH, a full preseason into both and I expect them to feature heavily Personally from what I have seen, I reckon you can also get excited about ANB, but want the same for him, has been out for over a month with his knee, did the whole session and didn't miss one kick or handball today

I know the rule about MFC players when the season proper has started, but does anybody know whether we can play as many players as we like in a praccy game without getting permission? If you are correct that we can play them all, then yes for most the challenge to get into the AFL team starts then for those who are not in for Rd1

I can understand all the emotion re Brayshaw, (and Roos may go with him), but there were occasions on Saturday where Brayshaw showed he was an 18 yr old in his first few senior games, think Roos wants the most experienced side he can muster so we can get off to a good start

I mean a practice game before a 'real' game GRRM, expect ANB to start at Casey, everybody is raving about Brayshaw, wait till they see ANB, bargain draft

Natural talent - you mean he can turn water into wine? or Wines He made quite a few basic skill and decision errors on Saturday in a VFL praccy game If him missing was the reason we lost against Essendon, then we are in big trouble Also sees my answer to HH

Mainly because the majority of the Casey players are inexperienced as well, and you would expect Brayshaw to stand out as to where he was drafted Brayshaw has also not done a full pre season, he started a month after everybody else, and has had a couple of light weeks because of concussion MIchie was the best MFC player last Saturday against Willy, didn't make an error, but everybody only sees Brayshaw He is going to be a really good player, but let him earn his place in the team from 3 or 4 BOG at Casey in the real stuff

Six or seven, still going along hoping we win each game though, Roos needs another year

On Hunt, I think they have seen the potential in him and want to get his back right, like they did with Hogan, so they are handling him with kid gloves, McCartney was in his ear, revving him up, must be a very frustrated footy player at the moment, hopefully he can get on the park sooner rather than later, he only has this year, unless they take a chance On the other fitness news, Terlich will have a run with Casey this weekend, so only Hunt, Petracca, Trengove will probably miss out on a practice game , as they are looking at ANB for the last Casey praccy game in a fortnight

Not sure with any of them, not sure how disappointing Bail has been, only real poor game was Essendon and nobody covered themselves in glory in that one apart from Garlett If somebody asked me to name "my definites" for Rd 1 from what I have seen at training and games and trying to second guess Roos, I would go with N.Jones, Lumumba, Tyson, Salem, Jetta, Dunn. Tommy Mc, Jamar, Hogan, Garlett, Cross..and then the rest I have no idea...maybe only Watts and Howe, so the other 9 or 10 not sure, Bail and Matt Jones were in last year, so maybe they will be there this year at the beginning

I asked him whether he thought he would be playing on Saturday, Roos has given no inkling as yet, said all he can do is play and train and wait and see like everybody else, like the rest of the team, thinks the competition for spots will make the team better, the culture of team first is slowly being ingrained, personally I don't think he has done much wrong this pre season, I wouldn't be disappointed if he was picked

No that is the one thing we need not worry about, every single player has told me they are the fittest they have ever been, just to see Spencer trundle his now massive frame up and down the ground for 2 and a half hours tells me they are fitter The issue we have with maintaining intensity for four quarters is above the shoulders on most players, when you speak to them this is the one thing that frustrates all of them, they know it is the issue, but it is fixing it that remains the challenge for both them and the coaches, we tend to switch off and get goals kicked against us, everybody from Nathan Jones to James Harmes acknowledges this Hopefully with a bit more experience on the field this year especially in the shape of HL we can stop these lapses, even Roos made mention of it in his presser this morning

Thought of another conversation I had, as to the individualised training programs, Mitch White has no idea why he didn't play on Saturday, just told his program required him not to He and Nev Jetta did a bit of one on one work at the end of the session, Mitch must be a pretty strong already, he more than held his own against Nev

From Roos' presser, he will be considered, Can't see it myself, saw him 'live; on Saturday, yes he is going to be a really really good player, but let's leave him at Casey to develop properly

I reckon with all this going on, Mahoney/Roos/Misson will be making sure the players tell them if they take as much as a Panadol Which bit of "you will be tested on a regular basis" aren't some of these players getting

Also had a chat to Jade Rawlings, agreed it was going to be difficult at match committee to get the balance right between role and quality, asked who I would pick, and then told me my first pick would be Nev Jetta, not sure how he knew that haha. Same as the rest of us, looking forward to seeing what the younger brigade can bring

Also spoke to Fiitzy , is enjoying the defensive role, not sure why the move back forward in last quarter on Saturday, but only a praccy game Also Jack Watts was unshaven with a week's growth, told him it had to go game day, no distractions

Bit of colour, obviously Jayden Hunt is still having issues with his back. Brendan McCartney went over to participate in a couple of drills with him and have a chat - all the talk is about Roos and Goodwin, whoever decided to get McCartney as well, needs thanking.

There were no dramas when he turned up, so assume it was planned

Roos and Vince had a chat for about ten minutes before the session started, seemed animated Spoke to Bernie afterwards, didn't bring this up, but he said he pulled up fine, apart from a couple of the Willy players trying to take his head off when they had the chance, he looks fine, so does Howe, who trained really strongly again, obviously saying to Roos pick me

Who was missing Petracca Trengove Garlett turned up about 1 hr into the session Only one in rehab Hunt ANB joined in full session again Mainly stoppages and ball movement again Those who played for Casey didn't train with main group and left early Vince pulled up really well Good solid session again with big numbers on the track, Howe trained strongly again, tested out the hamstring when doing marking with bag work at the end, cocked one up and took a heavy landing, bounced up to much laughter Any questions feel free Pics on Demonpk

My take. was watching on far side most the game, listening to McCartney coach from the hill Michie - was best Melbourne listed player today, you have to watch him specifically to notice him, think that's his problem, no fuss Brayshaw - can see the hype, some of his play was a notch above, still a lot of silly mistakes, still needs a couple more at Casey, nearly killed himself in one contest Riley - first game, in and under, his disposal has improved Kent - couldn't get involved, explosive offensively when he did, poor defensively King - a work in progress, showed glimpses Vandenberg - what you see is what you get a big bodied forward/midfielder who has potential JKH - some really good stuff, some ordinary when he tried too much Fitzpatrick - was doing really well down back, not sure why he was moved forward Vince - knocked the rust off, tried not to get hurt, got better as the game went on

"Think Howie feels he owes the club, could still be an electrician in Dodges Ferry if we hadn't taken the punt" That is how he told me he feels, not me surmising about whether he would have been drafted or not.

No it was legitimate, I spoke to Howie about it at the start of pre season, was asked was he interested in talking to them and gave an immediate and flat no One thing I like about Roos, is there is no sentiment in anything, he knows the game has changed and will do anything he thinks is the right thing for the club, including making everybody tradeable. Think Howie feels he owes the club, could still be an electrician in Dodges Ferry if we hadn't taken the punt, but if the Club gets an offer it can't refuse, who knows?

The Boyd move changed the whole landscape, followed by GriffenUnfortunately I think we are going the way of European soccer where the managers are driving the change Howe immediately knocked back an 11th hour trade to GWS last year Not sure if they come knocking again with a ridiculous offer, might be too good to refuse, of course he needs a good year as well Depends on what he sees as the future with MFC Interesting the blurb said his manager was 'testing the market' From what I have seen and heard from him, he is very happy at MFC, but then again one of his best mates still is Chip Frawley From now on I won't believe anything about players contracts anymore until the end of the trade/draft period next November (a new troll I see, may read if I need a laugh)