The Devil Inside

No think his confidence took a battering with the 'head ducking' incident, most tend to forget that he is still very inexperienced at AFL level despite his age, think he found his feet again under Roos, again not sure where he fits in the 22, never gives less than 100% at training or in the games so Roos knows he can depend on him

Welcome aboard the reporting bandwagon, great first report, love watching the backline, a solid unit, least of our worries As for the moderate training session, most gave it a 7 which is out of 10 so yes you are right, Friday was between 8 (Cross) and 9 and a half (I won';t say who, coz I think he was joking?)

Carrying on from the midfield issue, where do you play Lumumba, is he in the 6, same with Salem and Toumpas, or in the backline or on the bench, as I keep saying difference from the past, 30 odd players fit and firing in February Spoke to Jade Rawlings today, complimented him on how the backline looks so solid, he even said, he is going to have a problem deciding which 6 or 7 are in the 22, said that was great rather than a problem

McCartney is all around the ground, a word here, a gesture there, a good pick up I reckon They are both professionals My order at the moment from what I have seen at training, Ruffles might like a go as well - 1.Jones 2.Tyson 3. Cross 4.McKenzie 5 Newton 6.Michie, - Bernie has to get out of rehab,, but then you have to fit in Matt Jones or Bail, do they occupy a spot in the forward line?, haven't put a foot wrong either

If he can get the gastro under control, he said his body actually will enjoy the break from training, he never looks out of place and has good skills As myself and other watches of training have mentioned, the kicking skills have improved mainly because they have nice simple targets to kick to, Matt Jones, Terlich, McKenzie, Nev Jetta, Cross, McKenize are never going to produce 60-70 metre cross field, zone splitting passes, but if they look up and there is a free man who has gut run to be 20 metres in front of them they can move it on, that is the difference at the moment, hopefully the running will transfer to game day and the kicking

Ruffles, Petracca was good to watch today wasn't he, what you want to see, a young guy improving every session

Roos has been building 'his team' for two years now, he must be licking his lips at the competition for spots there is going to be, from what I have seen, each week we will get what Roos considers to be the best 22 at that moment, regardless of name, reputation or age...woe betide if you don't play your role, you will get to know Casey very well

Watts has had a groin issue, I think they have been very very conservative with his return, there is always the danger of OP, they are doing the same with Bernie Vince, he was due back today but they made him wait another session before returning to full training, had a good natured whinge to me, used my joke about knowing every blade of grass around the edge of the oval personally

No from what I see at training they will have a different tole, looking at Toumpas half back/wing, Petracca up forward We will be spoilt for choice in the middle, Michie, Newton, McKenzie, Riley, Viney, Cross were all solid today, with Matt Jones already mentioned, that's if you think Nate Jones and Tyson are picked

What has got me optimistic is everybody is putting their hand up for Round 1 if they are fit, Petracca has just stood out the last couple of sessions. I reckon a sub appearance as a forward would give him a taste, he is bound to feature in the NAB cup anyway. Vandenberg, Billy Stretch are doing everything now, don't think Oscar Mc will get a gig early, defence is too settled, but he is a work in progress anyway Neal Bullen and White are on comeback trail at the moment Harmes from last year has not put a foot wrong post Xnas either Just over 30 players out on the track again for full session With all the talk of the new players,from what I have seen, Matt Jones will not be stepping aside to let one of them in the team, think he is the ultimate Roos role player at the club and Roos likes what he brings

No Pedo is thriving, all the big men love the new diet, they are feeling leaner but stronger, Pedo is never going to be ripped, but he has no issues with the training, during the ball movement Roos has the big men up and down the ground (Note it is not the personal insults, that is just childish, it is the constant carping, I find it boring, my lovely lady convinced to keep posting)

No training wasn't cancelled Not there King, Trengove, Bail - everybody else made an appearance of some sort Hunt came, looked around and left after discussion with fitness staff Neal Bullen back on the track, did a bit of running, he is feeling really good Brayshaw is the latest poor sod to be struck with gastro, tried to train, he could laugh about it though Vince, White, Watts, Howe (lifted his running speed again), Fitzy (on a deload day) and Garlo (with a bit of back tightness) all in rehab, Ball movement/offensive drills again for most of the session, did a bit of running at the end, seemed to be an adlib it, Roos had to leave, so assume the last drill was cancelled and running substituted, lots of players stayed on after 'official' session was over doing bits and pieces, last off just for a change Cross, McKenze, Grimes, Vandenberg and Pedersen who seems to have joined their group Petracca is certainly putting his hand up, stand out today along with Matt Jones (again), Kent, Hogan, Lumumba and Grimes Any questons again feel free

To give reasons why, it is not the personal insults, that's just like the schoolyard where the kid wants to big note himself, they end up falling over in the end I am just getting bored with a small minority sniping at everything and everybody, some think they are being funny, they're not, I am guilty myself sometimes of retaliating, but so are others who just get sick of the same minority, you can only turn the other cheek so many times I am nearly over Demonland The AGM thread turned into a tanking debate, that was over ages ago, the AGM was a positive experience for most, but can it just be like that, hell no let's start raking up history again We have a thread about Colin Sylvia, who gives a flying, he ceased to be a player two years ago, let's dedicate a thread or topic to Jack Fitzpatrick, an easy target on here, who has persevered through Chronic Fatigue, serious shoulder issues and Diabetes to keep himself on the list, when others, supposedly a lot better player than him, are being delisted. Let's debate what size balls he has to keep rocking up I tried to provide a bit of a more personal insight into the training, obviously this is not appreciated by some, I am not sure why, perhaps instead of just sniping , they would like to explain why I just tried to provide a bit of colour to anybody, who unlike the lucky few, can't actually get to a training session We have some really good reporters as well, which I acknowledge, Ruffles and George on the Outer, to name a couple, going to the same session, I don't agree with some things they write, but I can write why and they debate it the whole idea of a forum The other thing I allowed was for myself to be identified, both in writing and in photographs, I have nothing to be ashamed of I don't hide behind a keyboard or nickname, I have no respect whatsoever for those that do and snipe at those that don't

Thanks WJ, I will be there tomorrow, but I am afraid there will be no further postings from me, whatever I glean from the players from now on will be kept to myself, or those I chat to, to everybody who follows me on Twitter, I will still be posting the pictures This should solve the problem for the mods, nobody needs the garbage that occurs, hopefully a few others will attend and give a run down on what happened,

In answer to the question about the 6 or 7 wins, Roos has completely revamped the team, I am starting to see a Roos coached team at training, I told him as much at the AGM. But who is the best 22, can we get a forward line up and running and working cohesively from Rd 1, similar to the midfield, defence I am not particularly worried about, it is a solid unit that has been together for a while now It will still take time, we have two good x factor players in Lumumba and Garlett, but the rest of the team need to learn to play to that Are all the offensive drills that Roos has been getting them to do over and over going to translate to game day There are still too many variables for me to predict/guess/hope for more than 6 or 7 wins, and that is after watching and playing footy for 37 years But who knows if it suddenly clicks and we have the whole team/squad on the same page and all in form and uninjured. We are going to improve but I am with PJ maybe a final or two, in 2016, if it clicks I will dancing all over East Melbourne and Collingwood after games this year

His mention of the 'fines' he had incurred since he first started, they love winding him up, he has a bright and bubbly personality so is not the type to sulk Gawny used to be a similar target

The only problem I have DD, is you are not stood next to me when I chat to the players, I don't hang over the fence, I don't have to, I can approach the players and ask questions, the answers I get are usually found later to be correct I don't coach, that's Roos' job, I just ask how they are travelling or a question another poster wants me to ask Tappy was happy to discuss, I had been talking since he was first drafted, I spoke to him this year when he was delisted, we again chatted about the hope his body would stay together so he could have a crack at it, unfortunately it didn't The only thing that would depress players would be reading some topics on here, but they don't as one of the players told me "it is full of negativity", I have convinced them otherwise and can get some info to share Personally I don't care if they laugh at me "behind closed doors" as you say, I get the [censored] taken out of me to my face by them, its all good fun, and I have a go at them, Seems to be you that has the problem with this not me or the players If I didn't have a good rapport with them, I doubt the 'guns' pics would happen, but then I don't need to explain myself to you, but thought I would

Yes but he wimped out of the guns photo haha...think because of his personality, he has become a bit of a target amongst the players, but seems to take it all in his stride, no when I first spoke to him he thought himself he was carrying too much weight was just waiting to see what the club thought

I put it here rather than in the training thread, I spoke to him on Friday about this, he is following Jack Grimes' lead, he has been plagued with foot and ankle injuries, he knows there is serious competition for spots, he just wants to be selfish and get back to where he was a couple of years ago without any distractions, said Jack is better at handling the leadership group activities as well as his own form. So that is his answer

Daniel Rich, another one with many tears shed over on here It was in the paper the other day the Club intends to trim down Petracca to a playing weight of between 88 and 90k, he was 98k on arrival

Footy is just starting to catch up with other sports world wide, loyalty is the exception rather than the rule now I do find it rather funny though that most on here wouldn't give it a second thought if somebody came to us and said I will pay you twice what you are getting now and you have a chance for success, and yet we continually bemoan players doing the same thing now, it's their job

(That's jut silly and derailing what has been an excellent thread for a change) Pic 6 is Harmes The snap from Spencer went through And Toumpas pulled that in one handed Bloody excellent pics O50, Six was there as well so readers will be spoilt this session Yes I got one of Hogan doing it!!!!!!

Tyson said he has no guns, hence the silliness, Chris Dawes at the back surprised me, but it is all good clean fun As for Kent, he hasn't done the full pre season, had an issue early on, but he is 'overjoyed' to be back at full power, his words, he has been busy in the gym as well Will be off line til tomorrow arvo, any other questions let me know, and I will answer them then, just one point I can see why we went with Brendan McCartney, already having an impact at training, Goodwin will be in good hands, trained by Roos and mentored by McCartney. When the match simes are on doesn't matter where you are on the field, there is a coach watching and talking, another interesting bit, they were a bit short today for match sim, think they wanted more numbers, they break up squad into 3 teams, Brad Miller played in one side and gave a few defenders anxious moments

Nah, this is a player driven thing, they 'fine' each other for appearing in newspapers etc,, the poor bugger has been all over the newspapers, keeps them grounded, Salem was all for doing something silly and conned Tyson into it as well....Petracca was with Jesse Hogan who thought it was hilarious

He could be anything, he doesn't look out of place, reckon Roos will have a good look during the NAB Cup, he was last off again today working with Cross and McKenzie