waynewussell

I left 5 minutes into final term. I wasn't prepared to watch Gibson tear us (another) new one! A few observations ... Thought we played selfish today from early on... case in point, Trengove marks at 45 early in first, Blease is wider but closer and well clear, running into pocket. Trengove sees him but elects to go back and take the shot. I think it went OOB on the full. Now Trenners, Blease needed you to show some faith. A goal to Blease at that point would have lifted him, given him a shot in the arm. Our short kicking was very ordinary. Spencer has to stop looking at the opposition ruckman as he contests the centre bounce. I'm surprised the umps aren't pinging him more often. He's a big lump of a lad who needs to get up as high as he can at the jump. I thought Fitzpatrick was more effective at the centre bounce when he took it. The foreign legion were still among our best on the day. Vince, Cross, Michie and Tyson were good to very good at times. Georgiou must be elevated. He can play on blokes that are taller than him. Strauss struggles on taller opposition. We need Georgiou while Garland is on the sidelines. Thought Trenners and Grimes made too many errors of judgement today. Dunn was our best out of defence but they all reverted to kicking long to the boundary, hoping for a throw in. Umpiring on holding the ball was ludicrous. I think it should be mandatory for AFL umpires to have played 50 games of senior football, somewhere, before getting a gig. Let them see how impossible it is to get the ball out when four or five blokes are piled on top holding it in.

Remarkable how the Fox commentators never quite got which was the scoring end! It was "all Cats in first quarter", "Demons somehow claw back in second", Cats showing their class in third, "Demons struggle to get within 13 points in fourth". We out possessed them throughout. Turnover Kings were M Jones and Toumpas. Did the umpires ever pay holding it against Cats? Blease was effective. Liked Michie. Hogan had presence. Watts was good on all but two occasions. Spencer is our number 1. Vince, Cross and Tyson made a big difference. Clisby should be in best 22. Barry not ready yet. Grimes & Trengove can do more. Tierlich was often very good.

The best way to handle this is to accept that he will go elsewhere... no emotional involvement, just enjoy his final season with the Dees. I repeat, "do not get emotionally involved".

Outstanding photographs... the best I have seen of AFL training. We are fortunate to have them. Thankyou...

Its a wet morning in Melbourne and I've wimped it!

Here's my top ten at training... I've only watched twice... Not intended to be a list of "best", just a list of those who impress with full pace repeat efforts. The sort of thing one does to get noticed by the coach. 1 James Strauss 2 Nathan Jones (doesn't need to impress coach any further - unless Captaincy is the motivator) 3 Jayden Hunt 4 Jay Kennedy-Harris 5 Jeremy Howe (can't help it - just good at everything) 6 Daniel Cross (see Jones) 7 Lynden Dunn 8 Jimmy Toumpas 9 Cameron Pederson 10 James Harmes

I forgot to mention that Garland wasn't out there at all.

The group that went inside earlier now back on the track, so everyone on list involved in something with the exception of Viney

Very impressive full-ground circuit work at sustained pace Cross, Vince, Jones, Strauss, Dunn, JKH, Blease, Hunt, Howe all looking good

Dom Tyson out of main group early now doing lap work with Tappy. Frawley, Kent, Barry, Dawes, Toumpas, Trenners, Salem having shots at goal.

One group gone in early including Grimes, Spencer, Nicholson, and a few others

Blease and Byrnes doing goal kicking routine with cardboard cut-outs on mark. JKH, watts & Evans doing body contact routine with padded arm bags

Most of rehab group seem close to full fitness in agility routines with the exception of Clark, who is doing a tame running on the spot and knee lift sequence

Haven't seen Roosy yet

At training now, only player not sighted is Viney. Rehab group is Jamar, Clark, Dawes, Fitz, Riley, Matt Jones, Tappy, Kent, Hogan, and Gawn

I watched Trengove on the run yesterday and I think references to his slowness are exaggerated. He looks slower than he is. The key for Trengove is fitness to run freely. When he is fit he moves well. He looks fitter to me, and whilst not being a speedster, he is every bit as mobile as Daniel Cross (who ain't no speedster either!)

Watts being the 137th best player in the AFL reminded me of the song, The Ballad of Irving, by Frank Gallop... He was short and fat, and rode out of the West With a Mogen David on his silver vest. He was mean and nasty right clear through, Which was kinda weird, 'cause he was yellow too. They called him Irving. Big Irving. Big, short Irving. Big short, fat Irving. The hundred and forty-second fastest gun in the West. A hundred and forty-one could draw faster than he, But Irving was looking for one forty-three. etc. etc.

Just to reiterate, Viney was burning but did not get through the session after bumping Evans half way through the session. Agree with BB on Toumpas, did everything he needed to do to be in midfield come NAB games. Same could be said for Cross, Watts, Trengove, Dunn, McDonald, Grimes, & Terlich. These guys along with the ones I mentioned in previous report are going to shape the team in pre-season games... barring injury!

McKenzie trained well. Nothing new here, but 100%, good tackles, yelling directions to newbies and trying hard to hit a target, which he managed to do on most occasions. Certainly ready to go at this stage.

Just got back. Had to leave after two hours because of Richmond parking restrictions. The boys were still going strong at 11:30am. Roos is back! Some observations... Viney was indeed training full throttle. His hit on Evans was the kind of thing you love to see in a game, but I reckon Evans feels it unnecessary in a training drill. Viney only knows one way. The product of this bump was that Evans went to the sidelines and resumed after 15 minutes. Viney eventually headed indoors with a rather forlorn look on his face (may have slight concussion - Evans seemed to have neck soreness). Standouts for me... Strauss - I still have question marks but his efforts at training today were first class. He was very quick and for sustained time, gave it everything. Spencer - I'm now glad he is the last big man standing. Could be a breakout year. (no sign of Jamar today) Michie - mature body, strong inside and ready to rock n roll. Frawley - bristling and fit Nat Jones - clean as a whistle in ball-handling Howe - great run, good foot skills Garland was with the rehab group today, along with Tappy, Clark, Dawes, Gawn, Hogan, Kent, Fitzpatrick and Aidan Riley (I think) Hogan seemed to be running okay... not 100% yet. I am pleased to report that Maia Westrupp is getting the hang of the game and trained well in the main group. Harmes and Hunt move well, very pacey and lots of upside. Good to see Clisby back with main group. Georgiou a capable ball-handler, runs hard, kicking not as bad as some have indicated. Tyson did enough to show he will help lift our midfield. Oh yeah, Bernie Vince is a gem!

Great report, tappysquads...thanks for that, got my footy fix for the day!

it seems rather childish to be name calling at this point in time. I think we all feel confident about PR's approach to training and to the assistants. Things did not work well under Neeld but it is silly to be abusive about that now!

I haven't posted for a while but the topic of what Roos sees in Dunn has sparked a reaction. We all cringe when Dunn tries to intimidate (although he had a reputation as a bit of a sniper in TAC). However, he does manage to have an impact in most of his games. Early on he established a reputation for kicking goals, sometimes multiples. Later he developed a reputation for annoying an opponent, and I'm all for this. The only problem was that he frequently gave away free kicks for diving on an opponent...going to ground... giving away an unnecessary free and being out of the contest. Through all of this he has been able to get his hands on the ball... he is still able to kick distance (one of the biggest kicks at the club in 2013). His stats are very good... just turns over the long kick on occasions when other shorter options are ignored. He has a good body and he has a good motor. If Roos can impart a bit of 'good decision making' then we have a weapon off half back.

The Hood, well spoken!

Buddy is no better than Allan Jakovich... he just has a better back!