DemonDave

Interesting to see that Maynard is already on the coaches radar from his presser quotes today. For a player, as a Category B rookie, to have not even played an official VFL game yet, he must've seriously impressed the hierarchy with his improvement. For the track watchers, or those that have seen the VFL practice matches, can anyone tell me where he's being primarily playing?

More like a squad of closer to 30, given this is our current injury/unavailable list: Melbourne injury list: round three Colin Garland (knee) – season Michael Hibberd (Achilles) – 1-2 weeks Jesse Hogan (suspension) – 2 weeks Liam Hulett (hip) – 1 week Mitch King (knee) – 3 weeks Jordan Lewis (suspension) – 3 weeks Pat McKenna (hamstring) – 6-8 weeks Joel Smith (shoulder) – 3-4 months Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – 6-8 weeks Given that Tim Smith has been mentioned a couple of times by Goodwin in the press already, you'd think the subliminal hints are that he'll debut this week. It seems from reports Pedo Bear has been underwhelming so he may well pinch that spot. Vince for Lewis / Smith for Hogan / Kent for Hannan for mine

This! Was the most eye opening tactic I've seen for some time. Without wading through the game day thread amazed no-one else has bought this up. At times in the 2nd & 3rd quarters we even had a 9 man backline for centre bounces. Having just watched the replay on tv I'm amazed none of the so- called expert commentators picked up on this tactic, and certainly if you only watched it on tv the camera angles have no indication as to just how often this was happening. Would love to see the behind the goal camera footage of this setup.

Strange that Hannan didnt see a minute of JLT action, yet they feel he's going to be good enough to survive the cut and thrust at AFL level. The only other fit non key-position players, apart from the 3 emergencies, are realistically Trengove, Kennedy and first year players Johnstone and McKenna, so we dont have a lot of midfield depth at the moment. While Spencer had a terrific pre-season, the fast deck of Etihad means it was too much of a risk to play him, Gawn, Hogan, Weideman and Watts in the same side. Hopefully next week Tyson & Kent put their hands up for selection.

What I dont understand is, after say 2 or 3 weeks of inadequate training intensity they didn't pull Watts aside, tell him to lift his training standards or he'd face the consequences, rather than let him plod along for a few months and then inform him he's in the dog house. It's a long lurid way to prove a point to someone.

Plenty of ruminations on here already, having witnessed the game at ground level yesterday then re-watched again today here's a few of my random observations: -Jones left foot disposal was outstanding when called upon. -The prolificacy of combination disposals between the 'veteran' stars in Jones, Lewis Vince across the half back line, while the younger midfielders in Oliver, Brayshaw, Salem and Viney did the bulk of the middle of the ground grunt work. -Spencer playing very well allowing Gawn to use his skillset up forward. -Fringe players doing little to change their status as fringe players with very little impact on the overall contest, namely JKH, VDB, Harmes and Nibbler. -Joel Smiths first half. For someone who's played relativity little football, his potential was there for all to see today. Some great tackles and attack on the footy highly promising showing. -The disposal skills of Hunt & Melksham off the half back line. Were very poor. Hunt has to be more than just someone who can run and carry the footy with alacrity, he needs to also concentrate on hitting targets so he doesn't undo all his good work. We've seen Melksham's propensity to shank the footy at essendon, it was back again in this game. -Great to see David Rodan wielding the goal umpires flags. A lot of the centre bounces by field umpires left a lot to be desired. -What's better than signing the song after a win? Singing it again 2 hours later when the women also beat the dogs! Perfect end to the night.

The lighting there tonight was worse than the Casey night games! Was great to be there to see their first official win, and sing the song with a bit of gusto. The ball movement was quicker in the second half, we took more overhead marks than them and Phillips kicked a couple of great goals. O'dea and Paxman the best for mine Always great to beat collingwood!

Was at this game in Lavington, can still remember the noise from the opposite side of the ground of someone sitting on the bench smashing the wall of the tin dugout when they realised it was Schwarter that went down. Seem to remember Shaun Smith playing well in the main game, but everyone was just in stunned shock at what had seemingly happened earlier in the day.

Hulett was picked up earlier in the draft than Tom McDonald, Oscar McDonald and Jadyen Hunt, off the top of my head to name just a few, so he was hardly pick 86 or the like. He would be expected to keep his gradual progression of improvement up this year and push for a spot mid-late year I'd imagine

Ah you are probably correct, I was only going on memory having read it last night!

I can't see if it's been raised anywhere else here, but did people notice that the calendar included with our membership packs included the Nab Cup/Nab Challenge/Wizard Cup/Escort Cup or whatever it's called nowadays pre-season game details? We play: Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval Caaarlton at Princess Park West Coast at Subiaco An interesting mix of games, would this be the 3rd year in a row now we've played the Dogs after Craigieburn last year and Ballarat the year before? We beat them in both these games, but now that they're reigning premiers I imagine interest in this game will be massive, will be a full house. The fact that I can walk to this ground is also a very big bonus! Carlton are one team that we haven't beaten as often as we should in the last few years, and they'll have a fresh set of GWS discards eager to underwhelm again, so let's hope we dispatch them accordingly on their own dungheap. West Coast may be a good chance to get a win at this ground, as it'll soon be replaced by a shinier newer ground paid for by the taxpayers. We should've got over the line this year over there, still don't know how we lost that game. I'd imagine the club will also schedule a bit of leave for Jesse Hogan around this game. Surfs Up. The aim would be at bare minimum beat the BlueBaggers, and possibly Wet Toast.

Thanks for the training reports, much appreciated! Did we ever find out what Oliver's punishment was from the club for his drink driving offence?

Absolutely wrapt with this pick! He's worked hard to improve his consistency this year, which was the only thing previously holding him back in years prior, really looking forward to see if they give him a crack in the NAB Challenge, as he's already big and strong enough to compete at that level.

Great stuff for the Scorps to see 2 of their own upgraded to Melbourne's rookie list, a definite vindication of the success Plapp & co achieved this year as a coaching group...

Looks like he's a recent graduate of the Jack Fitzpatrick Kicking Style Academy of Excellence

Pcik #76 Hawthorn pick Mitchell Lewis. So they lose both Mitchell and Lewis but pick up the next best thing...

22yrs old, left footer:- AFL hopefuls strut their stuff in VFL finals

Dan Nicholson would've been a triple Brownlow Medallist by now if the time trial was an indicator of form on the football field in 6 months time...

Brian Dixon penned the 2nd verse I believe? And yes have a copy of that book as well...

It's kinda nice isn't it, that our future doesn't hinge on which top 5 pick we utilise this year! For the first time in a long time I won't be watching the draft, as our picks this year have nowhere near the significance they have had in recent past..

Thanks for the great observations guys, it's really appreciated in these footy-famine months pre-Christmas. I haven't read the previous training threads, but does anyone know the timeframe for Mitch King's rehab? Is he due to be playing competitive footy in Nab Cup? Round 1? Round 8? We could really do with some ruck depth, and while I realise he'll effectively be a first year player given the write off that was last year, be keen to follow his progress..

From this article: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-11-27/giant-leap-for-one-of-gws-six-draftees McKenna, the left-handed batting Australian under-19 skipper, was taken by the Giants during the second round at No.23 overall. The 18-year-old led his country on a tour to Sri Lanka in September, but it was there he decided on a career in football after excelling for Gisborne in the Bendigo Football League. McKenna is 186cm and 76kg, is good overhead and with his good foot skills, can play a variety of positions. Giants list manager Stephen Silvagni said he could see enormous upside in McKenna, once he got some pre-seasons into him. "We know he runs very well and he's an elite ball user," Silvagni said. "We rated him and we had pick 23 and we picked him. We were happy to get him there."

I had my sarcasm hat on for that post!

Tick! Now let's finalise those deals for Hibberd, Fyfe, Rockliff, Tippett and Zac Dawson by Thursday deadline and I'll be very happy