kev martin

Thanks again Tarax, like your use of words, the humour, colour and expressions.

Thanks Tarax, lived up to your word. Interesting to hear Frosty was training with the backline. Can you remember if Petracca was with the forwards or mids? Felt like I was there.

Sometimes a fence can be a problem, restricting the use of the field especially when the rehab is large or some are running laps or they are spilt into groups causing them to clash with each other. They can mark the field to suit purposes and are able to place temporary goals. No more jumping fences to get the ball. The problem I see is because more thoroughfare for the public there will be more rubbish, dog doo, beer bottles and cans. The staff and field cleaners will have to be vigilant. I would love to see a small pavillion that spectators can use to huddle in on those rainy days and the staff can use for their computer/tracking area. As well as toilets and room where the players can put their gear.

During simulations, they rarely use both goals. Usually will set from the backline and if a turnover happens they kick to a coach or a temporary small goal set is used.

Tyson could find it difficult to get back in team. Omitted for 2nd time. Slippery conditions would have suited him. Many similar to him now in the side and at Casey. I wonder what the club want him to focus on. Perhaps decision making and accuracy with disposals. I believe he over thinks his game. Weeds probably out because he is not yet sticking his marks and dewy conditions make it more unlikely. He will continue to get chances. Hannan back in Casey to develop more game involvement. Not taking the big marks or creating any x-factor stuff. Again many similar to him at Casey, Mckenna, vandenBerg, Vince, Balic, Hunt and probably Dion and Kenty. Petty probably not again till next year after a full preseason, given his inability to perform in the big show, but you never know. Don't mind the changes, horses for courses. Good conditions for the small fleet. Frost is in to bring the high ball down for front and center players. Frost and Tom may be the relief for Max so we also keep a tall in the forward area. Hope he can handle the slippery ball. I like that Garlett is in, hoping he his hungry and can make the most of his chance. If he doesn't may find it difficult to hold his place. Charlie will have freshened up. Billy looking stronger and a bit bigger then before. Hope he gets plenty of ball, shrugs tackles, finds space for his run and hits targets.

I missed two players from the running group. I can't remember, but at a guess it was Sam Frost and Billy Stretch. Can anyone else who was there help? If it was these two then I think you are right Skuit, group of potential ins.

Plenty of gusty, strong wind about this morning. There was less margin for errors during disposals thus requiring more concentration from the players. All seemed to adjust well to the conditions. The session appeared to be quite light on, mainly focused on ball skills. The players and coaches jovial and supportive of each other. At times lots of noise and fun interspersed with the serious side of training. There were numerous and extended drills of ball work. The simulations were quite short in time and with little to no contact. The simulations emphasized lateral balls, intercepts and forward movements that split the defenders causing mismatches. The group split into their groups. Mids did stoppage work, backline punching aerial balls and the forwards mainly marking. Not much contested work or tackling performed. Close to the end a group did some boundary runs under supervision of the fitness staff. The group included Charlie Spargo, Oskar Baker, Dean Keilty, Harley Balic, Lachlan Filopovic, Mitch King and Cam Pederson. Could be the group playing in Casey or maybe those who didn't play AFL given a bit more work load. Though Sam Frost, Dion Johnstone, Dean Kent, Jeff Garlett, Bernie Vince, Tim Smith, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Tom Bugg and Josh Wagner not part of this group. Towards the end of the session, Sam Wiedeman and Harry Petty working together, Jesse Hogan working by himself. Neville Jetta, Michael Hibberd and a couple of others doing some one on one marking contests. Sorry but didn't notice Billy Stretch. Did anyone see what he was up to? Pat Mckenna and Aaron vandenBerg training well. Jayden Hunt only one in the rehab group. He did some walking a little running and a small amount of ball skills work (no kicking).

We seem to be a team relying on confidence. When we are hitting the opposition we get on a roll. If they hit us we fall off and start stuffing up. Our games can turn on a bit of luck or bad luck, umpiring decisions, classy play or mistakes. We often can't easily turn the tide if it is going against us. We can be off or on for part or all of a quarter and during those last 5 minutes. We need a greater work ethic and to stop believing we are naturally better than the other. Result come from desire and putting it all on the line. Not cruising along thinking it will happen because we are skilled, well trained and have a brand.

At this stage in the season the players should be 100%. If a bit doubtful then rest them. It gives others the opportunity to play and the team to understand and gel with new players. For finals, if we make them, then it could be different. Placing too much pressure on retaining your place or getting back into the side causes self reporting to become unreliable. No one is really irreplaceable at this stage. Although we may lose something with cohesion we gain through understanding our flexibility and dealing with injuries. The player gets to see the team as a spectator which gives them another perspective and could help them in understanding game strategies and team mates styles and skills.

An interesting approach Gonzo. More than just a ball movement coach but situational coaches. Would make the coaches work together and the whole team could feel connected. If taken to the extreme it could be like Gridion with their play books and codes. Different plays and structures to suit the situation. It would be more difficult for the opposition to understand our game, so long as the players can apply this intellectual and possibly complicated approach. I can see our runner sending out messages like plan 4p6 or our leaders acting like the quarterback and ordering a play. Breaks in play would see players running in all directions in order to set up. The ability of each team to adapt to the other team would be interesting. I guess there would be room for instinctual play and plenty of trial and error attempts. If adapted by all clubs I can see transfered players bringing a wealth of knowledge to the new club. There would plenty of opportunities for analysis by commentators and fans. Though would it work better than keeping football simple and applying the basics well. I believe in the basics. Clean gather and use of ball, work hard when defending, create and have an impact when in attack. Change the tempo of the game when necessary, do the one percenters, create a winning culture at the club. Simplicity versus an intellectual approach.

Out: Petty- Had a taste and knows what he might need at AFL level. ANB- Lacking consistency, no great games. Hannan- No impact to the game. In: Keilty- Give him a try, big bodied and does the basics. Baker- Smart player, runs well and wants it. Spargo- Hard worker, crumber. Move Joel from the backline put Keilty there. Spargo into the foward line for pressure acts and he can create space. Play Baker off the half back for the run and carry, creativity and to close down other speedsters.

Max at it all day, big heart, great marks and getting to areas where he can influence the play. Loved Hibbs reading of the play and endeavour to get there. The mids when they had the ball played well in tight areas. Viney nearly got us over the line. We switched off at times. We Lost our structure in the backline. Some players not enough involvement or non-competitive. Missed easy hit up targets. Oscar not ready to captain the backline, needs both Vince and Jordan. Jetts and Tom not looking 100%. Joel is a defensive wingman. No movement across the pack when marking or spoiling and are competing with each other. All attempts seemed straight down the line, nothing from the sides, need crumbers as well. We got sucked into reacting to niggles, losing focus on getting the ball and maintaining our structures. Three goals to start and then we stop. They zoned our forward line, we continued to enter inaccurately and we couldn’t lead. Where is our plan B C or D. We couldn’t create space and underperformed when pressured. If we got the win the saints would have felt robbed.

Must be Brendans doppelganger. Anyway he is the only team member I have a chat to. He is very positive about MFCs abilities. He reckons we "haven't seen nothing yet". Lets hope we keep building and become the team he expects.

Laughing again. Thanks for that

Thanks for the support. Satry's alright for me. I can enjoy his contrary views. Gives me a laugh. He is probably just finding his feet on how to socialise. We all learn something with our interactions.

I chat to Brendan McCartney. He is closer to my demographic. I see him enjoying walks in the botanical garden when he is not at work.

I prefer not to talk to them unless they are open to forming a genuine friendship. Already plenty of sycophants around. I am just writing what I observe. He trained well, other than that recovery period. Did you see him turn pink?

Struggling with slight "niggle". It was apparent during the recovery period. He looked suprised by his shortness of breath after the timed run. A bit like, Gee I am injured! His body also "glowed" with a pink hue. There was pollution and mist around the Park, (no wind to blow the particle matter away from the city) which wouldn't have helped his oxygen levels. However, I believe he will be OK to play.

I was trying to indicate my views may be wrong. Your point gave me a laugh. Sometimes I'm over opinionated. Always willing to give a reply a go.

I haven't had much of a focus on him. What I've noticed is he has good composure, stands tall in the marking contests, can punch the ball well (yet to really crash a pack though), absorbs information from those around him, responds well to calls and follows instructions, has a good kick and very reliable by hand. The learning curve is exponential and his body has matured quickly since joining the MFC's system. His big test maybe his decision making under AFL pressure and his general leg speed.

Training continued. I watched Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver going at each other as the mids trained. Lots of pushes and punches to chest area. Oliver seemed to win front position (timing of hits) though Tracs able to win the ball because of his stability in the space when the ball came down. Oskar Baker and Billy Stretch trained with the midfield. Nathan Jones giving plenty of instructions and delivering with fast handballs.The mids did some drills playing through obstacles, quick lateral ball movement and straight running when in possession. At the same time the backs contested with the forwards in game simulations. The Casey players ended the session with goal kicking. The AFL squad contested with a simulation. Coaches wanted them to go pretty hard. Aaron VandenBerg getting plenty of ball. Joel Smith breaking lines. Jesse Hogan clean collection and hitting targets. Bernie Vince working hard and plenty of talk to structure the backline. Bailey Fritsch having so much composure with ball in hand always runs to space. Jack Viney playing smart football and so fast at the roll and go when he gets the ball. The backline communicating well to set up and cover the space. Neville Jetta seems to be enjoying training. He was working/instructing Jay Kennedy-Harris for a while. He is vocal towards everyone and appears to be growing as a leader. Lachlan Filipovic training well and appears to be improving as a marking tall. Christian Petracca finished his session with a few 70 m sprints under supervision and being timed by the coaching staff. Tom Mcdonald a little uncomfortable after some timed runs, but beyond that he looked good.

Could be correct. At the end of training the group gathered and when they split I could see a few players supporting Petty (perhaps as congratulations for selection). Still only a guess though.

Rehab, fitness test group had Tom Mcdonald and Dom Tyson in it. Dom Joined the main group after 3/4 of an hour. Tom remained in rehab. He looked to be moving well with good skills on display with Daniel Cross and Dom. At the end he was tested with some 400 meters. He appeared to be running out of steam by the end. His endurance seems compromised at the moment. Jayden Hunt was walking laps. The general atmosphere was full of intensity with plenty of noise from both players and coaches. All seemed to have purpose. The emphasis appeared to be about quick hands, locking the ball down and finding targets over the back of the pack. The talls and smalls separated, with the talls doing marking practice and the smalls tackling each other (showing strength, power and endurance). Close to the end of training the Casey team went off to kick goals while the AFL team did match simulations. Aaron vandenBerg and Pat Mckenna training well and stayed with the AFL team. So they are unlikely to get a game in the seconds yet. In the AFL squad team was Cam Pederson, Harry Petty and Sam Weideman.

Hang in there Satyr, Diversity and inclusion is important. Keep your voice strong. We don't have to agree with you. Hate to have this forum with the group think problem (everyone having the same opinion or feeling bullied to think the same).

Also, as soon as he got it he lifted his eyes, looking for an outlet and I think no-one was leading for him or in the open. Port pressure game was on at times in the game. The players need to communicate better and keep engaged when not directly in the play.