Kev

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.

"A lot of the groups for drills were mix and match, so fwds with backs is irrelevant." This is a quote from you critical of my opinion in a training thread from 19th june. Now you are critical about positions. "You have taken out a high half forward and a half back and replaced with two tall defenders and a wingman?" Which is it, positions irrelevant or important? My main point was to blood a few players in the big show. I'm a bit of give everyone a go kinda person. I know it is unrealistic and will not happen but I believe it is a good time to bring at least one of them in. I like having over the top opinions at time and I stated my changes won't happen. "So many changes which I know will not happen." [Out; Mitch Hannan, Alex Neal-Bullen, Christian Salem (all need more game involvement), Neville Jetta (rest, been hit hard a couple of times this year) and Tom Mcdonald (rest). In; Sam Wiedeman, Harry Petty, Dion Johnstone, Sam Frost and Oskar Baker. In a game against St.kilda we could blood some new players and shake up the team till we establish the best 22 and later create cohesion for the finals (hopefully). The next week give Harley Balic and Dean Kent a run.] Salem has been picked in the back pocket though hasn't played there. Bring in Petty for him. Dion for Jetts. Weeds for Tom. Frost off the bench and Oskar forward and mid. Makes our backline taller and the hunger from the young ones may improve our attack on the ball. "Unless your name is Goodwin, would love to see you tell him he is rested". Jetts was staggering after a hit on friday and he has been wacked a couple of times this season He is a rational person and no different to others if asked to rest. Do you have a special relationship with him (other than talking to him at the end of trainings) to make statements like that . You can rest him for his own good. Why are so critical of me and seems I am not the only one. Opinions are opinions and mine might be wrong but you seem to believe yours are correct. I think your are a contrary, if I say black you say white. I've been told if you are critical of someone then you need to praise them twice as much otherwise they won't hear you. So to finish, you are a good devils advocate and have plenty of energy to give. Good luck to you.

Out; Mitch Hannan, Alex Neal-Bullen, Christian Salem (all three not enough game involvement), Neville Jetta (rest, been hit hard a couple of times this year) and Tom Mcdonald (rest). In; Sam Wiedeman, Harry Petty, Dion Johnstone, Sam Frost and Oscar Baker. In a game against St.kilda we could blood some new players and shake up the team till we establish the best 22 and later create the cohesion needed for the finals (hopefully). The next week give Harley Balic, Jay Kennedy-Harris and Dean Kent a run. So many changes which I know will not happen. Would love to see new players and show our depth instead of talking about it. We may need them if we get hit with injuries and giving them a run will prepare them if they get called up for more challenging games.

We controlled the game for the first three quarters and got over run in the last. Our work in the stoppages was good. Most of the play was in our forward line. Port managed to get some one on one football in the last quarter. Did we run out of steam with the crowd keeping the home team pumped as did some umpiring decisions. Our endeavour and self belief was there. Plenty to learn from this loss. We need to get more communication happening between the players. No competition for the same ball, aware of who is in best position to take the mark, calls to each other. Staying switched on for the one percenters and helping each other be better footballers. Seemed it was quick, straight down the guts football. Where was our switches, changing the angle of movement, kicks to advantage and varying the tempo. Schimmies and baulks, making overlaps and freeing up players. Very little creativity out there making it easy for Ports backline to respond. We couldn’t find a loose player and the ball constantly ended up in the pack. The forward line was too congested. No where to lead, couldn’t get a uncontested or contested mark. Need to be able to perform when under the pump or a least do the basics well. We are close to being a top four side, just not yet. It is a long season and we have some areas we can improve on. Keep building Dees.

Yes Dixon is our problem. We are a bit on the small size and tall mobile player like him will be difficult for us. I think Neville Jetta will have to play very smart on him, keeping him away from the contest and making it very congested when the ball comes in. Or joel Smith will need help from another third up player.

My thoughts about how we will play. Clayton Oliver to have the ball on a string, feeds Dom Tyson and Angus Brayshaw who release outside runners like Christian Salem and Bayley Fritsch. Max Gawn and Jack Viney working as one. Jesse Hogan stretching the backline making room for Tom Mcdonald and Jake Melksham. Joel Smith to grow into an intercept backman then giving the ball to Jordan Lewis and Bernie Vince who set up our game plan. Christian Petracca steps it up, using his bulk to bully opponents, gets the ball cleanly and hits his targets. Alex Neal-Bullen and Tim Smith to apply forward pressure. Oscar McDonald, Neville Jetta and Michael Hibberd to close the backline down and create rebounds. Tom Mcdonald to play all over the field as well as taking marks inside 50. James Harmes and Bailey Fritsch pulling in some screamers. James Harmes could be the relief ruckman for Max Gawn. Nathan Jones to steady the ship. We don't want Port have a run of goals. We reply quickly to tie the game up when they look like owning it. A little worried about our intensity levels for the entire game, especially after the bye. Lets hope we come out strongly from the start and we perform when placed under pressure.

Oscar McDonald to play him like a second skin with Joel Smith being the third up and limiting his leads.