Whispering_Jack

You're right jabber - the mods are the only ones who can make determinations on what can be discussed.My view is that on the actual training day, the discussion should centre around that day's events and the reports about them i.e stick as closely to topic as is reasonable in the circumstances. On days following, I would generally take a more lax approach but I would prefer if people are say, going to discuss former players like Morton, that the discussion be kept in context - e.g a comparison of the way training is conducted these days to the days when Morton was at the club which at least makes it relevant to the topic. Otherwise, if you must depart from the topic you can do what Rose C. G advises and start a different thread. And of course in any event, could everyone please show a bit of respect for others and leave the abuse for the Darth Vaders who play or coach opposition clubs or the media who bag us.

I spent a fair amount of time in court yesterday which is what lawyers do from time to time and didn't have much time to catch up with this and other threads but must comment on how more enjoyable it is reading the last couple of training report threads now that people are getting the message that these are meant to inform and discuss the team's preseason training rather than to personally attack those who go to the trouble of reporting or pander to individual egos. The impression I always get at this time of year is one shrouded in rose colours and I actually made the comment half seriously at the one session I was able to attend that these days our grand final is Australia Day. I know it's a bit of a cliche but I do get the feel that it's different this year. We seem to have a lot more depth on the list having cleared away a fair amount of deadwood including some players who I describe as "cultural deadwood" in that they were recruited often as high draft picks but came through a period in which our recruiting and development aims really weren't conducive to competing with the clubs that adopted best practice. I don't think many of us would have fully recognised it at the time but the signs were there, particularly with players who lagged badly in the early running and fitness phases. We tolerated players often because they came with big reputations as juniors but perhaps didn't or couldn't work hard enough when they got here. I think that's what's different under Roos and what I've been sensing from the reports. Perhaps, and in deference to Dennis Denuto (the Kerrigan family lawyer from the Castle), I can call it the "vibe" but like Denuto, I've been wrong before.

How quickly we forget. Yesterday was the first anniversary of the second NAB Challenge game of the 2014 series, a game played at Etihad Stadium between the reigning AFL premiers Hawthorn and a struggling Brisbane Lions fielding a young, undermanned side in their first game with Justin Leppitsch at the helm. Only 5,003 people turned up and the game was a virtually unwatchable farce as the Hawks hammered them and eased up at the end to win 1.22.13.154 to 0.3.5.23. The game obviously didn't hurt the Hawks because they went on to win back to back flags and it could be argued likewise for the Lions' younger brigade who kicked on as the season unfolded. I think we have a competent enough coach in Paul Roos (who was never one to aim for the heights in the pre season comp anyway) to rely on to get the best for his team in the long run even if circumstances force us to play against a weakened opposition. (Incidentally, today is the anniversary of our first NAB Challenge match under Roos when we beat Richmond by 1.13.11.98 to 1.10.15.84. The score was our highest for the season in all matches).

I'm interested in people's views on whether and what does the club stand for under the Bartlett/Jackson/Roos regime? Lets's flash back several years to the time when our latest set of troubles as a club were becoming evident. The Daniher years were over, the team was already closing in on rock bottom, we were financially in the red and many in the football world including the AFL hierarchy were claiming that the Melbourne Football Club stood for nothing. We've experienced eight torrid years during which time we have not come anywhere near a 50% win-loss ratio, let alone make finals. There's a whiff of optimism in the air under the Peter Jackson/Paul Roos combination with Glenn Bartlett at the top as club chairman despite some media speculation of tensions about the future of the CEO. This is neither the place for discussing that issue (for which there is a separate thread) or the upheaval within the club in recent years (which has been the subject of heated debate elsewhere). What I'm looking for is what we are doing to set Melbourne apart from the others as a football club. In sporting terms, Melbourne is known for the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Melbourne Cup, Melbourne Park, the venue for the Australian Open and great golf courses like Royal Melbourne. In recent times we are falling behind sporting clubs like Melbourne Storm and Victory in other football codes in terms of national recognition. The obvious is to start winning games and become a power in the game as we were in the 1950s/60s and establishing interstate rivalries with clubs like Sydney but do we have the vision to achieve this?

So it finally dawned on me why the club trained at Casey Fields today. It was the first leg of the two day AFL Community Camp to Leongatha and Wonthaggi (February 11-12). According to Twitter the boys moved on to Tarwin Football Club for a training session with Gippsland Power Under 15s. Players were also at Meeniyan Dumbalk United with Daniel Cross taking the handballing drill. Tonight, Nathan Jones spoke to the audience at a function at the Wonthaggi Workmen's Club. Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw spoke about their goals for footy and their future in the AFL at the AFL Gippsland Official Function. If anyone attended any of the above, you can post about it here.

It's been a bad week for former Demons. Kyle Cheney, now with the Crows, will spend the rest of the week resting after suffering an episode of an irregular heartbeat.

Satyr, you deserve the rest so enjoy it. I read on the Monday training thread that you felt there was an improvement in both the two way running and the kicking at training. The latter is something that will be gauged better when the team plays under the pressure of competition but the former is something that I've been expecting since Dave Misson arrived at the club three years ago. At the time, the fitness staff measured the group's capacity to run and the word was that the results were disappointing. We had too many players who didn't measure up and fingers were pointed at some of them who didn't have the work ethic to get up to the level of the stronger clubs. We were told that it would be a three year project and so here we are at the point where we can expect some results - especially since some of our worse trainers have fallen by the wayside. So I would ask those at tomorrow's session to observe and report on how hard the players are running. Hopefully, we're getting at least closer to the middle of the table instead of down the back where we were three years ago because that's the area, along with improved skills, that can help us move up the ladder.

Anyone keeping tabs on McClure's success rate with breaking news?I'm not so sure it's all that impressive. Anyway, I already have my tickets and look forward to a good game.

So the number of players left at Essendon from the 2012 doping saga is down to 17: Essendon 34 won't play in NAB Challenge The funny thing is that a number of those players have already been named publicly by Mark Robinson in the Herald Sun so why the big deal about protecting the anonymity of the players? Essendonsupplements saga: Ironies abound as Bombers resist pre season solutions

Midweek training this week is on at Casey Fields starting at 9.00am.

Some more reading - Essendon baulk at AFL's NAB Challenge proposal Essendon and James Hird's four lost months

It's a good move because, apart from playing, Burns has a coaching/player development role at Casey and he's going to be instrumental in ensuring consistency of playing style throughout the group no matter at what level, something which in my view broke down last year although admittedly this was due partly to the fact that there was a lack of depth at Casey to cope with a style of play that relies on running and fitness.

Not a Casey story but Coburg has just announced the recruitment of pick four in the 2008 Draft, and 76 AFL game player with Melbourne and West Coast - Cale Morton.

Wishing Jolls a speedy recovery ... and likewise to Brent Reilly

And a little distraction from the main game, this is a nice little earn for James and could go a long way to helping him pay the legal bills. AFL legend James Hird sells his lavish mansion for $4million… and makes a tidy $1.5MILLION profit on what he paid only three years ago

Thanks Peter. The majority here appreciate your input and your return to the call of duty. Cheers

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Everybody had a chance to have their say and from that point onwards the thread was for training reports only. I allowed for a couple of posts in support of TDI because he has been a fantastic contributor to the site and deserves our support but the rest was white noise and quite frankly, mostly disrespectul of those who do contribute reports and of the sentiments posted in the OP so they got exactly what they deserved. Thanks

Thanks for all your opinions. Satyr, it would be sad if you allowed the small number of detractors to silence you on this site. By withdrawing, you allow them to win. Now ... let's have reports on training (I hope it's on after all this) which is what these threads are for.

Richmond's VFL team plays there. Casey played them there during 2014 and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Less than a month to go before the opening of our NAB Challenge campaign and no doubt the training sessions will step up a gear from here. I'm assuming there's the usual 9.15am session on tomorrow at Gosh's Paddock and look forward to reports from those who can make it down there. While robust debate is important on Demonland, some posters are acting under the assumption that they have license to engage in personal attacks on those with whose opinions they disagree. Please remain respectful of other posters and be careful if you wish to keep posting here. Thanks.

The other possibility is to give posters who respond to others with personal criticism instead of sticking to the subject a holiday from the site. It's not only under consideration but will be enforced from the next training thread.

I must admit that I was somewhat of a sceptic when it came to this diet thing but based on reports and on what little I've managed to see of the team in the off season, it seems to be working, even with our promising young guns ~ Top draftees shedding not gaining kilos [NOTE: We shouldn't forget that at the end of 2013 Petracca was nudging close to the 100kg mark before putting himself on a diet to enhance his draft prospects.]

You're being unfair.

Quite right. We've covered the tanking issue comprehensively in the past and unless there are some new revelations of substance, there's really no need for it to be raised in a thread about the AGM. Let's stick to a discussion of where the club's going in the context of the AGM please.

Earlier in the week Paul Roos flagged an unsettling trend in changes to the way clubs and players are dealing with their contractual relations ~ Melbourne coach Paul Roos believes 2014 trade period game-changer after sensational Dayne Beams, Tom Boyd moves. In today's news, Carlton CEO Stephen Trigg goes further suggesting that before long players will be announcing plans in mid-season about plans to play with rivals the following year ~ Carlton chief Stephen Trigg believes players will soon be making NRL-style mid-season trade announcements This has become an accepted thing in rugby but I think many of us will find it hard to come to terms in a game where loyalty to the team was for so long considered part and parcel of our game with the idea that one of your players will be elsewhere next season. It's been bad enough with speculation in recent years during the season about the futures of players like Brent Moloney, Jarrad Rivers and James Frawley wondering if they were giving their all in their final years. Seeing Frawley in some games last year suspecting he was gone was a real turn off for me personally even though Roos said he handled it all very professionally. What are your views - how would you deal with a player who says he's outta here at the end of the season?