Whispering_Jack

In case anyone's wondering about his knowledge of junior football ranks, Barry Prendergast coached the Eastern Ranges Under 18 TAC Cup team from 1998 to 2002 and (whilst premierships are not necessary the be all and end all at that level) he coached them to a flag in 2002 as well as a losing grand final in 2000. Among the players he coached at the Ranges was current Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell, the Clokes, Michael Firrito, Brad Fisher, Lindsay Gilbee, Simon Godfrey (gulp), Guy Richards, Nick Malceski, Kade Simpson and Troy Simmonds. His coaching record doesn't guarantee a brilliant recruiting record in the future but he's obviously been around and knows the ropes as far as junior footballers are concerned.

Congratulations to a great bloke and a great Demon - Stan Alves OAM.

Neale Daniher did something similar when he became coach at the end of 1997. The Demons took over part of the Caulfield Grammar campus and did much of their pre season there including going back to the classroom to study the coach's new style. It must have worked because the team rose for last to a preliminary final in 1998 and even gave the ultimate premiers Adelaide a thrashing in the first final. It's a pity the Reverend didn't maintain that sort of meticulous attention to detail in planning a pre season throughout his time as a coach. Although ultimately the best of your training's done on the track, there's definite value in a bit of teaching in the classroom to help players understand what it is they're meant to be doing out on the ground. This is something they didn't appear to comprehend when the Nab Cup and practice matches were played last year and they were supposed to be adopting a "run and carry" style of play. Hopefully, things will change this year.

Thanks Fork. Could you tell us please how you found out that training was at Victoria Park and do you know if there's any training on Monday and if so, where? Oh, and do they still sell those colourless, tasteless hot dogs at Victoria Park?

This should please Jaded!

OK. You can check out the defensive strategies. Now we need some more volunteers for the midfield and on ballers and one to cover what the water boys persons are doing.

Rollo ... with the Saintsational team is playing Collingwood tomorrow at Gosch's Paddock at 2pm, do we have our array of spies in place to watch their tactics and strategies? Doesn't hurt to maintain our high standards of professionalism .

Any chance of making it there if it's 5.10 p.m. and I'm in Melton ATM?

What a surprise?

I would say the best person qualified to give you the information you want is his medico. On what I saw however, he seemed comfortable walking around and doing some simple handballing etc with the other rehab guys, there was no sign of any limp or other discomfort and, as I said above, nothing bandaged. The reports have been that he's on a slow path to recovery after some complex surgery and some setbacks last year. He's not yet 20 years old yet and we have to be patient but I have a feeling he'll be back playing soon. Thanks for that comprehensive report Kev It should be said for those who aren't familiar with the Trinity Fields that they are enormous which is ideal for training a large group of 44 players. They were generally doing drills in three or four different groups and it wasn't easy identifying the players, some were new, a lot were wearing caps etc. You certainly can't possibly notice everything that's going on. For instance, I noticed James Frawley doing a few kicks and his action looked more relaxed than last year and he was hitting targets every time. But he probably kicked the ball perhaps 50 times in the session so I have no idea what he was like the other 47 times. It's much easier to cover training on an enclosed ground like Sandringham but that venue is not the ideal for the entire list. Anyhow, that's my excuse for not being too specific about individual players. It will be interesting to see how they're going in a month's time by which time they will have a game under their belt against some good opposition.

Conditions were perfect for both training (overcast, mild and a cloud cover) and spectating (no flies) at the Trinity Grammar fields today. They have a great set up over there and with their own lake and proximity to the Yarra, there's plenty of water to keep the grounds green and in good shape - certainly better than my front nature strip these days. There was a small group on hand to watch which included Andy (Demonland), Deefan, Big Kev and myself. Former captain Garry Lyon was there watching intently as Dean Bailey put his charges through a tough two hour session. It's an amazing fact that between us we've played 223 AFL games and kicked 423 goals! There's a bit of speculation as to whether Neita will take the skipper's gig but it seems that on logic, he will grab it for the club's 150th anniversary year. Interestingly, the last few captains at Melbourne have all been born outside Victoria. Neitz and Lyon in Tassie and Todd Viney in SA. On that basis, only Brad Green qualifies as a possible captaincy prospect if Neita dee-clines (sorry, couldn't help it) the offer to skipper the club! I suppose you're waiting for me to tell you who's training the house down and who's bulked up etc but I promised myself after my last pre season training report from Australia Day last year that I wouldn't get carried away with any individuals or the team as a whole on first viewing - you tend to look at things at this time of year through rose coloured glasses and my last effort jinxed so many of the players and the team's 2007 effort so I'll keep a lid on it for a week or two at least and leave it to Big Kev or Fan to say something if they wish. I will however, make some general observations and they are that the players were pretty hard at it in training and their skills looked good for this time of year. Perhaps it may be that some of those who have departed were not as skilful as is required at this standard with their disposal but the drills looked pretty clean to me. Perhaps there's a sense that with a new coach in place and an emphasis on developing the under 23's, the competition for spot in the side is going to be so much more intense for the start of the season. The players looked stronger of body than this time last year when they were all fining down but that's just on their appearance to me - I don't know whether they measure or weigh up that way. A few players were just doing some light drills and these are obviously the players in rehab - Clint Bartram, Matthew Whelan and I think it was John Meesen (whoever he was, he was tall). Jack Grimes was also in this group - I believe he had stress fractures in his back so he's no doubt being eased through the pre-season. Clint had no knee bandages and seemed to be moving OK. One or two others joined them from time to time but that could have been planned. The main thing was that there didn't seem to be any major or disastrous injuries apparent and players like Jared Rivers, Brent Moloney, Colin Sylvia and Adem Yze who were missing with injury last year, were in the thick of things today. Yze looks really keen to make up for lost time. Of the new players at the club I thought Ivan Maric looked very impressive, Cale Morton looks to have the skills but is very lightly built ATM and my old favourite from the Tiwi Islands (NT) Austin Wonaeamirri trained well for a rookie. [sorry dazzledavey36 but I really couldn't pick out the other rookies all that well but I'll look out for them next time]. Actually, they all looked good and … what the hell … we'll win the fl… er, no I'll just keep a lid on it for a while longer.

Well, it seems that the warning has been heeded. Nobody at the club has been given the # 38.

Right. Getting the water boy to "run and carry" all day was only a partial success. We have to expand on the theory and extend it to others such as those picking up the grog for the after match. Apart from that, is it possible for us to find a ruckman who's taller than 5'11" this time?

At the Demonland/Demonology function in December, Chris Connolly commented on Geelong's performance during 2007 and how things started to gel for them about half a dozen games into the season. From there, the team's confidence kept building with every week and once they got their momentum going they were hard to stop. Of course, the Cats had everything going for them by that time and generally were able to keep more or less the same squad together for a long period of time. There is an element of luck involved but the most important ingedient for winning performance over a whole season is the development of the right mental attitude which is something at which the great coaches from Norm Smith to Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews have managed to excell.

I'll go for Graeme Watson who played a few Tests for Australia as an all rounder and umpire Max O'Connell. BTW anyone know if Mick Rivers is related to Jared Rivers?

Len Dockett, a member of the MFC 1948 Premiership side and a club best and fairest winner, passed away on New Years Day. Len who has been ill, was recently awarded Life membership of the club. Len Dockett dies, 87 Our condolences to his family and friends ...

Almost missed this - Rollercoaster rising again for cursed Demon.

The club doesn't re-open its offices until next week. It might be hard to get this information for a few days yet.

I'm envious. The guy sings, writes songs and has a Brownlow Medal as well! [bTW: Demonland encourages everyone to go out and buy the book and Paul's latest CD so we don't get busted for putting up the preface ]

I don't think I can add to what I said then but that I remain full of admiration for Trish.

She's just finishing her run now and is about to be interviewed on the Today Show on 9.

A recruiting officer can only pick players on the basis of the selections he's landed with over the years. CAC's work was affected by two huge salary cap penalties in the early part of this decade which had a severe effect on the club not only in the years when the penalties applied but also in so far as trading was concerned over the ensuing years. Further, with the team finishing in the top half more often than not, he didn't have the benefit of too many early draft selections of the kind that St. Kilda, Fremantle, Richmond and more lately Carlton have been blessed with or the abundance of father/sons that Geelong managed to snaffle up in time. Then there's the fact that once a player gets to the club, the recruiting officer has no influence on his development, injuries and other factors that might affect a player's life and the way his career unfolds. Further, given that so many of our players are in the developing phase (Under 23) we should be ignoring the predictions of the pundits at this stage of the season and looking at the realities of what actually happens with our list over the next four to five years. I still have a lot of faith in our younger group of players - even more so with the added emphasis this year on player development. In short, I think you've asked the wrong question, Robbo24.

Well, it is Sunday today and I thought I'd just remind you about this blog from an interesting Demon fan - The melbournefc blog or Every Day is Like Sunday. He's currently making a very good argument as to why AFL jerseys need names on them and I agree but how do you fit "WONAEAMIRRI" on the back of your jumper?

He's never going to be a speedster but I think you've summed up his attributes well. At VFL level and on smaller, more weather affected grounds, he's always hard to beat but the step up to AFL level might well find him out. It will be interesting to see whether a few months under the eye of Bohdan Babicjzuk will help him keep up with the AFL speedsters. The funny thing is that Greg Williams' lack of pace never seemed to prevent him from accumulating his 30 to 40 possessions week in week out but then Diesel would also probably struggle to get rookie drafted these days. Finally, I calculate that 125 players were drafted this year ahead of Valenti. Anyone who expects a Chris Judd to emerge after that number of selections would also have strong beliefs about the existence of the tooth fairy.

Congratulations to MELBOURNEfc historian Lynda Carroll who has successfully completed her doctorate - "For The Red And The Blue: A Social History of the Melbourne Football Club". Very impressive!