Deeoldfart

Thanks PW. I think you've captured it well. My only comments are: I reckon that Valenti was right up there with the other onballers Jones, Moloney and Buckley Dunn only walked the boundary before the practice match (as he did at training on Wednesday). I hope his groin is no more than a niggle, because he looks to be in fantastic physical shape and Bails has been strong in his praise for him since taking over.

Agree with Timmy's assessment. Obviously not as strong or as physical as Byron, but none-the-less, I thought his strong defensive pressure, chasing and tackling were a real feature of his play yesterday .

Two suggestions (both true!!) that worked for me .... and I've been happily married for 38 yrs. to an ex Bulldogs fan. 1. Make sure that your prospective 'captain / coach' clearly understands the meaning of 'for better or for worse' before you tie the knot. Everyone knows that Melbourne has a better overall record than Hawthorn. 2. If that doesn't convince her, bail her up in a corner and tickle her until she concedes defeat. This did the trick for me. My 'captain / coach' is now a one-eyed Dees fan, and the only footy related dispute that ever arises is who over gets to answer the 'phone if some Turkey is stupid enough to call us during a Dees game (we live in Canberra and can't get to the G each week).

Yep. I'm sure you got it right.

Thanks for that Timmy .... great stuff!! I was also at the 'scratch match' and my two bobs worth follows. The match comprised four 15 min. quarters, and each team had only 15 players. The two teams were: MFC Jumper Morton Green PJ Dutchy Moloney Valenti White Weetra Zomer Ossie Miller Frawley Bell Carroll Bate Clash Jumper Martin Cheney Warnock Bode Petterd McNamara Buckley Yze Jamar Garland Robbo Jones Juice Meesen Sylvia * Flash seemed to be an interchange player for both teams, but overall wouldn't have spent more than half the time on the ground. The only other one to miss a run (not mentioned by Timmy) was rookie Jake Spencer. Most of those who sat in the stand did some of the warm-up drills and then iced-up. We know about most of their injuries which are being 'managed' (Neitz, Bartram, Rivers, Whelan etc.) but I'm gettin a bit more worried about Chooka McLean. He again had his right knee strapped and iced and I didn't see him participate in any of the warm-ups. Wheatley had ice on a hip (a cork or a strain?) and Dunny told us he has a bit of a groin niggle. Incidentally, as was reported on Wednesday, Dunny has certainly built up his physique over the summer, and now has the body of a potential KPP (a CHF perhaps??). Jack Grimes worked his backside off during the prelims, and finished long after the other non-starters were in the stand. I heard after the game that Ooze had his eye 'scratched' and had been taken to hospital to have it checked out. I dunno the outcome. I totally agree with Timmy that the game was played with high intensity ...... as if there were spots up for grabs (which of course there were!). I thought the on-field talking, support for team mates, tackling and backing up were super. The game was an open affair, with only a couple of bits scrappy play. This may have had something to do with there being only 15 per team. I particularly noted that there weren't many of those dinky little passes and sideways kicks that we saw far too often last year. Most of the foot passes were half or three quarter distance kicks, executed with good skills to a team mate making good position. Just a few of my observations / thoughts about particular players. Defenders Bell and Chips looked best to me, and provided good run off HB. Millsy played FB and was competive, but his disposal still needs work. Greeny seemed to be playing off HB and also did pretty well. Forwards Agree 100% with Timmy that Izaac looked the goods. According to my reckoning he kicked 3 goals (out of a total of 10 for the match for both sides). He was fast and elusive and his forward defensive skills were super. I was also impressed by the defensive side of Ossies game. Dutchy played up forward and his presence and marking had a positive impact. Midfield Smalls I was wrapped in what I saw here. I thought Bucks and Chunk were excellent in a losing side and playing to a (mostly) losing ruck. Beamer and Valenti were equally good for the winners. As mentioned by Timmy, Flash only played in short bursts, but he made a huge difference when he was part of the mix. Add Chooka, JMac and Bruce to this lot and I reckon, we have the makings of a good midfield group. Rucks Most of the centre square contests had Whitey opposed to Rush. Whitey's spring gave him a strong edge, but Rush was competitive, and good in some bullocking situations. PJ and Meeson did some of the boundary ruckwork, but there wasn't much of this (big ground and small team size possibly a factor here). Newbies I've mentioned Ossie and Valenti above. Based on what I saw today I'd expect them to be around MFC for quite a while. Morts was the other young gun to catch my eye. He got a fair bit of the ball, especially early on, and I thought he used it quite well. He also laid an excellent tackle that I recall. There were a few occasions when I thought he didn't know where to position himself (eg. at kick-ins and stop plays) but good coaching and experience will soon remedy this. Thanks again Timmy for starting the ball rolling on this topic. I hope my thoughts will add a bit of info and interest for footy starved Demonlanders who couldn't get to today's game .... but please remember, I'm a one-eyed Dees fan, and undoubtedly viewed the game through my rose coloured glasses! Happy to answer any questions, but I will be out of town from Sunday morning, so will need to hear from you in the next 24 hours. Bring on the Cats.

The Canberra Times says Friday 8 Feb., Ainslie Oval, 9:00am to 11:00am. See ya there!

We have to be able to make something out of the 'Red and Blue Army' concept which is being developed for our 150th. The Club is endeavouring to contact all MFC supporters (not just members) to join the 'Army' for the celebrations on the Queen's B'day weekend. Just having the name and contact details of non-member supporters has to be a good starting point for increrasing the membership base. Of course, it is critical for existing members to play their part by providing names of non-member fans.

He's quick, and can really make a tackle stick. Based on what I saw he's got a real future at the top level, but maybe not this year.

Yep Grazman.....I was the goose beside you. Hope you can get away on Friday and we can meet more formally

Barts will be a ripper if he can get 100% and stay that way. Dunno about Chooka's knee. He was in the stand with his training gear on and the knee strapped when I arrived 15 mins before the scheduled start of training, so my guess is that it's something that had gone amiss that morning. I'm hoping that if it was anything too serious, he would have been off somewhere else getting treatment.

Yeah. Bucks does look to be in great shape. Appears bigger, stronger than last year, and he did some nice things. Other reports about him being in for a big year might just be spot on. I hope so, I didn't observe too much in his senior appearances last year. I didn't notice Juice too much so I can't really comment. Of the draftees, Cheeney probably left the best impression with what I saw this morning. I can certainly confirm that he seems to be an out and out 'goer'.

Attended training at Ainslie Oval this morning. What follows is a short synopsis of what I observed. Overall impression was one of great enthusiasm throughout the group. Constant talking, backslapping and encouragement during a very solid 2 hour session, about half of which was devoted to what I'd describe as 'competitive match day simulations'. On the injury front Cam Bruce was nowhere to be seen (as would be expected), Matty Wheelan jogged laps, and Dunny and Wheaters walked laps (no indication what was restricting these two). More worrying, (and without wanting to set too many alarm bells ringing) Chooka McLean spent the entire session sitting in the stand, looking pretty disconsulate and with his knee strapped. Returning from injury: Flash participated in the whole session and looked to be sharp and unrestricted. Barts did everything except the competitive stuff. To me he looked really good and free in his movement. He iced his knee when he came off, but I suspect this was just precautionary. Riv completed the whole session and looked ok. Beamer did most of the work, but to me he looked a bit stiff in his movement late in the session (hopefully I'm just jumping at shadows). A couple of the veterans (Neita and Robbo) sat out the competitive stuff, but I presume that's just 'easing' their older bodies into the season. For most of the session there were things going on all over the oval, and it was difficult (for me at least) to take everything in. However, there were a few standouts from my perspective. A very trim Bater played a running link between defence and attack in the match simulations, and he won just about every competition he was involved in. He looked sensational. Chunk also looks to have fined down over summer, and won every hard ball that I saw him compete for. Flash looked to be back to his best. As quick as ever with those magical foot and hand skills and exceptional ball control below his knees. Millsy was also very good, especially in the competitive stuff. Hope you find my observations interesting, as I have done browsing Demonland since I found it a few weeks ago. I'm really looking forward to attending what DB described as a 'scratch match' on Friday. That should provide a better insight into how we are travelling in the lead up to the NAB Cup.

The boys are arriving in Canberra today for their annual Community Camp. I'll be taking every opportunity to watch training etc. and will keep you all posted on whatever I can see / find out on Brucey.

Totally agree, very exciting for 2008 and beyond. I particularly like the thought of strong competition for a small FP berth (Yze, Maric, Weetra?), freeing-up Flash to do his thing further up the ground. If Weetra and Aussie can make a strong impression at the top level it will be a feather in the cap of CC and our Recriiting Dept. - a very late draft pick and a rookie!

At the end of the '06 season many of the media 'experts' rated Carroll amongst the best few FBs in the competition. If he can recover that sort of attitude / form he would be an asset in '08, if not we shouldn't persevere. Hopefully, the (small) sanction that has been imposed will be all that is needed to persuade him to knuckle down on and off the field. It was interesting to read Chris Connoly's comment in the Herald Sun that on the field Carroll was having his best ever pre season.