Deeoldfart

I'm becoming more and more impressed by Goody in the media.

Copuchas and / or Jock. Any sign of Nev Jetta?

I've got a week-long Fly Fishing Convention at Lake Eucumbene starting on Saturday, but I've already notified the organisers that I'll be a late starter, so that I can stay at home watch the Dees. I'll be sitting in a lounge chair, sipping (or quaffing) a nice red. True story!

Wow!

Greatly appreciate the effort Ken! Are you in 'hangover training' in preparation for a visit to the G late in September?

Jack would've!

Fabulous report, thanks 'vibes. Wouldn't it be magic if Billy and O'Mac followed up with outstanding seasons, along the lines of Maxy in 2016?

It's impossible for me to disagree with any of that Red, but at the same time, I do think it would be very easy to fall into the trap of using the highly skilled and finely honed men's game that we all love, as the 'benchmark' for the AFWL as a spectator sport. Having said that, I know I'm really looking forward to each match over this inaugural weekend, and especially Melbourne vs. Brisbane ......... but maybe that's just because it's been a long pre-season, and I need a footy 'fix'. I genuinely hope it won't be the case, but I suspect that for me, the AFWL will always be no more than a nice prelude to the AFL ........ but undoubtedly quite a bit more than that when Melbourne are playing. Time will tell!

Bernie Vince?

Many thanks for your updates ww. This one made my heart skip a beat. For a split second I thought the last word might be achilles or something just as horrific. That's what comes from being a Melbourne member for so many years, I guess.

Great work wayne. Not the desired result, but great reporting for those of us who can't be there.

Love this from Macca: McCartney on pre-season: Part One A couple of delicious quotes: "............... the group is so willing to learn and receptive to getting better, it's brilliant to come to work every day with them" and "................almost every player has taken another step forward with their learning and development. We won't lack for talent, we won't lack for preparation and we are really confident that we won't lack for intensity. The Club has entered a really exciting phase."

Very good session today, I thought. Fast ball movement, run and spread seemed to be the emphasis. The work was mostly crisp and clean, with very good intensity and pressure around the ball. As soon as there was any hint of relaxation or a player lost concentration for a split second, he was promptly reminded to maintain "match day intensity". I must have heard one or other of the coaches bellowing this instruction half a dozen times, as well as the players continually urging eachother to greater heights. Great stuff! Regardless of how we fare this year, l'm 100% confident that we will have a very 'honest' team playing for us every week. Anything less and they'll be at Casey. A few individual highlights from my observations: - Jesse is in superb physical nick. Stronger than ever, and extremely quick and agile for a kpp, as shown in a forward entry / ball movement drill. Would love to have seen him have some set shots, but I don't think he had one all session. Can't wait to see him when the real stuff starts! I reckon he'll have a 'blinder'. - Tracc also looks to be in great shape, and has definitely shed a few kgs. His ability to clunk a mark at its highest point is exceptional, as he showed on several occasions today. Endurance is still a work in progress, but I was pleased to see him spend some time working with the mids. He also did maybe 20 mins one-on-one specialist tackling work at the end of the session. - Trenners also spent some time with the mids, as did Vanders. Both looked good. - I thought Frosty's short kicking and reaction time in some intensive drills were pretty good. Let's wait and see how he goes under match conditions, but I saw enough today to be encouraged. - Harmesy was again amongst the front runners, both in sprints and endurance work. - Clarrie and Salem were the last two to leave the track, working on in-tight ground ball control, with Crossy tossing and kicking hard balls in their direction from close range. For the most part they were very sure of hand, but they got very shitty on themselves after even the slightest fumble.

Thanks Jack. Pleased to read on the MFC website that it's at Gosch's (albeit an 11am start) and not at Casey. This means that I can still fit in training tomorrow, and the necessary 'family things', before heading home to Canberra ... such is my love for the Melbourne Football Club, and in particular, my excitement about its near and longer-term future. Go Dees! Oh dear, I think I've had too much wine!

I can vouch for that play Saty. It was a glimpse of the Trenners of old, and prompted my observation about his renewed agility in my training report on the day.

Defender.

The list of 'possibles' is long (probably the best position for young talent that we've been in since the introduction of the draft and player trading) but as SWYL said, a bunch of them will need to go to the next level if we are to seriously become a team to be reckoned with. Having said that, I reckon there are a couple who might really surprise. They are Billy Stretch and James Harmes.

As I mentioned in my training report yesterday, Hunty was one of the standouts for me. He now has a stronger physique to match his undoubted courage, and yesterday he seemed to be in the right place for every contest, and win heaps of ball against strong opposition. If he can do this consistently in the heat of battle, and combine it with his explosive pace, then we will have an undeniable 'weapon' on our hands. I know it's only one viewing (for me), and only part way through pre-season, but I can't help being very excited based on what I saw yestetday.

Interesting. I have no opinion either way about the value of commando type training, but I did hear around the traps at Gosh's yesterday, that Jordan Lewis thought that Melbourne's recent camp was the toughest footy thing he'd ever done.

Forgot to mention Harmes in my earlier post. He was involved in everything, and if today was any indication, his kicking has come a fair way since last season. He was near the front in all the running. ....... and finally, allowing for my perpetual optimism, number 9 seemed to have markedly improved his agility. Not sure about his pace, but certainly more agile imo.

Clarrie did the full session with the main group and was pretty active in most of the drills, including (apparently) a bit of 'push and shove' at the other end of the ground to me. There was a series of hard run throughs to finish the session, and he struggled at or close to the back of the pack, as the lactic acid made things tough for him. He's coming from a fair way back in the endurance stakes, and it might take a while imo.

I'm down from Canberra for a few days, and of course, training was an important part of the itinerary. The highlights for me were: - the overall intensity of the work. The pace was high for the full two and a bit hours of the session (in very warm conditions), and the tackling was 'for keeps'. - the camraderie between the boys was palpable. Voice and high fives throughout. - Hunty and Billy look absolutuly 'ripped,' and I'm sure the coaches would have been rapt with their track work today. Very excting. - Jordan Lewis. So very clean and professional. Will be an outstanding acquisition for us in 2017. - Maxy's leadership. Directing traffic and encouraging others. An aspect l hadn't seen at the admittedly limited number of training sessions I can get to. - meeting a few Demonlanders for the first time. Believe it or not, they are actually 'real' people.

Dom Tyson was hobbling noticebly as he walked a couple of laps. He told Saty & me that he had injured his quad, and used the dreaded "4 to 6" when Saty asked "how long?"

Well if those highlights of 2016 don't get every Demonlander excited about our prospects for the coming season(s), then nothing ever will!. Thanks Jack!

Thanks Jack. You are a marvel for filling the quiet times with gems like this.