Its Time for Another

Aaah I have so many BIg Carl memories. The permanent head band. His last game being one of the fondest. Going up in a centre bounce contest and coming down in one movement rolling one arm over the head of the opposition ruckman, pulling it down towards the ground and getting a punch to the head in with the other. All in the same motion of going up for the ball. Priceless. There were many of those incidents in that game. If he'd played on the next year, they would have put him out for weeks. By the time he arrived in '73 his ankles were gone and he couldn't get off the ground anymore but still a pretty effective player. I remember Paul Callery literally running through his legs once after he'd picked up a loose ball at a stoppage from Carl's ruck work. One of the funniest things I've ever seen. I spoke to Robbie Flower just after Barrassi was appointed and he was a big Carl fan and wasn't at all sure about Barassi's appointment.

Didn't know that. Makes sense but leaves the new players a long way behind. It must be a double shock to the system to face the massive work load and to be a couple of months behind everyone else. Even worse for rookie draft picks.

Exactly. What I don't understand is why the drafts aren't held before pre season training starts. Teams have a whole season to work out what drafting and trading they have to do, it shouldn't be necessary to leave it for so long. When you see the last recruits coming in so late and see how much they are struggling because they are in some cases two months behind the rest of the group, you have to wonder why the system is set up the way it is. It must be a hell of a shock to the system to come in at the beginning anyway but to come in two months after everyone else must be a shocker. Think about it, two weeks would be bad enough. On a lighter note. Dom Barry is a great looking athlete and was hanging on to Magner in the running drills pretty well. At one stage he decided to put the foot down and just took off leaving everyone else for dead. He's pretty light but he reminds me of Lewis Jetta and weight is no problem for him.

If you had to miss one, this was the one to miss. 9 1st & 2nd year players mainly running laps and no Viney or Toumpas.

I was in Melbourne from Sydney, so I went down to watch. The term "The Sound of One Hand Clapping" came to mind. I was the only person watching other than a Herald Sun photographer looking for the players who were ejected from the MCG at the Cricket. Seriously, get a life - it was after all, only the first and second year players. There were only nine players there. Apparently it was meant to be eleven but Jack Viney and Jimmy Toumpas couldn't change their flights. Go figure. I got there at 9.30am and they were already training, they walked off at about 10.40. Jesse Hogan was doing agility running, then just laps on his own, then sat out the final stages of the training. I asked him how he was finding it and he said "Full on." Looked a bit forlorn sitting there on his own. He had been in Perth with the family over Christmas, so I don't blame him. I know it's been said many times before but up close and personal he is a very big unit. Just hope we get a contract extension out of him when the time comes. The other eight players were the four rookies headed by Couch and Magner who was leading the group in the running drills closely shadowed by Dom Barry, who was the only other one in the group who looked like he had elite fitness. Couch wasn't keeping up with them which is interesting as he was a stand out last pre season. The two newest recruits, the rookies, Stark and Clisby were clearly struggling. Not surprising, you wouldn't want to come into this training so many weeks behind. At one stage one of them was passed by one of the coaches doing some of the laps with them. Not a good look. The group was doing some competitive hand ball games. Looked pretty scratchy but it is first day back. Then a lot of running. You need to see this up close to appreciate how hard these guys are working. It's hard. Magner had a good chuck in front of me. He was busting a gut, thats for sure. I will try to attach a couple of photos.

What I like about Neeld, Craig and Misson is that they seem to have a very clear understanding of where the playing group have to be fitness, skills and playing wise, to be at the required level. There seems to be a very clear process in place and they seem to have a strong base of knowledge of how long it takes to get there. So no need to say anything other than what the process is and where they are at the moment.

Smarter than his old man that's for sure. Although not smart enough to follow Sydney where he was born and has grown up instead of following in his old man's footsteps and following our mob.

I would love to know the answer from the Club. He came to the club with a major back problem which is why we got him at pick 14 when he was touted as a top 4 pick. Club said they could see something wrong with his running that they thought they could fix and which would fix his back. He spent most of his first year learning a new way of running. Maybe he can't run as much as everyone else and has to do other fitness work, like the bike. He went on the big Kakadu treck, so can't be too bad. Probably just has to be permanently managed. As long as he has the necessary fitness I guess it shouldn't be a problem but would love to hear from the Club.

Thanks for all the detail Deevoted. A bit of a wake up call to hear that they still have a way to go before they are at the level of fitness Neeld expects. Just shows you how far they've got to go from what he inherited. I spoke to Neil Craig at the Sydney function during the season and he said he thought they'd be competitive from about mid 2014 onwards. Sounds like Neeld's and Craig's expectations for 2013 even with all these great Darwin camps etc are not too optimistic. They seem to have a real strong handle on what the benchmarks are for the top competitive teams and where our group is in relation to them. I'd rather get that reality check now than get unrealistic expectations for next year based on all these great training notes. My 14yr old son told me to have a look at some of the other club's sites to see what training they are doing. Funnily enough all of them are saying exactly the same things i. e came back in best pre season shape ever. Are all setting PB's right off. Everything we've been hearing. At least we've got Misson and Craig so we can feel confident that they know when they set a benchmark for training that it is an accurate one.

I was fortunate enough to follow his whole career. I moved down to Melbourne and started go go to games every week in 1973 and saw his first game. I was there for his last game and saw a large amount of them all the way through. During the '87 finals series I went down to training at Junction Oval most of the weeks and in those days you could go into the rooms after training. I was staggered to see him with his top off. He was literally skin and bone. He looked like someone with really bad anorexia. There was absolutely no bulk to his body at all, it was all skin and all his bones were sticking out. I couldn't believe that was the body I had watched all those years playing in one of the toughest most brutal era's and never flinching in a contest. He was amongst a couple of the most beautiful, balanced, fluid athletes I have seen, little own a footballer. It was very interesting to watch how he protected himself. For instance if he was on the wing going up for a mark invariably he would stick his legs out horizontally in front of him with his boot studs sticking out which meant players couldnt' get to him without getting a body full of studs. He had an uncanny ability to go flat out into contests but at the same time had the skill to have techniques to protect himself. Keith Greig was the only other player with the same level of grace but he played in a top team and consequently won two Brownlows. Robbie was a much more complete and effective player and it makes you wonder what Awards he would have won in a good team. He was a joy to watch in traffic, he had an unmatched ability to avoid a tackle and side step players with such grace it was like watching a dancer. Once he took off I never remember him being run down. I'll never forget his battles with David Rhys Jones on the wing at the G over the years. He was such a dirty player and it was the closest you'd ever see Robbie to losing it. But only after being constantly punched, kicked etc behind play. I've simply never seen another player like him.

Good improvement. Much appreciated. Really appreciate the site from NSW.

Where do you get this understanding from. The Club and he have said all along he was going to be back in training at the beginning of pre season. He has done that right on schedule. Have a look at the post on today's training. He is already doing 3/4 pace run through's and is kicking with both feet. Richo did same injury and was back for the full season the following year. Take a chill pill. The secret to this injury is identifying it early enough and treating it correctly. It can be a shocker if this doesnt' happen but very luckily it was identified immediately and given the best treatment through surgery. Having said that, you never know but all indications so far are that he is ahead of schedule and going perfectly for a full recovery and playing round 1.

Injuries = Down List = Up Fixture = Up Gameplan = Up Fitness = Up Confidence = Up Results = Up Injuries, injuries, injuries, they have killed us since 2006. Surely we are due for a break from the footy Gods. This will make a huge difference even if nothing else does. Key players in each line were missing for most or all of the season. If any of the teams in the 8 had the injuries we had they also would have struggled. Eg Blues, Bombers. When the 2012 fixture came out I thought Neeld was going to have a huge job on his hands holding the confidence of the group together. I thought we'd get one or two wins, we got one. That alone must have had a huge impact on confidence for the list under a new coach and regime. Lack of confidence has a huge impact on everything from skills to game plan execution. Next year we have a much more rounded fixture throughout the season. It should result in a more even spread of wins which will maintain confidence and see an improvement dripping down to everything else. Hopefully these two factors will have a strong impact without even going into all the others. Surely they are going to know the game plan and be able to execute it better than this year. Surely the structure is going to be much stronger with multiple forward targets, a better midfield and a settled backline. Don't forget Rivers didn't play down there for a lot of last season and he was not a great forward so we have already seen the team performing without him. Rock on 2013!!

I'd say this is the core of their thinking. They've already got a top 2-3 pick from this year's draft in Crouch. So they can afford to lose picks 20 & 54 which look like they weren't going to be that great. So they spread the pain and get on with it in a year where they already have a ready made youngster coming in. Good tactic and clearly the AFL have said it will help them.

Sorry B-H, I just don't take much notice of what you write lately. Its that Avatar, sorry but I think I'm in love with her. No wonder you don't have the energy.

I totally don't agree. Free Agency seems to be making the Go Home factor very signficant going forward. Chris Judd, Mitch Clark, Kurt Tippett, plus a whole bunch of other players who wanted to go home. Mitch Brown, Jason Cripps, Koby Stephens, Jacobs etc etc etc. Don't know how you can say it isn't a factor. I'm nervous enough with Hogan. Having said all that, personally, I'd still take Toumpas. I wouldn't not take him because of that risk. I might live to regret that decision though.

From what I have read Toumpas is the more polished player. But on the other hand Neeld is on a mission to fix the culture of the playing group, it's been broken for a long time. I feel pretty confident Viney is going to bring some of that intangible culture which will be never say die attack no matter what the scoreboard, whether we are in front or behind. We have clearly been missing this type of culture and leadership for a long time now. James McDonald wasn't a player who had the capability to turn a game like I'm pretty sure Viney will. I get the impression Wines attitude to how he plays and his long association with the Vineys means he will bring the same intangible culture to the club. Having two players in that mould who know each other so well, might bring something the sum of which is greater than Toumpas being a better footballer. Toumpas has had injury problems already, however, on the other hand will bring elite outside speed and skill which in the overall balance of the list is something we look like we are in desperate need for more than another hard at it inside midfielder. Who know's. I'll leave that to Neeld & the FD. So happy either way.

I agree. Has to be Viney in 31. He will honour the memory of RDB the man who invented the pack breaking ruck rover position that he will emulate.

Probably like mine. And it aint good. I spoke to him at the B & F and told him I had my fingers crossed for him because if it worked I was going to try it for a similiar issue. He didn't look very confident of a positive outcome. What a career he had for a pick 60. In his first season played all 22 H & A games and did his knee in round 22 which meant he missed the finals. Wouldn't think too many pick 60's had a debut season like his.

His turnovers kill me. Will never be a supporter while that continues and it will. Not up to AFL standard. The day he goes will be the day you know MFC are starting to turn into a real AFL team.

I see the list management now. If you're not 192 you won't get a game at MFC. I thought when they recruited Gillies on top of Pedersen that would be the end of Sellar or Dunn or MacDonald. But hey as the weeks go on I am being proven to know less and less. One good thing about this is that P Johnston in the back pocket on N Brown in the infamous '09 game can't be seen as tanking as we'll have 192 players in the back pocket from now on. It's all we've got as back men.

Interesting, that is virtually exactly the same distance as the track around Centennial Park in Sydney. I used to run the tan growing up and now live in Sydney and ride around Centennial Park but never realised it is the same distance. Love the tan for running, one of the great runs anywhere.

What?

Natural justice means the Club gets a chance to assess the evidence once it is presented and then has a chance to prepare an answer. The Club's lawyers as a matter of natural justice should be able to review any report in great detail and to interview all of the people who's evidence is being relied on. At the very least that is going to take considerable time. I can't see how they would achieve this before the Draft in which case pick 4 would be safe. However, from memory, they just stripped Carlton of it's picks with no notice a few days before the draft, so who knows. Having said all of this, I'm not going to spend any more energy worrying about the hypotheticals of what is going to happen until it happens.

Wonder what sanctions they will impose on a worse case scenario if they establish tanking. You'd hope they have learnt their lesson from the Carlton experience that taking picks away from a bottom team destroys it for years. However, any sanction will probably be complicated by what they will do to Adelaide and feeling that the sanctions need to be seen to be equivalent for the conduct involved. My opinion, for what it's worth, which probably isn't much, is that taking all that into account they will impose fines rather than take away picks from a struggling team that has been further decimated by five years of devalued picks because all the good players have gone to GWS and GC. If they take away picks and if they start with pick 4 this year, I'll just about give it away. This club has been hammered by the AFL and it's expansion teams enough already. It's only surviving because its supporters came forward and pitched in their own hard earned. The AFL will be spitting in their faces and the survival of a foundation team if they strip picks. If they do sanction the club they better get to the bottom of the Kreuzer Cup. Plus how many compo picks did Saints and Pies get since 2000. They better be very very thorough if they want to open up this box.