RalphiusMaximus

Frost is our Gorilla Tamer I would say. He has the power to go with them and the pace to run off them.

I would think Trengove is like JKH. Not necessarily injured but on a modified program as they try to rebuild his body. It's a work in progress.

So as things stand right now we have one available Category B spot and we have the right to list Daniel in that spot. I'd say grab him, but who knows what the plan is from the club?

I'm absolutely thrilled with this. Smith has all the tools to play AFL, we just need to see if he can put it together with the right training.

I'm glad we've got another ruck project on the books, but it still leaves us short if we need backup in the next few years.

Really hope we grab McInerny as a rookie. We need to be developing another ruck even if it's only as backup.

Awesome work. Very much appreciated.

I would say take him anyway. There is no guarantee that Johnson will make it in the AFL. Why not grab another similar type and double the chance of getting a quality player?

I'm wondering if somebody can explain this oddity I've found. In the last week I've seen Russell Robertson listed as being selected in the main draft at pick 68 in a couple of articles. This puzzled me as I've always understood him to have come from the Rookie list. I went looking and found that on Wikipedia, Footywire and the AFL site he is listed as having been selected at 68 in the ND and also at 48 in the Rookie Draft IN THE SAME YEAR. How is this possible? Was there something really odd going on because it was the first year the Rookie Draft was held? Anyone have any idea?

I didn't see Jarman get picked up. Hopefully we get onto some ruck backup as well.

I shall clarify. Does anyone ON THESE BOARDS know anything about him?

So does anyone know anything about him at all?

The gist is the article is that he's claiming the club kept him on the sidelines longer than necessary for his concussions, which prevented him from playing enough games to trigger the fourth year on his contract. Next year would be his third year, but he is now in a position where he can't play enough games to reach the trigger. Further muddying his rather strange claim is the indication that he is going to retire, meaning that he wouldn't be in a position to claim his fourth year anyway. I guess he could claim that he wouldn't be retiring if that extra year was still available? So, we have a number of players, including a former Demon, who are involved in legal action against the AFL because they weren't protected from head injuries. We now have a player who wants to sue his club because he thinks that their efforts to prevent him suffering long-term brain injury were excessive and have harmed him financially. I really hope he winds up with nothing.

I am a little concerned about the times being run. I have no idea what the industry standard is these days, but several years ago the media experts were saying that an AFL midfielder needed to do the 3km in around the 9.30 mark. From the sound of it we only have a few players who can crack 10 minutes. Assuming that the goalposts haven't moved this is a bad sign and shows we're still going to struggle against sides that can run.

Agreed. His disposal is actually really average shading to poor. People tend to overlook this because he is so eye-catching busting tackles, bursting away fro the pack and blasting a 60m bomb. The debut game for Geelong that everybody raved about is a classic example. I don't think I've ever seen more hand-passes aimed at the feet.

I think it could be really interesting to hear Roos commenting on a Melbourne game. He'll be very familiar with the side and the players and should provide some real insight for the fans.

Funny thing. I know a few folks who are into running and they all tell me that hunching is the worst thing to do and you need to keep yourself upright with the shoulders back. It seems that your instinct is to hunch/bend over but it's not necessarily the best thing to do, which is probably why the reports are saying that Lewis was making his group stand up and walk around rather than collapse on the ground or adopt the classic Hands on Knees pose.

Emma Quayle has done her rundown of every team's list and what they need to draft. She says of the Dees that they have put themselves in a position where there are no holes or weaknesses that need to be filled, allowing them to simply take the best available player at each pick. Nice to not be seen as a basket-case anymore, isn't it? Edit: I have no idea why I thought this should be included in the training thread. I'm pretty sure I had a reason, but it's now escaped me. Ah well.

I want to know if they are counting the players from the exhibition games in the numbering. Do they get rings or will it all start with this group as the first squad in the first season?

Looks like it's February and March next year.

I came across this the other day. Not just a great bit of cover art but it looks like it could be a pretty interesting read.

The kid appears to be an impending train wreck.

The Women's team have their first official training session on Tuesday at Gosch's Paddock. 6:30pm. LINK I guess they have to train after work since they aren't being paid a living wage. Anyway, I'm thinking of having a look. We'll see. As a bonus it's right around the corner from the Noodle Night Market!

I agree on Peter Hanscomb