JJJ

I also attended training with a few hardy fans. I don't really get into giving a blow by blow account of drills etc. Just observe a select few. Hogan. Funny gait when he runs but otherwise was a real standout. Did a few things that made me pretty excited. Great 1st touch in awful conditions and gives maximum effort at all times. Kicking was great. His marking, better ... Watts. Liked him today. Used the ball brilliantly. A couple of gathers below his knees at speed were a highlight but his general sense of purpose and running was impressive. Toumpas. Looks slimmer through the hips and thighs and was covering the ground well. Thought his kicking was pretty poor but his voice and run was surprising to me. Ive met him previously and thought he was a great kid but it was great to see him speak up. Leading Teams influence? Frawley. Gun. His encouragement of his teammates during the running drills was great. Trengove. Still slowish but his real problem seems to be his lateral movement. Changing direction at speed is terrible. He lost a few contests based on this alone. Definitely looks slimmer though. Mitch. Moving better than 2 weeks ago. He looks better than I thought he would but I am determined to keep a lid on it. Cross. Loves to work. Made some of our better runners from previous years look a little silly. Worryingly, he doesn't look as slow at the MFC as he did at the Dogs. Kicking was better than advertised and was excellent at the competitive drills. Michie. This bloke is massive. Kicking was a fraction inconsistent but runs well, covers the ground with enough speed and is very strong for a mid. Hogan aside, this guy was the highlight. Nicholson. His skills are embarrassing. Reckon he missed 3 targets by a total of 50+ metres. Howe. Playing as a 3rd/4th tall he will be dangerous. His marking today was top notch and he hit targets. It could just be me but he looks bigger than this time last year. Trained with a lot of intensity which I thought he lacked last preseason. Very impressive. Bail. See Nicho. The new draftees: Salem. Neat kick in sloppy conditions but he is smaller in person than I thought. He needs to develop his body. Really quickly. Took a nice mark right in front of me which surprised and and then sliced a kick to a leading forward. Did it all very easily. Tools all seem to be there. Jay KH. Smooth. Runs well and hit targets at will. He is small. I actually really like him. During the full length drill he duffed a kick, ran hard to be an option, got ignored, continued to run, received the ball and kicked a goal around the corner. Hands on knees and looking like he was going to vomit, he noticed the ball from the next drill spill, so he picked up the ball and repeated the same drill. No hesitation. A few of the older players didn't do that when the opportunity presented. Pitt? Is that his name? Has a hitch in his kicking technique which will be difficult to eradicate but he just floats over the turf when he runs up and down the ground. Overall the skill level was not bad, usual suspects aside, and the enthusiasm and voice was good. The style of play was kind of on show throughout the drills. Congested, competitive drills with quick hands and strong tackling and then full length drills with player breaking away from defence and kicking to a player leading toward goal. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how we will be playing.

As of Friday it looked pretty grim for us regarding a trade with GWS but things seem to have shifted a little. Here is the latest I have heard: - Bugg was asked if he was interested in coming to the MFC. He said 'no'. It surprised me to read his name yesterday as I would say my source is ok. Not sure what to think about that one. - Dom Tyson doesn't look to be going anywhere at the moment. He is very highly regarded up there and he hasn't gone to the club and requested a move. We did ask though. Same goes with Treloar who has settled well. - The same cannot be said for Dylan Shiel who wants to come back to Melbourne. The city not necessarily the club. You can join the dots as I have (stupid me) but I do know that some people at clubland (GWS & others) were very amused by Roos' comments regarding trading players 12 months before their contract expires. It wasn't aimed at Frawley, or at least that is what other clubs think. - GWS is extremely reluctant to trade Shiel but with this new development I can't see how we wouldn't be top of the pile as a trade destination as Dylan hadn't ruled us out last I heard. - GWS really want pick 2. Really want it. I honestly have no idea what GWS players would be involved but it would surprise to see Buntine in the red and blue. They love him.

Of course I didn't. This was always going to be a painful trade period. You should be worried about our assistant coaches. With our ridiculous succession plan we need to show the footy world we have a legitimate plan. You don't think that Dylan Shiel would've asked who will be my coach after Roos retires? I can't believe you would not be worried about this. I can tell you it is a concern for players.

Its not nonsense. It's a fact that other clubs and managers are privately telling prospective FA's and players that we have approached that we can't develop our own. What you are saying and I am hearing are pretty much one and the same anyway, our poor player development has lead to the rabble that we are and as you say, a less attractive alternative.

Chappy, I think is a mistake by Geelong but Pods won't be missed. We are in serious strife at the moment in the open market. Any quality player we have approached so far has said 'no' and we seem to be lacking a couple of quality assistant coaches. We are massively on the nose. The best thing it for us may be to trade for Viv, Vince and Lyons and draft BPA with pick 2 and do it hard again next year. Have a crack next year at the best available assistant going around and hope that we show some signs of improvement towards the latter part of 2014 to attract players. At this rate we will have some cash to spend. Our list is unbalanced and in need of some coaching but the addition of some midfield depth could get us up to 5 wins. Forwards: Hogan, Clark, Dawes, Kent, Howe Mids: Jones, Watts, Toumpas, Viney, Trengove, Gawn, Spencer (Pick2, Michie, Vince & Lyons) Backs: Frawley, Garland, McDonald, Grimes, Terlich

The perception in the industry is that we can't develop young players. The notion was used pretty heavily this trade period by opposition clubs when we approached their young players. heck even player agents aren't keen for their young stars to come to us. I hope it doesn't make us try something desperate.

Unless we get Dom Tyson (I haven't heard anything solid about him), it would seem we won't be trading for any gws players at this stage. It's stating the obvious but we are not a great destination for young players at the moment. At least that is the perception and you know what they say about that.....

by 2015 he would be our #1 mid. Can't say that about anyone in the 2013 draft class so, yes, he is worth it.

why those 2? As of Friday he hadn't told us 'no' so that's a glimmer.... I expect a few more answers early this week.

The GWS asking price and I don't think Shiel has yet to state that he wants to come to MFC definitively yet. Lots of water to pass under the bridge......

Without going into specifics, my info comes from within GWS. FWIW There are a few players up there who would like to come home but I don't think that is any different to any young players at other AFL clubs. I am not that confident that we will see Shiel in MFC colours.

He is open to it.

We have had separate meetings with both Shiel and Bugg and it would seem that both are interested in coming back to Vic. GWS are backing in their ability to retain both on new contracts to avoid losing them. It could be a bluff in an effort to get more in return from us.

I don't care who we draft but to be an elite mid you have to win your own contested ball when taggers start coming your way. I would favour the player who has the ability to win both the contested ball and the loose ball now rather than hope he develops either of those skills after we draft him. We can't muck this up.

^^^^ Can you change your avatar? Every time I see it I vomit a little in my mouth. Not sure how we could accommodate a trade as he has another year to run on his contract but if MFC approached #3 at WCE they may be surprised how interested he is in leaving.

Watts has more talent in his left pinkie than any dogs defender.I don't measure his output just on goals. He has other rolls which he failed to fulfil yesterday. I would hate to be running out of defence with watts as my only option.

No he wasn't. Whilst Green wasn't my favourite Demon, he was never soft. His change was more in terms of style rather than mindset. I get a little irritated when I hear/read that he was soft.Watts was very ordinary yesterday. Lovely kick but as others have pointed out, his overall game was without intensity and intent. For those that thought his game was good yesterday, ask yourself how a player with elite speed could never get separation on the lead? It's a reflection of his overall game.

Great! It won't be so hard to convince my 3 and 6 year old nieces to support the Dees with 'Tinker' floating around the forward line.

He spoke well at the lunch on Saturday. Certainly had a steely resolve about him which I found pleasantly surprising. If the rumour is true, I am pretty happy.

Strauss should be known as Titanic Deck Chair # 1A. In this case the Tiitanic is already residing at the bottom of the ocean.

Maybe they should've. The may rue that decision at 5pm Saturday.

Yuck.Thought Davis may have been a sneaky chance but perhaps we are banking on Pedo making a fool of North for trading him. Unlikely though.

No it couldn't. Jamar would only have currency for a team on the cusp of the top 4 and requiring depth in the ruck. EG Collingwood

I am suffering a major case of 'withdrawal'. When is Spencil clear to play? I dream of a team (not Casey) with Spencil, Gawn and Frisky Fitzy all running around. Blease for Rodan is good. I reckon we left Byrnes in to teach him a lesson about the Geelong style of play.

For a second there I thought you were saying that you still had Garry's lunch money from grade 3. I was going to blame Garry's inability to choose a coach on your bullying in primary school. And his bad back.