DeeSpencer

Anyway. Got there at about 9:40. 40 minutes late or 50 minutes early. Melbourne traffic... Rehab: Baker doing some kind of backwards walk with a trainer and elastic bands Hannan having a wander around the boundary Tomlinson - who looks very fit and light - jogging, headed off pretty early Petty, Vanders, Bradtke doing sprints No Melksham, KK or Spargo that I could see. First drill I really paid attention to was a 5 on 3 kicking in a 50 by 50 box. The group I had included Gus Brayshaw in the 43 jumper. Honestly it suits him, the 4 and 3 both have nice shapes that work with his angular body and face. I think he should keep it permanently. He doesn't look as thin as say Harmes and Oliver but he has nice muscle definition in the upper body and nothing extra through the hips that I could see. He was kicking accurately off both sides. Then it was in to 8 on 6 short ball movement in two different groups up either wings. Sharp work from all that I saw. Then it was time for in tight handballing, with 2 different divisions split in either half of the centre square. I like a nice burst from Toby Bedford where he escaped from traffic.I actually think he does his best work around stoppages. They mixed it up with the same kind of drill but up and down each wing for about 50m getting quick hands. Langdon was a standout from what I saw, both with the ball and defensively he's really sharp to move contest to contest. Salem. James Jordon. Oliver involved in everything as usual. Again, very sharp stuff. By this stage Jetta, Weideman and Nietschke were split off to do some rehab stuff. Marking and then the old fashion keepings off with 1 guy with the ball, 1 blocking, 1 chasing. Nietschke more than held his own blocking or chasing, he's a willing lad. Joel Smith and Lever also sat out some of the main stuff for some kick/mark rehab work. Lever, Jetta, Nietschke, Weideman all went back in the main groups later. Petty, Vanders, Bradkte and Joel Smith did some leading and kicking, then some good running before finishing up. Bradtke can kick a lovely drop punt for a tall. The main group moved in to the british bulldog injury drill as mentioned above. Whilst T Mc, Preuss and Gawn did marking with Matty Egan. Jason Taylor in attendance and looking very comfortable. He always strikes me as very tall. And has very small lower calves, I can't confirm if he has donated his calves to Harley B. Mahoney, Matty Whelan, Shagger Byrnes all floating around. Kelly O'Donnell watching intently with binoculars. Line groups did some specific stuff. Defenders one on one marking and a quick handball then kick to a fellow defender back leading for an exit kick. Finally in to match sim. It was toward the end of a long session but it was noticeable how after short burst of match sim how stuffed the players were. Footy hey, it hurts. Nibbler snapped a nice goal. Some sloppy mistakes down to fatigued I'm sure and it was blowing. Overall not too disappointed with it. The standout player who was finding space for marks, hitting targets and constantly letting dangerous.....well maybe I'll keep that for myself for now, you guys seem to like the suspense.?

The drill that I disliked - and the only drill I disliked from the whole session - involved 4 attackers having to get from one end of a 40 by 25m rectangle by handball opposed to 3 defenders. A pretty simple drill in many ways. But in was done at an incredibly fast pace and personally whilst I liked that it was with good intensity I thought it bordered on a level of danger that didn't meet the risk reward. There were 4 teams of 3 defenders - green, white, red, pink and everyone else was in groups of 4 attacking. So the rotations were at a break neck speed. Attacking wave comes in to the box with green team defending, gets to the other end, a new attacking wave comes right back the other way against the white defensive trio. Petracca had a vicious sidestep that left Lockhart on the ground like a basketball player missing a step. Chandler impressed. Some guys really ran and broke the line before the defenders could get organised. Salem did Salem things - just a subtle dip and poise and then a perfectly released handball. But there were defenders sprinting in to make players and clunking in to blocks and tackles at awkward angles. Especially as fatigue set in it all became a bit scrappy and overly willing. I didn't see what happened to Petracca but May went over and had a quick chat after he was assessed by a rather pregnant lady. Definitely restricted in his left shoulder. A couple of tablets then on to the repeat 200's for the rest of the session. Not a lot of arm swing in his left arm when running. Really I don't understand why it wasn't in for immediate treatment. You can't win the flag in November but you can lose it. 45 minutes of training surely isn't going to be the difference between fit enough for a breakout midfield season or not. Anyway, just my opinion. And I'll repeat again - it was the only drill that I saw in the best part of 90 minutes that I thought didn't pass the risk/reward ratio for November training.

Sorry all. Was waiting to see how much running Christian Petracca got through and with what level of discomfort before providing a name. Then got called away before I could update.

The injured player has had a couple of tablets and a looking over and is up and gently jogging in runners. Personally I’d ice his shoulder immediately and start the recovery period rather than having him run. Might have to call Dr Brukner and see if I can book an emergency appointment for my own anxiety.

Another training, another overly zealous drill for November. Another important player walking off with hopefully nothing more than a shoulder stinger. I held my breath through the whole drill and they didn’t quite make it.

If Weideman and Petty both get back in to full training and are looking decent, if Preuss continues to show the right application and if we draft Jackson then I'd imagine Brown's stay will be closer to 2-3 months than years.

If we think Henry is better than Pickett then we'll bid with pick 10. There was no need to put some form of agreement not to bid with pick 10 for him in the trade with Freo. They got plenty from the deal as is. EDIT: Of course they get a discount (who knows why) and can match with a bunch of crappy late picks, but at least Henry's name can be called it where it deserves to be. Silver lining I guess.

Spargo - 2nd round pick - was a midfielder as a junior and his skillset - fitness, ball winner, get contest to contest, make smart decisions is that of a half forward flanker Bedford - 4th round pick - flashes defensive and crumbing ability but is also a long way from AFL and more of a project Chandler - rookie - junior midfielder with some forward craft but more of a 2nd best small. The Puopolo to a Rioli. Lockhart - rookie - back flanker/mid/half forward flanker - ball winning and ball use across the flanks is more his go than dangerous inside 50 pressure and crumbing. Training with the defenders. Not sure it should be pick 10 but we have to draft a specialist crumber and pressure player at some stage.

What time is training tomorrow? The advertised time of 10:30 or the apparent time of 9? im keen to see a full session

3 - Jackson 10 - Pickett 28 - Flynn Perez I think we add either a 4th pick, a rookie pick or another train on player. A pacy small or a key defender depending on how the draft goes. State leagues or even a Sam Murray. I just don't see the need to hold list spots for both Bennell and Mitch Brown.

The other concern is Hawthorn have a future first round pick to play with, as do Freo, Collingwood, no doubt Gold Coast and several other teams. North have 3 picks between 25-30 and the Cats obviously have a big hand. Port used their future first to get pick 16 from Brisbane, so I'm not sure Collingwood or Hawthorn will be able to buy a pick inside of that range. But Freo, maybe if a team takes a chance on them not being very good next year. My guess is Hawthorn, Port and the Dogs all stay at 11-13, they'll want guys ranked in their top 7-10 players and will pick them, it's too hard to say no to a Kemp, Stephens, Weightman pick there I think. But 14-25 could be an absolute minefield or teams going up or down the order with future first round picks and 2nd rounders flying in for players. The trade down to 14/15 and still get Pickett could work - although there's less chance given our intentions are apparently telegraphed all over the Herald Sun - but having any idea of who will last to 17/20 with the second part of that deal would be nearly impossible.

List needs: 1. Small forward if we don’t go one at 10 2. Key defender - especially if we see Petty as a forward 3. Lock down defender - Hibberd/Jetta replacement 4. Speed and classy kicking runner Forwards: Elijah Taylor / Jack Mahoney Tall defender: Sam De Koning Backline grunt: Will Gould / Trent Rivers Classy run: Hugo Ralph-Smith / Jeremy Sharp / Rivers / Trent Bianco / Will Day Trent Rivers would be my dream pick up as he does just about everything at a high level as a defender. Kick, run it out, intercept, contest in the air and on the ground. But I’m sure he’ll go top 20.

I like the logic in all of that but.... We also haven’t had a first round pick for 4 years and pick 10 comes from next years pick when the view of the list could be significantly difference. Vince, Lewis gone, Jones all but, Hibbo and Nev possibly soon. That’s a lot of steady quality going/gone. Whilst Ryan and Rioli were involved it was the bland and unspectacular top 10 pick Dom Sheed who had 30 touches and kicked the match winner. I’m inclined to be conservative and take the player who’s more cake than icing.

Getting the player we want more is the most important thing. GWS are going to be a good side with or without Green. In fact letting them get Green - who is unlikely to make them better in the next 2 years - and not having any future draft picks as well as a packed salary cap could work in our favour if we're proactive in grabbing one of their other young mids like a Caldwell/O'Halloran in next years trade period. The footy gods might smile back on us.

That's the first I've heard of any link between Roos and DeGoey. Are you sure there was any connection at draft time, not just the Sundance Kid rewriting history? We were linked to McCartin as part of the clear top 3 choices and that was it. What we do know is that Roos had a relationship with Mark Brayshaw and was undoubtedly a fan of Angus. Big body midfielder, good family, it's all the stuff Roos preaches. He had trained with the club as part of the AFL Academy. The Jackson link to pick 3 started with Cal Twomey reporting about a month ago that his name kept coming up with Melbourne. This was when he was around the 10 mark in most rankings and mock drafts. Jason Taylor then included him in the names he liked at pick 3 on the podcast - given Twomey had already reported it there was little point denying it whether true or not. Before all of that the draft media were pushing Young and Serong as the pick 3 candidates. I don't know for sure that we are picking Jackson but everything is leaning that way and I don't think it's because the media has influenced our choice. The fact that several draft commentators have now moved Jackson up their rankings or linked them with us is because it's either true or they are all lemmings, but it's wrong to suggest our recruiters are suddenly swayed by media projections.

Brayshaw was a safe pick and quite possibly a wrong pick but I think our recruiters would've pulled the trigger on Lever not JDG if they took a risk. Wasn't really the right time to take a risk though.

And yet when the forwards played in front they ended up marking them. If he can move through stoppages and chuck it on the left it can roll along the ground for all I care. The forwards can do the rest. Obviously his kicking from marks/free kicks/in time and space has to be better but from what I’ve seen his right foot in those circumstances is at least serviceable.

Are Richmond even back training yet? Im not saying you don’t get in to full scale training, I just don’t see the point of it in November. I think an under reported aspect of our injury crisis last year was our poor skills and decision making led to injuries. Hore and Viney are 2 that had no need to get injuries and probably plenty more. Richmond’s ball movement, like Hawthorn in their best years is so quick and uncontested. Run, share, link etc. Clearly they are very strong in the contest especially defensively but we’ve got a heap of skill stuff we can do in November. Do that before the finals teams get in full training and we’ll have made ground on skills and fitness and not lost ground in injuries.

The way he can get out of a stoppage isn't just impressive for a ruck it's impressive for any player and it's why I think we'll eventually go with him. Green will win more footy but he's a handball king, Jackson can run it out.

Can have all the pressure without the contract. Pressure these days is as much about corralling as tackling anyway. Then if a defender gets an intercept you call it an intercept, you don't have the forward fight for it. If the forward is going to get spoiled then the defender can just mimic the spoil and the coach can call it a turnover. I think we've got too many guys like Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Harmes who can clean up messy skills even with heavy contact by winning contests that we don't train precision skills and decisions enough. If you're a messy young player just handball it somewhere near Petracca and let him beat his man, you'll look great. Otherwise, slowly ramp the amount of allowed contact up and be cautious with guys who aren't 100%. Oliver and KK both clearly not 100%, don't allow them near a drill that has the potential for a reasonable amount of contact. Last week Kyle Chandler was training with a knee taped up. This week he's in rehab. I'd have a no full training with anything taped rule. Richmond last year - no tape in the grand final, win it by plenty. GWS - all sorts of players taped up!

Nope. Hoping to get to a full session next week. At 9 or 10:30 or whenever

Sounds like poor awareness from Hore to get anywhere near KK, disappointing. Why you’d have Oliver back in any kind of contact before he’s 100% again is beyond me. Stop doing contact drills in November. Just isn’t worth it. This team needs so much skill and decision making work it’s beyond me why you’d do anything with risky contact.

Which picks? 2015: No one predicted Oliver until close to the draft. Weideman - clearly a key forward was of interest but I'm not sure it was influenced. Later picks. 2016: Just later picks, I only knew of Hannan as a VFL player before draft night. 2017: I can't remember any buzz about Spargo or Petty to us until right before the draft when Spargo was mocked to us. Spargo, Fritsch, Petty, Baker was a mixed bag of selections. Tall, medium, small. 2018: There was nothing about Sparrow, Jordon, Nietschke or Hore. Add in Bedford at it was a real variety of talent. Mids, backs, forwards. I think pick 3 is locked in. Most likely Jackson but I can't see a trade. We pick from Jackson, Green and Young as forecast on Road to the draft. Picks 10 and 28: yes draft strategy will be involved here. I imagine player cut offs for both picks. If player A is available then we draft him. If XYZ are all still on the board we move back a bit. If XYZ are all gone then we move back for different reasons. If pick 10 goes back then pick 28 comes up. All sorts of contingency plans.

Sandilands last played a full season at age 32, since then he's played 5 games, 10 games, 11 games, 6 games. Slowly easing down from the 80%+ of ruck he currently plays to a move 50/50 is probably the best way to prolong Gawn's career. I could see Jackson playing 50% game time in the ruck by year 2 if not year 3. That's a lot faster than year 5/6.

Gawn is about to turn 28. Jackson will play from ages 22-32 with Gawn aged 32 and either retired or right near the end. Dean Cox was 27 when Nic Nat was drafted. Only the rarest of draftees make meaningful impact in year 1. Walsh, Rozee, Rioli. Even guys like Oliver play good and bad games and limited minutes. They aren't as good as you think, often they are playing just to satisfy fans and so coaches can say they play the kids. From year 2 Jackson will be supporting a 29 year old Gawn. From year 3 Jackson will be supporting a 30 year old Gawn.