DeeSpencer

The highly regarded Melbourne midfield group of games started tomorrow: Gawn, Preuss, Jones, Maynard, Swallow, Fritsch, KK, Bradtke

Consult your updated MFC players list and you’ll be fine

New assistant coach B Vince?!

44 and 45 training with the forwards. As is 40 16, 32 with the mids. And 31 23 and 27 starting life down back. 3 is with the backs. As is Guy Walker

C wags is in the 40 one of the academy kids is running laps with Hannan. I’d be lucky to find the other 2 yet alone know who is who

Denver, LaRams, Chiefs

I don't disagree with a lot of that but much of what the AFL are implementing with list rules and so on is a complicated layer of terms and structure to bring back a simple concept. In this case they are saying instead of drafting all your players in November you can add a player sometime from December to March. They put in some rules, regulations and labels but adding a player over summer is really a return to the pre draft days where you could invite a player down to train and sign them up later on. Compiling your list and not being able to add to it after November isn't a tradition that particularly makes a lot of sense. There's a lot of danger that relaxing list rules makes the circus of of player movement more exciting than the games but there's a balance where giving teams more flexibility with their playing list lets them put a better team together. Better teams = better games and that's the most important thing for the sport. That's what we want to see.

He couldn't officially join the list until December 1. So I'm guessing they'll announce his signing tomorrow and get him a jumper number after that. 40 and 41 vacant, I'd guess he takes up 41 to be next to his brother. Yeah it's interesting that will didn't fill our list at the rookie draft but I think it's a smart move to wait until closer to March. If we don't want to pay for a player to train with us we might be able to use it as a way to help Casey with recruiting. The best of the under 18's we didn't draft can be told to sign for Casey so we can look at them until March. As well as waiting to see how the team is training and if there's a needed role player on the eve of games. It wouldn't shock me if we went in 1 short to save money for some reason. Walker and Bradkte might be relatively expensive and competent B rookies which might have something to do with it. That said, I'd rather fill the list.

Very little mobility or skill but had the strength and endurance. Every time he was starting to look a little better he got injured. Paul Roos always rated him and said earlier this year he should still be on an AFL list. I guess there's only 50 or so rucks in the country that have the right size, strength and endurance and whilst Spencil might be the worst of those 50 he's still one of them. There's been rumours of Roos consulting with the Suns as he has a relationship with Dew as well as George Stone and like we did the Suns are also trying to build from defensive work and around the contest. Having ruck depth so you can do that at AFL and NEAFL level is important.

We didn't need the list spot and I assume we didn't have much room to squeeze salary in to last seasons cap, so there was little to gain by forcing an early retirement as long as Jeff turns up in shape and willing to work. Given there's an opportunity to add a rookie up until March and again mid season we may as well keep him training until the games start. If he's showing an aversion to contact and little form at Casey I'd expect the club would negotiate a retirement, probably by June would be my guess.

Yeah not too interested in age rankings, the most important this is that the great majority of our best 25-30 players are between 21 and 30, played enough senior footy and after last year had at least a taste of finals. Spargo is the only really young player who's expected to be in the side and Lewis the only clear veteran type. Jones isn't a spring chicken but he'll only be 31 next year, his challenge is more adapting to a new role than fighting off age.

Yarra Park is still the dream. Otherwise I remain convinced a partnership with one of the leading Private schools is worth exploring. High quality ovals - tick Inner/middle suburban or even ‘heartland’ location - tick Either existing or a desire for gym/pool/indoor facilities This press release from Xavier shows you how serious they are about strengthening and promoting their footy program. It’s obviously very important to the schools PR efforts. Surely one of the schools out there would welcome a partnership with an AFL club, giving them credibility and access to the elite environment. Id be calling Melbourne Grammar immediately and asking if they want to build a facility with us at their Port Melbourne training fields. Leverage Steve May and Toby Bedford for an Indigenous angle, that will get the AFL and Goverments involved. Tie it in with Fisherman’s Bend residential development. Easy!

Obviously depends on what and where but ownership is surely the best result. The club needs assets to secure its future. According to the annual report we had 49 million revenue last year. Sold the Leighoak for 7 million to give us cash assets of 10 million and non current assets of 12 million. Reads to me like we need to get that 20+ million (hopefully more with government grants and fundraising) invested in to making money for us. A facility that saves the money we currently spend leasing AAMI Park and mcg office space and makes money leasing the associated spaces has to be the plan.

Certainly adjusted for height

You need to access via the club app and signing in. They’ve made it that way to try to make it exclusive and probably to get everyone to refresh their details. Not missing much so far, but it might get more interesting as the series goes on

Petracca, Melksham, Hannan, Fritsch can all play as the go to guys. Worse case scenario we only need big competitive bodies. We have 2 options in Preuss and T Smith, both would offer more than Pedersen in 2019. I like Frost and Joel Smith as alternatives if we have 3+ injuries to talls. We still have a March rookie spot and can potentially create another one for mid season. I’m a little unsure of those rules. If we need a back up we can get a back up then.

Was rehab-ing. Good size, has Melk and Crossy by a couple of cms. Strong enough build although more of a running type than bulky type. Very tanned, must be sunny up on the farm

Jetta, Stretch, Tracc running laps Melk Hore running timed 150’s with Crossy Harmes jogging Bull jogging. Oscar hanging around New boys: Bedford has cut his rat tail, shame. Chandler is short but compact. Sparrow stronger, clearly has done more weights than the rest of them, he’s more of a young man than a kid. Has the AFL approved short back and sides haircut. Nieta is a nice flanker size, not too thin, not quite rangy but an all round nice shape. Jordon looks a little less developed but he does have some quads, not a complete baby. Walker has the long hair and a natural looking left foot, slotted some nice goals on the run, could be something there. Bradtke bounces along with his hair bobbing like a young tall, does have a nice kick for his size. Early returning players: Gawn, Hib, Jones, Frost Running time: Gawn, Hib, Frost, Preuss did 300’s in that order, big fella wasn’t too far behind. Rest did 200’s Young guys did interval running. Sparrow looked the most taxed at the end but he’s got 5kg on these guys and is apparently a fast twitch guy. Didn’t get to see much of their kicking, the two I saw were Chandler and Neit/Aaron and they looked fine. Rough order: J Smith, anb, Wagner, Fritsch, kk, Gus, Jones, Maynard, Walker, Spargo, Petty, Weed, Keilty, May May not terrible but I think he’s got a big preseason ahead of him. He was keeping pace at the back with Keilty but he did look pretty puffed after every run. Still vocal and getting around the boys. I wouldn’t say he’s in bad shape but he’s a bit chonk. They went off in pairs and they didn’t separate too much. Later they broke in to 3 groups for some longer running. Smith, ANB, Jones, Wagner, Gus, Maynard, KK in the top group who decided to head off around the rugby ovals, then a middle group of Fritsch, Weed, Petty, Spargo followed by the big boys.

I think his positioning is far better than Frost's, like most basketballers he knows how to guard space and watch the ball at the same time. Frosty was a volleyballer IIRC. Endurance makes him an even better athlete as well, in fact there's a case to argue he's the best athlete on the list - rare combination of endurance, speed and power. Decision making has to improve but he can get out of trouble with his movement. Kicking is the big one that might stop him progressing but the hope there is he's had a few injuries so hasn't been able to do the big blocks of training. Frost largely fixed his kicking this year after years of being hand in mouth bad, so it can happen once players get older and more experienced. The real shame with Joel Smith is unless he really gets it together in a huge way there's always going to be a bit of regret to me. That's because I'm certain if the club was in a stronger position 5 or 10 years ago they would've got Smith in a father son academy and playing TAC footy and developing his game as a teenager. He's such a freak athlete I really think if he had played footy the whole way through as a kid he'd certainly be a very good player. Now it's a matter of if he can catch up.

Kennedy, Fisher and SPS have exposed form to make pretty nice 2nd or 3rd rotation type mids capable of playing forward and outside as well. If 2 out of 3 of Dow, Walsh and Stocker form any kind of decent combination around Cripps they'll climb up the ladder pretty well, especially from about 2020 on. Their trade of a potential top 5 pick that could be very high for 2 first rounders - 19 and who knows what next years will be - is actually very similar to when we decided taking on another messiah top 5 pick was no longer useful and traded pick 2 (and 20 for some reason) for Tyson, Salem and Hunt. We all look back now and say that was a bad trade given the Josh Kelly factor (even if we wouldn't have picked him) and the picks involved but most of us would live with it because it was a signal that we needed to start improving and winning some games and Tyson helped with that. Overpaying for Stocker might well be Carlton's version. Even if they give up a pick that becomes a Josh Kelly the idea that they aren't going to sit around and wait for draft picks to save them might be a good move.

We still have 1 spare spot don't we? 39 senior list and A 4 rookies? Can we not add an extra rookie spot via this rule at some stage between Dec and March or is it one per side only?

22: 48 drops to his knees to win a ground ball handball, then follows up and bangs the ball forward in traffic 24: 58 - quick centre clearance handball to a free team mate 26:05 - bangs a torp up the line 33:15 - fumbles, then dishes a quick handball, gets around the back to get the handball back and gets his kick smothered, regathers to rush another kick 30m or so forward 33: 58 - reads the play well and quickly gets on to a wayward kick, gathers cleanly and fires a nice handball back to a team mate 34:50 - no possessions here but makes good position to receive a handball and also quickly covers back on a turnover 35:28 - handball gets smothered on the boundary line 35:50 gets beat easily for the clearance by his opponent, no body contact 36:35 - again positions on the back of the play to receive a handball, spears a kick 20m to hit an open forward The last play was his best for the quarter. Looked to me like a guy who probably was still adjusting to the pace of the game and given Dandy were a fierce pressure side and it was a Grand Final that probably makes sense. Clearly not as physically developed as most kids, you can see he doesn't have the upper body definition or run in the legs. But there's some speed and he reads the play to receive the ball. If his last kick of the quarter was deliberate and indicative of what he can do instead of just more of a fluke then I can see why we liked that.

FB: Hibberd May Jetta HB: Lever ????? Salem C; Fritsch Brayshaw KadeKolo HF: ANB T Mc Melksham FF: Spargo Weid Petracca Foll: Gawn Oliver Viney Int: ?Lewis- hbf, ?Jones -wing/fwd, Harmes, Vanders CHB - Frost v Oscar v J Smith v Petty Lots of options now to run through wings and flanks which I expect to take some time to resolve. Likewise how they plan to use the tall defensive talent. Depth: Frost, Oscar, Hannan, Stretch, Baker, Maynard, J Wagner, Hunt, J Smith, T Smith, Keilty, Hore, JKH, C. Wagner, ?Garlett Development: Petty, Sparrow, Jordon, Neitschke, Bedford, Chandler, Bradkte, Walker Depth Chart Backline: (15) Key defenders: May, Oscar, Frost, Petty, Keilty Intercepting tall: Lever, J Smith, Hore Back pockets: Jetta Flankers: Hibberd, Salem, (KK), Hunt, Lewis, J. Wagner, ?Jordon Midfield: (16) Inside mids: Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes, Maynard, ?Sparrow Outside mids: Kade Kolo, Fritsch, Jones, Stretch, Baker, C.Wagner, ?Neitschke Ruck: Gawn, Preuss Mid/forward: Vanders, (Petracca) Forwards: (14) Key forwards: T Mc, Weideman, T. Smith, Bradtke 3rd tall: Melksham, Petracca Flankers: Spargo, ANB, Hannan, JKH, ?Walker Crumbers: Garlett, Bedford, Chandler I'd say pure crumbing forward might be the greatest weakness but we did bring in a couple of late pick options there. Not sure how they'll break up the new players but I'd expect they spread them to different line groups, maybe even move the versatile guys around. Keen to see what they do with the wing but there's plenty of variety now.

Scharenberg, Langdon and Howe are a pretty good mid sized marking trio. It might’ve been they were preferred to Hore. Pies might also have been keen this year but waiting for a later pick or rookie pick. I wonder what his plans were if not drafted by this year. Continuing on with the Pies VFL for another year would’ve been a strong show of loyalty

Not blaming you! It appears to be an atypical surname that’s going to cause confusion. TrengRove like