DeeSpencer

Always very hard to know what assistant coaches contribute. Chaplin wasn't a great athlete or superbly skilled so he made a career of being a smart footballer in the right spots. Probably the best thing you can say for Chaplin is that after being at Richmond for half a season in 2013 Alex Rance suddenly started playing a lot better and went from an ok young player with some upside in to one of the games very best key defenders. Seems like he'll work with the forwards at the Dees but he's going to know what defenders don't like.

Like anyone associated from that time at Melbourne you never know how much was there fault and how much was other peoples and part of the culture of failure. Got some decent late picks with Gawn and Jetta, even big Fitz offers more than most late picks. Scully and Trengove were no brainers if we didn't like Dustin Martin. Watts might even have been the right choice if developed properly. Gysberts had the talent. Strauss, Blease and Tapscott were the 3 top picks that really look bad in hindsight. All 3 had persistent and continuous injuries. But they also had big flaws. Maybe those first 2 don't break their legs and Blease gets a tank developed from an early age and Strauss gets confidence beating up on Eddie Betts and playing consistently. Neither had the work ethic or confidence which sums up MFC at that time. The stories about Rory Sloane just make me mad. Maybe Barry P had the right idea and somehow we Melbourne'd him in to picking the wrong players.

Foxtel likely put the foot down after recently getting fox footy as part of their tablet service - foxtel go or whatever they call it. Some people are saying the terms and conditions still say it will work on Ipads. So they've got a fight on their hands. Most footy media will be too compromised to touch this issue but someone will.

Seems like it's all stuffed anyway. Get a VPN and buy the international version is one idea I've heard of questionable intent.

Good luck to him. In an ideal world I would've kept him but I understand why they moved him on given they were stuck with Garland as depth and had Frost and Oscar. He looks fitter and should bounce back to pretty solid form and his kicking will help the Pies. I'll miss his ability to win some decent one on ones and kick a long goal or long switching kick but I'll appreciate Frost's athleticism and Oscar's work rate and height. When you've got 3 imperfect options it's not unreasonable to back in the younger two.

What's your method of watching it? Phone, Ipad etc? There's a lot of info on bigfooty and whirlpool that might be helpful.

I don't know about that. The way our game plan and most other teams work is that they sling shot the ball from turnovers and that means you need to have speed and power at half forward. In the midfield and at half back you can have smart footballers who run hard not fast, but to break zone backlines you need speed to burn and ability to force and win contests. We don't kick the ball well enough or open space well enough to finesse the ball forward. We need players capable of generating their own space through hard and fast running across half forward. Wings are about endurance and pace is needed but more so to out run your opponent and break lines with the ball - if you're fast like Isaac Smith you can do that in a tighter space and get out quicker and steady up, if you're slower like a Sidebottom you need more space or sharper skills. Inside mids just have to clock up the kms and not let opponents run away from you at stoppages, so it's more about balance in the rotation. There's a role for Trengove on ball and as a utility but even without injuries he wasn't quick so he has to show various facets of his game. Suspensions aside he was a very good tackler but not a great clearance player, so I expect that to still be the case. He'll have to have improved his inside game and then he'll have to be strong over head and really good with his ball use. There's a reason the Hawks weren't unhappy pushing Lewis and Mitchell and there's a reason Geelong were desperate to push Bartel. The game is getting faster every year.

The encouraging thing about the Demons recent build has been we have some confidence in Misson in fitness, Viney as list manager, Taylor in recruiting, Mahoney as GM football and several of the assistant coaches. I think a big part of why unstable programs don't succeed is because every time they fire a coach they have to rebuild most of their football department and do that without any football IQ around the place. As Dees fans we know all about that. Not to be too negative but I think we might have to make some big calls over the next few years if things aren't going to plan - be that on coaches, players, footy department staff etc but this time it shouldn't be a panicked tear down job like in years previous but actually informed decision.

Chicken v Egg is always my problem with this thinking. The teams that are stable and only augment their list often do that because they've got the right coach, the star players and the right culture. If you don't have that set up then keeping stability with the wrong set up will just prolong the pain. The Bulldogs tried the stability approach under Macca but realised the culture wasn't right, the coach wasn't really working out and they were missing some important parts of the playing group. The captain walked out, the coach got the lemonade and they spent big time on Tom Boyd. All kind of moves that go against the working theory here. But now the culture is and coaching is probably stable and I doubt they'll be making wholesale changes any time in the next decade really.

I'm glad the Dogs have named a strong side. Falling over the line against the Pups again and then having the club and some on here cheering the victory doesn't interest me. I hope they serve up a strong contest with their style of pressure around the ball and fast movement because that will really test our structural weaknesses.

If only there was someone on here who could get the message to Dec Keilty that he's an AFL player now and the rules state he has to go get a fancy haircut! Spencer I've given up on, but I like his plan that if he grows a beard he might play more like Gawn.

I think Watts is out to let Spencer and Weed have a decent run at it. Same with Frost to let Oscar, Wagner and hopefully even Joel Smith to have a good go. The 3rd game is the one we need most of the best 22 in for. For the first 2 games I want to see as many players get a run as possible. Ideally I'd play all of the 35 or so fit players.

FB: Wagner Oscar Hunt HB: Melky T Mc Vince C: Salem Viney Lewis HF: JKH Hogan Petracca FF: Garlett Weed Vanders Foll: Gawn Jones Oliver Int (from): Spencer Brayshaw J Smith Stretch Bugg Harmes Johntsone Trengove ANB Garland

I'm one of Garlett's biggest critics but it took all of about 5 minutes in the intraclub the other day to see his speed is still a cut above and he gets to the right spots. I'd like to see some good form in the preseason games but I still think he's close to a lock to start the year - especially with Ben Ken and Kent in rehab - and then it's a matter of if he performs. Petracca playing as a deep forward and opening a half forward spot might be the most logical way if you had to replace him. JKH and a lot of the others are better up the ground players and young Dion Johnstone is unlikely to be ready even if his tackling looked great in the intraclub.

From what I saw in the intraclub he's a fair way off it. At this stage he's an athlete with a good physique who can look quite good in training drills that highlight his movement and vision in close. If he can have a season in the VFL like Joel Smith did that will be a start. Smith's the one from our basketballers who I want to see in the preseason comp.

Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards. Our aggressive zone defending backline won't work against the best teams unless the forwards do their job and pressure more. If I were the coach I'd rather the short term pain now than getting the chop in a few years when the team can't rise above mid table mediocrity. I wouldn't do it early in the season but I'd be giving the guys I named 5 or so weeks to lift their defensive intensity and lay some tackles. Hopefully they've worked on it over the summer and it isn't even necessary.

Use Gawn and the mids to win clearances and coach aggressive hand balling and stoppage set ups. Beef up our forward pressure, even if it means dropping players who kick goals but don't contribute enough defensively - Garlett even Watts and Hogan if necessary Zone defend to cause turnovers in dangerous spots on the back of this forward pressure Counter attack whenever possible from half back but if it's not on then either kick down the line to Gawn or Hogan or patiently wait until a player/combination of players can make a play from half back. I'd work on particular half back plays - the Watts, Lewis or Salem corridor kick. Hunt or Frost playing on and using speed. The short kick and handball to a player running forward coming across the mark.

Sounds like you're looking at 2 tickets? Just the membership upgrade should only cost you $5 and the 2.95 fee.

Great report Earl. Nice to hear Dom is back in the main group. I think it's still about a month until our 3rd Preseason game so hopefully he's on track for that. And nice to know Kent is training.

I'd be contacting someone at GWS to double check because they'll be hosting the game I guess and the Dees staff might not know much about what will happen up there. Does a Melbourne membership get you in to a GWS v Sydney men's game, that's my query? That said, even with the Swans involved will a preseason GWS game in Western Sydney sell out? Should be right one way or the other.

I guess not every Hawthorn player is a great kick even after they develop them, so it might not take recruiting a full 22 of dual sided ability, but I'd love to see a midfield and half backline of quality players who have confidence to go on either side. I wouldn't hold your breath for Melbourne though. We might try more opposite foot kicking this year but unless it's a safe kick to space there's only a few in the side who I'd like to see given that license.

I think the game is heading towards kicking on both, but to change the game from AFL level down you have to recruit and develop like Clarko and Hawthorn have done for footskills and that's going to be even harder to find dual sided players than finding good kicks/left footers like Hawthorn did. The problem is kids start playing matches in under 9's and for the majority of them kicking proficiency isn't a vital skill. I want kids that age to just go out and have fun and as they progress though the years you want to see them marking, tackling, running with the ball, handballing etc. Being an accurate kick doesn't really matter until about under 15 or so when switching, kicking to leads etc becomes part of how a team plays. But to train (or find in those rare naturals) high quality dual sided kicks and train them up it has to be more like junior tennis where you have academies and daily coaching and so on from really before the age of 10 if not ASAP after that.

He didn't play. J Smith, Kent, Kennedy and Tyson were there in street clothes. Mitch King was in training gear but I didn't see him train, same with Mitch White. Hibberd, Jetta and Hannan sat out the main game sim but did other stuff. Brayshaw played a half.

First half was terrible. The girls looked so confused in trying to structure up and were making terribly panicked decisions with the ball. 2nd half I thought Hickey in to the midfield changed the game. She crashed in a won a few really nice clearances and then with Pearce, Paxman and O'Dea we had a midfield rotation that was dominating. It also signalled that they weren't afraid of losing the game to Mo Hope and had to go out and win it with the best players around the ball and getting it forward. Cat Phillips is the female Isaac Smith. Just a power running machine. She's very raw and it won't always work for her but she can work a team over. Emma Humphries is impressive on a wing as well. When Hickey was freed up the backline still had talent and belief. Clifford, Duryea, Downie, Smith (a gun), Patterson form a really strong unit down back. The forward line is probably still the weak link. But Anderson looks a really classy forward who is only 19 and will get better. But they probably lack that 2nd tall option as well as a proper small goal kicker. Rocky probably comes in next game to see if she can add a combination of size and speed in the one player.

Midfield: Rucks: Gawn took some strong grabs mainly behind the play and one forward, they didn't use him for the long bail out kick. May as well save that for the real stuff. Spencer's work rate was good and his skills ok. Gawny pushed him around at some stoppages. Flippers was a bit of a disaster but looked willing. Inside: Clarry the stand out, only thing I'd like to see more is him straighten and pump it in from stoppages instead of kicking it to the wingman who gets held up. Viney scratchy around the ground but willing. Jones smooth running with the ball and kicking long to players in space. Trenners with plenty of touches. Salem with moments of class. Brayshaw came on in the 2nd half and made an impact inside and out. Outside: Lewis spent time in a number of spots but his kicking to corridor options was the highlight of the game for me. Bugg's work rate was very good. Stretch the same, he links up smoothly. Harmes spent some time on the wing and also provided an option. Forwards Tall - Weed with some moments, Hogan working really hard. Watts hopefully at about 50% but the class was there. Pedda looked solid inside 50 for the 2nd team. Hulett mobile and involved a lot as well, bobbed up for a few goals. Med/Smalls - Tracc with burst, just needs to balance up. Vanders with some hard stuff but scratchy. JKH prolific for the 2nd forward team, really busting to get in to space. DJ's tackling was excellent and good positioning. Garlett missed a couple of chances but he also played a part in good passages with speed and crumbing Backs Tall - Tom kicked well and mopped up around half back. Oscar was solid in the air, just misses kicks when he has to judge depth and movement particularly inside 50. Frost was sharp for the 2nd side and had a few strong runs and lowered the eyes and kicked well. Garland didn't do much wrong. Med/small - Hunt's defensive work and aerial work strong, started by doing too much with the ball but then settled in to some good options. Vince made some precise short kicks and looked decent. Melksham got a lot of the footy and was mostly decent with it, tried to take Oliver on from the mark deep in the backline and probably regretted that choice. Wagner very composed and kicking short sharp kicks.