DeeSpencer

Spencer (form), Melksham (ban), McDonald (injury), Jetta and Jones as leaders have fronted up. Not blaming him for not coming early, just a gut feeling. Wouldn't be the worst idea from Bernard but he did play every game he was available for last year. Again, no issue with Lumumba staying away, just a feeling the club might not be telling the full story.

All of Melksham, Hibberd, Viney, JKH, Mitch King along with Crossy were doing a drill located at the Northern end where they were just leading and marking kicks to each other in different combinations within an area about 60 out from goal. I assume it's conditioning their bodies to footy style movements - kicking, marking, bending down, jumping etc. Wouldn't really impact where they play. Hibberd clearly has a powerful left. Melksham has very good penetration on both sides of his body. His body is very sinewy and he kicks like a guy with long levers, not always pretty but it can travel. JKH is one of the most balanced kicks in the team, from a technical and aesthetic component I'd say he's the best kick of that group. We all know Viney isn't the greatest kick but one thing he does make look easy is taking difficult marks. He plucked a ball one handed that should've gone clear over his head. He was jumping and scurrying around and not showing any signs of restriction in his movement.

More opposite foot kicking in the 2 sessions I've seen than in the last 2 decades. Players went off to the tan hills. Apparently Stevo has that later. Melksham (just leading) from Viney put a fair old gap in Piggy Hibberd in their interval runs. Without the restrictions of neck surgery this year Nath Jones looks like he's done a lot of strength work. Looking at his nuggety best.

Still hasn't fronted to training when a lot of players in similar scenarios are coming back early. Combined with a bit of interest in the press. Wouldn't shock me if just gave it away now. I doubt Goodwin is as interested in the softly softly Roos approach.

I thought he was good in the prelim thrown forward to do a job. Then the Dogs forwards probably didn't suit him in the grand final but he wasn't terrible. Rookie draft seems more likely all the way as not many mature players get drafted in the national draft unless they are dominating state leagues. I don't think the finals series would've made a huge difference to his draft stocks.

The last training before Christmas as well as the intraclub match have now turned in to somewhat marquee training events with open sessions and a demon army BBQ. And obviously the players spend a bit of time with fans on the summer camp in Queensland. Plus the family day. I'm not sure if/what more we can do, I just encourage the club to do things properly when they do advertise open sessions for fans. In the last few years that seems to be trending in the right direction.

Slightly bigger (if no more athletic) than Pedersen and 3 years younger. I could see him fighting for or taking the 2nd ruck spot in 2016 and maybe holding it for a year or so. But that's assuming we don't think some combination of Watts or Weideman can do that job for us in the short to medium term. And it doesn't help us find the long term solution either. So I'd rather use the spot on a guy we think can be a long term solution. If there's no one better and we think we desperately need depth then I wouldn't hate the idea. He's bad but not completely useless. But there's a few state league and young tall prospects who are genuine ruck size/athleticism and have at least some forward ability as well.

I noticed when they did the longer run that those 2 started a lot later and did a shorter distance but at a higher speed. Might be to prevent injury. Might be to increase their fitness. Or in addition to above it might be a way to maximise their speed whilst building fitness. I'm guilty as much as anyone in focusing on players improving weaknesses when improving strengths can be just as beneficial.

Good at winning contested ball. Have the games best ruckman to feed the ball to a midfielder who's often tackled Over-posses the ball without making progress from congestion Lack breakaway speed Don't use the ball cleanly enough in space and therefore create more congested/contested situations Play in an outdoor stadium in Melbourne! Overall I'd say it isn't a bad problem to have. We want to be a team winning first hands on the ball. We just need to keep training in how to break out of that congestion.

He was a long way back in the running last year as well. He's a sprint athlete just like Frost, Kent etc. The issue is he has to cover ground pushing up in to midfield, he doesn't have the outright pace or ability to get the ball (ie. one on one marking) to play as purely a deep forward so he needs a tank. We'll see how he goes over the next few months.

Didn't hang around for too long and grabbed a coffee at one stage so might've missed a few players. Not sighted: Jones, Viney, Garlett, Lumumba (?retired), Hibberd (?icing his knee), Vince, Lewis (?collecting his pay cheque), Gawn, Tyson, Watts, Oliver (?sunburnt), Weideman, ANB (?drove to Casey), J Smith, Trengove, Pedersen, Hulett, Garland (?traded himself to Collingwood) Rehab group of Vanders (only briefly before heading in), Tom McDonald, Melksham, Mitch King and JKH. Those last 4 spent a fair bit of time hitting up targets to short leads. Melksham can kick with penetration on both sides of his body. Doesn't have the smoothest action but decent accuracy. JKH is a nice kick. Tom McDonald is still Tom McDonald. The young ruckman isn't the worst kick of a footy but it isn't his strength either. Hogan trained and looked fit but didn't stay for the running. Pat McKenna had an ankle (I think) looked at then walked back to the rooms without trouble. The rest did the running after the session. In terms of body size/shape I'd say Hunt has strengthened up in the legs yet again. Brayshaw looks trimmer. Kent doesn't look bad in person, just nuggety. Petracca looks very strong. Billy Stretch and Wagner a little stronger. Mitch White looks lean. Maynard is a strong lad. Salem looks strong with good muscle definition without being hard fit, I'd say he's at a good spot given his illness. Drills were mainly focused on quick ball movement. A quick kicking drill from the goal line out of the back 50 then back in. The highlight was a Hogan turn and laced delivery to Petracca on a bursting lead. A quick handball drill up one of the wings had the boys working hard. Then they did a cone to cone kicking drill with the ball going in a criss cross pattern with players kicking on their left for the cones where the ball went to the left - that alone was nearly enough to make me cry, seeing the non preferred foot getting equal usage. The repeat runs were mainly 200m goal to goal sprints. With some longer stuff mixed in. I only watched a short amount before leaving the players to it. But they were mainly in 3 groups. Kent and Frost started together in one group of Kenty was spacing big Frosty. Then Kent, Tracc and Kennedy joined up whilst Frost and Spencer were together. Kenty was really putting in. Tracc was battling away but I think he's giving it his all, he's just going to take some time to build up. He doesn't look overweight he just looks like a very powerful and strong athlete not suited to endurance running. Ben Kennedy is more of a worry, he was dropped off the back a fair way. I'm just not sure he has any kind of tank. The main group was Bugg, Stretch, Harmes, Hunt, Brayshaw, Wagner, White and I think Oscar, Jetta, Salem. They were all running well. Buggy probably the best of them but they were sticking as a group and encouraging each other. Lastly, Max Rooke is a reassuring presence. I didn't see him do anything specific in terms of coaching but I just appreciate his general demeanour.

That's not ideal. I still think they need to work on his running technique to take the pressure off his back.

Dawes, Lumumba and Melksham missing a year.

Dallas Carolina Philly

They blew a few games with bad mistakes and dodgy coaching but I still think the Eagles are the best balanced team in the NFC. They had Dallas on the ropes and let them off the hook. Of course I'd love to see them with a good receiver and thought they could've made a trade for a veteran receiver who wasn't going to drop passes or make costly mistakes.

I wouldn't mind another long term option. With the category B rookies these days adding to the players on a list it makes sense to have a couple of young big guys coming through. Sometimes even if they don't work out you can trade them for a 3rd round pick and start again. We certainly need a short term option as well though. We might gamble on Gawn staying healthy and Pedersen doing a job this year but it would be a risk. Maybe if we find the right 22 year old we get a guy who can play if needed and can be ready to impact more in 2018.

So a reliable friend was talking a best 22 high profile young Essendon player and asked if they'll miss Hibberd. The response was - nah mate, he hasn't run in a year, his knee is stuffed. Hope we haven't brought another lemon.

Yep I couldn't remember if they'd done that or not. It's a start, still, I'd rather delisted free agency go all the way until Feb. Where's the rush? Let clubs see which youngsters are progressing and who's fit over preseason.

Certainly agree finals v the right season are 2 different things and of course you have to win home and away games to get there in the first place. What I want to see with Garlett is consistent defensive pressure, him putting his body on the line and his skills being sharp around the ground. If he does that the goals look after themselves and even if he didn't get any goals in finals he'd contribute. His decision making and skills were off this year from early in the year, then his hardness and defensive efforts fell away. I hope it's just a slump and it comes back to him next year.

So many things are backwards in the AFL if afforded the opportunity to do so it makes much more sense to have the draft first and get the kids that you want in and then worry about delisted players to compliment your list. Often clubs should separate their list with mature players and kids not expected to play but if you unexpectedly draft 3 solid body ready to play midfielders in early rounds of the draft you wouldn't want to add someone like Jake Barrett. Similarly if you draft a highly ranked state league mature back flanker you might not add a delisted flanker like Henderson. Nice of you to admit it.

I'd prefer Frost and Oscar move in to Tom's one on one role than either of those 2. Then we play another medium type as the third tall. Litherland is worth a look because he can play 2 way footy and is young enough to have a future. Brown I don't see the need for.

J Pod was a seriously good goal kicker who adapted better than a lot of clubs thought to AFL. Smith isn't the same player. Doesn't have the size or goal kicking. If he was to make AFL it would be on the back of rounding out his game with good forward pressure, ability to get up the ground and then some marking and goal kicking. He's nicknamed Bull and impressed with his follow up work this year. I think he'd be somewhere between a mix of Tory Dickson from the Dogs and Vanders for us. A 3rd tall who can provide a contest in the air and on the ground.

It's a deep draft and there's more than a handful of decent delisted players floating around this year. I don't think it will be much of a risk to wait until a rookie pick for Downie or someone of his quality.

Tom Boyd. But on a far cheaper contract. An emerging forward who also has the size and skills to go in to the ruck for a decent part of the game. Or Rory Lobb. Barring that massive preseasons for Sam Weideman and Mitch King.