tasmanlvr

February 23, 2016

2 hours ago, Cards13 said:

Were you able to gauge his pace in drills Tas? I see you mention he caught Vince but interested to see how he looks in drills with the pill.

Not really. A lot of occasions it was really get and give off, although there was one occasion where he had a stroll. Didn't really get to assess his pace because he himself was assessing his options.

2 hours ago, Salems Lot said:

Thanks as ever TasIvr, your reads are most entertaining (up there with Ben Popje's reviews of MKR in The Age) (I don't watch the show; just read his reviews BTW)

I'm curious to read some of these as well. I also do not watch the show.

11 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

Info on Brayshaw would be welcomed. Has he built up a bit? Do you think he could play 50% of his game time in the midfield?

Brayshaw hasn't bulked up an awful lot, it really depends on what Roosy and Goody want to do at the moment, whether they still see him as a defensive forward or trying to get him into the midfield more often. Expect him to line up in the midfield for longer periods on Saturday given Jones and Vince's absence. We will see how he goes once those two come back in.

February 23, 2016

23 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Thanks for the great report.

Was Trengove doing contact drills?

He was. The really pleasing thing that I should really have mentioned was that in about 10 minutes of a drill that I mentioned his name in he had six or seven touches.

February 23, 2016

Went over... here's my report

One more training session before the lads’ head off to Adelaide to play at the wonderfully named Playford Alive Oval, which joins the pantheon of great grounds such as 1300 Smiles Stadium, GMHBA Stadium (believe me, say it quickly) and the good old Woolloongabba ground. Up and coming names for grounds include “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” Oval and also the “She sells sea shells by the sea shore” Park. For the slightly less eloquent, training today returns to the familiarity of Gosch’s Paddock. Gosh.

Additionally, today is the very antithesis of everything Melbourne has stood for over the past two weeks or so as the less-familiar February feel of the cooler autumnal air is replaced by the more-familiar but steadily disappearing scorching variation of Jesse Hogan’s 2015 season. It’s going to be a bloody hot one, not that anyone in the area, by now, need this piece of ‘breaking’ news.

Anyway, less jabbering on about how hot the weather is and speculation over how I can improve the names of our simplistically named grounds, and more about how the Dees’ train this morning.

If they want to come out and train, that is.

At 10:15, not one of the boys fit for full training appear – it’s all, in fact, the rehab group. White, Newton, Dawes (solely walking laps of the ground), Petracca, Vince et al are all out on the ground, not doing an awful lot. Kennedy-Harris was out there, but has since disappeared. Finally, out of the AAMI Park mire, a wild Dean Kent appears, hopefully keeping in mind that we need someone with Mean Look just to keep him there in a move not seen since the good old days of trying to catch Raikou, Entei and Suicune all the way back in Pokemon Gold and Silver. #throwbacktuesday

A couple of things I notice as the boys file through – firstly THE CLUB HAS TAKEN MY ADVICE and invested in the new cloth I called for last week which is excellent. Secondly the sight of Christian Petracca in full flight getting the dukes up and reminding us all that Daniel Cross (who is acting as his direct opponent) is a retired footballer is a sight for sore eyes.

As the boys gather in to do their traditional Billy Stretch-es, the boys are all up and about cheering a couple of times – the first, and loudest, I presume is for Jack Trengove’s return to full training; the second (not as loud) cheer is for Max King training with the main squad again and the third (small) cheer… you can make up a story to your own liking, I couldn’t tell you that one.

A look around as the boys pass by the faithful for the first time, Hogan and Brayshaw are embracing in the manliest cuddle you can see; Tom McDonald has borrowed the #5 jumper just to confuse us all and James Harmes seems to have recovered from the unusual sort of claret formation that he had on Friday; obviously I presume most of you would have seen the photo of him looking more like the Flash than a professional footballer.

The stretches are such that I decide to replenish my water/sugar supplies across the road, and are perfectly controlled when I sit back down on return as they start their drills for the day. In between I see a bloke who I thought was Stevo and was ready to give him the ‘how do you do’ until I realised that it evidently wasn’t old mate, and then I see Hogan drill a goal from a difficult angle with frighteningly consummate ease. He goes okay.

That first drill that I mentioned for the day, split into two groups, goes briefly. One on the far side of the wing doing some sort of stoppage drill, and another group doing a triangle-like drill focusing on ball use and delivery inside 50. It looks like it was set to start well but believe me, Maxy Gawn coming close to barrelling into the fence just near where I’m at isn’t fun.

The next drill is this kind of zigzag formation which goes all around the ground and then ends with a burst down the middle and delivery to the goalsquare. Seeing Viv Michie absolutely streaking down the middle is a good sign, seeing Billy Stretch dart through the centre equally so. Meantime in the rehab group there seems to be this sort of goalkicking competition going on between Petracca, Jones and Cross which gets super competitive – Petracca absolutely nails it with a savagely beautiful goal on the run, and then you see the unusual sight of Jones shanking not one, but two kicks on the run that you would expect him to kick 11 times out of 10, the first going completely across the face and on the full. Such is the competitiveness between captain and arguably one of our two most prized talents I take my eye off the wider drill to focus on all the banter going on. It’s fun to watch.

The next drill in the meantime is more of a quick decision-making drill involving the use of handball in a small confined space. Easily the highlight of this drill is that man again – Hoges. Fairly corralled to such an extent by Jetta, the big boy not only finds his way through ole mate Neville but also two other players with ease to break open, almost midfielder-like. I wouldn’t exactly be against seeing Hoges put into the midfield for small bursts. Even if he is our best forward. He’s capable.

Another bloke who’s doing well for himself in this session is Wagner. I haven’t talked a hell of a lot about him since he’s come to the club, anyway, bottom line is he’s a competitor, a fierce one at that, and he doesn’t mind a tackle. He might be a decent chance of getting on to the senior list in place of Melksham.

The next drill is one which goes both ends, two groups in the middle trying to win a stoppage and two groups in either forward line jostling for the footy. A team in green bibs tries to defend against a team of jumpers. Near side, Weideman has the hard task (again) of manning Tom McDonald, while a couple of balls go in his direction, McDonald is just too strong for him at the moment. Meantime on the far side there is the extremely pleasing sight of Trenners’ going for a stroll, and also winning a hard ball in another contest.

This drill lasts another 10-15 minutes or so. The next drill after that is a spreading drill much like the one I detailed last week. Again, like last week, it’s pretty much the jumpers who are all over the bibs. Having the two best readily available players at the moment on form (Hogan and Viney) does that. Additionally pleasing was Bugg muscling his way towards getting Jetta in a crunching tackle which is a dead set ripper. Also pleasing was seeing Kennedy get the ball three times in the middle of the ground before delivering an absolute rip-snorter of a ball to Watts inside forward 50.

One more thing about Hogan, he’s on both teams at various stages of this drill and also, this drill is showing how much he’s outright dominating today. At one end, he delivers a low chizzler to a team-mate (might have been Bugg) in a crowded forward 50, and then at the other end he delivers the most perfect ball you could imagine, scything through a pack to find Stretch all on his own. You had to be there to appreciate it really, Hoges’ field kicking is so underrated.

In the meantime, Jeffy misses a sitter from 20 out. His set shots are something he has to continue to work on. He missed a whole heap of simple opportunities last year and if he sorts it out, we will be a much better team for it offensively-wise. Mind you there was nothing much wrong with the lead up, he took a ripping overhead mark from a very solid Viney ball, and he is still positioning himself really well. I think it’s five of the last six years he’s kicked over 40 goals, the challenge for him with me is to increase that to 50. If he’s kicking 50 goals a year he’s not far off his old mate Eddie Betts who some reckon is worth a million a year (except for Carlton, obviously, who reckon he’s not even worth $650k a year!).

The boys put the footy’s away now at least and then get into some running. Just as a measure of Trenners’ running capacity at the moment he gives Bernie a slight start then overhauls him at top speed. That’s always a good sign. Does that mean he could be finally over all those foot problems for good?

As a finishing up kind of drill (or at least the way I see things because the surrounds are getting cleaned up) there are various different groups. One doing a kind of fending off drill, one doing a stoppage drill and one doing a goalkicking drill. Nothing of the sort really standing out, but with the clean up in mind and the lure of airconditioning at Edwin’s too great knowing there isn’t much of the session left, I get over to the joint for a spot of lunch.

February 16, 2016

10 hours ago, Jrono64 said:

The Crowd: Melbourne Demons AFL 2016 pre-season training session report

I just saw something pretty familiar on foxsports.

Well done on the publication!

Cheers mate. I went on Fox Sports last night after posting it on the Facey page. Turns out they were keeping an eye on me for a little bit (following me and all) and wanted me to post in The Crowd. Hopefully I can get a few more posts in in the near future.

February 15, 2016

Ahem...

It’s been a while coming, but I’m finally back on the track. The last month and a bit I really apologise for not being able to make it down - firstly the Aus Open shifted training anyway, and then uni got really hectic. Summer school does that when you try to pack everything into a very short period of time. So yeah sorry for not being able to get a few reports down.

Regardless, I’m finally at Gosch’s for the first time in a long time and the scene somewhat surprises, a couple of players are already into their rehab and there’s a few players here and there doing extras. It’s a credit to the work Roosy has done to ensure that players are a lot more thorough and professional in their training habits. It certainly would not have been seen under Neeld. One thing that maybe the club can perhaps invest in is a new cloth – the cloth used still has the old Schwab logo emblazoned all over it. Irrespective, I carry on.

Jay Kennedy-Harris is the first player to walk past of those who isn’t doing any form of rehab – I would say that he’s somewhat more shredded than the last time I was here. Clearly the boys are putting in a lot, especially in their upper bodies, from everything I’ve read and seen. Looking further up and I notice Heritier Lumumba in the rehab group – even he’s looking a little bit slimmer than the last time I saw him train.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of one of the first to arrive is the fact that there is an umpire walking across. Can’t work out who it is but that only means one thing – match simulation. You beauty. Not entirely unexpected because our first game is in 12 days, but that also means I get to have a serious look at what Goodwin has planned for us. That’s pretty exciting.

So some Billy Stretch’s to get into it. Christian Petracca is having a bit of a kick-to-kick with Crossy and Max King over on the near side. Christian’s still looking fit and is starting to kick the ball around. I don’t realistically expect him to play in Round One to be honest. Not unless he absolutely kills it in whatever NAB Challenge game he’s slated to play. Expect him in the VFL to start with. Put him on your SuperCoach bench.

The first drill is split up into two groups, one of them doing a handball drill where they have to work their way past a defender who’s wearing a bib, the other group doing some kicking drills. There’s a couple of things I notice. The first of which is Sammy Frost looking really strong on the training track, which is really pleasing – of course Sammy had his injury issues throughout all of 2015 with that toe of his and I’m really looking forward to him giving Hogan a chop out up forward this season.

The other is Jack Trengove. Also a well-documented case in 2014/15, and I’m pretty sure regulars who’ve either gone to the track or seen photos of him circulate on social media know how ripped he is. It’s really promising to see him running at a good pace, using the ball as if he was never gone and backing himself to take on faux defenders as well. It’s really promising to see.

The second drill is a full grounder and more or less I’m keeping my eye in on the new blokes more than the ones who were in the best 22 last season. Sammy Weideman is the first I’m keeping an eye on as part of our hopeful future forward line dynasty. The pleasing thing is Weideman’s looking really good out on the track to start with physically. He’s moving around really well after coming off that well documented five-month injury layoff. There’s still a bit to work on, and that combined with just getting some regular game time into the bloke means that Casey supporters will be seeing a lot of him to start off with. Which is understandable and I’m willing to wait.

‘Clarry’ Oliver is the next bloke who comes across over to the far side where I’ve found myself. Early indicators are everything I’ve expected from a bloke who’s been a rather late bloomer, but also one who has a truckload of potential. He does not miss a beat with his kicking. It is probably the definition of ‘low and hard’ which I hear on the regular. If there’s something I question about him it’s probably his explosiveness off the mark, but then again it’s the first time I’ve seen him in full training. I’m now happily convinced I might see him play a number of games this year. Not as many as Gus Brayshaw managed straight off the bat, but I’m expecting Neal-Bullen and Stretch-like amounts of games (so around 10 then).

The next drill passes by and it’s a bit of a change up from what I’ve seen previously. There’s four groups – one which wears white vests, one which wears green, one in pink and one wearing their normal jumpers. The aim of the drill sees one team try to move the ball as quickly as possible through the ground, mostly incorporating good decision making and use through the middle. While the other group sits out, they are asked to sprint from the near-side wing to the goalsquare.

Some things which are pretty evident – Tom McDonald continues to up his leadership game as he organises the defense, where he also makes some excellent tackles whilst defending.

The drill also sees a bit of an injury scare for Dean Terlich, who lays a tackle then gets up relatively gingerly, holding his right ankle. After some consultation with a physio, Terlich is able to jog off, but it’s certainly the last thing he needs as he battles to get back into the side.

The drill, irrespective, carries on. Another bloke who continues to impress with his decision making and ability is Salem. He always seems to find a bloke in space, even under pressure. It’s a very special ability he has and I’m hoping that he can make the most of what is hopefully a move to the midfield for season 2016 which is exactly what I want to see. Hopefully he stays injury-free.

Additionally, a bloke who’s really flying under the radar as a candidate to see more gametime in 2016 is Oscar McDonald. What I’ve really noticed is that his improvement has been every bit as rapid as brother Tom’s. His running and ball use in this drill is very good. I think he certainly has the ability to win a spot in that Melbourne defense, particularly now that Melksham is out for the year. When you look back at his performance against the Giants in Round 23, I’d back him in for sure.

The next drill is a bit of a change up, similar in nature to the previous drill but now much more tightly confined to one area of the ground and split into three groups. Both the group in front of the faithful and the one on the wing are trying to clear the ball either end – the one in the 50 are either trying to kick a goal (white vests) or are trying to get a clearing kick (jumpers), whereas the one on the far-side wing encourages more handball when trying to clear the area.

On the near-side wing there’s an interesting quartet – Tom McDonald, Sam Weideman, Mitch King and Cam Pedersen. All four are working on their one-on-ones. The inclusion of Pedersen as a defender intrigues me in a sense, given that a lot of our supporters rate him as a forward higher than even Dawes. Then again, with Frost coming in and Pedersen still (in my eyes anyway) a member of the best 22, you have to put him somewhere. Anyway, I can’t help but admit that it’s pretty exciting seeing Weideman manage to beat McDonald in a one-on-one. As for King, he is regularly outpointed by McDonald, highlighting how much development he needs to get games. It’s a very eye-opening experience seeing the difference between a developing forward and a top-line defender.

As the groups chop and change, there’s some pretty ordinary news with the sight of Tom Bugg heavily limping. It appears to be a right ankle injury, and seriously struggles to stay upright when he puts pressure on his foot with his boot off. Bugg leaves the track, his NAB Challenge campaign somewhat clouded at the moment.

Bit of a highlight and reinforced confidence comes when Kent pursues a high ball which was kicked as the boys move off to their next drill, and marks at full tilt. Quickly, he then delivers a low sort-of chizzler to Harmes. Maybe not massive in the scheme of things normally but remember Kenty is coming off a hamstring tear which completely ruined his 2015 season, and he’s looking good out on the track. Pretty significant in terms of his fitness if you ask me.

This next drill that I mention is a little closer to match simulation but there’s a great big flood of about 30 players trying to get the ball in one half of the ground, perhaps even only inside the forward 50. The jumpers have the ball first and work their way to about 20 out where Alex Neal-Bullen takes a good mark under pressure, and converts. The green vests side works their way up in a far more unconventional manner, which sees short kicks and switches aplenty. In particular, there’s a really good switch from Oliver which is rather impressive.

The boys then get into a boundary throw in situation, and what impresses me is Vandenberg winning the ball from a Max Gawn tap, then progressing to work about 60-65 metres to win the ball on the opposite wing, delivering a good ball inside 50. Another instance seems to be bringing out the weird and wonderful today – Gawn CRUMBS a marking contest and gets the hands to Viney. Yep, it’s all happening.

Speaking of Viney, he has been everywhere in this drill, collecting seven touches, a couple of clearances and a goal to boot in this drill. He has really taken his second half of the season by the scruff of the neck and looks to be building to an even bigger 2016. Remember, he played 16 games. He missed out on the B&F by just one votes to Vince who we all thought was a dead set machine all season. Viney is an animal.

As the sides are changed around a little to even things up (the jumpers have provided much of the play), Kennedy and Vandenberg (who has also gathered plenty of the footy in this drill) combine for a svelte Kennedy snap around the body for a goal. While Kennedy still has a knock on his decision making which has again been fairly evident today, that kind of goal sense will be handy for us this year and it’s enough to see him in my SuperCoach side at the moment – albeit on the bench.

Another couple of things I take out of this drill is that Gus Brayshaw looks to be carrying on his solid debut season, and collects around about nine touches and kicks a goal. Hogan (I surprisingly haven’t mentioned his name a lot, if at all) has had a very solid session, and although Dunn manages to get a hand on a marking attempt, Hogan’s cat-like reflexes allow him to outpoint Dunn on the ground. He still very much looks the player he was last season – set shot still on point, and really getting into a really good rhythm now. The only true difference you see with big Hoges’ is his electric green boots which are slightly less fluoro than mine – or so I’d like to think anyway. I’m just hoping I have something over him which isn’t our ages.

Annoyingly, despite the boys heading off into match simulation, a combination of my mother returning from the Harbour City and Mernda starting training at 6 meant that I had to bugger off. Nevertheless, I remain very happy with the improvements the boys have shown since I last saw them train in December.

Couple of other things I take out of it

-There is an intraclub on Friday at Casey Fields at around 9:45 in the morning

-Following the Dees/Dogs game at Craigieburn on the 6^th of March there will be a practise match involving the women’s teams

November 27, 2015

Was Trenners out there Tas?

<Insert dope joke>

Sorry, couldn't think of anything witty.

Didn't see him today. Either that or I missed him completely

November 27, 2015

Word Tasman,

Dem homies be like"we got this fo'shizzle"

I'm hoping someone noticed one of the tags. I really do.

November 27, 2015

Edwin’s Wi-Fi is terrible at the moment so bear with me for having this in rather late…

Keen readers will have noticed that I was nervously awaiting the AFL Victoria announcement for the Community Media Awards last training report. It didn’t happen on Friday owing to an enormous amount of numbers, so I had to wait until Wednesday. But did I get one? Hell yeah I did. One of only two across the Northern Football League. Get around me.

But as it is I only devote a little bit of time to myself and more so on the players who are actually training, and this is the first time I get to see the senior players in action after having to miss Monday’s session.

At least, I hope that’s the case. A delay at Reservoir station means I’m not sure as I type when the hell I’m actually going to get there. 13 (!!!) minutes later, we’re off and going again, the train driver seemingly as sure as Mark Neeld’s assessment of training standards regarding what the hell was going on exactly.

Anyway, regardless of whatever situation was the case, I’m there on time and just get there to see a whole heap of the boys applauding. Not sure why – maybe it was my presence. I wish. Regardless the boys head off for a quarter lap before doing some stretches. What I do notice is that rehab has increased markedly since last Friday, what with all the senior boys back. Jones is moving around really bloody well which is a positive coming off neck surgery, Terlich is in the rehab group, the big Spence train as well. At the moment I cbf’ed making my way over to see who else is in the rehab group, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to sit in the shade on a quaint Melbourne November morning. Gus Brayshaw leaves early again after reporting early on.

The warm-up, in the meantime, takes the boys to some weird and wonderful places. The boys run from the goalsquare to the wing… maybe perhaps a bit closer to the half-forward flank, with Dawes leading the way. Obviously he’s had the rocket up the ass from the drafting of Hulett and the other tall blokes (notice how they were going on about Hulett’s strong hands and his ability to play as a third tall?) and needs a big season. Viney is also up the front as he almost always is. Tyson and Garlett walk along the ground, not sure if there’s a serious intention for either of them to train, Tyson’s walking lap and Garlett sneaks off into the tent not to be seen again.

Warm-ups carry on regardless, and I have absolutely NFI what the boys are doing. A sprint, sudden stop, turn back, jumping blind turn? Huh? Some blokes look graceful doing it (i.e the mids) and some blokes look atrociously clumsy (i.e Maxy).

Next… after that the boys split into a couple of small groups. Nearest to me there’s a group with a two on one situation, where the two have to work out a way past the one which is defending and wearing a vest. The boys are getting through without too much difficulty but talk is non-existent. Mind you, whenever there’s the slightest sign of a feigned handball, the boys are up and about almost as if Steph Curry crossed over another bloke. Surest sign is when Jack Watts sells Goodwin some candy.

Right, so the whistle goes and the boys rotate. Jack Viney gives a bit of candy out, and the bloke in the vest (can’t recognise who it is) is like “oh I didn’t want to hurt ya!” Righto… his ego takes a further blow when he is again sold candy not 20 seconds later. It’s also here that I get my first assessment of Jake Melksham. Skinny-looking bloke but by the looks of things good upper-body strength. Just think if he gets his disposal sorted he’ll be a handy pickup. The boys stop (for now) and it’s another chance to have a geeze and who’s doing what, especially in the rehab group. Bernie is taking (Max) King for a run, Spencer and Tyson bugger off early, Nate Jones is moving super well, he really is, and Terlich and Frost are running laps. Meantime Tom McDonald goes off to get his shoulder strapped, not sure what the prognosis is and whether he got a knock during the drill or it’s just your stock standard precaution, either way there’s a serious amount of tape on that left shoulder of his.

The next drill is a handballing drill right in front of me, with a group of defenders trying to steal the footy off the team with possession. There is success in the second group where Salem reads the play beautifully and pinches it off White. In fact, White is pretty sloppy in this drill. Two handballs are intercepted, there’s a fumble when picking the ball up and his other handball misses the target. I’m backing the bloke to rebound as soon as he gets the chance. Interesting to note that the coaches are promoting “width” and “run and carry”. No doubt I don’t think anyone in the coaching staff want the panic handballs to set in like they always do. Anyway these quotes are mentioned about three or four times during this drill.

On to the blokes who look in pretty good form at the moment. Grimes is having a good patch – thought he ended 2015 on a bright note which he can take into 2016 and he’s training accordingly at the moment. Came second in the time trial on Wednesday and has really settled in nicely and moving well. I still have a bit of a question mark on his decision-making but if he has a good season the Dees will be better for it.

The boys have a break again, this time again I get a look at who’s doing what – BK’s running around, Bernie has seemingly not stopped running since training started and Hogan has been taking set shots into the wind. Dawes is doing some marking drills with Jade Rawlings – he still doesn’t look overly confident above his head, preferring the chest mark wherever he can.

Again the boys split in two, up the far end it’s a tackling/strength drill of sorts, while the drill nearest to where I am being a pressure drill of kind. Watts is one of the defenders and he’s always the threat in these drills and accordingly he pinches one of the balls. I wish he was given the natural progression to AFL instead of being thrown in, killing his confidence.

In the meantime, as I watch, it’s good to see Sam Weideman and Liam Hulett show up and have a look around – shades of Super Pav in not only Weed’s looks but his ultimate swaggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa as well. I can’t wait for opposition defences to be sorted just before a game starts, then they see Hogan and Weideman swagger along like the Beastie Boys did in the Sabotage music video. A fun fact about Hulett – I covered the Young Guns game for AFL Vic and didn’t mention his name, nor did I mention Brayden Sier who also played. I dun goofed with that one. I do remember, though, that Hulett was playing in the backline for the victorious green team and didn’t get much of a look in due to their domination after quarter time.

Next drill – basically it starts around the middle with a couple of defenders with a kick coming in to a forward before kicking a goal. This happens at both ends. Nothing special’s really going on to be honest. Hogan has an uncharacteristic miss – in fact he’s having a bad day in front of the sticks – and then as I get the idea of typing that he nonchalantly goes off one step and puts in right through the middle. Okay then.

Next drill is a whole lot of randomness again – on one side, the near side, you have two blokes going up for a marking contest; in the middle, you have a contest where two blokes are going after a rolling footy, and up the far side it’s more like a kick to five blokes see who gets it kind of drill. Petracca walks by and (I think) gives the new draftees the thumbs up. I’m looking forward to seeing Trac talking to Weideman for the first time. I reckon you could almost SEE the swag. As I type this actually happens. Petracca comes up and gives Weideman the swaggiest greeting you’ll ever see - quite the serious handshake it was, almost like they from da hood, and almost as if they’ve known each other for a decade. I already like this setup. Now to see Hogan meet and greet Weed for the first time and my day would be complete.

After what felt like about 20 minutes of approximately nothing to report the boys get back into it for a bit of a run. And it’s a running drill out of the box here. The boys – in two groups of vests, white and green, go runabouts in what is like a game of tag, where the blokes have to run about to a pole before the other bloke. Maxy Gawn’s having a bit of a laugh as he’s running – he is the banter king that’s for sure. Anyway, after that brief exercise the boys run three quarters of the oval in twos, for what scientific purpose instead of running the entire lap only Misso knows. After that the space-time continuum is broken again as only Misso manages to do with his concoction of which groups should be what when doing the running drills, with the boys splitting up between white and green and running in two groups. It’s good to see Dawes running up the front with regularity, with Tom McDonald sandwiched in the middle much like a Melbourne Cup favourite around the 1200m mark.

Some more continuous running then, and Petracca starts the second “groups of two” run by completely ghosting Dawes along with Grimes, passing Dawes and then evidently using all his fast-twitch stocks to run out of gas towards the end of the three quarter lap. Mind you his acceleration of the blocks is pretty damn impressive. It’s also pretty interesting to see the difference between a stock standard AFL player and an athlete. While most are absolutely puffed out by their final group run, Tom McDonald is still roughly as silent as a Charlie Chaplin film.

The boys then finish up. I hang around just to see Hulk and Weed meet for the first time and begin the highest profile pairing since Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams fo-shizzled their way through Drop It Like It’s Hot. Roosy, interestingly, brings together Bugg, Harmes, Kent, Hunt and Salem together for a chat, for what I don’t know because I’m not a good lip-reader.

As I start to embark on the route to Edwin’s Petracca, Watts and Hogan all come up to a young lad, wheelchair bound, and sign his cast, hat and promise a tour around the club during their weights session. It’s a timely reminder of how good this club is to the young blokes and what a fantastic gesture. I also wish the young lad well for the future.

A further note – it appears that the first part of training will be finishing up on the 18^th of December and restarts (at this stage) on the 8^th of January, by the looks of things it’ll be a week of training at Gosch’s before buggering off during the Aussie Open.

November 20, 2015

Cheers Tassie!

Quick question saw a recent image of Trengove recently and his upper body looked quite huge. Obviously its all that time spent in the gym but in person does he look like he has built up a bit?

Well done on the nomination.

Only caught a quick glimpse of him today so I'm not entirely sure. Will have to look further into that

November 20, 2015

Thanks for the efforts Tas

and

Good luck with the nomination.

Is Mernda country these days?

Where are you plying your trade other than here and the facebook site?

Cheers man, it's been delayed due to amount of nominations! Mernda is more semi-rural. As for plying my trade I've been writing for the Northern Footy League the last three years and I'm Mernda's media manager in 2016.

November 20, 2015

Well done Tasman on your nomination. Keep up the good work - much appreciated.

Not yet! Nervously waiting at the moment

Gotta catch em all?

Bang on.

November 20, 2015

Friday, November 20, 0945 hours

Pretty big day for this individual. First of all, my one and only exam was completed yesterday, and secondly, today I find out whether I’ve been nominated for AFL Victoria’s Community Media Awards for the second year in succession, which at the age of 22 I see as a massive achievement. Anyway, I get here missing part of the warmups, as is almost customary for me nowadays, I couldn’t explain properly why that is the case. Anyway as I get here the boys are doing the same drill that they normally do when they start off with their drills for the morning, the handball drill where there’s a defender putting pressure on. In the middle there’s a different drill, where the boys are asked to kick to players in the same team until called to kick to the other team. I’ll probably try to better explain – there’s two teams of about four or five players, one wearing vests and one not wearing vests, plus a couple of players wearing orange for that matter as well, and the coach calls out which colour kicks to whom. If that makes sense.

In the meantime, as I walk through to Gosch’s, Terlich finishes up early and walks by me; Smith and ANB are doing some running and I can’t really explain why, and Trengove makes a very welcome appearance. Not entirely sure what he is doing at this point. Vandenberg is having a run around the joint as well. Meantime checking out the personalities around the place Mahoney is hearing watching, as well as King Jackson who’s made himself a dead set legend yesterday by signing on for a couple more years. Top bloke.

Next drill is a full grounder drill, two full teams, boys are going hard at it. Brayshaw is crashing into blokes and in one case manages to bring down Maxy Gawn. It’s not quite the full monty yet until everybody else joins the party anyway. In the meantime Kenty is still moving very well considering he hasn’t played for a few months, and Tommy Mc is still showing his versatility whenever the ball goes nearby. Having said that there’s quite a few slip and sliding around due to the wet conditions experienced after last night’s awesome storm.

Speaking of storms, an early look at a possible game plan sees the boys storming forward whenever they get the chance to do that. The ball movement at this early stage is noticeably faster and there’s more of an emphasis on players moving positively whenever the chance is there to do so. There is still a bit of an emphasis on switching play – as most coaches probably would. Having said that despite all the positivity, there are still a few disappointing errors by foot. Some of these errors come about as a result of risky kicks, but there are also errors which come about due to poor kicks.

Another bloke who’s moving around really well is Dom Tyson. This bloke’s going to be an interesting case in 2016. I think all Melbourne supporters agree that 2015 was disappointing for him but I think we also all agree that we knew he was somewhat affected by injury. Anyway, on the track at the moment, he’s moving around like he’s finding the 2014 silky-smooth movement again, even though that there is still a bit of tape around his knee, which is really good to see. I’m therefore looking forward to seeing what he does when he’s fully fit. More on the drill – the skills have improved markedly since I commented that they left a lot to be desired.

Also it seems that there is a lot more confidence about with many players. Probably none more so than Jayden Hunt. He seems to be backing his speed a lot more and he’s also getting the chance to find a lot more space, which is really encouraging. I think 2016 is the year we’ll finally see him get games, and we’ll finally get to see the great #29 grace the field for the first time since the great days of Michael “Juice” Newton.

Drill stops and the move to the other side of the ground to do some form of a defensive drill. On the near side of the ground where I am it’s good to see Dunny here a bit early like he normally is, having a bit of fun and having set shots… hold on, he’s a defender isn’t he? On the other side of the ground, it’s really good to see JKH all over this defensive drill, and intercepting a couple of kicks, which is exactly what I want to see. Just hoping that this year was just the classic case of second year blues. The drill stops for a period before the roles are reversed – the team with the vests are attacking and the team without them are defending… but that’s a loose term. Good moment comes when a kick opens up big Maxy 15 metres in the clear, Maxy gets there… but only just. One quintessentially classic panic handball later, the vest team are able to kick a goal having broken open the defensive structure that the plain team tried to implement too easily in the end. This is the same deal when the defensive structure is tried again, with a kick down the corridor breaking open the play way too easily, which is either good or bad depending on which team you want to focus on.

After a short micro-break the boys go at it again… and again it’s basically the same deal without the result this time around. I’m looking around trying to work out whether it’s just that the team with the vests have more numbers or that there is a weak link which is hurting the plain structure. At the moment, it appears to be a case of the former. On closer inspection, there’s the same amount of numbers on both sides.

Bit of a break, Frost is running laps around the oval, Hogan has seemingly appeared out of nowhere given I hadn’t seen him during the drills (not sure if I haven’t paid enough attention for that one TBH) and is having a few sprints just over a patch of the oval with Viney. There’s clearly a bit of friendly rivalry when they run around – think it’s almost like they have to start line astern with an alternate leader and then they have to make sure that they stay in front.

Bit of a similar drill to what’s been going on basically all morning after a short break which is another pressure-based drill with game simulation. Again JKH is performing well when applying pressure, laying another couple of tackles. Really been impressed with his application this morning. As they have another chat all you can hear is the solid BEEP BEEP BEEP noise that the Storm are doing. It’s not entirely a beep test, but (BEEP) it’s (BEEP)in annoying. Thankfully the boys get back into it, coupled with the beeping noise stopping, so that I can focus entirely on the drill at hand and see who’s doing what. With Hogan, Viney and a few others sitting out of main group training for the time being it’s two groups of nine on nine… ahem, AFL 9s.

The drill restarts and immediately there is an orgy of players all over the footy. Again, JKH doesn’t give an inch whenever anyone gets the footy, laying yet another tackle, this time on Harmes. Mind you there was about 15 or 16 players within two metres of the footy this time round so laying a tackle was straightforward.

There was a bit of solid banter during the drill when Tom McDonald gets the footy and tries kicking it to King… only to have his brother intercept it! During the same passage of play, Hogan (who’s running on the oval) cracks the shits when he has players interrupt his run (as I said before, it’s a friendly rivalry with Viney that he has and he’s trying to better Jack’s efforts). The next time they go about it Harmes gathers from half back and goes for an electrifying run that last until about 20m from goal before he gives out a Joe the Goose to a teammate. I am a bit disappointed he didn’t take the initiative and kick the goal himself because that was every bit as good a run as Phil Manassa’s (albeit this is in training and not in a Grand Final with the game on the line).

After that there’s more of a handball drill this time around. It’s similar to the kicking drill except it covers a much smaller patch of ground than the kicking drill which was basically a full grounder. It’s more of a five on five drill than the nine on nine we’ve become accustomed to, with all players basically starting side on.

The boys then stop for a bit, have a casual kick to kick and then change into their running shoes. As ever they come with instructions – Press B to run like the wind! (points if you get the reference). Okey-dokes. The running. There’s two groups and one quasi-group which I’m not sure just starts slowly or is part of the other group, I don’t have a clue. First bit of running sees the boys go from the back pocket to the goal posts. Either side. Pleasingly for those who likes seeing epic running battles, Tom and Oscar McDonald are in the same group, which will make for good viewing when everybody else invariably slows down. Pleasingly, for the time being, Dom is up the front. Kennedy, by the looks of things, is up the front of the other group. Mind you, that group has Gawn, Frost, Kent and King in it, so it’s the same running group as when I was last here last Friday. For the time being though I’m really pleased that Dom looks back to his injury-free best, staying up the front the whole time.

After a leisurely walk around the oval the boys head off for a spot of lunch, which is what I also do.

November 14, 2015

Tasman I have one quick question.

How is Ben Kennedy fitting in? Personally I think he could become a big surprise packet next year. Never heard how his training standards were at Collingwood so would love to know how he wont on the track this week.

cheers.

BK's an interesting one. At the moment he's been doing okay in the running. Not sure what doing the running with Kent and Frost et al was meant to represent yesterday, I'll have to follow that one up if I can.

November 13, 2015

Alrighty, first off as I type this I'm going to be a little late. Not that it honestly bothers me too much, I had to do a bit of running around this morning, but I wont be missing too much more than the warmup should the boys actually start on time. Perhaps they might be a little bit later than that.

Okay, so I get here at 10:00, a tad late with the almost as fashionable entrance that Russell Westbrook assumes in the NBA, laptop bag strapped over my shoulder and all - but Im told I didnt miss much all I missed really is the warmups and one of those six minute runs that the boys do. When I get here the boys are walking around the oval, and then slowly gets to a bit of a jog. In the rehab group on the other side of the oval are Hoges (I was wrong about Monday by the way, it wasnt management, hes got a bit of a finger issue at the moment) and Petracca of course. What it looks like they are doing is that both are running and doing a bit of weaving before marking the footy, and theres also a bit of work to do with some hurdles as well by the looks of things.

As we were then with the main leaders leading the way around the oval. McDonald and Viney are up the front, and the boys look like they are changing into their footy boots so that they can start using the ball in vastly different conditions to when I was here Monday the thorough Monday afternoon heat and gust replaced by Friday the 13th cold, wet and breeze. Its not a pretty day by any means but this provides an early season indicator given this will be the conditions the boys will be facing come the 2016 season.

The boys go for this weird kind of run around part of the oval. I couldnt properly explain it except for its pretty brief. Afterwards theres a short kick of the footy. Its a good chance to see whos up here and training. Max Gawn is here and hes having a run around in his quest to make Todd Goldstein look like Paul Johnson an ultimately difficult task. Ive already mentioned McDonald being here, dont think Garland is here, while Brayshaw after missing Monday is here too training. The whistle goes the kick of the footy is all too brief. I hear loud noises, including a couple of mentions of over the shoulder as the boys assume positions for the next drill, with a whole heap of cones.

This is an interesting drill. Theres groups of four in this drill, with a couple of players weaving around cones, one with the footy and one without, whereas another player comes in to try and tackle said player weaving with the footy. At the moment no one is really missing the mark, thats because the player with the ball seemingly runs straight into the man whos going after him. Again its all too brief and they move around again, this time to the edge of the square. Again this is another kind of pressure drill Theres about three players in vests and another three who go out and run to get the footy in kind of a simulation drill. There isnt a whole lot of pressure from those wearing vests, which is either disappointing or what is expected of them from the fitness coaches, I couldnt tell you which is which. From the ball users perspective there are a couple of handballs which miss the target and their trajectory is poor. Again (and this seems to be the theme of the day) the drill is very brief.

Meantime over at the near end of the ground, Jesse up for a kick at the park tomorrow? Hogan and CP5 are having set shots. Hogans run up is even more painfully slower and more edgy than what it was last year with the stutter even more obvious you could make a verse about it in Stutter Rap. Meantime Petracca misses a sitter from about 35 out on a slight angle and hes pretty [censored] about it he knows he should do better. You can notice the higher standards though, maybe in another year, specifically 2013, the boys would have a laugh about it, but you can see the want to succeed now.

Anyway, with less jibberish, the boys begin their next drill. The first group nearest is stopped and the coach over there (cant work out who it is from a distance) mentions that it shouldnt be too much of a handball game. There are a couple of average kicks I wont lie about that, especially one from I think Smith who just skids it along the ground, its a true shank. On the far end of the ground the drill is still going and theres a few kicks which are just hitting the mark with authority. There was one such instance where Harmes lead excellently to the ball and it hits him on the chest as he jumps, didnt catch who actually kicked it to him but thats always a good sign looking ahead.

Theres a clear difference between the two groups the group nearest to where Im positioned are moving it slowly and with a bit of hesitation, but the group on the opposite side of the ground are taking it on big time. Its a massive difference and the group nearest to us are out to rectify that when they begin again.

Rehab Hulk and CP5 are running laps now. CPs endurance has massively improved since this stage last year and hes running with Crossy, whos going to be massive for his ultimate development in being able to run all day.

The conditions change again as the boys head into the next drill suns out guns out not quite. Not for me anyway. The drill here is that the boys start off in a circle, then the boys spread out around the ground and become targets. Matt Jones scuffs the first kick, one which is wide of the mark to Terlich, which sees the vest team get possession of the footy. In fact the first two times the groups go out, it is characterised by missed handballs and a couple of scuffed kicks here and there. Its a little disappointing but then again the team with the vests are putting on good pressure much the same.

The teams change and immediately theres a shift. Where the first team tried to move the ball too quickly, theres more a sense of surety with this team as the boys take a bit more time moving the ball, but not too slowly. The boys assess their options a lot more carefully and as a result, are able to transfer the footy from one end of the ground to the other. The second movement is even more impressive the team with the footy catch out the team with the vests through straight and direct ball movement, which goes nothing short of perfect until the final kick which drifts away late and hits the post. It was delightful to watch and hopefully theres more of that throughout the season as the boys cut through teams like a hot knife through butter. Now thatd be something.

The boys, in the meantime, continue their drill, and while the early stages look reminiscent of the boys at their worst (what I mean is that when they handball backwards and they panic mercilessly) whats impressive is that they are beginning to realise that handballing to a bloke under pressure just doesnt work. Ever. Its Terls who sets this one up, sidestepping a couple of blokes and then delivering a good ball.

In the meantime, CP5 leaves early. Im assuming therefore that OKC and his beloved Russell Westbrook are playing then. The boys start again. Salem gets the ball and somehow manages to break a Viney tackle. Not too often you get to say that but thats a representation of the standing of the bloke. In fact, every time Salem is getting it, he is using it extremely well and its so good to watch. Just nails almost every kick basically, no matter whether its a long kick or a short one.

The boys then stop for a short break, be it either for drinks, to have a chat, or to watch Jesse Hogan walk off. Either one of the three. The boys then split up into groups of three, one with green vests, orange vests and one group without vests. Its two teams at the moment one sits out. Its the team without vests sitting out at the moment, leading to the ultimate See My Vest Cup (Byrnes coaching, anyone? Would be appropriate) which ends briefly after a miscued kick which just skids along the ground. Im assuming that the two just go at it until theres a mistake one which comes in the second game between orange and plain when a kick is spoiled well (to applause and cheers) by Gussy, the ultimate hard working kid. All three teams cycle through and we go again. Green team is unable to penetrate orange teams defensive structure. This time a loose kick is intercepted by (by the looks of it) King.

The defensive structure of the two other teams is interesting. Plains defending is manic and high-energy, however some loose defending from Harmes brings their strategy undone, while Green seem to be loose, an ambitious kick into the corridor to Salem is quickly intercepted by two Green defenders. The drill then ends for either a pause or a switch to another drill. As it turns out, its a pause. After a brief restarting of the drill the boys start off again they stop almost as quickly, and then have a lengthy chat.

They move down the ground and have another chat? Im assuming theres a bit of set shot work here because of the way this drill seems to be set up. This isnt the case. Instead theres only like four blokes actually having set shots, a big group having snaps and another small group crumbing and running in to goal from about 25-30 out. Meantime nothing has changed with Brayshaw in his training habits, always the prankster and always talking [censored] whenever someone goes past and has a set shot. On this occasion Stretch is copping an earful. Meantime theres a group with Crossy running around King, Frost, Kent and Kennedy. Dunno why they arent with the main group. As to be expected, Kent and Kennedy lead the way with Frost trailing and King a little bit further back in these running drills.

This has been the way of the world for about 15 minutes so I have a geeze around and look at the world. While the training gear is somewhat up to scratch for a number of people its not quite up to scratch in other areas. For example, the cloth which covers the pavilion. Im not sure about you but you would THINK for a club which has worked hard to develop its logo that by now theyd have developed a cloth with the new logo on it in preparation for the release. Thats not the case. Old Schwabbolly-dobbolly-wobbollys logo is still taking pride of place.

In the middle a beep test being sorted? It doesnt seem to be the case because after a short while with measuring et al, the cones are being taken away. Maybe they are otherwise preparing for it to be done in a future session (Monday?) Regardless theres a few at the moment who are on their way out. Its also my cue to bugger off myself as I look for a spot of lunch and either perhaps get to enjoy some old reruns of the footy or perhaps the cricket coming up as well (although thats not until later).

November 10, 2015

just one question

How the hell does one watch what's happening, dissect what's happening and write it up all at the same time...lol however you do it....thanks !!

I dunno to be honest! I'll think about it next session... which is Friday apparently!

November 9, 2015

well done in sharing your goals without embarassment. Just don't let journalism school get in way of a creative natural writing style. Think Hemingway or closer to home Flanagan.

I reckon you'd be surprised that I've never done a course in journalism, at uni or otherwise. My writing ability just came to me naturally.

Umm anyway before I derail the thread about the career I want, I'm looking forward to Wednesday. Solid start so far.

November 9, 2015

comprehensive, interesting and beautifully written. A brilliant piece enhanced by your writing skills.

what a compliment coming from Hemingway himself!

I've made it a goal actually to become a journo over the last four years or so. Really focused on getting the job done and being as positive as possible. I'm quite satisfied reading posts like these

November 9, 2015

Tasmanlvr were you the guy with the laptop resting on the boundary railing? If so, you were typing like a man possessed! Great work

I was... come down and say g'day next time!!!

November 9, 2015

#thereturn - felt like I needed to supply more training reports this summer hey?

A lot has changed since the previous occasion I was at Melbourne training, which going back, is now a bloody long time ago. Labour Day this year. So much has happened in my life now – it looks like I’ve got a gig at AFL Vic next year at this stage, I’m just about done with uni and the next stage of my life is set to be written.

So I get here at precisely 2:10 – 20 minutes early, which is okay because 1) I get a coveted spot with shade because it’s a very warm day, and 2) others are here too. Camera crews have basically been set up, the personnel are here and the Melbourne shade is up. Yep, I’m at the right place and I’m here at the right time. As for the camera crews, I’m keen to see which station they are for. A camera man is here and he curiously has a lot of Glenn Maxwell about him (mind you without the beard). Anyway, less jibberish and more actual reporting which is what I’m meant to be doing.

Anyway, there’s been a number of changes so far throughout this off season and there’s more to come. Out of the lineup goes Howe, Cross, McKenzie, Riley, Bail, Toumpas and Fitzpatrick, while in to the side (at this stage with draft picks still to come) include Bugg, Kennedy, Melksham and Smith. Melksham, as I already covered, won’t be here today, even though it is optional for other players to make their way across and train with the first to fourth year players (I’ll cover which ones are optionally here today below).

The first players out for pre-season are Vandenberg and Garland. Vandenberg has bright orange wheels which are almost as bright as my lime green ones. After those two, the rest of the boys make their way across. Garland and Tom Mc I believe are the only two who have come here optionally to do some extra training, which is a truly excellent sign. These two genuinely love the club. Our good mate Stevo is here too to report on the session for Channel 7.

For reference if needed, the first two out on the track were CP5 and ANB. After a very short kickabout, the boys go and start off with a short little run. Few rugby passes out and about – it’s not State of Origin lads! – and a few stretches start us off. There’s about 25 players on the track, including the likes of Hogan, Brayshaw, Viney and Tyson as well. Eventually I’ll go through a few more.

Petracca’s doing a modified program at this stage compared to the rest of the group – I imagine that this is related to the final preparations that he has to go under before joining the main group full stop. Regardless he’s looking bigger than he was last year and he was already pretty big last year! Good sign. Also another who noticeably looks bigger compared to the last time I saw him is Salem.

Anyway our main man CP5 is off to jaunt on his own regime at the moment given the recovery from his knee. We’re taking every precaution at this stage and he’s off to the adjacent fields to do his own work while the rest of them are together.

Kennedy is out here for his first training session with the boys and when he beats (I think Stretch) in a small contest that the boys are doing a couple of the boys shout out “YES BEN!!!” Good start to his time here, hopefully he develops some friendships very quickly. Regardless the first drill sees the coaches roll the ball across the ground where there’s two players trying to beat the other to the footy. Basically it’s more of an upper body drill where one man is trying to push the other off. There’s four separate groups, and in fact there is also one using soccer balls. I can’t properly explain that, best ask Misso.

I guess to provide more clarification the four groups are in rotation drills, so you have the ones which I’ve described clearly, as well as a couple of overhead marking contests on the far side of the ground. The majority of players are in the two groups closest to us, while the far groups are made up of two lots of four.

As the boys embark on a brief break I take a look at the crowd, it’s certainly building and the club has done a good job with advertising this session. I would say at this stage there’s about 60 people, which would be more than anywhere else I reckon.

The next activity is more strength based and sees groups of two pulling each other with those rope things that they tie around their waste. Notable pairings include Hogan and TMac, while Harmes is dragging Jack Viney around.

Two groups of longer distance running follows. Leading the first group which starts nearest to where I’m stationed is White and Stretch, with Hogan up the back. Meantime Kenty is killing it in the second group. King is up the back of this one. The first group of runners are more tightly bunched together and pacing themselves really well. Joel Smith appears to be up the front of his group, while Oscar McDonald is working hard to get in front of Kenty. It’s also really encouraging to see Frost running around with the boys. The news we really needed to see/hear after 4-6gate in 2015. The boys are still going ahead of the six minute deadline. BK is working super hard to ensure that he’s maintaining a solid pace. Meantime JKH has assumed leadership of his group and has really come home strongly. Harmes is also finishing off strongly as he walks past, streaming by Jayden Hunt.

CP5 watch on the other ground and he is moving super strongly. It’s really good to see. I’m hoping he develops into more of the Josh Kennedy mould (the Sydney one that is). Brayshaw comes back after (I assume) a bit of an absence, while Tom McDonald did his own little thing while the boys were running… I presume to avoid embarrassment amongst the others because he always kills it doing the running drills. After a bit of a walk around the oval the boys are back into the groove a little bit and are having a drink of water. For now that leaves me on complete CP5 watch.

The bloke is doing it completely easy on the other field at the moment as a few actually turn around and watch him go about it. He is really moving well considering his recovery from his ACL and he seems to be confident of a few directional changes. I would say he’s going at about 80% at the moment which is about right for his stage in the development. He’s also kicking about 30-35m off one step with relative ease. There are, admittedly, a couple of shanks when he kicks it but otherwise he’s doing just fine and is also finding the confidence to jump for marks too. Hogan joins him later on and he does that familiar waddle over. Dunno why he left, maybe he just exorcised his rights as a God to do whatever the hell he wants. Extraordinarily I’m seeing people actually shifting their attention – quite a few – to Hogan and Petracca.

Anyway this all happens while the boys are changing into their footy boots, with a bit of footy going on now. Firstly there’s a bit of a brief kick, before more of a base which sees a full-blown contest between two teams utilising handball. That’s on one side of the ground, anyway. On the other side there’s a kicking drill at the moment and the focus is on a switch, followed by a kick down the line. On the near side which is where the handball drill is going on, the hunger is intense in the players’ eyes. You can hear it and see it. For the first day of pre season they’ve been pretty strong skill wise. There aren’t too many shanks which is impressive because it’s a reasonably difficult day conditions wise. Hot day, swirly wind about. JKH gets Frost in a tackle – you can tell Frosty is trying to get back into the swing of things after missing a lot of training as well as footy. It’ll take a little while but he’ll get there.

Pause – I need a drink…

Getting a drink at this point isn’t too bad. Firstly I don’t miss much as I go down to Edwin’s (which at this point is closing up), secondly I still walk past and get to see how Hogan and Petracca are holding up. Hoges’ is okay and there’s nothing wrong with him (I presume they are just looking after him due to his importance), he’s having set shots and actually uncharacteristically misses one. Petracca in the meantime was talking to one of his mates (I presume from basketball – nobody understands how good he actually was – he has his own mixtape on YouTube), before heading off. He walks past me, eyes glued to his phone.

As I come back the boys are split into two groups where there are two teams, with the aim to retain the ball by foot. The ball use is decent at this stage by the near group, with only two foot errors so far in about five minutes.

During this drill, I get the information that the boys will be having a training camp in Seaford soon, and will head back up to Maroochydore in January (I presume during the Australian Open). So there’s one for fans up Seaford way and as well as our Queensland friends. Meantime the boys are having a bit of a break after this kicking drill thing. Hogan’s running around behind me on the soccer ground, which has been kindly vacated by Melbourne Victory because they’re probably thinking they can soccer better than everyone else while holding all three trophies at once.

Anyway, the drill continues on opposite wings this time, after previously being inside both 50s. The most impressive performers for mine so far include Tommy Mc, who is continuing to mature as a leader and is being as smart as ever with his positioning, running off his man and ball use, JKH, who has a new found hunger for the contest, I’m presuming he’s going to go after a big pre-season after losing his spot in the side, and ANB, who’s been classy by foot so far today under pressure. In the meantime Frost has shown how much he’s missed, with his first kick missing the mark and his decision making a bit skewed at the moment. Joel Smith is still a while away too from getting into the groove – gets the ball during one of these drills and panics a little bit, before missing the return handball.

On the other side of the ground, Terlich takes on (I think) White, but gets tackled. A good show of speed from White but Terlich needed to get rid of it. Obviously Terls needs a big pre-season and force his way into the 22 somehow, otherwise he’s off the list given he runs out of contract.

Some more running follows this and this running drill is similar to what they did last year. Run half way through, then run down the ground, turn, run back. Three separate groups are out and about. Tom McDonald is fastest of the first group with ease (because who else was going to be?) with Viney second. Impressively, Tommy Bugg (first training session today) is amongst the top three or four. Brother Oscar is fastest of the second group as he looks to maintain his spot in the best 22 over summer. ANB is quickest of the third group. On the second run for each group it’s a McDonald sweep again, while Harmes is quickest of the third group. TMac’s doing it easy.

Third run. No need to tell you who are quickest of the first two groups. In the third group, Tyson and Harmes run it pretty close but it’s the former who gets home quickest in the end. As we get to the fourth run, TMac again is quickest. Joel Smith is starting to struggle a little bit which is unsurprising given its his first session, but gets a lot of support from the boys as he crosses the line. Anyway the winners of the fourth run – TMac, OMac and Hunt.

TMac ensures he completely sweeps the last run of his group. He’s still an animal, and that’s good signs ahead. OMac also sweeps his entire group, impressively Frost is starting to get into his own and comes second in the final run. The final group don’t run… unsure why.

Anyway, as the boys switch from running to kicking again there’s set shots, and moreso the chance to give you guys information you didn’t necessarily need but will get anyway.

BK = Kennedy as I mentioned before had his first session today. He’s a little fella but he’s well built. From what I’ve seen so far, good running capacity. Also has a tatt a la Cyril, but that's extra information you didn't need to know but do now.

Buggy = Tomas had his first run with the Dees as well and again, he’s smaller than most but again he is also solidly built. Not as nuggety as a Jones-type but not as small as Stretch either, I’d say he’s more in the middle. Again, he also ran well.

Smith = Pretty skinny, needs a bit of work in the gym and with time he’ll get to improve his running capacity as well. Obviously a project player but because he has a bit of knowledge in the game he won’t take as long to develop as, say, a Maia Westrupp.

Meantime, just behind me, the photographers that turn up get a bit excited – and I quote one of them – “Hogan’s got his shirt off!!!” The bloke generates excitement by doing the smallest of things.

After the brief set shot session, which I presume was just a warm down, the boys finish rather abruptly. I say g’day to a couple of fans and head off, with the knowledge that the boys would want to be as sharp in the next session (which I’m hearing is 10:00 Wednesday) as they were today. To finish off, Tom McDonald did a couple of extra short, sharp bursts and there were a few others (such as Viney and Salem) who did a couple of extra things too.

Okay, so summing up:
• Petracca is looking really good even though he’s been restricted at the moment due to his continued ACL recovery
• Hogan is also being held back, this I imagine more than anything is because we want to restrict his workload and make sure his back is alright
• There was more of a running base than there was a football base which is normal for the firstpre season session
• Regardless, the boys did well with the ball in hand today, not too many errors under pressure but there were a couple of decision-making errors
• Tom and Oscar McDonald naturally are going to tear it up on the track all summer.
• The boys are looking very fit
• We still have to wait two weeks until the main group come back!
I look forward to the next session…

February 20, 2014

Found a shot of the two chatting away, they've concealed the tatts to try and keep it secret...

February 20, 2014

I'm sitting next to Roosy as he's doing an interview at the Café ATM so I'm stickybeaking a little bit. He spoke of Michael Voss and his tenure a little bit which could make for interesting reading.

Anyway...

It is perfect weather for the boys - it's freezing. Duffle coat represent because it's just too cold. Heck, maybe I'm going too far with the scarf but whatever.

A few of the Casey boys are here so I WON'T recognise everyone, damn it.

A lot of the group are playing a very amusing, highly entertaining game where they hold a ball in their hands with an additional ball coming in and they have to handball their ball away to a teammate before catching the ball that's approaching them, if you get my drift. It really is a laugh.

Teams:

White: Evans, Westrupp, Gawn, Trengove, Barry, Jetta, Blease, Hogan, Tapscott, Kent, Michie, McDonald, Spencer, Clisby, M Jones, Strauss.

Blue: Pedersen, Toumpas, Cross, Dunn, McKenzie, Frawley, Salem, JKH, Hunt, Grimes, Riley, Viney, Terlich, Nicholson, Byrnes, Tyson, Howe, King, Georgiou, Watts, Harmes, Vince, Dawes, N Jones, Bail, Fitzpatrick.

This along with the Casey players I mentioned before. More in white than blue, looking at those sides blue have a far far stronger side on paper.

Clark, Garland and Jamar doing rehab. Fitzy walking laps with Gawn.

Few stretches, runthroughs etc, short kicks too.

A very solid crowd coming down for a look.

Brr.

Ruckmen not doing short kicks except for Spencer which is VERY understandable.

Few short handballs now. Short kicks and a bit of 'groundball' as they call it. Casey boys are attacking it at 100k an hour which is good to see. They too want to show their worth.

Another drill, down the line kicks, hands and all.

Don't mind the look of Pedo at all. He's looking good.

'Turn and go' encouraged. We saw this at times on Friday night.

Brand new drill I haven't seen before. Kick from a pocket with three blokes running up through the corridor to deliver inside 50 at the other end.

More drills. To quote Millhouse: 'When are they getting to the fireworks factory???'

Proper umpires doing this intraclub, although when Matthew Nicholls is one of those umpires 'proper' is a very loose term.

Mammoth, mammoth, mammoth crowd here at Gosch's. Two/three deep in some places. We almost need a footy special from Richmond the crowd's that big.

More full grounder drills. The same as what we've done all pre season, think the crowd just want the game to get going.

IT'S HAPPENINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

THE INTRACLUB

Few senior blokes leaving. Jones, Toumpas, Dunn, Pedersen, McKenzie, Riley, Frawley, Howe, Vince etc. Doing some sprinting.

Quarter 1

Viv Michie on the burst, winning the first clearance.

Already a goal to white and it's one of the Casey boys.

White 1.0 (6) Blue 0.0 (0)

With the omissions the intraclub is better for it. Blue inside 50 now. Holding the ball against one of the Casey boys though.

Fitz with the dukes up and takes an uncontested mark. One behind.

White 1.0 (6) Blue 0.1 (1)

Goes down the ground eventually and big Max (Gawn) takes a pack mark. One behind.

White 1.1 (7) Blue 0.1 (1)

Although Blue progress 60m down White wins it back and Gawn takes it on the lead again and goals.

White 2.1 (13) Blue 0.1 (1)

From the clearance Tappy goes down and cannot put weight on his right ankle initially. Ouch. He walks off slowly.

Max Gawn with his third mark inside 50. Misses the lot but doesn't make the distance.

A Casey bloke hits the post.

White 2.2 (14) Blue 0.1 (1)

Blue goes coast-to-coast very quickly through Tyson and Salem kicks a goal much in the same vein as Frank Lampard would.

White 2.2 (14) Blue 1.1 (7)

Jack Watts with the clearance.

Inside 50, Dawes gets a bit of a cheap free after a push from McDonald. Dawes goals.

White 2.2 (14) Blue 2.1 (13)

Ball movement both sides quicker now. Watts looks like he's playing as that quarterback role. No score for the reminder of the quarter and it's quarter time.

Quarter 2

King's getting monstered by Spencer. Imagine him against Naitanui.

Viney giving out don't argues at will. Loving it.

Salem with a mark inside 50. Goal.

Blue 3.1 (19) White 2.2 (14)

Tyson roving a Spencer hit, loving it.

Westrupp shows some foot candy but gets cleaned up by JKH! Wow.

Dawes takes a nice mark on the dive. Goals from 45 out on the boundary.

Blue 4.1 (25) White 2.2 (14)

Blue on top now.

Byrnes with a set shot, misses everything but Fitz takes a mark and goals.

Blue 5.1 (31) White 2.2 (14)

Another F50 from Blue. They've taken over.

Dom Tyson reading hitouts, Wattsy getting a fair bit of it. I'm liking this midfield setup.

Something to warm the hearts of opposition fans. Watts with an intercept mark.

King with a mark inside 50. Goal.

Blue 6.1 (37) White 2.2 (14)

Terls out the middle to Fitz but Fitz screws the kick inside 50 and turns it over.

SPENCER HITS A TARGET to Hogan, who kicks short to Trengove. Goal.

Blue 6.1 (37) White 3.2 (20)

Half Time.

Quarter 3

Spencer grabbing it out the ruck haha.

Salem looking alright once again.

Possession footy from Blue as we've seen on Friday night.

Kent out on the full.

Boys on the sideline willing Kingy on haha.

Tyson turns everyone inside out and nearly nails goal of the day.

Blue 6.2 (38) White 3.2 (20)

Fitz takes a mark to the delight of Jonesy and the boys!!! It's a (very questionable) goal.

Blue 7.2 (44) White 3.2 (20)

Blue killing it. A rushed behind again.

Blue 7.3 (45) White 3.2 (20)

There's another shot which hits the post as I type.

Blue 7.4 (46) White 3.2 (20)

Bit of contested ball, in dispute.

Hogan eventually takes a mark, shot at goal, just doesn't make the distance.

Blue 7.4 (46) White 3.3 (21)

Low scoring quarter which ends with the scoreline.

Dawes is sitting out, a bit of a massage on his calf. Hope it's not serious.

Game over by the looks of things.

Update: Dawes has ice on his left calf, not sure of the severity but he looks pretty uncomfortable on the sideline.

February 16, 2014

Pedersen would be extremely unlucky to miss out, depending on how Fitzy/Dawes/Hogan pull up after the intraclub and Melbourne see them all fit to play. Barry didn't really make a mark on Friday night, did use his pace a little bit but his kicking which is considered a strength was a bit off. Him and Nicho I'd take out for Watts and Viney. King had a good run but I think he'll get a rest and Gawn comes in. Not sure on Spencer's position, sure he made some very silly mistakes but he made up for that with his goal and chase down of Grigg which I liked. I think he will probably get a spell.

February 12, 2014

I went, my report isn't as vast but what I can say is that there will be seven new faces in the side on Friday night.

Okie-dokie guys, I went absolutely insane this morning. If anyone wants to know I got up at 8:20. Normally get up much earlier to go but alas I slept in a little. Next bus from Mernda was 10 minutes away and I'm eight minutes away from the stop if I get a favourable run so I just RAN like we were a goal down in a Grand Final with a minute left just to catch this bus. With an iPad in my bag. Caught the bus, now there was a matter of catching the 8:53 train to Flinders from South Morang. Small matter of traffic delayed me until 8:51 so MORE frantic running and I got there with ONE minute to spare. I think I will be 20 minutes late max. And that is the story of how I got to this morning's training session. If only the 2013 Dees showed as much heart.
Righty, so although I was 20 minutes late I can tell what we're doing. Stretches and runthroughs as always.
Spotted Riley walking back towards AAMI Park as I walked in. Unsure why. If it was last year I would have spotted Neeld walking back 15 minutes into the session. Hogan is doing rehab, as is Clark. Two blokes dressed in white in the middle. I have nought idea who they are. Umpires?
Cross and Hunt are back this morning after bring ill.
Short kicks are the agenda as I get here, practically the first 20 minutes writes itself.
Bit of upper strength drills now.
Boys split into three groups. One doing some groundwork, one small group of Pedo, Dawes and Fitzy doing some leading drills and another group doing some stoppage drills.
Solid crowd building up at Gosch's. Better than Mondays that's for sure. 40 odd people here.
Maia Westrupp on the sideline doing some handball work.
Jamar is walking laps too. Clark slow running laps around the oval.
Two groups called in, probably quarter time for the session.
Short handballs now. Voice is up.
Change up the drill a bit and the boys handball into traffic, this is where a few balls hit the deck and it's something we must rectify if we want to improve as a team.
Short kicks now. The ruckmen are as generally accepted very awkward, Salem's using the ball beautifully.
Hogan practising set shots at goal. Not convinced by the stutter mid run up but he's nailing his shots.
Longer kicks now. Toumpas and Tyson looking classy as ever.
Groups split into two for a bit of stoppage work. Viney goes for a run and is tackled and floored by Kent. Competitive instinct in the bloke coming out. It's good to know that we'te moving a bit faster but one thing that disappoints me is that we're not really following up our disposal with shepherds.
Familiar switch/down the line/goal drill. The new recruits - Tyson, Michie, Vince - using it beautifully. Salem's first kick is a nasty shank. Toumpas is using it very well yet again, as is Kent. The 2012 kids are looking good. Intensity is decent.
Change up of this drill now. Defenders added but it's still the same basic drill.
Viv Michie's been quietly chugging along and he's using it very well.
Jay Kennedy-Harris starts with a kick and then runs the length of the ground to get two more touches and kicks a goal! Outstanding.
God help me. Damian Barrett is here. Probably here to give us a spray about the appointment and drafting of everyone ever.
Newish drill, some defenders in bibs and a group designed to get the ball down the other end. Dawesy hits a free running JKH on his own 50m away and JKH runs in and kicks the easiest goal ever.
What I like seeing is Sam Blease being used off half back in this drill and being a playmaker. Now that's what I want to see.
Boys called in once again. Time is flying, didn't realise it was 11:00 already as I type.
Looks like the squad is doing some extra training - a few have pulled off.
Training finished after a short while.

February 10, 2014

Riley in the main group! Looks like he'll do running with the boys! Great news.

No deeds go unpunished here. Nathan Jones piffs a ball at Chip Frawley, falcons him, and then Chip proceeds to get Jonesy back, piffing multiple balls at him before finally getting him.

Hardly anyone's here after 300 odd on Friday... wow.

Everyone except for Jayden Hunt, Col Garland and Daniel Cross is here training. Guessing Cross and Hunt are affected by the bug which swept through last week, while Col is obviously injured. Mitch walking laps, looks like Nicho without training jumper on will be in rehab.

Stretches + runthroughs as is always the case.

Tapscott, Clark and Nicholson in rehab. Tapscott asked to run at 80-85% so issue must be minor.

Basic short kicks following runthroughs.

Group split into three - one group doing short kicks and handballs. Ruckmen doing some jumping drills, and a small group doing forward 50 leads.

McKenzie's doing some kicks inside 50 with Tapscott. Not entirely sure why. Whether it's just to help Tappy or he's joined rehab I can't say.

New drill in main group - three groups of eight utilising handball to get out of trouble followed by a short kick to next group. Group must negotiate a defender.

In another drill, they're doing screamers. Unsurprisingly Howe is in that group. And taking the best hangers by a mile... also not surprising.

McKenzie leaving the track early. As is Clark. Watts too.

Full ground drill. Six groups going in both directions, two defensive groups, two midfield groups, two forward groups.

Aiden Riley's first real hitout at training and he delivers an absolute gem to Harmes. Running hard.

Dean Kent is another who's really looking good, has a lethal boot on him.

Boys come in for a drink.

Group split into defenders, mids and forwards.

Trenners leaving the track early too. As is Jetta. Hogan getting some massaging on the sideline, then finishes up.

Forwards working on leads inside 50. Defenders working on getting the ball out from a congested scenario.

Brad Miller is urging that players look for the eye contact when preparing for a lead. Brings them in briefly to discuss this with the boys.

Looks like mids are working with the ruckmen with tap work.

Fitz is still being himself, a few miscued kicks, looking awkward but managing to do the job. That's what I love about the bloke.

Interesting to note Miller doing some one on one coaching with JKH, again about eye contact (what he was talking about before). It's easy to see the difference between a first year AFL player and a more experienced player.

New drill - few wearing bibs and they're doing a full grounder with the game style they intend to play. With the cooler conditions today compared to Friday movement is also much quicker.

Don't mind seeing Sam Blease on the burst from half back to inside forward 50 much like 2011 when he was on half back. That's exactly what I'd want him to do as coach, set us up from half back.

Riley's back in rehab, doing running on the sideline, but he's been pretty impressive today.

JKH gets three possessions in one chain in the main group, using his pace as always.

Pedo ignores a running Viney, u-turns and hits Fitz. Cops a bit of a spray for ignoring Viney.

I read an article yesterday about Jeremy Cameron and how good his ground skills are - I reckon Howe is just as good on the ground as he is in the air. Just does not fumble the low ones.

Boys come in for a chat.

Weird moment - Harmes comes in for goal, Toumpas takes the ball off him and Harmes tackles Toumpas! Bit of playfighting ensures.

Hmm. Few players doing some goalkicking, ruckmen doing some tap work with the midfielders and forwards/defenders doing some one on ones. Interesting.

Up at the goalkicking end, the classic 'Coffee Bet' as they kick for goal. Comes down to a 'shootout' between King and Barry who shanked their kicks, Barry takes his boot off and kicks it from the boundary! Huge celebrations erupt!

Boys finished up afterwards, a bit of a lighter session today.

February 9, 2014

I was told on Friday that there's a light session on Thursday too. Not sure if it'll be held at Gosch's or elsewhere. I'll be there tomorrow anyway.

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