jimcor

As a fairly regular observer at Gosch's training (and a very occasional DL contributor), I've recently moved to Italy and am even more appreciative of the training reports. This current crop is exceptional and the fact that they aren't tainted by the petty vitriol that would often emerge in the past is an added bonus. Thanks lads.

This is exactly what I'm suggesting i.e. let him know (if he doesn't know already) that he's let a lot of people down and that there is only one final warning. That tells everyone what is expected and demanded in order to be on our list.

Absolutely an idiot. How many years has it taken to establish the 'no [censored]' policy at MFC? Well, it's possible that we have a [censored] in the making. Of course, the Leadership group needs to reinforce that there can be no exceptions and all players are subject to sanctions if they cross a line. I'm not suggesting that we trade him because of this but I would be making it absolutely clear that any further breaches will result in much more serious consequences. For those who think this is just a stupid, immature boy and that he shouldn't be punished, I disagree. He is now a professional footballer and needs to show that he can repay the faith that the club has shown in him. With regard to Hodge, I cant't remember the details but I think he's probably done a bit more to earn the right for forgivwness. Oliver certainly hasn't so far.

It might have been explained somewhere else but I've missed it. My question is how many slots does that leave us with to fill? FWIW, I'm happy with all four of these delistings given that all had multiple opportunities to impress in the AFL but none did so. Time to move on.

Two comments: 1/- if this happens, I suspect HFC is rewarding Lewis for years of loyal service and the winning of multiple premierships. Just like Mitchell. 2/- Lewis will add some much neede mongrel to the midfield because I don't think he ever takes a backward step. It will take some pressure off of Jones and provide sone protection fo r our young blokes. Fingers crossed.

This is unbelievably good news, if it happens. To have a genuine established A grader want to come to the MFC is almost unheard of in the last 15 years. If it doesn't happen, it's still a feather in someone's cap for creating the possibility. We also have Hawks to thank, I think. Who was our last genuine, established A grade pick-up?

I'm with the dissenters....Weed, I think, was just given a taste to keep him focussed. I think Pedo is considerably better at this point and can relieve Max in the ruck. Weed is very much a work in progress and needs at least another season or two of development. My guess is that he and Pedo will be in and out of the team according to form, needs and the opposition.

I think it was purely a matter of poor selection leading to our being beaten by an inferior team. How can any one justify Mitchie , Weed & ANB being brought in at this stage of the season, off of the back of 3 wins. Dumb selection backed up by dumb coaching and dumb playing. We deserve better service. Some idiot suggested that we would be hurt by playing finals this year hence the selections. Big picture! Nuff said, just an idiot!

True, Chook. I was at Gosch's on Friday and that's what he does. Of course, all the players run & bounce during the simulations but I haven't seen anyone else do it while doing the multiple 50m sprint practice. Nor do I see any of them consistently trying to develop the 'other' foot. No wonder the opposition can work out what side of our player they need to stand on to limit their effectiveness. As they say in the classics, 'it's not rocket surgery'.

Some very unusual selections this week, perhaps born of unrealistic optimism. Weideman for Pederson made no sense to me nor did the preference for ANB & Mitchie over Grimes & Trengove. When we're still a mathematical chance of Finals, it's not the time to experiment. At least, G & T always give it their all and are playing for their future. And they are both smarter footballers than the alternatives. On top of this, our normal core did not perform. Our forwards could not convert and our skills were very ordinary. The exceptions were our back 4 were great. All performed well. I noticed at training that when Hunt is practising sprints he always takes a ball and bounces it while he's running at full tilt. He looks like a professional who knows his strengths and is trying to build on them. What a shame that others on the list don't apply the same focus and use it to also overcome their weaknesses e.g. Kent, Viney, etc who can only kick off one foot. All in all, a cold & miserable day matched by the quality of our football. We'll probably win next week when it doesn't really matter. And Nev should do well in the B & F.

And, at least he can kick with either foot. I've just come back from the 'G watching one-footed player after another butcher the ball. Kent, Tyson, Viney, Wagner, Frost, etc should all be instructed in the off-season to develop their non-natural foot. I think Grimes is worth another couple of games before the decision is made.

Jack has set an example of honesty and loyalty that stands up alongside the likes of the Hawthorn OAPs. Hopefully it will prompt the likes of Tommy Mac & Hogan to display similar qualities. For one who has been the target of no end of sniping and disrespect from coaches and supporters for so long, it is amazing that all he has to say about the club is positive. Good on you, Jack Watts. You have been an absolute beacon during the dark times.

They trained til about 11. Senior squad only, I think. No Grimes, Harmes or Brayshaw seen by me. Guess they're playing at Casey.

There for an hour. Salem, Oliver, Kent, Grimes seemed to be in a rehab group. Garlett training separately with Crossy but being watched by a few others. Kicking really well off of both feet. Hard to believe how hard and low he kicks. Much better than the easy floaters you see so often. I don't understand why Kent & Tyson aren't told to practise kicking with their right foot. It's such an obvious shortcoming in their game. Pedo, Weed & Hulett (I think) were in a group practising goal kicking. Great to see how competitive they are and how much pleasure they get from the others' misses. Did not see Vandenberg. Spencer, Petracca, Trengove all look fit.

Hogan trained with the main group. Looked fine. Further to Watts query, watched him exchanging 30 metre passes with Kent for a few minutes. No sign of a problem. I left at about 11am so it's certainly possible that something happened after I left.

Watts looked fine to me.....albeit strapped.

Stayed for a bit over an hour. Great to see such a large group. Didn't see Garlett but was told he was on the other side of the Paddock training separately. Spencer was also training separately and doing a fair few circuits with Daniel Cross. Trengove split from the main group after about an hour and started doing circuits as well. In the early part of the training, the squad was split into 4 or 5 groups to practise specific disciplines. Interestingly, Kent and N. Jones were in the same group and part of the exercise was for one player to have the big 'pad' and another player would lay a big bump and then go on to dispose of the ball. When it was Kent's turn to bump the 'paddee', he went in really hard. Jones had anticipated this and went in equally hard leaving Kent on the deck for a few seconds recovering. He then had to go off for a bit of treatment. Given that Kent is a bit of a bully (we need a few of them!), it was great to see that Jones had his measure and wouldn't be intimidated. Watched a bit of the match simulation and, like the real world, looked fantastic when it works (i.e. targets are hit) but ordinary when it doesn't. Petracca, Dawes look keen.

I agree totally. As a perennial JW supporter, I cannot understand how people are so dismissive of the impact that continuous incompetent development and repeated changes in the coaching group on an intelligent and thoughtful individual like JW. We should be thankful that we haven't destroyed his desire to play footy. Get off his back and acknowledge the great loyalty shown to this point.

Was their briefly. JKH still in rehab & training one on one with Crossy. What a luxury to have. Just shots at goal today (for JKH) with either foot....set shots and on the run. Ben Newton running, running. No Spencer, Brayshaw sighted.Max King provided the highlight demonstrating his improving foots skills. He had a low shot for goal on the run but almost missed the ball completely. Improvement noted in that he didn't trip himself up and fall over. Received much encouragement (?) from team mates....to take up different sport. Trengove & Petracca training hard now.

Why wouldn't he wait until the end of the season? I would. If he decides to go, a trade at the end of the year would need to be massive. Having said that, he's happy here, he's made some great friends at the club and there's no reason to be pessimistic. Move on and enjoy the season.

Popped by for an hour only. Just a couple observations: 1/- Early passing practice seemed to focus on using the non-dominant foot and keeping the pass low (below shoulder height) and hard. Think Gawn was paired up with Frost and suggested humorously that Frost was less than impressive in this. 2/- Terlich looks fit & focussed and might be competing for best 22! 3/- Pay Hogan whatever it takes to get him to re-sign. It worries me that he and Gawn are Option 1 to 10.

I stopped off at training late today, about 1045, to have a last look for the season. As expected, Cross was last off the park. His wife and kids were there and I said to her that they'd probably need to get security to get him off and she agreed. Can only imagine how sad he would have been to be at his last formal training session. Hope he takes the job.

This might also be a factor but surely, when Gawn seems to consistently win the tap, by the law of averages you would expect us to pick up 50% of the clearances. I haven't analysed the figures but my feeling is that we're not getting anything like 50% of the Gawn taps. Of course, the mids might all be expecting the ball to be going somewhere else, but I find that hard to believe. All I know is that my impression from training is that the bulk of the ruck training involves Greg Stafford instructing the 3 main ruck men about winning the tap. On reflection,I can't believe that they don't spend time teaching the mids where to run to.......I just can't recall seeing it being trained. And, if the results can be believed, if it is being taught, it's not being executed on the day.

Now, expecting to be howled down. On my semi-regular, weekly attendances at training, I can't recall a hell of a lot of mids and rucks working together practising where to be when Max wins the hit out. Might this partially explain an apparent inability to profit from our stoppage dominance? Other, more regular, attendees might have a different recollection. It just seems bizarre to me that we can win so many hit-outs but the opposition seems to know where the ball is going more than we do. Can it be that we don't have signals to indicate where the ball is going to be tapped to? Might be simplistic but who knows?

I looked for Trengove but couldn't see him. He was the only one that I looked for but couldn't find. I meant to say that Fitzie looks as though he's now out of the rucking group and trains as a defender.