Maldonboy38

I was there, Biffen but I do not have Maldon plates. I hope there is another Dees family from Maldon because growing up I was one out. My eldest son got a photo taken with Max Gawn - he is a genuine gentle giant. Seemed to be having a ball.

Wife and 2 boys went, and we had a really good time. My reflections: My boys owe me 1 month of good behaviour for going on those rides. Max Gawn really is huge. Robbo said he was now 110kgs This was not the Pies, Bulldogs or Tiges day - most of the women were stunning. It was a really relaxed free kind of morning. Wanted to take wife and kids on ghost train but it was closed - bummer that! We got to sing the club song but it was the most passionless, flat uninspired rendition you have ever heard. The coffee lady was slower than a Collingwood supporter on the way to the dentist. I hope I win the shoes. Didn't win the raffle - never do, never will Enjoyed the morning immensely - it was our first time there.

Our defence was very good, but it has been good for a long time. We got beaten again in the stoppages. Our movement of the ball was good, except coming inside 50, where it was terrible. Midfield quality, and ball into 50 quality need a huge amount of work.

We need to be clear about the desired outcome by the AFL. They know 4 clubs at least have used tanking or "pre-game planning prejudicial to the interests of the AFL" and also realize the priority pick system was the catalyst. They weren't really interested in getting their man or punishing the club(s) involved. They needed an outcome that was political in nature. It had to: Ensure everyone thinks the AFL is taking it seriously Look as though they are being tough Stay well clear of any outcome that would prove teams were deliberately trying to lose Keep Demetriou well away from any flack Be phrased in ambiguous legal terms Ensure that no action - legal or otherwise - would occur subsequent to the announcement of penalties They got all this, and we did not lose draft picks which in my mind is the right penalty for deliberately trying to lose. You watch, in two weeks time this will be completely off the news pages. MFC and AFL will go very quiet very quickly. Caroline Wilson will be starved of oxygen and some other point of interest (gambling and drugs probably) will take the attention of the journos and media. The AFL will wipe their brow, say "phew - it all went to plan" and move on to Essendon and Brisbane.

I reckon the AFL got this just about right - perhaps they were a bit soft on us. Bailey and Connolly were behind the scenes making dodgy decisions leading to deliberate short term losses for expected long term gains that never came. And Jimmy - God bless him - was probably implicit also. We are very lucky not to have draft picks taken away. We did everything else BUT tell our players to lose. I can't tell you how angry I am that officials of the MFC - the founding club and best club in the world - decided that a culture of losing would have long term gains. I have been a great fan of Connolly and thought Bailey had some things right, but I do not want to see Connolly back our great club. Think how Barassi, Flower, Viney, Lyon would respond if the club was doing everything to lose while the players were busting heads, guts, legs and all they had to try and win a flag??? We lost Brock McLean and Scully because of this, and probably others. Regardless of how we now feel about them they were good players who smelled a rat. Never, NEVER again!!!

I really like what Neeld is doing. Looking at the players during the intraclub, we have body size right across the ground so we shouldn't be pushed off the ball. But we still have to see whether Blease, Strauss, Tapscott, jordie, Nicho etc.. can mature into 70+ game players who are consistent, winning footballers. Neeld has a definite plan: he knows the game plan he wants us to play, he knows the attitude to training and playing he wants to see, he has shown great guts in turning over 15 players (some who thought they were the next wave of Melbourne success), he has the guts to place young captains at the head because he knows they are the best leaders at the club, he knows the coaching staff he wants and has drawn them in. Now we want to see if he can game-day coach. All the other elements are coming together (the list still has some tweaking if we want 3 - 5 A grade elite footballers). I will be looking very close to his coaching during NAB cup. Ball movement Player positioning at stoppages Responding to 3 goals in a row from opposition The one-on-one talks with players at 1/4 time and 3/4 time. Player confidence (I can't stand Malthouse but my goodness do his players play with confidence) The last coach who had me completely was Northey. Daniher had me at times but the up-and-down win/loss thing had my head in a spin. I can't become a Neeld "fan" until I see the players playing for him, and them playing footy that wins finals. For mine 2013 is another building-blocks year, and 2014 will see a very different team under Neeld. Here's hoping!!

Are you sure about this quote, Demonland? "Are you Mark Jamar is back to his best. He is jumping off the ground again, unlike last year, and gave Spencer an absolute bath in the ruck. Sadly, Spencer still is not concentrating on the ball, despite his enormous height advantage, and apart from a good single mark, he did not touch the ball in general play or at ruck contests. By that I mean he did not touch the ball …" I am not sure if you were watching the same game as me but Jamar was nowhere near his best, and in front of me was beaten three times in the air by Spencer in one-on-one ruck contests. Also, Jamar did nothing around the ground where Spencer at least ran forward, gave 2nd and 3rd attempts, went for marks and presented.

I was there today and some of it was really interesting rather than a highlights reel. The first thing to note was that apart from a couple of the young boys, we are a much physically stronger list than last year. No skinny legs, Muppet arms etc... Even a lot of the newer recruits have some serious size about them. The scratch match seemed to be planned around ball movement from defence to attack. At times, when the umpire blew the whistle or there was a goal/behind, one of the coaches would move the play to the other end of the ground or the wing, and give the ball to the defensive position team. If any of you guys remember that Dean Bailey's main practice emphasis was on running patterns when Dees had the ball, you would have been happy to see the succession of handballs moving the ball forward today. There were few poor kicking options chosen. If things were closed down, they ran and handballed in patterns until a gap was found. It was refreshing to see. If the half-backs had no options forward they would simply run into spaces between half-back and centre line until a gap was found - a little like Hawthorn or Fremantle. There was no Mitch Clark, no Dawes, and Pederson hardly ever went forward after the first 5 minutes. So the emphasis was not on our forward structure whatever it might be. It was on moving the ball out of defence. Some of the interchanges of handballs was outstanding to watch because it looks like the horrible Melbourne habit of panicking and handballing to a stationery target is gone. 1. Hogan - have to agree - star in the making. Leads well, contests well. Was bumped off the contest or led under it by mature defenders but his leading and contest at the mark is of a very high standard. . 2. Jones - Very vocal around stoppages and efficient with the ball.. 4. Watts - With the ball in his hands he is simply a gun. He still hangs back a bit when he could contest and did it a few times in the first half. However, it seems he was being instructed to play wide and loose at times. 5. Toumpas - His pace of the mark is amazing. Didn't get a lot of it but was clean when he got it. Hits the ball at full pace which is exciting to watch. 7. Viney - was in and at every contest, but was unclean and sloppy at times. Obviously loves the hard stuff. 8. Frawley - Definite backline general and I reckon I saw a bit of his old arrogance at times. He is in for a huge 2013. 10. Byrnes - Everywhere, quick, accurate and knows where the spaces are. Those looking for a forward spot have to get past him. BOG today. . 12. Sylvia - Hardly saw him, but was efficient when he had it. 13. Jordie -Usual great work rate, but a few times handballed when kicking was clearly the right option. Other players let him know this each time. 14. Dunn- was everywhere today, often in the right place at the right time. He reads it so well and with Watts looks to be the rebound 50 designated player. His kicking still is outstanding. Also some fumbles and strange choices. 15. Rodan- Amazing first half. He was in everything and leading into spaces other players could not find. 17. Blease - One of the best today. His running to the next play after disposal was excellent. His kicking a little wobbly sometimes but he just kept running and getting it. 19. Strauss - Some people don't like the phrase "elite kick" but I can now confirm he is one. Great game down back and after watching our defensive kicking out from the backline over the past 5 years, he is a must for starting 22. 20. Garland - Didn't notice him a lot but he is that quiet 'humphrey' type. Efficient but not brilliant. 21. Pedo - OK, but didn't impact contested opportunities when he could have. 22. Magner - As usual went hard at every contest and did some good set up work through the wing at times. 23. Tynan - grew in confidence in the second quarter and had about 6 good, solid touches in a row. Cleaner by foot than I expected and seemed to understand our defensive structure quite well. 25 TMac - Didn't stand out but his spoiling, reading of the game and defensive positioning was good. 26. Nicho -didn't notice him a lot. 27. Gillies - He makes our starting back 6 more problematic. Reads the play OK and is very aware once he has the ball. A good game. 31 Grimes- Spent a fair bit of time on the bench but was OK when in play. His kicking was cleaner than previously. 32 Evans - didn't notice him a lot - just OK. 33. Barry - didn't get into the game much and might be a year away. Very quick. 34 Kent - Liked what I saw. Looks ready to match it physically and is team oriented. Skills might need some refinement. 35 Tappy - Was playing as a forward and the emphasis was on defense, but was quite good in patches. 36 Davey - Chased and tackled really well but we want him kicking. Didn't win or receive a lot of the ball. 39 Jetta - Didn't get a heap of it but when he was involved looked really, really good. Ran well, kicked well, made options well. 40. Jamar - Bustled at the bounces and throw ins but provided nothing around the ground. I thought he was out done by Spencer today. 41. Davis - Looks made for defence and positions well. Still not convinced of his kicking but he was marginally better today. 42 Pencil - Broke even in ruck contests with Jamar but provided run and options around the ground. A good game. 43 Taggert- Really goes at it but doesn't win a lot of it. 45 Jones - Really surprised me, did some top notch stuff and could challenge for a spot. 46 Terlich- saw him do some nice things, but didn't notice much 47. Couch - Got better as the game progressed and ended up playing really hard and really well. Looked more ready than last year. 48. Fitzy - He is SO unco but played a good game at times. His pace and second efforts for his size are surprising. On today's performance will definitely challenge Pederson for that 3rd forward/ruck help position. It was a game that highlighted the half-backs and the midfielders. All of them had a go and showed their wares at times. I have picked Viney in my Supercoach starting 22 but on today's performance I am not sure if he is ready. Tynan, M. Jones, Terlich and Fitzy were the ones who surprised me today. Davey and Sylvia were disappointing Loved it - the footy is back!

B: S. Wight J. Frawley M. Whelan (easiest line of all. These 3 clear of all other contenders) HB: B. Lovett D. Neitz S. Febey C: S. Tingay T. Viney A. Johnson HF: A. Yze D. Schwarz G. Lyon F: J. Farmer A. Jakovich R. Robertson R: J. Stynes T. Johnstone B. Wilson I: J. White R. Grinter N. Jones J. Mcdonald (sub) R. Flower finished in 1987 but goes in every MFC best team. Disappointed I couldn't get Hardeman in. He was a the best CHB I have ever seen.

There are better websites for getting it up.

Watching it on AFL.com and the resolution is so poor I can hardly tell one player from another. If it wasn't for the commentators I wouln't be able to watch it. Have the AFL run out of money??

How good was the kick from Flash that led to the All-stars goal!! He is looking very good tonight. Can he produce this in the season proper? Gee I hope so because he isn't just playing well - he is leading the team. Bring it, Aaron.

Love the work of Grimes here. First he pushes Couch off from Jones' line giving Jones a space to run into, then continue alongside Jones eventually blocking Magner from the contest. Great photo sequence.

I have seen 6 preseason sessions and read reports from all the others. I am getting a bit worried about out kicking efficiency when coming inside 50. Every training report from a whole range of different Demonlanders is reporting the same thing. Are any of the coaches specific skills coaches? Should we make this more of an emphasis between now and round 1? Surely we cannot settle for Bail, Nicho, Blease etc.. to constantly miss a forward structure that might actually be able to produce? I also agree about Fitzy. Both he and Spencer have trained really well. Fitzy's one clunk marking has been great to watch and it will be interesting to see how he fits into the NAB cup rotations. He has others ahead of him (Jamar, Spencer, Pederson, maybe even Gillies) but his pace and marking ability create match-up headaches for others.

I don't want any drug scandals in footy, I just want to watch the best game in the world and know that everyone has an opportunity to win and everyone is trying to win. But I have to admit that I am secretly glad that this has happened to the Bummers. They were a team I had very little feeling about until the 2000 GF, and since then I have a deep, cold hatred of them. The only thing better than seeing Eddie McGuire's face after a losing GF was seeing Hird's after a losing GF. One of my favourite footy moments is Matty Whelan crunching Hird - it was a little bit of revenge. If I had to choose a c;ub for a scandal it would be the Bummers.

I never mentioned the word "easily", but I cannot see where their improvement is to come from, and their forward line looks like ours did in 2011 and 2012. I visited their website and went through their list and honestly could not find a major goal kicker. Everyone mentions Hurley, but the minute they have a run against them Hird drops him down the back.

1) Sydney 2) Adelaide 3) Fremantle 4) Hawthorn 5) Collingwood 6) Richmond 7) WCE 8) Geelong 9) Carlton 10) Brisbane 11) North Melbourne 12) St. Kilda 13) Melbourne 14) Essendon 15) Gold Coast 16) Western Bulldogs 17) Port Adelaide 18) GWS No standout for me this year, but Adelaide and Fremantle to rise and contend. Grand Final is tough to pick. Essendon the big slide. Almost no goal kicking capacity. The underlined teams could all shuffle positions. Whoever has the best draw might move up. Dees could reach 10th but probably need 2 interstate wins and 2 Etihad wins to achieve this.

Clark and Trengove will definitely miss round 1, so two regular spots are up for grabs. Viney, Dawes, and Byrnes will start round one. Rodan, Toumpas and Pederson are strong contenders for round 1 but will miss.

This is a tough exercise. Very difficult to get the balance right and having to leave out players I want to see play. But here goes. Centreline: Trengove Jones Howe Followers: Jamar Grimes Sylvia Interchange: Spencer Blease Viney McKenzie It is likely that Rodan will play round 1. If so, I would move Tapscott out altogether, move Blease into Tapscott's spot, and place Rodan on the bench as the sub. I really want to find a place for Tynan but can't at this stage. Ditto for Toumpas.

B: Strauss Frawley Jetta HB: Dunn McDonald Watts 5 of these are set I reckon - Strauss, Frawley, McDonald and Watts. Jetta is burning it up at training and has spent most time during preseason with the backline. I see him so much like Matty Whelan and not just because he is indigenous but because he has some quick movements, can kick OK, and has a nasry streak when he tackles. He could become a very good small backman. Joel Mac and Nicho will be pushing for Jetta's spot, and pushing really hard. Dunn's position is the difficult one. I had him pencilled last year as a de-list but his last 8 - 10 games were good in a poor side, with little midfield defensive support. But I reckon he is wrestling with Garland, Gillies and Sellar for his spot and it just might be they choose who plays in this position according to the opposition on any given day.

HF: Tapscott Dawes Howe F: Davey Clark Byrnes IMO this is our best 6 but I doubt Davey and Byrnes will play forward pocket at the same time. I agree with many posts above about moving 7 players through the forward line, and would probably move Pederson into the 7. Tapscott is still a virtual unknown. Like Strauss and Jetta injury has prevented us from seeing much of him at all. I place him in the forward six because we need a penetrating kick and a strong body, and Dunn has been moved back. So we have this basic construction: 2 power forwards - Clark and Dawes 1 amazing mark, running, hard to counter forward - Howe 1 physical presence and penetrating kick - Tapscott 2 small forwards - Davey and Byrnes 1 strong mark/ assist in ruck spare parts forward - Pederson

Don McLardy is the right man for the Dees right now, but my goodness that press release was as downer. I can just see some theoretical, spin-mongering, faceless bureaucrat whipping up that speech that uses lots of words to say nothing, passing it to Don, and then the board agreeing to endorse its nothingness. I agree with the necessity to play straight bat and give the tanking investigation no oxygen. I know we have to appeal to members to sign. I know about the importance of the Luna Park day ... etc... blah, blah, blah. At some time soon some vision and passion communicated from the Board to the members would be good. Perhaps Feb 6th?!?!

I went to Casey to watch training with my teenage daughter and son. Trengove appeared, but did no running. His legs have lost a lot of condition, and I guess his left leg had the injury because Dom Barry's legs were bigger than it. NIcho did some handball drills and then walked heaped of laps, finishing with some stationary kick to kick. Dunn walked laps, and then was like a sidelines coach barking instructions during some drills Clark did some handball drills but nothing else. After an extensive warm up, one group of players left to go to a distant training track. Gawn, Magner, and a few midfielders whose names I forget. The best thing about today was that almost every player was there. The only player I didn't see was Rohan Bail (edit: Jeremy Howe and Tynan also). This is the first time in a few seasons that we have had so many in full training. I can't wait for Clark, Trengove and Gawn to join in. The main drill began at stoppages. Any time there was a spilled mark or poor kick the drill was stopped and Neil Craig - who led the session - would choose a spot on the ground to start again. Every player had a one-on-one opponent each time the play stopped. The backmen looked efficient and strong, and I was super impressed with Gillies. Very big, very strong at the ball and has good awareness. The midfielders were lively and aggressive. Jones and Blease were the standouts, Davey and Jetta not far behind. But the kicking into the forward 50 was atrocious. The first 7 times they conducted this drill the ball missed the forward target 6 times. It was a bit windy (when is Casey not?!?!) but the delivery was just plain poor. Frustrating to watch. Every other aspect of the drill was impressive. Cam Pederson attacks the ball fiercely in the air but did not complete one contested mark he went for. Every 15 mins or so they would stop for a drink, and do 2 - 5 mins of in close tackling, picking moving ball up of the ground drill. I was sitting goal end and saw the defense up close. Davis and Couch hardly hit a target by foot. Joel MacDonald was running hard and kicking well. The other backmen seemed impressed with his effort and efficiency. Jade Rawlings voice among the backs never let up. Always commenting, always feeding back. If needed, he got involved and would use his weight and nouse to ruffle a few feathers. It seemed to work wonders and fired them up at times. Interesting to watch Jamar and Spencer ruck against each other. Spencer matched him for strength and positioning, but Jamar has a greater tap sense and won on maybe 2/3 of all contests. But around the ground Spencer ran well, often getting into attacking positions with Jamar trailing. I have a gut feeling he will overtake Jamar by the end of this year and could end up being our ruck duo with Gawn. Aaron Davey was lively and aggressive. I can't believe I am typing this but his tackling was spot-on, both in close and on the run. Jetta looks fit, quick, aware and strong around the footy. Dawes leading was great - however on a few occasions his great leads were ignored. One last thing that I really liked. At one stage Watts turned out of defence and delivered the ball poorly out to the back flank. Jetta gave him a brief spray, and Watts acknowledged it and took it. I had to leave at 11am. Cheers.

I really hate the current trend in footy that makes journalists into TV and radio stars. Too many journalists overstate their importance - they are observers for goodness sake, and are are paid to find information and report it. Robbo, Caro, that dick from the footy show with those stupid glasses, Denham, Patrick Smith. All of them should lower their public profile and do their jobs with intelligence and integrity. All of them have their "bunnies" - either player or club - but Denham is NEVER positive. He has some life issues that cause him to vent his spleen on any occasion, and his pathetic stand off with Cameron Shwab is adolescent. I would not allow my teenage boys to drip vitriol like that. I know the ABC commentary can be dray at times, but I listen to them because of Gerard Whately, Drew Morphett, Stan Alves etc... they enjoy a low profile and don't try and lift it by bringing players or clubs lower.

Yes there will be injuries, and all 3 will get games. But I reckon each week Neeld will be looking at the opponents and choosing the best of them to play against a particular opponent. I am not sure Nicho is the most versatile - I would probably give that to Jetta. But Strauss has size, awareness and skill, if he is still not particularly aggressive around packs or tackling.