Maldonboy38

I was right near Gawn when it happened. He came down from a contested mark - which he won - and seemed OK for a couple of seconds. Then he grimaced, grabbed hs knee and tried to run. He then fell to the ground in some pain. It did not look good and was definitely in the same knee he has heavily strapped. Mitch Clark and another player helped him up, but by then hte trainers arrived and he was led from the field supported by two of them, not putting any weight on his leg.

Reflecting on the various drafts and our recruiting, the first point to really hit me is that our starting 22 is probably going to look fairly different from what we may have expected only 3-4 weeks ago. There is a definite emphasis on size of body mass, or mature body shape. This implies that Neeld is making a priority of players who can hold their position over the ball. For mine, Cameron Ling is the best example I can think of - he was so difficult to knock off a contest and often stood up under tackles from much bigger players. Therefore, people like Bate, Dunn, Couch, Williams, Sellar are more likely to be considered for selection especially from half forward to half back including the midfield. This is the zone where the big bodies win the footy. However, a game plan based on this body type needs the people like Bail, Bennell, Grimes, Blease etc... running the lines to break the game open and take advantage of the effective stoppage work of the big bodies. I am a huge fan of Gysberts' potential, but until he puts on body mass I can see him at Casey for a while in 2012. I put Jetta, Morton, Cook in the same category. I must admit that at this stage I am holding judgement on any developments because: I have seen too many preseasons where everything looked rosy and we fell in a heap during the season proper I am yet to see Neeld actually coach in a match Most of our really skillful players have lighter bodies which means we may be able to win stoppages but then our skills will possibly let us down. Time will tell.

I hope this is the same player I saw at training last week at Casey. He is very powerfully built and the highlight was his marking in the body-on-body marking contests. He seemed to have confidence and aggression in bucket loads. Time will tell but I am hopeful.

The biggest changes in training, in comparison the the past four years seem to be in three areas: Specific drills. When a drill is set, it is not allowed to go its 15 minutes then followed up by dissection and discussion. The line coaches are correcting the drills while they are happening. When short drink breaks are happening, players are asking questions, correcting each other before re-setting. Also, the players sound a lot more vocal in all aspects of the drills. Line coaches. Rawlings, Brown and Royal are very vocal, and allow no small correction to go unnoticed or unexplained. Often, all three of them will get involved in a drill and show what they mean. I have yet to see or hear Neeld give a specific instruction during a training session. It seems the line coach - player relationship is the actual mainstay of the coaching relationship. And the line coaches seem much more in your face than I have seen for a while. Physical intensity. A lot of the ball work is about the in-close environment, including a lot of body work and positioning. It appears as if the players are being taught to initiate body contact deliberately, and practice your skills and awareness in hat environment. I will say that Bailey seemed to have a much more hands-on role at training than Neeld. It will be interesting to see how this moves over into match day.

I was at training also this morning and had to leave to attend a meeting for work. So, here is my two bob's worth. The first drills were all about close in checking while giving/receiving handballs.The coaches were instructing the players that once they had handballed to a team mate, they should look for an opposition body to crash into to knock them off the contest. So player A would handball, be crashed into by a coach with a great whopping body pad, and then be expected to find an opposition player and likewise crash into him. All this had to take place in a small confined area. Leigh Brown was very vocal with his group and was making the players never stop moving at a stoppage. I thought this was intersting because a frustration over the past two seasons has been the lack of movement around stoppages during games. The other drill happening at the same time was similar, but seemed to be about how to offensively get out of a tight space. One tactic was particulrly interesting. The player with the ball would be approached by a tackler, and when the tackle was about to take place, the player with the ball would run straight toward another oppostion player. This meant it was two on one and there was a spare man to handball to. Once they broke up into the main game-play drill, the emphasis was on bringing it out of defence, and interchanges. They were instructed to not leave the interchange box until the player coming off was inside it. Players were instructed that an interchange should be occurring every 30 seconds during the drill so I reckon we will see higher rotations next year. When bringing the ball out of defence, they were only allowed to switch play from deep in the back pocket. The drill they were doing defintiely revolves around the half back flank area. Once at half back, the coaches were yelling to remind them not to switch play across half back. Not once was the corridor used when the ball reached half back, unless it was knocked there by a defender. After this drill they split up into various groups. Dunn and Trengove had shots on goal. Martin and Gawn were having overhead marking practice. Stef still looks but marked the ball almost every time. One group were practicing a drill where five defensive players tried to force the offensive players into an out of bounds area. There was a lot of short burst running and a lot of tackling. Jones loved every second of this but Bennell (I think) was struggling. Another group were split into three groups of four people. Again, in a confined space they had to string 10 handballs together or they had to complete the drill again. Dunn was also good here, as was Rivers. They were being instructed to hold onto the ball as long as possible and make a late decision of who to give it off to. Another group went into the back pocket area. I reckon they were practicing a set play. Take a mark in the back pocket, turn toward the boundary, then spot a player leading up the half back flank close to the boundary. One larger group did one-on-one marking practice, a bit like kick-to-kick at school. This was great to watch and gave real insight into players physical cabilities while a ball is in play. Howe was the stand out. Davis was very physical but would have given away a lot of free kicks with over scragging. One of the young train-with blokes was very good and aggressive. There were only 26 players there and a group only completed about 2/3 of the session on the oval. The three coaches Leigh Brown, Jade Rawlings and Brian Royal ran the sessions and I was really impressed with all three of them. I have been to a lot of pre-season training over the past 3 years, and these three blokes never let the drills run themselves. They are in there correcting, advising, changing. Even Brian Royal is a lot more vocal than I can remember in previous years. Leigh Brown comes across as a great coach; clear instructions, loud voice, high expectations. Lynden Dunn's kicking to position was a highlight. I don't think that I am ready for an intelligent Lynden Dunn - it sounds like an oxymoron to me. Matthew Bate is loving the physicality of training and is a stand out. During the game-play drill he was hitting bodies hard, getting up and having a second go, more like we are used to seeing Chip do. Our main back three - Frawley, Garland and Rivers - are great to watch working together. Very sure, very intelligent players. Even so I reckon Rivers might lose his spot to Tom MacDonald in 2012 IMO. Watts and Blease excel at running forward of the pack once our inside players have the ball, and find space very easily. The coacheds applauded this at times. I have to disagree about comment above on Gysberts. First, he didn't look as exhausted today so his fitness appears to be rising. I don't think he will ever be bulky like Jones/Moloney but I reckon he is a good 4-5 kgs heavier than this time last year. Morton looked composed, concentrated hard and tried his guts out at every drill, listening intently to instruction. He really is having a go. But in the game-drill his bumping/body work was almost totally ineffectual against anyone his own size. However, his tackling is looking stronger. One of the train-with guys was impressive. About 6'3'', white blond hair and built like a brick toilet. Very strong over the ball, aggressive physically and coped well with the level of training. I hope he gets a rookie spot. I asked three people but no-one, not even one of the club trainers could tell me his name. Howe is a brilliant mark. Regardless of opponent, he almost always won the best position, and would mark 3 out of 5. Very impressive. Nicholson's kicking was really poor at times and he was getting mad at himself during the game-play drill. There were a heap of faces there today I did not recognise, and these players were probably the permission to train blokes. Apart from the 6'3" bloke, none of the others really shone. Cheers. .

B : Nicholson Frawley Garland HB : Blease T. McDonald Grimes C : Bail Moloney Jones HF : Howe Watts Sylvia F : Green Clark Jurrah R : Jamar Trengove Bate INT : Martin Petterd McKenzie Davey (sub) I am a huge Jared Rivers fan but I reckon Tom McDonald will take his place this year. I hate leaving Tappy out but it is unlikely he will be fully match fit by round 1 We lack a small crumbing forward - Jetta may sneak into the side in this role I had Gysberts in but Petterd is more consistent and has better skills so far in his career, so had to swap them. I reckon Bate, Gysberts, McKenzie, Blease and Nicholson may spend a lot of the year battling each other for a spot. Max Gawn is a huge chnace to play if they settle Martin in a spot. .

Grimes did a lot of solo running. Along with Howe he looks the perfect model of a footballer. He doesn't look too far away from the main group. Bate looks big and strong with a great attitude. His legs are big like Dunns but he is running very well. Watts takes it all in his stride. He was running with Green in a pair and appeared to handle the sprinting well. I am unsure if he was instructed to keep at Green's pace or not but he didn't look pushed at all. When it came to the match simulation drill he was leading very hard and fast when the ball did come out of the defensive zone. Max Gawn has the most unco running style but is not slow. Fitzpatrick is really quick for a big bloke, and during the last few sprints was being encouraged to try and catch Blease and Gysberts in front of him. During the brief kicking drill I was reminded of his natural poor kicking action. I remain unsure about him to be honest. I also noted the red skin on Tappy's lower leg and I was unsure if it was a rash, or a healing skin graft. He had his sock down so it was clearly seen.

Agree on Tom McDonald, Fan. Kept up with Nathan Jones in each of the 10 sprints and his stride did not shorten which shows he is tough mentally. Also, in the forward-press simulation, McDonald was up forward, not a defender bringing it out. We will have to see how Neeld uses him.

The "Rehab" group seemed to be the blokes who were advanced in their rehab, had started late, or who were requiring specific attention on thier running and stepping technique. Cook - injured his shoulder late in 2011 VFL season. Jetta - I think it was arm or elbow late in the season. Tappy - a big collision injury late in the year and is still recovering. Davey - knee surgery Petterd - unsure. .

Went to training this morning and stayed for almost two hours. It was a really interesting session considering who was doing what. There were two separate groups - the main group - and I counted 26 players in this group. The other group was a strange mixture of rehab people and late starters like Jurrah. Colin Sylvia walked about 10 laps before heading inside. Luke Tapscott walked a lot of laps with a young member of the fitness staff. Jordie McKenzie jogged a heap of laps. James Strauss (who appeared for only 20 mins or so) and McKenzie did a light kicking drill together, about half way through the training session. Neil Craig was with them and he was correcting thier kicking actions. Although they were only 20 metres apart, Craig appeared to be making them focus really hard on a specific kicking method. Jack Trengove, Mark Jamar and Dan Nicholson made a small group of their own that did not sem to attach to the rehab group or main group. They did some tap work with Jamar, a bit of lap running, and maybe 1 or 2 sprints, but nothing too taxing. Trengove looks to have really bulked up in upper body and legs. His chest and biceps are becoming strong and a bit chiselled. The Rehab Group It was difficult to keep tabs on this group because they kept on splitting up into mix 'n match groups and doing little drills in small, ever changing groups. Lucas Cook, Aaron Davey, Mitch Clark, Michael Evans, Ricky Petterd, Neville Jetta, Liam Jurrah, and about three others who had left by the time I began watching this group. About five of the fitness guys were with this group and had them doing approx. 100m run throughs, but they were paying particular attention to the running action. Petterd and Jetta in particular were given some specific coaching on this and Cook was given the same a bit later on. Davey, Clark and Jurrah were doing a change of direction drill that was really intense and exhausting. Davey was really focused. Clark and Jurrah seemed to coast a bit but were getting stuck in by half way through. The Main Group Glad I am not an AFL footballer being coached by this group. Repeated gut running in pairs. 1 x 300 m sprint 4 x 100 m sprint 1 x 300 m sprint 4 x 100 m sprint. Interestingly, they put Cale Morton with Jeremy Howe. Howe is clearly athletic and his running action and pace rarely changed over the 10 sprints. By the sixth sprint, Morton began to drop off and Jade Rawlings demanded that he stay on Howe's shoulder. To Morton's credit, in the last 2 sprints he busted his gut and did stay with Howe. I have to give it to him for sticking it out. Morton looks as though his body has developed but his arms are still muppet thin. Nathan Jones, Clint Bartram, Howe and James Frawley seemed to be able to keep up the intensity the best. Jared Rivers was finding it tough going with Frawley. Jamie Bennell has a lot of work to do. He was running with Bartram whose mental strength is telling when exhausted. In the last four sprints or so Bennell was dropping off approx. ten metres and some coaches were driving him to catch up. Sam Blease and Jordan Gysberts ran together, and in the last two sprints, one of the fitness guys ran with them making them try and catch the team in front. Blease has a sprint a bit like Travis Johnstone. A really long stride and he seems to be coasting but he is actually very quick. Bartram, Jones and Howe were the standouts. After the running, they had a five minute break, changed into footy boots and did some kicking/handballing drills. Simple stuff really. The interesting bit was after those drills, the 26 main group players divided in to two teams and practiced a match-like drill. To me it looked like Jade Rawlings was in charge and they were practicing how to get the ball out of defence through an opposition forward press. Our defenders would start with it about 25m out from goal and were not allowed to take it out of the corridor. First, the player who began with the ball would, each time, try and beat an opponent one-on-one. Second, they were instructed to use a pattern of one handball, one kick, one handball, one kick etc... to bring it out through half-back. Third, the midfield would pour down into this defensive zone, and a player would eventually kick it long to leading forwards who had lots of space created by the midfielders pressing into our defensive 50. I hope that is as clear in typing as it is in my mind! I watched a fair bit of the Dees training last pre-season and there are some clear differences. The number of repeat sprints is higher. A lot of clear, one-on-one specific coaching about the minute details of skill. Neil Craig might be the instigator here. Misson has very clear instructions for the warm up session. The training looks more tailored. The rehab group were focusing on running action, changing of direction, short step change of direction etc. and this went on for a lot longer than it did with Bailey. Go Dees.

I really like Neeld's direct approach, and the way he is doing things his way. But naming certain players via a public forum is unwise, and I reckon out of all the players from 2011 who played at a consistently decent standard, 19 yo Jack Watts was one of them. I maybe in the minority here, but I feel like Neeld is grandstanding himself here. The emphasis of the article is not on Watts, Morton etc... It is on Neeld's uncompromising standards in regads to fitness, dedication etc... It is a poor effort to lower someone else's public persona in order to heighten your own. What he is saying about Watts and MOrton and Davey is probably true, but an interview with a journalist is not the place to discuss these matters and it will not make the three players respond to his message any better. For mine, this is a poor effort from our new coach. .

The session looked like a million other pre-season sessions to me. A lot of running to see players' levels in order to figure out a program. I didn't see anything different or unique to make me feel anything I haven't felt before. Gee it's easy to feel wonderful about pre-season and get all worked up. What was really good to me is that it wasn't hyped and ra-ra, but rather a sober measurement and test of our players. As far as all the comments about Gysberts, Blease etc... let's see the situation after 3 months of gym work and tan track running. Remeber the difference last pre-season made to Watts? And think what a full pre-season free of injury will do for Grimes, Bail etc... The only thing to note is the amount of players either in the rehab group, or doing an individual program due to trying to assess their starting point for pre-season preparations. MFC need to get this group as small as possible as soon as possible. .

Melbournefc website has confirmed that the one and only Juice has been delisted. At last!!! All the skill in the world but no real heart or desire. I cannot believe we have kept him for so long. Amid all the debate about the merits of Dean Bailey, his retention of Juice is one of the biggest question marks of all. What did he show behind the scenes that made the coaching and list management people think he added something to our list? But now, one space on our list is opened up for some potential talent, not Juice's let-downs. .

Melbourne website records the following: Summary of Melbourne List Changes Primary List Additions - Mitch Clark (Exchanged with Brisbane Lions for pick No.12) Primary List Changes - Addam Maric (delisted) - Austin Wonaeamirri (delisted) - Matthew Warnock (traded to GC Suns) - Tom Scully (GWS) Rookie List Changes - Cameron Johnston (delisted) - Tom McNamara (delisted) - Michael Newton (delisted) - Robbie Campbell (retired) I am really sad to see Wonna go. A genuine small forward with great skills and could really tackle. McNamara was kept on last year but looks lost at AFL level. And I never again have to type the words into a Demonland post "Pllleeeaasssseee no more Newton". Yes, my friends, he is gone. It really was a waste of a lot of skill. His kicking and marking are of a high quality but his desire to get the ball and get into the play was weak and timid. PSD draft etc... is now very interesting. .

Just home from the training session. Took 3 of my kids with me and had a few shots on goal. The surface of the Goschs Paddock training area is magnificent, but really slippery in runners. Collingwood were training at the same time on the actual oval, but the the Dees used the larger area right next to AAMI Park . Although scheduled for 9:45am, the players didn't emerge until 10:15am which was a real bummer becasue I had to go soon after 11am. I stayed until about 11:15 but then had to scoot off. The session was mainly running. However, during the warm up, one of the fitness coaches (I think it was Misson, but I am unsure) was barking out clear instructions as to how to do the stretching properly. He seemed very intense. Sylvia, Strauss, Petterd and Tappy only graced the training session for 10 minutes warm up and then went back inside. Evans ran about 10 - 12 400m laps on his own. He looks a lot bigger and this running didn't even break a sweat. Mitch Clark also ran laps on his own at a very leisurely pace. I am not sure if he is coming off surgery but he was nowehere near full tilt. Lucas Cook and Aaron Davey ran laps in a pair and did not really interact with the other players after the warm up. Jack Grimes and Jake Spencer also ran lapstogether. Great to see Rohan Bail (I am a huge fan) particiapting fully. He is a born runner and ran with relative ease. Jake Spencer is HUGE. He looks really cut and fit if still a little awkward. Boy I wish he could kick. Morton does not look any bigger, but the the pre-season is just beginning. I hope the next four months means lots of gym work and about 5 - 7 kgs. If Spencer is big, Max Gawn is a monolith, including the size of his head. In about 2 years time he will be an imposing figure. The players split into groups of about 8 doing either 200m runs aroud the boundary or 400m runs, all at about 3/4 pace. This had been going for about 1/2 hour or more by the time I left. Nothing special to report. It all seemed very run-of-the-mill but I prefer this than the hype that followed on Ben Cousins to Richmond for his first training session. Neeld was doing very little. He stood near the centre of ther ground and interacted casually with the coaching staff, usually one on one. We have a LOT of coaches. At one stage, when all the players were warming up, I counted 21 staff, and that did not include the physio staff who were over near a small marquee. I took some photos, but I going to work in them a bit before posting. I hope I get a chance to do it today.

I reckon you have captured the thoughts of many here, Bringback. With Tassie screaming out for a team, and with all the $ thrown in, and with the Scully deal, and two of the greatest knobs ever in Sheedy and Gubby - GWS have instantly become hated by a lot of AFl supporters, and not just Victorian supporters. The AFL are making a huge mistake by playing Sydney v GWS. A huge thrashing is on the cards. If they want GWS to have a stand alone game to start the season, why not ake it GWS v Goldcoast? Personally, I like the Carlton v Tiges game to start the season. Tiges supporters having their hopes dashed in round one sounds about right doesn't it? .

I reckon "gun" is going a bit too far but he is emerging from being a potential athletic talent into a genuine footballer. If he can take more marks in 2012, he will reek havoc on opposition teams because for some reason, other teams don't pay him the respect he is due. Love his 2nd and 3rd efforts, love his work rate, love his desire to take the game on through baulking and running around opponents. For mine, 2012 is the most exciting because of the likley improvement from him and Rohan Bail. .

If we look at his place on our LIST, rather then his place in our TEAM, and weigh up the correlation between potential and experience - surely a player like McCaffer could find a place on our list. Can anyone seruously suggest that he is a worse player than Newton or Dunn? America de Cali was spot on above. McCaffer has strong history of playing to team discipline, playing a role. If this is what Neeld is aiming at, wouldn't we at least consider him? .

1. From memory, although we didn't get the ball inside 50 on enough occasions in 2011, once we did, we were one of the most efficient teams. 2. Our back six (with 9+ players able to rotate through) is our strength, apart from the kick ins. 3. Apart from a poor game plan, our great weakness was defensive pressure from midfielders and forwards. We could't hold a game, or hold the ball in a space on the ground that then set up a play that allowed us to move it into our forward line. At least not very often. I feel really positive about 2012 because the language and content coming out of the coaching staff is about role playing, defensive pressure etc... I feel really positive about 2012 because with MItch Clark in our forward line I expect Jurrah, Watts and Howe to shine. Neeld has given us a line to hang our expectations on. i.e. "Melbourne will be the hardest team to play against in the AFL". These are statements about attiude and culture that we have not seen or heard in a long while. But (and just like the Duchess of York - a very big butt) at this satge it is all list management, drafting and pre season talk. I reckon we are aiming at position 7 - 10 but I would be disappointed being 10th. .

I wouldn't go for him but he has talent. He is not a list clogger etc...I have seen him play 2 or 3 games and he is definielty not a dud. .

We need one or two players of Mitch Clark's impact or better. We do not need any more B graders, or even potential A graders. We have a list full of these players. Farren Ray maybe, but like Nasher said, unless they are offering Reiwodlt, Del Santo or Hayes, the Saints do not have what we need. .

B: Garland Frawley Tapscott HB: Blease Rivers Grimes C: Jones Trengove Bail HF: Jurrah Watts Green F: Davey Clark Howe R: Jamar Sylvia Moloney Int.: Mckenzie Gysberts Martin Sub: Petterd I would prefer Tapscott and Grimes to be rotated through the midfield but the backline looks so good with both of them there (apart from Grimes kicking!) Gawn is stiff to miss. Probably need to squeeze Bartram in - but for who? I can't fit Morton in. (and on 2011 form Idon't want to) Davey only just holding his spot, and I reckon he might lose it to Bate The HF line looks a bit flighty - maybe swap Watts and Clark? However, I reckon 2012 will spring one or two surprises. A new coach brings out talent and hard work in unexpected people. I am looking forward to Bail firing up, and I reckon one of Jetta, Bennell, Evans or Nicholson will emerge as a real talent. I hope it is Jetta. .

Great piece, well written if a little loaded. We all love the skill of our game and those who excel at it. Davey at his best is breath-taking. But he had a horror 2011 and has shown he crumbles under a tag. Fortunatley he has demonstrated already that he is coachable, having changed his role a few times and actually inventing two of them. He will rise again. But if he is not able to play with that skill we must select someone who can. Disagree about your insights into Moloney and the type of players who win grand finals. Look at the list of Norm Smith medalists: 2010 Lenny Hayes 2009 Paul Chapman 2008 Luke Hodge 2007 Steve Johnson 2006 Andrew Embley 2005 Chris Judd 2004 Byron Pickett 2003 Simon Black 2002 Nathan Buckley 2001 Shaun Hart 2000 James Hird There is a solid mix of gifted players, hard mongrels, and grunters in that list. We need 20 of our starting 22 firing most weeks to win a flag, not just the skillful boys.

Every visionary leader needs a 2IC - someone with enough grunt to implement what the leader sees. Cam Schwab is an exceptional manager and we need to keep him for as long as we can. But he is NOT a 2IC. He is a behind the scenes project builder. To make the changes that we see unfolding before us, Jimmy needed a no nonsense, bullish 2IC for a short term to get his vision running again. It stalled in 2011. Garry Lyon has played this role to perfection. I believe he will stay on board until preseason begins and together, he and Jimmy can see if all the restructuring, position moving, and recruiting are gelling together to make the vision come to pass. Garry has provided an invaluable service. .

Great post, Pitmaster. You have concisely and accurately summed up the broad perspective view of the Dees. Ever since Joe Gutnik (as annoying as he was, we would have died without him and his $) the MFC have been scrambling to build a business model, club structure, and supporter base. Much of this time and effort has had neither of the two vital ingredients: an over-arching vision that draws people into it, and the right people to achieve it. Enter one J. Stynes. Vision and leadership at an exceptional level Enter two. G Lyon. Short term mission with no b/s requiring yes or no answers to join Jimmy's vision. For the first time since the mid 1990's I am genuinely excited about the life of the whole club. Great leadership Expert management Correct personnel Marketing/promotional emphasis (ourr players in the TV footy shows, on ads on TV, artivcles in newspapers, our colours and history etc...) An exciting, if incomplete, player list A planned coaching panel mixing potential, innovation and experience. This is Jimmy's legacy to date. Doff your caps, boys, to the lanky Irishman. Charge your glasses ans jump on board. Also, don't be suprised if the best clubman award gets renamed in the near future and it becomes as sought after as the Bluey. .