Maldonboy38

How about this: Captain Forward leader Midfield Leader Defense Leader Younger player being 'apprenticed'. This would equate to: Grimes Dawes Jones Garland Viney

IMPROVERS Trengove T McDonald Toumpas SLIDERS Bail Byrnes M Jones

A lot of players these days are pushed out of clubs, due to the club believing there are better options are available, the player no longer fits the clubs plans, or a myriad of other reasons. Most of them are good decisions and make good sense. I believe though, that many AFL clubs including MFC have been a bit slow in picking up ready-made players from other club's delistings. Roos has been deliberate and forthright in targeting delisted players who fit our needs and other clubs should take notice of how he has got the job done. Vince is a great fit as a replacement for Sylvia. Cross is just a great get. Put these two together and the potential lift for MFC is huge. But until a ball is kicked in action it remains potential.

All the best rjay and family: I hope you get some time to remember a good woman with lots of fond memories. For Christmas at our place we always got our kids a major gift, a minor gift, and a tiny little token thing. So - Big gift. Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn to be the bottom four teams for 20 years. Let me sit back and watch them become the Dees, Doggies, Lions and Saints of the 70's & 80's. Hopefully, one of them would have to merge or relocate to survive. Minor gift. Footy Journalists begin to actually report on the GAME; not the club/AFL politics, not unimportant night habits of famous players, not giving opinion as if it is fact, and actually not reporting rumour, speculation, and social media fairy-floss. Just report on the best game in the world. Token gift. For James Hird to travel to Darwin for holiday, and for Matty Whelan to line him up in a shopping centre and lay him out just like that great bump in the Elimination final in 2006.

I just listened to Paul Roos on the club website, and love this quote about the new, young recruits: " they have to train hard, learn good habits... If they play one game in their first year it's a bonus. For us, if we are a good organisation and a good team, young players find it hard to get into really good sides. We want to be a really good side, that for young players no matter where they are drafted at, struggle to get a game." Match those words up against Watts, Scully, Trengove etc... and their introduction to AFL over the past few years. Now this is "getting it right".

I don't see the need for bigger screens - I actually go to the game TO WATCH THE FOOTY LIVE!!! If they turn the volume up on the loudspeakers to accompany the bigger screens, and we have to hear more from that half-time announcing nuisance, I will both scream and vomit. And please, no more betfair commercials or whatever gambling institution the AFL chooses for the 2014 season.

Exactly right. The more I reflect on Bailey as a coach the more I am convinced he was actually a good coach. The recruiting & developing staff around him were atrocious (he should have seen this) and the administration was mind-boggling poor, but Bailey's attacking football was exhilarating to watch. If he could have got them fit enough for the modern two way run it might have worked. We will never know.

Looking forward to March 8th. And I agree about entry/exit to Casey Fields. When you consider the money and planning that are going into this area, surely they can see the need for better parking, traffic control, and traffic flow. Last time I was down there though, it was still the same, even with a double lane entrance.

I loved the quick fire shots of kicking actions. A very balanced Jack Watts with a copybook kicking action, until he gets to the follow through! What is it with so many modern footballers swinging their leg across the body in the follow through? It is a simple thing. 1. move straight toward target. 2. While in motion drop ball from one hand as close to foot as is practical. 3. Follow through with foot toward target. This really frustrates me. Someone go get Barry Hall - best kicking action ever I am a developing a very quick man-crush on Cross. He looks so focused and intent all the time. Every year I am reminded that I would hate to face Frawley for tackling practice. He seriously is a monster now.

The list highlights two glaring realities. 1. We have wasted so many high draft picks, or we have not developed them. So many of our players have played less than 40 games and we still really don't know if they can or can't play strong, consistent footy at the top level (Strauss, Tappy, Blease etc...) 2. We are in prime position A to improve. The amount of 22 - 26 year olds on that list is very strong. But it remains potential. I am so sick of potential.

Roos' basics will be very similar to Neeld's - you can count on it. And the Sydney Roos game plan will be the blueprint for ours. But there is one major difference. We have what is potentially an amazing forward line. Roos never had that at Sydney. At Sydney his forward/goal scoring was based around Hall inside 50, with Goodes and O'Keefe running inside 50. With Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Fitzy and Howe, along with Watts playing something like a Goodes role, this will change the plan considerably. Not sure in what way yet, but it will have to be very different. Midfield and defensively we will see stoppages and boundary line play just like the Swans 2005 - 2012.

Tyson - our first touch of class in a long time. Looks smooth and ready to fire. Fitzy - he will be the surprise packet of 2014. Constant improvement for every year at the club, clunking every mark at training. Frawley - watch this space. If (a big, risky if I know) our midfield can learn defensive spread and help out our overworked backline, Chip will be an absolute star and a monty for AA. A huge dose of mongrel, a new team ethic around him, the confidence to push opposition forwards out of the way as he rebounds out of defensive 50. Man crush readily re-developing. Evans, Strauss, Tappy and Blease will also be fascinating to watch. Roughie: Barry. His training has got me looking at him a lot. Looking good.

This bloke is an annoying [censored]. He has some big issues in his head and identity is a big thing. If rediscovering his name and heritage helps him get through life, helps him bring peace to whatever his inner turmoil is, then I am all for it. Good on hum. I genuinely hope he can reconcile his past to his present. But he is still a [censored]. PS: I didn't know a rearrange of the word "golf" was rude and offensive!

I agree about Evans, Fitzy and Barry. These three looked good on Friday when I saw them training. I also noticed how vocal and relaxed Watts was. I actually thought he was demonstrating some decent leadership traits. It is good news about Pederson. For him to improve so much will put constant pressure on all our talls to hold their place (if he can hold his training form, and take it into games.)

On 2013 form, I can't see him in the 2014 best 25 players. His attack on the ball is outstanding. His tackling and defensive pressure is very, very good. His kicking is OK. His decision making is really bad. Very rarely does he take 1st option, and by the time he takes option 2 pr 3, he is pressured or the other options have closed up. His forward of the pack running is good, but his decision making is so poor, he is often having to sprint back to find his now-free player. Clisby ahead of him a the moment, however it is only Terlich's first year. Another preseason may wipe put most of these errors.

Mind training and mental relaxation is a very important in any sense. I am glad MFC are teaching this to the players for life, not just footy. My only worry about this is his wife's training is a PhD in Parapsychic Science from the American Institute of Holistic Theology. Personally I think homeopathy, naturopathy, natural remedies are the way to go and I favour that view of life, but a lot of stuff taught in those "Institutes of holistic medicines" end up being rubbish. If I hear of any MFC player sitting in the ocean at midnight under a full moon, communicating with the universe with the help of dolphins, then I will know that Mrs. Roos may have taken it all a bit too far.

I fully agree with you P-Man about how easy it is to look good during preseason. I have been to a lot of preseason training over the past 5 years and it usually looks clean and sharp, and that is because they are running freely down the oval with no real pressure on. The only different preseason was Neeld's first few sessions where it was fully revealed how AFL-unfit many of our players were. I can still see Blease, Gysberts and Bennell getting yelled at!! Having said that, I honestly do think Evans is an accurate and creative kick on the run. From his first few games before injury messed him up I have admired his basic game, his running and his ability to kick the ball to a space making the recipient run on to it. This could be invaluable when he looks up and sees Hogan, Clark, Dawes, Fitzy etc... running into space. The more i see Evans training well and injury free, the more I see him on our starting 22. But that is very easy t do in December!

Regarding Evans, he looked good but the whole squad was generally sharp. One thing to note is he is an accurate and creative kick on the run. At this stage I have him in my best 25 and am trying to whittle it down from there.

I watched him for some time and was impressed. I didn't get a sense at all of his kicks "floating", but some where put out wide for people to run on to. And I have to politely disagree about him still being skinny. He is not, nor ever will be huge but he is a lot bigger than for the 2013 season. I agree about Trengove; sorry I forgot to mention him. He was sharp and focused today, and looks physically very strong. His awareness and decision making today were first class, but that has never been a weakness for him. His lack of pace remains a worry but I agree he is also my pick for B&F this year. Let's hope.

He has a strange little flick or jerk to his kicking action on both sides of his body that looks clumsy, but his kicks always hit their target. He is very smooth and strong - a natural looking footballer but his kicking action did look odd. However, he was never running and kicking so it might be instruction while his hammy repairs.

I went along this morning for about 1.5 hours. I am lucky I checked the MFC website because I was heading to Casey and they changed it at late notice again!! Anyway... the first thing to report is the feel of happiness in the playing group. That sounds lame I know but let me explain. There is always a lot of banter and mucking around regardless of the coach but it was more than general banter. Roos and the coaching staff were interacting with the players with a smile on their face, laughing with them as if the coaches, players and training assistants weren't separate entities -they are all MFC. Very relaxed, very interactive but dead serious once the drills started. A few times Roos stopped things, and the drill participants came around and he spent time explaining positioning and where/when to run. Gawn, Tapscott, McKenzie, Tyson, Garland and Strauss were in a group - I am assuming the rehab group although a few of the younger boys like Georgiou and Salem were with them at the beginning - did run, after run, after run almost for the entire time I was there. Tapscott was really putting in and almost puked at one stage right in front of me. Byrnes, Howe and Bail were with this group also, but later peeled off to jog endless laps at a decent pace. Tyson is a very big boy: huge through the bum, hips and thighs and has dynamic hands. In the one ball drill this group stopped to do, his skills looked as good as anyone on our list. Vince was with this group early but went inside half way through. I wouldn't have thought this prior to training today but there are options for the small forward position. Barry, Kennedy-Harris (JKH from now on) and Byrnes all look set to fight for this position. Barry looked outstanding today - ran well, chucked his body in, and kicked cleanly. I would give him the nod at this stage although JKH looks like he could be a model small forward. Barry's pace might see him on a wing. There was an interesting drill near the beginning of the session. Two players going one-on-one, trying to keep the ball just moving at their feet, but not allowing their opponent to pick it up or get ball-side of the contest. I am guessing it was a core strength drill. Surprisingly, Toumpas was very good at this. Single observations: Clark, Hogan, Fitzy could be formidable as a trio. Strong, able and imposing. Tyson, JKH and Georgiou all have awkward kicking actions. Tyson's knee was bandaged which might explain his, but Georgiou is particular might find his kicking action shows up at AFL level. Salem looks very, very good and has that smooth skill look that reminded me a lot of a young Yze. The Rookie Hunt is lightening fast over the first 10 metres, and then has a power-band a few seconds later when he just burns the grass up. But his kicking was very poor at top speed. Toumpas looks ready to go. If he is still eligible for Rising Star nomination he could give it a good shake. Probably the best trainer on the park that I noticed. Watching Cross in the midfield drills is like a coaching manual on positioning. He is the perfect addition to our midfield. Watts with the ball remains a gem, but in the midfield drills he remained on the exterior of too many contests. He wasn't corrected though and I wonder if that will be his designated role - an outside mid? No Dawes. No Michie. (at least I don't think so) Spencer ran for the first 15 mins then disappeared. Mitch Clark did the full session. Looks good and sharp. When he kicks a ball, it makes a real solid wooomph of a sound. Hogan is like N Jones - they both train as if it is a game. Great to see. Fitzy looks magnificent, was running well, marking everything with one solid grab, and his kicking was very sharp. Howe and Bail look in peak fitness. Bail has put on 3kgs at least and seems very fresh. I hope his head is ok. Evans' moustache is almost as irritating as Dunn's. All over, it was a good, clean, sharp training session. There are obvious differences between past and present coaches but nothing as clear-cut different as it was between Bailey and Neeld. But the relaxed and "happy" nature of the training group was the most notable difference from last year. I know it is one of Roos' mantras that the players love their footy. If today was anything it was evidence that this philosophy is beginning to work its way through the group. And last but not least, as I looked over my right shoulder, who did I discover in a hoodie and dark glasses? A certain Brad Green turned up incognito!!

Good news. Keeping him as a rookie fits exactly right. We have recruited a lot of mid-fielders - experienced with bigger bodies We have also brought in a handful of younger draftees. Our other rookies are a mixed bag. Nev Jetta completes this mixed bag that means we have options for all positions over the ground. Some might not be 100% options but are options none-the-less. Nev has been in the system and has the one thing Roos seems to prize above everything else - grunt/hunger for the contest. Likely to spend most of his time at Casey but you never know.

Very clean mark and great kick. Looks like a great rookie pick up. Few players of that size are great kicks. (Mitch Clark the exception) However, I hate to say it but his highlight reel looks almost identical to Jack Watts' when he dominated the Melbourne schoolboy finals just prior to his draft. Can he produce this against big bodies? I hope they give him a good amount of time to figure this out.

Annoyed. This training was scheduled for Casey Fields only 15 mins from my place. Checked website this morning and it is now at Gosch's Paddock. Hope it goes well for those who can make it.

Roos has stated that it is highly unlikely that any of the recent draftees will play much senior footy, and I am convinced that none of them will play round 1. Now delistings, trades and draft are complete I can see round 1 being something like: Backs: Frawley, Garland, McDonald, Grimes Mids: Gawn, N Jones, Trengove, Tyson, Vince, Cross, Watts, Blease, Evans, Viney Forward: Clark, Hogan, Dawes, Howe Int: Fitzpatrick McKenzie Clisby Sub: Toumpas