Outside fifty

I think they were all claiming victory at one time or another.

Very relaxed session from what I saw. CP5 was up and about and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face.The kid is a massive unit with calves on him like tree trunks. Skills weren't at their best even though the conditions were reasonably good. Plenty of joking and mucking about amongst the group which is nice to see. Watts, Hoges and Frost were all put through a drill by Rawlings. One on one with a quick push off and then running back toward goal and into space. Hoges was a standout at this. It was good to see Dawes back and participating in match sims, although to be honest he did look to be blowing pretty hard at the end of the sims and looks to be quite a few weeks off match fitness. Towards the end of the main session a bunch of the guys went head to head in a goal kicking contest from acute angles. As has been mentioned the Casey guys stayed out and continued with match sims. Given the light nature of todays session I wouldn't read to much into either Oliver or Matt Jones being amongst that group. Took some photos of todays session. http://imgur.com/a/oQZk7

Saw the big fella last week at training and he seemed to be moving really well.

Hate doing this to you Emerald, but as part of your MFC Membership today you would have received a voucher from New Balance for 70% off. I just bought two pairs of trainers for the princely sum of $106.00 delivered. Full retail would have set me back $320. And no I don't work for New Balance.

Hats off to you ADC. The one thing every good footy forum needs is Biblical quotes, sad to say it but Demonland has been lacking in this regard. You have righted the ship. Well played Sir.

If you compare Rance's act of hitting a man in the head whilst on the ground with glassing a woman in a public bar ,well then yes it does look merely silly. It's all about perspective and Carey has plenty of it.

One thing about Andy Moir was that he could take a good grab.

I thought he was Harmes uncle?

The thing about Bob is that he is actually a decent guy outside of footy. The fact that he is a very gifted player who plays the game in the right spirit and has remained unwavering in his loyalty to the dogs is the Icing on the cake. In all honesty I would have loved him to play for the Dees, and there can be no higher commendation than that.

Coping strategies for Melbourne supporters. I am a rusted on MFC supporter and have actively been for the last 47 years. Now let me be specific, I am 55 years young, old enough to have been alive during our last premiership win. Alas I have no memory of that glorious day, being only 3 at the time. I have endured many lows and the occasional high, sadly the lows greatly out number the highs, and yet I am still here. Obviously from time to time I ask myself why. The bottom line is that I know I can’t barrack for anybody else and despite this relationship being very one sided and somewhat toxic I still love the red and the Blue and always will. My mates constantly chide me over my team of choice, but I don’t care. Stuffem! Over this prolonged period I have developed some strategies that have helped me cope. For all of you struggling with our most recent insipid performance I offer you my own personal pearls of wisdom that have helped me survive to date. 1. Never ever associate your personal happiness to the success or failure of this club. It’s not you it’s them. 2. Footballers are by and large pretty dumb, don’t rely on them. They will let you down. 3. Accept that the competition is corrupt and that any success achieved is more significant because of this. It also helps to mask the reality of our own incompetence. 4. Keep reminding yourself that the game is essentially 44 knuckle heads running around an oval kicking the crap out of a ball. Is that really worth risking your mental health for? 5. Footballers are by and large pretty dumb, don’t rely on them. They will let you down. 6. In the infinite field of all possibilities, all possibilities exist? 7. The donuts at the football are the bomb. 8. Don’t get angry, laugh at our ineptitude. When Tom McDonald decides to go on a run cheer him on right up to the point when he runs into a wall of opposition, and then laugh. 9. It’s ok to take a break from the game. 10. Footballers are by and large pretty dumb, don’t rely on them. They will let you down. 11. Divorce yourself from the result. This technique seems to work for Paul Roos 12. Don’t read the Demonland game day thread. Misery loves company. 13. Don’t read any thread predicting a favourable result, it will only get your hopes up. 14. Know that the day after a particularly depressing loss the Sun will still rise, your dog will be happy to see you and that your family will still love you despite the fact you barrack for the Dees. Every day I wake up breathing is a bonus. 15. Barracking for the MFC is Character building. Resilience be thy friend. 16. And finally most importantly. Footballers are by and large pretty dumb, don’t rely on them. They will let you down. Go Dees.

Loved the way both Buckley and Scott took him apart. As hard as it is to say, the more I hear Buckley speak the more respect I have for the guy. I don't know whether he can coach or not, but he is a damn good communicator.

Which brings us to Garland. Another player who is often maligned on this forum. I thought he played well on Saturday. Upon viewing the replay I couldn't really find any significant fault with his game.

I have never been a huge fan of Matty Jones because of his obvious flaws but at the match I couldn't fault his game. Watching the replay today and again I couldn't see any obvious errors. I would be curious to see what his disposal efficiency was but I would suspect it would be very high. On Saturday he seems to have corrected the obvious flaws that have haunted his game i.e. tackling and kicking. Lets hope it continues.

I might be wrong but I thought they were trying to bend the ball left to right, not the more natural right to left, ( for a right footer ). Even Jones was trying it out and I'm pretty sure he can bend a ball right to left. Goodwin was also not so much instructing as trying it out for himself. Why they were doing this is beyond me.

Yeah that was the flying brick alright.

Got there about half an hour into the session. Whilst i'm no seasoned track watcher you could tell it was a fairly light session. Missing or at least I never spotted them were, Roos, Vandenberg, Lumumba,Spencer, Stretch, Hulett, either King, Dunn, Weiderman, Hunt, Terlich ,White and Matt Jones. I won't go into specific drills because I'm crap at describing them and I'm sure others will do it a lot better than I. Goodwin took the session with Brett Allison also running some of the drills. Despite it being a lite session at times the intensity was first rate. Worth noting is that Jade Rawlings has it in his head that O'Mac needs toughening up. In one drill he pitted himself directly against Oscar three times and didn't hold anything back, at one stage decking Oscar with an errant elbow,much to the amusement of every one watching. Oscar took it as well as could be expected. In all three instances Rawlings beat O'Mac. Finally big brother stepped in and went one on one against Rawling and beat him comprehensively. The other thing of note was the vertical leap on both Petracca and Harmes, both these guys can jump. Not to be outdone old man Trengove got in the act and got some air and seemed mighty happy with his efforts. The boys finished the session practicing goal kicking. They seemed to be trying to bend it left to right from the left hand side pocket. Salem seemed to be the most proficient and was instructing the others on the technique, i.e. the point of the ball facing away from the goal for a right hander at the point of contact and the facing the opposite way for a left hander. The skipper thought he could nail from the outside of the ground, alas with no success. I took some happy snaps which you can access via the link. If you have never used Imgur before just click on the photo in the gallery and you will get an enlarged image, click again too return to the gallery.http://imgur.com/a/b2Etr

I remember seeing the OX in a successful under 19's grand final and thinking who is this guy. He was sensational that day, it was a glimpse into the future and the future was bright. 1994 was a stellar year for the OX and I felt at the time that the best was still to come, sadly this was not to be. Despite his injuries he still managed a great career and to be honest I always thought he retired to early. I also was at the Sydney match when he did his knee for the second time. I was devastated. I've never wanted to belt oppositions supporters more than I did that day when two Sydney clowns sitting in front of me clapped and laughed when he went down.To this day I still hate Sydney with an absolute passion.

Wells said.

I think not having the Captaincy on his plate might help him.

I have been attended training for the last five years on an infrequent basis. Intially (because I knew no better ) I thought that our training standards were good. In comparison with what I am seeing this year and last year I can see just how far behind we really were. The Group dynamic has changed dramatically. We no longer have a group of introverts. These guys like each others company. You can hear them urging each other on. They take the p out of each other as well and have a laugh doing it.Gawn,Vince,Hogan,Petracca,Kent, Viney and Vandenberg all have swagger. For the first time in eons the boys are comfortable in their skins. For the first time in ages they look like a football team and behave like a team. All we need now is for them to play like a team.

Was one of the five who went today, and ironically went on the motorbike, although I left the family and the dog behind. Missed most of the early match sims so didn't see Trenners train. From what I saw a pretty light session. Couple of things I noticed. The sheer size of Petracca is impressive, especially across the shoulders. Gawn has become the Heart and the Soul of this group. At the end of the session he was whooping and hollering, "We got a game on this Saturday boys". Revving up the whole group. Took some happy snaps http://imgur.com/a/ac5UL

I saw Spencer limping back to the change rooms at the end of the session and he looked very ginger. He wasn't putting any pressure on one foot, I can't remember which foot it was, so I think you might be right PD.

What you guys couldn't see Jesse smiling at the drone towards the end? In all honestly I'm surprised that that the club released any of that footage at all. By the way it was big Maxy taking the grab in the goal square.

Absolutely brilliant.

Thanks Red.