tappysquads

My thoughts only.

First thing I noticed, is that Christian Salem's body shape is already changing, he looks bigger in the upper body.

Daniel Cross ran past Max King giving him plenty about his chuck.

Chris Dawes is looking very large and very fit, he dwarfs James Frawley and Mitch Clark.

Jack Watts has no chest, his arms look bigger but has not filled out, but some people just can't bulk up.

Dawes, Gawn and the Russian running laps.

Jack Viney and Clark not doing much at all, standing around with the trainers.

My man JKH in the main group again, doesn't seem to be being rested as much as the other rookies.

Fitzy jogging laps but looks to be limping.

The boys are doing a lot of pummeling from what I've seen, I know this is tackling and strength related but I'd love to know the actual science behind it.

Michael Evans is a terrible kick, his technique looks very awkward, no follow through and hits a lot of helicopters.

Sam Blease in the main group - great to see.

At the risk of sounding obsessed, I was watching JKH in a main group handball drill. The speed and intensity at which he trains every drill is far superior to anyone else out there. It's noticeable when you look at the whole group. Might be first year enthusiasm or hopefully it's habitual, because if he keeps it up you can't help but get REALLY good. I would love to know what his beep test was like at draft camp as he doesn't seem to fatigue.

Dom Tyson had no strapping, seemed to be moving freely. Always looks classy

It's not just Roosy's wallet that's got larger, I think he has soaked up a bit too much of the Melbourne food culture.

If Cross doesn't play a game, (I think he will play them all and be outstanding) he was worth recruiting just for his training standard.

To me, Jetta doesn't seem up to it, I don't see any weapons?

Max Gawn and his beard are both enormous, gonna be a big year for him, could see him being a lock as our number 1 by year's end.

Jayden Hunt is a smooth mover and a lovely kick, but his body looks a while off seniors. Good investment though.

Interested to hear which melbourne players people are thinking will make a move in 2014, for good or bad.

Top 3 IMPROVERS: wether it be a return from injury, Roos factor, natural development, added list depth or just a new attitude

Top 3 sliders: falling out of favor with new coach, poor attitude, age, changed game plan or our depths pushing players out of best 22

Mine:

IMPROVERS: grimes, ready to make a statement in my opinion. Last year was his lowest year in his career for disposals and marks, and he's now fit, has more support and experience.

Toump, ready to go, body developed, injuries gone and has a new quality coach and new experienced mids around him to help educate

Spencer, developing well, skills have drastically improved, opportunities will be there this year, and with a developed more coordinated body I think he's ready to step up

Sliders: Matt jones, I just feel his opportunities will be significantly less this year, as our depth has improved, but I rated what he did last year

Jamar, if possible, will have a smaller impact than last year, as I'm hoping gawn and spencil have move passed him

Byrnes, hasn't kicked a footy yet this pre season, somehow played 17 games last year and hopefully now we have better options, in saying that I wish he could show us something resembling his Geelong form

How is his draft number relevant? The draft puts him on the list equal with Salem. And he has been mighty impressive since

Just wondering what others who have been down to training thought about this......

JKH is the most intense trainer I've seen at a Melbourne training session. He trains as if he has Roos watching his every move. His hands at ground level are ridiculous at full pace, lightning quick, his skills are very sharp, and his work rate from what I've seen is the highest on the track. His highlight reel from last year showed a kid who played on at all costs and backed his pace. Combine that with our lack of successful small forwards and it's something to get excited about.

Just something to be positive about after a difficult decade. And I know positivity is a rare occurrence on here and will probably get picked off by the haters.

JKH is on fire!

Just to clarify the "fat" issue, he has a ripped six pack. He's just a big guy. Football wise he sits in the same category as 95% of our list at the moment, and that is the cross road with a developing list and a great educator in charge they could either step up or disappear completely. Guess we will know in a years time.

Let's try and show some class when we describe each other on here, hey?

As for Toumpas - posters are allowed to not rate him, and not think he is destined to live up to Pick 4.

He had an up and down year and I feel for the kid because he was so anxious about his own performance after that first game - he talked about letting people down.

The only person being let down is Toumpas, and every kid we have thrown in too early and asked too much of.

And that is on the previous FD (and the one before that) and the leaders at the club who have not, to this point, pulled their weight.

Don't look at Toumpas for our resurgence in 2014 - look at the experienced players and leaders at the club who no longer have the shelter of a compromised coach to hide behind.

I'm a big believer in you get out what you put in. You look at so many of the elite players in the sport and their training standard is second to none..... Intensity, quality, desire.

It's only his second year, really his first afl preseason but when you watch jimmy train he is the equal of anyone on our track in terms of those measures. So combine a great work ethic with natural talent and now the possibility of great coaching/guidance, and toump has the foundation to be anything.... I'm more confident of him than all pretty much all other youth on our list.

Gawn wasn't there at all today, spence did everything

~ No Mitch Clark today.

~ Salem & King not allowed to run today, don't look injured just being monitored I'd say.

~ Viney pulled out of warm up, spoke to fitness staff, doing a couple tests, left leg, can't tell what, done for the day.

~ JKH back on the track, good to see.

~ Hogan not training, the other rested players went in, he stayed out and wandered down the end to do some set shots. Has a weird skip halfway through his approach but very deliberate and very balanced, 9 out of 11 from around 35m different angles while I watched.

~ Watching Nath Jones closely in a kicking drill, not only does he hit every target, but they are right in front of the eyes where you want them.

~ Just for the haters out there, Pedo was chucking a GPS on, and is ripped up. He's just a big guy

~ Kicking drill, Spencer hitting stab passes over bout 30m to stationary target at about 7 from 8. Really should be expected from an AFL player but to be honest, this is a huge improvement from him. His technique looked flawless.

~ Grimey running laps.

~ Watching a group do contested marking, Garland, Pedo, Hunt and Georgiou, firstly Rawlings should be on our list, his is a gun! Feel confident having him coaching techniques in this. Secondly hunt is a real competitor in this. Is massively outsized by the other 4, but protects the space well and is football strong for his size.

~ Harmes competing with Jones in handball drill. He is super evasive.

~ Backline group doing drill working the ball around and out of the backline, works around and out to the flank before always hitting a target in the centre with players storming past.

~ Garland pulls out of group drill to work with Rawlings on his short kicks on the run. Didn't miss one

~ A running drill where 4 players handball inboard before the last player hits a leading forward and they sprint through to the 50m. A lot of what Roos does is based on moving into the corridor.

~ Garland had a crack at TMac for stopping short of the 50m line, and sent him back to go in there, then the exact same thing with garland and watts.

~ JKH crumbed a ball at full pace, so clean he actually went past the guy calling for the hands as they had slowed down.

~ I've seen it on a couple occasions now, Toumpas has a habit of hand balling to people in a way that their only option is to give it back to him coming past, a lot of gun juniors learn this habit. Not a bad thing, just means he wants the ball in his hands.

~ Frawley showed up in casual clothes, and just hung out near the boundary, missed a couple sessions now.

~ After a drill Roos pulled the players aside and addressed them for about 15 minutes before starting a full ground 15v10 movement drill from fb to ff where if the 10 defenders touched the ball the drill stopped and Roos addressed why.

~ Vince was very smart in this drill, not only his spot he ran too but the decisions he made with the ball created run and space for teammates.

~ Blease has done a huge amount of running today, repeat 300m efforts.

~ Jamar jogged a couple laps and headed in.

No midfield loss with Silvia, he can't play the position. Major gain in Vince and Cross add Tyson with a rejuvenated Trengove, Watts and Howe and we are on our way.

Add michie who from all reports out of freo will be a player, toumpass growing into a mans body and ready to go, and don't forget the effect this depth is gonna have on jones who is no longer required to individually carry our midfield

Based on what I saw at training I recon we might see some big changes for next year. The followng would not surprise me as a starting side

Cross Frawley Terlich

McDonald Garland Grimes

Vince Trengove Watts

Howe Clark Hogan

Blease Dawes Toumpas

Gawn N Jones J Viney

Michie Tyson Firzpatrick Barry

It may be pre season blindness, but that looks like a squad that could touch up the saints round 1 to me

Sorry guys, just wrote down what I was thinking as I watched training, try to keep it all pretty positive most of the time

I'm not jumping picking on dawes now he's injured, my point is I don't think we will ever get value for money for him. We gave up a bit to get him, and just my personal opinion is he has horrible hands for a power forward. I didn't rate him when he was fit last year, I didn't rate him at collingwood. I would love nothing more than to be proved wrong and the trio down there work perfectly together, I'm a melbourne supporter after all, not a player basher.

Tyson looks very sharp on the track, his foot skills are good, but his hands in tight are elite. And by elite I mean when you watch a contested drill in close his hands are noticeably faster and cleaner than pretty much everyone bar jones. As far as pick 2 goes, I see it as smart trading, he is 2 years into development already, highly rated we upgraded to pick 9 because of it.

This video may leave a positive vibe for you, Looks class to me - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q6yxP3hPW5M

Dawes pros and cons:

Cons- cost a high draft pick, 500k a year and can't catch a footy

Pros:???? He's smart???

Clarky up and about, very enthusiastic

Dawes rehab AGAIN, gee pick 20 would of been nice

Maxy Gawn is loved by all the boys, wherever he goes in the group players smiling. He also looks super fit, strong and could be ready to become a very good Ruck in my opinion

Kent walking laps with discomfort

2v2 handball drill

Viney blind turns through Tyson tackle, runs clear, impressive

Cross standout with ball in hand

Gawn don't argues toumpas in the face, aggressive

Nicho was quality in this drill

JV spears cross with a tackle, forcing fumble

Barry looks fast and sharp, stepping through traffic

Coaches repeatedly saying lets not waste a minute, moving quickly from drill to drill

Roos had a ball, Clark wanting it and tackled him, picking him up and spinning him, relationship looks good

I think tapscott is lost, rehab group went to another oval but he stayed with the main group

Clark is a beautiful kick of the pill

Split into forwards backs and mids

Toump crunches Salem in a marking contest

Georgiou training with Fwds, I thought he was a back

Just a note, I've always defended Wattsy, watching him today he is so clean. He is not an aggressive player, probly never will be, but I think Roos idea of putting him in the mids is great cause even though he's not an in and under player I want the ball in his hands as much as possible, so putting him near it is a good idea

Salems hands are super clean, does not fumble

Dom Barry looks ready, a completely differant player to this time last year

In a full ground kicking drill designed to get some sprint fitness training, I watched nicho hit 6 targets in a row kicking 40-50 meters to a leading forward. Not just hit them but they were right where a fwd wants them. Just saying.

A quick 200m sprint after a drill, Georgiou last

Roos drills seem to encourage a lot of carry and run using handball, not just one releasing hands, but 2 and 3. Scary as our skills are usually shabby and this could lead to turnovers.

Nath jones is flawless at training

With Gawn looking good, and spencer looking fit and his skills dramatically improving, what use to we have for jamar who hasn't been on the track in a year and a half

King got crunched, went down like a sack of spuds, as the players went for a drink all the coaches were taking the Micky out of him

Vince looks quality with everything he does

Blease running 200's, he is so fast and looks effortless

Cross is a great example of training standards for our younger players, it's been said before but he does everything at 100%

Trenners working very hard, watched him close for 5 minutes, the boy is gonna be a footballer, really excited to see him now his body is right, I remember thinking when $cully left who cares as trenners is twice the footballer, fingers crossed

I think Dawes just got out of a walk and jogged 15m, well worth his 500k

It gets said every year but we will be a very differant team this year, good or bad. Vince, Tyson, cross, trenners, Clark, Barry, Hogan, Salem, Toumpas, Watts mid, Roos are all changes, that's half a team

Every session I've been to Byrnes just runs the whole session, he must be getting fit, but would like to see him on the track

My namesake ran some tremendous laps with HIS group. His lap running has really come along way in the last few years.

Just my thoughts, rushed

Rush and king jogging laps, king taller and solid

Clark is frothing, celebrating when he won his 80% stride through

Watts in real good spirits. Gets along well with the coaching staff

Fitness test, 300m, groups of 7

Jones is all arms, powers through

T Mac, toumpas, jones in 1st 300m

Cross at the back

Fitz smashed his, watts and dunne at the back

Pedo 2nd in group, a long way from where he was last year. Impressed me in the few sessions I've seen so far

2nd run: jones went from 3rd to 2nd last, only Beating trengrove, tmac won. Barry did well.

Fitz won by 20m, dunne last

Chip winning his group easy, hogan second, viney falling away

Barry stood up and smashed tmac, jones and trenners last by a fair bit

Fitz wins again, watts and pedo tie for second, dunne jumped the start by 5m, still last.

Hogan is a beast, winning easy, chip 2nd, but hogans effort was clearly massive. Working super hard, finished real strong

Evans beats Barry and tmac, toumpas falling away

Watts base fitness showing, smashed Fitz and pedo,

Could not be more impressed by Hogans runs, won 5th leg by about 20m and wasnt easing up. We have a star with a great attitude

Evans finished last run real well, beating tmac then Barry falling away but working hard

just a note on pedo, last run, finished 2nd behind Fitz but ahead of watts, and was encouraging his group the whole was down the straight, big plus for me.

jack viney last run specialist, disappointing to see, as clearly had more in the tank he wasn't using earlier, where as hogan was spent on the last run, falling back to third.

Jones had a chuck, Georgiou last by a long way every run

Not running: Clark, Howe, wasn't really looking at that group

Grimey running laps,

Watched Tyson in a contested handball drill against garland, super clean and evasive. Knee looks fine

JKH will be a player. Most enthusiastic trainer I've seen. Does everything at 130%, is super explosive and has very clean skills. My pick for round 1

Viney looked disinterested the whole session. Very unimpressive

Toumpas looked class, hopefully a big year ahead

Dunne snapped a goal on the full from 55m, mucking around but impressive

Roos inter action is constant, just walks around talking to individuals, has the people around him to run training but he just teaches.

Barry impresses me more each time

I see him this pre season. Skills up, fitness up and move well

Watts nicknames killer, boys taking the [censored] out of him

Roos all over nicho for poor kicking on multiple occasions.

Hogan missed a kick, very critical of himself, wants more

Watching cross and howe train is very enjoyable, the boys are text book smooth movers.

Watched something like 5 out of seven Swans players hit a coke can off a perch 3/4s up a goal post from around 30m last year that was impressive.

You would love the old school McDonald's adds then "nothing but net"..... Those guys never miss and it's all in one take!

Haven't read through the thread fully, but if super goals didn't count (real season) we would of beaten nth last night right? A team most put in there top 8... Go easy on the negativity

A few boys playing against there old clubs in this one..... Gysberts, pederson, petterd, Edwards, Rodan. Will be good to see some recruits stand up.

Just trying to find out so I could plan work around it, sorry to be such a hassle WJ

Anyone know where it is? Is it the intra club and if so what time?

Thanks for the report

Is this Friday the intra club? If so, is it at Casey and what time?

Okay. Just wait for actual success before you 'buy in'.

That's an admirable approach to take.

Fortunately, it's the opposite of the approach adopted by Aussies in battles such as Kokoda and Long Tan.

And that's part of the reason I've convinced 11 new members to sign up thus far this year.

Cop a tip, I'm not telling these 'supporters' to wait until 8-10 rounds in to see where the 'reality bus' is taking us before committing to the club - I'm getting them pumped up right now and telling them that the journey to success has well and truly commenced. And I believe it has.

Back to Barry. Even though I'm relying on feedback provided by others, I reckon he's going to be a little bewdy.

Signed up this year for the first time myself. Just optimistic about the directions big Jim and neeldy have pointed us in and wanted to put a little bit in myself. Prob won't make it to many games, if any, but handed over the $$$ because I believe for the first time in a long time there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

Glad to see Aaron Davey and Neville Jetta named in the Indigenous All Stars squad to take on the Tigers. Could give us a chance to sneak an early look into Davey's resurrection and reports Jetta has been looking much improved and ready to step up in 2013.

Does anyone know if this means they are definitely playing?