Satyriconhome

What does a top 8 side at training look like, never been to one,

assume they don't drop the ball, miss a kick, drop a mark, break into a sweat, look unkempt in their training tops, not get a hair out of place...........

this is training......

they have now been at it solidly for nearly four months.........I am waiting to watch the praccy games and then the NAB Cup and then decide if we have improved or not

I have been to training about seven or eight times and have been impressed by the effort being put in, that's all I am interested in at the moment

i thought this was a topic about today's training, from the look of the pictures there were a few people there so hopefully we will get a report posted to get us back on topic.......obviously Bail is going to be one of the moving targets this season alongside Dunn....Bail has played 30 odd games so let's wait and see shall we.....he is like Jetta when fit Neeld picks him so he must see something

More likely the heavy handed mods here drive people away.

Ology has been around for years, and some are more comfortable expressing their opinion without the risk of a ban.

I like visiting here, but more often than not i choose not to post as 1particular mod can carry on like he thinks he is the supreme being.

Also, ology has had enough of its mini wars, involving the same 2 or 3 people. Why come here and repeat the process?

Im hoping that the new blood, including the Land boys, will refresh the place, and bring it back to footy, instead of boring yachting and music threads..

Expressing your opinion and personally berating or villifying anybody who has the temerity to disagree will get you banned...can't see the problem in that....one reason why there are 2 board, lack of control on 'Ology

'Ology is like walking into an old deserted town. The doors swing open..tumbleweed rolls down the dirty street.

The few locals who still live there just attack anyone who speaks..regardless of the content.

Quite humorous really, but it does get boring rather quickly.

The Booze has gone off and the women are nowhere to be seen.

2 Stars.

so just like Moe then?

All we need up there now is a genuine small forward. Byrnes will probably play as a small forward in 2013, but he's heading into the end of his career. I wonder what the plan is for the future;there aren't many in our system that I think would be able to fill the role effectively.

There are a few 'pure' small forwards left, Milne springs to mind, but the game is changing at such a pace, think personally we will have rotating midfield/forwards such as Blease, Howe, Jones etc with possibly a defensive forward Tapscott...Byrnes will do what he did at Geelong...up and down the wings.......the forward line will be packed with firepower this year....hoping with our revamped midfield we can get it to them

Positivity.......been to training quite a few times....

Tapscott and Blease are training with the forwards

Grimes with the midfield

When Neeld took over he inherited a squad and had to do a bit of patching......he now has the squad he wants.....

Added Gillies another gorilla to our already developing defence, we have cover for every defensive position or Neeld can play mix and match against any opposition forward set up

As for the ruck, go to training or read the reports, Spencer is coming on leaps and bounds, I stood next to him a couple of weeks ago, he is bloody ginourmous,but his running is something to watch, and I reckon his kicking is getting better and better each time I have seen him, rucking against Jamar every training session is teaching him so much....Fitzy is also a reasonable stop gap...until Gawn is ready.....he is not exactly small these days either

Sitting in my local cafe hhaving a leisurely brunch, browsing with the free wifi.......read the mentioned article ,what a piece of rubbish....obviously based on biased media reports and boards...on another teams board, what was it expected to say?..

Grimes in the backline?.....no mention of Jones in the midfield, but Blease is?....

no Dawes in the forward line...

no small defenders?...Nicholson musn't ring a bell

RB, it is a beautiful Melbourne Sunday...and you let the hair shirt wearers out.......

I am with you though...this year we will surprise..

• CS was part of the team who persuaded a highly respected European Car Maker who wanted a presence in Austrlalia to use MFC as one of its vehicles pun intended......how many of the keyboard heroes on here could do the same........I have come out from behind Satyricon a couple of times when posters have p***** me off...if u are going to criticise a bloody good CEO let's hear about your achievements....me, not interested in promotion or a high position, the politics take over....so no idea what it takes to be a CEO and don't want to CS for me is doing a great job

i cannpt believe the reaction to this rarticle....it is condescending for a start...it may appeal to the hair shirt wearers amongst the MFC supporters but Iam not anybody's POOR Melburne supporter...besides which it is nearly a straight copy of the thoughts and opinions expressed by Neil Craig in his presser........quality jjournalism AGAIN NOT

I have watched a bit of what they are practicing from behind, it is a grab of the shirt or shorts and you fall to drag the player backwards

I have seen this mentioned a few times throughout the reports, and it has got me a litle bit buggered as to what it means. Can someone please explain? Is it meaning that when we tackle the opposition, and they raise their hands/arms so that the tackle slips over their shoulders, a la Joel Selwood style, is this what we are trying to eliminate? Cheers.

What Muggleton is teaching them is not to prop ie stop dead stay on your toes, also to read which way the player is going to attempt to step, that way the tackle sticks and they dont just 'wave an arm' as they go past

He is also teaching them to tackle low and push backwards and upwards, that way the player can't slip down and the arms up, even Barry who is a stick seems to be listening instead of taking Tapscott front on, he has the side, arms nice and low and under one arm and pushing backwards

In answerr to a couple of questions

Mugglleton is there to stop the arm waving, slinging and head highs, he laughed when I pointed out at one of the first traiining sessions I watched he had to point out to the players that if a player steps left first he is going right....he said he is still teaching Rugby internationals (supposedly the best) how to tackle,.Neeld wants the opposition to know we will tackle and tackle hard, during the tackling drills if you do it wrong you are singled out....I watched in November and it is already showing improvement

Grimes, seems to be running unrestricted, but my partner was in right place at right time and after he had finished he was discuussing his left thigh with medicos, so maybe it is a bit of both, a lot of problems he has had are back and thigh related

As for Barry, Nev Jetta also likened him to Michael Long, so no pressure on the young guy at all, but really good to watch...

The young 'small' new guys, which also included Blease, were also given a separate tackling class by John Muggleton, who I spoke to after he had finished...

he is enjoying coachiing the players and said the days of arm waving will be over by the time he has finished with them

You will also see a pic of the 2 Viney at training, Todd was coaching Jack during their time together, Jack took the wrong option in the length of the field drill a couple of times and was nailed, assume it was about this....Choco Royal also had a word as well at the end, lot's of pointing etc from both Todd and Choco...great to see..no historionics just education

As for Barry, Nev Jetta also likened him to Michael Long, so no pressure on the young guy at all, but really good to watch...

The young 'small' new guys, which also included Blease, were also given a separate tackling class by John Muggleton, who I spoke to after he had finished...

he is enjoying coachiing the players and said the days of arm waving will be over by the time he has finished with them

I popped in for a bit yesterday. Happy to comment on any questions people have.

Otherwise, a few random comments/ observations:

• The unidentified participants mentioned in the drill with Blease and Barry, were Kent, Stark and Clisby. Conditions were quite blustery which made kicking a challenge. In spite of this Barry's kicking skills really stood up, he is a beautiful user of the ball, and reminds me so much of a young Michael Long, in the way he moves. Blease's skills were also impressive, his kicking was harder and flatter than Barry's but still accurate.
• I spoke briefly with Maxy Gawn, he said he will rejoin the main training group on the first day back from christmas break (Jan 2nd).
• Grimesy still not with the main group, he did lots of running, and looks in magnificent condition. I'm unaware of any specific injury complaint (anyone got any information here?) I wonder if this will be the norm for him for the rest of his career due to his history of injuries. Perhaps they are going to minimise his pre-christmas workload each year, then step him up in January?
• Dawes looks great too, still good size up top, but overall seems leaner than I remember him at Collingwood.
• Those missing today were: Hogan, Spencer, Dunn, McKenzie, Trengove.
• Watts, and Taggert ran laps together and did lots of short sharp handballing. At one stage they juggled 3 footies by handballing to each other from about a metre apart, Watts' hand/eye co-ordination was very impressive here, as almost every time it was Taggert that made the mistake.
• There was a drill which went for 10-15 mins where half the team (in fluro green) played a defensive press, while the blue team tried to work the ball through from a full-back position, ultimately kicking it to Pedersen at the other end. The problem was the boys at the back for the blue team were: Joel MacDonald, T-Mac, Troy Davis and Gillies. The kicking skills on display from these boys were poor to say the least, especially Joel Mac, at one point he turned the ball over on 4 consecutive occassions. I felt sorry for both him, and also the rest of the blue group who were consequently getting nothing out of the drill. I really admire Joel Mac for his attack on the ball, and unquestionable effort however, his kicking really is a liability.
• After I left I'm told by a mate who stayed that the boys did some work on their annual christmas video.

I don't usually log in from home esp when on holiday, but I had to, the above report on Joel Mac's kicking is wrong, I was stood watching it and so was my partner, either the watcher has got the wrong guy or he saw somehting we didn't see....what I also saw was the blue team doing a good job of the press, and also the players were constantly interchanging so Joel Mac wouldn't have got 4 consecutive kicks