Roger Mellie

I stated in the post match torture thread against Port Adelaide (last year), that I thought we tanked in that game. After that, we didn't need to.. Activating our draft picks had just as much do do with the draft quality of 2012 versus 2013 as it did with a reasonable forecast of our likely ladder position (given the diminishing faith in our list plus fitness issues). As the year of horrors progressed and the and the draft picture started to crystallise, I can see a teencie inclination to finish 16th v 14th or 15th, but not as quite blatant as GWS's player rest-fest.

Toumpas has had a recurring calf niggle. I was hoping he'd be back in full swing by now but it might just be a modified program as a first year player/ post hip surgery.

Clint Bizzell

Darren Bennett

For those into monster training reports, here's a superb FNQ Demon sized report from Crusty Demon on BF with many thanks. Enjoy: Ok lads. Just arrived home after my first appearance at a Dees training session. Overall, impressed with the skills and fitness of the group as a whole. I'll go through briefly what training they did and then go through individuals and my thoughts. Remember, these are my thoughts on what I saw, others may be of different opinion. It is hard to focus on every player throughout the whole 2 hours. But I feel I had a good grasp on how most went and looked over the 2 hour session. Pre 9.30am I showed up at 9.15 to find Viney and Nicholson already doing kicking drills to each other. Safe to say after watching for 5 mins that Viney's kicking is in a class above Nicholson. Nicho's kicking looks to have improved slightly and obviously is working hard to improve further by extra training. Awesome to see a young kid in Viney getting there early and working on his skills. Body looks incredible for an 18yr old as well. Safe to say we have a good one here. 9.30am The main group arrives and start doing stretches. Toumpas right calf is strapped but moves ok. Looks to be precautionary. Gawn is also there with no strapping anywhere on his leg. He joins in on running a lap with main group after stretches. No sign of Trengove or Garland. I can't see Nelld either. That's not to say he wasn't there, I just didn't see him. Tappscott, Sylvia, Magner, Clark and Stark(I think) looks to be in the rehab group and walked laps. Clark looks good though and did some small kicking and handball drills in the first hour. Most likely easing him back but he looked fit. Main group do some more stretching after a lap before running another half lap, more stretches, then another half lap. Joel Mac and Howe look to be the guys who keep the group upbeat. Both seem well liked amongst the players. Gawn still in main group moving well but once the running drills start he joins the rehab group. Some short sharp running drills start before Rawlings(doesn't look like Neeld is here)addresses the main group. Some handpassing drills begin with Byrnes and Jetta looking good here. Windy conditions and getting hot. Big guys like Sellar and Spencer struggled a little. Clark does the drill off to the side with Leigh Brown. Grimes is in main group and moving well. Davey is growing his hair for those who care about the fashion the players are bringing into 2013. Dunn mustouche looks a thing of the past, clean shaven thank god. Dawes is also in main group with Right knee strapped, but moving ok. 10.00am Kicking drill begins with players kicking to a player 20 metres in front of them(paired up). Toumpas looks an elite kick. Never misses a target and has great hands off the deck. Looks a player. Barry looks really good as well in the kicking drills. First time I've seen him and I was impressed tbh. Skinny but moves well and has a high skill set in all areas. Couch and Pederson sprayed some kicks in windy conditions. Was impressed by Evans as well. Haven't seen him for awhile and was impressed with everything he did today. Clark joins in the kicking drill and looks ok. Main group has a breather and does more stretching. Sylvia walking laps with Stark(I think). Rawlings addresses group again and they break off into 3 groups(Forwards/Mids and Backs). From what I can see, Bail, Blease, Howe, Pederson, Fitzpatrick, Byrnes, Davey, Dawes and Kent go forward. Frawley, TMac, JMac, Strauss, Nicholson, Watts, Dunn, Jetta, Gillies, Davis and Terlich go down back. The rest are midfield including Rodan who looks a good trainer. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Hogan was running laps and doing drills with coaches off to the side of main group. Pretty sure it;s him. He's a big boy for a 17 yr old. A few years in the gym and he will be a monster. The drill has the defence guys running it out of defence finding a midfield target(along each boundary, nothing through the middle) and then the midfielder hits up a leading forward who hits the goals. The guys did this drill quite well. TMac's kicking looks to have improved hitting every target. Terlich looks ready made out of defence. Should play games for us this year. Watts in defence looks quick from boundary. Him and Strauss and to a certain extent Frawley look to be go to guys to take it out of defence. Midfielders worked hard. Viney again impressing in this drill. Jones kicking looks to have gone to another level. Evans looked sharp as well as Rodan. Byrnes looked lively down forward and Davey looked ok also. Pederson hands look strong but sprayed some shots. Dawes hands looked sloppy. I know he had issues with a hand a year or two ago, hopefully not an issue. 10.30am Main group has a breather before starting a pressure drill where Rodan and Frawley show main group how it's done. Toumpas hasn't joined in for last couple of drills and looks to be done for the day. The aboriginal boys look good in this drill. Then a handballing in traffic drill starts where Watts, Jones, Rodan and Barry stand out hitting targets and alluding pressure player. Howe keeping players upbeat and Dawes high fiving players also. Tynan also showed good hands in this drill. Then there's another handballing drill where the player with the ball gets tackled and must release ball and hit a target by hand. Jetta and Evans looked good in this drill as did Jones and Viney. Then players move 30 metres apart and do kicking drills. Big guys struggled with the conditions while Barry stood out for me. Looks a real player. Byrnes also looked good out of the new guys. Watts and Strauss didn't miss a target while Spencer was horrible not hitting a target. Players have a short drinks break before doing a 2 on 2 pressure drill where a player has to allude 2 tacklers and hit a running player with a handpass. Davey looked good in this drill. Looks sharp today. Rawlings definitely taking over group. Neil Craig looking on but not saying much. 11.00am Players break off into respective groups again. Forwards have shots on goal including snaps. Byrnes stood out while Pederson continued to struggle with his kicking. Gawn continues to run laps. Look fit and strong. Stoppage work for the midfield. Royal running them through stoppage work with Viney, Jones, McKenzie and Grimes doing the grunt work getting it out to the running players Barry, Evans, Matt Jones and Taggert who then hits up one of the ruckmen in Spencer and Jamar. McKenzies kicking looks to have slightly improved while Matt Jones looks to have a great kick on him. Should get game time this year. But geez Barry looked good as that running player. Those doubting him might eat there words soon enough. The kid looks like he can play. Rehab group looks to have gone. Hogan still running laps. Obviously trying to get some miles into the legs. Did not do any drills throughout the day with main group. Main group then starts running drills doing 400 metre runs in pairs before doing shuttle runs in groups of 8. Short breather, then does it again. Howe looks fit while the usual good runners stand out in this drill, Jones, Nicho, TMac. Matt Jones looked strong also. Watts, Dunn and Jamar just did laps while Evans and Taggert did not join in running. Either did Dawes who looks like is done for the day but does encourage runners from the sidelines. New players look like they are fitting in really well in main group. Blease endurance running looks to have improved. Did not see him blowing too hard and completed all running drills ok. Dunn looks sore and leaves while main group does some jogging and stretching to finish day. Good signs from Nicho and Dawes who give high fives to all players on the session. Main group leaves however Nath Jones goes up one end with Neil Craig to work on his banana shots on goal. Most seem to go through. A small midfield group stay behind to work on some stoppage drill where Pederson and Spencer taps it to a player who breaks a tackle and runs on. Midfield group were McKenzie, Grimes, Barry, Viney, Evans and Matt Jones. Nath Jones joins group as I was leaving. 11.30am Finish. Overall was really impressed with the group. New kids look good. Viney will add grunt and his skills are fine. Barry looks a player. Quick, elusive and has good skills. Wasn't an extremely tough session, but the players looked sharp and focused. Not sure why Neeld wasn't there, but Rawlings was the one to take over. Better than Royal I suppose. A short word on each player is below for those who want to read more. 1 Hogan, Jesse (new) Wasn't in main group but did laps and some short drills with Leigh Brown. Looks big and strong for his age. 2 Jones, Nathan n Super trainer. Kicking has improved further and looked fit. Could take another step forward in 2013. 4 Watts, Jack Trained well enough. Looks lazy at time, but is just his demeanour. Skills were excellent as usual. Not bigger in size from what I noticed. 5 Toumpas, Jimmy (new) Had his right calf strapped but joined in early on. No running though. His kicking is elite already. 6 Dawes, Chris (new) Hands looked fumbly at times, and had his knee strapped. Didn't do much running, but did most drills ok. 7 Viney, Jack (new) Professional. Training before main group arrived and did all drills really well. The myth about his bad kicking is lies. Kid will be a gun. 8 Frawley, James Didn't take much note of Chip. But from what I saw he looked solid as usual. Looks fit and strong. Big year expected. 9 Trengove, Jack Was a no show. Didn't see him on sidelines anywhere. Still recovering obviously. 10 Byrnes, Shannon (new) Looked real professional. Did everything really well. Accurate kick, quick and a solid trainer. Will play round 1. 11 Clark, Mitchell Joined in early but did no running. Looks fit though. Can't be much longer before he joins main group. 12 Sylvia, Colin Was in rehab group. Ran some laps and disappeared. Looked to be moving ok and in good spirits. 13 McKenzie, Jordie Good trainer. Works hard and looks to have improved his kicking. 14 Dunn, Lynden Did most drills until the last bit of running. Looks set for defence again. Looked sore after session but nothing major. 15 Rodan, David (new) Set for the midfield. Quick hands and great off the deck. Will slot in nicely, most likely as a super sub and bust player. 17 Blease, Sam looked ok to me. Ran well and skills looked nice. looks set for a crumbing forward role from what I saw today. 19 Strauss, James Didn't see much of him, but his kicking stood out. Looks fit and no issues with leg at all. Looks set to be in starting 22 for 2013. 20 Garland, Colin No show. 21 Pederson, Cameron (new) Moves well for a big man. His hands looks strong but his kicking looks like it needs a work. But set for forward/2nd ruck role. 22 Magner, James R * Was in the rehab group. Moved ok though with just running laps. 23 Tynan, Josh * Wore a cap for most of the day. Looked ok without standing out. Good hands off deck and in air. 25 McDonald, Tom Kicking looks to have improved. Runs really well. Quiet out on the field though. 26 Nicholson, Daniel Quick. Up close he's very fast. His kicking still needs work, but should play a lot of games in 20 on todays display. Has some voice out on the ground as well. 27 Gillies, Tom (new) Looks big and strong. Weird seeing someone else in #27. Did all drills though and looked solid enough. 28 Macdonald, Joel Big voice on the field. Nothing special today, but nothing bad either. Will be a solid depth player moving forward next couple of years. 30 Sellar, James Like Joel Mac, nothing special but looked ok. Was in defence group. 31 Grimes, Jack * Did all drills. Looked good too. moved well and stood out in the running drills. Was being used as an in and under stoppage player. 32 Evans, Michael Was very impressed with him today. Moved freely and kicked well. Will play games this year on todays effort. 33 Barry, Dominic (new) Really impressive. Small frame but skills look quality. Looks a player. 34 Kent, Dean (new) Was in the forward group and looked solid enough. 35 Tapscott, Luke Was in rehab group and ran laps. Moved ok though. 36 Davey, Aaron Worked hard all day. Hopefully back to the davey we know and love. Was playing as a small forward 37 Gawn, Max Ran laps most of the day and looked big and strong. Hopefully in the main group soon. 38 Howe, Jeremy Liked among the group. Did all drills well and ran particularly hard. 39 Jetta, Neville Another player I was i 40 Jamar, Mark 41 Davis, Troy 42 Spencer, Jake 43 Taggert, Rory 44 Bail, Rohan 45 Jones, Matt (new) 46 Terlich, Dean (new) 47 Couch, Thomas R 48 Fitzpatrick, Jack 49 Stark, Nathan R (new) Small guy, 50 Clisby, Mitch R (new) Crusty Demon, Yesterday at 2:44 PM #337

Woey

It said: 'Jimma'

Who the f deleted my post?

Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

Marcus Seecamp

Earl Spalding

Grimes training with midfield group too - when on the track

In this link there is a photo of Cale Morton about halfway down, with muscle: http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/pre-season-2013.981169/page-19 Can someone with a clue insert the pic? .......yeah yeah photobucket something something upload something something

I wish Rivers well and will keep an eye on the others with a view to feeling slightly vindicated if/when they are bog ordinary.

Here's my abridged version: Fluff

Deelirious - is Rodan with the mids or forwards or both? Thanks

Ex-Carlton player (finishing up in 97). Coached Oakleigh Chargers to premiership in 2006. Was at Oakleigh until '08 and has been the Coach of the Vic Metro Under 18 'Academy' for the last 4 years. Could be a decent development coach. That's about the size of it.

I'd put Sylvia into the leadership group if he finally showed us why he's pick 3 consistently. I'd do it in a second. Mitch Clark didn't at any stage look like leadership material at Brisbane (IMO), but I think that's completely changed now. But Sylvia isn't Mitch Clark. For me: In Dawes Out Bartram Smokies: Rodan, Howe, Jordie

I'm excited by the newbies - particularly Viney, Toumpas, Barry, Kent (cant wait for a raking left foot) and Dawes I'll even be excited to see Hogan turn out for Casey. I'm excited, curious, hopeful of any player that hasn't been able to do a full preseason until now - just to see the scope for improvement: Tapscott, Jetta, Taggert, Gawn even Jordie and Pickle

I wouldn't be surprised to see Bennell and Morton do well given the Josh Hill transformation

Rodan will be thrilled to see his highlights package

From Snoop Dog on BF: Nathan Stark (Glenelg / 177cm / 70kg / ’94).... I dont think he is quite as highly rated by others but I like him. At times in the championships I thought he was as impressive as many of the other kids out their and I draw strong links between he and say a Nathan Wright. Both probably more HB types but have the ball winning, pace and agility to be used in the midfield. Clubs will be drawn to him because he looks very coachable and he has some attributes that they value highly. Needs to add some bulk but he could be a handy selection this late.

Great article and pics

2 points - accounting practises can and do allow for manipulation of the results by recognising or deferring etc. It's common and not sinister. It depends on what you're trying to achieve. In our case, we're trying to demonstrate viability, moving forward and setting up the framework for when we do get some on field success, everything is in place to reap the benefits. Should our objective be something like tax minimisation (just as an example), our results would reflect accordingly. 2nd point - we are on AFL life support and are relying on this and the FHs to stay afloat. We're in a similar (flimsy) boat to the Bulldogs and North. Not sustainable. To compare with other clubs: Collingwood's 4 biggest earner's for 2013 are home games v Carlton, Essendon (ANZAC Day), Hawthorn and Geelong Bummers, tiges, hawks, cats also have bumper home games like this. Our 4 biggest earning games are Collingwood, Hawthorn, Bullies (Saturday night game) and whatever the best earning interstate home game (ie sod all). I haven't included the Darwin game as it's a sold game. The clubs listed above could earn more in those 4 games than we will all year. Improved on field performance will hopefully lose us a few of our home games against interstate sides, but we've still got to wrench good home games away from the Carltons, Essendons etc.

Virago