Melbourne preseason training

[RaisyDaisy]

HS article on it too

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jesse-hogan-kicks-three-goals-in-melbournes-intra-club-match/story-fni5f91a-1227225798398

[Purple 77]

I'm getting pretty excited by Salem by those reports  :D

[Barra13]

THE form of power forward Jesse Hogan and mature recruit Jeff Garlett were among the positives to emerge from Melbourne’s intra-club practice match at Casey Fields on Thursday afternoon.

Capitalising on an open forward line, Hogan booted the opening goal of the match â€" after a neat pass from Jeff Garlett â€" and finished with three.

The Demons setup with Hogan and the resting ruckman playing deep, while Chris Dawes pushed further up field from centre-half-forward.

Garlett was a handy crumber getting to the fall of the ball and snapping three of his four goals in opportunistic fashion.

Coach Paul Roos, overseeing the shortened match from a balcony on the wing, had clearly instructed the Demons to play on and move the ball quickly and they frequently did so.Nathan Jones was the standout player on the ground, while Jack Viney and Dom Tyson won plenty of the footy.

Of the younger players, Christian Salem looked poised and used the ball superbly throughout, Billy Stretch was impressive and Jimmy Toumpas showed encouraging glimpses.

Angus Brayshaw struggled a little with the intensity, notably when he and Viney went shoulder-to-shoulder for a loose ball and the draftee came off clutching his jaw.

Lynden Dunn and Tom McDonald were their usual reliable selves in defence, while former Giant Sam Frost was a handy contributor and looks capable of contributing at both ends.

Heritier Lumumba started in the centre square, had stints where he looked to be negating Tyson and was used off half back. He did some useful things without having a huge impact.

Max Gawn, Jake Spencer and Mark Jamar all played reasonable games rotating through the ruck/forward positions.

Both the red and blue teams were topped up with several players from the Casey Scorpions.

Among those not playing were Jeremy Howe (hamstring) and Bernie Vince (shoulder), who are unlikely to appear until the season proper.

Jay Kennedy-Harris and Neville Jetta were in Perth for the AFL’s Indigenous camp, while Jack Watts and Jack Fitzpatrick were among those who ran boundary sprints in a rehab group.

[Barra13]

From a bystander;

Some comments:

Hogan:  Simply an asset.  Aggressive, quick, strong hands, awkward but reliable kick.

N Jones:  Busy.  Just Jones

Salem:  Will be a lock for 22 on this form.  Played down back and had a lot of it and kicked very well.

Toumpas:  Made the odd mistake but found plenty of it and kicked well.

Dawes:  Can't get a clean mark, they were all two grabbers.  Not that impressive but worked hard.

Viney:  Aggressive, plenty of the ball and linked up well.  Brayshaw looked taken aback by Viney's attack on the ball.  He'll learn.

Lumumba:  As you'd expect.  Just blowing the cobwebs away.

Brayshaw:  Pretty much unsighted by me.

Gawn:  Did ok competing up forward and rucked well but was beaten by Jamar who will be no 1 on todays form.

Tyson:  Not prolific but classy.

McKenzie:  Prolific but not classy.  Pity he can't do more with the ball but he cut Kent right out of the play coming off half back.

Dunn: Solid workout

BILLY STRETCH:  What did we pay for this bloke?  Well it was a bargain.  Plenty of the ball, ran well, clean hands, kicked well.  I loved his father and I'll love watching Billy.

Frost:  Solid at both ends.  I really like this bloke.

Kent: Rarely sighted.  I was disappointed as I love this bloke.

Cross:  Just gets it but made some awful disposal clangers.

Newton:  Didn't notice him much.  I think he's that sort of player as I noticed another poster praised him.

Garland:  Solid

Pedersen:  Good competitive hitout.  Competed well in the ruck and around the ground.

Michie:  Started really well and I thought was one of our better players but died out a little.  Found a lot of the ball.

T Mac:  Solid

Riley:  Solid

O Mac:  Was involved in a bit but a project player I'd have thought.

Grimes:  Solid.  No kicking clangers that I saw.

Garlett:  On this form he'll be the recruit of the season and Malthouse will just look silly.  Class above.

Jamar:  Best ruckman.  Took a good grab but little involvement other than that.

Spencer:  A game to forget for Jake.

Bail:  Played very well early with plenty of the ball and played centre square a bit.  Great run, clean with the ball.

M Jones:  Played well.  Kicked well and has pace.  In best 22 on todays form I'd have thought.

Terlich:  Lots of the ball and played as Terlich plays.

Harmes:  Aggressive at the ball but not pressing ahead of the other "competing" mids for a spot.

It seemed to me to be a day where the "definite" 22 just went through the paces, got a bit of the ball and looked to find some touch.  The other players had something to prove and some took their chances.  I don't think Stretch is ready but was impressive, Toump and Salem were good and Salem in particular has stepped up significantly as you'd expect.  There were times when there was no flow in the game with multiple kicks across half back but there did seem to be a more attacking flavor to the game plan.  Pity that a few missed but shyte happens.

I'll be interested to compare my impressions with others.

[Barra13]

Another bystander report;

Made it out there. I'm going to save you most my long story about stupidly thinking the whole of Eastern Melbourne is pretty close by, going to do the 1000 steps then battling traffic through Belgrave to cut down to Casey. Except for saying they're are now many more housing developments along Clyde road and each one comes with a roundabout and Australians seem to have absolutely no understanding of how to drive through roundabouts. So I made it there at about 5 passed 3 which turned out to be quite a bit in to the 1st quarter.



They played 4 quick quarters with pretty quick breaks besides 3/4 time when they went inside but not for much more than 5 or so minutes.

The red team won by about 5 goals.

Reds:Hogan, Garlett, Dawes, Gawn, Spencer, Cross, Tyson, Viney, Garland, Dunn, McDonald, Riley, Stretch, Salem

Blues (MFC jumper): Jones, Frost, Pedersen, Oscar Mc, Jamar, Toumpas, Terlich, Grimes, Viv, HL, Kent, Brayshaw

Unsure what team: Newton, Riley, Bail, Matt Jones, Harmes

MIA: Fitzy, Watts and White (running laps), Hunt (had been training), Trengove, ANB, KIng, Howe, Vince

Can't remember seeing Vandenberg at all

Jetta and JKH obviously in Perth

Petracca there in casual clothes. Knee in a bandage/brace whatever you call it. Pumping all his fellow young guys up on the bench. Smiling. Showing great character.

Hogan was largely opposed to Bryce Rutherford from Casey, so I'd temper expectations. He also had a few uncharacteristic drops otherwise he couldve kicked 6. Garlett was cleaning them up though. Dawes was double grabbing but presenting and bringing it to ground, had a good match up on Frost for the first half or so. Frost was solid, then went forward. Tom McDonald played on his brother, which allowed him to run off and get involved in rebound, he wasn't perfect but took a couple of nice marks. Playing with Dunn and Garland they were much more organised in the backline than the other team and Salem was benefited and capitalised from that. He has the most lovely pure kicking action and looked a natural back there at least rebounding.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Terlich and Grimes at the other end. Grimes had a couple of shocking turnovers. Preseason seems to have done nothing for his confidence, balance or execution by foot. Dished off a hospital handball as well and generally looked like he just can't find the right space to link up. I guess he's got a month to change that. Terlich was ok, but in an effort to move the ball on quickly he grubbed a left foot kick off half a step and he followed a great bursting run through half back with a kick straight to a leading CHF in the centre of the ground. In some ways its moving the ball on quickly, but if it's not marked it becomes a very dangerous spot to have the ball in dispute. This kick was easily spoiled by the defender right on the hammer of the forward.

Newton got hold of the ball at used it pretty well at times. Stretch seemed a natural running player. Links up well, not perfect by foot but you can see him improving and being a very good running player, I think he'll get a shot this year. Toumpas had some good moments. Aidan Riley was really cracking in at the contests. Jordie McKenzie was finding space and the footy from half back, but unfortunately his kicking is still far from AFL level, went for a penetrating forward entry from 60m out but the ball went 30m deep but 60m high. Viv Michie had some moments, he seems a solid tackler, my main concern is he just doesn't play at the speed required. 

Jamar dealt with Spencer pretty easily in the rucks and probably had the advantage on Gawn as well. It annoys me we will still look to drop a ruck behind the ball from half forward stoppages, I hate that tactic. Gawn might have been edged in the ruck but he's as good as if not better than most of our midfielders on the spread and had plenty of touches of the footy. Draws men and gives solid handballs at times.

Lumumba was pretty involved, playing a fair bit on the ball for the blues. At times he really broke the game open with run and spread. A couple of other times he ran in to team mates in contests though, which is hard to tell who's fault it is. Certainly rather them running in to each other than both sitting back at this stage. Lumumba will help us move the ball on quicker, but it wont always end well when he goes on his big runs.

Both Matt Jones and Bail bobbed up in times. Bail finding plenty of space. Matt Jones with a nice break away from a pack and hit up kick to a leading forward. Crossy was involved in everything early, found a heap of the footy a couple of poor turnovers though before he settled down.

With the ball running on in to space and the only two in the area Viney and Brayshaw contested a loose ball. Brayshaw (in a move he'll probably regret) tried to initiate a bump with Viney and seemed only to run his jaw in to Viney's shoulder. He didn't take part much after that but he stayed on straight after and then on the bench didn't have it iced or much concern for him. It was right in front of the main crowd so likely others saw it and maybe tracked him better than I did.

[Barra13]

And another;

My first venture out to see the boys this pre season, and the following are my highlights of the events:

N.Jones, was dominant, classy, prolific, and everything you expect of a leader.
Salem will be a revelation off the half back line.. his silky skills and reading of the play were clearly obvious today. He made difficult passes look simple, and he was creative and impressive.
Garlett will quickly become a fan favourite.. he makes something out of nothing , and his skills are sublime. As Baghdad Bob said earlier, he'll make Malthouse look foolish, which is not a bad thing.
Newton, looked to be coasting but got a lot of the ball and regularly used it well.
Toumpas was neat and efficient, but his gait looks weird, and it's hard to tell if he'll ever be quick enough when the pressure is exerted.
Hogan had little to beat, being matched up against an undersized, top up player, but he has obviously been given the liberty to travel far and wide for his kicks, often marking the ball around the wing area. He is strong, fit and aggressive, though I noticed him pull up from a possible collision with a much smaller opponent for fear of having to attend a funeral the next day. I have no doubt he'd be happy to attend once the season is in progress though.
Gawn looks very fit and actually looks like an athlete rather than a woodcutter. I liked the way he moved around the ground and actually did more impressive stuff below his knees than above his head.
Dunn is a general and is taking his vice captaincy role very seriously.. he was very vocal and extremely instructive
Disappointments from today:
Ball movement was still not as slick as hoped for. It WAS very hot but the day was still and conducive to effective transfer of the ball.
No dominant ruckman who could regularly impose on a game.
Brayshaw appearing to sustain a jaw injury, albeit seemingly not serious.
Senior players, who will remain nameless at this early stage of the season , making the same clangers we've grown to detest.

[Purple 77]

Thanks again for relaying barra.

Cheers again for relaying the reports barra.

I keep reading that people are surprised by Billy Stretch... like he is clicking on to AFL quicker than expected.

Still, Toumpas is the one I want to see make a huge step this year.

And again! Seems to be a massive surprise!

Garlett sounds exciting :D

Salem again... I reckon he could have a season!

Keep seeing the same concern for Toumpas  :-\ seems to be a little slow in making decisions.

Also like the sound of Frost (I thought he did is hammy on Monday?)



Do not like hearing about skill errors from the same offenders.

But the most disappointing is hearing Dawes still not being able to cling on to the marks  :(

[Barra13]

No probs!

From what I hear, he was still marking most, just not on the first grab was all.

Must have been a slight tweak in regards to Frost,seemed to do well at both ends. Another swingman with Howe? Even booted a goal in todays match and not far off another from a big bomb is a good sign.

[Purple 77]

No probs!

From what I hear, he was still marking most, just not on the first grab was all.

Must have been a slight tweak in regards to Frost,seemed to do well at both ends. Another swingman with Howe? Even booted a goal in todays match and not far off another from a big bomb is a good sign.

Perhaps Frost really is the frawley replacement?

[Barra13]

Starting to look that way.

From todays session;

Only no show was Trengove, I think, Max  King made a brief appearance and went inside to siwm, said he was off legs today, the Hammy Twins Vince and Howe ran laps, so did Neal Bullen, all said they are tracking as they should be, no timeframe on return as yet

Gus Brayshaw didn't do much, said he didn't shine in the concussion test after the two knocks, he said both Viney and Tommy Mc got him in the praccy match,  so has been given a light week, said he would be lucky to pass some of the tests unconcussed.

Petracca was out there, handballing, coaching, encouraging, helping to get the padding down from around the goalposts at the end (I kid you not)

Emphasis was on ball movement again, standouts today Tyson, Pedersen, Stretch, Bail

Roos had one explosion, lack of support when Nathan Jones got a clearance

New nickname for those that like them, Harmes is now Nut, both he and Vandenberg trained with the forwards

Salem did a bit more one on one work at the end

From Jade Rawlings, the time and location of the Intraclub was part of the program schedule, had been for a while

Another interesting bit, JKH played as an inside mid for the Indigenous All Stars, said he enjoyed every minute of it, because of the lack of height in the IAS, they tried to read Eagles ruck taps, said he learned a lot

Nev Jetta suitably modest about being in the best, said he was just doing his job, played on both Wellingham and Gaff

[Barra13]

Another little bit about a couple of rooks for those following them for their teams;

Vandenberg is ticking all the boxes, he is now back training fully, spoke to him at Casey on Thursday, all his GPS numbers are AFL level, he is the third fastest or so at the club for sprint speed, he is up to his playing weight of 92k and is feeling like he belongs, the more I see of him the more I can see why the club took the punt on him. His kicking for goal is very good, he makes the occasional clanger but so does every player

Can see why Harmes is being looked  at up there as well, he is an aggressive bugger, can take a mark and is fast, and  can kick goals, I would say we will get to see both at some stage playing forward in the NAB Cup

[Barra13]

Another from yesterdays session;

Perhaps it's because my expectations were high, but I was a little disappointed by today, except for moments of brilliance.

Most of the session was broken up into groups with mids/forwards/backs etc but at one point they did a full ground drill with 'teams' rotating on and switching the play. The drill would start with a long kick into the backline which was marked by a free backman, who would then attempt to move the ball all the way down into the forward line. I noticed that the backline found it difficult to kick to free targets on the HBF/wing, mostly because players up the ground weren't really timing their run very well or moving to the right places. This could partly be due to excellent defence/manning up, which is a good thing for the team, but maybe not so great offensively.

There were a few good moments though. Lumumba took a great grab and linked up well by handballing to the running Garlett. The last kick into the forward line was a bit hit and miss too. This was mostly because the players were well manned and the play was against the strong wind. Also, Watts marked the ball at about 60m from goal and spent a good 30 seconds trying to find a target and he wasn't really sure whether to have a ping at goal. He ended up kicking straight to a defender about 10m out from goal. But Watts had a brilliant play earlier at the other end where he picked up a ball on the run and kicked a left foot snap at goal through the middle with ease.

Tyson looked good and made some low, pinpoint passes. JKH and Kent also showed some nice skills and Vandenberg did a few noticeable things.

Hogan ragdolled Dawes at one point, which is not an easy thing to do. Hogan had to get some physio work on his glutes/hamstring mid-way through the session, but he joined in to the full drills later. It's good that he seems to speak with the physio at the sign of any tightness.

I guess I was a bit disappointed that I was expecting end to end movement with no mistakes but obviously that's not going to happen. I also though the intensity was reasonably good during most of the drills but that plenty of time was spent strolling around between drills. Based on what people had reported on previously I was expecting more movement throughout the whole session. But again maybe I was expecting too much.

One final thing. ANB was running laps at a serious pace. He's a beast.

[Purple 77]

All interesting perspectives...

Good to hear a mention of Harmes, and Vandenberg too

[kilbluff1985]

New Melbourne recruit Jeff Garlett has failed to inform his new club about a drink/driving charge that he received last year while he also failed to attend court for the charge today.
The Melbourne Football Club is now determining an appropriate course of action.

[Purple 77]

I guess the price never really was a 4th round draft pick  :-\

But if I'm honest, couldn't give two showers. I only care about on-field stuff these days, and I really hope he can make an impact  :)