Melbourne 2016 pre-season

[Barra13]

BEN NEWTON â€" No.19

Date of birth: 8/8/1992 (23 years old)
Height: 183cm, Weight: 85kg
AFL debut: 2014, MFC debut: 2015
AFL games: 15 (Port Adelaide 4, Melbourne 11), AFL goals: 11 (Port Adelaide 0, Melbourne 11)
Position: Midfielder
Recruited: Mundijong Centrals (WA)/South Fremantle (WA)/Port Adelaide Drafted: 2010 NAB AFL Draft (No.35); 2014 delisted free agent

“Benny was training the house down. He was running really well, as he identified that area as a weakness and went away and did something about it. But unfortunately through that process, he just aggravated an ankle injury and had to have an operation. But hopefully with that bank of training behind him â€" when he starts running again, he’ll return really quickly.” â€" Paul Roos

CLAYTON OLIVER â€" No.13

Date of birth: 22/7/1997 (18 years old)
Height: 187cm, Weight: 85kg
AFL debut: yet to debut
AFL games: 0, AFL goals: 0
Position: Midfielder
Recruited: Mooroopna (Vic)/Bendigo Pioneers (VIC)/Murray Bushrangers (VIC)
Drafted: 2015 NAB AFL Draft (No.4)

“Young Clayton has come down from the country. He’s got a good size AFL body, which gives him a bit of an advantage over some of the first-year players. He looks like he’s going to be a good runner too â€" he burst out of the blocks in a 300-metre run. But he’s learning good habits, like all of the young kids.” â€" Paul Roos

CAMERON PEDERSEN â€" No.21

Date of birth: 17/3/1987 (28 years old)
Height: 193cm, Weight: 98kg
AFL debut: 2011, MFC debut: 2013
AFL games: 52 (North Melbourne 16, Melbourne 36), AFL goals: 45 (North Melbourne 20, Melbourne 25)
Position: Key forward/key defender/ruckman
Recruited: Mooroolbark (Vic)/Box Hill Hawks (Vic)/North Melbourne
Drafted: 2011 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (No.17 â€" North Melbourne); 2011 NAB AFL Draft rookie elevation (No.84); 2012 NAB AFL Draft traded by North Melbourne for Jordan Gysberts and No.61 (Taylor Hine)

“Pedo has shown that he can play some good AFL footy. It’s a real key pre-season for him, because spots are open. We want to pick a really good, competitive team for round one. He’s the type of player who needs to do everything right. He trains really hard, but he just needs to continue with consistency of performance. If he plays at a high level, he’s a good player.” â€" Paul Roos

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CHRISTIAN PETRACCA â€" No.5

Date of birth: 4/1/1996 (20 years old)
Height: 186cm, Weight: 94kg
AFL debut: yet to debut
AFL games: 0, AFL goals: 0
Position: Midfielder/forward
Recruited: Beverley Hills (VIC)/Eastern Ranges (VIC)
Drafted: 2014 NAB AFL Draft (No. 2)

“There is the normal rehab process that Christian continues to do, after missing last season with an ACL. He went over to America in the off-season and did exceptionally well. His body looks good and his leg looks good, but we’ll just make sure that there is no pressure on him. When he’s ready to play â€" that’s when he’ll be ready to play. Hopefully, in some shape or form, the year off has done his body some good. He’s been able to develop and AFL body, develop into an AFL player and develop some AFL habits. His running has also improved a lot, which it needed to, but it’s definitely improved.” â€" Paul Roos (pre-Christmas comments)

Please note Petracca suffered an injured toe during the Christmas/New Year break. Here is Roos' comments following the injury: "Christian’s rehab up until this point has been going really well, but when you’re an AFL player, you need to understand that everything you do impacts your ability to prepare and contribute to the team and this incident is clearly an interruption.  We have been very clear as a club  about not putting expectations on our first year players, so its important to keep some perspective about this - It’s a harsh lesson for Christian,  but one we are sure he is going to learn from as he develops as an AFL player.”

CHRISTIAN SALEM â€" No.3

Date of birth: 15/7/1995 (20 years old)
Height: 183cm, Weight: 82kg
AFL debut: 2014
AFL games: 22, AFL goals: 7
Position: Half-back/midfielder
Recruited: Hampton Rovers (VIC)/Sandringham Dragons (Vic)
Drafted: 2013 NAB AFL Draft (No.9)

“Christian had an injury-interrupted season in 2015, but we saw what a really good player he was. Once again, his pre-season is about the consistency of being on the track and making sure he does everything right. The signs have been really good and he’s training well, so he just needs to continue his consistency early in 2016. We think he’s going to be a very good player for us.” â€" Paul Roos

JOEL SMITH â€" No.44 (rookie â€" category B)

Date of birth: 25/2/1996 (19 years old)
Height: 191cm, Weight: 85kg
AFL debut: yet to debut
AFL games: 0, AFL goals: 0
Position: Forward
Recruited: Maribrynong Park (Vic)/Three-year unregistered player
Drafted: 2015/16 Rookie Draft (No.41)

“Joel’s assimilated really well. You can see that he’s played footy before and that’s been a bonus. He’s not the type of guy who sometimes comes into a club, like an American, who hasn’t played the game before. You can see that he has played and that he has got some good habits from basketball. He’s got really good awareness and he’s a really good listener â€" I really like that about Joel. He’s a good athlete and he’s training pretty well.” â€" Paul Roos

[T Dog]

I had forgotten about Cam Pedersen. Hope he gets a run.

[Barra13]

Yeah he was injured a bit last season. I prefer him over Dawes to be honest. From what I can tell Pedersen and Frost are vying for that same position. Dawes could possibly be included in that.

[T Dog]

Yeah he was injured a bit last season. I prefer him over Dawes to be honest. From what I can tell Pedersen and Frost are vying for that same position. Dawes could possibly be included in that.

Young Frosty just needs to stay injury free as the other 2 are faded out.  ::)

[Holz]

well a spot probably opened up by Melksham, who fills it?

[Pkbaldy]

well a spot probably opened up by Melksham, who fills it?

Anyone. This is a big win for Melbourne.

[Purple 77]

Far out Melbourne...

Admittedly he was looking good in training, but this really makes your decision to get him look a lot worse  :-\

well a spot probably opened up by Melksham, who fills it?

Grimes probably? Assuming Salem is already in the best 22.

EDIT: Actually, I reckon Trengove could do that role off the half back.

[Barra13]

I'd say the club would be preparing for something like this as per the 4 year deal.

I think Mitch White could be elevated here.

[Barra13]

AFL has confirmed EFC can top-up and promote all its rookies. Melbourne, PA and, St Kilda and Bulldogs can only upgrade rookies with immediate effect.

So it would be Michie or White to go up.

[Big Mac]

I doubt anyone will be upgraded before the start of the season anyway

[Barra13]

JAKE SPENCER â€" No.33
Date of birth: 9/10/1989 (26 years old)
Height: 203cm, Weight: 108kg
AFL debut: 2009
AFL games: 36, AFL goals: 6
Position: Ruckman
Recruited: Hermit Park (Qld)/Redland (Qld)/Cairns (Qld)
Drafted: 2008 NAB Rookie Draft (No.35); 2010 NAB AFL Draft rookie elevation (No.96)

“Jake had a little bit of a hiccup with a hammy, which has held him back. We’re hoping he’ll join in training pretty soon. Early in 2015, he played some good football and he improved a lot last season. He knows he needs to go to another level again to become an AFL player.” â€" Paul Roos

BILLY STRETCH â€" No.15
Date of birth: 8/9/1996 (19 years old)
Height: 180cm, Weight: 71kg
AFL debut: 2015
AFL games: 11, AFL goals: 2
Position: Midfielder
Recruited: Henly Sharks (SA)/Glenelg (SA)
Drafted: 2014 NAB AFL Draft (No.42 â€" father/son)

“Billy is a professional. He knows how to train and he trains well. Like a few of the youngsters, he played some good football last year, but the second year can be harder â€" and sometimes they push themselves too hard. But things are going well with Billy. He’s training habits are good and his standards are really high.” â€" Paul Roos

DEAN TERLICH â€" No.46
Date of birth: 13/12/1989 (26 years old)
Height: 186cm, Weight: 87kg
AFL debut: 2013
AFL games: 35, AFL goals: 2
Position: Defender
Recruited: Osborne (NSW)/Murray Bushrangers (Vic)/Sydney Swans/Norwood (SA)
Drafted: 2008 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (No.68 â€" Sydney Swans); 2012 NAB AFL Draft (No.68)
Honours: Third Best and Fairest 2013

“Terls came back in really good shape, which was terrific. He knew he needed to and he knows he needs to keep working on his fitness. Unfortunately, he had a bit of an injury, which knocked him back a bit, but I can’t complain with him. His training has been of a high standard and it’s the best I’ve seen him train since I’ve been at the club.” â€" Paul Roos

[Holz]

AFL has confirmed EFC can top-up and promote all its rookies. Melbourne, PA and, St Kilda and Bulldogs can only upgrade rookies with immediate effect.

So it would be Michie or White to go up.

pretty unfair that EFC can top-up after they caused the problem, dees should be able to

[Barra13]

JACK TRENGOVE â€" No.9

Date of birth: 2/9/1991 (24 years old)
Height: 185cm, Weight: 86kg
AFL debut: 2010
AFL games: 81, AFL goals: 38
Position: Midfielder/forward
Recruited: Kybybolite (SA)/Sturt (SA)
Drafted: 2009 NAB AFL Draft (No.2)
Honours: Co-Captain 2012, 2013; International Rules Series 2011; NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2010

“It’s great to just see Trenners joining in training â€" by that I mean running with some of the players and doing the rehab. Even his body shape, he’s got a different shape now. He’s been able to do some weights and build his strength up, but we’re not putting too much of a timeframe or pressure on him. We want to make sure that the progress is slow and steady and hope that he gets back playing as soon as he can.” â€" Paul Roos

DOM TYSON â€" No.12

Date of birth: 8/6/1993 (22 years old)
Height: 186cm, Weight: 85kg
AFL debut: 2012, MFC debut: 2014
AFL games: 50 (GWS Giants 13, Melbourne 37), AFL goals: 26 (GWS Giants 4, Melbourne 22)
Position: Midfielder
Recruited: Camberwell (Vic)/Trinity Grammar (Vic)/Oakleigh Chargers (Vic)/GWS Giants
Drafted: 2011 NAB AFL Draft (No.3 â€" GWS Giants); 2013 NAB AFL Draft traded by GWS Giants for No.2 (Josh Kelly), No.20 (Jack Leslie) and No.72 (not utilised)
Honours: Second Best and Fairest 2014; NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2012

“Dom made a real statement coming back and he came back in really good form. He’s really fit and really impressed his teammates and coaches. He had a slight calf injury, which was just a bit of a hiccup before Christmas, but he’ll be fine. You can tell that Dom wants to have a really, really good season in 2016.” â€" Paul Roos

AARON VANDENBERG â€" No.37

Date of birth: 3/3/1992 (23 years old)
Height: 188cm, Weight: 90kg
AFL debut: 2015
AFL games: 14, AFL goals: 5
Position: Midfielder
Recruited: Tathra (NSW)/Ainslie (ACT)
Drafted: 2014/15 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (No.2); 2015 NAB AFL Draft rookie elevation

“Vanders is another who made a statement by coming back and running a really good two-minute run. His teammates acknowledged that. He hadn’t done a pre-season last year, so no one really knew exactly what he was capable of doing. He’s in his second year and he’s a big-bodied midfielder already, but he’s got himself in really good condition and hopefully he has a really good season.” â€" Paul Roos

[Barra13]

ELITE performance manager Dave Misson says the squad has returned from its Christmas/New Year break in good shape and has already started 2016 with strong intent. 

Misson said the players were given structured programs over the Christmas/New Year break and had adhered to them strongly. 

“We had a really good pre-Christmas period. We had about six weeks pre-Christmas and we’ve had a week since the boys have been back, so we’re looking forward to getting to Maroochydore on Friday,” he told Dee TV. 

“Like every other team, they were given some testing pre-Christmas to determine where they’re at.

“We implemented programs over the break to plug a few holes, but we did a few tests since we’ve been back last week and we’re really happy with where they’re at. As our focus has been pre-Christmas is on the footy program.”

Misson said building relationships were a key part of the pre-season camp at Maroochydore.

“It’s something we’ve been trying to do pre-Christmas â€" lock in that footy program and make sure we get some good quality sessions in a tough environment,” he said.

Aside from Christian Petracca’s toe injury, which happened during the Christmas break, Misson said the squad was in good health overall.

“Numbers are really good actually,” he said. 

“Max King came out of Christmas with a bit of a sore knee, so that’ll probably hold him back for a week or two. Ben Newton has come out of his moon boot, so he’s starting to move around and do some more off legs training. We’re looking for him to run in about three weeks’ time.

“Heritier Lumumba is ready to do a fair bit of running on the camp, so those guys are really starting to progress.”
________________________________________
MELBOURNE Football Club acknowledges today's decision by CAS, and the impact it has on Melbourne player Jake Melksham.

Melbourne Coach Paul Roos said: “Jake was recruited to our Club for the long term. Today’s decision is desperately disappointing for Jake, but as I’ve reassured him, the Club will do everything in its power to support him, until he can officially return to the Club in a training and playing capacity.”

“Speaking with Jake today, he is obviously personally devastated by this decision but also very concerned for the other 33 players and the impact it can have on their lives.

“Jake is only 24 years old and still has a long and successful career ahead of him at the Melbourne Football Club, which we look forward to him continuing in 2017."

Please note: Jake was recruited to Melbourne during the 2015 trade period and signed a four year deal with the Club until the end of 2019.