Melbourne 2016 pre-season

[Big Mac]

I find these a little too long tbh (Tasmanvlr's)

Would prefer if he got straight to it, but hey, I'm no journalist  :P

Happy to skim through it

[Barra13]

I went down for a short time. It was the second time this pre-season.

The notable missing player for me was Aaron vandenBerg. I have seen Christian Petracca and he seems fine, just on a modified program, but I have seen neither hair nor hide of VDB and considering he has been MIA since the Collingwood game in June I hope he is OK.Actually seeing him in the picture above means he is at least around.

Hoges was running laps by himself. Looked fine, all limbs in fine working order.

They were doing a ball movement exercise when I got there. Split into 3 groups, attack, defence or off. The ball would be kicked down back to an attacker and the attacking team would try to move the ball the length of the ground and score. It was good to watch, lots of running, switching the ball across the ground and fast movement.

Sam Frost is back in full training and was good in this drill.

Ben Kennedy is possibly the smallest player on our list along with JKH and Viney but he looks very fit and strong and was doing everything he could to impress the coaches and his new team mates. All you could ask at this stage really. Jayden Hunt is very quick. He did a one two with Frost at one point off half back and burnt off his opponent then kicked truly to a leading forward. If they work out how to use his speed there is a chance he can make it.

Oscar Mac is taller now than his brother. Looks to have put on height and weight quite naturally, his potential is sky high.

The next drill they did was moving the ball the length of the ground via 5 small groups. As you kicked the ball to a player leading from the small group ahead of you you would then run forward to join that group and wait a go before leading, marking swinging on to your left or right and kicking to a player leading from the next group, then running forward to join that group they would eventually make their way down the ground where they would have a shot at goal and then jog back to the other end to start again. About 5 balls in play again there was constant movement. A lot of passes were going astray before I realised they had to swing at least half the time onto their wrong foot.

Gus was good on both feet as was Viney. White was pretty good. The highlight was big Tom McDonald kicking on his left. You reckon he's bad on his right foot! Wow. He sort of jumped in the air and would kick the ball with both feet off the ground. Anyway before anyone bags him he was the only senior player there joining in with the newbies so all credit to him.

[Barra13]

Pretty big day for this individual. First of all, my one and only exam was completed yesterday, and secondly, today I find out whether I’ve been nominated for AFL Victoria’s Community Media Awards for the second year in succession, which at the age of 22 I see as a massive achievement. Anyway, I get here missing part of the warmups, as is almost customary for me nowadays, I couldn’t explain properly why that is the case. Anyway as I get here the boys are doing the same drill that they normally do when they start off with their drills for the morning, the handball drill where there’s a defender putting pressure on. In the middle there’s a different drill, where the boys are asked to kick to players in the same team until called to kick to the other team. I’ll probably try to better explain â€" there’s two teams of about four or five players, one wearing vests and one not wearing vests, plus a couple of players wearing orange for that matter as well, and the coach calls out which colour kicks to whom. If that makes sense.

In the meantime, as I walk through to Gosch’s, Terlich finishes up early and walks by me; Smith and ANB are doing some running and I can’t really explain why, and Trengove makes a very welcome appearance. Not entirely sure what he is doing at this point. Vandenberg is having a run around the joint as well. Meantime checking out the personalities around the place Mahoney is hearing watching, as well as King Jackson who’s made himself a dead set legend yesterday by signing on for a couple more years. Top bloke.

Next drill is a full grounder drill, two full teams, boys are going hard at it. Brayshaw is crashing into blokes and in one case manages to bring down Maxy Gawn. It’s not quite the full monty yet until everybody else joins the party anyway. In the meantime Kenty is still moving very well considering he hasn’t played for a few months, and Tommy Mc is still showing his versatility whenever the ball goes nearby. Having said that there’s quite a few slip and sliding around due to the wet conditions experienced after last night’s awesome storm.

Speaking of storms, an early look at a possible game plan sees the boys storming forward whenever they get the chance to do that. The ball movement at this early stage is noticeably faster and there’s more of an emphasis on players moving positively whenever the chance is there to do so. There is still a bit of an emphasis on switching play â€" as most coaches probably would. Having said that despite all the positivity, there are still a few disappointing errors by foot. Some of these errors come about as a result of risky kicks, but there are also errors which come about due to poor kicks.
Another bloke who’s moving around really well is Dom Tyson. This bloke’s going to be an interesting case in 2016. I think all Melbourne supporters agree that 2015 was disappointing for him but I think we also all agree that we knew he was somewhat affected by injury. Anyway, on the track at the moment, he’s moving around like he’s finding the 2014 silky-smooth movement again, even though that there is still a bit of tape around his knee, which is really good to see. I’m therefore looking forward to seeing what he does when he’s fully fit. More on the drill â€" the skills have improved markedly since I commented that they left a lot to be desired.

Also it seems that there is a lot more confidence about with many players. Probably none more so than Jayden Hunt. He seems to be backing his speed a lot more and he’s also getting the chance to find a lot more space, which is really encouraging. I think 2016 is the year we’ll finally see him get games, and we’ll finally get to see the great #29 grace the field for the first time since the great days of Michael “Juice” Newton.

Drill stops and the move to the other side of the ground to do some form of a defensive drill. On the near side of the ground where I am it’s good to see Dunny here a bit early like he normally is, having a bit of fun and having set shots… hold on, he’s a defender isn’t he? On the other side of the ground, it’s really good to see JKH all over this defensive drill, and intercepting a couple of kicks, which is exactly what I want to see. Just hoping that this year was just the classic case of second year blues. The drill stops for a period before the roles are reversed â€" the team with the vests are attacking and the team without them are defending… but that’s a loose term. Good moment comes when a kick opens up big Maxy 15 metres in the clear, Maxy gets there… but only just. One quintessentially classic panic handball later, the vest team are able to kick a goal having broken open the defensive structure that the plain team tried to implement too easily in the end. This is the same deal when the defensive structure is tried again, with a kick down the corridor breaking open the play way too easily, which is either good or bad depending on which team you want to focus on.

After a short micro-break the boys go at it again… and again it’s basically the same deal without the result this time around. I’m looking around trying to work out whether it’s just that the team with the vests have more numbers or that there is a weak link which is hurting the plain structure. At the moment, it appears to be a case of the former. On closer inspection, there’s the same amount of numbers on both sides.

Bit of a break, Frost is running laps around the oval, Hogan has seemingly appeared out of nowhere given I hadn’t seen him during the drills (not sure if I haven’t paid enough attention for that one TBH) and is having a few sprints just over a patch of the oval with Viney. There’s clearly a bit of friendly rivalry when they run around â€" think it’s almost like they have to start line astern with an alternate leader and then they have to make sure that they stay in front.

Bit of a similar drill to what’s been going on basically all morning after a short break which is another pressure-based drill with game simulation. Again JKH is performing well when applying pressure, laying another couple of tackles. Really been impressed with his application this morning. As they have another chat all you can hear is the solid BEEP BEEP BEEP noise that the Storm are doing. It’s not entirely a beep test, but (BEEP) it’s (BEEP)in annoying. Thankfully the boys get back into it, coupled with the beeping noise stopping, so that I can focus entirely on the drill at hand and see who’s doing what. With Hogan, Viney and a few others sitting out of main group training for the time being it’s two groups of nine on nine… ahem, AFL 9s.

The drill restarts and immediately there is an orgy of players all over the footy. Again, JKH doesn’t give an inch whenever anyone gets the footy, laying yet another tackle, this time on Harmes. Mind you there was about 15 or 16 players within two metres of the footy this time round so laying a tackle was straightforward.

There was a bit of solid banter during the drill when Tom McDonald gets the footy and tries kicking it to King… only to have his brother intercept it! During the same passage of play, Hogan (who’s running on the oval) cracks the showers when he has players interrupt his run (as I said before, it’s a friendly rivalry with Viney that he has and he’s trying to better Jack’s efforts). The next time they go about it Harmes gathers from half back and goes for an electrifying run that last until about 20m from goal before he gives out a Joe the Goose to a teammate. I am a bit disappointed he didn’t take the initiative and kick the goal himself because that was every bit as good a run as Phil Manassa’s (albeit this is in training and not in a Grand Final with the game on the line).

After that there’s more of a handball drill this time around. It’s similar to the kicking drill except it covers a much smaller patch of ground than the kicking drill which was basically a full grounder. It’s more of a five on five drill than the nine on nine we’ve become accustomed to, with all players basically starting side on.

The boys then stop for a bit, have a casual kick to kick and then change into their running shoes. As ever they come with instructions â€" Press B to run like the wind! (points if you get the reference). Okey-dokes. The running. There’s two groups and one quasi-group which I’m not sure just starts slowly or is part of the other group, I don’t have a clue. First bit of running sees the boys go from the back pocket to the goal posts. Either side. Pleasingly for those who likes seeing epic running battles, Tom and Oscar McDonald are in the same group, which will make for good viewing when everybody else invariably slows down. Pleasingly, for the time being, Dom is up the front. Kennedy, by the looks of things, is up the front of the other group. Mind you, that group has Gawn, Frost, Kent and King in it, so it’s the same running group as when I was last here last Friday. For the time being though I’m really pleased that Dom looks back to his injury-free best, staying up the front the whole time.

After a leisurely walk around the oval the boys head off for a spot of lunch, which is what I also do.

[Purple 77]

Damn, this guy can talk!

A bit of TL;DR there, but some things there I liked reading  8)

[Barra13]

Haha yeah he does.

Also, to those that have Instagram, have a look at robjackson.com.au. He does a lot of PT work with the Demons, some good small vids of the young guns in the gym. Petracca, Viney etc. They are working pretty hard for this time of year.

[Barra13]

Well every face turned up to training today.
The older group ran in groups laps of the oval.
Chunk was a leader by miles.
Hogan ran without that pregnant cow swagger until the last 1/2 lap when he was urged by others to finish it off hard. The swagger then raised its head again but by and large he has improved his gait out of site.
Trenners was welcomed back into the fold of competitive running.
Gawn was running really well and right up there with the leaders.
I saw Terlich at the start but didn't see him for long. Anyone who said he had put on muscle must have been looking in the showers because from my view point he was still a runt.
The then went through a series of 40m timed sprints. They all looked pretty quick, but no one broke any records that I could see.
I went over to the Punt Road side and watched a few of the rehab go through some timed routines.
ANB, Jeffery, Trenners were doing some 75% running exercises.
ANB tweaked his left knee last week, nothing serious he said it was bandaged but didn't seem to be affecting him.
Trenners seems to be running well, but I would like to see him In A couple of months and see if he can sprint. He said he should be joining in kicking with the main group before Xmas.
I sai to Jeffrey what are you doing here. I don't know he replied. You don't get much out of Jeff.
Chunk has recovered well from C4-C5 disc replacement, he said when it happened he couldn't raise his arm. He said he is glad he got the surgery done or next year may not have been possible.
Petracca was getting the feel of football again with crosstie getting him to take overhead marks.
Chunk had him kicking to long leads. Just like a high half forward would be putting it down the throat of a leading FF IMHO.
The group then split up into two groups occupying each end of the ground.
The then went about getting the ball out of defence. Then getting the ball back into FF. Every player started one on one and they spread as required.
Apart from a few errant kicks the workout was pretty good.

Had a look for a while from about 3-4:30.

Didn't see Terlich, Newton, Lumumba, Vince, Spencer. Only saw Brayshaw watching.

Three in the rehab group - Trenners, ANB, Jeffy. Plus Jones, Petracca.

Jesse is grumpy at the moment. Angry at team mates. Seemingly holding himself back in the running. Not sure what is going on there. Still has a laugh every now and then.

Wasn't happy with the [censored] kicks from some players and fair enough too. The talk might have been a bit too negative but I'd take that over the previous complacency. Up to the coaches and leaders to make sure the mix of positive and negative feedback is there.

JKH repeatedly tried to do too much in drills and was repeatedly told by all and sundry to take the simple option.

Viney dropped a mark, JKH picked it up, Viney went in for the tackle, JKH evaded him beautifully for a few steps, then met his mark. It's going to take something very special to slip Jack from a tackle.

Grimes was training well. Looks well also. Mitch White looked even better. So did Jack Watts.

Dunn hasn't missed the buffet, but he's always looked that way.

Jayden Hunt found the ball in a few drills. Runs well and marks strongly on a lead. Unfortunately, is one of those who can't kick. Might be getting better but seems a low base.

I notice a couple of well timed spoils from Melksham, he does have good reach, the half back idea might just be a winner.

Kent, Dawes, Vanders, Melksham, Hogan and King did a few repeat 300's. Not sure what they did to deserve it. Kent led out the first few, then Dawes took over. Not a lot of distance between the first 5. Unfortunately Kingy still looks like a sure thing to get your money back in a cup sweep, he struggles to stay with the others.

It was a good session from what I saw and a heavy focus on skills under pressure and quick sharp decision making.

PICTURES!
http://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-11-23/preseason-gallery-monday-november-23

[Purple 77]

Grumpy Jesse huh?

Hopefully it's the good kind of grumpy, and not the "I can't wait to get out of this club" grumpy.

Those reports were more interesting than the essays from that other guy  :-X

[Barra13]

I went along at about 10:30am and the drills weren't very intense, so it must've been after the 3km time trial.

There were 3 groups rotating between 3 drills - being set shot goal kicking, 1v1 marking contests and a ball-up ruck contests with 2 teams of mids. Not much to report really, I wasn't there that long.

Players missing were: Jones, Vince, Hogan, Petracca, Brayshaw, Lumumba, Trengove, Tyson, Newton, Pederson, O McDonald, Neal-Bullen, Kennedy, Garlett, Spencer, Terlich, M Jones, King.

A few observations were:
Viney is just scary... just so ripped.
Most were pretty up-beat, a lot of talk and encouragement from Watts.
Joel Smith has a serious leap. In the contested marking drill they used bags at one stage. One was basically to take a speccy on, using the knee. Well, all the others got a knee up on the bag and took the grap. Smith basically stood on top of it. Jumped on to it and used his feet!
Stretch did quite a few good things in the 3v3 mids roving from the ruck, congratulated by the coaches.
White has a thumping kick.
Melksham was looking alright, did some good things.

[Barra13]

TOM McDonald has taken out Melbourne’s first three-km time-trial for the year at Princes Park on Wednesday.

The key defender edged out Jack Grimes and new recruit Tom Bugg in tough conditions to secure first place.

Speaking to Dee TV, McDonald said that it was a solid effort for the first hit out of the year.

“It was good to get it out of the way to be honest; it’s not a very fun test,” he said.

“The boys ran not too bad I think; the conditions weren’t great but we did OK.

“We had wind down the back, but they made it up pretty well on the way back with the tailwind, so given the conditions, I think we did a pretty good job.”

McDonald said pre-season training had started well with the players raring to go.

“It’s been a good start, [there’s] been a lot of footy work straight up,” he said.

“The guys got told ‘we really want you to be in footy condition straight away and not just ready to run, but ready to tackle, jump, mark,’ … so straight away, we’re into it.

“Then we had the draft [on Tuesday night] so it will be good to see the new boys in the next week or so, so it’s all going well."

[Barra13]

Take a deep breath for this one;

Edwin’s Wi-Fi is terrible at the moment so bear with me for having this in rather late…

Keen readers will have noticed that I was nervously awaiting the AFL Victoria announcement for the Community Media Awards last training report. It didn’t happen on Friday owing to an enormous amount of numbers, so I had to wait until Wednesday. But did I get one? Hell yeah I did. One of only two across the Northern Football League. Get around me.

But as it is I only devote a little bit of time to myself and more so on the players who are actually training, and this is the first time I get to see the senior players in action after having to miss Monday’s session.

At least, I hope that’s the case. A delay at Reservoir station means I’m not sure as I type when the hell I’m actually going to get there. 13 (!!!) minutes later, we’re off and going again, the train driver seemingly as sure as Mark Neeld’s assessment of training standards regarding what the hell was going on exactly.

Anyway, regardless of whatever situation was the case, I’m there on time and just get there to see a whole heap of the boys applauding. Not sure why â€" maybe it was my presence. I wish. Regardless the boys head off for a quarter lap before doing some stretches. What I do notice is that rehab has increased markedly since last Friday, what with all the senior boys back. Jones is moving around really bloody well which is a positive coming off neck surgery, Terlich is in the rehab group, the big Spence train as well. At the moment I cbf’ed making my way over to see who else is in the rehab group, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to sit in the shade on a quaint Melbourne November morning. Gus Brayshaw leaves early again after reporting early on.

The warm-up, in the meantime, takes the boys to some weird and wonderful places. The boys run from the goalsquare to the wing… maybe perhaps a bit closer to the half-forward flank, with Dawes leading the way. Obviously he’s had the rocket up the ass from the drafting of Hulett and the other tall blokes (notice how they were going on about Hulett’s strong hands and his ability to play as a third tall?) and needs a big season. Viney is also up the front as he almost always is. Tyson and Garlett walk along the ground, not sure if there’s a serious intention for either of them to train, Tyson’s walking lap and Garlett sneaks off into the tent not to be seen again.

Warm-ups carry on regardless, and I have absolutely NFI what the boys are doing. A sprint, sudden stop, turn back, jumping blind turn? Huh? Some blokes look graceful doing it (i.e the mids) and some blokes look atrociously clumsy (i.e Maxy).

Next… after that the boys split into a couple of small groups. Nearest to me there’s a group with a two on one situation, where the two have to work out a way past the one which is defending and wearing a vest. The boys are getting through without too much difficulty but talk is non-existent. Mind you, whenever there’s the slightest sign of a feigned handball, the boys are up and about almost as if Steph Curry crossed over another bloke. Surest sign is when Jack Watts sells Goodwin some candy.

Right, so the whistle goes and the boys rotate. Jack Viney gives a bit of candy out, and the bloke in the vest (can’t recognise who it is) is like “oh I didn’t want to hurt ya!” Righto… his ego takes a further blow when he is again sold candy not 20 seconds later. It’s also here that I get my first assessment of Jake Melksham. Skinny-looking bloke but by the looks of things good upper-body strength. Just think if he gets his disposal sorted he’ll be a handy pickup. The boys stop (for now) and it’s another chance to have a geeze and who’s doing what, especially in the rehab group. Bernie is taking (Max) King for a run, Spencer and Tyson bugger off early, Nate Jones is moving super well, he really is, and Terlich and Frost are running laps. Meantime Tom McDonald goes off to get his shoulder strapped, not sure what the prognosis is and whether he got a knock during the drill or it’s just your stock standard precaution, either way there’s a serious amount of tape on that left shoulder of his.

The next drill is a handballing drill right in front of me, with a group of defenders trying to steal the footy off the team with possession. There is success in the second group where Salem reads the play beautifully and pinches it off White. In fact, White is pretty sloppy in this drill. Two handballs are intercepted, there’s a fumble when picking the ball up and his other handball misses the target. I’m backing the bloke to rebound as soon as he gets the chance. Interesting to note that the coaches are promoting “width” and “run and carry”. No doubt I don’t think anyone in the coaching staff want the panic handballs to set in like they always do. Anyway these quotes are mentioned about three or four times during this drill.

On to the blokes who look in pretty good form at the moment. Grimes is having a good patch â€" thought he ended 2015 on a bright note which he can take into 2016 and he’s training accordingly at the moment. Came second in the time trial on Wednesday and has really settled in nicely and moving well. I still have a bit of a question mark on his decision-making but if he has a good season the Dees will be better for it.

The boys have a break again, this time again I get a look at who’s doing what â€" BK’s running around, Bernie has seemingly not stopped running since training started and Hogan has been taking set shots into the wind. Dawes is doing some marking drills with Jade Rawlings â€" he still doesn’t look overly confident above his head, preferring the chest mark wherever he can.

Again the boys split in two, up the far end it’s a tackling/strength drill of sorts, while the drill nearest to where I am being a pressure drill of kind. Watts is one of the defenders and he’s always the threat in these drills and accordingly he pinches one of the balls. I wish he was given the natural progression to AFL instead of being thrown in, killing his confidence.

In the meantime, as I watch, it’s good to see Sam Weideman and Liam Hulett show up and have a look around â€" shades of Super Pav in not only Weed’s looks but his ultimate swaggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa as well. I can’t wait for opposition defences to be sorted just before a game starts, then they see Hogan and Weideman swagger along like the Beastie Boys did in the Sabotage music video. A fun fact about Hulett â€" I covered the Young Guns game for AFL Vic and didn’t mention his name, nor did I mention Brayden Sier who also played. I dun goofed with that one. I do remember, though, that Hulett was playing in the backline for the victorious green team and didn’t get much of a look in due to their domination after quarter time.

Next drill â€" basically it starts around the middle with a couple of defenders with a kick coming in to a forward before kicking a goal. This happens at both ends. Nothing special’s really going on to be honest. Hogan has an uncharacteristic miss â€" in fact he’s having a bad day in front of the sticks â€" and then as I get the idea of typing that he nonchalantly goes off one step and puts in right through the middle. Okay then.

Next drill is a whole lot of randomness again â€" on one side, the near side, you have two blokes going up for a marking contest; in the middle, you have a contest where two blokes are going after a rolling footy, and up the far side it’s more like a kick to five blokes see who gets it kind of drill. Petracca walks by and (I think) gives the new draftees the thumbs up. I’m looking forward to seeing Trac talking to Weideman for the first time. I reckon you could almost SEE the swag. As I type this actually happens. Petracca comes up and gives Weideman the swaggiest greeting you’ll ever see - quite the serious handshake it was, almost like they from da hood, and almost as if they’ve known each other for a decade. I already like this setup. Now to see Hogan meet and greet Weed for the first time and my day would be complete.

After what felt like about 20 minutes of approximately nothing to report the boys get back into it for a bit of a run. And it’s a running drill out of the box here. The boys â€" in two groups of vests, white and green, go runabouts in what is like a game of tag, where the blokes have to run about to a pole before the other bloke. Maxy Gawn’s having a bit of a laugh as he’s running â€" he is the banter king that’s for sure. Anyway, after that brief exercise the boys run three quarters of the oval in twos, for what scientific purpose instead of running the entire lap only Misso knows. After that the space-time continuum is broken again as only Misso manages to do with his concoction of which groups should be what when doing the running drills, with the boys splitting up between white and green and running in two groups. It’s good to see Dawes running up the front with regularity, with Tom McDonald sandwiched in the middle much like a Melbourne Cup favourite around the 1200m mark.

Some more continuous running then, and Petracca starts the second “groups of two” run by completely ghosting Dawes along with Grimes, passing Dawes and then evidently using all his fast-twitch stocks to run out of gas towards the end of the three quarter lap. Mind you his acceleration of the blocks is pretty damn impressive. It’s also pretty interesting to see the difference between a stock standard AFL player and an athlete. While most are absolutely puffed out by their final group run, Tom McDonald is still roughly as silent as a Charlie Chaplin film.

The boys then finish up. I hang around just to see Hulk and Weed meet for the first time and begin the highest profile pairing since Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams fo-shizzled their way through Drop It Like It’s Hot. Roosy, interestingly, brings together Bugg, Harmes, Kent, Hunt and Salem together for a chat, for what I don’t know because I’m not a good lip-reader.

As I start to embark on the route to Edwin’s Petracca, Watts and Hogan all come up to a young lad, wheelchair bound, and sign his cast, hat and promise a tour around the club during their weights session. It’s a timely reminder of how good this club is to the young blokes and what a fantastic gesture. I also wish the young lad well for the future.

A further note â€" it appears that the first part of training will be finishing up on the 18th of December and restarts (at this stage) on the 8th of January, by the looks of things it’ll be a week of training at Gosch’s before buggering off during the Aussie Open.

[Barra13]

Dropped by again today to catch the return of the seniors. Tasman's basically covered everything super well, so I'll just make a few observations.

Didn't see Lumumba, Trengove and Newton.
There were a couple guys I didn't recognise so I assume they're the Casey listed players training with the club.
Garland seriously needs to tighten his hat, every time I glanced over it was flying off his head!
Melksham is taller than I thought he was and reasonably built. From what I saw he didn't do anything badly and his kicks at goal during one of the drills were mostly all on target.
Bugg is a good runner, was generally near the front of the packs during running drills.
Kennedy didn't join in drills, just ran some laps.
It's always entertaining watching the McDonald bro's when they're 1v1 in drills. This time it was marking and although Tom had the upper hand most of the time Oscar snagged a few good ones. You can tell he's now taller and will only get better as he fills out.
Kent was running pretty quick, was very happy to see that. Really hope he gets a good crack next year. He's got a beautiful thumping kick too.
Dunn vocal as usual but Watts seems to be the most encouraging of the boys, really getting around everyone with fives and back slapping.
Saw ANB at one point but didn't see him take part in anything.
Vandenberg definitely looks trimmer and fitter than a year ago.
Hopefully next time the new draftees will be there as well, looking forward to seeing them out there.

[Barra13]

Popped along to training today. And whilst its the start of pre-season i would say most of the players wouldve been doing a lot of individual training in the off season. Because of this i was keen to see who was bulking up and who wasn't.

Players that look to me to have changed body shapes include:
Vandenberg: looks a lot fitter and looks to be covering the ground a lot better than last season.

Petracca: he looks dramatically different and has lost the big hips that he had this time last season. A picture of fitness.

O.Mcdonald: he is still thin but he is showing signs of filling out. It won't be this season but maybe next pre-season he'll start to really fill out but i like the signs.

Billy stretch: he looked super fit last pre season and he now looks even more fit to go along with some strength.

Watts: hasnt bulked up but has lost weight in his legs and looks set for a midfield role if in the best 22.

Trengove: didnt see him do much but he has the perfect physique if it wasnt for his ankles.

Salem: he has trimmed down again and now looks like he can maybe play more midfield time.

Hasn't bulked up:

Vince: he never does though :)

Gawn

Max king: i feel that he hasnt changed since the day he arrived. He still very much has a boys body.

Viney: still big. Maybe a bit too big in the hips/legs but as a true inside mid maybe its not too much of an issue as long as he can track his own player around the ground.


Anyway back to the training:

The day was windy so kicking was dreadful. Terrible kicking for goal as well as field kicking.

The draftees didnt do much. They just played kick to kick, did some run throughs etc. The ruckman we picked up looks to have some pretty questionable foot skills but he is a project playet and i wont be looking at senior action for a couple of years. Oliver lead the run throughs and covers the ground quite well. His short kicking was a tad floaty but it was super windy. Weidemans body needs a lot of work. He has a boys body and as he should but i'd be wanting an extra 5kg of muscle before contemplating senior football. His kicking was quite good.

I couldn't spot hogan or brayshaw at today's training.

They did some half ground ball movement finishing in a goal, but trying to emphasize using the hands and finish off close to goal.

Not much else to report.

Dropped in from about 2:40 to 4.

Missing: Hogan, Brayshaw, Tyson, Newton, Viney, Lumumba, JKH, Spencer, Garlett

Laps: Jones, Vince, Trengove. Bernie at a steady pace, Nathan motoring. Trengove doing his own thing.

Modifield program for parts of the session: ANB, King, Frost, Terlich, Petracca. Max King has a right wrist injury, was only marking with his left arm.

Now the new boys. Oliver is a good size for a mid as we all know. In decent condition as well. He reminds me of Brayshaw last year, maybe a little heavier in the legs but otherwise he's a mixture of muscles and skinny, toned and untoned. Weideman is tall and light, but not too skinny. Same for Mitch King, looks like a young ruck but not really a beanpole. Hulett is a physical specimen, he's definitely the most ripped of the bunch, but not overly tall, there's a noticeable drop (even if it is only an inch) between him and Weid. Wagner looks more mature, strong in the legs, bit skinnier in the upper body.

From all that I saw they did their own thing on the far wing. Some handball weave around a defender. Some kicking drills. Kicking 20m to a partner whilst swapping ends that tested the kicking as they progressively fatigued. Weideman kicks nicely for a tall, likes to use his left as well. King ok for a young ruck, better when fresh and for his age he's probably more advanced than Gawn and certainly more advanced than Spencer. Hulett probably the best kick of the bunch at least over short distances. Oliver isn't a bad kick, but did drop off a little when fatigued. They then did some interval running. Oliver led the bunch of them which is a good sign, they all stayed pretty compact over the 300m or so repeats that they were doing. After that they watched training. Hulett and Weideman took particular interest in the drill Rawlings was running with a group of talls practising contested marking. Oliver and Goodwin had what looked like a friendly chat, with Oliver threatening to take a hanger over Goody at one stage and having a laugh.

It was more of the type of small drills for the main group. Mainly kicking or handballing under pressure. Some quick reaction and tackle drills as well. They spent a long time doing a drill where 2 players would get the ball in the centre square, work passed 1 play pressuring then kicking inside 50 to a 3 on 2. One half rotated everyone through the midfield players, whilst the other group used Salem, Melksham, White and ANB as the 4 in the middle and then rotated through the forwards. Melksham looked sharp and skillful. If his decision making improves he'll be hand from half back. Petracca, Kent and Vanders floating through a forward line was fun to watch.

Anyway after a variety of drills with a competitive focus it was on to some repeat sprints through the centre square. I counted 26 in this group to start with. Nice to see Petracca joining in. A group of 6 - Kent, Oscar Mc, Smith, Watts, Dunn, Jetta split off to do repeat longer sprints around the boundary. Whilst another group consisting of Kennedy, Frost, Terlich, King went with Crossy to do longer runs than that, maybe 300m or so. Kennedy led that group in a good showing. Poor Max King continues to trail. I'm surprised they haven't pulled him out to do more and more individual work on his running.

It was hot and very gusty which no doubt impacted the skill level, but the good players shone through whilst the kicking deficiencies in several others were highlighted. Frost and Hunt are two who have a lot to offer with their athletic traits but can't reliably kick drop punts.

Given that pessimism is my natural state regarding the MFC I am little concerned that we are outsmarting ourselves with so much competitive training and the risk of injuries. We've already mounted a decent toll even if they are only minor niggles.

I also worry we split in to too many random and individual drills that leads to a lot of down time between drills and splitting of the playing group. I'm not sure how they manage the continuity of message.
As an example Max King and Dawes were doing some goal kicking whilst out of the main group. Dawes was doing the right thing as a senior player and giving king some advice in how to kick for goal in the windy conditions. Unfortunately, King is a very nice natural kick. He's got a solid rhythm and kicks the ball well. Dawes is anything but. So I'm not sure he was the right man for the job. Dawes continued to slice several of his next kicks out to the right as he is prone to doing whilst King slotted a few.

Just a few observations. Plenty of good bits as well and nice to see the new guys in action.

Rawlings got a group of 5 - Dawes, Pedo, Gawn, Oscar, Grimes for a one on one marking drill.

Started with practising technique from behind. All about lowering your hip and leaning in to move the guy in front forward or at least hold your ground. Also practising the defender using a technique to roll their shoulders and spin behind to get back position. Interesting stuff. Filmed on the iPad with the best examples demonstrated to the group (including Weid and Hulett who weren't participating).

Then they practised holding front position and marking under what Rawlings deemed 70% pressure with a whack to the shoulder blades.

At one stage Grimes protected front spot with a series of well placed elbows behind to Oscar Mc that made Rawlings very happy. He was loving it. Oscar competed well the big boys and put his strength to the test. Pedo held a few grabs with strong hands. Big Duncan used his height to take a few nice grabs. The one disappointment was as usual Dawes, who just gets way too bogged down in the strength battle and can't push off, take a couple of steps and mark at full reach. When it works by dominating the strength battle he then just sticks his arms out marks unopposed, but way too often he didn't capitalise on winning the battle by going and getting the ball. After you've out bodied your opponent you have to either protect enough space in the drop zone to get to or jump up and mark clear of the incoming fist. I thought Rawlings was much too kind on him, he needs to practise marking on the move and wasn't. Anyway. Something interesting.

And to finish it off, pics!

http://www.aflphotos.com.au/galleries/results/?q=collection:AFL%202015%20Training%20-%20Melbourne%20301115&image_id=412374

[Barra13]

Strolled down to training this morning. Arrived about 10.15 as Gus Brayshaw was leaving to return to AAMI. Not sure why he's not joining in the sessions yet. Seems more solid in the shoulders and arms.

Absentees from when I got there were Lumumba, Dawes, TMac, Trenners, Tyson, Frost, Milkshake and I think Dunny. Non contact but lots of running were Nate Jones, Vince and Spencil. Hogan joined in all the contact drills after a bit of lap running. Jones, Vince and Spence were doing half lap sprints that were timed, the objective being to not let the pace drop off the more they did. Chunk was just phenomenal, fast pace and must have completed about 25-30 of these each timed within about 22 sec. Got plenty of encouragement from the others. Spencil is one huge unit. He may kill an opposition player one day.

The others did tackling drills, short kick in heavy traffic drills, hand ball in heavy traffic drills, half ground and then whole ground forwards/defenders drills (advance the ball to enable a kick at goal). Other 'Landers who may have attended with knowledge in how these work may be able to describe it more strategically than I. Highlights for me were Harmes running down a lairising Dean Kent, and Nev Jetta tackling a forward, getting legged by that forward as he attacked the loose ball, then tackling a second forward who ran in to scoop up the ball. Diaspointments were some poor short kicking that forced the target to stop or missed altogether. After these there were repeat 3/4 lap sprints (or might have been length timed sprints, ie. sprint for 60 secs) in staggered groups of about 5-6. The better being, Hogan (excellent tank developing), OMac, Petracca, Grimes, Viney and a few others who I can't recall at the moment. Petracca did a fair bit of contact work, no strapping on knee, full speed and movement. Very upbeat personality on the track. Set shot kicking on goal from 45m on 45deg angle followed, with some doing low passes to the goal square running through the centre circle. Better kicks were Kent, Petracca, Salem, Watts and Pedo. The poorer set shots were by Jayden Hunt, Matt Jones (missed all shots, some OOF or didn't make the distance). Jade Rawlings stood the mark on the side where I was and made wise cracks to put the players off their kicks. Very funny guy. Got stuck into Petracca for his basketball slam dunk prowess, and Dean Kent for his apparent addiction to messaging on his mobile.

The young draftees did lap running, timed sprints, kicking and handball drills and boxing. Mostly aside from the main groups. Enthusiastic bunch.

Someone came off having landed awkwardly on an ankle, might have been young Joel Smith. Not sure.

Didnt see Roos or Goodwin. They might have been on the Punt Rd side for all of the 2 hrs I was there, but I couldn't see them. Rawlings took the drills mostly, Misso the running. McCartney there as well I believe. On the sidelines were TViney, Mahoney, Byrnes, some of the other assistants and Jason Taylor.

I got there about 10 but could only stay for an hour.They had  2 really good sessions of working the ball from full back to pass the centre, with full contact, handball and kicking under pressure.

They also had similar games trying to get the ball forward of centre to FF. They all looked pretty sharp. Harmes was the stand out to me.

Petracca put a soda through the goals from 5 metres out. Then turned around and off 2 steps barrelled a torp. as straight as a dye to the centre square. Just beautiful to watch.

VB, ANB, Jetta all performed really well. I didn't recognise O McD with his hat on, but take the hat off, has his body shape changed.

The difference I have noticed this year is the amount of full on intensity in every drill. I saw someone over by the punt road side, take a mark near the boundary about 40m out.

Then walk back and slowly walk in and put it straight through the Centre. It was just perfect kicking style. He was wearing Yellow Fluorescent boots. I kept my eyes on him and walked around to see who it was. It was Max King. I don't remember him having such a fluent kicking action. Can someone tell me I am wrong.

Pics! http://imgur.com/a/okx1R

[Purple 77]

Cheers Barra!

Getting excited about the Pettraccattack! Prepare to get Petrekt!

[Big Mac]

Cheers Barra!

Getting excited about the Pettraccattack! Prepare to get Petrekt!

Just about guaranteed a round 1 debut already