Melbourne 2016 pre-season

[Barra13]

And I hate to be rude but a young lady seemed to be observing and she was a solid 9 to 9.5. By far best on track.

Would appreciate any extra info here barra

Haha, I liked that bit too.

[GoLions]

Hahahaha very nice, any pics? For science of course.

[Barra13]

Trust me, if there was pics they would already be here. ;)

[Holz]

the Mac brothers looking like beasts.

I reckon Tmac can back up his season.

do you guys think Omac is a decent shot of getting into the 22 and staying there?

[Purple 77]

the Mac brothers looking like beasts.

I reckon Tmac can back up his season.

do you guys think Omac is a decent shot of getting into the 22 and staying there?

Aw, not really. He's a long-term project; I was quite surprised he got those games at the end of the season; I reckon it was just to give him a taste of AFL to spur him on over the pre-season.

Don't reckon 2016 is his year.

[Holz]

the Mac brothers looking like beasts.

I reckon Tmac can back up his season.

do you guys think Omac is a decent shot of getting into the 22 and staying there?

Aw, not really. He's a long-term project; I was quite surprised he got those games at the end of the season; I reckon it was just to give him a taste of AFL to spur him on over the pre-season.

Don't reckon 2016 is his year.

probably agree still needs abit more size but the preseason posts look very promising. maybe 1 more season in the VFL and another preseason and he could have a big 2017.

If he can be as good as his brother then you have yourself a nice back line there. Tmac stops the forwards and takes contested marks who handballs or kicks it to his brother his takes it outsdie the 50 and intercepts marks.

[Barra13]

Although, if we lost one of TMac/Garland/Dunn he would probably get a call up.

[Barra13]

Photos from training:

http://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/melbourne-demons?assettype=image&editorialproducts=sport&excludenudity=true&family=editorial&phrase=melbourne%20demons&sort=best

[Holz]

Although, if we lost one of TMac/Garland/Dunn he would probably get a call up.

just saw his picture looks still a little small. Probably best to give him one more season.

15 disposals and 6 marks in both of his games was a good sign though.

[Football Factory]

mmmmmmm spit and snot and sweat dripping .. love that picture  ;D

Good to see Kennedy hasn't lost the tongue hang

[Toga]

I dare someone to find a photo of Kennedy playing footy without his tongue hanging out ;D

[Football Factory]

Even when he celebrates he has to let it go   :P

[Big Mac]

the Mac brothers looking like beasts.

I reckon Tmac can back up his season.

do you guys think Omac is a decent shot of getting into the 22 and staying there?

Aw, not really. He's a long-term project; I was quite surprised he got those games at the end of the season; I reckon it was just to give him a taste of AFL to spur him on over the pre-season.

Don't reckon 2016 is his year.

probably agree still needs abit more size but the preseason posts look very promising. maybe 1 more season in the VFL and another preseason and he could have a big 2017.

If he can be as good as his brother then you have yourself a nice back line there. Tmac stops the forwards and takes contested marks who handballs or kicks it to his brother his takes it outsdie the 50 and intercepts marks.

Frost is also a beast - ideally he takes the monster forwards, unless Tmac gets a lot bigger

[Barra13]

Alrighty, first off as I type this I’m going to be a little late. Not that it honestly bothers me too much, I had to do a bit of running around this morning, but I won’t be missing too much more than the warmup should the boys actually start on time. Perhaps they might be a little bit later than that.

Okay, so I get here at 10:00, a tad late with the almost as fashionable entrance that Russell Westbrook assumes in the NBA, laptop bag strapped over my shoulder and all - but I’m told I didn’t miss much â€" all I missed really is the warmups and one of those six minute runs that the boys do. When I get here the boys are walking around the oval, and then slowly gets to a bit of a jog. In the rehab group on the other side of the oval are Hoges (I was wrong about Monday by the way, it wasn’t management, he’s got a bit of a finger issue at the moment) and Petracca of course. What it looks like they are doing is that both are running and doing a bit of weaving before marking the footy, and there’s also a bit of work to do with some hurdles as well by the looks of things.

As we were then with the main leaders leading the way around the oval. McDonald and Viney are up the front, and the boys look like they are changing into their footy boots so that they can start using the ball in vastly different conditions to when I was here Monday â€" the thorough Monday afternoon heat and gust replaced by Friday the 13th cold, wet and breeze. It’s not a pretty day by any means but this provides an early season indicator given this will be the conditions the boys will be facing come the 2016 season.

The boys go for this weird kind of run around part of the oval. I couldn’t properly explain it except for it’s pretty brief. Afterwards there’s a short kick of the footy. It’s a good chance to see who’s up here and training. Max Gawn is here and he’s having a run around in his quest to make Todd Goldstein look like Paul Johnson â€" an ultimately difficult task. I’ve already mentioned McDonald being here, don’t think Garland is here, while Brayshaw â€" after missing Monday â€" is here too training. The whistle goes â€" the kick of the footy is all too brief. I hear loud noises, including a couple of mentions of “over the shoulder” as the boys assume positions for the next drill, with a whole heap of cones.

This is an interesting drill. There’s groups of four in this drill, with a couple of players weaving around cones, one with the footy and one without, whereas another player comes in to try and tackle said player weaving with the footy. At the moment no one is really missing the mark, that’s because the player with the ball seemingly runs straight into the man who’s going after him. Again it’s all too brief and they move around again, this time to the edge of the square. Again this is another kind of pressure drill There’s about three players in vests and another three who go out and run to get the footy in kind of a simulation drill. There isn’t a whole lot of pressure from those wearing vests, which is either disappointing or what is expected of them from the fitness coaches, I couldn’t tell you which is which. From the ball users perspective there are a couple of handballs which miss the target and their trajectory is poor. Again (and this seems to be the theme of the day) the drill is very brief.

Meantime over at the near end of the ground, Jesse “up for a kick at the park tomorrow?” Hogan and CP5 are having set shots. Hogan’s run up is even more painfully slower and more edgy than what it was last year with the stutter even more obvious you could make a verse about it in Stutter Rap. Meantime Petracca misses a sitter from about 35 out on a slight angle and he’s pretty pissed about it â€" he knows he should do better. You can notice the higher standards though, maybe in another year, specifically 2013, the boys would have a laugh about it, but you can see the want to succeed now.

Anyway, with less jibberish, the boys begin their next drill. The first group nearest is stopped and the coach over there (can’t work out who it is from a distance) mentions that it shouldn’t be too much of a “handball game”. There are a couple of average kicks â€" I won’t lie about that, especially one from I think Smith who just skids it along the ground, it’s a true shank. On the far end of the ground the drill is still going and there’s a few kicks which are just hitting the mark with authority. There was one such instance where Harmes lead excellently to the ball and it hits him on the chest as he jumps, didn’t catch who actually kicked it to him but that’s always a good sign looking ahead.

There’s a clear difference between the two groups â€" the group nearest to where I’m positioned are moving it slowly and with a bit of hesitation, but the group on the opposite side of the ground are taking it on big time. It’s a massive difference and the group nearest to us are out to rectify that when they begin again.

Rehab â€" Hulk and CP5 are running laps now. CP’s endurance has massively improved since this stage last year and he’s running with Crossy, who’s going to be massive for his ultimate development ijn being able to run all day.

The conditions change again as the boys head into the next drill â€" suns out guns out… not quite. Not for me anyway. The drill here is that the boys start off in a circle, then the boys spread out around the ground and become targets. Matt Jones scuffs the first kick, one which is wide of the mark to Terlich, which sees the vest team get possession of the footy. In fact the first two times the groups go out, it is characterised by missed handballs and a couple of scuffed kicks here and there. It’s a little disappointing but then again the team with the vests are putting on good pressure much the same.

The teams change and immediately there’s a shift. Where the first team tried to move the ball too quickly, there’s more a sense of surety with this team as the boys take a bit more time moving the ball, but not too slowly. The boys assess their options a lot more carefully and as a result, are able to transfer the footy from one end of the ground to the other. The second movement is even more impressive â€" the team with the footy catch out the team with the vests through straight and direct ball movement, which goes nothing short of perfect until the final kick which drifts away late and hits the post. It was delightful to watch and hopefully there’s more of that throughout the season as the boys cut through teams like a hot knife through butter. Now that’d be something.

The boys, in the meantime, continue their drill, and while the early stages look reminiscent of the boys at their worst (what I mean is that when they handball backwards and they panic mercilessly) what’s impressive is that they are beginning to realise that handballing to a bloke under pressure just doesn’t work. Ever. It’s Terls who sets this one up, sidestepping a couple of blokes and then delivering a good ball.

In the meantime, CP5 leaves early. I’m assuming therefore that OKC and his beloved Russell Westbrook are playing then. The boys start again. Salem gets the ball and somehow manages to break a Viney tackle. Not too often you get to say that but that’s a representation of the standing of the bloke. In fact, every time Salem is getting it, he is using it extremely well and it’s so good to watch. Just nails almost every kick basically, no matter whether it’s a long kick or a short one.

The boys then stop for a short break, be it either for drinks, to have a chat, or to watch Jesse Hogan walk off. Either one of the three. The boys then split up into groups of three, one with green vests, orange vests and one group without vests. It’s two teams at the moment â€" one sits out. It’s the team without vests sitting out at the moment, leading to the ultimate “See My Vest” Cup (Byrnes coaching, anyone? Would be appropriate) which ends briefly after a miscued kick which just skids along the ground. I’m assuming that the two just go at it until there’s a mistake â€" one which comes in the second game between orange and plain when a kick is spoiled well (to applause and cheers) by Gussy, the ultimate hard working kid. All three teams cycle through and we go again. Green team is unable to penetrate orange team’s defensive structure. This time a loose kick is intercepted by (by the looks of it) King.

The defensive structure of the two other teams’ is interesting. Plain’s defending is manic and high-energy, however some loose defending from Harmes brings their strategy undone, while Green seem to be loose, an ambitious kick into the corridor to Salem is quickly intercepted by two Green defenders. The drill then ends for either a pause or a switch to another drill.  As it turns out, it’s a pause. After a brief restarting of the drill the boys start off again they stop almost as quickly, and then have a lengthy chat.

They move down the ground and have… another chat? I’m assuming there’s a bit of set shot work here because of the way this drill seems to be set up. This isn’t the case. Instead there’s only like four blokes actually having set shots, a big group having snaps and another small group crumbing and running in to goal from about 25-30 out. Meantime nothing has changed with Brayshaw in his training habits, always the prankster and always talking shower whenever someone goes past and has a set shot. On this occasion Stretch is copping an earful. Meantime there’s a group with Crossy running around â€" King, Frost, Kent and Kennedy. Dunno why they aren’t with the main group. As to be expected, Kent and Kennedy lead the way with Frost trailing and King a little bit further back in these running drills.

This has been the way of the world for about 15 minutes so I have a geeze around and look at the world. While the training gear is somewhat up to scratch for a number of people it’s not quite up to scratch in other areas. For example, the cloth which covers the pavilion. I’m not sure about you but you would THINK â€" for a club which has worked hard to develop its logo â€" that by now they’d have developed a cloth with the new logo on it in preparation for the release. That’s not the case. Old Schwabbolly-dobbolly-wobbolly’s logo is still taking pride of place.

In the middle… a beep test being sorted? It doesn’t seem to be the case because after a short while with measuring et al, the cones are being taken away. Maybe they are otherwise preparing for it to be done in a future session (Monday?) Regardless there’s a few at the moment who are on their way out. It’s also my cue to bugger off myself as I look for a spot of lunch and either perhaps get to enjoy some old reruns of the footy or perhaps the cricket coming up as well (although that’s not until later).

[Purple 77]

Always enjoy reading these.

Kinda miss TDI's reports, as he goes into the individuals a bit more.

But I suppose these training runs are just the first ones; it'll get more interesting as the pre-season wears on.