Melbourne 2016 pre-season

[Barra13]

I took one for the team this morning. Went out to Casey to have a look at the boys. 14 Celsius  so no heat stroke for me or anyone else. I couldn't identify all the players but will give you what I can.

Trengrove was involved in a drill with two trainers where he kicked out from goals to them, ran out, gathered the ball wheeled around and had a ping for goal. Looked good doing that. Later he was running the boundary with a bit of pace and being encouraged as he passed Nathan Jones. Moving well and body,legs etc all looked solid. He's not so far off I think.

Petracca walked passed clicking his fingers and tapping his chest. Moving ok but taking it easy. Not involved in the main business. Garlett looked slick in the sprints and composed and classy in match simulation. Hogan has a very intimidating look to him but retains that laconic air. Bigger, strong hands and despite the wet conditions competed well. Tyson was solid in the conditions. He was moving freely. Presented well and used his possessions to good effect. He impressed me.

Oliver- had a good look at him. He was easy to spot. Keen as mustard, his kicks and hand passes about 90% effective. Made good choices and made it as easy for his team mates as they could want. I get the feeling he could be huge value in the main season. In comparison to Neal Bullen and even Stretch he needs to build up but when that happens, he'll be an awesome prospect.

jack viney Everything you expect him to be. Super competitive moving well hates to be beaten. Very prominent in all passages of play in which he was involved. Expect a big year from Jack.

Maximus was massive this morning. He launched himself vertical at one point to punch the ball out of play to stop Gus marking. For good measure he gave Gus a hip and shoulder as he walked past him back to the centre of the ground. Nice bit of agro from Max . Not Usain Bolt but he was a huge presence and I sense that him being around will be super important for all the mids this year. Took some big grabs and not bad by foot in the conditions.

Ask me about others. I might be able to answer.

[Barra13]

I popped down, they were doing full match simulation the whole time I was there. White, Salem, Jetta, Garland where the best users out of half back line. I like Grimes, so watched closely, 1 from 4 of his clearances hit a target with one out of bounds and one out on the full, and one a turn over. Pedo looked good at chf, Hulk great as usual. Dom Tyson looked real good, racked up touches and used it well. At one stage Viney took on the man on the mark, got done holding the ball, was shattered, his opponent went to play on straight away and JV rag dolled him holding the ball back. Jones looked classy, Gawny looked very good. Stretch seemed to run to some bad places and was being ignored. Oliver was great in the wet, wins one v ones, and is so clever with his use in close. Any other questions might spark some other info as I was working at the same time.

[Barra13]

another tragic out at Casey for a little bit this morning, spoke to Petracca for about 5 minutes, straight from the horses mouth, he is a week ahead of schedule will start running next week has no pain, when he first did it, he didnt think much of it, iced his foot then went for a run the next day and felt fine, it wasnt until he kicked a footy that it hurt.

Anyway doesnt expect to play NAB challenge but will play a praccy match and is on track for round 1, in his words, "he will be playing somewhere"

whether that is Melbourne or Casey is not up to him but you would think if he is good to go it would be on the MCG.

I must say he is a very positive individual!  said the boys are really improving and putting on size.  the focus this preseason has been on attack he tells us, expect to see a different team this year, must say got a little bit excited!

[Purple 77]

gif a prediction of things to come barra? This will be his year  8)

I remember that moment  8) I changed my picture almost immediately after whilst the game was still going, saying "SUPER KENT!"

[Barra13]

Melbourne supporters know how important he is. It's the outside world that haven't seen him a whole lot. He will raise a few eyebrows this year I reckon.

[Purple 77]

Melbourne supporters know how important he is. It's the outside world that haven't seen him a whole lot. He will raise a few eyebrows this year I reckon.

This!

I remember some clown (i.e. AFL "Expert Analysis") trying to predict everyone's best 22, and they said Kent would be struggling to get a contract past this season  ::)

[Barra13]

I think a few other clubs would be sniffing around him toward the end of the year. He is an important cog to the Melbourne future.

The ones I see being a key part to the future are;
Kent
Salem
Hogan
Gawn
TMac
Tyson
Viney

These guys could all have the potential to be AA.

[Pkbaldy]

Hope you guys aren't over praising him :P I kept him in DT Americas in hope he kills it this year :P

[Barra13]

Should be his best year yet. In terms of DT I don't think its going to be that huge. Maybe average something like 60ish?

[Barra13]

Dawes, Lumumba, Max King doing run throughs on the wing.

Trengove, Terlich, Weideman doing agility.

Bootless Petracca running laps with a footy.

Boys look great in the Indigenous jumpers.

Kennedy-Harris and Watts have joined the rehab group for some hand balling.

Max King's doing laps.

The Congan ambassador is getting some physio.

Tracc is enjoying getting on Goodwin's radio whilst walking.

Dawes took a mark.

Trenners is jumping and spinning over some 30cm high yellow hurdle

Boys are doing a drill that goes short kick to a f flank, square to chf, kick to a lead from the square.

All kicks encouraged to be fast. 1 step, kick says the coach.

Dunn and Gawn the most vocal.

White stands out in his ability to spear a pass from this 1/3 of the team.

Tyson kicking with more penetration.

trengove looks like he could play tomorrow, think he explained the timeline on the website recently.

Oliver kicks the ball well when balanced, massages it a bit when under pressure. Not the best or worst Oliver and Mi King have joined rehab.

No signs of Bewton.

Hogan, Frost and T Mc doing marking drills.

Smith also in the rehab shirt.

2 different hard and fast handball drills happening. All about quick decisions under pressure and getting in to space

In between drills the main group pair off for sprints around the centre square.

Modern version of go do a 400.

Vanders flying to match pace with Hunt.

Looks like some full ground blue v green with a 3rd group waiting for some match simulation 

[Big Mac]

Should be his best year yet. In terms of DT I don't think its going to be that huge. Maybe average something like 60ish?

Yep, could make the dees 2-3 goals per game better off, between his own scoring + the pressure he puts on and opportunities he creates

Not sure how well that will translate to fantasy though

[Barra13]

Pics! - http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-02-01/photo-gallery-monday-february-1

It was my day off so I lasted the full session - just.

DeeSpencer's done a good job on the rehab group.

The two surprise rehabbers were Jack Watts and JKH - not sure what they have done - maybe in Jack's case too much golf.

They did a few muck around games to start with - one with tennis ball and the other soccer ball - no surprises for guessing that Salem was the best but Angus did a pretty fine Ronaldo move at one stage. Vanders tried to be cute as well, but he would be lucky to get a game at Scowhorpe United. Saddest moment was when Neal Bullen hammered a ball and Angus stupidly decided to head it from less than 10m away and realised soon after that it wasn't a good idea - bt dizzy for a bit.

The rest of the drills consisted of either sprints - which they did in pairs, goalshooting and for the most part transition work. The last 30 minutes was using just half the ground and came after a ball-up. Ben Matthews took the drill and at one point after Jack Viney (who had swapped to the defensive team) won his third consecutive clearance thereby rendering the drill useless as a transition exercise, he exclaimed "Who is on the little c..t". Said with a smirk but shows how much they think of him.

A run down on players for those of you who are starved like me at this time of year.

Kennedy - One of the standouts. His left foot kick is more powerful than I thought and he has a pretty handy leap. I think I'd be willing to say that unless he has some pre-season game howlers, he'll start as a small forward in Rd 1 with Jeffy.

Viney - Hard at work as always. Chose to do sprints against Kennedy and probably just shaded.

Vandenburg - Wanted to prove a point in sprints with Hunt and very, very close. Also hammered a few when he could in transition and Bugg went off early after copping one of his fend-offs.

Kent - Very impressive again. Won his sprint battle with Harmesy and presented well as a forward. If Kennedy plays Rd 1, does he move to a wing? He's fit enough.

Angus - Copped quite a few knocks. You almost think the players love getting him because he gives so much cheek. Won his sprint duel with Jeffy most times, although you sensed Jeffy was foxing for a better handicap. No sign of him being turned into a backman (my wish) and no real sign of him being part of the clearance machine - so I suspect wing/half forward is where he'll line up.

Harmsey - Was used as a forward in the transition game. Keen and eager as usual. One of a big gang of small forwards battling for three spots in Rd 1.

Salem - Hard and classy as usual, although couldn't escape Vanders on the wing one time and did a bit of a Stephen Stretch taking it out. He also copped a knock late in session and was tested for concussion. Seemed right but no risk policy meant he just did light work from then on. A lock for Rd 1.

Nat Jonesy - You barely knew he was there most of the time and then a player bobs up with exquisite balance gets it and delivers a pinpoint pass.

Bernie - Yep he was back in the thick of the action - copped a knock to the finger at one point but had one quick look cused and went straight back into it. No sign that he missed the pre-season before X-mas. Hit Jeffy one time with a perfect grass-burner.

Tyson - Always calling for it and right in the thick of the action but way too many turnovers today. Sometimes it just doesn't work for him when he hangs on to it, especially when you are up against a team full of really good tacklers. But you need players who keep presenting.

Matt Jones - Another who worked hard and did nothing majorly wrong but you just wonder if he has the confidence to impose.

Viv Michie - A really impressive session from him. Tackled well and kicked beautifully. One of his spot ups to Kent was like watching Nat Jones.

Bugg - You can just tell this guy will be playing Rd 1. No fuss and hard, always putting a body on a player. Not a thumping kick but he'll end up tagging Shiel or Ward Rd 1.

Garlett - Got on the end of quite a few and lively in transition. No reason to think he won't be standing next to Hoges in Rd 1.

Hunt - Got a fair bit of it and provided a fair bit of run at times, but I'm still not sure yet. But he did play as a defender for a lot of it.

Most of the bigs didn't do as much because they aren't in the thick of the transition games, but key things were.

Sam Frost did almost the whole session and did a lot of it as a backman - maybe he'll line up on Patton Rd 1. No sign of any interest in club trying to get him to do ruckwork.

Garland, Grimes, Dunn and Oscar Mc all played done back and did their usual tight checking and switching. Oscar even got the gig on Hoges so maybe they rate him highly or maybe Tom Mac lighter session meant they had no choice. Wagner also played down back and looks lively.

Hoges, Pedo and Hulet were the tall forwards. Hard to understand why Hulet is allowed to do more work than Clayton Oliver. Perhaps the club had him earmarked and on a special program late in year. Harmes, Kent, Jeffy and Kennedy rotated as small forwards.

Spencer and Gawn battled in the ruck but there was no major intensity from either this time and Spencil started in rehab group before joining in game-simulation.

Of those in the lengthy rehab group, I watched Trenners the most - he was out there the longest and clearly he's getting close to resuming. But when he did his run throughs you sensed why he won't be playing in the seniors for a while. He can mark and kick, but he obviously hasn't been able to work yet on his sprinting and given the nature of the injury you can probably understand why - so to answer the question of when he will get back in AFL - I see him as a mid-year prospect. Also I still didn't see him kick a left-footer - assume he's not allowed to yet.

Of the rehab group - Dawes seems closest to rejoining. I'm hoping Oliver and Weideman were on light days. Terlich is getting fitter and could also resume soon. Harry did quite a few sprints with Dawes.

That surely is enough!

[Purple 77]

Should be his best year yet. In terms of DT I don't think its going to be that huge. Maybe average something like 60ish?

Yeah I reckon 55-60DT is about right.

Dawes took a mark.

 

Made me lol

[Toga]

Interesting he thinks Kennedy will play as a small forward. Seems like half the reason he left Collingwood was because he was playing out of position (works best as a midfielder)... Where do you guys see Kent playing? Could Kennedy end up on that wing and Kent play more in the forward half?

[Barra13]

I honestly am not really sure where Kennedy will end up. Kent will be a small forward for sure, has speed, that forward pressure and loves a goal.

Kennedy is a tough one. Best thing I can say is to watch the NAB at this stage.