As you read these blogs, bear in mind that in October last year, the chief football writer for the Herald-Sun said our Club had lost integrity and trust.  He’s right of course and anyway, when a guy like Robbo writes about standards of integrity in the AFL, you just gotta sit up and take notice.  The point is that  this guidance from Robbo  should lead  you to the conclusion that not everything you read in my blogs can necessarily be trusted to be true.  Frustrating for you guys I know, but oddly liberating for me as a writer.

Yesterday for example, I made the observation that I impressed everyone on the first day of the camp with my regular slotting of goals from as far as fifteen metres out on my non-preferred right foot.  Now….not every one of those four observations  was true.  But I’ll leave it to you to work out which.

Day two of the camp saw the first day of serious training.  For this session, I was kept right away from the track; Bevo politely making clear he didn’t want our younger goal sneaks intimidated by watching the standard I was setting.  So I was sidelined with the locker group guys (some of our staunchest supporters) providing some selective insights into the boys training.  

It started out humid and got hotter.  There are three ovals to the sports complex.  The squad eventually broke up into four groups taking each other on in short bursts of match practice.  Prior to the session, Luke emphasised what he wanted to see; precise delivery under pressure; accountability in defensive formations and adherence to the structural changes the team is learning for 2015.

You'll appreciate that I'm pretty enthusiastic about pretty much everyone on our list.  So I relied on my locker club comrades and some of the assistant coaches in verifying who made the best impression.

Lachie Hunter.  He is a seamless and self-assured mover in heavy traffic and a stand-out today.  He, Mitch Wallis and Libba seem to know where each other are in match practice.

Mitch Honeychurch.  Christened 'the honey badger' by Gia, Mitch staked some serious claims for this year's midfield with a solid performance.

Tom Boyd.  Let me just try to  describe this.  At one point, three or four of our tallest guys all flew for a pack mark in a mess of big bodies and arms.  As they fell away or down, the hands clenched firmly on the ball belonged to the last man standing .... Tom.  The locker group boys and I were watching from behind the goals. No one said a word.  Everyone just grinned.  We allowed ourselves a little nodding of wizened heads.  Tom put in a solid overall session.

Daniel Pearce.  Might surprise a few people this year, Daniel.  No mistakes.  Handled the ball with confidence.

Josh Prudden.  Great to see a competent and solid session after such an unlucky run with injuries.

Liam Picken.  Consistent quality of his contribution and his steady improvement in recent years is sometimes overlooked.  Didn't put a foot wrong.

Caleb Daniel and Toby McLean.  Remember that song from the eighties 'things that make you go hmmmmm'?  Apparently written presciently about the prospects of these two.

In a way, I feel bad picking blokes out but hey, there's not a swag of reporters up here at the moment, so that's my journalistic take.

As President, let me say I'm really happy with the enthusiasm, the hard work and the commitment being shown by the whole group.

In the afternoon, we settled in to a session on game plan and structures.  This was led by Joel Corey with assistance from Stephen King.  I'm no expert but I was surprised and really impressed by how far Joel has come as a coach in just a year of coaching.  It was really well handled and the players seemed engaged and eager to learn.  Overall, it seems like the changes in strategic approach for 2015 are more a case of development and refinement than a throwing out of the baby with the bath water.   I could probably tell ya more....but then I'd have to kill ya....or get killed myself by Bevo.

Anyway, that's it for today.  I'm off to chase down these authoritative and well sourced rumours about Chris Grant being unhappy.  I'm just hoping it's not the whole Prince Philip knighthood thing.  After all, who's to say His Royal Highness couldn't have played 341 games himself if he'd put his mind to it.  Honestly!