Melbourne - Prelim 2018

B Neville Jetta, Oscar McDonald, Jordan Lewis

HB Christian Salem, Sam Frost, Michael Hibberd

C Mitch Hannan, Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw

HF Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald, James Harmes

F Aaron vandenBerg, Sam Weideman, Alex Neal-Bullen

FOL Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney

I/C Christian Petracca, Charlie Spargo, Dom Tyson, Joel Smith

 

If we happen to bring in Bennell, the following changes to the 2018 prelim team could potentially be come round 1 (best 22):

IN: May, Lever, Tomlinson, Langdon, Bennell, Fritsch, Hore 

OUT: Frost, oMac, Lewis, Spargo, Tyson, Joel Smith, Hannan

Great set of ins!

 

Owen was the gun of unknown proportions and we got him at 20 years old. He started for St Kilda at 16, kicked record bags of goals from a HFF and it seemed we hit a vein of gold. But he had issues. Burnt out young. I remember how good he looked.

Edited October 29, 20195 yr by Damo

Surely if medical etc went well he will be a demon. Why would we officially declare interest in him if not. And he allowed himself to be interviewed talking about the dees and playing on the G. Id say he is a lock.

Will look silly if he chooses another club.

Darren Burgess, Ed Langdon,  Harley Bennell, picks 3 and 8 on the way...   and most exciting of all, the Data analyst we poached from Port

Just when I thought id finally lost interest in footy after that horrible season ,  this damn club sucks me back in again!

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so much consensus on a Demonland thread. 

7 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so much consensus on a Demonland thread. 

I disagree

11 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so much consensus on a Demonland thread. 

 

Because if Bennell can get back even to 70% of the player he was, you can dust off the shelf for flag #13.

Adding Langdon and Bennell to complement our brigade of contested midfield beasts will be amazing.

Edited October 29, 20195 yr by JakovichScissorKick

I’ve crunched some numbers and I believe Geelong only have a rookie slot left to fill. 

Edited October 29, 20195 yr by Ethan Tremblay

4 hours ago, JakovichScissorKick said:

 

Because if Bennell can get back even to 70% of the player he was, you can dust off the shelf for flag #13.

Adding Langdon and Bennell to complement our brigade of contested midfield beasts will be amazing.

Hey, I never said I wasn’t part of the consensus either. Let’s get him. 

We have the name power to lure him in. 

Edited October 29, 20195 yr by John Demonic

Sam McClure on his SEN show last night reckons Sydney are the club house leaders.

They’ve already done a medical and Buddy and Co have wined and dined him.

Hope he’s wrong.

11 hours ago, DeeZee said:

Bennell just been spotted having dinner in Hawthorn with May.

Hopefully he is telling May how to come back fit for for day 1 of pre-season.

Sam Edmund reporting that he want's to play his footy in Melbourne. Think's he'll be training with the Dees. Real chance.

A hypothetical; which club gets the better deal? 

Carlton get a fully fit, 24y.o Jack Martin for free but at $700k a year 

Or

Melbourne get a fully fit 27y.o Harley Bennell for free at minimum wage

https://omny.fm/shows/hot-breakfast/tom-browne-on-the-new-club-into-harley-bennell

According to Tom Browne he's doing a medical with the saints tomorrow.

Had dinner last night with some of the players and coaches as well.

Edited October 29, 20195 yr by dazzledavey36

6 minutes ago, FarNorthernD said:

A hypothetical; which club gets the better deal? 

Carlton get a fully fit, 24y.o Jack Martin for free but at $700k a year 

Or

Melbourne get a fully fit 27y.o Harley Bennell for free at minimum wage

Bennell is a far better footballer. The catch is though he isn’t fully fit, otherwise clubs would be jumping all over him.

15 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

https://omny.fm/shows/hot-breakfast/tom-browne-on-the-new-club-into-harley-bennell

According to Tom Browne he's doing a medical with the saints tomorrow.

Had dinner last night with some of the players and coaches as well.

Those players & coaches were from the Dees Dazzle. Just clearing that up mate

 

??

5 minutes ago, RedLegs23 said:

Those players & coaches were from the Dees Dazzle. Just clearing that up mate

 

??

Yep that's what I meant sorry.

15 hours ago, A F said:

Exactly what our midfield is absolutely crying out for. Skill, outside speed, x factor and goals. If this guy gets going again, he'll be an A grader.

There's very little risk associated with Bennell being on our list. I don't really care what his past is like. If we're taking him on, we'll have the right mentors around him (looking at you, Nev) and the only risk is a list spot. I'd prefer a punt on Bennell than 10-15 of the guys we've re-signed in the last year.

I meant risk with injury, nothing to do with off field stuff. 

9 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Yep that's what I meant sorry.

No probs pal

I wonder if Brad Hill has helped get him to interview with the Saints.

Competition for Harley heating up so some way to go yet.

43 minutes ago, Demon3 said:

I meant risk with injury, nothing to do with off field stuff. 

For mine there's very little risk. The worst we lose is a list spot. We have such ordinary depth that 15 or so players already on the list wouldn't get a game for anyone else. One list spot on a potential A grader is a minimal risk given the state of our list. If he passes the medical, we back ourselves to get him right.

Edited October 29, 20195 yr by A F

Just now, Lucifer's Hero said:

I wonder if Brad Hill has helped get him to interview with the Saints.

Competition for Harley heating up so some way to go yet.

Yep, watch him join the saints now...

5 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Yep, watch him join the saints now...

Will be ropeable if that happens and Martin winds up at Carlton too.

Would basically mean we’ve failed to attract Elliott, Martin and Bennell in one period. Worse yet losing out to lowly clubs like Blues and Saints would be very embarrassing after expressing public interest. 
 

Cmon Dees get it done!

This is just good due diligence from Bennell and his manager.  No use claiming love for one club yet. Get medicals from them all (assuming you will pass), have a nice meal and a chat with whomever is footing the bill, and see what firm offers come in.  Suggest he may get a few ‘offers to train on’ from different clubs, and then he gets to make a choice - select one now with a promise of getting on a list if he meets certain targets, or train at a few and make himself open to the PSD.  Given we have pick 2 in the PSD and rookie drafts, perhaps we hold a pretty good hand either way?