Just to confirm that the #49 indigenous boy that's been training with the dees is highly talented NGA prospect Ricky Mentha.

Mentha is originally from Palmerston Football Club up in the NT and will be splitting his time between the Gippsland Power in the Coates League this year and NT Thunder (played a few games last year). So he'll be worth the watch.

Ricky is a livewire small forward with elite speed and agility who's a decent prospect that's also part of the NAB AFL Academy team, so the kid has obvious talent.

2024 AFL National Academy squads announced

 

It's such a strange system the AFL has in place now; it's hard to know whether or not to be excited by this.

Good luck to him, but the Academy system is very, very broken.

if he's really good, we won't have access to him

if he was in the gc17 darwin zone, they could take him no questions asked

the nga system is a farce

Three things that stood out about him today:

1. His elite speed. At one stage, he ran down Koltyn who was streaming towards goal and threw him to the ground.

2. His ball handling. He one-touched on a day where many balls slid through fingers.

3. His size. For an under 18 he didn't look out of his league out there today.

Better hide him away pronto. If he draws any attention we won’t get him under the current absurd academy, draft rules. 

On 17/01/2024 at 15:38, dazzledavey36 said:

Just to confirm that the #49 indigenous boy that's been training with the dees is highly talented NGA prospect Ricky Mentha.

Mentha is originally from Palmerston Football Club up in the NT and will be splitting his time between the Gippsland Power in the Coates League this year and NT Thunder (played a few games last year). So he'll be worth the watch.

Ricky is a livewire small forward with elite speed and agility who's a decent prospect that's also part of the NAB AFL Academy team, so the kid has obvious talent.

2024 AFL National Academy squads announced

 

Surprised that he is training with us as Palmerston and Gippsland Power are not in our Next Gen Academy zones. Not that it matters much as previously mentioned the system is broken and benefits only the Northern States teams and Coates league teams.

For those who are interested in good old fashioned statistics, here they are for Ricky Mentha:-

WARNING: Some of the following information may offend so if you happen to be squeamish about weight, please look away -

Ricky Mentha

Height: 179cm

Weight: 66kg

D.O.B: 04-09-2006

8 hours ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Surprised that he is training with us as Palmerston and Gippsland Power are not in our Next Gen Academy zones. Not that it matters much as previously mentioned the system is broken and benefits only the Northern States teams and Coates league teams.

The Northern Territory where he initially grew up is part of our NGA zone.

Edited January 17, 20241 yr by dazzledavey36

179.   Height.    66 kegs.    Thin as a rake needs 15 kgs 

6 minutes ago, 640MD said:

179.   Height.    66 kegs.    Thin as a rake needs 15 kgs 

No, he doesn't.

Bobby Hill won a Norm Smith medal playing at 71kg as listed on his player profile in the Collingwood website.

The days of being big and baulky are long gone. You stack a heap of weight on Mentha and you risk taking away his speed and agility. The game is all about fast ball movement and ability to sling shot off half back with speed on the ball.

Kozzie Pickett was drafted at 67kg and he's handled the AFL environment just fine.

30 minutes ago, 640MD said:

179.   Height.    66 kegs.    Thin as a rake needs 15 kgs 

He looks heavier than 66 kgs. Struggled big time in the running at the end of the session 

16 hours ago, Tough Kent said:

Three things that stood out about him today:

1. His elite speed. At one stage, he ran down Koltyn who was streaming towards goal and threw him to the ground.

2. His ball handling. He one-touched on a day where many balls slid through fingers.

3. His size. For an under 18 he didn't look out of his league out there today.

Right, as of now he doesnt exist and has knee soreness

66 kgs.  How dare that stat be published? So 2023 and so yesterday.   

Hopefully, he is drafted like Moniz-Wakefield considered not quite right to be drafted but considered too good to not be playing in the VFL. 

Thanks Dazzle36 let’s hope that we get a shot at him in the next draft, Ricky Mentha has a nice ring to it.

2 hours ago, DeeZone said:

Thanks Dazzle36 let’s hope that we get a shot at him in the next draft, Ricky Mentha has a nice ring to it.

Could be handy if we become insolvent.

I was thinking how awesome it would be to draft Yze early and Metha later.

On 17/01/2024 at 17:02, Earl Hood said:

Better hid him away pronto. If he draws any attention we won’t get him under the current absurd academy, draft rules. 

Blud oath!

On 18/01/2024 at 07:00, Whispering_Jack said:

For those who are interested in good old fashioned statistics, here they are for Ricky Mentha:-

WARNING: Some of the following information may offend so if you happen to be squeamish about weight, please look away -

Ricky Mentha

Height: 179cm

Weight: 66kg

D.O.B: 04-09-2006

If. there's any chance Ricky will be picked inside the top 40 in his draft year, I recommend the following strategy:

Ricky plays a maximum of 3 games between now and then.  In those games, he must strictly adhere to the following: he must only kick or handball on his non-preferred side, he must wear his shoes on the wrong feet, he must be played in the ruck and have gastro.

Welcome to the Dees Ricky!

On 21/01/2024 at 19:06, Roger Mellie said:

If. there's any chance Ricky will be picked inside the top 40 in his draft year, I recommend the following strategy:

Ricky plays a maximum of 3 games between now and then.  In those games, he must strictly adhere to the following: he must only kick or handball on his non-preferred side, he must wear his shoes on the wrong feet, he must be played in the ruck and have gastro.

Welcome to the Dees Ricky!

Gastro good grief ,hope its a black shorts day

Looking forward to seeing the system screw us over if he's any good.

On 21/01/2024 at 17:32, Lexinator said:

Imagine being Rick rolled in 2024..

The Herald Sun online edition has this to say about him in its preview of Gippsland Power players for 2024:- 

Ricky Mentha (Gippsland/Warragul): 

Mentha is an Australian-Academy player who is originally from Alice Springs. He moved to Morwell last year and worked his way into the Power squad. The Melbourne NGA prospect will excite a few this year.

And more information here:-

Ricky Mentha

On 17/01/2024 at 15:38, dazzledavey36 said:

Just to confirm that the #49 indigenous boy that's been training with the dees is highly talented NGA prospect Ricky Mentha.

Mentha is originally from Palmerston Football Club up in the NT and will be splitting his time between the Gippsland Power in the Coates League this year and NT Thunder (played a few games last year). So he'll be worth the watch.

Ricky is a livewire small forward with elite speed and agility who's a decent prospect that's also part of the NAB AFL Academy team, so the kid has obvious talent.

2024 AFL National Academy squads announced

 

So to summarize the current AFL position, if he is very good we don't get him and if he isn't we might.