Jump to content

Featured Replies

Posted

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

image.png.8a86573676969657952624bddc34f182.png

 

 

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.

 

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

image.png.8a86573676969657952624bddc34f182.png

 

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.

  • Author
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 by dazzledavey36

 

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

  • Author
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

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.

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

image.png.7e9f1fe858c3ebb1064b82c7b8725154.png

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

 

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

image.png.8a86573676969657952624bddc34f182.png

 

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

 


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • PODCAST: Essendon

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 14th April @ the all new time of 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect another Demons loss at Kardinia Park to the Cats in the Round 04. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

      • Thanks
    • 17 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Fremantle

    The Demons return home to the MCG in search of their first win for the 2025 Premiership season when they take on the Fremantle Dockers on Saturday afternoon. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
    • 54 replies
    Demonland
  • VOTES: Essendon

    Max Gawn leads the Demonland Player of the Year ahead of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Kade Chandler and Jake Bowey. Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

      • Thanks
    • 21 replies
    Demonland
  • POSTGAME: Essendon

    Despite a spirited third quarter surge, the Demons have slumped to their worst start to a season since 2012, remaining winless and second last on the ladder after a 39-point defeat to Essendon at Adelaide Oval in Gather Round.

      • Vomit
      • Sad
      • Thanks
    • 243 replies
    Demonland
  • GAMEDAY: Essendon

    It’s Game Day, and the Demons are staring down the barrel of an 0-5 start for the first time since 2012 as they take on Essendon at Adelaide Oval for Gather Round. In that forgettable season, Melbourne finally broke their drought by toppling the Bombers. Can lightning strike twice? Will the Dees turn their nightmare start around and breathe life back into 2025?

      • Like
    • 723 replies
    Demonland
  • PREVIEW: Essendon

    As the focus of the AFL moves exclusively to South Australia for Gather Round, the question is raised as to what are we going to get from the  Melbourne Football Club this weekend? Will it be a repeat of the slop fest of the last three weeks that have seen the team score a measly 174 points and concede 310 or will a return to the City of Churches and the scene where they performed at their best in 2024 act as a wakeup call and bring them out of their early season reverie?  Or will the sleepy Dees treat their fans to a reenactment of their lazy effort from the first Gather Round of two years ago when they allowed the Bombers to trample all over them on a soggy and wet Adelaide Oval? The two examples from above tell us how fickle form can be in football. Last year, a committed group of players turned up in Adelaide with a businesslike mindset. They had a plan, went in confidently and hard for the football and kicked winning scores against both home teams in a difficult environment for visitors. And they repeated that sort of effort later in the season when they played Essendon at the MCG.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland