Part 1: Looking Ahead

Recruiting decisions made in recent years by Melbourne's list management team have left the club with plenty of work to do in the upcoming trade, free agency, and draft period.  

That might not be such a bad thing because the decisions in question have left the club in a good position going forward with the drafting of several high-calibre youngsters, including Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup, Harvey Langford, and Xavier Lindsay, all of whom have demonstrated potential to become long-term players for the club. 

On the debit side is the fact that the cost incurred to secure such exceptional talents, combined with some uninspiring trades, further exacerbated by the decline in the team’s poor on-field performance and its declining external profile, has resulted in a significant depletion of draft picks and player trade stock, essential components in a successful trading and drafting process.

The list managers were aware last year of the high end Next Generation Talent that was likely to be available to a number of clubs in the first round of the draft  and that this would clog up the system and make things tough for some clubs involved who already had little draft currency. One projected draft day scenario suggests that up to ten NGAs might be picked in the first round of the opening night of the draft. That's problematic for Melbourne has as its first selection, a pick that comes early in the second round and might end up somewhere in the thirties!

For the Demons, they have  NGA talent Toby Sinnema, a wingman from Dandenong Stingrays and father son nomination, high leaping Kalani White a near-200cm utility who boasts great flexibility who could play ruck or in a key position on the horizon. While neither are expected to be taken in the opening round of the draft, the club’s recruiters will have to keep in mind their cost in draft points should a nomination come for them at some stage.

There are two other factors that fans are keeping an eye on as we enter the business end of the AFL season and approach the trade and free agency period when no doubt there will be plenty of jostling for players and trade picks. The Demons have yet to appoint their new coach and, whoever that might be, his views would have to be considered on major list management decisions. The other factor is the continuing participation of the Casey Demons in the VFL finals series. Some players know their fate but others are fighting to retain list spots. It’s still very much up in the air for quite a few of them.

In the meantime, we do know that veterans Tom McDonald and Jake Melksham have had their contracts renewed for a further year and the only guaranteed new face for 2026 is 194cm college basketballer Oscar Berry who has committed to joining the club as a Category B rookie. He has yet to be formally added to the list so the situation remains as follows:-

PRIMARY LIST: —

Jed Adams Jack Billings Jake Bowey Tom Campbell Kade Chandler Tom Fullarton Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Blake Howes Matthew Jefferson Aidan Johnson Ed Langdon Harvey Langford Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Xavier Lindsay Tom McDonald Judd McVee Steven May Jake Melksham Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Christian Salem Harry Sharp Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Koltyn Tholstrup Daniel Turner Jacob van Rooyen Jack Viney Caleb Windsor Taj Woewodin  

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A 

Kynan Brown Jai Culley Jack Henderson Marty Hore Luker Kentfield Oliver Sestan Will Verrell 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B  

Ricky Mentha Jnr 

INACTIVE LIST: 

Shane McAdam (Primary) Andy Moniz-Wakefield (Category A Rookie)

Part 2: The First Delistings

I thought it might be worthwhile adding to the picture, given the events of the past week that followed Casey's elimination final defeat, which saw it bow out of the VFL finals race. With the season having now concluded for the entire Melbourne Football Club list of players, it was time to initiate the process of change, the first steps of which were handled with a degree of clumsiness in my view.

On Tuesday, in the early afternoon of the day of the club’s best and fairest gala event, the initial delistings were announced. The five players who were informed that they would not be offered new contracts for 2026 were Tom Fullarton, Kynan Brown, Oliver Sestan, Will Verrall and Marty Hore. It seems that all five had were informed during their exit meetings prior to the VFL final, in which all but the injured Hore participated. With the exception of Brown, the others performed below expectations in that game.

The announcement on that day was certainly conducive to the enjoyment of what was their final celebration at the club but what made it worse was that later that night, at the best and fairest count, when the club’s General Manager of AFL Football Performance Alan Richardson came up on stage to announce the departures, the graphic on screen included another delisted player, Jack Billings, who was farewelled along with the others.

Apparently, it was a mutual decision by both the club and the player to part ways, but it seemed a strange way of doing things. The club faithful at the club’s night of nights were certainly left in a state of confusion.

On the following day, premiership Demon Charlie Spargo told the club that he was leaving Melbourne to join North Melbourne, the club where his father Paul played 81 games, as an unrestricted free agent. This left Judd McVee and Taj Woewodin, both Western Australians, as the club’s only uncontracted players.

We extend our sincerest gratitude and best wishes to departing players for their future endeavors, acknowledging their dedicated service to the club. Further changes are forthcoming, but our list configuration going forward is looking a little like this as the AFL finals series progresses toward its culmination:-

PRIMARY LIST: —

Jed Adams Jake Bowey Tom Campbell Kade Chandler Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Blake Howes Matthew Jefferson Aidan Johnson Ed Langdon Harvey Langford Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Xavier Lindsay Tom McDonald Shane McAdam Judd McVee Steven May Jake Melksham Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Christian Salem Harry Sharp Tom Sparrow Koltyn Tholstrup Daniel Turner Jacob van Rooyen Jack Viney Caleb Windsor Taj Woewodin 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A 

Jai Culley Jack Henderson Luker Kentfield Andy Moniz-Wakefield 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B  

Oscar Berry Ricky Mentha Jnr

What do we know about Oscar Berry? I presume that there are other followers of this forum who know nothing of him either.

12 hours ago, monoccular said:

What do we know about Oscar Berry? I presume that there are other followers of this forum who know nothing of him either.

His brother was a NFL punter, while his father has worked high up in sports for a long time.

Do I take it that with the 6 delistings (or whatever happened with Billings) announced yesterday, it only means that four vacancies were created because Shame McAdam and AMW will return to the primary list for next year when their inactive status is removed?

On 03/09/2025 at 14:43, Demonland said:

".........high-calibre youngsters, including Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup, Harvey Langford, and Xavier Lindsay."

Not sure if I'd include Tholstrup in this group.

I'd say the jury is still out.

Haven’t see any decent talent request a trade or a free agent since winning the flag besides Grundy which was a failure & the question is why is it players just don’t want to come to our club or we don’t have cap space, or list mgt is failing? Fed up seeing VFL players traded in to play at Casey

Edited Thursday at 23:031 day by Demonsone

On 10/09/2025 at 10:30, Demon Head said:

Do I take it that with the 6 delistings (or whatever happened with Billings) announced yesterday, it only means that four vacancies were created because Shame McAdam and AMW will return to the primary list for next year when their inactive status is removed?

It would actually be less than four vacancies, as four of the delistings are from the rookie list. Billings and Fullarton are the only delisted players to go from the main list, plus Spargo as a free agent.

The influence of NGA and Father/Son selections on this year’s draft can’t be underestimated.

Academy Update: The graduates in line for promotion

Since Melbourne doesn’t currently have a selection in the first round of this year’s draft, it’s going to be interesting to see how our list management team manages a situation where we start nominally without a pick in the top 30.

The thread has been updated with a second part which now includes the delistings and Charlie Spargo’s free agency departure.

I’ve put our two inactive players back in their respective positions on the lists and included Category B signing Oscar Berry.

There are more changes to come. Stay tuned.