Since Allen Jakovich came into the conversation, it could be a powerful clue to mention that Allen has yes another thing to blame on his brother - if not for Glen he would be on this team for sure!

Of course, like most brotherly quarrels Glen might say the same thing right back at him.

WE HAVE A WINNER!

@demon-4-life comes through with the breakthrough.

He also got there just moments before the Allen Jakovich clue was given so gets to feel extra smart.

As reward he gets his choice of any past or present player named Smith to revive and add to the Demon's 2026 list.

36 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

WE HAVE A WINNER!

@demon-4-life comes through with the breakthrough.

He also got there just moments before the Allen Jakovich clue was given so gets to feel extra smart.

As reward he gets his choice of any past or present player named Smith to revive and add to the Demon's 2026 list.

Crikey good job

I was completely lost

will we get the answer??? keeping me awake at night

Geoff Frood is haunting my dreams

One last clue and I promise to put this to bed this afternoon if everyone else promises to record themselves going 'What? JEFFERSON?"

Max Gawn is in the team and is the first eligible Demon Captain since David Neitz, and before that all the way back to Ditterich. On the other hand, Green, Jones and McDonald are each about as far from eligible as it is possible to be.

26 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Max Gawn is in the team and is the first eligible Demon Captain since David Neitz, and before that all the way back to Ditterich. On the other hand, Green, Jones and McDonald are each about as far from eligible as it is possible to be.

Ergo, Viney x 2, Lyon, Healy and Flower are also not eligible?

@demon-4-life, exceptionally well done!

Now, then; I believe it is customary for winners to grin by joining in the hinting?

1 hour ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

I believe it is customary for winners to grin by joining in the hinting?

Anybody but the puzzle setter should be tarred and feathered for adding hints. Boo!!!!! Bad form!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 hour ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

@demon-4-life, exceptionally well done!

Now, then; I believe it is customary for winners to grin by joining in the hinting?

I may be first. But it won’t LAST

1 hour ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Ergo, Viney x 2, Lyon, Healy and Flower are also not eligible?

Correct. Although Flower was surprisingly close - I believe, like Jakovich, he can blame his own brother for exclusion.

21 minutes ago, demon-4-life said:

I may be first. But it won’t LAST

At this stage you are both the first and the last. Maybe you should be on the team?

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Little Goffy

26 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Anybody but the puzzle setter should be tarred and feathered for adding hints. Boo!!!!! Bad form!!!!!!!!!!!!

As the saying would have it, I was invoking the requirement of desperate times.

We have another winner!

@poita has threaded the needle and his prize will be to select any player named Brown to be returned from history and added to the Demons list as a Category Pi rookie.

I'm going to put the answer out for everyone at 3 o'clock. The agony must end.

@Timothy Reddan-A'Blew is going to absolutely spew because he did everything short of describe the answer without being able to grasp it.

33 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

We have another winner!

@poita has threaded the needle and his prize will be to select any player named Brown to be returned from history and added to the Demons list as a Category Pi rookie.

I'm going to put the answer out for everyone at 3 o'clock. The agony must end.

@Timothy Reddan-A'Blew is going to absolutely spew because he did everything short of describe the answer without being able to grasp it.

I already have. Several times. I've had both enough cause AND enough time to do so.

😄

Tick, tick, tick...

Righto, here we go. It is shockingly simple.

Every player in the team has a unique surname for an AFL player.

Yep.

Sorry.

3 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Righto, here we go. It is shockingly simple.

Every player in the team has a unique surname for an AFL player.

Yep.

Sorry.

Do NOT apologise!

As I've already said and spent waaaay too much on it, just this, then:

Excellent quiz 👏

p.s. (post spew) Confession #1: I was never close. Confession #2: It hurts just a little bit cos it's just the sort of quiz I'd have set. So a mix of inadequacy and jealousy!)

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by Timothy Reddan-A'Blew

What was your source, btw, @Little Goffy?

Also, à la @Demonstone, maybe a reveal of the more subtle clues (Andrew Gaff. Dammit!)

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by Timothy Reddan-A'Blew

Very nice indeed, @Little Goffy . You managed to fool most of Demonland's great minds, and me as well.

While we're on the subject of unique things, please accept this father of all dad jokes for your efforts.

Q: How do you catch a unique rabbit?

A: You unique up on it.

Q: How do you catch a tame rabbit?

A: Tame way, unique up on it.

I relied on AFL Tables for the list of names as it is definitely the most complete publicly available list (After all it had our friend Mr Frood!) and is reasonably easy to navigate. To simplify the process I only used current players for the team and checked to be sure there was nobody alphabetically adjacent.

Along the way I discovered some interesting trivia, as I was also considering making a team where every name could produce it's own starting 18. There are even a few names which could assemble a best 22 AND reserve 22.

There are six 'Mc' prefix names which could form their own team - McCarthy, McDonald, McGrath, McKenzie, McLean, McMahon. But even so, just from current players there are at least three unique 'Mc's - Hugh McCluggage, Beau McCreery and Daniel McStay.

Anyway, reviewing the clues... one moment...

• Has become more common in recent decades is simple enough in hindsight, an effect of waves of migration and the inexorable spread of the hyphenated name.

• What they have in common they also do not have in common and "The individually unique is the collectively unbiquitous!"

• A collection of Demon names, rated for surprise level. And then Geoff Frood. Mr Frood, aside from being a cool dude who knows where his towel is, has the kind of name that might make people thing 'wow, that's an unusual name. Slartibartfast never played Australian football at a senior level, unfortunately.

• Reacting to Demonstone's Demonwiki dive - Margitich no surprise... and each Jakovich not being eligible because of his brother was because there are no other Jakovichs. Jakoviches? Jakovichii?

• I would be eligible, and so is Andrew Gaff, who I don't like because if you touch a Brayshaw you are my enemy.

• Neitz and Ditterich I was just throwing in some more uniquely named players, while Green, Jones and McDonald were announced as 'especially not eligible' as they were in the 'can form a starting 18' list.

• Flower, like Jakovich, would have been eligible for the team if not for his brother Tom. That there's only two Flowers in the entire AFL list is quite mind boggling!

• I told demon-4-life "At this stage you are both the first and the last. Maybe you should be on the team?" as a reference to his uniqueness at the time.

So, congratulations to @demon-4-life and @poita for being the only people who could see the trees for the forest!

And thanks to Matthew Jefferson for being a red herring that would turn away another red herring. I'm still amazed. Jefferson is like the name AI would give to a generic anglo male character in a novel. Actually... hmm, at a staggering 50 players and first in alphabetical order for the 'can form their own team' list, AI would probably choose... (gasps)

'Our good friend Geoff' stands alone among Melbourne players for his 2 goals being the top score in his 1 game.

But, to 2008 (I'm relying on my 150th anniversary MFC history) he is joined by only 3 others kicking 2 goals in their 1 game.

Graeme Aubrey's 'Margitich' was the 1968 season's end. He debuted in the last game - like Frood, in a big loss to Richmond, 'away'. He kicked 2.2, and his 19 possies was 4th best, behind only B.Dixon, H.Mann and another. Many MFC champs were lesser lights than Graeme that day. He remained on the list in '69 but never delivered on his 1 game's promise.

'Midget' Arthur Britt kicked a quarter of MFC's score (two others also kicked 2) in a win against Carlton in 1902. More we cannot say, except that he was cleared to St Kilda for 1903. An 'Edwardian Clarrie' perhaps?

1954 Footscray premiership player John Kerr transferred to MFC during 1958, to second-top-score in round 15 at Glenferrie Oval behind A.Webb (6). He made it no further, who knows why, and certainly not to that year's fateful grand final...

No 1-gamer has bagged 3.