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I’ve got a good track record and knew a lot about what was going on with Hogan and the reasons why Watts was traded. Posted it weeks before and also exposed some of what Hogan was getting up to, but the mods accused me of running the risk of defamation, even though everything I said was completely true and later proven to be. I don’t really care who believes what I post or not. I work in a job where I meet a lot of people connected to the AFL. The source is reliable and I have no reason to doubt his info. I am also reliably informed that Frost was traded due to his poor work ethic at training and constant negativity. Apparently he’d be mentally cooked at 3/4 time on game day and hated the feedback he’d get. He would inevitably have poor last quarters. Apparently a really negative bloke, who was beginning to rub off on the younger players.

Sorry if this has always been posted, but he seems keen, hedwardb being Harley’s account.

I’m not sure of the formality of it all, but I was told by a person connected to the club that he 100% wants to come to us. He has said to the club he’d like to be selected by us. The powers that be are weighing up a few things before committing to him. There was no problem with his medical. So what they are weighing up is most likely whether he is committed and willing to be disciplined off field. He can be added as late as February and I am informed he will be invited to train over summer, with a view to pick him up later on. That is what I have been told and the source is very reliable. He is ours if we want him, but we won’t be rushed on making the call. I am sorry if someone has posted similar info, I couldn’t be bothered reading back over the last few pages.

There were a few that ranked Grundy the second best player in the pool. Key difference b/n Grundy and Jackson in their draft year is exposure and runs on the board. Grundy showed plenty as a 17 year old and then backed it up in his top age year, including good performances for Sturt’s senior team and dominating at the Champs. Jackson’s recent conversion to the AFL pathway means there’s not a lot of prior performance and he’s only shown a fraction of what Grundy had at the same time. Also, he got better as the season wore on and some his best performances came off broadway at WAFL reserves level post champs. I think those performances really elevated his standing, but most of us haven’t seen those games. I watch a fair amount of junior footy, but I am confident that I haven’t seen enough of Jackson to make a judgement on whether we should pick him as high as 3.

I don't see what changes if we put Jackson in the forward line. I can see what could happen to forward line delivery if we drafted Young.

We are probably a few good players away from being a good side. We have the chance to get good players with 3 and 8. Everyone it seems believes Young is the best available at 3. Unless everyone is wrong we have a very good player available and possibly will get another at 8. In hindsight the Kelly deal was probably wrong. If other clubs are desperate to get our pick it is because of the value of it. 2 best 22 players is 10% of the team. Add Langdon and Tomlinson and that is 20%. That is a massive end of season haul for a club. I would be thrilled with Young and whoever we think is best at 8. A bit of development from some of the younger players and a fit AVB and maybe Bennell and we are really improving our squad. I support our FD and hope we get it right.

FWIW - Got it from the very top of medical today. They were asked to have a look at him and believe they are a chance to get him right. Still a 50/50 proposition once the loads begin

Given his IQ I totally understand why he is having trouble understanding some of our recent decisions.

My understanding is you nominate a player (provided he has agreed of course) to join your club as a rookie list replacement (assuming you have rookie list space/s left or if you don't have one you make one available) under the SSP. Bennell is eligible as he was delisted by the Dockers. But this can't be done until all drafts are over and the SSP commences ie; from the 1st Dec, which might (partially or fully) explain why there is talk he wont commence training with us till Tuesday 3rd Dec. Once he is on our list he can't be picked up by another club. He is on our list and both parties are then committed to whatever contract he signed. He will be paid like anybody else based on the terms of his contract. The terms/nature of that contract would of course need to be tailored to suit the club's & player's unusual circumstances and, as others have already speculated, likely to be perfomance biased in some way. He could come to some weird non-committal/non-contractual (unpaid) arrangement to train with more than one club and nominate for the draft but i can't see the incentive or logic for any club/s to go down that route and it also leaves Bennell (and partner!?) in a less than ideal situation, possibly ending up at a place/club he (she) just doesn't wish to be at. Bottom line, if you hear any official word he is training with us on 3rd Dec then he is officially a Demon in 2020 (and possibly beyond).

Probably off to Vegas to get rid of the lingering Hangover from the 2018 season.

If he joins us I'm not at all concerned that he won't be ready to play until well into the season. Hopefully we make finals and that is when we will need him the most. AvB in 2018 is the blue print for patience. He hadn't played for 2 years with an extensive injury history. iirc he played a month at Casey, an AFL game or two at the end of the season and had an excellent finals series. If we get only 8 games like that from Bennell at seasons end it will be fantastic. (Not relevant to this thread but might just say it is so sad that Aaron's injuries have kept him out this year and really hope he gets back soon). Glad to read the reports on the caution (ie due diligence) the club is taking before recruiting Bennell. I would say that as soon as the club and Bennell agree that he will join us, Burgess will have a training program ready for him. They won't wait for him to actually join the club on Dec 3 to get him rehabbing.

And I'm having a go at the big 'Breeders Cup' meeting overnight (Santa Anita) and then will look for the value Moreira & Purton runners at Sha Tin tomorrow. But overnight at Santa Anita there is a fabulous array of G1 races (9 in all) and it really is the creme de la creme of the American & European horses going for glory. Helps if you follow the overseas Group racing JV but because I do take a keen interest I find evaluating the form to be a not too difficult exercise. The familiar names jump out at you. Small win bets with a few doubles on the shorties is the go. For those that are interested the form guide, odds & tips are all readily available at www.racingpost.com. And all the local betting agencies allow for at least win, place & multi betting on the meeting. For what its worth here are a few of my picks R7 No.1 Iridessa R8 No.4 Mitole R9 No.6 Got Stormy R10 No.4 Midnight Bisou R11 No.10 Old Persian And I'll post up the Melbourne Cup field soon enough. Looks to be anyone's race this year though. I'm just going to box 6 in trifecta and hope for the best!

This week's strike rate (which includes Wadda's mid week Bendigo Cup pick (Top of the Range) & 'GtB's 'Exceedence' tip. 8: 4 - 1 - 0

I hope not. It's big $$$'s for someone that has never really done anything.

Good to see CFC dipping into their VISY fund! Blues: "So Jack, what do you know about recycling?" Jack: "Nothing really" Blues: "...................good enough!" ??

Told ya !

I think it’s smart locking away a very good player long-term.

I must say chaps, this is all very un-Melbourne like, very un-Melbourne like indeed.

Gees Koldings win in the Golden Eagle was super impressive! Was held up multiple times for a run, nearly trotted on the horse heels in front before sliding through and saluting... Great ride by Boss. I'm off to the Peninsula cup tomorrow at Mornington so hopefully get a couple winners ?

Only on here so it has to be true...right...?

Senior list min 38 to max 40. A Rookies min 4 with list of 40 to max 6 with list of 38. Up to 3 Cat B Rookies separate to this. We currently have 35 on list and have to draft 3 which at this stage includes 97 which is unlikely to be used other than on a rookie upgrade. If that was all that happened we'd have a list at the min 38 and 3 rookies left so would have to take 3 more. Put one place aside for Bennell and we'd take 2 in the rookie draft. Alternatively if we took a DFA like Murray and we kept a rookie place for Bennell we'd only pick 1 in the rookie draft. When you take that into account it makes it even less of a downside if Bennell doesn't work as he'd take the place of a 2nd or 3rd pick in the rookie draft. Don't know what the stat's on players taken there being successful would be but I'd be surprised if it was very many.

I believe Martin can be a very good player. He will go to another level which ever club he lands at. He is only 24 so has plenty to give. I would expect he plays half forward with stints in the midfield. Capable of easily being a 40+ goal kicker.

With a year to run on his contract, James Harmes signing of a 5 year contract is evidence we are freeing up some room in our cap to make a big play this year. I believe the Dees will take Martin in the PSD and trump Carlscum with Bennel also coming as a DFA.

Also worth noting in these matches Harmes was nullifying their best payers while getting 30+ touches and kicking goals. Harmes is a weapon, ultra consistent, is versatile up forward, is an elite tagger, great on ball, and this year was very tidy playing off half back.

Read between the lines and I think you will find he has agreed to come to us, in this way. It reduces pressure on him from fans and the media, to play early, as he will be a rookie and then when he is available and has earned senior selection, he can then be uplifted to the senior list. It is a sensible method of him becoming a Demon, if he has agreed to come to us and IMO that now appears to have happened. Interestingly we would still have 6 spots on our list to fill and I note Taylor said we would take 3-4 in the draft. That suggests to me that we will take a DFA or 2 as well.

Not worth #3, probably not #8. Not tall enough as a ruckman and not showing enough as a forward.

Have we convinced Martin yet? I’m not a huge fan but I can see him being a staple if he comes on board. Martin Bennell Tomlinson Langdon All these guys are quite simply a massive injection of the outside speed and class that we have craved for so long! Why split any picks if you bag 4 players like this? Tell the other clubs to stick it and get some very good kids. I hope we’re backing ourselves to convince Martin to join us.

She ran well, best thing is she drifted out in price.

Paging @Gorgoroth. Awesome win by Miss Invincible under that weight. My first winner for the day.?

Thanks mate. My biggest worry if that if we are only offering to have him train in hope of picking him up later, then Geelong could swoop in and get him as a delisted free agent which gives him security straight away.

Demons hope for flying start as coaches jet off to the US Bit about Harley and Martin in here, not a lot, but the Harley part was interesting.

Dunkley & Lockhart could both be "diamonds in the rough", both came in without a pre-season and played AFL footy, every AFL loving kid's dream come true.

Its fckd already.......lot of surface water.......we need to find some horses that will be suited.....please post any thoughts! # H.E.L.P.

Lotta rain has dropped last night and this morning, interested to see how the track is by the Derby

Agree. If he can’t perform no biggy, as he can be given a one year incentive contract with another year if he can get fully fit and play. He will help with membership, attendances and excitement and our place as a destination club, given he is apparently being chased by 6 clubs. If it is a bust, he leaves with the other 5-6 delisted/traded players each year. To me this is a tiny risk venture, with a possible large upside.

I watched a couple of his games and saw some really promising signs: - he can kick the footy - he's quite clean with the footy below his knees for a giraffe If you can overlook the rag-dolling he got in the ruck which is to be expected from a stick insect, we might have a player with a few more years of weight/strength gain and development. It's hard to judge his ruck capability at this stage. It did improve in his first (VFL) game when instructed to jump over his opponent rather than be easily brushed aside.

Cornes and his ilk are simply part of the footy talk industry. They are paid to provide opinions. They construct these opinion pieces on the back of a theme or a few issues. An exercise in creative writing nothing more. Footy talk is just a microcosm of the media at large. Turn on any electronic device and news programs have become a cacophony of talking heads all voicing and shouting opinions, no different than the boys in the pub. Their opinions are no more valid than any supporter or footy fan. And they are only contracted because they are ex-players not because they are more intelligent, or better informed or have more insight than the bloke in the pub. In most cases they are less intelligent and have less insight than the bloke in the pub. Comments are made to create a reaction and stir up discussion. And the businesses that engages these bods demand comments and articles that provoke. And the agent provocateur usually can achieve that simple aim. It’s not hard given the insatiable appetite that the mob has for this crap. And we are part of the mob. Reacting, commenting, becoming outraged with people and issues that we should ignore. Cornes is second rate let’s face it. And that is probably being kind. As Ron stated earlier, the decision to recruit May and Lever were good decisions at the time. No one criticised the decisions at the time, indeed it was the opposite. We had become a destination club. Other clubs were chasing them and presumably were prepared to pay big coin. They were recruited for strategic reasons as part of a plan. The fact that they have spent most of the time on the sidelines does not make the decision to recruit them poor. But so much opinion is based on hindsight, which is stock in trade for Cornes and the footy scribes (never call them experts). The Harmes deal is arguable but there is no doubt that if he has another good season other clubs would have gone after him. There is not a contract negotiated that is without risk. My only criticism is the Frost decision and that is debatable. In short, there are differing opinions. With Frost only time will tell.

I have a tear in my eye. I’m not quite sure why, but I desperately want to see this bloke in the red and the blue next year. There just seems to be one of the truly great sports stories of all times potentially unfolding here - for both club and player. Make it happen Josh. PS. Have had a few Laphroaigs and have been watching Last Chance U on a Netflix. I love the underdog stuff - it makes for the best theatre in life.

Interesting that you say that. I was told that the club were surprised by the medical - that the procedure he had in June/July seemed to have left his underdone calves in better shape than they expected. Apparently some scar tissue was removed and a nerve issue was identified that can be treated potentially.

If we'd given a five year deal to, say, Alex Neal-Bullen, then I think his opinion would be justified. Giving a five year deal to a bloke who has improved every single year since being on the list, who hasn't missed a game in two years, who can play multiple roles across the ground AND has done so in finals, is a good piece of business. Cornes is entitled to his opinion, but I think the club has done the right thing in this instance.

Gee I don't know about Lever and May as our only talls to take on their two bigs. Is everyone convinced Petty will play predominantly forward? I think unless Weid is injured it will be Petty playing back to fill in the Frost role. Lever is just too damaging as an intercept defender to have him play on a tall all game.

I also think that Cornes is underrating Harmes.

“He was going to play six to eight games this year, just because of his body shape and he hadn’t played much footy, but he finished with 13 games and put on five to six kilos for the year which was great. He had huge growth in his body, he still needs to put on a bit more weight, but he’s improved dramatically. His fundamentals are very good, but he just hasn’t played a lot of footy so when he comes back he’ll do a lot of ruck work and marking practice. We know we have to take our time with him but he’s on track for another good year next year.” - Matt Egan MFC Head of Player Development An update on the first-year Demons https://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2019-09-06/an-update-on-the-firstyear-demons Date of Birth: 27 May, 2000 Height: 204cm Weight: 91kg Games MFC 2019: 0 Career Total: 0 Goals MFC 2019: 0 Career Total: 0 CDFC Games 2019: 9 CDFC Goals 2019: 3

Some other sources: The AFL website with updates as games are played: Demons Fixture Demons extract from full fixture: 2020 Fixture: MELBOURNE Round 1: West Coast at Optus Stadium, Sunday March 22 at 6.20pm (Away) Round 2: GWS at MCG, Saturday March 28 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 3: Fremantle at MCG, Sunday April 5 at 1.10pm (Home) Round 4: St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Sunday April 12 at 4.40pm (Away) Round 5: Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium, Saturday April 18 at 1.10pm (Away) Round 6: Richmond at MCG, Friday April 24 at 7.50pm (Home) Round 7: Essendon at MCG, Sunday May 3 at 3.20pm (Away) Round 8: Port Adelaide at MCG, Sunday May 10 at 3.20pm Round 9: Adelaide at TIO Traeger Park, Sunday May 17 at 3.20pm (Home) Round 10: Western Bulldogs at MCG, Sunday May 24 at 1.10pm (Home) Round 11: Hawthorn at MCG, Friday May 29 at 7.50pm (Away) Round 12: Collingwood at MCG, Monday June 8 at 3.20pm (Home) Round 13: BYE Round 14: Brisbane at The Gabba, Friday June 19 at 7.50pm (Away) Round 15: Gold Coast at MCG, Saturday June 27 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 16: Fremantle at Optus Stadium, Sunday July 5 at 5.20pm (Away) Round 17: St Kilda at MCG, Saturday July 11 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 18: Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, Sunday July 19 at 4.40pm (Away) Round 19: Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, Saturday July 25 at 4.35pm (Away) Round 20: Sydney at MCG, Sunday August 2 at 3.20pm (Home) Round 21: Collingwood at MCG, Saturday August 8 at 1.45pm (Away) Round 22: Carlton at MCG, Saturday August 15 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 23: North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena, Date and Time TBC (Away) Just copy and paste it into a Word or Excel document if you want a paper copy.

Shows once again how little we on the outside know of what's really going on inside the club, and of what's behind decisions that are being made.

It feels like we've seen it happen to almost every other club (Saints being the only one I can't really think of), we've seen lots of players come back from adversity or a significant life event (whether or not it was self inflicted) and become valuable contributers to the teams success. I would dearly love to see that happen with us and Bennell.

If Cornes doesn't think other clubs would offer Harmes a 4-year deal when his contract ends in 2020 then he doesn't understand how good and how valuable Harmes is. I have little doubt other clubs came knocking for his signature at trade time. We have closed the door on them with this contract. I'm guessing other club interest is a reason he got the 4 year extension. I'm also guessing he will be on good coin. Harmes said “It took a little while, but we got there in the end – both parties are happy,” You don't come 3rd in the Bluey in a Prelim year and back it up with 4th the next and be prepared to accept small change after the so called 'big' name and 'lesser' name imports have been paid. I don't usually get fixated about player salaries but if the figures mooted for Langford and Tomlinson are anything to go by then Harmes would be well within his rights to want to be in that range. And, just for the record those two received 5 year and 4 year contracts respectively. If Cornes checked I'm sure he would find these medium term contracts commonplace now and not just for the 'household name' players he mentioned.

Cornes is certainly trying to elevate his standing amongst the radio industry but some of what he says has meaning......whether you like him or not! In my opinion Lever appears to be an outstanding person but currently overpaid, IMO & thus far under-delivered. May the same..... Harmes good on him getting a an extra 4 years which ties him to the club for another 5 years, but really 3 would have been appropriate I reckon. Time will tell if Cornes has over-reacted or a good call.....

I actually like Cornes but he is building his media profile on sensationalist journalism. Not sure if he actually believes all of what he says. The acquisitions of Lever and May can only be judged quite a way down the track. Especially Lever who is only 23 years old. Sure a four year extension for Harmes is fair period of time but he wouldn't be on massive cash would he? We are not warding of a rival bid here just one less player to sign up next year. Decent list management.

You did not factor in the umpires into the teams above.