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From DemonWiki: http://demonwiki.org/Mergers "That year (1986) the club also had discussions with North Melbourne. The proposal involved Bob Ansett as president and John Kennedy coach of a side wearing the front of North's jumper and the back of Melbourne's, with the club training at Arden Street. The club was to be called Melbourne-North Football Club. The terms were not favourable to Melbourne, and when Ansett refused to compromise on what looked more like a takeover the deal was cancelled."

McGuire talks a lot of sh*t a lot of the time.

Yes. He had the run of the whole ground, not bad for a stay at home forward with a dodgy knee. Watch the 3rd Quarter later on and its Ben who is working really hard in the middle And then goes forward to kick the 3rd!!! Whatever Nought’s reasons were for getting rid of him, they look silly now. Ben still has some good years in front of him

That might be right - for what it's worth, I thought Weid made some big strides in 2020 before getting injured / dropping form. He had a patch of 6 or so games in a row where he averaged a bit under 2 goals a game but it was more about his effort - he was using his body and playing aggressively and flying for marks etc. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic but it seemed like the sort of form that you see before a player goes to the next level. His next pre-season he was apparently flying (I know) and then got injured. When he eventually got into the team he had every chance and barely fired a shot - confidence? fitness? Hard to know. I think there's still a role for him if he can find fitness, form and confidence but it seems Brown has already mastered what we need from him - providing an aerial threat that the opposition has to worry about and capable of bringing the ball to ground if unable to mark / attract a free

Chill guys, Jacko ain’t going anywhere for at least 2 years. If he did indicate he wanted to go home, a prudent agent would advise him to do two more years in Melbourne, get another flag, spend 2 more years developing with the games best ruckman and two of the best mids, then watch your value skyrocket. I think the whole homesick thing is petty overplayed these days. I actually think he’ll be a 1 club player.

I come from a land down under Where Demonlanders flow and weather looks like thunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder You better run, you better take cover. Oh! Do you come from a land down under (oh yeah yeah) Where women and mens teams get set to plunder oh yeah Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder You better run, you better take cover. And so it came to pass that I set out with sunscreen, raincoat, steel capped boots, enough insect repellent to drown an army of flying, stinging insects and a slingshot to ward of any slitheras in sight to come down to the smouldering furnace that was Casey Fields. Was it hot?? It was hotter than when I took 9/26 all those years ago. now with the pleasantries out of the way lets get into the training report. as the above song title suggests the players were indeed hard and strong at work. MODIFIED DUTIES Mitch Brown, and later Jake Lever, and Majak Daw SKILLS, DRILLS AND MANOUVERS Set 1a Players were split into 2 groups in group 1 A Players were inside a marked witches hat configuration of about 40 meters x 40 m and were playing a highly energised game of corridor keepings of. The idea was to take possession and before being tagged select best option and dish of. Set 1b The other group did 3/4 ground match sims but with the added pressure that the coaches after a set play had been executed or a goal scored instead of returning to the centre the ball might be thron back into play from the opposite forward pocked or ball randomly kicked into play from any position on the ground. The idea seemed to be attack when you have the ball but then just as quickly defend resolutely when you haven't got the ball. Set 2 This drill reminded me of an army of Cybermen running in formation in an absolute Blitzkrieg wave rolling relentlessly with ball in hand creating multiple overlaps and passing to next group of 4 and either handballing back or bypassing the footy to the next wave of players all surging forward it was a tsunami of beautiful free flowing ball movement with scarcely any errors. Skills were quick and handball and or kicks were precise and effortless. this was done at 100% intensity. Set 3 Goalkicking practice from every concievable match sim. There were set shots, corner shots, inside out shots, reverse angle shots inside out torpedo punt shots, the only shots missing were Shot glasses full of a delicious beverage or five! Set 4 Full on match simulations two quarters of 20 minutes many highlights which I will now speak about under player watch PLAYER WATCH AND ASTUTE OBSERVATIONS FENCE STYLE TOMMY MAC Just an incredible performance today in drills and also match sims, he kicked at least 3-4 goals and took some very strong marks CLAYTON OLIVER EXILLERATINGLY BREATHTAKING. just cannot be stopped and does what he likes, at one stage he was tackled by 3 players got a kick away to TRACC who was again prominant , who then got it to JV ditto just as prominant who got it to SPARGY who Goaled JACOB VAN ROOYEN Wow is this kid gonna be something!! Took 3 pack marks and moved effortlessly in a forward line chock full of class. FRASER ROSMAN Starting to get some confidence and did a few nice things and runs hard all day was pitted against Ed Langdon DEAKIN SMITH will play this year runs to good spots and skills are developing niceley ANDY MONIZ-WAKEFIELD This kid should also play this year, he zipped into play many times showing a great turn of speed and excellent disposal BEN BROWN. Gee he was impressive, he is much fitter this year and as a forward roams far and wide. takes sticky fingers marks often JAKE MELKSHAM Just when a few thought he was cooked he trained the house down and kicked some very classy goals and set up well as a forward. OTHER RANDOM OBSERVATIONS The players are extremely fit , quick and hungry, skills are at an all time high and every player knows instinctively the style of play required and also set plays in any match situation. There is genuine harmony within the group and the mantra of selfless footy resonates with this scribe. PF https://twitter.com/melbournefc/status/1486871278124662784?s=20&t=Crk0zJj5NjfFAn-NfI_FzQ

That is not quite correct. A few weeks ago a fortune teller came into the Salvo's store that I volunteer at and offered to read my palm and she said I followed a team that wore red and blue colours and there was a tall black haired player who had played around 30 games, and was about 20 years of age that came from the west of Australia and that he would remain at the club for many years to come. True story.

I highly doubt that is was signed, sealed and delivered but there were a few rumours about at the time Mind you, there were rumours flying about everywhere as a lot of the clubs were carrying a lot of debt ... Saints paid their players 7 cents in the dollar to remain viable and Richmond had their save our skins campaign which saved them Footscray & Fitzroy were broke (and nearly merged in '89) and South had to move North to survive. The Pies were in financial strife in the mid 80's as well after their transfer war with Richmond The VFL (AFL) Commission was formed in 1985 and not long after that, the draft started up as well as the salary cap. There was a fair bit going on

The myth Ben Brown was a stay at home forward at North is wrong. In his good years he covered more km per game than Gaff, Sculley, and the other elite runners. But North realistically decided to rebuild when Noble came in, and they are getting games into kids. If their board sticks fat with the ups and downs of a rebuild I can see them contending in 4-5 years, by which time BB is probably finished anyway. It was a win-win for both clubs.

Currently the stealth Omigod variation, not as strong but more transmissible.

I thought MFCSS died on September 25 2021, but apparently not.

DMee I agree with your last sentence but your BBB summary was IMO a completely inaccurate summary of his journey and trade on table. NBB averaged 60 goals per season for NM and we are told that 180 goals was the best in AFL over that period. In 2020 he played about 7/9 games for a very poor return of less than a goal s game. Of course he suffered a knee injury and was not fit for most of the season. He would probably have been low on confidence also and Larkey has started off his AFL career in fine style in the meantime. I dont know anything about BBB and his marriage and non football lifestyle views but he is a very devoted family person and his wife appears to be strong lady as well with fitness etc part of the setup. Contract negotiations had been ongoing for months and a large contract was offered to BBB which he refused. ( May have been around $700,000 it is rumoured ). Something seems to have gone wrong at this point as not much else happened when out if the blue North advised Benny he could look elsewhere ( or wasn't required anymore). If the "Mr Flopsy" free kick story has any legs I doubt it. Ben may have not handled bring injured well and this may have resulted in form loss and losing his appeal as their chief goal kicker and " golden boy" BBB has got frees and plays in a tall gangly style ( Long legs and height) accentuate this. We have remodelled him partly as he is moving outside the arc and he is a good Avenue to goal as well as a reliable mark snd kick and requires the No 1 tall defender. But getting BBB for trade pick 28 with a couple of pocket money trade exchanges is a complete bargain. What is good that has not been said is he is being paid FAR LESS than 7 triple figures and he is totally invested in our Club, assisting coaching our AFLW girls. Not free but our market negotiation skills are still in great hands as he has sured up a flag with about 10 strong grabs 3 goals and been spearhead of a multi talented group of forwards who played even better than the sum of their parts together with a connectivity not seen for a few years. Long May " BBB Mr Flopsy Sideshow Bob or Big Bad Benny " extend those arms (big dukes as BT would say) and be our "long run up " goal kicker for all of his next 3 years of his contract. Dees fans now love his hair and long run up but I think his team play and above all his reliable and straight kicking !!!

Now to decide where to hang.

I love Dogga and think he's absolutely one of the top young prospects in the competition. While I think he'll probably stay for at least 2 more years, it actually wouldn't be the end of the world if he left. He'd require two top ten picks, which is a bounty that would either put us in pole position to land Ben King (if it's this year). Or give the best recruiting manager in the country 2 cracks at finding elite talent. Neither of those scenarios is concerning (though I'd love to see dogga in the red and blue of course). It's just so good to finally feel like the best club and not be adversely affected if a young gun leaves.

We got a good player cheap from NMFC so don't complain about the trade and be happy with the outcome. When we traded Jack Watts we got a pick used to get Bayley Fritsch. So we got 2 good trades and hopefully the synergy between them will last for at least the next 3 years.

I had one of Rodney Grinter's player worn long sleeved guernseys until I sold it a couple of years ago to help fund some house renovations. Adidas made them at that time and it had a white tag inside the collar with three vertical blue stripes. That should have been our merger guernsey with North. I seem to remember a proposed merger between Fitzroy and Footscray around that time as well. Perhaps when the Lions had made the move to play their home games at the Western Oval. I can't recall whether they intended calling them Fitzcray or Footsroy though.

Probably mentioned elsewhere in these 110 pages, but highly recommend watching the YouTube GF with the SEN commentary. We all know BT is a moron, but after listening to the SEN commentary I’m convinced Channel 7’s management team are the morons in employing that senile fool, when Anthony Hudson and Gerard Whateley are quite likely available.

Got this custom framed as a Birthday present. It has both the WEG poster and Mark Knight's poster as well as the Melbourne Demons 2021 Premiers poster from The Age newspaper in the middle. It is beautiful to behold! The Melbourne Demons 2021 Premiership triumph in all its glory! The big challenge now is putting it up on the wall!

FWIW, it feels Amiss seemed like the higher upside, lower floor pick. His skill level looks superior to van Rooyen, but is less physically built/imposing. Van Roo seems the more likely of the pair to put his body on the line and take a pack mark, but doesn't have the polish of Amiss.

I found a very tiny image of the 1988 Melbourne losing VFL Grand Final poster. Here is the link on Big Footy with all the losing Grand Final posters: I have looked everywhere on the Internet for a larger version of the 1988 one. However, if someone could find a larger version of the image it would be greatly appreciated.

So the Cats were in trouble as well It seemed that the Blues, Dons & Hawks were the only clubs keeping their heads above water back in those days All 3 of those teams were of course winning all the premierships in the 80's Best thing that ever happened was the formation of the Commission and then the intriduction of the draft & the salary cap (and therefore, the abolition of transfer fees) Although the merger talk (or takeover talk) continued on into the 90's

The two most highly touted KPF’s in last year’s draft were Jye Amiss who was taken by Fremantle and Jacob Van Rooyen. It’s interesting that in the case of the former, the Dockers have him training away from the main group. Amiss is understood to be following a personalised training program ahead of his maiden season in the AFL. It will be interesting to see how the development of both players turns out. Of course, Freo would probably have a greater need and more immediate need for a KPF - the experiment will be interesting.

Yes, I certainly remember much of what you document above, but Eddie made such a big thing of the Melbourne Kangaroos supposedly near merger that I thought I’d honestly missed quite a big football story. However it was probably just Eddie being a little disingenuous. I suppose 2018 still hurts!

if it fat [censored] farts does it leave a stain?

There won't be any 'go home factor' if McGowan keeps WA locked up for the next few years.

it went into remission but can flare up at any time

We were seriously in trouble when Zanker and Paxman were unable to contribute in the middle. Putting Goldrick in there really showed others how to play football against seasoned strong opposition. Also was impressed by the first class efforts of McNamara who just kept getting the ball when others couldn't. I wish Mick Stinear would wake up in the same way as he did half way through last year. Short kicking was the go in the early years of AFLW, because players who could kick beyond 20m was rare. Now they can, and so it requires a territory game, not a possession game. And in the same line, kick the ball off the ground, don't try to pick it up....kick the ball as first option, not handball, especially in the middle. The game has changed and improved, what worked previously doesn't today. Especially when we have a good core of talented players who do have the skills to execute long and deep, and have the forwards to capitalise on that. Make no mistake. Adelaide is the SA state side and have been gifted this through AFL poor planning again. So no small wonder their girls are bigger stronger and more skilled than other sides, given SA is a football state.

They need to bring the ruthless pressure they had last year which was inspiring (and better than the men at that stage) - showed some of it in the last quarter only. Bring that for the whole game and we will see better results.

Um Larkey and Zurhaar?? Um would much rather a BBB Anyday I think!

Big shout out to the commentators, calling scragging kicks off the ground acrobatic and sublime by Adelaide players was Scomo like. Making out that it was the Adelaide's defence which got the result when it was the defensive tackling pressure by their forwards and midfield was as smart as looking at their against tally's this season and making stupid assumptions. Umpires... As someone mentioned the holding the ball, incorrect disposal decisions were all over the shop. Baffling. Anyways, Adelaide's pressure was superb and our ensuing disposals were woeful. Good last quarter but we should have swung the midfield changes a couple of minutes into the third. Goldrick into the guts looked really good. Daisy probably should have been put into the fray earlier as well even though she did well up forward once we started to get momentum. Looks like the opposition knows how to beat us once they apply tackling pressure and plug the gaps. I think we've got the talent. There's some work to do on defensive pressure, disposal and connection.

I don’t think it’s about competitiveness tbh, he wouldn’t make it this far if it was lacking. It’s probably a combination of factors that are just a bit off. Footy smarts ie body positioning, when to lead and when not to, where to lead and where not to, reading the play, adjusting personal game plan to create opportunity for other forwards . I’ve also said in the past that it was a bit of mongrel and grit too but that’s hard to judge from afar. I personally don’t have much expectation of Weeds - not everyone that should make it does and we just have to accept that. With the many other options we have i think the expectation of having him in the starting 22 will be put to bed (if it hasn’t been already). If he matures and has a break out year then great for us and great for him, but we should look to developing Van Rooyan as our future CHF, FF ahead of Weeds from this point forward.

Good to see us fight it out. Lack of awareness probably cost us a couple of extra goals. However, we were out bodied around the ball and couldn’t move it cleanly at all. Agree tht it was not a forward issue, but we needed to roll up the ground higher. Needed more targets at CHF and some ground level representation crumbing the packs. Erin Phillips is a class above most players in the AFLW. She reads the ball off packs superbly and knows where to position herself. Libby Birch is terrific at reading the ball in flight, but less so at ground level. I feel we try to play too precisely at times, and really lack the skill to play a precise game. We looked better in the last when moving the ball quickly

Feel like Big Benny Brown is in for a big year. He has already justified the trade on the back of his work in 2021. Heck, he justified it on the back of the Grand Final alone. But quite often, he'd dominate early in games before drifting out. I put that down to a lack of conditioning. Now, he's had a year in our system, has a full pre season to build miles in the legs, and is approaching the sweet spot of his career (29 y/o is absolute prime for a key forward IMO, particularly for one that started his career a bit later). He basically guarantees us a goal every time he takes a set shot. 60+ goals isn't out of the question in 2022.

I can the panic has set into some. Jackson will stay at MFC.

First bounce dogga loses the tap but recovers to win the clearance. beast and check out kozzie's rundown of Hunt. awesome and was that van rooyen with the strong mark on 2.18. good hands

Completely disagree DM To lose one of your players you st RV building a dynasty and to be ready to take over from Maxy roiled be hard to take. One crazy Demonlander ( he will know who he is/was) posted a similar sentiment after we lost a game in 2020 ( or it may have been 2019) saying we round get XXX on the trade for Clarry. As events have proved there is only ONE Clarry and he is so special he just may be our greatest player ever ( if Trac doesn't claim it). Some players are harder to replace than others and we know why. No one comes near their best and they are match winners! They take over games and NO ONE can challenge them. Eg The Granny. Yes Clarry has solved his issues with handball and disposal etc. and is now the elite player who he always looked he would become. Maximum impact and ferocious attack on the ball with an over the top attitude NOT TO LOSE. He often goes his hardest in the last quarter but to be fair it's all the time. So saying 2 picks will replace Dogga is far too simplistic he is special and a champion who wins games already with his unique competitive style Great ball skills and pace that 199cm players don't have and his team first attitude plus he rarely if ever fumbles. We don't know how it will be if we have to replace Dogga ( like Clarry) but you don't know how valuable he is until you don't have him!! Thats why Eagles were bloody lucky they got Josh Kennedy for Judd but that's rare rather than the norm.

Don't want to rain on your parade Picket as it's nice to be on the receiving end of a good trade. We've had our share of bad ones, but I think this was a win/win sort of trade. Ben Brown was going nowhere anymore at North and had become Mr Flopsy as he was double teamed all the time and found it an easier option to try for a free than go for the footy. It's great he got the chance to revitalise his career, there were many doubters, especially from oppo clubs, but he got fitter and embraced change and the team ethos and got his reward. As did we. North though have two really good forwards that have developed well in Larkey and Zurhaar. That may not have happened if they had of hung onto Brown. I think they are winners from the trade too.

5. McNamara 4. Goldrick 3. Hanks 2. Gay 1. Sherriff

Really poor performance Adelaide had a few out too. Should have been belted really big time reality check. Decision making poor and the midfield was poor. Really worrying form from Zanker been poor since round 2 she's a real barometer for us.

The salary cap has been increased by $20,000 for standalone teams to $220,000 while AFL and AFL-aligned clubs have received just a $10,000 boost to $110,000. The caps also introduce the ability to pay $10,000 of a playing coach's salary outside the cap while indigenous coaches implement a $5,000 concession. That salary cap figure doesn’t really allow for too many players which might be why Buntine is the only new player of any major note on the books. The list size rules also remain pretty much identical to the 2021 rules with AFL affiliate clubs having a maximum of 30 players (15 development players, 15 primary listed players) while stand-alone clubs can have a total of 40 players on their lists (28 primary listed players, 12 development players). The release of the fixture is not far off with the season kicking off on the weekend of 26/27 March.

I was told last year that Selwyn would be fine once Burgess had left. This small video enhances that feeling

Fair enough. He seems a terrific kid and someone who you would love to see playing consistently in the ones. Weeds problem irrespective of form is that we have our premiership players then a list of guys queuing for a spot. Speed, agility, running hard both ways and hardness at the footy and opponent are now ingrained in our way of playing. We have a team of guys who play for one another and do the one percenters. We have a group who based on 2021 form have maximised their talents and gone beyond, including players who used to be seen as not quite good enough or fringe players. For Weed to get a game he will have to rely on injuries and outstanding and consistent form for Casey. Even then he may get an occasional game but unless there is dramatic change I just can’t see him cementing a place in the 22.

Old Dee, I can see that you have travelled along the road to Damascus. Things will never be the same. Can we ever be that pessimistic again as we were prior to the flag. Fancy looking beyond pre-season to the full season ahead without that veil of negativity. We no longer remain sad about whether we will see a flag before our last hurrah. Before the strains of the GOF waft into the ether.

Watching the vision of training, the Demons are just so quick and sharp, move the ball so fast and lower their eyes going into F50! It’s still hard to believe it’s our MFC, even after that magnificent GF win, after years of average skill to watch our elite ball movement is bl..dy fantastic! Can’t wait for the season to start!!

Just when you thought the riddler had retired….

Fair enough BBP I could put 2 and 2 together and presume he is very happy playing with his mates at Melbourne and his parents see a great opportunity to move to Melbourne to spend more time watching him develop into a great footballer in a city that arguably has a lot more to offer than Perth I could be wrong Just don't see any value in speculating either way. I have no idea what's going on and neither do you He always comes across as being a happy lad - and why wouldn't he be. I finally have a level of confidence in our coaches and officials to get these things right. If we are concerned that he is about to get homesick and run back to Perth I find it remarkable that we have just loaded up with another 3 WA boys in the draft