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I see meeeeeeee!!! My arm is around Daisy :)

Really for Casey rucks, there are two strategies that are both valid, depending on circumstance: 1- a "ready to go" senior ruck and a developing ruck. Pros: player immediately available to backfill if a senior ruck gets injured. Cons: ready to go (and probably AFL NQR) ruck hogs all the game time at Casey, seriously impedes the development of the developing ruck 2- two development rucks, with the better of the two getting the lion's share of gametime at Casey. Pros: bets are hedged if one of them turns out to be no good. Cons: both could turn out to be no good. With Gawn and Grundy both in the side, strategy 2- makes the most sense to me. It's a position of luxury, really. We don't really hurt too badly if one of the seniors gets injured; we just make do with TMac or Schache playing second ruck. If they both go down obviously we're stuffed, but I don't think having a Daw like player really mitigates that anyway. When Jackson was on the list, developing rucks weren't a priority. Jackson was the development ruck, it just so happened that he was good enough that he could do it in the senior side. Now the only rucks on our list are on the wrong side of 30 (edit: whoops, I've added years to Grundy. Oh well, point remains the same). I think finding the next one is a pretty urgent priority and it's risky business putting all our eggs in one basket.

Stop using facts to quell my rage.

Kate Roffey sat with the Demon Army, and next to the Ruby Demons, throughout the second half of the match, and she joined in with us at the final siren while we screamed, cheered, did the whole ugly crying thing, before she went off to join the team on the ground. She is a true leader of the club, and is just as passionate as any of us are.

The issue at Melbourne for years wasn't that we couldn't identify talent, it was that we didn't have the structure in place, both within the playing group AND within the coaching staff to develop the players. Now, a player comes to Melbourne and has to do his time in the seconds. They don't get a game in the senior team until they are absolutely ready, which does drive some of us mad, but is the right way to do it.

Just finished watching a replay after being there on the day. My first premiership to see live for our club in my 50 odd years of supporting them. We sat with the demon army and it was great to sit with such passionate supporters when we were outnumbered but not out-voiced! Thanks to the DA for welcoming us in. The surface - yeah it was both pretty soft and also pretty lumpy. Kate Roffey is spot on, passionate supporters missed out on tickets and it's not good enough to host a granny in such a small stadium. We really were up against it in a number of aspects and it was great the way we just ground out the win. After all my bagging of it, Springfield was a pretty good facility and it reminded me of a good local footy ground when I was a kid in Brisbane. We used to get 7 to 10,000 people and grand finals back then which creates a great atmosphere. But for a national final, it's just not big enough and shouldn;t have been held there. Anyway's the game. The umpiring, summed up for me when one called a free kick and another play on and Banno ran in and tackled the lions player. Can't wait for 4 umps to be on the field next year hey. The best: This game was all about defense. Taylor Harris getting her cheek split open, getting up and then hitting the next contest even harder. She's so tough and competetive. Shelly Heath, knocked sideways in a bump on the far wing, stuck her hand out for a one handed tackle on her oponent. Tackle of the day. Kate Hore, didn't get many attacking opportunities but she laid some brilliant tackles and Mick's move to put her behind the ball in the last quarter paid off in spades. West and Hanks were just fantastic, but I don't think Purcell was far behind them. Paxy - She was off for a fair bit of the game towards the end but she was a great steadier for us too. Really hope she sticks with us next year. Banno - She also made some fantastic defensive efforts but even though she wasn't rewarded with a goal, she had some great fantastic offensive runs and set Mackin up for that first goal. She also had a certain goal if that run down tackle (with a correct disposal / kick) from Fitsimons wasn't paid against us. She actually had three chances for a goal in the last 60 seconds of play, the last being as the siren sounded. She was loose in front of goals and would have certainly got the goal if it hadn't sounded. Watching her screaming at us as the Demon army screamed back at her when the siren sounded is a moment I'll never forget. Eden Zanker - She really was cooked by the last quarter. She had the staggers. Harris was playing further up the ground and she became the key forward. I watched her just keep willing herself into lead after lead. The way she just kept leading and presenting for her team mates was just brilliant and summed up the way all of our players were not going to relent. My Bog - I know I know, midfielders right? but for me it was our defenders. Maddy Gay had an absolute cracker of a game. But it was watching an 18 year old Tahlia Gillard absolutely stich up the leading goal kicker in Jessie Wardlaw that blew me away. It was great to watch her live, her closing speed, her body work and the way she just kept getting those long arms through to spoil with impeccable timing. I think she was our most valuable player on the ground on the day in the way she shut down their most dangerous player. If Gabby Colvin is back into the defensive line next year, we could potentially have Gillard and Harris creating chaos through the ruck and into our forward line. I love the way Stinnear just swings the moves with freedom and we've got an incredible array of talent to do this with now. Go Dees

Please tell me that Collingwood have just drafted the defender who played on him that day.

Down for my first look at our squad, A beautiful day with quite a few out early. The defenders doing some passing to each other on the wing and the rest having goal kicking practice. Once the session starts, they go about it earnestly, with a no nonsense physical trainer taking the reins. Quite regimented in the warm-up and when doing the runs. There is no room for ambiguity. After the warm-up, they are into 3 groups and 3 stations. Strength, goal snaps and a power station. They then go to a drill which is working across each other with precision kicks. Williams with the one-liners and keeping them amused. The next one is similar but with the space opening up making for longer kicking. They go into simulations. A bit rusty for the first couple of plays, but it doesn't take long till they get the ball movement right, or the defensive press causing turnovers. After sims comes some running. Still pretty mild as they only do 4 laps, though within time limits and different groups running at times, appropriate to size and age. My impressions are: Trent Rivers is looking stronger and bigger, as is Jordon. Tom Sparrow looks fit, as does Laurie. Bayley fritch as skilled as ever, though appears to be on a slightly modified program, and did not participate in sims. Grundy the same and was doing his own running program. Deakyn Smith, Moniz-wakefield and Hibbs on a modified program that appears to be about fitness as they spent all their time running. Spargo and Chandler in everything during sims. Howes and Woewodin working with Viney. JVR has great hands and is bringing the energy. Goodwin wants more from Pickett. Pettraca and May struggling with the running. Hunter was struggling with connection, Schache looks the better one at the moment. Farris-white has a fair bit of work to do on his kicking style, appears to have a good endurance engine. Mathew Jefferson was mainly working alongside Farris-white and both didn't participate in sims. He appeared a touch nervous as he dropped some simple chest marks and had a little difficulty finding connection when drilling his kicks. Needs to also work on fitness. Not at training: Salem, Lever, TMac, Lever, Brayshaw, Gawn, ANB, Oliver, Langdon, Melksham, Tomlinson, Petty, Joel Smith, Ben Brown.

If we do move ahead with this, i assume Chandler is elevated into the starting 22 to rotate with Kozzy in the FP. What roles then exist for Sparrow and Harmes if Viney rotates through the middle. Cant see both of them playing the HF/Mid role. Brayshaw back to HB seems logical, with Hunter taking the defensive wing. Lucky we are going to have a 5th sub because one of Harmes, JJ, Sparrow, ANB was probably going to miss otherwise or become the medi-sub There will be so many players trying to break into the squad from Casey too- Tommo, J. Smith, Woey, Laurie, Bowey, JVR, Howes, Turner, Dunstan - hopefully we are a bit more proactive this season in bringing in players at various points to keep the team fresher than last year.

Reckon the time is right for Daisy to bow out on a high, as the captain of a premiership team. Her influence has waned significantly from a football perspective. Head to Geelong, absorb and learn as much as she can before returning to the Dees in some coaching capacity (and bring back plenty of intel from the Cats)

I heard that his father Lorne was from Northern Tasmania.

He was critical of all of those selections. Particularly Kozzie as he was of low output - said we would have been much better taking.... Jack Mahoney. Says it all really. He also declared Lukosius the greatest draft pick ever made. He's a very dedicated, overly verbose nuffie who lacks any real feel for what traits are important at AFL level. And a Collingwood fan to boot. Fair play for getting himself into ESPN as he has been doing phantom drafts for a long time, well before it was hip - but it also says a bit given this history that he's not progressed further & is still bignoting himself on BigFooty with the other Youtube heroes.

I'm still triggered that they stole a possession off him.

what size do you need to be to be a ruck and whats his leap like and how big is his arm span????????? What's better 208cm ruckman that cant jump or a 199cm ruckman that has elite running jump stats Running Vertical Jump James Van Es (GWV Rebels/North Ballarat) – 98cm Aaron Cadman (GWV Rebels/Darley) – 93cm Will Verrall (South Adelaide/Christies Beach) – 90cm Josh Weddle (Oakleigh Chargers/Eltham) – 90cm

Basically there is no real science in recruiting just watching matches or filmed vision and a gut feel by most recruiters because none have a crystal ball to tell the future of these young men. Sure there perfomances at U18 level have a bearing but when a young players gets drafted injuries can cruel his development and his career al la Luke Molan. Those people who rate the selections do so with a very narrow focus on the clubs who get Father-Sons with high rating al la Brisbane whilst clubs like the MFC just get selections which are not at the pointy end of the Draft. If in 10 years time Oliver Sestan, Will Verrell, Jed Adams and Matthew Jefferson become 200 game players for the MFC and win multiple premierships then people will rate this crop as an A+. Every time a recruit walks into an AFL club he has the opportunity to become a Clayton Oliver/Nick Daicos/Christian Petracca/Jeremy Cameron/Max Gawn provided he has the potential, willingness to work hard, mental toughness and the luck with injuries. Player development is so important and coaches like Mark Williams are the reason players become better and better because they challange players both physically and mentally to better themselves.

Train on player from Frankston Dolphins.

Around the time of the first exhibition matches, Brad Green was asked about women playing a greater role in footy, and he kind of fluffed his lines, responding with :"I'm sure it won't be long before we see a woman coaching in the AFL, or someone with a woman's background." 😂

I'll take that bet. How much do you want to have on it? Peak MFCSS there, manny!

Gorgeous photo.

I am not going commit to any assumptions on the grounds I thought Gawn would never make it.

It's always been nuts Old Dee. Hard to know if numbers are increasing. In the past many were lurking in supposed safe environments (I think you know where I mean) but every kid is on the many social media avenues now which are a haven for these vile rock spiders. It's so hard for us to find the balance of safety vs trust for our loved ones. Educating them re the dangers is so important as well as keeping our eyes and ears open. It's tough, but it comes with the job.

The haircuts on these kids are truly mortifying. What’s happened to humanity?

Being named Oliver is a good sign

@Binman, thanks, I hadn't heard that and it makes perfect sense, quagmires (maybe a bit strong) never did scoring any good. AFL has a terrible record with grounds and as a Dees fan, truly think we get the rough end of the pineapple, I do wish we could be more Rory Breaker “If the milk turns out to be sour, I ain't the kinda [censored] to drink it.” BTW The more I hear from Roffey the more I like her, really think she is the leader the club needs to navigate the perils of a footy club. She's not Merkel yet but as far as building consensus seems to be well on the way.

From Paul Amy earlier this year:

Worst case scenario he'll be a good bodyguard for Jefferson

The other clubs need two scouts at every session; one to watch the prospects and one to watch whoever JT is watching

The most surprising thing here is he didn’t just make up something

Welcome to MFC Will Verral future forward/ruckman, some impressive highlights and MVP’s. Good height and weight for an 18 yo, 200cm, 95kg. Looking forward to watching you develop with Kyah, under the tutelage of Max and Brodie. Personally I can now relax knowing that we have now nailed the areas of greatest weakness on the list. Thanks JT and TL what a remarkable Draft and Trade period your team have pulled off.

Thanks for the report Kev, beat me to the punch. The work this morning was of a similar structure to Monday’s session, and like that session I was impressed with the general intensity of the work. Two different types of match sim; one in a congested smaller space using handball to move the ball backwards and forwards while maintaining the “shape” of their set ups, the other using most of the oval to move the ball by foot and run in support. It was demanding enough work for the first week, and shows that these days players are expected to be in physical condition to go straight into game plan work and skills work without having to waste valuable pre-season time “getting fit”. Kade was very busy, and was attempting spoils on big guys as well as his ever-present effervescence and intensity. Looking at Jefferson in the kicking they did late in the session I actually thought he looked quite comfortable and had nice hands; the running was a bit of a challenge for him, but that’s something that will come in time and with work. In regard to the running KFW was pretty darn good for such a young tall. As I said about Monday’s session, it was great again seeing a lot of senior players being part of the match sims. As Kev mentioned, there were also other senior players who did their own work separate from the main group. At one point in the warmup on the eastern side of the oval Grundy had to retrieve a footy that had bounced its way onto Punt Road and into the gutter. Welcome to the DIY MFC, Big Fella! I also chuckled at Mark Williams during the running yelling at a group “don’t let the new bloke beat you” as Lachie Hunter led that group past where I was standing.

The last time we had an Adams at the MFC he played in 6 premiership teams.

3 grabs, a tunnel ball and a chronic illness per marking contest

This bit of the article caught my attention in terms of the discussion about the scoring (it's the first I've heard the surface was rubbish): 'Roffey explained the inherent problems with this year’s Grand Final venue, claiming “the ball didn’t bounce off the deck”. Roffey put the low-scoring Grand Final result down the state of the ground, as the Demons prevailed by kicking 2.7.(19) to 2.3.(15). “We went out on Saturday and the girls did a couple of bounces and the coaches just said ‘don’t bounce’,” Roffey added. “That meant that the run and carry aspect of it probably wasn’t on show as it would’ve been, so it changes things a bit.” Looking forward, Roffey asserted the AFL must prioritise earlier planning to secure suitable venues for AFLW finals, particularly to showcase the Grand Final. “If it is to be a home final, the AFL needs to book a suitable venue now in every state for next year,” she said further. “And if you’re not going to do that, then you need to do the MCG-style thing and say ‘right well here is one venue where it will be’. “If you play in better venues, you get bigger scores and the women can execute their skills better because they are not wind affected or on uneven grounds and things, so this is a really bigger venue conversation that we need to have. “The venues I think is probably, across the board, the biggest issue we’ve got to address for our women at the moment.”

I’m smelling BS on this. Only 1 media outlet reporting this. She’s from the north western suburbs, her family and her partner are here in Melbourne, and she was telling me last night how much she loves the Demons. She bleeds red and blue.

Everybody knows how I love my best 22's so I'm doing a best 44 for every club starting with Adelaide. Tomorrow Brisbane. B: Smith, Worrell, Doedee HB: Dawson, Butts, Milera C: Hinge, Keays, Schoenberg HF: Rachele, Fogerty, Rankine F: Murphy, Walker, Thilthorpe FOLL: O'Brien, Sloane, Laird IC: Soligo, McHenry, Berry, Murray Reserves B: Sholl, McAsey, Seedsman HB: Jones, Michalanney, Hamill C: Hately, Crouch, Parnell HF: Cook, Himmelberg, Nankervis F: McAdam, Gollant, Pedlar FOLL: Strachen, Dowling, Taylor IC: McPherson, Borlase, Newchurch, Bond

Just beautiful. I hope he's with our club (both men and women's) for a long time to come.

I like the fact that Verrall is already 95kg, meaning physically he doesn't require as much development as Farris-White. Having Grundy as a mentor for Verrall (both drafted out of SA) and Gawn mentor Farris-White works well. Both kids get to learn off one of the games best rucks, and neither of our senior rucks are stretched too thin.

My bet is that Daisy will be our mens senior coach in about 5 years time.

I don't know alot about the Paxy stuff, but I know a bit about this because it's not a rumour, it's been confirmed. Daisy is part of the coaching acceleration project. As part of this, she'll be placed into a club's AFL program to get the coaching experience. It was announced last year she'd be going to Geelong, but the timing hasn't been decided; Daisy said it'd be after her playing career at Melbourne, and from all of her comments after the GF she hasn't decided when she'll finish up. I think it makes sense for her to explore other experiences with other clubs. No-one stays with the same club forever, but it doesn't mean she won't be back eventually.

..............Yep....... ARNIE IS the right guy !!!

Not sure on these 2 picks don't know much about them. Whatever Taylor picks I'm happy with he's proven himself over the years. Casey B: Adams, Turner, J.Smith HB: Rivers, Tomlinson, McVee C: Howes, Dunstan, Woewodin HF: Chandler, van Rooyen, Melksham F: Moniz-Wakefield, Schache, Jefferson FOLL: Verrell, Jordon, Laurie IC: D.Smith, Sestan, Farris-White, N\A We still have 1 spot left for the train ons. Wonder if Emile-Brennan will be one of those?

Exactly my thought and why I’m WRAPPED with this pick!!! Dees only club who showed real interest after he was a top-up player in tune up session for top draft talent — Taylor is a master. They loved the drive in his legs and skills below his feet then when saw highlights they were apparently that excited they couldn’t contain themselves. Planned to have him train in preseason but took him instead in RD to show faith. One to watch 100% highlights look sensational — literally a JAKO clone bit of Cuthbertson maybe too

Another fabulous effort thanks LH. We filled the necessary holes in the list, can’t wait for 2023.!!!

I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy reading posts which use data and, particularly, references for that data!

Apparently impressed at a training run (organised by his management group Connors Sports Management) in contests with George Wardlaw. I’ve watch Wardlaw ever since he was a junior with St Peters in the SMJFL and I can assure you that not many young footballers would have stood up to that test.