Leaderboard

Unsighted: Oliver, Pickett, Langdon, May, Harmes, Brayshaw, Melk, Tomlinson, Joel Smith, Verrall. No Dunstan, ANB either Rehab: Ben Brown, McDonald, Hibberd, AMW, Deakyn Smith Benny Brown doing pretty short jobs but joined in one drill and kicked the footy around. Hibbo and AWM doing solid work. T Mac not looking a mile off. New boys: Adams (Jed Adams): In runners and t shirt, did a good session on the watt bike. Good height, not big but solid frame, looks like he'll fill out once they do get him going though El Jefe (Matthew Jefferson): Joined in some drills and match sim, kicks a nice drop punt and seems to have loose easy arms that easily hold marks Kyah (Kyah Farris-White): joined in some drills, has a monster of work to do on his kicking, poor Choco wasn't marking many of his 15m stabs Sestan (Oliver Sestan): solid but not heavy, will need a preseason to change his frame a little but hardly a mile off, kicks accurately with punch when doing some kick to kick with Choco

Grundy: looks healthy and moves well, got involved a bit as a forward in the match sim, later was doing some runs with Fritsch and not dropping too far off him Hunter: was heavily involved in the match sim. Partly because he had a good stint in the pink jersey that's the extra number that goes both ways. Had some nice kicks. Bobbed up in good areas. Looks fit but solid. He had to really motor to get a quick one-two which tested those legs but he got it done. I don't think he'll star and those little legs might need some rest at times, but I think he'll be revitalised. Schache: was the main target of one of the match sim teams and so got on the end of plenty. Didn't really have too many contests. Certainly looks fit and strong in the legs. Will always have more narrow shoulders but is solid up top too. If he never has an opponent he'll be good! Wait and see if he can do more.

Things that caught the eye JVR was the main target of the other match sim team and he was prominent. Had some solid marking contests with Petty and he definitely has a good crack at it. A couple of two grab marks and drops, hopefully that's just early season stuff. But he looks really fit and strong and doesn't lack for energy. McVee - paired up with Salo and drills and they linked up on the same team a bit. Looks stronger but also to be playing quicker Rivers - had a stack of it, not as efficient with his use but a few kicks that missed by inches Woey - looked sharp and used it well Sparrow - had the hair flowing and moves like some kind of new age armoured vehicle. JJ - the match sim was all focused on fast ball movement and JJ was playing to instruction and getting it on nicely. Used the left at one stage, had a nice run and penetrating accurate kick at another, willing at the contest Petty - cleaned himself up nicely spoiling Fritsch at one stage, but got back out there for a nice battle with JVR. Had some spoils, marks, tackles and just generally did Petty stuff. Looks good Gawn, Petracca, Viney, Lever were all doing their things. Was good to see them all healthy

The one drill I saw Sestan join in was where they split in to pairs and just did some very token pressure one-on-one marking and one-on-one ground balls with a coach just gently lobbing a ball out in front. Sestan was joined up with Hunter and no one was providing any real pressure, but he just looked very comfortable in how to use his hips to hold off an opponent and gathered cleanly then could handball on either hand and seemed to be favouring using his left. Doesn't mean much, but it's a sign he's not super raw. Would've loved to have seen it done with real pressure and Viney or Petracca but hey, it's early days!

Actually really sad about this..

Burgs was a print media journalist and rusted on MFC fan who had to build the club’s media presence from scratch, and stayed loyal after he was given the heave ho. I reckon you could have said Gibbo did a great job without saying anything about Burgs.

Really enjoyed his work with the club. Sad to see him go but was inevitable I suspect given his media talents.

I think the biggest benefit of having Hunter, other than his ball use, is we will have two genuine wingers with huge tanks for teams to worry about. Last year Langdon began getting tagged out of games, such was his importance to us. Now with Hunter teams will have to worry about both.

I will really miss Gibby he added to our clubs family and human flavour I looked forward to his Gus and Gawny and after game segments with the players. It takes a lot of effort and good work to build that strong rapport with a playing group and supporters. It’s a bit like losing a friend.!!

I work in digital marketing & really rate MFC’s social content. They do an excellent job nailing the type of content us tragics/nuffies want to see. It’s a shame to see Ben leave, you can tell he’s got real rapport with the players.

giving summer workshops to umpires on how to cast Brownlow votes.

Bugger, he’s been fantastic with his work at the MFC. A likeable character, good luck to Ben in his future endeavours.

Yeah he was a ginormous step up from Burgo for us Dees content nuts and really helped bring a unique flavour to the MFC social media presence/footprint. Most Dees fans don't watch that stuff and won't care though, so the impact will be minimal. Bye Ben, from those of us tragic enough to know who you are - you'll be missed!

Too far from the G for this board

Mansfield 39.14.248 Tatura 0.1.1. Tat led by a point at one stage and sort of fell away after that.

He actually looks a better version of that Jackson fellow we selected a few years back.

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’m not a Melbourne resident but by looking at the map the easy solution would be to fill in the Albert park lake or bulldoze the golf course and build there. That’s essentially what happened to Burswood resort precinct when Perth Stadium went up. Give the GP back to Radelaide. Problem solved. You’re welcome.

Van Rooyen looks to have put on some size.

Ben has been great at the club Best wishes for the future!

'Armagh Premiership player!' (say it out loud 😁)

Yikes. Average! Bailey Smith is close to the best winger in the competition at his best, I’d have him on our list in a heartbeat! The dogs had the problem of too many quality mids and had Treloar, Dunkley along with Roarke Smith (who is decent) McLean, Williams all rotating on the wing, that pushed Hunter out, not a lack of quality wingers, an oversupply. The reality is our competition for wing spots is much less than the dogs. Brayshaw and Jordon both did incredible jobs but aren’t natural wingers, Oscar Baker didn’t come on, Woey and Howes were too young last year and will still be developing. Hunter should be aiming to walk onto our second wing if he brings quality skills, application and effort. I’d have Woey a sneaky chance to take Hunter’s spot if he wavers as I really rate his improvement and if he continues his trajectory he’ll be pushing hard. But it’s Hunters to lose atm. The question is what we do with Brayshaw, Jordon, Sparrow, Harmes, Bowey, Salem not all of them will play and while a few of them will be walk up starts I think there’ll be some different roles for them this year.

I remember watching JT's comments before the rookie draft. Said we were looking at 1-2 players, and it would depend on who was available. Clearly, we had some interest in Sestan, but if he was off the table we wouldn't have picked up another rookie. Might need to cool our jets a bit. Guy looks like he could be a great get, but lets see him play a couple of games at Casey first. If he wasn't on anyone's radar, there might be some growth needed. While everyone is understandably focusing on his Mansfield performances, it looks like he was regularly amongst the best and a regular goalkicker for Xavier last year they won the APS - https://www.oldxavs.com.au/post/xavier-wins-aps. That's a good sign and probably more indicative given that it He's in a bit of a similar positon to Jayden Hunt - late pick, school footy. If he's a contributing best 22/fringe player like Jayden I would be very happy.

You’ll know what I mean when you see it, he’s slinky and his arms present nicely to the footy. I was hoping to get a closer up look at his hands. They didn’t look like big buckets from what I could see but it wasn’t up close!

At his first day at training - wow talk about throw him into the fire 😀

Pretty handy year to hold 4 picks in the top 36 and a father son that we mostly likely fall after that. From memory Yze and White sons will be 2024 eligible. Gives us real opportunity at trade time and drafting to create a real long period of success.

Looks like they might have received a swag bag delivery from the club that most likely included the jumper Oliver is wearing so they could take a photo for the socials and it might have also included that scarf. Or either they or a friend are Dees supporters and they supplied the scarf.

More Fyfe injuries, Lobb out, Tabener the most subbed out player, their key forward - a very good defence, also held together by the glue of no injuries to their brittle Pierce. Undersized midfield with Mundy gone. These factors, and the unlearnt lesson that you 'can't just turn up and expect it the next year' should all form a perfect storm that nets us a top 10 pick, hopefully.

I think only the 1st-4th year players are due back at the moment, although a few of the older guys have already returned.

Thanks Dee very informative.

Be sure to ask permission to borrow other people's children, otherwise it could be construed as kidnapping :)

So, this trade and draft period we've brought in: 3 rucks (Grundy, Ferris-White and Verrel) 2 Key forwards (Jefferson and Schace) 1 Key Back (Addams) And a mid and a mid forward. After losing 1 ruck (Luke) and 1 Key forward (Weid, 2 if count M Brown).

Hopefully he’s a fitter and turner

Carlton's choke against the pies to miss finals was one of the highlights of last season for me. it was hilarious

The very same. They hold the Guinness World Record for the highest score in an official game of Australian Rules football when they defeated Primrose in 1992. 100 - 34 - 634 Primrose somehow scored 18 points. I’ve often tried to imagine how that even happened, and what that match must have looked like.

Is he suggesting here that he’s downgraded his ranking of Melbourne’s drafting efforts because we selected a player with some injury concerns? If so, he would have missed out on recruiting Joel Selwood who sustained a serious knee injury during his final year of junior football that caused him to fall to Geelong's first pick at seventh overall in the 2006 AFL draft. Those recruiters who overlooked him missed out on a 355 game player, long time Cats’ skipper, a quadruple premiership player, a six time All Australian (and three-time captain of that team) and a great of the game. What a dill!

95kg at 18 is extremely promising, is going to be one of the stronger rucks going around am willing to bet, no idea where he will be skill wise, but on video alone it seems his reflexes are ahead of the game, baby giraffe not appropriate, more preying mantis.. I really think JT has picked the eyes out of a draft considering our picks reflect where we sit on the ladder. Casey must be very short odds for B2B!

Too late on that one, it’s being converted into a wetlands/park.

Her family, her partner, etc are all in Greenvale. Apart from a friend who works at Fremantle that's cited in the article, she has no ties in WA.

Currently on Carltons list and played 5 games this year after debuting from a injury ruined first year last year. Wingman/half back who's exactly what we're lacking in terms of depth on the outside with clean skills and poise. Showed some real promise at AFL level this year from what I saw and already signed a new 2 year contract extension. He was the one I wanted badly in the 2020 draft and was shocked when we overlooked him for Rosman. My support was immediately behind Rosman when we selected but deep down I was fairly disappointed we overlooked a natural footballer for an athlete who was still raw to the game. Oh well.

A number of previously fancied players missed out entirely on being drafted this year. Draft analyst Ed Pascoe tweeted before the rookie draft that some of these included the likes of Sam Gilbey, Mitch Szybkowski, Adam D'Aloia, Kobe Ryan, Hudson O'Keefe and Luke Teal. None of these players were rookied. Pascoe noted that Sam Gilbey in particular has some “undeniable talent” despite having had a very unlucky year with injury. I wonder whether some of these players might be included by the Demons as train on players for pre-season supplemental selection?

The great comment from JT was that we don’t expect the draftees to play early, but rather to just develop their games. That is just so different to the old Melbourne, where we would say that hopefully draftees would play some games next year.

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