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As the dust settles on another tumultuous trade & draft period, our attention turns to our Western enemies (no, not the dogs) after the departure of Luke Jackson Currently owning Fremantles 2023 first & second round picks, expect an update every Dokka loss, hamstring injury and noteworthy Jacko moment. Based on 2022 standings, we would own Fremantle's picks 13 & 32 IN: Jefferson, 2023 R1, 2023 R2 OUT: Jackson, Knobel, Wagner

A good turnout this morning. I was down there in time for Daisy's talk. She was great, emphasised our youth after congratulating and nominating the effort of individuals on the day of the GF. Very impressive up on the stage that was made for them, by the end her voice was becoming hoarse. Finished with everybody singing "the grand old flag", then getting selfies with the cup, and signings and chats with the players. Good luck tonight for their B & F. Addit: The cup was looking tarnished, really been given a workout. Like the "Velvetine Rabbit", you know your are loved when well worn

Remember our 2019 year...would have been no chance of that happening to us either. We finished 2nd last... Not saying it will happen by any stretch but recent history shows it's a possibility. Imagine finishing in the bottom 5 having given away your top end picks. At least we were able to top up and go again.

I am not so negative re Hunter. He had issues with the Coach at WO and feel a fresh start and a will to play top senior footy hopefully will revitalise him.

Agree Kev, was a very good day out there. Kids had a lot of fun and the players were fantastic, a couple of them even placed their premiership medal around the kids necks during the photos and signatures.

Looking at their ins and outs, that is not a given. Lobb is a big loss, as is Mundy and Acres had his best season in 2022 as did Logue. Tucker was used in 14 games also. It will be very interesting to see how they go in 2023.

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

Biggest factor imo is that their draw will be a lot harder and like us post our premiership year, oppo will be well prepared for how they like to play. That coupled with the fact that they've lost some quality and experience in important positions. Agree with others that I reckon they'll slide, but not too far if injuries don't strike hard. 6-10 I'm hoping.

No chance of a top 5 pick imo but Im thinking they’ll be between 6-10 on the ladder but I’ll definitely be cheering against them.

A couple of future 1sts in return, surely

I'm banking on Lachie for a stellar season in the red and blue. He knows he didn't change Clubs to play at Casey. Nothing but the members stand side wing passing to our forwards snd linking with our backs is acceptable. Tough enduring and on the job all day needs to Be his mantra and a finish somewhere in the top 10 of the B and F for Lachie. No Coach either issues Lachie starts with a blank canvas!

Phwoar..... what a simile. High art. Beads n flowers, guns n diesel all in one.

Hopefully our two ex Bulldogs will relish being away from weirdo Bevo.

Van Rooyen looks to have put on some size.

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

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.

Actually really sad about this..

Some really great photos there. The Bowey kick and Viney mark with the terrace houses in the background are both superb. They capture the exact moment in precise focus.

He elevated to mascot status in my mind - think we shd crowd fund and get him back!

Thanks Ben for all your hard work. The amount of content that you provided for both the men's and women's team was incredible.

Many, many years ago, I was retained to act in some litigation involving damage to a property close by the Elsternwick Park area. Some very simple and rudimentary research revealed that much of the area was once swampland and any building work there would involve some serious and expensive foundation works. The location might be excellent with good transport but my advice is to stay away from this place. The main ground at Elsternwick Park is currently a disaster area. It’s used as the VAFA’s headquarters and this year’s finals were a disaster. Rain and flooding hit the ground an hour before the Premier B Section Grand Final (see photo) resulting in an ugly game on a mud heap won by Old Haileybury 2.10.22 to University Blacks 2.5.17. The Premier A Section Grand Final scheduled for the following day was moved to the Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. In short - a definite NO

Going to be a hard act to contain, young Sparrow. Great future at the Dees in my opinion. Did someone say 'Little Ron'?

Damn, that sucks. Ben has been great in his coverage of both AFL and AFLW, his work on Gus and Gawny and Ben and Lil and has clearly been a huge part of the marked increase in quality and quantity of our online content. You’ll be missed Gibby! Whatever “Bursty” is is lucky to have you!

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.

Let's hope for a top 5 pick next year (theirs) and ours the last pick in the first round. Should give us a good spread.

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

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

As much as I hate to agree with Eddie McGuire he was spot on when he made a comment about why are we trying to squeeze into the sports precinct when Port Melbourne's ground is primed for a redevelopment. The old DHL factories next to the ground are as old as the hills and could make way for an elite facility. Port Melbourne would be a great location IMO.

Part Three - Comparing apples with pomegranates by The Oracle One of the truly pointless exercises after each year’s draft is the game over which club “won” the period in question. The reality is that there is no winner or loser at the time and it’s only years further down the track when a full assessment of how the picks turn out can be made, that the winning hand is revealed. And the draft results cannot be considered in isolation; you need to look at where each club stood before the trades including their original hands, how they traded and drafted and where they stood in the end. It wasn’t so long ago that one so-called “expert” gave Melbourne a C rating for its 2019 draft haul of Luke Jackson, Kysaiah Pickett and Trent Rivers. Less than two years later the trio were all part premiership team. With this in mind, I return to the changes in the make up of Melbourne’s 2022 list in the fortnight after this year’s grand final. The club had failed in its recent finals campaign and then lost exciting young ruckman Jackson who sought to return home to Perth. In the trading period, the Demons acquired three new names in two-time All Australian 203cm tall ruckman and Copeland Trophy winner Brodie Grundy, premiership Bulldog wingman Lachie Hunter (also a past best and fairest for the Western Bulldogs) and his teammate in Josh Schache, a former Larke Medallist and the number two national draftee of 2015. On top of that, the Demons improved their draft position. They now held a current first round pick and two future first and second rounders for 2023. That outcome wasn’t enough to impress all of the pundits but to many, including yours truly, it was nevertheless a satisfactory outcome. In the month before the draft, Melbourne added young basketballer Kyah Farris-White as a Category B rookie on a one year contract brokered by his American agent who initially contacted Jason Taylor via Linkedin. The 206cm beanstalk was tested by Mark Williams who liked what he saw and the youngster will now gain tuition in ruckwork within a system containing two of the game’s best ruck practitioners. With the draft fast approaching, there was speculation that the Demons were preparing to deal aggressively with their future picks to improve their hand but that all came to nought. Perhaps the Demon recruiters are fans of the US musical Hamilton because they decided to use the national draft to select a pair who carry the names of two early American Presidents, Jefferson and Adams. High flying forward Matthew Jefferson from the Oakleigh Chargers has been associated with the Demons ever since they collected a first round selection (which turned out to be 15) in the Jackson trade. The connection was clear and present. One of the club’s needs was a key forward to team up with 2021 draftee Jacob Van Rooyen as Ben Brown and Tom McDonald neared their twilight years. The Under 18 All Australian Jefferson who booted 14 goals in the recent national carnival including a haul of seven against WA was the obvious choice at that point on the first night of the draft meeting. He was also the full forward in the NAB League Team Of The Year. Late in the second round of the following evening, Melbourne snared a Jefferson bookend, Jed Adams, a 196cm key defender from Western Australia. Despite some injury concerns in 2022, Adams is considered a cool and steady customer who could fill Steven May’s shoes when the great man decides to step down. There was no third selection in the national draft. As expected, the club promoted Kade Chandler off the rookie list — a fitting reward for the young midfielder/forward’s patience and perseverance during the Covid pandemic when he played an understudy role at a premiership club, biding his time for opportunities that were hard to come by. The critics provided no universal accolades for the Demons’ drafting exercise. Rather, it was considered as a solid effort. There were no raised eyebrows. Pulses never ran hot. There were no apples to compare with the fruit of the other clubs. So when the rookie draft came a day later, Melbourne did pull a couple of surprises. It bucked the trend of reloading with previously delisted players and continued to go young and tall by selecting an impressive South Australian ruckman who has established some great credentials in his young career. Standing at close to 200cm, Will Verrall is not that far away from accompanying one of the two big guns in the ruck or up forward at AFL level should the need arise. If not, he will develop in their shadows at Casey. Then came the bombshell selection of the smoky of the draft. Strong bodied Xavier College student Oliver Sestan happened to be at the place (Gosch’s Paddock) at the right time when the Paul Connors management team showed off its draft stable to league recruiters late last month. It has been said that Sestan matched it that day with now North Melbourne recruit George Wardlaw. Days later the prolific 186cm goalkicker in junior ranks at Mansfield was a Demon. The experts all asked “who” and I guess we’ll find out some time sooner or later as to whether the speculative selection can play. But that’s not all. The selectors left one place open to be filled during the preseason supplemental selection period or further down the track in next year’s mid season draft. And beyond that, the Demons have two first and two second round draft picks awaiting them when the 2023 trades and draft take place. In the meantime, the lists read like this — PRIMARY LIST: Jed Adams Jake Bowey Angus Brayshaw Ben Brown Kade Chandler Luke Dunstan Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Brodie Grundy James Harmes Michael Hibberd Blake Howes Lachie Hunter Matthew Jefferson James Jordon Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Christian Salem Josh Schache Joel Smith Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Jacob Van Rooyen Jack Viney Taj Woewodin ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Judd McVee Oliver Sestan Deakyn Smith Daniel Turner Will Verrell ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Kyah Farris-White Andy Moniz-Wakefield

Fremantle supporters aren’t as mentally disturbed as Eagles supporters but by gosh, the pressure on Jackson to perform given we have their first two picks next year will be immense. If Freo fail, Jackson will enemy No.1 for the purple twits.

They are potentially Top 4 , their mids will get better and I think Fyfe will play mostly as a forward. Their season depends on their key defenders staying fit, they are very light on down back, if Ryan and Pearce go down with no Logue to come in they could be in trouble

Well if the government gave us half what they have given the cats we could do that and make all the goal posts out of platinum and still have spare change.

Whilst there’s room for it - fixture announcements, contract extensions etc - I like that our socials haven’t descended in to a mess of bad memes and attempted edgy content. Our media content reflects our brand and the interviews with players reflect a level of trust and respect. Kudos to Ben. There was a new person taking photos out on the field at training and their outfit alone made me a little nervous. But I don’t want to judge prematurely. Teams give so little to traditional media these days (and I don’t blame them), which means the in house media are really important for how we connect with the team.

I am backing Jeffer to be a gun Has some very good football skills as a base. Also some X factor ones to add.

Ditto, worn just to make matters worse. Must admit, had an Afro myself during university days, way back in the past, converted to - and sustained to this day - with the good, old short back-and-sides (plus a full beard, trimmed carefully, fortnightly). All is easy maintenance when we mature and that so frequently reduces confronting that ugly image in the bathroom mirror and wasting money on 'coiffure' and razor blades. :-) I guess my time in the Army helped smarten up the visage.

So according to hi Twitter feed, Ben Gibson is leaving. I think he has been first class with his work for the Dees, and wanted to jump on here and express my gratitude for a job well done. Enjoyed his contribution to the Gus and Gawn podcast, his interviews, and his enthusiasm for his work. Probably one of his more onerous tasks has been to trawl this website, and if he does I am sorry for some of the drivel he has been exposed to. Am sure he knows we are generally nuts but love the club. (would love to know if he has ever posted). Anyway, thanks for all the content over the COVID era, and good luck in the future.

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.

I tip the dockers to go backwards next year. We'll end up with a top 10 pick i reckon. dreamtime would be top 5

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.

Bevo began pushing Hunter out two seasons ago when he plonked him in a forward pocket for much of the year (God knows why) He'll be a great winger for us

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.

can you explain why youve come here to contribute nothing and grumble rather than just clicking on a thread that does interest you and reading that instead? its interesting and a bit of fun

Can 'Gibby in the flesh' remain a thing though

Gentleman..

Gibbo’s gracious contributions will be missed especially on Gus & Yawny. All the best Ben.

Ben was a huge part of The MFC, from his very first day. Big shoes to fill

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

Alright, then; Fawkner Park? NW corner, say, with Admin and indoor football facilities in St Kilda Rd office precinct (conversion, or demolish/new). Though my real money's on the 'G redevelopment per earlier post.