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You’re all a bunch of bloody negative sad sacks.

I would have thought after 300 games he’s earned enough respect for supporters to at least wait for the club to describe his position at the club. Rather than bagging his skills/kicking and insinuating he got the job due to him being an old boy and not because he’ll make a good coach

Welcome back Nathan - wasn’t that 302 games for MFC third in the Rising Star, 3 Keith Bluey Truscott Medals, played in the midfield for greater majority of his career and could have played in a Granny in 2021. I think that Nathan could complete a Cert 4 in coaching in his spare time. Let’s wait and see what structures we set up before Sh..T canning our former champion.

I’m sure we’ll have a senior assistant to oversee him and Jonsey can learn his trade I thought there would be more love for a loyal past champ of the club

people quickly forget that he was lucky enough to have been coached at senior level by 8 different coaches 😊

Will be mentoring Clarry and healing wounds with Trac among other things. Valuable edition in a time we need leaders!

Daniher was great in the finals but ultimately it’s the midfield that wins it. Lions had Ashcroft, Neale, McCluggage and Berry. Now they top up with Ashcroft mark 2 as well. Dees need to identify this year as the need to upgrade the midfield. It’s obvious. Armstrong is good. He can mark , kick it and kick goals. But he’s not elite. I’m happy for Tigers or Saints to grab him. We need mids to compete now and the future. JV7, Trac and Clarry together with the new wave of Windsor, Throlstrup and 5 + 9 is the answer.

Nothing too concrete to come out of that but few little tid-bits. - Dees have a level of interest in Tauru (as do most in the top 10) and also Armstrong - Cal believes our pick 5 will most likely come from the midfield group of Lalor, O'Sullivan, Draper, Langford and Smith. - Adelaide pick 4 likely to be chosen from Draper and Langford with both also in the mix for Carltons pick - Pick 9 Cal named Travaglia and Allan "among others" in that range for our pick. - Armstrong may get some interest from tigers at pick 6 but also Saints at 7 & 8. - Travaglia is a wanted commodity among clubs in the 8 - 14 range. - North still looking for trading partners for pick 2 but seems unlikely at this stage. Cal says North continues to be linked to Tauru but questioned whether it's too early for him at this point and they may go a mid. Sounded more opinion than mail there. - 6 certainties for the top 10: Lalor, Aschroft, O'Sullivan, Langford, Draper, Smith - likely for top 10: Smillie and Tauru - possibles for top 10: Lombard, Kako, Reid, Allan, Travaglia

I'm confused. Club legend and former skipper returns to the fold. Is that a positive or yet more evidence of the club being in crisis?

Over a decade being one of the leagues most hard working and respected midfielders, and knowing the Dees system inside and out not good enough?

I suspect you're most likely correct but there's another reason that Richmond and us would agree to a trade like this, or something similar. That is to deny other teams the opportunity to deal with us and beat them to that player. Most clubs would probably have a good understanding of which teams are targeting which players. This could lead to a discussion with Richmond to highlight the mutual benefits of a trade. Richmond might like a player at 10, for examples sake lets say its Travaglia and we also have no interest in taking him. We could be in discussions with GWS for 15, 16 with GWS targeting Travaglia as their man. Richmond may look to package up pick 11 with 23 (or whatever extra pick would sate us) for pick 9 to prevent this from happening. We saw this last year when Essendon traded with Geelong to get Caddy. Essendon were one spot behind Geelong and gave them a 2nd round pick to move up that one pick. Geelong were clearly not going to take Caddy, took the extra currency and selected O'Sullivan. It was later stated that Essendon made that move to prevent rivals from getting access to Caddy by attempting to trade with Geelong.

That's literally one of the worst takes I've ever read. We'd hardly have a club left if it wasn't for Jones.

I think that’s for the best at this point 5 gets us whatever top end mid slides out of Lalor, FOS, Smith, Langford or Draper And 9 is right in the middle of that next bracket of talent where there will be a range of high quality players available regardless of who Richmond and Saints pick with 6, 7 and 8 We’ve done our wheeling and dealing - now take the best talent and run

If there was a formal scale for measuring peripheral awareness and anticipation, the benchmarks would go from Jacob Koschitzke through to Scott Pendlebury. I think Jagga Smith might give Pendles some competition. Neither of Smith of Windsor will ever be big guys, but having those two driving our ball movement out of contests could be transformative.

Quality, quality, quality! Legend, legend, legend! True (red &) Blue. Let the negative clan be drowned out! So important to have blokes with good character attached to the Club in an official capacity. Jonesy has the tenacity to make it work, whatever the role!

@Ted Lasso yes we are nearly aligned. #5… likely Smith or Langford. Either is a great addition. 👏👏👏 However in outcome , I can’t see the Dees taking both Smith & Reid. in your scenario, at “9”, I think it’s either Allan, Lindsay or Travaglia. If Smith at 5, I’d take Allan at 9. They would compliment each other perfectly in a future midfield. Allan can play half back or strong inside midfield role. If Langford at 5, then it’s either Lindsay or Travaglia as the best choice. Again players added that present inside power and outside running.

He shouldn't have to learn anything. He should have completed AFL coaching courses to the necessary level. Let's hope this is the case and not just a job for the boys

Love you Jonesy but I’m not sure about this one…

Looking after the midfield? really. what qualifications does he have for this role. He's been in the commentary box since retiring rather than coaching. not sure about this. He's a club legend so no issues getting him back involved just think midfield coaching role is too important for a novice.

So I just watched "Gettable" (Cal T.), so you can take the info to the bank. Dees: Considering Tauru in top 10 Armstrong has been linked to our 2 picks 6 certainties in top 10: Lalor Ashcroft FOS Langford Draper Smith Very, very likely: Smillie Tauru Very Possible Lombard Kako Reid Allan Travaglia Is Armstrong more likely for 5 or 9? At 5: it would be midfield options, who can get through: Lalor FOS Smith Langford Draper At 9: He (Armstrong) may well be gone already Allan Travaglia (who every club is liking from pick 8 onwards)

The only incentive for Richmond to make that trade is because they want the same player we want at 5 and the same player we want at 9 (they also have 10). Maybe they do, but if so, we'd never make that trade and give up the players we want just to get pick 24. Richmond are picking straight after us, we're not trading with them.

How does he compare? Well for starters Lever made the initial All Australian squad at just 21 years of age. By 21 Lever was a 3x best 22 and under of the best talent in the league. Had a Rising star nomination by the. Howes not even remotely close to this.

300 games played under several mid field coaches and he is a novice? Every assistant coach starts somewhere and there is no rule they can’t successfully coach in their first stint.

Cal mentioned that Adelaide are interested in Draper and Langford. Carlton also have interest in FOS and Draper. North seem most interested in Tauru. I think we could very well see Jagga slide to our pick.

He just couldn't help himself, Tom. '...some wounds left from the end of 2021...' And, Tom, apart from having this intimate knowledge of Nathan's feelings, providing you with the fuel for a mandatory dig at Melbourne, you're saying if the wounds weren't there, he'd be back at the Club, in this role, even earlier, not needing the 'work to repair' said wounds?

It's not about safety, it's the fact that our midfield depth is a bigger need then forward. After Rivers who is 24 we have zero up and coming midfield talent coming through. Petracca, Oliver, Viney are all about to hit their 30's and then there is a significant drop. Armstrong's no different to Weideman in his draft year. Too many double grab marks or dropped marks that forwards should eat up, 2nd efforts non existent and lackadaisical in his approach. Riak Andrew, a rookie list propsect completely shut him down in a Coates game at the back end of the year and his poor body language and laziness was on show for everyone to see. Barely put up a fight.

He's not teaching them how to kick. His positioning was normally excellent and I expect that to be reflected.

‘Ablett-esque’: Outrageous shooting star Allen Jakovich’s unforgettable farewell to the Demons It is the 30th anniversary of outrageous shooting star Allen Jakovich’s final game in the red and blue. SHANNON GILL speaks to his old coach Neil Balme about the enigma, the memories and the legacy of ‘Jako’. “He was a bit … Ablett-esque.” There may be no greater compliment in 1990s footy, yet that’s how Neil Balme describes his old pupil at Melbourne, Allen Jakovich. Shooting star ‘Jako’ was the enigmatic on-field showman of the AFL for a glorious four years. Water bottle kicking, crowd high-fiving, girlfriend waving, brother kissing and aeroplane celebrating were just some of his party tricks. And then there were the goals. Bicycle kicks over the head, big barrel torpedoes, twisting and turning team-rule-defying snaps across the body. All in all there were 201 of them in just 47 games at the Demons at the astonishing clip of 4.28 per game, generally accompanied by a dervish of fist pumping to animate or incite the crowd. If you disregard his seven-game comeback with the Bulldogs two years later, that average is the eighth best of anyone to tally that many games in VFL/AFL history. Only Peter Hudson, John Coleman, Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall, Peter McKenna, Bob Pratt and Ron Todd would sit ahead of him, Gordon Coventry and Gary Ablett below him. “A fantastic player,” Balme says. “He could have been anything.” “Like a Daicos or Dusty” This week marks the 30th anniversary of Jakovich’s last game in the red and blue. It was a microcosm of the whole Allen Jakovich experience. After a lean spell for both team and player, Balme had overseen a team meeting full of frank and fearless observations. The man himself would tell the Herald Sun afterwards that he knew he had to “put my best foot forward and contribute something.” In front of just 14,000 fans at Princes Park, he lit up Hawthorn for eight goals, including three in a matter of minutes to start the second half. Eleven marks, fourteen kicks and, typically, just the one handball rounded out the stats sheets. The radar was on target too, with only one miss in contrast to his four goals and ten behinds against the Hawks earlier in the year. The next day on the Footy Show, Mal Brown said Jakovich “does things the normal player can’t do. Whether it be a left-foot snap, or he should handball but knocks over two and barges through and soccer a goal, or bounces it around corners”. “He is a very gifted player.” Yet there was also the Jako baggage; five free kicks against, a report for abusive language towards an umpire that would cost him $2000 and a limp off the ground towards the end of the game. It would be the last time he was ever seen on the field for the Dees, the last quarter ‘rest’ turned out to be a back injury that would require surgery. On the surface Jakovich would appear to have driven a coach mad, but the sage Balme couldn’t help but be charmed by Jakovich. “I quite enjoyed him,” Balme says. “I’m a bit soft like that as I thought all those players were loveable. But he was a good kid, a bit naughty and maybe not prepared to commit exactly as you needed him to, but not everyone’s the same. “He was so explosive. He wasn’t 6‘5 but he could mark beautifully, he was quick, he led well, he was a magnificent kick. He saw the ball pretty well, he was naturally a very, very good player. “He was like a Daicos or a Dusty in some of the stuff he could do. When he was on, he was beautiful to watch.” “More bullfighter than footballer” Jakovich’s debut AFL season three years earlier in 1991 has gone down in folklore. A footballing nomad, he’d played in Perth, Darwin, Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Adelaide before being drafted by Melbourne and debuting as 23 year-old. He was said to have told Melbourne officials upon arrival and seeing the Southern Stand being rebuilt that it was “a pity … that’s 40,000 people who won’t be able to see me play.” Up until Round 14 that year he had just two senior games and one goal to his name, while kicking 60 in the reserves. Recalled, he went from anonymity to the Lockett and Dunstall sphere, tearing off another 70 senior goals in ten home and away games and two finals, including seven second half goals to win an elimination final off his own boot. Some 131 goals across the entire season was a unique haul, as was the joie de vivre he brought to his work. Peter Wilmoth wrote of his impact in the Age, “unlike the brooding, hulking presence of Tony Lockett, Jakovich is a New Romantic. He is Don Giovanni meets Don Scott … his style is more bullfighter than footballer.” While the goals continued, the continuity didn’t. Balme inherited his star when he took over as coach in 1993, in their two years together he played just 22 of a possible 45 games due to groin, calf and back issues. He still managed to kick 90 goals in what was effectively one regular season. “If he really committed himself like a Brett Lovett did, he would have been an absolute super-duper champion,” Balme says. A “genuine rock and roll star” Super-duper champion status did not mesh with a love of the good life, and Jakovich was never just about football. There’s legendary stories of him disappearing from teammates on a pre-season training holiday each night only for them to find him on stage singing in a local pub. He starred in the first AFL ‘Men for all Seasons’ glamour modelling calendar, was one of the initial recruits for the Thursday night Footy Show and was even a guest star on sketch comedy show Fast Forward. If there was a promotional photo or hospital visit to do, Jakovich was your man. Sweating out the kilometres in the pre-season heat, not so much. It’s hard to separate the fact from the urban myth with off-field Jakovich tales that are told, but one of undeniable truth is his fronting of the AFL player band Trial By Video. Then Footy Show producer Harvey Silver was trying to find an AFL player with the cajoles to sing on a live television and eventually that led to Jakovich. “Someone at Melbourne said, ‘Allen Jakovich sings’,” Silver recalled to CODE Sports last year. “You never really knew what you were going to get with Jakovich, and that was what made him great.” Silver added. Soon Jako wasn’t just a football player, he was also the lead singer of a gigging band around Melbourne nightclubs. Fellow band member Tony Woods recalled to CODE that “he was even more charismatic as a frontman than he was on the field.” “Jakovich started to morph into this genuine rock and roll star and started to get a bit unreliable. We’d get to call time at 10:30pm, and we didn’t know where he was. He’d roll up half an hour late with his own entourage of followers. “I reckon he even rolled up in a fur jacket a couple of times. “ “It was probably harsh” The take-off of the band coincided with the back issues that were flaring after that day out versus Hawthorn. When Jakovich returned to training after surgery, out of condition and seemingly unlikely to be on a footy field anytime soon, the writing was won the wall. Balme is still not entirely comfortable about the call he was part of to end Jakovich’s time as a Demon. “Those things are never easy, but it was fairly expected from both parties,” he says. “We were in a tough spot in those days with salary caps and the club wasn’t particularly well off financially either. It was a decision made that we were going to have to invest a lot in this bloke and we don’t have the confidence he was going to do the work to get himself back on the track.” “It was probably harsh, but it was the reality of the situation. A back injury like that, you can underestimate how tough it is.” Officially Jakovich retired before he was delisted ahead of the 1995 season. One-time nemesis Collingwood was tipped to swoop immediately but were frightened off after they investigated the back issues. Eventually the Bulldogs would give Jakovich a lifeline 12 months later, but after seven games and seven goals Jakovich was officially finished as an AFL player at just 28. Balme says Jakovich should not shoulder all the blame for the briefness of his career. “You can’t be too critical of him. The footy club wasn’t in a wonderful position of being able to pull everyone into line,” he says. “Some of those running and coaching the club weren’t doing as good a job as we could have either. Subsequently Balme’s experience as the steady hand through premiership eras at Geelong and Richmond has given him a different perspective. “I reckon if we were winning flags we would have been able to pull him into line.” “A mad, wild knight” Unlike most AFL characters who continue to make a living in media or on the speaking circuit, Jakovich seemingly disappeared into thin air once his career was over. Old teammates would give vague answers about thinking he was involved in fishing businesses in various parts of Australia, yet for two decades Allen Jakovich was a mystery. Nobody heard him, nobody saw him. He was the great white whale of media and footy fans alike. For a significant proportion of Dees fans that rail against the old stereotype of privilege, private schools and pomposity, Jakovich, the antithesis of all that, became a symbol much bigger than just his spectacular playing career. Facebook pages emerged sharing weird and wild Jakovich stories from his heyday and the part confessional, part satirical Demonblog fan site named its annual player of the year award the ‘Allen Jakovich Medal’. Silence only enhanced the legend. Then after two decades of exile Jakovich emerged in 2017, not for a tell-all television special with associated cheque, but to take part in a two-hour interview with the Demonland fan podcast. In retrospect it was completely on-brand, dismissing his ‘Demon royalty’ tag the hosts gave him to instead refer to himself as “maybe a mad, wild knight.” He appeared on the Front Bar the next year to a hero’s welcome, yet the piece de resistance was in the aftermath of the long awaited 2021 premiership. As Garry Lyon interviewed players, officials and hangers on in the joyous rooms, Jakovich wandered by. Emotional and dropping a f-bomb on national television in his excitement, it warmed the hearts of all Demons of a certain vintage. Watching back in Melbourne, it made Balme’s night too. “It’s great that he managed to bob up and enjoy the glory. That was lovely,” he says. “He was a damn good player.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/draft/fox-footy-afl-draft-power-rankings-2024-top-50-afl-draft-news-2024-prospects-predictions-final-power-rankings/news-story/3e3909b5ec637e92aeeae8ce440315a6 Jagga Smith He’s right in Richmond’s Pick 1 frame — and could still be on the board by the time the Tigers have their second pick — but all of North Melbourne, Carlton, Adelaide and Melbourne will strongly consider him too. Sam Lalor Should the Tigers overlook him, Carlton, Adelaide and Melbourne, surely at the latest, would all consider him strongly. Harvey Langford Langford looms as a top-10 pick on draft night. There’s a slight chance the Tigers take him at Pick 1, but if he’s still there at Pick 6 they would strongly consider him. Rival clubs recently strongly linked him to Melbourne (Picks 5 and 9), too. Murphy Reid Reid is likely to come into the draft mix from Richmond’s Pick 6 onwards, with St Kilda and Melbourne to consider him too. Some rival clubs, though, wouldn’t be surprised if he slipped into the teens. Josh Smillie Smillie still seems well placed to be taken at the top-end of this year’s draft, with Melbourne (Pick 5) the earliest link at this stage. It’s hard to see him sliding past St Kilda and Richmond’s top-10 picks. Harry Armstrong There’s an outside chance Melbourne (Pick 5) takes him with its first selection, although the sense is the Dees will more likely target a midfielder at that pick. It’s most likely Armstrong, at this stage, goes to Richmond (Pick 6), St Kilda (Picks 7 and 8) or Melbourne (Pick 9). Xavier Lindsay Lindsay is in the top-10 mix, with Melbourne (Pick 5) perhaps the club with the earliest pick that could take him. Yet there’s a world in which Lindsay slips to teams like the Dockers and Power in the teens, such is the nature of this year’s even draft class. Jobe Shanahan There’s a slight chance he sneaks in to the top 10 — should one of the Saints, Demons or Tigers want a key forward at that stage of the draft — otherwise he should be in that mid first-round mix featuring the Power, Dockers and Giants. Jack Whitlock Could be an outside chance to be taken by one of the Saints, Demons or Tigers in the top 10, but looms more likely as a later selection on night one. Could Sydney pounce?

This week’s Gettable is up:

I’m not sure Langford would last to “9”. Nice if it happened but I think unlikely. If it goes 1 Lalor 2 Ashcroft 3 Tauru 4 O’Sullivan 5 Draper & then 6 Dees pick Smith, then Tigers would probably pick Langford (if not, Saints would again likely get him). Unlikely Langford lasts until “9”.

I think there's a couple of possible pick trade scenarios I can imagine for us. We might rate 9 though the mid teens on a par and trade 9 for say 15 and 16 with GWS if they really rated someone at 9. That would give us 5, 15 and 16 in the draft. We might really fancy someone who won't make it to 5 and trade up to 2 with North who would likely be happy to do so. To do that we probably need to make the above trade with GWS and then 5 and 16 to North for 2. That would give us 2 and 15 in the draft. But I'm hoping we're happy with who is going to be available at 5 and 9 and sit there. It's a sweet spot to be. And we can take a "smokey" late as suggested by Tim Lamb during the trade period.

For what it's worth, the latest in The Age yesterday said other recuiters thought we were unlikely to swap picks

Not sure how much is in this but anyway..

You try playing Afl with a broken neck... the guy deserves respect a MFC legend forever

It fits both narratives. Either it's an example of a favourite son wanting to get back into the fold, or its a knee jerk reaction from a club that thinks it needs a feel good story to appease disgruntled fans.

No love lost for the guy. Don’t blame him at all for accepting the offer, as he obviously is still very passionate about the club and wants to be involved. But I don’t think it’s disrespectful to question the appointment. My biggest concern is that he’s been in the “system” for so long, and might not be brimming with fresh ideas or bring any constructive criticisms to Goodwin’s methods.

A real bomb it long sort of operator

I think can probably take away that from the group of 6 certainties combined with links saying we are likely to use pick 5 on a mid we are going to take the player that is left out of that group with pick 5. Realistically it looks like it’s between Langford and Jagga for pick 5 which will be dependant on which one Carlton take at 3, or if Norf take Tauru at 2 it pushes them all down 1 so would have the choice between the 2 of them.

"There’s an outside chance Melbourne (Pick 5) takes him with its first selection, although the sense is the Dees will more likely target a midfielder at that pick. It’s most likely Armstrong, at this stage, goes to Richmond (Pick 6), St Kilda (Picks 7 and 8) or Melbourne (Pick 9)." From today's foxsports power ranking article https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/draft/fox-footy-afl-draft-power-rankings-2024-top-50-afl-draft-news-2024-prospects-predictions-final-power-rankings/news-story/3e3909b5ec637e92aeeae8ce440315a6

Have been really looking forward to seeing Howes get a good run of games after some terrible luck just prior to selection in previous years. Thought he had a great start to the season but fatigued as the year went on. (Probably the most games he's strung together in a long time and even the mental stamina would be a challenge to maintain.) Plenty to like about him going forward!

Did very well with disposal I thought. Was composed and can’t wait to see Blake develop with more bulk and strength. HB or HF he will surprise us all I think with his development. Should aim to play AFL all year in 2025.

With so many seasoned players moving on, Casey will need more than Deakyn Smith if they want to be competitive in 2025.

St Kilda would likely take him, as they need a classier, more mobile key forward to pair with King long term. If we want him it’ll likely be at 5 or not at all.

Please be Jagga. Such a special player. We need a point of difference mid with pace and agility to work alongside our big bodied mids (Trac, Rivers, Clarry). If we want faster more fluid ball movement then Jagga is the pick. His first option is always to find the open player on the move with space in front of him. I can see him having a positive impact in this regard from day one. For those worried about his size. He will of course need to build his body, but have a look at the youtube videos of his effectiveness at VFL level against mature bodies for the Tiges. His agility and quick clean hands means he can get effective disposal away in tight. He's got such quick feet and strong hips where he can swivel out of pressure (much like Daicos). These attributes mean he will be able to play AFL straight away. I'm all in on Jagga Smith if the cards fall the way they're predicting currently.