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Musings. Some really odd comments out and about re Dees' draft haul. So many of them feel that we should have/could have reached a bit with this pick to get Tauru. Or another tall with the Lindsay pick. But they seem oblivious to the number of talls we have on the list, even after the loss of, ahem, Schache and Tomlinson. On the other hand, we really suffered with the loss of Brayshaw, and will lose again with the loss of ANB, and it should have been obvious to all and sundry that once Petracca went down and Oliver stopped being Oliver, we were a shadow of ourselves. So I would have thought that it was fairly self-evident that the priority had to be midfield depth, if not midfield talent. Odd.

And just BTW: this was a terrific, positive thread, full of the best news we have heard all year, until two fools decided to get nasty and wreck it.

I’ve taken step of locking this thread because it has moved away from its original purpose of informing Melbourne fans about Friday’s training session which was a largely positive one for the club. The club is moving on to its Mansfield training camp with the full entourage including the recent draftees expected to attend. It’s a beautiful part of our state and I look forward to more positive reports from those fortunate enough to make it to that part of the camp which is open to the fans … and please keep on topic. Thanks.

Don’t start feeling too cocky dazzle. You’re walking a very fine line. Consider yourself warned. And deemac too!

And you are despicable. I've had absolutely enough of the posters who disparage WCW/GW - it is beneath contempt. And moderators: how do you allow this?

I miss WCW. Those that attack her should ignore or block her instead. We are poorer as a result of their bullying. This site has a history of chasing away posters that go to the effort of going to training and reporting their observations often using humour. It may not be to everyone's taste but that's life isn't it! The bullying must be controlled or many will give up.

I think it’s very safe to say that WCW/GW is a pretty unique individual, who has done nothing but provide virtually all of us with nothing but entertainment and joy. DL is such a better place when she’s posting. Why she continually gets “attacked” by certain posters is beyond me, and it is simply disgraceful. There is just no call for it, and why these snide attacks are seemingly let go through to the keeper is also beyond me. She was going to return to DL, but has now - thanks to certain cretins - decided to give it a complete miss. So, as she says, there will be no more GW training reports. I’d say 99.5% of posters will sorely miss her and her reports.

Why would you say that? I think it’s safe to say that you have no idea if it happened or not. But a pretty demeaning post - no wonder she feels better off not being part of DL anymore. The poster also stated that there was another regular DLander present for this event. So a witness to corroborate.

Justin Rodski - would be a fantastic appointment. As much as he is ceo at storm - he's an AFL boy at heart Worked his way up the corporate ranks at Essendon before going to Storm Know him quite well - through junior footy. He does the boundary ump role every game for his sons team - he's grounded and always available for a chat

The mail I have, from someone who knows a bit about this guy reckons he is taller than his dad and might make the 7 foot mark😎 Also went on to say his agility for a tall is remarkable. JUST MAKE SURE GOLD COAST Franchise keep their grubby hands of him!!

Would it be wrong to leave some land mines when we go?

The Footy Yarn nailed 2 of our 4 draft picks 8 months ago. Here they are together.

Season ending podcast sounds like a nasty injury. "Yeah, obviously we're all very disappointed after it seemed like such an innocuous incident at the time, but he overextended his wit and it really blew up on monday so we're taking a precautionary approach. We're hoping that with a sustained program of social rehabilitation we'll have him back on simple conversations in about four to six weeks, and then begin working on his banter in time for round 1."

Yep. And make sure not bring him down for a mid season game against freo at the G.

Loved it. Had to watch it twice. Good to see a lighter side to Harvey, too. They seem great kids. Everything about the Dees seems new and improved. The last couple of years I've just wanted the season to start to stop the noise. This time I'm hanging to start the noise. What a different vibe it is. As HL said, bring on 2025!

Well you would be completely wrong and should STFU.

Not sure if it is common knowledge but Fritsch played the second half of the season with a knee issue that resulted in surgery at seasons end. He was pretty frustrated with his 2024 year but when you cant run makes playing the game well pretty difficult.

I notice you didn’t have the guts to doubt it when other posters have said the same thing.

Worth noting that there are already a number of highly rated talls for next year. Inevitable that some will drop off and others will rise, but the early buzz on Ludowyke, Duff-Tyler & Emmett probably helps our cause.

I sincerely hope that his surname doesn't rhyme with "cough".

So Collingwood pole-axing Gus won them a premiership and put us into negative finances. And people wonder why I hate that club so much.

Harvey is an absolute brut with high end skills and smarts. His game reminds me of a more skill-full Luke hodge. He is deceivingly quick and doesn’t shirk a contest and at 191cm this guy might end up the best pick of the draft.

The kind of content I've been pleading for.. Great stuff.

We were told that the amount of trade offers for teams to either get back into the 1st round this year or move up was unprecedented. All the way from the end of trade period to the draft. They were happy to take players up until picks in the mid 50’s as the pool of talent is deep. They were hoping that Hotton was still on the board when they picked. Richmond went way early at 12 compared to where they had him. There were a couple of players that weren’t in their top 30 which was interesting. Reid and Armstrong were the most easily identified. The other thing they talked about was the poor performance of WA in developing players recently. Reflected in the downturn in indigenous players. Somebody asked about the testing of players and they basically said the speed and jumping measurements weren’t much use when compared to agility and endurance. It was pretty good. Ive been to a lot of post draft MFC events and thought that this event was better.

Well put. When you show people being themselves and reacting genuinely, rather than saying what they think they need to say, you're halfway to something interesting and worth watching.

Surely Nick Daicos will win it

So much more engaging seeing players be themselves rather than trying to concoct answers to statements-masquerading-as-questions like "you must be excited to be drafted to the Demons"!

We don’t need him to play inside he’ll be our Nick Daicos receive and connect player and he is good at that now and will get better with good coaching and development He’s never going to be a bull but we already have those - what we lack is skilled connection - he will help with that I was desperate for us to recruit Tauru and was really disappointed when he went to the Saints with pick 10 - I’ve since watched several Vic Country games and while still being disappointed we missed Tauru I see why we probably need a Lindsay more

I went. Some random thoughts: - is there a more beautiful sporting precinct in the world? - Not sure why the players looked so hor and bothered, it wasn't that hot, in the shade - tracc was doing fast laps, stopped right in front of me, on his haunches gasping. Looks in incredible shape. He's a beast. - on tracc, if I was goody I'd tell him not to EVER kick under 40 metres. He is so much better kicking long, weights the ball beautifully with his long kicks. - Langford is bloody huge. As waynewussell noted he and kolt both tackled tracc at one point, was very willing - clarry looks in much better shape than he was this time last, and even at season's end. But is still a ways off his very best condition - which is OK, preseason has just started - clarry's effort was first class, pushed himself very hard right to the end - clarry's class stands out like a flashing light. At one point he scooped the ball of the deck one handed and in the same motion hanballed into space so his targeted receiver did not have to break stride. Thing of beauty. - tmac was in unbelievablely good shape. Best I've ever seen him. Trainer of the session IMHO. His effort and intensity was off the charts. In one drill he missed a target and screamed an obscenity in anger. - great to have chunk back at the club. Vocal. Encouraging. Good energy. And as an added bonus his tree trunk legs make clarry's look positively svelte - at the end group of about 12 players, almost all forwards, did a goal kicking drill. Four things worth noting. - One, no petts. It would appear he us defence bound. - Two, group included bowey. He came over near me to take somd snaps from the boundary and I asked him if we might seem him up forward. He said, no but we might see him on the wing and he hopes to snag some goals - Three, roo barely missed a goal. Beautiful, neat kicking action that looks exactly the same every time, from whatever distance - Four, Turner kicks the ball unbelievably hard. Also dead straight. He looks very focused and driven. I have a feeling he will really impose himself next season

Kalani White wants to play for Melbourne

A list of the 2024 draftees on a state by state basis shows that the majority of players drafted this year have come from Victoria. No surprise, but what should be of concern to the AFL is the fact that not a single player picked this year hails from Tasmania - an ominous sign given that the Tassie Devils are only a few seasons away. ACT (1) Cooper Bell (Pick 49) - Belconnen NEW SOUTH WALES (6) Jack Ough (Pick 36) - Wentworth Jobe Shanahan (Pick 30) - Moama Riley Bice (Pick 41) - Albury Joel Cochran (Pick 47) - UNSW Eastern suburbs Logan Smith (Pick 71) - Queanbeyan Josaia Delana (Cat B Rookie) - East Coast Eagles NORTHERN TERRITORY (1) Ricky Mentha (Cat B Rookie) - Palmerston QUEENSLAND (4) Leo Lombard (Pick 9) - Broadbeach Sam Marshall (Pick 25) - Kawana Park Ty Gallop (Pick 42) - Maroochydore Lachlan Gulbin (Cat B Rookie) - Burleigh SOUTH AUSTRALIA (13) Sid Draper (Pick 4) - Willunga Ned Bowman (Pick 26) - Orroroo Charlie Nicholls (Pick 34) - Mintaro Manoora Angus Clarke (Pick 39) - East Gambier Ben Camporeale (Pick 43) - Brighton Jay Polkinghorne (Pick 44) - Western United Charlie West (Pick 50) - Henley Jacob Molier (Pick 52) - Onkaparinga Valley Alex Dodson (Pick 53) - Payneham NU Lucas Camporeale (Pick 54) - Brighton Tyler Welsh (Pick 59) - Henley Tom Cochrane (Rookie Pick 13) - Port District Benny Barrett (Cat B Rookie) - Happy Valley TASMANIA (0) VICTORIA (51) Sam Lalor (Pick 1) - Bacchus Marsh Finn O'Sullivan (Pick 2) - Koroit Jagga Smith (Pick 3) - Richmond Levi Ashcroft (Pick 5) - St Kilda City Harvey Langford (Pick 6) - Mount Martha Josh Smillie (Pick 7) - Park Orchards Tobie Travaglia (Pick 8) - Sandhurst Alixzander Tauru (Pick 10) - Warragul Xavier Lindsay (Pick 11) - Leongatha Taj Hotton (Pick 12) - Hampton Isaac Kako (13) - Northern Saints Jonty Faull (Pick 14) - Redan Joe Berry (Pick 15) - Wangaratta Murphy Reid (Pick 17) - South Melbourne Districts Oliver Hannaford (Pick 18) - Sandhurst Harrison Oliver (Pick 19) - St Bedes Cooper Hynes (Pick 20) - Bonbeach Luke Trainor (Pick 21) - St Peters Jesse Dattoli (Pick 22) - Ivanhoe Harry Armstrong (Pick 23) - Ormond Matt Whitlock (Pick 27) - Shepparton Thomas Sims (Pick 28) - Montmorency Lachie Jaques (Pick 29) - St Marys (Geelong) Josh Dolan (Pick 31) - Beaumaris James Barrat (Pick 32) - Leitchville Gunbower Jack Whitlock (Pick 33) - Shepparton Noah Mraz (Pick 35) - Narre North Christian Moraes (Pick 38) - Knox Harry O'Farrell (Pick 40) - Maribyrnong Park Tom Gross (Pick 46) - Kew Rovers Lucca Grego (Pick 48) - Bacchus Marsh Sam Davidson (Pick 51) - East Brighton Riak Andrew (Pick 55) - Berwick Jasper Alger (Pick 58) Warragul Patrick Said (Pick 60) - Sunbury Rhys Unwin (Pick 61) - Cobden Luke Kennedy (Pick 62) - Ormond Cody Anderson (Pick 64) - Healesville Lennox Hofmann (Pick 66) - Old Brighton River Stevens (Pick 67) - Newtown & Chilwell Aidan Johnson (Pick 68) - Yarraville Seddon Keighton Matofai-Forbes (Pick 69) - Keilor Zak Johnson (Pick 70) - St Marys (Greensborough) Archer Day-Wicks (Rookie Pick 6) - Sandhurst Harry Charleson (Rookie Pick 9) - East Point Xavier Ivisic (Rookie Pick 12) - Bell Park Blake Leidler (Rookie Pick 14) - Surrey Park Asher Eastham (Rookie Pick 17) - Heyfield Patrick Retschko (Rookie Pick 23) - St Kilda City Joe Pike (Rookie Pick 31) - Barwon Heads Jayden Nguyen (Cat B Rookie) - Aberfeldie WESTERN AUSTRALIA (10) Bo Allan (Pick 16) - Halls Head Cody Angove (Pick 24) - Scarborough Kayle Gerreyn (Pick 37) - Joondalup Kinross Hugh Boxshall (Pick 45) - Swanbourne Will Hayes (Pick 56) - Subiaco Luke Urquhart (Pick 57) - Melville Jaren Carr (Pick 63) - Winnacott Hamish Davis (Pick 65) - Subiaco Aiden Riddle (Rookie Pick 7) - North Beach Malakai Champion (Cat B Rookie) - Mines Rovers

Now that the AFL Drafts are done and dusted, attention turns to the 2025 Supplementary Selection Period (SSP) which presents the final opportunity for players to secure an AFL list spot ahead of the start of next season. A limited number of clubs have left list spots open and now have the option to offer train-on opportunities to prospective players with the objective of filling those vacancies by February 2025. The first window of opportunity in the post draft period begins tomorrow and the following clubs are expected to be involved in the SSP process: Carlton - the Blues have two spots open and their most noted invitee is former Hawthorn No. 6 pick Denver Grainger-Barras. Liam McMahon, a key position forward formerly of Collingwood but who was a leading goalkicker with Carlton’s VFL team this year is also on board with the Blues. Delisted pair Sam Durdin and Matt Carroll will also be trying to reclaim their places at the club. Essendon - the Bombers have promised delisted defender Kaine Baldwin the opportunity to train on with a view to SSP selection. Fremantle - the Dockers have long been expected to sign former Cat and Power midfielder Quinton Narkle. Gold Coast - the Suns passed up in the rookie draft and can also sign a player through the SSP. Port Adelaide - the Power will invite North Melbourne VFL skipper Jack Watkins to audition for a SSP spot. Western Bulldogs - Dom Brew, captain of VFL premier Werribee is expected to be invited, along with SA ruckman Harry Boyd. West Coast - the Eagles have been linked to cut Suns defender Sandy Brock.

I agree. This is a fan forum and posters should treat each other with respect, not accuse others of lying.

That's a huge accusation to make Kat. I hope youve got the evidence to prove this on hand? I may have strong opinions at times but 98% of the time I try to be as respectful as possible. I have disagreed with many on here and many the same against me, that's fine, I loved being challenged as long as it's healthy and you've got the rightful information to back that up. Funny enough, unlike some of you I don't hold personal grudges against anyone on here. To this day I have NEVER put anyone on ignore because I would like to think I can still have a footy related discussion with that person in another thread.

This would be a fantastic get if we could pull this off.

Nah. The mods knew what they were doing and did a fine job. You can actually have an opinion on here now without being constantly attacked for or put down because it didn't suit that particular person's narrative. Happy days.

We've come full circle...some footage of Lindsay matched up on Langford, albeit only a couple minutes worth as this is the game Lindsay did his PCL A minor tragedy occurred in this game. Through one and a bit quarters of football we'd been treated to one of the best head to head battles of the year between Lindsay and Langford, directly matched up on each other in the middle and each at the absolute top of their game. Unfortunately we lost Xavier to a suspected PCL injury, cutting short the spectacle and probably cutting short his season given how few weeks we have remaining. In his one quarter and 4 mins of play Lindsay racked up 11 disposals and 5 clearances showing just how hot a start he'd made.

He and Lindsay might well help reinvigorate them. Ignite a renewed competitive edge.

I am ASTOUNDED that if your number one primary job still doesn't cater for workplace injuries sustained during your time at work, this must be addressed surely?? I reckon the Afl and that piece of !#$* should be sued! The AFL failed in their duty of care to protect and so did that !@#$.

AFL Draft: Melbourne excited by early look of promising 2025 club-tied prospect

And once their career ends we all be like: https://youtu.be/L8XQZYIiNgo?si=00s7OWb9cA0zF-VR

Obviously most of us had a moment of "Who the [censored] is Aidan?" when this was announced, but looking at the footage we have, I'm kind of encouraged. He's got great pace for a bigger guy and looks to have a really good vertical leap. I think he'd be a really handy extra mid when he's rucking on top of being able to crash packs and take marks. Obviously there are no guarantees, but what we've seen so far is pretty encouraging.

That was brilliant. Or as XL might say, that was [censored] brilliant

I think it’s safe to say this never happened

No, they do print on the spot the moment their names are dropped. I've seen first hand the machine they work with. It's a pretty easy and quick process.which doesn't take them that long to get their names a pick on these.

He's not an inside mid at all really ( so in a fashion I agree ) ... just an outside player who has ability to put body in when necessary and generally use it well. He's clever. With multiple preseasons he will build. Yes...time is like that 😀👍

How lucky are we at Demonland to have this sort of train ing coverage. Thanks to all contributors from my hot office in Preston

That was great vision and you can actually feel part of their excitement.