Leaderboard

Anyone who has anything to do with Collingwood should be shutting their mouths. After the incident in last years final and the way Collingwood and their supporters conducted them selves the moment of and after the incident they should be ashamed of themselves.

I had a good chat to Petty when getting a photo with my son. He said he needs a solid block of training / fitness after missing so much of the pre season. If everything goes to plan he's looking at 4 - 6 weeks.

Petty moving very well 😀

Ball was in the vicinity… Attempted to smother missed the ball, left the ground braced for impact and hit Simpkin… Really Simpkin should have invented teleportation to avoid the hit so really it’s his fault… Should get off… Am I doing it right? Seriously a dog act, deserves 6+ like what Maynard deserved.

That was worse than Powell-Pepper’s hit. He should get a minimum of 5 weeks

I reckon this bloke would have sorted him out nicely (and a reminder about how many sleeps to go to the start of the season).

Petty and McAdam last ones on the track working with the Selwyn. Both have been getting high 5s from assistants and trainers. Both seemed to have ticked off some boxes today.

P-P's appeared to be a genuine "football incident" and in a contact sport, merde happens. Unfortunate. Saints currently sitting in top 4? NO Saints with crack at a flag? NO Webster star player? NO Webster "good bloke"? Opinions vary. St Kilda fanboys in media cracking the [censored]? NO So that's one point at best. Webster to be hung drawn and quartered.

8 weeks for Webster. FFS. That is everything we can’t have in the game. Make him miss two months of footy and he, and others, might finally learn. We would be en-[censored]-raged if that happened to one of our players.

John Ralph just said Oliver was likely to play against Sydney. Said he just needs to get through training tomorrow or something like that

The Coodabeen Champions have called it a day after more than forty years on various radio stations across Melbourne. When the lads chose the theme from the spaghetti western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as their signature tune, the game was uncomplicated with little time for scientific strategy. Summertime was for easy living and games of cricket, footy teams assembled in February, played practice matches in March and the season opened in mid-April. In their time, the Coodabeens saw changes upon changes that have turned the game on its head and, very late in the piece, they bore witness to a modern day miracle — the resurgence of the game’s perennial ugly duckling into a fully fledged premiership team. They saw the ugly, the bad and the good but in September 2023, the ugly returned with a vengeance. Collingwood won a flag and it was time for them to go. We usually judge a club’s off season by two measures, the quality of its list management in the transition from the past year to the present and then, by the way it prepares for season ahead with the aim of the team approaching the opening round in a positive frame of mind. The list management side of things always involves an element of conjecture about how the new blood introduced will fare and whether any departing players will leave gaps that the club might struggle to fill. The trading, free agency and draft process of October/November saw the following changes to the club’s lists:- In: Jack Billings (St Kilda), Shane McAdam (Adelaide), Tom Fullarton (Brisbane), Caleb Windsor (Eastern Ranges), Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco), Kynan Brown (Oakleigh Chargers), Marty Hore (Williamstown) Out: Brodie Grundy (Sydney), Michael Hibberd (Port Colts), James Harmes (Western Bulldogs), James Jordon (Sydney), Luke Dunstan (retired), Deakyn Smith (delisted), Kye Turner (delisted) As stated, such things are open to conjecture. Time will eventually tell the tale but the vibe for me is a little bit of good mixed with a touch of bad in that there isn’t much coverage in ruck for an injury to Max Gawn in the short term or, down the track when his career ends, and the ongoing issue of the need for key forwards in light of the impending retirements at the end of the year of Ben Brown, Tom McDonald and Jake Melksham and potential flight risk back to South Australia of Harry Petty. The other side of the off season is the need for peace, quiet and harmony in preparing for the year ahead. This was, for the most part, ugly and bad. The staff had barely finished packing the team’s equipment away for the summer when Joel Smith was provisionally suspended over an alleged positive drug test for cocaine from the Round 22 game vs Hawthorn and more recently, he was accused of trafficking or attempted trafficking. Smith faces a long stretch out of the game if his guilt is proved. Quick upon the heels of that news, followed revelations of Clayton Oliver’s now well-documented health and legal problems, an extended stint on the sidelines after a brief but disastrous appearance at the club’s December training camp in Lorne amid questions surrounding his future. No sooner had we finished singing Auld Lang Syne and the team came back to train, that the injury list started to grow. When the time came for the first scratch match against the Tigers, there were more than a dozen players unavailable through injury and suspension (including a raft of tall forwards). The Demons made a bright start at Casey Fields but things turned ugly and the defence leaked ten successive goals against an unfancied opposition forward line. They came back but the ebb and flow left some bad vibrations as Richmond’s new coach won the bragging rights if such things belong to match simulations in the month of February. The fans were digesting all of the above when the shock news came in of the forced early retirement of Angus Brayshaw, a much loved and experienced team leader and premiership star. A brilliant career cut short was a massive blow to the player as it was to all who love the club. The off field bickering and the fallout dating all the way back to the replacement of the club’s former chair in 2021, continued as mediation talks fell apart. The media had its fun and games, somebody mentioned “culture” and then, amid all the gloom and doom and ugly fake rumour mongering and speculation about the coach’s premature demise, the fans were finally treated to some very good as Max Gawn led the team to a demolition of the Blues at Ikon Park. And we noticed some rising fortunes among maturing players, new strategies and the emergence of new blood but wait - it was still only a scratch match. Which brings us here to Round Zero, 2024 at the end of a cycle of The Ugly, The Bad and The Good. I was surprised to see the early betting odds from last week heavily favouring the Swans to win Thursday night’s game. That was before the AFL Community Series matches but even then, Melbourne’s form turnaround against Carlton and Sydney’s insipid display in the NSW Derby in Canberra and injuries to Luke Parker and Taylor Adams were insufficient to bridge the gap. What it did take to even things up odds-wise was the announcement by Demons coach Simon Goodwin on Monday confirming that Clayton Oliver had been selected to face the Swans. Suddenly, we seem to have a standoff but I’m not buying. I will gladly concede that even in the absence of Callum Mills, Parker and Adams, Sydney has substantial midfield depth led by the likes of Eric Gulden, Chad Warner and a bevy of mid size players but … Melbourne’s midfield setup headed by skipper Max Gawn in dominant form in the ruck and the class of Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney, a resurgent Christian Salem back to full fitness and rising midfielder Tom Sparrow is miles ahead of whatever the Swans can produce. Brodie Grundy might have a point to prove but in cold, hard light of the evening, he won’t hold a candle to Gawn. Sydney farewelled Buddy Franklin well before the end of the last season but his replacement key forwards, McDonald and Amartey are hardly in his postcode at this early stage of their careers. And it’s a bad time for them to come up against Steven May and Jake Lever while their remaining forwards (and I include Tom Papley in that lot) are unfortunate in that they are likely to be strangled by the desperate defence of the likes of Jake Bowey, Judd McVee and Trent Rivers. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the culture of the Melbourne Football Club but little understanding that it’s actually a strong point because it’s a culture of hard work, attention to detail and hating defeat on the field of play. Cop that, Swans! Because Melbourne kicked away the chance to win both of its finals matches in 2023 (and a few others in the latter half of the season), there’s a perception out there that it has a weak attack. That’s a total misperception because even with those “connection” issues in the second half of the season it was still the sixth highest scoring team in the competition. The Demons have a good ground ball game and, as they showed last Thursday at Ikon Park, they’re handy in the air when the ball travels forward. Straighten them up a few percent and they would be top two or three in that category. And they have recruited well with youngster Caleb Windsor and Jack Billings — both of them excellent disposers of the football — to go with Bayley Fritsch and Jacob Van Royen who are no slouches with football in hand. On the small, spaceless SCG, Melbourne should be well suited to the size of ground and conditions expected on the day, even without Kozzy Pickett, Harry Petty, Ben Brown and Shane McAdam who are still to come into the forward mix. There’s something else to consider and it’s a factor of the early start to the season and the fact that the Swans have played their practice matches in oppressive heat and have not finished off strongly. That’s a sign for me that it’s unlikely for this matchup to turn into a standoff. To the contrary, it’s going to be a good, old wild, west ugly massacree with Melbourne winning bad by 49 points. THE GAME Sydney Swans v Melbourne at the SCG Thursday 7 March 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Sydney Swans 117 wins Melbourne 96 wins 2 drawn At the SCG Sydney Swans 14 wins Melbourne 9 wins Last 5 meetings Sydney Swans 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Longmire 7 wins Goodwin 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 11.11.77 defeated Sydney Swans 7.14.56 in Round 24, 2023 at the SCG The Demons prevailed after a see saw game, thanks mainly to its midfield dominance in the personage of Jack Viney, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver and an outstanding return from injury of Bayley Fritsch who overcame a knock to his foot in mid game to finish with five goals. Scores were close until three quarter time but a four goal to nil final term sealed the deal. In form forward Jake Melksham suffered a devastating blow with an ACL injury that placed his career in jeopardy. THE TEAMS Injury and Suspension List: Round 0 Ben Brown — knee/ available Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ available Kysaiah Pickett — suspended/ 1 week Harrison Petty — toe/ 2 weeks Lachie Hunter — calf/ 3 - 4 weeks Daniel Turner — hip/ 7 - 8 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ TBC Jake Melksham — knee/ TBC Joel Smith — suspended/ TBC

Clarry to play 🥰a little inside intell tells me so! Hope its correct

Which was ridiculous. Broke his jaw. Should have got 6 minimum.

We will soon find out. Pp was dealt with properly although I'm not sure why they deliberated so long for. I hope this is sorted out pronto. Keep handing out minimum four week bans and players will soon start to behave. This warrants more than four for me. ( As was the Maynard hit).

Unless Schache tears the house down in Petty's absence that's the first change. Then you'd imagine McAdam would be coming in for Laurie/Chandler.

Webster is [censored] . Minimum a month holiday

Is a bye in there too, Syd, Dogs, Hawks, Port, Adel, Bye Hard run, but only Port have 2 good solid tall defenders, the others are good teams but def is their weak point. Especially tall defenders. So not too bad to go into those games without Petty(obviously prefer a fit Petty in), he needs to be completely cherry ripe for the back end of the year. If that means he only plays 10 games from round 7 onward then so be it!

We definitely need another player with a hyphenated name.

4-6 Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

Demonland, thank you very much for the updates, much appreciated

and, just as importantly, if a player/s is sin binned, you can't use yr sub to replace them

Honestly bumps like this and Maynard's are why there should be a send off rule. Because if you were an immoral piece of feces you could do this a few times in a GF or to the opposition's best player, win a flag and who cares about the suspension. Even in a home and away game it gives you an advantage as the opposition have to use their sub to replace someone they might not have wanted to replace at a time they don't get to choose. I'm not saying use a red card willy nilly but in cases like today's...

Webster out for 6 week Howard out for 3+ Saints definitely the winners

Blood oath it was. Webster can hardly be expected to avoid a collision when he's left the ground. He's like a frisbee with arms and legs. And Simpkin's momentum after kicking carried him in the direction of Webster, so it's all on him, really. I'm sure a few QCs arguing for 5 hours that up is down will sort this out amicably, with Webster being cleared. Oh. NOW you're asking for multiple weeks for a head high collision. Well, I suppose it's never too late. (Unless you're Angus Brayshaw.)

webster just sighted with box of chocolates heading into florist ...

Don't remind me.....!

A regular finals team debuting 3 kids straight from u/18's together, would be rare indeed. I find it more intriguing than worrying, but you raise a good point. Windsor and 'Pup' Brown to me, have shown too much NOT to be picked. I'd prefer 'The Kolt' to wait in the wings a little longer, but gee, we have got some good 'uns here.

Things have been much worse. We had 20 debut in 1896.

LOL that a forward from another side has a day out and kicks a hatful (as my mate @layzie would say) and folks start saying we should chase him… until the next forward from another side kicks a hatful and then it’s him who we should chase. That said, I’d LOVE to see Jamarra in red and blue. 🥰

Agree with the sentiment, why keep the Ferrari in the garage. I reckon he has paid his dues. Hope the club feels that way.

Jacko was tough. I used to watch Dees' games with Cameron Clayton's dad while Clayton was a Dee. Cameron was seriously tough. Stewart Gull was another who was tough. He was a boxer. One practice game at Prahran he hit his eye on the point post and split it open. I watched him get it sewn up in the rooms and he was just happily lying there, blood everywhere, while I was struggling not to faint.

Just saw this VFL practice match | Top Demons

Clarry is more important than one game. the club will do what’s best for him We covered him very well last year

Absolutely not in disarray, and as for people saying if Clarrie is physically fit he plays no ifs or but, that would be a massive mistake. The club knows what they are doing and if he’s ready they will play him. If they choose to give him another week or so it will be for the best. Swans midfield still has Guilden, Warner, Heeney, with Sheldrick who will step up this year and Jordan, Rowbottom to run through there. Papley may also get short stints through there. I don’t think our FD will be underestimating them

He went at 100% efficiency last night. Was always reliable with ball in hand and he won his fair share of one-on-ones. Hope he does well at Freo.

Ban the bump. That was a text book example of why. And of my point about the game not losing anything by doing so. Even if he hadn't flushed his head, and just say hit him shoulder to shoulder, what would have that action achieved for Webster's team, other than hurting an opponent? Nothing. He had already disposed of the ball. Even a non reportable 'hit' would likely have been a free. If the bump was not legal he likely doesn't do it - or goes at him hands out, which still might hurt him but not as bad. Simpkin apparently had two concussions last year, one of which was apparently a bad one he struggled to recover from.

They’ll throw the book at Webster. Very dangerous and very dumb.

If the AFL want to make a statement on a head high bump then this is the perfect case study right here with this incident. You'd think 6 weeks at least is a starting point.

It’s hard to argue with that. His only intention was the upper body and he jumped off the ground. These things happen quickly but they are an eternity to these guys. Simpkin was distressed with concussion symptoms immediately from the vision. What are we doing here? The week after a bloke is medically retired due to hits to the head. What is the game about?

Makes more sense than anything else I have heard. Continuing this trend will get us to Round -1 soon ... 😆

Thanks Kev another great report we are very spoilt.!!

Still only running restricted distance and timed sprints (150-200 m). Still not doing much in the way of directional change drills or ball work. When he starts doing some hard running laps, then he could be right to go.

YES

An old mate lives five minutes away from Carrara Stadium and he and his wife switched to supporting the Gold Coast when they first entered the AFL. Until then he'd always barracked for Richmond but is now unable to claim any bragging rights for their three recent flags, a fact I feel the need to remind him of regularly.

#23 Shane McAdam Some successful and well known individuals have worn this jumper. Francis ‘Pop’ Vine debuted in the 1926 Grand Final. A Premiership player after one game of VFL football. Played his whole career as an amateur. He was named captain in 1933 but only led the side on nine occasions that season. Geoff Tunbridge was a late starter, debuting at the age of twenty-five. A triple premiership player from the half-forward flank. Wikipedia entry describes him as ‘a red-headed spearing left-foot flanker.’ A teacher by profession from Ballarat Grammar where he taught for many years. He accompanied Brian Dickson at the No-Merger Alternative Melbourne rally at the ‘G in 1996. Brian ‘Doc’ Roet wore the jumper briefly during 1968, after returning from a protracted absence working overseas as a doctor. He was a premiership player in 1964. Peter Sinclair who held the number from 1969 - 1972 was also a doctor. Warren Dean was part of the John Northey coached Demon revival. He arrived as part of a recruiting coup, that also bought in Todd Viney and Earl Spalding to the Club at the start of 1987 season. A very talented, attacking footballer with a booming kick. Unfortunately his time at the club was in the end afflicted by a serious knee injury. Which proved to be career ending. Kevin Dyson was also a very long kick of the football. A football journeyman who eventually found his way to a VFL list at Melbourne. Alaistair Clarkson spent the 1996-1997 seasons at the Demons. He got his start in coaching, as a conditioning coach there after he hung up his boots. James MacDonald joined his brother Anthony at the Dees. Despite his comparatively slight build, he proved to have elite endurance and courage in spades. Seen often tackling bigger bodied opponents. James played 251 games for MFC, was two times best and fairest. He was appointed Captain and received an All-Australian gong by the end of his time at Melbourne. Bernie Vince’s recruitment from the Crows could be viewed the start of the Demons as being a destination club. After a lengthy stint in the doldrums. His second season produced a best and fairest winning performance. James Jordon always seemed to be the perennial bridesmaid at Melbourne. Despite being part of the 2021 premiership but not playing an active role. He was never able to consummate a regular on field position in the team.

Pretty uneventful match. The most interesting thing was hearing that Ryley Sanders grew up a Suns supporter. I didn’t know they had any 😁

Practice match and all but the Bont is a bloody good player. I could handle Hawthorn being this [censored] for the whole year.

Mate, Clarry lacking match fitness will not be the difference between winning and losing. Time to put aside the bromance, picket

A nice late morning run, good temperature with a bit of wind about. They are out of the sheds and walking down to Gosch's with smiles on their faces. The review about Wednesday must have gone well. The three of Kossie, McAdam and Moniz-Wakefield walk with Wheelan from a different area. Great to see Petty with the squad, Fullaton, Woey, Clarry and Moniz-Wakefield as well. McAdam did the warm-up with them. Petty building his fitness with extra running after the drills. Rehab was all split up into different programs for different levels. BBB, Spargo, Turner, Hunter (in runners but doing very little), no Melky. The squad is looking good, there was a great atmosphere about them today. It appears they are happy with the preseason being over and ready for the season to get going. They had a low-key recovery session run today. The main drills were two groups, one with the mids starting on the goal side of centre, (via a tap down) then moving the ball by handball and finding a forward who were running set patterns. Three opponents against about nine attackers. Then they changed to using the other direction. The other one started from the back of centre (via a kick towards that direction), with the backline spreading, finding a runner with a kick and hitting up a forward. Then again repeating towards the opposite goal, it also had about the same numbers of defender as the previous squad. I heard Goody say if you have any doubt of where to run, head towards the straight line corridor, and don't hang out for the angled inside kick. Plenty of kicking for goal. Many doing what Tracc does and having shots after the session has ended, mostly the young ones, but also Kossie, and Fritsch. Chandler was not hitting them well, still with the yips. Ended his shots with three bad misses, then walked off. Really needs to work on his art and get it right, I reckon.