Demonland

2026 AAMI AFL Origin squadsWESTERN AUSTRALIA Callum Ah Chee Liam Baker Tom Barrass Shai Bolton Charlie Cameron Darcy Cameron Jordan Clark Patrick Cripps Mitch Georgiades Bradley Hill Jesse Hogan Lawson Humphries Luke Jackson Rory Lobb Aaron Naughton Kozzy Pickett Wil Powell Trent Rivers Brandon Starcevich Sam Taylor Chad Warner VICTORIA Noah Anderson Zak Butters Marcus Bontempelli Jeremy Cameron Nick Daicos Sam Darcy Max Gawn Toby Greene Max Holmes Hugh McCluggage Matt Rowell Jack Sinclair Tom Stewart Jacob Weitering Lachie Ash Josh Battle Patrick Dangerfield Blake Hardwick Zach Merrett Ed Richards Caleb Serong * more players still to be announced for both squads

It was. He did some very nice things.

CURRENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA SQUAD Tom Barrass Shai Bolton Patrick Cripps Aaron Naughton Chad Warner Liam Baker Charlie Cameron Darcy Cameron Jordan Clark Bradley Hill Jesse Hogan Luke Jackson Kysaiah Pickett Sam Taylor Callum Ah Chee Mitch Georgiades Lawson Humphries Rory Lobb Wil Powell Trent Rivers Brandon Starcevich CURRENT VICTORIA SQUAD Noah Anderson Marcus Bontempelli Zak Butters Jeremy Cameron Nick Daicos Sam Darcy Max Gawn Toby Greene Max Holmes Hugh McCluggage Matt Rowell Jack Sinclair Tom Stewart Jacob Weitering

In the middle and he just seemed to be everywhere.

I had a few autocorrect fails today. 🤦‍♂️

One was Windsor (the first time). The second time was one of the Casey boys (fortunately or unfortunately).

NRL great joins new-look DemonsMelbourne has hired NRL great Ryan Hoffman to a leadership role in what is the latest addition to Steven King's off-field brigade. Hoffman, who will work with the Demons at least one day per week as a leadership consultant, brings a wealth of experience from the elite level, having spent 16 years in rugby league. The Storm legend was on track with the Demons on Wednesday morning as King put his players through a brutal session in the heat. It's understood Hoffman quietly assumed the role three weeks ago. The 41-year-old had three stints with the Melbourne Storm, as well as spells with the New Zealand Warriors and Wigan Warriors, to tally 359 career league games. Hoffman also represented Australia in six Tests and featured for New South Wales 14 times in the State of Origin arena. The addition is one of many off-field changes at the Demons, who have secured Matthew Scarlett, Jared Rivers and Rory Atkins, among others, to form King's new-look coaching strikeforce. Hoffman's code switch isn't the first of its kind, with his ex-teammate Billy Slater linking up with St Kilda in 2019. The Storm called on the services of retired Geelong champion Joel Selwood for the 2023 season following his decorated career with the Cats. Earlier this year, Hawthorn called on the insight of North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten for its Round 13 clash with the Western Bulldogs in a mentoring capacity for Sam Mitchell and his team.

Clarry, Goody payouts, ‘too low’ membership put Dees in the redChris Cavanagh New Melbourne coach Steven King says he wants his players to be more “flamboyant” with the footy next season as he drives high standards on the training track this summer in search of on-field improvement. King is looking to implement what he calls ‘Demons Footy’, working towards building a “ruthless, selfless and connected” playing group with improved scoring ability. Melbourne averaged 82.7 points per game under Simon Goodwin last season, but King has set his sights on more three-figure scores as he puts a focus on ball movement. “I want us to be a bit more exciting and flamboyant with the ball and take the game on a little bit more, and I believe that that’ll start with the way we move the ball out of our back half,” King said during Melbourne’s annual general meeting on Tuesday. “Teams are set up really well defensively, but I feel like the best teams now score. “We’re getting good looks in front of the ball with the way we’re setting up the ground (at training) and the way guys like CJ (Changkuoth Jiath) and Salo (Christian Salem) are taking the game on and changing angles from our back half. I want our defenders up the ground, kicking goals or creating goals. Likewise, I want our forwards to empty out, rip back and help us to defend. So (we’re) just getting the guys to think about the game a little bit differently and hopefully the midfielders then can just be the conduit between the two.” King said he wanted “to make training harder than games” and highlighted some standouts on the track during pre-season including Jai Culley, Caleb Windsor, Bayley Fritsch, Kade Chandler, Tom Sparrow and Kysaiah Pickett. Melbourne reported a $199,000 operating loss for 2025, which was attributed to declining football revenue and payouts to Goodwin and long-term contracted midfielder Clayton Oliver. Goodwin’s payout was made before October 31 this year, meaning it will not impact the club’s soft cap in 2026. Oliver will be paid around $2 million across the next six years while playing for Greater Western Sydney after his trade in October. Demons chief executive Paul Guerra said while the financial position of the club was “sound”, the current membership level of 58,000 was “too low” and some sponsorship packages had gone unsold this year. President Steven Smith said a new facility remained “a top priority for us” and the club was “really close” to being able to make an announcement on that front. Melbourne has been eyeing a $100 million high-performance and administration facility, which would be built on land within the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve and feature two training ovals. A feasibility study on the site began in December 2023, with a business case now expected to be handed down early in the new year.