Demonland

The Ron Barassi Jnr Trophy for Leadership goes to Jack Viney.

The James McDonald Trophy for Heart and Spirit goes to Clayton Oliver.

The Harold Ball Memorial Trophy for best young player goes to Clayton Oliver.

Neville Jetta wins the Ian Ridley Memorial Trophy for best club ambassador.

Could be breathing in a little. I'm guilty of that occasionally.

They reported on Trade Radio that not only has he had surgery to remove the cancer but he will undergo precautionary chemo. I wish him all the best.

ONE PUNCH There was a stage during the season when Tom Bugg's in your face demeanor became a feature of a team going forward. His face was on murals painted in city lanes and he was unsettling the opposition with his hardness. All that came unstuck with one stupid punch that earned him a six match suspension after the Swans game and changed him from a hero to a villain in the eyes of much of the football world. Date of Birth: 5 April, 1993 Height: 184cm Weight: 82kg Games MFC 2017: 10 Career Total: 93 Goals MFC 2017: 7 Career Total: 30 CDFC Games 2017: 5 CDFC Goals 2017: 10 Season 2017 AFL Statistics Kicks: 70 Handballs: 69 Disposals: 139 Marks: 29 Scores: 7 goals 12 behinds Goal Assists: 8 Tackles: 31 Hitouts: 0 Clearances: 10 Clangers: 23 Inside 50s: 17 Rebound 50s: 4 Frees For: 11 Frees Against: 7

He's already wearing red and blue. I like this part from the article. “I think he has given his heart and soul to the footy club over the past three seasons and people would always say he was the first to get there and last to leave."

Jake was in the building today.

I haven't been following the Taberner thing but have seen his name mentioned in his thread and saw this on Facebook.

http://demonland.com/forums/leaderboard/?time=week

It's important you cover all bases. Sorry wrong sport.

https://twitter.com/ClarkyHeraldSun/status/916768742087913472

IMPROVER We all knew that Alex Neal-Bullen was an extractor of the football but he surprised by stepping up as a hard working regular of the midfield who from time to time could move forward and kick a goal. The big improver. Date of Birth: 9 January, 1996 Height: 182cm Weight: 82kg Games MFC 2017: 19 Career Total: 34 Goals MFC: 2017 15 Career Total: 23 CDFC Games: 2017 2 CDFC Goals: 2017 2 Season 2017 AFL Statistics Kicks: 204 Handballs: 155 Disposals: 359 Marks: 61 Scores: 15 goals 9 behinds Goal Assists: 18 Tackles: 87 Hitouts: 0 Clearances: 34 Clangers: 53 Inside 50s: 65 Rebound 50s: 18 Frees For: 9 Frees Against: 7

ELECTRIC The dashing youngster with the shock of blond hair progressed well in 2017. His electric speed and long kicking often allowed him to not only break up lines, but also to greatly unsettle opposing teams. Date of Birth: 3 April, 1995 Height: 187cm Weight: 85kg Games MFC 2017: 22 Career Total: 41 Goals MFC 2017: 7 Career Total: 10 Season 2017 AFL Statistics Kicks: 254 Handballs: 142 Disposals: 396 Marks: 85 Scores: 7 goals 5 behinds Goal Assists: 7 Tackles: 69 Hitouts: 0 Clearances: 17 Clangers: 70 Inside 50s: 85 Rebound 50s: 58 Frees For: 15 Frees Against: 15

PART ONE - THE LEAVERS The AFL's free agency and exchange period for 2017 is now upon us and we can look forward to two weeks of fun and games as the AFL clubs, the players and managers of those in the mix to move home or to leave the scene altogether, have their time on trading's big stage. In the background to that action are the young hopefuls, many of who are strutting their stuff at the AFL Draft Combine and the various State Combines in the hope of attracting the attention of the recruiting staff to win themselves the opportunity to replace those who are leaving vacancies through retirements and delistings. The NAB AFL restricted free agency offer and unrestricted free agency period began on Friday with the first free agency transfer taking place when the Western Bulldogs took restricted free agent Jackson Trengove after that player's former club Port Adelaide, opted not to match the Doggie's offer for him. Trengove was the first of this year's "leavers" - a player wanting to seek action away from his old club, in his case back in his home town. He won't be the last. The real exchange action kicks off on Monday morning with the official opening of the NAB AFL Trade Period which will last for 10½ days through to 2.00pm on Thursday 19 October, by which time, we'll all be well and truly tired out of the machinations of the trading game. So what is it that Demon fans can look forward to over the next fortnight? Well ... if you've been out of the scene and involved in interplanetary travel over the past few months, the name Jake Lever might have escaped your attention. Otherwise, the young key defender from the Crows is going to be the centre of attention in the coming days and possibly longer if the rage of Adelaide's officialdom fails to subside. For a club that earned the respect and admiration of the football world for the magnificent way it regrouped after the tragic murder of Phil Walsh, Adelaide's tantrumous behaviour in the wake of Lever's announcement of his decision to go home has been unnecessarily churlish. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds. The Demons have also been named as the preferred destination club for another "leaver" - homesick youngster Harley Balic from the Dockers but the spotlight will remain on Lever for this trade period. More of that later, but what does the Melbourne Football Club need to continue it's upward progression of recent years? The club's national recruiting manager, Jason Taylor tells us that by "the way the year finished off, we’ve got a long way to go and a lot of work to do. We don’t want to be kicking the heels up now – we want to be digging a bit deeper.” And of course, it always boils down to improving your midfield - Midfield depth a focus: Taylor. Of course, articles such as this one don't give us much detail as to how things will eventually pan out but we can be assured of one thing. To secure a big fish like Jake Lever who, despite his poor polling in Adelaide's B&F (he failed to score a top 10 finish in his time with the Crows), is a quality player and person with leadership credentials written all over him, the club will have to forget about featuring in the first round of this year's AFL National Draft. At this stage, it's looking like Melbourne will have to give pick 10 and another pick to Adelaide to get Lever to the club. The Crows might also insist on giving the youngster fifty lashes to soothe their tortured egos as punishment for the kid wanting to return home to his family (although that wasn't a major crime when Scott Thompson wanted to do the same thing in 2005 or in the case of Bryce Gibbs last year). Demon fans got a taste of missing out on the early draft action last year when they had to wait until pick # 46 (Mitch Hannan) and this scenario could be repeated in 2017. In order to give you some perspective into what your club is giving up, let's go back in time to when a very young Jake Lever was strutting his stuff with the Calder Cannons as a bottom ager capable of gaining Vic Metro selection in that year - An ACL injury cut him down in his draft year but he still earned selection in the first round of the draft - During his rehabilitation Lever showed his mental strength by setting a goal of competing in the Noosa triathlon which he did alongside Calder's strength and conditioning coach, Steve Forcone. The Demons had picks 2 and 3 at that year's draft which they used to secure Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw but they still made a play for Lever by putting former skipper Jack Trengove on the trade table - we all know how that ended up. The Trengove gambit was interesting because it demonstrated that under the current system of player acquisition and trading, there will be times when clubs will have to take some risks and make seemingly unpopular decisions to improve their lists. We need to remember this when names like that of Jack Watts are raised in the days to come. The Oracle will be back from time to time during the free agency and trade period to cover anything that might take place - spectacular or otherwise.

PART ONE - THE LEAVERS The AFL's free agency and exchange period for 2017 is now upon us and we can look forward to two weeks of fun and games as the AFL clubs, the players and managers of those in the mix to move home or to leave the scene altogether, have their time on trading's big stage. In the background to that action are the young hopefuls, many of who are strutting their stuff at the AFL Draft Combine and the various State Combines in the hope of attracting the attention of the recruiting staff to win themselves the opportunity to replace those who are leaving vacancies through retirements and delistings. The NAB AFL restricted free agency offer and unrestricted free agency period began on Friday with the first free agency transfer taking place when the Western Bulldogs took restricted free agent Jackson Trengove after that player's former club Port Adelaide, opted not to match the Doggie's offer for him. Trengove was the first of this year's "leavers" - a player wanting to seek action away from his old club, in his case back in his home town. He won't be the last. The real exchange action kicks off on Monday morning with the official opening of the NAB AFL Trade Period which will last for 10½ days through to 2.00pm on Thursday 19 October, by which time, we'll all be well and truly tired out of the machinations of the trading game. So what is it that Demon fans can look forward to over the next fortnight? Well ... if you've been out of the scene and involved in interplanetary travel over the past few months, the name Jake Lever might have escaped your attention. Otherwise, the young key defender from the Crows is going to be the centre of attention in the coming days and possibly longer if the rage of Adelaide's officialdom fails to subside. For a club that earned the respect and admiration of the football world for the magnificent way it regrouped after the tragic murder of Phil Walsh, Adelaide's tantrumous behaviour in the wake of Lever's announcement of his decision to go home has been unnecessarily churlish. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds. The Demons have also been named as the preferred destination club for another "leaver" - homesick youngster Harley Balic from the Dockers but the spotlight will remain on Lever for this trade period. More of that later, but what does the Melbourne Football Club need to continue it's upward progression of recent years? The club's national recruiting manager, Jason Taylor tells us that by "the way the year finished off, we’ve got a long way to go and a lot of work to do. We don’t want to be kicking the heels up now – we want to be digging a bit deeper.” And of course, it always boils down to improving your midfield - Midfield depth a focus: Taylor. Of course, articles such as this one don't give us much detail as to how things will eventually pan out but we can be assured of one thing. To secure a big fish like Jake Lever who, despite his poor polling in Adelaide's B&F (he failed to score a top 10 finish in his time with the Crows), is a quality player and person with leadership credentials written all over him, the club will have to forget about featuring in the first round of this year's AFL National Draft. At this stage, it's looking like Melbourne will have to give pick 10 and another pick to Adelaide to get Lever to the club. The Crows might also insist on giving the youngster fifty lashes to soothe their tortured egos as punishment for the kid wanting to return home to his family (although that wasn't a major crime when Scott Thompson wanted to do the same thing in 2005 or in the case of Bryce Gibbs last year). Demon fans got a taste of missing out on the early draft action last year when they had to wait until pick # 46 (Mitch Hannan) and this scenario could be repeated in 2017. In order to give you some perspective into what your club is giving up, let's go back in time to when a very young Jake Lever was strutting his stuff with the Calder Cannons as a bottom ager capable of gaining Vic Metro selection in that year - An ACL injury cut him down in his draft year but he still earned selection in the first round of the draft - During his rehabilitation Lever showed his mental strength by setting a goal of competing in the Noosa triathlon which he did alongside Calder's strength and conditioning coach, Steve Forcone. The Demons had picks 2 and 3 at that year's draft which they used to secure Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw but they still made a play for Lever by putting former skipper Jack Trengove on the trade table - we all know how that ended up. The Trengove gambit was interesting because it demonstrated that under the current system of player acquisition and trading, there will be times when clubs will have to take some risks and make seemingly unpopular decisions to improve their lists. We need to remember this when names like that of Jack Watts are raised in the days to come. The Oracle will be back from time to time during the free agency and trade period to cover anything that might take place - spectacular or otherwise.

Blame Whispering Jack.

THE YOUNGER BROTHER In his third season at the club, the tall defender's career began to take some serious steps in the right direction. He has the mobility needed for the role but has to work on building up his strength and working on his decision making. Date of Birth: 18 March, 1996 Height: 196cm Weight: 97kg Games MFC 2017: 30 Career Total: 37 Goals MFC 2017: 0 Career Total: 0 CDFC Games 2017: 2 CDFC Goals 2017: 0 Season 2017 AFL Statistics Kicks: 192 Handballs: 116 Disposals: 308 Marks: 108 Scores: 0 goals 0 behinds Goal Assists: 0 Tackles: 32 Hitouts: 0 Clearances: 8 Clangers: 14 Inside 50s: 19 Rebound 50s: 54 Frees For: 13 Frees Against: 16

GONE The young high marking power forward did not progress in 2017 and has now been delisted. Date of Birth: 17 March, 1997 Height: 193cm Weight: 91kg Games MFC 2017: 0 Career Total: 0 Goals MFC 2017: 0 Career Total: 0 CDFC Games 2017: 15 CDFC Goals 2017: 9 CDFCDL Games 2017: 3 CDFCDL Goals 2017: 0

I knew making all Demonland memberships microwave safe during the Neeld era would pay off one day.

Not a trick and this is probably not the venue to ask that question which is why I will also pose the question on the Demonland Facebook page.

Our even ones are better. Or were the odd ones better. I can't remember.

The end of the football season is the time of year when we thank all those who have contributed to Demonland during the past season as well as all those who post here or simply visit and read without posting. We value your contributions and ongoing support - especially to Nasher who keeps us going on the technical side, to our moderators whose task is often thankless. Their job is never easy. Special thanks to our regular contributors, Whispering Jack, George on The Outer, The Oracle, JVM, KC from Casey, Grapeviney (my podcast co-host) and all others who have provided us with material and articles. Let's hope that 2018 will finally be the year that we break through and experience a taste of finals football. We also look forward to the second year of women's competition and hope a finals appearance there will be a prelude for later in the year. As always, we are on the look out for new contributors who have something to say about the mighty Demons. If you have the talent or simply want something to say about the club in article form, please contact me via PM. Cheers, thanks again and keep your eye on the red and the blue. Andy