Demonland

ALIAS SMITH AND JONES by Whispering Jack It was back in the early 1970s that an American television series, "Alias Smith and Jones" about a couple of fugitive con artists on the run in the Wild West, gained a cult following among viewers. With Melbourne's recent additions to its rookie lists, the time is ripe for a reprise of the Smith/Jones combination at the club that could bring as much entertainment to the fans as did the two likable fugitives in the days of old. We all know about skipper Nathan Jones who, following the departure of Lynden Dunn to Collingwood, assumes the mantle of the longest running member of the team. Jones was selected for Melbourne in the 2005 AFL National Draft and made his debut against the Western Bulldogs in Round 17, 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and then played the remaining eight games of that season. This means that he is the only current player to take part in a finals game for the club as he was a member of the the team's elimination final victory that year against St Kilda (its last win against them). Now it seems to me that when the Demons run out against the Saints in next year's opening round, Jones will have the opportunity to count on a Smith or two to partner him in their downfall in much the same way as the Smith and Jones partnership did to the baddies in the days of the Old West. The first of the Smith boys is a former basketballer, 20-year-old Joel Smith (191cm and 85kg) who was listed as a category B rookie player last year and spent 2016 in development with the Casey Scorpions where he played 13 games, mainly in defence. The athletic Smith who is the son of former highflying Demon and Kangaroo Shaun Smith, produced his best form late in the season gaining acclaim for his performance against Williamstown in the VFL Preliminary Final. He is highly thought of at Melbourne and has returned from the off season looking in great shape. While the club won't push him in too soon, it remains a possibility that the former hoop will join his captain for the opening game of 2017 at Etihad Stadium. Tim Smith - other Smith - arrived at Casey from Upper Ferntree Gully in 2012. The 192cm, 88kg forward kicked 31 goals in 19 games this year to take his career VFL numbers to 91 goals in 80 games for the club. Along with Joel and fellow rookie draftee Declan Keilty, Tim who is known as "Bull" for his hard attack on the football, played in this year's losing VFL Grand Final where he was among his team's best and booted three goals. He also earned selection in the 2016 VFL Team of the Year. Bull has come a long way since he arrived at Casey almost five years ago. Back then, his main strength was his marking but he was inconsistent and appeared very laid back, often drifting out of games for long periods of time. He almost went back to local football at the end of last year but he came back with greater application and the rest is history. Who knows what might happen next - the bull could become a cowboy and join Jones in ending his club's long-running losing streak against the Saints on 25 March and if they do, it will be about time!

It was back in the early 1970s that an American television series, "Alias Smith and Jones" about a couple of fugitive con artists on the run in the Wild West, gained a cult following among viewers. With Melbourne's recent additions to its rookie lists, the time is ripe for a reprise of the Smith/Jones combination at the club that could bring as much entertainment to the fans as did the two likable fugitives in the days of old. We all know about skipper Nathan Jones who, following the departure of Lynden Dunn to Collingwood, assumes the mantle of the longest running member of the team. Jones was selected for Melbourne in the 2005 AFL National Draft and made his debut against the Western Bulldogs in Round 17, 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and then played the remaining eight games of that season. This means that he is the only current player to take part in a finals game for the club as he was a member of the the team's elimination final victory that year against St Kilda (its last win against them). Now it seems to me that when the Demons run out against the Saints in next year's opening round, Jones will have the opportunity to count on a Smith or two to partner him in their downfall in much the same way as the Smith and Jones partnership did to the baddies in the days of the Old West. The first of the Smith boys is a former basketballer, 20-year-old Joel Smith (191cm and 85kg) who was listed as a category B rookie player last year and spent 2016 in development with the Casey Scorpions where he played 13 games, mainly in defence. The athletic Smith who is the son of former highflying Demon and Kangaroo Shaun Smith, produced his best form late in the season gaining acclaim for his performance against Williamstown in the VFL Preliminary Final. He is highly thought of at Melbourne and has returned from the off season looking in great shape. While the club won't push him in too soon, it remains a possibility that the former hoop will join his captain for the opening game of 2017 at Etihad Stadium. Tim Smith - other Smith - arrived at Casey from Upper Ferntree Gully in 2012. The 192cm, 88kg forward kicked 31 goals in 19 games this year to take his career VFL numbers to 91 goals in 80 games for the club. Along with Joel and fellow rookie draftee Declan Keilty, Tim who is known as "Bull" for his hard attack on the football, played in this year's losing VFL Grand Final where he was among his team's best and booted three goals. He also earned selection in the 2016 VFL Team of the Year. Bull has come a long way since he arrived at Casey almost five years ago. Back then, his main strength was his marking but he was inconsistent and appeared very laid back, often drifting out of games for long periods of time. He almost went back to local football at the end of last year but he came back with greater application and the rest is history. Who knows what might happen next - the bull could become a cowboy and join Jones in ending his club's long-running losing streak against the Saints on 25 March and if they do, it will be about time!

The first day of our summer brings with the beginning of a new cycle for AFL teams. The recruiting season is over and team lists are set in place for next year. There has already been discussion about the winners and losers over the draft period in particular but the reality is that it will be years before we can identify the real winners. I remember going back twelve months or more ago when the conventional wisdom among many observers was that the draft crop was not strong, particularly in terms of key position tall players and ruckmen. The latter group are often shunned in the main draft these days and unless they are very good, the ruck types will usually have to wait until the rookie draft. In many ways, the 2016 draft was looked upon as predominantly one for the midfield and smaller player. Moreover, there were no great standouts in contention for early selections with much wavering among the experts about who would go at number one in the AFL National Draft. There were clubs like Hawthorn, Melbourne and Collingwood who possibly saw the writing on the wall a year ago and not only traded out of early rounds this year but made little or no apparent attempt to get back into them. The Hawks' first selection was originally listed in the 80s but, after passes and changes to the order through the bidding process, it became the 74th pick overall. They traded stars in Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis without any apparent great effort to shop them around for better picks. The Demons traded out of this year's first round to get Sam Weideman last year and the second round for Michael Hibberd which meant they waited until number 46 in the latest national draft and the Pies took their first player at number 30. All three clubs had other priorities set for this draft and determined a long way out. In the wash up, this year's draft intake at Melbourne is certainly unconventional. After three or four draft periods in which they reaped some good young footballing talent, the Demons went unconventional in that none of their selections in either draft featured in the many phantom drafts, two 18-year-olds were picked (of which only one played representative football in the under 18 national championships). Three more mature aged players were drafted from the second tier VFL, two of them from the Casey Scorpions. The mix of player types was good and the club seems to have covered most if not all of its needs over the trade and draft period (including a developing young ruckman who was selected in that position in the TAC Cup Team of the Year) to the extent where it can make a fully fledged assault on the finals in 2017. Simon Goodwin should be pleased. The final pieces of the list puzzle were put in place with Monday's rookie draft. Here are the player pen pictures from the 2016 Draft Edition of Inside Football: Lachlan Filipovic 29/8/98 Ht: 199.5cm Wt: 93kg Sandringham Dragons "Big Sticks is a ripper of a kid, similar to Hamish Brayshaw in terms of his impact off the field in leadership. He is a very raw developing tall who has just come across to the sport from basketball. We think he competes really well and just needs to impact more around the ground. But he came on with that in the finals and had some very good games. Given the lack of talls we think he could get a sniff late in the draft. If he doesn't get picked up we would consider him as a 19-year-old. Needs to pick up a little bit of game sense having come over from basketball. There is a lot of upside." - Dragons talent manager Ryan O'Connor Strengths competitiveness, potential NTI: game sense, reading of ball in air Declan Keilty 8/5/95 Ht: 194cm Wt: 88kg Casey Scorpions "Athletic right-footer who kicked on in his second year at Casey, winning the club's Rising Star award and finishing third in the best and fairest. Also selected in the VFL team of the year. Spent the bulk of 2016 in defence but did some ruckwork and had some good moments when playing forward in the preliminary final against Williamstown. Came out of Gippsland Power. And with a well-rounded game he's going places." - VFL expert Paul Amy Strengths: versatility, marking NTI: speed, finding more ball Tim Smith 20/2/91 Ht: 192cm Wt: 88kg Casey Scorpions "They call him 'Bull' because of the way he goes after the ball - in the air (he took a handful of old-fashioned speccies this year) and on the ground (he enjoys a tackle almost as much as a goal). He's 25 but coming off a season in which he was named at centre-half-forward in the VFL team of the year, represented the VFL and booted 31 goals. A roughie to be a late selection in the national draft for an AFL club needing to inject some grunt." - VFL expert Paul Amy Strengths: marking, competitiveness, tackling NTI: running The MFC playing list now looks like this: PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Dion Johnstone Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Jordan Lewis Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Pat McKenna Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Josh Wagner Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Lachlan Filipovic Declan Keilty Tim Smith Mitch White ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Corey Maynard Joel Smith

CHANGES 2016: THE WASH UP - by The Oracle The first day of our summer brings with the beginning of a new cycle for AFL teams. The recruiting season is over and team lists are set in place for next year. There has already been discussion about the winners and losers over the draft period in particular but the reality is that it will be years before we can identify the real winners. I remember going back twelve months or more ago when the conventional wisdom among many observers was that the draft crop was not strong, particularly in terms of key position tall players and ruckmen. The latter group are often shunned in the main draft these days and unless they are very good, the ruck types will usually have to wait until the rookie draft. In many ways, the 2016 draft was looked upon as predominantly one for the midfield and smaller player. Moreover, there were no great standouts in contention for early selections with much wavering among the experts about who would go at number one in the AFL National Draft. There were clubs like Hawthorn, Melbourne and Collingwood who possibly saw the writing on the wall a year ago and not only traded out of early rounds this year but made little or no apparent attempt to get back into them. The Hawks' first selection was originally listed in the 80s but, after passes and changes to the order through the bidding process, it became the 74th pick overall. They traded stars in Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis without any apparent great effort to shop them around for better picks. The Demons traded out of this year's first round to get Sam Weideman last year and the second round for Michael Hibberd which meant they waited until number 46 in the latest national draft and the Pies took their first player at number 30. All three clubs had other priorities set for this draft and determined a long way out. In the wash up, this year's draft intake at Melbourne is certainly unconventional. After three or four draft periods in which they reaped some good young footballing talent, the Demons went unconventional in that none of their selections in either draft featured in the many phantom drafts, two 18-year-olds were picked (of which only one played representative football in the under 18 national championships). Three more mature aged players were drafted from the second tier VFL, two of them from the Casey Scorpions. The mix of player types was good and the club seems to have covered most if not all of its needs over the trade and draft period (including a developing young ruckman who was selected in that position in the TAC Cup Team of the Year) to the extent where it can make a fully fledged assault on the finals in 2017. Simon Goodwin should be pleased. The final pieces of the list puzzle were put in place with Monday's rookie draft. Here are the player pen pictures from the 2016 Draft Edition of Inside Football: Lachlan Filipovic 29/8/98 Ht: 199.5cm Wt: 93kg Sandringham Dragons "Big Sticks is a ripper of a kid, similar to Hamish Brayshaw in terms of his impact off the field in leadership. He is a very raw developing tall who has just come across to the sport from basketball. We think he competes really well and just needs to impact more around the ground. But he came on with that in the finals and had some very good games. Given the lack of talls we think he could get a sniff late in the draft. If he doesn't get picked up we would consider him as a 19-year-old. Needs to pick up a little bit of game sense having come over from basketball. There is a lot of upside." - Dragons talent manager Ryan O'Connor Strengths competitiveness, potential NTI: game sense, reading of ball in air Declan Keilty 8/5/95 Ht: 194cm Wt: 88kg Casey Scorpions "Athletic right-footer who kicked on in his second year at Casey, winning the club's Rising Star award and finishing third in the best and fairest. Also selected in the VFL team of the year. Spent the bulk of 2016 in defence but did some ruckwork and had some good moments when playing forward in the preliminary final against Williamstown. Came out of Gippsland Power. And with a well-rounded game he's going places." - VFL expert Paul Amy Strengths: versatility, marking NTI: speed, finding more ball Tim Smith 20/2/91 Ht: 192cm Wt: 88kg Casey Scorpions "They call him 'Bull' because of the way he goes after the ball - in the air (he took a handful of old-fashioned speccies this year) and on the ground (he enjoys a tackle almost as much as a goal). He's 25 but coming off a season in which he was named at centre-half-forward in the VFL team of the year, represented the VFL and booted 31 goals. A roughie to be a late selection in the national draft for an AFL club needing to inject some grunt." - VFL expert Paul Amy Strengths: marking, competitiveness, tackling NTI: running The MFC playing list now looks like this: PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Dion Johnstone Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Jordan Lewis Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Pat McKenna Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Josh Wagner Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Lachlan Filipovic Declan Keilty Tim Smith Mitch White ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Corey Maynard Joel Smith

With a first selection in the AFL National Draft coming in the late 40s, it was always a possibility that Demons' draft guru Jason Taylor would look outside the square a little in dealing with the task ahead of him and his team. In the end, they opted to shadow this year's premiers by securing a Footscray VFL listed player and a Bulldogs academy member. The club's first pick eventually came after a long wait at pick 46 when it selected VFL premiership player Mitch Hannan, described as follows in the Draft Edition of Inside Football: Mitch Hannan 9/3/94 Ht: 189.0cm Wt: 83.0kg Footscray "The rangy forward played in Footscray's premiership team 12 months after having a best-on-ground hand in St Bernards' success in the A section Amateurs. The left-footer can pluck a high mark and intervene to help turn a match his team's way, as evidenced by a brilliant burst in the final quarter of the semi final against Essendon. One of the VFL's best draft hopes." - VFL expert Paul Amy Strengths: athleticism, marking NTI: endurance, versatility Hannan is noted as left footer with a long kick who can take spectacular marks VFL players your club should chase and sounds a likely type. With his team on the ropes, Hannan's three final quarter goals against Essendon in the VFL Semi Final set it up for a premiership flag a fortnight later Mitch Hannan goes from VAFA grand final to AFL list in 12 months after being drafted by Melbourne. The experience of a second premiership in different competitions now sets him up for further glory. A tweet from Mark Stevens suggests he isn't all that far from making it into the big time:- "Mitch Hannan won't take long to break into Dees lineup. I'm tipping Round 1." For those looking into omens, Melbourne's last premiership came in 64. It's last pick in the draft came at 64 as well. The Demons chose a young indigenous player who was captain of Scotch College this year and hails originally from North Warrnambool Eagles which made Dion Johnstone a Western Bulldogs academy prospect. That's now out of equation as he becomes a fully fledged Demon. Inside Football describes him as follows:- Dion Johnstone 1/6/98 Ht: 179.4cm Wt: 73.4kg Oakleigh Chargers "Dion is one we didn't see the best of until late in the season being a country boy, being a scholarship boy from Scotch, but he is an ultra-competitive beast. He just has that will to compete and probably plays on to a degree, but good players do that. In terms of the intensity and velocity of the game at the next level out of our group he is closest to what you would expect at AFL level - you know what you are going to get with him. Late in the season was able to really hit the scoreboard and he plays that pressure forward role really well and had the ability to kick bags." - Oakleigh Chargers talent manager Craig Notman Strengths: competitiveness, goal sense, defensive pressure NTI: ball winning Johnstone stoked to join club Melbourne also officially added 2016 rookie Josh Wagner to the primary list to join the other newcomers from the trades in Michael Hibberd, Jordan Lewis and Pat McKenna. The latter three have already commenced pre season training at the club. Hibberd and Lewis are well known in football circles while GWS recruit McKenna is a clean user of the ball with decision-making to a high standard. The MFC playing list now looks like this: PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Dion Johnstone Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Jordan Lewis Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Pat McKenna Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Josh Wagner Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch White ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Corey Maynard Joel Smith What's next? Well, there's Monday's rookie draft at which the club has already flagged that it will only make two selections. And there's the question of what will happen with Heritier Lumumba and his place on the list - a case of watch this space.

CHANGES 2016 - CHASING DOGS by The Oracle With a first selection in the AFL National Draft coming in the late 40s, it was always a possibility that Demons' draft guru Jason Taylor would look outside the square a little in dealing with the task ahead of him and his team. In the end, they opted to shadow this year's premiers by securing a Footscray VFL listed player and a Bulldogs academy member. The club's first pick eventually came after a long wait at pick 46 when it selected VFL premiership player Mitch Hannan, described as follows in the Draft Edition of Inside Football: Mitch Hannan 9/3/94 Ht: 189.0cm Wt: 83.0kg Footscray "The rangy forward played in Footscray's premiership team 12 months after having a best-on-ground hand in St Bernards' success in the A section Amateurs. The left-footer can pluck a high mark and intervene to help turn a match his team's way, as evidenced by a brilliant burst in the final quarter of the semi final against Essendon. One of the VFL's best draft hopes." - VFL expert Paul Amy Strengths: athleticism, marking NTI: endurance, versatility Hannan is noted as left footer with a long kick who can take spectacular marks VFL players your club should chase and sounds a likely type. With his team on the ropes, Hannan's three final quarter goals against Essendon in the VFL Semi Final set it up for a premiership flag a fortnight later Mitch Hannan goes from VAFA grand final to AFL list in 12 months after being drafted by Melbourne. The experience of a second premiership in different competitions now sets him up for further glory. A tweet from Mark Stevens suggests he isn't all that far from making it into the big time:- "Mitch Hannan won't take long to break into Dees lineup. I'm tipping Round 1." For those looking into omens, Melbourne's last premiership came in 64. It's last pick in the draft came at 64 as well. The Demons chose a young indigenous player who was captain of Scotch College this year and hails originally from North Warrnambool Eagles which made Dion Johnstone a Western Bulldogs academy prospect. That's now out of equation as he becomes a fully fledged Demon. Inside Football describes him as follows:- Dion Johnstone 1/6/98 Ht: 179.4cm Wt: 73.4kg Oakleigh Chargers "Dion is one we didn't see the best of until late in the season being a country boy, being a scholarship boy from Scotch, but he is an ultra-competitive beast. He just has that will to compete and probably plays on to a degree, but good players do that. In terms of the intensity and velocity of the game at the next level out of our group he is closest to what you would expect at AFL level - you know what you are going to get with him. Late in the season was able to really hit the scoreboard and he plays that pressure forward role really well and had the ability to kick bags." - Oakleigh Chargers talent manager Craig Notman Strengths: competitiveness, goal sense, defensive pressure NTI: ball winning Johnstone stoked to join club Melbourne also officially added 2016 rookie Josh Wagner to the primary list to join the other newcomers from the trades in Michael Hibberd, Jordan Lewis and Pat McKenna. The latter three have already commenced pre season training at the club. Hibberd and Lewis are well known in football circles while GWS recruit McKenna is a clean user of the ball with decision-making to a high standard. The MFC playing list now looks like this: PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Dion Johnstone Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Jordan Lewis Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Pat McKenna Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Josh Wagner Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch White ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Corey Maynard Joel Smith What's next? Well, there's Monday's rookie draft at which the club has already flagged that it will only make two selections. And there's the question of what will happen with Heritier Lumumba and his place on the list - a case of watch this space.

I did my best, it wasn't much and though I hoped the AFL would do something to help out (by penalising GWS a draft pick or two for its role in the Lachie Whitfield affair - predictably a forlorn hope), in the end I had to write something about Melbourne's second pick in next week's AFL draft at number 69. It would be fair to say that the history of the selection is not particularly encouraging. The passing parade of players picked at 69 reads like this - 2006 - Ben Warren (Kangaroos) 2007 - Kepler Bradley (Essendon) 2008 - Bart McCulloch (Brisbane Lions) 2009 - Taylor Duryea (Hawthorn) 2010 - Cameron Delaney (North Melbourne) 2011 - Mitchell Golby (Brisbane Lions rookie upgrade) 2012 - Mark Hutchings (West Coast) 2013 - Pass (Sydney Swans) 2014 - Logan Austin (Port Adelaide) 2015 - Wylie Buzza (Geelong) Looking back over the past decade gives the impression of a boulevard of broken promise; a number of hopefuls including one upgraded rookie who never quite made it and in 2013, the Swans provided the selection with its ultimate humiliation by turning up their noses and giving it a pass. There always has to be an exception to the rule and typically, the beneficiary of the exception was Hawthorn in 2009 when it selected Taylor Duryea who has gone on to play in two AFL premiership teams (2014 & 15). And just to show that the Hawks have the Midas touch when it comes to recruiting, they used the next pick at 70 in that draft on another dual premiership player in Matt Suckling who was picked up by the Bulldogs as a free agent last year and was unlucky to miss out on a third flag early last month. So there is a glimmer of hope that the number 69 will produce a miracle and perhaps even a repeat of history - not just the Duryea selection but also that of Melbourne's Jayden Hunt who was snapped up in the 2013 draft at number 57. Hunt had not played TAC Cup but rather, was spotted playing for his school, Brighton Grammar in an APS game. There's a similar story brewing about another APS footballer, athletic St Kevins College student 18 year old Oliver Hanrahan (183cm 74kg) who had a superb season at schoolboy level. The lightly built Hanrahan is a lively half forward who can push into the midfield and hits the scoreboard. Like Hunt, young Ollie didn't play TAC Cup but he would have been noticed by scouts who came along to look at other prospects in schoolboy games. Highly rated draft prospect Tim Taranto from the Sandringham Dragons (where a number of Hunt's schoolmates played) also attends St Kevins. Hanrahan was superb in the APS v AGSV representative match and his performance left a few clubs including Melbourne wanting a further look at him - Hawks eye forward with late pick. He was good enough to gain selection in the AFL Young Guns game in September and just as Jayden Hunt did in the same match three years ago, he put in a strong game and the rest is now history. AFL Draft Central's Matt Balmer had Ollie going at 70 in his recent Phantom Draft so it's not outside the bounds of possibility that he might end up with the Demons. Inside Football's 2016 AFL Draft edition produced this pen picture Oliver Hanrahan 27/8/1998 Ht: 183cm Wt: 74kg St Kevins "Ollie played school footy this year mostly across half forward but went through midfield towards the end of the year. He has great athletic ability and ability to keep feet. He is a good kick, smart-decision maker, quick over ten metres and deceptively strong overhead. He needs to improve his tank to go the next level but he concentrated on his cricket over summer and at school so he was a bit behind at the start of pre-season." - St Kevins College Coach Paul O'Brien. He's my smokey for 2016. * if you thought the opening words of this piece sound familiar they come from songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen, a favourite of mine, who passed away last week and a great inspiration.

THE SMOKEY (NUMBER 69) by Whispering Jack I did my best, it wasn't much and though I hoped the AFL would do something to help out (by penalising GWS a draft pick or two for its role in the Lachie Whitfield affair - predictably a forlorn hope), in the end I had to write something about Melbourne's second pick in next week's AFL draft at number 69. It would be fair to say that the history of the selection is not particularly encouraging. The passing parade of players picked at 69 reads like this - 2006 - Ben Warren (Kangaroos) 2007 - Kepler Bradley (Essendon) 2008 - Bart McCulloch (Brisbane Lions) 2009 - Taylor Duryea (Hawthorn) 2010 - Cameron Delaney (North Melbourne) 2011 - Mitchell Golby (Brisbane Lions rookie upgrade) 2012 - Mark Hutchings (West Coast) 2013 - Pass (Sydney Swans) 2014 - Logan Austin (Port Adelaide) 2015 - Wylie Buzza (Geelong) Looking back over the past decade gives the impression of a boulevard of broken promise; a number of hopefuls including one upgraded rookie who never quite made it and in 2013, the Swans provided the selection with its ultimate humiliation by turning up their noses and giving it a pass. There always has to be an exception to the rule and typically, the beneficiary of the exception was Hawthorn in 2009 when it selected Taylor Duryea who has gone on to play in two AFL premiership teams (2014 & 15). And just to show that the Hawks have the Midas touch when it comes to recruiting, they used the next pick at 70 in that draft on another dual premiership player in Matt Suckling who was picked up by the Bulldogs as a free agent last year and was unlucky to miss out on a third flag early last month. So there is a glimmer of hope that the number 69 will produce a miracle and perhaps even a repeat of history - not just the Duryea selection but also that of Melbourne's Jayden Hunt who was snapped up in the 2013 draft at number 57. Hunt had not played TAC Cup but rather, was spotted playing for his school, Brighton Grammar in an APS game. There's a similar story brewing about another APS footballer, athletic St Kevins College student 18 year old Oliver Hanrahan (183cm 74kg) who had a superb season at schoolboy level. The lightly built Hanrahan is a lively half forward who can push into the midfield and hits the scoreboard. Like Hunt, young Ollie didn't play TAC Cup but he would have been noticed by scouts who came along to look at other prospects in schoolboy games. Highly rated draft prospect Tim Taranto from the Sandringham Dragons (where a number of Hunt's schoolmates played) also attends St Kevins. Hanrahan was superb in the APS v AGSV representative match and his performance left a few clubs including Melbourne wanting a further look at him - Hawks eye forward with late pick He was good enough to gain selection in the AFL Young Guns game in September and just as Jayden Hunt did in the same match three years ago, he put in a strong game and the rest is now history. AFL Draft Central's Matt Balmer had Ollie going at 70 in his recent Phantom Draft so it's not outside the bounds of possibility that he might end up with the Demons. Inside Football's 2016 AFL Draft edition produced this pen picture Oliver Hanrahan 27/8/1998 Ht: 183cm Wt: 74kg St Kevins "Ollie played school footy this year mostly across half forward but went through midfield towards the end of the year. He has great athletic ability and ability to keep feet. He is a good kick, smart-decision maker, quick over ten metres and deceptively strong overhead. He needs to improve his tank to go the next level but he concentrated on his cricket over summer and at school so he was a bit behind at the start of pre-season." - St Kevins College Coach Paul O'Brien. He's my smokey for 2016. * if you thought the opening words of this piece sound familiar they come from songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen, a favourite of mine, who passed away last week and a great inspiration.

There could be two #6 winning the B&F next year.

Women’s jumper numbers announced 2017 Melbourne women’s squad guernsey numbers 2. Meg Downie 3. Emma Humphries 4. Karen Paxman 5. Elise O’Dea 6. Daisy Pearce 7. Deanna Berry 8. Sarah Lampard 9. Alyssa Mifsud 10. Sarah Jolly 11. Laura Duryea 13. Katherine Smith 14. Lily Mithen 15. Lauren Pearce 16. Aliesha Newman 18. Melissa Hickey 19. Jasmine Grierson 20. Shelley Scott 21. Harriet Cordner 22. Pepa Randall 23. Stephanie De Bortoli 24. Brooke Patterson 25. Maddie Boyd 28. Jessica Anderson 30. Richelle Cranston 35. Cat Phillips 36. Ainslie Kemp 44. Mia-Rae Clifford

I'm absolutely sick of it. It's bullying. It derails threads. There is going to be a no tolerance policy about it. I'm not going to be playing favourites about it either. If I see it or it is brought to my attention and espcially if it's from one of you usual suspects, and you know who you are, then you are gone. It might be a week, it might be a month, it might be a year, it might be forever. I do not like to do this and I hate that it has come to this but for some of you your time on Demonland is almost up. Last warning for everyone. Play nice. Play the ball and not the man. If you don't like a poster or his/her opinions then scroll past their posts or use the ignore feature. If you continually bait certain posters you will be banned. No more warnings. If you continually abuse certain posters you will be banned. No more warnings. If you derails threads you will be banned. No more warnings. I might miss things and it might seem unfair that this one gets dealt an unfair hand well that's just bad luck. If you don't do the crime, you won't do the time. I'm building a wall around Demonland and the Richmond fan forum is going to pay for it. Last warning starts now. THESE ARE EXCITING TIMES AHEAD FOR OUR CLUB. IT WILL BE A SHAME IF YOU ARE NOT HERE TO PARTICIPATE.

Congratulations Jared. Come back when you're finished with the filth. Former Demon and Cat Jared Rivers to coach Collingwood VFL side in 2017

This is excellent news for me personally as I will not have to make another change to the Demonland Banner. Demonland will once again be proudly sponsoring Josh and Jayden Hunt in 2017.

EIGHTY-FOUR - THE NEWSPEAK VERSION by Whispering Jack I was down at the Ministry of Truth the other day to find out how things were going with the government enquiry into the AFL's integrity department and the person at the desk asked, "What enquiry?" I told her that I really wanted to know what the value was of draft pick # 84 and she looked at me, staring dismissively and sneered, "there is no pick # 84!". "Well, er ... that's not quite correct. It says on the AFL website that Melbourne has pick # 84 and I want to know if the club will use it or will they upgrade a rookie like Wagner?" Now she was angry. "If you want to know about Wagner, try next door at the Ministry of Music!", and with that she slammed the window of her compartment shut in my face. She was gone. There isn't much more that can be said about Pick 84 at this year's AFL National Draft. People usually quote the exceptional examples from draft history like a few of the "inspired" early West Coast selections, Chris Grant and James Hird to suggest that there's still value to be had this deep in the draft but the odds of picking up a rare gem with draft pick #84 are not good. AFL clubs are forced to use three picks at the AFL National Draft meeting next month but they can use fewer by allocating list spots to upgrade rookies. Therefore, my bet is that the Demons' last pick will be either Josh Wagner or Joel Smith - either one of them would not be a surprise selection.

I was down at the Ministry of Truth the other day to find out how things were going with the government enquiry into the AFL's integrity department and the person at the desk asked, "What enquiry?" I told her that I really wanted to know what the value was of draft pick # 84 and she looked at me, staring dismissively and sneered, "there is no pick # 84!". "Well, er ... that's not quite correct. It says on the AFL website that Melbourne has pick # 84 and I want to know if the club will use it or will they upgrade a rookie like Wagner?" Now she was angry. "If you want to know about Wagner, try next door at the Ministry of Music!", and with that she slammed the window of her compartment shut in my face. She was gone. There isn't much more that can be said about Pick 84 at this year's AFL National Draft. People usually quote the exceptional examples from draft history like a few of the "inspired" early West Coast selections, Chris Grant and James Hird to suggest that there's still value to be had this deep in the draft but the odds of picking up a rare gem with draft pick #84 are not good. AFL clubs are forced to use three picks at the AFL National Draft meeting next month but they can use fewer by allocating list spots to upgrade rookies. Therefore, my bet is that the Demons' last pick will be either Josh Wagner or Joel Smith - either one of them would not be a surprise selection.

Thanks for bringing the typo to my attention Big Kev - fixed