Demonland

It was at around about this time last year when I lamented that the last time Melbourne had a "winning season" (i.e. one in which it won more games than it lost) was 2006. I observed that things were on an upward trajectory in the club's quest to reach the stars and indeed, it came close to making a breakthrough this year. Twenty-one rounds into the home and away season, things looked promising for a breakthrough with the win-loss ratio even at 10:10 and a game coming up against Carlton which was on a nine game losing streak. The Demons themselves had won three on end including the reigning premier and then ladder leader Hawthorn and Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval. But the young Demon side hit the wall hard in the dying days of autumn. The team was cooked and fell by the wayside against the Blues and again, six days later at Geelong. The end result was a full decade as an abject failure in the context of winning seasons. While the club had shown an upward trend throughout its three seasons under Paul Roos, there was clearly more work to do on improving its playing list. Players had to be culled and others brought in to fill needs like another big man, more outside run, some extra hardness and experience. The delistings were announced in the weeks after play ended with the defeat of the Casey Scorpions in the VFL Grand Final and ended last week. The Demons also traded out Lynden Dunn to the Magpies leaving skipper Nathan Jones as the only survivor from the team that made the finals back in 2006. Before we take a look at the changes to date, let's reflect on the composition of the club's playing list for 2016:- PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Chris Dawes Lynden Dunn Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Jack Grimes James Harmes Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Matt Jones Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Ben Newton Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Dean Terlich Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Max King Viv Michie Mitch White Josh Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Joel Smith The purpose of this article is to bid a farewell salute to the eight good servants of the Demons who have moved on to other things since the end of the season and then, between now and the AFL National Draft, I will look at those who have come in to replace them on the list. Chris Dawes 50 games 47 goals from 2013-2016 (also Collingwood 71 games 83 goals from 2008-2012) Was brought into the club as extra tall timber in attack with Mitch Clark while a young Jesse Hogan was in the very early stages of development and at a time when Jack Watts was still battling to establish an identity and a place in the side. For various reasons, mainly injury, the plan for a super power attack failed. Dawes himself, never made it back to his premiership form with the Magpies although he had a handful of cameos and gave his all. The ravages of injury and a slowing down with age took their toll and he was restricted to half a dozen games this year before he was delisted. Lynden Dunn 165 games 97 goals from 2006-2016 Came to the club as Melbourne's second pick and 15th overall in the 2004 AFL National Draft and broke into the side as a promising but lightly built forward in 2006. As his body built up, he was given some demanding roles as a tagger and defensive forward before ultimately finding his place as a defender and was lately in the club's leadership group. With a change in approach to the development of the team's back half, Dunn found himself stuck at Casey where, despite some stalwart performances, he was unable to regain his place in the AFL team and ultimately found a new home across the tracks with Collingwood. Jack Grimes 100 games 11 goals from 2008-2016 The life-long Melbourne supporter won All Australian selection as an Under 18 and was highly regarded as a future leader when drafted in 2007 at number 14 but was hampered by back problems when he first came to the club. After his debut in the final game of 2008, Grimes made solid progress in the following season gaining a Rising Star nomination in 2009. He continued to impress but injury cut his 2011 season short. He was appointed co-captain with Jack Trengove in 2012 and handled himself well under enormous pressure in difficult times. His form lapsed and by the end of 2014, by which time he was co-skipper with Nathan Jones, he stepped down from the role. The lifting of the pressure of leadership failed to prevent his decline in the side and he was restricted to just two games in 2016 despite some excellent late season form at Casey. Matt Jones 61 games 10 goals from 2013-2016 Recruited as a mature aged player from the Box Hill Hawks, Jones made an immediate impact as a running midfielder in 2013 when he won the Ivor Warne Smith Award for Fourth Best and Fairest at the club. His form dropped off in 2014 and he was held back by his poor disposal of the ball and some injuries. Delisted at the end of the season. Max King (rookie) Showed some early promise in a NAB preseason game as a ruckman in 2014 and had moderate success last year when tried as a tall forward goal kicker at Casey but went backwards this year and ended the season in the Development League. Viv Michie (rookie) 21 games 1 goal from 2014-2016 (also Fremantle 1 games 0 goals from 2011-2013) Never really established a place in three seasons at Melbourne after struggling with injuries at the Dockers. Delisted last year and given a further opportunity as a rookie but had a difficult task to wrest a spot from the club's bevy of emerging young midfield talent. Ben Newton 13 games 12 goals from 2015-2016 (also Port Adelaide 4 games 0 goals from 2011-2014) He was Port Adelaide's forgotten man when he joined Melbourne at the end of 2014 and looked like establishing himself late last year as a midfielder who could go forward and kick goals. However, an interrupted preseason and some further injuries this year stopped his progress and he was probably a trifle unlucky to be delisted. Dean Terlich 35 games 2 goals from 2013-2016 Terlich was on the Sydney list as a rookie under Paul Roos in 2008 but never played a game there. He moved to the Norwood Redlegs where he played in their 2012 premiership team and won the Jack Oatey Medal as best on the ground in the grand final and was picked late in that year's draft for the Demons. He had an excellent year in his AFL debut as a mature ager winning the Ron Barassi Snr. Award for Third Best and Fairest behind Nathan Jones and Colin Garland. He was an honest, hardworking toiler without having the greatest of footballing skills but with Roos at the helm, he struggled to hold a place, going through 2015 and 2016 without getting an AFL game. With the addition of three players as a result of the trades and the recruitment of another Category B player, the MFC playing list now looks like this: PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta 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 Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch White Josh Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Corey Maynard Joel Smith WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? "Clubs must make their first list lodgement by October 31, and put it in their total player payment estimates. This is when they'll announce whether they will be upgrading any rookies to their senior list or retaining them for a second or third year as rookies. Clubs with father-son eligible players must also nominate them by then. The delisted free agency period starts on November 1, and runs until November 8."

CHANGES 2016 - TRAJECTORY by The Oracle It was at around about this time last year when I lamented that the last time Melbourne had a "winning season" (i.e. one in which it won more games than it lost) was 2006. I observed that things were on an upward trajectory in the club's quest to reach the stars and indeed, it came close to making a breakthrough this year. Twenty-one rounds into the home and away season, things looked promising for a breakthrough with the win-loss ratio even at 10:10 and a game coming up against Carlton which was on a nine game losing streak. The Demons themselves had won three on end including the reigning premier and then ladder leader Hawthorn and Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval. But the young Demon side hit the wall hard in the dying days of autumn. The team was cooked and fell by the wayside against the Blues and again, six days later at Geelong. The end result was a full decade as an abject failure in the context of winning seasons. While the club had shown an upward trend throughout its three seasons under Paul Roos, there was clearly more work to do on improving its playing list. Players had to be culled and others brought in to fill needs like another big man, more outside run, some extra hardness and experience. The delistings were announced in the weeks after play ended with the defeat of the Casey Scorpions in the VFL Grand Final and ended last week. The Demons also traded out Lynden Dunn to the Magpies leaving skipper Nathan Jones as the only survivor from the team that made the finals back in 2006. Before we take a look at the changes to date, let's reflect on the composition of the club's playing list for 2016:- PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Chris Dawes Lynden Dunn Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Jack Grimes James Harmes Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Matt Jones Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Ben Newton Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Dean Terlich Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Max King Viv Michie Mitch White Josh Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Joel Smith The purpose of this article is to bid a farewell salute to the eight good servants of the Demons who have moved on to other things since the end of the season and then, between now and the AFL National Draft, I will look at those who have come in to replace them on the list. Chris Dawes 50 games 47 goals from 2013-2016 (also Collingwood 71 games 83 goals from 2008-2012) Was brought into the club as extra tall timber in attack with Mitch Clark while a young Jesse Hogan was in the very early stages of development and at a time when Jack Watts was still battling to establish an identity and a place in the side. For various reasons, mainly injury, the plan for a super power attack failed. Dawes himself, never made it back to his premiership form with the Magpies although he had a handful of cameos and gave his all. The ravages of injury and a slowing down with age took their toll and he was restricted to half a dozen games this year before he was delisted. Lynden Dunn 165 games 97 goals from 2006-2016 Came to the club as Melbourne's second pick and 15th overall in the 2004 AFL National Draft and broke into the side as a promising but lightly built forward in 2006. As his body built up, he was given some demanding roles as a tagger and defensive forward before ultimately finding his place as a defender and was lately in the club's leadership group. With a change in approach to the development of the team's back half, Dunn found himself stuck at Casey where, despite some stalwart performances, he was unable to regain his place in the AFL team and ultimately found a new home across the tracks with Collingwood. Jack Grimes 100 games 11 goals from 2008-2016 The life-long Melbourne supporter won All Australian selection as an Under 18 and was highly regarded as a future leader when drafted in 2007 at number 14 but was hampered by back problems when he first came to the club. After his debut in the final game of 2008, Grimes made solid progress in the following season gaining a Rising Star nomination in 2009. He continued to impress but injury cut his 2011 season short. He was appointed co-captain with Jack Trengove in 2012 and handled himself well under enormous pressure in difficult times. His form lapsed and by the end of 2014, by which time he was co-skipper with Nathan Jones, he stepped down from the role. The lifting of the pressure of leadership failed to prevent his decline in the side and he was restricted to just two games in 2016 despite some excellent late season form at Casey. Matt Jones 61 games 10 goals from 2013-2016 Recruited as a mature aged player from the Box Hill Hawks, Jones made an immediate impact as a running midfielder in 2013 when he won the Ivor Warne Smith Award for Fourth Best and Fairest at the club. His form dropped off in 2014 and he was held back by his poor disposal of the ball and some injuries. Delisted at the end of the season. Max King (rookie) Showed some early promise in a NAB preseason game as a ruckman in 2014 and had moderate success last year when tried as a tall forward goal kicker at Casey but went backwards this year and ended the season in the Development League. Viv Michie (rookie) 21 games 1 goal from 2014-2016 (also Fremantle 1 games 0 goals from 2011-2013) Never really established a place in three seasons at Melbourne after struggling with injuries at the Dockers. Delisted last year and given a further opportunity as a rookie but had a difficult task to wrest a spot from the club's bevy of emerging young midfield talent. Ben Newton 13 games 12 goals from 2015-2016 (also Port Adelaide 4 games 0 goals from 2011-2014) He was Port Adelaide's forgotten man when he joined Melbourne at the end of 2014 and looked like establishing himself late last year as a midfielder who could go forward and kick goals. However, an interrupted preseason and some further injuries this year stopped his progress and he was probably a trifle unlucky to be delisted. Dean Terlich 35 games 2 goals from 2013-2016 Terlich was on the Sydney list as a rookie under Paul Roos in 2008 but never played a game there. He moved to the Norwood Redlegs where he played in their 2012 premiership team and won the Jack Oatey Medal as best on the ground in the grand final and was picked late in that year's draft for the Demons. He had an excellent year in his AFL debut as a mature ager winning the Ron Barassi Snr. Award for Third Best and Fairest behind Nathan Jones and Colin Garland. He was an honest, hardworking toiler without having the greatest of footballing skills but with Roos at the helm, he struggled to hold a place, going through 2015 and 2016 without getting an AFL game. With the addition of three players as a result of the trades and the recruitment of another Category B player, the MFC playing list now looks like this: PRIMARY LIST: Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta 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 Jack Watts Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch White Josh Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Corey Maynard Joel Smith WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? "Clubs must make their first list lodgement by October 31, and put it in their total player payment estimates. This is when they'll announce whether they will be upgrading any rookies to their senior list or retaining them for a second or third year as rookies. Clubs with father-son eligible players must also nominate them by then. The delisted free agency period starts on November 1, and runs until November 8."

ROUND 1, 2017 Thursday, March 23 Carlton v Richmond, MCG Friday, March 24 Collingwood v Western Bulldogs, MCG Saturday, March 25 Sydney v Port Adelaide, SCG North Melbourne v West Coast, Etihad Stadium Gold Coast v Brisbane, Metricon Stadium Essendon v Hawthorn, MCG Sunday, March 26 Adelaide v GWS Giants, Adelaide Oval St Kilda v Melbourne, Etihad Stadium Fremantle v Geelong, Subiaco

Gone are the days when we could debate for hours on end about who would be Melbourne's first draft selection knowing we were dealing with a small, discrete group of possibles at the pointy end of the draft pool. The Demons have gone through the last couple of drafts with two top ten picks but things are much different this year. Suddenly, we have to learn to deal with the fact that our first pick is way down in the middle of the third round at number 47. Last year, our fourth pick was taken at 46 (Liam Hulett). The last time the Dees were close to that lowly figure was five years ago in the 2011 rigged draft in which GWS Giants had the first five and 11 of the first 14 selections. Melbourne traded out its first pick to get Mitch Clark and was therefore left with 36 as its first selection, used to get Rory Taggert. It was not a good year for drafting and fittingly it was Barry Prendergast's last as our recruiting manager which I suppose goes a long way to explaining why Josh Tynan and James Sellar didn't quite work out either. There's not much room for optimism about your draft prospects when you look at the players selected with 47 in recent years:- 2006 Essendon Kyle Reimers (Peel Thunder WA) 2007 Collingwood Toby Thoolen (Bendigo Pioneers) 2008 St Kilda Rhys Stanley (West Adelaide SA) 2009 Brisbane Lions Ryan Harwood (Glenorchy TAS) 2010 Richmond Bradley Helbig (West Adelaide SA) 2011 Brisbane Lions Patrick Wearden (Murray Bushrangers) 2012 North Melbourne Mitchell Wilkins (Norwood SA) 2013 North Melbourne Ben Brown (Werribee VFL) 2014 Geelong Cory Gregson (Glenelg SA) 2015 Brisbane Lions Sam Skinner (Gippsland Power) The list does little to inspire. Brown is the best of the lot and Stanley at his second club is getting some games. Gregson is smallish but might eke out a career with the Cats and Reimers had his moments, once booting eight goals in Essendon's 139 point win over the Gold Coast Suns in their early days in 2011 but after he left, he caused a stir in an interview about the club's drug saga:- "After a couple of months away from it (the club), it does seem very odd the type of stuff we were taking." The rest certainly didn't set the world on fire. Poor Sam Skinner, recruited while recovering from ACL surgery, was just getting over it this year when he broke down and required a second operation. On the above facts, we Demon fans will have to deal with a malaise I call "Syndrome # 47". It won't be easy but I'm sure that if we face facts, accept that it's not a life threatening illness and be optimistic, then we can overcome the symptoms of irritableness and anxiety over the next five weeks. As a starting point, I recommend looking at the bright side and understand that # 47 today might not be as bad as it was in the days of yesteryear. I've heard it said that one of the consequences of the points bidding system for academy players and father/son selections is that draft places will be eaten up a bit like a human body suffering from the Ebola virus. As a result our choice might end up in the early rather than the late forties. I've therefore taken a phantom draft at random off the authoritative bigfooty website and listed picks 41 to 50:- Chris 25 41 Dylan Clarke - 187cm, 85kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges 42 Jake Pitman - 177cm, 77kg midfielder from Norwood 43 Jake Waterman - 191cm, 82kg forward from Claremont (West Coast*) 44 Kym LeBois - 175cm, 66kg forward/midfielder from North Adelaide 45 Callum Brown - 177cm, 69kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges (Collingwood*) 46 Jack Maibaum - 193cm, 90kg defender from Eastern Ranges 47 Cedric Cox - 184cm, 70kg defender from North Ballarat Rebels 48 Jordan Gallucci - 183cm, 75kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges 49 Ryan Garthwaite - 192cm, 84kg defender from Murray Bushrangers (GWS**) 50 Willem Drew - 188cm, 78kg midfielder from North Ballarat Rebels * father/son ** academy Among that lot you have a couple of father/sons and an academy pick but there's no doubt about the quality of some of the others available in this range. Clarke won the Eastern Ranges B & F in the footsteps of his brother who is with North Melbourne. Maibaum, Cox, Galluci and Drew are all highly thought of prospects. If they're in the mix when Melbourne's time to take pick # 47 comes, then it will ease the syndrome dramatically. After that, we can start worrying about a condition described by the number 69. No scratch that!

SYNDROME # 47 AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT by Whispering Jack Gone are the days when we could debate for hours on end about who would be Melbourne's first draft selection knowing we were dealing with a small, discrete group of possibles at the pointy end of the draft pool. The Demons have gone through the last couple of drafts with two top ten picks but things are much different this year. Suddenly, we have to learn to deal with the fact that our first pick is way down in the middle of the third round at number 47. Last year, our fourth pick was taken at 46 (Liam Hulett). The last time the Dees were close to that lowly figure was five years ago in the 2011 rigged draft in which GWS Giants had the first five and 11 of the first 14 selections. Melbourne traded out its first pick to get Mitch Clark and was therefore left with 36 as its first selection, used to get Rory Taggert. It was not a good year for drafting and fittingly it was Barry Prendergast's last as our recruiting manager which I suppose goes a long way to explaining why Josh Tynan and James Sellar didn't quite work out either. There's not much room for optimism about your draft prospects when you look at the players selected with 47 in recent years:- 2006 Essendon Kyle Reimers (Peel Thunder WA) 2007 Collingwood Toby Thoolen (Bendigo Pioneers) 2008 St Kilda Rhys Stanley (West Adelaide SA) 2009 Brisbane Lions Ryan Harwood (Glenorchy TAS) 2010 Richmond Bradley Helbig (West Adelaide SA) 2011 Brisbane Lions Patrick Wearden (Murray Bushrangers) 2012 North Melbourne Mitchell Wilkins (Norwood SA) 2013 North Melbourne Ben Brown (Werribee VFL) 2014 Geelong Cory Gregson (Glenelg SA) 2015 Brisbane Lions Sam Skinner (Gippsland Power) The list does little to inspire. Brown is the best of the lot and Stanley at his second club is getting some games. Gregson is smallish but might eke out a career with the Cats and Reimers had his moments, once booting eight goals in Essendon's 139 point win over the Gold Coast Suns in their early days in 2011 but after he left, he caused a stir in an interview about the club's drug saga:- "After a couple of months away from it (the club), it does seem very odd the type of stuff we were taking." The rest certainly didn't set the world on fire. Poor Sam Skinner, recruited while recovering from ACL surgery, was just getting over it this year when he broke down and required a second operation. On the above facts, we Demon fans will have to deal with a malaise I call "Syndrome # 47". It won't be easy but I'm sure that if we face facts, accept that it's not a life threatening illness and be optimistic, then we can overcome the symptoms of irritableness and anxiety over the next five weeks. As a starting point, I recommend looking at the bright side and understand that # 47 today might not be as bad as it was in the days of yesteryear. I've heard it said that one of the consequences of the points bidding system for academy players and father/son selections is that draft places will be eaten up a bit like a human body suffering from the Ebola virus. As a result our choice might end up in the early rather than the late forties. I've therefore taken a phantom draft at random off the authoritative bigfooty website and listed picks 41 to 50:- Chris 25 41 Dylan Clarke - 187cm, 85kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges 42 Jake Pitman - 177cm, 77kg midfielder from Norwood 43 Jake Waterman - 191cm, 82kg forward from Claremont (West Coast*) 44 Kym LeBois - 175cm, 66kg forward/midfielder from North Adelaide 45 Callum Brown - 177cm, 69kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges (Collingwood*) 46 Jack Maibaum - 193cm, 90kg defender from Eastern Ranges 47 Cedric Cox - 184cm, 70kg defender from North Ballarat Rebels 48 Jordan Gallucci - 183cm, 75kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges 49 Ryan Garthwaite - 192cm, 84kg defender from Murray Bushrangers (GWS**) 50 Willem Drew - 188cm, 78kg midfielder from North Ballarat Rebels * father/son ** academy Among that lot you have a couple of father/sons and an academy pick but there's no doubt about the quality of some of the others available in this range. Clarke won the Eastern Ranges B & F in the footsteps of his brother who is with North Melbourne. Maibaum, Cox, Galluci and Drew are all highly thought of prospects. If they're in the mix when Melbourne's time to take pick # 47 comes, then it will ease the syndrome dramatically. After that, we can start worrying about a condition described by the number 69. No scratch that!

I needed a new poll for the homepage. This is the best I could come up with. It's probably a choice between the first two. Feel free to discuss.

That's the greatest thing that has ever been posted on Demonland.

PART THREE - THE KICK OFF by the Oracle The end of the AFL's annual Free Agency and Trade period always seems to come as a welcome relief. As usual the fans have seen the activity begin at a snail's pace at the kick off, build to a crescendo after a little over one and a half weeks and end in an eruption of activity in the last few hours. When the dust settled this year, 38 players had moved clubs and 113 draft picks had been exchanged. The first reaction of many is to ask the question, "did we win?" as many ask every year - ANALYSIS: Who won the 2016 trade period? Trade verdict: How did your club fare during the trade period? I see that Melbourne's efforts have been given an A- rating by the AFL site and I won't argue with that but my view is that there are deeper reasons for that conclusion. First and foremost is that the Demons have retained all of their required players - in the lead up to the trade period they re-signed Jesse Hogan, Dom Tyson and Cam Pedersen and during the trades, the young component of their playing group was maintained intact. Secondly, they brought in experience in the form of Jordan Lewis and Michael Hibberd (with Jake Melksham also a virtual recruit for 2017). Pat McKenna is a bit of an unknown quantity but he is said to have an attribute common with the others coming in - the ability to dispose well of the football. Lewis chose the club because he was impressed with the it appears to be heading, a positive and ringing endorsement of the organisation and the playing group. Another recent addition to the playing list was former basketballer Corey Maynard who joins the highly promising Joel Smith as a Category B rookie. Thirdly, the cost of the above has been negligible. Melbourne entered the free agency and trade period without its 2016 first round draft pick which was given away to enable the selection of two top ten picks in what was perceived as a stronger draft pool last year. It had as its top four picks, 29, 48, 66 and 84 and comes out with out with 47, 69, 84 and 102 (which it might not need to use). The Demons traded out veteran Lynden Dunn who was a regular at Casey for most of the season. In effect therefore, the incoming newcomers cost the club a second round pick in this year's draft. The Demons have retained their full quota of 2017 draft selections. The downside of course is that Melbourne will have a late entry into next month's draft but nowhere near as late as Hawthorn which will have to wait for pick 88 which it got in exchange for its best and fairest winner Sam Mitchell. That state of affairs probably sums up how this year's draft is viewed. The Demons will probably delist one more senior list player before the draft and a couple of rookies might also be cut. The opportunity is still there to pick up a delisted free agent but I have my doubts about the quality of the players in the available pool. The NAB AFL Draft will be held this year in Sydney on Friday 25 November 25. This will be one event when Melbourne fans can afford to miss the kick off and turn up at half time. Free Agency and Trade Deals - October 2016 • Tyrone Vickery moves from Richmond to Hawthorn as a restricted free agent • Daniel Wells moves from North Melbourne to Collingwood as an unrestricted free agent • Cam McCarthy, pick 7, 34 and 72 move from GWS to Fremantle in exchange for pick 3. • Brad Hill traded from Hawthorn to Fremantle in exchange for pick 23 • Pick 3 and 16 traded from GWS to Brisbane in exchange for picks 2, 31, 51 and 60. • Jack Steele moves from GWS to St Kilda in exchange for their 2017 future round two pick • Sam Mitchell, pick 54 and 72 traded from Hawthorn to West Coast in exchange for pick 52, 70 and 88. • Tom Mitchell and pick 57 traded from Sydney to Hawthorn in exchange for pick 14 and 52. • Pick 10 and 68 traded from St Kilda to Hawthorn in exchange for Hawthorn's 2017 future first pick, and this year's pick 23 and 36. • Paul Ahern traded from GWS to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 69 • Three Way Trade: Gold Coast receive Pearce Hanley and Port Adelaide's pick 67. Port Adelaide receive Brisbane's pick 19 and Gold Coast's pick 30. Brisbane receive Gold Coast's pick 22 and Port Adelaide's future first round pick. • Jordan Lewis, pick 57 and pick 58 traded from Hawthorn to Melbourne in exchange for pick 48 and 66. • Joel Hamling, pick 40 and 63 traded from the Western Bulldogs to Fremantle in exchange for pick 35, 43 and 61. • Michael Hibberd and pick 59 traded to Melbourne in exchange for picks 29 and 68. • Dion Prestia and pick 24 traded to Richmond in exchange for picks 6 and the club's 2017 future second round pick. • Toby Nankervis traded from Sydney to Richmond in exchange for pick 46. Western Bulldogs trade pick 35 and 43 to the Gold Coast in exchange for picks 26 and 80 • Jarrod Witts traded from Collingwood to Gold Coast in exchange for picks 44 and 62 • Nathan Hrovat traded from Western Bulldogs to North Melbourne, with both clubs swapping their 2017 future third and fourth round draft picks. • Shane Kersten traded from Geelong to Fremantle in exchange for pick 63. • Zach Tuohy and Carlton's 2017 future second round pick traded from Carlton to Geelong in exchange for Billie Smedts, pick 63 and Geelong's 2017 future first round pick. • Josh Caddy and pick 56 traded from Geelong to Richmond in exchange for picks 24 and 64 • Sydney trade picks 39 and 52 to GWS in exchange for pick 31 • Jarryd Lyons and pick 71 traded from Adelaide to Gold Coast in exchange for picks 43 and 67. • Pat McKenna, pick 51 and pick 69 traded from GWS to Melbourne in exchange for picks 57 and 59 • Nathan Vardy traded from Geelong to West Coast in exchange for pick 72 • Travis Cloke traded from Collingwood to Western Bulldogs in exchange for pick 76 • James Stewart traded from GWS to Essendon in exchange for pick 77 • Aaron Black traded from North Melbourne to Geelong for pick 92 • Will Hoskin-Elliott traded from GWS to Collingwood in exchange for GWS' future second-round pick • Jack Frost, pick 76 and Collingwood's 2017 future third-round selection traded from Collingwood to Brisbane in exchange for Brisbane's 2017 third and fourth round picks. • Marley Williams traded from Collingwood to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 105 • Lynden Dunn and pick 51 traded from Melbourne to Collingwood in exchange for pick 47 • Koby Stevens, pick 61 and the Western Bulldogs' 2017 fourth pick traded from the Bulldogs to St Kilda in exchange for pick 50 and their 2017 round 5 pick. • Brett Deledio traded from Richmond to GWS in exchange for GWS' 2017 first and third round picks • Caleb Marchbank, Jarrod Pickett and GWS' future 2017 second round pick traded from GWS to Carlton in exchange for picks 45, 58 and Carlton's future 2017 first round pick • Rhys Palmer traded from GWS to Carlton in exchange for pick 135 • Jaeger O'Meara traded from Gold Coast to Hawthorn in exchange for pick 10 and a future second-round pick • Pick 14, 17 and 31 traded from Sydney to Port Adelaide in exchange for picks 9 and 19 and 49 • Pick 48, 66 and 70 traded from Hawthorn to Carlton in exchange for Carlton's 2017 second round pick.

PART THREE - THE KICK OFF by the Oracle The end of the AFL's annual Free Agency and Trade period always seems to come as a welcome relief. As usual the fans have seen the activity begin at a snail's pace at the kick off, build to a crescendo after a little over one and a half weeks and end in an eruption of activity in the last few hours. When the dust settled this year, 38 players had moved clubs and 113 draft picks had been exchanged. The first reaction of many is to ask the question, "did we win?" as many ask every year - ANALYSIS: Who won the 2016 trade period? Trade verdict: How did your club fare during the trade period? I see that Melbourne's efforts have been given an A- rating by the AFL site and I won't argue with that but my view is that there are deeper reasons for that conclusion. First and foremost is that the Demons have retained all of their required players - in the lead up to the trade period they re-signed Jesse Hogan, Dom Tyson and Cam Pedersen and during the trades, the young component of their playing group was maintained intact. Secondly, they brought in experience in the form of Jordan Lewis and Michael Hibberd (with Jake Melksham also a virtual recruit for 2017). Pat McKenna is a bit of an unknown quantity but he is said to have an attribute common with the others coming in - the ability to dispose well of the football. Lewis chose the club because he was impressed with the it appears to be heading, a positive and ringing endorsement of the organisation and the playing group. Another recent addition to the playing list was former basketballer Corey Maynard who joins the highly promising Joel Smith as a Category B rookie. Thirdly, the cost of the above has been negligible. Melbourne entered the free agency and trade period without its 2016 first round draft pick which was given away to enable the selection of two top ten picks in what was perceived as a stronger draft pool last year. It had as its top four picks, 29, 48, 66 and 84 and comes out with out with 47, 69, 84 and 102 (which it might not need to use). The Demons traded out veteran Lynden Dunn who was a regular at Casey for most of the season. In effect therefore, the incoming newcomers cost the club a second round pick in this year's draft. The Demons have retained their full quota of 2017 draft selections. The downside of course is that Melbourne will have a late entry into next month's draft but nowhere near as late as Hawthorn which will have to wait for pick 88 which it got in exchange for its best and fairest winner Sam Mitchell. That state of affairs probably sums up how this year's draft is viewed. The Demons will probably delist one more senior list player before the draft and a couple of rookies might also be cut. The opportunity is still there to pick up a delisted free agent but I have my doubts about the quality of the players in the available pool. The NAB AFL Draft will be held this year in Sydney on Friday 25 November 25. This will be one event when Melbourne fans can afford to miss the kick off and turn up at half time. Free Agency and Trade Deals - October 2016 • Tyrone Vickery moves from Richmond to Hawthorn as a restricted free agent • Daniel Wells moves from North Melbourne to Collingwood as an unrestricted free agent • Cam McCarthy, pick 7, 34 and 72 move from GWS to Fremantle in exchange for pick 3. • Brad Hill traded from Hawthorn to Fremantle in exchange for pick 23 • Pick 3 and 16 traded from GWS to Brisbane in exchange for picks 2, 31, 51 and 60. • Jack Steele moves from GWS to St Kilda in exchange for their 2017 future round two pick • Sam Mitchell, pick 54 and 72 traded from Hawthorn to West Coast in exchange for pick 52, 70 and 88. • Tom Mitchell and pick 57 traded from Sydney to Hawthorn in exchange for pick 14 and 52. • Pick 10 and 68 traded from St Kilda to Hawthorn in exchange for Hawthorn's 2017 future first pick, and this year's pick 23 and 36. • Paul Ahern traded from GWS to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 69 • Three Way Trade: Gold Coast receive Pearce Hanley and Port Adelaide's pick 67. Port Adelaide receive Brisbane's pick 19 and Gold Coast's pick 30. Brisbane receive Gold Coast's pick 22 and Port Adelaide's future first round pick. • Jordan Lewis, pick 57 and pick 58 traded from Hawthorn to Melbourne in exchange for pick 48 and 66. • Joel Hamling, pick 40 and 63 traded from the Western Bulldogs to Fremantle in exchange for pick 35, 43 and 61. • Michael Hibberd and pick 59 traded to Melbourne in exchange for picks 29 and 68. • Dion Prestia and pick 24 traded to Richmond in exchange for picks 6 and the club's 2017 future second round pick. • Toby Nankervis traded from Sydney to Richmond in exchange for pick 46. Western Bulldogs trade pick 35 and 43 to the Gold Coast in exchange for picks 26 and 80 • Jarrod Witts traded from Collingwood to Gold Coast in exchange for picks 44 and 62 • Nathan Hrovat traded from Western Bulldogs to North Melbourne, with both clubs swapping their 2017 future third and fourth round draft picks. • Shane Kersten traded from Geelong to Fremantle in exchange for pick 63. • Zach Tuohy and Carlton's 2017 future second round pick traded from Carlton to Geelong in exchange for Billie Smedts, pick 63 and Geelong's 2017 future first round pick. • Josh Caddy and pick 56 traded from Geelong to Richmond in exchange for picks 24 and 64 • Sydney trade picks 39 and 52 to GWS in exchange for pick 31 • Jarryd Lyons and pick 71 traded from Adelaide to Gold Coast in exchange for picks 43 and 67. • Pat McKenna, pick 51 and pick 69 traded from GWS to Melbourne in exchange for picks 57 and 59 • Nathan Vardy traded from Geelong to West Coast in exchange for pick 72 • Travis Cloke traded from Collingwood to Western Bulldogs in exchange for pick 76 • James Stewart traded from GWS to Essendon in exchange for pick 77 • Aaron Black traded from North Melbourne to Geelong for pick 92 • Will Hoskin-Elliott traded from GWS to Collingwood in exchange for GWS' future second-round pick • Jack Frost, pick 76 and Collingwood's 2017 future third-round selection traded from Collingwood to Brisbane in exchange for Brisbane's 2017 third and fourth round picks. • Marley Williams traded from Collingwood to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 105 • Lynden Dunn and pick 51 traded from Melbourne to Collingwood in exchange for pick 47 • Koby Stevens, pick 61 and the Western Bulldogs' 2017 fourth pick traded from the Bulldogs to St Kilda in exchange for pick 50 and their 2017 round 5 pick. • Brett Deledio traded from Richmond to GWS in exchange for GWS' 2017 first and third round picks • Caleb Marchbank, Jarrod Pickett and GWS' future 2017 second round pick traded from GWS to Carlton in exchange for picks 45, 58 and Carlton's future 2017 first round pick • Rhys Palmer traded from GWS to Carlton in exchange for pick 135 • Jaeger O'Meara traded from Gold Coast to Hawthorn in exchange for pick 10 and a future second-round pick • Pick 14, 17 and 31 traded from Sydney to Port Adelaide in exchange for picks 9 and 19 and 49 • Pick 48, 66 and 70 traded from Hawthorn to Carlton in exchange for Carlton's 2017 second round pick.

http://melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-10-19/afl-womens-rules-are-announced * 16 Players a side * Smaller ball * 15 minutes plus time on

I don't know what teats you've been suckling on BBO.

Tigers must think they're in the premiership window with their new aquisition. I just hope the doctor who detected Trenners' little foot problem is still on the job there.

A real cat this bloke.

Off to Richmond - good luck with that.

The AFL has retained the week off prior to the finals. What do you think about this? Perhaps they can schedule our Darwin game in Round 23 and finally give us a break. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-10-19/afl-confirms-prefinals-bye-will-be-back-in-2017

They already retracted it after the Hibberd deal.

A Threepeat would make up for my 40 years of misery.

http://www.lions.com.au/news/2016-10-19/rockliff-remains-a-lion

In the mirror universe.

That upper pec on Hibberd's right side (our left) is horrendous. I hope he was thoroughly vetted by our medical staff.

We ask the hard hitting questions here at Demonland.

Which player was photoshopped better? or

Did we give a medical? Asking for a friend.

How does it compare to most of our players performances in Round 23 at the Cattery?

So I guess this is it. Or is it?