Demonland

The key defender has the height and has showed out from time to time with his pace in defence but has progressed slowly in his two seasons at the club. Will need to improve in 2025. Date of Birth: 14 May 2004 Height: 196cm Games CDFC 2024: 17 Goals CDFC 2024: 0

Like most big men, Verrall is taking time to develop as a ruckman but has shown some encouraging signs. Finished ninth in the Casey Demons best & fairest this year. Date of Birth: 11 March 2004 Height: 199cm Games CDFC 2024: 17 Goals CDFC 2024: 6

The Demon premiership forward managed to get his body right for the first time in years and, as a consequence, he revitalised his career back in defence. Has signed on for another year in 2025. Date of Birth: 18 September 1992 Height: 195cm Games MFC 2024: 22 Career Total: 232 Goals MFC 2024: 3 Career Total: 169 Melbourne Football Club: 10th Best & Fairest - 301 votes

An Achilles injury incurred before the season started came back after the season opener and, as a consequence, he was restricted to just the single game. Date of Birth: 25 November 1999 Height: 172cm Games MFC 2024: 1 Career Total: 98 Goals MFC 2024: 0 Career Total: 63

CHANGES 2024 Part 2: The Accidental Rebuild by The Oracle While the main phase of the 2024 Trade and Free Agency period ended last week, some activity in this area will continue over the next month in the lead up to the national draft. Trading of draft picks will continue on an intermittent basis and clubs will also have the opportunity to select delisted free agents and to delist more players. So, it ain’t over yet! Meanwhile, the football world continues to speculate about who won the trade and free agency period. This is a subjective exercise that might be worthy of debate but because the fruits of the process are rarely felt immediately, there’s little point in claiming victory at such an early stage. This is what’s transpired with the changes at Melbourne since the 2023 national draft. Players In: Tom Campbell (St Kilda) Harry Sharp (Brisbane) [Luker Kentfield (Subiaco WA) selected in the midseason draft] Players Out: Angus Brayshaw (retired) Ben Brown (retired) Kyah Farris-White (delisted ®) Lachie Hunter (retired) Alex Neal-Bullen (Adelaide) Josh Schache (retired) Adam Tomlinson (delisted) Draft Picks: 5, 9 Of the players on the main list who leave the fold, only Neal-Bullen played a significant role in 2024. Brown has been hampered by knee issues over the past couple of years and similarly, Hunter could barely put together more a couple of games due to a recurring calf problem. Schache couldn’t break into the side after his only game for the season in Round Zero vs the Sydney Swans. The club was unable to arrange a trade for out-of-contract defender Adam Tomlinson who was delisted after trade week. Melbourne was able to arrange a trade with the Brisbane Lions for athletic speed machine Harry Sharp who is expected to play on a wing or at half-forward, but missed out on getting tall utility Wade Derksen across from the GWS Giants. Sharp, holds the AFL Draft Combine record for the 2km time trial, and was named as an emergency for this year’s Grand Final. Earlier, the Demons had secured experienced veteran Tom Campbell as a break glass in case of emergency ruckman through free agency. One of the rays of light for the club is the fact that when the dust settled on the trade and free agency period, it’s draft hand was composed of selections 5 and 9, a good place to be given its evenness as the pointy end. The club doesn't hold a future first round selection, after giving that to the Bombers to get pick nine but that’s not considered a big deal 12 months out of next year’s draft when there’s still a month left to speculate on this year’s version. Melbourne’s list manager Tim Lamb has declared that "supporters should be really excited" with the pending arrival of two top ten picks on top of retaining Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Kozzy Pickett on the roster, but more of that later. Lamb’s optimism is based on the club backing itself to bring about a better measure of team stability after the turbulence of 2024. The results of the club’s internal views are almost at hand and there seems to be some confidence that positive change will be implemented as a result. Of course, this remains to be seen but a strong preseason, with many leading players coming through fully fit will be a boon for movement up the ladder. A less stringent fixture is also anticipated and that will most certainly help. Let’s not underestimate the effect of a settled pair of superstars in Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca. Their return to full fitness along with key defenders Steven May and Jake Lever and the two on-field leaders in Max Gawn and Jack Viney, all of who had niggling injury issues at times during the year, means much more than the introduction of a single random newcomer to a club’s list. As Lamb has said: “Christian Petracca’s one of the best players in the competition. I don’t think anyone is recruiting a better player than Christian, and we missed him for the second half of the year.” The club’s process and procedures in relation to the handling of Petracca’s Kings Birthday injury has been given the tick of approval approval by multiple reviews conducted by the AFL and the AFL Doctors' Association, despite questions raised about the treatment of its player at the ground and when he was in hospital. Possibly the most room for optimism stems from the almost accidental rebuild that came about as a result of the year’s injury and form woes and gave more game time to the younger brigade of 23 and unders. Like the move of Trent Rivers into the midfield, the limited moments there given to a variety of others including the likes of Pickett, Koltyn Tholstrup, Christian Salem and even up and comer Judd McVee had his midfield moments. The club’s first pick in the 2023 draft Caleb Windsor, was outstanding from the get go on a wing. Next year, he could well get a share of midfield duties. We saw defenders Blake Howes and Andy Moniz-Wakefield introduced into the lineup, slow but gradual improvement from Taj Woewodin and fellow father/son prospect Kynan Brown with a couple of cameos. Two young emerging key forwards Jacob van Rooyen and Daniel Turner continued to improve suggesting a further boost in the club’s scoring capacity. With the potential of uncapped youngsters in Matt Jefferson and Will Verrell likely to step up in 2025, Lamb’s prediction of exciting times ahead is not just wishful thinking. And then there are picks 5 and 9. The pundits are expecting the first to be used to obtain a quality midfielder, the second on a key position player. Further down the draft, there’s the prospect of acquiring Gippsland Power small forward Ricky Mentha as a Category B rookie, through the Next Generation Academy and Noah Yze as a father/son selection although neither can be assured of selection at this point. Demon fans can all take comfort in the knowledge that head recruiter Jason Taylor has established a good reputation for picking out top young talent. Let’s take last year’s national draft as an example. At about this time last year, the AFL’s Cal Twomey issued a mock draft which read as follows (eventual destinations in brackets):- 1 Harley Reid (1, West Coast Eagles) 2 Jed Walter (3, Gold Coast Suns) 3 Zane Duursma (4, North Melbourne) 4 Colby McKercher (2, North Melbourne) 5 Nick Watson (5, Hawthorn) 6 Daniel Curtin (8, Adelaide) 7 Ryley Sanders (6, Western Bulldogs) 8 Nate Caddy (10, Essendon) 9 Ethan Read (9, Gold Coast Suns) 10 Connor O’Sullivan (11, Geelong) 11 Caleb Windsor (7, Melbourne) 12 James Leake (17, GWS Giants) 13 Jordan Croft (15, Western Bulldogs) 14 Jake Rogers (14, Gold Coast Suns) 15 Darcy Wilson (18, St Kilda) 16 Koltyn Tholstrup (13, Melbourne) 17 Lance Collard (28, St Kilda) 18 Riley Hardeman (23, North Melbourne) 19 Will McCabe (19, Hawthorn) 20 Ollie Murphy (41, Fremantle) It would be fair to say that Taylor’s two picks have proved by their debut season performances, pleasing choices. In the main, the best picks came in the top dozen or so players with the main exceptions outside that group being Brisbane’s Logan Morris (31), Hawthorn’s Calsher Dear (56) and Geelong’s Lawson Humphries (63). Which brings us to the club’s playing list at this point of time, four weeks out from the national draft. PRIMARY LIST: — Jed Adams Jack Billings Jake Bowey Tom Campbell Kade Chandler Tom Fullarton Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Blake Howes Matthew Jefferson Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Shane McAdam Tom McDonald Steven May Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Christian Salem Joel Smith Harry Sharp Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Koltyn Tholstrup Daniel Turner Jacob van Rooyen Jack Viney Caleb Windsor Taj Woewodin ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Kynan Brown Marty Hore Luker Kentfield Judd McVee Jake Melksham Oliver Sestan Will Verrell ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Andy Moniz-Wakefield

Coming to Melbourne after seven years as a leading goal kicker at North Melbourne, Brown was well known for his unique, extremely long run up on set shots for goal. After some early setbacks injury wise settled into the full forward position in time to play a big role in the 2021 premiership win with three goals. Unfortunately, the remainder of his time at the club was hampered by injury including the need to undergo knee surgery. He retired from playing football at the end of the season after 45 games and 73 goals but remains at the club in a coaching role with the AFLW team. Date of Birth: 20 November 1992 Height: 200cm Games MFC 2024: 6 Career Total: 175 Goals MFC 2024: 7 Career Total: 360 Games CDFC 2024: 7 Goals CDFC 2024: 9

Brown, the son of former Demon hard nut Nathan Brown, made a couple of cameo appearances as a substitute which included a brilliant run down tackle which may have saved the game against the Kangaroos. Had some outstanding games at VFL level and finished equal sixth in the best & fairest at Casey. Date of Birth: 13 January 2005 Height: 181cm Games MFC 2024: 2 Career Total: 2 Goals MFC 2024: 0 Career Total: 0 Games CDFC 2024: 16 Goals CDFC 2024: 12

The rejuvenated Demons out tussled the Tigers by 13 points to make it four wins on the trot on Saturday which means that the slight possibility of a finals appearance remains alive in 2024. This is despite the AFLW handicapping the Demons against their peers yet again (more later). Lots to celebrate as it was Kids Day at Casey Fields and both teams ran onto the ground modelling their Pride jumpers. Kate Hore won the toss and kicked to the Clyde end. Thankfully, the notorious Casey gusty wind was not much of a factor during the match. As expected, the top four aspirant Richmond started fiercely and kicked the first goal but Alyssa Bannan responded with a fine snap to open the Demons account. A minute later, a lace-out pass from Kate Hore to Georgia Gall allowed the emerging young tall to give the Dees the lead. Richmond’s captain and key marking forward Katie Brennan injured her ankle and was taken out of the game. Gun-mid Ellie McKenzie kicked a spectacular run and bounce ‘goal of the year’ contender. Bannan then responded once again with a super snap under heavy pressure. Melbourne’s ferocity amped up from the second quarter onwards. Mick Stinear would later comment that once we started sticking our tackles and getting the ball outside to runners we got on top. The Demons dominated for a long period of the match kicking 6 unanswered goals. When leading by 33 points at the 11-minute mark of the last quarter, our bodies began to tire and Caitlin Greiser kicked 3 late Richmond goals which helped window dress their final losing margin. Stats-wise it was fairly even on the day. Both teams had 234 disposals with Melbourne having more kicks and made the most of its scoring chances. A high work-rate was demonstrated by laying 87 tackles to 66. Loz Pearce was a welcome return and and together with Rhi Watt they won the hit outs 44 to 24. Richmond’s dynamic midfield team won the centre clearances 9 to 5 but our group matched them in intensity. Superstar Mon Conti’s usual elite output was scratchy at times due to the close attention of Shelley Heath who laid a match-high 14 tackles. Awesome Foursome The story of the day was our fan-favourite forward Alyssa Bannan with her awesome four goals. Mick Stinear praised Banno today. He said she was dangerous in the air, at ground level, and created many chances for others. Banno is having a purple patch with 8 goals in her last 4 games. Notably her 4th goal was her 50th goal in AFLW. Congratulations Banno! Death-riding scenarios To have any chance of making finals, Melbourne needs to win its last two games to finish with 28 points, the minimum threshold required to secure a top eight berth. If any team currently sitting in positions 5-8 finishes on 28 points or more, the Dees will miss finals due to our lowly percentage caused by the Kangas and Bombers smashings. Fremantle and Port Adelaide will almost certainly finish above us. That leaves us fans death-riding Essendon on 20 points (who must lose 2 games against either Kangas, Richmond, or Carlton) or Richmond on 24 points (lose both Bombers and Hawks games). If Essendon beat both Richmond and Carlton and then Richmond beat Hawthorn, it’s sayonara Season 2024. Unjust fixture handicaps the Dees (yet again). Unbelievably, the AFLW has given last year’s premiers the softest draw of all the top teams. Brisbane only plays 2 top 8 teams this year Melbourne plays 7 top 8 teams, just not Port Adelaide. The competing ladder cohort of Port, Freo Essendon and Hawthorn have had comparatively softer draws than the Dees. It is not a level playing field and there is no allowance for fixture difficulty. For the Dees The coach was happy. Kate Hore and Tyla Hanks continue to lead with distinction. Superhero Liv Purcell, donning her stunning black face mask,was industrious again alongside the ‘blanketeer’ Shelley Heath. Eliza McNamara was not as busy as last week but a fine contributor once again. It was good to see Blaithin Mackin returning from calf injury, and she will be better for the run. Our defensive group has really grown in the back half of the season. Their grit, physical pressure and springboarding has inspired. Gillard would have been pleased with her game, Chaplin, Goldie, Lampy, and Denby T too. The new Taylor,Saraid, made a fine debut in defence. Special mention to Georgia Gall for providing marking options leading up the ground and gaining the confidence of her teammates. Her 2 goals, a great reward. Coaches and next week Melbourne Coach Mick Stinear and his coaching team were really pleased with the victory. He praised his team’s ability to compete in the contest game and keep turning up all game. He commented that Richmond’s big-bodied mids McKenzie and Sheerin really tested us. After quarter time we wore the Tigers down and put on scoreboard pressure which set up thegreat win. There was no Ryan Ferguson (Richmond Coach) press conference video available. Next week is Indigenous Round. The Demons next play Hawthorn at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns on Thursday night. Richmond play Essendon at TIO Stadium in Darwin on Saturday. Go Dees. MELBOURNE 3.1.19 4.1.25 5.3.33 8.3.51 RICHMOND 2.1.13 2.2.14 2.5.17 5.8.38 GOALS MELBOURNE Bannan 4 Gall 2 Hanks Zanker RICHMOND Greiser 3 McKenzie Sheerin BEST MELBOURNE Bannan Purcell Hore Zanker Gall RICHMOND Sheerin Conti McKenzie Greiser Kelly INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil RICHMOND Brennan (ankle) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil RICHMOND Nil CROWD 2,026 at Casey Fields

Date of Birth: 10 August 1993 Height: 194cm Games MFC 2024: 8 Career Total: 185 Goals MFC 2024: 0 Career Total: 35 Games CDFC 2024: 9 Goals CDFC 2024: 0 An original GWS Giants lister, Tomlinson moved to Melbourne as a free agent ahead of the 2020 season. Recruited as a wingman, Tomlinson soon found himself playing key position roles and found a place as a tall defender in the 2021 team before sustaining an ACL injury against North Melbourne in Hobart. After a year of recovery, he played intermittently over the following years but was never able to reestablish his place at AFL place. He was delisted at the end of the 2024 season after playing 45 games in his five year contract term and is being keenly sought for 2025 by at least two clubs.

Date of Birth: 9 January 1996 Height: 182cm Games MFC 2024: 23 Career Total: 176 Goals MFC 2024: 9 Career Total: 116 Melbourne Football Club: 3rd Best & Fairest - 402 votes Premiership player Neal-Bullen ended his ten year career at the Melbourne Football Club at the top of his form after finishing third in the club best and fairest, a mere five votes behind the winner Jack Viney. Recruited in the 2014 national draft its third selection at number 40. He made his debut in round eleven 2015 against St Kilda and took time to settle into a regular place as a small half forward where he developed a niche in the team with his ability to run and exert pressure on opponents all day. He was awarded life membership at the club’s recent best and fairest awards night where he was farewelled on his departure for family reasons to his hometown Adelaide.

Date of Birth: 13 December 1994 Height: 182cm Games MFC 2024: 2 Career Total: 199 Goals MFC 2024: 1 Career Total: 80 Games CDFC 2024: 10 Goals CDFC 2024: 1 Retired at the end of the season after recurring calf injuries severely limited his ability to perform at his best.

Melbourne star Clayton Oliver opens up on Trade Period drama Clayton Oliver has spoken publicly for the first time about his failed trade to Geelong and what he expects when he returns to Melbourne for pre-season. Clayton Oliver plans to make up for what he called “a stinker” of a season, saying he is determined to help drive Melbourne back to the finals again in 2025. The Demons midfielder met with Geelong ahead of the trade period about a potential move down the highway, but Melbourne would not budge on its decision to retain the 27-year-old. Oliver told the Herald Sun on Saturday at Caulfield that while he was within his rights to speak with the Cats, he was now focused solely on trying to get his body right to help the Demons return to September action. “We’re good, we’re all sweet,” Oliver said of his relationship with Melbourne. “We’ve got ‘Trac’ (Christian Petracca) coming back, (he’s) the best player in the league … he had a pretty big injury. He is training hard. “We were there (in a premiership winning team in 2021) a couple of years ago and we fell short in 2022 and 2023. “(This year) ‘Gussy’ (Angus Brayshaw) retired, we had ‘Trac’ injured, I had a stinker of a year and ‘Maysey’ (Steven May) was a little bit off.” Oliver said he had been in regular communication with Christian Petracca, who has been overseas at a Red Bull training camp in an effort to return from his sickening lacerated spleen and internal injuries suffered on King’s Birthday. Asked about his meeting with Geelong in the lead-up to the trade period, Oliver said: “It’s all right … (I had) a chat to people.” “But Melbourne are looking good. We will have a big year.”

We’re back! Winning the last three matches has recaptured our Demon spirit and, with superstar players returning from rehab, our Season 2024 dreams are not over yet. So come along 5.05 pm Saturday afternoon to watch this Round 9 ladder-defining match at the Field of Dreams. Expect the Tigers to be fierce, but surely the Demons will be more fierce. Playing conditions are expected to be a dry 15 degrees with a typically gusty Cranbourne wind. The media opprobrium of the ill-considered AFLW draw was in full swing this week. Unbelievably Melbourne plays their 4th game in 17 days while Richmond plays their 4th game in 21 days. Eden Zanker commented after her impressive return from injury last week that she felt much fresher than her poor old teammates. Oddly, having a large cohort of stars returning from rehab advantages Melbourne by cushioning player exhaustion caused by the AFLW fixture. Pleasingly, our injury list continues to dissipate with first-ruck Lauren Pearce and Irish star Blaithin Mackin returning this week. Looking at the current ladder and remaining 3 rounds of the fixture, 7 wins will likely get you into finals. The Dees play Richmond, Hawthorn and Collingwood and must win all three games. Richmond FC, coached by ex-Demon Ryan Ferguson, have been terrific this year with 6 wins and 2 losses. With Melbourne, Essendon and Hawthorn in their final three rounds, they will have to win at least one game to stay in the eight. 2020 AFLW number one draft pick Ellie McKenzie is having her best season and is 9th in the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year. Her sublime left foot kicking skills complements their best player Monique Conti (currently 5th in coaches award votes) and together with Grace Egan, Eilish Sheerin and ruck Poppy Kelly they form a formidable engine room. A huge challenge for our midfield group this week. Captain Katie Brennan, Caitlin Greiser and Emelia Yassir are dangerous goalkicking forwards and the Tiges have good overhead marks across the ground. The bookies prefer Richmond ($1.66) but Meggs is quietly optimistic we can be much more fierce on Saturday. Selection this week Rhi Watt has been more than reliable as the number one ruck but with Lauren Pearce now fully fit, she will take a back seat to the club’s leading tall. Blaithin Mackin would be an automatic return to the midfield so Hill and Pisano will sit this one out along with Paxy who is being managed and gets to rest. Colvin is still recovering from concussion; Saraid Taylor gets her opportunity to debut ahead of young speedsterJemma Rigoni. Meggs’ view Richmond defeated Geelong last week by matching the physical intent, winning contests and using long kicks to aerial strengths, Brennan and Greiser. Supercoach Mick Stinear has revived the team’s season, and his group of talented Demons possess more than enough countermeasures to win on Saturday: • Tyla Hanks and Kate Hore, who have led this season’s renaissance brilliantly. • Alyssa Bannan has some good form building and kicking goals. • Eliza McNamara, Megan Fitzsimon and Maeve Chaplin are in career-best form. • Young Georgia talls, Campbell and Gall, showing heaps of potential. • A bevy of freshened star players making a timely return from rehab. Keep the dream alive Dees! Melbourne by 2 points THE GAME Melbourne v Richmond Saturday 19 October 2024 at 5.05pm at Casey Fields – Wurundjeri/Boon Wurrung HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 2 wins Richmond 0 wins At Casey Fields Melbourne 1 win Richmond 0 wins The Coaches Stinear 2 wins Ferguson 0 wins MEDIA TV – Fox Footy, Kayo THE LAST TIME THEY MET - 2022 Season 6 Round 2 Melbourne 8.6 (54) defeated by Richmond 6.2 (38) at Punt Road, 14 January 2022 MELBOURNE 1.0 6.3 7.6 8.6 (54) RICHMOND 2.1 2.1 4.1 6.2 (38) Richmond applied lots of pressure early and were on top at quarter time. The pressure of Eliza West played a big part in wresting back control in the middle alongside her excellent teammates Tyla Hanks, Paxy Paxman and Lauren Pearce. Tayla Harris was brilliant, crashing packs, taking marks and kicked 2 goals. Melbourne survived the early scare to defeat the fierce Tigers by 16 points. GOALS MELBOURNE Bannan Harris Hore 2 Paxman D Pearce RICHMOND Brennan Lavey 2 Conti Dargan BEST MELBOURNE L Pearce Paxman Birch Hanks West RICHMOND Lavey Brennan Conti Seymour CROWD 1,517 at the Swinburne Centre THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B D Taylor Gillard HB Chaplin Lampard Goldrick C B Mackin Hanks McNamara HF Fitzsimon Mithen Zanker F Bannan Gall FOLL Pearce Hore Heath I/C Campbell Purcell S Taylor Watt Wotherspoon EMG Pisano E Johnson Rigoni IN B Mackin Pearce S Taylor OUT Hill (omitted) Paxman (managed) Pisano (omitted) RICHMOND B Seymour Miller HB Lynch Bacon Graham C Shevlin McKenzie Dempsey HF Dallaway Brennan Hosking F Greiser Yassir FOLL Kelly Sheerin Conti I/C Egan Ford Hicks Lavey McClelland EMG Ryan Woods Eastman IN McClelland Shevlin OUT Luke (shoulder) Ryan (omitted) Injury List: Round 9 MELBOURNE Lauren Pearce Wrist Test Blaithin Mackin Calf Test Gaby Colvin Concussion 1 week Grace Beasley ACL Season Tayla Harris Shoulder Season Jacinta Hose ACL Inactive Aimee Mackin ACL Inactive RICHMOND Maddie Shevlin Ankle Test Tamara Luke Shoulder TBC Montana McKinnon ACL Inactive Katelyn Cox Knee Inactive Shelby Knoll ACL Inactive Amelia Peck Knee Season

Part 3: Happier Days by Whispering Jack It would be fair to say that when the Melbourne Football Club entered the free agency and trade period earlier this month, its reputation was flagging, if not in tatters. The club was taking a battering in the media and social media over a number of issues, some real and others imaginary and even fabricated, relating to the running of the club, team performance and its culture, a build up that’s been taking place for more than twelve months. By the end of September, President Kate Roffey was gone after a controversial few months and a tough radio interview over reports that Christian Petracca and other leading players wanted out for various reasons. A review was called of the club’s operations (the result of which is expected to be announced shortly) but various lines of attack on the club from the media and elsewhere remained consistent and repetitive. Well, October is proving a better month for the Demons. The panic is by no means entirely over and we’re not quite singing “Happy Days Are Here Again”, but there’s a discernible difference in the steps of many Demon fans. The only key player to leave the club after the flurry of trading is ten year, premiership player Alex Neal-Bullen, whose departure to his home town Adelaide was for personal reasons and had nothing to do with the turmoil surrounding the club. The rest of the news has predominantly been favourable. The month started with an uptick in form from our struggling AFLW team which has been burdened by a massive injury list and a tough fixture. Starting on October 3, they won three games in ten days to put themselves in with an outside chance of making the finals. This welcome improvement from our women has even been overshadowed by the positive performance of List Manager Tim Lamb and his team over the past fortnight. After dealing with the recruitment of a back up second ruck to Max Gawn in the form of Tom Campbell and the trade of Neal-Bullen, they went to work on moving up the draft order in a complex trade that succeeded in the Demons acquiring another top ten draft pick (#9) on Monday. They then secured Brisbane’s Harry Sharp, who has played 16 games in four seasons and was an emergency for the Lions’ 2024 grand final team. Sharp is a superb athlete who holds the record for the 2km time-trial at the draft combine by a massive 20 seconds and the club is confident of his ability to help cover for the departures of Lachie Hunter or Neal-Bullen by filling a place either on a wing or as a high half-forward. Nobody really wins the trade period, not even Richmond, who have a dominant draft hand because it gave away a generous amount of quality. For their part, the Demons handled themselves professionally and finished with two very handy top ten picks for top recruiter Justin Taylor to work his magic in a draft that’s even at the pointy end. The way they did it, exemplifies what culture’s all about. True, they did not secure any big names and certainly not Dan Houston who was on their radar early at a time when they looked like having a pick in the teens and Port was seeking a big bounty that the club could not provide. However, the list of players available in the period was unspectacular and the need for more top end youngsters to add to the club’s list is appealing. Melbourne fans have for the most part, been happy with their clubs’ performance in the Taylor years and, as always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. There would have to be a fair bit of egg on the faces of some members of the football media who have a penchant for publishing first, thinking next and not necessarily fact checking at all. They know who they are but the likes of the Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson are really looking silly today with their backtracking headlines like, “Dees shopped Oliver, but so what? It's a business after all.” Really? Robinson’s newspaper still couldn’t help itself with a parting shot at the club when it introduced its end of trade summary thus: “On the PR scale, the Demons had a shocker with all the noise surrounding Clayton Oliver,“ but there was no mention of blow up dolls in the GWS summary. And cultural issues don’t exist at the other end of the highway, so no eyebrows are raised when someone like Bailey Smith changes clubs. Special kudos to the club’s stand in chairman for this well aimed barb on 3AW. It was uplifting to see a Melbourne person return fire at a media miscreant for once. It bears repeating that only one key player has been traded off the list and he will be 29 years old at the start of 2025. A strong stance has been maintained in keeping superstars Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Kozzy Pickett in the fold for 2025 and it is now in the hands of both club and players to rekindle the magic they and many of their teammates produced in 2021 and to an extent in 2022 and 2023. With all the trials forced on them in 2024, they were not that far off the mark this year when the club did manage to give more opportunity to its emerging young blood. Hopefully, the trajectory can continue to move forward and upward to the return of happier days. THE 2024 TRADES Monday 7 October Melbourne trade Alex Neal-Bullen to Adelaide for pick 28 West Coast Eagles trade Jack Darling to North Melbourne for pick 67 Friday 11 October Brisbane trades pick 20 to Richmond for picks 32, 42, 43, 45 Carlton trades picks 34 and 66 to Brisbane for picks 73 and 2025 R2 Carlton trades 2025 R1 and 2025 R2 to Hawthorn for pick 14 Monday 14 October Melbourne trades pick 46 to Adelaide for 2025 R3 Essendon trades pick 9 and 2025 R3 to Melbourne for picks 28, 40, 46, 54, 65 and 2025 R1 Tuesday 15 October Carlton trades picks 12, 14, 73 and Matt Owies and receive picks 3, 63 and 68; West Coast Eagles trade pick 3 and receive Liam Baker, Matt Owies, pick 12 and 73; Richmond trades Liam Baker and receives pick 14 St Kilda trades pick 27 to Brisbane for picks 32 and 45 Port Adelaide trades Dan Houston, picks 39, 58 and 2025 R1 and receives Jack Lukosius, Joe Richards, Rory Atkins and picks 13, 29, 36 and 50; Collingwood trades Joe Richards, John Noble, pick 36 and 2025 R1 and receives Dan Houston and pick 58; Gold Coast trades Jack Lukosius, Rory Atkins, picks 13, 29 and 50 and receives John Noble, 2025, pick 39 and two 2025 R1 picks Brisbane trades Harry Sharp and 2025 R3 to Melbourne for pick 49 and 2025 R3 Wednesday 16 October Richmond trades Shai Bolton, pick 14 and 2025 F3 to Fremantle for picks 10, 11 and 18. Richmond trades Daniel Rioli and picks 51, 61, 70 and 76 Daniel Rioli to Gold Coast Suns for picks 6 and 23. GWS Giants trade James Peatling and 2025 R3 and RD4 for 2025 R2 Western Bulldogs trade Caleb Daniel to North Melbourne for pick 25 West Coast Eagles trade Tom Barrass and 2025 F4 to Hawthorn for 2025 F1, 2025 F2 and 2025 F3 Sydney Swans trade Luke Parker and Jacob Konstanty to North Melbourne for pick 44 Western Bulldogs trade Jack Macrae to St Kilda for pick 45 Carlton trades Matt Kennedy to Western Bulldogs for pick 38 Western Bulldogs trade Bailey Smith and pick 45 to Geelong for pick 17 and 38 Essendon trades Jake Stringer to GWS Giants for pick 45 THE 2024 FREE AGENT SIGNINGS Josh Battle (St Kilda) to Hawthorn Elliott Himmelberg (Adelaide) to Gold Coast Harry Perryman (GWS Giants) to Collingwood Tom Campbell (St Kilda) to Melbourne Nick Haynes (GWS Giants) to Carlton Isaac Cumming (GWS Giants) to Adelaide Jack Graham (Richmond) to West Coast