Demonland

Date of Birth: 9 January 1996 Height: 182cm Weight: 80kg Games MFC 2023: 25 Career Total: 153 Goals MFC 2023: 19 Career Total: 107 Melbourne Football Club: 6th Best & Fairest - 450 votes With his seemingly endless reserves of energy and a tireless work rate, Neal-Bullen’s ability to apply constant pressure up forward makes him a valuable member of the team.

Date of Birth: 2 June 2001 Height: 171cm Weight: 73kg Games MFC 2023: 23 Career Total: 85 Goals MFC 2023: 37 Career Total: 125 Brownlow Medal Votes: 2 Melbourne Football Club: 7th Best & Fairest - 444 votes After a brilliant opening game that also saw him suspended for a silly indiscretion, Pickett’s season was a mixed bag, with some quiet moments interspersed with his customary brilliance and magical goal kicking skills. He also had some great midfield moments. The fact that he managed a top ten best and fairest berth in an up and down season is testament to his potential to rise way above the limits of his stature.

Date of Birth: 30 December 1991 Height: 209cm Weight: 110kg Games MFC 2023: 22 Career Total: 203 Goals MFC 2023: 10 Career Total: 98 Brownlow Medal Votes: 7 Melbourne Football Club: 8th Best & Fairest - 426 votes Was paired in the ruck by dual All Australian Brodie Grundy in an experiment that turned out a failure although it proved handy after Gawn was injured in Round 2. Returned to his very best late in the season when flying solo.

Date of Birth: 7 August 2003 Height: 185cm Weight: 76kg Games MFC 2023: 25 Career Total: 25 Goals MFC 2023: 0 Career Total: 0 Melbourne Football Club: 9th Best & Fairest - 424 votes After quietly spending his first year at the club in the background at Casey, McVee showed his talent in defence playing every game for Melbourne and claiming some big scalps.

Date of Birth: 30 July 2001 Height: 188cm Weight: 87kg Games MFC 2023: 25 Career Total: 77 Goals MFC 2023: 2 Career Total: 7 Melbourne Football Club: 10th Best & Fairest - 416 votes Continued the growth in his stature at the club, showing his versatility in defence mixed with some good runs in the middle. Watch out for him in 2024.

A FINAL NOD TO RON by Whispering Jack I sat down a little while ago to document the Melbourne Football Club’s 2023 in a “That was the Year that Was” format and I soon hit a snag in putting it all together. You see, it was a year that by all rights should have been a shining light in the club’s history after the club achieved such great heights at both men’s and women’s levels that it took out the revamped McClelland Trophy, adding $1m to its coffers. The format now includes the AFLW and is a combined award presented to the 'Champion Club' for the men and women. The Demons finished both competitions with the double chance but failed to make a Preliminary Final in either one of them; a crushing blow for all at the club, from the point of view of the administration, players, staff and supporters alike. Particularly so, because in both competitions, the club was not far off the mark which is a testament to how competitive our game is at the highest level these days. And as if that wasn’t enough, Melbourne suffered a further blow within a day of its semi final exit against Carlton, with the news of the passing of the man who was arguably the greatest player to ever wear the Red and the Blue, Ronald Dale Barassi. Former skipper Stan Alves, who made his debut in 1965 which was the season after Barassi left the club for Carlton, said, “No greater person has been involved in the game than Ron Barassi.” The dark cloud hanging over the club has barely lifted over the past few months with issues facing one of the great players of our present but time will surely heal. The players will be back on the track in no time to begin preparations in earnest for the season. What would the great Ronald Dale Barassi advise the players as they embark on their next campaign after letting the opportunity for greatness slip twice in a row? It would have to be encapsulated by the elements that made him famous — his resilience, his determination and his heroic feats. During his playing days, it was always Barassi who demonstrated the ability to rise to the occasion. He did so throughout his life and his career, both inside and outside of the game. Barassi was born in Castlemaine in the goldfields region of Victoria in 1936 and was five years old when his father, a former Melbourne player Ron Barassi Sr., died in action at Tobruk during World War II. I recently found this news item from the Castlemaine History Group that demonstrated his potential as a young sportsman of 11 years of age. Not long after this, he and his mother moved to the big smoke of the city and when she married and moved to Tasmania, he was taken in by Melbourne’s Coach Norm Smith, the father/son rule was devised and by the time he was 17 years and two months old, he was a senior footballer with the Demons. Two years later, a premiership and on the way to six flags in a decade as a player. Ronald Dale Barassi could turn a game on its head with a single bound. He was a hero to every second kid on the block. From his modest start in life and with the difficult circumstances of losing a father in wartime through his outstanding playing career, his brilliant coaching and even in the later years of his life, by his chivalry in saving a damsel in distress, he was not only the quintessential hero. He was a winner and while he was as tough as nails, played the game in the right spirit, was a happy, personable friend to all. That was Ron - heroism, sportsmanship and resilience personified, the very person for the Melbourne Football Club to honour in the season to come and, in return, his legacy will give inspiration from on high to take us forward to a bright premiership filled future.

An update from Max on Clarry