Demonland

2020 Player Reviews: #30 Alex Neal-Bullen Hard running on-baller/forward struggled for consistency and had his season marred by a four-week suspension for an illegal sling tackle. Date of Birth: 9 January, 1996 Height: 182cm Weight: 80kg Games MFC 2020: 7 Career Total: 80 Goals MFC 2020: 7 Career Total: 64

2020 Player Reviews: #31 Bayley Fritsch The versatile high marking left footer spent most of the year up forward. Was the team’s leading goal kicker but his year was marred by some occasional wayward kicking for goal and the fact that he missed a game for disciplinary reasons after turning up late to training at the team’s Maroochydore hub. Date of Birth: 6 December, 1996 Height: 188cm Weight: 82kg Games MFC 2020: 16 Career Total: 61 Goals MFC 2020: 22 Career Total: 59 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 154 Votes 2020 Brownlow Medal: 1

2020 Player Reviews: #32 Tom Sparrow The strong bodied young midfielder progressed slowly in his second season and was showing some promise before a collarbone injury caused an early end to his season. Date of Birth: 31 May, 2000 Height: 183cm Weight: 82kg Games MFC 2020: 5 Career Total: 7 Goals MFC 2020: 2 Career Total: 3

The only times I've seen us mentioned in connection to Phillips in is regards to the Magpies needing to offload players to clear some dollars in their books and the Dees needing a wingman/outside pace. Media and social media/forums connecting dots.

Please let's attempt to keep this conversation on the topic of 100% securing Ben Brown.

Fine with me. Better than them having those picks and Cameron.

Probably not but at least they don't get him without having to pay GWS compensation out of their own pocket. This has been the biggest issue that many have with the Free Agency model that is benefitting clubs like Geelong.

Agreed. If talent is going to keep bleeding out of feeder clubs then the Geelongs of this world need to pay with their own blood.

I understand the GWS side of the equation and it would have been negligent of them not to do this. I'm not sure Geelong want to have to give up what they're going to need to now to satisfy GWS. Brown will be a cheaper option for them in terms of what they have to give up. I'm not saying it will play out that way but it very well could and is the most likely stumbling block for us getting Brown now.

This is a strong possibility with reports that GWS are matching the Cats offer for Cameron.

Deals can’t be announced yet but players can and do nominate a club they would like their current club to deal with.

Well played GWS.

I could not think of an any more Melbourne situation than paying for a player that kicks a bag of goals on you.

Part One: A very strange year Things might have been somewhat hairy when the 1919 football season opened up in the wake of the ending of a world war and in the middle of a pandemic that took millions of lives but it’s difficult to imagine a more unusual football season than the one that ended a week or so ago. For starters, the footy is supposed to finish on that one day in September on the MCG in mild spring weather; not deep into October at the Gabba amid warnings of tropical storms and heavy rain. I suppose therefore, it’s only fitting that the Covid19 affected season which oddly enough, produced the same final result as last year will be followed by an even more wierd player exchange and recruiting period. There’s confusion aplenty because club recruiters haven’t been apprised about the size of their team lists going forward into 2021. How then are they supposed to manage such delicate issues as their club’s total player payments? Then there’s the issue of the uncertainty of the forthcoming national draft with a large number of projected academy and father/son selections pushing draft selections around and the question of how do you assess a crop of up and coming young talent of who more than half haven’t played a game for twelve months? None of this prevented the immediate deluge of activity yesterday as the 2020 AFL trade period officially got underway with the opening of the free agency period. The first player to change places was Adelaide’s Rory Atkins who moved to the Gold Coast Suns. By the end of the day, the following key moves had been done:- 1. Rory Atkins accepts a four-year deal, with a trigger for a fifth from Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent. The Crows received a second-round compensation pick, No.39 at time of deal. 2. Isaac Smith accepts a two-year deal from Geelong as a restricted free agent. Hawthorn doesn't match the offer and will receive a third-round compensation pick, No.45 at time of deal. 3. Zac Williams accepts a six-year deal from Carlton. GWS doesn't match the offer and will receive a first-round compensation pick, No.10 at time of deal. 4. Aidan Corr accepts a five-year deal from North Melbourne. GWS doesn't match and will receive a second-round compensation pick, No.30 at time of deal. 5. Joe Daniher accepts a three-year deal from Brisbane as a restricted free agent. Essendon doesn't match the offer and will receive a first-round compensation pick, No.7 at time of deal. 6. Geelong lodges paperwork for GWS restricted free agent Jeremy Cameron. Giants have three days to decide whether to match the offer. In addition, the day produced plenty of scuttlebutt around possible player movement and there will no doubt be many more changing places over the coming fortnights, especially once the formal trade period begins on Wednesday. From a Melbourne perspective, the club’s plans to recruit Isaac Smith on a three year deal were nipped in the bud when he accepted Geelong’s offer. Given the risk involved in taking a player of his age for a three year term, his decision to go elsewhere wasn’t a matter that raised great concern from the Demons’ supporter base. Looking forward to the coming week or so, the club’s main target seems to be tall forward Ben Brown from North Melbourne and then perhaps a skillful outside player as a bookend on the wing opposite Ed Langdon and/or a solid half back flanker would be a nice addition to the list. There are also players to be moved on to allow the freeing up of the salary cap to allow for incoming recruits. In looking at these scenarios, let’s start with the state of the list when the final siren sounded at Metricon Stadium to end the club’s season a little over a month ago:- PRIMARY LIST: — Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson Neville Jetta Nathan Jones James Jordan Kade Kolodjiashnij Ed Langdon Jake Lever Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Aaron Nietschke Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Braydon Preuss Trent Rivers Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Harley Bennell Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Kyle Dunkley Jay Lockhart Corey Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Without the advantage of knowing the ultimate make up of its 2021 list, the club acted conservatively in the week after Round 18 and delisted only one primary list player, Josh Wagner. He was followed by three rookies in Harley Bennell, Kyle Dunkley and Corey Wagner. Bennell’s departure after a Covid19 breach was well documented and unfortunate because a one year contact extension was on the cards. So we move forward with only slight modifications and a list that presently looks like this:- PRIMARY LIST: — Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson Neville Jetta Nathan Jones James Jordan Kade Kolodjiashnij Ed Langdon Jake Lever Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Aaron Nietschke Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Braydon Preuss Trent Rivers Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Jay Lockhart ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Braydon Preuss has requested a trade to the GWS Giants, the McDonald brothers are being mentioned in dispatches as possible “outs” and others are possibly being shopped around. Nothing should surprise us at this time of year anyway but 2020 has been something else.

CHANGES 2020 by The Oracle Part One: A very strange year Things might have been somewhat hairy when the 1919 football season opened up in the wake of the ending of a world war and in the middle of a pandemic that took millions of lives but it’s difficult to imagine a more unusual football season than the one that ended a week or so ago. For starters, the footy is supposed to finish on that one day in September on the MCG in mild spring weather; not deep into October at the Gabba amid warnings of tropical storms and heavy rain. I suppose therefore, it’s only fitting that the Covid19 affected season which oddly enough, produced the same final result as last year will be followed by an even more wierd player exchange and recruiting period. There’s confusion aplenty because club recruiters haven’t been apprised about the size of their team lists going forward into 2021. How then are they supposed to manage such delicate issues as their club’s total player payments? Then there’s the issue of the uncertainty of the forthcoming national draft with a large number of projected academy and father/son selections pushing draft selections around and the question of how do you assess a crop of up and coming young talent of who more than half haven’t played a game for twelve months? None of this prevented the immediate deluge of activity yesterday as the 2020 AFL trade period officially got underway with the opening of the free agency period. The first player to change places was Adelaide’s Rory Atkins who moved to the Gold Coast Suns. By the end of the day, the following key moves had been done:- 1. Rory Atkins accepts a four-year deal, with a trigger for a fifth from Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent. The Crows received a second-round compensation pick, No.39 at time of deal. 2. Isaac Smith accepts a two-year deal from Geelong as a restricted free agent. Hawthorn doesn't match the offer and will receive a third-round compensation pick, No.45 at time of deal. 3. Zac Williams accepts a six-year deal from Carlton. GWS doesn't match the offer and will receive a first-round compensation pick, No.10 at time of deal. 4. Aidan Corr accepts a five-year deal from North Melbourne. GWS doesn't match and will receive a second-round compensation pick, No.30 at time of deal. 5. Joe Daniher accepts a three-year deal from Brisbane as a restricted free agent. Essendon doesn't match the offer and will receive a first-round compensation pick, No.7 at time of deal. 6. Geelong lodges paperwork for GWS restricted free agent Jeremy Cameron. Giants have three days to decide whether to match the offer. In addition, the day produced plenty of scuttlebutt around possible player movement and there will no doubt be many more changing places over the coming fortnight, especially once the formal trade period begins on Wednesday. From a Melbourne perspective, the club’s plans to recruit Isaac Smith on a three year deal were nipped in the bud when he accepted Geelong’s offer. Given the risk involved in taking a player of his age for a three year term, his decision to go elsewhere wasn’t a matter that raised great concern from the Demons’ supporter base. Looking forward to the coming week or so, the club’s main target seems to be tall forward Ben Brown from North Melbourne and then perhaps a skillful outside player as a bookend on the wing opposite Ed Langdon and/or a solid half back flanker would be a nice addition to the list. There are also players to be moved on to allow the freeing up of the salary cap to allow for incoming recruits. In looking at these scenarios, let’s start with the state of the list when the final siren sounded at Metricon Stadium to end the club’s season a little over a month ago:- PRIMARY LIST: — Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson Neville Jetta Nathan Jones James Jordan Kade Kolodjiashnij Ed Langdon Jake Lever Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Aaron Nietschke Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Braydon Preuss Trent Rivers Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Harley Bennell Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Kyle Dunkley Jay Lockhart Corey Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Without the advantage of knowing the ultimate make up of its 2021 list, the club acted conservatively in the week after Round 18 and delisted only one primary list player, Josh Wagner. He was followed by three rookies in Harley Bennell, Kyle Dunkley and Corey Wagner. Bennell’s departure after a Covid19 breach was well documented and unfortunate because a one year contact extension was on the cards. So we move forward with only slight modifications and a list that presently looks like this:- PRIMARY LIST: — Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson Neville Jetta Nathan Jones James Jordan Kade Kolodjiashnij Ed Langdon Jake Lever Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Aaron Nietschke Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Braydon Preuss Trent Rivers Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Jay Lockhart ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Braydon Preuss has requested a trade to the GWS Giants, the McDonald brothers are being mentioned in dispatches as possible “outs” and others are possibly being shopped around. Nothing should surprise us at this time of year anyway but 2020 has been something else.