Demonland

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AFL players will have their wages cut by only 3.5 per cent for the 2021 season. Reports from across the industry on Wednesday afternoon suggest there will be a nine per cent decrease in the Total Player Payments (TPP) in 2021, but the decrease in list sizes softens the cut. Players who signed a deal after the mid-year contract freeze will see no wage reduction. List sizes have also been confirmed, with list sizes reduced from between 38 and 47 to between 37 and 44. A maximum of 38 players on the senior list, down from 40 this year. Teams will only have to select one player in this year’s draft if they wish. The salary cap is expected to return to normal in 2022. 75 per cent of the playing group will have to approve the deal for it to pass.

2020 Player Reviews: #6 Luke Jackson A prodigious talent who can play ruck, midfield or as a forward. Will be hard to match up on as he matured as a footballer. Date of Birth: 29 September, 2001 Height: 198cm Weight: 84kg Games MFC 2020: 6 Career Total: 6 Goals MFC 2020: 3 Career Total: 3 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 79

2020 Player Reviews: #7 Jack Viney Viney personifies the sort of determination, desperation and hardness at the ball that all coaches love. Recently signed a new five year deal that should see him at the club for the balance of his career. Date of Birth: 13 April, 1994 Height: 178cm Weight: 84kg Games MFC 2020: 16 Career Total: 135 Goals MFC 2020: 5 Career Total: 36 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 311 (Ron Barassi Snr Trophy for Third) Votes 2020 Brownlow Medal: 6

2020 Player Reviews: #8 Jake Lever One of the team leaders and performed the rebound defender’s role in a back line that is developing into a strong division. Date of Birth: 5 March, 1996 Height: 195cm Weight: 91kg Games MFC 2020: 17 Career Total: 92 Goals MFC 2020: 0 Career Total: 3 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 165

2020 Player Reviews: #9 Charlie Spargo The little forward line battler was in and out of the side but showed some glimpses of the form he showed in his debut season. Proved how dangerous he can be with three goals in a quarter against Collingwood and needs to produce that sort of game throughout games and on a weekly basis. Date of Birth: 25 November, 1999 Height: 173cm Weight: 71kg Games MFC 2020: 8 Career Total: 34 Goals MFC 2020: 8 Career Total: 24 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 80

2020 Player Reviews: #10 Angus Brayshaw Played some important games in the midfield but was unable to put it all together with same consistency he produced in 2018 and missed the latter part of the season with a foot injury. Date of Birth: 9 January, 1996 Height: 187cm Weight: 87kg Games MFC 2020: 14 Career Total: 94 Goals MFC 2020: 5 Career Total: 42 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 186 Votes 2020 Brownlow Medal: 1

2020 Player Reviews: #11 Max Gawn The skipper and premier ruckman of the competition was heading for a top five Brownlow finish before missing vital games through injury in mid-season. He battled on through the latter part of the season and led his team admirably right through to the end that saw them narrowly miss the finals. Date of Birth: 30 December, 1991 Height: 208cm Weight: 109kg Games MFC 2020: 14 Career Total: 134 Goals MFC 2020: 1 Career Total: 59 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 234 (sixth) season

I first saw Ben Brown on a cold Tuesday night in May, 2013 playing for the Werribee Tigers against Queanbeyan in a televised Foxtel Cup game before a sparse crowd at Etihad Stadium. His teammate and former Demon Jordan Gysberts was the star of the side’s 85-point belting of the hapless ACT club but the then 20 year old, 200cm Brown was also a stand out. Earlier that year, the athletic big man had left his native Tasmania in an effort to make the grade after being overlooked in three drafts. The man with the mop of unruly hair, the bearing of a high jumper and the number 50 on his back, read the play well out of defence that night and went forward to kick three goals. When his team was knocked out in a low scoring semi final by East Fremantle a month or so later, Brown was named the side’s best player. The Tasmanian Tiger was destined for bigger things — North Melbourne picked him with its third selection in the AFL Draft later in the year and he was soon impressing the football world with his high marking and distinctive run up for goal. After breaking into the side in mid 2014, Brown made the full forward position his home and he won the goal kicking at North Melbourne four times (2016-9), booting more than 60 goals and featuring in Coleman Medal calculations in each of the last three of those seasons. The journalism student was also an impressive performer in the media and starred in an edition of Foxtel’s Open Mike turning the tables on compere Mike Sheahan. A knee injury curtailed his output this year and, after 130 games and 287 goals with North, he was traded to Melbourne earlier this month. Brown has great football bloodlines. His grandfather Jim Manson was a top line player who won the best and fairest at Glenorchy and is Tasmanian Hall of Famer. Brown’s uncle James Manson played in Collingwood’s 1990 premiership team. The young Ben Brown represented his state in the Tassie Mariners Under 18 team and then played with Glenorchy before moving across Bass Strait to play with Werribee. The Demons are hoping that Brown will have an immediate impact by straightening up its forward line which has lacked potency since the departure of Jesse Hogan at the end of 2018. Melbourne GM of Football Josh Mahoney said of him last week, “What we’re excited about with Ben Brown is not only what he can bring, but what he can do to help the development of Sam Weideman and Luke Jackson.” The Tasmanian has worn the number 50 guernsey throughout his years in Melbourne and he’s put his hand up for the number again at his new club. Demon fans will be hoping that it won’t be too long before they can put the pandemic behind them and return to watch the bearer of the distinctive number 50 rise above a pack in the forward line, pluck the Sherrin out of the air with his vice-like grip and welcome the return of football to the MCG.

THE TASMANIAN TIGER by Whispering Jack I first saw Ben Brown on a cold Tuesday night in May, 2013 playing for the Werribee Tigers against Queanbeyan in a televised Foxtel Cup game before a sparse crowd at Etihad Stadium. His teammate and former Demon Jordan Gysberts was the star of the side’s 85-point belting of the hapless ACT club but the then 20 year old, 200cm Brown was also a stand out. Earlier that year, the athletic big man had left his native Tasmania in an effort to make the grade after being overlooked in three drafts. The man with the mop of unruly hair, the bearing of a high jumper and the number 50 on his back, read the play well out of defence that night and went forward to kick three goals. When his team was knocked out in a low scoring semi final by East Fremantle a month or so later, Brown was named the side’s best player. The Tasmanian Tiger was destined for bigger things — North Melbourne picked him with its third selection in the AFL Draft later in the year and he was soon impressing the football world with his high marking and distinctive run up for goal. After breaking into the side in mid 2014, Brown made the full forward position his home and he won the goal kicking at North Melbourne four times (2016-9), booting more than 60 goals and featuring in Coleman Medal calculations in each of the last three of those seasons. The journalism student was also an impressive performer in the media and starred in an edition of Foxtel’s Open Mike turning the tables on compere Mike Sheahan. A knee injury curtailed his output this year and, after 130 games and 287 goals with North, he was traded to Melbourne earlier this month. Brown has great football bloodlines. His grandfather Jim Manson was a top line player who won the best and fairest at Glenorchy and is Tasmanian Hall of Famer. Brown’s uncle James Manson played in Collingwood’s 1990 premiership team. The young Ben Brown represented his state in the Tassie Mariners Under 18 team and then played with Glenorchy before moving across Bass Strait to play with Werribee. The Demons are hoping that Brown will have an immediate impact by straightening up its forward line which has lacked potency since the departure of Jesse Hogan at the end of 2018. Melbourne GM of Football Josh Mahoney said of him last week, “What we’re excited about with Ben Brown is not only what he can bring, but what he can do to help the development of Sam Weideman and Luke Jackson.” The Tasmanian has worn the number 50 guernsey throughout his years in Melbourne and he’s put his hand up for the number again at his new club. Demon fans will be hoping that it won’t be too long before they can put the pandemic behind them and return to watch the bearer of the distinctive number 50 rise above a pack in the forward line, pluck the Sherrin out of the air with his vice-like grip and welcome the return of football to the MCG.

Please keep any rumours directly related to rumours about footy/trades. No need for gutter journalism. Rumours about the personal lives of players, coaches & officials should not be pedaled here.

2020 Player Reviews: #12 Toby Bedford It was a tough initiation for the small forward who made his debut in Perth in Round 1 and played only one other game for the season. Date of Birth: 27 May, 2000 Height: 178cm Weight: 69kg Games MFC 2020: 2 Career Total: 2 Goals MFC 2020: 0 Career Total: 0

2020 Player Reviews: #13 Clayton Oliver The classy midfielder’s top 10 finish in the Brownlow Medal count was testament to his ability and hard work ethic in a season in which he was challenged to go more by foot than to use his quick hands to dispose of the football. Finished top 5 in the club's Best and Fairest. Date of Birth: 22 July, 1997 Height: 187 cm Weight: 85 kg Games MFC 2020: 17 Career Total: 99 Goals MFC 2020: 3 Career Total: 29 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 291 (Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy - 5th) Votes 2020 Brownlow Medal: 14 (Equal 9th)

2020 Player Reviews: #14 Michael Hibberd The hard working defender conceded just 10 goals in his 14 games for the team and ranked third for intercept possessions this year. He polled ninth in the club's Best and Fairest count and received a contract extension for 2021. Date of Birth: 3 January, 1990 Height: 186cm Weight: 90kg Games MFC 2020: 14 Career Total: 156 Goals MFC 2020: 1 Career Total: 14 Votes 2020 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy: 179 (ninth)

" .... league is weighing up whether to drop the interchange cap by 15 per-game, down to 75 rotations. Sources with knowledge of conversations at AFL HQ say there is a chance it could be cut by a further 15, down to 60, for the 2022 season in an effort to ease congestion." "The league’s football operations department – led by Steve Hocking – is also considering bringing the man on the mark back by an extra five metres at kick-ins."

Mike has retired.

That’s awesome. You should email [email protected]

I'd be interested to hear about other unique items people have stashed away.