Demonland

PART 3 — BOLD AND BRAVE There’s been a debate raging for years in relation to the AFL draft and it relates to whether a club should recruit the best player available or whether it should look to its own particular needs. The question came squarely into focus at the 2019 National AFL Draft meeting when several clubs balked at nominating GWS Giants Academy player Tom Green, a strong bodied inside midfielder who was widely regarded throughout the year as being in the three best players available in this year’s crop. At the draft meeting, Green barely fell in the top ten — he was taken at that number by the Giants after his name was called out by Carlton. For its part, Melbourne apparently showed its hand early. More than a week out from the draft, news filtered out that the Demons would not be nominating Green with its pick 3 which it had reserved for Western Australian ruckman Luke Jackson and further, it would be looking to draft the exciting but diminutive forward Kysaiah Pickett from Woodville West Torrens with its second selection (ultimately #12 overall). Both selections raised some eyebrows as Jackson was ranked by many pundits as being outside the top ten best, although some club recruiters were suggesting they would have taken him at three if they had the pick. As for Pickett, some media analysts including Gary Buckenara had him going in the late 20s. His conclusion was that the club had “addressed list needs”. In the final analysis, Melbourne added three youngsters to its primary list — all of them from outside Victoria. The selections suggest that the club’s recruiting strategy was bold and brave, particularly on the basis that the club recently lost Jesse Hogan to Fremantle due to the go home factor. The Demons secured East Fremantle ruckman/forward Luke Jackson with their first pick. The club’s national recruiting manager Jason Taylor said this on the club’s website about the 199cm former basketballer who was Australia’s best player at the 2018 FIBA Under 17 World Cup:- “His primary role is a ruckman, but he has played some good footy forward in the latter part of the year and he’s been successful. “He’s been able to take contested marks and win the ball at ground level. “His ruck work though, he forms as an extra midfielder with his groundwork, his hunt for the ball, his competitive nature.“ Kysaiah Pickett is a 171cm dangerous small forward from Woodville West Torrens and a nephew of Neville Jetta and former Demon Byron Pickett. According to Taylor:- “He just gives us that real speed and x-factor if you like – at ground level and in the air up forward. “Love’s to tackle but he’s just got really good forward craft. “His front and centre work is excellent, he’s got a real eye for the goal, and he’s just a team first player.” The club returned to the draft for one more selection on the second night of the meeting and its selection at pick 32 enabled Jackson to be reunited with his fellow All Australian teammate from East Fremantle in 188cm big bodied defender Trent Rivers. “A couple of East Fremantle Sharks there, so that’s good for those two boys to be coming over to the one club,” Taylor said. “Trent’s played some really good footy at national level as a half-back, so [he’s a] rebound defender. “He’s a good kick, he’s good overhead, he’s got some real power about him, he’s a good size lad. “But he has played some really good football as a midfielder for East Fremantle where he’s been a high possession winner and he also hits the scoreboard.“ Rivers’ preseason was hampered by glandular fever but the classy contested ball winner still managed to gain selection for the national championships and gain All Australian selection which bodes well for a successful AFL career. The last piece of drafting for the time being was announced today with the news that former Geelong and Essendon key forward and sometime defender Mitch Brown has joined the club as a rookie for this season through the supplemental selection period (SSP). Brown was originally drafted by Geelong with Pick 15 in the 2008 national draft but injuries restricted him to just 15 games before he was delisted by the Cats at the conclusion of the 2014 AFL season. His career was revived when briefly recruited as a fill in by Essendon in the wake of the supplements saga and was drafted by the Bombers at the end of 2015 and played 21 games in 2016. He was delisted by the Bombers after kicking 21 goals across 16 in 2019 including four hauls of three or more majors. Brown, who has elite endurance, has played 70 AFL games in total for 69 goals and is seen as a handy addition to the club’s list with his experience at both ends of the ground. The club still has one senior list vacancy which is expected to be taken up in March by Harley Bennell if he can convince the club that he has overcome the ravages of injury by the SSP deadline next March. In the meantime this leaves the Melbourne Football Club lists looking 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 Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch Brown* Kade Chandler Kyle Dunkley Jay Lockhart Corey Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke * SSP signing

PART 3 — BOLD AND BRAVE There’s been a debate raging for years in relation to the AFL draft and it relates to whether a club should recruit the best player available or whether it should look to its own particular needs. The question came squarely into focus at the 2019 National AFL Draft meeting when several clubs balked at nominating GWS Giants Academy player Tom Green, a strong bodied inside midfielder who was widely regarded throughout the year as being in the three best players available in this year’s crop. At the draft meeting, Green barely fell in the top ten — he was taken at that number by the Giants after his name was called out by Carlton. For its part, Melbourne apparently showed its hand early. More than a week out from the draft, news filtered out that the Demons would not be nominating Green with its pick 3 which it had reserved for Western Australian ruckman Luke Jackson and further, it would be looking to draft the exciting but diminutive forward Kysaiah Pickett from Woodville West Torrens with its second selection (ultimately #12 overall). Both selections raised some eyebrows as Jackson was ranked by many pundits as being outside the top ten best, although some club recruiters were suggesting they would have taken him at three if they had the pick. As for Pickett, some media analysts including Gary Buckenara had him going in the late 20s. His conclusion was that the club had “addressed list needs”. In the final analysis, Melbourne added three youngsters to its primary list — all of them from outside Victoria. The selections suggest that the club’s recruiting strategy was bold and brave, particularly on the basis that the club recently lost Jesse Hogan to Fremantle due to the go home factor. The Demons secured East Fremantle ruckman/forward Luke Jackson with their first pick. The club’s national recruiting manager Jason Taylor said this on the club’s website about the 199cm former basketballer who was Australia’s best player at the 2018 FIBA Under 17 World Cup:- “His primary role is a ruckman, but he has played some good footy forward in the latter part of the year and he’s been successful. “He’s been able to take contested marks and win the ball at ground level. “His ruck work though, he forms as an extra midfielder with his groundwork, his hunt for the ball, his competitive nature.“ Kysaiah Pickett is a 171cm dangerous small forward from Woodville West Torrens and a nephew of Neville Jetta and former Demon Byron Pickett. According to Taylor:- “He just gives us that real speed and x-factor if you like – at ground level and in the air up forward. “Love’s to tackle but he’s just got really good forward craft. “His front and centre work is excellent, he’s got a real eye for the goal, and he’s just a team first player.” The club returned to the draft for one more selection on the second night of the meeting and its selection at pick 32 enabled Jackson to be reunited with his fellow All Australian teammate from East Fremantle in 188cm big bodied defender Trent Rivers. “A couple of East Fremantle Sharks there, so that’s good for those two boys to be coming over to the one club,” Taylor said. “Trent’s played some really good footy at national level as a half-back, so [he’s a] rebound defender. “He’s a good kick, he’s good overhead, he’s got some real power about him, he’s a good size lad. “But he has played some really good football as a midfielder for East Fremantle where he’s been a high possession winner and he also hits the scoreboard.“ Rivers’ preseason was hampered by glandular fever but the classy contested ball winner still managed to gain selection for the national championships and gain All Australian selection which bodes well for a successful AFL career. The last piece of drafting for the time being was announced today with the news that former Geelong and Essendon key forward and sometime defender Mitch Brown has joined the club as a rookie for this season through the supplemental selection period (SSP). Brown was originally drafted by Geelong with Pick 15 in the 2008 national draft but injuries restricted him to just 15 games before he was delisted by the Cats at the conclusion of the 2014 AFL season. His career was revived when briefly recruited as a fill in by Essendon in the wake of the supplements saga and was drafted by the Bombers at the end of 2015 and played 21 games in 2016. He was delisted by the Bombers after kicking 21 goals across 16 in 2019 including four hauls of three or more majors. Brown, who has elite endurance, has played 70 AFL games in total for 69 goals and is seen as a handy addition to the club’s list with his experience at both ends of the ground. The club still has one senior list vacancy which is expected to be taken up in March by Harley Bennell if he can convince the club that he has overcome the ravages of injury by the SSP deadline next March. In the meantime this leaves the Melbourne Football Club lists looking 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 Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Mitch Brown* Kade Chandler Kyle Dunkley Jay Lockhart Corey Wagner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke * SSP signing

First two (and Nietschke) are on the list of questions but I forgot about Bradtke. Interesting to see where he stands given the drafting of Jackson.

I've never been a fan of the Co-Captain Model. I'd prefer a sole Captain. With Jones stepping aside it's the perfect opportunity to either make Viney sole Captain or make a clean break and install Max as the lone Captain.

We'll be LIVE TONIGHT @ 8:30pm featuring our interview with Jason Taylor. After the interview @Grapeviney and I will be joined by @george_on_the_outer to discuss our draft picks, the 2020 fixture, our preseason training & much more. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31 We love hearing from Demonlanders so please call with your thoughts on our trade & draft periods, the draw or your observations of training if you've had the chance to head down to Gosch's Paddock.

He was indeed. This thread is about yesterdays training session. He wasn't starting until today and today was not a track day but he was in the gym.

I'm posting this article for the nice throwback to the 2008 guernsey.

My personal favourite is Jordan Lewis' go-go gadget neck.

Is this dodgy enough? ?

Apt for this time of year ... "There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around" - The Man from Snowy River, A.B. Paterson

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" - A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens But mostly the worst of times.

I’m pretty sure they were wearing those jumpers as they were similar sizes to the previous owners.

Confirmed 6 for Jackson & 24 for Rivers.

Welcome to Demonworld.com

Could these also be their official numbers? 24 -Kysaiah Pickett 17 - Luke Jackson 20 - Trent Rivers

I doubt that is the case. I assume it's so they can do secret things on a publicly open field.