Caligula's cohort

Maybe Laurie? he's known to be a nippy small forward/mid. I'll be very interested to see how he goes this year.

Gosch's Paddock is undergoing surface upgrades until May from what i've heard, so it will most likely be down at Casey fields. I'm only guessing based off previous training in years gone by that training days and times will be Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 9am - 12pm.

I noticed Gawny was in the red hat (no physical contact) on Monday. Does anyone know what's going on with him? he seemed to be running well, so maybe it's an upper body injury.

It's not so much the 186 loss that we needed to atone for. To me it's about the decades of being a terrible team and being a doormat for clubs like Geelong, Hawthorn, West Coast and even North and St.Kilda for that matter, who had long winning streaks over the years playing us. We owe clubs a lot of good hidings, just like what they've dished out to us and I think we will do that over the next 5 or so years, as long as we can keep our elite list together. We have beaten Geelong in two finals now ending their seasons in 2018 and 2021. Make no doubt about it Geelong will be hoping like hell to not come up against us when finals come around. But if by chance we could atone for the Geelong 186. I would love to see Scott sacked at the hands of a Melbourne thumping. That would make me feel all warm and fuzzy at night.

Scott has poached him after we gave the Cats a 3-0 spanking this season. We are the only club I might add, that has this record in recent times. Scott knows if you want to beat the best, you have to know how they operate and where their weaknesses, if any, are.

Jordon played a fair bit on the wing also. Our new recruits Woey jnr, McVee and AMW can also play there... so we have plenty of options.

I see your point however Jones, Jetta, AVB, Fritsch, Hunt, Smith and Weids were all in attendance there at the hubs this year for a month so would of passed on their knowledge and experience. We also had Lever in 2018 but he injured his ACL as we all know but he still travelled to that game and experienced the humiliation of that final in 2018. Chocco absolutely played a huge role, and everyone acknowledges that. I'm just providing a different view outside of the general coaches, player maturity, buy-in and selflessness, elite fitness angle that helped with our success. Further to our success i'd say that we are the most adaptable team in the competition. Gawn has mentioned many times in his pressers before games for 2 years now the 'anytime, anywhere' phrase... we have become a very resilient side travelling an hour down to Casey just to do training 3 times a week, then being put in hubs for months on end and actually relishing in it, where as clubs like Richmond and Geelong couldn't handle it because they've had everything handed to them for years on a silver spoon. Melbourne never once complained of the conditions they were forced into. They just got on with it, adapted to their environment the best and the rest is history. In war, those who adapt to their environment the quickest win the battle.

A lot of fitness coaches like to test players in warmer conditions to gauge their fitness and how their body adapts to stress. When I returned from Christmas holidays for the Army we'd do time trials every year the first day back and that was in Darwin and Townsville... being put through hell in 30+ degree heat and the humidity is unbearable. Based on our times, the fitness staff can adjust our training regime based on the time we got in time trials. Conditions may be easier tomorrow, but summer generally isn't that cool, so we should be training to normal summer conditions.

I think playing at Optus gave us an advantage over Geelong and Bulldogs as we played a prelim their in 2018 and got smashed, so we would of taken a lot of learnings away from that. Not to mention that the players being away from Melbourne and not getting caught up in the fan fare back here allowed the players just to focus on the task at hand. Breaking a 57 year drought in front of 100,000 would of put so much pressure on the players if they were back in Melbourne. Now that the monkey is off their backs I think the players can have that inner confidence to get the job done next year at the MCG without having that burden.

A very special day today. I was able to take my nephews (4 & 6) to the MCG for the first time. Although I suspect they were more interested in munching down on their hot pies and hot dogs. But it will be a moment i'll look back on and celebrate with my family and 35,000 loyal Demon supporters who all share our deep love for the club and it's players. I think everyone had a tear in their eye when Neale Daniher received a standing ovation and later there was a Gawny chant echoing out around the ground which brought a lot of joy and entertainment. The club put on a great show for us all today, and i'm so glad we got to at least share a bit of that experience and piece of history together.

Great! so they have a week to book flights...

A sensible and logical choice in drafting a small defender given we delisted Jetta, Lockhart and Hore and were a little light on in that area as I previously mentioned earlier in this thread. McVee looks to be from the same club as Woewodin, so our scouts must of liked what they saw from him while focusing on Woey Jnr.

Because Jetta was too old and slow, Lockhart fell out of favour and Hore had constant injuries over the past 2 years and they obviously thought Daniel Turner would be a better option. It's pretty simple really, when you lose 3 defenders, you need to draft another one which we currently haven't done yet in this draft. Hence why I said we may target a defender.

I think we might target a defender today. Having delisted Jetta, Lockhart and Hore. It's been mentioned on various media outlets that we are interested in Lewis Rayson a 183cm 70kg rebounding defender. It would be great if we could get Charlie Dean, but I don't think he will last to our pick.

Everyone should be there. Pre season starts the following day.

Welcome to the club JVR, I'm very excited to see what he can produce in a few years time. He might just be the steal of the draft!

With the recruitment of Dunstan and Woewodin practically guaranteed to come to us, I think we are well stocked for midfielders so we should be targeting half forwards/backs, rucks and talls IMO. Guys like Chesser, Howes, JVR should all be available for our first pick and hopefully someone like Jack Williams, Toby Conway, Aleer will be possibly be available for our second pick. Rentsch would be a handy rookie.

I like our 2nd pick as well with Angus Sheldrick. He's a Viney/Neale clone... already 88kgs at 179cms. Effectively our Jones replacement who is a similar height and weight. I found this espn article about him quite interesting. He fits Goody's player criteria being that he is a tough competitor and 2 way runner. Earning best on ground honours for Western Australia in their 10-point win against South Australia in this year's final clash between the two sides, Angus Sheldrick is the prospect who has scouts talking. Over the past two months, Sheldrick has built one of the most impressive resumes, also winning the head-to-head midfield matchup against pick one favourite Jason Horne-Francis in the first Under-19 Championships clash between WA and SA. Horne-Francis was unable to impact the game through the midfield and was relegated to playing in the front half, in what was a surprise disruption to an otherwise near-flawless close to 2021. In the WAFL Colts Grand Final, Sheldrick battled on manfully and was the dominant force through the middle, amassing 27 touches despite copping a bad corky in the second quarter and an unsportsmanlike knee to the ribs while down on all fours in the third quarter. Given Sheldrick's recent eye-catching performances, his best on ground display at the weekend's final Under-19 Championships clash should surprise no one; he's a competitor who shows up every week and does what is asked of him. In each of the Championships games, WA was clearly a level above through the midfield and the contribution of Sheldrick played a large part. An impressive stoppage midfielder, the 17-year-old is a strong-bodied stoppage specialist with a height and build akin to Lachie Neale. At 179cm and 88kg, Sheldrick is strong over the ball and routinely wins first possession, works hard around the ground to receive loose ball gets, possesses an explosive burst of speed, shrugs tackles and tackles with intent, plays a strong two-way game and hits the scoreboard. Impressively, during the WAFL Colts finals series, Sheldrick kicked six goals from three games, while kicking another two goals in his final match against SA, including the sealer. Where Sheldrick will need to put work into his game is his kicking and decision making. He is effective feeding outside runners by hand but at this stage lacks polish and precision by foot. Whether he is under pressure or has time with ball in hand, at times he will attempt ill-advised kicks that lack situational awareness. Gaining fans in recent months, Sheldrick is viewed as a likely mid-draft choice and would be a strong value selection for a club looking to give their midfield an immediate boost of competitiveness. AFL Draft Weekly Wrap: stoppage specialist Sheldrick a WA bolter

And Touk Miller just announces a 5 year contract extension...

As Whispering Jack said, they've had their measurements recently updated. The last time the draftees were measured was back in Jan/Feb. Take Finn Callaghan for example, his stats were 189cm and 82kgs... he's now 191cm and 86kgs.

I think we will only draft 3 on the night because we will upgrade Jordon to the primary list which will leave us with 2 rookie selections. So i'd imagine we will be doing some pick swaps to get higher up with our selections or possibly swap them for 2nd/3rd round picks next year seeing as we don't have a 1st round pick.

In today's Herald Sun full mock draft they had us taking these players with our selections. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/draft/afl-mock-draft-2021-how-every-pick-from-every-round-could-fall/news-story/d0092b24244f7917011387d102f8a2db Melbourne: Arlo Draper, Angus Sheldrick, Lewis Rayson, Josh Rentsch, Taj Woewodin 19. Melbourne (DB) Arlo Draper (South Adelaide) Forward/midfielder, 186cm, 75kg Dan says: Tyler Sonsie or Draper? It was a tough choice for either of these first-round sliders, but I settled for Draper as he is a unique talent with significant upside. Not having settled in a position shouldn’t necessarily be a hindrance, with his versatility allowing him to provide his trademark X-Factor anywhere on the ground for the Demons. 41. Melbourne (DB) Angus Sheldrick (Claremont) Midfielder, 179cm, 86kg Dan says: Not too many needs to fill at the Dees, so Sheldrick gives them extra midfield depth as a ready-made inside bull. 46. Melbourne (DB) Lewis Rayson (Glenelg) Defender, 183cm, 69kg Dan says: A small rebounding defender to add to Melbourne’s current defensive mix, impressing with his efficient disposal at national championships level. 51. Melbourne (DB) Josh Rentsch (GWV Rebels/Vic Country) Key forward, 197cm, 100kg Dan says: The Morrish medallist will need to throw his weight around more to make it at the top level but his size and contested marking makes him a promising addition to Melbourne’s key-forward stocks. 58. Melbourne (DB) Matching North Melbourne’s bid Taj Woewodin (East Fremantle) Midfielder, 182cm, 75kg Dan says: Easy decision to match to secure the son of Brownlow medallist Shane Woewodin at this late stage, after he impressed at the combine and at WAFL Colts level.

Melksham, Chandler, Baker and Weideman for me. Jordon needs to attack this pre season like his last one.

I originally thought we should go with a tall for our first pick, but I think we should go for a mid who can rotate in other positions such as Butler who plays mid/forward or Chesser as a outside mid/half back. I like the look of Josh Rentsch with our last pick, he's a key forward at 197cm and already 100kgs, he has great hands and won the Morrish medal this year so he could be a monster forward in future. The draft is very open this year, so it's anyone's guess where picks 20 - 50 will actually go. Ideally i'd like our draft picks to go like this #17 - Chesser/Butler, #37 - Aleer, #49 - Bazzo, #57 Woewodin, Rookie - Rentsch

Doesn't mean they can't improve. They did beat us this year, so not really a long time.