Rodney (Balls) Grinter

I want us to draft this bloke, purely because he has the same full name as my 5 yo son, but not more than I'd love for my Charlie to be drafted by the MFC in 13 years time. I recon there's about the same chance of either/both happening at this point.

Yep, having this guy on our Category B list is really stopping us from developing the next superstar. I honestly don't care if Maynard never amounts to more than good foot soldier - every premeriship team has a dozen goof foot soldiers behind it and Maynard looks like he could fit that bill to me. To put him in the same basket as players like Mitchie, Newton, Pig Dog etc is total BS. This guy has size, athletic ability and competitiveness/agression running through his veins which to me suggests he will make his mark.

Totally Old Dee. From 2007 to 2017, we lost more games than I care to think of and wore a plethera of putrid white/grey jumpers. We should consign both acts to the annals of history.

Thanks Morgan - us Demons supporters could use all the luck we can get.

Torture isn't a leagal means of therapy in Aus.

Watching that 87 Rd 22 game is pure porn for the MFC faithful.

Sorry cannot stand this stupid response. In what way is caring about the jumper we wear in conflict with us winning games or not? It's not like it's a mutually exclusive propersition. I can thint of a lot of things I care less about posted on Demonland (like Ty Vickory) and this time of year, few more that I care about than seeing our club properly address this issue. I mean obviously there is the draft, but until it happens, it's like throwing darts at a dart board. And even then, until those players that are drafted actually produce on the feild, it's more an act of navel gazing for us mere supporters. And it's not like directing some of the club's management staff to take this issue up with the AFL and get an appropriate outcome is distracting our playing group, coaching or recruiting staff. Getting a good outcome for our footy club could also help to recruit and retain more members. Beyond all, when our team wins, I want to see it happen in a jumper that actually looks like our teams, not some crappy half baked version that looks more like a Sydney jumper than a Melbourne one. Every Heart Beats True for the RED and BLUE

Jack Petruccelle sounds like a good choice to me, just so we can have the comentators wrangle with - "Clayton the tounge twister Oliver feeds one out to Petruccelle, passes to Pertracca.... kicks a GOOOAAAAALLLL". I could imagine Rex Hunt going stupid over that.

That's your opinion and whilst you may well end up being right, I hope you are wrong. I think both these guys have some potential and that it's the ability of coaches, medical staff and overall team culture to get more players to the point of producing the required level of output, whatever their inherent natural ability or past record. Being able to develop and grow the worst players on the list is a big part of what makes average teams good and good teams great. They are on our list for season 2018, so personally I'm not counting on any player being a lost cause until it's done and dusted. Last year our depth was severely tested in the middle to third quarter of the season. Just one of these guys had have been fit and available, it might have been the difference to us beating North or beating Carlton by a few more goals and we make finals last year, or perhaps hopefully the difference between finishing top four this year.

So West Coast have launched their 2018 jumpers, going back to their 'traditional' royal blue and surprise surprise, a yellow and royal blue clash jumper with no white. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/west-coast-eagles-reveal-new-logo-and-jumpers-for-2018-afl-season-new-jumpers-for-saints-magpies/news-story/3e3e7101110249d44b60569046df28ff So are the MFC and AFL going to continue to serve up this rubbish that all clubs must have a predominantly white clash jumper and make our team run around in one for half a dozen+ games a year? Will MFC suporters continue to allow this?

Just thinking about this a bit more, I think there is a way that state of origin could work for the AFL: Cut the regular home and away to 17 rounds. Reintroduce state of origin two groups of three/four match series. Group 1, Vic, SA and WA. Each team plays each other once and then a decider for the top two. Group 2, Qld/NT, NSW/ACT and Tas. The AFL could end up with close to the same number of rounds in a season, with the lesser number of games being made up by with the block buster status that the State of Origin games could take on. The Qld/NSW games would feed a little off the Blues Vs Marrons (Cockroaches Vs Cane Toads) type mentality. Though acknowledgeing it would never quite be the same as in league and have a huge imidiate finacial contribution, but could it might actually pull in some interest to AFL from the northern states and serve as a bit of a marketing exercise. Tassie would actually finally get a team of there own and would be roundly supported as the underdogs. AFLW also has some potential to fill the TV programing/rights void left by removing more games. I'd personally love to see the best of the best play off against themselves on a state Vs state basis, I think others would too and support it on mass. Time for the AFL to get innovative and take a risk again.

Quite true. It would however generate more intensity than this hybrid round ball nonsense.

Living in Qld and I get the impression that rugby league State of Origin is about as big as their grand final, both symbolicly and in terms of finances to the game. I wonder if in AFL the players and possibly even their clubs were paid enough and or penalised for not making them selves available for selection, if it could be made a big specktical in the AFL again. You listen to the way guys like Robbie Flower use to talk about the honour and opertunity to play State footy and you'd have to think that sort of motivation would still exist and if anything I would have thought the parochialism between the states has always been their from the fan's perspective. Get all the gun players on the park and I recon they would pack out the G.

Like Lever in 8. Don't quite know why (probably because I think of 33 as more of a speedster/Wizz type number), but I'd prefer to see Maynard in 20. Would like to see Joel Smith in 27, as I think he has a bit of Sean Wight about him, the way he plays hard and athletically at the footy and as a defender, that make it a good fit to honor that number (can't recall if Shaun and Sean ever played together).

Call me a fence sitter in a sense, but I'm a little column A/column B when it comes to reallocating numbers and the prestige that comes with cretain numbers (generally low ones). Whilst I do like it when players make the higher numbers they were originally given their own, I also don't mind it when a player takes on a low number later in their career. What I would say is that players taking on numbers with prestige should earn/be worthy of that number, rather than it happening before they have earnt the respect that goes with that prestige. It's not only the low numbers that are the highly sought after ones either, double numbers like 33, 44 and even 31 for the MFC are also somewhat sought after. In the contemporary setting, I think Guy Rigoni made 43 his own, which I think Harmes is somewhat doing now and would personnaly like that to continue. I don't mind players like Trac, Oliver and Salem being allocated the low numbers they have, because I think they have already proved them selves to be worthy of the calibre of those that status. Agree that allocating 4 at this point could be a poisoned chalice. I wouldn't be opposed to someone like Weid being allocated 8 or 9 (9 has some nice symmetry with Neitz), but think it would take him seriously stepping up in preseason (showing some presence against mature AFL footballers that he quite frankly hasn't to this point) that would suggest that he is at the point of having an impact.

Well it's on today. Must admit that my first reaction was that same as many here - stupid meaningless game; don't get injured. But after a bit of reflecting this morning, I'm really stoked for our boys to be represented in the team and will try and watch the game at some point, just to see how they fair. What a turn around in the personal fortunes of the two players from the MFC. Think about it, twelve months ago, Hibbo had just switched to our club after a ban from the sport, being labeled a drug cheat, Nev's career was well established, but from his B&F speach this year, it was clear there was some deep personal/family truma lurking in the background. Both players have risen through the ranks the hard way from being rookie listed to represnting their country. Full credit to our guys for their selection, whilst the game may not nessasrily be of a true/meaningful international standing, the AFL clearly picks it's team from the best available players in the country (probably with a slight bias for those felt suited to the hybrid game) and I think that is a great honour. Good luck to our boys today... oh, and don't get injured!

I'm mostly with Jackaub here. How many first round picks from that period 2007 - 2012ish are still at the club? During this time, we had prime opportunity to get the best talent in the land with our first round picks, (be that somewhat compromised when GW$ and GC started to come on board). During comparable periods of bottoming out Hawthorn picked up players like Hodge, Lewis, Roughead and Franklin who all went on to become core players in premiership teams. It wasn't nessasrily just about picking the right tallent though for Melbourne, but as much about putting in place the right devolpment environment once we got them. The poor management of Jack Watts from day dot, throwing him in the deep end with all the expections is well documented and even Jack Trengove may still be a core part of our successfull team, had we had medical, fitness and coaching team that refused to let him run himself into the ground. With the right support around him Liam Jurrah may have been superstar that surpassed the feats of Rioli. ... I could go on. Huge turn around in all this since the arrival of PJ and Roos.

Many/most would sat that Melbourne's success in the 60s was due to us being the dominant $$$ club.

As an intestate supporter living in Brisbane, I'm happy with the two games at the Gabba (last year we played neither the Lions or Suns up here), otherwise indifferent.

I don't really disagree with any of this, like I think I aluded to, it's more of a romantic desire than something based in reality. He was bloody horrible against North, might as well have not been on the ground almost. I would say that Jack has good around football skills (a good strong mark and I'd suggest a pretty reliable if not close to an elite kick), is a hard inside type and good overall footy sense, but to have really elite footy smarts is where he would need to reinvent himself. I also reconise that is something probably more innate and instinctive that it's unlikely.

Not dismissing what you are saying here at all, but being slow hasn't held back some great AFL footballers in the past. I just wonder if someone can reinvent a role for him that rejuvenates his career. Not that I don't think that Goody and the MFC didn't try that, but whatever they did, it didn't come off. I don't think playing off a half back flank at AFL level really worked for Jack, I feel he's the sort of player that needs to be in the guts where the action is. ... I know I'm probably grasping at straws, but I'd just really like to think this guy still has a chance of becoming a sucessfull footballer again.

http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-03/power-shock-delisted-demon-signs-on Super dodgy photo of him in his new Port jumper. Pumping out his guns with his fists cross armed, he looks stoned (I guess that's how they roll at Port) and the Port jumper really doesn't suit him (wish he still had a red and blue one on). But overall, I can't argue with the sentiment of others that have posted here in wishing this bloke all the best. Of all the players we have lost over to other AFL clubs the past ten years, I don't think there are are any that have gone with the same high praise and universal good will as Trenners.

Yeah, but what about me? Thought I provided a different variety of excitement in my day.

A few other pretty handy late pickups though too Luke Parker at 40, Viv Michie at 44, Paul Puopolo at 66, Jeff Garlet at 85 (promoted rookie), Cameron Pedersen as a rookie (for North), Jeremy McGovern as a rookie, Michael Hibberd in the pre season. Ahhh, the old draft lotto at it's best.

My key metric looking at this draw was the number of back to back 6 day breaks and on that measure my scan so far suggests we have done pretty well. Perhaps it was coincidence, but I recon it was the back to back to back 6 day breaks in the middle of last season that pretty much smashed our season and put us behind the eight ball to make finals there after. In 2018, we get an 8 day break before Queens Birthday, followed by 12 days due to our bye, then from memory another 8 day break or something there after. We do have a short 5 or something day break following our Anzac Eve game, but we will be backing up against Essendon who have one day less break than us, so I think that more than compensates for having that short day break. Apart from that, I think we have the inevitable odd six day break here or there, but never that shocking run we had of them in the middle of last year.