Whispering_Jack

The state of the VFL ladder after Round 3: The Brisbane Lions have been a strong team in recent seasons but they have struggled to date. Casey need the win to get among the early contenders.

Scouting Notes: 2026 Talent League - Round 3 Fields Corey Ah-Mu sounds exciting - a 196cm midfield beast.

And if you're wondering how things stood on the eve of Gather Round at this time last year (note Gold Coast and Essendon had a game to make up as a result of Cyclone Alfred):- ROUND 4 W L D FOR AGST % PTS HAWTHORN 4 0 0 363 285 127.37 16 BRISBANE LIONS 4 0 0 368 308 119.48 16 GOLD COAST 3 0 0 347 201 172.64 12 GWS GIANTS 3 1 0 377 253 149.01 12 ADELAIDE 3 1 0 500 341 146.63 12 COLLINGWOOD 3 1 0 327 265 123.40 12 ST KILDA 3 1 0 394 351 112.25 12 GEELONG 2 2 0 384 283 135.69 8 SYDNEY SWANS 2 2 0 343 299 114.72 8 WESTERN BULLDOGS 2 2 0 347 345 100.58 8 FREMANTLE 2 2 0 337 364 92.58 8 PORT ADELAIDE 1 3 0 317 365 86.85 4 NORTH MELBOURNE 1 3 0 352 410 85.85 4 ESSENDON 1 2 0 257 332 77.41 4 RICHMOND 1 3 0 293 462 63.42 4 CARLTON 0 4 0 250 308 81.17 0 MELBOURNE 0 4 0 248 407 60.93 0 WEST COAST 0 4 0 243 468 51.92 0

I had the pleasure of meeting Jonty Ralphsmith at a Coates Talent League game several years ago, where Harry Sheezel was playing for the Sandringham Dragons. He noticed my affiliation with Harry's family and supporters, we engaged in a discussion about him and the draft in general. Harry played junior football with one of my grandsons, and they have maintained a close friendship. Jonty Ralphsmith was seeking an angle for a story on Harry and presented himself as genuinely sincere. I highly doubt that he would harbor any grievances towards Melbourne or have a desire to disparage the club. I have attempted to contact him through the contact page on Zero Hanger, and if I receive a response, I will post it here.

VFL RD 3 | Clutch Dees seal their first win

Moose on the Loose

It’s not Monday but Tuesday will do Melbourne (109) v Gold Coast (89) Melbourne spent the last few years focusing on not losing games. They could defend, but they couldn’t score. They rarely got knocked out, but they lost on points. Under Steven King they’re the ones going for the knockout. It might not always work, but it’s fun to watch. And on the weekend, it really worked. It was helped a lot by a young guy named Kysaiah Pickett who’s worth checking out, and that big tall guy with the beard who always takes the marks. The Suns, were certainly not bad. Even with their talent you’re not going to win every game. Damien Harwick said it was a ‘kick right in the nuts’, which I’ve always said is something to be avoided. As a Dees supporter, I can say kicking someone in the nuts is more fun than being kicked in the nuts. I don’t think you need to be a Dees supporter to get that. https://www.titusoreily.com/afl/the-monday-knee-jerk-reaction-round-four2026

Synopsis: Best differentials 1 - Geelong (+44) 2 - St Kilda (+23) 3 - Western Bulldogs (+18) 4 - Richmond (+10) 5 - Essendon (+8) Worst differentials 1 - GWS Giants (-23) 2 - Gold Coast (-18) 3 - West Coast (-14) 4 - Port Adelaide (-12) 5 - Adelaide (-11) Most frees for 1 - Geelong (102) 2 - North Melbourne (95) Eq.3 - St Kilda & Western Bulldogs (87) 5 - Richmond (84) Best differentials 1 - Geelong (+44) 2 - St Kilda (+23) 3 - Western Bulldogs (+18) 4 - Richmond (+10) 5 - Essendon (+8) Worst differentials 1 - GWS Giants (-23) 2 - Gold Coast (-18) 3 - West Coast (-14) 4 - Port Adelaide (-12) 5 - Adelaide (-11) Most frees for 1 - Geelong (102) 2 - North Melbourne (95) Eq.3 - St Kilda & Western Bulldogs (87) 5 - Richmond (84) Best differentials 1 - Geelong (+44) 2 - St Kilda (+23) 3 - Western Bulldogs (+18) 4 - Richmond (+10) 5 - Essendon (+8) Worst differentials 1 - GWS Giants (-23) 2 - Gold Coast (-18) 3 - West Coast (-14) 4 - Port Adelaide (-12) 5 - Adelaide (-11) Most frees for 1 - Geelong (102) 2 - North Melbourne (95) Eq.3 - St Kilda & Western Bulldogs (87) 5 - Richmond (84) Least frees for 1 - GWS Giants (58) 2 - Melbourne (60) 3 - Collingwood (63) 4 - Adelaide (67) 5 - Gold Coast (68) Most frees against Eq.1 - North Melbourne & West Coast (93) Eq.3 - Sydney & Gold Coast (86) 5 - Port Adelaide (83) Least frees against 1 - Geelong (58) 2 - Melbourne (59) 3 - St Kilda (64) 4 - Western Bulldogs (69) 5 - Collingwood (71) The 2026 Free Kick Ladder - Round 4 Geelong (+44) has had four games with free kick differentials of +9 or more to comfortably sit on top of the standings. The Cats have received 102 frees and given away only 58. St Kilda (+23) sit second but are +21 behind the Cats, while the Western Bulldogs (+18) are third just clear of Richmond (+10) who have often been at the other end of the FK Ladder. As mentioned earlier, Vic teams make up the top eight with Essendon (+8), Hawthorn (+3), North Melbourne (+2)and Melbourne (+1) all with positive differentials. Down the bottom is poor old GWS (-23)who finished second bottom last year. It's back to regular programming for a Dimma-coached team with Gold Coast (-18) second last, then West Coast (-14) third bottom after finishing last year in 15th on the FK Ladder SA pair Port Adelaide (-12) and Adelaide (-11) make up the bottom five. The eight interstate clubs all have negative differentials. Make of that what you will. Brisbane (-3), Sydney (-6), Carlton (-6), Fremantle (-8) and Collingwood (-8) make up the middle table but all have differentials in the red.

Well, I’m not complaining (yet) even though we're not getting paid enough frees 😉 Source: SEN

I believe that Kane Cornes is saying that the AFL is at a crisis point because of the discrepancy between the haves and the have nots in the competition. He might well have a point there but looking at the ladder after all teams have played four games, I can see North Melbourne and Melbourne on 3 wins and Port Adelaide in 8th place with leading contenders like Brisbane, Collingwood, Geelong, Adelaide and GWS all out of the eight. Yes, I understand it’s early days and there is the vagary of the fixture to take into account, but it’s definitely not crisis time quite yet.

Excellent effort by @binman flying almost wholly solo.

Jonty Ralphsmith remains definite that Melbourne does not have any hold on Prasad.

From the Zero Hanger team:-

Settle down. KC’s being sarcastic about it because there are no VFL games at all next week due to the State Game between the VFL and SANFL associated with the Gather Round.

The way to burst the Gold Coast bubble is with pressure, something which they have yet to have been tested with so far this season. Geelong suffered a meltdown in humid conditions in Carrara in their opening game when they were without key experienced players in Cameron and Dangerfield. Their two other wins were against West Coast and Richmond and the pressure which those teams are capable of applying was on display yesterday. One of our main issues is our poor starts. Obviously, if we concede early goals to a team like the Suns, we’re in a bit of strife but if we hit hard from the start and apply the pressure, we are in with a chance.

Port Adelaide’s first four matches for the season were against North Melbourne, Essendon, West Coast and Richmond. The four bottom teams from last year. They would have been expecting to do better than 2 - 2 after four games.

The Melbourne team has been changed to reflect Bayley Fritsch’s foot injury and replacement by Bailey Laurie. I’ve also added Fritsch and Trent Rivers to the injury list.

Correct - there’s no VFL apart from the game vs SANFL which is part of Gather Round. The next VFL game following this weekend apart from that game is on April 17.

Best players for the Stingrays were: Wil Antrobus, Corey Ah-Mu, Dylan Linden, Cooper White, Marcus Prasad, Orlando Clark Prasad kicked 2 goals, Ah-Mu 1. Hopefully, the club will clear up the issue of both players eligibility to be drafted for Melbourne as NGA players. Jett Flower who is not tied to the Demons was again named in the Eastern Ranges best players.

Another connection between the club and its great Norm Smith era has ended with the passing of his son Peter after a long illness at the age of 78. Peter Smith was recruited to the club from Melbourne Grammar with a reputation as a skilled goalkicker. After training with the Demons at the end of 1965, he was signed as a supplementary list player, but he earned promotion to the main list after dominating the final practice match of 1966. He played 23 games as a second forward and ruck over two years, before departing the club after the 1967 season when members rejected his father's bid to join the committee. He moved to Carlton where he joined Demon great Ron Barassi who was coaching the Blues and strung together 15 more VFL matches but struggled for senior games behind Alex Jesaulenko and Brian Kekovich. He continued his career in the VFA at Port Melbourne and Coburg where he was a noted goal kicker. Smith returned to Melbourne as a runner under Ron Barassi in 1981 and was involved in a fracas with David Rhys-Jones of South Melbourne in Round 18 of that year which resulted in a four match suspension for the fiery Swan who ironically, was later awarded the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground playing for Carlton in the 1987 Grand Final. Wishing Peter’s family and friends our sincere condolences.

Here’s the list of players for tomorrow in jumper number order (includes emergencies):- CASEY DEMONS vs BOX HILL HAWKS 19. Xavier Taylor 20. Thomas Matthews 21. Matt Jefferson 26. Jed Adams 27. Max Heath 38. Oscar Berry 39. Ricky Mentha Jnr 40. Riley Onley 42. Aidan Johnson 43 Jack Henderson 44. Luker Kentfield 45. Andy Moniz-Wakefield 52. Riley Bonner 53. Tyson Sruk 56. Luis D'Angelo 60 Louis Hodder 61. Toby Sinnema 64. Ethan Stanley 66. Jobe Scapin 68. Brayden Laplanche 70. Nate Pipicelli 72. Luke Cheffers 73. Lachlan Bryce 74. Wardell Lual 75. Jesse Craven 76. Jarrod Gatt

Updated in the opening thread.

Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralScouting Notes: 2026 Talent League - Round 2Round 2 of the Talent League saw prospects produce breakout games, and stand up in the absence of key personnel.#3 Jett Flower Defender/Midfielder | 183cm | 25/05/2009 Stats: 25 disposals, 5 marks, 9 tackles Flower is a familiar name to those in the know, as the grandson of late Melbourne champion, Robert. He was outstanding for Eastern in stifling conditions, first down back and eventually in midfield. His competitive nature and willingness to scrap for possession saw him earn the positional switch, ending as the Ranges' top ball winner. Flower is just as capable as a run-and-gun type, entrusted with kick-in duties and driving his legs on the rebound. On Saturday, the bottom-ager's hunt and repeat efforts were the standout.

Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralScouting Notes: 2026 Talent League - Round 2Round 2 of the Talent League saw prospects produce breakout games, and stand up in the absence of key personnel.2026 Talent League: Round 2 Team of the Week A few players of note there starting with grandfather/son Jett Flower (not tied to the MFC) and some Melbourne NGA prospects who may or may not be eligible for the Demons depending on how the rule changes pan out.

Who is his father? Cameron Bruce is situated in Brisbane as an assistant coach to the Lions. According to Wikipedia, his children’s names are Holly and Benjamin.