Whispering_Jack

Report that Mia Austin who Carlton wants out is favouring a trade to Melbourne.

That one served about 30 years in prison. Like Reuben "Hurricane" Carter, he was convicted for "something that he never done". Our own Ricky Jackson was the same height (171cm) as Tommy Matthews and started at the club in 1986 after playing in junior teams at the Tigers. He had his moments but his career was cut short by injuries. He had a big season with the Demons in 1988 when we made the Grand Final but after that his impact declined and by 1991 he was traded to the Bulldogs where I believe he struggled to get a game.

We might well be in the middle of a test cricket season, the big golf tournaments are on, and people are preparing for the tennis, but while the football season is no longer at the forefront of our minds, we can never forget Robbie.

As to who takes up Bowey’s post Xavier Lindsay has the attributes needed and his youth should not stand against him. Let’s not forget that Jake came straight into the team in late 2021 and played in a premiership team a couple of months after making his debut.

According to this morning’s Herald Sun (quoting Melbourne footy boss Alan Richardson), “Jake will have surgery in the coming days to repair the lisfranc injury.”

… and that was quick melbournefc.com.auInjury Update | Bowey sidelinedJake Bowey has suffered a long-term foot injury.

I doubt that the injury would be of the severity to have him placed on an inactive list which would open up a SPP spot. For that to occur it would have to be long term and virtually season ending. I saw Bowsa at training on Friday in a moon boot and on crutches and if it’s an ankle ligament requiring surgery, then it would appear to be not dissimilar to what one of my grandsons copped playing in a VAFA C Grade final in September (torn ligament/syndesmosis). He’s been off crutches for a while and out of his moon boot for a couple of weeks but probably won’t get the go ahead to start running until the end of the month. If Bowey’s ready to start his own “preseason” on that basis (he’s a professional athlete and his injury might not be as severe), he won’t be ready to start it until a few weeks into the season. He’s probably out 6 months which is bad but not enough to warrant an SSP replacement.

Fine fiddle is what Nero was doing while Rome was burning. We’re not in that much of an emergency situation just quite yet.

I attended training with Andy and really appreciate the reports from him and the others who wrote about the session. I have little to offer above and beyond that aside from reiterating the memorable words of Dennis Denuto in The Castle, that I enjoyed "the vibe" of the session. There appears to be a more relaxed mood prevailing, in contrast to the last couple of seasons, which were clouded by off-field issues and injuries. Hopefully, this translates into a more successful outcome on the field when we turn up to watch the team play for points again.

Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralPROFILED: 2026 AFL Academy squadThe footballing calendar moves quickly and in the wake of this year's draft, eyes are already turning to the best of the 2026 crop.

Agree - none are any good but the Y2K is a shocker because it brings back memories of the silver gray monstrosity that we rarely won when we wore it.

One of my childhood heroes was Bob "Tassie" Johnson (2 December 1937 – 29 October 2015) who played with Melbourne from 1959 to 1969. The 189cm tall Johnson was originally signed to play for the Demons in 1958 from North Launceston but missed the entire season as they refused to clear him. Melbourne introduced two future captains in 1959 after its surprise defeat at the hands of Collingwood in the 1958 Grand Final - Hassa Mann and Johnson who gained the nickname “Tassie” to distinguish him from the other two Johnsons at the club, “Big Bob” and Trevor. Tassie played mainly at full back but was sometimes used in other defensive positions and in the ruck. He was a prodigious kick and his long drop kick outs after a point often penetrated into the centre of the ground. His achievements were many: 3 × VFL grand finals for 3 x VFL premierships: 1959, 1960, 1964 Melbourne captain: 1970 Melbourne Team of the Century (full back) Tasmanian Team of the Century (full back) Melbourne Hall of Fame Wore # 8 (most games for Melbourne in that number) Games - 202 Goals - 20 Finals - 11 Finals Goals - 2 Debut - Rd 1, 1959 v Richmond (PR) Final Game - Rd 20, 1969 v SM (LO) Debuted in 1959 at the age of 21 Retired in 1969 at the age of 31 Father of Tony Johnson (1981-83, U19's/Reserves) Awards/Achievements MFC Captain (1969) MFC Vice Captain (1967-68) 1966, 1968 2nd MFC Best & Fairest 1960, 1961 MFC Outstanding Service Award 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967 Victorian State Rep. 1968 Australian IR Rep. MFC Team of the Century MFC 150 Heroes Selection MFC Life Member MFC Hall of Fame Tasmanian Team of the Century Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame First Tasmanian to play 100 VFL games NTFA - North Launceston * 35 games & 30 goals for NL (1956-57) VFA - Box Hill Captain/Coach (1971) played 4 games (3 goals) One of my fondest memories apart from his premierships and his outstanding performances in defence was that he often featured on World of Sport in a segment that highlighted long kicking and the style of each player’s kicks where the judges would lift up a placard with a number up to 10. Tassie always did the Demons proud in that competition.

I’ve taken this fantastic Track Watch Report and accompanying photo from Cameron Burt on The DeeBrief Facebook page. Hope that’s okay and I haven’t breached any copyright ©️ ! 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 📝 @coachcavcam ventured down to training today: ▪️Hendo, McAdam, Vines and Tom Matthews didn’t train. They all completed an off field strength session. ▪️Bowey, AMW, Roo and Jeffo spent a huge part of their day running laps. Jeffo dealing with concussion from a couple weeks ago. ▪️Each drill Jared Rivers ran was about containing, keepings off and tackling. He produced three bloodied faces with those drills. Roo, Onley and Heath. ▪️CJ’s run and carry is so exciting, but just has to tidy up his foot skills. We’ll have a fun player to watch. ▪️Koz and Max stuck out massively in all simulation. Culley was really good, too - a big body. ▪️T Mac the best defender today. Chin super vocal in the front half. Onley is a big lad, who could surprise and Latrelle has such silky skills. ▪️Vibe of the session was hard work. It was drills ran by different line coaches treated as a circuit. Drill after drill rotating. Finished with some match sim and some transition work. Lots of running, they were cooked! ▪️Leading back at the ball carrier was a focus of the transition match sim drill. Big thanks to Cam Burt for this 🙏

They’re training tomorrow so that should tell us a few stories about how the injured players are faring.

Paul Guerra getting lost in a Victorian alpine region is a good omen for the club in terms of how the Demons are expected to fare in the coming season. The last time Melbourne people got lost in the Victorian snow country, it was in the 50s when we were winning premierships.

The great Norm Smith in his playing days

On the subject of Where Eagles Dare, here’s a great article from Code Sports ~ Inside Melbourne’s pre-season camp to Bright and the top of Mount Porepunkah Pretty ballsy of Steven King to lead his team to the site of the year’s biggest police manhunt. I assume he was assured that they were in no danger and that JvR sitting on a bullants nest was the most risky episode of the pre-season camp.

This happened a long time ago but it would have been a sensation today with social media making it a gripping story of life and possible death.

Kodah? In what universe do people make up names these days?

Did someone mention Round 17, 1964?

Two of the greatest ever Demons …

This is from a Facebook site VFL Rewind Radio Program about David Schwarz, one of my favourites, a player who could have been anything, give or take an ACL or three. And when he came back from his surgeries, he was still a champion. David Schwarz - 173 AFL Games. Melbourne BNF winner, One of the great centre half forwards of the 90’s. Very strong & Powerful. David signed at Melbourne Demons at just 14. David was a star at a young age playing junior footy for Sunbury before Melbourne invited him to come play and he first began in the under 19’s before making his AFL Debut in 1991. Image today one of the brightest AFL stars quitting to go work in a country town, well David did it at the back end of 91. He decided momentarily that footy wasn’t for him and spent a good part of quarter the year away from footy. Thankfully he was talked out of it and came back in round 2 in 1992. 92 was a breakout year for the Ox playing 22 games and averaging 16 disposals a game. 93 was a challenging year but 94 is when we seen his best. He kicked 60 goals in 94 and looked like he was about to challenge Wayne Carey to be one of the great centre half forwards of the game for years to come. This is unfortunately where the word knee enters the conversation. David first did his ACL in early 95 and defied the odds and came back 16 weeks later. In that return game he kicked 3 goals but sadly the week after he ruptured the ACL again. After taking the rest of 95 off he headed to Albury to play a practice game and did his knee again, resulting in missing the entire 96 season. It was a different time back then with knees. It’s not like today where we know it’s a 12 month absence including rehab, players often came back earlier but run the risk the ACL ligament hadn’t repaired fully. Round 11 1997. Pretty much 2 and a half years of no footy and David come back and performed well kicking 18 goals from 10 games. From then on David became a regular again until his retirement in 2002 with 1999 arguably being his best year after the knee injuries winning the Melbourne Bnf. In 2000 in Queens Kings Birthday Vs Collingwood he had a grear game kicking 2 goals and having 20 disposals. In 2000 David wouid take his Dees to a grand final and he had a great year kicking 31 goals He was a leader on the field, leading by example with his toughness. David retired in 2002 on 173 games. In his prime he was one of the toughest players we ever seen, injuries sadly stopped us from seeing his best but it was great he got to 173 games and finish his career off. Well done on a great career David

Cue @binman