Whispering_Jack

The following six players joined their clubs as automatic category B rookie selections today: Jayden Nguyen (Essendon) Lachlan Gulbin (Gold Coast) Josaia Delana (GWS Giants) Ricky Mentha (Melbourne) Benny Barrett (Port Adelaide) Malakai Champion (West Coast)

I hope all’s going well with both halves and that you can get to see the boys in person when they return from their country trip.

A few bonuses from attending my first Melbourne training session of the preseason:- • I had heard in the media that most of the players drafted over the previous two nights would not be attending their club training sessions this week but would be joining in next week to give them a break before the start of the hard work of the preseason but it was gratifying to see all three MFC draftees in attendance. We’re not pussies! The two young guns look impressive. Harvey Langford looks a big unit, strong and very much at home with the group having worked with them a year ago as an Academy train on player. I sense that like Clarrie back when he started, Langford is a chance to make his debut in Round 1. Xavier Lindsay is closing in on his recovery from a PCL incurred on the eve of the Coates Talent League finals and ran sprints on the boundary with Charlie Spargo - both ran well and look to be well advanced in their respective recoveries. Aidan Johnson was a surprise attendee given that he was only drafted 12 hours earlier. It seems that not long ago, he was your typical country big man, carrying a bit of weight (and throwing it around) who trimmed down a bit at Werribee on the way to a VFL flag. He wasn’t drafted to continue the journey at Casey but is seriously on a trajectory to continue his physical build up to do what the two young draftees are planning - to be playing AFL football regularly at the elite level. • Christian Petracca was present on the training track with his club for the first time since the Kings Birthday debacle. It took no time at all to show the small group of Demon faithful and his teammates that he has lost none of his class and ability. He’s almost back in town. • And if he’s closing in on town, then Clarry’s in the CBD for the first time in almost two years, give or take a bit of work needed on his blisters. He’s certainly looking determined to make up for lost time and backing that up with a fitter and trimmer body shape than he had at this time 12 months ago • The first weeks of preseason are reserved for the players in years 1 to 4 with Caleb Windsor, Jacob van Rooyen, Daniel Turner and Tracc’s understudy Koltyn Tholstrup with the rockstar looks, standing out. • Despite all the bonuses of the day, I made the big mistake of forgetting the Aerogard and the combination of flies and heat made it difficult to concentrate on each individual training drill. I therefore defer to our regular track watchers who are more onto the ins and outs of today’s preseason training session than I. However, what I can say is that after a tough twelve months for the Demons, I can see plenty of blue sky coming up in the season ahead.

So that explains it. Welcome Ricky Mentha! And there’s nothing stopping us from finding an Irishman who can play footy and putting them on the Category B list.

I could be mistaken (the rules seem to change so often) but by my reckoning, we currently have five Category A rookies after elevating Jake Melksham and Judd McVee onto the primary list. They are Kynan Brown, Marty Hore, Luker Kentfield,Oliver Sestan and Will Verrell. I read somewhere that Andy Moniz-Wakefield who is Category B can remain a rookie for another year. If that’s the case, then we have one more Category A vacancy but don’t take that as gospel.

In line with the general mood around Demonland, we're seeking legal advice on this. Clearly, we have been defamed because the Age had the temerity to put us last on that list when we clearly should have been placed first.

I hope you haven't misconstrued the situation. These guys are aiming to play at the highest level. Someone even mentioned that Johnson is at the club to be a filler at Casey. Make no mistake, the selectors were doing their job last night. They might have picked him at 68 but their intention was to get him to a standard where he has a regular role at Melbourne.

Nice little shimmy from #5 suggesting he’s back in town. Well, Punt Road is close enough to town for me.

Who’s the bloke in the number 5 again?

Odd spot: The first player who Melbourne ever drafted was A. Johnson who was the first pick in the first ever national draft in 1981 … AND … the last player Melbourne drafted was A. Johnson at Pick 68 in this year’s national draft.

A mature age (24 years), key forward/ruck from Werribee via Lavington in the Ovens & Murray League. Johnson is a 193cm athletic brute who imposes himself on the contest.

Last night’s talking points ended with the perfect segue into tonight which gets underway at 7.00pm. TALKING POINTS | 2024 AFL Draft: Night One After a night of drama and plenty of bolters, there is still plenty of talent left off the board. Perhaps most significantly, key forwards Jack Whitlock and Jobe Shanahan were overlooked for the quality midfield and utility talent available. They will be in high demand to start night two, and may even pique Richmond's interest first off the board. Another consideration for the Tigers will be leading ruck prospect Alex Dodson, who would nicely round out their rebuilding spine. Elsewhere, the Western Bulldogs hold two of the next four selections and could look at some running power in Hamish Davis, or explosiveness with Tom Gross. Ruck/forward Thomas Sims is another key position prospect who will be high on many clubs' boards and may warrant a trade up the order. The likes of Christian Moraes and Jasper Alger have plenty of links in the next 10 selections or so and will likely also find homes quickly. On top of the four first round bids, another three may be placed early on night two. Giants Academy ruck Logan Smith should attract attention, while St Kilda will have first dibs on NGA products Lennox Hofmann and Adrian Cole in a similar range. Meanwhile, Carlton will be hoping to hear a bid for Ben Camporeale after its pick 40. And when that’s done, there’s the question of what is now Melbourne’s Pick 75.

TALKING POINTS | 2024 AFL Draft: Night One My own key takeaway was the slow start to the night’s selections but once it got going, the selections moved a reasonable rate. I’m a bit more pessimistic about how things will pan out tonight. It could be a slow trudge to the finishing line with the predicted volume of live trades.

That's the current list, noting that some clubs will be passing because they may have an excess number of picks or want to use the picks for the supplementary draft.

A club by club look at the picks left for tonight:- Adelaide: 58, 74 Brisbane Lions: 46, 47, 49, 56, 59, 66, 69, 95, 99 Carlton: 40, 55, 63, 64, 67 Collingwood: 45, 48, 53, 61, 78 Essendon: 37, 39, 43, 60, 91, 97 Fremantle: 34, 62, 77, 85 Geelong: 42, 50, 70, 80 Gold Coast: 57, 90, 96 GWS Giants: 36, 93, 98 Hawthorn: 35, 65, 71 Melbourne: 75 North Melbourne: 54, 72, 82 Port Adelaide: 33, 38, 94 Richmond: 28, 89 St Kilda: 32, 51, 76, 84 Sydney Swans: 41, 52, 81, 87 West Coast Eagles: 30, 44, 68, 73, 83, 88 Western Bulldogs: 29, 31, 79, 86, 92

It all starts again at the same time tonight (more or less). Twenty-seven players already know their fate. It’s been estimated that between 35 & 45 more will be selected tonight. UPDATE: Here are tonight's selections - ROUND TWO 28 Richmond Thomas Sims (Northern Knights/Vic Metro) 29 Western Bulldogs Lachie Jaques (Geelong Falcons/Vic Metro) 30 West Coast Eagles Jobe Shanahan (Bendigo Pioneers/Vic Country) 31 Western Bulldogs Josh Dolan (Sandringham Dragons/Vic Metro) 32 St Kilda James Barrat (Bendigo Pioneers/Vic Country) 33 Port Adelaide Jack Whitlock (Murray Bushrangers/Vic Country) 34 Fremantle Charlie Nicholls (Central District/South Australia) 35 Hawthorn Noah Mraz (Dandenong Stingrays/Vic Country) 36 GWS Giants Jack Ough (GWV Rebels/Vic Country) 37 Essendon Kayle Gerreyn (West Perth/Western Australia) 38 Port Adelaide Christian Moraes (Eastern Ranges/Vic Metro) 39 Essendon Angus Clarke (Glenelg/South Australia) 40 Carlton Harry O'Farrell (Calder Cannons/Vic Metro) ROUND THREE 41 Sydney Swans Riley Bice (Werribee VFL/NSW-ACT) 42 Brisbane Lions (BID MATCHED) Ty Gallop (Brisbane Lions Academy/Queensland) 43 Carlton (BID MATCHED) Ben Camporeale (Glenelg/South Australia) 44 Geelong Jay Polkinghorne (Norwood/South Australia) 45 St Kilda Hugh Boxshall (Claremont/Western Australia) 46 West Coast Eagles Tom Gross (Oakleigh Chargers/Vic Metro) 47 Collingwood Joel Cochrane (Sydney Swans Academy/NSW-ACT) 48 West Coast Eagles Lucca Grego (Western Jets/Vic Metro) 49 Gold Coast Suns Cooper Bell (GWS Giants Academy/NSW-ACT) 50 Collingwood Charlie West (WWT/South Australia) 51 Western Bulldogs Sam Davidson (Richmond VFL/Victoria) 52 Geelong Jacob Molier (Sturt/South Australia) 53 St Kilda Alex Dodson (Sturt/South Australia) 54 Carlton (BID MATCHED) Lucas Camporeale (Glenelg/South Australia) 55 Sydney Swans Riak Andrew (Dandenong Stingrays/Vic Country) 56 Collingwood Will Hayes (Claremont/Western Australia) ROUND FOUR 57 North Melbourne Luke Urquhart (East Fremantle/Western Australia) 58 Richmond Jasper Alger (Oakleigh Chargers/Vic Metro) 59 Adelaide Tyler Welsh (WWT/South Australia) 60 St Kilda Patrick Said (Calder Cannons/Vic Metro) 61 Essendon Rhys Unwin (GWV Rebels/Vic Country) 62 Western Bulldogs Luke Kennedy (Sandringham Dragons/Vic Metro) 63 Fremantle Jaren Carr (South Fremantle/Western Australia) 64 Hawthorn Cody Anderson (Eastern Ranges/Vic Metro) 65 West Coast Eagles Hamish Davis (Claremont/Western Australia) 66 Geelong Lennox Hofmann (Sandringham Dragons/Vic Metro) ROUNDS FIVE TO NINE 67 North Melbourne River Stevens (Geelong Falcons/Vic Country) 68 Melbourne Aidan Johnson (Werribee VFL/NSW-ACT) 69 Geelong Keighton Matofai-Forbes (Western Jets/Vic Metro) 70 Essendon Zak Johnson (Northern Knights/Vic Metro) 71 GWS Giants Logan Smith (GWS Academy/NSW-ACT)

The remainder of the 2024 AFL National Draft after Day One:- ROUND TWO 28 Richmond 29 Western Bulldogs 30 West Coast 31 Western Bulldogs 32 St Kilda 33 Port Adelaide 34 Fremantle 35 Hawthorn 36 GWS Giants 37 Essendon 38 Port Adelaide 39 Essendon 40 Carlton ROUND THREE 41 Sydney Swans 42 Geelong 43 Essendon 44 West Coast Eagles 45 Collingwood 46 Brisbane Lions 47 Brisbane Lions 48 Collingwood 49 Brisbane Lions 50 Geelong 51 St Kilda 52 Sydney 53 Collingwood ROUND FOUR 54 North Melbourne 55 Carlton 56 Brisbane Lions 57 Gold Coast Suns 58 Adelaide 59 Brisbane Lions 60 Essendon 61 Collingwood 62 Fremantle 63 Carlton 64 Carlton 65 Hawthorn 66 Brisbane Lions 67 Carlton 68 West Coast Eagles 69 Brisbane Lions 70 Geelong 71 Hawthorn ROUND FIVE 72 North Melbourne 73 West Coast Eagles 74 Adelaide 75 Melbourne 76 St Kilda 77 Fremantle 78 Collingwood 79 Western Bulldogs 80 Geelong 81 Sydney Swans ROUND SIX 82 North Melbourne 83 West Coast Eagles 84 St Kilda 85 Fremantle 86 Western Bulldogs 87 Sydney Swans ROUND SEVEN 88 West Coast Eagles ROUND EIGHT 89 Richmond 90 Gold Coast Suns 91 Essendon 92 Western Bulldogs 93 GWS Giants 94 Port Adelaide 95 Brisbane Lions ROUND NINE 96 Gold Coast Suns 97 Essendon 98 GWS Giants 99 Brisbane Lions

Confirmed that we are now sitting on Pick 75. Get set for several excruciating hours of wait time because the recruiters are getting their calculators ready for pick swaps galore.

Harvey Langford on Grand Final Night 2021

One of the changes we’re going to see in the very near future are the players’ jumper numbers. As things stand - 2025 Melbourne numbers — 1. Steven May 2. Jacob van Rooyen 3. Christian Salem 4. Judd McVee 5. Christian Petracca 6. Caleb Windsor 7. Jack Viney 8. Jake Lever 9. Charlie Spargo 10. 11. Max Gawn 12. 13. Clayton Oliver 14. Jack Billings 15. Ed Langdon 16. Bailey Laurie 17. Jake Bowey 18. Jake Melksham 19. 20. 21. Matt Jefferson 22. Blake Howes 23. Shane McAdam 24. Trent Rivers 25. Tom McDonald 26. Jed Adams 27. Marty Hore 28. Will Verrall 29. 30. 31. Bayley Fritsch 32. Tom Sparrow 33. Tom Fullarton 34. 35. Harry Petty 36. Kysaiah Pickett 37. Kade Chandler 38. Oliver Sestan 39. Koltyn Tholstrop 40. Taj Woewodin 41. Kynan Brown 42. Daniel Turner 43. 44. Luker Kentfield 45. Andy Moniz-Wakefield 50. Indications from early summer training are that the Kolt is going to move from 39 to 12.

Lasted 2 minutes. Goodbye

I tipped this!

That’s 5 minutes of my life I want back. They should have announced him straight away. They told the kid on Monday night!

Nathan Jones will be handing over the Demon jumper to the players we select tonight. Hopefully to Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay.