Whispering_Jack

The Spargo play on is the one that continues to amaze me after watching the vision again and again. The time difference between the whistle and the play on was minimal. It gave Spargo no time at all to assess the fact that he had been paid the mark and there seemed to be nothing to indicate that he was doing anything other than going back to take a shot at goal. Worse decision in a game where many poor calls were made. Was that Nicholls?

Callum Twomey reports that potential No.1 pick Jason Horne has changed his name to Jason Horne-Francis, as a nod to the role his step-father and former AFL player Fabian Francis has played in his life. Francis was originally recruited to play for Melbourne but played only 1 game before moving to the Brisbane Bears (22 games) and finally to Port Adelaide (86 games). Horne-Francis is a certainty to end up at North Melbourne.

Does anyone know how Tim Stanes who was a founder of Demonology is traveling? We used to see him at various combined Demonland/Demonology functions including the pre game get togethers at the Mountain View Hotel but it’s been a while and last time I heard he was unwell.

And look at that! Our 2 remaining games are against teams in the top 4. A disgrace.

Wonder how retirement will effect Adelaide’s Tom Lynch in his game against Melbourne this week. Always liked him as a player and thought he might have fitted in well with us a few years back.

Melbourne approached the game like millionaires and paid the price. It was also a day of infamy for the umpires. THE TEAMS ADELAIDE B: T. Doedee 39 J. Butts 41 N. Murray 28 HB: B. Smith 33 C. Jones 1 L. Brown 16 C: L. Sholl 38 B. Keays 2 P. Seedsman 11 HF: N. McHenry 25 T. Walker 13 S. Berry 21 F: J. Rowe 31 R. Thilthorpe 7 D. Fogarty 32 Foll: R. O'Brien 43 R. Laird 29 R. Sloane 9 I/C: J. Kelly 8 S. McAdam 23 D. Mackay 14 H. Schoenberg 27 Emerg: B. Frampton 22 W. Hamill 17 A. McPherson 36 R. O'Connor 37 In: N. McHenry N. Murray T. Walker Out: B. Frampton (omitted) W. Hamill (omitted) A. McPherson (omitted) R. O'Connor (omitted) MELBOURNE B: M. Hibberd 14 S. May 1 J. Lever 8 HB: N. Jetta 39 H. Petty 35 J. Hunt 29 C: A Brayshaw 10 C. Petracca 5 E. Langdon 15 HF: J. Jordon 23 T. McDonald 25 A. Neal-Bullen 30 F: C. Spargo L. Jackson 6 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn 11 C. Oliver 13 K. Pickett 36 I/C: J. Harmes 4 J. Melksham 18 T. Rivers S. Weideman 26 Sub: T. Sparrow 32 Emerg: B. Brown 50 K. Chandler In: L. Jackson N. Jetta T. Sparrow Out: B. Brown (omitted) K. Chandler (omitted) C. Salem (groin)

6,5,4,3,2,1 please

Longest quarter in AFL history?

The irony is that any result in that game wasn’t going to do much for the participants. The Hawks went from pick 2 to pick 4 and Collingwood’s first pick stands at 37 - the Pies sold their original first pick to GWS Giants last year never thinking they would finish so low. They will struggle to make much impact in this coming draft once they use up most of their points to get father-son Nick Daicos.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the last time we played a game. Victoria went back into lockdown, Jack Viney had his brain fade, the Olympics came to an end and there have been upsets galore among many of the fancied AFL teams. Melbourne knows full well the heartache of defeat at this point of the season to teams placed below them on the ladder as much as it does the value of victory tonight in the West. Bring your pressure game, attack with ferocity and know that top spot is there for the taking!!!

The bidding system for father–sons and academies works this way - * we assume the player is eligible as a father–son (and has accepted nomination to the club) or academy as the case may be. • Each draft pick is assigned a value (with No. 1 starting at 3000 points, declining exponentially until No. 74 which has no value), which is regressed from historical player salary data. • During the draft, any club may bid for a father–son eligible player with any draft pick. • The father's club, if it wishes to select the son, must then use its next one or more draft picks until the total points value of the surrendered picks adds up to the value of the draft pick used by the bidding, less a discount – which is either 20% of the bid value or 197 points (equivalent to pick No. 56), whichever is greater. Any points left over after reaching the bid value result in the draft pick being shuffled down the order. • The club which originally made the bid then has the next selection in the draft. The same bidding process also works for the academies with the exception that in the case of clubs other than the New South Wales and Queensland clubs, a bid for draft selection cannot be matched by the club to which the academy player is attached. New bidding system for father-sons, academies

Bigfooty’s Ed Pascoe (eDPS) who has a thread on the draft hopefuls has to date left Andrew out of his monthly Top 20s. He was asked about him and this was his response:- “He is in the 15-30 range for me at the moment and could find his way into my top 20 next month still. He is very raw I can’t recall a player as raw as him being talked about as a top 10 pick in my time of covering the draft, he will take a very long time to reach his peak and when you have all these midfielders who will no doubt come on a lot quicker it would take a brave club to take him ahead of day a Ben Hobbs who could be a high level midfielder for over 10 years where as Mac could be one of the best talls in the game in half that time. “No doubting his athletic ability and talent but for me he is far to raw to even consider in the top 10 when you have so many midfielders in this draft impressing.”

AFL Draft Central dissects Mac Andrew’s most recent game for the Dandenong Stingrays on a quarter by quarter basis in this article:- NAB League Player Focus: Mac Andrew (Dandenong Stingrays)

Shane will be interviewed on This is your Sporting Life on SEN at 10.00am. Should be of interest to all of us especially with the possibility of his son Taj coming to the club as a father/son selection in the next draft.

Football is about many things but, as Paul Roos noted when he came to the club, one of the important aspects of a club ultimately becoming successful is that thing often described as it’s “culture”. Walker can’t be drafted because he’s not available as he’s still an Adelaide player. If that situation changed and he were available, it’s unlikely that those in charge would risk the club’s reputation, its unity of purpose and its culture for a player who has shown he has so little respect for others as this man has. A thousand times “no”.

Fair go. The GWS seconds beat the Casey Demons not long ago.

Extraordinary situation at the GWS Giants with injuries. Josh Kelly has now withdrawn with a quad injury which means they’ve made eight changes from last week's loss to Port Adelaide - Phil Davis (concussion), Jacob Hopper (concussion), Shane Mumford (back), Jesse Hogan (soreness), Tom Green (hamstring) Daniel Lloyd (ankle) and Sam Reid (ankle) already ruled out during the week. Would have been handy a month ago when we played them.

That takes someone more tech savvy than me.

Steven May on SEN today - “At Melbourne we have been trying to educate and raise awareness regarding racial vilification. The person at the Crows who came forward is extremely brave, and I don't think that would have happened a few years ago.”

Adelaide Crows' forward Taylor Walker will miss six games and make a $20,000 contribution to an Indigenous programme after making a derogatory comment against a North Adelaide Roosters player. There is no place in football or in society for racism. His career must be in the balance.

There’s an article in the Herald Sun that’s behind a pay wall. It’s entitled, “NAB League Super Rankings: Top 50 players ranked after Round 15” by Chris Cavanagh. Summary:- * Nick Daicos missed Sunday’s NAB League match with calf soreness but there’s nothing to worry about. He remains second on the Herald Sun NAB League Super Rankings. * Collingwood NGA member Youseph Dib starred through the midfield for Oakleigh in Daicos’ absence. * Northern Knights inside midfielder Joel Trudgeon again racked up the highest KFC SuperCoach score of the weekend in the NAB League with 200 points. TOP-FIVE SUPERCOACH SCORES FROM EACH ROUND 15 NAB LEAGUE GAME WESTERN JETS v GEELONG FALCONS 150 – Massimo D’Ambrosio (Western Jets) 136 – Mitchell Knevitt (Geelong Falcons) 130 – Blake Reid (Geelong Falcons) 127 – Max Annadale (Geelong Falcons) 120 – Oliver Northam (Geelong Falcons) DANDENONG STINGRAYS v EASTERN RANGES 153 – Will Bravo (Dandenong Stingrays) 140 – Max Hall (Eastern Ranges) 138 – Jake Soligo (Eastern Ranges) 120 – Josh Clarke (Eastern Ranges) 112 – Jake Arundell (Eastern Ranges) MURRAY BUSHRANGERS v CALDER CANNONS 158 – Ethan Warburton (Murray Bushrangers) 155 – Zac Taylor (Calder Cannons) 142 – Tom Bracher (Murray Bushrangers) 121 – Flynn Gentile (Calder Cannons) 120 – Josh Goater (Calder Cannons) GIPPSLAND POWER v OAKLEIGH CHARGERS 130 – Mitchell Moschetti (Gippsland Power) 122 – Youseph Dib (Oakleigh Chargers) 120 – David Brinker-Ritchie (Gippsland Power) 113 – Luis D’Angelo (Gippsland Power) 110 – Chance Doultree (Gippsland Power) GWV REBELS v SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS 167 – Marcus Herbert (GWV Rebels) 134 – Luke Cleary (Sandringham Dragons) 133 – Ben Hobbs (GWV Rebels) 127 – Mitch Owens (Sandringham Dragons) 119 – Ollie Lowe (Sandringham Dragons) NORTHERN KNIGHTS v BENDIGO PIONEERS 200 – Joel Trudgeon (Northern Knights) 128 – Harvey Gallagher (Bendigo Pioneers) 115 – Joel Fitzgerald (Northern Knights) 112 – Angus Seivers (Northern Knights) 111 – Jackson Bowne (Northern Knights) NAB LEAGUE SUPER RANKINGS (THROUGH ROUND 15 – MINIMUM 2 GAMES PLAYED) Ranking, Player, Club, Position, 2021 Games, 2021 Ave. KFC SuperCoach Points 1. Joel Trudgeon (Northern Knights), MID, 7 games, 191 points 2. Nick Daicos (Oakleigh Chargers), MID/FWD, 5 games, 159 points 3. Connor MacDonald (Dandenong Stingrays), MID, 4 games, 148 points 4. Samuel Frost (GWS Academy), MID, 4 games, 147 points 5. Ned Long (Northern Knights), MID, 3 games, 144 points 6. Pierce Roseby (Sydney Swans Academy), MID, 3 games, 142 points 7. Patrick Parnell* (Murray Bushrangers), GEN DEF, 4 games, 141 points 8. Bodhi Uwland (Gold Coast Academy), KEY DEF, 2 games, 141 points 9. Felix Rogers (Sydney Swans Academy), GEN DEF, 3 games, 133 points 10. Josh Ward (Northern Knights), MID, 5 games, 133 points 11. Josh Rachele (Murray Bushrangers), GEN DEF, 4 games, 130 points 12. Noah Gribble (Geelong Falcons), GEN DEF, 8 games, 130 points 13. Oliver Davis (Tasmania), MID, 2 games, 129 points 14. Oliver Sanders (Tasmania), MID, 3 games, 128 points 15. Fraser Marris (Greater Western Victoria Rebels), MID, 7 games, 127 points 16. Matthew Hamblin (GWS Academy), GEN FWD, 4 games, 127 points 18. Joel Fitzgerald (Northern Knights), GEN DEF, 8 games, 126 points 19. Zac Taylor (Calder Cannons), MID, 7 games, 126 points 20. Baynen Lowe (Tasmania), MID, 7 games, 124 points 21. Ben Hobbs (GWV Rebels), MID, 5 games, 124 points 22. Ewan MacPherson (Northern Knights), MID, 4 games, 122 points 23. Andy Moniz Wakefield (Northern Territory), MID, 2 games, 121 points 24. Nick Hodgson (GWV Rebels), MID, 7 games, 121 points 25. Chance Doultree (Gippsland Power), MID, 6 games, 120 points 26. Sam Conforti (Bendigo Pioneers), MID, 5 games, 118 points 27. Jordan Endemann (Sydney Swans Academy), GEN DEF, 3 games, 117 points 28. Mitchell Knevitt (Geelong Falcons), MID, 8 games, 117 points 29. Zavier Maher (Murray Bushrangers), MID, 3 games, 116 points 30. Joshua Goater (Calder Cannons), MID, 7 games, 116 points 31. Noah Gadsby (Geelong Falcons), GEN DEF, 4 games, 115 points 32. Hugh Fidler (Brisbane Lions Academy), MID, 2 games, 115 points 33. Liam Conway (Western Jets), MID, 8 games, 114 points 34. Maximus Monaghan (GWS Academy), GEN FWD, 4 games, 114 points 35. Jake Soligo (Eastern Ranges), MID, 7 games, 114 points 36. Finn Callaghan (Sandringham Dragons), GEN DEF, 6 games, 112 points 37. Cody Raak (Western Jets), GEN DEF, 6 games, 111 points 38. Lachlan Riley (Sandringham Dragons), MID, 3 games, 111 points 39. Ned Moyle* (Oakleigh Chargers), RUCK, 4 games, 111 points 40. Joshua Green (GWS Academy), MID, 3 games, 111 points 41. Zac Young (Brisbane Lions Academy), MID, 2 games, 111 points 42. Henry Brown (Oakleigh Chargers), MID, 7 games, 110 points 43. Marcus Herbert (GWV Rebels), MID, 9 games, 109 points 44. Luke Fellows (GWS Academy), N/A, 4 games, 109 points 45. Flynn Lakey (Calder Cannons), MID, 9 games, 109 points 46. Flynn Gentile (Calder Cannons), MID, 8 games, 109 points 47. Angus Anderson (Sydney Swans Academy), MID, 2 games, 108 points 48. Jacob Edwards* (Sandringham Dragons), RUCK, 3 games, 107 points 49. William Bella (Gold Coast Academy), KEY FWD, 2 games, 107 points 50. Charlie McKay (Sandringham Dragons), MID, 9 games, 106 points *Recruited in the AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft

Can you show me where I’ve advocated that he should come to us? My position is that he is being overhyped in some quarters based on the amount of games he’s played this season and on what he’s achieved. That’s not his fault because we’ve gone through two lockdowns and he also missed a few weeks through concussion. I doubt whether any draft prospect who has reached top 10 in these sorts of draft discussions has done so little to get there. At this stage I don’t think he’s shown enough to warrant such high ranking. If Melbourne had pick 6 in this year’s draft, would you invest it on Mac Andrew?

Then there's AFL Draft Central which has him shooting up the charts and lighting up the big stage at #6. AFL Draft Central Power Rankings: August 2021

A wonderful gentleman with who used to bank at my bank branch in Elsternwick. Always friendly and smiling - especially after I told him he was one of my heroes when I was a kid. Condolences to his family and friends.

It seems that my mail was wrong and that Ed Pascoe hasn't gotten caught up in the hype.