Whispering_Jack

Once again, a lot of talk and speculation today with few highlights. Here are some points that of interest from AFL Trade Radio’s day - * Bombers will find it difficult to get the Dogs talking for Josh Dunkley. Draft picks won’t do it because any picks they can give will get absorbed for Next Generation Academy prospect and prospective number one draft selection Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and a player swap won’t do it either because Essendon doesn’t have the players who will make a difference for the Dogs like Josh Dunkley does; * The names Lochie O'Brien and Paddy Dow are part of the Saad trade conversations; * GWS believed to be the likely 2021 destination of Jesse Hogan; and * Richmond will release Jack Higgins and the Saints are said to be the most appropriate suitors.

Like to be a fly on the wall when Jesse meets up with Toby Greene.

Reuniting the Hogan / T Mac combination would be interesting.

I think that it would be fantastic to see him get to 300 games and Nathan Jones is a strong enough character to know that he can’t accept any games as gifts. He will earn them as he has done throughout his long career.

Not sure how the author of this piece can say that some of these players can make an immediate impact next season because most haven’t played this year. However, FWIW ... AFL Draft 2020: See which players are ready-made and will make an immediate impact next season

At this rate we are going to break an AFL record for the number of Smiths on a playing list. Norm must be up there in heaven beaming at the prospect.

That’s not Dr Evil but he is another one of our posters. Name escapes me at the moment.

Nothing much to report for today from AFL Trade Radio other than a regurgitation of what we’ve heard everywhere else over the past couple of days. Hardly worth staying tuned at the moment.

Kane Cornes just suggested on AFL Trade Radio that the Dees should consider a call to the Collingwood midfielder. “They’ve got all those inside mids, he would be the type of midfielder they need."

The opening day of AFL Trade Radio was more or less as expected given that the Trade and Free Agency Period hasn’t started yet. We had some list analysis including Melbourne as mentioned above and some discussion on players mentioned as likely to change clubs, most of which are already covered here on various threads. In the first instance, one of the restraints on clubs at the moment is the fact that the make up of list sizes for 2021 remains unclear. Other points of interest are:- * Jack Higgins could be on the way out at Richmond with Carlton a possible suitor. Melbourne has also been mentioned and my view is that if he’s fully overcome his health issues from late last year, he would be worth looking at as a small forward; * St Kilda is interested in securing Shaun McKernan who was recently delisted by Essendon. Again, I think the Demons might also look at him as a potential back up ruckman in the likely event that Braydon Preuss ends up at GWS; and * Essendon’s double play for the Dunkley brothers is still bubbling along despite the fact that Josh Dunkley still has two years left of his contract. The Demons delisted Kyle after the last game of the 2020 season. The other trade story that intrigues me is the situation with Collingwood wanting midfielder Adam Treloar out of the club ostensibly because of salary cap issues. The Pies must have been having some interesting list management meetings these days.

It’s back again and the first whisper of the week is ... Melbourne has its nose in front in the race for Isaac Smith. But is the delay on his decision because the Cats were still playing?

There are reports that we’re actually trying to get the real Jack Higgins (not the author).

I think Collingwood has denied the Neville Jetta story.

Storm, Vixens, Melbourne Cricket Club (District Cricket) won this year. Melbourne Renegades (BBL) and Melbourne United (NBL) last year. Melbourne Victory (A League) not so long ago. Any others? We must be due soon?

On the main topic, I think it’s unlikely we would let Harmes go and rightfully so.

Could be missing for a few games early in 2021.

I was disappointed that Simon Goodwin persisted in playing Harmes off half back for so long but also understand that the coach may have considered his midfield as somewhat one dimensional and was less inclined to use him as a tagger, therefore requiring Harmes to fulfill a different role. IMO that didn’t work out. While Tom Sparrow is also another of the same kind, we don’t know yet how far he can go with his development so clearly, if the club might feel it necessary to offload someone from the midfield, Harmes is a possibility. This would mean that the club has somebody in mind to recruit because you don’t let go lightly, a loyal player invested in the club like Harmes who supported the Demons as a kid. Do you have any intelligence that suggests the club is targeting a reasonably high value player that would necessitate offering Harmes as a trade?

The only look at football available in the period after the football season was postponed after round 1 was through the medium of old replays on Foxtel. I loved the 1991 game against North Melbourne when Allen Jakovich kicked 11 goals 8 behinds and one out on the full. His marking and kicking (including the scissor kick goal) were just so exciting and the game was enhanced by the fact that John Longmire’s six goal performance for the Kangaroos was pretty flash as well. We also had Darren Bennett and Garry Lyon in the team and they were also strong marks - and not to mention the sublime Jimmy Stynes in the ruck. The high marking of forwards, particularly in pack situations is almost completely out of the game and high scoring has dried up as a result of the way it’s played these days. The 20% reduction in game time this year hasn’t helped. Watching the Richmond v Brisbane game highlighted this. Tom Lynch took one strong contested mark but they were otherwise few and far between. I do like the way Ben Brown has played in the past but I’m not sure that we’re going to see too many full forwards produce 50 goal seasons in the future. Key forwards are going to need a few more arrows in their bows to succeed in the AFL in the years to come. Unfortunately, there aren’t many around like Jako these days.

The epilogue to the story of Melbourne’s premiership was the departure of its captain and 1964 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Trophy holder, Ronald Dale Barassi. The grand final marked his final appearance in club colours along with fellow six time premiership player, Frank “Bluey” Adams. In the months after the grand final, Carlton’s new president George Harris, desperate to have Barassi at Princes Park, offered him a lucrative contract to cross to the Blues as captain-coach. When it was announced in December 1964 that Barassi had accepted the offer, the hearts of thousands of Demon fans, young and old alike were broken. Worse was to come when the following season was a little more than half way over. After starting with eight wins on the trot, the Demons stumbled a little but were still poised to make the finals until it was announced that Norm Smith had been sacked as coach over a disagreement with the committee. The team lost their next game in the mud at Coburg against the Kangaroos under stand-in coach Checker Hughes. After a compromise was reached, Smith was reinstated but the team kept losing and slipped out of the finals for the first time in more than a decade. Since then, the quest for a premiership flag has proved elusive.

Only 8 entrants in the biggest event on grand final day and not a Demon in sight. This is yet another AFL staple that deserves an asterisk next to it - Statement: Runners revealed for 2020 Colgate Grand Final Sprint

Geelong recruiting guru Stephen Wells has been around for a long time and is one of the most respected of the AFL’s recruiting fraternity. This is a great story for those wondering how Geelong has managed to stay among the leading pack of AFL clubs year after year. It’s about a period of 39 days in October/November 2016 when Wells was busy wheeling and dealing his way to securing the players who are now one win away from delivering his club a premiership. The Architects: How Geelong tapped into a junior footy team to build a premiership-contending list And of course, he’s already secured one of the prize recruits of this year’s trade, free agency and draft period in GWS Giant forward Jeremy Cameron plus probably Higgins from North.

The impression I get from this is that in order for us to get a deal with Brown across the line, we need to offload some salary cap space ie move on one or two highly paid players like Tom McDonald to achieve this. Otherwise, others might come in over the top of us to claim him.

One of Brown’s issues in 2020 was his fitness. That being the case, one of the best arguments for him coming to the Melbourne Football Club could well be the presence at the Demos of fitness guru Darren Burgess, its strength and conditioning manager. If anyone can get him back on track and kicking goals, it’s this bloke.

Since he’s nominated Geelong as his club of choice, he’s no longer of direct relevance to the MFC recruiting drive. Shipping this thread off to the Melbourne Demons Board where it will stay unless the situation changes.

INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER (after Week 3 AFL 2020 Finals) ROUND ONE 1. Adelaide 2. North Melbourne 3. Sydney 4. Hawthorn 5. Gold Coast 6. Essendon 7. Carlton 8. Adelaide 9. North Melbourne 10. Fremantle 11. Geelong 12. Western Bulldogs 13. Geelong 14. Collingwood 15. St Kilda 16. Brisbane 17. Brisbane 18. Geelong 19. Richmond ROUND TWO 20. Adelaide 21. Hawthorn 22. Sydney 23. Melbourne 24. Gold Coast 25. North Melbourne 26. Port Adelaide 27. Carlton 28. Fremantle 29. Adelaide 30. West Coast 31. Port Adelaide 32. Richmond 33. Gold Coast 34. Port Adelaide 35. Geelong 36. Collingwood ROUND THREE 37. Western Bulldogs 38. Collingwood 39. Brisbane 40. Greater Western Sydney 41. Hawthorn 42. Essendon 43. Hawthorn 44. Adelaide 45. Carlton 46. Greater Western Sydney 47. Melbourne 48. Western Bulldogs 49. West Coast 50. Adelaide 51. Port Adelaide 52. Sydney 53. Port Adelaide 54. West Coast 55. Richmond ROUND FOUR 56. Sydney 57. North Melbourne 58. St Kilda 59. Hawthorn 60. Adelaide 61. Essendon 62. Melbourne 63. Melbourne 64. Brisbane 65. North Melbourne 66. Hawthorn 67. Essendon 68. Greater Western Sydney 69. Collingwood 70. Gold Coast 71. St Kilda 72. Essendon 73. Richmond ROUND FIVE 74. Adelaide 75. North Melbourne 76. Sydney 77. Hawthorn 78. Gold Coast 79. Essendon 80. Brisbane 81. Carlton 82. Greater Western Sydney 83. Melbourne 84. Western Bulldogs 85. West Coast 86. Collingwood 87. St Kilda 88. Brisbane 89. Port Adelaide 90. Geelong 91. Richmond * Fremantle have a third selection in Round Six