Whispering_Jack

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

I don’t think so.

By mid October 1964 the football season was well and truly over. What a pity it is that we don’t have colour vision of this game in its entirety!

This really is outrageous considering the cost cutting required for the AFL’s clubs to survive this Covid19 ravaged season. Many good people in the football industry have lost jobs and been forced to make personal and financial sacrifices for the good of the game and these have been spread out across the board. From early on, Melbourne has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic for reasons that have been well documented but this one is extremely cutting*. On Thursday 3 September, the club had to fly up from its Maroochydore hub to Cairns for its Round 15 game v Sydney which was played in the evening. My understanding is that we had to undertake the grueling same day flight in a charter with Fremantle for “cost saving” reasons. The Dockers played Richmond a day earlier so we were required to go up on the same day as the match. We also had our game v Freo four days later. A win in either match would have seen us in the finals. This isn’t making excuses for two poor performances when a finals appearance was at stake and clearly, we know there’s no such thing as a level playing field in the AFL but I find it offensive that after being forced to travel in those circumstances to save the competition some coin and after the job losses and cost cutting in 2020, that the AFL is wasting $s in getting MCG grass to the grand final. Gil and his mates must really be smoking it if they think this is the right thing to do. At the very least, they should be taking it out of their salary. ‘Ridiculous waste’: MCG turf relocation leaves footy fans divided * no pun intended

The one playing for Collingwood tonight? No thanks.

They’re in front of our 56 point win over Collingwood from earlier this year.

Are the Pies coming off a 4 day break?

INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER (after Week 2 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. Geelong 17. Richmond 18. Brisbane 19. Brisbane 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. Geelong 34. Collingwood 35. Gold Coast 36. Port Adelaide 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. West Coast 53. Richmond 54. Sydney 55. Port Adelaide 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. Essendon 71. Richmond 72. Gold Coast 73. St Kilda 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. Geelong 89. Richmond 90. Brisbane 91. Port Adelaide * Fremantle have a third selection in Round Six

Pick 23 and next year’s second rounder should do it.

If he’s an indigenous player then wouldn’t he end up on one of the two WA club’s NGA Academies?

St. Kilda’s recruiters did a great job with their trading last year but they have a lot more work to do if they want to stay in the finals.

Some Facebook footage of Melbourne v Collingwood matches of the past. https://www.facebook.com/1552983461627202/posts/2742151826043687/?vh=e&extid=0&d=n

He’s nominated Carlton as his club of choice, so 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.

He’s nominated Brisbane as his club of choice, so 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.