Whispering_Jack

Oh what a year 1956 was! … and a timely reminder that today is the first anniversary of Ronald Dale Barassi’s passing.

As Collingwood showed in 2022 and 2023 and Carlton last year until ⅔ of the way through this season, the real edge is the ability to win close games and to win from behind. We were overwhelmed by too many challenges in 2024 but there’s no reason why we can’t regain the edge in 2025. We still have a good core of our premiership team and with a good pre season run a number of our key players who had an interrupted 2024 can return to full health and fitness in 2025. Added to that is the fact that we have up and coming young players who are in the range of their careers where we should see rapid improvement. Based on where we finished, we should have a better fixture in terms of who we play and less interstate matches. I’m confident we will regain the edge and surprise a few of the naysayers around here.

One of my grandsons was in St Kilda’s Under 15 NGA squad in 2021 when I believe the criteria were different to today because he wouldn’t fit the current requirements. I think it’s safe to assume therefore that Tairon Ah-Mu had already been accepted into the Melbourne NGA squad when the rules were changed and the club did the right thing and continued to give him the benefit of their program. It’s good PR and allows the club to retain goodwill with the player and his family and also would hold it in good stead if it lobbied behind the scenes for a change in the rules. I hope this is the explanation.

There’s another way in which list changes could come about and that is via some of the lesser level trades that we see from time to time when clubs offer around players who are borderline to their needs. This could apply to contracted and uncontracted players so let’s not assume that our list is near to complete as we go into trading and drafting.

As much as I like the Swans to win this year’s flag (and then disappear next year like the last two AFL premiers), I’ve just recovered my urge to do some death riding. If Port Adelaide can reproduce the form of Round 21 against the Swans, our current pick 38 will shoot up the charts to pick 36. Who knows what that little extra edge might deliver us in the hands of JT (in who we trust)?

A slight change in order with the Giants going out in straight sets ROUND ONE 1 Richmond 2 North Melbourne 3 West Coast Eagles 4 Adelaide 5 Melbourne 6 Gold Coast Suns 7 St Kilda 8 Essendon 9 Fremantle 10 Fremantle (tied to Collingwood) 11 Carlton 12 Gold Coast Suns (tied to Western Bulldogs) 13 Hawthorn 14 GWS Giants 15 Brisbane 16 Geelong 17 Fremantle (tied to Port Adelaide) 18 Sydney END OF ROUND ONE 19 Sydney Swans (tied to North Melbourne assistance package) 20 Gold Coast Suns (tied to North Melbourne assistance package) ROUND TWO 21 Richmond 22 North Melbourne 23 West Coast Eagles 24 St Kilda (tied to Adelaide) 25 Adelaide (tied to Melbourne) 26 Gold Coast Suns 27 Fremantle (tied to St Kilda) 28 Essendon 29 Richmond (tied to Fremantle) 30 Hawthorn (tied to Collingwood) 31 Carlton 32 Western Bulldogs 33 Collingwood (tied to Hawthorn) 34 GWS Giants 35 Gold Coast Suns (tied to Brisbane Lions) 36 Geelong 37 Port Adelaide 38 Melbourne (tied to Sydney Swans) ROUND THREE 39 Richmond 40 North Melbourne 41 Richmond (tied to West Coast Eagles) 42 Adelaide 43 St Kilda (tied to Melbourne) 44 Western Bulldogs (tied to Gold Coast Suns) 45 Melbourne (tied to St Kilda) 46 Gold Coast Suns (tied to Essendon) 47 Richmond (tied to Fremantle) 48 Collingwood 49 GWS Giants (tied to Carlton) 50 Melbourne (tied to Western Bulldogs) 51 Collingwood (tied to Hawthorn) 52 GWS Giants 53 Brisbane 54 Geelong 55 Port Adelaide 56 Sydney Swans ROUND FOUR 57 Richmond 58 North Melbourne 59 West Coast Eagles 60 Adelaide 61 Melbourne 61 Carlton (tied to Gold Coast Suns) 62 Fremantle (tied to St Kilda) 64 North Melbourne (tied to Essendon) 65 Carlton (tied to Fremantle) 66 Richmond (tied to a Collingwood) 67 Hawthorn (tied to Carlton) 68 Carlton (tied to Western Bulldogs) 69 Brisbane (tied to Hawthorn) 70 GWS Giants 71 Gold Coast (tied to Brisbane Lions) 72 Geelong 73 Richmond (tied to Port Adelaide) 74 Hawthorn (tied to Sydney Swans)

Update (1): The Herald Sun’s moderator decided not to publish the above comment. I wasn’t surprised but I don’t give up easily so I had another try. Update (2): They published the second comment (apologies to my wife for forgetting to identify myself this time). Update (3): I’m not going to give up on this one. Robbo used a poll on his site to claim there was some “mutiny” among Demon fans against Simon Goodwin when, as a senior experienced journalist, he would know that the poll does not support such a claim. He should apologise to Goody, the club and supporters. I’m looking at my options as to how best my objection to this should be made.

They will also enter 2025 with some of the disadvantages that teams have in their position. Such as a much tougher fixture, no top ten draft pick, a shorter pre season which might affect how they perform through the season and how they cope with injuries and their game plan is going to come under greater scrutiny.

Agree entirely. I found it to be personally offensive that he discussed the situation that way. The days when people are identified by religion, race or nationality when they enter sporting arenas or anywhere else through different entrances or that those things should determine your viewpoint of a person’s performance should be a thing of a distant past and he should be ashamed of himself for the way in which he’s conducted himself on this issue. It’s not a reflection of my Jewish values.

The Redlegs will be there again when they play in their 55th SANFL Grand Final next weekend. Norwood's through to the 2024 SANFL Grand Final with big Semi Final win

The Rookie Draft Central Preview of tomorrow’s Preliminary Finals. PREVIEW | Conferences collide for preliminary finals

I’m pondering over whether it was providence that led me to this vision of Tony Charlton’s television program on the infamous Norm Smith sacking at the very moment when there are forces both within the supporter group and outside it in the media to dislodge our current coach who, along with Smith, is the only Demon premiership winning coach at the club in my lifetime and who has a win/loss ratio of in excess of 60%. We know what occurred in the aftermath of the dismissal of Norm Smith. There is no justification for a repeat of the same at this stage of our journey.

Your information about the amount he owes is incorrect. Last reports were that the shortfall was around $300,000 but, as much as I would like to see him fork up the money, he technically owes nothing because of the bankruptcy in the intervening time period. Morally, I don't believe he should be using his former position as a club President and benefactor to utter a single word about the club to anyone including the media whilst that amount remains unpaid. He should STFU.

Good but I like our own Billy Thorpe & The Aztec's version

A noteworthy fact for those who think the Demons are finished as a footy team because they missed out on the finals this year with 11 wins. Of the four teams playing in semi final weekend • we defeated HokBall earlier this year 93 - 39 before it even existed as a thing; • we defeated Port Adelaide in Adelaide during Gather Round and lost to them by a mere 2 points late in the season; • we lost to the Giants by only 2 points at the MCG in the latter part of the season; and • we lost to the Lions by 5 points in Brizvegas after they received a controversial late free kick that resulted in a miracle goal from the boundary. Those three narrow defeats were all in the last half of the season when the team was wounded. Add CP5 to the lineup and who knows? We might have made the finals. Let’s also not forget that we were the first to beat the Cats, now in a preliminary final and we also lost to another finalist, Carlton, by a point in a game that could have gone either way. Still, I have to defer to that brilliant football strategist “No Diamond Left Joe” and that man who will never win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism who tell me the coach is no good.

I'm not sure as to how many of you here are subscribers but my wife is and, as a result I voted and I also left a comment about the way I feel. Anyone who knows about polling, will tell you that the conclusion reached by Robinson about Melbourne supporters' attitudes to Gutnick's comments is fatally flawed. The respondents could be supporters of any one of the 18 AFL clubs or indeed, supporters of none of them. This is shocking but unsurprising given the consistently anti MFC reporting from this newspaper. If you subscribe to the the Herald Sun, you too can vote and leave a comment (up to you how you vote and what you write). It will be interesting to see if it gets a pass from the moderator.

At this point in time, I would suggest posters take a good look at our code of conduct. Please keep the discussion civil.

Davo-27's September Top 60 (I have no idea as to how his colour scheme works) 1. Finn O'Sullivan - Oakleigh - 182cm 2. Jagga Smith - Oakleigh - 181cm 3. Levi Ashcroft - Sandringham (Bris FS) - 179cm 4. Leonardo Lombard - GCS A - 178cm 5. Harry Armstrong - Sand - 194cm 6. Sid Draper - Sth Adel - 180cm 7. Josh Smillie - Eastern - 194cm 8. Tobie Travaglia - Bendigo - 187cm 9. Luke Trainor - Sandringham - 194cm 10. Taj Hotton - Sandringham - 182cm (acl injury) 11. Sam Lalor - GWV - 187cm 12. Harvey Langford - Dandenong - 190cm 13. Jobe Shanahan - Bendigo - 194cm 14. Joe Berry - Murray - 180cm 15. Isaac Kako - Calder (Ess NGA) - 175cm 16. Murphy Reid - Sandringham - 180cm 17. Xavier Lindsay - Gippsland - 183cm 18. Ben Camporeale - Glenlg (Carl FS) - 186cm 19. Kayle Gerreyn - West Perth - 199cm 20. Cooper Hynes - Dandenong - 190cm 21. Tyler Welsh - WWT (Adel FS)- 191cm 22. Harry O'Farrell - Calder - 196cm 23. Jonty Faull - GWV - 195cm 24. Josh Murphy - Murray - 190cm 25. Bo Allan - Peel - 191cm 26. Thomas Sims - Northern - 199cm 27. Xavier Ivisic - Geelong - 180cm 28. Luke Urquhart - East Frem - 190cm 29. Jack Whitlock - Murray - 200cm 30. Christian Moraes - Eastern - 183cm 31. Malakai Champion - Subiaco (WCE NGA) - 172cm 32. Matt Whitlock - Murray - 200cm 33. Alex Dodson - Sth Adel - 203cm 34. Evan Bradley - Nth Adel - 174cm 35. Charlie Nicholls - Cent Dist 197cm 36. Alix Tauru - Gippsland - 191cm 37. Jack Ough - GWV - 194cm 38. Hugh Boxshall - Clare - 187cm 39. Sam Marshall - Sandringham (Bris A) - 185cm 40. Harrison Oliver - Sandringham - 181cm 41. Jasper Alger - Oakleigh -182cm 42. Tom Gross - Oakleigh - 181cm 43. Lucas Camporeale - Glenlg (Carl FS) - 185cm 44. Hamish Davis - Clare - 190cm 45. Jesse Dattoli - Northern - 179cm 46. Benny Barrett - Sth Adel (Port NGA) - 175cm 47. Archer Day-Wicks - Bendigo - 186cm 48. Oliver Depaoli-Kubank - Tas - 178cm 49. Adrian Cole - Sandringham (StK NGA) - 195cm 50. Doug Kerr - Oakleigh (acl injury/Coll NGA) - 192cm 51. Rhys Unwin - GWV - 178cm 52. Josaia Delana - GWS A - 174cm 53. Zak Johnson - Northern - 185cm 54. Phoenix Hargrave - Sth Adel - 182cm 55. Patrick Retschko - Oakleigh - 186cm 56. Lucas McInerney - Northern - 180cm 57. Josh Dolan - Sandringham - 177cm 58. Charlie Burke - Subiaco - 183cm 59. Logan Smith - GWS A - 204cm 60. Angus Clarke - Glenlg - 188cm

Mark Robinson reporting in a Herald Sun article that former MFC President Joseph Gutnick met current President Brad Green, apparently to make the following suggestions:- ● MAKING the disgruntled Christian Petracca the heir apparent to skipper Max Gawn. ● STRONGLY endorsing Green as the permanent president; ● URGING a settlement in the bitter legal dispute between the club and former president Glen Bartlett ● KEEPING under-fire chief executive Gary Pert. According to Joe: "I told Brad that if I was president I would ask the coach to move on," Gutnick said. "I know there would be players who wouldn't agree with me, however, 100 per cent of the supporters I'm friends with, both Jewish and non-Jewish, think he should move on. "Melbourne needs a rejuvenation and injection and that's one of the ways to do it." Pity that Robbo hasn’t taken the trouble to do a fact check on the claim which sounds ludicrous to me. I’m Jewish and have friends who support the club who are both Jewish and non-Jewish and zero per cent of my friends have suggested they hold that belief. The person who I believe should move on is Gutnick himself - I once supported the bloke but that was 20 years ago. Today, he has zero credibility when it comes to football.

An MCG scene from an unknown date but most likely around the turn of the 19th century

This bloke can play ~ Consistency the key as Smith jags RMC Medal

Will be supporting Giants with Jesse and Toby against the Lions.

Snapshot: 2024 Coates Talent League - Quarter Finals

It's a no from me. Sorry, but I can only take one Caleb at a time.

Stop Press: Christian Petracca and Brad Green have been sighted having coffee at Bruno & Co in High Street, Armadale proving that the President and the player are talking to each other.