Whispering_Jack

Checked out the club site for the next official training time and it appears that we’re tapering off before the start of the season. AFL training sessions Date: Thursday 12 March Start time: 9.45am Location: Gosch's Paddock

Melbourne has finished in third place on the 2020 JLT/Marsh Community Series ladder ~ GWS Giants 2 - - 230 122 188.52 8 Gold Coast 2 - - 193 118 163.55 8 Melbourne 2 - - 184 119 153.62 8 Fremantle 2 - - 145 97 149.48 8 St Kilda 2 - - 179 147 121.76 8 Port Adelaide 2 - - 193 172 112.20 8 Collingwood 1 1 - 141 112 125.89 4 Western Bulldogs 1 1 - 186 152 122.36 4 ———————————————————— West Coast - 2 - 141 150 94.00 0 Essendon 1 - - 95 87 109.19 4 Brisbane 1 1 - 188 164 114.63 4 Adelaide - 2 - 134 174 77.01 0 Hawthorn - 2 - 139 182 76.37 0 Richmond - 2 - 139 193 72.02 0 North Melbourne - 1 - 57 102 55.88 0 Carlton - 2 - 109 201 54.22 0 Geelong - 1 - 54 122 44.26 0 Sydney - 1 - 27 121 22.31 0

In January 2019, the then Adelaide player said in answer to the question which team she looks forward to playing against the most and why:- “Melbourne, we haven’t beaten them yet and my best mate plays for them so we usually chat a little and the banter is always good”. AFLW: Fast facts: Sarah Perkins Look where she’s at now?

So, the round up after today Oskar Baker — selected v Box Hill Hawks Toby Bedford — played v Hawthorn * Harley Bennell — injured Austin Bradtke — selected v Box Hill Hawks Angus Brayshaw — played v Hawthorn Mitch Brown — selected v Box Hill Hawks Kade Chandler — injured Kyle Dunkley — injured Bayley Fritsch — played v Hawthorn Max Gawn — played v Hawthorn Mitch Hannan — injured James Harmes — played v Hawthorn Michael Hibberd — played v Hawthorn Marty Hore — played v Hawthorn Jayden Hunt — selected v Box Hill Hawks Luke Jackson — played v Hawthorn Neville Jetta — played v Hawthorn Nathan Jones — played v Hawthorn James Jordan — selected v Box Hill Hawks Kade Kolodjiashnij — injured Ed Langdon — played v Hawthorn Jake Lever — played v Hawthorn Jay Lockhart — played v Hawthorn Oscar McDonald — played v Hawthorn Tom McDonald — played v Hawthorn Steven May — played v Hawthorn Jake Melksham — played v Hawthorn Alex Neal-Bullen — played v Hawthorn Aaron Nietschke — injured Clayton Oliver — played v Hawthorn Christian Petracca — played v Hawthorn Harrison Petty — injured Kysaiah Pickett — unavailable Braydon Preuss — injured Trent Rivers — selected v Box Hill Hawks Christian Salem — ill Joel Smith — injured Charlie Spargo — played v Hawthorn Tom Sparrow — selected v Box Hill Hawks Adam Tomlinson — played v Hawthorn Aaron vandenBerg — played v Hawthorn * Jack Viney — played v Hawthorn Corey Wagner — selected v Box Hill Hawks Josh Wagner — selected v Box Hill Hawks Sam Weideman — played v Hawthorn * * injured in Marsh Community series game v Hawthorn

The result of the day was the Suns’ big win over the Crows which saw them catapult to the head of the JLT/Marsh Community Series ladder. The Demons now can’t win the competition. Gold Coast 2 - - 193 118 163.55 8 Melbourne 2 - - 184 119 154.62 8 GWS Giants 1 - - 121 27 448.15 4 Fremantle 1 - - 90 43 209.30 4 Collingwood 1 - - 84 44 190.91 4 Western Bulldogs 1 - - 101 57 177.19 4 Port Adelaide 1 - - 98 77 127.27 4 St Kilda 1 - - 111 90 123.33 4 ———————————————————— Essendon 1 - - 95 87 109.19 4 West Coast - 1 - 87 95 91.58 0 Brisbane - 1 - 77 98 78.57 0 Adelaide - 2 - 134 174 77.01 0 Hawthorn - 2 - 139 182 76.37 0 North Melbourne - 1 - 57 102 55.88 0 Richmond - 1 - 44 84 52.38 0 Carlton - 1 - 43 90 47.77 0 Geelong - 1 - 54 122 44.26 0 Sydney - 1 - 27 121 22.31 0

Where the list is at:- Oskar Baker — not selected Toby Bedford — selected v Hawthorn Harley Bennell — injured Austin Bradtke — not selected Angus Brayshaw — selected v Hawthorn Mitch Brown — selected v Hawthorn Kade Chandler — injured Kyle Dunkley — injured Bayley Fritsch — selected v Hawthorn Max Gawn — selected v Hawthorn Mitch Hannan — injured James Harmes — selected v Hawthorn Michael Hibberd — selected v Hawthorn Marty Hore — selected v Hawthorn Jayden Hunt — emergency v Hawthorn Luke Jackson — selected v Hawthorn Neville Jetta — selected v Hawthorn Nathan Jones — selected v Hawthorn James Jordan — emergency v Hawthorn Kade Kolodjiashnij — injured Ed Langdon — selected v Hawthorn Jake Lever — selected v Hawthorn Jay Lockhart — selected v Hawthorn Oscar McDonald — selected v Hawthorn Tom McDonald — selected v Hawthorn Steven May — selected v Hawthorn Jake Melksham — selected v Hawthorn Alex Neal-Bullen — selected v Hawthorn Aaron Nietschke — injured Clayton Oliver — selected v Hawthorn Christian Petracca — selected v Hawthorn Harrison Petty — injured Kysaiah Pickett — unavailable Braydon Preuss — injured Trent Rivers — not selected Christian Salem — ill Joel Smith — injured Charlie Spargo — selected v Hawthorn Tom Sparrow — emergency v Hawthorn Adam Tomlinson — selected v Hawthorn Aaron vandenBerg — selected v Hawthorn Jack Viney — selected v Hawthorn Corey Wagner — not selected Josh Wagner — emergency v Hawthorn Sam Weideman — selected v Hawthorn

Will a tall break the No. 1 pick drought in 2020? Who will be this year's No.1 pick? History beckons for NGA Dog

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A strong case if a possible bicep injury can translate into a torn pec.

And confirmation that Harley Bennell’s guernsey number will be 17.

What they’re saying at Arden Street is what many would be saying here if we were performing as badly as they are at the moment. Think back 6 months ago. That said, I was somewhat bemused to read in today’s HUN that Josh Walker and Aiden Bonar are North’s pre-season heroes. Neither did much in Friday’s game and, based on their form at other clubs, I would be worried if these players were my club’s pre season heroes.

The all important ladder ~ GWS Giants 1 - - 121 27 448.15 4 Gold Coast 1 - - 122 54 225.92 4 Fremantle 1 - - 90 43 209.30 4 Western Bulldogs 1 - - 101 57 177.19 4 Melbourne 1 - - 103 70 147.14 4 Port Adelaide 1 - - 98 77 127.27 4 St Kilda 1 - - 111 90 123.33 4 Essendon 1 - - 95 87 109.19 4 ———————————————————— West Coast - 1 - 87 95 91.58 0 Hawthorn - 1 - 90 111 81.08 0 Brisbane- 1 - 77 98 78.57 0 Adelaide - 1 - 70 103 67.96 0 North Melbourne - 1 - 57 102 55.88 0 Carlton - 1 - 43 90 47.77 0 Geelong - 1 - 54 122 44.26 0 Sydney - 1 - 27 121 22.31 0

The picture of the evening.

There’s been some interest in the 8 Casey listed players who took part in yesterday’s practice match so we’ve asked KC from Casey for a bit of an update on the players who took part. On what I saw, the club should do well in this year’s VFL competition.

There was a fair amount of debate in our area as to whether the game warranted a full blown match report because it was felt that it was really an elevated version of a training session with match simulation but against a team in opposition colours. Although notionally the stronger side, North seemed to be using the occasion for the purpose of working on aspects of their game plan, one of the features of which seemed to be based on taking the longest possible route out of defence and good luck with that — I’m sure it’s not going to be a major feature when the the real thing starts but it explains in part why the Kangaroos were restricted to eight scoring shots. They were lucky that their kicking for goal was fairly good — it was the only part of the game where they were far superior to Melbourne. That’s the background to a game that never reached great heights in terms of quality apart from the performance of Jake Melksham before he departed the game at half time. Angus Brayshaw lifted his game almost to those heights when he went to the middle in the second half after a lacklustre first 40 minutes. He was immediately manhandled by the North on ball division which was a clear mistake — you ruffle his feathers at your own peril. In this case, Gus was stirred into demonstrating, albeit briefly, to all those standing in the shadows of the now non-existent gasometer, the ingredients of a third placed Brownlow finish. Let’s hope that it’s back because it was sorely missed in the Demon midfield in 2019. The area around Arden Street has certainly changed since the 60s and 70s but, despite the million dollar amenity at the southern end of the ground, it still feels like the home of one of the AFL’s poorer clubs. With a decent crowd in place, they didn’t look keen on making dollars from the sale of food to the hungry fans on hand — one of my takeaways from the game therefore is there were no takeaways; not even a single sausage roll! And on the subject of sausage rolls, the last few premiership teams have set the pace in terms of dangerous little men up forward to kick goals and while scoring was at a premium, this seemed to be a focus in yesterday’s game with Kozzie, Toby Bedford, Charlie Spargo and Oskar Baker all featuring around goal with livewire performances. I liked Tom Sparrow’s efforts, particularly in the first half before he was shoved aside in the middle by the Brayshaw cameo. Jay Lockhart is coming on and looks like being understudy to our All Star Nev down back. Mitch Brown was good too although his kicking for goal let him down. A word of commendation to the Casey boys who filled in — a good few of them including the veteran Jimmy Munro and the underrated Mitch Lewis (who always seems to be out with injury) showed they weren’t out of place at this standard which is probably half way between AFL and VFL. The team had no trouble finishing off the game which is again a contrast to 2019 but one of my highlights was Trent Rivers. His form showed why the club’s recruiters were so delighted that he was available at pick #32 in last year’s National Draft. The All Australian Under 18 has pace and, despite one blooper, disposes of the ball efficiently and gets his hands on it often. So they were my takeaways apart from the reasonably good news on the injury front which I mentioned elsewhere. Melbourne 2.4 3.8 6.12 7.13 (55) North Melbourne 2.2 3.2 3.2 5.3 (33) Goals Melbourne Bedford 2 Baker Fritsch Melksham Pickett Spargo Best Melbourne Melksham Brayshaw Spargo Rivers Lockhart Sparrow Bedford Fritsch Lewis (Casey VFL) Munro (Casey VFL)

Aside from what occurs in terms of the playing side in practice matches, we’re always concerned that there are no injuries and it appears we’ve come out unscathed in that regard. This is where the list was at over this weekend ~ Oskar Baker — played v N Melbourne Toby Bedford — played v N Melbourne Harley Bennell — injured Austin Bradtke — played v N Melbourne Angus Brayshaw — played v N Melbourne Mitch Brown — played v N Melbourne Kade Chandler — injured Kyle Dunkley — injured Bayley Fritsch — played v N Melbourne Max Gawn — injured Mitch Hannan — injured James Harmes — rested Michael Hibberd — rested Marty Hore — played v N Melbourne Jayden Hunt — played v N Melbourne Luke Jackson — rested Neville Jetta — played in All Star game Nathan Jones — injured/rested James Jordan — played v N Melbourne Kade Kolodjiashnij — injured Ed Langdon — rested Jake Lever — rested Jay Lockhart — played v N Melbourne Oscar McDonald — played v N Melbourne Tom McDonald — rested Steven May — injured Jake Melksham — played v N Melbourne Alex Neal-Bullen — rested Aaron Nietschke — injured Clayton Oliver — rested Christian Petracca — rested Harrison Petty — injured Kysaiah Pickett — played v N Melbourne Braydon Preuss — injured Trent Rivers — played v N Melbourne Christian Salem — rested Joel Smith — injured Charlie Spargo — played v N Melbourne Tom Sparrow — played v N Melbourne Adam Tomlinson — played v N Melbourne Aaron vandenBerg — rested Jack Viney — rested Corey Wagner — played v N Melbourne Josh Wagner — played v N Melbourne Sam Weideman — rested We saw a return of two “best 22” players in Angus Brayshaw and Bayley Fritsch who missed MS01 leaving only Max Gawn and Steven May from that category still out. With Max due to make a possible return in MS02, that leaves May as our only major injury concern - a far cry from the situation in 2019. I’ve heard conflicting reports on May’s recovery but suggest that he will be one to watch over the coming few weeks. Other players that we should be watching on the score of injuries are Dunkley, Petty and Smith. How far away from playing are they?

Melky & Tomlinson look like they are off for the rest of the game.

JLT/Marsh Community Series ladder ~ Gold Coast 1 - - 122 54 225.92 4 Western Bulldogs 1 - - 101 57 177.19 4 Melbourne 1 - - 103 70 147.14 4 Port Adelaide 1 - - 98 77 127.27 4 St Kilda 1 - - 111 90 123.33 4 Essendon 1 - - 95 87 109.19 4 West Coast - 1 - 87 95 91.58 0 Hawthorn - 1 - 90 111 81.08 0 ———————————————————— Brisbane- 1 - 77 98 78.57 0 Adelaide - 1 - 70 103 67.96 0 North Melbourne - 1 - 57 102 55.88 0 Geelong - 1 - 54 122 44.26 0

Kangaroos practice match to be live streamed

Well, well, well ... the Brisbane v Port Adelaide Marsh match up certainly captured everyone’s imagination. The result had an impact on the JLT/Marsh Community Series ladder ~ Gold Coast 1 - - 122 54 225.92 4 Western Bulldogs 1 - - 101 57 177.19 4 Melbourne 1 - - 103 70 147.14 4 Port Adelaide 1 - - 98 77 127.27 4 St Kilda 1 - - 111 90 123.33 4 Hawthorn - 1 - 90 111 81.08 0 Brisbane- 1 - 77 98 78.57 0 Adelaide - 1 - 70 103 67.96 0 North Melbourne - 1 - 57 102 55.88 0 Geelong - 1 - 54 122 44.26 0

Oops ... fixed ?