Whispering_Jack

Retired now but that’s my recollection of the law. Mainly speaking as a Demon fan which is basically what this site’s about.

It happened a long time ago but today’s controversies pale in comparison …

A week ago, Christian Petracca confirmed his position as a contracted Melbourne player. He’s not wasting his time and money trying to overturn centuries of settled contract law. The only favourable outcome to be reached for him now is Melbourne’s 2025 premiership.

Smythe on bigfooty has put out his Top 40 picks - 1 Sid Draper 2 Finn O'Sullivan 3 Jagga Smith 4 Levi Ashcroft 5 Sam Lalor 6 Luke Trainor 7 Harvey Langford 8 Josh Smillie 9 Murphy Reid 10 Tobie Travaglia 11 Joe Berry 12 Leo Lombard 13 Jobe Shanahan 14 Xavier Lindsay 15 Taj Hotton 16 Bo Allan 17 Alex Dodson 18 Isaac Kako 19 Jack Whitlock 20 Alix Tauru 21 Harry Armstrong 22 Sam Marshall 23 Harry Oliver 24 Tom Gross 25 Matt Whitlock 26 Hamish David 27 Lachie Jaques 28 Jess Dattoli 29 Cooper Hynes 30 Harry O'Farrell 31 Christian Moraes 32 Ben Camporeale 33 Angus Clarke 34 Kayle Gerreyn 35 Noah Mraz 36 Jonty Faull 37 Tom Simms 38 Adrian Cole 39 James Barrat 40 Tyler Welsh Meanwhile, another Bigfooty poster PM Bangers has put up his pre Coates Talent League finals rankings:-

One observation from last night was the contribution of Logan Morris to the Brisbane forward line. He was by no means outstanding but kicked two goals and he missed a set shot from close in but he’s a young tall KPF playing in a finals team. Morris was taken in last year’s draft with pick 31 which means that when we entered the trade and draft period with two first and two second round picks plus some extra trade opportunities, he was very gettable by us. Instead, we opted to use only our two first rounders and went for the likes of Billings, McAdam and Fullarton, speculative options who contributed little to the cause. In hindsight, it might have worked out better had we taken the other course and had someone like Morris on the list. By way of contrast, we only have one first rounder this year when another would come in handy.

As two Victorian clubs bow out, the order changes ever so slightly after week one of the finals. 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 Brisbane 15 GWS Giants 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 Gold Coast Suns (tied to Brisbane Lions) 35 GWS Giants 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 Brisbane 53 GWS Giants 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 Gold Coast (tied to Brisbane Lions) 71 GWS Giants 72 Geelong 73 Richmond (tied to Port Adelaide) 74 Hawthorn (tied to Sydney Swans)

On the bright side from Carlton’s perspective is the fact that percentage doesn’t count in finals.

Excellent point George but, having spent a bit of time in the Sunshine State, I can say that they do things differently up there when it comes to public infrastructure and planning. 😉

I think their main asset last night was the pressure they applied which had many normally composed Bulldogs players including the Bont fumbling and making bad decisions. Compare and contrast to the way we played against the Bulldogs in Round 21. Had we been capable of doing the same thing in the last month or so of the home and away season, we would be playing finals this weekend.

You really are a scallywag.

And of course, to Brad Green who I still vividly recall putting Carlton to the sword in a qualifying final in his first season and who showed great courage later in that finals series against Essendon, I wish you good luck in your new role. It’s a tough gig but you have what it takes to face up to everything the enemy puts in your way and I look forward to you taking us out of the wilderness next year 😀

Thank you Kate. You’ll always be remembered as the President who took us out of the wilderness after 57 years.

I dig that.

Are you sure it was this morning. Sounds to me like the dead of night.

Every well run sporting organization is constantly conducting reviews of its activities. The scrutiny involved can only be good as long as such reviews are carried out in an honest and objective manner - if done in that way it can only lead to improvement and a better organization in the long run. Assuming that such a review is to take place at Melbourne, what areas need to be covered by the review eg the President, Board, Administrative Staff, Football Staff, Playing Group - including performance and achievement and what period should it cover? Should the review be internal as I understand would be taking place routinely in any event, or by way of an independent external review? What information would such a review be based upon? I would expect verified facts and not hearsay removed three times, guesswork or supposition as we sometimes see in online discussions, the social media or even today’s professional media, some of which is more concerned wit garnering clicks than providing information or opinion. Please keep the discussion respectful - remember, such a review involves real people, with reputations and livelihoods, not to mention the fact that, in this case, it’s about the club we support and this site is all about supporting this club and its players.

Here’s something I found in a Herald Sun online article that covers all AFL clubs with this being the part that deals with Melbourne. Of course, it’s very speculative and there’s a long way to go.

Fascinating to see how the media works and how the perspective of journalists changes depending on which club is under discussion. If you ask Bulldog fans and many Bombers supporters about Stringer and how he’s presented at his two clubs they might raise the subject of culture (of which there are a number of elements) differently to how Jon Ralph writes about it on p42 of yesterday’s Herald Sun: “Culture is a funny thing. Stringer didn't jump ship at the Western Bulldogs, he was pushed out through his own mishaps and controversies and found a home at the Dons. “He might be a lovable rogue, but he has often played hurt to his own detriment and reputation.” Could you imagine a player at Melbourne in the recent round of discussions about the club’s “culture” and with the same issues as having experienced “his own mishaps and controversies”, then described as “a lovable rogue”? Laughable.

I hear you. Here is the leader board after Round 1 18. Kate Hore 15. Blaithin Mackin 8. Lauren Pearce 7. Eliza McNamara 6. Maeve Chaplin Shelley Heath 3. Sinead Goldrick

The Eagles are a bit of a basket case given that list of prospective coaches. It’s not really awe inspiring.

This is the list of teams in order of the difficulty of their fixtures based on position at the end of the home and away series. If we recognise that the draw is supposed to reflect where the the teams finished at the end of 2023.

Are you suggesting him as a solution to our perceived cultural issues?

2024 RMC Coates Talent League Team of the Year squad revealed

Attendance figure now available and I’m surprised that the figure was below 4k given the stature of the game. The Demons have such a tough fixture this season - it seems almost unconscionable that the AFLW fixes the draw that way.

Carlton apparently have already signed him.

Despite only 10 touches, he was named in his team’s best players.