Whispering_Jack

That said, Melbourne has shown this year that interstate travel and hostile crowds hold no fear for this team.

According to an American friend who supports the Eagles and was at the game, Johnston is the second lowest paid kicker in the NFL. He still earns $US487,500.00 which is not bad coin for someone who spent a lot of his time while on Melbourne’s list playing in the Casey seconds.

I though that Geelong’s tactic of flooding in the third quarter when they just had to take the initiative and score was counterproductive. They were never going to make up the leeway and in fact played into Melbourne’s hands.

I will certainly watch it with interest because I’m surprised, after his failures as a coach at Melbourne and an assistant at Essendon and the humiliation of his exits at both clubs, that he’s agreed to be interviewed by the wily Sheahan who has the capacity to tear him apart.

I don’t see this as particularly controversial. Rather it covers the era from the viewpoint of one of those closely involved at a time when the club was struggling and in conflict. Perhaps, one day, an historian will examine the era more closely and come up with an interesting story of how the club was able to recover from the travails that beset it in the latter part of the last decade and the first half of the current one but that’s for another time. We’re back in the finals - let’s enjoy them!

There are criteria for inclusion in the club’s Next Generation Academy i.e the player has to be indigenous or come from a multicultural background. I don’t think Smart is in that category. Stingray’s Toby Bedford is eligible this year. http://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-10-11/next-generation-academy-launched

If someone can locate the genuine Chris from Camberwell, the offer still stands of a gig on one of our Demonland podcasts so that he can illuminate us with his voluminous knowledge of what the MFC needs to succeed in the world. If we could find Alan Jakovich, then finding Chris from Camberwell should be easy.

Anyone know anything about the winner?

Still out of our reach ... and still a favourite to go #1. Jack Lukosius - Knightmare’s best draft prospect of the past decade

In the footsteps of Aaron vandenBerg, I introduce you to Canberra Demons midfielder, Mitch Maguire ~ Canberra Demons star Mitch Maguire named NEAFL Rising Star Canberra pulls off stunning upset over Sydney Uni to win historic first final “NEAFL Rising Star winner Mitch Maguire was inspiring for the Demons and was a huge factor in their win. Maguire collected 45 disposals, which was 11 above the next best on the ground, 10 tackles, seven rebound 50s, five inside 50s and five clearances in an incredible display.” The you tube from April when Maguire was nominated for the NEAFL Rising Star https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Md3VAGX-MZo&feature=youtu.be

Hands up those who would be happy with a 35 point Demon lead over the Cats at half time next week.

Was Alastair Nicholson, the former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia there as well?

Another advantage of the bye round. He has a week to get over what is ailing him.

Jake Melksham on Jack Viney today:- “He’s on track- he trained with us today in the main group. We know the impact he can have, so we can’t wait to get him back.” From MFC Twitter feed And from SEN DEMONS SKIPPER VINEY ON TRACK TO FACE GEELONG IN KNOCK-OUT FINAL

So back on Steven May, it would seem that Collingwood, having apparently missed out to Richmond over Tom Lynch (GCS), is making a big play for May. This would of course, be devastating for the Suns and it will be interesting to see how this is played out.

Earlier this year, the talk of the town was about how North Melbourne had hit an AFL draft jackpot with star academy prospect Tarryn Thomas surging into top 3 draft pick calculations meaning that the Kangaroos would be forced to bid their highest draft selection to get the talented Tasmanian youngster. North Melbourne could be forced to match top-three bid on Tarryn Thomas at AFL draft 2018 The Kangaroos even made arrangements to bring Thomas over Bass Strait to play as 23rd man for their VFL side in the final round of the home and away competition. Now, surprise, surprise ... they are claiming to have cooled off on him due to “due to a worrying mix of off-field issues and lack of on-field form”. AFL draft 2018: North Melbourne cools on formerly highly-rated prospect Tarryn Thomas If this sounds somewhat familiar then cast your mind back a few years to when a young WA draftee with plenty of wraps on him was said to have been expelled from school with rumours of misbehaviour and even violence that saw him drop from a top 5 contender to selection to be picked at 26 by the Eagles who were widely believed to have been responsible for the rumours in the first place. Next week, Jack Darling will play game number 170 (he’s kicked more than 300 goals) in a qualifying final against the Pies - and he’s more or less a model citizen. I smell the same sort of blarney about Thomas and I hope someone picks him around # 10 just to stick it up North.

I’ve been of the view that priority picks should be scrapped altogether as a result of the precedent the AFL set four or five years ago when they denied a destitute Melbourne of picks after a series of really poor seasons when it won as few as two games. That should effectively rule out even Carlton with its two wins this year after trading out quality players last year in a move that ensured that the team would bottom out at this time. That is tantamount to “tanking” anyway and if you take that course, you shouldn’t be rewarded. Further, over the last three years, the Blues have won more games than the MFC did when it was denied priority picks. The AFL should be acting consistently with all of its constituent clubs. Of course, it won’t be consistent and it will, in all likelihood, give Carlton a priority pick because the AFL needs to prop up Gold Coast and how can it help them at the draft if it doesn’t give the Blues a leg up? Stay tuned.

The name proposed by Deanox - “The Draft, Trade and Cheese Board” seems to have struck a Red and Blue Vein of support that’s all too rare among Demonlanders. I therefore declare that it’s a feta accompli and without further ado, let’s kick off with the new board. And just to help newer posters, here’s an example of how to initiate a new thread and, in doing so you might just Krakouer Barrel of laughs:- The Matthew Limburger Thread A caller just rang SEN to report that Bomber ruckman Matthew Limburger is a bit cheesed off at having to play second fiddle to Tom “Taco” Bellchambers in the ruck and is thinking of taking a dip at the trade market. The caller described the 202cm ruckman, who has only just turned 30, as the cream of the available big man crop and if he’s looking at topping off his great career, there would be no better place for him to do it than at Melbourne. ”He’s the Big Cheese””, the caller said. Hearing the news made me grin because I think the story is nothing more than waffle. A frustrated Limburger is pictured below sitting out a recent game at the MCG.

I was thinking the same thing until I remembered him from the Front Bar a few weeks ago. Mind you, he looks slim compared to Andrew Jarman.

With a finals series to be played out at both AFL & VFL level, it’s a bit early to start speculating but Declan Keilty must be a good chance to be upgraded if he continues to perform well with Casey.

Mitch isn’t even in the Casey side for this Saturday although it’s not clear as to whether or not he’s injured. Preuss would be handy but what role would he play if Max remains injury free?

That’s about as good as we could have expected given the club’s injury list. Mitch King is the only MFC player out of the side but it’s not clear as to whether he’s been dropped or the mystery injury of the week. His form has been patchy so having Cam Pedersen in the ruck is probably not going to be a major disadvantage.

I am not a great fan of threads such as these but really, Fremantle has nothing much to offer us and very little to offer to Jesse Hogan except home town environment and football oblivion at a club that's going nowhere. I like the Goodwin comment that he's going nowhere.

The Dockers really have me puzzled. They currently have picks 5, 77 and 95 and, apart from some of their younger brigade who they would want to keep, they don’t have much material for trading. It’s little wonder therefore that they’ve recently re-signed veterans and crocks like Ballantyne, Bennell, Mundy and Sandilands. I can see their so-called rebuild taking up the life of Ross Lyon’s contract and can’t see them going anywhere very soon.