Whispering_Jack

Glen Bartlett just congratulated Daisy Pearce on being pregnant - another first for an AFL team!

Club chairman Bartlett speaking!

Biggest attendance ever at a Bluey announced. 1,600.

• while Gary Rohan revealed his desire to return to Victoria a few weeks ago, we now know his preferred destination is Geelong. • GWS ruckman Rory Lobb who would like to return to Western Australia if a trade can be arranged. • according to his manager, Melbourne’s Dom Tyson, would also be open to a trade. • premiership Tiger Jacob Townsend is weighing up options, with St Kilda seeking to arrange a meeting with him, and Gold Coast also interested in the forward. • the ball is now in Lachie Neale’s court as to whether he wants to join Brisbane according to General Manager of Football at the Lions David Noble. • Noble expects his side to have another aggressive trade period, with Geelong’s Lincoln McCarthy already declaring his desire to join the club.

"_____________________ would be open to a trade should the right opportunity come up." Where have I heard this before?

AFL DRAFT COMBINE 2018 (continued) Medium Forwards Joel Crocker Sandringham Dragons/Brighton Grammar 14/04/2000 Height: 191cm Weight: 73kg Luke Foley Western Australia/Subiaco/Sorrento Duncraig 08/10/1999 Height: 187cm Weight: 75kg Ben Jarvis South Australia/Norwood 27/07/2000 Height: 185cm Weight 77kg Pierce Laverty Ireland/Country Down 12/02/1998 Height: 182cm Weight: 78kg Shane McAdam South Australia/Sturt/Claremont 28/05/1995 Height: 185cm Weight: 84kg Jordan Morrissey Ireland/Country Carlow 20/02/1999 Height: 185cm Weight: 80kg Izak Rankine South Australia/West Adelaide 23/04/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg Bailey Scott Allies/Queensland/Gold Coast Suns Academy/Broadbeach 09/07/2000 Height 186cm Weight: 74kg Tom Sparrow South Australia/South Adelaide/Prince Alfred College 11/05/2000 Height: 182cm Weight: 81kg Charlie Sprague Vic Country/Geelong Falcons/Barwon Heads 08/05/2000 Height: 187cm Weight: 79kg Sam Sturt Vic Country/Dandenong Stingrays/Peninsula Grammar 12/05/2000 Height: 188cm Weight: 78kg Curtis Taylor Vic Metro/Calder Cannons 06/04/2000 Height: 186cm Weight: 79kg Tarryn Thomas Tasmania/Allies/North Launceston 25/03/2000 Height: 189cm Weight: 76kg Small Forwards, Defenders & Midfielders Toby Bedford Vic Country/Dandenong Stingrays/Rosebud 27/05/2000 Height: 176cm Weight: 65kg Jarrod Cameron Western Australia/Claremont 03/05/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 69kg Luke English Western Australia/Perth/Manning 14/01/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 74kg Zac Foot Vic Country/Dandenong Stingrays/Langwarrin 24/12/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 71kg Ian Hill Western Australia/Perth/South Perth 09/02/2000 Height: 174cm Weight: 65kg Chayce Jones Allies/Tasmania/Launceston 14/01/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 74kg Tom Joyce Western Australia/East Fremantle 07/03/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 72kg Ned McHenry Vic Country/Geelong Falcons/Barwon Heads 13/07/2000 Height: 178kg Weight: 71kg Irving Mosquito Vic Country/Gippsland Power/Maffra 24/08/2000 Height: 175cm Weight: 69kg Hayden Sampson South Australia/South Adelaide 02/03/2000 Height: 177cm Weight: 67kg Sydney Stack Western Australia/Perth/Federals 24/04/2000 Height: 177cm Weight: 72kg Tyron Smallwood Western Australia/Claremont/Royals 08/04/2000 Height: 177cm Weight: 80kg Medium Midfielders Daly Andrews Vic Metro/Western Jets/Werribee Districts 22/02/2000 Height: 183cm Weight: 76kg Oscar Brownless Vic Country/Geelong Falcons/Geelong Amateurs 16/02/2000 Height: 186cm Weight: 76kg Zac Butters Vic Metro/Western Jets/Darley 08/09/2000 Height: 181cm Weight: 70kg Jack Bytel Vic Metro/Calder Cannons/Aberfeldie 14/03/2000 Height: 189cm Weight: 80kg Jye Caldwell Vic Country/Bendigo Pioneers/Geelong Grammar 09/07/2000 Height: 186cm Weight: 71kg Riley Collier-Dawkins Vic Metro/Oakleigh Chargers/Waverley Blues 03/02/2000 Height: 193cm Weight: 88kg Will Golds Vic Metro/Oakleigh Chargers/Xavier College 06/05/2000 Height: 181cm Weight: 68kg Angus Hanrahan Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/St Kevin’s College 09/08/2000 Height: 182cm Weight: 68kg Jackson Hately South Australia/Central District 21/10/2000 Height: 190cm Weight: 81kg Jacob Kennerley South Australia/Norwood/Rostrevor College 16/06/2000 Height: 184cm Weight: 76kg Matt McGannon Vic Country/Gippsland Power/Fish Creek 23/12/1999 Height: 184cm Weight: 73kg Tom McKenzie Vic Metro/Northern Knights/Fitzroy 23/06/2000 Height: 184cm Weight: 76kg Xavier O’Halloran Vic Metro/Western Jets/St Bernard’s 11/07/2000 Height: 187cm Weight: 83kg Xavier O’Neill Oakleigh Chargers/Whitefriars College 03/08/2000 Height: 183cm Weight: 78kg James Rowbottom Vic Metro/Oakleigh Chargers/Camberwell Sharks 19/09/2000 Height: 185cm Weight: 78kg Connor Rozee South Australia/North Adelaide 22/01/2000 Height: 185cm Weight: 71kg Lachlan Sholl Vic Metro/Calder Cannons/St Bernard’s 07/03/2000 Height: 185cm Weight: 77kg Bailey Smith Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/Xavier College 07/12/2000 Height: 185cm Weight: 82kg Ely Smith Vic Country/Murray Bushrangers/Yarrawonga 13/09/2000 Height: 188cm Weight: 86kg Liam Stocker Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/Haileybury College 23/01/2000 Height: 183cm Weight: 83kg Fraser Turner Tasmania/Allies/Clarence 26/12/2000 Height:186cm Weight: 75kg Luke Valente South Australia/Norwood 06/05/2000 Height: 186cm Weight: 80kg Samuel Walsh Vic Country/Geelong Falcons/St Joseph’s 02/07/2000 Height: 184cm Weight: 74kg Rylee West Vic Metro/Calder Cannons/Strathmore/St Kevin’s 12/07/2000 Height: 180cm Weight: 80kg I'm still trying to find out if there's a separate category for ruckmen.

The newly named Marvel Stadium at Melbourne’s Docklands is the scene of the 2018 AFL Draft Combine which runs from tomorrow morning right through until Friday. The leading draft talent in the nation has been invited to take part and one of the best sources of information on the participants is from Chris25 of bigfooty and can be found here. Players are grouped as follows- Tall Defenders James Blanck Vic Metro/Eastern Ranges/Park Orchards 20/11/2000 Height: 195cm Weight: 80kg Riley Grundy South Australia/Sturt 28/07/2000 Height: 195cm Weight: 79kg Connor Idon Vic Country/Geelong Falcons/Drysdale 29/07/2000 Height: 190cm Weight: 86kg Mark Keane Ireland – County Cork 17/03/2000 Height: 194cm Weight: 96kg Will Kelly Vic Metro/Oakleigh Chargers/Glen Iris 16/08/2000 Height: 193cm Weight: 83kg Buku Khamis Vic Metro/Western Jets/St Albans 24/03/2000 Height: 190cm Weight: 81kg Ben King Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/Haileybury College 07/07/2000 Height: 202cm Weight: 83kg Dirk Koenan Allies/Gold Coast Suns Academy/Palm Beach 01/01/2000 Height: 194cm Weight: 84kg Jacob Koschitzke Allies/Albury/Murray Bushrangers 11/07/2000 Height: 196cm Weight: 94kg Kyle Reid Vic Country/Gippsland Power 12/08/2000 Height: 193cm Weight: 85kg Ben Silvagni Vic Metro/Oakleigh Chargers/Greythorn 07/05/2000 Height: 194cm Weight: 84kg Anton Tohill Ireland – Country Derry 14/12/1999 Height: 198cm Weight: 86kg Medium Defenders Noah Answerth Oakleigh Chargers/Caulfield Bears 06/08/1999 Height: 182cm Weght: 82kg Nick Baker Tasmania/Lauderdale 10/11/2000 Height: 189cm Weight: 81kg Thomas Berry GWV Rebels/Horsham Saints 01/05/2000 Height:185cm Weight: 76kg Jordan Clark Claremont/Guilford Grammar 16/10/2000 Height: 182cm Weight: 78kg Keidean Coleman Brisbane Lions Academy/Morningside 31/03/2000 Height: 181cm Weight: 74k Xavier Duursma Gippsland Power/Foster 07/07/2000 Height: 185cm Weight: 71kg Damon Greaves East Perth/Busselton 25/04/2000 Height: 186cm Weight: 74kg Will Hamill Dandenong Stingrays/Dromana 17/01/2000 Height: 185cm Weight: 70kg Jez McLennan Central District/Tanunda 07/09/2000 Height: 183cm Weight: 81kg Isaac Quaynor Oakleigh Chargers/Doncaster East 15/01/2000 Height: 182cm Weight: 82kg Durak Tucker Peel Thunder/Guildford Grammar 21/07/2000 Height: 189cm Weight: 73kg Laitham Vandermeer Murray Bushrangers/Mooroopna 03/02/1999 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg Tall Forwards Zane Barzen Vic Country/Murray Bushrangers/Shepparton United 25/08/2000 Height: 195cm Weight 78kg Nick Blakey Allies/ Sydney Swans Academy 27/02/2000 Height: 194cm Weight: 77kg Riley Bowman Vic Country/Dandenong Stingrays 25/02/2000 Height: 198cm Weight: 82kg Kieran Briggs Allies/Pennant Hills/GWS Giants Academy 06/10/1999 Height: 200cm Weight: 98kg Josh Corbett Werribee VFL/North Warrnambool 23/04/1996 Height: 190cm Weight: 90kg William Kennedy Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/Caulfield Grammar 18/06/2000 Height: 198cm Weight: 86kg Max King Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/Haileybury College 07/01/2000 Height: 202cm Weight: 87kg Jack Lukosius South Australia/Woodville-West Torrens 09/08/2000 Height: 194cm Weight: 85kg Conor McFayden Queensland/Allies/Wilston Grange/Brisbane Lions Academy 04/12/2000 Height: 190cm Weight:88kg Hugo Munn South Australia/Sturt 03/04/2000 Height: 197cm Weight: 93kg Dillon O’Reilly Western Australia/East Fremantle 02/06/2000 Height: 194cm Weight: 89kg Bailey Williams Vic Country/Dandenong Stingrays/The Pines 17/04/2000 Height: 198cm Weight: 95kg [continued]

The Oxford Living Dictionary defines “rumour” as "a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth." Just about covers everything on here including made up stuff.

Of course, Carlton achieved the first stage of what they were aiming for in the deal. It lifted them off the cellar and they achieved a few finals appearances and the additional attention of a Brownlow Medal win and that these things bring with them, but look where they are now? Incidentally, I looked up the full details of the trade and it brought WCE more than just Kennedy. It gave them a second premiership player in Chris Masten who has been handy for them over the years and did his bit yesterday - THE JUDD TRADE [From The Age] * Carlton gave up Josh Kennedy and draft picks No.3 (Chris Masten) and No.20 (Tony Notte) * West Coast traded Judd and pick No.46 (Dennis Armfield) Judd at Carlton: * Brownlow Medallist 2010 * AFL Players Association MVP 2011 * 4 x All-Australian (2008-11) * 3 x Carlton club champion (2008-10) * Retired 2015 Kennedy at West Coast: * 2 x Coleman Medallist (2015-16) * 3 x All-Australian (2015-17) * 6 x West Coast leading goalkicker (2011, 2013-17) * West Coast's all-time leading goalkicker (559 from 220 games)

I read an interesting tweet this morning from Basil Zempilas as follows - "I reckon that settles it. West Coast won the trade deal with Carlton. Josh Kennedy helped WC win a flag. Judd won a Brownlow with the Blues. This is no knock on Judd, but no Kennedy, prob no WC flag today. Took a long time, but I declare WC the winners."

INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER (after the finals series) ROUND ONE 1. Carlton 2. Gold Coast 3. St Kilda 4. Brisbane 5. Fremantle 6. Western Bulldogs 7. Adelaide 8. Essendon 9. Port Adelaide 10. North Melbourne 11. Geelong 12. Sydney 13. Greater Western Sydney 14. Hawthorn 15. Adelaide (received from Melbourne) 16. Richmond 17. Collingwood 18. Gold Coast (received off West Coast) ROUND TWO 19. Adelaide (received from Carlton) 20. West Coast (received from Gold Coast) 21. Port Adelaide (received from St Kilda) 22. Brisbane 23. Greater Western Sydney (received from Fremantle) 24. Carlton (received from Western Bulldogs) 25. Carlton (received from Adelaide) 26. Gold Coast (received from Essendon) 27. Port Adelaide 28. North Melbourne 29. Gold Coast (received from Geelong) 30. Sydney 31. Essendon (received from Greater Western Sydney) 32. Hawthorn 33. Melbourne 34. Richmond 35. Sydney (received from Collingwood) 36. West Coast ROUND THREE 37. Adelaide (received from Carlton) 38. Gold Coast 39. North Melbourne (received off St Kilda via on-trades) 40. Brisbane 41. Gold Coast (received from Fremantle) 42. Western Bulldogs 43. Melbourne (received from Adelaide) 44. Greater Western Sydney (received from Essendon) 45. Port Adelaide 46. Port Adelaide (received from North Melbourne) 47. Geelong 48. Collingwood (received from Sydney) 49. Greater Western Sydney 50. Hawthorn 51. Melbourne 52. Geelong (received from Richmond) 53. Collingwood 54. North Melbourne (received from West Coast via on-trades) ROUND FOUR 55. Geelong (received from Carlton) 56. Geelong (received from Gold Coast) 57. St Kilda 58. Brisbane 59. Western Bulldogs (received from Fremantle) 60. Western Bulldogs 61. St Kilda (received from Adelaide via on-trades) 62. Essendon 63. St Kilda (received from Port Adelaide) 64. North Melbourne 65. Carlton (received from Geelong) 66. Sydney 67. Greater Western Sydney 68. West Coast (received from Hawthorn via on-trades) 69. Adelaide (received from Melbourne) 70. Richmond 71. Collingwood 72. West Coast ROUND FIVE 73. Carlton 74. Gold Coast 75. St Kilda 76. Brisbane 77. Fremantle 78. Western Bulldogs 79. Adelaide 80. Essendon 81. Port Adelaide 82. North Melbourne 83. Geelong 84. Sydney 85. Greater Western Sydney 86. Hawthorn 87. Melbourne 88. Richmond 89. Collingwood 90. West Coast ROUND SIX 91. Carlton 92. Gold Coast 93. St Kilda 94. Brisbane 95. Fremantle 96. Western Bulldogs 97. Adelaide 98. Essendon 99. Port Adelaide 100. North Melbourne 101. Geelong 102. Sydney 103. Greater Western Sydney 104. Hawthorn 105. Melbourne 106. Richmond 107. Collingwood 108. West Coast

Any team that has a Barass and a Sheed in a grand final deserves to win it.

They have the MCG rule book, not the Optus Stadium rule book.

Devastated about the loss in the sprint. Sums up our season.

The third tall forward point loses a bit of cache when you see the club chasing hard for Preuss from North Melbourne. You might be able to fit 3KPPs into the forward lineup but not 3KPPs and Gawn/Preuss. On a side note, it was refreshing to see how Nathan Jones is dealing with the issue compared with Tex Walker’s fit of pique last year when it was announced that Jake Lever was leaving the Crows. AFL trade news: Melbourne’s Jesse Hogan to be traded to Fremantle for two first round picks, per report

The player of the moment and now an early favourite for the 2019 National Draft #1 pick is Oakleigh Chargers’ Matthew Rowell who was his team’s best in the Under 18 Grand Final last week. AFL Grand Final 2018: Matthew Rowell dominates U17 All Stars contest

The annual Under 17 Future Stars game was played today at the G. The teams - Teams named for U17 'Futures' GF curtain-raiser

The fact that the deal between Carlton and Judd was as good as done by the middle of that season is also the explanation given for the Blues’ dramatic fall from grace and them losing the last 11 games in a row including the famous “Kreuzer Cup” game in Round 22. It really should have been called the “Kreuzer-Judd” Cup because it secured both players for them. Ironically, more than a decade later, Dennis Pagan who was coach of Carlton on Kreuzer Cup day will today be presenting the Jock McHale Medal to the premiership-winning coach and one of the players in the winning team could well be Josh Kennedy, the young key forward who the Blues gave away as part of the deal to get the Judd trade done. Worth thinking about if we do end up trading our own key forward in Jesse Hogan.

Is there something on today?

Apparently, a number of our players went in for various ops as soon as the season - mainly minor scrapes and such to get them ready for the pre season which, incidentally and due to the later than normal finish for the club, will be later this year than it’s been for a while.

They improved as individuals and as a team during the season and, like the Richmond of 2017, were certainly assisted by finishing in the bottom six last year. That 13th placed finish allowed them to gain momentum in the mid part of the season when they were able to record wins against the also rans while avoiding the series of consecutive tougher games that might have stopped their run to the top four. They only fell in with a late burst against Freo in the last home and away game in which case they might never have made it. Still, you make your luck and they were terrific last Friday night against the Tigers who probably played at their very worst for the season. I was hoping that we would strike Richmond in a final when they were having that day.

There was a lot of hype last year about who were the winners out of last year’s Trade & Free Agency Period with many of the experts hailing Port Adelaide as the big winners because they snared Steven Motlop, Tom Rockliff and Jack Watts while giving up pick 31, Jarman Impey and Jackson Trengove. Later on they also picked up a few more recycled players along the way and the pundits were quite bullish about them all the way into the 2018 season but they finally went bust ⅔s of the way through. None of their big 3 recruits performed as expected and Port’s season ended in disappointment. It raises the question as to what is really required of a club to come out of the Trade & Free Agency Period as a winner?

Also reflecting on the failure of the two development ruckmen the club has on its list, this would seem a brilliant and a necessary move to prolong Max Gawn’s time at the top in the game, especially in the light of some of the changes being mooted to the playing rules for next year.

Quite right Mr. Leg. I did tape the TAC Cup Grand Final with the intention of watching it during my week off work but it’s taken a while to get around to it because of the wonderful weather up here on the Gold Coast. I finished the task this morning. I suppose that what we’re looking at in Bedford is a player who might be a Daniel Rioli type who exerts a great deal of defensive pressure with his pace and tackling but isn’t going to necessarily rack up high possession numbers. In the preliminary final - the game in which he received a lot of accolades from the draft watchers - he managed only 13 touches In the grand final, he started off slowly but did lay some strong tackles without getting any other stats. He really didn’t get into the game until the second quarter and was credited with 10 disposals altogether for the game. He showed out from time to time with some good runs, a few effective tackles, some glimpses of excitement and potential but on this performance, I can’t see any opposition club putting in any early bids for him. He’s certainly not going to challenge for Melbourne’s midfield any time in the immediate future - his pace and skills are good but need development. I would like to think we could get him either as a late selection in the draft or, more likely as a rookie.