Whispering_Jack

More Road to the Draft

The Victorian Country squad has been finalised - here

The Australian Under 18 Championships 2017 kick off in less than a fortnight. They will once again feature teams from Victoria Country & Metro, SA, WA and the Allies (best of the rest). Some of the squads have already been announced. The draw for the first two rounds is:- Round 1 Saturday 10 June 2017 at 12.30pm Western Australia v South Australia (Domain Stadium) Sunday 11 June 2017 at 12.30pm Allies v Victoria Country (Blacktown International Sportspark) Round 2 Saturday 17 June 2017 at 10.10am South Australia v Allies (Adelaide Oval) Sunday 18 June 2017 at 11.00am Western Australia v Victoria Metro Domain Stadium) I am hearing that the quality of the draft pool is just average but I think that's what was being said at this time last year and some good talent emerged at the championships. At this stage the Demons have all the draft picks intact including one in the first round so there should be a fair bit more interest in the proceedings than there was in 2016.

Brad Green's version of the events is welcome as would be the versions of all participants in this troubling episode in the club's history. The story provides an insight into the events of the day but only partly helps us to understand how a team supposedly only "one game out of the eight" could perform in that way. If the players indeed did lay down and surrender to make a point about how the club was being administered or how they or Bailey were being treated, it seems to me to be a very strange way for them to act or to react. There are some very complex layers to the story and the day awaits when a historian examines what happened in full detail. I'm not sure that's ever going to happen.

The club has leant more to the conservative side with regard to player injuries and illness and on the length of time in rehab. Even with Hogan's fitness and big tank, I can't see him being rushed in too early. He's recovering from something fairly serious and the medicos will want to get it right.

Somewhere out in the red heart of the country there a 22 men searching for the meaning of the term "season defining". I wish them well.

The stats are out ... Liam Hulett 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 68 dream team pointsDion Johnstone 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 32 dream team points Declan Keilty 1 behind 4 kicks 6 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 7 tackles 17 hit outs 82 dream team points Ben Kennedy 1 goal 1 behind 16 kicks 10 handballs 26 disposals 8 marks 5 tackles 116 dream team pointsJay Kennedy-Harris 1 goal 1 behind 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 73 dream team pointsMitch King 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 17 hit outs 49 dream team pointsJake Melksham 2 goals 1 behind 26 kicks 8 handballs 34 disposals 6 marks 8 tackles 159 dream team points.Alex Neal-Bullen 1 goal 22 kicks 15 handballs 37 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 118 dream team points. Billy Stretch 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 65 dream team points. Jack Trengove 15 kicks 5 handballs 20 disposals 8 marks 7 tackles 107 dream team points Mitch White 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 59 dream team points

Firstly, congratulations to the Casey Demons on the win - it certainly did come from left field. Secondly, about the team song ... We might have taken over the club but I can't agree with this - it's disrespectful to the last vestige of the old Springvale club even if very few of the old Scorpion faithful still follow Casey. But it's also disrespectful to Port Melbourne which is the oldest of the existing VFA clubs still in the competition and it makes a mockery of the fact that they've sung this song for decades in a competition where the Casey Demons have been around for five minutes. Surely, a slight rearrangement of the old Springvale/Casey song could have been an appropriate concession to history and tradition? I defy anyone to tell me that the Casey team played fine in the year of thirty-nine!

A number of commentators were calling Melbourne's win over Adelaide "season-defining" and I wish that were true but the reality is that our season to date has been defined by other things, such as injuries, illness and suspensions to important players, slow starts to games, narrow losses and defeats snatched from the jaws of victory. I don't really like the expression "season-defining" and I would prefer that it be confined to the context of a single win in September but if it must be used then it should apply to the day when the club finally shows that it can perform consistently as it did last Saturday night at Adelaide and win games that it's expected to win. Melbourne opened the season with a great win over St Kilda but in the following march it played poorly against Carlton. We haven't played two good games in a row so far this year. It's time.

And how could we forget Knightmare who does his power rankings on ESPN these days? Knightmare's Power Rankings April Knightmare's Power Rankings May

I always like following those left of field prospects like this one from the Northern Territory. Then there are the potential players who, like Jayden Hunt were more at home at schoolboy football.

We at Demonland know all about this particular Cook. Once was an All Australian KPF and a first round draft pick for the club.

The lesson to be learned from last night and many other games including those involving Melbourne is that the competition is strong and intense and we can expect fluctuations of form from clubs and players on a weekly basis. Geelong was horrible last week against Essendon and was criticised for its poor tacking and ordinary attitude. Last night the team came out and laid over 130 tackles. Form fluctuated dramatically from quarter to quarter. It makes for a fascinating competition.

Good thinking. It must have been tough on Mitch King coming straight into the team after more than 12 months out of the game recovering from an ACL and having to lead the rucks against some experienced opposition big men. Nyuon is 198cm but light at 83kg according to the VFL Record. He has an image problem after getting into some hot water in the past and this is his big opportunity to atone and revive his career. Interesting that the selectors went with Nyuon ahead of rookie Lachie Filipovic who remains in the Development League as a project player. As for Declan Keilty, I think it's for the better that the club concentrates on working on him as a KPP with an occasional run on the ball rather than mainly in the ruck where at 194cm, he is always at a height disadvantage as a ruckman.

I reckon Maxy must be reading Demonland. Gawn aims for round 12 return "Gawn was also confident teammate Jesse Hogan, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last week, would make a full recovery after a successful operation on Tuesday. 'It's a bit of a whirlwind for us as well, as much as it as for him,' he said of Hogan."

... and more of the series

What's going on is that with injury and suspensions the club is not fielding a competitive team each week. This week there 11 MFC listed players on the field at the start and a couple of minutes in the number was reduced to 10. I believe there were other injuries as well. Last year there were many times when the Scorpions had 16 or 17 AFL listed players (including experienced warriors like Grimes, Trengove, M Jones, Dunn and Garland) as well as three players who were drafted at the end of the year. The problem is to do with a lack of good VFL cattle especially in the big man department. With regard to the stats, the ones put up recently are the official figures - obviously from a different source that does the ones that are put up during the game.

Our record at the MCG is becoming a mini-embarrassment. We've lost three on the trot there this year (all of them very winnable) after beating Carlton in Round 2. Time to knock that one on the head along with the big hoodoo against North

Yee of little faith. Shame on you.

BTW Redleg when are you going to get around to re-organising our 2016 annual dinner?

Picturing Old Kev Murray running around for the Roy Boys on the hallowed turf at Brunswick Street is fine but Roosy - definitely not. It was a dark day in 1966 that the Fitzroy Football Club moved its home ground to Princes Park before heading off to the Junction Oval in 1969 and later spending time at at Victoria Park and back to Princes Park from whence it was banished to a place far north of the border so Roosy never played on the ground. Back on topic (well, sort of) to Ajax, the Royboys have opened up an early three goal lead and if you're holding out for the replay ... look away.

It was one Under 19 practice match and, apart from a magnificent goal (kicked when I was 40 metres clear of any opposition player), it wasn't so auspicious and I never threw any elbows. I was too smart for that! Since there's no MFC game on in town today, I will probably get down to the old Brunswick Street Oval where Ajax is playing Fitzroy. Yes, that's Fitzroy which used to play VFL in the 60's. The ground looks magnificent these days with one grandstand (a little rickety) still intact, a magnificent atmosphere where you can close your eyes and imagine the likes of the late Lou Richards and Butch Gale running around - and taste the delights of one of the best canteens in the VAFA. Why would anyone want to go to Adelaide?

Now that the club has a back of jumper sponsor in iSelect, I guess all our troubles are over and we should beat Adelaide easily tonight.

iSelect?

Or the fact that his career took a dramatic change of direction after a game against Adelaide during which he was reported and subsequently suspended for what was deemed an illegal tackle on an Adelaide player who was concussed in the aftermath but not badly enough to prevent him from playing 6 days later and getting 3 Brownlow votes for his effort. It was a turning point for both players IMO.