Whispering_Jack

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

Looking at one Coates League team with which I have an affinity - the Sandringham Dragons which, in recent years has been a power house in the competition. Yesterday, they lined up this way against the Western Jets in their Wild Card game … … and gave them a belting. SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS 1.2.8 4.6.30 9.7.61 15.9.99 WESTERN JETS 2.2.14 2.2.14 3.5.23 3.5.23 GOALS SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS H Armstrong 4 B McKenzie M Reid N Sulzberger 3 L Ashcroft L Kennedy WESTERN JETS L Hicks T McGuane K Williams BEST SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS N Sulzberger L Ashcroft M Reid H Armstrong L Trainor L Voss. WESTERN JETS L Hicks N Asciak D Weeks T Burton R Pavlidis L Grego Take it from me that the Dragons will again produce a number of draftees in 2024 including at the pointy end where father/son Levi Ashcroft (30 disposals) is a likely #1 nomination even though the Tigers can’t pick him up. Reid (32 touches) and Trainor also top ten prospects.

6 Hore 5 Goldrick 4 B. Mackin 3 Pearce 2 McNamara 1 Hanks

Went out to dinner and am watching a delayed telecast on Kayo so I’m still catching up but how good was it to see someone running around in the red and blue with the number 5 on their back?

With Christian back in town I think Ms Roffey and the Melbourne Football Club should send all of the members a box of Debauve and Gallais Le Royale 54 chocolates for all of their suffering over the past three weeks (only the best will do)

This can’t be so … at least not on an evening when we’re booked in for Greek cuisine. Has Tracc ever done a moussaka?

There’s a new game in town. It’s called “put the words in Kate’s mouth”. Play on.

This is exactly what Collingwood was so good at in 2022/3 and it helped them win a flag last year, only two years after finishing 17th as a near basket case with only six wins.

Good to see Collingwood get their comeuppance at the hands of the Swans.

Correct ... but it's worse because it's not only some in the media, it's also some Melbourne supporters who continue to repeat misinformation which in turn, helps the media narrative and is causing further damage to the club which could well translate into such things as a weakening of our hand at the trade table. Pathetic.

Also from the supplement -

Yesterday’s Herald Sun had a supplement on the AFLW season start. These are the Demons in Lauren Woods’ Top 50 ~ 6 Kate Hore Shared top goalkicker of the league honours with teammate Eden Zanker and was named All-Australian captain after stepping into the role in the wake of Daisy Pearce’s exit. Big shoes to fill but Hore has made them her own with an ability to work over defenders. 16 Eden Zanker The sports turf specialist made grounds her own last season, forming a key pairing with skipper Kate Hore as the Demons' spearheads. So threatening aerially. 28 Tyla Hanks Has quietly become a dangerous midfielder. Wins the ball at the clearance, then punishes opposition sides with her use. 42 Tayla Harris When in full flight, her aerial marking ability up forward is the best in the game. Has battled shoulder and quad issues in recent weeks. After training as a defender in the pre-season, she could be remodelling her game. 46 Paxy Paxman One of the game's hardest-at-it players. Paxman's longevity as one of the best is seriously impressive.

I think you mean a souvlaki sub but otherwise this could be a continuation of some scuttlebutt I heard some time ago when his career started and he was the butt of some negative comments from some around the club. Judging by how he has played in the past two or three seasons and more so how he went on Friday night, I don’t think that applies any more.

I’m just wondering whether there’s a transcript of this interview available so that people can verify what is being attributed to Kate Roffey in the conversation? An example is the blanket claim that she hasn’t spoken with Christian since he was injured on King’s Birthday. She does say during the interview that she hasn’t spoken to him on the specific subject of whether he wants to leave the club but she also says the following (at 9:21) - “Any time. Christian is clear. I’ve said to him, any time he wants to talk to me, any time he wants me to come to a meeting (I’m) very happy to do so …” That suggests that she has spoken with him at some time recently. There are a number of other matters discussed in the interview that have been relayed in this thread and elsewhere that don’t seem to match what Roffey is saying and which leads to an incorrect interpretation of the conversation. A full transcript might be helpful in this respect because I’m fearful that some conclusions being drawn both here and outside are not based on what she really said in the interview.

Jay Clark’s article in today’s HUN ~ ‘No hard feelings’: Trac backed to salvage Dees relationships In the print edition, the headline is shorter - “Demon will shine again”. It starts as follows: “Sydney Swans' great Ryan O'Keefe has backed Christian Petracca to overcome a potential unsuccessful trade request and rediscover his best form at the Demons next year. “O'Keefe, whose trade move to Carlton was denied at the end of 2008, won the Swans' best and fairest the following season in one of the highlights of his brilliant career.” It goes on to say that O’Keefe believes that if he stays at Melbourne, Petracca’s “competitive instincts and professionalism” would prevail. "If you want to be a professional and go 'OK, I want to explore somewhere else' and that doesn't work, then I get back to where I am and get on with doing the best I can for myself and the team," O'Keefe said. "You see it across the globe. Players leave clubs and they come back. That is what professional sport is all about. "You are your own person and your own identity, your own business, so you want to put your best foot forward. "If you are a strong competitor and it certainly looks like Christian is, he will take pride in his own performance and do everything he can for the team at that time. "So I think he would have no problems slotting back into Melbourne. There will be no hard feelings." There’s more as the article falls back on talk about what might happen if Petracca or his camp continue to push for a release to one of the so-called “high profile” clubs but it would be worth their while to spend some time in thought about how they’ve reached this point and whether they might want to have a think about what O’Keefe is saying. For the record, I believe the club O’Keefe wanted to go to was Hawthorn, not Carlton, the irony being that ultimately, O’Keefe tasted premiership victory for the Swans against the Hawks in 2012. I still look forward to a future in which Tracc in red and blue holds the premiership cup aloft against Magpie opponents including Maynard and Moore.

That would be tough because the Amos only go down to 3rd division these days.

A true champion is one who will go to any lengths to better his team’s performance and who always remembers his roots in the sport. Here are some photographs of Max at Casey Fields starting at the top with a photo of him at the three quarter time huddle with the Casey Scorpions Development Team (reserves) in his first game after recovering from ACL surgery in July 2010 (wearing # 77 if you’re in doubt). Fourteen years later, he’s a premiership captain, a one club player and on his way to his 7th All-Australian honour. A true leader.

This 190cm clearance beast has great appeal to me and looks the perfect man to fill a possible void we might have coming up in the club’s midfield. 2024 Coates Talent League: Round 19 POTW One major advantage is that he’s from the Dandenong Stingrays so that any travel to Casey Fields is unlikely to be a chore for him or any social media influencer partner that he might connect with at some time in the future.

This week’s 2024 Coates Talent League: Round 19 POTW

For Melbourne, the kickoff takes place on Saturday night at GMHBA Stadium against Geelong at 7.15pm. The club has been given a tough starting schedule as they take on preliminary finalists Geelong in round 1, followed by grand finalists Brisbane and North Melbourne. Demonland will be here to cover the 2024 campaign with previews, match reports and plenty of discussion about our favourite women’s team. Here’s an article from the Herald Sun ~ New look Demons searching for Cats redemption We also have a big season preview from Meggs coming up soon.

The Rookie Me Central has a new number one headlining their August Power Rankings update, along with two entrants to their list of 30.

Blimey. Wasn’t it only 9 days ago that we beat Gold Coast on their own dung heap by 9 goals without Clarry, without Maysie, without Caleb and without Tracc and with Sparrow gone before half time? I was there and I saw some solid young talent to work with - a rebuild already halfway in the making which could be augmented by some astute use of the compensation from CP5 if he goes and ANB. Where were the Bulldogs and the Hawks when we played them earlier this year? If we play our cards right, a lot of people around here will be eating their words.

Not wanting to sound Machiavellian here but if there’s any truth in what the HUN’s Jay Clark is writing, then it could end up backfiring on the Carlton Football Club which is, after all, still involved in a finals series:- “The move would blindside McKay, similar to the way Collingwood punted Brodie Grundy two years ago and Carlton shipped off young forward Josh Kennedy in the blockbuster Chris Judd trade back in 2007.” There might well be some negative implications if a move to them by Petracca turns out disrupting this season and the future. Like all Demon fans, I want our player to be happy, healthy and play out his career as a one club champion. Time to take a deep breath, relax and concentrate on the all important return to full fitness without this politicking around his future.

We already have a few players on our list who will enter 2025 with question marks about their capacity to play at the top of their game. Getting him would be a backward step.