Whispering_Jack

They're all scrambling to get their lists out. Here's Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' July ranking A few differences between this one and that of AFL Draft Central and the still glaring omissions of the Camporeale twins and Walsh from SA. My favourite is Harvey Langford who comes in at #4 here but was in the 20s in the Draft Central rankings. 1. Levi Ashcroft 2. Josh Smillie 3. Finn O'Sullivan 4. Harvey Langford 5. Murphy Reid 6. Jagga Smith 7. Luke Trainor 8. Sam Lalor 9. Sid Draper 10. Bo Allan 11. Leo Lombard 12. Taj Hotton 13. Tobie Travaglia 14. Harry Armstrong 15. Isaac Kako 16. Xavier Lindsay 17. Joe Berry 18. Jack Whitlock 19. Cooper Hynes 20. Tom Gross 21. Sam Marshall 22. Christian Moraes 23. Alex Dodson 24. Alixzander Tauru 25. Harrison Oliver 26. Matt Whitlock 27. Jobe Shanahan 28. Jonty Faull 29. Thomas Sims 30. Noah Mraz

Right on cue, the AFL Draft Central 2024 Power Rankings are out. I’ll load them up as they came in -

There are changes coming to the rules relating to NGA access in drafts. AFL proposes change to NGA access for this year’s draft

It was Round 11, 2022 at the MCG when Fremantle came back from a 25 point deficit at half time to beat Melbourne by 38 points. They met again in Round 20 at Optus Stadium and the Demons won by 46 points making it an 84 point turnaround - more if you take into account that half time MCG deficit. At the time, loading by the Melbourne fitness team was raised by many to explain the amazing improvement from one game to the next. So … it … can … be … done

The Herald Sun recognising the quality of our youth:- EIGHT KIDS KEEPING DEES IN FINALS MIX - HERALD SUN ONLINE • Jacob Van Rooyen, 21, who kicked four goals last week then was exceptional in the ruck against Draper. • Trent Rivers, 23, who has peeled off six excellent games in the midfield and has had 29 possessions in successive weeks as well as 15 total clearances. • Judd McVee, 20, who has had another excellent year as a miserly defender averaging 17 touches while kicking at 80 per cent efficiency. • Kysaiah Pickett, 23, who has kicked 12 goals in the past five weeks and 39 total score involvements. • Wingman Caleb Windsor, 19, who has played all 17 games in a year that could be rewarded with the Rising Star and has kicked a goal in each of the past two games. • Koltyn Tholstrup, 19, who has played the last four games for five in total in his debut year and who has only two goals but seven direct score assists in that time. • Andy Moniz-Wakefield, 20, who has played three games as a pacy defender and is averaging six intercept possessions and 14 possessions. • Daniel Turner, 22, who has kicked 11.3 and seven goals in the past four weeks (three against Essendon) as another key forward prospect for the Demons.

Getting close to favouritism in the Rising Star ⭐️

Another Demon from Melbourne’s golden era, Jim Sandral has passed away. Sandral was a member of the club’s 1956 premiership team and only spent two years at the club before he went off to the country at the end of 1957 for a long and illustrious career which stretched well into the mid 60s. Condolences to his family.

I haven’t seen as much of the National Championships and Coates League games as I have in the past but it seems fairly clear to me that there’s one glaring difference between this year and the last. In 2023, it was Harley Reid first and daylight next. At the head of the following pack was Colby McKercher so North did well to snare him, although the lure of Tasmania will soon be a factor with him. Time will tell, but I think Jason Taylor has done well to get Caleb Windsor and Koltyn Tholstrup although I felt at the time that with our draft hand, we could have tried for one more young player from the top 40 players. By way of contrast, 2024 is far more open and there is a plethora of opinion as to who fits into the top dozen players. There are candidates from everywhere putting their hands up so having first pick in this draft won’t be as big a deal on the face of it, as last year. For example, hard nosed midfielder Harvey Langford who appeals to me as the prototypical Jason Taylor selection and who shared the Larke Medal was ranked at only 17 by Davo-27 (see above). The Power rankings and Phantom drafts that come out in coming months are going to be interesting.

To wrap up the final game of the national championships. Scouting Notes: 2024 AFL U18s – Vic Metro vs. Vic Country

Perhaps @binman might wish to expand on this thought and what it might mean for the Dees on Sunday 😀

That blond bloke in the picture is the late Greg Parke, a high flying key forward who sadly passed away in the eve of Melbourne’s 2021 premiership.

15 July 1967 - on this day in 1967, an 18-year-old, 189cm ruckman from Tasmania, Max Walker, made his debut for the Demons on the MCG against the Kangaroos wearing the number 46 guernsey. His 15 kicks, 18 hitouts, 7 marks and goal helped his team across the line by 3 points. He had risen dramatically from the Under 19s to seniors in just over half a season after being discovered the year before in a schoolboy’s grand final. He went on to wear the number 1 in the following season when he established himself in the Melbourne lineup. Walker played 85 games for the Dees by the end of 1972 when he was called up to play in the Australian Test Cricket team. The tangle-footed right arm medium pace bowler was played as a foil for the famed express duo of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. Although he was trained as an architect, Walker went on to become a popular television cricket commentator, public speaker and author. Walker passed away in 2016.

Clubhouse leader.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn provides update on injury return timeframe

Surely though, they should have called the bloke who kicked the two for the Bombers by the name of “Langdon”, for the sake of inconsistency?😀

I like the cut of Harvey Langford’s jib. He looks to me to be exactly the type of player Goody would want to recruit in the draft.

An exciting finish to the championships:- WATCH: Controversial finish decides National Championships as Larke Medal and MVP winners are revealed Dramatic late penalty hands Metro championship win over Country Vic Metro snatches Under 18 title after siren

The 2024 AFL National Championships decider between Victoria Metro and Victoria Country takes place this morning at Marvel Stadium. Here’s a preview:- PREVIEW | 2024 AFL U18s: Vic Metro vs. Vic Country

I came across this article from the SEN website that doesn’t seem to rate our young brigade at all. It puts us pretty close to the bottom of the pile - perhaps because they haven’t been looking closely at the way the club’s been travelling. RANKING THE YOUNG CORES OF ALL 18 AFL CLUBS IN 2024

Well, they had two goes at it and are at 50%.