Whispering_Jack

Max is the latest in line of Melbourne’s premiership captains and he sits on the same high pedestal on my vision as the one who skippered the club to its previous two flags in 1964 and in 1960 — the great Ronald Dale Barassi who also played in four others before that in 1959, 1957, 1956 and 1955. On Sunday, Max reaches game 200 and I salute him for that but what I’m looking forward to and I reckon Max is aiming for is to play game 204 on the MCG in just over a month’s time in a winning grand final against Collingwood. The achievement of 204 games on that day will make him equal in the number of games played for Melbourne and premiership cups held aloft as skipper of this great club with Barassi. A coincidence, but one worth looking forward to over the next 40 plus days to come. Take it to the Max!

Mary Burra will be a star in the AFLW Country side.

Zane Duursma the big climber.

What we don’t know is whether JvR would have goaled from that distance or whether the Blues would have cleared the kick. Let’s just move on from that game and win our next five in a row.

Repeating that it is Demonland policy to stand behind our club, coach and players. There is to be no discussion on this website about the Ex President or any allegations against the club coach Simon Goodwin whilst they are based on claims that are neither proven nor substantiated in any way, shape or form. This is the MFC Statement in response to the allegations:- "The Melbourne Football Club is aware, through WorkSafe Victoria, that Victoria Laspas has made a complaint about the MFC. At no point has Victoria Laspas been a volunteer or employee of the club. "Victoria Laspas is the partner of ex-president Glen Bartlett who ceased as a board member of the club in 2021. "The club has responded to WorkSafe's requests for documentation regarding club policies, staff training, employee induction and procedures. It rejects any wrongdoing. "The club has also provided WorkSafe Victoria with documents and proof that contradict and refute claims by Victoria Laspas. "Over the last two years, Glen Bartlett and his partner Victoria Laspas have continued to make allegations about historical events that are factually incorrect and baseless”.

Every year someone comes up with a novel way of looking at the various draft prospects and their rankings. Why not just call it another phantom draft? Rolling Rankings: Top 40 AFL Draft Prospects

That would be interesting because it might mean the club that has a footprint in the State prefers Duursma ahead of one of the two Tasmanians McKercher and Sanders. I would like to know what our recruiting people think about chasing youngsters from Tassie in light of their recent licence. There is still no guarantee that they will enter the competition in 2028 especially if the proposed new fixed-roof stadium can’t be built a Hobart's Macquarie Point.

But he was in the 23 which means it counts on his games played and on that basis, if he doesn’t play on Saturday night, he’s regarded as an “out”. Personally, I would keep him in. I normally don’t like selecting teams but my team this week would include:- In: Grundy Oliver (both of them are All-Australians) Out: Harmes (omitted - let’s face it, someone has to make way for Clarrie) Petty (leg) Joel Smith is the most super of subs in the competition so that’s where he starts. I’m personally not impressed by all the palaver about Brodie Grundy. I think we need him this week and that he will hold his place in the team for the remainder of the season, especially now that Petty’s out. I don’t think this is an original team but if it works, I’ll happily claim the credit.

I agree with Dazzle - we were pioneers in the field with the likes of Jimmy Stynes and Sean Wight back in the 80s but dropped out a decade or so ago (I was told) because of the expense of the exercise of drafting the best of the Irish male players. Surely, we have the $ today? It’s a question worth asking JT when he next appears on the DL podcast why the club isn’t having another crack at this area of recruitment.

Well said. I know of one player from the same league where Will Ashcroft, Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Cam McKenzie played, who played against them in a strong side and of close to their calibre who was truly shattered when he missed out in the draft. I believe he’s given up on football altogether.

Bigfooty contributor Davo-17s August top 50:- 1. Harley Reid - Bendigo - 185cm 85kg 2. Jed Walter - GCS A - 195cm 91kg (GCS) 3. Colby McKercher - Tasmania - 181cm 72kg 4. Ryley Sanders - Tas/Sand - 186cm 85kg 5. Dan Curtin - Claremont - 196cm 91kg 6. Nick Watson - Eastern - 170cm 67kg 7. Ethan Read - GCS A - 200cm 90kg (GCS) 8. Zane Duursma - Gippsland - 189cm 79kg 9. Jake Rogers - GCS A - 172cm 67kg (GCS) 10. Connor O'Sullivan - Murray - 198cm 92kg 11. Harry Demattia - Dandenong - 184cm 77kg 12. Darcy Wilson - Murray - 185cm 73kg 13. Nate Caddy - Northern - 192cm 91kg 14. Mitch Edwards - Peel - 207cm 90kg 15. Jack Delean - Sth Adel - 181cm 73kg 16. Koltyn Tholstrup - Subiaco - 188cm 80kg 17. Will McCabe - Central Dist - 197cm 81kg (Haw) 18. Logan Morris - Western - 191cm 90kg 19. Harvey Johnston - Sandringham - 184cm 76kg 20. Ollie Murphy - Sandringham - 200cm 85kg 21. Will Patton - Wst Adel - 192cm 79kg 22. Caleb Windsor - Eastern - 184cm 74kg 23. Koen Sanchez - East Frem - 178cm 71kg 24. Jordan Croft - Calder - 200cm 80kg (WB) 25. Archer Reid - Gippsland - 203cm 93kg 26. Ashton Moir - Glenlg - 188cm 84kg 27. Will Lorenz - Oakleigh - 186cm 70kg 28. Clay Hall - Peel - 190cm 85kg 29. James Leake - Tasmania - 188cm 74kg 30. Riley Hardeman - Swan Dist - 188cm 80kg 31. Wil Dawson - Gippsland - 200cm 86kg 32. Joel Freijah - GWV - 191cm 86kg 33. Phoenix Gothard - Murray - 178cm 70kg 34. Will Brown - Sandringham - 194cm 86kg 35. Jack Callinan - Tasmania - 179cm 77kg 36. Luca Slade - Sturt - 180cm 70kg 37. Luamon Lual - GWV - 181cm 71kg (WB) 38. Lachlan Smith - Murray - 202cm 97kg 39. George Stevens - GWV - 189cm 84kg 40. Caiden Cleary - Syd A - 180cm 77kg (Syd) 41. Heath Ollington - Tasmania - 190cm 81kg (19yo) 42. Billy Wilson - Dandenong - 182cm 71kg 43. Will Green - Northern - 204cm 89kg 44. Vigo Visentini - Sandringham - 203cm 97kg 45. Aiden O'Driscoll - Perth - 177cm 70kg 46. Michael Rudd - Geelong - 192cm 91kg 47. Archie Roberts - Sandringham - 184cm 77kg 48. Harvey Thomas - GWS A - 175cm 68kg (GWS) 49. Bodie Ryan - Glenlg - 188cm 50. Kade De La Rue - Dandenong - 184cm 77kg

And that opens the door for someone to take Daniel Curtin who, isn’t Reid but by all accounts, could be an out and out star.

Aaron Cadman was the #1 pick in last year’s draft. He’s around the same height as Jefferson and probably weighs a bit more. GWS have given him three AFL games but he’s way off the pace which is par for the course for KPF’s in their first couple of years. Jefferson isn’t all that far behind Cadman but I wouldn’t be expecting a great deal from either until 2025 which will be the third season after being drafted.

He’s not even Harpo Marx. Happy to love him for how he plays footy rather than for his eloquence in front of a microphone.

For completeness, former players Fischer McAsey (Adelaide) and Jason Castagna (Richmond) who announced their retirements before the start of the season, have been added to the list.

Up the Grades: Reid runs rampant in new colours

True, but these losses could very well be offset by the potential return from injuries of Clayton Oliver, Tom McDonald and Kye Turner to return us to the status quo. Also Carlton has a big injury list of its own.

I’ll play …

They’ll be ahead on percentage if they out score Fremantle by approx. x 1.254.

In 1987, Melbourne had a 6 - 10 record after 16 matches and were considered as having no hope of making the finals. We then won the next six matches to fall into the final five by half a game ahead of Geelong and Footscray. That was the year that we beat the Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval and the Hawks beat the Cats in Round 22 which enabled us to compete in the finals for the first time since 1964. Our run continued into the finals with a 118-point win over North Melbourne in the Elimination Final (hoping for an encore today) and a 76 point win over Sydney in the Semi Final. It took Gary Buckenara’s goal after the siren (courtesy of that controversial 15m penalty against Jimmy) to end our run in the Preliminary Final. I think our form swing in 1987 was equivalent to Carlton’s this year.

No - it won’t be as easy as last time. The mindset and makeup of both teams has changed over the past few months but we do know that the team can get the job done by applying itself in the same way it has done over the past month. A good win could well see us in second place on the ladder, with a top four place all but guaranteed, some challenging games to keep us focused ahead of the finals and some handy players to return to the side. What more could you want at this time of the year?

Can’t take the run home for granted now. As we saw today, even the most lowly of clubs is capable of causing an upset and they all would love to take a big scalp.

Robbie was the best thing to ever come out of Murrumbeena where I spent some of the early days of my working life … Robbie (r) with his last coach John Northey