Whispering_Jack

Oops. Apologies for any inconvenience.Misread it but it sounds so Machiaevellian and so much more interesting than "Niccolò Swooper".

The Melbourne Priority Pick (TBC) Preview: aka AFL U18 Championships Round 5 The website is called The Flack which I regard as somewhat ironical because of the flack the club has been caused to the club by the activity of a certain Mr. Flack (perhaps the author of this piece). Interesting comments about who might be the MFC's priority pick if the club indeed, gets one. I'm more in favour of a mini draft but that involves knowing the quality of the 17 year olds available.

Trust a poster with the moniker "Machiaevelli" to open a thread about Gerard Healy and conspiracy theories involving that episode of On the Couch. Sounds like the one a poster once sent me about the goings on in the green room before the actual interview and about the questions that were asked and the ones that weren't. $500k plus, plus & plus, substantial disruption and dislocation to the club, heavy defeats, some sackings, resignations and other penalties, the club was on its knees but surely, not a conspiracy?

One view of the standouts (Div 1) from Round 5: SA STANDOUTS WA STANDOUTS VIC METRO STANDOUTS VIC COUNTRY STANDOUTS

The Division Two series concluded yesterday with Tassie taking the title. Tasmania wins division two title Late goal to Hammelmann sinks NT Three tie for Division Two medal

James Aish comes from a famous football family in SA, was the youngest player to to make debut for Norwood and has already played for the Redlegs in a SANFL premiership team Junior not scared of Dees

Essendon President David Evans went on line on Bomber TV to address his club's members seeking to clarify the situation with regard to player use of peptides but, if anything, the fans would be more confused than ever. Pure spin when there was no need to say anything. Who are the parties "external to the club" who have an involvement in this sad saga? Why go into the area of whether or not AOD-9604 is performance enhancing when that issue is irrelevant to the investigation? Worse still, by failing to clarify anything at all, Evans leaves it open for the journos to place their own spin on things in order to clarify the clarification. Wow, and we copped a $500k fine for not tanking but employing officials who told wry jokes about it. Go figure?

Our team of writers like to get things right once in a while.

The objections of some of the clubs to the priority pick is understandable but the fundamental fact remains that the club needs assistance and the AFL has a policy of giving assistance to clubs in our position. We've been uncompetitive for too long and its affecting not only ours but the AFL's bottom line. That's what matters these days at AFL HQ and what, no doubt, makes a mini draft concession all the more compelling. A mini draft is a far lesser compromise than a priority pick and the clubs that are whining will still keep their draft selection positions if they decide not to participate.

Zac Jones named MVP for Victoria Country. He's had a meteoric rise through the championships. Well done. Although he missed out on selection at the business end of the championship, it looks like Billy Stretch is set for better things in 2014.

BLACK SWAN EVENT COMING by George on the Outer The Finance industry has a favourite allusion to unforeseen events as Black Swan events which is another way of saying we didnt see it coming or we lost your money through no fault of ours The weekend game and result against the Sydney Swans might be forebodingly black, given their systematic destruction of Carlton last week and because the Demons come into the game with only two wins for the season, against the Swans making a serious run for another Premiership! And those two wins were hardly convincing, being against sides immediately above and below them on the ladder at the far Southern end of the competition. Had he not been ruled out with his injury, it's highly likely that the Swans would have rested their star attraction, Adam Goodes anyway (after all his nemesis Cale Morton is no longer playing for the Demons). Their already extensive injury list of Rhyce Shaw (abdomen), Lewis Roberts-Thomson (knee), Lewis Jetta (shin), Sam Reid (quad) and ruckman Shane Mumford (face) should have given any other side a fighting chance and yet, with all these players absent, Carlton were systematically taken apart last week - and in appalling conditions to boot! What chance then a lowly Demons side? Well, we all live in hope of a repeat of this game: With only one more home game at the G scheduled this year, and a win last week to raise the spirits, the Melbourne fans should turn up hoping a Black Swan event might strike the Sydney Ducks just as it did in 2010. ... but then Black Swan events are meant to be once in a lifetime THE GAME Melbourne v Sydney at the MCG Sunday 7 July at 1.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 92 wins Sydney 107 wins 2 draws At MCG Melbourne 49 wins Sydney 39 wins 2 draws Since 2000 Melbourne 7 wins Sydney 13 wins 1 draw The Coaches Neil Craig 0 John Longmire 0 MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel (Live at 1:00pm) RADIO Triple M 3AW THE BETTING Melbourne to win $15.00 Sydney to win $1.01 LAST TIME THEY MET Sydney 21.13.138 defeated Melbourne 5.7.37 at the SCG in Round 8, 2012 It was a humiliation of epic proportions. A heavy defeat remembered by Demon fans only for the fact that it was Liam Jurrah's last hurrah and for Jeremy Howe's mark of the year. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Colin Garland Dean Terlich Half backs Tom McDonald James Frawley Mitch Clisby Centreline Matt Jones Jack Trengove Jack Grimes Half forwards Dean Kent Chris Dawes David Rodan Forwards Jack Fitzpatrick Jack Watts Jeremy Howe Followers Max Gawn Colin Sylvia Nathan Jones Interchange Shannon Byrnes Aaron Davey Daniel Nicholson Jimmy Toumpas Emergencies Cam Pedersen James Sellar James Strauss In Jack Grimes Out Sam Blease (ankle) SYDNEY SWANS Backs Nick Smith Ted Richards Dane Rampe Half backs Nick Malceski Heath Grundy Jarrad McVeigh Centreline Dan Hannebery Josh Kennedy Andrejs Everitt Half forwards Ben McGlynn Sam Reid Jude Bolton Forwards Mike Pyke KurtTippett Luke Parker Followers Shane Mumford Kieren Jack, Ryan O'Keefe Interchange Craig Bird Brandon Jack Jed Lamb Tom Mitchell Emergencies Tony Armstrong Mitch Morton Jesse White In Shane Mumford Sam Reid Out Xavier Richards (quad) Jesse White Although the Swans won last year's grand final and their round 9 clash against the Magpies at the G, you have to go back to the middle of the last decade to find a Sydney victory over Melbourne at the home of football (not forgetting that three Demon home games were "sold" to Canberra in the late 00's). The last two games at the ground between these sides produced a couple of diametrically opposite results:- Round 17, 2010 - Melbourne 22.10.142 defeated Sydney 10.9.69 Round 1, 2011 - Melbourne 11.18.84 drew with Sydney 11.18.84 Since the drawn game, the teams have met only once and again the result was quite the opposite of the one it preceded when the Swans recorded that 101 point victory at the SCG. This week's result is likely to be a Swans win in the range between the 2011 and 2012 results.

Young South Australian centre half-back Matthew Scharenberg leads state to under-18 title SA claim under-18s championship Big Boyd may not be a Giant Billings the star as Metro win battle of the Vics Vic Country 1.1 3.3 5.4 6.6 (42) Vic Metro 2.1 5.4 7.5 9.7 (61) GOALS Vic Country: Willsmore 2, McCartney, Herbert, Nelson, Taylor Vic Metro: Billings 3, Apeness, Lennon, Honeychurch, Sicily, Walker, Bontempelli Best: Vic Country: Taylor, Crouch, Holman, Jones, Leslie, Impey Vic Metro: Honeychurch, Kennedy-Harris, McDonald, Billings, Kelly, Bontempelli, Byrne-Jones, Ritchie SA breaks drought SOUTH AUSTRALIA 3.2 8.4 10.6 11.9 (75) WESTERN AUSTRALIA 3.1 5.2 8.4 10.5 (65) Goals SA: Hourigan 3, Battersby 2, Reynolds, Karpany, McKay, Knight, Dumont, Harvey WA: Sokol, McCarthy 2, Lim, Cameron, Marsh, Johnson, Keitel, Pickett Best SA: Dunstan, Scharenberg, Pitt, Hourigan, Battersby, Combe, Durdin, McKay, Spina WA: Smith, Lim, Cripps, Jansen, Edwards

By way of comparison with the list in the OP, here's one from the Age:- Sam Blease (ankle) test Jordie McKenzie (elbow) test Jack Grimes (shoulder) test Jack Viney (toe) test Nathan Stark (ankle) 1 week Michael Evans (foot) 4 weeks Mark Jamar (foot) 4 weeks Mitch Clark (foot) indefinite

Discussion on draft assistance for Melbourne seems to have gone quiet following Melbourne's win over the Western Bulldogs but I must confess, I nearly fell over when I heard Caroline Wilson say on Footy Classified that the Bulldogs had a better case for assistance than Melbourne. The reality is that the Western Bulldogs' barnstorming finish clearly highlighted exactly why Melbourne so badly needs draft assistance. Melbourne was smashed at the stoppages most of the day but in that last quarter hour, its midfield was helpless to stop the run and conceeded seven goals without much of a yelp. Until this situation can be addressed, we'll continue to struggle and accordingly, some sort of concessions are necessary to help us get up to speed. I'm more convinced now than ever that we have a good case. As for the Bulldogs their coach said he didn't want help so the matter should end there with his club.

There are some quality prospects among this group but we start with a "workman-like" defender. Nick Robertson (West Perth, WA)​ 187cm general defender plays like Jack Ziebell This player impressed last year at the under 18 championships. Christian Salem​ (Sandringham​ U 18) 182cm midfielder​ plays like Jordan Lewis. A quality defender who will be up with the best at this year's draft. Matthew Scharenberg (Glenelg, SA) 189cm, general defender plays like Corey Enright This bloke impresses me as exactly the type of midfield player Melbourne needs but we won't see him in tomorrow's final day of the under 18 championships because of injury. Domenic Sheed​ (Subiaco, WA) 184cm midfielder plays like Simon Black TO BE CONTINUED

The Teams: SOUTH AUSTRALIA Backs James Battersby 7 Cameron Giles 31 Sam Durdin 34 H Backs Sean Lemmens 17 Matthew Scharenberg 27 Jake Pitt 29 Centres Trent Dumont 21 Luke Dunstan 20 James Aish 16 H Fwds Jake Johansen 1 Darcy Hourigan 28 Orazio Fantasia 2 Fwds Alex Spina 14 Mitch Harvey 32 Luke Reynolds 24 Followers Peter Steffe 40 Campbell Combe 8 George Hewett 19 Interchange Riley Knight 13 Dwayne Wilson 9 Malcolm Karpany 3 Todd McKay 6 WESTERN AUSTRALIA Backs S.Edwards 18 A.Aliir 51 J.Cuneo 21 H Backs J.Marsh 26 T.Barrass 25 C.Smith 14 Centres B.Johnson 20 J.Pickett 13 R.Lim 34 H Fwds A.Waterman 15 T.Vandeleur 23 T.Keitel 42 Fwds D.Main 10 C.McCarthy 53 C.Cameron 11 Followers D. Cameron 31 P.Cripps 17 J.Jansen 33 Interchange B.Acres 16 D.Winton 30 T.Hodgson 28 VIC COUNTRY Backs Isaiah Miller 27 Fraser Fort 33 Zak Jones 9 H Backs Nathan Drummond 28 Darcy Gardiner 32 Louis Herbert 12 Centres Nic Bourke 15 James Tsitas 17 Jackson Nelson 19 H Fwds Darcy Lang 14 Patrick McCartin 36 Clayton McCartney 2 Fwds Lewis Taylor 7 Dallas Willsmore 26 Billy Hartung 4 Followers Jack Leslie 38 Zac Merrett 8 Matt Crouch 22 Interchange Jarman Impey 18 Jordan Cunico 6 Hugh Goddard 37 Kyle Hendy 39 Nic Holman 20 Jye Cross 34 VIC METRO Backs Darcy Byrne-Jones 9 Alex Spencer 34 Jake Lever 27 H Backs Jordan Walker 20 Daniel McStay 33 Lachlan Ritchie 25 Centres Will Maginness 11 Josh Kelly 13 Christian Salem 15 H Fwds Jack Billings 16 Max Hayes 29 Ben Lennon 23 Fwds Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 Michael Apeness 37 Mitch Honeychurch 4 Followers Sean McLaren 35 Luke McDonald 24 Jake Greiser 8 Interchange Nathan Freeman 10 Ben Cavarra 2 Marcus Bontempelli 31 Aiden Franetic 18 Emerg: Hugh Curnow 17 James Sicily 21 Angus Milham 40 Draft Watch: See the predicted top 10 for this year's draft before the national championships conclude

This time last year, there were a few people who felt that the Western Bulldogs were "tanking" to improve their draft position and, on cue, they lost the last 10 games (didn't look like winning any of them including one against a badly injury-riddled, out of form Carlton). Had Melbourne fared slightly better they might have finished 16th and had our draft position with the possibility of snaffling Jesse Hogan. I sense that we're about to see a repeat. Could GWS beat them at the weekend?

I heard him. Line and length interview on all aspects of the MFC, CSFC, the alignment and the players. Obviously thinks Hogan will make an impact as early as next year, likes Jack Fitzpatrick and a few of the other younger players coming through the ranks and spoke highly of his Casey listed players. Diplomatic about the departure of Neeld and the changes at MFC.

I haven't seen much of Bell but we already suffer from having too many players who can't dispose of the ball properly and, based solely on Saturday, I thought he gave up the ball at times with some poor decision making and by holding onto it for too long. Perhaps, that wasn't his norm but he really doesn't stand out to me on that performance other than that he picked up slightly fewer possessions than Couch and Magner whose careers are being written off by many of the pundits.

The Division 2 under 18 championships continued at the weekend with Tassie emerging as the favourite: U18s: Draft prospects star as Tassie inches closer to division two title U18s: Queensland still alive after last-gasp win Some more reading: Double act in the spotlight Hand break won't slow Crouch down U18 National Championships: Div 1, Round 4: Stats and Recap

You're right. Not new and totally unnecessary.

No contest between the three in the title to this thread. Has to be Adams because he's by far the best of the three and he can play in the middle. Question is what we can offer and it may have to be more than just a player but also a pick.

... and the meeting between the clubs before that was at the G in round 1, 2011 when the two teams drew and before that when Melbourne won by 12 goals.

The first player in this selection is a born leader. Ben Lennon (Northern U18) 187cm, utility plays Like: Brendon Goddard I trust that nobody has a problem with this player's name - especially where our club's been these past few years. Dylan Loo (Perth, WA) 182cm, mid forward plays like Andrew Krakouer The quintessential father/son for 2013.Luke McDonald (Oakleigh U18) 187cm, midfielder plays like Luke Hodge And to finish off this selection another midfielder. Luke Reynolds 186cm, general forward plays like Jack Gunston TO BE CONTINUED

Has he been made redundant too?