Whispering_Jack

Intriguing selection set for tonight with both teams playing funny buggers with player availability news. In fact, I think we really won’t know who’s playing until the teams run out tomorrow night.

It’s another sad day when one of your favourites (heck, they were all favourites back then) passes away. He was recruited young 
back in the days when the Demons were smart at finding talent. He played with the Fourths and was registered under his grandmother’s Murrumbeena address which was in Melbourne’s suburban zone. Otherwise, he would have become a Hawk. He worked his way through the ranks in the late 50s but was a true child of the 60s making his senior debut vs North Melbourne in Round 1, 1960. Even then it took him until 1962 to establish himself and he was premiership full back in 1964. My favourite story about Bernie was about the day he turned up to training with a mustache and Norm Smith told him in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to play footy then the mo had to go. He played 99 games which was the most for the club without kicking a goal and the most games in guernsey # 37. His father was an official with the Under 19s and Reserves and like Bernie, a life member. Vale Bernie Massey - a premiership Demon.

And Eddie McChins was complaining like a stuck pig about the bump on FC and even tried to turn it around by claiming the Collingwood player desisted from turning it around on Lachie Hunter.

Bowey was concussed on 27 May so that makes it 27 days to Thursday night’s game.

As we are today but let’s not forget that it’s not a level playing field as some teams have played 13 games and others 14.

One Vic Country player who stood out in his team’s shock defeat at the hands of South Australia today was George Stevens who was recently covered in an on line article by Chris Cavanagh in the Herald Sun on Draft Intel ~ ADAPTABLE GEORGE Greater Western Victoria Rebels midfielder George Stevens from Warrnambool will play for Vic Country in the under-18 national championships to continue his stunning season. He missed 2022 with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, but has not missed a beat this year and has averaged 150 SuperCoach points across his six matches in the Coates Talent League. He also racked up 16 disposals and three clearances for Geelong in one VFL match in round 6. “He’s one that can be really strong for us in the contested side of things winning clearances as an inside midfielder, but he can also give you stability across the halfback line as well with the way he controls and he reads the play really well as well,” Corrigan said.

South Australia upset Vic Country by 19 points after the Vic’s dominated early through Harley Reid. SA’s Tyler Welsh and Jack Delean their best players and main goalkickers. George Stevens of Country was good while Reid was subdued after quarter time. South Australian stars shine in Country cull VIC COUNTRY 4.2.26 6.8.44 9.9.63 11.9 (75) 
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 3.1.19 8.1.49 12.3.75 15.4 (94) GOALS: 
Vic Country: H. Reid 3, M. Rudd 2, D. Wilson 2, L. Charleson, G. Stevens, J. Freijah, K. De La Rue
 South Australia: T. Welsh 5, J. Delean 4, A. Moir 2, L. Montgomery, P. Hargreave, T. Goad, T. Luck BEST:
 Vic Country: G. Stevens, K. Shipp, M. Rudd, B. Wilson, H. Reid, H. De Mattia
 South Australia: T. Welsh, J. Delean, K. McAuliffe, A. Moir, W. Patton, S. Draper

The teams for today’s game

Indelibly imprinted on my brain.

If that half time score of Richmond 10.7.67 to St Kilda 8.2.50 looks familiar, it’s exactly the same as Melbourne’s lead over Collingwood in Round 21 last year. The Pies got up in that game.

This is a hard game to watch. The purple and orange graphics are horrible!

He played and had a good game. Was close to being in one of Vic Metro’s top half dozen players.

There’s only one game on in the national championships - we see Vic Country play their first game on Sunday and it’s against South Australia who were disappointing last week. Here are two articles worth reading - 2023 Vic Country Under 18 squad announced PREVIEW | 2023 AFL U18s: Vic Country vs. South Australia There are some interesting names in that VC squad including Harley Reid, Zane Duursma, Darcy Wilson, Cooper Simpson and Melbourne NGA prospect Riak Andrew. The game will be televised live on Foxtel.

Well, this might help you with your apostrophe issues

Did anyone say Nuggets?

PMBangers’ from Bigfooty with his first round selections ~

Yes, it was truly amazing that, at a time when half of football’s punditry were going ape over Mac Andrew and the Suns picked him at #5 (one after Nick Daicos), club recruiters gave St Kilda a free hit at Owens and to a lesser extent, Windhager.

It has now been changed to Princes Freeway but since the ascension of His Majesty to the throne, surely it should be the Kings Freeway (absent the hyphen)?

An interesting article about some of Tassie’s young gun players in line for the forthcoming draft ~ Gun Tassie mids pose draft query

I have a hunch that we’ll overrun them in the last.

I think, therefore I am.

Big footy’s Davo-27’s June Top 40 1. Harley Reid - Bendigo - 185cm 85kg 2. Jed Walter - Gold Coast A - 195cm 91kg (GCSA) 3. Colby McKercher - Tasmania - 181cm 72kg 4. Daniel Curtin - Claremont - 196cm 91kg 5. Jake Rogers - Gold Coast A - 172cm 67kg (GCSA) 6. Nick Watson - Eastern - 170cm 67kg 7. Nate Caddy - Northern - 192cm 91kg 8. Darcy Wilson - Murray - 185cm 73kg 9. Jack Delean - Sth Adel - 181cm 73kg 10. Mitch Edwards - Peel - 207cm 90kg (Frem NGA) 11. Zane Duursma - Gippsland - 189cm 79kg 12. Koltyn Tholstrup - Subiaco - 188cm 80kg 13. Logan Evans - Norwood - 188cm 77kg 14. Harry Demattia - Dandenong - 184cm 77kg 15. Nathan Philactides - Oakleigh - 181cm 78kg 16. Harvey Johnston - Sandringham - 184cm 76kg 17. Will McCabe - Central Dist - 197cm 81kg (Haw FS) 18. Ethan Read - Gold Coast A - 200cm 90kg (GCSA) 19. Ollie Murphy - Sandringham - 200cm 85kg 20. Jordan Croft - Calder - 200cm 80kg (WB FS) 21. Archer Reid - Gippsland - 203cm 93kg 22. Ryley Sanders - Sandringham(Tas) - 186cm 85kg 23. Thomas Anastasopoulos - Geelong - 176cm 66kg 24. Will Lorenz - Oakleigh - 186cm 70kg 25. Ashton Moir - Glenlg - 188cm 84kg 26. Joel Freijah - GWV - 191cm 86kg 27. Riley Hardeman - Swan Dist - 188cm 80kg 28. Will Brown - Sandringham - 194cm 86kg 29. Angus Hastie - Geelong - 189cm 77kg 30. Miles Enders - Sandringham - 188cm 86kg 31. Logan Morris - Western - 191cm 90kg 32. Connor O'Sullivan - Murray - 198cm 92kg 33. Will Patton - Wst Adel - 192cm 79kg 34. Clay Hall - Peel - 190cm 85kg 35. Oskar Smartt - Bendigo - 179cm 85kg 36. Koen Sanchez - East Frem - 178cm 71kg 37. Logan Morris - Western - 191cm 90kg 38. Sam Frangalas - Dandenong - 187cm 85kg 39. Billy Wilson - Dandenong - 182cm 71kg 40. Jack Callinan - Tasmania - 179cm 77kg

Where things stand at the moment.

Watched bits and pieces of the stream on the AFL site and he looked very good to me. Looked very fit the way he moved around the ground and no doubt benefited from the pre season work he did at Melbourne. Probably being underrated by the pundits but that suits us fine.

What does it matter when they announce the teams? I think we more or less knew the makeup up the Melbourne side in advance once Clarrie was declared unfit and then the names in the Casey team just about confirmed it. Not sure whether Collingwood was playing ducks and drakes with their supposed flu and covid victims but the fact is that they go in today without De Goey, Sidebottom, Elliott and McStay, with Patrick Lipinski in after a long lay off after shoulder surgery, and Josh Daicos, McCreery and Hoskin-Elliott all named despite being under fitness clouds. We should be up to the task, particularly if we can kick accurately and exert some early pressure on them. They’ve had more than a month of easy games and look ready to slip up just as we were in 2021 when we were the hot favourite and they were the underdogs.