Whispering_Jack

I believe that today is Melbourne's earliest start to a season ever, beating the game vs Richmond played on Wednesday 8 March 2000. The season started and ended early due to the Sydney Olympics which opened in mid September 2000. The Demons lost to the Tigers by 2 points and went on to play off in the Grand Final that year. Richmond 7.1 11.6 14.7 14.10 94 Melbourne 4.3 6.6 10.9 13.14 92 Attendance: 41,648 Venue: M.C.G.

THE TEAMS SYDNEY SWANS B: L. Melican, T. McCartin, D. Rampe HB: N. Blakey, O. Florent, J. Lloyd C: J. Mcinerney, C. Warner, E. Gulden HF: I. Heeney, L. McDonald, J. Amartey F: T. Papley, H. McLean, W. Hayward FOLL: B. Grundy, J. Jordon, J. Rowbottom I/C: B. Campbell, H. Cunningham, R. Fox, M. Roberts SUB: S. Wicks EMG: P. Ladhams, A. Sheldrick, C. Warner NEW: B. Grundy (Melbourne), J. Jordon (Melbourne) MELBOURNE B: B. Howes, S. May, J. Lever HB: J. McVee, A. Tomlinson, C. Salem C: E. Langdon, C. Petracca, T. Rivers HF: J. Viney, J. Schache, J. van Rooyen F: A. Neal-Bullen, B. Fritsch, C. Spargo FOLL: M. Gawn, T. Sparrow, C. Oliver IC: J. Bowey, K. Chandler, B. Laurie, C. Windsor SUB: J. Billings EMG: T. Fullarton, T. McDonald, T. Woewodin NEW: J. Billings (St Kilda), B. Howes (Sandringham Dragons), C. Windsor (Eastern Ranges)

The Herald Sun online edition has this to say about him in its preview of Gippsland Power players for 2024:- Ricky Mentha (Gippsland/Warragul): Mentha is an Australian-Academy player who is originally from Alice Springs. He moved to Morwell last year and worked his way into the Power squad. The Melbourne NGA prospect will excite a few this year. And more information here:- Ricky Mentha

We’ve taken over Sydney …

A rare insightful piece of analysis from the media in the form of this article from Rohan Connolly of ESPN. Why the Demons can rise above off-field drama in 2024 Please note the site’s code of conduct continues to apply but otherwise discussion on the football aspect is most welcome.

Overture, curtain, lights This is it, the night of nights No more rehearsing and nursing a part We know every part by heart

Have we ever had a player with the initials BS?

Training reports from today (apart from the announcements about 3 debutants for Melbourne and Clarry’s selection)?

I saw McAdam at training yesterday. He was running freely but appears to be a few weeks off.

How the Coodabeen Champions changed Australian Rules Football forever

So this is where things stood as at Wednesday evening:- MELBOURNE vs CARLTON Jack Billings, Jake Bowey, Kynan Brown, Kade Chandler, Bayley Fritsch, Max Gawn, Blake Howes, Ed Langdon, Bailey Laurie, Jake Lever, Judd McVee, Steven May, Alex Neal-Bullen, Christian Petracca, Kysaiah Pickett, Trent Rivers, Christian Salem, Josh Schache, Tom Sparrow, Koltyn Tholstrup, Adam Tomlinson, Jacob van Rooyen, Will Verrell, Jack Viney, Caleb Windsor. CASEY DEMONS vs CARLTON VFL Jed Adams, Kyah Farris-White, Tom Fullarton, Marty Hore, Matthew Jefferson, Tom McDonald, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Clayton Oliver, Oliver Sestan, Koltyn Tholstrup*, Will Verrell*, Taj Woewodin. INJURED/SUSPENDED Ben Brown, Lachie Hunter, Shane McAdam, Jake Melksham, Harrison Petty, Kysaiah Pickett**, Joel Smith, Charlie Spargo, Daniel Turner. RETIRED Angus Brayshaw. * played in both VFL & AFL practice matches ** played in the AFL practice match but unavailable for Round Zero

I reckon this bloke would have sorted him out nicely (and a reminder about how many sleeps to go to the start of the season).

We can expect possibly seven changes to the Melbourne lineup for the return game against Sydney with the following likely outs:- Angus Brayshaw (retired), Lachie Hunter, Jake Melksham, Daniel Turner (injured), Clayton Oliver (managed?) and Kozzy Pickett & Joel Smith (suspended). That’s a lot missing in such a short space of time but let’s not forget the David Parkin principle which says that for clubs to win flags, they need to constantly turn over new talent and he thought having five new faces in a team each year was good for the cause.

Casey coach Taylor Whitford has confirmed that Campbell Hustwaite has joined the Casey Demons for the 2024 season. Hustwaite was with Collingwood VFL for five seasons and co-captained the Pies for the last three years with another Magpie VFL stalwart, Lachlan Tardrew. He came from the Dandenong Stingrays and is still only 23 years of age. Standing at 184cm, he has been highly regarded as a midfielder and for his leadership going all the way back to his TAC Cup days. “He is the type of player who bleeds for the club he represents and if you want midfielders with grunt and tenacity, Hustwaite seems a great value option. He might not be flashy like some others, but his contested work and leadership is something clubs should take into account when considering players who could improve the culture of a club.” - Campbell Hustwaite He trained with the Magpies for an AFL opportunity during this summer’s pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) and, from all accounts, was close to winning a place on their list. I think it’s a great selection for Casey given the loss of such a great VFL campaigner in Jimmy Munro. Hustwaite should go a long way towards filling the immense void of talent and experience left by Munro’s departure and by playing with one of the competition’s strengths should do his AFL aspirations no harm.

Sorry but after investing so much time and energy into last year’s death ride of Freo only for us to use two selections on players who barely figured among the main draft contenders for most of the year, the entire death ride concept has completely lost me. As it is, I’m still very happy with our three draft selections and rather than waste time on getting excited about a plethora of irrelevant match outcomes, I prefer to sit back and watch JT show his talent and do his thing at the end of November.

Saw Taj Woewodin entering IKON Park today with Daniel Turner. Woey appeared to have a bit of a limp.

Are we in time to appeal Kozzy’s suspension?

Melbourne 5.1.31 lead Carlton 2.0.12

More VFL premierships because we won a few when there was an alignment in place with Sandringham.

After beating Melbourne, Richmond would have to be favourite in this one. Surely?

Yes - the Herald Sun is quoting Max that Clarry will play with the VFL team on Wednesday morning, the objective being to ensure that he’s cherry ripe to return and to do so over the long term. I’m good with that and hope he’s not ruled out for Round Zero. In a separate report in the Herald Sun:- WHO DIDN'T PLAY IN MATCH SIM: Tall Tom McDonald (calf), winger Lachie Hunter (calf) and Charlie Spargo (achilles) missed against Richmond but hope to play against Carlton. Harrison Petty was also absent due to toe soreness, with the Demons to monitor him in the next few days. Taj Woewodin (concussion) and Andy Moniz-Wakefield (thigh) are both expected to be available to face Carlton. WHO WILL UP THEIR MINUTES: Key men Clayton Oliver and Christian Salem both played in the back end of the seven periods against Richmond and will be watched closely as they push to play in Opening Round. Max Gawn also just played one half. WHO IS A WHILE OFF: Shane McAdam has had an interrupted pre-season and looks likely to miss the Carlton game due to calf tightness. Daniel Turner (leg stress fracture), Ben Brown (knee), Tom Fullarton (hamstring), Jake Melksham (knee) are also out. Angus Brayshaw has retired.

The all-important Pre-Season ladder

Not suggesting that it happened in this case but some sensationalist journalists with an agenda have been known to introduce quotes from “unnamed” sources simply to embellish their stories.

Melbourne supporter Titus O’Reilly covered the saying with Mick Malloy on their excellent podcast Sports Bizarre a while ago. It refers to an early Australian pugilist Larry Foley (1847 - 1917) who never lost a fight. He retired happy at 32 after collecting a purse of £1,000 (probably close to $1m today) for his final fight.