Whispering_Jack

Preseason Q&A: Kalani White (Suns Academy)

UPDATE COACH: Taylor Whitford (third season) STAYING: Casey Demons: Jack Behnk, Paddy Cross, Tyler Edwards, Tom Freeman, Roy George, Andrew Green, Max Gregory, Brayden Laplanche, Caleb Lewis, Charlie Peters, Kobe Shipp, Kai Windsor; Melbourne: Jed Adams, Jack Billings, Jake Bowey, Kynan Brown, Kade Chandler, Bayley Fritsch, Tom Fullarton, Max Gawn, Marty Hore, Blake Howes, Matt Jefferson, Luker Kentfield, Ed Langdon, Bailey Laurie, Jake Lever, Steven May, Shane McAdam, Tom McDonald, Judd McVee, Jake Melksham, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Harrison Petty, Kysaiah Pickett, Trent Rivers, Christian Salem, Oliver Sestan, Charlie Spargo, Tom Sparrow, Koltyn Tholstrup, Dan Turner, Jacob van Rooyen, Will Verrall, Jack Viney, Caleb Windsor, Taj Woewodin ARRIVING: Casey Demons: Riley Baldi (Moe), Riley Bonner (St Kilda), Lachlan Bryce (Frankston YCW), Jesse Craven (Tooradin-Dalmore), Chance Doultree (Footscray Bulldogs), Jack Ferraro (St Bedes/Mentone Tigers), Jarrod Gatt (Pines), Jenson Garnham (Leongatha), Oliver Green (Parkdale Vultures), Mitch Hardie (Geelong Cats), Patrick Ireland (Buln Buln), Mitch Kirkwood-Scott (Old Haileybury/Sandringham Dragons), Wardell Lual (Werribee), Max Roney (North Launceston), Deakyn Smith (North Melbourne VFL), Tyson Sruk (Carlton VFL), Noah Yze (Oakleigh Chargers); Melbourne: Tom Campbell (St Kilda), Jai Culley (West Coast Eagles), Jack Henderson (Werribee) Aidan Johnson (Werribee), Harvey Langford (Mt Martha/Dandenong Stingrays/Richmond VFL), Xavier Lindsay (Inverloch-Kongwak/Gippsland Power), Ricky Mentha (Palmerston/Gippsland Power/Morwell), Harry Sharp (Brisbane Lions) DEPARTING: Casey Demons: Riak Andrew (Sydney Swans), Jack Bell (Old Haileybury), Leo Connolly (Aspley), Max Coughlin, Campbell Hustwaite (Rosebud), Eddie King, Ned Moodie (Frankston), Charlie Muley, Harvey Neocleous, Tom Sheridan (South Croydon), Roan Steele (West Perth), Mitch Szybkowski (GWS Giants VFL), Ziggy Toledo-Glasman (knee), Ryan Valentine (Coburg), Mitch White (Rosebud); Melbourne: Angus Brayshaw (retired), Ben Brown (retired), Kyah Farris-White (delisted), Lachie Hunter (retired – Spotswood), Alex Neal-Bullen (Adelaide), Josh Schache (delisted – Doncaster East), Joel Smith (delisted), Adam Tomlinson (North Melbourne VFL)

An interesting name on the list is Wardell Lual, a 26-year-old 191cm defender from Werribee who was listed with Casey at one point last year but returned to Werribee. He played in the Tigers’ 2023 Grand Final side but I didn’t follow them much in 2024. Anyway, he’s back now and joins former teammates Aidan Johnson and Jack Henderson as a Demon in 2025.

Rescheduled Opening Round matches The AFL has announced that Brisbane and Geelong will play in Round 3 on Saturday, March 29 at 6:35pm (local time) at the Gabba. The Gold Coast Suns and Essendon will play an additional game as part of a “floating” Round 24 fixture. This isn’t going to be a particularly satisfactory way for the Suns and Bombers to approach the finals if they’re still in the running. And if they’re not in the race, then playing two meaningless games in the last round of the season would be a complete drag. A better option would have been to move Geelong vs Essendon from Round 14 to Round 16. That would have opened up the space for Gold Coast Suns vs Essendon in Round 14, a far more logical and less disruptive outcome but logic and the AFL don’t necessarily always go hand in hand. Swans and Collingwood for me this weekend.

The Sydney Swans are back on top of the ladder. The Demons made the top 8 (just) ... Sydney Swans 2 0 0 209 131 159.54 8 West Coast Eagles 2 0 0 133 95 140.00 8 Essendon 2 0 0 181 141 128.37 8 Adelaide 2 0 0 200 173 115.61 8 Indigenous All Stars 1 0 0 108 65 166.15 4 Collingwood 1 1 0 190 138 137.68 4 Carlton 1 1 0 182 135 134.81 4 Melbourne 1 1 0 207 179 115.64 4 Port Adelaide 1 1 0 172 152 113.16 4 Gold Coast Suns 1 1 0 160 153 104.58 4 Geelong 1 1 0 189 190 99.47 4 Western Bulldogs 1 1 0 135 143 94.41 4 Fremantle 1 1 0 174 198 87.88 4 St Kilda 1 1 0 118 151 78.15 4 Brisbane ½ 1 ½ 0 170 170 100.00 2 Hawthorn 0 2 0 152 183 83.06 0 North Melbourne 0 2 0 139 188 73.94 0 GWS Giants 0 2 0 134 249 53.82 0 Richmond 0 2 0 75 194 38.66 0

The Herald Sun “experts” are less than impressed. They have us remaining static in 14th place. It’s worth bookmarking this …

Whoever is in charge of this fixture should immediately come to the attention of Elon Musk and his DOGE team. Apart from the fact that it makes no sense to play one team twice and not play against three others once, how is it that Casey plays distant Gold Coast twice but does not play it’s closest opponent and long time rival, Frankston at all. That is sheer madness.

Not necessarily. If he’s an emergency then he could have been played sparingly at Casey and flown over after the game. Where are the Perth Demon fans stalking the incoming flights from Melbourne updating us on arrivals there?

The mystery injury of the week is back!

Another day, another double header …

I have a feeling that the club will be involved in the jostling matches for free agency prospects Top free agents play waiting game ahead of contract calls

After the excitement of last night’s fiasco, the AFL brings us the season’s first doubleheader.

No idea.

Ollie Greeves is a prodigious Indigenous talent at the Eastern Ranges in the Coates Talent League and Hawthorn have been working hard to get him included as one of their Next Generation Academy players - Hawks seek to add talented midfield prospect to NGA. The case of Melbourne’s NGA player Tairon Ah-Mu is different. He has parents with Samoan heritage but strangely enough, the club doesn’t have access to him under NGA rules even though the game is as foreign to that country as it is in many other countries where eligibility is available. This makes no sense, yet where are the Demons and why aren’t they trying to get this player added to our ranks?

Moving right along …

According to one of the players at last night’s season launch, it’s at Casey Fields this morning.

I was there last night and noticed a difference between this year’s season opener and the same event twelve months ago. At that time, the club was reeling after a torrid and well documented off season that ended with Angus Brayshaw’s early forced retirement. I noted “an undercurrent from players and officials that they are quietly seething at the poor rap, some of it insulting, they’ve received from sections of the media of late.” That mood seemed appropriate and got us through the first couple of months of the season (at one stage we were 6 wins, 2 defeats) but on reflection, this was might not have been the best approach, given that it was allowed to fester and return with distractions on every occasion when the club hit even the slightest hurdle along the road. The end was a dramatic slip out of finals contention and a massive drop into the bottom six. Last night was different with the focus both on tales of past glory through Hall of Fame and Club Legend presentations and on the leadership’s vision of a much improved season ahead. I think the mood and the narrative was focused and very positive. I’m confident that we will produce a better showing in 2025.

Could someone answer this question regarding the status of our two recent SSP recruits. The chart above classifies both Jack Henderson and Jai Culley as Category A rookies. Henderson replaced Shane McAdam who is a Primary listed player while Culley replaced Andy Moniz-Wakefield, a Cat A rookie. Does this mean that irrespective of the status of the inactive list player being replaced, a SSP player is automatically Category A?

The latest in the state of play in relation to the SSP ~ Lachlan McAndrew - Adelaide Matt Carroll - Carlton Francis Evans - Carlton Will White - Carlton Tom Edwards - Essendon Jaxon Prior - Essendon Isaiah Dudley - Fremantle Quinton Narkle - Fremantle Ben Jepson - Gold Coast Jai Culley - Melbourne Jack Henderson - Melbourne Josh Lai - Port Adelaide Harry Boyd - St Kilda Sandy Brock - West Coast

OK so #46 it is. Not a bad idea. His story is one of perseverance and resilience and the two blokes in adjoining lockers are going to need to follow that example in the coming year.

I'm tipping that Jai Culley gets #44 so he gets a locker next to his fellow SSP recruit Jack Henderson.

I WON’T DIE WONDERING with John Anderson From a rice farm in the Southern Riverina, Jack Henderson is a poster boy for what character, persistence and ultimately performance can achieve in the AFL. Henderson, 24, voted best afield in Werribee’s 2024 VFL grand final win, this week was added to Melbourne’s list via the supplemental selection period after being overlooked in eight-straight drafts. JA: The last time we spoke was in December and it’s fair to say you were flat about your AFL dream. JH: I was. My manager Winston Rous suggested I do extra work with a high-performance person in Geelong. That helped me and then Dom Sheed at West Coast went down for the season and then Shane McAdam got injured at Melbourne. JA: How did it play out. JH: I was at work (as an agronomist) two weeks ago when I got a call from West Coast and flew over a day later. It was such an experience. I trained all week and then played in the practice match against Richmond last Monday as a midfielder. Then I came off the field and shortly later spoke with Simon Goodwin. JA: Which led to a tough decision? JH: The hardest I have ever had to make. West Coast were brilliant to me, but I would be lying if I said the lure of being in Victoria wasn’t strong. I want to settle as quickly as possible to play my best footy and Melbourne have had a lot of faith in me. JA: Is midfield the aim with Melbourne, or high half-forward with Alex Neal-Bullen gone? JH: I trained and played in the midfield at West Coast, whereas with Melbourne it is probably high half-forward. JA: Explain the frustration at being overlooked in eight-straight drafts? JH: There were times last year when I thought there were guys going to AFL sides who I could match it with. It just kept that fire burning in me. JA: Tell us about your journey, Jack? JH: I boarded at The Geelong College, finishing in 2017 and missed that year’s draft before joining Werribee. I only did testing with Fremantle that year, but had no discussions with them so no real chance, and the same for the next two years. JA: Then you travelled to the Double Blues in the SANFL? JH: In the Covid year of 2020 I made the move to Sturt for nine games and got a bit of interest from GWS, but nothing major. In 2021 nothing. Same in 2022-23, and last year it picked up a little after the grand final. JA: You actually had a medical with Melbourne? JH: That’s when things started to get close, but the Demons only had a few selections and I missed again. That wasn’t a great time but they kept in touch with me. And Werribee coaches as in Mark “Choco” Williams and Mick Barlow have been sensational for me. JA: I can’t think of anyone who deserves their chance more than you Jack, so go get ’em. JH: I won’t die wondering, Ando, I can assure you of that.

Marty Hore - broken hand