Whispering_Jack

I went to the club’s team photo shoot this afternoon and, as I was approaching AAMI Park, I spotted Andy Moniz-Wakefield on a run. He didn’t look at all inconvenienced and later took his place in the team photo. Apologies to Luker Kentfield but I didn’t think to look for him in the team shoot but it happened so quickly 🙄. Hopefully, someone else like @Ghostwriter might have noticed 😀.

The VFL list changes (January edition) as published on the official Smithy's VFL site: COACH: Taylor Whitford (third season) STAYING: Casey Demons: Paddy Cross, Roy George, Brayden Laplanche, Caleb Lewis, 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), Jai Culley (West Coast Eagles), Chance Doultree (Footscray Bulldogs), Mitch Hardie (Geelong Cats), Patrick Ireland (Buln Buln), Mitch Kirkwood-Scott (Old Haileybury/Sandringham Dragons), Deakyn Smith (North Melbourne VFL), Tyson Sruk (Carlton VFL); Melbourne: Tom Campbell (St Kilda), 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), Campbell Hustwaite (Rosebud), Ned Moodie (Frankston), 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 (delisted) TO BE CONFIRMED: Jack Behnk, Max Coughlin, Jesse Craven, Tyler Edwards, Tom Freeman, Andrew Green, Max Gregory, Eddie King, Charlie Muley, Harvey Neocleous, Charlie Peters, Kobe Shipp, Noah Yze

And keep a lid on it!

According to Jack Viney, the foundation for Melbourne’s coming resurgence began at the pre-season camp at Bright, which focused heavily on the players’ connection, perspective and communication. Dees star reveals ‘robust discussions’ after turmoil of 2024 “Melbourne veteran hard nut Jack Viney says the club’s ­decision to prioritise player connection and team bonding has allowed it to overcome last year’s problems. “The Demons’ culture was heavily questioned as midfield superstars Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca weighed up their futures at the club last season. “But best-and-fairest winner Viney, who ran a personal best 2km time trial over summer, said the Demons had changed their approach with the help of mindset master Ben Crowe”.

Time for another look.

Proof below and on today’s training thread

Despite the veil of secrecy and rumours that the main oval at Casey Fields was surrounded by heavy security including armed guards and snakes, it appears that the team trained there today. And, as rumour had it elsewhere, there might have been a surprise guest at the ground. Check out the Training Gallery 27 January (clue: go to picture 34 - and I suspect that number is not a coincidence either 😀)

Mick McGuane has rated the AFL’s top midfields and has Melbourne in the middle of the pack. Given that our midfield was so highly rated in recent years, have we really gone downhill so badly? 1. Brisbane Lions 2. Sydney Swans 3. Port Adelaide 4. Western Bulldogs 5. Fremantle 6. Carlton 7. GWS Giants 8. Geelong 9. Gold Coast Suns 10. Melbourne 11. Collingwood 12. Hawthorn 13. Essendon 14. St Kilda 15. Adelaide 16. North Melbourne 17. West Coast Eagles 18. Richmond

Yes, they trained at Casey Fields today. Match Simulation Highlights

The rest of this article was informative and in many ways reflects what many of our trackwatchers here were thinking. A summary:- • Harrison Petty was in the backline in match simulation. Alan Richardson quoted: [Petty’s] “versatility can be a real weapon for us” and the plan was for him to spend time at both ends. • Players “ripping it up” included ~ * a leaner Clayton Oliver prominent in match simulation, showing clean hands and involved in many chains working up and down the field, * “smooth-moving runner Caleb Windsor in everything, finding the footy on the outside, • Blake Howes, Bailey Laurie caught the eye and Jake Melksham and Bayley Fritsch lively in attack and Shane McAdam taking some nice marks on the lead. • New faces Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay managed in a lighter session, taking part in warm-up drills before doing some work on their own, along with rookie Ricky Mentha Jr who also impressed. Ruckman Tom Campbell dominated as Max Gawn sat out and athletic mature-age forward Aidan Johnson impressed as a target in attack. • taking it easy. Captain Gawn (larynx) and star midfielder Christian Petracca (ribs) are in non-contact training and did some warm-up drills before joining the rehab group which includes Jake Lever, Tom Fullarton, Matthew Jefferson and Kynan Brown who later joined the main group. Koltyn Tholstrup completed his own light training, mostly running laps while defenders Tom McDonald and Judd McVee spent time on exercise bikes before leaving training. • wounded soldiers - Tom Sparrow was in civvies and sporting sandals a nasty bruise and cut on his cheek that needed stitches. Charlie Spargo (achilles tendon surgery last July) did some light running on one side of the ground and Kade Chandler ran laps for most of the session with strapping high on his right arm. Late in the match simulation session, Daniel Turner was winded in a marking contest.

The Herald Sun’s story on yesterday’s training session has already been posted and updated in a couple of incarnations. It started out as “Mega track watch: Daicos bros latest, Saint shines, where’s Kozzy?” with the writer intimating that his absence might somehow be connected to speculation in WA of an impending move to WA. Of course, Alan Richardson had dispelled that rumour already, most recently on a Tuesday radio program but it was deemed worthy to raise the issue again … until a later version published today (also confirmed in some of the above posts) stated as follows: “The Demons have confirmed that Pickett was back in Melbourne on Wednesday, after missing Monday’s session to head home to WA for personal reasons. However, he missed midweek training due to an infection in his leg.“ Mystery solved - speculation doused until next time. We know there’s always a race to get the news out these days but I wish that journalists would do their job and go to the clubs for comment before rehashing old news.

I reckon Clarry's career is going to blossom from here. We know that he was severely restricted by circumstance for the last season and a half and his body shape last year was never quite right after his interrupted preseason, but it's clear that he's worked hard to get back to his superstar self and that will pay handsome dividends in 2025.

This recruitment appears to be a continuation of Casey’s relationship with North Launceston which current coach Taylor Whitford took to back-to-back premierships in 2018-19. Casey recruited Jay Lockhart from them in 2017 and he was drafted to Melbourne after impressing at VFL level. Last year, it was announced that Casey had secured North Launceston and Tasmania Devils Under 18s player Oscar Van Dam who created some interest but didn’t play a game for the club and, in the end, chose to return to Tassie. Hopefully, young Max Roney can get some games and have an impact for Casey.

Well … I can say that fans flocked to Casey today and the club actually covered the event on its photo gallery. Training Gallery | Fans flock to Casey

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You mean this? Track watch | A mix of young and old impressing

There are more than 180 players at the various AFL clubs in the running for the 2025 AFL Rising Star Award. This year Melbourne has a relatively low number of players eligible for this year's award - 9 - compared to 13 last year. They are:- Jed Adams Kynan Brown Matthew Jefferson Luker Kentfield Harvey Langford Xavier Lindsay Ricky Mentha Oliver Sestan Will Verrall The 2 L’s - Langford and Lindsay - appear to be our best candidates. Your AFL team’s Rising Star eligible players and the top contenders for 2025

The Legacy Series | Episode 3 | Noel McMahen Premiership captain in 1955 and 1956 and MFC Team of the 20th Century member, Noel McMahen passed away in 2022 aged 95. This interview was recorded in 2020 before the club’s last premiership. Noel was born three weeks after the club won its second flag so his lifetime spanned 11 of the club’s 13 VFL/AFL premierships.

When did you get a dog?

Can’t spoil you with many photos from today’s session but here’s one -

Player info on Jenson Garnham Height: 187cm Weight: 86kg D.O.B: 19-08-2003

For those who like it colorful

Now official

Quite. But at the end of Round 6, every club will have played six games and it’s a good time to reflect on how the season’s going. I’m picking us to win our opening game at home vs GWS Giants. Geelong at the Cattery will be tough and if we beat the Dockers we should be well set towards a top four finish. I am however, still going to take things one week at a time.