Whispering_Jack

Much will depend on his form this year but going by how he went as a bottom ager, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.

2023 Preseason Testing Top 10s – Coates Talent League Boys TOP 10 RESULTS STANDING VERTICAL JUMP Rye Penny (Calder Cannons) – 86cm
Taj McMillan (Bendigo Pioneers) – 82cm
Phoenix Gothard (Murray Bushrangers) – 78cm
Coby James (Murray Bushrangers) – 78cm
Shane Clough (Calder Cannons) – 77cm
Daniel Snell (Western Jets) – 76cm
Billy Wilson (Dandenong Stingrays) – 76cm
Jed Daniels (Bendigo Pioneers) – 75cm
Harrison Hewitt (Murray Bushrangers) – 75cm
Caleb Nancarrow (Oakleigh Chargers) – 74cm RUNNING VERTICAL JUMP Rye Penny (Calder Cannons) – 101cm
Sam Hoghton (Gippsland Power) – 100cm
Jed Daniels (Bendigo Pioneers) – 96cm
Daniel Snell (Western Jets) – 96cm
Jacob Vippond (Eastern Ranges) – 95cm
Ethan Fitzpatrick (Calder Cannons) – 94cm
Will McLachlan (Geelong Falcons) – 93cm
Davin Cameron (Northern Knights) – 92cm
Billy Wilson (Dandenong Stingrays) – 92cm
Darby Wilson (Murray Bushrangers) – 92cm 20M SPRINT Rook Barry (Western Jets) – 2.845 seconds
Jacob Vippond (Eastern Ranges) – 2.854 seconds
Jed Daniels (Bendigo Pioneers) – 2.857 seconds
Joziah Nannup (Dandenong Stingrays) – 2.870 seconds
Harry Sullivan (Sandringham Dragons) – 2.884 seconds
Rye Penny (Calder Cannons) – 2.892 seconds
Joshua Goldie (Eastern Ranges – 2.902 seconds
Caleb Windsor (Eastern Ranges) – 2.905 seconds
Rhys Unwin (GWV Rebels) – 2.919 seconds
Blake Leidler (Oakleigh Chargers) – 2.922 seconds AGILITY TEST Jake Woodward (Northern Knights) – 7.84 seconds
Sam McDonald (GWV Rebels) – 7.85 seconds
Oliver Poole (Bendigo Pioneers) – 7.86 seconds
Taj McMillan (Bendigo Pioneers) – 7.89 seconds
Nathan Philactides (Oakleigh Chargers) – 7.90 seconds
Ben McGlade (GWV Rebels) – 7.93 seconds
Connor Byrne (GWV Rebels) – 7.95 seconds
Isaac Kako (Calder Cannons) – 7.95 seconds
Jett McLaughlan (Northern Knights) – 7.97 seconds
Tarkyn O’Leary (Sandringham Dragons) – 7.97 seconds YO-YO TEST (level) Archie Caldow (GWV Rebels) – 22.01
Tarkyn O’Leary (Sandringham Dragons) – 22.01
Charlie Opie (Northern Knights – 22.01
Harvey Thomas (Oakleigh Chargers) – 22.01
Oliver Badr (Oakleigh Chargers) – 21.08
Maison Goodman (Calder Cannons) – 21.08
Jett McLaughlan (Northern Knights) – 21.08
Tobyn Murray (Geelong Falcons) – 21.08
Darcy Wilson (Murray Bushrangers) – 21.08
Levi Ashcroft (Sandringham Dragons) – 21.07

The Coates Talent League clubs have all announced their playing lists for 2023 and while the favourite for number one pick in this year’s AFL Draft is Tongala’s Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers) there are hundreds of hopefuls for selection in the drafts to come. Here are some of the names of interest: Bendigo Pioneers • Harley Reid (Tongala) - In his book “Between the Flags”, Ian Munro suggests that Melbourne was one of the clubs that was shafted when the VFL introduced country zoning in the 1970s. In those days Tongala was in the Goulburn Valley competition. We’re only 50 years late. • Will Rohde (Echuca) - maybe a father/son if he happens to be the son of Peter? Calder Cannons • Jack Ryan (Strathmore) - hero of Tom Clancy novels? Dandenong Stingrays • Ziggy Toledo Glasman (Mt Eliza) - on Casey Demons 2023 list. • Cooper Simpson (Mt Martha) - Academy player who trained at Melbourne and was impressive. • Riak Andrew (Berwick) - Melbourne NGA prospect. Brother of Gold Coast’s Mac. Gippsland Power • Zane Duursma (Foster) - from a footballing family with Demon connections but no f/s. GWV Rebels • Nick Cadman (Darley) - brother of last year’s #1 pick? Oakleigh Chargers • Kynan Brown (Blackburn) - genuine father/son draft prospect for 2023. • Noah Yze (Glen Waverley Rovers) - genuine father/son draft prospect for 2024. • Ben Hill (Collegians) - cue the music. Sandringham Dragons • Samuel Fanning (Brighton Beach Kangaroos) - great grandson of Demon Fred Fanning who booted a VFL/AFL record of 18 goals in his last game. Tasmania Devils • Will Groom (North Hobart) - related to Demon Ray Groom who became Premier of Tasmania? Western Jets • Jai Lever (Point Cook) - another relative? Missed out - Byron Pickett Junior (son of Byron & cousin of Kozzie) who was said to have come across from SA in the hope of getting into the Northern Knights squad.

The NAB Boys League is no more. The sponsor for both the boys and girls elite competitions has changed. The Boys League starts on Saturday and promises to be just as productive if not more so than last year. This is the fixture for the Coates Talent League Boys 2023

I really thought that I might be able to avoid this death ride stuff but, on Sunday afternoon/evening, I found myself drawn to the St Kilda vs Fremantle game and was actually trying to will St Kilda to the 4 points. In the end, the willing side of things was unnecessary because the Dockers lost it all on their own with an insipid display against a depleted outfit operating on 50% rat power. I’m sure the Freo brains trust is searching for answers but it looked to be quite simple - their depth is being sorely tested. Fremantle traded heavily in order to fit Jackson onto their list. They traded away Blake Acres (Carlton), Rory Lobb (Western Bulldogs), Griffin Logue (North Melbourne), Lloyd Meek (Hawthorn) and Darcy Tucker (North Melbourne). They also lost David Mundy to retirement. Apart from Mundy, none of the players the Dockers lost were household names but each of them individually was a player who gave the team additional options in terms of placing and performance. The Dockers’ gains during the trade period were Jackson and Jaeger O'Meara. On Sunday, the latter was okay and promises to be handy but Jacko was sluggish and presented no danger to the Saints. I question his fitness. Fyfe appears to be a shadow of his former shadow. it was only game one but they were, along with the Hawks, the round’s biggest losers.

The rules says it’s high impact if it can cause damage to the victim even if, in actuality, it did not. On that basis, the club needs more to sustain an appeal and the visuals are pretty damaging on the face of it. Hoping that Jack Viney is fit and ready to play on Friday night to offset Kozzie’s absence.

Toby Greene playing his heart out for the Giants who are down to one on the bench.

Correction ½ & 5½.

When you take on a team that’s over stacked with tall timber what better than the rain predicted in tonight’s weather forecast?

Time to rock n’ roll Demons!!!

To answer any queries about Casey this weekend (it will be hot)!

The AFL is looking at changing the rules concerning drafting of Next Generation Academy players. Clubs push for more access to own NGA talent amid review AFL clubs are pushing to return to a smaller protected band for the draft, with the view that the current limit to the top 40 is far to restrictive for clubs. However, any potential changes to more draft access for NGA players will not apply to the 2023 intake.

More than 400 of the top underage footballers from 12 Coates Talent League clubs across Victoria converged on Maribyrnong College on Saturday primarily to show off their athletic traits. Players were put through a series of five tests, consisting of the standing vertical jump, running vertical jump, 20m sprint, AFL agility test and Yo-Yo test. Only a few results are currently available but one of the standouts was Gippsland Power forward-midfielder Zane Duursma – brother of Port Adelaide’s Xavier and nephew of Demon Jamie Duursma who played 33 games for Melbourne in the late 1980s.

Chris Cavanagh with his preview of AFL Draft 2023: Top prospects, father-son, Academy players Included is this pen picture of father/son prospect Kynan Brown who did some preseason work with the club:- “Kynan Brown (Oakleigh Chargers) – A ball-winning midfielder who can also go forward and impact the scoreboard. He is a father-son prospect for Melbourne, as the son of Nathan Brown who played 146 games for the Demons from 1998-2007. Featured in the under-17 Futures game last year.”

It could be a massacre but, based on the selected side, not what you might have been expecting when you posted. Looking at Casey’s ‘outs’, the selectors have taken out all MFC players from last week as well as seven of the top Casey regulars. Skipper Mitch White was also missing last week and is still out - as is Finn Emile-Brennan.

Thanks for that. Now can somebody with good eyesight identify the goalkickers?

Sounds like the new coach has to work on some discipline issues early in his coaching stint. There were too many slip ups in that brief resume, any one of which could have been avoided and might have changed the result given that it was a 1 point game in the end. Poor form of Schache given he’s fighting for a place at AFL.

The team: R.Baldi, M.Buntine, T.Burgoyne, P.Cross, K.Farris-White, T.Freeman, L.Goonan, G.Grey, M.Hibberd, B.Howes, M.Jefferson, J.Jordan, A.Moniz-Wakefield, J.Munro, J.Schache, O.Sestan, D.Smith, R.Steele, A.Tomlinson, D.Turner, K.Turner, J.van Rooyen, T.Sheridan, R. Valentine, W.Verrell

Death, taxes and Western Bulldogs leading the free kick count by 23 to 12 in Round 1 vs Melbourne.

My major criticism of the merger of the Casey Scorpions into the property of the Melbourne Football Club was the destruction of the club that was once a separate entity with a heart and soul of its own. If the Casey Demons was still a club that treasured its community involvement in the local area and its wider catchment, there would be so many additional benefits accruing. One of those things would be the fact that there would be no shortage of supporters coming to games and telling the world how their local team was traveling and which of their players was doing well and which was having a bad day - even in practice matches. Instead, we get nothing.

AFL news: Max Gawn on playing injured in finals, Brodie Grundy and what Lachie Hunter will add to Melbourne Article in today’s Herald Sun tells the story of how Max Gawn was initially ruled out of last year’s semi final vs Brisbane due to a painful hip injury – only to win a last-minute reprieve. A couple of scans on the day before the game earned him a reprieve just as Jacob Van Rooyen was poised to make a shock finals debut against the Lions in his place. After feeling good and playing well in the first half (the Dees led by 22 points at the main break), it all “came caving in during the second half” and Max struggled to see out the game. “It was certainly in my head space as the game wore on. But I tried to stay in the moment as much as I could,” Gawn said. “I was doing quite well to stay in the moment in that game to make sure our team didn’t know there was anything wrong. We had five or six guys in the same position that game.” We knew that the Demons were in dire straits on the night and it’s been debated and discussed before but we knew we were going into a cut throat final at way under full rat power. We rolled the dice and lost.

Basically, the now 21 year old made the seniors at South Croydon as a 19 year old in a season affected by Covid lockdowns but 2022 was his breakthrough year kicking 45 goals for the club. During one of the finals attended by Max Gawn who came to watch former teammate Matt Jones, he left a lasting impression on the Demon skipper who alerted the club’s scouts and, as a result he’s secured a contract with the Casey Demons.

Max had a hand in getting Tom Sheridan to Casey - EFNL 2023: South Croydon’s Tom Sheridan earns VFL contract with Casey

State of play before tonight:-

Not sure as to the cause but most likely sports related (bowler at cricket and played footy).