Whispering_Jack

Sorry make that 8 ... now 9 Hilfy has taken WW..W Three wickets in 5 balls with Umesh Yadav coming in to partner Kholi. This test match won't last half the distance. Edit: Siddle gets Kohli and it's all over red rover. Warner must get MOM.

Kohli is batting well in the circumstances and his duel with Siddle is interesting. His problem is that he's running out of partners and the Aussies are playing at a war of attrition out there. Currently 7 down.

I'm leaving no stone unturned in my quest to uncover new talent for the Demons and I've already come up with some interesting names:- • Aaron Jetta Very little known about him ATM other than that his date of birth is 2 April, 1994, he comes from Carey Park and played 14 games for Swan Districts Reserves in 2011 wearing jumper # 61. Not a prolific possession gatherer (88 kicks, 29 handballs 117 disposals in total, 36 marks, 42 tackles and kicked 13 goals 16 behinds). Sounds like a small forward but I will get my spies onto the job to find out some more. Incidentally, you would expect a kid that age in the WAFL to be playing for the Colts rather than the reserves so there could be a story behind that as well. Carey Park is situated just outside Bunbury from where Neville Jetta hails and I've noted the names of Bernard Jetta, Brandon Jetta, Clement Jetta and Peter Jetta in connection with clubs in the area. Other football names I've found associated with the Bunbury/Carey Park area are Bennell, Blurton, Garlett, Narkle, Pickett, Rintoul and Yarren. I'm ready to fly off in that direction if that's what the club wants. • Shaquille McKenzie No relation to our Jordie, this young bloke also comes from out west and is an exciting speedster who came to prominence a couple of years ago in the Under 16 National Carnival playing in the same team as Jaeger O'Meara. From Nollamara-Nth Cobras and born 22 April, 1994, he was 171cm 62kg as an Under 16 and has hopefully grown since then. He's now affiliated with East Perth in the WAFL. Point is that I'm a firm believer in picking players on name and this pair have a bit of a magic ring about their names. That reminds me that I always regarded the name Trengove as a strong sounding name. On that alone, he deserves to be captain!

However, we could also activate both with the intention of using one this year and trading the other to get a player. (noting that the comp picks can be traded whether or not they have been activated)

Knightmare's power rankings divide players into potential A Graders, potentially high level AFL players and potential AFL quality. Here is his list as it currently stands but, over time, I will come in and edit the list by adding information such as heights, weights, dates of birth, player origins etc to assist in recruiting discussions - Potential A Graders 1. Jaeger O’Meara (Gold Coast - GWS U17 mini draft) Height: 183cm, Weight: 78kg, DOB: 23/02/1994 Perth WA 2. Lachie Whitfield 185cm 75kg 18/07/1994 Dandenong Stingrays VIC 3. Jake Stringer 191cm 86kg 25/4/1994 Bendigo Pioneers VIC 4. Jack Viney (Melbourne – father/son) 178cm 77 13/04/1994 Oakleigh Chargers VIC 5. Joe Daniher (Essendon - father/son) 199cm 81kg 04/03/1994 Calder Cannons VIC 6. Brad Crouch (Adelaide - GWS U17 mini draft) 184cm 83kg 12/01/1994 North Ballarat Rebels VIC 7. Nick Vlastuin 186cm 83kg 19/04/1994 Northern Knights VIC 8. Mason Shaw 198cm 88kg South Fremantle WA 9. Brodie Grundy 200cm 92kg 15/04/1994 Sturt SA 10. James Stewart (Collingwood - father/son) 195cm 79kg 04/03/1994 Sandringham Dragons VIC Potentially high level AFL players 11. Matthew Haynes Height: 190cm 76kg 19/03/1994 Northern Knights VIC 12. Craig Moller (Fremantle – NSW/ACT scholarship) 13. Dayle Garlett 181cm 68kg 09/01/1994 S. Districts WA 14. Ben Kennedy 174cm 73kg 03/03/1994 Glenelg SA 15. Oliver Wines 184cm 84kg 07/10/1994 Bendigo Pioneers VIC 16. Liam McBean 199cm 85kg 25/08/1994 Calder Cannons VIC 17. Jonathan O'Rourke 183cm 74kg 21/04/1994 Calder Cannons VIC 18. Jed Anderson (GWS – likely NT Zone selection) 178 75kg 16/02/1994 Darwin NT 19. Sam Mayes 187cm 74kg 20/05/1994 North Adelaide SA 20. Josh Simpson 181cm 67kg 09/02/1994 North Adelaide SA 21. Lachie Hunter (Western Bulldogs - father/son) 22. Rory Atkins 183cm 75kg 12/07/1994 Calder Cannons VIC 23. Jason Pongracic 181cm 82kg 21/04/1994 Dandenong Stingrays VIC 24. Jimmy Toumpas 183cm 74kg 2/1/1994 Woodville-W. Torrens SA 25. Aaron Luccon 195cm 86kg 21/4/1994 Norwood SA 26. Christopher Yarran 183cm 80kg 27/4/1994 Perth WA 27. Shannon Taylor 177cm 72kg 5/2/1994 Claremont WA 28. Anthony Bonaddio 174cm 71kg 6/1/1994 Northern Knights VIC 29. Matthew McDonough 180cm 82kg 26/1/1994 Woodville-W. Torrens SA 30. Corey Chalmers 179cm 70kg 24/11/1994 W. Perth WA Potential AFL Quality 31. Emmanuel Irra 179cm 73kg 25/3/1994 S. Adelaide SA 32. Nick Amato 177cm 70kg 15/10/1994 N. Adelaide SA 33. Laine Wilkins 189cm 73kg 30/3/1994 Peel WA 34. Riley Hutchinson 187cm 78kg 12/1/1994 E. Perth WA 35. Ashlin Brown 185cm 91kg 23/4/1994 Western Jets VIC 36. Tim Membrey 187cm 87kg 26/5/1994 Gippsland Power VIC 37. Jesse Lonergan 180cm 83kg 14/11/1994 Launceston Tas 38. Tim Broomhead Port Adelaide SA 39. Spencer White 193cm 88kg 22/9/1994 Western Jets VIC 40. Nathan Hrovat 174cm 75kg 7/6/1994 Northern Knights VIC 41. Jordan Bourke (Geelong - father/son) 192cm 79kg 11/11/1994 Morningside QLD 42. Clay Cameron 189cm 79kg 27/5/1994 Mt Gravatt QLD 43. Joe Redfern 184cm 75kg 18/11/1994 Coolamon NSW 44. Matt Wallis Norwood SA 45. Kamdyn McIntosh 192cm 82kg 3/4/1994 Peel WA 46. Harley Montgomery 177cm 67kg 20/2/1994 Sturt SA 47. Lachlan Plowman 190cm 81 kg 11/9/1994 Calder VIC 48. Brant Colledge 192cm 85kg 25/10/1994 Perth WA 49. Sean Lynch 184cm 76kg 30/1/1994 S. Fremantle WA 50. Chase Strange 176cm 67kg 5/3/1994 Peel WA 51. Sam Martyn 52. Sean Lemmens Port Adelaide SA 53. Braedon McLean (GWS – NT Zone selection) 176cm 65kg 9/11/1994 Waratah NT 54. Kenny Ong 180cm 68kg 14/3/1994 Sandringham Dragons VIC 55. Adam Carter 179cm 70kg 17/4/1994 S. Fremantle WA 56. Todd McKay 176cm 74kg 25/01/1994 S. Adelaide SA 57. Cameron Banfield 181cm 65kg 1/2/1994 Sandringham Dragons VIC 58. Brandon Jack 179cm 68kg 25/5/1994 Westbrook NSW 59. Kristian Jaksch 193cm 84kg 7/10/1994 Oakleigh Chargers VIC 60. Will Beasley (Western Bulldogs - father/son) details not available*. * previously invited to Geelong Falcons but declined in favour of rowing I am also adding a further category to list additional potential from time to time. It will start off as a blank canvas and hopefully with some scouting and your suggestions we can do the job of the BBBP's and Phil Scully's of the world at far less cost. Potential • Claude Alcorso 178cm 72kg 14/7/1994 Hobart TAS • Rohan Bones 200cm 94 kg 30/12/1994 Hobart TAS • Thor Boscott 177cm 78cm 25/12/1994 Lauderdale TAS • Andrew Boston 179cm 73kg 23/3/1994 Broadbeach QLD • Chase Bower Norwood SA • Corey Chalmers 179cm 70kg 24/11/1994 W. Perth WA • Brian Coleman-Broome 178cm 71kg 9/4/1994 Mornington QLD • Jason Cooke Calder Cannons VIC • Sean Crook 188cm 88kg 19/8/1994 Apsley QLD • Tom Davidson 176cm 80kg 17/3/1994 Broadbeach QLD • Josh Grant 195cm 83kg 1/3/1994 Glenorchy TAS • Brodie Haberfield 180cm 81kg 13/1/1994 Surfers Paradise QLD • Lonnie Hampton 166cm 63kg 29/1/1994 Lavington NSW • Jack Hatcher 172cm 68kg 11/9/1994 Waratah NT • Thomas Head 195cm 89kg 26/5/1994 Balmain NSW • Jarrod Hibberd 187cm 89kg 4/9/1994 Lauderdale TAS • Mitch Hopkins 175cm 66kg 19/2/1994 Southport QLD • Calen Jeffrey 182cm 74kg 2/12/1994 Hobart TAS • Aaron Jetta East Perth WA • Brennon Kendall 182cm 74kg 11/5/1994 Devonport TAS • Troy Lawton 180cm 75kg 13/6/1994 Rovers NT • Shaquille McKenzie East Perth WA • Joel Madden Calder Vic (f/s) • Troy Menzel 181cm 72kg 22/9/1994 C. Districts SA • Andrew Moody 171cm 60kg 21/3/94 Maquarie University NSW • Jake Neade 170cm 64kg 29/3/1994 West Alice NT • Reece Peckham 189cm 80kg 24/11/1994 Pioneers NT • Daniel Robinson 183cm 79kg 3/7/1994 Riverview NSW • Sam Siggins 192cm 81kg 20/3/1994 Lauderdale TAS • Josh Smith 175cm 69kg 2/1/1994 Morningside QLD • Jarrod Stokes 175cm 73kg 15/12/1994 Darwin NT • Jordan Taylor 186cm 85kg 8/4/1994 Riverview NSW • Jackson Thurlow 188cm 72kg 28/3/1994 Launceston TAS • Nick Tuddenham Langwarrin Dandenong Stingrays VIC • Brendan Verrier 9/8/1994 S. Fremantle WA • Ben Vile 190cm 76cm 16/3/1994 Albury NSW • Bryce Walsh 177cm 77kg 4/5/1994 Lauderdale TAS • Zachary Williams 180cm 72kg 20/9/1994 Albury NSW • Daniel Williamson Norwood SA • Stephen Wray 182cm 74kg 15/4/1994 Pennant Hills NSW • Michael Wyld 188cm 78kg 26/7/1994 Morningside QLD So right now, we're already on top of the game with one of the top four ranked players due to come into contention in 2013 from the draft pool of players available. As at mid January, that list comprises only players born in 1994. There will be additions from that age group as well as from those who missed out in previous drafts and including mature age players. At least we're hitting the ground running and we don't have to fret about not having a head honcho for recruiting.

Here is Knightmare's 2012 Mock Draft First Round based on ladder predictions:- Of course, the order of the first round of the draft will be very different by November when some clubs will use compensatory selections gained directly from the two new franchises or by trades. As mentioned above, in Melbourne's case it has two such first round choices by way of silver lining for the loss of dark cloud which it could activate in November 2012 so we recruiting people need to be intimately aware of what's on the horizon in terms of quality players in this draft. Knightmare has, in addition to the mock draft, produced some lists of potential draftees in groups which he calls "power rankings". I will be back soon with his list and then of course, I'll put in some of my own work to help the club out till it completes its quest to find a national recruiting manager. All Demonlanders are invited to help out in this important endeavour to help keep the club strong over the course of the next decade.

It's January 2012 and the players are training their butts off for the coming season. The Demons have just lost the man who has, for the past four years, been in charge of rebuilding their talent-laden young list and, at this point in time, we have no national recruiting manager. Is this our worst nightmare and a time to panic? No way! If Phil Scully can get paid $100k to be a recruiting scout then I'm prepared to do it for nothing and come to the club's rescue with your help and the aid of bigfooty draft expert Knightmare who has already produced a Mock Draft for September's draft. I realise it's an important gig because we could have as many as three first round draft picks in what is a sensationally strong draft pool. I'll kick things off by recommending that the club takes talented father/son prospect Jack Viney and this will most likely cost us our first draft pick. From there, I'm going to let the power of social networking and the Internet to take over. You too can be our own Phil Scully but don't get your appetite up too much because, unlike GWS, we don't have the AFL's deep pockets to pay you and you might have to go hungry doing a job for the love of the club. As I said above Knightmare on bigfooty has kicked off with his 2012 mock draft. Knightmare outlined the strength of the pool by noting that it has already lost two of its best in the GWS Minidraft and a 2011 Under 18 All Australian to the Giants through a Northern Territory Zone Selection:- Knightmare's 2012 Mock Draft is for the First Round based on ladder predictions and I will set it out in my next post.

Apparently, a move has been on the cards for a while. BBBP following in the footsteps of Ron Barassi, Peter Smith, Greg Wells, Mark Riley, Brock McLean and Chris Johnson and will cover the forward scout position left vacant by Brett Munro's move to Gold Coast. He's done a very good job at the club but it was probably time to move on. For those posters concerned at the timing, the national draft is in November and any realistic candidate would need to have a working knowledge of the draft pool available so when is it a better time to change the position? Whatever, I doubt very much whether it's going to change our first pick in November.

The way I see it, the MFC has moved on and that's enough for me. We have a new coach with many new assistants, many other changes to the football department including elite performance manager, David Misson, eight new players including a quality key forward in Mitch Clark and a new and different game plan. As long as the club is focussed on the future without the dark cloud, then why shouldn't we have some entertainment at his expense?

Gai Waterhouse gets 1 - 2 with No Looking Back and Driefontein.

I believe we have a Demonlander on the spot at the Magic Millions. Redleg has been hobnobbing with the greats of horseracing all week including the great Gai Waterhouse, trainer of Driefontein which is the hot favourite. Redleg's tip is Amorino with jockey Larry Cassidy on board.

If anyone had any doubts about Neeld as a media performer or his public personna then that interview should have dispelled them. Hoepfully, it will be available soon for replay through SEN's website. He also made it clear that irrespective of whatever is happening at the moment, the big test will be when the team starts playing games. He made it very clear that he is implementing a very different game plan and that's how it should be IMO. Supporters of Dean Bailey and what he did in the past should not take offence at that - Neeld is his own man and is bringing a new and different stamp to the club which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

No need for the panic to set in. Most clubs have players on limited programmes at this time of year and there are probably a number of reasons why not all players took part. With seven weeks to go before the NAB Cup, it means there are 11-12 weeks to go before Round 1 - that's ample time. In the world of cricket, 11 weeks ago,Pat Cummins and James Pattinson had yet to debut in test matches, Ben Hilfenhaus was in the wilderness and who would have thought that Dave Warner would have been doing anything other that hitting 6's in the BBL? There's a lot of water to flow under the bridge yet and while the ideal would be to have everybody on the track throughout the preseason, that's an unrealistic expectation given that our game is a high pressure contact sport.

A couple of significant things from time trial results assuming the times provided above are correct but first let's not get carried away with comparing the times to those of Scully at GWS. At these distances there are a number of factors that influence the time - weather conditions, heat from the sun, winds, topography, running surface, pressure from other competitors, even things like the time of day. Some courses are out and back (start and finish at the same place) while others are point to point. Some are hilly, others are flat. That's why, even at 3k it's not all that helpful to compare times at different venues and one of the reasons why many involved in road running don't recognise world records but rather world's best. Further, I understand that GWS conducted their trials at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre which generally would be conducive to producing better times. So enough of Scully and those soft nancy Giants who need to run on a professional athletic track to show the world they can do good times From Melbourne's perspective, the best news would have to be that all bar two of those tested posted better times than the last time trial which shows that the players have been working hard and the arduous programme set by Dave Misson is starting to pay dividends fitness wise. Obviously, we need to wait a while before it can translate into results in actual matches. About five years ago, it was usually Cameron Bruce who produced the best times in these trials with the likes of Brock McLean just behind him (McLean won his first time trial when he crossed to Carlton). Then along came Nathan Jones who competed closely with Bruce, as did Morton a year later and more recently Scully and Jack Trengove were neck and neck in these trials and other endurance testing. What we now have is Trengove and Jones coming in at third and fourth which indicates that we have some real standout improvers in our ranks:- • Daniel Nicholson - taken in the December 2010 rookie draft which means this is his first full pre season. He has been impressive in running work throughout the last 2 - 3 months and this result is outstanding. Remember, one of his main attributes is his pace over short distances which makes him one of a rare breed who possesses speed and endurance. During his debut season there were some question marks about his disposal skills and sometimes, his decision making but they were certainly by no means anywhere near major issues. With the right coaching, these things can IMO be easily ironed out and, in time we could have an elite footballer on our hands. • a late draft pick a few years ago, Rohan Bail has improved enormously in a short period of time. Fully fit (and all the indicators are positive in this regard), he will be a strong challenger for a spot in the midfield. • Tom McDonald - similar to Nicholson in that he is no slouch for pace and also has good endurance. The thing is that he's listed at 194cm 88kg so he's certainly not built like a scrawny Ethiopian distance runner. Moreover, he is a good mark and kick, only 19 and will get bigger and better. He's being trialled in our forward line where he will be competing for places with Clark, Watts, Howe, Green and Jurrah. Interesting. • Trengove and Jones obviously posted good times and appear to be in good nick and while we don't know Morton's time, I'd be surprised if it wasn't close to the top five. What it does mean is that we definitely have a group of runners who are at the top level of fitness at this stage of the year and Misson has expressed some satisfaction in this regard. It's also heartening to hear that Sam Blease and Jordan Gysberts are improving their times. Overall, the indications are that high standards are being set and we can now look forward to the lead up to the season with some optimism which I suppose is par for this time of year but this time, there's actually some evidence which backs up that view.

No, that's definitely their senior squad.

Shhh ...

There's been a time change for the intraclub game. Now starts at 3:00pm. Intra-club time change

Sorry but I think that's a secret too!

It's hard to envisage the match ups this far out although the one that would interest me would be James Frawley v Jack Watts or Mitch Clark. If you want to know what to expect from the game and going by past years' intraclub games, there would probably be around 30-32 MFC players with the numbers topped up by 10 to 12 young Casey players. With that happening and plenty of rotations, particularly if it's a hot day, then the likelihood is that there won't be too many match ups that last for long periods during the games. Rather than specific match ups I'd be more interested at that stage in where certain players are being positioned e.g Blease, Davey, Grimes and Morton. I think there will be a reasonable amount of experimentation and feeling out of where individual players fit in best with the coach's structures. We have at least, been given some indications at training as to which positions many of the players will take in the early months of the season

That person who was complaining earlier in the week about the MFC not having time trials now has his/her wish granted. The club is having time trials tomorrow (Friday) at an undisclosed venue. A few players are tweeting about them and I'm getting the feeling that Sam Blease might not be looking forward to them as much as would his old mate who nicked off to Sydney. Still, how tough could it be? For mine, I'd rather do a 10 or 11 minute run than a two hour training session (no I can't do 3k in that time but it's what I would expect from most AFL players). Anyway, that's about all they're doing tomorrow. The next open training session is: Casey Fields - Monday 16th January - 9.40 am (60 Berwick- Cranbourne Road , Cranbourne East)

ORANGE AND CHARCOAL - Recollections and tales of a tragic football club Chapter Two The coach, whose usual complexion was as red as the most ripened of tomatoes, sat ashen-faced throughout the pre match press conference. Alongside him and with a face that was equally as pallid was his club's new chief executive officer, the third in the new club's brief history. The press pack was having a field day interrogating its quarry about the defection of three players on the very day of their team's debut game on the national stage. The whole wide world was watching. The news had attracted the attention of the international media with coverage on CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera. In the Middle East there was rioting and looting in a dozen countries after the news came through that the team from the heartland of their culture in the western suburbs of Sydney had been so ravaged. In the mid west of the United States, entire congregations massed in prayer, North Korean warships bombed villages in the south and on the subcontinent, bookmakers went on strike. Finally, the coach spoke. "I blame the Martians for this. One of our kids pockets the club's hard earned two million bucks and the Martians - they know who they are - make up loopholes in the laws just so that he can end up at their new franchise. Well, it's not fair and we're not going to put up with it, we're going to fight back!" He was careful not to elaborate any further on the form the fightback would take or about the so-called controversial "Demetriou rule" which the Launceston Lyre Birds had cleverly exploited to secure their first recruits for 2013, a 20-year-old now earning $5 million a year plus 10% of home gate receipts and a 25% stake in the new franchise, a former rugby league player who suffered stage fright and a kid straight out of the TAC Cup grossing $500,000 for making television commercials advertising a product that allegedly cures facial blemishes. The loss of the three players followed hot on the heels of the news that a highly ranked GWS recruit, sent to Sweden for consultation with a leading surgeon on his patella tendinitis injury, had disappeared with the specialist's nurse. Both are believed to be in hiding at the sprawling Swedish mansion of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The media pushed ahead with their cross-examination. One crusty old reporter asked the question on everyone's lips. Were the players becoming uncomfortable with the fact that the GWS coaches simply hadn't attempted to train them to counter the forward press? The question clearly caused the coach to bristle. The colour seemed to rush back into his cheeks, his jaw jutted out in front of his face at an almost perpendicular angle and some later said they even saw puffs of smoke coming out of his ears. "I've had enough of this forward press stuff. We put these lads up for nothing at Breakfast Point. We feed them, we clothe them, we even organise the occasional blind date but we draw the line at doing their laundry. Show's over folks. We're outta here!" And with that, the coach and the entire GWS entourage left the room. The start of the game was two hours away and the Giants were still waiting for reinforcements in the form of a couple of rookies who had taken off on the 11:00am flight from Sydney. Meanwhile, as the media people began to shuffle out of the hall, one of the cleaning staff picked up a crumpled scrap of paper with a note written in the coach's handwriting that read: "Choko, why do they keep asking me these stupid, bloody questions about presses?" To be continued ...

I'll try to write up Chapter 2 now that I've been inspired by that run coming to within almost two minutes of the world record. Aiming to write it up in under 9 minutes and 37 seconds. In the meantime, here's a quote from Sheeds on Twitter from today:

I'm the last person to believe everything that's said about Scully and his family but distrusting the word of John Quinn is a bit of a stretch. For one thing Scully has done times like that before and has excelled at a number of different forms of endurance testing in the past. What reason would Quinn have for lying?

Scully's time is exceptional for an AFL footballer but we know that his aerobic fitness has always been first class. I suspect that the time of 9m 37s would easily put him in the top 5% for AFL footballers and I would be surprised if we get even one player bettering that time on Friday (noting that all courses and the conditions will deiffer thereby having an inluence on times). More interesting was the fact that the Giants sports science manager John Quinn does acknowledge that Scully has been in rehab - something of which I think we all suspected but to my knowledge hasn't been confirmed previously by the Giants. It really doesn't add much to the extent of the injury or how it will affect his preparation or his future and I'm sure we'll learn more when the practice and NAB Cup matches start.

I too can't believe what some people are reading into Mark Neeld's comments. I think he's been very straight forward, logical and consistent in how he's dealt with the issue of giving a few of his star players a rev at the start of pre season. That he compliments them two months later for responding the way he wanted them to suggests that he's happy with what he's achieved so far. There are no Martians or Seagulls in Neeld's world - thank god for that! I have no problem with Neeld's approach and it doesn't appear that any of the players have either.