Whispering_Jack

Seems as if he never left. Tom McNamara 190cm 89 kg. A defender who was hampered by injuries in his three years at Melbourne. Played a consistent season in 2010 in the VFL but managed just three AFL games, all in 2009.

Redheaded Cameron Johnston 181cm 78kg - a versatile player with no weaknesses to his game. A medium sized forward with the ability to play up the ground. Runs long and hard, with a booming and accurate kick.

Kelvin Lawrence - 181cm, 77kg. Small forward with speed who improved as the 2010 season progressed. Had a superb WAFL under-18 finals series and was largely responsible for Peel's advance to the grand final. From Inside Football Draft Special KELVIN LAWRENCE Peel Thunder, WA 18yo Ht: 181cm Wt: 77kg "Kelvin's played Colts all year for us but he's a typical indigenous player in that he knows where the goals are and can find the footy because of his ability to play ahead of the game. He's got good skills and a great turn of foot and he's caught the imagination of quite a few people over the back half of the season. Had a couple of games in Colts footy where he's kicked six or seven goals and he's had a couple of games where he's kicked 1.8 but he can certainly find the footy." - Peel Thunder coach Trevor Williams

From Claremont WA - 179cm 75 kg Midfielder with good kicking skills whose talent is undoubted. Considered to have a big upside. From Inside Football Draft Special:- MICHAEL EVANS - Claremont,WA Born: 13/7/92 Ht: 179cm Wt: 75kg "Michael's a smart player who is very creative. His biggest asset would be his game sense playing through the midfield and occasionally down forward. Still small but going through a growth spurt." - Claremont football manager Dean Horsington.

Top notch footballer from the Amateurs. 183 cm, 76 kg. Super speedy half-back with precise delivery who dominated the Victorian Amateur competition. Considered to have the goods to step up. AFL clubs cast net far and wide in search of that special talent

PS1 Gold Coast Suns - Nathan Ablett Gold Coast PS2 West Coast Eagles - Blayne Wilson Peel Thunder/Halls Head PS3 Richmond - Bachar Houli Essendon PS4 Essendon - Michael Hibberd Dandenong Stingrays/Somerville Jnrs PS5 Hawthorn - Cameron Bruce Melbourne PS6 Fremantle - John Anthony Collingwood

Cam Bruce GAWN to Hawthorn

I think Dean McDonald, a Gippsland Power player, was actually taken in the national draft so he got that wrong. Also, we've apparently declared to Ash Hanson's management that we won't be drafting him. I don't know if we have much choice about drafting players training with us. We might get one or two but it is a draft so other clubs might well take players they need and gezump us if they can. Of course, we can do likewise. James Lawton who is named in Daffey's top 25 is apparently a player who Richmond are interested in although not on their permission to train list. They will be very happy to draft the 197cm Lawton as a rookie.

I've always considered the whole "Strawberry Fields/Demonland is only for kids" thing as an urban myth ironically conceived by a very immature mind. The other irony is that I was the lawyer for the company that developed a residential estate on the Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road on the way to Casey called Strawberry Fields. Demonland does however, encourage young posters to come on and express themselves. A survey taken a couple of years ago indicated that Melbourne had the least number of supporters of all of the AFL clubs and I believe that if we foster interest and passion in the club by young people (rather than arrogantly scare them away), this might help turn things around over time. Of course, having a successful team on the field is what really would help us build up our supporter levels. Anyway, I always regarded the slurs on Demonland as coming from a small minority of people who have problems. My response to the Strawberry Fields line is that I actually like the song which is one of my Beatles favorites as is All You Need Is Love which sits nicely with that minority of 'Ologists who have nothing better to do than attack us over here. Anyway, I am a poster both here and there and believe there is a place for both sites. Let's face it, we all have Red and Blue blood coursing through our veins - even Bluey who does still post there.

I can remember a St. Kilda fan getting stuck into Jeff Farmer at Waverley one night and it was the closest I ever came to getting into a fight at the footy. In the end, his own fellow St. Kilda supporters shut him up!

You might be able to transfer your lease (not sure that you can "sell" it but stamp duty hasn't been payable on leases for years. I suppose now there's been a change of government whether the proposed new facility at Docklands is going to get a run at all?

And they left # 11 vacant for an encore from PJ?

Confirmed. Jamie Bennell for # 7 and Lucas Cook will wear # 21.

It's all about oil and political footballs, not computer generated kangaroos and alleged tax cheats. Heaven help the sport (and the rest of the world) if the Iranians take over Qatar before 2022.

Don Cordner's number and worn by Febey S in 88 and 00. If we don't hand out the #11 tomorrow would that suggest we're thinking of picking up PJ in the RD?

All I can say is that you must be more hopeful than Simpson is himself because he's taking the year off VFL to see if he can get his body right at his local club. Of course, he could be foxing but I think that would be highly unlikely.

I've seen BennytheJet play. Reckon you might have given Nicholson a run for his money.

The other player (whoever that may be - Jake?) surely will be wearing Jimmy's #11 after tomorrow.

I believe the correlation with the #7 and Jamie Bennell might go back a little further than the 1960s. Only one Indigenous Australian has represented Melbourne in a premiership team and that was the great Eddie Jackson who played in our 1948 premiership. Given that the club is looking to honour it's rich heritage of the past, I couldn't agree more with giving Jamie Bennell Eddie Jackson's #7 guernsey. Sadly, Eddie has passed on but I think it would be great if one or all of Eddie's daughters were to present Jamie with what would truly be a prize. And perhaps it might not be too fanciful to think that once the number has been given back into Aboriginal hands that a premiership is not too far off for long suffering Demon fans like yours truly.

CHANGES 2010 - AND NOW FOR THE ROOKIES by The Oracle Much of the limelight from the perspective of club recruitment in the AFL naturally centres on the National Draft. Melbourne's four draft picks have been well documented. The selection of four draftees all of them young and tall, over 190cm was a surprise to many but the icing on the cake was the revelation last week that young Jack Viney has agreed to come on board when eligible as a father/son pick in 2012. The club's senior list has now been finalised as it made no further changes in its List Lodgement Three which therefore rules out a selection in the Pre Season Draft. The list now looks like this:- SENIOR LIST: Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Lucas Cook Aaron Davey Troy Davis Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland Max Gawn Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Jeremy Howe Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Addam Maric Stefan Martin Tom McDonald Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Tom Scully James Strauss Colin Sylvia Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove Matthew Warnock Jack Watts Austin Wonaeamirri VETERAN LIST Brad Green ROOKIE LIST: Michael Newton plus Rookie Draft selections 14, 31, 48, 63, 76 and 84. This year's Pre Season and Rookie Drafts take place next Tuesday. The former has attracted so few of the clubs that the entire operation should be over in less than a minute. I don't expect many surprises and, indeed, the only matter to reflect upon when it's over will probably be whether this draft will continue much further into the future. Various draft rules changes over the years have wiped the gloss off the attractiveness of the PSD and only six clubs have opted to take part this year. For the record, the Herald Sun predicts the following PSD selections:- 1. Gold Coast - Cameron Pederson (Box Hill) 2. West Coast - Tim Houlihan (West Coast) 3. Richmond - Bachar Houli (Essendon) 4. Essendon - Jay Neagle (Essendon) 5. Hawthorn - Cameron Bruce (Melbourne) 6. Fremantle - John Anthony (Collingwood) If two redrafted players and a 31 year-old is the best that this draft can produce and less than half of the clubs take part, then the death knells are certainly tolling. The Rookie Draft that follows carries far more interest for dedicated football fans who understand its growing importance. This should be evident for all and sundry in an era where the skipper of the reigning premier is a former rookie lister. Retiring Melbourne captain James McDonald and All Australian Mark Jamar were both originally rookies and the Demons would no doubt be well satisfied with this year's upgrades from those ranks in Jordie McKenzie and Jake Spencer. Some other current AFL players whose careers started on the rookie list are Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs), Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle), Dean Cox (West Coast), Brad Sewell (Hawthorn), Andrew Carrazzo (Carlton) and Collingwood premiership player Jarryd Blair. The Rookie Draft is bolstered this year by the fact that so few recycled players were taken in November's National Draft and the fact that it's now open slather on mature age rookies. There's also a lot more interest in players from state leagues and other competitions following the success of players such as Michael Barlow, James Podsiadly and Alex Silvagni in 2010. The other point of interest is that the Rookie Draft will feature Kevin Sheedy's Greater Western Sydney Giants for the first time. They have the first eight selections and are expected to take some of the more reasoned retreads to help give their otherwise very youngish initial side which competes next year in the new North East Australia competition a kick along. Melbourne's first selection is at fourteen and I wouldn't hazard a guess as to who that will be but perhaps the AFL's Permission to Train List might be a pointer. The Demons have six rookie spots available but can defer a selection until after the NAB Cup. There are more changes to come!

Demons to stretch for Billy the kid Son of Melbourne Demons legend Steven Stretch on club's radar at just fourteen years old Similar description as the one applied by many to Jack Viney. Seems that Adelaide could prove to be a gold mine for the Demons in future years.

This about Ben Jakobi off the SMS from Pringle who was on Coburg's staff for the past couple of seasons:- Also - 19 years old, came from Brighton Grammar and is the son of Old Brighton President Rob Jakobi so the connection is there with Jack Watts and newly appointed Demon Board Member John Trotter who has been involved with Old Brighton Grammarians AFC since 1971.

This from Inside Football's Draft Edition (early November):-

The linkage with the MFC is happening far too frequently for my liking. It's been reported that it was suggested as early as September by WCE that he should retire because of his history of injuries that kept him to around 20 AFL games in three years (2 in 2010). I admire him for wanting to go on but the fact that he won't cost us much because the Eagles will be picking up most of the tab isn't enough for me. It would go against the grain of our recruiting philosophy of the past three years to take him i.e we don't take players with question marks about their fitness. An emphatic pass from me.

Thanks Grapeviney. Eddie Jackson gets covered in the second of the series. I'm also looking for information on George "Nugget" Simmonds who, according to the record books, was only the third Indigenous Australian to play VFL, albeit only for four games. Eddie Jackson who came to the club two decades after Simmonds, was the seventh which goes to show how rare it was for Aboriginals to have the opportunity to play the sport at its highest level. I'll defer to the experts who have done/are doing the research to provide the reasons but obviously racism and economic issues would have played major roles. None of the VFL/AFL clubs can hold their heads high over what's happened in the past but the fact that Indigenous Australians now comprise in excess of 10% of all players means that we've gone a long way to redressing the wrongs of the past and the current crop are bloody good footballers.