Whispering_Jack

It's interesting and refreshing to read that young, fit and eager footballers want to play for Melbourne irrespective of where it finished this year.

He was very impressive the day I saw him at Etihad Stadium in the Under 18 Championships kicking 4 goals at FF against SA. Took some nice marks, agile and good below the knees for one so tall. A bit light though and if we drafted him we'd have to give him the Cale Morton physical build up. Since champs he was moved at Calder Cannons to CHB and showed he was a versatile player. I thought he was a bit quiet in the TAC Cup grand final won by the Cannons but I'll have a look at the tape one of these days to see if that impression's a correct one.

Thanks folks for alerting me to what a wonderful day it is out there. If I may digress and return to the subject matter at hand, I notice that in one of today's papers Tim Harrington is quoted as saying that there's been no movement on Luke Ball as yet. Reading between the lines, this is giving me the feeling that Ball remains set on moving to the club of his choice i.e. Collingwood. On the other hand, I just can't see any way that guarantees he can easily get there. I actually have a lot of sympathy for the view that says after giving 7 or 8 year's of service to one club, he should be allowed to get to the club of his choice (and that the first club should be reasonably compensated). Whatever happens with Ball I think it's fairly certain that the introduction of some form of free agency is imminent.

There are some interesting perspectives being presented here and it's clear to me that the situation with Ball is by no means cut and dried - either way. It seems that Ball and apparently an array of family members and aquaintances need convincing as to the suitability of the MFC for this particular player. It also seems that the MFC needs to think long and hard and carry out its own due diligence as to whether Ball fits into the club's plans for the future in terms of his fitness and medical condition. Of course, there would have been a great deal of discussion inside the club and my guess is that the FD is looking positively at the prospect of getting Ball to the club but I wouldn't expect that any finality will occur in the absence of decisions about some of the fitness issues of the sort raised by Mr Magic. On the issue of the manager, I note what you say but it's still a bit of a stretch to raise the conflict of interest issue. After all, it was St. Kilda that made the decision to delist McGuire. You would have to assume the Saints were looking after their own interests and if they were doing that to secure Ball or for some other reason, it would have happened irrespective of the identity of the player manager.

I think that many of the references to Sam Mitchell are to make the point that Mitchell was initially overlooked in the main draft and had to make his way into the AFL by putting in the hard yards at VFL level. I think McKenzie is a different type of footballer but if he makes it via the rookie list then he will also have done it hard like Mitchell. I like Jordie and I think he has the potential to add a different dimension alongside a potential future midfield that might one day contain names like Grimes, Scully and Trengove.

Then again, SEN might not have made up that story at all. My contact at St. Kilda suggests that the delisting of McGuire was a little unexpected and there's some speculation that the Saints could be trying to make room under the salary cap to allow a new offer to be made to retain Luke Ball.

Seconded.

Well, I care and I find this very much regrettable. Apologies to Gilly34 who posted the information on Aaron Black first over at TalkingCarlton. However, you've now got me wishing that we actually do draft Black at # 11! He sounds like he goes well.

Can't complain about Freo although I hope at some stage during the remainder of my lifetime, I can get to see the Demons play an opening game of the NAB Cup Campaign live in Melbourne.

I think Aaron Davey would make a great captain but hasn't Junior already been confirmed in that role? Anyone know?

If Hannibal's inside information is correct then I somehow can't see Ball nominating for the ND. He could not only end up at a club whose premiership horizon is as far away (if not further) as ours but he might have to move interstate to Fremantle, Port Adelaide or Brisbane which might be hard to take for even a consummate professional whose roots are in Melbourne. Collingwood would be a remote chance IMO. If Ball doesn't like us then he might want to take his chances with a contract at St. Kilda who may not now wish to offer him a three year contact. That might suit him in the end because he might want to give Collingwood another try next year but who knows what their prospects will be at that stage?

Yes ... You ... Goodbye!

No he's not your uncle Neitzblitz. I know who Joe is and none of his nephews or nieces would post on the Jewish Sabbath (or mis-spell the family name for that matter). Prepare for a long holiday from this site!

Joe doesn't want to come back so what's the point?

Australia's national indigenous broadcaster, National Indigenous Television (NITV), is providing 12 hours of football coverage tomorrow (Sunday 25 October) from 6am to 6pm. For Foxtel viewers that's Channel 180 (check your local guides if you have another provider)! It's the 2009 Ngurratjuta Lightning Cup featuring teams representing indigenous communities around the country. I'm supporting Liam Jurrah's local side Yuendumu whose games are being shown at 8.02am and 12.02am. I'm also taping the finals on IQ at the end of the day.

OK, it might not be the big stuff from the big smoke of Darwin but Australia's national indigenous broadcaster, National Indigenous Television (NITV), is providing 12 hours of football coverage tomorrow (Sunday 25 October) from 6am to 6pm. For Foxtel viewers that's Channel 180 (check your local guides if you have another provider)! It's the 2009 Ngurratjuta Lightning Cup featuring teams representing indigenous communitie around the country. I'm supporting Liam Jurrah's local side Yuendumu whose games are being shown at 8.02am and 12.02am. I've also set the IQ for the finals at the end of the day. Don't know if Liam Patrick took part in this competition but I'm looking forward to this! [i'm also putting this up on the Football Message Board]

Les "Lally Bamblett wasn't our first indigenous player by a long way. We had Eddie Jackson in the forties - a premiership player back in '48 I think. We also had Colin Graham in the 70's after chasing his uncle, a champion from the SANFL in the late 60's. The young Bamblett on the flight might be a lad who plays for one of the TAC Cup country sides (Murray Bushrangers?) I'm sure Deebest would know if he's around.

I wonder if Beamer posts here. He sounds as mad as the rest of us! Happy to have you in the trenches if you want a game on November 8 mate!

One thing that seems to be occurring more and more in recent years is that the so called "natural born ruckman" seems to have gone out of existence. You don't get too many young ruckmen being plucked out in the first round of the draft who is top shelf in that craft from the very beginning. The most recent early draft pick ruckman who comes to mind is Brisbane's Leuenbeger and his career thus far has been hampered by injury. Before that we had Josh Fraser at Collingwood who IMO was over used in his first couple of seasons, had his share of injuries and never fulfilled his promise. I think he was pretty much on the verge this year - if someone wanted him, he probably would have been traded. Meanwhile, the Pies have used their first round draft pick twice in three years to find a ruckman. That tells me how much they respect his ability as a ruckman. Fraser gave Jake Spencer a lesson when we played Collingwood in round 2 this year thanks to his superior experience and know how. He might beat him again if they cross each others' paths next year but after that I suspect Jake will surpass Josh. Jake has the size, the aggression and the heart needed to get him further in the future than some people think because these are the building blocks that you can build a 203cm ruckman on. Somebody just has to do a good job smoothing off the rough edges.

Fair effort from Mark Jamar to poll 30 votes in about one third of a season.

It won't be an easy task coming from the background of a third year rookie but it takes time for young ruckmen to develop. As is the case with most things about Melbourne, we're going to have to be patient.

No. You guessed wrong. Got it off Twitter. Couldn't go tonight because of a previous engagement.

The vote count is halfway through and it's a close battle between Aaron Davey (52 votes) leading Brent Moloney (48).

What a pity it is that ABC2 decided to ditch all sport including weekly NTFL telecasts depriving some of us of the enjoyment of witnessing some exciting football during the summer months. No doubt the decision of some snobbish culture freak who has no concept of how important our national game is to the ordinary, common man and woman of this great country of ours! I'm thinking of starting a petition to reinstate the telecasts. Anyone else for it?

Perhaps it's not such a good idea seeking publicity in the media. If the bureaucrats running the ground find out we might lose our venue.