Whispering_Jack

The MFC list has been fully updated. The rest will be completed shortly.

I couldn’t have selected a better day to return to Melbourne following a sojourn in the north, where sunshine prevailed in stark contrast to reports of icy winds and rain at home in early November. Today, I attended a training session at Gosch’s Paddock for my first Demons’ men’s preseason training session to a pleasant surprise in the form of new recruit Xavier Taylor from the Eastern Ranges. Taylor received the customary Demon Army hug of welcome and then proceeded to demonstrate all of the skills and talent expected of an early first round draft selection. This was the first time I had seen him in the flesh but I had followed the highlights of his stellar season through the winter in the Coates Talent League and at Victoria Metro Under 18 level. I watched him carve up the Sandringham Dragons forwards on screen in a CTL Grand Final best-on-ground performance in the Ranges’ 15-point premiership victory where he controlled the air and the ground with 25 disposals and 15 marks. He ran onto the ground today and looked and felt completely at home with some skillful manoevres that suggested he is headed for a long and successful career. Unfortunately, his fellow draftees in Latrelle Pickett and Thomas Matthews (reputedly excitement machines par excellence) weren’t yet available so I’ll have to come back for some more before the team breaks off for the end of the year. Taylor wasn’t the only player to impress. Kozzy Pickett was in everything , showcasing his innate ability to anticipate the exact point where the ball was about to arrive. The skipper appeared comfortable as he transitioned into training after his recent overseas trip and he had a good contest with a physically imposing trainee understudy ruckman in Max Heath from the Saints. New recruits Brody Mihocek and Changkuoth Jiath (CJ) were both in partial rehab, but demonstrated that they will bring new dimensions to the team's dynamic. I liked the look of Blake Howes who showed a fair bit of run and there’s a bit of competition among budding key forwards JvR, Matt Jefferson and Luker Kentfield. Jai Culley looks a likely improver and very impressive wearing the number 13. Bailey Laurie is working hard for one of the spots opening up in the midfield. As training finished for the men, the women came out for their final warm up session before tomorrow’s Preliminary Final against North Melbourne. They looked keen an bouyed for the task as they kicked off with a soccer friendly. It was time to get back to the office before watching Mitchell Starc destroy the Poms in their first innings in between the Rookie Draft where Melbourne welcomed a tall midfielder in Riley Onley along with the long-awaited arrival of Kalani White. It’s been a great day for Demonkind!

Really?

… and that’s a wrap AFL PRESEASON DRAFT PICK 1 Adelaide Callum Ah Che AFL PRELISTED ROOKIE PICKS Rookies (Category A) Collingwood Jai Saxena Melbourne Kalani White Rookies (Category B) Fremantle Toby Whan Fremantle Ryda Luke Geelong Jesse Mellor GWS Giants Riley Hamilton Sydney Swans Noah Chamberlain Sydney Swans Liam Hetherton AFL ROOKIE DRAFT PICKS ROUND ONE 1 West Coast Eagles Fred Rodriguez 2. Richmond – Pass 3 Melbourne Riley Onley 4 Port Adelaide Jack Watkins 5 St Kilda Patrick Said 6 Carlton – Pass 7 Sydney Swans Jake Lloyd 8 Fremantle Leon Kickett 9 GWS Giants Conor Stone 10 Gold Coast Suns Ben Jepson 11 Adelaide Tyler Welsh 12 Hawthorn Ollie Greeves 13 Geelong George Stevens 14 Brisbane Lions Lincoln McCarthy ROUND TWO 15 West Coast Eagles - Pass 16 Port Adelaide – Pass 17 St Kilda – Pass 18 Sydney Swans Dane Rampe 19 Fremantle – Pass 20 GWS Giants – Pass 21 Adelaide – Pass 22 Hawthorn – Pass 23 Geelong Keighton Matofai-Forbes ROUND THREE 24 West Coast Eagles – Pass 25 Port Adelaide – Pass 26 Fremantle – Pass 27 Hawthorn – Pass 28 Geelong Nick Driscoll ROUND FOUR 29 West Coast Eagles – Pass * re-rookied player in bold

AFL PRESEASON DRAFT PICK 1 Adelaide Callum Ah Che AFL PRELISTED ROOKIE PICKS Rookies (Category A) Collingwood Jai Saxena Melbourne Kalani White Rookies (Category B) Fremantle Toby Whan Fremantle Ryda Luke Geelong Jesse Mellor GWS Giants Riley Hamilton Sydney Swans Noah Chamberlain Sydney Swans Liam Hetherton AFL ROOKIE DRAFT PICKS ROUND ONE 1 West Coast Eagles Fred Rodriguez 2. Richmond – Pass 3 Melbourne Riley Onley 4 Port Adelaide Jack Watkins 5 St Kilda Patrick Said 6 Carlton – Pass 7 Sydney Swans Jake Lloyd 8 Fremantle Leon Kickett 9 GWS Giants Conor Stone 10 Gold Coast Suns Ben Jepson 11 Adelaide Tyler Welsh 12 Hawthorn Ollie Greeves 13 Geelong George Stevens 14 Brisbane Lions Lincoln McCarthy ROUND TWO 15 West Coast Eagles - Pass 16 Port Adelaide – Pass 17 St Kilda – Pass 18 Sydney Swans Dane Rampe 19 Fremantle – Pass 20 GWS Giants – Pass 21 Adelaide – Pass 22 Hawthorn – Pass 23 Geelong Keighton Matofai-Forbes ROUND THREE 24 West Coast Eagles – Pass 25 Port Adelaide – Pass 26 Fremantle – Pass 27 Hawthorn – Pass 28 Geelong Nick Driscoll ROUND FOUR 29 West Coast Eagles – Pass * re-rookied player in bold

Apologies - the rookie draft was over before the luncheon interval in the First Test in Perth. The good news is that we took a wicket at around the time we selected Riley Onley. Well done to our list management team!

Kevin Sheehan's 2025 Telstra AFL Draft top prospects: Midfielders Riley Onley State: Victoria Country State League Club: Murray Bushrangers Community Club: Shepparton United Date of Birth: 30/03/2007 Height: 195cm A tall midfielder, Onley uses his height and reach to excel around stoppages and has a good burst of speed to break the game open. A powerful player who covers the ground extremely well, he divided his playing time this year between Scotch College, the Murray Bushrangers and Victoria Country. Was at his dominant best in the final two games of the National Championships against the Allies and Victoria Metro, with his bursts through the midfield and ball use superb. Onley averaged 23 disposals (9.8 contested), 4.8 marks and four clearances for Victoria Country to win All Australian honours, as well as being named in the Coates Talent League Team of the Year. A graduate of the Marsh AFL National Academy, he missed testing at the Draft Combine due to hamstring injury.

Riley Onley is a tall midfielder - it was a surprise that we made space to pick another player after taking Kalani White as a Category A rookie and opting not to draft promising NGA prospect Toby Sinnema. However, Onley did have a strong National Championship Carnival and was made All Australian before injury struck and he fell down the draft rankings. Long before this season even started, he was considered a top ten draft candidate ~ afl.com.auStars of the future: 10 draft prospects to watch in 2025Callum Twomey looks ahead to the best prospects for the 2025 Telstra AFL DraftOnley’s profile is impressive ~ Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralRiley Onley Draft ProfileMurray Bushrangers midfielder Riley Onley possesses power and speed at 195cm, providing a point of difference among this year's crop.

The Rookie Draft order:- ROUND ONE 1 West Coast Eagles 2 Richmond 3 Melbourne 4 Port Adelaide 5 St Kilda 6 Carlton 7 Sydney Swans 8 Fremantle 9 GWS Giants 10 Gold Coast Suns 11 Adelaide 12 Hawthorn 13 Geelong 14 Brisbane Lions ROUND TWO 15 West Coast Eagles 16 Port Adelaide 17 St Kilda 18 Sydney Swans 19 Fremantle 20 Adelaide 21 Hawthorn 22 Geelong ROUND THREE 23 West Coast Eagles 24 Port Adelaide 25 Fremantle 26 Hawthorn 27 Geelong ROUND FOUR 28 West Coast Eagles

Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralThomas Matthews Draft ProfileGippsland Power skipper Thomas Matthews is a livewire small forward who applies relentless pressure and kicks goals in bunches.

I think the Rookie Draft partially coincides with the lunch break in the first test so we can still multitask and focus on both sports.

What's next? The Ashes series.

And that's Round Two and the rest of the rounds done and dusted ... ROUND TWO 26 North Melbourne Blake Thredgold 194cm Def SA 27 Western Bulldogs Louis Emmett 199cm Ruck VIC 28 Gold Coast Suns Avery Thomas 185cm Def TAS 29 West Coast Eagles Sam Allen 182cm Mid VIC 30 Melbourne Thomas Matthews 171cm Fwd VIC 31 Richmond Zane Peucker 179cm Fwd/Mid SA 32 Collingwood Tyan Prindable 181cm Mid QLD 33 Geelong Hunter Holmes 188cm Mid VIC 34 Hawthorn Jack Dalton 177Cm Mid VIC 35 Sydney Swans Jevan Phillipou 183cm Mid/Fwd SA 36 Essendon Max Kondogiannis 190cm Def VIC ROUND THREE 37 Collingwood Samuel Swadling 189cm Mid WA 38 Brisbane Lions Koby Evans 188cm Fwd/Mid WA 39 West Coast Eagles * Tylah Williams 175cm Fwd WA 40 Fremantle Tobyn Murray 179Cm Fwd VIC 41 St Kilda * Charlie Banfield 192cm Mid WA 42 Sydney Swans Billy Cootee 178cm Mid/Fwd SA 43 Brisbane Lions Cody Curtin 200cm Fwd WA 44 Brisbane Lions Tai Hayes 193cm Mid QLD 45 Carlton Talor Byrne 174cm Mid/Fwd VIC 46 Gold Coast Suns * Koby Coulson 180cm Mid/Fwd QLD 47 Carlton * Jack Ison 191cm Mid VIC 48 North Melbourne Hugo Mikunda 180cm Fwd VIC 49 Sydney Swans * Max King 191cm Fwd/Mid NSW 50 Adelaide Archie Ludowyke 197cm Fwd VIC 51 GWS Giants Finnegan Davis 188cm Def VIC 52 St Kilda * Kye Fincher 184cm Mid VIC 53 Essendon * Hussien El-Achkar 171cm Fwd VIC 54 Richmond Noah Roberts-Thomson 181cm Fwd SA 55 Collingwood Zac McCarthy 199cm Fwd VIC ROUNDS FOUR TO SEVEN 56 Hawthorn Matthew Leray 188cm Mid SA 57 Collingwood Angus Anderson 190cm Mid SA 58 St Kilda Ryan Byrnes 181cm Mid VIC 59 GWS Giants Jake Stringer 192cm Fwd VIC 60 Western Bulldogs Will Darcy 196cm Def/Fwd VIC * Bid matched

And that's Round Two and the rest of the rounds done and dusted ... ROUND TWO 26 North Melbourne Blake Thredgold 194cm Def SA 27 Western Bulldogs Louis Emmett 199cm Ruck VIC 28 Gold Coast Suns Avery Thomas 185cm Def TAS 29 West Coast Eagles Sam Allen 182cm Mid VIC 30 Melbourne Thomas Matthews 171cm Fwd VIC 31 Richmond Zane Peucker 179cm Fwd/Mid SA 32 Collingwood Tyan Prindable 181cm Mid QLD 33 Geelong Hunter Holmes 188cm Mid VIC 34 Hawthorn Jack Dalton 177Cm Mid VIC 35 Sydney Swans Jevan Phillipou 183cm Mid/Fwd SA 36 Essendon Max Kondogiannis 190cm Def VIC ROUND THREE 37 Collingwood Samuel Swadling 189cm Mid WA 38 Brisbane Lions Koby Evans 188cm Fwd/Mid WA 39 West Coast Eagles * Tylah Williams 175cm Fwd WA 40 Fremantle Tobyn Murray 179Cm Fwd VIC 41 St Kilda * Charlie Banfield 192cm Mid WA 42 Sydney Swans Billy Cootee 178cm Mid/Fwd SA 43 Brisbane Lions Cody Curtin 200cm Fwd WA 44 Brisbane Lions Tai Hayes 193cm Mid QLD 45 Carlton Talor Byrne 174cm Mid/Fwd VIC 46 Gold Coast Suns * Koby Coulson 180cm Mid/Fwd QLD 47 Carlton * Jack Ison 191cm Mid VIC 48 North Melbourne Hugo Mikunda 180cm Fwd VIC 49 Sydney Swans * Max King 191cm Fwd/Mid NSW 50 Adelaide Archie Ludowyke 197cm Fwd VIC 51 GWS Giants Finnegan Davis 188cm Def VIC 52 St Kilda * Kye Fincher 184cm Mid VIC 53 Essendon * Hussien El-Achkar 171cm Fwd VIC 54 Richmond Noah Roberts-Thomson 181cm Fwd SA 55 Collingwood Zac McCarthy 199cm Fwd VIC ROUNDS FOUR TO SEVEN 56 Hawthorn Matthew Leray 188cm Mid SA 57 Collingwood Angus Anderson 190cm Mid SA 58 St Kilda Ryan Byrnes 181cm Mid VIC 59 GWS Giants Jake Stringer 192cm Fwd VIC 60 Western Bulldogs Will Darcy 196cm Def/Fwd VIC * Bid matched

Spoiler alert: The 2025 AFL Rookie Draft could well be almost a whitewash for Demon fans with no action other than the nomination of Kalani White as a father/son pick.

The Herald Sun's late mail for tonight:- MELBOURNE First night selections: Xavier Taylor (Pick 11), Latrelle Pickett (Pick 12) Remaining picks: 30, 56, 58 Melbourne provided the most heartwarming story on Wednesday night when Latrelle Pickett received his Demons guernsey from his cousin Kysaiah. Demons recruiting manager Jason Taylor was just as pleased to secure gamebreaking defender Xavier Taylor, but he said he doesn't view him as a midfielder. It means the Dees may look to bolster their engine room after losing Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver during the trade period. Melbourne is among the clubs in the 30s who could put bidding pressure on St Kilda for NGA prospect Kye Fincher, who shone in a midfield role for Sandringham VFL. Mercurial forward Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves and ruck Marcus Krasnadamskis would also be in their thinking, while Tairon Ah-Mu is a key forward consideration later in the piece. Melbourne committed mid-year to taking 201cm developing tall Kalani White, son of Melbourne great Jeff, as a father-son prospect, and he appears unlikely to receive a national draft bid. In that scenario, the Demons could either add him as a rookie or take with their last national draft pick. The Demons have filled their Category B rookie allotments after selecting college basketballer Oscar Berry, but NGA graduate Toby Sinnema is expected to be a train-on player with the Dees if he isn't picked as a rookie.

Kozzy’s around 171cm and here’s proof that Shifter was wrong

Cal Twomey is still working on Day Two. • South Australian defender Blake Thredgold right in North Melbourne's mix if they hold at opening pick tonight. • Carlton considering trading back again from pick 28 even though bid for Jack Ison won't precede it. • Louis Emmett, Marcus Krasnadamskis among Dogs' options.

To be honest, I was misled by a dodgy stat about LSP published in the lead-up to the draft. Some reports had him at 170 cm tall, but he's apparently 182 cm, which is a huge difference! It makes you wonder how many others were misinformed like me. The above is from a Shifter Sheehan article on the afl.com.au website (the figure was also published elsewhere).

The first day of the 2025 AFL National Draft is over and I have some mixed feelings about Melbourne’s selections to date. Xavier Taylor is a dream selection for the club but Latrelle Pickett is something of an unknown quantity for such a high pick. If he can translate his form at SANFL level into AFL standards then his selection will go down as another inspired Jason Taylor selection. If not, the risk is that it could well and truly bite the club in the rear end given the players who were overlooked, notably Dyson Sharp, Lochy Dovaston, Cameron Nairn and a handful of others who staked their claims at the elite Under 18 National Championships level. The pointy end of the draft is where you go for best available and not necessarily your needs but given the club has just parted ways with two of its best midfielders, it was expected that the Demons would pick up some midfield talent on day one. The good news is that there’s still some very talented midfield potential left out there. The other good news is that the club is five picks away from its next selection so the possibility remains that its need to fill midfield spots can still be satisfied. Not only that but Melbourne has two later selections left in the draft. One of them will no doubt be held to take Kalani White as a father/son, the other to possibly pick up a value selection or a smokey. Here are some of the players left in the field. I’m sure the list can be added to over the next 20 hours or so;- Jack Ison* 191cm Fwd/Mid VIC Blake Thredgold 194cm Def SA Oliver Greeves 191cm Mid VIC Archie Ludowyke 197cm Fwd VIC Jevan Phillipou 183cm Mid/Fwd SA Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves 186cm Fwd/Mid VIC Tylah Williams* 175cm Fwd WA Max King* 192cm Fwd NSW Louis Emmett 199cm Fwd/Ruck VIC Rory Wright 182cm Def/Mid VIC Riley Onley 195cm Mid VIC Matthew Leray 188cm Utility SA Zac McCarthy 199cm Ruck/Fwd VIC Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier 181cm Mid SA Sam Swadling 189cm Mid/Fwd WA Fred Rodriguez 184cm Mid WA * nga This from Zero Hangar ~

Tomorrow’s Day Two Draft Selections ROUND TWO 26 North Melbourne 27 Western Bulldogs 28 Carlton 29 West Coast Eagles 30 Melbourne 31 Richmond 32 Collingwood 33 Geelong 34 West Coast Eagles 35 Sydney Swans 36 Essendon ROUND THREE 37 Collingwood 38 Carlton 39 Fremantle 40 St Kilda 41 Sydney 42 Brisbane Lions 43 Brisbane Lions 44 Carlton 45 North Melbourne 46 Adelaide 47 Collingwood 48 Gold Coast 49 Gold Coast 50 Brisbane Lions 51 Collingwood ROUND FOUR 52 Hawthorn 53 Sydney 54 Adelaide 55 St Kilda 56 Melbourne 57 Fremantle 58 Melbourne 59 Hawthorn 60 Collingwood ROUND FIVE 61 Richmond 62 Port Adelaide 63 St Kilda 64 Sydney 65 Fremantle 66 GWS Giants ROUND SEVEN 67 Port Adelaide

And that's Round One done and dusted ... ROUND ONE 1 West Coast Eagles Willem Duursma 193cm Utility VIC 4 West Coast Eagles Cooper Duff-Tytler 201cm Ruck VIC 7 Richmond Sam Cumming 184cm Mid SA 8 Richmond Sam Grlj 182cm Mid VIC 9 Essendon Sullivan Robey 192cm Mid/Fwd VIC 10 Essendon Jacob Farrow 188cm Def/Mid WA 11 Melbourne Xavier Taylor 192cm Def VIC 12 Melbourne Latrelle Pickett 182cm Fwd SA 13 Essendon Dyson Sharp 187cm Mid SA 15 GWS Giants Oskar Taylor 183cm Def VIC 16 North Melbourne Lachy Dovaston 178cm Fwd VIC 19 West Coast Eagles Josh Lindsay 183cm Def/Mid VIC 20 Hawthorn Cameron Nairn 188cm Fwd SA 21 Western Bulldogs Lachie Carmichael 184cm Def NSW 22 Adelaide Mitch Marsh 191cm Fwd SA 23 Hawthorn Aidan Schubert 197cm Fwd SA 24 Geelong Harley Barker 188cm Mid SA 25 Fremantle Adam Sweid 176cm Mid/Fwd VIC

And that's Round One done and dusted ... ROUND ONE 1 West Coast Eagles Willem Duursma 193cm Utility VIC 4 West Coast Eagles Cooper Duff-Tytler 201cm Ruck VIC 7 Richmond Sam Cumming 184cm Mid SA 8 Richmond Sam Grlj 182cm Mid VIC 9 Essendon Sullivan Robey 192cm Mid/Fwd VIC 10 Essendon Jacob Farrow 188cm Def/Mid WA 11 Melbourne Xavier Taylor 192cm Def VIC 12 Melbourne Latrelle Pickett 170cm Fwd SA 13 Essendon Dyson Sharp 187cm Mid SA 15 GWS Giants Oskar Taylor 183cm Def VIC 16 North Melbourne Lachy Dovaston 178cm Fwd VIC 19 West Coast Eagles Josh Lindsay 183cm Def/Mid VIC 20 Hawthorn Cameron Nairn 188cm Fwd SA 21 Western Bulldogs Lachie Carmichael 184cm Def NSW 22 Adelaide Mitch Marsh 191cm Fwd SA 23 Hawthorn Aidan Schubert 197cm Fwd SA 24 Geelong Harley Barker 188cm Mid SA 25 Fremantle Adam Sweid 176cm Mid/Fwd VIC