Whispering_Jack

The all-important Pre-Season ladder

Not suggesting that it happened in this case but some sensationalist journalists with an agenda have been known to introduce quotes from “unnamed” sources simply to embellish their stories.

Melbourne supporter Titus O’Reilly covered the saying with Mick Malloy on their excellent podcast Sports Bizarre a while ago. It refers to an early Australian pugilist Larry Foley (1847 - 1917) who never lost a fight. He retired happy at 32 after collecting a purse of £1,000 (probably close to $1m today) for his final fight.

Marty Hore was first cab off the rank for the PSS period in November. Today, that period closed. All of the 2024 Pre-Season Supplemental Selection period signings

You know the footy season is approaching and it’s not just the smell of the linament, the clicking of the turnstiles or the warming of the pie oven. It’s the sullen and gloomy naysayers who have broken down over missing on the four points not on offer because it’s just the first match simulation. It’s only 18 days into February and Round Zero is the same number of days away but to some people, all is lost. Some fifty or more years ago, Melbourne played Carlton on the MCG in the last practice match of the preseason. The Dees were on fire and smashed the Blues all over the ground. Two weeks later they faced each other in Round One and the result was the exact opposite. We were March champions and April fools. I’m not even sure what the objective is of these games but, despite a few odd crunches, it appears that the injury list did not expand beyond its current level so that’s a bonus. I don’t think you can expect to get much out of today. We have no idea what the coaching staff wanted from the day, what their expectations and instructions were to the players. It certainly seemed different to last year when the better players on the ball dominated and had more game time but this time Max and Trac were used sparingly and Clarrie did his shtick in the late, late show with Salo. Jack Viney took up the form he was late in 2023. I was impressed by Caleb Windsor and Jack Billings who will add interest to the battle for a place on a wing. We got a bargain in Kynan Brown but he’s not quite ready for the physical challenges of the game right now but it won’t be long. The Kolt looked strong at the end of the endgame. JvR had his moments early - they all did until the handbrake went on after 20 minutes. Sure, there was a lot of sloppy ball use and you could probably point a finger at the defence more than the forwards (because for a long time, the ball never went into attack). But both sides had plenty of first choice players out of action and, by the time the opening siren blares to announce the start of the season, the look and feel of the teams will differ markedly. The story of the game for me was the heartwarming feeling when Clarrie slotted through the goal of the year from the boundary (pity the car wasn’t on offer) on his left foot. He might not quite be back in town just yet but Cranbourne East is only is 45 km from the CBD and that’s only 2½ km a day.

Take them all off now and bring on Clarry and the twos!

The full list of Demons missing from today’s scratch match Angus Brayshaw - illness Ben Brown - knee Tom Fullarton - hamstring Lachie Hunter - calf Shane McAdam - calf Tom McDonald - calf Jake Melksham - knee Andy Moniz-Wakefield - thigh Harrison Petty - toe Joel Smith - suspension Charlie Spargo - Achilles Daniel Turner - stress fracture femur Taj Woewodin - concussion So, with the exception of Joel Smith, I guess that makes up our first proper injury list for 2024.

I’m sure they called the equivalent game last year, “match simulation”. What’s the difference between that and a “scratch match”?

I think Sicily at Hawthorn is a little underrated in Cornes’ list and while the Bont is great, he’s not a premiership skipper like Max. Now, if only the men/women/them who once were in white would give him the proper protection in ruck and marking duels, he would be way far ahead of the rest.

Aren’t we still waiting to hear from the club as to the extent of the injury that’s kept him off the track recently?

Six years ago today, history was made when the Demons took home this glamorous piece of silverware. Three years later, we took the big one out for the men and a year later, for the women. Time for some more …

First day at school a week or so ago …

Harley Reid and George Wardlaw are currently favourites for the 2024 AFL Rising Star but there are a number of others who will make their claims during the season. With all of the talk about Melbourne’s list starting to age, it’s worth noting that the Demons have the equal highest number of players eligible for this year’s award - 13, along with Geelong, GWS Giants and West Coast. The players in question might not yet be considered leading contenders but one never knows:- Bailey Laurie Taj Woewodin Daniel Turner Caleb Windsor Matthew Jefferson Blake Howes Jed Adams Will Verrall Oliver Sestan Koltyn Tholstrup Kynan Brown Kyah Farris-White Andy Moniz-Wakefield Every player eligible for the 2024 Rising Star Award

The Herald Sun’s top AFL players rated in the AFL’s upper echelon (85+ points) Nick Daicos 94 Marcus Bontempelli 93 Toby Greene 93 Christian Petracca 92 Errol Gulden 92 Zak Butters 91 Charlie Curnow 91 Sam Walsh 90 Jeremy Cameron 90 Connor Rozee 90 Jordan De Goey 90 Sam Taylor 90 Lachie Neale 89 Jack Sinclair 89 Jordan Dawson 89 Zach Merrett 89 Luke Jackson 89 Noah Anderson 89 Touk Miller 89 Tom Green 89 James Sicily 89 Max Gawn 89 Harris Andrews 88 Jacob Weitering 88 Darcy Moore 88 Andrew Brayshaw 88 Tom Stewart 88 Tim English 88 Jack Viney 88 Nick Larkey 88 Patrick Cripps 87 Josh Daicos 87 Cal Wilkie 87 Jake Lever 87 Charlie Cameron 86 Jai Newcombe 86 Steven May 86 Dan Houston 86 Tim Taranto 86 Rowan Marshall 86 Nick Blakey 86 Lachie Whitfield 86 Caleb Serong 86 Rory Laird 85 Hugh McCluggage 85 Isaac Quaynor 85 Patrick Dangerfield 85 Stephen Coniglio 85 Dustin Martin 85 Chad Warner 85 Oscar Allen 85 Tom Liberatore 85 The obvious missing player not in the list is our own Clayton Oliver who in my unbiased opinion is at least a 95. The Herald Sun might claim that there’s merit in his omission as follows:- “Melbourne already has five players in that upper echelon of 85 points or more without Oliver, downgraded given the clear issues about his professionalism, off-field behaviour and likely late start to the season.“ If they carried out this sort of appraisal 12 months ago, Jordan De Goey would have rated around 60 on that basis - look where he is now. Clarry is already back in training with the main group at Melbourne and understanding what he can do with the footy in his hands, I have faith that he will overtake many of the above list sooner rather than later. And that’s just one point of controversy about the list.

Why not try the forgotten man, Daniel Turner, up forward?

A couple of points here:- • Daniel Turner would be entitled to be upset at being left out. • Will Verrall was not a mid-season draftee. He was taken with pick No.14 in the 2022 NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

The AFL Draft Central folk have been busy producing some excellent profiles on some of the leading draft prospects for 2024:- Levi Ashcroft Sid Draper Finn O’Sullivan Josh Smillie Jagga Smith

Mark Robinson is a real piece of work. “This is not a bash Clayton Oliver exercise because to do so without facts and an understanding of the complexities of Oliver's wellbeing, would be plainly wrong.” He then proceeds to mention a number of the many unsubstantiated rumours that have been circulating around the traps about Clarrie in recent times, some of which are totally absurd. Robinson openly says they’re rumours and furthermore tells his readers, “[D]on't believe everything … “ and then, there’s the “but”. There’s always a “but”. Forgive me, but I’m going to add my own “but” here because Robinson has also been conspicuously absent from his work with his own ailments over the past couple of years and I seem to recall that the rumour mill was working overtime about him and his lifestyle, habits and boofhead behaviour. Back then, I didn’t believe everything but I didn’t repeat the rumours even though he's not exactly “Saint Christopher” either. I won’t repeat them now but who knows? I might be tempted if this hypocrite continues to rant on about the subject in the way he has in this article. It’s an example of why we’ve had to take extra care with this and one or two other touchy subjects in the past few months or so. Enough for now, save and except that I’m really happy to see Clarrie back and I hope he kicks a*** on the footy field again this year as he has throughout his career. Clarrie, be well.

(Continued) TRAINING NOTES • relatively mixed teams for the match sim, with the white team possessing the 'probables' defence and the blue team the 'probables' midfield (with some exceptions). • Angus Brayshaw building into his pre-season and will be back in full-contact drills this week. Today, he started in defence & pinch hit in the midfield at times. Was the primary ball user off half back. • Adam Tomlinson and Tom McDonald both in defence for the blue team, while Blake Howes lined up alongside Steven May and Jake Lever in defence. Howes also had a difficult job on Bailey Fritsch, conceding a goal but held himself quite well. • Trent Rivers ran through the midfield, often on Christian Petracca and at times beating him. • Caleb Windsor spent most of the session on the wing, lining up on Jack Billings and had some run in the midfield. • ANB spent time in the main midfield rotation, starting alongside Jack Viney and Petracca. • Tom Fullarton (before the injury) and Will Verrall rotated through the ruck role against Max Gawn, but were no match for him. • Jed Adams played deep forward (although elsewhere here it’s been reported he played in defence). • Steven May received a corkie near the end but played on. HIGHLIGHTS • Christian Petracca comfortably slotted his set shots both during the warm up and match simulation, despite the windy and wet conditions. • Shane McAdam popped up at times, kicking an opportunistic goal & laid some strong tackles early. • A deft kick in traffic from ANB that hit Brayshaw streaming through the centre square, with the switch of play sparking a set shot and goal. • Jack Viney starred through the midfield, winning contested ball and laying bone-crunching tackles ABSENTEES (apart from those already mentioned) • Matthew Jefferson completed a running program along the boundary side. • AMW & Tom Sparrow did their own modified program early in the session, then ran laps. • Christian Salem started the session with the main group but was pulled out about an hour in and sent for sprint work with AMW. • Harrison Petty was pulled out of the session just before the match simulation, instead hitting the exercise bike with Jefferson. • Lachie Hunter ran messages for both teams and called players for interchanges.

There’s a firewall behind this so I will do a summary starting with the opening part • Tom Fullarton set to start the season on the sidelines after suffering a suspected serious hamstring injury. Sent off for scans to determine if the tendon was torn. • Others missing were Clayton Oliver (personal reasons), Ben Brown (knee) and Lachie Hunter (calf). • The club expects Oliver to return in “the coming weeks”. • Harry Petty set to resume full training in the next fortnight in the hope of playing in Rd 0 vs Swans. (To be continued)

Demons recruit facing several months on the sidelines

For those who are interested in good old fashioned statistics, here they are for Ricky Mentha:- WARNING: Some of the following information may offend so if you happen to be squeamish about weight, please look away - Ricky Mentha Height: 179cm Weight: 66kg D.O.B: 04-09-2006

Well it is a calf injury and such things do tend to dog players late in their careers but a reading of Jay Clark’s article suggests that the Herald-Sun is up to its usual tricks. Clark himself calls the injury "minor" with the issue being whether he'll be ready to resume training tomorrow. That is, 6-7 weeks before the team’s opening match. Panic stations? No, not even close - just rubbish journalism.

Sorry. No idea.

And Mitch Brown has landed at the Parkdale Vultures in C Grade.