Whispering_Jack

Beware Cats. The Demons are very, very good at top-of-the-ladder contests!

Chris Doerre’s power rankings ~ AFL Draft - July Power Rankings: Mattaes Phillipou strengthens claim for No. 1 pick

Care to have a go at picking the team for Friday night’s game?😀

Tend to agree with most of this without knowing whether he’ll make it but he certainly has the athletic traits which clubs favour these days.

How could I forget this bloke who is the son of Dean Duursma who played for Melbourne’s under 19s and reserves in the late 1980s, brother of Port Adelaide’s Xavier and nephew of former Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne player Jamie Duursma?

Quite.

The other player of interest to Demon fans is Riak Andrew who is a member of the club’s Next Generation Academy. He’s the brother of former Demon NGA Mac Andrew who is now with the Gold Coast Suns.

The Herald Sun’s online page has a feature today highlighting the 2023 draft prospects. There are two players covered in the article of special interest to Demon fans so I thought we should kick things off early. The first is a father/son prospect who is the son of our Nathan Brown who played 146 games for the club between 1998 and 2007. A dogged small utility, Brown’s achievements included - Fourth Best and Fairest 2002 Most Consistent Player 2002 Second Best and Fairest 2004 Most Consistent Player 2004 Best Clubman 2005 Here’s the item about his son Kynan

I'm sure that this question has been asked before - what is JVR's height? He's been variously referred to as being 193, 194 and 195cm tall (see https://www.afl.com.au/news/598548/towering-forward-jacob-van-rooyen-ready-to-show-his-wares-in-academy-hitout which puts him at 195cm). There was a time when club's updated their information - I think Garry Lyon grew to 193cm but started well below that height when he came to the club as a teenager in the Under 19s. Mitch Lewis of Hawthorn is another who has grown considerably since his drafting. It would be handy for the purposes of this discussion if we received accurate information about players' heights.

I’m still trying to navigate my way around this post. AFL Draft Power Rankings – July 2022

He’s considered a top 20 prospect so yes, he’s not likely to be picked up by the Saints unless they draft him with their first round pick.

The free kick stats that day were 24 - 24.

Don’t think he played. I would imagine that there would be some rotation of players in the squad. One slight knock on him based on some pure hearsay from an acquaintance in the recruiting caper is that he’s very lightly built. He might need time to build up physically before he gets recruited. Of course, if that was the case then Robbie Flower would never have been recruited.

Perhaps we could ask Jake Lever if he could give Tex a reference?

With a bye at the end of the home and away games, that would give TMac some slight hope of playing but he would have to incorporate some sort of mid-season with the next 8 to 10 weeks. He’s probably an outside chance at best.

Stingray shines as Vic Country overpowers Allies Allies 2.3.15 3.5.23 4.9.33 5.12 (42) 
Vic Country 1.3.9 4.7.31 7.9.51 10.15 (75) GOALS 
Allies: Leary 3, Fletcher, Stevens 
Vic Country: Konstanty 3, Cadman 2, Barnett, Burgiel, Clark, Clohesy, Long

Vic Country beat the Allies by 33 points in a dour struggle in Brisbane which produced far less impressive football than what we saw yesterday at Ikon Park. A couple of Vic Country midfielders in Jhye Clark and Mitch Szybkowski impressed but most of the high end talent that I’ve seen so far is coming from Vic Metro, SA and WA. I should add that Jaxon Binns of Vic Country was a prolific ball winner and worth keeping an eye on. Blistering Binns runs rings around Allies On what I’ve seen to date I’m not satisfied that we can cover our key position tall forward issues from the players on display in the NAB Australian Championships. I haven’t seen a ruck replacement for Luke Jackson readily available from these ranks if he decides to leave.

The fact that we’re coming off a five day break should be a factor in team selection. It’s good to know that Max will be back and possibly Dogga. To then have the likes of Hunt and Rivers available to bring in if required is a luxury.

Who could ever forget last year’s Preliminary Final? THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: C. Salem 3 S. May 1 J. Lever 8
 HB: J. Bowey 17 H. Petty 35 T. Rivers 24 
 C: T. Sparrow 32 C. Petracca 5 E. Langdon 15
 HF: B. Fritsch 31 T. McDonald 25 J. Viney 7 
 F: A. Neal-Bullen 30 B. Brown 50 C. Spargo 9
 Foll: M. Gawn 11 C. Oliver 13 A. Brayshaw 10
 I/C: J. Harmes 4 M. Hibberd 14 L. Jackson 6 K. Pickett 36 
 Sub: J. Jordon 23 Emerg: K. Chandler 37 N. Jones 2 J. Melksham 18 IN: M. Hibberd OUT: J. Smith (hamstring)
 GEELONG B: J. Henry 38 L. Henderson 25 Z. Tuohy 2 HB: J. Kolodjashnij 8 M. Blicavs 46 J. Bews 24 C: M. Duncan 22 C. Guthrie 29 I. Smith 7 HF: E. Ratugolea 17 J. Cameron 5 G. Rohan 23 F: S. Menegola 27 T. Hawkins 6 G. Miers 32 Foll: R. Stanley 1 J. Selwood 14 P. Dangerfield 35 I/C: T. Atkins 30 B. Close 45 Z. Guthrie 39 M. Holmes 9 Sub: S. Higgins 4 Emerg: L. Dahlhaus 40 D. Fort 28 S. Higgins 4 Q. Narkle 19 IN: S. Higgins OUT: B. Parfitt (hamstring)

Seven-goal Jefferson, No.1 contender star as Metro downs WA Matthew Jefferson really did thrust his name before the numerous recruiters sitting in the stands at Ikon Park today when he booted 7 goals for Vic Metro against WA today. Will Ashcroft also shone for the Victorians and remains a likely #1 prospect as a father/son selection for Brisbane. WA’s Elijah Hewitt’s performance was also a highlight in a strange game where there was no wind but most of the scoring was done at one end of the ground. Metro’s accuracy in front of goals was the main difference between two powerful sides. Vic Metro 4.1.25 5.1.31 13.4.82 16.5 (101) Western Australia 1.4.10 5.10.40 6.11.47 10.14 (74) GOALS Vic Metro: Jefferson 7, Davey 2, Sheezel 2, Ashcroft, Clarke, Hotton, Mackenzie, Windsor Western Australia: Cole 2, Hewett 2, Jones 2, Bourne, Cleaver, Julian, Tholstrup “My name Jeff” – Metro forward hits seventh heaven

I lied.

They’ll even out by the end of the game.

That’s correct. Someone will take McKenzie in the top 40 and St Kilda won’t have the chance to match the bid.

Time for our big men *** Sam Weideman 195cm, Ben Brown 200cm, Mitch Brown 196cm *** to fly!!!

My view about Aaron Bradtke last year was that he was being played in the key defensive positions because he wasn’t developing as a ruckman. In any event, the record shows that Bradtke was registered with VAFA B Section club Old Haileybury on 17 March, 2022 and has only managed 3 games at that level, the last of which was on 28 May, 2022. This indicates that he’s not doing anything to suggest that the decision to delist him was incorrect.