Whispering_Jack

24 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

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)

(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.
 

21 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Demons recruit facing several months on the sidelines

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.

5 hours ago, Left Foot Snap said:

Do you know where Jared Rivers went WJ?

Sorry. No idea.

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

Jordie McKenzie, a hard working midfielder from a decade or so ago has landed a plum job as coach of one of the leading A Grade VAFA clubs Collegians replacing another former Demon Jared Rivers …

1 hour ago, binman said:

This is good, and i think well over due - ie the club coming out and putting Clarry 'on extended leave to deal with his ongoing health issues'. 

Without getting into the specifics of his issues and what is happening for Clarry the absolute right approach by the club is taking a health focused approach - for Clarry, the team and fans. 

Making it clear he is on extended leave takes some of the pressure off, allows fans to recalibrate and come to terms with the likelihood we won't see him in the team for a while.

But perhaps even more importantly it means the rest of the team can focus on their own preparation without some of the fugazi.

Easy to forget i reckon how stressful and unhelpful this has all been on his teammates, particularly those who have been long term mates such as tracc and Salo.  

Personally i'm approaching the situation like Clarry had an ACL last season. He's out, he's not coming anytime soon and it's not clear how long it will be before he does come back. 

I'm sending positive vibes Clarry's way and wish him nothing but the best. 

Hopefully some more positive vibes on the still locked Clarry thread pinned above.

Further update as the club returns to preseason training without Clayton Oliver who remains on medical leave with the club saying that "our primary focus is Clayton’s overall wellbeing." The club also advises:

"Clayton has been working extremely closely with his personal medical team, and with the support of key club staff, in order to manage these challenges."

Clayton Oliver taking extended personal leave, misses preseason with Melbourne

We all wish Clarry all the best for a speedy return but we can say that, according to Irene on The Mighty Demons Facebook Page, he has been running with a mate at the Tan. When she bumped into him yesterday, he “looked fit and in good spirits”. She said “hello” and “Go Dees” and he was very friendly and we echo her thoughts ~

“Fingers crossed he can get back on track and be the player we all love! ❤️💙”

39 minutes ago, Elwood 3184 said:

Castlemaine is a lovely part of the world. I lived there for a while but it was badly hit by a drought some years ago. Ron never played for Castlemaine but it produced some great VFL/AFL footballers:

• Jack ‘Skinny’ Titus, Richmond (VFL), 1926-1943 (294 games).

• Ronald ‘Ron’ James Barassi Snr (VFL), 1936–1940 (58 games).

• Warren "Wow" Jones, Carlton and St Kilda (VFL), 1978–85 (123 games).

• Rod Keogh, Melbourne and St Kilda (VFL/AFL), 1989-1998 (82 games).

• Dustin Martin, Richmond (AFL), 2010-present (289 games).

• Kane Farrell, Port Adelaide (AFL), 2018-present (33 games).

In the 2009 AFL draft, Melbourne chose Tom (?) and Jack Trengove with the first two picks of the draft. Dustin Martin was third pick.

Castlemaine, despite its low population, is ranked seventh by the Herald Sun in the best sporting country towns in Victoria. And they acknowledge RDB as the star attraction among the sportspeople to come from the town.

A time to remember a young Demon player who tragically passed away along with hundreds of thousand others on this day 19 years ago …

Troy Broadbridge, Melbourne Footballer (40 games, 2 goals between 2001 and 2004) married Trisha Silvers on 18 December 2004. Eight days later, while spending their honeymoon in the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand, Troy drowned after being swept out to sea by the tsunami that followed the Indian Ocean earthquake and killed an estimated 227,898 people.

She’s from Eastern Ranges and was taken with the last pick (55) in the AFLW draft. 

Delany Madigan follows in the footsteps of another Eastern Ranges graduate in Caleb Windsor who was taken with the club’s first pick in the AFL draft. 

Jacinta Hose of Eastern Ranges became a Demon at tonight’s draft with pick #24.

I know nothing about her except that she comes from Sherwood Districts AFC and was taken in today’s draft at #12.

Help!

The Herald Sun reports today -

“The AFL will change its rules so players who lay a high bump on an opponent in the act of smothering will be suspended in response to the controversial Brayden Maynard case last season.

“The league has reviewed Maynard's qualifying final bump on Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw and deemed that players in similar situations from next season must take "reasonable steps" to avoid contact or lessen the impact.”

I suspect that this will not really help much. Collingwood’s case was that Maynard acted reasonably. The Tribunal could easily have ruled against Maynard on the facts - it refused to do so.

Kicking off the 2024 thread with a round up from today’s Herald Sun online edition of each club’s current injury lists:-

MELBOURNE

Clayton Oliver - Has been in the rehab group after having surgery on his knee in the off-season. He has been doing sprint work and some lighter skill based activities and is expected to ramp up his training in the new year.

Angus Brayshaw - Has returned to training but still non-contact for now as he continues his recovery from the sickening concussion occurred in the finals series. Impressed in the Dees 2km time trial.

Harrison Petty - The defender is still recovering from a foot injury which ended his season early.

He remains on a modified program but will join the main group post-Christmas.

Bayley Fritsch - The forward is still being managed after twice hurting his left foot in the second half of the season. He had surgery to repair a fracture in the foot after the first incident in round 16. Fritsch is expected to join main training in January.

Jake Melksham - The forward will look to begin running again in coming weeks after rupturing his ACL in the final round of the home-and-away season. However, the 32-year-old still faces a long road to recovery.

Not MFC but a look back at history and the dawn of television in Victoria.

How Melbourne's 1956 Olympics paved the way for AFL broadcasts of the future

Thanks to Ricky @moredees on Insta for these great images ~

Eye on the future: 10 draft prospects to watch in 2024

24 in 2024: A look ahead to next year’s top prospects

More rubbish reporting from the Herald Sun.

Headline: DEES’ OLDIES RIPE FOR FIRST SESSION, OLLY MISSES MEMO

Josh Barnes - Track watch

Opening Two Paragraphs:

“A bunch of senior Melbourne leaders joined their younger teammates for day one of pre-season on Monday but Clayton Oliver was not one of them.

“As an experienced player, Oliver is not required back until next week, with the first week of training officially only for first to four year Demons.”

If Clarrie is not required back until next week and is still on leave, exactly what “memo” has he missed? 

For all bar the northern states, the academy system has been rendered meaningless. A move is on foot to change the rules again to make the academies worthwhile again.

Academy bid disparity “going to change” as early as 2024 draft

The starting order for next year’s draft. As usual, we can expect plenty of changes over the next 12 months.

2024 draft order: Pies hope for Hawks slide, Tigers load up

And the winner is …

143. Tyla Hanks 
105. Kate Hore 
74. Olivia Purcell 
65. Sinéad Goldrick 
47. Eden Zanker 
40. Lauren Pearce 
37. Alyssa Bannan Eliza West 
34. Eliza McNamara 
33. Shelley Heath Paxy Paxman  
30. Blaithin Mackin 
22. Tahlia Gillard 
21. Maddison Gay 
16. Lily Mithen 
6. Sarah Lampard 
4. Megan Fitzsimon Casey Sherriff Rhiannon Watt 
3. Tayla Harris

 According to the Herald Sun, this is the order for Day Two of the Draft  My guess is that there will be some passing as the evening drags on and there's space for rookie upgrades.

ROUND TWO

30. West Coast Eagles
31. Brisbane Lions
32. Geelong
33. St Kilda
34. Carlton
35. Richmond
36. Geelong
37. Collingwood
38. Fremantle
39. Essendon
40. West Coast Eagles
41. Fremantle
42. Brisbane Lions
43. Richmond
44. GWS Giants
45. Western Bulldogs

ROUND THREE

46. Hawthorn
47. Western Bulldogs
48. North Melbourne 
49. West Coast Eagles
50. GWS Giants
51. Gold Coast Suns
52. Hawthorn

ROUND FOUR

53. Hawthorn
54. Gold Coast Suns
55. Richmond
56. Gold Coast
57. Richmond
58. Western Bulldogs
59. Sydney Swans
60. Carlton
61. Gold Coast
62. Port Adelaide
63. Geelong
64. GWS Giants
65. Collingwood

ROUND FIVE

66. West Coast Eagles
67. Fremantle
68. Geelong
69. Gold Coast Suns
70. Sydney Swans
71. Sydney Swans
72. St Kilda
73. Hawthorn
74. Melbourne
75. Geelong
76. Collingwood

ROUND SIX

77. Geelong
78. St Kilda
79. Port Adelaide
80. Collingwood

ROUND SEVEN

81. Geelong
82. St Kilda
83. Port Adelaide
84. Gold Coast Suns
85. Fremantle
86. Essendon
87. Western Bulldogs
88. Melbourne
89. Brisbane Lions