Whispering_Jack

HOLE LOT OF LOVE MELBOURNE Ladder position: 1st List spots available: 0 What they need: Ruck depth, lockdown small defender The Demons won’t have to worry about next week, with the club not having capacity for a draft selection at this stage. But the one area to look at in the national draft, where they could become vulnerable, is in the ruck if Max Gawn or Luke Jackson went down, with no other recognised ruckman on the list. AFL Academy member Jackson Broadbent, one of the leading ruck prospects in the pool, will be on their radar. [Note: this is behind the Herald Sun’s paywall and I’ve found that sometimes these stories can mysteriously shift] I agree that we don’t have to worry about next week but here’s Chris Doerre’s power rankings - AFL Draft: Mid-season Draft top 10 Power Rankings

How every Australian Academy player who took part in the game fared vs Collingwood VFL ~ Scouting Notes: 2022 AFL Academy vs. Collingwood VFL

Neither Melbourne nor Narrm have won a premiership under a Labor Government since 1948 under Ben Chifley's Prime Ministership. It's time for that to change!!!

You have poor comprehension skills. There’s a difference between asking questions about a player and “knocking” him. We seem to both agree that Knightmare and one or two others are “plonkers” and neither of us rated him top 15. That’s great because one club took him at #5 and while it might not have been a wasted selection, other clubs reaped the benefit. As it turns out, I believe we’re one of those clubs.

You’re a strange cat ‘Daz’. My beef’s not with you but with the so-called experts who did a strange 360 degree turn in a matter of a week. Knightmare on 25 April, 2021 (the day after the game):- “The team got pumped by 100+ points. I wouldn't read too much into anyone's performances. No one starred, and I can count on one hand those who I'd consider to have rising stocks as a result of the game.” A week later, Andrew has come from nowhere to be in the top 15 in Knightmare’s power rankings. I think I was entitled to think that to be most unusual. As for Howes and JVR, I agree that both had quiet days but who wouldn’t given they were played in the forward line for the entire match in a team that lost by 130 points? According to my notes, JVR presented well and had a few good moments. Not longer after the game he was diagnosed as having glandular fever. Despite that I declared on Demonland nearly three months before the draft that I preferred him to Andrew. And you have a problem with that?

You’re 100% right ‘Daz’. I will continue to say what I think and not follow like the sheep proclaiming a promising player with some upside as the best thing since sliced bread. My mail on Mac is that the Suns are pretty happy with his development where he’s being used as a key defender and with mixed results to date. No hurry and no immediate plans to use him as a senior player. I might have a look at him tomorrow at the AFL site’s live stream of Footscray VFL vs Gold Coast game. Cheerio!

The game that traditionally brings the top draft prospects to the fore is the game between the AFL Academy and a VFL team, this year being Collingwood. The Academy team generally fares well in these games. Back in 2019, it defeated a Casey Demons team (albeit not at full strength) and before that I recall a win over North Melbourne. Last year’s match up was something of an embarrassment with Geelong’s VFL handing out a 130-point thumping to an Academy team that included all of the big name players (Jacob Van Rooyen and Blake Howes played). Mac Andrew also took part and, despite being virtually unseen for the first three quarters, did enough in the last term to have some draft watchers salivating. Hoping this year’s event will be more of a contest. There’s a fair chance that if you go to the game, you’ll see Neville Jetta running around in the black and white. NAB AFL Academy squad announced for clash with Collingwood VFL

LISTEN: The clear top-three contenders, No.1 chance chats Road to the Draft: The Petracca-like prospect, father-son Bomber

I’ve expressed the view elsewhere that it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that Melbourne will participate in the MSD. The one area which I would see worthwhile addressing is in finding a ruckman to have in reserve and to possibly train for the future but the cupboard seems pretty bare as far as this draft is concerned given that the Sandy Dragons’s Max Ramsden is expected to go early and if we entered the draft, our pick would be low. The AFL has given the go ahead to a number of players who previously would not have qualified. I still don’t see anyone tempting enough to consider putting a youngster like Blake Howes on our long term injury list to make space for the club to qualify for the MSD. Permission granted: Eight more players given approval for MSD

While I do believe it would be worthwhile for the club to cast an eye out for a young ruck understudy to Max Gawn and Luke Jackson, I tend to agree with this. There doesn’t appear to be as much ruck talent around in mid-season draft calculations and, if the MFC entered the MSD, it’s pick would be too far down the pecking order to get Sandringham Dragons’ ruckman Max Ramsden who should be taken in the first two or three picks. Other than that, we can fill our needs from our current ranks so I also am swayed to the view that we’ll sit this one out and bide our time till November to find some ruck talent.

For some reason, the second Young Guns game received very little coverage. Here are the Rookieme scouting notes:- Scouting Notes: Young Guns vs. Vic Country U18s

Jack Riewoldt is 193cm and David Schwarz is 195cm. There are plenty of quality key forwards within that range.

Almost six months down the track and I think it’s fair to say that while JVR still has a long way to go, the Demon recruiters did well in November to select him with their pick at #19 in the National Draft. His performance which involved six goals plus a number of goal assists and classy efforts suggests that he has a bright future as a key position player at AFL level and has even drawn comparisons with a young David Schwarz. The Ox played 173 games (244 goals) for Melbourne between 1991 and 2002 and overcame 3 knee reconstructions to win a club best and fairest and represent Victoria but I had the advantage of seeing him play as a young man prior to his senior debut. In 1990, a couple of players from my eldest son’s footy club were picked to play for Melbourne’s Under 19s and joined a strong team that included a young David Schwarz from Sunbury. The pre-ACL Schwarz was dynamic, strong and athletic for his 195cm and within two years rose through the ranks to a regular senior players and by 1994 was one of the competition’s star key forwards. I’ve seen a lot of that young Ox in JVR. Schwarz made his VFL/AFL debut in 1991 and played 6 games for Melbourne that year. I’m comfortable in comparing JVR with the Ox of 1990 - again, that’s not to guarantee that he’ll make it but I’m buoyed by the fact that at the same stage in terms of age, JVR has played senior WAFL games and now kicked multiple goals at VFL level. The big question is when will he make his AFL debut. If he was at North Melbourne or one of the others at the foot of the ladder, he would probably have already played. But the beauty of being at Melbourne, is that he will get the time necessary for him to be physically and mentally prepared when the day comes.

Never take your opponent for granted. That was the lesson we learned when the Demons went down to Blundstone Arena last year. They trailed the bottom-of-the-ladder Kangaroos by 19 points at half time and only managed to shake them off with their superior fitness in the final term. NORTH MELBOURNE B: A. Bonar 16 B McKay 23 S. Atley 18 HB: J. Ziebell 7 J. Walker 19 A. Hall 43 C: L. Young 17 J. Simpkin 12 J. Stephenson 2 HF: K. Turner 28 C. Taylor 5 C. Zurhaar 44 F: Jack Mahony 1 N. Larkey 20 T. Thomas 26 Foll T. Goldstein 22 B. Cunnington 10 T. Powell 24 I/C: A. Bosenavulagi 15 T. Campbell 42 C. Lazzaro W. Phillips 29 Sub: C. Menadue 31 Emerg: E. Ford 40 B. Scott 8 D. Tyson 21 In: A. Hall C. Lazzaro Out: L. Davies-Uniacke (personal reasons) C. Menadue (omitted) MELBOURNE B: J. Lever 8 S. May 1 M. Hibberd 14 HB: C. Salem 3 A. Tomlinson 20 J. Hunt 29 C: O. Baker 33 C. Petracca 5 E Langdon 15 HF: J. Jordon 23 T. McDonald 25 J. Melksham 18 F: C. Spargo 9 B. Brown 50 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn 11 A. Brayshaw 10 C. Oliver 13 I/C L. Jackson 6 A. Neal-Bullen 30 K. Pickett 36 T. Rivers 24 Sub: N. Jones 2 Emerg: K. Chandler 37 H. Petty 35 In: O. Baker B. Brown Out: K. Chandler (omitted) J. Viney (toe)

And to think that we can thank the AFL for changing the rules so that clubs couldn’t match the bids for NGA players in the top 20 of the AFL draft because we might have taken Mac Andrew instead of Jacob Van Rooyen!

Apart from the fact that he’s no longer a listed North player, Father Time’s also keeping him out. 😀

In all fairness, that game was 1 vs 2, not 1 vs 18 and the Storm had injury problems.

There was a time around this time a year ago that we got very complacent about our lot in life and we started losing to teams languishing at or near the bottom of the ladder. History surely can’t repeat?

Try this one from memory lane.

This weekend, it’s the turn of the boys from the country to take on the Colgate Young Guns. Squads for Colgate Young Guns v Victoria Country U18

You need to go back to the late 90s.

Finn Emile-Brennan has been called up to the Vic Country team to play the AFL Vic Young Guns next weekend.

The named emergencies were Bedford, Dunstan, Laurie and Weideman. When was Daw made emergency?

Chris Doerre’s May Power Rankings AFL Draft - May Power Rankings: Tom Scully (the key forward!) makes his move (no, you haven’t entered a time warp)