Whispering_Jack

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)

Scouting Notes: Young Guns vs. Vic Metro U18s Harry Sheezel captained Vic Metro and booted five goals. Did his chances no harm.

Fox Sports getting into the three word analysis business. Joeboy should sue! Big reality check; Swans their bunnies: AFL Three Word Analysis for Round 8

The pundits are saying that this is our danger game and that we’re due for a fall. Is that a possibility?

I hope you don’t mind me pushing the Sandringham Dragons but, along with the Oakleigh Chargers, they’ve made a strong contribution to the draft over the past decade and will likely provide a few more top 20 prospects again this year. For this game, they are represented by six players. Two of them are in the Young Guns team and they are both likely to be snapped up in the AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft. With Melbourne an outside chance of participating (and they will only have a late choice if they do), I don’t see the Demons getting either of Hall-Kahan or Ramsden, the latter being a ruckman who might be handy for the future. Of the four Vic Metro boys, Sheezel will go top 10 and Clarke could even squeeze into the first round. Hempel and Rowe would have to impress in this game and the National Championships to get consideration for the draft.

This is a great football story.

The Southport Sharks are a remarkable club given their location in what was essentially rugby league territory when the club was first formed in the early 60s. They have a great facility at their HQ and substantial local support. The VFL side is coached by Steve Daniel and his assistants are Matthew Primus and Matthew Lappin. They will give the Casey Demons a good run for their money.

On a slightly different tack, today’s news represents an epic failure of the campaign by the Herald Sun and its informants a few months ago to disrupt Goody’s coaching career. We should all get together soon at the Sorrento Hotel and drink a toast to the health of Simon Goodwin and the Melbourne Football Club!

Eligibility for the Mid-Season Draft Potential Mid-Season Draft recruits are required to fall under the following criteria to be available for selection should they not have an exemption: • A Player who nominated for the most recent NAB AFL National Draft. Please note: A Player who nominated for and was not selected during the Draft and who committed for a further year as a 19-year-old Northern or NGA Academy Player is available to all Clubs should they nominate for the NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft. • A Player who has previously been on the list of a Club (not required to nominate for the most recent Draft) refers to the following situations:A Delisted Player Please note: A Player delisted by a Club cannot be reselected in the NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft by the same Club in the period immediately following their delisting unless they nominated for the most recent Draft. A Retired Player and/or a Player who has delisted himself and has not been on an AFL List for one year or more. For example, a player who retired in 2021 is not able to be selected in the 2022 NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft.