Whispering_Jack

The Harold Ball Memorial Trophy - Kozzie!

Toby Bedford took the Troy Broadbridge Trophy earlier this evening. Steven May gets the James McDonald Trophy and a tie for the Ian Ridley Memorial Trophy to Neville Jetta and Ben Brown.

11 unlisted players confirmed to train with AFL clubs over summer Melbourne’s Primary and Category A Rookie lists are locked in for 2022 but the following is the list of players training at various AFL clubs with the aim of being selected in March:- Carlton Joshua Cripps - East Fremantle WA Tyreece Lieu - Eastern Ranges Essendon 
Dylan Clarke - Essendon AFL Ronald Fejo jnr - West Adelaide SA Nicholas Martin* - Subiaco WA Gold Coast 
Nathan Freeman - Frankston VFL North Melbourne 
Marty Hore - Melbourne AFL St Kilda 
Jack Hayes - Woodville West Torrens SA Sydney Swans 
Patrick McCartin - Sydney Swans VFL West Coast Kade Dittmar - East Perth WA Luke Strnadica - East Fremantle WA

This is to bookmark for the future but it currently reflects the indicative 2022 draft order if all teams finish in the same places next year as they did this year (a proposition which I would be happy to accept). ROUND ONE 1. North Melbourne 2. Collingwood 3. Gold Coast Suns 4. Adelaide 5. Hawthorn 6. Carlton 7. Richmond 8. Fremantle 9. St Kilda 10. West Coast Eagles 11. Essendon 12. GWS Giants 13. Sydney Swans 14. Western Bulldogs 15. Brisbane Lions 16. Geelong 17. Port Adelaide 18. Sydney Swans ROUND TWO 19. Richmond 20. Gold Coast Suns 21. Gold Coast Suns 22. Adelaide 23. Hawthorn 24. Carlton 25. Richmond 26. Gold Coast Suns 27. St Kilda 28. West Coast Eagles 29. Essendon 30. GWS Giants 31. Sydney Swans 32. Western Bulldogs 33. Brisbane Lions 34. Geelong 35. West Coast Eagles 36. Melbourne ROUND THREE 37. Western Bulldogs 38. Gold Coast Suns 39. Gold Coast Suns 40. Melbourne 41. Collingwood 42. Geelong 43. Collingwood 44. Hawthorn 45. St Kilda 46. West Coast Eagles 47. Essendon 48. GWS Giants 49. Port Adelaide 50. Collingwood 51. Geelong 52. Geelong 53. Brisbane Lions 54. Melbourne ROUND FOUR 55. North Melbourne 56. Gold Coast Suns 57. Hawthorn 58. GWS Giants 59. Geelong 60. Carlton 61. North Melbourne 62. Gold Coast Suns 63. Melbourne 64. Port Adelaide 65. Essendon 66. GWS Giants 67. Sydney Swans 68. Western Bulldogs 69. Brisbane Lions 70. Fremantle 71. Carlton 72. Melbourne ROUND FIVE 73. North Melbourne 74. Collingwood 75. Gold Coast Suns 76. Adelaide 77. Hawthorn 78. Carlton 79. Richmond 80. Fremantle 81. St Kilda 82. West Coast Eagles 83. Essendon 84. GWS Giants 85. Sydney Swans 86. Western Bulldogs 87. Brisbane Lions 88. Geelong 89. Port Adelaide 90. Melbourne

More misery inflicted on the Bulldogs by the Demons in yesterday's Premier Cricket clash at the Merv Hughes Oval. With one ball left, the Dogs needed one run to tie and two to win but watch Sam Harper's throw to win the game. The Dogs finished at 9/253 in reply to the Dees' 8/254. IMG_5732.MOV

The experts are saying that next year’s draft will be a good one for key position talks and ruckmen. There are a few in the frame for top ten status including Jackson Broadbent, a 202cm big man from Peel Thunder. AFL draft 2022: Son of gun, Next Generation Academy talents, Dean Cox-like ruck make WA under-18s summer squad "Jackson gets around the ground, racks up possessions and uses the ball really well, a bit like a Dean Cox." There’s a 200cm prospect in Will Elliott from the Oakleigh Chargers who is also a goal kicking forward while there are a few prospects in South Australia. Harry Lemmey is a 199cm 93kg key-forward from West Adelaide where they’re breeding some real talls. There’s Harry Barnett at 202cm, 93kg and … wait for it … Tom Scully, a bit thinner at 202cm, 83kg and both of them are goal kickers who stretch opposition defenders. And those changes to the NGA rules appear certain to see history repeated, this time robbing the Crows of potential ruck/forward Isaac Keeler of North Adelaide - AFL’s changes to Next Generation Academy draft rules could see Adelaide miss out on ruck prospect “The impact of an AFL draft change will be laid bare to Adelaide next year if it loses access to a promising prospect considered one of SA’s top 2022 talents. “North Adelaide forward/ruckman Isaac Keeler is viewed as a chance to be taken in the opening two rounds and is in the Crows’ Next Generation Academy, but he will be up for grabs inside the first 40 selections.”

I’m taking one of the MFC flags from outside our house down in the next few days but only to wash it and take it with us on our holiday north where it will sit on the window of our apartment for all and sundry to see below.

Before too long Christmas will be upon us and it will be three months to the day since our drought-breaking premiership win. Which brings up the question about how long can we celebrate the premiership and when is the right time to start focusing on the season ahead? The players showed this week when they returned to the training track that they’re serious in moving forward. Are Demon fans ready for it yet or can we walk and chew gum at the same time?

Almanac Footy: The one day in December!

He’s at it again! This time, his subject is Blake Howes.

… and who else to be the public front of Melbourne’s return to training but Jake Lever? Dees make a strong return to training: Lever

I googled Melbourne Football Club Training Times and was directed to this - https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times

2022 Vic Metro Boys Hub: Full List

Where are our intrepid on the spot reporters? Is complacency already sinking in?

Among the things we learned at today’s celebration of the 2021 premiership is that preseason training starts tomorrow. Not sure where or whether the entire list will be on hand but I’m told that we start our campaign with little in the way of injuries to worry about at this stage. We also know some of our interstaters are still home - Luke Jackson and Kozzie Pickett along with our WA recruits who most likely will remain in WA until post Christmas. We look forward to the return of our track watchers and the arrival of new ones on the scene.

Watching the second quarter was magic - the mosy important quarter of the game. The time when we made then work their butts off to get the ball out of their defence. Another 15 minutes in the third and they were so stuffed they couldn’t raise a gallop for the rest of the game. Robbo and his band make Birds of Tokyo look almost like Meatloaf.

Outside the David Neitz Pavilion waiting for the Cup to arrive.

Loving this… IMG_7838.MOV

American folk singer, Steve Goodman was a classmate of Hillary Rodham Clinton back in their native Chicago in the 1950s where both grew up as fans of the Chicago Cubs who played baseball out of the famous Wrigley Field and had long been denied of the ultimate in the sport’s success. Goodman was a devoted Cubs fanatic and when he wrote "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request", they had already waited seven long decades to reach the pinnacle of a triumph in the World Series and were to wait four more before winning it at last in 2016. The song resonates with all sports fans who follow teams that seem perennially doomed to failure and, until very recently, it was an anthem for us long term supporters of the Melbourne Demons, forever hoping for a miracle in their lifetime. Today at the MCG, we will gather together at our game’s birthplace and our team’s spiritual home to watch a replay of a sporting contest that took place in another place at a time when we were all locked down and isolated from our team. We’ll mingle with each other, meet the players and catch a glimpse of the premiership cup. We’ll be there to celebrate the miracle of victory and also to bury forever the curse that hung long over our shoulders as it did for poor Steve Goodman who succumbed to leukemia in September, 1984 at the young age of 36. This isn’t just for us — it’s for Steve and for all sports fans who missed out on the opportunity to savour a day like today.

It was this game in late August that kicked off the truncated National Championships that was the clincher for Van Rooyen EYECATCHERS: Votes are in for the WA v SA U19s Champs clash

Apparently won a basketball premiership yesterday.

The idea is definitely growing on me. Fancy having around four months to play the last time they met over and over again and then reliving the sequel in person?