Whispering_Jack

Doing it for Dad: Family tragedy fuels Bazzo's AFL ambitions

This is a very engaging Mac Andrew interview on You Tube

You only need one club to nominate him in the top 20 to secure him away from Melbourne and the only club that I’ve seen being specifically mentioned with Andrew is GWS by Matt Rendell when he said he was hearing that the Giants were going to use their first pick (#2) to draft him. They also have pick 13.

I just posted the You Tube vision of the 1975 SANFL Grand Final on the Norwood Connection thread. Ross Dillon was playing for the Redlegs in his familiar # 24.

I came across this footage of Norwood’s 1975 grand final victory over Glenelg. Ross Dillon wearing #24 kicks the goal to put the Redlegs in front late in the game.

Friday in the park C58013BB-E4E7-422E-AD3F-DB193D1DCDA1.MP4

Well picked up Rumpole and Chelly on your knowledge of Richmond’s list and ruck stocks. I think I might check out the other clubs in line to select a long term project ruckman in this draft. I’m always prepared to stand corrected but my position with respect to Andrew remains unchanged. On what he’s shown to the public in his eight matches played in 2021, he’s a mid 20s draft selection. I will strongly question the competence/sanity of any recruiter who picks him in the top 10 and moreover, I question all this hype surrounding him. I see one commentator has questioned whether the noise surrounding the favourite for number 1, Jason Horne-Francis is good for him. At least he’ll be playing AFL in an early round in 2022 and not in 2 or 3 years time which is the expectation with Andrew. The pressure of something like that will be similar to that experienced by Jack Watts when he went #1. Hopefully, he lands at a good club.

I’ve always believed 2020 was a bit of an outside opportunity lost in a season dominated by Covid19. After a couple of wins in the pre-season, the Demons looked fit and primed for a good year but along came the pandemic to temporarily scupper the season only hours before our opening game in Perth. Several weeks later, when hostilities resumed and, playing 20% less game time, the Dees staved off a late rush from Carlton before their third round match was postponed due to a positive case in the opposition Bomber ranks. Some “honourable“ defeats followed at the hands of the ultimate grand finalists before we moved into our first northern hub and started seeing some signs of the forward pressure that was to become synonymous with Melbourne 2021 against the Suns and the Hawks at Giants Stadium. Then it was up to the Maroochydore hub for the rest of the season and a difficult stint against leading teams Brisbane at Metricon and Port Adelaide at the Gabba. The first of these games was a narrow defeat but there was no energy in the side after a four day break and the inevitable thumping led to an intemperate blast from the club chairman. From then on, the team won six of their last nine games to miss out on the finals by half a game. Close results in several games, some not involving the club could have made the difference but it wasn’t helped by a heavy schedule brought about by the need to navigate the “frenzy” without respite due to having to make up the lost game from Round 3. Without the bye which all other clubs (bar Essendon) had, Melbourne was forced to travel in short time from Alice Springs to Maroochydore for an early wake up, hours of travel to Cairns and a same day game in high humidity vs Sydney and then four days later vs a rested Fremantle. The decision by the AFL to send us to Cairns and to play such a schedule proved disastrous with the Demons’ pressure gauge running on almost empty in both games. We now know that it was pressure, pressure and more pressure that was synonymous with the premiership team twelve months later. It’s all water under the bridge - we have our first AFL flag and there’s no need for excuse-making. However, it’s an interesting exercise to consider the sliding doors moment had we played the Swans game at the Gabba instead of in Cairns. A different outcome could have seen us in the finals and we know that when the home and away season ends, a whole new season begins to decide the premiership team. Last year, teams in the finals had a week’s bye to refresh after a heavily packed in schedule of matches. Both grand finalists had to play through all four weeks of the finals due to them losing their qualifying final matches. How well were the Demons equipped to take on the other teams had they played in a final series in October 2020?

Thirty-two years ago, we were world champions but it was still nowhere near as good as four weeks ago.

The debate about draft smokies was supposed to have ended some time ago. Back in the early days of the draft some thirty plus years ago, it sometimes happened that players were hidden from the sight of other clubs enabling them to be snapped up deep into the draft — they were the smokeys who’s selection left club recruiting officers grinning with excitement. Some examples of smokies - • Hawthorn recruiter John Turnbull used his close contacts in Western Australia to draft East Fremantle’s Luke McPharlin in the first round with pick number 10 in 1999. McPharlin had played only a handful of games with the Sharks’ Colts team. • Legendary St Kilda recruiting officer John Beveridge (father of Luke) was so desperate to draft Noble Park’s James Gwilt that he didn’t sleep the night before the 2004 National Draft out of concerns that other clubs might have been aware of him. Gwilt was taken with pick 63. • Jayden Hunt was better known as a schoolboy sprinter than a footballer and had missed a great deal of football due to injuries while undergoing a growth spurt. When drafted by the Demons at 57 in the 2013 National Draft, he was the only player in the draft to not play any football at under 18 level. Herald Sun journalist, Sam Landsberger, labeled him a “draft smokey”, noting he was "plucked from relative obscurity". Over time however, with more sophisticated recruiting methods and clubs throwing more money and staff into the arena, it became progressively much more difficult to hide away that special player from the rest of the world. About seven years ago, long-time AFL list manager Chris Pelchen declared that there was “no such thing as a draft smokey”. “While players may sometimes slip under the radar of various clubs, the extensive recruiting networks operating in 2014 make it extremely unlikely that any player is known to only one team. Obviously, a player's ranking will vary from club-to-club in each year but the need for players to nominate for the draft, combined with full-time AFL staff managing the talent pathway throughout Australia, means that the likelihood of a "smokey" in the draft has all but disappeared. You just can't hide talented players any more!” Thar was before Covid19 came along. Over the past two seasons, the entire football scene has been dumped on its head. While Western Australia and South Australia have been able to weather the storm, it’s been a different story in Victoria, the sport’s heartland which normally provides more than half of the nation’s draftees in the National Draft. This year, we saw a limited number of games in the NAB Boys League level and a couple of practice matches at Country vs Metro level this year. There’s every chance that recruiting scouts might have missed on seeing some players with future AFL potential. I wonder whether we might see one or two of them picked as smokies that are truly rare hidden gems in a month or so’s time?

Chris Doerre’s early two-round AFL phantom (and I have to admit that it gave me a little bit to giggle about). ESPN's early two-round AFL phantom draft

Taj Woewodin has finished in third place for the East Fremantle Colts Best & Fairest (The Len Anderson Medal). Placings were:- 1. Tom McGrath 163 votes 2. Josh Browne 160 votes 3. Taj Woewodin 149 votes Voting was on a 5,4,3,2,1 per game basis

Kevin Sheehan reveals his top NAB AFL Draft Prospects: Medium defenders

Ben Waterworth of Fox Sports with an article on the seven clubs that will play a major role at the AFL Draft in November. Seven clubs are set to load up at the AFL draft. These young stars can fix their big issues

The Top 10 National Results* 2km Time Trial Cooper Hamilton (Bendigo Pioneers/VIC) 5:48 mins Hamish Sinnott (GWV Rebels/VIC) 5:58 Mitchell Knevitt (Geelong Falcons/VIC) 6:18 Jamieson Ballantyne (GWV Rebels/VIC) 6:19 Kai Lohmann (GWV Rebels/VIC) 6:19 Corey Warner (East Fremantle) 6:20 Shay Linke (Central District/SA) 6:22 Sam Butler (GWV Rebels) 6:23 Jai Serong (Gippsland Power/VIC) 6:24 Luca Whitelum (Central District/SA) 6:26 2km Time-Trial (Strava NSW/VIC - Run tracked via app) Josh Ward (Northern Knights/VIC) 5:57 mins Josh Fahey (GWS Giants Academy) 5:59 Ned Long (Northern Knights/VIC) 6:05 Karl Worner (Oakleigh Chargers/VIC) 6:07 Blake Howes (Sandringham Dragons/VIC) 6:08 Connor MacDonald (Dandenong Stingrays/VIC) 6:08 Finn Callaghan (Sandringham Dragons/VIC) 6:10 Charlie Dean (Williamstown VFL) 6:11 Jed Rule (Oakleigh Chargers/VIC) 6:13 Angus Anderson (Sydney Swans Academy) 6:14 Agility Alastair Lord (Norwood/SA) 7.940 secs Bryce Watson (Swan Districts/WA) 8.006 Matt Johnson (West Perth/WA) 8.061 Jesse Motlop (South Fremantle/WA) 8.063 Cooper Beecken (Glenelg/SA) 8.070 Ronald Fejo Jnr (West Adelaide/NT) 8.080 Arthur Jones (Claremont/WA) 8.189 Cooper Murley (Norwood/SA) 8.200 Toby Triffett (Brisbane Lions Academy/QLD) 8.226 Judd Mcvee (East Fremantle/WA) 8.238 20m Sprint Harvey Harrison (North Adelaide/SA) 2.845 secs Taj Woewodin (East Fremantle/WA) 2.898 Luke Polson (Peel Thunder/WA) 2.900 Hugh Stagg (Glenelg/SA) 2.910 Noah Pegoraro (West Perth/WA) 2.926 Bryce Watson (Swan Districts/WA) 2.951 Brad Hough (Peel Thunder/WA) 2.960 Corey Warner WA (East Fremantle/WA) 2.969 Sam Butler (GWV Rebels/VIC) 2.974 Mitchell Knevitt (Geelong Falcons/VIC) 2.976 Vertical Jump Corey Warner (East Fremantle/WA) 76cm William Bella (Gold Coast Academy/QLD) 75 Leek Alleer (Central District/SA) 75 Noah Pegoraro (West Perth WA) 75 Lochlan Paton (West Perth WA) 73 Tom Brown (West Perth WA) 72 Matt Johnson (West Perth WA) 72 Luke Polson (Peel Thunder WA) 72 Sam Butler (GWV Rebels/VIC) 71 Richard Farmer (Subiaco WA) 71 Brady Hough (Peel Thunder WA) 71 Running Vertical Jump Leek Alleer (Central District/SA) 107cm Corey Warner (East Fremantle/WA) 100 Josh Gibcus (GWV Rebels/VIC) 95 Jahmal Stretch (Claremont WA) 93 Noah Pegoraro (West Perth WA) 92 Tyler McGinniss (North Hobart/TAS) 91 Matt Johnson (West Perth WA) 89 Kai Lohmann (GWV Rebels/VIC) 88 Luke Polson (Peel Thunder WA) 88 Sam Butler (GWV Rebels/VIC) 87 * Victorian trials were carried out by some Vic Country teams and limited numbers doing the Strava NSW/VIC 2km time trial.

20m sprint Taj Woewodin (East Fremantle) 2.898 secs Luke Polson (Peel) 2.900 secs Noah Pegoraro (West Perth) 2.926 secs 2km time trial 
Corey Warner (East Fremantle) 6:20minutes Arthur Jones (Claremont) 6:30 minutes Standing vertical jump Corey Warner (East Fremantle) 76cm Noah Pegoraro (West Perth) 75cm Lachlan Paton (West Perth) 73cm Running Vertical Jump - Left Foot Jahmal Stretch (Claremont) 93cm Corey Warner (East Fremantle) 92cm Noah Pegoraro (West Perth) 93cm Running Vertical Jump - Right Foot Corey Warner (East Fremantle) 100cm Jahmal Stretch (Claremont) 88cm Richard Farmer (Subiaco) - 84cm I will add more as they come available.

On this day, we played and beat North Melbourne in Vancouver to finish on top of the world.

We have it slightly differently on our lists as we have James Jordon back as a rookie which is where he started at the end of last year's draft period. This gets us to:- Primary List: 32 Rookie List: Category A 6 At the National Draft we would uplift JJ to the Primary List and presumable draft 3 players and still have room for an A rookie.

The South Australian Combine was held at the weekend and Central District’s Leek Alleer was the star with a national record Combine record in the Running Vertical Jump at SA’s AFL Combine. He registered a staggering 107cm while leaping off his left foot at the University of SA’s Mawson Lakes Campus. The 196cm 20-year-old placed first in all three Vertical Jump categories. Melbourne's NT NGA Andy Moniz-Wakefield was in attendance and placed in the running vertical jump (right foot). COMBINE RESULTS 20m Sprint Player Club Time (Seconds) Harvey Harrison (North) 2.845 Hugh Stagg (Glenelg) 2.910 Jordan Lukac (Eagles) 2.980 Luca Whitelum Central 3.007 Morgan Ferres (Sturt) 3.015 Agility Test Player Club Time (Seconds) Alastair Lord (Norwood) 7.94 Cooper Beeken (Glenelg) 8.07 Ronald Fejo (West) 8.08 Cooper Murley (Norwood) 8.20 Hugh Stagg (Glenelg) 8.24 2km Time Trial Player Club Time (Minutes) Shay Linke (Central) 6.22 Luca Whitelum (Central 6.26 Luke Beecken (Eagles) 6.26 Harvey Harrison (North) 6.37 Alastair Lord (Norwood) 6.48 Running Vertical Jump - Left Foot Player Club Height Leek Allir (Central) 1.07cm (Combine record) Morgan Ferres (Sturt) 85cm Jase Burgoyne (Eagles) 85cm Cooper Murley (Norwood) 82cm Jason Horne-Francis (South) 82cm Running Vertical Jump - Right Foot Player Club Height Leek Allir (Central 90cm Cooper Murley (Norwood) 77cm Zac Becker (Sturt) 77cm Blayne O'Loughlin (North) 75cm Andy Moniz-Wakefield (NT) 73cm Standing Vertical Jump Player Club Height Leek Alleer (Central) 75cm Ronald Fejo (West) 70cm Harvey Harrison (North) 70cm Jason Horne-Francis (South) 66cm Jordan Lukac (Eagles) 66cm

This is such a closely knit bunch that you couldn’t see anyone wanting to give it away at this point. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t continue for another 12 months. The need for some flexibility in dealing with the list and availability of players to come in will probably mean that Hore and Declase will be delisted. One or both could be offered a place depending on how things work out at draft time.

I suspect that in the actual draft there will be more clubs passing and less selections overall. I can see Melbourne taking only 2 or 3 picks in the draft given the number of players it’s retained. Michael Hibberd should take up a one year contract and one of Marty Hore or Kye Declase being the unlucky one to miss out.

Is there a problem with him?

I agree entirely with this and recruiting well, developing and retaining your playing lists is exactly the antidote to what was commonly referred to as “Norm Smith’s Curse”. The real curse for Melbourne was that although we were industrious in building up our list during the first part of the golden era of the 50s/60s, we grew fat and old and failed to work hard enough at recruiting in the early 60s. When the veterans grew old and started to get injured more often and/or retired, their replacements weren’t good enough and we went downhill. We’re at a different stage to all that but recruiting and player development should never lose their importance. It’s interesting that we have threads at the moment on Demonland discussing aspects of the decline of Hawthorn and problems at Geelong. I read today that it’s former Geelong and North Melbourne champion goalkicker Doug Wade’s 80th birthday. Before he started his career at the Cats in 1961, Wade did a preseason at Melbourne under Norm Smith and was sent home. This happened to a few others who we didn’t think would make it. Kevin Sheedy was in our metropolitan zone but we cut him loose. Our dynasty could have lasted a lot longer but we dropped the ball and, as a poster said above, we took things for granted.

The Cats have been a strong side for a long time now and this is one of its legacies. We shouldn’t forget that on this weekend exactly 12 months ago they became the red hot favourites to win the flag after handing out a 40 point flogging to Brisbane at the Gabba. Players like Constable weren’t getting a look in and the club’s response to their eventual grand final defeat was to go to the marketplace and pick up three more experienced players. They became fat cats and neglected their young blood and now the likes of Clark, Constable, Fort and a few others have gone. Sure, the knock on Constable might be his tank but you need to ask why that’s a problem after four years when the bloke has the ability to get his hands on the footy. Anyway, the Cats don’t believe that coaching or the game plan is the issue because they’ve extended Scott’s contract.

My understanding is that clubs have to sign up their wanted players by the end of October when they lodge their lists. Unless this has changed, the club would have to enter into new contracts with the 3 unsigned players or they become delisted free agents. Clubs would then have to decide whether to tell the players that they will redraft them at the National or Rookie Draft as the case may be depending on what happens on the day. We’ve already flagged that we’re offering a contract to Michael Hibberd but there’s be no word on the others. My guess is that there’s a balancing act going on and we’ll find out soon enough.