Whispering_Jack

Brent Sanderson opined today that - ➡️ Luke Jackson to Fremantle for Pick 13 ➡️ Collingwood recieves Pick 13 for Brodie Grundy ➡️ Collingwood pay $300,000 of Grundy's remaining salary This values a 20/1 year old ready made ruckman originally drafted at pick #3 with a Rising Star and a Premiership behind him at a downgrade of 10 picks from top 3 to pick 13. Tell them they’re dreaming.

Yep … former Port Adelaide player Cornsey continues to spruik the “watch this space” line on Kysaiah Pickett. ~ ”He has told Melbourne he is staying at the club. Port Adelaide are pushing hard. If not this year, for next Trade Period." The last sentence is handy cover if his original story from a few weeks ago is proven to be mere scuttlebutt.

Ed Pascoe has arranged a list in tiers. Plenty of mids in there.

Possibly went by unnoticed because of the other game played on Saturday but here’s a pointer to 2023 - WA teenager Daniel Curtin dominates in AFL Futures game

2022 NATIONAL DRAFT ORDER AND SELECTIONS 2022 AT END OF SEASON ROUND ONE 1. North Melbourne 2. West Coast Eagles 3. GWS Giants 4. Essendon 5. Adelaide 6. Hawthorn 7. Gold Coast Suns 8. Port Adelaide 9. St Kilda 10. Carlton 11. Western Bulldogs 12. Richmond 13. Fremantle 14. Sydney Swans 15. Brisbane 16. Collingwood 17. Sydney Swans 18. Geelong 
 ROUND TWO 19. Richmond 20. West Coast Eagles 21. GWS Giants 22. Essendon 23. Adelaide 24. Hawthorn 25. Gold Coast Suns 26. West Coast Eagles 27. St Kilda 28. Carlton 29. Western Bulldogs 30. Richmond 31. Gold Coast Suns 32. Melbourne 33. Brisbane 34. Gold Coast Suns 35. Sydney Swans 36. Geelong ROUND THREE 37. Western Bulldogs 38. West Coast Eagles 39. GWS Giants 40. Essendon 41. Melbourne 42. Collingwood 43. Gold Coast Suns 44. Brisbane 45. St Kilda 46. Geelong 47. Collingwood 48. Collingwood 49. Hawthorn 50. Melbourne 51. Geelong 52. Gold Coast Suns 53. Port Adelaide 54. Geelong ROUND FOUR 55. North Melbourne 56. Port Adelaide 57. GWS Giants 58. Essendon 59. GWS Giants 60. Geelong 61. Hawthorn 62. Carlton 63. Melbourne 64. Carlton 65. Western Bulldogs 66. North Melbourne 67. Gold Coast Suns 68. Melbourne 69. Brisbane 70. Gold Coast Suns 71. Sydney Swans 72. Fremantle ROUND FIVE 73. North Melbourne 74. West Coast Eagles 75. GWS Giants 76. Essendon 77. Adelaide 78. Hawthorn 79. Gold Coast Suns 80. Port Adelaide 81. St Kilda 82. Carlton 83. Western Bulldogs 84. Richmond 85. Fremantle 86. Melbourne 87. Brisbane 88. Collingwood 89. Sydney Swans 90. Geelong

Forty years ago today …

I can’t wait till 2030 when the average age of our team edges close to that of Geelong today and we’re in contention again.

… and this

Instead of the dross they’re putting on live at the G, watch this

Won by Hugo Ralphsmith. What happened to Kade Chandler?

Draft guns shine as North prospect seals Vic Metro's U18s title Vic Metro 3.3.21 4.4.28 7.8.50 12.8.80 Vic Country 2.4.16 5.7.37 6.8.44 10.13.73 GOALS: Vic Metro: M. Gruzewski 2, C. Clarke 2, H. Sheezel 2, M. Jefferson 2, K. Windsor, J. Petric, C. Harvey Vic Country: A. Cadman 3, H. Reid 2, N. Long, J. Binns, B. Humphrey, J. Konstanty BEST: Vic Metro: W. Ashcroft, E. Tsatas, M. Jefferson, J. Weddle, L. Hayes, A. Davey Jr Vic Country: O. Hollands, H. Reid, J. Clark, A. Cadman, J. Konstanty, O. Murdoch Larke Medal: Will Ashcroft (Vic Metro) Metro comes up clutch to claim Vic bragging rights

Cadman goes alright. Looks a footballer.

The equivalent in points to pick 3 doesn’t make an offer, equivalent in the real value of the player at the present time. The club used pick 3 to select him and with it came risks as to whether he would improve, be injured and yes, even as to whether he would succumb to the risk of flight which was always there. The club’s investment in Jackson paid off, he improved immensely and is now a premiership player with a long future ahead of him as a top player in a position where the number of players at the elite level is limited. To me, that makes his current trade value much greater than the points equivalent of the number at which he was selected three years ago.

According to the little paper, Adem Yze is now the front runner for the Bombers’ gig. It will be a tough job but I think he’s up to it.

Finally, the last game of the NAB National Championships - and the decider between Vic Metro and Vic Country. It’s winner take all as both sides are undefeated. Teams named for 2022 NAB AFL National Championships U18 Boys decider Highlights from my point of view are:- • Melbourne FC NGA player Finn Emile-Brennan is in the Vic Country side; • Seven players from the NAB League Premier team will feature in the Vic Metro team: W. Ashcroft, H. Sheezel, C. Mackenzie, O. Hotton, C. Clarke, J. Anderson and T. McMullin along with B. Hempel who is an emergency. …. and a preview from Rookie Me Central Preview | 2022 AFL U18 National Championships – Vic Country vs. Vic Metro

It’s still open to the club to rookie him later in the year if he’s not taken by someone else.

Doug Nicholls played some reserves matches for Carlton in 1927 but did not play a senior game. Some of the trainers there refused to attend to him because he was an Aboriginal. He subsequently joined Northcote in the VFA and was a member of their 1929 premiership team. In 1932, he joined Fitzroy Football Club and in 1935, he was the first Aboriginal player to be selected to play for the Victorian interstate team.

No. This is far more serious than the Essendon drug saga. And furthermore, it shouldn't be politicised by relating the issue to "cancel culture". If an investigation verifies these allegations then it's absolutely one of the worst scandals in the history of our game. I was fortunate enough to meet the then Pastor Doug Nicholls, one of our first Indigenous footballers when I was at school in the early 60s and he told us of his experiences when he first came to play at Carlton and was treated as sub human. We should accept no excuses for that conduct even if it happened in the late 1920s but today, it borders on criminal. Anyone connected with this has no place in the game.

Has there been a definitive statement from the club about the injury?

Definitely more demanding aerobically than it used to be ten years ago because coaches at this level try to emulate some of the tactics and strategies of the AFL whereas back then, it was kick ball, mark ball and the most adventurous piece of play was to just switch play across the ground. It’s far more sophisticated nowadays. Also, the fact that he ended up playing seniors meant that he had to put in extra work to be fit enough just to play out a game. Late in the season, it became quite difficult for the younger players in the team but I think that’s to be expected. That younger brigade who played ½ a season of Under 17 football last year went from playing 4 x 20 minute quarters against 16 year olds to playing 4 x 30 plus minute quarters against men at senior level. It’s a challenge and will hold them in good stead next year.

I don’t think in those conditions, the number of possessions is necessarily the arbiter of how the younger players, particularly the talls, performed in those conditions. In the cases of both Turner and JVR, there were plenty of instances of them doing the 1 per centers like tackling, shepherding, punching the ball and tapping it away from opponents, second efforts, a lot of which didn’t appear on the stats sheets. JVR in particular, showed how much of a monster he’s going to be when he fully matures. Can’t wait.

I can empathise with you on your club’s issue with grading. The concept of grading is excellent because it should ensure that teams in each division are as close as possible in ability but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Should be more competitive but the top half of C is not far behind the level of the bottom half of B. I’ll miss your ground in 2023. It’s a nice facility and the folks in the canteen are very welcoming.

It’s AJAX but, from talking to others at games, it was common to quite a few clubs.

I think community football is currently at the crossroads and I base this on some experiences I had this year following the suburban club that my family has been involved with for decades. This was the first season since prior to the Covid pandemic where the game was allowed to proceed to completion at grassroots levels but the effects were still evident in a number of ways. One of my grandsons who was restricted to about half a dozen games of junior footy in 2020-1 as a result of the cancellation of one season and lockdowns in the next decided along with a few of his mates to try out at Under 19 level to balance their VHS studies (he turns 18 late this year) at their club whose seniors play in VAFA B Section. As it turned out, a number of former senior players had made the decision to retire or take the season off in order to travel - some had completed their studies and others simply wanted to take the first opportunity in a few years for a break from work in the almost post pandemic period. Similarly, with many potential Under 19 level players having just finished secondary studies wanting to concentrate on getting jobs, having gap years or to travel for part of the time, there weren’t enough numbers for an under 19s. The result was that my grandson and a few other teenagers doing their preseason, suddenly found themselves candidates for places in the senior team in Round 1 in B Section. The club played a number of teenagers during the season and, all things considered, they were pretty competitive. The team lost players to injury and more travel plus a couple of retirements around mid season but they battled on. My grandson played 12 games and was out injured in four (there was an odd number of teams in the section requiring two byes and a 16 match season - also partly due to Covid). He was given a few tagging roles and was named in the best players on quite a few occasions. Despite us being in the second highest section of the VAFA and with a number of teenagers playing reasonably well at that level, we never saw any talent scouts at our matches. Was that due to a lack of money available to finance recruiting or simply that nobody was interested? This wasn’t an issue for our club but, in speaking to others from other VAFA and suburban clubs, what we experienced was happening across the board. Every once in a while, there might be a surprise result and the explanation was health and safety issues, work requirements, trips north, to the snow or overseas, retirements and the like. There isn’t the same level of commitment as there used to be at this level – perhaps with another year, things might return to normal.