Freddy Fuschia

The list doesn’t include Bayley Fritsch and Aidan Johnson and it states that Kalani White is in Queensland with his family. This isn’t exactly correct because Kalani was sighted at the season launch on Monday night. Also, according to ghosty, he’s recovered from his glandular fever but this doesn’t mean a great deal because it’s necessary for those recovering from this illness to exercise great caution and take a conservative approach to recovery to ensure that there’s no relapse or return of the symptoms.

He has come out blasting Carlton so congratulations - you got it right.

Unless hot weather is predicted, you would expect a squad of 24 to be selected. Of the 26 who played vs North, Brodie Mihocek is an injured out and I think Kozzie and Riv who played State of Origin get a rest while Max comes in to lead the side. There might be a couple of other changes around the edges just to give a couple of others some opportunities to stake a claim.

I read recently the MFC list is one of thr oldest in the AFL. On this basis, I would look at the club’s two NGA players Toby Sinnema and Tairon Ah Mu.

Next season sees the centenary of the Melbourne Football Club’s second premiership and its first Grand Final victory on the MCG. I’m planning on doing a series with Whispering Jack on the season and it might even morph into a book … but we’re a fair bit off that at the moment. We already have some resource material and the like but our memory doesn’t stretch back that far. So if any of you have any ideas, reference material or know anyone related to the team members, coach or people from that era, please let me know here. For the record, match details - 1926 VFL GRAND FINAL MELBOURNE vs COLLINGWOOD Saturday 9 October 1926 Venue: MCG MELBOURNE 4.5.29 7.7.49 14.9.93 17.17.119 COLLINGWOOD 1.1.7 6.4.40 7.6.48 9.8.62 THE TEAMS B J. Abernethy H. Coy C. Streeter HB W. Tymms H. Dunbar E. Thomas C R. Taylor I. Warne-Smith J. Collins HF S. Wittman R. Johnson J. Davidson F H. Moyes D. Duff F. Vine FOLL A. Chadwick C. Deane H. White COLLINGWOOD B Wescott Beasley Poulter HB Wilson A. Collier Shanahan C Harris Beveridge Milburn HF Baker F. Murphy Chesswass F Tyson G. Coventry H. Collier FOLL S. Coventry Makeham Libbis GOALS MELBOURNE Robert C Johnson 6 Harry Moyes Stan Wittman 3 Dave Duff 2 Col Deane Richard Taylor Francis Vine COLLINGWOOD H. Collier 3 G. Coventry 2 Baker A. Collier Libbis Makeham BEST MELBOURNE Johnson Abernathy Moyes Streeter Wittman Warne-Smith White COLLINGWOOD S. Coventry H. Collier Harris Beasley Beveridge Wilson Shanahan Attendance: 59,632 WJ is especially interested in information about Stan “Bunny” Wittman who kicked three goals that day. He was made a life member of the club late in his life.

What’s the rule with players on the long term injury list who get replaced? Are they allowed to return if they recover early or do they have to sit out for the rest of the season? If it’s the latter, you would expect that a decision might be deferred until the midseason draft at the end of May.

And reminiscent of the way Jack Gunston carved us up late in the season.

No. I'm saying that because there is no spot open, player managers won't be suggesting to clients who want an AFL spot that they should come over to Casey. They are more likely to go to clubs that have train-on positions available for inclusion in the SSP rather than to train with the VFL affiliate and hope a long term injury occurs to open up a possible spot.

ESPN.comWay-too-early AFL Draft Power Rankings: The top 10 for 2026Twelve months out from the 2026 AFL Draft, this is ESPN's way-too-early top 10 prospects to track.Thankfully, they’re only confined to ten prospects at the moment.

That’s all well and good but in the immediate term, Melbourne lacks available list spots to guarantee a potential player's position, unlike Adelaide, Carlton, Richmond, GWS, West Coast, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, St Kilda, and Hawthorn, which all have openings. The Dockers have already secured Mason Cox for two years as the off-season's first SSP signing. Carlton and Port Adelaide have expressed interest in evaluating familiar names during the summer, while Richmond has confirmed its intention to reserve a spot for consideration during the SSP or next year's Mid-Season Draft. Notable train-on prospects include Louis Kellaway (Richmond), delisted Crow Harry Schoenberg (potentially West Coast Eagles), Elijah Hollands and Will White (Carlton), and Jaidyn Stephenson (Port Adelaide). Jaxon Binns, a young delisted Blues player, is training with Essendon's main group. By way of contrast, Melbourne can only offer a player a spot at Casey without further guarantees. That’s the position Noah Yze was in this year and the word today is that he’s considering his opportunities at Sandringham. Hopefully, no injuries this year and no need for an SSP.

Good move Freo. Cox will probably get six to eight games to fill in when the need arises and will have his day in the sun.

Surely we take two players tonight?

Now GCS will live for 12 months with a player who knows he’s earning substantially less than he could otherwise earn elsewhere. It’s something that might easily breed discontent. If Tracc doesn’t perform as well as expected and JUH remains a problem child, what happens then?

Why not we hand over Clarry and pick 28 in return for pick 12. Seems fair to me if they can’t provide a suitable player.

Ollie Sestan did that too, somewhere in the bush.