Freddy Fuschia

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.

6 Harris 5 Paxman 4 Hanks 3 Chaplin 2 Hore 1 McNamara

Just listening to him, I think he’s going to take the gig.

How did the Bulldogs go last year?

The traditional rivalry between Melbourne and Carlton has yielded some captivating contests at the MCG in recent seasons, when both teams were either vying for a finals berth or already participating and competing to advance further into the finals. On each of the last three occasions, the Blues have had the luck on their side winning close encounters through greater accuracy in front of goals. This Saturday night, the narrative will be a different one as both clubs are no longer in contention for the finals. Despite this, they will be eager to make a positive impression, given that their fans have been deprived of the satisfaction of winning and their coaches need to plan for the future, assuming that said coaches have a future with the team. It is likely that Simon Goodwin’s tenure is secure for the remainder of his current coaching contract, given his premiership achievement and apparent strong support and respect from his playing group, who consistently speak highly of him in interviews. Moreover, he is in the process of implementing a new game plan and deserves the opportunity to see this work in progress through another pre season and into next year. Michael Voss, on the other hand, is under considerable pressure. Carlton supporters are known for their high expectations and are exhibiting signs of restlessness and discontent. A loss on Saturday night could potentially lead to significant repercussions and even some bloodletting. The question therefore is how the Carlton playing group will respond, particularly if Melbourne applies pressure on them from the outset (and kicks straight for goal). With the Demons' midfield, spearheaded by Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney, and now Kozzie Pickett, having found the confidence that winning form brings with it, I anticipate further challenges ahead for the struggling Blues.

Jeffo?

So a 196cm key position forward who has “every tool in the box you’d want in a modern-day key forward” and was there right under our noses got drafted to the Gold Coast Suns yesterday. He couldn’t get a game at Casey? Something here doesn’t add up.

Disco’s playing the best football of his life down back, so why move him? Windsor had 24 touches last week - that’s not too shabby. Were you at the game?

Why hasn't Tom McDonald been referred to as "managed" rather than "omitted"?

The order is never going to be realistic while clubs haven't played the same number of games.

6. Max Gawn 5. Jake Bowey 4. Christian Petracca 3. Christian Salem 2. Trent Rivers 1. Ed Langdon

Going by the club's VFL | Match simulation player report - "In three 30-minute terms of VFL football under the baking sun, Jai Culley was a standout performer for the Demons as they fell one point shy of the home side after a slow start," Culley is looking like the favourite, especially in view of the fact that he was considered to be close in the last SSP deliberations before we took Jack Henderson.

Also nothing about whether the local snake population was out and about today.

Does anyone know what ails Caleb Windsor?

There's an article in the Herald Sun about Samoan born Richmond (and former Casey Demons) player Mykelti Lefau going back to Samoa to visit his roots and promote the game. If Melbourne were smart, it would immediately start pushing for players of Samoan heritage to be included in NGA qualification rules in the same way as players from other countries that do meet the current qualifications. There's no logical reason this shouldn't happen and it's just a pity that for some reason Melbourne apparently is never proactive in such things.