whatwhat say what

crom's legs are gone they're holding on just like we did vs them

he's so much like buckley - wants to do it all he's not even the first or second best mid in their side

No change for us but they’re ‘managing’ O’Connor (who I thought was certain to go to Trac) and Parfitt (who’s been arguably their best mid all year)?!?? Hope we lay the absolutely smack down on em

little paper sais that the talent coming out of wa this year is threadbare: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/draft-wipeout-fears-talent-pathways-wont-cater-for-19-clubs-as-wa-could-prove-canary-in-coal-mine/news-story/73764be1b4e8b785efebf126e7444cfb Western Australia is bracing for its worst ever national draft as fears escalate that the country’s talent pathways will not be capable of producing enough elite players for 19 AFL clubs. Several clubs say there is currently not a single West Australian they would select while Tasmania struggles to consistently develop AFL talent. WA typically produces about 16 per cent of the draft pool and had 14 players selected last year. But that is set for a dramatic fall in a year where Fremantle holds three first-round selections and West Coast is likely to have a top-four pick. “There’s not enough draftable players for 19 clubs,” one recruiting expert said. “I don’t think there will be a West Australian legitimately drafted this year – that’s how bad WA is at the moment. It’s the worst year for talent they’ve ever seen. “There’s not enough kids for 18 clubs at the moment. Some of that could be because kids never got the games into them during Covid. But WA didn’t have lockdown like Victoria did.”

some absolutely cracking games this round crom? baggers? bloods? aints us? peptides flagmantle footscray gc17? there are five games that could have repercussions in terms of setting sides up for the remainder of the season should be a great round of footy

lobb has kicked 35+ goals once in his career - in 2022, his last year for flagmantle he's also only managed to more than 20 games a season four times out of ten completed seasons; two of those in his first four years in the system he'll be 32 by the time the start of 2025 rolls around he's not a very good player

i may have shed a little tear watching that i was sure that the kid wasn't going to still be with us fabulous he is

He and his twin younger brothers are all mad Dees, which theoretically should help

SON OF A GUN TO SPEND TIME AT DEES by Riley Beveridge MELBOURNE will welcome talented father-son prospect Kalani White into its program this week, as the club vies with Gold Coast for access to the gun youngster. White, a strong-marking 200cm defender, isn't draft eligible until 2025 but will be able to join either the Demons under father-son rules or the Suns as part of their Northern Academy program. The athletic key-position prospect is able to join Melbourne due to his dad, Jeff, playing 236 games for the Demons between 1998-2008. But he is also able to join Gold Coast, having relocated to Queensland when his father's playing career ended. The teenager, who turns 17 later this week, is in Victoria ahead of the Gold Coast Academy's Coates Talent League clash with the Dandenong Stingrays on Sunday and will spend time at Melbourne in the lead-up to that match. White will not be able to train at the Demons, due to being a bottom-age prospect, but will observe a series of sessions and player meetings as part of his time at the club. The youngster caught the attention of AFL recruiters at last year's under-16 carnival, where he was named as the All-Australian centre-half back. He also played forward throughout that campaign, kicking two goals against Sydney's Academy. Speaking to AFL.com.au in March, Jeff said his son was enjoying the opportunity: "He's really looking forward to it and having interest from Melbourne and the Suns, he likes being a part of it and talking to the recruiting officers and finding out what he needs to improve on. It's a unique position to be in but in saying that he's very dedicated to getting better." From: Rivals keep tabs on Saint, free agency switch floated, Hawk's trigger

so he's going to be a pilot post-footy? he really does 'control the air'

Sort of plays a similar role to Howe - that not-a-tall-but-not-small?

Bingo

the thing that i loved is the first thign i noticed in the highlight of the opening ceremony to anzac day eve lever smiled at windsor and made it clear how special it is to be involved in a game like this... ...and then lever specifically talked about that on the couch he's such a natural leader

yes, i thought the same - there's certainly been a notable change of tone and execution, not to mention more of it so perhaps she's started or they're lifting their game in anticipation

i think yr right that we'll see exactly where we are in the next fortnight BUT that's not necessarily where we'll be in september form and fitness ebbs and flows and as long as we are in the top 8 at the end of this year i firmly believe we're as good a chance as anyone we know our slightly revised gameplan stands up, now it's just about executing it better than the oppo can deploy theirs @binman - would you say that as it stands it's more important for us to win post-clearance possession than clearance per se? as such, is scores from stoppages >>> oppo scores from stoppages perhaps the most important statistic in our game plan?

some, not all, but also the co-introduction of free agency at the same time as the introduction of the northern franchises sucking the life out of about five to seven draft years (if you include the access to 17 year olds that gw$ were granted)

fwiw, on the corben and ben afl podcast via the abc, one of them was saying that he's been told that kalani is tracking as a top pick in 2025 first i'd heard of him being rated that highly

restricted i can't see crom offering up two first rounders for him, but they will need to trade out of 2024 as scott welsh's son is reportedly a top five to ten quality kid

well, 32 nfl teams... and 32 nhl teams... and 30 (soon to be 32) nba teams... and mlb has 30 teams... not to mention a plethora of college teams whose support level dwarfs some of the teams in their four big codes by comparison in terms of the biggest competitive sports there's 18 afl, 16 nrl, and 1 australian (plus 8 bbl) cricket team/s the a-league and nbl are small fry; more akin to high school sports in the states that the professional competitions as others have said, with the size of the pie that the afl ostensibly splits evenly as a nfp, there's no reason the kangas should be killed off any time soon and the 20th team - possibly a third in wa? - will appear within a few years of tasmania devils entry to even up the competition again the one thing you want to avoid is to be 'down' from 2028-2034

don't panic

42? The answer is… Daniel Turner!!

if only the coverage of afl was this good all the time kudos aunty

yes he was

we were top 4 last year, we're top 4 currently - it's not like we've hugely dropped as a result of jj and grundy (not) playing for us in terms of grundy, jj, and bedford i would currently rather have jvr, windsor, and chandler in our starting 22 i know we have a very strong history that we 'don't leak' but generally when the media is (wildly) speculating as to what players are potentially on the move we are never discussed but both these guys seemed to be an exception last year

everything about the way he's developing screams 'afl-level attributes' to me just gotta get the fitness base in place