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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

vice-versa for mine; want the run of tom going with cameron up the wings i'm more worried about how mcvee covers all of stengle, miers, and close; i assume lever goes to henry which means rivers and howe with whoever mcvee doesn't take closest to goal, with woewodin offering defensive help as well it should be a cracking game

Isn’t it literally called that? or the ‘Anzac appeal round’ or some such It’s painted on the broadcast wing

interesting that he talks about investment funds being the next avenue for financial growth - dees got onto that VERY early thanks to chippendall and de crespigny, i think it was, recognising it as an avenue of growth that was outside the 'business of football' helped by joe getting Bentleigh club etc. on the cheap and then mfc selling it at the top of the market to have the funds to invest obviously

100% we're never going to be as big as the filth, the baggers, or the peptides but i think everyone is well aware of that the puddy tatts have the distinct advantage of being mega-rich due to their stadium deal and their spread of western victoria support but we can absolutely compete with the likes of hawthorn IF we win multiple premierships during a 40 year stretch like they did from the 1970s to the 2010s - 11 premierships from 1976 to 2015 is just an extraordinary fillip to grow a supporter base friend of a friend from wa goes for them and i asked why he never switched to meth coke in the 1980s / 1990s and his response was unequivocal - he started going for hawthorn in the late 70s / early 80s cos they were always winning, always being covered by the media, and kept winning success begats success

a close game is a good game...i guess?

how many weeks for higgins

aints dragging the pear down to their level same thing the tigs did to us for the first half

plugger is plugger mac, always and forever for me and some friends - he earned the nickname cos his set shot kicking action for goal is eerily like lockett and he can 'plug' a gap anywhere he plays disco is a great nickname for turner, but perhaps zaphod could work...