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The way footy is played these days I wonder if there's room for 2 Mitch Clark's in the one team? If you're expecting Watts to be a Mitch Clark at this stage of his development you're going to be disappointed. I think he'll fit in very nicely at AFL level if he gets 26 disposals, 2 goals and 2 goal assists every week.

Melbourne keen to honour Jim Stynes with Croke Park tribute match

Dees rookie gets all-clear "MELBOURNE has declared mature-age recruit James Magner will be ready to play round one after yesterday lodging the 24-year-old as a nominated rookie on its senior list."

Liam Jurrah's injury not as bad as some might suggest but when are we ever going to see Rory? Michael Evans (back) - indefinite Max Gawn (knee) - season Jack Grimes (shoulder) - test Neville Jetta (ankle) - TBA Liam Jurrah (wrist) - 4 weeks James Magner (hand) - 1 week Jake Spencer (knee) - 6-8 weeks Rory Taggert (back) - indefinite Luke Tapscott (quad) - test Leigh Williams (back) - 2 weeks

Fourth placed Melbourne is in a great position against ladder leader Carlton after the first day of the current round of Premier Cricket. The Blues had an ordinary day against the Demons being bowled out for just 116. Melbourne quick Dan Worrall was the star with the excellent figures of 6/16 off 12.3 overs with 7 maidens. It could have been even worse for Carlton, with a 50-run last wicket stand between Nick Austin (25no) and Chris Salm (25). Melbourne was in command at stumps, reaching 5/223, with Rob Cooper (80) and former Gold Coast listed footballer Alex Keath (79) adding 115 for the third wicket and should press for the outright on the second day.

Feel sorry for those who missed the new blokes at yesterday's training but there's this from an article on melbournefc.com.au Pre-season snapshot: Melbourne Pictures here: - Pre season snaps

The problem I have with many exponents of the big biff was the cowardly cheap shots on players behind the play and the errant fists and elbows thrown at unsuspecting opponents who only had eyes for the ball.

I agree. It shouldn't be taken as something against Brad Green but the fact is that we have a new coach who wants to impress a fresh image and a different direction at the club and therefore some new faces in the leadership group and at its very top are required.

Like it or not Austin made the decision to walk away from the game as it was his right to do. The personal tragedies and the injuries did not help. I think we should all wish him well representing the Tiwi Islands which is his home and that he can be happy in his place there.

The month that was: November I'm betting that the next in the series will cover December.

Following up on a topic raised on the Big Bash thread I thought I would start a thread on the Melbourne Cricket Club here. With the advent of the BBL the Demons are at a further disadvantage as they regularly lose players like Hodge, McDonald, Maxwell and occasionally Keath to the various state teams and now to the extended BBL competition. Yesterday, in a one dayer, they easily beat Richmond who were dismissed for 186 (interesting number that!) and in reply they scored 3/187 with the Michael Hill 74, Alex Keath 68no the main run scorers. That wasn't enough to get the club into the finals of the competition's one day series (they missed out on run rate) but the 2nds, 3rds & 4ths are all in their finals. The competition proper resumes next week and the Demons are well placed for the finals.

Fair enough but why not just invent some of their history? After all, everything else about GWS is fake and contrived.

Seven years - it's hard to believe how quickly the time has passed by. I wonder how Trish is going, how has she coped and has she rebuilt her life? If anyone deserves happiness after what they've gone through, it's her.

If that's the case then they're keeping it all very quite up there in the western parts of Sydney. My contacts at the Rooty RSL inform that not a single comic who's appeared there in the past month has made a comment or even tried cracking a joke about GWS. They're so off the radar out there ATM that it's not funny.

With the new look football department in place next year would it be too much to expect some transparency and accuracy in things like the official club injury list?

Davis in, Ladson out Main points:- • Leon Davis has nominated for Tuesday's pre-season draft but Hawthorn's Rick Ladson is a non-starter. • Others to lodge nomination forms were Zac Dawson, Tom Collier (Brisbane Lions), Anthony Long (Essendon), and former Magpies teammates John McCarthy and Trent Stubbs. • GWS had the right to list any previously listed player who nominated and was overlooked in November's NAB AFL Draft before Tuesday's deadline, but chose not to. This group, which includes Brendan Fevola and Andrew Lovett, remain in the pool for the pre-season and rookie drafts.

Released by the club today: 1. - 2. Nathan Jones 3. Clint Bartram 4. Jack Watts 5. Jordan Gysberts 6. Matthew Bate 7. Jamie Bennell 8. James Frawley 9. Jack Trengove 10. Cale Morton 11. Mitch Clark 12. Colin Sylvia 13. Jordie McKenzie 14. Lynden Dunn 15. Ricky Petterd 16. Jack Grimes 17. Sam Blease 18. Brad Green 19. James Strauss 20. Colin Garland 21. Lucas Cook 22. Brent Moloney 23. - 24. Liam Jurrah 25. Tom McDonald 26. Daniel Nicholson 27. Jared Rivers 28. Joel Macdonald 29. - 30. James Sellar 31. - 32. Michael Evans 33. - 34. Stefan Martin 35. Luke Tapscott 36. Aaron Davey 37. Max Gawn 38. Jeremy Howe 39. Neville Jetta 40. Mark Jamar 41. Troy Davis 42. Jake Spencer 43. Rory Taggert 44. Rohan Bail 45. Kelvin Lawrence 46. Josh Tynan 47. - 48. Jack Fitzpatrick Note: Melbourne's jumper numbers will be finalised after the December 13 NAB AFL Rookie Draft. The Demons will add another four players to their list, giving them 46 players for 2012.

Not rumour, fact. Tested very slow at draft combine but then again, Steele Sidebottom ...

A selection that tells us something about where the new coach perceives we are at and the direction he wants us to take. No more skinny immature bodies with a four or five year wait for it all to come to fruition. I suspect that the idea is that whenever a Melbourne team runs out next year it will be a confronting unit. No excuses any more. That said, it will be interesting to see how many games Sellar plays.

The National Draft's done and dusted but it ain't over until it's over. The Preseason and Rookie Drafts are less than a fortnight away although the former is not going to provide much excitement with only three clubs currently eligible to take part:- 1. Greater Western Sydney (who else?) 2. Port Adelaide 3. Fremantle One would think that these picks will be filled by recycled players like Zac Dawson who is likely to go to the Dockers. The Rookie Draft should be a different matter altogether. The Demons have four picks and some handy names remain available for selection. The biggest name not picked was Brendan Fevola (not suggesting that we would be interested but another club might well be) whose draft hopes seem to be fading. A few potentially exotic selections like Waylen Manson missed out but a few other "name" prospects missed out. This bloke is IMO the biggest shock - Shane Nelson but here's a list of some of the more prominent names who were overlooked (HUN Pick Me players linked where applicable):- Myles Bolger Andrew Boseley Michael Bussey Jack Crisp Julian Dobosz Max Duffy Sam Frost Lewis Hender Matthew Jacquier Tom Lee Michael Mascoulis Brody Mihocek Nick Murphy Fletcher Roberts Jai Sheahan Lee Spurr Marley Williams Josh Waldhuter Marley Williams Luke Wilson ... and then there's Tom Couch who has been training with the Dees and his former Magpie VFL team mate Tom Sundberg. Please add others if you know them ...

and a host of others who were touted as draft picks but weren't selected. I'm compiling a list of these prospects which I'll put on the JT Board when I get around to it.

According to the HUN two lists came out today. PERMISSION TO TRAIN LIST Adelaide - James Craig, Will Young. Collingwood - Daniel Farmer, Trent Stubbs, Brad Dick, Scott Reid. Fremantle - Clancee Pearce. North Melbourne - Gavin Urquhart. Richmond - Pat Contin, David Fahey, Glen Grgic, Ben Jakobi, Addam Maric, Leigh Masters, William Wheeler. St Kilda - Ben Casley, Beau Dowler, James Hallahan, Danny Hughes, Michael Lourey, James Magner, Marcus Marigliani. RETAINED ROOKIES Adelaide: Ian Callinan, Sam Martyn (elevated to senior list: Aiden Riley, Matthew Wright) Brisbane Lions: Josh Dyson, Brad Harvey, Niall McKeever (elevated: Mitch Golby) Carlton: Mitch Carter, Levi Casboult, Ed Curnow, Rhys O'Keefe, Zach Tuohy Collingwood: Paul Cribbin, Shae McNamara Essendon: nil (elevated: Stewart Crameri) Fremantle: Gavin Roberts (elevated: Nick Lower) Geelong: Ryan Bathie, George Burbury, Jonathan Simpkin, Jesse Stringer, Josh Walker. Gold Coast: nil (elevated Alik Magin) Hawthorn: Will Langford, Tom Schneider, Derick Wanganeen (elevated: Luke Breust) Melbourne: Michael Evans, Kelvin Lawrence, Daniel Nicholson. North Melbourne: Majak Daw, Aaron Mullett (elevated: Luke Delaney, Cam Pederson) Port Adelaide: Mitchell Curnow, Jarrad Irons, Tom Jonas, Daniel Webb. Richmond: Brad Miller. St Kilda: Warrick Andreoli, Daniel Archer, Tom Curren, Jackson Ferguson. Sydney: Eugene Kruger, Dylan McNeil (elevated: Nathan Gordon) West Coast: Anton Hamp, Jeremy McGovern (elevated: Ashton Hams) Western Bulldogs: Jason Johanissen (elevated: Luke Dahlhaus, Matthew Panos)

Warning: This is from the Herald Sun so you can take it with a little grain of salt. Although the injured list provided at the beginning says that the Warlpiri Wizard is out for the season, Ando lists him as doubtful. As you do when someone has already been ruled out until next year. MELBOURNE Addam Maric (foot) - test Lucas Cook (hip) season Michael Evans (hip) season Jack Grimes (foot) season Jordan Gysberts (wrist) season Liam Jurrah (wrist) season Ricky Petterd (quad) season Jake Spencer (knee) season James Strauss (leg) season Austin Wonaeamirri (ankle) season ON THE CUSP: Rohan Bail has been showing a bit for an in-form Casey team. Matthew Bate plays well every week but finds the gap between VFL and AFL hard to bridge. ON THE BLOCK: Cale Morton has had an up-and-down season but his best is good. Luke Tapscott was down on possession last week while Jeremy Howe got involved when he came off the substitute bench. ANDO’S FORECAST: Liam Jurrah is in doubt for the Port Adelaide game. Otherwise expect the group that showed some form against Gold Coast to be retained.

Emo?

It might be the time of year or just plain bad luck but it seems we still can't take a trick on the injury front. Melbourne and Casey team selection last night confirmed three more casualties above and beyond what's on the official injury list - Lucas Cook - ? Addam Maric - ? Rick Petterd - quad