Webber

A contact who was recently talking to Gus Brayshaw's mum says he is quite an old fashioned boy when it comes to club commitment and loyalty. Even at the tender age of 19, he is apparently absolutely committed to the idea of being a Melbourne player for his whole career. He also has uncompromising attitudes toward his own standards. Another one for whom Nathan Jones and Dan Cross are their professional role models.

Exactly this, he has been loping around taking speccies and avoiding hard ball gets and defensive AND attacking accountability his entire career. He is EXACTLY the kind of non-committed player Roos and co. are trying to weed out. The unfortunate thing is, as is the case with Jack Watts, that he is a very talented and skilful footballer. More and more at this club talent alone counts for nothing, and that's a very good thing. We don't need Howe, and we certainly don't want him.

Ok, I'll bite. Nate Fyfe to the Dees on an 8 year deal.

Clearly the ones you know are the moderate ones, maybe the Malcolm Turnbull variety. I wonder how they feel about Kennedy, Betts, Waite and Jacobs?

Me too. Boo-hoo.

You can't change dumb. Just to look at some of our young'uns this year who have only played a teen's worth of games. You've either got the smarts or not. Hogan, Brayshaw, Stretch..... it's a hugely underrated quality, and the AFL is littered with big talents who do dumb things too often on game day. Vickery is one of the biggest.

Exactly the attitude of Carlton supporters to Garlett last year.

He has talent, but is an enormously dumb footballer. That and the fact that Ben Griffiths can't kick straight, ever, was the reason for Richmond's demise yesterday. Smart footballers who can kick straight only please.

simply because you want your best users and decision makers to get as much of the ball as possible. Being an on-baller is the way you get this.

A very apt description, Nasher. The fact that he looks an unlikely type for hardness and pure ability is going to keep surprising observers for years I suspect.

Another interesting insight from Jesse Hogan's dad was that next to Jack Viney's hardness and natural mongrel, Jesse thinks Christian Salem has the same set of lovably nasty attributes!

I think the coaches have high hopes for him. As with all big boys, the waiting game tests the patience of supporters, but he's shown some very good signs, not unlike those of Max Gawn, who he is 2 to 3 years behind in development.

Just because the Bombers supposedly play hardball on trading doesn't mean we'll cough up more than his value. The last 2 years have shown us to be very smart at getting more than we give. Garlett, Vince, Lumumba, Cross. Any exceptions? Wouldn't we expect the list builders to remain smart? If we can get him for value, we'd be crazy not to as he's just coming into the ripe stage of his career.

Except that he has been awarded significantly less free kicks than more senior forwards in the AFL. I'm a firm believer that success and experience draws umpire love, and that as we march up the ladder Jesse and the team will be beneficiaries.

Chatting to his Dad on Sunday, we talked about the lack of free kicks, appropriately just after he'd been double teamed and molested without any ump acknowledgement. It frustrates Jesse obviously, but just makes him more committed to get more ball to compensate for it. He knows he can't count on umpires. I suggested he would find more protection as his profile grew, and learn to draw free kicks through cunning, which is a problem at the moment because he just tries to bullock through when he's infringed against, rather than making them seem a bit more obvious.

Yep. Sam Mitchell is an instinctive 2 sided footballer with ridiculous awareness and balance. Can't teach that.

Once again a top notch analysis, praha. Tending toward a blue sky / off season appraisal, but I like it, and who's to argue. Go you mighty Demons!

But a dream, sadly.

Nailed it praha, it's a default expectation, and a default commentary. It's also reflected in the level of ignorance as to our players, such as Howe constantly referenced as a forward, Jesse Hogan no good when the ball hits the ground (Leigh Matthews), first year players referred to as 50 + gamers. We just don't crack much of a thought other than to the astute observer. It's annoying, but it's going to change. It'll take knocking off a top 4 side once or twice to do it, but we probably should be happy to fly under the radar for a while longer.

Highlight for me : the nucleus of what will become known as 'The Diaper Demons', a group of hard nosed competitive guns all of roughly the same age leading us up the ladder. They will be lead by Jesse Hogan, Jack Viney, Tom McDonald, Angus Brayshaw, Dom Tyson and Christian Salem, and further enhanced by Billy Stretch, his best mate Mr. Neal-Bullen, James Harmes, Oscar McDonald, Mitch White and presumably Christian Petracca. It's a rich group who will continue to crystallise as a team and shake off the past like it's not even there.

He's a very smart footballer, with all the right tools. Overshadowed by Hogan and Brayshaw, but I'm confident he's going to be a very good long term regular.

He's not a box and throne kind of bloke, in the best possible way

Nothing remarkable, just positives about the personnel at the club, Jesse having a good year, the fact that he loves playing with Chris Dawes amongst other usual suspects. He gave some nice anecdotes about Jesse as a teenager, his own football history, quote : 'Jesse's a Rolls Royce, I was a Ford Prefect'. Lots of looking to the future with with new young guns at the club. Very nice bloke, and likewise the conversation. On the man of the moment, Dan Cross will be much missed on game day, he's enormously respected.

I don't like Etihad (shocker, huh?), so I prefer to stand at ground level, floating around as if to suggest I might do a runner at any moment. When Jesse Hogan belted in front of the pack for a mark and just kept running into goal toward the last half of the second quarter today, I gave a "fire 'em up Jesse!" for good measure. The chap standing next to me laughed, and I turned to acknowledge him. He said "I'm only laughing cos he's my son". We then proceeded to chin wag for the remainder of the quarter and through halftime until he went to find family at the opening bounce of the second half. The lesson to be learnt here fellow Demonlanders is that when it's the last game of the year, at Crapihad and with nothing in the result, and you'd rather stick pins in your eyes than watch another rubbish game,it's still worth going just in case there's an unknown reward for your loyalty. Tony had a good Fathers Day.

This. He has been essential to the team this year, and remarkable for his work ethic and leadership by example. There is no way they will cut him loose, and I suspect will do everything needed to keep him at the club beyond his playing years. He is enormously respected at the club by players and coaches alike, someone who eats and breathes footy in the best possible way.