Go the mighty Dees

I want to know how Jack ran out the game. I have no doubt the second he runs out 4 quarters, he'll be in. Tell me it is this week.

it wasn't this week. Jack was ok but not dominant. Brilliant at times, but by no means BOG. He is 2-3 weeks away at least

At earliest we'll see him in 2012 IMO. Jamar is our number 1 ruckman and for the rest of this year and next year we'll see the 2nd ruck spot shared between PJ, Pencil and Stef Martin. If anything I reckon we'll be likely to see Fitzpatrick before Gawn, but Gawn will be a gun, don't worry about that.

where is fitzpatrick by the way. He is not on the injured list and did not play in casey 1s or 2s this week?

That is so wrong. His thinking and acting in real time is brilliant... his use and sharing of the ball on the forward line for Casey on Saturday was nothing less than elite. like champions he may look half-pace but this is deceptive.

well what nonsense. He was wellshort of a gallop and played most either down back or on the ball

I was there for 90% of the game. Left at the 15 min mark of the last quarter. The highlights:

- jack watts to that stage kicked 4 goals, although none of them I would describe as dominant. His teammates looked for him on the lead and he kicked really well particularly beyond 50 but was regularly beaten one on one in marking and dropped or juggled easy chest marks. Frankly a lot of the time he was a spectator but has a great engine but is mostly an outside player. Having said that he does some things which are just sublime; his third goal was amazing and he gave away three others two of which he had no reason to be anywhere near;

- we won by over 50 points, but we were playing Richmond reserves;

- Brad Miller was by far the dominant forward on the round and one of the best on the ground

- no-one in my opinion is a stand out inclusion in the senior side right now

- the Demon list platers:

Morton: clearly needed the run. Was good at times, but i doubt whether he will be included next week

Wonna: I had forgotten how quick he is. A genuine talent. Will be promoted next week

Watts: as above

Miller: the best on the day

Gysberts: very skillful but is still very light framed and lacks stamina

Maric: has skills but is not the answer in this position in the seniors

Jetta: see Maric

Newton: Newton is Newton, good at times, but far too inconsistent

Spencer: ok tap ruckman, but not the answer in the long term.

Cheney: good game overall, but doesn't have the involvement of say a Grimes

Joel Mac: quiet

McNamara: regularly beaten in one on one marking contests in defence. Has a long way to go

Bleeze: i understand he appeared in the first quarter of the 2s before i arrived. went off injured again unfortunately

Fitzpatrick: appeared neither in the 1s or the 2s but does not appear either on the injury list. What is going on here?

did bartram do enough tonight?

imo...rivers could be dropped...he just doesn't seem to fit into our team any more.

dunn could be swapped for morton. boom.

if it rains don't play PJ...he didn't have a second attempt tonight.

mckenzie is in our best 22...we should not drop him if possible. he set goals up tonight that you probably didn't realise.

thoughts?

Jamar had his worst game for the year tonight. I thought if anything PJ was more effective in the ruck

McKenzie is a must, not only for his tackling but for his run and carry. He is the surprise packet of the season for mine.

I suggest if it had have been dry tonight we would hyave won by 5 goals.

No changes, goal umpire decision go our way and we would have beaten a preseason premiership favourite.

and the umpires stop wearing our uniforms to confuse our players

Post your changes for the Eagles next week.

Out- Dunn, ????

In- Watts, Bail

Dunn was ok tonight, but I wish he would chase more. his second efforts are pathetic often

Both the young stars, as well as Grimes, were brilliant again tonight. It is becoming that we can't do without them.

I just worry a little about burn out with them. Jack Trengove in particular shows great fatigue late in the games. He did against the Lions, but especially tonight early in the last quarter when he miskicked three times in a row and was clearly fatigued.

When will it become time to give these guys a rest at Casey, or even a week off?

Calling it.

Yes, an incredible 39 possessions. Will beat nicnak for the big one

i thought we attacked hard but it took us to long to adjust to the conditions.

plus we seemed to pass it to people standing still all night....last week it was kicking into the man on the mark..this week we turned the ball over by passing to targets standing still...dogs read this all night

Although it is dissappointing to lose, this was a good performance and shows incredible promise for the future. Don't forget we are virtually playing our second string forward line atthe moment.

For me, i'd like to make a couple of observations. Scully is another Judd, and Trengove another cousins (withouta

all the rest of the crap)

Jamie Bannel put to rest once and for all any doubt about his courage: he crashed the pack a number of times and that goal will rank as one of the goals of the year, not so much for the incredible kick but the crashing through the pack beforehand. I know the FD rank him very highly and I think we are beginning to see why. Much more promise IMO than either Jetta or Maric.

Our older brigade have got a new lease of life from the young guns: Green, Junior, Bruce (yes Bruce) were excellent tonight

we have a lot to look forward to

the decision to drop Joel Mac was the correct one.

Danny Hughes will be a serviceable replacement for Rickie Petterd for the rest of the year.

The demons will win 10 gamesfor theyear and finish 10th, and be regarded as the biggest improvers and the with the most potential.

I think we have a need for a quality small defender. A replacement for Wheels. Bennell, Cheney & others have been tried but for various reasons, don't provide the full package. A 20yo David Wirrpanda would be great.

or a 20 yo Wheels would beeven better. Billy Slater anyone?

Today at school football my coach (who is the assistant coach of Casey scorpions) said that Jack Watts was about 2-3 weeks from playing for Melbourne, he also said that he dropped about 20 chest marks against Gold coast.

Just thought I would let you all know.

yes he dropped a number against north ballaratt as well, and those that weretaken were often juggled.

By the way, even though I've seen JW playat Casey two or three times, I'm yet to see him take an overhead mark. Does anyone know whether this was one of his strengths as a junior and does anyone know why he does not seem to do so now?

Or have I missed something?

As has been suggested on here by several scribes, is Rivers being played now to make him a more valuable trade next season given that is the only way to enhance your list for the next two years.

It is an interesting question. If we were to trade, given our accumulation of first round draft picks, what sort of players do we want. Once we have everyone up and running, where are our glaring weaknesses?

Perhaps I could start with where we are strong: backs tall and medium; on ballers great once the young develop; forwards terrific potentially once we get them all back and JW matures.

So what do we need? I still believe we badly need a David Neitz type of player ie large body, very strong, quick lead, strong mark, long accurate kick. There Is no-one on our list that's near that except maybe Fitzpatrick when he matures. Secondly, a second ruck. I don't believe either meesen or Spencer cut the mustard here. PJ potentiaaly might - it will be intersting to see how he performs at the weekend. Gawn is a long term (ie 3-5 years IMO) but extremely promising prospect but we need someone in the next 2-3 years capable of dominating finals football ie a Jolly type. I don't believe we have one on our list at the moment.

What do others think? Any other gaps? Any players in particular we should target?

PJ was shite last year, but I think some people forget he was good the year or two prior to that. Very athletic and quick for a big man, and definitely has more to offer than Spencer and Martin at the moment.

Agree whole-heartedly

The Martin for PJ swap is the only thing I am really unsure about. We keep persisting with this guy when he has shown so little, but I suppose if you're going to sit on our list and get paid, you might as well do something. He has to be given the chance to prove to us that he is worth retaining next season. I won't hold my breath.

Great to see McKenzie back and a nice left field choice with Hughes.

On a side note, what does the week's selection say about Miller's future at Melbourne?

Miller will be our contribution to the welfare of GCFC next year.

I think PJ is a good selection. Apparently absolutely dominated the hit outs last week for Casey and is mobile for a big man. Will free up the Russian to play forward for more than half the game and with his confidence currently sky high could be very influencial down there as he has been in the past. Also apparently as a junior PJ played most of his football as a fast leading tall FF. this may be the ace up the sleeve; if we can get this to work then it would provide an addional dimension to our game. He is also a very good long kick.

Hughes is a bold choice and apparently deserves his chance. If you read Brad Gotch's report on Melbourne players at Casey last week then they just about had to play him. It was positively glowing and we should get in the habit of picking on performance. Let's hope Jack Watts takes note as I'm sure he will . Likewise if players aren't performing they need to understand they will be dropped like MacDonald. A poor game last week.

Overall, I think the selectors have done a fine job.

Hello everyone,

I've been a follower of this site for quite a while, and feel i should get involved.

I am a young journalist with a couple of years experience with East Gippsland News. I've also had some placement work at the Herald Sun, Geelong Advertiser and Radio 3AW. I am now back in Melbourne to finish Uni and GET A JOB!

I hope I am not being too presumptuous, but I've recently started a blog (http://wmth.wordpress.com/) and just made a post about the Dees. If anyone is going to read it, it's passionate Demon supporters such as yourself.

Selfish reasons i know, but i would love people to post comments etc and get the ball rolling. The site is certainly in its infancy, but you've got to start somewhere and it's becoming more favorable for journos - especially ones looking for a job - to have a blog.

Thanks in advance,

WMTH

well done, I read you interesting blog, i look forward to further additions. I'm sure you will make an interesting sport journalist.

Can I suggest you post the football URLs on Demonland. I'm sure a lot of readers would be interested in your writing and it would attract an increased readership to not only your football writings but also your writing on broader topics

Good luck. I admire your enterprise.

look back a few years ago to when bate was drafted and youll find that he was one of the quickest on our list over 20 meters.

since then we have drafted a number of players with good pace, so he may have dropped down the list a bit and 20 meter pace is not the first few step 5 meter pace which lets you break those lines sometimes.

but if he is in a straight line he goes alright.

pace has nothing to do with turning either. he has the turning circle of the QE2

somtimes that can be an advantage for a left footer though. Many of the taller left footed forwards are like that: Cloke, Hart, Lloyd. It need not be a disadvantage. Interestingly much of Bate's running is up the ground on a long lead where he has more than adequate leg speed. On those sort of leads he is almost always sufficiently ahead of his opponent to be able to mark.

Gary Lyon I know is a bit of a fan of his. He has stated on many occasions that in a side with an elite mid field Bate would be a top 50 player in the competition. Maybe that time is about to arrive. With Liam, Wonna, Morton, Sylvia,Trengove and a fit and firing JW in full flight, it will be quite a forward line.

Bring it on.

Morton test!! That went by so fast!!

Surely a game at Casey first... Mustn't get all excited about him potentially coming straight back in...

Just a smidgeon of a chance...???

no chance after such a serious injury. Depending on how he goes at Casey, you'd expect him to be 2-3 weeks off.

also carlton have lodged papers to get the buckley kid that is carving up atm so that WS cant get him as one of their 17 year olds.. so i cant see why we wouldnt be able to do the same thing if he was good enough

only if he agrees. It is significant that Jack has recently signed for North Adelaide even though his father played anumber of games for Sturt. The Vineys are very strong Adelaide people and Todd is an assistant coach at the Crows - I wouldn't say this is a done deal by any means particularly if the Crows spend a couple of years at or near the bottom which at the moment looks likely. Todd may well opt for Adelaide over the Demons

As I understand if he is good enough for another club to want to use a first round pick on him, being he's the son part in the father son equation, all we have to do is offer up our first round pick for him and he is ours.

If he is any good, WS will offer one of their first rounders for him which will force our hand. But I suppose the plus side of that is it doesnt matter if our first pick after 15- he comes to us.

This is all of course assuming he is worthy of a first round pick, I haven't seen him play. Plus, i'm not actualy sure if what I have said is correct, so we will need clarification from someone who actualy knows facts. Cue- someone else..

My understading is yes you are right we can over rule other clubs selection of him PROVIDED he agrees. There have been a couple of examples of clubs wishing to draft under the father/son rule and the boy himself said he did not want to go to the club of his father. Therefore, if he is considered not the best kid in the draft and adelaide finished say 15th, Jack might decide he wants to play for the club where his father is assistant coach and stay in the city where his family has its roots and where they currently reside.

To my knowledge, neither Todd nor Jack have expressed a preference that he comes to Melbourne. Adelaide could well cazump us.

I agree that there's reasons for playing him as wing & HFF, but my point is that he's not likely to show his CHF attributes playing as a wingman. And while in some games he might make a reasonable fist of playing in a position that's so unfamiliar to him, he'll have others where he'll struggle just to get into it. Imagine, for argument's sake, trying to judge the value of Rivers or Warnock by playing them on a wing.

It's not a problem if the coaches have set him specific goals to achieve in his performance as a wingman, to let him know what he has to do to be considered for the Dees. It wouldn't help if they've just said "look, we don't want you to get crunched, we'll put you on the wing, and if you go well enough, we'll consider you for the seniors". The dilemma is: how well does he need to play on the wing for Casey in order to get picked for the Dees as ... what? Wingman? Or KPF?

I agree with Hannabal - perhaps he should have some games at Casey as KPF, though that would mean that Miller & Newton would have to play somewhere else. Since he's come to MFC, he's yet play a single game at any level at CHF, the position he was drafted to play.

he played at least a half against North Ballarat at either CHF or FF. His leading was fast, but marking ordinary. I agree tho it is time to give him a run in the ones, in akey position forward position. I suspect he will step up in the ones, and given our injury situation upforward at the moment I think the time is nigh.

We drafted a player by the name of Gawn, 203cm (i think), will play before Meeson ever does again.

Fitzpatrick, although drafted as a forward i think is capable in the ruck.

Martin, developing and was drafted as a long term prospect, slowing showing signs

All of the above are able to kick a football, Meeson can NOT, which makes him a liability when he is on the field

Gawn is 206 cm and one of the better runners at the club and is also a long kick and has very good hands ie Sandilands like but more mobile and more skillful. He IMO is one of six or seven long term players who could make the difference on Grand Final day as in full flight Sandilands is the only player in the competition who has the size to match him.

The only reason he was not drafted in the top 12 was because of his knee injury . If he gets anywhere near his potential he will be a gun. If he is fit in the second half of the season and plays ok at Casey then we should definitely play him in the AFL this year. One of our most exciting prospects in my opinion

{pre-season didn't help the Watts' chances of quickly adding to the three AFL games he played last year and football manager Chris Connolly said the club would remain patient."We're determined to let him get some real confidence and play a lot of game time at Casey to continue to develop his game," Connolly told afl.com.au.

"He's got outstanding senior AFL attributes, but he's just got to continue to build his body as he gets taller and we know that he'll make his way into the senior team at some stage."}

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/93316/default.aspx

Here, here Chris Connolly - the voice of common-sense. We MUST be patient. I have no doubt jack, together with the other two Jacks and Tom and Chip, will form the basis of premiership sides of the future. We should not bring it down before it begins.....

I read somewhere he is around the 198cm mark now

I'd be very surprised if he was 198cm. Was standing not far away from him at three quarter time at Ballarat. He is no giant, much more a teenager's body than a mature man. Which I guess is the point.

We need to give him time to mature. He is after all only 18 and big key position player takes more time than say a scully or a trengove. When you see him play though you do see a fantastic mover for his size. I can certainly believe he was one of the fastest at Afl camp and appears to have a very big engine. He also shows glimpses of the future such as last week when he very nearly took an absolute screamer in the goalsquare against three opponents. He just at this stage does not get the ball enough so does not yet deserve a game in the ones. He will earn it when he gets a few BOGs for the scorpions, we should be prepared that this may not br this year. Let him have a full pre season next year, have one more year's growth,

[quote]and[/quote]

I have no doubt we will end up with an elite footballer in the riewolt mould, except quicker and more skilled from a ball handling perspective. He is almost scully like in his handballing skills.

So I guess Brad Scott feels that because we share a similar name, that we are natural rivals then.

As much as I like North, our rivals are the older clubs (Collingwood, Carlton, Geelong). North's rivals are more likely to be the 'newer' ones (St Kilda, Bulldogs, Gold Coast (get it...)).

Should be interesting to see how many show up. If this was a Melbourne home game at the G, there'd be over 40,000 there (based on the Brisbane crowd). I'm tipping this week the crowd won't get to 30,000 and that will be mainly the fault of North Melbourne supporters. But I'd be happily proved wrong, it would be great to see two of the perenially low-drawing clubs get a big crowd once in a while (though that will probably come next week when I reckon a massive crowd will come to our game vs the Dogs).

I reckon they will getbetween 35-40k. Last week we played an interstate club. Even with NM's small support base, there will still be a big Dees turnout. People are excited, those who saw them last week can't wait to see them again; those who didn't can't wIt to see then live in action. Even I suggest because we are playing such attractive football there may be a few non supporters there cos they love watching good football. I wouldn't be surprised if it got near 50k.