spirit of norm smith

Hibbo. Brayshaw. Harmes. Jackson missing from premiership 22. Tmcd and BBB in constant physical rehab. Core group still there for a shot. Goodwin needs to get real. Spargo. Schache. Laurie. They are not good enough and we need to make tough decisions.

@DemonOX you are 100% correct. Laurie. Spargo. Schache. Not good enough for AFL. ALL NEED TO BE DROPPED THEN DELISTED

Gawn message to Goodwin

Howes - very very good Viney - heart and soul Petracca - in and out Bowser - great until injured McVee - good game tonight Sparrow - fumbled and loose Oliver - we love ya vanRooyen - tread water tonight May - important but limited Fritsch - our only forward Lever - poor under pressure Salem - promising first half Langdon - had little involvement Billings - why the sub Neal Bullen - did his role Windsor - a promising debut Gawn - beaten by Grundy, physically tired Schache - FAR TOO SOFT Spargo - NEVER EVER AGAIN Chandler - NEEDS TO IMPROVE Tomlinson - played his part Rivers - performance to forget Laurie - FUMBLED ALL NIGHT

Not negotiable Out. Spargo. Laurie. Schache. In. Pickett. Woewodin Fullerton.

The votes 6 Viney 5 May 4 Howes 3 McVee 2 Tomlinson 1 Bowey.until injured apologies. Fritsch Salem, Windsor good debut Billings sub Pass mark: Langdon Trac Clarry Gawn Rivers Need to improve. JVR. Chandler. ANB. SPARROW. Lever Never ever again. Laurie Spargo. Schache.

Unfit and fatigued

Gawn tired Viney tired too many passengers

3rd Dees 5 goals xx Laurie, Spargo, Schache - no no no 👏Fritsch finally 🤡sparrow gives away 50 ⭐️mcvee to Fritsch 🤡lever ⭐️⭐️JV7 💙❤️ ⭐️⭐️Trac finally

2nd xx scoring !! One goal!!! Inside 50s x 28 xx fumbles. Laurie. Rivers. Xx dropped marks in forward 50. Sparrow. Fritsch. Chandler xx kick to packs !! Still !!! 👏👏May. Howes. Viney.

1st quarter xx Spargo and Laurie horrible and soft Xx kicking efficiency horrible Xx goalkicking 1-6. Spargo Fritsch missed sitters 🤡🤡Petracca handball to players under pressure - hit a target 👏Gawn. Tomlinson. Viney 👏 !!!

SPARGO !!

1st quarter xx Spargo and Laurie horrible Xx kicking efficiency horrible Xx goalkicking Spargo Fritsch 🤡🤡Petracca handball to players under pressure 👏Gawn. Tomlinson. Viney. Only !!!

Damien the rat Barrett will be salivating over the Dees demise. Lets prove that him and the negative media are wrong !!

Great news. 👏👏👏👏👏 Tom Sparrow 💙❤️💙❤️ premiership player we love ya Tommy 👏👏👏👏👏

Agree @Older demon a smart pickup. I think he’s one to watch this year. Played juniors at Sandy Dragons and was impressive. Key defender who also can go forward and kick goals. Had 2 years at amateur level and building up his frame.

Great news. 👏👏👏Really hope he shines on debut. Definitely a talented youngster. I like his skill and footy smarts. Has now added hard work to his CV.

Prediction. No prediction to get half of the predictions correct.

Jon Ralph. 🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿 Goose of the Day award.

AFL WEBSITE Prediction from Nathan “Chook” 🐔 Nathan Schmook Premier: Brisbane Runner-up: Greater Western Sydney Wooden spoon: West Coast Moving up: Fremantle Set to fall: Melbourne Club under the most pressure (and why): Melbourne. The Demons haven't taken full advantage of their prime years. Ending two seasons of straight-sets exits will be a challenge after their pre-season setbacks. Will the Suns finally make finals?: No Brownlow Medal: Errol Gulden Coleman Medal: Charlie Curnow AFL Rising Star: Colby McKercher Recruit of the year: Brodie Grundy Surprise All-Australian: Jordan Clark Who should headline the Grand Final entertainment?: Foo Fighters Headline you'll see: Freo zeroes in on forward target with draft kitty Headline you won't see: Club pushes the line with matchday concussion management Big call: Like the Brownlow Medal in 2023, youth will be the big storyline in the Coleman Medal race (around Charlie Curnow) as Max King, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Nick Larkey push the superstar Blue with top-five finishes. Schmook's ladder prediction 1. Brisbane 2. Greater Western Sydney 3. Collingwood 4. Sydney 5. Carlton 6. Fremantle 7. Adelaide 8. Port Adelaide 9. St Kilda 10. Western Bulldogs 11. Melbourne 12. Gold Coast 13. Geelong 14. Essendon 15. Hawthorn 16. Richmond 17. North Melbourne 18. West Coast

Updated: February 22 Melbourne injury list Name Injury Estimated Return Ben Brown Knee TBC Clayton Oliver Personal TBC Tom Fullarton Hamstring Early season Lachie Hunter Calf Test for Round 1 Jake Melksham Knee 2025 Joel Smith Misconduct TBC Kysaiah Pickett Suspension Round 2 Oliver is back training but faces a race against time to be fit for the season A calf injury sees Hunter be in doubt for Round 1

Misding from our 23 finals team are brayshaw Hibbo Jordon unavailable 10- Pickett(susp) smith (susp) Hunter (inj)tmcd (inj) Bbb (inj) Melksham (inj) Turner (inj) McAdam (inj) Fullerton(inj) Brayshaw (retired) Hoping for a fit Oliver 🤞 and Petty 🤞 B McVee May Lever HB Salem Tomlinson Rivers C Langdon Viney Windsor (debut) HF Billings JVR ANB F Fritsch Petty Spargo Fol Gawn Oliver Petracca Int Bowey Laurie Sparrow Chandler Woewodin (Sub) emerg. Hore Schache Howes dev. AMW, KFW, Jefferson, Adams, Verrell, Kolt, Sestan, KBrown squad 44

Dees now with $$$ available after Brayshaw medical retirement? I’m still liking Florent as a free agent to come home to Melbourne. See his pace and skill being into our midfield mix.

We are now querying ruck depth, forward options and now the midfield. Recent article ranked our core group of 24yrs and under as “15th”. No young midfielder coming through in this group. PLAYERS UNDER 24: Tom Sparrow (23), Kysaiah Pickett (22), Trent Rivers (22), Jake Bowey (21), Bailey Laurie (21), Daniel Turner (21), Jacob Van Rooyen (20), Blake Howes (20), Judd McVee (20), Andy Moniz-Wakefield (20), Taj Woewodin (20), Jed Adams (19), Will Verrall (19), Oliver Sestan (19) Matthew Jefferson (19), Kynan Brown (18), Koltyn Tholstrup (18), Caleb Windsor (18) TOP 5: Kysaiah Pickett, Jacob Van Rooyen, Trent Rivers, Tom Sparrow, Jake Bowey. The Demons are covered across all lines with this group but there doesn’t appear a standout player that is going to lead Melbourne to its next premiership. Kysaiah Pickett can still be anything, as can Jacob Van Rooyen. But aside from the draftees from the past two years, there feels a ceiling on most others, although several are certainly best 22 players. Trent Rivers, Jake Bowey and Judd McVee are all examples of players in Melbourne’s best side for the next decade if they want to be, but how much they can continue to improve is the big question. League ranking: 15th —————————————————— So now for the good news. I think about 12-13 youngsters in this years 1st round draft will be midfielders. A strong quality group. Outside the top 6-7 midfielders likely as top 10 draftees, players like Tom Gross, Zac Johnson, Sam Lalor, Kade Herbert, Nash King and Harvey Langford present great young midfield types. They should be around the pick 12-20 mark. Dees would need one of these youngsters coming in for next year.

Dees are being written off in 2024. Too many issues and key injuries. Tough times. But we have talent. Too much talent to be discarded. We can rise up and show we’re stronger than the outside world thinks. Time for support. Time for strength. Go Dees.