spirit of norm smith

@Whispering_Jack thanks. I had a look at Eastern V Western last night. Marked down number 28 for the Jets … 16yo Jake Miller. 6ft4in big key forward. Worked up and down with good footy iq. Strong mark. Good left foot. Kicked 3 goals from 7 marks. Had a look at the league stats. Has now kicked 12 goals from his 5 games and averages 7 marks per game. A bit more digging and found out he was captain of Vic metro under 16s and all Australian under 16 full forward. Dees might want to keep round 1 pick for 2026. He looks a ripper as a FF/CHF type.

10 players out this week … many are already long term or season ending … only Colvin might return for round 5… so it’s 22 players to choose from this week … lots of rookies getting their chances straight up… 2 train on players will be added to the emergencies … and this is only round 3!!! Ex AFLW magpie player Sophie Casey coming out of retirement to support the Dees as an emergency … this is desperate times already

That’s 10 unavailable. I believe 2 “top up train on” players are included in the emergencies for this weeks game.

Hardie ??? Captain … Deakyn Smith ???

afl.com.auCal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' Aug...AFL.com.au's draft guru Cal Twomey delivers his second Phantom Form Guide ahead of the 2025 Telstra AFL DraftCal has updated his top 30 and some of the earlier players who I thought might drop down to the second round & be available are now being uplifted into the top 30. If the Dees trade to get into the first round, there remains good high quality youngsters. Whilst many are querying the strength of this draft pool, which I tend to agree, I see this as due to the heavily compromised nature with around 18 of the top 50 likely types being pre nominated through father son or academy. I still think clubs can get good well prepared youngsters in the 2nd round. Outside the CAL TWOMEY “current top 30”, some good youngsters are available although again it might involve bidding on prenominated players Outside this top 30 includes Noah Chamberlin Tall mid/half back (*academy Sydney) Fred Rodriguez WA midfield Lachlan Carmichael(**acdemy Sydney) halfback/quarterback Rory Wright. Vic. Gun midfielder👍🏻 Cody Curtin WA Key fwd/ruck Ryder Corrigan (**academy Giants) inside midfield Koby Coulson (* Suns academy)👍🏻 midfielder Harry Kyle. (*Swans academy ) qtrback/half back Jack Dalton VIC Small midfielder Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier SA inside mid 👍🏻 Felix Kneipp VIC small defender/mid👍🏻

@WERRIDEE out - JVR??? 😭😭😭 Kemp ?? At full forward 😭😭😭

I said we should acquire Derksen in a trade deal … I didn’t say a swap of May and Derksen.

Ok Max v2 … let’s talk

May and McDonald will be finished at end of 2026. Derksen. Petty🏆. Turner. Future back 3. Adams looked okay but not sold just yet.

Josh Lindsay - agree he is a very good user of the footy

As at 26 August 2025 Injury crisis with 8 players already out and 3 already ruled out for the season 5 of the 8 injuries are knee injuries which has been a very high occurrence in the womens game https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/injury-updates Dees might have to call up top up players soon - squad is 32 … less the 8 injured = 24 players … so we have 21 for this game v pies … plus the 3 emergencies (that’s the full list).

@Chelly @Turner watched the Stingrays v Power. Unfortunately the ground was drier than an Indian cricket wicket It was mostly dirt with a few patches of grass. Not much protection for the youngsters getting tackled. Frankly it was a disgrace to see. 🤬 Obviously it would be great to have Willem Duursma coming to the Dees (he’s probably going to be pick 1 or 2 for the Eagles alongside Cooper Duff-Tyler.. great name!!) … if only we had an academy! 🤬 If the Dees had our “pick” at around pick 8 or 9, Stingrays star Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves ⭐️would have been the player I’d nominate. He’s very composed and has the ability to win it and spread quickly. Lean type who runs through the lines and carries the footy. Only knock is sometimes perhaps his kicking can be loose. But hey the Dees kicking coach would fix that !

@Turner I think McFayden was viewed as “in between type”. Not an agile aerobic half forward but not a tall key forward. But he showed in senior footy that he had the smart footy IQ and goalkicking ability. Safe pair of hands. He has shown he can handle the physical and contested work as well. Would be a handy addition imv

@Turner from last week … yes he has the makings of a very smart footballer

Sinnema was good in patches. He got crunched in a tackle in the 3rd quarter and kicked a nice goal from 40m out. He’s got class with the footy which we do need (but will need a few preseasons to get AFL ready so need to be patient ) Didn’t see much of Prasad. A Quiet Game is what I would say. Applied a few good tackles but was often out positioned to win the footy.

65 games. Just turned 22yo. Injury cruelled the first half of 2025. Now ready to have a big preseason. Given our team list, I’d back him in and give the 4 year deal for the circa $600k/season.

Guerra setting up the new look …

As expected. One more year. But that’s it. End of 2026 probably sees McDonald, May, Melksham all retire.

Just setting a diary reminder for late September!!!

Mitch McGovern…it’s a No

May to Full Forward. Not sure that’s the answer. Kentfield showed really good signs over the past 5 games and might be ready to step up with a good preseason 🤞🤞🤞🤞

@WERRIDEE I think the Kolt will probably develop into a Cam Rayner type half forward with agressive half forward pressure and good goal smarts plus some CBA when required. I’m not seeing him as a permanent midfield type.

@Random Task I was going to look at Stingrays v Power tonight. Lots of prospects in that game. Might try to catchup on Calder later in the week.

Happy to add two young Vic lads from Sandy Dragons to the Dees. Saw video on Dragons v Chargers. They aren’t being spruiked right now in the top 30 or 40 but I think they are exactly the types we need. Jack Dalton. 37 possessions vs Chargers yesterday . Two goals. Hit targets. Has good run and very smart. Since coming back from his injuries pre season (see below) he now averages 30 possessions and 6 tackles in his six “under 18 league”. I believe he also dominated in his school footy too at Xavier in last few games on comeback. He also performed strongly in the star studded Dragons team that won the 2024 flag. His size 178cms as a small midfielder might be seen by recruiters as a negative but that is not a detractor to me ESPN.comBroken wrists to BOGs: Jack Dalton's remarkable draft jou...Endurance beast Jack Dalton was supposed to miss 12 months with a shocking wrist injury. But the midfield star returned in just 11 weeks, and he's putting in performances which have recruiters buzzingRory Wright. I’m constantly singing his praise. Starred again with 26 possessions going at 88%DE. Classy left foot onballer. Evaded pressure from two opponents in 3rd quarter and hit up forward. It was what MFC needs to see with composure and skill.

Serong on Croft. ‪Seriously. How’s that different to May. Serong should have expected Croft to win the footy first and amend his contact. You cannot cannon into his head. It’s Careless. Yes. High impact/Head. Yes. Low impact. That’s a suspension.