spirit of norm smith

Bryce and Cross were very good last week. No stats padding like a few AFL listed others. Best last week were K.Brown, Bryce, Laurie, Campbell, Hardie, Kentfield & Cross. Definitely like to see Bryce given more games as he shows he could be a draftee chance at years end.

Dees likely to have 2 travelling emergencies as seems to be our MFC peculiarity. Still agree it’s an AFL player listed team this week.

SO AFL FOOTBALLERS HAVE TO BE AEROBIC, STRONG, FAST, DETERMINED, AGGRESSIVE, PASSIONATE, BRAVE, DISCIPLINED AND SUPPORTIVE. RIV IS A PROTOTYPE THERES PLENTY IN OTHER TEAMS DEES NEED TO FIND 2 IN THIS TRADE OR DRAFT PERIOD

Agree no way he ran straight. Umps just have no idea !!!

Amartey - shoulder bump to the head after the player disposes of the footy Chose TO BUMP That’s 2 or 3 weeks !!

Cooper Lord missed out unbelievably in the 2023 draft. Unbelievable!! Probably best on ground in the Under18s Grand Final alongside Will Ashcroft & Ryley Sanders … but belatedly was picked up in the 2024 mid season draft. He’s starting to become a regular in the Blues line up. Good build. Good pace. Skills. He’s a ballwinner.

Dees selection meeting Spargo? Fritsch ? How are they still in ???

Suns. Noah Anderson the concession pick … A gift from the AFL. Suns. Lots of Academy picks. A gift. Which will keep on giving Suns. Mac Andrew. Stolen from the Dees NGA academy A gift Suns. Touk Miller. 200 games 👏👏Pick 29 in 2014 draft. Standout captain of Vic metro under 18s. St.kevins APS star. Still amazes me how he was ignored by clubs Suns. Boosted by smart recruiting of Noble and Rioli. Suns. Look like they are finally going to make finals. Finally. They are exciting. Tough. Smart. Skilled. No soft half hearted efforts from anyone of their team.

If only … McVee. May. Turner. Salem. Tmcd. Bowey. Langdon. Rivers. Windsor. Chandler. Petty. Langford. Kozzzzzy. AJ. Melksham. Gawn. Petracca. Oliver. Sparrow. Sharp. Lindsay. Howes Sub. Laurie. Ins. Petty. Melksham. Howes. AJ. Laurie. Outs. JVR. Jeffo. Kolt. Spargo. Fritsch.

Dees got shafted with the fixture, and these timeslots just put the dagger further into our back. But given our performances so far this year, we don’t deserve any prime time slots.

I have to say that Fritsch and Spargo are now being gifted matches. Fritsch missed crucial shots last week. He is defensively very weak. Zero tackles. Zero chasing. Spargo is below average in most categories. He’s not wasteful because he only kicks it 15 metres. For a small forward, one goal for the year is a very sub standard performance. He’s been very very low on player ratings for weeks. He misses too many tackles.

Just listened to 35 minutes of so of the Deebrief podcast on the Dees v Hawks games. I think the passion shines through, but I think the boys might have been on the beers before the pod. It’s like being in the pub talking about the footy with mates. I think Naughtsie had a run sheet but it went off course quickly when the umpiring was raised. They were actually a little restrained. The umpiring was a [censored] [censored] [censored] disgrace !!!

I knew him briefly through a mutual friend. A true gentleman. Always spoke clearly about footy, the game, the strategies… and his insights through media TV and newspaper was well thought and constructive. Never like today’s sensational dirt grabbing media circus talk shows. 💔a true footballer and a gentleman

Yea I was hopeful of informative insightful footy talk - you live in hope - but again these mud scrapers failed to deliver

💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 KANE CORNES ☠️ CAROLINE WILSON☠️ NICK RIEWOLDT ☠️ CRAIG HUTCHISON ☠️ THE AGENDA SETTERS ☠️☠️☠️☠️ The rant about Goody talking about Clarry and Trac and our coach’s obsession. Pathetic media wrap up of selected comments from Goody. The media always asks about Clarry & Trac so low hanging sledge by the gutter media. And smartarse comments about the “million dollar” tagger and belittling Clarry’s stats. Absolute gutter stuff !!!

Update. LJ and Freo will work out their challenges and he’ll stay there! Just wait a few weeks and it will be a media circus once again.

Great news on some potential future recruits. I was watching Kalani over the last few weeks, and noted it’s actually scary how good some of the Suns Academy players are. Suns Academy have three likely top 15 players (with Zeke Uwland definitely being top 5). Others are very very good. I saw a youngster Max Hudson kick a bagful v Stingrays and noted his name. He reminded me of Daniel Turner. He’s only 6’3 ish but his marking judgement, sure hands and kicking was elite. He’s now kicked 12 goals across his 3 games. One to watch.

Really hate the Pies !! Not only do they seem to be the destination club for many players, but their father son alignment has netted them so very very good players (Daicos x2, Moore). This year Thomas McGuane had played 3 Coates league matches for 3 x Best On Ground performances. Averages 34 possessions and 5 marks as a classy left foot midfielder. Seems to have the “Pendlebury” time when using the footy. Should be a first round pick and Pues will nab him in a heartbeat. God we hate the Pies ☠️

25 pages. Expect this to reach 50 by July and 100 by October !!!

Enjoyed the Podcast this week ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Was driving back from Shepparton this afternoon and it made the trip go really quick I thought the highlights this week were Binman’s stats. Very thorough. Full debrief on lots of stats from pressure to ratings to contested stuff. I liked the player ratings section Binmans rant on the umpires especially the Rivers incident in the last quarter where the umpire from 90 metre away gave the decision AND as well as the Kozzzzy non free kick for the blatant trip and the subsequent AFL whitewash! The umps killed our chances. Thats truth telling. George’s despair at Fritta’s continued poor form, poor goalkicking and general lack of any pressure (we all share his pain). Fritta can’t survive another week !! David from Adelaide and his comments. I agree with his dismay at Lever’s comments I heard similar talk about the difficulties in managing a change ! Andy playing the SEN Commentary from Gerard Whateley on the Kozzzzy non free kick! Worst umpire howler EVER!! The POD was informative and again reflected all of us at the moment … we all love the Dees with the unwavering passion and hope but with a sense of anger, frustration, disappointment and desperation.

Harvey Langford has been rewarded with the first AFLCA Coaches’ Votes of his career, following an impactful performance in Round 9. In just his eighth senior game, the 19-year-old midfielder continued to impress, finishing with 3 goals, 22 disposals, 6 score involvements and 557 metres gained. His composure and work rate helped keep Melbourne in the contest, earning him eight votes from the coaches. Captain Max Gawn also featured in the votes, receiving two for his influence around stoppage and leadership throughout the day. Round 9 v Hawthorn | Coaches’ Votes 8 – Harvey Langford

Agree Mitch Hardie should probably still be on an AFL list. Casey is lucky to have him. Has good efficiency and uses the footy. Has a good goal sense when around the forward 50. Lachy Bryce was solid across half back. His intercept marking was good. Not only got the footy but had several good spoils and blocks. One to keep an eye on and should get more regular games. Baldi was good and is solid at this level. Tight and tough at the contest. However often stats can deceive as many of his handballs were 30cms handballs in close to no effect. Though I like his grunt and is the sought of heart and soul type.

12 months on. Absolutely great that XL20 was drafted in the red and blue !! He’s got the skills and footy IQ that will see him eventually move into a midfield and be a future star.

Dees will need to hold onto the elite talent and bring in the elite kicks. Not necessarily the elite talent but players who don’t give it away. Unpressed turnovers killed us v hawks on the weekend. Youngsters like Sinnema would be handy with high quality skills but don’t expect them to be ready additions like Langford and Lindsay (they are very special).

Toby Sinnema looked okay for Stingrays v Knights on the weekend. He’s lightly framed but has good balance and skill. Looks like another suited to a wing as an outside mid. Toby kicked a nice goal early in the 2nd quarter. Was under a defensive clearance. Marked it about 35 metre out. Very good kick that split the centre for a goal. I think he’s likely to be a pick in the 45-55 range at this stage.