Demon Jack

Without wanting to sound rude, I just noticed Luke Dunstan and had completely forgot that he played for us.

Some real tight congestion drills happening with half the main group. Bowey's evasiveness and speed a stand out.

Not sure who #39 is but he has a accurate left boot on him.

GrunDEE (still slightly odd to see him in Melbourne colours) impressive in some of his follow through work. Chased after and picked up a loose ball with the speed and grace of a small forward.

Not to steal anyone's thunder, but I'm also having a lil' peek at training today. Defenders and forwards in the main group started off with some one on one forward drills where forwards would attempt to break away from their defender to mark the footy. Sesten impressive so far. Has broken even with Petty a couple of times and comfortably beat another of the new draftees. Gawn v Grundy a cracking match up with the skipper taking the chocolates with a ripping one handed juggler. JVR must've misplaced his new and shiny #2 guernsey in the wash as he is also wearing Grundy's #6.

Some surprises there with JVR now donning the #2 and J.Smith inheriting his old man's #29!

With the Chandler upgrade, how many available spots on our rookie list do we have?

Starship!

Definitely Jack Watts

Pretty sure Tim Lamb confirmed in a radio interview during the trade period that both players would be at the club in 2023. Don't recall any official announcements as yet though.

Almost comes in as a new recruit next season if he puts in the work over summer. Never looked 100% fit after his knee injury.

He's still only 22 so there's still plenty of scope for improvement. I still think there's a spot for him in the side in '23 even with Hunter coming in and players like Chandler pushing for selection. His game against GWS from early in the season was probably the best match I've seen him play (22 touches, 3 goal assists, 8 inside 50's, and a goal.)

I feel it's time that Clayton Oliver lived up to expectations. 4 B&F's, 3 All Australians, 2 AFLCA Player of the Year Awards, 1 Premiership Medal. The guy has clearly been coasting throughout his career to date.

Used his body cleverly in a couple of marking contests as well. Faded mid year but has all but exceeded expectations for a second year player. Big pre season ahead for the young man.

Safe to say that one of the topics of the off-season will be where Petty plays in 2023. It's a small sample size, but he played as a forward for 10 minutes in our final game of the season and cleverly set up two shots at goal while clunking a big mark and kicking one himself.

It'll be interesting in how Fremantle decide to use Jackson next year and how the media will judge his performances considering he probably doesn't have the tank to ruck or play as a wingman/midfielder for a full match yet. He certainly still has a lot of work to do to if they plan to play him forward for a percentage of a game. There are some good goals here but easily a third of them are from the goal square courtesy of an easy handpass.

Liam Jurrah bursting onto the scene in his own inimitable way is one of my greatest footy memories. His 2009 highlights alone make for must watch content. As someone who was just developing a more attentive interest in the game at the time of 2009, Liam certainly played a key role in cementing my (and many other 12–13-year old's) allegiance to the red and blue. You can't deny the importance of players like Jurrah and Howe during that era of 2009 - 2015 in bringing kids to watch the Demons at the G when we were anything but successful.

What time is the deadline tonight?

I'm not sure how our recruiters rate this year's draft crop, but knowing our recent trade history, I wouldn't be surprised if we look to trade our pick 54 alongside our/or Freo's first round selection next year to lock in another first round selection this year. I wonder if we could nick the Bulldogs' pick 11 as part of a potential trade for Schache? Out - Tomlinson, Pick 54, 2023 First Round In - Schache, Pick 11

Loved this. I always had a lot of time for Jayden, it's a real shame to lose him but I can see him getting plenty of opportunities at the Eagles. He was always at his best when he was allowed to run and carry with the footy. Shame teams worked him out around 2018. Kudos to him for temporarily reinventing himself as a small-medium forward in 19-20 and then again as a lockdown defender in 21-22.

Any of Fremantle's successful attempts at landing a key forward Jesse Hogan - Pick 6 and 23 Cam Mccarthy - Pick 3

Good lord. I haven't seen much of Louge, but is he even remotely close to being worth that amount of money? That has salary dump written all over it come 2026.

No, but our recruiters typically hold their cards pretty close to their chest. I thought that Lachie Hunter would've been mentioned but no dice.

"Melksham and Hibberd will both be with us next year"

Harmes going nowhere according to Tim Lamb.