Demon Jack

Hold onto your hats, because it just so happens that my first name is Jack and I follow the Demons. It goes without saying that 16 year old me wasn't that inspired during the making of this account.

Its only the first time I've seen them in person, but I've liked what ive seen from KK (still working on correctly spelling his last name) so far. Held his own in a few marking contests and has used the ball well.

The man himself, Ronald Barassi is in attendance.

Some tackling drills at the moment. Massive cheer from the boys as the skinny armed Fritsch brings TMac to ground with a ripping tackle. Kudos to the new boy, Toby Bedford for attempting to bring down big Maxy. Kid has some guts! A well deserved cheer from the crowd follows.

Bit gloomy with occasional rain but all and all, a ripping crowd. Traditional australian breastfast of coffee with a sausage in bread went down a treat. Fair bit of aggression in some of the drills so far. Boys giving it their all. Even from the sidelines, you could feel the brute force of the bumps they were laying on each other. Hore and Hunt running laps. Preuss is far more imposing in the flesh than he is in photos/videos.

Before I melt as a result of the rays from the Melbourne sun, I figured I'd jot down my notes of this morning's training session. A relatively small crowd today (not completely suprising) with many seeking shelter under the trees around the ground. An occasional breeze travels through the air to the delight of those in attendance. Firstly the rehab group consisted of OMac, Petracca, T.Smith, Hunt, Melksham, Stretch, Harmes, Oliver and Brayshaw, Baker and VDB. Drills were non contact (aside from Melksham who did some work with a marking bag) while each player would take their turn in participating in what looked to be some menacing running drills. Players looked absolutely spent after these. Petracca, Oliver, Baker and one of the new lads (Nietschke, I think) left early after spending most of the session running in the rehab group. None seem in any real discomfort aside from that of the Melbourne sun. Moving on to the main group, where the first drill I watched featuted players transitioning from the backline with a couple of spontaneous sets of 20 push ups which looked particularly grueling given today's conditions. Weideman with a nice couple of dead eye [censored] 30 metre passes. Frost also with a nice spin around two players and a short chip pass to Spargo. Lewis was another who nailed some neat kicks while Hibberd uncharacteristicly shanked a couple. Petty was also involved quite a bit as the link man between defense and forward. Moving to some forward play where a group of five would attempt to move the ball from half forward to a player having a clear shot at goal while contending with three defenders. Those I saw in this drill were Lewis, Maynard, Keilty, Frost, Spargo, Fritsch and Petty (I think). Lewis continued to set the standard with a some sharp pick ups and shots for goal. Nice bit of play with Spargo with a thread the needle handpass through three defenders to Keilty who passed the ball onto the running Maynard who slotted the goal. The next drill I watched involved players attempting to nail some 30m passes while under pressure from opposition. Players seemed a little sloppy at first but quickly tightened up their kicking. The Wagner of the Josh variety didn't miss a pass while Salem also looked exceptionally classy. I also really liked the look of Petty here. Looks a good kick and has a bit of toe for someonr of his size. The final drill I caught before leaving was more of a match simulation. ANB was often leading from the forward 50 with Weideman as the key target. Great piece of running on the wing by Jeffy to receive the ball but unfortunately miss the shot at goal. Exceptional piece of play from Spargo with a brilliant smother, gather and handball to a loose player! Smith also looked at home playing the intercept defender role. Another brilliant moment came courtesy of JKH, with an intercept in the forward 50 and a cracking hip and shoulder. No Jones, Gawn, TMac, May, KK, Preuss, or many of the new draftees who I think are in the NT at the moment.

Ha(r)mes' Hangers?

Hogan officially a Docker along with pick 65. We get picks 6 and 23 in return.

It's been strangely quiet today considering deadline is just over 48 hours away. God only knows how they've been able to fill the time on trade radio.

Well that was a waste of time. Thanks Freo. Hope you enjoy bottom four next year.

Thanks for everything Cam! Your stint as an undersized ruckman in 2017 in the absence of Max Gawn rightfully deserves its place in Demon folklore.

I remember that game. Big pressure relieving win for Dean Bailey after allegations of the team playing 'bruise free footy' (not entitely inaccurate). Maxy (who played a solid game) took a cracking grab on Fletcher and fittingly missed from 10 metres out directly in front.

If you think about it, this is Gus' first clear run of football since his first season in 2015. The poor kid has had some shocking luck over the last two seasons. Hopefully we give him every chance to cement his position in the team. He certainly wasn't our worst on Sunday.

We're in real need of another new Jack following the great 'Jack purge' between 2015 and 2017. Grimes, Fitzpatrick, Trengove and now Watts We desperately lack depth in this area.

First official image of Lever in the red and blue!

Definitely overs but I'm thrilled to have Jake at the club! I'm backing that Josh Mahoney still has a few tricks up his sleeve over the remainder of the trade period that will see us advance back up this/next year's draft order.

I dunno. Strikes me as 54 sort of guy.

Just a thought if the Crows don't budge on two first round picks. Would we be able to snare Sydney's first round pick as part of the potential Watts deal? As a basis, Watts + Pick 27 to Sydney for their first round pick (pick 13). Picks 10 + 13 to Adelaide for Lever.

If I can recall, Chook has a fair few runs on the board. This will be interesting.

Would be a likely top 5 placer in the B&F if it wasn't for his average first 6-7 weeks. He's been absolutely brilliant since around Queens Birthday. Fun fact: Jake has kicked at least one goal in each of his last eleven games. That ranks him at seven in the entire league for the most consecutive games kicking a goal. What makes this extraordinary is that he is the only player on that list that isn't a key forward. https://afltables.com/afl/stats/alltime/misc_goals.html#10 Pick 25 almost seems like a bargain now.

I love how he can kick 55 meters without breaking a sweat. 17 goals in his last 10 games. If you had said to me 5-6 games into the season that Milkshake would have a 20 goal season (he hadn't even kicked any or shown anything of value at this point), its safe to say I would've laughed straight back in your face. I've seriously turned around on this one.

To continue this story, when Beamer left as a Free Agent, we received a 3rd round draft pick as compensation, which turned into Dean Kent.

Interview with Zac starts at 26:50

I loved Tyson's comment from the weekend. “He’s remarkable. I don’t think he feels pain,” “A truck could hit him tomorrow and he’d still play,”