Apocalypse XXXI

Strangely enough, we were outscored in all but the second quarter which we dominated. Tigers flattered because of their great accuracy in front of goal (similar to last week when they kicked 10.1).

Would it be a wild guess to suggest that this Knightmare is a Collingwood fan?

Exactly the point I made very early in this thread. Still, the Dogs at their kennel are hard to beat.

What’s the best part of the ground for avoiding the local snakes?

Great to have footy back and although last night’s game wasn’t the same as the last one I saw in September, the lesson was there for all to see. Accurate kicking for goal wins you games. At one stage in the game it was St Kilda 2.5.17 to Richmond 7.0.42. Game over! Our women have been famous in the past for their inaccuracy in front of goals. Here’s hoping that having Tayla Harris and Daisy Pearce up near goal makes a difference.

We’re the reigning premiers. There’s no obvious need to rush kids through in their first seasons at the club just as we didn’t rush our 2020 draft selections last year. Jake Bowey wasn’t picked to play for us until Round 20. Bailey Laurie had some injury issues during 2021 and played only a handful of games at Casey. Fraser Rossman was a late pick who was never going to be ready last year. We’re in a good position but don’t discount Van Rooyen who played some senior football with Claremont early last year before getting glandular fever.

Nice piece about the comparison of the pain of 2011 and the glory ten years later. Thanks.

Could happen to anyone and don’t think that our club is immune. Many young men in their late teens and early twenties struggle with mental health issues of varying levels even those who are successful at sports.

The culture of the clubs has become far more paramount since Demetriou left the scene. Under his boy’s club regime, certain clubs were more powerful than others and so the weaker clubs were treated differently. There was a time when if Eddie wanted something, he could muster support from that boys club and he would get things done. The “culture” didn’t inhabit the AFL.

In today’s Herald Sun there’s an article by Rebecca Williams (CLUBS BRACE FOR FANDEMIC) that looks at the rewards loyal club members can expect:- MELBOURNE The Demons have frozen prices on memberships for the third consecutive year. There are situational concessions for impacted members. The club has invested in a ‘members choice’ program enabling members to better personalise their memberships. Membership.melbourncefc.com.au email: membership@ melbournefc.com.au Phone: 1300 DEMONS (1300 336 667)

Nothing wrong with parents who support their children at their sport and give them the proper encouragement. It’s those who take the next step beyond that and become controlling who are the major problem. Remember Jelena Dokic's father Damir Dokic. He was a nightmare and probably destroyed her career.

What’s his draft year?

Wishing a speedy recovery to Mr & Mrs Barassi, football’s first couple.

Was Pert at Collingwood at the same time as Balmey?

It’s been the subject of conjecture for well over a month and the club asked for it in the first place. I’m in favour of it - we deserve the additional blockbuster match because of what we’ve lost in the past couple of years. As for having to play against the Bulldogs who will be hungry for a win to offset the humiliation of the grand final, I say bring it on. We’re now the hunted, not the hunter and we have to learn how to deal with that!

Marty could be on his way to a new AFL home:- Ex-Demon gets a chance at North Melbourne

Clubs can have up to 3 Category B rookies at one time. However, unless the player is considered a potential champion, I doubt we would purse any more rookies at this stage of the journey.

What an enormous pity it is that the championships didn’t go ahead as originally planned. I think it’s highly likely that the outcome of the draft would have differed markedly with the one we saw last week.

I’m really grateful for this thread and to all of those who took part in what was sometimes a robust discussion on the next batch of recruits. On re-reading the thread from the beginning, I’m actually feeling very chirpy about the outcome of the draft and the selections made by Jason Taylor and his team. From very early on I gained an appreciation of the Jacob Van Rooyen and his recruitment - especially with posters like WJ and Chelly pumping his tyres. The debate about the qualities of Mac Andrew was fascinating and not disrespectful to the player but more so about the way some of the “experts” were bending the truth to push their agenda. After my lengthy re-read I really don’t mind that he’s been taken elsewhere. It is what it is and he certainly wasn’t “trashed” as one poster has claimed in an unwarranted attack on WJ. It’s worth going to the interesting discussion above between Dazzle and him on and around 1 September where WJ expressed his preference of Van Rooyen over Andrew. We also heard in the thread about Melbourne’s interest in Blake Howes. It’s amazing how this thread virtually zeroed in on our choices in this draft. Thanks and well done to all who contributed.

Where do you think Geelong Falcons ruckman Toby Conway is going to be selected? He’s highly regarded by Cal Twomey who had him in the first ruck (ahead of Mac Andrew) in his draft team of the year.

6. Steven May 5. Ed Langdon 4. Jake Lever 3. Christian Petracca 2. Clayton Oliver 1. Tom McDonald

It did happen today, didn’t it?

If that worked for the Tigers, then why not for us?

At this point in time we have four new players to add to this list:- 1. Steven May 2. Nathan Jones 3. Christian Salem 4. James Harmes 5. Christian Petracca 6. Luke Jackson 7. Jack Viney 8. Jake Lever 9. Charlie Spargo 10. Angus Brayshaw 11. Max Gawn 12. Toby Bedford 13. Clayton Oliver 14. Michael Hibberd 15. Ed Langdon 18. Jake Melksham 20. Adam Tomlinson 22. Aaron Vandenberg 23. James Jordon 24. Trent Rivers 25. Tom McDonald 26. Sam Weideman 27. Aaron Nietschke 29. Jayden Hunt 30. Alex Neal-Bullen 31. Bayley Fritsch 32. Tom Sparrow 33. Oscar Baker 34. Marty Hore 35. Harrison Petty 36. Kysaiah Pickett 37. Kade Chandler 38. Mitch Brown 39. Neville Jetta 41. Jay Lockhart 44. Joel Smith 46. Austin Bradtke I heard that Ben Brown wants to keep the number 50 which he wore at North Melbourne and Werribee before that but any idea on our draftees' numbers?

Knightmare’s favourites are Jackson Callow, Jack Ginnivan, Sam Fisher, Zavier Maher, Jackson Cardillo, Max Pescud, Kaine Baldwin and Zane Trew. He also believes that Jackson Hately will be good for the Crows in the Preseason Draft.