rumpole

Don’t panic - it’s only a question as to whether he trained at this point. Any word on Harry Petty?

Can’t go past the favourites in this Round. Sydney and Collingwood by a clear margin in each of the two games. Hawks did well last year coming off an easy fixture in the last half of the season before they beat the Doggies dealing with some internal issues in the elimination final. They limped out against Port Adelaide in the semi. Giants have been playing below par in the practice matches and while I usually take no notice of practice matches, I can’t see them beating the Pies who have a point to prove. The AFL can slot Brisbane vs Geelong into Round 3 where they both currently have byes. The Gold Coast vs Essendon game will be hard to fit in but who cares?

Does anyone know Tim Lamb?

In any event, it's not hard to disguise an "under the table" transaction by use of payments at discounted rates of property titles to third party trusts or related parties. If you can beat the price of your opponents by say $250k then it's a hell of an advantage from a price perspective, let alone reducing your TPP salary cap figures. Not suggesting that any particular club would be inclined to do such a thing ... but ... meow.

There’s a direct connection between the about to be meteoric rise of the Melbourne Football Club and the forthcoming demise of the Sydney Swans who have been appalling in two of the last three grand finals. Their midfield is about to fall apart with their champion midfielder Chad Warner about to return to WA. Chad has purchased a new residence in Perth and will be off to Fremantle next season as a free agent. I can reveal that today he went haywire at training and got involved in a fight with his brother. With an expensive contract heading Chad’s way, the Dockers won’t be able to offer our Kozzy enough $s to entice him away from home - unless they cough up a couple of players in return like Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong. So it’s looking more and more like we keep Kozzy and the Swans rely on Gulden in their midfield going forward.

Sportsbet Odds 18/1/2025 (chances are you’re about to lose) 7.00 Jagga Smith (Carlton), Levi Ashcroft (Brisbane Lions) 10.00 Finn O'Sullivan (North Melbourne), Josh Smillie (Richmond), Samuel Lalor (Richmond) 13.00 Harvey Langford (Melbourne) 15.00 Sid Draper (Adelaide) 18.00 Nate Caddy (Essendon) 21.00 Bo Allan (West Coast Eagles), Daniel Curtin (Adelaide) 26.00 Isaac Kako (Essendon), Leonardo Lombard (Gold Coast Suns), Tobie Travaglia (St Kilda) 34.00 Xavier Lindsay (Melbourne) 41.00 Archie Roberts (Essendon), Cooper Hynes (Western Bulldogs), Hugo Garcia (St Kilda), Kane McAuliffe (Richmond) 51.00 Alix Tauru (St Kilda), Christian Moraes (Port Adelaide), Harry Armstrong (Richmond), Hugh Boxshall (St Kilda), Jake Rogers (Gold Coast Suns), Joe Berry (Port Adelaide), Koltyn Tholstrup (Melbourne), Murphy Reid (Fremantle), Taj Hotton (Richmond)

A lot to unpack here - THE BIG QUESTIONS – MELBOURNE 2025 SEASON PREVIEW

Yep - the rest are in the gym.

Can you attend a Devil’s Advocate function if you’re on the staff of Pomeroy's Wine Bar? Asking for a friend.

Tairon Ah-Mu deserves an asterisk as well. (Melbourne NGA but not eligible under the usual NGA rules … because, Melbourne) *

Yes but you need to take into account the family situation with Kalani’s mother and brothers still living on the Gold Coast and perhaps not so inclined to move down to Melbourne.

Cogito, ergo sum In the words of the great French philosopher René Descartes, "I think, therefore I am". This is a thought of my own. No inside information whatsoever - just reading a few tea leaves.

I think we might do a trade with the Saints for Tomlinson to help them maintain the best level of compensation for Battle. Player could be Membrey.

Saints apparently no longer in the race for Houston. Does anyone know whether this has prompted a move to remove their president and board and sack the coach?

The umpiring decision that cost Fremantle a finals place.

Yes, the fine reds served at Pomeroy’s Wine Bar was the catalyst along with articles written by fine journalists like Jay Clark and astute observers such as Kane Cornes Esquire.

Now hear me out … After hearing and reading all of the reports from many of the experts in the media, I think one thing is very clear. The Melbourne Football Club has a poor culture, it’s poorly run, badly coached and players are rushing to desert it like rats on a sinking ship. One commentator is even comparing our situation with the time the club sacked Norm Smith which was followed by years in the wilderness. We are cactus. My recommendation on how to solve this is for the AFL to do exactly what it has done in the past to give clubs in distress a leg up in their time of hardship and need. Only this time to be proactive and provide draft relief in advance so the competition won’t have to hold up a perennial basket case for a number of years. A couple of first round draft picks should do the trick. Come on MFC. Make the application for draft relief to maintain a competitive AFL for all clubs!

The likes of Cornes, Morris, Sam McClure are the equivalent in journalism of the American “yellow press” who use eye-catching headlines and sensationalized exaggerations for increased sales. They are characterized by exaggerated headlines, unverified claims, partisan agendas, and a focus on topics like crime, scandal, sports, and violence. In Britain and here, it’s called the “tabloid press” and these days it’s equivalent can also be found on Tik Tok and other social media platforms. These guys are television’s equivalent of clickbait. So yes, they are doing their job but it’s a low grade of journalism that relies on speculation and innuendo, often has little regard for the truth and rarely does any fact checking which is why this story clearly deserves the contempt many here have heaped upon the above trio in this thread. They’re doing their job which is to attract ratings from a mindless public.

They must have been great times to produce so many great men with fantastic work ethics both inside the footy field and in their occupations. Jim Sandral was a true man of the land who liked his sport but also loved his work and the country life in the days before the game was truly professional. The club lost too many of its best players too early because they needed to secure their futures. Vale to Jim Sandral on a life well lived.

And if the match committee wants to rest Max a bit longer

What number does he get? Surely the club will hold Gus’ # 10 for a season. I’m looking at the number 34 which is vacant. 2024 Melbourne numbers — 1. Steven May 2. Jacob van Rooyen 3. Christian Salem 4. Judd McVee 5. Christian Petracca 6. Caleb Windsor 7. Jack Viney 8. Jake Lever 9. Charlie Spargo 11. Max Gawn 12. Lachie Hunter 13. Clayton Oliver 14. Jack Billings 15. Ed Langdon 16. Bailey Laurie 17. Jake Bowey 18. Jake Melksham 19. Josh Schache 20. Adam Tomlinson 21. Matt Jefferson 22. Blake Howes 23. Shane McAdam 24. Trent Rivers 25. Tom McDonald 26. Jed Adams 27. Marty Hore 28. Will Verrall 29. Joel Smith 30. Alex Neal-Bullen 31. Bayley Fritsch 32. Tom Sparrow 33. Tom Fullarton 35. Harry Petty 36. Kysaiah Pickett 37. Kade Chandler 38. Oliver Sestan 39. Koltyn Tholstrop 40. Taj Woewodin 41. Kynan Brown 42. Daniel Turner 43. Kyah Farris-White 45. Andy Moniz-Wakefield 50. Ben Brown

2024 AFL MID SEASON DRAFT SELECTIONS: 1. North Melbourne- Geordie Payne (Tassie) mid/fwd 2. Richmond- Jacob Blight (Peel Thunder) Defender 3. West Coast- Jack Hutchinson (Pies VFL) Forward 4. St Kilda- Max Hall (Box Hill VFL) mdifielder 5. Hawthorn- Jasper Scaife (West Perth) FWD 6. Brisbane- Will McLachlan (Geelong Falcons) FWD 7. Adelaide- Toby Murray (Crows SANFL) FWD 8. Western Bulldogs - Kelsey Rypstra (North Adelaide small fwd 9. Carlton- Cooper Lord (Roos VFL) - utility 10. Collingwood- Ilro Smit (tall ruck/fwd) 11. Melbourne- Luker Kentfield (Subicao WAFL) tall fwd 12. Port Adelaide- Logan Evans (Port SANFL) half back 13. Essendon- Saad El Hawli (North Bullants VFL) speedy wing/half back 14. Sydney- Tom Hanly (Gippsland Power) small forward 15. North Melbourne- Brynn Teakle (former Port Adelaide player) ruckman 16. Richmond- Campell Gray (Essendon VFL) key position player fwd/back 17. Brisbane- Luke Beecken (SANFL Woodville West Torrens) mid/defender 18. Adelaide- Pass 19. Collingwood- Ned Long (Former Hawks player/Pies VFL)- midfielder 20. Richmond- PASS 21. Brisbane- Darcy Craven (East Perth WAFL forward) 22. Adelaide- Pass 23. Brisbane- PASS

Once the AFL and the club sort out the salary cap repercussions of Angus’ forced retirement, the list place vacated can be filled in the mid season draft (if the club wants to pick someone). The more interesting question is what happens in the case of the player currently under suspension pending completion of the investigation into the charges alleged against him? What happens in the event of a player found guilty and suspended for a period beyond the end of his contract? Can the contract be terminated? What happens with his list place? Note: these are hypothetical questions and are not related to a particular case.

Strange night for adjudication. The official free kick count was 30 to 20 in Collingwood’s favour for a total of 50 free kicks on the night. I recall quite a few holding the ball decisions being paid that were of a kind let go in last weekend’s Hawthorn v Melbourne game so I checked the stats from that game (20 - 17). That’s 26% less and I’m wondering if the AFL has issued a directive to the umpires about enforcing the holding the ball rule this week? I guess we’ll see as the round unfolds.

6. Christian Petracca 5. Bayley Fritsch 4. Alex Neal-Bullen 3. Christian Salem 2. Max Gawn 1. Kozzy Pickett