SINCE Melbourne played its last match of the 2011 season against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on September 4, the club has been at the forefront of news in the AFL. Melbournefc.com.au editor Matt Burgan looks back on the past four months in a special four-part series …
November
2 - Jim Stynes says he is delighted with new coach Mark Neeld. He tells 3AW, “It looks like we have a coach now that is really serious and he is not going to relax. He is not going to sit back and let it all happen. He is going to create it - it's good.” He then becomes the first person in Australia to trial a drug which could give hope to thousands of cancer patients. The drug is called Ipilmumab, a new immune-stimulation treatment. Also on 3AW, Stynes speaks about his health situation. He says, “I wouldn't be the person I am today unless I had this experience, so I've had to wake up. I've been able to let go. We're not here to just chase the dollar, because ego just drives most people's lives. It's about letting go of that ego and seeing where then life will take you, because you've got to listen and most people are too busy to listen.” Stynes also talks about his new muesli, called ‘Jimbo’.
11 - Coach Mark Neeld says a recent pre-season time-time showed how much Melbourne needed to improve its fitness. He tells 3AW, "I will be absolutely staggered if the Melbourne footy club gets to the start of next season and we're not fit enough to compete.”
14 - Former Demon star Brett Lovett is appointed coach of the Casey Scorpions for the next two seasons. Lovett, who played 235 matches for Melbourne from 1986-97 (he sits 10th on the club’s all-time games record), said he was delighted to return to Melbourne via its VFL affiliate. “It’s been 13 years since I’ve been at Melbourne and I played 13 years at Melbourne,” Lovett tells melbournefc.com.au.
15 - Melbourne invites Tom Couch, the son of 1989 Brownlow Medallist Paul Couch, to train with the club. Couch, who played with Collingwood’s VFL team in 2011, is the only additional player outside of Melbourne’s list to be training at the club at this point.
16 - Ruckman Mark Jamar says he wants to be part of Melbourne’s 2012 leadership group. He says, “I’m aiming to become part of the leadership group and I’m focusing on my actions and the way I present myself around the club, the way I train and the way I instruct others around the club. That’s been my focus, I’ve been here for 10 years now and this is my 11th pre-season, so that comes with more responsibility I reckon.”
17 - Melbourne great Harold ‘Hassa’ Mann wins the Melbourne Cricket Club’s Hans Ebeling Award. Introduced in 1981, the award honours those who have given outstanding service to the MCC’s Sporting Sections.
21 - Melbourne is on target to record a profit this year. Chief executive Cameron Schwab tells The Age, “The official figures, when they are released, will show Melbourne has made a profit for the year of about $6 million.”
23 - Brad Green says he wants to continue as captain in 2012. He says, “I certainly would [like to captain the club next year], but whatever is best for the Melbourne Football Club, and that's always what I've been about.” Meanwhile, national recruiting manager Barry Prendergast says the upcoming NAB AFL Draft won’t have the depth as recent years. “This year’s draft pool I wouldn’t think is anywhere near as strong as the previous three, but we’ll just wait and see what happens on the day. We’re really just looking for players who fit in the current model.”
24 - Melbourne drafts three players at the NAB AFL Draft - Rory Taggert (selection No.36), Josh Tynan (No.52) and James Sellar (No.54). Taggert is from North Ballarat Rebels and Tynan from Gippsland Power. Sellar is a mature-age draftee, having played 21 matches for Adelaide Crows.
25 - Coach Mark Neeld says new Demon James Sellar can step straight up into the club’s best 22. Neeld says, “We see him as a player who can step right into the side now. He’s a versatile player, who can play key back or key forward, and we also have a strong belief that he’s just what our list needs right now.” Neeld adds youngsters Rory Taggert and Josh Tynan will be “people Melbourne will be able to rely on in years to come”.
28 - Melbourne invites four players - Freddie Clutterbuck (East Perth), Carl Nicolson (Glenelg), Fletcher Roberts (Sandringham Dragons) and Jai Sheahan (Geelong Falcons) - to train with its squad in the lead-up to the December 13 NAB AFL Rookie Draft. The Demons continue to have Tom Couch (Collingwood VFL) train with them. Melbourne will have no selections in the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft, but will have four in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
29 - New recruit James Sellar says he wasn’t sure if he would get another opportunity in the AFL. He says, “I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I wasn’t sure going into the Draft what was going to happen. To hear my name called out at [selection] 54 was a big thrill. It was good for me to get a second chance - not a lot of players get the opportunity to get a second chance. I’m looking forward to making the most of it. I went through a couple of months of not knowing what was going to happen.”
November
2 - Jim Stynes says he is delighted with new coach Mark Neeld. He tells 3AW, “It looks like we have a coach now that is really serious and he is not going to relax. He is not going to sit back and let it all happen. He is going to create it - it's good.” He then becomes the first person in Australia to trial a drug which could give hope to thousands of cancer patients. The drug is called Ipilmumab, a new immune-stimulation treatment. Also on 3AW, Stynes speaks about his health situation. He says, “I wouldn't be the person I am today unless I had this experience, so I've had to wake up. I've been able to let go. We're not here to just chase the dollar, because ego just drives most people's lives. It's about letting go of that ego and seeing where then life will take you, because you've got to listen and most people are too busy to listen.” Stynes also talks about his new muesli, called ‘Jimbo’.
11 - Coach Mark Neeld says a recent pre-season time-time showed how much Melbourne needed to improve its fitness. He tells 3AW, "I will be absolutely staggered if the Melbourne footy club gets to the start of next season and we're not fit enough to compete.”
14 - Former Demon star Brett Lovett is appointed coach of the Casey Scorpions for the next two seasons. Lovett, who played 235 matches for Melbourne from 1986-97 (he sits 10th on the club’s all-time games record), said he was delighted to return to Melbourne via its VFL affiliate. “It’s been 13 years since I’ve been at Melbourne and I played 13 years at Melbourne,” Lovett tells melbournefc.com.au.
15 - Melbourne invites Tom Couch, the son of 1989 Brownlow Medallist Paul Couch, to train with the club. Couch, who played with Collingwood’s VFL team in 2011, is the only additional player outside of Melbourne’s list to be training at the club at this point.
16 - Ruckman Mark Jamar says he wants to be part of Melbourne’s 2012 leadership group. He says, “I’m aiming to become part of the leadership group and I’m focusing on my actions and the way I present myself around the club, the way I train and the way I instruct others around the club. That’s been my focus, I’ve been here for 10 years now and this is my 11th pre-season, so that comes with more responsibility I reckon.”
17 - Melbourne great Harold ‘Hassa’ Mann wins the Melbourne Cricket Club’s Hans Ebeling Award. Introduced in 1981, the award honours those who have given outstanding service to the MCC’s Sporting Sections.
21 - Melbourne is on target to record a profit this year. Chief executive Cameron Schwab tells The Age, “The official figures, when they are released, will show Melbourne has made a profit for the year of about $6 million.”
23 - Brad Green says he wants to continue as captain in 2012. He says, “I certainly would [like to captain the club next year], but whatever is best for the Melbourne Football Club, and that's always what I've been about.” Meanwhile, national recruiting manager Barry Prendergast says the upcoming NAB AFL Draft won’t have the depth as recent years. “This year’s draft pool I wouldn’t think is anywhere near as strong as the previous three, but we’ll just wait and see what happens on the day. We’re really just looking for players who fit in the current model.”
24 - Melbourne drafts three players at the NAB AFL Draft - Rory Taggert (selection No.36), Josh Tynan (No.52) and James Sellar (No.54). Taggert is from North Ballarat Rebels and Tynan from Gippsland Power. Sellar is a mature-age draftee, having played 21 matches for Adelaide Crows.
25 - Coach Mark Neeld says new Demon James Sellar can step straight up into the club’s best 22. Neeld says, “We see him as a player who can step right into the side now. He’s a versatile player, who can play key back or key forward, and we also have a strong belief that he’s just what our list needs right now.” Neeld adds youngsters Rory Taggert and Josh Tynan will be “people Melbourne will be able to rely on in years to come”.
28 - Melbourne invites four players - Freddie Clutterbuck (East Perth), Carl Nicolson (Glenelg), Fletcher Roberts (Sandringham Dragons) and Jai Sheahan (Geelong Falcons) - to train with its squad in the lead-up to the December 13 NAB AFL Rookie Draft. The Demons continue to have Tom Couch (Collingwood VFL) train with them. Melbourne will have no selections in the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft, but will have four in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
29 - New recruit James Sellar says he wasn’t sure if he would get another opportunity in the AFL. He says, “I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I wasn’t sure going into the Draft what was going to happen. To hear my name called out at [selection] 54 was a big thrill. It was good for me to get a second chance - not a lot of players get the opportunity to get a second chance. I’m looking forward to making the most of it. I went through a couple of months of not knowing what was going to happen.”
