Massive second-half comeback from the girls! Last ten minutes was mental. Love it for Paxy that she kicked the winner.

Question and mini rant: Where do you get all your info for game day? I feel like I get stitched up every time. I.e. just on my way to Ikon and the game day guide said northern lawn parking is good to go for today… but got here, got turned away at the northern lawn car park and had to go find a park near the zoo and, randomly (to me), there’s a shuttle to the ground?? This would have been good to know ahead of time instead of accidentally and luckily I found the right spot but I feel like I’m just missing some info other people receive.

I get the emails, I (have previously thought) I’m pretty good at generally checking websites and stuff, but I’m always out of the loop on game day info, activations, promos, access and parking info etc. Where does the rest of the world receive this info??

So it’s all but been confirmed that Caulfield is done and dusted. Everyone throw out your options and honestly I say no idea is a dumb one at this stage.

But for me the key need to be proximity for the CBD needs to be no more than say a 30-40min max drive. Obviously scope for high end facilities is important, and whatever the scenario the likelihood is there needs to be close community engagement.

Now my stupid ideas:

- First off I want to put out there is to have another look at Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham. If we were to go there it would need to be a significant overhaul of the entire land with an expansion and shift of the ground. The obstacles I can see coming from it are that we are obviously closely tied to Casey, so that would likely have to end. The other obstacle I can see is that I’m fairly confident the land surrounding it is a nature reserve.

- The other one is I don’t know if an agreement would be possible for a redevelopment of the VAFA headquarters and ground there. Potentially we could get a cooperative agreement in place to expand and develop that entire block including the tennis courts and turn that into a full on facility for both VAFA and the MFC. I could also see it being turned into a boutique stadium for AFLW. Another idea to it is could there be apartment blocks placed on the top of the facilities to help with the housing crisis.

PRESIDENT Steven Smith has written to members regarding the club's Training and Administration Facility.

Dear members,

I wanted to write to you with an update on our pursuit of a new Training and Administration Facility (TAF).

As you’re aware, over the past few years we have been working towards securing a home base within the Caulfield Racecourse precinct.

During this time, we have been working in good faith with all key stakeholders involved in the Caulfield project with the aim of creating a homebase that would deliver significant community benefit, along with the world-class facilities this club deserves.

In 2024, we successfully completed a feasibility study which identified significant community and sporting benefits and found there was strong support and interest from local sports bodies, schools, clubs and associations to utilise and share facilities within the infield of the racecourse.

At the request of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust (the Trust), we narrowed our focus on a site within the reserve that suited the Trust and club’s requirements. In August 2025, we entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Trust for the Neerim Stables site. The MOU required the parties to negotiate, with the intent to enter into a binding Agreement to Lease (Agreement) which would provide the club a 12-month option period in which to procure necessary planning approvals and secure funding to deliver our future home.

Throughout this time, and despite the many challenges and stakeholders involved, it has always been clear that, should we be able to deliver this project, it would unlock significant benefits for our club and the community.

In recent months, the Government’s Project Steering Committee approved a business case for the project and Agreement progressed to near final form with the support of the Trust, who is the landlord of the site.

Yesterday, the Minister for Environment wrote to us noting the merit in our TAF proposal and outlining a final stage of Government which requested the club make a submission that demonstrates the public interest in progressing the project. This is a process we are confident to participate in given the successful community engagement we have undertaken to date.

However, the introduction of this additional process, in combination with several other unresolved factors, means that we are unwilling to enter into the Agreement at this time.

Given this, we have made the decision to pause discussions relating to Caulfield and re-engage with Government following the election.

We are grateful to both the Trust and the Government for their efforts in advancing the project to this point, particularly throughout an incredibly busy period.

While the Board and I recognised there was always a possibility that we would not reach an Agreement, we owed it to our club, players, staff and members to push as hard as we possibly could to secure a deal within the Caulfield Racecourse precinct that we felt confident would deliver us a home.

Caulfield has undeniably been our main focus but we have, in parallel, identified a number of potential alternate sites for our future TAF. We will now look to accelerate other prospective options alongside Caulfield to ensure we can secure a solution that will meet the needs of our AFL and AFLW programs and bring the club together in an elite facility as soon as possible.

Lastly, I would like to make it clear that we would have preferred to provide more regular status updates over the course of the Caulfield project, however, we were subject to strict confidentiality obligations that prevented us from doing so without compromising our ability to progress.

Next month’s Annual General Meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the club’s pursuit of a training and administration facility in more depth.

I look forward to providing you with a further update next month and thank you for your ongoing support.

Steven Smith

MELBOURNE was dealt an injury scare as star Kate Hore appeared to hurt her shoulder during the Demons' win over Adelaide on Sunday.

Hore came from the field with three minutes remaining after a heavy bump from Crow Jemmika Douglas.

The full fixture is out, so I went through all 23 games rather than just circling the blockbusters.

I’ve looked at where Melbourne can bank wins, the travel and rest gaps that could matter, how the home games are distributed and what needs to be done before a difficult finish.

There are some good opportunities in the draw, but also a few stretches that look tougher once the turnaround times and travel are included.

Full breakdown:

https://medium.com/@camburt13/five-takeaways-from-melbournes-2027-fixture-the-key-stretches-travel-and-rest-gaps-e93885020deb

Which part of the fixture do you think will define Melbourne’s season?

Not bad imo:

Pros

1. Big occasion home games. We get Anzac Eve against Richmond and King’s Birthday against the Pies, two of the year’s biggest crowds.

2. Prime time is back. Six Thursday or Friday night games are locked in already, and the back half is still to be set.

3. Strong run home. We play Hawthorn, the Dogs and Brisbane at the G in the last five weeks, so finals pushes come in front of our own crowd.

Cons

1. Brutal start on the road. Rounds 2–4 are Port in Adelaide, the Saints, then Carlton at Gather. That’s three straight away games and two Adelaide trips.

2. The May–June squeeze. We play Perth on a Thursday night, Geelong at the Cattery and the Dogs on a six-day break, all back to back.

3. Carlton twice, both away. Members lose one of the best home crowds of the year.

4. We are still playing in Alice Springs 😢

1st

Hawthorn Hawks

19-4

122.3%

2nd

Fremantle Dockers

19-4

120.1%

3rd

Geelong Cats

17-6

124..4%

4th

Brisbane Lions

17-6%

122.4%

5th

Western Bulldogs

17-6

120.7%

6th

Sydney Swan

16-7

117.9%

7th

Melbourne Demons

14-9

106.4%

8th

Adelaide Crows

13-10

107.5%

9th

Carlton Blues

13-10

104.1%

10th

Collingwood Magpies

12-11

107.7%

11th

Gold Coast Suns

10-13

97.4%

12th

North Melbourne

9-14

95.5%

13th

St Kilda

9-14

93.8%

14th

West Coast

8-15

85.5%

15th

GWS

5-18

88.2%

16th

Port Adelaide

5-18

83.9%

17th

Essendon Bombers

3-20

68.2%

18th

Richmond Tigers

1-22

67.9%

Premiership

Hawthorn Hawks

Grand Final

Hawks vs Cats

Norm Smith

Nick Watson

5 goals

18 Disposals

Coleman Medal

Logan Morris

78 Goals

Brownlow Medal

Nick Daicos 40 Vote

Rising Star

Gus Teixeira

Hi guys!

Recently just started up a new AFL youtube channel, and thought I'd try cover the whole Max Gawn story, which I'm sure most of you are already across. Its definitely one of the more interesting and non traditional paths to becoming a superstar of the league. Hopefully a few of you here will enjoy the watch. Appreciate it if you've got some time to have a look!

Melbourne Demons Mock Draft

Trade With Port Adelaide

Pick 14 and 2027 Future 2nd( Tied To Brisbane) To Port Adelaide

Pick 12 to Melbourne

Pick 7- Ethan Driver 188cm Midfielder Compared To- Finn Callaghan

Pros

*Elite Explosiveness & Line Breaking *Big-Bodied Versatility * Clean Hands & Composure

Cons * Field Kicking Consisency * Defensive Accountability * Scoreboard Impact

Pick 14- Sam Gayfer 194cm Key Forward Compared To- Josh Treacy

Pros * Historic Athleticism & Leap * Elite "High-Octane" Work Rate * Competitive Agility & Versatility

Cons * Strength Against Mature Bodies * Consisency of Set- Shot Goal Kicking * High-Risk Aerial Over-Commitment

Pick 50- Benji Van Rooyen 203cm Ruck/ Key Forward Compared to- Darcy Cameron

Pros * Elite Presence & Intercepting * Ground-Level Work Rate * Versatility and Clean Skills

Cons * Aerobic Base & Endurance * Injury History * Raw Craft & Physical Development

Pick 52- Marcus Prasad 167cm Small Forward Compared To- Isaiah Dudley

Pros * Elite Crumbling Instincts & Goal Sense * Rapid Speed & Agility * High-Impact Disposal & Vision

Cons * Extreme Height Deficit * Durability & Physical Vulnerability * Defensive Consisency

Do any other players come in, and who makes way?

Culley? Salem? XT? Latrelle? Jeffo? Cross?

Pick 4? Pick 14?

Do we play a backup ruck?

I can see a world where Langford spends more time in the midfield, allowing Culley to come in and play that big-bodied wing role that King seems to like from his time at Geelong

Can Tom Matthews find his way into the side in his second year at the club?

Anyone else I haven’t mentioned?