I’ve put together a proper off-season state of play rather than another list of trade rumours.

The number that surprised me most was this: Melbourne carried 45 players in 2025, but only 26 are currently confirmed to still be there in 2027. If Rivers leaves, that becomes 25.

I’ve gone through the Rivers situation, Duursma, Dear, Macdonald, Marshall, picks 6, 10 and 43, and why Tasmania’s arrival makes this such an important window.

King managed to completely change the football before he had the chance to change the list. Now Lamb and Taylor appear ready to get very aggressive in building the side he actually wants.

Would you keep both top-10 picks, or be prepared to move one if it landed two or three of these targets?

https://medium.com/@camburt13/melbournes-aggressive-list-reset-where-the-off-season-stands-and-what-comes-next-fe10d444eba4

PLEASE

MELBOURNE has made five changes to its AFL list, informing Jack Henderson, Aidan Johnson, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Riley Onley and Kalani White that they will not be offered contracts for the 2027 AFL season.

MELBOURNE’S Jed Adams has put pen to paper, recommitting to Melbourne until at least the end of 2027.

The 196cm key defender made his AFL debut late in the 2025 season after stringing together a series of consistent performances at VFL level with the Casey Demons.

Melbourne AFL List Manager Tim Lamb expressed his belief in Adams’ continued development.

“Jed has shown some really promising signs through the Casey Demons since being drafted,” Lamb said.

“We have great belief in what Jed can and will continue to bring to the program in the future.” 

Originally from Western Australia, the 22-year-old has the versatility to play at both ends of the ground but is at his best when tasked with competing against the opposition’s strongest key forwards.

Adams was selected with Pick 38 in the 2022 National Draft from South Mandurah in Western Australia and developed through Peel Thunder in the WAFL.

His recommitment to the club is another positive step in the young defenders development as he looks to establish himself at AFL level.

High-Performance Manager Selwyn Griffith will depart the club after six seasons in the red and blue.

Griffith joined Melbourne ahead of the 2021 season as Head of Strength and Conditioning, before being appointed High-Performance Manager ahead of the 2022 season.

Chief of Football and Innovation Ned Guy thanked Griffith for his contribution across his time at the club.

“Selwyn has been an important part of our football program across the past six seasons,” Guy said.

“He has led our high-performance program and worked closely with our players, coaches and football staff to ensure our players are prepared to perform at the highest level each week.

“Selwyn was also part of the 2021 AFL Premiership campaign and has contributed across an important period for our football program.

“We thank Selwyn for his contribution to the club and wish him, Terese and their family all the very best for the future.”

Submitting as a text post because I seem unable to export the data from the Google sheet into something I am able to upload to reddit, I'm sure there is a way, I am a luddite, sorry. Here are the players, their 'medal score' (if awarding an overall 3-2-1 for each round) and total cumulative votes.

Max Gawn | 32 - (390)
Kozzie Pickett | 24 - (372)
Tom Sparrow | 12 - (177)
Jacob Van Rooyen | 11 - (141)
Kade Chandler | 10 - (152)
Disco Turner | 9 - (140)
Harrison Petty | 6 - (132)
Jack Steele | 5 - (102)
Harvey Langford | 5 - (84)
Jake Lever | 5 - (61)
Jake Bowey | 4 - (72)
Ed Langdon | 4 - (59)
Koltyn Tholstrup | 3 - (28)
Joel Fitzgerald | 3 - (23)
Harry Sharp | 1 - (41)
Bailey Fristch | 1 - (31)
Jake Melksham | 1 - (23)
Caleb Windsor | 1 (21)
Matthew Jefferson | 1 (14)
Trent Rivers | (15)
Brody Mihocek | (12)
Bailey Laurie | (11)
CJ | (5)
Max Heath | (4)
Latrelle Pickett | (3)
Christian Salem | (3)
Jai Culley | (2)
Paddy Cross | (1)
Tom McDonald | (1)

R1 | 3 - Gawn / 2 - JVR / 1 - Sharp
R2 | 3 - Gawn / 2 - Langdon / 1 - Tholstrup
R3 | 3 - Koz / 2 - Lever / 1 - Gawn
R4 | 3 - Steele / 2 - Gawn / 1 - Melksham
R5 | 3 - Koz / 2 - Turner / 1 - Gawn
R6 | 3 - Chandler / 2 - Langford / 1 - Koz
R7 | 3 - Koz / 2 - Sparrow / 1 - Windsor
R8 | 3 - Turner / 2 - Koz / 1 - Sparrow
R9 | 3 - JVR / 2 - Chandler / 1 - Langdon
R10 | 3 - Turner / 2 - Sparrow / 1 - Gawn
R11 | 3 - Gawn / 2 - Koz / 1 - Turner
R12 | 3 - Gawn / 2 - Bowey / 1 - Steele
R13 | 3 - Koz / 2 - Lever / 1 - Langford
R14 | 3 - Koz / 2 - Gawn / 1 - Langdon
R15 | 3 - Gawn / 2 - Chandler / 1 - Sparrow
R17 | 3 - JVR / 2 - Gawn / 1 - Fritta
R18 | 3 - JVR / 2 - Bowey / 1 - Fitzgerald
R19 | 3 - Sparrow / 2 - Koz / 1 - Jefferson
R20 | 3 - Petty / 2 - Sparrow / 1 - Lever
R21 | 3 - Gawn / 2 - Fitzgerald / 1 - Sparrow
R22 | 3 - Petty / 2 - Koz / 1 - Langford
R23 | 3 - Chandler / 2 - Gawn / 1 - Steele
WC | 3 - Gawn / 2 - Tholstrup / 1 - Langford

One last Five Things for 2026.

I'm a pyscho and rewatched the game this morning, looked at how Melbourne turned 45 inside 50s into only 55 points, why Carlton’s 417 disposals didn’t carry its usual level of control and where the performances ranked for Harvey Langford, Kozzie Pickett and Tom Sparrow.

Langford’s game was his seventh-highest rated performance at AFL level and fourth-best of 2026. For Pickett and Sparrow, the numbers told a very different story.

Plenty to unpack from a game that probably summed up Melbourne’s season better than we would have liked.

https://medium.com/@camburt13/melbourne-landed-the-first-four-blows-carlton-landed-the-last-five-things-i-noticed-against-the-7ba3ca3c5f4e

Time to look at the future.

Confirmed leaving: May, Melksham, McDonald, McAdam, Campbell. The average age of our list drops by a full year with these changes!

Question mark: Mihochek. Can he or should he play on?

Likely to be delisted:

- Henderson and Johnson. Both are great VFL players but don't have it for the next level.

- Adams. 1 game in 4 years Has barely looked like cracking the senior team. Considering our need for a key defender this year but he still didn't get a game, he's clearly not up to it.

Out on contract, decisions to be made:

- Salem. Out of contract as an unrestricted free agent. Does he look elsewhere, or do we encourage him to look elsewhere? He appears a little slow for the modern game but could look good in the right system. The Bombers would be smart to get him for leadership reasons.

- Laurie. 6 seasons in. Showed a bit in a few games late this year but then regressed to usual form against the Dogs and Blues. IMO he's had enough chances and I'd prefer to turn over for some youth with more promise. If we keep, 1 year deal.

Trade option:

- Rivers. Is it time for the move back to WA? I love Rivdog but I'm not sure what his place in the team is. Could we send Rivers, pick 6 and 43 to West Coast for 3 and 21?

This was meant to be a transition year, and instead it became a genuine shot at a finals campaign with a new identity. That’s the foundation we want set going into the new era under Kingy

Sure, some absolutely appalling umpiring tonight, yet the bottom line remains, we can’t change what’s happened tonight, no one ever can. Pickett could’ve, and should’ve kicked 3 or 4. No Roo, Lever or Jeffo. We can make all the excuses today, but when we needed to win last week and had the chance to lock in 5th, we were beaten by a team of experienced grown men in the dogs and the finals run we had projected in front of us saw more challenge than just that dogs team.

We will be back here, and back even stronger as our boys get faster and stronger, more confident and more accurate. Let’s not pretend we had this kind of season envisioned at the start of the year. I’m extremely proud of our boys, truly fun and dangerous. We can hope that pick 5 brings us a young Gawn understudy or another defender to develop. This group has given me the reason to come back to the G every week next year, and we might end up with more than just Sunday arvo games!

Chin up Dees fans, we have so much more to look forward to now, I’m just gutted we won’t see our boys until March! ❤️💙

Massively jeopardised your finals over a freak accident

I’m so fed up off see the media posting the 2023 finals game like only one club is playing. Media has done nothing to show support for us and you would’ve thought they already won. We must win today to shut up everyone and all their cocky ass’s. Love youse all and let’s go demons and raise hell.

Don’t know if I can stomach the AFL match thread.

Pro-Blues crowd for sure, get early scoreboard pressure and shut them up.

Let’s go! 💪

> They can GET STUFFED!

Incredible long form article from Josh Gabelich on the legend that is Austin Wonaeamirri.

Highly recommend the read. Awesome to hear how well Aussie's doing back home.

Really bad luck. That Rooyen suspension was bullshit, freak accident

We're gonna tear them apart.

No doubt fellow Dees fans.

Lets make alot of noise and support our boys who have fought so hard this year.

Our midfield looks so strong on paper, Cripps alone won't be enough to save em.

I'm only worried about one thing; having to leave the stadium afterwards and wade through 50000 sore baggers.

I spent far too long on this, but here’s my full preview of tomorrow night.

I went through every game Melbourne and Carlton played this season, separated Carlton’s numbers before and after Josh Fraser took over and ran 100,000 simulations of the matchup.

Carlton’s possession game is a genuine concern, but I’m not convinced perfect, controlled football survives four quarters of finals pressure. Melbourne has played in the contest and chaos all year. If the game gets ugly late, the Demons should be more comfortable there.

There’s also a deep dive into the selections, how Melksham could be used, five numbers that should tell the story and where Melbourne can break Carlton’s control.

I’m going with Melbourne by five. Have to go with heart in a final, right?!

Keen to know whether everyone else has the same confidence—or whether I’ve completely talked myself into it.

https://medium.com/@camburt13/control-vs-collision-the-complete-melbourne-carlton-wildcard-preview-09c6c3e57193

I read he just got delisted from North. Played 116 games. I reckon he would be a good DFA pick up on a rookie list. Worth a shot for a year.

What do you all think?