Open Mike: Todd Viney

[Grapeviney 9,034]

Was a good interview - some highlights below.

* It was the great Robbie Flower who helped get Viney to Melbourne. Todd was also talking to Essendon at the time, but when Melbourne invited him over to Victoria, it was Robbie who they dispatched to the airport to pick up Todd, who was impressed by Robbie's love for the game as they spoke on the way home. The following morning, Robbie appeared dressed up in a khaki suit, some sort of practical joke apparently.

* Todd actually went on the 1985 end-of-season trip to Hawaii with the MFC. On the plane Todd was talking to a player (who he refused to name) and mentioned that he was talking to the Dons, and the player said to him: "Well what the f*** are you doing on the plane with us?"

* Played chess with Barassi on the beach in Hawaii during that trip - Ron said to him: "I don't care how much talent you have, I care about what you do with it."

* Said he suffered a bad dose of the 2nd-year blues, and by his own admission, he was more interested in how many drink cards he could accumulate than possessions. Says he deserved to be dropped in the finals but Strawbs' suspension left the door open to return to the GF team. He wrote a letter to Northey begging to play, and suggested he line up on a wing from where he could clean up Brereton (something Brereton did the following year against Yeates).

* Loved to play aggressive - said when the opportunity arose to hurt someone on the field, he would.

* The biting incident with West Coast's Chris Lewis came at a time when AIDS was prominent. The bite drew blood. Viney said he was told he had to get a blood test; next thing, the Herald Sun was all over it with a front page saying Viney going for an AIDS test. Said in later years when he came across Mick Malthouse, Malthouse said he had never forgiven him (Viney) for what he did to Lewis. Unfortunately, Mike didn't follow this up and ask whether they were on speaking terms today.

* Being an assistant coach at Hawthorn for the 2008 flag is probably his favourite footy memory - the chance to teach, shape and mould a team and then see it come to fruition.

* Said the offer from Mark Philippoussis was too good to refuse - effectively doubling what he was earning at Melbourne, and Philippoussis was in good form at the time, but he ultimately ended up clashing with the 'Poo's father, Viney saying he was made a scapegoat.

* The MFC of 2011 (around the time of Bailey's sacking) was the 'most fractured' environment he'd ever been in. Said every decision was second-guessed, there was no trust, no self-belief and no real plan.

* Describes Roos as calm, logical, methodical. Says his eye is on the goal and he knows how to stay the course and shut out the noise in the background.

* Very proud of Jack and the way he goes about it. Says he's slowly learning about the feats of his father at the MFC.

* Also put to rest the apocryphal myth about beating Boris Becker. He did play against Stefan Edberg as a junior, which somehow morphed into Becker, and when Lou Richards mentioned it during an interview early on, Viney stayed silent and didn't correct the record.

* Spoke of the difficulty of having to speak at Robbie's funeral. Said he had copious notes, but no way of conveying in words just how good a person Robbie was. Also acknowledged the deaths of his other team-mates and friends, Jimmy and Sean, Dean Bailey, and Neale Daniher's battle with illness.

One other noteworthy thing was hearing Mike talk about Schwarz '94 - said he was as good as Carey at that stage, and Carey is his all-time no.1 best player.

Right at the end, Todd asked Mike if he could read a short statement on the drafting of Jimmy Toumpas. Mike said yes, but unfortunately time was up and the show ended just as Todd started reading.

[T&W 38]

T&w

Our coach is on 1.5 mil a year

I would be willing to say Goodwin and mcartney would be doing alright As well

Not all that underfunded these days

Think I already pointed that out above. Cheers

[Frosty Demon 153]

Anything except for that creepy photo of the guy with a beard you had before FD.

Can I suggest Kenny Powers?

Not a bad suggestion one man wolf pack

[T&W 38]

don't worry about t&w

in his previous incarnation he tried to convince us all to follow the direction carlton was taking

LOL

We did you goose we employed a Pro-scout ( opposition analysts ) all be it many years too late - what do you think Kelly O'Donnell does all week. Low and behold our trades are starting to get better - Who would have thought that one out.

[Deestroy All 14,262]

Right at the end, Todd asked Mike if he could read a short statement on the drafting of Jimmy Toumpas. Mike said yes, but unfortunately time was up and the show ended just as Todd started reading.

lol love your work, GV.

[Demonic Faves 39]

Stop being a dick SWYL. I'm so glad you give the club buckets of money. I hope Roosy is enjoying his Moët while your sucking lemons.

[What 18,810]

Right at the end, Todd asked Mike if he could read a short statement on the drafting of Jimmy Toumpas. Mike said yes, but unfortunately time was up and the show ended just as Todd started reading.

LOL gold

[nutbean 8,837]

I TOLD YOU I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE JOURNALIST'S SCENARIOS

I WANT TO KNOW WHY TODD BALKED AT A DECISION THAT HAS PUT US BACK YEARS

We had the best info of anyone and threw it away.

uggghhh....

banging.head.against.wall.

Again - you have just answered you own question.

"we had the best info of anyone"....spot on - we did and we didn't throw it away- we used it - that's why we picked Toumpas. The information we had at the time has turned out to be plain wrong - Why is that so hard to understand ?

We have had done due diligence on so many footballers - as have many other clubs - on what were considered the best footballers at the time and they also proved wrong.

[What 18,810]

Call me crazy but I have a weird feeling Ollie Wines will still end up a Demon

[Scipio 5,896]

Call me crazy but I have a weird feeling Ollie Wines will still end up a Demon

I'm sure you have many weird feelings h_h. That would be a welcome one though!

[48 Year Now 50]

I will never understand us not drafting Wines. Once in a generation an opportunity comes around to get a hard at it double act., and mates thrown i to the bargain. We knew that would be the case if we drafted both Wines and Viney. Yes some rated Toumpas higher but it was always about a double act and the dynamics that brings to a team, particularly a midfield. So individually, yes Toumpas over Wines made sense on paper. But Viney plus Wines v Viney plus Toumpas was a no brainer.

[Scipio 5,896]

I will never understand us not drafting Wines. Once in a generation an opportunity comes around to get a hard at it double act., and mates thrown i to the bargain. We knew that would be the case if we drafted both Wines and Viney. Yes some rated Toumpas higher but it was always about a double act and the dynamics that brings to a team, particularly a midfield. So individually, yes Toumpas over Wines made sense on paper. But Viney plus Wines v Viney plus Toumpas was a no brainer.

Possibly the greatest in a long series of blunders. But now we have to move forward and hope beyond hope that Roosy can form Toumpas into a good, solid player.

I bloody wish we had have drafted Wines though :''''(.

[Coup Cooper 610]

Anyone got a link to it? Or non existent yet??

[jumbo returns 6,593]

Possibly the greatest in a long series of blunders. But now we have to move forward and hope beyond hope that Roosy can form Toumpas into a good, solid player.

I bloody wish we had have drafted Wines though :''''(.

Don't ignite that old chestnut, DJ....

[rjay 24,096]

Call me crazy but I have a weird feeling Ollie Wines will still end up a Demon

You're crazy...

[Sir Why You Little 35,119]

Stop being a [censored] SWYL. I'm so glad you give the club buckets of money. I hope Roosy is enjoying his Moët while your sucking lemons.

Thanks for your contributions DF, what do you contribute apart from abuse?

[Sir Why You Little 35,119]

uggghhh....

banging.head.against.wall.

Again - you have just answered you own question.

"we had the best info of anyone"....spot on - we did and we didn't throw it away- we used it - that's why we picked Toumpas. The information we had at the time has turned out to be plain wrong - Why is that so hard to understand ?

We have had done due diligence on so many footballers - as have many other clubs - on what were considered the best footballers at the time and they also proved wrong.

No

We had people recruiting who should not have been doing the dam job

[nutbean 8,837]

I will never understand us not drafting Wines. Once in a generation an opportunity comes around to get a hard at it double act., and mates thrown i to the bargain. We knew that would be the case if we drafted both Wines and Viney. Yes some rated Toumpas higher but it was always about a double act and the dynamics that brings to a team, particularly a midfield. So individually, yes Toumpas over Wines made sense on paper. But Viney plus Wines v Viney plus Toumpas was a no brainer.

Revisionism at it's very best.

Not some rated higher - all rated Toumpas higher ( including Jack Viney who had the benefit of playing with both Wines and Toumpas).

The likes of Quayle forming opinions - she watches, she talks to recruiters, she talks to the TAC clubs - there is some research that goes into her opinions as to how players are ranked.

What does that even mean Toumpas over Wines made sense on paper but Wines plus Viney was a no brainer ???

Jumping up and down about Toumpas over Wines makes as much sense to me as jumping up and down about Tapscott ( and Scully/Trengove/Gysberts) over Fyfe

[nutbean 8,837]

No

We had people recruiting who should not have been doing the dam job

Stringer is looking a good bet too - he went one pick after Toumpas - why aren't you incensed at us not picking him ?

( you must not rate the doggies recruiting either as they passed on Wines as well - I would say their last 3 drafts have been very good).

The same people who shouldn't have been doing the damn job picked up Hogan in the same draft... hmmmm

I need to stop engaging with you on this as there is zero logic to your argument and all emotion. I understand that a draft pick has not met expectation and others taken later have proven better footballers but copious amounts of hand wringing and emotion is no substitute for logical argument .

edit - I do wonder if the doggy fans are jumping up and down on Macrae over Wines - Macrae has had some moments but is no Wines. And SOS who is rated so highly needs to his butt kicked - none of their first three picks have come close to Wines output.

To me this biggest question mark in that draft is not Wines but how on earth Brodie Grundy slipped to 18 ?

Edited May 5, 2015 by nutbean

[Uncle Fester 2,841]

No

We had people recruiting who should not have been doing the dam job

Then put your bloody hand up and go do better.

[praha 10,434]

Mike should confirm if the Mark Neeld/lollies in the coach's box story and the story of his run in with Stefan Martin are true.

Continue...

[hemingway 7,608]

Revisionism at it's very best.

Not some rated higher - all rated Toumpas higher ( including Jack Viney who had the benefit of playing with both Wines and Toumpas).

The likes of Quayle forming opinions - she watches, she talks to recruiters, she talks to the TAC clubs - there is some research that goes into her opinions as to how players are ranked.

What does that even mean Toumpas over Wines made sense on paper but Wines plus Viney was a no brainer ???

Jumping up and down about Toumpas over Wines makes as much sense to me as jumping up and down about Tapscott ( and Scully/Trengove/Gysberts) over Fyfe

Yes Nut, this is true. An acquaintance of mine, an ex-AFL great and media commentator who as you expect is well informed, also thought Toumpas was the pick over Wines. The word was that Toumpas was "a beauty."

He felt that we would get Wines. He said that Toumpas had the interest of all clubs including his old club.

[ManDee 7,093]

Stop being a [censored] SWYL. I'm so glad you give the club buckets of money. I hope Roosy is enjoying his Moët while your sucking lemons.

Few posters have contributed as much bile and as little value as DF in such a short time.

You're not making yourself popular DF,

I know leave it to the mods, they are already watching and removing his rubbish.

PS: I did not know that SWYL had sucking lemons, what does he do with them?.

[TeamPlayedFine39 8,191]

Was so happy when we got Toumpas!

Some breathtaking, Stalin-esque revisionism going on here.

On a different tac... what's the Mark Neeld lollies story??

Edited May 5, 2015 by TeamPlayedFine39

[rjay 24,096]

Stringer is looking a good bet too - he went one pick after Toumpas - why aren't you incensed at us not picking him ?

( you must not rate the doggies recruiting either as they passed on Wines as well - I would say their last 3 drafts have been very good).

The same people who shouldn't have been doing the damn job picked up Hogan in the same draft... hmmmm

I need to stop engaging with you on this as there is zero logic to your argument and all emotion. I understand that a draft pick has not met expectation and others taken later have proven better footballers but copious amounts of hand wringing and emotion is no substitute for logical argument .

edit - I do wonder if the doggy fans are jumping up and down on Macrae over Wines - Macrae has had some moments but is no Wines. And SOS who is rated so highly needs to his butt kicked - none of their first three picks have come close to Wines output.

To me this biggest question mark in that draft is not Wines but how on earth Brodie Grundy slipped to 18 ?

Have said for a while that I think Stringer could be the pick of that draft. Injuries pushed him back but the Dogs saw something in him.

Grundy is the mystery...The Pies had 3 picks I think 18, 19 & 20, I wonder if they picked in order. If they had the one pick would the have taken Grundy, Kennedy or Broomhead. It's pretty obvious now, most things are in hindsight.