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John Northey on the Front Bar

Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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Compulsory viewing.  Great bloke.  

He was the legend that got us back into the finals in 87. 
 

I’m sure they will show his anger with Stynes after he ran through the mark in the 87 prelim. 


We perhaps should have got a premiership in his years but somehow missed out.  

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    Our best coach since Norm Smith.

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    John Northey  My favorite coach  for being down to earth  building great relationships  and getting the best out of his players.

    The facilities at the time when training at the junction oval were more than sub standard however he managed to get us into 5 consecutive  finals series with a Prelim in 87 and a Grand Final in 88.  

    Northey gave us some great memories.

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    Great times & heartache of 87 & 88... believed 1990 was our best chance as top 5 was very even, missing the double chance plus that drawn final pies v WC... He got the best out of the team!

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    The man responsible for my greatest footy highlight - the late 1987 run that culminated in the magic day at the Western Oval when Robbie got his chance to finally play in a final!! I was in Year 12, about a month away from turning 18 and should have been focusing on my exams.  Alas, the next few weeks were an awesome ride until we ran into Buckenara.  33 years later and still waiting for the ultimate success.  Swooper Northey, the best Melbourne coach in my lifetime!

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    How could you not be inspired by the great man. One hell of a story teller to boot.

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    His comments about Geoffrey Edelsten were hilarious. 

    His story about the pre season camp was gold. Could you imagine that taking place these days having someone dress up as a hillbilly and firing shots at you while you are running.  Lawsuits everywhere. 

    He sounds just as frustrated with melbourne as everyone else is. 

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    1 hour ago, Demonland said:

     

    Bahaha ? that was hilarious 

    champion bloke Swooper 

    had a few chats back in the day

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    After being totally deflated when the Barasssi return did not produce success, along comes Swooper. And bugger me if he didn't put a fire in the belly of every player on the list, and the fear of death into every opposition player who dared challenge the Dees. 

    I went to both of the finals versus Swans and North in 1987, and my abiding memory is of the crowd yelling in unison "Robiiieee" when Flower ran onto the ground against North for his first final. 

    Sometime in the preseason, give him 2 hours with our current list. Let them catch the fire!

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    Still sharp.

    Bring him back!

    Oh for the days when we could kick and tackle.

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    10 hours ago, Maldonboy38 said:

    After being totally deflated when the Barasssi return did not produce success, along comes Swooper. And bugger me if he didn't put a fire in the belly of every player on the list, and the fear of death into every opposition player who dared challenge the Dees. 

    I went to both of the finals versus Swans and North in 1987, and my abiding memory is of the crowd yelling in unison "Robiiieee" when Flower ran onto the ground against North for his first final. 

    Sometime in the preseason, give him 2 hours with our current list. Let them catch the fire!

    Barrassi helped set it up for him. A few good years of good coaching, motivational training and recruiting by Barass before Northey arrived.

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    Interesting when he said that not all the players seem invested in this current day team. Too much left to too few.

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    31 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

    Interesting when he said that not all the players seem invested in this current day team. Too much left to too few.

    I picked up on that comment as well. Would love to know who, in his opinion was not "Buying in"

    Meet him a few times during that magic season in 1987. I remember him being the first one in at the after match at the G and buying me a beer. His comment after taking a large gulp was "Gee I needed that, a beer always tastes better after a win"

    Top bloke and top coach. Would love to see what he would do with this current team.

    Edited by picket fence

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    John Northey  - bloody legend.

    Coached Dees for 7 years - 167 games  54.2% win rate. It’s probably the most successful coaching rate of any of our coaches in the last 56 years!! 


    Demons should welcome him back into the fold. 
     

    Great stories.  Great bloke to have a beer with. So real.  
     

    Yes Edelsten was a “goose” though I’m sure swooper would call him more expletives if he wasn’t on TV!!! 

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    Yes, did a terrific job at the helm for Melbourne when he was in charge. Players responded to him and was greatly respected. Was also a fine player for Richmond in his playing days (1963-1970). Official position was half forward flank, but seemed to play more like a winger with high work rate.

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    7 hours ago, Bendigo Demon said:

    In Robbie Flower's book, he actually stated how unimpressed he was when Northey was appointed, and how wrong he was!!

    Barassi's a tough act to follow.

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    Somewhat disappointed with this telecast on the FB with the great John Northey. The three 'hosts' were more concerned with earning 'jokestar' points amongst themselves than probing into the achievements of Northey. Adding irrelevance to the short minutes in which Northey could have been able to relate his experiences (particularly those experiences of football itself) was most annoying. The segments were clearly about Fatso and his beloved Richmond but Nothey's greatest contributions were with the MFC; sadly, little - or an inadequate amount of - focus on his brilliance were touched upon (and there was so much to be chewed over, so great were Northey's contributions and player transformations).

    Still, lovely to see him on TV, bright, alert, sharp. Still got it, no doubt. If the current hierarchy at the MFC had the humility, they should invite him back to the Club over the pre-season for 2021 - he'd quickly spot the problems ( as if he didn't already fully know what these were) and recommend remedial action to make the Club great again, onfield and off-field. Barassi's initial influence followed by Swooper's football nouse - what a contribution!

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    1 hour ago, Deemania since 56 said:

    Somewhat disappointed with this telecast on the FB with the great John Northey. The three 'hosts' were more concerned with earning 'jokestar' points amongst themselves than probing into the achievements of Northey. Adding irrelevance to the short minutes in which Northey could have been able to relate his experiences (particularly those experiences of football itself) was most annoying. The segments were clearly about Fatso and his beloved Richmond but Nothey's greatest contributions were with the MFC; sadly, little - or an inadequate amount of - focus on his brilliance were touched upon (and there was so much to be chewed over, so great were Northey's contributions and player transformations).

    Still, lovely to see him on TV, bright, alert, sharp. Still got it, no doubt. If the current hierarchy at the MFC had the humility, they should invite him back to the Club over the pre-season for 2021 - he'd quickly spot the problems ( as if he didn't already fully know what these were) and recommend remedial action to make the Club great again, onfield and off-field. Barassi's initial influence followed by Swooper's football nouse - what a contribution!

    I'm still unsure why John isn't a life member of the club.  He coached 7 seasons but coached more games than Brian Wilson played for the Demons in 9 seasons yet Willo is in (quite rightly) and John isn't.  His accomplishments as a coach at Melbourne are quite outstanding even if he couldn't land the elusive flag. 5 successive finals series, each time making at least the second week; one GF and a prelim. All up he coached us to 13 finals for 8 wins; 2 Night flags and a record against Hawthorn the envy of any club of that period.  In fact we stopped their run of consecutive grand final appearances in 1990.  There'd be few more deserving, and he clearly still loves the club.

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    On 9/25/2020 at 9:48 AM, DeeZee said:

    Interesting when he said that not all the players seem invested in this current day team. Too much left to too few.

    Wonder which ones???

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