6 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

Well, that’s rather forthright if you.

anyways, the answer will be anticlimactic now. 

That’s what I was afraid of. 
BTW, Along with Mazer, @deva5610has solved the puzzle. Both solved it earlier but thought there was something else to it. It’s rather simple. So if you think you have it, you probably do. 

If it's already been solved by two posters, it might be time to reveal the answer, put the rest of us dunderheads out of our misery and shift the focus to Crompton's double bunger.

Personally, I'm suffering a little brainteaser overload so will hold off posting another for a week or two.

 

16 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

If it's already been solved by two posters, it might be time to reveal the answer, put the rest of us dunderheads out of our misery and shift the focus to Crompton's double bunger.

Personally, I'm suffering a little brainteaser overload so will hold off posting another for a week or two.

 

One last clue, and this clue is akin to being given the answer. If nobody solves the teaser in an hour or so, I’ll spill the beans. The clue is:

“A shy, lateral German doctor”

all tradesmen?

Ok, the hour’s up. I know, fastest hour ever. 
All of the surnames in my team are anagrams of ordinary, everyday words. And that’s it. Simple. 
I had to withdraw Laird because the anagram of Laird is drail. And while this is a real word, it’s not commonly used. Therefore I gave Narkle a guernsey because his anagram, rankle, is closer to being a common word. 
The sentence in my final clue (above) is an anagram of they’re all anagrams. Thanks to my buddy Mazer for that one. ? 
Now, on to Neil’s. It will serve to settle the nerves a little for the next two hours (pre-match).

GO DEES!!!!!!!

?❤️?❤️?❤️

For those who came in late, here's Crompton's Cruel Cryptic ...

Here is a team of past Melbourne players. This team is a little old fashioned as it only has 2 interchange players, and there are some names from very long ago. I spent (wasted) a whole afternoon trying to put this together, so i will be dejected if someone gets this "discombobulation" too quickly.  

B.    Billy Deans                 Tassie Johnson                  John Beckwith

HB. Frank Davis                 Joe Pearce                          Tony Sullivan

C. Robert Flower              George Bickford                  Stan Alves

HF. Andrew Obst             Earl Spalding                       Scott Thompson

F. John Lord                        Fred Fanning                      Bob Johnson

R. Jim Stynes                      Paul Wheatley                   Hassa Mann

INT. Arthur Sowden        Bill Allen

Not one but two things link this team – one football related and one not.

What are these 2 links?

55 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

For those who came in late, here's Crompton's Cruel Cryptic ...

Here is a team of past Melbourne players. This team is a little old fashioned as it only has 2 interchange players, and there are some names from very long ago. I spent (wasted) a whole afternoon trying to put this together, so i will be dejected if someone gets this "discombobulation" too quickly.  

B.    Billy Deans                 Tassie Johnson                  John Beckwith

HB. Frank Davis                 Joe Pearce                          Tony Sullivan

C. Robert Flower              George Bickford                  Stan Alves

HF. Andrew Obst             Earl Spalding                       Scott Thompson

F. John Lord                        Fred Fanning                      Bob Johnson

R. Jim Stynes                      Paul Wheatley                   Hassa Mann

INT. Arthur Sowden        Bill Allen

Not one but two things link this team – one football related and one not.

What are these 2 links?

1. They have all kicked a football. 
2. They all have hair and skin. 
 

Easy. 

Anyone who wants a change of pace from reading about our dismal performance last night, may like to have a go at this (if you are not also "puzzled" out):

Here is a team of past Melbourne players. This team is a little old fashioned as it only has 2 interchange players, and there are some names from very long ago. I spent (wasted) a whole afternoon trying to put this together, so i will be dejected if someone gets this "discombobulation" too quickly.  

B.    Billy Deans                 Tassie Johnson                  John Beckwith

HB. Frank Davis                 Joe Pearce                          Tony Sullivan

C. Robert Flower              George Bickford                  Stan Alves

HF. Andrew Obst             Earl Spalding                       Scott Thompson

F. John Lord                        Fred Fanning                      Bob Johnson

R. Jim Stynes                      Paul Wheatley                   Hassa Mann

INT. Arthur Sowden        Bill Allen

Not one but two things link this team – one football related and one not.

What are these 2 links?

Bump.  (Free kick Hawthorn)