Jump to content

Featured Replies

  • Author
15 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Many moons ago, I was in the Yarra Glen area, trying unsuccessfully to find my way to Dixons Creek.

I stopped at a general store for directions and who should I see lining up to buy his lunch but Brian Dixon.

Surely he'd know where Dixons Creek was!

Naturally enough, I asked him for a little help.  He seemed most annoyed at my intrusion and begrudgingly pointed me in the right direction.  

Just for the record, his lunch order was two pasties and a vanilla milkshake.

I once saw Tim Watson ordering a pie from Longwarry service station.

 
15 minutes ago, bush demon said:

I once saw Tim Watson ordering a pie from Longwarry service station.

Alert, @Ghostwriter: thread trending dangerously...

 
3 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Alert, @Ghostwriter: thread trending dangerously...

I once had an ale with the whale.

I had the great privilege and pleasure of working with Hassa for about 6 months while he was working for the ‘Advance Australia Campaign’ in the 1970’s.  As others have mentioned, he is an absolute champion bloke, but the thing I remember most about him (outside his feats on the footy field) was his ‘crushing’ handshake when we were first introduced.  Vice-like would be a gross understatement!

Edited by Deeoldfart
Typo


2 hours ago, hardtack said:

I once had an ale with the whale.

Other footballers who had pubs with a gimmicky advertising slogan included:

Ricky Quade - "Have a quicky with Ricky"

Larry Donohue - "Have one with he who kicked the ton"

  • Whispering_Jack changed the title to The Legacy Series | Episode 2 | Hassa Mann
  • Author
9 hours ago, Tim said:

One of our greats. The North footage would seem to be from 1967 where we won by 3 points at the ‘G, with Peter Smth running around in the #4 jumper previously made famous by his father - the coach that day.

The Collingwood one would be from 1968 at Victoria Park, again where we won. Greg Parke visible in the footage in his first season - kicked 4 straight.

At 1.27 the Geelong player who attempts to kill him with a head high is good old Sam Newman.

I'm pretty sure in that North game that Mann swooped in out of nowhere and kicked the winning goal... 

 
4 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

After Hassa my heroes were Tassie Johnston

I had a pair of giant posters on my bedroom wall, possibly released in association with Mobil.

One was of Hassa and the other Tassie.

I can also recall saving up my pocket money to buy a 7" single record from the local Mobil servo that featured the Melbourne theme song on one side and an interview with Hassa on the other.  Wish I still had it!


  • Author
28 minutes ago, bush demon said:

I'm pretty sure in that North game that Mann swooped in out of nowhere and kicked the winning goal... 

 

Melbourne v North p2.jpg

Melbourne v North July 1967   1.jpg

25 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

I had a pair of giant posters on my bedroom wall, possibly released in association with Mobil.

One was of Hassa and the other Tassie.

I can also recall saving up my pocket money to buy a 7" single record from the local Mobil servo that featured the Melbourne theme song on one side and an interview with Hassa on the other.  Wish I still had it!

I had that as well. I'm pretty sure Tony Charlton was the interviewer.

1 hour ago, Demonstone said:

I had a pair of giant posters on my bedroom wall, possibly released in association with Mobil.

One was of Hassa and the other Tassie.

I can also recall saving up my pocket money to buy a 7" single record from the local Mobil servo that featured the Melbourne theme song on one side and an interview with Hassa on the other.  Wish I still had it!

I remember seeing an interview with Peter Hudson where he named Tassie as the best full back he had played against. High praise indeed.

Great interview. I find it pretty difficult to reconcile his (and Ridley's) views on the merger. Instead of building our own team better, the thinking was let's just take over Hawthorn. Lazy and extremely misguided IMV, but appreciate his great contribution to the club over many years.

I remember vividly the NO MERGER signs in the MCC growing up.

Edited by Adam The God

The only person I've ever heard of having the name Hassa. I'm assuming its similar to Hassan and arabic in origin?

Edited by BAMF


His real name is Harold and he had a cousin called Len, who played 46 games for Melbourne. 

From Demonwiki:

Mann was universally known as "Hassa", a nickname bestowed on him by Len as a child because he couldn't pronounce Harold.

 

1 hour ago, Demonstone said:

His real name is Harold and he had a cousin called Len, who played 46 games for Melbourne. 

From Demonwiki:

Mann was universally known as "Hassa", a nickname bestowed on him by Len as a child because he couldn't pronounce Harold.

 

At the Boxing Day Test I was sitting near Hassa’s cousin and premiership teammate Len, who was sitting next to multiple premiership teammate Bryan Kenneally. Father and son premiership player Kenny Emselle thereabouts also. All looking in good nick. 

Hassa Mann also received the Hans Ebeling award from the MCC in 2011 for his outstanding service to the sporting sections of the club. 

17 hours ago, chook fowler said:

After Hassa my heroes were Tassie Johnston, Donny Williams, Barry Bourke and then Ross Dillon. Later came the one and only Tulip.

Yeah, mine were Tassie as well as Townsend and Stan Alves, and then along came Greg Parke, Max Walker, Greg Wells and Gary Hardeman; all favourites of mine from that post premiership era. I have a vague memory of Hardeman being knocked out early in a final (can’t recall who the culprit was), something that pretty much knocked us out of the running.

18 minutes ago, hardtack said:

I have a vague memory of Hardeman being knocked out early in a final

We didn't make the finals during Hardeman's time, unfortunately.

I had a chance meeting with Gary some years ago and I was surprised that he wasn't much taller than me.  I'm your standard six-footer or 183 cm and he was listed at 187cm.  

His high marking was a standout feature of his game and he was clearly blessed with a natural big leap.


  • Author
39 minutes ago, hardtack said:

Yeah, mine were Tassie as well as Townsend and Stan Alves, and then along came Greg Parke, Max Walker, Greg Wells and Gary Hardeman; all favourites of mine from that post premiership era. I have a vague memory of Hardeman being knocked out early in a final (can’t recall who the culprit was), something that pretty much knocked us out of the running.

Don't think Gary Hardeman ever played in a final...

27 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

We didn't make the finals during Hardeman's time, unfortunately.

I had a chance meeting with Gary some years ago and I was surprised that he wasn't much taller than me.  I'm your standard six-footer or 183 cm and he was listed at 187cm.  

His high marking was a standout feature of his game and he was clearly blessed with a natural big leap.

 

12 minutes ago, bush demon said:

Don't think Gary Hardeman ever played in a final...

Yes, you’re both correct… perhaps it was a game we were playing that could have secured us a place in the finals? Or perhaps I’ve just lost the plot, along with my memory.

With regards to his height, I noticed that of the entire list back then, our two tallest, and only players above 187cm, were just 193cm.

i wonder where all of the high 190’s and over 200’s, were hiding back then.

Edited by hardtack

1 hour ago, hardtack said:

Yeah, mine were Tassie as well as Townsend and Stan Alves, and then along came Greg Parke, Max Walker, Greg Wells and Gary Hardeman; all favourites of mine from that post premiership era. I have a vague memory of Hardeman being knocked out early in a final (can’t recall who the culprit was), something that pretty much knocked us out of the running.

Yes, I forget Greg Wells and Hardeman - fantastic players in an ordinary era for the club.

 
17 hours ago, BAMF said:

The only person I've ever heard of having the name Hassa. I'm assuming its similar to Hassan and arabic in origin?

Short for Harold.

3 highlights of my playing career - cruelly curtailed by injury.

- U16 coach was Johnny Townsend - he told the 1st XVIII coach I was the best player he'd coached at that level. We used to man up in match sims. God he was strong.

- 1st XVIII being awarded BOG on interstate trip to SA by Gary Hardeman.

- 2 years of being coached by Hassa in Diamond Valley League. He coaxed me out of retirement after I'd broken my leg the year before - said his previous team had been planning all week to nullify me before they knew about leg. I could barely run by that stage however it was the start of the interchange era so Hassa used me carefully.

I ran in to him years later on Blairgowrie beach and he still remembered me - or so he said.

 


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • NON-MFC: Round 10

    The Sir Doug Nicholls Round kicks off in Darwin with a Top 4 clash between the Suns and the Hawks. On Friday night the Swans will be seeking to rebound from a challenging start to the season, while the Blues have the Top 8 in their sights after their sluggish start. Saturdays matches kick off with a blockbuster between the Collingwood and Kuwarna with the Magpies looking to maintain their strong form and the Crows aiming to make a statement on the road. The Power face a difficult task to revive their season against a resilient Cats side looking to make amends for their narrow loss last week. The Giants aim to reinforce their top-eight status, while the Dockers will be looking to break the travel hoodoo. The sole Saturday game is a critical matchup for both teams, as the Bulldogs strive to cemet their spot in the top six and the Bombers desperately want break into the 8. Sundays start with a bottom 3 clash between the Tigers and Kangaroos with both teams wanting to avoid the being in wooden spoon contention. The Round concludes with the Eagles still searching for their first win of the season, while the Saints look to keep their finals hopes alive with a crucial away victory. Who are you tipping and what are the best results for the Demons?

    • 114 replies
    Demonland
  • PREVIEW: Brisbane

    And just like that, we’re Narrm again. Even though the annual AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round which commemorates the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to our game has been a welcome addition to our calendar for ten years, more lately it has been a portent of tough times ahead for we beleaguered Narrm supporters. Ever since the club broke through for its historic 2021 premiership, this has become a troubling time of the year for the club. For example, it all began when Melbourne rebranded itself as Narrm across the two rounds of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round to become the first club to adopt an Indigenous club name especially for the occasion. It won its first outing under the brand against lowly North Melbourne to go to 10 wins and no losses but not without a struggle or a major injury to  star winger Ed Langdon who broke his ribs and missed several weeks. In the following week, still as Narrm, the team’s 17 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Dockers. That came along with more injuries, a plague that remained with them for the remainder of the season until, beset by injuries, the Dees were eliminated from the finals in straight sets. It was even worse last year, when Narrm inexplicably lowered its colours in Perth to the Waalit Marawar Eagles. Oh, the shame of it all! At least this year, if there is a corner to turn around, it has to be in the direction of something better. To that end, I produced a special pre-game chant in the local Narrm language - “nam mi:wi winnamun katjil prolin ambi ngamar thamelin amb” which roughly translated is “every heart beats true for the red and the blue.” >y belief is that if all of the Narrm faithful recite it long enough, then it might prove to be the only way to beat the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday. The Lions are coming off a disappointing draw at Marvel Stadium against a North Melbourne team that lacks the ability and know how to win games (except when playing Melbourne). Brisbane are, however, a different kettle of fish at home and have very few positional weaknesses. They are a midfield powerhouse, strong in defence and have plenty of forward options, particularly their small and medium sized players, to kick a winning score this week after the sting of last week’s below par performance.

      • Like
    • 11 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Hawthorn

    There was a time during the current Melbourne cycle that goes back to before the premiership when the club was the toughest to beat in the fourth quarter. The Demons were not only hard to beat at any time but it was virtually impossible to get the better them when scores were close at three quarter time. It was only three or four years ago but they were fit, strong and resilient in body and mind. Sadly, those days are over. This has been the case since the club fell off its pedestal about 12 months ago after it beat Geelong and then lost to Carlton. In both instances, Melbourne put together strong, stirring final quarters, one that resulted in victory, the other, in defeat. Since then, the drop off has been dramatic to the point where it can neither pull off victory in close matches, nor can it even go down in defeat  gallantly.

    • 1 reply
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Footscray

    At twenty-four minutes into the third term of the game between the Casey Demons and Footscray VFL at Whitten Oval, the visitors were coasting. They were winning all over the ground, had the ascendancy in the ruck battles and held a 26 point lead on a day perfect for football. What could go wrong? Everything. The Bulldogs moved into overdrive in the last five minutes of the term and booted three straight goals to reduce the margin to a highly retrievable eight points at the last break. Bouyed by that effort, their confidence was on a high level during the interval and they ran all over the despondent Demons and kicked another five goals to lead by a comfortable margin of four goals deep into the final term before Paddy Cross kicked a couple of too late goals for a despondent Casey. A testament to their lack of pressure in the latter stages of the game was the fact that Footscray’s last ten scoring shots were nine goals and one rushed behind. Things might have been different for the Demons who went into the game after last week’s bye with 12 AFL listed players. Blake Howes was held over for the AFL game but two others, Jack Billings and Taj Woewodin (not officially listed as injured) were also missing and they could have been handy at the end. Another mystery of the current VFL system.

    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Brisbane

    The Demons head back out on the road in Round 10 when they travel to Queensland to take on the reigning Premiers and the top of the table Lions who look very formidable. Can the Dees cause a massive upset? Who comes in and who goes out?

    • 280 replies
    Demonland
  • PODCAST: Hawthorn

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Demons loss to the Hawks. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

      • Like
    • 53 replies
    Demonland