11 hours ago, The Jackson FIX said:

Noticeable use of handball to find space. The ‘kick the bloody thing’ gang are going to have a field day this year 

Where are you @Cranky Franky?

2 hours ago, demoncat said:

Not a bad debut at all! 

And from following a few of the other practice matches it seems like he had one of the better stat lines of the other rookies who played 

I reckon we’ve got one here 

most of the others have gotten injured, touch wood

Amw's injury really spoiled a good hit out.

Does anyone know what happened to Marty Hore?

1 hour ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

Jeffo reminds me of Max Walker.

He's a bust unfortunately. Haven't seen anything in two years to indicate he is anything more than Weed 2.0.

41 minutes ago, The Jackson FIX said:

He’s one-paced in the same way Robert Harvey and Scott Pendlebury are. A bloody good way.

Yep. And that Dane Swan bloke was slow and a pretty ordinary footballer too.

37 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

My cousin claimed he saw Skull, the Brute, Mario Milano and Spiros Arion dining together in a Lygon St restaurant. He actually believed wrestling was real before then.

Great dayz indeed.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Langford had 19 disposals and 5 marks.

Is there a stat sheet somewhere?

4 hours ago, Cyclops said:

was not skull doing the  sleeper hold it was a bloke with dark hair cant remember his name

Jack Little used to put me to sleep! WOW 

I haven't read all the pages in this thread - so sorry if this observation has already been made . . . but how awful would it  be to support Norf? They are going nowhere.

1 hour ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

Jeffo reminds me of Max Walker.

Why? Because they are both male and play for the MFC? Jeffo is a pale shadow of Max.

1 hour ago, John Crow Batty said:

My cousin claimed he saw Skull, the Brute, Mario Milano and Spiros Arion dining together in a Lygon St restaurant. He actually believed wrestling was real before then.

Jack Little in commentary: "Spiros Arion, the Golden Greek, has won the bout. Arion is chasing the referee, Eddie Swan, around the ring. He wants to know where the belt is. Spiros, this isn't a title bout!"

Edited February 22Feb 22 by Queanbeyan Demon

3 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Did anyone watch the Casey game??

I was there for the whole match but I could only watch about half of the action. It was so hot in the sun that I had to periodically go back away from the boundary to seek shade under the trees which meant not being able to see anything.

Most of the crowd left at the end of the first match and there was another sizeable egress at “halftime” (the end of the second of three quarters… thirds?). At the end of the match there was bugger all spectators. I was with a very keen 12yo who didn’t wanna leave. Even Goody and Troy (Chaplin) and Bass (Nathan Bassett) left before I did 😅

31 minutes ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

I haven't read all the pages in this thread - so sorry if this observation has already been made . . . but how awful would it  be to support Norf? They are going nowhere.

Wouldnt agree with you. The first half of the game today they had far better structures for the wind. Their ruckman Cerra?? easily beat opponents and their midfield ran through us often. It was only our good defence Lever Tmac especially who kept them out and there was a lot of desperate smothering and desperate handball that  limited their scoring.

They had some good performers Larkings? and Darling  who were good in their forward half in one quarter and their attack on the ball was good. Their tackling all over the field was good and the only demon they couldnt tackle was kossie who was great.

They ran out of energy and ideas it seemed in the last stanza when we really dominated with good players finding space and running all over the ground.

As I have said the wind was flukey and it really made any cogent observation irrelevant but for the fact that all players were playing in the same conditions.

North were better at keeping the ball low with accurate passes and using the wind to get better distance when needed . We seemed to try and handpass around before bombing on most occassions but really didnt read the wind. T Mac was one obvious example.

38 minutes ago, dpositive said:

Wouldnt agree with you. The first half of the game today they had far better structures for the wind. Their ruckman Cerra?? easily beat opponents and their midfield ran through us often. It was only our good defence Lever Tmac especially who kept them out and there was a lot of desperate smothering and desperate handball that  limited their scoring.

They had some good performers Larkings? and Darling  who were good in their forward half in one quarter and their attack on the ball was good. Their tackling all over the field was good and the only demon they couldnt tackle was kossie who was great.

They ran out of energy and ideas it seemed in the last stanza when we really dominated with good players finding space and running all over the ground.

As I have said the wind was flukey and it really made any cogent observation irrelevant but for the fact that all players were playing in the same conditions.

North were better at keeping the ball low with accurate passes and using the wind to get better distance when needed . We seemed to try and handpass around before bombing on most occassions but really didnt read the wind. T Mac was one obvious example.

Ummm.  We won by 47 points, with at least 9 of our best missing,  Norf had maybe 2 of their best missing - Simpkin being one.

Although only a practice match, I am very upbeat about today's effort.  We saw some kids today, who will be very good, going forward.

Long-arze post but I REALLY wanna share this since it was so special…

During the break between matches I met a lovely family: a mum and dad, their son and daughter, and a grandmother. We were chatting (they were sooo nice and in particular, gentle and chill) and I noticed the mum (Nina) wasn’t wearing a hat. I happened to be holding a wide-brimmed Dees straw hat that I brought in case anyone in the DA needed it so I asked Nina would she like to wear it. She said “No thank you, I’m fine, but Nan might want to.” Nan definitely took up the offer and she looked so bloody cute in it (very wide hat on a very small person) so I said she could keep it if she liked and she indeed liked. She was so pleased and was super grateful.

Anyways I asked if they actually do go for Melbourne (since they weren’t in footy colours) and they said yes they definitely do. I asked if they were there to watch the match in general or if there was a particular player/s they’d come to watch (there were friends and relatives of some of the Casey boys there) and Nina said, “Yes, we’re here for Ricky.” I blurted out, “Oh I love Ricky! He’s an awesome kid!” which amused them greatly. I asked if they know him personally/well and it turns out it was his mum and dad and brother and sister and of course his beautiful Nan wearing my (now hers) enormous straw hat 🥹

They are absolutely delighted with how the club has embraced Ricky and the respect they’re shown. Ricky Snr and I had a simpatico conversation about Culture Shmulture and geez how I wish the media would do a story about this family and how they regard the Club. (Yeah, we all know this would NEVER happen.)

R snr spoke highly of everyone but the most beautiful words he had were reserved for his children. He said his two older sons (big age gap between them and Ricky) are Ricky’s biggest fans. They’ve encouraged and supported Ricky and loved him from the day he was born. They both play rugby and basketball and despite Ricky being “probably better at basketball than footy” they haven’t nudged him in that direction rather they’ve got his back no matter what he chooses.

Then R Snr asked me what I think of Ricky and I told him the truth, that Ricky is a sweet kid, he’s polite and very respectful and listens and remembers things he’s told and that he’s becoming a little bit cheeky as time goes on but only when training is done and the other young guys love it coz he’s pretty funny. R Snr was genuinely moved by this. He and Nina said it was good to hear the opinion of their boy from a fan. We all hugged it out and I asked if they could adopt me into the family and we all laughed but Nan quietly said “Yes, of course.” Stop it now 🥹

23 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Long-arze post but I REALLY wanna share this since it was so special…

During the break between matches I met a lovely family: a mum and dad, their son and daughter, and a grandmother. We were chatting (they were sooo nice and in particular, gentle and chill) and I noticed the mum (Nina) wasn’t wearing a hat. I happened to be holding a wide-brimmed Dees straw hat that I brought in case anyone in the DA needed it so I asked Nina would she like to wear it. She said “No thank you, I’m fine, but Nan might want to.” Nan definitely took up the offer and she looked so bloody cute in it (very wide hat on a very small person) so I said she could keep it if she liked and she indeed liked. She was so pleased and was super grateful.

Anyways I asked if they actually do go for Melbourne (since they weren’t in footy colours) and they said yes they definitely do. I asked if they were there to watch the match in general or if there was a particular player/s they’d come to watch (there were friends and relatives of some of the Casey boys there) and Nina said, “Yes, we’re here for Ricky.” I blurted out, “Oh I love Ricky! He’s an awesome kid!” which amused them greatly. I asked if they know him personally/well and it turns out it was his mum and dad and brother and sister and of course his beautiful Nan wearing my (now hers) enormous straw hat 🥹

They are absolutely delighted with how the club has embraced Ricky and the respect they’re shown. Ricky Snr and I had a simpatico conversation about Culture Shmulture and geez how I wish the media would do a story about this family and how they regard the Club. (Yeah, we all know this would NEVER happen.)

R snr spoke highly of everyone but the most beautiful words he had were reserved for his children. He said his two older sons (big age gap between them and Ricky) are Ricky’s biggest fans. They’ve encouraged and supported Ricky and loved him from the day he was born. They both play rugby and basketball and despite Ricky being “probably better at basketball than footy” they haven’t nudged him in that direction rather they’ve got his back no matter what he chooses.

Then R Snr asked me what I think of Ricky and I told him the truth, that Ricky is a sweet kid, he’s polite and very respectful and listens and remembers things he’s told and that he’s becoming a little bit cheeky as time goes on but only when training is done and the other young guys love it coz he’s pretty funny. R Snr was genuinely moved by this. He and Nina said it was good to hear the opinion of their boy from a fan. We all hugged it out and I asked if they could adopt me into the family and we all laughed but Nan quietly said “Yes, of course.” Stop it now 🥹

GW, thank you for being you, you sweetheart. That's the cutest thing I've ever read on DL, that's the unique, joyous and beautiful moments football brings to people, bless your collective cotton socks 🥰

2 minutes ago, Lexinator said:

GW, thank you for being you, you sweetheart. That's the cutest thing I've ever read on DL, that's the unique, joyous and beautiful moments football brings to people, bless your collective cotton socks 🥰

Awww thanks Lex.  That’s exactly why I needed to share this. These are things you don’t know are happening because who would report on a story like theirs? No scandal, no misbehaviour, nothing sensational therefore who’s gonna read it?

As for cute, it took every fibre of my being to resist scooping Nan up and running off with her under my arm when no one was looking. I’d put her in my backpack (wouldn’t even need to fold her in half) and she’d soon settle in with me and my chooks in St Albans. Seriously though, she actually thanked me for making her feel so welcome in my town. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

39 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Long-arze post but I REALLY wanna share this since it was so special…

During the break between matches I met a lovely family: a mum and dad, their son and daughter, and a grandmother. We were chatting (they were sooo nice and in particular, gentle and chill) and I noticed the mum (Nina) wasn’t wearing a hat. I happened to be holding a wide-brimmed Dees straw hat that I brought in case anyone in the DA needed it so I asked Nina would she like to wear it. She said “No thank you, I’m fine, but Nan might want to.” Nan definitely took up the offer and she looked so bloody cute in it (very wide hat on a very small person) so I said she could keep it if she liked and she indeed liked. She was so pleased and was super grateful.

Anyways I asked if they actually do go for Melbourne (since they weren’t in footy colours) and they said yes they definitely do. I asked if they were there to watch the match in general or if there was a particular player/s they’d come to watch (there were friends and relatives of some of the Casey boys there) and Nina said, “Yes, we’re here for Ricky.” I blurted out, “Oh I love Ricky! He’s an awesome kid!” which amused them greatly. I asked if they know him personally/well and it turns out it was his mum and dad and brother and sister and of course his beautiful Nan wearing my (now hers) enormous straw hat 🥹

They are absolutely delighted with how the club has embraced Ricky and the respect they’re shown. Ricky Snr and I had a simpatico conversation about Culture Shmulture and geez how I wish the media would do a story about this family and how they regard the Club. (Yeah, we all know this would NEVER happen.)

R snr spoke highly of everyone but the most beautiful words he had were reserved for his children. He said his two older sons (big age gap between them and Ricky) are Ricky’s biggest fans. They’ve encouraged and supported Ricky and loved him from the day he was born. They both play rugby and basketball and despite Ricky being “probably better at basketball than footy” they haven’t nudged him in that direction rather they’ve got his back no matter what he chooses.

Then R Snr asked me what I think of Ricky and I told him the truth, that Ricky is a sweet kid, he’s polite and very respectful and listens and remembers things he’s told and that he’s becoming a little bit cheeky as time goes on but only when training is done and the other young guys love it coz he’s pretty funny. R Snr was genuinely moved by this. He and Nina said it was good to hear the opinion of their boy from a fan. We all hugged it out and I asked if they could adopt me into the family and we all laughed but Nan quietly said “Yes, of course.” Stop it now 🥹

 Who's Ricky?

2 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

 Who's Ricky?

Ricky Mentha, our new #39. Ricky Snr is his dad. Nina is his mum. Gaylon is his gentle giant of an older brother. Lily is his adoring sister and Audrey is his Nan. A genuinely beautiful family. Especially Nan, who stole my heart 💕

Dees had a third of the side missing. North had a full side and the home ground. Very encouraging. 

Langford knows where the football is. It’s already innate in him at 19. He will have a field day playing behind Trac, Oliver and Viney. 

Sharp reminds me of Mitch Hannan but with with a bigger tank. 

Ben Brown is a good commentator but how did he give the first quarter to North??? 

AMW is a big loss. It really felt like he could break out this year.

Jefferson doesn’t need much of the ball to get 3-4 goals. Just needs a couple of 50/50 to go his way. Should play R1.

Woey has put on some size.

Pickett could win our b&f even with a missed start.

15 hours ago, sue said:

I usually avoid match day threads (for reasons which don't need much imgaination to guess), but I'm following this one out of footy deprivation. 

Are these established AFL umpires, or some newbies?

How could you forget 32 Sue?

14 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Ben Brown as a commentator. Early days and learning his craft. Perhaps the new Kelli Underwood. !!! 

Ben...composed, Kelly...compost.

4 hours ago, Oxdee said:

 

Ben brown is a good commentator but how did he give the first quarter to north??? 

On North's bigfooty someone said he could make a can of red bull fall asleep

4 hours ago, Oxdee said:

 

Dees had a third of the side missing. North had a full side and the home ground. Very encouraging. 

Langford knows where the football is. It’s already innate in him at 19. He will have a field day playing behind trac, Oliver and viney. 

Sharp reminds me of Mitch Hannon but with with a bigger tank. 

Ben brown is a good commentator but how did he give the first quarter to north??? 

AMW is a big loss. It really felt like he could break out this year

Jefferson doesn’t need much of the ball to get 3-4 goals. Just needs a couple of 50/50 to go his way. Should play R1

Woe has put on some size 

Picket could win our b&f even with a missed start

Wow some real points from left field but so much could well be the truth. Many may question some points but if they are in any way near the mark we will be a much stronger side as a result.

Very encouraging effort from both teams with half a team looking on all for differing reasons. 

Let’s hope AMW dodges a bullet. He grew up yesterday as a regular before our own eyes.