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The MCG inspectors will check all bags on entry. You can't take boos into the ground.

BREAKING NEWS: As part of the pre-game entertainment for the upcoming blockbuster against the GWS Giants, the Melbourne Football Club will hold the first annual "Walk Over the Bridge" from Rod Laver Arena to the MCG. The walk will see hundreds of bitter and resentful Melbourne supporters take the walk to "get over" Tom Scully lying and moving to the Giants at the end of 2011. EDIT: Typo

If you've got the old Monopoly board game lying around, grab all the notes and try and get as close to you can as he enters and leaves ground during the game. At the GW$ interchange dugout and also the player's race where they enter and leave the ground. Wave it about, hold your wallet up even chuck the fake notes at him if you can get away with it. If you haven't got Monopoly, photocopy some real money and take a few wads of that instead. It'll get some publicity and will help further etch it into the minds of the footballing public that he is ... and always will be ... a disloyal mercenary. Seriously .... URGING ANY AND ALL DEMON FANS at the game to do this on Sunday.

35,403 is a great number considering the last 5 years...(and longer of course). Well done Demon Supporters. Soft my Ass. We are solid tough.

There is nearly 22,000 Vietnamese Dong to the AUD. We could shower him with Dong ha ha. The money grubbing creep would probably chase around and pick it up so he gets it before fat phil....

You cant judge SS on one dropped mark . '88 was a dog day afternoon . They all squibbed it-and Hawks were a bigger ,stronger ,better side . Stretcher was a top wingman/hbf with better kicking, running ability than 98 % of players running around today.

Stretch was a good running HBF who could take a good grab, he was not gutless as you suggesting.

Put the gloves in the glove box, put the Thermos on Hot, & get to the 'G' to Breath fire on $cully & his mates. Let them have it for they're pathetic way of pinching a second year player from a team in a desperate rebuild. (Like kicking someone when they're down,, It's just not On) Give it to 'Em @ the Hell Hole.

They haven't ...

I have sat through 18 months of monotonous cr@p on the Scully situation and for the first time here are my thoughts on the whole saga: (Note: I would encourage certain other posters to be similarly economical in their postings!) Scully “Lying” This really only occurred at the press conference (that Melbourne forced him to do) and also when asked directly by Jim Stynes HOWEVER, under the current AFL system, much in contrast to the NRL, even if he had made up his mind by then, he couldn’t come clean, because of the very real risk he wouldn’t play again all season (NB: comments by Primus and Roos about what they would do in similar situations. Primus has hinted Boak will not play again if he decides to leave Port). This just shows the immaturity of the AFL system (compared to NRL) in dealing with a player who makes the decision to move on. Both parties (player and club) should have the maturity to continue their employment relationship until the end of the player’s contract. Given this I feel Scully had little choice but to conceal his intentions when put on the spot. Scully’s Decision The man was offered $6m for Christ’s sake, and given his rumoured issues with Melbourne’s culture etc. the decision was a no-brainer. I certainly hold no grudges against him for the decision. Is Melbourne better Off? I believe YES. We lost: Scully (a #1 draft pick); and Freed up approx $600k of salary cap space (I think that’s what we offered him). We gained: Approx picks 4 and 13. Time will tell if we win out of this, however for a number one pick with a dodgy knee I tend to consider it is reasonable. (I acknowledge that no one would ever trade away pick 1 in a draft in exchange for pick 4 and 13, however Scully’s value had depreciated considerably over his first two years to be substantially less than that of a number one pick). We used the salary cap space to pay Mitch Clark. IMO this is a much better use of this cap space and is the reason we win out of the situation. Should Scully be Booed Sure, why not? It’s AFL tradition to boo a player who leaves your club. I don’t think it’s at all offensive. If anything it shows respect for Scully’s ability and the fact that he meant something to Melbourne fans. As a comparison I seriously doubt WB fans will be booing Sam Reid given he was a virtual nobody at their club. Throw Monopoly money at him if you want, however anything like this only legitimises Scully as a “big name” worthy of such petty displays. IMO the best thing to do is nothing at all, as this shows he’s not even worthy of our contempt. On the contrary I strongly encourage all Melbourne fans to show the utmost respect for Junior McDonald and cheer him at every opportunity. /EndRant

Yep. We borrowed the desk from CS.

Like the [censored] needs more money. Give the $50 to Reach, and throw horse manure at him instead.

Hi, After a trial of the "locker room" forum, we've decided it didn't work as well as we thought and have decided to abandon it. Player talk can go back in the "main" forum as before. Please note that if you start new threads when there are clearly existing threads (especially on the first page!) that you could use, you'll still find your topics being merged with existing ones. Cheers

throw half eaten pies at the swine , fat phil will run on for a snack , then capt jack can ask ump for a count , thats gotta work !

Finals over??

Pick 3?!

i would like to think that some of Tom $cully's teeth or blood are embedded into the MCG turf after sunday, just as a reminder to him that what he did to Jim Stynes was a disgraceful thing to do. He has showed no emotion since. He is not well. And he deserves everything he gets.. I would love to see him cry by the 3rd Quarter.

I'd rather see offensive banners hoisted. Would be a much longer lasting memory than somebody throwing pissy little bits of paper that will fly 1cm before flapping around in the wind and dropping sadly to the floor. Besides, St Kilda fans did it already. What they didn't do was LYON FILTH banners in the stands.

My printer is broken, but my brother has Monopoly on his phone. I'll throw that at him from level 2, then I'll smack my brother, for having Monopoly on his phone.

What I want to see on Sunday. A 4 quarter attack on the ball, I want to see our bigger bodies destroy the younger gws frames. Melbourne players to sledge everytime $cully butchers the ball, no Will Minson type calls! A 7+ goal minimum winning margin by the end of the game

the only way I will EVER 'get over' the anger this whole episode has caused me, is if I see Scully chronically injured with his career in tatters and/or I see the compo picks we got produce some very good player(s) simple as that

My g/father (Arthur Sowden) joined the club in 1899. He was mentioned in the BOG in the semi final of 1900, He had rolled an ankle in the semi-final & it kept him out of the flag winning game next week. He played his last year as Captain - no coach - in 1906 & the team had a similar run to Jack's unhappiness of 1919. They won 3 games. No numbers were worn then but Arthur was player number 19 in the club listing. Arthur is a committeeman depicted in the 1926 premiership photo which includes Albert Chadwick as captain. Laurie Mithen was one of my teachers in the late 50s, I also caddied as a kid at the Riversdale golf club & took a few ten shilling notes for 18 holes of toil from Percy Beames & Sir Albert Chadwick. Later played golf with George Bickford.

Are West Coast supporters sad and pathetic? Are Geelong supporters? I'm pretty sure we have double the right to be [censored] off at that little scumbag, given he did nothing for our club except waste our first pick and an entire year working through his lies. This moral high ground thing is fine, if that's how you feel, but don't shut down those of us who feel it is completely justified to make him feel a bit of pain. He has had no ramifications thus far for being a disloyal, lying piece of garbage.

Mate, I'll be there booing the loudest trust me... But this monopoly money idea is just so lame, and just so in tune with our upper crust wussy reputation, I hate it.

Im not nice. Bury the bastard !

Are the 'regs' on here saying that we as a supporter group should do nothing on Sunday? At best a little bit of light, polite Melbourne supporter booing? This little punk stuck it to us for a whole season last year. Him, his old man and his shifty manager casting what Cam Schwab himself called a "black cloud" over the MFC for an entire season. And we're supposed to just let it slide, 'get over it', without having any fun at his expense? Without having a good old fashioned whack at his media-created 'I'm just a victim of circumstance' line of spin? Some of you guys are just too nice. Tom $cully deserves a clip for what he did.

You know when Ablett had the same "year" as Scully he said NOTHING. Boak has not signed and he has said NOTHING It was his press conference that really upset me. Read it word for word. If you take it at face value then he has done a 100% about face. Had he shut up and said nothing then left so be it. I took him at his word and thats what cuts. Had he said NOTHING and left then so be it. Edit -I now believe nothing anybody says about anything - I have officially been disenscullarised.

No, some didn't

Fine. But do not LIE for over a year about it.

And yet we're still ahead of St.Kilda (not to mention North and the Bulldogs)... imagine the numbers we could get if we had some sustained on-field success...

I was previously leaning towards him being more a one man highlight reel than a footballer. However watching him this season you can see him now combining footy smarts with his athletic ability. Though it will be interesting to see how he goes without Cox, his tap work is already sublime. Putting it on a silver platter out of the middle all whilst wracking up 19 contested possessions of his own. As a ruck rover he is resetting the mould. Quicker and better below his knees than any big man is entitled. If all of this wasn't enough, his kicking from set shots now looks to be getting better as well. Those calling him a flash in the pan must not have seen much of him this year cause he is improving all the time. Laughable to suggest he'll never make AA in his career. All that said, I'm still more than comfortable with Watts as our pick so this isn't about that. NicNat however is going to be a star.

Wayyy ahead of you. $6.99 at Toys R Us for a pack.

But the lockerroom is not even a year old, and still in his first season. Wait until he puts on a few more kg's worth of posts and is involved in over 80 games then you will see he will develop into the KPF (Key Position Forum) we need. ;-)

Yeah because our last re build was awesome. How many re build's will it take for some to realise that complete re builds don't automatically equal success? Sydney should be a the forefront of our minds when we think of rebuilds. Sydney will have had as many modern day grand final appearances as we would have had rebuilds. How about our core group of players begin to build a winning culture so when draftee's no matter what number they came 1 or 100 come to our club they know what is required of them to earn respect and a position in this great club. I've heard From Watts this year explaining he now understands what is required to play and prepare at AFL level. I would have hoped he would have found out from senior players on the his first day on the job what was required. I know I am banging on about Sydney but I do wonder what type of player Kieran Jack would be if he was at Melbourne or a older recruit like Ryce shaw. Sydney has something more valuable then draft picks or father son picks they have a standard and we do not. I believe we are on our way and I hope a player like Nathan Jones can be our version of Brett Kirk or a Bolton or even Paul Kelly. I'm not talking about on field as much but just pure leadership off field as well. Draft picks don't set a standard winning players in winning teams do.

A mate of mine is a GWS Captain's Club member - essentially an inner sanctum GWS coterie containing about 20-25 corporate partners. He has invited me to several functions, most recently one at which John Quinn (Head of Sports Science) and Alan McConnell (Head of Development) spoke - this was only a fortnight ago. In short, I was very impressed. John Quinn has a brilliant CV and he appears to be very well respected in this area. Spoke extremely well too. I was astonished at how scientific the game is at AFL level - it was clear we were simply miles off the pace prior to the new regime entering the fold (ie, Neeld, Misson and Craig). John Quinn gave a fantastic presentation - no one wanted it to finish. Following it, my one take out was that, as supporters on the outer, we literally have no idea what goes on with match day considerations/game plans etc - it's literally laughable the gulf between the analysis of the internet keyboard heroes here (including me) and the actual inner sanctum of a club. Anyway, I digress. The GWS appear to be a professional outfit. They have come a long way in a short time in a region that is not particularly well disposed to the code. They have recruited tough, young, talented players - arguably unlike us. It's somewhat ironic that they took our number one draft pick. Don't get me wrong - I hope we pump the bejeezus outta them this weekend. But I don't wish them heaps of ill will. They're just another struggling sports team trying to find relevance in a region which isn't really giving them a natural leg up. The other thing I've learnt from attending these events is that Sheedy is a bloody legend. I used to hate him. I now think he's a great speaker and motivator - in short, a legend of the game. At the time I thought the MFC was absolutely inspired in appointing Bailey. I now think we missed a great opportunity when we overlooked Sheedy - I think our list would be in much better shape now had we given him the gig 5 years ago. That said, I'm stoked we have Neeld now. This decision, I believe with absolutely certainty, was the correct one.

The Melbourne faithful should give James McDonald a standing ovation. The bloke is a great servant of the club, whether you agree or disagree with him being pushed into retirement, you can't argue he is a champion of our club, and if he had things his way, he would never have left the MFC. If any of our fans are stupid enough to boo him, I will personally tell them to lock it up. To be honest, I find myself just not giving a sh*t about Tom Scully. I thought I would be watching him, hoping he plays crap, or hoping he gets laid out, but for whatever reason I just don't care.

The Melbourne Football Club is doing it tough in 2012 and it was only a fortnight ago that a win against Essendon at the MCG averted the possibility of a ten game losing streak to start the season. Whispering Jack has been doing some research and discovered a year when things were much worse so Demonlanders can relax and ponder about a time when ... IT WAS ONLY ... 1919 The VFL competition was less than two decades old when it was partially interrupted by the First World War. The competition, which had expanded to ten teams in 1908 with the introduction of Richmond and University, was reduced to only four in 1916 when the war was at its height but grew back to eight by 1918. Still missing were Melbourne and University. With the end of hostilities in November, 1918 things started to slowly return to normality. Melbourne was re-admitted but the students, whose pre war record in the VFL had been poor, never returned to the senior competition. Feelers were put out for new clubs and applicants included the Ballarat League, Brunswick, Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Prahran and Port Melbourne. For the time being, none of the applicants were accepted. A "second XVIII" competition was introduced with the clubs represented by district teams. Melbourne's last appearance in the competition had realised a long-awaited finals appearance in 1915 (it’s first since 1902) but the club had lost players, casualties of war and retirement, while others had lost their prowess after the long break. The club introduced many new players but 1919 was to prove fruitless and Melbourne went through the season finishing last without a win. The shining light was the debut of Ivor Warne Smith who would go on to win two Brownlow Medals and play in the club's second premiership team in 1926. The club appointed George Haines, a champion rover from Geelong, as its playing coach. He made his debut in round 1 against St. Kilda at the Junction Oval, along with seven others who were playing their first VFL games. Haines, who had changed his name from Heinz because of the anti-German feeling of the day, captain-coached the side in 1919 and remained as a player in the following season. Among those from the club who joined the ranks of the fallen during wartime were respected defender Arthur Mueller "Joe" Pearce who was killed during the landing at Gallipoli. Others who lost their lives were Clifford Burge, Jack Doubleday, Desmond McDonald, Fenley McDonald, Ralph Robertson, Percy Rodriguez and Alfred Williamson. The club was left with an inexperienced line up that was hardly a match for the opposition clubs and, despite some gallant efforts, the Redlegs had to wait until the following season to record the first post war victory after returning to the fold in May of 1919. Round 1, 1919 - St. Kilda v Melbourne Saturday, 3 May, 1919 at Junction Oval, St. Kilda. St. Kilda 3.5.23 7.8.50 9.12.66 12.14.86 Melbourne 2.0.12 3.1.19 4.2.26 9.4.58 Goal kickers George Haines 3, Jack Huntington 2, Gordon Coulter 1, Teddy Johnston 1, Herb Matthews 1, Eric Tonkin 1 St. Kilda took the lead early and by half time led by 31 points. The Saints stretched the lead to 40 points at the last break but Melbourne reduced the deficit by two goals in a final term in which it more than doubled its score. Making their debuts along with Haines who suffered a shoulder injury were Gordon Coulter, Jack House, Con Kenney, Bob Love, Percy Love, John McMahon and Eric Tonkin. Bill McKenzie completed a long wait to play his 100th game and ruckman Bill Allan was Melbourne's best. Round 2, 1919 - Melbourne v South Melbourne Saturday, 10 May, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 0.2.2 2.5.17 3.7.25 3.10.28 South Melbourne 3.7.25 5.10.40 7.13.55 10.19.79 Goal kickers George Haines 1, Percy Love 1, Eric Tonkin 1 Melbourne's return to the MCG was greeted by a crowd of 6,237 in its game against reigning premier South Melbourne who the Fuschias had nudged out of a finals place four years earlier. They had to wait until the second quarter before they would kick their first goal of the new era at their home ground and were soundly thrashed. Still hampered by his shoulder injury, Haines barely made a contribution after the first term. His team's disposal skills were poor, it overused its handball and scored only one goal after half time in a 51 point loss. Allan, McKenzie and Percy Love were the best in a game in which the club introduced another debutant in Cyril Hall. Round 3, 1919 - Melbourne v Richmond Saturday, 17 May, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 2.1.13 4.4.28 4.6.30 7.7.49 Richmond 3.4.22 4.9.33 9.10.64 11.14.80 Goal kickers Eric Tonkin 2, Jack Connole 1, George Haines 1, Jack Huntington 1, Con Kenney 1, Percy Love 1 There were signs of improvement as Melbourne trailed by a mere five points at half time. At that stage, most players were holding their own around the ground but the usually reliable Allan was well beaten in the ruck. The third quarter was a disaster with Richmond piling on 5.1 to 0.2 which was virtually the difference between the teams on the day. McKenzie, Hall and midfielder House were the team's best. Haines returned to form in his roving role and there was some respite ahead for the team with a bye scheduled for the coming weekend. Round 4, 1919 - bye Round 5, 1919 - Carlton v Melbourne Saturday, 31 May at Princes Park, Parkville Carlton 2.2.14 9.4.58 14.8.92 18.15.123 Melbourne 1.3.9 2.4.16 3.4.22 5.4.34 Goal kickers Eric Tonkin 2, Jack Huntington 1, Bob Love 1, Bill McKenzie 1 The week's break proved to be of little value to the team which was thrashed by Carlton after a competitive first quarter. The Blues were relentless for the remainder of the game and it was only due to their forwards failing to hit the target in the final term that the Redlegs managed to avoid a defeat in excess of 100 points. Tonkin was Melbourne's best, and both Haines and McLean won praise in a disappointing performance. Elsewhere that day, Geelong finished goalless, kicking 18 points against St. Kilda. Round 6, 1919 - Collingwood v Melbourne Saturday, 7 June, 1919 at Victoria Park, Abbotsford Collingwood 3.5.23 8.12.60 11.14.80 16.20.116 Melbourne 2.0.12 3.1.19 7.6.48 8.7.55 Goal kickers Eric Tonkin 2, Bill Allen 1, Jack Connole 1, George Haines 1, Jack House 1, Percy Love 1, Alex Salvado 1 The comeback kids were quickly becoming the whipping boys of the competition although one might have thought otherwise when the players received notice in the rooms at Victoria Park for their game against Collingwood that said "The secretary respectfully requests the players to kick as many goals as possible, but those kicking more than six goals will be ordered off the field for selfishness". Needless to say there was no "selfishness" and the team went down by ten goals. There were however, some signs of improvement but there was little teamwork and Collingwood was simply a much stronger outfit. George Walker was Melbourne's best and Gray was applauded for his kick-ins which often cleared his side out of danger. McKenzie and House were also among the best. Round 7, 1919 - Melbourne v Fitzroy Saturday, 14 June, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 3.2.20 3.5.23 4.6.30 6.6.42 Fitzroy 5.2.32 6.8.44 9.11.65 11.12.78 Goal kickers George Haines 3, Bill Allen 1, Stan Huntington 1, Con Kenney 1 The desperate Redlegs introduced three new players for the game against Fitzroy (one of who just lasted the one game) but it made little difference as the onslaught continued in front of 4,085 fans at the MCG. The Melbourne forward line struggled to score goals while the Maroons' focal point, Bob Merrick kicked eight of their 11 goals. The indefatigable Bill Allen was back to his best in the ruck in his 100th game. Other good players were Baquie, Matthews, Haines, Walker and Lilley. Round 8, 1919 - Melbourne v Geelong Saturday, 21 June at MCG Melbourne 3.2.20 3.3.21 7.6.48 7.10.52 Geelong 1.1.7 6.7.43 8.10.58 10.12.72 Goal kickers Eric Tonkin 2, Bill Allen 1, Stan Huntington 1, Percy Love 1, Herb Matthews 1, Bill McKenzie 1 A truly paltry crowd (even by the standards of the day) of 1,327 came to the MCG to watch the competition's cellar dwellers as eight fought for the right to claim their first premiership points of the season. The Redlegs started the campaign well with the aid of the breeze but were swamped in the second term and eventually lost a lacklustre game by 20 points. Eric Tonkin arrived early in the afternoon after catching a train overnight from Sydney and he had a good game kicking two goals. Debutant Leo Little who had previously played VFL football for the now disbanded University team in 1915 was promising. Round 9, 1919 - Essendon v Melbourne Saturday, 28 June at East Melbourne Essendon 4.3.27 7.10.52 11.14.80 16.17.113 Melbourne 2.2.14 3.3.21 5.6.36 6.8.44 Goal kickers George Haines 1, Jack Huntington 1, Gordon Landy 1, Herb Matthews 1, Alex Salvado 1, Eric Tonkin 1 Essendon's home ground was at nearby East Melbourne and Melbourne, with three more newcomers in the team suffered their biggest defeat at the venue. Ex-Carlton recruit Bill Hore was among the best along with Gray and Haines but the hapless Redlegs were never in the hunt after the first quarter. Round 10, 1919 – Melbourne v St. Kilda Saturday 12 July, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 3.2.20 5.3.33 5.4.34 5.7.37 St. Kilda 2.2.14 3.6.24 5.11.41 6.11.47 Goal kickers Eric Tonkin 2, Jack Baquie 1, George Haines 1, Ivor Warne-Smith 1 The round 10 fixture against St. Kilda was played before a small crowd of 3,483 but was significant on two counts. The home side came closer than ever before of winning it's first game since 1915 and, more significantly, the game marked the debut of Ivor Warne-Smith, arguably one of the greatest Demons ever to grace the football fields. The twenty-one year old Warne-Smith joined Melbourne for eight games and two goals in 1919 but moved to Tasmania in the following year. The true all round sportsman returned to the club in 1925 and had a stellar season in 1926 playing in a premiership and winning the Brownlow Medal, a feat he repeated in 1928. He retired at the end of 1932 by which time he had captain coached the team. Warne-Smith played 146 games for 110 goals. Later in life, he was Chairman of Selectors, helping Norm Smith to create the revived Demons as they began their golden era of the 1950s and 60s. Warne-Smith's debut game was played in blinding rain with strong winds that made play difficult. The conditions helped the home side which found itself in unfamiliar territory when it led by 9 points at half time. However, the Saints dominated the third term to take a seven point lead into the last, and while Melbourne had its opportunities to snatch victory kicking with the wind in the final quarter, it couldn't add to it's half time tally of goals while the visitors goalled at one of their few forward forays to win by 10 points. According to a report in the Football Record, it was so cold that the St Kilda players could not untie their bootlaces or take off their uniforms unaided after the match. For Melbourne, Gray and Armstrong were best while Haines and debutant Warne-Smith impressed. Round 11, 1919 - South Melbourne v Melbourne Saturday, 19 July, 1919 at Lake Oval, Albert Park South Melbourne 2.3.15 6.7.43 9.10.64 13.16.94 Melbourne 0.1.1 1.7.13 1.9.15 2.15.27 Goal kickers Herb Matthews 1, Lou Salvana 1 Harry Brereton was a Melbourne champion who kicked 187 goals in his 85 games between 1909 and 1915 and was the VFL's top goal kicket in 1912 but in his first game since the start of World War 1, he lined up against his former teammates and destroyed them with a six goal haul for South Melbourne. The Swans were dominant all day, leading by five goals at the main break and stretching that out to a 67 point win. Little, McKenzie, Walker and Matthews were best for the Fuschias who had now lost all 10 matches of what was turning into a horror season. Round 12, 1919 - Richmond v Melbourne Saturday, 26 July, 1919 at Punt Road, Richmond Richmond 2.6.18 2.10.22 5.15.45 9.18.72 Melbourne 2.0.12 5.3.33 6.3.39 7.6.48 Goal kickers Alec Farrow 2, Archie Grigg 1, George Haines 1, Charlie Lilley 1, Bill Shelton 1, Ivor Warne-Smith 1 The club was desperate to turn things around and added four more first gamers into the mix for their round 12 clash against the neighbouring Tigers. The move seemed to be an inspired one when the team led by eleven points at half time but Richmond turned things around with 3.3.21 to 0.4.4 for the third term and ran away with the game in the last to record a comfortable victory. The following week's bye could not come quickly enough. Melbourne's best were McKenzie, Shelton, Walker and Matthews. Round 13, 1919 - bye Round 14, 1919 - Melbourne v Carlton Saturday, 16 August, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 0.3.3 0.3.3 3.6.24 5.6.36 Carlton 2.2.14 9.6.60 12.10.82 13.18.96 Goal kickers Lou Salvana 2, Gordon Coulter 1, Con Kenney 1, Herb Matthews 1 Only 3,825 fans were in attendance at the MCG to witness another drubbing, this time at the hands of the Blues who kept the Fuschias goalless for the first half to lead by 57 points at the main interval. With the game decided, the second half was an even tussle with Melbourne going down by 10 goals. Jack Baquie was his team's best along with McKenzie, Boddington and Shelton while McWhinney, Matthews and Warne-Smith also won praise. Round 15, 1919 - Melbourne v Collingwood Saturday, 23 August, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 2.0.12 2.1.13 3.3.21 5.6.36 Collingwood 4.4.28 9.12.66 12.24.96 20.25.145 Goal kickers Con Kenney 2, Percy Love 1, Herb Matthews 1, Eric Tonkin 1 The Magpies were in form and heading towards a top of the ladder finish while the Redlegs were winless. The resulting thrashing was inevitable although few would have predicted how badly things would go for Melbourne. In front of a crowd of 3,885, the team crashed to a 109 point defeat which flattered the team because of Collingwood's inaccuracy in front of goal. Nevertheless, the Magpies' score of 20.25.145 was their highest score ever. Unfortunately for Melbourne, the team had yet to reach rock bottom. Round 16, 1919 - Fitzroy v Melbourne Saturday, 30 August at Brunswick Street, Fitzroy Fitzroy 6.5.41 14.7.91 19.12.126 21.16.142 Melbourne 1.2.8 1.2.8 2.3.15 2.5.17 Goal kickers Eric Chisholm 1, George Haines 1 Melbourne suffered it's biggest loss ever at Brunswick Street in a non-competitive display that yielded it a mere two goals for the day. The Maroons, with Bob Merrick kicking 12 goals (at that stage, the second biggest goal haul in VFL history) finished 125 point winners while the hapless Fuschias booted their lowest score since they kicked 0.8 against South Melbourne in 1912. Round 17, 1919 - Geelong vs Melbourne Saturday, 6 September, 1919 at Corio Oval, Geelong Geelong 5.3.33 5.4.34 9.12.66 14.12.96 Melbourne 0.3.3 1.10.16 2.10.22 6.15.51 Goal kickers Harry Selover 2, Bill Allen 1, George Haines 1, Stan Huntington 1, Leo Little 1 George Haines celebrated his 100th game with an improved performance after a poor opening quarter at Corio Oval against the Pivotonians. Indeed, the half time deficit of three goals could have been much closer had the visitors kicked better than 1.7 to 0.1 in the second term. Geelong proved too strong in the second half to run out 45 point winners. Tonkin, Haines, Allen and Selover were Melbourne's best. Round 18, 1919 - Melbourne vs Essendon Saturday, 13 September, 1919 at MCG Melbourne 1.4.10 1.4.10 2.5.17 4.9.33 Essendon 0.3.3 5.5.35 8.5.53 10.7.67 Goal kickers Eric Chisholm 1, George Haines 1, Jack Huntington 1, Percy Love 1 Melbourne's hopes of ending the season with victory was boosted when it held Essendon goalless in the opening term of their final game. However, the Redlegs failed to score in the second quarter and were four goals in arrears by half time on the way to a 34 point defeat. After a long an arduous season, it was clear that some of the players were already in end of season mode even before the game had started. Legend had it that three of them went for a "long lunch" before the match. One broke a window in a cab on the way to the ground and the three were locked inside until suitable compensation was offered. They did manage to make it in time for the game and be named amongst the best three players! At season's end, this was the ladder:- Team W D L % Pts Collingwood 13 0 3 162.3 52 South Melbourne 12 0 4 158.7 48 Carlton 10 0 6 127.6 40 Richmond 10 0 6 118.2 40 ------------------------------------------------- Fitzroy 9 1 6 125.3 38 Essendon 7 0 9 94.6 28 St. Kilda 7 0 9 70.6 28 Geelong 3 1 12 73.4 14 Melbourne 0 0 16 43.0 0 Collingwood went on to win the premiership after beating Richmond in the grand final. Playing List - 1919 Number Player Games Goals 1 Bill Allen 9 4 2 Eric Tonkin 14 14 3 Percy Love 11 6 4 Bill McKenzie 13 2 5 Bob Love 8 1 6 Herb Matthews 14 6 7 Bill Hore 2 0 7 Reg Gibb 3 0 8 Charlie Lilley 14 1 9 John McMahon 3 0 10 Gordon Coulter 8 2 11 Jack Baquie 14 1 13 Lindsay Nichols 1 0 14 Alec Gray 13 0 15 George Haines 14 15 16 George Walker 10 0 17 Con Kenney 9 5 18 Bob Bodington 4 0 18 Stan Huntington 3 3 19 Eric Chisholm 5 2 19 Allan McLean 5 0 19 Jack Huntington 12 6 20 Art McWhinney 9 0 20 Teddy Johnston 1 1 21 Jack House 15 1 22 Bill Brunier 4 0 23 Alex Salvado 5 2 24 Lou Salvana 6 3 25 Alec Farrow 4 2 25 Howard Richardson 1 0 26 Cyril Hall 9 0 27 Jack Connole 5 2 28 Matt Connors 3 0 28 Jack Evans 1 0 29 Charlie Armstrong 3 0 29 Frank Cummins 1 0 30 Bill Shelton 8 1 31 Leo Little 6 1 32 Archie Grigg 3 1 33 Ivor Warne-Smith 8 2 34 Harry Selover 3 2 35 Dave Elliman 3 0 Unknown Gordon Landy 1 1 Melbourne won its opening round game of 1920 against South Melbourne ending a drought of almost five years going back to round 15 of 1915. Five years later with Warne-Smith back in the fold and a team full of many more new names, the Redlegs were back in the finals. A year later, they won their second premiership against Collingwood. FOOTNOTE: In the 45 seasons that followed 1919, the Melbourne Football Club won 11 premierships, a rate of almost one every four years.

None of our players would make it at present. NicNat would be nowhere near it either. Goddard wouldn't make it either. He's a shadow of the player he was two years ago. Maybe Lewis Jetta gets a run somewhere? He has been superb this year IMO

Agree. A very minor blemish on an otherwise stellar career as a Demon. Stretcher leaves Cale Morton in his dust.

From what i've seen online Jurrah has been dropping steadily, so i'd say progress is being made at a reasonable rate. Nev Jetta has jumped down a bit though, wasn't he at about 4-6 weeks just last week? Would really like to see him get back playing, not so much for the team but just for himself, I hate seeing players lingering on the injury list like he has.

I didn't like the locker room. im a frequent visitor to the site and usually keep up to date. But I found it harder with the locker room. Instead of a new topic titled 'Brad Green injured', I would have to trawl through a heap of old posts on the 'Brad Green' thread to find any decent info.

Who in the hell is Marky J.?

Who the eff cares about the Viney thing? He's a top three player in that draft regardless. Stop being influenced by the media, folks. Think for yourself. And as for Sunday - just beat them and bleed them. Then we move on to next week.

Am I the only one around here who doesn't want to see Voldemort ironed out on Sunday? I mean it would be far more satisfying for me to see someone like Jordie McKenzie tag him so closely that he barely gets a touch.

And we still have moron pro-tankers on board. Go 'support' another team, will you?

This worries me if it is true. If true I would adopt the Eddie approach and make a quiet phone call to GWS reminding them that Patton was a MFC supporter and that as a family club, how concerned the MFC is that he is separated from his mother and sister and that it is incumbent on us to help him get back to his family. A huge pay packet would also help the family with any financial issues and of course, we would advise that there is a job open to his mother and sister at the MFC, as they are widely regarded as being among Australia's leading membership assistants and a salary of $100000.00 each could be available over say 6 years. If he was not interested in coming home, we could advise that we would find out who is and offer them a suitable package for themselves and their family. We really are the family club.

Ehh, Mitch is better value than that million dollar tagger whose last opponent had 30 or something touches. Sheedy lost the plot a decade or something ago.

I don't mind him but can't say he gives me a woody

Great player of a successful era for the Dees. Light-bodied, spectacular mark and quality run and carry player.