Leaderboard

At work but will be there for full session on Wednesday, complete with uninsightful comments on training drills, gossip, gun and rig watching and blurry photos

Rode my bike past training this morning about 10.30 and they finished at 11.20 so I guess I missed the first hour. Saw Lewis and melch walking off as I arrived and Hogan, Keilty and the Weid arriving late. Did not see Brayshaw, Tracca, Tyson, Stretch, AVB, ANB, Neville, Maynard, Wagner, Or Fritsch, thought I saw TMac early on. Didn’t notice McKenna. they were changing gear when I arrived so maybe the first hour was running drills. The hour I saw was fairly light on, two groups, each split into 4 groups practicing picking up a rolling ball, baulking a coach and short passing 25 meters to the next group one of which would mark the ball, handball to a running player who kicked to a target and so on. They swung it around to kick left foot, then right foot. They then played some game to lighten things up with groups facing each other inside an area with cones. A player would handball to a team mate, another handball then one would do a dribble kick straight at the one of the opposing team. He then had to take the ball cleanly or it was deemed a point to the opposition. No juggling allowed. Oscar Baker showed some very clean hands and quick reflexes. Indeed the few times I have seen him he has ticked the boxes with sure ball handling. i spent a lot of time watching Viney who was working away from the main group with 4 assistant coaches who were kicking balls to on the lead out of the goal square, mark, swing onto his left and snap at goal. Later the coaches were playing keeping off with Viney trying to intercept rapid handballs forcing him to weave from side to side, intercept, then snap on goal. All this went on continuously with little time to recover. Viney looked unimpeded to me and was working at a much higher intensity than the main group. Later he was running laps and repeat sprints. Maybe he is cherry ripe but they need to [censored] him harder so he makes round 1. Finished with everyone lining up in the pocket needing to slot a goal through on the angle with a stiff breeze bending to ball toward the Near point post so you had to aim at the far goal post to have any chance. Most got it through first time but Frost, King and J Smith I think took a couple of goes under a lot of pressure from their peers. And that was it. No standouts that I noticed apart from Viney. I then rode over the park to watch a bit of Storm training, Billy S and Cam Smith looked in good nick.

Was searching for a new avatar and stumbled on a pic of the greatest moment in Nathan Buckleys life.

Love how it takes almost our entire coaching staff to play keeping offs with Viney.

You cop heaps of rubbish but luv your work. Saty you're much appreciated by the guys and gals that can't be there. And when you report your insights we're much better for it. Thanks heaps,, another old phart!.

I travel a lot for my job, but in my current job I get to mostly dictate when I travel so have planned many an overseas trip to fit within a week that means I do not miss football games in Victoria. I also sat through a meeting in China once while secretly watching the football on my phone (we won). Have been to football on crutches with a broken knee and broken toes. Have also left hospital early after an operation so I can go to the football (that was by far the stupid thing I've done). Sadly this year I am going away on a personal holiday and will be missing 3 matches, including Queens Birthday... but it was a better option than taking leave in September like I did last year, and spent the entire season dreading missing finals. I also permanently scarred my boyfriend last year, when I accidentally elbowed him in the arm during a game due to over excitement (or rage?). He had just got a tattoo, and I elbowed him straight on the same spot. There's a tiny little bit of skin/tattoo missing now, which he enjoys showing me every time I ask him why he doesn't enjoy the footy with me.... Lucky he loves me!

From that article re: Leadership Although Jetta isn’t officially in Melbourne’s leadership group, he sits just outside of the group. He is sometimes canvassed for views and has sat in leadership group meetings. Not a big speaker – although when he does, people listen – Jetta epitomises the ‘lead by example’ motto. Having learned from the likes of Whelan and Davey, Jetta is now guiding the way for other Indigenous players – not just Jeffy Garlett, Jay Kennedy-Harris and Dion Johnstone at Melbourne – but across the competition. “[I was] hiding to an extent behind ‘Wheels’ (Whelan) and ‘Flash’ (Davey) when I first came in. I didn’t really say too much, but to be in a position now where the boys look up to me is definitely a good feeling,” he said. “I try not to change too much with the way I go about it. I’ve always been one who tries to lead by example and actions, so it’s had a flow on effect and the boys are now starting to see me in that role.” As much as Jetta is revered for his on-field leadership – highlighted by his courageous style of play – he is a fine example away from the game.

Nev is a leader regardless of his wanting that title or not. On the field and off.

I think I have a free Wednesday morning. I try and pop down again and write up a report.

The Weid was in the main group today, first time I have seen him not running laps or doing forward work with coaches away from the main group. It was a low intensity session but he was moving well enough.

Regardless of whether he is in the leadership group or not, Nev has been and always will be a leader on the field. Perhaps, as he does in the media, he flies under the radar at the club?

Hunt was there today and took part in all the action and was quite energetic and vocal in a couple of the routines. Didn’t standout that much but I do remember he nailed the last routine, the kick on goal from an angle with a torp from 50 m. That went through the middle. Now that I think of it, though unrelated, was noting how vocal Spargo was in one of the routines, yelling at players to get on queue! As a newbie I liked it and it caught my attention. Spargo is one to watch I think.

one them will win a AFL premiership .......

http://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-07-19/jetta-a-man-for-all-people Very good profile of Jetta from last year. Clearly a strong leader and presence at the club.

I assumed he was already in there. Hes one of the best leaders at the club, and excluding the obvious pick of Jack Viney would just about be his teammates first choice of who they'd want to to go battle alongside.

Demonlanders thank you.

Don't believe your own publicity girls. Get that out of the system early and make sure yesterday hurt enough........... Freo was obviously in for the tough one, but all the same the rule interpretations are bazaar, on pushing, jumping on head, neck holds and staying anywhere near the mark lines...............sometimes closely resembled mud wrestling without the mud....sorry, unkind....

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE HAWK IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Whispering Jack In the opening act, the theatre goers witnessed an animal on stage. It was quite dead, having been spiked at close quarters by a garden fork. The animal was a bird, a Hawk to be exact but it could easily have been a Magpie or even a Dog; it’s passing was a metaphor for the end of the Norm Smith Curse that began in the prehistoric prime number year of 1964 when they last held the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo and Dawn Fraser purloined an Olympic Flag in the dead of night from the Imperial Palace. As Dawn explained in her autobiography, Below the Surface, “... finally they pulled the flag loose. ‘Quick,’ said one of them. ‘Cop this.’ I took the flag. ‘Go for your life,’ said the other. ‘The demons are coming.’” The Demons were certainly coming. They won the premiership flag that year but soon after, it all went awry for them, for Dawn and for Norm. Many years later, the Americans came up with a television series called the X-Files in which the star of the show Special Agent Scully predicted that it would take young children of the future blessed with mathematical powers, an understanding of prime numbers and a rectangular field to put an end to the curse and so it turned out last night. They sat there near the forward pocket where monsters once ruled the earth, riveted to their bean bags, faces painted in red and blue colours, never once distracted by the acrobats, neon goalposts or the smoke machines. They were part of a now world record AFLX crowd of 22,585 fans, a small proportion of who even paid to get in to be part of history. Forget the Winter Olympics - we could never emulate the surprise appearance at the opening ceremony of Kim Jong Un’s sister and Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. The stars of this show were the kids. They are the consumers, not of the future but of the present and the only way to get their collective attention spans away from their iPads is an action packed game that doesn’t invade their safe spaces and where you need just two kicks from kick-off to Zoop in the time it takes to recognise the opening riff of a Justin Bieber number. The Demons were the big winners. They took home the blue AFLX Night Two Trophy - Australia’s equivalent of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. AFLX Night One doesn’t count after the Court of Arbitration in Sport ruled it ineligible due to the use of the illegal silver ball in Adelaide. Firstly, the Dees knocked off the kids from Carlton, then they destroyed their ancient hoodoo against the Kangaroos who blundered by selecting a ten foot tall slow moving dinosaur to play in a game made for intergalactic space age swiftness (notwithstanding the obviously staged WWE-style rag dolling of TMacX) and finally, they atoned for the ignominious annihilation by the Hawks back in football’s stone age with a Grand Final triumph for the ages. The memory of that 1988 debacle (an event that coincidentally also unfolded in the middle of another Olympic Games - and who could ever forget the jaundice-eyed juiced up Ben Johnson killing it on the screen at the G in the 100 metres final) was still in mind as the club song was sung and tears welled at the realisation of how fitting it was that Billy Stretch was in the team that finally brought home some silverware to Yarra Park. The name Craig Jennings was unknown to most of mankind just a few days ago but today, it’s bigger on the world scene than Karaoke. He’s the man who really broke the Norm Smith Curse in front of the kids as he coached the club to its first VFL/AFL premiership since 1964 (if you leave out the pre-season Ansett Cup of 1989 against Geelong - nobody knows what an Ansett is these days anyway). The Jennings strategy was obviously to work the prime numbers based on the theory of diminishing returns, to grind the opposition in a downwards mathematical progression. Hence, the scores of 82 (including 7 Zoopers) against Carlton, 70 (this time with 9 regulation goals) against North and finally just 56 points against Hawthorn which was enough to win the Big Blue X by that beautifully prime number of 10 points. The Dees worked those numbers with system, style and precision. They dominated their games and the result was never in doubt. They forked the Hawks and undoubtedly put an end to the Curse just as predicted by Scully in the X-Files so many years ago. The Craig Jennings Medalist by unanimous acclaim was born-again mathematical genius Jake Melksham who was taken out of defence and transmogrified last year into a forward with a rapier-like boot that homed in on the Zooper zone with precision all night. He scored Melbourne’s first three Zooper goals of the evening against the Blues, notched another against the Roos and his fifth in the granny. Otherwise, he was always in the game, up forward, down back, marshaling the troops with class and skill. There were plenty of other highlights, James Harmes’ physicality, some flashes of brilliance from Angus Brayshaw, skipper Neville Jetta’s control in defence, a very promising cameo from recruit goal sneak Bailey Fritsch, TMacX’s ability to find the goals, Corey Maynard’s strong attack on the footy, Josh Wagner’s improvement in defence, Tom Bugg’s in your face aggression (but get your disposal right please son) and AleX Neal-Bullen’s continued upward progression. And then there was TraX. This young lad Xtian Petracca is really something. He looked so impressive out there whether it was bullocking through packs, taking strong marks or winning the tip-off against the NBA size dinosaur. When the Summer Olympics roll around in Tokyo again in 2020, you can line him up in the Aussie basketball team with his old mate, Benjamin David Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers (and Dante Xum and Maynard and J Smith of course). Together they can take on the world and perhaps even knock off another flag from the Imperial Palace for the Demons. Most Melbourne fans would have been euphoric with the outcome. The premiership was in the bag, the Norm Smith Curse put to bed for good and the mystery of the curious incident of the Hawk in the night-time solved. The only thing I couldn’t work out is how this tattoo of a Demon appeared on my ankle. AFLX NIGHT TWO IN MELBOURNE 16 FEBRUARY 2018 - THE PRIME NUMBER SOLUTION GROUP 1 Melbourne 7.1.6.82 defeated Carlton 2.5.4.54 Goals: Melbourne Zooper goals: Melksham 3, Bugg, T.McDonald, Petracca, Wagner Goals: Harmes Goals: Carlton Zooper goals: Lamb, Williamson Goals: Dow, Lamb, O'Brien, Polson, Silvagni North Melbourne 5.4.9.83 defeated Carlton 5.2.6.68 Melbourne 1.9.6.70 defeated North Melbourne 3.2.4.46 Goals: Melbourne Zooper goals: Melksham Goals: Fritsch 3, T.McDonald 2, Bugg, Harmes, Jetta, Melksham Goals: North Melbourne Zooper goals: Hartung, Higgins, McDonald Goals: Preuss, Zurhaar GROUP 2 Hawthorn 3.6.7.73 defeated Essendon 3.3.6.54 St. Kilda 2.5.2.52 defeated Essendon 2.2.5.37 Hawthorn 4.5.7.77 defeated St Kilda 2.5.5.55 GRAND FINAL Melbourne 3.3.8.56 defeated Hawthorn 1.5.6.46 Goals: Melbourne Zooper goals: Harmes, Melksham, Neal-Bullen Goals: Bugg, T.McDonald, Neal-Bullen Goals: Hawthorn Zooper goals: Burton Goals: O’Hanrahan 2, Ross 2, Burton

Well that's incorrect because he WILL get a game this year.

I drove around Subiaco Oval in 2004 after we beat Fremantle hurling abuse at Dockers supporters. I had a 12 pack of eggs on me so I decided to egg a few of them. One guy chased me down and tried to grab me through the window so I put the window up and got his arm stuck. I drove pretty slowly and he had to walk next to the car. My mate in the back put a Demons scarf down the back of his pants.

1. Broke up with a guy because he badmouthed Demons. 2. Rented the 1988 grand final on tape, just to see us play in a grand final. 3. Dated incompatible guys because they were Demons supporters. 4. Actively tried to seek out tapes of our under 19’s/reserves premierships. 5. Walking out of the house during the 1998 final against St Kilda because it was too intense. 6. On having to work on the 2000 (preliminary final, I was fuming) recorded it. Came home. Tried to wait until it finished so I could watch it “live”. Eventually I succumbed to temptation and peeked on the result. 7. For the 2000 grand final, I got out all my old MFC merch and decorated the living room. 8. Numerous humiliating dares l had to do when losing games.

For some reason I just assumed that Nev was a part of our official Leadership Group (as of 2017). I was floored when I saw that he wasn't. I get that the "official" Leadership Group is just a title and that leadership is done by example and you don't need a title to be a leader. I was thrilled to see Nev being presented with the AFLX Trophy as the captain of the match but why wasn't TMac given the captaining duties given his role in the 2017 Leadership Group? I know that this was AFLX and it doesn't mean anything and this isn't a big deal. The reason for this post and poll is do you think Nev should be elevated to the 2018 Leadership Group?

It was just a one of bet off the top of my head, after noting Maccas post, and the standout horse had won 6 out of 7 starts at a track in Sha Tin so i threw him in for first. Its not how i bet over the long term, but cheers for the input DD.

Red, I saw that you and your family disembarked at Eden. How was the drive back?

A lot of rough stuff was dished out by Freo in this game and 4 Freo players have been given reprimands http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-02-19/aflw-bans-for-star-blue-crow-and-magpie Freo targetted us after quarter time to upset our rhythm and it worked. At the weekend I noticed that Carlton and especially Collingwood also played rough. They will follow Freo's example and come after us in the coming weeks. Umpires need to start paying frees for all the head strikes, jumping on top of players on the ground and other acts designed to injure. But we also need to return fire when roughed up. We can't continue to 'play nice'. vs Freo we tried to keep up our fast, skillful game and it didn't work against a fairly constant physical barrage. They knocked us around then ran off with the ball.

An acquaintance at work joined up at Ladbrokes last week and received a fair wad in bonus bets as a consequence. Plonked most of it on Redkirk Warrior and cleaned right up ... however most I know were on Redzel or included it 'one-out' and lost out. It will be interesting to see what odds both horses are at their next start (The Newmarket Hcp?) ... Redkirk Warrior won last year's Newmarket.

No doubt that we go in with the strongest possible 25 we can field. With only two practice games we need to get the run into the legs of those who will be lining up for us in Round 1. The years of blooding youngsters in the JLT is behind us - with only two games to play we can't risk giving the kids a run for the sake of it. I think Fritsch will get a look in, but others like Baker and Spargo will probably miss out, which I'm fine with. I want us ready and raring to go in Round 1 so we can smash the handbaggers and get out finals tilt underway in style!

Regardless, it is a tough race to find a standout horse Wadda ... trifecta for me at this stage. The Orr Stakes form isn't a great guide either. I always like to give a horse a 2nd chance so will probably include 'Dollar for Dollar'. Lord Of The Sky & Brave Smash should feature whilst Tosen Stardom will probably be thereabouts. And then there is Humidor & also Mighty Boss to consider. Barrier draw Wednesday I believe (and final fields) Last week all the fixed odds and form for the major race meetings were up on the Wednesday evening (racenet.com)

Really? Why the big move i wonder? I still think its not his ideal distance 1400. Never won at the trip so far i dont think although a number of placings. Having now viewed the run from last year, you kinda have to have something on it. When is the barrier draw..Wed?

In the early betting Hartnell & Black Heart Bart aren't listed for the Futurity so it could be presumed both aren't running. Tosen Stardom is now into 5.50 after being 11.00 yesterday. Needs a decent barrier this time though (It drew the wide barrier in the C F Orr Stakes) A horse to look out for in the Blue Diamond (if it starts) is the Hayes trained 'Nomothaj' at big odds - it won the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes back in November beating 'Sunlight' into 3rd. It did run poorly in MM 2yo Classic but it might feature. It's possibly going to be my 'Best Outsider'

Wow look at the difference on the turn between the 2yo race and the group 1. The 2yo are so spread out ! Just compare the 2 still shots above. Dont see how Tosen Stardom lost that really? Just got nailed on the line. Funny how you never remember the 2nd horse. Nice research there Macca, thanks for posting. Bit of a swoopers track that day.

Here are those 3 Group 1's from this time last year (Oakleigh Plate, Futurity Stakes & Blue Diamond Stakes) Link - The 2017 Oakleigh Plate

This seems like the perfect time to announce that Demonland has been acquired by Zooper Corp and will be rebranded Zooperland.

My sister, in her early teens, declared she was no longer barracking for Melbourne and had decided Carlton were the team for her. My father's response was 'Where are you going to live?' She wasn't that happy when I packed a suitcase for her. * Not a crazy act as such although her response was.

Wrecker, i'm not sure if it was intentional but this statement implies the two issues are comparable. Which of course is completely not the case. It is impossible to compare the two. A quick google threw up hundreds of articles that make this point, but this one sums up how absurd the comparison is: The reality is that an American is at least twice as likely to be shot dead by a toddler than killed by a terrorist. America's gun control 'problem' is full scale out of control. The numbers are staggering. Staggering. On the other hand it is hard to mount an argument they actually have a Islamic terrorism 'problem' at all let alone a 'massive problem'. This article, in the wake of the obscene Las Vegas massacre sums up things well, when it says; The Las Vegas massacre is a symptom of a problem more serious than terrorism: the lack of effective gun controls in the U.S. As I have reported previously, between 1970 and 2007, a total of 3,292 people in the U.S. were killed by terrorists. Almost all those deaths occurred on a single day, 9/11/01. That averages out to fewer than 100 deaths from terrorism a year. In contrast, more than 32,000 Americans are shot to death every year, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Of those, more than 11,000 people are murdered and almost 20,000 kill themselves. The U.S., which has more firearms per capita than any other nation, has rates of gun-related killings much higher than any other developed nation. The irony is that at the heart of the gun control issue is the notion of freedom and not having the government control its citizens. And the completely out of of balance response in the USA (and here too for that matter) to terrorism has stripped US citizens of their rights, impacts on their freedom in any number of ways (eg intra country air travel) and most ironically of all has enabled the government to control its citizens in ways that 20 years ago would have been unthinkable (eg monitoring private conversations and email use, surveillance, right to detain etc etc). Go figure.

Trump is an idiot. Repealed Obama's law that would have made it harder for the mentally ill to buy guns. Fact check Then he has the audacity to blame shooting on mental illness. As for Obama's 'lack of action' on gun laws, the Democrats had control of Congress from 2009-2011. This was the window for action, and from memory that window was used to pass the ACA. After that, The GOP took control of Congress, making meaningful changes to gun control legislation extremely difficult. Even during that window in 2009-2011, the Democrats had fewer than 60 seats in the Senate - which is generally what is required to avoid a filibuster. So any significant gun control legislation would have stalled at this point anyway. Sandy Hook happened in 2012. So America's greatest impetus for improving their gun control laws took place when the GOP controlled Congress - obviously nothing was going to pass. Make no mistake here, the GOP is the biggest impediment to meaningful reform in the USA on gun control. The NRA has donated millions to them in order to keep gun laws where they are: https://www.absentdata.com/blog/nra-politician-donations/

Just got home from the match. 1. Kicking goals or lack there of cost us the game. Ladies didn't allow for the wind when having set shots. Lots of wasted opportunities. 2. Our ruckman doesn't tap to players but tot he same spot, Free clued on and just started sharking every tap, esp. that blonde free midfielder. 3.Umpiring was shocking and always at the worst time. They early paid a kicking in danger or head high contact and there was lots with demon's lying ing the ground after the ball departed holding their heads. 4. Overall we were a far better side over the field in terms of skill, but goals is where it counts. Basically if we kicked straight we would have won, but we didn't. Otherwise it was a good day out with my kids to see a demon team play live.

The one little snippet I found, MELBOURNE star Christian Petracca has pledged his future to the Demons, adamant he wants to be a one-club player for the duration of his career.

how on earth was that not in the back for cunningham!!

Wore my Melbourne jumper around England in 1965 (see me pictures at a Butlins Holiday Camp in red and blue.). Recorded kicks, marks and goals from radio commentaries as a kid. Lou Richards was the best commentator. In the old days we used to run round the ground each quarter so we could be at the end Melbourne were kicking to.

I often find the games super stressful and don’t like to be overly social when I’m at the ground. I like to watch intently and listen to the commentary through headphones. If my mates are considering coming to a game and they’re a 50/50 chance of going, I’ll often tell them I’m not able to make it so then they don’t go. Then I go anyway so I can soak all it in without having to chat!

As mentioned in my post above, the focus was mainly on match simulation involving fast movement and switch play but there were a variety of drills earlier and these included most of the available list bearing in mind that the squad of players from the victorious AFLX team were no doubt enjoying a morning off. The two important players who missed most of the first half of last year through injury and non-football related circumstances - Jesse Hogan and Max Gawn - both looked in good shape and ready to have a big impact in 2018. Others who impressed me were Michael Hibbberd and Christian Salem both in terms of looking fit and raring to go but also in their attack on the footy. Its interesting that although Hibberd and our AFLX star Jake Melksham (obviously, he wasn’t there yesterday) had good seasons in 2017, they both look ready to take giant steps up this year. Good signs. I mentioned the small rehab group of Jack Viney (looking huge and aggressive) and Sam Weideman who were joined by Joel Smith and Jeff Garlett. Dom Tyson’s injury was apparently to his calf. No sign of AVB. Nathan Jones was mopping things up coming out through defence and Mitch Hannan moved well. Of the newbies Harley Balic looked comfortable and at home with the group. Charlie Spargo looks a real goer and Oskar Baker is going to be a bit of a cult hero. I reckon Jake Lever might go ok this year. Clayton Oliver is looking in good shape and had enough sunblock on his face, arms and legs to convince me to take out a portfolio of shares in that industry.

The craziest I have done and continue to do is when overseas on holiday, get my photo taken in my Melbourne jumper in front of famous landmarks. At the colosseum whilst in my mfc jumper a shout came from a group of tourists GO DEES. It was unreal in that spot. Once I get home I have the photos printed on an A4 page and signed by No 13. Clarry signed my last one yesterday at the Casey training day. He was good about it after a bit of a laugh. Until my next holiday, Hawaii next February.

Slept outside the MCG from Prelim night till the following Saturday grand final back in 1964 to get the best position in "T" section. Best day and stayed on after the win till Sunday. They opened the "G" up for Melbourne supporters both Sat night and Sunday. Great time and great memories.

The most crazy..... went to a game at the G with BBO and Biffen about 3 years ago. Still recovering.

nobody really thinks it is of any significance....just taking the pizz

Went last night, and agree with others, better live than TV Confirmed a few points I had gleaned from training They are listening to the tackling coach we have brought in from Storm Melksham up forward is going to be a nightmare matchup, can't leave him alone from 60 metres out Harmes has taken his footy up another notch Nev told me he was feeling good and ready to go Seen similar plays at training, this was an upmarket training after all, but Goodwin demands constant effort and we saw that last night and in Hawthorn game a decided lift in intent

Daisy I think some of their soccer players come from near there

I credit the cancelled training camp for our success.

A couple of rule changes and it could be alright. Play on a bigger oval. Have 18 a side on the field. 4 20 minute quarters with time on. Get rid of super goals, add rucks, tackling and contests.