Leaderboard

Imagine the mini bar bill in Lachie hunters room? Too soon?

No 50. 1986. Round 14 V Fitzroy. Waverley/VFL Park. 1986 was the start of life after Ron Barassi’s messiah coaching return didn’t bring success. John Northey was appointed ahead of a number of senior experienced candidates. He was not high profile so he’d been dismissed by the Swans. The Dees were 3-10 after 13 rounds and not looking very promising. The winless Saints had easily beaten the Dees in round 12. It was a dark mood around the club. The season was turning downwards and the rumours of merger talks had started to be raised between the Dees & the Lions. Fitzroy were a top 3-4 club and still had several stars in their line up. But Dees started like the top team , belting the Lions kicking 7 goals to nil. The crowd was in awe. The Star was a young strong forward John Fidge, younger brother of Ted Fidge, who kicked 5 goals. The emergence of young Garry Lyon, Steven Stretch and Steve Newport showed the promise of better times. A young Hawthorn reject named Brett Lovett was on debut. Greg Healy stepped up afer his brother Gerard had “desserted” the Dees for Sydney’s $$$$. Brian Wilson “Willo” returned the Brownlow level form and fitness, showing why his prior injuries had hurt the Dees. On a cold June day, it brought some hope to my Demon heart. It was the first talk of mergers and the Dees had stood up to say No Thanks. The team copped some real beltings by over 100 points on several occasions in 1986 but this day was remembered as a plus sign. Melbourne 17.13.115 defeated Fitzroy 11.5.71

waay back in 71 or 72 me and a friend went to see the dees train at the MCG ...and to try and get some autographs. From memory that day I got Greg Parkes and Max walkers (which was as swirly and colourful a signature as the man himself) Somehow we hung around for long enough so that, as we were walking back to the tram, Paul was also walking the same direction... training bag in hand. He was so open and friendly and we talked for maybe 10 mins, which for an 11 yr old was like a small meeting with God. I remember him asking us lots of questions and the memory of it still lingers. Despite the lack of success the team of that time had, the names from those days remain my absolute favourite.

A case of sofa, so good?

Met Paul back in ‘71, came around for Dinner one night with a mate of my Dad’s Lovely guy, i even went down to Moorabbin a few times to see him play, when he moved on

Paul "The Count" Callery turned 70 today. Great footballer and an even better bloke! Still very active. Congratulations! PF

Some very brief footage in here from our 1939 premiership win over the Pies (never mind what the description says) https://www.britishpathe.com/video/australian-rugby-championship-aka-rugby-football

Too much information WYL. What happens in Thailand should stay in Thailand.

If not, Weid is there to cushion the blow.

Doubt it, he is blessed with divan inspiration to give the onballers an armchair ride. ?

As long as he's not being a La-Z-Boy

Oliver already streets ahead...only 83 games for an AA and 2 Bluesy's....

Robbo for me. Was terrific to watch and never left you wondering what will happen next. No doubt Oliver will become a great player but right at this moment I have to favour Robbo.

Here it is... I hope the Audio stays in synch. It is always a little hit and miss on Youtube if a clip runs over an hour. SWYL

From the above article: 'It was initially believed the MCG wasn’t suitable as a quarantine hub, where teams would base themselves in a clean environment for an as-necessary period of time to play multiple games against fellow quarantined sides. But it’s now thought to be more likely. Victoria’s 10 teams and club officials could all be housed across the Pullman and Mantra on Jolimont hotels, with their combined capacity of 620 rooms.' I hope when they announce it they thank binman

The lay-off will be benefiting all injured players from all clubs you’d expect.

No mention the Preusster. He must also be good to go by now.

That was in 'The Coodabeen Champions Big Bumper Footy Book' from 1990, which is still in my footy library. The Pretoria Proteas team in full: B: White Mann Bos H/B: Wight Furey Allday Centres: Judge Blake Fellowes H/F: Wittey Harmes Black F: Weightman Byrne and Kickett R: Moore Payne and Law I/C: Pyke and Mace Coach: Alan Killigrew In: White Law Out: Love and Good

I can tell you with certainty that there have been countless D!cks who have umpired the game!

Yeah not sure this is "Categorically True" Still sees and regards Crackers, Stan Alves, Gary Hardeman First Love DEES and only went to Saints because he felt Ian Ridley was sacked prematurely by club in early 70ts A Man of Principal ! But, he did Love his time at the Aints!! DEES MAN THROUGH AND THROUGH!

The AFL will not forego games in 2021 if they can help it especially considering the financial hit they're getting now. They will want a full season in 2021 even if it comes at the expense of a heavily reduced preseason.

I dared to watch the a replay of the 1987 Prelim...Jim Stynes actually gives away at 15m penalty earlier in the game, and in the Final quarter John Kennedy of the hawks is awarded a goal when the ball seems to miss/hit the post (same one Ricky Jackson hits 1 year later interestingly enough)

I was at that Windy Hill game.( at the outer, opposite ,end). I think Clark’s mark was about on the 50 m line, so he had to clear 55m at least. He tried a torp, and got hold of it ,but it fell a metre or so short. Can Demonlanders remind me of games where we’ve won with a kick AFTER the siren. ? I can think of a few wins JUST before the siren ( eg Gold Coast last year, Schwartz knock to Leoncelli in Adelaide, TMac v West Coast on the MCG), but no wins after the siren come to mind(unlike several losses AFTER the siren.)

Best Bet (Saturday) Flemington Race 4 No.9 Good Idea (Place) $3.50

The AFL plan involves players being tested twice a week and once on match day. Okay by me assuming tests are freely available for other industries, teachers and in particular emergency workers right down to cleaner level.To do that level of testing when not widespread across the community would be a PR disaster like wearing masks on a plane when none were available at a hospital as happened in round one. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-teams-could-play-on-in-hubs-even-if-player-tests-positive-20200422-p54m5n.html

Agree with Robbie but with respect Not the rest - May,Lever, Langdon,Tomlinson, Melksham, Gawn,Oliver, Brayshaw,Harmes, Viney and others would walk in - half of them have already proved that - we have one of the best lists - all of those list bashers will be eating their words over next few years

Not only '88. Had he stayed, he would have been another of the troop playing with Robbie in '87, in that Preliminary Final. And most likely, in the Granny following.

Pornhub

Give it another year or two and Clarry will probably overtake him but runs on the board, Robbo was underrated for a while and became a fantastic forward for us. Loved by the fans and he was the first to return that love.

To me it feels like the NRL are rushing things because they have to, they are really desperate to get things going as quickly as possible whereas the AFL does have a little bit more of a luxury to do things "right".

The best remedy is flags

Padlock on it?

a blast from the past.........lots of talking points here Earliest surviving Australian Rules footage: 1909 VFL Grand Final, South Melbourne vs Carlton

Slightly off topic, but this article in The Age last weekend about the 1970 Grand Final and its impact not only on the game but on some of the players involved is a cracking read. It's a good reminder that while snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is painful for supporters, it can be even more devastating for the players. Admittedly, this game was a Grand Final, so of course we should expect the impact would be greater.

Can’t recall JR I remember watching the replay at home. It was in the centre square. in play. It wasn’t behind the ball

A hotel full of 600 footy players the bulk of whom are under 25 for a couple of months... what could possibly go wrong. It's the AFL version of battery hens Imagine if you were a fringe player not getting a game

Didn't Big Carl belt 5 or 6 Collingwood players in his last game for us? (Round 22 1980) The headband & the handkerchief were his trademarks. Not to be messed with was Ditterich. A nasty piece of work and of course, a very good player. Laurie Fowler regarded him as his best coach.

Then there were the rusted- on Aussie colloquial first names such as Hassa (Harold) Mann . With a single given name initial in The Record of his day i'm sure many kids didn't know his real name .

I often wonder whether letters like this get written for the players. Not much doubt Maxy wrote this one. He’s become an exceptional communicator. Uses great humour but it’s not just a joke it has a real point to it. Those are two great examples that really do show he understands what we’ve been through. His B&F speech last year was the best speech in the Club I’ve ever heard. It embraced every aspect of the club so comprehensively with humour, humility, knowledge. Who the Club is and his part in it. Past players, current players, coaches, supporters. Brilliant. Can even play a bit.

A point that Goodwin made in that article is a good one, Burgess has experience with tight turnarounds and condensed fixtures. The premier league is such a crammed fixture during December and having that knowledge of how to approach it could be key.

Never would have picked this as the reason we haven't won a premiership since 1964. I thought it was because we weren't good enough.

Coodabeens once did Springbok team - can only remember backline White Mann Bos Judge Hằng Allday

I wish he could come back now and end this curse.

McDonald was a far superior footballer to Jones. A smarter player, as nearly everyone has said; a much better user of the ball; an inspirational leader; quite possibly the most courageous player we've had in the last generation. An outstanding player in good MFC teams - B and F and AA in the last MFC team to make finals before 2018. Jones has been a loyal servant, and I don't want to do him any disservice at all, but he is an honest foot soldier. His Club Champion awards were all won in very poor sides (not his fault), he's never made an AA squad, let alone team and his record just doesn't stack up against Junior.

Recency bias is a legitimate thing. More recent players are fresh in people’s minds and will usually win a vote. Similar to how Dustin Martin gets talked up as one of the greatest footballers of players time. It’s recency bias and in reality he’d probably be lucky to scrape into a top 100 list.

It's was sad when these two were drawn against one another in the first round. Both would be in my top 5 or so, both hugely underrated by many MFC supporters IMO. Jones will probably win mainly based on the fact many of the younger supporters didn't see or have forgotten how good Junior was. I voted Junior. IMO he was cleaner, made better decisions and was a better clearance player. He won two B&F's in a period when we had players like Travis, Ooze, Neita, Robbo and others of high standard. Jones won when he had little opposition which is not to suggest he didn't deserve them but merely to point out the greater competition Junior faced. But the clincher for me is Junior's AA. Competition for mid spots was significant. Judd, Cousins, Beams, Pendles, Bartel, Ablett and on you go. Junior was judged against them and was selected AA. Jones has faced similar competition but wasn't. And finally I think Junior was a better captain. It's always hard to tell from the outside but where the captaincy never seemed to sit comfortably with Jones it always did with Junior. Picking one over the other made me feel a bit sick but on an objective measure Junior shades Jones because of his AA and a few intangibles. Shocking situation to have them drawn against each other round 1, both greats of the Club who offer so much more than many others in this draw.

I was at the Springvale ground in the mid 80s when he was coaching my beloved Oaks, at half time someone had locked the Oakleigh rooms so Paul picked up a length of pipe that was lying around and proceeded to threaten to smash the door down. IIRC the key was found pretty quickly. Legend.

Is is true that, when metrication was introduced, he considered changing his name to Killer Jewell?

Every time I watch one of our better wins over the past few years Cam Pederson always figures prominately.

I will never forget that moment - ballot got me Level 2 seats in the pocket. Unbelievable feeling!