Leaderboard

Probably not, but risk well worth taking in this case. Outside of being a rare athlete when up and running, Bennell would have better skills on his left foot than most our players had on their preferred. There is a reason why this cat is being given his full nine lives. Nothing lost if this experiment fails. Its one of my most supportive moves the club has made.

I seem to recall that through the late 80s and early 90s we would always have a mid season slump before coming home strong. Probably cost us a flag.

The 1994 Semi will be on Fox this weekend i believe. Such a great game to watch, Ox in full flight, Lyon 10 in 3/4s Tingay and G Lovett playing at their best, Jeff Hilton and Glen Molloy in the side. Enjoy it. will report back times if i can get them.

Agreed. Leigh Matthews himself has reflected that the 'Pies were not necessarily the best team that year. But that they played their best footy at the right time of the year. In my view our biggest missed opportunity

Sounds more like financial advice rather than medical advice.

"Despite having been given an unexpected week off by virtue of the West Coast/Collingwood draw, the Demons entered the match against the Eagles with troubles. Garry Lyon missed the match after being collected heavily by Steve O'Dwyer in a Thursday night training mishap." http://demonwiki.org/Semi+Final+1990 Oh Strawbs ?

When we got flogged by Norf, John Longmire was only 19 yo but kicked 14 and our percentage went from 119 to 106. A typical Demonesque loss. What's more, the Norf loss dropped us from 3rd to 4th but despite winning 7 of the last 9 games we stayed anchored in 4th place even though we cracked 16 wins.

And these guys want to go into a quarantine hub....

A wonderfully cerebral article from the Guardian.... The peak-end rule is a heuristic method whereby people judge an experience on how they felt at its peak and at its end, rather than some amalgam of the whole. Consequently, with the right spin, we may find ourselves so overjoyed at the return of sporting endeavour that it warps our perception of what preceded it. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2020/apr/28/playing-the-waiting-game-shutdown-of-sport-is-beginning-to-test-patience

Yes, that's why a NT hub is highly unlikely

We also lost to Sydney in round 6 who were worse than woeful in the early 90’s.

Spot on, Re Essendon game, they kicked a goal at the 10 minute mark of the last to go 5 goals up and we won running away. Still remains my biggest disappointment to this day 1990. Great last quarter on youtube if you can find it.

Yup, that for me was definitely our best (worst?) missed opportunity. Pretty much everyone inside the club at the time were super confident that we'd see off Hawthorn in those back to back games and then getting the week off courtesy of the West Coast - Collingwood draw set everything up beautifully. Then we failed to turn up at Waverley against the Eagles. 1990 was a free hit with no dominant force that year, unlike our two recent Grand Final appearances. I think it might also have been the year that big bad Billy Bennett kicked six at Windy Hill to see us storm home.

We beat top of the table Essendon twice that year.

We shot ourselves in the foot dropping games against bottom teams which was a consistent theme during that era & all other finals campaigns . Getting a double chance is a major thing eg 2000 we played a qualifying final then into a prelim & Gf. 2018 we dropped some dumb games & should have finished 4th.

This is promising - Harley Bennell ‘a really good chance’ to be fit to play for Demons once AFL returns

The next Round 2 game sees a Ruck vs Ruck matchup as Jim Stynes takes on Jeff White. You can either vote by going to our Facebook or Twitter pages or for convenience you can vote in the poll above. Jim Stynes: 264 Games 130 Goals 1991 Brownlow Medal 4 x Keith Bluey Truscott Trophy 2 x All Australian MFC Team of the Century AFL Hall of Fame MFC Hall of Fame Jeff White: 236 Games 95 Goals 2004 Keith Bluey Truscott Trophy 2004 All Australian

Good news in an email from the MCC today: "Finally, I would like to announce and welcome to the MCC Committee Russel Howcroft who has been appointed to fill the casual vacancy created by the retirement of Mark Smith". Russell, of course, is one of the stalwarts on the ABC's Gruen show, but importantly is a former MFC Board member. We hope that this will continue to ensure our voice is heard over at the MCC, and that more can be done to sign up those 5,000 MCC members who go along to 4 or more Melbourne games each year, but do not sign up to the MFC/MCC membership.

The 1990 team definitely was good enough to win it. Pies stole it. The Bombers & Hawks had dominated the prior 7 years. We were able to BEAT both of them in 1990. We lost to lower teams. We were capable.

Exactly, it's extraordinary times, requires extraordinary compromises, a lot of people are out of work relying on government payments. Make it work or forgo your years contract.

Think cruise ships and I reckon you might get an idea of the medical advice...

Sorry mate but you’re absolutely delusional if you think that one rule change is the difference between us finishing 4th and 17th.

dont care what people say win at all costs a flag is a flag , what years when they didn't play finals ? or teams on drugs or over the salary cap.

7.30 Sunday night. Recording already set.

how dumb and dumber can you get......broadcasting it all over social media......some people never learn

No.48 2016 Round 20 v Hawks at MCG The Hawks we’re reigning premiers but Roos’ Demons were a rapidly improving side. Roos was to step aside at the end of 2016 but the Dees had a very small sniff of possible finals actions. They only had to win their last 4 games. The Hawks were tested by the Demons earlier in 2016 and had won a tight encounter. So despite the Hawks being a top 3 team again, we felt we were a big chance of an upset. Unfortunately Jesse Hogan was out and Sam Weideman came in for his first game. Another tight affair was evenly balanced at 3/4 qtr time with the Dees in front by a goal. With the demon faithful supporting, the Dees lifted to win by 6 goals. Dom Tyson kicked the sealer and the Dees celebrated. We’d finally beaten the Hawks after years of embarrassing losses. Watts, Gawn and Jack Viney were our stars but backed up by many young players coming through. Hope was rising that very soon the finals drought would end. Melbourne 17.8.110 defeated Hawthorn 11.15.81

2004 Jeff White beats a regulation Stynes year.

Second half

First half

Just realised you missed his continuous games record from his stats

North actually went on a 9-2 run from round 10 that year and unfortunately we copped them right in the middle of that run, and Longmire and Carey would've been at the top of their game. But yes, to concede 200 point is unacceptable in anyone's language.

Very disappointing that Geelong blew that lead against West Coast in rd 22 as we would've got the double chance. But as others have mentioned, we only had ourselves to blame as we lost to a bunch of ordinary (Geelong, St Kilda,) or downright horrible (Sydney) sides that year. We also only beat woeful sides by 2-3 goals at home against Brisbane and Fitzroy when we would've gone in as raging favorites. Sounds like we had a problem with complacency that year which was summed up perfectly by blowing it all against West Coast in the semi final in front of our fans.

As I stated in my email to the club, we wouldn’t be so interested. In our view, it would hold a similar significance to winning a pre season comp cup. But regardless of that, I would be extremely surprised if they were to hold a GF that was open to the public... in which case, will the payment be applied to next year’s comp, or will it be considered a donation to the club (in which case I won’t be doing it again)?

Jeez , the guy was a volunteer whose prominent marketing background helped with fund raising/ finding sponsors .

remember this game well , went to ground without ticket and ran into a mate that had a spare right behind the goals, sat around hawthorn people .. they didnt overly like me at the end !

Hmmmmm? Interesting question... [censored] YES!!!

I'm very happy we have another voice on the MCC board! To me it's critical given the profile of the other (unwelcome) existing tenants and wannabe tenants. I suspect Howcroft's place on the board has a bit to do with his advertising nous/experience.

No it was anybodies that year we should have at least played in the grand final.

So right !!!

Stick to footy, Martian. You needlessly brought politics and history you clearly have a very narrow knowledge of into this. I hope your knowledge of footy is a bit less sheep like.

You must have missed the news: the USA bombed Somalia yesterday.

Valid question Ht.

no argument from me but of course it just puts a hole in next years revenue. Perhaps 20% off for five years would be doable. Unless the GF is played in November, I see little chance of crowds being allowed and even then that would be a big stretch based on what we are being told about social distancing lasting well into 2021. Can you think of something the club could do for you that would not involve significant financial burden. How about a lottery where the prizes included a shared super box with a former player or two, or admission to the rooms or to a player training luncheon. I'm sure there are others but as I said the club needs to engage its members

I think Hardtack the club has assumed it is a donation. Did you expect any different from an industry where the common fan has been taken for granted for years? The reality is that the MFC will go broke if it has to refund the fees but there is a balance that I believe the clubs are in danger of missing. Where that balance is I am not sure but at the least it should encompass more fan engagement by the players who after all are the main beneficiaries of our largesse. Pay cuts will be the norm for many players as TV advertising revenue falls etc etc. Should you ask for a refund of the GF guarantee or the equivalent of an airline voucher as you suggest.Go for it. Should you be entitled to receive it? Probably yes but should that be extended to reserve seat fees, Redleg membership and the list goes on. Caroline Wilson's article about a tax deduction on the basis of a charitable donation missed the point as tax revenues will be stretched for years to come. The fall out from this disastrous virus in an economic sense is just really starting to raise its ugly head. Other than the ubiquitous Amazon and the mega tech companies it is hard to think of one industry that will emerge unscathed. I have always tried to drill into my children that you need to have six months worth of living expenses available in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Of course they laugh at me. Perhaps I should have been advocating for twelve !! Good luck Hardtack in these very difficult times.

the appointment is to the MCC Board not the MFC Board

I'm not qualified to sit on a board 'sat'... In all seriousness and not to get into a slanging match with you. I would like to know why the board allowed Garry Lyon to come in as a consultant to the club. Garry was a great player but had no qualification to take up this role. He's never coached at a club or been involved in any other role but as a player. From the outside looking in it seems that the will of a sick president over rode that of common sense. To me that is a failure at board level and Russell was part of that board. Does this qualify him to be a good appointment on another sporting board? It might seem stupid to you but this still really gets to me...there may have been good reasons at the time but from a supporters view all I can see is failure to make the right call and we're all still paying for it.

Your overt hypocrisy is hilarious!!!

He was chasing that sweet, sweet money. In the 1987 semi-final vs The Swans with Melbourne miles in front, Healy won the ball from the centre bounce, ran forward taking two or three bounces and kicked a lovely goal. A voice in the crowd was heard to call out "Come back Gerard, all is forgiven".