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Someone takes my parking spot - think of Trac turning and delivering The last lofat milk gone - recall TMac’s shepherd I get cut off and sigh - remember Oliver’s run and goal, or Kozzie spooking someone and Spargo’s goal or Jackson’s hand pass or Harmes’ gather and kick to Fritta … Life is good 🏆

His real name is Scott Bowledengland but it’s a mouth full to say.

Being the purist I am, I say… BRING BACK THE 5-DAY TESTS!

Over the next five weeks, Demonland regular Deespicable will count down his version of our top 100 players since 1972. THERE'S always a fine line at the end of any list with a few tricky decisions on those who do and don’t make the cut. Firstly I had a general rule that you had to have played 50 games for us, although I did break it for three players, two of whom are in the 81-100 category – Mark ‘Whacko’ Jackson and Sean Charles. One of our most expensive recruits Kelvin Templeton played 34 games and kicked 99 goals for us and his eight-goal game in our win down at Kardinia Park on Anzac Day in 1983 has to rate among our best ever individual performances – but sorry Kel, not enough red and blue blood spilt for mine. Secondly I had to rule out a large number of highly serviceable stars who played their best footy in the 60s. Frank Davis was still captain in 1972, but by then was more a dour half-back flanker and the former No.6 never really rocked my boat as a kid. Ditto Barry Bourke. Thirdly, how do you draw a line between levels of serviceable players, which let’s face it, most of those in the 81-100 category are. I mean Simon Godfrey (105 games) had less kicking talent than most Demonlanders, yet he tagged with intent (just ask Shane Crawford). Paul Hopgood (113 games) and Darren Kowal (105) had genuine hops, but both never really cemented a spot in eras that weren’t exactly flushed with success, while Marcus Seecamp (89) always looked the part in defence, but never dominated. But I suspect my biggest omission is Peter Walsh (104 games), a gutsy redheaded defender who tied for 15th in the 2001 Brownlow with 11 votes. He came on the scene via the rookie list along with Daniel Ward and always put in and I reckon quite a few would want him, just as Port did in 2005 when he was traded and went on to play played finals for them. So re-instate him in my 81-100 list as you see fit, it’s just that all of these guys have solid cases too. 81 Graham Osborne 66-77 146 games One of my earliest memories was watching Ozzy fly off the backline, take a bounce and then lose the ball all in the blink of an eye. He was mega quick which gave him a huge advantage in those days, but unfortunately he couldn’t quite put it all together, although he did have a pretty good year in defence under Skilts in 1976 – even polling 18 votes in the Brownlow that year under the two-umpire voting system. Sadly he was injured early in 1977, so maybe he was the factor in why we didn’t kick on as expected that year. 82 Nathan Brown 98-07 146 games OK, he was a Collingwood six-footer (180cm), who often struggled to roost it more than 40m and he wasn’t exceptionally quick. But our Nathan Brown (as distinct from the Dogs forward) was a real livewire rebounder who’d run all day and put his body on the line off half-back. He had a few ripping battles with Stephen Milne and during his prime was one of the Reverend’s automatic selections. 83 Jake Melksham 16- 83 games Unlucky not to play for us in 2016, Melky had a tricky baptism when Goody initially tried to turn him into a defender. Eventually he found his way to our forward line where his booming delivery was hugely important in our 2018 campaign and his left-footer on the run from 50m in our finals win over the Hawks was huge. Tom Sparrow’s rise probably ultimately cost him his spot in our premiership team, but there was a time in 2018 when he was talked about as an AA such was his importance. 84 Peter Keenan 70-75, 81-82 131 games I’ll never forget trying to imitate Crackers hunched over stance like a warring buffalo at ammo level and finding myself victim to every kid’s attempted screamers. But as a ruckman he was a workhorse, who could take a pretty strong mark – he took 14 grabs one day against South Melbourne in 1975 and it was that prowess that saw him snaffled by Barrass at North in 1976 to solve his ruck woes. He played in their flag against the Pies in 1977 and was nice enough to return to us in 1981 with Barassi. He was often suspended but racked up 30 more games for us, albeit for just five more wins. 85 Mark Jackson 81-82 41 games 152 goals Amazingly whacko Jacko contributed 152 goals in only two seasons. Recruited from Richmond’s U19 – they already had Michael Roach and Brian Taylor on their books, few players have been more watchable or selfish as the Energizer. He was actually a pretty accurate kick and could even snap a goal across his body. But he preferred to just snap – whether it be at umpires, at opponents or even the club skipper. Those from 82 reckon he just had to go the day he belted Robbie Flower at training, apparently peed off that Tulip kept beating him to the ball. He was less successful at St Kilda but Geelong persisted with him for a while and the Neville Bruns/Leigh Matthews incident came about largely because of his stirring antics. But while he was never quick or clean with his marking, his combination with Gerard Healy in 1982 was amazingly prolific for us. 86 Steven Icke 82-87 78 games Sticky was recruited from North with Allen Jarrott, part of Ron Barassi’s plan to steal the smarts from his old side – he did also steal Mad Dog Brent Crosswell around then, although that seemed more about getting in someone who could beat him at chess. But Icke was very serviceable as a CHB who could go forward on occasions when things weren’t working. He didn’t take hangers, but he was a nice mark all the same. 87 Henry Coles 75-80 77 games, 106 goals For three years in the late seventies, Henry was our No.1 rover and a pretty handy one, being particularly dangerous when he rested in the pocket as rovers did before the interchange came in. He snagged 33 goals in 1978, including a memorable six in our win over the Cats and won a Vic guernsey that year. He gave up his No.13 when another Pie Wayne Gordon arrived at our club, a bad omen for him as he did his knee in Round 4 in 1979 in the No.3 top and never really recovered. A run in with Big Carl in 79 didn’t help either. 88 Brock McLean 04-09 94 games Taken at No.5 in the 2003 draft, Brocky was the son of Blues hitman Ricky and was as tough as they come. His flowing mullet (no Bailey Smith perm) made an immediate impression and he played in our losing elimination final side to Essendon in ‘04. By 2006 he was virtually best on ground for us when we downed the Saints in the first week of the finals and was again among our best the following week in our loss to Freo. In 2007 he injured his foot in Rd 1 and by the time he returned we were 0-8 and it was a whole new club. He lifted us to a huge QB victory that year but he, and we, were never the same, even stooping to tanking late in 2009. Disgruntled by that philosophy, he agreed to be traded to the Blues for pick 11. 89 Ricky Jackson 86-91 80 games, 131 goals Sported the No.45 like Matty Whelan and came to us in 1986 after a failed stint at Richmond who felt that at just 170cm he was too small to make it. But ‘tricky’ Ricky had explosive pace and loved taking on defenders and for six year did his Kozzie Pickett forward-pocket role with aplomb. He even won our goalkicking with 43 majors in 1988. He kicked five goals against Carlton in the preliminary final that year and made the Big V side in 1990. I still don’t know why we traded him to Footscray in 1991, but he badly broke his leg pre-season at the kennel and never played for them. 90 Darren Bennett 89-93 74 games 215 goals Discarded by West Coast who had Peter Sumich, the thumping right-footer arrived at the Dees a couple of years before Allen Jakovich. Given our battle to find gun forwards in the 70s, it’s hard to believe we had a plethora to choose from in John Northey’s era. He had a few knee issues, but boy could he kick a long goal and his foot extension matched that of Tayla Harris - which is why he went on to make more money in America as a professional punter than ‘Dollars' Lyon made from us. He kicked 87 goals in 1990 (only Fred Fanning and Norm Smith have kicked more) and nailed four in our breakthrough elimination final win against the Hawks that year. But it was his five goals after halftime in our amazing comeback win at Windy Hill in 1990 that was the stuff of legends. 91 Russel Richards 83-87 81 games How good was it watching the Rhino in full flight charging off half-back like Adonis. He almost won the 1985 Grand Final sprint. Sadly he was a bit like Sam Frost – unable to turn his excitement into a game-breaking play but for a while we all thought he was on his way to greatness. A couple of minor injuries and the growing star status of Sean Wight and Rod Grinter meant that he struggled to get games in 1987 and by the end of 88 he was sent off to Prahran. 92 Alex Neal-Bullen 15- 105 games After five years of being the Demonlanders whipping boy, ANB endured an even darker 2020 and was seemingly out the door. Goody, who had spotted his work rate early in 2016 and pushed Roosy to play him as a small forward, seemed to have sided with the critics and written him off. After eight weeks watching from the sidelines in COVID 1.0, he returned for the clash with Adelaide and the club failed to even lodge a complaint when he copped four weeks for a dangerous tackle on a young Crow - the same that Shaun Burgoyne and others did virtually weekly. At season's end he was offered up as trade bait. Thankfully there were no takers. Bet he’d have quite a few now after a year when he played every game and constantly provided link work, tackle pressure and the occasional goal in a premiership side. Here’s the thing - Nibbler has always been is our hardest worker at training - bar none. And that’s why it’s so nice that he got some reward for all those efforts. 93 Dom Tyson 14-18 94 games Dommy’s best years were pre-Clayton when he was our big-bodied midfielder alongside Jonesy, Viney and Bernie. In his first year under Roosy in 2014 he even snagged 16 goals and he was second in our B&F. He was clever at times by hand and would lean back and hammer a left foot to our non-existent forwards back then. But by 2018, Goody was worried about his lack of pace (he’d always had knee troubles) and sent him to the wing - the same one the club had offered Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove on their way out. He was useful in the 2018 finals but it wasn’t a surprise when he was offered up to North to lure Braydon Preuss. Some will say that we should never have given up pick No.2 in the 2013 draft for him, but without splitting that pick, we wouldn’t have attained Christian Salem. 94 Alistair Nicholson 97-06 110 games Big Nick was recruited as a ruckman from Claremont but was never quite tall enough to make it as Jimmy’s replacement and once we had Jeff White we didn’t need him in that role anyway. So Neale Daniher sent him down back and he played on all the resting ruckman including Steven Alessio in the 2000 Grand Final. I was always a bit dirty that he didn’t belt a few blokes that day, especially after Brad Green and Troy Simmonds had been felled, as he was built like a proverbial brick sh..house, but he’s probably too nice a bloke at the end of the day. He’s been pretty successful off field representing our cricketers in legal battles, before more recently looking after the coaches group. 95 Jack Trengove 10-17 86 games The victim of one of our most whacky decisions when Mark Neeld decided he didn’t like his senior squad on arrival at the club and upgraded the 20-year-old from country South Australia to the leadership in tandem with Jack Grimes. The pressure on the then 37-gamer must have been intense, especially given it was before we had a good support coaching network. Jack had a nice baulk and became so team-oriented under the weight of being skipper that it seemed to stifle the initial flair he’d shown in his first two seasons. He had good endurance (like his sister Jess) but was never blessed with pace so when he kept getting stress-related foot issues, any chance of him utilising his smarts on the wing were minimal. 96 Guy Rigoni 98-05 107 games A late-comer to the top level after having no luck at Hawthorn, Riggers was a hard-at-it Myrtleford mid who could thump a long bomb in the Neiter direction and was a regular in both 98 and 2000 when he played in the granny against Essendon. He had a night out against the Roos in 2000 in a one-point loss at the Docklands amassing 37 disposals, but back issues limited his career after that. 97 Sean Charles 92-97 46 games, 60 goals A favourite of mine and just about everybody’s in 1994. He was recruited from Tatura in 1992 and kicked five goals on debut as a 17-year-old but from then he was hit by a mix of injuries and complexities from his indigenous background. He had electric speed and Melbourne was so sure of his abilities that Balmey arranged for him to be helicoptered in to training Brian Peake style mid-season. He was a key part of the exciting forward mix alongside Schwarter and Lyon in 1994 and his five-goal game in our finals upset of Carlton that year was a career-high. Broke his arm badly pre-season next year and spent more time in the medical room than on the field. But along with Liam Jurrah, one of our most talented players ever - you just wonder what he could have been if Neville Jetta was around to guide him then. 98 Colin Garland 07-17 141 games I always felt that Col was a little unsure of his abilities and doubtless that came from beginning his career in an era when our assistant coaches and support network were not a patch on today. A Hobart boy, he was quick, had a pretty good leap and could kick a long goal, as he did in the Queen’s Birthday draw against the Pies in 2010. As a defender he never really became the star interceptor that he should have been. But until Frosty came on the scene, I always felt he was in our best 22. 99 Tony Elshaug 79-83 66 games 92 goals It’s amazing how many of our players back in the 70s and 80s won flags at other clubs and Tony was another being a clever forward pocket/rover in Essendon’s 1985 premiership side. At the Demons the Bentleigh boy progressed from our fourths and got a couple of senior games late in 1979. But his 1980 year was arguably the best of his career and he very nearly won our goalkicking with his 29 tally second only to Brent Crosswell’s 31. He was also pretty handy in the Grand Final sprint but I reckon after three years of Barassi and a win/loss record that Cale Morton would relate to, he realised a switch to Sheedy’s Bombers was the best way to actually use his pace on the footy field. 100 Anthony McDonald 97-02 104 games A bit like Guy Rigoni in that he didn’t actually play his first game until he was 24, having unsuccessfully tried out at Carlton and Hawthorn. He was a superstar at Old Xavs though, so we gave him a go and the left footer became a pretty handy midfielder who was among our most reliable players during the 98 and 2000 seasons. Along with older brother, Hawthorn No.1 pick Alex and our future captain Junior, the McDonalds became only the third set of three brothers to play 100 games behind the Morwoods and Danihers. No relation to Edenhope’s Tom and Oscar, these ones hailed from a nice farm just outside of Ballarat. Next week: 61-80

Mystery solved …

Haven't watched a minute of cricket in years but have just gone online to find this guy has taken 6-7 and James Brayshaw is commentating. Wondering if it provided him with another opportunity to go bang...bang bang bang.

Guess what… I’m not feeling it anymore 😞 J.K. 😁 I‘M STILL FLIPPIN’ FEELIN’ IT !!!!!!! ❤️💙🏆❤️💙

Yep, a premiership will do that for you.

He is a friend of mine and I messaged him showing him the page He had a laugh about it. He was burnt in the Bali bombings but shouldn’t be on the list

Bolands overs this morning were a bit like the end of the third. All happened in a rush!,

Finally MCC produced a live wicket, I haven’t seen such great bowling for a long time, bowlers on both teams dominated the bat but the Australians were awesome and if Boland never plays again he has gone down in the Record Books. Well done Scottie Boland.🔥👍💕

I imagine England cricket will now try and get Peter Jackson to be CEO and Paul Roos to become coach.

Didn't watch or listen to the radio calls of the 2nd or early part of the 3rd qtrs for a few weeks after the game. Just wanted the good parts. But I've found watching and listening to the whole game just makes the comeback better. Commentators were gearing up to hang the Norm Smith around Bont's neck and then get blown away by 10mins of power the football world won't soon forget. To be fair the whole last month of games was power football starting half way through rd23. A comeback for the ages against geelong taking top spot for the home and away. Comfortable win against respected Lions. Destroyed the cats in the prelim with Gawn on fire. And then after abit of to-and-fro, suddenly ripping the dogs hearts out on Grand Final day.

Without a doubt one of, if not the, greatest goals by a Demon. Ever. One thing I really loved about that goal was the set up. Jackson, famously taking centre bounces at a critical stage in the game, follows up and has time gather and look for an option - and sees Clarry running through the corridor. Jackson weights a perfect handball into space so Clarry doesn't have to break stride. Clarry never looked like missing - incredible given his struggles with accuracy all season. Everything worked with that goal. One of our young stars rucks and wins a follow-up possession, our clearance set up worked (inside mid, winning the contest and getting it out the front) and we get it to an A grade mid, who is running at speed in a dangerous position. And Clarry puts the Grand Final to bed. Awesome team goal.

Sure, Boland took 6 for 5. But then he got carted. Gave up 2 more runs while not taking any more wickets. However, he's a Vic, so I hope he keeps his place and can pull his weight in the next Test.

Very pleased to hear that.

On ABC radio Glenn said that his father had to work this morning and that he had hoped to be at the ground by noon !!

Well, as much as we want to respect his privacy (and we will), I reckon there might be a few dozen blokes ready to claim they’re related after today’s effort. Wow!

A wonderful performance by Boland I think we may see a bit of discussion regarding ball technology shortly. The Kookaburra is a new design this year that is supposed to keep the ball harder longer. Interesting that reverse swing has been non exisitent and there has been very few sessions where batsmen of either side dominated. Don't think there has been more than one 300 run day if any. Winning away from home requires a great team and this England team is not clearly not one of them. Well done Scott Boland !!

After seeing him bowl I'm convinced his old man played for Melbourne

Richie Benaud sends his best from the other side. 1, 1 was a race horse 2, 2 was 1, 2 1, 1 1, 1 race and 2, 2 1 1 2. They do seem like very vigorous training drills in that video.

I don't really get the rationale for players having to sit out unless they are too unwell to play. Theres tens of thousands of cases a day, it's not like having players sit out or games postponed is going to stop the virus spreading. The cat is out of the bag, we have to learn to live with it now. Constant cancelling of sport/school and lockdowns shutting down businesses and putting lives on hold indefinitely is not the answer.

I'm not sure if any post could make this thread veer further off-course Timothy, but just imagine if Archbishop Desmond Tutu had passed away at 2.22 on Tuesday 22.2.22.

Excellent thread deespicable. The one thing that got me from your 81-100 was Stephen Icke. I thaught he was a great player and prbably in my top 50. But it is all opinions and an great read.

The ratings were specifically from 1972 (as explained in the intro) when BB and FD were well past their primes.

If you're taking it from 1972 then probably not, he was in his last couple of seasons. If you are talking his whole career, then most definitely he would rank higher than probably any on that list. Same with Frank Davis...

Barry Bourke would be in the top 50. Has to rank higher than Dom Tyson and most of the others in the list.

Maybe because it's pre-season, maybe because it's a highly controlled environment, maybe because he's had a huge weight taken off his shoulders. Goody seems very relaxed, and more assured with his speaking.

Yes I am sure they would rather win in rd 1 than their 3rd flag in history!

All I can say is lucky Dr Gonzo is not my GP. As for you, FD, well, what can one say about a man who believes keeping everything open will make a virus disappear.?????

The Viney toe poke into space ...... Past the sweeper 😂 😎👌

In the Merry Month of May...

Agree with all the above on on Garland. Great team man and really let down by the culture of the club at the time. On a brighter note I can't wait to see where Alan Jackovich places in this.

Yep a great effort. But this England team would find a way to be dismissed by an armless person.

Surely time to reread Heller

Yes, he sure can bowl. 5 for 5! And he’s a VICTORIAN! edit: make that 6 for 5!

Yeah, Col kicked 2 goals in a minute against Druggies. At night in the rain. Rare win in depths of our despair

Veer? That was too good for it not to, Mr Stone, to be sure. Brilliantly unearthed, too.

"Saw him " Dstone ! eonder you don't like that in view of your cryptic background!!!

I'm with Superloop and they're good. Not as good as when I first signed up, but overall I have no issues. The best IMO are Aussie Broadband, but you do generally pay that slight premium for it. I wouldn't go with Dodo if you were paying me to. If you wanted a bundle Origin's NBN is a whitelabled Aussie Broadband service, but it's probably cheaper to keep it all separate. As for mobile if you don't mind prepaid Boost are great. The 6 and 12 month prepaid plans are brilliant value. 100% the exact same service you would get as going direct with Telstra. All of the other MVNOs providing services over the Telstra network only get access to the wholesale portion. You can see the difference for example between Boost (Full Telstra) and ALDI (Telstra Wholesale). Massive difference in WA. Still a fair difference over East too.

And there's no question; it's Two Twenty-two, not Twenty Twenty-two. Still, a premiership in either will be just fine...

Got heaps of merch for Xmas, only one double up.....and a happy new year to everyone

Sparrow is best 22 - easily.

I'd be rapped if he was. Jesse could play footy a bit. Practically carried our forwardline as an 18 yo, playing against the best backman every week. I'd love to see how Jesse could have turned out if he walked into the premership side we have now, instead of the rabble we were then and not had all the family and personal tragedy to contend with. I recon he would have been an absolute champion.

Nice praise for Anb. He has improved immensely and it's great to have him recognized.

You would have to think it's a high probability. If you google who are Scott Boland's parents it says he wants to keep the privacy of his parents but has a brother Nick. So I doubt we will ever know and anybody who does wouldn't post it here (you'd hope not anyway if that's his wishes)

Not sure that Hannan is best 22 at the Dogs. He'd be in the 18-30 player cohort... and they have Ugle Hagen to fit in come 2022

Couldn’t see your way to squeezing JH29 into the firsts? 😭

That is a great effort Werridee you have a great knowledge of all teams, I have been so focused on the Dees I no longer know our opponents nearly well enough.!!

There's no way after his grand final effort that Tom Sparrow plays at Casey.