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My brother had a paper round and back in the day he loved selling the Herald on a Saturday if North had a win as all the old blokes at the pubs after the match would tip really well. He used to take me with him because he would make way more in tips with a little sister in tow. One pub in particular, the Shakespeare, iirc in Dryburgh Street, had the same bunch of regulars. The old blokes would give my brother extra tips if he could get me to sing for them. So I’d (reluctantly) bust out a few lines of Oh My Darling Clementine, it was the only song I knew. And the tips would instantly double. Years later, as adults, we were reminiscing and I said, “I can’t believe you used to pimp me out like that!” He says, “Hey! You never had a problem with it while eating your weight in Eskimo Pies!” 😆

Lets not get ahead of ourselves. I'm just taking it one premiership at a time.

I'm a 40 year plus supporter who suffered through the horrible 70's 80's .......yeah, until now, and thought I was a broken, negative viewer, but this list and its MFC support staff have convinced me that we are about to enjoy the success that only a power club can bring. We have been set up brilliantly by our recruiters and developed perfectly by our coaches. It's been said that when the Dees win flags, it is in multiples, and I see absolutely zero reason to doubt that this will be the case with our current list, provided the hunger remains as consistent as our injury list. I'm looking forward to a few more flags before this bunch begins to disband.

Only 57 days to go folks.

I keep coming across twenty-somethings who’ve tested positive then had either ‘no symptoms’ or a couple of days cough. When I ask those if it was like the flu, they reply it was more like ‘a cold’. Different for different age-groups of course, but there’s undoubtedly a high number of those who’ve had the virus but haven’t been recorded as such. We are rapidly heading for endemic stage. Boosters will evolve to strain specificity, such as Pfizer’s ‘Omicron booster’ currently in the works. Treatments for the ‘illness’ will also evolve and improve. Putting aside the inexplicable attitude toward vaccines by some (a fractional percentage in Australia, thankfully), and the developed world’s greed-fuelled neglect of vulnerable countries, the global response to this pandemic is remarkable. Far from what it could be obviously, but compared to its obvious precedent, the Spanish Flu, remarkable nonetheless. All we need do now is redirect our vocational values system toward health and community (hospital staff on garbage wages are currently being slaughtered), and away from its frank obsession with ‘wealth accumulation’, and the future’s looking bright.

Arden street was a strange one. Pretty much on a main road (Macaulay Road). When I was an apprentice I worked directly across the road and if I was at work on a Saturday, me and the other apprentices would wait around after knocking off because they used to let people in for free at 3/4 time. North had great fans. They were well known for having a core group of nannas as their biggest fans. 😁

I think the design is brilliant https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1048431/melbourne-launches-inaugural-pride-guernsey - keeps our traditional colours an weaves the Pride colours in too. Am fascinated to see what it looks like from the back.

Please tell me this was done in slow motion, running towards each other with outstretched arms, before twirling around and falling into the sand together, as waves washed over the two of you.

I don't think I've ever seen us stand astride a player who was facedown and place a hand on their back preventing them getting up. The rule around delay of game has been there for a long time and it's non enforcement has irked me for as long. Ben Brown should have been awarded a 50 when it happened in the GF. I understand we have been guilty of the delaying tactic as well but regardless of my bias, I think we are one of the few teams that don't go overboard with it. If adjudicated correctly and consistently, (I live in hope!) our style/game plan will benefit from this and the likes of Geelong will suffer.

Well George on the Outer was on the outer again at Casey this morning, since the gates are locked to prevent the plague ridden populace from entering... Still got to observe through the fence, which is as good as we football starved individuals can get, so we will take it. I counted 40ish players on the track, with Harmes and Rosman doing rehab of some sort, mainly running, stopping and restarting type of exercise. What sort of injury that means...perhaps more of the medically trained posters can help. Now it was difficult to see who wasn't there, due to this fence previously mentioned, and the wearing of bibs at times. However these days they all have numbers on their backs, apart from one unidentified player. Still I couldn't see Ed Langdon out there, although he does wear an invisibility cloak, which prevents opposition players from seeing him during the game. Perhaps he was wearing it today? Not sure if Melksham was there, but given the numbers of Covid expemptions reported from other clubs this week, it was quite literally a healthy list on the ground. Observations: God awful music being played through the loudspeakers. Screaching girl bands and moaning rejects from the Voice, Idol or repetitive rap could only make the players listen intently to the coaches. You sure as Hell couldn't listen to that other rubbish! Apart from the usual warm-ups, kicking drills with the Mark Williams striped ball, and another with huge foam goal posts erected mid-ground to do what I don't know, there was one which really took the eye. It was virtually a full match type game, with umpires, but the speed was simply incredible. Switch, switch back and then some more saw the ball move at lightning speed around the ground and from one end to the other. If this style is introduced through an already Premierhsip side, watch out opposition teams. There was little fixed position as players roamed wide to create opportunity, and then even more. Difficult to describe, but the team with the ball would rip right through the defenders and only a misplaced kick would see possession lost...then that opposition would do the same in return. The poor umpires never caught up with the speed and were trying to whistle 20, 30, 50 metres behind where the ball was. The only downside was the goal-kicking , but I suspect it wasn't the aim of the drill. Still an excuse could be they have moved the goal-posts at Casey, and players seemed to be kicking to where they used to be. Standouts were Oliver, Salem and May. Oliver just steps through defenders and just keeps going and going. Just when he looks cornered, he just bursts out again. Salem the same, how no-one can tackle him is amazing, and he always keeps bobbing up with ball in hand to deliver accurately. May is well over his hamstring injury from the PF, and just kept dragging down mark after mark. Another that took the eye was Majak Daw, playing forward. Really strong marking and leading, he was a challenge to be able to control in the air for May, Petty and Lever. All the new recruits were there, but with the viewing curtailed it was difficult to focus on what they were doing or not. And when the rain started, this wimpy reporter thought better of standing alone and headed for home, leaving the players to finish the session in peace.

88 Prelim. Garry Lyon Torp that went 80 metres. Pissing down with rain, cold and 5th row from the fence and didn't care.

That horrible beer they served was almost reason in itself to avoid Arden Street. I know Courage Breweries were North's sponsor, but their product was so bad that people were coming home sober from a day at the footy.

My memory is a bit hazy on some aspects, but I remember going to Vic Park for the last game of the season in 1976, with my Dad. He had somehow got 2 tickets to sit in the stand (Social Club?) behind the goals at the railway end. I was just 12 and Dad laid out strict rules for the day, no Melbourne gear and no barracking for Melbourne! He was spot on with his warning, as from what I could tell, no one was barracking for Melbourne in that entire stand. We were an outside chance to make the finals (6?) if we won and another result went our way. I think Henry Coles got his head knocked off and stretchered off early on, Bobby Skelton was coach. We won, I think relatively easily, and we stayed to listen on the radio to the result of the other game, perhaps it was the Dogs? A lot of Pies supporters also stayed after the siren to do the same. When the other game ended with not the result we wanted, meaning we missed the finals, the Pies supporters were jubilant, chanting & cheering, you’d have thought they’d one the game. It just showed how much they hated Melbourne even though we’d been a krap team for over a decade by then. it was the last game of footy I ever went to with my Dad who died relatively young the following year.

I suspect it might originally have been Prince's Park (if named after Prince Alfred who visited Melbourne in 1867-1868) or Princes' Park if named after the visit of two members of the Royal family (Prince George and Prince Albert) who visited Melbourne in 1881. Update: It's actually named after Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert (not the Prince Albert who visited in 1881) and was originally called "Prince's Park" (according to Wikipedia). I now fully expect my status to increase from "pedant" to "nerd".

Looks great. Seems to have a few triggered on the socials which is a bonus.

In relation to the delaying tactics, I want that stupid school-boy looking act of standing on top of the player where the mark would be meaning the player who’s earned the free-kick/mark had to either crawl out or be ridden like a horse be penalised immediately. Firstly it looks pathetic, the player doing it looks like a 5 year old doing play fighting with his 7 year old brother. Secondly it is easily the most deliberate act of time wasting that every team does. It looks childish and it’s a blight on the game. The umpire should communicate immediately “step back, let the player up” as soon as their up “there’s your mark, stand”. If the player doesn’t move, 50m penalty. It won’t happen but I would’ve also like to see the protected area/stand your mark rule reduced to 25m instead of 50m. Seems like such a harsh penalty for a relative innocuous rule breach. Comparatively it’s the same penalty as doing something deliberately dangerous and late. Doesn’t feel right to me.

@Nasher

I love her attack on the ball and making opposition players earn their kicks.

Feast or famine and it's time to feast

The first time I’ve seen someone acknowledge we were the best team all season.

It’s starting to feel like the success of the season is going to be based on reinfection likelihood. We are clearly in the transition from pandemic to endemic, so this year is going to be all about how young athletes react to being re-exposed. I’d suggest most players on a list in Melbourne and Sydney will have had Omicron by Round 1. It’s about what happens then, and that is still anyones guess. I’d also imagine WA might find it’s delay strategy potentially damaging to its football teams. *As an aside I’m on day 5 of having COVID. It was harsh, but it was very much the flu. I’m 43 but my younger friends (late 20’s) bounced back super quick and got it done within 3-4 days. My older parents (70’s) took about 6-7 days to move through it (all double dosed). I’m happy to answer anyones questions. 👍

Still haven't come to terms with singular glory, I might end up in traction if we start repeating.

It's been done six times in the last 23 years. It's almost negligent not to do it.

I hope your Dad enjoyed cheering the house down up there on that glorious night last September! ❤️💙

This will sound elitist but here goes. A mate of mine and I used to have a running observation about Frankston being rougher than Dandenong. He had a vet practice in Franger and I used to visit both burbs for Fairfax digital. We went out for lunch one day in Frankston and on our way saw a bloke at about 11 .45 drinking a udl...sitting in his kids stroller while mom and the kid pushed. I think it's become a lot more civilized some almost 20 years on but needless to say good old Frankston got the chocolates.

The adjacent suburb Princes Hill was named after the same bloke. That's not the only thing Prince Albert lent his name too, of course.

I grew up a few suburbs down. Surrounded by cheats fans. One of my close mates had a full beard in year 12. He would enter the ground via the Brewster street gates with beard, full slab of beer under his arm and a junior membership. I stood with them all under the main scoreboard for neutral games and agree felt no intimidation because I knew them. But simply a horrible place to attend the football as an opposition fan.

I went to Windy Hill once. The game Jacko punched on with Rotten Ronnnie Andrews and threw the VB can back into the crowd. Highly entertaining

* Princes Park (well. some pedant had to say it)

The yearly rule changes are terrible for no other reason than the first 3 or so rounds are spent with Dwayne Russell and his commentariat buddies burning my eardrums about whether the rule has worked/not worked/made the game better/made it worse, etc.

He was/is a lovely man. I bumped into him in the CBD in 2010 with my son. He insisted on showing him his Brownlow Medal and suggested I take a photo of him wearing the medal. Legend in every sense of the word.

I understood jnrmac's post to mean that none of our Premiership team have retired or been traded.

Driving the head into a tackle is one of my very pet hates, even more than the Selwood duck. It is extremely dangerous and will result in a broken neck if not stamped out, with the poor guy who has been in effect head butted being plagued with scorn and guilt. Still I wonder how well it will be enforced.

My fondest memory of a suburban football ground is that of the old Brunswick Street Oval, a picturesque ground with ancient grandstands and a brick fence. It was the scene of one of my first games which, despite being in the midst of a golden era for the Demons, turned out to be a narrow loss to the Lions which had previously been called the “Gorillas”. That was in 1957 when my cousin and I walked to the ground from Brunswick where we lived across the Merri Creek. Times were different then - we were just short of our 10th and 8th birthdays respectively. As the reigning premiers, it was a shock to lose to Fitzroy who had finished well down the ladder in 1956 but we always had trouble with them, particularly at their ground. Soon after, a rivalry began between the clubs because we were coached by Norm Smith, they by his brother Len. The ground was small and by the late 60s was no longer fit for purpose as a VFL ground and the Lions became nomads, moving to Princes Park (twice), the Junction Oval, Victoria Park, the Whitten Oval and eventually when they were forced to merge with the Brisbane Bears, to the Gabba where they tasted success but not as Fitzroy. The real Fitzroy lives and still plays at the Brunswick Street Oval in the Amateurs. They play in the same Division as my club and it’s always a thrill to head out there for a game against the Roy Boys. There’s only the old grandstand left, part of the brick wall, lots of trees around the perimeter, one of the best canteens in the Ammos and a friendly atmosphere. Perhaps the ghosts of some of their greats like Haydn Bunton Sr., “Butch” Gale, “Chicken” Smallhorn and Bill Stephen still lurk around the old grand stand happy in the knowledge that they couldn’t kill off the old Fitzroy.

I've just finished the round 5 Hawks game on my rewatch and one of the things that has stood out to me is how ineffective Jones has been. There were patches during a couple of games where I forgot he was on the ground. Good on him and the club for getting to 300 games but it has cemented in my mind they made the right call and he would have been very lucky to get a run during September.

Perhaps Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture replete with canons to remind us of.... Bang Bang Bang !

And Brexit. Extraordinary year.

I hate seeing our players playing for frees or complaining to the umpire's, play to whistle, don't try and suck the umpire's in by flopping to the ground like you have shot, don't throw your arms out and look at the umpire like you need his help , play hard and play fair and stand up and don't take crap

As far as I'm aware no premiership 18/20/22/23 has ever played together again. Players may have been on the list but there were always changes to the matchday squad which meant the team that played in the flag never took the field intact again.

I think a Dees v Tigers GF isn't that unlikely. I mean, which other matchups are more betting odds likely at this stage aside from maybe v WB or v Port? I can honestly see all of our competition from last year falling away, such was the deflating nature of how ALL of them exited. Leaving the door ajar for Sydney and a few others from lower down to pop up. I can see the Tigers with one last scrap, knocking them all off with their superior pressure and high footy iq game... and getting into the Big Dance. They had a lot of injuries last year, so they are still a top 4 team at their fittest imo. Even the WB with their talent, could start the season terribly and never quite catchup. We've seen it happen to them before. Melbourne v Richmond, what a fitting GF it would be. System v System, it's a juicy matchup, better than last year. And the Best spectacle atmosphere wise we might ever witness. Bring it on!

Why would you move when you have the realistic mouthwatering prospect of more flags ? With JT and his teams’ brilliant recruiting, and our talented next gen players waiting in the wings for their chance, I believe our club has been set up for sustained success over many years a la Geelong. In my long lifetime of supporting my beloved Dees I have never seen our list bat as deep as they do right now. We are a strong club and will only get stronger. 65000+ members for 2022 is very achieveable.

The delaying play thing is important. Everyone does it, including us. I hope to see a number of free kicks/50m penalties doled out in Round 1, so that it sinks in. The holding the ball changes are in the right spirit but I imagine are going to just create more problems in their interpretation by umpires.

I enjoyed Waverley as well. Round Robin tournaments, pre season night games which I could never wait for due to the previous seasons efforts and it was easy to just put a few ice cold ones in the bottom of your bag as security never checked. I even liked going to games when we weren't playing I loved watching Footy live so much. Now I just wanna get to the MCG for live Football again. I'll even take Marvel if it's offered. Not long now.

Love the crackdown on delaying play...if it actually happens. Hopefully, the instructions as to what deliberately delaying play means are clear. My pet hates are holding on to players who take marks or get free kicks, standing over said players preventing them from standing up or standing over the ball to stop the player from picking it up.

Sorry Jrmac, I cant help you...I hope so. I'm posting as my mate told me last week that we had won 19 of our three quarters last season which is absolutely awesome. I wish I knew when we were 19 points down. Now the dust has cleared, It really was daylight between us and other clubs. God help em if we get even better.

I hope the online trolls are enjoying watching Harris go about her business. "Overrated/4 goals in 8 game last year/" etc. she is having a massive impact on us in just 2 games. we have struggled to score in previous seasons but now we are keeping the ball inside 50 for longer due to her influence. she is so tough, a great mark and long kick and is only 24! We should be clear favourites for the flag, our recruiting and drafting has been spot on and most importantly we are playing as a team and fighting for each other. our pressure and intensity is terrific.

I still, at least once a day, shake my head and marvel at what happened on that sweet, sweet night in September. Maybe it will completely register when round 1 rolls around. Maybe it never will. Regardless, it’s our premiership, and nothing can change that. Nor can anyone take it away. ❤️💙

Interesting to see that 81% of respondents to the survey recognised that we are too good right now. God I’m loving being top dog for a change!

"vaccine effectiveness estimates against symptomatic Omicron infection of between 0% and 20% after two doses, and between 55% and 80% after a booster dose." https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/232698/omicron-largely-evades-immunity-from-past/ Only one study, but still. (agree about the shambles part.)

http://images2.naharnet.com/images/187054/w460.jpg?1466172426 Great report by George but before I get onto it, Adjacent Casey fields is a large lake which I'm reliably informed contains plenty of fish and I just wonder if the sign above presents as an even more challenging scenario. Agree with George re music, just and endless cacopheny of mind numbing techno crap. Dont know what it gives the players but who am I to argue given that,last year it resulted in a Premiership. One other thing George didn't add was the plague of Flies hundreds of them! Anyway on with the report! Weather was shizzen about 10 seasons in one day and like George under cover accomodation outside the ground is harder to find than Rocking Horse Sheeit! REHAB ROSMAN, SPARGO ( in Parts) HARMES and during training it appeared CHANDLER may have done a groin? SKILLS DRILLS AND MANOEVERS. Well covered by GEORGE but agree the match simulations were a thing of beauty, players are intinctively now confident to KNOW 1 Where to go 2 Who to go to as in selecting correct option 3 Skillful enough to execute precisely DRILL A WARM UPS DRILL B MATCH SIMS DRILL C KAMIKAZE PLAYER BLITZSKILL ( Players zone of have a couple of harrasers and deliverers need to pick correct target from multiple options and kick to player on lead DRILL D MORE MATCH SIMS DRILL E CLOSE CONTACT TACKLES DRILL F ONE ON ONE MARKING SIMS PLAYER WATCH Competition for places will be and is WHITE HOT!! Not only do the current 23 continue to train to high standards but the second tier are also training the house down, players such as MAJAK, MELKY, DEAKIN S, J SMITH, ADAM T, MITCH B, J JORDAN, TOBY B, are displaying the type of improvement that drives up standards. Perhaps the guy I'm most looking forward to seeing is LUKE DUNSTAN, Wow what a pile driver he is just relentless in his ball hunting ability, think Stephen Powell and youl get the picture. Jayden hunt looks lean and hungry as does Adam Tomlinson. THE NEWBIES In some drills I can just see why we chosse these guys all are profficient with skills and already seem to know and appreciate the work required to make it in an elite Football Club which is not only the oldest club in Australia but one where standards are being continually stretched , redefined and enhanced. One bloke who I didn't know had no number on his back but by Gee was he nippy and elusive with some KOSSY like tendencies. HIGHLIGHTS. 1 Tom Sparrow outmarking MAX in a one on one 2 Clarry recreating his victory salute with a uncannily similar goal which literally had a couple of players doing cartwheels TRAING VOTES 3,2,1 3 Clarry , honestly he just does what he likes at traing and is a class above 2 Jack Viney, gees has he improved as a footballer in my eyes 1 Tom Sparrow wow what a huge talent this kid is honerable mentions, Salem, Max, Bowey, Dogga, Kossy, May and others et al, just no passengers just all wheel drive turbo's that just do not let up everyone just shows something , what a Lovely sight to behold! cheers PF