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It was Saturday 9th June, 1973, exactly 50 years ago today that a lightly built bespectacled 17 year old Robert Flower took to the field for the Melbourne Football Club on the hallowed MCG turf for the first time. There were 19,900 spectators on hand for the game to witness the debut of a player who ranks among the club’s greats. Melbourne beat Geelong by 58 points in a game where another youngster, Glenn Swan starred with 8 goals at full forward and John Tilbrook finished with 6 for the day. Flower booted one on his debut. Melbourne 2.6.18 8.13.61 16.16.112 20.19.139 Geelong 3.7.25 4.9.33 6.12.48 11.15.81 Robbie went on to play 272 games and kick 315 goals before he retired at the end of 1987. His last game was that season’s preliminary final and, at the time, he was games record holder at the club. He was captain from 1981 to 1987 was Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist in 1977, twice MFC leading goalkicker, made the Melbourne Team of the Century on the Wing, made the Melbourne Hall of Fame and the Australian Football Hall of Fame and was twice All-Australian (1980, 1983). His exploits on a wing for Victoria in State of Origin matches were legendary. His football exploits were sublime, he was a great team player, loved the club and was a champion person who passed away far too early at age 59 on 2 October, 2014.

Prefer June to September.

I was, and still are, Robbie’s biggest fan. But even I forget how good he was. Before you are allowed to join Demonland you should have to watch the collection of Flower videos. It should also be remembered that most of his best highlights were never captured as he played in a team that rarely featured in replays. Still the best Melbourne player I have seen

I’m kinda relieved Clarry is out. Missing two weeks with a hammy is always a worry. take another 2 weeks off Clarry and get yourself right

He was the reason many turned up to the football during the 70's and 80's.

On duality... oh the relief that comes with losing knowing that we are not at 'full strength'. oh the relief that comes with winning knowing that we are not at 'full strength'.

They’ve lost 2 of their last 20 odd games. They are in better form.

We did not struggle to beat Carlton, that game was never in doubt and we smashed Carlton in nearly every statistic and it was poor finishing that stopped us winning convincingly. But if it fits your narrative knock yourself out. Freo are travelling very well to if you hadn’t noticed No Oliver forces us to test other options and come later in the season when teams tag Oliver we can draw upon those options it’s a bit like when we were forced to throw McDonald forward in 2015 and Hunt getting injured in 2021 forcing us to throw Bowery in. There are positives in everything you just need to look for them

I'll wager that this doesn't happen. Tomlinson will stay in.

The tricky thing is, its not so much the noise that's the distraction, its the internal experience that shows up when the noise is there... that's the thing to focus on.... Time to get my nerd on... Experiential avoidance, from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) perspective, refers to the tendency to avoid or suppress uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, sensations, or experiences. It involves efforts to escape, minimize, or control distressing internal experiences, leading individuals to engage in behaviors that may provide short-term relief but often interfere with long-term well-being and life goals. In the context of an AFL footballer and exposure therapy with crowd noise, experiential avoidance may manifest as an athlete's attempts to avoid or suppress anxiety, fear, or performance-related thoughts and emotions associated with playing in front of a large and noisy crowd. This avoidance can lead to various unhelpful behaviors such as distraction, negative self-talk, excessive focus on performance outcomes, or even avoidance of situations that trigger anxiety, such as actively seeking to avoid playing in stadiums with boisterous crowds. The primary goal of exposure therapy is to gradually and systematically expose individuals to anxiety-provoking situations or stimuli while preventing avoidance behaviors, allowing them to develop new responses and beliefs about those situations. For an AFL footballer struggling with crowd noise, exposure therapy might involve a step-by-step process that gradually exposes the athlete to increasingly challenging crowd noise situations. Here's a possible progression: Education and psychoeducation: The athlete would be educated about the role of experiential avoidance and how it can hinder performance and well-being. They would learn about the principles of exposure therapy and how it can be helpful in managing anxiety. Creating a fear hierarchy: The athlete and their therapist would work together to create a list of crowd-related situations that provoke anxiety, starting from the least anxiety-provoking to the most challenging. For example, the hierarchy could include situations like practicing in front of a small group of people, participating in intra-club matches, or gradually playing in stadiums with increasing crowd sizes. Systematic exposure: The athlete would begin with the least anxiety-provoking situation, such as practicing in front of a small group. They would intentionally expose themselves to the crowd noise while practicing specific skills, with the therapist helping them stay present and engaged in the moment rather than avoiding or suppressing their anxiety. Over time, they would progress to more challenging situations in the fear hierarchy, gradually building resilience and tolerance to crowd noise. Mindfulness and acceptance: Alongside exposure, the athlete would be encouraged to cultivate mindfulness skills and acceptance of their internal experiences. This involves observing their thoughts and emotions without judgment, allowing them to come and go without trying to suppress or control them. Mindfulness can help the athlete stay present in the moment and avoid getting caught up in unhelpful thoughts or attempts to avoid discomfort. Values-based action: Throughout the process, the athlete would be guided to connect with their core values and commit to actions aligned with those values. This helps them develop a broader perspective on their experiences and motivates them to engage in the behaviors necessary for growth and performance, despite the discomfort associated with crowd noise. That'd be an invoice of $125,000 thanks. 😆

Me right now ...

Would love us to have a go at luring Elijah Hollands in from Gold Coast. When up and running is a dynamic mid/fwd who could be part of our next wave in midfield behind Petracca & Oliver. OOC this year and Humphrey looks to have taken his spot in the starting line up.

Port Adelaide are becoming a very hateable team. So many cocky tools running around. Hinkley carrying on like a pork chop. Dixon a massive fake hard man. Hope they fall over in September

Best player I have seen.

Dave Granger, who had one of the all-time great nicknames of "Grave Danger"!

The AFL is a garbage pile of steaming [censored]. Only Melbourne is keeping me from just throwing away all interest in the game.

Garbage decision, between the umpiring, the tribunal and the push for 19/20 teams the AFL is alienating fans at a rapid pace.

They've won more games than us. But i'm sorry jaded, suggesting they are I'm much better form than us is not being realistic. It may be your opinion, but objectively it is simply not true. One assumes you wouldn’t have said that after we demolished the hawks. So by much better form, I assuming you mean the last three games. Have you watched their last 3 games? They were scrappy against the blues, lucky to win and the 3 goal margin flattered them with the blues kicking a wasteful 7.15. They were scrappy against the roos,who put six goals past them in the last quarter to go down by 35 points. And as I noted above, they were very average against the Eagles who were two down on the bench, and still outscored them in third and won cp and the inside 50 count.

On his five points, hard to argue with them, but also agree they are a bit captain obvious. The frontal pressure is absolutely key, particularly in terms of denying their elite kicks time and space. When we are on, i think we are the best in the AFL at pressing up and timing that press. It is real team skill because if say Hunter presses up and doesn't quite get there, a teammate has to press up from behind to cover the player being kicked to and/or stop the tic tac. Pressing up hard and getting in their grill is a key strategy for how we look to limit the impact of players like Daniel and Saad - deny them time and space so they can't play that quarter back role and set up transition and scoring chains. Funnily enough, I was reflecting that i didn't highlight this on the podcast because this is what we will look to do against Dacos and Pendles. For mine though, they key for us to win is pressure. One, because obviously it makes their risky kicks harder to hit Two, we are the turnover kings and it is our most important scoring source. Pressure is key to creating turnovers. But as important is needing to slow them down on transition. Even if we only slow them down a little bit, our defence can get set up behind the ball. And pressure is how to slow them down. If we can't slow them down on transition, they will separate May and Lever and create one on ones up forward which we will struggle to zone off and cover. The other related strategy is blocking up the corridor and daring them to take it on. Again, i think we are the best in the AFL at doing this. If they miss a couple of those kicks early and we punish them on turnover, it will test their nerve as the game goes on.

Well done Goody ……. I love this ploy! We will be ‘on’ from the first bounce, C’wood will respond but wilt like violets. Go Dees!

I really like Sando's analysis. I reckon he hasn't quite got the dees right this season, but he generally makes his case well and has sound arguments so i def consider them and respect his views. One example of not getting it right about us is his insistence that the Pies are 'by far' the fittest team in the AFL - a point i have heard him make a number of times. Maybe he has access to the GPS numbers because otherwise i'm not sure how he has reached that conclusion. I wonder whether he is conflating last year's relative fitness levels, where we def dropped off in the back half of the season. But, by all accounts we had a brilliant preseason in terms of building our fitness foundation as evidenced by running all over the top of the Dogs and then Swans. And he has cited their last quarters as one piece of evidence of the Pies being the fittest side, but we have only lost 2 of 12 last quarters and are number one in the AFL for red time goals.

It is 50 years ago today that my favourite footballer - the great Robbie Flower made his debut in the seniors for the Dees. I was there. Melb beat Geel Melb 20.19.139 Geel 11.15.81 Robbie kicked 2 goals Little did we know how great he would be...A true Champion. I loved him as all Demons did and most from other sides did also.

Best player full stop

Would still like to us to use a couple of those picks to climb up the order, even if it’s not for pick 1. Being able to make a choice from Duursma, Caddy, Watson or Wilson would be excellent. Think one of those cliffs in quality JT talks about probably kicks in at that pick 8 mark. The Championships will absolutely help crystallise the order, but gee GC look like their getting a windfall this year.

JJ for mine. Collingwood love to outnumber at contests so we need someone who can get from contest to contest for 4 quarters. Id argue thats one of JJ best attributes.

Ease up there. Hurley was at the end of his career, and so once he missed an entire year and lost so much weight and conditioning it was always going to be hard to come back. Clayton had an infection, and is due to come home Sunday - which indicates that medically he’s progressing well. Let’s not catastrophise. He’ll be back in 2 games.

We still be winning this.

It’s definitely not the hammy. It’s the blister. The infection is under control but they don’t want him playing until he’s 100% right with a view to the pointy end of the season. Btw, I found out last night that he wouldn’t be playing. There was no way I was gonna divulge anything on here, for obvious reasons. I didn’t wanna be the cause of a group-conniption. 😁 PS bloody Clarrie! Didn’t even tell his family he was in hospital. Michelle and Steve (his parents) only found out when they saw it on the news! 😂

Not concerned, the extra two weeks off will make him cherry ripe for the rest of the year. Was more worried he would come back on a wet cold day and hurt the hammy again. Time for someone to come in and make a stand. Jordan would be my pick or Laurie.

Being married to a Collingwood supporter I am not particularly looking forward to Monday. Should it end up being a Dees/ Pies GF I think my marriage might be doomed. My husband is a much nicer person than I am. I sulk for days after we lose but he just shrugs it off. He also goes to most of the Dees games with me so he really is one of the good guys. It will however be a long walk home for him on Monday should we lose considering we live two hours away from town.

It's karma the doggies getting stiffed by the umps

It was reported on the news that the pitch invader at last night’s match was caught and will face a fine of up to $5000. But… A bunch of people saw him on a tram just after it happened. Turns out he wasn’t caught at all. 😁 The AFL are so keen to discourage pitch invasion that they lied about him being nabbed.

Is Cody Weightman ok? By the looks of that footage he just got shot in the goal square.

true but on the other hand we don’t want Port to finish top 2

Pound for pound the best footballer who has ever put on the jumper full stop.

Yes totally comparable to a weekend long camp that traumatised Indigenous players and attacked players who had lost family members. Totally comparable.

Let's hope Geelong play like a Chokito, and Hawkins doesn't do McVee like a Kitkat (snapping in half) and most importantly the coach doesn't carry on like a Pollywaffle *enough chocolate bars awkwardly wedged in there?

The Geelong game's still two weeks away. Clarry should be Mars Bar* ready for that one. * Just a variation on the tired and overdone "Cherry Ripe" cliche.

Jesus, easy on the razor blades peeps. We will hold our own.

Carlton are a highly ranked centre clearance side and we smashed their midfield. We'll be OK

Some things were meant to be YTD. I'm of the same thinking here that this might be a bullet dodged and also allows him to come back with no soreness & cherry ripe.

I will throw in a 29/30 year old. Brisbane have benefitted over the last few years from the Hawthorn rebuild with Gunston, Birchall & Hodge... Geelong benefited with Smith. WC maybe looking at restructuring their list & I would think Elliot Yeo would be a good get for a few years. Shouldn't cost a lot but would add a lot to a contender.

This season is killing my love for the game. Going to be rubbed out for a perfectly executed, run down from behind tackle.

Old school! I still use it! and magnoplasm and Senega ammonia and I’m still in my 40s! Imagine what I’ll be like in my 80s!

Not related to mfc target. Geelong is doing it again: cats-pitch-to-targets-tom-de-koning-darcy-parish "The Herald Sun reports the Cats will continue to make their ‘sell the dream’ pitch of the Geelong lifestyle to prospective free agents and trade targets like Tom De Koning and Darcy Parish and hone in on former Geelong Falcons in a bid to land marquee talent. It’s included Geelong securing targets on cheaper deals by selling the culture and on and off-field advantages." Those off-field advantages can't all be 'lifestyle' and they are smart enough to not have any money trail for them. The AFL should benchmark their player packages against equivalent AFL players and ask Geelong to explain the differences. And interview the players as to why they accept unders. There must now be at least a dozen Cat's on the 'lifestyle' gravy train. But we know the AFL will do nothing.

Expected threat of 31 means that compared to every kick in his database (170000 kicks) when that player takes a kick from a similar position, to a similar area, under similar conditions, it would be expected to end up in a score 31% of the time. The threat rating of 18 means compared to the expected threat, the specific players actual kicks resulted in a score 18% more than expected. Chandlers kicks would be expected to result in a score fairly often (31% of the time) but actually result in a score 49% of the time. It would be far better if he also include the opposite ie turnovers and scores against by the same players.

I’d like to see Dees hold draft picks in bring in 2-3 quality youngsters. If we were looking at adding players likely we’d look at skilled runners. Ollie Florent (Swans) is one player to keep on eye on and see if a 4/5 year contract might tempt him. Skilled. Fast. He’d walk into our best 22.

Danny Hughes was a very "robust" full back in an era when knees and elbows were weapons. He hurt a lot of opponents and always flew the flag. That Northey era Melbourne side had a few blokes who walked a fine line - and I loved them all! Grinter who knocked out many, but by far the hardest and at the time fairest bump was the one he laid on Chris Mew in the 1987 preliminary final. Unbelievably Mew played in the GF the next week but barely touched it. Strawbs O'Dwyer was another with particularly pointy knees and elbows and a pretty decent rap sheet. Earl Spalding was another of those "ungainly" types who always managed to make contact with an opponent. Dean "Dog" Chiron was another ripper. He terrorised John Platten to the point that Dermott Brereton knocked him out cold in 1988 and that was the end of him. Part of our relative success in the late 80's and early 90's was built off a very hard edge from a good number of players. We were truly very hard to play against.

Just a brief comment on how our perceptions are not always an accurate reflection of how tough the game here. The image below was posted on the MFC socials. Anyway it feels like tackles are low when you look at them in isolation without other relevant data points. What resonated with me in this, is that the other data points are players who are exulted by the media. His weekly efforts are enough... even if they don't always feel like it.