Leaderboard

For those that didn't know Angus posted a photo on his instagram account on Xmas day doing 100 100m sprints. While many AFL players would be at home letting themselfs go and having a few beers on this day we have a young 18 year old who has just been drafted grinding it out in the heat doing massive amount of gut running. Leaving no stone unturned. This work ethic and drive is the kinda stuff Roosy would be wrapt about. It is an amazing self disciplined and drive to be out doing what he was on Xmas day. This kind of stuff is what makes a champion footballer and leader. I hope a lot of the players took note of this. They will be nervous because now spots are up for grabs and this kid is in my round 1 team. Already showing the way and im loving it. And hows the irony, our number 3 draft pick is already more expensive in supercoach then a former number 3 draft pick who is cruising around in Freo. Fantastic isn't it.

Reminds me of boxing day 2012. Tom McDonald was working hard in the gym. Rivers, Frawley and Howe were creating a long snake out of beer cups at the cricket. Spot the difference in professionalism.

He says he was doing them... Prob just a quick pic pretending to spring then back for thirds and a slice of pudding with brandy custard.

Players seek to move clubs for many reasons. For instance, I don't expect we'd have Cross, Vince, Gartlett, Michie, Riley or Newton if their former clubs wanted them enough. Cross and Gartlett were effectively delisted, Vince wasn't loved sufficiently by the Crows (bizarre I know!), and the latter three weren't getting regular games in the seniors. Lumumba seems to have had a blow up with Buckley. He never thought he'd leave the Pies, nor did Cross or Vince think they'd ever play for another club. Mitch Clark - well, who really knows what happened there. I wish he was still on the list, even though he appears not to have sufficiently respected the club. Rivers - no one can blame him for leaving. Struck me as the loyal type, only to have become a victim of the Mark Neeld period. Frawley seems to have been a bit of a bounty hunter and seemingly searched for the best deal for himself. He got that. Jones, on the other hand, wants to be a one club player, MFC club leader and, ultimately, an MFC club legend. He wishes to influence the future direction of the club, and, importantly, he believes he can. It's also why I like players such as Watts and Howe. Fundamentally, I think they wish to stay at the club that first recruited them - that's not to say they necessarily will for their entire careers, but it strikes that they would like to. Successful clubs need players with that mindset.

I had 100 100ml shots of egg nog. It sounds like a lot but achievable over a whole day. Sprinted to the toilet a few times. Dedication.

Hes riding a lowrider fixed gear bike for a meeting of the Bronies,then off to get his beard shampooed and out for an organic cider with his "partner" who is in fact, a woman.

i like a good XXXX occasionally.

What if Frawley's circumstances was closer to Vince's? What if we didn't chase his signature that hard? We don't know and can only go on conjecture in the future. But calling him a 'bounty hunter' is a bit much, we stole GWS' groomed CHB in Frost who left a club that wanted to keep him and was playing regularly. I just think if we have to consider the various way players might leave a club, then we have to embrace the complexity of that disengagement, and I don't think it is as simple as James Frawley = Boba Fett...

I couldn't disagree more.

Apparently TDI{saty}scooted the 100x100 with him. Trenners couldnt keep up,but was said to be in love with the speed scooter.

Does no one remember Toumpas reportedly doing a similar thing..? Not sure if there's a point here or not, or rather the point is subjective depending on your perception of Toumpas in particular.

That's what separates you from the pack. Keep it up!

Probably over at the hottest bikini site waiting for the frogs contribution

Im a full blown alcoholic since I started supporting this club. Long necks for breakfast are my signature dishes.

I'm safe as houses, don't do any medical stuff (its high risk procedures like intubation that gets ex pat staff sick) and I'd sooner cut a leg off than wash a dead body (which is chief method of transmission here for locals). The numbers are not going to be disastrous, like the worst case scenario going around 3 months ago, but we haven't broken the transmission chain yet, still undocumented/untracked infections so probably take a year to get zero, been described as a bumpy tail off. There is a danger of it becoming endemic, so we can't take the foot off the pedal yet, so we work xmas, NYD etc which is a bit of a bore. What I do is build stuff, move stuff, and run a few ops for the WFP Logistics Cluster (got to play with the UK navy which was a hill of fun - best time work wise in last 8 years (at least up there with young maronite christian ladies (colleagues) belly dancing on our dinner table in Lebanon). So if Dr's need a place to live in the bush we build it, food needed in affected areas we get it there, organize all the logs for the NGO's and partners and a few other bits and pieces. What I can't get my head around is the orphans, team found a 9mth old baby trying to suckle on her dead mum, we sent UNICEF a message to collect kid were told they'd sent a care team up the next day (baby was with two older siblings <9yo). Anyway turned out they lied, baby died without care about a week later, only found this out because i'd returned to this village. Angry doesn't describe it, keeps me fired up. Can't really load all the pics easily on this site, and it's about footy anyway, PM if you want a link to my pictures - they are happy no sad shots.

that, or it's inherently a wildly subjective evaluation process

Spot on..........SA is the driest state and they are often forced to use Murray water that is part polluted with agricultural chemicals and salinity . The water for their beer has to be excessively filtered and chlorine treated .

It will never happen until we again repeat the dominance we enjoyed over them of the late 1950s / early 1960s! Collingwood will never have an 'away jumper' Collingwood will never have their games scheduled for 4.40pm of a Sunday (the time they played a single game in that time slot they demanded $500K compensation) Collingwood will never have to play 'home games' at Etihad (instead of their spiritual home ground) Collingwood will always dominate in the Friday Night/Saturday afternoon time slots (we have barely played these since the Gutnik era for some reason) Collingwood will always have most of their games 'free-to-air' (despite rarely playing away from the "G") Collingwood will rarely have to travel interstate Collingwood will never have the indignity of seeing other teams have preferential treatment on their own traditional 'home ground' (i.e. we started life as the MCCFC)

Saturday night at McQueen's.

2014: THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS by Whispering Jack They say that in biblical times, the worst droughts lasted seven years. The droughts brought with them famine and pestilence and in some cases the desperation was so great that the people turned on each other and devoured their own. Fast forward to the present and I search for answers to the question: what did Melbourne do to deserve its current winning season drought and why, when the magical seven year period of disaster upon disaster came up at the end of 2013, did it not end there and then? After all, according to American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "into each life some rain must fall". Surely, now was the time for at least a shower or two if not a deluge? Melbourne had a new, highly paid and well credentialed coach in Paul Roos, had recruited well in the midfield with Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson and Daniel Cross coming on board and there was stability off the field with new blood at the top and a well-credentialled administrator in CEO Peter Jackson coming into his first full season at the helm. But with a record of only four wins, a slightly improved percentage and a poor finish that saw the team lose its last ten games on end, it could hardly be said that the drought was broken in 2014. By any measure, the final result has to be looked upon as more than a little disappointing and even if we did see an end to multiple defeats of the magnitude of in excess of 100 points, we are kidding ourselves if we place our faith on an improvement from the low base of 2013 when the club was in such turmoil. So what really happened to the drought breaking rain? There were ominous signs already when, early in the new year, so many important players were off the track and involved in some form of rehab. The club seemed to be hit hardest in the big man department where the bulk of its rucks and key position forwards were forced into limited preseason preparation. We saw little during this vital period of ruckmen Mark Jamar and Max Gawn while the three projected key players making up the attack Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes and Jesse Hogan were all sidelined. Clark and Hogan were destined not to play any AFL games in 2014 (Hogan was restricted to one late season VFL game) while Dawes played his first game for the season in round 4. Defender Colin Garland also missed a large slab of the pre season and made a late start to the season proper. The adverse effect of this on the club was felt at the beginning of the year by the absence of so much tall timber from a team whose depth was stretched from the outset as well as at the end when those players ran out of steam due to the lack of proper preparation. It wasn't all doom and gloom early with the Demons winning their opening NAB Challenge game against Richmond at Etihad Stadium on a night when the midfield performance was encouraging thanks to the newcomers led by Bernie Vince and a strong performance from Jack Trengove, now relieved of the mantle of captaincy. The next outing to Alice Springs against Geelong (a narrow loss) was also promising but Jesse Hogan's back injury put a dampener on things. The last of the practice matches was a thrashing by the reigning premier in the heat at Casey Fields with a much weakened side so little store was placed on that outcome. A pall was cast over the season in March with the passing at the age of 47 of former coach Dean Bailey of cancer marking the death of another from the club who departed all too young. Bailey's passing came not long after it was revealed that another former coach in Neale Daniher was battling Motor Neurone Disease. The season opened with a winnable game against St. Kilda. Melbourne dominated the early minutes before kicking itself out of the game with 10 consecutive behinds. It didn't help matters that a team so bereft of big men lost Jack Fitzpatrick and Tom McDonald (who had kept a tight rein on Nick Riewoldt early) by half time. Despite having less scoring shots, the Saints won by 17 points in the end and their skipper, left without a true match up, kicking a match winning three goals to be best on the ground. The Demons had a bad day for their first home game against the Eagles who demolished them by 93 points. With no attack to speak of the hosts were limited to four goals making it a total of 10 in two weeks. The troubles continued into round three at Spotless Stadium when they stayed in touch with the Giants until early in the last quarter. So desperate was the team for marking forwards that James Frawley was moved into attack but all to no avail. The Demons finally broke the ice in round 4 when they stunned the Blues by 23 points with Dawes starring in his return game. He kicked 2 goals as did Frawley, Bail and Watts. The team continued to show improvement but went down in consecutive games to Gold Coast and Sydney at the MCG. Much of the better form was being generated by a midfield in which Nathan Jones was relishing the captaincy and no longer having to play a lone hand with important contributions coming from from Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson and Daniel Cross. The loss of Jake Spencer to injury was offset by the return of Mark Jamar who was starting to show glimpses of his form from 2010. Jack Trengove was also missing from the side from this time on after being diagnosed with a fractured foot. Meanwhile, it was announced that Mitch Clark, who had been unable to shake off the effects of soft tissue injuries in the aftermath of foot injury had retired due to depression while it was becoming less likely that Jesse Hogan's much awaited debut would come in 2014, such was the severity of his back troubles. Despite all that, the Demons really clicked at Adelaide Oval when they upset the Crows to record a win in the City of Churches for the first time in a decade. Jack Viney was involved in a week of off field drama as he successfully fought a MRP suspension for a supposed high bump at the AFL Tribunal. On the following Saturday, the Dees fell at the last hurdle against the Bulldogs but returned to the winning list beating Richmond by 17 points. Melbourne started slowly against Port Adelaide in Alice Springs after the week's bye but recovered to give their opponents a fright, taking the lead in the final term but lacked the composure to pull off an unexpected victory against one of the ladder leaders. Melbourne was becoming known for its ability to apply defensive pressure but still struggled to penetrate opposition defences and that was certainly the story of the traditional Queens Birthday game against Collingwood. In a low scoring game, the team was well in the game but a disallowed goal to Bernie Vince after Neville Jetta played on, followed by a goal given away by an errant kick in defence late in the third term let the Pies off the hook. The Demons had such a defensive mindset that after kicking their first goal within 30 seconds, they managed just two more for the entire day. A week later, the boot was on the other foot when Melbourne wrested the initiative from Essendon late in the game. A brilliant chain of attacking football resulted in Christian Salem's match winner but it also left many wondering for the rest of the year, where the attacking flair had been hidden and where it went after that game. The excitement of the last gasp win over the Bombers who had tormented them early in the previous season should have signalled further steps forward but instead, the Demons went into a shell. They lost convincingly against North Melbourne who broke their defensive spirit with six unanswered goals in the third term and then gave away a big lead to the Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium before regaining the lead late in the third term and losing with some poor defence in the last. Two thrashings followed at the hands of Fremantle and Geelong. The team's second venture to the Adelaide Oval could easily have resulted in a boil over with a Jay Schulz goal two minutes before the final siren securing a three point win for the home side. After the bye, Melbourne again threw away a winning opportunity, this time against the Brisbane Lions with some wayward kicking for goal in front of a home crowd. Leading by 14 points into the final term, the Demons were far too defensive and some poor skills allowed the visitors to storm home. By now, even Paul Roos was feeling the strain, somehow blaming the defeat on the tanking saga of 2009. Given that five years had elapsed and the team make up was substantially changed, he wasn't particularly convincing. From there, the side lurched home without much passion or interest and, on the way it put in a disgraceful display at home to the Giants kicking 3.16.34 to 15.8.98. The writing was on the wall for a number of players and a large list of delistings at the end of the season was a foregone conclusion. In the final game against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, the shackles were off and the team managed to record its highest score for the season but still lost by five goals to bring its losing streak at the ground to 20 matches. To add insult to injury (Max Gawn's knee), Chris Dawes got himself needlessly suspended for a week to be served in round 1 of 2015. Over at Casey, the Scorpions experienced their worst season since the start of their alignment with Melbourne, resulting in the appointment of new coach Justin Plapp and a recruiting campaign to improve the depth of their VFL listed playing group. The entire football world was shocked on 2 October to learn of the passing of Demon great Robert Flower at the age of 59. To a generation of Melbourne fans after the Norm Smith era, Robbie was regarded as the Demons' only champion; one of the game's true gentlemen, a man loved by all and one who personified extreme loyalty to the club. Off the field, stability was restored at board level under club president Glen Bartlett although some felt he was being a trifle ambitious when he stated he wanted the Melbourne Football Club to be like the New York Yankees. The club recorded a modest profit and located the 1948 premiership flag through EBay even though it didn't know it was missing. Nathan Jones stamped himself as one of the club's greats with his third consecutive Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy, a worthy club champion and potentially outstanding club leader going forward. Newcomers Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince and Daniel Cross all finished in the top five in club voting with a mature and much improved Lynden Dunn finishing fourth after an excellent season in defence. Other improvers in defence were Neville Jetta and high flyer Jeremy Howe who adapted well when moved there early in the season. There was still much work to do after a year in which the club finished next to last, failed to win a "home" game or reach 100 points all year and recorded its lowest average score since 1920. The club had no Rising Star nominees and not a single player in the 40 man All-Australian short list (having produced All Australian players only once in the duration of its now eight year drought). The trade and draft period saw a number of changes to the primary and rookie lists with the majority of the departures being players whose performances were not considered up to scratch or whose careers were marred by injuries and a couple of retirements. James Frawley was the best of those to leave but his best was from four years ago and although he finished in the top ten in the club best and fairest this year, many were disappointed with his contribution as a leading player and most were happy for the club to receive the AFL's compensation for his loss to Hawthorn as a free agent. We still can't be certain as to when the drought will be over but with most pundits expressing approval of the club's off season recruiting and most players getting through the end of year training period safely, we can look forward with a little more optimism at the silver lining behind the clouds that will hopefully bring us some drought breaking rain and a more positive outlook for 2015.

Yes ... you can tell it's the off season ... but take a closer look (and I don't mean at the model) ~ Is this the world's hottest bikini? Despite the penury of those days in Honkers, I'm sure he was more comfortable there than he was in New York on 9/11. I could barely recognise him from the photo but it's nice to see that he's found some good company.

Agree Molloy, Canadian Moosehead is also a nice drop.

Getting back on topic (sort of), I found this advert for Cascade.

You'd onlybe able to read those tatts if they were on the back of the neck Jizz!

Demonlanders are an interesting lot. There will always be a group that maintain that we should have picked Natanui (9th in the West Coast B&F for 2014) rather than Watts (10th in the Demons B&F for 2014). Similarly there are those that say we should have picked Wines (a Jack Viney clone) rather than Toumpas (an elite outside playmaker). When Roos gets us cranked up both these players will play valuable outside roles, particularly now that we have Brayshaw and Petracca coming on stream in the midfield. Have faith in Roos!

nah. sounds like you copped the soft under-belly of the age of aquarius, p-man

Garland is our second best small backman and our second best tall backman. Surely he gets in.

I thought the 100, 100's was no longer in the footy training program?

That last ripper from haddin. Not sure if he doesnt trust the bloke at first slip. Or he doesnt realise there is a first slip.

Strewth dc! You'll be deadset drinking with the flies with that sort of attitude! We need to get some fancy amber fluid into ya! Quit ya whingin and give it a burl! (How was that?)

That means Gram Gram was a [censored]??

If you wanted a controversial thread you could have tried a Jack Watts thread.....

I beleive the only way to determine this is we - have more photos - compare against other bikini's Cheers WJ

I just don't believe that is how WorkSafe Victoria operates. And nor should it. They might use evidence collected elsewhere but to completely outsource an investigation is in breach of its charter and dereliction of its duty.

6 million what?

You need to have an invitation day.Well for the good posters anyway,maybe after the middle of the season bye., You could invite,Biff{supplier of everything} Froggy{photography specialist} DC{procurer of females over 65} Ingeniokenektikey{beer wholesaler} BBO{supplier of cheap sth american steaks} Ethan Tremblay{supplier of discussion ideas}

Sorry to be a pain 'CB', but I think we've had the same conversation for the last few years around this time. Last year it was the forward line with Clark, Hogan and Dawes...well we know how that ended up. These things are fun to do but personally I'll wait and have a look at the NAB games, all of them. Then look at the injury list and hope round one is not another disaster. I do think we are heading the right way though, just being a little cautious.

sadly we will never have a even fixture now its all about the $$$ I have always wondered what would happen to say one of the AFL preferred sides if they had a bottom clubs draw how many teams would kill for collingwoods draw every year , what 16 plus games at MCG and so on

Book me in next Saturday,

From page 30 of the AFl Anti-doping Code: 'If a Player voluntarily accepts a Provisional Suspension in writing from the AFL and thereafter refrains from competing, the Player shall receive a credit for such period of voluntary Provisional Suspension against any period of Ineligibility which may ultimately be imposed.' So I'd take that to mean that if a player chose to compete in the pre-season comp and were subsequently found guilty they could not backdate their period of suspension as a 'non competitor' might.

I trust that's not a reference to Nathan Ablett.

I remember my first beer

I just wish we had more Saturday afternoon games, for no other reason than I enjoy that time slot the most. We need to be interesting to watch before we get the blockbusters. I don't really have an issue with that.

Steve Smith has turned in to a phenomenal player. Doesn't feel like that long ago when he was a 21 year old not-quite-batsman-not-quite-bowler selected early, that had everyone going "bloody NSW bias". Just another case of mugs on the outer thinking they know more about the blokes paid to select the team, really. His early selection was an investment in the future that has definitely paid off.

Anybody who rates SA beer has no taste whatsoever. Tassie beer is by far miles in front of any other.Boags probably being the best. The trouble with coopers fans is they forget the below average beers most SA s drink.

I think it is an encouraging sign that people aren't clamoring to throw Brayshaw and Petracca in at the deep end. Rightly or wrongly, I think there is more trust in incumbent players (both in clubland and on the boards) to get the job done in this era than when Trengove and Scully were automatic walk up starts after their draft. It shows three things: 1. Positive change in 'blooding' philosophy 2. There is genunie belief in the cattle. Whilst the list isn't perfect - it appears capable of executing Roos game plan 3. Those on the park are less likely now to give up their place so easily with good talent itching to get out there The capacity to climb is actually (finally) there now. Get it done Dees.

One incident like that shouldn't rule a player out from being a captain.

You tweeted him? seriously give the guy some space!

How sad. Condemned to permanently being wrong on all issues because I may have posted something in support of the man in response to what I saw at the time as virulent attacks not based on hard evidence. Even though we now almost all agree CS was no good, I suspect a lot of the early criticism of him was the equivalent of what Maschy wrote in response to Saty congratulating himself on Hogan's injury - even a broken clock is correct twice a day.