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Apparently Goodie gave Jacko a dodgy quadie tip

Saturday night the Ballarat Demons had organised a "Dinner with Demons" event in the function room at Bray Raceway. In attendance were: TMac, Clarry, Salo, Frieter and Gus. Mrs Dw surprised me with tickets saying it was an early Valentines Day gift (Damn, if that doesn't put the pressure on). We had the great pleasure of sitting next to Paul McDonald for the night and had some great conversation with him, absolutely terrific fellow. Now to some of the information from the Players. Early on the question was asked; who is the standout in training? The other 4 all pointed to Clarry straight away and one of them said "you just can't bring him down!" On the question of losing Burgess they all said the transition to Selwyn has been seamless. While he had introduced some new/ different things, all the philosophies and language was the same and they are all well on track. I think it was Clarry mentioned 18 of the players had PB's during testing. I asked some questions regarding AMW, does he have a nickname yet? They all looked at one another and burst out laughing and one of them said "we'll just stick with Andy" . I'll have to put Fence onto that one. I asked if he was as quick and elusive as Cozzie? The reply was "nobody is as quick as Cozzie". What was also said was he did have pace, was elusive and had excellent disposal. Interestingly they said he was currently being played all over the ground, again another one for Fence. On Choco, they all think he is crazy and you never know what your going to get from him next but then they all agreed what he does works! (Their emphasis) Can't think of any other insights I can share but it was obvious they are all very comfortable with each other, very relaxed but you can just sense they are raring to go and want very much to do it again.

He should be bullied into signing a new contract

$200M extension to AAMI park for our facilities and HQ from what ive been told from those in the know. Presumably at that cost it will be much more extensive than just our part of the deal

That is seriously scary, for the opposition 😮

When Barassi left Melbourne to go to Carlton I was a kid and I cried for days. If Clayton Oliver went anywhere but Melbourne Id cry for years.

Change of venue for tomorrow’s scheduled training session from Casey Fields to Sorrento Recreational Reserve. There will be a short craft session followed by a two kilometre time trial to the Sorrento Hotel to celebrate the first anniversary of the infamous bonding session of last year recreating an afternoon of pokies, ponies and [censored] [Memo to email that [censored] Warner that it’s “bonding” not “bondage”].

I grew up loving State footy especially with a keen eye on the Demons who were picked to play The standard of footy was miles ahead of club games but the skills were so high that the games weren't often physical encounters. It was possession football with exact skills before possession football became a thing Just a showcase of the best vs the best But alas, even I've given up on the idea for the reasons outlined by the comments preceding this post I still reckon they should pick the sides though ... just as an acknowledgement For instance, Salem just misses out on the All-Australian team but is picked on the half back flank for Victoria. That's still a high honour

No, i think only kangaroos

Yes, I'm going to put a few dollars on Casey to win their flag this year, its overdue and if you look at history the Dogs and Tigers got theirs and there will be some serious players and some terrific developing players down there this year.

None of our guys injured and fit enough to front up next Saturday Only interstate wins that interest me, I saw in September

Victoria 'B: Lever, Weitering, Stewart HB: Salem, Moore, Dale C: Walsh, Wines, Merrett HF: Bontempelli, Hawkins, Petracca F: Greene, McKay, Papley FOLL: Gawn, McRae, Oliver IC: Parish, Miller, Stringer, Martin Allies B: Andrews, May, Daniel HB: Rich, Allir, Mills C: T.Kelly, Steele, Laird HF: Zorko, Franklin, Bailey F: C.Cameron, Dixon, Pickett FOLL: Naitanui, Neale, Fyfe IC: Grundy, Cripps, Hopper, Heeney

Dont get me wrong , I love watching all the replays but I need some new blood. Bring on our 2022 campaign!

Thanks for the insight mate. The AMW comment sure is interesting. Looking at some of the training footage he seems to be around the ball a fair bit. An intriguing player who I'm really looking forward to watching at Casey.

I work on the broadcast for the AFLW and I can tell you that there are things that are improving but also things that have got worse and I do think the general standard of skills isn’t great. I have even quietly wondered if it might be worth them using a softer version of the footy and whether that would improve things a little. Handballs and kicks often seem to fall short, and even though they haven’t written it in their rules of the game they are certainly allowing 10m kicks to be paid as marks (I don’t have an issue with that). I haven’t been a fan of the expansion of teams, better to have a small group of teams to build the standard and give an elite look about the game than to have it overflowing with teams and having to top it up with players who are athletic but have been kicking the ball for 6 months. I reckon in 5 years time we will see a big lift in standard when girls that are currently playing in the junior divisions and learning (and mastering) the skills enter into the competition. The frustrations that come from the skills often reach the highest point when they string together a great piece of play but then butcher the final part. Toughness, pressure, and athleticism wise the standard has got better, which may in turn be having an impact of skills.

These "fortune tellers", tarot readers, etc, are actually skilled at what is called "cold reading", whereby knowingly or unknowingly, they are picking up on subtle clues that you (usually unwittingly) give away to them, such as wearing a Melbourne jumper, having number 6 on the back of the jumper, and saying "God, I hope our young dark-haired ruckman doesn't go back to Perth."

CAPTAINS LOG STARTDATE 422022 We have found ourselves stuck in timewarp and are seeing visions of something not yet identified. Captain Kirk. "Spock it seems we are trapped in a time warp from which we may never return"! Spock . "A time warp from which we may never return? Why Captain, I can't believe my ears"! Captain Kirk " Neither can we Spock", Neither can we"! Uhura "Captain I’m getting a voice message from somewhere called Casey Fields. From someone or something called Picket Fence"! Captain Kirk "Picket Fence sounds like a Romulan! Put it on speaker!” Training notes almost a three three and a half hour training session, a few casualties crackle crackle BANG CRACKLE STATIC Uhura "I'm losing him … “ Captain Kirk “A three and a half hour training session? Bones what do you make of it"? Bones McCoy" Sounds brutal some sort of games are played requiring levels of conditioning which go far beyond human endurance. Must be super fit!" Spock “Captain I’ve run a scan and it seems this Picket Fence is a native of planet Earth and attends training conducted by Melbourne Football Club, as a sort of Scribe" Kirk "Fascinating. Keep communique channels open Uhura Spock, Bones, Lets Beam down and find out more, Scotty get ready to beam us down.” Scotty "Aye aye Captain but I'm not sure the Dilithium Crystals can take too much more'"! Mr. Sulu " Captain there is a strange figure crew cut with a beard starting to materialize holding something in his hand" WTF IS IT? STAND BY Uhura "Captain, I’ve downloaded this Picket Fence summary, I'll put it through computer and relay, NOW” Arrived at training at 9.15 for what turned out to be a marathon training session lasting over 3 hours probably closer to 3 and a half and was it a brutal and punishing session. No beg pardons about training loads and INTENSITY. In fact I can't ever recall a longer or tougher session There were several notable injuries throughout which I will get to. A brisk wind was blowing down the ground towards the south end and although fine this contributed marginally to some skill errors by foot. REHAB Mitch Brown who ran a lot and hit the bike INJURIES Spargy went down after a hit to the head and was escorted of not to be seen again. Mild concussion a possibility. T Mac went down and limped of the ground with what could be an ankle injury. Both these occured in Simulated Match Practice. Then just near the end of training Trac was being attended to by a trainer/Doctor by what could have been a lower leg possibly ankle injury. He too walked gingerly of the ground but was not escorted by training staff. Hopefully all are minor. SKILLS , DRILLS AND MANOUVERS Drill 1 Possesion kick and weave In formation Drill 2 Full match simulations RED VS BLUE 4 QUARTERS of about 20 mins each Drill 3 a Tackling practice 3 b One on one grappling push of and then kick to leading player 3 reps by each pitted one on one player 3 c short kick handball and corridor football type style drill in small space 3 d Running running and more running. MATCH SIMULATIONS AND PLAYER WATCH CLARRY CYBORG Just cannot be stopped hence name Cyborg not being disrepectful, he is just like an indestructible man, again he just takes on the tackler and is impossible to stop, runs all day tank just got bigger and disposals are elite KADE CHANDLER Will clearly press for a place this year his skills and pace are major weapons and he knows where the goals are JACOB VAN ROOYEN Blink and he's gone, he is very elusive and not dissimilar to Bailey Fritta. He also took a magnificent contested mark from 20 out and duly converted. MAJAK DAW was respectable in the ruck vs Max and his work around the ground and in stoppages was very good. Also took a strong contested mark about 30 out and converted. JAKE BOWEY Has found another gear and continues to use the ball well and in my view is already better than Caleb Daniel which say plenty! FRASER ROSMAN Was pitted against Ed Langdon and got plenty of quality ball. is noticeably fitter this year. MICHAEL HIBBERD as hard as a cat’s head. Just does not know when to quit was prominent in match sims TOBY BEDFORD Was eye catching with some of his moves dazzling with pace and flamboyance - might be a wild card this year. DEAKIN SMITH Very steady in back half, never flustered and has telescopic arms. DAN TURNER ditto! STEVEN MAY and JAKE LEVER are rarely beaten and know each other’s games so well, it appears a telepathy exists among them BBB Watch out if he stays fit we might have a 70-80 goal Key Forward. Clunked marks, Kicked goals and roams far and wide. BLAKE HOWES, JUDD MC VIE, BAILEY LAURIE, All flashed into the play with deft hands and very precise disposal. MAX, JACK V, CHRISTIAN S all were their usual excellent selves. LUKE DUNSTAN The more I see of him the more I think he plays very similarly to Stephen Powell. Gets in good positions and his disposal is very good. SAM WEIDEMAN Took one great contested grab in the square and converted and did several useful things JAMES JORDAN AND TOM SPARROW Both had there fair share of the ball and used intelligently and tellingly. ADAM TOMLINSON Making some big strides one or two errors but a very solid game I thought. FINAL THOUGHTS As iterated this was as hard a session that I have seen and it proves one thing to me … that the defence of the Premiership is foremost in the minds of the players and coaches who clearly want mo more. There are just no passengers in this team and the healthy competition being created builds a strong unified culture of excellence. No beg pardons, No shortcuts, just hard relentless footy played at breakneck intensity. Welcome back we are hear to ROCK AND ROLL P.F Meanwhile back on the Enterprise Mr Sulu. ''That figure is materialising, I've seen his face before its ITS MAX GAWN and what's he holding""?? Captain Kirk " It looks like a cup a trophy of some sort and whats that number on it Spock. "2022!!! FASCINATING"!! Captain Kirk "WE MUST LEARN MORE"!

I've been trying my hand at the same-race multi's in the off-season with mixed results ... needing better class of horses me thinks! Usually just pick 2 horses ... One horse to win/2nd and one other 'value' runner 1st to 4th ... aiming to get about 6-1 up to 15-1 all up So 'Sierra Sue @ 14-1, Lighthouse @ 10-1 and Lightsaber @ 14-1 all appeal as value runners

AFL should get proactive in pushing the game to an overseas market and get WA to form their own team

SOO on the pre-finals weekend off, players from clubs not in finals. Or on the pre-GF weekend, if the AFL are determined to keep on with that. Or curtain raiser to the night GF which the AFL are sneaking into position in plain sight. Alternate between Vic v WA and Vic v SA as WA v SA doesn't seem to get crow/groper blood pumping. Curtain raiser Qld v NSW v Tas (some combination). If those states get good they can challenge WA or SA for the right to play the Vics.

Only at other peoples expense.

Depending on the size of the wager you could be spot on.

Outside the top couple I reckon Lighthouse and Sierra Sue are in the mix, Lightsaber is a horse I’ve followed for ages and could be in the mix but I’ll want to see how the track is going.

Might be a good time to get the deal done soon and with Jacko to come out and say how much he respects the Coach and has learned from him.

Agreed. Should have used this year to re-set the QB and Anzac Eve game. That way we can have one of these as a home game each year, rather than two in one year.

Backing there will be a few more questions sent today ...

Someone should run the excel spreadsheet exercise and tell us what combination of 3s, 2s, and 1s Clarry and Trac need to make this happen!

I guess COVID really scuppered any sort of plans for this when the AFL went into survival mode and trying to achieve the bare minimum in a season. I would personally love to see representative football again. It doesn't even have to be every year, maybe every second year. If nothing else I'd like it for the players themselves. Being able to train and play with the best in the business ultimately makes you a better player and guys like Skilton and Whitten would attest to that. Even Robbie Flower, I have no doubt the big V games were beneficial for his career. The issue is and always will be the scheduling. Mid-season doesn't feel right as it seems to disrupt the focus for the actual season and you'd obviously need to keep the break. I know they easily do it in NRL and honestly I don't know how. If it were up to me I'd completely bin any sort of NAB/Marsh/JLL Challenge, keep the teams practice matches but do state of origin on the eve of the season. I thought end of Feb worked pretty well in 2020. It doesn't need to be perfect, but I think we miss out on a lot without representative football.

And I think that was our biggest gf margin win ever.

Fair comment, I’d just rather read posts about MFC on Demonland that’s all.

West Coast have a lot of players entering their twilight years. They don’t have a great deal of youth coming through. MFC club on the other hand, we have a dynasty looking list right now. It may not end up that way, but Jackson would be weighing up the present. He’d have to be very homesick to consider leaving MFC. I don’t see it happening.

Watched this one again last week myself... It was a great performance, the whole series was dominated by us. One take away for me was I still don't understand why Salem wasn't an All Australian...I know we were heavily represented but the finals series showed why. Very stiff to miss out.

dogga must be quite a chatterbox. they've been talking for months now

I'm Thunderstruck even at 3-1 looks like good odds ... but it's Caulfield and he'll need to get past a lot of very good horses

Our highest scores were the GF, PF, Round 20 and Round 22 shared with round 5. We scored heavily towards the end of the season.

Maybe a tad misguided, but If he ever left….

I only just realised that our 21.14 (140) GF score was our highest all season. A sensational case of peaking at exactly the right time.

I’m usually big on Behemoth, but laststart it didn’t look great.

Oh, us Accountant are not known for our sense of humour.

The ruckman in question was John Winneke. :)

Just trade him for the eight 1st round picks and be done with it

I gather you might be alluding to Liam Jurrah and the family troubles that led him to return back to his home. Tippa is a top end Tiwi Islander, Jurrah from desert country Yuendumu, Central Australia. They are quite different cultures. Not all indigenous Australians are the same, or even comparable.

indeed would be worth a joint

There will be one nuffy in the middle who complains about something ridiculously minor that only they're interested in.

I reckon he's confusing half-hearted talks with North and the potential Fitzroy merger in 1986. Age 26/06/1986 Age 05/08/1986

Tusk Tusk Tusk

I've heard a rumour that for the Melb v North scratch match we'll be playing for the Ben Brown Trophy which will look just like this but with the third finger upright, rather than the second.

Max said much the same re analysis in his article today in the age. He bemoaned the lack of understanding the media have of the modern game and how he can’t watch afl because of it. I think Goody is different to the intellectually curious coaches and managers you allude to. I may be mistaken. In my view, Goody is more a “manager” type. I don’t see it in Hardwick either. But they both stuck with a sound basic strategy, built lists to execute it, and got the culture right to perform. It’s such a lesson for other clubs that it usually takes time for a list to develop to execute a strategy. What strategy works for list A won’t for list B. Burgo talks about this a lot in soccer on his podcasts where the difference between the physicality of the press strategy requires completely different players to the possession based strategy’s. There are similarities in AFL but not as pronounced. As Goody has the right people around him now it doesn’t matter if he is brilliant or not. His limitations showed when he stuck to some flawed tactics for long periods of time that other coaches could easily exploit, especially when the pressure was on, and he clearly didn’t have the right people around him to point out the issues. The entire thread about whether he was the right guy was after his experimental strategy was ripped apart by Clarko and Hawthorn. Richo was the master of exploiting the holes on Goodys gameplan and was a great addition for us, Yze fixed Goody’s “win contested ball at all cost” stoppage strategy, and Choco in my view likely kept coaches and players on their toes in a way that didn’t seem to happen from 2017-2020 when we always seemed to get ahead of ourselves or not handle expectations. 2021 was all about Goody managing all of these people and the players and making it work. I really don’t think Beveridge should be mentioned in that elite coaching group either. His “genius” to handball out of stoppages and hit form for 4 weeks in September 2016 has resulted in a 5 year leave pass and in him being credited as tactically brilliant whenever the dogs have success, but never criticised for their failures. And some of their failures are all on him, like their lack of midfield defensive running, flawed defensive work at stoppages, a defence that is terrible 1 on 1, and the result being a flawed strategy where they can leak goals (like 16 in 28 minutes of playing time in a GF). His strategy is flawed yet he is credited with being a genius. That makes no sense. The really elite coaches all have been first with a new point of strategic difference, and built unbelievable cultures and lists to execute it and created sustained success for long periods. Roos turned the game on its head tactically and won a flag that no one believed was possible, using systems imported from US basketball that even the AFL CEO didn’t understand. He broke a longer drought than ours, and put in place a bloods culture that still remains. Clarko moneyballed the AFL with elite kicks and got 4 flags from it in 8 years. But it wouldn’t have worked without the culture. Leigh Matthews was different in that it was more about culture and psychology. But he’s a 4 times premiership coach, and if you listen to him on dynasties it is no less impressive than what clarko did. Goody will be seen alongside these revered coaches if the culture and success is sustained. Worsfold built the Eagles from a rabble in 2000 and 2001 to a flag in 5 years, but their culture sucked and he didn’t get what he could of out of that list. I don’t think we will be a one hit wonder but only time will tell. If we only have 1 flag to show by 2025 Goody will always be respected for 2021 but seen more like a Worsfold or Chris Scott than Matthews or Clarko. I’d prefer he is a future AFL Hall of Fame legend alongside Norm Smith.