Demonland

Sick of all the Ads on Demonland? Well you can remove them by purchasing a Subscription to Demonland. Once the season starts the cost for the subscription will be going up. Annual Demonland.com membership is currently $15 per year and will be going up to $20 as of Round 1. Lifetime Demonland.com membership is currently $40 for life and will be going up to $50 as of Round 1. All costs go towards running and maintaining the site. You can subscribed by clicking the Subscription tab under the main Demonland logo at the top of the page and follow the prompts through to PayPal. I understand that not everyone can afford this and membership is not required to sign up and read and post on the site. All I ask is that you occasionally look at the advertising and if something catches your fancy then by all means click on the link. Or you can just ignore the Ads. Cheers and GO DEES! Andy

i have uploaded the new banner to include JG without having to take anyone off. Thanks go to M9 for providing me with the image of JG.

I will be taking a look at the banner over the weekend and see what can be done. I have just moved offices over the past few days and will be moving house next week so time has been short. I realise that I won't be able to make everyone happy and I've learnt over the years that pleasing everyone is just not possible.

You and I differ on the cause and effect but what do you reckon the losing margin would have been the players disliked Bailey and discovered he was about to be reappointed? 250 points? It's just that I'm trying to work out the bounds of possibility for GWS when their players get jack of Sheedy in the latter part of 2012.

1972 - A RETROSPECTIVE by Whispering Jack "Long, long time ago ..." (the opening line of the Don McLean song American Pie which was the # 3 single of 1972 according to Billboard Magazine - see footnote) This might be hard to believe but in 1972 there was not a single Jack on the playing list of the Melbourne Football Club. To compensate, there were six Johns and five Peters but, to prove that not everything changes over time, there was still only one Max although he was destined to make his mark in another sport. The captain's name was Frank (Davis) and he, along with Barry Bourke and John Townsend, was one of the three remnants of the club's 1964 premiership team - the last of its twelve flags to date. The latter two had stood alongside each other on grand final day, Townsend the leading goalkicker on the day with three, Bourke scoring one and also taking an important saving mark in the dying moments of the game. In turn, some of their teammates had been at the club as far back as 1953 when the Demons were a lowly young team thirsting for success that was, as it happened, just around the corner. So there were two decades of separation between the players of the Melbourne Football Club as season 1972 dawned. Another four decades have come and gone since then and the club, with a new coach is again placing its faith on youth and hard work in anticipation ... But for now, let's go back in time to 1972. THE DETAIL Coach: Ian Ridley Captain: Frank Davis Finishing Position: 8th Best and Fairest: Stan Alves Leading Goalkicker: Greg Parke (63) Best First Year Player: Ross Brewer After fading out and missing out on the finals in 1971, the mood was buoyant and coach Ian Ridley declared his team's motto for the season would be "This Is It" - appropriate for a team that had not seen finals action for eight long years. There was some hope for the Demons in the fact that they had won the Under 19s premiership in 1971 and several talented youngsters were on their way up but were they good enough to make the transition to senior VFL standard? The team tuned up for the season with a bonding and training trip to Sydney and reports from pre season practice was positive leading up to the season's opener against reigning premier Hawthorn. Melbourne, Collingwood and South Melbourne had voted against the McIntyre Final Five system but its introduction gave the club a greater chance of making its first finals series since 1964. THE PLAYING LIST 1. Max Walker 11 games, 1 goal 2. Robert McKenzie 8, 0 3. Trevor Rollinson 6, 0 4. Tony Sullivan 18 , 0 5. John Gallus 8, 8 6. Frank Davis 21, 0 7. Graham Osborne 13, 7 8. Peter Keenan 16, 13 9. Peter Yeo 3, 1 9. George Lakes 2, 0 10. Lloyd Burgman 7, 12 11. Greg Wells 22, 34 12. Mike Collins 13, 6 14. Barry Bourke 22, 0 15. Stan Alves 21, 22 16. John Townsend 12, 9 17. Denis Clark 9, 2 18. John Tilbrook 9, 10 19. Ray Biffin 20, 0 20. Laurie Queay 2, 2 21. Graham Molloy 21, 7 22. Ray Carr 4, 11 23. Peter Sinclair 8, 8 24. Ross Dillon 11, 5 26. Col Anderson 2, 0 26. Greg Parke 20, 63 27. Ross Brewer 17, 15 29. Noel Leary 1, 0 30 . John Letcher 12, 0 33. Gary Hardeman 21, 10 34. John Clennett 17, 13 35. Paul Callery 22, 23 37. John Reid 1, 0 38. Wayne Delmenico 1 , 0 39. Peter Dilnot 1, 0 41, Stephen Kerley 14, 1 45 . Henry Ritterman 12, 4 46. Geoff Harrold 2, 0 50. Shane McSpeerin 6, 3 54 . Peter Williamson 4, 0 THE OPENING ROUND The opening round game of 1972 between Hawthorn and Melbourne at Glenferrie Oval on Saturday, 1 April, 1972 was famous for all the wrong reasons. Late in the second term Hawk goalkicking sensation Peter Hudson, who equalled the VFL record of 150 goals in a season on the day his team won the previous year's grand final, found himself wedged between Demon defenders Ray Biffin. His knee buckled and his season was over. Indeed, his career was severely curtailed. The 21,513 fans at the ground watched in stunned silence as the Hawk forward, who had kicked 8.1 in less than half a game was carried from the ground. Hawthorn held a 27 point lead at the main break but the excitement went out of the game with Hudson's departure. Both sides went goal for goal in the second half with the home side prevailing by 29 points by the time the final siren sounded. Despite the win, the loss of Hudson turned out to be too much for Hawthorn who missed out on the finals finishing in 6th place. Melbourne went on to win 10 games after losing the first three and finished two spots behind Hawthorn which it beat in the return game later in the season. Hawthorn 4.3.27 9.4.58 10.10.70 15.14.104 Melbourne 1.3.9 4.7.31 5.11.41 10.15.75 The Team: Backs B. Bourke R. Biffin J. Letcher Half backs F. Davis G. Hardeman A. Sullivan Centreline G. Osborne P. Sinclair S. Alves Half forwards L. Burgmann G. Molloy R. Brewer Forwards F. Dillon R. Carr J. Townsend Followers P. Keenan G. Wells P. Callery 19:20 G. Lakes M. Walker Goals Ray Carr Greg Wells 2 Stan Alves Ross Brewer Paul Callery Ross Dillon Peter Keenan John Townsend. Best Garry Hardeman Stan Alves Tony Sullivan Paul Callery Peter Sinclair Greg Wells The Hawks also won the curtain raiser when their reserves beat the Demons in the reserves by 14.19.103 to 12.7.79. Goals Clennett Parke 3 Ritterman Tilbrook 2 McSpeerin Morgan Best Clennett McSpeerin Kerley Hawthorn made it a clean sweep in the Under 19s winning 20.9.129 to Melbourne 12.19.91. THE SEASON The early optimism was shattered by losses in the opening three games of the season with Footscray and Collingwood prevailing over them after the opening round loss to Hawthorn. There was a breakthrough with a big win over the Swans but, as the season progressed, those early losses and some narrow defeats (2 by one point, one by five and a couple of others thanks to poor kicking at goal) left the team well short of a chance of making the finals. Perhaps the sole consolation was that a win in the return game at the MCG ended up costing the Hawks a finals berth. It was disappointing that although a number of youngsters were blooded (9 first year players), the club went backwards by one position on the ladder in Ridley's second year as coach. They were to slide again the following year and wouldn't see finals action again for another decade and a half by which time every degree of separation had been exhausted although there was a young bloke named Robert coming through the fourths (Under 17s) which won their premiership in the Melbourne Boys League who was about to make his mark at the club. WINS & LOSSES 1. Hawthorn LOSS 2. Footscray LOSS 3. Collingwood LOSS 4. South Melbourne WIN 5. Richmond LOSS 6. Essendon WIN 7. Carlton LOSS 8. Geelong WIN 9. St. Kilda LOSS 10. North Melbourne WIN 11. Fitzroy LOSS 12. Hawthorn WIN 13. Footscray WIN 14. South Melbourne WIN 15. Collingwood LOSS 16. Richmond LOSS 17. Essendon LOSS 18. Carlton LOSS 19. Geelong WIN 20. St. Kilda LOSS 21. North Melbourne WIN 22. Footscray WIN LADDER Carlton 134.3% 74 Pts Richmond 117.7 % 72 Collingwood 133.0% 66 St. Kilda 115.6% 56 Essendon 108.3% 56 ----------------------- Hawthorn 111.1% 52 Footscray 94.7% 44 Melbourne 105.9% 40 Fitzroy 96.8% 36 Geelong 84.2% 28 South Melbourne 65.1% 8 North Melbourne 62.9% 4 BEST & FAIREST Seniors: 1st Stan Alves 2nd Greg Wells 3rd Gary Hardeman 4th Barry Bourke 5th Paul Callery 6th Greg Parke Reserves: 1st Denis Clark 2nd John Gallus Outstanding Service Henry Ritterman Ross Dillon John Cumming Under 19s 1st Frank Giampaolo 2nd Ian McGuinness Outstanding Service Peter Slade Peter Watts Neil McMullin Under 17s 1st Robert Flower 2nd James Ahern Outstanding Service Glen Campbell Guy Moorhouse Best Clubman Ian Kavanagh THE BOTTOM LINE The club made a substantial profit for the first time since 1956 turning a $7,493.80 loss in 1971 into a $8,923.30 profit. A major reason for the profit a finals ground hire payment of close to $44,000.00. LIGHTS OUT The introduction of a final five the night series redundant, leaving Melbourne the last ever champions under that format. ANNUAL REPORT 1972 from the Melbourne Football Club Annual Report ... In presenting the Annual Report for Season 1972, one must record a drop from Seventh to Eighth position on the Premiership ladder, and a decline from 46 Premiership points in '71 to 40 points in '72. Perhaps the charge of failure might be levelled against the team, but this would be most unfair and unjust to a club which suffered many narrow defeats over the season. Although we rarely rose above the middle of the list it was accepted by opponents and critics alike, that we were a side to be respected, and no team approached our matches with over-confidence. The brilliance of our younger players was generally admired, and it was no surprise at the end of the season to find Melbourne players in Greg Wells, Gary Hardeman and Stan Alves polling so well in the Brownlow Medal. To this splendid trio one must include players such as Ray Biffin, Ross Brewer. Paul Callery, Dennis Clark, John Clennett, Wayne Delmenico, Geoff Harold, Peter Keenan, Stephen Kerley, and Peter Williamson who are all young players who must improve, and to have this group backed up with the skill, determination and experience of Frank Davis, Barry Bourke, Ross Dillon, Greg Parke and Tony Sullivan, then we boldly declare that Melbourne will improve its position in 1973 and we have set our eyes on the Final Five and are determined to achieve this position. We are still recruiting widely, both interstate and in pur Country and Local Zones, and we are delighted to have included in our Metro­politan area the City of Chelsea and all clubs contained therein, this will be a most profitable area, as will be the Waranga North Eastern League which has been a new addition to our Country Zoned areas. New players will be encouraged within our limits, and we are certain to produce a much stronger final list in 1973, than we had in '72. On the administrative side the club is very well geared with many sub-committees working to improve our financial position which'has become No. 1 in priority on all V.F.L. Clubs' agenda, and we are very appreciative of the work our members of Committee are doing on the club's behalf, reference is made elsewhere in this report to-these mem­bers, but special mention must again be made of our Senior Coach. Ian Ridley. When Ian.Ridley was appointed as Senior Coach in 1971 he brought with him a new enthusiasm which is burning as brightly as ever, his desire for success has been accepted by the team, who are all very much behind him in every demand he makes. Whilst he has the support of the team, he has more importantly the respect of the Team, and with this attitude, coupled with the skill of the players we will not fail. Backing Ian Ridley we had in 1972, Bernie Massey, former defender, Assistant Coach who had the satisfaction of reaching the Grand Final with his Reserve Eighteen, and Brian Gray was again Coach of our Under 19's, another side to make the Final Five and play in the final series at the M.C.G., whilst yet again Gordon Duff led the Under 17 team to another well won Premiership. Of great assistance to Ian Ridley was Laurie Prosser our Physical Fitness Adviser, and assistance was rendered in our early training running sessions at Caulfield by John Hicks. Ken Carlon was again in charge of Recruiting, ably supported by Bill Deans, Roy McKay, John Osborne and Rick Mollison, with Allan McKay as our Metropolitan Public Relations Officer. The miles that Ken covers in the Country Zones and the hours away from his home, leave us very much in his debt, and we must acknowledge the great work all these gentlemen do in recruiting for us. This year we conducted our Best and Fairest voting in public at the M.C.G. This proved to be an outstanding success, and will be a feature at the conclusion of the 1973 season. After a most interest­ing count Stan Alves was the Winner of our Best and Fairest award, and praise must be given to this great clubman. His play has always been an inspiration to all, and many of our younger players have endeavoured to model their football on Stan's and he could be paid no higher compliment than this, we know that he will continue to thrill us with his great play and his splendid example for many years to come. Our runner-up Best and Fairest players were Gary Hardeman and Greg Wells in that order, Gary Hardeman climaxed a great year's football by travelling overseas with Carlton to play our football in Europe as a member of the All Stars team. Gary's excellence as a player was also evidenced by his selection in this year's Victorian Team he played in the key positions of Centre Half Back and Centre Half Forward and was a star wherever he appeared we are fortunate to have a player of his ability in our side. The same praise can be showered on Greg Wells who was a brilliant and spectacular member of our team, in being voted runner-up to Len Thompson in the Brownlow Medal. Greg Wells confirmed our own Selectors' judgement who placed him as our own Best and Fairest in 1971. Greg has everything that pleases our spectators to our game, a most brilliant player he will star in V.F.L. football for many years to come and is a potential Medallist every year in which he plays. Barry Bourke's effort in finishing fourth in our voting list cannot be over-emphasised, throughout the year Barry had to overcome injury and soreness and week after week excelled in his effort on the Back line, his dependability, courage, and team spirit are an object lesson to all our young players. Trophies for outstanding service were won by Paul Callerv. Tony Sullivan and Greq Parke. Each player gave us great pleasure during the vear. and each in his way means a great deal to the Melbourne Football Club. Paul Callery with his great determination his never say die spirit, Tony Sullivan with his con­sistency, the ability that rarely permits a mistake, his great leadership that commands everybody's respect, and Greg Parke with the amazing skill in marking and his uncanny sense of position play as the team moves around him, spell the qualities that we see in abundance in the team of today. We sincerely believe this team to be the best Melbourne team since 1964, and look forward to the players them­selves confirming this statement. A special reference should be made of the performance of Ray Biffin in 1972. Almost with the beginning of our Season it was found that Ray Biffin had suffered a Hernia, and it was suggested that the operation should be conducted immediately for this annoying occur­rence. However on Ray's request this was deferred until the season had ended, praise must be given to Ray for a most courageous and effective season, when one realises the burden he imposed upon himself in the club's interest one must be loud in praise of his courage and team spirit. Our best First Year player in a very good group was Ross Brewer, who exemplified the skill and ability in our club today, it is quite certain that Ross will develop into a star in V.F.L. football and will represent Melbourne for many years to come. Financially our club had a much better year, aided very much by the draw in the Final series which gave us an additional Final round at the M.C.G. It would appear however that there might be some slowing down of the development at Waverley, and that more money may be diverted to the V.F.L. Clubs who are badly in need of assistance in this direction. The progress that has been made at Waverley is indeed commendable, but it is high time that the clubs which comprise the V.F.L. should be assisted in their efforts to meet the increased payments they will be called upon to meet from our own players. CAPTAIN AND VICE-CAPTAIN Special thanks must be conveyed to Frank Davis and Barry Bourke who again acted as our leaders on the field. Frank by his example and devotion to his team is an ideal Captain, his great courage inspires the younger members of the team, and with Barry Bourke who is equally inspiring in his approach to football we have been very well served in 1972 by these fine young men. We thank them most sincerely. OUR COMMITTEE Dr. Duffy again presided as Chairman of the football club for season 1972. It would have been more pleasant to have reported greater success because of the time and effort that Don Duffy displays in his role as Chairman, but, as mentioned before, we feel that this must surely come in the very near future. Our sub-committees continued to meet regularly two or three times a week in an endeavour to improve our club's position. Our Committee in 1972 comprised the following: Representing M.C.C. Committee: Dr. D. G. Duffy, Messrs. D. Ferguson, J. R. Mitchell, T. C. Trumble. Representing M.C.C. Members: Messrs. K. Carlon, R. S. Geary, F. V. Hughes, A. L. V. King, N. Lockwood, M. McLean, N. J. McMahen, G. W. Patterson. Representing M.F.C. Members: Messrs. G. A. Lenne, J. P. McGrath. Co-opted Official: Mr. G. M. Swan. Representing M.F.C. Reserve XVIII: Mr. R. Miller. During the year, certain changes were made in Committee and we were pleased to grant leave of absence to Dr. D. P. Cordner who left us in April of this year to travel overseas and retired from the Committee at that time. His place was taken by Mr. J. R. Mitchell who was elected as a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club and now represents that Committee. Formerly, he was a representative of Melbourne Cricket Club members. We were also most pleased to welcome Mr. Don Ferguson, the Treasurer of the Melbourne Cricket Club to our Committee representing the M.C.C. Committee and his presence is much appreciated. His interest and guidance on matters financial are of great value and we trust he will remain with us for many years to come. Mr. Mitchell's work as President of the Redlegs is also very well known and his long association with the Melbourne Cricket Club is also very much appreciated. Replacing Mr. Mitchell as a representative of M.C.C. members was Mr. Neil Lockwood who joined our Committee in July. Mr. Lockwood has been most prominent in club affairs and led the W.I.P. Committee which has contributed so much financially to the players in the incentive scheme and we were pleased to welcome him to our Committee. During the year, Mr. J. P. (Shane) McGrath, our former great full back, suffered a most severe illness which kept him from our meetings for some months. However, we are pleased to report that he is back in full health and joined us towards the end of the season. All members of our Committee are truly hard working individuals comprising such men as Ken Carlon, who is in control of recruiting for our club and spends many hours carrying out this most important task. Mr. Reg Geary and Bill Patterson are closely involved with the operation of our Business Committee, and we are very fortunate to have such gentlemen devote so much time and energy to our Club affairs. A football team today needs businessmen as much as it needs players and we thank them for their continued efforts on our behalf. The work that Mr. A. L. King, our League Director, undertakes must once again be praised. Mr. King, a member of Committee since 1938, again controlled our membership ticket—and reserved seat sales, and in the final series, conducted sales of final series tickets. It is to the credit of Mr. King and Mr. Bill Langley that so much praise was heaped upon them by our supporters who were very happy with the manner in which our tickets were distributed and the many oppor­tunities they were given to purchase these tickets. Our office received many letters of thanks and commendation from supporters for the work of these officials on that occasion. When one also considers the fact that Mr. King is our Director at the Victorian Football League and the leading role he occupies with that body, emphasizes our obliga­tion to him. Mr. Bob Miller, acting as Reserve XVIII Chairman and represent­ing that group on our Committee, has shown great confidence in this role and our Reserve XVIII Committee are most pleased with his attention to their requirements. We are very fortunate with the type of person that represents our Committee at the present time. CONGRATULATIONS We were again pleased to report that the Premier of Victoria, The Hon. Sir Henry Bolte, K.C.M.G., again consented to act as our No. 1 ticket holder for season 1972. Sir Henry was most attentive at our matches and was supported at our Pre Season Dinner by Mr. Lindsay Thompson and later, our Federal Treasurer, Mr. Billy Sneddon. Sir Henry has now retired from his high office as Premier of the State of Victoria but we sincerely trust that we shall see him even more fre­quently in Season 1973. Congratulations are extended from the Club on the appointment of Cr. Allan Whalley as Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. Allan is a very keen Melbourne supporter, a former member of Coterie and we are most pleased to learn of his appointment. Our congratulations must also go to the Carlton Football Club and playing coach John Nicholls, for their great performance in win­ing the 1972 V.F.L. Premiership. Their determined and professional approach is one that we envied greatly. However, we are still quite certain that Carlton are a side that we can challenge and look forward to meeting them in 1973. We must also congratulate Richmond on an excellent performance in season 1972 and though disappointed as they undoubtedly were in not winning that vital final match, they have had a most successful season. These remarks can also apply to Collingwood, St. Kilda and Essendon who comprised the Final Five. Congratulations are conveyed to Len Thompson of the Collingwood Football Club for his win in this year's Brownlow Medal. Len Thompson will undoubtedly develop into one of the most brilliant players ever to have played our game and the winning of another medal must surely come to this very great player. Reference has been made earlier to the magnificent voting of the Melbourne Football Club players in the Brownlow Medal. Greg Wells was runner-up to Len Thompson and secured 22 votes. He was closely followed by Gary Hardeman who was equal third with John Williams of Essendon and Stan Alves succeeded in gaining twelve votes. Our players were always at the head of affairs in the public counting of the votes and as a result, a great deal of interest in our club was created. Each of these three players figured high in the various awards that were made through Television and radio and, becoming more established V.F.L. players each year, it is quite possible that we will produce a Brownlow Medal­list in the very near future. Congratulations must go to our interstate representatives in Gary Hardeman and Stan Alves. They were most worthy representatives and represented our Club with great distinction. Stan Alves was selected as a member of the All Australian team and richly deserved this splendid honour. Reference is made elsewhere in this report to his success as Best and Fairest player for 1972. RESERVE EIGHTEEN AND COMMITTEE We have always been fortunate at Melbourne in the strength of our Reserve Eighteen and 1972 has been no exception. The Reserve Eighteen lost a very great administrator with the passing of Ray Read, but gained a fine leader with the appointment of former Melbourne player and now Senior Committee member in Bob Miller. We were all delighted when Bob accepted the Chairmanship of the Reserve Eighteen and he has led this group most capably. The Executive Committee which comprised Messrs. R. Miller, N. Parkhill, W. Rodriquez and E. Massey gave great leadership to the rest of the Reserve Eighteen, with Bill Rodriquez again acting as Secretary, with Noel Parkhill as Reserve Eighteen Manager, and Steve Stevens as Manager of the Under 17's we have a hard working group of officials who serve our club very well indeed. We are most fortunate to have them leading our youngsters and would like to thank them most sincerely. The Best and Fairest winner in the Reserve Eighteen was the hard working and at times quite brilliant player Dennis Clark, he was ably supported by our runner-up best and fairest in the Reserve Eighteen in John Gallus. Great Support to the team throughout the season was given by the other trophy winners in Henry Ritterman, Ross Dillon and John Cumming. The best and Fairest winner in the Under 19's was Frank Giampaolo, whilst our best and fairest winner in the Under 17's was a name to be marked down in the file for the future, player Robert Flower*. FOOTNOTE* The Billboard Magazine # 1 single of 1972 was Roberta Flack's First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Ironically, the club's 1972 annual report gave us our first glimpse of a bespectacled, scrawny youngster in the Under 17 team photograph being the last named player in the above report.

1972 - A RETROSPECTIVE by Whispering Jack "Long, long time ago ..." (the opening line of the Don McLean song American Pie which was the # 3 single of 1972 according to Billboard Magazine - see footnote) This might be hard to believe but in 1972 there was not a single Jack on the playing list of the Melbourne Football Club. To compensate, there were six Johns and five Peters but, to prove that not everything changes over time, there was still only one Max although he was destined to make his mark in another sport. The captain's name was Frank (Davis) and he, along with Barry Bourke and John Townsend, was one of the three remnants of the club's 1964 premiership team - the last of its twelve flags to date. The latter two had stood alongside each other on grand final day, Townsend the leading goalkicker on the day with three, Bourke scoring one and also taking an important saving mark in the dying moments of the game. In turn, some of their teammates had been at the club as far back as 1953 when the Demons were a lowly young team thirsting for success that was, as it happened, just around the corner. So there were two decades of separation between the players of the Melbourne Football Club as season 1972 dawned. Another four decades have come and gone since then and the club, with a new coach is again placing its faith on youth and hard work in anticipation ... But for now, let's go back in time to 1972. THE DETAIL Coach: Ian Ridley Captain: Frank Davis Finishing Position: 8th Best and Fairest: Stan Alves Leading Goalkicker: Greg Parke (63) Best First Year Player: Ross Brewer After fading out and missing out on the finals in 1971, the mood was buoyant and coach Ian Ridley declared his team's motto for the season would be "This Is It" - appropriate for a team that had not seen finals action for eight long years. There was some hope for the Demons in the fact that they had won the Under 19s premiership in 1971 and several talented youngsters were on their way up but were they good enough to make the transition to senior VFL standard? The team tuned up for the season with a bonding and training trip to Sydney and reports from pre season practice was positive leading up to the season's opener against reigning premier Hawthorn. Melbourne, Collingwood and South Melbourne had voted against the McIntyre Final Five system but its introduction gave the club a greater chance of making its first finals series since 1964. THE PLAYING LIST 1. Max Walker 11 games, 1 goal 2. Robert McKenzie 8, 0 3. Trevor Rollinson 6, 0 4. Tony Sullivan 18 , 0 5. John Gallus 8, 8 6. Frank Davis 21, 0 7. Graham Osborne 13, 7 8. Peter Keenan 16, 13 9. Peter Yeo 3, 1 9. George Lakes 2, 0 10. Lloyd Burgman 7, 12 11. Greg Wells 22, 34 12. Mike Collins 13, 6 14. Barry Bourke 22, 0 15. Stan Alves 21, 22 16. John Townsend 12, 9 17. Denis Clark 9, 2 18. John Tilbrook 9, 10 19. Ray Biffin 20, 0 20. Laurie Queay 2, 2 21. Graham Molloy 21, 7 22. Ray Carr 4, 11 23. Peter Sinclair 8, 8 24. Ross Dillon 11, 5 26. Col Anderson 2, 0 26. Greg Parke 20, 63 27. Ross Brewer 17, 15 29. Noel Leary 1, 0 30 . John Letcher 12, 0 33. Gary Hardeman 21, 10 34. John Clennett 17, 13 35. Paul Callery 22, 23 37. John Reid 1, 0 38. Wayne Delmenico 1 , 0 39. Peter Dilnot 1, 0 41, Stephen Kerley 14, 1 45 . Henry Ritterman 12, 4 46. Geoff Harrold 2, 0 50. Shane McSpeerin 6, 3 54 . Peter Williamson 4, 0 THE OPENING ROUND The opening round game of 1972 between Hawthorn and Melbourne at Glenferrie Oval on Saturday, 1 April, 1972 was famous for all the wrong reasons. Late in the second term Hawk goalkicking sensation Peter Hudson, who equalled the VFL record of 150 goals in a season on the day his team won the previous year's grand final, found himself wedged between Demon defenders Ray Biffin. His knee buckled and his season was over. Indeed, his career was severely curtailed. The 21,513 fans at the ground watched in stunned silence as the Hawk forward, who had kicked 8.1 in less than half a game was carried from the ground. Hawthorn held a 27 point lead at the main break but the excitement went out of the game with Hudson's departure. Both sides went goal for goal in the second half with the home side prevailing by 29 points by the time the final siren sounded. Despite the win, the loss of Hudson turned out to be too much for Hawthorn who missed out on the finals finishing in 6th place. Melbourne went on to win 10 games after losing the first three and finished two spots behind Hawthorn which it beat in the return game later in the season. Hawthorn 4.3.27 9.4.58 10.10.70 15.14.104 Melbourne 1.3.9 4.7.31 5.11.41 10.15.75 The Team: Backs B. Bourke R. Biffin J. Letcher Half backs F. Davis G. Hardeman A. Sullivan Centreline G. Osborne P. Sinclair S. Alves Half forwards L. Burgmann G. Molloy R. Brewer Forwards F. Dillon R. Carr J. Townsend Followers P. Keenan G. Wells P. Callery 19:20 G. Lakes M. Walker Goals Ray Carr Greg Wells 2 Stan Alves Ross Brewer Paul Callery Ross Dillon Peter Keenan John Townsend. Best Garry Hardeman Stan Alves Tony Sullivan Paul Callery Peter Sinclair Greg Wells The Hawks also won the curtain raiser when their reserves beat the Demons in the reserves by 14.19.103 to 12.7.79. Goals Clennett Parke 3 Ritterman Tilbrook 2 McSpeerin Morgan Best Clennett McSpeerin Kerley Hawthorn made it a clean sweep in the Under 19s winning 20.9.129 to Melbourne 12.19.91. THE SEASON The early optimism was shattered by losses in the opening three games of the season with Footscray and Collingwood prevailing over them after the opening round loss to Hawthorn. There was a breakthrough with a big win over the Swans but, as the season progressed, those early losses and some narrow defeats (2 by one point, one by five and a couple of others thanks to poor kicking at goal) left the team well short of a chance of making the finals. Perhaps the sole consolation was that a win in the return game at the MCG ended up costing the Hawks a finals berth. It was disappointing that although a number of youngsters were blooded (9 first year players), the club went backwards by one position on the ladder in Ridley's second year as coach. They were to slide again the following year and wouldn't see finals action again for another decade and a half by which time every degree of separation had been exhausted although there was a young bloke named Robert coming through the fourths (Under 17s) which won their premiership in the Melbourne Boys League who was about to make his mark at the club. WINS & LOSSES 1. Hawthorn LOSS 2. Footscray LOSS 3. Collingwood LOSS 4. South Melbourne WIN 5. Richmond LOSS 6. Essendon WIN 7. Carlton LOSS 8. Geelong WIN 9. St. Kilda LOSS 10. North Melbourne WIN 11. Fitzroy LOSS 12. Hawthorn WIN 13. Footscray WIN 14. South Melbourne WIN 15. Collingwood LOSS 16. Richmond LOSS 17. Essendon LOSS 18. Carlton LOSS 19. Geelong WIN 20. St. Kilda LOSS 21. North Melbourne WIN 22. Footscray WIN LADDER Carlton 134.3% 74 Pts Richmond 117.7 % 72 Collingwood 133.0% 66 St. Kilda 115.6% 56 Essendon 108.3% 56 ----------------------- Hawthorn 111.1% 52 Footscray 94.7% 44 Melbourne 105.9% 40 Fitzroy 96.8% 36 Geelong 84.2% 28 South Melbourne 65.1% 8 North Melbourne 62.9% 4 BEST & FAIREST Seniors: 1st Stan Alves 2nd Greg Wells 3rd Gary Hardeman 4th Barry Bourke 5th Paul Callery 6th Greg Parke Reserves: 1st Denis Clark 2nd John Gallus Outstanding Service Henry Ritterman Ross Dillon John Cumming Under 19s 1st Frank Giampaolo 2nd Ian McGuinness Outstanding Service Peter Slade Peter Watts Neil McMullin Under 17s 1st Robert Flower 2nd James Ahern Outstanding Service Glen Campbell Guy Moorhouse Best Clubman Ian Kavanagh THE BOTTOM LINE The club made a substantial profit for the first time since 1956 turning a $7,493.80 loss in 1971 into a $8,923.30 profit. A major reason for the profit a finals ground hire payment of close to $44,000.00. LIGHTS OUT The introduction of a final five the night series redundant, leaving Melbourne the last ever champions under that format. ANNUAL REPORT 1972 from the Melbourne Football Club Annual Report ... In presenting the Annual Report for Season 1972, one must record a drop from Seventh to Eighth position on the Premiership ladder, and a decline from 46 Premiership points in '71 to 40 points in '72. Perhaps the charge of failure might be levelled against the team, but this would be most unfair and unjust to a club which suffered many narrow defeats over the season. Although we rarely rose above the middle of the list it was accepted by opponents and critics alike, that we were a side to be respected, and no team approached our matches with over-confidence. The brilliance of our younger players was generally admired, and it was no surprise at the end of the season to find Melbourne players in Greg Wells, Gary Hardeman and Stan Alves polling so well in the Brownlow Medal. To this splendid trio one must include players such as Ray Biffin, Ross Brewer. Paul Callery, Dennis Clark, John Clennett, Wayne Delmenico, Geoff Harold, Peter Keenan, Stephen Kerley, and Peter Williamson who are all young players who must improve, and to have this group backed up with the skill, determination and experience of Frank Davis, Barry Bourke, Ross Dillon, Greg Parke and Tony Sullivan, then we boldly declare that Melbourne will improve its position in 1973 and we have set our eyes on the Final Five and are determined to achieve this position. We are still recruiting widely, both interstate and in pur Country and Local Zones, and we are delighted to have included in our Metro­politan area the City of Chelsea and all clubs contained therein, this will be a most profitable area, as will be the Waranga North Eastern League which has been a new addition to our Country Zoned areas. New players will be encouraged within our limits, and we are certain to produce a much stronger final list in 1973, than we had in '72. On the administrative side the club is very well geared with many sub-committees working to improve our financial position which'has become No. 1 in priority on all V.F.L. Clubs' agenda, and we are very appreciative of the work our members of Committee are doing on the club's behalf, reference is made elsewhere in this report to-these mem­bers, but special mention must again be made of our Senior Coach. Ian Ridley. When Ian.Ridley was appointed as Senior Coach in 1971 he brought with him a new enthusiasm which is burning as brightly as ever, his desire for success has been accepted by the team, who are all very much behind him in every demand he makes. Whilst he has the support of the team, he has more importantly the respect of the Team, and with this attitude, coupled with the skill of the players we will not fail. Backing Ian Ridley we had in 1972, Bernie Massey, former defender, Assistant Coach who had the satisfaction of reaching the Grand Final with his Reserve Eighteen, and Brian Gray was again Coach of our Under 19's, another side to make the Final Five and play in the final series at the M.C.G., whilst yet again Gordon Duff led the Under 17 team to another well won Premiership. Of great assistance to Ian Ridley was Laurie Prosser our Physical Fitness Adviser, and assistance was rendered in our early training running sessions at Caulfield by John Hicks. Ken Carlon was again in charge of Recruiting, ably supported by Bill Deans, Roy McKay, John Osborne and Rick Mollison, with Allan McKay as our Metropolitan Public Relations Officer. The miles that Ken covers in the Country Zones and the hours away from his home, leave us very much in his debt, and we must acknowledge the great work all these gentlemen do in recruiting for us. This year we conducted our Best and Fairest voting in public at the M.C.G. This proved to be an outstanding success, and will be a feature at the conclusion of the 1973 season. After a most interest­ing count Stan Alves was the Winner of our Best and Fairest award, and praise must be given to this great clubman. His play has always been an inspiration to all, and many of our younger players have endeavoured to model their football on Stan's and he could be paid no higher compliment than this, we know that he will continue to thrill us with his great play and his splendid example for many years to come. Our runner-up Best and Fairest players were Gary Hardeman and Greg Wells in that order, Gary Hardeman climaxed a great year's football by travelling overseas with Carlton to play our football in Europe as a member of the All Stars team. Gary's excellence as a player was also evidenced by his selection in this year's Victorian Team he played in the key positions of Centre Half Back and Centre Half Forward and was a star wherever he appeared we are fortunate to have a player of his ability in our side. The same praise can be showered on Greg Wells who was a brilliant and spectacular member of our team, in being voted runner-up to Len Thompson in the Brownlow Medal. Greg Wells confirmed our own Selectors' judgement who placed him as our own Best and Fairest in 1971. Greg has everything that pleases our spectators to our game, a most brilliant player he will star in V.F.L. football for many years to come and is a potential Medallist every year in which he plays. Barry Bourke's effort in finishing fourth in our voting list cannot be over-emphasised, throughout the year Barry had to overcome injury and soreness and week after week excelled in his effort on the Back line, his dependability, courage, and team spirit are an object lesson to all our young players. Trophies for outstanding service were won by Paul Callerv. Tony Sullivan and Greq Parke. Each player gave us great pleasure during the vear. and each in his way means a great deal to the Melbourne Football Club. Paul Callery with his great determination his never say die spirit, Tony Sullivan with his con­sistency, the ability that rarely permits a mistake, his great leadership that commands everybody's respect, and Greg Parke with the amazing skill in marking and his uncanny sense of position play as the team moves around him, spell the qualities that we see in abundance in the team of today. We sincerely believe this team to be the best Melbourne team since 1964, and look forward to the players them­selves confirming this statement. A special reference should be made of the performance of Ray Biffin in 1972. Almost with the beginning of our Season it was found that Ray Biffin had suffered a Hernia, and it was suggested that the operation should be conducted immediately for this annoying occur­rence. However on Ray's request this was deferred until the season had ended, praise must be given to Ray for a most courageous and effective season, when one realises the burden he imposed upon himself in the club's interest one must be loud in praise of his courage and team spirit. Our best First Year player in a very good group was Ross Brewer, who exemplified the skill and ability in our club today, it is quite certain that Ross will develop into a star in V.F.L. football and will represent Melbourne for many years to come. Financially our club had a much better year, aided very much by the draw in the Final series which gave us an additional Final round at the M.C.G. It would appear however that there might be some slowing down of the development at Waverley, and that more money may be diverted to the V.F.L. Clubs who are badly in need of assistance in this direction. The progress that has been made at Waverley is indeed commendable, but it is high time that the clubs which comprise the V.F.L. should be assisted in their efforts to meet the increased payments they will be called upon to meet from our own players. CAPTAIN AND VICE-CAPTAIN Special thanks must be conveyed to Frank Davis and Barry Bourke who again acted as our leaders on the field. Frank by his example and devotion to his team is an ideal Captain, his great courage inspires the younger members of the team, and with Barry Bourke who is equally inspiring in his approach to football we have been very well served in 1972 by these fine young men. We thank them most sincerely. OUR COMMITTEE Dr. Duffy again presided as Chairman of the football club for season 1972. It would have been more pleasant to have reported greater success because of the time and effort that Don Duffy displays in his role as Chairman, but, as mentioned before, we feel that this must surely come in the very near future. Our sub-committees continued to meet regularly two or three times a week in an endeavour to improve our club's position. Our Committee in 1972 comprised the following: Representing M.C.C. Committee: Dr. D. G. Duffy, Messrs. D. Ferguson, J. R. Mitchell, T. C. Trumble. Representing M.C.C. Members: Messrs. K. Carlon, R. S. Geary, F. V. Hughes, A. L. V. King, N. Lockwood, M. McLean, N. J. McMahen, G. W. Patterson. Representing M.F.C. Members: Messrs. G. A. Lenne, J. P. McGrath. Co-opted Official: Mr. G. M. Swan. Representing M.F.C. Reserve XVIII: Mr. R. Miller. During the year, certain changes were made in Committee and we were pleased to grant leave of absence to Dr. D. P. Cordner who left us in April of this year to travel overseas and retired from the Committee at that time. His place was taken by Mr. J. R. Mitchell who was elected as a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club and now represents that Committee. Formerly, he was a representative of Melbourne Cricket Club members. We were also most pleased to welcome Mr. Don Ferguson, the Treasurer of the Melbourne Cricket Club to our Committee representing the M.C.C. Committee and his presence is much appreciated. His interest and guidance on matters financial are of great value and we trust he will remain with us for many years to come. Mr. Mitchell's work as President of the Redlegs is also very well known and his long association with the Melbourne Cricket Club is also very much appreciated. Replacing Mr. Mitchell as a representative of M.C.C. members was Mr. Neil Lockwood who joined our Committee in July. Mr. Lockwood has been most prominent in club affairs and led the W.I.P. Committee which has contributed so much financially to the players in the incentive scheme and we were pleased to welcome him to our Committee. During the year, Mr. J. P. (Shane) McGrath, our former great full back, suffered a most severe illness which kept him from our meetings for some months. However, we are pleased to report that he is back in full health and joined us towards the end of the season. All members of our Committee are truly hard working individuals comprising such men as Ken Carlon, who is in control of recruiting for our club and spends many hours carrying out this most important task. Mr. Reg Geary and Bill Patterson are closely involved with the operation of our Business Committee, and we are very fortunate to have such gentlemen devote so much time and energy to our Club affairs. A football team today needs businessmen as much as it needs players and we thank them for their continued efforts on our behalf. The work that Mr. A. L. King, our League Director, undertakes must once again be praised. Mr. King, a member of Committee since 1938, again controlled our membership ticket—and reserved seat sales, and in the final series, conducted sales of final series tickets. It is to the credit of Mr. King and Mr. Bill Langley that so much praise was heaped upon them by our supporters who were very happy with the manner in which our tickets were distributed and the many oppor­tunities they were given to purchase these tickets. Our office received many letters of thanks and commendation from supporters for the work of these officials on that occasion. When one also considers the fact that Mr. King is our Director at the Victorian Football League and the leading role he occupies with that body, emphasizes our obliga­tion to him. Mr. Bob Miller, acting as Reserve XVIII Chairman and represent­ing that group on our Committee, has shown great confidence in this role and our Reserve XVIII Committee are most pleased with his attention to their requirements. We are very fortunate with the type of person that represents our Committee at the present time. CONGRATULATIONS We were again pleased to report that the Premier of Victoria, The Hon. Sir Henry Bolte, K.C.M.G., again consented to act as our No. 1 ticket holder for season 1972. Sir Henry was most attentive at our matches and was supported at our Pre Season Dinner by Mr. Lindsay Thompson and later, our Federal Treasurer, Mr. Billy Sneddon. Sir Henry has now retired from his high office as Premier of the State of Victoria but we sincerely trust that we shall see him even more fre­quently in Season 1973. Congratulations are extended from the Club on the appointment of Cr. Allan Whalley as Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. Allan is a very keen Melbourne supporter, a former member of Coterie and we are most pleased to learn of his appointment. Our congratulations must also go to the Carlton Football Club and playing coach John Nicholls, for their great performance in win­ing the 1972 V.F.L. Premiership. Their determined and professional approach is one that we envied greatly. However, we are still quite certain that Carlton are a side that we can challenge and look forward to meeting them in 1973. We must also congratulate Richmond on an excellent performance in season 1972 and though disappointed as they undoubtedly were in not winning that vital final match, they have had a most successful season. These remarks can also apply to Collingwood, St. Kilda and Essendon who comprised the Final Five. Congratulations are conveyed to Len Thompson of the Collingwood Football Club for his win in this year's Brownlow Medal. Len Thompson will undoubtedly develop into one of the most brilliant players ever to have played our game and the winning of another medal must surely come to this very great player. Reference has been made earlier to the magnificent voting of the Melbourne Football Club players in the Brownlow Medal. Greg Wells was runner-up to Len Thompson and secured 22 votes. He was closely followed by Gary Hardeman who was equal third with John Williams of Essendon and Stan Alves succeeded in gaining twelve votes. Our players were always at the head of affairs in the public counting of the votes and as a result, a great deal of interest in our club was created. Each of these three players figured high in the various awards that were made through Television and radio and, becoming more established V.F.L. players each year, it is quite possible that we will produce a Brownlow Medal­list in the very near future. Congratulations must go to our interstate representatives in Gary Hardeman and Stan Alves. They were most worthy representatives and represented our Club with great distinction. Stan Alves was selected as a member of the All Australian team and richly deserved this splendid honour. Reference is made elsewhere in this report to his success as Best and Fairest player for 1972. RESERVE EIGHTEEN AND COMMITTEE We have always been fortunate at Melbourne in the strength of our Reserve Eighteen and 1972 has been no exception. The Reserve Eighteen lost a very great administrator with the passing of Ray Read, but gained a fine leader with the appointment of former Melbourne player and now Senior Committee member in Bob Miller. We were all delighted when Bob accepted the Chairmanship of the Reserve Eighteen and he has led this group most capably. The Executive Committee which comprised Messrs. R. Miller, N. Parkhill, W. Rodriquez and E. Massey gave great leadership to the rest of the Reserve Eighteen, with Bill Rodriquez again acting as Secretary, with Noel Parkhill as Reserve Eighteen Manager, and Steve Stevens as Manager of the Under 17's we have a hard working group of officials who serve our club very well indeed. We are most fortunate to have them leading our youngsters and would like to thank them most sincerely. The Best and Fairest winner in the Reserve Eighteen was the hard working and at times quite brilliant player Dennis Clark, he was ably supported by our runner-up best and fairest in the Reserve Eighteen in John Gallus. Great Support to the team throughout the season was given by the other trophy winners in Henry Ritterman, Ross Dillon and John Cumming. The best and Fairest winner in the Under 19's was Frank Giampaolo, whilst our best and fairest winner in the Under 17's was a name to be marked down in the file for the future, player Robert Flower*. FOOTNOTE* The Billboard Magazine # 1 single of 1972 was Roberta Flack's First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Ironically, the club's 1972 annual report gave us our first glimpse of a bespectacled, scrawny youngster in the Under 17 team photograph being the last named player in the above report.

2011: THE YEAR THAT WAS by Whispering Jack Melbourne fans have experienced some tough times since the 50s and 60s and the year now ending will not be remembered fondly by them. In many ways, 2011 was among the most frustrating experienced by those of us who have suffered for so long waiting for the glory of days past to return. Like many before it, season 2011 began amid promise and the expectation of improvement but ended delivering little other than disappointment, although there was a twist in the tail of the season's aftermath that might just deliver some hope for the future. The year was dominated by one issue which CEO Cameron Schwab described as a "black cloud" over the club. Would former number one draft selection Tom Scully take the money and run off to the Greater Western Sydney franchise which was due to open its doors for business in 2012 under veteran coach Kevin Sheedy and heavily funded by the AFL? The rumour mill was buzzing as early as February to the effect that the Giants had already snared the young Demon midfielder for huge coin amid speculation that the AFL was deeply involved and had smoothed the way for the recruiting coup to happen once the season was over. Scully was coaxed into appearing at a press conference in early March at which he gave an assurance that nothing had been decided; he would make up his mind about his future at the end of the season. He said he was not even aware of the extent of any offers that might have made for his services and he maintained the line almost until the moment when he and his family caught a flight to have a look around Sydney on a Sunday morning in early September. The sight of the harbour bridge from a jet circling high above was apparently enough to swing the deal. By mid-afternoon on the same day, he was not only a Giant but spruiking his devotion for the nascent football club. Back in the early days of the saga, Melbourne's ever insightful chairman Jim Stynes was critical of a system that encouraged young players to tell lies to their clubs. This alone should have been enough to arouse suspicions about the club's young midfielder. In any event, Scully's "assurances" did nothing to deter the almost daily speculation over his future until it undoubtedly became a major distraction for the club. Eddie McGuire was adamant on his radio programme before the first ball was bounced in anger saying he knew for a fact that the youngster was on his way north. By mid year, most commentators believed this to be the case. Demon champion David Schwarz announced to his television and radio audiences that he was "98% sure" that Scully had jumped ship and that the evidence at his disposal was compelling. Later revelations including bizarre reports of a job offer made by GWS to Scully's father as early as November, 2010 confirmed in our minds that the lad was indeed, pulling our collective legs all the while. And though most did not begrudge him the money, the apparent deception to the club, his teammates and fans left a bad taste in the mouth. The loss of a promising young player is always a bitter pill to swallow but the fact that many considered two draft picks in the middle of the first round inadequate compensation for a number one selection coupled with Kevin Sheedy's gloating and AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou's compliments to GWS over the coup did nothing to douse suspicions of AFL complicity in a deal many consider to be nothing short of scandalous. The Scully saga was big enough to overshadow the departure of Dean Bailey and the background story of internal rumblings over the position of the CEO even as Melbourne's season unravelled in the wake of a mammoth 186 point defeat at the hands of Geelong at Skilled Stadium on 30 July - a date that might yet assume major significance in the club's history but more of that later. Melbourne faced 2011 with one of the competition's youngest lists following the retirement of James McDonald and the departures of Cameron Bruce and Brad Miller. In the absence of the former, Brad Green whose form in 2010 was close to his best ever, took the captaincy. Despite the youth of the playing list, things began well enough for the club when it successfully negotiated the novelty of two half games in Adelaide for the NAB Cup opening in February. However, something appeared to be amiss when the team played poorly and was overwhelmed for strength in its remaining pre season matches. Still, that was regarded as part of the preliminaries, not to be taken quite seriously, particularly with many good players like All Australian James Frawley, Jordie McKenzie, Scully and others sidelined during the preseason with injuries. The opening game against the Swans was a corker ending in a draw. That was followed by a shocker of a second half against the Hawks when the team was simply overpowered. Then came a close call against the Brisbane Lions which provided the relief of four points at last. A trip north saw the team easily shrug off the new boys on the Gold Coast by 15 goals and things seemed back on track. As often happens, a trip to parts west of the Victorian state border, this time for a clash against the Eagles, was what exposed the team's weakness against exponents of the hard press and confirmed our worst fears from the Hawthorn loss. The reigning wooden spooners simply smashed their visitors whose poor skills and lack of application were visible everywhere on the field. There was nowhere for the Demons to hide. A week later and back at home, Melbourne turned on another Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde performance when it crushed Adelaide by a record 16 goals but it turned out to be a disastrous weekend with two players, Jack Grimes and Jake Spencer (in the VFL) lost for the season, All Australian ruckman Mark Jamar out for several weeks and, as if that wasn't enough, Jack Trengove was outed for three weeks over a controversial sling tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield whose concussion from the incident was not enough to stop him from playing and kicking five goals a matter of only six days later. Melbourne was in a spot of bother. The injury toll kept rising in the coming weeks with the losses of Aaron Davey, Colin Garland and Rohan Bail coming in quick succession as an unsettled team lost to North Melbourne (after holding an early six goal lead) and St. Kilda before its humiliation in the "bruise free" game on a late May Friday night against Carlton. The club's entire season was in danger of being derailed. There were few shining lights in all of this. Brent Moloney was a stand out, particularly after losing his place in the leadership group after an alcohol fuelled night of celebration. Stefan Martin was having a break out season, showing great improvement and manfully filling the void left by the injury toll to the ruck division. Jack Watts was starting to demonstrate some of the promise that made him a number one draft pick and Luke Tapscott was impressive in his debut season but he too succumbed to a bad hamstring injury. On the debit side, many were down on form and confidence including skipper Green on whose shoulders the responsibility of leadership weighed heavily. A great deal of soul searching and an infusion of young players into the midfield saw a turnaround against the Bombers in a game where Trengove, Watts, McKenzie, Jordan Gysberts and Scully, returning from a knee injury for his maiden game of the season, were among their team's best and rookie Dan Nicholson also showed glimpses of promise for the future. The win was the first of three out of four in a midseason patch that returned the club to the top eight. That one defeat was an 88-point smashing at the hands of Collingwood on Queens Birthday, courtesy mainly of a pathetic final quarter but this was blotted out of the memory banks six days later when an undermanned Fremantle capitulated by a single point short of 15 goals. The club's season was taking the trajectory of a roller coaster as the team notched up big wins against lowly opponents but when they met the stronger sides that applied the hard press, they were simply no match. The excuse that it had one of the youngest lists in the competition, that it was tired after four consecutive six day breaks and that there were injuries rang hollow in the face of an insipid performance against the struggling Bulldogs in the Friday night game on the first of July at Etihad. It was to be the start of an horrific month for the club with many questioning the direction of the coaching and whether the team was up to the rigours of the modern game. Suddenly, it was more than just the inability to shake off the bruise free tag - it was a combination of many things that were necessary to be able to compete with the best exponents of the modern game. Skills, fitness, strength, leadership, the ability to pressure opponents, win the hard ball and execute what for want of a better word is often described as a game plan. That is not to say that there was no game plan but rather that it was too complex and precise for this young side and it just didn't work against the bigger, stronger teams in the competition. A bye and an unconvincing win in steamy Darwin over lowly Port Adelaide offered only brief respite. Tellingly, Scully limped off late in that game with what we were told was a recurrence of his knee problem. With one or two exceptions, his ten games for the club in 2011 were quite underwhelming and seemingly devoid of true commitment to the cause. The Demons now had the task of winning three of their final seven matches to make the finals. The last three of those games were eminently winnable and the team's competitors for a berth in the top eight were floundering. They might have been a chance but unfortunately, the effort within the team was not there. In the month to follow, they would have the stuffing knocked out of them. A few days after the Port Adelaide game a brief item appeared in the Herald Sun announcing Collingwood assistant coach Mark Neeld as the favourite with punters to be Melbourne's next coach. The item passed virtually unnoticed but events over the next week or two would give the piece greater significance although its effect would only become evident somewhat further down the track. The following game saw the Hawks inflict a nine goal thrashing against a jaded Demon team that appeared not to have recovered from its trip to the tropics. Then followed a week of questioning and probing. Skipper Green was clearly under pressure when interviewed on television. The media pack was circling. Something was wrong at the club. On the second last day of July, the morning press carried a story on the woes besetting the Melbourne Football Club. A confusing scenario was presented involving player unrest, the prospect of Dean Bailey's reappointment for another year and the imminent sacking of CEO Cameron Schwab. If none of that made sense then the several hours of football that were to follow beggared disbelief. In the curtain raiser, the lowly Cats' reserves thrashed club's VFL affiliate, the Casey Scorpions, a top four contender, by 128 points. Worse was to come when a listless Melbourne outfit barely raised a whimper on its way to the second biggest losing margin in the 115 years of the competition's history. Bailey was sacked the following night. The Board handled the sacking poorly delivering the news by telephone rather than in person. At the ensuing press conference, Bailey was gracious. He dropped the gentlest of hints about fulfilling a brief to aid the club's development that most consider to be synonymous with tanking but that went nowhere because, according to the AFL's official version, the practice does not exist. Todd Viney was appointed interim coach for the rest of the season but it was effectively all over for the Demons. Like a ship foundering on the rocks, the team crashed out for the rest of its year and it barely managed to scrape a home win against the eventual wooden spooner Gold Coast. The final kick in the teeth was delivered at the Adelaide Oval in Round 24 when lowly Port Adelaide, aided and abetted by some bewildering umpiring decisions, broke their own horror run of outs against the hapless Demons who finished the year in 13th place. A few weeks later Brent Moloney won the club championship on a night when the club faithful were introduced to their new coach Mark Neeld. An ailing Jim Stynes surprised with his attendance and inspirational words and therein lay the tale of how the club went a long way to erasing the deep wounds that had cut into it during the latter third of the season. Much of the credit for that could be taken by a man who was unable to attend the best and fairest night due to work commitments at the MCG on Preliminary Final Night. Club legend Jim Stynes was diagnosed with cancer in July, 2009 and has demonstrated enormous resolve and resilience as he battled the disease. That comes as no surprise to those who were fortunate to witness his stellar career which included a then club record of games, a competition record of 244 in succession, a Brownlow Medal and multiple best and fairests - resilience became his middle name and the theme for the way in which he lifted his club out of the mire of debt and returned it to a respectable position in the eyes of the AFL, the MCC and indeed the football community. Despite his illness, he has held on to his position and thanks to the help of his able lieutenants, the club continued to thrive with growing sponsorships, connections to new partnerships including the Chinese market. However, all that was placed at risk with the events of late July 2011. The club had no football director and Stynes had different battles to fight. He sought and gained the support (albeit initially reluctantly) of friend and former teammate and club captain Garry Lyon who was deeply entrenched in his media role. There were critics who scoffed at Lyon's acceptance of the temporary position at the club akin to that of the football director but the former Demon key position player grasped the role, virtually moved into his friend's skin and started to work a minor miracle at the club. The main thrust had to be the reorganisation of the football department and appointment of a new coach but he was also there to impart some stability. Personnel were moved from here to there, others moved out and new appointments were made with a minimum of leakage of information that was once commonplace at the club. The result is there to see and awaits only the imprimatur of on field performance and success. A new coach in Neeld and a bevy of assistants including Neil Craig, leading football fitness and conditioning man David Misson and players recruited for a purpose - to put bigger and stronger bodies on the field. Mitch Clark was the club's first big trading coup in a decade. An interesting mix of players was drafted to the club in November and December. The intensity of a hard, tough pre season was also there to be seen. The black cloud is gone and is not missed at all. The dark days of July/August are gone and there is a feeling that the still young but stronger in body and mind Demons are going to be a lot harder to beat in 2012 and beyond.

2011: THE YEAR THAT WAS by Whispering Jack Melbourne fans have experienced some tough times since the 50s and 60s and the year now ending will not be remembered fondly by them. In many ways, 2011 was among the most frustrating experienced by those of us who have suffered for so long waiting for the glory of days past to return. Like many before it, season 2011 began amid promise and the expectation of improvement but ended delivering little other than disappointment, although there was a twist in the tail of the season's aftermath that might just deliver some hope for the future. The year was dominated by one issue which CEO Cameron Schwab described as a "black cloud" over the club. Would former number one draft selection Tom Scully take the money and run off to the Greater Western Sydney franchise which was due to open its doors for business in 2012 under veteran coach Kevin Sheedy and heavily funded by the AFL? The rumour mill was buzzing as early as February to the effect that the Giants had already snared the young Demon midfielder for huge coin amid speculation that the AFL was deeply involved and had smoothed the way for the recruiting coup to happen once the season was over. Scully was coaxed into appearing at a press conference in early March at which he gave an assurance that nothing had been decided; he would make up his mind about his future at the end of the season. He said he was not even aware of the extent of any offers that might have made for his services and he maintained the line almost until the moment when he and his family caught a flight to have a look around Sydney on a Sunday morning in early September. The sight of the harbour bridge from a jet circling high above was apparently enough to swing the deal. By mid-afternoon on the same day, he was not only a Giant but spruiking his devotion for the nascent football club. Back in the early days of the saga, Melbourne's ever insightful chairman Jim Stynes was critical of a system that encouraged young players to tell lies to their clubs. This alone should have been enough to arouse suspicions about the club's young midfielder. In any event, Scully's "assurances" did nothing to deter the almost daily speculation over his future until it undoubtedly became a major distraction for the club. Eddie McGuire was adamant on his radio programme before the first ball was bounced in anger saying he knew for a fact that the youngster was on his way north. By mid year, most commentators believed this to be the case. Demon champion David Schwarz announced to his television and radio audiences that he was "98% sure" that Scully had jumped ship and that the evidence at his disposal was compelling. Later revelations including bizarre reports of a job offer made by GWS to Scully's father as early as November, 2010 confirmed in our minds that the lad was indeed, pulling our collective legs all the while. And though most did not begrudge him the money, the apparent deception to the club, his teammates and fans left a bad taste in the mouth. The loss of a promising young player is always a bitter pill to swallow but the fact that many considered two draft picks in the middle of the first round inadequate compensation for a number one selection coupled with Kevin Sheedy's gloating and AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou's compliments to GWS over the coup did nothing to douse suspicions of AFL complicity in a deal many consider to be nothing short of scandalous. The Scully saga was big enough to overshadow the departure of Dean Bailey and the background story of internal rumblings over the position of the CEO even as Melbourne's season unravelled in the wake of a mammoth 186 point defeat at the hands of Geelong at Skilled Stadium on 30 July - a date that might yet assume major significance in the club's history but more of that later. Melbourne faced 2011 with one of the competition's youngest lists following the retirement of James McDonald and the departures of Cameron Bruce and Brad Miller. In the absence of the former, Brad Green whose form in 2010 was close to his best ever, took the captaincy. Despite the youth of the playing list, things began well enough for the club when it successfully negotiated the novelty of two half games in Adelaide for the NAB Cup opening in February. However, something appeared to be amiss when the team played poorly and was overwhelmed for strength in its remaining pre season matches. Still, that was regarded as part of the preliminaries, not to be taken quite seriously, particularly with many good players like All Australian James Frawley, Jordie McKenzie, Scully and others sidelined during the preseason with injuries. The opening game against the Swans was a corker ending in a draw. That was followed by a shocker of a second half against the Hawks when the team was simply overpowered. Then came a close call against the Brisbane Lions which provided the relief of four points at last. A trip north saw the team easily shrug off the new boys on the Gold Coast by 15 goals and things seemed back on track. As often happens, a trip to parts west of the Victorian state border, this time for a clash against the Eagles, was what exposed the team's weakness against exponents of the hard press and confirmed our worst fears from the Hawthorn loss. The reigning wooden spooners simply smashed their visitors whose poor skills and lack of application were visible everywhere on the field. There was nowhere for the Demons to hide. A week later and back at home, Melbourne turned on another Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde performance when it crushed Adelaide by a record 16 goals but it turned out to be a disastrous weekend with two players, Jack Grimes and Jake Spencer (in the VFL) lost for the season, All Australian ruckman Mark Jamar out for several weeks and, as if that wasn't enough, Jack Trengove was outed for three weeks over a controversial sling tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield whose concussion from the incident was not enough to stop him from playing and kicking five goals a matter of only six days later. Melbourne was in a spot of bother. The injury toll kept rising in the coming weeks with the losses of Aaron Davey, Colin Garland and Rohan Bail coming in quick succession as an unsettled team lost to North Melbourne (after holding an early six goal lead) and St. Kilda before its humiliation in the "bruise free" game on a late May Friday night against Carlton. The club's entire season was in danger of being derailed. There were few shining lights in all of this. Brent Moloney was a stand out, particularly after losing his place in the leadership group after an alcohol fuelled night of celebration. Stefan Martin was having a break out season, showing great improvement and manfully filling the void left by the injury toll to the ruck division. Jack Watts was starting to demonstrate some of the promise that made him a number one draft pick and Luke Tapscott was impressive in his debut season but he too succumbed to a bad hamstring injury. On the debit side, many were down on form and confidence including skipper Green on whose shoulders the responsibility of leadership weighed heavily. A great deal of soul searching and an infusion of young players into the midfield saw a turnaround against the Bombers in a game where Trengove, Watts, McKenzie, Jordan Gysberts and Scully, returning from a knee injury for his maiden game of the season, were among their team's best and rookie Dan Nicholson also showed glimpses of promise for the future. The win was the first of three out of four in a midseason patch that returned the club to the top eight. That one defeat was an 88-point smashing at the hands of Collingwood on Queens Birthday, courtesy mainly of a pathetic final quarter but this was blotted out of the memory banks six days later when an undermanned Fremantle capitulated by a single point short of 15 goals. The club's season was taking the trajectory of a roller coaster as the team notched up big wins against lowly opponents but when they met the stronger sides that applied the hard press, they were simply no match. The excuse that it had one of the youngest lists in the competition, that it was tired after four consecutive six day breaks and that there were injuries rang hollow in the face of an insipid performance against the struggling Bulldogs in the Friday night game on the first of July at Etihad. It was to be the start of an horrific month for the club with many questioning the direction of the coaching and whether the team was up to the rigours of the modern game. Suddenly, it was more than just the inability to shake off the bruise free tag - it was a combination of many things that were necessary to be able to compete with the best exponents of the modern game. Skills, fitness, strength, leadership, the ability to pressure opponents, win the hard ball and execute what for want of a better word is often described as a game plan. That is not to say that there was no game plan but rather that it was too complex and precise for this young side and it just didn't work against the bigger, stronger teams in the competition. A bye and an unconvincing win in steamy Darwin over lowly Port Adelaide offered only brief respite. Tellingly, Scully limped off late in that game with what we were told was a recurrence of his knee problem. With one or two exceptions, his ten games for the club in 2011 were quite underwhelming and seemingly devoid of true commitment to the cause. The Demons now had the task of winning three of their final seven matches to make the finals. The last three of those games were eminently winnable and the team's competitors for a berth in the top eight were floundering. They might have been a chance but unfortunately, the effort within the team was not there. In the month to follow, they would have the stuffing knocked out of them. A few days after the Port Adelaide game a brief item appeared in the Herald Sun announcing Collingwood assistant coach Mark Neeld as the favourite with punters to be Melbourne's next coach. The item passed virtually unnoticed but events over the next week or two would give the piece greater significance although its effect would only become evident somewhat further down the track. The following game saw the Hawks inflict a nine goal thrashing against a jaded Demon team that appeared not to have recovered from its trip to the tropics. Then followed a week of questioning and probing. Skipper Green was clearly under pressure when interviewed on television. The media pack was circling. Something was wrong at the club. On the second last day of July, the morning press carried a story on the woes besetting the Melbourne Football Club. A confusing scenario was presented involving player unrest, the prospect of Dean Bailey's reappointment for another year and the imminent sacking of CEO Cameron Schwab. If none of that made sense then the several hours of football that were to follow beggared disbelief. In the curtain raiser, the lowly Cats' reserves thrashed club's VFL affiliate, the Casey Scorpions, a top four contender, by 128 points. Worse was to come when a listless Melbourne outfit barely raised a whimper on its way to the second biggest losing margin in the 115 years of the competition's history. Bailey was sacked the following night. The Board handled the sacking poorly delivering the news by telephone rather than in person. At the ensuing press conference, Bailey was gracious. He dropped the gentlest of hints about fulfilling a brief to aid the club's development that most consider to be synonymous with tanking but that went nowhere because, according to the AFL's official version, the practice does not exist. Todd Viney was appointed interim coach for the rest of the season but it was effectively all over for the Demons. Like a ship foundering on the rocks, the team crashed out for the rest of its year and it barely managed to scrape a home win against the eventual wooden spooner Gold Coast. The final kick in the teeth was delivered at the Adelaide Oval in Round 24 when lowly Port Adelaide, aided and abetted by some bewildering umpiring decisions, broke their own horror run of outs against the hapless Demons who finished the year in 13th place. A few weeks later Brent Moloney won the club championship on a night when the club faithful were introduced to their new coach Mark Neeld. An ailing Jim Stynes surprised with his attendance and inspirational words and therein lay the tale of how the club went a long way to erasing the deep wounds that had cut into it during the latter third of the season. Much of the credit for that could be taken by a man who was unable to attend the best and fairest night due to work commitments at the MCG on Preliminary Final Night. Club legend Jim Stynes was diagnosed with cancer in July, 2009 and has demonstrated enormous resolve and resilience as he battled the disease. That comes as no surprise to those who were fortunate to witness his stellar career which included a then club record of games, a competition record of 244 in succession, a Brownlow Medal and multiple best and fairests - resilience became his middle name and the theme for the way in which he lifted his club out of the mire of debt and returned it to a respectable position in the eyes of the AFL, the MCC and indeed the football community. Despite his illness, he has held on to his position and thanks to the help of his able lieutenants, the club continued to thrive with growing sponsorships, connections to new partnerships including the Chinese market. However, all that was placed at risk with the events of late July 2011. The club had no football director and Stynes had different battles to fight. He sought and gained the support (albeit initially reluctantly) of friend and former teammate and club captain Garry Lyon who was deeply entrenched in his media role. There were critics who scoffed at Lyon's acceptance of the temporary position at the club akin to that of the football director but the former Demon key position player grasped the role, virtually moved into his friend's skin and started to work a minor miracle at the club. The main thrust had to be the reorganisation of the football department and appointment of a new coach but he was also there to impart some stability. Personnel were moved from here to there, others moved out and new appointments were made with a minimum of leakage of information that was once commonplace at the club. The result is there to see and awaits only the imprimatur of on field performance and success. A new coach in Neeld and a bevy of assistants including Neil Craig, leading football fitness and conditioning man David Misson and players recruited for a purpose - to put bigger and stronger bodies on the field. Mitch Clark was the club's first big trading coup in a decade. An interesting mix of players was drafted to the club in November and December. The intensity of a hard, tough pre season was also there to be seen. The black cloud is gone and is not missed at all. The dark days of July/August are gone and there is a feeling that the still young but stronger in body and mind Demons are going to be a lot harder to beat in 2012 and beyond.

THE ORACLE'S FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR 2012 ... AND BEYOND by The Oracle Most people would find it difficult to understand the frustrations of the modern day oracle. It was easy back in the days of classical antiquity when we commanded and received respect from all quarters. After all, in places like Delphi, where my forefather s opened up shop many centuries ago, we oracles were considered to be divine forms - sources of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. Unfortunately, modernity has made things tough for the profession. In these days of high technology and whiz bang innovation, people like me have been shunted aside and left for dead. Nobody even consults me for a long range weather report any more. The only piece of technology I have at my disposal is Stella, my crystal ball but she took a beating during the last drought and is now out of her 500 year warranty period. It's hard enough getting any snow inside that glass casing let alone a decent prediction for the future. Still, my family is known for its centuries-old tradition of fearlessness, accuracy and foresight and I suppose that's why Demonland picked me out to make some predictions on how the 2012 AFL season will pan out. What follows is my final eight at the end of the home and away season plus other insights into the season to come. Final eight predictions are always fraught with danger. Every year, at least one team that everyone expects to do well falls into a screaming heap and every year, everything falls into place for an unfancied team which emerges from the ruck and surprises everyone. The 2011 versions respectively were the Western Bulldogs who, after three consecutive preliminary final appearances, never looked like making it and the West Coast Eagles who went from wooden spooner all the way to the top four. My top eight before the finals for 2012 is:- 1. Hawthorn - Clarkson is a real thinking man's coach who is always on top of the latest developments in tactics and strategy and he has the star players in ample quantities. He won them a flag before their time in 2008 and is poised to do it again, especially now that he no longer has the annoying distraction of Jeff Kennett constantly mouthing off at anything and everything despite having once promised to keep a low profile. 2. Collingwood - I might have made mention of this fact before but I don't like the bastards. My grandfather was at the meeting of the various clubs back at the end of 1896 when they decided to break away from the VFA to form the VFL (now AFL) and he urged them not to allow the riff raff into the competition. The idiots not only ignored him but they allowed Carlton in as well. What an ungracious lot they were! Anyhow, I still don't know how Collingwood managed to not win the 2011 premiership. They have now had the stuffing knocked out of them mentally and the departure of Malthouse and half the coaching staff won't help. Unfortunately, they still have a strong list and should make the grand final by default and then make our day by doing what they do best. Lose grand finals. 3. Geelong - the Cats got away with a flag after losing arguably the best player in the competition in Garry Ablett Jr. and they truly deserved to win it. However, it's going to be so much tougher in 2012 without the likes of Ling, Ottens and a number of other stalwarts. They will continue to be well coached but I wonder about whether there will be the same hunger in the belly after winning three flags in five years. 4. Fremantle - the Dockers got ruthless after what they perceived was a year of failure and unceremoniously dumped Mark Harvey as coach even though the poor bloke was working with half a squad for most of the season. The replacement coach Ross Lyon is on a good quid and if he imparts his dour game plan on the team, should have them as contenders because he basically has a good list. Never mind that most of the football public will be bored shitless with their style of play and the rest of the country will be petitioning to have WA removed from the Commonwealth of Australia, the purple haze will amaze in 2012. 5. Sydney - the Swans are brilliant at recycling other clubs' cast offs and turning them into silk purses. I can see Mitch Morton winning their goalkicking and Tommy Walsh becoming the next Irish sensation after barely causing a ripple at St. Kilda. The Swans are a resolute mob and they usually box well over their weight limit. I believe that even the lad they had doing work experience this year scored a date with Jennifer Hawkins. 6. West Coast - I had the Eagles down as one of my big improvers for 2010 but later discovered that, due to a software malfunction, Stella misjudged that by 12 months. I suffered the embarrassment of their wooden spoon when I should have been taking the credit for predicting their revival in 2011. I won't make the same mistake this time. 7. Carlton - it mostly rests on Chris Judd's shoulders. More particularly, the bung one that was operated on recently. Judd has managed to carve a magnificent career despite having problems in that area in his youth but they are more difficult to deal with later in your career. I think the Blues had their big chance for a top four finish in 2011 but blew it. I don't think they have the right material and depth to make it if there are any doubts on Judd's fitness. 8. Melbourne - there are more new brooms at the Demons than in Mitchell's Broom Factory. The complete overhaul and a new direction in coaching will do it as far as I'm concerned. As for the rest, I'm not impressed. St. Kilda is due for a fall. North and Richmond will be gallant and most of the others have no hope. We'll see a glimmer of improvement from the Suns while the Giants will prove as disastrously pathetic as we all imagine a product of Demetriou's flawed planning can be - and I expect that it will be so for some time. Brownlow Medal - Colin Sylvia's true destiny is to win one of these. I know he's going to miss out on an easy three votes by virtue of a club induced suspension for the first round but Judd missed the first three in 2010 and brought home the Charlie home. Coleman Medal - Buddy. With the Hawks at the top of their game and firing, nobody will come near him. Season Highlight - Sheedy sacked after three consecutive weeks of GWS suffering 200 point plus hidings. Demetriou's comment following the sacking: "It was a moment of inspired brilliance". Season Lowlight - the Giants, under new coach Mark Williams, losing in round 13 by a record margin of 250 points. The AFL awarding a NAB Rising Star nomination to a GWS player who had three kicks and one handball during that same game after which they awarded the four points to the Giants as well for the sake of it, citing an interpretation of the Wills Act 1958. Demetriou's comment following the decisions: "All of the clubs knew the rule was there". Good News Story of 2012 - Jimmy makes a complete recovery to full health. See you all in the future!

THE ORACLE'S FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR 2012 ... AND BEYOND by The Oracle Most people would find it difficult to understand the frustrations of the modern day oracle. It was easy back in the days of classical antiquity when we commanded and received respect from all quarters. After all, in places like Delphi, where my forefather s opened up shop many centuries ago, we oracles were considered to be divine forms - sources of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. Unfortunately, modernity has made things tough for the profession. In these days of high technology and whiz bang innovation, people like me have been shunted aside and left for dead. Nobody even consults me for a long range weather report any more. The only piece of technology I have at my disposal is Stella, my crystal ball but she took a beating during the last drought and is now out of her 500 year warranty period. It's hard enough getting any snow inside that glass casing let alone a decent prediction for the future. Still, my family is known for its centuries-old tradition of fearlessness, accuracy and foresight and I suppose that's why Demonland picked me out to make some predictions on how the 2012 AFL season will pan out. What follows is my final eight at the end of the home and away season plus other insights into the season to come. Final eight predictions are always fraught with danger. Every year, at least one team that everyone expects to do well falls into a screaming heap and every year, everything falls into place for an unfancied team which emerges from the ruck and surprises everyone. The 2011 versions respectively were the Western Bulldogs who, after three consecutive preliminary final appearances, never looked like making it and the West Coast Eagles who went from wooden spooner all the way to the top four. My top eight before the finals for 2012 is:- 1. Hawthorn - Clarkson is a real thinking man's coach who is always on top of the latest developments in tactics and strategy and he has the star players in ample quantities. He won them a flag before their time in 2008 and is poised to do it again, especially now that he no longer has the annoying distraction of Jeff Kennett constantly mouthing off at anything and everything despite having once promised to keep a low profile. 2. Collingwood - I might have made mention of this fact before but I don't like the bastards. My grandfather was at the meeting of the various clubs back at the end of 1896 when they decided to break away from the VFA to form the VFL (now AFL) and he urged them not to allow the riff raff into the competition. The idiots not only ignored him but they allowed Carlton in as well. What an ungracious lot they were! Anyhow, I still don't know how Collingwood managed to not win the 2011 premiership. They have now had the stuffing knocked out of them mentally and the departure of Malthouse and half the coaching staff won't help. Unfortunately, they still have a strong list and should make the grand final by default and then make our day by doing what they do best. Lose grand finals. 3. Geelong - the Cats got away with a flag after losing arguably the best player in the competition in Garry Ablett Jr. and they truly deserved to win it. However, it's going to be so much tougher in 2012 without the likes of Ling, Ottens and a number of other stalwarts. They will continue to be well coached but I wonder about whether there will be the same hunger in the belly after winning three flags in five years. 4. Fremantle - the Dockers got ruthless after what they perceived was a year of failure and unceremoniously dumped Mark Harvey as coach even though the poor bloke was working with half a squad for most of the season. The replacement coach Ross Lyon is on a good quid and if he imparts his dour game plan on the team, should have them as contenders because he basically has a good list. Never mind that most of the football public will be bored shitless with their style of play and the rest of the country will be petitioning to have WA removed from the Commonwealth of Australia, the purple haze will amaze in 2012. 5. Sydney - the Swans are brilliant at recycling other clubs' cast offs and turning them into silk purses. I can see Mitch Morton winning their goalkicking and Tommy Walsh becoming the next Irish sensation after barely causing a ripple at St. Kilda. The Swans are a resolute mob and they usually box well over their weight limit. I believe that even the lad they had doing work experience this year scored a date with Jennifer Hawkins. 6. West Coast - I had the Eagles down as one of my big improvers for 2010 but later discovered that, due to a software malfunction, Stella misjudged that by 12 months. I suffered the embarrassment of their wooden spoon when I should have been taking the credit for predicting their revival in 2011. I won't make the same mistake this time. 7. Carlton - it mostly rests on Chris Judd's shoulders. More particularly, the bung one that was operated on recently. Judd has managed to carve a magnificent career despite having problems in that area in his youth but they are more difficult to deal with later in your career. I think the Blues had their big chance for a top four finish in 2011 but blew it. I don't think they have the right material and depth to make it if there are any doubts on Judd's fitness. 8. Melbourne - there are more new brooms at the Demons than in Mitchell's Broom Factory. The complete overhaul and a new direction in coaching will do it as far as I'm concerned. As for the rest, I'm not impressed. St. Kilda is due for a fall. North and Richmond will be gallant and most of the others have no hope. We'll see a glimmer of improvement from the Suns while the Giants will prove as disastrously pathetic as we all imagine a product of Demetriou's flawed planning can be - and I expect that it will be so for some time. Brownlow Medal - Colin Sylvia's true destiny is to win one of these. I know he's going to miss out on an easy three votes by virtue of a club induced suspension for the first round but Judd missed the first three in 2010 and brought home the Charlie home. Coleman Medal - Buddy. With the Hawks at the top of their game and firing, nobody will come near him. Season Highlight - Sheedy sacked after three consecutive weeks of GWS suffering 200 point plus hidings. Demetriou's comment following the sacking: "It was a moment of inspired brilliance". Season Lowlight - the Giants, under new coach Mark Williams, losing in round 13 by a record margin of 250 points. The AFL awarding a NAB Rising Star nomination to a GWS player who had three kicks and one handball during that same game after which they awarded the four points to the Giants as well for the sake of it, citing an interpretation of the Wills Act 1958. Demetriou's comment following the decisions: "All of the clubs knew the rule was there". Good News Story of 2012 - Jimmy makes a complete recovery to full health. See you all in the future!

Boxing Day 2011 - it's hard to believe that seven years ago hundreds of thousands of people from across the rim of the Indian Ocean, some Australians and one of them our very dear Troy Broadbridge, lost their lives as a result of earthquakes and the tsunami that followed. Boxing Day 2011 is a day on which we reflect and remember Troy and all the victims of this tragedy. Your tributes are invited tonight, tomorrow and in fact, at any time. Troy Broadbridge: No. 20 Born: 5 October 1980 Recruited from Port Adelaide Magpies (SANFL) Died: 26 December 2004, Thailand Playing Career: Debut Round 8, May 20, 2001, Melbourne vs. Essendon, at Melbourne Cricket Ground Team: Melbourne (2001-2004) 40 games, 2 goals Melbourne Most Improved Player 2001 Sandringham Premiership Team 2000 & 2004

Best wishes to all from the Demonland crew.

CHANGES 2011 - BIGGER AND BETTER? by The Oracle The theme of "change" is probably more descriptive of what has happened at Melbourne over the past few months this year than at any time over the past decade. As the club's national recruiting manager Barry Prendergast said after the rookie draft, "a change in coaching staff also altered the recruiting department’s focus entering this year’s drafting period." -Dees change tack at Rookie Draft Prendergast was very clear in saying the change in focus was “probably more coach driven in terms of players to complement the specific role of the game plan.” And so ends the phase in the club's recruiting where the emphasis has been almost solely on the drafting of youth and long term development. Those things will not be pushed completely aside, but rather, the emphasis will be more on rewards for performance rather than just on promotion of youth. This was also different rookie draft in the wake of the advent of the new franchises and the introduction a few years back of the mature age rookie and the success of players like Michael Barlow and James Podsiadly. Whereas in previous rookie drafts the majority of the players taken were leftover teenagers from the national draft, only 18 players in this rookie draft came from the TAC Cup, 16 from AFL clubs, 10 from the VFL, nine from the SANFL and eight from the WAFL. The rest were from exotic places like remote parts of central Australia or players from other sports including an Olympic steeplechase hopeful. The new phenomenon of taking more mature players with more mature bodies is not new and not confined to Melbourne. The Demons did select an 18 year old - tall forward prospect Jai Sheahan. They also unearthed 21 year old power forward Leigh Williams from Norwood EFL who missed out on the TAC Cup pathway due to injury. The two others selected in the draft were VFL midfielders Tom Couch and James Magner. The Herald Sun provided these pen pictures of the club's draftees in the rookie draft:- And that completes the trading and drafting process for 2011. The Melbourne Football Club's playing lists for 2012 will be as follows:- PRIMARY LIST: Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Mitch Clark Lucas Cook Aaron Davey Troy Davis Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland Max Gawn Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Jeremy Howe Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Stefan Martin Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers James Sellar Jake Spencer James Strauss Colin Sylvia Rory Taggert Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove Josh Tynan Jack Watts VETERAN LIST: Brad Green ROOKIE LIST: Tom Couch Michael Evans Kelvin Lawrence James Magner Dan Nicholson Jai Sheahan Leigh Williams

CHANGES 2011 - BIGGER AND BETTER? by The Oracle The theme of "change" is probably more descriptive of what has happened at Melbourne over the past few months this year than at any time over the past decade. As the club's national recruiting manager Barry Prendergast said after the rookie draft, "a change in coaching staff also altered the recruiting department’s focus entering this year’s drafting period." -Dees change tack at Rookie Draft Prendergast was very clear in saying the change in focus was “probably more coach driven in terms of players to complement the specific role of the game plan.” And so ends the phase in the club's recruiting where the emphasis has been almost solely on the drafting of youth and long term development. Those things will not be pushed completely aside, but rather, the emphasis will be more on rewards for performance rather than just on promotion of youth. This was also different rookie draft in the wake of the advent of the new franchises and the introduction a few years back of the mature age rookie and the success of players like Michael Barlow and James Podsiadly. Whereas in previous rookie drafts the majority of the players taken were leftover teenagers from the national draft, only 18 players in this rookie draft came from the TAC Cup, 16 from AFL clubs, 10 from the VFL, nine from the SANFL and eight from the WAFL. The rest were from exotic places like remote parts of central Australia or players from other sports including an Olympic steeplechase hopeful. The new phenomenon of taking more mature players with more mature bodies is not new and not confined to Melbourne. The Demons did select an 18 year old - tall forward prospect Jai Sheahan. They also unearthed 21 year old power forward Leigh Williams from Norwood EFL who missed out on the TAC Cup pathway due to injury. The two others selected in the draft were VFL midfielders Tom Couch and James Magner. The Herald Sun provided these pen pictures of the club's draftees in the rookie draft:- And that completes the trading and drafting process for 2011. The Melbourne Football Club's playing lists for 2012 will be as follows:- PRIMARY LIST: Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Mitch Clark Lucas Cook Aaron Davey Troy Davis Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland Max Gawn Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Jeremy Howe Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Stefan Martin Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers James Sellar Jake Spencer James Strauss Colin Sylvia Rory Taggert Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove Josh Tynan Jack Watts VETERAN LIST: Brad Green ROOKIE LIST: Tom Couch Michael Evans Kelvin Lawrence James Magner Dan Nicholson Jai Sheahan Leigh Williams

Done.

Leigh Williams

James Magner

Tom Couch.

Jai Sheahan

MIDNIGHT AT THE LAST CHANCE SALOON by the Oracle The last big football event of the calendar year is the AFL's Rookie Draft which is very close to being the game's last chance saloon. For many aspiring AFL players and a small group of those who were previously on lists but have, for one reason or another been cast off them, this is the final desperate chance to find a home and possible redemption at the elite level of the game. The last roll of the dice. Since the inception of the Rookie Draft in 1997 there have been many rookies chosen, some of who have gone on to have successful careers while most have languished in the reserves and VFL teams only to vanish back into local suburban competitions or into retirement and anonymity. Certainly, the early rookie drafts were very much hit and miss but there were some very good hits there. The first rookie ever selected was Jason Dylan who was taken by Port Adelaide. Unlike his more famous namesake, he couldn't produce a single hit and he bowed out of the game without playing even one AFL game. Melbourne struck a bonanza with its selections in that initial year. It took Nathan Bassett of SANFL club Norwood at number three and he turned into a star player who finished up with 210 games under his belt. Problem was that none of them were with the Demons. After showing some good form here in the reserves, Bassett was uplifted to the senior list but a broken sternum ended his season and he was traded back home to Adelaide, where he later staked his claim to fame. But the club still managed to strike gold in the 1997 Rookie Draft. Daniel Ward was snapped up from the now defunct Fitzroy reserves and he played 136 games. The Demons also picked up a handy defender in Matthew Bishop (later traded to Port Adelaide), Russell Robertson (228 games), and a real gem in James McDonald at number 78 (251 games and still going in the badlands of Western Sydney). That was an excellent debut piece of rookie drafting and a forerunner for some successful recruiting by the club. Of course, other clubs have also fared well out of the Rookie Draft over the years but the only name players coming out of the 90 possible selections in the draft of 1997 were Mal Michael who began his career at Collingwood, Mark Johnson an eventual 200 gamer at Essendon and Gary Moorcroft who started with the Bombers but also had a brief stint with the Demons. Others who were picked as rookies and made it beyond the last chance saloon into football greatness include Dean Cox, Aaron Sandilands, Brett Kirk, Matthew Boyd, Ben Rutten, Nathan Bock, Brad Sewell, Stephen Milne, Tadhg Kennelly, Harry O'Brien and Nick Maxwell. There have been a host of others. Melbourne's rookie history has also continued to produce some real gems as well as some of those handy "others". The club had first pick in the 1998 Rookie Draft and chose Luke Williams from Oakleigh Chargers who worked his way to 51 games from 1999 to 2005. Peter Walsh (139 games) and Tasmanian Ben Beams also came out of that draft. Jordie McKenzie was the club's other number one pick (2009 Rookie Draft) and, on current indications, could become one of Melbourne's best ever rookie picks. The highlight selections beyond 1997 have been:- 1998 - the late Troy Broadbridge (40 games) was picked at number 12. 2001 - Darren Jolly was taken at pick 31 but due to limited chances in the ruck behind Jeff White, he was traded to the Swans where he played in their 2005 premiership team before heading off to Collingwood and another flag in 2010. 2002 - Mark Jamar, now the club's number one ruckman and All Australian last year. 2003 - Nathan Carroll played a few handy games in defence but his bad boy image eventually took its toll. 2004 - Aaron Davey snapped up at number three and now a leader at the club. 2005 - the Demons picked Sandringham's Matthew Warnock who had a couple of good seasons in defence but more lately struggled to hold a place in the team and was recently traded to Gold Coast. 2008 - Austin Wonaeamirri and Jake Spencer were taken with picks 19 and 35 respectively. Shane Valenti (49) had a brief stint at the club but was delisted and has since won successive J.J. Liston medals at Port Melbourne. 2009 - Jordie McKenzie picked at number one. 2011 - Dan Nicholson and Michael Evans have already started to make their marks at AFL level and Kelvin Lawrence is a promising young speedster who could fit the bill as a crumbing forward. In recent years the AFL expanded the Rookie Draft eligibility rules to include mature age rookies and the instant success of Michael Barlow (Fremantle) and James Podsiadly (Geelong) has revived the interests of club scouts in this new area of recruiting. Tuesday's Rookie Draft has inspired plenty of interest from the football world for a number of reasons. Names such as Fevola and Lovett appear to be off limits (even in the last chance saloon) while others with exotic names like Clutterbuck and Papertalk and those from remote parts like Zyrus Waynlen Manson have captured our collective imaginations. We'll know more in a few days but, in the meantime, here are my top four Demon Rookies of all time:- 1. James "Junior" McDonald - a great story. Two of his brothers Alex (#1 in the 1988 National Draft and Anthony (who eventually ended up a Demon) played AFL but James looked a doubtful starter when he was struck with chronic fatigue syndrome in 1995 while playing for Old Xaverians in the VAFA. He came under the notice of the Demons but was lucky to be drafted in the first ever Rookie Draft when taken at number 78. Whispering Jack paid tribute to Junior in Salute to an accidental hero and tells the story of Junior's selection as told to him by a former MFC Board Member, Mick Coglin. McDonald overcame a knee reconstruction which caused him to miss the 2000 Grand Final to become an All Australian (2006), a dual best and fairest winner (2006, 2007) and club captain before his "retirement" at the end of 2010. The story goes that he wanted to continue when the football department decided to "pull the pin" and, after spending this year back in the amateurs, he recently became the oldest player ever drafted (at age 35) when selected by Greater Western Sydney in the National Draft. He will also be an assistant coach at the Giants. 2. Aaron Davey. Despite injuries and a slump in form in 2011, the Flash remains one of the club's most inspired rookie draft selections. He's working his way back to fitness during the current pre season and all at Melbourne are looking forward to a return to his best and fairest winning form of 2009 that also saw him elevated to the leadership group. Davey was an immediate success after being drafted as a rookie. He was promoted off the rookie list early and debuted in round 1, 2004 taking the football world by storm with his explosive pace that enabled him to run down opponents, win the ball and kick exciting goals. He was runner up in the Rising Star Award to teammate Jared Rivers in his debut season and, despite some nagging injuries continued to develop his game over the ensuing years when he successfully filled a number of roles in midfield and defence where his accurate penetrating kicking has been a highlight. He has also played an important role as mentor to other indigenous players at the club and for the general Aboriginal community. Demon fans look forward to an Aaron Davey, free from injury, playing a major role in his team's rise under the new coaching regime from 2012 onwards. 3eq - Mark Jamar. The big "Russian" (whose ancestry is actually Dutch) spent many years in the shadows of Jeff White and Darren Jolly learning the ruck trade in the VFL while earning the odd game with the Demons as an understudy. When the time came for him to take the number one ruck mantle, a foot injury held him back a year or two but he spent that time studying the best and was rewarded with a stellar 2010 and All Australian honours winning 643 hit outs for the year (second only to Sandilands). Jamar had some injury problems this year but should be back in business leading Melbourne's strong ruck line up in 2012. 3eq - Russell Robertson. I wasn't sure whether to include Robbo in this category because he was really recruited through the 1996 National Draft where he was taken from the Tassie Mariners Under 18s at number 68. However, not long after that, he was delisted before getting a chance to play a game. He was rookied at number 48 just months after he was originally drafted. The high flying forward soon established a place for himself in the forward line kicking goals and doing lots of things in his own spectacular fashion. He finished with 228 games and 418 goals in a 13 season career (1997–2009), was club leading goalkicker in 2001, 2005 and 2007 and won the "Bluey" Truscott Medal for best and fairest in 2003. Robbo was a player with flair who was often criticised for not putting enough pressure on opponents but he always managed to kick the big goals and celebrate them well. He was a showman, a male model and even a musician who combined with celebrated singer Kate Ceberano as contestants on the television show It Takes Two. They finished runners up. I had to include Robbo in my top four rookies because he really does conjure up the picture in my mind of the desperado in a Wild West town with tumbleweeds blowing in the wind approaching the Last Chance Saloon and seeking redemption there. Who knows what Tuesday will bring for the many hopefuls who have put their hands up for places on the various AFL lists?

MIDNIGHT AT THE LAST CHANCE SALOON by the Oracle The last big football event of the calendar year is the AFL's Rookie Draft which is very close to being the game's last chance saloon. For many aspiring AFL players and a small group of those who were previously on lists but have, for one reason or another been cast off them, this is the final desperate chance to find a home and possible redemption at the elite level of the game. The last roll of the dice. Since the inception of the Rookie Draft in 1997 there have been many rookies chosen, some of who have gone on to have successful careers while most have languished in the reserves and VFL teams only to vanish back into local suburban competitions or into retirement and anonymity. Certainly, the early rookie drafts were very much hit and miss but there were some very good hits there. The first rookie ever selected was Jason Dylan who was taken by Port Adelaide. Unlike his more famous namesake, he couldn't produce a single hit and he bowed out of the game without playing even one AFL game. Melbourne struck a bonanza with its selections in that initial year. It took Nathan Bassett of SANFL club Norwood at number three and he turned into a star player who finished up with 210 games under his belt. Problem was that none of them were with the Demons. After showing some good form here in the reserves, Bassett was uplifted to the senior list but a broken sternum ended his season and he was traded back home to Adelaide, where he later staked his claim to fame. But the club still managed to strike gold in the 1997 Rookie Draft. Daniel Ward was snapped up from the now defunct Fitzroy reserves and he played 136 games. The Demons also picked up a handy defender in Matthew Bishop (later traded to Port Adelaide), Russell Robertson (228 games), and a real gem in James McDonald at number 78 (251 games and still going in the badlands of Western Sydney). That was an excellent debut piece of rookie drafting and a forerunner for some successful recruiting by the club. Of course, other clubs have also fared well out of the Rookie Draft over the years but the only name players coming out of the 90 possible selections in the draft of 1997 were Mal Michael who began his career at Collingwood, Mark Johnson an eventual 200 gamer at Essendon and Gary Moorcroft who started with the Bombers but also had a brief stint with the Demons. Others who were picked as rookies and made it beyond the last chance saloon into football greatness include Dean Cox, Aaron Sandilands, Brett Kirk, Matthew Boyd, Ben Rutten, Nathan Bock, Brad Sewell, Stephen Milne, Tadhg Kennelly, Harry O'Brien and Nick Maxwell. There have been a host of others. Melbourne's rookie history has also continued to produce some real gems as well as some of those handy "others". The club had first pick in the 1998 Rookie Draft and chose Luke Williams from Oakleigh Chargers who worked his way to 51 games from 1999 to 2005. Peter Walsh (139 games) and Tasmanian Ben Beams also came out of that draft. Jordie McKenzie was the club's other number one pick (2009 Rookie Draft) and, on current indications, could become one of Melbourne's best ever rookie picks. The highlight selections beyond 1997 have been:- 1998 - the late Troy Broadbridge (40 games) was picked at number 12. 2001 - Darren Jolly was taken at pick 31 but due to limited chances in the ruck behind Jeff White, he was traded to the Swans where he played in their 2005 premiership team before heading off to Collingwood and another flag in 2010. 2002 - Mark Jamar, now the club's number one ruckman and All Australian last year. 2003 - Nathan Carroll played a few handy games in defence but his bad boy image eventually took its toll. 2004 - Aaron Davey snapped up at number three and now a leader at the club. 2005 - the Demons picked Sandringham's Matthew Warnock who had a couple of good seasons in defence but more lately struggled to hold a place in the team and was recently traded to Gold Coast. 2008 - Austin Wonaeamirri and Jake Spencer were taken with picks 19 and 35 respectively. Shane Valenti (49) had a brief stint at the club but was delisted and has since won successive J.J. Liston medals at Port Melbourne. 2009 - Jordie McKenzie picked at number one. 2011 - Dan Nicholson and Michael Evans have already started to make their marks at AFL level and Kelvin Lawrence is a promising young speedster who could fit the bill as a crumbing forward. In recent years the AFL expanded the Rookie Draft eligibility rules to include mature age rookies and the instant success of Michael Barlow (Fremantle) and James Podsiadly (Geelong) has revived the interests of club scouts in this new area of recruiting. Tuesday's Rookie Draft has inspired plenty of interest from the football world for a number of reasons. Names such as Fevola and Lovett appear to be off limits (even in the last chance saloon) while others with exotic names like Clutterbuck and Papertalk and those from remote parts like Zyrus Waynlen Manson have captured our collective imaginations. We'll know more in a few days but, in the meantime, here are my top four Demon Rookies of all time:- 1. James "Junior" McDonald - a great story. Two of his brothers Alex (#1 in the 1988 National Draft and Anthony (who eventually ended up a Demon) played AFL but James looked a doubtful starter when he was struck with chronic fatigue syndrome in 1995 while playing for Old Xaverians in the VAFA. He came under the notice of the Demons but was lucky to be drafted in the first ever Rookie Draft when taken at number 78. Whispering Jack paid tribute to Junior in Salute to an accidental hero and tells the story of Junior's selection as told to him by a former MFC Board Member, Mick Coglin. McDonald overcame a knee reconstruction which caused him to miss the 2000 Grand Final to become an All Australian (2006), a dual best and fairest winner (2006, 2007) and club captain before his "retirement" at the end of 2010. The story goes that he wanted to continue when the football department decided to "pull the pin" and, after spending this year back in the amateurs, he recently became the oldest player ever drafted (at age 35) when selected by Greater Western Sydney in the National Draft. He will also be an assistant coach at the Giants. 2. Aaron Davey. Despite injuries and a slump in form in 2011, the Flash remains one of the club's most inspired rookie draft selections. He's working his way back to fitness during the current pre season and all at Melbourne are looking forward to a return to his best and fairest winning form of 2009 that also saw him elevated to the leadership group. Davey was an immediate success after being drafted as a rookie. He was promoted off the rookie list early and debuted in round 1, 2004 taking the football world by storm with his explosive pace that enabled him to run down opponents, win the ball and kick exciting goals. He was runner up in the Rising Star Award to teammate Jared Rivers in his debut season and, despite some nagging injuries continued to develop his game over the ensuing years when he successfully filled a number of roles in midfield and defence where his accurate penetrating kicking has been a highlight. He has also played an important role as mentor to other indigenous players at the club and for the general Aboriginal community. Demon fans look forward to an Aaron Davey, free from injury, playing a major role in his team's rise under the new coaching regime from 2012 onwards. 3eq - Mark Jamar. The big "Russian" (whose ancestry is actually Dutch) spent many years in the shadows of Jeff White and Darren Jolly learning the ruck trade in the VFL while earning the odd game with the Demons as an understudy. When the time came for him to take the number one ruck mantle, a foot injury held him back a year or two but he spent that time studying the best and was rewarded with a stellar 2010 and All Australian honours winning 643 hit outs for the year (second only to Sandilands). Jamar had some injury problems this year but should be back in business leading Melbourne's strong ruck line up in 2012. 3eq - Russell Robertson. I wasn't sure whether to include Robbo in this category because he was really recruited through the 1996 National Draft where he was taken from the Tassie Mariners Under 18s at number 68. However, not long after that, he was delisted before getting a chance to play a game. He was rookied at number 48 just months after he was originally drafted. The high flying forward soon established a place for himself in the forward line kicking goals and doing lots of things in his own spectacular fashion. He finished with 228 games and 418 goals in a 13 season career (1997–2009), was club leading goalkicker in 2001, 2005 and 2007 and won the "Bluey" Truscott Medal for best and fairest in 2003. Robbo was a player with flair who was often criticised for not putting enough pressure on opponents but he always managed to kick the big goals and celebrate them well. He was a showman, a male model and even a musician who combined with celebrated singer Kate Ceberano as contestants on the television show It Takes Two. They finished runners up. I had to include Robbo in my top four rookies because he really does conjure up the picture in my mind of the desperado in a Wild West town with tumbleweeds blowing in the wind approaching the Last Chance Saloon and seeking redemption there. Who knows what Tuesday will bring for the many hopefuls who have put their hands up for places on the various AFL lists?

Tomorrow morning, could you please check whether someone's slipped any vodka into the water cooler. Theoretically, I suppose we could pay over the odds for a rookie and we could upgrade him and play him first up but is it consistent with the club's policies to draft a player in his 30s who might have a year or two left in him and to use that player at the expense of someone younger coming through the ranks? It would have to be a long shot IMO.

OK folks. Everybody's made their point and it's been an instructive debate. Please let's keep the discussion here to the subject of the thread. Mr. Waylen Manson.