Demonland

HOME TO ROOST by the Oracle I spent the better part of yesterday morning lying around the swimming pool of an AFL club recruiting officer. My problem was that I was blindfolded, bound, gagged and chained to a deckchair, but I my assailants meant me no harm. They simply wanted to make the point that they didn't take too kindly to the thesis I had published here yesterday in which I revealed that most of trade week was nothing more than a period of rest and recreation for them. Well they made their point and after a half hour's discussion and negotiation, I apologised, promised that there would be no more disparaging remarks about their noble profession and one of them drove me to an old car lot on the outskirts of the city where he removed my blindfold and released me. I managed to find my way back to my office where I caught up with the news of the day. As I had predicted a day earlier, precious little was happening and, as the day wore on, nothing changed except for the fact that the Bulldogs finalised the Akermanis deal and picked up Andrew McDougall from the Eagles. And so with only the final morning to come, this is the total product of the exchange period to date: - Trade One St Kilda get - Shane Birss Western Bulldogs get - pick 59 Trade Two West Coast Eagles get - pick 29 and pick 61 Western Bulldogs get - Andrew McDougall, pick 34 and pick 66 Trade Three Brisbane get - pick 34 Western Bulldogs get - Jason Akermanis The Bulldogs have been involved in every trade and seem to have done well by picking up two players at a relatively cheap cost. The disturbing aspect of the trade period to date is that the players being traded are all in the not quite right category. Sure, Akermanis is a great footballer but time moves on and his longevity in the game is limited. Not only that but there's always the risk that he'll continue to be problematic as a player. After all, he's been a pain in the Brisbane butt for a few seasons now and, is there any guarantee that he won't put his foot in that mouth again this year? Team harmony is so important these days! Aker is the only player traded so far who reached double figures in terms of games played in 2006. Even then, his last game was his team's round 15 win over the Kangaroos. He didn’t play in the last two months of the AFL season. Birss managed just three appearances for the Bulldogs in the past year – all of them coming during that period late in the season when the Doggies had about 24 players available. One can safely assume that had they not had their injury problems, he might have spent the entire year at Werribee. McDougall managed just one appearance for the Eagles in 2006 and can't even boast of having played in a winning side in his team’s premiership year. His only game was in his team's defeat at the hands of Collingwood in round 16. The thing about McDougall is that every AFL club has at least one player like McDougall running around. So far, the Eagles are the only club to have offloaded their "McDougall". The other club recruiting officers must be envious – but I can't really mention them here at the moment. McDougall managed just one appearance for the Eagles in 2006 and can't even boast of having played in a winning side in his team's premiership year. His only game was in his team's defeat at the hands of Collingwood in round 16. The thing about McDougall is that every AFL club has at least one player like McDougall running around. So far, the Eagles are the only club to have offloaded their "McDougall". The other club recruiting officers must be envious - but I can't really mention them here at the moment. So today, the action really starts and no doubt there will be more trades to come. The bigger deals are still to be done and, as usual, other transactions await their outcome. Looking at the list of names for trade in the papers this morning raises some concerns. Most of the players left are in the not quite right category. That's what the trade week is all about these days - getting rid of your NQR's. But the concern for the AFL will be if there is little trading done and the majority of players wanting to switch clubs are forced into the pre season draft where they might find themselves a place where they don't want to be. From there, it's only a short walk possibly to the law courts and the entire AFL trade and draft system could well find itself under siege. For that reason, if for nothing else, today shapes as an important on in the history of AFL recruiting.

TEMPO TRADING by the Oracle I don't know whether it's just me or not but I have this feeling that something strange is happening in football circles - something associated with this week's trading between the AFL clubs. Much of the trade week discussion is centring on the fact that everything is moving in slow motion, but what if these past few days are following a predetermined pattern as if there was some purpose or design in what's been happening? Something sinister and hidden deep beneath the surface like a conspiracy involving the men who run the various club football departments? Believe me, I'm not paranoid (mind you, sometimes I think there are people out there who are out to get me) but please consider what's been happening since the exchange period opened on Monday. There has been a lot of rumour and innuendo and many names have been named. Names like Jason Cloke, Peter Everitt, Ryan Ferguson, Aaron Fiora, Michael Gardner, Jason Johnson, Steve Johnson, Paul Medhurst, Stephen Milne, Graham Polak, Jordan Russell, Dean Solomon Chris Tarrant, Brett Thornton, Toby Thurstans, Shane Tuck and Paul Wheatley and others. But despite all of the names and all of the rumours, precious little has really happened. The pace of development has been painfully slow for trade week aficionados like you and me and I think I have the answer as to why this is going on. I believe that the club recruiting officers are involved in a conspiracy whereby they are deliberately slowing down the tempo of the trades. I've decided to call this phenomenon "tempo trading"; a situation that's come about because these blokes decided in advance that a week is too long a time to busy themselves with the argy bargy of trading and it would be better to take a few days off in the middle of trade week before that one morning involving a few hours of frenzied activity on Friday. It all makes sense to me. The club recruiting officers got together on the first day at Telstra Dome, exchanged the names of the players they were willing to trade and then took a few days off to sun themselves by their swimming pools and to sip on their pina coladas before briefly meeting again on Friday morning to finish their business. Of course, they couldn't be seen to be doing nothing because that would almost certainly arouse the suspicion a few of the brighter members of the media (those who were also sunning themselves and sipping pina coladas by the pool) so one or two trades are announced and the odd interview is given for television or radio where the impression is given that trade activity is reaching fever pitch. A plethora of rumours are confirmed or denied usually by way of carefully dropped clichés like: - "We have got a good young list and we don't want to risk building on that." That really means our list is crap and we’re doing everything we can to get player X but we don't want to give away our few remaining good players or any of our early draft picks to get him. There are others like: - "We met with his manager and Y Football Club representatives today concerning the player and two different options were discussed." "We are not going to give up the world to get player Z." "But no agreement has yet been reached between the two clubs." "We're continuing our discussions." All of them meaning that we're doing bugger all at the moment but we want the board members and, of course, the public to think that we're being run off our feet and that we'll eventually get somewhere by the end of the week. Now back to the swimming pool, the suntan lotion and the cocktails. The result is that every morning from Tuesday right through to Friday, it's like Groundhog Day. The news is almost identical every day - no deal yet on Tarrant but we're inching closer, nobody wants to talk about Thornton, a new offer's coming in very soon for Spida, we need someone with the wisdom of Solomon to palm him off somewhere (please!) etc. The reality is that nothing's really being done at all except for a few selected and pre-prepared deals. Consider the two deals that have been done to date. On day one, the blokes from Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs got together in front of the cameras and announced that Jason Akermanis was going to be traded. Just like that! Three minutes into the trade week Aker's gone but was there any detail given about the trade? No way! We'll worry about the detail at some later time. You would think that such a revelation might get all of the club recruiting managers thinking. Why not be smart about it all and announce a few more done deals to keep the week's momentum going? No, nothing happens at all for two and a half days and suddenly, out of the blue comes another transaction. And what a ball tearer that happens to be! Forgotten Bulldog Shane Birss is traded to St. Kilda for draft pick 59 in an announcement coming hot on the heels of the unveiling of Ross Lyon as Saints' coach. Now, does anybody around here think that Birss, who played 51 games in five seasons but managed only three appearances for the Doggies in 2006, is going to be the icing on the cake on a big day for the fans down Moorabbin way? Give me a break! These so called "deals" are nothing more than a diversion - a cover up for a carefully planned and systematic attempt by the AFL recruiting officers to do nothing for a few days. There's clear evidence of that - in fact, it's obvious to someone with a mind highly trained in detection skills like mine. The order of the trading gives it all away! First cab off the rank was Jason Akermanis. Next went Shane Birss. Then Daniel Bradshaw conveniently decided to stay in Brisbane. Don't you see what's happening? That's it. They're all going in alphabetical order! My bet is that the next name to be traded will be Collingwood's Jason Cloke. The announcement will probably be made first thing on Friday morning. And based on the above revelation, my advice to all the trade week freaks is to take the day off today. Nothing's going to happen. I'm certain of that! [NOTE: Demonland disassociates itself with any inferences made that in this article that club recruiting officers are anything other than fine, hardworking citizens. The views expressed above are those of the author alone and any correspondence should be addressed to him care of the Sunny Days Health Farm, P.O. Box 791, Southbank.]

A DULL DAY AT THE OFFICE by the Oracle On Monday I was literally swept off my feet by an avalanche of work but yesterday, it was the opposite. The phones stopped ringing, appointments were cancelled and there was virtually no mail. So I decided to catch up with the backlog of my paperwork and ended up taking an early lunch break. By that time, I was ready to lap up any news of the trade week but there was nothing much on offer beyond the now standard speculation, most of which had to be looked upon with much more than a single grain of salt. I tried to get in touch with my usual contacts but they were nowhere to be found so I walked into the local newsagents and checked out the sports sections of the various papers while the proprietor frowned disapprovingly at my clumsy attempt to appear as if I was genuinely browsing. The Herald Sun provided a pretty comprehensive rundown of the latest news, most of which centred on Aker going to the Bulldogs. The rest was more of a regurgitation of what we'd already heard from the television reports or read on the internet the day before. The HUN mentioned a couple of Demons who might possibly be on the market - Alistair Nicholson, Clint Bizzell, Ryan Ferguson and Paul Wheatley, all of them allegedly being hawked around without eliciting any interest. Oh, and they said the Adem Yze was not for trade. I wasn't sure how I should interpret that! The Age had a few snippets starting off with the suggestion that another Carlton youngster, 19 year old Jordan Russell might jump ship and go back home to Port Adelaide. I somehow doubt whether that's going to cause a ripple on the AFL scene but it will worry the folk at Carlton. As I was flicking the pages of the Age, a courier dropped in the Adelaide paper and there it was - a suggestion that Demon defender Daniel Bell could return to SA as the Crows' only play in AFL trade week. The story wasn't corroborated by any direct sources and in the end it turned out that Bell had only recently signed on for another two years. The same paper mentioned that Essendon’s Jay Nash was also in the Crows' sights. By the end of the day, the radio reported that he too had signed a two-year contract with the Bombers. So much for the accuracy of the reporters at the Advertiser. Back to the Age where Chris Tarrant's name continues to be linked with West Coast, the Saints are interested in Jason Johnson and have indicated that Stephen Milne is up for trade, the Tigers are pursuing a trade to secure Graham Polak and Geelong has indicated that forward Steve Johnson might be available "at the right price". A mate who's a fellow Demon fan walked into the store and we decided to have lunch at a nearby deli. He's into this trade stuff too and he's as bored by this week as I am so we joked about the speculation in the papers. He told me he'd heard that morning about an absolute ripsnorter of a trade that's brewing involving Melbourne’s Nick Smith for out of contract Crow, Luke Jericho. We had a good laugh about that one. Compared to Jericho, Smith had a wealth of AFL game time in 2006 – exactly 20 minutes more than the Jericho who disappeared off the radar after a lacklustre performance in the NAB Cup grand final. If it happens, this will certainly not be the trade of the decade! Mind you, it's the Crows who I blame for all of this inactivity in trading. Last year, they sold off a non-entity in Fergus Watts to St. Kilda for a first round draft pick. Watts spent most of the year injured and from all reports looked very ordinary on comeback with the Casey Scorpions twos. The point is that if you can get pick number 17 for an absolute dud, then what is Collingwood going to ask for a dud who has "All Australian" written all over him like Chris Tarrant? What would Hawthorn want for Spida Everitt – even if he is already into his thirties? So to my mind, the Crows have gone and spoiled it for everybody because it's now well nigh impossible to trade as a result of that one deal from last year. If the trade deals all dry up, then you can be sure as night follows day that somebody will decide to challenge this defective system in court one day. In the absence of any trade talk, my mate and I discussed business, politics and weather before returning to the footy. Over our plates of steaming hot ravioli pasta, we decided to dabble in a bit of nonsense and came up with a very interesting scenario for Melbourne in 2007. Did you know that it's conceivable that the Demons could let go of Nathan Brown and Nick Smith and then pick up Nathan Brown and Nick Smith? Nathan Brown and Nick Smith are two youngsters who attended last week's 2006 NAB AFL Draft Camp. Smith comes from the Oakleigh Chargers and played well on a defensive flank in his team's TAC Cup premiership. He's described as a "medium midfielder", is 183cm tall and weighs 78kg. He was one of the best at the camp in the standing vertical jump. Brown is a tall defender from North Ballarat (194cm 89kg) who impressed with his pace at the Draft Camp. He was third in the 20-metre sprint and in the top half dozen of the repeat sprints and was named full back in the 2006 All Australian Under 18 team. Not bad for a big boy and he also has a twin brother who is a tall forward. Apparently, there are a few young Motlops going round so the club could delist Shannon and recruit one of his family from the Northern Territory. If nothing else, it might save the club the cost of painting new names on the lockers in the clubrooms. At the rate things are going, there aren't going to be many other changes as a result of this week's non-activity.

HUMDRUM HEADLINES by the Oracle Mondays at the office are usually dull. I normally have the time to catch up with what's happening in the outside world via any one of a number of means of communication available to me. Unfortunately, yesterday was not one of those days. A crisis arose at work that required all hands on deck for most of the morning and well into the afternoon. No time for lunch and then an important meeting followed and that lasted far too long. So I spent the first day of exchange week completely oblivious to what was going on at Telstra Dome. But is it possible to be oblivious to absolutely nothing? On the way home I learned that some sort of deal had been half done over Aker (without any detail announced) but precious little else had been resolved apart from the fact that it was becoming obvious that this exchange period is becoming one big yawn. This was confirmed when I finally made it home and consulted the AFL's own website. Fair dinkum, I reckon the biggest news of the day wasn't even about the goings on at the Dome but about the unveiling by the Eagles of their ludicrous looking new home jumper that looks a lot like their ludicrous looking old home jumper except for the creature that's featured in the middle panel on the front. The ridiculous bird has now morphed into an escapee from the Warner Brothers cartoon department - a cross between Daffy Duck and The Road Runner. It left me wondering whether Ben Cousins and co were going to be able to keep a straight face when running out onto the ground in the first home game next year. In the event, I had to content myself with some humdrum headlines about the trades and the team lists on the AFL site. There was the one about RELIEF FOR AKER and I thought momentarily that the story might have been about the bearded blond relieving himself on an effigy of his former coach but that was stupid. As opposed to everything else Aker does. Yeah, right. I took the fact that there was no detail of the draft selections being passed around as meaning that the clubs were harbouring ideas of other deals and therefore allowing them to take place before the ultimate picks were to be sorted out. But that's just me guessing. The article that really set the tone for the day however was KANGAS' QUIET WEEK. Have you ever wondered whether a journalist could get away with writing a story about absolutely nothing? Well, you can stop wondering right now. This is it! The entire Kangaroos football department may as well be sunning themselves on the Gold Coast in preparation for their 2007 home matches up there because the reality is that they're now totally paranoid about the exchange period. And not without reason. All you have to do is mention the words "Jonathan Hay" and "trade" in the same breath within earshot of an official from that club and you'll very quickly find some poor bastard climbing up a palm tree, frothing at the mouth and making monkey noises. I was fascinated by the next headline which read NO NEW DEAL FOR HAINES. Who? Some bloke who's been around the Fremantle list since the days when Methuselah was a kid and was apparently BOG for the Dockers in that memorable London exhibition match against the Eagles in 2005. Problem is that I don't remember, him or the game or, for that matter, rookies Jack Juniper, Joe Krieger and Toby Stribling who were all given the flick yesterday. Another nothing story. Then I finally came across something of interest to Melbourne fans although the headline promised very little, DEES COOL ON JOHNSON and the contents of the article delivered less. The "Dees" have a couple of Johnsons (please no smart comments here) and there are at least a dozen of them elsewhere (ditto) so what was this all about? Nothing, just an article telling us that the Demons aren't interested in Jason Johnson, a player who turns 29 soon and who Essendon was only prepared to offer an extra year on his contract. Johnson is getting on in years and is slowing down at a time when the competition demands more running. It was all a no brainer. Tomorrow I expect an article in a similar vein entitled "DEES COOL ON TROY LUFF". Frankly, Melbourne's recruiting man Craig Cameron sounded as if he was more than a little bit bored by it all when he was quoted as saying, "It's been a pretty stock standard day to be honest. There wasn't much on the go for us. "The way we've approached trade week is that it is a chance for us to improve our list, but we'll only do trades if that's what we'll think we'll do." I'm just wondering what probing, in depth questioning elicited those remarks. It was almost inevitable therefore that Cameron would reveal in his next breath that there hadn't been much interest from other clubs attempting to secure any Demons. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz And so it went with headline after headline telling us what a bore the whole day had been. After what seems like an eternity of speculation, it was revealed that Chris Tarrant is on the move - maybe. PIES LOOK FOR RIGHT DEAL. At least, there was an element of intrigue associated with Spida Everitt's proposed move to Sydney. SPIDA DEAL HITS SNAG which means that there's some posturing going on which allows those involved to demonstrate how poor their acting and bluffing skills really are. No doubt there's going to be more toing and froing before the inevitable deal hits the fax machine at 11.58am on Friday. There were one or two others about the Dockers' Graham Polak and the Blues' Bret Thornton but by now I was fast losing interest. In fact, I'm already sick of it all. I think I'll arrange a full book of meetings for the rest of the week. Nothing much is going to happen. I can feel it in my bones.

SPY v SPY by the Oracle "If we can get a player that can help our list, it would be good, but I don't think we will be heavily involved. We haven't sat down to work out who we target." - Mr. Craig Cameron, Melbourne Football Club General Manager, Recruiting & List Management. It's that time of year again - the five day long feeding frenzy known as the exchange period, a time when the 16 AFL club recruiting officers get together in an effort to trade players and draft selections with the aim of improving their lists for future seasons. Did anyone say "feeding frenzy"? Well, you couldn't tell from reading the above comments of Melbourne's Craig Cameron as reported in Saturday's Melbourne Herald-Sun. Nor those of most of the others who had something to say about the AFL's Trade Week. Fremantle's Steven Icke said, "we'll just sit back and see what the clubs have got to say." The great Kevin Sheedy said, "We are not expecting too much to happen at the moment", Bulldog coach Rodney Eade referred to working through the Aker situation but all in all, "Something might crop up but nothing big" and Richmond's Greg Miller opined that "more likely than not we won't be involved". Yawn. So that's it. All very low key, no feeding frenzy, no fever pitch excitement about the trades. All very laid back as we enter the exchange period. Yeah, right! The number of rumours of massive trades during the rounds is not as great this year as in previous years but this is possibly because of the boy who cried wolf culture that enveloped recent pre trade periods. We've all become attuned to detecting the fake rumours and those who start them. Sometimes, they're launched by player managers in order to generate fatter contracts, more often they are simple fantasies dreamed up by those who have nothing better to do with their time. There have been a few this year but not as many as in the past and I suspect that some of the above comments coming from the various clubs are intended as much to douse the heat of rumours and speculation than anything else. I'm willing to bet however, that there will be plenty of movement at the station in the coming week. Lots of names will be named, speculation will grow but by the end of proceedings at lunchtime on Friday, not that many trades will have been consummated - perhaps no more than an average of one per club which means that it won't be much different to last year. Today, the clubs will get together in new surroundings at Telstra Dome to meet and discuss each other's wants and needs. It's a bit like a convention of spies meeting together to suss out what information each can get from the other. Of course, almost everybody player is tradeable but most of the "tradeables" carry too high a price tag and this year the exchanges will be affected by a few unusual sets of circumstances. After two years of relative stability on the coaching scene, we've seen one successful putsch and a few near misses. The result is that one team, St. Kilda goes into the week without a coach while a couple of others enter the week with a certain amount of disquiet among players. Jason Akermanis' split with Leigh Matthews is well documented but it appears to be coupled with the club's salary cap problems and we’re hearing of a number of disaffected players wanting out - Daniel Bradshaw, Robert Copeland and Tim Notting have been mentioned. Young Carlton key defender Bret Thornton wants to be traded to Hawthorn amid reports that the cause is his strained relationship with coach Denis Pagan. Then there's Hawk Spida Everitt who seems destined to follow Captain Cook into Sydney Harbour at some time in the near future. There is also a topic we can't really mention or more accurately, there are players we can't mention. Three AFL players were running around during 2006 who have been twice drug tested positive and, because it's a case of three strikes and you're out, if a club happened to trade for one of these unmentionables it would be taking a great risk. Fortunately, I think every recruiting officer and most football fans know who they are so I would be most surprised to read that an AFL club has picked one of them up - even if they were provided with some sort of moratorium against their banning if they re-offended. Another factor likely to have an effect on trading is the widely held perception that the pool of players available for the 2006 National Draft is as strong and as deep as it has ever been in the past. This has led to just about every club, including Sydney, which has willingly traded early picks in the past, to declare that they will not be trading their first round draft picks this year. I'm not an expert on the players up for grabs in this year's draft but, while my contacts generally agree on the strength in the top dozen or so potential draftees, some disagree that the depth beyond that number will be much different to previous years. We'll all see soon enough how it unfolds but I have a feeling that it will be more of the same with one or two deals holding everything else up until the last frantic moments before midday on Friday. There are certain to be surprises - that's for sure. Going into last year's trade week, the Demons for example, were linked with two of the big four names being bandied about in early trade calculations - Carlton's Lance Whitnall and Kangaroo forward Daniel Motlop (the others were Brendan Fevola and Hawk defender Jonathan Hay). In the end, Melbourne missed out on both of its supposed targets but ended up happy to get Byron Pickett who proved a very useful acquisition to the club's list in 2006. I'll be back hopefully on a daily basis to bring you up to date with all of the information (including the hot rumours) that I can get out of the spies on my visiting list. The big worry is that one of them is called Secret Agent 86.

by Whispering Jack It hasn't taken very long at all for the 2006 season to fade away into history. The premiership cup has done its rounds out west, the AFL clubs have had their best and fairest counts, the draft camp came and went, everyone's building up for the usual trade week hype with a few boring days to come in which nothing happens before a flurry of late activity, followed by the drafts and pre-season training and before we know it, the Wizard Cup will be upon us. In the meantime, we can reflect for a few months on what might have been had we been able to kick that extra goal against the Crows and the extra point against the Cats! But it's all over. Done and dusted till next year and all we have left apart from the memories is a list of the 44 players who either represented Melbourne or Sandringham or both this year. Some of them, like our Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy winner James McDonald and continually improving defender Nathan Carroll rose in stature in 2006 while others like the injury hit Clint Bizzell and Alistair Nicholson dropped well down in our estimation. Some of the younger group like Brock McLean, Matthew Bate and newcomer Clint Bartram and later Nathan Jones really stood up, others like Lynden Dunn and Matthew Warnock showed promise while Colin Sylvia and Brent Moloney failed to step up to the plate. There were reasons for their disappointments of course, but the fact remains that these players did not meet the expectations we had for them this time last year. It has been said for a long time that Melbourne doesn't have the stars that some of the other clubs have and that the lack of "star" quality is holding the Demons back. Indeed, in 2006 it was noticeable that some of the players who most closely approximated star status are showing signs of age – Jeff White, Adem Yze and Russell Robertson are seemingly on the decline. However, not so the skipper David Neitz who rose to the occasion many times during the year and who might well set an example for the others to rise again. That leaves Cameron Bruce and Travis Johnstone circling our closest star (the sun) but not quite at absolute star quality and a fair bit behind supernova Chris Judd. They might well make it yet but they still need to step up a notch. But if we're searching for a future star at Melbourne then we have to look more closely at our young up and comers like Brock McLean who isn't far off already (perhaps approaching Mercury) or Jared Rivers (somewhere around Venus). That's a lot better than being somewhere near Pluto which this year even lost its status as a planet. It's mighty cold out there but I have a feeling that Nick Smith and Shannon Motlop might be in that unwanted region of space. If there is one encouraging sign on the "stardom stage" it's the fact that Melbourne's younger brigade showed in 2006 that it has the ability to hold its own in AFL company. We can look forward with eager interest to see how the likes of McLean, Bate, Bartram, Sylvia, C Johnson, Bell, Dunn, Moloney and others develop in the next couple of seasons. I have this feeling that we won't be complaining about a lack of star players at the club in two year's time. In the meantime however, I've tackled the task of composing my list of the top 44 players at the Melbourne Football Club in order again. My 2006 rankings are based on where I see the players at this particular juncture and it isn't supposed to be a best and fairest list. Usually the best and fairest player is the one who has managed to play a full season. That's not taking anything away from James McDonald who was a runaway winner in Melbourne’s award. I think he was great but I still rank Cameron Bruce as my top player. Still, I was most surprised when I compared my list to the club's top ten placegetters in the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy to see that my top ten matched – not in order but every one of them was there: - 1 James McDonald - 464 votes 2 Cameron Bruce - 317 3 Brock McLean - 303 4 David Neitz - 290 5 Brad Green - 259 6 Nathan Carroll - 257 7 Matthew Whelan - 250 8 Jared Rivers - 224 9 Jeff White - 204 10 Travis Johnstone – 197 Not that this fact will keep the critics at bay. I have no doubt that there will be debate about the rankings so is my usual word of warning about them - they are the personal opinion of one individual and I would never expect everybody to agree with them. 1. Cameron Bruce [5 in 2005] - was the club's outstanding player throughout the year playing in a number of roles from attacking midfielder to tagging defender. He had great versatility, skills and leadership ability although he slipped a little at the end of the season when his disposal skills seemed to desert him. [Number 32, Height 190cm, Weight 88kg, Date of Birth 30.09.79, Debut in AFL, 2000, From MELBOURNE SUPP, Games 2006 - 24, Total Games - 146, Goals 2006 - 21, Total Goals 173] 2. Travis Johnstone [2] - has been a far more consistent player over the past two seasons. He has great ball getting ability, poise and balance and is deadly with his passing of the football. His decision-making is often breathtaking. Travis' input dropped markedly after injuring his hamstring late in the season but notwithstanding that, it was a bit surprising to see him finish only 10th in the "Bluey". [16, 186, 85, 17.07.80, 1998, DANDENONG U18, 22, 145,10, 104] 3. Brock McLean [15] - there were eyebrows raised when he was selected at #5 in the 2003 National Draft but he continues to display the temperament, talent and leadership ability that you dream of in a young player. He has "leadership" written all over him and is destined for number one in the near future. [5, 184, 85, 11.03.86, 2004, CALDER U18, 18, 47, 14, 25] 4. James McDonald [13] - a worthy club champion who upped his already considerable work rate to become # 1 tackler in the competition. Over the years he has been the epitome of the unobtrusive, hard working unobtrusive midfielder but this year, he finally achieved recognition and All Australian status. All credit to Junior. [23, 180, 78, 05.10.76, 1997, OLD XAVERIANS, 24, 177, 6, 45] 5. David Neitz [7] - came back from an injury-plagued 2006 to defy age and gravity and move up the scale to fifth place on my rankings. He booted 68 goals, picked up Brownlow votes and definitely had an impact on the forward line which was much needed in view of Robbo's decline. I asked last year whether it was time for Neita to consider giving away the captaincy in order to concentrate more on his own game but he was neither lacking in form or leadership in 2006. [9, 193, 100, 22.01.75, 1993, PARKMORE, 21, 286, 68, 602] 6. Brad Green [6] - a very solid season where he developed as a prolific possession winner in the midfield. Showed great leadership and used his head well all year except for that one brain fade against the Dockers which saw him suspended for head butting. [18, 184, 85, 13.03.81, 2000, TASSIE U18, 23, 148, 11, 194] 7. Jeff White [1] - I still rate him highly as a ruckman but time is moving on and the centre circle rule has made life hard for 195 cm players of his ilk, especially when he comes across monsters like Dean Cox freaks like Aaron Sandilands. Had more help in the ruck and wasn't required to cope all day as in past years but we can't expect him to be as prolific around the ground as he was when in his early to mid-twenties. [34, 195, 98, 19.02.77, 1995, FREMANTLE (AFL), 24, 231, 11, 99] 8. Matthew Whelan [10] - I think we all underestimate this bloke's coolness in defence and importance to the club. That fact was brought home clearly when he missed the semi final against Fremantle with a shoulder injury. [45, 180, 83, 13.11.79, 2000, W'VILLE-WT (SA), 19, 123, 3, 13] 9. Jared Rivers [17] - one of the leaders of the Demon defence, Rivers is a stylish footballer who has great courage, skill and maturity. I'm confident that he will become a genuine champion (star) in coming seasons. [27, 192, 85, 18.10.84, 2003, N. ADELAIDE (SA), 22, 61, 4, 4] 10. Nathan Carroll [20] - I don't know if it was the "Chopper Read" image or just the moustache but Carroll continued on with his rapid development as a strong full back to the extent that he was spoken of in some circles as a possible All Australian. [41, 191, 91, 20.10.80, 2003, CLAREMONT (WA), 24, 41, 1, 1] 11. Aaron Davey [11] - at times, Davey was absolutely stunning with his speed, ball handling, his defensive and his prowess around the goals. However, at other times, he showed a lack of temperament and he was disappointing late in the season. Perhaps, I'm just a hard judge but I think he has much more in him than he displayed in the latter half of the season. [36, 177, 72, 10.06.83, 2004, PORT MELBOURNE (VFL), 22, 64, 37, 95] 12. Adem Yze [4] - this is the first time I've ranked Adem Yze outside the top ten and that is despite the fact that he was still a prolific kick winner this year. At times, he was absolutely brilliant but he also went missing too often in the clinches for mine. At the age of 29 he still has much to contribute to the club and will probably break the club's games record. However, I think it’s time for the Ooze to reinvent himself in a new role. [13, 187, 87, 21.09.77, 1995, MURRAY U18, 24, 257, 30, 225] 13. Byron Pickett [new] the Byronator added a fair bit of excitement and a lot of hardness into the Melbourne side – particularly in the first half of the season. His mere presence on the field put pressure on opposition players and made many of teammates stand tall. However, following a hamstring injury his condition and effectiveness tapered off. He will have to work hard to get to peak fitness for next season. [33, 178, 86, 11.08.77, 1997, PORT ADELAIDE (AFL) 20, 195, 9, 170] 14. Russell Robertson [3] - I'm stunned about the fact that he kicked 44 goals this season because I can't recall him playing all that well in many games after his stellar 2005 season. Apart from that brilliant game when he took 15 marks and kicked four goals against Richmond, he was generally disappointing and well below his exciting best. I'm thinking that maybe he should have been rested or had an operation rather than continue to play when so obviously restricted by injury. [24, 184, 90, 24.11.78, 1997, TASSIE U18, 23, 190, 44, 343] 15. Matthew Bate [35] - progressed as well as any other youngster on the list. From the moment he made his senior AFL debut it was clear that this player has the size, the run and the versatility to be anything at the club. The sky's the limit! [6, 191, 88, 24.05.87, 2006, EASTERN U18, 14,14, 8, 8] 16. Brad Miller [12] - never really got going until the final game when he played a blinder up forward in a losing team at Subiaco. He was shunted around the ground from key back to key forward and a stupid jumper punch in mid season saw him miss two games through suspension and then have to come back the hard way through Sandringham before he earned a senior spot. Hopefully, he takes note of that salutary lesson and knuckles down to playing good football and earning his leadership role at the club. [7, 192, 91, 06.07.83, 2002, MT. GRAVATT (Q), 15, 75, 4, 24] 17. Mark Jamar [21] - shared the ruck duties with Jeff White in almost equal proportions and while his ruck work came on well and he took the occasional good mark when played up forward, he doesn't do enough around the ground for mine. [40, 198, 98, 09.08.83, 2003, N. ADELAIDE (SA), 22, 42, 10, 13] 18. Ben Holland [22] - worked his way into a regular position as the big, tall defender and even improved his kicking to an extent. Was really useful against talls like Rocca and the G-Train in midseason but his lack of run was exposed in the finals. [4, 198, 101, 10.05.77, 1996, RICHMOND (AFL) 16, 179, 1, 164] 19. Daniel Bell [19] - had an up and down year but showed some great signs when he fought his way back into the side late in the season and played some very good games in defence. [21, 186, 83, 13.04.85, 2004, GLENELG (SA), 12, 28, 0, 0] 20. Colin Sylvia [23] - shows that he has the talent but after a fine start, he never rose above the ordinary for someone who shows all the hallmarks of becoming a top line performer. [12, 184, 85, 08.11.85, 2004, BENDIGO U18, 17, 36, 10, 19] 21. Daniel Ward [31] - I thought he was finished twelve months ago but he came into the side and stood up when needed to produce his best form in the past four or five years. [10, 185, 84, 09.07.77, 1998, FITZROY (SUPP.), 17, 118, 3, 28] 22. Clint Bartram [new] - a wonderful debut season for this youngster who was plucked up at #60 in last year's National Draft and wasn't really expected to play much of a role at Melbourne this year. Such was his progression that he ended up tagging some of the champions of our game and making a good fist of it most of the time. [19, 181, 73, 16.02.88, 2006, GEELONG U18, 22, 22, 6, 6] 23. Nathan Brown [8] - struggled with injury and seems to have lost a bit of his dash as he approaches the end of his career. Showed his class however, with a good performance when called up for the semi final. [25, 180, 81, 14.08.76, 1998, W. ADELAIDE (SA), 9, 127, 3, 33] 24. Chris Johnson [33] - had his share of injuries in 2004 and worked hard to make his debut against the Hawks at the MCG. His debut game wasn't much to write home about - he was reported and narrowly missed suspension - but he made rapid improvement as the season went on and won himself a few more games. A definite prospect. [17, 189, 79, 25.01.86, 2005, E. F'MANTLE (WA), 9, 13, 0, 0] 25. Nathan Jones - a young up and coming midfielder who took his chance when it came and played some strong football for one so young. Heaps of promise for the future. [2, 179, 85, 20.01.78, 2006, DANDEONG U18, 8, 8, 2, 2] 26. Lynden Dunn [38] - came on in leaps and bounds this year after being on the fringe of Sandringham senior selection last year. He needs to add a bit of muscle to match it with the stronger types at AFL level but, all in all, 2006 was a pleasing year in the development of this promising youngster. [14, 192, 90, 14.05.87, 2006, CALDER U18, 11,11,13, 13] 27. Simon Godfrey [28] - probably had his best season gaining regular selection for 16 games this season. He makes up for his lack of skill in ball delivery and sometimes decision-making with total commitment to his team but that however, wasn't deemed enough when the finals came around. Godders can only really be regarded as a back up player at best. [30, 184, 86, 18.10.80, 2000, MELBOURNE SUPP, 16, 88, 4, 16] 28. Ryan Ferguson [24] - I know I shouldn't be saying this but he probably has too much courage for his own good. His season was again plagued by injury to the point where he was restricted to just three games. However, late in the season, showed how good he was with some terrific performances in the finals for Sandringham. [35, 195, 87, 29.09.81, 2003, FRANKSTON (VFL), 3, 39, 0, 4] 29. Brent Moloney [9] - slipped off the radar because of injury. Hopefully, a return to health and a good pre season will see him return to his regular position in the Demon midfield. [22, 181, 88, 28.01.84, 2003, GEELONG (AFL), 7, 51, 1, 9] 30. Paul Wheatley [14] - suffered a couple of injuries during the season but came back to play well in the Zebra premiership side. His career is at the crossroads. [31, 189, 90, 12.04.81, 2000, PRESTON U18, 7, 99, 1, 27] 31. Paul Johnson [27] - a shoulder injury early in the season followed the need for a reconstruction after he broke down on the comeback trail at Sandringham prematurely ended the 2005 JJ Liston Trophy winner's season after showing some early promise. [11, 199, 106, 26.06.84, 2004, WEST COAST (AFL), 2, 11, 2, 2] 32. Clint Bizzell [18] - played one terrific practice match late in the pre season against the Kangaroos but was injured in that game. The injury was diagnosed as a break and that kept him out for most of the season but he showed some good signs late in the season with Sandringham and played an important role in that club’s premiership defence. [188, 89, 28.06.76, 1996, GEELONG (AFL), 0, 153, 0, 79] 33. Phil Read [30] - managed just 5 games at top level this year but starred with Zebras where he had a stellar finals series. Judging by his comments when he won the Norm Goss Trophy for best afield in the VFL Grand Final, I don't think he believes he has much of a future left at AFL level. Winner of the Sandy Best & Fairest for 2006. [28, 180, 80, 20.10.79, 1998, WEST COAST (AFL), 5, 108, 1, 32] 34. Matthew Warnock (rookie) [37] - promoted from the rookie list for a couple of early games in defence. Was also knocking on the door around finals time and should be promoted to the senior list for 2007. [37, 192, 88, 03.04.84, 2006, SANDRINGHAM (VFL), 2, 2, 0, 0] 35. Alistair Nicholson [16] - injured again early in the season and took a long time to get back. Looks to have lost a yard in pace and that's probably fatal for a big bloke like him the way football is played today. Has another year of his contract to go but I don't see him playing much AFL football at Melbourne with the advent of Benny Holland and Nathan Carroll in defence. [8, 197, 102, 04.03.78, 1997, CLAREMONT (WA), 0, 110, 0, 3] 36. Shannon Motlop [26] - form at AFL level was patchy although he was good at VFL level. A likely delisting or trade. [44,182, 88, 18.08.78, 1999, N. ADELAIDE (SA), 3, 64, 0, 36] 37. Nick Smith [36] - played his first AFL game in three seasons in the semi final against the Dockers but had little game time. Had difficulty throughout the season in convincing the selectors that he was worthy of a place in the AFL and would be lucky to hold a place on the list for next year. [15, 196, 97, 27.08.84, 2003, NORWOOD (SA), 1, 4, 0, 0] 38. Shane Neaves (rookie) [new] - big lad who took the first ruck spot at Sandringham and, although somewhat inconsistent, showed a great deal of promise. [39, 199, 90, 11.05.87, *, CALDER U18, 0, 0, 0, 0] 39. Michael Newton [39] - showed definite ability on the odd occasion when he found himself in the Zebra seniors. Last year it was injury and this year lack of opportunity prevented him from establishing himself there. Kicked a few bags at full forward for the reserves and would be hoping to make 2007 his break through year. [29, 193, 88, 27.04.87, *, MURRAY U18, 0, 0, 0, 0] 40. Daniel Hughes (rookie) [new] - developed well at Sandringham and put in some very promising performances as a medium sized goal kicking forward whose strength is his marking. A six-goal haul in Tasmania was his best for the year. [38, 186, 82, 10.12.86, *, SANDRINGHAM (VFL), 0, 0, 0, 0] 41. Simon Buckley [new] - showed some early flashes of brilliance with Sandy but was later dropped to the reserves. Played well in his only finals game in the Zebra seniors. [1, 189, 81, 18.04.87, *, SANDRINGHAM U18, 0, 0, 0, 0] 42. Heath Neville [new] - plagued by osteitis pubis for all of the pre season and managed fourteen games with the Zebra reserves before breaking down. [26, 1869, 83, 02.02.88, *, CLARENCE (TAS), 0, 0, 0, 0] 43. Jace Bode (rookie) [new] - started in the Sandringham reserves and played five senior games with the Zebras later in the season without setting the world on fire. [43, 183, 80, 14.09.87, *, GLENELG (SA), 0, 0, 0, 0] 44. Andre Gianfagna (rookie) [new] - spent all bar one game in the Zebra reserves and missed the latter part of the season with a shoulder injury. [42, 182, 80, 04.12.87, *, NORTHERN U18, 0, 0, 0, 0]

by The Oracle It's that time of the year again when we start looking at what changes will take place to the AFL club playing lists. Last week, the best of the nation's young footballers were on show at the AFL National Draft Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra – 72 of them in all. The purpose of the Camp is to assess the elite of the country's under 18 age footballers ahead of the National Draft, which will be held this year on 25 November. On top of that, provision has been made to test more than a hundred others at half-day screening camps held in the capital cities. One thing you can count on is that each and every one of these aspiring young footballers was doing his level best to impress the people the various assembled members of the AFL clubs' football departments - the list managers and recruiters in charge of making the decisions as to which new faces will be introduced into their clubs by way of trading and drafting. The following players attended the 2006 NAB AFL Draft Camp - Small Midfielders Name State Club Ht Wt Adams Leigh VIC Eastern 176 83 Collard Clayton WA Sth Fremantle 177 80 Djerrkura Nathan NT Wanderers 174 75 Hayes Daniel VIC Eastern 180 70 Jetta Leroy WA Sth Fremantle 175 73 Kiel Haydyn QLD Southport 178 79 Moss Garry WA East Perth 178 68 Thomas Lindsay SA Port Adelaide 178 77 Ross Ben VIC Gippsland 177 75 Medium Midfielders Armitage David QLD Morningside 183 79 Boak Travis VIC Geelong Falcons 182 75 Buckley Caolan SA West Adelaide 182 83 Connors Daniel VIC Bendigo 182 77 Edwards Shane SA Nth Adelaide 180 70 Geary Jarryn VIC Bendigo 182 78 George Lachlan VIC Nth Ballarat 181 77 Gibbs Bryce SA Glenelg 188 79 Grigg Shaun VIC Nth Ballarat 189 79 Hogan Simon VIC Geelong Falcons 181 65 Houli Bachar VIC Western 180 84 Krakouer Nathan WA Claremont 182 62 MacKay David VIC Oakleigh 181 71 O'Keefe Daniel VIC Geelong Falcons 183 74 Petterd Ricky QLD Broadbeach 184 77 Proud Albert QLD Mt Gravatt 179 80 Selwood Joel VIC Bendigo 181 73 Smith Nick VIC Oakleigh 183 78 Williams Ryan VIC Geelong Falcons 188 87 Medium Forwards Dick Brad WA East Fremantle 184 78 Dzufer Daniel QLD Zillmere Eagles 186 81 Hawksley James WA Peel 187 82 Hislop Tom TAS Burnie 185 85 Morton Jarryd WA Claremont 190 80 Reimers Kyle WA Peel 183 75 Smith Chris QLD Mt Gravatt 184 80 Turner James SA Sth Adelaide 189 80 Warren Ben QLD Zillmere Eagles 185 80 Medium Defenders Benjamin Clint WA Claremont 188 80 Houlihan Tim VIC Nth Ballarat 189 74 O'Brien Brock WA Peel 180 78 Schmidt Chris SA West Adelaide 187 77 Urquhart Gavin QLD Morningside 186 78 Anderson Joe NT Darwin 188 81 Tall Forwards Allen Jarryd VIC Calder 192 85 Brown Mitchell VIC Nth Ballarat 193 92 Dawes Chris VIC Sandringham 194 101 Garland Colin TAS North Hobart 193 84 Gumbleton Scott WA Peel 195 92 Lee Alex VIC Dandenong 192 86 Reid Ben VIC Murray 193 81 Riewoldt Jack TAS Clarence 193 84 Tarrant Robert VIC Bendigo 195 91 Thorp Mitchell TAS Northern Bombers 195 85 Tall Defenders Austin Mark SA Glenelg 194 83 Brown Nathan VIC Nth Ballarat 194 89 Collier Tom TAS Lauderdale 192 86 Currie Daniel VIC Northern Knights 199 90 Everitt Andrejs VIC Dandenong 193 76 Frawley James VIC Nth Ballarat 192 81 Grose Gavin QLD Mt Gravatt 193 85 Hansen Lachlan VIC Gippsland 195 92 McKenzie Eric WA Claremont 195 91 Schofield Will VIC Geelong Falcons 194 81 Thomson James WA Claremont 193 80 White Jesse QLD Southport 197 95 Rucks Hampson Sean QLD Mt Gravatt 202 93 Hardy Justin VIC Nth Ballarat 195 95 Jacobs Sam SA Woodville-WT 201 99 Leuenberger Matthew WA East Perth 202 92 Renouf Brent QLD Southport 199 92 Sellar James SA Glenelg 195 92 Tippett Kurt QLD Southport 199 98 Below are the results from the Camp:- Height Matthew Leuenberger - 203.2cm Sean Hampson - 200.8cm Kurt Tippett - 200.6cm Daniel Currie - 200.4cm Brent Renouf - 200.3cm Scott Gumbleton - 197.1cm Lachlan Hansen - 196.7cm Ben Reid - 196.4cm Jesse White - 196.3cm Eric McKenzie - 195.8cm Mass (Weight) Jesse White - 101.4kg Justin Hardy - 97.3kg Kurt Tippett - 95.9kg Chris Dawes - 95.6kg Sean Hampson - 93.1kg Matthew Leuenberger - 92.9kg Scott Gumbleton - 92.8kg Brent Renouf - 92.5kg Robert Tarrant - 91.9kg Alex Lee - 91.8kg Agility David Armitage - 7.88 sec Daniel Hayes - 8.04 sec Andrejs Everitt - 8.06 sec Tom Hislop - 8.10 sec Simon Hogan - 8.14 sec Kyle Reimers - 8.16 sec Gavin Urquhart - 8.17 sec Nathan Djerrkura - 8.18 sec Colin Garland - 8.18 sec Brock O'Brien - 8.19 sec Repeat Sprints - 30 metres Simon Hogan - 24.67 sec Tim Houlihan - 24.72 sec Clint Benjamin - 24.74 sec Joe Anderson - 24.76 sec Nathan Djerrkura - 25.00 sec Nathan Brown - 25.07 sec Nathan Krakouer - 25.08 sec Mark Austin - 25.09 sec Mitchell Brown - 25.34 sec Jarryd Allen - 25.36 sec Vertical jump - standing Shane Edwards - 69cm Daniel Hayes - 68cm Clint Benjamin - 67cm Eric McKenzie - 66cm Jarryd Morton - 66cm Clayton Collard - 66cm Brent Renouf - 65cm Joel Selwood - 65cm James Sellar - 65cm Nick Smith - 65cm 20-metre sprint Nathan Krakouer - 2.83 sec Nathan Djerrkura - 2.90 sec Nathan Brown - 2.91 sec Simon Hogan - 2.91 sec Brock O'Brien - 2.92 sec Shaun Grigg - 2.92 sec Ben Reid - 2.93 sec Ben Ross - 2.94 sec Clint Benjamin - 2.95 sec Travis Boak - 2.96 sec Shuttle Run (Beep test) Simon Hogan - level 15.04 Tim Houlihan - level 15.04 Shane Edwards - level 15.04 Bachar Houli - level 14.09 James Thomson - level 14.08 Joe Anderson - level 14.04 Nathan Djerrkura - level 14.04 Will Schofield - level 14.04 Lachlan Hansen - level 14.04 David Armitage - level 14.03 Handspan Jesse White - 26.7cm Kurt Tippett - 26.3cm Brent Renouf - 25.4cm Tom Collier - 25.2cm Chris Schmidt - 25.2cm Justin Hardy - 25.0cm Sean Hampson - 25.0cm Mark Austin - 24.9cm Andrejs Everitt - 24.9cm Daniel Currie - 24.6cm Three-km time-trial Tim Houlihan - 9:37 mins Simon Hogan - 9:55 mins Shane Edwards - 10:00 mins James Thomson - 10:13 mins Daniel Dzufer - 10:14 mins Bachar Houli - 10:23 mins Brent Renouf - 10:27 mins Will Schofield - 10:34 mins Haydyn Kiel - 10:35 mins David Armitage/Jarryn Geary - 10:36 mins These tests all have significance to the AFL recruiter but that is not all that happens at the Draft Camp. Club recruiting officers also have the opportunity to interview players and they will also review a number of other aspects of the player’s make up including their history, academic record and aspirations. The players who impress during the Camp will often be prominent when the first names are called out at the AFL National Draft at the end of November. Football is a sport that strongly emphasises youth and the spring and early summer are devoted in the main to the uncovering the right youngster for your team but you still have to find room to make way for up and coming talent. The recruiting officer knows only too well that while uncovering new players is the good part of his job, he also has the burden of making the decision as to who is surplus to their clubs' requirements and must therefore be put off the team’s list. While a few such players might manage to make their way back through trades and the drafts, for the majority, it’s the end of the road. Next Monday, the exchange period begins and the question is whether it will be a week of boredom or a week of bloodshed as the clubs try to discard their unwanted cattle. I get the impression from reading the words of the various club recruiting officers that they want us to believe that things will be somewhat low key at least in the early stages but don’t be surprised if a few shock waves are felt before the week is out. And the trade period is just the start for these blokes. Here's the full agenda for the coming two months: - October Monday October 9 to 2pm Friday October 13, 2006 Exchange Period 2pm Tuesday October 31, 2006. List Lodgement One Maximum of 35 players, Rookie Promotions, Father/Son selections, Retained (second-year) Rookies November 2pm Wednesday November 15 Draft Nominations Close 2pm Friday November 17 List Lodgement Two 2pm Wednesday November 22 Delisted Players Nominations Close 10am Saturday November 25 2006 NAB AFL Draft, held at Victory Room, Telstra Dome 2pm Tuesday November 28 Uncontracted Listed Players Nominations Close December 2pm Friday December 1 List Lodgement Three and TPP Estimates; International Rookie Player Nominations 2pm Friday December 8 Delisted Player Nominations Close 10am Tuesday December 12 NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft 10.15am Tuesday December 12 Nomination of Eligible Rookie Players (Brisbane Lions and Sydney) 10.30am Tuesday December 12 NAB AFL Rookie Draft You can be sure that by the end of December there will be changes made to the club's playing list which currently stands as follows: - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2006): SENIOR LIST: Clint Bartram, Matthew Bate, Daniel Bell, Clint Bizzell, Nathan Brown, Cameron Bruce, Simon Buckley, Nathan Carroll, Aaron Davey, Lynden Dunn, Ryan Ferguson, Simon Godfrey, Brad Green, Ben Holland, Mark Jamar, Chris Johnson, Paul Johnson, Travis Johnstone, Nathan Jones, James McDonald, Brock McLean, Brad Miller, Brent Moloney, Shannon Motlop, Heath Neville, Michael Newton, Alistair Nicholson, Byron Pickett, Phil Read, Jared Rivers, Russell Robertson, Nick Smith, Colin Sylvia, Daniel Ward, Paul Wheatley, Matthew Whelan, Jeff White, Adem Yze. VETERAN LIST: David Neitz. ROOKIE LIST: Jace Bode, Andre Gianfagna, Daniel Hughes, Shane Neaves, Matthew Warnock* * uplifted rookie

by Jaded With season 2006 done and dusted for the Melbourne Football Club Jaded takes a look at how each player performed and where she sees them going next season. 1 Simon Buckley Age:19 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 2 Nathan Jones Age: 18 Games: 8 Season Averages: Disposals: 14.1 Marks: 2.6 Tackles: 2.8 Clearances: 2.4 Inside 50's: 3 1%s: 2.8 Positives: * is 18 and already has the body of a 25 year old, * great hands in the packs, and definitely a good sense of where the ball is and how to get it out, * hard and physical and therefore exactly what we need. Negatives: * it's hard to be negative when at 18, and in his first year, Jones was able to slot into the midfield and have an impact, * his disposal could be better and he needs to be more accountable for his man going the other way. What's Next?: He will continue to improve over summer, and work closely with the midfield unit and our ruckmen. Doubt he could get much bigger, but will certainly adjust to the pace of AFL and have a huge impact next season. A big excitement factor. Prediction: Will become clearance buddies with McLean. 3 Clint Bizzell Age: 30 Games: 0 Bad year for Clint, suffering from a foot injury and never making it into the side. At 30 years of age, and with his limited accountability, his place in the side appears to be gone. Younger players have overtaken him, and rightly so. Is contracted, so will become a purely depth player. 4 Ben Holland Age: 29 Games: 15 Season Averages: Disposals: 10.7 Marks: 3.7 Tackles: 1.9 Rebounds: 1.9 1%s: 4.6 Positives: * finally moved into his natural position in the backline, where his experience and ball-reading ability were pivotal, * had some wonderful games on big forwards, and surprised many with his ability to defend against quicker opponents Negatives: * lacks speed and has the turning circle of The Titanic * at 29, he isn't getting any faster, younger or more agile. He won't be around forever, which is not really his fault is it? * his disposal is laughable at times, but is not so much of an issue down back. What's Next?: If he can keep up his form going into next season, he will continue to play. The danger is playing him if he doesn't have a match-up, as he turns into a benchwarmer. Hopefully he can continue to man up on the sort of forwards who always kill us, the gorillas. Prediction: Will tear Rocca apart on Queens Birthday once more. 5 Brock McLean warning: this is an extreme bias zone Age: 20 Games: 18 Season Averages: Disposals: 22.4 Marks: 5.1 Tackles: 4.8 Goals: 0.8 Clearances: 4.7 Inside 50's: 4.5 1%s: 4.3 Positives: * a brilliant clearance player, * great disposal, * amazing leadership qualities, * only 20, * ranked 14th in the league for first possessions, 13th for inside 50's, 10th in clearances per game. Negatives: * His body… but I'm clutching at straws! What's Next?: What isn't? This kid is just about the greatest thing since sliced bread. Despite certain nuff-nuffs declaring that he has no scope for improvement, he continues to develop with every game. Hopefully his body can stand up and he can therefore improve his endurance and play close to 90% of game time. He is in our top 3 most important players, and a future captain. If he has another great year next year, we’re a big chance. Prediction: Top 5 in Brownlow in 2007. 6 Matthew Bate Age: 19 Games: 13 Season Averages: Disposals: 16.5 Marks: 5.9 Tackles: 4.1 Goals: 0.6 Clearances: 1.8 Inside 50's: 4.3 1%s: 3.5 Positives * after spending a year with Sandy, Bate finally got to taste AFL, * didn't seem overawed by the transition, and slotted nicely into the midfield rotation at times, * great, smart player, who perhaps we didn't expect to see playing a role in the midfield this early. * can kick a goal, and has a nice long kick on him, * had the biggest impact on games of all the debutants. Negatives * tends to get lost in the midfield at times, although has no issue with positioning himself, * needs to work on his endurance, and become more aware of his direct opponent. He isn't good enough to play a purely attacking role just yet. What's Next? The kid has a big future ahead of him, no doubt. Hopefully he can improve his fitness over the pre-season and play 22 games next season (make that 25, thanks). He will be a versatile player similar to Cameron Bruce, playing both in the midfield and up forward. Prediction Best 18 by the end of next year. 7 Brad Miller Age: 23 Games: 15 Season Averages: Disposals: 12.4 Marks: 5.6 Tackles: 1.9 Goals: 0.3 Inside 50's: 1.3 1%s: 3.6 Positives: * good mark, * great work ethic and very competitive, * runs all day, despite injury concerns, * had a great game against Freo, after steady improvement in the last part of the season. Negatives: * Has no penetration in his kicking. In fact, for a forward he kicks like a defender, * Is a confidence player, but lacks confidence, * Is he a CHF or a CHB? He certainly doesn't kick enough goals at the moment to be a CHF. What's Next?: Miller has been a big talking point in 2006. Many people were quick to jump on the "Miller is Rubbish" bandwagon, but begged for forgiveness after his performance in the semi-final. No doubt Miller has had a poor season, due to a combination of injury woes, suspension and being moved around the ground. Will the debate of where he should play ever end? Hopefully it will after a strong pre-season, and improved kicking. If he can work on that part of his game, he will be a strong option at CHF. Prediction: Will be back in everyone's good books by the end of 2007 8 Alistair Nicholson Age: 28 Games: 0 Positives: * depth? * can play on super slow, super immobile forwards. Can anyone think how many of those are left in the game? Negatives: * he is slow, and therefore cannot play on any forwards who rely on fast leading, * his disposal figures are on the wrong side of ordinary, * he is 28. What's Next?: Not much I'm afraid. Is contracted, but hopefully an injury-free season to our key backmen will see him continue to play for Sandy. He has always been an admirable trier, but we'll never win an AFL flag if he's at FB. Prediction: Will retire, otherwise last season. 9 David Neitz Age: 31 Games: 21 Season Averages: Disposals: 9.8 Marks: 5 Tackles: 1.4 Goals: 3.2 1%s: 2.2 Positives: * our best, strongest, most productive forward, * the one and only true leader in our side, * after two ordinary season, the skipper returned to full fitness and had arguably his best season since he won the Coleman Medal, * finished 5th in goals & 9th in contested marks. Negatives: * cannot keep going at this rate, and with little support at his age, * how will his body feel next year, or the year after that? What's Next?: Nobody deserves a flag more than Neita. The man has carried this side for years, with absolutely no support. He had a brilliant season, and the equation is simple… another good one and we're a chance. If he starts to decline, we're in big trouble as there is no replacement on the horizon. If anyone can handle that sort of pressure, it's Neita. Hopefully they nurse him through pre-season and manage him the way they did this season. Prediction: Will captain the side next year (bold hey?) 10 Daniel Ward Age: 29 Games: 17 Season Averages: Disposals: 18.8 Marks: 6.5 Tackles: 3.2 Clearances: 1.6 Inside 50's: 2.4 Rebounds: 2.9 1%s: 3.3 Positives: * lots of pace and dash, even at 29, * is not afraid to break the lines and provide a rebound option * relatively hard at the contest, and won't take a backwards step Negatives: * disposal and decision making is very often poor, * for a defender, his disposals average is very good, but how many of those kicks are damaging? * not accountable. As a rebounding defender, he is not expected to play this opponent like a glove, but to be within a 10m radius is normally a good idea. Credit goes for his job on Milne in the final, but then again Milne did stuff up nearly every touch he had. What's Next?: He surprised a lot of people when he was selected and started to make an impact. Did he play above himself, or has he finally peaked at 29? As much as his pace and dash is needed in a team that is not known for speed, his accountability and disposal don't make him a damaging enough player. Going into next season, if some of our kids do not overtake him for a spot, it would be a major concern, but not necessarily a reflection on Ward. He works hard, but he cannot compete with some of the truly excellent half back flankers going around at the moment. Prediction: Depth 11 Paul Johnson Age: 22 Games: 2 Season Averages: (insufficient games played) Positives: * for someone who is 199cm tall, he has freakish ability below his knees, * far more competitive around the ground than Jamar, * is still very young and has scope for improvement, * his last piece of play for the season was inspirational, and showed a willingness to work hard and chase. Very important in a big man. Negatives: * as a ruckman, he is average. Certainly behind White and Jamar, * cannot take an overhead mark, which will prevent him from being a force up forward, * injury prone. What's Next?: Hopefully he suffers no long term affects from the shoulder reconstruction, and can continue to work on his marking and ruck work. He could be a nice addition to our forward line as a resting ruckman, but will find it difficult as long as Jamar and White are performing their ruck duties well. Could he be moulded into a defender? Prediction: Will keep finding his feet, and play about 10 games. 12 Colin Sylvia Age: 20 Games: 17 Season Averages: Disposals: 12.4 Marks: 4 Tackles: 4.4 Goals: 0.6 Clearances: 1.6 Inside 50's: 2.2 1%s: 3.9 Positives: * nice user of the ball, * ferocious tackler and loves a contest, * great mark for his size, * good kick for goal. Negatives: * has delusions of grandeur, or at least plays like he does, * doesn't get involved in the play enough, but it has to be said that he isn’t a forward, and he has had injury problems preventing him from running hard, * often waits to tackle the man with the ball, instead of going for the ball himself, * his body… will it ever allow him to get the best out of himself? What's Next?: Sylvia could become anything. If he can get over all his fitness issues, he'll be able to play where he truly shines, the midfield. Needs to go get his own ball, instead of expecting others to serve it to him on a silver platter. If Sylvia stays fit and has a significant impact in the midfield, our chances of winning a flag will certainly increase. Prediction: Will arrive! 13 Adem Yze Age: 29 Games: 24 Season Averages: Disposals: 19.8 Marks: 5.4 Tackles: 2.8 Goals: 1.2 Clearances: 1.9 Inside 50's: 3 1%s: 2.8 Positives: * talented, very talented. Always was a great kick and can manufacture a goal like no one else, * his durability undoubtedly a genetic mishap. At 28 (29 this week), he is not showing any signs of slowing down, * ranked 4th in the AFL for kicks. Negatives: * selfish and lazy, * when he is up forward, he refuses to chase his man. When he is in the middle, he refuses to man up. When he is down back, he never introduces himself to his opponent. Basically, he is as unaccountable as they come, * refuses to take the hits, and never goes when it’s his turn. Prefers to soccer the ball off the ground, instead of picking it up with both hands. What's Next?: Yze is the single most infuriating footballer on our list. *sigh* He can turn it on and play well, but he never does that when the team is in strife. After 250 odd games, he is far too comfortable in the side, and it shows. He has absolutely no urgency and does not do the team things. He is unlikely to change, but it would be nice if Daniher stopped selecting him when his form did not warrant it. It simply makes no sense why this man, above all others, gets an easy ride. Regardless of where he plays (and some advocate for him to play only up forward), he will continue to be ineffective if he plays like a millionaire, too scared to take the hits. Prediction: Won't change, but will drive many supporters to seek therapy. 14 Lynden Dunn Age: 19 Games: 11 Season Averages: Disposals: 9.8 Marks: 3.9 Tackles: 2.2 Goals: 1.2 1%s: 2.7 Positives: * despite spending the majority of last season with Sandringham reserves, didn't seem overawed when he debuted, * Has a good goal sense, and a nice straight kick, * Decent speed and very good below his knees. Negatives: * At 19 years of age, one can understand why Dunn is not yet ready for that CHF role. To put it simply, he isn't tough enough yet. His slight frame, and his lack of aggression means that he has a lot of work to do over summer. What's Next?: Gym work in the summer, and some boxing sessions with Carroll and Byron to toughen him up. If he can become more physically imposing, he will slot nicely into our forward line, maybe not as a CHF forward, but definitely as a key tall. Prediction: Will play the majority of games next year, with great success. 15 Nick Smith Age: 22 Games: 1 Season Averages: (insufficient games played) Positives: * remained injury free for an entire season (record?), * tall and strong and can take a mark, * is only 22, despite being around for what feels like a lifetime. Negatives: * is not a ruckman, * very slow and immobile What's Next?: After a stunning return of 4 games in 4 years (for a grand total of 7 disposals), it's hard to see Smith retained. With such limited opportunities, you can’t make a realistic judgement, and after all, he just turned 22. But the question has to be asked, are we wasting our time? Prediction: Gone (although if we manage to clear out our list, I'd keep him. HE IS ONLY 22 PEOPLE!) 16 Travis Johnstone Age: 26 Games: 23 Season Averages: Disposals: 21.8 Marks: 5.4 Tackles: 3.9 Goals: 0.5 Clearances: 3/3 Inside 50's: 4.3 Rebound: 3.5 1%s: 3.6 Positives: * the best, most intelligent ball user in the side, * 5th in the league for total kicks & 16th for inside 50's, * has improved his tackling skills, to adhere with new team rules, * his body is standing up for the second year in a row. Negatives: * cannot take the point kick-ins (a pet hate of mine!), * still prone to inconsistency, and had a shocker in finals, * very unaccountable. While it isn’t his primary role, he needs to pay more respect to his opponent. What's Next?: Hopefully will continue to improve and find that consistency from 2005 (which dropped slightly in 2006). No doubt that for us to win a premiership, Johnstone needs to be at his best. Using him off the bench in the first quarter seems like a good option, but again if he could improve his endurance he’d be even harder to tag. Prediction: AA in 2007 17 Chris Johnson Age: 20 Games: 9 Season Averages: Disposals: 12.3 Marks: 4.8 Tackles: 2.4 Inside 50's: 1.8 1%s: 2.6 Positives: * lovely user of the ball, * tall (189cm) but yet very athletic, * can play a variety of positions with ease. Negatives: * has to improve his urgency and attack on the ball. He tends to drift in and out of games, and needs to do more to cement a spot in the side, * could probably become a little harder at the contest as well. He is very much an outside player, but if he wants to play in the backline, he needs to be harder. What's Next?: CJ probably didn't get the sort of opportunities this season that he should have. Ward got on a roll, and Bartram and Bell were doing good defensive jobs, which didn’t leave much room for CJ. In our quest to find quality, skilled rebound defenders, we tend to overlook CJ. He is highly skilled, and hopefully will take over from Ward in an attacking defender role. He was recruited alongside McLean and Sylvia, so it really is time for him to start producing. Prediction: Will cement a spot in the 22 18 Brad Green Age: 25 Games: 23 Season Averages: Disposals: 22.1 Marks: 6.9 Tackles: 3.2 Goals: 0.5 Clearances: 1.6 Inside 50's: 3.7 1%s: 3.5 Positives: * has become a lot harder at the ball and the contest, * found his place in the side, with a wing/back-flanker role, * has become far more accountable and a lot less flashy, * his leadership really shone through. Probably our best leader for the year, aside from Neita. Negatives: * his kicking, once a strength, now a weakness. An ankle injury could be the cause, * still goes missing for long periods of time, and can have plenty of possessions but little influence on a game. What's Next?: Green took a huge step forward this year. He turned from a flashy forward and try-hard midfielder, into an honest and hard working wingman. Hopefully next year will bring more of the same, but with improved kicking. Should be rested up forward more. Prediction: Will be named as our stand-alone vice captain next year. 19 Clint Bartram Age: 18 Games: 22 Season Averages: Disposals: 11.2 Marks: 3.8 Tackles: 5 Goals: 0.3 Clearances: 0.4 Inside 50's: 1.2 1%s: 4.6 Positives * drafted at pick 60, and despite his slight frame, Bartram played a valuable role in the side, * managed to shut down some very good players, both in the midfield and down back. He may not have won every battle, but he never lost the willingness to fight, * great work-rate and attack on the ball. Is ranked 18th in the league for tackles, * didn't seem to have any issues with endurance, and in fact spent very little time on the bench, * our most consistent debutant. Should win best first-year player award. Negatives * his kicking can let him down at times. Needs to work on disposals by foot, * slight frame, but will hopefully continue to grow with another pre-season under his belt. What's Next? Onwards and upwards for Bartram. Will continue his run with roles, and therefore free Junior to play a more attacking game. Could possibly be moulded into another small defender, a la Whelan. Prediction Best 18 by the end of next year. 21 Daniel Bell Age: 21 Games: 11 Season Averages: Disposals: 12.3 Marks: 4.2 Tackles: 4.2 Clearances: 0.2 Rebounds: 2.9 1%s: 5.2 Positives * biggest positives came over the last month, as Bell overcame both his injuries and his apparent lack of awareness. * big, strong, and quick, but above all hard at the contest. Ferocious tackler, with good accountability. * did some solid defensive jobs towards the end of the year, and seems comfortable playing on the last line Negatives: * injuries continue to hammer his body. * awareness and decision making not the greatest. While he doesn't panic, he sometimes makes really ordinary decisions, which is a shame because his disposal by foot can be very good What's Next?: Hopefully he can stay injury free and continue to play at this level. Bell is very much a confidence player, so the more games he gets, the better he’ll become. As his body and mind adapts to AFL, we may see him utilise his speed and strength in the midfield. Prediction Next year, to the wing! 22 Brent Moloney Age: 22 Games: 7 Season Averages: Disposals: 15.3 Marks: 3.9 Tackles: 2.6 Clearances: 2.6 Inside 50's: 4.1 1%s: 1.7 Positives: * big, long, accurate kick, * hard at the ball and the man * decent inside player, very good outside player * is very important in delivering the ball into the forward 50 Negatives: * it's hard to assess Moloney's season. When he played, he was clearly bothered by his groin, but even so, his numbers are not bad. * he can be a little one dimensional, by always choosing to kick long * not the most accountable midfielder What's Next?: A full pre-season, and a quick recovery from OP. If he can get himself back to full fitness, he’ll be a walk-up start in our side once again. He is very important to our midfield make-up, and our attacking style of play (when we choose to play it). Prediction: Will struggle to play a full season because of the long term affects of his injury (I hope I’m wrong!) 23 James McDonald Age: 29 Games: 24 Season Averages: Disposals: 23.6 Marks: 4.9 Tackles: 6.9 Goals: 0.2 Clearances: 4 Inside 50's: 3 1%s: 5.6 Positives: * had his best season to date, * first in the league for tackles, 7th for disposals, 8th for 1%ers, 5th for handballs, 11th for clearances, * the most honest, hardest working midfielder in the team. Will put his head over the ball every time, and tackle at every opportunity, * hasn't lost his defensive side, * our most consistent player in 2006 Negatives: * very hard to find negatives for our AA midfielder. * at 29 he won't get much better… will he? * lacks polish in his disposals. What's Next?: Hard to say. At 29, he won’t get any better. If he can match his output from this year, our chances of winning a premiership will be greatly enhanced. Should his form drop, he will revert back to doing purely defensive jobs. Either way, he will continue to be the heart and soul of our midfield. Prediction Will no longer be "the most underrated player in the AFL", 24 Russell Robertson Age: 27 Games: 23 Season Averages: Disposals: 10.6 Marks: 4.6 Tackles: 1.8 Goals: 1.9 Inside 50's: 1.4 1%s: 2.7 Positives: * Great contested mark, despite carrying multiple injuries * Always gives a contest and takes second best defender * Ranked 20th in the league for contested marks & 17th for goals Negatives: * Finished with 44 goals this year, compared with 73 last year (taking his average goals per game from 3.2 to 1.9). Injuries are without a doubt the reason for his drop * His accuracy has not been as good as last year, possibly due to that knee? * Was at times not accountable enough for his man and did not give chase. What's Next?: It's hard to judge Robbo given he was carrying both a knee and a shoulder injury, and looked just about done by Round 20. He fought admirably given his injuries, and the dominance of Neitz. 44 goals is not a bad result, but no doubt his output and accountability needs to improve. With a proper rest, Robbo will be as good as new and back to his marking best. Prediction: Will return to the Robbo of old in 2007. 25 Nathan Brown Age: 30 Games: 8 Season Averages: Disposals: 16.4 Marks: 6.6 Tackles: 2.4 Goals: 0.4 Clearances: 1.2 Inside 50's: 2.4 1%s: 1.9 Positives * Brown never changes. He will always give you 100% and has the biggest heart on the field. Negatives * the game is, very sadly, passing him by. His disposals, decision making and accountability have always been shaky, but especially now. * overtaken by Bell and Bartram down back, and rightfully so. What's Next?: Tough call. He has been such a great servant of the club that you have to go with your heart on this one. Might stay on for another year, provide some help for the boys coming through and play some odd games when required. Prediction: Last season. 26 Heath Neville Age:18 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 27 Jared Rivers Age: 21 Games: 22 Season Averages: Disposals: 13.8 Marks: 5.5 Tackles: 3 Rebounds: 2.2 1%s: 7.4 Positives: * genius ball reader, * courage by the bucket-loads, * very good user of the ball, and mark, * ranked 2nd in the league for 1%ers, * is comfortable deep in defence or further up the field. Negatives: * will he ever get bigger? Currently he is 92kg, * struggles against super strong forwards due to his size, * plays as a loose defender too much, as opposed to having a quality opponent, which he is capable of shutting down. What's Next?: If he can get himself up to 96kg, not only will he get injured less often, he'll be able to compete against bigger opponents. He’ll continue to improve, and it’s a credit to him that he bounced back after an ordinary 2005. Would love to see him get bigger jobs. He is very capable! Prediction: Leadership group in 2007. 28 Phillip Read Age: 26 Games: 5 Season Averages: Disposals: 13.4 Marks: 5.2 Tackles: 5.8 Goals: 0.2 Clearances: 1 Inside 50's: 1.6 1%s: 2.8 Positives: * hard and loves to tackle, * can find the ball, * knows how to annoy the opposition. Negatives: * average to below average ball use/disposals, * nut case and gives away too many stupid free kicks. What's Next?: He's 26, but I doubt very much he’ll improve. Read is a goer, he plays hard and tries hard, but he is no premiership player. His disposals and frequent brain-fades make him a liability more than an asset. We drafted him because we needed aggression, sadly that's about the only criteria he meets, and we have plenty who are better at that now. If he gets another contract, it will be purely for insurance purposes. Prediction: Gone. 29 Michael Newton Age: 19 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 30 Simon Godfrey Age: 25 Games: 16 Season Averages: Disposals: 14 Marks: 3.7 Tackles: 2.9 Clearances: 1.2 Inside 50's: 3.1 1%s: 2.7 Positives: * Godfrey is Godfrey. When he plays, you know exactly what you're going to get from him, * has the endurance and fitness to run all day, and doesn't shy away from the contest. Will give you 100% every time he steps onto the field. Negatives: * his negatives are well publicised. He can’t kick, his decision making is ordinary, and his tagging ability seems to get less effective every season. What's Next?: He is a Daniher favourite, for his endeavour and work ethic. He is only 25, so I can't see him being delisted. Will remain as depth, and play when required. Prediction: Will still miss targets by foot 31 Paul Wheatley Age: 25 Games: 7 Season Averages: Disposals: 12.4 Marks: 5.3 Tackles: 2 Inside 50's: 2.1 Rebounds: 3.7 1%s: 2.6 Positives: * nice long kick, * good reader of the play, * good pace, * the right size and height to play small or tall, * very good at point kick-ins (probably his biggest asset). Negatives: * not hard enough, or urgent enough at the ball or contest, * consider that he was drafted alongside Bruce, Green and Whelan, he is yet to establish himself as a permanent fixture in the side. What's Next?: His future at Melbourne doesn’t look great. Injuries have held him back this season, but overall it's hard to see where he fits in the side. Could probably play a similar role to Rivers, but is not ahead of him. Could play on the wing, but would not get a game ahead of the likes of Green, Bruce or TJ. His lack of aggression is what really hurts him. The club could look at trading him, as he is only 25 and does have a nice set of skills on him. Prediction: Trade bait 32 Cameron Bruce Age: 26 Games: 23 Season Averages: Disposals: 23.3 Marks: 7.6 Tackles: 4.2 Goals: 0.9 Clearances: 1.8 Inside 50’s: 3.6 1%s: 5.1 Positives * started the season like a house on fire, showing his sublime talents once again, * played some vital roles, both in defence, in the midfield and up forward. The most versatile player in our side, he really is "Mr. Fix It", * to his credit, has become harder at the contest, and more accountable. Is also winning more of his own ball, which makes him even more dangerous, * Ranked 10th in the league for marks, 13th for uncontested possessions. Negatives * faded along with the rest of the side, possibly due to injuries, * ranked 12th in the league for errors, a damning statistic for someone so talented! * his kicking is downright shocking at times, especially in front of goal, * his leadership skills are still being questioned, after failing to lift in the last part of the season and in the finals. What's Next? Bruce is capable of almost anything. If he finally finds the consistency in his game (and being injury free for a whole season will help!), our chances will increase dramatically. Hopefully he can improve his kicking over summer. Should not be in the leadership group next season. Prediction AA wing in 2007 33 Byron Pickett Age: 29 Games: 20 Season Averages: Disposals: 14.7 Marks: 5 Tackles: 3.3 Goals: 0.4 Clearances: 1.8 Inside 50's: 3 1%s: 3.3 Positives: * he brought to our side exactly what we hoped he would … aggression and experience, * very good user of the ball and can read the play well, * scares the crap out of opposition players, and can generally impose himself on a match just by bumping someone off the ball. Negatives: * overweight and unfit, and therefore cannot run out matches, * looks disinterest at times, and could do more to get involved. What's Next?: A long, long, LONG pre-season in the gym and away from Krispy Kremes. He needs to improve his fitness and his endurance, so that he can become more involved in the play. If he does that successfully, he'll continue to play an important role as an aggressor and leader of "I'm going to make you cry like a girl" brigade. Prediction: Will trim down over summer (fingers crossed). 34 Jeff White Age: 29 Games: 24 Season Averages: Disposals: 16.9 Marks: 5.8 Tackles: 2.5 Goals: 0.5 Clearances: 2.5 Inside 50's: 1.9 1%s: 3.5 Positives: * 2nd in the league for hit outs despite spending less time on the ground than ever before, * Mobile and athletic despite his size and age, * Good user of the ball and a decent mark. Negatives: * how many of his hit outs have been to advantage? * the circle has affected him, and the older he gets, and the bigger his opponents become, the less effective he'll be. * does not have the sort of impact around the ground like he used to. This could be due to higher rate of rotation with Jamar * is hopeless up forward, which doesn't make him nearly as versatile as he should be. What's Next?: He'll continue to be our number one ruckman, but we cannot expect him to keep carrying the load. He is only 195cm, which in today's game, is barely tall enough to be a KPP let alone a ruckman. His athleticism hasn’t dropped off, and he has a big motor. We need to utilise those aspects and demand for a bigger output around the ground. Will be 30 when the season starts, so will most likely have a reduced role in the ruck, to preserve him for finals. Prediction: Will have a reduced role 35 Ryan Ferguson Age: 24 Games: 3 Season Averages: (insufficient games played) Positives: * courage, almost stupid at times. And a great work ethic, make for a very likable player, * good reader of the ball, and can play that loose defender role quite well. Negatives: * at 24, Ferguson isn't getting any bigger. Put simply, he is too slight to take a key forward, and is not likely to overtake Rivers for the third tall position, * not the most accountable defender, and quite often he gets caught behind his man. If you're constantly running with the flight of the ball, you're not necessarily doing your job as a defender. What's Next?: If Ferguson is not traded, he will continue to be on the cusp of selection. As depth, he is very good and could be quite handy if Rivers is injured. Prediction Will be traded and enjoy more opportunities at another club. 36 Aaron Davey Age: 23 Games: 21 Season Averages: Disposals: 15.2 Marks: 3.8 Tackles: 4.6 Goals: 1.7 Clearances: 2.2 Inside 50's: 3 1%s: 4 Positives: * continued to improve, showing more consistency in the first half of the season, * his evasive skills and speed are, and always will be, what makes him such a wonderful player to watch, and a hard match-up, * puts enormous pressure on opposition players, * goal kicking has improved dramatically from last year. Negatives: * still has a problem with being hot and cold throughout matches, which is probably the nature of what he is… a mercurial goal sneak, * lost his cool in finals, and has yet to play a dominant role in that pressure atmosphere, * is ranked 18th in frees against, and 2nd in errors. Again, the nature of his game means that those stats will be hard to improve. What's Next?: The thing that Davey really needs to work on, is his mental resilience. While his work-rate is there, he needs to take that extra step towards maturity. With another pre-season under his belt, a bigger role in the midfield is possible. Prediction: Will learn to tackle front-on. 37 Matthew Warnock (rookie list) Age: 22 Games: 2 Season Averages: (insufficient games played) Positives: * big but very agile * quick off the mark and is therefore capable of playing on fast leading forwards Negatives: * hard to judge someone who has only played 2 games, and is just 22. * his biggest issue appears to be disposals, but as a defender, he could get away with that! * Needs to put on more muscle, as he is only 92kg and currently could be pushed aside by stronger opponents. What's Next?: With Holland almost at the end, and Nicho's career appearing to be over, Warnock becomes very important. If he can have a big pre-season in the gym, he will play a role in defence next year. We still seem to be one KP defender short, so the opportunity is there. After spending two years doing an apprenticeship with Sandy, he could be the extra key defender we're looking for. Prediction: Permanent promotion from rookie list and surprise packet of 2007. 38 Daniel Hughes (rookie list) Age:19 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 39 Shane Neaves (rookie list) Age:19 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 40 Mark Jamar Age: 23 Games: 22 Season Averages: Disposals: 4.5 Marks: 2.3 Tackles: 1.9 Goals: 0.5 Clearances: 1.1 1%s: 2 Positives: * took a big step this season in the ruck, * his tap work is very good, and was pivotal in some games where White was ineffective, * ranked 19th in the league in total hit outs, * has the size to trouble big ruckman, * can take a big grab and kick goals (even under pressure). Negatives: * disposals average is deplorable. Less than 5 possessions a game is just not good enough. Needs to get a lot more involved in games, * he is virtually immobile. He can’t run with opposition ruckman, so when he isn’t rucking it’s forward or bench. What's Next?: He has overtaken Paul Johnson, but that could change very quickly. No doubt he provides good service in the ruck, and at the moment that is what we need. However, with the decline of White, Jamar will get more responsibility and bigger jobs. He has improved his fitness from last year, but needs to take that extra step to become more competitive around the ground. Prediction: Will do 55%+ of the rucking in 2007 41 Nathan Carroll Age: 25 Games: 23 Season Averages: Disposals: 7.5 Marks: 5.3 Tackles: 1.5 Rebounds: 3.6 1%s: 4.1 Positives: * out of the wilderness, came Carroll and took over the Full Back position * continued his surprising form in late 2005, and grew into the position with every game. * did some great defensive jobs, and has significantly improved his Disposals and attack on the ball * is not afraid to leave his man and create the rebound, and definitely doesn’t shy away from the rough stuff Negatives * with only 40 games experience, Carroll is still raw. * was smashed by a super strong, fast, forward in Bradshaw, and can get caught on the lead sometimes, * his disposals, while improving, can still be shaky What's Next?: Eighteen months ago, we wanted him gone. Twelve months ago, we thought his late form was a fluke. This season, he was being talked about in the same breath as Rutten and Glass for the AA Full Back position. If he continues to improve at this rate, we’ll be a better side for it. Another full pre-season, and with the confidence he gained this year, he will have another solid season in 2007. Predictions Look out for a red & blue Mohawk in the pre-season, and a "Nicho" beard. 42 Andre Gianfagna (rookie list) Age:19 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 43 Jace Bode (rookie list) Age:19 Games: 0 Yet to make his AFL debut. 44 Shannon Motlop Age: 28 Games: 3 Season Averages: (insufficient games played) Positives: * has decent speed and evasive skills, * ok at VFL. Negatives: * very poor at AFL, * not hard enough at the contest, and generally just seems lost on the field, * is he actually fit enough to play AFL? What's Next?: We took a punt on Motlop when Troy passed away, and it hasn't worked. Very hard to judge someone on 3 games, but we've seen more than enough last year. He was given an opportunity, but couldn’t grab it. Possibly the transition back into AFL was too big a task. Prediction: Delisted 45 Matthew Whelan Age: 26 Games: 19 Season Averages: Disposals: 15.8 Marks: 4.9 Tackles: 3.3 Rebounds: 3.6 1%s: 4.4 Positives: * or best (and only?) small defender, * accountable but also smart enough to know when to leave his man and attack, * ferocious tackler and unwavering in his attack on the ball. Negative: * has rotten luck with injuries, especially when finals are concerned. What's Next?: There is not much more that Whelan can do. He is one of the best small defenders in the competition, and if he occasionally received some help, he could become more damaging by leaving his man and attacking. His Disposals is excellent, and we only wish everyone tackled like him. The question is, if we found someone to do the shut-down job, could we use him for pace and creativity off the half-back line? The key for Whelan next year is to manage his body. He'll be 27 by the time next season starts, but he is so important to our team that we cannot afford to lose him to injury at crucial times. Prediction: Will be given more freedom as Bell and Bartram take on defensive roles.

by Barry from Beach Road Another great chapter in the history of the Sandringham Football Club was written on Sunday at MC Labour Oval when it became the first VFL team in over two decades to complete a hat trick of premierships with its magnificent three-goal victory over Geelong in the 2006 TruEnergy Grand Final. The Zebras followed the usual pattern established in recent grand finals. They controlled the game throughout but, just as the premiership cup seemed within their keeping, they loosened their grasp late in the proceedings and then held on in the manner of all true champions to overcome the opposition surge and to ultimately triumph. The Zebras kicked with the aid of a strong but swirling wind and opened proceedings in brilliant fashion when a well directed hand pass from half forward Lynden Dunn found Shannon Motlop and the left footer scored the first major of the day. More goals followed to Dunn and Nick Sautner as Sandy skipped to a 21 point lead early in the opening term. The Cats steadied for two goals in the space of a couple of minutes before the Zebras gained a little momentum late in the quarter with another goal. The quarter time lead of 13 points did not appear to be enough in view of the strong wind advantage they had enjoyed and it would have been even less had Geelong youngster Ryan Gamble not kicked into the man on the mark after the siren had sounded. . Sandringham's defence has been legendary in recent seasons and it held together magnificently in the second quarter keeping the Cats to just two goals while the Zebras kicked two of their own to maintain a two goal lead at the main break. Midfielder Phil Read continued on with his sensational form of the past month and was an absolute ball magnet all day leading a dominant midfield brigade of hard workers including Peter Summers, young Nathan Jones and veteran Guy Rigoni who announced his retirement from football after the game. Together they kept up a constant supply of the football to running players in Paul Wheatley, David Gallagher and the ever-elusive and dangerous Shannon Motlop. Despite the difficult conditions, Sandringham continued to maintain control in the third term and extended its lead to 34 points when Nick Smith kicked a goal on the siren at three quarter time. The final quarter began as a battle of attrition with both defences well on top and the respective attacks unable to find the big sticks. Sandy had actually increased its lead by a further point as the ten minute mark approached. It looked virtually home and hosed to win its third premiership flag on the trot at that stage. But football is a funny game and the Cats lifted against the run of play with five unanswered goals in the space of ten minutes. Suddenly, the Zebra lead was less than a goal and Geelong was poised to steal the game. Sandy players were out on their feet with exhaustion and it seemed only a matter of time before their lead would evaporate and take with it their hopes for the season. And just to underline the funny nature of the game, Sandringham regained the ascendancy through the agency of an unlikely goal kicking hero in defender Andy Biddlecombe. The Zebra back pocket player who made this year’s VFL team of the year in that position hadn’t kicked a goal for more than two seasons when he went forward and took a handpass from courageous skipper Chad Liddell. The ensuing goal saw his team gather a bit of momentum and then he capped it off with a difficult goal from the pocket after receiving a free kick. Biddlecombe’s two goals snuffed out the Geelong resistance and put the game beyond doubt. Several players were involved in the hat trick of premierships but it was the fifth premiership for full forward Nick Sautner who worked hard to get into shape for the season. The game was a case of déjà vu for the spearhead whose third goal came from an absolute “gimme� of a free kick when a pair of Geelong defenders infringed against him after he had missed an easy snap for goal. Zebra defenders Ryan Ferguson, Alistair Nicholson and Clint Bizzell were outstanding on the day proving once again that a strong defence is invaluable in the high pressure of finals football. Sandringham has now collected 10 VFA/VFL premiership cups - 1946, 1962, 1985, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006 and established an amazing record in that its last seven flags have been achieved at the rate of one every two seasons. Coach Mark Williams dedicated this latest premiership to Sandringham’s late president Gary Gilchrist who tragically passed away in July. It was a fitting tribute to the tireless leader of a club made up of many dedicated, hard working people who will honour his memory and celebrate this achievement for a long time to come. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Clint Bizzell - a solid game at half back by man who showed all the hallmarks of "the general" of past years. The Biz has had a difficult season with injury but has shown that he still has a role in defence even after a year's lay off. Took a great pack mark at a crucial juncture during the last quarter. Lynden Dunn - was in everything early but the Geelong defence was on to him and they played him much tighter after the first break. Ryan Ferguson - had the difficult job of blanketing young Cats' star Nathan Ablett who has been hot during the finals. Not only did he fulfill the task superbly was but he also was brilliant in every facet of his defensive work and was close to his team's best. Chris Johnson - played a fine game, took some excellent marks and his disposal was generally very good. Should slot into the Demons' team as a regular in 2007. Nathan Jones - a strong performance both on the ball and was lively up forward, especially in the last quarter when a couple of early snaps at goal could have finished the Cats' campaign 20 minutes earlier had they been accurate. Shannon Motlop - mercurial, solid ball handler who bobbed up for a couple of nice goals. Shane Neaves - shaded in the ruck by the stronger bodied Blake but his overall performance was reasonable for a big man on a long learning curve. Alistair Nicholson - marked and defended strongly for most of the day. Added solidity to an already very effective defensive unit. Nick Smith - had a good game, marking strongly and kicking a couple of goals. Did well when in ruck. Phil Read - capped off a sensational season and was in everything. Ended the day with leather poisoning and the Norm Goss Medal for best on ground in the grand final. Matthew Warnock - had a tough job on Kent Kingsley and stuck to the task although the Geelong full forward finished with four for the day. Paul Wheatley - added a lot of dash to wing with his run and long kicking. His goal in the third quarter from a long way out was an absolute gem. Sandringham 4.3.27 6.4.40 11.9.75 13.13.91 Geelong 2.2.14 4.3.27 6.5.41 11.7.73 Goals Sautner 3 Biddlecombe Motlop Smith 2 Dunn Gallagher Liddell Wheatley Best Read Motlop Gallagher Wheatley Summers Nicholson Smith Ferguson Rigoni Liddell Injury Liddell (face, concussion) Umpires Mollison Ryan Stewart Crowd 8,000 (est.) at MC Labour Park

by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham marched into its third successive VFL Grand Final with a resounding 80 point victory over Northern Bullants at TEAC OVAL, Port Melbourne on Saturday. The Bullants drew first blood with an early goal but Sandy soon established its dominance with a booming kick from Paul Wheatley and from then on it was a one-way street as the Zebras took control all over the ground, scoring goal after goal to take a 31 point lead into the first break after the flow was temporarily stopped on the siren by a shot from Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin. The Sandy midfield led by Phil Read, Peter Summers, Guy Rigoni, Shannon Motlop and Simon Godfrey who blanketed the dangerous Daniel Harford, provided the supply to its multifaceted attacking line and they weren’t let down by their forwards. The leader of the pack was Sandringham’s "Mr. September" who once again put in a scintillating display at half forward. He marked everything that came his way and was just too good for anybody who Bullant Coach Barry Mitchell could throw at him. By the end of the day, he had five goals to his credit but he also gave away as many with his creative forward work. The second quarter was much the same as the first but the Zebras accuracy in front of goal lapsed somewhat. Still, they squeezed what little there remained of any resistance from the Bullants who amazingly lost more games in the final series than they did during the home and away season when they finished on top with 17 wins and just one defeat. That had been enough to put them four games ahead of this week’s grand finalists Sandringham and Geelong but, under finals pressure, they clearly wilted. That Bullant ascendancy during the normal season had been established with a winning on ball division, a strong defence and a prolific forward line that kicked big scores in many of their games. The Zebra defence however, was not going to let much through on this day. Even without the injured Andy Biddlecombe, who was one of the stars of the Sandy backline this year, and with two players – Chris Johnson and Matthew Warnock – arriving back in Melbourne on the red eye express from Perth at some ungodly hour of the morning, Sandy was just too strong in defence for the Bullants. Led by skipper Chad Liddell and Clint Bizzell (19 disposals off half back) the Zebras refused to allow even a light breeze pass through. Bizzell, Ryan Ferguson (who, on return from a month out with injury, held Digby Morell to just two goals) and Alistair Nicholson have all had their fair share on injury this year but were back to their best on Saturday. And Chris Lamb was miserly when at full back and showed his versatility by pinch hitting in the ruck when Shane Neaves, who more than held his own there, needed a rest. Sandringham continued to grind the opposition into the dust as the match went on. It won every quarter and stretched its lead out to 80 points at the final bell. The last quarter looked more like a training drill than the final stanza of a preliminary final. The Zebras are making a habit of thrashing the Bullants in finals of late. The Sandy dominance is not accidental as there is no argument in football circles that its VFL playing list is the best in the competition. Rod Crowe shone at half forward and got better as the game went on to finish with 21 disposals, eight marks and four goals and just behind Mr. September as his team’s best. Summers, Rigoni, David Gallagher and Shane Valenti were all dangerous throughout the game. After the game, dual premiership coach Mark Williams coach was the master of understatement when he said of Sandringham’s 23.14.152 to 10.12.72 victory:- "It was our best performance of the year, because it was under the most pressure". Williams and the Zebra selectors will face a difficult task when they sit down to select their team for Sunday’s grand final against the Cats. Of the team that stitched up the Bullants, only Simon Godfrey is ineligible to play but on the credit side they have Daniel Bell, Nathan Brown, Nathan Jones and Nick Smith due to return while Biddlecombe is certain to be back from injury. The other major task after the easy win will be to keep his players feet on the ground and resolute in their task of creating history for the club by winning its third flag on the trot. The Grand Final will be at Princes Park on Sunday 24th September. The game starts at 2pm and all supporters are urged to be there. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Clint Bizzell - a strong performance at half back. Got plenty of the ball and is returning to the form that we know he is capable of after missing the bulk of the year with injury. Lynden Dunn - flashed in and out of the play and booted a couple of goals but is capable of more. Ryan Ferguson - stuck to the task on Digby Morell and showed no ill effects of the knee injury he sustained against the Sydney Swans on 12th August. Simon Godfrey - performed the job of tagging Daniel Harford and frustrated the star midfielder all day rendering him of little value to the Bullants. Danny Hughes - limited opportunities as an interchange player but did what he had to do well. Might struggle however, to get a game next week when three or four players from Melbourne's finals campaign are eligible to return. Chris Johnson - was relatively subdued but did enough considering that he spent part of the night before and the morning of the game in flight across the Nullarbor. Shannon Motlop - kicked a couple of goals and was handy without being outstanding. Shane Neaves - performed well in the ruck in the absence of Nick Smith and is definitely worth persevering with in view of the shortage of talented ruckmen around the place. Alistair Nicholson - played one of his best games and at times was positively cat-like in his approach to the football. Will be invaluable next week against the Cats. Phillip Read - continues his late season stellar form with the Zebras. Hard and tough in the midfield and a bonus around the packs. Matthew Warnock - did what he had to do and showed some dash moving the ball out of defence. Paul Wheatley - also returning after a lay off through injury, Wheatley showed his class with his pace and long, accurate kicking. Sandringham 7.1.43 11.7.73 15.10.100 23.14 152 Northern Bullants 2.0.12 4.2.26 7.8.50 10.12.72 Goals Poyas 5 Crowe 4 Dunn Gallagher Motlop Sautner 2 Ferguson Godfrey C Johnson Liddell Valenti Wheatley Best Poyas Liddell Bizzell Nicholson Gallagher Crowe GRAND FINAL DETAILS Sandringham v Geelong MC Labour Park (Princes Park, Carlton) Sunday 24 September 2:10pm Ticket details are as follows: Adults $20 Concessions $12 Pensioners $12 Children 15yrs and under FREE! Thanks to TRUenergy Bus to the Game There will be a bus transporting Zebra fans from Trevor Barker Beach Oval to the Grand Final on Sunday. The bus leaves at 12pm sharp and will transport fans back to Trevor Barker Beach Oval after the match. Tickets are $15 and BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. Call the club on 9598 8629 to secure your seat. Post Match Function Win, lose or draw all Zebra fans are welcome back to the Zeb Bar and Function Centre at Trevor Barker Beach Oval for the post match function after Sunday's Grand Final.

by Whispering Jack Oh, the agony of it all. I hate watching live games of football involving my own team on television. It removes me far enough from the action so that I can have no influence whatsoever on the result of the game. I can't cheer the team on, call out "ball" at the top of my lungs when an opposition player is caught with the footy and I can't abuse the umpires when they pay a decision against my team. That was just one of the things that gave Fremantle an advantage over Melbourne when it consigned the Demons to the football wilderness for yet another year; 42,505 fans, the majority of them generating endless kilowatts of energy to get their team over the line. That, and the local ground where Dockers played four of their last five home and away games, where the local weather conditions can overwhelm the visitors as they did on Friday night and where Fremantle pure and simple outplayed Melbourne in most facets of the game. Demon coach Neale Daniher said after the game that "we ran out of legs." Pardon me, but that happened to be blindingly obvious to us punters but why was it so? Why did Melbourne capitulate to the elements and lose its intensity after just a quarter and a half, while Fremantle kept running all night? Weren't the Dockers coming off a six-day break as against Melbourne's seven days. Hadn't they played a tough game in difficult windy conditions against the Crows last week in Adelaide? The fact is that the Dockers exploited their advantages well. The first of these was their home ground advantage, the second was the ruck advantage which was apparent when the teams met at Subiaco in Round 16 and wasn't countered this time, the third was the midfield advantage which, in part flowed from their ruck superiority and the fourth was that their game plan worked more effectively. In some ways you could roll all of the above factors into one package and say that Melbourne was beaten by the better team on the night but that would again be stating the obvious. I'm concerned that we're really not learning from our mistakes. We blew four premiership points in Round 1 when we lost to Carlton and, although we regrouped and started winning games and were well placed for a top four spot (and possibly a home final by finishing in the top two) by the end of Round 17, we blew it a second time against Carlton in the return match by repeating some of the same errors from the first game. Teams rarely win flags when they lose twice to the wooden spooner. Similarly, when Sandilands smashed Melbourne's rucks single-handedly at Subiaco, it was obvious that the situation had to be redressed. This was made more difficult by Mark Jamar's injury but was the answer to bring in a player in who the selectors have had no faith for the whole season? When opposed to a 211cm giant with ruckmen in the 195-198cm range you have to nullify his effectiveness in getting the ball to his players. You can attack the giant himself or you can focus the attack on his midfield. The first option was a difficult ask for White or anybody else and the second was going to be harder with Clint Bartram and Matthew Whelan out injured. Cameron Bruce was used as a stopper on Peter Bell, an initiative that has worked in the past but was ineffective this time. To make matters worse, apart from Brock McLean, the midfield was well beaten. The Dockers got the first half dozen clearances out of the middle and this effectively set them up because it averted the possibility of an early blow out when Melbourne was running hot. Then, with the initial midfield set up not working there wasn't enough done to change the midfield flow in favour of the Dockers. Our youngsters were overawed, we tired and the Dockers just kept on getting better. The Demons missed their main opportunity when they went to a 16-point lead halfway through the second quarter. With the ball near the boundary at half forward, skipper David Neitz tapped the ball on the ground to keep it in play, it was snapped up by the Docker defence and moved forward for a goal. It was only one piece of play in two hours and I'm not blaming Neita, who worked pretty hard and had limited opportunities, but it was an important time of the game. A time where we had to apply the screws on Fremantle but instead they got the even break. They saw the opening and after that, they played us for the suckers. After that, we were the ones who were smashed just about everywhere on the ground. Fremantle did that by controlling the centre corridor; they switched the play and travelled down there as often as they could and set up their opportunities in that way. By contrast, Melbourne played the possession game, slowing the tempo and trying to control proceedings with stop-start football. More often than not the Demons ended up playing wide and getting into trouble. Melbourne did well however, to cover two areas that were considered problematic before the game. Nathan Carroll did a more than serviceable job on Matthew Pavlich and Daniel Bell was fantastic subduing the Wizard. In many way, Bell has "arrived" as a footballer in the past month. I hope he goes on and is groomed to join McLean in the midfield because he has the pace that this game clearly demonstrated is badly needed in the club's engine room. The stand out for Melbourne was Brad Miller at centre half forward who played a close to career best game after a disappointing season in which he needed to discover himself. Perhaps the club's coaching panel needed to discover him as well. If I have one criticism of his game is that he led too often to the flanks (perhaps that was the plan). I would have preferred him to be taking his marks inside the corridor so that the team could have straightened up a little but perhaps, it's just that were too used to playing well at the MCG where the win/loss ratio was 11/12 compared to 3.5/8.5 away from home. Which is the crux of it all, isn't it? Melbourne has to start winning more games away from home. In order to do things like that, I see the future of the club lying with the four horsemen McLean, Colin Sylvia, Bell and Brent Moloney along with Matthew Bate and Nathan Jones (who were both overawed by the occasion on Friday night). These blokes will spend the summer along with most of their team mates stewing that they couldn't contribute more in their team's hour of need. I read recently about how McLean took the Calder Cannons' loss badly in the 2002 TAC Cup Grand Final when he conceded a couple of goals in a close finish and swore to his coach that he would make it up to him the next year. Melbourne might have done better on the night at Subiaco had Simon Godfrey and/or Phil Read played but it would have been a much bigger loss for the club in the long run. I hate losing and I hate having to try to rationalise defeats and looking for the positives at a time like this but I feel a lot better now for the fact that Bate, Bell and Jones were in the side than had they not been. It's a pity that Chris Johnson, Lynden Dunn, possibly Matthew Warnock and definitely, Clint Bartram receive the experience of finals football as well. The team was let down by some of its leaders. We all know who they are and a couple of them are in for some heavy soul searching in the weeks and months to come. I know that a youngster like Brock will come out of this season with one purpose and that is to ensure that next time round, his team gets it right and goes all the way. Nothing else should be acceptable from those in leadership positions at the club and for that reason, he should be anointed vice captain for next year with the aim of taking over the team's ultimate on ground leadership for 2008. Melbourne 3.0.18 7.3.45 10.4.64 11.8.74 Fremantle 3.3.21 7.9.51 11.15.81 14.18.102 Goals Neitz Robertson 3 Davey 2 McLean Miller Yze Best Miller Carroll Bell Brown Green McLean Johnstone Injuries Nil Reports Nil Umpires Vozzo McInerney Goldspink Crowd 42,505 at Subiaco Oval

by The Oracle It was not so long ago that St. Kilda ventured out west to play a rampaging Fremantle under lights at Subiaco Oval in Round 20. The hosts inflicted a clinical 58-point thumping on the visitors whose coach Grant Thomas complained after the game that it felt as if his team had been hit by a truck. This week, Melbourne has a tough assignment. It must avoid the same heavy vehicle and return to Victoria unscathed and ready to take part in further battles in its 2006 campaign. I believe it will accomplish this mission comfortably. Like the Saints, the Demons also succumbed to the Dockers at Subiaco in the second half of the season but in that Round 16 match up, they were not demolished as were the Saints. In fact, Melbourne's 29-point loss was more self-inflicted than caused by the superiority of the home side. It was an ordinary effort all the way from the team selection, to the coaching on the day, to the game plan, the set ups, some poor individual efforts, undisciplined play, poor kicking for goal - everything went wrong. So much so that the team as a whole and several of the individuals who make up the team have the incentive of making up for past errors and in particular of redressing the damage done on that fateful day. The Demons came home the following week and did a number on the Western Bulldogs but they lost three stars to injury that week. In the absence of Aaron Davey, Travis Johnstone and Byron Pickett, the injury depleted Demons lost their next two games including what should have been a certain win against the bottom team Carlton at the Telstra Dome where they lost two more players. As a result, instead of challenging for a top two spot or at least securing a double chance and finishing top four, Melbourne plummeted to seventh. The team lost valuable ground and allowed teams like Fremantle and Sydney overtake them so that they must now defeat both sides away from home to earn a chance for premiership glory. That's a pretty tough challenge and naturally we’re taking things one week at a time so where do we start if we’re to win tomorrow night’s game? I have little doubt that the Melbourne charge will come from the big man department where it has a ruckman with a wealth of finals experience (in which he's often had to go it alone) who has also had the benefit of a much lighter preparation for the pressure of finals this year than in the past. Jeff White will play in Friday night's semi-final against Fremantle without his injured partner in Mark Jamar. His new partner Nick Smith hasn’t played an AFL game since Round 22 of 2003, was recruited as a defender, has played many games as a key forward and is likely to get not much more than half an hour of game time. White will have his work cut out for him under lights at Subi. But that's not a problem for the Demon veteran because the time is ripe for him to take the role of flying almost solo in the ruck against Freo's Aaron Sandilands and Justin Longmuir. It might be a big ask after Sandilands beat White and Jamar the last time they met but I'm not worried. Jeff is always at his best in the tough, hard grind and the previous game was nothing more than an aberration in which the Russian barely bothered the statistician. Smith doesn’t have to do much to match his output in that game. It seems that every second Demon fan is wringing his or her hands in despair at the thought that White might have to shoulder most of his team's ruck burden but he's done it before, done it well and Melbourne has usually performed at its best under those circumstances. Over at West Coast, star ruckman Dean Cox didn't create anywhere near the same amount of angst among Eagles fans when he recently declared that he was happy to go it alone in the ruck during the finals so what's the big deal? White is going to have a much better midfield around him this weekend than the last time around. Brock McLean and Matthew Bate missed out when the teams last met and they effectively replace a good solid worker in Simon Godfrey and a little pest in Phil Read. But McLean and Bate are in form and they bring youthful exuberance, strength, toughness and skill into the team. We know all about McLean who showed his brilliance at the stoppages against St. Kilda but Bate’s influence cannot be underestimated either – a fact that has been acknowledged already this year by Docker coach Chris Connolly. The presence of the two youngsters will augment the multitalented assets that Cameron Bruce, Travis Johnstone and Brad Green bring to the midfield. And newcomer Nathan Jones is also a handy acquisition to the boiler room. The ruck and midfield division have a great deal of improvement in them compared with the way in which they performed in round 16. Take Green for example. There is no way that he will lose the plot like he did last time when he tarnished his previously-spotless playing record by head butting Fremantle's Ryan Crowley late in the second term to give away a goal in the shadows of half time. Green is committed to doing penance for that costly lapse and will be one of many Demons out to atone for a poor performance that day. Could anyone imagine David Neitz playing as poorly as he did last time against Freo when he kicked 0 goals 3 behinds? The entire forward line struggled that day and managed only 9 goals 13 behinds against a superbly accurate home team that scored 15 goals 6 behinds. So despite playing at its worst for almost three months, Melbourne still managed more shots on goal than the Dockers. This time, the Demons have Brad Miller playing back at the scene of his 2006 indiscretion - a jumper punch that cost him a two-week suspension initially but ended with him spending several more weeks in the wilderness playing at Sandringham. He won't want to repeat the mistake he made last time he graced this arena. Then there's the Aaron Davey factor and the X factor of Byron Pickett. Davey played poorly last week and responded badly to a combination of the heavy checking meted out by St. Kilda tagger Steven Baker and some adverse umpiring decisions. To his credit, he came back and was involved in a brilliant passage of play that led to the goal that finally put his team in front. Davey is champing at the bit to atone for his uncharacteristic behaviour. Friday is going to be his day! Pickett had a poor game in Round 16, he was pretty much ineffectual and was on the way to that hamstring injury which more or less put paid to the rest of his season until last weekend when he showed that he had regained his self-belief and had a few of the Saints players quaking in their boots and looking over their shoulders. He's back to the form that intimidated the Dockers earlier in the season at the MCG and there will be a few of them running around wondering if they're about to be hit by the force of a truck. Those who haven't blanked the last meeting out of their memories might also recall that the club owes its supporters big time for deciding to use the Heritage Round as an excuse to reprise that abominable red and royal blue guernsey worn by the team in the dismal years of the '70's and '80's. It was the gear of a losing team and the Demons will be more at home in their traditional red and navy blue drag. The players will look better and feel better and, in the end, they'll steamroll their more fancied opponents. I haven't said much about the Dockers players. Yes, they are a talented and skilful bunch this year and they played with new flair in the second half of the season. Players such as Pavlich, Farmer, Bell, McPharlin and others will give the Demons plenty of trouble on the day. But the pressure is well and truly on Connolly and his men. They have never won a final series game and looked overawed against Adelaide last week in the windy conditions. Coming off a six-day break and having played in those conditions, I believe has taken the edge of the team that was dominating just a few weeks ago. They’ve done their dash while the Demons look determined to recover pride in their personal performance and to make up for the time lost when last they ventured out west. Melbourne by 15 points. FREMANTLE v MELBOUNRE Where & When: Subiaco 8.30pm AEST Friday 15 September 2006. TV & Radio: TV - Channel 10, Melb (8:00pm) live, Adel (7:30pm) live, Bris (10.35pm), Perth (7:00pm), Sydney (10:35pm), Foxtel, NSW, ACT, QLD (8:00pm AEST) RADIO 3AW ABC National, K-Rock, Triple M, 6PR, NIRS Brisbane (10.35pm) Head to Head: Played 18, Fremantle 9, Melbourne 9 Last time they met: Fremantle 15.6.96 defeated Melbourne 9.13.61 in Round 16, 2006, at Subiaco The betting: Fremantle $1.30 Melbourne $3.30 The Teams: FREMANTLE B: Johnson Parker Hayden HB: M Carr McPharlin Mundy C: Black J Carr Peake HF: Headland Polak Pavlich F: Farmer Murphy Longmuir FOLL: Sandilands Cook Bell IC: Crowley Dodd McManus Schammer EMG: Medhurst Walker Webster IN: Murphy Polak OUT: Grover (back) Hasleby (osteitis pubis) MELBOURNE B: Ward Carroll Holland HB: Bruce Rivers Bell C: Green McLean Brown HF: Yze Miller Pickett F: Robertson Neitz Davey FOLL: White Jones McDonald IC: Bate Johnstone Smith Sylvia EMG: Godfrey C Johnson Warnocl IN: Brown Smith OUT: Jamar (broken foot) Whelan (shoulder), UMPIRES Goldspink McInerney Vozzo

by J. V. McKay Demon coach Neale Daniher has welcomed the presence of pressure on his players during the finals series and says they need it if they want to keep their premiership hopes alive. But Daniher and his selectors are also under a fair bit of pressure as the team prepares to fly off to Perth today for Friday night's semi-final against Fremantle. They have to choose which players will make the trip to WA and it has been reported that the club has taken a squad of 24 across the Nullarbor including Nathan Brown, Chris Johnson, Nick Smith and Matthew Warnock. The main focus of course is on who will replace injured star defender Matthew Whelan and what will the club do about its ruck set up in the absence of Mark Jamar who broke his foot in last week's Elimination Final against St. Kilda. The club is somewhat limited in who it can use to replace the injured duo. For starters, it has a growing list of players who are out for the season. Clint Bartram (ankle), Andre Gianfagna (shoulder), Jamar, Paul Johnson (shoulder), Brent Moloney (groin) and Heath Neville (groin) have all been ruled out until next year and Whelan (AC joint) is unlikely to play again this season. Ryan Ferguson (knee) and Paul Wheatley (back) are due to be tested but have been out for some time so it's unlikely that they would be risked in an important finals match. Of the additional players flown to Perth, two will cool their heels and watch the game from the stands at Subiaco. If Brown doesn't get a game, it would be a big blow for him because, although he's fit, he hasn't played for a few weeks. He was an emergency when Melbourne played the Crows and flew over to Adelaide, then missed last week because the Zebras had a week off. Smith's last AFL game was against the Sydney Swans in round 22 of 2003 at the MCG, a time when two of his teammates for this week Brock McLean and Colin Sylvia were still going around in the TAC Cup and hopeful of being picked up early in the National Draft og that Year. Smith himself had been a first round pick twelve months earlier but his career was restricted in 2004-5 by a number of injuries. Sandringham will probably have to rely on the recovery of Ferguson and Wheatley to enable it to fill the maximum allowable quota of players for its preliminary final on Saturday. Fans will be happy that impressive youngster Michael Newton now has an excellent chance of promotion and an opportunity to showcase his talents in a big game. Here's Melbourne's full list and their prospects for the weekend (Player, Games 2006 & Total, Goals 2006 and Total):- BARTRAM, Clint 22, 22, 6, 6 Out after a season-ending ankle injury in Round 22 v Crows. BATE, Matthew 13, 13, 8, 8 Played against Saints and available BELL, Daniel 11, 27, 0, 0 Played against Saints and available BIZZELL, Clint 0, 153, 0, 79 Making only steady progress at Sandringham on return from injury. BODE, Jace ® 0, 0, 0 , 0 On the fringe of Sandringham Senior selection. BROWN, Nathan 8, 126, 3, 33 Strong chance to take Matthew Whelan's place in the team for Friday night. One of four players from outside last week's team on the flight to Perth. BRUCE, Cameron 23, 145, 21, 173 Played against Saints and available BUCKLEY, Simon 0, 0, 0, 0 Spent the latter part of the season in the Sandy reserves and impressed when given a senior opportunity. CARROLL, Nathan 23, 40, 1, 1 Played against Saints and available DAVEY, Aaron 21, 63, 35, 93 Played against Saints and available DUNN, Lynden 11, 11, 13, 13 Recent form at Sandringham has been hot and cold. FERGUSON, Ryan 3, 39, 0, 4 Set to return to Sandringham after injuring his knee in Round 19 v Sydney Swans. GIANFAGNA, Andre ® 0, 0, 0, 0 Out for the season with a shoulder injury. GODFREY, Simon 16, 88, 4, 16 Outside chance to play against Fremantle. More likely to play for Sandy. GREEN, Brad 22, 47, 11, 194 Played against Saints and available HOLLAND, Ben 15, 178, 1, 164 Played against Saints and available HUGHES, Daniel ® 0, 0, 0, 0 Improving rookie will play with the Zebras on Saturday. JAMAR, Mark 22, 42, 10, 13 Fractured foot in Elimination Final. Out for the Season. JOHNSON, Chris 9, 13, 0, 0 Going to Perth and is in the mix for inclusion in the team for Friday night's game. JOHNSON, Paul 2, 11, 2, 2 Injured shoulder in Round 4 v Sydney Swans and suffered further injuries on return in VFL and is out for the season after a shoulder reconstruction. JOHNSTONE, Travis 21, 144, 10, 104 Played against Saints and available JONES, Nathan 7, 7, 2, 2 Played against Saints and available MCDONALD, James 23, 176, 6, 45 Played against Saints and available MCLEAN, Brock 17, 46, 13, 24 Played against Saints and available MILLER, Brad 14, 74, 3, 23 Played against Saints and available MOLONEY, Brent 7, 51, 1, 9 Out for the season with a groin injury. MOTLOP, Shannon 3, 64, 0, 36 A poor game in round 22 seems to have put paid to his chances. NEAVES, Shane ® 0, 0, 0, 0 Rookie who has impressed in the ruck with Sandringham. NEITZ, David 20, 285, 65, 599 Played against Saints and available NEVILLE, Heath 0, 0, 0, 0 Out for the season with an injured groin. NEWTON, Michael 0, 0, 0, 0 Kicked 6 goals at FF in the Zebra reserves elimination final defeat and a good chance for promotion. NICHOLSON, Alistair 0, 110, 0, 3 Injured most of the year and making a comeback at Sandringham. PICKETT, Byron 19, 194, 9, 170 Played against Saints and available READ, Phillip 5, 108, 1, 32 Slashing recent form in the VFL suggests he may be on the brink of promotion. RIVERS, Jared 21, 60 , 4, 4 Played against Saints and available ROBERTSON, Russell 22, 189, 41, 340 Played against Saints and available SMITH, Nicholas 0, 3, 0, 0 On the way to Perth as a possible inclusion against Fremantle to fill the void left by Mark Jamar. SYLVIA, Colin 16, 35, 10, 19 Played against Saints and available WARD, Daniel 16, 117, 3, 28 Played against Saints and available WARNOCK, Matthew ® 2, 2, 0, 0 Injured ankle in Sandringham Seniors Qualifying Final a fortnight ago but is fit to play this week and has gone with the team to Perth. WHEATLEY, Paul 7, 99, 1, 27 A possible return to Sandringham this week after missing a month with an injured back. WHELAN, Matthew 19, 123, 3, 13 Injured AC joint in Elimination Final. An outside chance of being available for the Preliminary Final. WHITE, Jeff 23, 230, 11, 99 Played against Saints and available YZE, Adem 23, 256, 29, 224 Played against Saints and available Thank you very much.

by Whispering Jack It might not have been the heavyweight championship of the world but the battle between St. Kilda and Melbourne in the AFL Second Elimination Final of 2006 (sorry, but I must have somehow missed the first one!) was a willing battle among the contenders. The Saints came out swinging punches furiously, taking up the pace and running the team in the red and blue corner ragged. Veteran Robert Harvey was in everything, Fraser Gehrig was simply too fast for Melbourne defender Ben Holland and had three goals on the board by mid quarter while Stephen Milne kept the defence well and truly flustered. The St. Kilda defence was bolstered by playing an extra man, Brendan Goddard, and this tactic was frustrating the Melbourne forward line with the ball being effortlessly moved out of danger at almost every possible opportunity. By quarter time, the Saints had their opponents on the ropes and floundering as they faced a score line of 2.2.14 to 5.4.34 - one that flattered the Demons a little given that they had so few winners on the ground. After the bell started proceedings in the second term, the Demons were still playing patchy football and many of their stars were being kept well under wraps by the disciplined Saints. When Nick Riewoldt booted the Saints sixth for the night, they had reached a lead of 27 points at the half way mark of the second quarter. The time was almost ripe for the knock out blow. However, Melbourne coach Neale Daniher had other ideas and he managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat. The bunny was called "Plan B", something that many Demon fans might hitherto have thought to be a mythical creature. He had already made the move of Nathan Carroll onto Gehrig after those three early goals. He also swung Cameron Bruce onto Robert Harvey. Daniel Bell was assigned Goddard and Daniel Ward took Stephen Milne after Matty Whelan was crunched in the shoulder and taken off and Jeff White was given more time to work a demolition job on the ineffectual St. Kilda rucks. The tide turned, the older St. Kilda legs began to slow while others found their bodies unable to withstand the punishment of AFL finals pressure. The Clarke brothers were both gone by half time but two other hits from Demon players helped lift their team off the canvas. Brock McLean's magnificent side bump on Justin Koschitzke put the troubled ruckman off the field while Carroll's tackle on Gehrig who stupidly tried to sidestep him left the G Train limping for that moment and playing out the game more like the Puffing Billy. By half time, the Saints still held a strong lead on points but they were visibly tiring. When you trail by 20 points half time in a final, the situation calls for a hero to stand up and be counted and there in the clearing was the boxer, Brock - a real fighter by his trade. He was simply magnificent winning midfield clearances, ramming his hard body through packs and delivering the ball forward. He had other heroes standing beside him, men like Brad Green and Cameron Bruce who also worked their butts off with their classy football, James McDonald who completely blanketed St. Kilda champion Nick dal Santo and then added some telling blows of his own and skipper David Neitz who kicked the important goals when they were needed. The Demons made their first desperate lunge to get to within two points ten minutes into the third before a combination of bad luck and a little lack of discipline that conceded some soft frees and 50 metre penalties and the Saints had suddenly taken a 22 point lead in the time on period of the penultimate quarter. But real fighters come back and the Dees did that with two goals late in the term. The Saints still led on points but the Demons were coming with twenty minutes of playing time to go! The first five minutes of the last quarter was a slugfest and while the Saints appeared wobbly on their legs they managed to strike the first blow of the term with a goal after Aaron Davey's undisciplined retaliation saw him penalised with a 50-metre penalty. The Demons however, were not done yet. They attacked and attacked and youngsters Matthew Bate and Brock, the hero, delivered striking blows before the skipper, who had missed three chances from close in early in the quarter, put the team in front with his fourth goal thanks to a brilliant pass from Davey who had spent a few minuted stewing on the bench after his earlier indiscretion. Then, Max Hudghton needlessly grabbed McLean around the neck and the resultant goal put the game beyond doubt - a technical knockout that was poetic justice given the one high tackle missed by the umpires in front of goal in the second quarter and the fact that throughout the evening Maxie spent most of his time hanging on to and constantly infringing against David Neitz (he gave away two frees to the Demon spearhead but it could just as easily have been half a dozen). St. Kilda left the field dazed and bloodied but Melbourne remains a contender for the title. The Demons took the risk and went for youth while the Saints, on the other hand, went for the nursing home. The Saints might want to point to their injuries but the Demons were also affected badly by the loss of Whelan (shoulder) and second ruckman Mark Jamar (foot). Melbourne also needs more from some of its more experience players and leaders like Russell Robertson, Adem Yze and Brad Miller, who to his credit, came good in the last quarter. The big question now is how far can the Demons go and whether they can win the flag. Most would doubt that they can make it but consider this:- St. Kilda was eliminated from the AFL 2004 finals series by Port Adelaide who were the eventual premiers. St. Kilda was eliminated from the AFL 2005 finals series by Sydney who were the eventual premiers. And St. Kilda was elimated form the AFL 2006 finals series by Melbourne. Melbourne 2.2.14 3.4.22 8.5.53 13.12.90 St Kilda 5.4.34 6.6.42 9.8.62 10.12.72 Goals Neitz 4 McLean 2 Bate Bruce McDonald Miller Pickett Robertson Yze Best McLean Neitz Bruce Green McDonald White Carroll Injuries Jamar (foot) Whelan (shoulder) Reports - Nil Umpires Rosebury, Schmitt, Goldspink Crowd 67,528 at the MCG

by J.V.McKay I was more than a little shocked when I saw the score of the last game played between Melbourne and St. Kilda from back in round 10. The Demons won that game by a mere 13 points after skipper David Neitz booted eight goals and led the much vaunted Saints' defence a merry dance. I remember the Demons making a fantastic start, having St. Kilda by the throat by half time and generally dominating the game with their close marking and strong tackling. But a mere 13 points? That's one of the things that worry me on the eve of Melbourne's third consecutive AFL Elimination Final. The Demons have reserved some of their worst form specifically for Elimination Finals in recent years. If they could only beat St. Kilda by a trifle more than 2 goals when they were at the peak of their form and the Saints were just traveling, what hope is there now after a last half collapse against Geelong and a typically poor performance at AAMI Stadium last weekend against a Crows outfit that had plenty of stars missing and was coming off a six day break? You could hardly pick Melbourne on form in this game could you? Since the break for the bye, the Demons have recorded only five wins from 10 games. Make that five and a half if you want to count a draw as "a half win". That's pretty ordinary compared with St. Kilda which has won eight from 10 starts and their only two defeats in that time were against West Coast and Fremantle. Their last two efforts have resulted in 50 point plus victories over the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions so, on form, you would have to go with the Saints who really appear to be marching confidently into the final series. However, there are a couple of things that Melbourne still has going for it. Firstly, the fact that this game is being played at the MCG where the Demons have won 10 games from 11 and the loss was against the Swans when the Demons were without at least half a dozen important players who will be gracing the hallowed turf of the G tomorrow night. Secondly, there's the hunter/hunted factor that seems to be one of the almost unspoken aspects of the flakey Demons. The Demons don't relish the idea of being the "hunted". Whenever they are red hot favourites in a game, they seem to get the shakes and fall apart. That they lost both times this year to wooden spooner Carlton and that they lost to Adelaide last weekend when the Crows were supposedly on their knees, is testimony to the plausibility of the theory. Melbourne's best performances this year came early when it was under the pump - especially after it lost its first three games on end. Who could ever forget the stirring victory over the Swans in Round 4? I appreciate that the Saints will go into this game as favourites but I think the team selection for this week marks the return of what is close to Melbourne's best on field combination since the victory against the Western Bulldogs which I mark as being effectively the time when the late season Demon decline started. The team changes for this week tell the story:- In Holland Pickett Whelan Out Bartram Godfrey Motlop While one can feel sad for Clint Bartram and possibly Godders who has worked his butt off in the past couple of months, Shannon Motlop proved last week that he wasn't up to the pressure of finals football and the incoming trio all add greatly to Melbourne's armoury. St. Kilda coach Grant Thomas has signaled a great amount of faith in Max Hudghton who he says is rarely beaten twice but what he doesn't consider is that it wasn't just Maxie who was the cause of Neita's eight goals last time - it was also the fact that there were many Demons getting the ball up to the skipper who contributed to the damage. Also the Saints have lost a very solid defensive player in McGuire since that game. This week, the Demon midfield is back to near full strength, as is the forward line and, as you can see from the three inclusions, the Melbourne defence will be much stronger this time round. I'm happy for them to take on the and to test Aaron Hammill and Justin Koschitzke because I wonder if these two will have the wherewithal to come up to the pace of a finals game under lights at the MCG after they've missed so much of the season. I also believe that Neale Daniher will come up with a surprise this week by giving Jeff White more game time than he's been receiving in recent weeks and months. That's just a theory I have and it's based completely on a hunch of mine. No team has beaten Melbourne under lights this year and I'm not expecting St. Kilda to be any different this week. I believe that Grant Thomas and his band of merry men will be marching out of the finals series tomorrow night although I will concede that the game is going to be a close one. In fact, so close that I'm tipping a draw but with Aaron Davey kicking the winning goal in extra time. Therefore it's … Melbourne by 6 points. Thank you very much. ST KILDA v MELBOURNE Where & When: MCG, 7:30pm AEST, Friday 8 September, 2006. TV & Radio: TV - Channel 10 - Melbourne (7.30pm), Adelaide (6.30pm), Perth (7pm), Sydney (10.35pm), Brisbane (10.35pm) RADIO 3AW, Triple M, ABC Radio Head to Head: Played 195, St Kilda 77, Melbourne 117, Drawn 1 Last time they met: Melbourne 15.13.103 defeated St. Kilda 13.12.90 in round four, 2006, at the MCG The betting: St. Kilda $1.70 Melbourne $2.36 The Teams: ST. KILDA B: Voss Hudghton R Clarke HB: Gram Fisher Fisher C: X Clarke Ball Montagna HF: Goddard Riewoldt Hamill F: Harvey Gehrig Koschitzke FOLL: Rix Dal Santo Baker I/C: Milne Peckett Powell Thompson EMG: Ackland Blake Fiora In: Hudghton Peckett Powell Out: Ackland Blake Brooks MELBOURNE B: Whelan Carroll Holland HB: Bruce Rivers Ward C: Green McLean Johnstone HF: Yze Miller Bate F: Robertson Neitz Davey FOLL: White Jones McDonald IC: Bell Jamar Pickett Sylvia EMG: Brown Dunn Read IN: Holland Pickett Whelan OUT: Bartram Godfrey Motlop UMPIRES: Rosebury Schmitt Goldspink

by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham overturned two home and away losses to Geelong and overcame the loss of key players to AFL duties and injury to move into its third successive VFL Preliminary Final with a 21 point Qualifying Final victory over Geelong at TEAC Oval on Sunday. The Zebras lost running players Nathan Brown and Shannon Motlop (to Adelaide with the Demons) before the game and defender Matthew Warnock was off with ankle injury in the early moments. As the game wore on things didn't get any better on the injury front and by half time skipper Chad Liddell was off with a hamstring. Then, in the final quarter, the club's in form defender Andy Biddlecombe was off with a jarred knee. Despite these tribulations the team's spirit remained undiminished and nothing could prevent it from achieving its aims. Sandy stuck fiercely to its game plan and beat the opposition by sheer power in a crowd pleasing battle of attrition. Sandringham started with confidence but the Cats came back to take an early three goal lead before some hard, disciplined football from the Zebras allowed them to shut the opposition down and take over the running to go to a narrow 6 point lead at the first break. Sandy benefited from a dominant midfield led by Phil Read who has been a prolific ball gatherer in recent weeks and capably back up by Peter Summers and teenage sensation, Shane Valenti. Together, they gave lots of good ball supply to their forwards, Nick Sautner in particular, and they were not let down. Sautner was in great marking form on his way to a seven goal haul while former Tiger and Demon rookie Ezra Poyas and the elusive David Gallagher were in scintillating form as the Zebras stretched their lead to 13 points at half time and then to 19 points at three quarter time. Time and time again, it was Poyas who set up a team goal and his overall output for the game would have been so much better had his own kicking for goal been on target. Daniel Hughes relished his time on the ground with a hard working performance that was typical of his team and the Zebras lifted in the final term, with forwards Nick Smith and Lynden Dunn getting in on the act and helping to set up a comfortable 21 point win in the end. Read and Summers headed the team's ball winners with 34 and 31 disposals respectively. They were closely followed by Poyas on 28 and Gallagher 24 while Rod Crowe and Chris Johnson were solid contributors all day. Johnson's long goal was a gem and a team lifter while Hughes was in prolific marking form and his multicoloured hair style lefty nobody wondering as to his identity. Under the VFL laws, Geelong, which does not have a VFL reserves team, has unlimited access to its AFL listed players and used 18 players from its senior and rookie lists while Sandringham was restricted to 12 AFL players but in reality only four of the Demon listed men available could be said to have played much elite level football over any length of time. That the Zebras triumphed despite this anomaly is testament to the strength of the club and its union with Melbourne and this should hold them in good stead in the weeks to come. The first upset of the finals came with Williamstown beating the top team Northern Bullants who lost only once during the home and away series. The Bullants now have to face Frankston in the semi final next weekend to decide who plays Sandy in the Preliminary Final in a fortnight's time. HOW THE DEMONS FARED (with a little help from Fan) Clint Bizzell - a strangely quiet game from the Bizz. He never really got into it and not really putting his name forward with any force at present. Jace Bode - an interchange player who just went. Still has another year on the rookie list to make an impact. Simon Buckley - played a really good game in the end after starting as an interchange. Was on for most of the last half, showed some good decision making and is fast. He got plenty of the ball, particularly in the last quarter and showed that he has a good pair of hands and excellent kicking skills.. Lynden Dunn - a very smart footballer who left his best for last. Would have had at least half a dozen important possessions in the final quarter with some really good vision and fantastic work rate, His influence early however, was not great. Daniel Hughes - impressed with some strong marking and in the way he worked hard up and down the length of the ground. Set up a number of goals. Chris Johnson - got better as the game went on. Will be a player in time but has a young body which needs to develop before he will take the next step to consistent AFL level but has all the skills with clean hands and good vision. He showed his class at one stage with a terrific goal from the 50 metre line in the second. Shane Neaves - beaten early but changed his game and finally got on top of a handy ruckman in Blake. His disposal is good for such a big man so if he can learn to get more involved in play around the ground he has the potential to develop into a valuable player. Alistair Nicholson - played his usual negating role very well and never let McCarthy or Playfair have a bearing on the game. He was rarely beaten although he made the odd clanger here and there. Phillip Read - - a prolific ball getter and hard in the packs. A mature AFL player now playing a grade of footy that is not good enough for him. Sadly he doesn't seem to be able to take his VFL form into the AFL but on the strength of an average 35 disposals per game for the last month, he might still get another chance. Nicholas Smith - a servicable effort. While he never really exerted to much influence on the game, he was competitive and took some strong overhead marks. Matthew Warnock - was doing well on Kingsley but injured his ankle early and didn't really play much of a role in the game. After he went off Sandy really struggled to cover his loss. Sandringham 6.4.40 11.7.73 16.10.106 20.16.136 Geelong 5.4.34 9.6.60 13.9.87 17.13.115 Goals Sautner 7 Valenti 3 Smith 2 Corrigan Crowe Dunn Hughes C Johnson Liddell Poyas Read Best Read Poyas Gallagher Summers Sautner Hughes The Sandy reserves struggled from the outset against a stronger Box Hill combination in the elimination final but never stopped trying despite their 26 point loss. The Zebras were well served by Tom Paterakis and Daniel Corp. Andrew Fleming and Marc Johnston capped off excellent seasons and Guy Martyn continued his excellent late season form. Corp underlined the reasons why he has been selected in the VFL's squad of up and coming youngsters (with Mark Corrigan and Shane Valenti) for a special game in the lead up to the AFL Grand Final. HOW THE DEMON FARED Michael Newton - kicked six goals and missed a few very gettable shots. His highlight was a magnificent hanger of a mark but he also took a couple of high marks running flat out on the lead with his opponent right on his hammer with the ball coming in hard and low. Will challenge for a place in the Melbourne team some time next year. Sandringham 4.2.26 9.8.62 13.11.89 16.13.109 Box Hill Hawks 5.6.36 13.9.87 16.12.108 20.15.135 Goals Newton 6 Turcarelli 3 Corp Fleming Johnston McGettigan Martyn Paule Tsindos Best Fleming Johnston Corp Turcarelli Paule Martyn

by The Oracle Melbourne finished the 2006 home and away season yesterday in much the same way it started it - in a state of total shock and on a train bound for nowhere. Neale Daniher now has the enormous task ahead of him to get his team's season back on track because irrespective of the spin which he might have put on the team's present situation, the fact remains that yesterday he gambled and he lost. The team is reeling under the weight of six consecutive losing quarters after finishing off the Kangaroos game so strongly and then leading against Geelong by more than five goals at half time. Since then, it's been humiliation all the way for Neale Daniher's charges whose only saving grace is that they will start the finals at home instead of in Perth. And when you think of it, that's not much consolation for missing out on the all-important double chance in AFL football! The focus of the football world during the week was on Adelaide's injury plight after the loss of Ricciuto, McLeod, Hentschel, Hart and company and its dramatic loss of form in recent weeks. At least the Crows knew what was at stake; their remaining star players (and there are still plenty of them because you don't finish top to without them) and their lesser lights had to stand up and make some bold statements. There was no gamble involved yesterday because the Crows' place in the top four was clearly well established. All they had to do was perform and they did so emphatically winning the game with their midfield dominance and by converting every opportunity that came their way. For Melbourne's part, there was a definite need to take chances. The team had to win in hostile territory at a place where it has tasted little success in the last five years. Daniher had to roll the dice and he did so. The problem was that the dice rolled the wrong way and there wasn't even a friendly card in sight for him in this game. The inclusion of Matthew Bate after his knee injury failed to give the team the vital run and drive he had previously given to the team. The late replacement in the 22 of Ben Holland with a corked thigh by a small in Shannon Motlop and in defence by Brad Miller was a complete failure. Motlop simply wasn't good enough to handle the pressure of the situation while Miller's placement in defence led to match up problems in the Demon forward line that were exploited fully by the Crows. Nathan Bock who might otherwise have been in defence was moved forward to kick three vital goals at important moments. The Adelaide defence was also able to nullify most of Melbourne's attacking players and Russell Robertson was rendered ineffective. The loss of Matthew Whelan from defence meant Clint Bartram took his job. The youngster, who has played every game in his debut season, went down with an ankle injury early in the game leaving more holes in defence and more pressure on the fitness of the team in the 27 degree heat which, as the game wore on, turned AAMI Stadium into a hellish cauldron for the Demons. The other area where Melbourne gambled and lost was in its clear intent of playing on at all costs. This was the tactic that worked so effectively when employed against Adelaide by the Bulldogs at the MCG a fortnight ago and by Port Adelaide last week (although Melbourne was not as fortunate as the Power because the Crows were on target this week). The Demons couldn't pull it off because the heat and their own inferior delivery skills simply wouldn't allow it. So the dice were rolled and Melbourne failed badly. In the end, Melbourne had more possessions on the day but went into its forward fifty-metre arc 25 times less than its opponent - a sure sign that the Demons were using the ball ineffectively and turning it over constantly. The turnovers were often raging bloopers and hurt the team every time it threatened Adelaide. The most appalling examples were the free kicks and fifty metre penalty given away in the middle of the third quarter after a couple of goals from the skipper saw the team make what promised to be a dramatic comeback. These simply underlined the team's lack of cool under pressure. Rarely, have there been so many free kicks given away that freely by a team in such close range of an opposition's goal. At times, it was embarrassing. One wonders where Neale Daniher's reconstruction efforts will begin for the finals. The return of David Neitz was a start but he will need the rest of his team to lift - particularly the likes of Robertson and Adem Yze who were well down on form. Melbourne's rucks have not been effective enough recently and Mark Jamar's productivity around the ground is extremely low. The club might have ended up with a slight advantage in clearances yesterday but the quality of those clearances was way behind that of the Crows who invariably got the ball out of the stoppages far more cleanly when their opportunities came. Daniher will also need the charity of the match review panel (and I note that Melbourne is not Sydney or Collingwood), the return of Pickett, Holland and Whelan and above all, the return of the determination, spirit and close tackling that was a hallmark of the team's play when it won 11 out of 12 games from round 4 onwards. We know that he's capable of managing dramatic turn arounds in his team's fortunes. He did it late last year and again after three successive defeats at the start of this year. But it's going to be a tough ask from now on and will involve more gambling on the part of the football department if it wants that train to turn around and stop at Jolimont Station in four week's time. Melbourne 4.3.27 9.3.57 13.6.84 14.10.94 Adelaide 7.3.45 12.8.80 17.10.112 23.14.152 Goals Neitz 5 Davey Sylvia 2 Jamar McDonald McLean Robertson White Best Bruce Johnstone Neitz Sylvia McDonald Injuries Holland (corked thigh) replaced in selected side by Motlop, C Bartram (sprained ankle) Reports B McLean (Melbourne) reported by field umpire J Schmitt for rough conduct against S Stevens (Adelaide) in the last quarter Umpires H Kennedy J Schmitt D Goldspink Crowd 41,364 at AAMI Stadium

by Scoop Junior At the year's beginning, if you were told that the equation for the Demons to make the top four was to take a minimum 6 points from their last two games, you would have then and there conceded the team would face a first-up elimination final. After all, Melbourne seemed to have the draw from hell having to play at its two least-favoured venues in the competition against Geelong, rated by some pre-season as the best Victorian team, and Adelaide, last season’s minor premiers in rounds 21 and 22. Even the most optimistic of fans would have gladly accepted one win from these two difficult games. But footy has a funny knack of swinging around. Since the opening two rounds of the season the Cats have struggled to recapture their best form and they knew last week that a place in the finals was only a very remote possibility. The Demons led by 38 points midway through the third term and probably should have gone on to win, but Geelong's comeback highlighted just how difficult it is to dominate a team on its home turf. Melbourne held on by a split second to come home with two premiership points, leaving its top four destiny in its own hands. Beat the Crows and the Dees are in, lose and it's another cut-throat elimination final. That's how big this week is! Forget that finals start next week. This week is as big as a final for the Demons and they will have to play with finals-like intensity and desire if they are to record a rare win at AAMI Stadium. While luck was against the Dees down at Geelong with some contentious goal-umpiring decisions, it has appeared to turn in the lead-up to this week's clash. The Demons have lost two important players in Matty Whelan and Byron Pickett, but importantly, they regain the skipper and the hard-running, long-kicking youngster Matthew Bate. Meanwhile, Adelaide has an injury crisis on its hands, with gun half back/midfielder McLeod, experienced defender Hart and key forward Hentschel joining captain Ricciuto, the uncanny star Burton and versatile tall McGregor on the sidelines. These are significant outs for the Crows and will in particular rob the side of much of its goal kicking power. To add insult to, well, injury in this case, the Crows have struggled to maintain their superb mid-season form. Since a thumping from West Coast in Round 17, Adelaide has won only one game (at home in a tight one against the Magpies), while dropping matches against the Dockers, Bulldogs and Power. The Crows' famous run from behind the ball has dried up as confidence has waned, while their scoring prowess has been hampered by injury. Still, it is not as if Adelaide was wiped off the park in its past three losses. They were level with the red-hot Dockers at three quarter time, led the Dogs by five goals in the third term and dominated Port early. So underestimate Adelaide at AAMI Stadium at your own peril. They still are a talented football team with a mean defence and a strong home ground advantage, particularly when it comes to the Demons visiting the City of Churches. The Crows have been caned by the media and basically written off as premiership contenders, so they will be desperate to bounce back to form before the finals and to answer their critics. 1. Where Adelaide could hurt the Demons Adelaide still possesses an A-grade first choice midfield, even in the absence of Burton and the run off half back from McLeod. Goodwin and Edwards are stars who just rack up possessions every week. They win the hard footy and use the ball precisely. Match-ups will be interesting in this regard. It will be too defensive to tag both, so perhaps Goodwin will be assigned a tagger and Edwards left to go head-to-head with James McDonald or Brock McLean. Thompson, while not as dangerous with the footy, still wins plenty of the ball. Mattner is a great defensive-minded wingman while Reilly usually has a birthday against Melbourne and may be a bit of a wild card. Adelaide has the cattle down back to restrict Melbourne's tall forwards. Rutten will take David Neitz, Bock on Brad Miller and Bassett on Russell Robertson. Neitz is the main danger but the Crows are well equipped with the powerful presence of Rutten, while Bassett is an expert at zoning off his man to assist his fellow key defenders. Robertson and Neitz must combine well for the Demons to ensure they are one-out, while Miller must place himself in dangerous positions, otherwise the Crows will zone off him to crowd up their defence. AAMI Stadium. That name alone strikes fear into the hearts of Melbourne supporters. The Dees haven't saluted there since Round 2, 2001, when Andrew Leoncelli kicked the winning goal with four seconds left on the clock in driving rain. That game reinforces just how difficult it is to win away and dominate for four quarters, as the Demons led by plenty early in the game before a Crows fight back almost saw them snatch the game. Since then, it has been a sorry tale in Adelaide…almost an annual percentage-booster for the Crows. With only three wins over Adelaide in Adelaide in their history, the Dees know how difficult the task is. 2. Where Melbourne could hurt the Crows A wild card up forward for Melbourne could be Adem Yze. While the tall forwards have solid opponents, there does not seem to be an obvious choice for Yze in the absence of Hart. Perhaps Massie or Torney will get the job, but Yze will have a huge class advantage over either of these two defenders. If the game is low scoring, which is clearly what Adelaide would want, Yze’s role becomes even more important as it could be which team kicks more opportunistic goals that ultimately wins the match. While Adelaide’s first choice midfield is still A-grade, it hasn’t got the depth the Demons do. Melbourne has a number of players to rotate through the middle, who won't significantly affect the class or ball-winning ability of their first choice midfield. In contrast, with Adelaide’s injuries, they lack the depth of class to rotate through the midfield and there could be a significant drop-off when Goodwin and Edwards are rested. For these reasons, Melbourne must run hard all day and try to run the Crows’ best midfielders off their feet. Tire them out and force them to rotate should be the order of the day. Without Ricciuto, Burton, Hentschel and McGregor, the Adelaide attack is severely weakened. There are still some threats in Welsh, Perrie and Bode, but the Demons must use this under-strength Crows' forward line to their advantage. Like the midfield, the defenders should be encouraged to run and take risks and back themselves to do the job. If the defenders can get on top early in the game, it will not only affect the confidence of the makeshift Adelaide forward line but will raise doubts within the entire Crows team as to whether they have the firepower to kick a winning score. 3. Summary There couldn't be much more at stake for Melbourne. It's either top four and a crack at a potential home preliminary final or a first-up elimination final followed by a tough draw with two probable interstaters to win in order to get to the big one. The Demons know what this game means and there will be absolutely no excuses for not having the right mindset. The Crows will be desperate to find some form and no doubt will be fired up to show the footy world that they are hardly a spent force in 2006. On paper, the Dees look superior, but the AAMI Stadium factor is significant. Melbourne needs a fast start to further dent the Adelaide confidence and silence the home crowd and, most importantly, a four quarter effort rather than the rags to riches (and vice versa) efforts of the last two weeks. All I can say is, I'm very, very nervous about this one! Let's hope the team can make this the start of a very sweet September for the Melbourne Football Club! ADELAIDE v MELBOURNE Where & When: AAMI Stadium, 2.40pm (ACST), 3.10pm (AEST), Saturday 2 September 2006 TV & Radio: TV - Fox Footy Channel - Melbourne (3pm), Perth (1pm), Sydney (3pm), Brisbane (3pm). Channel 10 - Adelaide (3.30pm) RADIO: 5AA, ABC, Triple M (Adelaide) Head to Head: Played 23, Adelaide 15, Melbourne 8 Last time they met: Adelaide 15.12.102 defeated Melbourne 14.13.97 at Carrara, Round 3, 2006. The betting: Adelaide $2.22 Melbourne $1.75 The Teams: ADELAIDE B: Johncock Rutten Bassett HB: Doughty Bock Torney C: Mattner Goodwin van Berlo HF: Douglas Perrie Reilly F: Bode Welsh Biglands FOLL: Clarke Thompson Edwards I/C: Massie Porplyzia Shirley Stevens EM: Hinge Hudson Meesen IN: Massie Porplyzia Stevens Torney OUT: Hart (achilles) Hentschel (knee) Knights (quad) McLeod (foot) MELBOURNE B: Bartram Carroll Holland HB: Bruce Rivers Ward C: Green McLean Johnstone HF: Yze Miller Bate F: Robertson Neitz Davey FOLL: White Jones McDonald I/C: Sylvia Godfrey Jamar Bell EM: Motlop Smith Warnock IN: Neitz Bate OUT: Whelan (hamstring) Pickett (hamstring) Field umpires: Kennedy Schmitt Goldspink

by Scoop Junior A trip down the highway is no longer a mere formality. After 17 years of sameness at Kardinia Park, in which time the Demons could not manage a single win, the past two outings at the Cattery have produced unforgettable results. Last year, the Dees travelled to Geelong with their season on the line. In a stirring second half comeback, they led by two points when Matt Egan marked within range in the dying moments. With almost a sense of theatre, the timekeepers sounded the final siren, giving the Cats’ defender the chance to win the game off his own boot. The kick drifted to the left and the Demons won by a point in the most thrilling fashion. Fast forward a year later and Melbourne returned to Geelong with a similar smell of September in the year. This time, though, the Demons were not trying to keep their finals hopes alive, but rather their top four chances. All week we had been doing the calculations and the consensus was that a win would leave our top four hopes resting on the Round 22 trip to Adelaide, while a loss would in all probability end our top four dreams. What wasn't built into the equation was a draw. Who would have thought it even possible? Hence the confusion experienced by Melbourne fans when, with what seemed like the second year running of a unique sense of theatre, the timekeepers blew the siren a second before Bartel rushed what would have been the match-winning behind to Geelong. The initial thoughts were somewhere between "thank goodness we didn't lose that one" and "how did we not win that game after being 38 points up?" But, after overcoming the shock of the side’s first draw since Round 7 1992, thoughts then turned to the consequences for the Dees' finals aspirations. The draw would enable Melbourne to remain in the top four for the duration of the round, with its position to be determined by the Adelaide game next week. A win would not have changed this scenario. However, a loss to Adelaide could mean an elimination final at Subiaco against Fremantle had the Dockers lost to the Eagles. In light of this situation, the lost two points could have proven costly. However, with the Dockers thumping the Eagles, it appears now that Neale Daniher's optimism at the result, in the sense that a draw was as good as a win, was justified. In light of the Round 21 results, two points is just about as good as four points, in the sense that a win next week will see the Dees make the top four and a loss will result in a home elimination final. Like last week, it was a tale of two halves. This time, though, the Demons came flying out of the blocks only to be caught in their tracks and almost overrun in the second half. The first half was tremendous. Playing at a difficult venue, the Demons exhibited their A-grade pressure game that has been the hallmark of most of their victories this season. The tackling and ability to get numbers to the footy ensured there was plenty of heat around the footy. The Cats struggled to cope and as a result of the pressure fumbled, rushed their disposals and failed to hit targets and string together passages of play. This is the type of footy that wins finals and the Demons were excelling at it. With Cameron Bruce, Travis Johnstone and James McDonald, Melbourne was well on top out of the middle and despite some problems up forward with the absence of skipper David Neitz, the amount of supply forward of centre resulted in 10 first-half goals. Adem Yze was a threat deep forward while the Dees rotated a number of smaller players through the forward positions, including Simon Godfrey, Brad Green, Aaron Davey and Byron Pickett. Daniel Ward also provided excellent run off half back and his ability to carry the ball was invaluable. The highlight of the first half was Yze's mark in the goal square. TV failed to do justice to what was truly a screamer. From the angle where I was sitting (front on to the mark), all you could see was Hunt under a high ball. All of a sudden, Yze just appeared on his shoulders and, as he took the mark, he lost balance in the air and fell forward, making it all the more spectacular. Despite the brilliant first half, the worry was that the team was only five goals ahead. Five goals in modern footy is not a big lead, especially at an away ground where momentum generated by crowd support can shift so quickly. Melbourne was completely dominant and should have been further ahead. They well might have been but for two contentious goal umpiring decisions. Davey's snap at the city end looked well and truly over the line but the umpire inexplicably paid it touched. How the decision was not either a mark or goal was baffling, as Egan took the ball cleanly. Soon after, Mark Jamar was denied a mark and goal by the boundary umpire, after the goal umpire, in perfect position, was overruled. May I ask where this boundary umpire with super human vision was when Davey's kick was marked over the line? Why wasn’t he there to interfere and overrule that decision? The Jamar one was all the more costly when the Cats transferred the ball down the other end for an Ottens goal just before the siren. What would have been a 7-goal halftime lead was whittled back to 5 goals: far more physically and mentally surmountable. On its own dunghill, Geelong was always going to come back; it was just a matter of when. The inevitable happened halfway through the third term. Holding a 38-point lead, the Demons were showing signs of fatigue. The Cats lifted out of the middle through Ling, Bartel and Ablett and with a few quick goals, the home crowd sprung to life. All of a sudden, it was Geelong applying the pressure and intensity and Melbourne could not cope. So clean in the first half, the Dees became jittery and fumbled and struggled to win clean possession. The result was that their inside 50’s were rushed long bombs, playing into the hands of the tall Geelong defenders. Within 9 points at three-quarter time, the Cats were charging. An Yze goal gave Melbourne some breathing space but they looked out on their feet. The run and pressure of the first half had disappeared and the Cats were finding too many loose players. Ward rolled the dice a couple of times in attacking the contest, but the ball was turned over and Steve Johnson, cheating off the back off the pack, kicked two goals to close the margin. Whelan’s absence was an enormous problem as Daniel Bell, who would have been a better match-up for Johnson than Ward or Clint Bartram, had to curtail Ablett. Ben Holland bravely put his head over the footy in a critical contest and Johnson charged into him. It wasn't malicious, but a free should have been paid to the Melbourne defender. Instead, the umpire waved play on and Scarlett kicked Geelong into the lead. As Daniher said, it would have taken a courageous umpire to blow the whistle and incur the wrath of the Geelong faithful behind the old Hickey Stand. The Demons looked gone, but with their last ounce of strength, forced the ball forward where Jamar marked and coolly slotted through one of the most important goals so far in the Dees’ season. An Yze point then gave the Demons the lead, only for Ottens to choke up on his set-shot to level the scores. In a frantic final few minutes, Geelong looked the more likely team to win the game. If not for some desperate defending from Bartram, Holland and Bell, the Cats would have scored. Bell made some mistakes but attacked the contest hard and repelled a few attacks at critical stages in the last term, while Holland showed his usual desperation to thwart Geelong deep in defence from rushing a behind. Bartram played a terrific game and his effort to restrict Ablett, one of the best one-on-one players in the league, from breaking clear and scoring deep in the pocket in the dying minutes was superb. With one last sting in the tail, a fatigued Nathan Carroll ran back deep in defence in an attempt to take an uncontested chest mark. He dropped the seemingly "undroppable" and as the ball hit the deck, the siren sounded a second prior to Bartel scoring a point. Talk about being seconds from disaster. Melbourne's game next week now takes on mammoth proportions. Win and the team will be well placed for a crack at a Grand Final; lose and it will be an extremely difficult run to get to the big one. The Demons must focus on producing a four-quarter effort. It has looked a top two side for four quarters over the least two weeks, with the other four quarters indicative of a bottom eight side. Davey and Pickett will be better for the run and Neitz and Matthew Bate are chances to come back this week. The Dees also need a lift from Russell Robertson, who seemed too content to take back position to try and climb on Harley's back. He needs to lead out harder and be prepared to play from in front. He should benefit from the return of Neitz, as should the rest of the side as they prepare for a September-shaping clash in Adelaide. Melbourne 5.2.32 10.5.65 12.8.80 14.10.94 Geelong 2.1.13 5.4.34 11.5.71 14.10.94 Goals Yze 3 McDonald Robertson 2 Bartram Bruce Jamar Johnstone Miller Pickett Sylvia Best Ward McDonald Yze Bartram Bruce Johnstone Injuries Neitz (hip flexor) replaced in selected side by Sylvia Whelan (hamstring) Umpires Meredith Wenn Ellis Crowd 23,006 at Skilled Stadium

by Ice Man Zebra Sandringham survived an early scare from the lowly Bendigo Bombers to return to the winning list with a comfortable 43 point victory heading into its VFL Qualifying Final against Geelong at Port Melbourne next Saturday. Full forward Nick Sautner led out the Zebras onto the historic goldfields ground in the absence of injured skipper Chad Liddell. David Gallagher was back in the team that started a red hot favourite against an undermanned opposition but the visitors appeared lethargic and slow in the early going against a committed Bendigo team that showed great determination. They caused the Zebras to play some sloppy football and the teams changed ends for the first time with Bendigo leading by 16 points. When the Bombers booted the first goal of the second term there were some worried looks on the faces of the small but lively group of visiting supporters but fortunately the Sandy players regrouped. Whereas Bendigo controlled the rucks early in the game, there was a definite swing in the Zebra fortunes during the course of the second term with the players going more direct. This allowed them to take control of the central corridor and they fought their way back into the game to level the scores at half time. The trend in favour of the Zebras was even more apparent after the main break as they got moving and took control of the game to skip away to a 31 point lead at three quarter time and then coasted to a comfortable victory with plenty of momentum to take into the finals. The outstanding performer was midfielder Phil Read who had the ball on a string and fired on all four cylinders all day picking up 46 possessions including a goal with his unrelenting tough hard brand of football. Shannon Motlop booted two goals and was in electric form as he dazzled the Bendigo crowd with his own magical talents while Nathan Brown was also solid in the midfield. After a slow start the defence was in super form and Andy Biddlecombe again set a high standard in this area along with Chris Lamb who has been steady as a rock in every game this year. Also reliable down back were Demon veterans Clint Bizzell and Alistair Nicholson as was rookie listed Mattthew Warnock. Nick Smith, who was overlooked by the Demons after skipper David Neitz pulled out of the Geelong AFL game, kicked four goals and was again dangerous in ruck and pushing up forward. Ezra Poyas put in his usual scintillating performance up forward while the ever reliable Rod Crowe showed that he has struck good form in attack at the right end of the season. The victory helped the Zebras to retain second place on the ladder ahead of the fast finishing Cats who won both encounters between the teams during the home and away season. However, Sandy's recent game against the Cats at the Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval was marred by some shocking inaccuracy on its part that is not likely to be repeated. The team has aperfect record in recent finals at Port Melbourne and will be out to turn the tables on the Cats in the Qualifying Final. Sandringham 2.2.14 5.7.37 11.8.74 16.12.108 Bendigo Bombers 4.6.30 5.7.37 6.7.43 9.11.65 Goals Smith 4 Motlop 3 Crowe Sautner 2 Dunn Poyas Read Rigoni Summers Best Read Lamb Crowe Poyas Biddlecombe Brown Three young Zebras have made the under 23 South Representative Squad for an important game to be played in AFL Grand Final week at MC Labour Park (Optus Oval). Peter Summers and first year players Daniel Corp and Shane Valenti will have the opportunity to impress AFL talent scouts in the game to be played on 28 September 28 at 11am. The following players have represented Sandringham in every senior game this year - Rod Crowe, Chris Lamb, Ezra Poyas, Nick Sautner, Nicholas Smith, Peter Summers and Shane Valenti. The following Melbourne listed players are qualified to represent Sandringham in the finals this year:- Daniel Bell, Clint Bizzell, Jace Bode, Nathan Brown, Simon Buckley, Lynden Dunn, Ryan Ferguson*, Andre Gianfagna**, Daniel Hughes, Chris Johnson, Nathan Jones, Brent Moloney**, Shannon Motlop, Shane Neaves, Michael Newton, Alistair Nicholson, Phil Read, Nick Smith, Matthew Warnock and Paul Wheatley* * currently injured ** out for season A maximum of 12 AFL listed players are permitted to play in a team in the VFL finals. The Sandringham Reserves, led by a smashing twelve goal effort from full forward Michael Newton, demolished the lowly Bendigo reserves by 109 points in the early game. This allowed the team to finish the season with a positive win-loss ratio and a percentage of over 100, both of which would have been unthinkable during the club's mid season slump which saw it lose several close games and suffer a thrashing in the icy cold conditions at North Ballarat. Sandy was out of the blocks early with midfielder Guy Martyn in exceptional form capping off an excellent month in the run into the finals. Simon Buckley put in a polished performance and is looking to push for a senior recall with skill levels lifting dramatically in most positions on the ground. Newton, who finished the home and away series as the competition’s leading goalkicker despite playing a number of games in the seniors, was outstanding with his strong marking and accurate kicking for goal and his cause was assisted by a winning ruck led by Ewan McKenzie and a brilliant midfield. The defence headed up by the consistent Mark Gibb, Adam Martin and Kenton Hall was solid all day and let very little through. Sandy will now play Box Hill in the elimination final as the curtain raiser to the seniors final on Saturday. Sandringham 8.5.53 10.12.72 19.16.130 25.23.173 Bendigo Bombers 2.0.12 4.5.29 6.8.44 9.10.64 Goals Newton 12 Martyn 3 Fleming Johnston Paule Turcarelli 2 Cleeve Mentiplay Best Martyn Newton Buckley Mentiplay Paterakis Hall The following players have represented Sandringham in every reserves game this year – Leigh Fletcher and Mark Lockwood.

by J.V.McKay The City of Greater Geelong might well be a long way removed from the face of the planet Mars but when the Melbourne team travels down the highway to the cattery on Saturday it will be facing an environment that is at least equally hostile. For starters, the crowd will comprise of 85-90% home fans. It's a given that the Demon supporters who manage to procure themselves a ticket to the game and then brave the one hour plus drive, manoeuvring their way through the inevitable road works, police speed traps and inhospitable locals to finally make it to the ground will well and truly be in the minority. And that alone is a recipe to ensure that rest of the day will consist of lots of loud abuse from the home town crowd, including attempts to sway the umpires' decisions and generally to put the visiting team under the hammer. On the ground, the local winds will push the football in a friendly manner towards the home team's goals while our kicks will inexplicably find a wayward trajectory towards the boundary line. The ball will bounce directly into their hands and away from ours and the rain will come just as we're ready to make a charge to snatch the game out of their grasp. It almost always seems to happen that way down there! That's why I'm still debating whether or not to go to Skilled Stadium at all for Saturday's game. I hate the drive down, I hate looking for a parking spot down there, and I hate the ground, the crowd, the conditions, the pies and the hot dogs they sell there, and the football team with their hooped jumpers. I hate the fact that we still have our injury woes and that we're coming off a six-day break at this time of the season while they've had a full week since their victory - also at home - against Sydney. I've had so many sad and sorry experiences there but worst of all; I wasn't there last year when Melbourne got up to win by a single, solitary point after trailing by more than five goals early in the third quarter. Melbourne victories at Corio Bay come only once in a blue moon or, if you like, a blue Mars so I wasn't even listening to the game on radio that day because I thought that, after winning there only twice in the previous 32 years, the team had not a snowball's hope in hell. I finally caught up with the result at about 5.30 pm and, after getting over the shock, rushed home to set the VCR to ensure that I could at least have the pleasure of watching the replay. But if we're averaging a win once every 11 years, what chance is there that we can win twice in a row down there? With the force of history, the injury gods and the "powers that be" all working against the Demons, I wonder if it's possible that this time things will work out differently. I wish I had some logical evidence to guide me here. The problem is that I have none either way because these teams are so bloody flaky! You never know what you're getting with either of them - especially the Cats who have produced some of the most brilliant slashing displays of the season, interspersed with some pure garbage. Melbourne is a little better - it has reserved its garbage performances for encounters with the Carlton Football Club and the odd quarter or two here and there. The teams have been closely matched in the past couple of years. Melbourne has won three of the last four encounters but the aggregate score for those games was 362 points each. The Demons’ last two wins were by narrow margins and their loss to the Cats came in last year's elimination final when they very much undermanned and Geelong played at the top of its game. The Cats gained the initiative from the centre bounces where Steven King dominated and Cam Mooney played an on the ball role with distinction. Jeff White finished the game seeing stars (or planets like Mars perhaps) and the hapless Demons limped off in total disarray. They started the game without skipper David Neitz and were rudderless on the day, a problem compounded by the fact that very few of the other leaders stood up to fill the breach. Lack of leadership has been one of Geelong's problems this year. When he plays, King spends a lot of time on the bench and he appears decidedly unfit at the moment. Brad Ottens likewise. Mooney won't be there courtesy of his record breaking fourth suspension for the season. Despite the loss of Mooney, the Cats still have their small serial pests in G. Ablett Jnr., Chapman and S. Johnson who always spell danger at Skilled Stadium. For the visitors, playmakers like Aaron Davey, Travis Johnstone, Russell Robertson and Matthew Whelan have had a game to brush off the cobwebs (not that Davey needed that!) but others are now under an injury cloud. Skipper David Neitz is only a 50/50 chance to play and given that the Demons would not have won without him last week, the scales must be tipped in the favour of the home side. Even if Neitz plays the likelihood is that he might line up on one of the best defenders of the decade in Matthew Scarlett. The result of the game is of utmost importance to Melbourne's flag fortunes. It can't afford to lose either this week or next if it is to retain its all important top four placing. Meanwhile, Geelong, who were early favourites for the flag, are virtually out of the race for the finals and will need a swag of improbable upset results to figure in the action beyond the next fortnight. Both teams gained some momentum last week but the big question is which of them will continue in the same vein again on Saturday. I've decided to go for the Cats for no other reason that the fact that their home ground advantage is such that it makes visitors feel like strangers in a strange land and that should be enough to get them across the line. Geelong by 5 points. Thank you very much. GEELONG v MELBOURNE Where & When: Skilled Stadium, 2:10pm AEST, Saturday 26 August, 2006. TV & Radio: TV - Channel 10 (Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane) Radio - 3AW, Triple M, K-Rock Head to Head: Played 200, Geelong 116, Melbourne 83, Drawn 1 Last time they met: Melbourne 13.9.87 defeated Geelong 11.15.81, round six, 2006, at the MCG The betting: Geelong $1.72 Melbourne $2.00 The Teams: GEELONG B: Harley Scarlett J.Hunt HB: D.Johnson Milburn Egan C: Enright G Ablett Rooke HF: Mackie N Ablett S.Johnson F: Bartel Ottens Chapman FOLL: King Ling Corey I/C: Tenace Wojcinski Lonergan Prismall EMG: Kelly Kingsley Gamble IN: N Ablett Wojcinski OUT: Mooney (suspension) Byrnes MELBOURNE B: Whelan Carroll Holland HB: Bruce Rivers Ward C: Green McLean Johnstone HF: Yze Miller Pickett F: Robertson Neitz Davey FOLL: White Jones McDonald IC: Bartram Bell Godfrey Jamar EMG: Motlop Smith Sylvia IN: Pickett OUT: Bate (bruised knee) Field umpires: Ellis Meredith Wenn

by Ice Station Zebra Sandringham made the trip down Nepean Highway to Frankston City Oval on Sunday only to suffer a major setback to its finals prospects when it failed to handle the opposition, the venue or the blustery conditions and went down by a margin of 52 points - its heaviest defeat for the year. The Zebras lost Daniel Bell and Paul Wheatley from the team that missed out by a point against Geelong last week but regained the likes of Nathan Brown, Lynden Dunn and Chris Johnson while lively winger David Gallagher was again out of the team with injury. On paper they should have been able to overcome the stand alone Dolphins but from the very beginning, they seemed to be unsettled and struggled to make use of their opportunities. Despite this, they still managed to hold their ground for most of the first term before a 50-metre penalty enabled Frankston to break away and take a 13-point lead at the first break. Dunn lifted with two early goals in the second quarter to put the visitors in front but the Dolphin's spearhead Aaron Edwards broke loose and goaled three times to give Frankston the lead by 15 points at half time. Edwards finished with six goals for the game to take a stranglehold on the Frosty Miller Trophy for leading goal kicker in the VFL with the Zebras' Nick Sautner well behind in second place. Sandy had plenty of opportunities to fight its way back into the game in the third quarter but it failed to score a goal for the term and thereby allowed Frankston to increase its lead to 23 points at three quarter time. Ezra Poyas who is normally so reliable in front of the sticks was the main offender with just four behinds for the day. With their tails up the Dolphins could do little wrong in the final quarter and they used the centre corridor well and blasted through nine goals to four to finish the game full of running over a bedraggled looking Zebra side. Sandringham struggled in the ruck throughout the game as leading VFL ruckman Eames and veteran former Demon Daniel Clarke dominated Neaves and Smith. As a consequence, the Zebras were well beaten through the midfield. Frankston combined their sound knowledge of the ground and the conditions with some strong tackling to keep up the pressure all day against an uncharacteristically indecisive opposition. The game was a triumph for another former Demon in Dolphin coach Brett Lovett while former Zebras Paul Kennedy and Toby Conroy also had an impact on the game. After Sunday's performance, coach Mark Williams will have some sleepless nights with the finals just a fortnight away. His team will need to lift its game considerably in the run into finals series if it is to emulate the feats of 2004 and 2005. The pick of the Zebra players were mainly defenders. Andy Biddlecombe, who has had a great year and Alistair Nicholson were the pick of them. Chris Lamb and Matthew Warnock worked hard all day while Phil Read was the only midfielder who could be satisfied with his effort on the day. Demon Brent Moloney played half a game and has strained his adductor muscle ruling him out for the rest of the year. A change in the VFL fixture has spared Sandringham a Saturday night fixture in Bendigo and instead they will play the lowly Bombers at the Queen Elizabeth Oval Bendigo on Sunday at 2pm. Sandringham 2.2.14 6.4.40 6.9.45 10.13.73 Frankston 4.3.27 8.7.55 10.8.68 19.11.125 Scorers Sautner 3.3 Motlop 2.1 Dunn 2.0 Summers 1.1 Brown Nicholson 1.0 Poyas 0.4 Crowe Rigoni Warnock 0.1, rushed 0.1 Best Nicholson Lamb Read Biddlecombe Warnock Crowe The reserves sealed a place in the finals place in a thriller with their one-point victory over the Dolphins. Mark Gibb was again in excellent form in defence while Simon Buckley displayed excellent skills for the Zebras. Forwards Michael Newton and Daniel Hughes kicked six and two goals respectively in what was an upset result given that the Dolphins won by well over 100 points when the teams met earlier in the season in a practice match at the same venue and again by 64 points in the wet at the Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. Sandy plays bottom side Bendigo this weekend and irrespective of the result, will finish in fifth place and play in an elimination final in a fortnight's time. Sandringham 3.2.20 9.7.61 10.8.68 13.12.90 Frankston 5.2.32 6.4.40 10.8.68 13.11.89 Scorers Newton 6.2 Hughes 2.3 Lockwood Martyn 1.1 Mentiplay, Paterakis Turcarelli 1.0 McGettigan 0.2 Fleming Johnston rushed 0.1 Best Gibb Buckley Johnston Hughes Fletcher Newton

by Whispering Jack There I was, driving around looking for an amateurs footy game a long way from home and concerned I was lost (my godson was playing, the finals are getting closer and I had nothing much else to do) when I started listening to a Leonard Cohen compilation CD that I hadn't played for a while. That's what you do when you're driving aimlessly through the suburbs on a Saturday afternoon. Anyway, I was struck by the words to this song because it seemed to me they just about summed up the frustrating way in which the Melbourne Football Club always finishes its seasons lately: - "Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin First we take North Melbourne, then we take …" Well, he didn't really use the words "North Melbourne" but the rest of it wasn't too far off the mark. The Demons started the year poorly, they learned how to win and how to do that well and then, unexpectedly, circumstances started to conspire against them. Three weeks ago, as they performed a neat demolition of top four rivals, the Western Bulldogs, they appeared to be on track to easily achieve the all-important double chance and even possibly a home final in the first week of the business end. Then came injury and a loss of form and with other teams hot on its heels, Melbourne's season started to unravel quickly - again! Worse still, the results of games appeared now to be all going the wrong way. On Friday night, Collingwood pulled the four points out of the fire against Port Adelaide with 19 seconds to spare. In the early stages of Saturday's games the Bulldogs and the Cats were heading their respective opponents. Did we want those results? I thought not so I switched to the music and took on a more positive frame of mind. My only question was, which Melbourne would run out onto the ground on the Sunday? As it happened, I didn't have to bother wondering because both of them turned up. In the first half it was a positively lacklustre Melbourne that was run off its feet by a more desperate and determined Kangaroos that tackled and harassed, played with confidence and delivered the ball brilliantly to its forwards. The Demons struggled and overused their handball to get themselves into trouble. Halfway through the second quarter it looked almost curtains for the season as Kangaroo Leigh Harding lined up for what would almost certainly given his team a 32 point lead. The miss seemed to breathe a little life back into Melbourne as it held out the opposition to the main break and limped into the rooms still 20 points in arrears. Then it was the turn of the other Melbourne to take the ground, the aggressive risk taking, hard running, thinking team led from the front by the skipper who booted four goals in an electrifying third term inspired by the returning Aaron Davey and by a trio of youngsters who have the whole world before them – Brock McLean, Matthew Bate and Nathan Jones. It was positively exhilarating the way they went about demolishing the 'Roos who looked spent by three quarter time, such was the enormity of the turn around. Others to shine were Brad Green, who played well all day and fellow midfielder James McDonald who performed a total eclipse on the dangerous Daniel Wells and defenders Matthew Whelan and Nathan Carroll. Brad Miller played his best game for the year at centre half forward. The return of Davey, Travis Johnstone, Whelan and Russell Robertson underlined how important it is to have your best side on the park at this time of the year. However, just when it seemed to be a case of happy days are here again, others started falling down like ninepins. Neitz, who finished with eight goals, was off with a hip injury while Bate and Jared Rivers limped off the ground in the final quarter with jarred knees. All are in doubt for next week's clash at Skilled Stadium against the Cats who still retain an outside mathematical chance of making the finals. That game will come with only a six-day break and will precede another tough game away from home against Adelaide. The Demons have to win both to secure a top four placing and it will be a hard ask. For the time being however, the work has begun. First, they took North Melbourne, then they take … Melbourne 2.3.15 6.4.40 14.9.93 20.12.132 Kangaroos 4.3.27 9.6.60 11.8.74 12.10.82 Goals Neitz 8 Davey 4 Robertson Yze 2 Bruce Godfrey Green Ward Best McDonald McLean Neitz Bate Green Davey Whelan Jones Injuries Bate (knee) Neitz (hip) Rivers (knee) Reports Nil Umpires McLaren, M Nicholls, Head Crowd 29,457 at MCG

by The Oracle Melbourne's stunning 2006 revival which saw it rise to third place after losing its first three games has faltered in the past fortnight as a combination of injury, poor team selection and inept football has left it with more than one fight on its hands. The first of these is what has now become a difficult battle to regain the top four place which it so meekly surrendered last week against Sydney and the second is simply the fight for survival in the AFL premiership race of 2006. That's right, as far fetched as it might sound, the Demons' place in the finals is not completely assured! I say this because of the flaky form of fifth placed Melbourne and ninth placed Geelong, especially at this time of the year. Let's look at each team's run home: Melbourne (48) North Melbourne (A*), Geelong (A), Adelaide (A) Geelong (36) Sydney (H), Melbourne (H), Hawthorn (A**) * at MCG ** at Telstra Dome A Melbourne loss and a Geelong win will put the Cats two games behind the Demons coming into next week's game at Skilled Stadium. Another defeat in that game and Melbourne would be facing a final round game at AAMI Stadium leaving Geelong with the possibility if a final round win over the Hawks at the Telstra Dome to secure an unlikely berth in the finals - at Melbourne's expense if it can narrow the percentage gap between the teams. In my book, Melbourne should not be taking anything for granted when it takes on the Kangaroos at the MCG on Sunday. Well, that's the gloomy possible scenario of what lies ahead but if you belong to the Monty Python School of though as I do, there's always the bright side to look upon and in this regard, the team selection for this vital Round 20 game is very positive. Just look who's back in the side this week! The four players returning from injury are Aaron Davey, Travis Johnstone, Russell Robertson and Matthew Whelan, all of who have been passed fir for this week. The other incoming selection in the squad of 25 is Daniel Bell who from all reports turned it on at Sandringham last week. Obviously the squad has to be finalised but there is no question that these inclusions will add a totally different dimension to the top heavy sluggish combination that the Demons have fielded in the past fortnight. You don't really need me to tell you that Davey and Johnstone are the only two Demons selected by Magpie coach Mick Malthouse in his All-Australian team published in today's Australian newspaper in order to understand the quality that's been added to the Melbourne line up. Robbo wasn't far behind Johnstone as Melbourne's most influential player and Whelan is so important to the Demon defence. When you add players of such quality to a team, it makes it that much harder for the opposition to shut you down. Last week, the Swans managed to do that to players who normally don't get as much attention and the effect on the Demons' overall performance was devastating - thirty inside 50's - a record low for 2006! The Kangaroos' form hasn't been all that bad in recent weeks. They've managed a few good wins and were very competitive against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco last week. However, they've lost a bit of quality in terms of injury in the past fortnight - Adam Simpson and Shannon Grant will be sorely missed. And I'm expecting them also be sore in the way that many teams are when they return from trips out west and on this basis I'm tipping the Demons to turn things around, start winning again and to stay alive not only in terms of the finals race but in respect of the quest for an elusive top four place. Melbourne by 25 points. KANGAROOS v MELBOURNE Where & When: MCG, 2.10pm, Sunday 20 August, 2006 TV & Radio: TV - Channel 10 (Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane) RADIO: Triple M Head to Head: Played 142, Kangaroos 59, Melbourne 82, Drawn 1 Last time they met: Melbourne 13.12.90 defeated Kangaroos 12.14.86, at the MCG, Round 5, 2006. The betting: Kangaroos $2.75 Melbourne $1.40 The Teams: KANGAROOS B: Archer Watt Brown HB: Sinclair Petrie Firrito C: Harding B Rawlings Swallow HF: Hale Thompson Harvey F: Sansbury Rocca Co Jones FOLL: McIntosh Wells Harris IC (from): Green Lower McConnell Makepeace Schwarze J Rawlings Riggio IN: Archer Lower Makepeace J Rawlings Riggio OUT: Simpson (groin) Pratt (shoulder) MELBOURNE B: Whelan Carroll Holland HB: Bruce Rivers Bartram C: Green McLean Ward HF: Johnstone Miller Bate F: Jamar Neitz Davey FOLL: White Jones McDonald IC (from): Bell Brown Godfrey C Johnson Motlop Robertson Yze IN: Bell Davey Johnstone Robertson Whelan OUT: Ferguson (knee) Dunn Field umpires: McLaren Nicholls Head

by Scoop Junior Timing is a key aspect of any sport. Ask any golfer, batsman or tennis player what the most important part of their swing is and the unanimous answer will be their timing. As the home-and-away season draws to a close and finals football and warm spring weather is on the horizon, it is the clubs that have timed their run to perfection that will be best placed to take home the 2006 premiership. But no matter what strategy is employed in order to meet these timing requirements, injuries can tear apart the best-laid plans. As Melbourne prepared for its crucial Round 19 clash with Sydney and a hopeful return to form after the Carlton debacle, injuries unfortunately prevented them from fielding a side capable of knocking over the reigning premier. With the class of Byron Pickett, Aaron Davey, Travis Johnstone and Russell Robertson (not to mention the club's number one small defender in Matthew Whelan) on the sidelines and Cameron Bruce under duress with a corked thigh, the Demons had no real option but to resort to a dour struggle. Of course, as is so often the case in big games, the opposition was at virtual full strength. In an even competition, injuries alone can be a significant factor in deciding the fate of a game between 3rd and 4th on the ladder. Melbourne put up a credible effort; restricting the Swans to a moderate total. The Dees' hardness and desperation was much improved from the Carlton game and the tackling was back to its best. Defensively, the Demons were on their game and made Sydney work hard for their goals. The backline stood tall, with Ben Holland doing a reasonable job on Hall. While Hall kicked 3 and uncharacteristically dropped some easy marks, Holland competed well and held his own in the one-on-one contests. Nathan Carroll was solid on O'Loughlin, keeping the dangerous Swan relatively quiet. In his return match, Ryan Ferguson matched up on Grundy and battled hard. It was disappointing to see Grundy lead Fergy to the ball and out-body him on occasions, exposing the Demons' lack of body strength. Ferguson took an extremely courageous mark in the third term and displayed his usual lack of regard for self-preservation, but he remains clearly behind the other key defenders in his ability to shut down a key forward. Jared Rivers was the pick of the defenders. He allowed his opponent in O'Keefe plenty of space, however, he zoned off to repel many Swans' attacks. O'Keefe plays a high half forward role and at times is almost another midfielder. Rivers didn't let himself get dragged away from defensive 50 and his courage in backing into the pack and marking on numerous occasions was one of the few highlights of the day. The midfield also contributed to the impressive defensive performance from the Demons. Who else but Junior led the way with an astonishing 14 tackles. One of them, a goal-saving tackle on Schneider in the goal square, was an absolute gem. Brock McLean, Clint Bartram, Nathan Jones and others applied great pressure around the ball which restricted the flow of ball into the Sydney forward line. While the defensive aspects were performed admirably, Melbourne left a lot to be desired in terms of its attacking performance. With the level of class out of the side, the Dees were always going to struggle to conjure up a winning score. However, two of the classier players in the team in Brad Green and Adem Yze had days they would rather forget. Green was hard at it but his usual clean disposal was not on show, replaced instead with rushed handballs and errant kicks. Yze, on the other hand, didn't appear to show the commitment levels required of a senior player. Quite simply, he had to step up with so many players out. His body language was poor and his refusal to take a hit for the team inexplicable. Perhaps he is carrying an injury, in which case he probably shouldn't be out there. But time and time again, he kicked the ball out of the pack blindly instead of assessing his options, almost in a bid to avoid a crunching tackle. His out on the full early in the last term and the consequent goal to his direct opponent in McVeigh summed up his frustrating performance. Jeff White also had a shocker, carved up in the ruck by former understudy Jolly. Mark Jamar offered little when thrown into the ruck and his lack of mobility around the ground did not really help the cause. The Demon rucks have been pretty good this year, though, and they should bounce back from this sub-par performance. With the attacking side of their game shot to bits, the forwards had very little chance to make an impact. A mere 30 inside 50s was evidence of this. The skipper was inspirational, throwing himself around and setting a great example of working hard against the tide. He kicked four goals and was a constant threat. Brad Miller and Lynden Dunn returned to the side and it appeared to be one too many as the Dees started with Jamar up forward, relegating Dunn to the interchange bench. Miller took a few strong grabs but was fairly quiet, while Dunn did not see much game time and as a result struggled to get into any rhythm. It will be interesting to see which one survives with the imminent return of Robbo. Shannon Motlop worked hard but will make way for Davey and Pickett in the coming weeks, while there was little else for Melbourne fans to be excited about up forward. Thankfully, a young bloke by the name of Matthew Bate provided some excitement on a dour day for the Demons. He wasn't as dominant as last week but showed that he wasn't out of his depth against one of the best man-on-man sides in the competition. He could do a lot worse than to watch some tapes of Adam Goodes. The Sydney star was clearly BOG and was too quick, tall and strong for the opposition. Bate has similar attributes to Goodes: both are tall, powerful, strong overhead, quick and mobile. While comparisons to a Brownlow Medallist may seem a bit rich for some, there is no doubt they play a similar style of game and Bate could learn a lot from the way Goodes goes about his footy. So as we reach the home straight of the home-and-away season, the question on many lips is has Melbourne failed to get its timing right again? The next three weeks will reveal all. There are, however, mitigating circumstances this time around. The Dees have lost three of four, but only one of those losses was a disaster. The Dockers are red-hot at the moment (and the game was on their turf) while the Swans are a superbly drilled side and we faced them without a host of important players. Now is definitely not the time to panic as the Demons are still very much alive. 3rd appears out of reach, so it appears that a finish from 4th to 7th is most likely. Top four is still possible but three wins may be required, while 5th may not be such a bad position to launch a finals campaign from, provided a Victorian team finishes 4th. 5th will probably require two wins at the least, which makes this week's game against the Kangaroos an absolute must win. A win will see the team head down the highway to Geelong with some restored confidence and the knowledge that they knocked off the Cats down there last year. A loss, however, could be a fatal blow for the side's prospects in 2006. It will rightly raise queries about the mental strength of the side and comparisons with the last two years will be made. While some in the media are already making such comparisons, it seems pre-mature, given the circumstances of the past month of footy. Whatever the case, a win this week is imperative in the quest to get the side’s timing right before Spring rolls around. Melbourne 4.0.24 7.1.43 9.2.56 10.3.63 Sydney 4.2.26 8.4.52 11.6.72 14.11.95 Goals Neitz 4 Bate Brown Bruce Godfrey Jones Ward Best Rivers Neitz Bate McDonald Injuries Ferguson (knee) Ward (ankle) Umpires James Meredith Goldspink Crowd 43,794 at the MCG