Demonland

Confirmation on the AFL site - Melbourne’s Newton cleared of neck injury

Our correspondent Bananabender who promises he'll do a report when he sobers up has emailed his goalkickers as follows:- Newton 2 Davey Green Maric Petterd Weetra Zomer At this point in time he doesn't recall seeing anyone who resembles Clint Bartram at the ground.

Reported by twodogs on Demonology that Michael Newton is fine and in the pool of his motel with the rest of the team - "Petterd is getting his fore arm strapped, Wonaeamirri has some sort of finger injury, the good news is that Newton is in the pool with the rest of them, what a beefcake parade, come back inside Lorraine, you're embarrassing yourself. They all look incredibly fit. Missus says she is now an ex saints supporter. Will post a detailed match report when I get back to Mission this afternoon. Just had a quick word with PJ, Newton's neck is fine, is hoooning and wrestling in the pool with half a dozen others." We're also hoping to hear from Bananabender who has covered some Qld games in the past to find out if he made it to Cairns to provide a report on the game.

Thanks H. Will start a separate thread as many people have expressed concern about Juice.

Nice spin. It was also the closest game we've played in so far this year .

or perhaps it's our Nathan Brown making a comeback?

Thanks guys and keep the scores rolling in! [The above is the quarter time score]

THE SILVER LINING by The Oracle Those who turned up to Skilled Stadium yesterday (or watched it on television) expecting Melbourne to win against a reasonably strong Geelong combination with the final selected line up of 26, please stand up. It's good to see you all remain seated. That's right, although the objective in most matches is to win the four points or to go on to the next round of competition, this was highly unlikely given the unavailability through rest, rehab, injury and club imposed suspension of 18 MFC listed players. And that was reflected accurately in the result of the game. The rest of the list all played against the Cats, eight of them in the first AFL games ever - Kyle Cheney, Tom McNamara, Adamm Maric, Stef Martin, Shane Valenti, Isaac Weetra, Austin Wonaeamirri and Trent Zomer while another, John Meesen (2 games for Adelaide) was wearing the red and blue (and silver) for the first time ever. Then we had Jace Bode, Simon Buckley, Colin Garland, Michael Newton and Matthew Warnock whose senior AFL experience is yet to pass double figures. And it doesn't stop there because included in the team was also a couple of seasoned 20 year olds in Matthew Bate and Nathan Jones, the latter having moved out of his teens less than a month ago. And in the stands watching sat at least a dozen of the more talented players including a majority of those in the leadership group. That sounds like game set and match to me when, despite signalling his indifference to the Nab Cup concept and particularly some of its rules, Mark Bomber Thompson then chose close to his strongest team. Geelong was on show on its own patch of turf and in front of the faithful for the first time since it crushed Port Adelaide to win last year's premiership. The Cats were on song from the beginning while the young Demons were a bundle of nerves. The predictable happened and the home team blew them away in the first 10 to 15 minutes despite Melbourne enjoying the wind advantage. With their greater skill and experience all over the ground and with their control over the centre bounces and the stoppages, they kicked 8 goals to 2 in the opening stanza and late in the second term the margin was 63 points. Melbourne played its best football to reduce that margin to 48 points at the main break and reduced it even further to 26 points after that before Geelong surged again. In the final term, the stronger bodied Cats took complete control again and Steve Johnson added to his highlights package to finish with six goals. There were few highlights from Melbourne's point of view but there was some silver lining (apart from the obvious silver material in it's hideous uniform). The Demons did achieve something. They managed to get through the game with no apparent injuries and will now move into the NAB Cup Challenge where there is no limitation on interchanges and the list of players being nursed through their pre season can build their on their preparation for the coming season. Coach Dean Bailey was also given a pointer as to where some of his teams strengths and weaknesses lie and he also had the opportunity of looking closely at how his younger players are progressing (although his top two draft picks in Cale Morton and Jack Grimes were also out injured and Adamm Maric was a late inclusion after missing last week's community camp in Canberra with school commitments). After the game, Bailey told reporters – "We played a lot of kids. We put them in important positions on the ground and that's the only way you can learn and develop – don't hide them and don't put them on the bench." He would have been impressed with some of the youngsters and knows that he goes away with a lot of the raw material for success in the future. The big plus to my mind was the way 17-year-old Tom McNamara went about his game. He's the youngest player in the AFL competition and possibly might have even been lucky to get a run but he held up well in the back line in a true baptism of fire. He showed he can mark, kick and he contests the ball well. Rookie Shane Valenti has his detractors who claim that he is too small and too slow but he certainly burrowed in for the football and gained a lot of fans from a performance that saw him at the top of his team's possession gatherers. If he doesn't make it then it won’t be for the lack of trying. Basketball convert Stef Martin showed a bit and, if he can work on his kicking, he could become a key tall. Colin Garland showed that he has improved his game over the summer and his three goals (including a super goal) highlighted his potential and versatility. The other youngsters flashed all in and out of play. Bailey would also have been pleased with the performance of three 20 year olds in Nathan Jones, Simon Buckley and Matthew Bate who all stepped up to the plate in difficult circumstances. In the absence of most of the club's midfield stars of last year, it was Jones who copped the brunt of the tagging and he proved himself under intense fire. Former Adelaide (and before that Geelong Falcons) ruckman John Meesen, returned to home territory and played in a number of positions around the ground. Whilst he didn't star, the big man looks to be a real acquisition and given the poor form of the Demon rucks on the day he will be a much-needed one. When you get beaten as badly as Melbourne did in the end, there's usually a lot about which you can’t get excited and there were quite a few lowlights for the afternoon. I thought the rump of the club's more experienced players were poor, the rucks in particular disappointing. They were easily brushed aside by Geelong's big men and failed to give their mainly inexperienced on ballers the service they required. Although Jeff White managed to get a bit of the ball around the ground, I'm concerned about how he will fare against the AFL's powerhouse ruckmen on a weekly basis throughout the season. The experienced Russell Robertson and Brad Green were disappointing. Robbo hit higher notes with Kate Ceberano during the week on television than he did yesterday at Skilled Stadium and Greenie's disposal let him and his team mates down on the day although to his credit, he improved his output later in the game. Adem Yze, in his comeback game after last year's hernia and last week's poke in the eye, toiled hard in defence and should be much better from the run. The umpires were as rusty as the players and produced an ordinary display with some inconsistency in decision making and the level of confusion at their decisions among the crowd was high. The other lowlight for mine was the innocuous combined Nab Cup/clash strip, which was an absolute shocker and actually clashed more with the Cats' colours than the club's traditional jumper. The club does penance for losing to Geelong by travelling to the far reaches of the country next week so thankfully, I probably won't see that abomination for a while. Geelong: 0.8.1, 1.12.4, 1.15.7, 2.22.10 (160) Melbourne: 0.2.4, 1.4.4, 2.8.5, 2.11.5 (89) Super Goals: Geelong: Byrnes Wojcinski Melbourne: Buckley Garland Goals: Geelong: S Johnson 6 Davenport 2 Lonergan 2 Gamble 2 Byrnes 2 Kelly 2 Mooney Milburn Hunt Stokes Prismall Wojcinski Melbourne: Newton 2 Garland 2 Robertson Green Weetra Meesen Valenti Zomer Sylvia Best: Geelong: S Johnson Ling Prismall Stokes Bartel Byrnes Wojcinski Milburn Taylor Melbourne: Jones Buckley Valenti Yze Meesen Garland Injuries: Geelong: G Ablett (calf) Melbourne: Nil Reports: Nil Umpires: Rosebury Sully Kamolins M Nicholls

by The Oracle Those who turned up to Skilled Stadium yesterday (or watched it on television) expecting Melbourne to win against a reasonably strong Geelong combination with the final selected line up of 26, please stand up. It's good to see you all remain seated. That's right, although the objective in most matches is to win the four points or to go on to the next round of competition, this was highly unlikely given the unavailability through rest, rehab, injury and club imposed suspension of 18 MFC listed players. And that was reflected accurately in the result of the game. The rest of the list all played against the Cats, eight of them in the first AFL games ever - Kyle Cheney, Tom McNamara, Adamm Maric, Stef Martin, Shane Valenti, Isaac Weetra, Austin Wonaeamirri and Trent Zomer while another, John Meesen (2 games for Adelaide) was wearing the red and blue (and silver) for the first time ever. Then we had Jace Bode, Simon Buckley, Colin Garland, Michael Newton and Matthew Warnock whose senior AFL experience is yet to pass double figures. And it doesn't stop there because included in the team was also a couple of seasoned 20 year olds in Matthew Bate and Nathan Jones, the latter having moved out of his teens less than a month ago. And in the stands watching sat at least a dozen of the more talented players including a majority of those in the leadership group. That sounds like game set and match to me when, despite signalling his indifference to the Nab Cup concept and particularly some of its rules, Mark Bomber Thompson then chose close to his strongest team. Geelong was on show on its own patch of turf and in front of the faithful for the first time since it crushed Port Adelaide to win last year's premiership. The Cats were on song from the beginning while the young Demons were a bundle of nerves. The predictable happened and the home team blew them away in the first 10 to 15 minutes despite Melbourne enjoying the wind advantage. With their greater skill and experience all over the ground and with their control over the centre bounces and the stoppages, they kicked 8 goals to 2 in the opening stanza and late in the second term the margin was 63 points. Melbourne played its best football to reduce that margin to 48 points at the main break and reduced it even further to 26 points after that before Geelong surged again. In the final term, the stronger bodied Cats took complete control again and Steve Johnson added to his highlights package to finish with six goals. There were few highlights from Melbourne's point of view but there was some silver lining (apart from the obvious silver material in it's hideous uniform). The Demons did achieve something. They managed to get through the game with no apparent injuries and will now move into the NAB Cup Challenge where there is no limitation on interchanges and the list of players being nursed through their pre season can build their on their preparation for the coming season. Coach Dean Bailey was also given a pointer as to where some of his teams strengths and weaknesses lie and he also had the opportunity of looking closely at how his younger players are progressing (although his top two draft picks in Cale Morton and Jack Grimes were also out injured and Adamm Maric was a late inclusion after missing last week's community camp in Canberra with school commitments). After the game, Bailey told reporters – "We played a lot of kids. We put them in important positions on the ground and that's the only way you can learn and develop – don't hide them and don't put them on the bench." He would have been impressed with some of the youngsters and knows that he goes away with a lot of the raw material for success in the future. The big plus to my mind was the way 17-year-old Tom McNamara went about his game. He's the youngest player in the AFL competition and possibly might have even been lucky to get a run but he held up well in the back line in a true baptism of fire. He showed he can mark, kick and he contests the ball well. Rookie Shane Valenti has his detractors who claim that he is too small and too slow but he certainly burrowed in for the football and gained a lot of fans from a performance that saw him at the top of his team's possession gatherers. If he doesn't make it then it won’t be for the lack of trying. Basketball convert Stef Martin showed a bit and, if he can work on his kicking, he could become a key tall. Colin Garland showed that he has improved his game over the summer and his three goals (including a super goal) highlighted his potential and versatility. The other youngsters flashed all in and out of play. Bailey would also have been pleased with the performance of three 20 year olds in Nathan Jones, Simon Buckley and Matthew Bate who all stepped up to the plate in difficult circumstances. In the absence of most of the club's midfield stars of last year, it was Jones who copped the brunt of the tagging and he proved himself under intense fire. Former Adelaide (and before that Geelong Falcons) ruckman John Meesen, returned to home territory and played in a number of positions around the ground. Whilst he didn't star, the big man looks to be a real acquisition and given the poor form of the Demon rucks on the day he will be a much-needed one. When you get beaten as badly as Melbourne did in the end, there's usually a lot about which you can’t get excited and there were quite a few lowlights for the afternoon. I thought the rump of the club's more experienced players were poor, the rucks in particular disappointing. They were easily brushed aside by Geelong's big men and failed to give their mainly inexperienced on ballers the service they required. Although Jeff White managed to get a bit of the ball around the ground, I'm concerned about how he will fare against the AFL's powerhouse ruckmen on a weekly basis throughout the season. The experienced Russell Robertson and Brad Green were disappointing. Robbo hit higher notes with Kate Ceberano during the week on television than he did yesterday at Skilled Stadium and Greenie's disposal let him and his team mates down on the day although to his credit, he improved his output later in the game. Adem Yze, in his comeback game after last year's hernia and last week's poke in the eye, toiled hard in defence and should be much better from the run. The umpires were as rusty as the players and produced an ordinary display with some inconsistency in decision making and the level of confusion at their decisions among the crowd was high. The other lowlight for mine was the innocuous combined Nab Cup/clash strip, which was an absolute shocker and actually clashed more with the Cats' colours than the club's traditional jumper. The club does penance for losing to Geelong by travelling to the far reaches of the country next week so thankfully, I probably won't see that abomination for a while. Geelong: 0.8.1, 1.12.4, 1.15.7, 2.22.10 (160) Melbourne: 0.2.4, 1.4.4, 2.8.5, 2.11.5 (89) Super Goals: Geelong: Byrnes Wojcinski Melbourne: Buckley Garland Goals: Geelong: S Johnson 6 Davenport 2 Lonergan 2 Gamble 2 Byrnes 2 Kelly 2 Mooney Milburn Hunt Stokes Prismall Wojcinski Melbourne: Newton 2 Garland 2 Robertson Green Weetra Meesen Valenti Zomer Sylvia Best: Geelong: S Johnson Ling Prismall Stokes Bartel Byrnes Wojcinski Milburn Taylor Melbourne: Jones Buckley Valenti Yze Meesen Garland Injuries: Geelong: G Ablett (calf) Melbourne: Nil Reports: Nil Umpires: Rosebury Sully Kamolins M Nicholls

On the subject of sports from the other side of the big pond, here's the German viewpoint about this year's Super Bowl (with thanks to Deeman) - The Schicklegruber Moment. As WJ said, we hope no one is offended .

LESSONS FROM GOTHAM by Whispering Jack Ten years ago last October I visited relatives and friends in the United States and was brought face to face with American culture. I'd travelled to the States before but that was to do the Disneyland thing when the kids were younger. This time I spent some of the trip in a private home where my hosts were sports mad and eager to show off their own native games with which I was relatively unfamiliar. I came to appreciate how much you can learn from these quirky Yanks and their sports even if most of their political leaders aren't such endearing characters. The Baseball World Series is played at that time of the year and, in late October of 1997, the Florida Marlins were the underdogs. They sparred against the Cleveland Indians in an intriguing set of matches that took them from one weather extreme to another. It was fantastic television viewing to see the teams slugging it out one day in sunny Miami and then, on the next, they were freezing their you know whats in snowbound Cleveland. The "Fish" were financed and run by H. Wayne Huizenga, a wealthy entrepreneur type who spent heavily to put together a team that ultimately won the title but the franchise was losing money so he sold out very quickly after savouring the victory. Literally. Huizenga dismantled the team by trading off most of the club's best players. The next year, the Marlins struggled at the bottom of the table. We took a night off to see a National Hockey League game. Our hosts took us across the New Jersey state line into Pennsylvania where we saw the local team, the Philadelphia Flyers, take to the ice against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those were the days when the only meaning of ice was frozen water. It was a real eye opener but not so much for what was happening in play - more so it was about the eating habits of my fellow spectators which was a demonstration of consumerism at its most gross. The sight of obese parents putting away bucket loads of hot dogs, pretzels and ice creams in between swigs of full premium beer in gargantuan plastic cups was matched only by the copious amounts of fast foods fed at alarming rates into the mouths of their equally obese offspring. Some fights broke out on the arena but there was also lots of mayhem among the boofheads in the bleachers as well. Luckily, I was a safe distance away from all that and in the company of my host's business partner – a former pro boxer from Mexico. When we were finally able to focus our attention on the game itself, one of the Flyers stood out head and shoulders above the rest. I didn't have to ask to find out that Eric Lindros was a star of the sport. In fact, it turned out that he was just about THE star of the sport, the premier power forward in the NHL. With his imposing physical strength and playmaking ability, he exuded presence with a capital P. "The Big E" was clearly in control on the arena, the difference between the teams and, at 6'4", he reminded me of … um … well … Wayne Carey in the way he dominated proceedings. I was reminded of that visit this week when I watched in awe as another underdog, the New York Giants pulled off a last gasp victory in Glendale, Arizona over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Throughout the season, the Pats had performed at a different level to all of the other teams in the NFL, their legendary quarterback Tom Brady had been breaking records and they stretched their record to 18-0 a fortnight before the Super Bowl. Most Americans believed they only had to show up to claim claimed the Vince Lombardi Trophy. There were some warning signs however, when Brady was seen limping in his hotel foyer only days before the big dance but the bookies, the fans and the pundits still had them as raging favourites. When the day came, the Giants were ready. Their coaches were well prepared and had an innovative and flexible game plan for the offensive team and one for the defensive team. Their harassing tactics and strategies were applied relentlessly without let up; the players applied themselves with persistence, passion and hard work. Like all of the better teams in this competition, they had a blending of youth and experience but they also had a number of players in their line up who had improved beyond expectations. All of that seemed to be insufficient as the favourites took a 14-10 lead with less than three minutes to go but it was then that the reality set in - the Giants wanted the ball more than their cocky opponents. We saw a series of inspirational plays driven by their own quarterback Eli Manning who looks more like a mere mortal than a no neck American footballer. His perfectly executed long throw to David Tyree was caught perfectly under pressure and set up the ultimate winning touchdown. Dennis Cometti would have labeled the throw as "centimeter perfect" and perfect it had to be because the result virtually depended on the outcome of that play. Some of the pundits are calling it the "Immaculate Reception" but it was man made and certainly not divinely inspired. On return from my Stateside visit those many years ago, my own football club was being presided over by an orthodox rabbi who had made a fortune on paper from mining exploration in outback Australia and it had a newly appointed coach who hailed from N.S.W, had once studied Divinity and came to be called the "Reverend". Our hopes were high but they all came to nothing in the end. I hope therefore, that I don't cause offence when I reveal my suspicions that the club might have wasted the ensuing years looking for some sort of divine inspiration rather than getting down to the basics and finding the right formula to put the Lessons from Gotham into practice. After all, we still are the Demons, aren't we?

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - NUMBER SIXTEEN by the Professor The number 16 has been worn by 25 players in senior games for the Melbourne Football Club since 1912 when jumper numbers were first allocated. Players wearing the number have appeared in nine premierships, led the club's goal kicking in six years, won three best and fairests and made four state teams. But while its latest recipient, Jack Grimes from the Northern Knights Under 18 TAC Cup team, comes highly credentialed as a leader in junior football ranks, his new number has never been graced by a club skipper in all those years! The first wearer of the number was half forward/centreman Bill Flintoft who played 42 games (18 goals) with Melbourne in the years 1909-1912 (and one further game with St Kilda in 1913). He later served on the club committee, was awarded Life Membership in 1945 and became President of the Club from 1947-1949. Flintoft passed the jumper on to Bill Angwin (3 games in 1913) and then it went to Bobby Monk who had joined the club in 1907 and wore it in 13 times in his final year at the club. In all, the strongly built and reliable defender played 125 games (5 goals). When the University club was disbanded for the duration of World War 1 in 1915, Dr. Roy Park joined Melbourne and was given the number 16. He played 13 games and kicked 35 goals for the club but a disagreement with a Tribunal decision saw him move to then VFA club Footscray. Park went on to play test cricket for Australia in 1920 and 1921. George Walker, a defender from Melbourne Districts liked to change his numbers, wearing 26 on debut in 1914, 20 in 1915, 16 when Melbourne resumed in the VFL after the war in 1919, 28 in the early part of 1920 and 20 for the remainder of that year and 1921. He played a total of 49 games, 10 of them in the number 16 in 1919 but never scored a goal in any of his many numbers. Like Walker, Hugh Odgers wore the number 26 early in his career. He had arrived in 1909 and wore that number in 1912. A centreman, he had been skipper for part of 1911 but wasn't seen until 1920, when he wore the number 16 jumper in 15 of the 16 games the club played that year. He played a total of 59 games and kicked two goals. The number was passed on to defender Clarrie Lethlean in 1921. He played 9 games that year and ultimately moved on to Hawthorn. "Derek" Mollison, a talented follower/forward inherited the number in 1923 and held it until part way through 1925 when he switched to the number 11. He played 66 games in his career with the club (30 goals) to 1928 and wore the "Big V" in 1924 and 1925. The next wearer also made the switch to eleven but Bob Johnson Senior wore 16 for most of his career after arriving from Quambatook in 1926 only making the change in his final year, 1933. A versatile, comparatively lightly-framed big man, Johnson Snr. made an immediate impact on the club and he was a star in the 1926 Grand Final when he booted six goals from centre half forward in Melbourne's crushing win over Collingwood. A renowned high mark and a long, raking left foot kick, he led the club's goal kicking twice and represented the state in 1928 and 1931, He played a total of 113 games - in which he kicked 302 goals. Left footed Sandgroper, Eric "Tarzan" Glass was assigned the number 16 in 1933and held it through to 1938, playing 78 games (135 goals). Glass combined well with Norm Smith and was the club's leading goal kicker in 1936. The guernsey was worn briefly by Gerry Daly (1939) and Old Melburnian Jack Atkins (4 games in 1940) who served in World War 2 where he sacrificed his life for his country. Hugh McPherson wore the number 16 in 1941, 1943 and 1944 but wore 25 in between in 1942. The ruckman who "spelled" in defence, came from Footscray (13 games/4 goals in 1929 and 1940) and went on to play a further 37 games/14 goals with the Demons. He later became a trainer with the Club, and was awarded Life Membership in 1964. He was also a member of the club’s past player’s association. The wearer in 1942 was ruckman/forward Tom Ferguson who played 5 games in 1942. He managed a further 9 in number 22 the following year before crossing to Hawthorn - where he played a further 38 senior games. Premiership player George Bickford, an accomplished centreman with exceptional disposal skills, particularly his long, accurate drop kicks came to the club from Wesley College in 1945 and wore the number 16 until his retirement in 1952. He was one of the club's best in the 1948 Grand Final replay and was vice-captain in 1951 and 1952. One of his sons, Stephen, later played for the Demons and is currently a Director of the Club. The following seasons, 1953 and 1954, were watershed years in the club’s recruiting history when many future premiership players made their senior debuts. One of them was Clyde Laidlaw who started his career with the number 16 jumper in 1954 and wore it in 44 of his total 124 games until 1956 (including the winning premierships of 1955 and 1956). He switched numbers in 1957 to number 35. Laidlaw’s switch allowed "Big Bob" Johnson to wear the jumper his father, Bob Senior, had made famous three decades before. "Big Bob" was a gangly 198cm ruckman from the thirds who made his debut in the number 18 in 1954 and had already played 49 games before he took his father’s number. He eventually grew into a big man, a real character and a VFL personality. He was a strong mark and a deadly left foot kick and his record at Melbourne was imposing – seven grand finals for five Premierships, leading goalkicker in 1961, state representative in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 with 267 goals in 140 games before moving to East Fremantle as captain/coach in 1962, where he guided them to 4 successive Grand Finals, including the Premiership in 1965. in 1966 he headed the WAFL goalkicking with 89, and a year later kicked 5 goals for W.A. against Victoria. He then returned to Victoria where, in turn he captained and coached Hamilton, McKinnon, Oakleigh and Greensborough - where he ended his playing days. He was also club Director for a time, was awarded Life Membership in 1998, named an emergency in Melbourne's Team of the Century in 2000 and inducted into the Club's Hall of Fame in 2003. Ironically, the big man's number was inherited by a rover, John Townsend, from St Patrick's College in Sale who wore it in 153 games (182 goals) through to 1972. He was twice Best & Fairest (1965 and 1969), twice leading goal kicker (1964 and 1965) and a member of the winning 1964 Grand Final team. He suffered a serious knee injury after the 1965 season which restricted him to only 7 games in the next 2 years, but he persisted - and played a further 92 before transferring to VFA club Prahran where he played over 50 games and was named in its Team of the Century. He was awarded Life Membership of the MFC in 1971. Peter Keays, a defender who played on the flank and the key positions, came from Broadford in 1974 and took over the number 16 in 1975 after wearing 51 in his first year. He played 40 games (4 goals) for the Demons to 1977 when he moved to Fitzroy for a further 49 games. Romsey forward Robert Walters, wore number 32 when he started in 1977 but switched to 16 in 1979. He played a total of 25 games for 86 goals until 1981 including a bag of nine goals in a game against Essendon in 1979. Adrian Battiston, a tenacious rover from Tatura, won the Morrish Medal in the Melbourne Under 19 premiership season of 1981, and was awarded the number 16 when placed on the senior list the following year. He played 46 games (75 goals) until he transferred to Svdney at the end of 1987. He played a further 9 games in the harbor city over the next 2 years. Glenorchy’s Anthony "Andy" Lovell was one of the club’s earliest draftees after the introduction of the national draft. His father was a World Champion woodchopper so it was not surprising that he carried the tag "Chopper". A strongly-built ruck-rover, Lovell was a tireless mid-fielder through eight years with the club from 1988 for 121 games (146 goals) – all of them in the 16 guernsey. He represented Tasmania in interstate contests, played in Melbourne's losing Grand Final team in 1988 and was runner-up in the best & fairest in 1992. At the end of 1995, he was traded to the West Coast Eagles where played the next 3 for 43 games (20 goals). His coaching career continued in the west but he is back home now coaching the club’s VFL affiliate Sandringham. The next two wearers of the number spent only a year each at the Demons after crossing from other clubs. David Grant from St. Kilda played seven games in 1996 and Robert Pyman from Collingwood via North Melbourne managed 19 games (8 goals) in 1997. The club then awarded the number 16 the first selection in the 1997 National Draft – Travis Johnstone from Under 18 TAC Cup club Dandenong Stingrays, The grandson of former Fitzroy strongman Norm Johnstone, Travis was one of Melbourne’s most skilled players over the following decade but injuries and a shortage of application hampered his progress. It wasn't until 2002 - when he finished third in the best & fairest and equal fourth in the Brownlow Medal - that his real form was consistently on display. He broke through for a "Bluey" Truscott club champion award in 2005 but remained unable to translate his undoubted brilliance into the consistent elite status that the football world expected from him. At the end of 2007, after 160 games and 111 goals, he was traded to Brisbane for the first round pick (14) with which Melbourne claimed the next wearer of the famous number 16 guernsey. JACK GRIMES - IN THE MAKING [With thanks to the Melbourne Past Players and Officials Newsletter from which some of the information contained in this article was adapted]

by the Professor The number 16 has been worn by 25 players in senior games for the Melbourne Football Club since 1912 when jumper numbers were first allocated. Players wearing the number have appeared in nine premierships, led the club's goal kicking in six years, won three best and fairests and made four state teams. But while its latest recipient, Jack Grimes from the Northern Knights Under 18 TAC Cup team, comes highly credentialed as a leader in junior football ranks, his new number has never been graced by a club skipper in all those years! The first wearer of the number was half forward/centreman Bill Flintoft who played 42 games (18 goals) with Melbourne in the years 1909-1912 (and one further game with St Kilda in 1913). He later served on the club committee, was awarded Life Membership in 1945 and became President of the Club from 1947-1949. Flintoft passed the jumper on to Bill Angwin (3 games in 1913) and then it went to Bobby Monk who had joined the club in 1907 and wore it in 13 times in his final year at the club. In all, the strongly built and reliable defender played 125 games (5 goals). When the University club was disbanded for the duration of World War 1 in 1915, Dr. Roy Park joined Melbourne and was given the number 16. He played 13 games and kicked 35 goals for the club but a disagreement with a Tribunal decision saw him move to then VFA club Footscray. Park went on to play test cricket for Australia in 1920 and 1921. George Walker, a defender from Melbourne Districts liked to change his numbers, wearing 26 on debut in 1914, 20 in 1915, 16 when Melbourne resumed in the VFL after the war in 1919, 28 in the early part of 1920 and 20 for the remainder of that year and 1921. He played a total of 49 games, 10 of them in the number 16 in 1919 but never scored a goal in any of his many numbers. Like Walker, Hugh Odgers wore the number 26 early in his career. He had arrived in 1909 and wore that number in 1912. A centreman, he had been skipper for part of 1911 but wasn't seen until 1920, when he wore the number 16 jumper in 15 of the 16 games the club played that year. He played a total of 59 games and kicked two goals. The number was passed on to defender Clarrie Lethlean in 1921. He played 9 games that year and ultimately moved on to Hawthorn. "Derek" Mollison, a talented follower/forward inherited the number in 1923 and held it until part way through 1925 when he switched to the number 11. He played 66 games in his career with the club (30 goals) to 1928 and wore the "Big V" in 1924 and 1925. The next wearer also made the switch to eleven but Bob Johnson Senior wore 16 for most of his career after arriving from Quambatook in 1926 only making the change in his final year, 1933. A versatile, comparatively lightly-framed big man, Johnson Snr. made an immediate impact on the club and he was a star in the 1926 Grand Final when he booted six goals from centre half forward in Melbourne's crushing win over Collingwood. A renowned high mark and a long, raking left foot kick, he led the club's goal kicking twice and represented the state in 1928 and 1931, He played a total of 113 games - in which he kicked 302 goals. Left footed Sandgroper, Eric "Tarzan" Glass was assigned the number 16 in 1933and held it through to 1938, playing 78 games (135 goals). Glass combined well with Norm Smith and was the club's leading goal kicker in 1936. The guernsey was worn briefly by Gerry Daly (1939) and Old Melburnian Jack Atkins (4 games in 1940) who served in World War 2 where he sacrificed his life for his country. Hugh McPherson wore the number 16 in 1941, 1943 and 1944 but wore 25 in between in 1942. The ruckman who "spelled" in defence, came from Footscray (13 games/4 goals in 1929 and 1940) and went on to play a further 37 games/14 goals with the Demons. He later became a trainer with the Club, and was awarded Life Membership in 1964. He was also a member of the club’s past player’s association. The wearer in 1942 was ruckman/forward Tom Ferguson who played 5 games in 1942. He managed a further 9 in number 22 the following year before crossing to Hawthorn - where he played a further 38 senior games. Premiership player George Bickford, an accomplished centreman with exceptional disposal skills, particularly his long, accurate drop kicks came to the club from Wesley College in 1945 and wore the number 16 until his retirement in 1952. He was one of the club's best in the 1948 Grand Final replay and was vice-captain in 1951 and 1952. One of his sons, Stephen, later played for the Demons and is currently a Director of the Club. The following seasons, 1953 and 1954, were watershed years in the club’s recruiting history when many future premiership players made their senior debuts. One of them was Clyde Laidlaw who started his career with the number 16 jumper in 1954 and wore it in 44 of his total 124 games until 1956 (including the winning premierships of 1955 and 1956). He switched numbers in 1957 to number 35. Laidlaw’s switch allowed "Big Bob" Johnson to wear the jumper his father, Bob Senior, had made famous three decades before. "Big Bob" was a gangly 198cm ruckman from the thirds who made his debut in the number 18 in 1954 and had already played 49 games before he took his father’s number. He eventually grew into a big man, a real character and a VFL personality. He was a strong mark and a deadly left foot kick and his record at Melbourne was imposing – seven grand finals for five Premierships, leading goalkicker in 1961, state representative in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 with 267 goals in 140 games before moving to East Fremantle as captain/coach in 1962, where he guided them to 4 successive Grand Finals, including the Premiership in 1965. in 1966 he headed the WAFL goalkicking with 89, and a year later kicked 5 goals for W.A. against Victoria. He then returned to Victoria where, in turn he captained and coached Hamilton, McKinnon, Oakleigh and Greensborough - where he ended his playing days. He was also club Director for a time, was awarded Life Membership in 1998, named an emergency in Melbourne's Team of the Century in 2000 and inducted into the Club's Hall of Fame in 2003. Ironically, the big man's number was inherited by a rover, John Townsend, from St Patrick's College in Sale who wore it in 153 games (182 goals) through to 1972. He was twice Best & Fairest (1965 and 1969), twice leading goal kicker (1964 and 1965) and a member of the winning 1964 Grand Final team. He suffered a serious knee injury after the 1965 season which restricted him to only 7 games in the next 2 years, but he persisted - and played a further 92 before transferring to VFA club Prahran where he played over 50 games and was named in its Team of the Century. He was awarded Life Membership of the MFC in 1971. Peter Keays, a defender who played on the flank and the key positions, came from Broadford in 1974 and took over the number 16 in 1975 after wearing 51 in his first year. He played 40 games (4 goals) for the Demons to 1977 when he moved to Fitzroy for a further 49 games. Romsey forward Robert Walters, wore number 32 when he started in 1977 but switched to 16 in 1979. He played a total of 25 games for 86 goals until 1981 including a bag of nine goals in a game against Essendon in 1979. Adrian Battiston, a tenacious rover from Tatura, won the Morrish Medal in the Melbourne Under 19 premiership season of 1981, and was awarded the number 16 when placed on the senior list the following year. He played 46 games (75 goals) until he transferred to Svdney at the end of 1987. He played a further 9 games in the harbor city over the next 2 years. Glenorchy’s Anthony "Andy" Lovell was one of the club’s earliest draftees after the introduction of the national draft. His father was a World Champion woodchopper so it was not surprising that he carried the tag "Chopper". A strongly-built ruck-rover, Lovell was a tireless mid-fielder through eight years with the club from 1988 for 121 games (146 goals) – all of them in the 16 guernsey. He represented Tasmania in interstate contests, played in Melbourne's losing Grand Final team in 1988 and was runner-up in the best & fairest in 1992. At the end of 1995, he was traded to the West Coast Eagles where played the next 3 for 43 games (20 goals). His coaching career continued in the west but he is back home now coaching the club’s VFL affiliate Sandringham. The next two wearers of the number spent only a year each at the Demons after crossing from other clubs. David Grant from St. Kilda played seven games in 1996 and Robert Pyman from Collingwood via North Melbourne managed 19 games (8 goals) in 1997. The club then awarded the number 16 the first selection in the 1997 National Draft – Travis Johnstone from Under 18 TAC Cup club Dandenong Stingrays, The grandson of former Fitzroy strongman Norm Johnstone, Travis was one of Melbourne’s most skilled players over the following decade but injuries and a shortage of application hampered his progress. It wasn't until 2002 - when he finished third in the best & fairest and equal fourth in the Brownlow Medal - that his real form was consistently on display. He broke through for a "Bluey" Truscott club champion award in 2005 but remained unable to translate his undoubted brilliance into the consistent elite status that the football world expected from him. At the end of 2007, after 160 games and 111 goals, he was traded to Brisbane for the first round pick (14) with which Melbourne claimed the next wearer of the famous number 16 guernsey. JACK GRIMES - IN THE MAKING [With thanks to the Melbourne Past Players and Officials Newsletter from which some of the information contained in this article was adapted]

JACK GRIMES: IN THE MAKING by The Oracle When Jack Grimes makes his AFL debut at some stage this year or the next, the event will be something of a fairytale given that he will be playing for the club he has supported all of his life. Grimes will run out onto the ground wearing the number 16 on the back of his jumper. A decade ago when he was just eight years old, that same number was awarded to Chelsea teenager Travis Johnstone, the first selection overall at the previous year's AFL National Draft. Johnstone has now gone to Brisbane and leaves behind him an eventful but unfulfilled career with the Melbourne Football Club. To many followers of the game, he appeared as a player who could never match his inherent brilliance and talent with the passion necessary to take the next step up to football stardom. However, the betting is that the career of his replacement Grimes from Hurstbridge FC, who stands at 186.3 cm and weighs 81.6 kg, is also gifted with sublime skills and plays in the midfield, will follow a much different path. Not that there's anything wrong with a 10 year career at the sport's highest level but when you're among the elite, it's important that you at least fulfill if not exceed your potential. Even at his tender young age, Grimes has been identified not only as long term footballer of quality but also as a future leader. In recent years he has captained the Victoria Metro Under 16's and Under 18's and the strong Northern Knights TAC Cup team which produced a number of first round draft choices in last November's AFL National Draft. Grimes himself was among them at number fourteen, Melbourne’s second selection overall. He is also an AIS/AFL scholarship graduate which automatically places him in the elite of the country's young footballers and it was with that academy that he toured South Africa and was eventually awarded the Ben Mitchell Medal for his leadership and role-model potential. Ironically, he trained with the Demons whilst in the AIS programme. Alan McConnell, the academy's high performance coach said this about Grimes, who earned All-Australian honours for his performances at the national under 18 championships in July:- "Jack is an exceptional kick with both his right and left foot, he's a good reader of the play and he's got exceptional endurance as quantified by his testing. "He's an excellent leader … he's played his best football for the Northern Knights in the finals; when the games were most in the balance was when Jack played his best football. "There were a couple of matches last year where he turned the game with his ability to read the play and influenced the game with his use of the ball." [Grimes living out his backyard dream] Grimes was one of the stars at the championships and relished his role as skipper of the Victorian Metro side. He was one of its few winners (along with fellow Demon draftee Addam Maric) in the opening game when the Vics were surprisingly well beaten by the young Sandgroper team. He and Maric were the only Victorian goal kickers (with two each) in the first half and despite the WA's dominance, Grimes led by example encouraging his teammates on to better things. In adversity, his leadership skills were a shining light to his team. The same can be said of his leadership and example when the Metro boys easily won their two other games – against South Australia and Vic Country. In the latter game, Grimes also showed his versatility when moved forward by kicking three goals in five minutes of slashing football. Soon after that game Grimes suffered an injury setback when he was diagnosed with stress fractures in his back. The injury is one that needs management but Grimes has already impressed training and should be back to full fitness during the practice match period even though there is no rush for a fully fledged AFL debut too soon. As Melbourne development coach Kelly O'Donnell tells melbournefc.au: "Jack Grimes has had an interrupted pre-season with some physical things that he's had to work through from last year. He's probably had the most interrupted time out of the new guys but he's very diligent and switched on and understands what he needs to do." It's an open secret that Melbourne’s recruiters rated Grimes highly and might even have been tempted to select him with their earlier choice had Larke Medallist Cale Morton not been available at pick four. Whilst that proposition can never be definitively tested, it's clear that apart from his natural skills and ability, excellent decision making and great fitness, his natural leadership qualities would not have missed the attention of Craig Cameron, the now departed (to Richmond) Demon recruiting manager. That he may one day skipper the AFL club that he supported as a kid is a thought for well into the future but for now we can safely say that it's a fairytale that's definitely in the making …

by The Oracle When Jack Grimes makes his AFL debut at some stage this year or the next, the event will be something of a fairytale given that he will be playing for the club he has supported all of his life. Grimes will run out onto the ground wearing the number 16 on the back of his jumper. A decade ago when he was just eight years old, that same number was awarded to Chelsea teenager Travis Johnstone, the first selection overall at the previous year's AFL National Draft. Johnstone has now gone to Brisbane and leaves behind him an eventful but unfulfilled career with the Melbourne Football Club. To many followers of the game, he appeared as a player who could never match his inherent brilliance and talent with the passion necessary to take the next step up to football stardom. However, the betting is that the career of his replacement Grimes from Hurstbridge FC, who stands at 186.3 cm and weighs 81.6 kg, is also gifted with sublime skills and plays in the midfield, will follow a much different path. Not that there's anything wrong with a 10 year career at the sport's highest level but when you're among the elite, it's important that you at least fulfill if not exceed your potential. Even at his tender young age, Grimes has been identified not only as long term footballer of quality but also as a future leader. In recent years he has captained the Victoria Metro Under 16's and Under 18's and the strong Northern Knights TAC Cup team which produced a number of first round draft choices in last November's AFL National Draft. Grimes himself was among them at number fourteen, Melbourne’s second selection overall. He is also an AIS/AFL scholarship graduate which automatically places him in the elite of the country's young footballers and it was with that academy that he toured South Africa and was eventually awarded the Ben Mitchell Medal for his leadership and role-model potential. Ironically, he trained with the Demons whilst in the AIS programme. Alan McConnell, the academy's high performance coach said this about Grimes, who earned All-Australian honours for his performances at the national under 18 championships in July:- "Jack is an exceptional kick with both his right and left foot, he's a good reader of the play and he's got exceptional endurance as quantified by his testing. "He's an excellent leader … he's played his best football for the Northern Knights in the finals; when the games were most in the balance was when Jack played his best football. "There were a couple of matches last year where he turned the game with his ability to read the play and influenced the game with his use of the ball." [Grimes living out his backyard dream] Grimes was one of the stars at the championships and relished his role as skipper of the Victorian Metro side. He was one of its few winners (along with fellow Demon draftee Addam Maric) in the opening game when the Vics were surprisingly well beaten by the young Sandgroper team. He and Maric were the only Victorian goal kickers (with two each) in the first half and despite the WA's dominance, Grimes led by example encouraging his teammates on to better things. In adversity, his leadership skills were a shining light to his team. The same can be said of his leadership and example when the Metro boys easily won their two other games – against South Australia and Vic Country. In the latter game, Grimes also showed his versatility when moved forward by kicking three goals in five minutes of slashing football. Soon after that game Grimes suffered an injury setback when he was diagnosed with stress fractures in his back. The injury is one that needs management but Grimes has already impressed training and should be back to full fitness during the practice match period even though there is no rush for a fully fledged AFL debut too soon. As Melbourne development coach Kelly O'Donnell tells melbournefc.au: "Jack Grimes has had an interrupted pre-season with some physical things that he's had to work through from last year. He's probably had the most interrupted time out of the new guys but he's very diligent and switched on and understands what he needs to do." It's an open secret that Melbourne’s recruiters rated Grimes highly and might even have been tempted to select him with their earlier choice had Larke Medallist Cale Morton not been available at pick four. Whilst that proposition can never be definitively tested, it's clear that apart from his natural skills and ability, excellent decision making and great fitness, his natural leadership qualities would not have missed the attention of Craig Cameron, the now departed (to Richmond) Demon recruiting manager. That he may one day skipper the AFL club that he supported as a kid is a thought for well into the future but for now we can safely say that it's a fairytale that's definitely in the making …

Done (but hopefully it will fade quickly into oblivion).

It was reported in the West Australian - Eagles star recruit in foreshore incident. He wasn't underated by Stevo who was a big fan in THE YEAR OF DRAFTING DANGEROUSLY.

Any updates? Did we make it?

JOSH MAHONEY INTERVIEW (thanks to Alpha 33) Josh Mahoney, one of the new breed of Melbournefc assistant coaches under Dean Bailey was heard this week on SEN's MORNING GLORY programme. After introducing Josh and reeling off his career achievements at the many clubs with which he played, the Morning Glory team asked Josh about the appointment of David Neitz as captain for a ninth season and about the makeup of the club's leadership group for 2008. Tim Watson: The guys that went out of the leadership Brad Green and Jeff White, what was the reason behind that? Josh Mahoney: It's just a weight of numbers thing. When it's a voting system and guys are giving 5,4,3,2,1 you've got have a cut off somewhere and in the end seven was a big enough group as a leadership. Those guys are still considered to be great leaders of the club. They just couldn't quite get in. Tim Watson: Andy Maher believes its bunkum this whole idea of a big leadership group like this and I'm not putting words into his mouth... Andrew Maher: … I like the word "bunkum" … Tim Watson: How much time did the coaching staff spend debating the merits of what style of leadership group you eventually arrived at? Josh Mahoney: At the end of the day we decided that we wanted to get leading players to come on board as part of our leadership team and that was just part of the programme. It's the players who vote for the leadership group and they eventually came out with the number to be involved. If it had come out to be that there were three clear leaders at the club and they were the only guys who got votes then that would have been the leadership group. It came out that there was a good spread of leaders at the club and that’s how we came up with the number of seven. Andrew Maher: Josh, you've recently stepped out of playing ranks. Do you think the leadership group notion of having six or seven or eight or nine or ten as is the case at some clubs, blokes sharing the load. Do you think it actually works? Josh Mahoney: I've come out of a system at Port Adelaide where it worked exceptionally well and I think with the amount of responsibility now that's placed on players it's good to share the load among guys to go to different functions and being able to take on different responsibilities. It's a bit too much now to just have one captain and two vice captains. They can take on different roles but it’s good to spread the load as much as you can. Bill Brownless: And what's your role down there Josh? Josh Mahoney: I'm in charge of the forward line down at Melbourne where we’ve got a good group of young guys and experienced heads so it's a nice little mix. Bill Brownless: What are we going to do. Are we going to see some change up there? Maybe moving Neita. Get him out of the goal square and put someone else there? Josh Mahoney: I think that's the way that footy's going. You can't just plonk blokes in the goal square any more but Neita's raring to go and fighting fit at the moment so I'm sure he'd want to be pushing up the ground a lot more this year. Andrew Maher: You're coming from outside. Who's surprised you? What players have caught your eye this early in the season? Josh Mahoney: I think the main thing is that there is a group of young guys that I probably didn't know a lot about who got a little bit of chance to play last year – Col Garland, James Frawley and Simon Buckley as well – they're probably the young blokes at the moment who are real standouts. Overall though it's just the work ethic of players like Brock McLean, Nathan Jones and Brad Miller – their work ethic is as good as I've seen. Bill Brownless: How's Aaron Davey going? Josh Mahoney: Yeah, Aaron had a bit of an interrupted start to the pre season but now he's pretty much into full training and the more and more videos and tapes I watch of these players I'm getting more and more excited about coaching them. Bill Brownless: You'd like to see him going through the middle a bit more, don't you Tim? Tim Watson: Yeah, well if he's got the engine you'd play him more up the ground wouldn't you? Josh Mahoney: Yes, I think it's good to have those pinch hit players would can go through the midfield to play a little burst of five minutes and we're definitely thinking of doing something like that this year. Tim Watson: And Josh, what's the view of the Melbourne Football Club coaching crew about the NAB Cup change of rules with a maximum of 16 player interchanges per quarter? Josh Mahoney: We're not really that fussed about it. We think it was something that was eventually going to evolve. Things were getting a little out of hand with the amount of interchanges that were happening with clubs and the AFL has spoken about it over the last two years that something was going to be done and this is the first little step to controlling it. It just means that you're probably going to have to manage to plan your interchanges a little bit better throughout the game. It'll be interesting to see with the numbers they've come up with how it goes especially with eight people on the interchange bench as well. Tim Watson: And what about, are you going to be playing your stars in the NAB Cup? Josh Mahoney: We're interested to see how everyone's going. We'll play the guys who are fit and raring to go. If blokes aren't ready to go we won't be rushing them in just to play. At this stage we'll be playing the guys who have done the majority of the pre season and are fit and ready to go. Andrew Maher: How's Ricky Petterd going after his horrific injury Josh? Josh Mahoney: Yeah, Rick's been on a modified programme as well for a little while. He's tracking along pretty well, he's joining in the sessions and probably doing about 75% of the sessions. The great thing is we've got very experienced guys in our fitness staff with Bohdan Babijczuk leading the guys. They do a great job and they're getting the guys fit and making sure they get the K's in their legs even if they're not in full training. Andrew Maher: You guys have got the hands on the reins in a big year for the Melbourne footy club. A 150th year I know the club’s doing heaps of work to make the most of this significant milestone. There’s a nice fresh feel about the Melbourne Football Club this year and we're very excited about what you blokes can deliver. Thanks for joining us and we'll catch up during the year. For more about the 2008 leadership group - see DEMONS' SEVEN MAGNIFICENT IN DIFFERENT WAYS

JOSH MAHONEY INTERVIEW (thanks to Alpha 33) Josh Mahoney, one of the new breed of Melbournefc assistant coaches under Dean Bailey was heard this week on SEN's MORNING GLORY programme. After introducing Josh and reeling off his career achievements at the many clubs with which he played, the Morning Glory team asked Josh about the appointment of David Neitz as captain for a ninth season and about the makeup of the club's leadership group for 2008. Tim Watson: The guys that went out of the leadership Brad Green and Jeff White, what was the reason behind that? Josh Mahoney: It's just a weight of numbers thing. When it's a voting system and guys are giving 5,4,3,2,1 you've got have a cut off somewhere and in the end seven was a big enough group as a leadership. Those guys are still considered to be great leaders of the club. They just couldn't quite get in. Tim Watson: Andy Maher believes its bunkum this whole idea of a big leadership group like this and I'm not putting words into his mouth... Andrew Maher: … I like the word "bunkum" … Tim Watson: How much time did the coaching staff spend debating the merits of what style of leadership group you eventually arrived at? Josh Mahoney: At the end of the day we decided that we wanted to get leading players to come on board as part of our leadership team and that was just part of the programme. It's the players who vote for the leadership group and they eventually came out with the number to be involved. If it had come out to be that there were three clear leaders at the club and they were the only guys who got votes then that would have been the leadership group. It came out that there was a good spread of leaders at the club and that’s how we came up with the number of seven. Andrew Maher: Josh, you've recently stepped out of playing ranks. Do you think the leadership group notion of having six or seven or eight or nine or ten as is the case at some clubs, blokes sharing the load. Do you think it actually works? Josh Mahoney: I've come out of a system at Port Adelaide where it worked exceptionally well and I think with the amount of responsibility now that's placed on players it's good to share the load among guys to go to different functions and being able to take on different responsibilities. It's a bit too much now to just have one captain and two vice captains. They can take on different roles but it’s good to spread the load as much as you can. Bill Brownless: And what's your role down there Josh? Josh Mahoney: I'm in charge of the forward line down at Melbourne where we’ve got a good group of young guys and experienced heads so it's a nice little mix. Bill Brownless: What are we going to do. Are we going to see some change up there? Maybe moving Neita. Get him out of the goal square and put someone else there? Josh Mahoney: I think that's the way that footy's going. You can't just plonk blokes in the goal square any more but Neita's raring to go and fighting fit at the moment so I'm sure he'd want to be pushing up the ground a lot more this year. Andrew Maher: You're coming from outside. Who's surprised you? What players have caught your eye this early in the season? Josh Mahoney: I think the main thing is that there is a group of young guys that I probably didn't know a lot about who got a little bit of chance to play last year – Col Garland, James Frawley and Simon Buckley as well – they're probably the young blokes at the moment who are real standouts. Overall though it's just the work ethic of players like Brock McLean, Nathan Jones and Brad Miller – their work ethic is as good as I've seen. Bill Brownless: How's Aaron Davey going? Josh Mahoney: Yeah, Aaron had a bit of an interrupted start to the pre season but now he's pretty much into full training and the more and more videos and tapes I watch of these players I'm getting more and more excited about coaching them. Bill Brownless: You'd like to see him going through the middle a bit more, don't you Tim? Tim Watson: Yeah, well if he's got the engine you'd play him more up the ground wouldn't you? Josh Mahoney: Yes, I think it's good to have those pinch hit players would can go through the midfield to play a little burst of five minutes and we're definitely thinking of doing something like that this year. Tim Watson: And Josh, what's the view of the Melbourne Football Club coaching crew about the NAB Cup change of rules with a maximum of 16 player interchanges per quarter? Josh Mahoney: We're not really that fussed about it. We think it was something that was eventually going to evolve. Things were getting a little out of hand with the amount of interchanges that were happening with clubs and the AFL has spoken about it over the last two years that something was going to be done and this is the first little step to controlling it. It just means that you're probably going to have to manage to plan your interchanges a little bit better throughout the game. It'll be interesting to see with the numbers they've come up with how it goes especially with eight people on the interchange bench as well. Tim Watson: And what about, are you going to be playing your stars in the NAB Cup? Josh Mahoney: We're interested to see how everyone's going. We'll play the guys who are fit and raring to go. If blokes aren't ready to go we won't be rushing them in just to play. At this stage we'll be playing the guys who have done the majority of the pre season and are fit and ready to go. Andrew Maher: How's Ricky Petterd going after his horrific injury Josh? Josh Mahoney: Yeah, Rick's been on a modified programme as well for a little while. He's tracking along pretty well, he's joining in the sessions and probably doing about 75% of the sessions. The great thing is we've got very experienced guys in our fitness staff with Bohdan Babijczuk leading the guys. They do a great job and they're getting the guys fit and making sure they get the K's in their legs even if they're not in full training. Andrew Maher: You guys have got the hands on the reins in a big year for the Melbourne footy club. A 150th year I know the club’s doing heaps of work to make the most of this significant milestone. There’s a nice fresh feel about the Melbourne Football Club this year and we're very excited about what you blokes can deliver. Thanks for joining us and we'll catch up during the year. For more about the 2008 leadership group - see DEMONS' SEVEN MAGNIFICENT IN DIFFERENT WAYS

Try now. I made some changes to the page and while it was uploading the whole page was unavailable. There are about 150 photos so wait a few minutes for them all to load. If you want to view the slideshow, click the link that says play slideshow and then wait a few minutes for it to start playing. If you have dial up then forget about it. Cheers, Andy

Training today was at Trinity Playing Fields in Bulleen. I took some photos from the sidelines but most of the action was a fair distance away. You can click on the link below to see the photos - Training Photos

The Dee-vas were founded by Jacquie MacLeod-Smith, Jan Fewtrell, Fay Donlevy, Jenny Loveridge and Lynne Craven who proposed the idea of a women’s support group to the MELBOURNEfc board in November 2006. The Dee-Vas aim to: * Provide a social and business network for women within the Club through a range of functions, * Provide a support network for all females within the Club - staff, player mothers and partners and supporters, * Provide a forum for the female supporters of MELBOURNEfc to share their passion for the red and blue, * Make a financial contribution to MELBOURNEfc, * Cultivate and strengthen positive support of MELBOURNEfc among female members and supporters While Supporter Groups of MELBOURNEfc operate separately to the Club, they are an important part of the Club’s network of support and the work they do assists the Club in many ways. For more information, see DEE-VAS

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - INDEX [Numbers 41 - 59] by the Professor Number 41 1953 – 1954 Frank ‘Bluey’ Adams (No. 6, 1955 – 1964) 1968 Euan Campbell 1969 Blair Campbell 1972 Steve Kerley (No. 49, 1971; No. 9, 1973 – 1974) 1976 – 1980 Chris Woodman 1981 – 1982 David McGlashan 1986 – 1987 Steve Turner 1988 – 1995 Peter Rohde 1998 Nathan D. Brown (No. 25 - ) 2001 Darren Jolly (No. 11, 2002 - 2004) 2003 – 2007 Nathan Carroll Number 42 1966 John W. Hamilton 1973 John Morgan 1974 Ted Carroll (No. 37, 1975 – 1977) 1980 Russell Rowe 1981 Jamie Barham 1985 Brett Hutchinson 1987 – 1988 Brad Sparks 1991 Fabian Francis 1993 Scott Simister 1997 Russell Robertson 1999 - 2004 Peter Walsh Number 43 1953 Ron McKenzie 1967 Tony Sullivan (No. 4, 1968 – 1979) 1969 David Hayes 1970 Terry Davey 1971 Gordon Lawrie 1973 – 1974 Frank Giampaolo (No. 22, 1975 – 1977) 1975 Ray Smith (No. 7, 1976) 1976 – 1981 Greg Hutchison (No. 52, 1975; No. 18, 1982 – 1984) 1983 – 1984 Frank Rugolo (No. 34, 1985; No. 17, 1986) 1985 – 1986 Paul Payne (No. 19, 1987 -1988) 1986 Len Gandini 1991 - 1992 Andrew Ford 1998 - 2005 Guy Rigoni 2007 - Jace Bode Number 44 1962 Alec Ingwersen 1966 Les Harrison 1967 Tom Quinn 1968 Phil Rhoden (No. 38, 1969) 1969 Mark Mitchell 1978 David Code 1980 - 1981 Stephen Bickford 1982 - 1983 Scott Sutcliffe 1984 - 1986 John Fidge 1991 David Schwarz (No. 5, 1992 - 2002)… 1992 - 1993 Sean Charles (No. 18, 1994; No. 1, 1995 – 1997) 1995 Adem Yze (No. 13, 1996 - ) 1997 - 2000 Alistair Nicholson (No. 8, 2001 – 2002) 2005 - 2006 Shannon Motlop Number 45 1960 Peter Baker 1966 John Quirk 1969 - 1970 Danny Jennings 1971 - 1972 Henry Ritterman (No. 22, 1973) 1973 Greg MacDonald 1979 Peter Giles (No. 4, 1980 - 1987) 1981 Russell Dickson 1983 Glenn Boland (No. 27, 1984) 1984 Graeme Yeats (No. 8, 1985 – 1995) 1986 - 1991 Ricky Jackson 1992 Wayne Lamb 1996 - 1997 Todd McHardy 1999 Troy Longmuir 2000 - Matthew Whelan Number 46 1966 Adrian Bowden (No. 23, 1967) 1967 Max Walker (No. 1, 1968 - 1972) 1969 Ray Sampson 1972 Geoff Harrold 1975 - 1976 Glenn Walley 1982 Peter Tossol (No. 21, 1983 - 1984) 1983 - 1984 Mike Reynolds (No. 21, 1986) 1985 - 1986 Darren Louttit 1990 Matthew Mahoney (No. 10, 1992) 1992 Haydn Robins (No. 15, 1993) 1998 Hayden Lamaro 1999 - 2000 Troy Simmonds (No. 11, 2001) Number 47 1978 Paul Thompson 1981 Des O’Dwyer (No. 27, 1978; No. 24, 1982) 1982 - 1986 Alan Jarrott 1989 John Ahern 1999 - 2000 Ben Beams (No. 19, 2001) Number 48 1965 Robert Gormly 1969 Daryl Powell 1971 Michael John Collins (No. 12, 1972 - 1974) 1977 Brett Marchant 1979 John Wallace 1981 John Tossol 1984 Ross Fisher 1985 Stephen Newport (No. 34, 1986 - 1990) 1989 Luke Beveridge (No. 24, 1990 - 1992) 1991 Darren Cuthbertson (No. 9, 1992 – 1993) 1997 Brent Grgic (No. 4, 1998 – 2001) 1998 Matthew Bishop (No. 18, 1999) Number 49 1966 John Murnane (No. 27, 1967) 1968 Graeme Aubrey 1971 Peter Williamson (No. 54, 1972; No. 30, 1973 – 1974) 1971 Steve Kerley (No. 41, 1972; No. 9, 1973 – 1974) 1973 Ian McGuinness 1978 Michael Rea 1982 Stuart McKenzie 1992 Brian Stynes 1998 - 1999 Daniel Ward (No. 26, 1999, also 2000; No. 10, 2001 – 2002) 1999 - 2000 Luke Williams (No. 26, 2001 - 2002) Number 50 1962 Garry Byers (No. 1, 1963) 1966 Ken Jungwirth 1969 Greg Wells (No. 11, 1970 – 1980) 1969 Robert D. McKenzie (No. 10, 1970; No. 2, 1971 – 1972) 1971 – 1972 Shane McSpeerin (No. 20, 1973) 1974 Neil McMullin 1975 Colin Graham (No. 27, 1976 – 1978) 1979 Tony Elshaug No. 33, 1980 – 1983) 1980 Paul O’Brien (No. 40, 1981 – 1983) 1981 Ian Todd 1986 Brett Lovett (No. 17, 1987 – 1997) 1991 Kevin Dyson (No. 23, 1991 – 1995 – wore both 50 and 23 in 1991) Number 51 1966 Ken Osborne (No. 36, 1967 – 1968) 1974 Peter Keays (No. 16, 1975 – 1977) 1987 Glenn Lovett (No. 6, 1989 – 1998) 1989 John Howat (No. 28, 1990 – 1992) Number 52 1966 Robert Langford (No. 30, 1967) 1975 Greg Hutchison (No. 43, 1976 – 1981; No. 18, 1982 – 1984) 1982 Steve McCarthy (No. 24, 1983) 1989 Stephen Tingay (No. 15, 1990 – 1991; No. 2, 1992 – 1999) Number 53 1966 Brent Jones (No. 34, 1967 – 1971) 1966 Anthony Hirst 1985 Joe Rugolo (No. 26, 1986 – 1987) Number 54 1972 Peter Williamson (No. 49, 1971; No. 30, 1973 – 1974) 1973 Neil Chamberlain (No. 14, 1974 – 1976) 1974 Mike Power 1981 Trevor Korn 1990 Brent Heaver (No. 38, 1991) 1997 James McDonald (No. 23, 1998 - ) Number 55 Never worn in a senior AFL/VFL match Number 56 1984 Paul Earley Number 57 1985 Greg Sizer Number 58 1984 Michael Howard Number 59 1986 Andrew Dale

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - INDEX [Numbers 41 - 59] by the Professor Number 41 1953 – 1954 Frank ‘Bluey’ Adams (No. 6, 1955 – 1964) 1968 Euan Campbell 1969 Blair Campbell 1972 Steve Kerley (No. 49, 1971; No. 9, 1973 – 1974) 1976 – 1980 Chris Woodman 1981 – 1982 David McGlashan 1986 – 1987 Steve Turner 1988 – 1995 Peter Rohde 1998 Nathan D. Brown (No. 25 - ) 2001 Darren Jolly (No. 11, 2002 - 2004) 2003 – 2007 Nathan Carroll Number 42 1966 John W. Hamilton 1973 John Morgan 1974 Ted Carroll (No. 37, 1975 – 1977) 1980 Russell Rowe 1981 Jamie Barham 1985 Brett Hutchinson 1987 – 1988 Brad Sparks 1991 Fabian Francis 1993 Scott Simister 1997 Russell Robertson 1999 - 2004 Peter Walsh Number 43 1953 Ron McKenzie 1967 Tony Sullivan (No. 4, 1968 – 1979) 1969 David Hayes 1970 Terry Davey 1971 Gordon Lawrie 1973 – 1974 Frank Giampaolo (No. 22, 1975 – 1977) 1975 Ray Smith (No. 7, 1976) 1976 – 1981 Greg Hutchison (No. 52, 1975; No. 18, 1982 – 1984) 1983 – 1984 Frank Rugolo (No. 34, 1985; No. 17, 1986) 1985 – 1986 Paul Payne (No. 19, 1987 -1988) 1986 Len Gandini 1991 - 1992 Andrew Ford 1998 - 2005 Guy Rigoni 2007 - Jace Bode Number 44 1962 Alec Ingwersen 1966 Les Harrison 1967 Tom Quinn 1968 Phil Rhoden (No. 38, 1969) 1969 Mark Mitchell 1978 David Code 1980 - 1981 Stephen Bickford 1982 - 1983 Scott Sutcliffe 1984 - 1986 John Fidge 1991 David Schwarz (No. 5, 1992 - 2002)… 1992 - 1993 Sean Charles (No. 18, 1994; No. 1, 1995 – 1997) 1995 Adem Yze (No. 13, 1996 - ) 1997 - 2000 Alistair Nicholson (No. 8, 2001 – 2002) 2005 - 2006 Shannon Motlop Number 45 1960 Peter Baker 1966 John Quirk 1969 - 1970 Danny Jennings 1971 - 1972 Henry Ritterman (No. 22, 1973) 1973 Greg MacDonald 1979 Peter Giles (No. 4, 1980 - 1987) 1981 Russell Dickson 1983 Glenn Boland (No. 27, 1984) 1984 Graeme Yeats (No. 8, 1985 – 1995) 1986 - 1991 Ricky Jackson 1992 Wayne Lamb 1996 - 1997 Todd McHardy 1999 Troy Longmuir 2000 - Matthew Whelan Number 46 1966 Adrian Bowden (No. 23, 1967) 1967 Max Walker (No. 1, 1968 - 1972) 1969 Ray Sampson 1972 Geoff Harrold 1975 - 1976 Glenn Walley 1982 Peter Tossol (No. 21, 1983 - 1984) 1983 - 1984 Mike Reynolds (No. 21, 1986) 1985 - 1986 Darren Louttit 1990 Matthew Mahoney (No. 10, 1992) 1992 Haydn Robins (No. 15, 1993) 1998 Hayden Lamaro 1999 - 2000 Troy Simmonds (No. 11, 2001) Number 47 1978 Paul Thompson 1981 Des O’Dwyer (No. 27, 1978; No. 24, 1982) 1982 - 1986 Alan Jarrott 1989 John Ahern 1999 - 2000 Ben Beams (No. 19, 2001) Number 48 1965 Robert Gormly 1969 Daryl Powell 1971 Michael John Collins (No. 12, 1972 - 1974) 1977 Brett Marchant 1979 John Wallace 1981 John Tossol 1984 Ross Fisher 1985 Stephen Newport (No. 34, 1986 - 1990) 1989 Luke Beveridge (No. 24, 1990 - 1992) 1991 Darren Cuthbertson (No. 9, 1992 – 1993) 1997 Brent Grgic (No. 4, 1998 – 2001) 1998 Matthew Bishop (No. 18, 1999) Number 49 1966 John Murnane (No. 27, 1967) 1968 Graeme Aubrey 1971 Peter Williamson (No. 54, 1972; No. 30, 1973 – 1974) 1971 Steve Kerley (No. 41, 1972; No. 9, 1973 – 1974) 1973 Ian McGuinness 1978 Michael Rea 1982 Stuart McKenzie 1992 Brian Stynes 1998 - 1999 Daniel Ward (No. 26, 1999, also 2000; No. 10, 2001 – 2002) 1999 - 2000 Luke Williams (No. 26, 2001 - 2002) Number 50 1962 Garry Byers (No. 1, 1963) 1966 Ken Jungwirth 1969 Greg Wells (No. 11, 1970 – 1980) 1969 Robert D. McKenzie (No. 10, 1970; No. 2, 1971 – 1972) 1971 – 1972 Shane McSpeerin (No. 20, 1973) 1974 Neil McMullin 1975 Colin Graham (No. 27, 1976 – 1978) 1979 Tony Elshaug No. 33, 1980 – 1983) 1980 Paul O’Brien (No. 40, 1981 – 1983) 1981 Ian Todd 1986 Brett Lovett (No. 17, 1987 – 1997) 1991 Kevin Dyson (No. 23, 1991 – 1995 – wore both 50 and 23 in 1991) Number 51 1966 Ken Osborne (No. 36, 1967 – 1968) 1974 Peter Keays (No. 16, 1975 – 1977) 1987 Glenn Lovett (No. 6, 1989 – 1998) 1989 John Howat (No. 28, 1990 – 1992) Number 52 1966 Robert Langford (No. 30, 1967) 1975 Greg Hutchison (No. 43, 1976 – 1981; No. 18, 1982 – 1984) 1982 Steve McCarthy (No. 24, 1983) 1989 Stephen Tingay (No. 15, 1990 – 1991; No. 2, 1992 – 1999) Number 53 1966 Brent Jones (No. 34, 1967 – 1971) 1966 Anthony Hirst 1985 Joe Rugolo (No. 26, 1986 – 1987) Number 54 1972 Peter Williamson (No. 49, 1971; No. 30, 1973 – 1974) 1973 Neil Chamberlain (No. 14, 1974 – 1976) 1974 Mike Power 1981 Trevor Korn 1990 Brent Heaver (No. 38, 1991) 1997 James McDonald (No. 23, 1998 - ) Number 55 Never worn in a senior AFL/VFL match Number 56 1984 Paul Earley Number 57 1985 Greg Sizer Number 58 1984 Michael Howard Number 59 1986 Andrew Dale