Demonland

And here are the votes for the last four rounds - Round 19 Melbourne v Western Bulldogs Sylvia Saint 6. Travis Johnstone 5. Ben Holland 4. Daniel Bell 3. Nathan Jones 2. Jeff White 1. Aaron Davey Elwood 3184 6. Nathan Jones 5. Travis Johnstone 4. Brad Green 3. Jeff White 2. Ben Holland 1. Nathan Carroll Danny Deckchair 6. Nathan Jones 5. Daniel Bell 4. Ben Holland 3. James McDonald 2. Jeff White 1. Travis Johnstone Round 20 Collingwood v Melbourne Geddy Lee 6. Nathan Brown 5. David Neitz 4. Nathan Jones 3. Colin Sylvia 2. Brad Green 1. Lynden Dunn Brocky 6. James McDonald 5. Nathan Brown 4. Nathan Jones 3. David Neitz 2. Michael Newton 1. Brad Green Gouga 6. James McDonald 5. Nathan Brown 4. Nathan Jones 3. David Neitz 2. Michael Newton 1. Ryan Ferguson Round 21 Fremantle v Melbourne Mo Fine 6. Brock McLean 5. Brad Green 4. Russell Robertson 3. Nathan Brown 2. Lynden Dunn 1. Nathan Jones joeboy 6. Brad Green 5. Nathan Brown 4. Brock McLean 3. Russell Robertson 2. Byron Pickett 1. Nathan Jones Melon22 (guest writer) 6. Brad Green 5. Brock McLean 4. Nathan Jones 3. Byron Pickett 2. Colin Sylvia 1. Jeff White Round 22 Melbourne v Carlton Bring-Back-Powell 6.Travis Johnstone 5. Russell Robertson 4. Brock McLean 3. Nathan Brown 2. Lynden Dunn 1. Jace Bode deeboy 6. Travis Johnstone 5. Russell Robertson 4. Brock McLean 3. Brad Green 2. Nathan Jones 1. Nathan Brown Champ 6. Travis Johnstone 5. Russell Robertson 4. Brock McLean 3. Lynden Dunn 2. Nathan Brown 1. Nathan Jones

After 22 rounds and lots of blood, sweat and tears we congratulate Nathan Jones, winner of the Demonland Player of the Year Award 145. Nathan Jones 109. James McDonald 93. Brad Green 91. Jeff White 73. Colin Sylvia 71. Travis Johnstone 69. Cameron Bruce 66. Daniel Bell 64. Aaron Davey 59. Nathan Brown Brock McLean 54. Russell Robertson 51. Matthew Bate 50. Ben Holland 37. Simon Godfrey 36. David Neitz 35. Brent Moloney 32. Paul Wheatley 28. Clint Bizzell 27. Nathan Carroll 24. Adem Yze 23. Michael Newton [best First Year Senior Player] 20. Brad Miller Ricky Petterd 18. Jared Rivers 9. Lynden Dunn 7. Ryan Ferguson 5. Byron Pickett 4. Daniel Ward 3. James Frawley 2. Paul Johnson 1. Jace Bode Simon Buckley

ADELAIDE New Brad Moran (Kangaroos) Brad Symes (Port Adelaide) Rookie elevation Greg Gallman Draft Picks Tony Armstrong (Calder Cannons) Myke Cook (Sandringham Dragons) Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong Falcons) Jarrhan Jacky (Subiaco) Aaron Kite (Calder Cannons) Andy Otten (Oakleigh Chargers) Taylor Walker (NSW Scholarship Promotion) ND Delisted Matthew Bode John Hinge Andrew McIntyre® Ian Perrie Darren Pfeiffer Jason Torney James Turner® Traded Ben Hudson (Western Bulldogs) Martin Mattner (Sydney) John Meesen (Melbourne) Retired Mark Ricciuto BRISBANE New Travis Johnstone (Melbourne) Rookie elevation Anthony Corrie Draft Picks Matt Austin (North Ballarat Rebels) Tom Collier (Tassie Mariners) Bradd Dalziell (East Fremantle) Lachlan Henderson (Geelong Falcons) James Polkinghorne (Calder Cannons) ND Delisted Marcus Allan Ben Fixter Patrick Garner Traded Richard Hadley (Carlton) Cameron Wood (Collingwood) Retired Chris Johnson Chris Scott Michael Voss CARLTON New Chris Judd (West Coast) Richard Hadley (Brisbane) Rookie elevation Ryan Jackson Aisake O’Hailpin Draft Picks Dennis Armfield (Swan Districts) Steven Browne (West Perth) Matthew Kreuzer (Northern Knights) ND 2 PSD Delisted Craig Flint Dylan McLaren Anthony Raso David Teague Lance Whitnall Ross Young Traded Josh Kennedy (West Coast) Retired Anthony Koutoufides Matthew Lappin COLLINGWOOD New Cameron Wood Rookie elevation Martin Clarke Draft Picks John McCarthy (Dandenong Stingrays), Toby Thoolan (Bendigo Pioneers) Jaxson Barham (Geelong Falcons) f/son ND Delisted Daniel Nicholls® Guy Richards Traded Ben Davies (Kangaroos) Retired Nathan Buckley James Clement Paul Licuria ESSENDON New - Rookie elevation Heath Hocking Adam Ramanauskas Draft Picks Darcy Daniher (Calder Cannons) f/s Cale Hooker (East Fremantle), David Myers (Perth), Tayte Pears (East Perth) ND 5 PSD Delisted Kepler Bradley Richard Cole Mark Johnson Lachlan McKinnon® Retired Mark Bolton Scott Camporeale Chris Heffernan James Hird FREMANTLE New - Rookie elevation Andrew Foster Draft Picks Kepler Bradley (Essendon), Clayton Hinkley (North Ballarat Rebels), Mark Johnson (Essendon), Chris Mayne (Perth), Rhys Palmer (East Fremantle) ND 6 PSD Delisted Clayton Collard Benet Copping® Ryley Dunn Robert Haddrill Calib Mourish Darren Rumble® James Walker Retired Troy Cook Justin Longmuir Shane Parker GEELONG New - Rookie elevation Jason Davenport Tom Lonergan Draft Picks Adam Donohue (Geelong Falcons) f/s Dan McKenna (Gippsland Power), Dawson Simpson (Murray Bushrangers), Scott Simpson (Dandenong Stingrays), Harry Taylor (East Fremantle) ND Delisted Todd Grima® Sam Hunt Stephen Owen Joel Reynolds® Matthew Spencer Traded Tim Callen (Western Bulldogs) Charlie Gardner (St. Kilda) Steven King (St. Kilda) Henry Playfair (Sydney) Retired - HAWTHORN New - Rookie elevation Luke McEntee Draft Picks Stuart Dew (Port Adelaide), Cyril Rioli (St Marys), Brendan Whitecross (Zillmere) ND Delisted Brett Collins® Sam Gibson® Matt Little Josh Thurgood Retired Ben Dixon Joel Smith Richie Vandenberg KANGAROOS New Ben Davies (Collingwood) Sam Power (Western Bulldogs) Rookie elevation Leigh Adams Matt Campbell Draft Picks Levi Greenwood (Port Adelaide Magpies) Blake Grima (Kangaroos) Josh Smith (West Perth) Robbie Tarrant (Bendigo Pioneers) Scott Thompson (Geelong VFL) ND Delisted Blake Grima Ben Hughes® Tim Hutchison® Daniel McConnell David Trotter Callum Urch Djaran Whyman Traded Brad Moran (Adelaide) Retired Glenn Archer Kasey Green Jonathan Hay MELBOURNE New John Meesen (Adelaide) Rookie elevation Jace Bode Draft Picks Cale Morton Jack Grimes Addam Maric Kyle Cheney Tom McNamara + 3 PSD Delisted Ryan Ferguson Simon Godfrey Daniel Hayes® Daniel Hughes® Shane Neaves® Heath Neville Daniel Ward Traded Travis Johnstone (Brisbane) Retired Clint Bizzell Nathan Brown Byron Pickett PORT ADELAIDE New - Rookie elevation - Draft Picks Mitchell Farmer (Calder Cannons) Matthew Lobbe (Eastern Ranges) Marlon Motlop (Wanderers) Matthew Westhoff (Central District) ND Delisted Nathan Batsanis® Peter Hardy® Alex Lee® Ryan Willits Traded Brad Symes (Adelaide) Retired Josh Mahoney Michael Wilson Darryl Wakelin RICHMOND New Jordan McMahon (Western Bulldogs) Mitch Morton (West Coast) Rookie elevation Angus Graham Jacob King Draft Picks Trent Cotchin (Northern Knights) Dean Putt (Calder Cannons) Alex Rance (Swan Districts) + 1 PSD Delisted Patrick Bowden Tas Clingan® Brent Hartigan Cameron Howat® Andrew Krakouer Carl Peterson Retired Darren Gaspar Ray Hall Kent Kingsley Trent Knobel ST. KILDA New Sean Dempster (Sydney) Charlie Gardner (Geelong) Steven King (Geelong) Adam Schneider (Sydney) Rookie elevation Jarryn Geary Clinton Jones Draft Picks Eljay Connors (Bendigo Pioneers) Fraser Gehrig (St Kilda) Ben McEvoy (Murray Bushrangers) Jack Steven (Geelong Falcons) Delisted Barry Brooks Andrew McQualter Phillip Raymond Justin Sweeney Fergus Watts Retired Matthew Clarke Fraser Gehrig Aaron Hamill Andrew Thompson Brett Voss SYDNEY New Martin Mattner (Adelaide) Henry Playfair (Geelong) Rookie elevation Ed Barlow Luke Brennan Kieran Jack Draft Picks Craig Bird (NSW Scholarship Promotion) Brett Meredith (Northern Knights) Patrick Veszpremi (Northern Knights ND Delisted Matthew Davis® Matthew O’Dwyer® Simon Phillips Sam Rowe® Earl Shaw® Jonathan Simpkin Luke Vogels Traded Sean Dempster (St. Kilda) Adam Schneider (St. Kilda) Retired Stephen Doyle WEST COAST New Josh Kennedy (Carlton) Rookie elevation Chad Jones Jamie McNamara Draft Picks Brad Ebert (Port Adelaide Magpies) Chris Masten (East Fremantle) Tony Notte (Swan Districts) Scott Selwood (Bendigo Pioneers) ND Delisted Daniel Chick Ben Cousins Ashley Sampi Traded Chris Judd (Carlton) Mitch Morton (Richmond) Retired Rowan Jones Josh Wooden WESTERN BULLDOGS New Tim Callen (Geelong) Ben Hudson (Adelaide) Rookie elevation Jarrod Harbrow Draft Picks Jarrad Boumann (Dandenong Stingrays) Jarrad Grant (Dandenong Stingrays) Guy O'Keefe (Geelong Falcons) Sam Reid (Zillmere) Callan Ward (Western Jets) Easton Wood (Camperdown) ND + 4 PSD Delisted Travis Baird Cameron Faulkner Damian McCormack Marty Pask® Tim Walsh Michael West® Traded Jordan McMahon (Richmond) Sam Power (Kangaroos) Retired Chris Grant Luke Darcy Brett Montgomery Matthew Robbins 2007 NAB AFL DRAFT ORDER OF SELECTION AMENDED Priority Selection 1: Carlton 1st Round 2: Richmond 3: West Coast 4: Melbourne 5: Western Bulldogs 6: Essendon 7: Fremantle 8: Brisbane 9: St. Kilda 10: Adelaide 11: Sydney 12: Hawthorn 13: West Coast 14: Melbourne 15: Kangaroos 16: Port Adelaide 17: Geelong Priority Selection 18: Richmond Round Two 19: Western Bulldogs 20: West Coast 21: Melbourne 22: West Coast 23: Essendon 24: Fremantle 25: Brisbane 26: Sydney 27: Adelaide 28: Port Adelaide 29: Hawthorn 30: Adelaide 31: Collingwood 32: Kangaroos 33: Port Adelaide 34: Geelong Round Three 35: Western Bulldogs 36: Carlton 37: Kangaroos 38: Adelaide 39: Essendon (Darcy Daniher - father/son) 40: Fremantle 41: Brisbane 42: St. Kilda 43: Western Bulldogs 44: Geelong 45: Hawthorn 46: Carlton 47: Collingwood 48: Western Bulldogs 49: Port Adelaide 50: Geelong Round Four 51: Richmond 52: Brisbane 53: Melbourne 54: Essendon 55: Fremantle 56: Brisbane 57: St. Kilda 58: Adelaide 59: Sydney (Craig Bird - scholarship promotion) 60: Geelong (Adam Donohue - father/son) 61: Collingwood (Jaxson Barham - father/son) 62: Kangaroos 63: Western Bulldogs Round Five 64: Richmond 65: Carlton 66: Melbourne 67: Western Bulldogs 68: Essendon 69: Fremantle 70: St. Kilda 71: Adelaide 72: Kangaroos Round Six 73: Melbourne 74: Fremantle 75: Adelaide (Taylor Walker - scholarship promotion)

All actually confirmed comings and goings will be pinned on our official HATCH MATCH AND DISPATCH thread above.

We give him all the tough assignments and Scoop Junior has come up trumps again. Here's his second review of a Melbourne v Carlton game at the G this year and we have a 2 - 0 record against the Blues this year. Scoop Junior tells us why. HAPPINESS AND TEARS by Scoop Junior It's been that sort of season for Melbourne. After experiencing four wins and seventeen defeats in a miserable, injury-riddled season, one more loss would have given some drafting joy in a year that was almost gone as soon as it started. Unfortunately however, Melbourne's Round 22 opponent happened to be Carlton, a club so determined to lose in order to secure the number one pick in the draft that it was able to give us the ultimate ironical outcome - a game that we could not lose and, rather fittingly for the script of 2007, the Demons got up - easily. Even twenty-four hours later, one doesn't know whether that should signal happiness or tears. Team selection for this game was always going to be interesting. Would the Dees go for a weakened line-up in a bid to nail the priority pick? Most would have looked at the 22 on paper and would have identified the two most likely match-winners: Robertson and Johnstone. It was no surprise then that the former kicked 6 goals and the latter racked up 42 touches off half back to be two of their side's best players. In all honesty, it probably didn't matter who the Demons selected for this game. Carlton did not want to win – its administration and footy department would ensure that would not happen. Perhaps, then, the Dees just decided to go with "best available" (even given the large number of unavailable) in a bid to inflict a hefty defeat. At quarter time, such an outcome looked likely. Carlton looked uninterested; it did not man up and allowed the Demons far too much space and the Blues also kicked horribly for goal. At least, for Melbourne supporters, the disappointment of finishing one game above the cut-off for the priority pick could be compensated by giving the Blues a good old-fashioned hiding. But we couldn't think like that, could we? Who are we to kid ourselves? This is 2007, remember. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has fallen the Dees' way this year. So it was no surprise then that the Demons took their foot off the accelerator. Carlton kicked their way back into the game but never looked likely. In fact, each time they closed to within 20 points, the Dees would kick a few in a hurry. The Blues probably didn't dare get within two goals, given the mental fragility of Melbourne in 2007 and the fact that five of its starting backline sat in the stands. The Demons ran out 31-point winners, which was neither here nor there. No draft pick, no thrashing, no happiness and no tears. Though I must admit when the final siren sounded to end this sorry season, I felt some sense of contentment leaving the MCG knowing that future seasons could not get much worse than this one. The atmosphere at the game matched the intensity on the field, which was probably on par with a Sunday afternoon father-and-son football match in the park. In fact, some of the younger kids would have at least followed their dads around, which is more than can be said for Carlton's attention to Trapper. I recall Carrazzo wearing him like a glove in both games last year, constantly elbowing him and niggling him the way taggers should. TJ hardly saw it in those games, yet there was no such attention yesterday. I wonder why? If the atmosphere was pathetic, and understandably so, the reactions of some supporters was an indictment on the game. Carlton supporters next to me clapped when Whitnall kicked the ball like it was made of steel and cheered when Robbo slammed through yet another goal. A Melbourne player was caught red hot and there was no shout of "ball", Blues' fans were furious that they were getting a good run from the men in yellow and the Carlton cheer squad started singing the club song when they were dead and buried in the last term. And really, who could blame them? While the behaviour was perhaps extravagant, the sentiment was clear and rational. The AFL is worried about certain events bringing the game into disrepute. Well, look no further than the crowd last night at the MCG and this, perhaps more than anything else this season, has affected the brand of the game. I wouldn't read much into the actual game either. There was very little pressure, no close tags and most Demons found themselves opposed to inexperienced youngsters. Nathan Jones and Brock McLean did well in the clinches and really do provide some genuine excitement in the inside grunt department. They lack pace but being a good player requires an understanding of your limitations and how to manage them. The real surprise packet has been Lynden Dunn in midfield. With his big engine, neat skills and great awareness, he could really develop into a very handy player. He played on Murphy for a bit and did a reasonable job on him but also found the ball 20-odd times and used it well each time. Matthew Bate came back into the side and showed his sharpness around goal and excellent finishing skills. There are a number of areas he needs to work on but he has the tools if he wants it badly enough. Brad Miller played one of his better games for the year as a leading forward. However, these have been too few and far between and his limitations severely restrict his competitiveness at this level. Michael Newton kicked two goals to be a handy contributor and took another hanger on the wing. He shows a lot of promise but does have a fair amount to work on, in particular his ground level skills, second efforts and concentration. Elevated rookie Jace Bode showed some promise and nailed two goals, but again it wouldn’t be wise to read too much into this game. Bode also must improve at ground level. For a player of his size, clean hands below the knees is a must and I'm yet to be convinced in this aspect of his game. If you are fumbling against a tanking Carlton, how will you fare against the best pressure sides in the competition? Nathan Carroll was thrashed by Whitnall, but luckily for the rugged Demon backman (and for Carlton supporters), Big Red couldn’t find the big sticks. In the ruck, Jeff White gave a good account of himself, but his fellow big men in Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson both struggled. The ruck looks to a big area of concern for the Dees, with White turning 31 early next year. Jamar is a fair tap ruckman, but offers little else. Aside from the humiliating 30-metre pass to Whitnall that amazingly invoked the wrath of the opposition fans when normally it would have been a point of comical joy, he failed to make his mark around the ground. And finally onto the retiring trio. Browny did as Doggy has done for 10 years – threw himself in with the utmost bravery, only to undo his hard work with errant disposal. But this bloke has been a marvel for the MFC. His courage, determination and willingness to run have pleased supporters over his time at the club and he will be remembered as one of the gutsiest Demons. Biz has been a good contributor since arriving from Geelong. While injuries have curtailed his last few years, he played some tremendous footy in 2002 and 2003 and was always a courageous, team-oriented player with excellent skills. Byron Pickett will be remembered for a fantastic career. He has been a tremendous footballer – hard, mean, skilful, quick and powerful – and was instrumental in the Kangaroos and Power’s Grand Final wins. However, his time as Melbourne was largely forgettable, never getting himself in a suitable condition for the demands of modern day footy. I thought it was quite strange to hear the cheers when Pickett had the footy and the relative lack of noise when Browny had it, as everyone knows who has given better service to the club. But perhaps they were just acknowledging what, up until this year, has been a pretty special career from Pickett. Perhaps another player may join these three in retirement. Daniel Ward has not had a memorable end to the season. He was dropped a few rounds ago, came back into the side against Fremantle by virtue of another six injuries, conceded a number of frees at Subiaco and then struggled to match Houlihan in the third and Betts in the last term. It may well have been his last game for the Demons. After experiencing that game, I just hope nothing like it ever happens again. The whole point of footy is pride and passion and when that is taken away from you, there's nothing left. When the opposition's supporters don’t want to win and when you think it's in the best interests of your own team not to win, it just makes for a horrible scenario. The usual banter between the fans, the intensity of the game and the pride of winning were all removed by the evil of the priority pick system. I would rather see my team lose by 15 goals than have to endure that rubbish again, as at least some sort of emotion will be invoked. And so, after the year from hell, the only way, surely, is up. A new coach invariably brings with it a whole host of changes, in particular the list, player positions, development, game plan, strategy, tactics, and, most importantly, attitude. If there’s one thing that needs to change at Melbourne, it is attitude. The team, while talented, has not produced consistently for far too long. The Kangaroos have shown that anything can happen, rising from 14th (precisely where the Demons finished this year) to 4th in one season, and there appears to be little doubt about which club has the more talented list. However, the Roos play for each other and work their butts off, and that's something we need to see from the Dees in 2008. Thankfully, this disastrous year is over (unless Collingwood perform in the finals…heaven forbid) and we can look forward to a big off-season both on the training track and off the field. The hope remains, and as a Melbourne supporter, you learn to live off that! Melbourne 7.3.45 12.6.78 16.11.107 21.13.139 Carlton 1.7.13 4.13.37 10.15.75 15.18.108 Goals Melbourne Robertson 6 Bate Bode Bruce Newton 2 Brown Ferguson Johnstone Jones Miller Pickett White Carlton Betts 5 Gibbs Houlihan 2 Simpson Hampson Waite Kennedy Walker Whitnall Best Melbourne Johnstone Robertson McLean Jones Dunn Carlton Scotland Betts Gibbs Houlihan Simpson Bentick. Injuries Melbourne - nil (now it happens?) Carlton M Jamison (shoulder). Reports Melbourne M Newton (reported by umpire M Ellis for allegedly charging P Bower in the second quarter) Carlton Nil Umpires M Nicholls C Kamolins M Ellis. Official crowd 26,156 at the MCG

by Scoop Junior It's been that sort of season for Melbourne. After experiencing four wins and seventeen defeats in a miserable, injury-riddled season, one more loss would have given some drafting joy in a year that was almost gone as soon as it started. Unfortunately however, Melbourne's Round 22 opponent happened to be Carlton, a club so determined to lose in order to secure the number one pick in the draft that it was able to give us the ultimate ironical outcome - a game that we could not lose and, rather fittingly for the script of 2007, the Demons got up - easily. Even twenty-four hours later, one doesn't know whether that should signal happiness or tears. Team selection for this game was always going to be interesting. Would the Dees go for a weakened line-up in a bid to nail the priority pick? Most would have looked at the 22 on paper and would have identified the two most likely match-winners: Robertson and Johnstone. It was no surprise then that the former kicked 6 goals and the latter racked up 42 touches off half back to be two of their side's best players. In all honesty, it probably didn't matter who the Demons selected for this game. Carlton did not want to win – its administration and footy department would ensure that would not happen. Perhaps, then, the Dees just decided to go with "best available" (even given the large number of unavailable) in a bid to inflict a hefty defeat. At quarter time, such an outcome looked likely. Carlton looked uninterested; it did not man up and allowed the Demons far too much space and the Blues also kicked horribly for goal. At least, for Melbourne supporters, the disappointment of finishing one game above the cut-off for the priority pick could be compensated by giving the Blues a good old-fashioned hiding. But we couldn't think like that, could we? Who are we to kid ourselves? This is 2007, remember. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has fallen the Dees' way this year. So it was no surprise then that the Demons took their foot off the accelerator. Carlton kicked their way back into the game but never looked likely. In fact, each time they closed to within 20 points, the Dees would kick a few in a hurry. The Blues probably didn't dare get within two goals, given the mental fragility of Melbourne in 2007 and the fact that five of its starting backline sat in the stands. The Demons ran out 31-point winners, which was neither here nor there. No draft pick, no thrashing, no happiness and no tears. Though I must admit when the final siren sounded to end this sorry season, I felt some sense of contentment leaving the MCG knowing that future seasons could not get much worse than this one. The atmosphere at the game matched the intensity on the field, which was probably on par with a Sunday afternoon father-and-son football match in the park. In fact, some of the younger kids would have at least followed their dads around, which is more than can be said for Carlton's attention to Trapper. I recall Carrazzo wearing him like a glove in both games last year, constantly elbowing him and niggling him the way taggers should. TJ hardly saw it in those games, yet there was no such attention yesterday. I wonder why? If the atmosphere was pathetic, and understandably so, the reactions of some supporters was an indictment on the game. Carlton supporters next to me clapped when Whitnall kicked the ball like it was made of steel and cheered when Robbo slammed through yet another goal. A Melbourne player was caught red hot and there was no shout of "ball", Blues' fans were furious that they were getting a good run from the men in yellow and the Carlton cheer squad started singing the club song when they were dead and buried in the last term. And really, who could blame them? While the behaviour was perhaps extravagant, the sentiment was clear and rational. The AFL is worried about certain events bringing the game into disrepute. Well, look no further than the crowd last night at the MCG and this, perhaps more than anything else this season, has affected the brand of the game. I wouldn't read much into the actual game either. There was very little pressure, no close tags and most Demons found themselves opposed to inexperienced youngsters. Nathan Jones and Brock McLean did well in the clinches and really do provide some genuine excitement in the inside grunt department. They lack pace but being a good player requires an understanding of your limitations and how to manage them. The real surprise packet has been Lynden Dunn in midfield. With his big engine, neat skills and great awareness, he could really develop into a very handy player. He played on Murphy for a bit and did a reasonable job on him but also found the ball 20-odd times and used it well each time. Matthew Bate came back into the side and showed his sharpness around goal and excellent finishing skills. There are a number of areas he needs to work on but he has the tools if he wants it badly enough. Brad Miller played one of his better games for the year as a leading forward. However, these have been too few and far between and his limitations severely restrict his competitiveness at this level. Michael Newton kicked two goals to be a handy contributor and took another hanger on the wing. He shows a lot of promise but does have a fair amount to work on, in particular his ground level skills, second efforts and concentration. Elevated rookie Jace Bode showed some promise and nailed two goals, but again it wouldn’t be wise to read too much into this game. Bode also must improve at ground level. For a player of his size, clean hands below the knees is a must and I'm yet to be convinced in this aspect of his game. If you are fumbling against a tanking Carlton, how will you fare against the best pressure sides in the competition? Nathan Carroll was thrashed by Whitnall, but luckily for the rugged Demon backman (and for Carlton supporters), Big Red couldn’t find the big sticks. In the ruck, Jeff White gave a good account of himself, but his fellow big men in Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson both struggled. The ruck looks to a big area of concern for the Dees, with White turning 31 early next year. Jamar is a fair tap ruckman, but offers little else. Aside from the humiliating 30-metre pass to Whitnall that amazingly invoked the wrath of the opposition fans when normally it would have been a point of comical joy, he failed to make his mark around the ground. And finally onto the retiring trio. Browny did as Doggy has done for 10 years – threw himself in with the utmost bravery, only to undo his hard work with errant disposal. But this bloke has been a marvel for the MFC. His courage, determination and willingness to run have pleased supporters over his time at the club and he will be remembered as one of the gutsiest Demons. Biz has been a good contributor since arriving from Geelong. While injuries have curtailed his last few years, he played some tremendous footy in 2002 and 2003 and was always a courageous, team-oriented player with excellent skills. Byron Pickett will be remembered for a fantastic career. He has been a tremendous footballer – hard, mean, skilful, quick and powerful – and was instrumental in the Kangaroos and Power’s Grand Final wins. However, his time as Melbourne was largely forgettable, never getting himself in a suitable condition for the demands of modern day footy. I thought it was quite strange to hear the cheers when Pickett had the footy and the relative lack of noise when Browny had it, as everyone knows who has given better service to the club. But perhaps they were just acknowledging what, up until this year, has been a pretty special career from Pickett. Perhaps another player may join these three in retirement. Daniel Ward has not had a memorable end to the season. He was dropped a few rounds ago, came back into the side against Fremantle by virtue of another six injuries, conceded a number of frees at Subiaco and then struggled to match Houlihan in the third and Betts in the last term. It may well have been his last game for the Demons. After experiencing that game, I just hope nothing like it ever happens again. The whole point of footy is pride and passion and when that is taken away from you, there's nothing left. When the opposition's supporters don’t want to win and when you think it's in the best interests of your own team not to win, it just makes for a horrible scenario. The usual banter between the fans, the intensity of the game and the pride of winning were all removed by the evil of the priority pick system. I would rather see my team lose by 15 goals than have to endure that rubbish again, as at least some sort of emotion will be invoked. And so, after the year from hell, the only way, surely, is up. A new coach invariably brings with it a whole host of changes, in particular the list, player positions, development, game plan, strategy, tactics, and, most importantly, attitude. If there’s one thing that needs to change at Melbourne, it is attitude. The team, while talented, has not produced consistently for far too long. The Kangaroos have shown that anything can happen, rising from 14th (precisely where the Demons finished this year) to 4th in one season, and there appears to be little doubt about which club has the more talented list. However, the Roos play for each other and work their butts off, and that's something we need to see from the Dees in 2008. Thankfully, this disastrous year is over (unless Collingwood perform in the finals…heaven forbid) and we can look forward to a big off-season both on the training track and off the field. The hope remains, and as a Melbourne supporter, you learn to live off that! Melbourne 7.3.45 12.6.78 16.11.107 21.13.139 Carlton 1.7.13 4.13.37 10.15.75 15.18.108 Goals Melbourne Robertson 6 Bate Bode Bruce Newton 2 Brown Ferguson Johnstone Jones Miller Pickett White Carlton Betts 5 Gibbs Houlihan 2 Simpson Hampson Waite Kennedy Walker Whitnall Best Melbourne Johnstone Robertson McLean Jones Dunn Carlton Scotland Betts Gibbs Houlihan Simpson Bentick. Injuries Melbourne - nil (now it happens?) Carlton M Jamison (shoulder). Reports Melbourne M Newton (reported by umpire M Ellis for allegedly charging P Bower in the second quarter) Carlton Nil Umpires M Nicholls C Kamolins M Ellis. Official crowd 26,156 at the MCG

Thanks folks. Well that's it. I'm going to lock the thread now, select the three sets of votes at random and be back later with the final tallies.

by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham came close to achieving an improbable victory in Saturday's VFL Qualifying Final when Williamstown midfielder Paul Licuria goaled with 90 seconds left on the clock to give his team a two-point victory after the Zebras had mounted a dramatic final quarter fight back. The goal from Licuria, a dual Copeland Trophy Medallist with Collingwood, gave his VFL team a week's break and forced Sandringham into the semi finals for the first time in several years. It also broke the Zebras' undefeated sequence in finals starting from when they commenced their triple premiership winning run in 2004. Sandy opened its first home final strongly despite fielding a weakened side depleted by injuries at AFL affiliate Melbourne as well as to two of its own most experienced players in David Gallagher (knee) and Chris Lamb (hamstring). Of the six Demons, two are rookies and the senior players have a total of 12 AFL games between them. The team's injury woes opened up the opportunity for Daniel Gribbin to make his senior debut in a finals game while Tom Dean lined up for only his second game at this level. By contrast, the Seagulls had 12 Collingwood listed players, three of whom have more than 100 games experience under their belts with the Magpies. Despite this, it was the Zebras who dominated the opening term thanks to their early dominance in the middle where Shane Neaves was winning in the ruck and Peter Summers, Simon Buckley and Shane Valenti were getting plenty of the football. In much the same way as the side did last week however, it frittered away a few chances to go to a big lead and the nine point advantage did not reflect the effort put into the opening stanza by the home team. The second term was very much a repeat of the first but late in the quarter, the Seagulls midfield led by Brodie Holland, Sam Iles, Ben Davies and Licuria started to get the upper hand and were threatening to take control when the half time siren rang. Sandringham's worse fears were realised in the third quarter when Williamstown booted six unanswered goals in a little over ten minutes of playing time to turn the game on its head. The Seagulls burst the game open with their run all over the ground and they picked up possessions at will and seemed to be under little pressure as they piled on the goals. They finished with ten for the term as they smashed their much vaunted opponents who appeared to wilt in the warm sunshine. At one stage, Willi held a lead of 44 points before Sandy settled through goals to Guy Martin and one on the siren to Shane Valenti to go into the break five gaols down. The last quarter belonged to seven time Frosty Medal winner Nick Sautner who was in sensational form. Sautner finished with 7.5 for the game but kicked 4.3 in the final term taking some brilliant pack marks and generating unbelievable excitement as the minutes ticked away. Inspired by their full forward, the Zebras seemed to gain a second wind and when they hit the front by four points they had turned the game around to the tune of 48 points. This could have been even more but for a brief period of inaccuracy when Sautner scored three successive behinds (all well within range) in mid quarter. Finally, against the run of play, Licuria kicked the winning goal to end a magnificent game of football leaving the Zebras just 90 seconds away from what would have been a glorious victory. Sandringham now meets North Ballarat in Saturday's semi final and is expected to field a stronger side this week. The loss to Williamstown means that, come what may, there will be no replay of last year's grand final because the semi final winner is slotted to meet Geelong in the Preliminary Final. The Zebras will need to reproduce all of their characteristic commitment and desperation to make it all they way because the Roosters are always a handful. The challenge is there and Sandy showed by its stirring comeback that this team will never give in and will keep fighting at all costs. HOW THE DEMONS FARED You might well ask what Demons? The rules state that VFL clubs with AFL alignments are allowed to play 12 senior/rookie list players in finals and as it happened Williamstown had 12 senior Collingwood players available with something like 400 games experience. Lined up against them were six Demons but only three Simon Buckley (6 games), Colin Garland (2) and Matthew Warnock (4) have had AFL duties. Heath Neville has yet to play a senior AFL game, nor have rookies Danny Hughes and Shane Neaves. The cavalry is on its way next week with reinforcements from the Melbourne list and the Zebras should be able to field a much stronger side for the remainder of the finals. That they came within a minute and a half of defeating such a strong Williamstown side is an achievement that should not be underestimated. Simon Buckley - was in everything in the first half but like most of his team mates drifted out in the third. Came back strongly in the final quarter. Has improved dramatically in 2007. Colin Garland - much quieter than in recent weeks and had to come off with what appeared to be an ankle injury. Returned to the field after having his ankles restrapped but couldn't get into the game. Danny Hughes - marked strongly in patches but couldn't convert on the scoreboard. Shane Neaves - had a great duel with the Williamstown ruckman Meyer and I had him ahead overall. Also took some strong marks around the ground. Heath Neville - has made little impact in two years at the club and this was another quiet game. Matthew Warnock - defended well for most of the game but unfortunately couldn't stem the tide when the Seagulls were on song in the third term. Sandringham 3.5.23 6.7.43 9.8.62 16.15.111 Williamstown 2.2.14 4.8.32 14.9.93 17.11.113 Goals Sandringham Sautner 7 Martyn Poyas Valenti 2 Buckley Dean Summers Williamstown Licuria Williams 3 Lockwood Rose 2 Beaumont Davies Dawes Dick Holland Iles Stanley Best Sandringham Summers Sautner Paterakis Buckley Valenti Biddlecombe Williamstown Iles Stanley Davies Picken Toovey Licuria

Appreciate votes on a 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis ... Results out this evening.

(no conspiracy theories here please) Whispering Jack and we'll never hear the end of this - 1 (1) 115 Whispering_Jack 2 (5) 110 Demonland 2 (2) 110 slamevil 4 (2) 109 Clyde_Cabbie 4 (5) 109 deanox 4 (2) 109 demon_davey 7 (9) 108 deesthisyear 8 (9) 107 Scoop Junior 9 (7) 106 DeMoNiC 10 (11) 105 Pinball_Wizard 10 (13) 105 snarler_0 12 (11) 104 Alpha_33 12 (8) 104 canberrademon(herb) 14 (14) 103 great_gatsby 15 (15) 102 petejh2000 16 (17) 101 Rivers Run Red 17 (16) 100 achirnside 17 (17) 100 frangas 19 (19) 93 Go_Ds 20 (20) 91 Jackieboy_0 21 (21) 90 BigKev Demon 22 (23) 87 dee'viator 23 (22) 85 bl3281 24 (24) 81 No Cigar 25 (25) 80 TimDees 26 (26) 76 paliosiana 27 (27) 73 KrazyJay 28 (30) 71 CarnTheDees 28 (28) 71 rusty_corner 30 (29) 70 Goodvibes 31 (31) 62 Kieranbj 32 (32) 61 demon_fanatic 33 (33) 60 Dees_Fan16 34 (34) 58 Fingers Power 35 (35) 57 Dappadan 36 (36) 51 melon22 37 (37) 50 jaded24 38 (38) 42 rusty_kingswood Whispering Jack also predicted on Demonland as far back as 15 July 2007 the exact order of the first four draft positions when he wrote that Carlton would not win another game for the season and finish with a priority draft selection - WILD COLONIAL BOY "That's on the basis of my suspicion that Carlton will continue to play as a rabble while the Dennis Pagan fiasco continues and that the Blues will be content to muddle their way through the remainder of the season without winning a game thereby gaining the dubious distinction of being the inaugural charity case first round priority draft pick "winner" under the new priority system. This scenario would leave Melbourne with pick # 4 as its first selection." BTW WJ's favourite, McEvoy kicked 7 goals for Murray Bushrangers at the weekend in their last game before the finals.

by Clyde the Clifton Hill Cabbie There are three certainties in life. The first two are death and taxes and the third is that Melbourne will beat Carlton at evensong on Sunday. In fact, you can bet your castle on that proposition because the Demons are unbeatable this week! Unbeatable, you say? Surely, you know that the Demons have experienced a dreadful 2007 - a season that promised so much but turned pear shaped before it even began? With almost every passing week, another disaster was lurking in the background waiting to happen. We lost games, players, a coach, lots of money and even our self-respect. It was enough to make the true fans of the club as mad as hell. Remember, I told you all about it when I came out of retirement last month and I recalled the famous rant of the late Peter Finch from the 1976 movie, "Network", "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" I will now divulge a couple of things about my fascination with madness and with the cinema of the mid 1970's in order to explain why I am so confident about Melbourne beating Carlton this weekend. Apart from the self-evident fact that the Blues are no good, there's the current Carlton mindset. It's so destructive that it transcends the benefits that might be gained by acquiring the better draft choices that will come with defeat in Sunday's game. They have become attached so strongly to this culture of losing that they are totally delusional about what it means to get beaten. I will paint a picture of what I mean by drawing an analogy between Sunday's game and a famous scene from another classic film of the era, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". The "Black Knight Scene" goes a bit like this (please be patient with me because I am about to prove that in the farcical world of AFL football, life really does imitate art): King Arthur and his trusty serf Patsy are travelling through a forest when they observe a fight taking place between a Black Knight and a Green Knight by a bridge over a small stream. The Black Knight prevails and is invited to join the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot. He ignores the invitation and Arthur finally decides to continue his journey over the bridge but is prevented from doing so by the Knight. A sword fight ensues and Arthur chops off one of the Black Knight's arms. The Knight staunchly refuses to give up, protesting "'tis but a scratch!" and "I've had worse." The fight continues and Arthur lops off his opponent's remaining arm. As the king kneels to pray and give thanks to God, the Black Knight kicks Arthur who then hacks off one of his legs. His foe is determined to carry on the fight and Arthur sarcastically asks "What are you going to do, bleed on me?" He is met with the rejoinder that "the Black Knight always triumphs!" Predictably, His Highness hacks off the Knight's remaining leg. At this point in time, the Black Knight has been reduced to a limbless head and torso but he never loses his dignity, "All right, then. I suppose we'll call it a draw." (horror of horrors, we can't possibly accept a draw!) Arthur and Patsy resume their journey, while the Knight triumphantly calls out, "Come back you yellow bastard, I'll bite your legs off!" This is an allegory which perfectly describes the Carlton Football Club's mindset - not just of this weekend but also of most of the year gone past. This is a club that wants the world to know how brave it is and how, come what may, it will always keep on fighting. Though it is mortally wounded, it will claim a victory of sorts by losing to half a side and, as for what remains of its mangled body, it can face the world proudly and scream out to all and sundry that it's "just a flesh wound!" And people think I'm the one who's mad as hell! THE GAME Melbourne v Carlton at the MCG – Sunday 2 September 2007 at 5.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 89 wins Carlton 109 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 47 wins Carlton 43 wins Since 2000: Melbourne 7 wins Carlton 4 wins The Coaches: Riley 0 wins Ratten 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 at 5.00pm (live) Replays on The Comedy Channel at 8.00pm and 11.00pm. RADIO SEN ABC774 THE BETTING Melbourne to win $1.22 Carlton to win $3.80 LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 19.10.124 defeated Carlton 14.17.101 Round 14, 2007, at The MCG The Demons gave Mark Riley the obligatory debut coaching victory in a lacklustre game marred by Ricky Petterd's collapsed lung and some substandard football from both sides, particularly the wayward Blues. Russell Robertson was quiet but still good enough to kick a lazy five for the day while Paul Wheatley and James McDonald were Melbourne's best. If this game was bad I shudder to think what the teams will dish up on Sunday. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Nathan Carroll Ryan Ferguson Nathan Brown Half backs Clint Bizzell Brad Miller Cameron Bruce Centreline Brad Green James McDonald Travis Johnstone Half forwards Byron Pickett Russell Robertson Lynden Dunn Forwards Matthew Bate Michael Newton Jace Bode Followers Jeff White Brock McLean Nathan Jones Interchange (from) Mark Jamar Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Daniel Ward Emergencies Simon Buckley Colin Garland Paul Wheatley In Matthew Bate Clint Bizzell James McDonald Out David Neitz (knee) Colin Sylvia (hip) Simon Buckley CARLTON Backs Michael Jamison Setanta O'hAilpin Paul Bower Half backs Heath Scotland Mark Austin Andrew Walker Centreline Marc Murphy Adam Bentick Ryan Jackson Half forwards Kade Simpson Josh Kennedy Jarrad Waite Forwards Andrew Carrazzo Lance Whitnall Shaun Hampson Followers Cain Ackland Ryan Houlihan Bryce Gibbs Interchange Jordan Bannister Eddie Betts Shaun Grigg Jordan Russell Emergencies Luke Blackwell Jason Saddington Simon Wiggins In Mark Austin Ryan Houlihan Out Brad Fisher (knee) Jason Saddington New Mark Austin (19 Jeparit-Rainbow/Glenelg) ENCORE - AND ANOTHER THING I wrote the following in my preview of the Round 14 game between these two clubs - Did I mention I was as mad as hell? What really gets my goat is this priority draft pick nonsense. The original idea of helping clubs with weak playing lists has advanced beyond that stage and has now evolved as a reward offered for shameful and possibly even wilful mediocrity. Every year, when we enter the football season's home straight, the teams that are in the running for a priority pick invariably go into a downward spiralling freefall which somehow conveniently leaves them on the right side of the win/loss ledger. Let's go back to Round 21, 2004 and consider the case of the Western Bulldogs who farewelled two of their favourite sons Matthew Croft and Simon Garlick against the Kangaroos. The Doggies rose to the occasion winning the match by 30 points with Croft and Garlick putting in superb efforts. Croft kicked five goals and Garlick kicked two and gathered 14 possessions but both were "dropped" for the final game against Essendon when victory would have cost the club a priority draft selection. They duly lost that match prompting many to ask whether it's usual to drop players who kick five goals in the penultimate game of the season. That was but one example of what makes me hopping mad about these priority selections. The situation has become something of a joke in recent years and you won't find a better example of hypocrisy than when Collingwood strangely collapsed at the end of 2005 and accepted a priority pick two years after they played off in a grand final for the second year in a row. Back in 2003 Mick Malthouse had savaged the system that gave Melbourne a priority selection twelve months after playing off in a semi final. There are many who harbour some suspicions about the way Essendon finished off 2006 to claim a coveted priority selection and netted three top 20 picks. But I've laboured the point enough - let's go now to the present. Along with the bottom placed Tigers, the Demons and the Blues are both in line for priority picks this year. Carlton will miss out however, if it wins (or even draws) another game. The way they've been travelling over the past two rounds (a combined losing margin of 177 points) and in the absence of Lance Whitnall and now Brendan Fevola, without who they historically struggle, it's not out of the question that they won't win another game this season. This could leave them with the first two picks in the 2007 National Draft as well as first selection in the Pre Season Draft. If they achieve that, the Blues will be absolutely dangerous in the trades and drafts at the end of the year given that there's a stash full of loot available courtesy of them having the country's second richest man at the helm. If you think it's far-fetched to expect them to lose all nine remaining games, then think again. Carlton has a realistic chance of winning only about three of those remaining nine games. Two of them are against Melbourne and the Demons wouldn't tank a game if their lives depended on it. End of quote. I could have written that stuff for this week as well. The differences are that Melbourne's injury woes have taken a turn for the worse and mysteriously, so have Carlton's - particularly in the past few weeks. The malaise has intensified in recent days while AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has buried his head in the sand on the issue and refuses to recognise that a tanking problem even exists. In the days of old when I used to do match previews, I tried to discuss some of the more interesting match ups for the day. Unfortunately, that's out of the question this week because most of the great match ups will be up there in the stands at the MCG where the bulk of each team's better players will be - sitting and spectating. I suppose I could get enthused about Brock McLean v Andrew Carazzo but let's face it - Jeff White v Cain Ackland will probably be as lop sided (pardon the pun) as King Arthur v The Black Knight. So that's how I see it. In a nutshell, as much as Melbourne is struggling with its injuries it will cut off what remains of Carlton's severed body on Sunday because, despite the fact that it is left with a rump of a football team, you simply cannot lose to a team that doesn't recognise that its own mortal wounds are more than "but a scratch!" Melbourne by 96 points Postscript: I'm predicting the Demons will kick the earliest winning goal in AFL history. It will come 1 minute 30 seconds into the game when the first arm is clinically removed from what is left of Carlton. Not long after that the Blues will be totally 'armless.

We dragged our very own Grumpy Old Man, Clyde out of the nursing home the last time Melbourne and Carlton met at the MCG in Round 14 and he went OK so he's back for an encore ... MADDER THAN HELL by Clyde the Clifton Hill Cabbie There are three certainties in life. The first two are death and taxes and the third is that Melbourne will beat Carlton at evensong on Sunday. In fact, you can bet your castle on that proposition because the Demons are unbeatable this week! Unbeatable, you say? Surely, you know that the Demons have experienced a dreadful 2007 - a season that promised so much but turned pear shaped before it even began? With almost every passing week, another disaster was lurking in the background waiting to happen. We lost games, players, a coach, lots of money and even our self-respect. It was enough to make the true fans of the club as mad as hell. Remember, I told you all about it when I came out of retirement last month and I recalled the famous rant of the late Peter Finch from the 1976 movie, "Network", "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" I will now divulge a couple of things about my fascination with madness and with the cinema of the mid 1970's in order to explain why I am so confident about Melbourne beating Carlton this weekend. Apart from the self-evident fact that the Blues are no good, there's the current Carlton mindset. It's so destructive that it transcends the benefits that might be gained by acquiring the better draft choices that will come with defeat in Sunday's game. They have become attached so strongly to this culture of losing that they are totally delusional about what it means to get beaten. I will paint a picture of what I mean by drawing an analogy between Sunday's game and a famous scene from another classic film of the era, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". The "Black Knight Scene" goes a bit like this (please be patient with me because I am about to prove that in the farcical world of AFL football, life really does imitate art): King Arthur and his trusty serf Patsy are travelling through a forest when they observe a fight taking place between a Black Knight and a Green Knight by a bridge over a small stream. The Black Knight prevails and is invited to join the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot. He ignores the invitation and Arthur finally decides to continue his journey over the bridge but is prevented from doing so by the Knight. A sword fight ensues and Arthur chops off one of the Black Knight's arms. The Knight staunchly refuses to give up, protesting "'tis but a scratch!" and "I've had worse." The fight continues and Arthur lops off his opponent's remaining arm. As the king kneels to pray and give thanks to God, the Black Knight kicks Arthur who then hacks off one of his legs. His foe is determined to carry on the fight and Arthur sarcastically asks "What are you going to do, bleed on me?" He is met with the rejoinder that "the Black Knight always triumphs!" Predictably, His Highness hacks off the Knight's remaining leg. At this point in time, the Black Knight has been reduced to a limbless head and torso but he never loses his dignity, "All right, then. I suppose we'll call it a draw." (horror of horrors, we can't possibly accept a draw!) Arthur and Patsy resume their journey, while the Knight triumphantly calls out, "Come back you yellow bastard, I'll bite your legs off!" This is an allegory which perfectly describes the Carlton Football Club's mindset - not just of this weekend but also of most of the year gone past. This is a club that wants the world to know how brave it is and how, come what may, it will always keep on fighting. Though it is mortally wounded, it will claim a victory of sorts by losing to half a side and, as for what remains of its mangled body, it can face the world proudly and scream out to all and sundry that it's "just a flesh wound!" And people think I'm the one who's mad as hell! THE GAME Melbourne v Carlton at the MCG – Sunday 2 September 2007 at 5.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 89 wins Carlton 109 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 47 wins Carlton 43 wins Since 2000: Melbourne 7 wins Carlton 4 wins The Coaches: Riley 0 wins Ratten 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 at 5.00pm (live) Replays on The Comedy Channel at 8.00pm and 11.00pm. RADIO SEN ABC774 THE BETTING Melbourne to win $1.22 Carlton to win $3.80 LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 19.10.124 defeated Carlton 14.17.101 Round 14, 2007, at The MCG The Demons gave Mark Riley the obligatory debut coaching victory in a lacklustre game marred by Ricky Petterd's collapsed lung and some substandard football from both sides, particularly the wayward Blues. Russell Robertson was quiet but still good enough to kick a lazy five for the day while Paul Wheatley and James McDonald were Melbourne's best. If this game was bad I shudder to think what the teams will dish up on Sunday. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Nathan Carroll Ryan Ferguson Nathan Brown Half backs Clint Bizzell Brad Miller Cameron Bruce Centreline Brad Green James McDonald Travis Johnstone Half forwards Byron Pickett Russell Robertson Lynden Dunn Forwards Matthew Bate Michael Newton Jace Bode Followers Jeff White Brock McLean Nathan Jones Interchange (from) Mark Jamar Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Daniel Ward Emergencies Simon Buckley Colin Garland Paul Wheatley In Matthew Bate Clint Bizzell James McDonald Out David Neitz (knee) Colin Sylvia (hip) Simon Buckley CARLTON Backs Michael Jamison Setanta O'hAilpin Paul Bower Half backs Heath Scotland Mark Austin Andrew Walker Centreline Marc Murphy Adam Bentick Ryan Jackson Half forwards Kade Simpson Josh Kennedy Jarrad Waite Forwards Andrew Carrazzo Lance Whitnall Shaun Hampson Followers Cain Ackland Ryan Houlihan Bryce Gibbs Interchange Jordan Bannister Eddie Betts Shaun Grigg Jordan Russell Emergencies Luke Blackwell Jason Saddington Simon Wiggins In Mark Austin Ryan Houlihan Out Brad Fisher (knee) Jason Saddington New Mark Austin (19 Jeparit-Rainbow/Glenelg) ENCORE - AND ANOTHER THING I wrote the following in my preview of the Round 14 game between these two clubs - Did I mention I was as mad as hell? What really gets my goat is this priority draft pick nonsense. The original idea of helping clubs with weak playing lists has advanced beyond that stage and has now evolved as a reward offered for shameful and possibly even wilful mediocrity. Every year, when we enter the football season's home straight, the teams that are in the running for a priority pick invariably go into a downward spiralling freefall which somehow conveniently leaves them on the right side of the win/loss ledger. Let's go back to Round 21, 2004 and consider the case of the Western Bulldogs who farewelled two of their favourite sons Matthew Croft and Simon Garlick against the Kangaroos. The Doggies rose to the occasion winning the match by 30 points with Croft and Garlick putting in superb efforts. Croft kicked five goals and Garlick kicked two and gathered 14 possessions but both were "dropped" for the final game against Essendon when victory would have cost the club a priority draft selection. They duly lost that match prompting many to ask whether it's usual to drop players who kick five goals in the penultimate game of the season. That was but one example of what makes me hopping mad about these priority selections. The situation has become something of a joke in recent years and you won't find a better example of hypocrisy than when Collingwood strangely collapsed at the end of 2005 and accepted a priority pick two years after they played off in a grand final for the second year in a row. Back in 2003 Mick Malthouse had savaged the system that gave Melbourne a priority selection twelve months after playing off in a semi final. There are many who harbour some suspicions about the way Essendon finished off 2006 to claim a coveted priority selection and netted three top 20 picks. But I've laboured the point enough - let's go now to the present. Along with the bottom placed Tigers, the Demons and the Blues are both in line for priority picks this year. Carlton will miss out however, if it wins (or even draws) another game. The way they've been travelling over the past two rounds (a combined losing margin of 177 points) and in the absence of Lance Whitnall and now Brendan Fevola, without who they historically struggle, it's not out of the question that they won't win another game this season. This could leave them with the first two picks in the 2007 National Draft as well as first selection in the Pre Season Draft. If they achieve that, the Blues will be absolutely dangerous in the trades and drafts at the end of the year given that there's a stash full of loot available courtesy of them having the country's second richest man at the helm. If you think it's far-fetched to expect them to lose all nine remaining games, then think again. Carlton has a realistic chance of winning only about three of those remaining nine games. Two of them are against Melbourne and the Demons wouldn't tank a game if their lives depended on it. End of quote. I could have written that stuff for this week as well. The differences are that Melbourne's injury woes have taken a turn for the worse and mysteriously, so have Carlton's - particularly in the past few weeks. The malaise has intensified in recent days while AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has buried his head in the sand on the issue and refuses to recognise that a tanking problem even exists. In the days of old when I used to do match previews, I tried to discuss some of the more interesting match ups for the day. Unfortunately, that's out of the question this week because most of the great match ups will be up there in the stands at the MCG where the bulk of each team's better players will be - sitting and spectating. I suppose I could get enthused about Brock McLean v Andrew Carazzo but let's face it - Jeff White v Cain Ackland will probably be as lop sided (pardon the pun) as King Arthur v The Black Knight. So that's how I see it. In a nutshell, as much as Melbourne is struggling with its injuries it will cut off what remains of Carlton's severed body on Sunday because, despite the fact that it is left with a rump of a football team, you simply cannot lose to a team that doesn't recognise that its own mortal wounds are more than "but a scratch!" Melbourne by 96 points Postscript: I'm predicting the Demons will kick the earliest winning goal in AFL history. It will come 1 minute 30 seconds into the game when the first arm is clinically removed from what is left of Carlton. Not long after that the Blues will be totally 'armless.

Firmed today to $1.25 on TAB Sportsbet. Incredible for a team with 16 on its injury list!

Careful what we say here please.

PENULTIMATE - TWO VIEWS ON THE SPOT by Melon 22 (from Subiaco) We knew from the outset that it would be a rough day at the office for Melbourne against Fremantle at Subiaco on Saturday. For starters, the team was already ravaged by injury having lost six players from the side that played in David Neitz’ 300th game against Collingwood at the MCG eight days earlier. Matthew Bate (corked thigh), Daniel Bell (back), Aaron Davey (knee hamstring), Ben Holland (shoulder), James McDonald (shoulder) and Paul Wheatley (calf) were all missing and were replaced by Cameron Bruce, Simon Buckley, Chris Johnson, Paul Johnson, Brad Miller and Daniel Ward. It’s a tough ask to expect a cohesive four quarter team effort when there is so much dislocation within the ranks of the team. Melbourne opened well and put in a very good first quarter effort with some strong, persistent football that was effective and brought excellent results on the scoreboard to get the home side and its supporters flustered and frustrated. The main reason for the encouraging start was the constant pressure, especially when the ball was in the forward line. Byron Pickett was the main antagonist at this stage. Jeff White was dominating the ruck against young Warnock of the Dockers and this allowed the Dees to get first hands on the ball and maintain some forward momentum in the game. A couple of lucky umpiring decisions went their way and this gave it a nice buffer which they should have capitalised upon. However, all of the hard work was ruined by some concentration lapses in the final minute of the term when Fremantle kicked a couple of late goals to draw level at the break. The change in momentum proved to be significant and fatal for the Melbourne cause. From the beginning of the second quarter, the Demons were on the defensive and everything turned south for them following a couple of early goals to Fremantle. The injuries may be one thing but the lack of accountability of the midfield and the backline players was quite staggering at times. The result was that the team was completely demolished by thirty minutes of insipid football. There were players who seemed to be standing there watching the ball and the game go by them as if they where in some kind of twilight zone. Good pieces of play were ruined by laziness and sloppiness, poor disposal and bad decision-making and only a handful of players seemed to be angry or upset about their errors and their poor performance; most looked resigned to the fact of losing. After the main break, it took a bit of aggression from the big skip in David Neitz for Melbourne to start to awaken from its slumber. There were a couple of fights, a bit of aggro and goals resulted. For a while the Demons appeared hungry again: the midfield tightened up and went in harder at the ball. Unfortunately, they did not make the most of the period when they held the ascendancy and some wayward kicking for goal hurt when the Dockers counterattacked and kicked a few quick unanswered goals. That was the cue for the Demons to revert to their old ways and it was soon a case of game over. To top off a miserable day for them, Neita went down with a knee injury halfway through the last quarter, leaving the team devoid of any leadership. Brad Green and Brock McLean worked their backsides off but had few helpers who would go beyond a few individual efforts. Jeff White dominated the rucks but the Fremantle midfield took advantage of many of the hit outs. Russell Robertson showed some class with a few goals but he too, looks to be suffering from the ravages of a tough season. Hopefully, the club's next visit to Western Australia will see a new coach and a new invigorated team that is prepared to commit itself for 100% of the game and not just a part. FROM A DISTANCE by Whispering Jack (from the discomfort of his own lounge room watching on Fox Sports 1) I feel a lot of empathy for racing officials as they scramble to save their industry in the face of the equine flu epidemic. At least they have had the good sense to cancel all race meetings in horse racing's equivalent of the mercy rule. I think the AFL should follow suit in order to save the integrity of its own competition as well. The mercy rule is used in some sports to end a contest prematurely as in when one of the teams has no chance of winning or even producing any meaningful result. After watching the rump of Melbourne's list go through the motions on the other side of the continent I can only say that it should have been applied to the Demons' season a couple of weeks ago at the very least. I take no comfort from the fact that Melbourne has an excuse of sorts for its shameful on-field exhibitions in that its injury toll grows with every passing game. The lack of application by the team and the shambolic performance after establishing a two goal lead late in the first quarter was a disgrace. The ensuing weeks and months will provide us with answers to many vexing questions. Questions such as who will win the flag, who will coach the Demons next, which players will be delisted, traded and recruited. On a wider scale, there is the question of who will lead the country and, at a more mundane level, whether we will get a public holiday in November if there's no Melbourne Cup? But for now, I wonder what could have been done to spare us from what happened yesterday at Subiaco and whether there's anything that can spare us from what will happen next Sunday at the MCG when Melbourne takes on another basket case in Carlton. Paradoxically, neither of those clubs sits at the bottom of the AFL ladder because Richmond has been going through an even worse season although the Tigers are starting to show some signs of an awakening. And strangely enough, there are fears in some quarters that this Melbourne team could actually open as the favourite next week because it is playing against a side that is not expected to even try to seek victory. There are supporters of both sides who care more about losing than winning because the long term gain from defeat is greater than the last home and away game of the season. On the other hand, there are some who will even refuse to go the game because of the farcical situation that has developed around it. Those very thoughts are real and they constitute an utter blight on our game. Melbourne 5.4.34 6.7.43 9.13.67 12.13.85 Fremantle 5.4.34 14.6.90 18.7.115 22.12.144 Goals Melbourne Robertson 3 Green Neitz 2 Bode Ferguson Miller Newton Pickett Fremantle McPharlin 5 Farmer Pavlich 3 Foster Peake 2 Bell J Carr Gilmore McManus Mundy Solomon Tarrant Best Melbourne Green McLean Jones Pickett Sylvia White Fremantle Bell Mundy McPharlin Pavlich Solomon Gilmore Farmer Team changes Melbourne Nil Fremantle Headland replaced in selected side by Schammer Black replaced in selected side by Foster Injuries Fremantle Nil Melbourne Neitz (right knee) Sylvia (abdominal strain) Reports Nil Umpires Donlon Farmer Nicholls Crowd 34,549 at Subiaco Oval

ON THE SPOT by Melon 22 (from Subiaco) We knew from the outset that it would be a rough day at the office for Melbourne against Fremantle at Subiaco on Saturday. For starters, the team was already ravaged by injury having lost six players from the side that played in David Neitz’ 300th game against Collingwood at the MCG eight days earlier. Matthew Bate (corked thigh), Daniel Bell (back), Aaron Davey (knee hamstring), Ben Holland (shoulder), James McDonald (shoulder) and Paul Wheatley (calf) were all missing and were replaced by Cameron Bruce, Simon Buckley, Chris Johnson, Paul Johnson, Brad Miller and Daniel Ward. It’s a tough ask to expect a cohesive four quarter team effort when there is so much dislocation within the ranks of the team. Melbourne opened well and put in a very good first quarter effort with some strong, persistent football that was effective and brought excellent results on the scoreboard to get the home side and its supporters flustered and frustrated. The main reason for the encouraging start was the constant pressure, especially when the ball was in the forward line. Byron Pickett was the main antagonist at this stage. Jeff White was dominating the ruck against young Warnock of the Dockers and this allowed the Dees to get first hands on the ball and maintain some forward momentum in the game. A couple of lucky umpiring decisions went their way and this gave it a nice buffer which they should have capitalised upon. However, all of the hard work was ruined by some concentration lapses in the final minute of the term when Fremantle kicked a couple of late goals to draw level at the break. The change in momentum proved to be significant and fatal for the Melbourne cause. From the beginning of the second quarter, the Demons were on the defensive and everything turned south for them following a couple of early goals to Fremantle. The injuries may be one thing but the lack of accountability of the midfield and the backline players was quite staggering at times. The result was that the team was completely demolished by thirty minutes of insipid football. There were players who seemed to be standing there watching the ball and the game go by them as if they where in some kind of twilight zone. Good pieces of play were ruined by laziness and sloppiness, poor disposal and bad decision-making and only a handful of players seemed to be angry or upset about their errors and their poor performance; most looked resigned to the fact of losing. After the main break, it took a bit of aggression from the big skip in David Neitz for Melbourne to start to awaken from its slumber. There were a couple of fights, a bit of aggro and goals resulted. For a while the Demons appeared hungry again: the midfield tightened up and went in harder at the ball. Unfortunately, they did not make the most of the period when they held the ascendancy and some wayward kicking for goal hurt when the Dockers counterattacked and kicked a few quick unanswered goals. That was the cue for the Demons to revert to their old ways and it was soon a case of game over. To top off a miserable day for them, Neita went down with a knee injury halfway through the last quarter, leaving the team devoid of any leadership. Brad Green and Brock McLean worked their backsides off but had few helpers who would go beyond a few individual efforts. Jeff White dominated the rucks but the Fremantle midfield took advantage of many of the hit outs. Russell Robertson showed some class with a few goals but he too, looks to be suffering from the ravages of a tough season. Hopefully, the club's next visit to Western Australia will see a new coach and a new invigorated team that is prepared to commit itself for 100% of the game and not just a part. FROM A DISTANCE by Whispering Jack (from the discomfort of his own lounge room watching on Fox Sports 1) I feel a lot of empathy for racing officials as they scramble to save their industry in the face of the equine flu epidemic. At least they have had the good sense to cancel all race meetings in horse racing's equivalent of the mercy rule. I think the AFL should follow suit in order to save the integrity of its own competition as well. The mercy rule is used in some sports to end a contest prematurely as in when one of the teams has no chance of winning or even producing any meaningful result. After watching the rump of Melbourne's list go through the motions on the other side of the continent I can only say that it should have been applied to the Demons' season a couple of weeks ago at the very least. I take no comfort from the fact that Melbourne has an excuse of sorts for its shameful on-field exhibitions in that its injury toll grows with every passing game. The lack of application by the team and the shambolic performance after establishing a two goal lead late in the first quarter was a disgrace. The ensuing weeks and months will provide us with answers to many vexing questions. Questions such as who will win the flag, who will coach the Demons next, which players will be delisted, traded and recruited. On a wider scale, there is the question of who will lead the country and, at a more mundane level, whether we will get a public holiday in November if there's no Melbourne Cup? But for now, I wonder what could have been done to spare us from what happened yesterday at Subiaco and whether there's anything that can spare us from what will happen next Sunday at the MCG when Melbourne takes on another basket case in Carlton. Paradoxically, neither of those clubs sits at the bottom of the AFL ladder because Richmond has been going through an even worse season although the Tigers are starting to show some signs of an awakening. And strangely enough, there are fears in some quarters that this Melbourne team could actually open as the favourite next week because it is playing against a side that is not expected to even try to seek victory. There are supporters of both sides who care more about losing than winning because the long term gain from defeat is greater than the last home and away game of the season. On the other hand, there are some who will even refuse to go the game because of the farcical situation that has developed around it. Those very thoughts are real and they constitute an utter blight on our game. Melbourne 5.4.34 6.7.43 9.13.67 12.13.85 Fremantle 5.4.34 14.6.90 18.7.115 22.12.144 Goals Melbourne Robertson 3 Green Neitz 2 Bode Ferguson Miller Newton Pickett Fremantle McPharlin 5 Farmer Pavlich 3 Foster Peake 2 Bell J Carr Gilmore McManus Mundy Solomon Tarrant Best Melbourne Green McLean Jones Pickett Sylvia White Fremantle Bell Mundy McPharlin Pavlich Solomon Gilmore Farmer Team changes Melbourne Nil Fremantle Headland replaced in selected side by Schammer Black replaced in selected side by Foster Injuries Fremantle Nil Melbourne Neitz (right knee) Sylvia (abdominal strain) Reports Nil Umpires Donlon Farmer Nicholls Crowd 34,549 at Subiaco Oval

Barry has just sent in this information from The TRUenergy Victorian Football League. The following venues have been selected to host finals matches in week one of the finals series:- SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER, 2007 SENIORS: 1st ELIMINATION FINAL – TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne North Ballarat v Bendigo Bombers - 1.10pm (ABC TV) SENIORS: 1st QUALIFYING FINAL – Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham Sandringham v Williamstown - 2.00pm RESERVES: ELIMINATION FINAL – Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham Williamstown v Box Hill Hawks - 11.10am SUNDAY 2 SEPTEMBER, 2007 SENIORS: 2nd QUALIFYING FINAL – TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne Geelong v Coburg Tigers - 1.10pm (ABC TV) SENIORS: 2nd ELIMINATION FINAL – Casey Fields, Cranbourne Casey Scorpions v Port Melbourne - 2.00pm RESERVES: QUALIFYING FINAL – Casey Fields, Cranbourne Port Melbourne v Werribee - 11.10am OTHER FINALS – DATES AND VENUES First & Second Semi Finals: Saturday 8th September, 2007 - TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne Sunday 9th September, 2007 - TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne Preliminary Finals: Saturday 15th September, 2007 - TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne Sunday 16th September, 2007 - TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne Grand Final: Sunday 23rd September, 2007 - MC Labour Park (Princes Park), Carlton

Thanks for your votes. I've selected two at random and I've just received our WA correspondent's votes which will form the third set of votes. Melon22's match report will be up tomorrow morning. I can reveal that we have a winner but the name will not be revealed for another seven days.

Just an announcement that the Demonland Report is coming to you this week from two correspondents. One from a Demonlander who went WA and the other from one of own reporters who watched from home. Probably won't be up till tomorrow.

The quest to determine our own Demonland Player of the Year continues. Who will it be? You have a chance to play a part in the final decision by naming your best six on a 6,5,4,3,2,1 basis ... [Results announced in the first week after the Melbourne v Carlton game]

TURNING UP THE HEAT by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham's eight game winning run ended on Saturday when a hot Coburg Tigers side applied the pressure in the second half to run out 19 point winners after the Zebras dominated most of the early proceedings at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. Kicking against the breeze with the ground bathed in sunshine, Sandy started in blazing fashion and could easily have nailed the game there and then but for a repeat of the wayward shooting for goal that marred the team's performance a week earlier against North Ballarat. They had all the play but managed to cobble together a lead of only three points at the first break. With Shane Neaves on top in the ruck, Peter Summers and Shane Valenti winning in the midfield and skipper Chad Liddell crashing through the packs with inspiration, forwards Sautner and Stefan Martin were being fed well and each had two goals on the board by quarter time. Ezra Poyas was in everything and was dominating proceedings while the Tigers were making mistakes aplenty under the relentless pressure of the home side. The Zebras continued to hold sway in the second quarter and by the 20 minute mark, they were threatening to run away with the game. At that stage they had kicked five goals six behinds to Coburg's two goals from two rare excursions into the forward line for the term. With Sandy holding a 27 point lead that should have been more but for the wasted opportunities in front of goal, a sudden and complete change came over the game in the last ten minutes of the first half. Coburg captain Travis Ronaldson grabbed the ascendancy in ruck and the Tiger players began to show more accountability against their immediate opponents. The Zebra defence, led by full back Chris Lamb, Clint Bizzell, Andy Biddlecombe, Colin Garland, Tom Paterakis and Sam Monaghan had been well on top but was suddenly put under pressure with Coburg kicking two goals to narrow the margin to 13 points at the main break. Things were not helped when Lamb limped off with a hamstring strain to play no further part in the game. Coburg took over the running from early in the third term and it was now Sandringham's turn to make mistakes under pressure. The Zebras appeared to be fading in the warmer conditions and were finding it difficult to find targets as their opponents gathered steam and brushed past their hosts to take a seven point lead going into the final huddle. A goal after the siren from Tomi Johnston had given Sandringham great hope for a final quarter reversal and the expectation remained that they would regroup and take back the lead with the wind at their backs. However, this was not to be as the young Sandringham side could not match it with a Coburg team that had some match-hardened AFL stars providing the necessary added fitness and run in the hot conditions. The Tigers were finding the goals while Sandy was off target and missed several golden opportunities to get themselves back in the game. To their credit, the Zebras kept plugging away but a 13 goals 24 behind score line is hardly going to win a high scoring open game of football. Nick Sautner was uncharacteristically off target with 3.6 from 10 shots for the day but he did manage to pass another milestone kicking his 727th goal, which surpassed the mark set by Williamstown’s Ron Todd in the late 1940s. Sautner's season tally of 59 goals wins him a seventh Frosty Miller medal for leading goalkicker in the VFL. Summers finished with 27 touches and was his team's best on the day with Rod Crowe and Poyas close behind him. Paterakis put in a feisty effort and was involved in a couple of strong contests with opponents who wanted to take him on in wrestling matches, one of which resulted in a torn jumper causing him to play out the game with an unfamiliar number on his back. The team missed the run of David Gallagher whose knee will have recovered in time for next week's qualifying final against Williamstown. Sandringham maintained its policy of blooding youngsters in the wake of the continuing loss of AFL listed players due to injuries at Melbourne. Tom Dean and Isaac Weetra made senior debuts this week. Dean capped off a solid display with a goal to remember his first game. The coach and his selection panel will be looking for the return to fitness of a number of players for the weekend's clash against the Seagulls at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. They will not doubt also be working on the disposal skills of their charges, particularly in front of goal as the heat is turned up even higher with the coming of September and finals action. HOW THE DEMONS FARED The Melbourne Football Club contribution to Sandringham's effort was minimal. Only two players Clint Bizzell (162 games) and Colin Garland (2) had any AFL games under their belt while the other two senior listed players, Heath Neville and Isaac Weetra have spent most of the season in the Reserves. This situation is unlikely to improve in the first week of the finals as the Demons' injury toll continues to mount. Clint Bizzell – strong in the first half, mopping up in defence and marking well and held the defence together under persistent pressure from the opposition in the second half. Given that he may not remain on the MFC list next year, he should be given a farewell game at the MCG on Sunday. He's earned that on ability alone. Colin Garland - steady without having a major impact in defence. Daniel Hughes – quiet early but came into the game with some strong marking in the second half. Shane Neaves – had an interesting duel in the ruck with the Coburg skipper and held up well for a big man in trying conditions. Heath Neville – had little impact on the game. Isaac Weetra - overawed and didn’t get his first kick until after the 30 minute mark of the final quarter. Still very much a development player and will need to work hard over the pre season after an injury interrupted debut year at the club. Sandringham 4.7.31 9.13.67 11.16.82 13.24.102 Coburg Tigers 4.4.28 8.6.54 13.11.89 18.13.121 Goals Sandringham Martin Sautner 3 Martyn Valenti 2 Dean T Johnston Poyas Coburg Tigers Bowden F Caruso 3 Connors Hyde Krakouer White 2 Howat Hughes Shelton Trajkovski Best Sandringham Paterakis Crowe Bizzell Gilchrist Martin Summers Coburg Tigers Connors Caruso Ronaldson Shelton Hyde Bowden A much depleted Sandringham Reserves went down to top side Coburg Tigers but not before a spirited first half display which was marred by some wasteful play in front of goal in contrast to the visitors whose accurate kicking was the difference between the teams for the first three quarters. The Tigers kicked away in the end to win by the comfortable margin of 63 points. Sandringham Dragons fill-in Atila Yamas was the best of the Zebras while Peter McGettigan, Jake Williams and Daniel Gribbin all put in solid contributions. The team's numbers plight was emphasised by the need to include a second top up player from the Dragons in Hiwad Shakaib. Reserves Sandringham 5.6.36 6.10.46 11.15.81 12.18.90 Coburg Tigers 5.1.31 10.2.62 17.7.109 23.15.153 Goals Sandringham Curcio 4 Dunne 2 Henry McGettigan Tregear Williams Yaman Zarra Coburg Tigers Corr Mullins 4 De Sousa Gazzo 3 Peterson Rayson 2 Carrick Dagher Foster Liddle Smith Best Sandringham Yaman McGettigan Williams Gribbin Turcarelli Cleeve Coburg Tigers Carrick Vasilevski Corr Mullins Keogh Liddle

by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham's eight game winning run ended on Saturday when a hot Coburg Tigers side applied the pressure in the second half to run out 19 point winners after the Zebras dominated most of the early proceedings at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. Kicking against the breeze with the ground bathed in sunshine, Sandy started in blazing fashion and could easily have nailed the game there and then but for a repeat of the wayward shooting for goal that marred the team's performance a week earlier against North Ballarat. They had all the play but managed to cobble together a lead of only three points at the first break. With Shane Neaves on top in the ruck, Peter Summers and Shane Valenti winning in the midfield and skipper Chad Liddell crashing through the packs with inspiration, forwards Sautner and Stefan Martin were being fed well and each had two goals on the board by quarter time. Ezra Poyas was in everything and was dominating proceedings while the Tigers were making mistakes aplenty under the relentless pressure of the home side. The Zebras continued to hold sway in the second quarter and by the 20 minute mark, they were threatening to run away with the game. At that stage they had kicked five goals six behinds to Coburg's two goals from two rare excursions into the forward line for the term. With Sandy holding a 27 point lead that should have been more but for the wasted opportunities in front of goal, a sudden and complete change came over the game in the last ten minutes of the first half. Coburg captain Travis Ronaldson grabbed the ascendancy in ruck and the Tiger players began to show more accountability against their immediate opponents. The Zebra defence, led by full back Chris Lamb, Clint Bizzell, Andy Biddlecombe, Colin Garland, Tom Paterakis and Sam Monaghan had been well on top but was suddenly put under pressure with Coburg kicking two goals to narrow the margin to 13 points at the main break. Things were not helped when Lamb limped off with a hamstring strain to play no further part in the game. Coburg took over the running from early in the third term and it was now Sandringham's turn to make mistakes under pressure. The Zebras appeared to be fading in the warmer conditions and were finding it difficult to find targets as their opponents gathered steam and brushed past their hosts to take a seven point lead going into the final huddle. A goal after the siren from Tomi Johnston had given Sandringham great hope for a final quarter reversal and the expectation remained that they would regroup and take back the lead with the wind at their backs. However, this was not to be as the young Sandringham side could not match it with a Coburg team that had some match-hardened AFL stars providing the necessary added fitness and run in the hot conditions. The Tigers were finding the goals while Sandy was off target and missed several golden opportunities to get themselves back in the game. To their credit, the Zebras kept plugging away but a 13 goals 24 behind score line is hardly going to win a high scoring open game of football. Nick Sautner was uncharacteristically off target with 3.6 from 10 shots for the day but he did manage to pass another milestone kicking his 727th goal, which surpassed the mark set by Williamstown’s Ron Todd in the late 1940s. Sautner's season tally of 59 goals wins him a seventh Frosty Miller medal for leading goalkicker in the VFL. Summers finished with 27 touches and was his team's best on the day with Rod Crowe and Poyas close behind him. Paterakis put in a feisty effort and was involved in a couple of strong contests with opponents who wanted to take him on in wrestling matches, one of which resulted in a torn jumper causing him to play out the game with an unfamiliar number on his back. The team missed the run of David Gallagher whose knee will have recovered in time for next week's qualifying final against Williamstown. Sandringham maintained its policy of blooding youngsters in the wake of the continuing loss of AFL listed players due to injuries at Melbourne. Tom Dean and Isaac Weetra made senior debuts this week. Dean capped off a solid display with a goal to remember his first game. The coach and his selection panel will be looking for the return to fitness of a number of players for the weekend's clash against the Seagulls at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. They will not doubt also be working on the disposal skills of their charges, particularly in front of goal as the heat is turned up even higher with the coming of September and finals action. HOW THE DEMONS FARED The Melbourne Football Club contribution to Sandringham's effort was minimal. Only two players Clint Bizzell (162 games) and Colin Garland (2) had any AFL games under their belt while the other two senior listed players, Heath Neville and Isaac Weetra have spent most of the season in the Reserves. This situation is unlikely to improve in the first week of the finals as the Demons' injury toll continues to mount. Clint Bizzell – strong in the first half, mopping up in defence and marking well and held the defence together under persistent pressure from the opposition in the second half. Given that he may not remain on the MFC list next year, he should be given a farewell game at the MCG on Sunday. He's earned that on ability alone. Colin Garland - steady without having a major impact in defence. Daniel Hughes – quiet early but came into the game with some strong marking in the second half. Shane Neaves – had an interesting duel in the ruck with the Coburg skipper and held up well for a big man in trying conditions. Heath Neville – had little impact on the game. Isaac Weetra - overawed and didn’t get his first kick until after the 30 minute mark of the final quarter. Still very much a development player and will need to work hard over the pre season after an injury interrupted debut year at the club. Sandringham 4.7.31 9.13.67 11.16.82 13.24.102 Coburg Tigers 4.4.28 8.6.54 13.11.89 18.13.121 Goals Sandringham Martin Sautner 3 Martyn Valenti 2 Dean T Johnston Poyas Coburg Tigers Bowden F Caruso 3 Connors Hyde Krakouer White 2 Howat Hughes Shelton Trajkovski Best Sandringham Paterakis Crowe Bizzell Gilchrist Martin Summers Coburg Tigers Connors Caruso Ronaldson Shelton Hyde Bowden A much depleted Sandringham Reserves went down to top side Coburg Tigers but not before a spirited first half display which was marred by some wasteful play in front of goal in contrast to the visitors whose accurate kicking was the difference between the teams for the first three quarters. The Tigers kicked away in the end to win by the comfortable margin of 63 points. Sandringham Dragons fill-in Atila Yamas was the best of the Zebras while Peter McGettigan, Jake Williams and Daniel Gribbin all put in solid contributions. The team's numbers plight was emphasised by the need to include a second top up player from the Dragons in Hiwad Shakaib. Reserves Sandringham 5.6.36 6.10.46 11.15.81 12.18.90 Coburg Tigers 5.1.31 10.2.62 17.7.109 23.15.153 Goals Sandringham Curcio 4 Dunne 2 Henry McGettigan Tregear Williams Yaman Zarra Coburg Tigers Corr Mullins 4 De Sousa Gazzo 3 Peterson Rayson 2 Carrick Dagher Foster Liddle Smith Best Sandringham Yaman McGettigan Williams Gribbin Turcarelli Cleeve Coburg Tigers Carrick Vasilevski Corr Mullins Keogh Liddle

WASTIN' TIME by J.V. McKay "I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay Wastin' time" - Otis Redding and Steve Cropper (as recorded by Otis Redding December 7, 1967, just three days before his death in a plane crash outside Madison, Wisconsin) When Melbourne last crossed the Nullarbor Plain to confront Fremantle in an AFL game in Perth it was there to play in a semi final at Subiaco. That was a little under a year ago and the match ended the Demons' season. The Dockers had one final fling a week later in the preliminary final in Sydney but in the end, both sides were wasting time, especially Melbourne. The two protagonists meet again at the same venue on Saturday afternoon and this time both of them are definitely wasting time as the result has no bearing on anything in particular although some Docker fans might argue about their team still having a chance to make the finals thanks to the theory of mathematical possibility. Sure, if my auntie had hairy armpits, well … I won't go there! A lot has happened in the interim since the two teams clashed on that balmy September night. The summer that followed promised much for both of them but with the coming of autumn, the promises shrivelled up and died along with their prospects of glory and with those hopes went the coaches – Connolly and Daniher. Both men are out of their respective coaching jobs, both are looking elsewhere and ironically, in the case of both men, "elsewhere" means their old homes. Connolly is on the Melbourne shortlist of five coaches while Daniher is one of the favourites for the Essendon job. For some very strange reason Connolly doesn't seem to have captured the hearts of the Melbourne supporters and I can't for the life of me quite figure out why. Chris Connolly came to Melbourne from its country zone around Shepparton in the early days of the Barassi coaching era. He made his debut in 1982 and retired in 1989 after missing all of the club's grand final season of 1988 with a knee injury. He played 84 games and kicked 38 goals and was a small defender and a midfielder. After a break of one year, the still young Connolly was appointed as an assistant coach to John Northey at Melbourne before going on to coach TAC Cup Under 18 team Eastern Ranges team in 1992. In 1995 he was coach of the Victoria Metro team in the National Under 18 Championships. Coaching was in his blood; his father had a distinguished record as a coach in the bush. Connolly was appointed Hawthorn reserves coach in 1996 (the merger year) and was elevated to the number one assistant coaching role with the Hawks in 2000. The following year he coached them to a win over Carlton in the absence of regular coach, Peter Schwab, who was suffering from an irregular heartbeat. His team won with an after the siren goal from Ben Dixon. In 2002, Connolly took over the coaching reins at wooden spoon club Fremantle which won only two games the year before he arrived in Perth. He took the Dockers to their first ever finals appearance in 2003 but they slipped to 9th and then 10th in the following two seasons. Bolstered by some high profile assistants in Mark Harvey and Robert Shaw, Connolly's charges stormed into the finals with a club record nine consecutive victories to finish third at the end of the 2006 home and away season. They then lost to Adelaide before securing their first finals victory against the Demons on that balmy September night. In a short span of a few years Connolly had lifted his club from the depths to one of the AFL's financial giants and a team with a strong list holding the respect of its peers. With the advent of Chris Tarrant and Dean Solomon from other clubs at the start of the year, the feeling was that Fremantle's day was coming. But that was Connolly's undoing as a coach because the Dockers struggled in the early stages of 2007 and he was put under constant scrutiny for failing to do better with a star studded side. The end came last month after a narrow loss at home to the Kangaroos. Connolly announced that he would resign immediately and was replaced by his assistant Mark Harvey who is a red-hot certainty to get the job on a permanent basis. One thing that Connolly had going for him at Dockerland was his domination as a coach over the Demons. During the Connolly/Daniher era at the two clubs, they met on nine occasions with Fremantle winning seven of those games and four of the last five. To put it crudely therefore, Daniher was Connolly’s "bitch". It makes one wonder therefore why Connolly is not more popular with the Demon fold. My theory is that they don't appreciate his showmanship which is a la Kevin Sheedy but without the class and panache. Some flinch at the fact that that he couldn't get the best out of a strong list in 2007 while others point to the discipline problems at the club. The coach cops the blame when his boys play up and a few of the Dockers played up under his watch. But Connolly has certainly expressed his fervent love for the club where he played his footy and where he is a life member. He remains in the running for the coaching position. One wonders whether, like the 44 players who will be running around on Saturday at Subiaco, he too, isn't wasting his time. THE GAME Fremantle v Melbourne at Subiaco - Saturday 25 August 2007 at 4:10pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Fremantle 11 wins Melbourne 10 wins At Subiaco Fremantle 5 wins Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 Fremantle 7 wins Melbourne 5 wins The Coaches Harvey 0 wins Riley 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 4.00pm (live) RADIO SEN THE BETTING Fremantle to win $1.16 Melbourne to win $5.50 LAST TIME THEY MET Fremantle 21.11.137 defeated Melbourne 13.14.92 at the MCG Round 4, 2007. Two of the teams that were widely tipped a month earlier to make the top four were fighting to break the ice in Round 4 when the Demons played host to the Dockers. It was a depleted Melbourne team that was missing skipper David Neitz, Russell Robertson, Brock McLean, Clint Bartram and Colin Sylvia and things got worse during a game in which the home side lost four more players by the main break. Des Headland was in superlative form having gotten off a six-week suspension as a result of one of the AFL Tribunal's more puzzling decisions. He starred with three goals while his skipper Matthew Pavlich booted six. Adem Yze returned to form with a high possession game but that wasn't enough to save the sick and sorry Demons from a 39-point touch up. Even at this early stage of the season it was all doom and gloom for the Demons and their fans. THE TEAMS: FREMANTLE Backs Scott Thornton Antoni Grover Steven Dodd Half backs Roger Hayden Michael Johnson Ryan Crowley Centreline David Mundy Dean Solomon Heath Black Half forwards Peter Bell Chris Tarrant Des Headland Forwards Luke McPharlin Matthew Pavlich Troy Cook Followers Robert Warnock Josh Carr Paul Hasleby Interchange Jeff Farmer Daniel Gilmore Shaun McManus Brett Peake Emergencies Andrew Foster Garrick Ibbotson Byron Schammer In Dodd Headland Out Matthew Carr (adductor) Ryan Murphy MELBOURNE Backs Nathan Carroll Ryan Ferguson Nathan Brown Half backs Chris Johnson Brad Miller Cameron Bruce Centreline Brad Green Travis Johnstone Daniel Ward Half forwards Byron Pickett Russell Robertson Michael Newton Forwards Colin Sylvia David Neitz Paul Johnson Followers Jeff White Brock McLean Nathan Jones Interchange Mark Jamar Simon Buckley Jace Bode Lynden Dunn Emergencies Colin Garland Clint Bizzell Matthew Warnock In Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Brad Miller Daniel Ward Out Matthew Bate (corked thigh) Daniel Bell (back) Aaron Davey (knee hamstring) Ben Holland (shoulder) James McDonald (shoulder) Paul Wheatley (calf) THE GAME I haven't said much about this game yet because, quite frankly, I'm embarrassed that earlier in the year I tipped both of them to finish top four and in fact I could swear that my bones were suggesting in the strongest possible terms that they would be playing off for this year's premiership. I was wrong and I've already apologised to those of my friends who had sufficient faith in me to go off and punt their hard earned cash on the possibility of a purple, green, white, red and blue grand final. They too were wasting their time. One group of people who were never going to be wasting much time this week were the Demon selectors. Once it was apparent that six players from last week's losing 22 against Collingwood were out with injury, it would have taken virtually no time to pick this week's team. With Matthew Bate, Daniel Bell, Aaron Davey, Ben Holland, James McDonald and Paul Wheatley all out with assorted ailments to join an already bloated injury list that includes Clint Bartram, James Frawley, Simon Godfrey, Brent Moloney, Ricky Petterd, Jared Rivers, Matthew Whelan and Adem Yze there wasn't much left from which to select. Thankfully, Cameron Bruce comes back into the side along with four players who were pulled out of the Sandringham team after Friday night's injury toll became clear. Chris Johnson is the only "in" who actually played football last week. Jeff White is the only player at the club who will have appeared in every game this year (assuming he doesn't confront the same ladder on the way to the ground that the rest of the team apparently walked under before the season started). Now I'm going to make a comment that could very well rock your socks off the dock of the bay but I don't believe the Melbourne team looks all that bad on paper given that long injury list. I'll go even further to say that this game will be a lot closer than the bookies' odds of $1.16 for the home side to win and that it won't surprise me if the Demons give this game a shake. Of course, it will all depend on the Demon midfielders being able to cope with the ground and the conditions but let's not forget that the team has been primed for this game since the start of pre season in November last year. The suggestion at the time was that the team was learning this new caper of run and carry football that would get them over the mental hump they faced on foreign territory. Melbourne still has some not inconsiderable talent in the midfield with Brock McLean, Nathan Jones, Travis Johnstone, Cameron Bruce and Brad Green while Jeff White will be relieved to find that his 2006 nemesis Aaron Sandilands and his 211 cm frame are out of the frame. White is backed up by Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson and they should be far too strong in the ruck for their hosts who have the lightly built Robert Warnock holding up the fort. David Neitz, Russell Robertson and Michael Newton are all capable of kicking goals up forward. Melbourne fans have been holding out for a big game from Byron Pickett and this could be his big week while Lynden Dunn and Colin Sylvia are continuing their slow but steady development. Nathan Carroll, Ryan Ferguson and Brad Miller make up a reasonable defensive line up and one of them will have the big job on Matthew Pavlich. Meanwhile, Nathan Brown has been drawing rave reviews in the twilight of his career as a link up defender. He could have the toughest assignment of the lot on his former teammate in Jeff Farmer. The more I think about it the more I reckon that Melbourne just could pull off the upset of the year and win at Subiaco against the Dockers who, for once, will not have the formidable coaching talents of Chris Connolly to guide them to victory. Fremantle was disappointing last week against St. Kilda when it had so much to play for so how will it go now when finals glory is out of reach? Not all that well I suspect. And Mark Riley will relish his return to WA where he must be hoping for another hamburger "with the lot". The five hour plane trip is a long way to travel for a dodgy burger so "Bomber" will be hoping that, at least he's not wasting his time. There are however, a number of Demon fans who would shudder at the thought of a win for their team. This is the group who think that a priority pick at the beginning of the second round of the draft is worth the trouble of losing on a regular basis. To them, a Melbourne victory would be a waste. To others, it would make attending the following week's game against Carlton more worthwhile because the team could go all out for a fair dinkum win. And that, after all, is what footy is all about, week in, week out! Melbourne by 1 point.

by J.V. McKay "I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay Wastin' time" - Otis Redding and Steve Cropper (as recorded by Otis Redding December 7, 1967, just three days before his death in a plane crash outside Madison, Wisconsin) When Melbourne last crossed the Nullarbor Plain to confront Fremantle in an AFL game in Perth it was there to play in a semi final at Subiaco. That was a little under a year ago and the match ended the Demons' season. The Dockers had one final fling a week later in the preliminary final in Sydney but in the end, both sides were wasting time, especially Melbourne. The two protagonists meet again at the same venue on Saturday afternoon and this time both of them are definitely wasting time as the result has no bearing on anything in particular although some Docker fans might argue about their team still having a chance to make the finals thanks to the theory of mathematical possibility. Sure, if my auntie had hairy armpits, well … I won't go there! A lot has happened in the interim since the two teams clashed on that balmy September night. The summer that followed promised much for both of them but with the coming of autumn, the promises shrivelled up and died along with their prospects of glory and with those hopes went the coaches – Connolly and Daniher. Both men are out of their respective coaching jobs, both are looking elsewhere and ironically, in the case of both men, "elsewhere" means their old homes. Connolly is on the Melbourne shortlist of five coaches while Daniher is one of the favourites for the Essendon job. For some very strange reason Connolly doesn't seem to have captured the hearts of the Melbourne supporters and I can't for the life of me quite figure out why. Chris Connolly came to Melbourne from its country zone around Shepparton in the early days of the Barassi coaching era. He made his debut in 1982 and retired in 1989 after missing all of the club's grand final season of 1988 with a knee injury. He played 84 games and kicked 38 goals and was a small defender and a midfielder. After a break of one year, the still young Connolly was appointed as an assistant coach to John Northey at Melbourne before going on to coach TAC Cup Under 18 team Eastern Ranges team in 1992. In 1995 he was coach of the Victoria Metro team in the National Under 18 Championships. Coaching was in his blood; his father had a distinguished record as a coach in the bush. Connolly was appointed Hawthorn reserves coach in 1996 (the merger year) and was elevated to the number one assistant coaching role with the Hawks in 2000. The following year he coached them to a win over Carlton in the absence of regular coach, Peter Schwab, who was suffering from an irregular heartbeat. His team won with an after the siren goal from Ben Dixon. In 2002, Connolly took over the coaching reins at wooden spoon club Fremantle which won only two games the year before he arrived in Perth. He took the Dockers to their first ever finals appearance in 2003 but they slipped to 9th and then 10th in the following two seasons. Bolstered by some high profile assistants in Mark Harvey and Robert Shaw, Connolly's charges stormed into the finals with a club record nine consecutive victories to finish third at the end of the 2006 home and away season. They then lost to Adelaide before securing their first finals victory against the Demons on that balmy September night. In a short span of a few years Connolly had lifted his club from the depths to one of the AFL's financial giants and a team with a strong list holding the respect of its peers. With the advent of Chris Tarrant and Dean Solomon from other clubs at the start of the year, the feeling was that Fremantle's day was coming. But that was Connolly's undoing as a coach because the Dockers struggled in the early stages of 2007 and he was put under constant scrutiny for failing to do better with a star studded side. The end came last month after a narrow loss at home to the Kangaroos. Connolly announced that he would resign immediately and was replaced by his assistant Mark Harvey who is a red-hot certainty to get the job on a permanent basis. One thing that Connolly had going for him at Dockerland was his domination as a coach over the Demons. During the Connolly/Daniher era at the two clubs, they met on nine occasions with Fremantle winning seven of those games and four of the last five. To put it crudely therefore, Daniher was Connolly’s "bitch". It makes one wonder therefore why Connolly is not more popular with the Demon fold. My theory is that they don't appreciate his showmanship which is a la Kevin Sheedy but without the class and panache. Some flinch at the fact that that he couldn't get the best out of a strong list in 2007 while others point to the discipline problems at the club. The coach cops the blame when his boys play up and a few of the Dockers played up under his watch. But Connolly has certainly expressed his fervent love for the club where he played his footy and where he is a life member. He remains in the running for the coaching position. One wonders whether, like the 44 players who will be running around on Saturday at Subiaco, he too, isn't wasting his time. THE GAME Fremantle v Melbourne at Subiaco - Saturday 25 August 2007 at 4:10pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Fremantle 11 wins Melbourne 10 wins At Subiaco Fremantle 5 wins Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 Fremantle 7 wins Melbourne 5 wins The Coaches Harvey 0 wins Riley 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 4.00pm (live) RADIO SEN THE BETTING Fremantle to win $1.15 Melbourne to win $4.75 LAST TIME THEY MET Fremantle 21.11.137 defeated Melbourne 13.14.92 at the MCG Round 4, 2007. Two of the teams that were widely tipped a month earlier to make the top four were fighting to break the ice in Round 4 when the Demons played host to the Dockers. It was a depleted Melbourne team that was missing skipper David Neitz, Russell Robertson, Brock McLean, Clint Bartram and Colin Sylvia and things got worse during a game in which the home side lost four more players by the main break. Des Headland was in superlative form having gotten off a six-week suspension as a result of one of the AFL Tribunal's more puzzling decisions. He starred with three goals while his skipper Matthew Pavlich booted six. Adem Yze returned to form with a high possession game but that wasn't enough to save the sick and sorry Demons from a 39-point touch up. Even at this early stage of the season it was all doom and gloom for the Demons and their fans. THE TEAMS: FREMANTLE Backs Scott Thornton Antoni Grover Steven Dodd Half backs Roger Hayden Michael Johnson Ryan Crowley Centreline David Mundy Dean Solomon Heath Black Half forwards Peter Bell Chris Tarrant Des Headland Forwards Luke McPharlin Matthew Pavlich Troy Cook Followers Robert Warnock Josh Carr Paul Hasleby Interchange Jeff Farmer Daniel Gilmore Shaun McManus Brett Peake Emergencies Andrew Foster Garrick Ibbotson Byron Schammer In Dodd Headland Out Matthew Carr (adductor) Ryan Murphy MELBOURNE Backs Nathan Carroll Ryan Ferguson Nathan Brown Half backs Chris Johnson Brad Miller Cameron Bruce Centreline Brad Green Travis Johnstone Daniel Ward Half forwards Byron Pickett Russell Robertson Michael Newton Forwards Colin Sylvia David Neitz Paul Johnson Followers Jeff White Brock McLean Nathan Jones Interchange Mark Jamar Simon Buckley Jace Bode Lynden Dunn Emergencies Colin Garland Clint Bizzell Matthew Warnock In Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Brad Miller Daniel Ward Out Matthew Bate (corked thigh) Daniel Bell (back) Aaron Davey (knee hamstring) Ben Holland (shoulder) James McDonald (shoulder) Paul Wheatley (calf) THE GAME I haven't said much about this game yet because, quite frankly, I'm embarrassed that earlier in the year I tipped both of them to finish top four and in fact I could swear that my bones were suggesting in the strongest possible terms that they would be playing off for this year's premiership. I was wrong and I've already apologised to those of my friends who had sufficient faith in me to go off and punt their hard earned cash on the possibility of a purple, green, white, red and blue grand final. They too were wasting their time. One group of people who were never going to be wasting much time this week were the Demon selectors. Once it was apparent that six players from last week's losing 22 against Collingwood were out with injury, it would have taken virtually no time to pick this week's team. With Matthew Bate, Daniel Bell, Aaron Davey, Ben Holland, James McDonald and Paul Wheatley all out with assorted ailments to join an already bloated injury list that includes Clint Bartram, James Frawley, Simon Godfrey, Brent Moloney, Ricky Petterd, Jared Rivers, Matthew Whelan and Adem Yze there wasn't much left from which to select. Thankfully, Cameron Bruce comes back into the side along with four players who were pulled out of the Sandringham team after Friday night's injury toll became clear. Chris Johnson is the only "in" who actually played football last week. Jeff White is the only player at the club who will have appeared in every game this year (assuming he doesn't confront the same ladder on the way to the ground that the rest of the team apparently walked under before the season started). Now I'm going to make a comment that could very well rock your socks off the dock of the bay but I don't believe the Melbourne team looks all that bad on paper given that long injury list. I'll go even further to say that this game will be a lot closer than the bookies' odds of $1.15 for the home side to win and that it won't surprise me if the Demons give this game a shake. Of course, it will all depend on the Demon midfielders being able to cope with the ground and the conditions but let's not forget that the team has been primed for this game since the start of pre season in November last year. The suggestion at the time was that the team was learning this new caper of run and carry football that would get them over the mental hump they faced on foreign territory. Melbourne still has some not inconsiderable talent in the midfield with Brock McLean, Nathan Jones, Travis Johnstone, Cameron Bruce and Brad Green while Jeff White will be relieved to find that his 2006 nemesis Aaron Sandilands and his 211 cm frame are out of the frame. White is backed up by Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson and they should be far too strong in the ruck for their hosts who have the lightly built Robert Warnock holding up the fort. David Neitz, Russell Robertson and Michael Newton are all capable of kicking goals up forward. Melbourne fans have been holding out for a big game from Byron Pickett and this could be his big week while Lynden Dunn and Colin Sylvia are continuing their slow but steady development. Nathan Carroll, Ryan Ferguson and Brad Miller make up a reasonable defensive line up and one of them will have the big job on Matthew Pavlich. Meanwhile, Nathan Brown has been drawing rave reviews in the twilight of his career as a link up defender. He could have the toughest assignment of the lot on his former teammate in Jeff Farmer. The more I think about it the more I reckon that Melbourne just could pull off the upset of the year and win at Subiaco against the Dockers who, for once, will not have the formidable coaching talents of Chris Connolly to guide them to victory. Fremantle was disappointing last week against St. Kilda when it had so much to play for so how will it go now when finals glory is out of reach? Not all that well I suspect. And Mark Riley will relish his return to WA where he must be hoping for another hamburger "with the lot". The five hour plane trip is a long way to travel for a dodgy burger so "Bomber" will be hoping that, at least he's not wasting his time. There are however, a number of Demon fans who would shudder at the thought of a win for their team. This is the group who think that a priority pick at the beginning of the second round of the draft is worth the trouble of losing on a regular basis. To them, a Melbourne victory would be a waste. To others, it would make attending the following week's game against Carlton more worthwhile because the team could go all out for a fair dinkum win. And that, after all, is what footy is all about, week in, week out! Melbourne by 1 point.

Received from the Sandringham FC email - You heard it here first! The mighty Zebs will take on arch-rivals Williamstown in the 1st Qualifying Final on Saturday 1st September at the Trevor Barker Beach Oval commencing at 2.00pm. A win over the Seagulls will see the boys go straight into the Preliminary Final and a step closer to four flags in a row! The club will be holding a Presidents Luncheon before the big clash with tickets at $25 per person for a two-course lunch and drinks at bar prices. Bookings are essential so don't delay! Contact the club and book your seat as we kick off our quest for history! Details Sandringham vs. Williamstown Trevor Barker Beach Oval Saturday 1st September 2.00pm President's Lunch: 12.15pm