Demonland

Thread locked folks. The footy's started and we have more important business to discuss.

LIFE SUX by The Oracle What do we make of yesterday's debacle? A team that is seemingly in control of a game for the best part of three quarters gets overrun in the last and is beaten by a goal kicked in the last five seconds. What do you do? You put it in the category of an experience that must partly be forgotten and partly be remembered. Forget that which occurred which was beyond your control and remember the things you did that you did wrong and you can do better next time and the time after that. Melbourne was struck down in the end because its young group panicked under pressure in the late stages of the game while Hawthorn rode its luck to the hilt with two snapped goals from difficult angles and a mark to Jarryd Roughead after what should have been adjudged a free kick to Demon defender Stefan Martin when the Hawk forward put his hands in his back in the last marking duel of the day. You can't control a tunnel ball flick through the back of a pack (that might have caught the umpire's attention) or a fluky bounce of the ball through the goals and you can't change the mind of the umpire when a mark has been paid. Or that the Hawks had the majority of the 8,000 strong crowd behind them when the going got tough. Life sux but you get on with it. You forget about the missed opportunities, the fact that you would have been playing in a high profile game in front of your supporters at Telstra Dome next week instead of some far flung corner of the country. You forget the additional prestige of playing in a NAB Cup quarter final against Carlton, the excitement, the extra publicity and media exposure, the membership sales and the attraction that such a scenario might have for the potential major sponsor that you don't have and need so badly. What you remember is where you failed to lay a tackle properly, positioned yourself poorly, kicked to the wrong option, left your opponent for that split second and let your team down with poor disposal. And you remember the positives as well because, after all, yesterday was simply the first step in a long journey and it's important to remember that there are tougher and more important battles to be fought before the campaign of 2009 is over. Remember the pain and ensure that next time, it's your opponent and not you who comes out of the game screaming that "life sux". The positives were that Melbourne was more than just competitive for the bulk of a game even allowing for the fact that the Hawks were missing several of their stars from their premiership side of last year. The Demons were also missing a number of automatic senior selections and were badly hit by injuries early in the game to their skipper James McDonald and in-form forward Austin Wonaeamirri who kicked four goals last week in an intra-club game and would have been a handy crumbing player in an area of the ground where the Hawks were in control, sweeping the ball out of defence time and time again when the ball hit the ground. Forget Roughy's five goals of which four were kicked from the nether regions, it was Melbourne's failure to convert clear scoring opportunities into goals that cost it the game in the end. Those wasted chances in front of goal came back to haunt them in the end. Dean Bailey, who I thought coached well for the most part, now knows that he needs to make some changes to the forward set up and he has very little time available to get it right but a nine goal haul from the opportunities presented in this game was inadequate and inexcusable. Melbourne tackled harder and was more desperate at the contest for the first three quarters, something that has been missing in the team's makeup for the best part of two years. Put that down as a positive – particularly if it can be kept up throughout the season. A clear positive was the form of rookie ruckman Jake Spencer who stamped his influence on the game immediately. Slightly ungainly, he nevertheless used his 203cm to advantage, actually palmed the ball to his rovers, marked strongly and played with aggression. It was no co-incidence that Hawthorn took control of the game after Spencer went off the ground for a few minutes early in the final quarter after he was struck by a blow to the face at a ruck contest. The fact that Brock McLean (whose strong form in the middle after a long break with injury was another positive) also started running out of steam at the same time giving Hawthorn's on ballers control of the game was enough to swing things around. Unless one of its players is placed on the long term injury list, Spencer won't be available to play in the first half of the season but, even if that transpires, it appears that the club has found itself a ruckman and that is a huge plus in an age where there are some clubs that will pay a king's ransom to secure a player of that Ilk. One of the highlights of a dismal year in 2008 was the gradual reconstruction of Melbourne's backline. That process continued yesterday when we saw the progress of players like Colin Garland and Stefan Martin, the emergence of James Frawley and promising signs from Kyle Cheney and Jack Grimes. Matthew Whelan held it all together with a great first half but he disappeared after that, possibly because his game time was being managed after last year when his season was marred by injury. One thing is for certain in my mind, Melbourne's defence will be a huge strength with the added experience of Whelan and a fully fit Jared Rivers. We also saw the rebirth of Ricky Petterd and even a heavy knock just before half time didn't unsettle the courageous young Demon. Matthew Bate was the best of the Demon forwards with four goals, Brad Green was solid as usual and, while not outstanding Nathan Jones showed a bit yesterday. Rohan Bail made a short appearance and will benefit from the run. There were, of course, some forgettable performances. Michael Newton again failed to impress (he simply doesn't know how to present in front of goal and someone needs to teach him soon) and Colin Sylvia was very disappointing. His missed shot for goal early in the last quarter could have iced the game. What makes things so frustrating for supporters is that both players have trained well so far. After yesterday, both of them will need to pull something out of the box in the NAB Cup Challenge to retain their places in the team for round 1. Much has been said of the fact that it should have been Melbourne doing the overrunning at the end of the game because of its longer preparation time but I'm not so sure of that. I put the team's fadeout down more to inexperience and some bad breaks and it could just be that some readjustments to training patterns by the conditioning staff will take care of this problem. The main thing is that the club will learn from the experience, remember its lessons and the hurt of a narrow defeat in these circumstances so that next time we won't have to walk away from a game of football muttering that life sux. Melbourne 0.4.5 0.5.6 1.8.8 1.8.9 (66) Hawthorn 0.4.0 0.5.1 0.5.2 0.11.3 (69) GOALS Melbourne: Nine-point goal: Bartram Goals: Bate 4, Green, Bartram, Johnson, McLean Hawthorn: Nine-point goals: - Goals: Roughead 5, Stokes 2, Williams 2, Morton, Dew BEST Melbourne: McLean, Spencer, Bate, Green, Frawley, Garland Hawthorn: Roughead, Mitchell, Dew, Sewell, Young, Suckling INJURIES Melbourne: Austin Wonaeamirri (hamstring), James McDonald (leg) Hawthorn: Michael Osborne (knee), Chance Bateman (ankle) REPORTS Melbourne: Paul Johnson for striking Sam Mitchell in the first quarter Hawthorn: Clinton Young for rough contact on Aaron Davey in the first quarter FOOTNOTE: Another positive was the alternate strip - a big improvement on last year's ridiculous, silver bling item that has thankfully been consigned to the trash can. Also congratulations to the club for promoting the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Let's not forget that while the theme of my article is that "life sux" we are commemorating today the end of 200 lives in the tragic bushfires. Please give generously.

by The Oracle What do we make of yesterday's debacle? A team that is seemingly in control of a game for the best part of three quarters gets overrun in the last and is beaten by a goal kicked in the last five seconds. What do you do? You put it in the category of an experience that must partly be forgotten and partly be remembered. Forget that which occurred which was beyond your control and remember the things you did that you did wrong and you can do better next time and the time after that. Melbourne was struck down in the end because its young group panicked under pressure in the late stages of the game while Hawthorn rode its luck to the hilt with two snapped goals from difficult angles and a mark to Jarryd Roughead after what should have been adjudged a free kick to Demon defender Stefan Martin when the Hawk forward put his hands in his back in the last marking duel of the day. You can't control a tunnel ball flick through the back of a pack (that might have caught the umpire's attention) or a fluky bounce of the ball through the goals and you can't change the mind of the umpire when a mark has been paid. Or that the Hawks had the majority of the 8,000 strong crowd behind them when the going got tough. Life sux but you get on with it. You forget about the missed opportunities, the fact that you would have been playing in a high profile game in front of your supporters at Telstra Dome next week instead of some far flung corner of the country. You forget the additional prestige of playing in a NAB Cup quarter final against Carlton, the excitement, the extra publicity and media exposure, the membership sales and the attraction that such a scenario might have for the potential major sponsor that you don't have and need so badly. What you remember is where you failed to lay a tackle properly, positioned yourself poorly, kicked to the wrong option, left your opponent for that split second and let your team down with poor disposal. And you remember the positives as well because, after all, yesterday was simply the first step in a long journey and it's important to remember that there are tougher and more important battles to be fought before the campaign of 2009 is over. Remember the pain and ensure that next time, it's your opponent and not you who comes out of the game screaming that "life sux". The positives were that Melbourne was more than just competitive for the bulk of a game even allowing for the fact that the Hawks were missing several of their stars from their premiership side of last year. The Demons were also missing a number of automatic senior selections and were badly hit by injuries early in the game to their skipper James McDonald and in-form forward Austin Wonaeamirri who kicked four goals last week in an intra-club game and would have been a handy crumbing player in an area of the ground where the Hawks were in control, sweeping the ball out of defence time and time again when the ball hit the ground. Forget Roughy's five goals of which four were kicked from the nether regions, it was Melbourne's failure to convert clear scoring opportunities into goals that cost it the game in the end. Those wasted chances in front of goal came back to haunt them in the end. Dean Bailey, who I thought coached well for the most part, now knows that he needs to make some changes to the forward set up and he has very little time available to get it right but a nine goal haul from the opportunities presented in this game was inadequate and inexcusable. Melbourne tackled harder and was more desperate at the contest for the first three quarters, something that has been missing in the team's makeup for the best part of two years. Put that down as a positive – particularly if it can be kept up throughout the season. A clear positive was the form of rookie ruckman Jake Spencer who stamped his influence on the game immediately. Slightly ungainly, he nevertheless used his 203cm to advantage, actually palmed the ball to his rovers, marked strongly and played with aggression. It was no co-incidence that Hawthorn took control of the game after Spencer went off the ground for a few minutes early in the final quarter after he was struck by a blow to the face at a ruck contest. The fact that Brock McLean (whose strong form in the middle after a long break with injury was another positive) also started running out of steam at the same time giving Hawthorn's on ballers control of the game was enough to swing things around. Unless one of its players is placed on the long term injury list, Spencer won't be available to play in the first half of the season but, even if that transpires, it appears that the club has found itself a ruckman and that is a huge plus in an age where there are some clubs that will pay a king's ransom to secure a player of that Ilk. One of the highlights of a dismal year in 2008 was the gradual reconstruction of Melbourne's backline. That process continued yesterday when we saw the progress of players like Colin Garland and Stefan Martin, the emergence of James Frawley and promising signs from Kyle Cheney and Jack Grimes. Matthew Whelan held it all together with a great first half but he disappeared after that, possibly because his game time was being managed after last year when his season was marred by injury. One thing is for certain in my mind, Melbourne's defence will be a huge strength with the added experience of Whelan and a fully fit Jared Rivers. We also saw the rebirth of Ricky Petterd and even a heavy knock just before half time didn't unsettle the courageous young Demon. Matthew Bate was the best of the Demon forwards with four goals, Brad Green was solid as usual and, while not outstanding Nathan Jones showed a bit yesterday. Rohan Bail made a short appearance and will benefit from the run. There were, of course, some forgettable performances. Michael Newton again failed to impress (he simply doesn't know how to present in front of goal and someone needs to teach him soon) and Colin Sylvia was very disappointing. His missed shot for goal early in the last quarter could have iced the game. What makes things so frustrating for supporters is that both players have trained well so far. After yesterday, both of them will need to pull something out of the box in the NAB Cup Challenge to retain their places in the team for round 1. Much has been said of the fact that it should have been Melbourne doing the overrunning at the end of the game because of its longer preparation time but I'm not so sure of that. I put the team's fadeout down more to inexperience and some bad breaks and it could just be that some readjustments to training patterns by the conditioning staff will take care of this problem. The main thing is that the club will learn from the experience, remember its lessons and the hurt of a narrow defeat in these circumstances so that next time we won't have to walk away from a game of football muttering that life sux. Melbourne 0.4.5 0.5.6 1.8.8 1.8.9 (66) Hawthorn 0.4.0 0.5.1 0.5.2 0.11.3 (69) GOALS Melbourne: Nine-point goal: Bartram Goals: Bate 4, Green, Bartram, Johnson, McLean Hawthorn: Nine-point goals: - Goals: Roughead 5, Stokes 2, Williams 2, Morton, Dew BEST Melbourne: McLean, Spencer, Bate, Green, Frawley, Garland Hawthorn: Roughead, Mitchell, Dew, Sewell, Young, Suckling INJURIES Melbourne: Austin Wonaeamirri (hamstring), James McDonald (leg) Hawthorn: Michael Osborne (knee), Chance Bateman (ankle) REPORTS Melbourne: Paul Johnson for striking Sam Mitchell in the first quarter Hawthorn: Clinton Young for rough contact on Aaron Davey in the first quarter FOOTNOTE: Another positive was the alternate strip - a big improvement on last year's ridiculous, silver bling item that has thankfully been consigned to the trash can. Also congratulations to the club for promoting the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Let's not forget that while the theme of my article is that "life sux" we are commemorating today the end of 200 lives in the tragic bushfires. Please give generously.

Just an update on Liam Jurrah from that poster on bigfooty. Liam missed out on the All Stars team due to lack of condition (as foreshadowed in WJ's article). He probably was never going to play but he went up to Darwin to take part in the Indigenous Week being a week of events and media for communities, education, health promotions etc. in the lead up to the All Stars game tonight. All of our Aboriginal players took part and Flash and Aussie have been picked to play tonight. There was a three day training camp as well as lots of mentoring and leadership sessions for the Indigenous players (including blokes who were not in the squad). The club rightly thought it would be great for him to engage in this set of activities and meet some of the other Indigenous lads in the AFL. Liam then paid a return visit to his home community at Yuendumu for three days with full MFC support. This included plans for club officials to come with him and meet his family and the community. As mentioned above MFC had never made him available for the all-star game because of his lack of pre-season conditioning. This has been planned for three weeks and people shouldn't pay attention to rumours that he had returned home for good. They are simply not true. Those interested can catch up with the Yuendumu Magpies Football Club website here.

If you're not a fan of Doctor Who, Dylan, Buddy Holly or Don McLean look away. Likewise if you didn't go to Melbourne or Monash Universities in the '60's or '70's. It was fifty years ago that the music died and by the way, this is fiction. A HIGHWAY OF DEMONS by Whispering Jack CHAPTER FIVE - THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED "A long, long time ago... I can still remember how That music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, That I could make those people dance, And maybe they'd be happy for a while" - Don McLean (American Pie) The Tardis screeched and squealed as it always did when making landfall. Then came a dull thud and the Doctor made his simple announcement: "We are back on earth." The Brigadier, Romana and K9 were still on Tralfamadore with Billy Pilgrim, mopping up some unresolved issues from our last adventure when the Doctor had suddenly taken ill and left us in fear that he was suffering a mortal injury. But instead of dying, he regenerated; the Doctor's body rebuilt itself in a younger, healthier form so that he now had long, shaggy hair and, for some reason, sported a multi-coloured scarf. The renewed timelord wanted to fulfill a promise made long ago to teach me how better to understand Newton's laws of gravity. He often reminded me that "it's not all about apples falling off trees." Now I would learn what it was really all about! He kept another promise on this voyage, allowing me to be the first out of the Tardis after landing. The honour of reconnoitering the surrounds of this strange place was a dubious one, however, as I soon discovered. Out in the open and exposed to the bitter cold of a fierce storm, heavy drifts of white snow were banking against the blue telephone box exterior of the Tardis. It sat silently in a narrow lane behind a brown-brick building bearing the ominous title, "The Duluth National Guard Armory". I stood there shaking as a sheet of newspaper blew across the cobble-stones. It landed at my feet and I bent down to grab it. Leaning towards the glow of a lamp post, I read the news headlines of the day. The words and the stories were of little interest and had little impact on me but I was able to return to the Tardis and report that we were in Duluth, Minnesota and that the date was 31 January, 1959. "Good, there's not a moment to lose. We're going out there!" said the Doctor. The winds were still howling across Duluth's wide streets, carrying frozen sheets of snow and ice from the surface of Lake Superior. It was a terrible night to be out in the open but fortunately only a short distance separated us from our destination, the armory where we went not to secure arms for some forthcoming battle but to attend a rock concert! The billboard outside announced that tonight was the night of the arrival of the "The Winter Dance Party". This package tour of the American Midwest was headlined by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, Dion and the Belmonts and Frankie Sardo. We bought tickets and were ushered to seats which turned out to be surprisingly close to the front of stage. I sat next to a young man slightly older than me and I experienced a shiver of recognition when he introduced himself with a "Hi, I'm Bobby." "Couldn't possibly be", I thought as I looked at his face for a second time, but I had learned never to be surprised at anything in the Doctor's presence. Not even the thought of being in a makeshift theatre in regional America sitting next to a pimply faced youth who was smoking funny cigarettes, contemplating his future and making eye contact with one Buddy Holly singing "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Any More". After all, Holly had died more than five years ago. Then again, I was no longer living in the present and I guess it really all didn't matter any more. "Do you remember baby, last September …" My thoughts went back to that September. If we were really back in January 1959, then last September was one of the worst months of my short life. My football team lost a grand final it should never have lost in September 1958 after finishing on top of the ladder. What made it even worse was that the defeat came at the hands of the dreaded enemy. Collingwood prevented my team, Melbourne, from equalling their record of four premierships in a row and I hated them more than the Daleks who were the worst enemies of all human kind. September 1958 was also a time when the family moved to a place across the other side of town and I said goodbye to many old friends who I was unlikely ever to see again. Not long after we made the move, I tried to go back but I was too young and it was too far. I was thinking aloud as the reality struck me that way back then, things were exacty as they stood right now: I had no direction home. "Man that's a great line," said Bobby. "Can I use it in one of my songs?" "Be my guest." It was still early when the show ended so we went to the local bowling alley with Bobby in tow and were putting on our bowling shoes when the man walked up to our lane and asked, "Mind if I join you?" Bobby and I froze but the Doctor looked straight into the eyes of the man in the familiar black horn-rimmed glasses who still had on the tuxedo that he wore for the show. "I've been expecting you. Even picked out some size 8 shoes for you. Try them on, they should fit perfectly." "How does he do it?" I asked myself. But I answered my own question with the all-embracing logic that he is the Doctor and a Timelord and that was enough. I was a reasonable, bowler having played on the school team, but Bobby simply had no idea at all. I figured that even if he wasn't half-stoned, he would be pushing it to score one hundred on a good day. But in any event, he was more preoccupied with the auburn haired girl who sat down beside him. Sweet as apple pie, she was soon sharing his hand-rolled cigarettes and cheerleading on the sidelines – even when his ball invariably skewed out of the lane. Bobby just treated it all as a joke and giggled; he was our jester. The competition between the Doctor and our musician friend was intense and the game reached the stage where Bobby and I were largely irrelevant. A crowd gathered to watch every thrust and parry of the contest as the lead see-sawed in a true battle of fluctuating fortunes. Finally, it came down to the last frame and the man in the horn-rimmed glasses needed three strikes to win the game. The first two balls were right on target and each time the pins were sent skittling in ten different directions. An expectant hush descended on the crowd as he prepared to deliver the final blow. Bobby had just rolled another one when the man in the black horn-rimmed glasses grabbed it from his hands and sucked in deeply, filling his lungs to their maximum capacity. He stepped forward casually to bowl the last ball of the night. It swung ever so gracefully from his left hand across the lane and appeared to be heading for the oblivion of the gutter but, suddenly, it swung back with precision in a slow arc as it hit the mark. Nine pins went down and the other wobbled uncertainly. The bowler nervously adjusted his glasses and the crowd froze as the final pin toppled to ground, followed by the cheers. Buddy had just scored his third strike. Pandemonium broke out as legs and fists started flying everywhere. I heard The Doctor scream, "We've got you now Davros", and the next thing I saw was the bulky presence of Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, head of UNIT holding Buddy/Davros in a hammer lock and leading him out through a side exit to the boos of the large throng of confused onlookers. The dark swarthy man named Dmitri (or something like that) who assisted the Brigadier thanked the Doctor most profusely and left shaken but relieved after the Timelord uttered his reassuring words. "Your secret's safe with us. The world will never find out about Buddy's third strike!" The rest of us remained in shock as we drank our coffees in a nearby diner. Bobby was getting along well with the auburn haired girl and the Doctor waited for them to say their goodbyes before offering his explanation of the night's events. Bobby thanked me again for finding him that line for his song, we shook hands and he and the girl from the north country drifted off arm in arm covered in soft snowflakes. The Doctor explained that Davros was the megalomaniac scientist who created the Daleks and he was using them to become the supreme ruler of the universe. His plan was to create a drug culture among the youth of the world by sending subliminal messages through the songs of popular entertainers. Earlier in the day, he and his Dalek lieutenants abducted the leading performers of The Winter Dance Party, took on their persona and then performed on stage in their place. The Doctor had learned that there was a plot brewing while recuperating on Tralfamadore. He secretly took the Brigadier along on the Tardis for insurance and it was Lethbridge-Stewart who found the real Buddy Holly, along with Valens and the Big Bopper, bound and gagged but alive and well in a back room at the armory. "But what made you certain that it was a fake Buddy you were playing with at the bowling alley?" "Davros was horribly scarred and crippled after an explosion on his planet, Skaro. He had a robotic "eye" mounted on his forehead and only one functioning arm. During the concert when we made eye contact, I immediately sensed something artificial. It unnerved me a little and you might have noticed at one time that my hands were clenched in fists of rage but I quickly settled down. "My suspicious were all confirmed when he bowled with his left arm. The real Buddy is right handed but Davros bowled with his left and it was that unusual ball movement from left to right that finally gave him away. That, and the fact that he was terribly off key while singing That'll be the Day." The story didn't end there. Two days later, as The Doctor was preparing for our return trip to collect Romana and K9, he received word that Davros and his Dalek cohorts had escaped from custody. He rummaged around in his toolbox and found the newspaper I had brought into the Tardis when we had first arrived in Duluth. Although he was a Timelord and always aware of the correct time, the Doctor looked down at his watch and thought for a nanosecond. "Good, they're appearing in a few hours time at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. There's not a second to be lost. Where's the Brigadier?" Not everything went according to plan. A malfunction in the timegears meant we missed the concert by a good few hours. Then the Tardis overshot Clear Lake and we landed in the middle of some godforsaken wilderness during yet another massive snowstorm. The Doctor was, as usual, unperturbed as he trained his itelescope™ skywards and fixed on a small moving light in the heavens. "There it is. Take a look up there!" The screen on the scope revealed an impossible sight. What appeared to be a four-seater Beechcraft Bonanza was cruising at eight miles. I was stunned. "A plane that small and light couldn't possibly be travelling at such an altitude!" I stammered. "Son, think carefully. Our own Tardis looks like a British telephone box but in truth, it's a highly sophisticated intergalactic time and space transport vehicle. Davros' getaway vehicle is much the same thing." He paused and added, "Now, the time and the co-ordinates are just right. I'm going to take a pot shot." He pointed his sonic screwdriver in the direction of the light and pressed the starter button. There was a brief flash and, in the afterglow, the light disappeared. "Eight miles high and falling fast." "And that ..." he added, "is what Newton's Laws of Gravity are all about!" An apple for the teacher. The following day's newspapers carried the story of how a Beechcraft Bonanza, chartered in Mason City, Iowa had crashed, instantly killing the pilot and three much admired musicians, Buddy Holly (aged twenty-two), Ritchie Valens (seventeen) and J. P. Richardson (twenty-four), who was also called the Big Bopper. The true story was very much different. For their own safety the real musicians were taken that night on the last train to the coast by the Brigadier to a secret sanctuary where they entered the UNIT Protective Custody Scheme. They and their families have remained hidden in this place where they have been free to sing, write and record their songs until the mandatory period of fifty years elapses at which time they can be safely released. But for the sake of the world, on that day the music had to die. "So ... Bye bye Miss American Pie, Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die.""

If you're not a fan of Doctor Who, Dylan, Buddy Holly or Don McLean look away. Likewise if you didn't go to Melbourne or Monash Universities in the '60's or '70's. It was fifty years ago that the music died and by the way, this is fiction. A HIGHWAY OF DEMONS by Whispering Jack CHAPTER FIVE - THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED "A long, long time ago... I can still remember how That music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, That I could make those people dance, And maybe they'd be happy for a while" - Don McLean (American Pie) The Tardis screeched and squealed as it always did when making landfall. Then came a dull thud and the Doctor made his simple announcement: "We are back on earth." The Brigadier, Romana and K9 were still on Tralfamadore with Billy Pilgrim, mopping up some unresolved issues from our last adventure when the Doctor had suddenly taken ill and left us in fear that he was suffering a mortal injury. But instead of dying, he regenerated; the Doctor's body rebuilt itself in a younger, healthier form so that he now had long, shaggy hair and, for some reason, sported a multi-coloured scarf. The renewed timelord wanted to fulfill a promise made long ago to teach me how better to understand Newton's laws of gravity. He often reminded me that "it's not all about apples falling off trees." Now I would learn what it was really all about! He kept another promise on this voyage, allowing me to be the first out of the Tardis after landing. The honour of reconnoitering the surrounds of this strange place was a dubious one, however, as I soon discovered. Out in the open and exposed to the bitter cold of a fierce storm, heavy drifts of white snow were banking against the blue telephone box exterior of the Tardis. It sat silently in a narrow lane behind a brown-brick building bearing the ominous title, "The Duluth National Guard Armory". I stood there shaking as a sheet of newspaper blew across the cobble-stones. It landed at my feet and I bent down to grab it. Leaning towards the glow of a lamp post, I read the news headlines of the day. The words and the stories were of little interest and had little impact on me but I was able to return to the Tardis and report that we were in Duluth, Minnesota and that the date was 31 January, 1959. "Good, there's not a moment to lose. We're going out there!" said the Doctor. The winds were still howling across Duluth's wide streets, carrying frozen sheets of snow and ice from the surface of Lake Superior. It was a terrible night to be out in the open but fortunately only a short distance separated us from our destination, the armory where we went not to secure arms for some forthcoming battle but to attend a rock concert! The billboard outside announced that tonight was the night of the arrival of the "The Winter Dance Party". This package tour of the American Midwest was headlined by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, Dion and the Belmonts and Frankie Sardo. We bought tickets and were ushered to seats which turned out to be surprisingly close to the front of stage. I sat next to a young man slightly older than me and I experienced a shiver of recognition when he introduced himself with a "Hi, I'm Bobby." "Couldn't possibly be", I thought as I looked at his face for a second time, but I had learned never to be surprised at anything in the Doctor's presence. Not even the thought of being in a makeshift theatre in regional America sitting next to a pimply faced youth who was smoking funny cigarettes, contemplating his future and making eye contact with one Buddy Holly singing "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Any More". After all, Holly had died more than five years ago. Then again, I was no longer living in the present and I guess it really all didn't matter any more. "Do you remember baby, last September …" My thoughts went back to that September. If we were really back in January 1959, then last September was one of the worst months of my short life. My football team lost a grand final it should never have lost in September 1958 after finishing on top of the ladder. What made it even worse was that the defeat came at the hands of the dreaded enemy. Collingwood prevented my team, Melbourne, from equalling their record of four premierships in a row and I hated them more than the Daleks who were the worst enemies of all human kind. September 1958 was also a time when the family moved to a place across the other side of town and I said goodbye to many old friends who I was unlikely ever to see again. Not long after we made the move, I tried to go back but I was too young and it was too far. I was thinking aloud as the reality struck me that way back then, things were exacty as they stood right now: I had no direction home. "Man that's a great line," said Bobby. "Can I use it in one of my songs?" "Be my guest." It was still early when the show ended so we went to the local bowling alley with Bobby in tow and were putting on our bowling shoes when the man walked up to our lane and asked, "Mind if I join you?" Bobby and I froze but the Doctor looked straight into the eyes of the man in the familiar black horn-rimmed glasses who still had on the tuxedo that he wore for the show. "I've been expecting you. Even picked out some size 8 shoes for you. Try them on, they should fit perfectly." "How does he do it?" I asked myself. But I answered my own question with the all-embracing logic that he is the Doctor and a Timelord and that was enough. I was a reasonable, bowler having played on the school team, but Bobby simply had no idea at all. I figured that even if he wasn't half-stoned, he would be pushing it to score one hundred on a good day. But in any event, he was more preoccupied with the auburn haired girl who sat down beside him. Sweet as apple pie, she was soon sharing his hand-rolled cigarettes and cheerleading on the sidelines – even when his ball invariably skewed out of the lane. Bobby just treated it all as a joke and giggled; he was our jester. The competition between the Doctor and our musician friend was intense and the game reached the stage where Bobby and I were largely irrelevant. A crowd gathered to watch every thrust and parry of the contest as the lead see-sawed in a true battle of fluctuating fortunes. Finally, it came down to the last frame and the man in the horn-rimmed glasses needed three strikes to win the game. The first two balls were right on target and each time the pins were sent skittling in ten different directions. An expectant hush descended on the crowd as he prepared to deliver the final blow. Bobby had just rolled another one when the man in the black horn-rimmed glasses grabbed it from his hands and sucked in deeply, filling his lungs to their maximum capacity. He stepped forward casually to bowl the last ball of the night. It swung ever so gracefully from his left hand across the lane and appeared to be heading for the oblivion of the gutter but, suddenly, it swung back with precision in a slow arc as it hit the mark. Nine pins went down and the other wobbled uncertainly. The bowler nervously adjusted his glasses and the crowd froze as the final pin toppled to ground, followed by the cheers. Buddy had just scored his third strike. Pandemonium broke out as legs and fists started flying everywhere. I heard The Doctor scream, "We've got you now Davros", and the next thing I saw was the bulky presence of Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, head of UNIT holding Buddy/Davros in a hammer lock and leading him out through a side exit to the boos of the large throng of confused onlookers. The dark swarthy man named Dmitri (or something like that) who assisted the Brigadier thanked the Doctor most profusely and left shaken but relieved after the Timelord uttered his reassuring words. "Your secret's safe with us. The world will never find out about Buddy's third strike!" The rest of us remained in shock as we drank our coffees in a nearby diner. Bobby was getting along well with the auburn haired girl and the Doctor waited for them to say their goodbyes before offering his explanation of the night's events. Bobby thanked me again for finding him that line for his song, we shook hands and he and the girl from the north country drifted off arm in arm covered in soft snowflakes. The Doctor explained that Davros was the megalomaniac scientist who created the Daleks and he was using them to become the supreme ruler of the universe. His plan was to create a drug culture among the youth of the world by sending subliminal messages through the songs of popular entertainers. Earlier in the day, he and his Dalek lieutenants abducted the leading performers of The Winter Dance Party, took on their persona and then performed on stage in their place. The Doctor had learned that there was a plot brewing while recuperating on Tralfamadore. He secretly took the Brigadier along on the Tardis for insurance and it was Lethbridge-Stewart who found the real Buddy Holly, along with Valens and the Big Bopper, bound and gagged but alive and well in a back room at the armory. "But what made you certain that it was a fake Buddy you were playing with at the bowling alley?" "Davros was horribly scarred and crippled after an explosion on his planet, Skaro. He had a robotic "eye" mounted on his forehead and only one functioning arm. During the concert when we made eye contact, I immediately sensed something artificial. It unnerved me a little and you might have noticed at one time that my hands were clenched in fists of rage but I quickly settled down. "My suspicious were all confirmed when he bowled with his left arm. The real Buddy is right handed but Davros bowled with his left and it was that unusual ball movement from left to right that finally gave him away. That, and the fact that he was terribly off key while singing That'll be the Day." The story didn't end there. Two days later, as The Doctor was preparing for our return trip to collect Romana and K9, he received word that Davros and his Dalek cohorts had escaped from custody. He rummaged around in his toolbox and found the newspaper I had brought into the Tardis when we had first arrived in Duluth. Although he was a Timelord and always aware of the correct time, the Doctor looked down at his watch and thought for a nanosecond. "Good, they're appearing in a few hours time at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. There's not a second to be lost. Where's the Brigadier?" Not everything went according to plan. A malfunction in the timegears meant we missed the concert by a good few hours. Then the Tardis overshot Clear Lake and we landed in the middle of some godforsaken wilderness during yet another massive snowstorm. The Doctor was, as usual, unperturbed as he trained his itelescope™ skywards and fixed on a small moving light in the heavens. "There it is. Take a look up there!" The screen on the scope revealed an impossible sight. What appeared to be a four-seater Beechcraft Bonanza was cruising at eight miles. I was stunned. "A plane that small and light couldn't possibly be travelling at such an altitude!" I stammered. "Son, think carefully. Our own Tardis looks like a British telephone box but in truth, it's a highly sophisticated intergalactic time and space transport vehicle. Davros' getaway vehicle is much the same thing." He paused and added, "Now, the time and the co-ordinates are just right. I'm going to take a pot shot." He pointed his sonic screwdriver in the direction of the light and pressed the starter button. There was a brief flash and, in the afterglow, the light disappeared. "Eight miles high and falling fast." "And that ..." he added, "is what Newton's Laws of Gravity are all about!" An apple for the teacher. The following day's newspapers carried the story of how a Beechcraft Bonanza, chartered in Mason City, Iowa had crashed, instantly killing the pilot and three much admired musicians, Buddy Holly (aged twenty-two), Ritchie Valens (seventeen) and J. P. Richardson (twenty-four), who was also called the Big Bopper. The true story was very much different. For their own safety the real musicians were taken that night on the last train to the coast by the Brigadier to a secret sanctuary where they entered the UNIT Protective Custody Scheme. They and their families have remained hidden in this place where they have been free to sing, write and record their songs until the mandatory period of fifty years elapses at which time they can be safely released. But for the sake of the world, on that day the music had to die. "So ... Bye bye Miss American Pie, Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die.""

CASEY SCORPIONS PREPARE by KC from Casey The partially declared alignment between the Melbourne and Casey Scorpions Football Clubs appears to be moving along well even though a joint announcement of the betrothal still awaits. The Demons are training at Casey Fields and, from my brief inspection at training a couple of weeks ago, I can truly say that the place is really beginning to take on the look and feel of the future sporting capital of Melbourne's outer south east. The Scorpions have been tremendously boosted by the appointment of Peter German as new senior coach. The former North Melbourne star spent some time as assistant to MFC Football Chris Connolly when he was coaching at Fremantle. The 2009 practice match schedule currently reads as follows: Saturday March 21st v Box Hill Saturday March 28th v Frankston Sunday April 5th v Coburg All matches will be played at Casey Fields and will feature both senior (2.00pm) and reserves matches (11.10am). Former Demon defender Nathan Brown finished up at Melbourne in 2007 and spent last season at West Adelaide but he's back in the fold heading up the list of newcomers for 2009 at Casey. Brown will also have some sort of development role with the club on top of being there as a player. And of course, the Scorpions list will be augmented by a number of Demons including many of the 10 newcomers to the club's senior and rookie lists whilst at a more local level, an influx of youth will arrive mainly from the strong TAC Cup Gippsland Power Under 18's which made this year's preliminary final. The runner up in the Power's Best and Fairest, Traralgon small man Michel Stockdale has joined the club after being unlucky to miss out on selection in the 2008 national draft. Stockdale is a versatile ball magnet who averaged 22 possessions and six tackles per game in 2008 and boot 22 goals. He will be joined by Rosedale's Ben MaCreadie who was one of the dominant players in the North Gippsland Football League over the past two seasons. Among the other recruits are exciting new Narre Warren premiership player Nick Scanlan, key forward Tom Carmody from Wantirna South and two players who are returning to the club after tasting some VFL experience elsewhere. Bendigo's Darren Granger played four games with Bendigo in 2008 while Andrew Oldmeadow from Nar Nar Goon had one game with Collingwood VFL. The club will also see an influx of former Calder Cannons players who join Gardner Clark Medallist James Wall. Former Sydney Swan Peter Faulks, a 194cm tall defender originally from Oak Park where he played at state level at Under 16's and Under 18's. Despite strong form with the Sydney reserves last year Faulks could not break into the club's AFL team and was delisted at the end of the season. His ex Calder Cannons teammates Rian McGough, and Chris Clay are also joining the Scorpions. It will be interesting to see how the players blend at the new alignment. The Scorpions have been developing a strong list from the ground up in recent years and this policy is expected to bring dividends in 2009 after last year's finals breakthrough. The club will lose Chris Dunne (overseas) and Adam Parker (Scoresby) but most of last year's team should remain intact except, of course, that its AFL aligned players will be Demons not Saints.

CASEY SCORPIONS PREPARE by KC from Casey The partially declared alignment between the Melbourne and Casey Scorpions Football Clubs appears to be moving along well even though a joint announcement of the betrothal still awaits. The Demons are training at Casey Fields and, from my brief inspection at training a couple of weeks ago, I can truly say that the place is really beginning to take on the look and feel of the future sporting capital of Melbourne's outer south east. The Scorpions have been tremendously boosted by the appointment of Peter German as new senior coach. The former North Melbourne star spent some time as assistant to MFC Football Chris Connolly when he was coaching at Fremantle. The 2009 practice match schedule currently reads as follows: Saturday March 21st v Box Hill Saturday March 28th v Frankston Sunday April 5th v Coburg All matches will be played at Casey Fields and will feature both senior (2.00pm) and reserves matches (11.10am). Former Demon defender Nathan Brown finished up at Melbourne in 2007 and spent last season at West Adelaide but he's back in the fold heading up the list of newcomers for 2009 at Casey. Brown will also have some sort of development role with the club on top of being there as a player. And of course, the Scorpions list will be augmented by a number of Demons including many of the 10 newcomers to the club's senior and rookie lists whilst at a more local level, an influx of youth will arrive mainly from the strong TAC Cup Gippsland Power Under 18's which made this year's preliminary final. The runner up in the Power's Best and Fairest, Traralgon small man Michel Stockdale has joined the club after being unlucky to miss out on selection in the 2008 national draft. Stockdale is a versatile ball magnet who averaged 22 possessions and six tackles per game in 2008 and boot 22 goals. He will be joined by Rosedale's Ben MaCreadie who was one of the dominant players in the North Gippsland Football League over the past two seasons. Among the other recruits are exciting new Narre Warren premiership player Nick Scanlan, key forward Tom Carmody from Wantirna South and two players who are returning to the club after tasting some VFL experience elsewhere. Bendigo's Darren Granger played four games with Bendigo in 2008 while Andrew Oldmeadow from Nar Nar Goon had one game with Collingwood VFL. The club will also see an influx of former Calder Cannons players who join Gardner Clark Medallist James Wall. Former Sydney Swan Peter Faulks, a 194cm tall defender originally from Oak Park where he played at state level at Under 16's and Under 18's. Despite strong form with the Sydney reserves last year Faulks could not break into the club's AFL team and was delisted at the end of the season. His ex Calder Cannons teammates Rian McGough, and Chris Clay are also joining the Scorpions. It will be interesting to see how the players blend at the new alignment. The Scorpions have been developing a strong list from the ground up in recent years and this policy is expected to bring dividends in 2009 after last year's finals breakthrough. The club will lose Chris Dunne (overseas) and Adam Parker (Scoresby) but most of last year's team should remain intact except, of course, that its AFL aligned players will be Demons not Saints.

Troy Broadbridge (5 October 1980 – 26 December 2004) was an Australian rules footballer with the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. Broadbridge began his career as a defender with Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), and was drafted by the Melbourne Football Club at the beginning of the 2001 AFL season. He won the club's Most Improved Player award in 2001, and became a regular in the side. He married his fiancee, Trisha on 18 December 2004. On 26 December, while spending his honeymoon in Phi Phi, Thailand, he was swept out to sea by the tsunami which followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Full name Troy Broadbridge Date of Birth 5 October 1980 Recruited from Port Adelaide (SANFL) Height 191cm Weight 89kg Death 26 December 2004 (aged 24) Phi Phi Islands, Thailand AFL Playing career Melbourne Football Club 2001-2004 40 games 2 goals Most Improved Player 2001 ALWAYS REMEMBERED POST TRIBUTES HERE

Good for him. Hope has a most rewarding time there. It's disappointing that his career could not have lasted a couple more years or that he didn't go out on a high. Just unlucky to be at a club that was bottoming out late in his career. Over the years however, he gave great service to the Melbourne Football Club. Good luck Oooze!

Thanks and oops yes. Of course, 2009 (all fixed now)! Cheers

All of us at Demonland would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let's hope that 2009 is going to be a better year for our football club and for the world in general. Special thanks to all of our contributors who write articles and who post messages here and to our moderators. It's all greatly appreciated. An extra special thank you to Nasher for hosting the site and all the hard work you do in the background. Also a reminder that Friday is our Troy Broadbridge Memorial Day - the fourth anniversary of the tsunami that took the lives of thousands including our own Troy Broadbridge. A special thread will be opened or messages in honour of Troy and the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami.

That's cool. The AFL and Hawthorn have expensive lawyers. We have to be careful.

OK - enough of that please. Let's stick to the topic and Mr. Renouf and not go where we might get ourselves into some trouble.

by the Oracle You'll find lots of red sand in the centre of our continent. Desert sand and a few isolated communities, mainly consisting of Indigenous Australians - people who have lived there since the Dreamtime. Yuendumu, in the desert county is situated 291 kilometres to the north west of Alice Springs and is one such community - it's a place where the entire population of 600 is proud of its football team (the Yuendumu Magpies) and the hero of that team is Liam Jurrah who was drafted last week by Melbourne at number 1 in the Pre Season Draft. So proud, that it's been reported that the whole town has converted from being staunch Magpies into Demons. There's a sort of symmetry between the Melbourne's first and last draft selections for senior list players. Like Jack Watts who was picked first in last month's national draft, Jurrah is also an exciting, tallish player at 193cm (a few centimetres shorter than Watts) who plays up forward. Their stories of course, are very different. Watts comes from a suburban bayside suburb in one of Australia's busiest cities while Jurrah is a man of the outback. According to the Age's Martin Flanagan in his excellent 2007 article Magpies spread their wings, Jurrah has a strong desire to play AFL which comes as somewhat of a surprise because of the difficulties which men of the desert have in acclimatising to the bustle and the cold of city life in the south: "The desert men find Melbourne hard to cope with. Too cold, too many buildings, can't see the sky." The Collingwood Magpies invited Jurrah to join their VFL team for 2008 and he arrived in time for round three. He was one of their stars on the day, booting three goals and was named their best. Three more exciting games followed but he had to return home for family reasons and played out the season with his local club starring in the grand final with six goals, a performance he repeated soon after with Nightcliff in the NTFL. As a result of a mix up, his draft papers weren't lodged in time and he was ineligible for last month's national draft but the AFL granted him special consideration and last Sunday, in front of Melbourne's head of recruiting Barry Prendergast and scouts from North Melbourne (which had invited him to Melbourne to train) and Richmond he kicked five for Nightcliff in an electrifying performance. Two days later, he became the fortieth player on Melbourne's senior list joining Jamie Bunnell and Neville Jetta as the club's new indigenous players on its new look and exciting young playing list. Unless you happen to be one of those unfortunate people who have been locked away at Guantanamo Bay or some other like institution, you would probably have heard more than enough by now about the Melbourne Football Club's number one draft pick Jack Watts. I therefore won't dwell on him here as he's already received good coverage in this series but before moving on to remaining nine young faces added to the club's list in this year of change I thought it must be said that I can see this young man thriving on the work that has to be done at Melbourne and that he will enjoy being the spearhead for a resurgence of the Demons. Prendergast used the first two national draft selections to draft two young 17 year olds as the club's main investment for the slightly longer term. Both Watts and Sam Blease, picked at 17 with the club's priority draft pick for winning less than four and a half games in 2008 will be completing their schooling next year. As young bodied footballers they will be looked after, nurtured and played sparingly with an eye to their development into regular AFL players in 2010 and beyond. Red headed Sam Blease, an outside midfielder from the Easter Ranges carries a slight 182 cm and 70kg frame. Like Watts and fellow early draftee James Strauss, he's fast, agile and delivers the ball with perfect efficiency. He is a player who can do freakish things on the football field as he showed in the final of the U18 championships at Telstra Dome in July. In one piece of play, he used his pace to run down a WA opponent, effect a magnificent tackle, recover to follow the ball up forward, receive a handball and zig zag around two opponents to kick a goal from 45 metres out. The commentators gushed with praise about him ticking every box in the one piece of action and it certainly wasn't his only highlight that day. Blease's story is not as joyful as that of his new team mate Jack Watts. He was watching Friday night football at home one evening with his father, who was his coach, when he suffered a heart attack and died. His dad was his coach and to this day he before a game, he will read the notes written by his dad on how to play the game. Blease is young and small physically so we shouldn't expect too much too soon but when he fills out and gets some game time in his legs, watch out for something special. James Strauss was used mainly as a small defender for Vic Metro during the national championships and was a good ball winner who showed that he had all of the necessary attributes to play midfield. The Scotch College First XVIII Vice Captain has good ball control and is a penetrating right foot kick who spots up his targets well and invariably hits them with centimetre perfection. His combination with Watts was a highlight of the under 18 national championships. Barry Prendergast pulled off his first surprise of the draft by calling out Jamie Bennell at selection 35. It certainly surprised West Coast who were getting ready to call out Bennell's number at pick 36. The Swan Districts midfielder who hails originally from Bunbury is small at 178cm and 68kg but has silky skills and has been compared with the Eagles' David Wirrapanda. He moves smoothly across the field, has good speed, is balanced and creative and uses the ball well. He tested impressively in the speed and agility tests at the WA NAB AFL state screening where he recorded 2.99sec for 20m and 8.34sec in the agility. Bennell and Neville Jetta, selected at number 51, have a lot in common as both come from Bunbury and both come into AFL football via the strong recruiting system at Swan Districts. A midfielder with goods skills, Jetta is 180 cm and 77kg and he has some aggression in him to match his good skills, creativity and excellent marking strength for one his size. The 18 year old represented WA U18's in 2008 and was brilliant in the Swan Districts Colts premiership win in September where he won the Mel Whinnen Medal for best on ground in the Grand Final . He's a distant cousin of Essendon's Leroy Jetta. A somewhat more mature aged Rohan Bail was the club's final choice at the national draft. A slightly built medium midfielder, Bail is an endurance athlete who can run all day. He chose not to go with the Gold Coast team but tried his luck in the draft after training with both St Kilda and Melbourne last year. The club also added three rookies Jordie McKenzie, Rhys Healey and Daniel Hughes who was on the club's rookie list in 2007 but sustained a long term injury and missed all of 2008. And so in an off season in which the news was dominated by a 30 year old fallen hero who eventually found a home at Tigerland, the Demons have stocked their cupboard with a wide and varied array of exciting young talent that seems well equipped to help their new club to adapt to football's changing landscape. It's a bold policy but even in the short term it seems to be paying off with record membership numbers for this time of the year. Time will tell how effective these changes will be on Melbourne's fortunes in the long run. POSTSCRIPT - HOW THE CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE The changes at the club have been enormous since Dean Bailey took over its list from caretaker coach Mark Riley a little over twelve months ago. This is the squad that Neale Daniher and Riley had at their disposal in 2007 - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2007) SENIOR LIST Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Clint Bizzell Nathan Brown Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Nathan Carroll Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn Ryan Ferguson James Frawley Colin Garland Simon Godfrey Brad Green Ben Holland Mark Jamar Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Travis Johnstone Nathan Jones James McDonald Brock McLean Brad Miller Brent Moloney Heath Neville Michael Newton Ricky Petterd Byron Pickett Jared Rivers Russell Robertson Colin Sylvia Daniel Ward Matthew Warnock Isaac Weetra Paul Wheatley Matthew Whelan Jeff White VETERAN LIST David Neitz Adem Yze. ROOKIE LIST Jace Bode * Daniel Hayes Daniel Hughes Shane Neaves * upgraded from the rookie list to senior list during the 2007 season Bailey took this group into his first season as coach - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2008) SENIOR LIST Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Jace Bode Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Nathan Carroll Kyle Cheney Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn James Frawley Colin Garland Brad Green Jack Grimes Ben Holland Mark Jamar Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Nathan Jones James McDonald Brock McLean Tom McNamara Addam Maric Stefan Martin John Meesen Brad Miller Brent Moloney Cale Morton Michael Newton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Russell Robertson Colin Sylvia Matthew Warnock Isaac Weetra Paul Wheatley Matthew Whelan Jeff White VETERAN LIST David Neitz Adem Yze ROOKIE LIST Jake Spencer Shane Valenti* Austin Wonaeamirri* Trent Zomer * upgraded from the rookie list to senior list during the 2008 season Next year, Bailey will have one of the youngest lists ever assembled at the club - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2009) SENIOR LIST Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Kyle Cheney Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn James Frawley Colin Garland Brad Green Jack Grimes Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Paul Johnson Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Brock McLean Tom McNamara Addam Maric Stefan Martin John Meesen Brad Miller Brent Moloney Cale Morton Michael Newton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers James Strauss Colin Sylvia Matthew Warnock Jack Watts Paul Wheatley Matthew Whelan Austin Wonaeamirri VETERAN LIST James McDonald Russell Robertson ROOKIE LIST Rhys Healey Daniel Hughes Jordie McKenzie Jake Spencer Shane Valenti Trent Zomer

CHANGES 2009: PART THREE by the Oracle You'll find lots of red sand in the centre of our continent. Desert sand and a few isolated communities, mainly consisting of Indigenous Australians - people who have lived there since the Dreamtime. Yuendumu, in the desert county is situated 291 kilometres to the north west of Alice Springs and is one such community - it's a place where the entire population of 600 is proud of its football team (the Yuendumu Magpies) and the hero of that team is Liam Jurrah who was drafted last week by Melbourne at number 1 in the Pre Season Draft. So proud, that it's been reported that the whole town has converted from being staunch Magpies into Demons. There's a sort of symmetry between the Melbourne's first and last draft selections for senior list players. Like Jack Watts who was picked first in last month's national draft, Jurrah is also an exciting, tallish player at 193cm (a few centimetres shorter than Watts) who plays up forward. Their stories of course, are very different. Watts comes from a suburban bayside suburb in one of Australia's busiest cities while Jurrah is a man of the outback. According to the Age's Martin Flanagan in his excellent 2007 article Magpies spread their wings, Jurrah has a strong desire to play AFL which comes as somewhat of a surprise because of the difficulties which men of the desert have in acclimatising to the bustle and the cold of city life in the south: "The desert men find Melbourne hard to cope with. Too cold, too many buildings, can't see the sky." The Collingwood Magpies invited Jurrah to join their VFL team for 2008 and he arrived in time for round three. He was one of their stars on the day, booting three goals and was named their best. Three more exciting games followed but he had to return home for family reasons and played out the season with his local club starring in the grand final with six goals, a performance he repeated soon after with Nightcliff in the NTFL. As a result of a mix up, his draft papers weren't lodged in time and he was ineligible for last month's national draft but the AFL granted him special consideration and last Sunday, in front of Melbourne's head of recruiting Barry Prendergast and scouts from North Melbourne (which had invited him to Melbourne to train) and Richmond he kicked five for Nightcliff in an electrifying performance. Two days later, he became the fortieth player on Melbourne's senior list joining Jamie Bunnell and Neville Jetta as the club's new indigenous players on its new look and exciting young playing list. Unless you happen to be one of those unfortunate people who have been locked away at Guantanamo Bay or some other like institution, you would probably have heard more than enough by now about the Melbourne Football Club's number one draft pick Jack Watts. I therefore won't dwell on him here as he's already received good coverage in this series but before moving on to remaining nine young faces added to the club's list in this year of change I thought it must be said that I can see this young man thriving on the work that has to be done at Melbourne and that he will enjoy being the spearhead for a resurgence of the Demons. Prendergast used the first two national draft selections to draft two young 17 year olds as the club's main investment for the slightly longer term. Both Watts and Sam Blease, picked at 17 with the club's priority draft pick for winning less than four and a half games in 2008 will be completing their schooling next year. As young bodied footballers they will be looked after, nurtured and played sparingly with an eye to their development into regular AFL players in 2010 and beyond. Red headed Sam Blease, an outside midfielder from the Easter Ranges carries a slight 182 cm and 70kg frame. Like Watts and fellow early draftee James Strauss, he's fast, agile and delivers the ball with perfect efficiency. He is a player who can do freakish things on the football field as he showed in the final of the U18 championships at Telstra Dome in July. In one piece of play, he used his pace to run down a WA opponent, effect a magnificent tackle, recover to follow the ball up forward, receive a handball and zig zag around two opponents to kick a goal from 45 metres out. The commentators gushed with praise about him ticking every box in the one piece of action and it certainly wasn't his only highlight that day. Blease's story is not as joyful as that of his new team mate Jack Watts. He was watching Friday night football at home one evening with his father, who was his coach, when he suffered a heart attack and died. His dad was his coach and to this day he before a game, he will read the notes written by his dad on how to play the game. Blease is young and small physically so we shouldn't expect too much too soon but when he fills out and gets some game time in his legs, watch out for something special. James Strauss was used mainly as a small defender for Vic Metro during the national championships and was a good ball winner who showed that he had all of the necessary attributes to play midfield. The Scotch College First XVIII Vice Captain has good ball control and is a penetrating right foot kick who spots up his targets well and invariably hits them with centimetre perfection. His combination with Watts was a highlight of the under 18 national championships. Barry Prendergast pulled off his first surprise of the draft by calling out Jamie Bennell at selection 35. It certainly surprised West Coast who were getting ready to call out Bennell's number at pick 36. The Swan Districts midfielder who hails originally from Bunbury is small at 178cm and 68kg but has silky skills and has been compared with the Eagles' David Wirrapanda. He moves smoothly across the field, has good speed, is balanced and creative and uses the ball well. He tested impressively in the speed and agility tests at the WA NAB AFL state screening where he recorded 2.99sec for 20m and 8.34sec in the agility. Bennell and Neville Jetta, selected at number 51, have a lot in common as both come from Bunbury and both come into AFL football via the strong recruiting system at Swan Districts. A midfielder with goods skills, Jetta is 180 cm and 77kg and he has some aggression in him to match his good skills, creativity and excellent marking strength for one his size. The 18 year old represented WA U18's in 2008 and was brilliant in the Swan Districts Colts premiership win in September where he won the Mel Whinnen Medal for best on ground in the Grand Final . He's a distant cousin of Essendon's Leroy Jetta. A somewhat more mature aged Rohan Bail was the club's final choice at the national draft. A slightly built medium midfielder, Bail is an endurance athlete who can run all day. He chose not to go with the Gold Coast team but tried his luck in the draft after training with both St Kilda and Melbourne last year. The club also added three rookies Jordie McKenzie, Rhys Healey and Daniel Hughes who was on the club's rookie list in 2007 but sustained a long term injury and missed all of 2008. And so in an off season in which the news was dominated by a 30 year old fallen hero who eventually found a home at Tigerland, the Demons have stocked their cupboard with a wide and varied array of exciting young talent that seems well equipped to help their new club to adapt to football's changing landscape. It's a bold policy but even in the short term it seems to be paying off with record membership numbers for this time of the year. Time will tell how effective these changes will be on Melbourne's fortunes in the long run. POSTSCRIPT - HOW THE CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE The changes at the club have been enormous since Dean Bailey took over its list from caretaker coach Mark Riley a little over twelve months ago. This is the squad that Neale Daniher and Riley had at their disposal in 2007 - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2007) SENIOR LIST Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Clint Bizzell Nathan Brown Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Nathan Carroll Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn Ryan Ferguson James Frawley Colin Garland Simon Godfrey Brad Green Ben Holland Mark Jamar Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Travis Johnstone Nathan Jones James McDonald Brock McLean Brad Miller Brent Moloney Heath Neville Michael Newton Ricky Petterd Byron Pickett Jared Rivers Russell Robertson Colin Sylvia Daniel Ward Matthew Warnock Isaac Weetra Paul Wheatley Matthew Whelan Jeff White VETERAN LIST David Neitz Adem Yze. ROOKIE LIST Jace Bode * Daniel Hayes Daniel Hughes Shane Neaves * upgraded from the rookie list to senior list during the 2007 season Bailey took this group into his first season as coach - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2008) SENIOR LIST Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Jace Bode Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Nathan Carroll Kyle Cheney Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn James Frawley Colin Garland Brad Green Jack Grimes Ben Holland Mark Jamar Chris Johnson Paul Johnson Nathan Jones James McDonald Brock McLean Tom McNamara Addam Maric Stefan Martin John Meesen Brad Miller Brent Moloney Cale Morton Michael Newton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Russell Robertson Colin Sylvia Matthew Warnock Isaac Weetra Paul Wheatley Matthew Whelan Jeff White VETERAN LIST David Neitz Adem Yze ROOKIE LIST Jake Spencer Shane Valenti* Austin Wonaeamirri* Trent Zomer * upgraded from the rookie list to senior list during the 2008 season Next year, Bailey will have one of the youngest lists ever assembled at the club - MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2009) SENIOR LIST Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Kyle Cheney Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn James Frawley Colin Garland Brad Green Jack Grimes Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Paul Johnson Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Brock McLean Tom McNamara Addam Maric Stefan Martin John Meesen Brad Miller Brent Moloney Cale Morton Michael Newton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers James Strauss Colin Sylvia Matthew Warnock Jack Watts Paul Wheatley Matthew Whelan Austin Wonaeamirri VETERAN LIST James McDonald Russell Robertson ROOKIE LIST Rhys Healey Daniel Hughes Jordie McKenzie Jake Spencer Shane Valenti Trent Zomer

Rolling Stone, I suggest you keep that eye open and watch out for The Oracle's summation of the changes to our list and the club coming up in the next couple of days. Cheers

It's going to be a big year for Johnsons!

CHANGES 2009: PART TWO by Whispering Jack Ronald Dale Barassi, Junior, the greatest Demon of them all, was born in the central Victorian town of Castlemaine on 27 February 1936, the son of a Melbourne player who later gave his life for his country at Tobruk in 1941 during World War II. At the time of the birth another Demon great, "The Red Fox" - Norm Smith, was a team mate of Barassi's father and in the process of establishing himself as a key forward under the coaching of Frank "Checker" Hughes. Smith and his brother Len had been approached by Hughes and club secretary Percy Page to join the club in 1933. He made his senior debut in the red and the blue in 1935 wearing the number 4 jumper. Hughes and Page had recently crossed over from Richmond to Melbourne and they set about changing the club's image from the innocuous Fuschias to the feared Demons. A change of image for a club that was down on its haunches was seen by them as the best way forward for improvement. Smith soon found himself in the vanguard of this push for improvement. The club gathered momentum later in the decade and Smith went on to have a glorious career as a member of four premiership teams (1939, 1940, 1941 and 1948). After a brief time away from the club, Smith returned to gained a reputation as a clever and cunning coach – The Red Fox. Under his guidance, the Demons tasted premiership glory six times in the space of a decade (1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1964). Barassi Junior was with him all the way as a player and captained the club in the last two flag winning years. As a teenager, young Barassi was determined to follow in his father's footsteps at the club. Smith and his wife took him under their wings after his mother moved to Tasmania and they gave him accommodation in his backyard bungalow. Melbourne had already lobbied the VFL to introduce a father/son rule to enable Ron to play for his father's club and in 1952, he was picked up from Preston Scouts as the second player recruited under the rule. By 1953, Ron Junior played his first senior game. At the age of 20 he was a premiership player, a feat he repeated five more times before he turned 30. He then made a shock move to Carlton and coached the Blues to two flags before he moved on to North Melbourne where he helped them win their first two premierships. There was a return to his spiritual home for a barren coaching stint in terms of finals success but he did help pave the foundation for a more productive era (albeit without the much coveted premiership flag) that followed his term as coach. It was fitting therefore, that three quarters of a century after the Red Fox was recruited to the club, his protégé handed over the number four jumper to Jack Watts, one of the newest Demons and a player anointed to help carry the Melbourne Football Club into at least the next decade of what will hopefully be a period of sustained success. The symbolism of the handing over of the guernsey cannot be lost on any student of the club's great history and Watts himself alluded to it during his first interview as a Demon on SEN radio immediately after the AFL National Draft Meeting on Saturday 29 November 2008. The recruitment of this young man and others who joined him at the club is part of a new era for Melbourne, a period of immense change in many of the facets of the club and particularly in its playing list. The change has been taking place for a little while now, but like all change, it takes time to be felt. When Barassi handed the number four however, one could sense it was a moment for the club's history books. Watts is clearly no ordinary footballer. Even the calling of his name at the draft meeting had its drama - Andrew Demetriou: Round One. Selection One. Melbourne. Barry Prendergast: Player two zero, ... hang on, ... two zero eight double six zero. Jack Watts. Sandringham Dragons. Prendergast may have been suffering from nerves. After all, it was his first call as the head of the club's recruiting team but there were no nerves from Jack Watts. He handled his first interview as a Demon with all the aplomb of a veteran. According to SEN’s Andrew Maher he had even asked the Melbourne people if they wanted him to make mention of the club’s need for a major sponsor if that would help. This is how the interview with SEN’s Matty Thompson went - Matty Thompson: Well Jack Watts from the Dees. Pick number one. How about that? Jack Watts: Yes, sensational. The Dees are such a proud club with such a great history and with the new board and I think they're trying to bring that heritage back. It's such an exciting time. Matty Thompson: It’s a massive honour isn't it to be the number one pick. Do you look back at previous number one draft picks and see even how successful they’ve been early in their careers. It must just be kind of inspirational. Jack Watts: Yes, absolutely. They're amazing players and you grow up just absolutely idolising them and now it's become a reality for me it's just mind blowing so I'll just get in there and start working hard and do my best at the club. Matty Thompson: When were you sure in your mind that you were going to Melbourne? Jack Watts: It wasn't until last night when a few guys from the Dees came around informed me at about 6 o'clock last night that they were going to take me so it’s been a long wait but it's just sensational now. Matty Thompson: What were you having for dinner? Jack Watts: We had a family dinner, we got some Chinese so I got absolutely spoiled last night. Matty Thompson: Did you shout the Melbourne guys when they came in. Jack Watts: No, no, no. Matty Thompson: So they didn't get a feed? Jack Watts: No that was afterwards. Matty Thompson: How keen are you to play in year one? Jack Watts: Look, you can't say. I'm still 17, I'm a young kid and I've got a lot of learning to do in the game. I’m just coming off basketball and there's plenty of learning and improvement left in me so I’ll just be trying to get my body right next year and we'll go from there. Matty Thompson: Jack. Good luck and thanks for your time on SEN. Number one and that goes down in history. Jack Watts: Thanks a lot And so Jack Watts the 196cm, 85 kg tall mobile forward from Brighton Grammar enters this historic club. The same cleverness he exhibited in that interview can be seen in the style of his play. He has excellent skills, can read the play well, has great speed and agility for any player let alone one of his size. He can lead strongly, mark in packs and is a lovely long right foot kick of the football. He can kick the clutch goals as well, as demonstrated so clearly in the first game of the Under 18 national Championships when he kicked the winning goal on the siren. Even though Jack Watts might not play much football in 2009 due to final year secondary school studies, the 17 year old is set to make an impact on the oldest football club in the country. He has received the baton from the very best - our time is coming. With thanks to Alpha 33 for transcribing the SEN interview mentioned in the article. The Oracle will complete this series with the full wrap up of changes at the club as a result of the trade and drafting period in the lead up to season 2009.

by Whispering Jack Ronald Dale Barassi, Junior, the greatest Demon of them all, was born in the central Victorian town of Castlemaine on 27 February 1936, the son of a Melbourne player who later gave his life for his country at Tobruk in 1941 during World War II. At the time of the birth another Demon great, "The Red Fox" - Norm Smith, was a team mate of Barassi's father and in the process of establishing himself as a key forward under the coaching of Frank "Checker" Hughes. Smith and his brother Len had been approached by Hughes and club secretary Percy Page to join the club in 1933. He made his senior debut in the red and the blue in 1935 wearing the number 4 jumper. Hughes and Page had recently crossed over from Richmond to Melbourne and they set about changing the club's image from the innocuous Fuschias to the feared Demons. A change of image for a club that was down on its haunches was seen by them as the best way forward for improvement. Smith soon found himself in the vanguard of this push for improvement. The club gathered momentum later in the decade and Smith went on to have a glorious career as a member of four premiership teams (1939, 1940, 1941 and 1948). After a brief time away from the club, Smith returned to gained a reputation as a clever and cunning coach – The Red Fox. Under his guidance, the Demons tasted premiership glory six times in the space of a decade (1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1964). Barassi Junior was with him all the way as a player and captained the club in the last two flag winning years. As a teenager, young Barassi was determined to follow in his father's footsteps at the club. Smith and his wife took him under their wings after his mother moved to Tasmania and they gave him accommodation in his backyard bungalow. Melbourne had already lobbied the VFL to introduce a father/son rule to enable Ron to play for his father's club and in 1952, he was picked up from Preston Scouts as the second player recruited under the rule. By 1953, Ron Junior played his first senior game. At the age of 20 he was a premiership player, a feat he repeated five more times before he turned 30. He then made a shock move to Carlton and coached the Blues to two flags before he moved on to North Melbourne where he helped them win their first two premierships. There was a return to his spiritual home for a barren coaching stint in terms of finals success but he did help pave the foundation for a more productive era (albeit without the much coveted premiership flag) that followed his term as coach. It was fitting therefore, that three quarters of a century after the Red Fox was recruited to the club, his protégé handed over the number four jumper to Jack Watts, one of the newest Demons and a player anointed to help carry the Melbourne Football Club into at least the next decade of what will hopefully be a period of sustained success. The symbolism of the handing over of the guernsey cannot be lost on any student of the club's great history and Watts himself alluded to it during his first interview as a Demon on SEN radio immediately after the AFL National Draft Meeting on Saturday 29 November 2008. The recruitment of this young man and others who joined him at the club is part of a new era for Melbourne, a period of immense change in many of the facets of the club and particularly in its playing list. The change has been taking place for a little while now, but like all change, it takes time to be felt. When Barassi handed the number four however, one could sense it was a moment for the club's history books. Watts is clearly no ordinary footballer. Even the calling of his name at the draft meeting had its drama - Andrew Demetriou: Round One. Selection One. Melbourne. Barry Prendergast: Player two zero, ... hang on, ... two zero eight double six zero. Jack Watts. Sandringham Dragons. Prendergast may have been suffering from nerves. After all, it was his first call as the head of the club's recruiting team but there were no nerves from Jack Watts. He handled his first interview as a Demon with all the aplomb of a veteran. According to SEN’s Andrew Maher he had even asked the Melbourne people if they wanted him to make mention of the club’s need for a major sponsor if that would help. This is how the interview with SEN’s Matty Thompson went - Matty Thompson: Well Jack Watts from the Dees. Pick number one. How about that? Jack Watts: Yes, sensational. The Dees are such a proud club with such a great history and with the new board and I think they're trying to bring that heritage back. It's such an exciting time. Matty Thompson: It’s a massive honour isn't it to be the number one pick. Do you look back at previous number one draft picks and see even how successful they’ve been early in their careers. It must just be kind of inspirational. Jack Watts: Yes, absolutely. They're amazing players and you grow up just absolutely idolising them and now it's become a reality for me it's just mind blowing so I'll just get in there and start working hard and do my best at the club. Matty Thompson: When were you sure in your mind that you were going to Melbourne? Jack Watts: It wasn't until last night when a few guys from the Dees came around informed me at about 6 o'clock last night that they were going to take me so it’s been a long wait but it's just sensational now. Matty Thompson: What were you having for dinner? Jack Watts: We had a family dinner, we got some Chinese so I got absolutely spoiled last night. Matty Thompson: Did you shout the Melbourne guys when they came in. Jack Watts: No, no, no. Matty Thompson: So they didn't get a feed? Jack Watts: No that was afterwards. Matty Thompson: How keen are you to play in year one? Jack Watts: Look, you can't say. I'm still 17, I'm a young kid and I've got a lot of learning to do in the game. I'm just coming off basketball and there's plenty of learning and improvement left in me so I’ll just be trying to get my body right next year and we'll go from there. Matty Thompson: Jack. Good luck and thanks for your time on SEN. Number one and that goes down in history. Jack Watts: Thanks a lot And so Jack Watts the 196cm, 85 kg tall mobile forward from Brighton Grammar enters this historic club. The same cleverness he exhibited in that interview can be seen in the style of his play. He has excellent skills, can read the play well, has great speed and agility for any player let alone one of his size. He leads well, marks strongly in packs, is a lovely long right foot kick of the football and looks equally at home in a key position or in the midfield. And he kicks the clutch goals as well, as he demonstrated so clearly in the first game of the Under 18 national Championships when he kicked the winning goal on the siren. Even though Jack Watts might not play much football in 2009 due to final year secondary school studies, the 17 year old is set to make an impact on the oldest football club in the country. He has received the baton from the very best - our time is coming. With thanks to Alpha 33 for transcribing the SEN interview mentioned in the article. The Oracle will complete this series with the full wrap up of changes at the club as a result of the trade and drafting period in the lead up to season 2009.

FIXED!

Remember these photos were taken by someone who has hardly ever used a camera and obviously has never used the zoom function.

TRAINING 15/12/08 by Whispering Jack Casey Fields is a large sporting complex and while I was already aware of its size, the scope of the sporting facilities down there was emphasized when a few of us were fortunate to get a guided tour from Chris Connolly. Apparently, the curator is a Demon supporter and he's prepared some fine sporting surfaces out there including the MCG sized main arena that was being used today by the Melbourne Football Club. The other major user is the club's new VFL alignment partner, the Casey Scorpions. One of the first things that stands out is that the seats are coloured red and blue. Chris outlined the plans for future expansion of the ground with an additional stand and terraces on the outer side. Who knows? One day it might become a boutique stadium for AFL games involving some of the interstaters although, admittedly, that seems a long way off. The area also has grounds for the local Cranbourne club and its junior teams, a cricket ground used by Premier District Cricket Club Casey-South Melbourne (there's a Lindsay Hassett Pavilion there), soccer fields, a bike track used by the club for player rehab as well as the local bike club which was having some sort of event as we went past. They even have a lake for trout fishing! All of this is in one of the country's largest growth corridors, and to its east is land for 80,000-100,000 more people (in addition to the large number to come into the area's existing residential zones) under a newly released government growth plan. There are also plans to extend the Cranbourne rail line all the way to the ground with a possible future station at its doorsteps. A state of the art aquatic centre to be situated almost across the road is under construction. Next door to that is an existing indoor faciklity that includes tennis, basketball, netball and ten pin bowling, facilities that will be available to the club for wet weather training. The club will be making a great contribution in the form of contact with the local community and this was already in evidence as a class of schoolchildren were entertained later in the morning by Chris and other Melbourne people including Robbo who is still undergoing rehab for that snapped Achilles but who gladly joined the group when one of the kids said he was their favourite player. Connolly’s response was something to the effect that “he’s a good singer!” If the exercise was only to help develop a fan base for a club that has the least support in the country according to statistics, then the Casey prohject seems to already paying dividends. Down to the football training and my first impression after just a few minutes was the fact that most of the players were hitting targets far more regualrly than at training sessions from the equivalent times two and three years ago. Granted that there was far, far less pressure on today than they will have in an actual game situation, it’s clear that the focus of the club’s recruiting has been on players who can not only get the football but who have quality disposal skills by hand and by foot as well as being excellent decision makers. Takes James Strauss, take Jamie Bennell and take Rohan Bail – they all looked to have classy skills with the football. Sam Blease might be lightly built but he has clean hands, pace and skills and then there’s the young bloke who who has taken Benny Holland's old jumper. This will sound funny but he impressed me the most; he looked as if he loved being out there and was every inch a # 1 draft pick. I think even at that selection, he might prove to be a bargain if you get what I mean. That was the new blokes although there were a few others – PSD and rookie hopefuls but in the gloomy conditions I didn't really notice them very much. Former rookie lister Danny Hughes who has been dogged with injury was one I did recognise and he was not out of place. A couple of tall blokes in Stef Martin and Jake Spencer looked impressive with their size. The way Martin was being used in one of the drills suggested that he might be tried up forward this year and Michael Newton replete with white boots also looked impressive in front of the big sticks. Another of the young blokes who looked good was James Frawley (he's built up and looks much stronger) while Flash and Aussie were showing off their pace and skill. Of course, it's a different thing when players are tested under full match pressure but that's a long way off yet which is a good thing because there were a few blokes either not training or on a lighter load. I didn't see Brent Moloney while John Meesen, Colin Sylvia and Robbo were taking things easy and Simon Buckley was on the sidelines. So was Adam Maric who was jogging around the oval. Paul Johnson, Colin Garland, Brock McLean, James McDonald and Jared Rivers took part in limited training work. The boys are off to Mansfield later in the week and won't be back in full training until after the break. By that time they will be a little over a month away from the first NAB Cup game. Bring it on! The scene at training this morning. Hopefully, I'll be able to give Andy his camera back tomorrow and the films inside will be half decent

Yes.