hemingway

Absolutely tragic old dee. This is terrible. One thing to lose your daughter to another club,..but the Bombers. Man or man I feel for you. I will have to shout you a Scotch one day and talk about all your/her successes.

Spot on Nasher. I always tried to be enthusiastic, optimistic and make going to the game fun. Have a few favourite players, talk up the young kids etc. Don't get down on the losses. Maybe explain the losses but without negativity. Negativity from Dad is a game killer. Take the footy, go down to the fence, have chips. Make it an enjoyable day.

Agree with this. I have two boys. My wife is a Collingwood supporter. The deal we had was that the first child would be a Demon and the second child would be a Magpie. Guess what, both boys (now young men) are Demon supporters. I took the first boy to the footy, bought him jumper, scarf, all the gear. Helped that this was late 1980s. The younger boy then automatically wanted to follow his older brother, go to the games, follow the same team etc. My wife has never forgiven me. I have the odd pang of guilt but it does not last. The only downside is that I have to pretend to support the Pies when they play (ex Melbourne games). I guess like life, its a trade-off.

yep thinking the same thing Old Dee

you have to be kidding. please tell me why you think 2015 footy is great.

interesting point La Dee. I think your supposition is correct. When he got the Carlton offer he went to Norm to discuss and got his approval. I think that Norm saw Ron as his logical successor but that he would have to wait a little longer to take over. Also, I seem to remember that Ron thought that if he stayed with Melbourne and took over from Norm that he would coach in the shadow of the great man, and that any success, would be seen as Norms rather than his own. This occurred when Norm took over from Chequer Hughes. In Norm's early years, the team was seen as Chequers rather than his own. Perhaps the same thing might be said when Goodwin takes over from Roos!!

For most part the game has become an ugly spectacle. I am surprised that there is not a greater clamour for rule changes to redress the decline. Coaches want to win games and will employ whatever tactic they think will achieve this objective. However, the game as a spectacle is the loser. For the good of the game something must be done to stop the rolling scrum, packs, and negative tactics. Sure there are still highlights and times when a side attacks and carry the ball in an exhilarating fashion but 75% of the play consists of ugly mauls and players negating their opponents. Unless this problem is redressed, fewer and fewer fans will go to the games and instead will simply use their phones and TVs to catch the results. Aussie rules cannot continue this way if it is to remain popular. Soccer and to a lesser extent rugby will be the winners.

not recruited very well. We had a poor list and a coach that was in poor health and poor disposition. The ill feeling between committee and coach had become unmanageable. Smith took no prisoners and committee were getting increasing frustrated at Smiths contemptuous manner toward them. Many of the younger players were not happy with Smiths authoritarian approach and strict discipline. Arguably, he was beginning to lose many players. Indeed when he went to South Melbourne, Norm was initially regarded with great reverence but this began to wane with both the committee and certainly some of the players. Very similar to Barassi in his final years. Malthouse the same. All coaches are a product of the times and have a use buy date. As we all do. My point is that Melbourne was going to have a long time in the wilderness with or without Norm. No one would have thought that it would be 50 years, but it just goes to show that the good times never last and we should treasure the good times.

Norm was obviously a great coach for his time and a remarkable man. However, it is too simplistic to say that Melbourne's demise was due to his sacking. The parallel in modern times is probably the sacking of Mick Malthouse and the demise of Carlton. Norm was arguably at the end of his coaching career. He had been coach for 15 years. He had a great record, however, the Demons in the mid 1960s were not the same side as that of the 1950s and early 60s. Many of the great players had retired or moved on, including the inspiration and lynch pin of the side, Ron Barassi who was at the end of his playing days. His list was aging and the club had got lazy and complacent and not recruited very well. W

I remember John spent one or two seasons for Melbourne and played a few games with brother Ted. He had injury problems at the Dees. Always remember thinking that Ted was the better player but for some reason never fulfilled his potential.

No justification but we all know the inherent bias in AFL decision making as far as interstate teams and also Melbourne based teams seen as important to the AFL market place. The AFL is like a benevolent old grandfather selectively dishing out money to his favourite nephew. It has never been a level playing field and it never will be. It is not about fairness it is all about but whats good for the business/market.

Limited opportunities but I have a big ? over JKH. He looked the goods in his early games but has not developed. Just does not get enough of the ball.

Despite the stats, and what could have been comments, we are not good enough to play finals in 2015. Anyone who thinks so is delusional. However, I seriously believe that for the first time for a long time we are building a competitive football club. For the first time for a long time, we have a stable club with good administration, good coaching staff, and some talented young players who believe in the clubs future. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. How long is the tunnel? No one can know, but the light is visible for the first time for many years. For most of us, its part of our being. It is important and most of us care. Lets maintain the faith and belief. There will continue to be ups and downs, that's life. Don't be envious or jealous of other clubs, just be happy that we are on the way. We should resist negativity and bagging our own players, who really are just a microcosm of us all. In family life, when things are not going well, we support one another. Friendships and mateships count for nothing if we are not around when the going gets tough. We can be disappointed and frustrated along the way as happens with family and friends, but lets support our beloved MFC through thick and thin.

fair point he is untested as a senior coach no different than a young player with potential.

Roosy must be hoping like hell that Goodwin is staying. I imagine that coaching the MFC in mid winter is a kind of hell compared to enjoying the warm rays of sunshine that Hawaii has to offer.

only burnt offerings.

OD, assume you mean stirring up strong emotion rather than intense sexual love! Although it would be interesting to spice up Demonland, and maintain the interest of those baby boomers who are over the hill.

Some really good comments Steve. Agree Newton should come in. There is an argument for inclusion of Jamar, but I would prefer not. Jamar is simply too slow, is a poor overhead mark, and has long ceased to be a forward target. He can hardly get off the ground. We need to select players who are our future. Also agree with rjays comment that we should not play an extra tall. I still think Dawes offers more than Jamar, although not much more on present form. Agree that Hogan needs more space and would be better off at centre half forward where he can move into space. I know JKH has had limited games, but I am beginning to wonder about him. He just does not do enough.

Must admit, I was surprised that when he went up forward against the Bombers, he seemed a natural. Knew exactly how to play up and for the first time in the match we had someone to kick to. M

See a medical professional/doctor first, physio second. See someone you know is good or who comes recommended by others whether it be a GP or specialist. A good GP will have a network of competent specialists. With all medicos and physios there are good ones, the not very good ones and the bad ones. Also with sports medicos or physios. Over many years, I have seen a lot of poor sports medicos and physios. There are GPs, Specialists and Physios who are just as good as sports medicos and physios in dealing with sports injuries As a general comment, the best graduates and doctors do not go into sports medicine. The most important thing is to see someone who has a high standard of patient care and management, and whose objective is to fix the problem. The medico should be a good diagnostician and have a good management plan that is not influenced by the need for a short-term fix or patient demands. The medico should not be afraid to say it as it is, and not just string the patient along. What is important is the capability, skills, experience of the practitioner, not that they have "sports" in front of their professional title.

Both MFC & EFC were embarrassingly awful on the weekend. Reflected by the mute attitude of both sets of supporters (where I was sitting) and a realization that we were watching two very poor sides. Have we improved? Moot point. Until we start winning matches we remain a bottom of the ladder team and a long way off having sustained success. We need to finish the season strongly to change that perception. We have reached a point where near enough is not good enough. We seem much better off on the non playing side (administration and coaching staff). Despite the losses, there seems to be a positive feeling that we are headed in the right direction as enunciated by Paul Roos in recent days. We can also see the nucleus of a good side emerging with the development of our youngsters. Our midfield has improved but is still not a dominant one. On paper we have an improved forward set up, with a potential star in Jesse Hogan, yet we are not kicking winning scores. Our defence is looking better although is still not settled. We have seen Max Gawn finally emerge as a genuine big man. However, as yet none of those improvements are being reflected on the scoreboard. We have identified a number of players that provide depth but who have major deficiencies and will be gone sooner rather than later. We still have a side that lacks confidence, that has not developed a winning culture. Our team has not developed the capacity to exploit the weaknesses of opponents. Despite the negatives, we play patches of good football and can see the teams potential with the emergence of some of our young players. Our potential sustains me yet I am impatient for success. We will not win the respect of the football world until we start winning matches and develop a winning culture.We have the nucleus of a good side yet our young guns need to become leaders and match winners and the effort needs to be better spread across the whole team. We have shown improvement but we need to finish the season strongly for the perception of improvement and a brighter future to become reality. Certainly, 2016 is shaping as a make or break season.

Guess there are some pretty ugly demonlanders out there. I am not going to name names but now I think of it........ also not too happy with my ageing and saggy features. hair growing in the wrong places, young women no longer look in my direction despite my interest. its all downhill. Hey I know lets start a threat for ugly demonlanders.

That explains it. Good for him.

Ask that Devil guy who used to attend training and post reports. He seems to have disappeared for better or worse!

Hmmm, not one of the more enlightening threads.