hemingway

Don’t know about a parasite but for me it’s chronic depression with a few brief moments of hope and if I’m lucky joy. The joy doesn’t last long. But each year, my wife sympathises with me, treats me kindly on the weekend, and my psychiatrist readjusts my medication. Yet strangely, I start each season with hope and love for my team. I love seeing the same expressions of Demon supporters on the train and the walk to the G. Mood is bright and conversation flowing. With lots of comments like .....do you remember that game in......or we will need Gawn and Oliver to fire...or the backline will be the key. But it’s a good feeling. I feel part of an army, an army that has gone through the same highs and lows, that feels like I do. That celebrates and hurts. Whether we win or lose, we love our club but winning makes the love come much more easily. However, defeat makes the return journey a downtrodden road to Hell. Disappointment and sometimes despair. However, irrespective I will react angrily and sometimes aggressively to our supporters who rubbish and criticise the team. Don’t bother coming you [censored], I say. I try and practice mindfulness but it’s not easy. But hope and that sense that this season we may surprise the critics and the naysayers remains for the time being.

Don’t be a spoil sport Bing. I thought you were a big picture guy rather than a Lilliputian.

Bob, I am not sure of your expertise regarding Rorschach, but it has been an important psychiatric tool particularly popular in the 30s, 40s and early fifties. It had an important place in psychiatry over 40 years. It had been discredited over the last 40 years by psychiatrists who also discredit Freud. I find that revisionists are usually minor players when compared to giants in their field that they seek to debunk. However, in its time it was a useful diagnostic tool. But only one tool. The point you make is correct. The value in the tool was establishing the patients interpretation of the ink blots. That is the skill of psychoanalysis. Much depended on the skill and expertise of the psychiatrist/psycho-analyst.. it was a critical tool used in the psychiatric evaluation of the Nazi War criminals at Nuremberg. It has to be seen in its historical context. It was a very valuable tool that was used selectively as a diagnostic tool.

What rubbish, nasty and vicious ? Vitriol? Observations from a group of supporters that want to see the team have success and be coached by a motivated switched on coach, hopefully Simon Goodwin. That’s all. His behaviour or presentation is not very reassuring. I hope I am wrong.

No-ones claiming to be experts, rather, merely some observations on what we observed. And body language is an indicator of mood. Perhaps we see it differently, but to me he was as flat as a tack, and if so, that feeling is passed on to the others, staff and players.

Just saw the interview. Simon looks terrible to me, there is no spark or enthusiasm. Looks depressed or simply the realisation that he’s looked at the mountain and it is too steep for him to climb.

Reckon I would rather share a post game shower with an unloved Fence than a character with, well, how I can put it nicely, pathological deep seated perversions!

Agree with the other comments made on this thread. We are in the fortunate position that if Simon falls over, we have a premiership coach and also an assistant to a multiple premiership coach in the wings. With Williams, you have all the knowledge, skills, confidence and communication style that makes one think that a “transfer of power” could be a good thing. Williams has a verve and a spark that is infectious. Not sure about Yze. All we know is that he has been taught by the Master and is obviously a senior coach in waiting. But we have been down that track before. Williams in the other hand has an established track record.

Gravitational handicapped. Have not heard this one but it’s a good one. Should go in the best quotes for this season. Agree with your comments 56. More run, more space etc could well apply to all clubs this season. It’s going to be a necessity and a reality.

No I don’t think so mate, just sharing my thoughts amongst friends.

I don’t care what Max or anyone else says. Preferably don’t say anything at all, well not until you can win games of footy, and, hopefully, consecutively, even try winning a string of games. Then try winning enough close games to be in the bloody 8 at season end. Try winning finals games. Words no longer mean anything. But how do you feel? How will you feel at the end of your career if you are associated with a team of losers, a club that attracts derision. Is a laughing stock. You may have lots of money, but how will you feel about your footy career? Will you feel a failure, will your team mates feel that they are failures ? Or will you and the Coach simply move on? Will you get over it as you and your team mates sip on your Pinot Noir in the wine bar and blame others? Just win games, win the close ones. Until then I will mute the sound coming from you and Simon or the next coach’s mouth. I will not bother reading what you have to say. I will remain totally detached and increasingly lose interest in the season. I will forever remain loyal but I will have lost the emotion I have for my team. I will remain detached. I will take more interest in other clubs and the results of other games. It will be purely of academic interest as to what happens. All of us Demons want to see you as the new Richmond. Tough, resilient, successful and proud. Do you have it in you?

Fake news old Dee. Green bananas would be my choice.

Naturally you can question the choice of venue. The common objections have been mentioned. Establishment, old boys club, wealth, privilege, private school, sexist. Perhaps membership and attendance reflect some or all of these characteristics. However, these clubs have all seen better days. The movers and shakers have long deserted these places for more upmarket venues. They represent the past, not the current or the future. In the main, they are sparsely populated by old retired gentleman catching up with their peers. Having attended most of the clubs on the invitation of publishers and interested folk that still read books and descriptive fiction, my main complaint other than the absence of the fairer sex, is the quality of the food. In my experience, it reminds me of boarding school. Those present remind me of elderly gents at the funeral or wake of an old friend. Why anyone would want to spend a few thousand smackers each year to be a member is beyond me. After lunch and bucket loads of post lunch Port, I would want to kill myself. Although food poisoning may knock me off before my 303. However, I did enjoy stumbling down the steps one sunny afternoon with an ex AFL President who was loud and rambunctious. He enjoyed loudly telling a young man carrying a bike frame along William St, that the frame would need wheels to be rideable. Laughing loudly at his own joke as he stumbled away! Now that’s class!

So you prefer Murdoch media platforms Jnrmac for objective, non partisan and informed commentary?

You must be bananas Maple.

Concise clear report. Great stuff PF.

Max is like a good red wine. Initially immature, with doubt about its quality and longevity. He has developed and matured with each passing year and keeps getting better. He has become an accomplished and fine player, a good leader and a damn nice bloke devoid of the ego and hubris of others. He has remained loyal and wears the colours proudly. And we are proud of him. By the end of his career he will enter the pantheon of Melbourne greats. He has achieved this lofty height by sheer hard work, dedication and commitment. All the greats achieve their status not by luck but by sheer hard work. They work harder than others and have a single minded attitude toward their calling. Sure they have ability but you don’t become great by only having ability. You have to do the work. People like Max and Dusty understand that and embrace it. They get their material rewards but it is not what drives them. They simply desire to be the best that they can be and leave no stone unturned. It takes time, but in the end they get there. In the end, they want to be part of finals success and ultimately enjoy premiership success. Let’s hope, Max’s commitment to the Dees is rewarded with the top prize.

Yes, I don’t get it. In the immediate term it’s very reassuring and provides a confident approach by player and club in the clubs future. But it’s a financial risk. How long does Max have left given the battering he takes each week and the way he plays the game. 100 per cent effort every week with players falling all over him. . Like Jake Lever, I worry about guys with dodgy knees ! Whilst it’s an important signing, we wait with bated breath on Clarry. I hope it does not remain an issue all season, but I fear it will as his manager tries to maximise his bargaining power by entertaining offers from other clubs.

I like your comments. Lord took huge pack marks despite punishment from opponents. Like The Rock of Gibraltar. Laidlaw was underestimated being a very smart player in the air and on the ground. And what about the speed of Bluey Adams and Brian Dixon, the ball magnet of the team. Remember that Norm himself in his playing days was used as a small decoy full forward to the likes of Mueller, Cordner and others. It’s forgotten that Norm was a great player who despite his decoy role kicked a bagful of goals. So it is not surprising that he used small decoy type full forwards as a coach. Webb, Bourke and Rowarth. There was a gulf bigger than Carpentaria in the tactical genius of Smith to other coaches of the day. Probably still is, if you know what I mean.

Let’s hope that if true, Kobe learnt through the club/coaches and not the media. I would also hope that players get some counselling and support after being cut or not offered a place. It’s still disappointing for the player that his expectations have not been fulfilled.

Interesting to look at the names in 59 & 60. These teams had something. They were great teams, with team spirit, belief, grit and determination and mobility. They loved Norm who was inspirational and a great tactician. It only took a Norm Smith roast for the team to come out and lift after half time. They had great players and leaders on the field. However, what strikes me is that the teams were also made up of good ordinary players. Not stars but players clearly playing a role. Players like Alan Rowarth, Dennis Jones, Trevor Johnson, Fenton Smith, Len Mann, Clyde Laidlaw, John Lord, Brenchley etc. Some like Lord, Trevor Johnson and Fenton Smith were good overhead but slow on the ground. I guess I am just thinking that you don’t have to have a team of stars to win a flag but you do need a champion team (sorry for the cliche). We sometimes think that the great Melbourne teams were composed of champions but this was not the case.

Agree. His commentary on horse racing and athletics particularly the latter is unsurpassed. He accurately informed rather than entertained. With footy he tried to entertain rather than inform. Hence, the over the top hyperbole and saccharine laced comments. A good decision to give it away as his commentary had long become predictable and irritating. However, the thought of JB and BT is almost worse. JB should not be allowed near a microphone. Get ready for the boys show with the loud macho boorish antics and commentary as Jim and Brian attempt to entertain us. The mute button will get a workout from this viewer.

Amazing how differently we see things and that difference explains why opinions not only vary but are quite.....different.

You have to remember that back in 1965, the Demons were “the Team.” Half the footy population loved us and the rest hated us. We had a huge supporter base and most kids who barracked for the Dees wore 31 on their back. So when Ron went to Carlton, the impact was seismic. The shock that went through supporters and the footy world was of a magnitude that has not been felt since. Dismay and tears were the order of the day. Times have changed so that if Dusty was to leave the Tigers the impact would be like a wind change rather than an earthquake. Despite Ron leaving, the respect for Ron continued. That’s really something. Respect. There has been no one like Ron. Simply, The Legend.

Very well put 56.