hemingway

In regard to The Footy Show, its axing is long overdue. The slide started many years ago due to the tired format and the continuation of the tedious bogan male schoolboy humour of its characters. Its overnight demise can be blamed as much as anything on the past 5 to 10 years of pedalling the same dross every week. Like many, I turned off years ago. The current mob were handed a poisoned chalice. I find it strange that The Front Bar is a hit. The only one I find mildly amusing is Sam Pang who at least has some subtility, but Mick and the other clown are tedious. I also find it strange that we have a game where women and kids make up a huge proportion of the fans (and we have witnessed the raging success of women's footy) , yet we have yet another male bogan footy program in which 3 middle-aged men sit at a fake bar with beers in hand.

Hope you are right Smokey. If so, Goodwin could have communicated the position a little better by stating just what you have stated as the likely scenario. My comments were one of context. We have a club decimated by injuries, operations and a dubious history of injury management. Trengove, Viney, and most recently Smith. There are also others. Players whose footy careers have been jeopardised by being allowed to continue to play with injury.

Agree, you really to have wonder about this stuff. Surely the medical staff are involved ? Sure you need the players input but a bloke like Jack is his own worst enemy. Should be rested and the decision made by medical staff and coach. Leave it up to Jack? You must be joking.

My initial reaction was to think what a load of rubbish. Reason being that our poor form is due to other factors such injuries and inability to implement basic fundamentals such as effective handball and kicking skills, run (both ways) and overlap which exposes our problematic game plan of contested ball and zones. However, when you think about it most other clubs train and play on larger ovals. If you go back many years, clubs like Hawthorn, Richmond, Essendon and Collingwood prospered when they moved away from their small home grounds. The Hawks were a great example. Back in the day, they played hard contested slogging footy which suited the dimensions of their sardine tin ground at Glenferrie. Their stocks improved when they moved to Carlton, not a big ground, but with considerably more space than Glenferrie. I guess North still train on a small ground at Arden Street and they have had many successful years (although they have now fallen off the perch). They also had successful years under Barassi training and playing at Arden Street, when they targeted players under the 10 year rule and picked up a crop of young talent. Richmond also continue to train at Punt Road, although I think it was lengthened at some stage. When they moved their home games to the MCG success soon followed. I am sure there are flaws in this conversation but it is interesting when you look back on history. As we know there other reasons for success, not the least recruiting talent and increasing professionalism on and off the field. I don't see how training on smaller grounds would matter when doing routine training drills but it may have an influence with practice matches. There is no doubt that having state of the art facilities that include excellent training ground/s is important. The Junction Oval has a beautiful large playing surface but the facilities were third world. The Northey and Daniher years at the Junction Oval were marked by mixed success. It is not possible to argue that there is a direct correlation between the size of the training ground and on field success because so many other factors come into play. However, it is clearly important that Melbourne moves to a state of the art training venue that includes an excellent playing surface like the old Junction Oval. Like others, I think it is looking unlikely that any new training venue will be in central Melbourne. The Hawthorn blueprint looks the more practical and likely option, and this road takes us directly to Casey. I will not be going out to Casey to watch the side train but there will be many old and new fans who will due to their place of residence in the the SE suburbs. It was not long ago that many thought that Waverley Park was too far away, but it has become established suburbia. The same with Casey as our metropolitan area continues to expand like our obesity epidemic. .

Continued discussion, speculation, opinion, judgment on this issue is enough to drive you to drink, that's if you don't (like old Ernie), already have or had a problem with the demon drink. In my case, it was hard liquor, but drinking beer???? It really is a crazy crazy world. Now lets talk about the royal baby and whether Meghan is going to abscond with young Percy.

Unbelievable although it has now become believable. However, only a small number of the group are top players or automatic selections. The rest are struggling, what we would call fringe or depth.

no one is surprised, that's the way it is.

Fair enough Wayne. May has been hung, drawn and quartered when not all the facts are known. Like most things, criticism has come about due to context. In his case, he came with great fanfare, and his signing was seen as a coup for the Demons. It reinforced views that this was further proof of the clubs professionalism and emergence as a power club. His price tag reinforced opinion that he had great value and must be a great pick-up. He was seen as the answer to our problems in the back half. There was a huge feel good factor and a fair amount of expectation. The fact that he was an ex-Captain gave him cred as a team leader. However, he rocks up in poor condition, looking like an overweight park footballer. A bad start. According to Saty, he trained his a...off, but then injures his groin. It is a fair supposition to think that the injury was due to his poor condition and the sudden step up and intensity of training. He plays one forgettable game when he is clearly short of a gallop and then disappears into the ether unable to train or play. So for someone that came with fanfare and hype, his start has been a huge disappointment. With players and clubs, fans expect professionalism. Fans don't expect or tolerate players on big coin who appear to be loafing off or lazy. Fans criticisms may be over the top but that is the perception. We have seen too many lazy uncommitted footballers at Melbourne over the years. Whatever the circumstances surrounding May, everyone expects players to be committed, disciplined and fully professional. The jury is out on May and the current perception of him will only change when we see him training and playing to his full capability. .

Just what the club does not need just now. This guy has unprofessional and unreliability written all over him. Excuses always come from the uncommitted. He must be on the outer right now.

How do we know that Baldy from Baxter is not a poster on this site hiding under a nom de plume.

Agree, one of the successes this season alongside Hore I think Spargo also has it but unfortunately does not do enough. Lockhart is an improved version.

You may be right Dub, but society has a massive problem with booze at all ages. It impacts health, the economy. families and social behaviour. Most people drink responsibly, but from a young age there is a view that to enjoy yourself there has to be booze available., that you can't conduct anything without booze. Its a social habit ingrained by advertising and organisations whose profit comes from selling the stuff. People can do without booze but it is very hard to avoid the pressure not to drink particularly for young people.. As gambling infiltrates sport on every level so does booze. As a society, we seem to accept that's okay. As said, it comes at a cost.

Agree, If selectors think that a player is good enough to get a game in the ones, then the player should be given a number of consecutive games to prove their worth. At least a minimum of 2 games and maybe 3 or 4. Totally opposed to selecting a player for their first game and dropping them a week later. It damages the players confidence and almost says'to everyone that the player should not have been selected in the first place. Sure there are players who put in a shocker in their first game, but that normally tells you that the player should not have been selected in the first place. Petty is an example.

Grog is always the problem at the footy. In the streets, violence can often be attributable to drugs and a mix of drugs and alcohol but at the footy its normally just grog. The old days of drinking from cans and long necks in the outer were bad. As a kid, you would witness alcohol fuelled fights every week in the outer sometimes involving two men fighting but often more than two. It was rugged stuff and I witnessed many violent scenes inside and outside the ground. There is little of that these days and fights are unusual. Like everything else associated with the game, ground authorities have become very strict. Reporting anti-social behaviour is beamed into our brains so relentlessly that sometimes you feel like transgressing. Despite these strict rules of behaviour, alcohol is still the major problem. Every time you attend the MCG you are reminded of the presence of alcohol. There are bars on every level and several bars on each level. You literally cannot walk 50 metres without tripping over a bar. I like a drink as much as anyone, and it's part of the social custom of many to have a drink at the footy. Yet it staggers me how many people (mainly men) are drinking. The bars are usually packed and many only emerge when the game starts. At the same time, many remain in the bar all match and watch the game on the TV screens, a habit that seems to me to be crazy. But this behaviour tells you that there are a lot of people who just attend the game to drink with their mates, and drink copious amounts of grog. As with other social evils like gambling, governments and organisations spend millions of dollars on "social responsibility"" messages yet do nothing to stop the problem. There are just too many vested financial interests that benefit from these things whether it be gambling or alcohol consumption. If the sporting codes were fair dinkum, they would limit the amount of alcohol served . You could provide a supporter with a limited amount of prep-purchased coupons or restrict the opening hours of bars. Open bars for an hour before the game and close bars during the course of the game. Sure have bars open at half-time but stop serving grog at the beginning of the 3rd Q. It's a bit like night clubs and bars in the street. The industry and those who attend clubs tell you that stricter rules and regulations restrict business and individual freedoms. People argue that it is their right to attend a club at any time of day or night. Yet at the same time, the consequences of these freedoms can produce inappropriate and anti-social behaviour that comes at a cost to society. So nothing gets done except that authorities deliver preachy messages and give politically correct responses that do nothing to address the problem.

For many of us who grew up and played in the days when the rule and it's interpretation was strict, the modern technique of allowing players to flick the ball on to a team-mate is frustrating. It's been going for a long-time now although it seems to have got worse as "quick hands"" have become commonplace. Handball or flick ball is the conditioned response of every player who gets the ball and whereas in the old days there may be a maximum of 2 or 3 handballs in any play, there can now be up 6-10 flick balls used, particularly where one team does a ring a ring a rosy out of a congested zone. The Cats, Hawks, and Pies seem worse than most, presumably because of their prolific use of flick ball. It seems that some coaches such as those of the 3 teams mentioned exploit the current interpretation of the rule more than others. And this comes down to game plan or game style. Players are coached this way so that the the speed of delivery (like the old flick pass of the 1960s) is quick, which avoids being caught with the ball thereby opening up the offensive play. The very reason why sides like the Dogs and the old Lions used the flick pass in the 1960s was that it was much quicker than conventional handball and players could more easily get rid of the ball when tackled It drives me mad but it suits the policy of the AFL and it's implementation by umpires to speed up play at any cost and to minimize congestion. So a stricter interpretation of the rule is not going to occur. Very rarely do umpires pay a throw unless the ball is scooped out with two hands or thrown out with one hand. Umpires are unlikely to start paying free kicks because they will be doing it all day many times.

Fantastic team win. All players and coaches to be congratulated. Showed guts, determination and resilience.

No change other than for injury. Saturday saw an improved effort and a win. Reward the team. Keilty to remain. Needs to build confidence and feel that he belongs. Same for Stretch. Oscar? Another chance and to be told to take the game on. We need to maintain core stability until we get some players back.

Russell Robertson

Emotional responses calling for the sacking of players does not improve our chances. More likely, it achieves the opposite. The club needs to make sensible and rational decisions that give us the best chance of winning. At the moment, injuries to those sidelined and those still playing make team selection difficult. Our playing resources are stretched thin. So with limited resources, selectors need to consider team balance, try to blend experience with youth, include height and run etc. At the moment, it is a patch up job. There is simply no point in dropping players (particularly those with experience and proven track records) in order to make a statement. They have dropped Weideman, you simply can't go dropping a host of other players. We want to see a united club standing together in difficult times, not emotional responses aimed at showing that the club is doing something. There is absolutely no point getting rid of players if there are not better replacements.

Yes the sun was still shining at that point. However, I went to Shepparton. The sun shone in the first quarter but from quarter time onwards, we looked like we do now.

One hell of a guy. A hero. The Norm Smith of WWI. His own man. Took no prisoners. A brilliant officer who butted heads with his peers and commanding officers particularly the Brits who he regarded as pompous, incompetent and nervous of battle. Loyal to his men and they to him. Fought in Gallipoli and the Western Front. Would not take leave because he refused to leave his men. He was the General who planned the retaking of Villers Bretonneux from the Germans a second time after the British had lost the town. The second battle which Pompey meticulously planned was decisive in stopping the Germans from taking Amiens. One of the most decisive battles in the War. He was also the General who famously told his troops and British troops that they would be shot if they deserted the scene of battle. Monash is often regarded as the commanding officer that led the Aussies to victory at VB but it was actually Pompey Elliott. Monash stated that the victory at VB was the finest of the war. It is why the local school at Villers Bretonneux has a large sign over the playground saying ""N'Oublions Jamais l'Australie"" or Let us Never Forget Australia.

Drysdale and Smokey, if you have not done so I recommend you read Ross McMullins book on Pompey Elliott. There are in fact two books, the first written a few years ago is a biography of the great man, and, the second, written in the last year or so, is a brilliant and informative narrative containing his diary entries. He was a hell of a man, soldier and general. If you doubt the impact of leadership on the battlefield you must read this book, particularly the latest book based on his diary entries of his account of his time on the Western Front. He was a tough, inforgiving bast....who clashed with other officers particularly British generals and commanding officers, a person who demanded total obedience from his men......but his battalion was one apart from all others because as well as a brilliant tactician, his men simply loved him. He did not hide from battle like so many officers and generals, but commanded his men from the front.

Yes, agree, sado masochism is not my thing.

of course so obvious now you mention it. must say I have had a long lay off from bananas as most folk do. I have never understood how you could eat them every day but perhaps its my lack of imagination. Anyway, they are very tasty at the moment. Not sure if they are local or the ones Earl purloined from the Indonesians. They did seem expensive so perhaps the latter.

Wondered about that also. I was going to check with Uncle about banana placement but fortunately, I read the next post