hemingway

A man of impeccable taste.

If you don't mind Uncle, you make two wrong assumptions, that I am both dead and an alcoholic. I prefer to be referred to as a "discerning dead alcoholic" I have had periods of abstinence but to borrow the lyrics from my old friend Leonard, "I fought against the bottle but I had to do it drunk." But that's no reason for a reprobate like you to be discourteous.

I suppose it's what we already discerned. The fact that Hinkley recruited both Watts and Trengove suggested he was looking at the positives rather than the deficiencies. Clearly Melbourne and all the other clubs looked at the deficiencies. Trengove's comments confirm the differences in coaching philosophy between Hinkley and the others. Taking a positive but realistic approach is more likely to build a players confidence to take on the game. In my modest sporting career, I experienced both coaching approaches and there was no doubt that the positive approach was far more effective for both the individual and the team in regard to both training and competition. We will see what happens in 2018. It will be interesting to see if the Hinkley approach translates into better outcomes for both players.

So many of the great features of the game are gone. The features that made our game unique. The bounce is a wonderful thing that helps to make our game what it is. How exciting to see that first bounce of the day and to a slightly lesser extent the bounce at the beginning of each quarter. To see this replaced by a limp throw-up that hardly goes above the umpires head will be sad thing to witness. It will be a tragedy to see it go, and once it goes, it will never come back. It is unbelievable how our game is being systematically ruined. Just think of all those things that have changed, eliminated or disappeared due to the misguided attitude that the changes are for the better of the game. If anyone thinks it is for the better, you have rocks in your head. The bounce is unique, it is an iconic part of the game that tells you "ladies and gentlemen we have a contest on our hands", and we see two ruck man going head for head. God help me. God help the game.

You track watchers are unbelievable. Passion and dedication. Hats off to you. You deserve medallions of honour. The rest of us enjoy the fruits of your efforts.

Agreed, maybe a lack of confidence this year influenced by the fact that not much confidence was shown in him by the coaching staff/Goodwin giving him regular games. We saw the difference in ANB as his confidence grew from being given game time. Hope the coaching staff invest in Billy.

Often collision or contact injuries are unavoidable and bad luck but leg injuries such as calf, hamstring and also those of the foot are normally overuse injuries caused by training load and weekly matches. With running injuries, most athletes know when they are walking the line. Often a twinge or two can be the precursor of a more serious injury. Despite modern injury management techniques, more often than not, time is the only effective healer. It is difficult to cheat the body and its own natural repair mechanism. Given the competitiveness of players and their determination to continue to play irrespective of injury concerns, it is important that there are others that can tell a player to "take a break". This comes down to the club having the willingness to rest players during the season, particularly the hard trainers like Viney and those who are clocking up the kilometers each week. It is where the depth and quality of your list becomes important but also the strength of coaching staff to make the right call.

Injury management always worry me, particularly the tendency to try and get players back on the park as soon as possible. There is certainly a case that Trengove was mismanaged until the Richmond medical staff discovered the full nature of his foot problem. The fact that our medical staff missed the diagnosis was embarrassing and pretty poor form. It could also be said to have ruined Jacks career. I agree that we appear to have a more professional show these days. However, the management of Viney's foot injury this season was questionable, particularly given the circumstances. We needed to be thinking of the long-term and not make decisions that could jeopardize his recovery. Jack has a further 7-10 years left if he looks after his body. It may be that other player injuries were well handled by the club, however, the Viney issue raised alarm bells for me. We will not progress if we do not learn lessons from the past. Injury management is so important these days that you need to have the very best people. However, you also need to be thinking of the long-term rather than be influenced by the pressures of the day. With all due respect to club doctors, the very best doctors do not become footy club doctors. And indeed, not always the best specialists are used by club doctors in the case of specialist referral. There is a case to be had that the long-term interest of the player and the club would see diagnosis and management at arms length to the club. That perhaps is unrealistic with an obvious downside, however, in certain circumstances, it would be prudent to have a second and independent assessment made by doctors, specialists and other health professionals that are not employed, contracted or commonly used by the club.

Not sure Its a great idea for the Captain to be signaling a break out year for one player. Let Salem's footy do the talking. If the kid does not realize that 2018 is vitally important to his team and his own footy career, then nothing will. He has to want it, and want it hard. We want a break out year for many players, indeed " the team." Jones is "first among equals" and like Richmond, it is all about the team, not individuals.

They have been very quiet lately, which makes me suspicious. Eddie spends much of his time plotting and thinking of the next deal, so something is cooking! And he and Buckley need to pull something out for the fire next season or good night nurse.

A dasher sums it up. Also had a big leap, took some absolute screamers over the pack and a beautiful drop kick off half back. Went to WA for a few years to make a quid and returned better than ever.

Good call. Tassie was a great player. Good overhead both mark and spoil, beautiful kick and tough as nails. Looked like a film star with his great physique and slicked back jet black hair. One of the few players that could keep John Peck quiet and not be intimidated by him. I seem to remember Peck saying that had great respect for Tassie and was one of the best FB. Along with Bernie Massey his drop kicks had to be seen to be believed. You would pack the stands every week if you had a defender like Tassie drop kicking from the square. Tassie occasionally went up forward but later on in his career (and after the demise of Graham Wise) spent much of his time in the ruck. A small ruckman (6.1/6.2) he was very effective at centre bounces due to his positioning skills. In fact when you think back to those days, one realizes how many great skills and attributes of the game have been lost as we have moved further along the path of this hybrid game of part rugby, part soccer and part basketball. Despite statistics trotted out by the AFL, I meet more and more people who are so disillusioned with the way the game is played that they no longer attend or have lost interest altogether.

A little out of date Earl. I should update my bio, but I don't want to give my cover away. For that reason, I avoid Facebook, Linked In and all those other sites for pretenders and boasters. In that case, why do I post on this site? I find myself surrounded by a bunch of amiable folks who share a passion whilst at the same time share their eccentricities. . Sure there are the the boasters, the self-opinionated, the egotists, the argumentative, the grumpy, the depressed, the whingers, the crazy optimists, the dwellers of the cellars of the past, and indeed ,the psychotic, but overall a like able bunch of ratbags. I have found it much easier to pretend that I someone else to avoid editors, revengeful women, drinkers, no-hopers, pretenders, neo- fascists, last ditch commos and simply those who want to do me harm. One day we will run into one another and I will buy you a lemon squash.

We seem to put a premium on the lower numbers, but I agree with your comments. I don't think its a great idea to give our best young draft picks low numbers in their first season or two. Reckon, if we value the low numbers the player should earn it and not be given the choice until at least 2 or 3 successful seasons.

The quality of the player and his legacy makes the number significant such as a Barassi or a Flower. Given its history over the past 50 years, number 31, no longer holds the importance it once did whereas number 2 arguably still holds significance. It's all about the era and the age and the memories of the collective mass of supporters. For me, probably due to our poor record over the years, very few numbers have significance. Perhaps Flower and number 2 has some sentimentality but few others. Its the guy inside the jumper that matters. I would be happy to see Lever with number 50 as long as he produces some exciting footy.

Daisy your forgetting he is a footballer, not a research scientist or physician, can't expect too much.

Unfortunately turned out they were fake diamonds.

I have a strange and disturbing feeling that he may eventually turn up at Collingwood. Rory and Eddie of course will say that they did not have any discussions until after the end of the footy season and his contract with the Crows.

As they said at Villers Bretonneux, "Do not forget Australia" And at Melbourne we should say "Do not feel sorry for Adelaide."

Not sure above love but certainly popular. The full story is compelling. -His difficult childhood that included seeing his father shot dead in front of his eyes. -His loyalty and love for his mother and family. -A mercurial rise as a player and a brief period when he was one of the most exciting talents we had seen, and, as others have stated, as talented a player as Wayne Carey. -The tragedy of the knee injuries. Anyone who saw them happen, will never forget particularly the second one, after he had gone through so much to get back on the field. There was a kind of brave and tragic stoicism in the Ox's determination to continue his career no matter what the cost. Most others would have given up. It was almost as if he had decided in a single minded way that injury was not going to rob him of his footy career. -He did come back, a different and less spectacular player but he played the game and left the game on his own terms. -His attitude on and off the field showed a touch of arrogance, belligerence and the larrikin that was endearing and unusual in a Melbourne footballer. In many ways, he was so not Melbourne. -His loyalty to the Demons. -His honesty in dealing with his gambling addiction and efforts to help others. -He could have ended on the scrap heap after footy and his gambling problems . -His determination to overcome his demons and carve out a career in the media. I am not a fan but he is no worse than many others. I met him once in recent years and a brief conversation and smile suggested that he was a humble and nice person. The Ox has done well.

Some great footballers but for excitement alone Jeff Farmer and Liam Jurrah, They played the game differently, on their terms, unpredictable, mercurial, at times freakish. They could see patterns of play, see the ball bounce before anyone else like in the dream time. The indigenous way of playing footy. Something special.

The fixture is the fixture. The game is a business and the AFL is the Governing Body of that business and all those who fall within its web including the clubs are captive to the business. As with all businessss, the outcomes are influenced by the bargaining power of individuals, clubs, TV stations, media etc. Outcomes are reached as a result of the participation of all these forces, some conflicting others not. It is a marketplace but not a free marketplace. A little like China where the burgeoning market is still heavily influenced and controlled by The Party, Governnent and ruling elites. The AFL governance is not about fairness. It is about producing maximal financial outcomes for the competition, the clubs, the players and the salaried staff of the AFL. The fixture is the best example of where the AFL attempts to produce an outcome that satisfies the business imperative and yet accommodates all parties after a period of bargaining and wheeling and dealing. However, despite angst over the fixture, arguably we have a competition that (as a result of the draft, income redistribution, and increased professionalism across all clubs) is very even. Over the past few years we have had two cellar dwellers winning the flag and a host of clubs vying for the 8. The MFC had every opportunity in 2017 to make the 8 and go on with it. We had games during the season that we could have and should have won but fell short. At the end of the season we had injury and poor form and a game plan that fell apart. Just like everything else in the world, you have to make do with the hand you are given. In the real world there are many that simply cannot get up off the deck due to the hand they have been dealt. Some do but many don't. In the fixed market place of AFL footy, all clubs have the capacity, if their good enough, to get off the deck at least for one or two seasons and win a flag,

Can't see it. This is a young ambitious man with intelligence and talent to have a very successful career and life. I think he will move on. He has played at the highest level and been a Co/ Captain if an AFL side. I can't see him being content to play with Casey in the VFL or returning to Sturt. He is way too ambitious. The SANFL these days is small time. The clubs are struggling to survive and spectators sparse. Apart from the diehards, the locals are consumed by the successes of the Crows and Port. I can only see Jack staying in the game if he is drafted by another AFL club and that must be considered unlikely.

A common thread of successful athletes at the national and international level is that they are self starters and self motivated and they keep themselves in good shape the whole year, they don't go on benders out of season and do not get out of shape. Their self discipline applies to their physical condition and what they eat and drink.

Don't go there Uncle. You know the boys and girls in blue and also those in plain clothes and raincoats visit this thread. Its not Redleg or other Rake like legal eagles that you need to worry about many of whom are as shady as a driveway of elm trees on a country estate.