joeboy

Whelan - same sad story

Carroll - destroyed once again

Bizzell - was barely noticed

Ward - very little influence

Wheatley - hard to judge

Brown - erratic but dedicated

Bate - poor spacial awareness

Pickett - exciting but limited

Davey - more encouraging effort

Green - tried but limited

Miller - kept on presenting

Dunn - a promising beacon

Bell - can't doubt application

Jamar - nowhere to hide

Johnson - Tarzan impersonates Jane

McDonald - never stopped trying

Bruce - showed greater application

Godfrey - was found out

White - exerted no influence

Jones - injured too early

Sylvia - needs game time

Yze - finally a positive

Who here likes the father-son rule? Guess this is very topical at the moment with Geelong's success in getting some pretty handy pickups recently, but with Melbourne having a severe lack of decent players in the 70s and 80s I am really getting put off this rule. I can see Essendon having a field day in the years to come with the Danaher family alone, never mind the recent additions.

The sooner they replace this rule the better for the competition.

Yes, but let's make sure the rule isn't tampered with until after Gary Lyons' 3 boys wear the red and blue.

Whelan - didn't appear interested

Carroll - third poor game

Ferguson - little to commend

Ward - erratic and loose

Wheatley - some cheap possessions

Bell - a commendable effort

Johnstone - kept on trying

McDonald - not at best

Moloney - full bodied endeavour

Miller - provided a contest

Green - gave a target

Davey - needn't have played

Jones - a shining light

Jamar - not on field

Holland - not on field

White - beaten by hack

Godfrey - unfortunately still commendable

Bate - totally lost fluency

Bruce - prolific but wasteful

Brown - cheap late possessions

Johnson - cheap meaningless possessions

Yze - shouldn't retain position

I posed this question prior to the first round and most respondees were bursting with anticipation. Has the excitement level subsided after the disappointments of the first 2 rounds , or are you still up there ?

On a scale of 1 - 10 , I was on 5 prior to the first round ; I am now on a 3.

Apparently TJ is still suffering the effects of a broken toe , but do we blame him or the selectors for his subsequent underachieving ?

Whelan - was comprehensively beaten

Carroll - two poor games

Bell - destroying Demonlanders' faith

Brown - just a game

Rivers - gave his all

Ward - was barely noticed

Johnstone - possibly career worst

Johnson - provided no contest

Green - terrible milestone game

Davey - just a shadow

Moloney - made little impression

McDonald - a valiant trier

Robertson - no second efforts

Neitz - what a catastrophe

Jones - made a contribution

Miller - tried but failed

Jamar - has gone backwards

Bate - playing without confidence

Wheatley - probably didn't play

Bruce - no longer elite

White - four quarter effort

Godfrey - defied Demonland critics

David Smorgon just said on Foxtel that the Doggies passed 27,000 today. How far behind that are we right now?

That's a fantastic effort by the Bullies whose membership was more a basket case than ours for so long .

Brad Hodge was another

Yes Brad Hodge and Jess Sinclair played at reserves at the same time and may have even crossed paths with champion Olympic rower James Tomkins who played a number of inglorious games in the ruck for us .

Actually that school teacher from McKinnon High was Ted's English teacher , but it's important to point out that John's sporting abilities were what he will be remembered for .

BTW the school was a breeding ground for junior Demon sides in the 80s with the Fidge brothers playing alongside night final hero Brett Bailey and under 19 players Sid Pappas and Luke Caddaye to provide an imposing high school team that ultimately played off against Assumption College in an Amco Herald Cup final , which was the curtain raiser to the senior VFL pre season competition.

It's important for me to point out that John Fidge was regarded as the finest junior schoolboy footballer in the state in those days , and it was not for a lack of talent that he failed to achieve the highest levels at VFL standard.

Some of the comments may have to be modified with Sandy only 2 goals up at 3/4 time .

Sylvia is the only one of the plethora of Demons who is playing as if he's interested in being promoted .

The dilemma over whether to drop Yze or not can be determined by answering the following question - Is there anyone out of the team at present who would be a viable alternative this week . Unfortunately I don't think there is , if we consider Rivers as the logical change for McLean , whilst Sylvia and Pickett are unlikely to be match fit enough to make an impact .and therefore likely to miss .

Thank you Brittle Lucifer for teaching me the error of my ways . From now on I'll make sure that my 3 words are all of a purely positive nature to ensure I don't hurt the egos of our players.

I'll also make sure that my 3 words contain enough ' constructive' detail and statistics to fully satisfy your needs

Whelan - a major loss

Carroll - had no idea

Holland - backline's only winner

Ward - brief forward thrusts

Bruce - a wasted talent

Bell - loose and unaccountable

Johnstone - needed the run

Davey - arrogant and ineffective

Green - not a whimper

Yze - time has elapsed

Miller - was totally ineffective

Moloney - a welcome return

McDonald - not the worst

Bate - poor ball handling

Neitz - never stopped trying

Robertson - brief magical moments

McLean - hope for miracles

Jamar - has learnt nothing

Johnson - showed some class

Jones - seemed totally overwhelmed

White - gave a contest

Bartram - was not ready

Jones has been our standout through pre season and must start on the ground

Bartram - second year comfort

Bate - regular clear headedness

Bell - needs to arrive

Bizzell - providing the steadiness

Brown - accurate foot disposal

Bruce - attaining superstar status

Buckley -

Carroll - maintaining the rage

Davey - major forward option

Dunn - greater physical presence

Ferguson - good not evil

Frawley - living the hype

Garland

Godfrey - regular Sandringham player

Green - return to accuracy

Holland - continue the metamorphosis

Jamar - attain more possessions

C. Johnson - continued upward spiral

P. Johnson - provide physical presence

Johnstone - consistent superstar performances

Jones - maintaining pre- season form

McDonald - more of same

McLean - worthy Brownlow winner

Miller - major forward option

Moloney - vital midfield presence

Neitz - whatever he can

Neville

Newton

Petterd

Pickett - major physical presence

Rivers - more of same

Robertson - Robbo of old

Sylvia - more game time

Ward - dash with care

Warnock - becoming a regular

Weetra

Wheatley - injury free involvement

Whelan - exciting backline dashes

White - taller than Sandilands

Yze - taking an interest

# I have made no comments about the new boys because not enough is known

I'm happy to do my little shtick again if there is enough interest .

Can I have a show of hands ?

I must be honest and state quite categorically that I am not pumped about the imminent start of the seaon .

Perhaps I'm a pessimist , perhaps I'm a realist , but whatever the case , the viagra's not working and I'm just not excited enough to give the opening to the season any more than a 5 out of 10 on an anticipatory level .

Where are you on the excitement level ?

I won't / can't mention names , but my son's junior football coach is a recently retired Essendon footballer who told me yesterday that at a post-match get together after an Essendon / Eagles match 3 years ago , lots of 'coloured pills' were ' allegedly 'being distributed freely in the hotel room of a WC player .

Anyone know the parentage of Williamstown's Dullard?

His namesake was a talented Demon of the 80's - possibly his father ?

For those attacking dd36's above post...

To play devil's advocate; maybe he meant that the club should have been aware of this problem and the potential implications during the scouting process & overlooked Hayes at the recruitment table because of it?

Ironically , our CEO , Steve Harris , was just interviewed on SEN and claimed that all clubs had a moral responsibility to help all their young talents to cope with the rigours and demanding pressures of AFL assimilation .

Robertson is our greatest marker of all time

Schwarz pre-knee was an absolute force in the air as well

Many of you may not have heard of him , but Greg Parke was an undersized and slow centre half forward for us who smoked at half time but was unstoppable in the air, and regularly won the competition's marking competition .

Brown has probably been our most consistent player in the pre season matches , and is a certainty IMO.

Apart from Neitz and Robertson , which of our certain first round selections didn't play against Adelaide ?

Sheedy to underperform this year will leave the door open for ND to inevitably return to his roots .

I'm far from an expert on body building , but it seems highly unlikely that someone of Buckley's age and normal body size could develop such an impressive torso without some sort of 'assistance'.

Am I wrong ?