Mazer Rackham

Jesse will have to wins his flags with Casey. Can't fit him in the 22 now

"Grandson of Magpies legend stars in final"

You had me at bullied. We bullied another team! GO DEMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I suppose on that lonely island for all those years, with nothing to do, all kinds of strange things ensued. Must be the tropical water. (Me, even at a tender young age, I always envisaged "crossing" with Mary Anne.) I guess you learned about MFC from distant 3UZ broadcasts. The professor must have got the radio working then?

Tom & Jesse alternating CHF and CHB, Weid FF, Tom & Weid sharing stand in ruck duties. Lots of variation and a headache for oppo coaches

I have no idea what you're trying to say but what's that little squiggle after the 7 and the 0? Seriously cool! Like an old man wearing glasses or something. Loving it. Anyone know where I can find one?

Mobile with tank, very good reader of the play, good vision, good decision maker, lightning hands, decent field kick, mediocre kick for goal. No brainer that he's a mobile CHF and not a stay at home FF, which does not play to his strengths, and leaves him vulnerable to monstering by at least 1 and usually 2 gorilla minders. He gets no protection from the umps (possibly because he whinges to them so much). Still hasn't really clicked in this team. Hasn't hit top gear yet. Will be something to behold when/if he does.

No, we need to keep Jesse at Casey as a backup for Pedo. Pedo can't play 5 games a year forever, you know.

Let's face it. We're pretty f***ing awesome.

Compare the Brayshaw family's demeanour with facebook nuffies who whip up a frenzy if someone next to them on the plane farts. Dignity compassion and restraint in the face of a genuinely upsetting incident. Admirable and a great example.

Treat 'em deranged to keep 'em estranged. Old jungle saying.

They're highly conditioned athletes. Surely you can't expect them to get to their feet without using some kind of leverage against the ground? If the oppo player happens to be under the biometrically optimal location to do that, it would be unfair to penalise the player with the ball. Also the player lying down, by being face down, is not watching the ball and not participating in the play, therefore it follows as a matter of law, that any action by the other player is not "in play" and therefore no infringement can be said to have taken place. I'm getting the hang of this. Anyone know of any openings in the AFL umps dept?

If they paid the "tiggy touchwood" frees, they might be amazed at how quickly the players adapt and stop conceding them. When players are allowed to body surf oppo into the ground and it's somehow not "in the back" ... when they can freely throw the ball ... scrag and monster oppo forwards without penalty ... then just about anything that is in the actual laws of the game does look "tiggy touchwood". Ref it according to the rulebook and a lot of the game's ills will disappear, and the players will adjust quickly. Like they did with the "tough love" deliberate OOB. The AFL can do it.They just don't want to do it.

Referee the game in accordance with the rulebook? Novel concept. Can't see it taking off.

Thanks DD. That's good news.

It would seem to be a fundamental skill of the game, and one that if mastered, gives a big advantage over opponents. I have heard (don't know how true it is) that senior coaches tell their players DO NOT kick with your non-preferred. Play the percentages instead. A mediocre kick on your "right" foot is likely to be as good as or better than a good one on your "wrong" foot. That would filter to junior ranks in a jiffy. "To prepare you better for AFL level, you are now banned from kicking on your non-preferred." It would explain why we see so many awkward kicks under pressure. Not a good look. Another area where coaches are harming the game. Not sure what can be done about it though.

Remember when he was gone He copped knocks on the scone Shine on, that Brayshaw guy can Now there's a look in his eye He's set to crucify Shine on, that Brayshaw guy can He was caught in the crossfire Of beltings and king hits Barely remembered his name Come on you talent, you dual-sided star Come on you magnet, you legend You Demon, and shine (segue to screaming guitar solo interrupted halfway by cheesy MFC theme song)

Caro is not a football writer. She is a gossip writer, specialising in the world of AFL. Big difference. She has good sources and can and does get "scoops" but it's still firmly in the murky territory of "maybe it did and maybe it didn't".

This must be what it's like to be a big club. Are we becoming a big club? A tall poppy? If so then I welcome attempts to cut us down. We must be doing something right. GO DEMONS!!

At least minnows like Italy and Holland will have a chance to show their wares on the world stage.

Disappointing but not that surprising. After the first two games it was clear we have a major weakness in scoring. Only two in 3 games and both from penalties. And the most conceded goals by a far shot. Also, Peru are higher in the FIFA rankings than Denmark. Now we're into the hands of Graham Arnold which does not inspire. Two things are now obvious. Bert is a better coach than Ange. Bert had us looking dangerous. Compare that to qualifying where we stumbled and bumbled and managed to leave it to the last leg of the last tie over 4 years to lock it in. Other thing is, we need a striker and how! Fozzy on SBS is crapping on about how we could have and should have done better, we had plenty more to give, etc. How Ange had us on track but then we make this dramatic change (Bert) for the last part of the tournament, why oh why? Foz ... where were the goals going to come from? And if Ange was in charge would we have even looked like scoring at all? France already through were not going to try hard against Denmark. And Denmark's only incentive -- knowing a win or draw would see them through -- was to stop France scoring. So no surprises there. Back to the drawing board.

If I recall, nearly all the big trees there are elms, ie introduced, not native. I believe most councils grant permits for felling them more readily than for natives. Because natives good, foreign bad. So our deal is, for each elm chopped, we plant TWO natives. Also free bike parking for councillors, free car parking for recalcitrant planet hating polluting car driving councillors, a wombat sanctuary and a ban on plastic bags.

Good point. And in one way, it makes bugger-all difference. I think the key of this is that we are football nomads and have had to beg and scrape for a training ground somewhere, anywhere. From our days at the Junction oval, to days where we literally had nowhere to train, to now at Gosch's ... and how long before Eddie gets an idea that CFC needs office space at the square stadium and the CFC women need somewhere to train .... like Gosch's .... I'm exaggerating but not much. Eddie has pulled strings to expand CFC's land grab before. If I understand it, this new Yarra Park thing, if it gets off the ground, will be OUR office, OUR oval, no-one else's, no one will have a claim to it, it will be a HOME rather than a temporary facility where we are liable to moved on like street beggars at the drop of a hat. The players in fact might not notice any difference at all, the spectators hardly any, but the club will have a HOME. A social club? Other facilities to help raise $$$. All round it's very attractive. I can understand why people who don't barrack for the MIGHTY DEMONS might be able to find negatives ... some may even be justified! ... but for the MFC it's very attractive.

Bert has made a very sudden change to the way we play. Remember the stodgy wins on the way to qualifying, and embarrassing draws & losses? Now we look really quite dangerous. It's just our lack of finishing letting us down. When we compare the one touch, BANG! finishing of the best nations ... the ones who will go deep in this tournament ... to our touch, stop, look around, ah sh*t ... pass backwards efforts ... nearly always our men around the box take that one step too many and give the defenders the time they need to clog it up. In terms of what Aussie fans will accept, I think most understand we'll always struggle to compete with Brazil, Germany, Spain, etc. I think most want us to simply punch above our weight and claim a few prize scalps. Give us something to be proud of, where we can pack the bars all night long. But that means going deep into the tournament and not limping into the 32 and then going home after 3 plucky but unfulfilling matches. Put another way, we don't expect to win the cup, but nor do we expect to simply make up the numbers. Verily, there are none so blind as those who will not see. Has he stopped to consider who owns the club? (Hint: Gulf businessmen.) Also that there are 8 British players in the squad of 27? Compare with cellar dwellers West Brom, owned by Chinese, 12/20 locals. Down to the next level ... EFL Championship (second division in the old money) ... Aston Villa: Chinese, 12/24 ... Wolverhampton: Chinese, 14/35. Down again to EFL League Two ("3rd division") ... mid-table Doncaster Rovers: British, 23/29. Basically you aren't going anywhere without the money to buy foreign players. (There are a small handful of British-only owners in the EPL but it doesn't need saying that they are fabulously wealthy.) By the way! My statistic about our last 5 goals being from Jedinak was wrong. I trusted another web site that should know better rather than look it up. Turns out he scored our last 2 (up to 4 now in this cup), before that it was Timmy with 2 and before that, shared between Kruse, Leckie, etc.

Well, bummer. Now our fate is out of our own hands. Even if we manage to beat Peru who will not be any pushover. Turns out our last 5 goals in international comp (not counting friendlies) are all by Jedinak from penalties. Our fire power around the box is very limited. In AFL terms we generate plenty of inside 50s but do not convert any of them. We are in heaps here and need to throw it around a bit. Start Arzani for some X factor. Play Timmy for as many minutes as he can handle. Have to get on the scoreboard and pile on the pressure. And then hope ...