DemonDave

So would it be more beneficial for some of these players that have been in rehab the last two months to play one and a half quarters in the nab cup saturday night, or three quarters at a lesser intensity at a casey practice game this weekend? I'd go with the casey option

So by this rationale the Swans shouldve docked Jarrad McVeighs pay last year every time he skipped training to be beside with his terminally ill newborn? Absolutely unbelievably callous post! I hope everything settles down up in the yuendumu community and we see Liam back here soon with a clear head and recuperated wrist kicking goals on the G.

Sylvia is a Rolls Royce. When hes on song, things happen for us. And I think Jones is improving every year, he really led well from the front tonight. Cant wait for Troy Davis to get a few more games like that under his belt, he looks a very good prospect. The half dozen games I saw him play last year for Casey he was largely anonymous, after tonights effort I can now see why they drafted him. Think there are a few players that might have expected to have a spot in Round 1 now having to play catchup to reclaim their guernsey Rivers (Sellar) McKenzie/Nicholson (Magner) Bail (Bate) Dunn/Watts (Petterd/Howe) If we can get back from injury/rest the likes of Trengove,Grimes,Moloney, Clark, Rivers, Bartram, Jurrah etc then we may start to have a bit of depth. The likes of Jamie Bennell, who continues to underwhelm, are also in danger of facing extended spells out at windswept Cranbourne.

Shh! The afl don't want you taking about this rule. They've already dismissed the views of senior players such as darren jolly et al who have derided it as rubbish. But you just know it will come in next year. Ps. Also don't tell mr demetriou this, but I sent this message via my optus mobile.

Nope, try this item from the MFC site which states Gawn out for the season and Spencer at least 8, hence he's also been put on LTI http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/129219/default.aspx Add the fact we've only got one veteran in Green and we have three spots...

He shares the place with two others, who's to say it doesnt belong to them? Seems a bit premature to hang,dry and quarter the guy already!

Oh, youre doing the squad for game 1 this week, not round 1. Ahem, whoops on my part. Anyhow, heres my side from that squad: B: Bartram Frawley Garland HB: Grimes Rivers Bail C: Green Moloney Couch HF: Howe Watts Bate F: Davey Clark Petterd Foll: Jamar, Sylvia, Jones IC: Martin, Gysberts, Sub:McDonald Sub:Magner Best possible, with a couple of kids. Set the standard for the season with wins rather than giving kids a game. Let them have a crack in the Challenge games in a few weeks. The club obviously think a lot more of Clint Bartram than most fans, as has been said countless times before by others on here. I am most looking forward to seeing the continued improvement in Tom McDonald.

Wow you dont even have Jared Rivers or Clint Bartram in that side, you have three players who are still on our rookie list and three debutantes, thank goodness you're not a selector! Also ignoring Matthew Bate who was one of the best three in the intra-club last week and has been training the house down.

"To that end Viney will sit in match-committee, selection and coaching-review meetings throughout the year, as well as continuing the search for talent." Anyone else think that he may be stretching himself a bit thin with all of these commitments? Barry P was a full time recruiting chief not someone who had his fingers in 3 other pies during the week. This is concerning. Why would the club allow 10 months to get a new recruiting chief?

So when do we think it will be obvious what our 'game plan' is? Ive been watching the Wizard Cup games tonight, and they're high pressure affairs that otherwise dont really seem to have any clearly definable newly structured game plans. The talk has been of mimicking the Pies gameplan of the last two years, but really is that a bit too introspective? The game changes quickly nowadays, and once coaches have enough time to analyse and successfully negate certain tactics, such as 'Clarkos Cluster', they quickly become redundant. See also the Brisbane Roars game style in the A-League that saw them win 30 odd games on the trot, only for opposition coaches to work on adaptable counter measures. I just dont know if some of our boys have the footskills under pressure to execute some of the short, accurate passing to pull off the wide game. This season certainly shapes up for mine as one of the most intriguing and anticipated for some years...

flashdance, you have the wrong co-captain Jack in this para: The Demons were missing several star players including co-captain Jack Grimes, Colin Sylvia, Jared Rivers, Luke Tapscott and Liam Jurrah. Otherwise a great read! Thanks everyone for their observations for those of us that couldnt get down there...

He got the memo that it was Heritage Round I think! Havent sighted his brotherAddam yet, he was listed in the squad in the paper.

Can anyone off the top of their head roll off the last four results of NAB cup Grand Finals? Unlikely, its just a mickey mouse excuse of a cup to get runs into the legs of rookies and depth players. I for one expect us to win up in Brisbane, and then come down to earth the next week despite fielding a stronger side than Collingwood, then go into the challenge games (what happened to them just being called practice matches, and they were played at places like Seymour?) and go 50/50 in wins/losses.

Who is this Maloney everyone speaks of?

A leadership group of 8 for a list of 45? Smacks of too many chiefs, not enough indians for mine. If I was Brent Moloney I'd be devastated. Theres no one that does more above and beyond than Beamer with his boxing camps etc, as well as his onfield leadership, clearly his couple of off-field discretions have cost him dearly. I dont buy into the whole argument that because we had a bad season we have to blame the leaders and replace them with new ones. How many years would Robbie Flower have lasted as captain with this kind of thinking? We were on the bottom of the ladder for almost every year he was leader. Not meant a slight on the great man Robbie of course, merely emphasising the 'lets make changes' attitude to accountability doesnt sit well with me at all.

I see it as quite the opposite. I look at Sydney FC in the A-League who have no shirt sponsor where every other club does. Such a big market as Sydney, I look at it more from the perspective of "This must be a woefully run organisation if they cant even organise a major sponsor for their kit"

This was a very flat, and quick, AGM by comparison to most years. Most of what was said has been covered here so no real need to rehash. One of the most interesting items for me was the acquisition of the Bentleigh Club which has as was stated been a loss making proposition on its own over the last few years, but we are also in the final stages of acquiring the gaming licenses for the Club as well, and they expect any revenues that come from the machines to service the 1.8Million debt that we now have with its acquisition. Our net assets went from $300K to 5Mill with its acquisition which was the main aim of the exercise. McClardy made a note of thanking the previous boards, saying this acquisition was 12 years in the making. The touch of having all the premiership cups on pedestals, and an empty one at the end, as you walked into the room was a very nice touch.

I'll be there as usual, ready to ask the question why Chris Lamb has not been given a fair go in the seniors. And as for Big Jim not speaking, see the other thread about him standing down as Prez.

Best of luck with the ongoing health battles big Jim, time to put yourself ahead of the club.

The same Redskins that won just five games all year and finished bottom of their division! Just shows that the Giants were not a real dominant force all through the regular season, merely a slightly better than average team. They just happened to catch form at the right time of year...

After going 0 for 2 last weekend with my tips, I feel this could be the kiss of death! After watching both games, I'm going to pick the Giants. They have form and momentum on their side. Having said that, the Pats are on a decent winning streak too, but I just feel the giants three pronged attack of Nicks, Cruz and Manningham are in top form. The Pats have Gronk, Hernandez, Branch et al, but if that catch in the final 20 seconds hadve been caught, we'd be talking about the Ravens right now. Cant wait, as usual for the Superbowl, got the day off work, plan to get settled on the couch for a huge day!

And from memory the Saints signed a long term agreement, similar to ours with Casey, down Seaford way didnt they?

Of course I'll be picking SF for the win. We beat them mid-year, and despite them almost scoring on the final drive (A timely Justin Smith bat-down put paid to yet another Manning fourth quarter TD drive) I felt we handled them well that day, importantly our defence was pretty effective. Admittedly the Giants are peaking form wise but my heart and head are pointing in the same direction of a win for the team in red and gold. As for the other game, its a tough one. The Ravens havent even been tested in the playoffs, despite the Texans best efforts last week. Ray Lewis is a beast. Ditto Ray Rice. The Pats dismantling of an out of their depth Broncos was predictably clinical. I feel against a stiffer defensive setup that the Ravens present, then the Pats will be beaten. So to a dream matchup in the Superbowl, "the Brothers Harbaugh". What a great promoters dream that would be. Only I dont want to see a repeat of the Thanksgiving massacre, where the Ravens D consistently blitzed, and the Niners O-line fell apart. It was the only time Ive seen it all year done so effectively, theres no reason if this game happens we wont see it again. Smith became nothing more than a punching bag for the Ravens. It was brutal, ugly and highly effective. Still Frank Gore was playing hurt that day, hes back in business now. If this matchup does occur, it will be the top two ranked defences playing off, quite ironic in a year where quarterbacks were smashing historical records all over the place!

I dont know how happy Macca will be today, the Giants, somehow, managed to beat the Packers at Lambeau. I've taped the game so cant comment on how it looked, gee not many people saw that coming though! the Ravens did what they needed to against the Texans, who had their chances in the last quarter. So it sets up an AFC Championship game of Ravens @ Patriots and NFC Championship game of Giants @ 49ers I'm going to go with Patriots in a tight one, Brady was sizzling against Denver, and while the Ravens have the second best defence in the League after the Niners, I think NE have too many targets: Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Branch, Ochochinco et al. I think the Niners can repeat their effort from during the season and beat the Giants at home also. Hakeem Nicks and co will find it a bit tougher against SF's secondary next week. Cant wait!

Whos got it better than us? Nobody! I still cant wipe the grin off my face, that was an unbelievably hectic finish to that game.When Jimmy Graham rumbled for that TD I was sure it was all over. Great final drive by Smith who surely now has to be recognised as a legitimate top grade quarterback. Vernon Davis came up with those two huge catches in that drive. Now, bring on the Packers or Giants!