DemonDave

Well this story doesnt bode well for the short term: "However, lingering groin problem osteitis pubis has continued to bother Viney" - Jack Viney eager to take on next challenge Let's hope he gets the OK from the powers that be to play a season in the VFL this year.

Yeah 16 games in the regular season of NFL, versus 162 regular season games in MLB (zzzz....) or 82 games in the NBA (in a regular, non strike affected year). You can see why all games are so important in football, thats why I love it, the fans rollercoaster of emotions can change so quickly..

Unfortunately for Wing, the most coverage he';s seemingly had on ESPN is for his premature celebration meaning the TD didnt count. Still they have also had a couple of mini features on the "Wing Dance". Lets hope he gets drafted by an NFL side, you can never have too many Aussie Punters in the league! My partner works with a close friend of Matt McBriar, McBriar flew all of his friends and family to Hawaii for his marriage in the last offseason, so clearly the punting wage is pretty good too! Of todays games, I'm only watching the Lions-Saints game now, was kinda hoping the Lions wouldve got up as I fear the Niners having to face a white-hot Bledsoe next week. Houston probably did what was expected against the Bengals today, the Cinci have to be wrapt with the way Andy Dalton's rookie season has panned out. If it wasnt for a certain Carolina Panther, he'd be a shoe in as the pick of the rookie QBs. I expect Baltimore to smother the Texans next week though, that stifling defence of theirs is a game style tailor made for the playoffs. So too is the Niners similar game plan bulit first and foremost on defence, however I think on form of the last 6-7 weeks that the Saints will have the edge, even at Candlestick. Tomorrow mornings Wildcard games (Ive already set the alarm clock!) should see the Steelers crush the out of form at the wrong time of year Broncos (cue endless analysis on Tebows true worth once more!). And I think the Giants with Mannings unnerring ability to orchestrate last quarter comebacks built on long, long scoring drives to be too good for the Falcons, Julio Jones has proven to be an astute draft maoeuvre to get for Atlanta though, hes shown as a rookie he has all the tools to be a great receiver.

Wow! The Colts win their second game of the year, I almost turned this game off, after the first play of the day was a turnover that led to a Texans touchdown within the first minute, I was thinking a route may be on the cards. The game then turned into a bit of a snooze fest, I was that close to pulling the plug, but stuck it out, Orlovsky looked more and more comfortable as the game went on, and thanks to some silly defensive penalties that gifted the Colts succesive first downs in the final drive, they got the W, hitting the lead with only 20 seconds to go, great game! Also stoked at the MNF result, managed to tape it and watch it Monday night, Big Ben was clearly unfit which was kind of disappointing, but the Niners were not. Aldon Smith, the beast, is fast becoming one of my favorite players to watch on defense for the Niners, hes having an outstanding rookie season and justifying his high draft pick position. If we can keep Frank Gore fully fit, and get Braylon Edwards and Patrick Willis back on the field and healthy then i think we can edge the Saints for the #2 seed in the NFC. Still no rushing TDs conceded by the defence this year, clearly the foundation our season has been built on. The battle of New York promises to be the pick of the games this weekend for mine...

A couple of big results today, in a couple of very important divisions. AFC North - The Ravens get smashed by the rejuvenated Chargers, and now leave the door wide open for the Steelers to take the lead in the conference if they can overcome my faltering 49ers in MNF tomorrow (as I expect they will). NFC East - I watched the Cowboys beat the Bucs on Friday they didnt do anything special but just enough to get the job done, and are a now a game clear after the Giants shock loss to Rex Grossman and the Skins. The Eagles are alooking a bit better again with VIck back at the helm but are another game again back, a tough task. The Saints now take the mantle as the most in-form team in the league right now, Breese's streak of touchdown passes in games continues and he is on pace to beat Marinos all time season yardage mark, will he or Rodgers get the MVP? Rodgers is on course to beat a whole swag of Packers franchise records, but for mine it'd be Breese right now. They are marching towards the week off and home field advantage. The Pack lose their first and the Colts actually win one! Lucky I didnt have my multibet this week as those two wouldve been the first two legs I wouldve lost on...

A great read, well done to Sam Edmund for capturing the mood of the training environs, got the blood pumping on the train reading this article. Cant wait for the first intra-club to see all the hard work put into practice!

I found it amusing that St Kildas president copped an absolute pasting in the media a couple of weeks ago when it was revealed you'd have to pay extra for a membership scarf this year. His rationale for the decision was that people 'already had 10 scarves in the wardrobe and dont need another one', clearly the way we went about addressing the same issue was much better handled than theirs.

Donuts! What a GF he had that year... No, no and no.

Massive loss today to the Pats for your boys. And yes if it wasnt already, thats definitely season over put a fork in it. Just finished watching the Bears-Raiders game, the Raiders keep their momentum up, although apart from the last ten minutes it was a fairly dull game. Dont think either of these two teams will be going very deep this season.

Well not at work at the moment, I managed to get onto the coach and turn the phone off the hook, Pack continued their unbeaten record, gee they keep on roling with ease! Ndamukong Suh continues to sully his reputation though, got ejected and will most likely face more discipline. The Cowboys-Dolphins game was an interesting one, Miami had their chances, Dallas seemingly havent hit any heights at all, but are crucially winning. Not good for the GIants and Eagles! Just abut to get to the main event. First time ever two brothers have coached head-to-head in NFL history tonight, and Mon & Pop Harbaugh celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary tomorrow, what a weekend for this family. No Ray Lewis its just been announced which is a big plus for the Niners. If I had one of those foam hats with the drinking straws out of the top of them,. I'd be totally wearing one right now sipping away, this is gonna be a treat!

Great article on the mfc website this morning by the burgatron about our draft overview day, highlighting how all our current recruiting scouts and talent spotters get together with the coaches, psychologists etc.and run through the draft thoroughly. I had no idea ex hawk recruiting man john turnbull was in our camp nowadays, a respected guy such as this can only enhance our knowledge pool. A couple of other great snippets, a quip from barry prendegast on one young young prospects large number of facebook friends "he likes being popular". Neeld asks about some of the potential senior age recruits "could he play for us in round 1?" And also love that he gave a copy of the red fox to two of the vic coaches who have guest chats, a wonderful gift choice gesture. Quality reading.

Only got bog slow net access for a couple of days so apologies can't scan through these threads that quickly, can anyone tell me where big jake spencer is at in terms of his rehab after his knee reco. Running stage yet? I know he won't play a big part for us this year but just curious. Thanks

Yeah sorry daz may have come across a bit too harshly. I collect vintage cigarette cards so only know too well the pitfalls of chasing a rare piece and wanting to pay the right price for it. Sometimes I just bite the bullet and knowingly pay overs based on scarcity. Good luck on the search!

Everyone wanted to be on board our bandwagon in 1987. It was packed like sardines at the western oval in round 22, the crowds grew and grew as the year went on and our momentum built. Some quality ads on those archives, I have a lot of the records and remember the covers well but theyre all safely locked up in the shed! So daz you know most of the weg originals change hands for four figure sums, but are hoping someone unaware of this will sell then to you for way under what theyre worth? Good luck with that project. Check out auction results at leski auctions for a true gauge on what the market thinks they are worth. I have the set of reprints and they look nice.

I only read about Cutler being out this evening, huge blow if its for a while, I've never even heard of their backup QB. Just watching the battle of the Bays now on Foxtel, gee they Bucs had their chances didnt they? Definitely an off day for GB, but they still keep winning.. Schaub is supposed to be out for the season theyll have to rely on Matt Leinart from here on in I'd say, a shame as the Texans were going along quite well.. Did you see the last drive Tebow took on Friday against the Jets. He just kept rushing. You knew he was going to do it, but he kept finding holes in the defence and punching through. An amazing final drive. Now if only he could throw as well as he rushes!

Watched the Eagles-GIants game this arvo on ESPN, gee I thought after Mannings big drive and TD in the last quarter they were going to clinch it, but credit to Vince Young he handled himself pretty well today. A big day out for the Lions, after being down by 17 at one stage, they climbed back off the canvas. Stafford continues to impress with 5TDs. the Dolphins finally getting a bit of momentum up winning another game. Palmer keeps the Raiders rolling since taking over at QB. Cowboys struggle, but overcome the awful Redskins in OT The Bears keep rolling,they really will be a danger in the playoffs I think My Niners keep on winning, thats all I ask for each week!

This article from the Tigers site says they're targetting 75000 members http://www.richmondfc.com.au/winning%20together%20-%20richmond's%20vision/tabid/15867/default.aspx All clubs membership figures and goal membership tallies are skewed by the newly introduced 3 game membership, the Hawks count all their Tassie Members as full paid up members and they only get a 4 or 5 game ticket.

I had to cheat and look at the website for a couple of these L-R: Aaron Greaves (mids devt coach), Brian Royal (mids), Andrew Nichol (Backs Devt), Paul Satterley (Fwds Devt), Jade Rawlings (backs), Leigh Brown (fwds), Mark Neeld (senior coach), Dave Misson (Elite Performance Manager), Todd Viney (Gen Mgr-Player Devt & Strategy), ? , Adam Paulo ??(Rehab Coach). Not pictured Neil Craig (Director of Sports Performance)

Well thank goodness for this news, Fevola wont be back at Casey next year! http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/deafening-silence-from-afl-clubs-but-brendan-fevola-still-searching/story-e6frf9jf-1226195011036

Oh, and check this catch in the Chiefs-Broncos game, what a stunner! http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nfl-scores/story-e6frfglf-1226194542963

Wow DeSean Jackson didnt take the field as he missed a team meeting, didnt know that until I read it after the game... You're lucky that Washington are in even more disarray at the moment, otherwise you'd be anchoring the bottom of the East. And in a rare turn of events thanks to that result, Seattle upsetting the Ravens and the Rams pipping Cleveland, all NFC West teams win on the same weekend for what seems like a decade! (Still, all three other teams W's only match the Niners record of 8 wins). A big day for a few conferences, -The Saints mark their place at the top of NFC South albeit in an OT win over their nearest rival Matt Ryans Falcons. -Pats climb back on top in AFC East, in a Pats performance more like we're used to, smashing the Jets. -Romo throws a franchise record 23 from 26 to seal the second win in a row for the Cowgirls, its going to be a real ding-dong tussle for top spot in the NFC East, as Dallas now has a bit of confidence and momentum up, something they thrive on..The Giants played fairly well today albeit losing. -Going all the way back to Friday, and the Raiders win over Rivers & co was vital in the AFC West where a single game separates all teams. 4 Losses on the trot for the Chargers means they're the ones sliding, and fast. -Houston have another big, anonymous win, they have the best points differential in the league right now. -The Ravens upset loss leaves the Steelers one game clear, the Bengals arent far behind and get another crack at Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks time. I love this time of the year when conferences are wide open, it certainly leads to an exciting turn in the season! I loved what I heard of the Niners game this morning, plenty of great defence, Carlos Rogers (thanks Redskins for him!) with two picks of Eli, and we did it all with 0 net rushing yards from Frank Gore as he left the game early with a knee injury that hopefully should be OK for next week. Smith's one and only interception was only because Ginn missed a sitter of a catch as he turned to go too early. The last quarter was a cracker, the Niners score their first TD to hit the lead, go for and complete a 2-point conversion, and then intercept Manning on the next play. On the very next play the rookie Hunter rushes in another TD, and the home fans go nuts. But wait, a couple of massive long drives by the Giants, including two fourth down conversions nets one TD and leaves them 20 out with a minute to go. They go for it on 4th again, and pro-bowler Justin Smith bats away the pass. How sweet this winning caper is!

As long as they dont give Drew Morphett any more air time. But yes my favorite cricket commentary team is going to sound quite different this summer. I always read his columns, they were always forthright and sometimes a little bit left of centre, but he was always willing so speak his mind on something, a trait some of the his other contemporaries lack, for fear of rocking the boat with access to the team. RIP Peter Roebuck

And to backup my predictions, I've placed a 14 leg multibet on with all of the above, with the exception of the the Chargers-Raiders game which had already started, for the juicy odds of $388.30

OK heres my stab at this weeks winners (in bold): Arizona at Philadelphia Tennessee at Carolina Houston at Tampa Bay Washington at Miami Jacksonville at Indianapolis Denver at Kansas City Buffalo at Dallas New Orleans at Atlanta St. Louis at Cleveland Pittsburgh at Cincinnati Baltimore at Seattle NY Giants at San Francisco Detroit at Chicago New England at NY Jets Wow there are some super tough games to pick this week. I was tempted to think the Colts will break their duck against a pretty uninspiring Jags, but they were just awful against Atlanta last week and Painter will clearly be looking for new employment next year. Roll on Luck for them!

Lucky they werent photographed in those 'horrible' new training trakkies, or a jumper that looked pink. Is the colour blue deep enough for everyones liking.